NOTE: I think it's important to note here that one of his examples of finding encoded words found in Hebrew texts uses straight numbers to a hidden parable. However, just keep in mind that this idea has been challenged statistically in many of its historical predictions.

EQUIDISTANT LETTER SEQUENCES IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS: II. THE RELATION TO THE TEXT

Doron Witztum, Eliyahu Rips, and Yoav Rosenberg

ABSTRACT. It has been noted that when the Book of Genesis is written as two-dimensional arrays, equidistant letter sequences spelling words often appear in close proximity with portions of the text which have related meaning. Quantitative tools for measuring this phenomenon are developed. Randomization analysis is done for three samples. For one of them the effect is significant at the level of .000000004.
Key words and phrases. Genesis, Equidistant letter sequences, Strings of letters, Cylindrical representations, Statistical analysis.

1. Introduction.

There is an old Jewish tradition about a "hidden text" in the Hebrew Pentateuch (the Five Books of Moses), consisting of words or phrases expressed in the form of equidistant letter sequences (ELS's) -- that is by selecting sequences of equally spaced letters in the text. Since this tradition was passed orally, only few expressions that belong to the "hidden text" were preserved in writing (Rabbenu Bahya, 1492 and Cordovero, 1592); actually almost all the words and the syntax are unknown. Rabbi H.M.D. Weissmandel (Weissmandel, 1958) was the first to try to show the existence of such a "hidden text", by finding interesting patterns consisting of ELS's.
In a previous paper (Witztum et al, 1994), we developed a methodology for systematic and rigorous studies of the same nature; namely, for attempts to show objectively the existence of the"hidden text" in the Hebrew Pentaceuch. This methodology was applied to study the "hidden text" of the Book of Genesis.
The approach we have taken in our research can be illustrated by the following example. Suppose we have a text written in a foreign language that we do not understand. We are asked whether the text is meaningful (in that foreign language) or meaningless. Of course, it is very difficult to decide between these possibilities, since we do not understand the language. Suppose now that we are equipped with a very partial dictionary, which enables us to recognize a small portion of the words in the text: "hammer" here and "chair" there, and maybe even "umbrella" elsewhere. Can we now decide between the two possibilities?
Not yet. But suppose now that, aided with the partial dictionary, we can recognize in the text a pair of conceptually related words, like "hammer" and "anvil". We check if there is a tendency of their appearances in the text to be in "close proximity". If the text is meaningless, we do not expect to see such a tendency, since there is no reason for it to occur. Next, we widen our check; we may identify some other pairs of conceptually related words: like "chair" and "table", or "rain" and "umbrella". Thus we have a sample of such pairs, and we check the tendency of each pair to appear in close proximity in the text. If the text is meaningless, there is no reason to expect such a tendency. However, a strong tendency of such pairs to appear in close proximity indicates that the text might be meaningful.
Note that even in an absolutely meaningful text we do not expect that, deterministically, every such pair will show such tendency. Note also, that we did not decode the foreign language of the text yet: we do not recognize its syntax and we cannot read the text.
In our research we consider the set of all ELS's spelling out words or phrases in the language of the text. The approach described in this example suggests the two following lines of investigation:
A) A study of the mutual location of ELS's spelling out conceptually related words or expressions.
B) A study of the mutual location of ELS's spelling out words or expressions with conceptually related portions of the text.
Suppose we are given a text, such as Genesis (G). Define an ELS (equidistant letter sequence) as a sequence of letters in the text whose positions, not counting spaces, form an arithmetic progression; that is, the letters are found at the positions
n, n+d, n+2d,..., n+(k-1)d.
We call d the skip, n the start, and k the length of the ELS. These three parameters uniquely identify the ELS, which is denoted (n, d, k).
Let us write the text as a two-dimensional array -- i.e., on a single large page -- with rows of equal length, except perhaps for the last row. Usually, then, an ELS appears as a set of points on a straight line. The exceptional cases are those where the ELS "crosses" one of the vertical edges of the array and reappears on the opposite edge. To include these cases in our framework, we may think of the two vertical edges of the array as pasted together, with the end of the first line pasted to the beginning of the second, the end of the second to the beginning of the third, and so on. We thus get a cylinder on which the text spirals down in one long line.
It has been noted that when Genesis is written in this way, and the distance between ELS's is defined according to the ordinary two-dimensional Euclidean metric -- ELS's spelling words with related meaning often appear in close proximity. It has also been noted that ELS's spelling words often appear in close proximity with portions of the text which have related meaning.
Thus, our research focuses on two phenomena:

Phenomenon A

The appearance of "noteworthy" ELS's spelling words with related meanings in close proximity, on two-dimensional arrays. (the "noteworthy" ELS's are those for which the skip d is minimal on the whole text, or on large parts of it; for short we call them minimal ELS's).
Our paper (Witztum et al., 1994) deals with Phenomenon A. There we developed a method for testing the significance of the phenomenon according to accepted statistical principles. After making certain choices of words to compare and ways to measure proximity, we performed a randomization test and obtained a very small p-value, i.e. we found the results highly statistically significant.

Phenomenon B

The appearance of minimal ELS's spelling words in close proximity, on two-dimensional arrays, with conceptually related words or expressions appearing in the string of letters of the text: i.e. with skip 📷1.

Example

On Figure 1 we see a pair of words: the word 📷 (private) appearing as an ELS (with skip 855) with the word 📷 (names) appearing in the text (Gn 26:18).
Each ELS determines a series of tables with row lengths h= h1, h2,..., where hi is the integer nearest to d/i (1/2 is rounded up).
The rows in our table has 428 letters (only 21 of them are shown in Figure 1). The number 428 is the nearest integer to 855/2, so the word 📷 (private) appears every second row.
The table is determined by this ELS of the word 📷 (private), which is minimal in a section of the text comprising 76% of G. The word 📷 (names) appears in the text of G seven times as SL's. Note that G contains 78,064 letters. More examples are given in Appendix A.3.1.
The measuring scheme for Phenomenon A (see Witztum et al., 1994) is applicable, with minor changes, to study Phenomenon B.
In this paper we make certain choices of words to compare and perform similar randomization tests. We obtain very small p-values; that is, we find that the results are highly statistically significant.

2. Outline of the Procedure.

In this section we describe the test in outline. In an appendix, sufficient details are provided to enable the reader to repeat the computations precisely, and so to verify their correctness.
We test the significance of the phenomenon on samples of pairs of related words. To do this we must do the following:

1. define the notion of "distance" between any two words, so as to lend meaning to the idea of words in "close proximity";
2. define statistics that express how close, "on the whole," the words making up the sample pairs are to each other (some kind of average over the whole sample);
3. choose a sample of pairs of related words on which to run the test; and
4. determine whether the statistics defined in (ii) are "unusually small" for the chosen sample.

Notice that the procedure here described is identical to that used in (Witztum et al., 1994), except for minor changes in the details of task (i), due to fact that here we consider "distance" between an ELS and a word in the string of letters (SL) of the text, and not a "distance" between two ELS's (as in Witztum et al., 1994).
Task (i) has several components. First, we must define the notion of "distance" between an ELS and an SL of the text in a given array; for this we use a convenient variant of the ordinary Euclidean distance. Second, there are many ways of writing a text as a two-dimenional array, depending on the row length; we must select one or more of these arrays, and somehow amalgamate the results (of course, the selection and/or amalgamation must be carried out according to clearly stated, systematic rules). Third, a given word may occur many times as an ELS in a text; here again, a selection and amalgamation process is called for. Fourth, we must correct for factors such as word length and composition. All this is done in detail in Sections A.1 and A.2 of the Appendix.
Next, we have task (ii), measuring the overall proximity of pairs of words in the sample as a whole. For this, we used two different statistics, P1 and P2, which are defined and motivated in the Appendix (Section A.6). Intuitively, each measures overall proximity in a different way. In each case, a small value of Pi indicates that the words in the sample pairs are, on the whole, close to each other.
To accomplish task (iii) we composed three samples (Sample B1, Sample B2 and Sample B3) of pairs of expressions (w, w'), where w's are words appearing as ELS's, and w' 's are words appearing as SL's (i.e. with d' =📷1).
Preliminary test was done for each sample, in order to check how the subject of the sample appears as ELS's and SL's in Genesis, and consequently to decide whether to test the sample itself. For details see Appendix, Section A.3.1.
Sample B1 is built on the basis of the Hebrew alphabet. For every letter 'x' of the Hebrew alphabet we consider pairs (w,w'), where w' 's are found as SL's and have the meaning "a name beginning with 'x' " or "names beginning with 'x' ", while w's are names beginning with 'x' taken from "A Treasury of Men`s Names" (which is included as an appendix in Even-Shoshan's famous Hebrew dictionary (Even-Shoshan, 1989). For a detailed definition of the Sample B1 see Appendix (Section A.3.2).
Sample B2 is built exactly in the same way as Sample B1, except for the fact that the names are taken from "A Treasury of Women's Names" from the same dictionary.
Sample B3 is built on the basis of the list of the seventy descendents of Noah's sons: the Semites, the Hamites, and the Japhetites, found in Genesis Chapter 10. Jewish tradition teaches, that these seventy descendents became the Seventy Nations which constitute Humanity. This concept is well known, and is usually found in biblical Encyclopaedias under the title "The Table of Nations" (see for instance Encyclopedia Biblica, 1962). Sample B3 consists of pairs (w, w') where w' 's are names from this list, and w`s are expressions from a fixed set of expressions describing basic aspects of nationality (such as name, country, language etc.) For details see Appendix, Section A.3.3 and Table 8.
Finally, we come to Task (iv), the significant test itself. We apply the same procedure for all three samples. For Sample B3 we describe it here: for the other two samples the (similar) details are given in Appendix A.4.
The list of Seventy Nations consists of 68 different names (in two cases nations have the same name). For each of the 68! permutations 📷 of these names, we define the statistic 📷obtained by permuting the names in accordance with 📷, so that Name i is matched with the set of expressions defined for Name 📷(i). The 68! numbers 📷 are ordered, with possible ties, according to the usual order of the real numbers. If the phenomenon under study were due to chance, it would be just as likely that P1 occupies any one of the 68! places in this order as any other. Similarly for P2. This is our null hypothesis.
To calculate significance levels, we chose 999,999 random permutations 📷 of the 68 names; the precise way in which this was done is explained in the Appendix (Section A.7). Each of these permutations 📷 determines a statistic 📷 together with P1, we have thus 1,000,000 numbers. Define the rank order of P1, among these 1,000,000 numbers as the number of 📷 not exceeding P1; if P1 is tied with other 📷, half of these others are considered to "exceed" P1. Let 📷 be the rank order of P1, divided by 1,000,000; under the null hypothesis, 📷 is the probability that P1 would rank as low as it does. Define 📷 similarly (using the same 999,999 permutations in each case).
For Sample B3 we performed an additional test with 999,999,999 random permutations. In this case only statistic 📷 was calculated. The time needed for the computation of 📷 for 999,999,999 random permutations is at present not within the reach of our possibilties.
After calculating the probabilities 📷 and 📷, we must make an overall decision, for each sample, to accept or reject the null hypothesis. Thus the overall significance level (or p-value) for each sample, using the two statistics. is 📷 := 2 min 📷.

3. Results and Conclusions.

In Tables 1, 2 and 3 we present the results for the three samples. Table 1 shows the results for Sample B1. There we list the rank order of P1 and P2 among the 1,000,000 corresponding 📷 and 📷. Thus the entry 1139 for P2 means that for 1138 out of the 999,999 random permutations 📷, the statistic 📷was smaller than P2. It follows that min 📷 = .000442, so 📷 = 2 min 📷 = .000884.
We conclude that for Sample B1 the null hypothesis is rejected with significance level (p-value) .000884.
The same calculations, using the same 999,999 random permutations, were performed for a control text V (see Witztum et al., 1994). The text V was obtained from G by permuting the verses of G randomly. (For details, see Appendix; Section A.7).
Table 1 gives the results of these calculations too. In the case of V, min 📷 is approximately .169, being non-significant.
Table 2 shows the results for Sample B2 for G. The results are non-significant. We saw no reason to perform any further tests for this sample.
Table 3 shows the results for Sample B3. In part A of it, the results for G, as well for the control text V for 999,999 random permutations are summarized. In the case of V, min 📷 is approximately .559.
In part B, the results for G for 999,999,999 random permutations are given. Notice that only the rank order of P2 was calculated. It turned out to be 4.
We conclude that for Sample B3 the null hypothesis is rejected with significance level (p-value) .000000004.

APPENDIX: Details of the Procedure.

In this Appendix we describe the procedure in sufficient detail to enable the reader to repeat the computations precisely. Some motivation for the various definitions is also provided.
In Section A.1 of this Appendix, a "raw" measure of distance between words is defined. Section A.2 explains how we normalize this raw measure to correct for factors like the length of a word and its composition (the relative frequency of the letters occurring in it). Section A.3 explains how the three samples B1, B2 and B3 are constructed. Section A.5 identifies the precise text, of Genesis that we used. In Section A.6, we define and motivate the statistics P1 and P2. The details of the task (iv) are described in Section A.4. Finally, Section A.7 provides the details of the randomization.

A.1 The Distance Between Words.

To define the "distance" between words, we must first define the distance between an ELS representing a word and a string of letters (SL) in the text, (i.e. with d = 📷1) representing the other word. Before we can do that, we must define the distance between ELS and SL in a given array: and before we can do that, we must define the distance between individual letters in the array.
As indicated in Section 1, we think of an array as one long line that spirals down on a cylinder; its row length h is the number of vertical columns. To define the distance between two letters x and x', cut the cylinder along a vertical line between two columns. In the resulting plane each of x and x' have two integer coordinates. and we compute the distance between them as usual, using these coordinates. In general, there are two possible values for this distance, depending on the vertical line that was chosen for cutting the cylinder; if the two values are different, we use the smaller one.
Next, we define the distance between fixed ELS e and SL e' in a fixed cylindrical array. Set
f := the distance between consecutive letters of e,
f ' := the distance between consecutive letters of e' = 1.
l := the minimal distance between a letter of e and one of e',
and define 📷(e, e') := f2 + f'2+l2+1. We call 📷(e, e') the distance between the ELS e and the SL e' in the given array; it is small if both fit into a relatively compact area.
Now there are many ways of writing Genesis as a cylindrical array, depending on the row length h. Denote by 📷h(e, e') the distance 📷(e, e') in the array determined by h, and set 📷h(e, e') := 1/📷h(e, e'); the larger 📷h(e, e') is, the more compact is the configuration consisting of e and e' in the array with row length h. Set e = (n, d, k) (recall that d is the skip). Of particular interest are the row lengths h = h1, h2,.... where hi is the integer nearest to d /i (1/2 is rounded up). Thus when h = h1 = d, then e appears as a column of adjacent letters and when h = h2, then e appears either as a column that skips alternate rows or as a straight line of knight's moves. In general, the arrays in which e appears relatively compactly are those with row length hi with i "not too large."
The above discussion indicates that if there is an array in which the configuration (e,e') is unusually compact, it is likely to be among those whose row length is one of the first ten hi. (Here and in the sequel 10 is an arbitrarily selected "moderate" number). So setting
📷
we conclude that 📷(e, e') is a reasonable measure of the maximal "compactness" of the configuration (e, e') in any array. Equivalently, it is an inverse measure of the minimum distance between e and e'.
Next, given a word w, we look for the most "noteworthy" occurrence or occurrences of w as an ELS in G. For this, we chose ELS's e = (n,d,k) with d 📷 2 that spell out w for which d is minimal over all of G, or at least over large portions of it. Specifically, define the domain of minimality of e as the maximal segment Te of G that includes e and does not include any other ELS 📷 for w with 📷< d. The length of Te, relative to the whole of G, is the "weight" we assign to e. Thus we define 📷(e) := 📷(Te)/📷(G), where 📷(Te) is the length of Te, and 📷(G) is the length of G. For any two words w and w', we set
📷
where the sum is over all ELS's e spelling out w and over all SL's e' spelling out w'. Roughly, 📷(w, w') measures the maximum closeness of the more noteworthy appearances of w as ELS's and w' as SL's in Genesis--the closer they are, the larger is 📷(w, w').
When actually computing 📷(w, w'), the size of the list of ELS's for w may be impractically large (especially for short words). It is clear from the definition of the domain of minimality that ELS's for w with relatively large skips will contribute very little to the value of 📷(w,w') due to their small weight. Hence, in order to cut the amount of computation we restrict beforehand the range of the skip d📷D(w) for w so that the expected number of ELS's for w will be 10. This expected number equals the product of the relative frequencies (within Genesis) of the letters constituting w multiplied by the total number of all equidistant letter sequences with 2 📷d📷 D. (The latter is given by the formula (D - 1)(2L - (k - 1)(D + 2)), where L is the length of the text and k is the number of letters in w). Abusing our notation somewhat, we continue to denote this modified function by 📷(w,w').

A.2 The Corrected Distance.

In the previous section we defined a measure 📷(w, w') of proximity between two words w and w' -- an inverse measure of the distance between them. We are, however, interested less in the absolute distance between two words, than in whether this distance is larger or smaller than "expected". In this section, we define a "relative distance" c(w, w'), which is small when w is "unusually close" to w', and is 1, or almost 1, when w is "unusually far" from w'.
The idea is to use perturbations of the arithmetic progressions that define the notion of an ELS. Specifically, start by fixing a triple (x,y,z) of integers in the range {-r,...,0,...,r}; there are (2r + 1)3 such triples. In Witztum et al. (1994) and also here we put r = 2. which gives us 125 triples. Next, rather than looking for ordinary ELS's (n,d,k), look for "(x,y,z)-perturbed ELS's" (n,d,k)(x,y,z) obtained by taking the positions
n, n + d,...,n + (k - 4)d, n + (k - 3)d + x, n + (k - 2)d + x + y, n + (k - 1)d + x + y + z,
instead of the positions n, n + d, n +2d,...,n +(k - 1)d. Note that in a word of length k, k-2 intervals could be perturbed. However, we preferred to perturb only the 3 last ones, for technical programming reasons.
The distance between the (x,y,z)-peturbed ELS (n, d, k)(x,y,z) and the SL (n', 📷1,k') is defined by the same formulae as in the non-perturbed case, where f is taken to be the distance between the first two letters of (x,y,z)-perturbed e.
We may now calculate the "(x,y,z)-proximity" of two words w and w' in a manner exactly analogous to that used for calculating the "ordinary" proximity 📷(w, w'). This yields 125 numbers 📷(x,y,z)(w, w'), of which 📷(w,w')=📷(0,0,0)(w,w') is one. We are interested in only some of these 125 numbers; namely, those corresponding to triples (x,y,z) for which there actually exist some (x,y,z)-perturbed ELS's in Genesis for w (the other 📷(x,y,z)(w,w') vanish). Denote by M(w, w') the set of all such triples, and by m(w, w') the number of its elements.
Suppose (0,0,0) is in M(w, w'), i.e., w actually appears as ordinary ELS (i.e., with x = y = z = 0) in the text. Denote by v(w,w') the number of triples (x,y,z) in M(w,w') for which 📷(x,y,z)(w,w')📷📷(w,w'). If m(w,w')📷 10 (again, 10 is an arbitrarily selected "moderate" number),
c(w,w') :=v(w,w')/m(w,w').
If (0, 0,0) is not in M(w, w'), or if m(w, w') < 10 (in which case we consider the accuracy of the method as insufficient), we do not define c(w,w').
In words, the corrected distance c(w,w') is simply the rank order of the proximity 📷(w,w') among all the "perturbed proximities" 📷(x,y,z)(w,w'); if 📷(w,w') is tied with other 📷(x,y,z)(w,w'), half of these others are considered to "exceed" 📷(w,w'). We normalize it so that the maximum distance is 1. A large corrected distance means that ELS's representing w are far away from the SL's representing w', on a scale determined by how far the perturbed ELS's for w are from the SL's for w'.

A.3 The Samples of Word Pairs.

In this Section we describe the three samples that were tested in this research. Each of them consists of pairs of expressions (w,w'), where according to our procedure, we are looking for w to appear as ELS's and for w' to appear as SL's.
Our method of rank ordering of ELS's based on (x,y,z)-perturbations requires that words have at least 5 letters to apply the perturbations. In addition, we found that for words with more than 8 letters, the number of (x,y,z)-perturbed ELS's which actually exist for such words was too small to satisfy our criteria for applying the corrected distance. Thus the words in our list are restricted in length to the range 5-8, exactly as in Witztum et al. (1994). However. there is no restriction on the words or expressions appearing as SL's.
A.3.1 Preliminary Tests. Sample B1 deals with men's names. Appendix B in Even-Shoshan's Hebrew dictionary (Even-Shoshan. 1989) is "A Treasury of Private Names". It is divided into two parts: "A Treasury of Men's Names" and "A Treasury of Women's Names". Originally, we intented to check a sample based on the (much bigger) Treasury of men's names. The Treasury contains names from the Hebrew Bible and from various periods of the Hebrew language. We decided to include in our sample only names taken from the Hebrew Bible (they are indicated as such in this Treasury). These are original Hebrew names, or names which are etymologically Semitic or Hebrew. (See the foreword to the Treasury).
We describe the subject of the sample by the following set of pairs of expressions:

1. 📷 (private) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷 (Semitic) - 📷 (names),
3. 📷 (Hebrew) - 📷 (names),
4. 📷 (original) - 📷 (names).

The Hebrew term for "The Hebrew Bible" is either 📷 (Mikra) or 📷 (Tanach). We used both:

1. 📷📷 📷 (from the Hebrew Bible) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷📷 📷 (from the Hebrew Bible) - 📷 (names).

Then we describe the fact that we deal with men's names, by the following pairs:

1. 📷 (of men) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷📷 (of the men) - 📷 (names),
3. 📷📷 (for men) - 📷 (names)
4. 📷 📷 (of men) - 📷 (names),
5. 📷📷 📷 (of the men) - 📷 (names).

The first pair is shown above in Fig. 1 (in the Introduction). There, a minimal ELS for the word 📷 (private) appears in close proximity with an appearance of the word 📷 (names) as a SL. We mark this appearance of 📷 (names), and check how close, each of the other expressions in the pairs 2) to 6) and a) to e) - appearing as a minimal ELS - "hits" at it. For example, this appearance of 📷 (names), is shown in Fig. 2: this table is determined by an ELS for 📷 (original), which is minimal in a section of the text comprising 86% of G.
Tables 4A and 4B give the values of c(w,w') for each pair from the above lists (where w' is 📷 (names), and w is the corresponding expression). Recall that c(w, w') is defined only when w appears as an ELS, and that w is restricted in length to the range 5-8.
The total for the 11 pairs is: P1 = 0.0000042, P2 = 0.000397 (for the definition of P1 and P2 see section A.6).
A randomization test that fits for this type of samples, where the same word is "paired" with a list of expressions, is the subject of our next paper.
Sample B2 deals with women's names. We describe this fact exactly as we had done with men's names; i.e. by the following pairs:

1. 📷 (of women) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷📷 (of the women) - 📷 (names),
3. 📷📷 (for women)- 📷 (names),
4. 📷 📷 (of women) - 📷 (names),
5. 📷📷 📷 (of the women) - 📷 (names).

Here too, the word 📷(names) is in the above mentioned appearance as SL.
Table 5 gives the values of c(w,w') for each pair from the above list (where w' is 📷(names), and w, is the corresponding expression).
To do a preliminary test for Sample B3, we proceed in a similar way and check the following expressions with the same appearance of 📷(names) as above:

1. 📷 (of nations) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷📷 (of the nations) - 📷 (names),
3. 📷📷 (for nations) - 📷 (names):
4. 📷 📷 (of nations) - 📷 (names),
5. 📷📷 📷 (of the nations) - 📷 (names).

We checked more specifically the subject of Sample B3: the title 📷📷 📷 "The Seventy Nations" can be also written as 📷📷 📷 (using the well-known numerical value of the Hebrew letters. 📷= 70). The alternative title in use is 📷 📷 ("The Seventy Descendants of Noah" ). Notice that in Hebrew 📷 means both the sons and the descendants of Noah.) This expression can be also written as 📷 📷, where again 📷 stands for 70. Thus we have the pairs:

1. 📷📷 📷 (the Seventy Nations) - 📷 (names),
2. 📷📷 📷 (The Seventy Nations) - 📷 (names),
3. 📷 📷 (The Seventy Descendants of Noah) - 📷 (names),
4. 📷 📷 (The Seventy Descendants of Noah) - 📷 (names).

Table 6 gives the values of c(w, w') for each pair from the above list (where w' is 📷(names), and w is the corresponding expression). The total for the 9 pairs is: P1 = 0.0170, P2 = 0.0154.
Seeing these results as encouraging, we proceed to check even more closely the subject of Sample B3.
The expression 📷 (the descendants of Noah) exists in G as SL's five times. So we can look directly for meetings between this expression and the word 📷 (seventy) as ELS's:

1. 📷 (seventy) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah)

In Fig. 3 we see the best meeting of these expressions. This table is determined by an ELS for the word 📷 (seventy) with skip 28. We mark this appearance of 📷 (the descendants of Noah), and check how close, each of the other expressions in the following pairs - appearing as a minimal ELS- "hits" it.

1. 📷📷 (the nations) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
2. 📷📷 📷 (The Seventy Nations) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
3. 📷📷 📷 (The Seventy Nations) -📷 (the descendants of Noah),
4. 📷 📷 (The Seventy Descendants of Noah) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
5. 📷 📷 (The Seventy Descendants of Noah) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
6. 📷📷 (some of the descendants of Noah) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
7. 📷 (his descendants) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah).
8. 📷 📷 (the seventy descendants of him) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
9. 📷 📷 (the seventy descendants of him) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
10. 📷📷 (some of his descendants) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
11. 📷 (his descendants) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
12. 📷 📷 (the seventy descendants of him) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
13. 📷 📷 (the seventy descendants of him) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah),
14. 📷📷 (some of his descendants) - 📷 (the descendants of Noah).

​

I am posting this (public) information for those of you who have been buying the crap from the CUPE members posting/downvoting on these boards regarding their "living wage". I checked the CUPE seniority list and found some very high salaries from those who are complaining about not receiving a living wage, like the following (I only put their initials and seniority level found in the second last column of the seniority list in parentheses so as not to out anyone - you can check for yourselves):
These are just a few of the "starving" CUPE members and their 2024 salaries:
DA (23.5): $107,077.85
CA (61.32): $109,315.52
JA (57.00): $106,949.28
MA (57.00): $106,228.59
KA (71.55): $103,522.20
AA (60.00): $103,454.84
VB (62.00): $104,121.55
AB (28.83): $116,149.60
GB (40.00): $113,699.53
SB-D (60.0): $104,592.12
JB (98.85): $129,168.40
BB (50.32): $108,007.79
M-EB (39.22): $116,681.24
Please note that I have only taken samples from last names lettered A and B - there are likely more than hundreds of these people pretending they are fighting for a living wage and conveniently forgetting to tell you they are receiving six-figure salaries with generous benefits. If you don't believe me, please feel free to cross-reference some of the names with seniority on the CUPE seniority list found at this link:
https://3903.cupe.ca/files/2023/03/CUPE-Seniority-as-of-March-1-2023-sorted-by-Last-Name.pdf
with the Sunshine list found here (make sure you put York as the employer when searching a name):
https://www.sunshinelist.ca/
Most are TAs and won't show up in the list, but many with years of seniority (as listed in the right column) can be found on the Sunshine listing, pulling in their six-figure salaries while moaning about struggling to make ends meet.
The Sunshine list can be found here - look for yourself and note that these Sunshine list people like Crackpot Beria are here to sell you misinformation. They are trying to manipulate this strike to achieve their own (higher) six-figure salaries than those they having been receiving for years now from York. Don't drink the CUPE kool-aid- many of the CUPE members orchestrating this are on the Sunshine list just like Rhonda Lenton.
Edit: It's hilarious to see myself get multiple upvotes in real time, just to see them go down 3 at a time as CUPE tries to suppress this. My counter is literally going up and down. Undergrads, thank you for your support - I won't sell you out when I commence grad studies here next year!

Welcome to part 2 of my 2024 series about George's drafts of the first three ASOIAF novels. Yesterday, I looked at the changes in the early drafts of A Game of Thrones.. Today, I'll look at the drafts of Clash and Storm (I covered the differences in George's drafts of Feast a year ago- part 1, part 2, part 3). If you're unfamiliar with the Cushing Library and the previous research that has been done on George's drafts, I'd encourage you to see the my first Cushing Library post for an introduction.

A Clash of Kings: The Glass Candles

The Cushing Library only really contains one working draft of ACOK, from June 1997 (there's another final draft with no substantial changes from the published version). That one draft has 31 chapters and 567 manuscript pages, roughly 48% of the final text (you can see the chapter structure in my ASOIAF drafts spreadsheet). Sadly, it doesn't include Clash's most important chapter for foreshadowing, Dany's vision in the House of the Undying.
The most interesting change in the ACOK draft relates to something that was hinted at in the letter I found from George to his editors about the AFFC prologue: that George had been wrestling with how to introduce the glass candles long before Feast was published. Originally, they were to have had a significant role in Clash, starting with the prologue:

• ACOK June 1997, p27
• ACOK June 1997, p28
• ACOK June 1997, p29

As you can see, there's no new lore here, just stuff that eventually made it into Feast. But it is interesting that George tried make the ignition of the candles coincide with the arrival of the red comet. A few pages later, he seemed to connect them more directly. There's a passage in the published version of this chapter where Cressen thinks about the comet before going to bed. Originally, it read like this:

Yet when he closed his eyes, he could still see the pale bright flame of the glass candle, burning steadily against the inside of his eyelids. As he watched, it grew into the comet, red and fiery and vividly alive amidst the darkness of his dreams.

There's also a deleted line after he wakes up about him having had dark, terrible dreams, perhaps somehow prompted by the candle. And after he falls and Mellisandre help him up at the feast, Cressen has this deleted thought:

She knows why the glass candle burns, what the comet portends. She is wiser than you, old man.

In retrospect, the last line of this chapter was originally written as a callback to Cressen's ominous glass candle. Here's the published version:

And the cowbells peeled in his antlers, singing fool, fool, fool while the red woman looked down on him in pity, the candle flames dancing in her red, red eyes.

The draft chapter's final line has slight wording differences, but is effectively the same.
The glass candles are explicitly mentioned twice more in this draft, both in Tyrion chapters. As the passage above indicates, in this version of the story, all maesters have their own glass candle that they're supposed to try and fail to light each day as an exercise in humility. Pycelle evidently has one too, and as Tyrion is searching Pycelle's chambers for the indigestion poison he wants to give to Cersei, he sees Pycelle's glass candle burning:

Behind the shelves, hidden behind an ornate lacquer screen, he stumbled on a tiny windowless alcove where a tall black candle was burning atop a carved marble shelf. Something about it made Tyrion want to examine it more closely, but he knew he was running short of time. He made a hasty retreat back to the table, and was peeling another egg when Grand Maester Pycelle came creeping back down the stair.

The second mention happens as Tyrion ambushes Pycelle as the Grand Master is in bed with a whore- the terrified Pycelle indicates that the candles are bad news:

"My lord, please, you must heed me, you are in danger, all of you, grave danger, the realm, there's so much you do not know, secrets, the hidden mysteries... the glass candle is burning, it's true, I swear, spare me and I'll show you... the Conclave... you must send me to Oldtown at once..."

Pycelle's reference to the Conclave is interesting, because this draft is also sprinkled with deleted mentions of maesters being unexpectedly out of town. As Theon arrives at Pkye and asks where his old maester Qalen is, Helya replied:

He sleeps in the sea. Wendamyr keeps the ravens now, but he is gone south to Oldtown on some maester's business.

And as Bran is listening to petitioners at Winterfell in Bran 2, there's this altered description of Leobald Tallhart's visit:

He talked of weather portents and the slack wits of the smallfolk for what seemed like hours, complained that his maester had left them to visit the Citadel, and told how his nephew Benfred itched for battle.

Evidently, in this draft, the Citadel quickly became aware that the glass candles were burning, considered it a big deal (according to Pycelle, it put the realm in grave danger), and called a Conclave to discuss the ramifications. This is different from how they're treated in AFFC- there, Marwyn seems to be the only maester aware that they now work again.
Nearly all this was deleted, but remember that George did retain one mention of the glass candles in Clash, when Xaro tells Dany about all the strange magical phenomenon that have been witnessed recently. Dany reminds him that he'd said the warlocks were nothing to fear, and Xaro replies:

And so it was, then. But now? I am less certain. It is said that the glass candles are burning in the house of Urrathon Night-Walker, that have not burned in a hundred years. Ghost grass grows in the Garden of Gehane, phantom tortoises have been seen carrying messages between the windowless houses on Warlock’s Way, and all the rats in the city are chewing off their tails. The wife of Mathos Mallarawan, who once mocked a warlock’s drab moth-eaten robe, has gone mad and will wear no clothes at all. Even fresh-washed silks make her feel as though a thousand insects were crawling on her skin. And Blind Sybassion the Eater of Eyes can see again, or so his slaves do swear. A man must wonder.

So what does all this mean? First, here's my guess as to what happened to George's candles plans:

• Although he really liked the glass candle concept, George (probably with his editors) decided that as magical omens, the candles and the comet were redundant, and the book was getting too long as it was. So he deleted the candles and Conclave subplot from Clash. But, with an eye towards coming back to it later, he left that single reference from Xaro as part of a general catalog of weirdness, without the original Citadel connection. This was George planting a seed while strategically keeping things vague, given the trouble he had trying to make his original glass candles concept work.
• Once Clash was done, George already had a huge set of fully developed plans for Storm, and had no room to introduce anything else in that book. But once Clash shot to the top of the bestsellers lists and ASOIAF started to become a Big Deal in the publishing world, he decided to take his time on the next book and include all the stuff he'd wanted to include in the previous books but hadn't had time for, including the Citadel and the Ironborn plots, which are basically the first two things he worked on for Feast.

And what does this mean for the story? Given that this glass candle material was specifically deleted and then replaced with other glass candle material in AFFC, I don't think we can read much into it. But if I had to draw conclusions, mine would be these:

• George originally meant for both the candles and the comet to have been triggered by the return of magic (or perhaps just fire magic) to the world, which in turn was prompted by the birth of Dany's dragons. This isn't a novel theory, but the more explicit candle timing and candle/comet prose linkages in the draft Clash prologue suggest that George considered all of this connected.
• George wanted Pycelle and the Citadel to be freaked out by this because the Citadel had a hand in the elimination of dragons, and thus magic, from the world roughly 151 years ago.

But really, this material is 27 years old at this point- it's interesting, but whatever plans George had for the glass candles and the Citadel then have been overtaken by the later books.

A Clash of Kings: Cersei's Mole

The second interesting set of changes in the draft of Clash relates to Tyrion's attempt (in ACOK Tyrion 4) to flush out the identity of Cersei's informant by feeding Pycelle, Littlefinger and Vary three different stories about his plans for Cersei's children, and seeing which story Cersei learns about. There are some key differences in the draft that may change your understanding of what happened canonically, but this change is a bit tricky, so before getting into it, recall these details from the published version:

• Tyrion first meets with Pycelle in his chambers, and gives Pycelle two letters containing duplicate copies of an offer to foster Myrcella with Prince Doran, and instructs Pycelle to send both letters via raven immediately.
• While waiting for Pycelle to return, Tyrion hears wings and then sees one raven flying from the rookery.
• Varys arrives at Tyrion's bedchamber roughly an hour later and already knows that Pycelle just sent a secret letter to Doran on Tyrion's behalf.
• Cersei later is angry at Tyrion for offering Myrcella to Doran, but not for the other offers he described to Littlefinger and Varys.
• Tyrion ambushes Pycelle with Shagga, accusing him of giving one of the letters to Cersei. Pycelle denies it, accuses Varys, then, after harsher threats, admits to letting Jon Arryn die.

Now, here's the draft version of the passage where Tyrion instructs Pycelle to send the letters:

• ACOK, June 1997, p283

And here's the draft version of Varys's arrival at Tyrion's bedchamber near the end of the same chapter:

• ACOK, June 1997, p300
• ACOK, June 1997, p301

The key differences are these:

• Tyrion originally noticed two birds leaving the rookery not one (technically, in the draft, he saw one, but heard two)
• Varys originally arrived minutes after Littlefinger leaves, rather than a little under an hour
• Varys originally denied knowing the substance of the Doran letter and instead claims to guess its contents, rather than saying that his little birds told him.

What's the significance of this? I'm not sure, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. My best guess is that in the draft, George wanted to subtly indicate that Varys was the real leaker- having Tyrion notice two ravens leaving (as he almost subconsciously does in the draft) undermines the theory that Pycelle kept one of the ravens back. Having Varys appear so quickly when summoned in this draft may also have been meant as a hint that he was nearby listening to all Tyrion's conversations.
There's also a connection to the glass candles changes that makes me think that, at least in this draft, George meant for Pycelle to have been fully honest when interrogated by Tyrion, and Tyrion didn't realize it. The chapter in which Tyrion interrogates Pycelle about the leak also contains the deleted passage in which Pycelle warns that the glass candles are burning and the realm is in grave danger. Tyrion blows that warning off (at the end of the chapter he notices the glass candle Pycelle was talking about again, and cheekily extinguishes it). We know from other draft chapters (and future books) that the glass candles are real and significant, so Tyrion's reaction there is likely meant to seem misguided. When you combine that with the fact that Pycelle denies being the leaker (blaming Varys instead), and that Pycelle quickly admits to a number of other crimes, I think that in that draft chapter, Tyrion is meant to be mistaken about Pycelle, and likely being played by Varys. George's decision to go from Tyrion noticing two ravens to noticing one, and increasing the amount of time before Varys arrives might indicate that he wanted to drop that idea and just make Pycelle the leaker in the published version- but I personally think Varys could still be a candidate there too.
Having said all that, I really struggled with analyzing this section, and am interested to see your interpretations of these changes.

A Clash of Kings: Other changes

The removal of the glass candles is only significant change to the plot of ACOK, but there are a number of other interesting small changes. First, at the end of Bran's harvest feast chapter, when Jojen and Meera Reed meet Bran's direwolf, the draft has this deleted line from Meera as Jojen approaches Summmer:

Go careful, Jojen. Remember what father said.

It's not much, but given how much speculation there is about the current status of Howland Reed, this at least provides an indication that Howland was at home in the Neck at the beginning of Clash. A variety of characters (Maester Luwin, Robb) have tried to contact Howland in the Neck, but this is the only report we have from someone who actually interacted with him recently. The line may also indicate that (when the draft was written), George meant for Howland to have particular interest in the direwolves, and perhaps understand their magical significance. I think this deletion, like most deletions, was likely done for length, not to change the story or better conceal important mysteries.
There's another deleted Bran passage one chapter earlier, in which Bran wants to ride Dancer into the Great Hall for the harvest feast, but Maester Luwin refuses, saying "it would not be seemly." The chapter ends with this line from Ser Rodrik:

"You have a Stark's pride, Bran, but the maester has the right of this, I think. Riding through the Great Hall... no, we will carry you in, with all dignity and honor. Believe me, boy, it will be best that way."

But riding Dancer into the Great Hall for the feast, to hearty cheers from the guests, is exactly how Bran's next chapter begins, in both the draft and published books. So the published version loses a bit of context from the draft- it's implied that Bran must have put his foot down and gotten his way, and been proven right.
Another interesting change comes at the end of Daenerys 2, when she sends Jorah out to the docks of Qarth to looks for ships that might be able to transport them. As published, Jorah returns with Quhuru Mo, the captain of the Cinnamon Wind, who informs Dany of the death of Robert Baratheon. Originally, George intended for Jorah to return with Daario Naharis. Here's a sample of his introduction:

• ACOK, June 1997, p416

His introduction and description is very similar to as published in ASOS Daenerys 4. And he gives Dany the same information as Quhuru does- those parts of his dialogue are transferred largely unchanged to Quhuru. But in this introduction, he swears himself to Dany's service immediately (in Storm he only does that on their second meeting, after he betrays the the other captains of his sellsword company) and Dany invites him to dinner so that she can hear the tale of his voyage from Tyrosh.
This deletion wasn't done for space, IMO, but simply because it didn't make a ton of sense for a Tyroshi sellsword in Qaarth to be the person bringing Dany the latest news from Westeros. I suspect that George originally introduced him in this chapter because he wanted to emphasize the pattern of Jorah warning Dany not to trust anyone else- earlier in this chapter, Jorah warns her against trusting Pyat Pree, Xaro and Quaithe. But introducing Daario in this way just made much less sense than the obvious alternative of having her receive the news from a ship captain.
There's only one substantial deleted passage from Jon's chapters, a flashback to a conversation with Sam, Grenn and Pyp before he left for the Great Ranging. Pyp offered to trade places with Sam, but Grenn says that the deception would never work. This is another likely brevity deletion- it adds nothing to the story, but saved George 2/3 of a page.
There's one small deletion from another Jon chapter that likely does have story significance though. During the conversation between Jon and Mormont about Maester Aemon's biography early in Jon 1, the draft contains this deleted exchange:

The Old Bear gave a loud snort, and the raven took flight, flapping in a circle about the room. "If I had a man for every vow I have seen broken in my day, the Wall would not lack for defenders, I promise you. Especially when... it might have been you, Jon. You are the elder, are you not?"
"By a few turns of the moon. But Robb is trueborn. That is what he shares with Maester Aemon."

The published books give no indication of whether Jon or Robb is older. But if Jon is older, it makes the story of Ned fathering him while he was away during Robert's Rebellion impossible, because Robb was conceived with Catelyn a fortnight before Ned departed for the war. I suspect that George originally put this in because he wanted to provide a hint that Ned wasn't Jon's father, but then ultimately took it out because the hint was too obvious, and Catelyn and many other characters would have easily realized the same thing.
The same passage also makes one small change to Maester Aemon's biography- as published, he chose to go to the Wall to avoid undermining his younger brother, King Aegon. In the original draft, Aegon was the one who sent him there, to avoid being compared to Aemon. The published version makes Aemon more noble.
The Clash draft chapters also have a deleted connection between Jon and Arya. There's a deleted line near the end of Arya 3 in which she thinks of Jon while falling asleep:

When Arya's eyes finally closed, it seemed as though her brother Jon was with her. He smiled at her, but something in his eyes looked sad, and she knew he had something important to tell her. They said it together. Winter is coming.

Interestingly, the next chapter is Jon 3, its end has a deleted mention of Jon thinking of Arya:

He suddenly remembered how he used to muss Arya's hair. His little stick of a sister. He wondered where she was now. It made him a little sad to think that he would never muss her hair again.

George was clearly setting up the two of them intersecting again. The fact that he deleted those passages, and that 3 books later it still hasn't happened, may indicate that he changed his mind about that during the writing of Clash.
In Sansa's chapters, there are some small changes to her dialogue with Dontos about escaping. Originally, Dontos planned for someone else to row Sansa out to sea during the escape:

Ser Dontos raised his face to her. "Taking you from the castle, that will be the hardest. Once you are out, I know a lad with a little skiff, for a bit of coin and a taste of wine he'd row you out to sea, to these fisherfolk I know... he's a mute, so he asks no questions and gives no answer."
A mute. Icy needles scraped up Sansa's spine. The King's justice was mute, and the very sight of Ser Ilyn filled her with dread. "When would this be? Could we go now?"
"This very night? No, my lady, I fear not. First I must speak to my friends, and find a sure way to get you from the castle when the hour is ripe. It will not be easy, nor quick. They watch me as well."

As you can see, originally Dontos also hinted that someone else was directing the plan, when he said he needed talk to his "friends" (i.e. Littlefinger)- another deleted line. There are no other hints as to who the mute might be, but evidently that was another abandoned subplot.
Some other quick hits:

• Dany's dragon Rhaegal was originally named "Rhaegor."
• Ser Gregor's torturer "The Tickler" was originally named "The Piper."
• Harrenhall whore Pretty Pia was originally named Pretty Mia
• Xaro Xhoan Daxos was originally named Jaro Jhoan Daxos.
• The Greyjoy banner was originally supposed to have three tails streaming from it, like the arms of a kraken.
• When Renly dies, there's a deleted line in which Catelyn is said to stand "still as stone." I'm skeptical that this was meant as Stoneheart foreshadowing, but the same draft has the line in which Catelyn looks her reflection in some breastplate and sees "the face of a drowned woman" so it's possible.

ASOS: The Knight of the Laughing Tree

The library's ASOS draft is from July 1999, roughly 10 months before George finalized the manuscript, and contains 574 manuscript pages, roughly 38% of the final text. While by raw word count, the edits to Storm are unquestionably more extensive than for Clash and Game, they mostly take the form of heavier wordsmithing of the entire prose- there are no changes to major subplots on the same level as the deletion of the glass candles from Clash, or the change to Victarion's fate late in the writing of *Feast. But some of that wordsmithing may have significance to some of George's biggest mysteries.
The best example of that comes George's edits to the story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree in ASOS Bran 2. In Meera's telling of this story, the protagonist is a young crannogman- clearly Meera's father, Howland Reed, though she doesn't say that. According to Meera, "he could talk to trees and weave words and make castles appear and disappear." The story begins with Howland leaving his home in the Neck and visiting the mysterious Isle of Faces. He spends a winter there with the green man before continuing south. Here's how Howland's time on the Isle of Faces is described in the published book:

All that winter the crannogman stayed on the isle, but when the spring broke he heard the wide world calling and knew the time had come to leave. His skin boat was just where he'd left it, so he said his farewells and paddled off toward shore.

And here's how that passage went in the 1999 draft.

The crannogman dwelled on the isle through most of that winter... but when the spring broke he heard the wide world calling and knew the time had come to leave. His skin boat was just where he had left it, so he said his farewells to the trees and paddled off toward shore.

There are a few wording changes there, but the most significant is the shortening of the phrase "said his farewells to the trees" to just "said his farewells." Reasonable people can differ, but I think that phrase is potentially a major hint to the nature of the green men- i.e. the green men are, in some sense, trees.
This possibility shouldn't be too surprising- the story already contains one human-tree hybrid, Bloodraven. And both Bloodraven and the green men have connections to children of the forest- Bloodraven lives with the only known surviving Children, and the World of Ice and Fire suggested that some other Children may have survived on the Isle of Faces with the green men. The limited descriptions we have of the green men also include tree-like elements- later in this same chapter, Bran says that Old Nan told him that the green men had leaves instead of hair. Bran also says twice (in this chapter, and later in Storm) that Old Nan once told him that the green men have antlers, which could be a misinterpretation of tree branches. And the section on the green men in The World of Ice and Fire also says that their clothes are green- again, perhaps a misinterpretation of leaves or moss. If this is true, Bloodraven's nature could be foreshadowing the nature of the green men who Bran (most likely) will encounter later in the story.
This theory has problems, too- Old Nan also says that the green men are thought to ride elk, which doesn't sound tree-like, and the particular tree that Bloodraven is merging with is a weirwood- a tree instantly recognizable because its trunk and leaves are not green. So an alternative interpretation of the deleted "said his farewells to the trees" might be that Howland was able to communicate with the weirwoods that are also believed to populate the Isle, and that the Children, the green men and the weirwoods form a trinity of ice magic mediums that coexist on the Isle.
I lean towards the first theory though, mainly because George was clearly teasing the green men just a few sentences earlier- weirwoods aren't so secret that George would want to delete references hinting to their nature, but the green men are.
In addition to this change, there are a few other interesting changes to the story of the KOTLT worth mentioning. One of the next events in Howland's story is that he's attacked by three squires soon after arriving at the Tourney of Harrenhal. As published, he's rescued by "the she-wolf", who most readers understand to be Lyanna Stark. But in the draft, the crannogman is rescued by "a wild wolf"- Brandon Stark, Ned and Lyanna's dead brother. Here's the draft version of that passage:

"That's my father's man you sorry lot are kicking," came the roar of a wild wolf.
"A wolf on four legs, or two?" said Bran
"Two," said Meera, smiling. "He scattered the squires with a tourney sword, swatting them with the flat of the blade. The crannogman was bruised and bloodied, so the wild wolf took him back to his lair where his maiden sister cleaned his cuts and bound them up with linen. Soon the whole pack had gathered in the tent; the wolf's squire and serving men and friends, and his two young brothers as well. The middle brother was quiet and serious, the youngest brother a playful pup.

