Facilitative learning theory
Reinforcement Learning
2012.03.02 21:21 lpiloto Reinforcement Learning
Reinforcement learning is a subfield of AI/statistics focused on exploring/understanding complicated environments and learning how to optimally acquire rewards. Examples are AlphaGo, clinical trials & A/B tests, and Atari game playing.
2013.04.11 02:02 JustWantToBeHealthy Prepare for the UK theory and practical driving tests
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2008.03.24 02:19 Computer Science: Theory and Application
Computer Science Theory and Application. We share and discuss any content that computer scientists find interesting. People from all walks of life welcome, including hackers, hobbyists, professionals, and academics.
2024.05.22 01:50 MathIsArtNotScience Review of Program from a Graduate - C Track
I saw someone else did something like this recently and thought that I might have something to add to the discussion to help people figure out whether they think this program is right for them, or for people currently in the program to help them plan out classes.
My background is very heavy in statistics and finance (I'm an actuary), so my grounding in calculus, statistics, linear algebra, and business topics was considerably better than most of the other people I interacted with in this program. Conversely, I'm sure my programming skills were probably about average or maybe a little bit below compared to someone with a more targeted background towards those skills.
I started in Fall of 2020 and just finished up this month, Spring 2024. I started out just taking one class a semester and never changed up that plan, would highly recommend doing the same if you're working full time alongside; there's no reason to rush this program. I got a 4.0 GPA overall, although I never really stressed that much about it and definitely did not shy away from "harder" classes in order to bolster GPA. I did this to learn, not to get good grades. The classes I took, in order (my memory of some of the earlier ones might be a bit jumbled as so much time has passed):
Anyways just wanted to give my perspective as someone who just finished this program and still thinks it's worthwhile despite its flaws.
submitted by MathIsArtNotScience to OMSA [link] [comments]
My background is very heavy in statistics and finance (I'm an actuary), so my grounding in calculus, statistics, linear algebra, and business topics was considerably better than most of the other people I interacted with in this program. Conversely, I'm sure my programming skills were probably about average or maybe a little bit below compared to someone with a more targeted background towards those skills.
I started in Fall of 2020 and just finished up this month, Spring 2024. I started out just taking one class a semester and never changed up that plan, would highly recommend doing the same if you're working full time alongside; there's no reason to rush this program. I got a 4.0 GPA overall, although I never really stressed that much about it and definitely did not shy away from "harder" classes in order to bolster GPA. I did this to learn, not to get good grades. The classes I took, in order (my memory of some of the earlier ones might be a bit jumbled as so much time has passed):
- CSE 6040 - I mentioned how my programming background was weaker relative to my mathematical background. However, reflecting on my experience in this class, it was probably still pretty strong. This class is focused on generalized programming skills, you don't really get into the analytics and modeling that much; it's more of a primer on things like functions, recursion, computer memory management, etc. It's been a few years, but I don't remember struggling with this class at all, and most of the concepts covered (object oriented programming, things like byte encoding, hexadecimal forms, recursion, etc.) were things I was already familiar with in another programming language (this class was in Python) or was relatively easy to pick up. From what I remember, the assignments were auto-graded and you had unlimited attempts, not to mention the fact that most of the prompts were to produce some predetermined result... and, as long as you were able to verify that your code produced that result, you got full points. I didn't miss a single point in this entire class. I believe there were "final exams" which were really just timed window coding assignments much like the homework, and you could do the assignments at any point during a 4-day window or something like that.
- ISYE 6501 - This class was R-based and focused on basic analytics models. The material was much more applied than 6040. Similarly, the material was not difficult, and I was familiar with a lot of the basic models already (such as GLMs) from having worked with them in my job. The grading was done on a peer-grading framework; based on who anonymously is assigned your homework to grade, you can get someone who's a stickler for every point on the guide, or people who are a bit more lenient. I never really worried much about how things were graded in this class; yeah, I did miss some points arbitrarily, but nothing that made that much of a difference. If you generally put in the work and understand the material, your peers will recognize that. I found this a bit more interesting than 6040 because, rather than a deterministic "right answer", there was some more creativity implied here to solve each problem. There was a final project for this class where you walked through a hypothetical analytics problem and explained how you would go about solving it. I found this an interesting thought exercise and enjoyed this class. The pacing felt a little fast, as you basically had an assignment due each week, but the assignments were small. Like 6040 I found this class to be quite easy but I didn't 100% it due to the peer grading thing.
- MGT 8803 - I almost applied to be exempt from this class, as my background intersects a lot with the material. The accounting and finance modules for this class literally did not teach me anything new. Supply chain was new for me and I found it interesting. I'm trying to remember what the other module was. I think it was marketing? I didn't like it. Overall I found this class quite easy for the aforementioned reasons, however I've heard from a lot of the other folks without business backgrounds that this class was pretty tough so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Taking this in the summer cut out one of the modules, normally there are 5 but in Summer there are 4. I figured this made sense to take during the truncated semester because I was unlikely to cover that much new material, and it turns out I was right about that. Each module lasted 2 weeks (I think in a normal semester it lasts 3) and has a timed multiple-choice test at the end. A lot of people didn't like this format compared to ISYE 6501 and CSE 6040; I'm not really sure how else this material could've been covered. This class was OK, the material is not really that deep but it's a pretty good primer on a large number of business topics.
- ISYE 6740 - The first class I took that was actually pretty challenging, which makes sense considering the first 3 courses were just the basic core. This is pretty much an intro to machine learning as a discipline, and the first time I remember digging into academic papers that discuss some machine learning topic and attempting to recreate the results (this is something we did a lot in the more advanced classes going forward and incidentally now that I have graduated is probably one of the best ways to go about learning a new topic). I remember this class as having a format similar to ISYE 6501/CSE6040 in that you had large programming assignments to do, as well as open-book "exams" which were really just timed programming assignments. Assignments are not auto-graded; TA's review each one and thus the assignments have much more of a focus on explaining your findings than producing the exact expected output (unlike 6040). Some of the theory questions have you applying complicated matrix algebra rules that I'm not surprised a lot of people struggled with. The TA responsiveness in this class was pretty good from what I remember, but your mileage may vary. I remember getting 3 weeks to do each assignment but I also remember not thinking that was a lot of time, these assignments are very extensive, have many parts, and take a long time to get through. Like with 6040 I ended up not missing a single point in this class but I did find it difficult and spent significantly more time working on it than in prior classes, probably 10-15 hrs a week, give or take.
- ISYE 6644 - I was familiar with maybe 50% of the material we covered due to my extensive statistics background, however I was not aware of the exact mechanics of random number generation or the concept of a batched mean, for example. I remember this class having several "check your understanding" quizzes that focused on the mathematical foundations. Didn't struggle with this much in terms of difficulty and found the material very useful. Setting up custom simulation environments is very useful and arena is pretty cool even if it's unlikely you'll ever use it. Some assignments feature similar tools in Python (simpy). There might have been some coverage of R in this as well, or at least the accommodation for people that wanted to use it. There was a project for this class, but you didn't have to come up with the topic on your own, you could pick from a list, and you could do your project on your own if you wanted (which, given the option, was always the choice I made, due to the inherent randomness in picking the right members of a group). However you can do a group project if you want.
- MGT 6203 - The first of the classes I took that required a group project. I recommend you are proactive in putting together groups in situations like these, posting threads on Ed/whatever the forum is as soon as the class begins. My group was alright; not everyone in it was great, but we had enough going overall to make up for the weaker group members. The project has some arbitrary guidelines from what I remember - you need to put together a midterm report and video presentation that is no more than ~2 minutes long or something like that (if it's 2:01 you get penalized) and the final report is 5 minutes or less, and everyone in the group needs to speak. I honestly don't remember much else about this class, it was pretty forgettable, but not horrible. Not overall that difficult, another business class so a lot of topics I was already familiar with, but there was more new here than in 8803.
- CSE 6242 - Another class with a group project. Again, I was proactive, and again, overall, my group was... okay. Some people who were really good, some who were... not. This class is characterized by a lot of assignments that are autograded, like 6040, but the assignments are a bit more difficult. Overall not that difficult with the exception of the D3 assignment, but that's more due to the fact that I'm not really sure how the autograder works for that; it tries to determine based on some internal structure of your html code whether or not you're fulfilling the requirements. I got a perfect score on all of the assignments, and they give you the chance to score over 100% on I believe either assignment 1 or assignment 2. A lot of people bombed the D3 assignment (I think it's assignment 2) but still did well in the class because it's not that hard to do well on everything else, so keep that in mind. This class does a great job of exposing you to a lot of new technologies, but there isn't that much depth to it. That's not really the point of this kind of class though, it equips you with the tools to explore things deeper if you so choose.
- ISYE 8803 - I was a big fan of this class. It's taught in MATLAB but you can use Python if you so choose, you'll see in reviews of this class that you should really just use MATLAB since a lot of the sample code etc. is not in other languages, so that's what I did. However, they must've recently added Python and R code for sample solutions, so feel free to use what you want. MATLAB was interesting, there were parts of one assignment I also used R for (grouped lasso in R is a lot more straightforward). This class is all about high dimensional data and representing it in a more simplified and comprehensive way, think about something like sonar which might have datapoints separated by milliseconds and thus a very dense representation of a signal captured over a short period of time. After ISYE 6740, I found this to be the class that taught me the most up to this point.
- CS 7642 - Taking this class in summer is kind of rough. There's 6 homework assignments that are autograded, similar format to CSE 6040. There are 3 projects which are much larger programming assignments for which you'll write papers explaining methodology, results, etc. These projects take a while, particularly project 3. I did well on projects 1 and 2 and decently on 3, although I spent the most time on 3 by far; it involves reinforcement learning to simulate a soccer environment and train agents how to play against an AI developed externally. The AI baselines are hard to beat, and I didn't manage to beat them, but I wrote a decent paper explaining what I did. The final exam for this class should be dropped as it doesn't add value to the class, people regularly score extremely low on it, the average score in the class was something like a 45%. I scored a bit lower than average but still got an A in the class because it was heavily curved. Reinforcement learning is a very interesting topic, though, and I would highly recommend this class as a primer on the material. It's probably a good idea not to take it in the summer, though.
- CS 7643 - This class was pretty difficult but I still think 6740 was tougher. The material is extremely dense. There are parts of programming assignments that are autograded, but also short answer portions that are reviewed by TAs. Grading on those were pretty subjective. This is the only class I can remember really needing to discuss things with TAs to understand what was being asked a little better. Unfortunately, the TAs in the semester I took this weren't the best. They seemed more concerned with unintentionally giving away a bit too much information in any of their responses. I can understand this, but it came off as intentionally opaque most of the time. There was a group project for this course as well, and my group was excellent, probably the best experience I had with a group in this program. I can imagine how much this course would've sucked if I would've had a mediocre/bad group. Based on discussions with my group, some of the grading seemed highly arbitrary, with some TAs grading similar responses to the same question differently. Like I said above, though, I never really worried about this. I never once in this program ever disputed a grade, and I continued with that in this class as well.
- CSE 6748 - Practicum and final class. For this class you get to choose between a number of pre-determined Georgia Tech sponsors, or form your own project for your own employesome external entity. It was a lot more work to do this, so I just went with one of the pre-determined GTech ones. I really enjoyed this one, I had constant communication with the sponsor as I developed my project and came up with something that I was quite proud of. I wanted to explore a natural language processing task, so I picked a project that I thought would allow me to do this, and was very satisfied with the result. There's a number of videos you have to watch that explain some overarching aspect of analytics that were pretty interesting as well, you can watch all of these in a single day and then focus on the project if you like. It's possible to finish the entire semester's work in just a few weeks, I was able to do the entire project and write the final paper in about a month's time, at which point I coordinated with the sponsor to tailor the work I did to a format that they would be able to implement for their business problem if they wanted to.
- I'm pretty shocked at how many people I saw during my program who didn't really think that much about why they're doing this. I get that the barrier to entry is low, but it's a serious commitment if you're actually trying to graduate. Most of the people who start this program don't finish, so consider whether you're ready to spend almost 4 years going to school part-time, or if you're able to double up on classes for some of the semesters. Most of the people I know in the program doubled up at least once, I never did but I was never in a hurry. If you must double up, don't make it your first semester. Dip your toe in the water, see how it is, and then reassess. But, above all else, think about why you want to do this, and use that as your guiding goal to bring you through to the end.
- Something I tended to see pretty much without fail in most of my classes - a lot of the graduate students in this program spend way too much time worrying about minute, particular details that don't really matter. Maybe it was just my philosophy that I would probably never dispute a grade, or that I was never really that concerned with getting a perfect GPA, etc. but I was always marveling at what I saw asked in Ed posts. People would ask whether they could use a certain programming language for an assignment, what packages they were allowed to use, would post screenshots of bugs and ask for TA's to help walk them through it, etc. Generally, without fail, the TAs would respond along the lines of: use whatever programming language you want, as long as you can display your output/submit it in a way that we can verify by running ourselves, we'll make the effort; use the debugger to step through your code to find the problem; etc. Generally, in most cases, the assignments and questions are designed in a way to teach you something, to get you to realize/understand some pattern or data concept that has some underlying logic that makes sense. For example, the idea of saliency maps on image processing takes the 3-channel RGB color pixel shading representation of an image and condenses it into a single channel, and, as a result of that, loses some resolution in suggesting parts of the image driving a model result that might be different depending on the channel; i.e., an image with a very heavily blue-shaded part that detracts from a certain result, but with a red-shaded part somewhere else that increases the probability of the modeled result. This was part of a conceptual question on how saliency maps differed from other pixel influence attribution methods in Deep Learning, and is part of what you should logically understand since it reduces the channels of the image representation from 3 (R, G, B) to 1 (usually grayscale). I think people tend to run to the TA the second they have difficulty with something and don't stop for a second to think it through, one exercise I might recommend is to consider: if you ran into this problem out in the world and you didn't have a TA/managesome other authority figure to explain the answer to you, what do you think it might be? Does the answer even matter? If it still matters and you have no idea how to solve it, maybe then you can go to the TA.
- In every single group project I worked on, we had an initial planning session where we determined the scope of what we wanted to do. For most of the projects, this was an essential deliverable in addition to the final paper. However, in almost every case, someone in the group was always playing some game of runaway scope where they kept on wanting to add methods/questions to exploration beyond what was initially planned in ways that I intuitively knew would be impossible to manage in just one semester. I often had to say something along the lines of "if we have time we'll do that" or "when we write up our paper, we can put that in the avenues for future exploration section" or something similar. It turns out that we never had time to look into these things, and our initial scope was usually well-defined considering the time we had. I'm not sure why this was always so front-and-center in my focus, maybe since I used to work in consulting and project budgeting/scoping is so unbelievably important in that context. Whatever the case may be, understand that you won't be able to change the world every time you do a project. Make some incremental improvement, reflect on the results, and then include some notes in a "potential avenues for future exploration" section. I was pretty surprised at how many people had so much trouble putting the pencils down at the end. I can practically guarantee that, for the classes where I did a project on my own, I probably did substantially less work than other individual groups for precisely this reason. In general, you probably don't have to do as much work as you think you do.
Anyways just wanted to give my perspective as someone who just finished this program and still thinks it's worthwhile despite its flaws.
2024.05.22 01:50 ILikeToZot Please be respectful of guest speakers. If not for your own sake, for the sake of kids who do care.
I'm a 6th year civil engineering student. Context: back when i was a freshman, my predominantly research-oriented institution didn't have many opportunities to connect with industry professionals. I've been SUPER passionate about providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities that didn't exist back when I was an underclassman.
Fast forward to today, I work at THE best company for what we specialize it. I'm talking massive headliner projects and efforts known across the nation. Multiple senior level staff sit on national research committees that prioritize and create problem statements that allocate funding for scientists and engineers across the US.
I invited two extremely qualified, experienced, and respected coworkers of mine to connect exactly what we learned in class to what we do in the industry, which even past guest speakers struggle to do. This took hours of coordination and money directly from our own profit pool to create presentation materials and make time to present.
I had kids up in the front row of the class on their phones sharing memes and laughing. 3 feet away from the speaker podium. Homie right next to me was running his mouth like a sailor. In front of my bosses. What the hell??? What's worse is that these kids have internships. They know better.
DO NOT be these people. It doesn't if you already have internship or a job. It's the bare minimum of respect. Why? Because the people who go out of their way to make time to talk to you as a guest speaker do it because they care. Behavior such as being chronically on your phone or acting immature sends bad feedback to people like my bosses who are super passionate about educating the next generation of engineers. They already dedicate so much time to other schools and programs that have proven track records of students who care.
I even prefaced the presentation saying, "These types of guest speaker events didn't exist back when I was an underclassmen, so I'm super excited to have passionate professionals help connect the theory to the practice yall will do after graduating".
These guest speaker opportunities may not matter for this specific class or term they speak at, but it may matter for the next years class. Or for the next few years. But behavior such as being on your phone or not knowing when to keep your mouth shut is the fastest way to ruin opportunities for yourself and future students.
submitted by ILikeToZot to college [link] [comments]
Fast forward to today, I work at THE best company for what we specialize it. I'm talking massive headliner projects and efforts known across the nation. Multiple senior level staff sit on national research committees that prioritize and create problem statements that allocate funding for scientists and engineers across the US.
