#ROWS function in Excel

[sharingknowledgewithmouli]

Excel Row Counting: How to Count Text, Numerical, Blank and Data Rows Using Functions

Excel Row Counting: How to Count Text, Numerical, Blank and Data Rows Using Functions

Excel is one of the most widely used spreadsheet applications in the world and it is easy to see why. Its powerful features and flexible tools make it an indispensable tool for businesses and individuals alike. One of the most basic tasks in Excel is counting rows, but this seemingly simple task can actually be quite complex. In this tutorial, we will show you how to count the number of rows in…

[melonpond]

I'm always like "oh this excel spreadsheet will be so quick and easy to throw together" and then two hours later I'm digging through the trenches of the internet, seeking wisdom from Excel sages for obscure and increasingly complicated functions to do one thing

[relto]

my mom has this spreadsheet thing she has to do at work once a year, several thousand entries she has to do some data analysis on. up until now her go to method was apparently to count things by hand (!!), taking hours, but yesterday i did some countif magic with her and the actual counting part was done in a few minutes!

[armageddon-generation]

The Bear Season 3 is a bridge season that feels weird on purpose, but also has some big problems: A review/ramble

Season 3 is clearly a bridge season, and suffers from having been written & shot alongside season 4. As a result, unlike the seasons 1 & 2, it doesn’t feel like a distinctive or complete chapter of the restaurant’s life. Just half of one.

This is partly because there’s no ‘end-goal’ like in S2, or clear progression/visible improvement to the restaraunt like in S1. Season 3 is about stagnation. Most of its storylines are left unresolved- the review, Sydney’s job offer, Tiff & Frank’s wedding, Marcus being inspired by his mother’s death, Tina and the dying farmer’s market, Carmy’s conflicts with both Claire and Ritchie. All these threads will roll into Season 4, and Season 3 suffers from that.

PACING, FLASHBACKS AND TONE: FORM REFLECTING FUNCTION

HOWEVER. This being a ‘bridge’, character-focused season isn’t inherently bad. Individual episodes of The Bear still tear when they want to. Episodes 1, 2, & 3 are a very strong setup for the season and establish good momentum. Episodes 6 & 8 are fantastic character pieces, and 8 in particular made me bawl. Even the finale, though bogged down by masturbatory celebrity chef cameos, was a strong episode.

The problem is all the stuff in-between. The actual day-to-day running of the restaurant feels hollow and empty now. There’s a distance between the characters and it feels like they don’t interact as a group anywhere near as much.

Part of this is absolutely deliberate. People joke about S3 'method acting' its way into bad reviews to reflect the restaraunt, but losing steam and the connections between characters is genuinely a formal reflection of the kitchen crew's moods, as the day-to-day grind of running the restaurant wears them down.

The use of flashbacks in 3x1 is excellent, but Season 3 quickly becomes way over-reliant on them (episode 9 especially, oh my god). Again, this feels like a conscious choice to reflect Carmy’s state of inertia/the fact he’s perpetually trapped in the past. It makes sense, but that doesn’t give the show a pass for being boring, and 3x9 was the first time I’ve ever felt genuinely bored by this show.  

FUCK THE FAKS & NEGLECTING POC CHARACTERS

My other problems are much more clearly the fault of the show; I do not give a flying fuck about the Faks. Neil is cute in small doses. The brothers are great as soundboards for other characters; Theo getting Sweeps to talk about his backstory in baseball, the brothers comforting Donna at the end of 3x8 Ice Chips, or the haunting argument finally forcing Carmy to talk about Claire.

But on their own? When they’re just bouncing off each-other? These guys aren't half as funny as the show seems to think they are. And their scenes drag on so long. For example, the B-plot of 3x5 Computer wastes half of an otherwise strong episode with pointless fucking around, propped up by a pointless celebrity cameo. I do not Give. A. Fuck about haunting, Mr. Cena, why the fuck are you here.

The aggravating time-wasting is made worse by The Bear continuing to neglect and underuse its POC characters. This is the second season in a row where I’ve felt Syd only got the bullet-points of an arc. She is the LEADING LADY. Ayo is now the show’s biggest breakout star. USE HER.

I really enjoyed Tina's focus episode, but unlike Forks and Honeydew last season it doesn't move the plot forward, and unlike Fishes the flashbacks don't contextualize Tina''s actions in the present because she's barely doing anything in the present, despite the show setting up her struggles in the kitchen early in the season.

Meanwhile, Ebra got crumbs again and Sweeps got a single scene, which is tragically at least better than he had last year.

Marcus’ arc this year is a fascinating microcosm for the show’s themes, but it barely gets a second to breathe because we have to cram in another five minutes of the Fak brothers arguing about that time Neil got taped into a cardboard box. It’s ridiculous. And then they showcase Nat being all protective of Marcus in an episode he’s barely in, when she barely interacts with him. It feels unearned & disingenuous, using Marcus as a prop for a Hell Yeah gotcha moment.

I liked Josh Harnett though, that casting had purpose, and both Chef Terry and Luca were used excellently.

CAMEOS

The surprise celebrity cameos this year felt distracting and indulgent in a way last year’s didn’t. In Fishes the slew of cameos were a dramatic tool meant to disorient the viewer. This year, John Cena is here to distract you from how pointless this B-plot is, and we've brought in a bunch of famous chefs to tell you direct-to-camera why cooking and the service industry are so important.

The chefs in particular are bizzare after season 1 spent most of its time telling us how evil and toxic the fine dining industry is. But now it's actually just the fault of a few bad apples, and these guys are really rad actually?

CLAIRE

Much has been said about how Claire was an underwritten archetype for Carmy to project onto. Now, I don’t much give a fuck about shipping in this show, but it’s clear Claire & Carmy’s romance didn’t connect with most people. It felt hollow. At the time, I thought this was deliberate, like the tone and flashbacks this season; Claire’s writing reflected Carmy’s perception of her as a saintlike childhood daydream who could deliver him from all the stresses of his life.

But this season, not only does the show refuse to let Claire go, it doubles down on objectifying her as a prop for Carmy’s self-loathing, trapped in his memory.

Again, this might work thematically if I knew Claire as a person, or was at all invested in their romance, but I don't and I’m not. As it stands, the multiple extended flashbacks with Claire feel like futile attempts to plug the holes in Season 2's weakest storyline, and drag their episodes down. If we’re supposed to root for Carmy to find happiness outside the kitchen, this is having the opposite effect, and it’s made worse by it all being left unresolved by the finale.

Either do something with this character or move on, because right now every time Claire appears I clock out emotionally, and that’s not her fault, it’s the way the show treats her.

CARMY THE ASSHOLE

All this contributes to an overriding problem that I again think is deliberate, but risky; Carmy isn’t likeable this season. He causes his conflicts with Ritchie and Syd, to whom he has passed down his generational trauma. Carmy's menu is the biggest thing dragging the Bear into bankruptcy. Carmy has stopped working to resolve his familial trauma like in seasons 1 & 2, just as Nat starts making headway. He functionally doesn’t exist outside the kitchen, entirely preoccupied with the past & a girl the audience doesn’t care about.