There's another small difference in the above passage worth mentioning- the "pup" is generally assumed to be the youngest Stark sibling, Benjen, but the published description of him doesn't include the word "playful." By the time we meet Benjen at the Wall, he's generally described as dark and serious. Others have suggested that something may have changed Benjen's personality around the time he joined the watch- the description of the young Benjen as "playful" could be considered more evidence for that.
The draft version of the KOTLT story also contains some deleted references to Rhaegar's newborn son Aegon being present:

The king presented his new grandson to the lords assembled upon a golden shield, and cups were raised to the boy, to his father, to their host and his daughter, the queen of love and beauty, and to the king's new Hand, the horn of plenty lord.

And elsewhere, Meera references "the wife of the dragon prince, who'd brought her newborn son to see his father joust."
I think that Aegon being alive during the tourney would have changed his chronology slightly- he was supposedly still an infant when he was killed by Gregor Clegane during the sack of King's Landing in 283 AC. If he were an infant during the Tourney, he'd have been 1 (probably 1.5) years old during the Sack, which IMO is beyond the cutoff for an infant (many one year olds can walk). Perhaps others can think of some significance to this, but it's also possible that it just didn't add anything to the story and was deleted for space.

ASOS: Arya

Another small wording change with potential significance to the story's endgame occurs in the draft of ASOS Arya 4, when word of the Kingslayer's release reaches Arya and her captors in the Brotherhood without Banners. In both the draft and published versions, Arya is ordered outside by Greenbeard when the conversation turns to Jaime's release by Catelyn, but in the draft, Arya remains infuriated by the rumor outside and says something interesting:

It's not true, Arys told herself as she ran out a back door. It couldn't be true.
Behind the sept an archery butt had been set up, and Anguy was giving Gendry a lesson in the longbow. They took one look at her and lowered their bows. "What's wrong?" asked Genry.
"It's just a lie!" Arya told him angrily, almost shouting. "She never would. If she did I'll kill her too."
"Who?"
"Her!" Arya shouted. She couldn't bring herself to say her mother's name to them.

A few readers have hypothesized that Arya is destined to kill Lady Stoneheart, and that doing that could bring closure to both Stoneheart and Arya's arcs... it does seem inevitable that Stoneheart will eventually meet one of her children again- un-Catelyn still deserves a modicum of closure and comfort- and Arya is as likely as any, given that George tried to connect them late in Storm via Nymeria's retrieval of Catelyn's body. I'm not remotely certain of this, but the deleted "If she did I'll kill her too" line feels like George's style of foreshadowing to me, if perhaps a bit clunkier than others. Having said that, Arya's chapters in ASOS received a lot of rewriting in general, and even if that line was significant, it was written and deleted 25 years ago, and George's plans could easily have changed.
There are a few other small changes in Arya's draft Storm chapters worth mentioning. While traveling with the brotherhood, there's a deleted mention of the group visiting an underground river:

A few days later, the searchers sheltered down below the ground in a torchlit cavern beside an underground river. One of the cave dwellers said the lightning lord had gone to Whitecrown, another insisted that he'd be found at Acorn Hill."

It's not much, but those who suspect that Westeros is riddled with an underground network of caverns might find that interesting.
The reference to "Whitecrown" above is the original name for High Heart, the hill ringed by ancient weirwood stumps. It's present, and with the same lore, but gets much less prose in this draft- no character like the Ghost of High Heart exists in this version.
Arya's chapter traveling with the brotherhood also includes a hint of a deleted subplot- when they arrive at Acorn Hill, Lady Smallwood informs them of an ominous-sounding singer named Honeytongue who is also searching for Beric Dondarion. Smallwood says that Honeytongue "wants to find Lord Beric and make him into a song, he claims." Which sounds like a not very subtle assassin to me. Smallwood says she directed him on to the Inn of the Kneeling Man. Perhaps George meant for him to kill Sharna and Husband, the Inn's current occupants.
There's also an interesting change to the Sandor Clegane's dialogue when Arya tries to kill him after he defeats Beric Donarrion. The draft of that chapter contains some deleted lines indicating some serious self-loathing underneath his mean exterior:

"You killed Mycah," she said once more, in a voice gone soft and small.
"I did." Then his voice broke, and he began to cry. "Mother have mercy, I did. I rode him down and cut him in half. And the little bird, the pretty little bird, I let them beat her. Gods be good girl, do it. You hear me? Do it!"

That material was mostly cut and moved to ASOS Arya 13, her last ASOS chapter, when he asks her for the gift of mercy but she abandons him. But in that context, Sandor's confessions function partly as manipulation to get her to end his suffering- in the draft's context, the self-loathing seems more honest.

ASOS: The Nature of the Others

There are a few small changes in this draft that might provide hints to the nature of the Others, if you squint. The first of these occurs in the draft's version of Jon 2, as Jon and Mance are inspecting the corpses atop the Fist of the First Men:

"Who did this?" Jon said.
"No men of women born." Mance Raydar had been kneeling over a corpse that looked like Brown Bernarr, but now he stood.

One of the unanswered questions about the Others is where they come from- are they somehow created from humans, or do they have a wholly unrelated biology. There's evidence for both positions in the books, but this deleted line could perhaps be taken as a hint that they are unrelated to men. There's no reason to think that Mance is an expert in the Others, but he is in a better position to understand them than most characters, and George also sometimes gives his fictional characters unearned wisdom for the sake of storytelling and foreshadowing. There's another deleted example of Mance having correct instincts on the Others- after instructing Harna to forget Mormont, Mance originally said "If the Others did not linger here to raise these dead, it can only mean they're hunting down the living." Mance is right about this, as the very next chapter shows (in which Sam is hunted by and eventually defeats an Other).
That chapter contains a second possible deleted hint about the creatures' nature. At the end of Sam's first ASOS chapter, after Sam stabs the Other with his dragonglass dagger, the published book says that the Other tries to pull out the dagger, "but where its fingers touched the obsidian they smoked." Originally, George said that its fingers melted instead of smoked. I think it's very likely that George made this change simply because he liked the imagery of fingers smoking more than melting. But the fact that he considered melting plausible in the first place could be a sign that the Others are made of ice or some other elemental matter, and not derived from flesh (which doesn't melt).

ASOS: The Red Wedding

The July 1999 draft of ASOS doesn't include the Red Wedding itself- George has said it was the last chapter he wrote for Storm- but it does include some deleted foreshadowing that may affect your theories about how it was planned. Here's the original final page of ASOS Tyrion 3, Tyrion's first small council meeting with Tywin:

• ASOS July 1999, p398

The interesting thing about this passage is Tywin's reference to Tyrion building his chain back in Clash- this suggests that Tywin was somehow planning Robb's death long before Robb had even met Jeyne Westerling.
This foreshadowing strikes me as problematic on multiple levels- it weakens the shock impact of the Red Wedding itself, it shows Tywin hinting way too casually to others about an incredibly sensitive plot, and requires an implausible level of foresight from Tywin, especially during the chaos of war. So I'm glad this passage was deleted.
A few pages earlier, there's also a modified line that clearly indicates that Kevan was involved in planning the Red Wedding. There's a passage in the published book in which Tywin rejects the possibility of an alliance with the Ironborn in exchange for giving them the North- Tywin enigmatically says, "Granted enough time, a better option may well present itself. One that does not require the king to give up half his kingdom." In the published version, Kevan then conveniently changes the subject, but in the draft Tywin first meaningfully glances at Kevan. I take this as a sign that George always intended for Kevan to have been involved, but like above, wanted to preserve the surprise both for the reader and the other council members.
I generally don't look at final drafts during these library visits, because my time is limited and I assume that they have many fewer interesting divergences than the early drafts. But I made an exception for the Red Wedding. Here's a very late draft of the second to last page of that chapter, with visible copyediting annotations:

• ASOS April 2000, p957

As you can see, Catelyn's death was originally even more gruesome- in addition to raking her face with her nails, she tore off her own lips and ears. I agree with the copyeditor that that was too much- the self-mutilation that we ultimately got somehow feels more more dignified and in line with what a crazed Catelyn could do.

ASOS: Other changes

I'll cover the remainder of the vaguely interesting differences in the Storm draft as bullets:

• Sam's flashback to the battle at the Fist in Samwell 1 originally included Dolorous Edd saying "The first time since we've been here that I don't have a night watch, and see what happens." I think George should have kept that line.
• After Tywin shows Tyrion the two Valyrian steel swords he had created from the metal of Ice, there's a deleted line in which Tywin mentions that Robert owned "a bronze runeblade six thousand years old, a dragonglass dirk made by the children of the forest, and doubtless hundreds more." The reference to the dragonglass dirk in the same book that Jon discovers a cache of them and Sam uses one to kil an Other was likely meant as a hint to the reader about where Jon's stash originally came from.
• On the topic of swords, the ancient Lannister family sword Brightroar was originally named Blackroar.
• Jon's first chapter contains another blatant hint that he'll live on as Ghost after dying. After Harma threatens Jon, Varamyr (who was originally named Rendhor in this draft) says "If you mean to kill him I'd best hunt down that direwolf, or his shade will soon be stalking us."
• There's a deleted Sansa flashback in which she meets Dontos in the godswood and rejects his rescue plan, in the belief that she'll soon be going to Highgarden to marry Willas Tyrell. By the end of the chapter she's married to Tyrion.
• In the published book, Jaime successfully saves Brienne from being raped by the Brave Companions via his sapphires ruse. In the draft, Brienne is raped repeatedly, and after awhile fully submits to it, lying there like a dead fish as it happens. Going this way would have made Brienne a broken character and harder to find inspiration in, I think, plus would have weakened the connection between Jaime and Brienne, and the cruelty of her ultimately betraying him.

This concludes act 2 of my research into George's ASOIAF drafts- I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I look forward to returning to College Station one final time for act 3 if and when Winds is released, to study the currently closed drafts of ADWD. Thanks as always to the staff of the Cushing Library, who could not have been more helpful during my visit.
If you have any questions about any of any of the drafts I've discussed in this or any previous posts, I'll be happy to answer your questions in the comments below. Like yesterday, my availability to respond to questions most of today will be limited, but I'll check back and respond to as many as I can this evening.~~~~

Hello again my darlings!
Another one shot is here, to the joy of us all.
Big thanks to usual editors and beta readers who make my writing a little bit more berable.
First Previous Next __
The irritating sound of beeping and the touch on the shoulder pulled him out of the pleasant dream. One that was already fading as he opened his eyes.
“Faus. Faus!” His first wife’s, Jeana’s face was the first thing he saw. “High priority message from your boss. You need to get up.”
That information alone was enough to chase away most of the sleep that attempted to hold him down. He scrambled out of the bed, thankful that Zerkana, his second wife, was already up and preparing his uniform for him.
Her muscular body shining in… starlight?
He blinked and took a deep breath, noticing how dark it was outside. “What time is it?” he asked, confused and disoriented.
“Three and half hours after midnight, dear,” Zerkana answered, turning to face him and pushing the uniform into his hands. “And you better answer this summon.”
Faus looked down, only now noticing that the ping wasn’t only an emergency summon, but a call as well.
“As Depths!” He cursed. “I will be in my office. Zerkana, get the car ready. Jeana, you go back to sleep. You and the kids must rest,” he ordered, looking back at his heavily pregnant wife, still lying in bed.
“Are you sure? I could-” Jeana tried to speak, but he cut her off.
“Dear, cut the marine mindset. You are a mommy now. A mommy that needs to take good care of her kids. Zerkana and I will manage. Promise me, you won’t do anything stupid, okay?” He asked, glancing back at his first wife.
Jeana pouted her mouth but nodded, “Okay. I promise I will get some rest and wait for your return. Do you know when you will be back?” She asked.
“Zerkana will just drop me off and get back. She should be home within an hour,” he stepped closer and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t know how long they will keep me there. It’s the first time they called in an emergency in the middle of the night. Must be something big,” he placed a small kiss on her round belly. “Now, get back to sleep.”
“Alright, darling. I love you.” Jeana called as he exited the room.
“I love you too!” Faus called back as he rushed towards his office.
He had to get the uniform on and make sure the call was secure. His masculine side was irritated at the thought he wouldn’t be able to properly prepare and freshen himself up, but that’s life. Besides, his father’s line frowned at the over usage of beauty cosmetics. Time catches up to all of us after all. Getting old demanded dignity, and lying to yourself was a mark of a coward.
It took a short moment, but he put his black-purple uniform on in record short time, before opening a small console in his desk. Finger and eyes scan with additional voice command, and the office was locked, all signals coming in and out, now connected to special safe lines of communication.
He found some of the security measures irritating at times, but the Interior paid well – it had to be said - so he followed their procedures and protocols to the letter.
Finally, after entering an additional password to the communication device, a screen lighted up in his office and after a moment, the face of Oleina Tre’or appeared on the screen. Faus instantly noticed the sweat on her brow and that her uniform’s collar wasn’t properly smoothed out. It seems he wasn’t the only one who was woken in the middle of the night. Which meant the situation had to be really serious.
His boss’s eyes seemed to tremble a little bit, a moment before she spoke.
“Took you long enough,” her voice was steady, yet not as calm and controlled as usual.
He glanced at his device. “I’m within the required timeframe for answering a contact in the middle of the night, in case of emergency, per Ohtal-19 protocol, ma’am,” Faus answered smoothly. “And as per this protocol, I had to be sure we would be talking through a secured line,” he answered.
Oleina’s golden eyes narrowed slightly before she released a breath and nodded her head. “Well, at least that gives you a good alibi,” she said after a moment.
Faus froze in place, his eyes growing wide as cold sweat ran down his back. “Alibi?” He asked, clearing his throat. “Ma’am, what’s going on? What is the cause of the emergency?” He asked.
The Interior agent, looking to be at the edge of her thirties, released a breath. Her usually stoic face had more than a few cracks. People who wouldn’t know her would struggle to notice. But Faus worked as her secretary for six years now.
The signs were small. She was an Interior agent, after all, and a good one. She knew how to keep calm. But whatever happened evidently shook her to her core. She couldn’t focus her eyes on him. She was looking around, evidently looking through some incoming data. There was a small twitch in the lower part of the left lip. A tick she had every time she left a meeting with the nobles that were part of the: ‘Home Maker’. Which was understandable.
He didn’t like them either. Entitled women (and men) were both bad company and a bad influence.
If not for Oleina's words, he would guess that one of the Nobles came up with some new ‘fantastic’ addition to the Home Maker without notifying the rest of the operational staff, which caused some massive delay or transfer of crucial supplies. But no, this was something… far more serious.
“There has been a leak,” Oleina’s words hit him like a hammer.
He understood her breaking facade in a second. She was responsible for keeping Operation: ‘Home Maker’ safe and secure. His mind rushed through everything he knew. Not of the project himself, for security reasons he didn’t have clearance to know specifics, but he knew a lot about security measures.
And there were many of them. Layers upon layers. This was something more than a military operation after all. Every ‘liberation’ constituted deep intelligence gathering, analysis of the environment and how to stabilize it, technology conversion and fusion, civilian and military construction projects, establishing new fuel stations, trade lanes, and so on.
For reasons unknown to him: Home Maker had many additional layers of defense on top of what could be considered standard. There were rumors about why that was the case, but nothing official nor anything that could be easily proven right.
The possibility of information passing through those layers, undetected, was unlikely. And even if some kind of information passed through, there was no way it was anything substantial… right?
“What kind of leak?” He asked, his mind going into overdrive. “We have the protocols to plug any holes-” he started but Olenia cut him off.
“They are here,” she stated in a dark tone.
He furrowed his brow, confused. “‘They’, ma’am?”
“The Humans just arrived at Shil system, in an Alliance vessel no less, hailing the Imperial palace directly and announcing themselves as representatives of their species!” The mask finally cracked, as Olenia’s face betrayed her disbelief and anger.
Faus blinked once, before nodding. “I’m on my way.”
Olenia was walking in circles, like a starved turox in a cage. Faus never understood why the woman developed this habit, but the movement somehow helped her go through ideas and how to approach any given problem.
A small drone silently flew next to her, displaying holographic screens, displaying valuable information.
Now she was stomping, her movement erratic. If one looked closely, they would notice patterns of specific directions or tempos of walking, suddenly broken when she realized it was a dead end.
Faus would notice all of it, if he wasn’t sitting in his station, looking through security logs, raptors, and potential sources of the leak. He worked hard. Small, yet extremely advanced augmentation at the back of his skull, getting hotter and hotter as he processed information at extreme speed.
Only a Gearchilde with access to military grade and experimental augmentations could match him at this moment.
But no matter how deep he looked - there was nothing to find.
He breathed out through his teeth as he stopped, getting a small vial of coolant and connecting it directly to the augmentation, the very moment he switched it off, so it could cool down and rest for a bit.
“Ma’am, all data we can access now implies that no information was leaked out of Home Maker,” he said in as calm a voice as he could.
The Interior agent scoffed with a note of irritation. Something she wasn’t known for doing.
“The Royal court and Her Highness herself demands an explanation, Lumb’ian,” she used his family name to empathize just how dire the situation was. “There is a Human diplomatic team, closing on Shil itself. They will be in orbit within a few hours. They are on the Alliance ship and are accompanied by the Alliance diplomats!” She passed through the holograms, battling a small drone away, as she stopped right before his station. “Our enemies found out about Humanity and our plans to liberate them! I need something more than: ‘Oh, it wasn’t us’ Lumb’ian!”
Faus kept his calm. Not that it was easy. Olenia didn’t shout. Never. Until now. he raised a hand in a calming gesture.
“Boss. I fully understand that the situation is difficult, but our data doesn’t lie. If information was leaked, it didn’t come from our facility,” he stated clearly. “You know safety protocols as well as I do. People who enter data vaults can’t have augmentations. No data chips can be transferred out of the facility. All data must be uploaded to a physical drive and then transported directly into the facility under layers of observation. The same goes for information coming out of the facility. And there were no breaches nor attempts to breach those security measures for well over four years now since we started preparations for the Home Maker.”
Olenia closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, before nodding her head. “That’s true.” She agreed.
“The coordinates for Earth are kept secret. Only the highest levels of Naval command know the exact position of the planet. They don’t even know its name. Not before the very last moment before they move out. Teams that were responsible for preparing supply lines and trade line management, got only a vague distance from certain worlds and we made sure to extend the range, so no one could triangulate Earth’s position, correct?” He asked.
Olenia grabbed her chin and nodded again. “Is it possible for someone to remember the exact coordinates of Earth?” She asked.
Faus shook his head. “There is a reason why we require navigational computers to travel between stars. Coordinates of each star are not to be processed not only in terms of spatial position but also time. After all, light from each star travels a lot of time before it reaches any given world. Even if they had exact coordinates of the Sol system from Shil's perspective, they would have to take time when those coordinates were taken, distance to the Sol system, and rotation of the galaxy into account, among dozens of other variables that influence our sensors. And even then they would struggle to pinpoint Sol system position to the point of successful jump.”
“Anyway they could get a hand of the coordinates?” She asked.
“Extremely unlikely. The only data disc with this information, outside the Imperial Palace itself and our facility is in Unstoppable Duty, the battleship leading the liberation fleet, and it’s protected by level 9 clearance. None outside the High Admiral and High Commander have access to this data disc… and last time I checked, neither of them checked it more than once in a secure location. All for security reasons and under security protocols we created,” he answered without a pause.
Olenia nodded her head once more, turning around to look at the holograms once more. Clearly trying to figure out what actually happened.
“Very well. Let’s assume that the leak didn’t come from us for a second. At least until all of our teams don’t triple-check security measures and data to be as certain as possible,” she said in a far calmer tone. “How could the Alliance find out about Home Maker?”
Faus reactivated his augmentation which cooled down to the proper level, before changing the display to show all points of interest of Home Maker. “Let’s start with the most obvious. Concentration of our military assets on Hashela…” he pointed to a system, where all of the navy and marine assets gathered “...and Zau’ton,” he pointed at the system where the civilian fleet and assets gathered. “Agents of the Alliance aren’t fools. They would recognize the pattern of those two separate concentrations of Imperial assets and figure out we were planning a new liberation.”
Olenia turned around to face him once again, but her face told him that she wasn’t convinced. “That’s not enough to figure out where Earth is unless they have a second source of information that we are not aware of,” she pointed out.
“No. Of course not. Not to mention that there are other potential targets within the range of those fleets. But that doesn’t matter. The fact is, the Alliance would figure out we are planning a new liberation and as they usually do, they would start gathering information trying to determine what’s our target to make the operation more difficult or even try to stop us.”
Olenia sighed loudly and shook her head. “Their defiance of the Shil’vati Imperium’s destiny is mind-boggling. They are barely slowing us down with this foolishness. What can they possibly achieve with this?”
“Buy themselves more time?” Faus proposed. “I heard that the Alliance is reforming their military in an attempt to match our own.”
“As if they could ever catch up to us,” the Interior agent smirked, amused by that notion. “But it’s true, they would try to figure out what’s our target was either way. But the position of those two main forces wouldn’t be enough. Not with the range of our FTL drives.”
“No. They couldn’t. They would look through civilian bases. Seek trading posts that expand, in preparation to boost their capacity for trade in the region,” another set of points appeared on the map. “Still not enough, but with taking an average range of trade vessel…” Circles representing the range from each individual point created a confusing mix of shapes, before Faus cleared out the unnecessary elements, focusing only on the region of space where the greatest amount of spheres of range piled up on one another, “...they would get a rough comprehension of our most likely region of interest.
Olenia looked at the data and looked down at him with disappointed eyes. “That region counts thousands of star systems. That’s like looking for a purple pearl in the ocean.”
“Indeed. But with some of our nobles being aware that those Humans will be a target, Alliance could eliminate all known inhabited systems from their list as well those with different species,” map cleared up once again. A region of interest filled to the brim suddenly had far fewer star systems than one could suspect. “From thousands of star systems to mere hundreds.”
Olenia stepped forward, looking as closely at the map as possible. “That’s still a lot of systems to check,” she pointed out.
“Sure. However, the Alliance most likely studied and observed this region of space for some time. They know that war between us and them is unavoidable. From what I heard, the Interior is aware of unidentified research craft scouting regions along our border,” he pointed out.
“Hmmm. You are correct,” she nodded her head. “And with that in mind, they either already knew about the Humans, or could narrow down their search even more. To mere dozens of systems, that would be far easier to scout.”
“That is very much correct ma’am,” Faus stood up from his seat so that he wouldn’t need to crank his neck up. “I am aware that it’s better to assume enemy action, rather than sheer luck, but at this point in time that’s the best explanation we have at hand. Until we can confirm that the Alliance actually managed to get a hold of important documents in regard to operation Home Maker, this is the best explanation we have.”
Olania looked through his proposed explanation once more, seeking any major flaws with his train of thought. “What about the timing?” She asked, looking back at him. “The fleet should deploy in a matter of a few weeks tops.”
“No real explanation here, outside of coincidence,” he answered. “If we go with my explanation, Alliance had a lot of luck with finding them at all.”
“I’m unsure if this explanation will be widely accepted,” she stated after a moment.
“It’s the best explanation we have,” he shrugged. “Facts are, that in four years of this project, there was no major breach in secrecy, which is a big accomplishment in itself. All minor breaches, that held no critical information, were swiftly contained. Possibility of enemy action is, therefore, unlikely.”
“In our facility here on Shil, yes. But we aren’t the only ones that have access to important data,” she pointed out.
“You gave all bases and all commanders directives and protocols to follow. You gave instructions to all designated agents and controllers to keep an eye on things. For Goddess’s sake, ma’am. You didn’t even choose all the leaders in this operation. If there really was a leak, it had to come from them. Most likely because of their blatant disregard for protocols you put in place, you won’t be responsible for this leak,” he pointed out. “But even that’s unlikely, with how many controllers and agents were put in place to keep an eye on those who know important data. The only way the Alliance got crucial information about Home Maker is if they have a spy, that is blessed by all of the gods in the galaxy and has ability to memorize everything and be invisible.”
Olenia actually snorted at that. “Very well. I accept your explanation. Help me write this damn report and be on hand for now. There is a chance we will be called to the Imperial Palace directly. Understood?” She asked.
Faus nodded his head, but thought little of it. Sure, the situation wasn’t pretty, but he doubted that the Empress herself, or a member of the Royal Court, would want to see them face to face.
“This is not how I envisioned my first official visit to the Ministry of Expansion,” Faus deadpanned, looking at Olenia sitting on the opposite side of the luxurious car.
She was in her parade uniform. Smoothened out and shining. He was in one as well. They even gave him a bit of time to properly freshen up, before the meeting. Great kindness for sure.
Olenia shot him the look, before letting out a sigh loudly. “The minister demanded our direct report. Nothing we can do about it,” she said sternly.
Faus rolled his eyes, not attempting his irritation. “She wants to intimidate us directly because she fears this will land on her head.”
“No,” to his surprise Olenia shook her head. “That can’t be it.”
Faus narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow. “Elaborate, ma’am.”
“Triala Eu’tos is from a powerful family and has position of minister of expansion, no less. This isn’t the first liberation she ‘organized’ nor the first where Alliance attempted to slow us down. Even with Alliance present, the chances that the liberation fleet can be stopped is near zero. The idea that Alliance would start a war over Humans is laughable at best. So overall, there is little threat to the Imperium as a whole, and as such, to the minister,” she explained.
Faus thought about it for a moment and reluctantly nodded his agreement. His boss was right. The direct, face-to-face meeting was unnecessary. Intimidation of Interior agents and security managers seemed counterproductive at a time when they should focus on checking for any and all breaches in security.
“Alright… I will give you that, this meeting doesn’t make much sense in this context,” he rubbed his chin. “So… why would she want to see us? We did send the report, didn’t we?”
“And soon after the report arrived, she demanded our presence,” Olenia mirrored his movement to rub her chin. “I don’t think that report angered the minister. We presented a full report on security measures and potential reasons as to how Alliance made contact with Humanity.”
“The question of why we were called, remains,” Faus cleared his throat. “Why would the minister want to see us?”
Olania thought for a moment before her face twisted into a scowl. Her lower left lip trembling with irritation. Faus zeroed in on her thoughts in a moment.
“Oh by the Depths!” He cursed. “She made some kind of deal with other nobles in regard to Humanity, didn’t she?”
Olenia looked at him sternly, as if to remind him to not speak ill about nobility, but didn’t actually do anything to stop him from continuing.
“Humans have something of value to nobility. That’s why we even bother to liberate them. It’s not really for the good of the Imperium. Just another backroom deal between high nobles, isn’t it?” He asked in a tired voice.
His boss, the interior agent, let out a tired breath from her lips, before nodding her head. “That’s my theory as of now,” she confirmed.
“Turox ass. Why does this kind of turoxshit need to be tied to operations on the scale of liberation?” He asked rhetorically.
Of course, the answer was simple. The nobles run the empire. The empire expands. In exchange for support and resources, the Empress allows nobles to profit from the expansion. Some deals were on a big scale, some were smaller.
This one clearly was quite big, if the minister herself was involved and had such a reaction to the Alliance discovering Humanity.
“Brilliant,” Faus deadpanned.
“Optimist as always,” Olenia smiled a little.
“I am a man living in a woman’s world, ma’am. Optimism in my situation would be described as a delusion,” he answered dryly.
Olenia let out a sigh of irritation. “Can’t really argue with that now, can I?” She asked, leaning back in her seat. “I never understood this whole ‘weaker gender’ crap. Men are literally responsible for keeping a household of even a dozen people organized, well-fed, and clothed. That’s a lot of organizational skill, and it comes to you naturally,” she glanced down at him. “There is a reason why I have you as my secretary. I don’t know how I would keep this whole operation going without your help.”
“And here I was convinced that you took me under your wings because of my charm,” Faus chuckled. “Remember Olenia, sweet talk will get you nowhere with me. If you want to butter me up, you need to bring out promotions and raises.”
Olenia let out a short laugh and took a deep breath. “See, this is why I need you on my team. There are few women with enough spine to speak to me this way. It helps keep me in the game.”
Faus gave her a small nod. “And I appreciate that you aren’t a selfish, short-sighted, sexist cunt, ma’am.”
“I’m glad that I’m not. If I was, my father would strangle me to death while my grandfathers kicked me as I struggled to get air,” she chuckled.
Faus smiled. From what he heard, Olenia’s father was one Depth of a man. In fact, her family was known for such men. They were always the ones pushing the boundaries. Always breaking the gender roles, however they could.
Faus was sure of one thing - men of Tre’or line taught their girls to take men seriously.
“I would really like to meet them in the future,” he said after a moment.
“If we survive this meeting, you will get to meet my father and get a promotion both,” Olenia smiled back at him. “A gift, for when your wife finally gives birth to your children.”
Faus couldn’t stop himself from smiling at that comment. “That would be quite nice ma’am.”
“I heard you are expecting twins,” Olenia added. “Do you know the gender yet?”
“Yes and no. We know that we will have twins. A rare blessing in itself, but we don’t know the gender and won’t know it until she gives birth,” Faus stated. “It’s Jeana’s old family tradition. Connected to the cult of Krek.”
“Ah, yes. I did hear about it. God of life and death. His cult isn’t as popular as it was in the past,” she noted.
“A shame really. But nothing we can do about it,” Faus shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway. Old myth says that Krek as god of life and death was irritated by nosyness. He represents comfort in living and dying after all and trying to be ‘know it all’ was apparently seen as intruding onto his domain. So, as punishment for those who would try to find out if they were about to have a son, he would call upon goddess Niosa to remold any boy into a girl in the mother’s womb. But, if one was patient and let things move in the natural way, he would call upon his dear wife Jrafell to place a sampling of a man in the next pregnancy.”
Olenia smiled at that and nodded her head with appreciation. “Old wisdom. This one clearly is a warning to all women who think that they can outsmart a man. It’s also nice that both the goddess of madness and trickery as well as the goddess of joy make an appearance. And no appearance from Shamatl or Hele. A rarity,” she pointed out.
“Indeed. Those two try to get into every myth they can, don’t they?” Faus chuckled.
“Attention seekers, all of them I tell you,” Olenia returned a chuckle. “So… you follow this old tradition and hope for the best?”
“Indeed we do. Who knows. If Jrafell will be joyful enough, maybe she will convince Krek to give me two boys!” He laughed.
“That would be a great blessing indeed.”
They shared a chuckle before Olenia cleared her throat. “So… getting back to the subject at hand,” she looked out of the window, seeing how the great form of the palace was getting closer. “Any idea what possible deal our dear minister made?”
Faus sighed and shrugged. “No idea. I still don’t have a clearance to get specifics about Humanity. But from the few snippets I have access to, I don’t see anything special,” he admitted.
“Hmmm… I might have a few ideas… but because of the safety protocols I can’t speak about them openly here,” she massaged her brow. “Maybe this will be a good opportunity to get you a higher clearance. It should make the whole process much easier.”
Faus raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s a lot of clearance levels I would have to jump, ma’am.”
“And perfect excuse to get you a proper promotion, so don’t try to get smart with me. Do that with the minister,” she said with a smile. “If we manage to convince her that this whole situation wasn’t caused by fault on our part, we should be able to push this idea through.”
Faus’s eyes widened before he smiled at his boss with the most cunning expression he had. “Sounds like a plan, ma’am.”
He didn’t like it.
They were standing in the minister’s office for a good ten minutes now. Right in front of her desk. Silent and unmoving.
Minister was working. Tapping new data onto pads, focused on her work while ignoring them completely.
It was an intimidation tactic.
Depths, he saw it more than a few times before. Although from the other side.
He was secretary to an agent of the Interior, for crying out loud. He saw this act more times than he cared to count. He even found some enjoyment in the stress of his boss’ victims, and it seems that he was paying for that now.
Somewhere in the realm of Gods, Niosa is laughing her ass off, seeing him now.
He wasn’t scared. Not really.
Just… irritated.
He despised being idle. Especially during work hours. He prided himself on his efficiency and work ethic.
This…? This was just a goddesses damn waste of time.
But he had no say on the matter. He was in the Ministry of Expansion, standing before a high ranking noble, one of the ministers appointed by the Empress herself! A minister who was the head of Imperial Expansion and, as such, responsible for ‘Liberations’. Not on a military level, that was the role of the Minister of Defense - but overall organization and logistics of how to pull it off.
Not that he believed that the minister actually knew how the entire process worked in detail. She was on the top, gave overall instruction, and it was the job of the rest of them, to make them real.
That’s how society worked.
It didn’t change the fact that he was getting sick of the silent treatment. He would prefer to get yelled at and be done with this chore, rather than this. This was just an annoyance.
He noticed that the minister was looking directly at him. Maybe his internal thoughts made their way into expression onto his face.
“You have something to tell me, secretary Lumb’ian?” Minister Eu’tos asked in her commanding tone.
He had more than a few things to say. How silver hair was overdone and didn’t match the brightly purpled uniform, that was unnecessarily shiny. Or that she was sitting incorrectly and clearly hurting her back. Or that he did notice that at least one data-pad wasn’t displaying important information but a text from an erotic novel.
Of course, he didn’t say any of that. Instead, he answered. “Not until you ask questions connected to the current situation, duchess.”
That seemed to get her attention all right. A facade of a stoic administrator cracked, as she rose from her seat, placing both hands on her desk and leaning forward slowly.
Eu’tos was a large woman. Very tall even by Shil’vati standards, so even now, slightly bent down, she looked down on both him and his boss. It would even be intimidating if not for that atrocious thing she was wearing and calling it a uniform.
“Current situation?” She almost seethed. “The current situation is, that a species that was in the first stages of the space age, on a planet with many resources valuable to the Imperium in a system that might prove to be crucial in the future expansion of the Imperium was discovered by our enemies!” She shouted. “And it happened mere weeks before our fleet was to depart!”
Olenia let out a sigh. “Ma’am. We gave you all the information we have on the current situation in the report. As far as we know at this point, there is no proof of a leak on our side.”
“And yet the Alliance and Humans are approaching our orbit and seeking to establish diplomatic relations with the Imperium!” Minister raised her voice in anger. “How do you explain this?!”
“My lady,” Faus spoke in a calming tone. “We did provide a secondary explanation as to how this situation occurred.”
The minister looked down at him as if he was a bug.
“You want me to believe that this happened because of chance alone?!” She demanded with anger in her voice.
“Ma’am, no matter how much we don’t like the Alliance, we can’t pretend they are idiots. They have proven themselves capable of halting our expansion and liberation forces on many occasions. You yourself gained your current position after the total fiasco on Fuies,” he pointed out.
At the mention of the butchered operation on that world, a new wrinkle seemed to form on the minister’s face.
“That liberation was butchered from the start. Not to mention, it was mostly a private endeavor of the overconfident Moravi family. When I took the post from that idiot Au’tan, I swore I wouldn’t let something similar happen again!” She declared angrily.
So now the reason for the minister’s anger was clear. She feared that Earth would turn into another Fuies. The greatest disaster coordinated with the help of the Ministry of Expansion in 50 years. A world that was bathed in the blue blood of Imperial Marines, lost to an Alliance backed government. 12 years had passed since that butchered operation, and yet it remained a potent memory among all who were part of the expansion efforts. Today, Fuies was a fortress with well organized military and diverse weaponry that would prove extremely costly to secure. Even if the initial bloody invasion was successful, there was no guarantee that the Imperium wouldn’t lose control of that accursed planet once more. To be someone to be responsible for a second Fuies, would mean loss of the position and all influence they gathered over the years, at minimum. With that in mind, Faus adjusted his words accordingly.
“Apologies, ma’am, but we have no control over the Alliance or their actions. It’s also impossible to hide a star system. With their growing preparations for conflict with the Imperium, it's obvious that they were seeking a system where they could establish a Forward Operating Base or figure out where we would place our own. Discovery of the Sol system placed very close to our borders, was always a possibility,” he countered smoothly.
Minister scoffed at that, before turning to Olenia. “Does this male speak for you, agent? Are you so spineless that you let a male do your job?”
Faus resisted a groan, as Olenia answered. “My lady. I choose Faus Lumb’ian as my secretary personally. He is my right hand and takes a lot of responsibility. He has proven himself countless times and is responsible for the creation of many of the security protocols that were unanimously approved by the Liberation Ministry Security Council and yourself. I don’t interrupt sir Lumb’ian because he is correct, and I fully agree with this assessment. In fact, we came to this realization together after analyzing security logs. Until we have proof that Alliance got a hand on actual documentation from our facility, the assumption of enemy action might prove to be paranoia. We are still looking for any possible way for any crucial information to reach the Alliance, but as of now, we have nothing that would indicate a leak.”
The minister kept staring at them for a few more seconds, before slowly sitting down. She placed both hands under her chin and closed her eyes, clearly thinking things through. They waited for a moment before she spoke.
“Are you certain that there was no leak?” She asked.
“No ma’am. We can never be certain of that,” Olenia answered truthfully. “While I can attest to the security of our facility here on Shil I don’t have direct control over other bases spread throughout the Imperium. There is a possibility that one of the site managers had forgone some of the security protocols for convenience, either that or that someone extremely talented managed to overcome them.” She paused for a moment, before she continued, “...or we have a traitor in our midst.”
That got the minister’s attention. “A traitor?” She inquired.
“Yes ma’am. Our security protocols make it almost impossible for information to be brought out from the outside. But the same cannot be said for actions made on the inside, or even worse if someone on the inside coordinates their actions with someone outside,” she specified.
All of the Duchess Eu’tos’ attention was now directed at Olenia. “Elaborate.”
“Our security protocols keep all critical data safe. However, not all data is deemed critical. A chance that Alliance got a hold of, for example, the exact coordinates of the Sol system, is close to zero. This information is under extreme security measures. However, transcripts of talks on secondary objectives between noble houses. Locations of some of our supply depots, and more, could possibly be extracted. With this information, they could deduce probable regions of interest and finally find our target. But again, this would require a traitor on the inside, a competent enemy operative on the outside, and dereliction of duty of the site manager. Circumstances that are unlikely but…” Olenia trailed off.
“...not impossible.” The minister finished with a growing furrow in her brow.
They were silent for a good minute before the minister spoke once more.
“I will inform the Empress and the royal court,” she said, standing up. “You are to return to your duties and continue to look for any crack in our security measures. I want you to create dedicated teams, tasked with going to every single facility of interest for Operation Home Maker and checking if security protocols were broken or sabotaged. I will ensure they will get support from Death Heads as an escort and direct support if necessary. If there was a leak, I want those responsible brought here to Shil in chains.”
The minister’s demeanor changed in a second. Faus suddenly saw why she was chosen to be in this position. While Duchess Eu’tos had horrible taste in clothing, she was no idiot and she was decisive.
“Of course, my lady,” Olenia bowed her head.
She was about to leave, but Faus didn’t move to exit. Quite the opposite, he stepped forward. “Ma’am. I have a question.”
The minister looked at the small male, before nodding. “Speak.”
“I would like to know what is to happen with our liberation plans,” he stated. “With Alliance involved, many new risks are involved to our forces. Even without direct military support, simple transfer of information in regard to properties of the Imperial military might cause significant losses on the part of our forces. For the sake of the safety of women and men in service of the Imperial Navy and Marines, I advise caution.”
Both agent Tre’os and Eu’tos remained silent for a few moments before the minister gave him a hint of a smile. “Hmm… I think I see why Tre’os took you under her wing,” she tilted her head, clearly intrigued by his words. “You are concerned about the safety of our troops?” She asked.
“Always,” Faus answered without missing a beat. “It is my role to keep their operations safe and ensure they won’t jump into the unknown.”
“A commendable trait… worthy of an officer. Not a mere secretary,” the minister said with a slight smile, as Faus’ heart skipped a beat. “As to the answer to your question, the Liberation fleet is mostly done with the final preparations. Operation ‘Home Maker’ has been prepared for 4 years now. Imperium spent too many resources and concentrated too many assets to back down now. Although the Liberation might prove more complicated than we anticipated, I don’t see a possibility of halting it or even slowing it down. The cogs of Imperium are well in motion, sir Lumb’ian… and when once pushed into motion, they are very hard to stop.”
Faus nodded his head. “That’s understandable. In fact, I was hoping for it to be the case.”
“Oh?” Minister raised her eyebrows in small surprise. “Do tell me why?”
Faus smiled from ear to ear. “I would be disappointed if an operation I was part of for four years was suddenly canceled. It would be such a waste… and it wouldn’t look good on my resume.”
That got a laugh out of the duchess who nodded her head in agreement.
“Indeed it would,” she chuckled. “Don’t worry. Operation Home Maker is still a go. Whatever the Alliance tries to do, we will prove to them that it is folly to attempt to stop our destiny.”
“As you say, duchess,” Faus bowed his head respectfully. “I wish you a good day, my lady. I shall return to my duties.”
“Do so and I will make sure that your duty will be rewarded.”
With those last words, the minister left the room through the back door, when Faus and Olenia moved out of the building and drove back to their facility.
Overall… it wasn’t half as bad as Faust feared.
Everything would work out fine. He was sure of it.
After all, Imperial expansion was the will of the Gods. Its destiny, was written into the stars.
And as the minister said.
It was folly to attempt to stop it.

If you’re planning on moving to Texas, you’re not alone. With its low cost of living, booming economy, and diverse culture, Texas has become a popular destination for people from all over the world. However, moving to a new state can be overwhelming, especially if you’re not familiar with the area. In this guide from Moving Truck Driver, we’ll provide you with everything you need to know to have a successful relocation to Texas, including tips for finding housing, navigating the job market, and making the most of your new home.

Tips for Finding Housing in Texas

When it comes to finding housing in Texas, it’s important to start your search early and be prepared for the competitive market. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect place to call home in the Lone Star State:

1. Research the Area: Before you start looking at specific properties, take some time to research the areas you’re interested in living in. Look for information on crime rates, school districts, transportation options, and local amenities like parks, shopping centers, and restaurants.
2. Use Online Resources: There are many online resources available for finding housing in Texas, including popular sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. These sites allow you to search for properties by location, price, size, and other factors, making it easy to narrow down your options.
3. Hire a Realtor: Working with a local realtor who is familiar with the area can be a great way to find the best properties that fit your needs and budget. They can also help you negotiate lease terms and provide valuable insight into the local housing market. Moving Truck Driver has relationships in most areas of the country, working with countless realtors throughout the years. If you would like a recommendation for finding a the right realtor for you, please let us know and we will be happy to make the connection.
4. Attend Open Houses: Attending open houses is a great way to see properties in person and get a feel for the local real estate market. Be sure to bring a list of questions to ask the agent or landlord, such as details on the lease agreement and any additional fees or deposits.
5. Consider Roommates: If you’re looking to save money on rent or want to live in a larger property than you could afford on your own, consider finding a roommate or roommates. There are many online resources for finding compatible roommates, such as Roommates.com.
6. Check Social Media Groups: Social media groups can be a great resource for finding housing in Texas, particularly in larger cities like Houston, Austin, and Dallas. Look for local groups that cater to renters or those looking for roommates, and be sure to ask for recommendations from members.

Popular Cities and Locations to Consider

Texas is a vast state with many popular cities and locations to choose from. Here are some of the top destinations that you may want to consider when moving to Texas:

1. Austin: Known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin is a vibrant city that offers a diverse culture, outdoor activities, and a thriving tech scene. It’s the state capital and home to the University of Texas at Austin.
2. Houston: The largest city in Texas, Houston is a hub for business and industry. It’s also known for its world-class museums, restaurants, and performing arts scene.
3. Dallas-Fort Worth: This metropolitan area is home to two major cities, Dallas and Fort Worth. Dallas is known for its shopping, dining, and nightlife, while Fort Worth is famous for its Western heritage and cowboy culture.
4. San Antonio: This historic city is home to the Alamo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the famous River Walk, which features shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
5. El Paso: Located on the border with Mexico, El Paso has a unique culture that combines Mexican and Texan influences. It’s also home to the University of Texas at El Paso and the Franklin Mountains State Park.
6. Corpus Christi: This coastal city is known for its beaches, fishing, and outdoor activities. It’s also home to the Texas State Aquarium and the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay.
7. Galveston: Located on an island off the Gulf Coast, Galveston offers historic architecture, beautiful beaches, and a vibrant arts scene. It’s also home to Moody Gardens, a theme park and nature reserve.

These are just a few of the many popular cities and locations to consider when moving to Texas. Each one offers its own unique culture, attractions, and lifestyle, so be sure to research them thoroughly and choose the one that best fits your needs and preferences.

Navigating the Job Market in Texas

One of the first steps in navigating the job market in Texas is to research the industries that are thriving in the state. Texas is known for its strong energy sector, with a large number of oil and gas companies based in cities like Houston and Dallas. Additionally, the technology industry is growing rapidly in Austin, which has been dubbed “Silicon Hills” due to the high concentration of tech companies in the area.
Once you have identified the industries that interest you, it is important to start networking with professionals in those fields. This can include attending industry conferences and events, joining local professional organizations, and reaching out to people in your network who may have connections in Texas.
Another important aspect of navigating the job market in Texas is to tailor your resume and cover letter to the local market. This can include highlighting any relevant experience or skills that are particularly valuable in Texas industries, as well as using language and terminology that is commonly used in the local job market.
Finally, it is important to be flexible and open to opportunities in different parts of the state. While certain industries may be concentrated in specific cities, there are often job opportunities in other areas as well. By keeping an open mind and considering a variety of job options, you can increase your chances of finding a job that is both fulfilling and financially rewarding.

Making the Most of Your New Home in Texas

Texas has a lot to offer, from its diverse culture to its unique geography, and there are plenty of ways to enjoy your new home. Here are some tips for making the most of your new life in Texas:

1. Get to know your community: Texas is a state with a strong sense of community, and getting involved in your local neighborhood can help you feel more connected to your new home. Attend local events and festivals, join a community group or club, or volunteer for a local charity to meet new people and become more engaged in your community.
2. Explore the outdoors: Texas is home to some of the most stunning natural landscapes in the country, from the rolling hills of the Hill Country to the rugged canyons of West Texas. Take advantage of the state’s many parks, hiking trails, and outdoor recreation opportunities to stay active and explore your new surroundings.
3. Embrace the culture: Texas has a rich cultural heritage, from its cowboy and ranching history to its vibrant music scene. Take in a live music performance, visit a historic site or museum, or attend a local rodeo or county fair to experience the unique culture of your new home.
4. Try new foods: Texas is known for its delicious cuisine, from barbecue and Tex-Mex to kolaches and pecan pie. Sample the local cuisine and try new restaurants and food trucks to discover your new favorite dishes.
5. Take weekend trips: Texas is a big state with plenty to see and do, so take advantage of weekend trips to explore different cities and regions. Whether it’s a beach trip to Galveston or a wine tasting tour in the Hill Country, there’s always something new to discover in Texas.

Why Choose a Moving Service that Specializes in U-Haul and Penske Trucks

Choosing a moving service that specializes in U-Haul and Penske trucks has several benefits. Firstly, U-Haul and Penske trucks are known for their reliability and durability, making them ideal for long-distance moves. These trucks are regularly serviced and maintained to ensure they are in top condition, which reduces the likelihood of breakdowns and delays during the move. Secondly, these moving companies, typically have a large fleet of trucks available in different sizes, allowing you to choose the truck that best suits your needs. This is especially important if you have a large household or need to transport heavy or bulky items, as you can select a truck with a higher capacity.
Moreover, moving companies that specialize in U-Haul and Penske trucks often have experienced and well-trained drivers who can handle the logistics of a move efficiently. They are knowledgeable about the best routes to take and the regulations that need to be followed when transporting goods across state lines. They also have the necessary equipment and tools to load and unload your belongings safely, minimizing the risk of damage or loss. Additionally, many of these companies offer additional services such as packing, loading and unloading, and storage solutions, making the entire moving process more convenient and stress-free.
Overall, choosing a moving service that specializes in U-Haul and Penske trucks can help ensure that your move to Texas is a smooth and successful one. With a reliable truck and experienced drivers, you can focus on settling into your new home and starting your new life in this exciting and dynamic state.

A Practical Checklist for Moving to Texas

With a practical checklist, you can make the process much smoother. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your move to Texas is successful:

1. Plan Ahead: Make a detailed plan for your move, including the date of your move, the items you need to pack, and any services you may need, such as a moving truck, packing supplies, or professional movers.
2. Declutter and Donate: Before you start packing, declutter your belongings and donate any items that you don’t need or want anymore. This can save you time and money in packing and moving unnecessary items.
3. Change Your Address: Be sure to change your address with the United States Postal Service at least two weeks before your move to ensure that your mail is forwarded to your new address.
4. Update Your Utilities: Contact your utility companies and inform them of your move, so that they can discontinue service at your old address and start service at your new address.
5. Research Local Services: Research local services in your new area, such as schools, healthcare providers, and grocery stores. This can help you feel more comfortable and settled in your new home.
6. Prepare Your New Home: Make sure your new home is ready for your arrival. Clean it thoroughly, unpack essential items first, and set up necessary utilities and services.
7. Meet Your Neighbors: Introduce yourself to your new neighbors, join community groups, and attend local events to get involved in your new community and make new connections.

