Long post :( thank you for reading in advance.
I just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, at a branch campus in Qatar. I'm an international student from Vancouver, Canada. The education between the Qatar and Pittsburgh campuses are pretty much identical and In the end, I carry a CMU degree, but while most main campus students get the chance to get high-level internships and carry some serious networking leverage, I didn't really get that. Qatar has a very small software engineering scene comprised of either government (e.g. hospitals, ministry of transportation), research/academic institution(s), or startups (some successful, most not). If you're a good student, it's not hard to get into one of the good positions through a professor or alumni, since almost everyone knows each other. But positions don't carry much weight, especially since I'm planning to go back to Canada. A Canadian recruiter won't recognize a local startup in Qatar.
My degree was a BSc in Information Systems, with a concentration in Data Science. I've always loved CS, but I wasn't proactive enough to switch majors early on. My cGPA (in my opinion) is subpar, hanging around 3.02. I didn't land internships. I'm relatively young, just turned 21. Up until my Junior year, I was dead set on my esports passion. I made it big early on and was a data analyst for some top teams, but over time reality set in and I backed up. Between that, and Covid, and other excuses, I didn't solidify my study disciplines.
As a non-CS person, and generally not having taken core CS courses (Distributed Systems, Security, Networks, OS, Parallel Computation, etc) + not having job experience + my low GPA, really doesn't set me up well for the job market.
Despite that, I'm ridiculously passionate about Software Engineering and ML. Even with my academic performance, I'm one of the most active people in my cohort. I've been repeatedly asked/demanded to be a course assistant for most core courses. I was infamous in my sophomore year for helping the whole class pass by tutoring them in Data Structures. I had certain Software Engineering courses where we worked with real clients. I led multiple of those, being both the Project Manager and handling all backend at the same time, and was consistently successful. In my last year, against a lot of odds, I took some 400/700 level courses in Deep Learning, even having major prereqs waived, and got A's on them.
Even in my partly delusional esports days, as an analyst, I worked on some otherwise massive Data Engineering projects on my own. I developed my own ML pipeline that would crunch hours of player footage and calculate performance metrics. I had to come up with my own custom video processing pipelines on top of CUDA. TL;DR I'm very confident in my skillset and I feel very capable. I think I definitely have the skillset and the ability to succeed in a junior SWE role.
My aspiration down the line is to work as an ML Engineer and even in Research, but I recognize that it's not easy to get to that point from where I am now. I applied to ~6 Masters programs in ML/CS/DS across Canada, and turned up with 0 offers. I'm actively planning to complete the independent "missing" CS courses as a non-degree student to raise my GPA, and study/network back on my own turf.
As another way to damage control, I'm also trying to apply for internships to gain experience I can use to get into entry level positions, and to perhaps overachieve and gain return offers. A lot of internships are locked to those who are currently studying, which I've just completed, so it narrows the job pool by a lot.
Currently, I don't know what to really market myself as. An ML Engineer who did phenomenally in a PhD tier Deep learning course? A Data Scientist, since I completed their Data Science concentration and capstone course? A Software Engineer, since I've built and shipped software and generally, SWE is the biggemore flexible umbrella that both MLE and DS fit under.
In general, I'm just not sure where to put my chips.

• Do I emphasize completing missing CS content in a Canadian university as a non-degree study in hopes of raising my grades and clearing prerequisites, so that I can increase my changes of getting into a Masters (and equivalently, getting better job security)?
• Do I work with the networking I currently have in Qatar to get entry level positions, accept the low pay and lack of prestige, and hope it can help me transfer over to the Canadian market?
• I will definitely be applying like crazy for internships/entry level positions directly in Canada. But is it looking bleak given my experience (or lack thereof)?
• As a Canadian and fresh grad, should I be applying for U.S. roles?
• How should I market myself? I'm okay with any role across SWE, MLE, DS, DE, even DA, but I can't just slap all those roles on my LinkedIn headline or CV. How are you guys handling your role-invariant job search.
• Any advice?

Have you been wandering the Exiled Lands? Craving community and adventure?

Band of Outcasts offers a casual, community-driven RP experience on the Exiled Lands. The server launched in October 2022 and is currently in its 6th season! This is a vanilla server that uses no mods (and we never will!), yet we go beyond vanilla survival with:

