AI has long been discussed in rationalist circles. There’s been a lot of focus on risks from artificial intelligence (particularly the idea that it might cause human extinction), but also the idea that artificial general intelligence might happen quite soon and subsequently transform society (e.g. supercharging economic growth in a technological singularity).
I’ve long found these arguments intriguing, and probably underrated by the public as a whole. I definitely don’t align myself with people like Steven Pinker who dismiss AI concerns entirely.
Nonetheless, I’ve noticed increasingly high confidence in beliefs of near-term transformative AI among rationalists. To be fair, it’s reasonable to update somewhat given recent advances like GPT-4. But among many, there is a belief that AI advances are the single most important thing happening right now. And among a minority, there are people with very extreme beliefs - such as quite high confidence that transformative AI is just a few years away, and/or that AI is very likely to kill us all.
My core arguments in this post are that firstly, from an “epistemic humility” or “outside view” perspective, we should be suspicious of confident views that the world is soon going to end (or change radically).
Secondly, the implications of the most radical views could cause people who hold them to inflict significant harm on themselves or others.

Who Believes In “AI imminence”?

The single person I am most specifically critiquing is Eliezer Yudkowsky. Yudkowsky appears unwilling to give specific probabilities but writings like “Death With Dignity” has caused many including Scott Alexander to characterise him as believing that AI has a >90% chance of causing human extinction)
As a very prominent and very “doomy” rationalist, I worry that he may have convinced a fair number of people to share similar views, views which if taken seriously could hold its holders to feel depressed and/or make costly irrevocable decisions.
But though I think Yudkowsky deserves the most scrutiny, I don’t want to focus entirely on him.
Take Scott Alexander - he frames himself in the aforementioned link as “not as much of a doomer as some people”, yet gave a 33% probability (later adjusted downwards as a result of outside view considerations like those I raise in here) to “only” ~20%. While this leaves enough room for hope that it’s not as potentially dangerous a view as Yudkowsky’s, I agree with how the top Reddit comment in the original post said:

Is AI risk the only field where someone can write an article about how they’re not (much) of a doomer when they think that the risk of catastrophe/disasteextinction is 33%?

Beyond merely AI risk, claims about “transformative AI” date back to ideas about the “intelligent explosion” or “singularity” that are most popularly associated with Ray Kurzweil. A modern representation of this is Tom Davidson of Open Philanthropy, who wrote a report on takeoff speeds.
Other examples can be seen in (pseudo-)prediction markets popular with rationalists, such as Metaculus putting the median date of AGI at 2032, and Manifold Markets having a 17% chance of AI doom by 2100 (down from its peak of around 50% (!) in mid-2023).

Why Am I Sceptical?

My primary case for (moderate) scepticism is not about the object-level arguments around AI, but appealing to the “outside view”. My main arguments are:

• Superforecasters and financial markets are not giving high credence to transformative AI. Both groups have good track records, so we should strongly consider deferring to their views.
  
• The transformative AI argument is "fishy" (to borrow Will MacAskill’s argument against “The Most Important Century”). It implies that not only we are at an unusually pivotal time in history (perhaps the most important decade, let alone century), but that consequently, rationalists are perhaps the most important prophets in history. When your claims are that extraordinary, it seems much more likely that they're mistaken.
  
• The “inside view” arguments do not seem very robust to me. That is, they are highly speculative arguments that are primarily discussed among an insular group of people in usually relatively informal settings. I think you should be wary of any argument that emerges via this process, even if you can’t point to any specific way in which they are wrong.
  

Why I’m Against Highly Immodest Epistemology

However, maybe appealing to the “outside view” is incorrect? Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote a book, Inadequate Equiibria, which in large part argued against what he saw as excessive use of the “outside view”. He advises:

Try to spend most of your time thinking about the object level. If you’re spending more of your time thinking about your own reasoning ability and competence than you spend thinking about Japan’s interest rates and NGDP, or competing omega-6 vs. omega-3 metabolic pathways, you’re taking your eye off the ball.

I think Yudkowsky makes a fair point about being excessively modest. If you are forever doubting your own reasoning to the extent that you think you should defer to the majority of Americans who are creationists, you’ve gone too far.
But I think his case is increasingly weak the more radically immodest your views here. I’ll explain with the following analogy:
Suppose you were talking to someone who was highly confident in their new business idea. What is an appropriate use of a “modesty” argument cautioning against overconfidence?
A strong-form modesty argument would go something like “No new business idea could work, because if it could, someone would already have done it”. This is refuted by countless real-world examples, and I don’t think anyone actually believes in strong-form modesty.
A moderate-form modesty argument would go something like “Some new business ideas work, but most fail, even when their founders were quite confident in them. As an aspiring entrepreneur, you should think your chances of success in your new venture are similar to those of the reference class of aspiring entrepreneurs”.
The arguments against epistemic modesty in Inadequate Equilibria are mainly targeted against reasoning like this. And I think here there’s a case where we can have reasonable disagreement about the appropriate level of modesty. You may have some good reasons to believe that your idea is unusually good or that you are unusually likely to succeed as an entrepreneur. (Though a caveat: with too many degrees of freedom, I think you run the risk of leading yourself to whatever conclusion you like).
For the weak-form modesty argument, let’s further specify that your aspiring entrepreneur’s claim was “I’m over 90% confident that my business will make me the richest person in the world”.
To such a person, I would say: “Your claim is so incredibly unlikely a priori and so self-aggrandising that I feel comfortable in saying you’re overconfident without even needing to consider your arguments”.
That is basically what I feel about Eliezer Yudwosky and AI.
Let’s take a minute to consider what the implications are if Yudkowsky is correctly calibrated about his beliefs in AI. For a long time, he was one of the few people in the world to be seriously concerned about it, and even now, with many more people concerned about AI risk, he stands out as having some of the highest confidence in doom.
If he’s right, then he’s arguably the most important prophet in history. Countless people throughout history have tried forecasting boon or bust (and almost always been wrong). But on arguably the most important question in human history - when we will go extinct and why - Yudkowsky was among the very few people to see it and easily the most forceful.
Indeed, I’d say this is a much more immodest claim than claiming your business idea will make you the richest person in the world. The title of the richest person in the world has been shared by numerous people throughout history, but “the most accurate prophet of human extinction” is a title that can only ever be held by one person.
I think Scott Alexander’s essay Epistemic Learned Helplessness teaches a good lesson here. Argument convincingness isn’t necessarily strongly correlated with the truth of a claim. If someone gives you what appears to be a strong argument for something that appears crazy, you should nonetheless remain highly sceptical.
Yet I feel like Yudkowsky wants to appeal to “argument convincingness” because that’s what he’s good at. He has spent decades honing his skills arguing on the internet, and much less at acquiring traditional credentials and prestige. “Thinking on the object level” sounds like it’s about being serious and truth-seeking, but I think in practice it’s about privileging convincing-sounding arguments and being a good internet debater above all other evidence.
A further concern I have about “argument convincingness” for AI is that there’s almost certainly a large “motivation gap” in favour of the production of pro-AI-risk arguments compared to anti-AI-risk arguments, with the worriers spending considerably more time and effort than the detractors. As Philip Trammel points out in his post “But Have They Engaged with The Arguments?, this is true of almost any relatively fringe position. This can make the apparent balance of “argumentative evidence” misleading in those cases, with AI no exception.
Finally, Yudkowsky’s case for immodesty depends partly on alleging he has a good track record of applying immodesty to “beat the experts”. But his main examples (a lightbox experiment and the monetary policy of the Bank of Japan) I don’t find that impressive given he could cherry-pick. Here’s an article alleging that Yudkowsky’s predictions have frequently between egregiously wrong and here’s another arguing that his Bank of Japan position in particular didn’t ultimately pan out.

Why I’m Also Sceptical of Moderately Immodest Epistemology

I think high-confidence predictions of doom (or utopia) are much more problematic than relatively moderate views - they are more likely to be wrong, and if taken seriously, more strongly imply that the believer should consider making radical, probably harmful life changes.
But I do still worry that the ability to contrast with super confident people like Yudkowsky lets the “not a total doomer” people off the hook a little too easily. I think it’s admirable that Scott Alexander seriously grappled with the fact that superforecasters disagreed with him and updated downwards based on that observation.
Still, let’s revisit the “aspiring entrepreneur” analogy - imagine they had instead said: “You know what, I’ve listened to your claims about modesty and agree that I’ve been overconfident. I now think there’s only a 20% chance that my business idea will make me the richest person in the world”.
Sure - they’ve moved in the right direction, but it’s easy to see that they’re still not doing modesty very well.
An anti-anti-AI risk argument Scott made (in MR Tries the Safe Uncertainly Fallacy) is that appealing to base rates leaves you vulnerable to “reference class tennis” where both sides can appeal to different reference classes, and the “only winning move is not to play”.
Yet in the case of our aspiring entrepreneur, I think the base rate argument of “extremely few people can become the richest person in the world” is very robust. If the entrepreneur tried to counter with “But I can come up with all sorts of other reference classes in which I come out more favourably! Reference class tennis! Engage with my object-level arguments!”, it would not be reasonable to throw up your hands and say “Well, I can’t come up with good counterarguments, so I guess you probably do have a 20% chance of becoming the richest person in the world then”.
I contend that “many people have predicted the end of the world and they’ve all been wrong” is another highly robust reference class. Yes, you can protest about “anthropic effects” or reasons why “this time is different”. And maybe the reasons why “this time is different” are indeed a lot better than usual. Still, I contend that you should start from a prior of overwhelming skepticism and only make small updates based on arguments you read. You should not go “I read these essays with convincing arguments about how we’re all going to die, I guess I just believe that now”.

What Should We Make Of Surveys Of AI Experts?

Surveys done of AI experts, as well as opinions of well-regarded experts like Geoffrey Hinton and Stewart Russell, have shown significant concerns about AI risk (example).
I think this is good evidence for taking AI risk seriously. One important thing it does is raise AI risk out of the reference class of garden-variety doomsday predictions/crazy-sounding theories that have no expert backing.
However, I think it’s still only moderately good evidence.
Firstly, I think we should not consider it as an “expert consensus” nearly as strong as say, the expert consensus on climate change. There is nothing like an IPCC for AI, for example. This is not a mature, academically rigorous field. I don’t think we should update too strongly from AI experts spending a few minutes filling in a survey. (See for instance this comment about the survey, showing how non-robust the answers given are, indicating the responders aren’t thinking super hard about the questions).
Secondly, I believe forecasting AI risk is a multi-disciplinary skill. Consider for instance asking physicists to predict the chances of human extinction due to nuclear war in the 1930s. They would have an advantage in predicting nuclear capabilities, but after nuclear weapons were developed, the reasons we haven’t had a nuclear war yet have much more to do with international relations than nuclear physics.
And maybe AGI is so radically different from the AI that exists today that perhaps asking AI researchers now about AI risk might have been like asking 19th-century musket manufacturers about the risk from a hypothetical future “super weapon”.
I think an instructive analogy were the failed neo-Malthusian predictions of the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Population Bomb or The Limits to Growth. Although I’m unable to find clear evidence of this, my impression is that these beliefs were quite mainstream among the most “obvious” expert class of biologists (The Population Bomb author Paul Ehlrich had a PhD in biology), and the primary critics tended to be in other fields like economics (most notably Julian Simon). Biologists had insights, but they also had blind spots. Any “expert survey” that only interviewed biologists would have missed crucial insights from other disciplines.

What Are The Potential Consequences Of Overconfidence?

People have overconfident beliefs all the time. Some people erroneously thought Hillary Clinton was ~99% likely to win the 2016 Presidential election. Does it matter that much if they’re overconfident about AI?
Well, suppose you were overconfident about Clinton. You probably didn’t do anything differently in your life, and the only real cost of your overconfidence was being unusually surprised on election day 2016. Even one of the people who was that confident in Clinton didn’t suffer any worse consequences than eating a bug on national television.
But take someone who is ~90% confident that AI will radically transform or destroy society (“singularity or extinction by 2040") and seriously acts like it.
Given that, it seems apparently reasonable to be much more short-term focused. You might choose to stop saving for retirement. You might forgo education on the basis that it will be obsolete soon. These are actions that some people have previously taken, are considering taking or are actually taking because of expectations of AI progress.
At a societal level, high confidence in short-term transformative AI implies that almost all non-AI related long-term planning that humanity does is probably a waste. The most notable example would be climate change. If AI either kills us or radically speeds up scientific and economic growth by the middle of the century, then it seems pretty stupid to be worrying about climate change. Indeed, we’re probably underconsuming fossil fuels that could be used to improve the lives of people right now.
At its worst, there is the possibility of AI-risk-motivated terrorism. Here’s a twitter thread from Emil Torres talking about this, noticeably this tweet in particular about minutes from an AI safety workshop “sending bombs” to OpenAI and DeepMind.
To be fair, I think it’s highly likely the people writing that were trolling. Still - if you’re a cold-blooded utilitarian bullet-biter with short timelines and high p(doom), I could easily see you rationalising such actions.
I want to be super careful about this - I don’t want to come across as claiming that terrorism is a particularly likely consequence of “AI dooming”, nor do I want to risk raising the probability of it by discussing it too much and planting the seed of it in someone’s head. But a community that takes small risks seriously should be cognizant of the possibility. This is a concern that I think anyone with a large audience and relatively extreme views (about AI or anything) should take into account.

Conclusion

This post has been kicking around in draft form since around the release of GPT-4 a year ago. At that time, there were a lot of breathless takes on Twitter about how AGI was just around the corner, Yudkowsy was appearing on a lot of podcasts saying we were all going to die, and I started to feel like lots of people had gone a bit far off on the deep end.
Since then I feel there’s a little bit of a vibe shift away from the most extreme scenarios (as exhibited in the Manifold extinction markets), as well as me personally probably overestimating how many people ever believed in them. I’ve found it hard to try to properly articulate the message: “You’re probably directionally correct relative to society as a whole, but some unspecified number of you have probably gone too far”.
Nonetheless, my main takeaways are:

• Eliezer Yudkowsky (these days) is probably causing harm, and people with moderate concerns about AI should distance themselves from him. Espousing views that we are all likely to die from AI should not be tolerated as a merely strong opinion, but as something that can cause meaningful harm to people who believe it. I feel this might actually be happening to some degree (I think it’s notable that e.g. the 80,000 Hours podcast has never interviewed him, despite interviewing plenty of other AI-risk-concerned people). But I would like to see more of a “Sister Souljah moment” where e.g. a prominent EA thought leader explicitly disavows him.
  
• Yudkowsky being the worst offender doesn't let everyone else off the hook. For instance, I think Scott Alexander is much better at taking modesty seriously, yet I don't think he takes it seriously enough.
  
• We should be generally suspicious of arguments for crazy-sounding things. I have not only become more suspicious of arguments about AI, but also other arguments relatively popular in rationalist or EA circles, but not so much outside it (think certain types of utilitarian arguments that imply that e.g. maybe insect welfare or the long-term future outweighs everything else). I appreciate that they might say something worth considering, and perhaps weak-form versions of them could be reasonable. But the heuristic of “You probably haven’t found the single most important thing ever” is something I think should be given more weight.
  

