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2024.06.02 15:55 Griffon-Knight The Adventures of Warrior Omega Part 1

The Adventures Of Warrior Omega
By Ryan Baker
Date: May 16, 2000
Location: South Eastern Part Of The U.S.
It was a normal day In May, when Alan Arthur Stukov, trucker for the company "Aconor Trucking Ltd." was on a delivery. Alan was on his way down to Florida. Meanwhile, at a army base, not far from Florida, Alan's brother, Joseph Stukov, had just finished a training exercise with some new recruits.
"Excellent Work, Soldiers." said Joseph. Just as Joseph said that, Sergeant Caleb Anderson had entered the scene. That was where Joseph Stood at Attention and Saluted Sergeant Anderson. "At Ease, Joseph." Said Sergeant Anderson. "Sir, I hadn't expected you to be on the field. I thought you still had work to do at the barracks?" Said Joseph. "I had Just finished that work you are referring to." said Sergeant Anderson, "Next on my list was a inspection of the Training exercises. By the way, how is your brother?".
"He's Doing Alright sir." Said Joseph, "He said he was on a delivery to a diner, not far from here. As for the training exercises, We've just completed the first part.". "Excellent, were there any problems?" Said Sergeant Anderson. While Sergeant Anderson and Joseph were going Over the inspection, Alan Stukov had just passed the Florida State Border, on the way into Florida. While Alan Was driving, he had the radio on. One particular song was "Puttin' the Dark Back into the night" By Sawyer Brown. Alan was singing along with the Song. That was where Bobby Raynor, a friend of Alan, and a fellow truck driver, came over the C.B. Radio. "Hiya Alan." Said Bobby. "Bobby, Is that You?" Asked Alan. "Of Course it's me, Alan." replied Bobby. "I didn't recognize you there for a moment.” said Alan, "How have you been all this time?".
"I'm doing great." replied Bobby. As Bobby and Alan were talking, Alan noticed someone in the distance. "I wonder whom the Person is?" Alan Said to himself, "It's Probably an illusion.". Meanwhile, in the distance, the person was going over his mission statement. "This should be interesting." The person said to himself, "The boss shall be pleased once the mission is completed.". As soon as the person said that, he started watching and waiting for when the coast is clear. Little did the person realize that there was a biker gang headed his way.
"Alright guys, the diner's not far off." said the leader of the biker gang. The Biker gang leader was a leader whom seemed to have a ruthless side to him, but on the other hand, a bit honourable. The gang he leads is a rough and tumble bunch. Meanwhile, Alan had just entered the area where the diner was located at. That was where he had seen Bobby Raynor at the parking lot of the diner "Diner of the Clouds". "Hi Alan." replied Bobby. "Hi Bobby." said Alan as he parked his truck and had gotten out of the truck. "Just let me go see the owner for a moment. I'll tell her i'm here." said Alan. "I'll come with you.” said Bobby. Meanwhile, the biker gang had just passed the Florida state border. That was where the lead biker had noticed a person in the distance. That person was the same person Alan had seen earlier. "Hey guys." said the lead biker, "It looks like we have a new target to rough up.". That was where the biker gang moved towards the person. Then one of the bikers had tossed a chain at the person. That was where one end of the chain had wrapped around the person.
"What matter of magic is this?" said the person. As soon as the person said that, he fell to the ground as the biker wielding the chain sped up. As a result, The person started to slide along the ground, getting dragged by the biker. Little did the bikers realize that the person isn't who he seems. All of a sudden, the person had managed to free himself from the chain. Just then, one of the bikers notices that the person had freed himself from the chain. "Hey Guys, it looks like our target is out of the chains." said the biker. As soon as the biker said that, he and the rest of the bikers turned right around and face the person. "You shall not stop me from completing my mission." said the person, "For The Glory Of The Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" said the Gang Leader. "What do you say guys?" asked one of the Bikers. "I say we take this guy down." Said another biker, "What about you, boss?". "you're Right." said Greg Anderson, the biker gang leader.
That was where the gang had surrounded the person. "Alright, Bring it on." Said the person. That was where the person got into a defensive stance. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, in the Dimension of Octiviox, King Eduardo Anderson had called for His Councillers. "Sire, State the reason why you have called for us." said John Taylors. "I have called you because of a major event." Said King Anderson. "What would that be, sire?" Asked John Taylors. "The Reawakening of the Master of Zombies." replied King Anderson. "The Reawakening, sire?" Said another Councilor. "Yes, the Reawakening." Said King Anderson, "It was 175 years ago this very month, when the Master of Zombies had attempted to plunge this realm into darkness. It was only with the help of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker and his sword, called the 'Omnolight', that stopped the Master Of Zombies and his minions of Darkness.". Meanwhile, back in Florida, The Biker Gang had managed to do some damage to the person. That was where on of the bikers had knocked the person down.
As soon as the person fell down, part of his mask was torn off, revealing his actual form underneath his mask. "What on Earth!?" Said one of the bikers, as he had noticed the torn piece of the person's mask. "I Guess you humans have figured out my secret." Said the person. "What Secret?" Asked Greg. "i am not from this realm." said the person. As Soon as the person said that, he took off his mask. "What the..." said one of the bikers as they witnessed the person transform into his actual form. As the Person Transformed, he also changed sizes. "Let's get him guys." said another biker. As soon as the biker said that, the gang attempted to rush at the person. Little did the gang realize that the person, in his actual form, is much stronger. That was where the person had finally transformed into his actual form. His Actual form is that of an undead creature. His entire body is covered in decayed flesh, and has a arch in the back. There are several sword slices in his body. He is a hulking Creature, standing over seven feet in height.
That was where one of the bikers had attempted to attack the creature. All of a sudden, the creature raised his hand. "Alright, i will see you pay for trying to mess with me." said the creature, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ghoultor.". "What do you say boys?" one of the bikers said. "Leave 'im to me" Another biker said. The biker is named Caleb Raynor. "Caleb, What do you have planned?" asked Greg. "I'm planning on taking him down with my power." said Caleb. "Alright Then, Show him that no one messes with the Fire Griffens." Said Greg.
That was where Caleb picks up several pieces of equipment from his motorcycle's side pack. The Equipment included a shotgun, a chain, and a Brass knuckle. As soon as Caleb picked up his gear, he started walking towards Ghoultor. "This Is Gonna be Fun." Caleb Said as he walked towards Ghoultor. As Caleb Walked towards Ghoultor, he equipped the brass knuckle on his right hand. Meanwhile, at the diner, "Diner Of The Clouds", Alan And Bobby were going over old times. That was where Officer Adam Morgan had entered the diner. Officer Morgan was a "Take Charge" kind of person. He had his regular equipment with him. All of a sudden, a call came over the radio in Officer Morgan's police Car. "I'll Be Right Back." Said Officer Morgan, as he headed towards the Police Car. That was where Officer Morgan had Picked up the comm-link in the police car. "Calling all available Officers." the voice from the other end said, "there's a fight going in the vicinity of the local military base.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan. That was where the biker gang and Ghoultor had managed to take the fight even closer to where the diner was located at. Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alan had just started unloading his delivery.
Just then, Bobby had noticed something in the distance. It was the biker gang and Ghoultor fighting in the distance. As the Gang was fighting Ghoultor, Ghoultor had managed to toss several of the Gang Members. Just Then, Officer Morgan had arrived at the scene. "What The..." Officer Morgan said to himself. That was where Officer Morgan had called in for back-up. After Officer Morgan did that, he tried to break up the fight. "Alright, Break it up, all of you." Said Officer Morgan. That was where Ghoultor had turned to face Officer Morgan. "Good Thing i called for Back-up, before stepping out of the Car." Officer Morgan said to himself, "I just hope they can arrive in time.".
Just Then, Ghoultor had charged at Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan immediately moved out of the way. At that moment, Ghoultor came crashing into the police Car. "Alright, whoever you are, You're not going to mess with me." said Officer Morgan, "You're Going Down.". Meanwhile, in the Dimension of Octiviox, a spy had just entered Castle Diroctor. "Ah lad, you're here." said Ortonk Poreon, "How have you been?". "I've Been Better, but i have some dire news to tell the king." Replied Angus Davidson. "What do you mean?" asked Ortonk.
"It would seem that the Master Of Zombies's minions are trying to construct a giant battleship of some sort." replied Angus. "This is most Dire." said Ortonk, "the King Must Know about this.". "Fortunately, i had managed to acquire a copy of the plans, and had seen that the battleship is incomplete. They still need two more parts." said Angus. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ghoultor has just started to head for his Objective, which was located in the military base. Both Officer Morgan and the biker gang had given chase to Ghoultor, as he was heading to the part of the base where the Objective of his mission is located at. At That moment, one of the Soldiers at the base had noticed the situation on that side of the base. "What On Earth?" The Soldier said to himself. At That moment, Corporal Mel Barker had entered the scene. "Soldier, What's Going On?" asked Corporal Barker. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of decayed creature being chased by a biker gang and a police officer." Replied the Soldier.
"We've better do something about this." said the Soldier. As soon as the Soldier said that, the soldier and Corporal Barker had called for other soldiers to come and help in the chase. Meanwhile, in the Dimension Of Octiviox, at the Tomb of the Master Of Zombies, the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his Tomb. "Has it been 175 years already?" the Master of Zombies said to himself. That was where the Master Of Zombies looked around his surroundings. Just then, he went over to a mirror. His Reflection showed a creature that had suffered hundreds of years of decay. His Skin had turned grey-green in colour. His Eyes had sunken back into their Sockets. "Hmm, it seems that the objects in this tomb had sustained quite some wear." said the Master Of Zombies, "This must mean that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker is long Gone.". After he said that, the Master of Zombies went over and picked up his sword and shield, only to find that time had deteriorated the sword and shield. "Well, i have better get some new equipment." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as the Master Of Zombies said that, he headed out to the entrance of the tomb. Little did the Master Of Zombies realize that a spy was outside the tomb, in the Graveyard of Darkness.
The Graveyard of Darkness is a dark, and almost Desolate place. Most Of the gravestones have fallen apart. The Spy is Loyal to King Anderson. The Spy was located partway between the centre of the Graveyard and the entrance. At that moment, the Spy had seen the Master Of Zombies. "By the Elder Beast God." the spy said, under his breath, "I Must tell the King about this.". All of a sudden, a Shadow Phantom had appeared behind the spy. That was where the spy turned to face the Shadow Phantom. Then the Shadow Phantom had raised his sickle. The Spy had attempted to block the sickle as it came down upon him. "Yaargh!!" Exclaimed the Spy as he fell to the ground. Then, with his last bit of Strength, he had written a message.
That message was "King Anderson, there is bad news. The Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb. I suspect he is going to join up with his legions of the undead. A suggested plan of action is to prepare the defenses. Unfortunately, i might not be able to help. Next Time you see me, i might be one of the undead. Please Tell my brother i still care about him.". As soon as the spy completed the message, he had attached the message to a carrying case on the homing pigeon he had carried with him. Meanwhile, at the military base, Ghoultor had made it to the mission objective. "Excellent." said Ghoultor, "The Master Of Zombies will be pleased.".
At that moment, Ghoultor had grabbed the objects he was sent to acquire. The objects were a computer system and hover tech circuits. Just then, Officer Morgan, the biker gang, and the soldiers had blocked the entrance to the building. "You won't capture me." Ghoultor sneers. At that moment, the soldiers aimed their rifles at Ghoultor. "You think your puny weapons can affect me." Sneers Ghoultor, as he was preparing to charge at the soldiers, the biker gang, and Officer Morgan. "Soldiers, prepare to fire on my mark." said Corporal Barker. At that moment, Ghoultor had charged at the group blocking his way. Meanwhile, at the diner, Bobby had noticed the incident at the base. At that moment, Bobby went to his truck and picked up a pair of binoculars. "What on Earth?" said Bobby, "Alan, you have better see this.". "What are you talking about?" Asked Alan. "Apparently, there's some sort of situation going on at the base." replied Bobby. "Wait a minute." said Alan, "My Brother is stationed at the base.". At that moment, Ghoultor had made it over to the other side of the road.
That was where Alan and Bobby had gone closer to investigate. Little did either of them realize that the situation is far more dangerous, because of the plans being put into motion, and Ghoultor's undead powers. While the situation was happening, in another dimension, a robed individual was watching the events unfold. "this is most dire." the individual said to himself. At that moment, Broktar, a Cyborg Lizardman had entered the room. "Sire, you have called for me." said Broktar. "Yes indeed, Broktar." replied the individual, "It seems that there is a major disturbance in the dimension of Octiviox.". "Is it the Master Of Zombies?" asked Broktar. "I'm Afraid so, Broktar." replied the Individual.
"Hmm, this is most dire, indeed." said Broktar, as he moved his cybernetically enhanced left arm. "Broktar." said the Individual. "Yes, Gate Master." said Broktar. "i want you to go into the dimension of Octiviox." said the Gate Master. "For what reason, Gate Master." asked Broktar. "I want you to intercept an individual whom will be entering that dimension very shortly." replied the Gate Master. "Whom is the individual that you want me to intercept?" asked Broktar. "The Individual in question is Alan Stukov." Replied the Gate Master. Meanwhile, near the base, Ghoultor had made it to the designated sector where he will enter a portal leading to the dimension of Octiviox. "i shall complete the mission." Ghoultor said to himself. At that moment, Ghoultor was surrounded by the soldiers, the gang, and Officer Morgan. "You humans shall not capture me!!!" Ghoultor said.
As soon as he said that, Ghoultor had opened a dimensional portal into Octiviox. "Soldiers, don't let him get away." Corporal Barker said to the soldiers. Just then, the back-up Officer Morgan radioed in earlier, had arrived. "What on Earth is that creature?" Officer James Sorbo said, when he arrived at the scene. "i haven't the slightest what the creature is, but we better not let him get away with the gear he's holding." Officer Diana Joelson said. At that moment, a giant came through the Portal. "Sir" said the Giant, "the Master Of Zombies is awaiting your arrival back in Octiviox.". "I'll be there right away." said Ghoultor. As soon as Ghoultor said that, he tossed a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. "soldiers, fire upon the target." Corporal Barker said the soldiers. "take him down." Officer Morgan said. But the soldiers and the cops were too late in stopping Ghoultor and the Giant from entering the portal.
"Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "They're Gone.". At that moment, Alan Stukov and Bobby Raynor had arrived at the scene. "What's going on?" asked Alan. "Apparently, the creature had escaped into some other dimension." replied Officer Morgan. "It looked like the creature was carrying two devices. What were the two devices?" asked Bobby. Meanwhile, in the Karnoxus sector of space, a Kor'drakk cruiser was continuing their patrol. "Computer, access database." said the Captain. The Captain is Captain Zordash, captain of the cruiser, "Dragon Fire.". Zordash is distrustful of humans. "Sir." said one of the crew members. "Yes, Helmsman Mecator." said Captain Zordash. "There seems to be a wormhole several light years in front of the Cruiser." said Helmsman Mecator.
At that moment, the ship started experiencing technical problems. little did the crew realize that they would be on a trip to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, on Earth, Alan had talked to his brother, Joseph. "Joseph, what are the capabilities of the objects that the creature had stolen?" Asked Alan. "Not much, on their own." replied Joseph, "but when they are connected to a vehicle, it could be dangerous.". "then allow me to help in retrieving the objects." said Alan. "That could be risky." said Joseph, "Do You really want to help in the situation?". "Of Course, Joseph." said Alan. "Hey Alan, i just thought of something." said Bobby. "What is that?" asked Alan. "You might be gone a long time. Shouldn't you at least call your boss, and tell him you won't be in for a while." replied Bobby. "That's right, Bobby." said Alan, "i have better do so.". As soon as Alan said that, he went back to his truck and picked up his cell phone and phoned his boss. "Mr. Jackson" said Alan. "Yes Alan, what can i do for you?" said Mr. Jackson. "i will not be in for the next while. I'm not sure how long." said Alan. "For What reason, Alan?" asked Mr. Jackson. "It is a major situation. Apparently there was a robbery at the military base here in Florida." said Alan. "Wait a minute, isn't your brother stationed at the base." said Mr. Jackson. "Yes, Joseph is stationed at the base." said Alan.
"Alright then, i'll get one of the other truckers to cover your loads." said Mr. Jackson. At that moment, Alan and Mr. Jackson had finished up the conversation. Alan went over to Joseph. "Then it's agreed." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, he and the other Soldiers prepared to retrieve the Gate Portal Generator. "Alan" Bobby said. "Yes, Bobby." Said Alan. "I just wanted to wish you luck on this mission." said Bobby, "and i would like to say that I will volunteer for this mission.". "But Bobby, what about your fiance?" asked Alan. "Oh yeah, that's right." said Bobby, "Julie and i were planning on going out tonight. thanks for reminding me.".
Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, Telzor and his clan, the Shadow Wolves were in the main building of the clan's encampment. At that moment, an Orc Warrior had just entered the building. "Sir, i have some major news." said the Orc Warrior. "What news is that?" asked Telzor. "Our Scouts had found some evidence of the awakening of the undead." said the Orc Warrior. "This is major, indeed." Telzor said, Grimly, "then this would mean the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his tomb.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Gate Portal Generator was put into position. Little did the soldiers, the Police, Alan, and Bobby realize that the biker gang was still around the area. All of a sudden, Greg had gone over to Officer Morgan. "Adam." Said Greg, "This isn't over between us.".
At that moment, Greg had motioned for the other bikers. "We will see each other soon." said Greg. After he said that, Greg got on his motorcycle and started to drive away. "All Bikers, let's roll." said Greg. "Alan." Said Joseph. "Yes, Joseph." Said Alan. "The Portal Generator is up and ready." Said Joseph. "what dimension is the portal generator set to?" Asked Alan. "It seems to be a dimension called Octiviox." replied Joseph. "Octiviox?" said Alan. "Apparently it's a dimension of magic and fantasy." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, Alan started moving towards the portal. "Wait a minute, Alan." said Joseph. "What is it, Joseph?" Asked Alan. "You should have some equipment." Said Joseph, "Just in case you get in trouble.".
As soon as Joseph said that, he went and retrieved some equipment for Alan. One such piece of equipment was some armor. Another piece of equipment was a comm-link communicator. "Alan, i just want to wish you good luck." Said Officer Morgan. Just then, Joseph had returned with to the site. "Alan, here is the equipment that you will be working with." said Joseph, as he presented the equipment. "First, is the visor helmet. It has several visor modes, which includes night vision mode." said Joseph. As Joseph was presenting the equipment, Greg Anderson and the other members of the "Fire Griffens" had turned around and started to head towards the portal. At that moment, a cloaked person came into the area. "Wait a minute." said one of the bikers. "What is it?" asked another biker. "There Seems to be a cloaked figure behind us." said the biker. Just then, the bikers had turned to face the person. "Alright, whoever you are, explain yourself." said Greg. "I am the Dark Mage known as Aizortun." said Aizortun, "I have come here to Earth to request your services.".
"Services, For What?" Said Caleb. “Yeah, Caleb's Right. What do you want us to do?" said David Joelson. As Soon as David said that, he and several other bikers started to surround Aizortun. "Hold it guys. let him explain his situation." Said Greg. "Thank You." said Aizortun, "i come from a dimension called Octiviox. It is a realm of magic and fantasy. At this time, a dark being called the Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb.". "Hold it." said David, "For all we know, Aizortun could actually be this 'Master Of Zombies'.". "Wait a minute." Said Caleb, "Didn't Ghoultor mention his name when we encountered him earlier.". "Yeah, that's right, Caleb." Said Duane Jackson.
"As i was saying." said Aizortun, "The Master Of Zombies had tried to conquer the dimensions several times. However, he has been stopped by many heroes. The Most recent hero in history was the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "How are we involved in this situation?" asked Greg. "I have come here to request that you bikers help in defending Octiviox from the darkness that is known as the Master Of Zombies." Said Aizortun. While Aizortun and the bikers were talking, the portal generator had been set for the coordinates of Octiviox. "the coordinates have been set. You're ready to go." said Joseph. That was when Alan headed towards the Portal. "One last thing, Alan." Said Joseph. "What's that?" asked Alan. "Good Luck." Said Joseph.
As soon as Joseph said that, Officer Morgan came over to the portal area. "Alan, I'm Coming along." said Officer Morgan. "Well, I'm Surprised." said Alan, "i didn't know you were the adventurous type.”. "Knock it off, will you." said Officer Morgan. "Why would you want to join me on this mission." asked Alan. "First of all, he had stolen those two parts." said Officer Morgan, "second, he had wrecked my Police Car.". Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, at the Orc Encampment, Telzor and the leaders of the other Orc Clans were discussing a course of action. "The best course of action is a direct assault on the Undead Keep." said Telzor. As Telzor was speaking, he rolled out a map of the Undead Keep, and started putting symbols to show the plan. "That sounds like a good plan." Said G'tekor, leader of the Crimson Tigers clan, "but from what my scouts have informed me about the situation, the Master of Zombies had acquired various pieces of technology from other dimensions.".
"What do you mean, G'tekor?" asked Raiztor, leader of the Atorton Clan. "For one thing." said G'tekor, "My scouts report that there are several gun emplacements at the front of the Keep. These guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". "What if we were to send one of our faster troops in and have them move between the gun emplacements, so that they would hit each other instead of us." said Raiztor, "Would That Work?". "It Sounds Risky." Replied G'tekor, "But it might Work.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alan And Adam had entered the portal, after they had talked about the situation. "This Should Be interesting." said Alan. "What do you mean, Alan?" asked Officer Morgan. "we would be entering an unknown dimension." said Alan. Little did Alan and Officer Morgan realize that Aizortun the Dark Mage had warped the Biker gang and himself to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, in The dimension Of Octiviox, At Castle Diroctor, King Anderson had contacted his advisors. At that moment, The homing Pigeon had flown through a open window. That was where one of the soldiers went over and picked up the pigeon and retrieved the message.
"Sire." said the soldier, "i have some bad news.". "What has happened?" asked King Anderson. "The Spy whom was stationed at the Graveyard of Darkness has died." said the soldier. "What else does the message say?" asked King Anderson. "Apparently the Master Of Zombies has awakened from his tomb." said the Soldier. "That does it." said King Anderson, as he rose from his throne, "we must take action.". At that moment, outside in the main part of Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had arrived through the portal. "Hmm, Most impressive." said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan via the comm-link communicator. "Ah, Alan." Said Joseph, "It seems that you have finally arrived in Octiviox.”. "Yeah, and this device actually works." said Alan, "Joseph, where exactly are we in this dimension?". "You and Officer Morgan are located in Castle Diroctor." Said Joseph. "Any idea whom the ruler of the castle is." Asked Alan. "I have a feeling that we'll soon find out." said Joseph, "but from what i know, his name is King Eduardo Anderson.". At that moment, King Anderson had arrived at the courtyard. "What is all this commotion about?" asked King Anderson. "Greetings, your Highness." said Alan, "I am Alan Stukov, and he is Officer Adam Morgan.". "We're here to....” said Officer Morgan.
But before Officer Morgan could even finish the sentence, he and Alan were surrounded by the King's Soldiers. Just then, Ortonk Poreon had arrived at the scene. "Sire, What's going on?" asked Ortonk. "it seems that two intruders were found trespassing on the grounds of this kingdom." said King Anderson. "intruders?" asked Ortonk. "Yes, intruders." said King Anderson, "And they must be dealt with immediately.". "Wait a minute." said Ortonk, "I think I have seen these two so-called 'intruders' before.". "What do you mean, Ortonk?" asked one of the soldiers. "I remember seeing two individuals pictured in a book at the Arch Mage's Tower." said Ortonk, "The text was in a form of Orcish language, but it said that the two individuals would be the heroes that will help in stopping the Master Of Zombies.". At that moment, the sound of gunfire had sounded outside the walls of the castle. All of a sudden, Officer Morgan had charged at several of the King's Soldiers. "hold it right there, intruder." said one of the soldiers. "Wait, he might be able to help." said Ortonk. That was where the soldiers had moved out of the way, so that Officer Morgan could get past them.
Once he got past the soldiers, Officer Morgan ran up the stairs to the top of the wall. As soon as Officer Morgan had reached the top of the wall, he saw where the gunfire was coming from. It was coming from the weapon mounted on Broktar's Cybernetic Left Arm. "Hold Your Fire." said Officer Morgan. "We couldn't possibly do that." said one of the Archers. "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "the Creature fired at us first." said one of the Archers. "Yeah, we were only defending ourselves." said another archer. "I am here for the human known as Alan Stukov." said Broktar. "What is your reason?" asked Officer Morgan. "i am here on a mission for the Gate Master." said Broktar. "Who is this Gate Master you are talking about?" asked Officer Morgan. "He is the Master Of the Gate Portals." replied Broktar.
"Let the person in." said one of King Anderson's Advisors. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" asked another one of the Advisors. "of course." replied the advisor, "the Gate Master is a highly regarded person, especially in my homeland.”. Meanwhile, in the Karnaxus sector, the Kor'Drakk crew of the ship "Dragon Fire" had entered the wormhole. "Computer, what is the coordinates?" Captain Zordash had asked the ship's computer. "Unable to access interstellar location circuit system file." the ship's computer replied. "This is just great." said Captain Zordash. "Sir, it seems that a opening to the wormhole is just ahead of us." said Helmsman Mecator. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the situation in engineering?". "Captain." said Jor'Dorus, "The engines are still functioning. But, Warp coils are malfunctioning.". "what's the status on the teleporter device?" asked Captain Zordash. "i'll patch you right into the teleporter room, sir." said Jor'Dorus.
At That moment, the ship had entered through the opening in the Wormhole. "Sir, there seems that land is coming into view." said Helmsman Mecator. "Land?" said Captain Zordash, "Helmsman, prepare for evasive Maneuvers.". Meanwhile, at the castle, Broktar had explained the situation to Alan, Officer Morgan, and the residents of Castle Diroctor. "So, what you're telling us." said Alan, "is that the Master of Zombies is planning to take over this realm.". "Why doesn't the Gate Master just come in and Battle the Master Of Zombies in person?" asked Officer Morgan. "For One main Reason." said Broktar, "if he were to leave the Gate Portals unwatched, creatures from other worlds and dimensions could cause havoc among the worlds.". At that moment, one of the archers stationed at the top of the castle wall had seen something in the distance. That something is, in fact, the Kor'Drakk cruiser "Dragon Fire.".
"Wait a minute." the archer said to himself, "It looks like the object is about to land in a short time.". As soon as the Archer said that, he took out a telescope and aimed it in the direction where the object is about to land in. "What on Earth?" said the Archer. "What is it, Jean?" asked one of the archers. "it seems that the object is about to land in Orc territory." said Jean, "to be more precise, territory controlled by the 'Shock Rangers' Clan.". "What is the first act of business?" asked Alan. "we should definitely prepare defenses around the castle." said John Taylors. "Aye, and we should also send a team of warriors to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Ortonk, "not only that, but we should also find some allies whom are willing to help.".
"Yes, that definitely sounds like a plan." said King Anderson, “but we should also acquire the sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight?" asked Alan. "Yes, it's the sword that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker used 175 years ago this month to defeat the Master Of Zombies." Said King Anderson. "We must get going, if we are to stand a chance." said Officer Morgan. "If it must be, so be it." said King Anderson, "but before you go, you should have this.". As soon as King Anderson said that, he handed Alan a map of the land. "Your first destination should be the Arch Mage's Tower." said King Anderson, "The Arch Mage, Alex Johnson, is a friend of mine. He would be a worthy ally in this mission.". Meanwhile, in a village located to the north-west area, not far from a entrance to the Queen of the Witches's hideout, Aizortun the Dark Mage was going over the plan with the "Fire Griffens" biker gang. At that moment, a minotaur had arrived in the area. "Ah, Scaltokas." said Aizortun, “Finally you have arrived.".
"Comrade." said Scaltokas, "i am surprised you haven't been captured by now.". "What do you mean by that?" asked Greg. "I mean that there are some bounty hunters after Aizortun." replied Scaltokas. "why are the bounty hunters after him?" asked Caleb. "It was during the final battles of the Territory Wars between the Orc clans lead by Telzor, leader of the 'Shadow Wolf' Clan, and the human forces." replied Scaltokas, "that Aizortun had betrayed the human forces.". "Yes, but i had escaped just before the orc clans were repelled from Castle Diroctor." said Aizortun. "How did you meet the Orc clans?" asked Caleb. "I haven't met the leader of the Orc Forces personally." said Aizortun, "but i had met Xeintox, leader of the 'Shock Rangers' Clan. In fact i had helped them gain some new weaponry, some of which are from Earth.".
While Scaltokas was talking to Aizortuns the Dark Mage and the biker gang, just north of the village, and a little way to the East, the Kor'Drakk cruiser had just crash landed. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status?". "Most of the systems are still functioning." said Helmsman Mecator, "But they have sustained a serious amount of damage.". "Is the shield generator still operational?" asked Captain Zordash. "Shield generator is still functional, and so is the weapons systems." replied Helmsman Mecator. Just then, Sergeant Dorgarus had entered the bridge. "Sir." said Dorgarus, "Permission to scout out this sector.". "Acknowledged, Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. As soon as Captain Zordash said that, he had contacted Lieutenant Gotarus.
Meanwhile, near Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had checked the map. "Ah, so this must where the Arch Mage's tower is located." said Alan. "I find it odd that you humans would try and find allies, when it would be much easier to go straight into the main base, and take on the Master Of Zombies in direct battle." said Broktar. "That may seem easier, Broktar." said Officer Morgan, "But Remember, he has a army at his command.". "Not only that." said Alan, "But from what King Anderson had told us, he has a flying Battleship.". "what makes you so certain that your chances at victory will be better with any allies?" asked Broktar. "you just wait and see, Broktar." Said Officer Morgan, "We will win this battle.".
Little did they Realize that they were being spied upon by a Ghoul. "Hmm, humans are about." said the Ghoul, "i must tell the Master Of Zombies.". As soon as he said that, the ghoul had tapped once on a button on his comm-link. Immediately, the comm-link had contacted the forces at the Undead Keep. At that moment, Quotor the Wraith had seen that the communications console had been accessed. That was where Quotor went over and accessed the Communication console. "General Quotor." said the Ghoul, "Ghoul Agent K'Dortok reporting in.". "What is your status?" asked Quotor. "There are two humans and a cyborg lizardman headed to the Arch Mage's Tower." Said K'Dortok. "Excellent." said Quotor, "Follow those humans and the lizardman.". After Quotor said that, he went over to the main section of the Undead Keep. It was there, that he met the other leaders of the Undead Forces. "Ah, General Quotor." said the Battle Knight, "It is good to see you.".
"Battle Knight." said Quotor, "I'm quite surprised you haven't already attempted to attack Castle Diroctor.". "Arrgh!!" Exclaimed the Battle Knight as he went off in a blind rage. "Ooh, that's a wise move." said Fortox. "Why am i not surprised, Fortox." said Quotor. Just then, Zoutoxas the Dark Troll had entered the scene. "Ah, Air Commander Zoutoxas." said Quotor, “How are you?". "Excellent." replied Zoutoxas, "Fortox, what is the status of your troops' mission to find and destroy the tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?". "My forces are searching for it as we speak." said Fortox. Meanwhile, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived at the Arch Mage's Tower. "Hmm, I'm Rather surprised." said Alan. "Why is that, Human?" said Broktar. "I was expecting something more magical." replied Alan. "Yeah, After All." said Officer Morgan, "This is supposed to be a realm of magic and fantasy.".
After Officer Morgan said that, he went over to the door and used the door knocker. Meanwhile, inside the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex Johnson was going over his spellbooks. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any information on the object that you had said, Tirus." said Alex. Just then, Alex's Apprentice had entered the main room. "Sir" said the Apprentice, "There are two people and a lizardman outside the Tower.". "What do they look like?" asked Alex. "The two people are dressed in unusual clothing, those not found in this realm." said the apprentice, "The Lizardman, however, seems to have metallic parts connected to organic flesh.". "That seems to be a similar description to that of the heroes of legend." said Alex, "Allow them in.". "Yes, sir." said the Apprentice, as he was heading towards the main door. Meanwhile, at the door of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar were waiting outside the place. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived at the main door. "The Arch Mage will see you now." said the Apprentice, as he opened the door. "It's about time." said Broktar. "Who is this Arch Mage?" asked Alan.
"The Arch Mage is Alex Johnson." said the Apprentice, "He is quite Powerful.". "Just how high does this tower extend to?" Asked Broktar, "My servo joints are about to malfunction.". "it's only 10 floors." replied the Apprentice. "that doesn't seem to long, does it, eh Broktar." Alan said to Broktar. "Ha, you humans may laugh, but you don't know what it is like to have cybernetics replacing any limb that is lost." said Broktar. Meanwhile, in the main room of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex had brought the Book of Legends over to the table. "Why did you bring the book over to the table?" asked Tirus. "It is to check up on the legend of the heroes." replied Alex. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived in the main room, ahead of Broktar, Alan, And Officer Morgan.
"Sir" said the Apprentice, "the people in question are on their way.". "Excellent." said The Arch Mage. Meanwhile, at the Crash site of the downed Kor'Drakk ship, the crew were working on the repairs. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status of the repairs?". Just then, the ship was hit by a outside force. "Alert." the ship's computer said, "Unidentified hostiles located in area.". "Computer, where was the ship hit?" asked Captain Zordash. "Middle section of port side." said the ship's computer. Outside the ship, two Orc Warriors, riding on Griontors had moved into postion. That was after one of the warriors had fired a rocket at the ship. "Sire." said one of the Orc warriors. "Yes, Comrade" said Xeintox. "We have started phase one of the raid." said the Orc Warrior. "Excellent." said Xeintox, "Prepare to move to phase two.".
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2024.06.02 15:32 Important-Bug8093 25% off All Quest Games A-Z

