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PSA: We have far more concrete dates than people let on.

2024.05.20 08:04 submissivekitty2828 PSA: We have far more concrete dates than people let on.

At one point I was thinking about the timeline of FNaF, and decided to write out every concrete date we have. The dates we know for certain are:
And doing this made me realize something. With the number of dates we have, a lot of people are just guessing instead of working around them. Most notably, the reuse of certain weekdays/months can help us understand dates that aren't confirmed. For example:
Now that we've covered every possible point from the Clickteam games, let's take this information and form a timeline. Please note that not all of the specifics will be agreed upon, but I believe the general dates are correct.
And that's it. This post took me all day writing out and double-checking to make sure I didn't get anything incorrect, but I'm sure there are a few typos or inconsistencies and that there are pieces of information I've missed. After all, no one knows all the answers about FNaF except Scott himself, and even Scott makes mistakes. But I feel confident in this and hope that it leaves some sort of impact.
submitted by submissivekitty2828 to fivenightsatfreddys [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 08:00 PokemonMastersBot Weekly General Questions Megathread

You can now insert images as comments when you seek for in-game help in Megathreads! Check out this mod post HERE for more information.

Use this Megathread if you have general questions or need advice! e.g. asking for EX / Candy recommendation, gems usage, "Should I pull this banner?", "How do I build a team on this stage?", etc.
If you need team building help specifically for Champion Stadium, you may use the Champion Stadium Megathread to receive a quicker response.

Installing Pokémon Masters

Pokémon Masters is available worldwide except for Belgium and The Netherlands due to bans on loot boxes.
We will go over the two main platforms on installing the game, IOS and Android.
According to the official site, the game is most compatible in these devices:
iOS: 11 or higher / 64 bit / at least 2 GB of RAM
Android: OS 7.0 or higher / 64 bit / at least 2 GB of RAM
IOS:
  1. Via Apple Store: HERE
Android
  1. Via Google Play Store: HERE
  2. Others
If the game is unavailable in your country or shows as not available for your device, you can download the APK directly from APKPure or QooApp.
You can also use VPN to download it from the application store, but it requires longer downloading time compared to the above recommended methods.

Reroll Guide

Reroll means that you make a new account and look at what you got from your scout. If you don't like your first few multi-pulls, you delete the account and create a new one again and so on until you are satisfied.

Why reroll?

How to Reroll?
If you're an existing player, delete your local data or cache first. Otherwise, do not link your account to Nintendo. Doing so will bind your Pokémon Masters account to your Nintendo profile permanently and can no longer be removed.
As of now, if you progress up to the point when co-op mode is unlocked, you can get at least 21.000 gems, the equivalent of 7 multis, earning at least 231/400 scout points (33 scout points per multi scout), allowing you to scout at least 77 Sync Pairs. Completing the following checkpoints will let you receive gems as completion rewards:
Completion Requirement Notable Rewards Additional Notes
Starting the game (Part 1) MC & Pikachu, Misty & Starmie, Brock & Onix Choose Kanto Starter (Movesets HERE)
Starting the game (Part 2) MC & BulbasauCharmandeSquirtle, Blue & Pidgeot (5★ Guaranteed Scout) Kanto Starter Egg Hatches
Finish Champion Stadium: Kanto Challenge (Normal) 150 Gems You can reuse the same Sync Pairs after each round
Special Completion Rewards: Champion Stadium (Normal) 500 Gems Accessible in the Poké Center as an icon on the top-left corner
Finish Champion Stadium: Victory Road 5000 Gems, SS Red & Charizard/SS Blue & Blastoise/SS Leaf & Venusaur (5★ Guaranteed Ticket Scout) Also scoutable in the Triple Featured Poké Fair banner (3 days)
Finish Chapter 1 (Normal) 90 Gems, Rosa & Snivy
Finish Chapter 2 (Normal) 200 Gems, Barry & Piplup, Professor Oak & Mew and Legendary Arena unlocked. Professor Oak & Mew upgrade materials available in Bingo Rewards
Finish Chapter 3 (Normal) 150 Gems
Finish Chapter 4 (Normal) 170 Gems, Erika & Vileplume
Finish Chapter 5 (Normal) 160 Gems, Skyla & Swanna
Finish Chapter 6 (Normal) 200 Gems, Korrina & Lucario
Finish Chapter 7 (Normal) 250 Gems, Norman & Slaking
Finish Chapter 8 (Normal) 170 Gems, Pryce & Seel
Finish Chapter 9 (Normal) 240 Gems, Iris & Haxorus
Finish Chapter 10 (Normal) 280 Gems, Hapu & Mudsdale
Finish Interlude 1 (Normal) 60 Gems, SS Brock & Tyranitar
Finish Chapter 1 (Hard) 100 Gems
Finish Chapter 2 (Hard) 200 Gems
Finish Chapter 3 (Hard) 100 Gems
Finish Chapter 4 (Hard) 200 Gems
Finish Chapter 5 (Hard) 100 Gems
Finish Chapter 6 (Hard) 200 Gems
Finish Chapter 7 (Hard) 300 Gems
Finish Chapter 8 (Hard) 200 Gems
Finish Chapter 9 (Hard) 300 Gems
Finish Chapter 10 (Hard) 300 Gems
Finish Interlude 1 (Hard) 100 Gems
EX Plaza: Special Training Battle Techniques 60 Gems
These missions are completed progressively as you play the game, so they are not listed in numerical order.
These missions can be completed multiple times as the player reaches new checkpoints.
Checkpoint (Missions) Notable Rewards per level
Mission 1: Log in to the game 10 Gems
Mission 21: Raise team strength 10 Gems
Mission 3: Obtain Pearl 10 Gems
Mission 4: Obtain Big Pearl 10 Gems
Mission 5: Obtain 1★ Level-Up Manual 10 Gems
Mission 6: Obtain 2★ Level-Up Manual 10 Gems
Mission 7: Obtain 3★ Level-Up Manual 10 Gems
Mission 62: Evolve a Pokemon 10 Gems
Mission 91: Obtain a Lucky Cookie 10 Gems
Mission 125: Raise your player rank 10 Gems
Mission 262: Have a number of interaction(s) in Trainer Lodge 100 Gems
Mission 263: Reach friendship level 100 with a number of guests 100 Gems
Mission 264: Reach a certain friendship level with any guest 100 Gems
These missions can only be completed once but give a high amount of gems.
Checkpoint (Missions) Notable Rewards per level
Mission 82: Link to your Nintendo account 600 Gems
Mission 89: Participate in the Battle Villa 1000 Gems
If you are not satisfied with your pulls, click on the Poryphone at the right-bottom corner in the Pokémon Center -> Account -> Delete Save Data. Repeat the above steps until you pulled the Sync Pair you want.
Now that you're ready to go on an adventure, link your account through Poryphone Menu by tapping "Account", then "Link a Nintendo Account" to save your progress. After that, try to get any free Sync Pairs as you progress:

EX Gear Type Chart

Note that these co-op stages only drop 2★ Gear as the highest rarity for their corresponding Gear Type. 3★ Gear is restricted to Type Gear Events and Pokémon Masters Day every month, and it can be obtained in the time-limited event shop and in the General tab in exchange for 3★ gear material co-op stage drops.
Stage Gear Type
EX Brock Grass/Steel/Rock
EX Misty Flying/Fairy/Steel
EX Barry Grass/Dragon/Water
EX Flannery Bug/WateGhost
EX Erika Fire/Poison/Ground
EX Skyla Rock/Normal/Flying
EX Korrina Fire/Fighting/Psychic
EX Pryce Electric/Ice/Bug
EX Marshal Psychic/Dark/Ice
EX Hau Ground/Electric/Fairy
EX Clair Dragon/Dark/Fighting
EX Janine Poison/Normal/Ghost

In-Game FAQ

1. When is anniversary coming?
Half-year 28 February 6AM UTC
Full-year 28 August 6AM UTC
2 Why hasn't my Pokemon evolved? It's at Level [X]!
Evolution requires an evolution item available in the Training Area (Evolution Material Area). Upon earning the Evolution Materials, you need to go to the Sync Pair Stories to trigger the Evolution Story.
3. Should I save to do 11 multi-scouts instead of single scouts?
You can now get x11 units instead of 10, so yes, but we strongly recommend you to save gems for Poké Fair or Master Fair banners (which has a higher rate for 5★ characters).
4. How many gems are required to receive a Sync Pair of my choice?
36.600 non-paid gems (or 36.300 gems + 100 paid gems for a daily single pull), which is the equivalent of 400 scout points. Scout points do not carry over between banners.
5. What does [X]/5, [Y]/20, etc mean?
When you obtain a Sync Pair, they're at 1/5 Sync Move level. Rolling a dupe of that Sync Pair, or using a Move Candy will increase it by 1 level. 3/5 is the minimum for most sync pairs to complete their full Sync Grid, but some Poké Fairs have grid expansions that require their Sync Move to be completely maxed out at 5/5 for their full Sync Grid.
At the same time, Sync Pairs are at 0/20 Potential when they're just obtained. Giving Sync Pairs Powerups will raise their Potential and stats. When a Sync Pair is given 20 powerups, their star level will be increased. Getting a unit to 5★ 20/20 is mandatory for it to further upgrade to 6★ EX (if it has one).
6. How do I Unlock The Level cap of my units?
Training Area (Cap Unlock Area), (Cap Unlock Area 2), Exchange in the shop, Events.
7. Where do I get the manuals to level up my sync pairs?
Training Area (Level up Area), Exchange in the shop, Events, random drops in Trainer Lodge.
8. How do I get Sync orbs?
Training Area (Sync orb Area), Exchange in the shop, Events, Champion Stadium Master Mode (6K & 7.5K), random drops in Trainer Lodge.
9. What are Theme Skill and how do I get items to power them up?
Theme Skill is a new ability that raises the stats of your Sync Pairs if any of them has a common position, type, region, trainer group, or other features with another pair (or pairs) in the same team. Skill Spheres, which can be obtained in Theme Skill area and Champion Stadium Master Mode, are required to upgrade them.
10. What Lucky Skill should I roll for [X]? How do I get Lucky Cookies and Scrolls to unlock a Sync Pair's Lucky Skill?
Refer to Sync Grid Builds & Lucky Skills (by u/MomoSpark) for more details.
In general, the choices of Lucky Skills follow the roles of Sync Pairs:
There are exceptions to some Sync Pairs. For example,
Lucky Cookies and Lucky Scrolls can all be obtained in Battle Villa (Single Player & Co-op), Blissful Bonanza, and Legendary Gauntlet. Legendary Gauntlet can provide unlimited 3★ Lucky Cookies as well as Deluxe Cookies exclusive to that mode after each successful stage clear, and their drop chance increases with longer win streaks.
11. What are the Sync Move effects of 6★ EX Sync Pairs of different roles? Who should I promote to 6★ EX first?
Each role gives different effects to Sync Moves when upgraded to 6★ EX.
Support is usually prioritized for promotion to 6★ EX because its EX effect effectively doubles the damage of all allied sync pairs after first sync and is more widely applicable across most game modes, and the increased stats from raising the support's Potential greatly enhances its bulk to tank stages.
For Strike, if its kit has a very high DPS (e.g. SS Red & Charizard, Diantha & Gardevoir, etc.), or includes a powerful Sync multiplier (e.g. Steven & Metagross's Haymaker, Barry & Empoleon's Inertia, etc.), you are highly recommended to upgrade it to 6★ EX to apply the damage to all opponents. This applies to Tech as well, but only if the unit is a Sync nuker (e.g. Marnie & Morpeko, May & Swampert, etc.).
Since Field applies a field effect that can boost its own damage and potentially that of its allies as well, upgrading it to 6★ EX is also recommended. Sprint enables faster sync buffs and usually come with innate Sync Move multipliers like Tech, but its EX effect does not improve damage as directly as the other roles.
Promoting Support-type units to 6★ EX is not a must, but it's always an added bonus, especially if their Sync Move can provide any additional effects via passive or grid skills.
Always remember to upgrade Rosa to 6★ EX because the materials are obtainable for free.
12. Which Sync Pair should I use my candy on?
Refer to Which Sync Pair Should You Give Your Candy To? (Infographic) (by u/MuddyDummy) for more details.
Always save your candies unless the Sync Pair is exclusive to Seasonals, Poké Fairs or Master Fairs. Most Sync Pairs are usable at 1/5. You can always "accidentally" pull the unit you've been looking for from the normal pool, but you never know when limited Sync Pairs will rerun again. This may not apply to Sync Pairs that are your favorite.

Common Technical Questions/Errors

Below lists all common technical errors you may encounter during the game, as well as how you can fix it. You are strongly encouraged to contact DeNA with any problems at [support@pokemonmasters-game.com](mailto:support@pokemonmasters-game.com) if any of these advice do not help.
  1. Error 20103 — Please check your connection and try again: Usually caused due to lack of connection or sudden disconnection. Try playing the game in a place with more stable connection.
  2. Error 10102 — An error has occurred. Restarting the game: This error is often triggered because it detects your phone is rooted, or that you are using external applications which allows opening multiple accounts on the same device. For rooted phone users, make sure you hide your rooted status.
  3. Game crashed mid-battle: Restart the app and clear your cache. This option is available in the bottom-left corner of the title screen.
  4. Does Pokémon Masters work on emulators? No. As of now, PM is not compatible with any of the emulators (including Bluestacks, Nox, etc.) However, playing two accounts on the same device is possible on Android by cloning with Island.

Tools


Guides


Reminders
submitted by PokemonMastersBot to PokemonMasters [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:59 7coaching If You Want to Turn YouTube into a Business, Please Read [advice]

Hey dude I'm going to keep this introduction short and to the point.
This is what I learned for youTube success.
These strategies work, no BS, they work, they work very well.
And I write this as I know you may be like I was some time ago (wanting to turn content into a long term business).

I’ve tested these methods on new & existing channels both big and small and even with channels that do not have English as their native language.

These can really make a huge, huge, huge difference in your YouTube success.

1. Audience Understanding Leads To Steering Success.

You hear a loud noise coming from the crew on the deck of your ship.

"CAPTAIN, ARE YOU THERE?"

"WE HAVE A SITUATION".

You make your way to the deck to address the noise.

“Calm down, you blubbering seadogs! What’s the problem?”

“I’m sorry, Captain, but we have a dangerous situation. We’ve entered deep seas, and there’s no land in sight. Just miles and miles of ocean in every direction. We can’t see anything. We urgently need navigation but we don’t have a compass onboard”

If you find yourself as a captain of a ship without a compass, you’re in a very dangerous situation. ~Similarly~, growing a YouTube channel without a deep understanding of your audience is like trying to sail the seas without a clear direction.

Your audience holds a treasure chest full of desires, fears, wants, and needs.

Just like a real treasure chest full of gold, this theoretical chest provides everything you need to reach success, whether that’s financial wealth or success on the platform.

I’m not joking; this is far more important than most people realize.

Why is this so crucial?

If you don’t know your audience, you don’t know what they truly desire. Those who can deliver on those desires will reap the rewards. During my time auditing and coaching, I found that most creators DID NOT deeply understand their audience.

BUT this information tells you nearly everything you need to know.

Here’s an example: before writing this post, I did extra research on YouTube creators.

I looked at Reddit, YouTube comments, and YouTube growth books on Amazon to see what the comments were saying. Here are the fears I found most YouTubers face:

And this… is my treasure chest that allows me to help more people, reach a larger audience, and tailor my content to what people really care about.

What I’m saying is, you can do the same for your audience. This will give you countless new ideas, directions, products, services, and bring true value to the market.

But without knowing these, you’re trying to sail the sea without a compass, hoping to find land.

2. If You Have A Channel, You Need A Brand.


Running a YouTube channel without a brand is like serving a Big Mac without any lettuce, onions or pickles… sure it will fill you up but it's nothing to write home about.

Don’t allow your channel to be the plain Big Mac

In terms of YouTube, a brand is a channel that is known to have a certain style or cover topics within the niche which the audience enjoys time & again.

*Short Question*

If we lined up 100 people who watch your videos as well as other creators in your niche, how would they define YOU and YOUR channel?

Would they say …

"Love how concise the channel is—straight to the point!"
"The depth of content is great—I could watch them for hours!"
"It's alright, but I wish they would cut to the chase."
"Incredible! I've always wanted to learn this, and the videos made it so simple."
"It dragged on a bit—lost my interest partway through."

There are many ways you can create a brand, such as personality, delivery of content but whatever direction you go into, a unique brand on YouTube is essential because it helps your channel **STAND OUT*\* by creating a distinctive ~look~ and feel.

This attracts viewers and keeps them coming back for more & more. Think about some of the reasons why you love your favourite Youtubers, (the way they speak, the content, the feel, the pacing, the humour, etc) chances are because they have built a solid brand.

3. Entertainment Comes First.


Have you ever come across a YouTuber who's got a big audience and is doing extremely well and you have no idea why?

Yeah, me too! … & does it annoy you? Yes, me too.

Why is it frustrating?

Because there are channels out there that are giving CRAP content and yet succeeding.

You know the ones… I’m not saying anything here, but you know.

In fact, I would guess and say you likely have better content than some other creators in your niche and yet they are raking in the numbers.

But this is not only on YouTube this is also in business, it's not about the best product or having the best information.

It’s a big ~pill~ to swallow.

But instead, let's look at this logically…

Why are many channels succeeding that do not have the best content? (the best is subjective but here we will just focus on * the best* = most helpful, most accurate, most information, etc)

Most of the time when you break it down you will find that it's because they are able to entertain, and the simple truth is this.

Entertainment = value

In our modern world more entertainment = more value, which can lead to more viewers even if the content itself is not the best.

So whatever kind of content you are producing (even educational) the fundamentals needs to be around entertainment.

But through thousands of experiments, Its clear to see that entertainment is not always quick clips, funny sound effects and so on…

Entertainment can be as simple as a storyline that you can follow from the beginning to the end that resonates with your key audience.

4. Most Success On YouTube Is a Slow Burn.


You most likely have heard a bunch of successful stories and advice from people who have become successful relatively quickly.

Here are a few videos I found on YouTube.

· How I Got 1 Million Subscribers in 9 Months
· I grew from ZERO TO 100K SUBSCRIBERS in 3 MONTHS (& how you can too)
· My Life Story and How I Got 10 Million Followers in 1 Year
· Making $613,960 My First Year On YouTube

Now these are great videos, but they are also extremely rare cases.

This success can sometimes give youtubers the wrong understanding of success on YouTube.

Last year I hit one of my personal milestones which was $7000 (USD) within 28 days on AdSense alone.

This was accomplished over several years of building content making mistakes and implementing changes.

18 months before that, I was struggling to get 1000 views on a video, 2 months ago I had a few videos that have over 1 million views and Last month? Well, I sold the channel. But hey that’s a new story for a new day ha-ha.

But my point is that success is often over a long period of time...

AND THEREFORE, it’s wise to take a step back to reflect on things especially if you feel that you're working too hard or getting too stressed because for many of you who will be successful, it will be a long process over several months or years rather than an instant change.

5. Rabit Hole Content Can Perform Extremely Well.


In my desk next to my bed, I have a big red book of YouTube trade secrets & experiments I conducted.

The rabbit hole content is one of those.

Rabbit hole content is basically content that is made and after somebody watches the video, they go into a rabbit hole of content.

Examples of this include conspiracy. (UFO, ALIENS, ASSASSINATIONS, ETC)

Another example is if there is a series or a very engaging video that has been split into several parts.

What I've noticed more than anything especially speaking to other youtubers is that rabbit hole content seems to perform incredibly well. Almost like YouTube knows that *THIS VIDEO* will lead to people watching 10 more videos… well I guess they do know that.

With every other point on this list, I have solid data, experiments, and proof. But I aim to always be transparent, and I must confess I don’t have all the numbers yet to back this up fully compared to the rest.

Nevertheless - It has worked for many people, and I have not yet seen it not work. But because I don’t have the numbers to show (unlike all the others) I believe it’s important to mention.

6. Trend Jacking Can Lead To Crazy Numbers.


A moment ago, I mentioned that most success on YouTube is not linear and instead drawn out over a long period of time.

However...

For those who do not fall into this category and have had success relatively quickly they often find their success by taking advantage of trend jacking.

Trend Jacking is a clever tactic that you can use to grow new audiences relatively quickly based on a trending topic, situation, or person.