I have said that Heimdallr has no certain etymology for -dallr, but since heim- is certain, “lord of the world” is a possibility that arises from seeing that metathesis of *mw (since Pw is usually not allowed in IE) might exist in a sequence :
​
*xaimi-walda-z > *xaim-walda-z > *xaim-dalwa-z > ON Heimdallr
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with the same optional changes to *lw in Latin :
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*solwo- > L. salvus ‘unharmed/safe/sound’, OL sollus, Skt. sárva- ‘whole/all’
*palwo- / *pelwo- > OE f(e)alo ‘yellow’, Li. palvas ‘light yellow (reddish/brownish)’, L. fulvus ‘deep yellow / gold’
*pal(i)wo- / *pel(i)wo- / *pol(i)wo- > G. poliós ‘grey’, peliós ‘livid’, pellós ‘dark’, L. pullus ‘dark’, pallidus ‘pale’
*mulwo- > Li. mulvas ‘reddish / yellowish’, L. mullus ‘red mullet’, mulleus ‘reddish/purple shoe worn by 3 highest magistrates’
​
which might be related to optional alternation of Gmc. *gW / *gw / *w, since the same in :
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*dwi-dhogWhlo- ‘half-light’ > OIr. dedól ‘dawn/twilight’
*dhogWhlo- > *dalwa- > *dall-inga-z > Dellingr ‘god of dawn?’
​
Now, new evidence of this has come to my knowledge, showing that Gmc. *dalwa-z did exist. Crimean Gothic Ingdolou, with the odd cluster -ngd-, must be a compound. Since the name Ing is well-established in Gmc., no other reasonable optiona exists. Since Ing was also called *Frauja-z ( > Freyr ) ‘lord’, a name ‘Lord Ing’ seems to fit. Since *-wV became -w (pronounced -u after consonants) in Gothic, the same (with metathesis of *ww like *mw) in :
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*ingwa-walda- > *ingw-walda- > *ingw-dalwa- > *ingw-dalw > *ingw-dalu > Ingdolou
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This is presumably the vocative form, with *a > o (as in others, dorbiza ~ þarba, hoem- ~ *xaim-) and ou used for [u] (the writer was Flemish). This much metathesis, seen twice, is much less than needed in other words of certain meaning :
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Go. ga-hveitjan ‘to whiten’, Crim. *ga-xwit-ta- ‘whitened’ > wixtgata = vvichtgata ‘white’
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Crimean Gothic already shows some changes that might make it impossible to be directly derived from Gothic (see likely *-amiz > *-ems > -emsch below). That they retained the name of a prominent Gmc. god, toasted to him and asked for his protection, makes it likely they were a group of non-Christianized Goths (at the time of the Christianization of most Goths; their later history unknown).
​
​
The name Ingdolou is seen in the drinking song :
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Wara Wara ingdolou / Seu te gira Galizou / Hoemisclep dorbi za ea
Wara Wara ingdolou / Sen te gira Galizou / Hoemis clep dorbiza es (word boundaries, 2 errors due to poor printing or other mistakes)
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guard (us), guard (us), Lord Ing; without you, hunger grows, and the village food is less
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​
Hoemis ‘of the village’, Gmc. gen. *xaimisa
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es ‘is’ < *isti < *Hesti
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sen, L. sine ‘without’
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te < PIE *t(w)e(H), here -te / *-þe is probably the clitic for all cases of ‘thou’, with n-þ > n-t (similar to OE)
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Galiz-ou, Go. -uh ‘and’
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Galiz-ou, Go. ga-lisan ‘gather / collect’ ( > accumulate / increase / grow )
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dorbiza ‘more lacking / less’, Go. þarba ‘lack / need’, þarbs ‘needy / necessary’
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clep < *xlep < Gmc. *xlaiba- ‘bread’, Go. hlaib-
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wara ‘guard / protect’, ward- (rd > r like -d > 0 as in broe ‘bread’)
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gira < *girdag, Go. grédags ‘hungry’, grédus ‘hunger / greed’ (rd > r like -d > 0 as in broe ‘bread’)
​
​
This song has been considered untranslatable, not Gmc., or even Turkic. Its nature is very clear, and only by ignoring sound changes from obvious cognates (-d > 0 as in broe ‘bread’) and emending them into nonexistence (Stearns 1978) have the other cognates that also lost *d been left unseen. Since so many Crimean Gothic words are almost exactly like other Gmc. cognates, the trouble linguists have had finding any matches for the words in this song must show that some sound changes existed but were ignored. In the same way, the toast :
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kilemschkop ‘drain the cup’ < *kwilami(z) (sa(n)) kupan ‘let’s down/finish (this) cup’ (*gWelH- > Gmc. *kwil- ‘die / end / fall / set’)
​
seems to show that *s > š by C (*windaz > wintch ‘wind’, schvvester ‘sister’) either applies to *-miz > *-ms > msch or that *so > *sa became a clitic s- before words (with analogy, since *t- existed in non-nominative forms; compare likely analogy in -te above). Some analysis is made less precise since many sounds seem to be in the process of devoicing (*wira-z ‘man’ > fers), but many old languages show irregular variation (or due to dialects), so this is not a reason to give up and say it’s impossible from the start. Without taking the evidence as primary, and undestanding which sound changes to apply, no progress can be made. Manaster Ramer’s (2024) refusal to even see -kop as ‘cup’ when the translation is so clear makes little sense, and only continues a lack of reasonable analysis of even slightly difficult Crimean Gothic words.
​
​
Busbecq, A. G. (printed 1740, 1995, 2000)
http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/germ/got/krimgot/krimg.htm
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Manaster Ramer, Alexis (2024, 2nd draft) Bay Mir Zestu Oys Vi a Germanishe: Crimean Gothic Connected Speech (A Toast and A Drinking Song)
https://www.academia.edu/119269732
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Stearns, MacDonald (1978) Crimean gothic : analysis and etymology of the corpus
https://archive.org/details/crimeangothicana0000stea
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Whalen, Sean (2023) Latin lūculentus, opulentus, violent-, vehement-
https://www.reddit.com/etymology/comments/zzfsx3/latin_l%C5%ABculentus_opulentus_violent_vehement/
​

I've been working on a personal project where a supramundane shell planet about the size of Saturn is seeded during the early Miocene. In the modern day there are now many isolated pockets of unique life on this enormous planet that I have fleshed out.
One of them is a basin in the middle of a desert that occupies the interior of a hypercontinental landmass. It is tens of thousands of km from the nearest coastline of the Greater Panthallassic, and was dry during the seeding event. Over millions of years of climactic change, rains and meltwater from mountain ranges surrounding the basin filled it with a volume of water comparable to the Mediterranean. It is analogous to a huge Caspian Sea in terms of salinity, depth, and surrounding environment (however, the Caspian was connected to the rest of the global ocean quite recently). Think of it like a reverse island.
For some reason I'm having trouble really picturing how an environment like this would be colonized over time. I'm assuming that the early stages would be filled with algae blooms and explosions in population for small invertebrates with no predators. Is it even plausible for fish to somehow reach this body of water even if it is surrounded by impassable true desert? As in the desert is larger than the entire surface area of Earth. Maybe as eggs stuck to migratory birds?
After this, what do you think would be the first clades to fill vacant aquatic niches? Birds would of course be the first to reach it and probably exploit the abundant food. The desert surrounding the region is vast and inhospitable but I'm sure that animals analogous to camels, fennec fox, jerboas, etc as well as reptiles could eventually reach it as well. Which of these do you think would be best suited to adapt to the new environment and diversify?

Sometimes you hear about businessmen travelling just to sign contracts to become a client… The underlying reason is some companies/services don’t provide or typically reply to requests or phone calls from peoples they don’t know : if you want to become a client or even just get more information about their offer, you need to go see them in person ! And where nobody in the world will provide an alternative service…
Well, in details outside China, all ꜰᴘɢᴀ as a service providers only provide old electrical power stripped U250 boards from 2017. Except for 1 company called https://vmaccel.com but where you’d have to be very lucky in order to get a reply from their contact form or any email/any form of online communication in general.
So in exchange for a few bucks when the office is open (they mostly work remotely most of the time), I’d like to ask if they rent ᴀɢɪ040 based boards or if it’s possible to rent spare capacity at a reduced price like Microsoft or Amazon does with their technically outdated offers. In all cases, they are far better than them so I need to open account credentials as a student ! (I have a degree which is analog electronics oriented so I know how thermal analyse manually when designing circuits in order to not fry their hardware as there are no overheat protections on ꜰᴘɢᴀs).
Or at least to know why they stopped replying to me. Of course, I recognize proposing a cloud computing service that can be accessed only by walking into their office first is rather weird… But I’m not the 1 to blame for such a behavior.