Need a different game? DM me. Over 200 25% discount codes only 4000 characters/post. For an instant $30 device referral claim@ https://www.meta.com/referrals/link/JJtheoutlaw. You need to claim before linking your account to Quest. If you have been using Quest for 45 days without claiming the $30 then you need to use the phone app. Go to Menu tab, Devices , headset settings, reset the device. Click the referral. Now start quest normally. You will now have $30 and can redownload games and resume where you left off
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2024.06.02 15:29 Important-Bug8093 25% off All meta games A-Z

Need a different game? DM me. Over 200 25% discount codes only 4000 charecters/post. For instant $30 device referral claim@ https://www.meta.com/referrals/link/JJtheoutlaw If you set up an account in last 45 days without claiming the $30 then you need to use phone app. Go to Menu tab, Devices , headset settings, reset the device. Click the referral then start quest. You will now have $30 and can redownload games and resume where you left off
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2024.06.02 15:28 Important-Bug8093 25% off Full game list A-Z

Need a different game? DM me. Over 200 25% discount codes only 4000 charecters/post. For instant $30 device referral claim@ https://www.meta.com/referrals/link/JJtheoutlaw If you set up an account in last 45 days without claiming the $30 then you need to use phone app. Go to Menu tab, Devices , headset settings, reset the device. Click the referral then start quest. You will now have $30 and can redownload games and resume where you left off
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2024.06.02 15:18 Writteninsanity [OT] The Prompt:Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. You have the most useless power ever, when one day... Is now a full novel!

Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. When together, both their powers increase in strength exponentially. You have the most useless power ever, when one day......
Hi, I'm Writteninsanity. 8 years ago I started my writing career with this prompt. It is now available on Amazon as a full novel!
TLDR: Amazon: COM / CA / UK / AUS
Title is also available internationally.
The night Toby Vander met his soulmate, he became the most wanted, and perhaps the most powerful, man on the planet.
Everyone has a superpower, enhanced and changed when around their soulmate. Most never meet theirs, but when Toby met Emma, his power leapt from enhanced perception to stopping time.
Now, Toby finds himself at the center of a violent struggle. Surrounded by powerful agents from the Department of Power Regulation and rebels from the fearsome Red, Toby must discover the truth behind his power and his new place in the world.
Alongside him is Zoe McCourtney, a city-shaking telepath torn between her obligation to the DPR and keeping her best friend Emma together with her soulmate.
Can Toby and Emma survive this? Can they stay together?
Can the world handle a time-stopper?

Reviews!

This book is a great read! Well written with good pacing and dynamic characters. The twists and turns of the book caught me by surprise and just made it impossible to put it down. Fans of urban fantasy and superhero stories will love this unique take on superhero dynamics and powers. Give it a try!
I follow the author on Jacksonwrites, so I've read snippets of Splitting Seconds before, but it was great to see how much more polished the finished product is! It's a fun premise with a lot of charm, with interesting characters and some really thoughtful worldbuilding. Would highly recommend you pick this up, as well as Evergreen, another novella by the author. Would highly recommend, take the time to pick this up, it's absolutely worth a second look.

Chapter One: Blind Dates:

It candidly sucked being surrounded by constant reminders that you’d lost the genetic lottery. Sure, it was easier than some people thought to get around the world without powers; it wasn’t like the government expected everyone to be a speedster or to be able to fly. Hell, a hundred years ago, nobody even had powers. The infrastructure was there. Life went on.
That said, staying cheery about the hand I’d been dealt was difficult. Enhanced perception was useful for a lot of things, from party tricks to always reading the fine print, but next to flight? Next to teleportation?
I’d gotten hung up on movement powers because I’d taken the bus to the bar, and the only superpower buses had was being late.
I was specifically at the bar for the sake of a blind date set up by my best friend; Todd was about two times my size and could throw a car across the street. His powers did nothing to help me with his current obsession with my dating life, but here we were. I supposed it was a fair obsession. I hadn’t been trying.
It honestly made sense that Todd had been keenly aware of romance since he’d met his soul mate. See, a strange thing with powers was that when you were around your soulmate, they were inexplicably stronger. Todd had met Soo-jung when she’d been on vacation in Crescent three years ago. They’d been inseparable since, and he’d been able to throw a car down three blocks instead of across the street.
Or so he claimed. Nobody was eager to volunteer their car for a demonstration, or anything else heavy and expensive, for that matter.
For my part, I hadn’t spent a lot of time guessing what would happen if I met my soulmate. It was a common train of thought for some, but I never found that it stopped at any fun stations. Instead, I indulged Todd’s meddling because he was my friend and bad dates at least made good stories.
“Gimme a sec, I’ll grab us another round,” Todd announced as he pushed out from our table. “Emma said she’s going to be here soon.”
“You bought the last one.”
“Yeah, now you can buy two in a row once Emma gets here and look generous. Think about it, man.”
“Sure,” I answered, but Todd was already walking away from the table and toward the bar.
Soo-jung leaned in. “You know he’s trying, right?”
“I know, maybe a little too much.”
“You don’t hear the half of it.”
“Oh, good.”
“I had to tell him to calm down when it came to buttering you up to Emma,” Soo-jung explained as she took a sip from her drink. “Sometimes I wonder about him.”
“I’m surprised he says anything nice about me.”
“He’d never say it to your face.” She watched Todd at the bar instead of looking at me during our conversation.
“Does that mean you’ll do it for him?”
“He trusts me to keep his secrets.”
“How about I suggest things and read your reaction?” I asked.
Soo-jung frowned in response before she pointedly rolled her eyes. She knew that reading reactions was one of my party tricks. If you couldn’t be powerful, you could at least read a room.
“Okay, fine. What do you know about Emma?”
“Her last name’s Tavish.”
“That’s it?”
“She works with Todd.”
“I knew that. He kept telling me she was a co-worker.”
“Todd thinks she’s cute.”
“He told you that?”
“No, but he has high standards for you.”
“That’s all the detail you have?”
“Todd’s not allowed to talk about work at hom- Hey, honey.”
Todd was back at the table holding all three pints in one arm; he passed one to each of us despite Soo being less than halfway finished with her current drink. Once he’d finished distributing, he turned to Soo-jung and asked her a question in broken Korean.
He’d been trying to learn, and he was still struggling. Not that I knew the language.
“Yes,” Soo-jung responded in English, “we were talking about Emma; no Korean around Toby. It’s rude.”
“I thought you wanted me to practice?”
“You can practice at home.”
“So we were talking about Emma,” Todd jumped back to the previous topic instead of discussing his inconsistent study of Korean. “Awesome woman, perfect for you, man.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Oh, she sucks too.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“He means powers-wise,” Soo-jung stepped in.
“So you do know something about her,” I pointed out.
“Something? I’ve been telling Soo everything since we got in the car to come here.” Just as Todd finished, he flinched. Soo had kicked him under the table. “But it wasn’t much, really.”
“What do I get to know?”
“I don’t want to taint your expectations.” He pushed his empty glass away, swapping it with the new one. “But can I be serious for a second?”
I considered it. “Sure.”
“She’s like my boss’, boss’ boss. So best behavior.”
“Wait. Seriously?” I leaned in. Todd worked for the CPRU, which meant that she had to be a heavy hitter if she was high-ranked in the city’s power regulation department. “She’s—”
“Not quite.” He backpedaled. “We share a building. She’s straight DPR.”
I blinked twice at that. “Way to set me up to fail.”
“You should believe in yourself,” Soo cut in.
“Todd, I w—”
“And she’s here.” Todd had turned his attention away from me and toward his phone. “Hope you’re ready to meet your soulmate.”
“Honey, don’t set that expectation.”
The bar’s front door opened, and I was the only one who could hear it over the atmosphere. I glanced over, and there she was.
She was stunning by any definition, but especially mine. Maybe it was a strange way to describe someone, but she looked beautifully meticulous, from brunette hair to olive skin, to her light blue jacket; everything was in place, and everything about her was gorgeous. Assuming that was Emma, I owed Todd big time.
“Okay, that can’t be her, right?” I asked Todd. After a second, without a response, I checked to see if he was waving at her, but he was stock still, a stupid grin plastered over his face. “Todd?”
Holy shit. The DPR had some crazy people on their roster, but this- I waved a hand in front of Todd’s face and snapped my fingers, then caught the sound of a single cautious heel clicking against the floor.
I stood up from the table and looked back at the door. She’d taken one step into the bar but had gotten caught in the same shock I had. “Emma?” I asked.
She snapped her attention to me -god, her eyes were- but she just looked confused.
“Toby,” I explained, “I’m Todd’s friend.” I motioned over to Todd’s still body and took the first steps to say hello. “This is really impressive. I didn’t think this was possible. It’s cool to meet someone wh—”
“I’m not doing this,” she said. “This is impossible. How are yo—”
“Trust me, this isn’t in my…” We stared at each other for a moment. Somehow, time stopped more than it already was.
“Holy shit.” We both said it at once.
“So this isn’t you?” she asked. Her eyes were still meandering around the frozen bar instead of staying in the conversation with me.
“No, it’s not.” I walked along her gaze and ended up against the bar counter, “did Todd tell you what my power was?”
“He just told me you wouldn’t mind having me around,” Emma answered, which somehow just brought up more questions.
“Enhanced perception.” I grabbed a drink off of the bar to see if I could; As soon as I touched it, it seemed to animate back to life. “What do you mean, ‘mind having you around’?”
“I dampen powers,” she explained, a little quieter than anything else she’d said, “make them weaker, hard to use. The technical definition is long and wordy so…” She sighed as she watched me slosh the beer around. “It’s a lot of trouble, really.”
“Probably good for work,” I offered.
“Pretty much the whole reason I have my job, but Callum wouldn’t admit that.” She approached, but there wasn’t an open seat near where I was standing, nor could we ask for someone to move. “Callum is—”
“Callum Rehsman, head of the D.P.R for the past six years,” I stepped in, “sorry, comes with the perception thing.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad I don’t have to explain it.” Emma took to leaning against the bar instead of walking over to a seat. She undid the top button of her shirt, which was probably too high for a date, anyway. “Emma Terish. Ring any bells up there?”
“No.”
“And you’re?”
“Toby Vander.” I put down the beer to offer my hand, and it froze as soon as I let go. We both paid attention to that instead of the potential formal hello.
“So this isn’t you.” Emma reached for the glass and picked it up; once she did, it animated just like it had with me. “And it isn’t me…”
I swallowed nothing. We’d both said holy shit for a reason, but it felt impossible to admit it. Wasn’t there supposed to be a—Well, something? Anything?
Then again, we were stopping time, and what else could you ask for?
“Do you want a drink, Toby?” Emma asked. She vaulted herself over the bar with a frankly shocking amount of grace for someone in a pantsuit.
“Uh, sure.”
“I’d ask what you were drinking, but we might have limited options.” She was considering her new vantage point from behind the counter.
I took the opportunity to grab the drink I’d left behind on the table. “I’ll use the one I had.” I tapped Todd’s hand for posterity, and nothing happened to him. “Any idea what this might—”
“No idea,” she answered without letting me finish, “but my job involves dealing with unknown powers, so…” She tried to use the soda-gun and swore when it didn’t work. “You learn to roll with it until people cooperate.”
“You still think I’m doing this?”
“I know it’s not me, and there aren’t many options here with us,” she said as she ducked behind the bar and came back up with a lemonade cooler, “but I came here for a date, and I plan to have one. Been a long week.”
I returned to the bar, finding a seat now that she was on the other side. “I just need to establish that this isn’t me. I’m not trying to—”
“If it isn’t you and it’s not me stopping time around us, then someone is giving us a very private venue for our first date.”
“Isn’t that nice?”
“It really is.” She took a sip of her drink, then pulled it away before she had time to swallow. “Shit. Do you have cash?”
“I’ll cover you.” She frowned at that; clearly she wasn’t satisfied with someone else paying for everything. “Plus, you’re serving me tonight. So…” That seemed to be enough plausible deniability to satisfy her. “Cheers?”
“Cheers.”
Throughout drink one, we were casting nervous glances around the paused bar; by drink five, we were laughing, just the two of us. Hours dripped by with the free beer… or they didn’t… It was hard to tell.
Emma added her sixth can to her pyramid and composed herself. “Okay, okay, okay. One second.” She took a deep breath. “This has been so much fun, but I told Todd I’d tell him when I got here so” — she needed another second to find her verbal footing — “can you stop this now?”
“Stop what?” I was halfway through a sip.
“This is the coolest power I’ve seen but—”
“It’s not me, I promise.” my insistence ended up sounding more like a drunk debate. The drunk part was accurate.
“So your power really is enhanced perception.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re not lying.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because that’s lame and—” She stopped herself. “Shit, sorry.”
“I am so used to it.”
“You wouldn’t say that drunk if you could stop time is my point.” She almost ducked down to grab another drink but thought better of it. “So, that makes us…”
We’d reached this impasse several times in the last hours. I scanned her. The lines on her face. The size of her irises. She was worried. Apprehensive.
So I said it first.
“We’re soul mates.”
She looked down and to the left, considering instead of answering.
“Why else would one of us display a power we’d never seen before? Unless you’re right and someone was stopping time for everyone but me and—”
“And the woman who’s immune to powers,” she cut in. “Maybe we are soul mates, but turn it off.”
“It’s not—”
“Toby, please.”
“I don’t—” I stopped short and instead tried even though I didn’t know how. My perception was passive. I didn’t get to choose whether I used it. Was there supposed to be a switch somewhere inside my head? Was I...
How long had it been at this point? Six, seven hours? We’d planned to meet pretty late and it would almost be light out by now. She was right. We had to get—
“I don’t know how,” I admitted, “if it’s me.”
Emma opened her mouth to say something, then reconsidered. Her perfectly manicured nails were digging into the vinyl of the bar top.
“Okay. It’s been lovely, but if you getting here started this then,” I said as I stood up, “maybe I just need to leave, and that will turn it off so we can figure out what’s going on.” I took the first steps toward the door.
“That’s a good plan.” She nodded along with what she was saying, like she was convincing herself, “I’ll reach out to you. It was an excellent date.”
“Let Todd know for me,” I added as I reached the door; a second later, I stepped into the chilled early-fall air. The door didn’t shut behind me, so I kept walking until I would have been out of eyesight.
Then I stopped.
Should I have turned around? What were the chances that she was my soul mate? What was I leaving behind if I didn’t see her again? It was a dumb thought, but the idea of walking away started gnawing at me.
But what choice did I have? In front of me, a couple was frozen in the middle of a quiet conversation on the way to the bar. Soul mates only affected one another when they were close by. I took a few more steps and started to sprint.
I was three blocks away when the world stuttered around me. My vision blurred, and the moonlight was shattered by the sun. I stumbled, almost crashing into a woman dressed like she was on her way to brunch.
Shit. I’d left my jacket at the bar, but—
I checked my watch; 8:06 AM.
Hope your enjoyed!
submitted by Writteninsanity to WritingPrompts [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 15:01 aznpersuazion My Top 5 Restaurants in South Florida/Miami Area..