This could be a trend that is happening within your niche or a trend that is happening globally. Here are some examples that were big stories over the last 24 months.

· Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard
· Tucker Carson Departs From Fox News
· Ireland Offer $92,000 If You Move & Settle On Their Coastal Island
· Japan Giving Away Homes For Free
· World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing Is Going Up So Animals Can Walk Safely
· Airlines To Give Refunds For Cancelled Or Delayed Flights And Late Baggage

OK so these ideas are pretty out-of-the-box and are not niche specific.

But let’s make it a challenge! (I’m regretting this already)

What about if we had a YouTube channel talking about ~how to live cheaper?~

Here are some video ideas we could create.

· Depp Vs. Heard: Calculating The True Cost Of Lawsuits!
· After Tuckers Exit, How Media Changes Impact Your Wallet?
· Moving To Ireland For $92K Is It A Dream Deal Or Costly Fantasy?"
· Free Homes In Japan: What’s The Catch?
· Saving Wildlife & Your Taxes!
· How To Get Every Penny Back From Airlines [*year*]

Okay these are not the best type of content for the niche but after typing out about1500 words, my mind is a little fuzzy XD - Please note that these are not the titles but an example of a type of content based on the trend.

But how about niche trends? (~often much easier)~

Jumping on specific trends related to your niche can be really effective. For example, I advised a travel content creator who capitalized on the "passport bros" trend. This trend is where men move overseas to find wives.

This trend was gaining traction on TikTok and other platforms, and by tapping into it, he was able to reach multiple new audiences. His content sparked reactions and discussions, which pushed his growth to a new level.
P.s - As an added point, if you are in the UK, check out *baby reindeer* which is currently trending.

7. Don’t Steal, Rebuild.


Pablo Picasso – “Good artists copy, great artists steal

As a creator you are also an artist, it just happens to be that your art is electronic.

The saying highlights the key idea that true innovative artists (aka creators) don't just copy other people (even though I know some do – naughty naughty)

But instead, they mimic the work of others and transform it / rebuild it into something better.

Perhaps it is a type of content that you've seen very popular in other niches but is not covered in your niche.

Or it could be a topic that other creators have discussed, and you have seen that it has performed very well but it could be improved upon.

One Youtuber I have always found inspirational is Mr Beast. Not because of Jimmy's content but simply because he has worked for many years to perfect his art.

Here’s the thing…

There are so many Mr beast clones.

These creators literally copy his entire format.

This is not good as eventually people see the truth, and this will leave a very sour taste in viewer’s mouths.

So, what can you do?

You can rebuild but in your own image and in your own way instead of stealing.

Look in your niche, the style, content, delivery of content, time, pace and think of ways you can rebuild this content to offer you audience something even better.
Hope this helps you out =]
submitted by 7coaching to NewTubers [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:59 cindrella12 How to Choose the Right Career Path: A Step-by-Step Guide

Choosing the right career path is one of the most significant decisions you’ll make in your life. It can shape your future, influence your personal happiness, and determine your financial stability. However, with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to figure out which path is best for you. Fortunately, there are several tools and assessments that can help you identify your strengths, interests, and values, making the decision process more manageable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate this important journey.
Step 1: Self-Assessment
Understanding Your Strengths
The first step in choosing the right career is understanding what you are good at. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Gallup is a popular tool that helps identify your top strengths. By focusing on your natural talents, you can find careers that will allow you to excel and feel fulfilled.
Exploring Your Interests
Your interests can give you clues about the types of activities and environments you might enjoy in a career. The Strong Interest Inventory is a widely-used assessment that matches your interests with potential career options. By aligning your career with your passions, you’re more likely to find long-term satisfaction.
Clarifying Your Values
Knowing what you value in a job is crucial for long-term happiness. The Work Values Inventory helps you identify what is most important to you in a workplace, such as job security, work-life balance, or opportunities for advancement. Matching your career to your core values can lead to greater job satisfaction and personal fulfillment.
Step 2: Research and Exploration
Industry Research
Once you have a better understanding of your strengths, interests, and values, start researching industries that align with them. Websites like the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook provide detailed information on various professions, including job outlook, required education, and average salaries.
Informational Interviews
Talking to professionals in fields you are interested in can provide valuable insights. Informational interviews allow you to ask questions about day-to-day responsibilities, career progression, and the industry’s future. This firsthand information can be instrumental in narrowing down your options.
Job Shadowing
Job shadowing involves observing a professional on the job to get a better sense of what their work involves. This experience can help you understand the realities of a job that may not be evident from reading job descriptions or talking to people. It’s a great way to test the waters before making a commitment.

Step 3: Setting Goals and Making a Plan
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Once you have a clearer idea of potential career paths, set both short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals might include completing a specific course or gaining a certain type of experience, while long-term goals could involve achieving a particular job title or salary range.
Creating an Action Plan
Develop a step-by-step action plan to achieve your career goals. This plan should include acquiring the necessary education or training, building relevant skills, and gaining experience through internships, volunteer work, or entry-level positions. Regularly review and adjust your plan as needed to stay on track.
Step 4: Seeking Guidance and Support
Career Counselling
Consider working with a career counsellor who can provide professional advice and resources tailored to your needs. Career counsellors can help you interpret assessment results, explore career options, and develop a strategic career plan.
Networking
Building a professional network can open doors to new opportunities and provide support throughout your career journey. Attend industry events, join professional associations, and connect with alumni or mentors who can offer guidance and introductions.
Step 5: Continuous Evaluation and Adjustment
Reflecting on Your Progress
Regularly reflect on your career journey to ensure you are on the right path. Ask yourself if you are satisfied with your current role, if your job aligns with your values, and if you are progressing towards your long-term goals.
Being Open to Change
Your interests and circumstances may change over time, and that’s okay. Be open to reevaluating your career path and making adjustments as needed. Flexibility and a willingness to adapt are key to long-term career satisfaction.
Choosing the right career path is a dynamic and ongoing process. By using the best career counselling tools and assessments to understand yourself better, conducting thorough research, setting clear goals, and seeking support, you can make informed decisions that lead to a fulfilling and successful career. Remember, it’s a journey, not a destination—embrace the process and stay open to new possibilities.
For more detailed information and guidance visit: https://www.merementor.com/best-career-counselling-in-chennai

submitted by cindrella12 to u/cindrella12 [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:53 ProcessCertain Can MERN and Next.js Help You Build Faster SPAs?

Does your web app take too long to load? Slow transitions and loading screens can frustrate users and hurt your business. But don’t worry, there’s a powerful combination to make your Single-Page Applications (SPAs) super fast: MERN and Next.js.
What is MERN?
Imagine a well-oiled machine where each part works together perfectly. That’s MERN, a popular set of tools for web development:
Why is MERN Fast?
MERN works together seamlessly. Data from MongoDB is quickly sent to the user's browser through the efficient Express.js backend. React uses that data to create the UI, making updates feel quick and responsive.
Next.js: The Turbocharger
Next.js is like a performance booster for React apps. It offers features like:
The MERN + Next.js Advantage
By combining MERN’s efficient data handling and React’s smooth UIs with Next.js’s speed-boosting features, you can create SPAs that feel incredibly fast and responsive. This keeps users happy and coming back for more!
Is MERN & Next.js Right for You?
If you want to build a modern, fast, and scalable SPA, MERN with Next.js is a great choice. This powerful combination helps you deliver a fantastic user experience.
submitted by ProcessCertain to u/ProcessCertain [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:53 NotTheRocketman Video card HDMI out no longer detected.

Hello all!
So, I have a rather odd issue that I've come across and I can't seem to figure out the cause. I currently have my desktop displaying video out via DP to two monitors (dual Asus VG27AQ each running at 2560 x 1440, 144hz), and I also have a TV hooked up via HDMI (this is an LG C2 that I use for gaming and I picked up a nice RUIPRO 8K HDMI cable for it).
Usually, it works great. When the PC is on, the TV will instantly detect it, and ask if I'd like to switch inputs. However, lately I've been coming across a weird issue where the video card isn't showing the HDMI out at all; it's completely gone. If I pull up Display Settings or the Nvidia Control Panel, the TV is no longer listed. The TV still detects the HDMI cable, however when I switch over to that input, the TV will just say 'No Signal'.
So, I've tried all the simple troubleshooting and had no luck so far:
Something else interesting about this, I've actually come across this problem once before, and the only way I was able to 'fix' it was to re-seat the GPU, however it seems to have only resolved the issue for about two weeks. I haven't tried re-seating it yet again, because I don't know if that actually fixed it, or was just a coincidence. Also, I know that's not a permanent solution if it is something hardware related. I'm not having ANY other issues, it's strictly this weird HDMI problem.
So, my guess is that this seems to be a hardware/GPU issue, but do you all have any thoughts/suggestions? Could it be a driver issue? Anything else that could cause everything to function BUT that specific HDMI port?
My system:

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

submitted by NotTheRocketman to techsupport [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:50 CrinkleDink House Renart, Part 2: The Death of the Fox, and the Birth of the Dragon

House Renart, Part 2: The Death of the Fox, and the Birth of the Dragon
Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/CrusaderKings/comments/1crfhjs/so_i_played_the_box_art_dynasty_house_renart_here/
King Oldrik, King of Poland and Pomerania, had a long and successful reign. With his defeat of the northern pagans, House Renart believed it could conquer the world. However, it would be internal strife that would nearly lead the House to destruction...

King Wielslaw, King of Poland

To every dynasty, there is always a weak link. King Oldrik chose his heir poorly.
King Wielslaw (March 31st, 1139 - 25 of August, 1181) was King of Poland from 1177 until his death in 1181. He had barely any children, as his father’s inbreeding led him to having infertile loins, having very few children.
In life, he was a stubborn, arrogant man, but was oddly compassionate in his ways. He was known to be handsome in life and was fairly intelligent. He was skilled in theology and the matters of law and land, as well as history. However, he had a heavy drinking problem which would evidently lead to his demise, as well as disease.
As a prince Wielslaw, the youngest of his brothers, was granted the Duchy of Veletia in 1153 as his father was preparing him for rule. There he ruled for some time until his father Oldrick I died. He would ascend to the throne of Poland in 1177 while his brother Wielslaw became King of Pomerania, splitting the realms into two.
The same year, King Wielslaw went to war against Queen Darya of Volhynia, taking the southern provinces. The war lasted for two years, with the queen being defeated in March of 1179.
In 1180, King Wielslaw went around the country to enact justice and enforce taxes on his vassals. This proved to make him unpopular with the people. However, it did allow him to draft a
Wielslaw came to King Mieszko's defense against Stammesherzog Dethard's attempted de jure war of Duchy of Anhalt in 1181. This would lead to a swift victory. However, as he was fighting in Anhalt, a great disease of Bloody Flux spread throughout the land. King Wielslaw, while leading his troops in the camp, caught the disease and grew very ill. He began to drink during this time, and while drunk, he named his younger son, Oldrick, his new heir, while his eldest son, Sulistryj, was disinherited, due to murdering a man during a duel. He died on the 25th of August, 1181. A courier went out to Krakow to declare the young prince Oldrick as the new King of Poland, which shocked the court.

King Oldrick II, King of Poland

Tragedy befell this scaly yet innocent young king! From the drunken lips of his foolish father his fate was unfortunately sealed.
Oldrick II (May 6th, 1177 - January 3rd, 1186) was the King of Poland from 1181 to his death in 1186. A mere child who came upon the throne due to his father’s drunken final will, Oldrick saw a great civil war overtake his lands. His uncle, King Miezko of Pomerania, though having an alliance, schemed against him, and would ultimately take his life.
Throughout his reign he dealt with a civil war for his throne, led by his vassal Duke Uściech Lewiki in 1182. He had little power, though his most significant act was restoring his brother Sulistryj’s inheritance to become next in line for the crown of Poland. This hurt the plans of King Miezko, who was feigning his loyalty to the boy when fighting the civil war.
However, Oldrick II would be assassinated by King Miezko through poisoned candy, leading to his brother, Sulistryj, to take over the throne.

Sulistryj I ‘the Beautiful’, King of Poland and Pomerania

Vengeance to a brother's honor, and with a tongue as sweet as honey, his reign was unfortunately cut short by the thread of fate.
Sulistryj I (July 20th, 1156 - October 13th, 1214) was the King of Poland in 1186, and King of Pomerania in 1188, until his death in 1214. The eldest son of King Wielslaw, he saw support for his tenure on the throne of Poland after the death of his younger brother and proved to be a very capable diplomat.
Sulistryj would be the last member of the pure House of Renart. When he did, his uncle Dobromir Renart-Glogow would usurp power in the family. In life, he was rumored to be an atheist, and he had murdered a man in a duel. However, he was also known for being a very handsome man and intelligent, and well read and practiced in matters of diplomacy.
Sulistryj, before he was king, was notable for defeating Duke Usciech. During the civil war, he commanded a battle against the duke at the Battle of Gniezno on the 19th of April, 1183. The duke would surrender to King Oldrick II, and would then be beheaded and his lands stripped, delivered to Sulistryj who regained his right to inheritance.
Three years later, in 1186, his brother Oldrick II would die mysteriously. Sulistryj had suspected his uncle Miezko was vying for the throne of Poland and had him killed. And indeed, Miezko had sent a delegation to declare his rivalry with Sulistryj at the beginning of the summer, declaring his claim to Poland was truer. Sulistryj knew what was coming: an invasion.
To act quicker, Sulistryj quickly rallied his hosts and vassals outside the borders of Pomerania, and on the 5th of July, 1186, he declared himself the rightful King of Pomerania just as Miezko was on pilgrimage towards Rome. King Miezko quickly returned, not expecting such a bold decision from his nephew. A series of engagements would take place in the province of Nordmark, leading to a few staggering defeats for Sulistryj, including at the Battle of Ukkria. However, though the Pomeranians won the battle, King Miezko was severely injured. His son, Oldrick, would take over the front of battle.
And yet, from the south, King Otakar of Bohemia, seeing a moment of opportunity, invaded the next summer on the 4th of June, 1187, trying to take the lands of Lubben against King Sulistryj.
King Sulistryj grew nervous of the Bohemian invasion. However, come December, as his troops were making camp in the winter, he received news from a courier: King Miezko was dead. He had died from injuries sustained at the Battle of Ukkria.
The Battle of Strassburg (April 10th, 1188) would be the final engagement between the two kingdoms. King Sulistryj confronted King Oldrick II of Pomerania at the battle. By this point, Pomerania had grown exhausted and morale was terrible, and they were outnumbered. With Oldrick II’s rule being unfavored, the armies of Pomerania found themselves quickly overrun by the Poles. King Oldrick was defeated, and gave his crown over to Sulistryj.
The following year, in January, however, Oldrick II rebelled against, declaring his sister Princess Luitgard of Osterland was the proper queen of Pomerania. A quick skirmish took place in February of that year, leading to a white peace between the rebellious Oldrick and the king. He then began a claim war for the crown of Pomerania once again, the following year in 1190. He was once again defeated, and because of his constant rebellion, had his titles over Pomerania stripped and was beheaded.
In August of 1201, a Grand Tournament was held in Poland, the first of its kind in the land, under King Sulistryj. Here, the king himself won the Melee and Archery contests.
In 1209, Duke Krystyn of Veletia became a rival of King Sulistryj and declared him an illegitimate ruler. In December of that year, he began a rebellion of dethronement against the king. A year of small skirmishes and chasing took place, until the duke was defeated at the Battle of Gottingen on the 18th of December, 1210. The Duke would be imprisoned, his titles revoked, and executed. The king gave his second eldest son Sulistryj the title.
Then, in 1213, King Sulistryj decided to go on pilgrimage to the city of Cologne with his eldest son Oldrick. They began their journey in January of that year. However, a great plague overcame the city of Consumption. When Sulistryj arrived, he and his son grew ill. They finished their pilgrimage at the church of Cologne, and were quickly delivered home by their servants. However, when they arrived in October, the king, nor his son, was recovering from their sickness. King Sulistryj grew worse, and would pass away, leaving his eldest son Otger to inherit the throne of Poland, while his son Sulistryj became King of Pomerania.

King Otger II ‘the Sickly’

Alas, many tried to save his reign but it would be the woes of plague that did him in. And thus the House of Renart would die with him.
Otger II (October 25th, 1204 - June 2nd, 1217) was the King of Poland from 1214 until his death from consumption in 1217. His reign saw a great era of instability within the land. Historically, Otger II was the last king of the proper Renart dynasty.
When he became king, the sudden death of his father caused opportunistic vassals to favor his great-uncle and grandfather, Duke Drobomir of Silesia. Though Duke Drobomir swore loyalty to the line of Sulistryj (his nephew) he secretly schemed to take over the throne. Duke Drobomir conspired the vassals of Poland to turn against the young king.
In the second year of Otger’s reign, Count Janusz Halicki of Kalisz led the dukes and counts of Poland in rebellion against Otger, declaring that Duke Drobomir the true King of Poland. They marched out in April, heading toward the capitol. Count Janusz went ahead of the army. Meanwhile, King Otger’s brother, Sulistryj, rounded his armies in support of his brother, as well as the armies of England.
On the 21st of October, Count Janusz entered Krakow and went past the guards. He made an attempt on the life of King Otger, but the loyal and brave Duke Powel of Rzepin saved the life of the king. Janusz was captured from his attempt just as the Polish armies defeated his army outside of the city. Thus the count was captured, and the rebels defeated. The civil war ended there, but things were still growing unstable in the realm.
Alas, the king grew ill further through the winter, his Consumption worsening. His condition grew dire, and his physician was unable to cure him, only ease his woes. Duke Drobomir was expecting to be in line for the throne. Instead, as his last act, Otger declared his brother Sulistryj would become king in his place. Duke Drobomir was insulted by this act, and as the king was dying, he quickly made himself the head of House Renart with his own cadet branch, the House of Glogow.
King Otger died in June of 1217, at the age of 13. Meanwhile, Drobomir began a new faction to install himself as King of Poland…