Unlike previous seasons, the few times Carmy is called out for his bad behaviour he doesn’t make much effort to listen or improve. Again, I get that this is the point. Carmy is on a low, self-destructive ebb, and hopefully when things start resolving in season 4 he’ll snap out of it. But him dragging the show down with him has consequences.

EPISODE COUNT & FINAL THOUGHTS

A lot of people are saying that S3 only had enough plot for 2-3 episodes, and while I think that’s disingenuous- The Bear has always been a character-focused, vibes-first show- I do think it should've returned to the 8-episode count of season 1. You can consolidate the same amount of ‘plot development’ into fewer episodes while maintaining the deliberate sense of inertia. Cut back on the Faks and flashbacks to give more time to the kitchen crew, and many of the complaints would disappear.

Anyway, all this to say that The Bear season 3 is not Bad like some are saying, but it is a step down from its first two seasons. It feels like it’s got lost in its own head and lost a part of itself along the way, and while a lot of that is deliberate- formally reflecting Carmy’s internal conflict- it exacerbates existing problems (underwritten POC, Claire) and creates several new ones (celeb cameos, overusing flashbacks, unresolved plotlines) previous seasons were able to sidestep.

[utilitycaster]

I'm curious about your judgement of the success of the various format experimentations in Campaign 3. If you feel like saying a bit more, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on which are the most and least successful, and why.

Sure! So as I said earlier today, I think a big problem is that the format experimentation and the moon plot are directly at odds. Pulling off the moon plot, with all the NPCs from past campaigns and payoff of various canonical setups requires a pretty firm hand on what the current canon is, and also really did require a firmer hand in the character creation than there was. On the other hand, the point of experimentation is to let other people play in the space and introduce their ideas. This comes together in what I have referred to in the past as "Not Now." Like, the Crown Keepers showing up just as the party was grappling with FCG's death? Not bad as a concept, but Not Now. Abubakar playing Corellon? Incredible performance, but the fact that he was given free rein in a plot that's already shedding viewers left and right for its lack of direction? Not Now.

On an individual level:

I think EXU Prime either needed to be fully standalone, or Matt needed to provide a slightly more rigid direction to Aabria and therefore really couldn't play Dariax. If it's going to get woven into the main plot of Campaign 3 it needs to set that up (including giving Liam and Ashley a heads up beforehand). My personal vote would be for the former, to allow Aabria to tell her own story without it having to serve like 20 different functions, but what's done is done. If I recall, Liam and Ashley had the option to play different characters for Campaign 3 and I do wonder what would happen if they had decided differently, because you could still have Dorian pop up as a guest but I wonder if the Crown Keepers would have shown up in the same way.

Similarly, as stated, the general concept of the Crown Keepers interlude during the campaign as a means to bring in Dorian? I'm not opposed, though I think this is by far the hardest thing to coordinate generally and for a plot as demanding as Campaign 3 probably not a great idea. But it's hard to judge because the timing was truly the worst timing possible given the events of episode 91, and even delaying by like an episode or two would have at least solved that to the point that I don't understand why they didn't just...do that. (and, just to head off this particularly stupid argument at the pass, this would not have in any way affected Sam's ability to take time off for cancer treatment; it would have just shifted things around, and a lot of this experimentation was planned WELL in advance). [sidebar: I haven't listened to the WBN interlude yet but I do have thoughts because I think interludes from different GMs can be done, but the premise of Campaign 3 is particularly hostile towards them unless the main GM has a very heavy hand in their creation or unless they are light on things relevant to the core plot and mostly for the purpose of worldbuilding a la Song of the Lorelei.]

Solstice split was excellent and I think it's because it was not actually anything you wouldn't see in how people frequently play D&D at home. You have a few players who won't be available for a few sessions in a row? Great, find a reason to split the party, bring some other guest players in, and run some side quests!

Downfall was great because it was diagetic. It was a story within a story that Bells Hells was seeing and responding to, and because it took place so long ago with such specific characters, while it may bleed into how Laura, Taliesin, or Ashley feel in game (impossible to prevent, people bring their own feelings to the table), Matt still has room to decide how the Raven Queen, Wildmother, or Everlight feel a thousand years later. I also feel this had the most direction from Matt, which the other things really needed.

As said, bringing in Abubakar to DM as Corellon is something that again, this plot simply doesn't handle well. It makes for a fantastic scene, but within the 107-and-counting episodes of this story, giving the reins to someone else after you finally have a clear plan and letting them throw another curveball is a terrible idea narratively. I think this again would be fine in a story with a looser plot.

Echoes of the Solstice and presumably the upcoming Vox Machina Malleus Key/Mighty Nein Weave Mind concept is again pretty good. This also fits into things that D&D home games have been doing forever - run a one shot or mini campaign following different characters but DM-ed by the same person that have an impact on the current plot but aren't too closely interwoven. Basically this is like the solstice split in concept.

Essentially: I think playing around with the format within a campaign but having the same GM is pretty easy to do. Once you introduce other GMs acting within the world concurrently (rather than as a story with a foregone conclusion a la Downfall, or for that matter Calamity) you need to be extremely careful if you are trying to tell a specific story with a lot of moving parts, as Matt is with Campaign 3. It's one thing to improvise based on things your players do or say; it's another to do so based on improv by a major NPC or someone doing extensive worldbuilding mid-game that you now need to incorporate. This wouldn't be an issue in a more sandbox-style game; Campaign 2 might have been able to withstand it more gracefully, though I'm still not sure. But Campaign 3 was the wrong place to do it. Again, it's trying to converge in some places and diverge in the others and as a result it's just kind of flopping around in place.

[copperbadge]

Hello, hello, could you please say more about how you use Microsoft OneNote in your professional life? I need all the help I can get to stay organized & on top of things, so I would love to know.

Sure! I use it less than previous because there's less randomized stuff I need to do now, so I don't need such robust management, but I can talk about how my use began/evolved. I started using OneNote because it was less finicky than Word but still had an autosave function and basic formatting, so it was useful for initial drafts of documents, taking notes on meetings, and keeping track of information I needed at my fingertips frequently.

OneNote's largest "unit" is the Notebook. You can have multiple Notebooks but I've never bothered; still I can see how if your screen was public a lot, you'd want to put some things in a separate Notebook. The Notebook then breaks down into Sections which look like tabs, which I would assign to broad things like "Meeting Notes", "Assignments", "Templates", "Personal" and "Excel Hacks". Sections break down further into "Pages"; each page is a document stuck into place, which you can title so that you can have a list of "pages" on the sidebar and find the one you want easily. Text in Pages can be formatted to some degree, and if you copypaste from websites, it'll tag on the URL of the site you pasted from, although you can also turn that off if you want. You can drag and drop Pages from one Section to another pretty easily.

So, for example, I'd have a "Meeting Notes" Section, and when I clicked the tab for that section I'd have a list of Pages, each of which was notes from a meeting I'd attended. Every time I went into a meeting I just made a new page, gave it a meeting title and date, and took notes on the meeting into the page window. The "Meeting Notes" Section thus became a fully searchable record of meetings I'd attended and what was said. When meeting notes were no longer relevant I'd drag them to an archival Section to retire in peace.

