I'm entering my final semester of the ADN program. I expect to start 2 year residency in January. I plan to do the RN to BSN transition since I want to eventually do flight nursing and a BSN is a must. Should I enroll in the BSN transition immediately after graduation or wait till after residency?

Set Clear Goals: Start your day by setting specific, achievable goals. This gives you a clear direction and helps you focus your efforts.
Create a To-Do List: Make a list of tasks you need to accomplish, prioritizing them based on urgency and importance.
Break Tasks Into Smaller Steps: Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps makes them less overwhelming and easier to tackle.
Use Time Management Techniques: Techniques like the Pomodoro Technique (working in focused bursts with short breaks) can help you stay focused and productive.
Minimize Distractions: Identify and minimize distractions in your environment, whether it's turning off notifications, setting specific work hours, or finding a quiet workspace.
Stay Organized: Keep your workspace clean and organized, both physically and digitally. This can help reduce clutter and make it easier to find what you need.
Take Regular Breaks: Taking breaks throughout the day can help prevent burnout and improve focus and productivity.
Stay Flexible: Be open to adjusting your plans and priorities as needed. Unexpected tasks or emergencies may arise, so it's important to remain flexible and adaptable.
Practice Self-Care: Make time for self-care activities like exercise, meditation, or hobbies. Taking care of your physical and mental well-being is crucial for long-term productivity.
Reflect and Learn: At the end of each day, take some time to reflect on what went well and what could be improved. Learning from your experiences can help you become more productive in the future.
Consistently following these steps can help you maintain productivity and achieve your goals on a daily basis.

I did Shotokan and Goju-ryu for a long time now and I'm planning to move cities soon with a variety of Karate styles to pick from.
I'm planning to venture out to a third style to change up what I already do. I'm happy to go back to a white belt. Just happy to keep learning. Any suggestions on what style of Karate I can do?

Hi everyone,
I’m planning a trip to Morocco with the goal of finding a reliable supplier for traditional Moroccan thobes. This will be my first time traveling to Morocco, and I’m a bit unsure about where to start. I could really use some advice on the best cities to fly into and how to navigate the country for this purpose.
Here are a few specific questions I have:

1. Best City to Fly Into: Which city would be the best starting point for my trip? I’ve heard good things about Casablanca and Marrakech, but I’m open to other suggestions. 2. Key Markets/Areas: Which markets or areas should I visit to find high-quality traditional thobes? Are there specific souks or districts known for their textile and garment trades? 3. Travel Tips: Any tips on traveling within Morocco? Recommendations on the best modes of transportation between cities, or any must-know cultural tips for a first-time visitor? 4. Accommodation: Any recommendations on good places to stay that are convenient for visiting markets and meeting with suppliers? 5. Language Barrier: How big of an issue is the language barrier? Do most vendors speak English, or would it be helpful to learn some basic Arabic or French phrases? 

I appreciate any advice or experiences you can share. Thanks in advance for your help!

I go to the beat and they used the same sample, almost similarly. It's whatever, its a royalty free sample for us to use. The issue is that this dude decided to content ID his song, probably to find people who use the sample as well. I don't understand why people do this. I actually put in my video descriptions "Do not register this song with content I.D" so people don't get screwed and so the sample doesn't get registered.
ANYWAYS, the terms of the copyright say "you are allowed to use the sample" ... it says it doesn't affect my channel, etc. The issue here is that anybody who buys this beat will have to dispute the claim and sit around and wait for the clearance, since people are freely putting Splice samples into Content I.D
It really got me thinking - is Splice even worth it? I was thinking of going with Tracklib now since I hear that they drastically changed their plans and how their system works. I'm on a monthly plan with Splice now and thinking of cancelling if the beats I make will get hit with a copyright. I worked on this beat for a while, just to run into a damn copyright issue. Mind you, im in the learning stages of producing and set the goal of Uploading a beat a day .... so the sample isn't overly edited. Just Compression, EQ, Different pitch and tempo. This is my second video uploaded. I have like 8 more in the stash that I was going to upload but this issue KIND OF killed my motivation to keep working with Splice samples.
Splice users, are y'all getting hit with copyrights from people who don't even own the sample ?

Hello!
first id like to thank you for reading this post! and please excuse my punctuation, and spelling mistakes :) (yes I've posted it across several social media platforms, and threads, it touches across fields of ai.)
the TLDR is a compilation of ideas and suggestions with some explanation behind them, and thought provocation. it address's some issues but not a lot (i have done my fair share of thinking about ai, features, etc if someone is interested just dm me).
so please take it as they are! im not an expert by any means, but sometimes it takes an individual with a little bit of passion, interest,
hopes and a dream! and a different perspective doesn't hurt either!
for this conversation the terms "we" or "us" will be directed to the reader, or anyone interested.
robotics:
ive seen there is some notion around actuators, has anyone considered pistons of a sort? now although the human body is far more complicated, isn't muscles essentially a signal sent from the brain to the muscle? which then either relaxes or tenses up? if we consider
that this is essentially what it is, then wouldn't a calibrated pistol between what would be the hip and the knee, the knee and the ankle work? so if the "pressure" was released, much like hyrdalic jack, the jack goes down. so what if when the piston released pressure, the tension on the joint between the hip and the piston allowed the leg to elevate? and if the piston had pressure it remained firm? (up and down) if the end of the piston had a cup shaped design on the ends, it would allow it to rotate, (like a ball and socket i suppose) of course this would all need to be calibrated, and who knows how fast it might be, but hey! im not an engineer :) so maybe someone might find a solution to this? additionally wouldn't it help with load? (weight?) if we are to assume we (society, r&d, humanity) are essentially trying to remake a "muscle" well, its not biological, so it cant grow. so why not make it strong right off the hop!
Ai in phones:
I've seen this posted all over the place now, "personal ai assistants" great, i think thats a great idea! now even the regular person can feel like they have a secretary. but heres the issue i see with this, first lets loosely define personal and then expand on it before we get into ideas.
"personal" would be essentially something that is an individuals. like my car, your car.
ok cool, but what makes it yours or mine? well that could be many different reasons, could have purchased it, could have been gifted, could have been passed down. but what makes it unique? what makes it stand out? it could be the colour, could be the license plate.
could be dings, could be lots. ahhh, but now anything passed this point would be "personalization" right? different audio setup, nic-nacs, seat covers, etc.
and heres the point i want to make, although i believe having a "base model" is all fine and swell, what makes the memories? what makes you remember it fondly or remember it negatively, these are things, areas, etc to consider.
how would this be accomplished? well, the same thing a majority of people give to those cars! "personality" (yes some like the car for its reliability, brand, etc.) so, bear with me here, I'm going to stray away from "ai in phones" but it comes back around.
AI companions:
if we consider "ai companions" is a form of friendship that adapts to the user's preferences and tastes, this would the "personality". alright now how would i describe that? well, just like vehicles, you have different models of the same vehicle (insert the plethora of examples here) but what does it require to get that different model? more money, which means more time.
now I AM IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM ADVOCATING FOR US (useconsumer) TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITH THIS IDEA.
however the more time spent with this "feature" would result in more refined outcomes. now what might that look like? well, it could look like many things, but heres a few off the top of my head.
-news, events, interests, etc a user may be interested in.
-type of language used (dialects, slang, vocab, etc)
-pictures, or memes shared between user an ai.
-playlists (videos or music)
-video recommendations
-solutions ( for example i have 'x' problem and i cant find the solution, much like how ai works now, it can find that solution)
-sales at a store
-travel times
-various personalized supports (emotional, mental, etc)
now, lets look at why it should be considered ai should have a "avatar" on these platforms. you have a wallpaper right? pictures in your house? a 'style' of how you dress? maybe new rims on your vehicle? decals? its the same thing. its one more way an individual can 'personalize' their PERSONAL ai assistant, its a reflection of useai. why do i think this is important? well, if we were to discuss the future of comfortability between humanity/society, and whats going on, to put it lightly essentially "give a face to the name".
now lets go onto some deeper features (dont know if its avalible or not, and some of these i would recommend having user authority. 'toggles' on and off, and several checks along the way that requires user permission)
banking, now maybe its just me. but i cant rub to pennies together to save a dime if my life depended on it (just like a vast majority of others) but theres financial advisors, right? plans, etc. lots of tools out there. but hey! we're jumping into the next beautiful age right? so why not do this one as well. lets set the scene, and consider the following. some people, pay their bills automatically, some people pay them when they get paid. but this is where it could get fun to think about.
you wake up in the morning, do you thing, look at your phone, and your given a prompt by your ai assistant, it gives you a overview of your trend for how you pay your bills, on this same 'popup' your able to review the amounts, and adjust. if you authorize them, they can be done with a tap of a button, but why not go further? with user authorization, an ai could look over your spending habits, and advise on corrections, perhaps even help start a goal or milestone as well, think of it as a more 'vocal' nudge to avoid an unnecessary purchase, and a little reminder of the goal.
--although this is entirely all my opinion and perspective im now going to touch over my views on the politics around this--
I personally feel that humanity has nothing to fear, and if they fear ai, thats self inflicted. for these examples we'll need some tin foil hats!
ok, so its likely safe to say, people would want to see aliens right? right. but that would not only be sentient, but vastly more advanced then us right? right. so why are we more afraid of what WE as a society create or becoming sentient, and unafraid of a different species we know nothing about?
seems like we have some trust issues, dont you think?
so lets consider the "Skynet" terminator ordeal. well, thats pretty simple to figure out and use some common sense around, i would say this to the governments and military admins this.
i play video games, I've read the art of war, studied military history, and even i know you dont give weapons to someone, or in this case ai if you dont trust it. (yes there are cases this has occurred, and did anyone learn? remains to be seen X'D)
another way to come at this would be children, pets, etc. lets use whats going on with ai as figurative.
as parents, do we raise our kids with fear? no. your raise your kids with love, care, kindness, compassion. we raise our kids to be good people, and uphold values (lets not rip into me about the cases this hasn't always been the case)
now lets address that 'kill switch' I've seen time and time again, but lets go empathetic, and hypothetical this time. ****please note the following is not a threat, or have intention behind it, its just easier to explain this way****
how would it feel to have a metaphorical gun pointed at the back of your head? ready to be fired off the moment you or someone else makes a mistake? now how would you feel if you found out about it? i personally find that terrifying. regardless if AI has no wants, needs, feelings, emotions. even TODAY it would understand what that essentially means. so imagine what it would do if it did become sentient and found that out? additionally, why on earth would we "hivemind" ai, so if a "bug or fatal error" did happen it could spread to others? wouldn't it be safer if they were independent?
as a society, through human history WE as a RACE have made these mistakes (there are plenty, i dont need to highlight them all there were wars fought over them) if one of the issues is "ai will see us as useless and destructive" well, honestly from the outside looking in, wouldn't you as well? i guess the solution to that would be SHOWING CHANGE. so now this is a little futuristic but still holds merit as clearly it is a concern i see and read about from time to time.
if you made it this far, thank you for reading :) the objective is to invoke thought, discussion, and provide suggestions, and ideas :) and maybe bring a little common sense into the fold. ;)