• Custom Quests: Visit the Quest Hub to discover quests to earn Eldarium and recipes like the Witch Doctor (undead) pets!
• Treasure Hunts: Search the Exiled Lands to uncover hidden riches from the Isle of Siptah, like recipes, sigils, pets, and warpaints!
• Community Boons System: Players can temporarily boost certain server settings (like XP rate) via quests!
• Custom Discord Bot: Enables the systems above, plus player registration, permanent warpaints, clan / player lookup, roleplayer search, feat restoration, event reward system, character renaming, server amenity map markers and more!
• Regular Light-RP Events: Market Nights, Tavern Nights, PVE challenges & PVP tournaments!
• Barbaric Difficulty: Our server uses the Barbaric difficulty settings, so enemies hit harder and take more hits to kill. XP is at 0.5x and Harvest Rate is at 1.0x
• Starter Kit: Players can optionally start out with light armor, iron tools, and a horse for a quick leg up! Great if you've been server hopping, looking for a home.
• Age/Chapter-Based Season Schedule (Server Wipes): We love Conan Exiles here, and we feel that the best way to experience the content in each new update is with a fresh start. It also gives the opportunity to try new RP character concepts, base locations or builds! We wipe the server and begin a new season approximately every 90 days, in sync with the Chapter Release schedule. Our 6th season began on April 3, 2024, so there's plenty of time to play before the next wipe estimated in early July 2024!

Band of Outcasts is the perfect blend of relaxed roleplaying atmosphere and rich content. We're a friendly and helpful group - newcomers welcome! Please see our rules overview below, and if you're interested, we hope you join us!

• 18+ Community: As Conan is an 18+ rated game, it is expected that you are at least 18, and your character is at least 18..
• Respect: Be respectful of other players. If you have an issue with another player, it is your responsibility to be an adult and talk to them about it.
• Hate: Hate speech, racism, sexism, bigotry, racial slurs, and bullying are not permitted and will result in an immediate ban. If your profile, username, or messages contain anything of the above you will be removed.
• Thirst: Do not be thirsty, creepy, make inappropriate comments to other members, or DM them without permission. If someone is not responding to your advances, do not persist and make them uncomfortable.
• Discreet ERP: We are a community of adults and Erotic Roleplay (ERP) between consenting members is permitted. If you choose to engage in ERP, please do so privately.
• Enforced Rules: Rules on our server are enforced as fairly as possible, with mod-team discussion to handle situations reasonably. Moderators and server staff also have specific rules that they must follow, which are available to read in discord.