[FIRST][LAST]
Atlantis Commission
Officer Report - Lieutenant Colonel John Shepard
CLEARANCE LEVEL 5
Well this had definitely been a very interesting couple of hours. This dimension and its people had very odd opinions and ideas. Apparently the prey species of this dimension were all obligate cowards, whose instincts compelled them to be non-violent and run from threats. At least according to themselves. There were apparently some of them who were “predator diseased” as they called it, a disease which often resulted in increased violence, aggression, lack of empathy, and unheard like behavior. It sounded to me like some form of infectious psychopathy, but the venlil assured us it shouldn't affect us since we were predators, which didn’t really ease my fears, but hopefully it was something we could figure out when we got home if it ever became a problem.
Gotta love mandatory quarantine periods woo hoo!
As scary as this odd disease sounded, my main concern at the moment was to try and turn a professed coward into someone who could at the very least defend themselves.
I looked down to the table of gear ahead of me and then over to the mostly naked Venlil to my side, and then even farther to Tiel’c who thought It would be a good idea to help oversee Farva’s rapid fire training course. I fiddled with the bluetooth earpiece which was rigged up to one of our handhelds to run a translation program to speak directly with the captain. A big step up from our unknowingly one sided communications earlier.
I stepped on the other side of the plastic table and placed my hands down upon it and looked on at my new student..
“Welcome Captain Farva to our very impromptu accelerated course on Human arms armor and basic infantry tactics.” I said gesturing to the hodge podge gear we had managed to assemble for the good captain. “Are we ready to begin?”.
She flicked her ears, somewhat nervously by the looks.
“I’d take it that's a yes then?”
“Oh yes sorry”
“Alright then, well given that most of our crew is human and the only other alien struts around naked all the time, the only gear we have on hand is for humans, So you're going to be running size smalls and it's all going to fit all a bit big” I say as I toss her the tactical vest. ”Here try this on, we can try to tighten it up if it's a bit loose anywhere”. The captain wrestles with the buckles a bit, and Teal'c helps her tighten up some of the top straps, as the Venil’s shoulders weren't as broad as humans. Farva gave Teal’c an odd look, but seemed appreciative none the less.Once finished, she grasped the vest in her paws with interest. “This armor seems quite lightweight, which is nice, weight is often an issue that causes us to forgo armor, since heavy armor would hurt our running ability.” Farva remarks. “Also the sheer amount of pockets seems quite excessive, what do you need all these for?”
“Well for starters it's currently missing these '' I hand Farva one of the armor plates which she looks over. “That is a depleted Naquadria ceramic composite plate. It’s designed to stop bullet impacts and dissipate energy weapon blasts. It slots into that chest compartment in the front and back of your armor.”
“This isn't quite what Id imagine for the armor of your kind”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well judging by your ships I would have imagined you would put more emphasis on defense Your predatory nature would make you less likely to run away from conflict allowing for more encompassing armor to cover more than just your chest, since you have less need to run.”
She would put it like that.
“Well there are a number of reasons for that, a lot to do with those excess pockets you mentioned. For starters you will not be carrying the same amount of gear that the standard infantry unit would normally be carrying, we are preparing you for a quick in and out op. Normally us expedition teams need to be deployed into unknown territory for extended periods of time, we need to carry everything we might need with us from food, bullets, weapons, to comms gear, sensors, repelling equipment etc. The weight from all that gear adds up fast; In order to stay sufficiently mobile and combat effective; we only carry enough armor to protect our vitals, head and torso, anything else can hopefully be patched up by a field medic.”
Tielc gave his piece as well. “It is important to know when to run both towards and aways from one's foes, not every battle can be won through strength alone, but by strategy and cunning. Being able to reposition oneself quickly is therefore highly advantageous”
Farva seemed to freeze at Teal'c's statement, not out of fear I think, she instead had a distant look in her eye. To snap her out of her slump I handed her a standard ballistic helmet.
Seeming to get the idea she looked at it oddly and tried it on. It confirmed to her head shape decently well but depressed her ears to either side of her head, kind of resembling what one might imagine a sad bunny rabbit to look like “I don't think this will be something I can bring with me” she said ” I can't use ear signals and this will muffle my hearing.”
“Why don’t you keep it on for the time being, I think any extra hearing protection might be useful considering what we are about to try next.” I hand Farva some ballistic ear protectors, slightly modified and somewhat ramshackle. “One of the corporals worked closely with Nurse Fila to get an idea for safe decibels levels for your kind, we were also able to get these earbuds molded to fit into your ear canal better”
Farva took them and slipped them in. “These are a bit uncomfortable, what do I need these for?”
“You'll need them for this” I say as I unsnap the clasps on the weapons case revealing its contents.
The content seems to capture Farva’s interest, getting a slight tail wave.
“Okay So this here is a p90, It carries a 50 round top loading magazine of teflon coated armor piercing ordnance. With a cyclical rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.”
Farvas ears perk up at this. “This seems like an efficient design, I take it these are a flashlight and laser sight for accuracy?” She asked, pointing to the top of the weapon.
“Yes we also have holographic and acog optics which will help line up targets from farther away.” I look on as Farva picks up the weapon and inspects it, testing the weight as I note that it will weigh a fair bit more once loaded. But she doesn't seem to be struggling with the weight. I can't help but notice good firearm safety as well, she keeps her finger well off the trigger and takes care to keep her weapon pointed aways from anyone else.
“This seems like a solid design but I'm not sure how useful those weapon optics would be, as they are not designed for my side facing eyes”
“I'm sure our master at arms can figure something out, why don't we give it a test fire first tho, before we send it off to make adjustments.” I instruct her on how to load the weapon and turn the safety off. I warn her of the sound it makes. And while definitely taken aback by the recoil and sound at first, she quickly gets the hang of it, she has some respectable shot groupings in both single fire and in short bursts. And keeps the rounds reasonably centered while firing in full auto.
She did a whole lot better than I would have initially suspected given her performance in the hanger bay a day before.
“The rate of fire seems useful” Farva spoke “This would be useful for our soldiers, our accuracy falters when we are panicked, and the increased shot count should guarantee some hits based on volume of fire alone” she finished with a dejected expression.
She quickly places the weapon back in its case, as if it burned to touch.” I don't know if I should be armed for this mission, at least not with that weapon, I don't want to miss and hit one of you in the back!”
“What? Nonsense, you are a great shot, and this is just a precaution in case we get separated or flanked and need some covering fire. If our guys are doing their job right you shouldn't need to fire a single round anyways.”
Captain Farva’s breathing started to hasten, earlier I might have thought it was fear, but I was starting to get an idea of what the captain's issues were. I’ve seen this before.
“I.. I can’t be trusted with this responsibility, every time I am left in charge of something, every time people put their lives in my paws I ....”
“Farva, don’t you start with me now you hear.” I said sternly, swiftly capping off her inevitable spiral of self doubt.
“But.. no.. you don’t understand”
Stopping her again I spoke. “But nothing, what happened before on that ship, and back at that colony is in the past. I don’t know your whole situation, but from what I have gathered from the crew It was nothing good. You feel responsible and it's eating away at you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if that's true or not. Accidents happen, people make mistakes, and when that happens we need to learn, take those lessons to heart, and don't let it stop us from helping people in the present. If you let guilt, or fear of mistakes stop you, then bad guys have already won, all without having to have fired a shot”
Farva is quiet for a short time, I was hoping I got through to her, I'm not the best and pep talks and this certainly wasn’t your typical weapons demo, if only everyones could go as smoothly as Ronan’s.
Farva spoke quietly, arms pressed up against her chest, she looked so sad, defeated, and small. Well more than usual anyways. “We can't be strong like you humans, we are too emotional and when we are scared we run away or we lock up and...”
“And that is clearly not the case with you captain Farva” Teal’c finally reentered the conversation having heard enough. “You have shown courage with every action you have taken so far, your actions have saved the lives of many of your crew, every time you have been threatened you acted not just to protect yourself but others as well. You attempted to contend with beings many times your size without even thinking about it, all in the effort to protect others, and this is only in the time we have known you, this speaks nothing of your actions over the colony. You are a warrior of admirable courage Captain Farva, your self doubt is unearned.”
A single tear rolled down Farva’s eyes which she quickly wiped away. “That was very nice of you to say, but I'm not brave like you say, I was terrified out of my mind the whole time.”
Teal’c looked puzzled. “I did not call you brave, I said you were courageous.”
Farva shot back with the little venlil one up one down ear flick I had very quickly learned was confusion.” I'm confused you just said brave twice”
“Hmm it appears your language does not contain the word I am using, I apologize I am not used to speaking through a translator” Teal’c relented “ There are two words I am using admittedly in slightly different forms, bravery and courage. Bravery or to be brave is to lack fear, to not be afraid to begin with. Courage tho, Is a trait far more admirable. Courage is to be afraid, to have fear, to worry about one's own mortality and personal safety. It is to acknowledge risk, danger, to feel fear, but to act in spite of it.”
“Had I not met your kind before I would have thought predators don't feel fear.”
“Everyone fears feel Farva, It is how we overcome it that determines our worth as warriors”
Teal’c picks up the p90 and returns it to Farvas hands.
“Your people need a warrior Farva, a warrior who protects the innocent and guides the lost to safety. You have shown how collected you can be in the heat of battle, You have already proven your worth in our eyes Farva, now you must do the same in your own. The greatest enemy lies not without” Teal’c places his hand firmly on the venlil’s chest “But within”.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Chief Engineer Donu
I fiddled with my holopad, Its small surface area proving to be a consistent source of annoyance in my current endeavor. Gone was the large workspace afforded to me by my holotable back in my office. Instead I had to work with the scaled down portable holotablet I was just fortunate enough to have strapped to my person when I was beamed away from our last ship. I was stuck with its smaller keyboard and slower rendering speeds.
An annoyed smooth skin alien looked over my shoulder at my device, attached to it was a jury rigged fiber optic cable, slotted into a terran silicon to crystal patch cable, which would convert the electrical signals broadcasted by my tablet into a bandwidth that the terrans crystalline based computers; which they used for highly complex tasks like hyperdrive and transporter systems; could use, and then It was patched again in a even stranger connector to patch into the odd asgard computer stones.
All in all it looked like someone tried to plug a regular computer into some crystal construct like you would find in a fantasy holonovel, and again plugged that into a harchen heat rock sauna lounge. Finally branching out from this conglomeration was a simple copper based wire that connects to a computer terminal at which currently sat the late Doctor Rodney Mckay. A title upon initially hearing led me to believe he was a medical doctor, which led to a flurry of medical questions that he had absolutely no means of answering.
While this odd alien nomenclature was interesting, what intrigued me more was his actual area of expertise, theoretical astrophysics, as well as a number of other diverse specialties and fields. Not to mention not only was he a great scientist who had he been raised in the more civilized portion of this galaxy, would have knowledge and aptitude that would put him alongside some of Aafas greatest minds, but he was also an engineer without peer, at least in this galaxy. His interactions with general Samantha Carter hinted at her possibly being his match if not more. For a species that was supposed to glorify violence the decision to have a scientist be arguably the most senior member of what was by their admission a military vessel spoke to their commitment to knowledge and understanding, a very noble prey-like goal.
I looked warily at the lines of code at my screen, the asguard translation program had earlier scanned our ship and was able to parse written languages, but complex files, like images and 3d design schematics were harder to encode and decode from our perspective systems. As is stands we have 3 completely separate computer architectures, the asguard can talk to human computers and the venlil computers can talk to the asguard computers, It sounds like we would have everything we need to get a human C.A.D schematic into a venlil holotablet right? Wrong! And you're stupid for entertaining such a idiotic notion! Parsing text from raw binary is relatively straight forward, you're just looking for patterns, repeating bit combinations that might infer letters and then iterating them over millions of times looking for patterns, letters, words, and then with a bit of help from some undecoded analog audio transmission, spoken language. This is a far cry from actual procedural communication protocols,the ones that allow for file transfers, exactly what we needed if we were to get Rodney's redesigned part schematics into a format and medium that can be plugged into a suitable fabricator. Assuming one still exists, which I can reasonably assume it does.
Speaking of which, I have just made something of a breakthrough. For upon my screen appears a simple geometric hydrogen cube, we’re talking vertices, planes, material data, everything we need for a usable design file.
I let out an excited pent up yip, the culmination of hours of frustrating software integration work. Unfortunately I startled Rodney, who lets out a panicked gasp and clutches his chest pelts with one of his paws.
“Oh god…..” He gasps, pointing at me “Please.. don’t do that”
“Sorry!” I say a bit meekly. I slowly approach him so as to not make him unnecessarily uncomfortable and show him my work.
“I got the file exchange set up, all we need from you is to finish any modifications to your part, upload them to my holopad, and then we can print away at any class 3 or above fabricator we can scrounge up on Brayga colony.”
“Ok.. um.. got it, I'm almost done i’m just you know” He points a lone grasping appendage at his screen,”Running some simulations, making sure everything is up to spec.” keeping his response kurt. “Sorry for freaking out there.”
I nod my head in the human display of affirmation and return to my workstation to further bug check my work, to test potentially problematic edge cases for when he finishes. Tho Rodney's continued odd behavior intruded on my thoughts.
I should have felt empowered, being able to intimidate this ‘massive beast’, but I didn't. I didn't like being feared, his people have been nice to me, Rodney himself courteous to a fault and desperate for positive attention.
I thought I could expect predators to be fearless but that clearly wasn't the case, rodney was fearful, nervous, had I not known better I would say defective, and while it annoyed his crew, they didn't berate him for it, or attempt to assert dominance, they encouraged it even with placating words and tried to help him through it, they encouraged and supported him like a proper herd, even if sometimes it took the form of what the human would call a playful ribbing. I supposed I could help him as well.
I approached him again, careful to make my approach known to him, making sure to approach from within his limited field of vision. He looks up at me with a wide eyed glare, had I not known him I might have assumed it was hunger, but I did and knew it to be concern.
“Uh high Donu.. um whats up?”
“Why are you afraid of us rodney?”
“Wa-What, me afraid?” he gives out a panicked laugh ”uh no no, I'm not afraid, you know just a bit weirded out I'm just getting used to you all, it's not a fear thing it's a a…. Just getting used to new aliens thing, ask Hermirod we went through this whole song and dance right buddy”
Hermirod furrowed his brow and gave an irritated sigh from across the room.
I reached out to take Rodney by the paw.
His whole body flinched at my mere touch, I quickly withdrew my paw.
“Oh.. um.. I didn't…”
“Rodney! It's okay, your crew doesn’t seem to care when you show fear, and neither do I. Why are you afraid of us? You are almost twice our size and surely double our strength, most venlil would scream and run in terror at the mere sight of you. What's wrong?”
Rodney let out a sigh. “Oh its, we don't have to talk about this, I can deal with this, I deal with scary situations all the time, it's fine, I'll be fine.”
“Rodney, my people are a very emotional, empathic people, we are open with our feelings and with our fear, and the fear of the one can affect the herd, please let me help you. I don’t know what to expect from your society but I promise I wont judge you for your fear or emotions, I mean look at many of my crew mates, we are no one to judge”
Rodney shot back “You didn't seem to be so bothered”
“I’m too old to care, I was about to retire, hell I was about to die as far as I knew, Brayga colony was supposed to be a quiet place to lay back, work on some hobbies, plant a garden and pester the young men of my colony until I either dropped dead of boredom or got lucky” I joked.
That seemed to raise Rodney's mood somewhat. He sighed and seemingly relented.
“It’s… a dumb story, I don't even know why it affected me so much, I come from a place on earth called Canada, people don't usually believe me when I say I am from there, us Canadians are notoriously friendly and I guess I haven’t exactly filled that mold for a lot of my life, but hey I'm working on it, people like me, I have lots of friends back at Atlantis” He says the last sentence in a way as if it isn't me he's trying to convince.
“I'm sure you do, Rodney, You seem like quite the charming individual when you're not cowering!”
“Ha ha thanks, maybe you could come and visit sometime. Tell that to doctor Becket, really nice guy, smart man, he would love to meet you, he loves investigating new species. But back on topic, oh boy, so me and my sister Jeannie were on a family trip to rural Vancouver to visit my grandpa's farm, he kept a lot of goats, not for eating or anything, they were essentially pets that he would use for milk”
“Wait hold on? You drink milk from other animals! Do your females not produce enough milk for their young?”
“Oh um no, we just sort of drink it or ferment it into cheese!”
“Ferment? You mean spoil?
“Yeh”
I reeled from this plasma blast of a statement, I like any right minded venlil had a number of nightmares about being an arxur’s cattle before, especially when I first learned about those things in primary school, but never once had it crossed my mind that we could be used for something so weird. What the speh was I supposed to do with that information?
“Maybe you should get back on topic”
“Yeh sorry about that uh.. Anyways the momma goat had just had a litter of babies, and their real cute when their little, so late in the day when my grandpa was asleep we snuck out to the pens so we can play with the little baby goats, our grandpa told us not to but you now how kids are.”
At this I think back to a young Nyan, as I teach him the inner working of the hyperdrive, I tell him he’s not cleared yet to operate in this engine compartment alone, but I could tell from the occasional caught black hairs and dropped writing implements, there had been a number of curious unauthorized expeditions into its inner workings, he didn't really listen either.
“My sister as always was trying to be the voice of reason, wanting to take it slow. If I was paying attention I might have noticed the angry moma goat who didn’t appreciate the strange human messing with her children.”
The color seemed to drain from his face.
“I uh…” He began to stutter again ”I screamed, a lot, it was rather undignified, she ran right at me, thank god it wasn't a male goat, one with horns, I tired to run but I was hit in the back and knocked over and kicked real good in the head, like wake up in the vet clinic a quarter mile down the road kind of bad”
“This goat was a prey animal?”
“That would be what your kind focuses on”
“Oh sorry”
“Anyways It seems dumb but I have just never been good with animals since then, especially ones that look like you; no offense; I'm getting better but when I first saw you guys in the hangar bay, I was just that dumb kid again, getting in way over my head, scared for my life. I guess there is something to be said about childhood trauma. I really should be over this, I'm getting better with it I swear it’s just”
I take his paw again, he doesn't flinch this time.
“I'm a venlil, a prey animal, I know fear, I know what it is to live in fear, It rattles your brain, it turns your paws to wet grains. It takes great strength to overcome it, to push it aside just long enough to protect the herd. Your herd relies on you Rodney and you are doing a great job in spite of your fear, in spite of having to work with those you fear. You have achieved intellectual feats that rival the greatest minds of the federation and all that while struggling with a traumatic experience. Fear isn’t dumb and there is nothing wrong with you for feeling it.”
“Thank you” Rodney says “That means a lot, I won't be like forever I promise, I just need some time.”
“We will laugh about this someday,” I assured. “Nothing as big and intelligent as you should be afraid of anything”
“Are you calling me fat?” Rodney exclaimed with fake offense.
We both chuckled.
My kind words had resulted in a more upright posture, and a more cheerful demeanor from the human, almost like when I congratulated Nyan on his work, and it got me a look at that happy snarl of his, that I was starting to grow quite fond of.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Apprentice Engineer Nyan
Oh wow! I get to write a report for this mission! I never get to write reports, Donu says they're too boring, but there’s so many interesting things going on all the time. Sometimes I sneakily write my own! Just for fun of course, nobody sees them, which is probably for the best as I sometimes get excited and embellish them slightly. One of the reports I wrote was about the time Donu used nothing but a wad of electrical tape, a bottle of high grain venlil alcohol and a pocket knife to repair a venlil medical ship just in time to get out of the way of a big scary space predator, with glowing red eyes and a million tentacles!
Anyways Im not sure If im suppose to write these In present tense first person or past tense. I asked the captain and she said it's whatever so long as I make sure any pertinent dialogues are properly quoted(“”).
“Nobody usually reads these things anyways.” She said, but this one is surely going to be so exciting, who could look away!
I mean who's gonna scoff at a chance to read about friendly predators from another dimension! A dimension of friendly predators who give warm head scratches and hand out yummy strayu not strayu treats called donuts, that are somehow fluffier than strayu, and have a nice moisture to them. I asked for the recipe but Samantha said we wouldn't have the ingredients back on Venili prime to make them, and Teal'c said the recipe is an old family secret. Its weird predators would be so protective of their plant snacks.
There are so many weird things about these predators, they have nurturing instincts that make them find us cute. They stay perfectly balanced even if they don’t have tails, swinging their arms and body all over the place to keep upright like a lopsided gyroscope, it's pretty funny looking!
They also wear artificial pelts all the time, which I thought was weird, I thought maybe the ships temperature was set by the angry gray alien since he’s the only crew member beside the venlil who walks around naked all the time, maybe he had a fit when it was to warm, and the humans obliged him cause they were worried they would make him even angrier, and wore clothes to make up for the cold. I thought this made sense, a lot of their technology does seem to come from the Asguard, maybe he has more say in the goings on of the ship because of that. But apparently humans just like wearing pelts all the time. They feel uncomfortable without them and don’t like it if you try to remove them or look up their upper artificial pelts they call shirts.
The humans are so weird, I don’t even have to embellish my reports to make it more interesting. Like that time with the big tentacled space predator. That may sound real compared to this stuff but it Isn't, Ha! I bet you fell for it at first, hook line and sinker! Like the humans would say. I think I used that saying right, I'm not sure what it means, but Shepard brought it up when he was telling a story about the wraith.
The humans are so nice, instead of exterminating their predators they try to cure them! Their doctors are working to modify the wraith so they don't have to eat humans anymore, so they can be friendly predators too.
Anyways I should probably get to the actual report part of this report. Farva says I should start after I went off with Samantha to work on some special astrophysics equations she said I would be good at. I kind of wanted to go with Donu to help Rodney get the new parts they needed, or Farva to help rescue our people, but the humans and even the angry gray alien got really weird when Farva mentioned taking me on the mission. Samantha seemed to want me to help her really badly so I didn’t mind. Samantha says I have the most important part to our mission. She's teaching me about how humans communicate through subspace, and about stellar drift equations. We are working on what she calls the exit strategy.