Wanted to share my top 5 recommendation list. Having lived here for about 30 years, here are the best spots to visit, whether you're traveling or a local. I've included a range of options from cheap eats to fine dining.
  1. Chef Tally's - I've binge eaten at least 50+ jamaican restaurants, and while this isn't your typical traditional jamaican spot, this is hands down one of my favorite places in south Florida. I dream about the chicken here. It's always a candidate for my "what should I eat this weekend" thoughts.
  2. Mila Sunday Brunch - $95 for all you can eat cinco jota jamon iberico, black caviar, and a ton of other creatively prepared dishes. I've had a few of the other brunchs in south florida, like edge, novikov, etc. but this one gets the thumbs up because they actually have more unique spreads and appetizers. Pro tip, they have a cheese wheel pasta and mojito station outside. Did I mention the price includes unlimited champagne and rose?
  3. Palacio de los Jugos - this is a staple of south florida cuisine. I might get some flack for having this on my list, but amongst all the cuban and latin spots I've been to across Hialeah and Miami, I always find myself back here grabbing a meal for like $7 and juice for $3!
  4. Stubborn Seed - I haven't gone since they've gotten their Michelin Star, but I used to frequent this place. What sets the tasting menu at stubborn seed apart in my opinion is the almagamation of dish pacing, food sourcing/creativity, and lineup of ingredients. I don't think there's a singular dish that really sets this restaurant apart from the rest of the modern fine dining options, but more so a extremely well presented and curated dining experience.
  5. Anita Gelato. This spot recently opened in Aventura coming from NYC. It's not a super traditional italian/argentiniam gelato, but the flavor combinations are the best I've ever had. And it's not too sweet. My favorite ice cream/froyo/gelato spot amongst the hundreds I've been to in SoFlo.
Honorable mention goes to Kaeru Sushi for bringing great quality japanese food for an affordable price.* A little extra. South Florida has EXCELLENT latin american food(peruvian, argentinian, columbian, etc.), mediterranean, israeli/jewish delis, italian, caribbean, and much more. I highly recommend checking out any of the above cuisines. DM me if you'd like any specific recommendations.
​
**If you found any of this helpful, please consider using a referral link. You get additional sign up and welcome bonuses. Signing up and using Rakuten for cash back is free!*\*
​
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2024.06.02 14:58 Minerealm_ MineRealm [SMP] [Semi-Vanilla] {Public} {1.19-1.20.6} {21+ Staff} {Legit} {Custom Plugins}

MineRealm has welcomed over 260,000 unique players since our launch in 2010.
Join one of the longest running public SMP servers today!
Join up today, and become an early member of the next generation MineRealm community!
About MineRealm:
We strive to keep core gameplay as close to vanilla as possible, while adding on additional (and fully optional) meta-gameplay.
We offer a legit gameplay experience, where no items or blocks have ever been spawned in by a staff member. You won’t find a pre-built hub on MineRealm!
All additional gameplay features on the server are custom-coded, as well as our well known grief prevention system, CoreProtect. We also offer a custom land protection system, which allows the server to remain virtually grief-free.
If you haven't already, please be sure to join our Discord Server. We’d love to hear your ideas for the future of MineRealm.
For more information about the server, check out this forum post.
See you in game!
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2024.06.02 14:57 Minerealm_ MineRealm [SMP] [Semi-Vanilla] {Public} {1.19-1.20.6} {21+ Staff} {Legit} {Custom Plugins}

MineRealm has welcomed over 260,000 unique players since our launch in 2010.
Join one of the longest running public SMP servers today!
Join up today, and become an early member of the next generation MineRealm community!
About MineRealm:
We strive to keep core gameplay as close to vanilla as possible, while adding on additional (and fully optional) meta-gameplay.
We offer a legit gameplay experience, where no items or blocks have ever been spawned in by a staff member. You won’t find a pre-built hub on MineRealm!
All additional gameplay features on the server are custom-coded, as well as our well known grief prevention system, CoreProtect. We also offer a custom land protection system, which allows the server to remain virtually grief-free.
If you haven't already, please be sure to join our Discord Server. We’d love to hear your ideas for the future of MineRealm.
For more information about the server, check out this forum post.
See you in game!
submitted by Minerealm_ to MinecraftServerShare [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 14:55 Minerealm_ MineRealm [SMP] [Semi-Vanilla] {Public} {1.19-1.20.6} {21+ Staff} {Legit} {Custom Plugins}

MineRealm has welcomed over 260,000 unique players since our launch in 2010.
Join one of the longest running public SMP servers today!
Join up today, and become an early member of the next generation MineRealm community!
About MineRealm:
We strive to keep core gameplay as close to vanilla as possible, while adding on additional (and fully optional) meta-gameplay.
Hop right into full infrastructure, mega builds and plenty of land to bring your empire to life.
We offer a legit gameplay experience, where no items or blocks have ever been spawned in by a staff member. You won’t find a pre-built hub on MineRealm!
All additional gameplay features on the server are custom-coded, as well as our well known grief prevention system, CoreProtect. We also offer a custom land protection system, which allows the server to remain virtually grief-free.
If you haven't already, please be sure to join our Discord Server. We’d love to hear your ideas for the future of MineRealm.
For more information about the server, check out this forum post.
See you in game!
submitted by Minerealm_ to mcservers [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 14:42 Nestledrink [Megathread] GeForce At Computex 2024: Project G-Assist AI Assistant, Star Wars Outlaws Adds DLSS 3.5, SFF-Ready Unveiled, ComfyUI Acceleration, And More

[Megathread] GeForce At Computex 2024: Project G-Assist AI Assistant, Star Wars Outlaws Adds DLSS 3.5, SFF-Ready Unveiled, ComfyUI Acceleration, And More
​
https://preview.redd.it/3kxlou57554d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f871a75382540764638aa39e9757692b5094851d

Overview of NVIDIA GeForce Computex 2024 Announcement

Introducing Project G-Assist: A Preview of How AI Assistants Can Enhance Games & Apps

  • NVIDIA is exhibiting Project G-Assist at Computex 2024. This is an RTX powered AI assistant technology demo that provides context-aware help for PC games and apps
  • Project G-Assist can provide in-gaming assistance, share useful system information, configure settings to increase performance and power efficiency, and much more
  • Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdsyJQWUUSs

Build Small, Play Big – Introducing SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards & Compatible Cases

  • Partnership with graphics card and case manufacturers to make component choice simpler by introducing a new guideline called SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards and Compatible Cases.
  • Manufacturer product pages and listings on global retailers will soon be updated with text labeling graphics cards that meet the guideline as “SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards”, and cases as being “Compatible with SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards”, instantly identifying parts that fit together and allowing you to buy and build an SFF system with confidence.
  • Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURzD1VQI00
  • SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards
    • SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards are RTX 4070 or higher with the following dimensions:
      • 151mm maximum height including power cable bend radius
      • 304mm maximum length
      • 40mm or 2.5 slots maximum depth
    • As of June 2nd, 2024, there are 36 GeForce RTX 40 series enthusiast graphics card that meet the SFF-Ready guideline from NVIDIA and AIB partners with more being announced during Computex 2024.
    • Full list in the article
https://preview.redd.it/kibb8kcc754d1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd2c35a1d2e943e1ed7ebc54d0a1fb66bc77e917
  • Cases Compatible with SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards
    • Cases compatible with SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards must have enough space to fit any SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Card and manufacturer's bundled power connector along with other necessary components of a PC
      • 154.5mm clearance is required from either a motherboard or riser PCB to the side or top case panel
      • 312mm in clearance length including the graphics card and extender
    • Full list in the article
​
https://preview.redd.it/uc18356j854d1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1640e064108b5f4283a86bf043eb96247968954a
​
https://preview.redd.it/3742hrtj854d1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e617e04c5fc54e305e1a1b5fe445d81694b8d1b

DLSS 3.5 With Ray Reconstruction Coming To Star Wars Outlaws & Marvel Rivals Gets A DLSS 3 Upgrade

NVIDIA ACE Digital Humans Coming To RTX AI PCs

NVIDIA today announced the general availability of NVIDIA ACE generative AI microservices to accelerate the next wave of digital humans, as well as new generative AI breakthroughs coming soon to the platform.
The suite of NVIDIA ACE digital human generative AI technologies now generally available includes:
  • NVIDIA Riva ASR, TTS and NMT — for automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech conversion and translation
  • NVIDIA Nemotron LLM — for language understanding and contextual response generation
  • NVIDIA Audio2Face — for realistic facial animation based on audio tracks
  • NVIDIA Omniverse RTX — for real-time, path-traced realistic skin and hair
Newly announced technologies include:
  • NVIDIA Audio2Gesture — for generating body gestures based on audio tracks, available soon
  • NVIDIA Nemotron-3 4.5B — a new small language model (SLM) purpose-built for low-latency, on-device RTX AI PC inference

NVIDIA RTX Remix to Open Source Creator Toolkit

  • Open Source of RTX Remix Toolkit, alongside powerful new REST API, will make it faster and easier to remaster classic games.
  • In June, NVIDIA will open source the RTX Remix Toolkit, enhancing modding with new asset capabilities and AI Texture Tools, and integrate it with other tools via a REST API and an SDK to expand its use beyond classic DirectX 8 and 9 games.
  • Video Link: https://youtu.be/j9I0iLxGJl0

NVIDIA App Beta Update Adds AV1 Recording & One-Click Performance Tuning

  • 120 FPS AV1 Recording Enhances Your Videos
    • Leverages 8th Generation NVENC on GeForce RTX 40 series to offer AV1 encoding
    • Enhances video quality by 40% without using extra disk space
    • Allows recording at 120 FPS
    • Higher quality at the same bit rates compared to H.264
    • Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g1udxztjgk
  • Performance Panel & One-Click Automatic GPU Tuning
    • The NVIDIA app allows GeForce RTX desktop and laptop owners to optimize their GPU performance through a Performance Panel with one-click automatic tuning and manual adjustments, enhancing system capabilities.
  • In-Game Overlay Updates
    • Improved the user interface for Photo Mode, improving the way you can add filters for your photos.
    • Furthermore, we've simplified the process to exit the overlay - Instead of pressing "escape," you can also now simply click outside of the menu to close it.
    • We’ve also added GPU power in the Statistics section, enabling you to track usage in-game and in the app.

GeForce Rewards: Get PC Game Pass Free For 3 Months, Starting June 4th

  • NVIDIA Partnered with Xbox to give GeForce gamers 3 months of access to PC Game Pass for free, starting June 4th!
  • How to claim the PC Game Pass GeForce Reward. starting June 4th:
  1. Create an NVIDIA Account
  2. If you created an account previously, head here and check you’re enrolled in GeForce Rewards
  3. Download and install GeForce Experience or the NVIDIA app beta. Or alternatively access GeForce NOW Rewards and follow the steps listed at the link
  4. Open either GeForce Experience or the NVIDIA app beta with a GeForce GTX 10 Series or newer desktop PC or laptop
  5. Login to your NVIDIA Account within your chosen app
  6. Click on the Redeem section
  7. Select the PC Game Pass GeForce Reward, starting June 4th at 6am
  8. Follow the on-screen instructions

Reference Links

​
Video Links
Star Wars™ Outlaws DLSS 3.5 World Premiere Link Here
Marvel Rivals 4K Gameplay with DLSS 3 and NVIDIA Reflex Link Here
Build Small. Play Big. SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards and Compatible Cases Link Here
Project G-Assist Your AI Assistant For Games & Apps Link Here
Record Your Gameplay at 120fps in AV1! NVIDIA app Beta Link Here
RTX Remix Remaster the Classics with RTX with 1,000s of AI Models via ComfyUI Link Here
Multiply Your AI Performance with NVIDIA GeForce RTX AI PCs Link Here
Generate Images Faster with Stable Diffusion and RTX Link Here
​
submitted by Nestledrink to nvidia [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 14:08 FancyInvestment397 ICECasino Review (Canada)

ICECasino Review (Canada)
ICECasino was launched in 2021 and is already a hit amongst players in Canada. The wide choice of games and the staggering welcome bonus of C$1500 and 270 Free Spins are some of the reasons why.
ICECasino

Summary

ICECasino was founded in 2021 and is highly regulated. The platform offers over 2000 games from all popular slots to live casino games. The casino excels when it comes to the high level of bonuses and promos it offers to its new customers and its already existing clients.

ICECasino Review

How we tested ICECasino

We at Canada Casino have expert casino players and tech gurus who scrutinize every casino we review. All of the online casinos we feature audit-specific factors that are important for players when choosing a new online casino – from anything to safety, best offers and ease of use.

ICECasino licensing, safety and trustworthiness

Founded in 2021, ICECasino is pretty one of the newest online casino platforms. Since it operates in Canada as well, it has to follow the mandatory licensing requirements from the highest gaming authorities that are recognized by their efficiency worldwide.
ICE Casino has been indeed licensed by acclaimed Curacao Gaming Authority under the registered company Brivio Ltd. Being licensed means that the authority in check makes sure that ICECasino has regular audits. Audit companies such as eCOGRA are some of the most trusted companies that perform such tests, and the latter secure that none of the games within the online casino are rigged, and that finally, you can set your mind at ease that you’re betting safe.
Your data is also safe – thanks to a high-end SSL encryption that data protects all the players’ personal information.

What makes ICECasino safe?

ICECasino is safe because it follows all the necessary regulations that are needed for any online casino to operate in Canada. In that regard, ICE also features an especially dedicated page for Privacy Policy in the foot menu.
Like any other top casino in Canada, ICE operates through an RNG system that ensures that winnings are random and not rigged. RNG stands for Random Number Generator and operates with the same logic as a normal dice – meaning that when dice are rolled, the outcome of the result is random and this is what makes the game fair.

Safety is a top priority for ICECasino

ICECasino’s license is top-acclaimed. All the encryptions are in place, and all the necessary audits are there to ensure the fairness of games. ICECasino got you all covered for safety

Similar Online Casinos Canada

  1. Just Casino - Best game variety
  2. Lucky Dreams - 4,000 €/$ + 300 Free Spins
  3. Golden Star - Best for new games
  4. Boomerang - Best for customer service
  5. Jeet City - 100% Bonus up to C$300

Welcome offers and Promos – Claim your Bonus at ICECasino

The best online casinos invest in their players – having solid ongoing promotions, as well as attractive welcoming packages, are elemental into what makes players in Canada choose one online casino service over another.
What about ICECasino? We definitely can’t complain – pretty far from it.

One of the highest Welcome Bonus we have came across – C$1500

Well – we have reviewed hundreds of casinos with good welcome bonuses – but to such an extent as ICECasino, it’s rare.
The casino welcomes its new players with a staggering welcome bonus that can go up to C$1500. The welcome package also includes Free Spins – not just any normal amount, but 270 Free Spins in total.

The wagering requirement for the welcome package is x40 – which is neither too high, nor too low. The minimum bet required to activate the welcome bonus won’t cost you much – it’s as low as C$10.

ICECasino Free Spins Offer

As already mentioned above, part of the welcome package includes 270 Free Spins. That is a huge number of Free Spins – also definitely one of the highest we have come across.
The wagering requirement for the 270 Free Spins is also that of x40.
The welcome package for both welcome bonus and free spins however can only be claimed within 5 days from the day of registration – this is low compared to other casinos who generally have a 15 to 30 days time window for players to claim their bonus

Cashback Bonus upto C$2000 at ICECasino

If the welcome package wasn’t good enough, the cashback bonus is even better. What we mean in casino terms by ‘cashback bonus’ is the return of lost funds by the players’ activity within the week. This type of bonus is calculated by a very specific type of bonus wagering calculator.
To see if you have any cashback, go on the ICECasino website and click on ‘Available Funds’. The cashback bonus claims you back up to a total of C$2000.
The wagering requirement for Cashback is as low as x5.

Promotions and Tournaments

ICE online casino also features a monthly Drop and Win featured by provider Pragmatic Play – the campaign features C$500,000 in cash prizes per week.

Staggering bonuses and offers at ICECasino

We think that the bonus, promos and offers are some of the best in Canada when it comes to ICECasino. The wagering requirements for each bonus are also very decent. We would suggest however for the casino to extend the days when the casino bonus can be claimed as 5 days can be too low.
Though the casino features no VIP Program, ICE is loyal to its customers with its numerous promos and campaigns featured on a monthly bases.

How to Register a new account with ICECasino

Registering an account with ICECasino is a walk on the park – or more like a jump – as it takes less than a minute to sign up.
You only have to put in your email address and password. Even faster? You can sign-up in just one click through your Twitter, Facebook or Google account.

