#The short attention spanned...>.>

[gallavichthings]

Writer’s Spotlight - Mhunter10

Be honest, y’all thought I had abandoned this series, didn’t you? But I hadn’t! In fact, this interview was done a long time ago, but posting was delayed for several reasons. It’s finally here though, and I’m very excited for you to read this one, because the writer we’re spotlighting today is a fandom veteran and one of our most prolific writers. Enter: Malenah, aka @mhunter10​!

GT: Ok, first of all, I've got to say, I'm so happy you agreed to talk to me! I missed you! How have you been?

M: Been up and down and dealing with some stuff, but I think I'm okay. I definitely miss writing.

GT: And we miss your writing. Is that why you stopped for a while, life just got in the way?

M: Yes, but also the fandom and show wasn't fun anymore. Tumblr policies got annoying and people weren't finding my stuff....people actively stealing my work and reposting without asking.

GT: Oh, that sucks. 😔 When did you join the fandom? And what made you want to? What was it about Shameless (or Gallavich) that captivated you?

M: Oof maybe 2013ish? 2015ish? Whenever Shameless first season was on. I actually didn't even have Showtime, I would literally sit on Tumblr and wait for someone to recap the episode or link a bootleg clip. I've always been into good queer stories as a queer, and Cam and Noel's dynamic was interesting and the sort of cute that makes you squeal like a little girl. 

GT: They've always had a lot of chemistry. Did you start writing fics right away? What made you want to start?

M: I was actually writing for another fandom/couple for a while way before Shameless. For Gallavich I was mainly just making headcanons that sometimes turned into drabbles. Eventually I wrote longer fics and started posting to AO3. I'd respond to someone else's headcanon or idea with a short fic.

GT: A lot of people still do that nowadays. That was one of my favorite things about your fics, actually, the fact that most of them were short and I could get my quick Gallavich fix without compromising my lack of a long attention span. 😅

M: Haha I was the queen of the drabble.

GT: What fandom were you writing for before, if you don't mind me asking? Was it the first you wrote fics for?

M: A soap opera called As the World Turns😅. I was writing fic when it was still airing new episodes in the middle of the day on CBS. I wrote for Luke and Noah and the fics are archived somewhere on the internet forever.

GT: Was it also the first fandom you read fics for?

M: I think so? Lol that sounds right. I also wrote some fics for Eyewitness, the US version.

GT: Let me backtrack, because we went straight into your experience with fandom, but I want to also know a bit about you. Please tell us a bit about yourself. 

M: Oh Haha well I'm 30. Black, bi, live in Maryland. Have a bachelor's and currently getting my master's. Write, paint, sculpt, collect, read, work… mostly work. Work work work. Fall is my favorite season. Libra. Currently have 8 tattoos. Live with my partner, 3 years together. Umm...I've got arthritis and hip dysplasia so lol....anyone wanting to murder me now has everything they need to know and opportunity.

GT: Hahahaha That was very in-depth, indeed! What's your masters about?

M: Organizational Sciences.

GT: I don't know what that is, but it feels like something I should study. 😅 What is it? And do you already work in that field or are branching out?

M: It's akin to industrial psychology...basically, how workplaces work and how to improve the work environment. Definitely has a lot of intangible skills everyone should have an understanding of if you work. It's very meta sometimes lol. Leadership, communications, change management, negotiation, etc.

GT: Oh, that's interesting! You mention you also paint and sculpt? Talk about a well-rounded artist! What got you into those?

M: I've just always been artsy fartsy crafty.....schmafty. Fun fact: walked out of my pottery class first day cuz the professor rubbed me the wrong way....took ballet instead. I'm mostly a painter but I have a lot of little things I've made out of clay just for fun.

GT: Like what? 

M: Mostly small food 😆. I paint whatever. I was an instructor for about 2 years.

GT: If you feel comfortable, could you maybe share a pic or two?

GT: They're all beautiful, but the one with the blue-haired woman is GORGEOUS! 😍

GT: Let's talk about Shameless. Do you have a favorite season and/or episode? 

M: Yikes, I honestly don't remember much but definitely before the whole show went off the rails. I think 1-4 are standouts, maybe 5 or 6. I only really stayed for Gallavich. 

GT: I feel you, I actually stopped watching after S5.

M: Trevor was the worst.

GT: Why do you say that?

M: Not the actor ,obviously, but the whole storyline was not done right at all, imo. The whole jesus stuff was stupid. Frank continuing to live was stupid. All the stupid and inconsistent decisions compounded into me not giving a shit anymore.

GT: Did you actually watch all the seasons? Because I myself skipped S6 to S9. What did you think of the ending?

M: The ending I saw was the wedding stuff, but I haven't watched anything after.

GT: Do you intend to or will you just consider the wedding the end and that's it? Either way, what did you think of the wedding? Or the fact that there was one. The early-seasons fan in me was in shock it even happened. Once Mickey came back for 9x06, I figured that was as good as it was going to ever get.

M: I knew they would do it. They baited us, kept us on the hook and reeled us back in with the Gallavich crap. I thought the wedding was fine, didn't understand half the people there. Oh wait I also watched some of the stuff with them in the apartment and trying to adjust to that which was actually pretty interesting. I didn't really keep up after that, just saw some gifs here and there. I think they had sex in an ambulance with a dead person? I don't really understand why they have to keep doing illegal stuff. I refuse to believe Fiona would not even show up or call or check in, but I understand why Emmy wanted to cut full ties with the show

GT: I agree, I never understood why not have Fiona keep in touch, or just have one of them mentioned she called. But it's the same thing they did with Mickey at the end of season 5. Instead of cutting Noel from the show, but still having Mickey be somewhat present through mentions, they decided he'd be arrested AND Ian would break up with him. And then they mentioned things about him that weren't true. That made no sense at all. How would you have written their ending if you got to choose?

M: I've written their ending lol; just a short fic reimagining the day after the wedding. I liked the apartment stuff. I would've written them trying to find Mandy eventually leaving the show due to a positive sign she wanted to reconnect. They need to leave the Southside. But during their search, Mickey goes to school. Maybe some shenanigans ensue, but ultimately he does well enough to graduate. I'd see Ian writing a book.

GT: Ian writing a book? That's something I never thought of. A biography or fiction?

M: Maybe a memoir.

GT: What about other moments of the show? If you could change one thing the show did with them, what would it be? 

M: Everything. Anything I ever had an issue with, I usually turned into some sort of fic in retaliation. I did a fic rewriting their meeting at the docks, and also one where Ian finds Mickey in Mexico. I did one of when Ian came home from the hospital and Mickey is taking care of him, but ends up helping Fiona with some chores. 

GT: Ok, but if you could only choose one? Sophie's choice, I know. Well, reverse Sophie's choice. 😅

M: Idk I'd redo all the stuff with Yevgeny and not make Mickey forget all about him.

GT: Great point. Just one more thing that doesn't make sense in this show. Ok, now let's talk fanfiction. What kind of fics do you write the most? I mean, I know you're the drabble queen, but what else?

M: My fics range from absolute crack fucking with the readers, to gut wrenching, to smut, to whatever passion project I think 2 people will read. I've written some lengthy stuff. Two wips I'm ashamed to admit I forgot where I was going with them as the reason I haven't updated them are White Coats and, by far my most popular fic, The Sugar Daddy. I also have several series going with trans Mickey, fratboy Mickey, geek Mickey, etc.

GT: I can relate, I also have a WIP I don't know how to continue. I have the plot planned, but... I don't quite know how to get there. Do you have a personal favorite among your fics, one that you were especially proud to write?

M: Definitely The Sugar Daddy, but they're all my babies to some extent, even the less popular and early ones. I liked writing pregnant Mickey. And I like some of my fantasy spins, like Mickey meeting Santa lol, and Ian in Oz.

GT: If you had to rewrite a fic you wrote, which one would you choose and how would you change it?

M: I have over 400 fics so I know I myself am forgetting a lot of them lol.

GT: I have way less and I forget mine too, so I can only imagine. 😁

M: When I come across an oldy it's always fun to read it with fresh eyes haha. I don't think I would rewrite any.

GT:  No regrets, huh?

M: Pretty much.

GT: Fair enough. Now, you said it yourself, you have A LOT of fics out there. Where do you get your ideas from?

M: I tend to write in a zone so whatever I put out there is what I wanted out there in the moment. I have an idea and just go with it and see how it comes together

GT: You said you write in a zone. How do you get in that zone? (asking for a friend)

M: I've had somewhere I just could not figure out how to get it out of my head in a way that makes sense so those just never see the light of day or they find their way magically into something else. It's probably an undiagnosed adhd thing but I hit a groove and can keep going as long as I'm excited. That excitement is generated by how much I think what I've written is going to make people shit their pants. I have a fic titled Ian Snaps Mickey's Neck. 

GT: Lol that sounds like a good motivator. So I'm assuming you don't plan your fics much?

M: Not like pages and pages of details before I even begin, but I know major points and how I want to lead up to some of them. That's not to say I'm not just winging it most of the time. Sometimes I'll come up with something better or different based on reactions if it's a multichap. Prompts are a little tricky sometimes cuz the person is expecting the thing so you need to do the thing. 

GT: What about research? Do you do any before or during writing?

M: A little if I want to make sure I'm saying something correctly, either words or phrases. Places sometimes, or if I want to actually describe something specific. For example, in the Sugar Daddy I have a few links to items Ian gets Mickey just to add to the visuals but I'm not expecting everyone reading to care enough about the minutiae of how much it costs to take a bus in Chicago. I stick with what's relevant and if I think people will get the point without me turning in a research paper. 

GT: Do you have a preference for writing from Ian's or Mickey's pov?

M: No preference just whatever the story calls for [whose pov do I write more, it's definitely Mickey].

GT: Do you write other characters aside from Ian and Mickey?

M: I've written a couple fics that include other Shameless characters and definitely some original characters. 

GT: Which Shameless characters do you write more often? Do you write fics just about them or only include them in your Gallavich fics?

M: Ian and Mickey for sure, others as needed for the story but I know I've done a fic from Debbie's perspective a long time ago? Or Carl....

GT: You mentioned you sometimes include OCs. How do you create them? Do you base them on real people?

M: No, definitely not. I mean, if there is any originality in an original character anymore ie. typical archetypes. I at least try to make them their own character and not just an npc.

GT: You write a good deal of mpreg, a trope that a lot of people don't like. What attracts you to it?

M: Hahaha a good deal? I wrote 2 at the most. To me it's just another way of writing something. I've read some weird shit that I definitely would never write myself.

GT: Really? It was more in my mind. 😅 What are some tropes you enjoy writing?

M: I like writing scenarios that actually happen to me sometimes. Makes things feel more real. I guess I subscribe to the usual angsty stuff. But I genuinely like writing fun and sweet, sexy and loving, intimate.

GT: Is there anything you think you could never write?

M: Incest, child stuff, dom/sub, animals.

GT: Do your preferences apply when reading as well? What kind of things do you enjoy reading about?

M: Haha I've stumbled into some fics where I'm not sure if the subject or the writing turned me off more.

GT: Like what? What makes you quickly hit the back button?

M: If it's great writing, I might skip around some bits. Otherwise yeah, I'm not reading anything that I'd have to announce to a room at gunpoint. But that's for my own peace, some things just should not be written.

GT: One more thing, out of curiosity: where does your url come from? I get the M from your name, but why hunter10?

M:  It's my last name and birth month and username for everything because I'm a basic and terrible person 😆.

GT: What are you currently reading?

M: The one where Ian is the reading tutor and has a cat, Paragraphs by @palepinkgoat​. I also like their other stuff and am always extremely jealous, feel free to mention that haha.  Jealous and supportive, but still… lol. And I really do want to finish The Sugar Daddy but for now I'm going to get back into writing slowly with updating some of my series. Before that I was reading Deaf Group by @thevioletjones​, another fav. Unfortunately a lot of my list is orphaned, deleted or no updates since 2015.