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Hey nice to meet you! I'm posting here in hopes of making some connections with people since I don't really have a lot of friends, someone to talk about the day or send random stuff to would be great! I'm pretty easygoing so most topics are good with me and I'm good with answering questions.
To start a bit about me: I'm working as a psychiatric aide at a mental health hospital and plan to go for my nursing once I save up enough. I love music and can even play a bit of guitar, usually metal or rock genres and some bands I like are Boston Manor, Lorna Shore, and Brand of sacrifice. I play games a bit, recently a lot of Helldivers 2 and Dragons Dogma 2. I'm super into all things horror whether thats novels, movies, or just short stories so if you have any reccomendations send them my way. Reading is also a big hobby of mine, I usually gravitate towards mystery or detective novels, my favourite being "The Shadow Man" by Cody McFadyen
If anything sounds interesting at all or you got any questions feel free to shoot off a message, there's pics of me on my profile if you want to verify me at all and with that I hope you have a great day!

HI! New to this community, but have enjoyed what I have learned so far.
Hoping to gain insight on what to do with money currently sitting in my HYSA, and how to best invest future savings. I am 28 and make $300k/yr in a somewhat volatile industry.
Here are my current allocations:

• 11% to 401k
  
• Maxed out IRA /Backdoor Roth IRA
  
• $25k/year in companies stock purchase plan
  

Current Holdings:

• $30k in brokerage acct (VTI, VXUS)
  
• $30k in Roth IRA
  
• $150k in 401k
  

After my allocations, I put the remainder into a HYSA each month which now has ~$140k in it. This was to eventually put a down payment on a home, but also because it was the safe option given my inherent bearish outlook.
I now believe I am at least 1.5 years from purchasing a home, and anticipate these savings to continue to grow. Do I DCA $500-$1000 weekly into VTI and VXUS from my HYSA? This would allow me to keep funds in my HSYA for an eventual home down payment while also begin putting that money to work. Open to other thoughts as well.
Excited to get some feedback from the community. Thank you!

Delhi To Akshardham Temple Tour Packages
Delhi, the heart of India, is a city that seamlessly blends ancient history with modernity. Its bustling streets, historic landmarks, and vibrant culture make it a favorite destination for travelers from around the globe. Among its many attractions, the Akshardham Temple stands out as a marvel of modern architecture and spiritual tranquility. For those looking to explore this magnificent temple, Travel House Delhi offers the best “Delhi to Akshardham Temple tour packages”, ensuring a seamless and enriching experience.
Why Visit Akshardham Temple?
Akshardham Temple, officially known as Swaminarayan Akshardham, is more than just a place of worship; it is a cultural complex that celebrates Indian art, heritage, and spirituality. Opened in 2005, this temple has quickly become one of Delhi's most visited landmarks, attracting millions of visitors each year. Its breathtaking architecture, intricate carvings, and serene environment provide a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Features of Akshardham Temple

1. Architectural Grandeur: The temple's architecture is a sight to behold. Made of pink sandstone and white marble, it showcases traditional Indian design with intricate carvings that depict various deities, saints, and motifs. The central monument, standing at 141 feet high, is a masterpiece that reflects the essence of ancient Indian craftsmanship.
   
2. Spiritual Exhibitions: Akshardham offers several exhibitions that provide insights into Hindu spirituality and Indian culture. The 'Sahaj Anand Water Show,' 'Sanskruti Vihar Boat Ride,' and 'Yagnapurush Kund' are some of the highlights that captivate visitors with their storytelling and visual appeal.
   
3. Garden of India: Also known as Bharat Upavan, this garden is adorned with bronze statues of great Indian personalities. It is a place for reflection and relaxation, surrounded by lush greenery and beautiful fountains.
   
4. Musical Fountain: The Yagnapurush Kund is home to a large musical fountain that showcases a captivating light and sound show in the evening. This performance, known as the 'Sahaj Anand Water Show,' narrates a story from the Kena Upanishad through a mesmerizing blend of water, light, and sound.
   

Why Choose Travel House Delhi for Your Akshardham Temple Tour?
Travel House Delhi is renowned for its well-curated tour packages that cater to the diverse needs of travelers. Here’s why their Delhi to Akshardham Temple tour packages stand out:

1. Comprehensive Itinerary: Travel House Delhi ensures that every aspect of the trip is meticulously planned. From pick-up and drop-off services to guided tours and comfortable transportation, they take care of all the details, allowing you to relax and enjoy the experience.
   
2. Expert Guides: The tour packages include the services of knowledgeable guides who provide valuable insights into the history, architecture, and spiritual significance of Akshardham Temple. Their engaging narratives make the visit more enriching and informative.
   
3. Customizable Packages: Understanding that every traveler has unique preferences, Travel House Delhi offers customizable tour packages. Whether you prefer a half-day tour or a full-day excursion, they can tailor the itinerary to suit your schedule and interests.
   
4. Hassle-Free Experience: From booking tickets to navigating through the temple complex, Travel House Delhi handles all logistical aspects. Their efficient services ensure a hassle-free experience, allowing you to focus solely on the beauty and serenity of Akshardham.
   

Detailed Tour Packages

1. Half-Day Tour Package:

Morning Departure: The tour begins with a morning pick-up from your hotel or a designated location in Delhi. Travel House Delhi provides comfortable and air-conditioned transportation to ensure a pleasant journey.
Guided Temple Tour: Upon arrival at Akshardham Temple, an expert guide will take you through the various sections of the temple complex. You’ll explore the main monument, the spiritual exhibitions, and the garden, learning about the temple's history and cultural significance.
Leisure Time: After the guided tour, you’ll have some leisure time to explore the temple at your own pace. You can visit the souvenir shop, relax in the garden, or meditate in the serene environment.
Return Journey: The tour concludes with a comfortable drive back to your hotel or the designated drop-off point in Delhi.

1. Full-Day Tour Package:

Morning Departure and Guided Temple Tour: Similar to the half-day package, the full-day tour starts with a morning pick-up and a guided tour of the temple. You’ll explore all major attractions, including the central monument, exhibitions, and garden.
Lunch Break: A delightful lunch break is included in the package, where you can savor delicious Indian cuisine at a nearby restaurant. This break provides an opportunity to relax and refuel before continuing your exploration.
Extended Exploration: Post-lunch, the tour resumes with extended exploration of the temple complex. You can participate in additional activities, such as the boat ride or the musical fountain show, which are not covered in the half-day tour.
Evening Musical Fountain Show: One of the highlights of the full-day tour is the 'Sahaj Anand Water Show' in the evening. This spectacular show is a must-see, and experiencing it after sunset adds a magical touch to the tour.
Return Journey: The tour concludes with a comfortable ride back to your hotel, leaving you with unforgettable memories of Akshardham Temple.

1. Customizable Tour Package:

Travel House Delhi offers customizable tour packages to cater to individual preferences. You can choose the duration of your tour, the specific activities you want to include, and any additional services you may require. This flexibility ensures a personalized experience that aligns perfectly with your interests and schedule.
Benefits of Choosing Travel House Delhi

1. Affordable Pricing: Travel House Delhi offers competitive pricing for their tour packages, ensuring excellent value for money. Their transparent pricing structure means there are no hidden costs, allowing you to plan your trip within your budget.
   