Emperor Sulistryj ‘the Wend’ of West-Slavia

Though the fox dies, rising from the ashes will be a mighty dragon of the east.
Sulistryj II (June 5th, 1206 - September 10th, 1283), known as “the Young”, the “Confessor”, but most notably “the Wend”, was the King of Poland and Pomerania from 1217, and the eventual Emperor of the West Slavs in 1255, until his death in 1283. Inheriting the throne from his older brother at the age of 11, Sulistryj ruled from an astounding 66 years, in which he united the west slavic kingdoms of Pomerania and Bohemia and unified the West Slavs into a single Wendish empire.
He inherited the throne of Poland after the death of his brother Otger. He was beforehand ruling as Duke of Veletia and the King of Pomerania. When he became King of Poland, he had little power over his kingdom, for his uncle, Duke Dobromir ‘the Handsome’ of Silesia, became his regent. The Duke had expected to take over the throne from his nephews, but instead, Sulistryj was crowned king, leading to a damper in his schemes.
Duke Dobromir, as the grandfather of the king, became the head of the household and quickly began to take more powers from the king, ruling in his place and becoming head of the House of Renart. With Otger II dead, and Sulistryj’s mother being Dobromir’s daughter, and the remaining Renarts dead, Dobromir declared the house of Renart extinct.
The Renarts are dead. Long live the House of Glogow!
This went against the will of Sulistryj, who stripped Dobromir of much of his regnal powers. Dobromir threatened rebellion in 1221, seeking to claim the crown of Poland for himself. He schemed to kill his grandson, hoping to put his own direct son, also named Dobromir, onto the throne.
Dobromir proceeded to try and kill the young king when he was studying at the University of Krakow. The attempt was quickly discovered and thwarted by Duke Powel of Rzepin, once again loyal to the king as spymaster and bodyguard.
The following year, Sulistryj was finally coronated as he reached the age of 16. There, King Sulistryj II announced himself as the “first of the House of Glogow” in spite of his grandfather. He took over the Renart dynasty and disinherited his grandfather, destroying his son’s claims to the Kingdom of Poland. But still he schemed, as he knew it could be restored if he took the throne.
A house divided against itself shall not stand!
To ensure confidence in his rule, Sulistryj pressed his bassal Czcibor’s claim to the Duchy of Ostfalen in 1222, and then married Maria of Norway. He would win the duchy, taking it from the Emperor of Germany at the time.
However, not all were confident in the rule of King Sulistryj, as Duke Dobromir continued to plot against his grandson. Count Alexander Kujawski rebelled against the king in 1229, but he was swiftly defeated and executed for his crimes. King Sulistryj proved to his grandfather that he was not willing to mess around. Dobromir tried to flee as the remaining rebellious counts were imprisoned, but he was captured.
Dobromir was imprisoned, and by coercion was forced to give up his claims to Poland, and then was disinherited and dethroned from Silesia. Out of compassion, Sulistryj spared his grandfather, as the chronicler wrote in “The History of the Wends” the following:
“King Sulistryj declared, ‘The Renarts have died, but the blood of Glogow will not be severed. You shall have a place in my house, until the end of your days. As it is, I rule as a son under your blood.’”
Thus Dobromir would remain in Krakow as a servant of his grandson, until the end of his days in 1232, where he died from drinking. Thus his legacy, despite his reportedly loving nature (despite his treachery, he did care for his grandsons as they grew up fatherless) he was still viewed as a traitor and usurper. Thus he has become a figure of plays and songs in the West-Slavic culture. His most prominent appearance, and basis of much fiction, was in the “Song of Renart” in which he was portrayed as a scheming traitor.
During this time, legend spread that King Sulistryj had slain a dragon. He gave into the story, proclaiming himself a mighty dragon slayer and that he, too, would slay the enemies of the Poles. This brought him great praise throughout the land.
The following year, 1232, Queen Maria would die in childbirth as she gave birth to her daughter Jadwiga. She had three children with Sulistryj. King Sulistryj held a funeral for both her and his grandfather, mourning their loss. The same year, King Sulistryj would remarry Rognfrithr of Denmark. She would birth his eldest son Dalimir in 1234, and Dobrogost in 1237.
Now King Sulistryj was well read in the histories of Poland. Though he knew was of German descent, he began to read of the Wendish tribes of Germany many centuries prior. He remembered that once his family had held titles in Northern Germany. He began to see himself as a great unifier of his house’s ancestral claims, and the claims of the west slavs. He also believed the Holy Roman Emperor was a threat to his power over the region. Therefore, Sulistryj grew a vision of a Wendish Empire, of German and Pole, to secure his realm.
You were useful, Teutonic Knights. However, I have a mighty need to unite the West Slavs!
He declared war against the Teutonic Order in 1240 as he recaptured the Duchy of Pomerania. The Grandmaster was defeated at the Battle of Szczytno in 1241, and King Sulistryj II saw victory a few months later in January of 1242. The same year, King Sulistryj invaded Anhalt and captured it, fighting Kaiser George’s for the duchy and ultimately defeating him on November 6th of 1245.
Two years would pass, as Sulistryj began building castles and fortresses across Poland and in particular Krakow. Then in 1247 he invaded the duchy of Pomeralia, held by the Teutonic Knights. He would capture Grandmaster Ekbert’s son Warren at the Battle of Gydnia and lead the Teutons to once again losing land to the Poles. The Teutons were driven completely out of the Pomeranian lands.
King Sulistryj would claim himself as the proper Duke of Bohemia and Moravia, as they were once West Slavic holdings, as well as Duke of Meissen. He made an alliance with the King of Hungary, the Emperor of Francia, and the King of England, to take on the much larger and vast Holy Roman Emperor. Kaizer George had conducted diplomacy with King Sulistryj II prior, and so felt betrayed by the king as he invaded central Germany and Bohemia in 1250. King Venceslav of Croatia came to the assistance of the Kaizer. This began what chroniclers called the War of the Wend.
Hopefully the Pope doesn't bother to check the actual historical claims over this... He doesn't need to know what the King may or may not have made up. ;)
Sulistryj led the Polish armies by himself and first attacked northern Bohemia while the emperor tried to attack Francia. The English and Polish armies raided throughout Bohemia. They would be confronted by King Venceslav at Unicov on May 4th of 1252, who attacked the English armies, but the Poles came to the defense of the English and defeated the Croatians, who fled.
Prague was overtaken by the Poles and English as Kaiser George finished defeating a rebellion near his capitol. The German forces marched into central Bohemia, with their army being led by the Kaizer himself. On the 24th of July in 1254, the Germans and Croatians faced the French, Polish, and English forces at the First Battle of Prerov, leading to a very close battle. King Peter IV of England managed to change the fate of the battle with his longbowmen routing the Germany cavalry, allowing the Polish cavalry to break through the German ranks.
There would be a few losses. The Poles lost a battle to the Croatians at Brno, and the English and French lost engagements at Leipzig in the same year.
A second full engagement happened outside of Stribro on the 3rd of November. The Polish forces used the Mze River to fortify their position, routing the Germans once again. The Polish armies wintered there, while the French and English wintered southward of the city. During this time, the Livonian Knights came to the assistance of the German emperor. They moved through the winter towards Prerov to try and retake the city. The defenders fell, and the Livonians moved into the castle.
In February the Polish forces came to the defenses of city of Prerov. initiating the Second Battle of Prerov. They would find themselves suddenly ambushed by a hidden German force, led by the Kaizer, who attacked the outnumbered Poles. However, the French and English troops arrived a week later as the Polish forces held their ground in the castle. With their defense, King Sulistryj managed to push back the Livonians and Germans, forcing them to route, leading to a Polish victory on the 16th of February.
A final battle took place outside of Prague as the Polish forces began besieging the city. The allied forces of Germany, Croatia, and Livonia faced off against the Polish, the French, and the English. The Battle of Prague was close, with King Sulistryj II being injured in the battle. However, as he recovered, he learned that the Germans routed, and that the city of Prague surrendered to his forces. The Polish had won.
And so, a dragon rises from the ashes of the fox.
The Treaty of Prague (July 24th, 1255) led Kaizer George to concede the lands of Bohemia and Messien to King Sulistryj II, and that he would be recognized as the king of those lands. Pope Honorius II came to the city in August to crown King Sulistryj as the Emperor of the Wends.
Peace was not long, as the Emperor went to defeat the King of Galicia-Volhynia in the same year and made him swear fealty to his power as King.
For his act of uniting the Western Slavic kingdoms, Sulistryj began to be known as “The Wend”, and legends spread of his great victory. This followed him south toward Jerusalem during the 5th crusade as the Polish armies fought the Ayyubids, but ultimately saw defeat in the crusade.
In 1272, to consolidate his realm, Emperor Sulistryj subjugated Grandmaster Klukis ‘the Leper’ of the Teutonic Order and forced him to become a vassal.
The emperor in his old age.
The rest of Emperor Sulistryj’s reign was relatively peaceful. He was known for his pious works and had his chroniclers write “The History of the Wends” to solidify his dynasty’s power over the region. He also built many castles and hosted a grand tournament. The Duke of Frisia did try to kill the Emperor, as he once was the King of Bohemia before it was invaded. However, this was thwarted. His second eldest son, Dobrogost, would die of Smallpox in 1283. However, with the usage of primogeniture law (put into effect by decree of the emperor), succession remained safe.
Emperor Sulistryj would die in his sleep on the 10th of September, 1283. He had a long and successful reign, and would forever be immortalized as the Wendish King who reclaimed the ancestral lands of the Poles from the Germans.
And so, West-Slavia is born.
We end our chapter with a new house. The Renarts saw their last ruler in Otger II, leaving the dynasty in shambles. And though the new House of Glogow was born in the same treachery of the Fox of Renart, it would find itself becoming ferocious and noble through the reign of Emperor Sulistryj!
Emperor Sulistryj's rebranded CoA: \"As cunning as a fox, as fearsome as a dragon.\"
End of Part 2. The Renart dynasty currently holds many duchies within the HRE, but lost Zaphoriza. It remains it's most powerful in the West-Slavic Empire.
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2024.05.20 07:45 ronlynne Strays Episode 5 - "Shaa-a-ren"

If you'd like to listen to me read this story click here.
“From Lieutenant Bren, UEF Shepherd
“To Captain Sassen, KCS Victory
“Captain, I continue to learn many things about the humans. Again, their sense of community is their strength. Their Shaa is strong, although they do not have a similar word and concept in their language, as I learned recently. I would like to continue this assignment beyond the previous estimated time. Please consider an extension, send to the council if necessary. I would also like to ask the council to review the request I have submitted to share some aspects of faster than light technology. Their current methodology is primitive, unstable, and, to a certain extent, dangerous. They are very close to discovering standard spacetime warping, and for that reason I don’t believe it will violate our technology sharing guidelines. Further details are in the formal request I submitted.
Bren paused, he knew protocols were against this request, but the humans were so close, he hoped the council would consider it. The council could make exceptions if he could show them that the humans demonstrated a non aggressive attitude. He remembered one more thing to add to his letter.
“Klaan philosophy regarding the deceased is an important part of our culture. While many are matter of fact about it, the rituals and sacraments have allowed us to function more efficiently as a society. I have learned about some human rituals, and their essence of Shaa. Two days ago we came across our thirteenth ship…”
Two Days ago
“Captain, the ship is on course, and seems to be functioning properly. However, the radiation emanating from the ship is at lethal levels. It’s highly unlikely anyone survived.” Captain Gardner looked at Commander Klein, taking a deep breath before speaking.
“Commander, prepare to scuttle the ship. Full honors. We don’t want to send a dirty bomb across space.” Commander Klein acknowledged the Captain, calling Bren over to his workstation.
“Bren, can you come look through this information?” Bren approached Klein’s station and looked over his shoulder. Klein pointed at the screen. “These readings, that seems to be the deceased passengers, correct?” Bren nodded then pointed at another reading. Klein agreed curiously. “That’s the one I don’t get. It looks like the life sign of a hibernating human, but it’s distorted.”
Gardner turned to Klein. “Is there a problem?”
Klein looked at Bren, then back to Gardner, “Sir, I think we’ll need to investigate, I can’t confirm that everyone is deceased.”
“How many people Mr. Klein?”
Klein and Bren conferred and Bren answered. “That’s the problem sir, we read 36 pods, most of which are non functioning.” Klein finished the thought.
“Most of the pods appear to be unused. The others are not allowing clear readings. Possibly due to the radiation?” They had encountered several ships with various levels of radiation exposure, likely due to a nearby nuclear blast. This one was the heaviest they had encountered. Klein continued. “This ship had to have gone right through an active explosion. The radiation is still intense.”
Gardner grimaced, while they had protections against radiation poisoning, it was tedious. Any items retrieved required scrubbing with radiation protocols. Patients needed extra medication beyond the standard inoculations, which protected against various types of radiation, mostly radiation found in space. But, they had to be sure. “OK commander, only you and one other, make it quick.” Bren volunteered himself.
“Captain, I am better protected against this type of radiation, I could join the Commander.”
Gardner thought a moment. “OK, just the two of you. Take every precaution.”
Markings on the side identified the ship as North Korean. That explained the radiation as a still unknown saboteur had detonated all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons at once. Sadly, the entire country was reduced to rubble. Although humanity had created effective radiation treatments, cleaning North Korea was taking longer, due to the massive amount of radiation released all at once. Some Koreans had survived, but North Korea, as a country, no longer existed. South Korea was now just Korea, having taken on refugees and stewardship over the cleanup. The reunification of Korea was a Pyrrhic resolution.
Bren and Klein entered the ship. Although it looked shoddily built, it was one of the few ships they had encountered that was fully functional. As they moved to the cargo area the problem became obvious. Crew members littered the area, some partially in their pods. The radiation had knocked them out before they could enter the pods. Bren scanned the area. “They are dead sir, it looks like 33 humans.”
Klein looked at them, some on the floor, some climbing into pods. He recalled the anomalous readings. “So there are three more pods?” Bren continued scanning, stepping carefully over the bodies.
“Commander, the readings on these hibernation pods is unusual, there appear to be several different metals in use, there is no consistency.” As they made their way into the depths of the cargo area they found three pods, hidden away behind stacks of cargo, still functioning. Bren approached them. He scanned, then turned to Klein excitedly.
“Sir, these three are alive, they are quite sick, but the pods appear to have shielded them enough to survive the radiation.” Klein stumbled into the area, looking at Bren’s scanner.
“If we wake them they won’t survive long.” Bren agreed. Klein pushed a button on the arm of his protective suit and called Gardner. “Sir, we have three survivors, They won’t survive long once they are brought out. We will need shielded gurneys to move them directly to the medical bay. Please send three patient pods and four rescue team members to facilitate the rescue.”
Bren and Klein checked their exposure time as they waited for the others to arrive.
Once the rescue team had arrived they cleared out the three crew members quickly, heading straight to the medical bay. Klein and Bren were ordered to undergo more extensive medical tests and spent the night there.
Early in the morning, Bren was explaining Klaan humor to Klein. Klein was not impressed. “So, simple mistakes are funny?”
Bren smiled, “Yes, inverting variables in a navigational equation can be quite satisfying.” Klein looked unsure as Bren added, “But the real humor comes in absurd endeavors, which can take several days or weeks to develop. The payoff is substantial.” Klein was about to speak when they were surprised to see one of the Koreans stir. He looked around, confused, and then startled to see Klein and an alien. Bren had accessed the Korean language program and spoke to him in perfect Korean.
“Do not be afraid. You are on an Earth ship, The Shepherd. Earth is a different world than when you left. I assure you, you are safe here.” The Korean calmed a bit, looking for his comrades. Bren continued, “I am sorry to tell you that only the three of you survived. You have extreme radiation sickness but medical advances have created effective treatments and you are all expected to recover.”
The Korean asked, “What happened?”
Bren turned to Klein, “He wants to know what happened.” They were interrupted by the arrival of Captain Gardner and an Ensign.
“Bren, this is Ensign Choi, she speaks Korean and will be the liaison for these men.” Choi immediately went to the Korean man and began talking. Bren watched as the man apparently learned that his country was gone. The look on his face touched Bren deeply. He appeared to be in physical pain upon hearing the news.
Gardner turned to Klein and Bren, “Are you cleared to resume duties?” Klein nodded and Gardner continued. “I had hoped to avoid a conflict but you may recall the previous rescue of the ship Justice 4.”
Klein grimaced. Just a day before finding the Korean ship they had rescued a ship that was clearly affiliated with the Justice Party. Although it was never confirmed, the Justice Party claimed responsibility for the three nuclear warheads that decimated Los Angeles to start the war.
The Freedom Party quickly formed in response, but since there were no geographical divides the initial stages of the war were particularly gruesome. Political strongholds of each party were destroyed by nuclear weapons, killing members of both parties, as well as the undeclared; more than half of the country that claimed no connection to either party. The complication was certainly due to the fact that a Freedom Party ship’s passengers were already on board. Gardner confirmed Klein’s assumption.
“We assigned quarters to the passengers of the ship, Justice 4, and initially there was no problem, until someone saw an insignia on someone’s shirt. The Justice group refused to be quartered on the same floor.”
Klein grimaced. “The Freedom passengers were on level three, right? Just move the Justice to two?” Gardner smiled.
“The Freedom passengers decided that they wanted to be above them, so they refused to stay on three if the Justice moved to two.”
Klein scoffed, “We’re in space, there is no above and below, we may be sideways now for all we know.” Gardner agreed and as the three men entered the passenger common area, the leaders of each group swarmed them.
As multiple men chattered and made demands at once Gardner raised his hand and finally got them to calm down. “We came across a heavily irradiated ship and we want to allow the surviving crew to be involved in the Honor ceremony when we scuttle the ship. They are in the medical bay. We could be here for a few days depending on their recovery time. That means you all can’t stay here in this room. You will need to accept room assignments.”
The men all began shouting again when Bren stepped forward, raising both hands which, somehow, stopped everyone immediately. Bren spoke.
“Captain, I may have a solution.” Gardner looked hopeful.
“Go ahead Lieutenant.”
Bren lowered his hands. “My people have a method for solving disputes that goes back several thousand years. It is specifically designed for this sort of post war dispute.”
Everyone was rapt as Bren continued. He smiled and stuck his arms out to the side, palms up. He spoke loudly in a commanding voice, “Feats of Strength!” As he said ‘strength’ he raised his arms over his head and clasped his hands together. Shaking them with a determined grimace. The men pumped up their chests and murmured agreement. Gardner looked at Bren curiously. “Feats of Strength?”
Bren nodded, “Yes, although that is rarely the form it takes. We stopped fighting to the death centuries ago.” The men seemed a little less enthused.
Gardner asked, “What does this entail?”
Bren smiled, “We choose a contest, and since it is a test of strength, we add,” he paused, searching for the correct word, “complications, as we go.” He looked around, and sensing no objections, continued. “I would suggest… bowling!”
Gardner and Klein stifled laughs as Bren looked each group straight on and asked, “Are you prepared to compete for your pride?” Hesitantly each group agreed. Bren went on, “I will administer the contest, the rules are simple, I can add any difficulties I choose.”
The leader of one group looked at Bren, confused, “Difficulty?”
Bren nodded, “For example, we could start by bowling with the non dominant hand. Perhaps with eyes closed, or while… singing.” As the men started to take Bren less seriously he puffed up and seemed to get taller. “You have accepted the challenge, do you agree to go forward?” The men looked at each other, unsure, but finally nodded and started to get excited.
Bren stated one more rule, “The final outcome is that the winners will be allowed to choose their quarters,” the men nodded and mumbled until Bren cut them off, “But the winners must also host the defeated team to a feast in their home.” He looked around and felt he had everyone’s attention. “There is no human term for this, but the Klaan call it Shaa. It is the knowledge that everyone on the planet is connected. In our case, on this ship. We are all part of one physical organism, collectively called the Shaa-a-ren.”
The men looked around, slightly less excited but committed to the contest. Bren stood straight, and addressed the room. “Each team will choose four champions. The contest will start in sixteen hours. Spread the word, in the original Feats of Strength great crowds cheered on their warriors.”
With that the groups of passengers separated into huddles, deciding on their champions. Gardner turned to Bren. “Feats of Strength? Shaa-a-ren?” Bren looked at Klein and the Captain.
“Yes sir, the rules are adaptable, but Shaa is a sacred concept to the Klaan. I assure you, this method of conflict resolution has an excellent record on Klaan.” Klein and Gardner shared a curious look, when Bren noted excitedly, “We will need to prepare the bowling lanes for an audience. The crowd is a critical part of this event! Captain?”
Gardner shrugged, “Commander Klein, let the crew know that they are invited to a Klaan Feats of Strength event.” Klein shook his head as he walked toward the bridge to deliver the invitation.
In the medical bay Gardner, Klein, and Choi spoke to the three Korean men. Gardner had offered them several option for disposal of the irradiated ship. Choi translated for the Captain. “They said they are not overly concerned with the ship’s disposal. They only ask to be able to watch as it’s done.” One man, who identified himself as Colonel Han spoke. “Captain, we do believe you when you say things are different. We also hope you understand that the official stance of our country,” he paused, as the country no longer existed, “The stance is one of no religion. However, there is a thread of Buddhism among us, and a prayer service to commemorate the men who did not survive is kindly requested before the ship is scuttled.”
Gardner nodded and asked Choi if she could make arrangements. Colonel Han spoke again. “Captain, is it possible to finish in time for the contest? Your Mr. Bren extended a personal invitation.”
Gardner was surprised, but agreed.
The next day Choi, Han, Gardner and the other Korean men stood on the bridge, watching a large monitor. The Shepherd had shut down the ship’s engines and shined lights on the ship. Choi had arranged the prayer ceremony, and the three men seemed at peace with the situation. Gardner looked at Colonel Han, who looked at his companions and nodded to the Captain.
“Commander Klein, you may proceed.” Klein stood, as did the rest of the crew. Captain Gardner spoke. “It is with great respect that we send these 33 passengers and their ship to space. This ship served them well, and now all will be committed to the great expanse.”
Klein blew a military whistle and launched two missiles. The missiles flew directly to their target, detonating and turning the ship to dust, to scatter among the backdrop of the stars. Gardner spoke again.
“Your lives will be remembered as your final destination has been reached. Godspeed.” He saluted and the crew followed his salute. The Korean men somberly saluted. The crew held their salute until Choi had ushered the Koreans off the bridge. The crew resumed their duties silently for a moment until Gardner spoke once again.
“If you have arranged to go to the Feats of Strength event, you are relieved, once the skeleton crew is in place.” A few crew members entered to man the bridge as several others headed to Bren’s event.
Bren quieted the crowd. Klein was surprised at the turnout. The crew of both ships sat intermingled with Shepherd crew. Choi ushered in the Koreans, stoic, but seemingly looking forward to the distraction the contest would provide. Chairs, benches, and cargo containers had been constructed into makeshift bleachers, and they were packed. Food and beverages had been prepared and in general, it was a festive atmosphere. Bren entered the center of the space and raised his hands, facing his palms out, and turning in a circle.
“My friends, you have accepted me into your ship and crew and I am grateful. It is with that gratitude that I happily share the Klaan tradition of… FEATS OF STRENGTH!” The crowd cheered and Gardner looked around, wondering if he should have assigned security for the event.
Bren lowered his hands and the crowd silenced. He spoke again in a low voice. “Shaa is a Klaan belief that we are all connected. That the people assembled here are all part of one single living organism. We are all a part of Shaa-a-ren. We are each other. We are one. We are Shaa.”
He smiled and waited as the crowd seemingly held its breath. Then he clasped his hands over his head and shouted, “LET THE GAMES BEGIN!” The crowd roared as the eight men prepared to bowl. Bren explained the rules. “The standard rules of bowling and scoring apply. The automated system will keep score. I will add rules as we go. The first additional rule is that all bowlers are required to throw the ball with both hands. Team Justice won the random generated decision to go first. Proceed.”
As expected, bowling with both hands was awkward, and the bowlers threw gutterballs and generally left a lot of pins standing. No one was bowling well, but the men were laughing at each other anyway. After two frames Bren stood and spoke. “Time for a new rule! You must bowl with your non-dominant hand!” The bowlers grunted and grimaced. Bren was excited, the concept of a dominant hand was new to him. Human brains fascinated him and when he learned of right or left handedness he had spent hours asking people to use their non-dominant hand for daily tasks.
The teams bowled slightly better than before, but neither team was lighting up the scoreboards. Only one strike had been thrown, and truthfully, it was a mistake. Something went wonky with the magnetic system and changed the ball’s trajectory.
The crowd was cheering when a bowler knocked down three or four pins, and the teams were getting irritated, so Bren changed it up again. “Starting now, you must do two complete turns before throwing the ball.”
As the bowlers made themselves dizzy, the crowd’s excitement escalated. The bowlers had begun cheering each other on, regardless of which team they were on. The difficulties Bren was introducing made the two teams bond over the challenges. The crowd was eating it up. Even the Korean men were enjoying the show. Finally they reached the final round. Team Justice was up by seven points, it was anybody’s game.
Bren stood and called for quiet. “I would like to thank you all for joining us tonight. I hope you have felt the Shaa. You are all part of the Shaa-a-ren here on the Shepherd. Even as you go on to other ships or planets, this connection is now a part of you all.” Bren looked at the Koreans and bowed deeply, speaking in Korean. “You have lost much, your crew, your country, perhaps family. However, today you have gained Shaa and we are happy to have you here in this Shaa-a-ren.” He bowed again and the Korean men bowed deeply back to him. Bren turned to the crowd.
“For the final round, we have the ultimate test. Each team will switch lanes and complete the other team’s final score. However! A gutterball counts as a strike, so you cannot intentionally throw the game. You can choose to bowl with both hands, or your non-dominant hand.”
The teams switched lanes and began, with Team Justice putting up several points for Team Freedom. By the time they reached the last ball the game was tied. The men looked at each other, then conferred. They nodded and each stepped up to the lane, carefully throwing simultaneous - and very intentional - gutterballs. Bren raised his hands, quite pleased with himself.
“The game has ended in a tie!” He called the teams to him. “It seems that the outcome has not solved our problem. How would you like to choose the winning team?” Bren smiled, fairly certain he knew the answer.
The captain of Team Justice spoke. “We will both stay on deck three.”
The captain of Team Freedom joined him. “And we would like to host all of you for a feast on deck three tomorrow!”
The crowd erupted in cheers. Captain Gardner spied Bren speaking with the Korean men, they seemed to be thanking him. Choi moved to the Captain. “Bren knew exactly what to say to them. This Shaa business really made a difference.” Gardner smiled and watched as the men walked to the food and beverage stations and joined in the celebration. Gardner went to Bren, who was now talking to Klein.
“Lieutenant Bren, I must commend you. Your Feats of Strength and Shaa-a-ren was an unqualified success.”
Bren smiled. “Captain, Shaa is a very trusted solution to many problems.” He held his hands out, palms up and fingers sticking up. “We are all digits on the same hand. Once the men started to bond over their shared experience they began to feel the depth of connection. Shaa-a-ren connects us all, sometimes you just need to reach out and feel it.” Klein nodded, holding out his hands as Bren had done. Bren smiled again. “Commander, you have now experienced Klaan humor, in its long form. How often did you laugh as the men dizzied themselves and fell, or threw bad balls, left difficult splits, or danced with their opponents?”
Klein looked at Bren curiously. “You did this all just to…” He looked at the Captain in shock and finished the thought. “… To tell me a joke?”
Bren smiled, “It was a happy coincidence. Shaa-a-ren is very real, as is Klaan humor.” He hummed a tune as he walked away. Klein and Gardner looked at each other, questioning what had actually taken place tonight. Gardner shook his head as he patted Klein on the back, blending into the celebration.
“It doesn’t matter Mr. Klein, it worked.”
submitted by ronlynne to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:36 Pik-spareparts Pikpart Smart Garage: Multi Brand Two Wheeler Garage Franchise