GT: Yeah, a lot of people left the fandom around the time, which is sad, but understandable. I understand orphaning your fics, and of course shit happens, so abandoned WIPs are normal, but I don't get the reasoning behind just deleting something you created, unless you later realized it was in poor taste. But well, to each their own. Ok, so I was going to ask you about your plans for more, but you've already said you want to finish The Sugar Daddy. Any other plans? 

M: No other plans really. I always think I'm going to write this idea I've had but I'm not skilled enough to do it

GT: And finally, leave a message for those reading this interview, please.

M: Ehh....hi,this is Malenah and you're watching Disney channel.

Idk. Be careful, be safe, be aware of your surroundings. I love you.

Drink some water and keep going.

[hellohelluva]

@so-very-small

@shrimpfried-gt

Stardew fic :3

Please read the end notes if you're hoping for new updates. You would think I would learn that I have a short attention span by now.

Edit: The link isn't working bare with me

Edit 2: Tumblr hates me and the link won't work so here's the title and author (me lol).

[pics-that-make-you-goku]

yea its kind of weird when ppl who arent autistic call goku autistic and treat him a *certain* way

Hmm, I would like to make it clear that I am not officially diagnosed autistic, these past years I have had thoughts and feel like I might possibly be. I would self diagnose, but I second thought literally everything so I do not trust myself with that. Should anyone have a problem with my own words of this subject, I understand and accept that and would encourage you to say your own thoughts.

But I definitely see your point anon. A lot of people not only use the word Autistic as an insult, they show that they clearly do not think of Autistic people as people. And in a fanbase that is filled with neurotypical fans that are proud to be bigoted, it definitely does not help the neurodivergent fans.

Others simply label him as Autistic just to get away with their ableism as well. It is all incredibly unfortunate. Especially for newer fans, who are actually being able to finally learn these things with not as much bigotry as before.

I would like to make it clear though, I also meant that labeling Goku as Autistic is a bit iffy due to the source material as well. Ever since DragonBall, Goku was made the butt of the joke when it came to intelligence. Super unfortunately dialed down on the joke at times (the anime. The manga as well, probably worse but I prefer to just. Not acknowledge the manga if I can) but it was always there. Even in Z and GT.

He was on his complete own for years and there was only so much Grandpa Gohan could teach him for the brief years they had. And even then, Goku has, at times, had a short attention span unless it was dead serious or if it was something he was actually excited to learn about. Yet nearly every joke on him is about him being seen as stupid.

One smaller reason to be wary as well is his head injury. His head injury in itself is just, not really a valued thing for me personally. The Saiyans being an inherently evil race in the beginning was, in my opinion, was stupid but I digress.

There is also the fact that a LOT of fans baby him, treating him like some infant rather than the literal adult who has been through traumatic experiences that he is. Which is not what anyone wants, for the love of Goku, please know he is an actual character with thoughts and emotions that are not strictly "pure".

I try to make it so that I personally do not do that but I could be doing better perhaps. I do apologize sincerely if it has seemed that and will try to do better.

So yeah, for me, I do think Goku is autistic, but there is reason to be wary. Especially in this series where a lot of bigotry already exists in the source material.

[omegatheunknown]

AEW ALL OUT 2021

In which, not to get ahead of myself here, AEW puts on one of the best major wrestling shows in several years*, following the simple yet effective principle of giving the people what they want and sending everyone home happy and hungry for more.

- The incredibly 'Nitro' ending of the go-home Dynamite, which ran a little long on the 'heels beat everyone up and strut around like assholes almost too in desperate need of comeuppance' bit, short of garbage raining into the ring, did actually increase the heat for both promoted matches. Again, not rocket science, but executed perfectly. Catharsis was on the card, and catharsis went over several times Sunday. - Again, it's time to move on from the Casino theme, shuffling the deck and drawing suits really only detracted from the Battle Royale and seemingly always throws the production crew a curve. If they haven't hammered it by now, it's not going to happen. - Bit unhappy about the PAC/Andrade situation, but still over the moon with Andrade's promo style and Chavito being unhelpful at best.

*Pre-Card

Best Friends and Jurassic Express v The Hardy Family Office and The Hybrid 2 (**) - Not usually much to say about a loaded-up multiteam boondoggle, particularly when the show has yet to begin, but there were some moments worth sitting up to take notice -- there's a lot of talent in the ring, even if Jack Evans/Angelico aren't going to be more than mid-level mooks, little matchups with guys like Luchasaurus and Chuck Taylor are opportunities for innovative/weird spots. - Really this match exists to show-off Jungle Boy, play his theme song twice, and work him in to the aforementioned spots. I don't rightly know what Jungle Jack's ceiling is, but it sort of feels like he's plateauing, at least this version of himself. - Dan Lambert thing is interesting in that it doesn't seem to easily lead to something obvious... I mean who are Scorp and Ethan Page feuding with by proxy here, the concept of contemporary professional wrestling? Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega?

*Main Card

Miro (C) v Eddie Kingston for the TNT Championship (***1/2) - 'Redeem Deez Nuts' T-shirts now available -- and made immediately redundant now that Miro has graciously redeemed Eddie's nuts. - Imagine looking at Miro, listening to Miro talk, and not really being able to figure out this guy is money. Also imagine panicking when he took a little while to find his groove in AEW. 'The Redeemer' is both entertaining and terrifying, and this match delivered heavily on the promise of two big fellas smacking together repeatedly. - Not only does Eddie's arsenal of power moves target Miro's neck, he may also be quite difficult to put in the full reclined camel clutch. Or he'd quite literally snap in half. It didn't come to that. - Weird heel turn by Bryce's attention span and the overall weirdness of the finish is all that kept this from being an excellent match, otherwise this was a tremendous curtain jerker and started off a dangerously fun run of pure adrenaline.

Jon Moxley v Satoshi Kojima (****) - The stakes were nebulous, the build was abrupt, yet this was a fantastic match and tremendous showcase for an underappreciated great who has been more or less just toiling for a bunch of years as a NJPW Dad. Same deal for Nagata, and I assume Tenzan is the same, Taka Michinoku even -- let's see it. - I have to assume the Cozy Lariat might have put Mox down, but Kojima otherwise played the hits (Koji Cutter, Piledriver, Brainbustaaaa) in a big way and Moxley once again proved he's become a very well-rounded wrestler who can match the intensity of just about any former IWGP champion. - More to the point-- KAZE NI NARE -- out of nowhere, too. Or out of nowhere to those not paying attention to the whereabouts of Minoru Suzuki (Right, he's just over here to fight Daniel Garcia and not Mox?), which I guess is to my own peril. Wow, though. Surprise Number 1- a complete surprise, and a welcome one. Let's have it.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD (C) v Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship (****) - I love Kris and her best friends but she didn't have a prayer of dethroning Britt. She got one promo, several weeks ago, and though she did make a meal of Hayter and Rebel, the chase has been abrupt and not given much discussion, other than Mark Henry and whomever else acknowledging what is extremely evident -- Statlander is stronger than she looks, and she looks really strong. They've got her doing Cesaro-level 'modify your grip while holding your opponent's entire weight' nonsense, and it's amazing and scary. - Even with the reign of the good doctor not being credibly threatened, this was an excellent match that demonstrated the continued growth of the competitors in the women's division, even as it underlined that their storylines remain undercooked and perfunctory: Orange Cassidy whipping off his shades to urge Stat to get up was a beautiful moment. Britt's Panama Sunrise, also, too sweet. Statlander eating shit on her 451 and her pendulum moonsault was properly brutal, as were Britt's curb stomps. Really great match between these two. - Again, if they had bothered to write anything into this story, such as Kris' alien physiology making her immune to the lockjaw or something... actually, maybe that's a terrible idea. it's an idea. Undefeated challenger is defeated, on to the next for Dr Britt. Statlander and OC should tag against some of the boys.

The Young Bucks (C) v The Lucha Bros for the AEW World Tag Team Championship(*****+) - Can't not mention the insane entrance lined up for Fenix and Penta. It was bewildering, it was enchanting, it was aggressive, it was hype. It also reminded everybody how very badly we all wanted the Lucha Bros to win. The crowd has been setting new peaks with their volume since Punk showed up, but things were absolutely thunderous and ecstatic at the end of this match. Absolutely valid response. I yelled on the couch. - Nick's facial hair was a bigger tell that it was time for the Bucks to lose than anything else about this build. There's literally nowhere to go from there -- they've done the hair, the bandanas, the kicks, the animal print, the dangly earrings -- peak visual heel for this time and place. - Sincerely thought this was going to be too much of a full sprint spot-fest (the PWG-esque circle of trading blows is not really 'my thing') but even so they kept finding gears, and ramping and ramping and adding blood and brutality along the way. Even a bit of levity, with the tacked up sneaker, followed by the sincerity of Penta throwing himself in harm's way to protect his brother. Immense match, I think you'd have to go back to the Bucks vs the Addiction and MCMGs Ladder War to find a more thrilling tag team gimmick match. - If there's a single flaw to be found it's in the production not really settling on wide angles for simultaneous action at the start of the match. They figured it out. - Rey Fenix is the best luchador in the world.

Women's Casino Battle Royale (**1/2) - If nothing else, this really shows off that they now have a surplus of women's wrestlers who deserve time to hang in the ring. Unsurprisingly, the match picked right up when Thunder Rosa and then Jamie Hayter got to the ring, with additional props to Tay Conti and Jade Cargill, who was dumped rather unceremoniously given her general booking... - Okay, there was something else. Welcome to the rechristened Ruby Soho, who I've not seen a lot of outside of her extremely limited showcase in WWE, but she has so many friends in the back and in the industry and that's never for nothing, not in wrestling, anyway. Intrigued to see where she fits, and if the women ever get more than a match per show. - Touched on this in the preamble but this was the roughest part of the night for the home viewer, just weird decisions on cutting away from various entrances to show... nothing in particular happening. Also while the commitment to not-kayfabing the countdown clock is... admirable? It makes the pacing hinky. - Almost everyone who got new gear for tonight was looking like the white ranger -- Nyla, Swole, Bunny, someone I'm missing. Except Anna Jay, whose stars and glitter gear looked great.

MJF v Chris Jericho for the fate of Jericho's in-ring career (***) - MJF's unauthorized homage to Y2J's entrance: good. Fozzy's guitarist going off tempo with the instrumental Judas: weak, and would've been sad if this were the end for Jericho. Especially as the build has felt... muted, somehow. - Props to the commentary for continuing to feed the red herring of 'in AEW,' as a caveat to stipulation, it did feel like... a remote possibility that MJF would win. - Credit to Aubrey for calling this one down the middle and not putting the fix in for her friend Jericho, and I guess the Dusty finish will give MJF plenty to gripe about. - MJF wrestles with a pure heel style, holds, chops, blocks, and Jericho is fifty years old, so the level of wrestling on exhibition in these matches is well beside the point. It was solid to good, and I was fighting burn out from the first half of the card's level of excitement.

CM Punk v Darby Allin (***1/2) - There are a couple benefits of Darby as a dance partner, and it's certainly better than having to watch Punk return against like, QT Marshall or Shawn Spears. Darby does make everyone look slow, but he can also be tossed around, and this raises his profile even in defeat, obviously. That said, the stakes here are... meta, at best, in that we want to see the man look good and justify the hype. It's a weird thing to root for. He certainly does look good. (Tights? Tights!) - It's fun to theorize about actually booking an angle where Punk is rusty and needs to regain his prowess, and maybe he'll stumble, but maybe the most we get out of that angle is hitting the GTS a little close to the ropes so Darby falls right out of the ring, in what was, for me, the spot that justified this whole match. - Sting's proud step-dad aura is still a hell of a thing, I really liked the end of the match kudos all around. - Match was good, hard to hang my emotions on. I wasn't watching WWE when Punk was in WWE. Definitely feeding off the excitement of others a bit here, and he sure can talk. I'd like to see him cultivate a stable, certainly.