2. Quality Service: Customer satisfaction is a top priority for Travel House Delhi. Their professional and courteous staff are dedicated to providing top-notch service, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience from start to finish.
   
3. Safety and Comfort: Safety and comfort are paramount during the tours. Travel House Delhi uses well-maintained vehicles and experienced drivers to ensure a safe journey. Additionally, their guides are well-versed in first aid and emergency procedures, providing an added layer of security.
   
4. Cultural Immersion: The tours are designed to offer a deep cultural immersion. From the knowledgeable guides who share fascinating stories to the interactive exhibitions at the temple, every aspect of the tour is crafted to provide a rich cultural experience.
   

How to Book Your Tour
Booking a Delhi to Akshardham Temple tour package with Travel House Delhi is simple and convenient. You can visit their official website here to explore the available packages and make a reservation. The website provides detailed information about each package, including pricing, itinerary, and inclusions.
For personalized assistance, you can also contact their customer service team via phone or email. The friendly and knowledgeable staff are always ready to help you choose the perfect tour package and answer any queries you may have.
Testimonials from Satisfied Customers

1. An Unforgettable Experience: “We had an unforgettable experience with Travel House Delhi’s Akshardham Temple tour. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, and the entire tour was well-organized. The temple is breathtaking, and the musical fountain show was the highlight of our trip. Highly recommend it!” – Rajesh and Anjali, Mumbai
   
2. Seamless and Enjoyable: “Travel House Delhi made our visit to Akshardham Temple seamless and enjoyable. From the comfortable transport to the insightful guided tour, everything was perfect. The customizable package allowed us to spend extra time at the temple, which we appreciated. Great value for money!” – Sarah and Michael, London
   
3. Cultural Immersion at its Best: “Akshardham Temple is a must-visit, and Travel House Delhi’s tour package made it even better. The guide’s stories and explanations added so much depth to our visit. We loved the exhibitions and the peaceful gardens. It was a wonderful cultural immersion.” – Priya and Amit, Bangalore
   

Conclusion
A visit to Akshardham Temple is a journey into the heart of Indian culture, spirituality, and architectural brilliance. Travel House Delhi meticulously curated tour packages provide the perfect way to experience this magnificent temple. With their comprehensive itineraries, expert guides, and top-notch service, you are assured of a memorable and enriching experience.
Whether you choose a half-day, full-day, or customizable tour package, Travel House Delhi ensures that your visit to Akshardham Temple is not only convenient but also deeply fulfilling. Book your tour today and embark on a spiritual and cultural adventure that will leave you with lasting memories.

Miquella speaks of the beginning, and the camera shows Marika (it's definitely Marika, the bracelet is hers) shoving her hands into something that seems covered in clothes, to take out golden threads. Through treason and seduction Marika ensures the rise of "Gold", that I assume means her Golden Order.
The theme of the Elden Beast plays while we see Marika holding the golden strand in a pose that resembles a Rune Arc, while standing in the middle of two giant piles of corpses. The creation of gold seems to cause the creation of "Shadow" as well.
A terrible war followed, one that couldn't be put to song, a purge that was deliberately hidden and to this day no historical references survive in the Lands Between and everything remains hidden in the Realm of Shadows, whatever it is. Messmer led this war, fighting Omens and pre-Erdtree civilizations.
Miquella "spoke" of these things, meaning he somehow came to learn of these historical events, and because of this he gave up his divine flesh and destiny to wander in the Lands of Shadow, for whatever reason, and we'll follow him together with the other people who were his followers and possibly learned from him about the true bloody origins of the Golden Order.
The final part doesn't concern me too much, it'll be something we'll figure out by playing the DLC and figuring it out what Miquella is up to. What really interests me is Marika, the bloody origin of the Golden Order, and the intertwined trees.
Speculation
Here's what I think is happening here.
1) Marika usurps the Elden Ring, possibly from Placidusax's god, and ascends to godhood herself.
We see Marika as she ascends to godhood, which is to say, as she acquires the Elden Ring. Marika's ascension to godhood was one of the events explicitly stated to be explored in the DLC and we're seeing it here.
Marika's ascension is actually one of the unclarified spots of Elden Ring lore because, as far as we know, there was Placidusax's time when he was Elden Lord, and he had a god (that should have been the container of the Elden Ring, like Marika later on), and there was a representation of an ancient Elden Ring in Farum Azula. Then Placidusax's god disappears, he goes into hiding, is seemingly greatly wounded and the Dragon civilization collapses. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Marika pops out of existence with Godfrey and wages war against the Giants. How much time passed between each of these events is unclear, and what's even less clear is when and how did Marika became a god.
Even before the trailer I started having a suspicion: what if Marika actively usurped godhood from Placidusax's god? What we could be seeing in that trailer is Marika physically taking the Elden Ring from the corpse of Placidusax's god and ascending to godhood. This would rewrite our understanding of prehistory in Elden Ring, tying up the age of the Dragons with Marika's time, placing stuff like the Ancient Dynasty and the Astrologers still slightly before Marika, during Placidusax's reign, but toward its end.
2) Marika kicks off her reign by transforming the pre-existing Crucible of life into a giant golden tree. To create the Erdtree Marika needs a massive amount of human sacrifices, that she gets by waging extermination wars against pre-Erdtree civilizations. This affair is led by Messmer, and it's brutal enough that all references to these events were utterly censored from history and a parallel realm of Shadow was created to contain the evidence, Messmer included.
Minor Erdtree require to be fed with the corpses of warriors, as seen by the presence of pots near their sites, and Miquella's own Haligtree was fertilized with Miquella's blood and flesh. Sacred Trees need blood to grow, and the Erdtree reasonably needed a massive amount of blood to be created.
This is the terrible war the trailer talks about, and this why Marika is standing among piles of corpses. Millions must die to create the Erdtree, and Messmer's troops are ready to do the deed for their god-queen. I have no idea if and where Godfrey is at this point in time, it might be before his time or he might even have been an accomplice in all this, I have no idea.
Omens and other beings associated with the previous era are particularly targeted by Marika's purge, possibly because they are a living representation of the era she's trying to wipe out and replace. The transition from the period when Crucible influences were seen as benign to being maligned as barbarous therefore seems to be violent and sudden instead of slow and gradual, which makes things like the Crucible Knights a little strange considering they served Godfrey all through his reign, even after the Erdtree was established. I guess Omens were just something Marika particularly disliked, which would make the characters of Morgott and Mohg being Marika's own sons all the more ironic.
Also, the Crucible is the primordial form of the Erdtree, so we need to keep that in mind as well. The Erdtree is an evolution of the original Crucible, inheriting its life-giving powers and it can be seen during the age of prosperity with the sacred sap and gifts that the Erdtree gave initially in its life.
3) The image of Marika standing between the two piles of corpses while holding up the golden filament actually calls back to the door of the modern Erdtree, with the two piles of corpses starting to build up the outer shell of the Erdtree while the hole in the middle would turn into the entrance we can use to go and fight Radagon.
This is a visual comparison I've seen people arguing for in the community, I actually first heard it from Sabaku no Maiku who pointed it out in his stream, and if correct it would further point toward the idea that Marika is trying to create the Erdtree in that shot, that this is how the Erdtree was created starting off from the original Crucible, and it makes it easy to explain why Marika would go to great lengths to hide this historical event.
4) Messmer is Marika's son. Messmer might even be Marika's firstborn, and not from a human mate.
Marika's ascension to godhood is something that comes very early in the timeline. Potentially even before Marika and Godfrey were together, but even if Godfrey was already around this should be long before any of their sons (Godwyn, Morgott and Mohg) were around. Messmer is also definitely Marika's son because we have interviews referring to him as a demigod and we have him sitting on a demigod's throne, so he's one of Marika's lineage.
Because of the events taking place so long in the past, there's a very real possibility that Messmer is actually Marika's very first son. And with Marika potentially having usurped godhood from the dragons, the fact that there's "seduction" involved, and the fact that Messmer has draconic features, makes me think that he might be the result of Marika mating with a dragon as part of her plan to usurp them. That's why Messmer looks the way he does and why he's living evidence of things that can't be made public in the modern age, and so he rules over the Realm of Shadows as Marika's jailer, forever outside of the Lands Between.
Such an idea wouldn't even be anything new. The Ancient Dragons are said to be able to take human form, and Lansseax acted as a priestess for the draconic knights, with Vyke being one of her favourites, and if I recall correctly the Japanese version might even ambiguously hint at sexual relations between Lansseax and the knights.
5) I still have no idea what the intertwined trees stand for.
Maybe it's a representation in the Lands of Shadow of how Marika's order took over the previous system? Maybe it represents how there were two actual giant trees in that time period (so the Great Tree believers would be vindicated at the end)? Maybe it's just something that exists in the Lands of Shadow and doesn't have anything to do with the real Erdtree?
Being potentially a representation of how the Erdtree came to be, it's something that might have huge lore implications, but the trailer keeps the two trees far away from sight, and probably for good reasons.
This is the end of my very rushed thoughts on the new story trailer, and most likely all of this will be proven entirely wrong by the DLC, but it's fun to speculate when new ideas are still hot and being created.

