He said that's why he keeps coming back. He's also called me things today like princess, baby, said that I'm so pretty, etc.
The high I get from his compliments is enough to send me to Jupiter. It's scary for me. I have trouble steadying myself, to say the least. It has the power to change the entire course of my day. I just want to jump for joy.
Just posting bc I know y'all can relate. Then I know when I'm suddenly not getting enough attention, I'll crash and burn. Here we go. Trying to tell myself to be careful and guard my heart, but it's so damn hard.

Hi everyone I’m a 25m and right now my family is going through a difficult time with my parents going through a divorce and I just don’t know what to do anymore I’ve been dealing with this for 5 to 4 years already. I just came out of the hospital and wanna focus on getting healthier. I’m not trying to excuse any of my parents behavior while going thru this because they’ve both done some inexcusable things to one another first off my father left the house about 4 days ago because he just had enough of my mother and I understand that. But anyways my mother has had trauma throughout her whole life and has been diagnosed for anxiety and bipolar awhile back but she can’t stand my father because she feels like he has done nothing for our family and this would trigger her to have episodes like she would start yelling at him and hit him and say things about his deceased parents and all that. She literally tells my siblings and I she wants justice by saying she wants him in prison or dead and I can’t handle that it makes me feel hurt but I’ve tried to tell her don’t say that infront of us atleast but she says she doesn’t give a fuck and she also said if we keep talking to him she’ll disown us
I know my father has done some things that are wrongful but I forgave him and I love him and felt like are relationship was getting better because I use to have resentment towards him. I love both of my parents and I just wanna focus on getting healthier myself but I have so much on my plate and just don’t know how to feel anymore. Any opinions and advice is welcomed and thanks for taking the time to read this

DAY: MAY 26 2024
5-26-2024

AI CHATBOTS ARE INTRUDING INTO ONLINE COMMUNITIES WHERE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO CONNECT WITH OTHER HUMANS

A parent asked a question in a private Facebook group in April 2024: Does anyone with a child who is both gifted and disabled have any experience with New York City public schools? The parent received a seemingly helpful answer that laid out some characteristics of a specific school, beginning with the context that “I have a child who is also 2e,” meaning twice exceptional. On a Facebook group for swapping unwanted items near Boston, a user looking for specific items received an offer of a “gently used” Canon camera
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI RELIES ON MASS SURVEILLANCE, WARNS SIGNAL BOSS

The AI tools that crunch numbers, generate text and videos and find patterns in data rely on mass surveillance and exercise concerning control over our lives, the boss of encrypted messaging app Signal told AFP on Thursday. Pushing back against the unquestioning enthusiasm at VivaTech in Paris, Europe’s top startup conference where industry players vaunt the merits of their products, Meredith Whittaker said concerns about surveillance and those about AI were “two framings
5-26-2024

THE ‘DEAD INTERNET THEORY’ MAKES EERIE CLAIMS ABOUT AN AI-RUN WEB. THE TRUTH IS MORE SINISTER

An example of a shrimp Jesus image on Facebook with no caption or context information included in the post. Credit: Facebook If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with a stereotypical image of Jesus Christ. Some of these hyper-realistic images have garnered more than 20,000 likes and comments. So what exactly is going on here? The “dead internet theory” has an explanation: AI and bot-generated content has surpassed the human-generated internet. But where did
5-26-2024

WHAT ARE DEEPFAKES AND SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

Deepfakes are creating havoc across the globe, spreading fake news and pornography, being used to steal identities, exploiting celebrities, scamming ordinary people and even influencing elections. Yet a worldwide survey found 71% of people have no idea what deepfakes are. Deepfakes are digital photos, videos or voices of real people that have either been synthetically created or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) and can be hard to distinguish from the real thing. You’ve probably seen a deepfake video or photo without even realizing it. Computer-generated Tom Cruises,
5-26-2024

META INTRODUCES CHAMELEON, AN EARLY-FUSION MULTIMODAL MODEL

Chameleon represents all modalities—images, text, and code, as discrete tokens and uses a uniform transformer-based architecture that is trained from scratch in an end-to-end fashion on ?10T tokens of interleaved mixed-modal data. As a result, Chameleon can both reason over, as well as generate, arbitrary mixed-modal documents. Text tokens are represented in green and image tokens are represented in blue. AI researchers at Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many other products, have designed and built a multimodal model to compete with
5-26-2024

ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES MAY YIELD SIGNIFICANT HEALTH AND CLIMATE BENEFITS, COST SAVINGS

Replacing diesel school buses with electric school buses may yield up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits per individual bus, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The researchers found that these benefits—including fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduced rates of adult mortality and childhood asthma—and their associated savings are strongest in large cities and among fleets of old (2005 and before) buses. The study, “Adopting electric school buses in the United States: health and climate benefits,” was published in the
5-26-2024

WEARABLE DEVICES GET SIGNAL BOOST FROM NEW MATERIAL

Strain-invariant stretchable wireless system enabled by dielectro-elastic composite. A new material that moves like skin while preserving signal strength in electronics could enable the development of next-generation wearable devices with continuous, consistent wireless and battery-free functionality. According to a study published today in Nature, an international team of researchers from Rice University and Hanyang University developed the material by embedding clusters of highly dielectric ceramic nanoparticles into an elastic polymer. The material was reverse-engineered to not only mimic skin elasticity and motion types, but also
5-26-2024

AI DOMINATES ANNUAL PARIS STARTUP EVENT VIVATECH

Vivatech will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers over four days. Thousands of tech enthusiasts filed into Europe’s self-declared biggest startup event VivaTech in Paris on Wednesday, with artificial intelligence stealing the show this year. Over four days, the event, now in its eighth year, will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers, according to the organizers. The star turns will take to the stage on Thursday—former US climate envoy and secretary of state John Kerry is expected to make a push for
5-26-2024

AI POISED TO USHER IN NEW LEVEL OF CONCIERGE SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

AI concierge’s fundamental forms. Credit: Journal of Service Management (2024). Concierge services built on artificial intelligence have the potential to improve how hotels and other service businesses interact with customers, a new paper suggests. In the first work to introduce the concept, researchers have outlined the role an AI concierge, a technologically advanced assistant, may play in various areas of the service sector as well as the different forms such a helper might embody. Their paper envisions a virtual caretaker that, by combining natural language processing, behavioral data
5-26-2024

AGE VERIFICATION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA WOULD IMPACT EVERYONE—RESEARCHERS ASK PARENTS AND KIDS IF THEY ACTUALLY WANT IT

by Justine Humphry, Catherine Page Jeffery, Jonathon Hutchinson and Olga Boichak, The Conversation This month the Australian government announced a A$6.5 million commitment to trial an age-verification program that will restrict children’s exposure to inappropriate online content, including pornography and potentially social media. The announcement came out of a National Cabinet meeting geared towards addressing gender-based violence in Australia. Much has been said about age-checking technologies in the weeks since. Experts point out implementing these tools effectively (so they aren’t easily by-passed) will be complicated—and any such system could come
5-26-2024

IS IT SAFE TO FLY? AIRLINE SAFETY EXPERT ON MODERN COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

In light of recent news regarding congressional action on aviation safety, Penn State News spoke with Amy Pritchett, department head of aerospace engineering and professor in Penn State’s College of Engineering. Pritchett previously served as the director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program and currently chairs the National Academies committee chartered to research and advise federal regulators on emerging trends in aviation safety. In
5-26-2024

USING SMART DEVICES TO SCHEDULE ON-DEMAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY

Suburban residents often face challenges receiving reliable and accessible bus transit—riders often complain about infrequent schedules and long waiting times. Often, transit agencies are unable to provide additional buses because population density in such areas is usually low. On-demand transit (ODT) is an innovative transportation approach that enhances the accessibility and quality of service while reducing operating costs. Despite the rapid growth of ODT services in various cities across Canada and the United States, the mechanism of
5-26-2024