Paul Wight v QT Marshall (n/r) - ...popcorn match? QT Marshall is like the anti-Daniel Garcia in that while his prominence and presence is just as inexplicable, I don't want it to continue, and he doesn't justify it in the process. - Match was two minutes longer than it needed to be.

Kenny Omega (c) v Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship (****1/2) - Crowd was both burnt out and more or less waiting for the post-match angle. Which I get. it's hard to cruise to the main event and having seen all the different things we've already seen on this card, even a singular performer like Kenny Omega and a legend with whom he (surprisingly? fittingly?) has superb chemistry with in Christian Cage were up against it to deliver something memorable. - Context dependent, I can definitely see rating this below their Rampage match, especially since... I mean Christian isn't winning the AEW title off Kenny at this or probably any other event. - But! It was really good! It was very good! They really do match-up well, and Kenny's v-trigger has rarely looked more devastating than when it knocks Christian flat. Christian got cut open in a novel and initially worrying way, and Kenny followed up a botched moonsault with a harder version of the same move off a rail, but it was a really great match and it deserved more energy than was available.

Post-Show - Calling back and inverting the end of Dynamite, The Elite strut about the ring, slightly less stoked than they were on Wednesday, but with the Bucks smiling through the pain, and Jungle Boy once again subjected to violence for his misguided heroism, Kenny 'not much a promo' Omega lays down a killer line about nobody being fit to challenge him who isn't unavailable, already tired or dead. - The Undertaker ADAM COLE, BAY BAY as Surprise #3 was a minor stroke of brilliance, and a fun swerve because while it's exciting to see him, his appearance at this point in the narrative does nothing to solve the problem of The Elite beating up Christian and Jungle Boy. Unless he's still sore about his unsolved murder, which he isn't. Storytime with Adam Cole is back and it's beautiful. Also Jungle Boy died for this. - Okay. But. Just. Okay. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are All Elite. They will hopefully tag together. Bryan will head to NJPW, almost definitely. Minoru Suzuki just walked in and started slugging on Mox. The Forbidden Door is wide open. Will Kenny Omega one day return to Wrestle Kingdom? There are so many possibilities and they are all very exciting. This was a phenomenal show and it didn't have Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, PAC, Andrade, Sammy Guevara, Team Taz, and the rest.

- Wrestling is good, actually. Imagine watching like five hours of wrestling and loving wrestling at the end of it.

*What competes- WK11, Dominion 2018, 2019, DoN 2019, 2021.. All-In, probably. Wrestlemania 30. A few Takeovers. Kris Wolf's retirement show...

[specialmindz]

“huh?”

“Hey Snas, how you spell yo’ name? Is with an S or a Z?”

“what are you talking about?”

“Is S-N-A-S or S-N-A-Z? It sound like da’ latter, but I’s a baby, so I don’t spell good.”

“what exactly are you putting my name on?” asked Sans, eyeing the piece of paper in his brother’s hand.

“Is a flyer.”

“what’s on the flyer?”

“Letters.”

“bro-”

“Letters and a picture of you that I taked. Lookin’ fine in dat lab coat big Buther...”

“seriously pap, what are you putting my name on?”

“Is a job wanted flyer! I knows you doesn’t like working for Daddy for no monies, so I’m gonna get you a new one!”

Sans took the paper from his brother and began to read it out loud. “big-ass baby looking for work. cute butt, cute head, cute everything. has experience in being daddy’s slave-bro you’re not posting this.”

“Why not?!”

“many reasons.”

“You like being Daddy’s slave?”

“no, but if we’re starting with the obvious, this picture is inappropriate.”

“It’s yo’ butt!”

“i can see that-”

“I took the picture so they knows I’s not lying. There be a picture of your head and your feets underneath like a flippybook-”

“what is it with you and butts lately papyrus? you keep bringing them up and it’s weird!”

“Pooburty.”

“babies don’t go through puberty.”

“Oh.”

“...”

“...”

“...I needs a doctor big Buther...”

Sans ignored him and continued to read the book he was holding, crumbling the paper Papyrus had made into a ball and shoving it into his coat pocket. He had hoped the act would make his brother get the message and go away, but the baby didn’t seem to care that his hard work had been destroyed. Instead, Papyrus merely pulled out another sheet and began to scribble on it with a pen.

“Okay, how’s dis? Big-ass baby looking for work, lossa experience being Daddy’s slave. No butt stuff.”

“papyrus, no. i appreciate what you’re trying to do, but no. it sucks that i don’t get paid, but i enjoy my job, so it’s fine.”

“*Tch* Lazybones! Work not supposed to be fun!” Grumbling, the infant angrily scribbled out what he wrote and started again. “Kay’...big-ass baby looking for fun. Lossa experience being Daddy’s slave, but still needs to be punished. He’s been real bad-”

“what?”

“He’s use to abuse and likes to abuse others-”

“i’m abusive? i’m abusive because i don’t want another job?”

“He be very obee-di-ant and likes to act like animals when he play. He go ‘WOOF WOOF! ARRROOOOO!”

“gimme that freaking paper.”

“Dis be Snas’s number, call if you gots any kestions or weequests.”

“don’t put down my number.”

“No number...? Kay’, I go change it to yo’ email.”

Sans paused. “’go?’ what do you mean ‘go?’ where are you go-ING?”

“Undernet.”

“the undernet?”

“Yep!”

“you put my cell number on the undernet?”

“I putted the job thingy and yo’ cell number. Now I gots to copy dis stuff and then post da’ flyers so ERYBODY knows about you. ”

“...”

“Also I didn’t know how to spell Snas, so I put Sans kay’?”

Sans’ sockets went dark.

RING RING!

“LOOK SNAS! An employer...”

RING RING RING!”

“Isn’t you gonna answer your phone big Buther? They might has a fun job for you...”

RING RING RING!

Looking at his pocket warily, the comedian reached inside and took out his phone, looking at the number.

“*sigh*”

It’s just Dad.

“hello? hey dad, sup?”

“You know what’s ‘sup’ child...”

“nooo, can’t say that i do actually. you realize i’m in the next room right? you can just come talk to me.”

“Well yes, I suppose I COULD do that, but there’s a slight problem.”

“you’re busy?”

“I’M DETAINED!”

Sans pulled the receiver away from his head. “what?”

“SOMEONE FOUND YOUR POST ON THE UNDERNET AND NOW I’M BEING QUESTIONED BY THE ROYAL GUARD!”

“wh-heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

“IT’S NOT FUNNY SANS, THEY THINK I’M SELLING MY CHILDREN! WHY WOULD YOU PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON THE WEB?”

“did you actually read the post or...?”

“OF COURSE NO-it was your brother wasn’t it?”

“NYEH HEE HEE HEE HEE!”

“Put that little shit on the phone.”

“alrighty,” turning around, Sans held out his cell phone to his little brother who grabbed it with both hands.

“Hellwoe? What you want?”

“TAKE THAT POST DOWN RIGHT NOW PAPYRUS!”

“Nyeh? Papyrus? I’s not Papyrus, dis be da’ pizza shop...”

“PAPYRUS!”

“We gots da’ cheesy pizza, da’ peppy-roni pizza, and we gots pizza with widdle fishies on them. They look like dis,” Papyrus widened his eyes and opened his mouth, imitating a dead anchovy.

“heh heh heh...”

“You want dat pizza? Is good...”

“I WANT YOU TO TAKE DOWN THAT POST!”

“What post?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT POST!”

“No I doesn’t. Look sir, if you doesn’t want a pizza, don’t call here kay’? Cause’ dis be the pizza pace.”

BEEP!

Papyrus hung up.

“I think he bought it big Buther...”

“...why?”

BE-CUN!

“PAPYRUS GET THAT GODDAMN POST OFF THE UNDERNET!!!” screamed Gaster from the intercom.

“uh. oh! heh heh heh!”

“Uh oh Snas!”

“what are you gonna do bro?”

“There’s only one thing to do,” said the baby bones reaching into his toy chest. “I gots to run away.” He pulled out a little plastic Mickey Mouse purse he had found at the Dump and began stuffing it with crayons.

“you’re gonna run away...?”

“Yep, but don’t worry Snas, though fate tears us apart dis day, I’s certain we shall meet again!”

“heh heh ha ha ha! where you gonna go bro? you gonna go live with flowey?”

He’s been gone an awful long time...maybe he’s really NOT coming back...

“No, baby already tried that,” said Papyrus thinking back to last week.

“NO. No no no no, you get the HELL out of here-”

“Hellwoe Dirt-butt! I’s come to visit you! Nyeh heh heh!”

“Did you not hear me? GT...FO.”

“Why you staring at da’ ground Dirt-butt? Didja lose something?”

“YEAH I LOST PEACE AND QUIET! WHAT PART OF ‘LEAVE’ DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”

Continuing to ignore the plant, Papyrus crawled around and patted the ground with a smile.

“What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’s doing?”

“Not leaving.”

“I’s looking for the quiet...”

“...”

“I know it be around here somewhere, don’t chu worry. The Gweat Papyrus gonna find it real good-”

“I know you’re not stupid Papyrus,” said Flowey frowning. “You may have everyone ELSE fooled, but I KNOW better-”

“SHHH! You’ll scare away da’ quiet Dirt-butt!”

“Knock it off.”

“What the quiet look like? Is it small? Like, really REALLY small?”

“Yeah it’s small, SMALL LIKE YOUR BR-” the plant stopped short. ”You know what? Forget it,” he said, smiling slyly. “Forget looking for the quiet. We’ll make our OWN quiet, how’s that sound?”

The infant’s eyes immediately lit up. “Ooooh! We doing da’ arts and crafts?”

He loved arts and crafts, but Flowey NEVER joined in with him and Sans. He instead preferred to watch from the air vent whilst occasionally shouting down insults centered around their creations.

Not that it bothered Papyrus per say.

Flowey was obviously just upset that he couldn’t use the glue without getting his petals and/or roots stuck together, which would’ve been sad if he didn’t handle it in such a pathetic manner like all his other problems.

“No, we’re gonna play a game. The QUIET game...”

“Ki-et game...?” Papyrus looked disappointed.

“Yep, the quiet game; it’s where we sit still and make no noise whatsoever. Whoever talks first loses, okay?”

“Kay’.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...We’s playing right now?”

“Yeah, isn’t this fun?”

“Yep! I really like sitting around in a field doing nothing like an asshole!”

“YOU CAN LEAVE!”

“No really; doing nothing is a baby’s favorite thing to do, cause’ we doesn’t know how to be pro-duc-tive members of so-ci-et-y...” said Papyrus before lazily rolling onto his back and sticking his foot in his mouth.

“...”

“Also I can’t leave until I beats you in round two, then I’ll be da’ game master!”

Flowey snorted. “You didn’t beat me in round one, so how do you suppose you’re going to do that?” he asked, placing his leaves where his hips would be.

“Easily,” replied the infant. “And I did too beat you. You’s just a sore loser, like always.”

“I AM NOT!”

“Perhaps you should get on baby’s level Dirt-butt?”

“I DIDN’T LOSE! All i did was tell you that the game started and that doesn’t count!”

“Git good scrub flower, nyeh heh heh!”

“Whatever. Even if I DID lose, YOU’RE being a sore winner!” said Flowey turning away.

This made Papyrus sit up and scratch his skull in confusion. “...Dat don’t make sense dough. How can baby be sore if baby won? You’s making stuff up-”

“NO I’M NOT!”

“You wants an apo-lo-gy?”

“YES!!”

“Kay’.”

“...”

“...”

“...Well?”

“I’m sorry you suck.”

“GET OUT OF MY FIELD!!”

“...And dat’s what happened.”

“what?”

“What?”

RING RING!

“...You want some pizza Snas?”

“go take down that post,” said Sans turning off his phone.

“If I takes it down will you pay wit me?”

“uhh...” he looked at his book and then back at Papyrus. He was in the middle of it, nowhere near the end, but he doubted he’d get much studying done if Gaster managed to convince the guards to step aside.

Dad and Pap will be at each other’s throats all day if the guards leave, and dogs don’t have the greatest attention span to begin with...