I think something we forget (and I am very guilty of this) is that when we give up gaming there will be a period of boredom. This is expected and it’s not something we should shy away from. We are so stimulated with gaming that when we give it up we will have moments, very large moments of boredom that we have to embrace. And by learning to live with it we begin to re-sensitise to other “lower stimulus” but ultimately more rewarding pursuits.
Maybe after playing games for so long you just don’t have the capacity to keep attention and do things like studying or going to the gym but as we begin to re-sensitise we start to enjoy these things again. I guess a bad analogy is junk food, something like a greasy hamburger compared to a boiled chicken breast. 10/10 times I will always want to eat the burger but if our only option on the table was the bland chicken breast my hunger craves compared to the alternative - being hungry. We have to accept that we will be bored and eventually learn to embrace it and ultimately achieve our goals and reach our full potential.
I understand that gaming is relaxing and rewarding and there’s no reason to give it up if you feel this way. When you should begin to decide if gaming is not for you is when after a session/s you are filled with regret.
Good luck my brethren!

Hello, I'm a casual fighting game fan and a midcore player, I've been playing fighting games for over 20 years now and I think that there is a rich culture around fighting games that is not being tapped into by, well anyone. In this brief, I will seek to display how I believe fighting games can gain mainstream appeal and why this should be important to every fighting game fan.
I'll start by convincing you why you should care if fighting games are mainstream or not.

• Developers can and will abandon this genre if it is not lucrative or feasible for them to create these games. Fighting games are often passion projects that are driven by small teams within larger teams, and the games themselves are difficult to create, even when the games are relatively simple in style and mechanics. When games cease to be profitable at all, these developers will indeed tone down development on these games leaving us with fewer options aside from preexisting games, which is fine and all, but eventually that server, discord channel, etc may die as well, leaving us with no options for our favorite series but to wait for a sequel or a spiritual successor. Many of you know exactly what I mean already, how many are waiting for another entry in their favorite fighting game series?
• Less players means less advancement for the genre. This may be divisive, as some probably think that fighting games have more or less peaked mechanically, and can only improve graphically, while mechanics will be more a mix and match of preexisting ideas. This is a self-limiting idea that is created by the belief that fighting games can only be a very specific format, and that every game outside of those formats aren't really fighting games, and while I'm not here to convince you that "X game is really a fighting game," I will say that this sentiment is typical of people that are in the FGC, but not of people outside of it, which is a conundrum in itself.

I'll pause on this note to mention viewership briefly.
As I started writing this, Tekken is streaming Paradise Game Battle with just under 7k viewers, and as I've gotten to this point, it has risen about 300 viewers to just above 7k at 7,053. By the time I finished this sentence it fell back to 6,843.
Why do I mention this? At the time I started writing this post, Brawlhalla had just started a stream and they were at a similar number of viewers to Tekken at 6,500ish, right now they sit at 8,717 and the number is only rising.
To this I ask, why? Why is Brawlhalla, a game that's "not even a fighting game" according to the FGC, having a larger tournament, with more players, more viewers, where people are indeed fighting each other 1v1 in this game doing better than Tekken, the "real fighting game?"
There's a few possible reasons that people like to throw at these sorts of incidents such as Brawlhalla being free or Tekken being the "harder game," but I think these ideas evade the core of why this happens, and it's that games like Brawlhalla prioritize the mind game. The game is accessible in a way that allows people to simply play without a high barrier of entry.
In this next section I'll break down accessibility and how it can work in a way that's not invasive to players that enjoy execution, I'll put it in bullet form.

• I see fighting games in a similar lens to how I see chess, you have two sets of moves with base functionalities that cover a range of properties that would allow you to convert strategic movements into a win condition based on damage and trapping the opponent, it's just that there's no checkmate in fighting games, at checkmate your opponent just gets killed. Chess does not have execution barriers, anyone from an old lady to a spring chicken little girl can play chess, all they have to know is how the pieces move, once they have the knowledge, the execution is USING THE KNOWLEDGE.
• In fighting games this is countered by hand-eye coordination. If you lack coordination to do combos, you will eventually just lose out some match ups in some games unfortunately. If you cannot convert in opportune moments, you will lose. If you misinput, fingers slip, whatever, you will die most likely. Your knowledge, doesn't matter, all that matters in this case is your muscle memory, you need a great combination of both to be an excellent player.
• Accessibility currently aims to make doing moves easier, but it doesn't lower the mental stack to get to knowledge execution, comparing a game like Tekken to a game like Brawlhalla, there's several layers of abstraction just moving around and getting your character to do what you want before you can apply knowledge, vs Brawlhalla, as soon as you can move left and right and jump, you're halfway to understanding character movement in the entirety and can now just think about other parts of the game.

I say this to say that game developers are making the wrong parts of the games accessible, traditional fighting games should be aiming to get players closer to a neutral state where it's knowledge vs knowledge rather than hand eye coordination + knowledge vs the same.
Modern is a great example of this because it gets people right into the thick of battle, they no longer have to think about how to hold their thumb, or why it hurts, or how far to press on the d pad, or how hard to press, or how to slide their fingers, or whether to use the analog stick or not, they just press Square and shoot the fireball. Smash Bros did this in 1999, bringing people straight into the knowledge neutral game. But this is just one example.
I'm not a master dev or designer, but I think these sorts of problems are what needs to be solved to move fighting games forward, and the neat thing is when they are brought down to this 1st level of knowledge neutral, then we can add more depth in better ways, what if we had a fighting game like SF6, with only modern controls, with stage interactions like Injustice and ground breaks like Tekken? Now that's an interesting game with a fun feel that a lot of people would probably enjoy, it can still have combos, but they are immediately more accessible if we take away, and I want to make this clear, not execution barriers, but knowledge barriers. It should still be difficult to do long, effective combos, maybe even harder than it currently is in most games, but we should advocate for our games being tapered to a point where more people can play or formatted so that more people like them, and WE SHOULD STILL PLAY THEM. We need to make other games part of our community and show them that we like the games and care and that we want depth AND the game's unique identity to thrive.
TL;DR Modern good, Arena Fighters should be embraced and encouraged to become more complex, Knowledge Barriers should be removed from games so people can play on more equal footing
Also Brawlhalla's currently at 9k and Tekken's at 6.3k as of ending this post, for anyone that cared if I was still keeping track.

I just wanted to share this tidbit to help anyone thinking about buying a Boss ME-90 to be used through a Roland Jazz Chorus amp, mine in particular being the JC40.
ME-90 Review
The ME-90 is overall a fairly capable multi-fx board. Being a gear nerd and obsessive over getting the best tone possible, the ME-90 is the type of gear I would have usually shunned for a tube amp and real analog pedals. However, since my budget has grown tighter, and I have less interest in lugging a huge pedal board and heavy tube amp around, I decided to use a gift card I received to buy the ME-90.
The Good:
My first impression is that I really like the multi colored LEDs and the knob layout to give direct access to the effect parameters. This is the thing I hate most about digital music equipment: menu diving. The fact the ME-90 allows you to tweak your tone with real tactile knobs is amazing. Sure, they aren't the best knobs, they have a cheap plastic feel, but overall happy with the construction otherwise as it is a solid piece of metal. The bottom is the classic Boss rubber to keep it gripped to the floor.
The fact I get a foot expression pedal as well, where I have a wah, whammy, and more (controlling the delay rate, awesome!), just seemed like too good to pass up. I love doing volume swells, so I think overall this effects unit is a great value.
I also like the fact you can either switch through presets or control each effect manually. This makes customizing sounds really easy, and you can spend hours creating your own unique tones.
My favorite sounding effects on this thing are the delays, the Slow Gear, and the foot expression-pedal effects. I really appreciate the Boss put some sought after rare effects into this unit.
Another plus is that you can put your own IR into the unit, which I highly recommend if you're practicing with headphones, as the stock IR isn't that good.
The Not-so-good:
I am not entirely pleased with the distorted preamps and pedals on this unit. They're ok, especially when paired with a great IR, but they're not great. The AIRD doesn't seem to be a huge upgrade from COSM in this regard.
Another thing I notice is that I have to have the Output level and near zero when practicing silently in my apartment. This unit gets really loud, which I think for live events is really good, but for practicing at home is actually a drag. I find the best tone comes when I run the unit into the return of my effects loop, but I have to practice going through the Input of my amp in order to have two gain stages to make it quieter.
By far the most disappointing thing about this pedal is that there is no AUX in. I was genuinely shocked to learn that the pedal doesn't have this feature. The freaking GT-1 has Aux In, and I wanted to use the ME-90 as a standalone practice unit.
So how do you stream audio? With a stupid ~$58 Bluetooth adapter you have to buy separately. Are we truly in 2024 and Boss is releasing a product that requires a separate dongle? This smacks of something an electronic company would do in the mid 2000s.
Now, the Bluetooth dongle is very useful, as controlling the ME-90 through my smart phone is great. I can also final practice along to tracks. However, this is a very important warning: when using the ME-90 through my amp, I decided to practice along to a track, so I started it. However, for some reason, my phone defaulted to full volume, so when I hit play, all 40 watts of my JC-40 were used to play the song I chose. I have no clue why that happened, as my amp volume was only at 1 and the output of the ME-90 was going through the amp's Input! It was so loud the speakers started to cut out as they couldn't handle the volume. I thought I broke my amp, and my ears hurt! What a stupid, stupid design choice to have your phone volume dictate the loudness to the amp, as I thought it would've have been tied to the Output Level of the ME-90. Not only that, but every time my phone connects to it, it sets the volume at full! This is so dangerous of a design choice as if your speaker is particularly weak I fear you could break it, and not only that hurt your ears in the process. Truly awful, and I paid ~$58 for that experience.
Overall Rating: 7.7/10

• really powerful in the amount of effects you can choose and tweak
• includes rarer Boss effects like the Slow Gear and Tera Echo
• foot pedal with two customizable modes to control a wide variety of parameters
• a really great value for money for a gigging musician who wants a "grab and go" effects unit in one box with a USB audio interface as well
• sound quality of distorted tones has that slight "digital" feel that makes it apparent you're using a digital unit
• Output volume hard to control, unit seems to run loud, which is great for live but not great for home
• a ~$58 Bluetooth dongle that needs to be purchased separately to be able to stream music to the unit instead of an Aux In seems criminal when the unit is already $349.99, especially when it's programmed to behave dangerously with an amp by defaulting your phone volume to full every time it connects

Who is this for?
I would say this unit is either for the young intermediate guitarist that whats to upgrade from a simple solid state amp and wants to get into the world of effects, or the professional musician who is look for a bargain way to get all the effects needed for the show, all in one unit that can be plugged into a mixer. And, with some tweaking, it can sound very good.
Tips for Best Tone with JC40/Jazz Chorus Amps
For the best tone, I recommend setting the output to "8", which is the ME-90 output to the effects loop Return of the JC40. Hook up the 1/4" cables into the stereo Return of the JC40, and select "Line". You will need to keep the Output Level very low if practicing at home, but the sound is superb. Also, please heed my warning about the Bluetooth dongle and your phone volume, I don't want anyone to hurt their amp or hurt their ears like I did.

THE HARMONY OF ENERGY
Abstract
Introducing the "Harmony of Energy" (HoE) model, a novel formalism that posits the universe operates according to a fundamental pattern. This pattern consists of energy, defined as the smallest unit anything can be, existing as a fluid form in space, interacting with its environment through a specific method or structure, and then moving out of that space. Space, in turn, is the dynamic environment that energy occupies and moves through, filling it with positive and negative energy that affects its properties and behavior. According to the HoE model, energy moves into space, reacts to its environment, and then moves out of that space, with no time limit for how long it takes to react. This pattern is universal, applying to all aspects of the universe, and nothing escapes it.
The Origin of the Universe
The HoE model posits that the universe began as a singular entity, containing all forms of energy as one unified energy. This singularity can be represented mathematically as: U = ∫∫∫E(x,y,z)dxdydz, where U is the total energy of the universe, E is the energy density, and x, y, z are the spatial coordinates.
As the singularity expanded, the unified energy converted into distinct positive and negative energies. Positive energy is a high-frequency, high-information-potential state that retains its unique signature and individual form, capable of producing heat and maintaining its distinct properties. Negative energy is a low-frequency, low-information-potential state that loses its unique signature and individual form, characterized by a pulling force and a tendency to condense and simplify.
Initially, the universe moved in a straight line, with energy compact and cold. However, this linear movement resulted in a direct head-on collision with the void, a solid structure that hindered its passage.
This collision led to a limitation and subsequent conversion of energy, transforming it from a linear motion to a wave-like motion. The new wave motion created heat and allowed energy to break the pattern of "follow the leader" and collide with the void at an angle, shattering its edge into pieces.
This process of fragmentation can be described by the equation: F(θ) = Σ[nEⁿ * sin(nθ)], where F is the fragmentation function, θ is the angle of collision, n is an integer, and E is the energy density. For reasons yet unknown, possibly due to the singularity's energy reaching its final place or a transformation driven by cosmic "boredom," this conversion occurred, giving rise to the diverse universe we observe today.
The Void and the Ultimate Negative
Outside of the expanding universe lies the void, a region devoid of energy and matter, existing in a state of complete stillness and stationarity. This void represents the ultimate negative, a state of complete absence and zero energy density, unchanging and unyielding. As a whole, it exerts a compressive force on the expanding universe, potentially leading to contraction and eventual return to the singularity. This dynamic interplay between the universe and the void can be described by the equation: F = -G * (M * m) / r² where F represents the force, G represents the gravitational constant, M and m represent the masses, and r represents the distance between them. The void's stationary and unchanging nature, lacking any internal rotation or energy, makes it inhospitable to life as we know it.
Magnetism and Attraction: A Shift in Perspective
Initially, I viewed magnetism through the conventional lens, seeing it as a fundamental force of attraction between positive and negative entities. However, as my understanding evolved, I came to realize that magnetism operates under a different principle. Positive and negative entities are not attracted to each other; instead, they represent the intrinsic structure of things. The true nature of attraction is frequency-based, with entities drawn to higher vibrations and shorter wavelengths. This phenomenon can be described by the following equations:
F = ∫∫(μ₁⋅μ₂)/(4πr²⁾ dt dt (1)
where F is the force of attraction, μ₁ and μ₂ are the magnetic moments of the entities, r is the distance between them, and the integral is taken over time.
Additionally, the frequency-based attraction can be represented by:
f = γB (2)
where f is the frequency, γ is the gyromagnetic ratio, and B is the magnetic field strength.
Furthermore, the smaller wave's faster movement can be expressed as:
v = λf (3)
where v is the velocity, λ is the wavelength, and f is the frequency.
Energy and its Properties
Energy is the fundamental unit of everything. Energy can be thought of as an individual entity with an electrical signature vibrating at a specific frequency, carrying information from its originating source. If we were to dissect a piece of energy, we would find its genetic makeup consists of various parts, similar to binary code. One constant aspect of energy in our universe is the signature of this universe, which is present in all forms of energy, whether positive or negative. This underlying frequency distinguishes energy from our universe versus parallel universes.
Positive Energy (PE): - Oscillates through space with a frequency (f) and wavelength (λ): PE = f × λ - Exhibits wave-like behavior: PE(x,t) = A × sin(kx - ωt)
Negative Energy (NE): - Vibrates at a slower frequency (f'/2): NE = (f'/2) × λ' - Exhibits a slower, more stable behavior: NE(x,t) = B × cos(k'x - ω't)
Energy Interactions and Signature Changes
When positive and negative energies interact, their unique signatures can become altered. As energies combine, their signatures merge, releasing redundant information about the universe signature and creating an opening for new information to be stored. This process enables efficient storage and transmission of energy signatures, allowing for:

• Signature refinement and evolution
• Information exchange and updating
• Adaptation to changing environments and conditions

This process could be crucial for understanding how energy signatures evolve and adapt, and how they influence the behavior and properties of energy in various contexts.
The Formation and Evolution of the Universe
Initial Energy Interactions
In the beginning, a vast amount of fluid energy quickly interacted with the largest newly created pieces of the void, described by the wave-particle duality equation (E = hf = ℏω).
Star Formation and Signatures
As these interactions occurred, the largest of the solid structures of the universe began to form, stars, governed by the Lane-Emden equation (d^2P/dr2 + (2/r)(dP/dr) + (4πG/c^2)P = 0). Each new star held with it an old habit divulged from the singularity, a universal frequency (f = 1/T = ω/2π, where T is the period of oscillation and ω is the angular frequency). Old habits die hard, so each new star offered its own diverse and unique signature (S = Σf = ∫ψ(x)² dx, where ψ(x) is the wave function and x represents the position).
Energy Collisions and Prime Numbers
As structures formed, a group of energy travels through space with an even number of internal parts (E = 2nℏ, where n is an integer and ℏ is the reduced Planck constant). This group collides with another group of energy with an odd amount of internal parts (E = (2n + 1)ℏ), and the total sum of the newly combined group equals a prime number (P = E1 + E2 = 2nℏ + (2m + 1)ℏ, where m is an integer). New Equation: Prime Number Formation (P = E1 + E2 = 2nℏ + (2m + 1)ℏ)
Schrödinger Equation and Physical Reality
The prime number is crucial, as the extra piece gets stuck in the space it is occupying, acting as an anchor, attracting other parts to breach their negative shell and combine as one, described by the Schrödinger equation (iℏ(∂ψ/∂t) = Hψ). This converts the fluid energy to be contained into the space it is in, which is broken pieces of the void that do not have a universal size, and gives us physical reality, forming particles with diverse unique signatures (S = Σf = ∫ψ(x)² dx).
Refining Space and Transferring Signatures
As energy continued to interact with space, it further refined and shaped that space into a sphere (V = (4/3)πr^3, where r is the radius), adding the discarded portions of size to the diverse field that is the universe. During this refinement, energy was transferred to these pieces, and the signature of the star was embedded in them, forming the galaxy clusters and solar systems we know today.
Smooth Surfaces and Celestial Bodies
As any piece of something breaks, its edges are rigid, and the interaction of energy against this rigid surface knocks off the rough edges, providing a smooth surface (E = Δx/Δt = ℏ/Δx, where Δx is the change in position and Δt is the change in time). New Equation: Smooth Surface Formation (E = Δx/Δt = ℏ/Δx)
The pieces that were knocked off still contain a portion of energy that put in the work to knock it off, and this process contributed to the formation of celestial bodies and the transfer of signatures. This, in turn, led to the creation of galaxies, planets, and other celestial bodies, each with their unique characteristics and properties, shaping the diverse and complex universe we observe today.
The Cartwheel Structure and Energy Movement
The cartwheel structure represents the dynamic movement of energy in the universe, with its rotating wheel and radiating arms symbolizing the harmonious interaction of positive and negative energies. When creation occurred, energy learned how to pass through stationary space (the void) by changing its movement pattern from a straight line to a wave (λ = v/f, where λ is wavelength, v is velocity, and f is frequency). This new wave movement allowed energy to create heat (Q = mcΔT, where Q is heat, m is mass, c is specific heat capacity, and ΔT is temperature change), which was the tool that gave energy the ability to "shatter" the void and interact with the broken pieces to perform a new movement, the cartwheel. As energy moves through space, it rarefies and decreases in temperature (T = k-B, where T is temperature, k is Boltzmann's constant, and B is the energy density), causing it to slow down and change frequency (f = ΔE/h, where f is frequency, ΔE is the energy change, and h is Planck's constant).
The Block and Cartwheeling Bar Analogy
The block and cartwheeling bar analogy provides a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamic interaction of energy in the universe. Imagine a box (representing space) containing blocks of varying sizes, each symbolizing a specific energy frequency (f = 1/T, where f is frequency and T is time). The cartwheeling bar, rotating within the box, represents the harmonious movement of energy between its positive (E+) and negative (E-) forms. Each block must be 100% filled, with positive and negative energy proportions varying as the bar rotates. For example, when positive energy occupies 99% of a block and negative energy occupies 1%, the rotation of the bar causes a gradual shift, resulting in a change to 98% positive and 2% negative, and so on. This constant interaction and adjustment maintain the balance of energy in the universe.
Fundamental Forces Explained

• Strong Force: The repulsion from negative electrons being attracted to and pressing against the nucleus. This force can be described by the equation: F = k * (q1 * q2) / r²
  
• Weak Force: The outgoing frequency created by the positive nucleus, similar to energy congregating at the sun's nucleus, reacting to its environment, and breaking down before leaving (possibly as radioactive decay). This force can be described by the equation: F = (G * m1 * m2) / r²
  
• Gravity: Exists between the outer negative sphere of electrons exerting a pushing force against the positive pushing force of the nucleus, similar to the solar system's dynamics. This force can be described by the equation: F = (G * m1 * m2) / r²
  
• Electromagnetism: Energy in action, manifesting as the dynamic interplay between electric and magnetic forces. This force can be described by the equations: E = f * λ and B = (E / c)
  

Present State of the Universe
The universe currently exists in a state of dynamic equilibrium, with observable patterns and structures perpetually renewing themselves through the interactions of energy (E = hf, where E is energy and h is Planck's constant). This self-sustaining cycle is evident in the formation and evolution of celestial bodies, galaxies, and other cosmic entities, governed by the laws of thermodynamics (ΔE = Q - W, where ΔE is the change in energy, Q is the heat added, and W is the work done). The universe's present state is characterized by the harmonious coexistence of diverse energy frequencies (f = 1/T, where f is frequency and T is time), which govern the behavior and properties of matter at various scales. This balance is maintained through the continuous conversion of energy between its positive (E+) and negative (E-) forms, allowing the universe to adapt and evolve in response to internal and external influences (E+ + E- = 0, representing the conservation of energy)."
Entropy and the Conversion of Positive to Negative
The physical dimensions of positive and negative energy in a block are equal, with 1% negative energy occupying the same space as 99% positive energy. This equality stems from the different speeds of energy and their individual properties. When negative energy is at 1%, it has condensed the equivalent of 99% positive energy into a single, compact form (E = hf, where E is energy, h is Planck's constant, and f is frequency). As the proportions shift, such as 60% positive and 40% negative, the space occupied remains a 50/50 split. This is because positive energy travels at the speed of light (c = λν, where c is the speed of light, λ is wavelength, and ν is frequency), while negative energy moves at a pace relative to terminal velocity (v = √(2gl), where v is velocity, g is acceleration due to gravity, and l is length). Each form dominates at the 50% mark (T = λ/v, where T is time, λ is wavelength, and v is velocity). The percentages represent available positive energy, while the cartwheel symbolizes space or the ultimate negative in motion, influenced by energy's presence. Negative energy, with its depleted charge, occupies space that needs to be filled and recycled into a positive state. At higher percentages, collisions with negative energy slow down the flow, similar to the concept of crab mentality, where negative energy draws down the percentages.
Energy Dynamics and Galactic Harmony
The 50% Threshold
The 50% mark is a critical threshold that distinguishes between positive and negative energy. Above 50%, energy is considered positive and can produce heat beyond its negative shell. Below 50%, energy is considered negative and cannot produce heat past this shell.
Compressed Positive Energy
When the percentage of positive energy drops below 50%, it becomes compressed and can exceed the speed of light (c = λν, where c is the speed of light, λ is wavelength, and ν is frequency). This allows it to navigate through the "cracks" of negative energy:
v > c (where v is velocity and c is the speed of light)
Quantum Mirroring
Alternatively, the positive energy can align with the negative energy, resulting in a quantum mirroring effect. This enables instantaneous information transfer between entangled particles, regardless of distance:
E = hf (where E is energy, h is Planck's constant, and f is frequency)
Retaining Frequency Signatures
In this alignment, the negative energy retains its unique frequency signature to avoid interacting with other signatures:
Δx * Δp >= h/4π (where Δx is position uncertainty, Δp is momentum uncertainty, and h is Planck's constant)
The Cavendish Experiment and Energy Interaction
The Cavendish experiment, a groundbreaking study on gravity, offers an intriguing analogy for understanding energy interaction with space. Imagine the suspended spheres as representative of space itself, devoid of energy. When energy interacts with this motionless space, it's as if the spheres begin to rotate, symbolizing the introduction of energy into the internal area of space.
As energy engages with space, it's gradually consumed, much like the reduction of energy in the Cavendish experiment. This process can be described by the equation:
G = (2πLθ) / (MT)
Where G is the gravitational constant, L is the length of the torsion wire, θ is the twist angle of the wire, M is the mass of the lead spheres, and T is the time period of oscillation.
This equation, derived from the Cavendish experiment, reveals the intricate relationship between energy, space, and gravity. By exploring this analogy, we can deepen our understanding of how energy shapes the very fabric of our universe.
Energy Absorption and Frequency
Energy absorption occurs when energy slows down, allowing it to be perceived and observed. This process involves energy being absorbed by an atom and reflecting what was not absorbed. As energy slows down, it can still be observed as a wave, but just before it becomes a particle. This phenomenon is fascinating, as it reveals the transition from wave-like to particle-like behavior.
The conversion of positive to negative states is due to positives' ability to produce heat and maintain an individual form. Negative energy, on the other hand, does not produce heat and lacks an individual form, instead traveling at a pace relative to terminal velocity. This process can be described by the quantum mechanical formula: ℏω = ΔE = hf, where ℏ is the reduced Planck constant, ω is the angular frequency, ΔE is the change in energy, h is Planck's constant, and f is the frequency of the energy.
Furthermore, the frequency of the energy can be related to the velocity of the particle using the formula: f = (1/2π) * √(k/m), where k is the spring constant and m is the mass of the particle. Additionally, the energy absorption rate can be calculated using the formula: dE/dt = (2π/h) * V_uv² * δ(E_u - E_v), where V_uv is the transition matrix element, E_u and E_v are the energies of the initial and final states, and δ is the Dirac delta function.
The Conversion of Positive to Negative States and Planetary Motion
The conversion of positive to negative energy states is rooted in their distinct properties. Positive energy produces heat and maintains an individual form, whereas negative energy lacks heat and an individual form, instead traveling at a pace relative to terminal velocity. This process is reversible, as seen in fusion reactions, or can be influenced by external forces like microwave ovens.
In the context of our solar system, the sun's positive energy release generates heat and propels planets into their orbital tracks. Conversely, the incoming energy from the universe, considered negative, is cold and stabilizes planets in their tracks. Initially, I focused solely on the positive push dictating orbital paths. However, I now recognize the significant influence of negative energy and use it as the basis for understanding abnormal tracks.
Here's an added equation to illustrate the relationship between energy and orbital motion:
F = G * (m1 * m2) / r²
Where F is the force of gravity, G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects, and r is the distance between them.
This equation shows how the force of gravity (F) is influenced by the masses (m1 and m2) and distance (r) between objects, which is relevant to understanding planetary motion and the balance between positive and negative energy.
Gravitation and Time: Frequency's Role
Time is intimately tied to the frequency of the universe, and this relationship is governed by the laws of gravitation. Imagine the cartwheel's bar having notches, each representing a different frequency. Each notch would experience time at a unique pace, described by the formula:
t = 1/f
Where t is time and f is frequency.
If we could halt the cartwheel's motion, time would appear to pause, as described by the relativistic time dilation formula:
t' = γ(t)
Where t' is the time experienced by an observer in motion, t is the time experienced by an observer at rest, and γ is the Lorentz factor.
The passage of time is directly governed by the oscillations in the wave, or simply its frequency. By altering the frequency, we can change the flow of time itself, as described by the gravitational redshift formula:
f' = f * √(1 - 2GM/rc²⁾
Where f' is the observed frequency, f is the emitted frequency, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the gravitational source, r is the radial distance from the source, and c is the speed of light.
Gravity and Energy Dynamics
Gravity can be understood in various ways through these thoughts. One perspective is that gravity operates similarly to the orbital planets, but with a twist. Instead of orbiting in space, we orbit at a subterranean frequency. This frequency attracts similar energies, leading to bonding and the formation of matter. For instance, atoms bond to form rocks, and separate rocks may bind together due to similar vibrations. However, other frequencies simply pass through, unable to bind due to differences in energy vibrations and the negative fields surrounding our bodies and the ground.
Our bodies are attracted to the Earth's core, with a force described by the equation:
F = G * (m1 * m2) / r²
Where F is the force of attraction, G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of our bodies and the Earth, and r is the distance between them.
The vibrations of our energy and the negative field surrounding us can be described by the wave equation:
∇^2E = μ * ∂^2E/∂t2
Where E is the energy field, μ is the permeability of the medium, and ∂^2E/∂t2 is the second derivative of the energy with respect to time.
The incoming cosmic energy pushes us downward, with a force described by the equation:
F = (E * A) / c
Where F is the force of the incoming energy, E is the energy density of the cosmos, A is the cross-sectional area of our bodies, and c is the speed of light.
The outgoing energy from Earth moves faster than the incoming energy from the cosmos, as observed in the formation of clouds with flat bases and more sporadic tops. This can be described by the equation:
v_out = v_in * (1 + (E_out / E_in))
Where v_out is the velocity of the outgoing energy, v_in is the velocity of the incoming energy, E_out is the energy density of the outgoing energy, and E_in is the energy density of the incoming energy.
Galactic Cycles and Black Holes
The Milky Way galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, with a mass described by the equation:
M = (1.989 x 10³⁰⁾ * (G / c²⁾
Where M is the mass of the black hole, G is the gravitational constant, and c is the speed of light.
As the galaxy spirals towards the center, enough mass will be collected to trigger the black hole to become a large star, described by the equation:
M = (4.383 x 10³⁰⁾ * (G / c²⁾
Where M is the mass of the star, G is the gravitational constant, and c is the speed of light.
When this happens, the black hole will shed its outer shell to create the galaxy that spirals around it, and the process begins again. This cycle can be described by the equation:
t = (2 * π * G * M) / c³
Where t is the time period of the cycle, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the black hole or star, and c is the speed of light.
The opposite of a black hole is a white hole, but why hasn't this phenomenon been observed? According to this article, it has been observed but misunderstood. With the theme of balancing the universe, would a large star be surrounded by much smaller black holes? Would these smaller black holes feed the larger star by way of quantum bridge or wormhole, and vice versa for smaller stars and larger black holes? This can be described by the equation:
E = (ℏ * ω) / 2
Where E is the energy transferred between the star and black holes, ℏ is the reduced Planck constant, and ω is the frequency of the quantum bridge or wormhole.
Energy Flow and Balance
Energy moves in and out of everything, maintaining a delicate balance. It enters as a negative force and exits as a positive force. Our sun emits energy at 99% strength and high frequency, which combines with an equally sized negative force at 1% strength, filling the space completely. This balance is crucial, as positive energy moves faster than negative energy due to entropy's diminishing effects over time and distance.
As positive energy travels, it loses a piece of itself, converting to negative energy. This process is directly related to gravitational forces and time dilation. When positive energy reaches 50%, it has a certain probability of converting to negative energy, which is then attracted back to a positive source with a corresponding probability of being converted back to positive energy.
This cycle of energy flow and balance is the foundation of the universe's harmony, and understanding it can reveal the intricate web of forces that shape our reality.
_Conclusion _
"In conclusion, the Harmony of Energy (HoE) model offers a novel perspective on the universe, revealing a intricate web of energy dynamics that underlie all aspects of existence. By exploring the interplay between positive and negative energy, we gain insight into the fundamental forces that shape our reality. From the smallest subatomic particles to the vast expanse of the cosmos, energy is the unifying thread that binds everything together.
Through the HoE model, we've seen how energy's harmonious movement gives rise to the patterns and structures we observe in the universe. We've also delved into the fascinating relationships between energy, space, and time, and how these interactions govern the behavior of matter at various scales.
As we continue to refine our understanding of the HoE model, we may uncover new secrets of the universe and gain a deeper appreciation for the beauty and harmony that underlies all of existence. Ultimately, this knowledge can inspire new perspectives, new technologies, and a new era of human understanding and cooperation, as we work together to harmonize our own energy with the energy of the universe.
But I ask this, why continue to work on something that is not appreciated nor taken seriously because it comes from a layman with the credentials of a GED? In that lies the problem as I’ve been told only those holding degrees should consider these thoughts. With that, I have abruptly stopped progress of this idea.”
MAG

