#being ftp is hard lol

[dango-daikazoku]

oh baby!!! i got Dante 3 times and then finally got precious Olivine 🥰

priest with a gun? who can say no

[quasarlasar]

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES ARE BASICALLY ELDER GODS

I've been doing some more revising of my novel starring Stella and Tartarus. One thing I have been working on is making Tartarus' power more clear...in the comics he comes across as mostly a guy who likes to eat, but this isn't his whole character. He seems silly enough when interacting with Stella, but that is because he loves her and her true form is his white hole counterpart.

But to those he does not like, or even those he is indifferent to, Tartarus lives up to his namesake. He is not named for the Greek god of the abyss for no reason.

As a sapient 60 billion solar mass black hole, Tartarus is basically a physical god. He might technically not be immortal (his lifespan is only 10^89 times the lifetime of the Universe...so it's technically finite) but he might as well be. He is a force that can restructure his galaxy at will, a being that can blow entire holes in a galaxy cluster just by farting a bit too hard. He can swallow entire solar systems in a single gulp. His mind contains the maximum possible information of any in the galaxy, from all the things that have fallen inside him (look up the Bekenstein bound!). And his event horizon hides an abomination against nature: a singularity (three actually*) which even if you go inside him, you cannot see, because they draw all the light towards themselves. Maybe the singularities are hidden by both an event horizon and their own light-sucking power because actually glimpsing its true form would drive you mad, Lovecraft-style.

I've always felt that the name Tartarus would be especially appropriate for a sapient supermassive black hole, for in Greek myth, Tartarus is both an inescapable pit, but also a deity. It is a sapient abyss. A sapient place. And a black hole is a space-time region...so an intelligent black hole would essentially be a living place.

Sadly there likely will never be a real supermassive black hole named Tartarus. The name has already been used for a random region on Pluto. There will always be the Tartarus database of supermassive black hole X-ray spectra at least: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/asca/data/tartarus/

Rick Riordan would hate me for making a sentient abyss character named Tartarus a protagonist lol

here is the paper that partially inspired Tartarus' interior: https://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5139

also here is the Bekenstein bound: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bekenstein_bound

There may be no Tartarus but there is a Porphyrion: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241001.html

[arklayraven]

I really want to continue playing nb and the og obey me, but my main issue is the events that not only because they happen so often so you have to choose between story progression or getting the cool new thing! There is also the fact that unless you have time to grind and grind and grind, have money, and/or saved up a bunch of devil points there is little to no way to get what you want especially if it’s a cool card. Also the boxes piss me off cause I’ve been cheated out of a card so many times because of the boxes that I’ve just given up on the games.

Sorry for the rant I’m just really pissed I can’t play a game I like.

It's alright, I'm fine with ranting over this.

And I completely understand ya here and agree. The events are honestly too much, little breathing space in between, and they are becoming more stressful and draining by how much you have to grind in them. Especially for the CB events, which look to be becoming constant near month long events, but are so much more stressful. As well just chances to get what you want are near impossible. Unless you are very lucky in both the event, and if you try, summoning in Nightmares to get those needed cheat cards.

Yes, Lonely Devil is a thing now, but with these constant events, its hard to give LD a chance because it'll be a decision on using resources on LD, or the current new event, and of course as you mentioned, the main story lessons if they happen to release during those times.

Like its very clear, whether some players(devoted PTP solmare supporters) like to admit it or not, both og OM and NB have become very PTP only and anti-FTP with all the restrictions and all. Like if you really want to make real progress in the game, get all the rewards/cards you want, etc. You'll have to throw real money in for guarantee wins/gets. And I'm sorry to PTP players but your advice to FTP players is kinda pointless now. I've seen it given to others a couples time now to make things sound easy or possible through FTP means but in reality, it really isn't. Also the fact FTP players have to jump through many loops to get event a taste of good stuff compared to PTP players, is just ridiculous at this point to me.

So I completely understand ya for not being able to continue playing the game. Tbh, I want to drop it too, but just can't, it sadly has a hook on me, and I'm a FTP player. As well, my love for Asmo is just too much now. lol Yet, Solmare treats him so bad in these events/nightmares(I mean look at what happened to his bday event/nightmare).