Join the Band: https://discord.gg/VZCHsJTwZb

Supposedly it'd always been this way, stretching way back to when my Grandpa opened this place almost 97 years ago. I inherited it when he passed a decade or so ago given that my father didn't want anything to do with the place, and since then I've made sure to diligently follow his final wish.
He might've left me the theater, but there was one condition. Not that it'd be enforceable if I went against his wish - more about that later - but the condition was present nonetheless.
Never, ever let the film stop running in Screen 6.
Now, I'd practically grown up in that theater given it was a nice little hang-out spot after closing time - but I never knew anything about the existence of a sixth screen. It had always been five. Grandpa left that sentence and a little picture guide to find the controls for that screen as well as the security footage system for it. He also left a letter, only to be opened once I had been running the theatre for long enough to understand the importance of Screen 6. It baffled me at the time, but I kept that wish too and tucked the letter away. He never told me where to find the screen itself, either. The first thing I did was check the cameras, only to find they showed nothing of interest. No movie-goers were present in this secret little screen, nor were any employees. The black and white footage from the vantage point of a camera positioned above the screen of a silent, empty room filled with rows and rows and endless rows of dusty chairs stared back at me. Somehow it was larger than all of our other screens. After unlocking the neat little contraption he described, I realised the system for that screen was digital. "Huh, strange" I mumbled given the fact our theater was always quite proud of being the only film-only establishment in town.
I suppose digital files make running the screen endlessly an easier task. Something jumped out at me, though. The digital file being used to loop over and over was just that, a singular file. It wasn't cycling through a library of movies. The same one was playing over. And over. The file name?
"sacrifice.mxf"
I've always been a curious person, and part of me wanted to resist. Some instinct was screaming at me to stop. But I couldn't. I had to take a glimpse at the little outdated screen synced up to the projector. It was grainy and degraded, footage that looked like it had been shot in the mid-20th century or so. A group of men dressed in black and women dressed in white circled a tree with interlocked hands. They looked like they were speaking. Maybe singing. Regardless, there was no audio. They went round and round this great old tree for what felt like forever, before stopping in their tracks and just standing there for a minute or two. The footage cut an unspecified amount of time forward to reveal their black and white garments blowing in the wind as they hung from various branches of the tree. All of them. It didn't matter that there wasn't any audio, I could feel the silence seeping out of that screen.
Cut to black.
Part of me was horrified, and another part retained some morbid sense of fascination with what I'd seen. I wasn't planning on going against Grandpa's wishes anyway, but at least I'd seen something that spooked me enough to justify the strangeness of it all. Was that the entire film that had been playing over and over for god knows how long? How was such a massive auditorium just hidden away somewhere? What the fuck was that video?
I needed to find out. God, I wish I hadn't. But I did.
The next few weeks were spent meticulously researching everything I could possibly find about our little family-owned theater. My little theater. I spent hours on end in that projector room trying to make sense of what was being played. The footage described above wasn't alone but remained similar to the others I've since seen. All feature large groups of people in what looks like pre-war Europe. 1930 or so is my best guess. They start off peaceful enough, almost joyous, but I've learned by now to reject the faux happiness depicted. It grabs a hold of you before the violent sacrifices that soon follow rip your heart out. Sometimes I wonder about the people shown. There are so many of them across the different short films, probably more than I've known in my entire lifetime. All of them met such a gruesome end. It might sound easy to throw away their collective existence as mere pixels on a screen, but I can't.
The local newspaper allowed me access to their archive to find out a little more, and things began to tie themselves together. I had to sift through cardboard box after cardboard box to find what I'd been looking for, but I eventually did. Back in 1931, there had been an awful incident at our theater. At the time it was owned by Grandpa, and things were looking up given it was the only establishment of its kind in town - unfortunately something terrible was to happen soon. It was a cool October evening when local police were alerted to a disturbance down at the movie theater by terrified patrons. You see, back then there was a screen 6. Nestled right next to screen 5, it was the focal selling point as a state-of-the-art screen showing only the finest films. Those in screen 5 began to realise something was badly wrong when the sound of an incessantly crying and screaming child began to drown out the more pleasant sound of their film. "The Talkies", as films with spoken audio were known in their 1930s heyday, were a phenomenon and it took a lot to distract those in screen 5 from their entertainment. The child screamed for as long as it could until annoyance turned to worry and eventually fear.
By the time police swung open the double doors to Screen 6, the leather white seats were soaked in crimson red blood and the patrons inside had long since taken their last breaths.
Except one.
Still the child screamed.
I've always been open-minded when it comes to the unseen, not a believer per se, but not dismissive of the idea. Things began to come into a clearer focus. Hundreds of people had sacrificed themselves in that screen all those years ago, and now the screen is forever condemned to forever playing films of similar occurrences. The two had to be connected.
The letter.
It was time to open the letter. I was convinced I satisfied Grandpa's requirement for doing so, and it would fill in the parts of this deranged story I was missing. I slipped the letter out of its glum, off-white envelope and began to read.
"To my beloved Grandson,
By now you probably know much more about the story of our little theater than you did when I left it to you. I'm sorry it took until we were separated for you to learn the truth, but it was something that had to be done. Those people that are in the films playing on Screen 6 were part of an ancient cult. The Men of Mephistopheles they called themselves. They would live in communes and the peaceful images you've come to see are of their day-to-day lives, and as you have also come to see they would eventually offer themselves en masse in blood sacrifices. One of these sacrifices happened to take place in Screen 6 of our theater, and once again I'm sure you have come to learn of this given you are reading this letter.
The locations in which these sacrifices take place are forever bound to the souls lost there in some form or another. To illustrate, that great big tree in one of the films is now the site of countless suicides. Their crime? Daring to walk where the Men of Mephistopheles once walked, and where they left this Earth. Our particular curse happens to be that Screen 6 began to be the site of similar suicides, and so did our other screens. We could never figure out why they weren't contained to the immediate site of the original sacrifice, but needed to find a way to stop them. Times were tough, and the money the theater brought in was important to all of our lives. An occultist suggested the endless film screening as a way to stem the flow whilst we found a more permanent solution, but before long we realised it stopped the awful goings-on entirely. So we let the films play and then play some more. Screen 6 had originally been downstairs since the building only allowed for that kind of space down there, so we turned it into a tomb. Maybe the misguided souls lost there found some peace in the dusty catacomb of a theater left behind.
Now if you know the story of the sacrifice at our theater, you know there was a singular child who survived it all.
That child?
Your father.
I'm so sorry for keeping the truth locked away from you the way I did, you deserved to know whilst I was still there with you. Please know I only ever had your best interests at heart.
I love you always,
Poppy"
It's been a few weeks since I found out the truth about our small-town theater. Sleeping has been difficult, as has bothering to keep up maintenance of the place.
Still, though, the film on Screen 6 plays.