Moving to Texas - Continued

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Sidenote: I set a goal of getting this published before the start of the NFL playoff games this weekend. Sweet success! Now we just need Sumit and company to meet their deadline! ;-)

TL;DR

First of all, if I attempt to take in everything about CES as it relates to automotive LiDAR, and specifically as it relates to my investment in Microvision, I would say my confidence level ticked up a bit. I came in to CES feeling reasonably confident and I left CES with a slightly increased confidence level. I would say though, that I believe the automotive LiDAR market is both complex and competitive and it is difficult to predict the future.

What is CES

Before I get started, I would just like to say a few words about CES, or any conference exhibition for that matter. It is my belief that an exhibitor attends CES primarily for lead generation and branding. In addition, it is also a good logistical opportunity to hold private meetings with folks like existing customers, prospective customers, suppliers, prospective suppliers, media, analysts, shareholders and prospective investors. That is, if those folks are already attending the conference, it is convenient to meet with them. But, in general, an industry conference is not a place where deals are finalized.

Preamble

I attended the CES conference Tuesday and Wednesday. u/Speeeeedislife and I teamed up for those 2 days. It’s much more fun to have someone to partner with and discuss the LiDAR landscape as we traverse the exhibition booths. Thanks to Speed for the camaraderie and for lunch on Wednesday as I forgot my wallet! 😊 This first portion of this update will be mostly about CES with some other thoughts I have gathered in my travels.

Seyond

A sales guy at the Seyond (formerly Innovusion) booth said that they will win a European or German OEM deal in the near future. By the way, Seyond has both 1550nm and 905nm LiDAR (as does Hesai).

Hesai

Hesai seems to have some juice. They have hired and continue to hire in the US. They recently announced a design win with the following attributes - EV, revered brand, global OEM, Luxury SUV. BTW – the Luxury SUV did not come from their press release but a follow-on tweet that mentioned Luxury and a Chinse journalist that said SUV. My impression, based on their press release, is that this OEM was not Chinese. After talking with various folks at the conference, I believe it is actually a Chinese OEM. This does not mean I am correct it is simply my belief. Also, we attended the Hesai Happy Hour at the Peppermint Lounge, thanks for the drinks Hesai! There, I briefly met Bob in den Bosch, who is the SVP of Sales for Hesai. I attended the DVN LiDAR conference in Weisbaden in late November, and I would say he was the star of the show. He presented and spoke on multiple panels and received, by far, the most questions from the audience, which he handled adeptly and with reasonable humility. This probably contributes to my feeling that Hesai has some buzz as they were, dare I say, “revered” at the DVN conference. I guess shipping 300,000+ LiDAR sensors will get you some street cred. But, as we all know, there is a very large geo-political hurdle in front of all the Chinese LiDAR makers. A representative at the Hesai booth believes they will be able to navigate that hurdle and secure a western OEM deal, which they have publicly proclaimed is a key goal for them. Of course, the rep has to say that. We did talk about the Ouster lobby campaign against Hesai. Ouster has attempted to paint a picture that the Hesai LiDAR could be transmitting sensitive data back home to the CCP. Hesai has responded that this is false, and furthermore is patently impossible. Their LiDAR has no means of transmission (which is easily verifiable) and the OEM controls the data, not the LiDAR manufacturer. In response to the Ouster lobbying, Hesai has also decided to invest in lobbyists. Ouster has also brought an IP infringement lawsuit against Hesai in court. Apparently, there was a recent decision whereby the judge ruled that the disagreement shall be settled via arbitration. The Hesai representative at the booth pointed out that Ouster has done nothing to forward their case in arbitration since that ruling. I guess we will have to stay tuned to see how serious Ouster really is. Hesai sees Robosense as their biggest competitor. However, Hesai believes that Robosense is currently operating with a negative gross profit margin on each LiDAR sold. I have not verified that claim.

Cepton/Koito

Cepton and Koito were jointly presenting in the same booth. It does seem like it is only a matter of time until Koito will acquire the rest of Cepton, as they have put a $3.15 offer on the table. I believe they already own more than 30% of Cepton. The guy we talked to at the booth was very knowledgeable. He did say that he is hearing the Microvision name more often these days.

Zvision

We visited the ZVision booth. http://zvision.xyz/en/h-default.html They are another Chinese LiDAR player. I had not heard of them before. They have LiDAR products that are MEMS, Flash, and Spinning Mirrors. They started with MEMS and have migrated to Spinning Mirrors as their latest long-range version. They said the MEMS architecture could not achieve long range. That is certainly a bit concerning as we have heard that Innoviz has also (maybe) migrated away from MEMS mirrors to a Spinning Mirror architecture. We spoke with one of the founders and asked him if he had ever heard of Microvision. He emphatically said yes. And then said - projectors. We said they are now a LiDAR company. He did not quite hear us and said he would be worried if they got into the LiDAR business. We clarified that they are already in the LiDAR business and in fact their booth was only 50 yards away from Zvision’s booth (although line of sight was blocked by another exhibitor’s very large booth). He then said he is not worried about them. 😊 It seems the earliest ZVision product was based on MEMS and they knew Microvision as a MEMS expert, but did not realize that they had pivoted from being a projector company to a LiDAR company.

Aeva

We visited the Aeva booth and attended their fireside chat which was with representatives from Daimler Trucks and Torq, along with the CEO of Aeva, Soroush Salehian. The moderator was a podcaster. Unfortunately, he got the Daimler Trucks and Torq folks mixed up thinking each was from the other company. Other than the cringeworthiness of the interview, it was largely unremarkable. It seemed to me the initial Aeva press release projected that they had won a bigger OEM. In the PR, they said a “top global automotive OEM” but then followed that up with the qualifier “in its class”, which should have been an indicator regarding the actual OEM. Anyway, congrats to them, as this is clearly a significant win for them. Of course, this deal is also framed as a Luminar loss. The Luminar reddit folks have mixed opinions as to its importance. What it will mean for Luminar over time? We will have to wait and see.

Innoviz

I had stopped by the Innoviz booth. Met Omer for a second, just in passing. I purchased some Innoviz stock recently (a small percentage relative to my Microvision holdings) and told him it was based on a recent Innoviz announcement. I couldn’t remember which one though. Later, I remembered that it was actually based upon his late November investment conference talks, where he projected a great deal of confidence that they will win the BMW InnovizTwo deal for which they are competing. As I have said before, if they lose that deal, I think his credibility will be permanently tarnished. I know many here think Omer is a bit of a shyster. I do not. He may be slightly hyperbolic but IMHO he promotes his company well. Of course, he needs to back up his statements with receipts over time (the same for Sumit). They were displaying a BMW and VW ID. Buzz at their booth. The BMW was procured in the US and therefore did not have the InnovizOne LiDAR installed. No big deal to me, but I know others think this was a faux pas. The VW ID. Buzz did show the Innoviz LiDAR, or perhaps it was a mockup of the LiDAR installed around the roofline. BTW – The VW ID. Buzz was also being displayed at the Mobileye booth. We engaged with a representative at the booth and asked about their deal with VW and Mobileye. He said that was not announced and not official. Huh? They have it on display at their booth. Omer tweeted (Xed) about it. The booth person acknowledged those things simply by the look on his face. But ultimately, he held the corporate line, that it is not official. Slightly confusing, but I guess it is what it is. I feel fairly certain that the OEM win announced by Mobileye for 17 models is probably VW. However, it is not clear that Innoviz is the LiDAR supplier for all of those models. In fact, it is not clear that all of those models will have a LiDAR, as its possible some (or most) of those models will be Supervision which does not have a LiDAR. EDIT: I have since learned that 9 of the 17 models will use the Mobileye Chauffeur system, which does include LiDAR sensors.

Robosense

Interesting factoid I recently learned: Robosense is a public company on the Hong Kong stock exchange. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/2498.HK?p=2498.HK Their market value is $19.3B Hong Kong dollars, which equates to $2.47B US dollars. In other words, Robosense is, by far, the most valuable pure play LiDAR company in the world. This was news to me. Luminar and Hesai are basically tied for 2nd at ~$900M and Microvision is 4th at ~$430M. Robosense claims they have shipped 200,000+ LiDARs into production. Robosense touts a robust customer list of Chinese OEMs and Lucid. They have both short and long range LiDARs.

Mobileye

We stopped by the Mobileye booth when they were discussing their newly introduced (at CES) DXP operating system. It seems to me this DXP operating system is a very good idea for them. I will discuss the reasons why later. For those who don’t know, Mobileye is, by far, the leader in the ADAS market. They are valued at ~$23B and have revenues in the ~$2B range. Most of their revenue is derived from basic camera based ADAS functionality which is fairly ubiquitous in the automotive world. I think Amnon (Mobileye CEO) has referenced that they receive about $50 revenue on average per car. However, they also have plans to move up the ADAS stack. They have a product called Supervision which will sell for ~$1,000 and enable L2+ and L3 capabilities. I believe this product is already shipping. It includes cameras and radar, but no LiDAR. They also have a product called Chauffeur which is geared for L4, Autonomous Driving and a product called Drive which is targeted for Robotaxis. Chauffeur and Drive include everything that Supervision provides and also adds in LiDAR sensors. They plan to sell Chauffeur for $3,500. I think Drive is more expensive. We know that Microvision speaks highly of Mobileye and their business model. Mobileye is really more of a software company than a hardware company. Their gross margins have been consistently around 50%. Relative to Microvision, I see Mobileye as both a competitor and a potential partner or partnership enabler. Again, I will expand on that a bit later during my recap of our meeting with Anubhav. Back to LiDAR, as we know, Mobileye has plans to introduce their own FMCW based LiDAR in the 2027/2028 timeframe, this timeframe was a direct quote from Amnon on their Q2 2023 conference call. I spoke with their LiDAR expert at the booth and he seemed very knowledgeable about LiDAR. When I was in Munich at the IAA show, I asked him (BTW: the same guy that was at CES) about the lateral component of the velocity measurement for an FMCW LiDAR. Honestly, I could not completely comprehend his answer, but it was something related to the fact that any laterally moving object will not be just a singular point, but will rather consist of a set of points (like a car cutting in ) and this allows them to determine the lateral velocity. Here is a quote from a blog post about FMCW LiDAR – “An FMCW LiDAR is measuring whether an object is going away or towards us — but what about those moving laterally? The Doppler effect doesn't help here, and this is still an indirect computation. So it's not a 6D vector, but a 4D vector (X,Y,Z, V_long).” https://www.thinkautonomous.ai/blog/fmcw-lida However, since the Mobileye FMCW LiDAR is still officially 3 to 5 years away from SOP, I’m not sure there is much to say at this time. When I attended the DVN conference, I would say there was a decent contingent that believed FMCW would be the ultimate best form of LiDAR, but it is not quite ready yet. Perhaps Mobileye has this view as well and believes that they can starve the other LiDAR players for another few years until they can advance their internal FMCW solution to be the ultimate winner. Mobileye seems to pitch that LiDAR is not needed until you want to solve for L4. BTW – Omer says LiDAR is not needed until L3. In other words, neither of them believe LiDAR is needed for L2 or L2+, as they feel cameras and radar are sufficient.

Luminar

We swung by the Luminar booth a few times. One time to attend the LuminaNvidia fireside chat. It was not Jensen Huang speaking for Nvidia as was predicted by u/Falling_Sidewayz, and I don’t recall the name of the Nvidia speaker. The session was short, less than 20 minutes. Mostly generic stuff, with platitudes from both speakers. I’ve seen Aaron Jefferson (Luminar) speak before. He is a good speaker as was the Nvidia presenter. The other visit to the Luminar booth was unremarkable. We spoke to a couple of folks but they seemed to be “marketing for hire” resources who were not equipped to answer any company questions. The F-1 car looked awesome as did the Polestar 3. It’s just that rather than creating a positive vibe, the F-1 car seemed to be a bit of a downer. In my own personal opinion, I think the upcoming Next Gen product (Model J) from Luminar is very important and could turn the tide for them. I’m not sure when they plan on announcing it and revealing it’s specs, but according to u/SMH_TMI the A Sample release may be relatively soon. I know I am very interested to learn more about it. I am curious if the size, performance, and cost improvements are achieved with furthering the existing architecture or if it is a brand new architecture. I believe the general thinking is that it is largely built upon the existing architecture.

Gathered Thoughts from Many Sources

The following are thoughts and impressions I have formed via the attendance of many events (April Investors meeting, IAA Munich, DVN Weisbaden, and CES Las Vegas) as well as diligent attention to Microvision’s and competitors public communications, message boards, and many other sources. Please view this as a random stream of consciousness. It’s only one man's opinion. I don’t commit to the accuracy or validity of any of these thoughts. I am not an investment professional. I will attempt to answer any questions anyone may have regarding these thoughts.
Please place the words “I believe” in front of each of the statements below.

• …that if you listen and or read the transcripts of the Microvision earnings calls vs. the competition, Microvision tends to be much more forthcoming as to the state of their affairs and future business plan.
• …that the Q4 call will provide a review of the 2023 goals and set new goals for 2024.
• …that Microvision will communicate both the high level view of the Tier 1 investment needed and revenue potential after they have secured an OEM nomination.
• …that 2024 goals will consist mostly of financial related goals.
• …that Sumit was in Germany during CES week.
• …that the Q4 earnings call will be held in late February.
• …that Microvision met with 6+ financial analysts at CES.
• …that the current Microvision OPEX is between $70M and $80M
• …that 70% of the Microvision workforce is in Germany.
• …that, in general, most of the Ibeo employees are very happy that they are now working for Microvision and can see a path forward for all that they have built over the years.
• …that long term, a truly successful LiDAR company will be comprised of a large software component.
• …that a LiDAR company’s perception solution is bound to their hardware (point cloud). There is no plug and play with a given LiDAR vendor’s point cloud and generic perception software.
• …that short range LiDAR opportunities may have 4 to 6 LiDARs installed on a given vehicle.
• …that both MAVIN and MOVIA volume deals are currently in play.
• …that a MOVIA deal could be the first OEM volume nomination announced by Microvision (i.e. before a MAVIN deal is announced).
• …that an OEM will most likely not give Microvision a nomination for both MAVIN and MOVIA initially for the purposes of risk management, as they perceive their risk as high recently with regard to other things like the supply chain, interest rates, competition, EVs.
• …that Microvision is pursuing large volume deals.
• …that Microvision would not reject an opportunity to secure a design win with a smaller OEM (Ex. Rivian, Lucid, Fisker). It just so happens that the current opportunities that are in play with OEMs are for large volumes.
• … that the deals done in the market so far, have not been for volume. The analysts are only now starting to appreciate that fact.
• …that in order to have a sustainable LiDAR company, volumes must be in the millions.
• …upon a nomination, Microvision will stress the volume aspect of a deal.
• …upon a nomination, Microvision will strive to communicate clearly the pertinent deal information within any constraints applied by the OEM. In other words, they will not attempt to confuse the market.
• …that while reported institutional ownership is currently listed at 33%, the actual real institutional (not counting the index funds) ownership percentage is closer to 10%.
• …that Microvision would like to get this true institutional ownership up to 20% to 30% as this will help to stabilize the stock price.
• …that the UBS deal fell apart due to stock volatility.
• …that the institutions that were involved in the UBS deal, may return to the investment table after an OEM win is announced.
• …that Microvision may get a strategic investment from one or more of the nominating OEMs.
• …that Microvision recognizes they have a unique retail investor class over and above their competitors. And somewhat views this class as a collective institution.
• …that pure bank debt financing is a future goal.
• …that more near term financing could be in the form of convertible debt with warrants. Although Microvision is not there yet. However, design wins could change this fast.
• …that OEMs have evolved from seeking a “sexy” LiDAR to seeking a “practical” LiDAR that is scalable and affordable.
• …that the OEMs have recently been hit with supply chain costs, labor union cost increases, battery cost increases, interest rate increases, EV slowdown, all of which are contributing to a increasingly cost conscious OEM.
• …that a $400 per LiDAR cost is what the OEMs are largely seeking for a volume deal on long range LiDAR.
• …that negotiations with the OEMs are largely surrounding price and promised volumes.
• …that Sumit is trying to protect Microvision from entering a bad deal whereby the volumes promised equate to a low price and then the volumes do not materialize. (Ex. Microsoft)
• …that Microvision’s software play today is largely their perception software intended to be installed on the digital ASIC.
• …that Microvision will, at some point in the near future, refer to their digital ASIC as an SoC (system on a chip).
• …that perception software does not come with (much) liability as it is not the decision making layer for the car’s behavior which is the policy and planning software.
• …that Mobileye is offering the complete ADAS stack to the OEMs, which does come with some increased liability. Although, via their DXP O/S, if the OEM’s take control of the policy and planning layer, they will presumably accept more of the liability.
• …that Microvision wants to be able to quantify the software value to the financial community and investing public.
• …that early deals may not contain much software value as the OEMs may choose to select the raw point cloud solution vs. the object level perception interface.
• …the sensor fusion is a longer-term chess move for Microvision. This is complex software which will ultimately contribute to Microvision becoming more of a software company than a hardware company. This is one step along the way to emulating the Mobileye model.
• …that one of the keys to the future sensor fusion software business is that it is only enabled by the Microvision hardware. That is, the MAVIN unlocks the ability to create high quality sensor fusion software.
• …that early versions of Microvision’s sensor fusion will consist of LiDAR and radar fusion (not camera yet).
• …that Mercedes and Volvo are building sensor fusion software in-house.
• …that Microvision will provide more information about sensor fusion and it’s planned evolution in upcoming earnings calls.
• …that sensor fusion is not part of any revenue streams Microvision has discussed.
• …that Microvision’s current cash runway extends through 2024.
• …that once a deal or deals are announced Microvision will approach the capital markets to secure funding in order to scale.
• …that there is more than a 50% chance that the $30M remaining on the ATM has been executed.
• …that MAVIN will operate in a power budget between 13W and 24W depending on the OEM configuration. Assuming higher wattage relates to more perception in the digital ASIC, which would then result in less wattage needed for perception in the ECU. Therefore the net wattage would be reduced.
• …that the original 2023 revenue target of $10M to $15M and subsequent miss, was largely a result of Sumit and Anubhav being new to sales forecasting as well as the newness of the Ibeo acquisition.
• …that Microvision believes the deal(s) they announce will be industry changing.
• …that Microvision believes they are making headway with the analysts regarding their overall position and business plan within the market.
• …that Mobileye is the leader of the automotive ADAS market, with Qualcomm and Nvidia being their main competitors.
• …that Mobileye will most likely be a consolidator in the ADAS market.
• …that Mobileye has gotten closer with Innoviz recently.
• …that if Mobileye chooses to acquire a LiDAR company other than Microvision, it will create demand from other silicon companies (Nvidia and Qualcomm) to also acquire a LiDAR company.
• …that Innoviz and Valeo are Microvision’s biggest competitors. EDIT: Also, Mobileye.
• …that the Innoviz statement that “winner takes most” is akin to “winner effectively takes all”.
• …that Microvision does not believe it will be a “winner takes most or all” market. This is different than having an aspirational goal of striving for an 80% market share.
• …that Microvision would never pen a letter to shareholders stating that they believe the market is not valuing them correctly.
• …that the Innoviz point cloud is purposefully manipulated to produce a view that is pleasing to human eyes.
• …that FMCW Lidar is viewed by many in the industry to be the ultimate future of LiDAR. They believe the instantaneous velocity and resolution precision are key factors over ToF LiDAR.
• …that perception software is easier to code with ToF LiDAR vs. FMCW.
• …that Microvision is still on track to win an OEM nomination in Q1.
• …that software will make up most of the Q4 revenue for Microvision.
• …that Q4 margins will be near 80% (similar to Q3 margins).
• …that future quarterly margins will not be 80% as they have targeted 30% to 40% margins moving forward even in the near term.
• …that Microvision is striving for 50% margins in the longer term, similar to Mobileye. This would require more of a software mix (perception and sensor fusion) in the longer term.
• …that Microvision becoming a Tier 1 will require significant investment.
• …that Microvision is building MOVIA inventory.
• …that direct sales (i.e. non-automotive) opportunities exist in the market such that all available MOVIA inventory could be consumed. In other words, while the direct sales market can be largely small volume deals, there exists some opportunities which are not trivial with respect to volumes.
• …that with their introduction of their DXP Operating System Mobileye is trying to provide the best of both worlds to the OEMs. One argument applied by the OEM’s is they don’t want to be controlled and beholden to Mobileye for a full stack solution. This gives Mobileye too much power, control, and margin and doesn’t allow the OEM to differentiate their customer experience vs. their competition. The DXP Operating System provides all of the standard elements of the ADAS stack to the OEM (hardware, point clouds, sensor fusion, perception) but allows the OEM to configure/customize the policy and planning functions. Much like a computer Operating System provides low level things like memory management, disk I/O, CPU time slicing, etc. while an applications programmer can focus on building their app. It is hard to know how this DXP O/S will be received by the market, but it could be somewhat of a game changer if it gains momentum.
• …the LiDAR companies that came before Microvision have polluted the market and somewhat muddied the waters via their performance and communications. Microvision believe they have been largely transparent and will continue to communicate in that fashion as their business plan unfolds. They will strive for honest communication vs. hyperbole.
• …that Microvision has been working on automating the MAVIN production line for a long time and have communicated this fact to the OEMs.
• …that the work on the analog ASIC has already begun.
• …that the current MAVIN and MOVIA opportunities are both for high volumes, but MOVIA will be much larger than MAVIN (due to 4 to 6 per vehicle).
• …that the MOVIA will provide up to a 30M perception layer around the vehicle.
• …that MOVIA is automotive launch ready.
• …that direct sales of MOVIA will take time. The markets exist and the sales team has been built. It takes time to build individual pipelines and close deals. I would look for 6+ months to see any significant volume for MOVIA direct sales.
• …that existing industrial LiDARs sales are 1D. That is, a single line of points in a horizontal direction at a fixed vertical. A 2D LiDAR, such as MOVIA, meaning the two dimensions of a horizontal and vertical FOV, is relatively new to this market.
• …that the MOVIA price point is comparable to the 1D sensors in the market.
• …that the wind turbine market is not applicable to the Microvision LiDAR sensors (at least not yet). That market requires a very specific type of LiDAR.
• …that 2024 Microvision revenue will consist of direct sales and NRE revenue.
• …that NRE revenues are part of the ongoing OEM deal negotiations.
• …that $1,000 LiDAR sensors will not meet the OEM price requirements for volume deals.
• …that OEMs are evaluating the LiDAR company business model relative to such things as how it will scale (less customization required creates better scaling), is it predictable, is there IP protection, and many other things. The OEM’s want to have confidence that the LiDAR vendor can run a good sustainable business for many years.
• …that the OEMs are convinced regarding the Microvision technology, but need to be convinced that Microvision can run a business. Hence, all the public communication in the past 1+ year about business vs. tech.
• …that Microvision communicates that their balance sheet is strong when comparing it to their competitors balance sheets and associated burn rates.
• …that OEMs are very good negotiators and have more leverage than the LiDAR suppliers.
• …that the OEMs know all the LiDAR vendors BOM costs as they talk to the downstream suppliers.
• …that LiDAR point cloud bandwidth constraints are no longer worrisome as the vehicle communications platforms have now evolved from 1Gb to 10Gb. This constraint may have affected Microvision more than others due to their relatively high 14M pps point cloud.
• …that there is less competition for short range automotive LiDAR than for long range automotive LiDAR. However, imaging radar could also compete for short range requirements.
• …that the recently announced deals by the competition are not that concerning to Microvision. The Aeva deal was for a long range trucking application, which is not suitable for the Microvision MAVIN. The Hesai deal, I believe, is for a Chinese OEM, which is also not currently applicable to Microvision.
• …that the Mobileye ADAS win for 17 models is somewhat concerning and more than likely was for one of the RFQs that were in-flight. Innoviz may have the inside track to supply LiDARs if indeed LiDARs are required. EDIT: 9 of the 17 models are for Chauffeur, which does indeed use LiDAR.

Summary and Concerns

In summary, as I mentioned, my confidence level bumped up a bit after attending CES. Like everyone else, I am banking on an OEM deal announcement before the end of Q1. I certainly have some concerns but the positives outweigh them. I would say that they project a lot of confidence in winning a deal. Just for balance here are a list of some of my concerns.

• I worry about FMCW in the long term. Not so much now, but perhaps in 2,3, or 4 years from now.
• I am still a little worried about the lack of 3rd party certification for Class 1 eye safety. Ultimately, Sumit has said this is a non-issue and am going to trust him on that.
• I have some minor concerns about MEMS in general. It does appear to me that Innoviz has moved from MEMS to spinning galvo mirrors for their next generation InnovizTwo. We know InnovizOne was basically a 4x4 lasereceiver setup. Perhaps they realized this would not be competitive in the long run and are/were not able to leverage a 1x1 setup. Therefore they needed to make an architectural change now vs. later. Microvision does not need the 4x4 setup because they can scan a 1x1 setup and still cover the FOV with high resolution and range. It will be telling if Innoviz can win the new BMW contract with the new InnovizTwo LiDAR. I guess in the end, while I have some concerns about MEMS, I choose to believe that Microvision’s expertise with MEMS and lasers far exceeds anyone else and therefore they can overcome challenges that exist for others. The brief conversation with the CEO of ZVision sort of backed that up. But who knows.
• I have some concerns about Microvision’s ability to convince the OEMs that they have the required capital to execute on their business plan.

All in all, not too many significant worries vs. all the positives. Let me know if you have any questions.

Welcome to the vibrant and bustling city of West Delhi, where opportunities abound for those aspiring to excel in their healthcare profession! If you're considering taking the Occupational English Test (OET) to further your career prospects, then you've come to the right place. In this blog post, we'll explore the best OET coaching institute in West Delhi that can provide you with the guidance and support needed to ace your exam in 2024!
But before we dive into our top recommendation, let's quickly understand what exactly is OET and why it holds immense value for healthcare professionals like yourself. So buckle up and get ready for an insightful journey towards achieving your language proficiency goals!

What is OET?

The Occupational English Test, commonly known as OET, is an internationally recognized language proficiency test specifically designed for healthcare professionals. It assesses the English language skills of doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals who wish to practice their profession in an English-speaking country.
Unlike generic language tests that focus on general communication skills, OET evaluates candidates based on real-life scenarios they are likely to encounter in their respective healthcare roles. The test consists of four sub-tests: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Each component reflects the tasks performed by healthcare professionals in a clinical setting.
For instance, the Writing task requires candidates to write a referral letter or discharge summary based on case notes provided. The Speaking test simulates a consultation or patient interaction where candidates must effectively communicate with simulated patients while demonstrating their ability to gather information and provide appropriate advice.
OET not only measures your language competency but also ensures that you possess the necessary communication skills required for effective healthcare delivery. With its focus on industry-specific contexts and tasks relevant to your profession, OET offers a comprehensive evaluation tailored to meet your specific needs as a healthcare professional aspiring to work abroad.
So whether you're planning to pursue opportunities overseas or seeking professional registration in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, or New Zealand, OET can serve as your gateway towards achieving those goals!

Top Tips for OET Preparation in 2024

Are you aspiring to pursue a career in healthcare and need to take the Occupational English Test (OET)? Well, you're in luck! Here are some top tips to help you prepare for the OET exam in 2024.

1. Familiarize yourself with the exam format: Understanding the structure of the OET is crucial for effective preparation. Take time to study each section, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
   
2. Practice regularly: Consistency is key when it comes to preparing for any exam. Set aside dedicated study sessions where you can practice sample questions and improve your skills.
   
3. Enhance your vocabulary: As healthcare professionals, having a strong medical vocabulary is essential. Make it a habit to learn new words every day related to your field of expertise.
   
4. Develop effective time management skills: The OET is timed, so it's important to be able to complete tasks within specific time limits. Practice managing your time effectively during practice tests.
   
5. Seek professional guidance: Consider enrolling in an OET coaching institute that provides expert guidance and tailored study materials specifically designed for OET preparation.
   

Remember, success in the OET requires dedication and consistent effort. With these top tips as part of your study routine, you'll be well on your way towards achieving your desired score!

How to Prepare for OET Exam in 2024?

Preparing for the OET exam in 2024 can seem daunting, but with the right approach and resources, you can set yourself up for success. Here are some tips to help you prepare effectively:

1. Understand the Exam Format: Familiarize yourself with the structure of the OET exam, including its sections (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) and time limits. This will help you allocate your study time wisely.
   
2. Practice Regularly: Dedicate regular study sessions to each section of the exam. Set aside specific times during the day when you can focus on practicing sample questions or taking mock tests.
   
3. Build Vocabulary: Enhance your vocabulary by reading medical journals, textbooks, and articles related to healthcare topics. Make a habit of learning new words and their usage in context.
   
4. Improve Language Skills: Work on improving your grammar, pronunciation, and fluency through language exercises or by enrolling in an English language course tailored for healthcare professionals.
   
5. Seek Professional Guidance: Consider joining an OET coaching institute that offers specialized training for healthcare professionals like Cambridge English Academy in West Delhi.
   

Remember that consistent practice is key to achieving a high score in the OET exam. Stay motivated throughout your preparation journey and focus on improving both your language skills and subject knowledge related to your profession!

OET Study Material 2024

Preparing for the OET exam requires access to high-quality study material that is specifically designed to help you succeed. In 2024, there are several options available when it comes to OET study material.
First and foremost, it's important to familiarize yourself with the official OET practice materials provided by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment. These materials include sample test papers and information booklets that give you a clear understanding of what to expect on exam day.
Additionally, many coaching institutes offer comprehensive study guides and practice books that cover all sections of the OET exam in detail. These resources often include practical tips, strategies, and mock tests to help you assess your progress.
Online platforms also provide a wide range of study materials such as video tutorials, interactive exercises, and downloadable PDFs. These resources allow you to study at your own pace and reinforce your understanding of key concepts.
Furthermore, joining online forums or discussion groups can be beneficial as they provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and sharing valuable insights about the exam.
Remember that while having access to good study material is essential, consistent practice and self-discipline are equally important factors in achieving success in the OET exam. So make sure to choose the right combination of resources that suit your learning style and commit yourself fully to your preparation journey!

OET Eligibility 2024

To appear for the OET exam in 2024, candidates must meet certain eligibility criteria. Individuals planning to take the test must be at least 16 years old. They should possess a valid passport as it is mandatory for identification purposes.
Furthermore, applicants are required to have a good command of English language skills in order to successfully complete the examination. This includes proficiency in listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Unlike other English language tests, OET is specifically designed for healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and dentists who wish to work or study abroad. Hence, candidates applying for OET should belong to one of these professions and provide relevant proof of their professional qualifications.
The eligibility criteria ensure that only those individuals who meet the requirements can take the OET exam and obtain accurate results reflecting their competency level in English communication within a healthcare setting.

OET Exam Fees 2024

When it comes to taking any exam, one of the most crucial factors that we need to consider is the examination fees. The same goes for the OET exam in 2024. It is important to understand the cost involved so that you can plan your budget accordingly.
The OET exam fees for 2024 may vary depending on the country or location where you will be taking the test. However, generally speaking, the fee for each component of the OET exam remains similar across different locations.
In West Delhi, India, where you are looking for an OET coaching institute, you can expect a reasonable fee structure. The exact amount may depend on various factors such as study materials provided by the coaching center and additional support they offer during your preparation.
It's always a good idea to do some research and compare different coaching centers in terms of their reputation and pricing before making a decision. Remember that investing in quality education and guidance can significantly increase your chances of success in clearing the OET exam with flying colors.
So make sure to inquire about all aspects related to fees when choosing an institution for your OET preparation journey!

OET Exam Dates 2024

For aspiring healthcare professionals looking to take the OET exam in West Delhi, it is crucial to stay updated with the latest exam dates. The OET exam is conducted multiple times a year, providing candidates with ample opportunities to showcase their language proficiency.
In 2024, the OET exams are scheduled to be held on various dates throughout the year. These dates are meticulously planned by the official examination board to ensure convenience for test-takers. By referring to the official OET website or contacting reputable coaching institutes such as Cambridge English Academy in West Delhi, you can easily access and stay informed about the upcoming exam dates.
It's important to note that registering early for your preferred date is advisable as slots tend to fill up quickly. Planning ahead and organizing your study schedule accordingly will help you make the most of your preparation time and increase your chances of success.
So mark your calendars now and get ready for an exciting journey towards achieving your professional goals through OET!

Cambridge English Academy – OET Coaching in West Delhi

Cambridge English Academy is renowned for its exceptional OET coaching in West Delhi. With their experienced faculty, comprehensive study material, and personalized approach, they have consistently produced outstanding results.
At Cambridge English Academy, they understand the unique requirements of OET aspirants and cater to their specific needs. Their expert trainers provide individual attention to each student, ensuring that they are well-prepared for all aspects of the exam.
The academy offers a well-structured curriculum that covers all four modules of the OET exam – Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. They focus on improving language proficiency as well as enhancing communication skills required in a healthcare setting.
What sets Cambridge English Academy apart is their emphasis on practice and mock tests. Regular practice sessions not only help students become familiar with the format but also build confidence in tackling challenging tasks effectively.
Moreover, the academy provides access to an extensive library of study material including textbooks, sample papers, and online resources. This ensures that students have ample material to practice from and can track their progress throughout their preparation journey.
Choosing Cambridge English Academy for OET coaching in West Delhi is undoubtedly a wise decision for aspiring healthcare professionals seeking success in this competitive exam.

Why Choose Cambridge English Academy?

Why Choose Cambridge English Academy?
When it comes to OET coaching in West Delhi, Cambridge English Academy stands out as the top choice. With its reputation for excellence and a track record of success, this institute has proven time and again that it is the best place to prepare for the OET exam.
Here are some reasons why you should choose Cambridge English Academy:

1. Experienced Faculty: The institute boasts a team of highly skilled and experienced faculty members who have in-depth knowledge about the OET exam pattern and requirements. They provide personalized attention to each student, helping them understand their strengths and weaknesses.
   
2. Comprehensive Study Material: Cambridge English Academy provides students with comprehensive study material that covers all four modules of the OET exam - Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The study material is designed by experts in the field and offers valuable insights into how to approach each section effectively.
   
3. Mock Tests: To ensure thorough preparation for the OET exam, Cambridge English Academy conducts regular mock tests that simulate real exam conditions. These tests help students gauge their progress and identify areas where they need improvement.
   
4. Individualized Coaching: Recognizing that every student has unique learning needs, Cambridge English Academy offers individualized coaching sessions tailored to meet specific requirements. This focused approach ensures that students receive personalized attention from faculty members.
   
5. Flexible Batch Timings: Understanding the constraints of working professionals or those with other commitments, Cambridge English Academy provides flexible batch timings so that everyone can find a suitable slot for their classes without any hassle.
   
6. Positive Learning Environment: At Cambridge English Academy, students benefit from a positive learning environment that encourages interaction and fosters confidence-building exercises through group discussions and role-plays related to healthcare scenarios.
   
7. Excellent Track Record: Over the years, many aspiring healthcare professionals have successfully cleared the OET exam after undergoing training at Cambridge English Academy.
   

Their excellent track record speaks volumes about their commitment towards ensuring student success.

This is part of a collection of notes I have made so far. Terms [in brackets] are invented by me, for lack of an official name. Comment-exclusive material is marked with spoilers, which will be my policy as the author may choose to decanonize anything said only in comments. ([MAIN DIRECTORY]: [1 taint dragons], [2 nulls souls], [3 academy Vanavan], [4a gadgets humans], [4b EVI], [5 Library-TBA], [6 Mal'tory-on hold], [7a Nexus glossary], [7b Nexus detail], [7c Nexus-earth war], [8a magic catalog], [8b magic], [9a Yearbook], [9b Emma’s Null, Mal'tory’s fate], [10a portals], [10b ECS crate], [10c taint], [10d dragons], [10e tainted dragon god], [11 timeline].)

Theory: Taint is related to interfaces and betwixts. Whenever mana starts connecting things, be they different spaces with portals, personal manafields where souls connect with manastreams, or the cross of the planar fabric with shards of impart, the Taint can intervene. Taint and miasma, portals, transportium, life vaults, unstable surges, the 30th Mana-type, dragons and shards of impart, dreams, and black-colored magic all seem to be linked.

Crystal Dragons

Crystal dragons are sapient beasts up to hundreds of feet long with a western-style body plan of two translucent wings, gemlike eyes, four paws, a long neck, and a tail. Their scaled and partially crystalline bodies are studded with gem-scales that can be harvested to make planar artifact shards of impart. Crystal dragons come in assorted colors and get named after gemstones. Like their shards, they probably develop discolored streaks when they are taxed by mana overuse. Crystal dragons radiate brilliant light and leave a contrail of floating crystal glitter in their flight wake. They may have innate spell resistance, and at least one is capable of casting.
Crystal dragons can live well over 5000 years, so they may recall prior contact with humanity or other species that Nexus has scoured from the Library and publicly-known history.
Elves claim dragons are territorial, bloodthirsty, bestial, and adore plundering. Hunting dragons is a glorious task for only the most talented. Slaying one is heroic. As Chiska was excited to relay, it has been 2000 years since Transgracian Academy produced a dragon slayer, and there have been 98 alumni who succeeded. Each of them became a Nexian legend.

Mineral-based life with souls

Crystal dragons are partially inorganic - silicon, if the amethyst dragon is true to its stone. Although profoundly linked to mana, dragons, along with the elementals, prove that souls are not constrained to organic beings. (And since mana-less sapients have souls, logically, silicon-based & mana-less sapients, e.g. true AIs, ought to have souls as well.)
Crystal dragons have unique physiology that allows them to survive partial dissection for what could be thousands of years. A dragon appears to have carnivorous anatomy but eating organic food may be a lesser part of its diet, an optional treat, or not done at all. Breathing may be optional as well: they can roar but their preferred vocalizations are resonant windchime or tinkling glass calls. A crystal dragon may be able to survive climates inhospitable to organic life, such as high atmosphere, superheated pressured vents, in a caustic pit, or deep under oceans.

But does it run Doom?

Living Computers. Crystal dragons use deformable, microscopic matrices organized within their crystalloid scales to transmit energy. That sounds a lot like a magical circuit-board analogue to me. Humanity figured out how to rig up half a shard of impart to transmit and receive data by modulating the matrices, so a dragon should be able to intercept data if it can match the configuration. Dragons may be uniquely compatible with human computation and programming.
Dragons probably keep the core of their personality-beings in their crystal hearts (dragons are implied to have hearts. The gang’s dorm tower is named after one!), and the outer “minor shard” scales are for less important thoughts and memories. Removing too many shards from a dragon until they run out of empty memory rock-cells to reshuffle thoughts to may delete its memories and weaken its overall vitality and thinking ability, minor ones for a minor shard, and core ones for a major shard.

Live from 29.1 WNEX - Transgracia’s Hard Rock Station

Dragon Radio. We don’t know what type of particles/energies humanity is stimulating the scale matrices with, but if it is EM waves, then dragons may be able to tune their natural rock radios and “hear” Emma’s actively transmitting network of gadgets. As a rough rule of thumb, if a communications system can take in a certain type of energy, it can be modded to run in reverse and output the stimulating energy, so a smart dragon might even be able to figure out how to dial in. Emma - EVI really - should keep an eye out for inexplicable but orderly signal interference, especially if dragons use natural radio to talk to each other long distance in addition to mana.

Grow your own crystal dragon kits

With only partially organic bodies, dragons probably have a strange way of making more of their kind. They may collect and grow gemstones and then infuse them with mana and shards from their bodies to give them the spark of sapience and then sculpt the gem mass’ form until the whelp can be trusted to sort itself. Dragon breeding grounds probably have mountains with magma pipes near the surface, deep tunnels, and plenty of water and minerals to precipitate in purpose-made geodes for growing enormous crystals. Ilunor’s kingdom sounds about right for a crystal dragon spawning ground.
Strange physiology implies that death is different for them. Defeated and shattered dragons might persist if their core remains intact and it is kept saturated in mana. They may even be able to regenerate from their heart-stones as a tiny newborn dragon minus the memories and whatever else was in its accessory scales. We know Emma is on track for a showdown with the amethyst dragon to get a shard of impart. If Emma is forced to slay it, and she loots its heart (IAS will need a supply of amethyst dragon shards that the Academy can no longer offer, so she might as well claim all the spoils in case Status Communicatia needs to be circumvented one day), Emma might end up having an unintentional dorm pet - one modified with human circuits for compatibility with the ECS, electricity, and other human devices and all the cross-cultural techno-cyborg-bizarreness that would entail.

Planar level creatures

Dragons are native to Nexus given their likely territory-size and mana-concentration considerations, but stray discussions by students and Thacea’s thoughts suggest they may be able to make legendary appearances on other planes. Dragons are smart enough to cast spells, and since their crystalloid scales are planar-level artifacts that can send messages through the planar fabric, it isn’t a far leap to suspect they can bodily cross too with their own self-generated portals.

Does comprehensive coverage pay for dragons damaging your flying car?

Dragons are enduring. An amethyst dragon’s minor shard of impart maintains a mana charge for an entire year or more in a relentless mana-vacuum. A more significant shard of impart, say the-whole-damned-dragon of impart, might persist longer on Earth, enough to cause a kaiju-scale disaster or engage in a little diplomacy that Nexus won’t hear of.

Dragon’s breath

“It’s not just fire, newrealmer.” The Vunerian interrupted indignantly, as if he was offended by the fact I’d called his dragon’s breath mere fire. “It’s dragon’s breath.”

Dragon’s breath is a magic energy breath weapon used by both dragons and the humanoid dragonkin. The ignition of dragon’s breath generates a visible spark and a surge of mana radiation when evoked, like a spell. The magical organs used to create the weapon can be poisoned by chemicals or depleted from overuse, causing the breath to sputter. As a natural weapon, Nexian “expectant decorum” would normally declare it an animal-like behavior to be scorned and suppressed, but the innately magical character is a loophole in dragonkinds’ favor, which is good for them because they are very proud of their breath weapons.
I would be remiss to assume dragon’s breath always manifests as fire especially when it is referred to as ‘dragon’s breath’ not ‘dragon’s fire’. Qiv might be less Star Trek Gorn, and more chibi Godzilla with a laser beam. Another dragon might be able to spray a freeze ray, or a lightning storm, or a sonic screech, or a rip in space, or a streak of pure miasma, or even a tracking, magic missile bullet hell that a squad of orbitally-inserted space marines would worry about dodging.
Dragon’s breath has mystical features that differentiate it from regular flames. For one, it can harm semi-ethereal beings like the Library; damage to its physical manifestations transfers back to its ineffable memories. The Library has wards against “plain” dragon’s breath, but an “ancient sorcery” additive can slay the Library’s living information. The damage-boosting potion Ilunor was forced to take seemed to cause an unquenchable smoldering that slowly ate away at whatever it burnt: a very RPG-like continuous damage/bleed mechanic.

Quick aside: Mal'tory changing his plans about who would burn the Library.

The plan to scour the Library of a certain section that Nexus absolutely did not want Earth knowing about ^{previous name for Earth e.g. [Gaia]?} required a dragon-kin who could take the potion of breath enhancement. Ilunor was the selected victim, but was Ilunor the original dragon scouted for the role? Mal'tory and co. must have planned, invented, and arranged the continuous burn potion and invisibility cloak well ahead of time because the whole agenda was launched in less than 24 hours after Emma successfully arrived. However, it was chance (actually Thalmin’s dare) that the less-than-uplifted-kobold strayed to watch Earth’s portal which gave Mal'tory’s agents an opportunity to pickpocket/find his dropped dispelling amulet. I think Mal'tory decided to trade pawns when he chastised the trio for hiding and spying. Ilunor is a better minion since he will share a room with Emma because everyone else already firmed peer groups in their absence. Then, when Ilunor is slain to satisfy the treaty with the Library, his demise would open a spot in Emma’s dorm for a duplicant, putting three problems - newrealmer Emma, rebellious Havenbrock’s prince, and tainted Thacea - under the black robe’s direct control. It was advantageous to make Ilunor the disposable one.
So who was the original servant?
Qiv Ratom of Baralon was going to be ordered to burn the library section since he seemed to be chummy with Mal'tory during the yearbook signing as if they had a prior arrangement. If Qiv was assigned the task, he probably would have been told he wouldn’t take the fall and that Nexus would give the Library an innocent’s dead body. That may or may not have been true, Mal'tory seems like an untrustworthy sort. Anyhow, Qiv is more of an independent thinker willing to challenge narrative than pathetic, sycophantic Ilunor, so Mal'tory wisely reallocated Qiv to other angles. I suspect Qiv and Mal'tory’s deal relates to Uven the Ursina of Alaron, who might be Qiv’s vassal, ruler of a client state near Baralon, or an adjacent realm under Baralon’s sway. The bear was not allowed to protect himself in the Yearbook binding ceremony, he was soulbound, and Mal'tory made a duplicant of him. Mal'tory would puppet Uven’s duplicant to Qiv’s and Baralon’s benefit in return for tasks performed for him.

Specific crystal dragons

Transportium tainted divine(?)-dragon

Tainted Dragon. The entity that magically contacted Emma while she was falling through the transportium network telepathically communicated in a crystal dragon’s glass-like chiming wingbeats. The spell penetrated the armor’s anti-magic coatings, perhaps because it used the previously unknown 30th manatype. The dark-bound dragon was also able to find and target a nullfielder who does not distort manastreams in a lightless black void where ordinary senses are ineffective. It likely needed true soulvision to ID Emma. Its telepathy spell was probably true targeting-soul, mediated by mana. Both an unstable surge warning and the 30th manatype popped up, so the dragon is likely taint related.
Different dragon. It is my assumption that the calling entity betwixt is a different dragon than the amethyst or blue one. My reasons for believing so are that the amethyst dragon was imprisoned and the blue is discommoded, and both were on Nexusrealm proper rather than the interstitial transportium network.
Divine dragon. The entity was also incredibly powerful. Its [mystic telepathy] spell was 25th tier, the most powerful mana surge to date and significantly higher than armorer and basically-a-lich Sorecar’s and the Library’s 9th level or Yearbook’s 19th. That leads me to believe 25th is epic tier, in the realm of spirits and gods. The spell was also big enough that EVI could not even localize the relative direction.
Crafter of omens. Given that this draconic entity is bound up in the transportium network, the transportium network is related to time distortions, and it can use the 30th manatype that can contact humans mentally, the dragon betwixt is a prime candidate for the sender of the prescient and otherwise topically pertinent dreams Emma has been receiving. There is no known reason for it to assist Emma, but the nature of chronology-manipulating creatures is that they can reciprocate future aid earlier in the timeline, creating a sense of obligation that satisfies the causality-reversed time loop.
Please see Part 10e “Tainted black dragon god bound up in the transportium network” for the rest of speculation.

Amethyst Dragon

A lavender-colored crystal dragon is the likely source for the minor shards of impart sent to Earth. It is huge and clearly intelligent. An amethyst dragon’s crystalloid scales turn turquoise when stress-drained of mana. Amethyst dragons are rare among dragons; we don’t know if there is more than one that used to travel widely.
Escape. The amethyst dragon was imprisoned in an underground Transgracian Academy-controlled life archive below Elaseer’s warehouse district with many other creatures. It escaped when Mal'tory panic-cast the Impesis Taroni Earthmaw spell which does severe structural damage to the ground dozens of feet below the spell’s center. Crate 10’s detonation collapsed the weakened ceiling of the vault. The shimmering sheet of magic the dragon ripped through was probably a final defense which suppressed it but not the other creatures. It’s hard to know if the other monsters negated it with miasma or if it was specifically a counter-dragon barrier. The amethyst dragon took special notice of Emma as exited the underground despite the human not having a manafield and the armor making her appear completely foreign and novel. It determined Mal'tory was a hazard and, rather than waste time in a spell fight, knocked him away into a nearby canal. It shrugged off an 8th tier attempt to restrain it with chains, suggesting dragons have some spell resistance.
Something in the Academy drew its attention as it flew away. The usual suspect would be its blue dragon compatriot imprisoned in the black robe’s office.