I invited two extremely qualified, experienced, and respected coworkers of mine to connect exactly what we learned in class to what we do in the industry, which even past guest speakers struggle to do. This took hours of coordination and money directly from our own profit pool to create presentation materials and make time to present.
I had kids up in the front row of the class on their phones sharing memes and laughing. 3 feet away from the speaker podium. Homie right next to me was running his mouth like a sailor. In front of my bosses. What the hell??? What's worse is that these kids have internships. They know better.
DO NOT be these people. It doesn't if you already have internship or a job. It's the bare minimum of respect. Why? Because the people who go out of their way to make time to talk to you as a guest speaker do it because they care. Behavior such as being chronically on your phone or acting immature sends bad feedback to people like my bosses who are super passionate about educating the next generation of engineers. They already dedicate so much time to other schools and programs that have proven track records of students who care.
I even prefaced the presentation saying, "These types of guest speaker events didn't exist back when I was an underclassmen, so I'm super excited to have passionate professionals help connect the theory to the practice yall will do after graduating".
These guest speaker opportunities may not matter for this specific class or term they speak at, but it may matter for the next years class. Or for the next few years. But behavior such as being on your phone or not knowing when to keep your mouth shut is the fastest way to ruin opportunities for yourself and future students.
2024.05.22 01:39 Denver_Pauly [Discussion] what ml learning class do you recommend?
help with learning ml
hi folks, im reaching out to find if anyone can recommend a good beginning - but thourough - ml class. i dont want to do python or tensor flow or scikit etc. i want to learn the theory only, like when you took a stats class undergrad to learn regression. all the stuff i can find is too superficial or too involved, like for a PHd thesis. like goldie locks im looking for something "just right". i estimate that such a class that would be the equivelant to a 3 hour semester grad class for supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, and another 3 hour semester grad calss for NN. any ideas? thanks i advance for your help!!!
submitted by Denver_Pauly to MachineLearning [link] [comments]
hi folks, im reaching out to find if anyone can recommend a good beginning - but thourough - ml class. i dont want to do python or tensor flow or scikit etc. i want to learn the theory only, like when you took a stats class undergrad to learn regression. all the stuff i can find is too superficial or too involved, like for a PHd thesis. like goldie locks im looking for something "just right". i estimate that such a class that would be the equivelant to a 3 hour semester grad class for supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, and another 3 hour semester grad calss for NN. any ideas? thanks i advance for your help!!!
2024.05.22 01:36 IcyIndependence2526 A theory that gives way to new ideas hopefully.
 | https://preview.redd.it/g3r8x9cu7v1d1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=af7337d5360baf0a3fc32480dba4f931abdf4369 submitted by IcyIndependence2526 to u/IcyIndependence2526 [link] [comments] I've tried to post this theory so many times. This theory was made before the spoilers. It was made before the Kendrick Lamar and drake beef. Please excuse my grammar I wrote this theory several times changing many things and going back into the draft to add many ideas. I added one detail then realized if I kept adding stuff I'd have to write a fanfic at this point. The theory isn't about getting it right It's about the romance that breeds curiosity and new concepts that will hopefully be explained later. Thank you. I think the sea devil was the creator of devil fruits and they were in the ancient kingdom. The ancient kingdom was evil they created the ancient weapons but could only use Uranus. The species like: Fishmen, Lunarians, Buccaneers, Giants, Winged Human, Giant Elephants, and Etc were used by the ancient kingdom to oppress the 20 Kingdoms. Pirates of the one-piece world were established from ancient or recent history just like in our world, so the oppressed people in the 20 kingdoms became like pirates. Not all became pirates just some, but that impressed Joy boy or Nika because Nika is his actual name or maybe it's Binks? Anyways Binks or Nika wanted to venture out to the seas to join the pirates and the kingdoms, but the ancient kingdom were like the celestial dragons so once you leave the noble status behind you can't rejoin. As punishment for him leaving they turned him into rubber believing it was a cruel joke and a good punishment for him, but it impowered him. He began to play jokes on the ancient kingdom his antics reached the lives of many around the world. His power transformed islands just like long ring long land, he freed the oppressed, and he told the secrets of the ancient kingdom to the people because without his influence they would have stayed a non-advanced kingdom so they could compete with the ancient kingdom somewhat. Haki was introduced to people's lives, and it gave them power to believe in themselves to change the world and become free from tyranny in a world that these "Humans" Could live in. They became stronger and their numbers were Colossal, but something began to change, something that the ancient kingdom could never account for. The same "Creatures" the ancient kingdom used to oppress the people began to want a will of their own. Joy Boy introduced this to them, and that changed Everything. Zuniesha, The Giants, The Mink Tribe, The Lunarians, and Etc began to turn on the ancient kingdom. The Invincible Enormous Brilliant Ancient Kingdom was losing a war that a rejected joke of a rubbery man started then turned the tides against them using laughter, hope, love, and will for a better tomorrow. The ancient kingdom began using the weapons but wait one of the weapons didn't respond. Poseidon now had a will of their own and they wanted to be free, so they helped Joy Boy, but the ancient kingdom still had Pluton, and Uranus. The weapons were a real problem Joy Boy had to think fast so he had a certain clan build the Ark for not just humans, but for all the species that don't survive underwater like the fishmen. Joy Boy told his comrades about the weapons and that helped them identify the weapons. During the war one clan was so wreck less they managed to pull off a huge heist. The Kozuki Clan managed to steal Pluton before it could cause huge damage to the world, they took it off the battlefield and returned to the allied kingdoms. Uranus was used during the war and was a death sentence to unsuspecting parts of world it decimated continents leaving remnants behind. With only one of the ancient weapons in use Joy Boy and his allies had to confront the person using it, and that was the SEA DEVIL. Joy Boy and Saint Nerona Imu confronted the Sea Devil, but something was off about him. It seemed like he was different from regular humans it looked like he hasn't slept in a long time, and his body appeared weird. The Sea Devil took damage from both combatants, and even though it damaged the sea devil they kept fighting until it was revealed that it was the Sea Devil that gave Binks or Nika the Rubbery powers. The Sea Devil began using their Powers. The two barely beat the Sea Devil through their own will they managed to defeat The Sea Devil, but The Sea Devil had a plan. If the ancient kingdom were to ever fall, they would rather sink into the bottom of ocean selfishly keeping their treasure than to give it to the rest of world and with that The Sea Devil began to use Uranus to destroy the ancient kingdom. With that Joy Boy and Saint Nerona Imu escaped and the Sea Devil was cast to the bottom of the ocean selfishly keeping their treasure. Parts of ancient kingdom was cast to the depths of the ocean, but some parts of it floated above still. The war was over, and people had to do some Greving. After the war Nika or Binks was exhausted forever from that war. Nika or Binks had been given the name Joy Boy, and he was recognized across the world. In light of the tragedy that occurred Joy Boy proposed something. He said, "LETS THROW A PARTY!" His allies rejoiced and they had fun. The species that the ancient kingdom created had nowhere to go and now had a will of their own. They came to Joy Boy and wanted to know what to do, and Joy Boy said do what you want. The Created Species began to occupy different islands, and they created their own kingdoms, and cultures, but they had the knowledge of the ancient kingdom with them still. The 20 Kingdoms didn't realize that Joy Boy had supported the created species in the past so that fueled their anger. The 20 Kingdoms history with the ancient kingdom was embarrassing, and now the one man that gave them hope is the same man who helped the creatures. The same creatures that oppressed them? The kingdoms began to plot a plan against Joy Boy and all that oppressed them. The kingdoms found that there was a castle was found in the middle of the ocean a massive castle. They began to go inside, and they learned that it was from the ancient kingdom. The castle held untold knowledge, but the text was unreadable to them. They enlisted the help of ancient kingdom remnants, and the kingdoms learned the language. They learned some of their technology, about the history of the world, the creation of the species, the Eve tree, and some taboo methods, and etc. Most of all they learned that there was a devil fruit index containing information of all devil fruits and their functions, also they learned that devil fruits recycle after the user dies, but they also learn the weakness of it. The information is handed down to Imu. The Kozuki Clan learns the language, and the information inside the castle. They also learn about the ancient weapons, and how to use them. The 20 Kingdoms began to use the Castle as their place of importance, then they began to have a discussion on how they're going to betray Binks this includes Lily and the Kozuki clan members. The idea of becoming a world government is introduced and they plan to go along with it, but Binks is all that stands in the way. Lili sneaks away with the information, and contacts Binks and his crew to tell them about the betrayal. Binks unafraid challenges the world to a fight. Binks and his crew go around the world adventuring and meets new people and establishes a bond with people as well, one of those is Poseidon. Binks and his crew are welcomed in Poseidon's kingdom. Binks explores the kingdom. Binks meets a woman who can fortune tell like madam Sharley. He's amazed so he asked her about the future, and she says in 800 you'll return. He laughs and thanks her. Poseidon and Binks talk as he tells Poseidon that he's going to be betrayed, but he promises that he'll win, and when Poseidon comes up to see the sun it'll be Binks and his crew welcoming them. During or after this period in time the 20 Kingdoms have the first reverie before they become the world government. At the Reverie Imu goes into detail about how they are going to defeat Binks, and that is with Uranus. Imu wants to cleanse the earth of their history and those who oppressed them, but some of the kingdom reject the idea not because of good morale value, but because they can be used. Imu hears them out and allows them that usage. Lili is present there also, and she's scared because Uranus caused huge problems to the world like making the sea level rise, not only that but, although the ancient kingdom oppressed them, she doesn't want to destroy all of the created species. A specific sea monster cat she and her kingdom has taken a liking to. So, she sneaks away once again, and tells Binks what is about to happen. Binks is horrified that Imu would use Uranus after what they saw the ancient kingdom do. He then thinks that The Noah needs to be used again. Poseidon asks Binks if they could do anything, and He responds that they could help deliver the Noah for it needed to be used again, so Poseidon orders the sea to bring the Noah to the fishman Kingdom. Binks tells Poseidon that when the time is right Binks will count on Poseidon to bring the Noah back up to surface to save the people that no longer have a home to return to, and Poseidon says they'll wait for Binks's word. Binks wants to play a prank on the 20 kingdoms now. Binks and his crew play prank after prank on the 20 kingdoms. Binks and his crew travel across the world building allies. A specific Giant asks the Kozuki clan to craft a sword for them. That sword would be named the Kietsu. Binks then told the Kozuki the history of world, the function/history of the weapons, and the and told them to write it and spread it across the world. While that was happening a clan in Wano decided to betray Binks and the kozuki clan, and that clan was the kurozumi clan. They leaked the information to the 20 kingdoms. Imu then tasked Lili to stop them. The sea monsters, the sky people, The Mink tribe and etc all helped deliver the Poneglyffs. During this time, they created the song binks sake. Binks and his crew personally want to deliver the Poneglyff to Lili. They sailed all the way to her kingdom but was met with a military obstacle. They were conflicted because to them Binks was Joy Boy the one who freed them. Joy Boy bulldozed his way through the army because their will wavered, and he met with Lili with tears in her eyes. They talked and Joy Boy successfully delivered the Poneglyff to her kingdom. Binks and his crew traveled the seas also delivering poneglyffs until they came across a remnant of the ancient kingdom. a remnant that shouldn't exist but here it is. He delivered his tale about the truth of the world and told his tales across the seas as a pirate. His message was kept there. He and his crew prepared for war. The 20 Kingdoms did the same. Joy Boy and his allies traveled to the Castle to stop the 20 Kingdoms from Using Uranus. Imu meets him on seas and told him challenging them is like challenging the world. The war began as Joy Boy said he wasn't afraid, and He screams at the top of his lungs "BRING IT ON" His hearted pumped and produced the sound of war. The battle was fierce each side losing members, but the 20 kingdoms still had numbers, despite that the Joy Boy alliance was still putting up a fight and if it wasn't stopped the 20 kingdoms would lose. Imu then started to use Uranus recklessly, it took out his allies and Joy Boys. The war came down to wire and despite all odds Joy Boy was going to win, but he got exhausted. He used up his life during the war, and the Joy Boy alliance and the 20 Kingdoms watched as Joy Boy was dying. Imu came to Joy Boy as he was dying. Joy Boy laughed and got back up his heart beating like a drum he awakened, and in a scene like from the one-piece movie film Z he gets back up and fights Imu and the 20 Kingdom while laughing and smiling giving some of his allies' time to escape while some of his crew stayed. In the end the 20 Kingdom crying watched him lose his distinctive look and he lost all energy and started to die. Imu bloodied once again appeared to Joy Boy thinking about their past together sharing moments and fighting against the ancient kingdom and the sea devil together. Imu closed their eyes and walked away and said goodbye Joy Boy it was fun while Joy Boy lied there smiling as wide as the sky. After the war the 20 Kingdoms established the world government. They go around enslaving people and cover up the history of their embarrassing past. They enslaved the giants that helped Joy Boy and make them Pull continents together. This creates the Grand Line. A specific giant with the kietsu named Oars was forced to do this. It took nearly their entire lifetime, but they do it. Not wanting to be a slave anymore they revolt and managed to flee. but Oars is hurt. They hunt him down, but he makes it back to Wano where he begins to die from his injuries while remembering Joy Boy he smiles and then dies. The Tontatta's are enslaved by doflamingo's ancestor. Zuniesha who aided Joy Boy is forced to roam the earth forever because he aided Joy Boy. Lili is soon found out to have helped Joy Boy and before she disappears, she delivers a message that Joy Boy gave her. The ancient Robot who helped Joy Boy soon shuts down because he no long has the will to carry on without the one who gave him freedom. Wano keeps Pluton hidden from the world government and creates a border between them and the world. The sky people leave earth and go to the moon with ancient kingdom technology balloons while crying because the world government rejected them. They write about the ancient weapons and what they did to the world. They long to return one day when they can put their feet back on the soil. The Giants remember Joy Boy and tell his tale whenever they can. Etc Etc Etc Etc You Get the point now. I'd been thinking of this theory for a while. I had to choose between this one and two others. One where Loki is Usopp and he has belief powers not lying powers, also another one that Luffy is literally Joy Boy from the same void century. But it takes so long to write these. The point of my theory is to hopefully provide a new idea to the Era just before the Void Century. https://preview.redd.it/5s43wmav7v1d1.png?width=661&format=png&auto=webp&s=e8473ec6472f1957679b2f277ce7310592210fef |
2024.05.22 01:24 mayoeba-yabureru The flesh gate and the tree are both next to the ocean
 | At around 1:10 in the trailer we see Messmer looking down on a burning city whose outer wall fronts onto the ocean in the background. We learn the city is probably near the base of the tree at around 1:35 as we see Messmer looking up at the tree from (probably) its ruins through some shadow-warped buildings. The artists went out of their way to hide the horizon on both sides of the gate at the start of the trailer, but when the scene rapidly dims we can see the light on the golden side behaves basically like a sunset over water, implying that the gate opens out onto the ocean. The tree is almost certainly connected to the gate just because they're both huge symbols of the world's formation, but it helps if they're physically at the same place. The tree is also ususally backlit by a faded golden light, but in the second image here it's pretty red. submitted by mayoeba-yabureru to EldenRingLoreTalk [link] [comments] Some other random thoughts and questions: 1) If the tree is at the ocean and the Shadowland map lines up with the real map then we would probably be starting in the west and working our way east. 2) The sap is dripping down (in the shape of a double helix) without that arch/basin building present, so the arch was built late in the Shadowland chronology. 3) The raw sap vein in the tree (also helical) looks to me somewhat like the spear impaling Marika. It's also a darker color than the golden sap dripping down, and the stream also curls up at the top left to form Marika's crucifix and part of the Elden Ring. 4) The red bodies in the gate being the same as Rykard's might have something to do with the snake being a traitor to the Erdtree. 5) Do we have theories on Messmer being Marika? 6) Who's the squishy goddess corpse Marika exhumes the Elden Ring thing from? Placi's god fled and I don't remember any other gods. https://preview.redd.it/k8h9gjzr5v1d1.png?width=2879&format=png&auto=webp&s=8834aad3a98bd27a6a3b55081ad399039f800976 https://preview.redd.it/ajv1vjzr5v1d1.png?width=2879&format=png&auto=webp&s=786372bee3c2d41fed9e0d1c4b04f5b40c1f6816 https://preview.redd.it/05mr8jzr5v1d1.png?width=2879&format=png&auto=webp&s=e232d8a76a90ff138bc0f322fa9cf2159d84ffd3 |
2024.05.22 01:24 partylikeyossarian Stockholm Syndrome - Tip of the victim blaming iceberg
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stockholm-syndrome-meaning-bank-robbery-b2399531.html
Mr Wade calls Stockholm Syndrome “one of a whole network of concepts that ... shift focus away from the powerful role of ... institutional responses”. He adds that such concepts “also tend to protect offenders because, instead of looking at strategies used by perpetrators to suppress victims, resistance theories such as Stockholm Syndrome and others (there’s a long list of them: identification with the aggressor, infantilization, traumatic bonding, learned helplessness, internalization, false consciousness, it goes on and on) don’t evolve focus on how victimized people have responded to and resisted violence. Rather, they assume that they did not.”