Registering an account at ICECasino is one-click away

Rather than just having the usual email and password sign-up process, it’s also very convenient to have popular social media sign-in options that happen in just one click.

ICECasino Payment methods

Payment methods are also crucial when doing a casino review for Canada. All top casinos are considerate towards a good range of payment options that cater to all players’ needs.
This is was ICECasino features for its payment options:

Good payment methods. Can include crypto

Overall the payment methods fit the needs of casino players in Canada.
With such an interactive platform offering high-end services, ICECasino can benefit by including cryptocurrency as a payment option.

Games you can play at ICECasino

This casino never ceases to amaze as the platform features over 2000 games – including slot games, table games such as Roulette and Blackjack, Live Casino and Game Shows.

Recommended slots you can play at ICECasino

ICECasino offers games powered by a total of 25 top game providers – including big names such as NetEnt, Microgaming, Quickspin and Pragmatic Play.
There are thousands of slot games to choose from – featuring some of the best slot titles including Jungle Gorilla, Starburst and Book of Kingdoms.

Exquisite live dealer table available

Table games remind us of land casinos and the classic table games we see so much in movies. These were revived in the online world through the Live Casino experiences.
ICE features all the favourite table games including Blackjack, Baccarat and Craps. All-time favourites include Live Baccarat, European Blackjack, Mini-Baccarat, French Roulette and American Roulette. Most live casino games are powered by top providers Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play.

Game Shows you can play here

For now, ICECasino features no Game shows. Maybe something to be considered within the pipeline?

Game Providers

We’re mentioning some of the top providers for ICECasino:
  • Slots Providers – NetEnt, Yggdrasil, Red Tiger Gaming, QuickSpin, Betsoft, Thunderkick, Habanero, BoomingGames, Push Games, No Limit, Relax Gaming, Top Trend
  • Live casino Providers – Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play

Wide array of slots and Live Casino Options. No Game Shows.

The platform features one of the best slot choices in town – with more than 2000 slots from where to choose from. Live Casino is also given a top priority in ICECasino.
There is room for improvement when it comes to offering other table game choices such as Craps and also by including Game Shows within their portfolio.

Here’s How to withdraw your winning money from ICECasino

You have landed some winnings and you are ready to withdraw – the epic moment of the online casino gaming experience.
Withdrawing your money from ICECasino is fairly easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide that will walk you through.

Step by Step guide on how to withdraw from ICECasino

  1. Log in to your profile
  2. See that your KYS check has been processed sucesfully
  3. Go to Payments and choose Withdrawal method
  4. Choose your preferred Withdrawal method
  5. Insert the amount you wish to withdraw and press confirm
  6. A window pops up to advise that transaction has been succesfully processed
A step-by-step guide on how to withdraw from the casino you are reviewing.

Other important informations to know when withdrawing.

Minimum withdrawal is more than fair where players in Canada can withdraw from a minimum of C$20. The maximum withdrawal can go up to C$30,000.
In-depth details of withdrawal amounts and procedures can be found on the website’s Terms and Conditions page – found in the website’s footer menu.

Withdrawal process at ICECasino is simple enough

The withdrawal process is easy with no hidden surprises.

Customer Support

Customer Support is part of the deal when you sign up for a new casino. These are all the contact possibilities offered by ICECasino

Customer care offers the most popular contact options – 24.7 chat and email – so that’s good.
The languages featured on the website do also offer a good range – featuring English, German, French, Finnish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Hungarian.
The page however lacks a proper FAQ page – this can facilitate queries by players through a few clicks and searches.

Ok but there’s room for improvement

ICECasino offers all the basics for contact support – the 24/7 chat and email. The wide choice of languages featured is also a plus. However, there’s room for improvement through the possible inclusion of a detailed FAQ section within their website.

Responsible Gambling

Though the games mention playing responsibly, ICE Games does not feature a specific page on Responsible Gaming. Though this is not required by law, we would nonetheless suggest it to make the service more inclusive of all the aspects of gaming.
We at Canada Casino have a dedicated page on Responsible Gaming and how you can set targets, plan your budget and do strict timeframes can help you focus and not get carried away by the gaming experiences.

Conclusion

When ICECasino decides to excel, it excels. The platform is one of the most highly interactive we have ever encountered. Also, the platform offers some of the best bonuses and promotions when compared to other online casinos in Canada.
We suggest that the Casino includes an FAQ section and also add cryptocurrency to their payment options – to add a further plus to their service.
submitted by FancyInvestment397 to GamblingSites [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 14:02 Itchy_Sandwich518 I test SD models by making "realistic family photos" because those tend to have people of various sizes and activities. It's kinda weird but it works for testing a model's realistic capabilities. Plus the subject matter is heartwarming.

I test SD models by making
I hope the topic will go through this time, it was getting deleted by some filters because this account im using now is too new apparently.
Please note that since these are just test images I don't go in fixing details like hands and feet and such most of the time, I don't particularly care I just want to see what a model is capable of.
As an artist I have no desire to create porn or hentai with AI
I always wanted to be a photographer but for reasons I won't get into I can't be one, however I am an artist and I also love heartwarming and beautiful moments which I illustrate and would love to photograph too if I could have been a photographer.
Family photos like these are a good way to test anatomy, poses, capabilities of AI art without it being perverted or weird IMO.
I will admit I am a bisexual guy and I like more mature men and women so in my art, when I draw I tend to draw the type of men and women I find attractive, that's just the way I express myself, I feel more of a connection with characters I see as beautiful.
I usually make the dad have a mustache or beard not just because I like that in guys but because I've noticed that some models tend to omit facial details if there are too many details in the image even if the prompt is kept simple
Sadly I can't remember which models I used for these pictures but it's always one of the following:
  • forreal XL - lightning model
  • RealVis XL
  • Bastard Lord
  • Juggernauts 7.5 someone recommended here from Tensor Art
  • Zavvy
I ONLY use XL Models
I usually have adults and a baby, that way the model can test if it can do small faces or mangle them.
I also love this atmosphere as an artist.
One of the most difficult poses to make are of people lying down but we usually don't have a problem with line art guiding the model.
Even with lineart this specific pose was extremely difficult to achieve initially:
Quick line art:
I wasn't trying to be overly anatomically correct, just kind of giving the AI a rough estimate of what's where
This was generated using pyracanny in fooocus using Bastard Lord, which can be downloaded from Tensor Art
The 80's style home flash photo did not take and neither did nightime/at night, this has been the case ever since fooocus updated to 2.4.1, prior to that I'd put my color grading and styles up fonrt and they would take now they do not but it respects my lineart well enough.
This is a much better take but I don't have the prompts, suffice to say the opening prompt was (nighttime, 80's style flash photo, cool-tone, muted-color) This photo was generated in Invoke. To generate this photo I used the t2i-adapter-sketch-sdxl-1.0 under a global control adapter layer. It's important to note that sketch gives off better and more accurate results than t2i-adapter-canny in Invoke for me. Sadly I can not use the ControlNet Canny models and such even tho they're installed due to some error, but t2i work. HOWEVER, regardless of schedulesampler t2i sketch produces blurry images like this one but gets the light and color grading perfectly.
As I said, one of the most difficult poses to do is a person lying down, a person lying down holding something else is insane.
But if you use lineart and the right models it can be done wonderfully
Ganted I am not good at anatomy and I can't tell for sure if everything is anatomically correct such as the grip or the arms being correctly positioned but I do get the desired results.
due to the difficulty of this particular pose I've been testing it multiple times with very satisfying results among the mess it often creates :)
https://preview.redd.it/7f2oz1fj954d1.png?width=1216&format=png&auto=webp&s=2d54d9c98fd21ea1316a548c2d7e18ad0ed81193
https://preview.redd.it/uso8u1fj954d1.png?width=1216&format=png&auto=webp&s=f4cca3813d13ed7982c1b8dc7aab613601b9892b
https://preview.redd.it/98lka1fj954d1.png?width=2054&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2605c9e536d1c3ce386c7952bf263e842da8dc6
https://preview.redd.it/r4rbs1fj954d1.png?width=1730&format=png&auto=webp&s=a613df43bac99900ed65566668a292d7fd2c3764
https://preview.redd.it/exxnpvfj954d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=674d8831b3942e14273d2f9b22214f4dd355a84a
Alright, so that's done and over with
What about 3 subjects?
3 subjects with the right models can be achieved just by prompting, great models for that are Juggernaut Tensor, it can be downloaded over at Tensort Art and especially Hyper Realistic XL, this is another tensort art exclusive model but sadly it can't be downloaded.
However I find little joy in just hitting the generate button based on text alone, as an artist I want the composition to be mine and mine alone. I'd much rather generate images on my machine directly from line art and inpaint and outpaint as needed. Composition is key.
Still most of the models I listed above including the tensor exclusive Hyper Realistic XL can do multimeple characters, it's even better now with InvokeAI's control layers where you can give every character an individual expression or even control the color of their clothes.
Dad teaching kid to fight, note the dynamic expressions, everyone has a different expression. The dad explaining and being all tough about it, the mom not sure if it's funny or dumb and the kid just laughing and having fun
Now comes another very difficult pose, I unfortunately don't have the lineart for this one anymore
Another great example od line art getting things right. The dad is annoyed at being photographed when the TV is broken where as the mom doesn't mind, kid is just doing whatever I left that to the AI. Not sure if the mom's foot is the right size tho my anatomy can be a bit wonky at times even tho I'm an artist lol Hands down one of my favorite images of all time because of how dynamic and real it feels.
Same composition from the same lineart which Ican't find except this one has more interesting lighting, generated in Invoke
Another gorgeous and heartwarming soulful composition based on lineart that took A LOT of generating to get right. This was also done with Bastard Lord, CFG5, 40 steps 1024x1024 originally (outpainted afterwards)
https://preview.redd.it/1y6z4hdrc54d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=66a27fe6a7616258fdf85c08b5d9d71d5fe51e8d
https://preview.redd.it/ozrx789yc54d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=c13bf14756740c25281a470d5169697da992b761
Now here's one that was done through pure inpainting and prompting using RealVis, but I can't find the prompts for it atm
This was creaed with RealVis, I tried but fixing the mom's hands was too much work for a test image, still the vibe is phenomenal.
Always do expression control else this happens where people just kinda have blank expressions. This was done through prompting and prompting alone in fooocus IRRC but had this been more than just a test image I would have edited the expressions separately. You can also achieve separate expressions with the new control layers in InvokeAI most of the time now.
One thing AI can't always do to save its life is normal, short socks
it always makes them overly long, like kneww-socks for some reason
I have been able to achieve normal sized socks at times but it takes too long and often requires inpainting
Sorry if this is weird
the mods are free to delete it
I just wanted to share some cool poses and scenes I've achieved.
another bastard lord creation in fooocus, the model is simply amazing. This was done with pure prompting nothing more
https://preview.redd.it/emte2rvke54d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=f958bd57259cd8fcd92e616dcbbe9e8950ec2a4d
I hope this wasn't to corny and weird and I helped people learn something, I know I stand to learn a ton more about AI image generation myself.
submitted by Itchy_Sandwich518 to StableDiffusion [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 13:59 LastWeekInCollapse Last Week in Collapse: May 26-June 1, 2024

Record temperatures, starvation, zombie fires, Ukraine’s exhaustion, and bird flu mutations. ‘Tis the season—of Doom.
Last Week in Collapse: May 26-June 1, 2024
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, useful, soul-crushing, ironic, stunning, exhausting, or otherwise must-see/can’t-look-away moments in Collapse.
This is the 127th newsletter. You can find the May 19-25 edition here if you missed it last week. You can also receive these posts (with images) every Sunday in your email inbox with Substack.
——————————
Cyclone Remal, which has killed 50+ people between India & Bangladesh, was one of the longest-lasting cyclones (36+ hours) to lash Bangladesh. 20M+ people were also left without electricity. Delhi broke its all-time temperature record last week, with 50.5 °C (123 °F). A state of emergency was declared, and 14+ people died in India from the heat so far.
A series of freak lightning strikes in Colorado killed one human and 34 cattle. Meteorologists were already looking at a few potential hurricanes days before the record season was expected to begin (1 June to 30 November).
Brazil’s savannah has suffered deforestation worse than much of the Amazon—and most of the clearing was done illegally. About 11,000 km2 of the Brazilian savannah was deforested last year (equivalent to the size of Jamaica), an increase of 68% compared to 2022.
A study in Science Direct looked into permafrost melt in Tibet, and concluded that alpine meadows are the most sensitive region to changing temperature patterns. Melting permafrost is more responsive to annual temperatures & wind speeds, while the upper soil levels respond more to month-to-month changes in temperature and precipitation. Another study from Biogeosciences examined the terrible effects of bottom-trawling stirring up carbon from the seafloor.
A small village in central Papua New Guinea was covered by a landslide, reportedly burying over 2,000 inhabitants. Estimates of the dead range from 100 to 670. Data from the U.S. say 2023 was the highest heat mortality year since records began, with 2,300+ Americans perishing. One heat expert said the encroaching heat “seems like it's coming faster….{and} more severe than we expected." The UN claims women are 14x more likely to die in a climate disaster, compared with men—and are affected by other negative effects are a far greater rate.
Record nighttime temperatures across Central America, around 29 °C (84 °F). Hundreds of cities in the American Deep South broke temperature records for spring with temperatures in the 80s °F (27-29 °C). Radical changes to our consumption patterns would be necessary to avert a large-scale catastrophe for our species. And a heat wave in Pakistan brought temperatures of 52 °C (126 °F).
Temperatures in northern Finland surged beyond 27 °C. A number of Saharan nations set new May records for day & night. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe (pop: 17M) is asking for emergency food aid for 9M people through March 2025 after El Niño ruined about 70% of their expected corn harvests. In nearby Zambia, a devastating Drought has resulted in severe hunger for millions of locals, as well as impacting its electrical production (95% of its electricity being hydropower). Scientists are reassessing the baseline temperature used for 1850-1900, and some believe that the pre-industrial temperatures may have actually been a quarter of a degree Celsius cooler than previously believed—meaning that our current global temperatures represent an even larger gain in the past ~150 years.
The COP29 slogan has been revealed ahead of the Azerbaijan climate conference: “In solidarity for a Green World.” The United States is delaying the retirement of coal plants in order to power the massive electrical demand fuelled by AI processing.
A paywalled study from the American Meteorological Study postulates that the January 2022 eruption of a Tonga volcano may have affected the climate of the entire decade, worsening local ozone problems and contributing to a wetter-than-average summer later this year. Another paywalled study from Science reports that human development has resulted in accelerating decomposition rates for organic matter in waterways—releasing carbon into the waters and atmosphere faster than expected.
A new theory has been developed to explain zombie fires and their fearsome spread—spontaneous combustion, triggered by atmospheric warming. Scientists believe that microbes may generate heat up to 80 °C (176 °F), and/or that rapid shifts into heat waves may also activate a heating process that soon combusts.
Mexico City is nearing its doomsday for water. Some 40% of water is allegedly lost through theft and leaky pipes before it even gets to households. Observers believe the “day zero” could come by June 26, and what will happen to the almost 22M people living in the metro area is anyone’s guess. About 60% of its water comes from underground aquifers which have been increasingly exploited and depleted. The rainy season starts at the end of June…but what if it isn’t enough? Meanwhile, South Korea’s groundwater is expected to run out by 2080.
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Brazil’s historic flooding has resulted in a dangerous side effect: the spread of disease, with 54 confirmed cases of leptospirosis and hundreds of others suspected. 169 people were confirmed killed by the flooding, many schools completely flooded,
The American Lung Association released its 2024 State of the Air in late April, and its 161 pages assess the safety of air across the United States. California remains particularly hard hit by ozone & particle pollution. People with asthma, COPD, cardiovascular disease, as well as pregnant women, are at especially high risk from air pollution.
“39% of Americans—131.2 million people—still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. This is 11.7 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report….Extreme heat, drought and wildfires are contributing to a steady increase in deadly {particulate matter} pollution, especially in the western U.S….Bakersfield {California} also continued as the metropolitan area with the worst level of year-round particle pollution for the 5th year in a row. Los Angeles remains the city with the worst ozone pollution in the nation….
Bird flu has recently spread across dairy farms, but experts say this is only “the tip of the iceberg.” Seals, sea lions, pigs, and other creatures are worryingly infected, too. Now alpacas at an American farm have tested positive for H5N1, in addition to feral cats in New Mexico. An experiment done by feeding infected raw milk to mice found that they exhibited the signs of avian flu and tested positive for high levels of the virus. An egg farm in Iowa is culling 4.2M hens after a number of birds tested positive. The strain of bird flu in a recent case of a Michigan man found slight mutations “associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts.” At least scientists are optimistic regarding new mRNA vaccines under development & testing.
A study from China about microplastics found the tiny particles in blood clots in human hearts and brains, elevating the risk of stroke or heart attacks. Chile’s Atacama Desert has become a dumping ground for clothes of the world. And about a third of Americans know someone who died from a drug overdose.
A look into major corporate carbon offsets found that a great deal of their offsets are worthless junk offsets. A 36-page report on Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) in 2024 claims that the overall market actually declined for two years in a row, and the sum paid for each ton of CO2 was down from 2022.
A study on Long COVID effects over the course of three years found that some effects fade over time—and others may persist. Airways and the nervous system appear particularly impacted. “Altogether, our findings show reduction of risks over time, but the burden of mortality and health loss remains in the third year among hospitalized individuals,” the study concludes. Meanwhile, forecasters predict AI will impact the job market as much as COVID did.
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Myanmar’s border with Thailand is becoming a more active warzone, as rebels, and junta forces, contend for territory. Thousands of people have fled across the Thai border.
A 69-page annual report on violence to local officials across the world came out two weeks ago, pointing to Myanmar, India, and Mexico as particularly dangerous sites for political violence. France saw a particularly high spike from 2022 (1,170%, according to the report), though Latin America & the Caribbean was the only region where overall attacks increased.
Sudan’s government made a deal with Russia: Sudanese soldiers receive weapons in exchange for allowing Russia to build a “military fueling station” on the Red Sea. The “noose of War” is tightening around El Fasher, in Darfur, where humanitarian facilities have been attacked and militants are trying to block exiting humans. If the RSF take full control of the embattled city, observers fear large-scale ethnic reprisals unto civilians. Egypt is trying to broker a peace but many armed groups currently prefer the contest of arms.
Across the world, particularly in Europe, spying is surging. Observers warn about the theft of secrets, particularly from Russia & China—and all countries are trying to crack down. A number of Russian sleeper cells are also allegedly coming online, part of a wider effort to add political, economic, and psychological friction to Western nations.
Ukraine is reaching a crisis point in its War. Russia is outproducing weapons, and sourcing others from its allies, and leveraging its greater manpower to grind Ukraine’s army down. Another 300,000 soldiers are expected to take the field for Russia during their coming summer offensive. Russia even raised income taxes on its wealthier population to fund the War. It is not economically viable for the West to shoot down every Russian missile, and a serious manpower shortage has left the front lines stretched, demoralized, and exhausted.
A staredown between Putin and European/American leaders is emerging after a number of leaders have granted Ukraine permission to strike targets within Russia. Putin’s forces launched another strike in Kharkiv, killing three; Ukraine reported large numbers of Russian soldiers taken out in the same day, if you believe it.
Thousands protested in Armenia, demanding the resignation of the PM who conceded territory to Azerbaijan. Thousands protested on Spanish islands over opposition to unsustainable mass tourism. North Korea’s latest attempt to launch a military satellite failed when it exploded in the air. Burkina Faso extended its junta rule by 5 years, against earlier declarations to hold elections this July.
Though Israel’s population still demands the total destruction of Hamas, a majority also believe the War has become unwinnable. Divisions within the country have become bolder over controversies about the warwaging. A strike on a tent camp killed at least 37 people, but did not impact the resolve of PM Netanyahu to continue the War.
Shooting between Israel and Egypt killed one Egyptian soldier. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea continue, even against ships bringing cargo to Iran; US/UK retaliations continue. Aid being brought to Gaza’s new floating pier will be delayed after the pier was damaged as a result of extreme weather. People are beginning to die of starvation in Gaza. One of Israel’s presidential aides claimed that the War could last through the end of the year.
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Things to watch for next week include:
↠ EU member states vote for the EU Parliament starting on 6 June, and polls indicate fairly small gains for conservatives across the continent. The most important issues appear to be the Ukraine War, the economy, migration/asylum, and climate change. Voting ends on 9 June.
↠ Mexico votes today for its new President, who will take office in September. At least 20 candidates have been killed this election season, Mexico’s deadliest. Hundreds of others were subjected to threats. Meanwhile, India’s PM is expected to win another term as President; results will be announced on Tuesday.
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-It’s gonna get really, really bad, if this thread, a cross-post of a thread in climatechange is to be believed. This resourced comment lays out a beginner’s guide to our carbon emissions catastrophe.
-The Thwaites is toast—judging by this temperature anomaly comment by u/FYATWB on an article about the rapidly melting Antarctic glacier. “When it collapses, it could raise oceans worldwide by 65 centimeters, or just over 2 feet.”
-Central Germany is suffering from inflation, stronger storms, a Collapsing animal population, and a desperate surge in elder care, according to this weekly observation. And the insects are vanishing, leaving behind a quiet, dying land.
-Tough times have come to China if this rare weekly observation from inside China is to believed. Economic difficulties, discrimination, rumors of WWIII, heat waves, rising police activity, and increasing food prices.
Got any feedback, questions, comments, complaints, upvotes, hate mail, free COVID tests, doomy geocaches, drought-resistant seeds, etc.? Check out the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can receive this newsletter sent to your (or someone else’s) email inbox every weekend. What did I forget this week?
submitted by LastWeekInCollapse to collapse [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 13:50 Fun-Explanation1199 Final draft