Pikpart Smart Garage: Multi Brand Two Wheeler Garage Franchise
The two wheeler is a not unusual mode of transportation in India. They are available, fee powerful, and best for navigating through the country of a busy streets. With the growing quantity of two wheelers on the street, the demand for renovation and restore services has sky rocketed. This creates a rewarding opportunity for marketers inquisitive about the car vicinity. One of the maximum promising corporation possibilities in this place is a Multi Brand Two Wheeler Garage Franchise.

Why Choose a Multi Brand Two Wheeler Garage Franchise?

  • High Demand: With millions of two wheelers on the street, there is a regular need for maintenance and restore offerings. This ensures a constant movement of customers.
  • Wide Customer Base: A Multi Brand Two Wheeler Franchise caters to all types of two-wheelers, from scooters to bikes, and various brands. This broadens the potential customer base.
  • Brand Support: Franchises provide the benefit of installed brand popularity and aid. This consists of advertising, training, and occasionally even preliminary setup help, reducing the danger associated with beginning a brand new business.
  • Cost Effective: Compared to starting an independent garage, a franchise can be more cost effective. The franchisor frequently provides bulk procurement of parts, standardized training, and mounted operational methods.

Key Benefits of Multi Brand Bike Workshop Franchise

  • Training and Support: Most franchisors offer great training to make certain which you and your workforce are properly-ready to handle various upkeep and upkeep tasks. They also provide ongoing help to help you control the enterprise correctly.
  • Established Business Model: Pikpart Franchises include a proven business model. This manner that the operational methods, advertising and marketing strategies, and customer support protocols are already in place, lowering the effort and time required to set up the enterprise.
  • Marketing and Branding: Being part of a diagnosed brand can drastically increase your business. Franchisors regularly take care of huge-scale advertising campaigns, which can pressure greater clients to your garage.
  • Bulk Purchasing Power: Pikpart Franchises regularly benefit from the franchisor’s potential to buy spare parts and other parts in bulk at discounted fees. These financial savings can enhance your earnings margins.
https://preview.redd.it/ziw72ur2qi1d1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2569551bea5711749ba93623424c2b0f4518785

Steps to Start a Multi Brand Bike Service Center Business

  • Research: Start by means of discovering numerous Pikpart Multi Brand Bike Workshop Franchise to be had in India. Look into their popularity, help machine, preliminary investment requirements, and franchise costs.
  • Franchise Selection: Choose a franchise that aligns with your business dreams and budget. Consider elements like the franchisor’s marketplace presence, training packages, and standard support.
  • Investment: Determine the entire funding required, which includes the franchise price, setup prices, equipment, and running capital. Ensure you have got a clear know how of all economic commitments.
  • Location: Select a strategic location for your garage. It ought to be easily on hand to customers and feature enough space to accommodate the workshop, consumer living room, and garage for spare parts.
  • Legal Formalities: Complete all necessary felony formalities, along with registering your commercial enterprise, obtaining essential licenses, and signing the franchise settlement.
  • Setup and Training: Follow the franchisor’s suggestions to installation the Pikpart Smart Garage. Participate inside the training packages furnished through the franchisor to make sure you're nicely prepared to run the commercial enterprise.

Challenges and Tips of Two Wheeler Franchise

  • Competition: The car provider industry is competitive. Differentiate your garage by means of presenting modern customer service, aggressive pricing, and brief turnaround times.
  • Skilled Workforce: Finding and keeping skilled mechanics can be challenging. Invest in education and create a wonderful work surroundings to draw and maintain proficient workforce.
  • Customer Trust: Building accept as true with is crucial in this commercial enterprise. Always use genuine parts, provide transparent pricing, and deliver pleasant carrier to earn and preserve purchaser trust.

Conclusion:

A Multi Brand Two Wheeler Garage Franchise in India is a promising business opportunity. With the aid of a longtime brand, significant training, and a tested enterprise version, you may faucet into the growing demand for two-wheeler renovation and repair services. By following the proper steps and focusing on presenting first rate customer service, you can build a successful and profitable commercial enterprise in this growing enterprise.
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2024.05.20 07:00 AutoModerator Weekly: TradeSkillMaster Thread

Just starting out? Follow these steps to set up the TSM Desktop app and addons: https://www.tradeskillmaster.com/app/how-to-setup
Then check out these approved guides on the TSM site: http://www.tradeskillmaster.com/addon/guides
Looking to get into running Sniper? Check out this great introductory video by SamadanPlaysWoW
TSM Knowledgebase Our Knowledgebase has lots of articles and pages with information on aspects of the addon. It's a great place to start with troubleshooting any issues you might be experiencing or learning some more advanced features of the TSM addon suite: http://support.tradeskillmaster.com
TSM Known Issues Please review the list of Currently Known Issues outlined on the TSM Support page before posting: https://support.tradeskillmaster.com/en_US/known_issues
TSM Service StatusIf you're missing pricing data, there's a chance TSM or Blizzard are experiencing issues. Refer to the TradeSkillMaster Service Status or our Blizzard Auction House API tracker to check
Don't forget, there are also TSM Support channels on the WoW Economy Discord Server.
____

Common Questions

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2024.05.20 06:50 kartvee This entrepreneur buys a gas station for his wife’s baby shower

This entrepreneur buys a gas station for his wife’s baby shower
If you’re interested in growing your wealth, starting a business, or living a truly rich life, these six tips can help you do it the right way.
He didn’t buy a bed until he got married. And when his wife was pregnant, he wondered, “How much does a baby cost?” Today he owns ten gas stations and even a building that houses the Wells Fargo bank.
https://preview.redd.it/h815a0yvei1d1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d65328ee20c0a2a76e2239c535b06006828c5c
The farther down this page you read, you’ll understand how you too can buy gas stations and banks.
More importantly, you’ll start to feel, think, and act like a wealthy entrepreneur.
A wise man once told me this:
“You need to think wealthy before you become wealthy”
I remember these words like it was yesterday…
And I like what it means. But I had one problem though.
I struggled to understand the specific principles that wealthy people used to think.
So tell me something…
How did you buy your first car?
Did you buy it cash down?
Or, did you borrow money? Took an auto loan, perhaps?
Let me tell you a little story.

Buying my first car.

Over twenty years ago, I bought my first car.
And everything happened so quickly…
A car salesman stopped me at my office lobby. He asked if I was interested in buying a car. And he handed me a pamphlet.
It basically said that based on my salary, I was eligible to take an auto loan.
The promise that I could drive a brand-new car in ten days was too tempting.
So I gave in. I signed up for an auto loan.
And in less than ten days, I had this shiny new gray-color car!
It had power windows, an electronic steering wheel, auto-dimming rearview mirrors, and all the bells and whistles. Smart move, right?

Hold on to your horses!

Smart move or not, I’ll let you decide after you’re done reading the rest of this post.
Recently, I’ve been binge-listening to some of the backdated episodes of a podcast I LOVE.
And I bumped into a very familiar name.
Syed Balkhi.

The millionaire teen.

I first heard of Syed long ago in 2006 when I started blogging. But little did I pay attention to what he did. All I knew was that he had a website called WPBeginner.
It was a blog about WordPress for people who built WordPress websites or plugins. I liked his content and spent a lot of time reading his blog posts as I was building WordPress websites too.
Syed is in his thirties today. Which means he must’ve been in his early teens in 2006!
In about eighteen months of starting WPBeginner, he made his first million dollars in annual revenue.
And ever since, he’s grown his business, Awesome Motive, big time by acquiring other WordPress companies.
If you aren’t familiar with WordPress, it’s a CMS software. Content Management System, in short.
It’s a software that supposedly powers 40% of the internet. But that’s not the best part. Here’s what is:
Syed’s company today owns ~60% of all WordPress businesses.
https://preview.redd.it/q94pw2dyei1d1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad09e2577179c030bdbba726b7dbaf7f368d44bc
I call this the Balkhi Domination Disc.
Put simply, Syed’s businesses power 24% of the internet.
This is HEWGE!
Okay, another story…

The gas station story.

At some point on the podcast, Syed goes…
“I bought a gas station, the first one, primarily because I wanted to offset expenses…”
Offset expenses?
I was on a run while listening to this, and almost tripped when he said that.
Okay. Take a deep breath. I did that too…
Coz from this point on, it’s PURE GOLD.
And here goes the first and biggest lesson in wealth creation…

Tip #1: Every time you need to buy a depreciating asset, invest in an appreciating asset.

Syed says he learned this lesson from his mentor when he was thirteen or fourteen.
The best way to understand this is to loop back to my opening story…
When I bought my first car, I paid the monthly installments using my salary.
But when Syed’s mentor bought his Mercedes, he didn’t spend money from his savings. Instead, he decided to invest money in real estate. And he used the returns from that real estate to finance his shiny new Mercedes.
When Syed’s wife was pregnant with their first son…
He followed the exact blueprint.
He knew the money one would need with a baby birth – hospital charges, medicines, diapers, toys, and everything else!
So instead of spending money from his savings, Syed used the lesson he learned from his mentor to cover the cost of raising a baby – he bought a gas station!
It didn’t just give him the money to pay for the baby shower and childbirth. The gas station would continue to generate a steady flow of cash every single year.
Darn! Why didn’t it ever strike me before?
Mentor, baby! I’m glad to have found one in a podcast!
Okay, let’s look at the next one…

Tip #2: Build a recurring revenue business

In a content business, you turn email subscribers into paying customers. But Syed calls them just re-occurring revenue. The revenue occurs every time someone on your list buys something from you.
A new customer pays once. And unless you sell them something else, you aren’t going to make bank. The only way your business is going to see revenue trickle in from that customer is when you sell to them again.
The solution?
Build a recurring revenue business.
Syed regularly invests and acquires other WordPress software and tools businesses. This allows him to cross-sell software and tools to existing info product customers.
Of course, you can build recurring revenue info products too, using memberships and subscriptions – but Syed didn’t get into that on this podcast.
So yes, using revenue to acquire new businesses is a great idea. But how much should you invest?
Syed has stuck to one principle:

Tip #3: Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much

Syed learned this principle from his friend Monish Pabrai.
In his book The Dhando Investor, Monish talks about the Patels of India. He describes how this relatively tiny subset of humanity from eastern India went on to own most of the motels in the United States.
According to Monish, one of the biggest reasons why the Patels have been successful in business is because they always have followed this principle – heads I win, tails I don’t lose much. So what does this mean?
Let’s look at it with an example.
Assume the intrinsic value of a certain business is $1,000,000, and you buy it for $700,000. What you just did in that transaction is what he describes as a “heads I win, tails I don’t lose much”.
Because let’s say you did a great job with the business and the intrinsic value went up – you win!
But just in case you didn’t do much with the business and the intrinsic value dropped by $400,000, you only lose $100,000.
Heads you win, tails you don’t lose much!
This is wild!
At this point, I was fully invested in listening to this conversation. And I was just getting restless thinking…
“How can I buy a business on the cheap?”
And it just felt like the hosts heard me!
Let’s look at the answer to my question.

Tip #4: Identify “mismanaged gems” to compound at high double-digit

Back in the 1990s, my uncle built an empire buying distressed real estate properties. And it wasn’t easy. Every time he bought one, there was a lot of work to be done.
From litigation and dispute issues to structural issues, he was usually handed a mess. That’s why they were called distressed assets – thankfully, my uncle had the wherewithal to turn them around.
Mismanaged gems are different.
Syed describes mismanaged gems as good (online) businesses with some limitations. These could be in the form of having limited revenue streams, limited target audience, or something else.
Let’s look at a couple of examples…
  • Let’s take an online business where the creator isn’t aware of the different ways to monetize their business. You can acquire this business for $15,000. You use your Facebook Ads skills to sell $20,000 worth of info products and instantly increase the revenue.
  • If an online business has been running only using word-of-mouth marketing, you can acquire it and use your email list to instantly grow the business by exposing them to a new audience.
Here’s how Syed puts it…
“A business might only be thinking about monetizing from one angle. They’re not thinking about it from a full perspective. So I can look at it and say well yes this is the current revenue today, and I’m getting a bargain on today’s revenue. But here are my contracts that I have with so many different partners and vendors and such that I’ll be able to unlock extra revenue here, here, and here. So I turned this business that has one revenue stream to having like multiple revenue streams. That’s how you take something that was doing like no revenue to or very low revenue to having five eight ten million dollars in revenue.” – Syed Balkhi

Tip #5: Leverage the Ecosystem effect

If you’re starting a business, look for an ecosystem. What does that mean?
Syed’s entire online business is built around the WordPress ecosystem.
But there are many other software platforms like WordPress that have an ecosystem. Look at software like QuickBooks, Google Chrome, or Xero. These software platforms are built like an ecosystem, allowing developers to build plugins and extensions.
Most of these plugins and extensions are sizeable businesses in and of themselves. So if you’re starting a business, you’re better off starting one inside an ecosystem.
Starting a business inside an ecosystem exposes you to massive opportunities. You can grow your business through acquisitions, and cross-selling, amongst many other ways. And this also helps you compound over time.
Related Post: Speaking of selling, I think you’ll find value in this episode on The Launch Plan podcast about the F-Word that stops clients from buying your products.

Tip #6: Go from creatooperator to capital allocator

This one is an advanced idea. If you’ve done well with your business and have some cash in the bank, this one’s for ya!
Essentially what Syed says here is that you have one of two choices:
  1. You can choose to build a business from scratch, or
  2. You can acquire an existing business and multiply it.
Obviously, this is an advanced tip. But great business owners don’t master capital allocation overnight. While there are some common traits between the two, it’s a skill you need to build.
I haven’t bought a business so far. But I’m very interested in this. You’ll likely see me writing more on this topic in future posts.