It’s “part of a family of notions that stem from hyper-individual, problematic notions in psychology and psychiatry, rather than careful analysis of circumstances on the ground.”
submitted by partylikeyossarian to therapycritical [link] [comments]
Mr Wade calls Stockholm Syndrome “one of a whole network of concepts that ... shift focus away from the powerful role of ... institutional responses”. He adds that such concepts “also tend to protect offenders because, instead of looking at strategies used by perpetrators to suppress victims, resistance theories such as Stockholm Syndrome and others (there’s a long list of them: identification with the aggressor, infantilization, traumatic bonding, learned helplessness, internalization, false consciousness, it goes on and on) don’t evolve focus on how victimized people have responded to and resisted violence. Rather, they assume that they did not.”
It’s “part of a family of notions that stem from hyper-individual, problematic notions in psychology and psychiatry, rather than careful analysis of circumstances on the ground.”
2024.05.22 01:09 VaquitaPorpoise TDP season 6 episode title theories for episodes 3 and 4 round 2
Hey TDP fandom! Welcome back to another round of season 6 episode theories! As we continue to wait on Netflix to give us a release date for season 6, we’ll continue to theorize on the episodes of The Frozen Ship and The Starscrapper. These might be short as there’s not much to depict, but I’ll do my best to theorize the plot of what might happen in these two episodes.
The Frozen Ship: Aaron Ehasz and Devon Giehl revealed a poem that was about a legendary sailor named Esmeralda Skall who sailed the seas across the human kingdoms of Katolis, Duren, and Neolandia. She yearned for adventure and glory so much which caused her to leave the man she was destined to marry. She died regretting that she’ll never confess her love to her partner.
This scenario is very similar to Rayla and Callum! She left Callum on the night of his birthday during the events of Through the Moon graphic novel that takes place during seasons 3 and 4 on a 2 year time skip. Rayla developed a thirst for revenge against Viren wanting desperately to know what happened on the whereabouts of Runaan and her parents which caused her to damage her relationship with Callum. Upon returning back to Katolis, Rayla admitted that she allowed revenge to get in the way of her relationship with Callum that she lost the most important and best thing that ever happened to her when he was asleep.
In this episode, we might get a backstory of Esmeralda Skall and how her ship got stuck in the Frozen Sea which I think Rayla and Callum would travel to the Frozen Sea and use the ship to travel to the Starscrapper. Based on her backstory, Rayla and Callum might have that serious talk they desperately need to fully repair their relationship, love and trust in each other.
Before getting there, Rayla and Callum might use the boat traveling through the river which we see Stella, two star birds, the baitlings and the adoraburrs from an accidental revealed image.
The Starscrapper: Aaron Ehasz posted a clue revealing an image of a man shaving his face using a blade. This is where Rayla and Callum will arrive to the Starscrapper to retrieve the Novablade.
Thanks to a couple of screenshots seeing Rayla and Callum standing near the Starscrapper at the Frozen Sea and the teaser from TDP’s video game trailer showing a few blindfolded Skywing elves flying down to the center of the Starscrapper helping Rayla travel with them using a elevator to decelerate we already know what the episode is going to look like. Callum might be flying alongside the blindfolded Skywing elves to the Starscrapper’s center.
When Rayla and Callum go to the Starscrapper, they’ll meet Astrid and the other blindfolded Skywing elves which they may be suspicious of what they’re doing here and why they had come.
When Callum and Rayla tell them they need the Novablade to kill Aaravos and use the Quasar diamonds to free Rayla’s family, the Skywing elves will put them to the test on a very serious trial. This might be where we might see Callum flying to the night sky blindfolded using his wings before they disappear as they hit the starry night sky causing him to fall into gravity in midair. Callum might even learn and connect to the Star arcanum in that moment.
What do you guys think about these theories for episodes 3 and 4?
submitted by VaquitaPorpoise to TheDragonPrince [link] [comments]
The Frozen Ship: Aaron Ehasz and Devon Giehl revealed a poem that was about a legendary sailor named Esmeralda Skall who sailed the seas across the human kingdoms of Katolis, Duren, and Neolandia. She yearned for adventure and glory so much which caused her to leave the man she was destined to marry. She died regretting that she’ll never confess her love to her partner.
This scenario is very similar to Rayla and Callum! She left Callum on the night of his birthday during the events of Through the Moon graphic novel that takes place during seasons 3 and 4 on a 2 year time skip. Rayla developed a thirst for revenge against Viren wanting desperately to know what happened on the whereabouts of Runaan and her parents which caused her to damage her relationship with Callum. Upon returning back to Katolis, Rayla admitted that she allowed revenge to get in the way of her relationship with Callum that she lost the most important and best thing that ever happened to her when he was asleep.
In this episode, we might get a backstory of Esmeralda Skall and how her ship got stuck in the Frozen Sea which I think Rayla and Callum would travel to the Frozen Sea and use the ship to travel to the Starscrapper. Based on her backstory, Rayla and Callum might have that serious talk they desperately need to fully repair their relationship, love and trust in each other.
Before getting there, Rayla and Callum might use the boat traveling through the river which we see Stella, two star birds, the baitlings and the adoraburrs from an accidental revealed image.
The Starscrapper: Aaron Ehasz posted a clue revealing an image of a man shaving his face using a blade. This is where Rayla and Callum will arrive to the Starscrapper to retrieve the Novablade.
Thanks to a couple of screenshots seeing Rayla and Callum standing near the Starscrapper at the Frozen Sea and the teaser from TDP’s video game trailer showing a few blindfolded Skywing elves flying down to the center of the Starscrapper helping Rayla travel with them using a elevator to decelerate we already know what the episode is going to look like. Callum might be flying alongside the blindfolded Skywing elves to the Starscrapper’s center.
When Rayla and Callum go to the Starscrapper, they’ll meet Astrid and the other blindfolded Skywing elves which they may be suspicious of what they’re doing here and why they had come.
When Callum and Rayla tell them they need the Novablade to kill Aaravos and use the Quasar diamonds to free Rayla’s family, the Skywing elves will put them to the test on a very serious trial. This might be where we might see Callum flying to the night sky blindfolded using his wings before they disappear as they hit the starry night sky causing him to fall into gravity in midair. Callum might even learn and connect to the Star arcanum in that moment.
What do you guys think about these theories for episodes 3 and 4?
2024.05.22 00:55 Inboxmepoetry Any swedes here? Do you have any book/ content recommendations?
Hey! Any swedes here?
I've been reading some theory and consuming a lot of marxist content lately, but all of it is from authors and creators from other parts of the world (like the deprogram). Which is great, I've learned a lot.
But in order to get a better grasp on what can be done on a local level I feel the need to educate myself more on local matters. So, I'm looking for Swedish authors/content on politics and history from a marxist perspective. Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Also, are you organized? I'm looking to join some type of org but I don't know where to begin.
Thanks!
submitted by Inboxmepoetry to TheDeprogram [link] [comments]
I've been reading some theory and consuming a lot of marxist content lately, but all of it is from authors and creators from other parts of the world (like the deprogram). Which is great, I've learned a lot.
But in order to get a better grasp on what can be done on a local level I feel the need to educate myself more on local matters. So, I'm looking for Swedish authors/content on politics and history from a marxist perspective. Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Also, are you organized? I'm looking to join some type of org but I don't know where to begin.
Thanks!
2024.05.22 00:52 aofuwrm77 Understanding the algorithm (R^2 F^2 U^2 R^2)^2
In a previous question (https://www.reddit.com/Cubers/s/nwnseJ4bnc) I learned several algorithms using double moves only (R2, U2, etc.) that cycle three edges. The shortest ones consist of 8 moves, one typical example being
( R2 F2 U2 R2 )2
By applying this sequence to the cube I can of course see that it does the 3-cycle, and it can also be proven mathematical when you interpret R,U,... as facelet permutations, but my question is how to come up with the algorithm in the first place. How can it be deduced from more basic principles in cube theory? What is the idea behind the algorithm?
PS. The algorithm given by cmowla in the linked post [ D2 (R2 F)3 D2 , R2 ] has been nicely motivated by cmowla already. I am not looking for an arbitrary double move algorithm doing the 3-cycle (I even have found my own ones), but rather specifically the 8-movers.
submitted by aofuwrm77 to Cubers [link] [comments]
( R2 F2 U2 R2 )2
By applying this sequence to the cube I can of course see that it does the 3-cycle, and it can also be proven mathematical when you interpret R,U,... as facelet permutations, but my question is how to come up with the algorithm in the first place. How can it be deduced from more basic principles in cube theory? What is the idea behind the algorithm?
PS. The algorithm given by cmowla in the linked post [ D2 (R2 F)3 D2 , R2 ] has been nicely motivated by cmowla already. I am not looking for an arbitrary double move algorithm doing the 3-cycle (I even have found my own ones), but rather specifically the 8-movers.
2024.05.22 00:39 brianne-of-tarth24 Basic insurance knowledge trainer
Hi all, I'm looking for someone to train me in basic insurance practices and procedures.
For context, I just got assigned the role at my place of work. It is minor. Just making sure we are compliant and handling claims. We have combined business cover, several MVs and WIBA. I would like some direction on what to expect when renewal time comes around, what is involved when making a claim, just some familiarisation with the practical hands on work involved.
No, I don't want to study by myself. I learn better and faster when I'm shown practical examples. I tried reading some theory and it's so boring.
I think an afternoon / evening at a quiet cafe( in or around Kilimani) would be enough for me to understand the basics. I'll pay 5k and pay for the meal. . Should be someone with industry experience.
Thank you.
submitted by brianne-of-tarth24 to nairobi [link] [comments]
For context, I just got assigned the role at my place of work. It is minor. Just making sure we are compliant and handling claims. We have combined business cover, several MVs and WIBA. I would like some direction on what to expect when renewal time comes around, what is involved when making a claim, just some familiarisation with the practical hands on work involved.
No, I don't want to study by myself. I learn better and faster when I'm shown practical examples. I tried reading some theory and it's so boring.
I think an afternoon / evening at a quiet cafe( in or around Kilimani) would be enough for me to understand the basics. I'll pay 5k and pay for the meal. . Should be someone with industry experience.
Thank you.
2024.05.22 00:37 Psyifinotic An Interview w/ Ms. Mary Reber, Actress and Homeowner of the Palmer House. Presented on the 7th Anniversary of The Return's premiere.
Many moons ago I fell deeply in love with Twin Peaks, David Lynch, and everything surrounding it. Presented today on the 7th anniversary of the premiere date of Twin Peaks: The Return, is an interview with the actress and homeowner of the Palmer house who graciously gave her time to answer some fan questions that have been haunting us for years.
Journey with me to find out some answers you wanted, some you didn’t know you wanted, and some you can’t believe you lived without knowing including how to tour the Palmer home yourself!
Questions by Luke Sweeting
Luke: How were you approached to be an actress in The Return?
Mary: I was standing in the kitchen making sure there were enough donuts and coffee for the few key people DL (David Lynch) brought with him on 2nd of 3 visits before filming, which was the 4th visit. DL came into the kitchen by himself and said, Mary, are you an actress, and I said No. He then said, “Have you ever acted?” I said I hadn't. He then asked, would you like to have a small part in the movie? I said, “Sure”, but was nervous and excited at the thought. He said that it wasn't for sure but that if it did move forward, I would be in my own home and to act naturally, in other words, just be me. He has been watching me interact with some of the people he had brought. I heard he does like to observe people and get a feel for how they interact, look and sound. It is key to him that the person fit the character he is trying to create. He said if it did happen, I would get my script and go to hair and make up with the other actors. He was already trying to make me feel comfortable right there on the spot which I found very empathetic of him.
Luke: Had you ever acted before?
Mary: I really had not acted before other than a few commercials for the local TV station I worked for back in the day, but never a speaking part. I looked at it as definitely out of my comfort zone but who would turn down this opportunity? It was also therapeutic as I was going through a very trying time in life, so it was good to channel those feelings into doing something fun.
Luke: Has anyone recognized you in public yet? If so, do they call you Mrs. Tremond or Chalfont?
Mary: I have been recognized a few times which is funny but kind of cool at the same time. I was called Mrs. Tremond, which made me laugh. That is also on my license plate; I had to take advantage of that:)
Luke: (I know this answer, but I feel people would love to know the answer too) Was being a David Lynch fan the reason you bought the house, or was this just a happy accident?
Mary: I knew about Twin Peaks and about DL before buying the house. It is not why my ex, and I purchased the house in September 2014. It needed a lot of work at the time. The previous owner we purchased it from was the woman who lived here the first time around when Twin Peaks was filmed here. That is quite a story in itself, and I really wanted to sit with her afterward and chat with her about it, but she passed a few months after purchase.
Luke: Was there ever a culture shock moment of realizing you bought THE Palmer house, or did that happen after The Return finished airing?
Mary: This house was our first home purchase and we moved to Everett because of the history, great old historic homes and how much more house we could get up here. This area of Rucker Hill has some great history and amazing houses. The man who built this house was one of the first pitchers for Seattle baseball. We heard rumblings of Twin Peaks returning but it was around 2 months after moving in that we were away for a bit and came home to a notice at the door from the location scout asking us to call him right away as they wanted to do a film here. It was a mystery as to what it would be, but we felt it was going to be Twin Peaks. The whole filming process, when our parts were going to be aired and everything about the Return was a mystery. They actually filmed the Finale at the very beginning, so I had no clue where it was going to fit into the whole Film. Filming was an amazing experience. They were here for approximately 2 weeks preparing the home for both the Hawk/Sarah scene and the Finale. It wasn't until the Finale was aired that I realized how cool this experience was in the whole scheme of things and the impact in the Return itself. I wish I could relax a bit more and soak it in again, just to relive the experience and really study the process. Each person here was so professional and fun to watch do their work with such expertise. I couldn't have asked for friendlier people.
Luke: How has the fandom treated you?
Mary: The fans are incredible. They have been extremely kind to me. They are great gift givers and just very authentic and genuine folks in love with Twin Peaks. I didn't realize how intense these fans were, but I truly get it. There is nothing like this ever made before and it set the stage for a lot of other great TV and film. The fans have been awesome and I have many great friends from this experience.
Luke: Is there anything you wish fans wouldn’t do?
Mary: The only thing I wish for fans is that they don't just walk up to the door at various hours of the day and night. It is private property and not a public place for people to peek in windows and walk the grounds. There have only been a few that have done this; the majority is very respectful to me and my home.
Luke: Is it ever scary to sleep in the proverbial Palmer house? Are there ever guests who stay over and become a little nervous?
Mary: I am not afraid in the least to stay here. I was a tad apprehensive when we first bought it, but like the lady who lived here before would say, "this is just my house." Now a few of the guests who have stayed, they were a bit nervous to sleep in Laura's room, but that may be because I have a life-sized Bob mannequin in the closet:)
Luke: I know that you’re gracious enough to let guests visit this mecca of ours, could you tell me and anyone interested about how and when to properly ask to visit? (You could also mention your favorite flowers or favorite wine? I know I’d feel bad showing up empty handed)
Mary: I prefer people get a hold of me on Messenger or IG or Twitter and ask to see the house, so I can make an appointment for them, especially since Everett is not that close to North Bend and Snoqualmie. I do now charge $25 for a 30-45 minute tour as I have done quite a few. I do love flowers and red wine. I have received some very incredible gifts from some fans which I am forever grateful for. The fans are so very thoughtful, and I have a little spot in my Palmer dining room where I proudly display some of the gifts and artwork.
Luke: I understand if you don’t want to answer this one. What does your role in Twin Peaks mean to you? To us fans I feel like it was the perfect subversion of expectations while also being incredibly meta.
Mary: There are 2 questions I can't answer and one of them is expanding on my character. I do, however, think it is cool to be an infamous Tremond!
Luke: How does it feel to be appreciated as a part of a now 30-year-old piece of media that will last forever and has influenced kids like me to make careers in film?
Mary: It is very humbling to be part of the TP mystique and genre. I am blessed and love being able to share a piece of it with fans who have never been able to see the Palmer House. The responses of people who visit is my gift. I love seeing their excitement and joy at walking through my door and each and every person is a joy for me. I have made great friends, learned wonderful theories and have listed to some reveal trauma in their own lives, which invites me into some very private parts of their lives. It has been a life changing experience for me, and I hope it has been for them as well.
Luke: Finally, what was it like working with David? Are there any fun tidbits or stories of how he directed you / that wonderfully haunting scene burned into our memories forever?
Mary: Working with DL was an incredible experience to say the least and very humbling and rewarding. He is a master filmmaker and director. The gift he gives is what we as individual viewers choose to take away from his art.
He is a wonderful director in that he ceases to tell you how to act, rather use your raw and organic natural emotions to drive the performance. I believe he knew I was going to be a bit anxious and guarded and most of all a bit nervous, which worked well for answering the door at night to 2 strangers. He tweaked a bit but left us to the scene and frankly Kyle and Sheryl would make most people look good. We only had 2 takes which was great. We practiced a bit outside before the scene which helped. Also meeting Kyle and Sheryl in hair and makeup was an introduction to them both that was organic and for me very helpful. I felt like I was acting already with 2 friends. DL and Kyle and Sheryl were very encouraging. DL knows what he wants and how to transfer his ideas out in the scene with great kindness and finesse and humor.