I 15 and my friend 15f stopped being friends because i ended the friendship the reason why is because she disrespected me and my other friends religion , this was a couple of months back but my friend that i'll call mimi resently started to spread rumors about me and what really happened , a little contect about me few months ago i was a really shy person i hated talking but for some reason my friend always tried to make me speak even if i told her to not force me but what was made it bad was that whenever i wanted to actually talk she used to either shut me down or said she didn't want to talk herself now before you go after me i get that she is autistic and that we both don't think the same but she is really low on the spectrum she can still function like anyone, back on the subject we were at lunch went this happened and another friend i'll call tanya was explaining to another one of my friends her religion and why in her religion they believed that cows are holy i personally wasn't participating in this convo but i was curious , after a few minutes tanya said "oh what makes God holy?" ( i had asked her what she meant by using this analogy and she said she meant it as "what makes God holy makes a cow Holy") then mimi out of nowhere says "Oh God is Holy because he has a hole an a**hole" Like excuse me? i know she has autisim but that is no excuse like everyone at the table turned to her and started saying "Mimi that's disrespectful don't say that" as someone who isn't that religious but found refuge in God i found that even more disrespectful , but the thing is that she didn't even apologize she just started using her autism as to why she said that (this wasn't the first time she used her autism as an excuse) and then when i said something along the lines of "that isn't a f*cking excuse Mimi your being disrespectful as hell just own up to it" she started saying that she didn't know that we were talking about God , but if you don't know what we are talking about just don't say anything. And now were here and she started spreading rumors about what actually happened all of them about how i was being hateful to her because she asked a question about religion, Please Reddit do you think i don't know what to do

I've been wanting to write this post for a while. I want to talk about my experience with the Remarkable 2 at about the four-year mark. I got my Remarkable 2 in the summer of 2020 just as I was starting my PhD. I first bought the Remarkable 2 along with a Kobo device to compare the two. What I noticed immediately—and what my wife noticed immediately when I had her test the devices—was how superior the writing experience felt on the Remarkable 2.
I've purchased other e-ink tablets since then, including a couple Onyx Boox devices (Max Lumi 2 and more recently Tab Mini C), and invariably, despite their seemingly superior hardware and more advanced software, they've fallen short in one way or another to the Remarkable. Even though I've gone through different phases with this device—using it as a daily planner, using the PDF calendars, using it as a journal, and now with Typefolio, using it as a light word processor—I continue to use it every single day because I just love using it. Its longevity is incredible in our modern update culture where every device seems to just be a stop gap before the next one, the "one you've been waiting for."
Don't get me wrong, I've even had some major hiccups with the device. When I first got it, something happened when I first tried to upload my files to their cloud. I think that was the very early days for their cloud storage, and they really didn't get it right at first. I lost some very important research material I needed for work, and I couldn't get them back, so of course I complained to Remarkable. Their customer service wasn't great, and eventually one of the representatives just kind of said, "We're sorry, we're working on improving this." Sure enough, not long after that, later that summer or early fall, they started rolling out some major improvements to the way that sync worked, and I honestly have not had a single problem since. I'm glad I hung on.
Even though I had a frustrating experience, I could tell even then that the development team was pretty committed to iterative but important updates. This is something I really want to stress that I think maybe isn't well represented on this subreddit. It's my personal belief as a fairly long-term power user who uses different E-Ink devices that the Remarkable updates, while iterative, always seem to add something to the experience of using the device in very meaningful ways, at least for me. This is very clear when you compare it to something like a Boox tablet, which, as many people have remarked, is a kind of jack of all trades, master of none.
For instance, Boox's notepad offers so many more features than Remarkable's writing experience (running Boox os 3.5, which, funny enough I struggled to look up on my Tab Mini C because a bug kept switching back to the most recent app until eventually I had to force quit all apps, lol). Just in terms of the sheer amount of features on paper, Boox is so obviously the more "fully featured" device. Yet, for various reasons, including Boox's notorious complexity, I never find myself consistently using any of my Boox devices for writing. I would never keep a daily journal on my Boox, for instance, not only because of the software, of course, but also because at least for me the writing feel is far inferior, although I am experimenting right now with keeping a kind of digital bullet journal on my Boox because of the way you can link notes on Boox devices (Note, you can also do this on SuperNote). Too early to tell if I'll keep it up, but it's not likely.
The Remarkable is often compared to Apple devices, and I think it's pretty clear that's what they're going for in terms of build quality, user experience, simplicity, and the iterative nature of the device (software, but also hardware like the Typefolio). I really think it's an apt comparison for the most part. When I first got this device, it didn't support the snap-in-place highlighting feature, for instance, but when that feature came it was very helpful for my work (which includes reading a lot of pdfs), and I used the device more as a result. Other examples include new gestures like pinch to zoom (March 2021), cloud integrations, tags (June 2022), and of course, 3.0, which brought type support.
But even more seemingly "minor" features like tags are something I use every day, and I find tags in particular extremely helpful for organizing my thoughts after I've done some writing. I'm the kind of user who usually just starts with quick notes and moves those pages around into different notebooks as needed at a later time, and I use tags like "journal" or "to process" to help me remember when I need to do with those pages later. Then, of course, there was the addition of typing and eventually the Typefolio itself, which I own as well. A lot of users here on this subreddit complain about the Typefolio. That's obviously valid. For people who just want a very simple writing experience, it's clear that the Remarkable has drifted away from that.
I honestly don't believe, however, despite many people's claims, that merely being a slightly upgraded analog writing experience was ever Remarkable's actual goal. For one thing, it's not exactly a mystery that they are not earning a lot of revenue from the sale of the Remarkable 2 at this point, which is how many years old? So, they've had to find other ways to increase revenue and open up new revenue streams, such as the highly controversial subscription service that a lot of people hated (and still complain about), and the Typefolio and all the various features that have come along with that. In my opinion, Remarkable has awkwardly tried to straddle both individual users and enterprise users, and it's very clear that everything with the Typefolio is really aimed at enterprise users, which takes away development resources from the writing features many individual users want to see.
But for me, as a writer, someone who does writing daily for work, the Typefolio and the typing experience have been incredible. I use it all the time. I really believe that the features added along with the Typefolio add so much to the device. I certainly did not by the device with expectation that it would ever become a simple word processor, so the Typefolio and all the stuff around it have actually added incredible value (even though, yes, it's an expensive keyboard). Now I'm more inclined to bring my Remarkable with the Typefolio than my laptop if I'm doing simple drafting, and it really helps me focus on writing.
In terms of software, what I really want to stress as a longtime user is just how superior the Remarkable is, at least compared to Onyx Boox (and, from what I've read, SuperNote) when it comes to accessing your files on other devices. At least as a Mac user, the seamless cloud syncing and accessibility of my files on my laptop or phone is by far the best experience I've ever had with any of these E Ink devices. The competition here is really laughable. Kindle Scribe, from what I've read, has very little helpful support for organizing files and accessing them on your computer or other devices. Remarkable has really nailed this experience and it's been very iterative.
When I started using this device, the desktop app was very little more than just a way to basically mirror and download files from your device, but now, of course, you can edit files via typing and have them instantly sync (and reliably!). You can tag pages, for instance, and now with a new feature I really love, you can use the lasso tool to directly convert your handwriting to text on your desktop—another good example of an excellent and not technically challenging feature that, yep, took way too long...it's exactly like Apple and Android. Now there are tons of great emulators on the Apple App Store. Cool cool. Android users have had that for like, what, 15 years? Annoying as this lag is, when those features do come, they tend to be excellent.
To me, the desktop and mobile apps are really what separates Remarkable from its competition, and I think if you care a lot about having an improved analog writing experience, it's something you shouldn't take for granted. You can't do anything like this on Onyx Boox devices—trust me. For one thing, the typing experience on those devices is awkward and clumsy, but once you do create a file, you don't have any real way of managing it or editing it on desktop. Yes, there's a web portal and a mobile app, but imo they are absolutely trash compared to Remarkable's apps. Even the tagging experience, which in some ways is superior on Boox devices, is weird and clunky and seems to add nothing on the desktop side of things.
Look, I'm certainly not dismissing other power users' complaints. Don't take this the wrong way. But I do want to say that sometimes I feel almost as if we take some of these features for granted. I don't know how many power users might also own other devices and can therefore actually compare the Remarkable to those devices, but I think that's important. You have to compare a device to its competition, and in so many ways, Remarkable excels with the fluidity and simplicity of what they offer.
People complain about the development pace of the Remarkable software, but to me, I find that each update more or less provides some kind of concrete and useful feature. It's taken over three years for the device to really get to a point where I think it's a fully featured device. For some people, that might have been a complete deal breaker and I can understand that. But for me, I've loved that the team has demonstrated real focus in their updates. This includes the most recent beta update, which people are complaining about, the beta update software 3.12. People are complaining that Remarkable is focusing too much on needless UI updates. But here too, I love this new update because it makes navigating the UI much easier, which I think is so important. It's crucial, in my opinion, to reduce the number of taps on an E Ink device and the number of menus that you have to open and close, and that's exactly what this update does. It makes it so much easier to navigate through the home screen. I love that. I think that's exactly what the team needs to be focusing on.
Again, I've not had a perfect experience with my Remarkable. Like many users, my power button broke early on, which was frustrating to no end. It is a serious design flaw in the Remarkable 2. Whenever they release a new device, they better have fixed this failure point. As a result of breaking the power button, I had to open up the device myself to pry the damn button out, and because I'm not very precise, I struggled to get the device closed up properly and the back looked weird after that, although functioned perfectly fine, so I just covered it with the Typefolio (which I always used anyway). Most recently I had to replace my original with a refurbished one because the screen finally cracked (it was from the device being under too much pressure while being stored in my backpack, and I really don't think it was from a design flaw. Basic physics). I absolutely hate that for a company whose former and founder once claimed that customers could keep their device for 10 years, they have zero real hardware support, like, cmon Magnus Wanberg, did you not realize your devices are powered by lithium ion batteries?! It sounded cool and even radical at the time, but given Remarkable's utter failure to invest in the kind of support infrastructure that would be required to support that kind of longevity, it was clearly just marketing—shame on you. Big disappointment there. And then there's also the Remarkable 2 pens. The Pro pens, or whatever they're called, suck. They're not well designed. The collar on the nib is a point of failure just like the power button on the tablet. I cannot honestly believe that Remarkable continues to sell these crappy pencils in good faith. Judging from this forum, this problem is widespread, just like the power button problem. You'd be lucky to get a month out of one of those styluses (as I did with my first one that broke in less than a month...seriously), let alone 10 years. I've gone through at least half a dozen of those things (under warranty). That's a lot of waste guys.
So, yeah, problems for sure. But also an incredible and fairly consistent experience. At the end of the day, despite the hardware issues I've had (and the rare software problem here or there), I keep coming back to this device. It's just so deeply ingrained in my workflow. When I've tried to add other devices to my workflow, like my Boox tablets, there's always just some...issue. I love what I consider the relatively narrow focus and restraint the dev teams shows in their updates. This device just works when I pick it up—no long boot sequence (like with Boox), no confusing menus, no searching for my files on a stupid web portal. I just pick it up and write.

First off, I want to make it very clear that I am NOT saying that we should prohibit certain people from voting. Rather I am just saying that many more people that currently do vote should decide to stay home on election day, and that we should stop saying things like "remember to vote" to encourage people.
Let me start with an analogy: We are a group of people who are hiring an engineer to design a plane we are going to fly on. Out of this group, most of the people have little to no engineering knowledge, and most don't want to spend more than 30 minutes researching anything. The way we are to choose who to hire is that each candidate presents their plan for how they are going to design the plane. Question: Should all of us vote for which candidate is chosen, or should only the people who know something about engineering and what makes a plane not crash vote?
I assume that most people would intuitively think that only the people who have relevant expertise should be part of the process.
Now, I hope the analogy is painfully obvious: In elections, we are voting for a person/group that decides how society should be changed in order to improve it. The way that the candidates are chosen is that they (ideally) explain how they are planning to improve society, and then people decide who they think have the best method for doing so.
The problem is that the questions under debate are extremely complicated. Not only is it very complicated what the goal we are striving for is, but it is also a very complicated question how best to attain those goals, and it will depend on a lot of complicated empirical questions. Meanwhile, most people spend very little time actually grappling with these questions and getting a good understanding of them. I have heard many people say that they have decided what to vote *while they were standing in the polling station*. That is certainly not reflective of a well thought out, carefully reflected decision.
I think, by the way, that that is totally rational: The chance that you will make any change to how society is run is very minimal, and so you would be wasting hours upon hours of your life making no impact whatsoever. Rather, it is much more rational for you to vote in order to show your social affiliation and to fit in with your group.
But that still means that most of the people voting for who should run a country have little to no understanding about what would actually be best, and rather decide what to vote based on what is "cool" - to put it a bit uncharitably.
So it would obviously (I think) be a lot better if all the people who don't want to dedicate large parts of their lives to understanding these complicated questions chose not to be a part of the decision-making process.
Furthermore, it is not just that people choose to vote, even if they don't have much expertise - we actively peer pressure people into voting. I live in Denmark, and thus can mostly speak on behalf of the culture here, but I take it that it is similar in other countries. It is very common that people tell others to "remember to vote", and there is generally a culture of encouraging everybody to take part in the voting process. I think this is very scary. If the only reason that you voted is that someone told you to do so, your decision will probably not be much better than if someone randomly cast their vote, and you are probably not one of the people who *should* vote.
Now, I think that it is still good that everyone has the option to vote. This is because democracy has some very obvious benefits over other systems: Democracy avoids obviously bad and disastrous outcomes (generally). If there is a candidate that promises to take all tax-money for themselves and their friends, it is very unlikely that they would get elected. And so it is good that everyone has the option to vote in order to avoid such obviously terrible candidates.
The problem is that democracy is very bad at dealing with subtle and complicated issues. And so when there isn't some obviously terrible option which is becoming popular, it is better to leave the decision to those who actually has at least *some* grasp of the issues.
I think the hardest objection for my view is that the people who REALLY should not vote, are probably some of the ones who will think that they should. This is because people who have spent so little time looking at the issues, and actually looking at opposing views to their own, will be the most overly confident in their own views, regardless of whether they are good or not. And so if everyone who was self-aware enough to know that they probably shouldn't vote didn't vote, then there would be a larger proportion of the voters who fell into this category of overly confident but uninformed voters.
I think there is certainly some merit to this objection. What I want to say to this, however, is that even if the 10% most uninformed voters continue to vote, then it would still be better if the remaining bottom 40% refrained from voting. Although in cases where more than 50% of the population fall into this extra-uninformed category, it looks as though everyone else should vote. In that case, however, it looks as though the country is screwed regardless. I will also just add that I think creating a culture where voting was seen as a choice rather than a duty - perhaps even making it slightly taboo to vote - could lower the percentage of these extra bad voters.
More generally, I think the world would still be better if everyone asked themselves the following two questions:
Am I voting because someone told me to do so? - Then don't.
Am I voting because I want to express affiliation to my social group? - Then cast a blank vote, and lie, saying that you *did* vote.