“uhhh, yeah sure, i suppose i could spend some time with ya’ if you want...depends on what we’re playing though.”

I’m not playing Hide and Seek with this cheater again, THAT’S for sure. Last time he used the security cameras to find me, the little brat.

“We pay House!”

“heh heh heh, house huh? and lemme guess, you wanna be the baby right?”

Papyrus ignored him and crawled back to his toy box shifting loudly through the multitude of broken toys.

“whatcha’ looking for baby bro?”

“Nyeh heh heh!” the infant laughed happily as he raised a fairly large stick in the air triumphantly, his brother watching him in confusion.

Why does he have a stick in his toy box?

CLACK CLACK CLACK!

Hobbling around on the stick, Papyrus grabbed a clipboard with one tiny hand and looked at it disapprovingly. “Wrong, wrong, wrong. Dis be all wrong. Don’t chu know anything besides food? You went to doctor school didn’t you? Sometimes I thinks you’s just here to clean out da’ vending machines...”

“wh-what?”

“Where da’ patient at? You didn’t eat them did you? You know we need those things for monies-”

“what the hell is your problem?”

“Well I gots a whale in my staff room, so PETA’s bound to give me a call sooner or later, other than that though it’s just my leg...oh, and the fact that you suck at yo’ job.”

“your...leg hurts...?”

What?

“The patient OB-VI-OUS-LY gots da’ heatstroke, so we needs to put them in the feezer or they no get better. I doesn’t know why you thought it be a good idea to put em’ in a hospital bed.”

“put em’ in the freezer huh? heh, iii don’t think that’s a good idea lil’ bro.”

“I stopped paying you to think when I re-ah-lized you’s bad at it. Now you follow orders. INTO DA’ FEEZER!” exclaimed the baby pointing to the ceiling dramatically. He then dropped the clipboard and plopped down on the floor, waiting for his older brother to respond.

“okayyy...?”

Papyrus stared right through him and waited silently; a smile plastered on his face. Apparently he had no intention of giving Sans any more instruction, despite never mentioning where, or more importantly, who the patient was supposed to be.

Am I supposed to go find one of his dolls or something?

Knowing his brother, that probably wasn’t the case, but Sans went to the toy box anyway in hopes that the baby Horror would be as happy with a non-living patient as he would a live one.

He was immediately stopped in his tracks.

“Where you going Dr. Snas? We gots to save the patient or they’s gonna die! Leave the toys alone, those be for sick babies...”

“where do i go then pap? where’s the sick guy?”

“Nyeh?” Papyrus looked around. “*GASP!* SNAS!”

“what?”

“THE PATIENT’S ASCAPED!”

“they escaped huh? and why would anyone wanna escape a hospital? that’s where people get healthy bro!”

“They must be hippies Snas!”

“really pap?”

“Quick! We gots to catch em’ before they go online and convince peoples to use natural home re-me-dies and herbs instead of medicines!”

“herbs ARE medicine.”

“...”

“...what?”

“You’s fired.”

“i’m fired...?”

“You’s fired. I can’t and won’t have druggies working under my stupervision. No wonder you’s bad at yo’ job!”

“i’m not a hippie, and that’s very offensive.”

“I doesn’t wanna hear your excuses. Have your desk cweened out by dis afternoon,” said Papyrus. He crawled away, exiting the lab door that led to Waterfall, and leaving his older sibling alone. He was sad that he couldn’t have Sans be his employee anymore, but at least Undyne had gotten home from daycare by now; he could play House with her. She wasn’t very smart, but at least she wasn’t a drug user...

His brother could be REALLY disappointing sometimes.

“psh, whatever,” muttered Sans picking up his book. “i didn’t wanna play with you any-”

Wait a minute.

“PAPYRUS TAKE DOWN THAT POST!!”

“NYEH!”

PUMP!

Papyrus kicked the glass door to the lab with his foot and continued on angrily.

Go munch a tree, hippie baby.

The artist contacted me before making the image, so I know who they are this time. The artist’s name is Rammorn, also known as Passing_Note on AO3.

[the-cadent-roses]

Goodbye World

October 22nd 2022 (192)

._+ Mis-eye-ventures Day LXXXIX +_.

I finally dressed as I wanted... Mom cried a bit, I can understand her worries.

Today was the Waifu-Husbando party I was really looking forward to. At the house of that one dear friend I have mentioned on a off, the one that offered her support, in case my blood relatives didn't.

I took the Erica Anderson costume I had since before the plague. As you read a few entries back, I went to a seamstress t gt the apron and headband sewn.

I ask for a frontal pocket in the apron. You know, for the little notebook waitresses carry around. I told the very friendly seamstress to do it 10cmx10cm, a little risk that we will talk about later.

I prepared for it in advance. I took a shower and shaved my legs and arms, for that extra smoothness. I got some black thighs on and the gree sneakers I would use for the costume, although I wore regular clothes... My mom was adamant on me not dressing like that...

I was able to get a wig too, short and red, or rather chevron. I asked to meet the lady at the nearest subway to the market with he seamstress.

I told my mom to come with me, so I could pick my thins and get some food fore I left to the party.

While se waited in the subway station, I walked as fast as I could to the market, some 12mins non-stop. I got there a few minutes before closing. Then I rushed back to the station. Mid way back, I stopped at an old stationary shop, and asked for a notebook, they showed me two and I picked the most squared one. As I hinted before, it was exactly the size of the pocket. Finally at the station, I got my wig and we walked to a restaurant nearby.

Before I could retake my way to the party, my mom cried and told me she was worried, I told her how this was better, how this was me, a real, happy me... Before she could blame it on being "borrowed" ideas, I reminded her, of how both she and I knew this since way back when I was 6 years old, and she found me wearing her clothes. She then use the "this city dangerous" card. I planned to get changed in the party, just to a peace my mom. I will try and be patient with her, but it definitely hurts me.

I took the BRT down south, picked up some red lipstick, red eye shadow, and some fake earrings on my way to meet my Uni friend, for he had the red nail polish I needed already. I the walked a few more station straight to his home. And we drove to the party.

He got me, himself, and the dear friend, little beautiful One Piece statues. I got the best doctor Tony Tony Chopper.

It was a really fun party, I felt so happy and free. A de friends aided me with the details and makeup. The wig was a bit sort on he back, but it hold like a champ.

I drank a tad too much, and ended up puking, but then I was feeling rather dandy. We played beer pong, and I was surprisingly skilled at it, specially with the amount of alcohol in my body. We attempted to play Clue, and our attention spans failed miserably.

~Roses~

Step by step, as little as they sound, I'll get to be happy some day.

On a foot note here, the Blähaj Pal said "Who the f is this? Is ti Wendy McDonald's?" And I haven't stopped thinking about that. Plus many people at the party were supportive but just as confused as about who the character was.

[captainsafia]

Problem solving with Safia: the optimizer’s dilemma

I have a confession to make.

I'm getting pretty bored of reading the Node codebase.

I know, I know. I've only been doing it for about three weeks now, but what can I say? I've got a rather short attention span. Maybe I'll get back to it at some point, but for now, I'd like to try some different things.

I was recently reminiscing about some of the things I liked doing when I first started coding in my teens. As it turns out, I liked solving some of the problems on Project Euler. In fact, I kept a little blog where I maintained the solutions for the problems that I was solving. I will avoid linking to that blog here because some things just need to die in obscurity.

Anyway, I figured that I would pick up where I left off and start solving some of the problems here and live-blogging my solutions as I write them.

It turns out that the last problem that I solved (or at least publicly blogged about the solution for) was problem 22 back in September of 2012. That would've been the start of my sophomore year in high school. Feels like centuries ago!

So with that in mind, I figured that I would start, six years later, by working on the solution for problem 23. It goes a little something like this.

A perfect number is a number for which the sum of its proper divisors is exactly equal to the number. For example, the sum of the proper divisors of 28 would be 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28, which means that 28 is a perfect number.

A number n is called deficient if the sum of its proper divisors is less than n and it is called abundant if this sum exceeds n.

As 12 is the smallest abundant number, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16, the smallest number that can be written as the sum of two abundant numbers is 24. By mathematical analysis, it can be shown that all integers greater than 28123 can be written as the sum of two abundant numbers. However, this upper limit cannot be reduced any further by analysis even though it is known that the greatest number that cannot be expressed as the sum of two abundant numbers is less than this limit.

Find the sum of all the positive integers which cannot be written as the sum of two abundant numbers.

Alright! So the main goal here is to find the sum of all positive integers that cannot be written as the sum of two abundant numbers. The problem text also tells us that every number greater that 28,123 can be writtern as the sum of two abundant numbers. So this narrows down our search space to numbers between 0 and 28,123. That's a pretty large search space, although we have these things called computers that are stupid and fast and we can put them to work!

I'll admit that I used to be the kind of programmer who would sit and look at problems like these and try to cook up a clever solution right away. But I got older (and wiser) and realized that in most cases, you'd be totally find just throwing a for-loop at the problem. So I created a quick little template for what the solution would look like.

def abundant_terms_for_sum(x): fancy math stuff that I'm unsure of yet def non_abundant_sums(): total = 0 for x in range(28123): if not abundant_terms_for_sum(x): total += x return total

Pretty basic, right?

Side note: I'll be using Python 3 to solve these problems. That's the same programming language I used to solve them when I was a teenager. Although looking back at my blog, I solved some of them using Common Lisp. Maybe I'll take a crack at doing that now!

Now, since I first started solving these problems in my sophomore year of high school, I've had about 6 years of advanced algebra and calculus classes taught to me. That being said, I still have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to math. So I headed over to the good ol' trusty Google dot com to see if someone who liked numbers way more than me had figured out a clever way to determine whether a number could not be the sum of two abundant numbers.

Side note: If you can't be clever yourself, you can always leverage another person's cleverness!

I couldn't find anything useful on the Internet, so it turns out I'll have to use my own noggin for this one. I suppose the point of these problems is to put the noggin to work anyways...

So, my general strategy for things like this is to create an outline of the program with a scaffold of all the functions that I think I might need to call.

def generate_abundant_numbers(): create a list of the abundant numbers less than 28123 ABUNDANT_NUMBERS = generate_abundant_numbers() def abundant_terms_for_sum(x): for num in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: difference = x - num if difference in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: return True return False def non_abundant_sums(): total = 0 for x in range(28123): if not abundant_terms_for_sum(x): total += x return total

So basically, my plan is to generate a list of all the abundant numbers that are less than the boundary we set at 28,123 in a global called ABUNDANT_NUMBERS. Then, the abundant_terms_for_sum function will check if the terms of the sum of x are in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS and handle it appropirately. The only unfilled function here is the generate_abundant_numbers function. I did some hacking around to figure out if I could implement something using for-loops and mathy-math and came up with the following.

def get_proper_divisors(n): divisors = [] for x in range(1, n + 1): if n % x == 0 and n != x: divisors.append(x) return divisors def generate_abundant_numbers(): numbers = [] for x in range(28123): proper_divisors = get_proper_divisors(x) if sum(proper_divisors) > x: numbers.append(x) return numbers

Now, this piece of code took so long to run, I had to trim my hair by the time it was done running. Well not really, I actually ended up just halting it as it was checking the 93rd number but you get the gist.

The big culprit here is the fact that there are two iterations that go from 0 to 28123 so the time complexity (oh gosh, did I just use those words?!!?) of this particular implementation is O(n^2).

If this was a technical interview, this is the point where I would stare blankly at the screen and babble out my stream of concious to the poor person on the other end of the phone. Since I'm just doing this alone in my bedroom, I'm going to stare really hard at the code until some revelation hits me through some form of air-based diffusion.

Just stare really hard.

Keep staring.

And thinking.

So there are a few things that I can do here. The problem statement that 12 is the smallest abundant number. So I updated my code to refelct this.

def generate_abundant_numbers(): numbers = [] for x in range(12, 28123):

The next thing I realized was a problem with my abundant_terms_for_sum function. When iterating through each of the ABUNDANT_NUMBERS I needed to do a better job of skipping throug the abundant numbers I knew for sure were not part of the solution.

def abundant_terms_for_sum(x): for num in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: if num > x: return False difference = x - num if difference in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: return True return False

With these changes, I noticed that the program was running much, much faster. I hadn't actually done anything to alter the time complexity of the implementation, but the minor changes I made helped improve the run-time for the average case that I was dealing with.