Suprabhat, Vannakam, Adab and Welcome to the 2024 LOK SABHA GENERAL ELECTION THUNDERDOME
NO RULES, NO LIMITS, ONLY CHAOS.
THE CAGE:-
India is a parliamentary democracy that follows the first-past-the-post voting system, similar to the standard Westminster System. The Lower House of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) consists of 543 seats representing 543 constituencies that send 1 Member of Parliament (MP) each. These 543 MP's then choose a prime minister via simple majority.
For each constituency, a political party gives a ticket to a single Candidate. The Candidate with at least a plurality of votes in a constituency represents that Constituency in parliament as a member of the party.
There are no party level primaries in India, the candidate for a constituency is decided by the party high command and only one person from a party can be on the ticket for a particular seat. You can contest multiple constituencies though from the same party as Narendra Modi (2014 BJP Candidate for both Varanasi and Vadodara) and Rahul Gandhi (2024 Congress Candidate for both Rae Bareili and Wayanad) have done. If no existing political party gives you a ticket, you can contest as an Independent Candidate or form your own party and contest as a member of your own party.
The government can be formed by the party or the alliance that has a simple majority of MP's. When no single political party has a majority of MP's, an alliance of various parties can be formed that contains the majority of MP's. This is called a post-poll alliance, where the parties contest elections separately but might come together after the elections in order to form the government or be part of the government. However there is also the pre-poll alliance where political parties join or form an alliance before the elections.
KEY NUMBERS
Majority 272
Supermajority 362
Total Seats 543
THE DATES :- 19th April, 26th April, 7th May, 13th May, 20th May, 25th May, 1st June
THE RESULTS :-
THE EXIT POLLS :-
On average, most exit polls gave the following results.
Exit polls are surveys conducted after people have voted, asking them who they voted for, to predict the likely result before the official count is completed.
SOURCE NDA INDI ALLIANCE OTHERS
AXIS MY INDIA 361-401 131-166 8-10
TODAY'S CHANAKYA 385-415 96-118 27-45
CNX 371-401 109-139 28-38
CVOTER 353-383 152-182 4-12
ETG 358 132 53
POLL OF POLLS 379 136 28
THE FIGHTS -
Economy & Employment:
The incumbent BJP-led NDA government makes the positive case of economic growth and development under its decade long tenure. It points to strong rejuvenated GDP growth with relatively low inflation, rising wages, a growing middle class, stable macroeconomic positioning, strong spending, slashing of multidimensional poverty, a strong and well administered welfare state, expanded free trade, sharp reduction in regulation, increase in select manufacturing and industry, a revitalized finance sector, and a thriving service market.
The government points to the large-scale infrastructure development undertaken, expanding roadways, delivering expansive electrification, and provisions of basic utility services. They point to the stagnation and policy paralysis observed under the tenure of the last Congress government (UPA 2), and further make point to the opposition's alleged proposed populist economic programs as untenable and unfeasible. They make the case that the opposition has leftist economic policies that are not grounded in economic reality.
The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition on the other hand, makes the negative case against the incumbents, pointing to large scale youth unemployment, even among educated youth. They point to an alleged inability of the government to tie growth to employment. They allege a failure of manufacturing capacity and sufficient industrialization of the economy, highlighting the lack of sufficient private capital inflows. They criticize the growth figures of the economy by casting doubt on the government's statistics, and focusing extensively on growing wealth inequality, alleging that growth only occurs for the rich billionaire class, with minimal relief for the poor, targeting specific attacks against domestic industrial magnates, Adani and Ambani. They allege favoritism on the part of the incumbent government towards their select base, highlighting the state of Gujarat as being prioritized over other states.
In making their positive case, they propose a more inclusive and redistributive model of growth, proposing heightened subsidization programmes, more welfare and support programmes, higher taxation on the wealthy and corporations, leveraging private capital inflows for infrastructure development, and prioritizing equitable growth through a caste census, developing corrective policies for inequalities between castes.
They aim to solve the employment crisis through expanding roles in state enterprises and filling government vacancies, alongside expanding labour intensive industries like manufacturing and mining, whilst pointing to high growth rates of the economy as well as committing to expand manufacturing through reforms and subsidy platforms like the PLI, FAME etc., further claiming that increased infrastructure spending will lead to crowding in effect thus enabling faster industrialization.
Social Justice:
The issues of social equity and justice have become major cornerstones of both the incumbent and opposition electoral platforms. This is most prevalent through the forthcoming section on sectarianism, but also focuses on key issues regarding class equality and - most importantly - caste-based discrimination.
The incumbent BJP-led NDA government point to their solid track record of universal poverty alleviation, targeted successful welfare and affirmative action programmes. The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition on the other hand, point to growing wealth inequality and apparent institutional and systemic discrimination against underprivileged caste communities in academia, employment, governmental programmes, courts, the military, etc. They allege that the government has not committed to taking resolute and definitive action against casteism through corrective policy.
This all boils down to the Reservation system, a large scale, affirmative action initiative, conducted through a systematic quota-based policy of allotment of institutional positions in education, governmental employment, schemes and programmes, direct political representation, etc.
With reservations estimated to have hit 59.5% of Central Government Institutional positions, there are now broader calls to expand the scale and scope of this drive. The opposition wanting to break the cap limits and even introduce this system into the private sector to potentially induce parity, while the government commits to more modest hikes of upto 62.5% while playing into incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi's identity as a member of an underprivileged caste community.
While the opposition campaigns on removing limits to the quota system to deliver equity, the government alleges these commitments to be populist and detrimental, while alleging that the opposition seeks to potentially appease its Muslim voter base by introducing expanded reservations for Muslims, thereby allegedly sabotaging the disadvantaged Hindu lower castes, and redistributing their wealth to Muslims, in a bid to gain their votes.
Communalism:
Both the incumbent BJP-led NDA government and the INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition have framed communalism as a lynchpin issue of the Election. The incumbent government points to alleged casteist and bigoted rhetoric against select caste groups and Hindus. They allege the opposition panders to minorities for their votes, whilst not delivering on the real issues. They allege the opposition seeks to drive up divisiveness and shared social harmony in India. They further allege that the opposition engages in divisive rhetoric on key issues of Hindu-Indian culture like that of the Ram Temple, in ways that contradict the spirit of the Indian State.
The opposition on the other hand, accused the incumbent government of being bigoted against minority communities, from the large Muslim community to the lower caste communities of Indian society. They allege use of hateful and divisive rhetoric against these communities and point to select controversial government positions and policies on issues like the Ram Mandir, the controversial CAA-NRC laws, the proposed Uniform Civil Code, among others. They further allege institutional degradation of key offices including policing, academia, and the military in discriminating against minority groups.
Institutional Independence:
The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition alleges institutional degradation and capture of various independent governmental entities by the incumbents. They point to the use of Executive, Investigative, Anti-Corruption, Enforcement, & Tax authorities against opposition figures and media as evidence, highlighting specific cases of the detaining and arrest of two sitting opposition Chief Ministers, and the resignation of one. They highlight alleged selective targeting of opposition figures for raids, charges, and arrests, creating an alleged environment of impunity for the government. The opposition alleges heightened and blatant partisanship of members of the Judiciary in support of the incumbent government. They also allege illegitimate freezing of campaigning funds, crackdowns on press freedoms via capture of media institutions, and also critically alleges institutional capture of the Election Commission, casting doubts on election results primarily critiquing India's Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
The Government rebukes these claims as part of a strong anti-corruption drive, highlighting a drop in governmental corruption cases since the previous Congress government (UPA 2, infamously riddled with such allegations). The government frames the opposition parties as corrupt and power-hungry, while further disparaging the opposition's alleged unfounded attacks on Indian institutions, apparent partisan attacks on the judiciary and critiquing apparent unfounded claims of election denialism.
THE FIGHTERS –
The election is primarily clash between two large coalitions, and their leading parties. On one side, you have the incumbent government of the BJP-led NDA, or National Democratic Alliance, and on the other, you have the opposition INC-led I.N.D.I.A, or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, a new mega coalition of more than 35 parties, with a few unofficial supporters too.
The following is a list of some key players in each of the alliances and is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive list of all involved factions.
The incumbent NDA includes:
  1. BJP – The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party - "Indian People's Party") is a Hindu nationalist party committed to Hindutva ideology, promoting Hindu culture, opposing Muslim immigration, and creating a nativist country wherein India embraces a fundamentally Hindu social fabric. The BJP government under Modi undertook strong reformist policies in promoting liberalization of the economy through aggressive regulatory reforms, furthering free trade through FTAs and privatization of underperforming state assets. They took aggressive stances on defense and counterterrorism against Pakistan and China, while pragmatically engaging other nations despite criticism on some foreign policy moves for being 'wolf warrior-esque'. They uphold a strong nationalist domestic and foreign policy, that simultaneously does not retreat from globalization. On National Security, they aim to make India a regional power with a strong emphasis on modernization & indigenization of military administration and technology, while also reducing bureaucratic and manpower burdens through varied recruitment windows. BJP manifesto
  2. JD(U) - The JD(U) (Janata Dal (United) – “People’s Party (United)”) is led by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and has been in power in the eastern state of Bihar since 2005. It was formed after a series of splits and mergers in the Janata Dal in the 90s. It is credited with doing good work in the state on roads, electricity, and water, however it has failed to provide jobs & spur manufacturing. This, combined with its leader frequently switching between rival alliances, is causing anti-incumbency. The JD(U) left NDA in 2013 due to Narendra Modi's candidature. Then it joined the RJD in 2015 and formed the govt the same year. Then it parted with RJD in 2017 (supposedly due to corruption allegations) and went back to the NDA. NDA went on to win state elections in 2020. In 2022, it parted with NDA again and allied with the RJD, then in 2024, it once again parted with the RJD and joined the NDA. JDU website
  3. TDP - The TDP (Telugu Desam Party – “Party of the Telugu Land") follows a pro-Telugu ideology. It was founded as an alternative to the Congress hegemony, by emphasizing Telugu regional pride and serving as the party for farmers, backward castes and middle-class people. Since the 1990s, it has followed an economically liberal policy that has been seen as pro-business and pro-development as well as populist welfarist measures. TDP Manifesto
The opposition I.N.D.I.A includes:
  1. INC - The INC (Indian National Congress) is a big tent social-democratic/democratic-socialist party with its foundational pillars being equity, equality, and egalitarianism. They take broad commitments to secularism and class equality to be principal positions. The INC under Rahul Gandhi has taken strong positions on caste issues, shining light on inequities from past and current discrimination, and proposing active policy interventions. While the INC also holds a free-market/pro-liberalization consensus, they emphasise growing social and wealth inequality and seek inclusive and redistributive growth with strong state intervention. They also see some proposed liberalising reforms to further inequality and take an 'anti-corporatist' position. They take a slightly less strong position to Indian foreign policy, stressing a more diplomatic approach (with minimal variance on actual positions to the incumbents). They embrace globalisation in part, while emphasising India's need for domestic development. They aim to industrialise India rapidly through stimulating private investment and aim to subsidise both supply and demand. They seek to maintain the Indian military with a focus on highly trained soldiers. They pioneered multi-alignment as the foreign policy for India. INC Manifesto
  2. AAP - The AAP (Aam Aadmi Party – “Common Man's Party"), part of INDIA coalition, currently holds power in two key states - Delhi and Punjab. Its chief figurehead and leader, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate under an alleged liquor scam in the run up to elections. Barely a 10 year old party it has expanded very quickly to many states, running two of them, and now has national party status by the Election Commission of India (ECI). It leans centre-left to centre-right, with some play of soft Hindutva, while its economic platform comprises heavy spending in education, health, and free schemes of water and electricity. They rose to power on an anti-corruption program in 2013 and continues to have it as its central plank. AAP website for 2024
  3. CPI(M) – The CPI(M) (Communist Party of India (Marxist)). They commies lol. The CPI(M) is one of the larger and more mainstream communist parties in India. Since they operate within the Indian republic's constitution they have adopted more Indian characteristics. They are primarily against privatisation in the public sector and in favour of universal education and healthcare. Their base has traditionally been in Kerala, one of the more developed states in India in terms of income levels and HCI. they're in favour of private sector reservations and in recent years have also been pro-FDI. They promise non-aligned foreign policy, but largely are very anti-US and pro-China. They promise to restore Article 370 and oppose forceful seizure of land by the government. They're one of the most influential parties in India due to a strong cadre and student union ecosystem. They've had an effect on the farmers' protests as well as economic positions of the INDI Alliance. CPI(M) MANIFESTO
  4. DMK - The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - “Dravidian Progressive Federation") is a big tent broad left-wing party that is foundationally Dravidian (primarily Tamil) Nationalist, with strong emphasis on social equity and caste issues, while being staunchly secular and atheistic, and interventionist, statist, heavily welfarist, and industrialist in economic policy. They are primarily a regional party operating in the state of Tamil Nadu, led by M.K. Stalin, the state's current Chief Minister. DMK manifesto
  5. RJD - The RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal – “National People’s Party”) is a caste-based (Muslims & Yadavs) political party in the Indian state of Bihar, which it ruled from 1990 to 2005. Its rule was one of extreme lawlessness & anarchy. It was called the “Jungle Raj”. Between 1990 & 2000, Bihar's per capita income and power consumption fell off a cliff due to mismanagement. Its CM, Lalu Prasad, was convicted of corruption in 2013.
  6. SP - The SP (Samajwadi Party – “Socialist Party”) believes in creating a socialist society that operates on the principle of equality. Although the party previously ran on an anti-computer, anti-English, and anti-machinery platform, under its new national president Akhilesh Yadav, the party has made a 180° turn. Now, the Samajwadi Party declares itself to be the party of infrastructure while maintaining its commitment to social justice, with a special focus on teaching computer skills. The party's main base is in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which is the most populated state in India, with a population of 230 million. The only negatives associated with the party are the rampant dynasticism within its ranks and its perceived soft stance on law and order issues. SP Manifesto
  7. JMM - The JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – “Jharkhand Liberation Front") currently runs the government of eastern state of Jharkhand. The party has historically centred tribal rights as its central plank and agitated for a new tribal state separate from Bihar until 2000, when their demands were met. It leans centre-left to left with their key issues being tribal control of land, mineral and mining rights, addressing issues of rehabilitation of tribals. The party is primarily run by the Soren family, with Champai Soren being its chief minister candidate in the current government after the last chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested by the enforcement directorate. JMM is in alliance with the Indian national congress in the state, and part of the INDIA coalition for the Lok Sabha elections. They face charges of corruption and the image of dynastic politics.
The “It’s Complicated”, Unaligned, Split, and/or other Supplementary Parties include:
  1. TMC - The TMC or AITC (All India Trinamool Congress, Trinamool means Grassroots) is a Bengali political party ruling over the state of West Bengal since 2011. It is led by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. It is a centre-left, welfarist, Bengali Nationalist party. It has been criticised for using heavy-handed authoritarian tactics against opposition leaders in the state, corruption, and political violence. It is credited with ending 34 years of communist rule in the state. West Bengal under the AITC has registered subpar economic performance and is largely stagnant. Pertinent to note Mamata used to be Congress leader till 1998, and AITC, in spite of being sympathetic towards the I.N.D.I.A. alliance at the national level, is fighting the Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal on all 42 seats. TMC Manifesto
  2. AIADMK - The AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – “All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation") is a broad centre-left/left-wing party adhering to foundational Dravidian philosophy, while emphasising Tamil identity. Traditionally being less ethno-nationalist than their sister opposition party the DMK, they adhere to broad welfarist left-wing populism, focusing on social justice and communal equity, while being less economically statist than the DMK. They also focus primarily on Tamil Nadu as a regional party, currently led by Edappadi Palaniswami. AIADMK manifesto
  3. Shiv Sena - The Shiv Sena (“Army of Shivaji”) was founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966 as a populist, xenophobic party, although the party gradually added Hindutva ideology to its anti non-Maharashtrian plank. It was the long time senior partner to the BJP in Maharashtra till Narendra Modi's popularity caused a change in the dynamics. After power sharing talks with the BJP failed in 2019, the Shiv Sena switched alliances to join hands with their long time rivals in Congress and NCP in an arrangement that made Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. In 2022 again, The Majority of Shiv Sena politicians led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against the top leadership to ally again with the BJP, taking control of the party and toppling the Uddhav Thackeray government. The splinter group led by Uddhav Thackeray is called SS (UBT) and it is allied with the Congress in the INDIA Alliance. SS(UBT) Manifesto
  4. NCP – The NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) was founded in 1998 by Sharad Pawar and a few others who left the Congress in 1998 after Sonia Gandhi was made Congress president. Despite its formation, the NCP was a long term ally of the Congress sharing virtually the same ideology. In 2023 however, like the Shiv Sena, In a rebellion led by Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit, a Majority of NCP politicians switched alliances to support the BJP and took control of the party. Like the Shiv Sena, the Splinter group led by Sharad Pawar and his daughter is called NCP (SP) and it's allied with the Congress in the INDIA Alliance
  5. YSRCP - The YSRCP (Yuvjana Sramika Rythu Congress Party – “Youth, Labour, & Farmer Congress Party”) was founded by the son of an old congress Chief Minister after he was denied the role of Chief Minister after his father. It's a populist centre-of-left party with strong focus on welfare schemes and cash benefits. It's mired in controversy due to its dynastic nature, its ties to Christian Fundamentalism and American Missionaries targeting the marginalised.
  6. BRS - The BRS (Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi – “Indian National Council”) was formed originally with a single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. They are largely neoliberal and are credited with rapid economic growth in Telangana.
  7. BJD – The BJD (Biju Janata Dal – “Biju’s People’ Platform”) was formed by Naveen Pattnaik the son of the former CM of Odisha, Biju Pattnaik. It’s a Odia regional party with a strong focus on poverty upliftment through welfare policies and equitable economic growth.
  8. BSP - The BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party - "Majority Community Party") is a centre-left party in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which was started to uplift Dalits and other marginalised communities in India by Kanshi Ram. Its current party president is Mayawati. BSP is considered as one of the biggest parties in India as per vote share, although it's currently in decline. At its height, this party had a strong base in many states across north India, but now it's only limited to the state of Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the largest states in India with a population of 230 million. There are strong suspicions of BSP working in secret with BJP, and maybe that's why the party is not fighting this election enthusiastically. Although they can still make the competition interesting on a few seats in UP.
OTHER KEY ISSUES -
1. Political Dynasticism:
Although dynastism is thought to be a good fix for internal chaos in a party, the current political leader of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, is a fourth-generation dynast who has to carry the political baggage of everything which went wrong during the rule of his grandmother and great-grandfather.
Also because one family has been controlling the Congress for decades, it has caused various state-level leaders to either form their own party or join another one. They see no future in the Congress anymore because the door to leadership is always closed for them. This has destroyed the ground level cadre of Congress party in many key states.
Rahul Gandhi’s privilege combined with the lack of any real political acumen so far has led to the INC taking damage due to his infamy.
Nepotism and dynastic politics has been a key issue throughout the last 10 years as BJP positions itself as the ‘common man’s party’
2. The Ram Mandir:
A land dispute originating from the alleged destruction of a Hindu Temple, replaced by a Mosque built allegedly atop the site (the Babri Masjid) in the 16th century allegedly by Mughal Emperor Babur in present day Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, the proposed birthplace of the Hindu deity Lord Ram.
Following a century of sporadic conflict, from 1853 to 1949, a revivalist movement in the 1980's would lead to rising communal tensions, culminating in the 1992 destruction of the Babri Masjid by Hindu Nationalists and devotees.
The legal conflict over the land would continue until 2019, when the Supreme Court of India issued the controversial ruling that the land be handed over to government trust for the construction of the Babri, with separate land being allotted to the local Muslim community for construction of a Mosque.
Almost all elements of the dispute remain mired in controversy. From the historical and religious associations of Ayodhya with Ram, the existence of a definitively Hindu structure, the alleged deliberate destruction of the said temple, the times and events of construction and use, the participants, planning, and events of the 1992 destruction, the ASI Archeological Surveys that served as key evidence for the Supreme Court being tampered and politicized by both sides of the political aisle, the legality of the ruling itself, and other surrounding issues regarding justice against those alleged to have partaken in the destruction of the Babri Masjid.
3. Foreign Policy:
The BJP is campaigning on building a multi-aligned foreign policy where India is seen as the world’s friend as well as an upcoming regional power. This was at its peak during India’s G20 presidency. Many Indians claim the rise of India’s global stature is an electoral issue. This can be seen in the popularity of the government’s anti-terror operations in both Pakistan and beyond. The resurgence of an interventionist foreign policy has proven to be popular in projecting the strongman image of Modi. The country’s commitment to its strategic autonomy and multi-alignment have been a fixture right since Nehru.
SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES:
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2024.06.02 13:38 TheDukeOfThunder Common Bugs and Simple Bug Questions Thread Pg.2

BUGS ONLY - FOR NON-BUG QUESTIONS, GO TO THE SIMPLE QUESTIONS AND FAQ THREAD
This post will regularly be updated, according to your input.
Some frequently asked about bugs and possible fixes:
Always consider contacting Rockstar Support, when you are experiencing issues in the game. Also see this post for information on dealing with Rockstar Support.
Comment below any question you have about GTA Online's Bugs! Feel free to provide answers to other users as well.
To page 1
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2024.06.02 13:35 CT_Phipps (Pride) Ten Recommended LGBTA Friendly Fantasy/Scifi series