Luke: I’m sorry but I have to ask. Any hints to what was being spoken to you behind that menacing white door?
Mary: There were no hints of who was behind door other than me calling him Honey. He was supposedly answering my questions and then I was relaying answers to Kyle and Sheryl.
submitted by Psyifinotic to twinpeaks [link] [comments]
Journey with me to find out some answers you wanted, some you didn’t know you wanted, and some you can’t believe you lived without knowing including how to tour the Palmer home yourself!
Questions by Luke Sweeting
Luke: How were you approached to be an actress in The Return?
Mary: I was standing in the kitchen making sure there were enough donuts and coffee for the few key people DL (David Lynch) brought with him on 2nd of 3 visits before filming, which was the 4th visit. DL came into the kitchen by himself and said, Mary, are you an actress, and I said No. He then said, “Have you ever acted?” I said I hadn't. He then asked, would you like to have a small part in the movie? I said, “Sure”, but was nervous and excited at the thought. He said that it wasn't for sure but that if it did move forward, I would be in my own home and to act naturally, in other words, just be me. He has been watching me interact with some of the people he had brought. I heard he does like to observe people and get a feel for how they interact, look and sound. It is key to him that the person fit the character he is trying to create. He said if it did happen, I would get my script and go to hair and make up with the other actors. He was already trying to make me feel comfortable right there on the spot which I found very empathetic of him.
Luke: Had you ever acted before?
Mary: I really had not acted before other than a few commercials for the local TV station I worked for back in the day, but never a speaking part. I looked at it as definitely out of my comfort zone but who would turn down this opportunity? It was also therapeutic as I was going through a very trying time in life, so it was good to channel those feelings into doing something fun.
Luke: Has anyone recognized you in public yet? If so, do they call you Mrs. Tremond or Chalfont?
Mary: I have been recognized a few times which is funny but kind of cool at the same time. I was called Mrs. Tremond, which made me laugh. That is also on my license plate; I had to take advantage of that:)
Luke: (I know this answer, but I feel people would love to know the answer too) Was being a David Lynch fan the reason you bought the house, or was this just a happy accident?
Mary: I knew about Twin Peaks and about DL before buying the house. It is not why my ex, and I purchased the house in September 2014. It needed a lot of work at the time. The previous owner we purchased it from was the woman who lived here the first time around when Twin Peaks was filmed here. That is quite a story in itself, and I really wanted to sit with her afterward and chat with her about it, but she passed a few months after purchase.
Luke: Was there ever a culture shock moment of realizing you bought THE Palmer house, or did that happen after The Return finished airing?
Mary: This house was our first home purchase and we moved to Everett because of the history, great old historic homes and how much more house we could get up here. This area of Rucker Hill has some great history and amazing houses. The man who built this house was one of the first pitchers for Seattle baseball. We heard rumblings of Twin Peaks returning but it was around 2 months after moving in that we were away for a bit and came home to a notice at the door from the location scout asking us to call him right away as they wanted to do a film here. It was a mystery as to what it would be, but we felt it was going to be Twin Peaks. The whole filming process, when our parts were going to be aired and everything about the Return was a mystery. They actually filmed the Finale at the very beginning, so I had no clue where it was going to fit into the whole Film. Filming was an amazing experience. They were here for approximately 2 weeks preparing the home for both the Hawk/Sarah scene and the Finale. It wasn't until the Finale was aired that I realized how cool this experience was in the whole scheme of things and the impact in the Return itself. I wish I could relax a bit more and soak it in again, just to relive the experience and really study the process. Each person here was so professional and fun to watch do their work with such expertise. I couldn't have asked for friendlier people.
Luke: How has the fandom treated you?
Mary: The fans are incredible. They have been extremely kind to me. They are great gift givers and just very authentic and genuine folks in love with Twin Peaks. I didn't realize how intense these fans were, but I truly get it. There is nothing like this ever made before and it set the stage for a lot of other great TV and film. The fans have been awesome and I have many great friends from this experience.
Luke: Is there anything you wish fans wouldn’t do?
Mary: The only thing I wish for fans is that they don't just walk up to the door at various hours of the day and night. It is private property and not a public place for people to peek in windows and walk the grounds. There have only been a few that have done this; the majority is very respectful to me and my home.
Luke: Is it ever scary to sleep in the proverbial Palmer house? Are there ever guests who stay over and become a little nervous?
Mary: I am not afraid in the least to stay here. I was a tad apprehensive when we first bought it, but like the lady who lived here before would say, "this is just my house." Now a few of the guests who have stayed, they were a bit nervous to sleep in Laura's room, but that may be because I have a life-sized Bob mannequin in the closet:)
Luke: I know that you’re gracious enough to let guests visit this mecca of ours, could you tell me and anyone interested about how and when to properly ask to visit? (You could also mention your favorite flowers or favorite wine? I know I’d feel bad showing up empty handed)
Mary: I prefer people get a hold of me on Messenger or IG or Twitter and ask to see the house, so I can make an appointment for them, especially since Everett is not that close to North Bend and Snoqualmie. I do now charge $25 for a 30-45 minute tour as I have done quite a few. I do love flowers and red wine. I have received some very incredible gifts from some fans which I am forever grateful for. The fans are so very thoughtful, and I have a little spot in my Palmer dining room where I proudly display some of the gifts and artwork.
Luke: I understand if you don’t want to answer this one. What does your role in Twin Peaks mean to you? To us fans I feel like it was the perfect subversion of expectations while also being incredibly meta.
Mary: There are 2 questions I can't answer and one of them is expanding on my character. I do, however, think it is cool to be an infamous Tremond!
Luke: How does it feel to be appreciated as a part of a now 30-year-old piece of media that will last forever and has influenced kids like me to make careers in film?
Mary: It is very humbling to be part of the TP mystique and genre. I am blessed and love being able to share a piece of it with fans who have never been able to see the Palmer House. The responses of people who visit is my gift. I love seeing their excitement and joy at walking through my door and each and every person is a joy for me. I have made great friends, learned wonderful theories and have listed to some reveal trauma in their own lives, which invites me into some very private parts of their lives. It has been a life changing experience for me, and I hope it has been for them as well.
Luke: Finally, what was it like working with David? Are there any fun tidbits or stories of how he directed you / that wonderfully haunting scene burned into our memories forever?
Mary: Working with DL was an incredible experience to say the least and very humbling and rewarding. He is a master filmmaker and director. The gift he gives is what we as individual viewers choose to take away from his art.
He is a wonderful director in that he ceases to tell you how to act, rather use your raw and organic natural emotions to drive the performance. I believe he knew I was going to be a bit anxious and guarded and most of all a bit nervous, which worked well for answering the door at night to 2 strangers. He tweaked a bit but left us to the scene and frankly Kyle and Sheryl would make most people look good. We only had 2 takes which was great. We practiced a bit outside before the scene which helped. Also meeting Kyle and Sheryl in hair and makeup was an introduction to them both that was organic and for me very helpful. I felt like I was acting already with 2 friends. DL and Kyle and Sheryl were very encouraging. DL knows what he wants and how to transfer his ideas out in the scene with great kindness and finesse and humor.
Luke: I’m sorry but I have to ask. Any hints to what was being spoken to you behind that menacing white door?
Mary: There were no hints of who was behind door other than me calling him Honey. He was supposedly answering my questions and then I was relaying answers to Kyle and Sheryl.
2024.05.22 00:35 TradedMedia Robert Schwartz & Shawn Safdie Of S3 Capital Partners Refinance Multifamily Asset In Fort Greene
The multifamily property in Fort Greene, Brooklyn has a total square footage of 3,600 and consists of 4 units. The loan for this property was facilitated by Robert Schwartz & Shawn Safdie from S3 Capital Partners, with a loan amount of $1,800,000. The loan type included both a refinance and construction component.
Learn More: Robert Schwartz & Shawn Safdie Of S3 Capital Partners Refinance Multifamily Asset In Fort Greene
submitted by TradedMedia to tradedny [link] [comments]
Summary of transaction details:
- Property Type: Multifamily
- Transaction Amount: $1,800,000
- Market: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
- Lender: Robert Schwartz & Shawn Safdie - S3 Capital Partners
- Contact for inquiries: Shawn at shawn@s3cap.com
Learn More: Robert Schwartz & Shawn Safdie Of S3 Capital Partners Refinance Multifamily Asset In Fort Greene
2024.05.22 00:30 CarpetBeautiful5382 Ice Age War
In the last 3 films we have been introduced to multiple kaiju both from Toho and are original. They all have a connection with one another or had interactions with Godzilla: 1. Kong 2. Ghidorah 3. Skar King 4. Shimo
So to start with Ghidorah, before King of the Monsters Godzilla and Ghidorah fought against each other and it ended with Ghidorah frozen in ice for thousands of years which would coincide with the last Ice Age.
We later learned that Shimo played a role in freezing Ghidorah which means Godzilla didn’t fight alone. Also Godzilla and Shimo had a history where they fought and Godzilla won. However it is unknown whether this happened before or after Ghidorah was frozen.
Then somehow in the present day Shimo was a prisoner of Skar and his tribe. This leads me to Skar who tried to take control of the surface but was stopped by Godzilla. It was also mentioned that Skar was involved in and may have started the war between Godzilla’s and Kong’s race which resulted in the near extinction of Kong’s race on the surface and leaving Godzilla as the last of his kind.
Godzilla’s role in the war with the Kong’s isn’t really expanded but he did fight with a Kong and he lost but that was because he was very young and wasn’t as strong as he was in the present. This same Kong was also killed by Tiamat. However I don’t know whether this happened before or around the same time Godzilla fought against Ghidorah before king of the Monsters.
So I was wondering did Godzilla’s fight with Ghidorah happen close with the Godzilla-Kong War? Did Skar use the chaos caused by Ghidorah to launch his first attack to the surface and also capture Shimo after the end? Does that mean that there could have been a massive war between multiple titans around the last ice age?
What do you guys think of this theory?
submitted by CarpetBeautiful5382 to Monsterverse [link] [comments]
So to start with Ghidorah, before King of the Monsters Godzilla and Ghidorah fought against each other and it ended with Ghidorah frozen in ice for thousands of years which would coincide with the last Ice Age.
We later learned that Shimo played a role in freezing Ghidorah which means Godzilla didn’t fight alone. Also Godzilla and Shimo had a history where they fought and Godzilla won. However it is unknown whether this happened before or after Ghidorah was frozen.
Then somehow in the present day Shimo was a prisoner of Skar and his tribe. This leads me to Skar who tried to take control of the surface but was stopped by Godzilla. It was also mentioned that Skar was involved in and may have started the war between Godzilla’s and Kong’s race which resulted in the near extinction of Kong’s race on the surface and leaving Godzilla as the last of his kind.
Godzilla’s role in the war with the Kong’s isn’t really expanded but he did fight with a Kong and he lost but that was because he was very young and wasn’t as strong as he was in the present. This same Kong was also killed by Tiamat. However I don’t know whether this happened before or around the same time Godzilla fought against Ghidorah before king of the Monsters.
So I was wondering did Godzilla’s fight with Ghidorah happen close with the Godzilla-Kong War? Did Skar use the chaos caused by Ghidorah to launch his first attack to the surface and also capture Shimo after the end? Does that mean that there could have been a massive war between multiple titans around the last ice age?
What do you guys think of this theory?
2024.05.22 00:27 Anxious-Paper2511 Part 1 of Mapping the Eros/Psyche Myth in S3: the Wind and Psyche’s Salvation
 | Hi everyone! Now that season 3, part 1 has aired, I wanted to revisit the Eros/Psyche comparative I wrote just before the season came out. There are a few different things that I wanted to touch on, so I thought I'd start with just a couple of scenes. Here, I will discuss the very early moment in the myth where Psyche is whisked away by the wind to live with Eros and compare that passage to the show. I have some plans for other posts, if people are interested! submitted by Anxious-Paper2511 to PolinBridgerton [link] [comments] Quick note: I am not seeking to imply and direct comparison, inspiration, or intention from the writers. I adopt what we call in scholarship a 'lens' through which I look at Bridgerton. Think of it like a pair of tinted glasses; they change the colors and allow you to see something that exists in a different way or from a different perspective. My lens is the myth of Eros and Psyche, and I use it to observe Bridgerton. It is one of infinite potential interpretations and is intended to be 100% just for fun! S3E1 Out of the Shadows Early in the myth of Eros and Psyche, an oracle informs Psyche’s father that she is to be sacrificed on a mountain top, forced to marry a “fierce, barbaric, snake-like monster” as punishment for her beauty (which has made her a rival of Aphrodite). Psyche resigns herself to the death, telling her family that she understands that she is at her own funeral, rather than wedding, procession. So amidst intense grief the ritual of that marriage with death was solemnized, and the entire populace escorted her living corpse as Psyche tearfully attended not her marriage but her funeral. (excerpt from Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 28 - 6. 24)But as she sits alone on the mountain top, resigned to her fate, a strong wind comes and carries her away to Eros’ castle. But as Psyche wept in fear and trembling on that rocky eminence, Zephyrus' (the West Wind's) kindly breeze with its soft stirring wafted the hem of her dress this way and that, and made its folds billow out. He gradually drew her aloft, and with tranquil breath bore her slowly downward. She glided down in the bosom of the flower-decked turf in the valley below. (excerpt from Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 28 - 6. 24)The passage evokes ideas of salvation as Psyche is rescued from a fate that appears to be unavoidable, even to Psyche, who appears completely resigned. “I seek you out…”: These themes suggest the same ideas that were present when Penelope is standing in her garden after accepting Colin’s help in finding a husband in episode 1. When the scene begins, she feels despondent and hopeless, perhaps resigned in the same way that Psyche did, to life as a spinster without freedom or happiness. At the start of the scene, Penelope appears isolated and disconnected from Colin as he appears to be a new person with a new personality. S3E1 Out of the Shadows At the end of the scene, once they have reconciled, there is a moment where you see Penelope feel the wind in her hair as she takes a deep breath. The wind may be a reflection of two profound emotional changes in Penelope. The first is not only a restoration of her friendship with Colin and her understanding of him, but perhaps also an expanded sense of their relationship that is more honest than it was before. In the second sense, Penelope’s own faith in her future and hope in it is also restored. In this way, the wind may be a symbolic nod to Colin’s role in facilitating Penelope’s happiness through her salvation. It echoes Eros’ actions in having the wind carry Psyche away from her unhappy life and fated death to her salvation with him. S3E1 Out of the Shadows The scene’s choreography is also interesting. Penelope begins sitting down and looking up at Colin; she is depicted as being unmoving, a part of the garden, not in motion or with agency. Her lack of movement may point to resignation (and for those of us who like to read too deeply into things, her place on a stone bench could mirror Psyche’s position on the rock, awaiting her fate). Their unequal status may also represent an inequality in their relationship (interesting in contrast with Colin on his knees in the carriage in episode 4). For a moment, at the end of the scene, they are on equal ground when he sits beside her as they reach an understanding. At the end of the scene, they are both standing, a sign of motion and action. Their handshake is a physical reminder that they are linked. S3E1 Out of the Shadows But why is it not a more romantic scene? When thinking of what this scene could be in the show, I hypothesized that it would be the first kiss. However, after watching it, I think that there is a kind of absurdity in this garden scene that highlights why it makes for a better turning point. In the myth, Eros is carrying Psyche to the place where they will kind of be married. They love each other, but they don’t truly know each other. They are holding a household together but neither of them are mature adults. They are intimate but they are not officially married and do not have the consent of their parents to be so. As a result, they aren’t really married in the ways that would matter to their context. S3E1 Out of the Shadows Back in Bridgerton, the absurdity of the handshake, the scandalous nature of their agreement, and the fact that Colin is visiting Penelope outside of her house all point to similar subversive (i.e. against the grain) elements of their relationship. In the eyes of their context (in this case “society”), Colin and Penelope’s friendship shares the same illegitimacy as Eros and Psyche’s. S3E1 Out of the Shadows To compound the situation, Eros maintains his divinity without having married Psyche properly while she is still a mortal. Colin and Penelope are still on uneven footing. This is told to us repeatedly in the first half of the season; while Colin is seen as desirable and eligible, Penelope is described as hopeless and on the shelf. https://preview.redd.it/cin0jvddmu1d1.png?width=1888&format=png&auto=webp&s=53838ff67f807cc2571a8496fea3e20b09daf9a3 S3 E2 How Bright the Moon Despite the fact that Colin and Penelope have reconciled, just as Eros and Psyche are living a content life at this stage in the myth, there is still a strong assertion that the relationship is in danger. By the end of Episode 1, Colin's fury with Lady Whistledown is an illusion to the fact that the two individuals still do not know one another and that this is only a temporary respite. S3E1 Out of the Shadows Based on these conditions, although it is one of the more romantic points in the myth, the wind of salvation does not necessarily point to the moment when Eros and Psyche become romantically involved. Still, it may more accurately fit with the moment of the restoration of Penelope and Colin’s relationship as friends. Arguably, this is a foundational step that must precede (and maybe supersede?) any romantic acknowledgement. The scene functions as a moment of salvation for Penelope and sets Colin up as a desirable but flawed saviour, highlighting the non-conventional nature of their relationship. Finally, we’ve got to talk about the balloon: The second notable moment featuring the wind in Season 3 Part 1 occurs during the dramatic sequence with the balloon at the innovations fair. In a reversal of roles from my first assertion in the garden, the balloon scene sees the wind reveal a change in Colin. The scene echoes the same themes of salvation, albeit in a much more explicit way. A quick reminder: Long before he has rescued Psyche, Aphrodite enlists Eros to shoot Psyche with an arrow and have her fall in love with a horrible beast. Eros, of course, reveals later that he actually shoots himself and falls in love with her, making her his wife: 'I disregarded my mother Venus' instructions when she commanded that you be yoked in passionate desire to the meanest of men, and that you be then subjected to the most degrading of marriages. Instead, I preferred to swoop down to become your lover. I admit that my behaviour was not judicious; I, the famed archer, wounded myself with my own weapon, and made you my wife--and all so that you should regard me as a wild beast, and cut off my head with the steel' (excerpt from Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 28 - 6. 24)Colin's arc mirrors Eros' as he attempts to help Penelope find a husband but finds himself developing feelings for her, instead. At the Hawkins Balloon exhibition, Colin learns that Penelope has a suitor, making her likelihood of marriage an immediate danger, although he may only shallowly be aware of his feelings by this point in Episode 3. Much like Psyche's impending sacrifice/marriage to the serpent on the rock, this scene would be an interesting stand-in for the moment of salvation, as well. S3E3 Forces of Nature While Colin observes Penelope in conversation with Debling throughout the afternoon (albeit unaware that she is not succeeding in charming him), he also notices a strong wind is interfering with the balloon that is on display. S3E3 Forces of Nature Sensing impending danger from the Balloon (and perhaps subconsciously, Debling), Colin's eyes are purely worried about the scene that is unfolding in front of him. I won't summarize the episode; we've all already seen it. But, despite being surrounded by debutants after he heroically controls the balloon and while at the subsequent ball, Colin spends the rest of the episode thoroughly mentally preoccupied by Penelope. The role of the wind, in this case, could be read as a catalyst for Colin's recognition of his ongoing desire to save and protect Penelope. Before the scene at the park, Colin appears to be avoiding speaking about his developing feelings for Penelope (understandable, given the context), but by the Innovation Ball, he is willing to somewhat open up to his mother and approach Penelope herself. S3E4 Forces of Nature Likely, it serves as more of a visual cue, a moment of insight into Colin's thought process while inhabiting the Eros figure, as to what would have inspired him to shoot himself with his arrow, rather than allow the Penelope/Psyche character to be married to someone else. Wrapping up: I don't see these comparisons as being a matter of literary canon for Bridgerton. Still, using the lens of the Eros/Psyche myth, it can be interesting to see how common themes and subjects emerge. Hopefully, you found something here interesting, and thank you for reading! |
2024.05.22 00:16 Saltlick99 Could the new vasalgel birth control for men be used in a similar fashion for women?