Bonus ‘Rick’ Tip: Don’t be in a hurry to get wealthy

Have you heard of Rick Guerin?
If you haven’t, no worries. Neither did I – until I listened to this podcast.
Rick Guerin was Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s third business partner at Berkshire Hathaway.
Huh? Really?
I couldn’t believe it either. A third partner?
So looked up the interwebs for proof.
It turns out to be TRUE!
Here’s how Monish Pabrai describes what happened to Rick:
“In the ’73, ’74 downturn, Rick was levered with margin loans. And the stock market went down almost 70% in those two years, and so he got margin calls out the yin-yang, and he sold his Berkshire (Hathaway) stock to Warren. Warren actually said, I bought Rick’s Berkshire stock at under $40 apiece, and so Rick was forced to sell shares at … $40 apiece because he was levered.”
Rick was just as smart as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. But he was in a hurry. And that’s the bonus tip!
That’s a wrap! Enjoyed reading this?
  1. Join the convo in the comments below.
  2. Get my posts in your inbox every week. Just look for a subscription box somewhere around this post.
  3. Watch the full episode by clicking the play button below (or watch it on YouTube).
Here's a link to the full post: https://kartvee.com/entrepreneur-buys-gas-station/
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2024.05.20 06:48 Previous-Attorney683 never detested being a waitress more than i do right now.

i just need to rant because there’s no one i can really talk to about this that’ll understand lmao.
i don’t know what’s in the air but recently ive just been getting treated so horrifically by my tables. i would say within the last month i get into at least one argument with a customer at least once per shift and keep in mind i am a huge goody two shoes and people pleaser like my worst nightmare is having a table upset at me so i really really try to be the best server possible and i pride myself in that but it’s like with some people you can’t win no matter how hard you try to please them.
like i work at an AUTHENTIC mexican place and ill have people come in and look at the menu for 5 min then proceed to try and order something we don’t have then genuinely get upset with me when we don’t have it like HOW HOW HOW IS THAT MY FAULT ?!!! (and it’s usually fucking tex mex ass shit they’re asking for like ground beef tacos with a hard shell which makes it so much more aggravating when they get mad since the food we do have is literally so much better quality then ur gringo ass tacos)
i had these ladies literally arguing with me because we don’t have nachos being like “what the fuck you mean you don’t got nachos at a mexican place?”
LIKE WE JUST DONT. ACCEPT THE NO AND MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE !
i also don’t live in the us and most of these people are ignorant tourists and it’s so enraging to be treated like shit by all these foreigners bc they’re on vacation and apparently that means they can be as unpleasant and verbally abusive as they want then expect you to keep your cool and not give them the slightest bit of attitude back.
i’ve gotten better now about not letting them treat me like that because i know i don’t deserve that but it’s really making me hate being a waitress.
i dread every single shift bc i know i will get yelled at probably multiple people and honestly ive gotten so good at reading tables that i can tell right off the bat who’s going to give me issues and i hate judging people without giving them a real chance but i mean the proof is in the pudding because i’m right every damn time.
i really wish at this point that i could do something else but the jobs where im at don’t pay well and i’m still in school so to pay my rent i just don’t really have a choice.
also trying to find another job bc my job just is really bad in general but god i’m losing faith in humanity like i really thought there was more kindness in the world but i guess not
submitted by Previous-Attorney683 to Serverlife [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:46 SteveW_MC StopKillingGames - A Mogul Mail Suggestion

Some of the commenters during Sunday's Stream mentioned the global campaign to bring federal lawsuits and petitions against videogame publishers who intentionally sabotage the functionality of videogames when the servers shut down. They wanted Ludwig to do a Mogul Mail about it. I wasn't 1 of those commenters, nor am I a representative spearheading this initiative, but I am somewhat familiar with what's going on and wanted to explain it here to see if others are interested. So what is going on?

The Crew

The videogame "The Crew", published by Ubisoft, was recently destroyed for all players and had a playerbase of at least 12 million people. Due to the game's size and France's strong consumer protection laws, this represents one of the best opportunities to hold a publisher accountable for this action. If we are successful in charges being pressed against Ubisoft, this can have a ripple effect on the videogames industry to prevent publishers from destroying more games.
Source
More about "The Crew" Specifically
This includes both physical and digital versions of the game, by the way, as the game cannot function without pinging to the now offline servers, making it completely nonfunctional.

The Petition

Official government petitions have been introduced to prohibit the practice of intentionally rendering commercial videogames inoperable when support ends. Currently, petitions for the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have been launched and will soon be open for signing. Plans are also underway for the European Union, but will unfortunately be delayed due to processing times. Further government petitions may be started later with enough assistance.
You can go to the website https://www.stopkillinggames.com and click "take action here" to sign a petition for your country. Depending on the country you're in, you may have to have actually owned the game "the crew" in order to sign, but regardless it's important to understand this increasingly prevalent issue and bring awareness to it.
Here's a video about the initiative from its founder
Here's Accursed Farms's latest update.

Erasing Videogames and History

This ties into another videogame-related issue. Most videogames cannot be legally obtained anymore.
Only 13 percent of classic video games published in the United States are currently in release (n = 1500, ±2.5%, 95% CI). These low numbers are consistent across platform ecosystems and time periods. Troublingly, the reissue rate drops below 3 percent for games released prior to 1985—the foundational era of video games—indicating that the interests of the marketplace may not align with the needs of video game researchers. Our experiences gathering data for this study suggest that these problems will intensify over time due to a low diversity of reissue sources and the long-term volatility of digital game storefronts.
Video about the study.
But Nintendo has like 20 N64 games available on Nintendo Online so....

A Symptom of a Wider Problem

Videogame companies are doing what all companies have been trying to do for years now: stop you from owning anything, and requiring you to rent everything.
Ubisoft’s Director of Subscriptions Phillippe Tremblay said: “...gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That’s the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That’s a transformation that’s been a bit slower to happen in games.” Source. Video talking about it
They don't want you to own your games. They want to be able to take away the thing you "purchased", destroy it so it no longer works, and force you to buy something new.
GamePass
Gamepass is literally exactly what the corporate overlords are trying to push the entire industry toward: rentiership of all videogames. "Games as a Service" is a fraud.
It's not just videogames
Whenever you "buy" an ebook or movie from, say, Apple, Amazon, Google, etc., or a videogame from Steam, Sony, etc., you don't actually own that piece of digital media. You are renting the product and getting a perpetual license. That license can be revoked at any time for any reason by the company and you will have the thing you "bought" revoked.
This has happened a lot over the years. For example: Telstra.
...[Telstra] announced it would shut down the service in June. Customers were told that unless they moved over to another service, Fetch, they would no longer be able to access the films and TV shows they had bought.
This isn’t simply a case of Netflix removing Friends from the service when a content agreement runs out. These were films and shows people had bought with the expectation they could watch them whenever they wanted – indefinitely.
Vicki Russell posted on X last week saying she was being asked by Telstra to pay $200 for Fetch to retain access to what she said was $2,500-worth of purchases.
Source, fantastic video talking about article
Microsoft Book Store
In 2019, Microsoft shut down their ebook store, erasing all customers' books from their devices. Fortunately, Microsoft offered a refund for the books purchased. Something they did to not raise customer ire, not because they were legally required to do so.
They are able to completely erase the books the customers "bought" because of Digital Rights Management (DRM)
"One of the things that I think people don't realize that's crucially important is that DRM and related software tools are embedded in all sorts of devices that we buy," Aaron Perzanowski, the author of The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy, tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
"Your car, your smart home appliances, your home security system – all of these systems have software that allows for this kind of control over how the devices are used, and I think we're going to see these same sorts of situations crop up in the context of physical devices that are being used in people's homes."
"As this technology has been deployed what we've seen is that the big beneficiaries of DRM have not been copyright holders. They have been technology companies like Amazon, like Microsoft, who are able to control these ecosystems to make it harder for consumers to switch over to new platforms."
Source
Sony
TV Shows "purchased" through the Play Station store were slated to be erased according to an announcement in December 2023. However, do to the immense and justified backlash, they reneged for now.
Apple
Apple can remove a movie from the App Store and, in some cases, make it impossible for you to access your "purchased" version if you don't have it downloaded. Source
Amazon
In 2020, a Class Action Lawsuit was filed against Amazon for this very reason. "Caudel v Amazon"
The plaintiff claimed that Amazon misleads customers about the reality of what it means to “purchase” a video through the site. Allegedly, the company is aware that customers will believe that purchasing a video gives them unlimited access to it because that is the usual understanding of the word “buy.”
The case was dismissed out of the California Federal Court due to lack of standing). Source.
These Terms of Use expressly state that purchasers obtain only a limited license to view video content and that purchased content may become unavailable due to provider license restriction or other reasons.
AKA: You don't own anything.
Source
More on the lawsuit. The legal filing. Dismissal
This phenomenon is part of what is known as "rentism", "rentier capitalism" or "techno-economic rentiership". It goes far beyond just movies and videogames, but this is getting a bit far afield from what one might expect from a standard Mogul Mail, so I won't dive deeper into that aspect of the subject, but you can google those terms and phrases to find some fun reading.

I forgot to tie this into the "Right to Repair" but this post is getting too long.

Can't even fix the stuff you own. Do you even really own it?
Tractors.
Ludwig, if you're reading this, please do a Mogul Mail about this topic; at least the videogame stuff. You can use all of these sources I've compiled and you don't need to credit me for the compilation. I don't care. This is important and more people should know.
submitted by SteveW_MC to LudwigAhgren [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:44 Nervous_Banana6283 Fence to pregnant 12 years

Hello friends! Long time lurker, first time poster. I want to gather my thoughts and seek advice from others. Help anyone else that might be struggling with the decision of parenting through my experience. I 32F am married to my husband 32M of 7 years together for 12, we've know each other 15 years. 6 weeks into us dating in college, I became pregnant due to failed contraceptives and antibiotics. I didn't even know that was the thing until it happened to me. We came to the decision together that it was not the right time. And we wanted to finish school, so we proceeded to terminate the pregnancy.
I was raised in a Catholic home/k-8 so the insurmountable amount of guilt that I felt after years of conditioning and choosing terminate hit hard. I carried this with me for years and continued to be on the fence for years. After being raised by a mother who often discussed this disdain for children and little kids, particularly. She rubbed up on me in my earlier years. After the termination, this only added fuel to an existing fire.of not knowing what I wanted to do.
Fast forward about 8 years later and I started going to therapy. I uncovered that a lot of my preconceived notions about kids came from my mother. I also let guilt of years of religious conditioning cloudy my perspective. I've never been particularly fond of small children. The phrase "you love your own kids" even if you don't like others did not comfort me.
What if my kid isn't the easy one? What if they have serious mental disabilities? How will we cope? My first reaction is that I'd want to run. If genetic testing comes back with serious chromosomal concerns, I'd terminate. Point blank.
I had the same concerns I see on many posts under fencesitter regarding the future state of our world climate through politics and beyond. I worry about money and daycare costing 2k monthly where I live. We live 1k miles away from our family. This was a choice to leave shortly after we got married as our mothers can be toxic and overbearing. This was the best decision for our marriage. We left everyone who felt they earned an opinion on our lives who abused the power. Our relationships have improved since which is great! We've made a few really close chosen family here, but they are on to having their own first kids. I felt pressure turned up in the last 2 years by my own self to figure it out.
Giving up my bodily autonomy to another human didn't entice me. The idea of pregnancy is horrific to me and the toll it takes on the mom. Lack of sleep and freedom of my time. The societal pressure of what feels like the mom is the primary parent sounds shitty while my husband gets the easier role.
Would he leave if we didn't have kids? A doubt I let creep in when contemplating child free life.
All of these thoughts to say I am still working through it. I started to think about what life would look like if we had kids. Most activities we do now can be done with children. Our best friends back home have a 3 year old and she really is the best. She helped me be around small children herself and family with other kids and not want to run away. I understand all kids are different, but being around her for a couple weeks straight a few times a year to see the good, bad, and ugly of parenting. Her mom has a similar upbrining to me and understands all outlined in my thoughts. The big difference is the whole village and support system they have. We will not move back to be near family. We built our life and careers here, planted roots.
All factors considered for cons. I see the pros outweigh the cons for me. I love the opportunity to show my future child my favorite parts of life. I look forward to seeing the human my husband and I help develop their own passions and zest for life. The joy of watching them solve a problem or interact with the world with unexpected surprises. My husband is going to be a great dad. He is the calm, cool collected one. He will be a partner and not leave me with the shaft of the work. We will ebb and flow and mold into our new lives. We roll the dice and know our children will not be our picture-perfect idealogy.
We decided to go for it. 1 year of on and off half assing to get pregnant and a year of trying solidly we had success 2x in the last 6 months both ending in miscarriages back to back end of last year around 6 weeks. This messed me up, and the guilt of the decision from many years ago had me thinking it was karma. I took a mental break from trying while waiting for 3 regular cycles before considering trying again. I went back and forth every day for months.
Well, I am pregnant after getting back in the saddle. This was the first time my heart didn't fall out of my ass when I saw a positive result. I am actually excited and happy!!! I still fear many of the mentions above, but i am hopeful for my future and my families future. If you made it this far and think fuck this was long. It was and thanks for sticking it out. My experience isnt pretty and i probably sound like a shit bag to some. Well its not a take for everyone to agree with. I am open to advice, thoughts or this never being read by a soul. I felt like i needed to write it out.
Hoping this time next year I'll have a healthy baby and writing back to say its challeging and rewarding!
submitted by Nervous_Banana6283 to pregnant [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:31 Even_Concept_5535 How to get TikTok Free Samples in r/Tiktokfreesample

Hey TikTok creators! If you’re looking to get free samples and make some extra cash, you’re in the right place. Today, we're diving into how you can score those freebies through the TikTok Affiliate Program. Plus, we’ll touch on a great community resource: the TikTokFreeSample subreddit.

What’s the TikTok Affiliate Program?

The TikTok Affiliate Program is a fantastic way for influencers to earn commissions by promoting products. When your followers buy products through your affiliate links, you get paid. It’s a win-win – you get free samples to try out and review, and you earn money on top of that.

Getting Started with Free Samples

  1. Build Your TikTok Profile: First things first, make sure your TikTok profile is looking sharp. Focus on your niche, whether it’s beauty, tech, fitness, or something else. Brands love working with influencers who have a clear focus and engaged audience.
  2. Join the TikTok Affiliate Program: Good news! You only need 1,000 followers to join the TikTok Affiliate Program. Here’s how to sign up:Remember, this program is currently available for users in the United States.
    • Open TikTok and go to your profile.
    • Tap the three dots in the top right corner to open settings.
    • Select "Creator tools" and look for the "TikTok Affiliate Program" option.
    • Follow the steps to sign up.
  3. Check Out the TikTokFreeSample Subreddit: If you haven’t already, join the TikTokFreeSample subreddit. It’s a goldmine for finding brands that offer free samples. People share tips, offers, and their experiences with different brands. It’s a great place to connect with other influencers and discover new opportunities.
  4. Reach Out to Brands: Brands are often looking for influencers to showcase their products. Start by finding brands that match your niche. Reach out to them via TikTok DMs or through their websites. Don’t forget to mention your follower count, engagement rates, and why you’d be a great fit for their products.
  5. Create Awesome Content: Once you’ve got your hands on some free samples, it’s time to create! Make sure your videos are fun, engaging, and high-quality. Use popular music, cool effects, and trending hashtags to get more views. The more engaging your content, the more likely brands will want to work with you again.
  6. Use Your Affiliate Links: In your videos, include your affiliate links in the description or comments. Encourage your followers to buy the products using your links. Highlight any special discounts or perks they’ll get by using your link.
  7. Track Your Performance: Use TikTok’s analytics to see how your videos are doing. Keep an eye on views, likes, comments, and shares to see what your audience loves. Share these insights with brands to show them the impact of your promotions.
  8. Build Long-Term Partnerships: Aim to create lasting relationships with brands. If they see you consistently producing great content and driving sales, they’ll keep sending you samples and even offer better deals. Show genuine interest in their products and provide feedback to build trust.

Tips for Success

By joining the TikTok Affiliate Program and using resources in TikTokFreeSample subreddit, you can easily get free samples and make money while doing what you love. Focus on creating high-quality, authentic content, and building strong relationships with brands. Happy creating, everyone!
submitted by Even_Concept_5535 to TikTokfreesample [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:07 ffvii_aeris Lip Blush Laser Removal Success!

Lip Blush Laser Removal Success!
I am hoping my progress will help someone out as I don’t see much information regarding successful lip blush removals and I’ve seen great progress with my removal journey so far. I hated how unnatural my lips looked and had some darkness on my lips that I genuinely miss. I am a brown skinned girl and I wish I just embraced the way my lips naturally looked, it was a very spontaneous decision when I had decided to get them blushed.
Another reason I wanted mine removed was because I experienced chronic dry lips after having lip blushing done. I almost always needed moisturizer on my lips otherwise they would look dry and wrinkly. I think my body was just rejecting the ink used.
  • I had my lip blushing done Oct 2022
  • The first removal was done in January 2024 and I went to a place that used the picoway laser to remove the lip blush. The pain wasn’t too bad and I saw the pigment fade significantly over the next few months/weeks. The pigment did darken about 2 weeks after the session and turned a brownish colour but this only lasted about a week before it started to fade. I think this is just part of the process, as the ink can go through different colour changes while it is fading.
  • Fast forward to May 2024, I just had my second session for lip blush removal and the first thing I noticed was how much less ink there was on my lips. I think the way the laser works is it slowly breaks down the layers of pigment built up in your lips and that’s why it gets lighter and lighter overtime. I also noticed how I no longer needed moisturizer on my lips, they finally felt less dry and I can go without worrying about having Vaseline or aquaphor on them. They are still healing from the second session and I will post updated pictures in a month or so but I already am so happy with the results. I may need another session (I probably could just leave it but I want as much of it gone as possible). Already, you can barely tell the pigment is there in natural light.
Happy to answer any questions anyone has as well! (:
submitted by ffvii_aeris to MicrobladingRemoval [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:03 SurveyPsychological6 Reverse-Engineered "Secret Stock" Ads: A Way to Make Money to Counter Your AMC Losses

Hello.
This is Don Sees Your Shaydim. It's been a while.
Long-Winded Intro:
Ever sit through one of those 40 minute long ads by Whitney Tilson because you wanted to know what the fucking fuck the secret Tesla pr Apple supplier is, only to find that there’s no big reveal at the end? Instead, you’re asked to subscribe to an unaffordable newsletter. (These ads can’t be fast-forwarded!). The thing about these ads is you can figure out who these “secret” companies are, and it’s not hard. When I used to have time, I’d reverse engineer the latest 20-minute Motley Fool ad to discover the secret 5g stock, or the secret EV battery tech that will change the world.
I don’t have time like I used to. During the pandemic, I “worked” at home, which meant I spent my days yoloing into spacs and deconstructing stuff like Motley Fool and Stansberry Research reports for their stock picks. The good news is there are some devoted investors out there who have made it their jobs to take apart ads and reveal secret stocks.
If you’re looking for some plays, here are the results—the revealed stocks—from some recently reverse-engineered ads. The folks who did all this great work are Travis Johnson, who runs a fantastic online magazine called Stock Gumshoe. It is the only magazine I am subscribed to, and have been since 2020. I get a lot—if not most—of my investment ideas from Stock Gumshoe. Every single trade or investment idea that I’ve had from Gumshoe has been successful. Every single one. Every trade I’ve made because of shit I heard on YouTube has been a turd. I’m pumping this magazine because it works.
Alongside of Travis Johnson, we have Dylan Rieger. Just like Johnson, Rieger reverse-engineers ads, but on YouTube. He is prolific. His videos are roughly 10 minutes long, and they’re packed with well-curated information on each of the companies he reveals. If you’re thinking, “Why would I read a web magazine if I could just watch youtube videos?” Rieger’s videos are excellent, but Travis’s writing… he will teach you how to think. “But I don’t need to change the way I think about the market.” If you’re still fucking reading this, then chances are you suck at trading and investing. (I can already feel one or two of you typing, “Actually, ….”)
Below you will find a list of secret stocks that Johnson and Rieger revealed. I’ve listed the author of the newsletter or ad, the title of the article or presentation, the revealed stock, and relevant information. I figured that if I’ve had success this way, you might too. I like my wife’s feet, incidentally. I think they’re pretty.
Let me reiterate—I have been successful when I’ve used these sources as a starting point for a possible trade or investment. I’m a moron, however. I don’t stick with what works. I’m more likely to yolo into some garbage I heard about from a twenty-year old on YouTube. I said earlier that if you’re reading this, you probably suck at the market. But you’re probably way better than the person who wrote this. I address myself in third-person. I also like it when she wears tube socks and Doc Mertens.
Dylan Rieger's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dylanrieger7651
Travis Johnson's Stock Gumshoe: https://www.stockgumshoe.com/