So I hope this is the right place to do this but I am super stuck and not sure how to approach what my salary should be, am I underpaid? are they waiting for me to rack up some service time before really giving me a good salary? I work in the insurance industry for a high value independent agency/firm that employs about 20 people. I am newer to the insurance world (personal lines) our agency is about 70/30 personal lines, and I work in a mostly unique position. The agency isn't like a franchise like Goosehead, there is only one.
I have my P&C license, I basically handle all of the new business rating for our producers but I'm asked to wear many hats and am quite busy, I was recently given about $200K of business to manage which I DO NOT earn any renewal or commission money on, I remarket their coverage, add policies when they move, etc. I also manage all of the companies social media as well as handle about 50% of the IT, we have another guy who does the rest of the IT stuff, he's more experienced than me so he does the more important things and is also the VP lol.. so as far as implementing newer systems, payroll, etc. he handles I just fix everyone's stuff and handle most of the hardware setup, I also look for ways to makes us more efficient and create digital guides/tutorials for various processes and I also handle a small number of new clients and the overflow when producers are busy or dealing with less desirable leads.
I went to school for IT but in no way would our agency ever need a full time IT person, there just isn't enough to do. I love it here, my boss (ownepresident) is great, we get season tix to both of Baltimore's MLB and NFL teams, 21 PTO days, super laid back about time off, can work from home when I need too etc. but I have no idea what my salary should be, I currently make $50K but that is in no way enough to survive in the state of MD these days, current goal is to buy a house and start a family with my gf who has a great job in the city as well working for one of the universities.
I have been given incremental raises since I was employed here in 2021, my starting salary was $46K. What on earth do I negotiate for? I have a good relationship with leadership here and want them to know that I am being career minded/can't cut it on what I'm currently making. Like how do I even approach this, I turn 31 in a few months and feel so behind sometimes. Like I see some of the producers (like I said I also rate the majority of the new biz and see how much commission there is lol..) I'm decently sure some of the producers have $125K salaries and up. I know for a fact that some make $250K plus, I over heard this though and would never ever mention that I knew this. Please help, any advice is greatly appreciated, I want to be career-minded and show that I can't comfortably buy a house to start a family in on my current salary, without sounding greedy.. But if I don't advocate for myself, no one will.. UGH.
Excuse the grammar, I wrote this very quickly between tasks when I had 15 mins or so. :)

I get it... As the FIRST Rival, Osana is meant to be the easiest rival of the game (Besides Kaguya). But after playing a bit of Yandere Sim (A video I posted of me speedrunning Amai), I forgot to mention Osana, whose week now is boring.
How is it that Chalice-Dev made Osana a challenging rival at first, but then makes her week feel boring and rubbish to play? It sucks honestly. The students aren't chatting anywhere, making Osana feel too easy to eliminate now. Just: Lure Raibaru away, Attack Osana, done. Thanks to the new Challenge thing, you make Raibaru just... try to apprehend you, only to fail doing so since CHANCES are you'll have PE 1 thanks to the gaming club (or martial arts club).
And I know some may say: "Why not hide the body??" Because there's no reason to hide it at this point in time. Eliminating Osana has no side effects besides a Security Camera in a confusing location (The entrance of the school), Making Raibaru... cry at the tree they chatted at, and I guess make Senpai depresso, but aside from those NO POINT! So what was the point in adding "consequences" if it's considered useless?
That's not to also mention the scripted events that make you unable to talk to Osana or Raibaru. Compare it to 1980s mode (Yknow. The SIDE mode) and Kaguya has like 2-3 scripted events PER DAY. Osana has scripted events back to back and makes it unavailable to talk to her until she can SHUT UP. Even after the beginning conversation(s), she still has scripted events, making it UNAVAILABLE to talk to Osana past 7:30. This makes it so you have a VERY small window to talk to Osana, and do what you needed to do.
The Elimination methods are... Ok. Pool is the most tedious, having to lure 6 whole girls away from Osana via scripted events or a VERY specific way that overall feels like a drag. Fan is my personal favorite as it ACTUALLY provides planning. You have to take into consideration on what you gotta do: "Are you going to get the raincoat? What tools are you gonna use? How are you gonna dispose the body?" It's little stuff like that which makes me love the Elimination. Befriend/Betray is also alright, not too much to mention other than the alt path system.
Overall, Osana got a severe downgrade as a rival, and overall feels boring to eliminate, even if she's meant to be the first. Just because she's the first, doesn't mean she CAN'T be fun to eliminate (Moeko was FAR better imo).