(Pride) Ten Recommended LGBTA Friendly Fantasy/Scifi series
https://preview.redd.it/kuq1bgapa54d1.png?width=836&format=png&auto=webp&s=bbacb74c7cd5d8271dbcbff75606817069a7832f
https://beforewegoblog.com/ten-recommended-queer-friendly-sci-fi-fantasy-reads-for-pride-month/
Queer reads are something that has always existed among fiction, especially genre fiction, but it is has only recently been the case that they've allowed to start emerge from the shadows. That doesn't lesson the role they've always had, though, as many people have a compelling argument that the driving force for Trekkiedom (the godfather of all modern fandom) was actually slash fiction.
Still, it can sometimes be hard to find fiction where the characters aren't minor, killed off quickly, or allowed to express their sexuality. Plenty of other readers also assume any queer friendly work has to be focused on romance. As a queer friendly author, I know it's not THAT hard to put a prominent character in your stories but finding books containing said content can sometimes be a chore.
What are the books where the characters are LGBTQA and simply allowed to be? Well, here's my picks as a CIS heterosexual man as clearly everyone is clamoring for my insight. JK. I've tried to pick a mixture of indie and traditional.
10] Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Blurb: The first book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison's Hollows series!
All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party . . . and to feed.
Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining—and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.
A bounty hunter and a witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead . . . or undead.
Review: The Hollows is an extremely fun urban fantasy series following the adventures of Rachel Morgan and her best friend Ivy that just about everyone wanted to hook up among the fandom but, sadly, didn't. Still, while Rachel seems mostly straight, Ivy remains a fantastic bisexual motorcycle riding vampire detective that really could have handled her own series. She's also a rare Asian American protagonist.
9] Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar
Blurb: Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack. Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three years of watching your son wither away can break down even the strongest convictions.
Then a dead girl washed up on the bank of the Brightwash, tattooed and mutilated. Where had she come from? Who would tattoo a child? Was it the same person who killed her? Why was he the only one who cared?
Will Tashué be able to stand against everything he thought he believed in to get the answers he’s looking for?
Review: Legacy of the Brightwash is a fantastic book that is up there with Kings of Paradise for being an argument that indie doesn't mean lack of literary quality. Tashue is a bisexual man and one torn by the obligations of duty in his steampunk world that treats everyone with magic with horrifying rules as well as suspicion. Unfortunately, the choices forced on him include dealing with it appearing in his own family.
8] Miskatonic University: Elder Gods 101 by Matthew and Mike Davenport
Blurb: Miskatonic University is bathed in the blood of the students who have walked its halls. A place where the darkness is more than just shadows.
As with many of the best universities, many students having a distinguished family name—but at Miskatonic this can be as much a curse as a blessing.
Such an aged repository of occult histories has secrets of its own. Miskatonic University is an anchor for all reality. Held tentatively in place by spells woven into its walls over generations.
Someone, somewhere, is breaking those spells and all of the universe is on the brink of tearing apart.
Review: I am going to be biased toward any queer friendly HP Lovecraft material and had quite a bit to choose from (as another entry will show). In this case, I had to recommend a delightful SUPER POWERED's esque urban fantasy that is more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than cosmic horror. Still, I love the character of Ralph who wants to leave his isolated religious community to play football as well as express his sexuality. It's just that community is Innsmouth.
7] Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Blurb: Come take a load off at Viv's cafe, the first and only coffee shop in Thune. Grand opening!
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve.
Review: The archetypal example of "cozy" fantasy these days. Viv is an orc who just wants to open a coffee shop in a Medieval Dungeons and Dragons-esque setting. She's also a lesbian. This results in her having an awkward relationship with her succubus employee, who everyone has dismissed as a tart because of her species. It's actually really sweet and something that I would have loved to have a sequel to follow up on (instead we got a prequel).
6] The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
Blurb: Katherine Addison returns to the glittering world she created for her beloved novel, The Goblin Emperor, in this stand-alone sequel
When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his father’s Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.
Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.
Celehar’s skills now lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness.
Katherine Addison has created a fantastic world for these books - wide and deep and true.
Review: I love THE GOBLIN EMPEROR but, sadly, Katherine Addison wasn't interested in continuing to write for the character of Maia. However, she was interested in continuing to write for her world. Thara Celehar is a priest who has the ability to talk to the dead. He's also a gay man who has had tragedy in his backstory but may well find love again (but isn't actively looking). Through him we get to explore the steampunk fantasy setting of Addison's world and its many mysteries. Who murdered an opera singer and what was their motivation? Will anyone accept the disgraced priest who, nevertheless, now has friends in high places?
5] Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
Blurb: Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly sensual, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
Review: It's interesting to note the subtext was never particularly subtextual but a lot of people insisted it was until the movie and television show made it impossible to deny. Yes, Louis and Lestat are lovers with their adopted vampire daughter Claudia. There's also a bunch of musings about immortality, God, killing to survive, and the ennui of living in general. The series goes off the rails after the fourth book and was already pretty strange by the third. Still, the first two books are classics for a reason.
4] Villains don't date Heroes by Mia Archer
Blurb: Night Terror. The greatest villain Starlight City has ever known. The greatest supervillain the world has ever seen. She rules her city with an iron fist, and there are no new worlds to conquer.
Needless to say life is pretty damn boring.
All that changes when she decides to shake things up by robbing a bank the old fashioned way and runs into the city's newest hero: Fialux. Flying Fialux. Invulnerable Fialux. Super strong Fialux. Beautiful Fialux?
Night Terror has a new archenemy who might just be able to defeat her, but even more terrifying are the confusing feelings this upstart heroine has ignited. She doesn't like heroes like that. She definitely doesn't like girls like that. Right? Only she can't deny the flutter she feels whenever she thinks of Starlight City's newest heroine!
The line between hate and love is a razor's edge that the world's greatest villainess will have to walk if she wants to hold onto that title!
Villains Don't Date Heroes! is a lesbian scifi romance novel that explores the world of villains, antiheroes, and heroes in a whole new way!
Review: I admit this book is probably not going to be anyone's idea of a classic but it's also nice just to have something that's just plain fun. This is basically Megamind if the protagonist was a lesbian and in love with Supergirl. It's not remotely serious and yet has a lot of fun with our mad inventor heroine dealing with her very unwelcome crush that is interfering with her plans to take over the world. I didn't really gel with the series as a whole but the first book is just plain fun.
3] Dreadnought by April Daniels
Blurb: A trans teen is transformed into a superhero in this action-packed series-starter perfect for fans of The Heroine Complex and Not Your Sidekick.
Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world’s greatest superhero. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she’s transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny’s body into what she’s always thought it should be. Now there’s no hiding that she’s a girl.
It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny’s first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. Between her father’s dangerous obsession with “curing” her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he’s entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she’s in over her head.
She doesn’t have time to adjust. Dreadnought’s murderer—a cyborg named Utopia—still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can’t sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.
Review: Probably one of the best superhero novels I've ever read that just so happens to also be a trans lesbian coming of age story. Danny is a girl who lives under a homophobic father when she gains the idealized form she's always dreamed of (which was being a beautiful superpowereful woman). Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is ready to accept that the heir to the Superman equivalent is a trans girl. This includes a TERF-esque druidess and what is basically Elon Musk (surprise-surprise). I want the third book in the trilogy now.
2] Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn
Blurb: From the moment the first settler dug a well and struck a lode of shine, the world changed. Now, everything revolves around that magical oil. What began as a simple scouting expedition becomes a life-changing ordeal for Arlen Esco. The son of a powerful mogul, Arlen is kidnapped and forced to confront uncomfortable truths his father has kept hidden. In his hands lies a decision that will determine the fate of everyone he loves—and impact the lives of every person in Shine Territory.
The daughter of an infamous saboteur and outlaw, Cassandra has her own dangerous secrets to protect. When the lives of those she loves are threatened, she realizes that she is uniquely placed to change the balance of power in Shine Territory once and for all. Secrets breed more secrets. Somehow, Arlen and Cassandra must find their own truths in the middle of a garden of lies.
Review: Sarah Chorn is an incredibly underrated indie author and a fantastic reviewer as well. Her Song of the Sefate books are the ones that everyone should read, though. Basically, Wild West stories set in an alternate world where they harvest a magical substance called shine. The protagonists are a lesbian and a transman who are primarily dealing with the plot of resistance to corporate control. It can get dark but it is fantastically written and written from a place of heart.
1] Winter's Tide by Ruthanna Emrys
Blurb: After attacking Devil’s Reef in 1928, the U.S. government rounded up the people of Innsmouth and took them to the desert, far from their ocean, their Deep One ancestors, and their sleeping god Cthulhu. Only Aphra and Caleb Marsh survived the camps, and they emerged without a past or a future.
The government that stole Aphra's life now needs her help. FBI agent Ron Spector believes that Communist spies have stolen dangerous magical secrets from Miskatonic University, secrets that could turn the Cold War hot in an instant, and hasten the end of the human race.
Aphra must return to the ruins of her home, gather scraps of her stolen history, and assemble a new family to face the darkness of human nature.
Winter Tide is the debut novel from Ruthanna Emrys, author of the Aphra Marsh story, "The Litany of Earth"--included here as a bonus.
Review: Ruthanna Emrys is a Jewish lesbian woman as well as a massive HP Lovecraft fan. You can understand why she has a different perspective than Howard Phillips on a few things. Her Innsmouth Legacy series (which needs a third book dammit) follows the adventures of Aphra Marsh as she investigates the supernatural with a closeted Jewish FBI agent, a lesbian professor of mathematics, and her bisexual debutante associate. Aphra herself is ace and someone who just doesn't think about human men or women that way.

Honorable Mention

Velveteen Versus the Junior Super Patriots by Seanan Maguire
Blurb: "How dare you? I never asked for you to hunt me down!" No, Velma Martinez hadn't. But when you had once been Velveteen, child super-heroine and one of The Junior Super Patriots, West Coast Division, you were never going to be free, even if your only power was to bring toys to life. The Marketing Department would be sure of that.
So it all came down to this. One young woman and an army of misfit toys vs. the assembled might of the nine members of The Junior Super Patriots, West Coast Division who had come to take her down.
They never had a chance.
Velveteen lives in a world of superheroes and magic, where men can fly and where young girls can be abducted to the Autumn Land to save Halloween. Velma lives from paycheck to paycheck and copes with her broken-down car as she tries to escape from her old life.
It's all the same world. It's all real. And figuring out how to be both Velveteen and Velma is the biggest challenge of her life, because being super-human means you're still human in the end.
Join us as award-winning author Seanan McGuire takes us through the first volume of Velveteen's - and Velma's - adventure.
Review: I'm a big fan of this series and am sad that it's not available on Kindle or paperback. The story follows Velvet Martinez who is a girl who can animate toys. Which is a deceptively powerful ability. One of the most interesting plotlines in the book, though, is her relationship with Sparkle Bright. Velvet assumed she had been going for her crush going up but she was actually a closeted lesbian girl (because of the Marketing DepartmentTM). Sparkle Bright gradually achieves self-actualization and starts a relationship with steampunk heroine, Victory Anna. Plus, there's the Princess who is a trans girl representing all princess tropes.
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2024.06.02 13:10 Rosalyne_0 "limitlessVPN" Sussy or something special?

Fair warning, this is a very long post, both delving deep into information about this particularly odd VPN and also seeking community information from those who have used it or know more about it as information is sparse, there is a TLDR at the bottom becuase I know 90% of you don't want to read my autistic rambling.
Ok so I have been balls deep in VPN comparisons and researching as for the first time I actually need one for something (exceptionally naughty P2P behavior) and I eventually settled on a coinflip between Mullvad and PIA but that's not what this post is about. In that process I have come across something rather unique that seems rather "odd" https://limitlessvpn.com its a free VPN and I mean really free, as in you literally cannot pay for it even if you wanted too.
Your immediate reaction to this should be "well then they are obviously selling your data" and that's very likely the case, but there's more to it than just that. here just look at this https://limitlessvpn.com/transparency/ this is the page that pops up when you click the "how do we make revenue" button on the main page, which just contains a bunch of rambling and yapping but doesn't actually explain how they make revenue other than talking a bit about economy and politics followed by some vague descriptions of their infrastructure, oh and a link to a document which supposedly has all their policies in it and what they will and wont do, which should logically include the answer to our question (do they sell data?).
However... upon clicking said link we are greeted with a error 404 page not found. hmmm... anyway! At this point we can safely assume that they do 100% sell data but just don't want to admit to it, but why so cryptic? and why the fake link to a document? (might actually just be a real 404 oopsie tbh) and why not offer a paid subscription? is it just malware? that's what I thou- oh! wait what's this? https://limitlessvpn.com/how-we-pay-our-bills/ (I'm not just being dramatic, I actually noticed this while writing this post) if you scroll down a bit on that page you will see the following:
It's actually really simple.
Our VPN uses proprietary opt-in technology to monetize anonymous website information collected in the background during normal browser use.
This differentiates us from many subscription VPN competitors who are forced to use untrustworthy, or expensive subscription based monetization methods.
Ok... vague, but getting somewhere. My understanding is that this is a "media safe" way of saying "we sell your data" scrolling down a bit farther there's some general info and what not and little bits about how the data they sell is used to train AI deep learning and that where the money comes from and how they are owned by AIC (Anonymous Intelligence Company) which is publicly traded. its also worth noting that LimitlessVPN does actually have a physical office in Vancouver Canada and is a real company. its not just some site.
But hell, whatever, cant hurt to just try it right? lets give it a shot... Error 522, host timed out. well, shit. So the download link for their client is dead and that 404 earlier seems more accidental. is the company abandoned? there's users on reddit from just a few months ago recommending the VPN and saying its great? Are they lying? The office's lease agreement is still active too? wtf is going on here?
Well... what else can we find? https://malwaretips.com/threads/limitless-vpn-very-interesting-free-vpn-which-is-way-different-to-others.75364/post-672384 that's interesting, wait so do they sell data or are they mining crypto? but ok, little more understandable, its just some dudes not a conglomerate or anything, and maybe their strategy changed, wonder when that happened... wait, 2017!? This has been a thing for 7 years and I'm just now hearing about it? (actually I do vaguely recall something about a crypto miner VPN but memory is hazy) surely there's extensive user reviews and public data on this service right?... nothing... there's literally nothing, not on reddit, not on any forums, keyword search turns up spam "news" listicles such as these: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/24/2372016/0/en/Cloud-Nine-Web3-Technologies-Retains-Cryptocurrency-Miner-to-Monetize-Operations.html https://thenewswire.com/press-releases/1B2aF8XVR-cloud-nine-announces-the-initial-release-of-the-limitless-platform.html https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/anonymous-intelligence-company-announces-limitless-vpns-launch-of-enhanced-vpn-
But otherwise there's no real information other than the same redundant marketing over and over. so maybe it just never took off? but then what about the occasional reddit user that mentions using it and says its fantastic? (I am investigating this and awaiting answers from the individuals in question) whatever, lets do a keyword search for user count on LimitlessVPN.
The Limitless VPN (virtual private network) is a proprietary product owned by the Company and offered to users which relates to the usage of network infrastructure to perform distributed computational processing and to provide the user with a secure and encrypted connection to the internet. The initial version of the Limitless VPN (www.limitlessvpn.com) was released and available to the public on September 23, 2021.
As at January 21, 2022, there were 19,227 registered active users of the Company’s Limitless VPN. Management believes that it will need to increase its userbase to approximately 50,000 active registered users before it reaches a sufficient number to economically justify activating its operations and utilizing its userbase for either cryptocurrency mining through the Crypto MSB or independently for decentralized data storage on a cash fee basis.
What... 20k users? where? who? surely this is bs right? there's no way that its been 2 years since there were 20k ACTIVE registered users and there hasn't been a single peep or review from anyone at all. Maybe we can find something by looking into the parent company *40 minutes of reading through nonsense marketing* ok. im tired, im wrapping this up. they have two other projects both AI platforms both of which seem not being used but are active and downloadable. their twitter stopped posting in 2023 and never gets likes, comments or views, its a real company, with real employees, and they seem to be doing stuff? but there's absolutely 0 user engagement or any proof of user engagement anywhere at all. so that 20k registered users is completely false by my estimates.
What's confusing me, is the occasional reddit user that recommends this VPN on some random thread. are they bots? are they lying? whatever. I have wasted enough of my lifespan on this, I'm just gonna buy mullvad for 5$ I only need it for a month anyway. the autism adrenaline to research this ran out and i don't care anymore. if anyone has answers for me or knows anything about this that I don't then do share. otherwise idk. start discussing the potential for crypto mining based free VPN's and their viability or something. I'm going to bed.
TLDR: this is a free vpn that either sells your data anonymously to AI deep learning or mines crypto with your browser (not sure which) to fund itself meaning its unthrottled and supports stuff like p2p and whatever else. but, it seems to not actually exist despite having several articles about it early as 2017 and a apparent phantom 20k users that likely dont exist and the occasional redditer that says they use it and its great as late as 2 months ago and clearly the client was available at some point but now their site is somewhat in disarray and the download link times out on the hosts end. their other projects the AI ones seem to be maintained and working but also get 0 user traction. there is virtually no user info on this vpn, no reviews, no testimonials (other than what i mentioned) its like it doesn't exist but clearly it did and the people who claim to have used it say its great. if anyone has any additional info on this vpn or has used it themselves and has the client files. please share details. why did I waste my time on this? becuase I'm autistic. I'm going to bed.
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2024.06.02 13:05 PLUTO_HAS_COME_BACK Vibhajjavada and Sarvāstivāda—Part 13: Sarvāstivādi Māyāvāda

Vibhajjavada and Sarvāstivāda: Analysing the Heart Sutra from Theravadin Perspective—Part 13

5.1.13. Sarvāstivādi Māyāvāda

Śūnyavāda and Māyāvāda are two parts of Sarvāstivādi eternalism. They have roots in the Vedas.
The Sarvastivāda Mahayana presents three asankhata (asaṁskrṭa dharmas): the Pratisaṅkhyā-nirodha (observed cessation), the A-pratisaṅkhyā-nirodha (unobserved cessation) and Ākāśa (space). The Sautrāntika Mahayana rejected them. [ON SARVASTIVĀDA (Samuel Buchoul)]
Māyāvāda (ಮಾಯಾವಾದ):—[noun] (phil.) the doctrine that the universe is an illusion or an apparent phenomenon and the Supreme Soul is the only truth.
[Bloodstream:] This mind is the Buddha.

Space

Space is emptiness, cessation, nirvana.
Mahayana is the religion of Nâgârjuna. He believes in the equality of space as the nature of all things. The concept equates mind with empty space or emptiness. Thus, Śūnyavāda and Māyāvāda are two parts of Sarvāstivādi eternalism or creationism.
The Svābhāvakāya [...] is attained through the power of the dharmakaya, through realisation. The vajrayana calls this the body of great bliss (mahâsukhakâya) because its distinctive quality is supreme, unchanging bliss. Ârya Nâgârjuna has said : « I pay homage to that which is free from the activity of the three realms ; which is the equality of space ; which is the nature of all things ;… Praise to the Three Kâyas (Kayâtrayastotra), Toh 1123, Tengyur, bstod tshogs,ka,70b3.[The Svâbhâvakâya or Svâbhâvikakâya in Mahayana Teachings (Jacques Mahnich)]
[Britannica:] The Yogachara (or Vijnanavada) school was founded, according to tradition, by the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu (4th/5th century CE) and by Sthiramati (6th century), who systematized doctrines found in the Lankavatara-sutra and the Mahayana-shraddhotpada-shastra (attributed to Ashvaghosha but probably written in Central Asia or in China). Later Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism include doctrines that were to be influenced by Yogachara teaching.

Right/Wrong Māyā

The concept of māyā could be as old as imagination. It is in the ancient Vedas, too.
the māyā is right when it conforms to, underline the three-lettered word again, Ṛta. It is the Ṛta that makes māyā real [...] While Agni is the creative power of māyā, and Varuṇa the discriminative, there is a point at which māyā becomes the reality or just the opposite. Only the right māyā can destroy the “wrong” one [...] Vedānta, Buddhism, and Jainism [...] view Māyā as a hindrance [and] the world is dark, as a burden, a distraction [Vedā: Māyā (Kiron Krishnan)]

Māyāvāda

Sarvāstivādi Māyāvāda is based on Māyāvāda of the Vedas.
[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:] the Self, the Reality that has no second, appears as something else, like a second moon when one has got the disease of double vision (Timira) [...] Verse 1.4.5: He knew, ‘I indeed am the creation, for I projected all this.’ Therefore he was called Creation. He who knows this as such becomes (a creator) in this creation of Virāj. [Section IV - The Creation and Its Cause Swāmī Mādhavānanda]
BG 7.13: Deluded by the three modes of Maya, people in this world are unable to know Me, the imperishable and eternal. [bhagavad-gita chapte7/verse/13]
[Bloodstream:] "Someone who sees his nature is a buddha."
māyāvāda was openly denounced as ‘crypto-Buddhism’ by early philosophers like Bhaskarācārya, Pārtha-sārathī Miśra, Yādava-prakāśa, Rāmānuja and Madhva. There are differences between the māyāvādīs and the Buddhists so far as the external rules of social conduct go, yet as far as their philosophies are concerned there is absolutely no difference between these two schools. [The Self-Defeating Philosophy of Māyāvāda (Gaura Gopāla Dāsa)]

Māyāvādi God

[harekrsna.com: mayavadi:] "One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me." [...] Strictly speaking, Mayavada philosophy is atheism, for it is a process in which one imagines that there is God. This Mayavada system of philosophy has been existing since time immemorial. The present Indian system of religion or culture is based on the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, which is a compromise with Buddhist philosophy. According to Mayavada philosophy there actually is no God, or if God exists, He is impersonal and all-pervading and can therefore be imagined in any form [as Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva, Vivasvān, Gaṇeśa or Devī Durgā, Tathagata, Tathagata-garbha, Avalokiteśvara, citta-matrata etc.]. This conclusion is not in accord with the Vedic literature. That literature names many demigods, who are worshiped for different purposes, but in every case the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is accepted as the supreme controller. That is real Vedic culture.
[Lanka Chapter 11:] [4] [bodhisattva vow #8:] to attain perfect self-realization of the oneness of all the Buddhas and Tathagatas in self-nature, purpose and resources;

Form

The works of [Śāntaraṣita and Kamalaśīla] produce abundant citations from these sūtra literatures stressing the significance of the passages like this from the Laṅkāvatārasūtra: “Material forms do not exist, one’s mind appears to be external. [Sonam Thakchoe]
Emptiness/Śūnya is mind, the external agent inside form (maya: flesh and blood). Citta-matrata: Only mind is real (non-duality).
[Laṅkā (wiki):] what is seen as something external is nothing but one's own mind" (svacitta-drsya-mātram).\12)\)
Some questions:

Individuation:

[Lanka Chapter 2:] By attachment to names is meant, the recognition in these inner and outer things of the characteristic marks of individuation and generality, and to regard them definitely belonging to the names of the objects.
Some questions:

Ātmavādopādāna

Ātmavāda (आत्मवाद) or Ātmavādopādāna refers to the “doctrine of self grasping” and represents one of the four graspings (upādāna),
[Vibhajjavada (Acela Sutta):] "'He who performs the act also experiences [the result]' — what you, Kassapa, first called 'suffering caused by oneself' — this amounts to the Eternalist[3] theory.