Amethyst dragon enroute to avenge its mountain?

The amethyst dragon could be a boss of one of the seven great dragon clans who were thrown down from their mountain kingdoms by elves and kobold-kind in Nexian legend. Defending Ilunor’s kingdom from the return of an upset dragon (or a pragmatic one hoping to loot a secret vault that hasn’t been found yet) might be in the cards.

Connection with the spirits of Elaseer forest

In the emergency meeting about the “attack” on Elaseer, the Dean strongly insinuated that the amethyst dragon came in from the outside to hide that the amethyst dragon was formerly a prisoner in the Academy’s vaults.

“The sudden and unexpected arrival of an amethyst dragon during the course of these attacks is known to us, and what’s more, the reports of unexplained beastly howls preceding the attack, is likewise known to us. Those of you within the crowd who may fancy themselves ever-the-analytical sort may already understand the scope of this attack, and the parties that could potentially be involved.”

While the dean was conjuring up a major lie by omission to hide that Mal'tory’s theft of Emma’s crate and his subsequent incompetence precipitated disaster, we should consider that the Dean may be leaning on an unrelated truth as misdirection. The dean suggests the land spirits of Elaseer forest which sent a werebeast to harass the town and harm travelers have an overlapping set of interests with an amethyst dragon, thus it is reasonable to believe they might ally together for some end that undermines the Nexian administration and the Academy’s authority and safety. What would these two parties have in common?
We lack context for what the elves have been up to, but abusing the environment for magical resources sounds about right. [Spoiler about Nexus environment] They live in an infinite planar world, so there is no need to develop a strict mentality to preserve - you simply go out further and find more of what you want. Elves might cling to the idea that nothing is truly extinct, just locally extinct, and they just need to keep looking. No telling what has been lost forever. The academy has a life vault of imprisoned creatures that used to live somewhere. Those wood-based organic cores used in the tens-of-thousands of weapons Sorecar forges for Transgracian’s smithy have to be grown in some magically-powerful woods. The elvish attacks on the seven dragon lairs in the distant past are likely motivated by a need to claim the dragons themselves as resources, as well as their treasure.

Black Robe office blue dragon

A very large blue and black dragon “the size of a commercial shuttle”, the black robe office dragon is pinned up to a ceiling in a lifelike soaring position and partially dissected with the most work done on the tail end while the head is left intact. While Emma was unsure if it was a projection, it takes notice of her like the amethyst dragon. Emma thinks it looks a war trophy that would be in pain if organic, but it too is likely harvested for its scales and may be the source of the crystal bribe Mal'tory gave Lartia. The fact the dragon doesn’t have to be vaulted suggests that it is greatly weakened and that it will need outside help to escape: a dragon attacking the academy might also be in the cards.
If the blue-black dragon has an esoteric communication method Nexians are unaware of, it can relay what it sees and hears in the black robe office to other dragon allies.

Decarbonized

The text about the blue dragon was changed between published versions to remove references to organic components of its body.

[Current text] ... more specifically, a dragon that had been looked like it had at one point been alive, but that now currently resembled one of those anatomy diagrams given form. Starting with its tail, flowing into its midsection, before finally ending off at its head which remained untouched and intact with black and blue scales that still pulsated with life.
[Original text] ... more specifically, a dragon that had been systematically dissected into varying states of dissection. Starting with its tail which was nothing but bleached, stark-white bones, flowing into its midsection consisting of pinkish-red muscle and sinew, before finally ending off at its head which was completely intact with black and blue scales that still pulsated with life.

Secret dragon chitchat circle

Crystal dragons may be able to coordinate with another by aligning their scales to each other’s frequencies. A long-distance network is an espionage method to keep in mind, especially if the various dragons knew each other previously.

Seven great dragon clans of yore, Kobolds, Elf vs Dragon war

Before I get into this, keep in mind Ilunor’s telling of the history of his formerly dragon-owned kingdom is likely woven with two layers of lies:
1) Foundational lies told by the elves to make them appear heroic and hide their dirty motives. Interest in saving “enslaved” kobolds from their savagery is probably a cover for their real agenda. The elves gave up the conquered land later, so it was likely not valuable to them after they looted it. The elves got what they wanted: dragon treasure and corpses, the removal of draconic opponents to their authority and telling of history, and strategic placement of kobold bastions on the former lairs topped with lava to keep the dragons from returning.
2) Ilunor’s and the Vunerians’ self-serving lies to make his species look like they had agency, could recognize the “wisdom” of the elves, contributed as more than expendable fodder to the elvish war plan, and did not cravenly betray their dragons to save their own hides.
With that out of the way, here is Ilunor’s story, paraphrased.

In a mountainous section of Nexus, where a lush valley was ringed by a redoubt of high peaks, there lived seven great dragon clans. Kobolds were a race without magic acumen, one of the servant species of the dragons, and still followed animal instincts. Elves contacted the kobolds. Elvish wisdom and newfound kobold dissatisfaction with their primitive and servile way of life convinced them to overthrow their draconic overlords and adopt elvish customs.
Banding together, the two races slaughtered all the dragons and destroyed their supposedly impregnable lairs. The elves retreated from the draconic lands, their desires attained. They gifted the mountains to the uplifted kobolds and a spark of magic to those whom would become the Vunerian nobles. The Vunerians decapitated the mountains, carving grandiose caste-segregated tiered cities atop them. The Eternal King of Nexus personally gifted the Vunerians stable pools of lava and parks that would not be incinerated.

These lava pools can probably be dumped on the lower city tiers in case of invasion or uprising and their creation likely changed the structures within the mountain where the dragons used to lair to keep them out.
The elves and dragons seemingly coexist in the present (despite cliquing), so the elf vs. dragon war probably occurred early in Nexian history (e.g. >30,000) and there might not have been many established adjacent realms yet. Geo-shards were then unknown, so barely-the-Nexus needed draconic shards of impart to establish Status Communicatia.

Dragon-adjacents

A variety of dragon-adjacent humanoid subspecies attend Transgracian. Second to the elves, the dragon-kin are a prestigious group who clique and take high positions among the faculty. Using Ilunor’s lifestyle as a model, we can expect dragonkind to have hoarding and finery accumulation instincts, prefer nesting among their little treasures instead of making beds, and sleep atop things they consider valuable or secret.

Kobolds

Elves “uplifted” the kobolds, likely after exploring their physiology using the ritual of duplicity, and reassigned their servile instincts to benefit themselves. Ancestral kobolds had wings if Ilunor is to be believed (he is questionable). Ilunor implies kobolds lost their wings well before the uplift as part of their divergence from dragons proper, but the elves could have clipped them with their modifications to reduce their natural gifts. (This also implies books of souls, nulls, and the rituals are really old tech.)

Qiv(?)

I am not sure if Qiv is a kobold because he is larger than Ilunor. He also did not peer group up with other dragonkind like the subspecies students did.

Drakes

Drakes come in leisure flying and combat varietals: horses with wings. The kingdom that Rularia is within has a many-thousands-size squadron of them. Flying vessels are hard to make according to Ilunor (which probably means any airships and hovering buildings are limited to the Crownlands and highest nobles), so these drakes are air power that few other nations can counter.
My sneaky suspicion is that Ilunor’s drakes and Vunerians are from the same “kobold” stock. The elves forced upon the ancient kobolds a choice: those who betrayed the clans of dragons and helped the elves became Vunerian. Kobolds who stayed loyal and fought the elves had their sapience quenched and became riding animals. Obtaining a breeding supply of flying beasts by mutating the kobolds might have been one of the elven war objectives if they didn’t have their own avian flight units already.
Emma’s genetic tests can sort the relationship. Rapid-genotyping equipment to establish common origin and divergence theories would be the among the most important and certain research equipment that the IAS would send. It might not be possible for collected gene samples to survive back on Earth; the same way mana-radiation disintegrates the human body, an absence of mana might break down genes in retrieved specimens. Since there are magic organs and magic creatures, it is logical to expect proteins and gene regulators which incorporate mana as ligands in their structure, so all the genotyping must be done on Nexus until humans are sure about sample survivability. Knowing EVI, it might have already collected roommate dandruff and is simply waiting for an opportune moment to ask Emma for a go-ahead to start sequencing.

Shards of Impart

Shards of impart are magic crystals with inclusions(?) or crystallites(?) organized into matrices used for transrealm communication. Shards were originally refined from the smaller, exterior scales of crystal dragons: draconic-derived shards of impart. Nexian research advanced, and they have since replaced draco-shards with functionally inferior but far more convenient and customizable geologically-derived shards of impart that nucleate in places with concentrated mana. Draco-shards have since fallen into esoteric secrecy; adjacent realms know only of the geo-shards.
Nexus uses minor shards of impart for communication that Earth labels low bandwidth. Even minor shards are considered “planar-level artifacts” by Nexus. ‘Minor shards’ imply the existence of more powerful crystals, e.g. those that come from core parts of a crystal dragon which may have greater and more varied powers. Also keep in mind the term shard of “impart” is not specific about what sorts of data and powers may be imparted into or through the crystal.
When a minor shard’s matrices are properly aligned and attuned to those of other crystals, the user can send a magic message through the planar fabric that arrives instantly at the other crystal. Sending a message deforms the minor shard’s matrices which take up to (but potentially much less than) 4 weeks to realign before another message can be sent. Methods to attune shards of impart are a Crown-held secret and the artisans are held under oath or soulbind in the Crownlands. That means shards are normally locked to the configuration and calling destination that Nexus sets them in.
Shards contain an internal store of mana; the crystal becomes inert when it runs out. Humans invented a method to “refill” draconic-derived shards with mana artificially concentrated in a chamber. The idea of recharging crystals is completely novel to adjacent realmers since they are trapped by the mana equivalent of thermodynamic limitations, but the Crown may be familiar with the idea of using pressure and heat in natural underground spaces to create natural saturation geodes: background mana can be concentrated up to 10 times the natural levels for manufactoriums.
Draconic shards of impart are one of the few mana-based items that can function on earth. The intensely magical crystals lock mana in their crystal structure and only bleed out very slowly, gradually discoloring the crystal. As soon as the reservoir is emptied, the crystal is spent. Geoshards on Earth go inert almost immediately, so Earth was given exceptionally rare amethyst dragon-derived minor shards of impart, likely from the creature that was formerly trapped in a life archive below Elaseer.
There are probably more uses for geoshards than we know of for now. Thacea mentioned in her Library read that there are more than 5 kinds, more than 10 primary colors, over a thousand color combinations, infinite shapes, pure and compound crystalline configurations and these all have “associated meanings.” If shards of impart work as analogues of human electric-based tech, Nexus might be stringing them together them for sophisticated magic-programs, automated devices, and data storage in the Crownlands.

Status Communicatia

History

One of the pillars of Nexian power is Status Communicatia: communications and diplomacy between adjacent realms must route through Nexus at a fixed rate where it can be monitored. Nexus has near perfect control over the creation, alignment, and distribution of geologically derived shards of impart which are the current standard for communications as well as the forced loyalty of their crystal artisans. A stranglehold on dialogue keeps adjacent realms from cooperating well enough to form effective coalitions.
The one time Nexus lost Status Communicatia resulted in a major civil war ~10,000 years ago. A lost realm sentenced to death by omission (exile of their world and complete erasure of their records of existence) had agents break into the Crownlands to steal a geoshard, learned how to jailbreak them by literally snapping them in half (the Legendary Counter), and exchanged the pieces with other adjacent realms so trans-realm communications could take place without Nexus as an intermediary.
Effects on School Life. Transgracian is one of the few locations where Adjacent Realmers can mingle with less than perfect oversight. Students should be making rounds to allied realms to hash out mutual interests and trying to meet and greet. Thacea, Thalmin, and Ilunor, thanks to Emma’s troubles, are probably stressed about getting diplomatically sidetracked; their leaders likely had chores and a list of other students to hook up with.

Layers of Control

• Geoshards grow naturally in places of high mana concentration which do not occur naturally in adjacent realms that we know about. These sites are exclusively held by the Nexian Crown, no private companies allowed. Post-harvest, geoshards are well guarded by the Inner Guard division of the Nexian standing police-army.
  
• Information about the function of shards of impart is classified, so adjacent realms know only basics. The classified information includes the art of magic-enhanced glass microscopy to study the infinitesimal features that determine the shard’s behavior.
  
• The alignment of shards of impart relies on bound experts confined to the Crownlands. Shards are attuned only to crystals that Nexus approves of.
  
• Shards of impart are distributed based on the recipient realm’s background mana. Timing the dole right before the previous gift shard’s internal mana reservoir exhausts keeps adjacent realms from bringing additional messaging systems online.
  

Legendary Counter II and more Mal'tory worries

The full “Legendary Counter” to Status Communicatia has been lost, but Emma is going to recreate its core principles with dragon shards and the Exoreality Communications Suite. She has a deadline; Earth will try to force-open an unstable portal to Nexus in one Earth-month. The four major obstacles are 1) finding the amethyst dragon, 2) getting a shard from the dragon by diplomacy or force, then 3) finding whoever did the previous alignments of draco-shards for the Academy, and 4) getting the artisan to attune the new shard to the one at the IAS using Emma’s papers. Realistically, Emma might have to rely on a dragon to align the shard.
Mal'tory and co. present a secondary problem. The black-robed elf already confiscated the ECS once for examination. While Mal'tory is pretty stupid, it will be obvious even to him that Emma’s attempts to pursue the amethyst dragon are motivated by a shard of impart to be used for whatever-Earth-was-doing-before. Emma has a gold Library card and called off the inquisition treaty, so Mal'tory should assume that she is trusted by the Library and can trade for the info that draconic scales match Earth’s shards of impart. Letting Emma rebuild and use the ECS would be worse than the previous Legendary Counter: the lost realmers had to break crystals in half and couldn’t align at will. It will be really suspicious if the black robe does not 1) move to curtail Emma’s travel freedom the moment he figures out she is after the dragon and 2) confiscate any draco-shards. There would have to be some major distraction absorbing the faculty’s attention to explain why Mal'tory and company didn’t notice Emma’s extracurricular activities and make a move. ^{Maybe one he secretly orchestrated for plausible deniability and to distract his comrades...}

Obtaining a shard

Shards of impart are doled out by the Crown by one of the three methods below.
[1] “A letter of assignment by the crown”
A king-adjacent Ministry of Conveyance official tells the [Royal Custodian of Crystals] to bestow a shard to the indicated party. Standard sounding.
[2] An official inter-realm request by an Adjacent realm.
My guess is the Crown must recognize the applicant as legitimate. In the event of competing factions or disfavored leadership, the Status Communicatia dole allows Nexus to thumb the scales of who they want to reign. The Havenbrock takeover was allowed since it didn’t change the overall Nexian power balance of the realm - it sounds like Balnan’s Greyfangs were destabilizing anyway with financial mismanagement. The method here also raises a question regarding newrealms: how does Nexus decide who ought to rule in a world they don’t know the political structure of, like Earth? For all Nexus knows, they could be dealing with a frustrating, isolated cult instead of legitimate leaders. Allying with unpopular rogue wizards starts Nexus off on the wrong foot, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Crown had a first-contact primogeniture policy: first to contact becomes the world nobles. A combination of scrying and official visits probably refines Nexian diplomatic angles on a realm-by-realm basis.
[3] “Another official transaction”, deliberately left vague.
While we know these requisition procedures apply to geoshards, draconic shards open a can of worms wyrms. Dean Astur claimed the life vault under Elaseer was a Transgracian Academy-affiliated life archive. The “no intermediary ownership” rule does not seem to apply to the amethyst dragon and its draco-shards. For many years, Earth was given rare amethyst-dragon derived shards of impart and at no point was official requisition paperwork mentioned. Hmmm.

Earthrealm Exceptionalism

In previous parts, I have tried to make the point that Nexian officials/the Academy handled Earth’s first contact strangely. Some off script behavior is attributable to Earth’s manaless environment making the usual order of operations impossible. Other parts seem out of character for Nexus. 20 years or never again to try to send a candidate is too short a time frame by Nexian standards. Pilot 1’s body was returned instead of retained for study. Mal'tory may have lied about the test of civility to hide that Nexus didn’t send additional materials or treaties because they would embarrass themselves by revealing that they couldn’t translate from English thanks to the failure of all of their usual mana-reliant reconnaissance methods.
As a more concrete point of (dis)order, Earth has been getting high-quality, amethyst-dragon derived minor shards of impart from outside the Crown’s tightly-controlled supply chain for more than twenty years with no major oversight. This is very out of character for Nexus in two ways. The first is that the amethyst dragon is under the control of a non-Crown party; Transgracian Academy is managing the dole. The second is that Nexus is normally keen to establish its hierarchy. The Crown would not miss out on requiring an adjacent realm to make a request to grind in that Nexian gifts should not be expected without some obeisance. This would explain why Thacea and Thalmin are shocked that Earth would defile a shard of impart; IAS didn’t have to jump through any kind of hoops to get one, so it set up all the wrong expectations from the get-go about their intrinsic cultural value. It makes you wonder what the previous black robes and deans prior to Astur (tenure average = 11.5 years) were thinking, or if there was some intentional disconnect between the Crown and Transgracian’s officials of the time...

Dragons and taint

On the surface, dragons don’t appear to have a connection to taint or portals, except for that one was stored in a vault with other potentially tainted creatures, and a dragon-sound-making entity was calling to from the transportium network and directly into Emma’s dreams at night and used the Taint-adjacent 30th manatype to do it.
Overuse of shards of impart may also contribute to the spread of taint since they are mana-reliant planar-scale artifacts like portals. Nexus insists this is the case, so it is a potential hazard for Emma’s attempts to communicate back home, especially if she does it in bulk.

NOTE: First and foremost, make sure to obtain my PGP key from the link below. I will not communicate again, but if anyone else tries to pretend they are me, they won't be able to do so as anything I want to post will be signed. But I will not post again.
NOTE 2: My document is too long to fit in this post. I will post what I can here, and the rest can be accessed over here. https://pastebin.com/nmkE7Atv
NOTE 3: I have created a throw-away account to post this. According to the notice above this text box, my post will be "kicked over to the mod team" for manual review. After I submit this this, I will not be checking whether my post got approved, or the replies.
Link: https://pastebin.com/nmkE7Atv

Foreword

This will be a succinct retelling of my time with the extraterrestrial concern.
This is not a linear article. It is a discontinuous collection of notes and essays that I’ve written over the past couple of months, then stitched together into this document over two days. After everything has been compiled, I rewrote a few things, corrected a few mistakes here and there, and wrote the last two addendums. I did, however, try my best to make the whole thing sound as coherent as possible. I will sign this document with a PGP key, and do not trust anything that’s not signed, even though I do not plan on communicating any further. I will not “change”, or otherwise “lose” my key in the future. If I do indeed lose my key, I will simply cease communication.
I did not hold back from stating names or locations whenever appropriate, but I did not go out of my way to state them. I went ahead with writing this because I am already aware my beliefs are known, and sooner or later, I will be held accountable. Their outcomes are definitely not proportional to what has been done, as it is all or nothing to them, so I already know that the kind of thing that is going to happen to me will be the same as if I never wrote this.
To properly contextualize my retelling, I believe it will make things much simpler to understand if I state what I did right away, as I didn’t do so anywhere else. I was the Director of Operations for the Eastern American segment of the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Dialogue, which is by no means the official or formal name for the organization, which is officially without identity. “Extraterrestrial Intelligence Dialogue”, or EID, is the informal but common name used both at the workplace and on documents. Colloquially, we also use the term “intelligence community”, and sometimes we say “Extraterrestrial Intelligence Community”, but that is a slightly older term. Note that even though I was nominally a Director, it is the position immediately above the “middle ranks”, and I was by no means some kind of leader, only an orchestrator of operations that reported directly to the administration. I had very little executive power.
The EID is a multinational federation of distinct government agencies that are studying the extraterrestrial phenomenon. The members of the EID align closely with the NATO roster, but with half the headcount. Some of these agencies are openly known (e.g., Defense Intelligence/DI from the British ministry of defense), while the rest to this day remain nominally secretive and enjoy, or rather suffer, varying degrees of public awareness. The EID is a properly structured organization with a constitution and eerily resembles a company in its style of governance, with an analogue to the corporate HR department and pizza parties to still complaints.
As the Director of Operations, I oversaw day-to-day management of the northeastern facilities while keeping a close eye on intelligence gathering. I was appointed there for six years before I was discharged, which is actually far longer than the average length of time spent in the EID. They purposefully segregate “generations” of workers by artificially keeping their mandates short, so that each generation’s knowledge extent can be limited and documented, which is useful in the case of information disclosures as it allows INFOSEC to efficiently map newly leaked intelligence to a specific generation and narrow down the search radius. For example, if someone leaks data on axiom Lorem, which was only researched by generation Ipsum, then the loudmouth must be from generation Ipsum. Note that only the lower ranking personnel are subject to this generational system, not the higher ranking.
If you think that implies each generation does not necessarily have the knowledge of the previous generations, you are thinking right. All research outputs are carefully curated and passed down, with the rest of the information only made available as is necessary. Individual axioms of knowledge can be graphed this way and an astonishingly detailed relationship map of the “passing down” of axioms can be consulted to rapidly identify who we can attribute their disclosure to.

My introduction to the extraterrestrial concern

NOTE: This is not meant to be an exhaustive retelling. This happened six years ago, details may be erroneous or missing. I just want to detail the “induction” process into the extraterrestrial concern because it is not often talked about and is a rather interesting experience for everybody involved.
Joining the extraterrestrial concern is through a process that I can only consider an unwitting lottery system. When considering individual candidates, the EID looks for three big factors:

1. Is the candidate qualified for what we need?
   1. Yes, this one is evident, but it is listed because the EID is ready to sacrifice a degree or two of competency if the two other qualifications are strongly met.
2. Does the candidate believe in the concept of national security?
   1. That is, is defending his/her country something that he/she believes in? Many candidates, especially younger ones in academia, have ideological perspectives which conflict with this.
3. Does the candidate hold onto strong anthropocentric views?
   1. In other words, are we looking at somebody who is a fervent, practicing Christian ready to defend his faith, or someone who is deeply inspired by Carl Sagan’s belief of our irrelevance in the universe? The latter is evidently better equipped for this work.

At my previous employer, I was the Chief Operating Officer who, as one part of my many other duties, oversaw the management of proprietary trade secrets. My portfolio alone fulfilled the first factor. My patriotism for my country and my understanding of national security (I once had a blog which sometimes talked of both elements) fulfilled the second, while my militant atheism fulfilled the third. This was sufficient for the EID recruiters to notice me and put me on their list, and I was randomly selected some time after. I am not aware as to when I was inserted on the list, only that I was. I am also not aware where they source these identities from, and my time as DoO wasn’t enough for me to discover this. I don’t think it’s too hard for authorities to build a good list, however.
Two years ago, I received a letter in the mail that looked like your standard government letter, with the logo in the corner and a stamp in the other. The letter simply stated that they had a work opportunity for me, that it has many benefits, and that I should go to a location for an interview. What picked my curiosity was the absence of any details, which pushed me to investigate further. At this point in time, I had no interest in seeking other employment, but nonetheless I believed it is not everybody that receives an eerily nondescript job offer from the government. I also thought it could be some kind of scam, or other criminal ploy, but I took the risk of visiting the address anyway the week after.
Arriving there, I found nothing extraordinary, but nothing which told me “government” either. The building was a multi-tenant office complex hosting multiple companies, and was located in the outskirts of a city center. I arrived ten minutes early, and entering the lobby I also found nothing which indicated I was in a government building. It was noon so plenty of people were in the lobby eating lunch. There was nobody at the reception, so I went to the elevator and rose to the floor as indicated on the letter. As the doors opened, I immediately noticed the disquieting silence of the environment. My mind was trying to latch onto any kind of stimulus and the only thing comforting me was the HVAC.
I had to walk to the middle of the corridor before eventually reaching the office unit number, from where I was able to hear two muffled voices across the door. I knocked, and a couple seconds later two gentlemen, henceforth referred to as “John” and “Steve”, dressed in business casual clothing opened the door, welcoming me inside and insisting that I seat. The office was obviously rented, as the chairs were these metallic folding chairs and the table was a gray plastic one hastily assembled. Save for the desk and the people in the room, the whole office was empty.
The gentlemen I talked to introduced themselves as representatives of the government. We chatted a bit about the drive there, as they themselves lived far away as I did, and they mentioned that they had to rent this unit because he wasn’t able to get a proper conference room at their “place” today, to which I responded by saying it’s fine. They eventually got down to the interview, which occurred pretty much like this:

1. We are currently recruiting new people for a program.
2. This program involves high amounts of secrecy and utmost care is needed.
3. If I choose to join it, I must understand that there will forever be restrictions on what I do next and what I say next.
4. I was selected because they thought I am a “highly curious individual” and that I fit the profile for a position which they need filling as soon as possible.
5. I will enjoy lifetime benefits for partaking in this program and I may not need to work for the rest of my life after being discharged.
6. I am free to decline this opportunity, but I will never have it again.

At that point, I only cared about the fifth element. Even though I was not looking for a new job, I was always interested in something more comfortable. I asked for more information as to what the opportunity was and that’s when they informed me that I cannot be told anything more unless I consent to secrecy with some legally binding forms, which I agreed to sign. I was first handed over a generic procedure form to sign that, to my knowledge, granted us the ability to talk of secretive things - after signing it, I was very expressly and explicitly told that “everything from this point forward is top secret and may not be divulged”. I was then provided with another form, this time to appoint a follow-up interview where I was going to be told the actual details of the work. The sheet did not have any information related to the interview, only that I was consenting to proceed. Without realizing it, I already signed up to “join” whatever was next.
After signing both documents, they were put into a manila envelope that was subsequently sealed. The gentleman sitting next to my interviewer, silent during the questioning, then produced from his briefcase a single piece of paper which actually had the interview details. As I recall it, it stated the following:

• A second meeting will be held at a presently undisclosed location.
• You will not drive to the location. You will be picked up at your home by a designated driver.
• The driver will arrive between 0500 and 0530 at X date. It is preferable to be ready 10 minutes before. There is no designated time for when you will return so keep your entire day clear.
• When the driver arrives, he will spend a “reasonable” amount of time waiting for you if you are not there, but if you don’t present yourself at all, he will leave and the opportunity will be forfeit.
• You are not allowed to bring any electronics (save for those necessary for your health, like pacemakers or hearing aids), any writing instruments (pencils, paper, etc), any additional clothing (no extra pair of socks), any wallets/money, any food and water, and any accessories including jewelry. In short, you are only allowed the clothing on your back.
• You must return this paper to your agent.

It still didn’t state anything related to the work, but at that point I was so curious that I just went along with it. The date on the paper was less than 48 hours later, so I took the next two days off to ease off the stress and prepare myself for what was next. I knew I always had the option to say no and not proceed but I really wanted to know what it was going to be. After reading the paper, I returned it to the guy with the briefcase, I was asked if I understood the contents of the paper and I confirmed, after which we shook hands and I subsequently departed home. For the next two days I was making theories as to what it could be. I did think of extraterrestrials at some point but I shrugged that idea off, instead believing it must be something related to the military, or perhaps work as a spy (which I distinctly recall being disgusted at, I really did not want to be a spy). Eventually, the day came and I was ready. I remember dressing up a bit smarter, I wore a nice shirt and nice pants but didn’t bother with the full on suit, tie and all.
At around 0520ish, a dark blue SUV slowly pulled up to me right in front of my home. I was able to see three people inside and the guy in the backseat lowered the window, asked for my name, and upon confirming who I was, opened the door and let me in. The driver and his copilot were dressed up in a similar attire as mine, so did the person sitting right next to me, who immediately asked me if I had any electronics, writing instruments, wallets, food/water, jewelry, the whole list as it was on the paper, informing me that if it’s found I have any of these they will not be “very happy”. I confirmed that I brought none of it, and then we drove off. The drive was long and quiet. At one point I mustered the audacity to ask a question to the person sitting next to me (I tried to relate to him personally by asking if they always have to drive far away to pick up people) but he told me that I should reserve my questions for later when we arrive, which I interpreted as a very polite “stay silent”, so that’s exactly what I did.
We eventually arrived to some kind of office complex surrounded by fences and guarded by a checkpoint. It was quite interesting to see a corporate-looking building in the middle of a rural municipality to be honest, but what was even more interesting was the complete lack of any writings, signs, or any kind of information in the building’s exterior. Nothing pointed out this building’s identity, but it did have a street number visible written on the checkpoint guard’s post. Speaking of, a man in a black security uniform was posted there, which immediately let the van in the moment we pulled up to the gate. The parking lot was full of average looking cars, but I did notice three more exact copies of the same SUV (including color) parked in the building’s northeastern corner from my point of view.
The man sitting right next to me said “Alright, let’s go”, opened the door and told me to come with him. The driver and his copilot remained in the car and parked it in the corner while we walked up to the building. He pulled out a card out of his coat pocket and tapped it on the door handle, which unlocked it. Coming inside, I was immediately greeted by a receptionist’s desk, which had a single man working there, eating what was presumably his breakfast. I noticed no names, no indication whatsoever of where I was, but to the left and to the right of the desk was room numbers from 0 to 150, with arrows pointing to their direction. I was eventually brought into a room in the hundreds, where I was told to wait by the man that accompanied me. He did ask me if I wanted something to drink and I was in fact pretty thirsty so he returned a few minutes later with two cups of water, one for himself too.
The room was pretty much your average conference room. Big table with chairs around it, and a white screen for projecting things. There was a clock on the wall which produced pretty much the only sound in the room. I didn’t notice any kind of ventilation this time around. Ten minutes or so later, John, Steve, and two other men henceforth referred to as “Jack” and “Jason” came in. John and Steve shook my hand and stated they were happy to see me again, while Jack and Jason both introduced themselves to me while not stating their exact position, simply referring themselves as “directors”. John then asked the man that accompanied me if I had any “forbiddens” and the man looked at me and asked the same question. I understood they were referring to the things I wasn’t supposed to bring and I of course reaffirmed that I brought nothing. They both laughed and stated that they trust me, and not to worry about it. We proceeded to sit down, and the man who accompanied me for the drive left the room.
John and Steve both went over what we discussed in our first meeting, reiterating that I signed the requisite forms and agreed to secrecy. They talked about what I do for a living and that I was “highly curious”, which Jack and Jason seemed to appreciate judging from their facial expressions. Eventually, Jack said that it was time to talk about the job details, but told me that from this point forward it is a “point of no return” and that if I choose to proceed, they will take it as me accepting the job offer. I must admit that I felt a really strong peer pressure here, and I felt that I wasn’t given the time to consider, but I mindlessly went ahead and told them that yeah, I want to cross this so called “point of no return”. So they proceeded.
At first, they asked me my thoughts about our “position in the universe”, which caught me off-guard. I didn’t expect to step into philosophy here, but I answered honestly that I think very strongly that nobody is privileged (I initially framed this question as coming from a religious context) and that the sheer scale of space is evidence of this. They said that they agreed strongly, and that belief of mine will make my job “incredibly easier” to process. Then, they asked me questions about my thoughts on human intelligence, and my thoughts on how “special” we are compared to other animals, which I framed as a question coming from a context of artificial intelligence. I started blabbing about AI, trying to predict where Jack and Jason was pulling me towards, but they reoriented me in the right direction by asking me how I would feel if I was a “chimpanzee discovering there are smarter apes out there”.
That was when I knew. I had a sinking feeling in my chest at that moment. I did not want to believe it but yes, it was clearly going to be extraterrestrials. I didn’t know how to answer and I stuttered a bit, something they smiled to. John tried relating to me by saying it’s also how he felt, which Steve also stated, and looked at Jack and Jason as if he was telling them “no more questions”. In an act of pure frankness, Jack stated that there are “smarter animals out there”, and that these animals is what we (the outsiders, the “unaware”) call aliens. They gave me a few seconds to process this but I wasn’t able to say anything because it sounded so preposterous. They just continued and said that I will have the opportunity to study and learn more about them, that they also sympathize with me over this (that they felt the same when they first learned), and that it can be normal to feel denial at first because we are told time and again that extraterrestrials are urban legends, or myths. But they confirmed again that they are very real, and that my work will involve them.
Trying to stay professional, I asked about exactly what I was going to be doing. I was not interested in dissecting alien corpses. They said that they are looking for someone to replace their Director of Operations, the person making sure “things keep running well”, which will be discharged soon, and that I am a good candidate because of my views and my prior experience in keeping secrets. They mentioned that I will be able to freely consult their repository of information to study extraterrestrials at a library specifically for storing this information. Jason, an expert on extraterrestrial matters, was going to accompany me and allow me to ask any questions I wanted, but that reading the material was the “best” approach for this. Finally, I was told that there is no actual start date for my work, and that I can start whenever I consider myself familiar enough with the material, but they did precise that learning and familiarization is a permanently ongoing process that never ends, especially since research is also permanently ongoing.
John told me that I was not going to return home for the next two weeks, as I was going to be lodged somewhere else closer to the library, but that they can send somebody in to retrieve anything I needed from my home. I told them if I could reflect on this for five minutes or something, and they apologized and excused themselves from the room for some time, allowing me to reflect. It honestly impacted me more than I have predicted - not even a year prior, a friend of mine was talking about aliens and I said in passing that I would find it pretty cool if they were found to exist and I would be chill with it, but now I realized that it is actually kind of shocking to learn that we are not alone in the universe, even though it is statistically likely that are not.
After the requested amount of time passed, only John returned to the room and asked me what I needed to retrieve. I first asked him about my job, since I work somewhere else, and he told me that there’s a protocol in place to “quietly” inform them that I would no longer work there. I blindly trusted what he stated, so I just said that I wanted my clothes, a couple of books from my bookshelf (I was reading this comic book called Shenzhen at the time and I liked it a lot), and my phone. Of course, he told me that I cannot have my phone, but that if I need to call anybody there would be a phone line at wherever I was going to be lodged. I had to tell him that I know no numbers and all of my contacts are on my phone, so I had to write down my phone’s PIN so they could instruct the retriever guy to go through my contacts and retrieve a couple of names I also wrote down.
I eventually walked back to the reception with John and he told me that I made a great decision, and that I will be lodged in the “Northeastern campus” for now. The shuttle from the campus, which was actually just another blue SUV, came shortly after and I entered accompanied by Jason, who also brought a briefcase and a coffee. As we departed, he apologized to me for not asking if I also wanted a coffee and informed me there would be some there, but I told him it was fine and I’m not really a big coffee drinker anyway. The drive was much longer this time around, as we eventually crossed the border into the United States. The process took much longer than the previous times I crossed into the US for travel, and I realized that it was truly a point of no return for me, because I was crossing into another country without any kind of identification. I have no idea which process was used at the border to admit us passportless folk.
A couple more hours later and we eventually arrived at the “campus”, which truth be told is more of a single building simply divided into distinct sections, each with a specific purpose. The building itself is officially for biological research, but the top floors are dedicated for government use and it is these floors that are divided. The “lodging” was actually a nearby hotel, which the government regularly rented rooms from for guests, and is of course placed under strict surveillance.
We parked next to the building and Jason told me to follow him. We entered using his keycard, and the building was completely deserted, presumably because it was the weekend. We took the elevator and he had to use his keycard again to activate the last 4 floors, which is where we went. Arriving there, it was simply a library, with shelves upon shelves of thousands of white files, and tables to sit on.
The library itself was further segmented into six to eight more compartments, each divided by fake plastic walls that you could disassemble and move around. Today, I know that each “compartment” represented a “generation” of knowledge, but at the time I was unaware. Jason informed me that I was only allowed to retrieve files from a specific location of the library, which we went to and sat down. He asked again if I wanted a coffee and I politely declined, and he just went to the machine in the center of the room and brewed himself a cup while I was sitting at the table, disorientated. It got dark outside and I was able to see the city and the cars driving by. It felt weird knowing that all of these people were less than a hundred meters away from world-changing, perspective-transforming forbidden knowledge.
Jason came back and bluntly asked me, “Where do you want to start?”, and I just shrugged. So much happened so quickly - I told him that I didn’t know what to think or do because I just lost my job, was told I’d be here for the next two weeks, and I just learned that “aliens existed”. Jason sympathized with me and he even said that he disagreed with the pace of things and that it used to be different before, but that this work is rapidly evolving and the management want more people than ever now, so they are doing things very quickly. My first questions for him was asking where we were and where I would work and all of these details but he told me that even himself doesn’t know because that information is not revealed until a “certain amount of time” has passed. Today, I know that this isn’t entirely true - this is in fact a way to mitigate some of the disorder caused by the increased managerial/recruitment pace. Previously, the person was allowed to return home, collect his things and resign from his work before being assigned new living quarters (which is actually just an apartment specifically rented by the government close to your place of work), but because things needed to go “quicker” this is now done in parallel with the person’s education, so the person is sent to temporary lodging (the rented hotel rooms) as he is educated while the system takes care of collecting the person’s belongings, finds an apartment, rents it, and prepares the person to join the system.
Anyway. I asked if I could go sleep and he allowed it, but that tomorrow at 0500 sharp I needed to be here. He called someone on the library’s phone to come pick me up (he wanted to stay at the library), and that at 0430 someone was going to knock on my hotel’s room to pick me up so I should be up at around 0400. That wasn’t a lot of time to sleep considering the lateness of the night but I didn’t feel like complaining. He guided me back downstairs, I was swiftly picked up and brought to a Holiday Inn. The driver handed me the keycard and room number, and I was allowed to go to my room by myself, the very first time of the day I was left alone. I didn’t go right to my room though, I walked around in the hotel lobby before going outside, talking a walk around the parking lot, trying to process everything that happened before deciding to go up to my room and sleeping. I slept only a couple of hours due to the stress.
The next day, I awoke a bit before 0400, took a shower and got dressed in the same exact clothes. I had no brush so my hair looked like a mess but to be frank I did not care. As expected, at 0430 the same driver knocked on my door, brought me downstairs and drove me right back at the same place, except it was now busy with people. Jason, which I suspected didn’t even sleep, welcomed me in the lobby and brought me to the library, where we finally initiated some discussion. He took the night to write an “Aliens 101” paper, a list of questions to go over with me to get me started with extraterrestrials. He also called in some breakfast, of which I was heavily envious of because I never had that convenience at my previous job. He had it delivered to the floor immediately below ours as they didn’t have access to the library.
Having slept over it, I felt a bit more ready to take on the subject and I was happy that he prepared an introduction for me. In a word, it went like this:

• Extraterrestrials exist. Not only do they exist but they are right here, on our planet, watching us.
• There isn’t a “single” specie of extraterrestrials. We are aware of many, but not exactly how many.
• We do not know their politics, or if they are a part of another greater civilization elsewhere. We do not think that we have received “communications” (signals) from elsewhere in the universe
  • That doesn’t mean we didn’t at all, simply that if we did, we have yet to understand it and identify the communication from all the noise.
• We do not know their exact intentions. We can only extrapolate from what we can observe, and we have observed the following:
  • They do not want to harm us, but what exactly constitutes “harm” depends on your point of view. Would you consider dissecting a sample out of a population to study their health “harming” the population as a whole? They do sometimes end up killing a few human beings, as well as animals, but that’s generally collateral damage that they did not intend, and always seem to try to return them (us) unharmed. Over time, we observe less and less “collateral” damage - they harm us less as they learn about us, maybe.
  • 99.998% of their behavior is them “observing” us. Any of the above, such as interfering with life, is the exception to the rule. They seem to hang around like someone watching birds. We have no evidence of them doing anything else. They are not disappearing airplanes, for example, and it’s ludicrous to imply otherwise.
• They don’t seem to purposefully stay covert. The way they observe us as well as their lack of communication make it seem so, but they don’t really attempt to hide unless we specifically try to approach them.
  • “Hiding” is defined as either 1) an extremely fast acceleration into nothingness, or 2) vanishing from thin air. We don’t know what leads to the former or the latter, or if both forms of “hiding” are from different technologies/species.
• We do not have communication with extraterrestrials. We haven’t really made a serious effort to communicate either, but neither have they, and we don’t even know where to start.
• They do travel in a variety of “flying saucers”, today called UAPs but previously called UFOs. Some of them are manned but a lot of unmanned and their provenance is unknown. These flying saucers are capable of incredible feats, including descending from (and ascending to) space in seconds, as well as submerging into water, instant gain of momentum, and having impossibly lightweight mass. Today, most of this is known already, so I don’t think I’m teaching anybody new knowledge.
  • A lot of the footage published on the Internet is legitimate. There are, however, no organized operations to discredit footage or leaks posted online. In other words, the people do it to themselves. That said, there is a lot of false footage, and it can be hard to distinguish between the two. Again, this is already known by most of those interested in UFOs/UAPs.
  • There have been plenty of crashed crafts, and we still experience crashes regularly, but the rate of crashes has been decreasing since the 1970s. We do not know the reason why crashes are decreasing considering the technology they had even a century ago was already very impressive.
  • They do not make any attempts to recover their crafts, or at least we haven’t observed any. It could be that they do recover certain crashed crafts but we are unaware of these attempts. At least they haven’t tried to recover any crafts that we ourselves recovered.
  • Efforts to reverse engineer these crashed crafts are ongoing. The private sector are entrusted with some of the reverse engineering, but only after a substantial amount is done by the state. We have not, however, produced any useful technology out of reverse engineering attempts, so all of the rumors that “X modern technology is in fact extraterrestrial” are false. So far, we can only manage small-scale experiments.
  • The alloys used in these crafts do not make physical sense to us. That is, their composure, upon examination, should be physically impossible, or extremely difficult to achieve. It is hypothesized that extraterrestrials have developed the ability to alter the forces between subatomic particles.
  • These crafts do not use propulsion for travel. We currently have no understanding of how these crafts move around. We have not identified any kind of “engine” or “drive”. It is hypothesized that they “translate” themselves through space instead of using a force to move, but we do not know for sure, and we do not even understand which part of the craft is used to do this.
• Only dead specimens have been recovered so far. “Specimens”, of course, is referring to the prior occupants of these crafts, otherwise referred to as exobiospheric organisms, or EBOs.
  • I distinctly remember a Reddit thread months ago referencing “EBOs”, whose author claimed to be a researcher at a government laboratory. I do not remember it in detail but I can tell you with certainty that the term he used is simply a very spot-on coincidence as it is exactly the term used by the EID to refer to aliens. His story, or rather fan-fiction, is full of falsehoods, outside of that term. Could it be that he did get his hands on a piece of legitimate EID material, but used it as a foundation for his story? Who knows but him.
• Most EBOs are pretty small (think three and a half foot tall on average) and vaguely humanoid-shaped, retaining the limbs needed for bipedal locomotion and balancing, but lack the generic features of a human being, such as two eyes, a nose, ears, legs with feet, and so on and so forth. That said, their look is not as “alien” as you may think. They look weirdly native and you would probably think they are small people dressed up in a scaled-down costume of The Silence from Doctor Who. At least that’s the impression I got from photographs of cadavers.
  • Some other EBOs recovered are much different in physiology and presentation but all of them are bipedal and vaguely humanoid-shaped. All of them look native, as in you wouldn’t assume they are “off-Earth” beings right away, and probably more like an undiscovered specie of humanoid beings we have yet to document. It’s a pretty strange feeling, because you initially expect much more - you expect them to look scarier but truthfully they are just animals, like us actually.
  • We currently have no understanding of the reason why all EBOs assume a vaguely humanoid shape with similar limb distribution. A popular hypothesis is that the shape and use of limbs to achieve bipedalism is inherent to, or at least necessary for, the development of intelligent life, similar to the concept of carcinisation among crustaceans.
• All EBOs recovered are cell-based organisms, featuring biological analogues to most organs we can observe in multi-cellular life, going by similarities in structures (there is a lot of comparative anatomy involved). They do not, however, feature the same biochemistry that Earth life has, including DNA. While it is likely that they have an analogue for DNA, and consequently evolution has a whole, we have not identified the biochemistry behind it just yet.

The rest can be read here. My apologies, Reddit has a 40,000 character limit. Link: https://pastebin.com/nmkE7Atv

This is some kind of article translation and small rewrite from habr.com with a few actualization updates.
My attempt to make a project that I did for myself for the purpose of self-education and application at work, useful to someone else. It would be possible to write more letters, but due to the peculiarities of professional activity, there is not much time for this, to put it mildly. Those who are interested can always learn the details on their own on the github.
Background
I remember that about 10 years ago I wanted to find a convenient GUI mail log viewer with filters by time and various key fields for Exim, and preferably with the ability to automatically clean up outdated entries. Reading log files is, of course, good, but not very fast and convenient, especially when a person is standing over you (or hanging on a telephone line) who “right now” needs to find out why the most important letter from some company did not come. The issues of storing logs for a period longer than a week and accessing them were also relevant.
Such a exim log GUI viewer was subsequently found - exilog. However, over time, Postfix-based mailers began to appear on the farm (usually as part of mailcow-type combines), and for them nothing modern, youthful, and most importantly, simple and quick in scanning could not be found.
Then I found ELK (Opendistro more precisely) and there were my quite successful attempts to fasten the parsing, storage and display of all logs (not just mail logs) to this stack. But there was a strong desire to have something separate, more lightweight, less resource-intensive and universal specifically for mail.
Around this time, on the github, I came across a wonderful project Privex Postfix log parser.
I immediately had a desire to develop the project, making it more convenient and expanding the scope, because I had a lot of wishlist, and the project seemed somehow unfinished and abandoned.
So, meet MTA Log Parser.
I'm not much of a programmer, because this is not my main line of work. The request for the source code strongly not to scold.
The initial project on Quart (backend) and VueJS (frontend) was finalized by me, adapted to the more current vue 3. As a DBMS in the initial project, Rethinkdb is used and migration to something else, or support for something else, I have not yet done (if it is not broke, don’t fix it). If there is a reasoned opinion why it is worth redoing the DBMS backend to something else - write in the comments, it will be interesting to read.
The list of changes compared to the original project is quite large and can be found in CHANGES.md. Here I will write the most important at the moment (v.1.5.5):

• Support for the 4 most popular (according to some resources) MTA - Exim, Postfix, Sendmail and MS Exchange (just added, need more testing on the actual csv log files - you are welcome to send me some samples in PM =) )
• Dockerization - greatly simplifies and speeds up deployment and upgrade procedures to any production use
• More advanced GUI with more filters
• Some simple statistics
• LDAP and internal authentication methods
• Localization of the GUI (English and Russian locales are currently supported, but it is possible to add support for others)
• Rotation of logs (removal of obsolete ones) by the number of days

The future plans are in CHANGES.md Also there will be needed the code refactoring, because I understand that I've done something quite terrible in terms of code.
Criticism, PRs and just tips from programming gurus are welcome ofcourse =)
​
​

https://youtu.be/qe5tBvkvrf8

Summary:

Microsoft’s Copilot puts AI into everything

Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered feature, Microsoft Copilot. It’ll bring AI features into various Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing. Our first impressions are that it’s Bing but for Windows. You can use Copilot to rearrange windows, generate text, open apps on the web, edit pictures and more.Copilot can be accessed via an app or with a simple right-click and will be rolled out across Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 this fall, with the free Windows 11 update starting on September 26th.Why does this matter?While we don’t see any revolutionary use cases of Copilot as of now, it’s still a huge step towards the democratization of AI. As more users get their hands on this AI copilot, we’ll know the true extent of its effectiveness. If all goes well, Microsoft will end up grabbing an even bigger share of the AI market as it will deliver AI natively to all Windows devices.

YouTube announces 3 new AI features for creators

In a YouTube event, the company announced 3 AI-powered features for YouTube Shorts creators.
Dream Screen: It allows users to create image or video backgrounds using AI. All you need to do is type what you want to see in the background and AI will create it for you.
Creator Music: This was a previously available feature but got an AI revamp this time around. Creators can simply type in the kind and length of the music they need and AI will find the most relevant suggestions for their needs.
AI Insights for Creators: This is an inspiration tool which generates video ideas based on AI’s analysis of what the audiences are already watching and prefer.Why does this matter?It seems like a strategic decision to natively introduce AI features to support users. It’s a trend we are seeing increasingly more across the landscape. For the users, it's great news since they get free AI assistance in their creative endeavors.