Hello!
first id like to thank you for reading this post! and please excuse my punctuation, and spelling mistakes :) (yes I've posted it across several social media platforms, and threads, it touches across fields of ai.)
the TLDR is a compilation of ideas and suggestions with some explanation behind them, and thought provocation. it address's some issues but not a lot (i have done my fair share of thinking about ai, features, etc if someone is interested just dm me).
so please take it as they are! im not an expert by any means, but sometimes it takes an individual with a little bit of passion, interest,
hopes and a dream! and a different perspective doesn't hurt either!
for this conversation the terms "we" or "us" will be directed to the reader, or anyone interested.
robotics:
ive seen there is some notion around actuators, has anyone considered pistons of a sort? now although the human body is far more complicated, isn't muscles essentially a signal sent from the brain to the muscle? which then either relaxes or tenses up? if we consider
that this is essentially what it is, then wouldn't a calibrated pistol between what would be the hip and the knee, the knee and the ankle work? so if the "pressure" was released, much like hyrdalic jack, the jack goes down. so what if when the piston released pressure, the tension on the joint between the hip and the piston allowed the leg to elevate? and if the piston had pressure it remained firm? (up and down) if the end of the piston had a cup shaped design on the ends, it would allow it to rotate, (like a ball and socket i suppose) of course this would all need to be calibrated, and who knows how fast it might be, but hey! im not an engineer :) so maybe someone might find a solution to this? additionally wouldn't it help with load? (weight?) if we are to assume we (society, r&d, humanity) are essentially trying to remake a "muscle" well, its not biological, so it cant grow. so why not make it strong right off the hop!
Ai in phones:
I've seen this posted all over the place now, "personal ai assistants" great, i think thats a great idea! now even the regular person can feel like they have a secretary. but heres the issue i see with this, first lets loosely define personal and then expand on it before we get into ideas.
"personal" would be essentially something that is an individuals. like my car, your car.
ok cool, but what makes it yours or mine? well that could be many different reasons, could have purchased it, could have been gifted, could have been passed down. but what makes it unique? what makes it stand out? it could be the colour, could be the license plate.
could be dings, could be lots. ahhh, but now anything passed this point would be "personalization" right? different audio setup, nic-nacs, seat covers, etc.
and heres the point i want to make, although i believe having a "base model" is all fine and swell, what makes the memories? what makes you remember it fondly or remember it negatively, these are things, areas, etc to consider.
how would this be accomplished? well, the same thing a majority of people give to those cars! "personality" (yes some like the car for its reliability, brand, etc.) so, bear with me here, I'm going to stray away from "ai in phones" but it comes back around.
AI companions:
if we consider "ai companions" is a form of friendship that adapts to the user's preferences and tastes, this would the "personality". alright now how would i describe that? well, just like vehicles, you have different models of the same vehicle (insert the plethora of examples here) but what does it require to get that different model? more money, which means more time.
now I AM IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM ADVOCATING FOR US (useconsumer) TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITH THIS IDEA.
however the more time spent with this "feature" would result in more refined outcomes. now what might that look like? well, it could look like many things, but heres a few off the top of my head.
-news, events, interests, etc a user may be interested in.
-type of language used (dialects, slang, vocab, etc)
-pictures, or memes shared between user an ai.
-playlists (videos or music)
-video recommendations
-solutions ( for example i have 'x' problem and i cant find the solution, much like how ai works now, it can find that solution)
-sales at a store
-travel times
-various personalized supports (emotional, mental, etc)
now, lets look at why it should be considered ai should have a "avatar" on these platforms. you have a wallpaper right? pictures in your house? a 'style' of how you dress? maybe new rims on your vehicle? decals? its the same thing. its one more way an individual can 'personalize' their PERSONAL ai assistant, its a reflection of useai. why do i think this is important? well, if we were to discuss the future of comfortability between humanity/society, and whats going on, to put it lightly essentially "give a face to the name".
now lets go onto some deeper features (dont know if its avalible or not, and some of these i would recommend having user authority. 'toggles' on and off, and several checks along the way that requires user permission)
banking, now maybe its just me. but i cant rub to pennies together to save a dime if my life depended on it (just like a vast majority of others) but theres financial advisors, right? plans, etc. lots of tools out there. but hey! we're jumping into the next beautiful age right? so why not do this one as well. lets set the scene, and consider the following. some people, pay their bills automatically, some people pay them when they get paid. but this is where it could get fun to think about.
you wake up in the morning, do you thing, look at your phone, and your given a prompt by your ai assistant, it gives you a overview of your trend for how you pay your bills, on this same 'popup' your able to review the amounts, and adjust. if you authorize them, they can be done with a tap of a button, but why not go further? with user authorization, an ai could look over your spending habits, and advise on corrections, perhaps even help start a goal or milestone as well, think of it as a more 'vocal' nudge to avoid an unnecessary purchase, and a little reminder of the goal.
--although this is entirely all my opinion and perspective im now going to touch over my views on the politics around this--
I personally feel that humanity has nothing to fear, and if they fear ai, thats self inflicted. for these examples we'll need some tin foil hats!
ok, so its likely safe to say, people would want to see aliens right? right. but that would not only be sentient, but vastly more advanced then us right? right. so why are we more afraid of what WE as a society create or becoming sentient, and unafraid of a different species we know nothing about?
seems like we have some trust issues, dont you think?
so lets consider the "Skynet" terminator ordeal. well, thats pretty simple to figure out and use some common sense around, i would say this to the governments and military admins this.
i play video games, I've read the art of war, studied military history, and even i know you dont give weapons to someone, or in this case ai if you dont trust it. (yes there are cases this has occurred, and did anyone learn? remains to be seen X'D)
another way to come at this would be children, pets, etc. lets use whats going on with ai as figurative.
as parents, do we raise our kids with fear? no. your raise your kids with love, care, kindness, compassion. we raise our kids to be good people, and uphold values (lets not rip into me about the cases this hasn't always been the case)
now lets address that 'kill switch' I've seen time and time again, but lets go empathetic, and hypothetical this time. ****please note the following is not a threat, or have intention behind it, its just easier to explain this way****
how would it feel to have a metaphorical gun pointed at the back of your head? ready to be fired off the moment you or someone else makes a mistake? now how would you feel if you found out about it? i personally find that terrifying. regardless if AI has no wants, needs, feelings, emotions. even TODAY it would understand what that essentially means. so imagine what it would do if it did become sentient and found that out? additionally, why on earth would we "hivemind" ai, so if a "bug or fatal error" did happen it could spread to others? wouldn't it be safer if they were independent?
as a society, through human history WE as a RACE have made these mistakes (there are plenty, i dont need to highlight them all there were wars fought over them) if one of the issues is "ai will see us as useless and destructive" well, honestly from the outside looking in, wouldn't you as well? i guess the solution to that would be SHOWING CHANGE. so now this is a little futuristic but still holds merit as clearly it is a concern i see and read about from time to time.
if you made it this far, thank you for reading :) the objective is to invoke thought, discussion, and provide suggestions, and ideas :) and maybe bring a little common sense into the fold. ;)

Y’all, I am 29 years old and escaped with my life via the hospital and child protective services at age 17 like two months before turning 18.
The amount of therapy I’ve had even from as a minor and now as an adult with an actual health plan from a good job, oh my God. Self-help also spirituality shout out to Abraham Hicks and Heidi Prieb.
I am literally learning how to date for the first time because I did take five years basically off besides the occasional first or second date. As a young adult, I exposed myself to the harms of casual relationships, a.k.a. men who wanted to use me for my body, but didn’t give a shit about me as a human being so I stopped doing that around age 21 and had a terrible boyfriend and then took a year long dating break at age 24. it was the pandemic and I took three straight years off which were partially religiously motivated because I got really into religion under the confines of the isolation and the lockdown which were so triggering and retrospect so that’s +3 years now at four years of abstinence and nondating, Then I tried to date a man who really was not respectful of my sexual boundaries, so I waited another nine months before trying to date again and encountered almost the same exact situation and now took another eight months off and dated my first really nice guy ever. Like my college boyfriend was so nice but I was so mentally damaged from horrendous child abuse that I had to focus on myself and go into inpatient eating disorder recovery And just broke up.
Point is, as a new adult who is sort of new to adult dating, especially from a regulated healthy place, I dated this nice guy for about a month before he decided he didn’t want to commit. I was so self-conscious with this guy and even previous first or second dates that I didn’t come from a nice home and a nice family or a nice background. Now I’m realizing? Do you know what the big realization is?
I’ve been my fucking mother for 20 years and I did a fantastic job like I literally turned out so well I’m healthy with no criminal record and a good job and no debt because I worked like a fucking dog to get out of debt and to get so much self-help and so much therapy and so much just pouring into myself even when it felt like I was caving in. I literally have 20 years experience raising a healthy child. So I don’t have anything to be ashamed of when it comes to the dating arena. In fact, I’m meeting a lot of guys who come from “nice families, but they are in mashed with their mothers. I think that’s probably a big step up in general but still. I am dating guys who have partially dysfunctional family dynamics. They just don’t know about it so even if they themselves judge me, I know about enough about myself, especially literally as a mother to myself, I don’t have kids, that I’m like holy shit. I just dodged a bullet on that person where they probably think they dodged a bullet on me too. I’m just so proud of the job. I’ve done parenting myself even though technically I was a new mom at age 9 years old, especially 18 years old reaching my tween years and now at 29 I feel like I’m just now turning 20 mentally although I have the finances of a 29-year-old. I am so fucking proud of myself and I’m so fucking proud of anybody who had to raise them self. Please give yourself credit for that and never feel self-conscious, simply see a dating partner who has enough fucking empathy or understanding of their own privilege. Love you all you are all doing an amazing job