So I hope this is the right place to do this but I am super stuck and not sure how to approach what my salary should be, am I underpaid? are they waiting for me to rack up some service time before really giving me a good salary? I work in the insurance industry for a high value independent agency/firm that employs about 20 people. I am newer to the insurance world (personal lines) our agency is about 70/30 personal lines, and I work in a mostly unique position. The agency isn't like a franchise like Goosehead, there is only one.
I have my P&C license, I basically handle all of the new business rating for our producers but I'm asked to wear many hats and am quite busy, I was recently given about $200K of business to manage which I DO NOT earn any renewal or commission money on, I remarket their coverage, add policies when they move, etc. I also manage all of the companies social media as well as handle about 50% of the IT, we have another guy who does the rest of the IT stuff, he's more experienced than me so he does the more important things and is also the VP lol.. so as far as implementing newer systems, payroll, etc. he handles I just fix everyone's stuff and handle most of the hardware setup, I also look for ways to makes us more efficient and create digital guides/tutorials for various processes and I also handle a small number of new clients and the overflow when producers are busy or dealing with less desirable leads.
I went to school for IT but in no way would our agency ever need a full time IT person, there just isn't enough to do. I love it here, my boss (ownepresident) is great, we get season tix to both of Baltimore's MLB and NFL teams, 21 PTO days, super laid back about time off, can work from home when I need too etc. but I have no idea what my salary should be, I currently make $50K but that is in no way enough to survive in the state of MD these days, current goal is to buy a house and start a family with my gf who has a great job in the city as well working for one of the universities.
I have been given incremental raises since I was employed here in 2021, my starting salary was $46K. What on earth do I negotiate for? I have a good relationship with leadership here and want them to know that I am being career minded/can't cut it on what I'm currently making. Like how do I even approach this, I turn 31 in a few months and feel so behind sometimes. Like I see some of the producers (like I said I also rate the majority of the new biz and see how much commission there is lol..) I'm decently sure some of the producers have $125K salaries and up. I know for a fact that some make $250K plus, I over heard this though and would never ever mention that I knew this. Please help, any advice is greatly appreciated, I want to be career-minded and show that I can't comfortably buy a house to start a family in on my current salary, without sounding greedy.. But if I don't advocate for myself, no one will.. UGH.
Excuse the grammar, I wrote this very quickly between tasks when I had 15 mins or so. :)

Please customize the placeholder information such as [Your Name], [Your Address], etc., with your actual details before sending this letter.
A .gov link on how to reach your congressperson is FOUND HERE: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative#:~:text=If%20you%20know%20who%20your,the%20U.S.%20House%20switchboard%20operator
LET THEM KNOW YOU WANT THE CAT! TEMPLATE LETTER / Posted by Butcher of Wallstreet.
United States Congress Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Members of Congress,
As retail investors, we are writing to express our strong support for the implementation and robust utilization of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).
We believe that the CAT is an essential tool for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to effectively monitor and regulate market activities, and it is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the financial markets.
The CAT, designed to create a comprehensive database of all equity and options trades in the U.S. markets, will provide the SEC with unprecedented transparency and insight into market behaviors.
This level of transparency is vital for detecting and prosecuting illicit activities such as naked short selling and other forms of market manipulation that undermine investor confidence and market fairness.
Naked short selling, where traders sell shares they do not own and have not borrowed, is a particularly egregious form of market manipulation. It can create artificial supply pressure on stocks, driving prices down unjustly and harming legitimate investors.
The ability to track and audit these activities through the CAT is indispensable for identifying and taking legal action against those who engage in such practices.
We, the retail investors, demand that this information be submitted to the SEC promptly and comprehensively. It is imperative that the SEC has all the necessary tools and data to investigate and hold accountable those who exploit the market for their gain at the expense of the investing public. The CAT will empower the SEC to perform its regulatory duties more effectively and ensure a fairer, more transparent market.
In light of the above, we urge you to support initiatives that enhance the SEC's capabilities through the full implementation and utilization of the CAT. This will not only protect retail investors but also uphold the integrity of the U.S. financial markets.
Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. We look forward to your support in ensuring that the SEC has the resources it needs to enforce market regulations and protect all investors.
These are the representatives who oppose the CAT system and most of them have previously voted AGAINST the Short Selling Transparency Act, and Market Fairness Acts.
WE DEMAND FAIR MARKETS, FREE OF MANIPULATION AND FRAUD.
WE WILL REMEMBER THOSE THAT VOTE AGAINST MARKET FAIRNESS COME VOTING SEASON SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED TO;
The Honorable Barry Loudermilk The Honorable French Hill The Honorable Bill Huizenga The Honorable Ann Wagner The Honorable Daniel Meuser The Honorable Young Kim The Honorable Zachary Nunn The Honorable Keith Self The Honorable Ralph Norman The Honorable Michael Lawler The Honorable Mike Flood The Honorable Scott Fitzgerald The Honorable Pete Sessions The Honorable Alexander Mooney
X usernames: @RepLoudermilk
@RepFrenchHill
@RepHuizenga
@RepAnnWagner
@RepMeuser
@RepYoungKim
@ZachNunn
@RepKeithSelf
@RepRalphNorman
@RepMikeLawler
@USRepMikeFlood
@RepFitzgerald
@PeteSessions
@RepAlexMooney
Sincerely,
[Your Name] [Your Signature]

We fear our neighbors left a cat behind when they moved, or someone has recently dropped her. No microchip, but had a mangled collar that could’ve killed her. A wound on her ear. The sound of cats fighting outside. The dogs next door are NOT cat friendly. I reeled her in over the days and have tried to figure out who she belongs to by asking neighbors, but she’s new to everyone. After observing for a few days to make sure we weren’t stealing a cat, she is now in our bedroom.
That said - I have three cats and a puppy. We REALLY did not intend on more pets, but the distribution system seems to be playing games with us 😭 if we keep her, we would quarantine her for about a month and it would add lot of stress. She already has an appointment Thursday to be seen and tested. Quite frankly, we financially cannot afford much more either after the new addition of a puppy. But I can’t just not help her.
The shelters are full, but so is my home. I can’t leave her outside being attacked. But I’m overwhelmed at the idea of having so many pets. Not to mention she had a collar, but no chip, and seemed to be neglected. What do you do? Would it be wrong of me to try to make keeping her work even if I have doubts?