If Solmare cared about their players, all types. I feel story battles should be very easy to beat, and more story driven focused than battles progression focused.

Also, don't run so many events during the times main story lessons drop? Yes, some say we can just take our time. That the main lessons will still be there, but they don't take into account if you don't read it on release it, you will be spoiled hard and that ruins it for many to keep playing.

Also Nightmares, should have better new cards got rates, and less annoying repeats. Especially for new special limited time Nightmares. I don't even know when we'll get revivals now, if we do....Which is why I feel so desperate to try to get my fave cards while I can. But my luck has been worse since their supposed increased gacha rates and I fear I won't get my Asmo again...

lol I started ranting myself here, so will end this before I go on too much.

I'm sorry Solmare driven you, and many players, away with their greedy and selfish changes and decisions. I can only hope they will listen finally and change/improve things for players but...I really doubt it now.

[ftpverse]

Fragmented at Best an early FtPverse Riku angst mix

what it says on the tin. a replica boy who has a new life and a chance to start over but starting over isn't easy, is it? healing never is

-> [ listen ] <-

--

tracklist + liner notes under the cut

--

lies - evanescence you will never be strong enough you will never be good enough you were never conceived in love

hurting for a very hurtful pain - soraru & lon (とても���い痛がり��い) i want you, it's you i want. // it shouldn't hurt anymore, but… the awful pain's right here in my chest…

imperfection - skillet can i be somebody else for all the times i hate myself

marionette - kredo (instrumental)

never forgive, never forget - the dear hunter but i was damned from the very start and bound by crooked plan then i was left for dead with my head in the ground and my hands tied behind my back

breaking the habit - linkin park memories consume, like opening the wound i'm picking me apart again

song to say goodbye - placebo you are one of god's mistakes you crying, tragic waste of skin

nothing left here to burn - lovers and liars broken record on the stereo shattered glass from a past i can't let go i hope to hell this is the last time i ever hurt

-error - kagamine len cover am i broken? i'm broken all right even so, i want, i want to breathe

sleepsong - bastille all you want is someone onto who you can cling

in your skin - lifehouse wake up, take a breath, remember why you're even breathing you're still alive give in, give it up, you're the only one believing in all of your lies

---

some other notes:

this was salvaged from across like 3 mixes minimum lol. me cherrypicking the best songs and then furiously punching them into a coherent narrative. most of the songs i left out were Extremely Angst Focused to the point of being like. kind of hard for me to listen to haha. and mostly jsut there as angst for angst sake instead of really 100% fitting him; however shoutout to already over pt2 by RED (very fond of but something i could not tonally fit in the mix) and castle of glass by linkin park (song that has always made me think about repliku general that i'm fond of but really is too repliku general and not ftpverse specific enough, haha)

shoutout also to soulseeker by thomas bergerson, which i do consider to be one if riku's soundtrack themes, with marionette being the other. while i love the angry/desperate refrain of soulseeker quite a bit, it's just... marionette is the better of the two of riku's soundtrack themes, especially for this mix, because of: 1) better song flow 2) more coherent 3) i just like it way more and remember always regretting not knowing about it when i made the soundtrack/mixes that preceded me discovering it haha. the angry refrain is much more raw and the use of electronics (a genre i enjoy more than general orchestral and also relate to him more; both as a character and as a music genre he likes to listen to) just feels more fitting . for him . to me.

soulseeker is great out of tsfh's library but sometimes they can't all be tsfh songs, you know. (<- sentences that only really mean anything to me and probably just magik, but maybe also to the five people who were keeping up with the blogspot in 2013-2014)

other than that my thoughts are general 1) you WILL take my vocaloid songs and you WILL like it 2) me frantically picking one of three potential lifehouse songs... i forget the runner ups but in the end "in your skin" both fuckored me more and was more fun to listen to :)

er, and, 3) i went with breaking the habit over somewhere i belong becuase somewhere i belong was in the TTH ost mix lol!!! and also because breaking the habit means a lot ot me!!!!! for ftp riku!!! it's a classic!!!!

also its funny becuase sleepsong is quite not early angst (i strongly relate it to a chapter inthe 160s of dead inside lol) but thats fine its fine

last thought: im so mad i couldn't think of a better cover for the mix but who care..... was not deseprate enough to reread the manga about it lol

[fireemblems24]

About the Fallen Heroes Banner

First off, no, I haven't watched the video (just checked out stats/skills). I'm not entirely sure what's going on with Edelgard, but seeing that she's a villain in 3/4 routes, getting a "fallen alt" isn't surprising. I am doing my best to avoid her art, etc . . . like a plague.

