I joined this company last year as a software engineer. They told me that I will get to do low level systems programming work. But when I started they made me do solutions engineering work and server management work.
I was very depressed and couldn't get anything done. I complained to my manager who did nothing.
In April of this year I was put on a PIP(Performance improvement plan). My RSUs were vesting in May, so I stayed. I forced myself to work on the projects that I was assigned.
Now my RSUs have vested and I have another job offer in hand and I want to leave. The only problem is that if I leave on my own before 12 months I have to pay 100% of the relocation bonus and relocation expenses. According to my offer letter they won't pro-rate the amount that I have to payback if I leave on my own or if I am terminated for-cause.
Relocation bonus: 7K
Packers & movers: 10k? (I don't know how much they paid for this service. But they also stored my belongs for 2 weeks in a storage room)
Hotel for 2 weeks: 2K ~ 3K Flight tickets & Transportation & Meals: ~1K
H1b immigration related expense: 10K?
So roughly I have to return back 30K if I leave on my own. And the whole reason I am leaving before finishing 12 months is because they put me on a PIP. If they wouldn't have put me on a PIP I would have stayed for 12 months at least.
So essentially my question is, what do I tell the HR that they: 1) Terminate me from my job.
2) Terminate my employment in a way that it doesn't show up on my background check
3) I also don't have to return the money that they paid me.
4) Terminate my employment before the end of next week. My starting date at the new job is only 2 weeks away.

Here's the situation: I am in California (Bay Area) renting a 1BR 1.5BA townhome. My landlord has asked us to leave within 60 days as he's selling the place. He offered to sell it to us.
Reasons I want to buy it from him:

• I just brought a newborn home, my baby was not even 2 weeks old when we got the news last week. The thought of finding a new home and moving while recovering from birth and keeping a newborn alive makes me want to vomit from stress.
• I feel like I have the perfect setup, it's where I've lived for many years and it's super close to my work and everything I need.
• We have an emotional attachment to this house, many happy memories.
• I want to buy a house eventually but I am really afraid of buying a strange house and discovering its flaws, whereas I know this house and know it is good. It's in a great school zone, low crime, great community..
• An off market transaction means we don't have to compete and we get a slight discount. Could be a rare opportunity.
• I have been itching to buy a home because I hate burning money on rent, and am afraid I'll get priced out of home ownership forever at the rate things are going. I had many chances to buy over the last decade and a half and am kicking myself for not buying.
• I want to buy in CA because I love CA and hope to come back. Prop 13 means taxes are frozen if I buy now.
• I really want to avoid all the hassles and costs of moving, updating addresses, cleaning, inspections etc. And we'll have to do it again when we move again next year.
• I found another place we can rent, but it's smaller, more expensive, further away and that makes me really upset and sad thinking about having a long commute to work when I return to work, having to find new pediatricians and dentists etc. And we have to downsize and throw some of our things away which is also upsetting.
• Husband and I have been changing our life plan constantly so who knows maybe we'll end up staying another ten years in CA despite saying we'll move after one year.
• Renting the house out may have lower yields now but with inflation it will eventually catch up and the house itself will appreciate.

Reasons not to buy but rent for a year instead:

• We are planning to move in a year
• Seems like a really bad time to buy because of low supply (but I have lost out big because I kept thinking it was a bad time to buy over the last decade)
• the house is probably not big enough to be our forever home (the house has a bonus room but idk if a teenager will like staying in a tiny room). No space for visiting family etc.
• We talked about renting the house out after we move. Husband and I have been saving in HYSA and Tbills so we might be able to pay all cash, but after crunching the numbers, even with no loan interest it looks like after property management, HOA, taxes, and insurance the returns are less than if I kept the cash in T bills (not sure if the math is right). And that doesn't include maintenance and bad tenants etc.
• We will be really cash poor if we go all cash and that makes me really uncomfortable. But paying high interest is also unappealing.

I keep changing my mind every hour. Please help me with this decision that I have to make under pressure, I am distressed and sleep deprived with this newborn and can't think straight :(

yo bootlickers! I'm planning on making a video guide and wanna fact check this summery of him and his best stats :]
set: shooting meteor 4pc and low invest and 2pc with watchmaker for low investment. then 2 pc Talia for orb and rope
body: crit rate you can also go defensive (hp/def)
boots: speed almost always
orb: physical dmg or defensive (hp/def)
rope: break always
substats; always aim for at least 300& break effect. After go for: break effect = speed > crit stats = defensive (depending on teams) > attack = effect res > effect hit rate (useless)
lightcones dont really matter but his signature is by far the best with subscribe and swordplay being good alts. adversarial being a GREAT 3 star light cone too for speed. (not sure if its better than the 4 stars)
team mates would be, Ruan Mei (best by far), Bronya, harmony trail blazer, Pela and Robin. mashing any of those together with one sustain should work preferably Gallagher but its not too big of a deal.
and for eidolons; e1 is very good (and a good stopping point for most), e2 being good not great, e3 being meh, e4 is ok, e5 is very good and e6 being holy moley broken.
thanks for reading, let me know if you think the info is right or if something is wrong! :] <3

In previous post, I mentioned how you can save a significant amount of money by just changing your old fans in your homes with new inverter fans.
In this post, i will discuss how some people can become protected consumers of wapda to get electricity at a cheaper price.
Wapda charges its customers in slabs of 100 units, where crossing each slab limit will increase per unit rate by a lot. Forexample, from 0-100 units, rate will be Rs 16 per unit, but from 100-200, rate will be 23 per unit. Similary for higher slabs it is 27, 32 and 35.
But Wapda has also declared a protective customer category, which means those users whose consumption haven't exceeded 200 units per month for the last 6 months, then from 7 month ownward they will be charged at protective rates which are very low. Forexample, 7 Rs per unit for 1st 100 units and then 10 Rs per unit for next 100 units. These rates will continue as long as he doesn't consume more than 200 units in any of the next months. But once he breaks his streak, he will no longer be protected and will be charged at normal rate and will again have to wait for 6 months to get this perk.
As a practical example, lets have a look at billing of Protective vs Regular customers
🔸Protective customer uses 199 units:
100units x 7 = 700 Rs
99units x 10 = 990 Rs
Cost = 700+990 = 1690 Rs
Total bill = roughly double the above amount for taxes and fpa = 3400 Rs (for 199 units in protective category)
🔸Regular customer uses 199 units:
199 units x 23 = 4,500 Rs
Total bill = roughly double this amount for taxes and fpa= 9,000 Rs ( for 199 units for regular customers)
🟢See the difference, 3400 vs 9000 Rs💰 for same units
🚨But if protected customer exceeds 200 units, for example 201, then regular rate will apply:
201 units x 27= 5,500
Total bill= after roughly doubling it for taxes= 11,000 Rs
So by breaking the streak of 200 units even by 1 unit, protective customer will become regular and will jump from 3,400 to 11,000 Rs. 😲
▶️So here are few tips for those whose bill comes around 300 units and they want to save money by going below 200 units:
✔️By replacing an old fan (which runs most of the time) with inverter fan, you can reduce around 50 units from your bill per fan. So by changing just 2 of these fans , you can easily get down to 200 units from 300 units.✔️Furthermore ,you can remove stabilisers from refrigerators as long as your voltage is stable ( this problem of voltage fluctuations only exists in some rural areas but is rare in cities), because these consume 45-50 watts of power for no reason, which itself adds 32 units to your monthly bill. You can use surge protectors instead for voltage protection.
✔️If these things are already optimized and you are still not below 200 units, then you can opt for small solar setup enough to produce 100 units per month, in which case you will use 200 units from wapda at protected rates and another 100 from solar to meet demands every month.
I hope it helps.
⚠️Note: Users with consumption above 300-350 units might not be able to benefit from this.