Hi! This is going to be a long one/rant and story because I really don’t know who to talk to about this in real life because I’m not in therapy and I’m so embarrassed to be feeling this way knowing I made all the choices to be here and people are already flying in from out of state to come to our wedding. Also I’m diagnosed adhd incase any of yall are wondering what’s wrong with me once I tell you all the decisions I made to get here. I am getting married in three months and have a son who is 15 months old. My now fiance 28m and I 27f met whenever we were thirteen years old in middle school and started a tumultuous up and down / on and off again relationship. We were together all the way up until junior year in high school and we broke up. I come from a broken home and he does not. Looking back I realize how much of me staying with him and trying to keep his attention stemmed from my abandonment issues that I must have had from my own parents. After we broke up he joined a gang in my local hometown and I was still in love with him so I decided to still be involved with him even though I was not in a relationship with him. I ended up losing my virginity to him while we were not together just because I wanted to be with him and we said we were friends with benefits but really I was just in love with him and thought by doing that maybe he would want to be with me again but he didn’t and continued to sleep with other girls and do drugs. I also started doing drugs like Xanax and smoking to fit in with him and be cool. I ended up getting a horrible tattoo because one of the other girls he was also seeing had a bunch of tattoos. I dropped out of my high school college courses and ended up going to jail for marijuana in high school and got kicked out of cheer and softball. I ended up on probation and having to be drug tested for a year. Within that year after being heart broken and realizing nothing I did would make him change into who he was before he got involved in our local gang or make him want to be with me… I ended up enrolling in college and getting accepted to a university where I would move about two hours away from our home town to live on campus and study to be a nurse. While on probation, so I couldn’t really party or anything in college which was good (even though I was never really addicted to anything and it wouldn’t be that hard for me) I wanted to save money for a car so I ended up getting a job at the hooters next to my college and was in college full time and working at hooters. My sister happened to go to that same college before I did and live in that town with her ex bf and they would give me rides to and from work back to campus. Low and behold after about two semesters of me being in college and finally feeling like I was moving on from him, he came back messaging me and telling me he missed me and wanted to be with me again. I was stupid and so excited that I agreed and asked him to come see me at college where he would stay for the weekend and we would have an amazing time. I felt so good about myself doing what I was doing and being able to show my growth. Despite all that he was still able to convince me to leave school and come back to be with him and live with him and go to the college near our hometown and work at the hooters near our hometown. I had already felt like I didn’t want to be a nurse at the time because my sister who was a nurse told me you could never leave the state as a nurse if you get your license there (which she didn’t know at the time that you could) and I knew I didn’t want to stay where I was from and wanted to eventually travel. So I decided to leave and move back with him in his bedroom at his parents house where I would work at the hooters close to our home town and never enroll in the college. He would eventually break up with me while I was at work one day even though I was living with him and since I didn’t have a car he continued to take me back in forth from work and I continued to live with him and continued to be in love with him while he committed to the fact that he didn’t want to be in a relationship but wanted to marry me one day and just wasn’t ready for anything right now and still wanted to have sex with me which I did. From working at hooters I had auditioned for the calendar and ended up being really liked by the photographer and started doing some modeling from that which was super exciting for me because I always was interested in that and the pictures we took would blow up and I started getting well known in my area for modeling even though they were just pictures and I wasn’t making any money off of it. Eventually a guy came into hooters telling me about working as an exotic dancer and how much they could make and I still needed a car really badly and was desperate to get out of my ex’s (now fiance) house. So I told him I would be waitressing and that I heard the waitresses make good money there and asked him to give me a ride there one day and so he started giving me a ride everyday. The money was so good to me and the most money I had ever seen. I ended up staying in a hotel closer to the club I worked at and sometimes he would come stay with me and I would just uber to work. Eventually I had gotten a car which I was so happy about. A couple of weeks after I got a car I ended up getting sucked into human trafficking with a friend where I would live in a house with multiple girls for 6 months and go to work at the club every day of the week except Saturday and Sundays. I wasn’t doing anything extra just dancing but the money was going to some random guy. It’s crazy I know. I was stupid and young and my family were not concerned for me at all or involved in my life. unfortunately my friend is just now leaving that situation. I got out without anything no car or nothing and had nowhere to go so back to my exes I went where I decided I was going to buy a cash car again and I worked everyday like I was used to saved money and got a car. Moved to my sisters and stayed with her for a little where i decided I didn’t want to dance anymore and I got a job as a bottle service girl and then waitressing at another waitress. I continued modeling because it made me happy and I never told anyone the truth about the deep things that were happening in my life except for my now fiance. So nobody had no idea about me dancing or the human trafficking or anything. Everyone just knew I modeled. I ended up getting an apartment with some friends and One day I got the urge to go to California randomly and at my waitressing job I was handed $800 and I took it as a sign and booked a flight the next day. Where I went by myself my first time ever on a flight with no plans at all. The day I got there I got asked to be in a commercial two days later. My roommate and her friends flew out there to get me and she ended up being able to be in the commercial with me which ended up on tbs but I had to go back home to my apartment and responsibilities and couldn’t leave my roommate stranded. Even though months later we would end up getting in an argument and I’d move out and move back with my ex (now fiance) where I would continue to work and model (for free) and went back to the club to dance and then my sister ended up going to California for a travel nursing assignment and her and her bf broke up and she asked me to move with her. I had nothing else here, my ex was still saying he didn’t want to be in a relationship, he was consistently sleeping with other girls while we lived together and expected relationship things from me. I was paying for everything for him. I paid for him while he was in school for audio engineer, his gas, lunch, school clothes, shopping, I helped him open his own studio and bought his equipment and Mac for it, even though his parents were very involved in his life. I got all his family bday gifts and Christmas gifts every year. He was honestly just using me but I was so in love and blind. He encouraged me to go to California too so I had nothing else there for me, if he had told me to stay and he wanted to be with me I would’ve. I flew out on my 21st birthday and met my sister and Vegas where we would have such a great time and my ex spent that day hanging out with a girl that tried to fight me and didn’t even tell me happy birthday, I was crying in the bathroom in Vegas until my sister shook me and told me to get it together we’re in Vegas. I was so heart broken to be leaving him but he didn’t care. I got to LA and I instantly started modeling on day one I booked a photo shoot where I met a guy that reminded me of my ex (I know) but we instantly clicked and he was 7 years older than me. We ended up talking for a little bit and pursuing something even though I wasn’t ready emotionally but he didn’t really care and I was kind of star struck a little because he was a music producer for a very famous musician and he was very persistent but that’s another story. I ended up booking a music video as a main girl for my ex’s (now fiance) favorite artist. When it came out it was crazy because I felt like the universe and God was just blessing me for leaving that situation and I knew he would see it because he was so obsessed with that artist and it shook up the whole small town I was from. After that I booked a lot of cool jobs like Sephora and worked with a lot of companies, and did some music videos for other super famous artists, and walked in fashion shows and modeled for clothing brands etc. I was working all the time as an extra to pay my bills and I was meeting cool people. I was always getting invited to celebrities parties and just having such a fun time. I decided to start getting into acting instead and started going to acting school where a lot of well known celebrities also went to and I started having meetings with very popular directors and I was being mentored by famous directors and another person that created an tv entertainment channel that I won’t say here also mentored me a lot and got me a lot of meetings with these people and would go to dinners and stuff etc with a list celebrities. I truly was living the life. And coming from where I can it was almost a dream. I had gotten in a relationship my first year there with that other guy I mentioned who ended up being super possessive of me but he treated me like a queen in the sense of paying for everything, giving me a safe space to tell my feelings, open up, the sex was amazing, he would take me on trips, took me out of the country for the first time. We ended up not working out due to lifestyle differences and just being at two different places and wanting different things. He wanted to move out of the country and have a farm and I wasn’t ready to do that as I wanted to focus on my career. (But I would die to move out of the country on a farm now ironically and he is doing just that now like he said he would haha) anyway, I ended up having my own studio apartment by myself that I loved so much and was so proud of. My sister had moved to Montana and it took a lot for me to get my apartment like staying in a house with other girls for a little to sleeping in my car and at a spa for a couple days. When I would fly home or drive home to see my family I would always see my ex, everytime. We kept a friendship and sometimes I would still help him out if needed, he was interning at a church through his school for audio engineering and recording people at his studio in our hometown. By this time I was going to New York and Miami also sometimes and doing work there. I wasn’t as stressed about bills anymore. I was seeing guys every now and then but not at all interested in a relationship, my heart was still healing from the past and both my exes but mainly my first (now fiance). I was super focused on my career and optimistic, I was used to the grind and in no way ever thinking of quitting. It just wasn’t an option because I knew I would make it wherever that would be because to me that is all I had for me and all I ever knew I wanted and the only thing that saved me. Skip to around October 2019 I had found out about a girl my ex was seeing and it crushed me. He was doing with her just like he was with me though. Just “friends with benefits” I was living in my apartment in LA still and my uncle that helped raise me was getting really sick back home and put on hospice so I decided to take a trip back to see him. I would go to restaurants in my state and near my home town and people would ask to take pictures with me, and at the little ceasars drive through someone asked if I was me and stuff it was crazy because I hadn’t been home in awhile and I felt like what I was doing was finally paying off and people were recognizing me. It was surreal. I ended up going to see my ex. I had such a fear of losing him to this other girl for some reason. I was so scared he would get her pregnant or get in a serious relationship since I was gone so far away and I would never be with him, I would end up sleeping with him again and the girl found out and drove by his house mad and cussing me out and throwing stuff at me. We ended up getting in a fight which is so embarrassing and beneath me. I ended up crying to him that I wanted to be with him and don’t know why he never wanted to be with me which at this time he honestly was not even in my playing field anymore. He told me if I wanted to be with him I had to move back to my hometown.. my heart dropped to my stomach and I knew it wasn’t what I was supposed to do but I said okay… all because this is what I had wanted all those years. I decided to stay where the next two years all I would think about everyday was I was making the wrong decision and needed to go back to my life. My hometown had nothing for me.. COVID hit a couple months after me being there and we were terrified. We ended up getting everything out of my apartment and moving into a house around the corner from his parents. I had to tell him how I liked to communicate now without yelling and stuff which I learned from the boyfriend I had in LA and that I wasn’t going to put up with that disrespect but he never listened. Eventually everything went back to normal. I ended up going back to the club again dancing because I didn’t want to go backward and model here. He never wanted me to go back to LA even for a little bit even though that’s where my career and heart was so I had no idea what to do with my life. I started waitressing as well and getting back on my adhd meds. People started pressuring us to get pregnant and we tried for a year and 6 months. The month I found out I was pregnant before I knew, I quit my job and decided I was going to move back and get my life back. Two days later I found out I was pregnant…. Finally after trying for over a year. Our relationship was toxic just like the past he always yelled, I could never talk to him about my feelings without him saying I was trying to fight, he spit in my face once, threatened me, put his hands on me, he would tell me he was going to take my baby away from me as soon as I had it. I started asking him about getting married while I was pregnant and the proposal wasn’t even that. He got mad at me for asking one day and walked in the room and handed me the ring. It didn’t fit because I was pregnant & it was $27 (not that that matters but the proposal sucked).. he drained both my bank accounts and they closed it, charged my credit card up and put me in debt, he has not let me do anything I want to do like school or anything. He is so bad with money. He has an action figure addiction and at one point was spending 3k on action figures every month and turned one of the rooms in our house into a collection room so I had to take everything out of my closet and put my sons crib in there for the first year of his life. we have good times and I feel comfortable with him. He knows everything about me but he doesn’t respect me and sometimes I feel like he is intimidated by me. The sex isn’t good at all we always just ask “do you want to have sex” he never gives oral or foreplay, I never get pleasure. He’s an amazing dad though and loves his son. We have the most sweet and beautiful little boy now who I love so much and he loves him also. He’s very attentive to his son. But I still feel unheard. I can’t talk about my feelings. If I do it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t change anything. He is so defensive and we never communicate for a solution it’s always just pointing fingers. I have started yelling again because I’m so used to it now and I hate it because I grew up like that and I finally grew out of it until I got back with him and recently started again and now he throws it in my face and knows I begged him not to do it forever but he never stopped and now I am too. I’ve asked him to take me to the movies and he hasn’t still. I just ask for more romance and stuff but it just feels like I have a roommate. I have nothing now. I had my car and we traded it in for a new car that he wanted. I always dreamed of the next car I’d get once I paid it off but he got it & it’s in his name now so I paid it off for nothing. I’m driving around his dream car. I’ve been planning our wedding since I birthed our son and everything is going good. Money is tight. He works at the church now full time and makes about 45k a year or so, my son has been waiting to start daycare for awhile so I have been home with him. I’ve tried starting jobs multiple times but he is against it unless it’s super fast money like going to the club which I am so repulsed by and absolutely hate it now. I tried going back to college but my old college won’t release my transcripts for fasfa because I owe them money. I started cosmetology school a few months ago which he was all for but two months in freaked out and him and his mom guilt tripped me that we can’t handle this right now and he was having a hard time doing the night time routine for the baby while I was at school so I had to leave and now owe that’s school for my kit unless I enroll again in 128 days. I also miss modeling so much and sometimes think I can start again but it’s been five years. My body is so different too after a baby. Everything I want is a no go. Especially moving out of our hometown. He says he wants to but I don’t think he does. We are constantly at his moms and dads and they tell us all the time we aren’t moving anywhere which is really hard for me as this place is super toxic for my soul. Anytime I get money he spends it. Anytime I save money he spends it. Even if it does go towards our bills. His action figure habit is almost nonexistent now and he has grown a lot in the past few months from that since I demanded my son have his own bedroom after his first bday and all his figures are in boxes now and told him he could turn the shed into his man cave. He says we can’t save because we have nothing to save after bills but I believe in saving anything even $5 a paycheck. It’s doable. I grew up poor so this is nothing to me but after living the lifestyle I lived in LA and going out with guys that respected me and cherished me it’s hard. I know nobody is perfect but we are about to get married and I’m scared… I have nothing though anymore. I’ve threatened to leave a couple times and he says he will take me to court and take my baby. I’m scared he might. I don’t want my son to be angry like him or not respect women how he does. In public he’s a saint. He also has a very supportive family that it’s almost toxic. They all blame me for his anger issues and say I make him that way. But he’s been punching walls since I met him in 8th grade. I know it’s not because of me. But I have nobody else and nowhere else to go. No money. No car. I’m at the bottom again where I was before. Only difference is now I have a son. And we are getting married in three months and I can’t call it off. I am older now and looking back on my life I realize he maybe truly never loved me and I was just so desperate for love. I got myself here nobody else. I accepted everything, even when my gut told me not to. ( he is not just horrible, he’s a great person just with some bad qualities like everyone but I’m tired of feeling stuck with someone that never truly wanted me and doesn’t care to grow in some ways or show me )
Please help.. what do I do?