And . . . about Fallen Dimitri. He is hot, and I am going to spark for him. I even went back and did story chapters (I literally only ever do these when they're quests lol) to make sure I got enough orbs after the L!Sigurd banner didn't go so well.

That said, I'm betting a few people - myself included - are a bit off-put by his working so similar to L!Dimitri, but even more so by the unfortunate association of Dimitri's mental illness with possession/demonic influences, etc . . . I don't disagree that he's "fallen" in a traditional sense, but past "fallen" heroes all had some cursed sword or etc . . . Even heroes that willingly fell (Lyon, Berkut, etc . . .) were all symbolized by a possession or other supernatural thing. Dimitri's fall isn't caused by his mental illness, but it's been ignored and exasperated for 9 years by events and is impossible not to address when considering his actions.

It's entirely understandable why some people would be off-put by his inclusion in the banner. Though him not having red eyes and Orson's presence do somewhat mitigate it?

Still, throughout history people have confused mental illness with possession or etc . . . In the past, we really didn't know any better, but it still happens today. Anneliese Michel was a mentally unwell girl who's parents refused to accept or believe she was mentally ill. Instead they hired a preacher to exorcise her. She died of mistreatment during the exorcism. This happened in 1976. (Also, please, please be careful looking more into this. There are images; they are graphic and heartbreaking). Poor Elisa Lam had an episode of psychosis and died during it. A security camera caught her acting strangely. To. This. Day. People argue some demon or ghost was chasing her around. She died in 2013. Refusing to accept mental illness and thinking it's something supernatural isn't some unfortunate, misguided belief of yesteryear. It's very real, and it still happens.

So, yes, I understand the discomfort. I also understand it's just I$ banking off a popular character, and as a marketer I fully understand that side as well. I don't think IS meant to associate mental illness with demonic influence, but I'm also woefully under informed about the state of Japanese thought on mental illness.

As someone privileged in mental health, it's pretty easy for me to just enjoy another alt of a character quickly becoming one of my favorites. I'm not, not going to summon for him or enjoy how fun he is as a unit (because firesweep + canto sounds like a lot of fun tbh), but I also think people who are upset about this have every right to be and have a point. (Also, for the record, I'm fully FTP in FEH, so IS isn't getting my money over this, but they never do).

I think people who want to enjoy a fun, new (very pretty) alt of Dimitri are well within their right to do so. People who are distressed and upset at the association between mental illness and possession are also within their right to do so. The only assholes here are people who belittle anyone who is upset about this - bonus points if the upset person is neurologically diverse. Fuck you everyone telling them to chill out. You've got no right to tell someone how they should feel about something like this. I just hope you all don't come at me too hard for being weak to more Dimitri abs in damaged art.

His "Meet the Heroes" page has made me more hopeful as it doesn't add any boogey man aspect to Dimitri's fall, but rather someone who's been hurt so many times they eventually gave into to their demons. I think I'll hold full reservations until I see his Forging Bonds dialogue. Can someone please let me know if there's spoilers? I'll wait if there are, but I'm dying to see how it's handled. Obviously I'm fully intending on skipping Edelgard's for the time being.

[overdrivels]

@romancedeldiablo just reminded me the entire cybersecurity/information security industry is having the greatest field days ever since this whole Covid-19 triggered a mass work from home exodus.

I have so much to say about it and all the security issues that are occurring. This mostly pertains to the US. This isn’t meant to scare anyone, they’re just food for thought and a bit of explanation about my industry.

PSA: Not all hackers are bad, just a reminder. There are very legitimate reasons for hacking such as compliance and research. When I talk about hackers here, I’m talking about the bad ones who are exploiting without permission and for malicious reasons.

The main thing about this whole working from home thing is that most organizations don’t have the infrastructure to support their entire workforce. Not every company uses Google Drive or OneDrive or DropBox.