Here's an example of my Excel section:

You can see "My Notebook" up in the left top corner, my current Sections as tabs at the top, and the pages list on the left (I think more modern OneNote skins put the pages on the right, I moved mine back). Each line on the left is a separate "page" that tells me how to do something in Excel, something I need to do a lot but can't commit to memory (or couldn't but now have, it's a trifle out of date). So we're in My Notebook, section Excel, page Formatting Stripes, and on the right you can see how to format an Excel sheet so that it has alternating colored rows (there are other ways to do this but this way the stripes always stay alternating no matter what moves where). In theory I could dump all this stuff into one Page and call it "Excel" and put it somewhere else, but I liked having an easily-visible list so I don't have to scroll a single document to find what I want.

There aren't nearly as many tab/sections as there used to be; "Assignments" covers "all work that is not excel formulas" and includes stuff like instructions for how to pull a query in our database, a list of what everyone does at our company, a yearly guide to our events program, a few other things. I don't have a "Personal" section any more but I do have 2-3 pages in the Assignments section that are personal notes.

There's no inbuilt tagging function but because the entire notebook is searchable, if you're really into tagging you can simply add keywords to the top or bottom of a page.

I have OneNote pinned to my taskbar in Windows, and it's basically always open but it autosaves, so adding stuff is super simple; if I find a bug in our database or a quirk I want to remember I just click over to OneNote and add it to the database file, or similar.

I don't use it on my phone or tablet, because if I'm at work I have access to my laptop generally, but OneNote does sync across devices as long as you're logged in, so if you have OneNote and a Microsoft login you should be able to access it in multiple places.

[deusvervewrites]

Luminary x Friendly Neighborhood Vampire:

Curious: *tries to write an expose on the Toga family after getting a front row seat to Himiko's breakdown because "isn't meta-ability liberation supposed to be our whole thing?"*

Re-Destro: "Yeah... You can't publish this."

Curious: "... What?"

Re-Destro: "Too much negative press for Aldera!" *pats her on the shoulder* "Great job with the prose, though! Maybe try something about how UA lifting its ban on baselines in the Hero Course is reckless and will only get someone killed? That's bound to get people talking!"

Curious: *under her breath* "Or maybe I should practice writing an obituary."

Re-Destro: *completely missing the implied threat* "Oh brilliant! If that boy she stabbed dies in the hospital, he'd make for an excellent martyr! Just have to make sure nobody finds out he was attacked on Aldera's grounds and point out he could've defended himself if he had been allowed to use his Meta Ability! I've gotta make some calls!"

(In other news, I'm so mad Tumblr broke the "chrono" feature, because it makes it SO hard to find the Aldera Squad's names.)

Honestly at this point she kind of deserves it

(Chrono works for me but only when I'm looking at a blog and not the dash view. You know, the opposite of how the link limit works. Because Tumblr is a functional webbed site.

Anyway here are the names)

[itwasrealtome]

BEST BELOVED

CHAPTER FOUR — DAMN RIGHT, I’VE GOT THE BLUES

⚠️ DO NOT READ IF THIS MIGHT TRIGGER YOU

Scarlett Johansson x fem!OC fic | Masterlist

Summary :

Content Warning : Elle listening to some Buddy Guy | New School | Discovering a new place and new people | Carter hates LA and misses Portland

Navigation :

Chapter Three

Chapter Five

Don’t miss any more chapters or info by being tagged

TikTok

•••

LOS ANGELES — CALIFORNIA

DECEMBER 06, 2016

Carter hated Los Angeles. 

From its sweltering heat to its crowded streets and inhabitants. He'd only been there two short weeks and was already missing Portland. Not what he would have liked to call home, or the people who were supposed to be his family, but the city itself. The alleys of Japanese maples, the café where he played his first guitar notes in public and, above all, the weather in favor of a snowy Christmas.

Here, the air was stifling and the sun never seemed to take a break. Even sprawled out in his new bed, the atmosphere seemed to descend on him, crushing his chest. Repainting the walls and assembling the furniture had been an ordeal for him. Unlike his sister, who seemed accustomed to the Californian air, Carter was still wiping the corner of his eyebrow and inhaling every second. 

In the car, the ordeal was the same. But at least he could enjoy the occasional light breeze. He leaned back, his cap hitting the headrest of the seat, his long legs stretched out to the glove compartment. For someone who has money, he thought, it's definitely no luxury.

— Don said it’s a very good school, reminds Elle, taking her eyes off the road for a second. They have excellent results and programs. 

— Yeah, whatever… 

Chewing gum wrapped around his tongue, Carter blew until the bubble burst in his face. Elle flinched at the sound though she tried to hide it. She nudged her brother's shoulder, a heavy sigh covering Buddy Guy's voice.

— I'm doing this for you. 

It was as if the words were floating around in the vehicle without ever reaching their intended target. The dark-haired teenager's face was now glued to the glass, his eyes glued to the immense building looming overhead. It was by no means the same kind of school as the one Aunt Nancy had placed him in. 

The facade alone was impressively large. From their parking place, he could see teachers dressed in a clean and serious manner, but also students who did not seem at all to be petty criminals. Yeah, it was definitely a big change.

— I know it's nothing like the shithole we grew up in, but I think you're going to love it here.

Carter simply shrugged, following the actress blindly, hands clutching his backpack. He relied heavily on his feet to lead him to the right place. The sight of the path through the trees didn't interest him. He wanted to see the branches move with the light breeze and the white chalk of the walls lighten with the sun. If he had to face this view for the rest of the year, then it was nothing like the hell he'd imagined.

— Ah. Ms. Wiley, it's a great honor to have you here in our school. The school principal spent some extra time buttering Elle up, before realizing Carter’s presence. And you, young man, must be Carter.

Carter shook her hand and gave a brief, shy smile. He suddenly felt his cheeks heating up, just as they did when attention was focused on him. Only this time, Elle was right by his side.

— I hear you have an excellent program for athletes. I'm quite interested, can you tell me more about it?

The woman went into her lengthy explanations and began guiding her guests around the establishment. Elle didn't care much for the school's sports program, but she knew Carter did. He trailed behind the two women, his gaze darting all over the place, swallowing each piece of information he was given.

His sister was right. This building was nothing like the one they'd known. The corridors were huge, well-lit and furnished with rows of lockers that still looked new, or at least functional. He was surprised to find that the refectory was clean and free of tags on walls and tables, something to which he'd become accustomed in his old school. Only a few kilometers stood between him and the place he had once known, yet he had the distinct impression of being in another world. 

When both women halted, Carter missed his cue and lightly jostled his sister. He murmured a simple apology, tightening the grip on his backpack straps. Elle quietly patted his shoulder and prompted him to focus on the space in front of them, where one of the school’s gymnasiums stood out. Her knowing smile betrayed her familiarity with her brother's interests. There were only two places to find Carter: the music classroom and the gymnasium, ball in hand.

— Coach Cruz has already studied your profile, Carter. Let me tell you, if you keep up the good work, you'll soon be the team's new star.

The brunet only nodded, too absorbed by the sound of soles on the wooden floor, the whistles and the power of the strikes to find words. Los Angeles may not have been home, but this place could be. 