I 21f have just given birth by c section 5 days ago. My average resting heart rate during pregnancy was about 64-67bpm. I'm not massively healthy I'm slightly overweight but before the last month or 2 I walk my dog every morning for 30-45 minutes and work in healthcare so am on my feet a lot. Haven't been working for the last 2 months because of being pregnant. My resting heart rate has dropped to 56-59bpm since giving birth but don't know what it was before pregnancy as I got my apple watch for christmas. It went down to 48bpm during sleep. My average walking heart rate is 101 but due to just having a section I've only been walking around the house. Sorry for the long post does this sound normal?

In previous post, I mentioned how you can save a significant amount of money by just changing your old fans in your homes with new inverter fans.
In this post, i will discuss how some people can become protected consumers of wapda to get electricity at a cheaper price.
Wapda charges its customers in slabs of 100 units, where crossing each slab limit will increase per unit rate by a lot. Forexample, from 0-100 units, rate will be Rs 16 per unit, but from 100-200, rate will be 23 per unit. Similary for higher slabs it is 27, 32 and 35.
But Wapda has also declared a protective customer category, which means those users whose consumption haven't exceeded 200 units per month for the last 6 months, then from 7 month ownward they will be charged at protective rates which are very low. Forexample, 7 Rs per unit for 1st 100 units and then 10 Rs per unit for next 100 units. These rates will continue as long as he doesn't consume more than 200 units in any of the next months. But once he breaks his streak, he will no longer be protected and will be charged at normal rate and will again have to wait for 6 months to get this perk.
As a practical example, lets have a look at billing of Protective vs Regular customers
🔸Protective customer uses 199 units:
100units x 7 = 700 Rs
99units x 10 = 990 Rs
Cost = 700+990 = 1690 Rs
Total bill = roughly double the above amount for taxes and fpa = 3400 Rs (for 199 units in protective category)
🔸Regular customer uses 199 units:
199 units x 23 = 4,500 Rs
Total bill = roughly double this amount for taxes and fpa= 9,000 Rs ( for 199 units for regular customers)
🟢See the difference, 3400 vs 9000 Rs💰 for same units
🚨But if protected customer exceeds 200 units, for example 201, then regular rate will apply:
201 units x 27= 5,500
Total bill= after roughly doubling it for taxes= 11,000 Rs
So by breaking the streak of 200 units even by 1 unit, protective customer will become regular and will jump from 3,400 to 11,000 Rs. 😲
▶️So here are few tips for those whose bill comes around 300 units and they want to save money by going below 200 units:
✔️By replacing an old fan (which runs most of the time) with inverter fan, you can reduce around 50 units from your bill per fan. So by changing just 2 of these fans , you can easily get down to 200 units from 300 units.✔️Furthermore ,you can remove stabilisers from refrigerators as long as your voltage is stable ( this problem of voltage fluctuations only exists in some rural areas but is rare in cities), because these consume 45-50 watts of power for no reason, which itself adds 32 units to your monthly bill. You can use surge protectors instead for voltage protection.
✔️If these things are already optimized and you are still not below 200 units, then you can opt for small solar setup enough to produce 100 units per month, in which case you will use 200 units from wapda at protected rates and another 100 from solar to meet demands every month.
I hope it helps.
⚠️Note: Users with consumption above 300-350 units might not be able to benefit from this.

Hey folks.
As we all know in that one of the most painful things about working on a TV show, especially an animated one is how it has a good following and critically acclaimed and yet gets canceled.
Of course, there are many factors as to why like low rating and incompetence by the network but many fans of these shows often believe that the networks are sabotaging the shows for their benefit or as part of an agenda.
Case in point, what happened with The Owl House and The Ghost and Molly McGee as these shows ended getting canceled for "not fitting with the channel brand" and low ratings respectively they are often seen as not good enough reasons for the fans and they do believe that the networks messed this shows up on purpose, probably out of dislike or even because of LGBTQ content, which for the Owl House, the fans are still believing is what canceled The Owl House to this day, despite Dana insisting that it really wasn't true.
Another example is of the beloved Infinity Train which was mishandled by Cartoon Network and then got canceled for having a an adult protagonist and saying the show "needs a child entry point" and made worse when David Zaslav's top brass when they acquired Warner Bros. deleted the show from HBO Max and kept deleting the show from existence on many platforms and because of that, many believe that CN and Warner Bros Discovery sabotaged the show to make sure it never stood a chance.
With that, as professionals, what is your perspective on this idea fans think that networks like to sabotage their shows?
Any basis of truth or foil hat conspiracy nonsense?