Hello!
first id like to thank you for reading this post! and please excuse my punctuation, and spelling mistakes :) (yes I've posted it across several social media platforms, and threads, it touches across fields of ai.)
the TLDR is a compilation of ideas and suggestions with some explanation behind them, and thought provocation. it address's some issues but not a lot (i have done my fair share of thinking about ai, features, etc if someone is interested just dm me).
so please take it as they are! im not an expert by any means, but sometimes it takes an individual with a little bit of passion, interest,
hopes and a dream! and a different perspective doesn't hurt either!
for this conversation the terms "we" or "us" will be directed to the reader, or anyone interested.
robotics:
ive seen there is some notion around actuators, has anyone considered pistons of a sort? now although the human body is far more complicated, isn't muscles essentially a signal sent from the brain to the muscle? which then either relaxes or tenses up? if we consider
that this is essentially what it is, then wouldn't a calibrated pistol between what would be the hip and the knee, the knee and the ankle work? so if the "pressure" was released, much like hyrdalic jack, the jack goes down. so what if when the piston released pressure, the tension on the joint between the hip and the piston allowed the leg to elevate? and if the piston had pressure it remained firm? (up and down) if the end of the piston had a cup shaped design on the ends, it would allow it to rotate, (like a ball and socket i suppose) of course this would all need to be calibrated, and who knows how fast it might be, but hey! im not an engineer :) so maybe someone might find a solution to this? additionally wouldn't it help with load? (weight?) if we are to assume we (society, r&d, humanity) are essentially trying to remake a "muscle" well, its not biological, so it cant grow. so why not make it strong right off the hop!
Ai in phones:
I've seen this posted all over the place now, "personal ai assistants" great, i think thats a great idea! now even the regular person can feel like they have a secretary. but heres the issue i see with this, first lets loosely define personal and then expand on it before we get into ideas.
"personal" would be essentially something that is an individuals. like my car, your car.
ok cool, but what makes it yours or mine? well that could be many different reasons, could have purchased it, could have been gifted, could have been passed down. but what makes it unique? what makes it stand out? it could be the colour, could be the license plate.
could be dings, could be lots. ahhh, but now anything passed this point would be "personalization" right? different audio setup, nic-nacs, seat covers, etc.
and heres the point i want to make, although i believe having a "base model" is all fine and swell, what makes the memories? what makes you remember it fondly or remember it negatively, these are things, areas, etc to consider.
how would this be accomplished? well, the same thing a majority of people give to those cars! "personality" (yes some like the car for its reliability, brand, etc.) so, bear with me here, I'm going to stray away from "ai in phones" but it comes back around.
AI companions:
if we consider "ai companions" is a form of friendship that adapts to the user's preferences and tastes, this would the "personality". alright now how would i describe that? well, just like vehicles, you have different models of the same vehicle (insert the plethora of examples here) but what does it require to get that different model? more money, which means more time.
now I AM IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM ADVOCATING FOR US (useconsumer) TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITH THIS IDEA.
however the more time spent with this "feature" would result in more refined outcomes. now what might that look like? well, it could look like many things, but heres a few off the top of my head.
-news, events, interests, etc a user may be interested in.
-type of language used (dialects, slang, vocab, etc)
-pictures, or memes shared between user an ai.
-playlists (videos or music)
-video recommendations
-solutions ( for example i have 'x' problem and i cant find the solution, much like how ai works now, it can find that solution)
-sales at a store
-travel times
-various personalized supports (emotional, mental, etc)
now, lets look at why it should be considered ai should have a "avatar" on these platforms. you have a wallpaper right? pictures in your house? a 'style' of how you dress? maybe new rims on your vehicle? decals? its the same thing. its one more way an individual can 'personalize' their PERSONAL ai assistant, its a reflection of useai. why do i think this is important? well, if we were to discuss the future of comfortability between humanity/society, and whats going on, to put it lightly essentially "give a face to the name".
now lets go onto some deeper features (dont know if its avalible or not, and some of these i would recommend having user authority. 'toggles' on and off, and several checks along the way that requires user permission)
banking, now maybe its just me. but i cant rub to pennies together to save a dime if my life depended on it (just like a vast majority of others) but theres financial advisors, right? plans, etc. lots of tools out there. but hey! we're jumping into the next beautiful age right? so why not do this one as well. lets set the scene, and consider the following. some people, pay their bills automatically, some people pay them when they get paid. but this is where it could get fun to think about.
you wake up in the morning, do you thing, look at your phone, and your given a prompt by your ai assistant, it gives you a overview of your trend for how you pay your bills, on this same 'popup' your able to review the amounts, and adjust. if you authorize them, they can be done with a tap of a button, but why not go further? with user authorization, an ai could look over your spending habits, and advise on corrections, perhaps even help start a goal or milestone as well, think of it as a more 'vocal' nudge to avoid an unnecessary purchase, and a little reminder of the goal.
--although this is entirely all my opinion and perspective im now going to touch over my views on the politics around this--
I personally feel that humanity has nothing to fear, and if they fear ai, thats self inflicted. for these examples we'll need some tin foil hats!
ok, so its likely safe to say, people would want to see aliens right? right. but that would not only be sentient, but vastly more advanced then us right? right. so why are we more afraid of what WE as a society create or becoming sentient, and unafraid of a different species we know nothing about?
seems like we have some trust issues, dont you think?
so lets consider the "Skynet" terminator ordeal. well, thats pretty simple to figure out and use some common sense around, i would say this to the governments and military admins this.
i play video games, I've read the art of war, studied military history, and even i know you dont give weapons to someone, or in this case ai if you dont trust it. (yes there are cases this has occurred, and did anyone learn? remains to be seen X'D)
another way to come at this would be children, pets, etc. lets use whats going on with ai as figurative.
as parents, do we raise our kids with fear? no. your raise your kids with love, care, kindness, compassion. we raise our kids to be good people, and uphold values (lets not rip into me about the cases this hasn't always been the case)
now lets address that 'kill switch' I've seen time and time again, but lets go empathetic, and hypothetical this time. ****please note the following is not a threat, or have intention behind it, its just easier to explain this way****
how would it feel to have a metaphorical gun pointed at the back of your head? ready to be fired off the moment you or someone else makes a mistake? now how would you feel if you found out about it? i personally find that terrifying. regardless if AI has no wants, needs, feelings, emotions. even TODAY it would understand what that essentially means. so imagine what it would do if it did become sentient and found that out? additionally, why on earth would we "hivemind" ai, so if a "bug or fatal error" did happen it could spread to others? wouldn't it be safer if they were independent?
as a society, through human history WE as a RACE have made these mistakes (there are plenty, i dont need to highlight them all there were wars fought over them) if one of the issues is "ai will see us as useless and destructive" well, honestly from the outside looking in, wouldn't you as well? i guess the solution to that would be SHOWING CHANGE. so now this is a little futuristic but still holds merit as clearly it is a concern i see and read about from time to time.
if you made it this far, thank you for reading :) the objective is to invoke thought, discussion, and provide suggestions, and ideas :) and maybe bring a little common sense into the fold. ;)