At this point, I actually decided to let the program run all the way through. I still hadn't actually verified that my implementation was correct, so it was kind of silly for me to be working on optimizing something that might not have been totally accurate.

So I let this rather slow code run for a little bit while I went out and pretended that I wasn't really a robo — errr, while I cleaned up my apartment.

Once it was done running, I pasted the answer I got into the checker and found out I was correct. What a relief! Now I can do some more optimizations without

The next thing I did was make some improvements to the way that proper_divisors and generate_abundant_numbers worked. Overall, these changes reduce the space complexity of the program since I'm directly computing the sum of the proper divisors instead of storing the divisors in an array and then summing them up. This helped a little bit because as it turns out the time complexity of the sum function in Python is O(n).

def get_proper_divisors(n): total = 0 for x in range(1, n + 1): if n % x == 0 and n != x: total += x return total def generate_abundant_numbers(): numbers = [] for x in range(12, 28123): sum_proper_divisors = get_proper_divisors(x) if sum_proper_divisors > x: numbers.append(x) return numbers

Side note: I know I'm using the words time complexity a lot and it might be scary if you are a new programmer. You can read more about what time complexity is here or here but basically it is just a fancy way of answering the question "How long will this program take to run?"

The next thing I did was refactor the non_abundant_sums function to take advantage of list comprehensions.

def non_abundant_sums(): return sum([x for x in range(28123) if not abundant_terms_for_sum(x)])

So, my current solution thus far looks like this.

def get_proper_divisors(n): total = 0 for x in range(1, n + 1): if n % x == 0 and n != x: total += x return total def generate_abundant_numbers(): numbers = [] for x in range(12, 28123): sum_proper_divisors = get_proper_divisors(x) if sum_proper_divisors > x: numbers.append(x) return numbers ABUNDANT_NUMBERS = generate_abundant_numbers() def abundant_terms_for_sum(x): for num in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: if num > x: return False difference = x - num if difference in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS: return True return False def non_abundant_sums(): return sum([x for x in range(28123) if not abundant_terms_for_sum(x)]) print(non_abundant_sums())

To be honest, it is still pretty hecking slow.

First and formost, the get_proper_divisors function takes a really long time to run. I optimized it using a pretty common optimization for factorization algorithm that relies on one of the properties of the factors of a number.

def get_proper_divisors(n): limit = math.sqrt(n) if limit.is_integer(): total = -limit else: total = 1 for x in range(2, int(limit) + 1): if n % x == 0: total += x + int(n / x) return total

The next thing I did was remove the reliance on abundant_terms_for_sum and just use Python's any function to check if there were any abundant terms that added up to a particular sum.

def non_abundant_sums(): total = 0 for x in range(28123): if not any((x - i in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS) for i in ABUNDANT_NUMBERS): total += x return total

Despite these changes, the program was still running a bit slow. Specifically, there were two for-loops in the code that iterated up to 28,123, the one in non_abundant_sums and the one in generate_abundant_numbers. I decided to combine these two functions together and avoid pre-allocating the dependent numbers. I also ended up using a set to store the date because I realized that we don't care much to have duplicate summation entries in our data set.

def non_abundant_sums(): total = 0 numbers = set() for x in range(28123): if get_proper_divisors(x) > x: numbers.add(x) if not any((x - i in numbers) for i in numbers): total += x return total

Sweet! Now the program runs a little faster. Here's the final code for the curious.

import math def get_proper_divisors(n): limit = math.sqrt(n) if limit.is_integer(): total = -limit else: total = 1 for x in range(2, int(limit) + 1): if n % x == 0: total += x + int(n / x) return total def non_abundant_sums(): total = 0 numbers = set() for x in range(28123): if get_proper_divisors(x) > x: numbers.add(x) if not any((x - i in numbers) for i in numbers): total += x return total print(non_abundant_sums())

So basically, I started off writing a lot of very simple code then I shaved a ton of it off. This is usually how things go for me when I'm solving problems. Just dump whatever I can onto the screen and then see if I can make it better!

There's a big life lesson in there somewhere….

[privateplates4u]

Memoirs of a Best Driver’s Car Newbie

So what’s it like being a Best Driver’s Car judge? Everything you’d expect and then some. On the surface, it’s what you see in the glossy pictures in the magazine: I’m piloting some of the most amazing cars in the world in a variety of high-performance situations. At my disposal I have two Americans, two Italians, two Japanese, and six Germans. But I’m not a Motor Trend editor. So how did I wind up participating in one of the best group tests around? When I graduated from college, I was hell-bent on being an automotive journalist. When I sent my résumé out, I just knew that I was going to land a job at one of the car magazines. I had the credentials, or so I thought: I was a car nut, the senior editor of my college newspaper, and, by all accounts, a decent writer. How could they say no? But I was one hopeful in a sea of thousands. Each rejection letter was an incremental nudge down a different path. So instead I became a freelance writer, amateur racer, and driving school instructor. But as they say, chance favors the prepared. Almost 20 years to the date of my college graduation, I was approached by Motor Trend to be a guest judge at BDC. All those years of writing and racing and driving allowed me to carve out my own space in the auto industry and catch the attention of the Motor Trend editors—that, and Ed Loh stalked me on Twitter. Although I knew I had the requisite chops, I still felt like I was parachuting into a dinner party when everyone else had used the front door. The Motor Trend team is like family, and I was the new in-law. You learn very, very quickly if it’s a good match. Thankfully, it was. I hit the ground running without knowing most of the staff, but there was an instant chemistry that made it easy to fit right in. Throughout the week, these BDC contenders aren’t just competing. They’re commuting. Transporting. Supporting. Trunks and frunks are packed with personal baggage and cleaning supplies, and camera gear might sit in the passenger seat during an impromptu photo shoot in the canyons. Travel days can span hundreds of miles, so although it might be a road trip in a spectacular car, it’s still a road trip. You learn the car’s practical weaknesses and strengths. You might fall in love with a car in performance testing but have it disappoint you on the I-5 slog, or vice versa. It’s these finer details that put the job in dream job. Part of the responsibility is to explore the unique traits of 12 automobiles and commit them to memory in short order. Just think of the traits that normally take days—if not weeks—to master in one’s own personal car. Now you have mere moments to memorize them. How does it start? What’s the shift pattern? Where’s the parking brake? How do I adjust the seat? (In the McLaren, that’s a challenge.) How far do the doors open on the first detent? (Or again in the case of the McLaren, how high does that scissor door go?) What’s the range of the fuel tank? It’s important to know this stuff not only for those high-speed blasts but also for when you find yourself positioning lots of expensive sheetmetal for the cover shoot. You don’t want to be the guy who holds up everything at the golden hour because your car is running on fumes. So was it worth the wait? Absolutely. If anything, I’m glad it took so long to be part of something like this. Instead of showing up to the event young and clueless, this became an opportunity to put all the skills I’ve learned over the past 20 years to use in what was once my collegiate dream. Now that I know what I’m in for, I can’t wait for next year. Read more about our 2017 Best Driver’s Car contenders: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Aston Martin DB11 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Ferrari 488 GTB Lexus LC 500 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Club McLaren 570GT Mercedes-AMG GT R Nissan GT-R NISMO Porsche 718 Cayman S Porsche 911 Turbo S The post Memoirs of a Best Driver’s Car Newbie appeared first on Motor Trend.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/memoirs-best-drivers-car-newbie/

[topbeautifulwomens]

#SEMA #2005 #Coverage #photooftheday #celebritystyle #design #editorial #eyemakeup #hairsalon #hairstraightener #makeupblogger #quotes #streetart

Depart it to the city of Las Vegas to attract some of the flashiest vehicles, aftermarket elements, and add-ons toacquireher for the 2005 Distinctivety Equipment Advertising Affiliation (SEMA) display.

SEMA is an organization that particularizes in aftermarket parts, vehicles, and accessories in the automotive market place and has morphed, over time, into a behemoth of an world-wide exchange organization with over six,466 member firms contrihowevering to a $31 billion a 12 months industry.

The crown jewel of SEMA is, yes, the once-a-year convention that showcases some of the freshest, greatest, and most inventive vehicles, parts, and accessories in the planet. 2005 provided an array of automotive goodness that was so huge in dimension that not even the gargantuan halls of the Las Vegas Meeting Centre could include it. The show boasted over 2 million sq.} toes of exhilittle bit room, 2 short term show halls, and numerous out of doors establishedups.

Every accessible space was packed complete of some of the most beautiful and innovative cases of aftermarket brilliance close to. Even so, the show was so substantial it virtually bgeted on chaos. There are random cars scattered throughout the entire show that are rarely in any certain order or marked with any data relating to what you are actually observing.

Yet getting mentioned that, the SEMA show actually is a distinctive experience that provides so much things to watch it is nearly extremely hard to see anything. Sadly for most of you, the SEMA show is an industry only occasion, which means it isn???t open up to the all round community. So we will do our best to express some of the incredible items that went on to you.

The place to start… There had been so a lot of different things to look at that the SEMA show experienced to be separated into numerous classes introducing, Vehicle Makes, Efficiency Tires & Wheels, Racing & Performance, Recovery Market, Restyling & Components, Scorching Rod Alley, Instruments & Equipment, Vehicles, SUV’s & Off-Avenue, and Cellular Electronics & Era, in an consider to maintain things arranged.

We could pay out times masking the different kinds of merchandise, cars, and exciting things that had to be considered to be imagined, but for your sake, and since I might alternatively not get carpal tunnel syndrome producing this post, we’ll basically adhere to the highlights:

Some of the main car brand names had a huge existence at SEMA. DaimlerChrysler manufactured a its presence identified with the not so refined inclusion of Mopar Alley, a protected walkway connecting two exhibit halls in which dozens of transformed Vipers, Mustangs, and conventional Detroit metal were prominently on display.

Ford also made its mark with a huge display that spanned the width of one of the convention heart’s massive constructions. When covering the backdrop of their exhibit with an attractive blue façade, the folks at Ford populated the area with plenty of tradition types of some of the business’s most common models, including the GTX1 and Ford ‘forty GT.

The GTX1, in case you were questioning, is the brainchild of Ford’s Special Vehicle Group (SVT) motorering manager Kip Ewing. Generally a roadster version of Fords algo throughy stellar Ford GT, the GTX1 depends on a unique 4 panel technique that allows it to morph from a coupe, into a targa configuration, to an actual convertible. Prime down, the GTX1 is a beautiful car. But it will cost you. Aside from the $1fifty,000 Ford GT, the GTX1 conversion will need yet another $38,000. But, given what we have seen, it’s benefit it.

Ford’s other eye catcher is a superbly manufactured copper bodied automobile that has been dubbed the Ford ’40 GT. The pristine copper panels, etched with a great flame trend, were produced in a previous Soviet plane manufacturing facility in Poland and then transported to the United Claims where they were assembled on a Ford GT body. Not remarkably, the ’40 GT percentages the exact same engine as the “genuine” GT.

Way too on display at the Ford exhibit was the new Shelby GT five hundred, a Ford GT that was sliced down the middle to allow prying eyes inside, and a yellow Mustang utilized for dynamometer drag operates inside of the convention center alone.

But be reluctant, there is certainly much more to the SEMA convention than just the cars…

Ridiculous Objects: If we occurred to win the jackpot in the course of our time in Las Vegas we would buy individuals decadent illustrations of blatant consumerism. The last in bling, these Asanti wheels aren’t just huge, they are encrusted with jewels. That is proper, each and every wheel has 1,one hundred karats of diamonds and sapphires set in the 5 spokes and center crest. Cost – $1,000,000 for a set of four.