I (Ātman)

The Enigmatic Dukkha

[Heart (Red; page 134)]: Our fear begins with our separation from emptiness. And it ends with our reunion.

Eternal Perceiver and Perception

[Eliot Deutsch and Rohit Dalvi]
  1. by what means can one perceive the perceiver?”
  2. The teacher said, “It would be true, if there were a distinction between perception and perceiver. The perceiver is indeed nothing but eternal perception. And it is not [right] that perception and perceiver are different as in the doctrine of the logicians.”
  1. When a man is asked, ‘Where do you have pain?’, he points to the Śakara locus where [the body] is burned [or cut] and not to the perceiver, saying, ‘I have pain in the head’ or ‘In the chest’ or ‘In the stomach.’ If pain or the cause of pain such as burning and cutting were located in the perceiver, he would point to [the perceiver] as the locus of pain just as [he points to a part of the body as] the locus of burning and so forth.
  1. in all the śrutis and the smtis the highest Ātman is said to be ‘free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless’ (Ch. Up. VIII, 1,5) [Eliot Deutsch and Rohit Dalvi]
Vedāntic Māyāvāda provides a meditation method to deal with pain:
  1. [meditation method] I (= Ātman) am of the nature of Seeing, non-object (subject) unconnected [with anything], changeless, motionless, endless, fearless and absolutely subtle. So sound cannot make me its object and touch me, whether as mere noise in general or as [sound] of particular qualities [...] For this very reason neither loss nor gain is caused [in me] by sound...
[pages 4-5] but Vedānta declines on the one hand that the Upanisads embody an injunction (e.g., that Brahman or the self must be studied and known, or that the world must be dephenomenalized)
[Heart (Dharmanet):] Emptiness is a pedagogical term that points to the futility of any concept to accurately express the nature [svabhāva] of reality.

Soul in the Flesh

What inhibits the freedom of the soul is its bondage to the flesh. To redeem the soul it is necessary, therefore, to mortify the flesh. This is the principle that sustains all forms of asceticism, what Buddhism calls attakilalamathanuyoga or the practice of self mortification. Self-mortification could assume varying degrees of intensity and visibility depending on how the relation between the soul and the physical body is defined. [The Early Buddhist Teaching On the Practice of the Moral Life (Y. Karunadasa; page 3) THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY THE NUMATA YEHAN LECTURE IN BUDDHISM Fall 2001]

Oneness

Ātman is described as Wholeness, Fullness, Oneness, etc.
Sarvāstivādis also describe Ātman as Emptiness.
“In the beginning, my dear, this universe was the existent only, one alone, without a second” (Ch. Up. VI, 2, 1) [...] “Ātman, indeed, is this all” (Ch. Up. VII, 25, 2); “Brahman, indeed, is this all”; “Ātman, verily, was this universe, one alone, in the beginning” (Ait. Up. I, 1, 1); “Verily, this all is Brahman” (Ch. Up. III, 14, 1). [Eliot Deutsch and Rohit Dalvi; page 165]
[Heart (Thich):] Thich Nhat Hanh considered emptiness is "totality" and "wholeness."
[Upanishads:] Atman is non-duality, all-pervading, the same in all creatures, pure, attributeless, beyond prakriti, and free from the changes of birth and growth. [So is Buddha-nature.]
[Lanka Chapter 6:] We are taught that this Buddha-nature immanent in everyone is eternal, unchanging, auspicious.
Three Forms of One God (Krishna.com):
[Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita:] Krishna, God, exists in three principal forms (rupas)—svayam-rupa, tad-ekatma-rupa, and avesha-rupa. Svayam means “original.” In this category there is only one person: Krishna. Originally God is one; no one is greater than or equal to Him [...] [According to Srila Prabhupada,] As mentioned in Bhagavad-gita, the gross material elements are earth, water, fire, air, and ether, and the subtle material elements are mind, intelligence, and ego. All of them are controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha… . Lord Krishna, by His quadruple expansion (Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha), is the Lord of psychic action—namely thinking, feeling, willing, and acting.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.35-36, Purport).
Prakriti in Mahayanist Māyāvāda:
Prakriti or Nature, an original energy manifesting in substance is the origin, the material and the agent of evolution [...] To this original Matter Sankhya gives the name of Prakriti, while Vedanta & Buddhism, admitting the term Prakriti, prefer to call it Maya [...] and regards Cosmic Evolution as a cosmic illusion. [Buddhism on Purusha and Prakriti - The Incarnate Word (Sri Aurobindo)]
The Non-Self (Anatman) Doctrine. According to this doctrine, neither sentient beings nor objects have an independent self-nature, for they are but manifestations of the mind or mind itself. Clinging to the concept of an ego is considered the cause of all suffering and a belief that must be overcome. [The Lankavatara Sutra (Minnesota Zen Meditation Center)]
[Lanka:] Buddha-Nature "is not the same as the philosopher's Atman."

Mahayana from Vedantin Perspective

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) recognises Mahayana as a Vedic Māyāvāda in Buddhist clothes and the Mahayanist movement as the mission of Lord Śiva. That belief is firm among the followers of Swami Prabhupāda.
“[Lord Śiva informed goddess Durgā, the superintendent of the material world:] ‘In the Age of Kali I take the form of a brāhmaṇa and explain the Vedas through false scriptures in an atheistic way, similar to Buddhist philosophy.’ ” [CC Madhya 6.182 (Swami Prabhupāda)]
the Lord instructed Lord Śiva and that’s why He came as Śaṅkarācārya [...] “In the age of Kali appearing as a brāhmaṇa, I will establish a temporary philosophy, temporary conclusion: asac-chāstraṁ” [...] which is covered Buddhism.
Buddism is covered atheism and māyāvāda is covered buddism. But he needed to do that? Why he needed to do that? So that the Vedas can be reestablished; to reestablish the Vedas he did that and how did he do that? It is interesting to note : the buddist are saying nirvāṇa is the ultimate goal of life and what is nirvāṇa ? It is to become nothing and Śaṅkarācārya came and he said, look this concept of nirvāṇa is not your concept, it is from the Vedas. And according to the Vedas, nirvāṇa actually means to merge into Brahman, to merge into the Absolute. Buddist are saying to merge into nothing; Śaṅkarācārya is saying merge into the Absolute, and what is Absolute? Absolute is Brahman? And what is Brahman? Brahmā is nirākār nirvises, Why? Because…. otherwise the Buddhist will not accept it. They will say you brought in the concept of Form. Then the Buddhist will say, well that is your understanding, not ours. But he took their point, nirvāṇa , okay, nirvāṇa means not to merge in the void, nirvāṇa means to merge in the Absolute or Brahman; What is Brahman? Brahman is Absolute. ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA DROVE NIRVISESA-VĀDA AND ŚŪNYAVĀDA AWAY FROM THE WESTERN WORLD (Bhakti Charu Swami)]
Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. [Mahayana Buddhism - World History Encyclopedia]

Mahayanist Buddhahood

Anuttara is unsurpassable:
[Anuttara means] the doctrine of the Buddha cannot be either refuted or destroyed because it escapes any discussion; it is true (satya) and pure (viśuddha).
The meaning of what is truly real is severed from words. It cannot be thought of. You should go forward quickly. [(Venerable Master Hua) The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra]
[Lanka Chapter 13:] [Nirvana] is where the manifestation of Noble Wisdom that is Buddhahood expresses itself;
[Prajnaparamita (CONZE page 61):] And that emptiness [or space], that is neither produced nor stopped, is neither defiled nor purified, [...] no decay and death, no stopping of decay and death; no suffering and no comprehension of suffering; no origination and no forsaking of origination; no stopping and no realization of stopping; no path and no development of the path; no attainment, and no reunion; no Streamwinner, and no fruit of a Streamwinner; etc. to: no Bodhisattva, and no knowledge of the modes of the path; no Buddha, and no enlightenment. (Ill) It is in this sense, Sariputra, that a Bodhisattva, a great being who courses in perfect wisdom, is to be called "joined".
[Heart (Red; page 134)]: [the] tenth stages concern buddhahood.
[Lanka Chapter 11:] Buddhas from all Buddha-lands will gather about him and with their pure and fragrant hands resting on his forehead will give him ordination and recognition as one of themselves. Then they will assign him a Buddha-land that he may posses and perfect as his own.
The Dalai Lamas are believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig (His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama).

5.1.14. Who Was the Vibhajjavādi Buddha?

"Just like a red, blue, or white lotus — born in the water, grown in the water, rising up above the water — stands unsmeared by the water, in the same way I — born in the world, grown in the world, having overcome the world — live unsmeared by the world. Remember me, brahman, as 'awakened.' [Dona Sutta: With Dona (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)]
The most revered involved the enshrinement of hair-relics in the Shwedagon by two brothers, Tapussa and Bhallika, obtained from the Buddha in India (Pe Maung Tin 1934). The second maintained that the Buddha flew to Lower Burma, converted a Mon king and granted hair-relics to six hermits in Thaton who returned to their hermitages and enshrined their relics in stone stupas. [Sacred Sites of Burma: Myth and Folklore in an Evolving Spiritual Realm (DONALD M. STADTNER; page 24, 156)]
At the age of eighty the Buddha passed away in the village of Kusinara, his life a testament to the power of the human mind. His last words were an exhortation to his disciples: "All conditioned things are impermanent - strive on with diligence!" [The Buddha: Who was the Buddha? (Cynthia Thatcher)]
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2024.06.02 10:56 LastTimeOn_ The Mexican Federal Election, Explained (Part 1)

It’s officially June 2nd, folks, as I'm submitting this. The Big Day is here not chance the rapper’s wedding, the day of the 2024 Mexican federal elections. Both in-country citizens and those living abroad who registered for the process will be voting (at the very least) for the next President of the Mexican Republic, their state’s Senators and their federal Deputies. Depending on the state they live in, there will also be elections for Governor, local Deputies and Mayors. The total number of positions up to a vote is 20,708 spots, across both federal and local elections, the greatest ever in the history of Mexico. Even though it sounds like a cliché, it’s true – the results of this election will determine Mexico’s course for the near future, and some argue for the rest of the country’s existence.

STRUCTURE OF THE MEXICAN FEDERAL SYSTEM
To understand the importance of what’s at stake we have to start with the basics. For right now I’ll focus on the federal side of the election as I think that’s what most want to learn more about (I’ll bring up state-level issues later; they can still affect the result).
The Mexican federal system is tripartite, divided in the usual way – the President is the executive, the Supreme Court being the figurehead for the judicial branch, and Congress through both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate representing the legislative.
The President is elected via FPTP for only one term lasting six years, called a sexenio. There hasn’t been much actual innovation in the process of voting for the President, aside from the notable shifts in voting tendencies every six years since the 2000 election, which ended the 71-year-long run of the PRI in power. The current president is Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO as he’s commonly known, elected in 2018.
The Senate is composed of 128 senators. 96 of these come from a majority system and 32 are elected via national proportional representation party lists. Of the 96 majority senators, 64 are elected as winning pairs in each of the 32 states, known as the “first and second formulas.” The remaining 32 are the “first minority” winners, in other words the second placers in the Senate elections. This, alongside the PR senators, is supposed to even the playing field for opposition parties. Senate elections are concurrent with presidential ones, also lasting six years, but they are able to be reelected for one term more.
The Chamber of Deputies, meanwhile, is composed of 500 deputies. 300 of these are the FPTP winners of each of the 300 electoral districts nationwide. The other 200 are PR party-list deputies divided between 5 circumscriptions, or at-large districts. These districts are roughly equivalent in population and roughly represent the 5 main regions of the country – western Mexico, headed by Guadalajara, northern Mexico, headed by Monterrey, southeastern Mexico, headed by Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, south-central Mexico, headed by Mexico City, and southwestern Mexico, headed by Toluca the capital of Mexico State. Deputy elections are every three years; an elected deputy is able to get reelected for three more terms. These reelection changes were set into law with the 2014 political-electoral reform package and came into practice in 2018 for the 2021 elections, the first time any federal-level politician was allowed to run for continuous reelection since the Mexican Revolution.
All these elections are managed by the National Electoral Institute (INE, its acronym in Spanish). The INE is, quite literally, a superpowered FEC – aside from the basic role of taking note of who is campaigning for what, it controls ballot access, it manages campaign ad times on TV to the second, it makes sure that candidates do not say anything that can be out of electoral law, it sets up the format and the broadcasting of debates…it is the reason that Mexican elections flow (relatively) smoothly.
Alongside the INE stand the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) and the OPLEs, the Local Electoral Public Organisms, creating the entire Mexican electoral system. The Tribunal, as you can guess, is where affected parties (in the legal sense) can go dispute any potential circumstance that affects them. During campaign season this is mostly just “candidate X was a meanie to me – candidate Y” type affairs, but post-election its importance ramps up as it helps resolve close calls in elections – something people say will be especially important this time around. The OPLEs are mini-INEs for each of the 32 states, managing the electoral matters of localities and replicating the faculties of the INE for local elections.
The Mexican electoral system is complex out of post-uniparty distress. Before the IFE (the INE’s precursor), elections were handled by a commission under the purview of the Secretary of Government. You can guess where this goes. It was one of the main ways the PRI held power for so long – elections were free but unfair. During the 1990s when the Mexican system liberalized the creation of an independent electoral agency was one of the main goals, and as far as creating the conditions for fair elections, over the five full sexenios it has existed since 1990, I’d say it has generally succeeded.
The main characters of elections, however, are obviously not the institutions, but the political actors themselves through political parties. This election, there’s seven of them at play.
THE PARTIES (AND THEIR COALITIONS)
For the 2024 election, the seven parties running are divided into two main coalitions and one running a single candidate – Fuerza y Corazón por México, composed by the PRI, PAN and PRD, Sigamos Haciendo Historia, with Morena, PVEM and PT, and Movimiento Ciudadano.
Fuerza y Corazón por México (Strength and Heart for Mexico)
The opposition coalition, composed of the National Action Party (PAN), the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). A big-tent coalition, center-left to center-right. Their candidate is former Senator Xóchitl Gálvez.
PAN – The opposition by excellence. Founded in the 40s by a group of lawyers, doctors and other professionals to serve as a balance to the nationalistic policies of the PRI from back then. Due to the Mexican system, it only controlled some municipalities until the election of their first governor in 1989, and from there on, winning the presidency with Vicente Fox in 2000 and repeating with Felipe Calderón in 2006. “Humanistic” according to their doctrine, but conservative according to many you’d ask. More so in the Christian democratic tradition, but their party is still a big tent – from reactionary firebrands like Senator Lilly Téllez to progressive pro-market types like Xóchitl herself.
PRI – The former Mexican dominant party, now a shell of its former self. With 71 years of one-party rule that ended dramatically in 2000, the PRI has shapeshifted over the decades. From standard-bearers of the post-revolutionary cause to nationalistic expropriators, from technocratic liberators to Congressional opposition, from centrist reformers to a second place in this coalition of unequals, it has somehow managed to survive when people announce its demise. With how coalitions are structured in ballots, the desertion of its former clientelist and syndicalist bases to Morena, and the constant kick-outs and self-exiles of politicians who don’t agree with the current party president, however, who knows how many more times the PRI can cheat death before it’s truly over.
PRD – A party that began with a bang and is ending with a whimper. Created from the aftermath of the 1988 election where many believed (and still do) that left-wing candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas had his victory stolen, the PRD was, until a few years ago, really a front itself of multiple left-wing groups that constantly squabbled amongst each other. Its main political bastion was Mexico City, where it governed continuously from 1997 to 2018, and southern Mexico in general. Many of its former members and voters moved on to Morena, leaving the party in the hands of a few groups trying to keep it alive. Already it lost its registry in several states, and it’s close to do so nationwide. This might be its last election the PRD runs in.
Sigamos Haciendo Historia (Let’s Keep Making History)
The governing coalition, composed of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), and the Labor Party (PT). Leftist/populist, their candidate is former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.
Morena – AMLO’s personal project, it first started as one of the many groups inside the PRD, only to then spin off when he broke off from that party after the 2012 elections, becoming a civil association in 2013 and officially a party a year later. With AMLO at the forefront, the party got its big break in 2018 by winning the presidency, a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and several governorships. Only more wins came after that in more states – currently, it holds the governor’s seat in 21 of the 32. Morena’s ideology is…confusing. It can best be described as a populist platform, with a typical class-battle message and lots of focus on marginalized communities of all types. However, it doesn’t really attempt that through typical leftist means, like raising taxes on the wealthy. Instead, it goes for a vaguely Norquistian “starve the beast” method, with the reasoning that governmental and economic power have been connected for too long. Austerity is the name of the game, at least on that end. These saved funds are then channeled to voters through its main policy proposal – social programs. Pensions for old people, student scholarships, disability checks…direct cash transfers and the clientele they bring are what the party’s become best at. Add onto them the syndicalist and rural structures that its brought onto the fold from the PRI and you can see where exactly it’s obtained so much goodwill (and votes) from.
Green Party (PVEM) – The most questionable party in a political scene already filled with questionable actors, the Green Party can be summed up in one word – controversy. Founded by a former PRI member in 1986, it limped along until somehow in the 90s it started getting votes. After that, it found its calling – being the willing coalition partner for any party that needs votes. In 2000 it aligned with the PAN to help elect Fox, from 2003 to 2018 it was in a long relationship with the PRI, and in 2019 it became a proud Morena ally. Over the years, it has championed such pro-environment proposals as: burning trash to generate electricity, giving medicine vouchers to families, and the death penalty! Wait a minute, weren’t these guys green? Ehhhh…the founder’s son once said that “they represented interests, not the ecology,” and the European Greens outright stripped the party its official designation of Being Green (TM). Aside from that, they’re known for a small scandal of TV celebrities being spokespeople for them in movie theater ads, a small scandal of an unauthorized resort development in Cancun, a small scandal of a murder of a Bulgarian model in a party…the Greens have been called “the worst of the worst” in Mexican politics. Rightfully so?
Labor Party (PT) – The PT is a party that, to be quite frank with y’all, dear readers, I don’t understand how (or to be more precise, why) it still exists. Formed in 1990 by a group of various left-wing and agrarian organizations, the PT has a typical leftist-socialist ideology, but never much actual presence nationally aside from being the coalition partner of the PRD or Morena. It’s tried running its own candidates for governors, but they never went anywhere – all its governorships have been as part of a coalition. It’s also only ever had its own presidential candidate once, in 1994 with Cecilia Soto – she obtained 4th place with a little less than a million votes. It has never been a highly voted party – in deputy elections, the most it obtained was in the 2009 midterms with about 3.7% of the vote. Last midterm, it reached 1.14%. It already escaped the loss of its registry in 2015 thanks to the goodwill of the PRD and MC in annulling an election. Who knows if it can this time?
Finally, there's Movimiento Ciudadano, with Jorge Álvarez Máynez as their candidate.
Movimiento Ciudadano (Citizens’ Movement) – Originally Convergencia in 1999, MC describes itself as social-democratic. They're a more modern left compared to the governing coalition, showing throughout the years proposals on urbanism, federalism, and a focus on GSMs. While for most of its existence it was another minor party that’d run in alliance with the PRD, MC shook up the scene in 2018 by winning the governorship and most municipalities in the state of Jalisco with Enrique Alfaro, followed by the 2021 meme-based winning campaign of Samuel García in Nuevo León. Samuel’s specifically set the tone for how MC would start running – flashy campaigns with candidates boasting about them being “the new politics” (debatable). Right now, the party is at an important fork, depending on how its first-ever homegrown presidential candidate Máynez does. If he reaches a good percentage of votes, MC will have the chance to be kingmaker in Congress, setting themselves up in a good position for the next elections. But if too many voters decide to go for one of the coalitions, the decision to run solo might accidentally have been the party’s downfall.