He could already see himself practicing for hours on end, improving his sets and shots, making this room his reference point. The equipment didn't look as bad as he'd imagined. 

Here, at least, they had equipment.

— I have a couple of matters to settle with Mrs. Hale. stated Elle, her hand massaging the nape of her brother's neck. Why don't you introduce yourself and take a walk? I won't be long.

Before he could react, Principal Hale had already called the coach over to them. Cruz was a man in his fifties, with an athletic bearing and a posture that showed immense respect. His handshake was strong and seemed genuine. And for the first time since he'd been in his sister's company, Carter saw a man more preoccupied with his sport than with the actress' beautiful face.

— Hey son, welcome to the team. Cruz guided him with a hand on his shoulder, his fatherly posture almost reassuring for a young boy like Carter. You're gonna love it here!

•••

Taglist : @micaluvssoccer @rain-mikaelson @red1culous @taylucky13 @womenlovingwomen-imagines @aqiia24 @youdontknowwhotfiamm @mmmmokdok @unexpected-character @iheartmilfies @natalia-quinzel @electricboost @angeliqueh5331 @emskisworld @sami1642 @waltermis @imjai02 @enjoytheentireworld @jatrovyknedl @madamevirgo @lyak12 @anku1901 @ssaaggwwaa @marvelandotheruniversesloveradhd @canvasscoloredin @butwhynothavesomwmore @hi-1-1-blog @g1u2y @fanfiction-24824 @greyslover3004

[hollyisanonymous]

sits on da floor... can u share some of the wof thoughts here that u told us earlier? it was good soop and we want to hoard more of them in our brain :]

WOF THOUGHTS YIPPEEEEEE

so here's various tribe biology headcanons for the wings of fire book series <3 my beloved hehe

(just the pyrrhia tribes for now!)

sandwings -

tend to be on the bigger size, built like a canid or a big cat. They have fairly long legs and they walk with their talons spread wide to distribute their weight more evenly on the sand

they often have darker scale patterns along their face, specifically under their eyes. it helps with the glare from the desert sun!

they have heat-pits in the front of their snout like a viper. they also have excellent night vision.

they tuck and curl their tail barbs as a courtesy thing. while an accidental nick wouldn't be immediately lethal for another adult dragon, it's not a fun experience to get stung.

they aren't exceptionally endothermic either; they are able to regulate their own body temperature more than strictly cold-blooded animals, but do struggle more in cold climates.

their bites are slightly venomous.

mudwings -

big guys. wide-stanced and built like a brick shithouse. they're fat and bulky and very very stout.

it's common for them to have tusks! they root around and forage in clay and mud deposits.

the most exothermic of all dragons. they aren't fully cold-blooded, but it is much harder for them to maintain their own body temperatures on their own

they sleep in big piles because of that fyi

they're built like crocodiles, bovines, and bears.

not super articulate digits or mobile forelimbs - they're built for robust sturdiness and that means their stance and gate is not super compatible with fine detail work. this kinda leads into the stereotype that mudwings are dumb - most of them can't write common script easily.

seawings -

fully aquatic at this point. they *can* exist terrestrially, but they are heavily adapted to the ocean.

short and stout, with low-set, streamlined bodies and short limbs.

their teeth are kind of like a seal's, but they have an additional row like sharks

they have the most trouble with rearing up and using their hands for things, since their legs are so short, so they use their tail to compensate (basically just leaning against or sitting on it)

primarily piscivores. sometimes they'll also grab a sea-bird or other small animal from the shore.

baby seawings actually can't breathe above water for the first month or so of their life. their lungs are very frail and cannot handle it.

extremely endothermic. they're like seals!

icewings -

actually fairly closely related to nightwings, but have a lot of similar adaptations as seawings because they're semi-aquatic!

they rattle their spine-rack on their neck as a threat display, but they can also use those thin spikes to make little songs!

eerily similar to nightwings in build. like boil them down and they're basically the same base creature.

actually endothermic - they need to be able to regulate their body temperature in such a way that their organs are able to function fully while maintaining a low enough internal temp that their frost-breath works. it's a very delicate balance, which is why you can drop scalding water or red-hot metal on an icewing's chest and neutralize their breath weapon for a short period of time.

they have very articulate digits on their hands

nightwings -

kinda like icewings but without the cool fun winter theming.

ambush predators, they're built like cats.

wider eyes, excellent night vision, but not particularly "expressive". they also have big, sensitive ears. nightwings are built for nocturnal life enitrely.

rainwings -

big ears and flappy frills - rainwings are very expressive, social creatures.

they're more exothermic. they need to take naps in the sun to feel Well.

infant rainwings struggle with color-changing, often picking specific colors that they linger on. they also don't have as much control over it as an adult

their fangs protrude outwards like a spitting cobra. even when the mouth is closed, it's common for rainwings to have their fangs poke out of their lips

it's a massive compliment to "copy" the colors of someone you love. they do this as a bonding thing, but close friends, family and lovers will often incorporate each other's colors into their resting palette.

all rainwings have their own "default" colors that they're genetically disposed to, but they often also choose some of their own as an adult.

rainwings are very closely related to skywings.

skywings -

often use their wings to walk around and balance on (like pterosaurs)

they are the most endothermic of all of them.

built for long-distance soaring and diving; skywings have huge wingspans, long tails, and strong chest and shoulders to connect their wing muscles.

they have articulate talons and long limbs

they trill and chirp like birds

they have long, feathery ears.

they have fantastic eyesight. arguably the best of all tribes.

[stitchthesewords]

Redstone for Writers Part 2: Redstone Adjacents

Okay! You made it through the basics but you still have some questions - How do minecarts work with redstone? What's a logic gate? How do you keep yourself from getting lost in more complicated redstone machinery? Well good news for you - Part 2 is here! I've tried to split it up into what everything is - minecarts under the Minecarts section, an AND gate under the logic gate section, so on and so forth.

But first- How do we keep from getting lost?

An excellent question! The answer, my dear friends, is wool. Redstoners often make wool farms in survival because its a cheap, reliable, and easy way to get distinct, brightly colored blocks to keep track of multiple lines of redstone, as seen below.

Now, that particular redstone machine is more simple than the monstrosity that, say, the Decked Out 2 bus line is, but I think it gets the idea across. You want to keep your redstone more or less on the same line and I'll be doing my best to do so when I get into some of the more complicated logic gates further on in this resource. Not all redstoners do this, but I find even when you know what you're doing it can be helpful to see at a glance what line goes where.

Minecarts

Lets start this section by talking about the different kind of carts

At the very front here is the standard Minecart. This minecart allows you or another mob entity to ride it. You can drive it forward and backwards very slowly with your movement keys.

Starting from Left to right along the back row is the Furnace Minecart. You can put fuel in this minecart and it will self-propel on tracks forwards and can also push other carts on the track. One piece of Coal or Charcoal allows the minecart to run for 3 minutes. IMPORTANT: The Minecart will run in the direction you are facing when you place the fuel inside. This minecart can also link up with 2 [the wiki says 4 but I tested it and it only ever would pull 2 so. For our purposes, 2] other minecarts and pull them along if done in a very specific way, demonstrated in the gif below.