UNDERWATER SIGNALS GENERATED BY OPEN SEA AIRPLANE CRASHES COULD BE KEY TO DETECTING FINAL RESTING PLACE OF MH370

Location of the CTBTO’s hydroacoustic stations H11N and H11S (white triangles); the impact location of three aircrafts (indicated in yellow): F-35a, Transair Flight 810, and Asiana Flight 991; and the distances and bearings relative to the hydroacoustic stations (presented in magenta). The cyan star shows the location of earthquake M 4.8–9 km S of Y?kaichiba, Japan, 2014-03-07 18:34:20 (UTC) 35.611o N 140.552o E 23.9 km depth. Signals captured on underwater microphones could be key to locating airplanes such as MH370 when they crash into
5-26-2024

SURVEY INVESTIGATES AI TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CLASSIFICATION AND CREATION OF ART

A comprehensive survey has looked at the intersection of art and artificial intelligence (AI). The team has focused on how AI technologies are employed in the classification and also the creation of artworks. Andrej Šimi? and Marina Bagi? Babac of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb have analyzed and categorized a number of research papers in this field to understand the methodologies, techniques, and outcomes in this emerging field. They discuss
5-26-2024

CYBERSECURITY LABELING FOR SMART DEVICES AIMS TO HELP PEOPLE CHOOSE ITEMS LESS LIKELY TO BE HACKED

Smart devices like baby monitors, fitness trackers and internet-connected appliances will soon be eligible for labels certifying that they meet federal cybersecurity standards. Federal officials said Wednesday that the first “Cyber Trust” labels could appear in time for the holiday shopping season. The White House announced the labels last year to help consumers avoid devices that are vulnerable to hacking. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File Consumer labels
5-26-2024

WORLD LEADERS STILL NEED TO WAKE UP TO AI RISKS, SAY LEADING EXPERTS AHEAD OF AI SAFETY SUMMIT

Leading AI scientists are calling for stronger action on AI risks from world leaders, warning that progress has been insufficient since the first AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park six months ago. Then, the world’s leaders pledged to govern AI responsibly. However, as the second AI Safety Summit in Seoul (21–22 May) approaches, 25 of the world’s leading AI scientists say not enough is actually being done to protect us from the technology’s risks. In an expert consensus paper published in Science, they outline urgent policy priorities that global leaders
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI TRAINED TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM IMAGES, NOT COPY THEM

Powerful new artificial intelligence models sometimes, quite famously, get things wrong—whether hallucinating false information or memorizing others’ work and offering it up as their own. To address the latter, researchers led by a team at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a framework to train AI models on images corrupted beyond recognition. DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are among the text-to-image diffusion generative AI models that can turn arbitrary user text into highly realistic images. All three are now facing lawsuits from artists who
5-26-2024

AI CHIPS COULD GET A SENSE OF TIME WITH MEMRISTOR THAT CAN BE TUNED

Tunable composition and structural disorder in single-crystalline ESO thin films on epitaxial YBCO electrodes. Credit: Nature Electronics (2024). Artificial neural networks may soon be able to process time-dependent information, such as audio and video data, more efficiently. The first memristor with a “relaxation time” that can be tuned is reported today in Nature Electronics, in a study led by the University of Michigan. Memristors, electrical components that store information in their electrical resistance, could reduce AI’s energy needs by about a factor of 90 compared to today’s graphical
5-26-2024

WHAT GOOGLE AI MEANS FOR YOU—AND YOUR SEARCH RESULTS

Google recently unveiled plans to integrate its search engine with artificial intelligence (AI). The company is debuting a new search engine feature called A.I. Overviews, which generates an overview of the topic a user searches and displays links to learn more. Traditional search results still appear underneath, but A.I. Overviews, Google says, will parse various pieces of information to give you a quicker answer. The new feature has raised concerns from some web publishers, who worry it will deal a heavy blow to their site traffic. Currently, A.I. Overviews don’t
5-26-2024

RESEARCHERS ANALYZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AI-GENERATED DEEPFAKES

Credit: AI-generated image Most of the deepfakes (videos with fake hyper-realistic recreations) generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that spread through social media feature political representatives and artists and are often linked to current news cycles. This is one of the conclusions of research by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) that analyzes the formal and content characteristics of viral misinformation in Spain arising from the use of AI tools for illicit purposes. This advance represents a step towards understanding and mitigating the threats generated by hoaxes in our society.
5-26-2024

INTERDISCIPLINARY GROUP SUGGESTS GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF AI IN SCIENCE

(AI) generates texts, videos and images that can hardly be distinguished from those of humans—with the result that we often no longer know what is real. Researchers and scientists are increasingly being supported by AI. Therefore, an international task force has now developed principles for
5-26-2024

IMPERCEPTIBLE SENSORS MADE FROM ‘ELECTRONIC SPIDER SILK’ CAN BE PRINTED DIRECTLY ON HUMAN SKIN

Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. Credit: University of Cambridge Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. The method, developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, takes its inspiration from spider silk, which can conform and
5-26-2024

BREAKTHROUGH OR BOAST? THE QUEST FOR COMPARABLE RESEARCH RESULTS

More international attention is being paid to the importance of common standards for performing scientific experiments and measuring their results—a field called metrology. In late 2019, physicist Dr. Lorenzo Pattelli was part of an Italian-Chinese scientific team working on a cooling technology that is fast gaining attention as the Earth gets hotter from climate change. Called passive daytime radiative cooling, or PDRC, the technology uses engineered materials to reflect away the sun’s radiation. The idea is that, amid heat waves, PDRC panels would cool buildings without the need for energy-intensive
5-26-2024

AI-ENHANCED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TOOLS COULD HELP GIG WORKERS SOLVE PROBLEMS

Researchers at Northeastern University have created artificial intelligence tools to help gig workers organize, collect their own job-related data, analyze their work problems and come up with a strategy to implement solutions. “Building solid AI-enhanced solutions to enable gig workers’ collective action will pave the way for a fair and ethical gig economy—one with fair wages, humane working conditions and increased job security,” says Saiph Savage, assistant professor and director of the Civic A.I. Lab at Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Gig work is typically performed by a freelancer
5-26-2024

AI-POWERED TRADING STRATEGIES TAME MARKET SWINGS

Average financial indicators feature importance. Credit: Quantitative Finance and Economics (2024). DOI: 10.3934/QFE.2024007 The dynamic landscape of cryptocurrencies, marked by rapid growth and high volatility since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, has attracted significant attention from investors and traders. The emergence of new digital currencies challenges traditional financial models, necessitating advanced analytical tools to navigate the market’s unpredictability. The quest for effective trading strategies has led to the exploration of AI and machine learning techniques, which promise to enhance decision-making in this speculative yet lucrative field. Researchers from the University of
5-26-2024

NEW ROBOTIC PALM USES SOPHISTICATED TACTILE SENSORS TO MIMIC HUMAN TOUCH

“I’ll have you eating out of the palm of my hand” is an unlikely utterance you’ll hear from a robot. Why? Most of them don’t have palms. If you have kept up with the protean field, gripping and grasping more like humans has been an ongoing Herculean effort. Now, a new robotic hand design developed in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has rethought the oft-overlooked
5-26-2024

SCARLETT JOHANSSON SAYS A CHATGPT VOICE IS ‘EERILY SIMILAR’ TO HERS AND OPENAI IS HALTING ITS USE

Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers at the photo call for the film “Asteroid City” at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 24, 2023. OpenAI plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some drew similarities to Johansson, who famously portrayed a fictional AI assistant in the (perhaps no longer so futuristic) film “Her.” File OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds
5-26-2024

AI HEADPHONES LET WEARER LISTEN TO A SINGLE PERSON IN A CROWD BY LOOKING AT THEM JUST ONCE

A University of Washington team has developed an artificial intelligence system that lets a user wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds and then hear just the enrolled speaker’s voice in real time even as the listener moves around in noisy places and no longer faces the speaker. Pictured is a prototype of the headphone system: binaural microphones attached to off-the-shelf noise canceling headphones. Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington Noise-canceling headphones have gotten very good at creating an auditory blank slate. But allowing certain sounds
5-26-2024

NVIDIA’S PROFIT SOARS, UNDERSCORING ITS DOMINANCE IN CHIPS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Nvidia reports earnings on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Eric Risberg Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first quarter that ended April 28 from $2.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue
5-26-2024

EIT-BASED TACTILE SENSOR PROVIDES NEW APPROACH TO FINE MOTOR SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Researchers from SIT Japan showed a peg-shaped sensor for classifying adult pinching motions. Reconstructed images reach 79.4% accuracy, while voltage vectors achieve 91.4%, hinting at automated finger motion analysis potential. a) The microcontroller and sensing device are connected by a wire. (b) Hand model pinching the sensing device with two fingers from the horizontal direction and the reconstructed image. Credit: Hiroki Sato from SIT, Japan. Fine motor skills play a crucial role in human cognition, influencing everything from daily activities to the development of advanced tool-based civilizations. Yet, quantifying and
5-26-2024

EUROPE’S CLIMATE LAWS COULD SPELL THE END TO LOW-COST FLIGHTS—BUT WHAT ABOUT PRIVATE JETS?