This means that companies with on-premise servers, isolated servers or networks are screwed. Imagine trying to connect to your friend’s computer who lives on the other side of the world and controlling their mouse. Can’t do it. Gotta download something on both ends to do it. Now imagine that for 500 people at home who are trying to connect to a single server. You’d need to open that server/network up to the internet. That has its own risks because without controlling WHO can access the server, you’re basically allowing anyone (hackers especially) to go in and take all your data.

But then you ask, “Isn’t that what passwords are for?” BITCH look at your own passwords. Do you really think 500 people will have passwords strong enough to withstand a rainbow table attack or that the server won’t shit itself when receiving 500 connections from unknown locations by means of a not-often used method? Hackers only need to exploit one password (for the most part) while the company needs to ensure ALL 500 are protected. That’s difficult as all hell and if it were that easy, I wouldn’t have a job.

Then there’s shit like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and RADIUS servers that’ll secure the network connection so it can’t be hijacked and do authentication respectively. Here’s the problem. VPN solutions need to be downloaded on the client system (your computer). When your organization has very technically illiterate people, that becomes a nightmare. ‘Cause you have to set up their accounts on the VPN system and set the permissions for each of them so they can only access what they’re allowed to access otherwise Bob from sales now has access to the HR system with everyone’s social security numbers. It’s very time consuming and can get very complicated. Even worse is that VPNs often require licenses. When you only have 50 licenses and suddenly 500 people want access, you’re screwed. But you can always purchase more licenses, no problem. Here’s the rub. Suddenly, this VPN tunnel needs to accept connections from 500 people. This tunnel is only strong enough to accept 50 concurrent sessions. When 10x that amount get on, guess what? The tunnel shits itself and basically the company has DoS’d itself. Now no one can get any work done until IT figures out how to get 500 people on a system that’s only capable of supporting 50.

Fuck, almost forgot about RADIUS. There’s DIAMETER, too, but shut up about it. It’s an authentication system but depending on how it’s set up, you’ll have to also set up the users. That’s an extra step and it’s a pain in the ass if RADIUS somehow isn’t connected to AD and the user has different passwords and shit.

Not to mention hackers suddenly gaining access to all this information because they’ve already infected people’s home computers and routers prior to the work from home stuff. There’s very limited way for IT to control what happens on a personal computer, so these personal computers can have no anti-virus or security software. This means all data is in danger because someone decided Windows Defender is annoying. (Windows Defender is pretty great, btw.)

Physical robberies are occurring a little more because there’s no one to protect the stores and such. Physical security is taking a hell of a beating.

There’s been an increase in phishing scams around COVID-19. Unemployment sites are probably being (and probably already have been) hacked and the data is being stolen. I think there were some people who were creating fake unemployment sites to steal PII. There are e-mails going out to people saying stuff like, “Your computer has been infected with the CORONAVIRUS. Click here to clean it up.” And you’re wondering, “What sort of morons…?” Don’t. It’s very easy to give in to your panic. Hackers don’t hack computers solely. They hack into human emotion, into the psyche. Anyone can fall for their shit.

The thing with Zoom? Basically they’re so insecure, people are hacking them without issue. How? Because people are silly and put out links, chat logs are saved onto insecure machines that have already been hacked, there are a bunch of exploits available for Zoom, etc.

Healthcare organizations. Oh boy. So, we all know healthcare organizations are working their damnedest to save people suffering from COVID-19. Every second counts and any delay in that process could mean life or death. They work hard. Here’s the thing. There has always been a delicate balance between security and usability. Too secure and it’ll make it difficult for the end user to do their job. Usable without security just makes it easier for an attacker to do their job. Why am I talking about this?

Healthcare organizations usually hold sensitive information. Health information. Social security numbers. Birth dates. Addresses. Insurance information. Family member information. So much stuff. They are a beautiful target for hackers because all that shit is right there and it’s accessible. Healthcare organizations, by and large, do not put a lot of emphasis on security. That’s changing a bit, but for the most part, the don’t care about security. They do the bare minimum because guess what? Every additional control can add time to a doctor or healthcare worker’s routine. Computer lockscreen every 5 minutes? Now the doctor has to re-logon every 5 minutes. This adds about 15 seconds to their rountine. Multiply that several times over for every patient that comes in assuming a doctor will need to log in at least 3 times during a single visit. That can clock in at at least an hour throughout the day. A hour that they could’ve spent doing something else. So imagine more controls. Password needs to be reset. Need to badge in. Log into this extra program to access this file. Call IT because this thing locked them out. Each one of these normal controls now feel insanely restrictive. The ease of use isn’t there and so organizations might look at reversing these security controls, potentially making things even less secure than before in the name of efficiency.