Completely out of curiosity and purely as a hypothetical! I’m sure many of you have seen the new non hormonal male birth control called Plan A among other names that injects vasalgel into the vas deferens that blocks sperm from entering the ejaculate!
So in theory, couldn’t this be used in a similar fashion for women who aren’t ready for kids? Considering our eggs are bigger in size, and getting your tubes tied often preserves ovaries anyway, why hasn’t this been explored as an option yet?
The only issue I could think of off the top of my head is trouble with flushing out the gel once you wish to conceive, or perhaps the vasalgel byproduct being harmful to developing foetuses?
I recognise that for it to be used in women, it would likely have to be done via a small keyhole surgery, but considering it lasts for 10+ years, it’s completely non hormonal, and with keyhole, at least you’re unconscious for it 🥴 (which can’t be said about most other invasive birth control options)
Like for 10 years of non hormonal peace of mind it almost seems worth it? (Costs and non public healthcare system of some of the world aside)
Is there any other reasons it hasn’t been researched yet? I’m keen to learn more if anyone has any insight!
submitted by Saltlick99 to birthcontrol [link] [comments]
So in theory, couldn’t this be used in a similar fashion for women who aren’t ready for kids? Considering our eggs are bigger in size, and getting your tubes tied often preserves ovaries anyway, why hasn’t this been explored as an option yet?
The only issue I could think of off the top of my head is trouble with flushing out the gel once you wish to conceive, or perhaps the vasalgel byproduct being harmful to developing foetuses?
I recognise that for it to be used in women, it would likely have to be done via a small keyhole surgery, but considering it lasts for 10+ years, it’s completely non hormonal, and with keyhole, at least you’re unconscious for it 🥴 (which can’t be said about most other invasive birth control options)
Like for 10 years of non hormonal peace of mind it almost seems worth it? (Costs and non public healthcare system of some of the world aside)
Is there any other reasons it hasn’t been researched yet? I’m keen to learn more if anyone has any insight!
2024.05.22 00:06 MrDigitFace Help with Docker/NetApp Config Woes
I have inherited a Linux environment that had, until recently, mostly been managed by the devs using the systems. The company has since grown, as has the use-case for Unix based servers, so after expressing interest in the role I was promoted from Desktop Support to System Admin/Unix Admin to address the need a little less than a year ago. I have been trying to address some of the configuration sprawl and security issues as I learn, however, my current problem would really benefit from a second opinion from more experienced admins in this space.
Currently, I have several Ubuntu servers that are used by multiple users, with NFS shares mounted from NetApp NAS. The NetApp serves the same files/folders using both NFS and CIFS, with an NTFS security style, so all permissions are managed via NTFS ACLs, even when using NFS. To facilitate this, we currently have UNIX names manually mapped to Windows users in the NetApp config, so that Unix users can access files with NTFS ACLs. Additionally, these Linux servers are all domain joined, and users log in using their windows credentials.
Recently, we discovered that the root account is mapped to a privileged Windows user via the NetApp that we do not want it mapped to. The main issue is that our dev team members use Docker, and the containers access the NFS shares as root, so removing that mapping will break stuff in production. Subsequently, this highlighted another issue in our config; Docker users can volume bind local directories to the containers and effectively elevate to root without having been explicitly granted sudo permissions.
My current plan to address these issues is as follows:
• First, I plan on remapping container root a different id (ie. UID 300000) via userns remapping/subuid configs. This way Docker container root is no longer root in the host filesystem, and the remapped user’s access to the shares can be managed separately.
• Then I am going to create two shares, one for the users to access the data from the servers and one for applications to access data. Both will be CIFS shares (so no more NFS); the user share using the multiuser and sec=krb5 options and the application share mounted using a credential file with service account credentials, and then locked down with UNIX permission bits so that only the container user specified in the userns remap process has read/write access to the share.
Does this sound like an efficient solution to this problem? Is there a better way to approach this or other suggestions/considerations?
I had been pursuing using Kerberized NFS or a single CIFS share for both users and the application, but I ran into a few roadblocks. The biggest issue was that I could not figure out how to grant the containers on a given system a Kerberos ticket to access a Kerberized share (which is why I settled on a separate mount for applications using service account credentials). I was able to get as far as remapping the container root to a user (UID 300000) then grabbing Kerberos tickets on system boot for 300000 that is from a Windows service account with relevant access configured in the NTFS ACLs. When I tried to access Kerberized NFS shares as 300000 from the host it worked fine, but when I tried to run a container with that mount volume bound, I was denied access. My specific test case was that I ran an nginx container and shelled in as container root and tried to list/view/modify files from the Kerberized share. I confirmed on the host that root processes in the container were being mapped to 300000 on the host using Docker Top.
submitted by MrDigitFace to linuxadmin [link] [comments]
Currently, I have several Ubuntu servers that are used by multiple users, with NFS shares mounted from NetApp NAS. The NetApp serves the same files/folders using both NFS and CIFS, with an NTFS security style, so all permissions are managed via NTFS ACLs, even when using NFS. To facilitate this, we currently have UNIX names manually mapped to Windows users in the NetApp config, so that Unix users can access files with NTFS ACLs. Additionally, these Linux servers are all domain joined, and users log in using their windows credentials.
Recently, we discovered that the root account is mapped to a privileged Windows user via the NetApp that we do not want it mapped to. The main issue is that our dev team members use Docker, and the containers access the NFS shares as root, so removing that mapping will break stuff in production. Subsequently, this highlighted another issue in our config; Docker users can volume bind local directories to the containers and effectively elevate to root without having been explicitly granted sudo permissions.
My current plan to address these issues is as follows:
• First, I plan on remapping container root a different id (ie. UID 300000) via userns remapping/subuid configs. This way Docker container root is no longer root in the host filesystem, and the remapped user’s access to the shares can be managed separately.
• Then I am going to create two shares, one for the users to access the data from the servers and one for applications to access data. Both will be CIFS shares (so no more NFS); the user share using the multiuser and sec=krb5 options and the application share mounted using a credential file with service account credentials, and then locked down with UNIX permission bits so that only the container user specified in the userns remap process has read/write access to the share.
Does this sound like an efficient solution to this problem? Is there a better way to approach this or other suggestions/considerations?
I had been pursuing using Kerberized NFS or a single CIFS share for both users and the application, but I ran into a few roadblocks. The biggest issue was that I could not figure out how to grant the containers on a given system a Kerberos ticket to access a Kerberized share (which is why I settled on a separate mount for applications using service account credentials). I was able to get as far as remapping the container root to a user (UID 300000) then grabbing Kerberos tickets on system boot for 300000 that is from a Windows service account with relevant access configured in the NTFS ACLs. When I tried to access Kerberized NFS shares as 300000 from the host it worked fine, but when I tried to run a container with that mount volume bound, I was denied access. My specific test case was that I ran an nginx container and shelled in as container root and tried to list/view/modify files from the Kerberized share. I confirmed on the host that root processes in the container were being mapped to 300000 on the host using Docker Top.
2024.05.22 00:01 ikieneng My fanfiction - episode 4!
 | The next part is here! This episode is so long that I had to split it, and today, you're finally getting part 3 of 3. submitted by ikieneng to teamleanne [link] [comments] You can find the previous episodes in the side bar! (Community info page in the app) DISCLAIMERS (the same ones as before) The point of this fanfiction is not to be a straight-up continuation of events with the same themes, intensity, and tone. If you go into it with those expectations, you are probably not going to like it. Rather, it’s supposed to be how I wish things went if these events were real life. The resolution you want for a real-life situation isn’t often the right choice for a show, but it can be incredibly beautiful. Think of what you’re about to read to be a separate show then. Episode 1 of this fanfiction begins after the episode “2:00” (season 2 episode 4), so it replaces the episode “Cake” and the ones that follow it. This fanfiction expects you to have seen the entirety of seasons 1 and 2, so you should watch those first. I myself am bursting into the story here. The narrator and me are the same. While my character is like 95% real me, don’t take events about my life described here as facts. Some aspects of my life have been changed for the story. In my head, I started writing like an “alternate me” character in 2016, fulfilling a lot of the things that I wish I had in life, adding that to my story. I’m not really from Ukraine. I speak fluent Ukrainian as a foreign language, I started learning it in 2014, and I’ve talked to tons of people from there, but I’m not from Ukraine. I also don’t have as much money as I do in the story. I wish lmao. If you want to post your own fanfiction, feel free to do so! To get your own post flair for your fanfic, and to appear in the side bar, please message me. Part 3 (days 3 and 4) We’d wake up on day three, and still, nothing would be any different - we’re still locked up. We’d both feel really worried not knowing if we’ll have to forfeit our whole plan because we might run out of food and water and take the risky route - calling the police and getting ourselves into a situation where we’d have to be freed by force, which would be so dangerous because the Turners have proven that there’s nothing they’re not prepared to do to us to “get Jericho back”. Leanne would ask me “What do we do if we call the police, and Mrs. Turner comes up here and tries to hurt us?” At first, I’d insist that we start thinking about that when we do run out of food the next day, but she’d insist we should come up with a plan. I’d point at the corner on the edge of the attic facing Spruce Street, the corner that’s to one’s right when coming up into the attic, https://preview.redd.it/knoz0zwpou1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd1694f292bb546ea45339ebecea7ffacfe33541 and say “Then you’d curl up and hide over there, and I’d take the radio, you’d take the metronome, and I’d sit down in front of you, shielding you, and if she gets in here before the cops do, we’ll defend ourselves. And we’d record everything on my phone. And we should probably hide behind the sofa. Maybe then, she might not notice we’re still up here at first. She’d probably be in a state of panic.” She’d look at me with sad, but touched eyes and just hug me and say thank you. I’d reply “Of course”. After some silence, I’d tell her “If anything happens to me… Please bring me back”. She’d be touched by that, but say that if she reanimates me, the Church of Lesser Saints will come after ME as well because they’ll believe that I’ll be obligated to join. With a worried smile, I’d say “I know... But they’re probably already gonna do that, right? Because I won’t let them get to you!” We’d both nod with the same half-happy, half-worried expression. “And if things go terribly wrong and you have to bring me back, we can try again!” I’d ask if I’m getting it right that the “great sins” they think she’s committing are not spending time with the Church and helping another family from the one that was assigned to her. She’d say yes and add that there’s a lot more they hate her for, like her “disobedient and rebellious streak”, disobeying their instructions, putting curses on people, and now, leaving the Marinos. https://preview.redd.it/4obn4r9uou1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e77adafbde221c320999ba1169adb0a1c6b2b17 After a few seconds of silence (out of shock that this is how the Church of Lesser Saints frames it), I’d be like “If you disobey so many of their instructions, then...”, look her directly in the eyes, and go “Good! Keep on disobeying them! I’m actually kind of stunned that this is how they frame your actions, because that is so manipulative. Wanting to have a life where you don’t have to worry about your every step being watched and controlled, where you can actually freely explore what you believe – not what they tell you to believe, but what YOU believe, where you can do totally normal human things like listen to music, and where you can go wherever you want and make some basic decisions for yourself and work wherever you want, that doesn’t make you...” (doing the “quote-on-quote” with my hands while I say it) “quote-on-quote ‘disobedient’ or ‘rebellious’, it makes you a normal human being. If they forbid every little thing that people do that makes you happy, if you then look for happiness elsewhere, that’s on them. You can’t take every bit of joy away from people and then expect them to just deal with it. You wanting to run away, that’s the logical result of their bullshit. And you didn’t ‘leave’ the Marinos, you were taken. Don’t let them think you’re at fault in any way!” She might have never heard any verbal confirmation before that her feelings about leaving are valid, and this would be so reassuring to her. She’d tell me that whenever she did things like not be there for meals at the Church, skip assemblies, or curse people without permission, she would be brought before May and the rest of the community, get questioned about her behavior, and she’d have to self-flagellate to receive forgiveness. https://preview.redd.it/roex7c20pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=32cecf94a41a97e66b1c74967cb074ca89321777 I’d go really still and quiet when she mentions the self-flagellation, which she’d then explain is a frequent punishment. That would freaking break my heart... I’d ask her when was the last time she hurt herself, and it was a little less than two weeks ago, before she was forced to leave the Turners. Very carefully and quietly, I’d ask her if it would be okay if she can show me her scars and add “You do NOT have to if you’re not comfortable, PLEASE don’t do it if you’re not”, and after a second, she’d nod and show me her back. My heart would break for her even more seeing her scars, I’d just express how horrible it is that they made her do that… I’d show her some of my cut wounds from when I self-harmed, which I hadn’t done in like three and a half years at that point. I’d want her to know that way that I get the urge, that I really do, but I’d tell her that hurting oneself achieves nothing. All it does is make you feel horrible mentally and physically, and every time you do it, there’s a risk of infection and even death. I’d just tell her I understand while taking her in my arms. I’d ask her to please look me in the eyes and tell me she won’t hurt herself again, and that when she feels like doing it again, to please talk to me first. She’d quietly say “I promise” while looking me in the eyes, and after some longer embraces, we’d both smile a bit, that would make me really happy to hear! I’d ask that when we’re out of here, if we can call a doctor sometime soon and get them to look at her scars to make sure none of them are infected, if she’s comfortable enough, and she’d nod and smile at me a little bit some more. We’d eat after that. We’d run out of tomato soup that meal, and I’d tell her that when we’re getting out of there, I’d get her all the tomato soup in the world! “We’re gonna fill a whole hotel fridge with tomato soup!” “And with Ben & Jerry’s?”, she’d ask, and I’d say yes and say that we’re probably gonna need more than one fridge. I’d say we’re gonna pick the nicest and most expensive hotel to stay at, an idea that she’d love! “You still think Allentown is a good idea?”, I’d ask her, and she’d think my reasoning from the day before makes sense and say yes. We’d look for the nicest hotel in Allentown online and see that there are “only” three-star hotels in Allentown. Leanne would ask if getting such an expensive place to stay is really okay, and I’d say “Money is not an issue, don’t worry about it” while reaching across her back and like caressing her right shoulder, looking her in the eyes, and smiling. “And besides, let’s spoil you, you fucking deserve it after all this!” We wouldn’t book anything yet because we wouldn’t know when we can get out of there yet, but looking at all those insanely nice hotels would lift our spirits a bit. After eating the first half of that day’s rations (only two half day’s rations would be left after that…), we’d think that it would probably be a good idea if we started writing the document for the police right now. Writing it can take hours upon hours, and there’s no point in delaying the rescue to write the document after I leave if we can do it right now, so we’d begin right that moment. It would begin something like “My name is Daria Horenko, born July 30, 1999 in Odesa, Ukraine, residing in 501 Pembroke Ave, Philadelphia 19050, Pennsylvania...” (I don’t live there. I have no idea who does. Please leave them alone lmao) “...I sent this statement to my Facebook friend Liam [...] (residing in Tipperary, Ireland, using Facebook as Liam [...]) as a PDF file and told him to call the Philadelphia police and read this statement to them if I don’t come back online and confirm that I’m okay by 10 PM Philadelphia time / 3 PM London, UK time on December 22, 2022. If he is reading this to you, it probably means that there was no sign of life from me by that time, and that I’m not safe, probably kidnapped and locked up by Dorothy Turner, Sean Turner, Julian (I’m not sure about his surname, but I’m referring to Dorothy Turner’s brother - redhead, not very tall, moderately overweight) in the attic of their residence at 9780 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19139, Pennsylvania”, and then document everything I’ve seen in chronological order and everything that Leanne has told me, with a link to our video and photographic evidence, references to DNA evidence that can probably be found in the hole in the basement if they haven’t covered it up by now, and a statement at the end saying that I’ve written it together with Leanne to make sure that everything is correct. That would take a really long time, hours for sure. But when it’s done, I’d run spell- and grammar checks on it and send it to my printer at home, to be queued for printing when I get home and turn it on. We’d also know that today (December 21) or tomorrow will be the day when we leave one way or another, so