The era of low-cost air travel in Europe may be over for good, thanks in part to recent EU environmental policies. All in all, this is good news for the climate. But many low- and middle-income people who used to travel around the EU will no longer be able to do so, or at least will be able to do so much less often. Yet the same policies will have little or no impact on the use of much more polluting private jets, which typically cover distances served by commercial
5-26-2024

ROBOT-PHOBIA COULD EXASPERATE HOTEL, RESTAURANT LABOR SHORTAGE

Using more robots to close labor gaps in the hospitality industry may backfire and cause more human workers to quit, according to a Washington State University study. The study, involving more than 620 lodging and food service employees, found that “robot-phobia”—specifically the fear that robots and technology will take human jobs—increased workers’ job insecurity and stress, leading to greater intentions to leave their jobs. The impact was more pronounced with employees who had real experience working with robotic technology. It also affected managers in addition to frontline workers. The findings
5-26-2024

TWO TYPES OF LLMS FOUND ABLE TO EQUAL OR OUTPERFORM HUMANS ON THEORY OF MIND TESTS

Performance of human (purple), GPT-4 (dark blue), GPT-3.5 (light blue) and LLaMA2-70B (green) on the battery of theory of mind tests. a, Original test items for each test showing the distribution of test scores for individual sessions and participants. b, Interquartile ranges of the average scores on the original published items (dark colors) and novel items (pale colors) across each test. An international team of psychologists and neurobiologists has found via experimentation that two types of LLMs are able to equal or outperform
5-26-2024

SANOFI ALLIES WITH OPENAI, FORMATION BIO FOR AI USE IN DRUG DEVELOPMENT

AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced Tuesday a partnership with ChatGPT-founder OpenAI and US biotech firm Formation Bio to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in developing drugs. AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. It can be used for example to find new molecules more quickly and to improve clinical tests by vetting which patients would be
5-26-2024

USING AI, MASTERCARD EXPECTS TO FIND COMPROMISED CARDS QUICKER, BEFORE THEY GET USED BY CRIMINALS

A sign indicating MasterCard credit cards are accepted is posted at a New York business, Jan. 21, 2015. Mastercard said Wednesday, May 21, 2024, that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File Mastercard said Wednesday that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal.
5-26-2024

NEW FLEXIBLE FILM DETECTS EYELASH PROXIMITY IN BLINK-TRACKING GLASSES

When attached to eyeglasses, a clear, flexible sensor can detect how close eyelashes are to the lens, enabling blink tracking. When another person’s finger hovers over your skin, you may get the sense that they’re touching you, feeling not necessarily contact, but their proximity. Similarly, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have designed a soft, flexible film that senses the presence of nearby objects without physically touching them. The study features the new sensor technology to detect
5-26-2024

GAMERS SAY THEY HATE ‘SMURFING,’ BUT ADMIT THEY DO IT

Online video game players believe the behavior known as “smurfing” is generally wrong and toxic to the gaming community—but most admit to doing it and say some reasons make the behavior less blameworthy, new research finds. The new study suggests that debates about toxicity in gaming may sometimes be more complex and nuanced than is often acknowledged, according to the researchers. Online video games use what are called “matchmaking systems” to pair players based on skill. “Smurfing” is when players cheat these systems by creating new accounts so that they
5-26-2024

HUMANS BARELY ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AI-GENERATED MEDIA

AI-generated images, texts and audio files are so convincing that people are no longer able to distinguish them from human-generated content. This is the result of an online survey of about 3,000 participants from Germany, China, and the U.S. This is the first time that a large transnational study has examined this particular form of media literacy.
5-26-2024

CAN AIRPLANE TURBULENCE REALLY KILL YOU? AIRCRAFT PROPULSION EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON SINGAPORE AIRLINES DEATH

One person was killed and several dozen more injured Tuesday when a flight from London to Singapore encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” and plummeted roughly 6,000 feet in a matter of minutes, according to The Washington Post. All told, there were 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, according to Singapore Airlines. The deceased passenger reportedly suffered a heart attack during the mid-air tumult. The Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines diverted to Bangkok, where it landed at 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday following the in-flight incident. The New York
5-26-2024

HOW INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES’ ARE CAUTIOUSLY EMBRACING GENERATIVE AI

U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to embrace the AI revolution, convinced they’ll otherwise be smothered in data as sensor-generated surveillance tech further blankets the planet. They also need to keep pace with competitors, who are already using AI to seed social media platforms with deepfakes. But the tech is young and brittle, and officials are acutely aware that generative AI is anything but tailor-made for a trade steeped in danger and deception. Years before OpenAI’s ChatGPT set off the current generative AI marketing frenzy, U.S. intelligence and defense officials were
5-26-2024

3D PRINTING ROBOT USES AI MACHINE LEARNING TO CREATE A SHOCK-ABSORBING SHAPE NO HUMAN EVER COULD

Inside a lab in Boston University’s College of Engineering, a robot arm drops small, plastic objects into a box placed perfectly on the floor to catch them as they fall. One by one, these tiny structures—feather-light, cylindrical pieces, no bigger than an inch tall—fill the box. Some are red, others blue, purple, green, or black. Each object is the result of an experiment in robot autonomy. On its own, learning as it goes, the robot is searching for, and trying to make, an object with the most