Hello, I am a EE grad looking for jobs related to IC design and verification. I’ve done a lot of transistor and systemverilog courses and projects and continue to work with FPGA design in my freetime. My overall GPA is 2.99, which is tragic, but in my last semester I had a ~3.5 for the semester (one of my heaviest loaded semesters). I always thought doing tough schedules would help me learn more, but in reality I was just locking myself out of opportunity unintentionally by overloading, and I only got used to handling these tougher schedules at the very end. Every MSEE program in the country with any sort of acknowledgment in industry does not consider applicants with a cumulative GPA below 3.0, but I know that I am currently specifically interested in hardware acceleration and would commit to that specifically, though I always keep my mind open to what’s happening in the analog space. The whole reason I feel I have to pursue grad school is that nearly every R&D jobs related to IC’s requires a strong master’s with internships and will not consider undergrads. And my extremely low gpa will not get me a job in the field as an undergrad. Am I able to do anything, I just think I was out of the loop about the workings of graduate school and industry until it was too late to actually do something about it. Everyone always mentions post-baccalaureate work to raise GPA but I don’t know any respected university that actually allows you to do this in EE. Additionally, looking at a lot of degree mill professional master’s programs that accept anybody, it appears that a lot of these programs’ courses have a lower rigor than my own undergraduate institution/coursework and would contribute nothing besides a fraudulent credential and bunch of lost money. Do I have any options or am I screwed and have to start from the same place I started with my high school diploma?

Hello everybody,
I've been reading with a lot of interest many of the questions of this forum and I'm impressed by the quality of the feedback of the members and I'm sure I will get good feedback for my first post.
I would to get some advices about the transition from analog ic designer as individual contributor to ultimately a beeing a manager after 1 or 2 years. I'll be starting the analog and mixed signal activity from scratch in a new company and the team is expected to have up to 4 members max (after some years) which is of reasonable size for first time management.
It is expected that the following should be put in place:

• general design/layout procedures
• overview/analysis and mitigation of potential technical risks (basic exemple is a failed startup of a bandgap)
• relevant knowledge database (books, courses, papers)

From a soft skills perspective, I've seen in my previous experience that the best managers are the most authentic and accessible ones, communications skills are also very important.
What else do you see it interesting. Can you recommend an online course for first time managers (coursera, linkedin ??). I'am open to any general advices on the topic.
Thank you very much.

"IDM" can refer to several different concepts depending on the context. Here are a few of the most common interpretations:

IDM (Intelligent Dance Music):

• Definition: A genre of electronic music that emerged in the early 1990s, characterized by an eclectic and experimental approach to sound, complex rhythms, and a focus on listening rather than dancing.
• Notable Artists: Aphid Twin, Autochef, Boards of Canada.
• Characteristics: IDM often incorporates unusual time signatures, intricate drum programming, and a blend of digital and analog sounds. It's known for its cerebral and abstract nature.

IDM (Identity Management):

• Definition: A framework of policies and technologies to ensure that the right individuals have access to the right resources at the right times for the right reasons.
• Components:
  • Identity Governance: Ensures that identities and their access rights are properly managed and compliant with regulations.
  • Access Management: Controls access to systems and data based on user identities and roles.
  • Authentication and Authorization: Verifies user identities and grants access permissions accordingly.
• Technologies: Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS).

IDM (Internet Download Manager):

• Definition: A software tool that helps increase download speeds by up to five times, schedule downloads, and manage downloading tasks.
• Features:
  • Speed Acceleration: Utilizes dynamic file segmentation and multipart downloading to accelerate download speeds.
  • Resume Capability: Allows users to resume interrupted downloads due to lost connections, network problems, or power outages.
  • Browser Integration: Integrates with various web browsers to automatically handle downloads.
  • Scheduler: Enables users to set times for downloading files.

IDM (Integrated Development Environment):

• Example: Intel Developer Zone provides an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for software development, particularly for systems and applications using Intel hardware.

If you have a specific context or domain in mind, please provide more details so I can offer a more focused explanation

Not sure if this is the right subreddit, but I'm running out of things to try and fix this.
I've been running the basic 4-3 Linear - No Deadzone for the last year or so. I use a SCUF Instinct Pro on PC. With No Deadzone selected, I've adjusted to having a minor drift in any direction. I actually got the SCUF because I thought the stick drift had gotten so bad on my last controller - but realized a minor drift is present even on a brand new one when you don't have a deadzone.
Yesterday, my whole aim felt completely off, and I realized the minor drift I'm used to was not present. I tried replicating it by slightly adjusting my analog stick but no luck. I even plugged in my old controller and didn't see a drift either. For some reason, it seems I have a deadzone now or at least acting like I do. So far, I've tried re-installing apex, updating my controller, testing different USB cords/ports. Nothing seems to fix it. Has anyone heard of an issue like this or have any possible solution?

Hamp’s theory that *wik^- > z- in Albanian has been challenged as unlikely phonetically. I do not feel that such considerations are important, since out of the thousands of sound changes needed throughout the world, at least some would look odd. Instead, I disagree with it due to other etymologies and sound changes that explain the data better.
​

1. zog

Hamp’s *wik^e-gWo- > zog has no basis in comparative data. Instead, since *g^(h)w and *g^(h)y > z, metathesis in *g^haH2ghw- > *g^wa:g > zog :
​
*g^haH2ghu- > Arm. jag -u- ‘youngling / nestling / little bird / sparrow’, *g^wa:g > Alb. zog ‘young animal / nestling / bird / son’, Sog. zāγ ‘kind of bird’, NP zâγ / zâq ‘child / offspring’
​
Also, the similarity of *g^haH2ghu- to Skt. jahu- ‘young animal’ could be explained if *H2 were velar or uvular (Weiss 2016, Whalen 2024a) and caused optional assimilation of *g^haRg^hu-> *g^haRghu- outside of Skt. (which lost *-H2-). H-loss does not seem regular, but if one is desperate for regularity maybe there was optional dissimilation of *gh-gh > *g(h)-g(h) in both directions before regular *g-gh, etc., became standard, with *-Hg- > *-g- (Lubotsky 1981). Otherwise, if *-gh- was original, optional assimilation of *gh() in *g^haRghu-> *g^haRg^hu- for Skt. (similar to *s-ś > ś-ś in *smamk^ru- > *sma(m)k^ur- > Hittite zma(n)kur ‘beard’, šmankur-want- ‘bearded’; *smak^ru- > Sanskrit śmáśru-; etc.).
​

1. -zet

*widk^mti- > *vinćati- > Skt. viṃśatí-, Iran. *vinsati > Os. insäj, G. Dor. wikati, Pamphylian phíkati, Alb. një-zet, Arm. k’san ‘20’
​
This word already has several oddities, so looking for regularity here seems suspect. Since it seems to contain *dwi-dek^mt ‘two tens’ > *(d)widk^mt-, *wik^- > z- in Albanian might not be possible anyway, even if other examples proved true. Of course, since it only appears in compounds (një-zet ‘20’, dy-zet ‘40’), there’s no reason to think initial *wi()k^- was the source at all. Loss of -V- in long words could be the cause. Thus, *-dk^- > *-dg^- > *-g^- might be possible, and only in compounds like *oino-widk^ati > *onyo-w(i)g^ati > *onyo-dg^wati, etc., did the loss of *-i- allow metathesis of *-wg^- > *-g^w-.
​