Google’s innovative approach to train smaller language models

Large language models (LLMs) have enabled new capabilities in few-shot learning, but their massive size makes deployment challenging. To address this, the authors propose a new method called distilling step-by-step, which trains smaller task-specific models using less data while surpassing LLM performance.First, the key idea is to extract rationales - intermediate reasoning steps - from an LLM using few-shot chain-of-thought prompting. These rationales are then used alongside labels to train smaller models in a multi-task framework, with tasks for label prediction and rationale generation. Experiments across NLI, QA, and math datasets show this approach reduces training data needs by 75-80% compared to standard fine-tuning.Why does this matter?This new approach to train smaller models with higher accuracy has the potential to support language models that can be deployed on local devices while retaining the performance that was previously achievable only through LLMs.

4 Crucial Factors for Evaluating Large Language Models in Industry Applications

Based on your end goal, you might fancy one LLM over the other. For instance, some industries value privacy over anything while others might put data accuracy over everything else. In this article, Skanda Vivek shares the 4 critical factors you should always consider when picking a large language model.He mentions Quality, Economic, Latency, and Privacy to be the 4 resting pillars of your decision. He then goes into details discussing each of these parameters and how you should evaluate a given model against them.Why does this matter?The ability to make the right decision when choosing the underlying LLM for your applications is massively important. This article will provide you with valuable insights when it comes to choosing the right LLM.

Some universities are ditching AI detection software amid fears students could be falsely accused of cheating by using ChatGPT

Major universities have discontinued the use of AI detection tools due to concerns about their accuracy, potentially falsely accusing students of cheating with the aid of AI tools like ChatGPT.AI Detection Tool Concerns
False Accusations of Cheating: Many universities, including Vanderbilt and Northwestern, have stopped using Turnitin's AI detection tools over worries they might wrongly accuse students of using AI to write essays.High False Positive Rate: Vanderbilt University highlighted a 1% false positive rate, potentially mislabeling 750 out of 75,000 papers. Similarly, Northwestern University and the University of Texas expressed accuracy concerns, opting not to use the tool.ChatGPT's Rise & ChallengesPopularity Among Students: The growing use of ChatGPT by students has educators worried about a surge in academic dishonesty.Misidentification Issues: A Texas professor mistakenly failed half his class because of false detections by ChatGPT, while other students faced wrongful accusations by anti-plagiarism software.OpenAI's StanceDifficulty in AI Text Detection: OpenAI abandoned its AI text detector due to its low accuracy rate. They've also cautioned educators about the unreliability of AI content detectors.Bias Against Non-English Writers: Many detection tools wrongly labeled content by non-English writers as AI-generated, causing additional concerns.

X ranks lowest in tackling climate misinformation, study reveals

X, formerly known as Twitter, has ranked last in a new assessment by Climate Action Against Disinformation for its management of climate misinformation.Pinterest scored the highest in terms of addressing climate change misinformation, while other platforms like YouTube, Meta, and Instagram also ranked higher than X.Changes under Elon Musk's ownership, including unclear policies on climate misinformation and a less communicative content moderation team, have contributed to X's low ranking.Google sued after Maps allegedly directed a man to drive off a collapsed bridgePhilip Paxson, a father of two, died after Google Maps directed him to a collapsed bridge, leading to a fatal car plunge, according to a lawsuit filed by his family.The family claims Google was informed of the bridge's collapse but failed to update its navigation system, making the tech company negligent in Paxson's death.Despite having received reports about the bridge's state through its 'suggest and edit' feature, Google allegedly took no further actions to correct the route information.Study finds 95% of NFTs are now worthlessAccording to a study by dappGambl, 95% of NFTs are now practically worthless, with the majority of the 73,257 NFT collections analyzed having a market cap of zero Ether.Enthusiasm for NFTs has substantially dropped and prices have plunged, with even hyped-up collections becoming virtually valueless.The future of NFTs is uncertain; they will need to prove they have inherent value, such as cultural relevance or representing actual art, to survive.
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Google expands AI coding assistant to 170 countries

- Google launched Studio Bot in 170 countries. It was previously launched in May for Android developers in the US. The assistant helps devs generate code, fix errors and answer questions about Android.
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OpenAI unveils DALL·E 3

DALL·E 3 is built natively on ChatGPT, which lets you use ChatGPT to generate tailored, detailed prompts for DALL·E 3. If it’s not quite right, you can ask ChatGPT to make tweaks.
Even with the same prompt, DALL·E 3 delivers significant improvements over DALL·E 2, as shown below (Left: DALL·E 2 results, Right: DALL·E 3). The prompt: “An expressive oil painting of a basketball player dunking, depicted as an explosion of a nebula.”
OpenAI has taken steps to limit DALL·E 3’s ability to generate violent, adult, or hateful content.DALL·E 3 is designed to decline requests that ask for an image in the style of a living artist. Creators can also opt their images out from training of OpenAI’s future image generation models.
DALL·E 3 is now in research preview and will be available to ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise customers in October via the API and in Labs later this fall.Why does this matter?As OpenAI notes, modern text-to-image systems have a tendency to ignore words or descriptions, forcing users to learn prompt engineering. DALL·E 3 represents a leap forward in AI’s ability to generate images that exactly adhere to the text you provide. Will other image generators like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion keep up?
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DALL-E 3 will be available in Bing chat

- Microsoft’s recently announced DALL-E 3 will be available in Bing as Microsoft announced users will be able to create images in a chat. DALL-E 3 will be rolled out for enterprise users in October.
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ChatGPT can now generate images

Our new text-to-image model, DALL·E 3, can translate nuanced requests into extremely detailed and accurate images.Coming soon to ChatGPT Plus & Enterprise, which can help you craft amazing prompts to bring your ideas to life:https://openai.com/dall-e-3
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Cisco to buy Splunk in $28 billion

In its bid to expand software and AI powered data analysis, Cisco announced it will buy cybersecurity firm, Splunk, in $28 billion. Splunk has announced AI features that detect and respond to data anomalies, earlier this year.

Anthropic releases policy on ‘catastrophic risks’

- Anthropic, the company behind Claude chatbot, shared a policy highlighting its commitment to responsible scaling of AI systems. The policy acknowledges AI’s potential to cause “thousands of deaths or hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.”
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Amazon brings Generative AI to Alexa and Fire TV

At its annual devices event, Amazon announced a few AI updates:It will soon use a new generative AI model to power improved experiences across its Echo family of devices. The new model is specifically optimized for voice and will take into account body language as well as a person’s eye contact and gestures for more powerful conversational experiences.It also introduced generative AI updates for its Fire TV voice search, which promises to bring more conversational ways to interact with Alexa and discover new content based on specifics.Why does this matter?Integrating LLMs with voice assistants is a perfect use case. But Amazon's generative AI revamp for Alexa marks a game-changer. It promises voice assistants that understand context better, carry over information from previous conversations, and become more personalized for users.

Amazon is turning Alexa into a hands-free ChatGPT

Amazon is upgrading Alexa, its voice assistant, with the technology behind chatbots for more complex and open-ended conversation capabilities.The new feature, which is still in progress, will show more simulated personality, interpret body language with devices equipped with cameras and modulate its voice for a more natural conversation.While this advancement holds promise, challenges like responding to body language and the fact that these large language models can sometimes blur out inappropriate or nonsensical things, remains to refine.ChatGPT Usage is Rising Again as Students Return to School

Zuckerberg's philanthropy project is building a massive GPU cluster to ‘cure all diseases

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, plans to build one of the world's largest GPU clusters for AI-driven biomedical research.The CZI aims to use large language models to understand disease development at cellular levels and predict cell behaviors, necessitating over 1,000 Nvidia's H100 GPUs for computational requirements.The high-performance computing system, expected to be operational in 2024, will accelerate biomedical research, from mapping varied cell types in different organisms to designing potential drugs and therapeutics.

After declining over the summer, ChatGPT usage has increased, most likely as a result of students returning to class and concerns about AI cheating.

12% Traffic Increase Last Week: ChatGPT saw a sizable jump in US web traffic as fall classes resumed.Big Drop Over Summer Break: Traffic declined steadily from May through August when school was out.Still Below Early 2022 Peaks: But current usage remains below ChatGPT's peak levels earlier this year. Back to School Brings Old ProblemsCheating Fears Resurface: Easier student access with school back raises fresh concerns about AI-aided cheating.Schools Still Debating Rules: Many institutions continue deciding whether to ban, incorporate or ignore the technology.Potential Revenue Uncertainty: Reliance on students could be problematic for monetizing ChatGPT.With the new school year boosting ChatGPT traffic, managing responsible AI use in academics remains a complex balancing act for educators.
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Intel’s ‘AI PC’ can run generative AI chatbots directly on laptops

Intel’s new chip, due in December, will be able to run a generative AI chatbot on a laptop rather than having to tap into cloud data centers for computing power. It is made possible by new AI data-crunching features built into Intel's forthcoming "Meteor Lake" laptop chip and from new software tools the company is releasing.Intel also demonstrated laptops that could generate a song in the style of Taylor Swift and answer questions in a conversational style, all while disconnected from the Internet. Moreover, Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant will be able to run on Intel-based PCs.Why does this matter?This will let businesses test ChatGPT-style AI models without sending sensitive data off their own computers. Intel seems to be on track to become the lead chip manufacturer again, competing with Nvidia to make powerful chips that train AI systems such as ChatGPT and Stability AI’s models.
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DeepMind’s new AI can predict genetic diseases

Google DeepMind’s new system, called AlphaMissense, can tell if the letters in the DNA will produce the correct shape. If not, it is listed as potentially disease-causing.AlphaMissense can predict the likelihood of genetic diseases by analyzing genetic mutations called missense variants.AlphaMissense operates like a large language model, trained on human and primate biology, capable of identifying normal sequences of proteins and detecting changes that could suggest a disease.With 90% accuracy, AlphaMissense is more reliable than existing tools, potentially accelerating the process of identifying disease-causing genetic mutations, which previously required months of meticulous research.
Currently, genetic disease hunters have fairly limited knowledge of which areas of human DNA can lead to disease and have to search across billions of chemical building blocks that make up DNA. They have classified 0.1% of letter changes, or mutations, as either benign or disease-causing. DeepMind's new model pushed that percentage up to 89%.Why does this matter?AI is changing nearly everything we do at the moment and might revolutionize molecular biology and life sciences, too. This development is expected to speed up diagnosis and help search for better genetic disease treatments.
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Google is turning its Bard AI chatbot into a personal assistant

Google's Bard AI now has enhanced capabilities, pulling real-time data from Google's other applications and a user's data silo to deliver more relevant chatbot responses. A new feature named Bard Extensions allows the AI to access user's personal Google data to provide specific answers about their daily activities, while promising not to be used for ad targeting or training the AI model. To increase transparency and accuracy, Google is introducing a 'Double Check' feature where Bard audits its responses and highlights contradictory or heavily referenced statements.
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DeepMind’s New AI Can Predict Genetic Diseases

AlphaMissense, a new model from Google’s artificial intelligence team, analyzes the effects of DNA mutations and will accelerate research into rare diseases. About 10 years ago, Žiga Avsec was a PhD physics student who found himself taking a crash course in genomics via a university module on machine learning. He was soon working in a lab that studied rare diseases, on a project aiming to pin down the exact genetic mutation that caused an unusual mitochondrial disease. This was, Avsec says, a “needle in a haystack” problem. There were millions of potential culprits lurking in the genetic code—DNA mutations that could wreak havoc on a person’s biology. Of particular interest were so-called missense variants: single-letter changes to genetic code that result in a different amino acid being made within a protein. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and proteins are the building blocks of everything else in the body, so even small changes can have large and far-reaching effects.
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Podcast Detailed Transcript:

Microsoft recently announced a game-changing feature called Microsoft Copilot. This exciting new addition will infuse AI capabilities into various Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing applications. Think of it as Bing, but specifically designed for Windows devices. So, what can Copilot do? Quite a lot, actually. With this tool, you can rearrange windows effortlessly, generate text, open web apps, edit pictures, and much more. It's accessible both via an app and through a simple right-click, making it convenient for users to tap into its AI-powered goodness. But when can we start using Copilot? Well, the good news is that it's just around the corner. Microsoft plans to roll out Copilot this fall, making it available across Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365. And for Windows users, you'll get to enjoy this feature sooner than you think. The free Windows 11 update will begin on September 26th. Now, you might be wondering, why is this such a big deal? The answer lies in the democratization of AI. While we don't have any mind-blowing use cases for Copilot just yet, this step forward by Microsoft is significant. As more users get their hands on this AI copilot, we'll start to see its true capabilities. And if all goes well, Microsoft could dominate an even larger share of the AI market by delivering AI natively.YouTube just announced some exciting news for creators! They're rolling out three new AI-powered features for YouTube Shorts creators. Let me break it down for you. First up, we have Dream Screen. This feature lets you create image or video backgrounds using AI. All you have to do is type in what you want to see in the background, and AI will make it happen. How cool is that? Next, we've got Creator Music. This feature got an AI revamp, making it even better than before. Now, creators can simply type in the kind and length of the music they need, and AI will find the most relevant suggestions. It's like having your own personal music assistant. Last but not least, we have AI Insights for Creators. This is a tool that generates video ideas for creators based on AI's analysis of what audiences are already watching and preferring. So, if you're looking for some inspiration, AI has got your back. This move by YouTube seems like a smart strategic decision to integrate AI features directly into the platform.
When it comes to evaluating large language models (LLMs) for industry applications, there are four crucial factors to consider. Skanda Vivek highlights these factors, which include quality, economic aspects, latency, and privacy. Each of these factors plays a significant role in determining the suitability of a particular LLM. The quality of the LLM is of utmost importance. Depending on your end goal, you may prioritize different aspects of quality, such as data accuracy, contextual understanding, or fluency. Consider what matters most to your industry and choose an LLM that aligns with those preferences. Economic factors also come into play. It's essential to assess the cost-effectiveness of implementing a particular LLM. Does it provide value for money? Can it fit within your organization's budget? Analyzing the economic aspects ensures you make an informed decision. Latency, or the response time of the LLM, is another vital factor. Some applications require real-time or near-instantaneous responses. Evaluating an LLM's latency helps you select the model that meets your specific timing requirements. Finally, privacy is increasingly significant for many industries. Skanda Vivek emphasizes the need to consider privacy when choosing an LLM. Depending on your industry, data security and privacy regulations may be a top priority. Ensuring the chosen model aligns with your privacy needs is crucial. Choosing the right LLM is a critical decision that can significantly impact your applications. By carefully considering these four factors—quality, economic aspects, latency, and privacy—you can make an informed choice that aligns with your industry's requirements. In recent news, some universities are raising concerns about AI detection software used to catch cheating students. There are worries that students could be falsely accused of cheating when using tools like ChatGPT. As a result, some universities are opting to abandon these AI detection systems. The debate highlights the potential drawbacks and risks associated with relying entirely on AI tools for academic integrity.So, here's the thing. Some major universities have decided to ditch AI detection tools because they're worried about their accuracy. And let's face it, nobody wants to be falsely accused of cheating, right? One tool in particular, called ChatGPT, has caused quite a stir. The problem with ChatGPT is that it's gained popularity among students, and that's got educators really concerned about academic dishonesty. But it's not just about students using AI to write their essays. It's also about the tool itself misidentifying things and getting it all wrong. For example, one professor in Texas failed half of his class because of false detections by ChatGPT. Can you imagine? Talk about a nightmare scenario. And it's not just him. Other students have also been wrongly accused by anti-plagiarism software using ChatGPT. What's interesting is that even OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has abandoned their own AI text detector due to its low accuracy rate. They've even warned educators about relying too heavily on AI content detectors. And here's another thing to consider: these detection tools often get it wrong when it comes to content written by non-English writers. So, yeah, there are some serious concerns here. That's why some universities, like Vanderbilt and Northwestern, have decided to say "no thanks" to these AI detection tools. It's better to be safe than sorry, right? After all, nobody wants to unfairly accuse a student of cheating.Hey there! Some interesting news for you today. According to Climate Action Against Disinformation, X, which we all know as Twitter, has ranked last when it comes to tackling climate misinformation. Quite the bummer, right? It turns out that Pinterest is leading the pack in addressing climate change misinformation, with YouTube, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), and Instagram not too far behind. But poor old X is lagging behind. So, what led to this low ranking for X? Well, it seems that since Elon Musk took over, things have changed, and not for the better. There are unclear policies on climate misinformation and a less communicative content moderation team, both of which have contributed to X's downward slide in the rankings. Maybe they need to step up their game a bit. In another news story, Google is facing a lawsuit after it allegedly directed a man, Philip Paxson, to drive off a collapsed bridge via Google Maps. Sadly, Paxson lost his life in the tragic accident. According to his family, Google was aware of the bridge's collapse but failed to update its navigation system, which they argue makes the tech giant negligent in Paxson's death. Google apparently received reports about the bridge's condition, but did nothing to fix the route information. It's a heartbreaking situation. And finally, brace yourself for this one. A study by dappGambl has found that a whopping 95% of NFTs are now practically worthless. Yep, you heard that right. NFTs, which were once all the rage, have lost their shine. Prices have plummeted, and most of the 73,257 NFT collections analyzed have a market cap of zero Ether. It's uncertain what the future holds for NFTs, but they'll need to prove their worth, whether through cultural significance or as a representation of actual art, if they want to stick around. So, that's the latest in tech and climate news. Stay tuned for more updates!OpenAI has just unveiled their latest model for text-to-image translation called DALL·E 3, and it's pretty impressive! This new version is built directly on ChatGPT, which means you can use ChatGPT to generate customized and detailed prompts for DALL·E 3. And if the results aren't exactly what you were hoping for, you can even ask ChatGPT to make some tweaks. Compared to its predecessor, DALL·E 2, DALL·E 3 delivers significant improvements in creating detailed images. OpenAI showcased this by providing a prompt for an expressive oil painting of a basketball player dunking, depicted as an explosion of a nebula. The results from DALL·E 3 were far superior to those from DALL·E 2. OpenAI has also taken steps to ensure that DALL·E 3 doesn't generate violent, adult, or hateful content. They have designed it to decline requests for images in the style of living artists. Additionally, creators have the option to exclude their images from being used in the training of OpenAI's future image generation models, giving them more control over the use of their work. Currently, DALL·E 3 is in research preview and will be available to ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise customers in October through the API. It will later be made available in Labs for those interested. This new release is important because it addresses the limitations of previous text-to-image systems, which often ignored certain words or descriptions. With DALL·E 3, AI's ability to generate images that align precisely with the provided text takes a huge leap forward. It raises questions about how other image generators like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion will keep up. OpenAI has also prioritized safety improvements in DALL·E 3. They have implemented measures to prevent explicit content and have tools in place to identify risky words and block public figures. Furthermore, artists can now request that their work be blocked from AI copying, and DALL·E 3 won't mimic the styles of specific artists when named. OpenAI hopes that the integration with ChatGPT and the safety guards in DALL·E 3 will expand access to this technology while preventing misuse. However, there are still concerns and legal issues surrounding AI-generated art that need to be addressed.Amazon had some exciting announcements at its recent devices event. One of the standout updates is the integration of generative AI into their Echo family of devices. This new AI model is optimized for voice, taking into account not only what is said but also body language, eye contact, and gestures. This means that interactions with Alexa will become much more powerful and conversational, providing users with improved experiences. But that's not all. Amazon has also introduced generative AI updates for Fire TV's voice search. This update aims to enhance the conversational interaction between users and Alexa, allowing for a more natural and intuitive way to discover new content based on specific preferences. This development is significant because it showcases how integrating language models like Generative AI into voice assistants can revolutionize the way we interact with them. Amazon's revamp of Alexa using generative AI is a game-changer. It enables voice assistants to better understand context, seamlessly carry over information from previous conversations, and provide a more personalized experience for users. In fact, Amazon is transforming Alexa into a hands-free ChatGPT by leveraging the technology behind chatbots. This upgrade will give Alexa the ability to engage in more complex and open-ended conversations. It will also enhance its simulated personality, interpret body language (for devices with cameras), and modulate its voice for a more natural conversation. However, there are some challenges to overcome, such as responding accurately to body language and refining these large language models to prevent inappropriate or nonsensical responses. But with Amazon's dedication to improving AI experiences, we can expect significant advancements in these areas. Overall, Amazon's integration of generative AI into Alexa and Fire TV demonstrates their commitment to providing users with more intuitive, personalized, and conversational experiences.Hey there! Have you heard about Mark Zuckerberg's latest philanthropy project? It's got a pretty ambitious goal - to "cure all diseases". The project, called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), is a collaborative effort between Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. So here's the plan: CZI is planning to build one of the biggest GPU clusters in the world specifically for AI-driven biomedical research. They want to use large language models to dive deep into disease development at the cellular level and even predict how cells behave. And to do that, they're going to need some serious computational power - over 1,000 Nvidia's H100 GPUs! This high-performance computing system is expected to be up and running by 2024. And let me tell you, it's going to revolutionize biomedical research. From mapping out various cell types across different organisms to designing potential drugs and therapeutics, this GPU cluster will supercharge the entire process. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited to see what kind of breakthroughs this project will bring. Who knows, maybe we'll be living in a world where diseases are a thing of the past sooner than we think!So, let's dive into the latest AI updates from OpenAI, Microsoft, YouTube, Google, Cisco, and Anthropic. It seems like ChatGPT is back in the spotlight with an increase in usage, particularly because students are returning to school and concerns about AI cheating are on the rise. After experiencing a decline throughout the summer, ChatGPT has seen a 12% traffic increase since fall classes resumed in the US. However, it's important to note that current usage is still below the peak levels seen earlier this year. With students back in the classroom, concerns about AI-aided cheating have resurfaced. The easier access students have to AI technology raises fresh debates among schools about whether to ban, incorporate, or ignore such tools. For educators, managing responsible AI use in academics is becoming a complex balancing act. There's also some uncertainty surrounding potential revenue as ChatGPT's reliance on students could pose challenges for monetization. Moving on to other AI news, Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered feature called Microsoft Copilot. This feature, available in various Windows 11 applications, Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing, allows users to rearrange windows, generate text, edit pictures, and more. It's like having Bing integrated into your Windows experience. YouTube is not far behind with its AI advancements. The platform has introduced three new AI-powered features specifically for Shorts creators. Dream Screen uses AI to generate background images and videos, Creator Music helps find the perfect track for Shorts, and AI Insights for Creators assists in brainstorming the next video idea. These features aim to enhance the content creation experience on YouTube. Meanwhile, Google has expanded its AI coding assistant, Studio Bot, to 170 countries. Initially launched for Android developers in the US, this assistant helps generate code, fix errors, and answer questions about Android development. It's a handy tool for developers worldwide. In the world of image creation, Microsoft's DALL-E 3 is making its way to Bing. Soon, users will be able to create images in a chat using DALL-E 3. This exciting feature will be rolled out for enterprise users in October, opening up new possibilities for visual communication. Now, let's switch gears to a significant acquisition. Cisco has announced its plan to acquire cybersecurity firm Splunk for $28 billion. This move aligns with Cisco's goal to expand its software and AI-powered data analysis capabilities. Splunk, which introduced AI features earlier this year to detect and respond to data anomalies, will play a vital role in Cisco's strategy. In the realm of responsible AI scaling, Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, has released a policy that emphasizes its commitment to responsible AI system development. The policy acknowledges the potential for AI systems to cause catastrophic risks, including thousands of deaths or immense financial damage. It's encouraging to see companies prioritizing responsible AI practices. In other tech news on September 22nd, 2023, Cisco is set to make its largest acquisition ever by acquiring Splunk for $28 billion. This move aims to boost security services and system performance troubleshooting. On a different note, NASA eagerly awaits the return of pristine asteroid Bennu samples, taken by OSIRIS-REx in 2020. The samples could unlock valuable insights into the origins of our solar system. In the legal world, lawyers who sued Tesla's board for excessive pay are seeking a jaw-dropping $10,000 an hour. The case is sure to attract attention as it unfolds. Another interesting development involves an anonymous developer who used OpenAI's ChatGPT API to program an AI that created and launched an ERC-20 token called AstroPepeX. Within just 24 hours, the token generated an astonishing $12.9 million in trading. It's a testament to the possibilities AI offers in the realm of finance and entrepreneurship. Lastly, Ilya Sutskever, one of OpenAI's renowned figures, along with machine ethicist Thomas Krendl Gilbert, have described AI development as "alchemy." This comparison underscores the unpredictable and mysterious nature of AI outcomes, sparking heated debate within the industry. And there you have it, the latest AI updates featuring ChatGPT, Microsoft, YouTube, Google, Cisco, and Anthropic. Stay tuned for more exciting advancements in the world of artificial intelligence.Hey there! If you're excited about diving deeper into the world of artificial intelligence, I've got just the thing for you! There's this amazing book called "AI Unraveled: Demystifying Frequently Asked Questions on Artificial Intelligence." Trust me, it's a game-changer! Now, let me tell you why you should totally get your hands on this gem. "AI Unraveled" is packed with all the answers to those burning questions you may have about AI. Think of it as your ultimate AI guidebook. It's like having a knowledgeable expert right by your side, unravelling the mysteries of artificial intelligence in a way that's easy to comprehend. The best part? You can grab a copy of this must-read book at three different platforms: Apple, Google, or Amazon. So, no matter whether you're an Apple aficionado, a Google guru, or an Amazon enthusiast, there's a way for you to access this invaluable resource. So, why wait any longer? Dive into "AI Unraveled" today and expand your understanding of artificial intelligence like never before. This book is a game-changer, and it's ready to be enjoyed by curious minds like yours. Happy reading!In today's episode, we covered Microsoft's AI-powered Copilot, YouTube's new AI features for creators, evaluating large language models in industry, concerns with AI detection tools in universities, rankings of tech companies tackling misinformation, OpenAI's DALL·E 3 text-to-image model, generative AI updates from Amazon, Zuckerberg's philanthropy in AI-driven research, ChatGPT usage concerns, and other notable news - plus, don't forget to expand your AI knowledge with the essential book 'AI Unraveled'. Join us next time on AI Unraveled as we continue to demystify frequently asked questions on artificial intelligence and bring you the latest trends in AI, including ChatGPT advancements and the exciting collaboration between Google Brain and DeepMind. Stay informed, stay curious, and don't forget to subscribe for more!

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WGU students, by now you have likely experienced or heard how this course is low effort, half finished garbage. Well, since they can't be bothered to fix this course, it is up to us to help each other out. This post is my attempt to help fellow students with this project. After stumbling through this project for like a month and a half, I finally finished it and here is my best attempt at a guide.
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Firstly, get your IntelliJ Ultimate downloaded, and get your project files on your local machine. Check out my previous post at to get through task step A: https://www.reddit.com/WGU_CompSci/comments/153wwv8/comment/jv17256/
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Alright, so this project basically gives you a web application built using Spring with a Java backend and a myspace looking old school HTML user interface, and your job is to customize the code to meet a customers needs. You need to come up with a shop that will have 5 sample products, and 5 generic parts that can be combined to make those products. They give the example of a bicycle shop that has different bike types for products, like mountain bike/ road bike etc. and then generic parts for those such as seat, handlebars, gears etc. Do not overthink this, just choose something and keep it simple and generic.
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To know what the heck is going on, here is some background info. To get something like this to work, it is convenient to use a framework, something to contain all your different files and get them to work together the way we want, while offering tools and libraries to simplify development and let us focus on the logic and features of the application we are creating. Often used with Spring is Spring boot, a sub project of Spring that simplifies things for us even more by using embedded web servers so you don't have to install and configure a separate web server, while also offering auto-configuration, so we have less to do manually to make sure that any files/classes etc that depend on other files/classes/methods etc have the information shared to be able to carry out their functions. This project uses a common design pattern known as MVC (model view controller). This is a way to organize an applications files based on its function which promotes organization, modularization, maintainability, reusability, testability, and improves development efficiency. Now if you have opened your project, it may seem overwhelming the amount of files in there, so I am going to try to tell you what files belong to what part of MVC, and a bit about what they do so you know what you are looking at.
Model: represents the applications data and business logic. Encapsulates the core functionality and rules of the app, including data manipulation, validation, and interactions with the database. The files for this project relating to the model are:

• Entities: Found in src->main->java->com.example.demo->domain you have 4 .java files containing entities. These are your classes, for the different types of parts, and for products. Entities are marked with the annotation '@Entity' which tells Spring this is an entity, allowing it to work its magic to make these work the way we want overall for the application.
• Repositories: Found in src->main->java->com.example.demo->repositories you have 4 repository .java files corresponding to the entity files. Repository files allow for CRUD (create read update delete) on the database. These files interact with the database and are marked with '@Repository'. Note that these files extend CrudRepository which eliminates the need for the annotation.
• Service: Found in src->main->java->com.example.demo->service, there are service files and service implementation files. The service files contain declarations but not the definitions, while the implementation files have the definitions to implement the service. Services interact with repositories to retrieve and manipulate data.
• Validators: Found in src->main->java->com.example.demo->validators, contains .java files that contains the actual validation logic, and annotation files that allow you to make a custom annotation to easily mark your other files with ('@CustomAnnotation') to get the validation enforced. Code that enforces validation rules and constraints for your data.

View: responsible for presenting the data to the user and handling user interactions. It encompasses the user interface elements, templates, and visual elements that users interact with. Views receive data from the Model and render it in a way that's suitable for presentation. Views also capture user input and pass it to the Controller for further processing. The files for the view layer are:

• HTML Templates: src->main>resources->templates. These are all your html files that contain the format and structure for the webpages you see. This project uses Thymeleaf, a template engine that helps make dynamic html content.
• CSS: found in src->main->resources->static->css. This provides additional styling for the webpages to enhance the look and feel.

Controller: These classes handle user requests, process input, interact with the Model, and determine which View should be rendered. Controllers are annotated with '@Controller'. In general, a controller in a Spring application is a class that handles incoming HTTP requests, processes them, and returns an appropriate HTTP response. Controllers typically have methods annotated with '@RequestMapping'(or other annotations like '@GetMapping','@PostMapping', etc.) to define the URL paths they handle and the HTTP methods they respond to. The controllers are found in src->main->java->com.example.demo->controllers.
Other Notable Files: There are some files that aren't included in MVC but are still important to recognize. These are:

• BootStrapData.java: The purpose of this class is to provide initial data for testing and development, ensuring that there is data to work with when starting the application. This file is located at src->main->java->com.example.demo->bootstrap
• application.properties: a configuration file in a Spring Boot application that allows you to configure various settings and properties for your application. It is used to customize the behavior of your application without requiring changes to the source code.
• test files: located at src->test, contains files for testing your code.
• .gitignore: this file is used to specify files and directories that you want ignored by git when tracking changes in your project. I did not use this file at all for this project. Is found in target directory.
• mvn & mvnw: These are files used to ensure the right version of Maven is being used to build the project regardless of whether you have it installed or not. Maven is a build automation and project management tool that simplifies the process of managing and building software projects by providing a structured way to handle dependencies, compilation, testing, and packaging.
• pom.xml: is the Project Object Model configuration file used by Maven to define project details, dependencies, and build settings for a Java project.
• README.md: is used to provide a brief and informative description of a project, often found at the root of a repository, to help users understand its purpose and usage. We will be using this file to track the changes we make for task steps C thru J.

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Alright, hopefully that helps, I was completely lost and overwhelmed at first but hopefully that gives you some background and helps you see how the pieces fit together. If it doesn't make sense yet, it will start to as you work through the project and see how things work together and interact. Anyway, on to the tasks!
NOTE: to view and test your web app, open your browser and go to localhost:8080. This will show you your webpage in its current state. You must run the application successfully in IntelliJ for this to work. You will be using this a lot to make sure your changes are working the way you want and you are meeting the requirements.
Task B: This part is super easy, they want you to create a README file, but there already is one! What I did here was I kept the nice WGU and D287 header stuff deleted the rest, and then I copy and pasted the task requirements from parts C to J so I could type my changes for each part under the step it is a part of.
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NOTE: For tasks C - J you have to commit and push with a message to the remote repository after the completion of each step. You are allowed to push more often, but at a minimum you must push after each step is completed and put a brief meaningful message. At the end you will have to get the history and submit it with your zip file. I made a new branch to do all my changes to, and named it working_brach, as this is more common than doing work on the main branch. To make a new branch, go to the bottom right of the screen, click the current branch, and it will bring up some options. Click new branch, name it something like working_branch, and check the box for checkout branch so that you make it the branch you are working on.
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Task C: For this step, you will be working in mainscreen.html. You will need to customize this page to reflect your custom shop choice, changing the titles and headers appropriately. Make sure to log the changes and locations on the README. Once you have coded this and ensured it works and looks right on your webpage, commit and push with a message. You can do this by clicking the git tab and then clicking commit, and it should bring up a commit window where your project window usually is, and then you can select what changes to commit, type your message, and select commit & push. Almost every time I did this, I got warnings and it stopped the push, and I had to click push anyway.
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Task D: For this part you need to understand some basic html. This step you need to make an about page, and so you will need firstly a template, so create a new html template with all your other templates (when asked if you want to add your new file to git, always say yes). This file will be where you create all the visuals for your about page, where you describe briefly your business and who its for. I just put some super generic stuff about how we care about the customer and giving back etc. I copy and pasted the first 12 or so lines from another html template just so it had the same styling and structure info as the other webpages. I personally tried to match the look of mainscreen.html, but you can make it however you want. Remember to catalogue each change you make in the README.md file. For example, if you add a title for your about page, you would put something like: -about.html: added title 'About' on line 15. You need to say what file, have it under the correct task letter, and say what line(s) the change(s) is(are) on and what the change(s) is(are). When you are satisfied with your about.html, you will need to make a controller for it in the directory with all the other controllers. The controller is being used to map the URL to the corresponding webpage and guiding Spring on which template to utilize for rendering the content. Remember to annotate your controller with '@Controller' just like in the other controller classes, and you will also need the @GetMapping("name_of_about_template_here") in your class definition to connect the template and the url such that you can reach this page and see it by going to localhost:8080/about_template_name_here. Check out the other controller classes to get an idea how for this, or watch a video on it if needed. On mainscreen.html, you will need to add a button that takes you to the about page you created, I just copy and pasted similar code for other buttons and changed the link for it and name to make this work. Similarly, on your about html file you will want to add a link or a button back to the mainscreen. Once you have coded this and ensured it works and looks right on your webpage, commit and push with a message.
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Task E: Now you need to add a sample inventory consisting of 5 products and 5 parts. There is commented out code in the BootStrapData.java file that gives you an example of how to create a part and a product (in separate spots), you can use that and change it to make 5 of each. You either need to add an if statement that checks if the parts count and products count is zero before adding the sample inventory, or you will need to comment your code out after the sample is added to your page so you don't keep adding duplicates. If you don't add the logic to check for this, make sure to make a note somewhere to uncomment this code back out before you submit your project, or it will get sent back as they will not see your sample database get loaded in. (Hint: I used variables for part count and product count and set them equal to their respective repository classes and used the .count() method to see if both were == 0 before adding the sample inventory). Once you are done, commit and push with a message. Make sure you are logging all your changes!
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Task F: This step asks you to add a Buy Now button next to the update and delete buttons for your products. The button needs to decrease the inventory of the purchased product by one, and make no changes to the inventory of parts. You need to display a message for failure or success of a purchase. First I would add the button to mainscreen.html in the appropriate spot. There is a table in mainscreen.html that sets up the products table, you will see it referencing tempProduct.name, .price, .inv, and then you will see the update and delete buttons. You will want to add your Buy Now button in here. The button here is a bit tricky as you need it to map to /buyProduct URL (we will make the controller for this later) and you need to set it up for http POST request so it can access and update the inventory amount for purchased products. You also need to pass a hidden input field so that you can pass the tempProduct.id along to the controller. I would post the code for this but I don't want this post to get taken down lol. Next you need to make a new controller to handle the desired behavior of the buy now button. Once you make your controller, make sure to annotate it as a controller. For this controller I added a private ProductRepository object with an '@Autowired' annotation, as the ProductRepository provides methods for interacting with the database which we need to do to decrement the inventory by 1 after purchase, and the annotation injects an instance of ProductRepository into this controller, which allows it to use the methods it needs. Just like the other controllers, we are going to make a public String method, I called it buyProduct. For its input parameters, you need to use the '@RequestParam' annotation to be able to obtain the productID from the product that was purchased over on mainscreen. Next I created an Optional object that assigns its value to the .findById method of the product repository, using the productID obtained from '@RequestParam'. By using Optional, the code handles the possibility that the requested product might not exist in the database. It avoids directly returning null when the product is not found, which helps improve code readability and reduces the risk of NullPointerException. This object basically represents whether the product was found in the database or not. Using that, you can set up if statements based on whether that object.isPresent() is true or not, and if it is true, you can create a Product object and set it equal to the optional object.get(). You can then set up an additional if statement that checks if that products inventory (product.getInv) is above 0, if it is then you can set the inventory for it to its current value -1 (decrement the inventory like the instructions wanted). Make sure to save this new value using the product repository .save() method to save the new count to the repository. If this part of the code is reached, then the product had enough in stock to be purchased, its inventory was subtracted by one to reflect a purchase, and now you can generate a success message. There are many ways to do this (as is the case with most of the project), but I personally made a new html template both for a purchase success and a purchase error. You can use a redirect statement in your return statement to the url of your success page for the case that the purchase went through, or to your error page if it did not. You will need to add '@GetMapping' annotations and displayPurchaseSuccess (or error) methods that return to the appropriate url. After the controller is all setup, you make your html templates for the success and error pages if thats the way you chose to do. These can be super simple, basically mine just said purchase successful or purchase error in big letters when the page loaded. When everything is working and looking the way you want, commit and push with a message.
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Task G: In this step you have to add max and min inventory fields for parts, modify your sample inventory to show the max and min inventory, and update both the part forms to have additional inputs for the max and min inventory. Then they want you to rename the database file, and add code that enforces that the inventory is between the max and min values. First go to Part.java, and add the minInv and maxInv fields (name em whatever you want), you can also use the same '@Min' annotation as the other fields to enforce that it cannot be below zero, and have a message with it. Be sure to also add a new constructor that includes these new fields, and make getter and setter functions for them. Next go back to BootStrapData.java and add max and min inventory values for your sample inventory parts. Then for both InhousePartForm and OutsourcedPartForm, add text inputs for both max and min inventory. You can probably figure out how to put it in there just by seeing how the other fields are put in there and copying it but changing as necessary. Then rename the database file, it will look something like this spring-boot-h2-db.mv.db you can find it in file explorer or finder and right click it and rename it to whatever you like. In the application.properties file, you will need to rename it there as well and make sure they match. Next I would create a method in Part.java that checks if an inventory is valid, by returning true if the inventory falls between the max and min values, and returns false otherwise. For both inhouse and outsourced part controller files, add logic that uses the isInvValid method you created to generate an error message if the inventory is outside of range. I used BindingResult to reject bad values with a message, look into this for the error messaging. Once this is working as expected and desired, commit and push with a message.
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Task H: This step wants you to add additional error messages and more specific error messages, one for if the inventory is below the minimum, one for if the inventory is above the maximum, and one for if adding/updating a product would cause an associated part to fall below the minimum. This isn't too bad, adding some more if else type logic to both inhouse and outsourced part controllers will take care of the first two conditions I listed. For the last requirement, I edited EnufPartsValidator.java with some additional requirements in the if statement that returns false to check if any of the parts for the product would fall below their minimum if the product was made (Hint: p.getInv() - 1 < p.getMinInv()). I also updated the error message from ValidEnufParts to be more specific. When you are happy with the results and everything has been tested and working, commit with a message and push.
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Task I: Add two unit tests to the PartTest class for the maximum and minimum inventory fields. The course resources has a video for this. You go to the file, and use the '@Test' annotation, and then make two tests that look similar to the tests already in this file. For min, you can set the minimumInv to a number that you expect to be the lowest to be used for the program, its just an arbitrary test number. Then you use partIn and set its value to the variable you just assigned, and use assertEquals() to make sure that it works as expected. Repeat for partOut. Do all this again but for maximumInv. Thats it for this one. When it is working, commit and push with message.
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Task J: Remove the class files for any unused validators. This one was so simple it had me doubting myself. When you open the validators, it will tell you how many usages intellij recognized for them. One of them had no usages so I deleted that one. It was really that simple lol. Commit and push with a message. This is the last step that needs to be tracked in the read me.
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Now double check you meet all the rubric requirements, watch the completed project video from the course resources and make sure you got all the right stuff, and when you are satisfied and everything is working, export your project to a ZIP. Next on Gitlab, go to the code tab on the left hand side, expand it with a click and then select repository graph. This shows your commit and push history and must be turned in. Use print button and then specify print to PDF, and save it to your computer. You must turn this in with your project ZIP. Finally, get the url for your gitlab by clicking the blue clone button and copying the https url. When you submit, you need the ZIP, the repository graph, and the URL.
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I hope this guide helps, please let me know of any mistakes or typos, I wanted to do this quickly and move on to my next course. If you have questions feel free to ask, but just know I stumbled my way through this and by no means to I understand everything or am an expert. This guide does not constitute the right way, best way, only way, or most efficient way to do this project. It is just what worked for me. I tried to tell you as much as possible without just giving things away and getting in trouble lol. When you guys finish this course, make sure to let them know honestly how you feel about the course in the end of course survey! Best of luck.
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I'm back!
A lot has happened! New job! But, I won't bore you. My most sincere apologies for the delay, updates should be much more regular going forward.
Since it has been so long, I have put together a summary document if you need to jog your memory.
Summary
Chapter Listing
Enjoy!
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Hail Bravadyr, First of the Fallen, last of a dream.
Prepare for me a place at your table, that I might feast with you in Baskenhöll.
Hail to those who stride the path of berserkergang.
With them I raise axe and claw, that I might strike down our foes.
Hail to the lost, to the kin who have wandered.
Should we meet, I raise tankard and song, that we might know kinship.
Hail to the sons and daughters of The North!
May our hall be built, that we might have a home.
As spoken in the fornaldarsǫgur.
And in all the sagas yet to be written.
Hear my name, Bravadyr! I am Trym!
I will sail the Armageddon Storm.
I am rage.
I am war.
I am death.
The great, white form of Trym stirred. His words, half spoken, half mere thought, had come as little more than whispers, if at all. Though his muscle-bound form was still and seemingly at ease, his face, chiselled by conflict and bearing countless scars, wore across it a frown and the furrowed wrinkles of intense concentration. Seated upon the floor and lacking all clothing save a loincloth, he let out a long, rumbling breath before sharply inhaling and continuing, his voice building.
“I fear that an evil lay upon us,” he offered, “one which I did not have the foresight to see, yet which clutches at us even now. A darkness, an ill which carries with it a fel dread. Not of the flesh or if the fur. Of the mind. A soulless void, wretched and vile. The utmost black.”
Trym shuffled again, an errant flick coming from the tips of his ears before he paused, allowing silence to fill the space around for a full minute before once again speaking.
“Father! Kin!" Threads of anger now intertwined with his otherwise solemn words. "Grant me that I may seize the day! Grant me that I may hold axe and hammer for those who cannot. Grant me that I may drive back the dark! In this I offer you all. Every ounce of my being. Every drop of my blood. Every shout and scream! Soul of rage! Fury made flesh and fur. My broken body upon your pyre if you demand it! Grant me these and welcome me upon my death to Baskenhöll.”
More time passed in which no further words were spoken, before a second voice, softer and lighter, flowed into the room.
“Does he speak to you today?”
The question had come from Skadi. The lithe female, clad in furs and leather, stood in the doorway, arms folded neatly across her chest and the beginnings of a smirk upon her muzzle.
Trym did not look up.
“He speaks to me always,” the giant basitin mused, “the hard part is listening. There is much that clutters the mind.”
Skadi dropped her hands to her sides and moved into the small, dark room.
“And what does our forebear say to us?”
Trym muttered a few words, his eyes remaining closed as he sat amidst an eclectic array of haphazardly scrawled runic letters. The typically dusty floor had been swept clean, and the crates and barrels that would usually fill the room had been moved to the side and neatly stacked. He continued for a few moments, then the white-furred male went silent, the only movement that of the occasional twitch of his tail. Eventually, sensing Skadi’s continued presence, he again spoke.
“My thoughts are perhaps not focused of late,’ he said. “I have been absent, I fear.”
“Not from what I’ve seen,” Skadi immediately replied.
“If you think otherwise, you can take it up with Bravadyr yourself. Perhaps you will hear him more clearly.”
“Perhaps.”
Trym shuffled upon the floor, opening his eyes and for the first time breaking his concentration from his meditative state. He offered a cold glance over his shoulder, his brilliant blue eyes shimmering in the flickering candlelight.
“Might you then sit with me and offer a prayer, Skadi?”
The young female laughed, but nonetheless stepped forward and joined her far larger compatriot upon the floor. As had he, she crossed her legs and rested her palms upon her knees.
She shot Trym a quick sideways glance.
“For what do we pray?” she asked.
“That is a good question.”
“Then, for what do you pray?”
Trym inhaled deeply, taking the thick, scented air into his cavernous lungs. Holding the breath, he remained resolutely still, allowing the seconds to tick slowly over before releasing and relaxing.
“For that which I most often do,” he answered. “Prowess in battle. Strength. Cunning and wisdom, and the resolve to protect those closest to me.”
The smirk returned to Skadi’s face.
“He must like you,” she teased.
Trym likewise flashed a few fangs.
“I do not seek his affections," he chuckled, suddenly playful, "I am rather less whimsical when such things are concerned.”
“Good meat and good mead?” Skadi suggested.
“And good companionship, though for that I need not pray.”
"Ja, but none of us are good cooks. Certainly not Jesper or Yorick. We could certainly use his favour in that."
Trym snorted, "Bravadyr might take issue such a request. That which is given is not given lightly."
The young female tapped her claw to her chin.
"And yet," she continued, "I did hear you mention something about a feast."
"An earned invitation," Trym corrected, "though if you truly believe your calling in this life is to cook, then perhaps you should pray as such. Perhaps He will listen. Even the most savage of berserkers cannot fight on an empty stomach."
"I was joking."
"As was I. Though, you are most assuredly correct, Skadi Tørindsdóttir."
She tilted her head. "Hmm?"
Trym again offered a grin. "We really are terrible cooks."
Momentarily, Skadi returned the jubilation, going so far as to laugh aloud. Her brilliant purple eyes sparkled, both alive and captivating. Through Trym’s own blue orbs lacked the intensity of the young female basitin’s, they did not want for intent or focus.
The moment lingered, though soon settled, and saw a frown press upon each of their muzzles.
“You are worried, Trym,” Skadi stated flatly.
Trym raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“I heard you say it,” she responded, standing back up, “and you a no liar, even if you are difficult to read. Sometimes.”
“I would never lie to you.”
A slight grin crept back into Skadi’s expression, and she slowly paced her way towards the muscle-bound male. When scarcely two feet remained between the two basitins, she delivered a sharp poke to the centre of Trym’s chest with her index finger.
“I know,” she quipped, “and you better not start now! Now tell me, what bothers you, my kin?”
Trym’s face, crossed by scars and bound in rough, white fur, softened. His ears lowered, as did his thick, broad shoulders. His eyes, though, remained unblinking.
“You saw as I did,” he whispered, “and you know as I know.”
Skadi nodded. “The human. Kask.”
“I fear that we have made a grave error in bringing him here,” Trym continued, a little more volume in his voice. “Passage for cutthroats and rouges, is that all we are?”
Skadi’s gaze hardened. “Cutthroats and rogues are our coin, Trym. When we are shunned from every port, what else is there?”
“There is good,” said the white-furred male. “There is justice. There is truth. There is the light, and there is life. What we saw was none of that. It was. . . black. The most repulsive evil that I have ever been so cursed as to witness. Worse still, we were its herald, and we have brought it to the island of our lost kin. I have shamed us in not seeing the human, Kask, for what he was. What he is. My axe should have found his throat!”
“Do not blame yourself. Even on this journey, you saw the end of another gang of vulpine pirates. There is justice in that.”
Trym nodded. “There is.”
“The human is no different,” continued Skadi. “He may use black magic, but he is the same as all the other would-be tyrants. He will meet his end, as they all do.”
Trym snarled.
“It should have been me. Me! Yet, I have been idle. By my inaction, a great evil now moves among us; and now offered the protection of those too blind to see the threat that it poses. A fiend, this human is! Kask! I spit his name, and I shall split his skull!”
“This is not our fight,” Skadi replied, a note of sharpness in her voice. “Let our lost kin throw him into the sea. We will sail for The North once our business here is finished and think no more of it.”
Trym hauled himself to his feet with a growl and took a few thundering steps forward. Hands balled in fists and muscles rippling beneath his fur, the male stood motionless for a moment before turning about to once again face Skadi.
“I shall not suffer this evil to pass!” he hissed. “I will not stand before the gates of Baskenhöll a coward. If my end is here, then so be it, but I will see my name burned into his rotten soul for all time before I fall!”
“Our hosts will not take kindly to that.”
Trym slammed his fist into his chest. “Then they too will die, and it will be a good death. We will dine together at Bravadyr’s table.”
“There you go talking about food again,” Skadi grinned.
“You mock me.”
The female basitin did not immediately respond. Again, she walked and stood beneath the towering form of Trym, though in place of a pointed jab of the finger, she instead gently laid the palm of her hand upon his chest and craned her neck upward to look into his eyes.
“I doubt anyone would be so foolish,” she said softly, “but you mistake my intentions. I mean only to temper your fires. We are already unwelcome here. What hope do we have to put down this evil if we turn those who would be our allies against us?”
Trym took a deep breath, filling his vast lungs before replying.
“We need only each other. The rest are corpses beneath our feet.”
Skadi smiled sadly. “Remember the promise you made?”
Trym nodded. “A vow, and upon my life I keep it.”
“Remind me.”
Another breath, deeper this time, and with the noticeable effect of calming the giant white basitin.
“I swore to you father that no harm would come to you, Skadi, daughter of Tørind.”
“Would throwing your life away in the pursuit of some human mage accomplish that?”
Trym smiled. For a good count of minutes, he simply allowed the warm touch of Skadi’s hand upon his chest to bring him a semblance of tranquillity. Save for the slow burning of the candles, and distant grumbles and shouts of the dockworkers outside, all that occupied this place were the two white-furred northerners; one giant, one petite.
“Skadi,” he finally said, “I cannot make you understand, but perhaps there is wisdom in your words which I have not yet seen. Come. Sit.”
The giant white male reached down and took the small, feminine hand in his own, and led the two of them back to where his runic circle had been inscribed. Wordlessly, they both sat once more, crossing their legs and resting their palms upon their knees.
“It is your turn to ask our father for guidance,” he said. “Listen, and you might hear.”
“What do I say?”
“You have heard me well enough before to know,” Trym replied. “Though in truth, you, and you alone must decide. I cannot speak for you.”
Skadi focused upon a candle placed a few feet in front of where she sat, her eyes occasionally darting to one of the runes marked upon the wooden floor.
She closed her eyes, and smiled.
“Hail Bravadyr, First of the Fallen, last of a dream. . .”
​