~RIGL Thesis – 5/18/2024~
Outstanding Shares 175M
131 Institutional Holders
111,129,461 Total Shares Held
63.36% Institutional Ownership
Total Cash on Hand 3/31/2024 = $49.6M
Total Debt: $101.5M
Cash Burn Approximate = $8M per quarter (6 quarters of cash without any increases in revenue)
Q12023 REV = $26M
Q22023 REV = $26.8M
Q32023 REV = $28.1M
Q42023 REV = $35.8M
Q12024 REV = $29.5M (Decline from Q4 likely from end of year versus new-year tracking of Rx and shipments of drugs, resetting of Copays)
Most Recent EPS -$0.05 per share
May 22, 2024 - Vote on S will take place, caution
~Statistics Applicable To Thesis~
333.3 million US Population (2022)
8,109,679,892 Global Population (2024)
~Drugs On Market~
~Tavalisse – Treatment for ITP, FDA Approved April 17, 2018~
~What is ITP?~
Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an illness that can lead to bruising and bleeding. Low levels of the cells that help blood clot, also known as platelets, most often cause the bleeding.
Once known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, ITP can cause purple bruises. It also can cause tiny reddish-purple dots on the skin that look like a rash.
Children can get ITP after a virus. They most often get better without treatment. In adults, the illness often lasts months or years. People with ITP who aren't bleeding and whose platelet count isn't too low might not need treatment. For worse symptoms, treatment might include medicines to raise platelet count or surgery to remove the spleen. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
~What is Tavalisse?~
TAVALISSE is a prescription medication used to treat adults with low platelet counts due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) when a prior treatment for ITP has not worked well enough. It is not known if TAVALISSE is safe and effective in children.
The cost for Tavalisse oral tablet 100 mg is around $15,404 for a supply of 60 tablets, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
Tavalisse Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com
TAVALISSE IS AN ORAL MEDICATION TAKEN TWICE DAILY WITH OR WITHOUT FOOD¹
A 12-week evaluation period is recommended
60 tablets = 1 month supply, evaluation period = 3 months, Cost for 3 months = $46,212 Cash, assuming cheaper through wholesale, insurance, discount cards, etc.
Dosing TAVALISSE® (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) tablets (tavalissehcp.com)
~Addressable Market~
“Our findings suggest that nearly 20,000 children and adults are newly diagnosed with ITP each year in the US, substantially higher than previously reported. Among patients requiring formal medical care, the economic burden during the first 12 months following diagnosis is high, with estimated US expenditures totaling over $400 million.”
Primary immune thrombocytopenia in US clinical practice: incidence and healthcare burden in first 12 months following diagnosis - PubMed (nih.gov)
The estimated prevalence of ITP in the United States is 9.5 per 100,000 people, with a global prevalence of over 200,000 people at any given time [1].
Immune thrombocytopenia. [ Oct; 2022 ]. 2022. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/immune-thrombocytopenia
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
ITP estimated cases based on measured statistics 31,635 cases a year in the US and 770,355 cases globally each year.
~Rezlidhia – R Acute Myeloid Leukemia, FDA Approved December, 22, 2022~
~What is Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia?~
Relapsed, or recurrent, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) means the leukemia has come back after treatment and remission.
Refractory AML means the leukemia did not respond to treatment. Complete remission has not been reached because the chemotherapy drugs did not kill enough leukemia cells.
Both relapsed and refractory AML need more treatment to reach complete remission.
Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan. Some factors considered for your treatment include:
your age
your health
how long the leukemia was in remission
treatments you had before
where the leukemia comes back
Treatment options usually include chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant if possible. Targeted therapy may also be used.
Treatments for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia Canadian Cancer Society
~What is IDH1?~
Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes occur frequently in adult Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and less commonly in pediatric AML… Enhanced genomic and epigenomic profiling of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has led to identification of recurrent mutations that are prognostic and are candidates for targeted therapy. Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes, IDH1 and IDH2, occur in ∼6% to 16% and ∼8% to 19% of adult patients with AML, respectively.^1-5 In pediatric AML, IDH mutations are rare, occurring in <4% of patients.^6-11
Characteristics and prognostic impact of IDH mutations in AML: a COG, SWOG, and ECOG analysis Blood Advances American Society of Hematology (ashpublications.org)
~What is Rezlidhia?~
REZLIDHIA is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation when the disease has come back or has not improved after previous treatment(s).
Targeted Treatment REZLIDHIA® (olutasidenib) capsules
The cost for Rezlidhia oral capsule 150 mg is around $17,468 for a supply of 30 capsules, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
Rezlidhia Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com%20is%20a%20member,on%20the%20pharmacy%20you%20visit.)
~Addressable Market~
The annual incidence of new cases in both men and women is approximately 4.3 per 100,000 population, totaling over 20,000 cases per year in the United States alone.[13] The median age at the time of diagnosis is about 68, with a higher prevalence observed among non-Hispanic Whites. Furthermore, males exhibit a higher incidence compared to females, with a ratio of 5:3.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
Cases of AML with IDH1 would be 11% based on the median of statistics above (6% to 16%) leaving approximately 1500 to 2000 cases a year in the US. Appling the same calculations to world population would amount to approximately 38,500 cases a year globally.
~Gavreto – Treats RET+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer In Adults and RET+ Thyroid Cancer in Kids and Adults, FDA Approved August 9, 2023~
For the sake of common ground, I am going to assume these types of cancers do not need to be elaborated on as we all likely have a basic understanding of what they are. The medical conditions treated by Tavalisse and Rezlidhia I felt needed a more in-depth explanation because they are not common. I will elaborate on RET+ a little later in this writing.
~What is Gavreto?~
GAVRETO is an oral once daily prescription medicine used to treat certain cancers caused by abnormal rearranged during transfection ~(RET+)~ genes in:
Adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread
Adults and children 12 years of age and older with advanced thyroid cancer or thyroid cancer that has spread who require a medicine by mouth or injection (systemic therapy) and who have received radioactive iodine and it did not work or is no longer working*
It is not known if GAVRETO is safe and effective when used to treat cancers caused by abnormal RET genes in children for the treatment of NSCLC or in children younger than 12 years of age for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Home GAVRETO® (pralsetinib)
The cost for Gavreto oral capsule 100 mg is around $11,745 for a supply of 60 capsules, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
The recommended dosage for adults and children 12 and over is 400mg orally once daily. Each capsule is 100mg, which means you will take 4 capsules. Gavreto should be taken on an empty stomach, at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal.
Gavreto Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com
~What is Rearranged During Transfection Positive (RET+)?~
RET-positive cancer is caused by a mutation or abnormal re-arrangement of the RET gene. It occurs most commonly in lung cancer and several types of inherited and sporadic thyroid cancers. RET alterations also occur in an estimated 1-2% of multiple other cancers, including ovarian, pancreatic, salivary, breast, and colorectal cancers.
RETpositive Empowering Patients and Driving Research
Rearranged during transfection (RET) rearrangements were first identified as oncogenic drivers in NSCLC in 2012. The proportion of patients with NSCLC who have RET rearrangements (ie, fusion-positive disease) is approximately 1%-2%.
RET Fusion-Positive Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: The Evolving Treatment Landscape The Oncologist Oxford Academic (oup.com)
RET alterations occur most commonly in lung cancer (non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)) and the number of new cases diagnosed each year is considerable, accounting for approximately 37,500 [IG1] cases worldwide and 4,000 cases in the US (2% of NSCLC) (2,3). RET alterations are also common in several types of inherited and sporadic thyroid cancers and can occur in other types of cancers like ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers, among others (4-8) adding >110,000 cases yearly worldwide (9).
What is RET Positive Lung Cancer? - The Happy Lungs Project
(2) Although medullary thyroid carcinoma represents 5-10% of all thyroid cancers, activating RET gene abnormalities occur in over 90% of hereditary and approximately 40%-60% of sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma cases.
Patients – RETpositive%20Although%20medullary%20thyroid%20carcinoma,sporadic%20medullary%20thyroid%20carcinoma%20cases.)
~Prevalence of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer~
Most lung cancer statistics include both small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In general, about 10% to 15% of all lung cancers are SCLC, and about 80% to 85% are NSCLC.
Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States (not counting skin cancer). In men, prostate cancer is more common, while breast cancer is more common in women.
The American Cancer Society’s estimates for lung cancer in the US for 2024 are:
About 234,580 new cases of lung cancer (116,310 in men and 118,270 in women)
About 125,070 deaths from lung cancer (65,790 in men and 59,280 in women)
Lung Cancer Statistics How Common is Lung Cancer? American Cancer Society
Worldwide, an estimated 2,206,771 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. These statistics include both small cell lung cancer and NSCLC.
Lung Cancer - Non-Small Cell: Statistics Cancer.Net
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
Approximately 187,664 cases of NSCLC in the US based on an 80% factor.
Approximately 1,765,416 cases of NSCLC worldwide based on an 80% factor.
~Prevalence of Thyroid Cancer~
Rate of New Cases and Deaths per 100,000: The rate of new cases of thyroid cancer was 13.5 per 100,000 men and women per year. The death rate was 0.5 per 100,000 men and women per year. These rates are age-adjusted and based on 2017–2021 cases and 2018–2022 deaths.
Lifetime Risk of Developing Cancer: Approximately 1.2 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2017–2019 data. Lifetime risk based on data through 2022 will available soon.
Prevalence of This Cancer: In 2021, there were an estimated 979,295 people living with thyroid cancer in the United States.
Thyroid Cancer — Cancer Stat Facts
About 44,020 new cases of thyroid cancer (12,500 in men and 31,520 in women)
About 2,170 deaths from thyroid cancer (990 in men and 1,180 in women)
Thyroid cancer is often diagnosed at a younger age than most other adult cancers. The average age when a person is diagnosed with thyroid cancer is 51.
This cancer is about 3 times more common in women than in men. It is about 40% to 50% less common in Black people than in any other racial or ethnic group.
Key Statistics for Thyroid Cancer American Cancer Society)
Addressable Market
Given Gavreto’s dual treatment capacity, the total amount of potential patients with NSCLC with RET+ indications would be approximately 2,800 cases in the US and approximately 26,500 cases worldwide each year using a factor of 1.5% of total NSCLC cases. The total amount of treatable cases for Thyroid Cancer would be approximately 650 in the US and 16,500 cases worldwide respectively each year applying the same 1.5% RET+ percentage rate. DOUBLE CHECK MATH…
~Rigel Pharmaceuticals Pipeline~
~IRAK/4 – Clinical Trials~
Rigel’s investigational candidate, R289, is an oral, potent and selective inhibitor of interleukin receptor-associated kinases 1 and 4 (IRAK1/4).
Toll like receptors (TLRs) and the interleukin 1 receptor family (IL-1Rs) play a critical role in the innate immune response and dysregulation of these pathways can lead to a variety of inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Chronic stimulation of both receptor systems has also been implicated in causing a pro-inflammatory bone marrow environment leading to persistent cytopenias in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (LR-MDS) patients1.
R835 is a selective dual inhibitor of IRAK1/4 that blocks TLR4 and IL-1R-dependent systemic cytokine release. In preclinical studies, R835 demonstrated activity in multiple animal models of inflammatory disease2,3 and showed that dual inhibition of IRAK1 and IRAK4 provided more complete suppression of inflammatory cytokines when compared to an IRAK4-selective inhibitor4.
Development of R289:
In a Phase 1 clinical trial, R835 was well tolerated and inhibited LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine production in healthy volunteers, demonstrating proof-of-mechanism.5 Phase 1 clinical studies of R289 (an oral prodrug that is rapidly converted to R835 in the gut) are also complete.
A Phase 1b open-label, multicenter trial of R289 in patients with relapsed/refractory lower-risk MDS is currently enrolling (NCT05308264). The primary endpoint for this trial is safety with key secondary endpoints including preliminary efficacy and evaluation of pharmacokinetic properties.
~Bemcentinib – Bergenbio Partnership~
In June 2011, Rigel entered into an exclusive, worldwide research, development and commercialization agreement with BerGenBio for its investigational AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL) inhibitor, R428 (now referred to as bemcentinib).
Bemcentinib is a potent, selective and orally bioavailable AXL inhibitor and the furthest along in clinical trials. In preclinical studies, bemcentinib was shown to have an effect as a single agent therapeutic in the prevention and reversal of acquired resistance to standard of care cytotoxics and targeted therapies and may also slow or prevent tumor metastasis.
Rigel received an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments and potential sublicensing revenue, as well as tiered royalty payments on any future net sales of products emerging from the collaboration.
~R552 Systemic – Eli Lilly Partnership~
Rigel’s investigational candidates are oral, potent and selective inhibitors of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1).
RIPK1 is a critical signaling protein implicated in a broad range of key inflammatory cellular processes including necroptosis, a type of regulated cell death, and cytokine production. In necroptosis, cells rupture leading to the dispersion of cell contents, which can trigger an immune response and enhance inflammation. RIPK1 inhibition has therapeutic potential in treating autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Rigel’s RIPK1 inhibitor program includes R552, a systemic molecule being developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and brain penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In preclinical studies, R552 demonstrated prevention of joint and skin inflammation in a RIPK1-mediated murine model of inflammation and tissue damage.
Development of R552:
In Q2 2023, the initial Phase 2a trial (NCT05848258) in moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was initiated by partner Eli Lilly.
Development CNS-penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors:
Currently in preclinical studies.
~Milademetan – Daiichi Sankyo Partnership~
Rigel has a long-standing collaboration with Daiichi-Sankyo for developing murine double minute 2 (MDM2) protein inhibitors in cancer, which were discovered in Rigel’s laboratories.
Preliminary safety and efficacy data from an early Phase 1 study of milademetan (formerly DS-3032), an oral selective MDM2 inhibitor, in hematological malignancies suggests that it may be a promising potential treatment for oncology indications.
Rigel received an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments, as well as tiered royalty payments on any future net sales of any products emerging from the collaboration.
~Rxxx (CNS Penetrant) – Eli Lilly Partnership~
Rigel’s investigational candidates are oral, potent and selective inhibitors of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1).
RIPK1 is a critical signaling protein implicated in a broad range of key inflammatory cellular processes including necroptosis, a type of regulated cell death, and cytokine production. In necroptosis, cells rupture leading to the dispersion of cell contents, which can trigger an immune response and enhance inflammation. RIPK1 inhibition has therapeutic potential in treating autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Rigel’s RIPK1 inhibitor program includes R552, a systemic molecule being developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and brain penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In preclinical studies, R552 demonstrated prevention of joint and skin inflammation in a RIPK1-mediated murine model of inflammation and tissue damage.
Development of R552:
In Q2 2023, the initial Phase 2a trial (NCT05848258) in moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was initiated by partner Eli Lilly.
Development CNS-penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors:
Currently in preclinical studies. Pipeline :: Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RIGL)
~Summary and Prediction~
The current share price of sub $1 does not feel justified. I would anticipate financial breakeven by the end of 2024 or potentially in Q1 or Q2 of 2025. The robust pipeline, progress, and expected revenue growth are enough to justify a much higher valuation. The debt load is manageable, but the potential for S is concerning. I believe that the S is not necessary and revenue growth and progress should speak for itself. I am not as bullish as the analysts at HC Wainright for a $15 PT, but the valuation should be at least 3x to 5x from the current value. This thesis does not highlight the patents surrounding their drugs either which some extend into 2035 and beyond. Perhaps what Wall Street is discounting is the fact that most of the drugs are very niche. However, the currently available drugs have an addressable market, albeit less universal than some, but you should value it in the sense of multiple facets (a 1000 headed snake is the phrase I wanted to use). I believe the company should be valued with specialty drugs in mind which would command a higher PE ratio. At the current day and time of writing, the value should be at least $1.50 to $1.75 ~at a minimum~ with a 12 month price target of $3 to $5+. I will be looking for continued revenue growth in each quarter this year and realization of revenue from Gavreto in Q2 or Q3 this year. The partnerships should not be discounted either and the current share price if it lingers here perhaps may attract a merger or acquisition. I initially began the research thinking that perhaps the drugs were too niche, but given the multiple drugs they are working with, I believe their revenue sources will continue to grow if you do not focus on one particular drug as the main performer. With the most recent inflation report being cooler than expected, I would suspect larger funds and institutions will be circling back to riskier assets.