Don’t @ me about HIPAA. I will start rants about how non-prescriptive and ineffective it is to actually get proper security implemented.

LOL @ internet service providers. Internet speeds are dropping due to the amount of traffic they’re getting. Commercial internet really wasn’t prepared for this. Those poor bastards.

Some organizations outsource their IT teams. Those people (Managed Service Providers aka MSPs) are not prepared for this nonsense. It’s popular now to go after these guys for hacking. An MSP usually works for multiple organizations. So, why try going after 50 organizations individually when you have just one organization with poor security controls managing everything from one place? You’d logically go after the one rather than 50. It’s easier.

MSPs are now overworked because they also have to work from home to connect to systems that can’t support so many people connecting to it on personal computers that the MSP can’t log into like they normally would to fix any issues. This makes them tired. What happens when you’re tired? You make more mistakes. And that’s exactly what hackers go after. Once they’re in the MSP’s system, the hacker can now potentially gain access to the 50 clients’ systems. Easy win.

Shadow IT and alternate solutions. This is another doozy. Imagine all your files and shit are on your company’s network. No one is able to access it because there isn’t any VPN or remote sharing system or FTP server set up for this stuff, but you still need to do your job. So, what do you do? Obviously, you start making stuff on your own computer using whatever you’re comfortable with. Google Drive. Dropbox. Box. Slack. That shitty PDF reader you downloaded three years ago and didn’t update.

Now imagine sharing it through things like your personal e-mail which may or may not have been hacked without your knowledge. Or maybe the recipient’s been hacked without anyone’s knowledge. Maybe your files are normally encrypted if they’re on the company network. Now you’re off of it and nothing’s encrypted. Maybe you forget it delete a file or 80 off of your system which has been infected. Or maybe you pasted shit on pastebin or github and it’s available to the public because that’s just easier. Now anyone searching can find it. This is how database dumps are found sometimes and they’re really entertaining.

Shadow IT putting in alternate solutions without the company’s knowledge is always a fucking nightmare. I get that people need to do their jobs and want to do things a certain way, but can you not be selfish and put everyone at risk because you decided your way or the high way?

That sounds awfully familiar…it feels like a situation that we’re going through right now…hey, wait a minute…

Long story short, this whole working from home thing opens up a lot of security issues. Most companies are ill-equipped to handle IT issues, let alone cybersecurity/information security/IT security issues, but because of that, we’re seeing a lot of interesting things happening. Such as finding out New Jersey’s unemployment system runs on a 60+ year old programming language.

Holy shit I can talk about this all day. I’ve definitely glossed over a lot of stuff and oversimplified it. If anyone wants me to talk about any specific topic related to this or cybersecurity or information security in general, drop an ask. I’m always, always more than happy to talk about it.

[certifiedpotatotrash]

Hmmm....

Tbh, I really want to talk more about FoodFan aside from my ikemen shitposting/reblogging lol so I decided to answer all of the questions in the Food Fantasy ask meme hohoho. Please forgive me tho, I recently came back and I kinda miss posting here. 🤣😂😅

FOOD FANTASY ASK MEME

Questions:

1. When did you start playing?

• August 2018

2. Who was your first UR?

• Foie Gras, not because of the new player rewards though because she’s still the first UR that I summoned 😅

3. Who is your favorite food soul? Favorite ship, if you have any?

• Escargot my sleepy son for my favorite food soul 😄💤

• Favorite ship would be Steak/Red Wine and Cloud Tea/Sweet and Sour Fish 💕

4. Who is your most powerful food soul?

• Hmmm.. This is quite hard to answer 😅

• Well, Crab Long Bao has the highest soul power in my whole list (and he’s also my strongest tank). Strongest magic FS would be Pizza, Turkey for strength FS, and Somen for Support FS. 😄