Your back two minecarts need to be against a wall and you must place the furnace minecart so that it rolls back into them. They will unlink if the minecart goes around a bend so this can only be used in specific situations such as moving villagers or items between a straight point a and b. For this reason, the furnace minecart is more often placed at the back. However, a furnace minecart can only push 1 cart from the back, but it can go around corners because they aren't linked. There also needs to be a gap between the furnace minecart and the minecart it's pushing so the furnace cart can get started before they bump into one another. It can push carts uphill and maintains the same speed up or downhill for the entirety of its runtime.

The next minecart in the line is Chest Minecart. This minecart has the storage of a single chest and can be fed into by hoppers and also feed out into hoppers. The more full a chest minecart is, the less boost it gets from powered rails. An empty chest minecart goes 64 blocks from a powered rail. A full chest minecart only goes 16.

The next minecart is the TNT Minecart. There are several ways to activate the TNT within the minecart:

Activator rail

Destroyed in motion [except in creative mode]

Destroyed by fire, lava, or explosion

Hit with a fire charge [Java only]

Instant Detonation can be caused by:

Falling down more than 3 blocks

Hit by flaming arrow

Runs into a block or entity with velocity

Runs into a block or entity on a curve

it starts with an explosion value of 4 [which is the same as standard TNT] but the game randomly assigns it a bonus value of up to 1.5 times its velocity. The faster its moving, the more it explodes. If it falls, the game divides the distance by 10 in order to determined the bonus value.

The last minecart seen is the Hopper Minecart. This is functionally exactly what it sounds like, with a few important differences. The hopper minecart pulls items in at a rate of 20 items per second, which is 8 times faster than the standard hopper. If the hopper minecart is on an incline when it pulls in items, it goes even faster. It can be locked and unlocked with activator rails, which will be discussed a little bit later. TLDR: A locked hopper cannot pull items, an unlocked hopper can.

There are also two other kinds of minecarts, Spawner Minecart and Command Block Minecart. The command block minecart is obtained using the /give command and the spawner minecart is obtained using the /summon command. The command block minecart is functionally the same as a regular command block within a minecart. The spawner minecart is functionally the same as a spawner within a minecart, with the exception that the mob being spawned must be set during the /summon command or with NBT tags - it cannot be set with Spawn Eggs.

Now for the rails. From left to right we'll start with the Rail. This is just your standard minecart rail and is the cheapest of the 4 to make. They are the only rail that can curve. If hooked up to a redstone signal, you can flip the direction of the curve .

Next up is the Powered Rail. These rails can be powered with a redstone signal which accelerate a minecart travelling over them. Additionally, if the minecart is against a block and the rail is powered, the minecart will accelerate - if you power the rail without the block behind the minecart the minecart wont go anywhere. A powered rail that isn't powered acts as a brake.

Next we have the Detector Rail. It is activated when a minecart is on and and deactivated when there is not a minecart on it. In its activated state it outputs a redstone signal which can be used in other mechanisms. The power level it outputs is 15 unless the detector rail is connected to a comparator, in which case the comparator reads out the fullness of the minecart on top of it. With a tnt, furnace, or regular minecart, the comparator outputs a 0. With a chest or hopper minecart, the comparator reads out the fulness of the container as discussed in Part 1 of this guide.

Lastly is the Activator Rail. This can activate different components when powered, such as TNT or locking hoppers. An activated rail can also eject mobs and players when their cart rolls over it. An activator rail can also trigger command block minecarts. An unactivated activator rail can unlock locked hopper minecarts.

Clocks

There are an endless variety of clock options in Minecraft so I'm only going to go over the most common/easiest ones that I personally use frequently. These pulse a redstone signal for things that need to be fired repeated, say for example a dropper or dispenser.

Our first clock is a form of rapid pulsar clock specifically called a Torch Loop. This is the oldest form of clock in minecraft.

Another very old form of clock in Minecraft is the Repeater Clock. Functionally this works the same as the above clock, but more compact and easy to control. The clock, however, has to be manually started by placing and breaking a redstone torch fast enough. An easy way to do this, seen in the video, is letting a torch burn out on top of a redstone block.

Both of the above clocks can be extended by adding more torches or repeaters but overall, control over their speed is not great. For a more modern approach to rapid pulse clocks, enter the Observer Clock. This is a clock made by two observers facing each other.

All of these clocks, you can pull your redstone pulse from anywhere there is dust or torches on the clock, as long as the redstone further down the line does not output its own signal and feed back into the clock.

Below is a Hopper Clock which is by far the most useful of the modern clock builds in my opinion. The two hoppers, as you can see by the arrows, feed into each other. They can have a variable number of items inside them from 1 to 320 items, and each time a hopper completely empties into another hopper, the comparators pulse causing the pistons to move the redstone block. The redstone block locks whatever hopper it's in front of, meaning that the hopper can't spit out the items contained within it until the other hopper empties out. You can then pick a side to pull a redstone signal from and pulse that signal into your builds. If you need a pulse longer than 320 items for whatever reason, the hopper clock can be linked to another clock.

[sharingknowledgewithmouli]

Counting Rows in Excel: Learn How to Count Text, Numerical, Blank and Data Rows with Functions

Counting Rows in Excel: Learn How to Count Text, Numerical, Blank and Data Rows with Functions

Counting the number of rows in an Excel worksheet is a basic yet crucial task that helps you manage and analyze data effectively. In this tutorial, you will learn how to count different types of rows, including text, numerical, blank and data rows, using various Excel functions. To count text rows in Excel, you can use the COUNTA function, which counts all non-empty cells in a range that contain…

[cinderswife]

in honor of pride month, i now present to you my favorite ouatis oc: cimorene, general white's gay... something. they've got something a lil lesbian going on. who knows what though. certainly not them. she's essential to the plot of my ouatis au for the sheer fact of being the reason general white didn't die of a stress-induced heart attack

this ref sheet is her towards the end of the war btw

info under the cut !!

cimorene is general white's secretary, though over three decades of war her role shifted from admin assistant to more personal assistant. she functions as the smaller dragon guarding the entrance to the big dragon's lair: you don't get to talk to general white without going through her first. she's a sweet talking jack of all trades who is very happy in her support role thank you very much. if you dig into her history, you'll find out she's the youngest daughter of a planet owning count.

she is based on cimorene from patricia c. wrede's enchanted forest chronicles. i initially wanted to name her after a proper fairy tale dragon, but those... don't really exist??? especially with names and stuff. so cimorene it is!

cimorene was always the black sheep of the family. while all seven of her older sisters were golden haired ponyfolk who could (seemingly) do no wrong, cimorene was the dark haired serpentfolk who kept getting in trouble for trying and excelling at things outside her designated gender role. granted, she also had a bit of a 'not like other girls' thing going on, but she was definitely a victim to regressive gender nonsense.

want to try out sports, like say hunting or rowing? sorry, that's a boy thing. okay, what about practical things like accounting or admin work? nope, both a man's job and below your station. fine! what about cooking? well... still below your station. cimorene spent plenty of time learning these things before she got caught and forced to stop, but it was a real shame.