I’m doing a rewatch of Miami and I’m on the season 3 reunion and all I’m thinking of how did this show ever get canceled for low ratings???? This is TV gold!!!! Are you kidding me??? This whole season was so good and full of alliance changes, trips, fashion, fights, TWO weddings!! I just can’t believe they had low enough ratings to cancel the show. There was so much fall out that should’ve been shown! I wish I knew what happened to Adriana and Frederic’s relationship, Alexia and Herman (which I do remember her touching on during the reboot but I wish cameras were rolling), Lisa getting pregnant, Lea vs everyone, just so much lore we missed out on!!! I didn’t really like or resonate with Joanna but what happened with her and Romain?? So, so, many things I needed to see. Why do yall think audiences didn’t like RHOM? Why would they cancel this amazing piece of history???😫😫😫

The concept of blue zones is usually distorted by carnivore advocates who claim all the blue zones were based on diets high in animal fats and proteins or nonsense from keto quacks like Steven Gundry who claim it is because the old people in these zones were smoking or drinking sheep's milk.
The truth is, there isn't any scientific evidence to support the blue zones concept, the idea has never been embraced by the medical and scientific communities. The blue zones was a research project not a scientific study, modern diet influencers promoting this idea on social media are unaware about how the concept was developed. If you read the original papers, the idea of diet hardly came up.
There are no controlled studies, no long-term epidemiological studies. Much of the evidence is anecdotal due to lack of records and is second-hand taken from interviews of relatives.