I’d schedule a text message to 911 in 30 hours from that moment. The message would say “This is a scheduled message. If you’ve received it, then Leanne Grayson (born October 13, 2001)...” (We only ever learn Leanne’s birth year from the gravestone. October 13 is Nell Tiger Free’s birthday, so October 13, 2001 being Leanne’s birthday is kind of my headcanon) https://preview.redd.it/0hr9niq1pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=4dbead2015781ed8beee236188b8273aac1b3fb0 “...and me (Daria Horenko, born July 30, 1999) are probably not safe, abducted and locked up against our will by Dorothy Turner, her brother Julian, and Sean Turner in the attic of their house at 9780 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19139, Pennsylvania or somewhere else on the property. We need help immediately. The Turners should be considered dangerous and very clearly willing to use violence and intimidation. We need help NOW. Details in our prepared statement: [the link]”. Because we’re holding out hope that we won’t have to call the police from inside the attic, the document would include information on what our plan is to get Leanne (and me) out of there as safely as possible and call the police from the taxi, but that if we run out of rations, we won’t have a choice but to call the police while we’re unarmed and while the Turners still have the upper hand. We would debate whether we should include information about the Church of Lesser Saints right away or tell the police about them later because we know how that sounds, considering that this would hurt the credibility of our testimony, https://preview.redd.it/sinvabf3pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=e37811b53eb90cb8a066bfcb30f6244bb9f34ad4 but we’d modify the document and include the most important information about them as well, with more believable explanations - how they forced Leanne and other members to self-harm (meaning that current members or those who recently left), where they’re currently operating from in Lancaster, https://preview.redd.it/mxbm8445pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f9b5f1c671c15afce7149eeb90926c2c29b9bdb that they faked their deaths, that they forced Leanne to leave the Turners, and the necessary lie that they took the real baby, and that Leanne hasn’t seen it since that day and doesn’t know where they’ve taken it. We’d also include names and stuff, and most importantly, reference the baptism tape and say that it shows May and George watching us from the sidewalk outside the church less than three weeks ago, and that piece of evidence would change everything in regards to investigating the Church of Lesser Saints and make the police believe us. We’d add that it’s probably among the other DVDs in the Turners’ living room, and that I’ll try to get it when leaving the building if our original plan is still going to be an option, rip the DVD at home, and add a link to the video file to the document. We’d modify the scheduled text message as well, and we’d charge both phones, mine first because the scheduled message is so important, but it’s an iPhone, so we could charge it to 100% rather quickly and then charge hers. And we’d add that we’d want the police to get Leanne’s things from the Marino estate. All her stuff being there would be further evidence that she was taken suddenly and against her will. We’d also add what number Leanne can be reached at for now with the Samsung Galaxy phone. And then, I’d send the document to Liam on all platforms where I know how to reach him, followed by a message to alert the authorities if I’m not back online confirming that we’re both okay in what’s now probably more like 29 hours, the phone number of the Philadelphia police, and caps at the beginning saying that it’s an actual emergency. Out of nowhere, I’d ask her if she’s seen “Titanic” lmao, and with her near total isolation growing up, she wouldn’t have seen it. “I’ve only seen movies on TV”. I’d be like “I can show you lots of movies if you want! I got several subscriptions to streaming services, and also a bunch of stuff offline on an external drive at home.” https://preview.redd.it/lr58woa7pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=63537b149270faeebb2c3f1be9ba2af0d259e1b7 Back on talking about “Titanic”, I’d tell her it’s wonderful and so freaking romantic, albeit over-the-top at times for sure and a bit overrated. It has that glossy feeling and some superficial characters to it that all James Cameron movies have, but it’s still really wonderful. After explaining the plot to her (since she’s grown up so isolated), I’d tell her about one scene that I’m thinking about a lot from time to time - near the end of the movie, when old Rose is done telling the researchers her story, she says that she doesn’t even have a picture of Jack, and that has hit me so hard from the first time I’ve seen the movie. https://preview.redd.it/96bgw8s8pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=476c1a4cbee498c26a0be4651ef83258f0aa7748 She has no physical memories of him, she can never see his face again, and she can never show people what he looked like. That just rips my heart. I’d ask Leanne if we can take some pictures together. We’d look pretty horrible because we haven’t been able to shower in days, but we wouldn’t care and take them anyway and really, genuinely smile so hard. I’d send them to her email address (leanne_grayson@icloud.com, that email address is on her resume in the show), https://preview.redd.it/frfz9e7apu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b65065ab622e71f52edc6e9b84a2974e7efe9cb manually sync my gallery with iCloud, and I’d send them to Liam. I’d ask what phone she got back at the Marinos’ and if she’s got any pictures of herself in her iCloud gallery, but she’d tell me she’s rarely ever taken pictures of herself, only for the resume she applied at the Turners’ for, and I’d be like “Whaaaaat? But you’re so beautiful!”, and she’d smile hard, a bit embarrassed. I’d look her straight in the eyes and say it again and say that I mean it for real, she is so incredibly beautiful! It’s probably so rare that anyone’s ever said that to her in her entire life (her mother definitely didn’t, and given that the Church of Lesser Saints believes that anything that feels good is dangerous, https://preview.redd.it/msylzejbpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=b343bf8d10b86f7c731eed3c8a5204460daec4d4 it’s rather unlikely that they did), Tobe saying it in “Balloon” might even have been the only time ever… https://preview.redd.it/jdce6tndpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9edaacd72634c3dbe7dbf29abcc84f2412a10d4 I’d then add “Inside AND out!”, and she’d smile some more in a bit of embarrassment and then look me in the eyes and say “You, too, Daria!”, and as you’d expect, I’d smile so hard and even with my eyes! It would be rather late by then, so we’d eat and listen to some more music together from the Spotify playlist I created for her and talk so much about what we’re hearing. After dinner, she’d bring the topic up on her own (this is kind of making fun of these fan theories) - she’d tell me that some in the Church of Lesser Saints think she’s the Devil or Lilith because of her rebelliousness, and how she’s inspired doubt in some people in the Church. I’d make such a weirded-out face. After realizing she’s serious, I’d say “If you are the Devil, then hail Satan! Like, seriously, if YOU are what God is threatening will happen if we don’t follow him, then that’s literally the weakest threat I’ve ever heard of. Then God is the villain here. We need more people like you in the world!” Shy as she still is, she’d still be almost embarrassed to hear this (she’s so not used to compliments), and I’d make it clear I’m serious, that I really think she’s fricking wonderful and the sweetest, and that she clearly has a huge heart full of so much love, and that she deserves so much better than what she’s ever experienced! Almost in denial, she’d see in my eyes that I really mean it and just smile and hug me, and then, we’d both smile even more! I’d rub her back a lot in that moment and promise her again that everything will be okay. “I’ll make sure of that!” After some more music together, knowing that tomorrow will be the day we leave, no matter which plan we’ll go with, we’d make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Looking around, I’d realize I have to give her my earphones with a cord because the internal mic of my Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is essentially useless. I’d tell her that when I call her the next day to tell her it’s safe to come downstairs now, she should answer the call, plug in the earphones, and then, it will take a few seconds until I can hear her, but then, it should be fine. We’d set a code phrase that I’ll mention to let her know if the Turners got me and it’s NOT safe to come down. She’d suggest “tomato soup”, and I’d smile and say yes, that’s gonna be our code phrase. “And if it IS safe to come down?”, she’d ask, and I’d suggest “ice cream”. I’d realize that we should probably find her fresh clothes in the attic and a coat right now, so as I said, it’s not too obvious that she’s been locked up for a long time the second she walks out of the door, because if she’s in dirty clothes or nightwear, with it being obvious that she hasn’t showered in days, and I get her out of there and into a taxi to drive off while I got a gun, it would look as if I was kidnapping her, so we’d find her a nice dress and coat up there, and I’d turn around and close my eyes while she puts it on, and when she’s done, I’d tell her again that she looks amazing! 😊 https://preview.redd.it/zp5gbjwfpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=777d2120f72b5002e2d5e5e9ffe4760ab2d5fada And she’d smile and thank me this time, sort of the way she says it to the makeup artist at the street fair in S3E5 “Tiger” in that typical way of hers that’s so adorable for real, https://preview.redd.it/fuu6x7ohpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec5f23b8de4568996bd6e4c706ab4f95b8f98063 and she’d look in my direction and say “You look really beautiful, too!”, really shy, before peeking me in the eyes for a moment, and we’d just look at each other for a moment. “Can I have your pictures?”, she’d ask me, and I’d say yeah, open my iPhone, and select ALL pictures of myself in my gallery and send them to her email address, and send her those that are too large via a Google Drive link (iCloud isn’t great for sharing files lol), and then, I’d take her Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini, download them all (which would take a while because that phone is ancient), and set one of the pictures we’ve taken together as her wallpaper, and then set it as my wallpaper on my iPhone as well! 😊 We’d consider if there’s anything else we’ve missed. She’d mention that parts of the floor screech, especially one tile, so when I sneak out, I gotta be careful on the stairs, especially with that one tile. https://preview.redd.it/nijqz08jpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f6756ae6c304a5f5133c21ef857e0f91c6c91d7 After a few seconds, she’d ask me if we wanna book a hotel now, and I’d smile and say sure! “Did you like any hotels in particular, out of the ones we looked at?” She’d say “The one with the big jacuzzi looks great” with big eyes and enthusiasm in her voice, like she does during some of her conversations with Tobe in S3E5 “Tiger”. “You’ve ever been in a jacuzzi?”, I’d ask her, and she’d go “Nooo, but I wanna try!” in the same tone, https://preview.redd.it/6rh2p63lpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=987a19161b85fe5ee6a500f452c168ba7dec961b and so, after lying down now, we’d look up which hotel she was talking about and book a two-room suite in that hotel in Allentown for three weeks. I’d add “So we can easily look out for each other, and so you’ll also have some privacy.”, and she’d smile and nod, that consideration would probably mean a lot to her. We’d then get ready for bed. For the next day, I’d get some better clothes as well and put them on while she’s turned around with her eyes closed. I’d take the last ration of food out of my backpack, put the clothes I just took off at the bottom of it, above Leanne’s Bible (the porcelain baby and card are already in one of the other pockets), and put my phone and the chargers in another pocket. I’d look around and ask her if there’s anything else I should take with me to safeguard, and at first, she’d also look around because she wouldn’t know how to answer right away, but she’d then point at Mrs. Barrington with her face, https://preview.redd.it/amqsh2mmpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=12d0bfe376210a8798671d45f31e96e28037870b and I’d be like “Well, I think she’s a little too big for my backpack, but I can talk to the police when we’re out of here, maybe we can try to get her!”, and Leanne would nod with a big smile again. We’d lie down on the mattress and share the covers again. Just like the night before, I’d lie down on the side of the mattress that’s closer to the stairs, in case Dorothy changes her mind and tries to assault Leanne again… On the mattress, she’d suddenly hug me really tight, break into tears, and thank me over and over again, and I’d just hold her tight, say “Of course”, and assure her that everything’s gonna be okay, that we’ll get out of there tomorrow. I’d wipe some of her tears off her face 🥺 On the mattress, we’d just look each other in the eyes and both just smile more and more, and after a minute or two, she’d kiss me on the lips for a tiiiiny moment and then, we’d just smile at each other even harder! She’d say “I’m not supposed to do that” while still smiling just as hard and looking me directly in the eyes! “Says who?”, I’d reply. She goes “My aunts and uncles”, and I’d say “I don’t think they’re a reliable source!”, and we’d kiss each other some more and longer, and both feel each other’s smile on our lips, and peek at each other a few times in between 😊🥰❤️ We’d both put our arms around each other before telling each other good night and before I promise her one more time it’s all going to be okay! https://preview.redd.it/08fqmdqspu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=477498f6f3e6260f2a0429defebf98475b14eda1 At some point during the night, she’d wake me up, and when she does, I’d realize I had a nightmare, like, not from my night terrors, and she’d tell me I had a nightmare, that I was sniffling in my sleep, and that I told her two days earlier to wake me up if this happens. Still feeling terrible (the feeling of immediate dread always takes a while to subside for me), I’d thank her. I’d ask what I was saying, and she’d say that I wasn’t speaking English. I’d consider if I should tell her for a moment, but then, I’d take a deep breath, look up for a second, and with a heavy voice, slowly say “What if we try plan A tomorrow, and I fail? I’m scared… I don’t wanna mess this up… I don’t wanna fail you…” And she’d slowly look at me and just say two words: “You haven’t!” I’d look at her and almost laugh a bit out of joy. I’d smile and just cuddle up to her a bit, and she’d do it back. I’d say I’ll try to listen to music for a while to calm down because doing something else makes it much easier for me to zone out of the feeling of dread again. “Why only you?”, she’d ask. “I don’t wanna keep you awake”, I’d say, “You need the sleep”, and she’d say “It’s okay” and just smile a bit, and so, we’d listen to some music together for about half an hour. I’d tell her that my sleep is so horrible (she’d say she can tell) because I don’t have my meds, and I’m really fricking looking forward to taking them again. Without them, the quality of my sleep is terrible, and it takes so long for me to fall asleep at all if I don’t take them. She’d ask if I’ve taken them for a long time, and I’d say that I haven’t taken these particular meds for long because whatever I take, my body builds up some resistance to them pretty quickly, so after a while, I always have to get new ones, but I’ve taken sleeping meds for years now. “It sounds like they’re really helping you, right?”, she’d ask, and I’d nod and say “Yeah, they really do. I’m also taking antidepressants, and they were an absolute gamechanger for me. It’s okay if I don’t take them for a few days because they don’t work in the moment, but they like rewire your brain over time, and they’re the best thing that’s ever happened to my mental health. Before I started taking them, it was so hard for me to avoid bad thoughts or resist them, like, it was hell, but ever since then, it got sooo much easier, and not letting things get to me or not letting bad things really take over me is just so much easier now.” After a while, I’d say “I was at a psychiatric clinic voluntarily for six months, but I also had nowhere else to go, and the doctors and employees really abused their power. They only intervened when there was physical violence, they didn’t intervene in any other conflicts, so because of them, the patients constantly bullied each other. My doctor switched to another department while I was there, so I got a new one, and the new one wasn’t perfect, but at least, she cared. I got really lucky to get a place at a living group for mentally ill people, which was when I could finally leave. But honestly, all my experiences with mental health professionals since then have been better. I went to a different clinic for four or five days voluntarily in 2019, and even they were far better. “That sounds scary…”, she’d say. I’d reply “It was. But things got much better after that. I had lots of setbacks, like, you know, but if you get help, it’s always better.” After the current song’s over, we’d lie down to try and sleep again. We’d smile at each other again in bed, and I’d give her a short-ish kiss before saying good night, and we’d both smile even harder after that 😁 And we would fall asleep for good after a while (it would still take me longer than her). In the morning, Leanne would wake me up again. She’d show me that the door is unlocked and open by a little bit now (they’re “letting” her out for a few hours…), https://preview.redd.it/sqql9udupu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=b2505bc6f7795639777433a1897f0d31e5753d67 and we’d both just embrace and chuckle in huge joy, as we can go with plan A now, the less risky one! We’d remember to quiet down after a few seconds and whisper from then on out. I’d go to the toilet roll, take eight pieces, rip them into two bands of four pieces each, and roll each of them up into a little bunch. I’d give them to her and tell her to put them into the wall pieces of the door when she gets out (so it looks like the door is closed while it can’t actually lock) and give me an audible signal when the third floor is clear, so I’ll get out with my backpack, take out the toilet paper, and hide in her room. https://preview.redd.it/bzze2o6wpu1d1.png?width=304&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaa155b611408db6e9960485f6f726125fc2698d “Is there anything you want me to get from there?”, I’d ask. “No. Everything is here or at the Marinos’.” I’d go “Okay” and move on - since I’m almost definitely unable to come down to the second floor right away (I’m using American English in all of these episodes. “First floor” in American English = “ground floor” in British English; “Second floor” in American English = “first floor” in British English; “Third floor” in American English = “second floor” in British English, etc.), she’d give me a signal when coming back upstairs. We’d agree that when she comes back upstairs, if it’s safe to go to the second floor, she’d shout something, maybe in conversation, maybe some sort of cry, doesn’t matter, and if not, she’d kick something. She’d be locked upstairs again after that, so I’ll have to tell when to get further downstairs myself, which I’d do as soon as I’ve heard absolutely no sounds from inside the house for at least a few minutes. On the first floor, I’d get