her parents found her out of control, so at the advice of her godmother they arranged for her to be married to some lame noble boy. closeted nb lesbian cimorene, at age 19 almost 20, wasn't having that. this combined with her burgeoning politics of "hey actually i think this empire stuff is garbage actually" meant that the new rebellion sounded like a fantastic place to go. so off she went!

despite recent victories on hamlin, the year-old rebellion was hurting for hands and desperately needed someone willing to do the admin work. lieutenant dunwich had better things to do with his time, but he was also the only person decent enough, so he was who general white trusted most. in comes cimorene, who aces boot camp and proves herself brilliant at being a secretary. general white offers her the job, which cimorene gladly accepts.

unfortunately, this does not entirely shake off her infuriating family. believing cimorene to have been kidnapped by the rebellion, their family offers a substantial reward and their hand in marriage to whatever knight can rescue them. this is deeply infuriating, but luckily cimorene has many ways to either convince them to fuck off (and keep them from discovering rebellion bases) or to join the rebellion and leave her tf alone thank you very much.

although half her job is admin work, cimorene very quickly realized that the other half was joining dr. lorenzo (and to a minor extend cinders) on the "general white care squad." general mercymourn white may be brilliant and capable, but due to a variety of reasons such as disability (her injuries from the wedding and the anderson left her with half a face among other things, intense ptsd, and undiagnosed autism that flew under the radar as rich noble politician snow), the amount of other plates she was spinning, and sheer grief/self loathing from the events of the wedding day slaughter, she doesn't take care of her body as well as she needs to. luckily, cimorene soon discovered that she was very good at and happy with the caretaker role.

she was offered promotions many a time, but cimorene always turned it down to stick with mercy. she did, however, demand raises. out of everyone in the universe, cimorene can accurately boast that she knows mercy the best. she may not know general white's biggest secret, but she's there for the myriad of minuscule mask slips and the stress-induced meltdowns and the shitty puns and anything and everything you might imagine. it's to the point that cimorene can identify what exactly general white is feeling and/or needs by the microexpression even before general white figures out why she's feeling like shit.

that's not to say that cimorene is unappreciated - far from it. alongside a stupid high paycheck and a significant amount of leeway, cimorene is granted what everyone else covets: the paranoid general white's unending and complete trust. cimorene will never, ever betray that trust. she joined the revolution for freedom from her parents and liberation for the oppressed, but she's stuck around and gotten in deep for general white. that's what you do for a badass woman a decade older than you who could lift you off the ground.

this has some downsides though: when cimorene attempts to have a very limited personal life, she runs into the fact that people associate her with general white and she doesn't have the chance to like. bond. it's very frustrating. she's made a few friends here and there, but it's a lot harder to go out and socialize.

and dating? don't get her started. despite the fact that she's willing and able to put herself out there and a real catch (seriously, she cooks so damn well. try her cherries jubilee sometime!), no one wants to date her! why? well, unbeknownst to her everyone else can pick up on the intense homoerotic tension between her and the general and have gone "whelp that's general white's girl nobody get involved with her." rip to her dreams of a lovelife

also this is what her and general white's relationship looks like, with cimorene as the moon and mercy as the earth:

anyways, they don't properly get together romantically because there's a war to win and who has time for distractions like that? in the canon timeline this never gets resolved even after three decades because uh. general white dies. but since this is dogstar!ouatis and i made general white live (see: my fic eclosion) they get to be properly gay together in the end. yay!

in her spare time, cimorene likes to hang out at bars, cheat at cards, spread gossip (both false and true), cross stitch, and generally be a cunning little bastard. she Will kick your ass at a baking competition. she can do things with chocolate mousse that will make your girlfriend leave you.

her personal quarters are mostly decorated with weird shit she finds on the ground and her cross stitch projects. she has a lot of them. she finds them... relaxing, especially when people are getting On Her Nerves. *angry wolf portrait embroidery intensifies*

she is fluent in kingstongue & revolution sign language and has bits and pieces of a variety of languages from across the galaxy. she'd be a polyglot in her ideal world, but quite frankly she doesn't have the time nor the energy to do that.

anyways. gay people real. i hope you enjoyed reading about cimorene !!!! she Will show up in revolution era fics

[whipplefilter]

Daytona Night Race (2024)

This feels like one of the best showcases of a superspeedway races I've seen? "Best" as in I wouldn't say any of the wrecking was caused by overt user error; instead it showcased how much bite the air at Daytona really has, creating aero situations that the track itself doesn't understand.

And then every single thing was SUPER DRAMATIC for some reason. A man can't go to the gas station without erupting in a ball of flames. Daniel Suarez, as the 99's butt melts off the car:

Words can't describe how funny it is that Denny, somehow some way, managed to be "at fault" for this. DYSFUNCTIONAL COCA COLA RACING FAMILY. Also, NASCAR being like, heyyy if you want to put the 99's burnt husk of a body back on track... you can! #PureNASCAR

Which, speaking of Denny, this race boasted Denny "Readiness for Resiliency" Hamlin being, I suppose, ready for the need for resiliency. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Denny Hamlin is the best driver in Cup right now, except God hates him!!!

Then SVG, minding his own business, as his engine smoke bombs all of central Florida:

When looking at the qualifying results, I was joking with my friends that even though William Byron was living in a sea of Fords, he did at least have his teammate Excellent Pusher Kyle Larson the next row back!! This idea formed in my mind in like 2018 or something very long ago, a functionally irrelevant long time ago but for which I have yet to forgive him, but I think it's possible that Kyle Larson may actually be the worst pusher on this green earth. The 5 had a really good Daytona, though? Not just in the "I have avoided the misfortune" sense but in the "somehow made it into the T10 from P30 after the 1st Big One." Like, I was paying attention to Kyle Busch and then suddenly all the Kyles were in a single frame, like, where did you even come from? And then he maintained position in the T10 for a goodly portion of the race?! I mean, up until the last 10 laps.

I'm glad Berry was okay (and seemed to think literally nothing of it lol) after noseplanting into the inside wall upside down. If Daytona aero is "the secret car on track that is trying to kill you" at least a SaferBarrier is everyone's friend!

But um, why did we get rid of the "Top 30 in points" playoff qualification rule. Because the 21 is dead last in full-time points, ahead of only drivers who've only completed (very) partial schedules, and behind even Austin Dillon. Rando wins can be great and all, but at what point does this simply become a playoffs that begins with the Round of 12?

[auxiliarydetective]

The Aenar - Evie Edition

In building my newest Star Trek OC, Ezori, I took a deep dive into the Memory Alpha and Memory Beta articles on Aenar (and Andorians), and I came up with some headcanons and additions that I figured I could share with you guys.

Disclaimer: I am not a biologist, or an anthropologist, or a zoologist, or whatever else you might need to be to have professional opinions on this. I am a history student with a hyperfixation and going off of what feels right. If you don't like what I came up with, you can give me contructive criticism (please do, I like realism) or leave <3

With that being said, let's get into it! We'll be using my dear girl Ezori as a reference from here on out, so here she is out of uniform! This is going off of the ENT-era Aenar design mostly, since Ezori is an OC for ENT.