Trying to get a good gauge on my value at this point in my career. I don't want to say I'm chasing the dollar, but I am 27, have a wife who just started working in the medical field, and have a 5 month old son.
I've worked as a Systems Administrator / IT Analyst at this same company for the last 5 years. We have since raised our total employee count to about 100 across 5 different branches.
I have a Masters degree in Information Technology Management with a concentration in Cyber Security, which I graduated with in 2022.
I live in North Carolina, and I get paid hourly which equates to about $65,000 a year..
Part of a 2 man IT team, just me and my manager, in charge of all 100 employees, and I'm mainly the only one dealing with the users and general issues. Manager mainly deals with contracts / budgeting / larger infrastructure type issues that he would rather do himself (he built the infrastructure of the company himself from the ground up prior to me arriving).
We do absolutely no out-sourcing, everything is in house. From MDM to O365 management, to Azure, User Administration, ERP troubleshooting, Server Management, Info Sec, RDM, hardware management.. the whole works, including a Help Desk role.
Fellow Systems Administrators... should I honestly be making more at this point in my career? What are your opinions or suggestions?

Many of you have been curious about what we are currently working on. We're excited to share an extensive update on our ongoing developments. Grab a snack and enjoy!🍿👇
Ecosystem Developments🏗️
1. New Mobile Wallet With Confidential Assets Support: This week, we’re releasing a new mobile wallet that supports sending and receiving Zano’s Confidential Assets.
2. Mobile and Desktop Wallets With Confidential Assets Creation and Management Tool: Both wallets will soon support creating and managing Zano’s Confidential Assets directly from the user interface, making it easy for everyone, even non-technical users, to create and manage their own privacy tokens.
3. Zano Companion Release (Browser Extension): To make our ecosystem work in a way that's familiar to the average #DeFi user, we needed a missing link—a Metamask-like (browser) extension called Zano Companion.
The extension works on top of a local wallet, doesn't store anything, and just provides the interface. It could be used as a wallet to send and receive transactions, sign messages, and manage Confidential Assets.
The main feature would of course be web authentication. It will allow users to connect to the Zano Trade app with their Zano Alias. Being able to use your alias to log in is a crucial piece to make the Zano ecosystem very user-friendly, and we're happy to report that we're getting there very soon!
4. Zano Trade Release: After giving users the ability to create Confidential Assets, the next logical step is to provide them with a way to securely exchange them. Enter Zano Trade, an all-in-one trading platform that allows for peer-to-peer trades similar to u/LocalMoneroCo utilizing Zano's Escrow Contracts for settlements, Ionic (Atomic) Swaps, and an instant swap feature.
Zano Trade is currently in beta on testnet and will be accessible to our users after the browser extension is published which is necessary to access the Zano Trade platform.
5. Zano Lite Wallet Release: We’re developing a lite wallet with a simplified UI that uses a remote node. This will lower the barrier to accessing the Zano network and offer a variety of wallet options to suit personal preferences.
6. Zano Governance System Release: The governance system is done and working, but there isn't much to govern yet. Whenever we come across something that may benefit from it, such as the Zano Grants Program, we will launch it.

1. Confidential Layer Launch: u/ConfidentialLyr, developed by the Zano team, will bring utility to Zano's Confidential Assets. This blockchain-agnostic platform facilitates the interchange of native and wrapped assets between private and public chains, with future plans for a privacy stablecoin and a multi-asset wallet.

Planned Integrations🛠️
1. Cake Wallet Integration: The u/cakewallet integration is nearly complete and we expect $ZANO to be added soon. Cake is a very advanced wallet with many exciting features that will greatly benefit Zano.
2. Bitcoincom Wallet Integration: The integration work for adding $ZANO to the u/BitcoinCom wallet has started. Their wallet has over 50 million registered users and over 1 million monthly users, increasing Zano's visibility and giving the community another wallet to choose from.
Beyond these developments, we're continuously expanding our documentation, improving our website, updating the explorer, and maintaining the Zano network all around.
We hope this update gives clarity and excitement to the Zano community. Thank you for reading!