the DVD from March 11, 2001, and if the baptism tape isn’t clearly labeled among the tapes, I’d unplug the DVD player from the TV, turn on the player, open the DVD slot, and if the tape isn’t in there, I’d take all unlabeled tapes. I’d then listen in on the basement door for a few seconds, and if I hear no sounds from down there, I’d quietly open the basement door and go downstairs, and if no one’s there, I’d get out through the side entrance down there, out through the back gate, walk back to Spruce Street, drive my bike home, take a shower, watch the tape from March 11, 2011 like she told me I could, hide it somewhere at home, print out the document for the police, take it with me in an envelope, print out a second version of it to give to the taxi driver, so I can say “If I’m not back in an hour, please call the police for me and read this to them”. I’d then call a taxi (a taxi with a large trunk whose driver is allowed to drive to Allentown and back), load my gun, and leave for the Turners’ and get Leanne. We’d see that Liam has replied by now. Of course, he’d be super worried, but he’s got our backs for the plan, and that would be really reassuring. We’d look each other in the eyes, and then, I’d hug her sooo tight for several seconds, and we’d have one loooong kiss (hoping it’s not the last time we see each other…) before she goes downstairs while looking back at me on the way before putting the toilet paper in the door. I’d then put on my backpack. Once Leanne loudly shouts “Mister Turner?”, that would be my signal, and I’d hide in her room for about 45 minutes before she’s “let” back upstairs and shouts “You can lock me in now, Mrs. Turner”, https://preview.redd.it/uy9loclypu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=16abd51170405f1ef3123ff22f4559642a0c0c92 which is when I’d sneak into the storage/guest room and wait. It would take like five hours until I hear nothing for a while, which is when I’d sneak onto the first floor, look around to make extra sure no one’s there, and go to the living room. I’d get the tape from March 11, 2011, and the baptism tape would be among the labeled DVDs, and I’d put it into the box of the March 11, 2011 tape (I’d put the original DVD loose in there and use the spot inside the box for the baptism tape because it’s probably more important. I then wouldn’t hear anything from the basement, so I’d slowly and quietly go down there. No one would be there, so I’d leave as planned and go home and take a shower. I’d watch the March 11, 2011 DVD. I’d be surprised to see the interaction between Leanne and Dorothy for sure, but sort of knowing her, I wouldn’t think anything bad of it. I’d actually get it because of my past celebrity crushes (which I know isn’t what she was feeling for Dorothy) and the desire to meet them, especially with Blanche. I’d get why Leanne wouldn’t want the police to see it, it would look bad for her. I’d wrap up the DVD in a thick piece of paper and tape it to the back of my closet, between the closet and the wall. I’d burn the piece of paper in the DVD case in my bathtub with a bucket of water next to me just in case. I’d test if the DVD of the baptism tape still works (it does), rip it, upload the video file to Google Drive, add it to the document for the police, cancel my printing queue, print the document (two versions of it. The one for the taxi driver would just have a short introduction at the beginning, like, that I’m the person who ordered the taxi), order the taxi, pack my things for the next couple of weeks and anything that Leanne might need, so I’d include any clothes that I think could fit her, and go to the taxi. I’d tell the driver to get me one block away from 9780 Spruce Street (which isn’t actually a real address, by the way) and wait there for me. Before leaving for the Turner house, I’d give him the envelope with his version of the letter for the police and tell him what I said I would tell him. I’d then get my backpack with the gun in it from my luggage in the trunk, and walk to the Turners’ house. I have already "written" so much more in my head, but I've now reached the end of what I've actually written down, so it will take longer until the next episode is out now! Hope you've enjooooyed this one! |
2024.05.21 23:58 Get_Drivers_Ed Pass Your Driving Test With Get Drivers Ed Now
 | https://preview.redd.it/8kh9gxo4qu1d1.jpg?width=1196&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=377e7451e172b40f9423842a4a9b9554681054d5 submitted by Get_Drivers_Ed to u/Get_Drivers_Ed [link] [comments] Are You Ready to Pass? Understanding Driving Test Marking, Faults, and ResultsPassing the driving test is a pivotal moment for any aspiring driver. It marks the transition from learning to becoming a licensed driver. At Get Drivers Ed, we understand that preparing for this test involves more than just knowing how to operate a vehicle; it's about understanding the intricacies of the test itself—how it's marked, the common faults that lead to failure, and what results mean for you. This blog post will delve into these aspects to ensure you are fully prepared to pass your driving test.The Structure of the Driving TestBefore we explore the marking criteria, it’s important to understand the structure of the driving test. Typically, it consists of two parts:Theory Test: This includes a set of multiple-choice questions and a hazard perception test. The theory test assesses your understanding of road signs, traffic laws, and safe driving practices. It ensures that you have the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions while driving. Practical Driving Test: This is an on-road test where you will be tested on your ability to handle the car safely and correctly in various road and traffic conditions. The practical test evaluates your real-world driving skills, including vehicle control, observation, and decision-making. At Get Drivers Ed, our comprehensive courses cover both these aspects thoroughly to ensure you’re well-prepared. We provide extensive resources and practice materials to help you succeed in the theory test, and our practical training sessions are designed to build your confidence and competence on the road. How Driving Tests Are MarkedThe practical driving test is marked based on your ability to drive safely and independently while adhering to the rules of the road. Examiners look for a wide range of skills:Control and Vehicle Handling: Your ability to control the vehicle smoothly, including steering, braking, and accelerating. Proper vehicle handling is crucial for safe driving, and examiners will be looking for precise control in various situations. https://preview.redd.it/twj226e7qu1d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8f3c8db964bfd22bbe584ab32d24e5fd59e472c Observation and Awareness: Your ability to observe the road, recognize potential hazards, and respond appropriately. Good observation skills involve constant scanning of the road and surroundings, checking mirrors, and being aware of other road users. https://preview.redd.it/fgn8f6p7qu1d1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b38a5a4ceddbcda3f3a9506d91eab7ca8868a2d1 Following Directions: Your ability to follow the directions given by the examiner accurately. This includes understanding and responding to verbal instructions, road signs, and signals. https://preview.redd.it/147o4d28qu1d1.jpg?width=550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=055ba54b288f3effd3125838ff3c7b6ed852e420 Independent Driving: Your ability to drive without guidance, following road signs or a set route. This part of the test assesses your capability to make decisions and navigate independently. https://preview.redd.it/7r8il4h8qu1d1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9bf5551f78d2a6bebe189adddb8cb33868b49cd Each of these categories has specific criteria that must be met to pass the test. At Get Drivers Ed, our instructors emphasize these skills in our training sessions, ensuring that you know exactly what examiners are looking for. Understanding Faults During the driving test, faults are categorized into three types: Minor Faults: These do not directly impact safety but could lead to a more serious fault if repeated. You are allowed a certain number of minor faults; however, accumulating too many will result in failing the test. Examples include slight hesitation or minor errors in judgment. Major Faults: These are serious faults that have potential safety implications or break traffic laws. A single major fault is enough to fail a driving test. Examples include failing to give way or making an incorrect lane change. Dangerous Faults: These involve actual danger to you, the examiner, the public, or property. Like major faults, one dangerous fault will result in failure. Examples include running a red light or causing a near-miss accident. In our comprehensive course at Get Drivers Ed, we use simulated test scenarios to teach students how to avoid these faults, focusing on precise and mindful driving. Our instructors provide detailed feedback on your performance, helping you to identify and correct any weaknesses. Tips to Avoid Common Faults To give you an edge, here are some tips to avoid common faults: Stay Calm and Focused: Nerves can affect your driving. Practice relaxation techniques and stay focused on the task at hand. Breathing exercises, visualization, and positive thinking can help you remain calm during the test. Regular Checks: Constantly check your mirrors and blind spots for any hazards. Good observation habits are essential for safe driving and can prevent many common faults. Follow Instructions: Pay close attention to the test examiner’s directions and follow them carefully. Ensure you understand each instruction before proceeding and ask for clarification if needed. Practice, Practice, Practice: Regular practice in various driving conditions is crucial. The more experience you gain, the more comfortable and confident you will become. Are You Ready to Pass?Being ready for the driving test means being prepared to demonstrate competent and safe driving practices consistently. At Get Drivers Ed, we ensure you are test-ready by providing detailed feedback and personalized coaching throughout your training. Our instructors work with you to address any areas of concern and build your confidence on the road.Conclusion Understanding the marking criteria, recognizing the faults, and knowing how to avoid them are crucial steps toward passing your driving test. With Get Drivers Ed, you’re not just learning to drive; you're preparing to pass. Our comprehensive training program equips you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to succeed. Enroll in our course today and take the first step towards driving success. Remember, preparation is the key to success, and with Get Drivers Ed, you're always ready to pass! Let us help you achieve your goal of becoming a safe, confident, and competent driver. |
2024.05.21 23:50 darkPrince010 [OC] Humanity, the Happy Hosts
Data-Miner Gego stared at the results of the analysis, still in disbelief that this wild theory had borne fruit and stood up to scrutiny again and again. But now, here before him in data as clear as even the youngest apprentice could see, was evidence, clear and unshakable:
Humans were not what they promised themselves to be.
Feeling slightly nauseous with anxiety, he keyed in a request to meet with the diplomat’s office as soon as possible.
As the diplomat looked over his latest treaty proposal, there was a faint sound of horns in harmonious blaring, signifying someone had requested permission to enter. Glad for any distraction from the monotonous paperwork, he activated the intercom, saying “You are recognized and accepted. Please enter.”
As the crouched and scrabbling shape stepped into the doorway, diplomat Hale-he mused again how interesting it would be if the if their ancestors could have heard such a magnificent call for a mere diplomat. Previously, such a grand instrumentation would have been reserved for a high chieftain or king, and yet here was Hale-he, a diplomat to be sure, but certainly no ruler of any stripe, heralded by a song that would bring envy even to high lords and minor rulers in ages past.
The individual sat before him, and Hale-he could tell by their coloration and the shape of their antenna they were a scientist or engineer, someone likely far more familiar with numbers than he was. Hale-he, while now taking on the rich purple hues of a diplomat, had the underlying color of brilliant crimson, a mark of his near-decade of study as a historical scholar and graduate before his appointment into diplomacy.
“What do you have for me? Gego, I believe?”
The other individual nodded, crossing his pinchers in a sign of deference and respect. “I am sorry to disturb your appointment, but I have important information regarding humans.”
“Ah yes, humans,” said Hale-he, feeling a degree of relaxation and comfort at the mention of the gregarious and affable people.
Humans had taken quite some time in venturing out to the stars, but their planet was located such that a number of major trade routes passed quite near to their system. Several species had reported contact with them before humans had in turn reached out and started to make contact of their own. But from all reports, they were kind, clever, and selfless to a fault, with no recent instances of conflict despite a very violent early history. They were renowned for having an impeccable record of interspecies relations.
“I'm actually in the process of framing a new trade treaty with some of their inner-system human colonies. I believe the primary planet in question is called Mars, but they also have gas refineries and extractors above their gas giants, and several mining operations set up on a number of moons and their asteroid belt.”
“Yes, I have seen the newscast about how much this treaty is expected to aid both species,” said Gego. There was an odd note of apprehension Hale-he could detect in their chittering voice. “There is some invaluable context that I believe needs to be put to light.”
“Context? What do you mean, ‘context?’”
“Well, you are aware that we, the Civicor, first met humanity when a trade ship fell off course and crashed upon Earth?”
“It is a well-known accident. Some manner of navigational mishap; Thankfully, our propulsion systems are far more accurate today.”
“This is true, but are you also aware the Bayons have a remarkably-similar story related to their first contact with humanity as well? A military scout vessel, intending to regroup with the bulk of their fleet and engaging the Dendite menace, and they were likewise drawn off course, spiraling to crash onto Earth as well.”
“I remember the stories that time hypothesized that it was Dendite sabotage, even though it was unlikely for such a minor and inconsequential vessel,” said Hale-he. “Other than that, I’m unfortunately not familiar with their own reports on it.”
“But our two species are but a few from over a dozen first-contact reports with humanity. All stemming from engine failures, navigation failures, and crashes or forced landings of ships that lost control and arrived on Earth.”
“Well,” said the diplomat, starting to see the shape of the data-miner’s point, “Warpspace travel.has always been an inexact science at times, and was even less accurate decades ago. It's possible you are reading too much into a handful of coincidences.”
The data-miner rubbed their eyestalks, feeling exhaustion creeping in for how much frantic effort they had put in over the past three-day cycle. “Yes, but to borrow an idiom for the humans, ‘Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is a pattern,’ let alone a solid dozen instances within barely a fifty-year timespan. Even the most heavily-trafficked routes past the most dense or erratic planetoids have only achieved a third of that number.”
“You're asking me to disrupt peaceful and productive diplomatic ties with humans by suggesting they were responsible for these instances. Are you truly suggesting that this was intentional from humanity's part?”
“I am.”
“That may be, but we will require more proof than mere happenstance, unlikely though it may be.”
“I have additional data as well.” Gego was the most proud of this next part, and he carefully pulled up the diagrams and charting maps. A vibrant animation appeared onscreen of what appeared to be a rainbow-colored and spiked disc, surging and shaking on the screen. “This is the analysis of the gravitational field irregularities within a quarter of a solar year of Earth's primary star.”
The diplomat looked nonplussed at the diagram. “I would assume the fluctuations here are not ideal?”
“No indeed. They could be likened to a reef within a shallow sea, permitting transit in the calm regions but damaging and disrupting ships passing through a rough space. I have reached out to several of the shipping guilds for more details, but initial reports back support this theory, with several commenting that the route passing near to Earth is highly undesirable amongst experienced pilots due to the rough effects it has on engine stability and wear and tear.”
The diplomat looked over the diagram further before attempting to wave it away dismissively. “But who’s to say that this isn't a natural phenomena of Earth’s system? There are many regions of space that are disruptive or dangerous to travel through in warpspace, so what would make Earth's patch of turbulence unique?”
“The fact that they can turn it on and off at will.”
The diplomat coughed violently as the surprise dislodged the piece of fruit pulp he was eating out of his primary digestion sack and instead into the top of his gas exchange organ. “What in the three spheres do you mean they can turn it off?”
Gego grimaced this time as he keyed in some commands to the report. This time the disc figure that was pulled was much grainier and blocky, fine measurements now showing as wide swaths. “This was reverse-calculated from a series of gravimetric scans done across that entire arm of the galaxy.”
Even with the poor resolution, the diplomat could still see that this was a wildly chaotic and dangerous gravitational field. “It looks the same.”
The data-miner nodded. “Yes, but watch here: It's hard to tell, but this readout is actually playing in reverse, stepping backwards through time. We're about to hit 76 years ago.”
“What's so important about 76-” The diplomat cut off, words caught like fruit pulp in his throat as the image abruptly stilled. The disc depicting the gravitational field was now still and smooth as a windless pond.
“So it just started one day?”
“Indeed, Diplomat Hale-he. And furthermore, this beginning of the turbulence was a mere month before the first vessel lost controlI and was forced to make an emergency landing on Earth.”
The possibilities were rapidly narrowing, but Hale-he was still in favor of exploring whatever possible shred he could find to avoid confronting the dawning reality about humans.
“Well, while things of this nature are highly irregular, I presume, I'm still not convinced that this shows they can activate it at will.”
“I know, Gego said, “Which is why I wanted to show you that data before I show you this.”
The gravitational field display became the ragged tumultuous ocean of currents and surges, and this time in the higher detail that told Hale-he this was more recent readings. “I'm sure you saw the announcements a fortnight ago that humanity had tested their first faster than light engine they had made themselves, rather than trading for, and successfully made a jaunt out to the furthest planetoid in their star system and back without incident?”
“Yes?” the diplomat said cautiously.
“I received this data from a colleague, who was concerned there may have been an instrument malfunction to produce such data as I’m about to show you. She checked and validated it herself. It was fully accurate and reliable, which makes it all the more troubling. I don't think she realized the cause of what she was seeing, but unfortunately the timing of it adds up too perfectly.”