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“You seem to like this place a bit too much for a senator.”
“What can I say,” shrugged Iskander Alaric, “life is best enjoyed when you sample all it has to offer.”
Ikzekiel looked up from his plate, and shot a wry grin across the table.
“I just thought you might prefer to do your ‘sampling’ in the rich part of town. Can’t you find any good food in the Military District?”
“Au contraire, my friend, only the very best. Though, it can be said that money has a tendency to soften the experience. People do treat you rather differently when they notice the bulge of your coin purse.”
Ikzekiel took another bite. “Isn’t that why you’d go to a fancy restaurant? To spend a bit of money?”
“Among other things. It’s not the transaction itself that counts. It’s the spectacle of it.”
Ikzekiel raised an eyebrow. “Well, down here, if you keep using human words like that, there’ll be more than just a spectacle.”
“I am so glad you noticed,” smiled Iskander.
“This might not be the rich end of town,” replied the grey-furred worker, taking another bite of his meal, “but that doesn’t mean it’s the stupid end of town. Best to keep that sort of talk to yourself.”
“I am ever humbled by your wisdom.”
“The sarcasm can go, too.”
Iskander Alaric, Senator of the East Basitin Empire, brought his glass to his muzzle, laughed, and took a long, delicate sip.
“If everyone here was half as witty as you, my dear friend,” he continued, “then perhaps the senate might look a little different. By the masks, how we could use some fresh blood.”
“That’s how you do it,” Ikzekiel stated.
Iskander tilted his head. “Come again?”
“Fresh blood. Well, the blood part at least. I don’t think many of your buddies up there would give up their comfy seats. You’ll have to make them.”
“Oh, please,” scoffed Iskander, “if it were quite so simple somebody would have tried already.”
“But they didn’t try, did they?”
“No, not quite.”
Ikzekiel pushed the last few morsels of his meal onto his fork and popped them into his mouth, chewing and savouring before swallowing, and eventually leaning back and allowing himself to sink into the plush seating of the booth.
“Now then,” he began, “I don’t think you called me here just to have a chat about how hard your life is, did you?”
Iskander broadened his smile. "I have thought about what you told me, my friend, though I confess that I perhaps do not entirely agree with your assessment."
Ikzekiel shrugged and called for another ale.
"I was hoping that we might re-examine some of the details,” Iskander continued.
"It's not my job to make up your mind for you. You pay me to go there, do that, then tell you what I saw.”
"Quite so, but I do pay you."
Another shrug. "Work is work."
“And coin is coin," said Iskander, "but you can obtain that anywhere. Any manner of work will suffice, as you so succinctly put.”
"So?"
“There are some you may trick, but do spare yourself the indignity of presuming me a fool, Ikzekiel. You are far more intelligent than you would have others believe.”
“So?”
“So,” Iskander cleared his throat, “it is very much my job to make such determinations about people. It. . . suits me, you might say.”
The senator held up a small pouch, sewn of fine felt, with a drawstring pulled tightly across the opening. A shake of the hand, and the unmistakable sound of marks clattering about inside could be heard.
“This,” he continued, “is a transaction. This. . .”
He held up a small, flat package in his other hand, bound and wrapped in silk.
“. . . is an agreement. An understanding. Forgive me the hubris, but I would like to believe I am at least somewhat skilled in my chosen profession. Do we have an understanding?”
Ikzekiel’s eyes briefly lit up, pupils growing wide and dark as the beginnings of surprise formed upon his face, interrupted only by the sudden appearance of the barkeep depositing a fresh mug of ale in front of him. His eyes darted down, then back up, only to see that the senator had swiftly tucked the package away.
“I. . .” he said.
“. . . agree?” Iskander completed, hopefully. “You know I can’t simply plunder the senatorial library at will; someone is bound to notice eventually.”
“Nobody reads those books,” Ikzekiel said.
“You do,” quipped Iskander, “and you are not the only one. Books written in the old tongue are few and far between, and only a few need be misplaced before questions are asked. Questions to which neither you nor myself will have the answer.”
Ikzekiel took a quick sip of his ale, wiping the froth from his muzzle before continuing.
“You’ve already taken it,” he said.
“I could simply put it back.”
“That would be just as dangerous as taking it.”
It was the senator’s turn to pause. His smile softened, though his eyes lost none of their focus.
“You’re learning,” he complimented, “well said. Here.”
The same silken package was again produced, though this time Iskander placed it gingerly upon the tabletop and slid it across to his grey-furred companion.
“Look after it,” he said, “and bring it back when you’re done.”
Ikzekiel wasted no time in scooping the package up and shoving it inside his notably shabbier coat.
“Now,” Iskander continued, “if I take your acceptance as agreement, might we revisit one of two points of discussion regarding a certain captain?”
“You seem very interested in her.”
“It’s my business to be interested in people.”
Ikzekiel sighed. “As you wish.”
The senator leaned forward. “She gave you quiet the beating, didn’t she?”
“I suppose. What does it matter?”
“Oh, it doesn’t,” replied Iskander. “Don’t mistake my meaning, I would not wish such peril upon you were it not for a cause. Besides, if I need someone removed, there are far more elegant solutions.”
“Forgive me if I am not overjoyed to hear you say that.”
“Ikzekiel, Ikzekiel, please. I do not mean to insult! I am merely commenting that for someone to give you, of all people such a sound thrashing, then it must be more than a matter of brute force. You’ve already told me what happened, though I can’t help but find some of the details lacking, and some of your conclusions. . .shall we say, premature?”
Ikzekiel sighed again.
“What do you want me to say?” he grumbled. “The girl is an idiot. She doesn’t know her own strength, and she knows even less how to use it. I had to taunt her, over and over, to get her to so much as hit me. At a tournament. Bloody hell. . .”
Iskander chuckled.
“But she could. If she wanted to. There’s nothing staying her hand other than the commands of people who wouldn’t have a snowflake’s chance in a dragon’s den of stopping her if she decided she no longer wished to be under their thumb. You must have heard what happened afterwards, hmm?”
“No.”
“Well,” grinned Iskander, “let’s just say we almost saw exactly what is inside the head of our dearly beloved intelligence general.”
“What a sight that would have been. Pity I missed it.”
“Quite so.”
The grey-furred basitin shuffled in the booth, mulling over the prospect of another ale, before deciding against it.
“What are you getting at, Senator?” he then asked. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“There is an awful lot I am not telling you, though I am more concerned in what you’re not telling me. I shall be blunt. I do not think her so bereft of intellect as you might suggest. Timid, maybe, despite her obvious. . . physicality. Perhaps even confused. But stupid? No, not stupid. Ah, and before you ask, it’s easy.”
“Enlighten me.”
“She disobeyed an order,” Iskander stated. “That alone takes a force of will beyond that which most of us possess. But, to disobey an order and keep one’s emotions in check? To suffer through that and come out the other side? There is more to her than mere muscles, my dear and learned friend.”
“I know,” Ikzekiel replied, “I just didn’t think it was important. That’s all.”
“Everything is important to someone. Now, as you put not thirty seconds ago, enlighten me.”
“She hates herself,” Ikzekiel shrugged.
“Oh?”
Ikzekiel nodded.
Iskander leaned a little closer still. “Is this something you say from. . . personal experience, if I may be so bold as to ask?”
A shake of the head this time.
“Then. . .”
“I understand it,” Ikzekiel stated, “I’ve been there. I know what it’s like.”
“So it is personal experience.”
“If you say so.”
“I do!” replied the senator, “I very much do! This is intriguing. Fascinating. I might even say wonderful. Not that I would wish self-loathing upon the poor girl, but this does make things easier.”
“And how do you figure that?” Ikzekiel asked, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “Though really, I shouldn't be surprised. There are probably all sorts of things that a senator would do that would make them hate themselves. Perhaps you’re the one with the personal experience here.”
“Oh you don’t know the half of it,” chuckled Iskander with a wave of his hand, “swords and spears are positively charming in comparison.”
“I know a few old soldiers who would disagree.”
“Perhaps, perhaps, though it is not of any consequence. This, however, is just what is needed. Such a stroke of luck!”
“You almost sound happy.”
Iskander only broadened his smile. “Rather fortunate that you should mention that. Precisely the tool we shall be using. A very convenient little emotion; joy.”
“We?”
“Oh yes, we.”
Ikzekiel placed both of his grey-furred forearms upon the table and rolled his shoulders.
“I think I’d like another ale before we discuss this.”
“At once!”
Heedless of his mannerisms, so drastically and glaringly out of place within the rowdy setting of the Northwind, Senator Iskander Alaric barked for ale and wine. Though no doubt posing an inconvenience upon the ever-busy barkeep, the coin on offer from the assuredly wealthy basitin had the demanded beverages set in front of him with service as prompt as the smiles were false.
Ikzekiel wasted no time in draining half of his mug.
“Now,” he said, wiping froth from his muzzle, “tell me what you want me to do.”
“You're a soldier,” Iskander noted.
“Was.”
“Quite so, quite so. Nonetheless, you appreciate the mechanisms of it all. You, as previously put, have been there. You know how it feels, do you not?”
“I do.”
“So, be it that I were your commanding officer, here and now, and I issued the order to say. . . attack the barkeep. Off with this head! How might you act?”
Ikzekiel made no attempt to hide a roll of his eyes.
“I imagine I would do it, sir,” he mocked.
“Ah, but of course you would. Would you regret such an act?”
“I might.”
“But you might not?”
“Possibly.”
Iskander took another sip of his wine.
“Rather bleak, don’t you think?” he said. “So very devoid of passion. Not much to gain with that approach.”
“It would be an order.”
“Exactly!” exclaimed Iskander, his eyes suddenly alive. “Exactly! You said it before, Jade Adelaide is a soldier, and soldiers follow orders. She, however, offers something a little more than obedience.”
“Yes. Self-loathing,” Ikzekiel added.
“And therein is the key! Basitin we may be, and that urge may run to our very souls, but it is not immutable. Hate, or loathing as you just put it, as with love, is passion. Passion, my friend! Not the stone-faced compliance any number of our most respected and honoured men and women at arms might offer. True, raw, feeling. . . passion. Ah, I see that look, do not think yourself so divorced from it, Ikzekiel. After all, we are only having this conversation because I offered up something more than mere coin, something that you wanted.”
“Just make your point.”
Iskander Alaric cracked his neck to either side, closing his eyes as he did so and letting out a long, low breath.
“There are threats,” he stated, “that we cannot simply sunder aside through force of arms. An army, indeed any army, no matter how well trained or skilfully led, is only worth its objective.”
Ikzekiel narrowed his eyes. “Our army is the best. No legion has been defeated in the field in over two hundred years.”
“Yes, yes,” said Iskander with a wave of his hand, “we’re invincible, or so they tell us. If we possess such indomitable prowess, why do we hide on our island?”
“For just that reason, it’s our island.”
“And everybody else in Mekkan is happy to let that continue unabated? Our list of friends is a short one indeed. The Westerners? The exiles? The humans, for all their flaws, are at least united. The wolves, too.”
“I remember saying something about a point,” Ikzekiel sighed.
Iskander clapped his hands together. “It’s very simple, really. A storm is coming, Ikzekiel, one which we will not endure unless we learn to do something we haven’t done since time immemorial.”
“And that is?”
“We need to find our hearts,” the senator said, a sadness flashing in his eyes, “we need to learn to love again. An army that believes, an army that fights with its heart as well as its head, can never be defeated. Come the ending of the world and we will still be here, embraced as one.”
“That sounds almost poetic.”
“Oh, why thank you!” A hint of light and energy returned to Iskander’s face. “But they’re just words.”
“Well, what’s the plan then?” asked Ikzekiel. “What is your goal here?”
Senator Iskander Alaric flashed his fangs.
“The goal,” he purred, “is nothing short of Captain Jade Adelaide sitting upon the throne.”
Ikzekiel almost spat out a mouthful of ale.
“King?!” coughed. “What? What in the name of. . . the girl’s a wreck! She couldn’t be further from. . . why?”
“That’s exactly the reason why. She almost certainly doesn’t want to be king. Who better to take up that mantle?”
“Anyone!”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll take the book back and be on my way.”
Ikzekiel opened his mouth to speak, then quickly closed it again.
“As I thought,” continued Iskander. “Now, I don’t wish to presume, but perhaps you have a sense for our path forward. She has heart, but lacks. . . guidance.”
Ikzekiel rolled his eyes. “I’m hardly mentor material.”
“Quite so, but then again, perhaps that is likely what makes you suitable. Now, as in all things, we start at the beginning, and the beginning of all of this is people. Take care of the people, and all other concerns have a habit of resolving themselves. She won’t listen to you, and I doubt she’ll listen to me.”
“General Keiser?”
“Orders,” Iskander shot back, “I’d rather leave them out of this.”
“Then. . . the boy.”
“Boy?”
“Yes,” mused the grey-furred basitin, “the boy. Some blacksmith kid. She seems to like him, and he knocked over a guard to make sure she was safe after the bout with Ella Jensen. Poor girl.”
“Yes, most regrettable. Tell me about this boy.”
Ikzekiel narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to use him as leverage, are you?”
“What?!” Iskander almost shouted. “No! Sweet, merciful Nora, no! You really think that I would sit here and pontificate as to the nobility of our cause only to suggest that we engage in such a low act of skullduggery?”
“It sounded like it.”
“Quite the contrary! It is this single act of compassion, something so simple as a kindness between two people, that will be the bedrock of what is to come. If she is to lead, then it will be by example! You and I, we are to protect this seedling until it bears fruit. There is much to do, and there are many who work against us even now.”
“Alright,” shrugged Ikzekiel, “I’ll go and talk to him.”
​

​
“Boy! When will you get to reattaching that blasted idiot sergeant’s blasted cross guard to his blasted sword?”
Lukas Braun looked up from the anvil. “In the morning, Mister Hess!
“You better! Sweet, merciful Nora, if that fool knew the first thing about fencing he’d not be sending it back to use every bloody month for a fix up! Son of a colonel my arse, someone should have caved his skull in with a hammer by now! I have half a mind to do it myself.”
Lukas couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Something funny, boy?”
The young apprentice quickly shook his head. “No, sir. Don’t worry, I’ll have it done! I’ll deliver it to him as well.”
“No, you bloody well won’t!” Tobias Hess spat. “Rickard’s doing all the running for the next month, and the blasted coal shovelling, and he’s going to clean the blasted workshop, isn’t he?”
“Yes, father,” came Rickard’s singularly unenthusiastic reply from the front of the smithy.
“And if he uses that tone with paying customers, shovelling coal is going to be the least of his bloody worries!”
No further retort came.
Despite the exchange, a smile remained etched into Lukas’ features, his muzzle split into a toothy grin as he continued to slam his hammer down. The ringing of hot steel on hot steel, the hiss and crackle of the forge, and the ever-so-present cacophony of father and son embroiled in tumultuous debate, there was a homeliness about things, as crude as they may be.
And so, he hammered, for half an hour, until a thoroughly exasperated Tobias re-entered the workshop, his face red beneath his soot-stained fur.
“LUKAS!”
The young apprentice’s ears perked, and he looked up.
The sharpness left Tobias’ expression, and his words came softly.
“Lukas,” he said softly. “I know you told Rickard that you’d cover his duties for the next three months. And you know how pissed off I am at him. I guess you heard all that?”
“Uh. . . yes, Mister Hess,” Lukas replied, “we did. I mean, I did.”
“Quite a lot of work, boy, especially when it would be on top of all your other duties. Will take you a while, too, and if you ask me, it’s a waste of your time.”
“Mister Hess?”
Tobias Hess allowed the ever-present tension in his neck and shoulders to ease away. Arms tempered by decades of forge work and fur stained by year after year of soot and ash, even such a momentary abatement of his otherwise ceaseless drive towards labour and work was enough to have Lukas set his hammer down and stare upward at his mentor.
Tobias paced over and took the hammer in his own hand.
“You’re a bloody good blacksmith,” he said, inspecting the tool with his expert eye, “too good to still be an apprentice.”
Lukas’ jaw dropped.
“How long has it been? Eight years?”
“I. . .“
“Boy?”
Lukas snapped his muzzle shut, gulped, and spoke, “t-ten, actually, sir.”
“Ten. You’ve probably hammered enough steel in that time to outfit half of the First Legion. Hell, your work is good enough for it. More than good enough. Why do you think we get all the ponces from the Military District coming down here to get themselves something to flash about at dinner?”
“Mister Hess!” Lukas took a short step backward, “that’s. . . it’s because I learned from you! You taught me everything. I. . . I was just some kid off the street, I could barely hold a hammer! I mean, I couldn’t hold a hammer. . . not until you gave me a chance and made. . . made me into someone.”
“You did that on your own,” Tobias replied. “I’m no teacher. My father showed me how to strike an anvil and I did my best to show Rickard. You picked it up a damn sight faster than he did. You can profile a blade twice as sharp as I ever could, and in half the time. You’ve got the old fire and steel in your blood, boy. It’s criminal what they did to you after your father. . .”
Tobias quickly caught himself mid-sentence and set the hammer back down.
“Anyway,” he continued after a brief pause, “that’s really what this is all about. I’m not going to be around forever; I don’t have all that many summers left in me. You know it. I know it. Rickard knows it. Bah, don’t think too much about it, I’ll take my final days at the tavern with a belly of meat and mead over having my guts spilled out by a blasted Westerner any time you ask. Still, won’t really matter to me one way or the other afterwards, will it? Once I’ve been buried in the ground next to Rickard’s mother, the shop passes to him. Six generations of the Hess family, who would have thought. . .”
Lukas spoke up. “Rickard will make it seven!”
“He will,” Tobias agreed, “but. . . why don’t we add ‘Braun’ to the sign out front before that happens?”
“I. . .”
The elderly basitin offered a rare smile.
“Hess and Braun. Has a nice ring to it."
“M-m-mister H-Hess!” Lukas stammered, his workpiece forgotten. “I don’t. . . I mean this is all just so. . .”
“Yes?”
The young apprentice took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds as a mixture of panic and euphoria overtook him.
“I. . . always wanted t-to have my own shop,” he whispered.
“Hey!” Tobias smile disappeared. “Don’t you go thinking this is anything other than business. I can’t have you wasting your time shovelling bloody coal now, can I? This is still my shop, at least for now, and we still have work to do and coin to earn. You’ll just. . . work with me, not for me.”
Lukas finally managed a smile of his own. “Of course, Mister Hess.”
“Tobias.”
“Huh?”
“Tobias,” the blacksmith repeated. “Mister this and sir that is for military snobs. . . or wet-eared apprentices. We work for a living, and we use first names.”
The panic returned.
“B-but. . .“
“But nothing!” Tobias growled. “By the masks, boy, you’re almost as dense as Rickard is, I swear. You’re supposed to be the one who keeps him in line, someone to knock a bit of sense into that skull of his! Why do you think. . .”
He stopped, and quickly looked away.
Between Lukas’ frayed nerves and the abrupt onset of what could only be described as a blush on the part of Tobias Hess, the smithy would have fallen silent were it not for the sound of Rickard suddenly and loudly erupting into argument with a customer.
“Boy,” Tobias finally continued, “this isn't the part where I go all soft and tell you that you’ve been like a son to me. Two? I’d have jumped from the top of the wall long ago if I had to put up with the hassle of raising two brats. Hah! One’s enough for any basitin. But. . . here’s the thing, Lukas. . .”
Tobias Hess landed his thickset hand upon Lukas’ shoulder, and again put forward a genuine smile.
“. . . you have been a brother to Rickard, and I’d be damn proud to see Hess and Braun make swords for another hundred years.”
A tear formed in the corner of Lukas’ eye.
“Th. . . thank you, Mis. . . Tobias.”
“It’s nothing, really. Now get your tail out of here. Don’t worry about cleanup; Rickard’s long overdue for some actual work.”
​

​
The monger had been out of fish.
Not just some, the quick-selling mackerel or the ever-popular salmon, but all of it. Even the bait. From the docks to the markets, every last morsel had sold before Ikzekiel had finished his day’s labour. He was, of course, a regular at several of the nearby markets, and knew all the merchants by name. They offered him good prices, and in exchange he would occasionally see that a few extra pounds of the morning’s catch found its way to their stalls. He was paid to offload by the crate and barrel, after all.
As such, Ikzekiel was now faced with the prospect of a thoroughly uninteresting evening meal consisting mostly of carrot and potato. He’d not even been able to sneak a skin of ale from the harbourside brewery.
“. . . damnit.”
Cursing did little to alleviate his frustrations. Such days had, much to singular displeasure, been occurring more frequently as of late. Be it a day a week, rather than a day a month, upon which the fishermen would report a poor catch or seas too rough to cast their nets at all, it wasn’t so much the price that bothered him, but the fact that he had been robbed of yet another simple pleasure. A day of work and a hearty meal; it was as much about a balance between labour and leisure as it was a matter of sustenance.
"Ah, excusez-moi, Monsieur, pardon the intrusion, but I was 'oping that we might ‘ave a little chat?"
The expletive that followed was rather more offensive then the previous.
“Yeah?” the basitin groaned, “what is it?”
Humans. Two of them. Then, as if the world had some cause to heap upon Ikzekiel further insult, Keidran. Foxes. Permitted, yet far from welcome, four foreigners now found themselves upon his doorstep. A day of physical work looked set to become an evening of mental toil.
Whatever snarled expression of malcontent had crept across his muzzle, these unexpected arrivals either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“It is a very small thing,” the human said through an unnaturally broad smile, “but I am most. . . how should it be said. . . oh zut alors, please forgive my ‘opeless grasp of your most exquisite language. When. . . eh. . . when something has ‘old of your attentions, eh. . . oh my goodness, je ne sais pas quoi dire.”
Ikzekiel reached for his door.
“Let me know when you figure it out,” he spat.
“Oh non non non, monsieur, but a moment, s'il te plaît?”
Another grunt, and the basitin moved to shoulder his door open.
“I brought you some fish! Salted, with a little dash of ‘erbs!”
Ikzekiel’s stopped.
“Ah yes, yes that is it!” the human continued, his voice somehow becoming even more sickly sweet in its intonation, “I could see that the mongers at the ‘arbourside market, they ‘ad no stock! Ah, such a shame, ce n'est pas?”
“D’accord.”
Surprise momentarily flashed across the human’s face, though other than a slight widening of the eyes, there was no trace in his voice as he continued without pause.
“Ah, I see you ‘ave some understanding of our tongue, non?”
Ikzekiel shrugged, “a little. I deal with your type often enough. You mentioned fish.”
“Oui, I was just about to-”
Surprise became shock.
"Ikzekiel! My friend! Ve ver being havink a great time! Ve drink and eat, and somevun he hitting me right in the face!"
The human’s voice caught in his throat. No sooner had the heavily accented words crossed his ears than a shadow crossed his form, followed by the creaking of wood as something heavy sauntered up behind him.
“Hello, Trym,” the Ikzekile smiled, the corner of his muzzle twisting ever so slightly upwards, “and Skadi, too. What a surprise.”
The human spun around and looked up.
“Vot?” came Trym’s booming voice, “you being standink in my vay, little man.”
“They were just leaving,” interjected Ikzekiel, “but they were nice enough to leave me some fish. Weren’t you, little man?”
The smile that the human had maintained drained from his face, replaced with a scowl and accompanied by a hiss from behind clenched teeth.
“Do not think yourself lucky, basitin,” he spat, “a dock-rat and a thug from the north. Putain de sa mère la pute! It is only because that beast, la bête, did not kill you that we would want to talk to you at all. Enjoy your fish. Merde!”
The second human threw a small package at Ikzekiel’s feet before abruptly spinning about and following his compatriot as the pair stormed away, closely followed by the pair of seemingly unperturbed keidran.
Ikzekiel stooped down and collected the paper-wrapped satchel, giving the contents a sniff, before smiling and nodding with approval.
“Salmon,” he commented, turning to face Trym, “lucky me.”
Trym and Skadi, their striking white fur all too out of place among the distinctive tan coats of their southern kin, shot Ikzekiel a quizzical look.
“Vot vas that?” Trym asked. “Ver they being of the trouble? Do you need me kill zem?”
“Trym. . .” Skadi cautioned.
“Ah, ja, I vill not tear out spine, samthykkt?”
Skadi rolled her eyes.
“He says that, but. . .Trym is not entirely without brains,” she said, “he’s at least right to be worried. Humans and foxes? What is going on?”
Ikzekiel opened his door.
“I don’t know,” he replied, “but I am in need of people I can trust. It’s about a certain someone. Someone who these humans have taken an interest in. Trym would like her.”

As expected, a whole host of bots have appeared after the demise of BotDefence and others. These new spambots don't always use an API, either - some of them load a page into memory and vomit their content on to reddit in the same way an end user would.
This new campaign has some of the hallmarks of the pro-russia spambot campaign, which occurred during the opening months of the russian invasion of ukraine - as specified in my post here: https://www.reddit.com/NewcastleUponTyne/comments/155kajd/the_weird_posts_that_are_popping_up/
Thankfully, a significant proportion of these posts are being caught by the spam filter, and a goodly amount of the remainder are being caught by a filter that parses posts and comments by any user with an auto-generated username. This rule is demonstrated below for your convenience.
Many thanks to /ufsv for the original rule, which was designed to combat the temu spam in comments.

type: submission author: account_age: < 2 months name (regex, case-sensitive): 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Summary: A demolition firm struggles to take down a damaged building for their mysterious clients
I Was a Foreman at the Grazer Tower Demolition
By now Grazer Tower has faded as a household name but to some the rumors and madness surrounding it refuse to die. The demolition of the massive three hundred twenty foot octagonal hotel left a gap in the Atlanta skyline but little fondness in anyone's hearts. I have no particular first hand insight into the freak lightning strikes on the 30th floor atrium which killed 13 people but I am willing to tell my side of the story about the demolition effort leading to the botched implosion. I tell this as a full, open, and honest disclosure. The legal maneuvering and ink has dried, all of the dead are buried, and all the bleeding stopped. The scars remain, the pain persists, the things I saw there are burned in my head even after they've been discredited into the conspiracy theory woodwork of the internet. The lightning storm struck on a Sunday afternoon and the next day for all we knew the bodies were still warm when a lawyer representing the owners of Grazer Tower entered our corporate office. I look back on it now with open and clear eyes and realize it was all very strange from the start when my Lead Foreman, Tom, and I were called into the meeting in progress.
The lawyer and now our client, looked like a fairly normal man in his mid thirties aside from his impeccably white suit which was ironed to the point of looking like stone rather than cloth. Beside the white suit his lips were an uncomfortable maroon and glossy. Besides this he spoke in a plain, clear, and disarming manner refraining from legalese and maintaining a firm but not imposing eye contract with whomever he was speaking directly to.
He told us in no uncertain terms he was instructed to contract with our firm to take down his client's building. Tom and I were shocked when we heard this after all, the lightning disaster, while tragic and perhaps undeservedly tarnishing in the short term to the Grazer Hotel's reputation, did not render the structure unusable nor unsafe to its surroundings. The worst damage was that the steel dome of the 30th floor atrium had collapsed into the vaulted restaurant and ballroom of the 29th floor but that's where the structure damage started and ended, in fact aside from the 28th, 29th, and 30th floor, city engineers working overnight already declared the building sound. So while perhaps still time consuming and costly, repairing the building was definitely possible and cost effective but owners, to make an analogy, were basically insisting on totaling a car after a minor parking lot fender bender. They gave us a specific date by which the building needed to be taken down. When our Boss, Jim, rebuffed the lawyer, not only because the date was challenging and soon but also because it was possible we could have it dropped BEFORE the date specified. The lawyer insisted the building go down on the date given – not later and not earlier. Jim swallowed hard and then glanced at Tom and I. Then the lawyer involved the name of the head of the owner's group, a Mr. Rohmer.
Mr. Rohmer, according to the lawyer, was offering our firm one hundred percent of the cost upfront and another twenty perfect of the total cost plus any overruns – stating if the implosion came early or late, it would mean all very little – no, that's no a typo, that's how the lawyer phrased it from his client, Mr. Rohmer. With that detail out of the way, you can see how the car totaling analogy breaks down considering the owners did not stand to profit from it's demolition – in fact quite the opposite.
The lawyer chuckled a bit to break the tension. He explained his clients and Mr. Rohmer in particular were an unorthodox bunch and then even insisted he wear the white suit in any of their dealings. The lawyer produced a tablet PC from his messenger bag and leveled it to Jim. On the tablet was all the banking confirmation codes ready to go for a direct deposit into our firms account alongside a contract. Jim seemed to hiccup or belch in excitement as he hurried around the short side of his desk to sign it since his stubby t-rex arms could not reach across his desk.
The firm was committed, we were committed – I was committed and I started to mentally cramp up over the challenges we all faced. The Grazer Hotel was in the middle of a dense urban grid. It had to be precise drop with virtually no margin for error. Jim poured us a dram of scotch from the bottle hidden under his desk. None of us a second thought about Rohmer's cryptic remark – after all, how often did you get a one hundred twenty perfect no-bid contract walk in off the street, out of the blue?
A combination of exhilaration over the money and anxiety over the work load kept us all from sleeping that night. Jim and Tom ended up going out and having a wild night to celebrate while I went home to mentally prepare not only myself but also my wife and kids. As a family they were staring down a month and a half of late nights and weekends with no dad. My wife was frustrated until I told her about the bonus and then she said she'd fill the lonely time making plans to send the kids to Disney World and then find a place for us to spend alone together. The promise of a much needed vacation after this only super charged the butterflies in my stomach further in anticipation of this challenging season ending.
As the assistant foreman I had office and on-site duties. Most of it was coordinating between the two. This included personnel, setting up site security – including guards and cameras to keep urban explorers and vagrants of out the dangerous site and satisfy OSHA hazardous work place safety requirements. The most challenging duty was site prep which included disposal of furnishings, removal of windows and other flourishes of the structure's facade which could become deadly shrapnel during an implosion. Fortunately, despite all of this, the nagging questions about permits and clean-up contracts were already handled by the lawyer. Rohmer's group also waived any rights to furnishings which means they could be unceremoniously hauled out in any way we chose to and disposed of.
Now I suppose some of these things should have came as red flags to me – or at least some one in the company but we all justified it as the group must have connects and short cuts to permits and it was a relatively new building, only about twenty years old in fact and furnishings – whether old or new probably weren't of any antique or sentimental value. All in all these were blessings since they freed our hands a bit and made a near impossible deadline more possible.
Of course the good news came with some bad news. The city engineers forbade us from working at the 28th, 29th, and 30th floors – unless we brought in a separate crew to stabilize those levels first. This was quite the fly in the ointment for the controlled implosion plan we sketched out. The 30th floor wasn't as much of a problem but the 29th floor ballroom and the weakening of the 28th floor meant we can't inspect for how compromised they were by the steel atrium dome. For all we knew if we blew the 27th floor on down the dome could shift and topple over the top three floors outside of the implosion safe zone, imperiling people and nearby structures.
I raised holy hell about it while Tom stood calm. It could take months to stabilize and clear those floors and far more money than I thought our eccentric client would pay in overruns. Jim waved me off mid sentence and simply told me he'd take care of it. That was good enough for Tom so it had to be good enough for me. I went back to my job – securing site and planning drop.
Although we had a problem with the top floor our saving grace lie in the basements. It had a three story subterranean parking garage, a basement level pool, and a utility sub-basement. We could easily smash the first ten or twelve floors into that deep footprint. Also the utility sub-basement gave us a clean cut off from the grid and a fairly convenient way to protect the surrounding grid without interruption. Still, at least part of our team would take have to take three weeks out of our six and change to handle the utilities.
The first week was hectic, they always were but we hit no major snags. By the end of it were on schedule and all of the parts were coming together. We thought maybe, just maybe, we were well on our way to an early Christmas bonus but nothing could prepare us for what was coming.
If you work on a site long enough and work anywhere on the site security reporting chain you're bound to get a few questionable reports from your night guys. Let's face it, for folks who are wake all night five or six nights a week poking around with flashlights chasing shadows, every building every where is haunted. I've been on the site security chain for thirteen years so it was easy for me to dismiss reports from the night guys about unusual glows on gutted floors and stairwells, elevators which moved on their own with no one calling for them or inside when they opened on a random floor, or the security cameras and cellphones constantly going offline on the 27th floor and the utility sub-basement.
I wasn't convinced anything of concern was going on until I got called on site by the test drilling team. This team was responsible for sampling the support materials to determine where it was best to place the explosives and what explosives would be best to use. They reported the interior supports were designed in an unusual way with a honey comb of unorthodox metals and concrete not reported on the building's records or blueprints. Specifically, they reported the concrete was impregnated by some kind of metal veins which gave off a bright shimmer. I was asked to come identify it but they claimed it disappeared by the time I arrived.
I was irate at the team and their supervisor for having me to come on down on site for something that sounded so wrong to begin with. They showed me a grainy cellphone video and told me they would swear on a stack of Bibles the sparkling compound welled up in the test coring like mercury, turned blood red and bled on the floor before disappearing into the torn up carpet. I chastised them for making this up and threatened to get new sub contractors if they kept wasting my time. I spoke with a separate sample team on the lower levels and they too discovered some unusual metal compositions – ones which were different then the ones found the top floors. One of the engineers speculated that the contrast in metals between the top and bottom floors could be cause the building to hold an electrical charge, like a battery or like a capacitor. Either way, the engineer said it would require more explosives than initially thought to take down the structure.
A couple of weeks later we were painfully behind – glass removal in particular was going slow because those contractors claimed they were constantly losing their toys. They also claimed one night to have cleared the top five floors on the east side of all their glass – only for all the windows to appear fully intact the next morning. I was forced to end their sub contract due to misrepresentation of work accomplished.
The glass wasn't the only thing slowing us down. The wire and plumbing removal was hindered by the wires somehow were fused to the pipes and in some places, the pipes were fused to the load-bearing members – we thought maybe it was due to the lightning strikes but that really didn't make sense since all of the wiring and plumbing otherwise seemed to work fine before we turned off the utilities. The only thing going for us was the helicopter loophole. Instead of accessing the 30th floor through the condemned floors we were able to get work teams on the atrium floor by helicopter. The bodies of the 13 were removed before we started working and before the atrium fully collapsed into the ballroom but the teams working on the roof reported many unusual artifacts including stained glass and Greek letters comprised of unusual amalgams of metal.
All of the strangeness culminated in the disappearance of one of the night time security guards named Phillipe. I say disappear because his girlfriend filed a missing persons report with the police and when they came to investigate Tom was busy with the atrium operations so the job fell to me. I walked the investigator through guard's smart phone filed reports from the previous evenings. Admittedly I was behind on my end approving the reports so I was embarrassed when things in the report took a turn. His reports including the same odd glows the others were reporting in the stairwells and seeing metallic veins throb on the walls.
His last reports stuck in my head: Report: Sub-basement 4 clear, 0312. Report: Sub-basement 5 clear, 0305. Report: Sub-basement 6 clear 0237.
His “all clear” reports documented levels of the building which did not exist and the further he went into the areas which did not exist, the automatic timestamps went backwards in time. It made no sense – unless he was confused as to where he was due to intoxication and there was software glitch with the timestamps. I was forced to give the investigator no firm explanation.
It's easy to write off a high security guard – they're flaky by their nature and have plenty of reasons to ghost a part time gig and even to pull prank on their final reports. I almost wrote it all off until I saw his girlfriend – apparently his fiance, handing out missing persons fliers outside of the site gate one morning. She seemed absolutely heartbroken and I got stabbed in the gut thinking maybe this wasn't a ghosting and prank after all. Seeing is believing and the next week I started to believe. Tom was finishing up on the atrium level. We used some heavy lift choppers to remove the rest of the frame and glass. Now we could get a better look into the section which collapsed into the 29th floor. We started by using a series of video drones to investigate the melted twisted dome through the collapsed roof. We quickly learned that the drones were being interfered with as their feed would cut out or their batteries would die almost immediately upon entering the ballroom.
So, we had to cut some corners, against city regulations, we let Tom and two others rappel in from the roof on secured anchored lines with helicopter over watch support. We needed to do this because we needed make sure that collapsed wreckage would not move and potentially change the implosion direction. Tom got twisted in his gear as he tried to lean into one of the holes in the roof. He slipped and fell in, disappearing from sight. We frantically radioed for Tom as the other two workers abandoned their own attempts to peer in and scrambled to Tom's aid. Tom was pulled out of the section uninjured but he appeared to be in shock, he looked wild eyed and shook as he was put on the helicopter and lowered back to ground level. Within minutes, Jim called us back to the office to discuss the near miss.
Two weeks to go and week behind, a missing guard, and now a near fatal accident. That for Jim, was the last straw. Tom and I had run out the rope Jim gave us to hang ourselves with. Jim slammed his hand on his desk as he catastrophized, red in the face, nearly breathless, he yelled we could very well kiss that twenty percent goodbye with the way things are going. He pressured Tom to go on the record after his dip into the structure that the atrium debris ball in the ballroom posed no threat to the implosion. Tom was elsewhere. He stared off in a thousand yard stare before replying to Jim that it posed no threat. Then Tom headed for the door. Jim screamed at him that he wasn't done chew us out but Tom only said he had to get back to it. I supported Tom and followed him. He and I headed back to the site to secure the night shift changes – another night not at home and having a late dinner.
I asked Tom in the car ride back what he saw in there. Tom was fixed in a trance and barely responded. He said it was wild. When we got back to the site, Tom separated from me through the gate while I strolled across the street to grab us some dinner from a street vendor. As I stood around waiting for two gyros and two cokes I could help but be mesmerized by the gutted tower. It seemed to breath in the spotlights inhaling puffs of the dust and dirt on the site and then exhaling it. A faint glow, barely perceivable against the light pollution, seemed to brighten, dim, and fade from the upper floors with each of the building's breaths. I was transfixed on it and it was the first time the building gave me an eerie feeling.
I got back on the site, food in hand, there was a buzz in their air as the night shift streamed in and the day shift streamed out. I barely had my hardhat seated corrected on my head when the site's emergency alarm blew. The interim foreman tossed me a radio as I was swept with him and our site occupational safety and emergency personnel to the basement.
Our increasingly panicked footfalls blotted out the squawk of the radios but I could hear one name again and again in the equally panicked messages – Tom Tom Tom. Whatever was happening was happening to Tom.
We reached the pool level and a trail of gasps proceeded me into the pool. There was Tom in his vest and hardhat face down in the middle of the pool with crimson oozing out him into the cerulean tiles lining the drained pool. We piled in from the ladders and shallow end to get to him. It was apparent when the first folks reached him that he was dead. They hauled him out on a stretcher and to our shock he looked like he had been dead for much longer than possible and his skin was water logged despite there being no water. He had died of fall trauma possibly despite the pool only being six feet deep. The paramedics also claimed he had water in his lungs. Then I noticed he was wearing his rappelling harness weaved in his vest – but that made no sense – he took it and his vest off when we were getting chewed out by Jim. Why would he put his rappelling gear on again.
I was the assistant foreman no more. Now the buck stopped with me. As they took Tom to the morgue we all knew the show must go on – our client demanded it, Jim demanded it and Tom would have wanted it that way. The same police investigator from the guard's disappearance met with me over Tom's death. They said it was standard procedure with work place deaths. I gave him a copy of the footage on an SD card and left the moment after it left my hand.
I had the recording queued up to the time of the commotion. The video we provided had a poor angle and was focused on the door to monitor access – the comings and goings of people. It was shift change so people were filing in and out Tom was somewhere in the crowd. The pool was one of the areas which required both foot patrols and constant video monitoring. I hit the rewind button on accident and watched his body lie there and lie there and then the timestamp sped past the 1900 hour mark. We were in traffic from meeting with Jim at that time. This was impossible but I kept my finger on the rewind button. Around 1400 the camera shakes a bit and there is slight glow reflecting on the doors so I let it play back to the shake. There is a soft green glow and then could hear a heft thud in the room. I gulped knowing that was Tom falling into the pool around the same time he fell into the hole in the roof. The soft glow turned brighter and brighter like a laser shining into the lens – something that wasn't present on the rewind. There was a flash of an incomprehensible shape or form on the screen. I was physically hurt in my eyes like I had just stared into the sun. I was left dazed with the shaped burned into my eyes with each blink. Then the camera system shorted out and a tiny puff of smoke left the memory module. The cameras blinked off wall to wall, the whole system was dead.
With the cameras fried, regulations required someone high in the company to be on site or we'd have to leave for the night. So I stayed knowing we couldn't afford to lose an hour much less an entire night. I circled the pool between approving payrolls and directing the increased security guard traffic required to monitor more areas. I was thinking about what I would say at Tom's funeral. I was thinking about Tom's family and what they would think about his apparent suicide.
I was forced to patrol the rest of the sub-basements as well since most of the guards were at the site perimeters or higher levels. I would have to follow paths of Phillipe, the disappeared guard, and all of the other guards who had mismatched timestamps on their increasingly strange reports. If not for today's incident and the recording of Tom's death, I would have stood fast to the idea that these reports were the product of night jitters and drugs but now, no.
I gritted my teeth as I exited the pool area to patrol the lower levels. I hated this building I muttered to myself. I couldn't wait to see it all rumble. I thought about which part I'd like to keep from the site to place in Tom's casket – then I realized it probably wasn't going to be an open casket funeral. I was lost in my thoughts and hatred for the building as I roamed through the parking garage into the utilities basement. I lost track of where I was as I weaved down stairwells.
I shown my flashlight on the wall and the floor level sign said “Sub-basement 999”. I stopped cold in my tracks. I was hoping it was a prank but I knew it was no prank. Then I thought maybe I'd have some answers. Maybe I would finally see what all the strangeness was about. But then I freaked out about Phillipe's disappearance and turned to run back up the stairwell. I ran up four levels to what I thought was the lobby and I pushed the door open.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw a black and white galaxy – the stars were black and the space was white with gradations of gray. The whole room was just white outer space and the whole universe swirled fast counter clockwise. I tried to breath and when I did the galaxy shrunk before my eyes until it was the size of a tiny of marble and then even smaller to a speck of dust. I reached out as it floated towards me. I stared at the speck in a cold sweat. As I stared, I was looking deeper and deeper into impossible detail. In the dust I found the milky way galaxy, I found our solar system, I found Earth and then I found North America, and then I found myself back in the pool room dripping in sweat.
Time seemed to skip and space was malleable in that hotel. As we approached the deadline to drop it, some jobs which would take hours took days and some jobs which would take days took minutes. The anomalies seemed to swarm tonight and day and yet we pressed on. Tom was buried and I couldn't go.
We met the deadline and the city came out in numbers to watch us drop the thirty floor structure. They gathered nearly two blocks away clad in ponchos and dust masks bracing for the implosion triggered by half a ton of high explosives.
I was so burned out and demoralized. My mantra became “this is for Tom, this is for Tom” and it was the only thing carrying me to this day. I chalked up all the anomalies and even my own experience on 999th sub-basement level as a reaction to shock, loss, grief, and exhaustion.
We were on the thirty minute countdown and Mr. Rohmer's attorney was designated as the trigger man. He stood there with Jim and I in the command trailer with the detonator remote. The remote triggered a two minute countdown on the charges from a master control station in my command trailer. All the charges had to be hardwired old school style because we were getting too much walkie talkie and radio interference from inside the structure for any other method of trigger to be reliable. I was too tried to make a stink about insisting I do it. I just wanted it to be over but suddenly a freak thunderstorm brewed up over the city. The skies were overcast and we were on the verge of having to abort the implosion until the next day – despite the next day being a day past the deadline. If we didn't abort and went through with the implosion, there was a strong chance the shock waves from the blast would bounce back off the lower cloud base and shatter windows and ears across the city.
I sat in my command chair at the perimeter in dismay, almost in tears as it started to rain. I felt my heart drop into the acid of my stomach as I ordered the suspension of the implosion for the day. The lawyer, surprisingly, did not resist. I watched as the crowds dispersed from the viewing lines and police started to permit traffic back through the streets surrounding the site.
Then a group of unauthorized personnel threw open the door of the trailer. They were a mass of men and women clad in pressed white suits, stoney faces with thin maroon lips, one of them carried a white covered book.
The attorney dropped his eyes and head in deference to elderly man at the head of the congregation. The attorney addressed him as Monsignor. The man introduced himself as Monsignor Rohmer and he placed his hand on his attorney, calling him a cousin of the congregation, stating there will be no postponement and no delay.
Rohmer, a man I judged to be in his late 50's or early 60's was bald and covered it with a white derby hat. He was tall, about six five, and thin, so thin his suit fit him like snake half shedding its skin. His was face long and his cheeks thin and worn like a mountain side. His voice was steady and low like waterfall. Everything he said bloomed with authority and confidence. He ordered the building would be dropped in twenty minutes.
I told him I didn't care if he was the owner, the building could not be blown in this weather and I snatched the detonator out of his attorney's hands. Rohmer, moving faster than I believed humanly possible with some kind of martial arts move swiped the detonator from my hands. Simultaneously, he had two of his followers press Jim against the wall. They put him in a sleeper hold and he slumped down to the floor barely getting a word out. Then Rohmer gestured to his flock to follow towards the building.
They left in a fast deliberate almost choreographed walk like a flock of geese flying in formation. I grabbed the radio to get police help but I realized that was hopeless. I watched as our trailer was shrouded in the same interference we experienced in the building's interior. The CCTV monitors flickered out and the radio squawked static. Then I realized Rohmer had no control over the detonation and no way to contact his followers still with us in the command trailer. So I did what I had to and pulled the master key out of the master detonator in the command trailer and chased after the flock. I needed to know what was happening I needed to see with my own eyes what all of this was all about.
The Congregation had reached the lobby and I saw the trailing end of the clad white congregate into the stairwell. I darted at my best speed to follow them.
I reached the stair well door. I found Rohmer standing on the top step, apparently waiting for me. I was out of breath while he began to speak to me in his booming voice. He explained to me that if the building did not fall in the next twenty minutes, all of Earth would be pulled, sucked, inside out and down through the building into the black and white universe. The entire building, but especially the atrium dome, he continued, was designed and built to create and then temporarily contain an impossible shape, a living form, a 4 dimensional object, a tesseract, when struck by lightning in the presence of thirteen self-sacrificial Congregate members. This shape would slowly expand and cause space and time anomalies before growing so large inside compared to its size would pull us all into place with no life.
The shape was still in the process of forming even as we spoke, he said. It would reach critical mass and dimensional contortion and the only way to stop it was to disfigure and crush it in the hotel's collapse. He led me into the pool level where his entire congregation was sitting cross-legged where Tom fell. A green pulse, like a laser, came down from the ceiling into the group's center, where their white book lay open on blank pages. I had a feeling this glow was being projected down from the ballroom where the dome of the atrium was taking its final fourth dimensional form.
After a loud chant from the white clad followers, the book slammed shut and turned from a brilliant white shimming cover to one black as night. As they passed around book, their white suits turned black and the formed a single file line. Rohmer left my side and pulled the detonator from his suit. He showed it me and tossed it at me. In my panic I reached out with both hands to catch it but I forgot I still had the master key in my sweat slick hand and it fly out and fell at the foot of Rohmer.
I asked what he planned to do with the key without a lock and a jammed detonator. Rohmer bent down and grabbed the key and looked me without a hint of concern. He took the new black book into his hands and opened it facing the wall of the pool. A new green pulse launched from the book and flickered on the tiles. An octagonal outline appeared to frame a hazy image of a tropical beach. One by one Rohmer's congregation walked into the side of the pool, into glow and seemed to arrive safely on the otherside of the beach.
Once all his compatriots were on the beach, he turned a page in the book and reopened it, projecting another octagon portal on the side of the pool. I could see his destination – it was the command trailer. He stepped through portal and yelled to me from the other side that I had two minutes. The portal sealed.
I could hear the warning sirens we installed going off above me. Needless to say, I made it out, just barely. I reached the perimeter fence screaming to anyone who was in ear shot to run away. The building imploded as planned but I was caught in the dust cloud and developed tinnitus severe enough to be comparable with combat veterans.
The shock waves from the explosions were reflected off the cloud base and channeled down the street by other skyscrapers. Virtually every window in a two block radius around the site was shattered and hundreds of people were hurt in the resulting stampede and vehicle collisions caused by fleeing from the flying glass cascade. Parts of downtown looked like a war zone for weeks afterward.
Rohmer and the rest of his group, including the lawyer, had disappeared out of the trailer in another portal leaving a suitcase of gold equaling the twenty percent promised. Our company was fined, sued, and threatened with criminal charges and eventually put of business. There wasn't much left after paying the cities fines and lawyer fees.
Though I was spared any direct sanctions, I forced into an early retirement. I've had time to research Rohmer's group. There are at least six mentions of figures like Rohmer on the deepest parts of the conspiracy web. They seem to show up at a locale experiencing paranormal activity with a white book and then leave with a black book. Their departure usually marks the end of any strangeness. I can't be sure but this congregation seems to be summon demons, which they exorcise, by trapping them in their books. Trapping maybe a poor term to use since, as in the case of the Grazer hotel encounter, they can apparently cleanse the anomalies and then use the book containing them to weaponize a portion of the traits of whatever their unholy creations posses.
I suspect Rohmer and his congregation, now with the ability to teleport, are accelerating their plans, to whatever ends these paranormal means enable them.
Theo Plesha - Sequel to "Flush" by Theo Plesha on The Chilling App