Almost everything on Memory Alpha/Beta still applies, so if I don't touch on something, you can just assume that whatever is said there is also true for my Aenar lovelies. Also, some of these ideas were inspired by the takes on Aenar by @nichestartrekkie0-0, so check out their Aenar tag! They've got some really cool ideas there!

Now, for our first topic:

I. Biology !

Very obviously, I gave them tails. I got the idea because their antennae are there for balance. Obviously, you'd need great balance as an ice-dwelling species, because ice is slippery. And what else gives you excellent balance? That's right: A tail.

The tail is very long (about the person's full height plus maybe 10%) and prehensile and grows out of the body about where a human's tailbone starts, so just above the butt. When navigating tight, crowded or familiar/safe spaces, an Aenar might keep it wrapped around their body for practicality reasons. Almost the whole tail is fairly sensitive because it's also one of the main sense organs of the Aenar. Besides touch, they can sense shifts in temperature and also whatever waves telepathy travels by - though these are mainly picked up by the antennae and ears. They also have a lot of strength in that tail for reasons which will become a bit clearer later. As a side note: Andorians are born with some semblance of a tail, but since it's non-functional, it's usually removed directly at birth or shortly after - it's essentially a vestigial organ for them.

Going from there, I thought about what other features might be practical for ice dwellers to have, and then it hit me: Spikes! You can use them to hold on to things if it gets slippery and, even more crucially, you can use them to help you climb. So, I added spikes to the tail - which is why their tails have to be this long and strong. You have to have reach with them and they have to be able to support a lot of weight. But I didn't want the Aenar, who are known pacifists, to carry around full-on spiked whips all the time since it didn't really fit their theme, so I decided that the spikes should be able to lie flat against the tail. My inspiration was HTTYD's Deadly Nadders. So, as you can see, they have five rows of spikes, the third row being the biggest, as well as one tip spike. Beneath those rows of spikes are the most sensitive sense organs of the Aenar. Think of the spikes as eyelids and the receptors beneath as the eyes being protected by the lids. So, whenever an Aenar splays their spikes, it's not a show of aggression. It's ye olde fight or flight response. Because while, yes, technically they could ram those spikes into whatever is threatening them, even more crucially, the spikes being splayed out allows the receptors beneath to receive more stimuli, which makes navigating your environment a lot easier for when you have to run away. These spikes are, obviously, not sensitive, since they're supposed to be rammed into ice, but the receptors are. There's a more robust, scalier area that sort of blends into the rest of the tail just beneath the lowest row of spikes.

Additionally, Aenar have little bumps across their backs along their spines. These used to be further spikes but turned into nothing but small bumps in the course of evolution. They're also usually fairly short because the energy that could be used to help them grow goes into warding off the cold.

As another biological adaption to the cold, Aenar (and Andorians) have a different chemical composition of their fat layers which makes them more insulating - this is why Andorians (and also Aenar) can sustain both extreme cold and extreme heat. Aenar also have a habit of using only non-tiring movements when in cold environments. This comes off as somewhat "graceful" to other species because these movements are very light and fluid. When in warmer environments, they need to snack a lot to keep their energy levels up and stay healthy. They might even be some form of mesotherm, but I'm hesitant to really apply this term here.

Their "vision" works based on all of their other senses to compensate for their blindness. They navigate their surroundings through sensing changes in temperature (ice walls are colder than their surroundings, for example), and "echoes" of both sound and telepathy waves, as well as touch if necessary. Additionally, they have a good grasp on where people or animals are based on telepathy alone, and being around seeing people helps them navigate usually harder-to-grasp environments through picking up what those people see as telepathic "background noise". All of this leads to Aenar being able to navigate familiar environments better than unfamiliar ones because they get accustomed to those stimuli, as well as them having more trouble perceiving inanimate objects than living and/or sentient ones.

In my head, Aenar skintones range from a pale icy blue to almost entirely snow-white with only some blue-ish contours/undertones. Eye colors range from blue to grey and are either pale or almost white - in which case they can look to be almost shimmering in a lot of different colors, kinda like opals or those "color-changing" blue eyes some humans have. The pupils arent much darker than the irises. Their hair is practically always white, only very rarely platinum blonde. I also gave them white eyelashes since it just made sense. I'd imagine body hair isn't that common, but you wouldn't be able to really see it either way since it would be white. Also, I changed the top part of the antennae to blue because... why would they be pink? The insides of their mouths are also blue, same for any other area where humans are pink. Also, Aenar freckles are golden. This has no logical reason other than that it looked like that to me with the makeup on the show. They blush very easily because their skin is so light and their blush is blue.

II. Culture !

This deals with a very broad understanding of culture, just so I don't have to create a bunch of mini categories.

First of all, I'm convinced that chubby = attractive to Aenar. Not because they think that that body type looks pretty, obviously, since they can't see, but because chubby = warm and soft (and also more resistant to freezing).

With that in mind, I was convinced that Aenar would like to accentuate the stomach area - which led me to the idea that Aenar have a rich culture of body jewelry (and they're probably a little disappointed and confused whenever they meet a species that doesn't). Belly button piercings are very common and almost everyone has them, similar to how a lot of humans have pierced earlobes. Speaking of pierced earlobes, there is an Aenar belief that ear piercings increase your hearing and telepathic abilities. Piercing your antennae is fairly rare since they're very vulnerable and piercing someone's tail is difficult. So, people might wear rings around them instead. A special sort of ring is when the main "shackle" part that holds the jewelry in place is semi-transparent (and usually a similar color to the person's skin) and (in the case of tail jewelry) has a hoop attached to make it look like the hoop is loosely dangling from around the tail, or (in the case of antennae) has chains attached to form a sort of net falling across the hair. The hoop method is less common for antennae since hoops are heavy and any chains on the antennae are usually attached at the base so as to not impact movability - unless for special occasions. The spikes can't be pierced because they're too hard and the forehead/eyebrow ridges are rarely pierced because they're also hard and a bit impractical to pierce, but it's not entirely impossible. If someone doesn't want percings, cuffs or body chains are common alternatives.

Piercings are a sign of prestige, especially if they're made of precious metals. More piercings = more prestige. This is also why being a piercer is a very well-respected job. Giving people piercings has some semblance of a spiritual/ritual tradition, so there's a lot of respect and honor involved. It can also be a very intimate thing. Aenar often get piercings for weddings, anniversaries, the birth of a child, and other festivities, and they also often get piercings together to strengthen their bond with each other.

Aenar are also eerily quiet. This is, on one hand, because they hear so well, and on the other because of their light movements and because they just don't have the need to talk much. Whenever they do talk, they're usually soft-spoken. Because Aenar are so quiet, treading lightly and whatnot, they seem to sometimes just appear next to people who can't feel them coming through telepathy.

They also just... don't lie. Why would they? They're convinced that everyone around them would know when they're lying because everyone around them has telepathy, so why try? This doesn't mean that they're extremely straightforward or blunt though, they're still very soft-spoken and polite. If they insult you, it will be through backhanded compliments and sly little comments that only you will hear.