Automotive Icons: All the influential men and women of the aftermarket world made the experience to Las Vegas to go to SEMA 2005, including Boyd Coddington, Chip Foose, Phillip McGuire, Vehicleol Shelby and many more.

Swag: Webster’s defines “swag” as slang for stolen home or loot. Nicely it’s not stolen if every person in sight is supplying it absent for cost-free. And if it was not free… we’d steal it in any case, because there’s some cool stuff to be had. In a selling ploy that is broadly followed by almost everyone at SEMA, companies give away lots of free stuff in an hard work to attract people to their exhibit booths. After a handful of days at the SEMA show, we remaining Las Vegas with luggage full of free posters, stickers, mystery chains, hats and much more.

Types: Aside from swag, it looks that the best way to attract focus to an differently unexciting or usemuch less product seems to be: A) Employ enticing women. B) Gown them in skimpy clothing with your firm’s name on it. C) Allow them stand around your booth and smile at possible clients. This technique, incidentally, is also widely adopted.

In-Car TVs: A wise man after said, “You can will not have way too many TVs.” Ok, so we probably just made that up. But that seems to be the sentiment at SEMA. Those men can cram a number of LCD displays into any vehicle, occasionally with awe-inspiring productiveness and attention to detail that borders on art, and sometimes with ham-fisted brutality to create a sight even Antoni Gaudi would say is, “a bit over the prime.” For an example of the former see the Scion xA beneath.

Honda and Acura were current with the usual slew of tricked out and greatly modified variants of their foundation models. Acura determined to toss in a new twist nonetheless, by making the very first ever RSX Problem, in which Acura volunteered new RSXs to six different publications to see who could arrive up with the best alterations. Ultimate benefits were tallied after every Acura had done a sequence of trials. Kudos goes to Car and Driver for using top honors.

The Mazdapace department of the Jap manufacturer of the same name also made an visual appeal showcasing some impressively styled versions of the MX-5, Mazda 6, and various effectiveness orientated parts.

Volkswagen, Hummer, and other folks also reared their heads for the SEMA show, though with marginally less of a presence. Every single, as you may count on, sported some sort of aftermarket motivated accessories and special modifications.

With all the speed oriented vehicles littering the Las Vegas Convention Center we probably could have made a killing with an armful of copies of the Mad for Automobiles best selling e-ebook, “How to Struggle a Speeding Ticket – And Get Every Year.”

Aside from the major manufacturers were numerous stellar customizations from the minds of prominent customizers and other aspiring mechanics searching to make a name for them selves, this sort of as this 1939 Lincoln Zephyr, or “Lead Zephyr,” created and signed by Boyd Coddington that will be showcased at the 35th annual Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, AZ.

There were other highlights too, such as the all-new Volvo roadster notion, a Pagini Zonda, a Saleen S7, dozens of custom motorcycles and vans, superchargers, electronics programs, more scissor doors than you can shake a stick at, a simulated off-road proving floor in the convention center parking great deal, speedboats, and a great number of other things to occupy our desires for evenings to come.

But we digress. As stated previously we could spend days writing about the SEMA show (hell, it took us that prolonged just to see it all), but there’s just excessive stuff to cover in one article. Or in two, or 3, or four, or… well you get the idea.

Well, that is about all we must share with you, the general public, about SEMA 2005. At this point you have fairly much read about all the highlights. Okay, that was a lie… there’s even now so much more for you to see. But we cannot probably convey it all to you, not even the best creator in the world could do that.

If you want to see SEMA first hand, just do what we did. Drum up a little ambition and start your own automotive business (for factors see the Nuts for Cars best selling e-book 1001 Approaches to Make Cash with Your Car Pastime). Then you are going to be regarded as “in the industry” and a ticket to following several years SEMA event is only $50 away, furthermore airfare. We are going to see you there.

The post SEMA 2005 Coverage appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/sema-2005-coverage/

[plumberhopperscrossing-blog]

emergency plumber werribee

Plumber hoppers crossing with an extensive range of equipment and knowledge

A professional plumber Werribee is trained and experienced in what they do, knowing exactly how to fix plumbing problems with the least work and damage needed. You may think that a blocked drain can be fixed with a plunger, or a crack in the piping with some sealant, but professional plumbers use tools that you might never have thought to have associated with their jobs. They use these to find and fix the root of the setback instead of the problems that they repeatedly cause, therefore saving you time, money and trouble in the long run.

Your house is only your home if it is the way you want it. Growth of harmful fungi is never an appreciated addition to your home and it can be avoided with a simple call to a trust, professional plumber. There are many out there, so checking to make sure they have a proper license is essential, as is checking around to see if they have good testimonials from past customers. But once you find a professional plumber that you know can work well and effectively, offering your and your house a high standard of work, you will see the difference and know that it was the right choice.

Faulty plumbing certainly isn't something an owner will want to face head on any day. Thus, they seek the help of professional plumbers without delay. Because various plumbing issues - clogged drains, sewer damages, leaky faucets, broken pipes, etc. - exist, the problem needs to be tended upon before it worsens.

In case you are experiencing problems with plumbing at home or in the office, you have the option to fix the problem - that is if you know exactly what needs to be done. However, to ensure the best results, it is important to hire the services of a professional plumber hoppers crossing. Few modern households never realize how much they need the services of a reliable plumber until something goes wrong.

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Professional plumbers are trained to handle nasty clogged toilets, busted pipes and leaking pipes, which have the ability of destroying walls and floors in the home. Many homeowners choose to hire the services of a plumber when there is an emergency. However, contacting a plumber before a real emergency arises makes a great difference in terms of the property damage and repair costs.

Some homeowners feel that when they are confronted by minor problems like a clogged toilet or sink, all that they need to do into grab the plunger to unclog the problem. It may seem the problem is fixed, however they may fail to realize most of the times the problem is made worse.

Therefore, it is advisable to get in touch with a professional whether the problem is small or big. Hiring an experienced, professional plumber is important because they possess the necessary knowledge and skill to address any problem. In addition to having the necessary experience, they normally come with the right tools to fix the problem and if you need an urgent help then emergency plumber Werribee can your best option.

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Professional plumbers use the latest and most advanced plumbing equipments for your residential plumbing system. Some of the latest equipment used by these certified plumbers includes propane torches, rigid tripods, trash pumps, transfer pumps and bolt cutters which may not be available in your home normally.

Professional plumbing will always enjoy strong customer support as they will be achieving maximum customer satisfaction so you can ask for references from your friends or relatives or can view the testimonials in the websites of company. While hiring any of the plumbing services you can ask all the essential information about their services, rate of service and any extra charges for things like services during off times, transportation charges, parking charges etc.

It is important to read reviews before deciding on a plumber. Look for a company that has consumer reviews with a positive experience to accredit the company. Finding one that is known for a speedy response and a quick yet reliable service is always going to be in your advantage. Often times you can find a plumbing contractor that works with a 100% guarantee on their services. This perk gives consumers confidence in their hire.

24 hour plumber Werribee services are available for those in need of immediate plumbing attention. In the event of a serious emergency one can typically find comfort of answers through the company website that they are using. They should have tips for what to do in the event of a flood or any other emergency. For example, one might be advised to find the shut off valve, clean the water, then to locate the source of the problem for repair or replacement. Our emergency plumber hoppers crossing professionals are here to guide you in betters ways.

At the same time you must also provide them sufficient information about your plumbing issues and problems so that they will come with the required tools and equipments which make their job easier and quicker. For example if your shower is leaking, be ready to tell what type of shower and where it is leaking etc. If you are the owner of any business such as restaurant, hotel, apartment, complex, hospital then you should be able to pick out the efficient and emergency plumbers who can work out in late hours as it is necessary that the plumbing system needs to function smoothly.

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Visit To The Website for getting more information related to plumber werribee.

[myearaches]

Play doki doki literature club

iv seen a lot abt it but i dnt lik games lik tht i want to but i gt bored rly quick i got a super short attention span nd dnt lik games wher its jst a lot of reading

[robertkstone]

Memoirs of a Best Driver’s Car Newbie

So what’s it like being a Best Driver’s Car judge? Everything you’d expect and then some. On the surface, it’s what you see in the glossy pictures in the magazine: I’m piloting some of the most amazing cars in the world in a variety of high-performance situations. At my disposal I have two Americans, two Italians, two Japanese, and six Germans. But I’m not a Motor Trend editor. So how did I wind up participating in one of the best group tests around?

When I graduated from college, I was hell-bent on being an automotive journalist. When I sent my résumé out, I just knew that I was going to land a job at one of the car magazines. I had the credentials, or so I thought: I was a car nut, the senior editor of my college newspaper, and, by all accounts, a decent writer. How could they say no? But I was one hopeful in a sea of thousands. Each rejection letter was an incremental nudge down a different path. So instead I became a freelance writer, amateur racer, and driving school instructor.

But as they say, chance favors the prepared. Almost 20 years to the date of my college graduation, I was approached by Motor Trend to be a guest judge at BDC. All those years of writing and racing and driving allowed me to carve out my own space in the auto industry and catch the attention of the Motor Trend editors—that, and Ed Loh stalked me on Twitter.

Although I knew I had the requisite chops, I still felt like I was parachuting into a dinner party when everyone else had used the front door. The Motor Trend team is like family, and I was the new in-law. You learn very, very quickly if it’s a good match. Thankfully, it was. I hit the ground running without knowing most of the staff, but there was an instant chemistry that made it easy to fit right in.

Throughout the week, these BDC contenders aren’t just competing. They’re commuting. Transporting. Supporting. Trunks and frunks are packed with personal baggage and cleaning supplies, and camera gear might sit in the passenger seat during an impromptu photo shoot in the canyons. Travel days can span hundreds of miles, so although it might be a road trip in a spectacular car, it’s still a road trip. You learn the car’s practical weaknesses and strengths. You might fall in love with a car in performance testing but have it disappoint you on the I-5 slog, or vice versa.

It’s these finer details that put the job in dream job. Part of the responsibility is to explore the unique traits of 12 automobiles and commit them to memory in short order. Just think of the traits that normally take days—if not weeks—to master in one’s own personal car. Now you have mere moments to memorize them. How does it start? What’s the shift pattern? Where’s the parking brake? How do I adjust the seat? (In the McLaren, that’s a challenge.) How far do the doors open on the first detent? (Or again in the case of the McLaren, how high does that scissor door go?) What’s the range of the fuel tank? It’s important to know this stuff not only for those high-speed blasts but also for when you find yourself positioning lots of expensive sheetmetal for the cover shoot. You don’t want to be the guy who holds up everything at the golden hour because your car is running on fumes.

So was it worth the wait? Absolutely. If anything, I’m glad it took so long to be part of something like this. Instead of showing up to the event young and clueless, this became an opportunity to put all the skills I’ve learned over the past 20 years to use in what was once my collegiate dream.

Now that I know what I’m in for, I can’t wait for next year.

Read more about our 2017 Best Driver’s Car contenders:

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Aston Martin DB11

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

Ferrari 488 GTB

Lexus LC 500

Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Club

McLaren 570GT

Mercedes-AMG GT R

Nissan GT-R NISMO

Porsche 718 Cayman S

Porsche 911 Turbo S

The post Memoirs of a Best Driver’s Car Newbie appeared first on Motor Trend.

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[ottomanbob]

on: Deep Work by Cal Newport

Cal Newport’s Deep Work is a triumph of self help. It embodies the qualities that make self improvement of the 21st century so great: driven by a desire to stand out from new age milieu and impractical horseshit, Newport pushes beyond the theories of Gladwell and idealism of Tim Ferriss to understand productivity. Newport’s an academic; an MIT educated professor of CompSci at Georgetown and he approaches his subject accordingly. Who gets shit done? How and why do they do it? And how does a beginner follow suit?

The central and opening argument of Deep Work is that the only way to ensure personal prosperity in an increasingly automated economy is to deliver quality knowledge work. Economic advantages aside, valuable knowledge work is a fulfilling pursuit for an individual and a way to ensure a deep love for one’s own career. 