5. Do you have your dream card? If so, how’d you get them? If not, how much have you tried for them?

• I have 3 dream cards

• First is Pizza. As soon as I discovered that his VA is Hiro Shimono, I KNEW I HAVE TO GET HIM (that’s what I thought to myself lol). Pizza event was the first time that I spent in foodfan. I was aiming to get his skin as well but ranking’s hell af (even in the re-run). 🤣😅

• Second is Mapo Tofu. BEST GIRL. So imagine the dread that I felt upon learning that her event’s the same as Pizza. But I wanna get her so I said to myself that her event will be the last one I’ll spend real money on to. 😩😭

• Third is Nagashi Somen. When I first saw his design in Suki’s post ( @ff-sukinari-daiginjo ), me be like: IKEMEN HUSBENTO ALERT!! Quite surprised at first that he’s a Support soul though (and he’s related to Raindrop Cake). Luckily, his event’s easier compared to other UR events (thank the Heavens)!!

6. Do you read the stories?

• I used to but I got lazy later on lol. I can only remember the stories of Escargot, Foie Gras, Steak, Red Wine & Gingerbread. 😅

7. Favorite Fallen Angel?

• Inugami!!

8. Are you pledged to any food souls?

• HAHAHA of course! It’s quite a long list bro. 🤣😂

• URs: Crab Long Bao, Nagashi Somen, Foie Gras, Pizza, Boston Lobster, Cloud Tea, Turkey, Mapo Tofu, Wuyi Da Hong Pao

• SRs: Steak, Escargot, Sushi, Opera Cake, Cassata

*inserts a long list of soon-to-pledge food souls lol*

9. What food soul do you most want to have an English VA?

• None

10. Do you participate in events?

• Yes! Though after Mapo Tofu event, I stopped spending because events are getting harder and more complicated. 🤣😅

11. Do you have any 5-star souls?

• Yup!

• URs: Crab Long Bao, Nagashi Somen, White Truffle, B-52, Bamboo Rice, Peking Duck, & Foie Gras (basically the ftp-friendly URs lol 🤣😂)

• SRs: Steak, Escargot, Black Tea, Vodka, Sweet Tofu, Mooncake, Laba Congee, Sanma, Salad, Red Wine, Hamburger, Sushi, Yuxiang, Yogurt

• Rs: Jiuniang, Tom Yum, Milk, Coffee, Long Bao, Orange Juice, Plum Juice, Sashimi, Dorayaki, Taiyaki

• Ms: Cheese, Rice, Almond Tofu

12. Do you have any skins besides ascended ones and default ones? If so, how’d you get them? Which one is your favorite?

• Uh, well, I have a lot of skins. I managed to get most of the skins obtainable via bingo/deliveries. Then the team-up skins of Milk/Jiuniang/Omurice. For skins via story events, I only got Steak/SSF. Then the skins obtainable in the store (that’s why I was able to complete Café Satan in their respective skins).

• Favorite skin would be Crab Long Bao’s skin (but I’m salty because I wasn’t able to get that TwT)

13. Do you spend real money on the game? Would you for your favorite soul?

• I mean, I already did lmao (see question #5)

14. If you could summon any food soul in real life, who would you summon? Why?

• None lol

15. Chinese, Japanese, or English voices?

• JAPANESE definitely!!!! 🤧😍

• The voice actors are actually one of the reasons why I got hooked in FoodFan (some of the VAs here are also VAs on my other fandom, which is Ikemen Series) 💕

16. Least favorite soul? Why?

• Eh? I can’t think of any. ;_;

17. Who is in your display case on your profile? Why?

• Escargot, CLB, Pizza, and Turkey are my sons 😄🤧 (smiling Crab tho huhuhu must protect that smile uwu)

• Steak and Somen are my top husbentos 😍💕

• Honestly, 6 SLOTS AIN’T ENOUGH AS I WANNA ADD MORE SONS (Lion’s Head, Bonito Rice) AND HUSBENTOS (Cassata, Opera Cake, Wuyi Da Hong Pao) 😭🤣😅

18. What level are you?

• Lvl 105

19. Do you make teams based on power or how much you like the food souls?

• The former (based on power/skills/utility)

20. Do you make fanart? fanfic? What have you contributed to the fandom, show us!

• Sadly, I am just an ordinary talentless potato fangirl trash who hasn’t contributed much to the fandom except from being a silent fangirl and dumping my money to the game (well before, at least) loooool 🤣😂

That’s all for the Food Fantasy ask meme UwU

[ftpthemovement]

Reaching the lost

It’s says in scripture John 6:44 “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.” Pay attention and you would do well to notice that this statement was during Christ time on earth, before the resurrection, and before the Holy Spirit was given to us.