Secret Stocks Revealed, May 2024
Dylan Jovine. “The New Space Race: 3 AI Stocks for Windfall Gains.” From Behind the Markets newsletter, which is currently listed at $49/yr. This focuses on defense industry AI-powered satellites, particularly speculations about defense contracts with the US Space Force. He teases several stocks, but the primary secret stock is BigBear (BBAI). BigBear has partnerships with Amazon AWS (AMZN), Palantir (PLTR), and L3Harris (LHX). Travis Johnson, whom I get almost all my info from, sees this BigBear speculation as a stretch. I agree. If BBAI does in fact get the Space Force contract: tendies. Jovine also pitches a backdoor way to get a stake in SpaceX, which is not publicly traded. The “backdoors” are the Private Shares Fund (PRIVX) and Destiny Tech 100 ETF (DXYZ). SpaceX constitutes about 35% of DXYZ. Jovine’s third stock—which is allegedly NASA’s secret AI chipmaker—is Arm Holdings (ARM).
Jason Williams. “The Exxon Slayer: The Small Firm Pioneering the Future of American Lithium.” Future Giants newsletter, which will cost you fucking $2,000. The secret stock is Standard Lithium (SLI). Totally worth a $2,000 subscription.
Shah Gilani. “Nvidia’s Secret Partner.” From Manward Monthly Report. The secret stock is Astera Labs (ALAB).
“This Tiny Canadian AI Stock Could Be the Next Nvidia.” Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada. The secret stock: Docebo (DCBO). The company is in the e-learning realm, offering a cloud-supported platform for employee training and the like. This is not even remotely close to being Nvidia, but the company itself looks promising within its own sector.
Gerardo Del Real. “Trade of the Decade.” From Junior Resource Speculator, which is priced reasonably low—compared to Superbowl tickets or Berkshire Hathaway stock—at $2,000/yr. The secret stock is Kingsmen Resources (KNGRF). You really out to check out Travis Johnson’s reverse engineering of Del Real’s ad, and maybe consider subscribing to Stock Gumshoe, where he breaks down all sort of ads. He’s one of the best writers in this space. I have a fucking PhD. English. I hate everyone’s writing. Not his. He—Travis—also enlightens readers to similar stocks and stakeholders in that sector: Cameco (CCJ), GoGold Resources (GLDGF), Ivanhoe Mines (IVPAF), Abacus Mining (ABCFF), Cosa Resources (COSAF), Fission Uranium (FCUUF), Skyharbour Resources (SYHBF), EnCore Energy (EU), Uranium Energy Corp (UEC), Sprott Uranium Miners (URNM), Sprott Junior Uranium Miners (URNJ), Perpetual Resources (PPTA), Standard Uranium (STTD), Filo Mining (FLMMF)
Ross Givens. “Live Action War Room.” From Wall Street Watch Dogs. This ad was formerly called "The $3 AI Wonder Stock that Could Make You 75X Richer?" but was repackaged as The No. 1 AI Stock Opportunity of the Decade (Surprise: Only $6)” The secret stock is SoundHound AI (SOUN). Note: They are also pitching alongside of “The $3 AI …” “The Top Five Stocks Set to Soar in 2024.” These include Calix (CALX), SolarEdge (SEDG), Desktop Metals (DM), Adobe (ADBE), and Snowflake (SNOW).
Whitney Tilson and Porter Stansberry. “How I Cut My Salary to $1, Then Pocketed a Million Dollars in One Day With America’s New Money.” Stansberry Research. These ads don’t have clearly defined titles. This one covers a “secret US currency” otherwise called, “America’s New Money.” This is from Stansberry’s Investment Advisory. This is a weird pitch; basically, they’re suggesting that instead of buying stocks that trade on an exchange, you should buy the stock representing the exchange itself. The secret stock is CME Group (CME), otherwise known as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In Travis Johnson’s breakdown, he lists other publicly traded exchanges: Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Nasdaq (NDAQ), MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX). In fact, here is his whole list: Euronext (EUXTF or ENRXY in the US), London Stock Exchange (LNSTY or LDNXF in the US), Australian Stock Exchange ASX (ASXFY, or ASXFF), São Paulo Stock Exchange Brazil (BOLSY), the Bolsa Mexicana (BOMXF), Over The Counter Markets OTC (OTCM)
Jason Simpkins. “Project Wingman.” From Secret Stock Files, which would cost you $1,999/yr. Military aircraft: Simpkins asserts that this defense contractor, Kratos (KTOS), has a “vice grip on next-generation technology that will render most of its competitors’ assets completely obsolete.” Project wingman involves using AI on fighter planes.
Keith Kohl. “The Undiscovered Tech Company Behind the Coming Trio-Fuel 238 Revolution.” Energy Investor newsletter currently listed at $99 yr. at basic level. Nuclear energy tech that’s apparently cleaner, safer, and more efficient than convention Uranium 238 tech. The secret stock is Lightbridge (LTBR).
Ray Blanco. “Did I Just Find the Hidden Cure to Cancer?” From Catalyst Trader, which would cost you $1000. The secret stock is Exscientia (EXAI). Dylan Rieger also notes that Alexander Green, another “famous” stock picker with an expensive newsletter, made EXAI the secret stock in focus for his “This Will Be the #1 Performing AI Stock of the Coming Decade” report.
Adam Odell. “Special Report #1: The AI Growth Engine” from the 10X Stocks newsletter, which is currently $995 yr. This is from the AI Power Summit, with 3 stocks “positioned to solve the AI energy problem.” The main stock is NuScale (SMR), which builds small modular nuclear reactors. The additional stocks are Centrus Energy (LEU), and Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SRUUF).
Jason Williams. “The Tesla Killer is Here.” Wealth Advisors newsletter. Pitching “blue gas,” which is hydrogen fuel cells. The stock is Ballard Power (BLDP)
Alex Koyfman. “Lithium Volcano: Tapping the World’s Biggest Lithium Reserve.” The Crows Nest newsletter. 1 year membership is currently listed at 99$. The stock is Lithium Americas (LAC), who has a $650 million deal with GM.
Ian King. “AI Energy” presentation. Membership is currently $79. The stock is AMD (AMD)
Louis Navellier. “The Trump AI Boom: 3 Data Center Stocks with 100X Potential” and “The Second Wave of AI Comes in November.” From Growth Investor. The stocks are Innodata (INOD), Data Storage Corporation (DTST), and Applied Digital (APLD).
Luke Lango. “Elon Musk’s ChatGPT Could Soon Mint New Millionaires.” Innovation Investors Magazine, which is currently listed as on sale for $49/yr. The stock is Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM).
Luke Lango. “The Next Nvidia.” Investor Place. The stock is Lam Research (LRCX).
[Jason Williams. “The Exxon Slayer: The Small Firm Pioneering the Future of American Lithium.” Future Giants newsletter, which will cost you fucking $2,000. The secret stock is Standard Lithium (SLI). Totally work a $2,000 subscription.]()
Shah Gilani. “Nvidia’s Secret Partner.” From Manward Monthly Report. The secret stock is Astera Labs (ALAB).

submitted by SurveyPsychological6 to houstonwade [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 05:40 Dull-Feature1875 AI Deal

As of today I and suspect a lot of others will no longer use Reddits HFY for permanent posts of my story due to the AI deal Reddit reached with ChatGPT. I’d prefer not to have AI rip my work off for free and use it even if I’m not the greatest or most famed writer, I put work into that writing that a company doesn’t just get to use for free. So my stories have been deleted, going forward I will post on here my stories and a link to my patrons but the post will be time limited and limits the amount shown driving you to my Patreon, on there you can read the rest for free. Sorry that sucks but it’s the only compromise I could come up with that still allows me to post here even in a limited capacity without my work being stolen and yes it is stealing I was never asked to make a deal with ChatGPT. So in my eyes, theft, thieves, slimy thieves using humans to replace humans and making us pay for it. Ironic isn’t it? Paying for your own replacement. I’ve said my peace to it and it’s inevitable but I won’t be helping it happen, I’ll fight tooth and nail even if it is useless. AI will doom the human passion, striping us of any will to be great when some machine can do it in the blink of an eye and be just as good. We have successfully robbed ourselves of joy of creativity. Well done mankind.
submitted by Dull-Feature1875 to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 05:36 blinkythewonderchimp Packet Hacking Village Talks at DEF CON 32 Call for Presentations Now Open

OVERVIEW
The Wall of Sheep would like to announce a call for presentations at DEF CON 32 in Las Vegas, NV from Thursday, August 8th to Sunday, August 11th. Packet Hacking Village Talks goal is to deliver talks that increase security awareness and provide skills that can be immediately applied after the conference. Our audience ranges from those who are new to security to the most seasoned practitioners in the security industry. We are accepting submissions from individuals and organizations on any of the topic areas, including, but not limited to, the following technologies and applications:
DEF CON attracts a wide range of technological skill sets, presentations need to be accessible, with explanatory information to help the audience understand.
The Wall of Sheep will not accept product or vendor related pitches. If your talk is a thinly-veiled advertisement for a product or service your company is offering, please do not apply! We will also not accept talks that have been given elsewhere, including at DEF CON / Black Hat / BSides.
All accepted talks will be announced, recorded, and published by Aries Security, LLC. and DEF CON Communications, Inc. Please see our YouTube channel for all talks from previous years: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL9S5Wv_dNvO381slSA06w and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Om9kAkl32dWlDSNlDS9Iw.
The Call for Presentations will close on Friday, May 31st at 11:59 PM PST. The list of talks will be finalized and published on Friday, June 7th.
SPEAKING FORMAT --UPDATED FOR DEF CON 32
Each presentation slot is 1 hour maximum, including time for Q&A. If we have time and it is in line with our goals mentioned above, then there is a good chance you will be selected.
Presentations will be part of DEF CON's new "Creator Stages". Although presenters will not receive a DEF CON speaker badge, they will receive a human badge and additional identification as village speakers. Presentations will also be recorded and shared on DEF CON's media servers and YouTube. Additionally, we do not recommend live demos. Pre-recorded demos are preferred.
To submit a presentation, please provide the following information in the form below to cfp2024[at]wallofsheep[dot]com
Primary Speaker Name:
Primary Speaker Title and Company (if applicable):
Primary Speaker Email Address:
Primary Speaker Phone Number (to contact you if necessary during the conference):
Primary Speaker Twitter name (if you want it known if you are accepted):
Primary Speaker Mastodon name (if you want it known if you are accepted):
Additional Speakers' name(s), titles, and social information:
Additional Email Addresses:
Is there a specific day or time you MUST speak by?
Name of Presentation:
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2024.05.20 05:17 Informal_Patience821 I Discovered a New Biblical Prophecy About Islam: "...New Moon to New Moon will be, An End Will Come to His Sabbath." ‼️

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Peace to you all!
The Bible says:
Haggai 2:9: "Great will be the glory of this last House, more (glorious) than the former, said the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give Peace, declares the Lord of hosts."
The "House" here is the Kaaba, while the "Peace" here could be interpreted as the Covenant of Peace, i.e. Islam.
Verse 15 says:
"Now, pay attention from this day forward, before setting God's stone in the temple of Yahweh."
Obviously the the Kaaba and the Back stone. However, the Masoretes, added diacritics and transformed the phrase "אל" (which means "God") into "אֶל" (which means "to") and had successfully covered up this prophecy. It originally says "God's stone" when omitting the diacritics, while it is today saying "Before setting stone to/upon a stone," a statement that makes very little sense.
The 22nd verse says:
"And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, and I will destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. And I will overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall come down, each one by the sword of his brother."
Implying that the emergence of this "last house" will come with a lot of wars, which unfortunately was the case with the oppressive pagans and others who didn't like Islam when it came.
Verse 23 says:
"And it shall be from new moon to new moon, an end to His Sabbath shall come. All flesh shall come to bow down before me, said the LORD."
New moon to new moon, clearly foretelling the Ramadan, and that the Sabbath will end and that all people from all corners of the earth will come to bow down to God (Mecca). But the masoretes completely misinterpreted the verse and interpreted it as "From new moon to new moon, from Sabbath to Sabbath" while,
The word "שׁבת" in classical dictionaries is literally defined as:
  1. to cease, desist; to rest.
  2. (— Qal)
    1. he ceased, desisted;
    2. he desisted from labor, rested;
    3. he observed the Sabbath, he spent the Sabbath;
    4. he struck, was on strike (properly ‘he stopped working’).
  3. (— Niph.)
    1. ceased.
  4. (— Hiph.)
    1. he caused to cease, put an end to;
    2. he removed, exterminated, destroyed;
    3. he locked out (workers).
  5. (— Hoph.)
    1. was made to cease, was stopped;
    2. he ceased, perished;
    3. was locked out (from his work).
      1. [JAram. שְׁבַת (= he rested; he observed the Sabbath), Arab. sabata (= he cut off, interrupted, ceased, rested). Akka. shabātu, which prob. means ‘to complete, cease, desist’. cp. שֶׁבֶת ᴵ.]Derivatives: שַׁבָּת, שְׁבוּת ᴵᴵ, שְׁבִיתָה, שׁוֹבֵת, מִשְׁבָּת, מֻשְׁבָּת.
Source: מקור: Klein Dictionary
The phrase: "שבת בשבתו יבוא" is literally translated as "An end to His Sabbath shall come." But they interpreted "שׁבת" as "Sabbath" and also (for some weird reason) the term "בשבתו" simply as "Sabbath" as well, while it grammar speaks a different story:
I.e. "His Sabbath," together with "שׁבת" (end) and "יבוא" (will come), faithfully and accurately translates to:
"An end will come to His Sabbath."
This is how they covered up prophecies, the Masoretes. There's hundreds of them still undiscovered I believe. I find something every other day. They've probably worked for decades just to cover them all up. I'm not even exaggerating...
Thanks for reading :) Like and share!
/By your bro, Exion.
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2024.05.20 05:13 theconstellinguist Envy and Extreme Violence