**DEEP WORK **is serious-ass knowledge work that requires at least 90 minutes of unbroken focus to get into. Expertise and experience are required.

Once his thesis is established, Newport goes to incredible depths to provide a pragmatic structure for a life of Deep Work.

major personal takeaways:

Three types of deep work: monastic seclusion (Jung), bimodal (on/off every semester), rhythmic (daily habits enforced by a desire for continuity, but less predictable). There’s also the seemingly fantastic “journalistic” mode, in which one can enter deep work at a moment’s notice.

Strategy for rhythmic philosophy: “chain method.” Mark an X on your calendar for every DEEP WORK day. You will want to continue the Xs. Newport tallys his deep work hours. > Image via Attribution Engine. Licensed under CC0.

Misc tips: Have a standard daily starting time for your deep work. Make grand gestures (Rowling rented a swanky ass hotel to finish HP7). 

Don’t work alone. Selective collaboration is essential to breakthrough (see: adjacent positive breakthroughs). MIT had famous building that was accidental mishmash of depts. Caused breakthroughs. Shared common space for occasional interaction is far superior to open office plan.

5. 4DX business execution method: 

Focus on important stuff (pareto principal). 

Act on leads, not lag.

Keep score (i.e. calendar or hour tally). 

Weekly review, meetings on deep work.

RITUALIZE (obvi). Major Ferriss and many before him have popularized the importance of ritual. Think like an artist, work like an accountant:

WHEN/WHERE: Repeated locations and time frames.

Consistent “how you’ll work.” Use _freedom _app or pomodoro method. Cognitive enhancement routine included here.

Supplementation and support: methods for gathering materials, organizing work, structure of work.

Maximize Downtime. Idleness is a plus. But don’t be bored (dissatisfied with the present). Learn to live without distraction. This goes beyond mindfulness IMO. It’s about being inactive. But you don’t have to be thrilled or totally immersed in the moment. An elusive restfulness.

Replace distractions with focused work, then instead of distracting yourself, take breaks from focus. Idleness is vital for subconscious mind...

Productive meditation: take daily breaks to occupy body, but not mind. Focus on a specific problem. A walk in nature is much better than one in the city. Here’s how to PM:

Review variables (what am I working with?)

What are the next step questions?

Consolidate gains.

Repeat.

The important thing is to avoid loops. Direct your unconscious mind into new territory.

Learn to focus. Complex brain exercises are essential to laying down the deep work neurons. Newport recommends strategies for quick memorization of a deck of cards. After three days of practice, I’m able to memorize a deck in about 8 minutes. This was so fucking exciting. It reminded me off the deep cognitive joy I felt doing hard maths as a child and high school student. Other focus exercises I’ve tried or am trying: rubik’s cube (literally a one day skill), number and name memorization, chess. > Image by Israel Garcia via Attribution Engine. Licensed under CC0.

Internet blocks. 

1. No social media is a big one. I figured it out a couple of years ago but was a bit angsty in my reasoning. Turns out that the numbers add up: facebook doesn’t really make your life better. There’s the _any benefit fallacy _in which users argue for one great benefit ignoring the interminable downsides. (ie “I can stay in touch with my cousins!”) 

Have an internet Sabbath. I’m trying for saturdays.

Internet block periods during the day. An app can work, but a notepad is better as it will push for internal impulse control. Schedule your next 20 minutes of internet time. When you need to do research during your work, write down the topic and move on. When it’s time for the web, maximize it and get back to your offline mode ASAP.

DRAIN THE SHALLOWS. The term deep work refers to the alternative of the concept of “the shallows,” the space where our short attention spans play and stretch. Reading the NYT? Stop. Just cause its good journalism doesn’t mean it’s good for you. SAD!

Schedule your whole day. Your whole fucking day. I’m using gCal but Newport recommends a pen and paper strategy: > 1. Write your hours down the left column, skipping lines.

Schedule blocks no smaller than 30 minutes for routines, shallow work, deep work, breaks, etc. Batch shallow work and logistics together in “task blocks.”

Schedule disputed? Cross out your earlier blocks and move over a column, scheduling the rest of your day.

Conditional overflow blocks can be used for tasks whose length you have trouble predicting. If this, then that. 

Quantify activity depth. Know the value of the work your doing. Could a college grad learn to do this in a month or two? Yes? Then it’s shallow work. Deep work requires several months or years of experience and expertise.

**SHUT DOWN PROPERLY. **Have a shutting down routine and shoot for the same time everyday. Respect then end of your workday. You work 9-5. Not more, not less.

big one here, dealing with email. Make people who contact you do more work. Filter senders, not messages. Use process centric emails: “here’s what I am going to do, here’s what I want you to do, here’s how you’ll do it, how you contact me, and our next steps together.” Provide dates and times for meetings and don’t waste time or energy sending endless confirmations and thank yous.

There’s so much great actionable content in this book. I hope I’ll get around to listing more. I’ve also noted some of my own personal strategies when it comes to fostering deep work.

@ottomanbob’s tips:

**ORGANIZE YOUR DIGITAL LIFE. **KonMari that shit. Folders and deletions are as cleansing as pitching trash bags full of clothes. Use a black wallpaper or camouflage to hide your desktop icons.

2. **BEAR **is the greatest fucking program ever for note taking on OSX. It uses markdown and has a great minimal interface. Took a couple weeks to get the hang of it but holy shit. You can link notes together, create todos and routines, work on prose writing, etc. Blow google docs out of the water.

Monastic mornings. Ferriss and Newport argue for twice-daily email checks. I say, in addition to this, don’t even touch communication software and devices till 10 or 11 am, later if you can. 

**MINIMALIST WORKSPACE. **Unless you’re in vizarts, you probably don’t need anything but a notebook and laptop on your desk. Newport advocates for expensive notebooks, so you’re more intentional with your pages. > Image via Attribution Engine. Licensed under CC0.

conclusion

Always hope to add more. Thank you Cal Newport. Your book changed my life.

xx

adam

[topbeautifulwomens]

#SEMA #2005 #Coverage #friday #instalike #cosmetics #fun #kyliejenner #language #likes #outfit #quotes #women

Depart it to the city of Las Vegas to attract some of the flashiest vehicles, aftermarket elements, and add-ons toacquireher for the 2005 Distinctivety Equipment Advertising Affiliation (SEMA) display.

SEMA is an organization that particularizes in aftermarket parts, vehicles, and accessories in the automotive market place and has morphed, over time, into a behemoth of an world-wide exchange organization with over six,466 member firms contrihowevering to a $31 billion a 12 months industry.

The crown jewel of SEMA is, yes, the once-a-year convention that showcases some of the freshest, greatest, and most inventive vehicles, parts, and accessories in the planet. 2005 provided an array of automotive goodness that was so huge in dimension that not even the gargantuan halls of the Las Vegas Meeting Centre could include it. The show boasted over 2 million sq.} toes of exhilittle bit room, 2 short term show halls, and numerous out of doors establishedups.

Every accessible space was packed complete of some of the most beautiful and innovative cases of aftermarket brilliance close to. Even so, the show was so substantial it virtually bgeted on chaos. There are random cars scattered throughout the entire show that are rarely in any certain order or marked with any data relating to what you are actually observing.

Yet getting mentioned that, the SEMA show actually is a distinctive experience that provides so much things to watch it is nearly extremely hard to see anything. Sadly for most of you, the SEMA show is an industry only occasion, which means it isn???t open up to the all round community. So we will do our best to express some of the incredible items that went on to you.

The place to start… There had been so a lot of different things to look at that the SEMA show experienced to be separated into numerous classes introducing, Vehicle Makes, Efficiency Tires & Wheels, Racing & Performance, Recovery Market, Restyling & Components, Scorching Rod Alley, Instruments & Equipment, Vehicles, SUV’s & Off-Avenue, and Cellular Electronics & Era, in an consider to maintain things arranged.

We could pay out times masking the different kinds of merchandise, cars, and exciting things that had to be considered to be imagined, but for your sake, and since I might alternatively not get carpal tunnel syndrome producing this post, we’ll basically adhere to the highlights:

Some of the main car brand names had a huge existence at SEMA. DaimlerChrysler manufactured a its presence identified with the not so refined inclusion of Mopar Alley, a protected walkway connecting two exhibit halls in which dozens of transformed Vipers, Mustangs, and conventional Detroit metal were prominently on display.

Ford also made its mark with a huge display that spanned the width of one of the convention heart’s massive constructions. When covering the backdrop of their exhibit with an attractive blue façade, the folks at Ford populated the area with plenty of tradition types of some of the business’s most common models, including the GTX1 and Ford ‘forty GT.

The GTX1, in case you were questioning, is the brainchild of Ford’s Special Vehicle Group (SVT) motorering manager Kip Ewing. Generally a roadster version of Fords algo throughy stellar Ford GT, the GTX1 depends on a unique 4 panel technique that allows it to morph from a coupe, into a targa configuration, to an actual convertible. Prime down, the GTX1 is a beautiful car. But it will cost you. Aside from the $1fifty,000 Ford GT, the GTX1 conversion will need yet another $38,000. But, given what we have seen, it’s benefit it.

Ford’s other eye catcher is a superbly manufactured copper bodied automobile that has been dubbed the Ford ’40 GT. The pristine copper panels, etched with a great flame trend, were produced in a previous Soviet plane manufacturing facility in Poland and then transported to the United Claims where they were assembled on a Ford GT body. Not remarkably, the ’40 GT percentages the exact same engine as the “genuine” GT.

Way too on display at the Ford exhibit was the new Shelby GT five hundred, a Ford GT that was sliced down the middle to allow prying eyes inside, and a yellow Mustang utilized for dynamometer drag operates inside of the convention center alone.

But be reluctant, there is certainly much more to the SEMA convention than just the cars…

Ridiculous Objects: If we occurred to win the jackpot in the course of our time in Las Vegas we would buy individuals decadent illustrations of blatant consumerism. The last in bling, these Asanti wheels aren’t just huge, they are encrusted with jewels. That is proper, each and every wheel has 1,one hundred karats of diamonds and sapphires set in the 5 spokes and center crest. Cost – $1,000,000 for a set of four.

Automotive Icons: All the influential men and women of the aftermarket world made the experience to Las Vegas to go to SEMA 2005, including Boyd Coddington, Chip Foose, Phillip McGuire, Vehicleol Shelby and many more.

Swag: Webster’s defines “swag” as slang for stolen home or loot. Nicely it’s not stolen if every person in sight is supplying it absent for cost-free. And if it was not free… we’d steal it in any case, because there’s some cool stuff to be had. In a selling ploy that is broadly followed by almost everyone at SEMA, companies give away lots of free stuff in an hard work to attract people to their exhibit booths. After a handful of days at the SEMA show, we remaining Las Vegas with luggage full of free posters, stickers, mystery chains, hats and much more.

Types: Aside from swag, it looks that the best way to attract focus to an differently unexciting or usemuch less product seems to be: A) Employ enticing women. B) Gown them in skimpy clothing with your firm’s name on it. C) Allow them stand around your booth and smile at possible clients. This technique, incidentally, is also widely adopted.

In-Car TVs: A wise man after said, “You can will not have way too many TVs.” Ok, so we probably just made that up. But that seems to be the sentiment at SEMA. Those men can cram a number of LCD displays into any vehicle, occasionally with awe-inspiring productiveness and attention to detail that borders on art, and sometimes with ham-fisted brutality to create a sight even Antoni Gaudi would say is, “a bit over the prime.” For an example of the former see the Scion xA beneath.

Honda and Acura were current with the usual slew of tricked out and greatly modified variants of their foundation models. Acura determined to toss in a new twist nonetheless, by making the very first ever RSX Problem, in which Acura volunteered new RSXs to six different publications to see who could arrive up with the best alterations. Ultimate benefits were tallied after every Acura had done a sequence of trials. Kudos goes to Car and Driver for using top honors.

The Mazdapace department of the Jap manufacturer of the same name also made an visual appeal showcasing some impressively styled versions of the MX-5, Mazda 6, and various effectiveness orientated parts.