That scripture can easily be misinterpreted and can leave large margins for error. It’s easy to say, “I cant draw them near to him, only God can.” But, we have been called to “To do the work of an evangelist” 2 Timothy 4:5. Matthew 28:18-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans‬ ‭10:14-15‬

You starting to get the picture here?

There’s no such thing as a private relationship with Jesus. Your relationship with Christ is meant to be a public spectacle for all to see. It’s easy to make the excuse of, “Only God can draw them near,” but to those of you who choose to go against scripture and not do the work of an evangelist... My question is, though you already stand in error, if your point had validity, wouldn’t it be rooted in scriptural truth?

Isn’t the same spirit that lives in Christ now living in you? Am I making that up, or is that Romans 8:11? And if that scripture be true, then didn’t Jesus also say “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.” That’s scripture also, correct? John 14:12 to be exact. Doesn’t scripture also say,

“To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.—Colossians 1:2”

Is that not the answer to, “Only God can draw them near?” Christ being in us? Remember the beginning of this message? The part where when Christ made that statement it was before his resurrection, and ascension back to heaven? See, when Christ gave us the Holy Spirit it was the deposit guarantee of our entire inheritance with God through Christ! Not only that, but now that, but now the same spirit that lives in Christ, lives in us! As Colossians says, “Christ in us the hope of glory.”

Since only God can draw them near, he placed himself in you through the Holy Spirit to go draw others near! It’s your God given opportunity as a true follower of Christ to be an ambassador of his good news! It’s the joyful duty of spreading the gospel. There is not room for excuses in the kingdom of heaven, because “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

Listen, I know it’s uncomfortable to share your faith. But, God gave you the great comforter for a reason. He knew you would be uncomfortable. But nothing worth value comes cheap, and most things worth doing are difficult at times. Yet God has given you the amazing opportunity to represent him in all that you do, while you are here on this earth. You literally have been blessed with the opportunity to represent Christ in everything that you do.

The great commission was not the mission of a few men, rather it was the commission sent to all believers by Christ through God The Father himself. “That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:19

I’m encouraging you this very moment to make uncomfortable your new comfort. You don’t have to go hold a sign and scream at people in parks lol. But, if you would just take the time to study Gods word you would realize, a life without Christ is not a life at all. You were created to interrupt people’s lives with the gospel. You are there to be an absolute blessing to everyone you encounter, by showing them what a renewed life through Christ looks like.

If it’s not all about you, and it’s truly about him, then remember that, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

If you’ve read the New Testament you know that Christ speaks on hell a lot. When you read what hell is described as, it’s horrible beyond imagination. Imagine an enteral existence void of the presence of God. Eternity without God, that’s worse than any horror movie that could ever be made. This is not a guilt trip, but I truly hope you remember that everytime you look into they eyes of a lost soul that is far from Christ. Remember, we all fall short of the the glory of God we known through the gospel. There is no favoritism and all of us were dead in our transgressions. But Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people live.

This is your opportunity to be the torchbearer of your generation. God has a mission, purpose, and calling for you life. It’s time to have the courage to follow it. I pray that you boldly represent God in all matters, in everything that you do, you do for God and his glory. His generosity has been bestowed upon us, so that we may be able to live a life that is richly filled with his abundance of faith, love, hope, grace, and mercy. May the peace of God rest upon you, and wisdom and discernment be your guide.

I pray you leverage all your time, talents, and resources for the kingdom of heaven. The time is short, and your opportunity is now. Let’s go show the world what true ambassadors of Christ really look like. Let’s go show the world what it means to love free of judgments and condemnation. Let’s allow God in us, to draw them near, showing no favoritism, but making the gospel available to everyone freely.

Someone might say, “I want to reach people with the gospel, but I don’t know how to.”