The problem with trying to determine how many very old people are alive in an area is that the further back you look to verify ages, the worse the records get. It’s reasonably easy to figure out where and when a person was born if they are 80. But when we’re talking about 110-year-olds, the records are decidedly patchier. (The supercentenarians at the start of the Blue Zones study were born in the late 1800s.)

https://slate.com/technology/2023/11/centenarian-blue-zone-health-long-life-netflix.html
In regard to alleged supercentenarians in these zones, there is a recent article that notes the likelihood of fraud

These pockets of extreme longevity seem to occur in areas with “greater poverty, higher illiteracy, higher crime rates, and worse population health” than the norm, according to Oxford scientist Saul Newman. Data from the United Nations even suggests that Cambodia was a blue zone of sorts during the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. These hotspots can be chiefly explained by welfare fraud, identity theft, name-saking and criminal abuse of the pension system, or by genuine confusion over dates or lack of birth certificates. Some are banal in any case.

https://archive.is/d9beK
Another issue is the abuse of the pension system

“Whenever you get an investigation of the pensions system, the rate of centenarians suddenly collapses. That is what happened in Greece after the financial crisis,” said Dr Newman, now at Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.
The Greek labour ministry concluded that 200,000 pensions were being paid to fraudulent claimants. Most of the country’s 9,000 centenarians were dead. The same happened in Japan in 2010 after the mummified corpse of Tokyo’s “oldest” man was discovered. His family had been drawing the pension from his bank account for 32 years. The inquiry discovered that 238,000 people listed as aged 100 or more were unaccounted for. Some had died in the Second World War.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018708179/dr-saul-newman-debunking-the-blue-zone-longevity-myth

Only 18% of ‘exhaustively’ validated supercentenarians have a birth certificate, falling to zero percent in the USA, and supercentenarian birthdates are concentrated on days divisible by five: a pattern indicative of widespread fraud and error. Finally, the designated ‘blue zones’ of Sardinia, Okinawa, and Ikaria corresponded to regions with low incomes, low literacy, high crime rate and short life expectancy relative to their national average. As such, relative poverty and short lifespan constitute unexpected predictors of centenarian and supercentenarian status and support a primary role of fraud and error in generating remarkable human age records.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/704080v3
Saul Newman who wrote the above received a lot of abuse for questioning the blue zones.
The blue zones concept is mostly a marketing myth to sells books and ideas about diets. Dan Buettner is most well known for this. There was a recent series on Netflix about the blue zones.
Michel Poulain who originally proposed the blue zones published a paper in 2011 in which he was unable to verify the claims of longevity in Okinawa due to lack of records surviving WW2.
https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/25/7/
Since 2011 no new evidence has come to light.
If we actually look at the oldest people in the world right now whose birth certificates have been validated
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_living_people
They are mostly from Japan, Spain and Brazil. None of these are blue zones.
I realise that all sorts of diet gurus promote the blue zones online but if you go looking there isn't any good scientific evidence to support this concept. The concept has now just become a marketing myth to promote diets.
If you read Michel Poulain's original research he hardly mentions diet, it's literally mentioned twice in passing yet online influencers only talk about this topic.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200302043123/http://austriaca.at/0xc1aa500e_0x00307bb6.pdf
Interestingly if you read Poulain's work, he says

In Okinawa, as elsewhere in Japan, the individual validation of age is based on the koseki, a family register containing records of all members of a family, including gender, dates and places of birth, names of parents, dates of marriage and divorce if any, date and place of death. Unfortunately, for privacy reasons, data extracted from the koseki such as birth and death records are only accessible by directly asking the relatives of the concerned persons or for official legal proceedings.

In conclusion the blue zones lacks scientific evidence. The concept is best explained through welfare fraud, pension abuse, identity theft and confusion due to lack of birth records.

TLDR; I conducted a lot of tests based on community feedback after my first batch of test results (and recommendations) were perceived as controversial. I ran additional simulations and used chi square analysis to see if any equipment stood out.

• The polearm was observed to be the best except in very niche circumstances, where it still does well in general
• Assassin's Rags appears to be the best general armor in the game for melee
• Heavy Armor consistently loses to White Plate & Assassin's Rags
• In field battles you're probably better off not using ranged weapons at all
• For top tier characters KLR limbs remove the need to prioritize a shirt with high coverage; reducing damage to the chest & stomach may be more important even if limbs are less unprotected
• Crossbows don't appear to do very well in field battles

Introduction
Assertions about the best equipment in Kenshi are innumerable, but few of them are driven by data. A previous post based on repeated combat simulations and statistical analysis indicated that the Polearm outperformed other community favorites, sometimes by a remarkable margin.
Additionally, the recommendation to use crab armor was challenged and members pointed that other armor types not included in that round of tests would do better.
Other criticism of that group of tests included:

• The tests were only done with level 100 characters which doesn't reflect practical squad composition for normal players
• Very few enemies in Kenshi actually use heavy armor, let alone masterwork armor and it would make more sense to do weapon tests against more representative armor sets
• White Plate and Assassin's rags weren't considered and believed to outperform heavy armor
• The Shek were deemed the most effective race, but it wasn't clear if this was due to a bug in Forgotten Construction Construction set
• Sabres weren't considered at all, in particular for indoor combat
• Robotic limbs were not tested when determining the recommended equipment loadout or how that would affect how a character should be armored

These points were explored in additional testing. Also considered was how squads that were partially composed of crossbows and melee troops performed against pure melee squads.
Materials and Methods
The Forgotten Construction Set (FCS) is the defacto modding tool for Kenshi. Two squads were created and made to compete against each other many times to see if they differed in any significant way. Squads competed until all the members of one squad were knocked out, at which point the winner and loser were recorded. Fischer's Exact Test was then used to see if the results were significant.
Squads
Squads were composed entirely of Greenlander humans (except when explicitly testing other races). The rational for this was Greenlanders have no combat buffs or debuffs and that this would avoid potentially problematic discrepancies in stats that could be attributed to either a defect in FCS or stats so high that they would be utterly impractical to attain.
The stats of each member of the squad were identical in all simulations, with tests being done on squads all at either level 100 or level 50 depending on the test.
When robotic limbs were being considered all members had masterwork KLR arms and legs.
One squad was created as a starter squad which placed all members directly under the players control. The other squad was created in a modded town on the unamed island named "Chi Town", which was composed of a single building. In each new game, the squad in Chi Town would spawn in its building and begin patrolling the area.
Chi Town was set as a hostile faction to the player controlled squad. On a new game the player controlled squad would spawn in Chi Town adjacent to the hostile squad. Despite having hostile faction relations, Chi Town never initiated combat against the player controlled squad, allowing the player squad to have its members positioned in a variety of ways to ensure an even match up. Combat was then initiated by the player after setup.
Squad Size
To avoid a known problem with the AI in which knocked out members would revive mid combat and begin patrolling the town rather than continue fighting, the squad size was limited to 5 on each side for melee tests.
A squad size of 10 was used for each size when crossbows were being tested.
Initiating Combat
Squads were either loaded by a new game or quick load. After this members of the player controlled squad were positioned in such a way that when combat was initiated all opposing squad members would participate in combat at about the same time.
During combat soldiers were knocked unconscious, but frequently regained consciousness mid combat and rejoined the fight. Combat continued until all members of one squad were knocked unconscious.
When testing indoor combat the members of the opposing squad were spawned in a stationhouse. The player controlled squad then entered the building and initiated combat. If at any time battle caused a member to navigate outside the building the test was discarded and a new iteration conducted.
When testing combined arms a purely melee group was compared against a squad with both crossbows and melee members. The purely melee squad was positioned at maximum distance before initiating attack. This enabled the opposing crossbows to fire off multiple volleys in an attempt to give them maximum utility.
Each squad had 10 members. In the case of the combined arms group 5 had melee weapons and 5 had crossbows.
The crossbows used in the experiments were the Eagle's Cross and Junkbow. The rational for this is that the Eagle's Cross has a very high Damage Per Second when used by a level 100 user. However the humble Junkbow was also considered as some assert that it is superior, despite it's comparably weak damage.
When a player is hit by a crossbow bolt they stagger regardless of the amount of damage. Some postulate that the faster rate of fire with the Junkbow causes opponents to stagger enough that a comparatively smaller group of melee fighters can land more attacks. In other words the expectation is that the weak Junkbow would cause victory by stun-locking opponents.
Regular Soldier Testing
When testing combatants at level 50 mid level quality was used for weapons and armor (Catun No. 3). Additionally the armor set used was the standard kit used by Holy Nation Paladins.
It was speculated that more common, representative armor like this might yield different results for weapon testing. In particular, the abysmal performance of the falling sun in previous testing was attributed to it being used against very heavy armor which would prevent it from severing limbs.
Given that Kenshi's combat mechanics focus more on disabling an opponent, the ability to cause amputation may be more important than being able to do more damage. The Holy Nation kit was arbitrarily selected among the 3 major factions, but deemed suitable because the coverage of the Holy Chest plate is low enough to allow for testing amputation while still being high enough to represent what a player would likely encounter during a base raid.
Fischer's Exact Test
Chi-Squared analysis was done using an online calculator located here using a simple 2x2 contingency table. For all tests the default parameters of a two sided tail, 1:1 odds and a 95% confidence interval were used.
Version
Tests were performed on Kenshi 1.0.68

Animal Care Compliance

No bonedogs were harmed over the course of this research.