Part 1/3 (rest in comments) : 1 E.I.01 FIDE LAWS of CHESS Contents: PREFACE page 2 BASIC RULES OF PLAY Article 1: The nature and objectives of the game of chess page 2 Article 2: The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard page 3 Article 3: The moves of the pieces page 4 Article 4: The act of moving the pieces page 7 Article 5: The completion of the game page 8 COMPETITION RULES Article 6: The chess clock page 9 Article 7: Irregularities page 11 Article 8: The recording of the moves page 11 Article 9: The drawn game page 12 Article 10: Quickplay finish page 13 Article 11: Points page 14 Article 12: The conduct of the players page 14 Article 13: The role of the arbiter (see Preface) page 15 Article 14: FIDE page 16 Appendices: A. Rapidplay page 17 B. Blitz page 17 C. Algebraic notation page 18 D. Quickplay finishes where no arbiter is present in the venue page 20 E. Rules for play with Blind and Visually Handicapped page 20 F. Chess960 rules page 22 Guidelines in case a game needs to be adjourned page 24 2 FIDE Laws of Chess cover over-the-board play. The English text is the authentic version of the Laws of Chess, which was adopted at the 79th FIDE Congress at Dresden (Germany), November 2008, coming into force on 1 July 2009. In these Laws the words ‘he’, ‘him’ and ‘his’ include ‘she’ and ‘her’. PREFACE The Laws of Chess cannot cover all possible situations that may arise during a game, nor can they regulate all administrative questions. Where cases are not precisely regulated by an Article of the Laws, it should be possible to reach a correct decision by studying analogous situations which are discussed in the Laws. The Laws assume that arbiters have the necessary competence, sound judgement and absolute objectivity. Too detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgement and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by fairness, logic and special factors. FIDE appeals to all chess players and federations to accept this view. A member federation is free to introduce more detailed rules provided they: a. do not conflict in any way with the official FIDE Laws of Chess, and b. are limited to the territory of the federation concerned, and c. are not valid for any FIDE match, championship or qualifying event, or for a FIDE title or rating tournament. BASIC RULES OF PLAY Article 1: The nature and objectives of the game of chess 1.1 The game of chess is played between two opponents who move their pieces alternately on a square board called a ‘chessboard’. The player with the white pieces commences the game. A player is said to ‘have the move’, when his opponent’s move has been ‘made’. (See Article 6.7) 1.2 The objective of each player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. The player who achieves this goal is said to have ‘checkmated’ the opponent’s king and to have won the game. Leaving one’s own king under attack, exposing one’s own king to attack and also ’capturing’ the opponent’s king are not allowed. The opponent whose king has been checkmated has lost the game. 1.3 If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn. 3 Article 2: The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard 2.1 The chessboard is composed of an 8 x 8 grid of 64 equal squares alternately light (the ‘white’ squares) and dark (the ‘black’ squares). The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner square to the right of the player is white. 2.2 At the beginning of the game one player has 16 light-coloured pieces (the ‘white’ pieces); the other has 16 dark-coloured pieces (the ‘black’ pieces). These pieces are as follows: A white king usually indicated by the symbol A white queen usually indicated by the symbol Two white rooks usually indicated by the symbol Two white bishops usually indicated by the symbol Two white knights usually indicated by the symbol Eight white pawns usually indicated by the symbol A black king usually indicated by the symbol A black queen usually indicated by the symbol Two black rooks usually indicated by the symbol Two black bishops usually indicated by the symbol Two black knights usually indicated by the symbol Eight black pawns usually indicated by the symbol 2.3 The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows: 2.4 The eight vertical columns of squares are called ‘files’. The eight horizontal rows of squares are called ‘ranks’. A straight line of squares of the same colour, running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge, is called a ‘diagonal’. 4 Article 3: The moves of the pieces 3.1 It is not permitted to move a piece to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour. If a piece moves to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece the latter is captured and removed from the chessboard as part of the same move. A piece is said to attack an opponent’s piece if the piece could make a capture on that square according to the Articles 3.2 to 3.8. A piece is considered to attack a square, even if such a piece is constrained from moving to that square because it would then leave or place the king of its own colour under attack. 3.2 The bishop may move to any square along a diagonal on which it stands. 3.3 The rook may move to any square along the file or the rank on which it stands. 3.4 The queen may move to any square along the file, the rank or a diagonal on which it stands. 5 3.5 When making these moves the bishop, rook or queen may not move over any intervening pieces. 3.6 The knight may move to one of the squares nearest to that on which it stands but not on the same rank, file or diagonal. 3.7 a. The pawn may move forward to the unoccupied square immediately in front of it on the same file, or b. on its first move the pawn may move as in 3.7.a or alternatively it may advance two squares along the same file provided both squares are unoccupied, or c. the pawn may move to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece, which is diagonally in front of it on an adjacent file, capturing that piece. d. A pawn attacking a square crossed by an opponent’s pawn which has advanced two squares in one move from its original square may capture this opponent’s pawn as though the latter had been moved only one square. This capture is only legal on the move following this advance and is called an ‘en passant’ capture. 6 e. When a pawn reaches the rank furthest from its starting position it must be exchanged as part of the same move on the same square for a new queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. The player’s choice is not restricted to pieces that have been captured previously. This exchange of a pawn for another piece is called ‘promotion’ and the effect of the new piece is immediate. 3.8 a. There are two different ways of moving the king: by moving to any adjoining square not attacked by one or more of the opponent’s pieces or by ‘castling’. This is a move of the king and either rook of the same colour along the player’s first rank, counting as a single move of the king and executed as follows: the king is transferred from its original square two squares towards the rook on its original square, then that rook is transferred to the square the king has just crossed. Before white kingside castling After white kingside castling Before black queenside castling After black queenside castling Before white queenside castling After white queenside castling Before black kingside castling After black kingside castling 7 b. (1) The right to castle has been lost: [a] if the king has already moved, or [b] with a rook that has already moved. (2) Castling is prevented temporarily: [a] if the square on which the king stands, or the square which it must cross, or the square which it is to occupy, is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces, or [b] if there is any piece between the king and the rook with which castling is to be effected. 3.9 The king is said to be 'in check' if it is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces, even if such pieces are constrained from moving to that square because they would then leave or place their own king in check. No piece can be moved that will either expose the king of the same colour to check or leave that king in check. Article 4: The act of moving the pieces 4.1 Each move must be made with one hand only. 4.2 Provided that he first expresses his intention (for example by saying „j’adoube“ or “I adjust”), the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares. 4.3 Except as provided in Article 4.2, if the player having the move deliberately touches on the chessboard: a. one or more of his own pieces, he must move the first piece touched which can be moved b. one or more of his opponent’s pieces, he must capture the first piece touched which can be captured c. one piece of each colour, he must capture the opponent’s piece with his piece or, if this is illegal, move or capture the first piece touched which can be moved or captured. If it is unclear, whether the player’s own piece or his opponent’s was touched first, the player’s own piece shall be considered to have been touched before his opponent’s. 4.4 If a player having the move: a. deliberately touches his king and rook he must castle on that side if it is legal to do so b. deliberately touches a rook and then his king he is not allowed to castle on that side on that move and the situation shall be governed by Article 4.3.a c. intending to castle, touches the king or king and rook at the same time, but castling on that side is illegal, the player must make another legal move with his king (which may include castling on the other side). If the king has no legal move, the player is free to make any legal move d. promotes a pawn, the choice of the piece is finalised, when the piece has touched the square of promotion. 8 4.5 If none of the pieces touched can be moved or captured, the player may make any legal move. 4.6 When, as a legal move or part of a legal move, a piece has been released on a square, it cannot be moved to another square on this move. The move is then considered to have been made: a. in the case of a capture, when the captured piece has been removed from the chessboard and the player, having placed his own piece on its new square, has released this capturing piece from his hand b. in the case of castling, when the player's hand has released the rook on the square previously crossed by the king. When the player has released the king from his hand, the move is not yet made, but the player no longer has the right to make any move other than castling on that side, if this is legal c. in the case of the promotion of a pawn, when the pawn has been removed from the chessboard and the player's hand has released the new piece after placing it on the promotion square. If the player has released from his hand the pawn that has reached the promotion square, the move is not yet made, but the player no longer has the right to play the pawn to another square. The move is called legal when all the relevant requirements of Article 3 have been fulfilled. If the move is not legal, another move shall be made instead as per Article 4.5. 4.7 A player forfeits his right to a claim against his opponent’s violation of Article 4 once he deliberately touches a piece. Article 5: The completion of the game 5.1 a. The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent’s king. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the checkmate position was a legal move. b. The game is won by the player whose opponent declares he resigns. This immediately ends the game. 5.2 a. The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and his king is not in check. The game is said to end in ‘stalemate’. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the stalemate position was legal. b. The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a ‘dead position’. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was legal. (See Article 9.6) c. The game is drawn upon agreement between the two players during the game. This immediately ends the game. (See Article 9.1) d. The game may be drawn if any identical position is about to appear or has appeared on the chessboard at least three times. (See Article 9.2) e. The game may be drawn if each player has made at least the last 50 consecutive moves without the movement of any pawn and without any capture. (See Article 9.3) 9 COMPETITION RULES Article 6: The chess clock 6.1 ‘Chess clock’ means a clock with two time displays, connected to each other in such a way that only one of them can run at one time. ‘Clock’ in the Laws of Chess, means one of the two time displays. Each time display has a ‘flag’. ‘Flag fall’ means the expiration of the allotted time for a player. 6.2 a. When using a chess clock, each player must make a minimum number of moves or all moves in an allotted period of time and/or may be allocated an additional amount of time with each move. All these must be specified in advance. b. The time saved by a player during one period is added to his time available for the next period, except in the ‘time delay’ mode. In the time delay mode both players receive an allotted ‘main thinking time’. Each player also receives a ‘fixed extra time’ with every move. The countdown of the main time only commences after the fixed time has expired. Provided the player stops his clock before the expiration of the fixed time, the main thinking time does not change, irrespective of the proportion of the fixed time used. 6.3 Immediately after a flag falls, the requirements of article 6.2 a. must be checked. 6.4 Before the start of the game the arbiter decides where the chess clock is placed. 6.5 At the time determined for the start of the game the clock of the player who has the white pieces is started. 6.6 a. Any player who arrives at the chessboard after the start of the session shall lose the game. Thus the default time is 0 minutes. The rules of a competition may specify otherwise. b. If the rules of a competition specify a different default time, the following shall apply. If neither player is present initially, the player who has the white pieces shall lose all the time that elapses until he arrives, unless the rules of the competition specify or the arbiter decides otherwise. 6.7 a. During the game each player, having made his move on the chessboard, shall stop his own clock and start his opponent’s clock. A player must always be allowed to stop his clock. His move is not considered to have been completed until he has done so, unless the move that was made ends the game. (See the Articles 5.1.a, 5.2.a, 5.2.b, 5.2.c and 9.6) The time between making the move on the chessboard and stopping his own clock and starting his opponent‘s clock is regarded as part of the time allotted to the player. b. A player must stop his clock with the same hand as that with which he made his move. It is forbidden for a player to keep his finger on the button or to ‘hover’ over it. 10 c. The players must handle the chess clock properly. It is forbidden to punch it forcibly, to pick it up or to knock it over. Improper clock handling shall be penalised in accordance with Article 13.4. d. If a player is unable to use the clock, an assistant, who must be acceptable to the arbiter, may be provided by the player to perform this operation. His clock shall be adjusted by the arbiter in an equitable way. 6.8 A flag is considered to have fallen when the arbiter observes the fact or when either player has made a valid claim to that effect. 6.9 Except where one of the Articles: 5.1.a, 5.1.b, 5.2.a, 5.2.b, 5.2.c applies, if a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves. 6.10 a. Every indication given by the clocks is considered to be conclusive in the absence of any evident defect. A chess clock with an evident defect shall be replaced. The arbiter shall replace the clock and use his best judgment when determining the times to be shown on the replacement chess clocks. b. If during a game it is found that the setting of either or both clocks was incorrect, either player or the arbiter shall stop the clocks immediately. The arbiter shall install the correct setting and adjust the times and move counter. He shall use his best judgement when determining the correct settings. 6.11 If both flags have fallen and it is impossible to establish which flag fell first then: a. the game shall continue if it happens in any period of the game except the last period b. the game is drawn if it happens in the period of a game, in which all remaining moves must be completed. 6.12 a. If the game needs to be interrupted, the arbiter shall stop the clocks. b. A player may stop the clocks only in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, for example when promotion has taken place and the piece required is not available. c. The arbiter shall decide when the game is to be restarted in either case. d. If a player stops the clocks in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, the arbiter shall determine if the player had any valid reason for doing so. If it is obvious that the player had no valid reason for stopping the clocks, the player shall be penalised according to Article 13.4. 6.13 If an irregularity occurs and/or the pieces have to be restored to a previous position, the arbiter shall use his best judgement to determine the times to be shown on the clocks. He shall also, if necessary, adjust the clock’s move counter. 6.14 Screens, monitors, or demonstration boards showing the current position on the chessboard, the moves and the number of moves made, and clocks which also show the number of moves, are allowed in the playing hall. However, the player may not make a claim relying solely on information shown in this manner. 11 Article 7: Irregularities 7.1 a. If during a game it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game shall be cancelled and a new game played. b. If during a game it is found that the chessboard has been placed contrary to Article 2.1, the game continues but the position reached must be transferred to a correctly placed chessboard. 7.2 If a game has begun with colours reversed then it shall continue, unless the arbiter rules otherwise. 7.3 If a player displaces one or more pieces, he shall re-establish the correct position on his own time. If necessary, either the player or his opponent shall stop the clocks and ask for the arbiter’s assistance. The arbiter may penalise the player who displaced the pieces. 7.4 a. If during a game it is found that an illegal move, including failing to meet the requirements of the promotion of a pawn or capturing the opponent’s king, has been completed, the position immediately before the irregularity shall be reinstated. If the position immediately before the irregularity cannot be determined the game shall continue from the last identifiable position prior to the irregularity. The clocks shall be adjusted according to Article 6.13. The Articles 4.3 and 4.6 apply to the move replacing the illegal move. The game shall then continue from this reinstated position. b. After the action taken under Article 7.4.a, for the first two illegal moves by a player the arbiter shall give two minutes extra time to his opponent in each instance; for a third illegal move by the same player, the arbiter shall declare the game lost by this player. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves. 7.5 If during a game it is found that pieces have been displaced from their squares, the position before the irregularity shall be re-instated. If the position immediately before the irregularity cannot be determined, the game shall continue from the last identifiable position prior to the irregularity. The clocks shall be adjusted according to Article 6.13. The game shall then continue from this re-instated position. Article 8: The recording of the moves 8.1 In the course of play each player is required to record his own moves and those of his opponent in the correct manner, move after move, as clearly and legibily as possible, in the algebraic notation (See Appendix C), on the scoresheet prescribed for the competition. It is forbidden to write the moves in advance, unless the player is claiming a draw according to Article 9.2, or 9.3 or adjourning a game according to the Guidelines of Adjourned Games point 1.a. A player may reply to his opponent’s move before recording it, if he so wishes. He must record his previous move before making another. Both players must record the offer of a draw on the scoresheet. (See Appendix C.13) 12 If a player is unable to keep score, an assistant, who must be acceptable to the arbiter, may be provided by the player to write the moves. His clock shall be adjusted by the arbiter in an equitable way. 8.2 The scoresheet shall be visible to the arbiter throughout the game. 8.3 The scoresheets are the property of the organisers of the event. 8.4 If a player has less than five minutes left on his clock at some stage in a period and does not have additional time of 30 seconds or more added with each move, then for the remainder of the period he is not obliged to meet the requirements of Article 8.1. Immediately after one flag has fallen the player must update his scoresheet completely before moving a piece on the chessboard. 8.5 a. If neither player is required to keep score under Article 8.4, the arbiter or an assistant should try to be present and keep score. In this case, immediately after one flag has fallen, the arbiter shall stop the clocks. Then both players shall update their scoresheets, using the arbiter’s or the opponent’s scoresheet. b. If only one player is not required to keep score under Article 8.4, he must, as soon as either flag has fallen, update his scoresheet completely before moving a piece on the chessboard. Provided it is the player’s move, he may use his opponent’s scoresheet, but must return it before making a move. c. If no complete scoresheet is available, the players must reconstruct the game on a second chessboard under the control of the arbiter or an assistant. He shall first record the actual game position, clock times and the number of moves made, if this information is available, before reconstruction takes place. 8.6 If the scoresheets cannot be brought up to date showing that a player has overstepped the allotted time, the next move made shall be considered as the first of the following time period, unless there is evidence that more moves have been made. 8.7 At the conclusion of the game both players shall sign both scoresheets, indicating the result of the game. Even if incorrect, this result shall stand, unless the arbiter decides otherwise. Article 9: The drawn game 9.1 a. The rules of a competition may specify that players cannot agree to a draw, whether in less than a specified number of moves or at all, without the consent of the arbiter. b. If the rules of a competition allow a draw agreement the following apply: (1) A player wishing to offer a draw shall do so after having made a move on the chessboard and before stopping his clock and starting the opponent’s clock. An offer at any other time during play is still valid but Article 12.6 must be considered. No conditions can be attached to the offer. In both cases the offer cannot be withdrawn and remains valid until the opponent accepts it, rejects it orally, rejects it by touching a piece with the intention of moving or capturing it, or the game is concluded in some other way. 13 (2) The offer of a draw shall be noted by each player on his scoresheet with a symbol. (See Appendix C.13) (3) A claim of a draw under Article 9.2, 9.3 or 10.2 shall be considered to be an offer of a draw. 9.2 The game is drawn upon a correct claim by the player having the move, when the same position, for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves): a. is about to appear, if he first writes his move on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or b. has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move. Positions as in (a) and (b) are considered the same, if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares, and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Positions are not the same if a pawn that could have been captured en passant can no longer be captured in this manner. When a king or a rook is forced to move, it will lose its castling rights, if any, only after it is moved. 9.3 The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, if: a. he writes his move on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, which shall result in the last 50 moves having been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture, or b. the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture. 9.4 If the player touches a piece as in Article 4.3 without having claimed the draw he loses the right to claim, as in Article 9.2 or 9.3, on that move. 9.5 If a player claims a draw as in Article 9.2 or 9.3 he may stop both clocks. (See Article 6.12.b) He is not allowed to withdraw his claim. a. If the claim is found to be correct, the game is immediately drawn. b. If the claim is found to be incorrect, the arbiter shall add three minutes to the opponent’s remaining thinking time. Then the game shall continue. If the claim was based on an intended move, this move must be made as according to Article 4. 9.6 The game is drawn when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing this position was legal. Article 10: Quickplay Finish 10.1 A ‘quickplay finish’ is the phase of a game when all the (remaining) moves must be made in a limited time. 10.2 If the player, having the move, has less than two minutes left on his clock, he may claim a draw before his flag falls. He shall summon the arbiter and may stop the clocks. (See Article 6.12.b) 14 a. If the arbiter agrees the opponent is making no effort to win the game by normal means, or that it is not possible to win by normal means, then he shall declare the game drawn. Otherwise he shall postpone his decision or reject the claim. b. If the arbiter postpones his decision, the opponent may be awarded two extra minutes and the game shall continue, if possible in the presence of an arbiter. The arbiter shall declare the final result later in the game or as soon as possible after a flag has fallen. He shall declare the game drawn if he agrees that the final position cannot be won by normal means, or that the opponent was not making sufficient attempts to win by normal means. c. If the arbiter has rejected the claim, the opponent shall be awarded two extra minutes time. d. The decision of the arbiter shall be final relating to (a), (b) and (c). Article 11: Points 11.1 Unless announced otherwise in advance, a player who wins his game, or wins by forfeit, scores one point (1), a player who loses his game, or forfeits scores no points (0) and a player who draws his game scores a half point (½). Article 12: The conduct of the players 12.1 The players shall take no action that will bring the game of chess into disrepute. 12.2 Players are not allowed to leave the ‘playing venue’ without permission from the arbiter. The playing venue is defined as the playing area, rest rooms, refreshment area, area set aside for smoking and other places as designated by the arbiter. The player having the move is not allowed to leave the playing area without permission of the arbiter. 12.3 a. During play the players are forbidden to make use of any notes, sources of information or advice, or analyse on another chessboard. b. Without the permission of the arbiter a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone or other electronic means of communication in the playing venue, unless they are completely switched off. If any such device produces a sound, the player shall lose the game. The opponent shall win. However, if the opponent cannot win the game by any series of legal moves, his score shall be a draw. c. Smoking is permitted only in the section of the venue designated by the arbiter . 12.4 The scoresheet shall be used only for recording the moves, the times of the clocks, the offers of a draw, and matters relating to a claim and other relevant data. 12.5 Players who have finished their games shall be considered to be spectators. 12.6 It is forbidden to distract or annoy the opponent in any manner whatsoever. This includes unreasonable claims, unreasonable offers of a draw or the introduction of a source of noise into the playing area. 15 12.7 Infraction of any part of Articles 12.1 to 12.6 shall lead to penalties in accordance with Article 13.4. 12.8 Persistent refusal by a player to comply with the Laws of Chess shall be penalised by loss of the game. The arbiter shall decide the score of the opponent. 12.9 If both players are found guilty according to Article 12.8, the game shall be declared lost by both players. 12.10 In the case of Article 10.2.d or Appendix D a player may not appeal against the decision of the arbiter. Otherwise a player may appeal against any decision of the arbiter, unless the rules of the competition specify otherwise. Article 13: The role of the Arbiter (See Preface) 13.1 The arbiter shall see that the Laws of Chess are strictly observed. 13.2 The arbiter shall act in the best interest of the competition. He should ensure that a good playing environment is maintained and that the players are not disturbed. He shall supervise the progress of the competition. 13.3 The arbiter shall observe the games, especially when the players are short of time, enforce decisions he has made and impose penalties on players where appropriate. 13.4 The arbiter can apply one or more of the following penalties: a. warning b. increasing the remaining time of the opponent c. reducing the remaining time of the offending player d. declaring the game to be lost e. reducing the points scored in the game by the offending party f. increasing the points scored in the game by the opponent to the maximum available for that game g. expulsion from the event. 13.5 The arbiter may award either or both players additional time in the event of external disturbance of the game. 13.6 The arbiter must not intervene in a game except in cases described by the Laws of Chess. He shall not indicate the number of moves made, except in applying Article 8.5, when at least one flag has fallen. The arbiter shall refrain from informing a player that his opponent has completed a move or that the player has not pressed his clock. 13.7 a. Spectators and players in other games are not to speak about or otherwise interfere in a game. If necessary, the arbiter may expel offenders from the playing venue. If someone observes an irregularity, he may inform only the arbiter. 16 b. Unless authorised by the arbiter, it is forbidden for anybody to use a mobile phone or any kind of communication device in the playing venue and any contiguous area designated by the arbiter. Article 14: FIDE 14.1 Member federations may ask FIDE to give an official decision about problems relating to the Laws of Chess. 17 APPENDICES A. Rapidplay A.1 A ‘Rapidplay’ game is one where either all the moves must be made in a fixed time of at least 15 minutes but less than 60 minutes for each player; or the time allotted + 60 times any increment is at least 15 minutes, but less than 60 minutes for each player. A.2 Players do not need to record the moves. A.3 Where there is adequate supervision of play, (for example one arbiter for at most three games) the Competition Rules shall apply. A.4 Where supervision is inadequate the Competition Rules shall apply, except where they are overridden by the following Laws of Rapidplay: a. Once each player has completed three moves, no claim can be made regarding incorrect piece placement, orientation of the chessboard or clock setting. In case of reverse king and queen placement castling with this king is not allowed. b. The arbiter shall make a ruling according to Article 4 (The act of moving the pieces), only if requested to do so by one or both players. c. An illegal move is completed once the opponent's clock has been started. The opponent is then entitled to claim that the player completed an illegal move before the claimant has made his move. Only after such a claim, shall the arbiter make a ruling. However, if both Kings are in check or the promotion of a pawn is not completed, the arbiter shall intervene, if possible. d. 1. The flag is considered to have fallen when a player has made a valid claim to that effect. The arbiter shall refrain from signalling a flag fall, but he may do so if both flags have fallen. 2. To claim a win on time, the claimant must stop both clocks and notify the arbiter. For the claim to be successful, the claimant’s flag must remain up and his opponent’s flag down after the clocks have been stopped. 3. If both flags have fallen as described in (1) and (2), the arbiter shall declare the game drawn. B. Blitz B.1 A ‘blitz’ game’ is one where all the moves must be made in a fixed time of less than 15 minutes for each player; or the allotted time + 60 times any increment is less than 15 minutes. B.2 Where there is adequate supervision of play, (one arbiter for one game) the Competition Rules and Appendix A.2 shall apply. B.3 Where supervision is inadequate the following shall apply: a. Play shall be governed by the Rapidplay Laws as in Appendix A except where they are overridden by the following Laws of Blitz. b. Article 10.2 and Appendix A.4.c do not apply. c. An illegal move is completed once the opponent’s clock has been started. The opponent is entitled to claim a win before he has made his own move. However, if the 18 opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves, then the claimant is entitled to claim a draw before he has made his own move. Once the opponent has made his own move, an illegal move cannot be corrected unless mutually agreed without intervention of an arbiter. C. Algebraic notation FIDE recognizes for its own tournaments and matches only one system of notation, the Algebraic System, and recommends the use of this uniform chess notation also for chess literature and periodicals. Scoresheets using a notation system other than algebraic may not be used as evidence in cases where normally the scoresheet of a player is used for that purpose. An arbiter who observes that a player is using a notation system other than the algebraic should warn the player about of this requirement. Description of the Algebraic System C.1 In this description, ‘piece’ means a piece other than a pawn. C.2 Each piece is indicated by the first letter, a capital letter, of its name. Example: K=king, Q=queen, R=rook, B=bishop, N=knight. (In the case of the knight, for the sake of convenience, N is used.) C.3 For the first letter of the name of the pieces, each player is free to use the first letter of the name which is commonly used in his country. Examples: F=fou (French for bishop), L=loper (Dutch for bishop). In printed periodicals, the use of figurines for the pieces is recommended. C.4 Pawns are not indicated by their first letter, but are recognized by the absence of such a letter. Examples: e5, d4, a5. C.5 The eight files (from the left to right for White and from right to left for Black) are indicated by the small letters, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h, respectively. C.6 The eight ranks (from bottom to top for White and from top to bottom for Black) are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, respectively. Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks. C.7 As a consequence of the previous rules, each of the sixty-four squares is invariably indicated by a unique combination of a letter and a number. 19 C.8 Each move of a piece is indicated by a) the first letter of the name of the piece in question and b) the square of arrival. There is no hyphen between a) and b). Examples: Be5, Nf3, Rd1. In the case of pawns, only the square of arrival is indicated. Examples: e5, d4, a5. C.9 When a piece makes a capture, an x is inserted between a) the first letter of the name of the piece in question and b) the square of arrival. Examples: Bxe5, Nxf3, Rxd1. When a pawn makes a capture, the file of departure must be indicated, then an x, then the square of arrival. Examples: dxe5, gxf3, axb5. In the case of an ‘en passante’ capture, the square of arrival is given as the square on which the capturing pawn finally rests and ‘e.p.’ is appended to the notation. Example: exd6 e.p. C.10 If two identical pieces can move to the same square, the piece that is moved is indicated as follows: 1. If both pieces are on the same rank: by a) the first letter of the name of the piece, b) the file of departure, and c) the square of arrival. 2. If both pieces are on the same file: by a) the first letter of the name of the piece, b) the rank of the square of departure, and c) the square of arrival. If the pieces are on different ranks and files methof 1) is preferred. In the case of capture, an x may be inserted between b) and c). Examples: 1. There are two knights, on the squares g1 and e1, and one of them moves to the square f3: either Ngf3 or Nef3, as the case may be. 2. There are two knights, on the squares g5 and g1, and one of them moves to the square f3: either N5f3 or N1f3, as the case may be. 3. There are two knights, on the squares h2 and d4, and one of them moves to the square f3: either Nhf3 or Ndf3, as the case may be. If a capture takes place on the square f3, the previous examples are changed by the insertion of an x: 1) either Ngxf3 or Nexf3, 2) either N5xf3 or N1xf3, 3) either Nhxf3 or Ndxf3, as the case may be. C.11 If two pawns can capture the same piece or pawn of the opponent, the pawn that is moved is indicated by a) the letter of the file of departure, b) an x, c) the square of arrival. Example: If there are white pawns on squares c4 and e4 and a black pawn or piece on the square d5, the notation for White’s move is either cxd5 or exd5, as the case may be. C.12 In the case of the promotion of a pawn, the actual pawn move is indicated, followed immediately by the first letter of the new piece. Examples: d8Q, f8N, b1B, g1R. C.13 The offer of a draw shall be marked as (=). Essential abbreviations 0 - 0 = castling with rook h1 or rook h8 (kingside castling) 0 - 0 - 0 = castling with rook a1 or rook a8 (queenside castling) x = captures + = check ++or# = checkmate e.p. = captures ‘en passante’ It is not mandatory to record the check, the checkmate and capturing on the scoresheet. 20 Sample game: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6e.p. Nxd6 7. Bg5 Nc6 8. Qe3+3 Be7 9. Nbd2 0-0 10. 0-0-0 Re8 11. Kb1 (=) D. Quickplay finishes where no arbiter is present in the venue D.1 Where games are played as in Article 10, a player may claim a draw when he has less than two minutes left on his clock and before his flag falls. This concludes the game. He may claim on the basis:

This is my experience and interpretation of the 48-month licensing process once you have completed the ICS Canada “Aircraft Mechanic” Course as of 06 MAY 2023.
First, you need to gather all your information to be assigned your "File Number” and an Inspector so you can test the Practical and Regulation Exams.
Information for that process can be found here but the quick and dirty given to me by TC in my experience was:
"If you did not obtain accreditation with your school, then you’ll need to apply to write the technical exams. There is no fee to submit this application. Please submit the following via email:

1. Completed application AME License form.
2. Certified copy of your passport. It can be verified as a true copy of the original by a valid AME.
3. Certified copy of your diploma and transcript. It can be verified as a true copy of the original by a valid AME."

(Please Note: since we did not complete our training through an Approved Training Organization with Knowledge credit you will have to initially submit an “AME License Application Supplement Technical Examinations” form)
(Note: Individuals certifying the documentation are required to indicate their name, region or AME license number, as applicable, and the date of certification)
Secondly, once you have compiled the documents you must reach out to Transport Canada, this is dependent upon the region in which you live. If you are unsure of which region, you may find your nearest Transport Canada Office and see which region it falls under.
· Pacific Region 2010-7445 132 St. Surrey BC V3W 1J8 Tel.: 1-800-305-2059 [aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca)
· Quebec Region 700 Place Leigh Capréol Dorval QC H4Y 1G7 Tel.: 1-800-305-2059 [aviation.que@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.que@tc.gc.ca)
· Atlantic Region P.O. Box 42, 95 Foundry St. Moncton NB E1C 8K6 Tel.: 1-800-305-2059 [aviation.atl@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.atl@tc.gc.ca)
· Ontario Region 4900 Yonge St., 4th Floor Toronto ON M2N 6A5 Tel.: 1-800-305-2059 [aviation.ont@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.ont@tc.gc.ca) P
· Prairie and Northern Region Box 8550 - 344 Edmonton St. Winnipeg MB R3C 0P6 Tel.: 1-800-305-2059 [aviation.pnr-rpn@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.pnr-rpn@tc.gc.ca)
Once everything has been submitted you play the waiting game. I found they usually respond within 2-5 business days.
For example, since I lived in BC and wanted to test in BC I reached out to my local regions department ([aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca)) with a certified signed copy (By a Licensed AME) of my Passport**,** ICS Certificate/Transcript**, and my filled-out** AME License Application Supplement Technical Examinations Form.
After Having been Assigned a File Number and Inspector you will need to book a Technical Exam to Test. Exams are booked through TC support staff, send your exam booking request to the regional department email in which you want to write. Include the following information:

1. File Number
2. Name of Exam
3. Preferred Location (Select most convenient Regional Service Center)
4. Preferred dates
5. Preferred Time

Test Dates can be booked far in advance, but I find reaching out around 2 months before has been more than enough time.
To continue the Example, I want to write my “M2 Airframe Exam” so I submit a request to [aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca) including all the above information and request to book a test.
------------------------
Good Morning,
I would like to book my AME Technical Exams.
My application File Number is 855039.
Exam: M2 Standard PracticesPreferred Date: 10JAN2023
Preferred Time: 10:00 AMTest Location: Surrey, BC
------------------------
Once booked, within 3 business days Transport Canada must have received.

1. The $50.00 exam fee
2. Confirmation that you meet minimum experience requirement for your exam as per CAR’s 421.13
3. Approval to write from your Transport Canada Inspector – signed off Application Form or Approval Email/Letter

Or they will release your spot, you are liable to pay the examination fee, in my experience TC has handled everything else.
Furthermore, when writing a Technical Exam arrive minimum 15 minutes early. You can expect to be provided with a “Simple” Calculator, Blank Paper, Pencil, Eraser & Ruler although it is good practice to bring your own.
The Layout of the exams are detailed on the TC Site alongside the Examination Rules
Once you have completed all the M2 “Technical Examinations“ you will now need to complete the “AME License Application Form” and submit it along with your completed “AME License Application Supplement Technical Examinations Form“ to your Transport Canada Regional Office electronically to have it Approved by an Inspector so you can Book the “M2 Regulations Exam”
(Please Note you must have completed at a minimum 42 of 48 Total month of experience before you may write the M2 Regulations Exam)
In the same way as the Technical Examinations the Regulations Exam is booked through TC support staff, send your exam booking request to the regional department email in which you want to write. Include the following information:

1. File Number
2. Name of Exam
3. Preferred Location (Select most convenient Regional Service Center)
4. Preferred dates
5. Preferred Time

Furthermore, before obtaining your AME License you must submit a Minimum %70 Completed Logbook to be reviewed by a TC Inspector. This can be Submitted at any point once you have completed the Technical Exams to your nearest TC office.
To continue the Example, I want to write my “M2 Regulations exam” so I submit a request to [aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca](mailto:aviation.pac@tc.gc.ca) including all the same information as earlier with the technical exams.
------------------------
Good Morning,
I would like to book my AME M2 Regulations Exam.
My application File Number is 855039.
Exam: M2 Standard PracticesPreferred Date: 25JAN2024
Preferred Time: 10:00 AMTest Location: Surrey, BC
------------------------
At this point I would also send in my Logbook to the Surrey TC office for Auditing/Approval.
​
And then Tada, what a nice non-convoluted clear path towards an AME M2 License…
Congratulations.
​
​
Links Summary
· Licensing Process for AME
o https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/licensing-aircraft-maintenance-engineers-ame
· TC Office Locations
o https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/civil-aviation-contacts-offices#headquarters_and_regional
· Fee Payment Site
o https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Comm/5/OPS/
· Technical Exam Form
o https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Gen/5/forms-formulaires/searchrs.aspx?formnumber=26-0638
· Regulations Exam Form
o https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Gen/5/forms-formulaires/searchrs.aspx?formnumber=24-0083
· Exam Layouts
o https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/publications/study-reference-guide-aircraft-maintenance-engineer-technical-examinations-tp-14038/technical-examinations
· Exam Rules
o https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-96-433/FullText.html#s-400.02
· Logbook Requirements
o https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/licensing-aircraft-maintenance-engineers-ame/obtaining-aircraft-maintenance-engineer-ame-licence/aircraft-maintenance-experience-sample-tasks-maintenance-m1-m2-licence
· Mental Health Helpline
o https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
· AA Helpline
o https://www.aa.org/
· Divorce Helpline
o https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/divorce/app.html#:~:text=Canada%20has%20no%2Dfault%20divorce,for%20one%20year%20or%20more.
· Logbook Online Purchase
o https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/pspages/culhane13-18988.php
· CARS for the AME
o https://www.pilotshop.ca/cars-for-the-ame.html
· Test Guide
o https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/2229?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0tKiBhC6ARIsAAOXutnW0uljEuWFuahw41eKBJtxLnRDW0gyKF7t-Ueoz8keZA_IUkSpK5AaAmLREALw_wcB
· Electronic Test Prep
o https://apps.apple.com/us/app/prepware-aviation-maintenance/id338893931
· TC Study and Reference Guide
o https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/publications/study-reference-guide-aircraft-maintenance-engineer-technical-examinations-tp-14038/study-reference-guide-m-rating-technical-examinations