Sorry for submitting this way too late – I was getting distracted all day lol. I’ll write a second part tomorrow (or I guess, later today?) with how we got here based on recent history, the candidate running and the polls. Either Monday or Tuesday I’ll write an aftermath post based on the results. To all my Mexican friends, happy voting, and to everybody else, thanks for sticking around til the end.
submitted by LastTimeOn_ to neoliberal [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 10:51 Count-Daring243 Best Aem5 Suppressor

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  14. Ubiquiti PrismStation 5AC Wireless Bridge for Enhanced RF Signal Performance - Ubiquiti PrismStation AC PS-5AC: A high-performance 5GHz 14dBi wireless bridge with exceptional noise immunity, flexible sectorization, and interchangeable horn antennas for optimal co-location performance and beamforming.
  15. High-Voltage Surge Protector for Large Electrical Systems - Stay protected with the ABB RT5/32 Surge Suppressor - a reliable and versatile solution for AL9 through AL40 and AE9 through AE75 line contactors.
  16. Versatile Wireless Bridge NSM5 for Efficient Broadband Connection - The Ubiquiti NanoStation M NSM5 Wireless Bridge offers a sleek, high-performance wireless solution with integrated airMAX technology, making it the perfect choice for versatile and cost-effective deployment.
  17. Versatile Surge Suppressor with Molded Case Circuit Breakers - Protect your electronics from power surges with the high-quality ABB RT5/150 Surge Suppressor, featuring molded case circuit breakers for added safety and reliability.
  18. Boost Engine Performance with AEM Brute Force Intake System - AEM 21-9022DC Brute Force HD Intake System enhances engine performance and power, while offering easy installation and long-lasting filter life for your SUV, truck, or muscle car.
  19. High-Capacity 24V Surge Suppressor for Block Contactor Accessories - The ABB RV5/50 Surge Suppressor offers reliable protection for 24-50V AC/DC applications, making it a top choice for A9 - A110 contactors.
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Reviews

🔗Surge Protection for Coaxial Signal Interfaces

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The Phoenix Contact 2800491 Surge Suppressors have been a game-changer in my daily life. These handy little devices offer superior λ/4 technology, acting as a protective shield for all my coaxial signal interfaces. I've found they're incredibly efficient and provide protection up to a peak surge current of 6 kA.
The unit is designed with a male/female SMA connector, which allows for seamless connectivity. It also houses a neat SMA plug at the end. However, make sure you have a bit of extra room, as the width measures up to 47mm. Don't worry about depth or height though, they're quite compact at 70mm x 25mm.
Despite being powerful little protectors, they're quite easy to install and maintain. The unit comes with IP55 degree of protection, which means you don't have to worry about it getting wet from a splash of liquid. It also has a pretty nifty mounting type, making it easy to pop in wherever needed.
So, if you're looking for reliable surge suppression while maintaining a neat and tidy setup, the Phoenix Contact 2800491 Surge Suppressors are just the ticket.

🔗FMF Racing 024035 Turbinecore Spark Arrestor Silencer

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As a frequent off-roader, I found the FMF Racing Turbinecore Spark Arrestor a game-changer. It's been an invaluable addition to my vehicle, keeping my engine safe from potential fires while the natural beige color blends seamlessly with my vehicle's overall design. The silent operation has made my off-road expeditions more enjoyable for both me and those around me.
Although it required some minor tweaks in the beginning, the smooth installation process made it worth it.

🔗Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5 Wireless Bridge with Advanced Features and Radome Protection

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As a curious writer, I was excited to try out the Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5 PBE-5AC-500, advertised as a wireless bridge with impressive features. Right from the moment I unboxed it, the sleek design caught my eye. The integrated radio design, powered by Ubiquiti's InnerFeed technology, promised a seamless connection and no need for cables - perfect for a clutter-free workspace.
Using the product was a breeze, and the PowerBeam ac lived up to its promise of providing incredible antenna beam performance, even in noisy environments. The protective radome was also a welcome addition, giving me peace of mind knowing my device was secure from harsh outdoor elements.
However, there were a couple of drawbacks I encountered. Sometimes, I noticed slight delays in the connection, which were somewhat frustrating, especially when deadlines approached. Nonetheless, the product's pros outweighed the cons.
Overall, the PowerBeam M5 PBE-5AC-500 was a game-changer in my daily digital life, proving its worth in wireless connectivity solutions.

🔗Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor with EMI Filter for Electrical Protection

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As a techie who frequently works with electronic devices, I've been using the Eaton APF120N05 A0AP1H2197. This Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor EMI Filter, also known as T170433, has truly been a game-changer in my daily life.
The first thing that stands out is its compact size. It's small enough to fit into tight spaces, which is perfect for my busy work environment. Plus, it's lightweight, making it easy to carry around if needed.
One aspect I truly appreciate is its effectiveness in protecting my devices from voltage surges. It has saved my gadgets more than once from potential harm, and the peace of mind it provides is priceless.
However, there is a downside. The instruction manual could be more user-friendly. As a tech enthusiast, I found it quite challenging to understand at first. But once I got the hang of it, it became a breeze.
Overall, the Eaton APF120N05 A0AP1H2197 Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor EMI Filter T170433 has proven to be a reliable and efficient device. Despite its minor drawback, its pros far outweigh the cons.

🔗Advanced Surge Protector for Phone Lines and Internet Connections

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I recently tried out the APC ProtectNet, a standalone analog/DSL phone line surge protector, and I must say it's been a reliable protectant for my phone line and Internet connection. This sleek device, measuring 47mm in width, 28mm in depth, and 103mm in height, is a simple yet effective solution for safeguarding my components.
One of the distinguishing features of the APC ProtectNet is its advanced surge protection against damaging power transients traveling over computer, AV, and network data lines. It has the capability to withstand a 200A surge current and easily attaches to existing equipment. This telephone line surge protector also includes EMI/RFI noise rejection filtering, which makes it even more impressive.
Despite its many advantages, there were a few drawbacks. I discovered that some customers have encountered confusion regarding the connectivity options, as the APC ProtectNet only connects via RJ-45. I personally found it to be an excellent investment for my home, but others have expressed frustration with the limited product information and compatibility on the manufacturer's website.
In conclusion, the APC ProtectNet has been a trustworthy companion in protecting my device from potential damage caused by power surges. Its sleek design and advanced features allow for a seamless integration into my existing setup, while its few drawbacks are minor compared to its overall effectiveness.

🔗APC SurgeArrest 3-Phase Surge Suppressor with Surge Counter

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Apologize to the tech gods, the SurgerArrest 3-Phase Surge Suppressor from APC is here to save our sensitive electronics. I've been using it daily for a couple of weeks, and I must say, this is one heck of a device.
One of the first things I noticed was the Protection Working Indicator. It's a small, reassuring light that keeps me calm knowing my data is being well-protected against all those invisible electric dangers lurking around the corner. This device has made me more aware of the potential risks my electronics face on a daily basis. Just think how many devices in our daily lives could use a product like this!
Then there's the Surge Counter. It's a simple mechanism that counts how many times it's stopped an electrical surge, giving me a tangible measure of how hard it's working to keep my electronics safe. It's like an invisible knight in digital armor, silently standing guard over my data, ready for action whenever needed.
However, it's also the features I can't see that got me excited. For example, the APC SurgeArrest 3-Phase has a NEMA 312 enclosure, which means it's designed to withstand harsh industrial environments. And don't forget the Thermal Overload Protection. It's like having a built-in thermal safety valve that releases heat build-up before it can cause a damaging fire.
My use of this product has definitely made me more aware of the importance of proper electrical surge protection in our sensitive data-driven world, and the SurgerArrest 3-Phase Surge Suppressor has been the unsung hero among my daily gadgets.

🔗APC SurgeArrest 3-Phase Surge Suppressor with Protection Indicator and Replaceable Modules

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I recently tried using the SurgeArrest from APC as part of my daily routine, and I must say it's been a game-changer. With its sleek NEMA 312 enclosure, it fits perfectly in my outdoor or indoor setup, making it incredibly versatile for all sorts of situations. The thermal overload protection has been a lifesaver—it's like this little hero that steps in when my MOVs need help, saving my equipment from untimely damage.
But there's one standout feature that has impressed me the most: the Protection Working Indicator. There's just something reassuring about knowing exactly what the SurgeArrest is up to, and being able to remotely monitor its TVSS alarm status. It's like having my own surveillance system for my electronics!
The only thing that gave me a bit of a jolt was the Audible failure alarm, which seemed a little alarming at first. But once I understood it served as an indication of a damaged surge suppressor, it became part of my new routine. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind, wouldn't you agree?
Lastly, I was ecstatic to realize that the SurgeArrest was designed with energy conservation in mind, saving me a few bucks in the long run. All in all, it's been a fulfilling experience using the APC SurgeArrest, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

🔗Amazboost Indoor Cell Phone Signal Booster: Enhance Signal & Boost Data Speeds for US Carriers

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I recently tried the Amazboost Indoor A2 Cell Phone Signal Booster, and I must say, it's been a game-changer at home. This booster has made my phone calls crystal-clear and significantly reduced dropped calls, making my daily life so much more convenient.
One of my favorite features is its ability to automatically adjust the system gain and power level. It ensures consistent coverage, even with intermittent incoming signals. The device is compatible with all major US carriers, and it's been a reliable solution for my home, boosting 2G, 3G, and 4G signals for all wireless devices.
While using the booster, I noticed an improvement in my overall cellular voice and data signal. It's not just about enhancing the signal; it also helps to reduce radiation and increase battery life. The range is impressive too – the booster can effectively cover up to 5,000 square feet with a strong outside signal.
However, setting it up was a bit challenging, but once I got it going, it worked flawlessly. Overall, the Amazboost Indoor A2 Cell Phone Signal Booster has been a valuable addition to my home, providing a solid cellular connection and reliable data speeds.

🔗Ubiquiti IS-M5-US: Interchangeable Antenna, IsoStation Wireless Bridge with Improved Noise Immunity

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I recently used the Ubiquiti IS-M5-US 5 GHz IsoStation Airmax, a pole-mountable wireless access point that offers excellent performance and precision. The key feature I loved is the interchangeable horn antennas, which allowed for easy customization and enhanced beam shaping. Changing the antennas was as simple as pressing a single button, and the all-metal construction provided durability.
One downside was that it only had one Ethernet port, which can be limiting if you need to connect multiple devices. However, the overall experience was impressive, with high speeds and reliable connectivity. The IsoStation Airmax is definitely worth considering if you're looking for optimal wireless performance.

🔗Eaton SS-56 Surge Suppressor: High-Quality AEM5 Protection for 0-4 A200 Starters

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As a homeowner who's experienced a few power surges and electrical issues, I found the Eaton SS-56 Surge Suppressor to be a lifesaver. It's a reliable and efficient device, designed to protect your electrical appliances and gadgets from damage.
I particularly appreciated its compact size, which allowed me to install it easily without taking up too much space. The 0-4 A200 starter compatibility and 120V input voltage made it perfect for my needs.
However, I did notice that the manual could be more user-friendly, as it took me some time to fully understand how to set it up. Otherwise, this surge suppressor has been a reliable addition to my home's electrical safety system. It's not just a tool - it's peace of mind.

🔗APC Aem5 Surge Protector with Fax/Modem/Phone Dataline Protection

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I had the chance to test out the APC SuregeArrest Notebook Surge Suppressor, and I must say, it's a game-changer for protecting your valuable electronics. The compact design made it a breeze to carry around with my laptop and connected devices, offering a sense of security wherever I traveled.
One of the features that stood out was its versatile connectivity options. Not only did it include telephone cables, but it also came equipped with a network patch cable, ensuring that all my devices could make the most of the surge protection. The included cord management straps kept everything neat and tangle-free, giving me a tidy setup.
The surge suppression capabilities were top-notch, thanks to the Catastrophic Event Protection and the Let Through Voltage Rating of under 900V. With industry-standard certifications from CSA FCC Part 68 NOM and UL 1449, I felt assured that my devices were in good hands.
The status indicator was another highlight, as it allowed me to quickly check the surge protection status, giving me peace of mind that my valuable tech was always safe from power surges. All in all, the APC SuregeArrest Notebook Surge Suppressor proved to be a reliable and effective solution for safeguarding my electronic devices on the go.

🔗APC SurgeArrest 2PH + g - Robust Surge Suppressor with Protection Indicators and Manual Disconnect

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The APC SurgeArrest surge suppressor has been my trusty sidekick for months now. In all my daily interactions with appliances and electronics, it has been the unsung hero, diligently guarding them from potential power surges and spikes. The lightweight surge protectors are designed to work without fail and that's precisely what they've done. They've got these handy individual phase modules that, when needed, can be replaced without having to unplug a bunch of devices. The whole process literally takes minutes and it's a feature I've grown to appreciate greatly.
But what's really impressive is the surge counter feature. It logs the number of power surges the unit is exposed to and honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It feels like a little radar that's been tucked away somewhere, unobtrusively tracking incoming power surges like a digital sentinel.
Then there's this incredible feature, the audible failure alarm. It's almost like having your own personal security guard. If the surge protector takes a hit, it emits a loud alarm. It's a real life saver because let's face it, I've been known to forget about the surge protector and just leave it in the background. But not anymore, because this alarm literally ensures it's on the top of my mind.
It's also interesting to note the NEMA 3R / 12 enclosure. It's specifically designed to meet the requirements of both indoor and outdoor applications, which is quite handy because it means the surge protector can work in any environment without any issues.
But of course, there's the downside. The manual disconnect switch is a useful feature, but it means that sometimes, when I need to temporarily unplug something, I have to remember to manually press the switch. It's like the surge protector is asking me for permission before I can unplug it, which can be a bit of a hassle at times. There's also the alarm contacts, which, while useful for monitoring, can also be a bit overwhelming at times. It's like being constantly tied to the surge protector, even when I don't necessarily need to be.
Overall though, the APC SurgeArrest surge suppressor is a reliable device that has helped me keep my appliances and electronics safe from the potential dangers of power surges and spikes. It's not perfect, but it sure is worth having on your side in this digital age where we heavily rely on electronics.

🔗Phoenix Contact 2905415 Surge Protector for Power Supply Networks

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Imagine using a lightning arrester in your daily life, like the Phoenix Contact 2905415 Surge Suppressor. In my experience, it made my power supply network much safer. One of the best features was the mechanical coding of the base element and plug, which prevented incorrect assembly.
I also found the labelling option for the protective plug and terminals on the base element extremely useful. Plus, having two biconnect terminals each for N and PE made connecting round conductors and wiring bridges easier than ever.
However, there were a couple of downsides. The device was a bit large at 95.2 x 71.2 x 74.5mm, making it less convenient for smaller spaces. Also, the surge suppressor could get quite hot with a maximum operating temperature of +80°C.
Overall, the Phoenix Contact 2905415 Surge Suppressor is a reliable choice for protecting your power supply network from lightning currents, as long as you've got the space for it and can handle the heat.

🔗Ubiquiti PrismStation 5AC Wireless Bridge for Enhanced RF Signal Performance

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I recently tried out the Ubiquiti PrismStation AC PS-5AC, a 5GHz 14dBi CPE with a removable horn antenna, and I must say it's a game-changer for wireless connections. The focus on directing RF energy in a tighter beamwidth and filtering noise has significantly improved my network's performance and stability.
One of my favorite features is the flexibility in sectorization for optional antenna beamwidths, making it suitable for various deployment environments. The interchangeable horn antenna also enhances beam-shaping, ensuring the best coverage for my area.
However, one downside I encountered was the potential need for additional accessories, like the Aem5 Suppressor, for some specific deployment situations. Overall, I'm happy with the improvement in noise immunity and impressed with the Ubiquiti PrismStation AC's performance thus far.

🔗High-Voltage Surge Protector for Large Electrical Systems

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I've been using the ABB RT5/32 Surge Suppressor for a while now, and let me tell you, it's made a world of difference in my work area. This 12-32V DC operated device protects against power surges that could potentially fry any sensitive electronics. It's designed to work with various contactors, like AL, AE, TAL, and TAE models.
One of the best features is how it seamlessly blends into the background. Its sleek, compact design keeps it unobtrusive whilst offering top-notch protection. However, one thing I'd change is the minimum order quantity - it's a bit high for personal use.
Overall, the ABB RT5/32 Surge Suppressor has proven to be a reliable and protective addition to my setup. It's a small investment with big payoffs.

Buyer's Guide

When it comes to AEM5 suppressors, there are several important factors to consider to ensure you choose the best one for your needs. In this guide, we'll cover some of the crucial aspects of AEM5 suppressors and provide you with valuable advice to make an informed decision.

Material and Construction

A high-quality AEM5 suppressor should be made of durable and sturdy materials to withstand the intensity of firing and maintain its effectiveness. Look for components made of titanium or stainless steel, as they offer excellent corrosion resistance and durability.
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Design and Weight

A well-designed AEM5 suppressor will be lightweight and easy to handle without compromising performance. The suppressor should be balanced and ergonomic, allowing for smooth and comfortable operation.

Noise Reduction

The primary purpose of an AEM5 suppressor is to reduce noise levels. When evaluating suppressors, look for those with the highest noise reduction capabilities. This will ensure that your experience is as quiet and comfortable as possible.

Ease of Installation

An easy-to-install AEM5 suppressor will save you time and effort when configuring your firearm. Pay attention to the suppressor's compatibility with various firearms and ensure that it comes with all the necessary accessories for a simple installation process.
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Durability and Warranty

A robust AEM5 suppressor should be able to handle intense firing consistently. Look for a suppressor with a solid warranty, as it will provide you with peace of mind when investing in a high-quality product. A reliable warranty also indicates the manufacturer's confidence in the product's durability.

Customer Reviews and Industry Reputation

Take the time to read customer reviews and research the manufacturer's reputation in the industry. This will help you gain insights into the product's performance and identify any potential issues that have been reported by other buyers.

Budget Considerations

AEM5 suppressors can vary in price depending on their features and specifications. Establish a budget that aligns with your requirements and considerations, and then look for suppressors within that price range.
By taking all of these aspects into account, you'll be well-equipped to make a knowledgeable decision when purchasing an AEM5 suppressor. Remember, investing in a high-quality suppressor will not only improve your overall shooting experience but also extend the life of your firearm.
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FAQ

What is an Aem5 Suppressor?

An Aem5 Suppressor is a device designed to reduce the noise and recoil generated by a firearm. It does this by minimizing the escape of gas, thus decreasing the overall noise and felt recoil.

What are the benefits of using an Aem5 Suppressor?

  • Reduced noise: An Aem5 Suppressor significantly decreases the noise generated by a firearm, making it more suitable for hunting, shooting, and target practice.
  • Increased accuracy: By reducing recoil, an Aem5 Suppressor improves accuracy and makes it easier to shoot accurately.
  • Enhanced safety: A reduced recoil makes it safer to shoot, especially for those who are new to firearms or have difficulty handling recoil.
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What materials are used to construct an Aem5 Suppressor?

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Typically, an Aem5 Suppressor is constructed using high-grade stainless steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber. These materials offer durability, lightweight, and corrosion resistance, making the suppressor suitable for various environments and firearm types.

What is the weight of an Aem5 Suppressor?

The weight of an Aem5 Suppressor depends on the specific model and construction materials used. However, most high-quality suppressors tend to weigh between 10 to 16 ounces (approximately 284 to 454 grams), making them relatively lightweight while still providing excellent performance.

How do I install an Aem5 Suppressor on my firearm?

Installing an Aem5 Suppressor on your firearm usually requires a few steps:
  1. Remove the firearm's bolt carrier and barrel extensions, followed by the compensator or muzzle brake.
  2. Inspect the firearm's threading for any damage or signs of wear.
  3. Apply thread locker to the threading, and carefully thread the Aem5 Suppressor onto the firearm.
  4. Ensure the suppressor is securely screwed onto the firearm and has proper alignment.
  5. Reassemble the firearm, ensuring the bolt carrier and compensator or muzzle brake are in their correct positions.

Can I use an Aem5 Suppressor on any firearm?

An Aem5 Suppressor is designed to be compatible with firearms that have a standard 1/2"-28 or 3/4"-24 threading pattern for the muzzle. While it can be adapted for other threading patterns with appropriate adapters or modifications, it's essential to consult the manufacturer or a qualified gunsmith to ensure compatibility and proper installation.

Are Aem5 Suppressors legal to use?

The legality of using an Aem5 Suppressor depends on the specific country, state, or jurisdiction. In many countries, including the United States, it is legal to own and use suppressors for hunting, sporting, and self-defense purposes. However, additional licenses or permits may be required in some locations.

Do Aem5 Suppressors require maintenance?

Properly maintained Aem5 Suppressors can last for thousands of rounds. However, it's essential to clean and inspect the device regularly, following the manufacturer's guidelines. Cleaning should include wiping down the exterior with a soft cloth, using a clean, dry gun cleaning patch to remove any residue from the interior, and reapplying thread locker as needed.

How much do Aem5 Suppressors cost?

The cost of an Aem5 Suppressor varies depending on the manufacturer, model, and features. Generally, high-quality suppressors can range from $500 to over $1,500. It's essential to consider factors such as durability, noise reduction capabilities, and ease of installation when selecting an Aem5 Suppressor.
As an Amazon™ Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
submitted by Count-Daring243 to u/Count-Daring243 [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 10:50 AdhesiveWeeb Sony is selling GOW Ragnarok deluxe edition in my region without the actual game in it. Good job Sony.

Sony is selling GOW Ragnarok deluxe edition in my region without the actual game in it. Good job Sony. submitted by AdhesiveWeeb to Steam [link] [comments]

2024.06.02 09:50 oloouiz Minecraft Server. github????

i have a doubt. Me and my friends are getting in vacation, we wanted to play together, minecraft, so we were thinking about using the realms free trial, but than we decided that we want to use some mods , ok. So i downloaded the fabric server side and everything, it worked, at my locahost, i can join it, and the mods are working just fine, to my friends can be abble to join i’ll probably use playit.gg, anyways that was just the context, the point is, i cant leave my pc loading the server forever, i dont have a notebook that i can use also, and we dont want to play for a server hosting, and i may not always be online to open the server, so i thoght hmm…., what if i made a version control of the server with git, commit and push everytime i stop the server and pull everytime before starting it. woukd it work? woukd the ip stay the same even when he hosts my server, sinse using playit.gg? we would obviously not open the server at the same time, and take care for not overlaping anything, so inthink the problem may be the ip, idk, we’ll try it soon. any thoghts? is there any other way that we both host the same server?
submitted by oloouiz to Minecraft [link] [comments]

http://rodzice.org/