Data

Elite Soldier Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Crab Helmet
Pants	Samurai Legplates
Shirt	Dark Leather Shirt
Footwear	Wooden Sandals
Robotic Limbs	Masterwork KLR arms & legs
Weapon	Polearm
Level	100
Race	Greenlander

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Crab Armor - Dark Leather shirt vs Chainmail	Dark Leather Shirt	Blackened Chainmail	24:6
Crab Armor vs Samurai Plate w/ Polearms	Crab	Samurai	9:21
Crab Armor vs Samurai Plate w/ Nodachi	Crab + Nodachi	Samurai + Nodachi	3:13
Crab vs White Plate Jacket	Crab	White Plate Jacket	0:30
Crab vs White Plate w/ Nodachi	Crab + Nodachi	White Plate + Nodachi	9:21
Crab vs Assassin's rags	Crab + Blackened Chainmail	Assassin's Rags + Dark Leather Shirt	3:27
White Plate Jacket vs Assassin's rags	White Plate	Assassin's Rags	7:23
White Plate Jacket vs Samurai	White Plate	Samurai	27:3
White Plate Jacket shirtless vs shirt	White Plate [no shirt]	White Plate [Dark Leather Shirt]	14:16
White Plate Armor, Skeleton vs Human	White Plate Skeleton	White Plate Human	25:5

Combined Arms Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Crab Helmet
Pants	Samurai Legplates
Armor	Assassin's Rags
Shirt	Dark Leather Shirt
Footwear	Wooden Sandals
Robotic Limbs	Masterwork KLR arms & legs
Weapon	Polearm
Level	100
Race	Greenlander

Crossbows used a longsword as a sidearm in all cases.

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Polearms vs Polearms + Eagle's Cross	Polearms	Polearm + Eagle's Cross	17:3
Polearms vs Polearms + Junkbow	Polearms	Polearm + Junkbow	20:0

Regular Soldier (L50) Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Bucket Zukin
Pants	Stout Hessian Uniform
Armor	Holy Chest Plate
Shirt	Cloth Shirt
Footwear	Plated Longboots
Robotic Limbs	None
Weapon	Polearm
Level	50
Race	Greenlander

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Polearm vs Falling Sun	Polearms	Falling Sun	26:4
Indoors 5v5- Polearm vs Desert Sabers	Polearms	Desert Sabers	13:17
Indoors 1v1- Polearm vs Desert Sabers	Polearm	Desert Saber	10:20

Results

All heavy armor tested lost substantially to both White Plate & Assassin's Rags. The polearm continued to outperform the falling sun. Desert Sabres either matched the Polearm in performance or outperformed it when micromanaging.
Additionally, the dark leather shirt outperformed blackened chainmail. This bolsters claims that when robotic limbs are used that limb coverage is less important than total damage reduced to the torso and stomach.
The Assassin's Rags were undefeated in any category. It seems that the stat malus of heavy armor is indeed quite significant and likely responsible for consistent losses. But even when put against medium White Plate armor which has very little stat malus the Assassin's Rags continue to dominate; this is likely due to the bonuses to dexterity, combat speed and melee attack that they provide.
When pitted against identically sized squads, combined arm crossbows squads were utterly defeated by monolithic squads armed with Polearms.
Level 100 Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Crab Armor - Dark Leather shirt vs Chainmail	0.0000114	Yes	Dark Leather Shirt

Level 50 Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Polearm vs Falling Sun	< 0.0001	Yes	Polearm
Indoors- 5v5 Polearm vs Desert Sabres	0.4389	No	Neither
Indoors- 1v1 Polearm vs Desert Sabres	0.0194	Yes	Desert Sabre

Combined Arms Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Polearms vs Polearms + Eagle's Cross	< 0.0001	Yes	Pure Polearm Squad
Polearms vs Polearms + Junkbow	N/A	Yes	Pure Polearm Squad

Discussion

Kenshi has a wide variety of equipment and a great deal of complex calculations behind it. Despite that, there exist god-tier equipment that appears to provide little choice or strategy for a player looking to outfit a squad to be competitive.
Using robotic limbs changed the ideal composition for armor. Previous testing with crab armor indicated that Blackened Chain Mail had an edge over the Leather Turtleneck. This was attributed to crab armor only providing 90% coverage which meant that stronger protection for the arms could change the tide of lengthy battles; A disabled arm was an extreme liability.
However the massive HP boost provided by KLR arms seems to be significant enough that additional coverage at the cost of dexterity penalties is a bigger hindrance than help. After HP becomes substantially greater than the heath of the stomach or torso it makes more sense to forgo that protection if it means you can hit faster.
Players are unlikely in the early game to outfit their squad with masterwork KLR arms. During this phase one could speculate over whether to use chainmail or a leather turtleneck over the dark leather shirt. Previous testing indicated that chainmail was better for crab armor users fighting other crab armor users with leather turtlenecks, but that experimentation never considered light or medium armor which was shown here to be more effective regardless.
This challenges the wisdom of using chain armor at all. The use of a shirt can be forgone entirely if the player chooses to use White Plate Jackets. This armor provides 100% coverage for the torso, stomach and arms making a shirt redundant. Given White Plate Jackets outperformed Crab and Samurai armor and is more accessible and affordable it is difficult to justify the decision to use heavy armor at all, let alone chainmail in combination with it. This refutes the conclusion to use Crab armor in previous testing.
Given the outsized impact Assassin's Rags had (presumably due to the status boons) it is probably inadvisable to use chainmail and its debuffs alongside it. The Assassin's Rags provide relatively poor coverage, so a shirt of some kind is likely useful. What the ideal shirt for an Assassin's Rags user without KLR arms would be is unanswered in this study.
The Assassin's Rags provided adequate protection when dealing with ranged opponents. One plausible weakness would be the scant protection they provide against harpoons, which was not tested. Even if they are unparalleled in melee further research should be done to see if a single shot from a harpoon could kill a character using them. If that turns out to be the case then White Plate Jackets would apparently be preferable to any heavy armor.
White Plate Jackets outperformed both Crab and Samurai armor when using Nodachis which deal purely cut damage and have a penalty against armor. This is perplexing because heavy armor appears to have been intended to be the best choice for mitigating cut damage, but the stat malus associated with it causes light armor to be a better choice (at least against the weapons tested in this study).
The Falling Sun continued to yield mediocre results compared to the Polearm. Oddly, the Falling Sun was noticed to cause amputation semi-regularly in the tests against Polearms. Despite this knocking out the Polearm user, the remaining Polearms managed to win most fights anyway and bandage their crippled comrade post victory. While limb loss after battle is fairly devastating, this has limited utility from the players perspective; there isn't a strong need to amputate an enemies limbs because it doesn't matter how you disable your opponent as long as they are disabled. It probably makes more sense to just use the Polearm because it wins way more often.
The Polearm appears unbeatable with very few exceptions. Previous testing indicated the only weapon observed to outperform the Polearm was the Paladin's Cross and that was contingent on using it against skeletons. This research indicates that the Desert Sabre can be more effective than the Polearm indoors, but only if the Sabre user is not subject to the Polearms area of effect damage; i.e., the Sabre has to fight the Polearm one on one which requires micromanagement.
A particular surprise was how the Polearm performed by level 50 users indoors against Desert Sabre users in squads. Here Polearms have a very strong malus and the Sabers have a strong boon. Despite this there wasn't a statistically significant difference between them.
The Polearm did lose against Sabres frequently when forced to fight one on one indoors. From the players perspective this means that defending indoors with Sabres is a viable strategy early to mid game, although attacking grouped NPC Sabres indoors with Polearms is also surprisingly viable.
Enemies that use polearms are typically the most high level squads in the game (e.g., the skeletal legion and southern hive). But these late game squads almost exclusively use polearms themselves. This means a player's late game Polearm squad would not have any disadvantage indoors as both squads would have the same penalty. Furthermore, by the time a player is encountering late game squads like this they've likely leveled up enough to avoid the need to micromanage regardless.
Whether such a niche use case justifies sinking experience into building up the Sabre skill when they could be leveling up the Polearm is a matter for players to decide. It's difficult to pronounce Sabre's categorically superior, particularly when they appear to break even with Polearms when forced to fight in groups indoors.
Crossbows/Polearm hybrid squads turned out to be unviable against pure Polearm squads. Every crossbow simulation ended with unfavorable results when the competing squad invested in a Polearm instead. Crossbows probably would perform better during sieges where they had a benefit of a wall, but a turret would likely be a better option at that point. The Junkbows ability to stunlock evenly sized forces was insufficient. This strategy is probably only viable when many weak characters are fighting a single strong character, assuming it works at all.
The lack of some rock-paper-scissors mechanics in Kenshi limits how the player can think strategically about squad composition. Modding could plausibly create more interesting, balanced relationships between equipment. For example, increasing the damage of weapons like Katanas while simultaneously increasing the penalty against heavy armor could make them a viable alternative to Polearms in many common situations.
The interplay of armor penetration and raw damage could create a better defined role for light, medium and heavy builds. Additionally, crossbows might be enhanced to have a viable role in the field as they do not appear to excel there or behind allied walls where they could use a turret instead.
Overall if a players goal is to outfit a squad for the highest combat potential, the data indicates the choice is mostly linear- outfit the entire squad the same way, preferring Assassin's Rags or White Plate Jackets along with a Polearm or Paladin's Cross (both weapons can be available via a backpack).
As far as choice of character goes, Skeletons were shown to significantly outperform humans despite having no head protection. No comparison was done between the Shek and Skeletons as it currently unsettled whether a Shek can actually achieve a strength of 120 in vanilla Kenshi or if that is a bug in FCS. Regardless, in Vanilla Kenshi it is impractical to obtain very many skeletons at all without modding. The higher health pool of the Shek would likely make them the most accessible, competitive recruits when trying to build a strong military squad. If creating a squad of 30 soldiers it would be unsurprising if the majority of them needed to be Shek.