demanded Monday that social media app TikTok produce materials as part of an investigation into its effect on young users’ mental health.
“We know that social media is taking a devastating toll on young people’s mental health and well-being, and through our investigation we are getting a clearer sense of TikTok’s role,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. https://www.voanews.com/a/attorneys-general-in-45-us-states-demand-tiktok-hand-over-information/6992870.html
Making sense of the link between diet and mental health requires new ways of thinking about nutrition. It involves the integration of gastroenterology, microbiology, immunology, neurology and psychology. It took years of PubMed searches to clarify, combine and distill these disparate lines of research into a working, evidence-based model that explains not only how food influences mood, but more importantly, a host of increasingly prevalent health issues. https://healthydebate.ca/2023/03/topic/food-mental-health/
The social media giant's lawyers appeared before the court this morning to argue it was not responsible for the impact of the Cambridge Analytica scandal on its Australian users.
Australia's privacy watchdog is seeking to prosecute Facebook for providing allegedly unlawful access to the personal data of almost 90 milllion Facebook users worldwide — including some Australians — almost a decade ago.
In 2014, British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica helped develop software that went on to collect data from Facebook users without their knowledge or consent. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-07/high-court-dumps-facebooks-cambridge-analytica-challenge/102062516
According to the study’s results, the cheapest rates include buying direct traffic to a website, getting “likes” on Instagram or getting views on multimedia platforms. For example, 1000 “likes” on Instagram cost 1.3 euros, while 2 euros can get 1000 views on YouTube or 1000 plays on Spotify. Interestingly, several services are offered for free so customers can check their quality and thus be convinced to invest in different ones. This way, for less than 9 cents you can get 1000 views on TikTok, SoundCloud or Instagram/IGTV. Buying Instagram followers is more expensive: for 4.3 euros you can get 1000. And then there are other more expensive services because they involve some personalisation, such as reviews on Google or TripAdvisor, which range at around 1 euro per text.
As Narseo Vallina-Rodríguez, associate research lecturer at IMDEA Networks and another of the work’s authors, says, “potential consumers of this type of service can be anyone depending on the type of review: from influencers who want to promote their channels on social media to brands trying to promote the visibility of their products”. https://www.uc3m.es/ss/Satellite/UC3MInstitucional/en/Detalle/Comunicacion_C/1371353770494/1371215537949/A_study_analyses_fake_interaction_services_on_social_media
With more than 4.6 billion users worldwide, social media poses a promising opportunity to listen to patients’ voices directly and in real-time. While pharmaceutical companies have typically relied on gathering patient feedback in controlled settings, social media allows the capture of unfiltered, first-hand data about the patient experience in large volumes. https://www.labiotech.eu/opinion/pharma-social-media-drug-development/
today announced that it has joined LOT Network, the international, non-profit community of companies working together to protect themselves against litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs, also known as “patent trolls”). MyMD’s joining the LOT (License on Transfer) Network’s community of 2,800+ companies is intended to enable MyMD to protect the interests of the Company against patent assertion entities. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230308005213/en
Humans still have adaptations from prehistoric times that affect how we respond to food stimuli in modern times.
Johnson believes that initially this process was “reversible and meant to be beneficial,” but chronic and persistent fructose consumption “leads to progressive brain atrophy and neuron loss with all of the features of AD https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/sugar-in-processed-foods-and-drinks-linked-to-dementia-experts-explain-possible-reasons_5098104.html
and his team, investigated how plants are able to acquire long-lasting immunity against these stressors.
The findings, published in Nature Plants, explain a mechanism of how plants ‘remember’ the stress from a previous attack, and that this long-term memory is encoded in a family of 'junk DNA’ that can prime defence genes for several weeks against further attacks.
Dr Ton, a Professor of Plant Environmental Signalling from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences and senior author of the study said the findings offer new opportunities to control plant immunity for sustainable crop protection, and reduce our reliance on damaging pesticides for food production. https://www.newswise.com/articles/stress-memory-in-plants-could-hold-key-to-growing-disease-resistant-crops
The NIH is currently in a bitter patent dispute with Moderna after the company purposefully excluded three NIAID researchers from the principal patent for the vaccine.
Bancel's comments are sure to rile critics. And they come just two weeks ahead of a Congressional hearing by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on the proposed price hike for the vaccine. The hearing, scheduled for March 22, is titled "Taxpayers Paid Billions For It: So Why Would Moderna Consider Quadrupling the Price of the COVID Vaccine?" Bancel has agreed to testify. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/moderna-ceo-says-private-investors-funded-covid-vaccine-not-billions-from-govt/
Results also showed the PFAS were capable of migrating from the fluorinated containers into food, resulting in a direct route of significant exposure to the hazardous chemicals, which have been linked to several health issues including prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, low birth weight, immunotoxicity and thyroid disease.
"Not only did we measure significant concentrations of PFAS in these containers, we can estimate the PFAS that were leaching off creating a direct path of exposure," said Graham Peaslee, professor of physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Notre Dame and an author of the study.
It's important to note that these types of containers are not intended for food storage, but there is nothing preventing them from being used for food storage at the moment. Although not all HDPE plastic is fluorinated, the researchers noted, it's often impossible for a consumer to know whether a container has had that treatment. And indeed, Peaslee added, if substances like pesticides are stored in these containers, and then are used on agricultural crops, these same PFAS will get into human food sources that way. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230307114431.htm
Walgreens won’t sell abortion pills in some states where they’re legal
Since the announcement, there have been widespread calls from activists and critics to boycott Walgreens and its roughly 9,000 retail stores across the United States. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said on Monday that the state will not do business with Walgreens or any company that “cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/07/walgreens-abortion-pills-birth-control-history/
consumption changes, and restrictions on numerous aspects, most civilians complied. All civilians’ contributions to the war effort: men and women, old and young, played a massive role in the nation winning the war https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/4-ways-civilians-contributed-to-the-war-effort-during-world-war-ii/
Black Holes Will Eventually Destroy All Quantum States, Researchers Argue
By Thomas Lewton
March 7, 2023
New calculations suggest that the event horizons around black holes will ‘decohere’ quantum possibilities — even those that are far away. https://www.quantamagazine.org/black-holes-will-destroy-all-quantum-states-researchers-argue-20230307/
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In an article for MIT Technology Review, Lisa-Maria Neudert, doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute and a researcher with the Computational Propaganda Project, suggests that the increasing sophistication of bot accounts – automated, AI-powered feeds masquerading as real people – means that worse is still to come.
It’s a straightforward process for nation states and political campaigns to build an army of bot accounts that will amplify certain viewpoints online.
And it’s not just about repetitively posting fake news or extremist opinions. It can be more subtle than that: sharing and Liking content from genuine accounts, adding to the pool of interactions, thereby gaming the algorithms and fanning the flames of controversy. https://internetofbusiness.com/propaganda-bots-social-media-manipulation/
The researchers said they reviewed surface-level plastic pollution data from 1979 to 2019, which covered 11,777 ocean stations in six major marine regions.
“We’ve found an alarming trend of exponential growth in microplastics in the global ocean since the millennium,” said Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Group.
Waterborne plastics often fragment into smaller pieces called microplastics through photo-degradation, mechanical degradation, and thermal degradation. https://www.theepochtimes.com/plastic-entering-oceans-could-nearly-triple-by-2040-if-left-unchecked_5107671.html
The strength of a relationship is measured less by two partners’ ability to avoid arguments and more by how you emerge as a couple after a conflict. Think of it like a controlled fire — the short-term damage allows for a healthier long-term ecosystem.
Here are three things to do to reconnect and recover after an argument with your partner. https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2023/03/08/a-psychologist-discusses-3-ways-to-fall-back-in-love-after-a-fight/?sh=26cc4c62543c
After analyzing the samples, Kaufman, Faison and the rest of the Bakken team deciphered clear layers of sediment representing three key biotic crises known as the Annulata, Dasberg and Hangenberg events, with the last crisis associated with one of the greatest mass extinctions in Earth history.
"We could see anoxic events distinctly marked by black shale and other geochemical deposits, which are likely linked to a series of rapid rises in sea level," Kaufman explained. "We suspect that sea levels may have risen during the pulsed events due to the melting ice sheets around the South Pole at this time." https://phys.org/news/2023-03-major-north-american-oil-source.html
What do you do if a South American weed is choking up your local Australian waterways? In the case of the cabomba plant, scientists are enlisting the help of the weed's natural South American enemy, the tiny cabomba weevil.
Cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana) originally came to Australia in 1967 as an aquarium plant, and has since spread throughout lakes and rivers along the country's east coast. https://newatlas.com/environment/australia-cabomba-weevil/
Simply exchanging a common insulinogenic bread for a low-insulin-stimulating bread demonstrates potential to induce weight loss in overweight persons, especially those at older age https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/5/1301
Not all wildfire smoke reaches the stratosphere, says David Peterson, a meteorologist at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California. But when an intense fire combines with moist air overhead, fire-driven thunderstorms form chimney-like clouds that pump the smoke high into the atmosphere. Understanding what causes some tall storm clouds to inject smoke all the way into the stratosphere will be crucial to figuring out how much of an impact fires will have on ozone recovery, he says. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00687-w
NASA and the Italian space agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) are partnering to build and launch the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) mission, an effort to investigate the health impacts of tiny airborne particles polluting some of the world’s most populous cities. MAIA marks the first NASA mission whose primary goal is to benefit societal health, as well as the first time epidemiologists and public health researchers have been directly involved in development of a satellite mission. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-and-italian-space-agency-join-forces-on-air-pollution-mission
Medieval Medicine Is Back: Maggot Therapy And Surgical Leeches On The RiseAn ancient set of medical practices have seen a renaissance in modern times. https://www.iflscience.com/medieval-medicine-is-back-maggot-therapy-and-surgical-leeches-on-the-rise-67879
While large platforms such as Facebook and Twitter could benefit from lock in, meaning having users who are dependent on or at least heavily invested in them, it’s not clear how many users will pay for these features. This is an area where the platforms’ profit motive is in conflict with the overall goal of the platform, which is to have a large enough community that people will continue using the platform because all of their social or business connections are there.
Economics of information security
Charging for identity protection raises the question of how much each person values privacy or security online. https://theconversation.com/should-you-pay-for-metas-and-twitters-verified-identity-subscriptions-a-social-media-researcher-explains-how-the-choice-you-face-affects-everyone-else-200692
Bluntly put, "current law allows plastics producers and shippers to discharge trillions of small pre-production plastic pellets directly into waters with little to no repercussions."
While there are no repercussions for the polluters, the same likely will not be the case for the people who eat the plastic-filled seafood https://www.salon.com/2023/03/08/microplastics-ocean-fish-seafood/
Code red today, Reddit doesn't like a website in this comment just watch your step..
However, according to one report, in California some distilleries and warehouses that age brandy have installed a system that collects the alcohol vapor and burns it off. Presumably this mitigation strategy would be extremely expensive to install, but it might be one solution that could bring the whiskey fungus war to a peaceful end. https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/biology-fields/whiskey-fungus.htm
Russian President Vladimir Putin has found support in an unlikely place: the U.S.
Specifically, Christian nationalists, a subsection of America's religious right, have flocked to the country's autocratic leader, according to new research from a team of social scientists, including Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, an assistant professor of religion and anthropology at Northeastern University. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-christian-nationalists-enamored-putin-oppose.html
Both conservative and liberal Americans share fake news because they don't want to be ostracized from their social circles, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
"Conformity and social pressure are key motivators of the spread of fake news," said lead researcher Matthew Asher Lawson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of decision sciences at INSEAD, https://phys.org/news/2023-03-americans-fake-news-social-circles.html
Scientists use optical tweezers to play world's smallest game of catch with individual atoms
By Ben Turner
published 34 minutes ago
Scientists who have thrown a single atom from one pair of optical tweezers to another say that the feat could be used to build better quantum computers https://www.livescience.com/scientists-use-optical-tweezers-to-play-worlds-smallest-game-of-catch-with-individual-atoms
Patients who think they may have been affected by the 2023 breach can enroll in an Experian credit monitoring service provided by CHSPSC at no cost for 24 months, as required by state law.
For individuals who would like to enroll in these services or who have questions related to this incident, CHSPSC can be reached toll-free at .......... The deadline to enroll is June 30, 2023.
Community Health Services currently operates nine hospitals in Mississippi. https://www.govtech.com/security/mississippi-health-care-system-reports-data-breach
"We conclude by emphasizing that the discovery and spectroscopic analysis of a quiescent galaxy at redshift z=7.3 by our JADES collaboration ushers the era in which we can constrain theoretical feedback models using direct observations of the primordial universe. However, this is just the starting point for the JWST mission: upcoming and future observations will start the transition from the 'discovery' phase to the statistical characterization of the properties of the first quiescent galaxies," the researchers explained. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-quiescent-galaxy-jwst.html
scientists has identified and analyzed the steps by which immune cells “see” and respond to cancer cells. Their findings may lead to more personalized immunotherapies for patients whose immune systems do not appear to respond to treatment. https://www.genengnews.com/topics/cancenovel-insights-on-how-immune-cells-respond-to-cancer-cells-uncovered/
For folks who are adjusting their clocks, the body isn’t going to like getting up a whole hour earlier, so it’s best if you and your kids start adapting by going to bed and waking up 15 to 20 minutes earlier each day for four or more days before the change, experts say. https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/03/09/daylight-saving-time-is-this-sunday-is-it-too-late-to-start-adjusting/
has turned fruit and plastic waste to create ultra-thin material for solar-powered water purification.
The material made from recycled fruit waste has exceptional light-to-heat conversion efficiency and can be used in equipment to purify dirty water. The scientist mainly used fruit waste like coconut husks and orange and banana peels to make Mxenes.
Mxenes are electrical-conducting compound that has similar properties to graphene https://www.techexplorist.com/turning-fruit-plastic-wastes-material-used-water-purifie57463/
“Parents today are regularly subject to messages about the dangers that might befall unsupervised children and the value of high achievement in school. But they hear little of the countervailing messages that if children are to grow up well-adjusted, they need ever-increasing opportunities for independent activity, including self-directed play and meaningful contributions to family and community life, which are signs that they are trusted, responsible, and capable. They need to feel they can deal effectively with the real world, not just the world of school,” said David F. Bjorklund, Ph.D., co-author and a professor in the Department of Psychology https://www.newswise.com/articles/all-work-no-independent-play-cause-of-children-s-declining-mental-health
has found a way to help reinforcement learning algorithms learn much faster by combining them with a language model that can read instruction manuals. Their approach, outlined in a pre-print published on arXiv, taught an AI to play a challenging Atari video game thousands of times faster than a state-of-the-art model developed by DeepMind. https://singularityhub.com/2023/03/10/an-ai-learned-to-play-atari-6000-times-faster-by-reading-the-instructions/
MIT professor to Congress: “We are at an inflection point” with AI
Aleksander Mądry urges lawmakers to ask rigorous questions about how AI tools are being used by corporations.
MIT Washington Office https://news.mit.edu/2023/mit-congress-inflection-point-ai-0310
While a layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere helps block harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching Earth, at ground level it is a major component of the smog polluting most big cities. FILE PHOTO
PARIS, France - Ozone air pollution is linked to a higher rate of hospitalizations for heart diseases, according to a large study released Friday, the latest warning of the health dangers posed by greenhouse gases. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/863497/ozone-pollution-linked-to-increased-heart-disease-study/story/
; there is also some evidence to suggest that they may play a protective role during embryonic development. Overall, though, they remain largely mysterious relics of our genetic history.
A new study, from an international team led by researchers at Kobe University in Japan, has uncovered a possible role for ERVs in the development of autism. https://www.iflscience.com/ancient-viruses-could-be-drivers-of-autism-new-research-suggests-67924
Being able to take a quick walk to a nearby food retail store may be a significant factor in long-term weight loss after bariatric surgery, new research suggests.
That said, researchers found that simply living close to a food store isn’t an automatic key to sustained weight-loss – especially a market that carries mostly highly processed convenience foods.
Overall, the analysis of data from hundreds of bariatric surgery patients in central Ohio showed an association between close proximity to food stores and better weight loss two years after the surgery. https://news.osu.edu/nearby-food-stores-affect-results-after-weight-loss-surgery/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy23&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit
The research team also tracked the growth of common crops including wheat, mung beans and broccoli in two separate demonstrations. One had a transparent glass roof with segments of inorganic solar cells, and the other had a roof made entirely from semi-transparent organic solar cells. The crops in the greenhouse with the organic solar roof grew more than the crops in a regular greenhouse. The scientists believe this is because the L-glutathione layer blocked ultraviolet rays, which can inhibit plant growth, and infrared rays, which can cause greenhouses to overheat and plants inside to require more water.
“We didn’t expect the organic solar cells to outperform a conventional glass-roof greenhouse,” said Yepin Zhao, the lead author of the research and a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Yang’s lab. “But we repeated the experiments multiple times with the same results and after further research and analysis, we discovered that plants don’t need as much sunlight to grow as we’d originally thought. In fact, too much sun exposure can do more harm than good, especially in climates such as California’s, where sunlight is more abundant.” https://samueli.ucla.edu/ucla-engineers-design-solar-roofs-to-harvest-energy-for-greenhouses/
Comparison of Weight Reduction, Change in Parameters and Safety of a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet in Comparison to a Low Carbohydrate Diet in Obese Japanese Subjects with Metabolic Disorders https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/6/1342
A research team from Monell Chemical Senses Center recently showed that the smell test SCENTinel 1.1 can successfully discriminate between different types of smell disorders. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230309/Smell-test-SCENTinel-11-accurately-discriminates-between-different-types-of-smell-disorders.aspx
Lotus (Nelumbo) is an important aquatic ornamental plant, with high edible and medicinal value. It has been cultivated in China for more than 3,000 years. Antique Lotus is a special group of lotuses. It is formed by the germination of ancient lotus seeds buried underground for hundreds or even thousands of years. With its unique historical and cultural significance, Antique Lotus is favored by people all over the world, but little research has been done on its economic value. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-chinese-antique-lotus-ornamental.html
E-cigarettes may also cause harm but could still be recommended for the right people and the right reasons. E-cigarettes are being used to help people stop tobacco smoking. When we compare the chances of getting smoking-related diseases like COPD and cancer in people who smoke tobacco cigarettes compared with e-cigarettes, the rates are lower.
Using e-cigarettes to quit smoking seems like the right first step. Yet, as we don't know what problems might be caused by using e-cigarettes for long periods, this should not be the last step on the journey for smokers. Quitting nicotine altogether should be the end goal to ensure long-term health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-lung-inflammation-worse-e-cigarette-users.html
They found this nascent solar system isn't simply flush with water; crucially, this distant water has the same distinct chemical markers as water in our solar system. It's billions of years old.
"This means that the water in our Solar System was formed long before the Sun, planets, and comets formed," Merel van ‘t Hoff, an astronomer at the University of Michigan who coauthored the new research https://mashable.com/article/solar-system-water-earth-space
Doctors Around the World Say It’s Time to Stop the Shots https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/doctors-around-the-world-say-its-time-to-stop-the-shots_5103024.html
US agencies debunk Florida surgeon general’s vaccine claims https://apnews.com/article/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-study-b3be9c2f22974176ae15d38025882335
A giant seaweed bloom that can be seen from space threatens beaches in Florida and Mexico https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/sargassum-seaweed-threatens-beaches-florida-mexico-rcna73862
Alaska... Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down. https://apnews.com/article/alaska-volcano-ash-lava-earthquakes-be09841200afd3ed605d64fa440f477a
This isn't the first time Walgreens has faced a boycott. A movement started brewing in the summer of 2022 after reports surfaced that people were denied being sold contraceptives. https://www.salon.com/2023/03/10/a-nationwide-boycott-against-walgreens-is-brewing-heres-why/
"The Bell Curve." In short, the effect suggests that the human race grows smarter with each successive generation—the average intelligence quotient (IQ) increases. Prior research has bolstered this theory, finding that people from successive generations have scored ever higher on IQ tests—increasing by 3 to 5 points over the years 1932 to 2000.
But more recently, it appears things have changed. Over the past several years, multiple studies have shown that IQ scores are dropping in many European countries. And now, that appears to be the case with the U.S. as well. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-online-iq-scores-century.html
For patients with primary care visits, shorter visit length is associated with potentially inappropriate prescribing decisions, according to a study published online March 10 in JAMA Health Forum. https://consumer.healthday.com/shorter-primary-care-visit-length-linked-to-inappropriate-prescribing-2659564345.html
Prenatal exposure to an anti-nausea drug commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s has been shown to increase risk of colorectal cancer in adult offspring, according to a study by researchers at UTHealth Houston. https://www.newswise.com/articles/prenatal-exposure-to-anti-nausea-drug-in-60s-70s-tied-to-increased-risk-of-colorectal-cancer
Facebook owner Meta is working on a new "text sharing" social media platform, it said Friday, in a project seen as a potential rival to embattled Twitter.
Since billionaire Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in October, the influential website has suffered outages, layoffs and seen advertisers flee the platform over the lack of content moderation. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/technology/863508/meta-working-on-potential-twitter-rival/story/
Tourette’s bracelet reduces tics by more than a quarter ... The Neupulse, which emanates electrical pulses, could make a radical difference to the lives of sufferers https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2023/03/12/tourettes-bracelet-developed-british-scientists-reduces-tics/
All exercise is beneficial but for cell health, train longer... Endurance exercise improves metabolic health and prevents many age-related chronic diseases, but researchers have not been clear on why. ###
A new study suggests that the explanation may lie in specific cellular changes that give a 50-year-old a similar ageing profile to a 25-year-old. Longevity expert Professor Luigi Fontana was working at Washington University in St. Louis at the time, studying the effect of calorie restriction on cell senescence, which is the process where cells stop dividing but do not die. Instead, senescent cells secrete pro-cancer and pro-inflammatory proteins. As we age, we accumulate more of these cells, a process which is hastened by smoking, exposure to pollution, UV damage, alcohol, excessive calorie intake, and decreased physical activity.
https://www.watoday.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/all-exercise-is-beneficial-but-for-cell-health-train-longer-20230309-p5cqp6.html
the trick to measuring time in the quantum fog may come down to measuring the shape of the fog itself.
A group of researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden ran several experiments to test the theory. The main focus was to experiment on what scientists call the Rydberg State. By experimenting on it, they were able to find a novel new way to measure time that does not require you to have a very precise starting point – one of the biggest conundrums facing scientists before. https://bgr.com/science/scientists-discovered-a-totally-new-way-to-measure-time/
"You'd have to send somebody out to walk through that forest to do a manual count, or you send a drone overhead with an operator," he said.
"They will miss quite a few.
"What we've been able to do is design a system that is far more accurate and doesn't rely on human judgement."
He said his camera can more accurately pick out where the koalas are because it could "break the different types of camouflage" created by the dense branches and leaves.
"It can find animals hiding in forests, it can find all sorts of things that are camouflaged to regular camera views because it's able to look for, and enhance, the very subtle differences across different wavelengths of light."
Dr Malcolm Davis says we need robots to be able to understand their environment and make their own decisions. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-13/flinders-university-scientists-use-insect-biology-to-build-robot/102080380
"We've had very little sunshine, so the growth of grass is actually quite minimal this year compared to other seasons," she said.
"Normally in a regular wet season where we get rain, sun, rain, sun, the introduced species of grasses dominate.
"So it's going to be very interesting to see what the feeding of those native grasses brings in terms of your seed-eating birds and animals." Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-03-13/biggest-wet-season-ever-transforms-cape-york-wildlife-sanctuary/102073942
and found that the water test used by the EPA is so limited in its scope — it only detects 30 types of PFAS compounds — that it likely misses high levels of PFAS pollutants. "There are so many PFAS that we don't know anything about, and if we don't know anything about them, how do we know they aren't hurting us?" Kyla Bennett, policy director at the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told The Guardian. "Why are we messing around?"
What are state officials doing? https://theweek.com/feature/briefing/1014970/briefing-on-pfas-aka-forever-chemicals
“The REINS Act would prevent agency rule-making from protecting the American public from corporate greed,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Texas) said, calling the bill “a move to strangle the federal government. In short, what the REIN Act does is put profit over people.”
It would replace a professional process with a political one and “harm the economy, safety, health and the environment,” said George Washington University Law School Professor Emily Hammond.
“Right now, America needs more protections, not less,” she said. “We see in East Palestine what an anti-regulatory environment will do—more people don’t make it home after work.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/house-republicans-deregulation-drive-could-be-derailed-by-spate-of-train-wrecks_5117456.html
“The government has not obtained any privileged communications between defendant Rehl and Moseley,” the government wrote in response to Roots’s contentions in a filing on Sunday. “As the government explained in a separate filing … Rehl and Moseley made a fully informed choice to communicate with one another over a monitored jail email system. In doing so, they waived any privilege.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/jan-6-attorney-alleges-fbi-criminally-altered-evidence-requests-special-master-review-of-leaked-messages_5117377.html
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a fast-acting nasal spray from Pfizer designed to treat migraines, the US pharmaceutical giant said Friday.
​Pfizer said it expected the drug, marketed under the name Zavzpret, to be available in pharmacies in July 2023. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-fda-just-approved-the-first-fast-acting-nasal-spray-for-migraines
He says because of their thick armour, thorny devils remain remarkably intact after being killed by a vehicle.
Dr Brennan has asked travellers to collect only deceased specimens, put them in a container or ziplock bag, and store them in an esky or fridge. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-13/thorny-devils-research-older-than-australian-deserts/102082904
Biden Administration Approves Huge Oil and Gas Project in AlaskaThe administration on Monday gave the green light for the Conoco Phillips-owned Willow Project.
Native groups living near the project have also been vocal about the impact Willow would have on their way of life and local ecosystems. A letter from local Native leaders, addressed to the Interior Department earlier this month, read: “Oil development paid for our utilities, our schools, and so many other advancements we have benefitted from. But providing these services is the responsibility of our governments, not private corporations. And we have a right to these services whether we agree to hosting an industrial wasteland in our backyard or not.” https://gizmodo.com/biden-approves-willow-project-oil-gas-drilling-alaska-1850219143
Climate models used by the UN's IPCC and others to project climate change are not accurately reflecting what the Arctic's future will be. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg argue that the rate of warming will be much faster than projected. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230313101127.htm
These early galaxies have thus far been impossible to observe due to the fact they are extremely faint and are located at great distances away. Astronomers have, however, seen closer dwarf galaxies in the process of merging but there has been no sign of black holes in those galaxies until now. https://www.space.com/black-holes-two-pairs-collision-courses-chandra
Support for new age beliefs – such as starseeds – is on the rise. It comes from a distrust of science and doubts about conventional perceptions of reality. Particularly, cynicism about modern society and an attempt to find meaning in life.
Fantasy v fiction
Certain personality characteristics may also incline some people to believe in the notion of starseeds. https://theconversation.com/starseeds-psychologists-on-why-some-people-think-theyre-aliens-living-on-earth-197291
Microorganisms live in or on almost every part of the human body and play an important role in the regulation of normal human processes. As a result, changes in the number or type of microorganisms, also known as the microbiome, can contribute to disease and altered responses to therapy, including cancer treatment. https://www.newswise.com/articles/gut-microbiome-influences-how-lymphoma-patients-respond-to-car-t-therapy
Nearly one-third of older people fall each year, most of them in their own homes. But it's possible to reduce those numbers by a quarter, according to a new study.
Five steps can cut the risk of falls by 26%, the researchers reported in the March 10 issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Those steps are: decluttering; reducing tripping hazards; improving lighting; and adding hand rails and non-slip strips to stairs. https://consumer.healthday.com/back-injury-from-fall-2659560930.html
The new year brought California a series of atmospheric rivers that poured record amounts of water onto drought-stricken lands. While the precipitation refreshed snowpacks and reservoirs, much of it washed away as soils oversaturated. Those flows carried sediment with them, creating swirls of brown and green along the coastline. https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2023/03/sedimentation-after-flooding/?doing_wp_cron=1678722680.6834039688110351562500
converted mineral shells of algae into lead halide perovskites with tunable physical properties. The new perovskites have unique nano-architectures unachievable by conventional synthetic production. The method can be applied to the mass production of perovskites with tunable structural and electro-optical properties from single-celled organisms. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-scientists-algae-unique-functional-perovskites.html
Limiting Acetaminophen Dose in Combo Medications Beneficial
Limiting acetaminophen in prescription acetaminophen and opioid products linked to reduction in rate of hospitalization, proportion of acute liver failure cases https://consumer.healthday.com/limiting-acetaminophen-dose-in-combo-medications-beneficial-2659585017.html
Many native animals that disperse plant seeds on the island of Mauritius have gone extinct during the past centuries. This includes iconic species such as the dodo and giant tortoises, now replaced by non-native fruit-eating animal species that have been introduced to Mauritius. However, the newly introduced species are not able to replace the extinct seed dispersers, https://phys.org/news/2023-03-mauritius-lost-seed-dispersers.html
Lead study author Dr Elizabeth Dunford, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, said: 'Our research clearly shows that the proportion of ultra-processed foods with additives in Americans’ shopping carts increased significantly between 2001 and 2019.
'These findings give us reason for concern, given the growing evidence linking high consumption of processed foods with adverse health outcomes.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11858251/Americas-junk-food-crisis-Record-60-foods-contain-additives-pizza-soda-worst.html
The choice of delegates who attended the two sessions demonstrate the importance of these technologies, say researchers. The heads of e-commerce company Alibaba and technology platform Tencent have attended previous meetings. But this year saw the appearance of leaders of the AI software company SenseTime, the semiconductor manufacturer Hua Hong Semiconductor and many representatives of chip design, automobile and battery companies. This reflects a “clear change of the focus of the country’s innovation policy”, says Zhang.
Downside of self-reliance
China’s emphasis on home-grown technology raises questions about its openness to collaboration, says researchers. Some are concerned that no country can achieve self-reliance in the current global economy https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00744-4

Please, feel free to add any events below! Check out the Visitor's Guide for more things to do around town!
Looking to meet up with people? Check out Meetup St. Louis.
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Be sure to continue scrolling past the Weekly Events for Trivia Nights, Live Music, Sporting Events, Local Comedy, and more!
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Weekly Events

• African Film Festival (17th Annual)
  • March 24 - 26, 2023
  • The 17th annual African Film Festival invites St. Louisans to see Africa’s most acclaimed films on the big screen. This year’s showcase includes six films and a youth matinee. Animation, courtroom drama, thriller and a romantic drama anchor this year's festival.
• American Cup (Chess)
  • March 17 - 26, 2023
  • The Saint Louis Chess Club is proud to present the American Cup, featuring a rare and exciting double-elimination format. The tournament will bring world-class chess masters to America’s chess capital to compete in a fierce struggle for $300,000 in prize money.
• B.A.R.K. Ranger Photo Contest at The Arch
  • Running until April 21, 2023
  • To enter, come down to the Arch grounds and snap a photo of your dog in front of the Gateway Arch or the Old Courthouse. Photo submissions may be sent to [photocontest@archpark.org](mailto:photocontest@archpark.org) until Friday, April 21, and voting will take place on our Facebook page after submissions close.
  • The winner will then get to lead a dog walk through the park as part of the park’s B.A.R.K. Ranger Day during National Park Week.
• Bellefontaine in Bloom
  • Spring 2023
  • Join others for a brisk spring walk through Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum! In the months of March, April, and May, Bellefontaine offers a two-hour walking tour of the cemetery and arboretum. This 2-hour walk will be led by one of their Master Guides who will convey highlights of the cemetery grounds, horticulture, and a variety of intriguing figures who call Bellefontaine their last address. Particular attention will be paid to the Horticulture side of the cemetery while in different levels of bloom during these spring tours.
• Family Night with Fredbird
  • Wednesdays
  • Join others at Cardinals Nation Restaurant & Bar for Family Night with Fredbird on select Wednesday evenings this off-season! Bring your family down for games, prizes, and meet Fredbird from 6:30-7:30pm.
• Ferguson Farmers’ Market
  • Every Saturday
  • Enjoy live music and special events in a festive family atmosphere, and discover a wide variety of edible delights, including homemade jelly, farm fresh eggs, honey, spices, and meats. You’ll also find an ever-changing array of gift and specialty vendors, selling everything from cut flowers and bedding plants to hand-painted artwork and small-batch soaps.
  • If it’s homemade, handmade or fresh and tasty, you can buy it at the Ferguson Farmers’ Market.
• Hermann Wurstfest
  • March 25 - 26, 2023
  • “The Wurstfest in the Midwest – a Celebration of All Things Sausage!” Professional meat processors attend from all over Missouri, with samples and products for sale. Professional and amateur sausage-making competition, Kraut making class, Volksmarch, German dancing and music.
• Karaoke Wednesdays at HandleBar
  • Every Wednesday
  • Browse the catalog and find your favorite songs to sing! Songbookslive.com/stlredcarpet
• Karaoke Wednesdays at Mack's Bar & Grill
  • Every Wednesday
• Landmarks Downtown Walking Tours
  • Every Saturday
  • Landmarks Downtown St. Louis Walking Tours: History, Culture, Architecture, and Exercise: What could be better on a Saturday morning?
• Monday Night Raw at Enterprise Center
  • March 20, 2023
  • WWE Monday Night Raw comes to Enterprise Center.
• Open Mic Night at Schlafly Bottleworks (Maplewood)
  • Every Wednesday
  • Join others every Wednesday evening and showcase your talents with our Open Mic Night! Open sign up begins at 6:30PM with music starting at 7:00PM. They welcome original material, covers and spoken word! Grab a beer, then play and listen every Wednesday! There are no cover charges and no drink minimums to attend.
• Schlafly Stout & Oyster Festival
  • March 24 - 25, 2023
  • Beer, shuckers and more than 80,000 oysters converge on St. Louis for the Schlafly Stout & Oyster Festival.
  • It’s the largest festival of its kind in the Midwest – and one that you shouldn’t miss! Head to the Schlafly Tap Room on March 24 and 25, when 20 professional shuckers promise to put on a show. There will be more than 10 stouts on tap to pair with your oysters and live music in the background.
• Soulard Farmer's Market
  • Wednesdays - Saturdays
  • Soulard Farmers Market is located at 730 Carroll Street in St. Louis, Missouri, a half mile north of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. The market is open Wednesday through Saturday, year round. They feature locally grown and shipped in goods, including: produce, meats, cheeses, spices, gourmet kettle corn, flowers, baked goods, and general merchandise. There are also several different eateries that have many food options, which allows customers the convenience to grab a quick bite to eat and a drink while shopping.
• Sqwires Fish Fry Friday
  • Fridays (until April 7th)
  • Fried Cod, Baked Cod, Fried Shrimp, Whipped Potatoes, Sauteed Green Beans, Creamy Slaw, Dinner Roll, Clam Chowder, Pie & Cookies
• Taco & Margarita Festival at Chaifetz Arena
  • March 25, 2023
  • The Taco & Margarita Festival will also feature a taco-eating contest, a hot chile pepper-eating contest, live professional wrestling, local shopping and more.
• Thursday Nights at the Museum
  • Every Thursday
  • Kick off your weekend at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park! Each Thursday Night at the Museum will be the most fun, engaging, uplifting, thought-provoking, perspective-shaping night of your week. And there are drinks.
  • Join us starting at 5:30pm for happy hour and pop-up activities, such as brief tours, games, and performances. The main stage comes to life at 6:30pm, light appetizers and drinks are available for purchase until 7:00pm, and the Museum’s exhibits are open until 8:00pm for you to explore!
• Tootsie at The Fabulous Fox Theatre
  • March 21 - April 2, 2023
  • This laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime.

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Sporting Events This Week	Attractions Around the Area	Comedy This Week
St. Louis Cardinals schedule	Anheuser-Busch Brewery	Funny Bone Comedy Club
St. Louis Blues schedule	City Museum	Helium Comedy Club
St. Louis City SC schedule	Gateway Arch	The Improv Shop
St. Louis Battlehawks schedule	Missouri History Museum
St. Louis Billikens schedule	National Blues Museum
Gateway Grizzlies schedule	St. Louis Aquarium
Gateway Motorsports Park	St. Louis Art Museum
St. Louis Ambush schedule	St. Louis Science Center
	St. Louis Zoo

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Trivia Nights
Location	Date/Time	More Information
Bar K	Tuesdays at 7:00 pm
City Foundry	Thursdays 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Joey B's on the Hill	Mondays 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm	Trivia Details
Nick's Pub	Mondays
Felix's Pizza Pub	Tuesdays at 8:00 pm	Trivia Details
Schlafly Brewpubs (Any Location)	Tuesdays 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Trivia Details
Rockwell Beer Co	Tuesdays	Trivia Details (Reservations required)
The Mack	Tuesdays at 8:00 pm	Trivia Details
The Pat Connolly Tavern	Wednesdays at 7:00 pm
The Post	Wednesdays 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm	Trivia Details
Pieces Board Game Bar & Cafe	Wednesdays	Trivia Details
HandleBar	Thursdays at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Trivia Details
Steve's Hot Dogs	Tuesdays 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Trivia Details

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Live Music This Week
Music Venues	Live Music Around Town
Blueberry Hill Duck Room	1860 Saloon
Chesterfield Amphitheater	BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups
Delmar Hall	Broadway Oyster Bar
Enterprise Center	City Foundry
The Fabulous Fox Theatre	Gallery Pub
The Factory	Game 6 Honky Tonk
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre	Gaslight Lounge
Off Broadway	The Heavy Anchor
Old Rock House	Jazz St. Louis
The Pageant	Joe's Cafe
Red Flag	The Lot on the Landing
St. Louis Music Park	McGurk's
St. Louis Symphony Concert Calendar	SoFar St. Louis Secret performances around town
Stifel Theatre	Venice Cafe
	Yaquis on Cherokee

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Recurring Outdoor Activities
Big Muddy Adventures – STL Riverfront Adventure	Big Muddy Adventures was established in 2002. They are the first professional outfitteguiding company providing access to the wild wonders of the Middle Mississippi and Lower Missouri Rivers.
Gateway Arch Events	There are a variety of things to do along the Mississippi River.
Hidden Valley Ski Resort	Ziplining, scenic chairlift rides, and hiking trails opened during the summer. Skiing, snowboarding during the winter.

Posts in this series (note: link will not work properly in old Reddit or 3rd-party apps): https://www.reddit.com/lds/collection/363e4ce4-8cec-40ad-8ea9-5954cf1fe52d
I have deep respect for all of the Book of Mormon witnesses. The things they went through because of their testimonies are, in parts, both devastating and galvanizing. Putting their names onto those documents truly became a trial by fire. And, as is usually the case with lifelong trials, sometimes they rose to the occasion and sometimes they didn’t. That makes them relatable and human, but it also makes them inspiring examples that we can follow in our own difficult situations.
Over the past two years, I’ve learned something about standing by your testimony in the face of vicious opposition. Since I first started my CES Letter series, and especially since I put my real name and face to it, I’ve had people attack my intelligence, my character, my writing ability, and my appearance. I’ve had people call my testimony, sincerity, and integrity into question. I recently compiled a list of more than 60 personal insults directed at me on a fairly large LDS-related subreddit that still stand today, despite direct appeals to moderators that I consider friendly acquaintances. I’ve had Jeremy Runnells and John Dehlin sic their followers on me in attempts to flood my social media accounts with abuse. I’ve had people attempt to dox me and publish my private information. I’ve had people call me the vilest names you can think of. I’ve even had someone spit on me because I was willing to stand up for my testimony.
And my experiences are nothing compared to what the Witnesses had to endure for their testimonies.
We’re going to spend the next few weeks talking about those Witnesses and their experiences. The Letter For My Wife spends the next six pages on this topic, and though I haven’t read them in detail yet, I did skim over them in preparation for this post. From what I saw when I did, we’re in for quite a ride.
Faulk begins:

Losing confidence in the truthfulness of Joseph’s claims made me think of the witnesses to the plates and how their testimonies lend credibility to the entire narrative; however, research turns up issues of their own.

The Witnesses do lend credibility to Joseph’s account, that’s true. That isn’t their only purpose, but it’s a big one. I’m curious to see exactly what that “research” entails, though, because by now, Faulk has already given us numerous incorrect assertions as fact. Either he’s been blatantly lying, or his research up to this point has failed him.

These included the fact that no scribe ever saw the plates, the 3 and 8 witnesses only saw the plates with their spiritual eyes, the printed testimony did not reflect literal events, and nearly all the witnesses left the Church.

Okay, I guess we’re starting early on the inaccuracies. Everything in this sentence is incorrect. Several of the scribes eventually saw the plates in person; the Witnesses saw the plates with their actual eyes; the printed testimony absolutely reflected literal events; and only about half the witnesses fully left the Church, though none of their ever recanted their testimonies despite their disagreements with Joseph Smith. I’m sure we’ll delve into all of those points in more detail as we go on.

• The Scribes

During the translation process, Joseph was either behind a curtain or the plates sat underneath a cloth in a box in another room. No scribe to the translation process (Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris or Emma Smith) was ever allowed to see the plates.

Um. So, at this point, I have to ask: does Faulk actually know who the Witnesses were? Because both Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery did see the plates. It didn’t happen during the translation process, granted, but they did see them.
There were other scribes, as well. John Whitmer was another Witness who served as a scribe at some point during the translation and also saw the plates. According to Emma Smith, her brother Reuben Hale was another of the early scribes. Reuben was not one of the Witnesses. And according to Evidence Central, Samuel Smith and Christian Whitmer, both Witnesses, also served as scribes.
So, there are seven scribes that I’m aware of, and of those, five physically saw the plates at some point.

Emma only felt the plates through a cloth on the table.

This is true. According to her final testimony, however, she also never asked to see them:

Q. Are you sure that he [Joseph] had the plates at the time you were writing for him?
A. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I once felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book...
Q. I should suppose that you would have uncovered the plates and examined them?
A. I did not attempt to handle the plates, other than I have told you, nor uncover them to look at them. I was satisfied that it was the work of God, and therefore did not feel it to be necessary to do so.
Major Bidamon [Emma’s second husband] here suggested: Did Mr. Smith forbid your examining the plates?
A. I do not think he did. I knew that he had them, and was not specially curious about them. I moved them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work.

In her own words, she knew he had them, but she wasn’t very curious and didn’t need to see them. I personally would have been dying to see them, but apparently, we are very different women!
It’s interesting to me that she doesn’t remember Joseph ever forbidding her from looking at them, though. According to her father, Isaac Hale, Joseph did forbid him from seeing them, and that’s why he wouldn’t allow the plates into his home:

Soon after this [Joseph and Emma moving to Harmony], I was informed they had brought a wonderful book of Plates down with them. I was shown a box in which it is said they were contained, which had, to all appearances, been used as a glass box of the common sized window glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box—into which, however, I was not allowed to look.
I inquired of Joseph Smith Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the Book of Plates? He said it was a young child. After this, I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there was anything in my house of that description which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away; if he did not, I was determined to see it. After that, the Plates were said to be hid in the woods.

As soon as they were able, Joseph and Emma moved out of Hale’s home and into a smaller cabin elsewhere on his property. This cabin is where they kept the plates and where most of the translation happened.
Emma’s statement is interesting for another reason. In the famous revelation given to her in which she’s called an elect lady, verse 4 says:

Murmur not because of the things which thou hast not seen, for they are withheld from thee and from the world, which is wisdom in me in a time to come.

I always assumed this was regarding the plates and her desire to see them. But maybe it was about something else entirely. It was a personal revelation given to her, and only she and the Lord can really know what was in her heart and mind during that time. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I’m more than happy to take Emma at her word. As strange as the idea is to me personally, maybe she honestly didn’t care whether she ever saw the plates or not. Different people have different wishes and desires.

Why wouldn’t Joseph want anybody to see the plates?

Because he was commanded not to show them to anyone who wasn’t authorized to see them. It wasn't his decision. Joseph wasn’t shy about explaining that. It’s even in our scriptures:

Again, he [Moroni] told me, that when I got those plates of which he had spoken—for the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilled—I should not show them to any person; neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim; only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I should be destroyed....

I mean, that’s a pretty good reason, don’t you think? If an angel of the Lord told me not to do something or else I’d be destroyed, I wouldn’t do it either.
Faulk then lists his sources for the information so far:

(By the Gift and Power of God, Elder Neal A. Maxwell January 1997 Ensign quoting David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness, ed. Lyndon W. Cook, [1991], p173) and (Joseph Smith III, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," pp289–90).

I find these sources to be very curious. I’ve already linked to Emma’s testimony twice and quoted a portion of it. It conveniently answered the question he had about Emma not seeing the plates, but he neglected to quote from that part.
I don’t know if he didn’t actually read it and is pulling his words from a different source entirely, or if he’s deliberately misconstruing his actual sources. The third option is that he didn’t understand what his sources were saying. Personally, though, I think Faulk has shown that he’s smart enough to understand a simple Q&A without difficulty, which only leaves the other two options.
As for the other source listed, I’m a big fan of Elder Maxwell. Again, Faulk seems to be citing things he hasn’t fully read, or is deliberately lying about what he read. The part of the article where the David Whitmer interviews was cited gives further clarification on this point:

With regard to the physical circumstances of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his scribe, Martin Harris was quoted as saying there was a blanket or curtain hung between himself and Joseph during the translation process. If Martin is accurately quoted, perhaps this occurred when the Prophet was copying characters directly from the plates in the sample to be taken to Professor Charles Anthon, since the dates mentioned are several months before Martin Harris’s brief scribal duties began. I say this because although David Whitmer mentions a blanket being used—it was only to partition off the living area in order to keep both the translator and scribe from the eyes of visitors (see David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness, ed. Lyndon W. Cook, [1991], 173).
In fact, Elizabeth Anne Whitmer Cowdery, Oliver’s wife, said, “Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe” (quoted in John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone, “The Translation of the Book of Mormon: Basic Historical Information,” F.A.R.M.S. report WRR–86, p. 25). Emma likewise said of her days as scribe, early on, that Joseph dictated “hour after hour with nothing between us” (“Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” 289).

Maxwell said specifically that there was nothing between Joseph and his scribes during the translation process, even if the plates were covered by a cloth. Faulk appears to take this to mean that the scribes never saw the plates, which is demonstrably untrue for five of the seven listed above. One of the other two testified that she was not specifically forbidden from seeing them, though she never asked if she could.
So, that only leaves one of the seven scribes who definitely did not have the opportunity to see the plates uncovered. That is very different from Faulk’s claim that “no scribe ever saw the plates.”

• The 3 Witnesses

The History of the Church records the event where Martin Harris, David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery became the first witnesses to the gold plates after Joseph Smith. Joseph describes how the men gained their witness of the plates in a purely visionary setting.

Again, this statement is somewhat misleading, in more ways than one. For one thing, The History of the Church was written by scribes and compiled from multiple different sources. Those sources included dictation by Joseph, but also other documentation like letters, journal entries, meeting minutes, etc. It was written in Joseph’s voice as if he was the one speaking, but often, he wasn’t. This particular section probably was dictated and approved by Joseph, but it’s difficult to know that for certain.
As the Joseph Smith Papers Project explains:

JS dictated or supplied information for much of A-1 [this notebook], and he personally corrected the first forty-two pages before his death. As planned, his historian-scribes maintained the first-person, chronological narrative format initially established in the volume. When various third-person accounts were drawn upon, they were generally converted to the first person, as if JS were directly relating the account. After JS’s death, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, and others modified and corrected the manuscript as they reviewed material before its eventual publication....
Aside from the material dictated or supplied by JS prior to his death, the texts for A-1 and for the history’s subsequent volumes were drawn from a variety of primary and secondary sources including JS’s diaries and letters, minutes of meetings, the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, church and other periodicals, reports of JS’s discourses, and the reminiscences and recollections of church members. ... While it remains difficult to distinguish JS’s own contributions from composition of his historian-scribes, the narrative trenchantly captures the poignancy and intensity of his life while offering an enlightening account of the birth of the church he labored to establish.

So, just bear in mind, while the following quotation is probably from Joseph’s own words, there’s the possibility that it was taken from elsewhere and rewritten to sound like Joseph speaking. This is within the first 42 pages of the notebook, so he definitely approved it, but it’s unclear whether or not he actually said it.
The other and more important way that Faulk’s sentence is misleading is his characterization of the following account as being a “purely visionary setting.” That is not what any of the witnesses ever claimed. We’ll go into that in detail a bit later in this post, but this is not an honest claim by Faulk.

“Not many days after the above commandment was given, we four, viz., Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfilment of the promises given in the above revelation—that they should have a view of the plates. We accordingly made choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr. Whitmer’s house, to which we retired, and having knelt down, we began to pray in much faith to Almighty God to bestow upon us a realization of these promises.
According to previous arrangement, I commenced by vocal prayer to our Heavenly Father, and was followed by each of the others in succession. We did not at the first trial, however, obtain any answer or manifestation of divine favor in our behalf. We again observed the same order of prayer, each calling on and praying fervently to God in rotation, but with the same result as before.
Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, ‘David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments;’ when, immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, ‘These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol.1, pp.54–55)

Nowhere in this quote does Joseph say this wasn’t a real experience, or that it was “purely visionary.” Look at the language he does use. He describes it as a literal, physical event that they both saw and heard.

Joseph Smith, David Whitmer, and Oliver Cowdery saw an angel and the plates after Martin Harris withdrew from the group. Joseph goes on to tells how he, “…left David and Oliver and went in pursuit of Martin Harris, whom I found at a considerable distance fervently engaged in prayer.” Then they both joined in prayer, and according to Joseph, “the same vision was opened to our view.” Remember, the word “vision” means dream not reality.

No, the word “vision” does not always mean “dream.” It can mean that, but it can also mean a bunch of other things. According to the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, in Joseph’s day it also meant, among other things, “the act of seeing external objects” or “actual sight.” It also has a definition that says, “In Scripture, a revelation from God; an appearance or exhibition of something supernaturally presented to the minds of the prophets, by which they were informed of future events.” Revelation can occur in your mind, as this particular definition says, but it can also occur in front of your eyes, as one of the other definitions says.
As the book of Ether explains, the things we see with the eye of faith are things we also see with our physical eyes:

And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.

When Christ appeared to Mary and His apostles after His death, or His appearances on the Mount of Transfiguration, or Joseph’s experience in the Sacred Grove, it was both a spiritual and a physical experience. Particularly in the case of Christ appearing to the Apostles, where they touched the nail wounds in His hands and thrust their hands into the spear wound on His side, it was not a dream. He was physically there in front of them.
However, in each of those experiences transfiguration was necessary. Moses explains:

But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.

By this definition, seeing something with your spiritual eyes doesn’t mean seeing it in a dream. It simply means being transfigured.
That it’s not an experience any of them can easily describe makes perfect sense to me. I doubt I’d have the vocabulary to explain what that truly feels like, either. Would you?

It is important to note that Joseph never claimed to have carried the plates into the woods where they prayed.

Faulk doesn’t quote anyone suggesting otherwise, so I’m not sure what the point of this statement is. We already knew Joseph didn’t carry the plates into the woods with him when he knelt with the Three Witnesses in prayer.

Praying to see the plates in the woods seems rather odd if Joseph actually possessed physical plates.

No, it doesn’t. One of the conditions of seeing the plates was that they had to demonstrate faith. What better way to do that than by praying?

Why was prayer necessary to see the plates if they were in fact, a physical object?

Joseph tells us exactly why in that same account quoted above:

Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfilment of the promises given in the above revelation—that they should have a view of the plates.

They were praying for permission. “The above revelation” states that it’d be by their faith that they could obtain a view of the plates, the sword of Laban, the interpreters, the breastplate, and the Liahona. It also says that after they’ve obtained that faith, they’ll see them with their eyes, not in a dream. The prayer was to demonstrate that faith.

Martin Harris’ behavior also seems strange if the plates actually existed.

Without any elaboration on what he means here, this is difficult to respond to. Martin Harris’s behavior doesn’t come across as odd to me at all, so it’s unclear what Faulk actually means. Is he talking to the secondhand statements from decades later claimed to be by Martin? Is he talking about his actual firsthand statements, and if so, which ones? Is he talking about his behavior in the time period leading up to this miraculous experience? Or the behavior immediately afterward, or years later? Is he talking about Martin leaving the Church for a time, or his returning? Or the activity he got up to in the interim?
Faulk doesn’t clarify. That’s something I’ve noticed he does a lot. He’ll make a statement and then not elaborate on it, leaving us to guess what the issue is and what he thinks about it. Because these things aren’t personally controversial to me, I have to take time to figure out what might be considered controversial about them, and then respond to that. It’d all be a lot easier if Faulk just explained why he thinks something is controversial.

• The Testimony of The 3 Witnesses is Not Accurate

Printed in the Book of Mormon is the Testimony of the Three Witnesses. It is not an accurate account of the events, but a reconstruction of multiple experiences.

It’s actually both an accurate account of the events and a reconstruction of the experience of Joseph and Martin, as well as that of Joseph, David Whitmer, and Oliver Cowdery.

“And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates… And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true.” (Testimony of the Three Witnesses, The Book of Mormon)

Yeah, that’s an accurate retelling of the events. Read their full testimony:

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
Oliver Cowdery
David Whitmer
Martin Harris

At no point does it say that they all saw those things at the exact same time and place. It just says that they all had those experiences. Martin had the same experience as David and Oliver did; he just had it a short time later.
It was a brief summary of the events, but it was an honest one. Nothing in that testimony was a lie or a distortion of the truth. They were bearing their testimonies of the things they’d seen, not giving a moment-by-moment account of every single thing that happened in those woods.

The language in this statement makes it seem as if all four men experienced this event together.

Where does it say anything of the kind? I just quoted the entire thing, and it doesn’t say or even imply that anywhere. It simply just says that it happened.

However, the History of the Church passage clearly shows that the Martin Harris’ vision happened separately.

Yeah, so does every Church history book or manual on the topic. This isn’t something the Church ever tried to hide. This was the story told right from the very beginning, in the very first history they ever tried to write of the organization of the Church. At no point did anyone ever claim that Martin had his vision at the same time that David and Oliver had theirs. This is just Thomas Faulk inventing controversy out of nothing.

Not only that, but later statements made by David Whitmer and Martin Harris show that the angel brought additional objects for them to see. This is curiously left out of the signed Testimony of the Three Witnesses.

Yep. The revelation stating that there would be witnesses to the plates said that too, in the very same History of the Church passage that Faulk quoted from above. This revelation is today’s D&C 17:

1 Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea.
2 And it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them, even by that faith which was had by the prophets of old.
3 And after that you have obtained faith, and have seen them with your eyes, you shall testify of them, by the power of God;
4 And this you shall do that my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., may not be destroyed, that I may bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men in this work.
5 And ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., has seen them; for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith.
6 And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true.
7 Wherefore, you have received the same power, and the same faith, and the same gift like unto him;
8 And if you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; for my grace is sufficient for you, and you shall be lifted up at the last day.
9 And I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God, have spoken it unto you, that I might bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men. Amen.

Again, this is not obscure or buried information. It’s in the D&C for everyone to read. In their Witness statement, they testified of the Book of Mormon and the reality of the golden plates, shown to them by an angel of the Lord. Did they need to say that the angel also showed them other objects at the same time?
I don’t personally think so, especially when people were already trying to physically harm Joseph in order to steal the plates. If they knew he also had a sword and a golden ball and ancient armor, wouldn’t they try even harder to get them?
You might disagree and feel that they needed to list all of those things. That’s okay; you’re entitled to your opinions. But it seems clear to me that between the Witness statement and the revelation in the D&C, we know what happened that day. The accounts given by those involved backed this information up in its entirety, as well as added additional detail. Again, it’s not hidden information.

“We not only saw the plates of the Book of Mormon but also the brass plates, the plates of the Book of Ether, the plates containing the records of the wickedness and secret combinations of the people of the world down to the time of their being engraved, and many other plates ... there appeared as it were, a table with many records or plates upon it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the Sword of Laban, the Directors i.e., the ball which Lehi had-and the Interpreters [Urim and Thummim].” (David Whitmer, interview by Orson Pratt, Book of Mormon Compendium, 1878, pp.55-56)
Why fail to mention the other plates and important Nephite artifacts?

I gave one possible reason already—the persecution they were already enduring from those trying to steal the plates. Maybe they didn’t want to draw further attention to them and risk putting their lives in danger.
Or perhaps they didn’t feel it was necessary, since the golden plates were the truly important part. The others, while cool objects to see, were not vital, essential parts of the translation process. You could make a solid case for the interpreters being vital, of course. However, Joseph’s use of his own personal seer stone for part of the translation process tells us that, while important, they weren’t necessary.
I don’t know why they didn’t include them in the Witness statement. I didn’t write it, and neither did any of you. Maybe we would have phrased it differently in their place; who knows? But we know what happened, and the Witness statement covers the essential parts of their experiences. As I said, it was a brief summary of what happened, not a moment-by-moment recounting of the details. Maybe I just don’t expect as much from other flawed human beings as Thomas Faulk seems to. I don’t know.
I do know that the Witnesses saw what they said they saw. The Holy Ghost has confirmed this to me many times over. He’ll confirm it to you too, if you only ask. Remember, we have to ask before it’ll be given to us. We have to seek before we’ll find. We have to knock before the door will be opened unto us. We have to do our part, and then the Holy Ghost will do His.