The data-miner continued quietly recalling “I believe at this point we're at 30 seconds to launch the human’s test flight.”
Hale-he let out an involuntary gasp of breath as the gravity field abruptly stilled again, perfectly smooth simultaneously across the entire spread of it.
Grimly, the data-miner said “Here we had the jump,” and after a short pause continued “-and the return.” A few seconds later and the field abruptly resumed its turbulence.
The diplomat was still in shock, staring at the gravimetric readout, when Gego said “That's also not the most concerning part, either. This was supposed to be humanity's first faster-than-light capability of their own they were testing here; Isn't that right?”
“Well of course,” replied Hale-he. “It was on all the new stations. A great achievement for a species that had been slow to achieve that milestone.”
“I would remind you then that the readout here is half a light-year in diameter.”
The diplomat scrunched his eyestalks in confused concentration, trying to understand what the other alien was implying, when suddenly it hit him. “Yet they were able to disrupt such a large region simultaneously, and stop it equally quickly?”
Gego nodded. “Whatever means they have at causing such a disruption is certainly faster-than-light, and immensely wide-ranging. If it was slower and confined to a small area, I might have some theories as to how it could be accomplished, but this size, this scale and the speed? I have no idea. It is beyond anything our sciences and technology can produce, or that of any other known species.”
The diplomat sat back, stunned. “By the Spheres.” He glanced up at Gego. “What do you propose we do with this information?”
The data-miner waved an arm. “Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this: Go to humanity with the information we have. Tell them we want the secrets of this technology and the power sources that feed it, as it far eclipses anything we can currently achieve. Tell them that we will expose these findings to the rest of the space-faring civilizations of the galaxy if they continue to hold back.”
The diplomat’s eyes widened, before after a long moment he said “I see. Well, I still need to get to my duties and figure out how to handle this. You are excused, and a reminder to keep the strictly confidential while I inform the appropriate other parties.”
Gego bowed in deference before leaving the office. After he left, Hale-he leaned back in his saddle chair and groaned. The idiot had uncovered humanity possessed the capability of affecting a wide chunk of space at a power and complexity unheard of among any other known species, and his first suggestion was to blackmail them? The diplomat rubbed his head trying to make the sudden headache go away.
A few thoughts were coming to mind, snippets that had been dismissed in the moment, but now he couldn't shake them as he was reminded of the first species that had ever encountered humanity, and the comments by their scientists. They had said that humans were curiously disinterested in their warpspace drivers, despite not having faster-than-light capabilities already.
Then the second species that encountered humanity had mentioned that a child of one of the diplomatic party had become separated from the group, and accidentally come in contact with and ingested some Earth flora. It wasn't something toxic or dangerous to humans, but the physiological makeup of that species reacted poorly with alkaloids in the flora and would have resulted in a swift and painful death if left untreated. But instead, the humans had administered a series of emetics and alkaloid-binding treatments, something they said was common in the case of an accidental poison ingestion, The diplomat remembered reading a footnote from the inhuman physician at the time that this particular blend of neutralizing agents was not something commonly found in human medical kits, and in fact was uniquely suited to their own species’ biology.
Both had been written off as flukes, interesting anecdotes at most, but now the diplomat began to see the greater shape of it, as a species that cared not for faster-than-light travel, for they'd doubtless already achieved it, mastered it, and discarded it as uninteresting at some point before. A species, who upon supposed first contact, had comprehensive medical and anatomical knowledge of their guests sufficient enough to save a child in mere minutes from otherwise certain death.
All this from a species that had befriended and gregariously hosted every alien ship that had come astray upon their planet, and offered nothing but support and friendship to both waylaid travelers and their subsequent diplomatic summits, despite seeming to lack the ability to travel outside of their own star system. A species that was confident, at a basal level that Hale-he was only just now beginning to truly understand.
He opened a communications missive, addressed to all the other diplomats of similar station amongst the other species humanity had made contact with.
”Greetings to my fellow ambassadors. * *I come bearing difficult news regarding humanity: * *They are not what they appear to be. * *Yet, I believe it is of the utmost importance that we continue to pretend that they are, * *For fear that otherwise, we will learn who, or what, they truly are…”
Enjoy this tale? Check out DarkPrinceLibrary for more of my stories like it!
submitted by darkPrince010 to HFY [link] [comments]
Humans were not what they promised themselves to be.
Feeling slightly nauseous with anxiety, he keyed in a request to meet with the diplomat’s office as soon as possible.
As the crouched and scrabbling shape stepped into the doorway, diplomat Hale-he mused again how interesting it would be if the if their ancestors could have heard such a magnificent call for a mere diplomat. Previously, such a grand instrumentation would have been reserved for a high chieftain or king, and yet here was Hale-he, a diplomat to be sure, but certainly no ruler of any stripe, heralded by a song that would bring envy even to high lords and minor rulers in ages past.
The individual sat before him, and Hale-he could tell by their coloration and the shape of their antenna they were a scientist or engineer, someone likely far more familiar with numbers than he was. Hale-he, while now taking on the rich purple hues of a diplomat, had the underlying color of brilliant crimson, a mark of his near-decade of study as a historical scholar and graduate before his appointment into diplomacy.
“What do you have for me? Gego, I believe?”
The other individual nodded, crossing his pinchers in a sign of deference and respect. “I am sorry to disturb your appointment, but I have important information regarding humans.”
“Ah yes, humans,” said Hale-he, feeling a degree of relaxation and comfort at the mention of the gregarious and affable people.
Humans had taken quite some time in venturing out to the stars, but their planet was located such that a number of major trade routes passed quite near to their system. Several species had reported contact with them before humans had in turn reached out and started to make contact of their own. But from all reports, they were kind, clever, and selfless to a fault, with no recent instances of conflict despite a very violent early history. They were renowned for having an impeccable record of interspecies relations.
“I'm actually in the process of framing a new trade treaty with some of their inner-system human colonies. I believe the primary planet in question is called Mars, but they also have gas refineries and extractors above their gas giants, and several mining operations set up on a number of moons and their asteroid belt.”
“Yes, I have seen the newscast about how much this treaty is expected to aid both species,” said Gego. There was an odd note of apprehension Hale-he could detect in their chittering voice. “There is some invaluable context that I believe needs to be put to light.”
“Context? What do you mean, ‘context?’”
“Well, you are aware that we, the Civicor, first met humanity when a trade ship fell off course and crashed upon Earth?”
“It is a well-known accident. Some manner of navigational mishap; Thankfully, our propulsion systems are far more accurate today.”
“This is true, but are you also aware the Bayons have a remarkably-similar story related to their first contact with humanity as well? A military scout vessel, intending to regroup with the bulk of their fleet and engaging the Dendite menace, and they were likewise drawn off course, spiraling to crash onto Earth as well.”
“I remember the stories that time hypothesized that it was Dendite sabotage, even though it was unlikely for such a minor and inconsequential vessel,” said Hale-he. “Other than that, I’m unfortunately not familiar with their own reports on it.”
“But our two species are but a few from over a dozen first-contact reports with humanity. All stemming from engine failures, navigation failures, and crashes or forced landings of ships that lost control and arrived on Earth.”
“Well,” said the diplomat, starting to see the shape of the data-miner’s point, “Warpspace travel.has always been an inexact science at times, and was even less accurate decades ago. It's possible you are reading too much into a handful of coincidences.”
The data-miner rubbed their eyestalks, feeling exhaustion creeping in for how much frantic effort they had put in over the past three-day cycle. “Yes, but to borrow an idiom for the humans, ‘Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is a pattern,’ let alone a solid dozen instances within barely a fifty-year timespan. Even the most heavily-trafficked routes past the most dense or erratic planetoids have only achieved a third of that number.”
“You're asking me to disrupt peaceful and productive diplomatic ties with humans by suggesting they were responsible for these instances. Are you truly suggesting that this was intentional from humanity's part?”
“I am.”
“That may be, but we will require more proof than mere happenstance, unlikely though it may be.”
“I have additional data as well.” Gego was the most proud of this next part, and he carefully pulled up the diagrams and charting maps. A vibrant animation appeared onscreen of what appeared to be a rainbow-colored and spiked disc, surging and shaking on the screen. “This is the analysis of the gravitational field irregularities within a quarter of a solar year of Earth's primary star.”
The diplomat looked nonplussed at the diagram. “I would assume the fluctuations here are not ideal?”
“No indeed. They could be likened to a reef within a shallow sea, permitting transit in the calm regions but damaging and disrupting ships passing through a rough space. I have reached out to several of the shipping guilds for more details, but initial reports back support this theory, with several commenting that the route passing near to Earth is highly undesirable amongst experienced pilots due to the rough effects it has on engine stability and wear and tear.”
The diplomat looked over the diagram further before attempting to wave it away dismissively. “But who’s to say that this isn't a natural phenomena of Earth’s system? There are many regions of space that are disruptive or dangerous to travel through in warpspace, so what would make Earth's patch of turbulence unique?”
“The fact that they can turn it on and off at will.”
The diplomat coughed violently as the surprise dislodged the piece of fruit pulp he was eating out of his primary digestion sack and instead into the top of his gas exchange organ. “What in the three spheres do you mean they can turn it off?”
Gego grimaced this time as he keyed in some commands to the report. This time the disc figure that was pulled was much grainier and blocky, fine measurements now showing as wide swaths. “This was reverse-calculated from a series of gravimetric scans done across that entire arm of the galaxy.”
Even with the poor resolution, the diplomat could still see that this was a wildly chaotic and dangerous gravitational field. “It looks the same.”
The data-miner nodded. “Yes, but watch here: It's hard to tell, but this readout is actually playing in reverse, stepping backwards through time. We're about to hit 76 years ago.”
“What's so important about 76-” The diplomat cut off, words caught like fruit pulp in his throat as the image abruptly stilled. The disc depicting the gravitational field was now still and smooth as a windless pond.
“So it just started one day?”
“Indeed, Diplomat Hale-he. And furthermore, this beginning of the turbulence was a mere month before the first vessel lost controlI and was forced to make an emergency landing on Earth.”
The possibilities were rapidly narrowing, but Hale-he was still in favor of exploring whatever possible shred he could find to avoid confronting the dawning reality about humans.
“Well, while things of this nature are highly irregular, I presume, I'm still not convinced that this shows they can activate it at will.”
“I know, Gego said, “Which is why I wanted to show you that data before I show you this.”
The gravitational field display became the ragged tumultuous ocean of currents and surges, and this time in the higher detail that told Hale-he this was more recent readings. “I'm sure you saw the announcements a fortnight ago that humanity had tested their first faster than light engine they had made themselves, rather than trading for, and successfully made a jaunt out to the furthest planetoid in their star system and back without incident?”
“Yes?” the diplomat said cautiously.
“I received this data from a colleague, who was concerned there may have been an instrument malfunction to produce such data as I’m about to show you. She checked and validated it herself. It was fully accurate and reliable, which makes it all the more troubling. I don't think she realized the cause of what she was seeing, but unfortunately the timing of it adds up too perfectly.”
The data-miner continued quietly recalling “I believe at this point we're at 30 seconds to launch the human’s test flight.”
Hale-he let out an involuntary gasp of breath as the gravity field abruptly stilled again, perfectly smooth simultaneously across the entire spread of it.
Grimly, the data-miner said “Here we had the jump,” and after a short pause continued “-and the return.” A few seconds later and the field abruptly resumed its turbulence.
The diplomat was still in shock, staring at the gravimetric readout, when Gego said “That's also not the most concerning part, either. This was supposed to be humanity's first faster-than-light capability of their own they were testing here; Isn't that right?”
“Well of course,” replied Hale-he. “It was on all the new stations. A great achievement for a species that had been slow to achieve that milestone.”
“I would remind you then that the readout here is half a light-year in diameter.”
The diplomat scrunched his eyestalks in confused concentration, trying to understand what the other alien was implying, when suddenly it hit him. “Yet they were able to disrupt such a large region simultaneously, and stop it equally quickly?”
Gego nodded. “Whatever means they have at causing such a disruption is certainly faster-than-light, and immensely wide-ranging. If it was slower and confined to a small area, I might have some theories as to how it could be accomplished, but this size, this scale and the speed? I have no idea. It is beyond anything our sciences and technology can produce, or that of any other known species.”
The diplomat sat back, stunned. “By the Spheres.” He glanced up at Gego. “What do you propose we do with this information?”
The data-miner waved an arm. “Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this: Go to humanity with the information we have. Tell them we want the secrets of this technology and the power sources that feed it, as it far eclipses anything we can currently achieve. Tell them that we will expose these findings to the rest of the space-faring civilizations of the galaxy if they continue to hold back.”
The diplomat’s eyes widened, before after a long moment he said “I see. Well, I still need to get to my duties and figure out how to handle this. You are excused, and a reminder to keep the strictly confidential while I inform the appropriate other parties.”
Gego bowed in deference before leaving the office. After he left, Hale-he leaned back in his saddle chair and groaned. The idiot had uncovered humanity possessed the capability of affecting a wide chunk of space at a power and complexity unheard of among any other known species, and his first suggestion was to blackmail them? The diplomat rubbed his head trying to make the sudden headache go away.
A few thoughts were coming to mind, snippets that had been dismissed in the moment, but now he couldn't shake them as he was reminded of the first species that had ever encountered humanity, and the comments by their scientists. They had said that humans were curiously disinterested in their warpspace drivers, despite not having faster-than-light capabilities already.
Then the second species that encountered humanity had mentioned that a child of one of the diplomatic party had become separated from the group, and accidentally come in contact with and ingested some Earth flora. It wasn't something toxic or dangerous to humans, but the physiological makeup of that species reacted poorly with alkaloids in the flora and would have resulted in a swift and painful death if left untreated. But instead, the humans had administered a series of emetics and alkaloid-binding treatments, something they said was common in the case of an accidental poison ingestion, The diplomat remembered reading a footnote from the inhuman physician at the time that this particular blend of neutralizing agents was not something commonly found in human medical kits, and in fact was uniquely suited to their own species’ biology.
Both had been written off as flukes, interesting anecdotes at most, but now the diplomat began to see the greater shape of it, as a species that cared not for faster-than-light travel, for they'd doubtless already achieved it, mastered it, and discarded it as uninteresting at some point before. A species, who upon supposed first contact, had comprehensive medical and anatomical knowledge of their guests sufficient enough to save a child in mere minutes from otherwise certain death.
All this from a species that had befriended and gregariously hosted every alien ship that had come astray upon their planet, and offered nothing but support and friendship to both waylaid travelers and their subsequent diplomatic summits, despite seeming to lack the ability to travel outside of their own star system. A species that was confident, at a basal level that Hale-he was only just now beginning to truly understand.
He opened a communications missive, addressed to all the other diplomats of similar station amongst the other species humanity had made contact with.
”Greetings to my fellow ambassadors. * *I come bearing difficult news regarding humanity: * *They are not what they appear to be. * *Yet, I believe it is of the utmost importance that we continue to pretend that they are, * *For fear that otherwise, we will learn who, or what, they truly are…”
2024.05.21 23:48 FunGoal130 teachergo.com,Help educational institutions gain more income and development opportunities.
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submitted by FunGoal130 to Teachergo [link] [comments]
We are delighted to introduce a charitable initiative supported by the Love Charity Foundation: Teachergo.com! This platform facilitates transactions between teachers, students, and shared classroom owners. We already have over 5,000 registered students. Our goal is to help educational institutions gain more income and development opportunities, whether through face-to-face or online courses.
Note: You do not need to pay any fees to the platform before you earn income.
How can the platform benefit your institution?
- Cost Savings
The platform includes a leave and rescheduling system that automatically arranges leave and makeup classes according to your rules. It also features detailed income and expense statements, class reminders, renewal reminders, and a one-stop online consultation service for parents.
- Increase Income
In fact, this additional income can potentially exceed your total classroom costs. Teachers and students attending classes will also have the opportunity to learn about your institution's courses on-site, bringing you more potential students.
The platform will develop a dedicated channel for institutions to optimize management functions.
2024.05.21 23:47 avenueofpleasure Why does he do this???
 | Can someone explain to me why my cat Mouse always puts his toys on his food after he’s done eating? He also swipes at the ground around it. My theory is that since he was feral as a kitten he learned to hide his food or get rid of his scent… I could be dead wrong but I have no idea what else it could be. submitted by avenueofpleasure to cats [link] [comments] Bonus picture of my boy at the end! |
2024.05.21 23:45 TradedMedia Doreen DeCosmis Sells Union City Multifamily Property For $1.28M
A meticulously renovated, three-unit multifamily property located at 2807 Central Avenue in Union City was sold for $1.28 million. Each unit within the property was priced at $425,000. The property features new laundry units, a garage with two parking spots, and is conveniently situated 10 minutes away from NYC, making it an appealing investment opportunity.
Learn More: Doreen DeCosmis Sells Union City Multifamily Property For $1.28M
submitted by TradedMedia to tradednewjersey [link] [comments]
Summary of transaction details:
- Property Type: Multifamily
- Transaction Amount: $1,275,000
- Units: 3
- Price Per Unit: $425,000
- Address: 2807 Central Avenue
- Market: Union City
Learn More: Doreen DeCosmis Sells Union City Multifamily Property For $1.28M