Remember how I said that Aenar blush easily? Well, they also don't know what blushing is. I mean, they do realize that their face turns hot and whatnot, but they don't know that they turn blue, because they can't see it.

Going back to the topic of mobility, instead of ice picks, Aenar have clawed gloves to aid in climbing. Long distances are covered by ice sled tracks if necessary.

And finally, Aenar clothes are usually white or in light shades of other colors to blend in with the icy environment. Wearing dark or vibrant colors is seen as obnoxious and disrespectful to the community.

SO! I think that's it for now. If you sat through this, congrats! Have a cookie 🍪

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

Also tagging @enterprise-come-in

[halfagone]

Oooo different anon but

Please do share you spreadsheets tricks! I only use spreadsheets if I have to make a table (because somehow it's easier to copy paste it from there instead of making one in documents...) but it seems like a such an useful tool that I don't have motivation to learn how to use :/

Hello! And I'll try my best! Some of these may seem more basic, but they can do absolute wonders for organization. Now this is a long post, with screenshots!, so buckle up your seatbelts.

All screenshots will be from Google Sheets. I do have and use Excel on occasion, and some of these items can be found on that program as well, although it may be placed elsewhere. Please note, too, that all examples are done on a PC device. For mobile phones or tablets, some of these keyboard shortcuts might not work the same and may require a little more finagling to get right.

I'll start with making something called a "Header Row". Basically it's how you name your columns so you know what should be in each.

This is just an example spreadsheet, but it'll work lol. (If you don't know how to highlight those four cells, select A1, hold Shift key and use the Right Arrow key [->] until you have highlighted all the results you want for your Header Row.)

From here, you go to View on the panel and select/hover over Freeze, where you can then select "1 row". This should freeze your selected row. So no matter how far down you scroll, or how much information you have recorded, you'll always know what's supposed to be listed there.

Next we have something called "Conditional Formatting". This can be really useful if for filtering data. In this example, I changed the spreadsheet to have various cells with "Yes" or "No", to show what it can do.

---

Once you've selected the cells/rows/columns you want, choose Format, then Conditional Formatting.

From there, it should give you a panel on the right side of your screen that looks a little something like this:

You can do a lot with this! You can even adjust the range here if you realize you picked the wrong ones or changed your mind for any other reason. But to format it, you need to choose the rule. Here is some examples that they offer you:

In this case, I am going to choose the Text Contains rule. From there, I pick what the text should say. I even get to pick and choose my colors. So at the end it'll look like this:

My spreadsheet will reflect this rule as well.

You can also add as many rules as you want! Just use that "+ Add another rule" at the bottom there and repeat the process.

---

Now this next one is among my personal favorites: Dropdown menus!

This can also cover something called "Data validation", but I won't bore you with that explanation just yet.

Go back to that Insert tab and you'll see Dropdown further down the list. (Smart Chip functions in a very similar way, but it's works better for collaborative projects or scheduling needs.) We'll get to Checkbox in the next round.

When you click on Dropdown, you'll get this window:

Much like with Conditional Formatting, Dropdown allows you to customize what your options are and how they're colored. I'll use some basic examples for you to get an idea.

And of course you can add or delete as many options as you need.

So when we go back to our spreadsheet, it'll look a little something like this:

---

Checkbox is fairly simple, and doesn't allow much for customization. But if you go back to the Insert tab and click on that option, you can get a little something like this:

A nice little checklist if you need it!

---

A simple trick to filling more cells is actually fairly easy. You see that little blue dot on the bottom right corner?

If you're using a formula, you can just double click that dot and it'll usually just fill in all the cells for you! And if you're not using a formula, dragging works just fine. You can also use the Insert Row/Column/Cell option by right clicking with your mouse, or referring to the Insert tab on the top panel.

---

If you want to make your cells/rows/columns stand out a little more, might I recommend Borders?

They give you a lot of options for what it'll look like. For this example, I'll use the fourth option of the first row. That'll make it look a little something like this:

And hmm... I don't like how they're leaning to the left. Let's fix that too.

And maybe a few more cosmetic changes...

And BOOM! It already looks a lot different! At just a glance now you can tell what goes where based on colors alone! You can also customize colors if you don't like the basic ones, but I think I'll leave that mystery to you. ;)

I hope this gave you a good head's start! And don't worry if it feels overwhelming at first. I know I forgot a lot of tricks and tips (and a good number of keyboard shortcuts) when I went a long time between using spreadsheets. You're free to refer to this guide any time you want or need to, and if you have questions, I'll try my best to help!

Classes have always taught me this: never feel embarrassed to look something up. There are websites like Github or Stack Overflow for paid professionals to get help and advice. We should be allowed to do the same.

Now that I have sufficiently buried you in information, I hope you have a wonderful new year!

[posting-my-stories-here]

The Aftermath (Pt. 1)

The pain finally faded away, leaving the two figures numb and exhausted. For a moment no one moved, their muscles burning and cramped. They lay prone on the ground, waiting for the last vestiges of pain to fade away before taking on the exhausting task of getting up.

Groaning, Aahan pushed himself up, grabbing the desk for support. Legs shaking uncontrollably, he collapsed on the bench panting heavily from the exertion. Ajay imitated him, slumping down on the seat beside him. They sat there quietly, perhaps not fully registering the change before Ajay banged his fist on the desk and muttered in a low angry tone, “How could they?”

Aahan didn't respond, not that the other had expected him to. He simply laid his head down, tracing the words carved into the old wood; echoing memories of the now graduated alumni. Ajay was sitting still; too still, his hunched shoulders making him look much smaller than Aahan remembered him being.

Or perhaps that was because… Aahan didn't let his thoughts complete. He couldn't.

The sound of the bench screeching against the tiles prompted Aahan to raise his head slightly. Ajay had stood up, walking around the desk to pack his school bag quietly. Aahan followed suit, stuffing his books in a bag now unfamiliar to him. Glancing at the clock above the blackboard, he swallowed heavily. He didn’t even know what day it was or month or year or how old he was or-

Breath in. Breath out. Following the achingly familiar voice, Aahan’s breath soon leveled out, until he no longer felt the pull of a panic attack.

Sometime in between, Ajay had taken to stalking the narrow rows of benches, his fists clenched and white. Abruptly, he turned on his heel in a perfectly executed about turn. There was a wild look in his eyes; one which Aahan unfortunately recognized. Mentally preparing himself for whatever wild idea had taken root, he-

“We can get back. We just need to find a way. We can return home, Aahan.” Aahan stared at him blankly. “Ajay,” he mumbled, voice heavy with loss, “Even if we somehow do find a functioning portal- or, or build it ourselves, this world lacks magic. We- we wouldn’t be able to… to power it. To activate it. We are stuck.”

Ajay shook his head. His voice took on a more regal cadence, the one he had used to deliver speeches of progress and excellence and a bright future. “We can. Magic found us. Magic can exist in this world. We just need to search for it. And then use it to power our portal.” His speech was unadorned, lacking the flowery language he used to employ. But it still made Aahan wonder.

Could they truly find a way back?

Inspired by @charminglyantiquated post about ex magical chosen ones. (Hope you don't mind me writing on it).