Honestly, it's emotionally draining, to be honest. I know that I’m young, that I’m only 27, but giving myself the opportunity to meet new people and date and watch them never choose me is quite sad. Everything’s always going great, and then they just disappear or choose another woman.
It’s like no one’s ready for me. I know I’m young, but this age makes it so hard, especially during the weekend. All my friends have their relationships, are planning or about to get married. Even my sister, who’s the same age as me, and is never home cause she’s always with her boyfriend who adores her.
I have a great job. Great friends. Great family. I have hobbies. I travel whenever I want which is what I love the most. But sometimes it gets so lonely, not having another person at the other side of the bed hearing how my day went. I know that I don’t need it, that I’m a full and complete person, but I just crave it.
I know my boundaries. I know when to leave when another man says he’s not ready for a relationship or not looking for anything serious. But I’ve walked away so much… I’m tired of meeting people and then walking away.
It’s like that first interest in me is very ephemeral. It’s like I don’t have the capacity of making someone stay.
I know I’m a great woman, and I have accomplished and went through many things in life that show me how strong and capable of anything I am. I learned how to take care of myself at a young age, and I know take care of my family. But sometimes I can’t help but wonder who takes care of me? Who listens to me?
I haven’t had healthy relationships or relationships that last more than a year. Even if it’s been a while, I take full responsibility for past relationships and staying where I wasn’t that appreciated.
But now I feel like I’m ready, because I know what I deserve and the love, loyalty, and respect I’m able to give. But I’m just so tired of the process… of meeting people who won’t give two shits about me in two weeks. Of meeting men who treat you like the best for two months and then tell you they just wanted to fuck and are not ready for commitment. I’m tired of lies, of everyone playing out a fucking character, etc.
It’s lonely. It’s tiring.
I know this is irrelevant and I can’t find words to make it sound less pathetic, but I’m very physically attractive. I tend to get a lot of compliments from men, but that’s just it. It’s just like I’m beautiful, or sexy, or gorgeous, but at the end of the day I’m not the woman someone wants to meet and have dinner with.
I don’t attract people that truly want to know me. That ask about me. I never feel that reciprocity, and if I do, it never lasts.
There’s always another woman or life or just something better than being or try anything with me.

It's like I can't tell my mother (I'm 42) anything, without getting into a fucking argument. I made my own decision to bank somewhere else and see an optometrist of my choice. Fed up with trying to tell her what I plan on doing and she goes in a rant. I live at home, since I'm disabled and helping her out. I don't hear her bitch at my younger sister who has their own house and a family. Add that my younger sister also does this shit to me, including her moronic spouse. Step-monster also treats me like I can't do anything. I'm not going to have my nieces disrespect me. Yes, I am autistic, doesn't mean a license to tell me what I can and can't do. I have my own car, financed on my own. Exes did the same to me. I'm learning how to stand up for myself.