https://www.wtsglobal.com/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Envy-Extreme-Vio.pdf
Crossposting audience: The bad news is there does not seem to be a cure for envy. This is congruent with the recidivism statistics of maladapted/antisocial behavior in narcissists, without which narcissism and those with NPD would not be so socially undesirable. However, there are clear signs that the circuitry of envy is noticeably different than the circuitry of admiration, and that jealousy pathways are similar to addiction and expectation of reward pathways. A neuroeconomic analysis of "I won't win this one without illegal/unethical leveling" may be occurring in the envious, showing there may be insight that could resolve what has been until this point and unresolvable emotion full of frustration and pain at the perceived inferiority these individuals suffer. It is important to study and resolve this to help protect their victims from violence, psychological, and economic abuse, theft, hostage-taking of what is critical to the envied person, and unreasonable dislike that turns into hate crime on a whim. Victims deserve protection (the envious say the opposite) and so we research. Follow this subreddit for the first research-backed subreddit on envy.
Intense envy is associated with shame, depression, inferiority, isolation, anxiety, paranoia, and even violent criminal behavior.
Envy is an emotion capable of producing distorted perceptions and cognitions. Intense envy is associated with adverse states such as shame, depression, inferiority, isolation, anxiety, paranoia, and even violent criminal behavior.
The envious can become violent when they want to destroy goodness as perceived advantage, especially if they do not feel they possess goodness
There may come a point at which the envious person's goal is to harm the other's ability to enjoy the perceived advantages—the wish to destroy goodness as formulated by Melanie Klein.
Obliterative envy is the violent instantiation of envy focusing on a desire to obliterate what is perceived as an unjust, intolerable reality
The psychodynamics are discussed by which destructive envy produces or enhances a persecutory mindset and desire for revenge so powerful that lethal violence is chosen as an option. The concepts of obliterative envy and pseudo-spiritual transformation are introduced, and forensic case examples are used to demonstrate how envy produces persecutory cognitions and facilitates the desire to “obliterate” what is perceived as an unjust, intolerable reality.
Increased projection of the malicious or terrorist impulse is the sign of an escalation in the violent envious person’s ability to commit violence. As they grow more out of control in this respect, the more likely they are to actually engage in these actions.
The false logic of envy convinces the individual that they have an unfavorable and immutable disadvantage—thus, the other appears enhanced while the individual feels diminished. This depressing, humiliating position generates resentment toward the other. Depending upon developmental experience and other psychosocial factors, the individual with envy may increasingly use projection, projective identification, and experience persecutory thoughts.
The envious other wants to harm or destroy the other’s ability to enjoy these perceived advantages
There may come a point at which the envious person's goal is to harm or destroy the other's ability to enjoy the perceived advantages.
A bizarre scenario is witnessed where someone sacrifices their own life from spite to hurt the envied
. In some cases, extremely envious individuals are willing to spitefully sacrifice their own lives in an act of violence. The act may be felt as revenge for some perceived or actual injustice, but the driving emotion is intolerable envy, consciously recognized by the attacker or not.
We conclude by reviewing the challenges of detecting severe envy and preoccupation with lethality in treatment and in non-treatment settings where threat assessment protocols may be applied.
Obliterative envy is the state of mind arising from overwhelming narcissistic rage and resentment
. Obliterative envy is the state of mind arising from overwhelming narcissistic rage and resentment, leading the individual to destroy the envied other, and simultaneously himself, to negate the detested situation in its entirety. Pseudo-spiritual transformation is the state of mind by which the perpetrator's personal grievance is justified and elevated to the level of a spiritual or religious imperative.
Proximal warning signs are pathway, fixation, identification, novel aggression, energy burst, leakage, last resort, and directly communicated threat
The TRAP-18 consists of 8 proximal warning behaviors—pathway, fixation, identification, novel aggression, energy burst, leakage, last resort, and directly communicated threat—and 10 distal characteristics—
10 distal characteristics are found, however odd patterns shown in intelligence of purposefully creating these conditions should be noted for terroristic envy from the inside themselves
personal grievance and moral outrage, framed by an ideology, failure to affiliate with an extremist or other group, dependence on the virtual community, thwarting of occupational goals, changes in thinking and emotion, failure of sexually intimate pair bonding, mental disorder, greater creativity and innovation, and history of criminal violence.
Acknowledging envy declares one’s inferiority which causes shame
To acknowledge envy is to declare one's felt inferiority, which in turn triggers additional feelings of shame (Ronningstam, 2005).
Enviers can be seen in both ideation of crime and premeditated crime experience a fierce kind of sadistic pleasure when contemplating violence toward the envied
Among all the so-called seven deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth), Milic (2019) argues that envy produces nothing but mental anguish and is devoid of even an initial burst of pleasure or immediate gratification. We would suggest that envy may hold within it both masochistic pleasure, and well as a fierce kind of sadistic pleasure when contemplating violence toward the envied.
Painful and resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage can be seen
Confusion of terms has long been the case where envy and jealousy are concerned; examples abound. For instance, “I am jealous of her good looks,” is more accurately an admission of envy. Envy, in its simplest form, is defined in the dictionary as a “painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another, joined with a desire to possess the same advantage” (Merriam-Webster.com, 2021).
Romantic jealousy is fear of loss of mate and mate retention behaviors, and envy is seen as someone threatening to take away advantage personally
Romantic jealousy has been found to be positively correlated with feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, and mate retention behaviors (Chin et al., 2017). Whereas in envy, advantage is perceived as belonging to the other; in jealousy, a rival is seen as threatening to take away the advantage (Anderson, 2002).
Narcissistic injury too unbearable to tolerate causes violence. A poisoning quality is specific to the violently envious
In the case of both tension states, it is a matter of degree—how much does the negative comparison lead the sufferer to experience painful feelings of inferiority and shame that result in a narcissistic injury too unbearable to tolerate? Is there the potential for narcissistic rage in its various manifestations, including violence? As the UK advice columnist Irma Kurtz wrote, “jealousy fights duels, envy poisons the soup (Kurtz, 1987).” Table 1 lists the comparative characteristics of envy and jealousy.
Insatiability, and excessive willingness to even take out themselves and their own security, even if it be financial, to take out the person they are envious of can be seen in the violently envious person. They are competitive and will do anything to stop being thrown into relief as less advantaged with the envied person.
Moreover, envy is historically and consistently referred to as hidden and insidious (Epstein, 2003; Minou, 2017). Envy may often be denied because of its implication of inferiority, unwarranted malicious temptation in the envier, and especially its potential for destructiveness. Envy increases within the sufferer the likelihood of developing depression, lowers resilience, and destabilizes self-esteem (Xiang et al., 2020). Those laboring under strong envy are insatiable, competitive, and may be willing to sacrifice their own outcomes to diminish the envied person's perceived advantage (Smith & Kim, 2007
As a result, people report greater feelings of envy and inadequacy.
Passively browsing Facebook apparently incites lots of envy in the envy prone who may try to destroy or at least erase the presence of the one who makes them feel that much envy. Out of sight, out of mind for the envier is desired for and they try to make it a reality
Even passively browsing Facebook can lead to negative social comparison, envy, social isolation and a significantly impaired sense of life satisfaction (Morawska, 2019). Younger persons who spend more time on social media are more susceptible to these effects than older persons.
Consumed with envy and shame (violence most likely) becomes over time guilt-ridden and self-punishing as they continue to avoid feelings of narcissistic inaccessibility, aka, being reminded of what they can’t or don’t have.
Klein first theorized that mature development required transition from the persecutory position (consumed with envy and shame) to the depressive position (guilt-ridden and self-punishing) in order to avoid feelings of victimization and narcissistic inaccessibility (Klein, 1975).
Envy can be a driving emotion in some who go on to commit acts of extreme violence
Those with strong paranoid and narcissistic traits have been observed to suffer from a desire to destroy the goodness they perceive they have been unjustly denied. Such individuals seek to destroy the other's ability to enjoy the whole object pleasures of love or achievement (Zizek, 2008). Envy can be a primary driving emotion in some who go on to commit acts of extreme violence (Hyatt-Williams, 1998; Knoll, 2010a, 2010b).
Narcissism starts to distort senses of justice in envy. The “justice sense” suddenly becomes distorted and no longer justice in the envious instantiation.
Other main themes associated with envy in the psychological literature involve the envious person's perception of fairness and justice, narcissism, hostility, and grudge holding (Anderson, 2002; Milic, 2019; Nauta, 2009).
Entitlement is part of envy; the envious feel that they are withholding the goodness or justice of things like “having sex with the girls in the hottest sorority”. Externalization, projection and projective identification can be seen. These individuals show impaired ability for sympathy, empathy, regret, reconciliation or gratitude which all require an ability to see someone else as human who may feel things like they do, aka, an increased disposition to commodify agents is seen.
In the P-S position, the individual's worldview is based on feelings of mistreatment and frustration at what is perceived as intentional harm, injustice, or purposeful withholding of advantages. The P-S position is associated with the use of maladaptive defense mechanisms such as splitting, externalization, projection, and projective identification. Such individuals will have an impaired capacity for sympathy, empathy, regret, reconciliation or gratitude—emotions that necessitate an ability to represent others in one's mind as whole, real, and meaningful individuals. Via projection and projective identification (an incomplete projection wherein the projected content continues to threaten the self), such individuals perceive others as actively persecuting them by withholding the goodness, justice, or fairness to which they feel rightfully entitled (Grotstein, 1981)
Not getting what they feel entitled to is a profoundly depressing and humiliating experience for those who have an excessive predisposition to commodify and then feel entitled to things that should not have ever been commodified
As a result of their perception of intolerable injustice, some may become overwhelmed with a sense of loss that cannot be mourned (Feldman & De Paola, 1994). Grief is subsumed by personal grievance. There is then the potential for hostile revenge fantasies, followed by an unwillingness to forsake a martyrdom fantasy of ultimate and final revenge. Envy may defy common sense, yet its logic can be understood. Envious persons see the object of envy as big or advantaged, while they feel small and disadvantaged. This is a profoundly depressing and humiliating experience for the envious who are left harboring resentment and injustice, emotions which are often a product of depleted omnipotent fantasies (Anderson, 2002).
Defense of projection may hypertrophy to distort their perceptions of others as greedy, spiteful, and intentionally persecutory–aka, someone very rich may start projecting on others as greedy to project off the shame they feel for greed. Or, someone who is antisemitic with lots of wealth may suddenly become fixated on Jews to relieve themselves of the guilt they feel for not helping people.
They may come to experience—whether acknowledged as compensatory or not—a “malicious glee” (schadenfreude) over other's misfortune, which can develop into an addictive like pursuit of sadistic joy over others' sorrows. Their defense of projection may hypertrophy to distort their perceptions of others as greedy, spiteful and intentionally persecutory
Social pain over a perceived failure to meet some internalized level of value is seen
in contrast to the dynamic of a negative comparison defining envy, shame is “a painful feeling of an interrupted sense of joy, relationship, status, or pride, because of exposure of one's failure to meet standards or ideals” (p. 37). The key phrase here is not meeting “standards,” which suggests social pain over a perceived failure to meet some internalized level of value. S
Shame for feeling hate then leads to self-hate, and this suffering sees no relief until they decide to commit extreme violence
A vicious cycle may ensue, in which the envier is ashamed of feeling hateful, and then hates himself for feeling such negative emotions—which make him further aware of his inadequacy. In actuality, we suggest that these powerful negative emotions—shame, envy, hatred of others and hatred of self—are so interrelated that they may all be in play in the sufferer who chooses extreme violence.
Irrational suicidal behavior often called a “psychic death” can be found on people with extreme narcissistic injury and envy.
Gilligan's interpretations may not explain all instances of extreme violence, but they are consistent with what we call the obliterative mindset. The perpetrator has lost the capacity for undistorted judgment and to sublimate aggression. The “self” is already dead. He is now ready to override the survival instinct and fully embrace a drive toward death (Anderson, 2006).
A deep sense of victimizations promotes a righteous vengeance that then aggressively devalues the other to promote the self, as they do not feel like they will compare organically without aggressively manufacturing the devaluation of the other
. In the distorted logic of severe envy, a deep sense of victimization allows martyrdom and/or righteous vengeance to devalue the other and promote the self to heroic status.
The envious person decides he is going to show the world his true self, which in the end is nothing but another terrorist, one of many people who did nothing with their lives but just kill other people out of rage, envy and entitlement
Intolerable conditions and even the imperfect self are wiped clean, leaving only the perpetrator's final judgment, which is not open to appeal. The violent extremist warped by severe envy is drawn to a statement of self-affirmation to counteract overwhelming shame. By obliterating the unacceptable reality, his sacrifice seems worthwhile to him to re-establish his sense of self. Or as the violent perpetrator Elliot Rodger wrote: “Finally, at long last, I can show the world my true worth” (E.R. Manifesto, 2014). The paradox, however, is compelling: obliterating the actual self to realize just before death the perfect and omnipotent self.
Around the time of extremism, rigidity can be seen and is palpable on the one engaged in covert or overt acts
. Beliefs in the superiority of one's cause become rigidly fixed and overvalued (Rahman et al., 2019).
Extreme imbalances of what is given from what is taken is a clear signs of extreme envy, suggesting economic abuse is motivated by envy in many cases
: “Everything is gone. What I own is just gonna be a pittance compared to what I am going to take.” The distorted logic of severe envy can be seen at play in MH's statement: “It's a kind of a community that in order for you to get ahead, you have to keep the neighbor down. It's not…you know, building yourself up on your own merit, it's tear the other guy down.” There is no ambivalence or relativity at this point for MH. His world is split into only those who are building up and those who are tearing down. Deep in his persecutory position, MH gives about as clear an explanation, in our opinion, of the logic of violent, destructive envy as can be found in such cases:
Genocidal obliteration is seen on those so envious they become violent
. When I do this, that levels the playing field in my favor, so now we've got a lopsided playing field because when I come back at you, I'm gonna destroy your side of the playing field
Addicted to revenge, they make patently unreasonable decisions
Various townspeople interviewed in the documentary note how MH had been given numerous financially appealing options, including an offer of six times what he paid for his land. The object of MH's envy was his perception of the success of several businessmen whose family had lived in the town for generations. Offers to provide MH with a financially advantageous resolution held no sway since he was fully in the grip of an obliterative mindset. Or, as the town news editor stated, “He had a way out. He had a way out to make some good money and, and go on about his life, but he chose that path for whatever reason.” Instead, he narrowed his focus and proceeded according to the dictates of violent envy and revenge.
Peacefulness after extreme painful turbulence is a tell-tale sign of premeditated homicidal action in the envious
Tied to these signs of PST is MH's statement that “a peace came over me…,” perhaps describing an almost spiritual feeling of relief after having finally resigned himself to die. Such descriptions of emotional reprieve have been associated with anticipatory and relief-oriented permissive beliefs in suicidal crises (Del-Monte & Graziani, 2020). Perpetrators of mass murder and other forms of targeted homicide-suicide have similarly described a state of peacefulness and relief that arises once they have come to terms with their own death as not only inevitable and acceptable, but planned, either by their own hand or as a “suicide-bycop.”
“I wasn’t supposed to caught”; an exceptionalism is seen on the violently envious
ambivalence. MH proceeds to strengthen and amplify his violent intent via a combination of PST and teleological thinking: “I wasn't supposed to get caught! God built me to be here to prove to you that what you have been doing for God knows how many years is wrong.”
Resolving the crisis would be an intolerable sign of weakness and inferiority (Gilligan & Richards, 2021).
This statement suggests his intensifying envy, often apparent in pathologically narcissistic states and traits (Kernberg, 1992). What MH deserves is beyond question, and now God expects him to harm the objects of his envy. The conviction of transcendent moral and spiritual righteousness is a common justification for violent lashing out by those in the persecutory position. Resolving the crisis nonviolently would require more psychological degrees of freedom and capacity for gratitude and empathy than MH possessed. To him it would be an intolerable sign of weakness and inferiority (Gilligan & Richards, 2021).
When people are happy an aggressive raging need to ruin it is seen on the envious
As poetically described by Gilligan and Richards (2021), the most direct, immediate and literal way to wipe tormentors' mocking smiles from their faces is to make them weep through violence.
Fixation is a huge sign of extreme envy and ability to commit envy-based violence
MH's PST would be associated with the TRAP-18 (Meloy, 2017) distal characteristic of Changes in Thinking and Emotion. These changes are often complex, and appear to occur in three domains: interpersonal relations become more limited and isolation increases; there is evidence of fantasy that is both grandiose and violent (often leaked through social media); and emotions shift from just anger, to also contempt and disgust for the target. We also see continued TRAP-18 evidence of the proximal warning behavior of Fixation, in this case motivated by extreme overvalued beliefs (Meloy & Rahman, 2020). Fixation, a preoccupation with a person or a cause that is accompanied by deterioration in work and love, is often the first proximal warning behavior to appear in a case of targeted violence (Meloy et al., 2021).
Last resort behavior can be seen when they think they were never going to get caught, a desperate attempt to commit violent envious action to secure the envied’s punishment for making them feel envy
Last Resort proximal warning behavior is defined as a violent action and time imperative: the person must act, and he must act now. Such warning behavior is often precipitated by a triggering event—often a loss in love or work--or one that is anticipated, and is sometimes accompanied by feelings of desperation or distress (Meloy, 2017).
Envy that powerful pushes them into the obliterative mindset, where violence occurs
Such intense devaluation of the desired object suggests envy powerful enough to push him into the obliterative mindset.
ER repeatedly used the word “envy” to describe his misery.
ER repeatedly used the word “envy” to describe his misery. He understood the difference between envy and jealousy, which he also experienced at an early age when there would be a third boy on playdates with his best friend (E.R. Manifesto, 2014).
He shows that the desire to torture is motivated by envy, showing that envy is indeed a product of envy and with it its links to narcissism
ER went to a Starbucks coffee shop there, where he became “livid with envious hatred” upon seeing a couple kissing. He proceeded to throw his coffee on them. What he actually fantasized doing was to “kill them slowly… strip the skins off their flesh.” The sight of a couple enjoying themselves brought out sadistic urges to destroy them, but not before torturing them by removing the very organ they would use to enjoy each other—their skin.
Entitlement is also linked to the torture as envy milieu saying “if I cannot have it, I will destroy it”. That is extreme entitlement
Just as MH described the true nature of destructive envy so well, so does ER, with jarring precision: “If I cannot have it, I will destroy it.
A hatred for someone from a younger generation enjoying things they didn’t can be seen in the envious
That was the day that I decided I would have to kill him on the Day of Retribution. I will not allow the boy to surpass me at everything, to live the life I've always wanted. It's not fair that he has the chance to have a pleasurable life while I've been denied it. It will be a hard thing to do, because I had really bonded with my little brother in the last year, and he respected and looked up to me. But I would have to do it. If I can't live a pleasurable life, then neither will he!
Fixation and pathological preoccupation followed by deterioration is seen on those who are capable of and/or commit envious violent action
The ER case is rife with examples of the proximal warning behavior of Fixation on the TRAP-18: “an increasingly pathological preoccupation with a person or a cause, accompanied by a deterioration in social and occupational life” (Meloy, 2017)
Envy based torture premeditation and enaction is seen on those envious who fit the description for TRAP-18
When ER saw the couple kissing at Starbucks he also wanted to kill them, “slowly.” What he actually did was throw coffee on them (and, incidentally, at great risk of physical retaliation). Such a behavior is an example of the proximal warning behavior on the TRAP-18 of Novel Aggression: “an act of violence that appears unrelated to any targeted violence pathway and is committed for the first time” (Meloy et al., 2012), and is done to test one's violent capability.
Acute narcissistic injury can trigger a suicidal crisis
An acute narcissistic injury in the patient's life could trigger a suicidal crisis in the absence of a depressed state. Ronningstam (2005) discussed the various meanings of suicidality in narcissistic patients, among them, an illusion of control and mastery (as well as preserving the perfect self), a shield against anticipated narcissistic injuries (death before dishonor), and an act of revenge: an individual may commit suicide to spite someone else.
Even envious hatred for therapists can be found, with therapists witnessing boredom with the sessions and withdrawing from direct engagement. This suggests extreme dispositional envy.
. He may pronounce boredom with the sessions or withdraw from direct engagement; his envious hatred may be hidden underneath an attitude of indifference. Alternatively, he may attempt to compete with the therapist, claiming superior knowledge or understanding (Abraham, 1927)
Envious individuals suffer from an encapsulated murderous aspect of their personalities
…most envious individuals suffer from an encapsulated murderous aspect of their personalities. If this concealed enclave is suddenly detonated by external circumstances, homicidal or suicidal violence can erupt.
Envious people see the world as zero-sum and try to reinforce back to zero-sum when people prove it is not inherently zero-sum. They will aggressively try to renormalize it back to where their envy seems less pathological and distorted.
In the zero-sum game of envy, there is a myth that if someone has something good, the other person is diminished. A major goal of therapy is to help patients see that self-esteem is not dependent on what someone else has and that their accomplishments are not connected to those of others. The therapist works to interpret to the patient that his zero-sum view undermines the chance in his life that he and others can simultaneously feel successful and gratified (pp. 128–129).
Envy influences the subject’s violent motives
s. Understanding the powerful psychodynamics of severe envy, the obliterative mindset and pseudo-spiritual transformation, contribute to the knowledge base for threat assessment practice. Threat assessment clinicians on these teams may identify the signs of envy, often subtle or revealed indirectly, and its influence on a subject's violent motives.
Desire for revenge becomes so powerful they commit revenge-based homicide or attempt it, and may even sacrifice their own lives and careers just because of the burning narcissistic envy
When the desire for revenge is powerful enough, such individuals may conclude an act of lethal violence is wholly necessary and the only logical remedy, even if it means sacrificing their own lives.
This act of extreme violence risks the lives of both self and other while providing a relatively brief period of shelter from intense narcissistic injury.
Obliterative envy describes the process by which envy, and its related mental and emotional states, are negated through an act of extreme violence. This act of extreme violence risks the lives of both self and other while providing a relatively brief period of shelter from intense narcissistic injury. Pseudo-spiritual transformation is the perpetrator's belief that violent revenge, in response to a personal grievance, is being guided and sanctified by some transcendent power, usually of personal religious significance.
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2024.05.20 05:08 Storms_Wrath The Human Artificial Hivemind Part 514: High Lawyer