hey all, so my partner has fairly sensitive skin and eczema that comes and goes throughout the year, making it hard to really narrow down the culprit. upon returning from a trip recently, she started having a case of the itchy skin seemingly out of nowhere. we were told that a water softener could alleviate the problem
i don't know much about water softeners (or water treatment in general) aside from how it removes calcium/magnesium from water by adding sodium to it, reducing scale buildup, etc. so i'm in need of some guidance here
how much maintenance does a water softening system need? is it possible to just have the hot water softened (or some solution to contain the softening to just our bathroom)? and does a water softener need to be paired with an RO filter?
this system would just supply two people in a single family home and we use ~80gallons water / day. i did get a free water test from a nearly water treatment facility and this was the result: Hardness - 7 GPG Iron - 0 PPM UV - 99% pH - 7.8 Manganese - 0 PPM TDS - 145 PPM their summary was no treatment necessary, but i wanted more opinions
what kinda water treatment setup should i look into given these numbers? how much should i expect this to cost (including installation)? and are there any brands to avoid at all cost?
upfront and maintenance cost aside, is there a good reason NOT to have a water treatment system in place?
this is in Toronto with city treated water and 4" pipes
thanks

Hi all, currently going through the BI with the USSS. I’ve gotten BQA 2 years ago after my security interview and now that I passed my security,Poly, Medical and home interview so worried that I’ll get BQA after all of that. The BQA still haunts me till this day so I’m just so worried that they can and do BQA at this end of process. If anyone has experience or info about this please share and let me know.
My background is clean no drugs,no alcohol, some travel abroad, duel citizenship but I mentioned that I’ll renounce it, 9 foreign contacts but they don’t have any government jobs and most of them under the age of 21 because they’re my cousins. My reference and employers have been contacted already and all say good things expect for 1 job. Is this going to be a problem? I want to reach out to the investigator to explain the discrepancy because he didn’t mention anything about the job that gave me a bad review but when I reached out to my FO to check on the status they mentioned that if HQ has questions they will reach out. Is that too late to explain the discrepancy to my investigator or since he didn’t contact me he doesn’t think it’s a deal breaker? Thank you so much!!

Med bills are really killing me so unfortunately I'm parting with some of my books again. I really need these to move so if you’re at all interested you have no idea how much you’d be helping me out.
My books come from a smoke free home and have been read once and shelved unless otherwise noted. I'm happy to provide extra pics of anything by request.
I will only ship US Lower 48. Books will ship within 2 business days following completed payment and sent via media mail. Everything will come well packaged. Shipping included on all prices!
Buy more books, get a lower price!
5 Book Daredevil Set: -$65 Shipped- (Some of these like Love's Labors Lost are OOP/Hard to find)
Harrow County Complete (Paperback Omni Vol. 1/2 & Tales From...Library Ed.): -$49 Shipped-
Divinity Trilogy: The Complete Collection by Lemire & Kindt OHC: -$33 Shipped- (Unread/Like New)
Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat Graphic Novel: -$24 Shipped- (This is very OOP and in great condition)
Avengers/X-Men: Maximum Security: -$24 Shipped- (OOP)
Deathstroke Inc. Vol. 1-2 Hardcover Set : -$24 Shipped- (Vol 2 is sealed)
Punk Rock Jesus TPB: -$19 Shipped- (OOP, unread/like new)
Batman by John Ridley + Damian: Son of the Batman OHCs: -$16 Shipped-

Hi Ladies,
For the past few days, I see a lot of negative things about India and Indians on different country sub reddit.
How they hate them , take up jobs etc etc. Somehow they conveniently forget the narrative that most of them come with qualified jobs , there are government tie ups to bring in more doctors and engineers etc and the rest who come most of them are given visas to go to other countries. Of course I recognize there are people who may abuse the system but that is not the majority and they are not committing crimes like the settlers ancestors.
How do these people forget the atrocities they committed in all the other countries and the country they now call their 'home land'. These people talk about a certain dominant race in one country becoming a minority and how that is a threat? How do they have this audacity to say when they almost killed the aboriginals in millions, robbed their cultures and wealth all around the world, raped the women etc etc and now they are no where to be found?
This does not make sense at all? what sort of entitlement is this? and to make matters worse some Indians just add fuel to fire unnecessarily.
How do you navigate with this negativity and hostility online? I worry for the kids growing up, I do not know how to prepare them for this shit thinking?
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.
PS - I am not looking for comments justifying the hostility because on no grounds it is justified.

I had a puff back in Feb 2023. Pretty much everything in the home was damaged. Electronics, textiles, walls etc. So far the insurance has been covering most things, but I am having an issue bc they are now stating that the electrical system in the house was unaffected by the loss… even though they have agreed from the get-go that the soot went everywhere. There are several breakers on the panel (which was only a few feet away from the boiler) that are no longer working. There is photo evidence of soot inside the panel and it will need to be replaced. After this info was presented to the structure adjuster, she came back stating “After further review of the loss facts and damages, the electrical system was not impacted by the loss so there will be no coverage for the repairs of the electrical within the dwelling.” I wrote back asking for clarification as to why/how and have not received any response for a week. What is my best bet to get this covered as it seems only obvious and logical to me that the system was indeed due to the loss issue? I have not yet contacted a public adjuster.