The Shimmer, I.
Quietly as a mouse, Ian crept through the hallway of his shared flat. He could see the faint bluish glow reaching out from under the crack under his flat mate's door. "One step to the right, two forward, far left," Ian thought to himself. This was the pathway through the creaky hallway so he would not alert his flat mates to his nightly escapes.
"It’s not that they would care," he deliberated to himself, "but knowing me, I'm definitely not sneaking a girl in here," and Ian didn’t want to have to explain that his nightly trips had nothing to do with booze, girls, or anything his flat mates would really understand.
No. Ian was on his way for the umpteenth time, to the campus apiary.
He had gotten quite good at sneaking through campus without being spotted. A near run-in with campus security on his first trip, and Ian quickly found out that black was the optimal color to wear when sneaking about, and his knees had now grown accustomed to the frequent crouching he would be taxed with, in order to earn his nightly prize.
The apiary was no short trip from his flat. It was situated far from the main campus on the outskirts of the property lines to the east of the lake and in the heart of a small clearing; a gateway to the 120 acres of forest that stood ominous and ancient behind it.
Finally outside, Ian closed the front door without making a sound, slowly allowing the doorknob to reset into the locked position. The warm, late summer air greeted him, tinged with the early crispness of fall. "Perhaps a sweater next time," he said to himself, making a mental note, and off he went along his well trotted path to the guardians of the forest.
The apiary tool shed housed the bee suits and Ian expertly slipped into his, his caution heightened, aware that he now stood out against the dark night, as an eerie white shadow against a canopy of darkness. He took careful steps to ensure he would not disturb any of the other winged residents on his way to the old trees at the edge of the forest, where he first witnessed it - the otherworldly shimmer of the great honeybees.
Noone knew this but Ian, because typically honeybees follow a normal circadian rhythm just like their mammalian counterparts - awake by day and asleep by night. But this hive was different. Ian had sensed it the moment his eyes locked upon it the day the beekeeper introduced his new obsession to him. These bees did not sleep by night. They were just as alive in the pale and quiet moonlight, as they were during the heat and busyness of the day. As he approached, he felt the bees could sense his presence, and to Ian, something extraordinary. As he slowly approached the great hive, he was greeted with a slow, deliberate shimmer, one that seemed to say, "Greetings, friend."
Ian slowly crouched and bowed his head, keeping his eyes locked onto the great hive, which seemed to respond to his gesture. As he gazed upon it, his heartbeat increased, he could feel the blood rushing through his ear as he tried to remain perfectly still, determined to not break his almost motionless position. Then, a new shimmer rippled out from the center of the hive, one that pulsed rapidly outward, as if the hive were becoming more alert. Ian knew that his was the sign he needed - permission. Ian kept himself low and ever so slowly, moved toward the almost inaudible pulse of the buzzing, until he was directly beneath the behemoth branch itself that the great hive loomed from.
Underneath the ancient arms stretched out toward the horizons, Ian places his back against the wide trunk of the great oak tree and slowly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, allowing the low pulsing to enter his senses, lulling him into a state of calm he had never known before.
"Hello, Ian," said an insect-like voice inside his head.
Stay Tuned - The Shimmer, III.

Quietly as a mouse, Ian crept through the hallway of his shared flat. He could see the faint bluish glow reaching out from under the crack under his flat mate's door. "One step to the right, two forward, far left," Ian thought to himself. This was the pathway through the creaky hallway so he would not alert his flat mates to his nightly escapes.
"It’s not that they would care," he deliberated to himself, "but knowing me, I'm definitely not sneaking a girl in here," and Ian didn’t want to have to explain that his nightly trips had nothing to do with booze, girls, or anything his flat mates would really understand.
No. Ian was on his way for the umpteenth time, to the campus apiary.
He had gotten quite good at sneaking through campus without being spotted. A near run-in with campus security on his first trip, and Ian quickly found out that black was the optimal color to wear when sneaking about, and his knees had now grown accustomed to the frequent crouching he would be taxed with, in order to earn his nightly prize.
The apiary was no short trip from his flat. It was situated far from the main campus on the outskirts of the property lines to the east of the lake and in the heart of a small clearing; a gateway to the 120 acres of forest that stood ominous and ancient behind it.
Finally outside, Ian closed the front door without making a sound, slowly allowing the doorknob to reset into the locked position. The warm, late summer air greeted him, tinged with the early crispness of fall. "Perhaps a sweater next time," he said to himself, making a mental note, and off he went along his well trotted path to the guardians of the forest.
The apiary tool shed housed the bee suits and Ian expertly slipped into his, his caution heightened, aware that he now stood out against the dark night, as an eerie white shadow against a canopy of darkness. He took careful steps to ensure he would not disturb any of the other winged residents on his way to the old trees at the edge of the forest, where he first witnessed it - the otherworldly shimmer of the great honeybees.
Noone knew this but Ian, because typically honeybees follow a normal circadian rhythm just like their mammalian counterparts - awake by day and asleep by night. But this hive was different. Ian had sensed it the moment his eyes locked upon it the day the beekeeper introduced his new obsession to him. These bees did not sleep by night. They were just as alive in the pale and quiet moonlight, as they were during the heat and busyness of the day. As he approached, he felt the bees could sense his presence, and to Ian, something extraordinary. As he slowly approached the great hive, he was greeting with a slow, deliberate shimmer, one that seemed to say, "Greetings, friend."
Ian slowly crouched and bowed his head, keeping his eyes locked onto the great hive, which seemed to respond to his gesture. As he gazed upon it, his heartbeat increased, he could feel the blood rushing through his ear as he tried to remain perfectly still, determined to not break his almost motionless position. Then, a new shimmer rippled out from the center of the hive, one that pulsed rapidly outward, as if the hive were becoming more alert. Ian knew that his was the sign he needed - permission. Ian kept himself low and ever so slowly, moved toward the almost inaudible pulse of the buzzing, until he was directly beneath the behemoth branch itself that the great hive loomed from.
Underneath the ancient arms stretched out toward the horizons, Ian places his back against the wide trunk of the great oak tree and slowly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, allowing the low pulsing to enter his senses, lulling him into a state of calm he had never known before.
"Hello, Ian," said an insect-like voice inside his head.
Stay Tuned - The Shimmer, III.