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Ascendant Denali swept his tail across the floor. "Greetings. The New Ascendancy welcomes you and your kin, Diplomat Sommi."
The Misan creature did its equivalent of a bow, honoring him in his palace as was proper. He had been starved of respect from his surrounding powers lately and would feast upon this memory like a fine cut.
"The Misan Li Heptarchies receive your warm greetings, Ascendant Denali. We offer official congratulations on your ascent to the Trikkec throne, and the continued unification of your people. We are glad that you are regaining your prosperity, and offer additional aid to that end."
It was the perfect language of the High Dialect, with almost no imperfections on the translator's part. An expertly trained device, for sure, given the vast cavern between their respective languages. He had a translator as well working to ensure that the Diplomat heard his words correctly, and that he would know how their language distorted them to prevent any unfortunate misunderstandings.
Such things could be disastrous with certain civilizations, and Denali saw no need to make true enemies. He was strong enough to project power inside the New Ascendancy but nowhere near so outside of it. Pirates and raiders still festered upon the upper borders, and the lower borders were contested by a few minor lords who had survived the collapse of the Ascendancy. He was currently bombarding their planetary shields with asteroids and lasers.
"Aid of what sort, and with what stipulations?" Denali asked, waving an economic advisor over with a stray claw.
"Military and economic."
"Stipulations?"
"You close all business with the Alliance."
"Ah."
Denali stepped off his throne. "Diplomat, I can assume you know how valuable that relationship is to the Ascendancy? I assume you already have a plan to replace them with something better. If your plan is ready, I will have my advisors review it. If not, no further discussions are to take place."
"Do you accept their power over you, Ascendant?"
"In this galaxy, it does not matter what we accept. If a Sprilnav comes barging into your house and takes your mate in front of you, there is nothing you can do. If one of the Core Powers manages to reach us, they can do the same. There are the laws of nations, and there are those of power. The Alliance's aid, even as its darker purposes twist it, has saved millions of lives. Children eating. Families working. They have the might of two AIs behind them."
"They are far too young of a nation for you to realistically believe their abilities are this high."
"Many have made that mistake," Denali said. "They are an older nation than mine, certainly. Would you say that my nation's abilities are lower?"
"I would not."
"Then you tell lies. I am not some foolish monarch who cannot see the reality in front of him. The Alliance's aid is a tool to keep me leashed like some common lizard. But it comes with economic growth and power that fuels the New Ascendancy further. I do not believe I will overtake their growth even when the entire species is reunited. And since your borders are further away than theirs, you will have added economic costs to any aid you give, with little gain on your end."
"They influence your culture. Your people."
"They do," Denali agreed. "You are a powerful nation as well. You would do the same with your own aid, yes? And you would call for us to destroy our traditions, our religions, and our very culture. We have seen your attempts at negotation with other powers nearer to you. You are an aspiring hegemon. But the Alliance's hegemony is already established. The Grand Defense Organization is something that I might even join, when I have the military might to meet their threshold."
"Why?"
"Because when power rises, others can latch on," Denali said. "Your offer, please. I am quite interested to hear it."
The Diplomat gave him a tablet. Denali brought it up with a hologram isolated from the network. His eyes began to shine.
"You should have led with this, Diplomat."
"Ah, but I needed to see the esteemed Ascendant's viewpoint on us. It is a shame that you must bow and scrape to the Alliance. How would you like to meet them on the field of battle?"
Denali chuckled. "I would like it very much, were they a normal nation. But they are taking planet crackers from King Siran and hauling them back to their space. They have a few of their own, not just stolen from the Wisselen."
"And they are pacifist."
"But not weak, Diplomat. All that means is they will not start the fight. But as we stand now, they will finish it. And a transfer of this many ships likely comes with enormous drawbacks and conditions."
"Then let us discuss those conditions, Ascendant. I am sure something more sufficient to your tastes can be selected."
"I am glad to hear that." Denali made a table hologram that was complete with hard light compatibility. Seating for the Misan, his guards, and Denali and his guards also appeared. The table was transparent.
"I will present my documents on this, and we can discuss in greater detail how you can divest from the Alliance without significant economic damage. There are certain facets we have identified which are key to your growth: military might, industrial capacity, and social cohesion."
Denali rubbed his teeth with his claws. Several cooks came in, bringing him food. The Misan Diplomat and his entourage refused, which was expected given the vast differences in their palettes.
"Those are indeed key parts of the Alliance's aid. Do you have an answer for me which is cheaper than the exports of the Alliance?"
"Yes. We can deliver 250 billion androids capable of continuous work for 20 years, each with a 96% likelihood of continued operation at the end of this period. We are willing to deliver these for you at once, though we would only request an escort of your ships alongside our own for added diplomatic security."
"A veritable army," Denali said.
"None of which will carry or operate weapons."
"We would need to verify that before shipping," Denali said. "As we would need to do for the price. The Alliance demands 1% of our current discretionary yearly foreign trade budget. How does your offer compare?"
"We would ask for a 30 year non-aggression agreement, and diplomatic outposts in your territory, as well as a possible defense pact, where we can defend you legally and militarily against Alliance encroachment."
"A large offer," Denali said. "Tell me, what is in it for you?"
"The Heptarchies wish to curtail the Alliance's growing influence by any means necessary, even if it means spending large amounts of money in the process. Having a monetary outflow is something the Heptarchies are happy to entertain, and we would be grateful for you to join us in this endeavor."
"And what of the risk of me playing both sides?"
"We can offer you high enough boons to ensure that does not occur."
So a bribe, then. A massive one. It was already enticing, but Denali sensed he could get more with better negotiations.
"You mentioned social cohesion and military might as well," Denali said. "Can you explain what you mean by this, and what aid you will send to address this?"
Now, the Diplomat looked more uncertain. It was an act, though a fairly convincing one. The pause lengthened.
"Ascendant Denali, surely you understand..."
"I understand you said 'any means necessary' for curtailing the Alliance. With an AI in their nation, such a thing will be expensive, yes? I'm sure that I need not remind you I will choose what is best for my nation overall. And if you cannot come through... I can always notify them of this offer to explore their ability to match it. Or, gods forbid, even exceed it."
"The trade agreement cannot encompass-"
"Then we have nothing more to discuss, Diplomat."
"Wait! Fine, we can discuss it! Just let us work out the new conditions. They're favorable to you, Ascendant. The Heptarchies value you as a potential customer-"
"I'm sure you do. You have four days to present an offer I appreciate more," Denali said, shoving the tablet back at the Diplomat. "Would you like me to procure food capable of Misan consumption?"
"That would be kind of you, Ascendant. We will accept that. And we will begin drafting a more suitable deal for both of our nations."
"Good!" Denali grinned, settling upon his chair with a new sense of pride in his posture.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Elder Pundacrawla settled his robe about his shoulders as he waited outside the room. In his implant, a small countdown reached zero. The silver doors slid open, and his eyes feasted on the room. It was quite ornate, but what really set it apart was the scene in the center. Elder Kashaunta sat on a short chair across a small table from the object of the entire star system's latest obsessions.
The bipedal alien sat in her own chair, which had an odd raised section to support her back. Her clothing was somewhat simple, with black and grey fabric covering her upper torso. He could tell the fabric was high quality—in fact, it was infused with psychic energy.
Her odd face looked a little smushed, and there was a faint red color to her pale skin and two bars of psychic energy thicker than he'd ever seen adorning her cheeks. She appeared unassuming, but her eyes latched onto him with an entrancing glare.
Her scrutiny waved over him, making Pundacrawla smile. Her gray hair fluttered, with a ring of fabric collecting it behind her head to rest on her back. Her fingers were short, without claws of any appreciable size. Her feet were hidden entirely by shoes; he could sense a thick armor.
In the mindscape, she roiled with collected psychic energy, like a promise of action for any slight. Her mind almost looked to have three minds in one, and iron bands of psychic energy encircled it from all sides, even above and below, preventing any quick avenue of mental attack. All in all, she was like an alien Elder when the conceptual energy came into account. She reminded Pundacrawla of an old friend, a secret he kept with Kashaunta that initially had been her leverage over him.
"It is an honor to meet you," Penny said. "You look as impressive as Kashaunta said."
There was no accent. The words flowed from her mouth smoothly, and Kashaunta showed no reaction to the omission of her title. That alone spoke volumes, and Pundacrawla knew he would be showing Penny more respect than most had the privilege to receive.
"I am happy to meet you as well, Penny Balica. Your accomplishments follow your name, and you are also quite impressive."
He settled on a third chair that appeared in front of him. He took a deep breath, his eyes falling on the pair of them.
"Elder Kashaunta has hired me to serve as your lawyer in the Judgment trial," Pundacrawla said. "This requires a great deal of risk to be taken on my part, which has also required that I received advancements."
He drew the word out, causing Penny to raise an eyebrow.
"Advancements?"
"Yes. I would like you to push the Soul Blade toward my left front leg."
Penny drew the sword, her fingers wrapping around the hilt easily. A grip of psychic energy materialized on her hands, and she carefully pressed the tip of it into the place he'd marked.
His skin was pierced. Penny frowned as her weapon went no further. Black blood spilled from the wound, which closed within moments.
"What?"
"These are Type 3 nanites," Pundacrawla said. Black limbs materialized on his back, a second set of arms. And then a third set. They withdrew quickly.
"They also happen to cost a considerable amount of money," Kashaunta said. "Which I have paid, thanks to the added funds your singularities have brought."
"I will tell you not to worry if I am killed in the courtroom. I already have a deal in place with the Collective to ensure, at considerable costs, that I will still survive in some form."
"And killing Pundacrawla is also a declaration of war on the Peoples' Autonomous Stars," Kashaunta added. "You do not stand alone."
"Indeed, I do not," Pundacrawla smiled. He bowed his head toward Penny. "If I may, I would like to start the discussion around the argument for this case."
His implant connected to several devices on his body, manifesting many holographic articles and stories around the room. Penny's 'Liberator' title was printed on half of them in the headline. In others, images and even videos of her in various situations took precedence.
Pundacrawla pulled up an image of Penny kneeling in the rubble of Justicar, holding a dead child. "This is the argument I will make for you."
Penny nodded, her silence confirming that this was the right decision.
"You will be the alien who came to a world named after the concept of justice, and an Elder who bears the same name. I will show how you care for many Sprilnav in your life, and also that you have little motivation to do so purely for the Judgment. I will show you as a loving daughter to a doting father, as a willing partner of Elder Kashaunta, bearer of the Pact of Blades, and as a woman capable of acting with wisdom and grace beyond her years to work with an enemy to sign a truce contract.
I will paint you in as sympathetic a light as possible and will eventually call you as a witness several times. You will need to swear upon your life that you are not lying, and Indrafabar and Justicar will both be capable of detecting your lies, total or partial. If you want to win this case, you will follow my advice without hesitation and without question. Do you understand?"
"I do, Lawyer Pundacrawla."
"You may call me High Lawyer Pundacrawla, or Elder Pundacrawla. With an Eonic degree, I am deserving of this title, and it will remind them of who backs you and who I am."
"I understand."
Pundacrawla took a long moment to organize his thoughts. He removed unnecessary jargon that might be untranslatable. He had the VI program rephrase and dumb down the explanations he needed to say so they would be shorter and easier to understand. Understanding was critical for the early phases of any case, and the client always needed to be ready for what came.
That was Rule 53.
"Now for the second half of the Judgment. The Alliance. They have published a great deal of rhetoric condemning the Sprilnav and the Elders. Yasihaut will first attempt slander using the usual methods. Your species, your barbarity, your lack of being Elders. She will find images of people on social media platforms calling for the deaths of the Sprilnav en mass.
If she desires, she will flood them with this, as the Alliance's population allows for many instances to be located. She may call to past Elders' deaths or to the previous battles with herself and Kashaunta in the earlier history of your nation. But the most likely platform she will use to pose the Alliance as a threat will be the presence of Phoebe, Edu'frec, Brey, and the hivemind of Humanity. The reasons for this are many. I will list several now, with ideal ways to counter them also attached.
Given Yasihaut's personality, she feels that you and the Alliance's continual success is a direct and constant threat to her reputation as an Elder. When you first shamed her, this is what ignited her hatred. Kashaunta has regaled you more on what reputation means to us immortals, but it is a severe concern. Do not underestimate her willingness to regain her reputation and to do so by attempting to defeat you in a public matter.
Here, your physical advantages will be nullified. If you speak out of turn or show signs of resistance, they will be twisted against you and the Alliance. The next reason is that your specific rivalry is personal. It is unique, and the High Judges know this. You are a threat to her, and everyone in that court knows you mean to kill her when the Judgment ends. Do not express your wishes to do this because she may present your threat to her as one to Elders overall. Now, for the Alliance, the fear of AI, unregulated, intelligent, and improving, as Phoebe and Edu'frec both qualify as, is ancient and potent among the Elders.
Across all of history, rogue AI presents the largest threat to our rule, making weapons capable of disabling our ships with merely thousands of years of time to advance. The Alliance has been given leniency on this. But most importantly is the Path. For an AI, approaching technological singularity is a threat to all other beings in existence by the sheer possibilities that it provides. Yasihaut knows this, as do the High Judges. I will aim to prove that Phoebe and Edu'frec do not intend to kill the Elders or go to war with them when they reach singularity.
But this, Penny, will require that Phoebe comes to the stand herself and swears before the court. The Collective will be connected to her and will be capable of detecting the lies in all forms she attempts to tell. This is likely the only way to defeat the arguments Yasihaut presents in that manner. While Phoebe is not allowed to represent you as a lawyer, she is still allowed to be a witness, presumably for exactly this reason. The Collective will also use this as a means to determine Phoebe's progress in weaponry, so I suggest she finds a way to hide those memories well. The next reason Yasihaut will involve the Alliance is because it is visibly divided.
Your leaders bicker and argue, and she will attempt to use this to show you as an unstable power with dangerous ambition. She will use the clashes between your leaders as a way to convince the High Judges that you cannot be trusted, as your lifespans are too short and your minds too alien to remain trustworthy and united in their support of any sort of treaty. She will likely use this to bypass the reality of your truce with Valisada, which the Alliance is not a direct party to. She will discuss the specific threat of Brey in the Alliance. Her ability to use portals makes your nation over fifty times as productive as it would otherwise be.
This makes you an economic threat, coupled with Phoebe. Brey has a historical hatred of the Sprilnav, which also motivates possible military attacks against us. She is also being directly strengthened by the Alliance's psychic amplifiers. I will attempt to stave off this argument by downplaying the threat Brey poses and showing the reality that a Progenitor could kill her instantly.
I am not expecting any specific arguments in this scenario to be effective against the High Judges. This will be a difficult point if Yasihaut exploits it properly. As for the hivemind of Humanity, your threat comes in multiple forms. Firstly, we can confirm you share some power with the hivemind. So if you grow strong, it too will grow strong, and it bends to the will of Humanity as a whole. Polls show that you all, to put it lightly, hate us.
The hivemind also has a direct diplomatic link to the Source and easy access to it via the Servant in the hivemind's city and the city's location itself amidst the Source's bones. Remember that many of us still call the Source the Great Enemy and the Servants the Enemy. Yasihaut will likely attempt to use Rimiaha's presence here to link you as well to the image of the Source, if not the hivemind. If she does this successfully, you will lose the case.
The hatred we have for the Servants is almost bottomless and is only exceeded by that of the Source. Kashaunta has told me that there have been over 30 thousand attempts to kill Rimiaha since he got here, most psychic in nature. All of them have failed due to the intervention of either Justicar, Kashaunta herself, or Rimiaha using his psychic energy to blend in with Sprilnav. Behind the scenes, Kashaunta has destroyed entire mercenary companies in the Underground for this and made deals with Justicar to suppress any mention of this to avoid stirring the fires of war. I will do whatever I can to distance you from Rimiaha.
But if this fails, you must call him to the stand. Make him testify of his lack of willingness to attack the Sprilnav. Indrafabar may request that his mind be invaded to determine the truth about this. If the Source intervenes in that case or Rimiaha refuses, you will also lose the trial. This is the most dangerous idea that Yasihaut could bring against you, which links back to Humanity and you, Penny.
Another reason she has is that if she can push the Judges enough on the Alliance to either level more restrictions or kill the AIs, you will be crippled beyond recovery and will fade into nothingness for her to kill at her leisure. In short, most of this trial hinges on circumstances and testimonies given by witnesses. This is another reason Indrafabar is on the case. He can detect lies in almost any being if he uses his power. And if you resist, which you might be capable of, but..."
"I lose."
"Exactly. This is not a place of honor. This is not a court like before. Arguments will be heard, debated, and either accepted and recorded or discarded and ignored. I will do my best to use Justicar's law principles like recency to your favor, but history is littered with petty Judges making decisions on cases related to how much a threat people are. Not to this level, of course, but there is luckily precendent to lean on in both types of outcomes."
"Pundacrawla, I thank you for your high-level overview. Shall I assume the legal jargon was left out of your description?"
"Yes," he said. "I was uncertain if some words would translate."
"What are my realistic chances for winning this trial?"
Pundacrawla sighed. He didn't want to see her hope shatter, but he refused to lie. Kashaunta seemed fine with him sitting here and talking about things truthfully. If she wasn't, she would have requested a different lawyer.
"In the worst case scenario, which is Indrafabar and Justicar dislike you, and Yasihaut has a lawyer with an Eonic degree of their own, then I would say about 9%."
"That is quite high, actually, for a worst case scenario."
"That is only because this is a Trial by Majority, Kashaunta's backing and all that implies, your friendships with Nilnacrawla, Spentha and Equisa's continued survival within the Alliance, the various political motivations the Judges might have, the fact that you have built up your image, that you have refrained from killing your enemies recently, and the extreme nature of Yasihaut's hatred for you.
Your attack on Tassidonia's court normally would have been the death knell for you. But since your power didn't kill anyone and specifically was weakened to avoid that, it has been a boon more than a curse. And the Sprilnav with bleeding hearts also are pleased with your war on slavery. You will lose that war without Kashuanta's help, but your determination on that is seen as an endearing characteristic."
"Endearing?"
"The Elders think of you as a child, Penny," Kashaunta said. "Your fight against slavery is seen as a childish fantasy, but in a good way. If you wish, Pundacrawla can lean into either your maturity or immaturity on this case. Both may achieve the desired effect, if done right."
"I am not sure about that. Who will watch this trial, and how many?"
"Cast away your ego, Penny, it will not serve you here," Pundacrawla said.
"I'm 76 years old. I can handle this."
"I don't think-"
"200 quintillion," Kashaunta blurted out. Penny flinched.
"What?"
"That is the number of watchers on the channels that have reserved timeslots for the trial among Sprilnav territory."
"And... Elders?"
"35 million, likely including all the Elders with names of any note," Kashaunta said. Pundacrawla gave a worried look to Penny. But the human just took a deep breath and nodded.
"Thank you for telling me. That is manageable."
"You're quite composed about this," Pundacrawla noted.
"I can conceptualize the enormity of that, but also this is a pretty big deal. And if I prove that I am fighting for the common people, it will achieve-"
"Nothing," Kashaunta said. "They cannot rebel on a large enough scale to risk toppling the Elders. If there is one aspect of our system that has survived the rot of a billion years of decay, it is the ability to divide and conquer. This is not an opportunity to get a manifesto out. I warn you against treating it as such."
At first, Penny looked wary of accepting the Elder's advice. She seemed to contemplate that matter, though she was really talking with her adoptive father. But instead of arguing, she simply smiled.
"I understand, Kashaunta. Thank you. I was getting a little sidetracked. All that matters is winning."
"So is there anything I can do to increase my chances?" Penny asked Pundacrawla.
"Outreach. Keep fighting the slavers, and maybe do a few interviews. Make sure to express a lack of hostility toward the Sprilnav people. And be wary of the gangs. When you are in the trial, they may seek revenge upon the freed slaves, or upon you yourself. I would not be surprised if they did their best to conduct false flag attacks under your name. In high-profile trials like this with many enemies, that risk is high. The gangs have high numbers of personnel and a motivation to see you lose this trial before you destroy them."
"I see. Thank you, High Lawyer Pundacrawla," Penny said, lowering her head in an approximation of a bow. Kashaunta nodded but didn't say anything. Penny took another breath in, and Pundacrawla could feel the air currents entering her nostrils.
"Can you explain exactly how a Trial by Majority would work versus the previous sort of Judgment?"
"Previously, the Judges, led by a High Judge, had to agree on a verdict. In that case, they failed. This structure is more flexible, however. All the Judges on the court, or the High Judges in this case, may voice their opinions behind closed doors and attempt to come to a verdict. They will emerge when the agreed-upon time period has passed, and their decisions will be made public.
If one Judge disagrees, there will not be a mistrial. Instead, the verdict with the most Judges behind it, ideally the majority opinion, will be the one chosen. This Judgement will have 20 High Judges. The final verdict, if none can reach the required 11 Judges to pass, will simply be held once all remaining evidence is heard or discarded."
"Held?"
"The High Judges will be required to resolve the dispute. If there are three or more options, the one or multiple with the fewest High Judges backing it will be discarded, until a runoff occurs. The result will then determine the verdict given."
"Can I be acquitted of the charges if that is the majority opinion?"
"Yes, you can. So can the Alliance. The structure of this Judgment is such that Indrafabar and Justicar will counterbalance each other."
"Can't Indrafabar just offer them money to do what he wants?"
"If he wants to lose his licence, severely harm his reputation, and destroy the careers of the High Judges being bribed, sure. While obviously Justicar will not have the power to truly punish him, the consequences would be severe, to say nothing of the other Progenitors. Given the factions present within them, it would be quite unwise for him to influence the case in such a manner. That influence would not be accepted by all."
"What if Yasihaut makes them an offer they can't refuse, or tries to make it look like Kashaunta did to get me in trouble?"
"I have taken steps to prevent that second outcome," Kashaunta said. "As for the first, my spies within Yasihaut's groups will alert me of it, and Justicar will know."
"But if he is a High Judge, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?"
"His institutions function properly even without his intervention," Kashaunta replied. "There is little risk of that on his part."
"Hmm. Kashaunta, should I hide the Pact of Blades until the trial?"
"Yes. Its shock value will be maximum at that point."
"Elder Pundacrawla, are the rules on decorum the same as before?"
"Yes, but this time there will be proper enforcement. With the galaxy's eyes on him, Justicar will have no choice but to be firm in this trial. He will not be lenient to either of you, and might punish you more for infractions given that you are not a Sprilnav. It is unfair, but it is in his best interest to please the Elders who will be viewing this trial."
"Kashaunta, is there a way I can help you with the politics around this trial?" Penny asked. "I know if the event is this big, there is a lot for you to do, either to gain or to lose."
"A thoughtful offer. I might require one more linear singularity, and to finally get a piece of that negative energy you promised me. If you could tune your rhetoric toward peace with the Elders, it would help my position massively. The Alliance has already started scrubbing anti-Sprilnav rhetoric from its networks after I discussed the damage they could do, so what remains is your opinions. After the Judgment, more eyes will be on you than before. Declare your continued anti-slavery position, and I will have an easier time helping you with less damage to my reputation due to the revealed Pact of Blades."
"Do you also have an entourage of Elders to back you through thick and thin?" Penny asked. Pundacrawla smiled, glad that she was concerned about helping Elder Kashaunta.
She didn't know it, but now Pundacrawla was fully resolved to help her case. He'd been properly convinced that she really did care for her friends. In this case, while she likely was conflicted about it, Kashaunta was her friend. Given the Pact of Blades was in place between them, they were lifelong friends, close enough to be effectively married.
The political meaning of the Pact was certainly closer to that side of it since its most common use was to unify powerful Elder families. Kashaunta didn't have a family name, but that was because her name already carried so much weight everyone knew who was related to her. Pundacrawla gave Kashaunta a list of additional actions Phoebe needed to take using his implant. Kashaunta's eyes sparkled with recognition, though Penny didn't seem to notice.
"I do," Kashaunta said. "They all work for me. Most of them I acquired through either mud diving or through owed favors, though."
"Mud diving?" Penny asked.
"It is a term for doing one's utmost to please a superior for personal benefit, even if the 'please' section is derived from an unfortunate root meaning."
"I see. Elder Pundacrawla, can you get me something I can use for personal communication to you and Kashaunta, like an implant but less invasive?"
"Yes, I can do that," he responded.
"And also, one more thing before we go. Displace."
Penny appeared right in front of him, crouching down so her eyes aligned perfectly with his. They crackled with psychic energy, but beneath them lay a guarded desperation that he recognized from many of his more unfortunate past clients.
"I will not threaten you right now. But I need you to understand what is at stake for me. My friends. My family. My species. My nation. Over 200 billion living, breathing souls with lives and dreams they struggle every day to inch closer to. My titles, Champion of Humanity and Liberator, do not describe what I am but who I am. My world, my people. My home. Everything I have ever known and everything I have ever loved is at stake. Maybe you know what that is like. Maybe you don't.
Either way, please, I beg you to do your best to save us. I'm relying on you to be my hero, Pundacrawla. You can do this, and you must, or I will die for nothing. You will live with the consequences of this Judgment for the rest of your life. I hope you are everything Kashaunta claims you to be and more.
Hundreds of billions of people are counting on you. Look me in the eyes, Pundacrawla. Take in my alien face and my alien features. Know the creature standing here, and tell her you will do everything you can to save her and her people. And if it comes down to choosing to save me or the Alliance, save the Alliance."
Pundacrawla let out a breath. The hot air flowed across Penny's face, moving alien hair strands to the side. He looked into her eyes, peering into the reflection of three beings inside of her.
"Penny Balica. Champion of Humanity. Liberator. Human. I, Pundacrawla, High Lawyer, Elder, and Sprilnav, promise you, with all of my heart, all of my mind, and all of my soul, that I will do my best to win this Judgment for you and your kin. My actions will speak even louder than my words to you."
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