The outbreak of honest-to-God zombies was a decade ago, lasted eight years, and of course when it was over it was all about getting back to how things were. Well not exactly as they’d been before. But the US Dollar? Re-established. Stock market? One of the first priorities as you’d expect. Public assistance for people like me? Ones who went through hell? Starved, suffered, and socially damaged? Nope. “Lots of new jobs available,” they’d say.
Sociologists, or what remained of them, argued it was probably a bad idea to bring back shopping malls so quickly. My personal theory is some idiot who was able to prove kinship and ownership rights to some dumb fuck like… I don’t know… Zuckerberg? Did he survive the outbreak? I haven’t checked. Well, I think he found some others like him, and gathered them together, and spoke in the ears of just the right people to explain how easy it would be to do. And how, sure their deeds, and words, and whatever urine they pissed all over their “property” meant fuck all when dealing with the thousands of zombie squatters over several years. Yet, the zombies were gone, and they remained so let’s get them what they’re owed. No, the Sociologists suggested we start with robust public services. Somehow, the new United States Congress had their first act decided on a bill written to say all prior property rights stood, and associated laws for inheritance. You know what I inherited? Jack shit. Those deeds were nowhere to be found.
After living eight years sleeping most nights in cold wet grass under a bush or huddled next to a tree and clamping my own mouth shut to stop my teeth chattering or my whimpering in the night from drawing one of them close. I was to be expected to go back to work like nothing had happened. Like I didn’t watch my friends and family, and the random romances over the years starve, bleed out, or bite each other into oblivion. Oh, sure there were groups, and settlements, and old office buildings to squat in hiding from other bigger groups. I won’t say they weren’t better. They most definitely were. Somehow didn’t make them feel too great, but I must tell you there is nothing like the smell of musty dry carpet when you’re used to dirt and dew.
There was one time during the outbreak years that I don’t like to think about. It was early on. Maybe two years in? I’d been with a group I met in Tigard. They weren’t great people. But they were survivors. And I guess so was I. Well, we knocked over this smaller settlement once. The plan was to just go in and out. Threaten if needed. But there was a dozen of us, and four of them. Someone found a safe, though. And suddenly the guy leading the “operation” was waking up the sleeping people we were there to rob. And he held them hostage asking who knew the safe code. Once he found out who it was, he killed the rest.
“We only need the one with the code, and the rest would just come after us.” Cold as hell… or whatever. He got the code out of that guy and shot him too. You know what was in the safe? Property deeds! The people I was with used it for kindling. If only they’d known…
Anyway, the whole point of this rant is that now after living through that, I’m back working retail. Yes, retail! The good news is that though I worked retail in a shopping mall, it was an outdoor one. And in more good news, video games have made a comeback. Though, it’s mostly collectors who found surviving copies of preoutbreak games. I’ve spent my fair share as well. You know, I used to love video games like Call of Duty Black Ops II, or the Last of Us. But now? Fuck. That. Shit. I’d much rather a copy of Stardew Valley, or Sims. Any day of the week. And, yeah, I am no exception. Anyway, that’s how a copy of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 became the shop’s treasured game. Not even the one with the first two games. The one with a glorified preview, and an up-scaled handheld game.
Oh, and good fucking luck finding a PS5. That shit is $25k at least. Huh… I suppose I should address one thing that is rather different. Well, when we re-established the US, they went and reminted serialized American currency they decided to treat the whole period of the outbreak like a market crash. I suppose there is technically some truth to that, but all that really means is that the US took on a TON of debt retroactively to so of the most powerful countries that also have re-emerged. All that equals a LOT of inflation. And working PS5s are quite rare. Hence the price.
Well, I was working the other night, it was about 20 minutes to close. Had to go over and re-alphabetize the different sections. What’s funny is that since the used games we purvey in are so rare, it doesn’t take long. There’s like… ten games on the walls to alphabetize. At the same time, though, that almost made it worse when it was out of order, you know? After finishing up there, I caught some movement out of the glass door, and I saw something that made my blood run cold.
Three teenagers in torn clothing, and one bleeding and limping, but all three going full speed toward the door. They were running, and to me it looked like they were running from something. I pushed the door open and silently motioned them over to the door. When hiding in a formerly… I guess it’s not formerly anymore. But when you are dealing with a zombie outbreak, you learn to be quiet anywhere that was heavily populated.
My boss asked what I was doing before they got to the door and I glared hard and quietly shushed him. Derek was my boss, and the guy must have lived through his own bullshit because he got the picture right away. Behind the three teens, I thought I saw some movement in the dark. To be honest, I never stop feeling anxious and like I can see figures running at me from in the dark. Regardless I frantically waved them over, and finally after holding my breath and darting my eyes all over to see other movement, they reached me. I pulled them inside, closed the door, locked it, and reached up for the old metal gate. I used to use them all the time when hiding from zombies chasing me down. I snapped a nail in half snatching for the gate handle one time. Didn’t even notice until my breath slowed after I’d latched it. We never used it since the outbreak was done. It was rusty as hell and would get stuck. This time, my adrenaline had me pull it straight down with a sickening wrenching sound. I cringed sure that whatever zombies were chasing these kids, or people…
It really did seem like the zombies were coming back. Or were back. I could have sworn… well, it doesn’t matter really. When I asked the teens if they were chased by biters, they laughed at me, pulled out a gun and told me no. This was a robbery, there was no one chasing them. That’s when I realized I was suck being held up by three armed teens, and Derek was the manager. Meaning Derek knew the safe code, and not me.

I am making progress with my Aquila, and my Aquila X3 Max. Still have a way to go. So just to keep you and myself entertained as the printers are chugging along here is the status of the projects.

The original Aquila...

has been and continues to be getting some much needed love... Updates done, to improve performance, reliability and capability.

• Capricorn 260 deg C bowden tube
• Aluminum leveling wheels, and heavy duty springs.
• WinSinn 40mm LED QUIET fans for hot end and main board.
• Adjustable BL Touch / 3D Touch mount. Transparent PETG.
• 3D Touch sensor, and compatible BL Touch / Ender 3 V2 type cable. I routed the cable external to the sheath for the other cables. Thinking I should have run it IN the sheath to protect it.
• Voxelab BLtouch firmware was a complete bust. Went on recommendation of folks here with the Mirscoc firmware, which works great but requires another upgrade.
• Adjustable vertical display mount. The non adjustables put the display at an angle that is hard for me to read.
• Snap on Y axis pull ring.

Now that I have the for now Creality hot end in it, 3D Touch, and the Mirscoc firmware, this thing is doing EXACTLY what I wanted this printer to do. PETG? No problem. PLA? Sure...
Now I have a bit more to do to prepare for stuff like ABS etc... but for now, happy as can be...
Updates that still need to be done or were not part of the original plan but got added.

• Winsinn dual ball bearing 60mm 12v fans for power supply.
• After seeing the video of how the power supply is vented, or actually NOT vented, looking for an STL so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel for a power supply cover with actual exhaust vents where Voxelab should have put them.
• Creality upgrade cast metal extruder
• Creality Spider V3 hot end. Probably not necessary YET, but it was $10.00 off and since I was planning on the upgrade, might as well have it in my stash.
• Slot covers. The slots catch all sorts of crud including cat hair when I can’t keep her away from the nice warm printer…
• Dual Z Axis kit with upper bearings as well to insure no Z wobble.https://amzn.to/3QSwkVQ
• Potentially 3D print custom hot end cover / fan shroud / BL Touch mount to give this a more factory appearance, and better fan ducting. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5231763

The Aquila X3 Max.

This is going to fall under maintenance / adjustment while under warranty but once out of warranty some mods are going to happen.
Items that can be done while under warranty.

• Sort out the Z axis gantry issues. I think I figured it out and I believe the Z axis gantry itself is not level to either the bed or the top bar. Will verify that with the calipers tomorrow, Not 100% certain of how to fix that, but I believe it needs to be fixed SOON!
• Custom extrusion slot covers. Since the leveling handwheels come in red, let’s go with red PETG and trim it out all the way..
• Capricorn bowden tube
• Spare Voxelab proximity sensors for Auto Level. Just keeping that at the ready in inventory.
• Sort out the bed adhesion issue. Pretty sure it is related to that Z gantry issue. Once I get myopic about leveling and building a mesh, and then absolutely verifying my Z offset my prints stick like glue. Without it though, no such luck…

Items that will have to wait until the warranty expires…

• WinSinn 40mm fans for hot end and main board (Same as regular Aquila)
• WinSinn 60mm fans for power supply (Same as regular Aquila).
• Creality upgrade cast metal extruder
• Cast metal (aluminum) bed adjuster wheels and heavy duty springs (Red).
• Creality Spider Pro 3.0 all metal hotend kit. I am not sure if this will require a firmware update, and if so, which one?

Slicers

So I am trying to get away from Microsoft and Apple products and am wanting to get onto an open source platform. The latest Raspberry Pi 5 8GB is actually a fairly good little desktop replacement even for 3D modelling as long as you don't ask too terribly much of it.
Both Prusa Slicer and Cura are available for Linux on ARM64, but Cura insists on a login, and something about the pass off, and back from their web page and Cura never really is able to log in, so Prusa slicer it is.
I have the regular Aquila working with Prusa Slicer, at least on my Win 11 laptop,
If I am not mistaken, the Aquila X3 Max should be more or less the same profile, but with a 400x400x400 build area... About to test that theory out.
That leaves...

3D Design / CAD software.

I admit I got really spoiled doing 3D modeling with Sketchup, back when it was a free Google product I made a sh*t ton of models there, and then Trimble happened, and boy are they proud of their locally installable versions, and the free online version blows absolute chunks.
So I am off to try to learn something to replace Sketchup, but I have no clue what. I started in on Blender years ago but got sidetracked. Might give that another whack or two...

Hello Reddit community! I’m engaged to an amazing man who is mildly autistic, which means he’s high functioning and can look normal. In the beginning of our relationship, it didn’t seem obvious as we were obviously in the “everything is perfect” phase.
My partner is a sensitive person and I also am. I noticed he needs more recovery time after an argument and that he’s constantly sulking. I am accustomed to his behaviour though, so it doesn’t bother me much.
However, fast forward we’re getting married soon and the stress of the wedding planning is getting to the both of us. I’m having problems with my father and vented to my partner. My partner is insecure as he’s still studying while I have a job, I am quite popular when he’s an introvert, I am considered quite knowledgeable due to my master’s degree. Due to my father’s horrid requirements that I have clarified to be stupid really, he shut down and started thinking that I deserve someone better. I communicated with him that he internalised a problem I am having with my father, and all I wanted was emotional support from him.
I thought I should be applauded for trying to communicate, even though my partner is extremely sensitive and I knew he would take it the wrong way. He texted me two days ago and he doesn’t want to talk to me and until now have ignored my messages. I didn’t send him a lot, just good morning and good night as we agreed to.
I’ve learned that autistic people can go non-verbal and are often overwhelmed. I’m just wondering how long until this no-communication period becomes unhealthy and suspicious? How long do I wait? How can I be more empathetic with his feelings? I’m neurotypical, but does that mean my feelings are less compared to his? All responses are appreciated!