I'm not sure if I'm putting this in the right place, so if anyone has any suggestions on somewhere else to put it, please let me know
I was diagnosed with Dyscalculia (learning disability in math) when I was about eight years old. This diagnosis was made by a doctor through an evaluation that was requested by my elementary school. When I was in middle school it was requested that I have an updated evaluation, at which point my diagnosis was reconfirmed. I am now 24 years old and finishing my last two pre-requisites summer semester so that I can enter into my chosen program in the fall. But my problem is this - When I first came to this college, I filled out everything I needed to in order to get accommodations through disability services. A few of the things that I struggle with is writing numbers backwards, putting decimals in the wrong places, writing the actual problems backwards, and most unfortunately; the fact that I cannot memorize math related content. (As in, you can spend HOURS teaching me, but by the next day I will have forgotten - this is what made my elementary school request the evaluation) For accommodations, I was given time and a half on exams and the use of a calculator, as well as formula/equation sheets. But even with these (though please note that none of my math professors have ever actually given me any formula/equation sheets) I still struggled massively. Time and a half really doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing, and it took me a whole semester to learn how to use my calculator at its most basic functions. Because I was struggling so much, and because the amount of time I spent in tutoring and by myself on math was severely impacting my grades in other classes, my math professor last semester contacted my disability aid and suggested I be allowed to use Mathway on exams. She also told me not to worry about submitting scratch work, because she knew that when I tried to write things out on my own, I wrote them backwards and confused myself. This ultimately helped me to just barely pass that class. This semester, however, I have a new professor (intermediate algebra) who has made it clear that she thinks my disability is fake. The class is virtual and tests are done at home (still proctored), but she is making me come in to test because she "doesn't trust that I'm not a cheater." This was highly insulting, and nearly made me cry because I work really hard and highly value academic honesty. She won't let me use my calculator (she wants me to use the ones at school, even though I told her it took me a whole semester just to learn to use the one I own, and that I only know how to use it in a basic way. I also told her I've always been allowed to use it both by my professors and whenever I've had to use the testing center.), She told me I'm not spending enough time on my homework assignments and that she's going to be watching to make sure they say I've spent at least 8 hours on each one. She also records her lectures and can see who accesses them, and she said that she'll be watching to make sure I'm going back and rewatching them. This particularly stressed me out because I don't understand anything she does in lecture and feel that rewatching would just overwhelm me more. Instead, I take the class/lecture materials to my tutor on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have her explain everything to me in words and small steps, and then she creates basic reference sheets for each type of problem that we go through and helps me use it with practice problems, so that I can use them to aid me when I complete my homework and when I do additional practice problems on my own. I find this works really well for me. Because the professor said I couldn't use Mathway and the department chair agreed with her, I asked if I could use my reference sheets that my tutor creates for me. I was denied. So at this point my accommodations are time and a half, and the use of a calculator that I don't know how to work as well as formula/equation sheets that I've yet to be given and have been clearly told that the only ones they are willing to give me are the ones they give out to the whole class. And if I'm being entirely honest, I'm not sure how the calculator can even be viewed as an accommodation in this class at all when everyone gets to use one, nor can I understand how the same formula/equation sheets you give to a normal person count as an accommodation for me, when my disabled brain isn't going to be able to understand them. I don't get why there aren't resources specifically made for learning disabilities like mine for usage in the classroom. Or why the "accommodations" I'm being given are so generalized, when even the same disability can impact students in different ways. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to get at here is legally, is there anything I can do here? Are there any other accommodations that I can request? Even with my reference sheets it still takes me an extremely long time to work out a problem, and I still get confused and mess things up. But it at least gives me a fighting chance. Now that I've been denied that, I genuinely don't know what to do. I work hard, I spend hours studying, I meet with a tutor twice a week (paying over 1,000 dollars for, by the way), and I'm constantly in contact with my disability aid. I'm also up front with introducing myself to math professors in advance and explaining my disability, asking if they have any ideas or suggestions. I really want to do well in this class, but I feel like I'm being set up for failure. In addition to this I'm also taking Chem 105 which is extremely math heavy. I feel like I'm drowning and I just really need some help.

This might sound like an insane achievement, going from easy demon to insane demon in only 2 months? What?!!! Well please listen to what I have to say. (Might be a long post)
I played GD on my phone for 2 years, beaten deadlocked on my phone when I was 13. Haven’t touched the game until I turned 18, when I started to do Toxin Lab 2 progressing eventually to Acropolis, which is now my hardest level in only under 2 months. (Do note that this happened a year ago, im 19 now)
This is reality, this achievement was backed up by 2 years of experience on a 60hz setup. On the present day, I now have a PC with a 144hz monitor, which definitely helped my progression.
Not so crazy now huh? This “2 months” of progression was actually a 2 year journey. The only real reason why It was even possible for me to beat Acropolis was because I played the game ALOT. 2 years is a long time, if everyone played consistently for 2 years, I do believe beating an insane demon is definitely possible.
So imagine this, a person who has ZERO experience of Geometry Dash, decides to try progressing from stereo madness to Acropolis in under 2 months. Do you think they can do it? Personally, I’d be suprised if they can beat even an easy demon. Because Geometry Dash is NOT an easy game.
Keep your grind up, not your hopes up. And most importantly, if a level starts to become unfun, take a break. NOBODY is in control of your own progression, because you are your own person and it is your own journey.
I do believe GD has a bit of luck involved, so keep this in mind from now on:
“There is no shortcuts, however there are days where you get lucky, so how will you miss those lucky days when you try everyday?”

I hate Christmas. Everyone seems to love it, but for me it’s just an overwhelming feeling of grief and sadness. Seeing my brother’s chair with no presents on it, only 4 plates at the dinner table and not going for dinner at granny and Granda’s on Boxing Day. I miss my daddy so much but I have to put on a brave face and pretend I can laugh about it but really when I make a joke it’s really because someone has said something and my brother and daddy are all I can think about so if I don’t say anything I will just be sitting in silence thinking about them for ages. I wish I could enjoy Christmas I really do but I just can’t. The rest of my family seem to enjoy it and they are smiling the whole day but I know that it is killing mummy but my sisters don’t really seem to care that much. I really want to just kill myself but I know it would break mummy to lose anyone else but I just feel so alone in this world even though I have friends it just doesn’t seem like they really care about me. I can go days without speaking to them and they probably think that I don’t like them but I really just don’t know how to speak to people sometimes. I don’t understand it all. I just wish mummy would understand that I’m not just lazy but I just get so caught up on my thoughts and my what ifs that I can’t speak or move without crying. I usually don’t cry but when I’m actually talking to someone about everything then I just break down and it’s so embarrassing.

Hey guys I’m going through a lot right now and everything in my life is making me question how strong my faith is. Being 17 and having exams and having the pressure to figure out what I want to do for a career is lacking my time with God. I’m also going through a season in which my anxiety is soo strong that it’s making me think negatively about my life and worries about health.I would love to use that as an excuse but tbh I just feel lost in his word. Idk where start or how to explain it but I don’t feel sorry when I sin anymore… I feel guilty for at least 5secs and then I pray and move on with life.. it’s like I’m using him. I’ve been praying for him to help me in this rough season of my life but I can’t hear him. I read his word and I say things like ‘the lord is with me I don’t need to worry’ but then my actions such as worrying and sinning don’t match what I say??. I’m trying my best but I really need TO hear God. I pray every day I seek him every day i knock on his door every day but I still can’t hear his replies. 🙁I just pray that whatever season this is in my life is Gods plan and that I will be set free from this spiritual attack.
Pls pray for me

It’s so funny how sunny claimed at first that she was using the clippers then clover ran up on her not giving her enough time to put it down, but when she got interviewed by maj yesterday she said that her mods warned her so she put her hair up etc. justifying what we’ve been saying, she knew ahead of time she even got prepared just in case and then when clover walked in she saw that it was only her and she was yelling at clover before clover went at it. Just like Maj stated as well if you knew clover wanted to fight bc you and her were bickering prior to sunny going to the twins house why would you go there knowing that she’ll be there ?? Why put yourself in that position knowing that Desmond, QP and Clover don’t want you there? Dedrick doesn’t even live there. She should’ve went to her place instead.
Another thing is when Maj stated that she needs to find her group of people and she responded by saying “I’ve known them for 3 years they were my people” it’s like no you got beat my Desmond, you cheated on Desmond with Dedrick while backstabbing Ashton. They were not your people it was drama and toxicity from the start and it’s still drama now. She’s in such denial it’s insane. She literally buys her friends. If money wasn’t involved Desmond wouldn’t be so nice to her. When is she ever going to take accountability for anything ?? It’s always excuse after excuse with everyone she comes across and she’s never in the wrong ofc. It’s always everyone else and when she can’t seem to find a way to blame the other person she uses the excuse of “It’s not a big deal tf ”. She lies so much just for money but she knows she’s a piece of shit. She’s admitted once online she told everyone she was a fucked up person. Yet there’s people out there that can’t seem to grasp that idea even when she literally contradicts her own stories.