Hey everyone,
I'm an 18-year-old guy, and I've been thinking a lot lately about the way our society and economic systems are structured, and I can't help but feel like we're being scammed. Hear me out:

1. Education System: We're told to spend years in school, accumulating massive debt, with no guarantee of a job that pays enough to cover that debt. Is the education system setting us up for success or for financial enslavement?
2. Job Market: Many people work long hours in jobs they don't like, with little to no job security, just to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the wealth gap keeps growing, and it seems like the system is designed to benefit a select few.
3. Housing Market: The dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly unattainable for many, with sky-high prices and interest rates. Are we being set up to be lifetime renters, funneling our hard-earned money into someone else's pocket?
4. Healthcare System: In many countries, healthcare is a massive financial burden. People go bankrupt over medical bills, and it seems like the system prioritizes profit over people's well-being.
5. Government and Taxes: We're taxed heavily, yet essential services like infrastructure, education, and healthcare are often underfunded. Are our taxes being used effectively, or are they lining the pockets of the wealthy and powerful?
6. Investment and Savings: Traditional investment vehicles often have high fees and low returns for the average person, while the wealthy have access to more lucrative opportunities. Are we being scammed out of our financial growth?

I know these are broad strokes, and there are many nuances to each issue, but it feels like the system is rigged against the average person. As someone who's just starting out in life, I don't want to be stuck in this system my entire life.
I'm reaching out to older folks here who have more life experience—what advice do you have for someone like me? How can I find an alternative path to avoid being trapped in this system? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.

I'm playing fifa 23 career on max difficulty in everything - strict transfer policies, refereeing and handballs allowed (which are ridiculous). Now in 2027 and:

1. I keep finishing the season with $500m+ everytime with no one to spend on. I normally like to go on business mode with some homegrown talent transfers and buying up underrated players or free agents. Ending the season on a $500m gives me like $275m for next season and its repeat all over again.
   
2. Low table PL teams offer ridiculous amounts of money for my key players. Wolves just offered me $273m for 93 rated diogo jota (fancy reunion). Leicester have assembled a super team with at least 3 90+ rated $200m+ transfers like valverde.
   
3. Your own players market values cross $350m which absolutely no one will pay, so I'm forced to sell them at lower rates to recycle new players and keep it "fun".
   

I wanted it to be very restrictive so it tests my business skill. But alas. To make it harder I just impose self rules now, like playing my youth team in a UCL semi final and only scoring from distance. Lost 5-1 to dortmund the other day. That was fun.

i use arduino uno to send signals to stepper motor controller tb6600 my arduino code is:
#define stepPin 5
#define dirPin 2
#define enPin 8
#define stepsperrev 200
void setup() {
pinMode(stepPin,OUTPUT);
pinMode(dirPin,OUTPUT);
pinMode(enPin,OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(enPin,LOW);
}
void loop() {
for(int x = 0; x < stepsperrev; x++) {
digitalWrite(dirPin,HIGH);
digitalWrite(stepPin,HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(1000);
digitalWrite(stepPin,LOW);
delayMicroseconds(1000);
}
}
The issue iam having is weird my tb6600 is set to S1 S2 ON S3 off and S4 S5 ON S6 off so that is 200 pulse/rev and 1.5 1.7 A current my stepper motor vibrates like crazy not moving at all when in change the delay in the loop it just makes high pitched noise i tried to change to 1.0 1.2 A current but it didn't help i tried to adjust pulse/rev value but noting i can sort of get it to spin but it goes like few steps forward and the back few then gets stuck and continues.
Any tips ? my stepper motor is 42-40 creality 3d from enedr 3 Stepper used to extrude filament.

Strictly versus light targets it's not terrible, but I cannot justify using the damn thing if I don't bring a supply pack. I always hear "It has like no recoil in semi" "use burst fire", or "tap fire it". If I have a bullet hose that has the lowest damage in the game, I'm not going to put it in semi or burst because it won't kill consistently in one to three shots even with a weak point. The Knight is most controllable in sustained bursts, you'll "max" out your recoil and can rope your target with adjusting off your traces or impacts.
It's clearly inspired by the P90 and if anything would suit the role of the Liberator Penetrator damage profile with a light weight armor piercing caliber. This would by no means make it much better with how post pen damage/durable damage work, but it would at least add some flavor to the firearm other than "smg go brrrrrt". It also doesn't have the cruch of having critical break points since it's a bullet hose so I don't think just upping the damage would really solve things. I'd love to see the recoil reduced since they already have a pistol in game with the same damage, similar rate of Fire, but less recoil; when the smg is stocked and braced into your shoulder recoils more. I don't want them to perform the Defender, but they insist they want firearms to be realistic, but a higher caliber round SMG does more damage having less recoil is stupid, it's slow rate of fire should be the reason it's controllable, not the recoil stat. The Knight shouldn't have high recoil because it's identity is a bullet hose, if it has low damage ie caliber, it should have low recoil, but the INSANE rate of Fire should be what makes it a high recoil bullet hose.
Genuinely curious what people think could help this thing out. I personally just lean into making it a P90, should be light recoiling, medium 1 pen, he'll keep the damage, but give it more range (damage falloff not projectile speed, it already moves faster, but damage falloff is a pain for this thing) over the other 9mm/45acp inspired pistols and SMGs. Ammo consumption it should at least have 8 mags to keep up, but in my opinion with its current state otherwise untouched it NEEDS 10. It's a primary, not a support weapon so I'd rather see it not just get ammo economy buffs, but rather something worth using where yeah, you have a badass Super P90 bullet hose, but you'll go dry if you don't avoid fighting everything you see with long ropes of liberty.

So I’m flying an A rated Cobra with some D rated modules for weight (no engineering yet) and I’m struggling when fighting Vultures or FDL in Competent difficulty.
Specifically the Vultures turn into a jousting match, however they seem to turn faster than me and get more time to hit me than I do them, or sometimes even keeping out of my sight as I try to turn around (even with FA off).
Before scratching it up to the vulture just being more agile and trying to compensate with engineering I wanted to know, is there a specific way I can do tighter turns, or should I be doing something entirely different?
To turn 180 I try to stay on the low end of my blue zone, turn around then boost while engaging vertical thrusters to “squeeze” the turn a bit tighter. In FA off i just pitch around and fly backwards for a bit, but even then sometimes the vulture manages to stay out of my FOV. Is my logic wrong?