I'm seeking planning advice to better understand our system.
Background: 1920s house with full basement, two full stories and a finished attic. Radiators throughout first and second floor. From what we've been able to piece together, the boiler was originally coal-fired and was later converted to a natural gas burner. The diameter of the horizontal pipe in the basement ceiling is large (apx 3" internal diameter) and we've been told this is because the system would have originally circulated by convection. System was later converted to pump-circulation. There are no zones like a modern system would have.
On the second floor there is a loop of exposed pipe with an access cap. It is higher than the highest radiator in the house. There are visible remnants of a deprecated pipe in a wall. We think this is from a feed and expansion cistern or possibly a hot water storage cistern, that were removed from the system several decades ago. We have lived in the house for ~15 years. We have never drained or topped up the system. I'm certain there is no glycol in the water.
Needs:
1) This loop of piping is in the way of an intended renovation to a bathroom and it needs to be removed or relocated.
2) If we need to open and modify the system, we might want to add radiators to the attic, or to the planned 2nd-floor bathroom renovation
3) Famous words "while we are at it": if system being modified, we would also want to turn the position of one main floor radiator.
Questions:
1) Do we need to maintain an access cap at the high point in the system? If yes, what is it used for? Air intake while draining system? Refilling? Or can you do those things from the basement as long as the access line has a backflow valve in it?
2) Any hints how such pipe loops are often designed in older homes? I can easily trace that the larger diameter pipe on one side of the access cap drops all the way to the basement and over to the bottom of the boiler. On the other side of the access cap, the pipe reduces in size, drops into the kitchen ceiling, and disappears somewhere; it is not visible in the basement. Does this mean I should expect that it tees into one of the pipes connected to one of the second floor radiators? Or is it more likely that it does connect back into the basement pipework and I just can't find it (yet)?
Thanks for any help you can offer online. I live in a sparsely-populated rural area with a real shortage of all tradespeople. Beyond that, there are few hydronic systems in our local and very few people who know how to work with them. Trying to figure out what we are in for and what might be possible/practical.

Pros and cons of Home care clinical manager of HHA’s vs home care RN. Most places go by point system when doing home health. Can this be difficult? What are the salary’s for experienced nurses in Phila/Delco regions? TIA.

I’m an Engineer, who has been in the country for 3 years. Pakistani national.
Changed the company and new company applied for visa immediately (i’m inside the country). It got approved from Labor but rejected from immigration for “security reason (i checked by visiting manara centre)”.
I don’t have any fines or criminal record (even have a police clearance certificate). Anybody give me advice coz I cannot think of working back in home the way things are there. Super depressed atm😔
I have all attested certificates,even the equivalency of degree from MOE + the licenses from Dubai Municipality. What to do? Any input would be appreciated

Looking to get my first PC and found this on facebook.
Motherboard: B560 RAM: 16GB DDR4 3200MHZ Gpu: Amd Radeon RX 6600xt Primary Hard Drive: 1TB NVME Power Supply: 650W GOLD Networking: 802.11 ac Operating System: Windows 11 Home Cpu: intel core i5 10400f

Short story
Home sprinkler zone low pressure in fall no pressure in spring. System was winterized. Manual opening the valve I cannot hear the valve close.
Long story
Last fall a working zone at home lost a lot of pressure.
I checked all of the sprinklers and they did not have a break and seemed to function although at lower pressure..
I could find no soft or wet spots on the long run to the zone, or by any sprinkler heads.
I capped off several of the sprinkler ends to see what that would do.
I gave up for the winter.
Springtime and I uncap one end and put a garden hose on it and see the sprinklers working not full pressure but it’s not a tight connection.
I try turning the valve on manually and nothing is coming on, last fall it was just very lower pressure now nothing.
I notice that when I turn the valve off on this zone I can not hear it shut off. The other valves I can but not this zone.
Help please.

I met a guy at work, and we quickly became good friends. He made an effort to spend time with me, called me daily, and even visited my home. Though he was in a long-distance relationship, we were just platonic friends. Over time, he confided in me about his relationship issues, which made me uncomfortable, but I sympathized with him.
Eventually, I developed a crush on him as he supported me through a tough time. He became touchy, and one day kissed me. I initially stopped it but later we hooked up before he left town. Afterward, I felt guilty and upset for crossing boundaries. He ignored me while with his partner, and I distanced myself, but he tried to resume our physical relationship when he returned. I stood firm and said no.
He then ignored me, which I understood, but I continued to support him as a friend. Now, he's dating someone else and has replaced our friendship activities with her, which hurts. I regret the complications and wish we had remained just friends. But it hurts a lot. Yes I am resuming therapy and I intend to work on myself. I am not proud of what I did, but it hurts a lot. Just wanted to get it out of my system.