Archie Sterling: He is a selfish and narcissistic person. He does anything he wants even if it isn’t beneficial for others. Extremely mother issues which could be the reason for him being a sex addict and alcoholic. He has no remorse for others as long as he benefits. You see that a lot with Barry, and Cyril. But deep down I think he has a soft spot for Lana and Malory. He jumps into action faster if he thinks they are at risk. Especially about the birth of AJ you see he just a sensitive boy who just has a lot of issues.
Cheryl/Carol: She’s crazy. She’s definitely has a mental disorder. I heard them say once that her grandfather was also crazy. She doesn’t have any real purpose to the group even in the beginning before we found out she was rich. She is always just there. But I find her character funny. The lives life in the moment. She is the friend that is down for everything and just happens to always live. She’s also the mastermind for starting up a lot of problems that turn into a big issue. She is quiet about it but she’s always there.
Lana: She’s thinks she is better than everyone else and that everyone else is crazy. I mean she’s not entirely wrong because everyone else just lives in the moment. I also think she’s insecure. She’s so pretty but does dumb stuff. Like why would she use Archer sperm like that. And then her lying about her job to her parents. she probably could be a kick ass spy but gets caught up in her emotions
Pam: I actually love Pam. Similar to Carol, she lives in the moment and just does her. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. I love that she became a field agent because I thought she would be a great one while bringing her own personality to it. Pam is a great friend probably the most dedicated in the pack. I know some people didn’t like Cocaine Pam but it gave her character and showed the type of person she was. I sorta loved her for that she didn’t care.
Cyril; Oh cyril, he is very smart and organized. I honestly feel like Lana and Cyril would be a more fit couple bc of think but just don’t look good together. Cyril is insecure and easily influenced, He can definitely be the brain of the operation but spends more time trying to defend himself to the group. He is really a bully and trying to find control. But I don’t think he’s successful no one in the group really feels threatened by him.
Kreiger: He’s the best. I wish they gave him more of a storyline like every episode or another. He shows an experiment he’s working on or tests it on a person. Those are always my favorite episode. But he isn’t really given a story line like Carol, Pam, and Lana, Like we know this three whole family . ( I’m only on season 10). But overall he is a mad scientist that’s all I can say
Ray: I feel like he’s another that can have such a great storyline but isn’t given one. He is just a tag along for a while. He’s funny though and the gay spy could be so funny if they gave it a chance. I think he is a great spy just not given enough screen time.
Malory: The greedy, horrible mother. When you learn how selfish Malory is then all of Archers problems make sense. She only cares about Money and her son. She will do anything to get ahead definitely giving scorpio vibes. But she’s also pretty resourceful herself she knows how to get out of situations and is always calm. She always has a plan. She is the leader who does nothing but gets all the rewards. I also think she only like Archer because he is beneficial to her.

Memorial Day, 5:30 PM Radar
Hey y’all, I’m a meteorologist at KSAT. I am monitoring a few storms in the Hill Country, which are capable of hail. So far, these storms have been falling apart before making it to San Antonio, but we'll carry a 30% chance for storms through this evening. The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10 pm, just in case, so that’s why we all got notifications on our phone. I'll be watching the radar carefully! Also, I would say you can still enjoy outdoor activities tonight in San Antonio. Just make sure that if you do get a severe warning to head inside. ✌️
Forecast Details: https://www.ksat.com/weathe

Alright, so we will start from the top.
When first dating my husband there were comments from his family herd secondhand from others that knew his family.
Comments like, "You know she's dated A LOT of guys before you."- my father in law. And "You guys should just try long distance"- Sister in law. There was the incident where his Mom came to my husband crying and begging for his sister's to be in the wedding as my brides maids even though I didn't know them very well and his one sister thinking we were moving too fast.
There's the awkward me having to tell my father in law my weight in front of multiple family members on a family reunion trip. Making me feel really uncomfortable because I had gained weight and I knew it..
The overall feeling invisible and out of place in the room at most reunions. Not really having the same option or challenging beliefs of others. Most of the time I want to have deep conversations and not just surface level conversations. That and his family is really into sports, which good for them, but I am definitely more of a lets garden and read a good book kinda gal.
Basically, I am the married in black sheep and to be honest that's okay with me. What's not okay is this tale I am about to tell. Sit down and get comfortable.
At the recent family reunion it seemed to start off awful my kids get MAJOR carsick (I have 4) and my daughter throws up on the way to said event. Leaving us to realize we left our bathroom bag at home. Which no big deal, till I have no glasses with me and if your blind like me you know when contacts come out and no glasses are on might as well be completely blind.
We make it to said reunion and we are paired with another family with young kids my husband is 1 of 6. All the young children are supposed to share a room next to ours upstairs. I told my husband I was nervous about this and he tells me his usual, "It'll be fine"
Naturally it wasn't. We kept our youngest in with us who kept me up all night since I was brest feeding and my husband's nipples are useless. So when I say I was up all night, it was literally just me up all night. Not to mention my kids aren't the kind that sleep anywhere and they have internal alarm clocks of 630-7am there's no sleeping in for them unless they are ill. It was frustrating because I would go to put my kids to sleep and 30 minutes later their kids would come in and be super loud and wake my kids up. I'm sleep deprived they are sleep deprived and not to mention I probably live in burn out 90% of the time due to not having any community or family support.
On day 3 of trip I am then tasked with watching additional children without my consent. Like one parent was out exercising another left to go with pretty much everyone else to play basketball. My MIL was at breakfast with some of her friends. So, it's me and 6 kids at a random air bnb somewhere cold and I am exhausted. (Don't worry, I had that beef out with my husband later)
Did I mention that some of the family came with covid?
The next day the whole family was supposed to go on a hike but it would have been an hour and a half drive to the hike and an hour and a half back. We were to leave the day after and our drive to the reunion was the longest. So, we told them no not happening my MIL wasn't happy.
That night my youngest was having a hard time sleeping and started to develop a cough I thought greeeeeat is this covid? I LOUDLY announce my kids are going to sleep before heading over to our house that we are sharing. As my husband and I are trying to get our kids to sleep. My SIL decided it was the perfect time and place to bathe her kids loudly in the bathroom that is IN the kids room. Despite there being 2 additional bathrooms. My husband popped his head in and asked them to be quiet that their cousins were trying to go to bed. Ignored by the SIL.
When all kids were finally asleep I went down to grab some medicine. For my youngest and my MIL asks for probably the 3rd time if we could change our mind about going on the hike. I said no not happening. She asked if there was anything else wrong. To which I looked at my sister in law and said "Hey could you use a different bathroom next time? Or tell us when you're putting your kids to bed tomorrow night. It was kindof inconsiderate when I was putting my kids down to wake them up and be that loud.." her response, "I didn't know" I said "okay, tomorrow night can you use a different bathroom?" She said okay and halfway up the stairs I hear it..
"I have been so freaking nice to her can you believe that?!.. " and goes on to trash talk me more with her husband and my 2 in laws. I walked back down and said if you have something to say then say it to my face.
To which my MIL gets involved and said, "You should have said something in the moment." And told her that she was being too loud (not knowing at this point my husband DID). You should have told her to move. To which she chimes in and says, "It's their bathroom too!" To which I then say "There are 3 bathrooms in this house I am exhausted, my kids are exhausted, and now I am being told I am wrong for asking you to use a different bathroom?" My MIL dismissed me and told me to go to bed.
I was livid. I was dismissed and treated like a child. My in laws let her talk shit about me and didn't even defend me and apparently people are doing me a favor by being nice to me? I was DONE.
I told my husband what happened and that I wanted to leave that I was over this and treated with disrespect. He said that's fine I get it. I packed up and we were going to leave. My MIL saw this the next morning and cried told me I was being selfish gaslit me and told me I attacked my SIL that didn't I see her crying? I was like nope because when my contacts are out I can't see.
My husband let her and my father in law rip into me. (He said he didn't want to be involved big betrayal to me that we have had to work through) I tried to talk to my SIL and apologize if it came off as me :attacking her" as my MIL put it. And she walked away from me and wouldn't even let me talk to her. It was awful. If you, "Love" someone and want them to feel like family idk about you, but this ain't the family for me.
I have since distanced myself there was back in forward emails with my MIL about what I "should" have done. Lots of I'm sorry, but's.. and I wasn't about to deal. I told her we can disagree and give our relationship space. She tried sending a letter asking to start over, but never truly apologizing. My SIL too. Nothing.
I can take a lot of crap in my life truly. And I have. But this. This was just too much. I decided boundaries are the best way to go. I'd be cordial, but I am NEVER going to a family reunion again. And to be honest, I don't want to have a relationship with any of them because to me it's toxic and manipulative. I apologized for using a tone, but I never yelled as my MIL claimed. And as far as asking someone to be more mindful of my kids I am not going to say that I am sorry for it.
Months later after me no contact with my MIL she calls me to, "hash it out". She starts off with that "she's sorry, but that there seems to be something else going on with me.. I have been a part of the family for so long to act out with such "anger" (because she's still claiming that I was or am angry) I have to have something else wrong." I told her there have been instances over the years and interactions with family members that don't make me feel like I belong. I was candid and volunerable with her. Wrong. Move.
"Wow it sounds like you have a lot of insecurities that you may need to work through have you thought about seeing a therapist for your mental health?" -MIL
I am ALL about mental health, therapy is for EVERYONE. But WTF. I set a boundary she doesn't like it now I need therapy, because I don't want to play nice and be manipulated? Then halfway through the conversation of me defending myself and reliving the trauma I already experienced she says, "well, maybe I have nothing to be sorry for.." there it is folks. Can we say narcissist?
What are YOUR thoughts?