Volkswagen, Hummer, and other folks also reared their heads for the SEMA show, though with marginally less of a presence. Every single, as you may count on, sported some sort of aftermarket motivated accessories and special modifications.

With all the speed oriented vehicles littering the Las Vegas Convention Center we probably could have made a killing with an armful of copies of the Mad for Automobiles best selling e-ebook, “How to Struggle a Speeding Ticket – And Get Every Year.”

Aside from the major manufacturers were numerous stellar customizations from the minds of prominent customizers and other aspiring mechanics searching to make a name for them selves, this sort of as this 1939 Lincoln Zephyr, or “Lead Zephyr,” created and signed by Boyd Coddington that will be showcased at the 35th annual Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, AZ.

There were other highlights too, such as the all-new Volvo roadster notion, a Pagini Zonda, a Saleen S7, dozens of custom motorcycles and vans, superchargers, electronics programs, more scissor doors than you can shake a stick at, a simulated off-road proving floor in the convention center parking great deal, speedboats, and a great number of other things to occupy our desires for evenings to come.

But we digress. As stated previously we could spend days writing about the SEMA show (hell, it took us that prolonged just to see it all), but there’s just excessive stuff to cover in one article. Or in two, or 3, or four, or… well you get the idea.

Well, that is about all we must share with you, the general public, about SEMA 2005. At this point you have fairly much read about all the highlights. Okay, that was a lie… there’s even now so much more for you to see. But we cannot probably convey it all to you, not even the best creator in the world could do that.

If you want to see SEMA first hand, just do what we did. Drum up a little ambition and start your own automotive business (for factors see the Nuts for Cars best selling e-book 1001 Approaches to Make Cash with Your Car Pastime). Then you are going to be regarded as “in the industry” and a ticket to following several years SEMA event is only $50 away, furthermore airfare. We are going to see you there.

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The Total Idiot's Guide To The 2017 24 Hours Of Daytona

One of the dumbest yet most brilliant ideas humanit has ever had is the day-long motor race. Cars have to run almost flawlessly all day to even sniff the podium. The teams are all ragged and delirious at the end, but they made it, man. Is there any prouder feat? Of course we’re going to watch that, and you should too.

This weekend is one of the crown jewels of American motorsport: the 24 Hours of Daytona, which is interchangeably referred to as the Rolex 24 because the fancy watch people paid so much money to get their #brand out there. (Also, it’s a lot shorter to say.)

The Rolex 24's early spot on the calendar always means there’s something new on hand. This year, there’s a whole class of entirely new race cars, not to mention a bizarro mid-engine Porsche 911 RSR making its international racing debut.

Porsche’s flagship sports car, the 911, has always been a rear-engined car, at least in roadgoing… Read more Read more

With 55 cars running this year, there’s truly something for everyone out on track. The fact that some cars look like normal cars, and some look sort of like that vaporware Faraday Future concept thing with the back-fin can be confusing, though, if this is your first time paying attention to this race.

Here’s our guide on the who, what, where, how and why of the great debut of endurance racing in America: the Rolex 24.

Photo credit: LAT Photo USA for IMSA

What’s with all the different cars on track all at once?

One of the key parts of the Rolex 24, as with most major endurance races, is that it’s multi-class racing. Here, you have big-budget, purpose-built racing prototypes driven exclusively by professionals sharing track space with moneyed amateurs in relatively normal-looking cars.

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, of which the Rolex 24 is a part, is a whole series of longer endurance races. Daytona is its longest, and thus, makes up one fourth of the North American Endurance Championship—basically, a championship within the championship that consists of IMSA’s longest, most prestigious races. Both the main championship and the NAEC run four classes this year, which are as follows:

Prototype (P): The top, fastest class of endurance racing prototypes in North America, geared primarily towards teams of professionals. This class is somewhat based upon the international LMP2 spec, for those of you familiar with the cars that run at Le Mans. However, IMSA and the manufacturers who back its series wanted to allow marques to customize cars more so they wouldn’t be giving mere lip service to branding a car a “Mazda” or a “Nissan.” This birthed the Daytona Prototype International (or DPi for short) spec of cars that runs here, although the regular LMP2s that are eligible to run at Le Mans can also run in IMSA’s P-class. It’s a little complicated, but tl;dr—these are the fastest things you’ll see on track, and they’re incredible both up-close and at speed.

Prototype Challenge (PC): Like the P class, PC is all purpose-built race cars that were designed from start to finish for track use—and track use only. These identical open-top cars are run by pro-am teams—in other words, with a mix of professionals and amateurs. This is the last year they’ll be running as a class, thought. These cars have been around for a while, and with more racers preferring a closed cabin for safety reasons, IMSA opted to scrap this class for 2018. Enjoy them while you can!

GT Le Mans (GTLM): The GT classes are the ones based on everyday road cars. GTLM cars are based on Le Mans’ GTE spec, and are driven by professionals. If you’ve ever wondered what’s possible with a modern-day roadgoing chassis, consider GTLM your weekend dose of inspiration. With cars like the BMW M6, the Porsche 911 and the Ford GT in the mix, this is where the next generation of mid-life-crisis-mobile tech is born.

GT Daytona (GTD): Not every amateur wants to race a PC car, and thus, GTD is here to save the day with a collection of everything from Lamborghini Huracán GT3s to the brand-new for 2017 Acura NSX GT3. Like PC, GTD cars are driven by a tightly controlled mix of professionals and amateurs. These cars all adhere to the global FIA GT3 specification, making it relatively easy to buy one from a manufacturer, already race-prepped and ready to go. GTD cars are a little slower than GTLM, but they’re also meant to be less expensive than the spec used by the pros.

Of course, who constitutes a “pro” versus an “am” is a hot mess of a debate in its own right, and there’s a lot of incentive to ask for a lower status than you actually deserve for bizarre political reasons you can read all about here. Many of the so-called “amateurs” (which include a five-time winner of this race!) are actually pretty good! Part of the reason for so many classes comes down to sources of funding—as in, it’s often an amateur with cash that keeps a team afloat, and those amateur drivers need a place to play with cars more suited to their non-pro status.

What are driver rankings, and why have they become such a controversial subject? In order to keep… Read more Read more

The bigger picture, regardless of how team personnel shakes out, is that you’ve got a ton of different cars all competing on the same track at once. You may wonder how anyone can sit down and watch hours of racing, but to me, it’s the ultimate treat for someone with the attention span of a gnat. There’s always something going on, and barely time to take a breather before there’s another rad pass/close call/insane flyby/etc. to marvel at.

It’s like having four races within a race, with the winners of each class getting one of those coveted Rolex watches. The overall win is a special feat, however, with many favorite poster cars in race trim running around GTD, it’s a really special thing to see your favorite dream car win its class.

What’s so special about the Rolex 24?

Endurance races have happened in some form at Daytona International Speedway for nearly its entire history, since 1962. It’s held on Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course, and there are no breaks to give anyone a chance to catch up, or fix their cars. Many consider it to be one leg of the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing—the three most grueling endurance races in the world—alongside the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s also North America’s only full-24-hour-race.

What sets Daytona apart from every other major endurance race on the planet is that most of its road course makes use of the big superspeedway banking, which enables these cars to go to plaid around the big oval.

Because it’s so early on the schedule, this is where many new race cars make their debut. This year, in addition to all of the new prototypes for IMSA’s own Prototype class, we’ve got the competition debuts of the new Porsche 911 RSR—yes, the freaky mid-engine one—and the Acura NSX GT3. These are the cars that will race all over the world, and we’re seeing them here—in Florida of all places—first!

Fans camping out in the infield and around the track turn it into a weekend-long party, and you’ll see everything from incredible rare cars to traditional Floridian debauchery.

What should I pay attention to?

With NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon coming out of retirement to drive a Cadillac protoype, there’s no shortage of eyes on this year’s race. With so many new cars, we’re all wondering not only which one is the fastest, but which one is built well enough to handle a full day of continuous racing. Will the new 911 RSRs work, or was it just never meant to be a mid-engine car? And is that new Acura NSX GT3 as fast as it looks? Here’s where we find out.

Everyone’s eyes are on Gordon’s team, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing squad, for reasons that go beyond the sweet new ride. Not only are we glad to see Gordon still enjoying his so-called “retirement” by still racing awesome cars, but he’s on a fan-favorite team filled with lovable goofballs. Brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor are two of the funniest drivers on the grid.

Jordan has spent much of the offseason trying to fool people as superfan alter-ego “Rodney Sandstorm,” which didn’t fool his Daytona teammate Gordon in the slightest, but was hilarious anyway.

Gordon isn’t the only person who’d be recognizable to fans of other series. Porsche 919 driver Brendon Hartley is driving for the Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan prototype squad, and his Porsche teammate Neel Jani is here in the Rebellion Racing Oreca. Former Audi R18 driver Marcel Fässler is back with the IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe just came off feeding bumbling doofus Rick Perry sashays of shame on Dancing With The Stars to drive Mazda’s new prototype. Fellow IndyCar drivers Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay are helping drive the two Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3s. V8 Supercars phenomenon and thoroughly insane man Shane Van Gisbergen is racing the No. 50 Mercedes-AMG GT3. There’s also a number of ex-Formula One drivers on the entry list, including Sebastien Buemi, Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld.

And of course, there’s a slew of old favorites and cool cars, such as Corvette Racing, who took the most entertaining 1-2 finish I’ve ever seen here last year. They had to switch to a spare car for this race after a preseason testing fire charred the No. 4 Corvette C7.R, but their No. 4 suffered a similar fiery mishap in testing last year and it worked out more than okay at the race itself.

Scott Pruett, who is currently tied with racing legend Hurley Haywood for the most number of Rolex 24 wins, is here chasing a sixth win in the GTD-class Lexus RCF GT3 that would make that record all his own. This is also the first time the Lexus will race in North America.

Dig through the entry list in more detail here, if you’re curious.

When does the race start?

Whether you’re here at the track or at home in front of a TV, you’ll want to drop everything for an entire 24 hours starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

How do I watch?

For better or for worse, Fox Sports is in charge of broadcasting the Rolex 24, and they’ve split it up among multiple channels as follows (all times Eastern):

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.: Fox

Saturday, Jan. 28, 5:00 - 10:00 p.m.: FS2

Saturday, Jan. 28, 10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Fox Sports Go app only

Saturday, Jan. 28, 11:00 p.m. - Sunday, Jan. 29 1:00 a.m.: FS2

Sunday, Jan. 29, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: FS1

Do note: the checkered flag drops at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, so don’t overshoot the ending with a bathroom break thinking they end the whole day at 3. Times were close in qualifying, so this should be a brutal fight to the very end in all four classes. In other words, you’ll probably want to park yourself in front of the TV for the last thirty minutes or so.

As in previous years, Fox is pretty serious when they write “All times ET and subject to change” on their broadcast announcement. This is, of course, the network that infuriatingly swapped Le Mans’ broadcast schedule around mid-race to accommodate golf tournament over-runs on one of their other channel.

Man, that’s a lot. Is there anything else?

Believe it or not, they managed to work in a support race in addition to the Rolex 24: a “short” four-hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race.

Out of all the series that ran last year, the CTSCC is the one I had the most fun watching. The cars are a little more down to earth—instead of Porsche 911s, Lamborghini Huracáns and Ford GTs, they race cars like the Mini JCW, Porsche Cayman and Ford Mustang. A McLaren is crashing the party this year, but even that one is the entry-level 570S. Everything is based on a road car, though, foregoing space-age prototypes for the ability to scream WOO PORSCHE because you, too, own that car at the TV.

All the cars are kept fairly competitive with each other despite being a collection of different models from different marques, which has led to some hilariously ruthless on-track battles in previous seasons. This year should be more of the same.

The CTSCC race starts today at 12:05 p.m. ET, and is streamed in its entirety at imsa.tv.

We’re also here this weekend, so at least we can fill in the gaps if something was missed on television, or desperately needs to be seen up-close. Have anything in particular you’d like us to get an up-close look at this weekend? Let us know.