1. zot

For *zo:tin > zot ‘lord’, *zo:tni: > zonjë / zojë ‘lady’, a source in *poti- > Skt. páti- ‘master / husband’ seems clear, but Hamp’s connection to *wik^-poti- (Skt. viśpáti- ‘master’) has problems. I do not see any reason to believe analogical **wik^-aH-poti- ever existed in Alb. (to explain -o- by *āpo > *ābo > *āo > *ā > o). If the etymology requires an unmotivated affix within the word, not seen in any cognates, it should be rejected. Instead, since Alb. is often similar to Greek, despótēs and fem. déspoina (Skt. dámpati-s, PIE *dems-poti- ‘master of the house’) makes more sense. Not only does Greek also have optional z- here (G. pédon ‘ground’, dápedon / zápedon ‘floor / ground’) for *dem(H2)- ‘house’, but Bithynian might show the same in G. despótēs : Bi. Ziboítēs \ Tiboítēs \ Zeipoítēs ‘a king’. That a cluster *-msp- could become -b- in Bi. means that it could in Alb. as well (no other ex.), so :
*dems-potin- > *de:z-potin > *de:z-botin > *de:botin > *de:otin > *de:tin > *zo:tin > zot
​
A change of *d > *z > s (based on accent) might also exist in (Whalen 2024c) :
​
*sweidro- / *swi:dro-? ‘sweat’ > G. hīdrṓs, Arm. k’irtn
*swi:zro- > Skt. kṣīrá-m ‘milk’, *swi:rso- > Alb. dirsë / djersë ‘sweat’
​
*bhlaido- ‘pallid / ill’ > Slavic *ble:do-, OE blát, Alb. *blaisuro- > blehurë ‘pale’
​
Still more words show optional d(h) / z in the area. Ex.:
​
G. pédon ‘ground’, dápedon / zápedon ‘flooground’
​
*d(e)mbh- > Skt. da(m)bh- ‘slay / destroy’, G. záphelos ‘violent’
​
*dlegWro- ‘naked’ >>
*dlegWor- > *ðlaγar- > Pashto laγaṛ ‘naked / bare’
*dlogWor- > *tlukWor- > EArm. tklor
*dlugWro- > G. zágros ‘barefoot’
​
G. dágklon / zágklon ‘sickle’ (likely a loan)
​
G. dérma ‘skin’, Th. zalmós, Ebro-zelmis \ Diza-zelmis “(having a) goat-skin”
G. dorā́ ‘skin’, *derha > Arm. teṙ ‘veil / coat’, Th. z(e)irá ‘kind of upper garment / cloak’
​
*H2azd- > G. áz[d]ō ‘dry up’, Arm. azazem ‘dry’
(*zd > *zz > z is not regular, see *nizdó- > E. nest, Arm. nist ‘site/dwelling’, *dorusdo- ‘thrush’ > *dorzdo- > *dorðo- > Arm. tordik)
​
*H1leudh- > Arm. eluzumn ‘sprout’, (compare elust ‘growing of plants’), mard-eloyz ‘man-kidnapper’
​
*(s)kewdh- > OE hýdan, E, hide, G. keúthō ‘covehide’, Arm. suzem ‘immerse’
​
*samHdho- > E. sand, G. (ps)ámathos, Arm. awaz, L. sabulum
​
*widh- > L. dīvidere ‘separate’, *weidho-? > Arm. gēz ‘fissure/cut’
​
*H1edh-? > OCS jed-inŭ, MArm. ez ‘one’
​
Skt. vrādh- ‘be proud / boast’, Av. urvādah- ‘*pride / *entertainment > joy / bliss’
Av. urvāz- ‘be proud / entertain’
​
Skt. khād- ‘chew/bite/eat’, khādá- ‘food’
Pth. xāz- ‘devour’, *xāza- > Kho. khāysa- ‘food’
​
*swaH2du- > Skt. svādú- ‘sweet’
*sH2aldu- > Li. saldùs ‘sweet’ ( E. salt, Arm. ał )
*swaldu(r)- > *xwaldur > *xwałtür > Arm. k’ałc’r ‘sweet’
*xwald- > *xwalz- > Av. xVarǝzišta- ‘sweetest’
​
One cause of this might be when metathesis created *dH- > *zH- > z-. If PIE *demH2s-poti- became *dH2ems-poti-, only oddities like d- > z- would give evidence for it. If so, the same for *Hd- > *dH- > *z- in
*H1dntyo- > Arm. *dH- > *zantyo > *žanyo > žani ‘tusk’
with assimilation of *S-y > ž-y, as in *sm(e)id-ye- ‘smile, laugh’ > Greek meidiáō, Arm. žpit ‘smile’, žptim / žmtim ‘I smile’ (Whalen 2024d). That *C-y was affected by change-at-a-distance also shown by :
*g^hrzdhyo- > *γ^arzðyo- > *γarðyo- > Arm. gari ‘barley’
in which no *g^ > j occurred due to dissimilation of palatals.
​
For *zo:tin > zot , *zo:tni: > zonjë, the -n- in the masc. seems to show that PIE *potin- ‘lord’, fem. *potin-H2- > *potniH2 existed. This would match *swe-k^uro- > Sanskrit śváśura- ‘father-in-law’, fem. *swe-k^ur-H2- > *swek^ruH2- ‘mother-in-law’. If so, it would be evidence that i-stems could come from *-in-, nom. *-in > *-ir. Thus, Arm. u-stems in *-ur > -r retain an old IE feature (Whalen 2024b), and pl. *-un-es- > -un-k’ would also be old (*bhrg^hu(n)- ‘high’ > barjr, gen. barju, pl. barjunk’). Armenian neuter *-ur > -r also appear as -u in Greek but -ū in Latin, possibly showing a uvular *R that disappeared in most, but lengthened the *u in *-uR in Latin with the loss of a mora. More complex origins, like *-urx^o- > *-uRH1 > *-ur / *-u(H1), are also possible. It would need to be optional, since Nikolaev relates Latin femur ‘thigh’ to Greek thamús ‘thick’ (2010: 62, also citing Nussbaum in fn 27).
​
Hamp, Eric P. (1997) A Far-Out Equation
Indo-European, Nostratic and Beyond: Festschrift for V.V. Shevoroshkin
https://www.academia.edu/2304575
​
Lubotsky, Alexander (1981) Gr. pḗgnumi : Skt. pajrá- and loss of laryngeals before mediae in Indo-Iranian
https://www.academia.edu/428966
​
Martirosyan, Hrach (2009) Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon
https://www.academia.edu/46614724
​
Nikolaev, Alexander (2010) Issledovanija po praindoevropejskoj imennoj morphologii [Studies in Indo-European Nominal Morphology]
https://www.academia.edu/396023
​
Weiss, Michael (2016) The Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals and the Name of Cilicia in the Iron Age
https://www.academia.edu/28412793
​
Whalen, Sean (2024a) Greek Uvular R / q, ks > xs / kx / kR, k / x > k / kh / r, Hk > H / k / kh (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/115369292
​
Whalen, Sean (2024b) The Thick Thigh Theory
https://www.academia.edu/117080171
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Whalen, Sean (2024c) Greek Variation of l / d / th / z, z / y / l, d / b in Context with Indo-European r / l / d(h) / z, d(h) / b(h) (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/114443926
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Whalen, Sean (2024d) A To Ž: Latin Ambi-, Am ‘Around’, Armenian Žptim / Žmtim ‘I Smile’, Žołovurd ‘Multitude’; CiV > CyV; Ciy, Cvy > Cy
https://www.academia.edu/114189609
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Hey yall, I said in my first post here a few days ago that I only recently started watching Bridgerton. I’ve worked in television myself (behind the scenes on reality shows!) for the past two years and I’ve always been an analytical, observant person who digs a bit deeper - especially on content I watch - and so I wanted to give my (initial) thoughts on 3.1 and the characters because I’ve literally been thinking about it nonstop since it dropped, like the rest of you!
THE ROMANTIC LEADS:
First and foremost, I need a gigantic round of applause for Nicola Coughlan. Aside from the obvious, let me explain why.
It seems that the romantic leads in each season equally led the show. Daphne and Simon’s story arcs were prominent in their season and well established/explained. Their growth was clear. Same goes for Anthony as a subplot in that season which then became one of the big focuses in his own season. Kate had her own focus and character development.
Colin to me… it wasn’t really hinted to in S1 but there were little scenes here and there in S2 that indicated what his motivations or intentions were to be for S3 (the whole “I travelled the world for months to find my purpose in life, turns out it was across the street from me all along” thing). It’s clear so many of the fandom feel strongly that some of the rake-like decisions the character made in 3.1 were so far from what we know Colin to be - I understand and certainly agree - but it does seem to be related to this purpose thing which I think a lot of us do get at the same time. Violet put it in a great way (without knowing) with the armour analogy and saying he is one of her more sensitive children. This is his most endearing personality trait. Anyways, I’m getting away from the point - to me, the character development for Colin was rushed and not entirely well thought out in these four episodes compared to the last two seasons. Which I think is rather odd! It was only nearer the end of Part 1 when he had his outburst with his douchey friends that we saw the old Colin we know and love but a more ‘realised’ version if that makes sense. So in my head Colin wasn’t strong enough as the male lead. Given the Part 2 teaser though, I have confidence this is about to change and I’m so damn excited for June to get here.
Now then. Miss Coughlan I think you need a deep tissue massage. Because Penelope CARRIED THE WHOLE SHOW ON HER BACK. It is immensely clear to see how our sweet Pen has grown from the very first episode to the… ahem. The carriage scene. Arguably it’s the most powerful character development in the show thus far. Season 2 was my favourite but I could devote a whole new post to how Penelope made me feel in Part 1. The amount of times I was close to tears because of how much her dialogue and development resonated with me, ooh boy.
PLOT-SUBPLOT BALANCE:
I did notice though that the plot-subplot balance was off kilter in Part 1 and I hope this is rectified (if possible) in Part 2. I think that actually hurt the show more than the writers realise - as I said earlier, Daphne/Simon and Kate/Anthony led their seasons in equal measure, and there was a healthy amount of subplot scenes in each episode which tied off well too. For example Anthony being a manwhore in season 1. Eloise hunting for LW in season 2. Benedict pursuing art. The Featheringtons being… the Featheringtons in both seasons.
If we had had the seeds of this new Mondrich arc being planted in S2, then I’d understand why there are suddenly so many scenes of them in Part 1. It made sense to have the family be in S1 because of their connection to Simon. S2 also made sense because of Cousin Jack, and then the last bit where we see Colin apologise to Will and bring new men to his club. In my opinion they should’ve left them there (no disrespect to the actors, they are great). Other subplots could’ve had much less screen time too but I think that was the biggest.
Onto these other people/subplots. Eloise and Cressida took us all by surprise but Cressida being vulnerable even more so. It seems like Lord Cowper is the total opposite of what Lord Featherington was - overbearing instead of underbearing. Cressida is growing on me (I too am shocked I just said that.) very slowly. If it’s not her dramatically changing outfit choices that become increasingly bizarre showcasing the desperate of the Cowpers to marry her off, it’s her being vulnerable to Eloise when we’ve all been used to disliking her.
Benedict having sex with hot women we’ve seen before, I’m not entirely sure why we needed to see it again (though I’m not entiiiiirely complaining…) I just hope and wish it was more fruitful in the sense that we saw Anthony want to stop being a rake at the end of season 1 so it would’ve been better to see that sort of change in Benedict here. But there’s still hope for that to transpire in Part 2, particularly given the little book knowledge I know of Benedict’s romantic life and what we are to expect in his season and hope for in 3.2.
Having said that, given it’s most likely S4 will focus on Benedict, it would’ve so much been better if they gave Francesca’s big subplot in Part 1 to Benedict. Especially if we are to follow the pattern we’ve had so far of the following season’s main Bridgerton lead leading the main subplot of the season before (Anthony being a broody rake, Colin having an existential crisis) I love the fuck out of Francesca story arc and love John - I was kicking my feet and giggling at the silence on the sofa scene and the musical notes - but we should’ve been having this stuff in S4, not 3. It makes no sense to me.
Portia/Philippa/Prudence as a subplot made sense for me because of their storyline in seasons 1 and 2, it only makes sense of it to carry on (and remain fucking hysterical). Nothing more to say, the comedy just writes itself and there’s a healthy amount of time dedicated to their ongoing storyline.
The imbalance has impacted Colin’s development as an individual and Polin as a developing couple/relationship. There could’ve been so much more longing, jealousy, accidental touches, hot dreams, close encounters, desire, angst, and everything in between. Basically, there could’ve been time to put a regency romantic spin on what is essentially the foundations of your classic Hallmark movie.
EVERYTHING ELSE:
The dialogue continues to impress - particularly when Lord Cowper says “Stay away from the Bridgerton girl”, it tells us how the Bridgerton family is slowly but surely becoming a poisonous or risky household to be associated with, given their scandals every other week. Or it could be specifically linked to Eloise’s “fraternising with political radicals” thing and not wanting to be associated with that in case it damages Cressida’s dwindling marriage prospects and the Cowpers’ reputation.
Ruth Gemmell was quietly brilliant in just four episodes. She always was but this was another level. I’m in awe of how she’s been quietly observant of Colin and Francesca falling in love but wanting to deny it because of society or whatever else, and gently guiding them to their heart’s desires. (I so want Marcus to tend her garden oh my goDDDDD)
I liked that Lady Whistledown was even more in the spotlight in terms of dialogue. I mean we expected this anyway for obvious reasons, but I loved how we really SAW and understood what Pen/LW was saying.
A little voice in my head wants to go through each episode and analyse it in more detail because there’s just so much depth to take in.
But anyways, those are my initial thoughts! I’d love to see what you guys think and discuss.
June needs to get here way faster… tick tock, tick tock.

Throw away because reasons.
I quit my prior teaching job near end of November and its a story that has tainted my life.
I was at my last school for 3 years. Beginning of a new year had started and the admin really wanted to enforce a dress code and pushed it on us hard. Obviously cause they were told to. So I played along and dress coded even though i mostly don't care about dress codes. Had one student one day who had a bra cup showing. Which was 100% a dress code violation. When the student came back to me, she was still wearing her shirt in the same manner. I gave her my patented thousand yard stare and she immediately told admin said it was okay. So i called up tweedle dee and asked him and sure enough she went to him and he said it was okay. I told him the student is coming back and she is not welcome in my room till the issue is addressed. I told the student you aren't the problem I'm not mad at you, we have good rapport and she went back to the office and i didn't see her till lunch.
Lunch time she and some others come into my room to get help with some math work. She is still wearing the same shirt and her bra cup is still visable. I was fuming. So i emailed admin and said if we were serious about dress code or not. Stated that the student has been sent up twice and this issue hasn't bee resolved. I said "I feel like I'm fighting the crusades for an atheist"... which wasnt wise but i was mad.
So its a friday i hear nothing back from admin. Till I'm going to leave at the end of the school day and Tweedle Dumb stops to talk me about the dress code situation. I'm like sure fine this will be fun.
He said some wish washy stuff about sometimes someone sees something and its dress code sometimes someone see it and its not. Then bro pulls out his phone and says i tool a picture of the girl to show you how its not dress code and he just shows me a picture that is basically just the students cleavage. Which is disgusting and awful on many levels, he made up something about her agreeing to it and it was friday at the end of a long work day. I was tired i didn't think about how awful this was in the moment. So he shows it to me and we have a manray and Patrick ass conversation over the image.
Me: The students bra cup is visible in the picture.
Admin: Yep.
Me: School dress code states that undergarments cant be visable..
Admin: Yep
Me: and the bra cup is part of a bra which is undergarment?
Admin: Yep
Me: So its a dress code violation.
Admin: Nope!
To which i put my hands in the air said okay cool awesome great whatever have a good weekend and i walked off.
Monday at Lunch. The student comes to me and talks about her encounter with tweedle dumb. She told me he ask to take the photo she said no. Then he coerced her into agreeing. Never mind the fact that a minor cant give concent. That was when it went from being ew gross to holy shit he might just be a child predator. I didn't fullly grasp how bad this was on Friday but better late than never.
So i had the student fill out an "anonymous tip form" that is suppose to go to the D.O. and i know the student got pulled out of classes to write about what happened. In my mind it would be taken care of from there and i mostly forgot about it and moved on.
The rest of the year I was harassed by admin. Constant "random" walk throughs. Was frequently being singled out and if ever tried to say anything back they would call me into a meeting where i would bring my union rep and i would just sit and try to work things out with them. After the second one i recognized they weren't listening to me. So i shut down and just started saying okay like a broken record. Which they thought was disrespectful and said told me i wasn't listening to them and i said well neither are you.
This put a lot of stress on my work day, compounded by the fact that i had 14 out of 120 students passing with a D or higher. While being as accommodating as possible. Led to me having a mental break down in class. I slammed my arm into a wall said something to effect of "nothing i do fucking matters, anyone could do my job" i then sat down at my desk and just started bawling. I was put on admin leave for 2 days. Had an hr meeting and went back into work.
When i got back i apologized to my class and spent the day explaining to the rest what happened and just talking with the students. I told them how i have no job fulliment how i find it painful to teach math to students who don't care about themselves as much as i can about them. I told then how i hate living so far away from friends and family. I hate the 40 minute drive in addition to that and cant live near the school cause I don't like the area. I couldn't tell them about the admin part because he was in the room the entire day.
Next day at lunch union rep and prinicpal walk in at lunch time while i am helping students and tell the students to clear out cause we are going to have a meeting. I tell the students not to leave its my lunch time and i aint having no meeting turning lunch. The union rep says tells me the meeting needs to happen so i tell the kids to leave and that I'll see them later or whatever. So the meeting is basically I'm going on indefinite admin leave while the district investigates. Note that its been 4 days since i slammed a wall and all that. I've already spoke to hr and just owned what happened what changed? Well i wouldn't know till like 9 months later.
I tried to find a new school all summer but apparently other districts can know you are on admin leave? So basically i was on everyone's dont hire list for all summer. So the new school year is starting and I'm still on admin leave. However the D.O. decides its time. To bring me back in and they give me a list of 14 things that i did wrong. #1 was that i was a math teacher which made me laugh. They spent 9 months putting this documentation together and all of this resulted in 14 bullet points which i get a week to respond to. I while reading about this with HR i noticed that one email was left out. The email about the dress code incident how weird. So much to the Union Presidents dismay. I tell HR there actually should be a 15th thing. I would like it ammended to your list. And i bring up the email. Apparently neither of these two knew about the dress code situation. What had me fuming while i was on admin leave was that i did basically nothing (not saying what i did was good or that i should do it) and i disappeared for 9 months and admin who sexually harassed? Assualted? A student didn't even leave for a day. So i explained everything that happened to them. I was allowed back on campus but was given the shortest of leashes you could imagine i was handed a list of like 20 things that i couldn't do and if i did any of them within the next half of the school year i could be fired.
So i figured i needed to detatch myself from caring about my students do not get upset. So i did the bare minimum. I became worksheet man. Then i had students saying i didn't care about them anymore that iwas a good teacher and now I'm not. Admin was stopping by all the time i was getting written up for being seconds late to contract time (everyone showed up late), I started showing up early and logging everyone elses arrival times in case i needed them for court. Which then made some teachers curse me out. They said i was going to ruin everything for everyone and that i should suck it up and take it like a man. Worth noting our contract start time was 6:50 and everyone basically lived 40 minutes away.
So this ate at me so bad I'd wake up get out of bed get on the floor and sob and call in sick. I physically couldn't will myself to work most days. Then when i got on campus I'd be in near tears and would struggle through the day. Now i couldn't quit because they would go after my credential so i was trapped. I felt caged in and stuck. Somewhere around 2 months in the admin creep got removed from campus for "personal reasons" they moved him to an elementary school. I was hoping that would help my mental state but it didnt.
The new interem principal who is my hero in this story had a talk with me at one point. I don't remember what happened but i was called into another meeting for something i did or said. The interm principal asked how she could help me feel better. I explained that i felt trapped and i was under so much scrutiny that it felt like i was playing an impossible game. I'm being set up to fail. She reached out to the D.O. and probably pulled some strings but the D.O. gave me a limited time offer to resign and walk away. So i took it, got in writing that they wouldn't come after my credential or interfere with my future job searches.
I moved back in with my parents and was able to get a temp gig from march till the end of the year. Which is where i am now. I fell in love with the school, the students, the staff and wanted to stay here. However this district is releasing of their temps i found out about 3 weeks ago. They won't be keeping a single one.
So now i feel lost. I came in and did an amazing job with these students. I blew everyones expectations out of the water. I wanted to show that i wanted to be here and how good I am. All of that just for nothing.
Now I'm like giga depressed because i have to return to job hunting. I was fed these lies that math teachers are in high demand, that new teachers are quitting, there is a teacher shortage and oh no we have emergency credential people.
I hate interviewing and i must be bad at it cause i dont get jobs from it when I do. I never get feedback on job interviews either so how am i suppose to correct whatever I'm doing wrong? My mom says its always about who shows up. Well who the fuck is rolling up to math teaching jobs with more than 5 years experience? Where is the job they left behind then? I'm now sitting in a different classroom feeling like i did before. I feel hopeless like nothing i do matters.
I want to progress my life, i want to find the school, in a city i want to settle down in, i want to be out of my parents house again. If this summer comes and goes and I don't have a job i don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Someone suggested I substitute which made me mad. Like i didn't work this hard to be as good as i am at what i do to substitute. I don't want to walk into a classroom and be thinking to myself this should be mine.
I'm just exhausted. I'm tired of jumping through hoops like a damn dolphin. While other people get to do it like a show dog and get better if not similar results. I'm tired of living.