Title says it all, basically two days ago I went to orientation to be a in store shopper. I completed all my online training and was told by the lady who managed everything that I should expect a call from our manager the next day. Nothing, I emailed her at 11pm about it and she said the next day that she has reminded someone to call me. Still NOTHING. What should I email her tonight? I don’t want to come off as impatient but I’ve already wasted two days waiting for a call.

So had a match on tinder. After a bit of texting we agree on date. We go on said date on Thursday, it seemed to go really well well, we had dinner walked for a bit then chatted in the car. She gave me the hints to hold hands so we do and then she brings up going on a second date the following day. The date idea being we go get some groceries and then make dinner at my place and watch a movie. I drop her off at her place. Snuck in a quick kiss which she smiled and then said our goodbyes and she leaned in to kiss me. I get home about twenty minutes later to her text saying she had a great time. I reply in same and tell her I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Friday comes and I reach out about her day and that I’m free after 12 to meetup. She messaged me about work coming up and that once it’s finished she’s let me know with a heart emoji attached. The whole night received nothing back. All good, she got busy. Following day reached out again, no mention of date with picture of me out in sun. She hearts the picture and then lets me know her parents came into town to spend Memorial Day weekend with her. Okay no problem again, have fun. Since she clearly is occupied I spent Sunday doing my own thing and don’t reach out to text. Nothing from her. Today woke up with my cat on me so I sent her a picture which she hearts again and we have a little conversation about our cats. She sends me a picture that someone took of her and her parents on the beach as well. I then mention I got stuff to grill out and if she didn’t have plans she was welcome to come over but no worries either way(I assume parents are still in town). I sent that text around 1000am and have heard nothing back. I don’t feel I am trying to hard but at the same time I feel a text letting me know she had plans would have been better than nothing. We did talk about how we both have issues with seeing texts and forgetting to respond or thinking we did but at this point I don’t know what to do. This is my first time dating in almost 4 years so I am trying my best not to overthink things and not try to rush things. Should I just stop texting and move on at this point?

In the Quenta Silmarillion, the people of Nargothrond in general (and Orodreth their second king in particular) are depicted as fickle and weak of character, less like a bulwark and more like a flag in the wind (sorry for the German idiom).
For Orodreth, Curufin straight-out calls him a “dullard slow” (HoME III, p. 237)—and Christopher Tolkien agrees: “It may be that the position imposed on him by the movements in the legend led to the conclusion that [Orodreth] cannot have been made of very stern stuff.” (HoME III, p. 246) Orodreth also leans fully on Túrin from the moment he arrives in Nargothrond (see CoH, p. 163). (For more on how Orodreth became weaker and weaker with every iteration of the story, see here https://www.reddit.com/tolkienfans/comments/1aywrzg/celegormor_the_fall_of_a_prince_charmingpart_2/ )
But the same applies to the people of Nargothrond. The moment Celegorm and Curufin arrive in Nargothrond, even though Finrod is still alive and still king, they immediately take over. As Finrod tells Beren, “And now Celegorm and Curufin are dwelling in my halls; and though I, Finarfin’s son, am King, they have won a strong power in the realm, and lead many of their own people. They have shown friendship to me in every need, but I fear that they will show neither love nor mercy to you, if your quest be told.” (Sil, QS, ch. 19) If his people hadn’t already fallen under Celegorm and Curufin’s sway, Finrod wouldn’t have needed to be concerned about this; note here that he says that “they have won a strong power in my realm”, and that they “lead many of their own people”.
That Finrod is right in his assessment of the backbone of his people is shown the moment Finrod tries to convince his people to follow him on Beren’s quest. Celegorm and Curufin sway the people of Nargothrond with two speeches, putting so much fear into them that they will drastically change how they act for many decades (until Túrin shows up and sways them into the other direction):
“Many other words he [Celegorm] spoke, as potent as were long before in Tirion the words of his father that first inflamed the Noldor to rebellion. And after Celegorm Curufin spoke, more softly but with no less power, conjuring in the minds of the Elves a vision of war and the ruin of Nargothrond. So great a fear did he set in their hearts that never after until the time of Turin would any Elf of that realm go into open battle; but with stealth and ambush, with wizardry and venomed dart, they pursued all strangers, forgetting the bonds of kinship. Thus they fell from the valour and freedom of the Elves of old, and their land was darkened. And now they murmured that Finarfin’s son was not as a Vala to command them, and they turned their faces from him. But the curse of Mandos came upon the brothers, and dark thoughts arose in their hearts, thinking to send forth Felagund alone to his death, and to usurp, it might be, the throne of Nargothrond; for they were of the eldest line of the princes of the Noldor. And Felagund seeing that he was forsaken took from his head the silver crown of Nargothrond and cast it at his feet, saying: ‘Your oaths of faith to me you may break, but I must hold my bond. Yet if there be any on whom the shadow of our curse has not yet fallen, I should find at least a few to follow me, and should not go hence as a beggar that is thrust from the gates.’ There were ten that stood by him; and the chief of them, who was named Edrahil, stooping lifted the crown and asked that it be given to a steward until Felagund's return. ‘For you remain my king, and theirs,’ he said, ‘whatever betide.’ Then Felagund gave the crown of Nargothrond to Orodreth his brother to govern in his stead; and Celegorm and Curufin said nothing, but they smiled and went from the halls.” (Sil, QS, ch. 19)
The text explicitly tells us that “they fell from the valour and freedom of the Elves of old, and their land was darkened” (Sil, QS, ch. 19)!
A very short time later, the people of Nargothrond change their minds again: now, they totally had nothing to do with abandoning Finrod, whoever would ever think that?? No, they had always supported Finrod, is the gist of this passage: “There was tumult in Nargothrond. For thither now returned many Elves that had been prisoners in the isle of Sauron; and a clamour arose that no words of Celegorm could still. They lamented bitterly the fall of Felagund their king, saying that a maiden had dared that which the sons of Fëanor had not dared to do; but many perceived that it was treachery rather than fear that had guided Celegorm and Curufin. Therefore the hearts of the people of Nargothrond were released from their dominion, and turned again to the house of Finarfin; and they obeyed Orodreth. But he would not suffer them to slay the brothers, as some desired, for the spilling of kindred blood by kin would bind the curse of Mandos more closely upon them all. Yet neither bread nor rest would he grant to Celegorm and Curufin within his realm, and he swore that there should be little love between Nargothrond and the sons of Feanor thereafter.” (Sil, QS, ch. 19)
Also, did the people of Nargothrond try to murder the two Elves who they had let persuade them what appears to be mere months before?
Anyway, despite this change of mind, the people of Nargothrond are still afraid, not going into open battle (including the Fifth Battle—shoutout to brave Gwindor and his people, though!), and instead using, among other things, “venomed dart[s]” (Sil, QS, ch. 19). Note that other Elves would have found this use of poison despicable: “For the Eldar never used any poison, not even against their most cruel enemies, beast, ork, or man; and they were filled with shame and horror that Eöl should have meditated this evil deed.” (HoME XI, p. 330)
The people of Nargothrond only recover their courage when Túrin, a Man in his 20s, shows up and quickly becomes Orodreth’s favourite. Weirdly, it sounds like they liked him because he was young and good-looking: “In the time that followed Túrin grew high in favour with Orodreth, and well-nigh all hearts were turned to him in Nargothrond. For he was young, and only now reached his full manhood; and he was in truth the son of Morwen Eledhwen to look upon: dark-haired and pale-skinned, with grey eyes, and his face more beautiful than any other among mortal Men, in the Elder Days.” (Sil, QS, ch. 21)
Easily swayed, aren’t they? And particularly by beauty. Meanwhile, the people of Nargothrond stop respecting Gwindor, and why? Because he was tortured as a prisoner of war: “Gwindor fell into dishonour, for he was no longer forward in arms, and his strength was small; and the pain of his maimed left arm was often upon him.” (CoH, p. 163)
Túrin convinces Orodreth and the people of Nargothrond to “buil[d] a mighty bridge over the Narog from the Doors of Felagund, for the swifter passage of their arms. Then the servants of Angband were driven out of all the land between Narog and Sirion eastward, and westward to the Nenning and the desolate Falas; and though Gwindor spoke ever against Túrin in the council of the King, holding it an ill policy, he fell into dishonour and none heeded him, for his strength was small and he was no longer forward in arms. Thus Nargothrond was revealed to the wrath and hatred of Morgoth” (Sil, QS, ch. 21).
At this point in the war, building that bridge and engaging in open warfare was obviously a terrible idea for the hidden kingdom of Nargothrond (as ideas originating with the Silmarillion’s Anakin Skywalker tend to be). Even Orodreth realises this: “Orodreth was troubled by the dark words of the messengers, but Túrin would by no means hearken to these counsels, and least of all would he suffer the great bridge to be cast down; for he was become proud and stern, and would order all things as he wished.” (Sil, QS, ch. 21)
So Orodreth basically managed to get deposed too, just like Finrod, by a handsome prince who’s strong and rhetorically persuasive.
So what’s up with the people of Nargothrond? Here’s a list of their allegiances over a period of thirty years: Finrod → Celegorm and Curufin → Orodreth → Túrin. In thirty years!
And the text itself gives us the answer: they’re fickle—“they fell from the valour and freedom of the Elves of old” (Sil, QS, ch. 19).
But why are the people of Nargothrond specifically so fickle, compared to the peoples of Fingolfin and Fingon in the West, and of Maedhros in the East? I think that u/xi-feng has the best answer to this question: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” (G. Michael Hopf) https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8751435-hard-times-create-strong-men-strong-men-create-good-times
Finrod, a strong man, created a safe hidden kingdom in the South of Beleriand, far away from the lines of the Siege, which was fought mostly by Fingolfin, Fingon and Maedhros. Nargothrond is safe, and the lives of the people are easy. They become weak, changing allegiance at the drop of a hat, swayed by the strong personalities of Celegorm, Curufin and Túrin (with a short moment of self-reflection upon Finrod’s death that immediately nearly turned into a lynching).
And interestingly, the text hits us over the head with this, telling us that the people of Nargothrond have lost their valour, while highlighting that the peoples of the Northern kingdoms holding the Siege are full of valiant people:

• “But Fingolfin was held overlord of all the Noldor, and Fingon after him, though their own realm was but the northern land of Hithlum; yet their people were the most hardy and valiant, most feared by the Orcs and most hated by Morgoth.” (Sil, QS, ch. 14)
• “Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour […]. Thus the great fortress upon the Hill of Hirming could not be taken, and many of the most valiant that remained, both of the people of Dorthonion and of the east marches, rallied there to Maedhros.” (Sil, QS, ch. 18)

Sources:
The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien, ed Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins, ebook edition February 2011, version 2019-01-09 [cited as: Sil].
The Lays of Beleriand, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2015 (softcover) [cited as: HoME III].
The War of the Jewels, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2015 (softcover) [cited as: HoME XI].
The Children of Húrin, JRR Tolkien, ed Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2014 (softcover) [cited as: CoH].

I'm always curious about this one. The show has sort of become my "Happy Place" at MK and I see it as many times as possible each day I'm there (getting in for the early ones because there's always some sort of calamity cancelling later ones). But I'm curious as to how some of the stuff works behind the scenes (the planning, not the literal mechanics). This is a bit long because I'm neurotic about it, but please indulge me, lol:
Some Questions: 1) How many people do they have "in reserve" to cover for others? I definitely notice people swap out during the day- sometimes you'll even see a different person playing certain "Speaking" roles. But the dancers ESPECIALLY swap out often, and some you see nearly every day while others only do one show. I have to imagine if nobody can do a Face/Head role they just cancel the whole thing ("Unforeseen circumstances").
2) How many people can do each role? I know I've seen 3-4 "friends of Elsa" just across one week, 3 Vladamirs, etc. One time I was there I met the family of Elsa, who said she had to take a second job just to do this (working as the queen at Medieval Times), and she only worked the one Saturday across the entire week. I assume there's regulars who hold onto those spots like nuts (I saw one Elsa there most of one week- the same Anna did 4/6 days I was there this last trip).
3) Why do the "Male Dancing Role" jobs swap out so much? I swear every show I saw one day, a different guy was doing the tapdancing part of Tiana's bit, and a different guy was doing the "Backflips" in the Rapunzel bit. Is it the heat?
4) Who determines the choreography and do different performers do different things? I noticed in 2022 the final dance number ALWAYS had Vladamir & Hook-Hand compete over who got to dance with Elsa, who was like "oh sorry I promised Olaf" and danced with him first (before swapping to one of the male backgrounders). In 2024 I only saw this done once, and every other time they just kinda did their own thing and ignored Elsa entirely.
Similarly, Anna sometimes sticks her tongue out to catch the "snow" and sometimes she doesn't, and the backflips the guy does in the "Rapunzel" bit are often very different (probably based off of how he feels in the moment). Naveen's "and JAZZ!" gesture is sometimes big and dramatic and sometimes a simple point.
5) Why do the dancers alternate "spots" so frequently? I noticed that oftentimes a dancer will be the first one to greet Mickey at the opening for a couple shows, then switch to a different spot on a later show (you'll see them on a parapet one show, then at the front of the stage the next). It seems clear there's no "set spot" for a particular dancer and they just kinda do everything.
6) Do the male background dancers also do the "Pub Thug" roles? I often don't check closely enough to see through their costumes, but I definitely notice the VERY tall male dancers do not take other roles during the show, as the Pub Thugs are nearly always smaller than Hook Hand & Vladamir are (Vladamir is always a big, burly dude).
7) Have the performers been instructed not to "wave" as much to the audience? I recall in 2022 they were almost CONSTANTLY waving to the kids and adults who waved at them at nearly every break in the pre-set choreography, but in 2024 this was far diminished. They still DID IT, but not as much. That show I watched with Elsa's parents had the most prominent example, as she was doing the "heart with her hands" thing at them and then to me once the parents told her how much of an Elsa fan I was, lol.
8) Is it me, or is Olaf now getting by far the biggest crowd reaction? It used to be Anna & Elsa sending the crowd into a frenzy, but now it's Olaf getting the big one. Elsa SOMETIMES gets a really big one, but 10-11 years later, it seems like "Let It Go" is finally not drawing the freak-outs it once did, lol.
In my time, I've noticed: * The early-morning crew coming out 15-20 minutes to show opening, testing the "Elsa Effects" (shooting "steam" and snoap)- it's always two guys observing this, and then one dancer comes out to check the stage (sometimes even picking up debris). According to CMs at the castle, the dancer represents "Equity", the dancer's union, and can and will cancel the show (she once went out and went "NOPE" when she saw the rain hitting the stage). It was the same woman nearly every day between May 5-17, but one day a different one was out.
* If anything goes wrong, they'll just bolt backstage. One time Hook Hand started talking and nothing came out over the PA- he shrugged, did a little "leap and click his heels together" and everyone ran backstage- after a short delay the "Frozen" bit happened and they ran the show as normal. Once they bolted as soon as the rain started- I was told that Mickey in particular has such an expensive costume they will NOT allow that to get wet.
* At least one show per day nearly ALWAYS gets cancelled- usually it's the rain, but sometimes they just say "Unforeseen Circumstances".
* The fireworks are primed before the shows regardless unless it's actively raining- this is why they seem to "celebrate" the cancellation of the show by firing a ton of fireworks after they announce it's been cancelled.

So i was not paying attention, cleaning the car outside in flip flops and I absolutely bashed my bare pinkytoe on the tire. Its not disfigured or anything like that but its black/purple, absolutely kills to walk on, when i move it its stiff/throbbing pain.
Internet says regardless of sprain or break it should heal to a manageable level in a day or two.
I work a minimum wage grocery job so ill he on my feet walking for 8+ hours tomorrow.
Should i call in sick tomorrow or would that be a really wimpy/lame thing to do.
My fiancee seems to think im being a baby….

I (40F) grew up with an abusive father. Verbal. Physical. Emotional. He was quite violent when he was angry and he was bi polar so you never knew when it was coming. Things like randomly hitting us in the head or face or banging our head on the table because he thought we were eating too loud or not listening. Grabbing us by the arm so hard he left bruises. Throwing heavy objects at us, throwing us against the walls or into furniture, and the worst one for me.....he would be angry some mornings (for no reason but he made one up and it was always our fault) and stomp angrily around the house and burst open the door while I was sleeping and violently grab me out of bed and drag me out, throw me on the floor. Usually because I had not cleaned the kitchen well enough the night before or something. He made our mother hit us with a belt too when we were bad if he wasn't too angry because if he did it he "would lose control" he said, and end up beating up a lot. Which did happen. It was a very messed up childhood and I have ptsd and trauma from it and I am estranged from my parents now. My husband knows all of this.
My husband seemed like the sweetest, most sensitive and patient man in the world when I first met him. We fell in love and got married and then his temper slowly came creeping out. It wasn't bad at first, but his yelling and tone of voice has gotten worse and worse over the years. Recently we had our 3rd child and his behaviour has gotten even worse. He never hits me or the kids, but he does scream when he is upset or frustrated or annoyed......which seems pretty often lately. We are getting lack of sleep from the baby being up all night and he turned 40....both things seems to be making the issue worse. His tone of voice is so hateful so often now. We are in marriage counselling and I am in individual therapy too.
A few times now I have been woken up early to my husband screaming at the kids (he gets up with them to get them ready for school since I am up most of the night with the baby and he is up then anyway to go to work, I am on maternity leave currently but typically have a great job that makes very good income on my own). When I wake up to him yelling, I feel my ptsd is triggered and I fly into fight or flight response immediately. My heart races, I feel so stressed, I don’t know what to do but hide and then the very next second it hits me that he is yelling at my kids, and the fear becomes anger and rage in a mamma bear way, I often fly out of the room in attack mode to confront him and protect my kids is what is feels like. I call him out on his inappropriate tone and yelling. I get angry at him. How dare he do this when he knows how much stress it causes. He knows how much it stresses me out and triggers me, he knows it causes me panic attacks, but he says he is not my Dad so it’s unfair of me to act like he is doing the same thing. He says I should not be triggered or get stressed by it. He always has a reason why he is justified in yelling at the kids as they don’t listen well or they were annoying him. Sure I get annoyed sometimes too and everyone can raise their voice if they are frustrated, I have had my moments when I lose it a bit at the kids too, but it’s not often, and I admit I am wrong after and apologize. I am committed to gentle parenting and try really hard to improve daily. He doubles down and says excuses why we deserved to be yelled at.
Today I woke up to him screaming, angrily and in very mean tones, at the kids. He was gritting his teeth, raging, yelling, and my 4 year old was crying. Because he had made a mistake while cleaning up a mess he made and my husband was annoyed. I freaked out. I was crying and shaking in the bathroom. This time I was not able to turn it into anger and confront him. I just cried and cried like I was a scared little girl again. I hated myself for being weak in the moment. I tried to gather strength to fight back but couldn’t. I think it's because we had such a nice day together yesterday and I felt so crushed and betrayed that he chose to act like this this morning. I told him to leave for awhile. I told him I needed him to leave so I could calm down. I kept telling myself “I am safe” but couldn’t feel it while he was still there. He stomped off. I texted him later that he was supposed to make me feel love and safe, but he is actually the one hurting me. He was pissed off that I kicked him out. He then sent me texts informing me that he was going to help out with the kids less and he was clearly annoyed with me. He does not care that he triggered me. He does not care that I was crying and hurt. He said it’s not his fault that I had a shitty childhood. He said he was not my Dad and I am wrong to be upset about him “yelling a bit when the kids are being so bad”. I think that if he really loved me he would want to protect me from feeling this way, even if it’s not his fault.
So AITAH for being triggered by my husbands yelling because it remind me of my abusive Dad?

Backstory: so my wife(30f) and I(33m) have been married 3 years now. This was an arranged marriage and we're both from the Indian sub continent. Right after marriage, we moved to a European country for better living conditions. I'm a full time employee and my wife was working until the marriage but not for the past 3 years. She is brilliant and worked in IT but after the EU move, she tried to switch domains but hasn't even been able to land an interview the past 2 years.
She is an absolute introvert who thinks and acts like I'm her entire world. I go outside, meet people, work buddies and the whole shebang but she has no one to talk or do any activities with.
I've tried explaining to her numerous times that she needs to step outside her comfort zone and make some friends or find interesting things to do like learn a new language or join clubs or something. Zero effort from her on anything.
I get to work fully remote but certain days I need some headroom to get some solid office work done and head to the office. I also go because I want to socialize with my colleagues. I want to go out for lunch with them and such but my wife insists that I take food from home. She is an amazing culinary artist but then I need a change too right? Nope. I get no leeway in any of this. If she does not cook and pack lunch for me on days I go to office, she makes nothing at all for herself and says "Whats the fun in cooking for myself?" and ends up not eating anything and goes hungry until I return at 7PM or so. The minute I get back she goes "I figured you would have gotten me take-away, on your way back home" Like I would have, if you had asked me for it specifically!! How am I expected to juggle a mentally tiring day and then keep all of this in mind too? There's always a wad of cash at home. You could have taken a stroll or headed to any restaurant to get yourself a meal of your choice? But nope, I'm expected to do everything for her.
She has become entirely dependent on me and me being physically around her every day that she just fails to see anything beyond me. It's sweet to an extent but there's only a limit to everything.
Today was one of those days I went into work. I had a rough day at work. She woke up along with me at 7am, made my lunch, pressed my clothes for me and got me ready to leave home at 8:30am. I'm heads down troubleshooting issues from 9am through 6:30pm. Got 2 breaks in the middle and was sure to call her up to see how she's doing. Get back home at 7:15pm and she starts a debate on how she sacrificed her career for us moving to EU. My day was extremely irittating and I come home to an argument. I snapped and said things I shouldn't have. Anyway that issue subsided in 10 minutes. I am on-call so I got called for an issue and was busy fixing that and was super tired that at about 9:30pm I said "i'm going to call it a night" and tried to fall asleep. She said her head was hurting and lied down on the bed. 30 minutes later I hear her crying, wake up and she's bawling her eyes out.
I had no idea what happened because I for real dozed off because of how tired I was. Now she starts quizzing me in my semi-sleepy state on what I missed doing today. After 10 minutes of back and forth and my dumb a$$ not trying to formulate anything further, she says "Did you even ask if I ate anything today?"
Sometimes there's so much in your head that you can't draw a line between an assumption and a fact. Today was one such for me and I said "Well you did say you had THREE pancakes this afternoon?" Apparently THREE was wrong. I never heard that. She never said that. I exaggerated in a flow of speech and she was like "Yep. Keep saying things that I haven't said or done. You're making me go crazy. You'remaking me second guess myself. Being alone in the house I'm going crazy already and this one to top it off!!!" She did sacrifice her individuality and her income and her career for me to move to EU but she doesn't have to bring it up every time we have an argument on this topic.
Anyway, after all that, I tried to convince her to eat something. I even tried to make her a small meal but she screamed at my face that she wouldn't want anything I made her. She went to bed on an empty stomach and i'm sure going to be blamed if she falls sick tomorrow.
I'm just clueless on why she behaved the way she does. Maybe she just feels alone when she shouldn't be. I've told her so many times to find something to do and that I will support her with anything. Like she gets real cranky for no reason and finds ways to make a fight out of it. But I love her too much and would do anything to fix this.
So AITAH for not understanding my wife? AITAH for making her feel alone?