I want you to know the app in your hand has the ability to reach the entire world with the gospel. It puts a free bible In everyone’s hand and its absolutely free! Simply open the app, and then tap the top left button. A list will pop down and you then select front he list the opinion labeled “hit share this app.” Once you hit that button, it will bring up options on how to share it. You can send a message to everyone in your entire phone, you can copy the link and share it through social media, and ask others to do the same.

None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something. So go love the people hard to love, go pray for your enemies, and be generous to the poor. Go look after widows and orphans in their affliction, and keep yourself from being polluted by the world. Go be the change you want to see, go be FTP

From the front lines, ES

[we-are-onexo]

Atiny Anon Project - Mission 2

So although this took me a bit more than an hour to put together 😅 it was really fun. At first i had no idea what songs i was gonna put so i just put my spotify on shuffle and it eventually turned into this emotional playlist lmao (sad boi hours 24/7 🤙) there are a lot of songs that i wish i could put in here, but then this playlist would be too long haha

Jenni's Emotional AF Playlist:

1. Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood: This song is just so sad and i relate to it in my own way (i also may have shed a tear or 2 when i first heard it..)

2. Waste - Foster the People: This is my all time fave ftp song. I just love how its about being patient with the one you love when they're going through a hard time. Not forcing them to get better at your pace, but just being there with them through it.

3. Water Fountain - Alec Benjamin: This song is just so haunting. Idk the way i interpreted it, is like the girl did things that she wasn't ready for or with someone she didn't really want to do it with because she didn't want to be alone (i dont think i explained that well at all, but its 6 in the morning so i hope u understand). Idk the song just makes me sad, but it's so good.

4. Reflection - BTS: This song is my fave solo song off of wings ( I relate to kookie and jin's solo songs as well, but when i heard reflection... it was over). I just think its so beautiful in a sad way lol. First of all, literally everything rapmon says in this song is how i feel and its crazy. Second, that chorus, like that beat just made me feel so many things, idek how to describe. And i love how the beginning of the song is just like the noise he hears when he goes to dduksum. I just think this song is amazing (& i wanna be best friends with rapmon... 😅)

5. Pretty Little Fears - 6lack ft. J. Cole: When i first heard this song the chorus got to me. I just like how he wants her to open up to him and how hes willing to open up to her as well. And then coles verse came on and i wanted to cry cuz its so fucking sweet 😢 like thats the love i would want.

6. Lights Out - EXO: The lyrics are just so comforting 😢 like its literally everything i would want to hear from a loved one when im sad and the fact that exo is singing it to me makes my heart go fkfjnfkd

7. If We Have Each Other - Alec Benjamin: I like how he describes 3 different relationships but they all come together in the chorus. They'll be there for each other when things are hard. I just think its really sweet.

8. So What - BTS: I just love how encouraging this song is. It really does make me want to forget my worries, pain, etc and run and laugh and just not care.

9. Alive - Khalid: I've cried to this song a few times honestly. Its just that feeling of knowing you're disappointing the people that love you when you're being self destructive and isolating yourself. And khalids voice just sounds so full of pain. It's just too relatable.

10. Power - EXO: MY FAVORITE EXO SONG. Its honestly hard to explain how happy this song makes me feel, like i try and i just feel like its not enough. When i first heard this song, there was a hurricane going through florida that cut out electricity for a minute, so i heard power and i just thought of electricity lmao. I loved the song, but it wasn't until i read the lyrics that i really fell in love... and cried LMAO. (Im a crybaby 😅). Its super encouraging. Its basically saying to tune out the world and listen to this song to gain power through tough times. Exo is my ultimate group so them saying that together we get stronger, through this song, it really hits me in the feels lol. I will always be grateful to exo for everything they've done for me and i really do love them with all my heart.

So that's the end of my playlist for my atiny anon, i hope i dont make you sad lmao

[theone]

All of you have decoded the pair list corretly, Congratulations on finding your partner. I am amazed by how quick you guys were. Remember it is not mandatory to help anyone and the last one standing wins!

If your partner does not reach out to you before 19th May please let me know via #ftpanonask, immediately report any of the participants under the same tag if they are being rude and abusive, although all 38 of you are extremely lovely people so I don't think that will be a problem but you will be immediately banned from this and any further competitions taking place if found guilty.

and remember to only post the answer to the abbreviation once you figure it out, whatever you write under that ask will be recorded as your final answer, however the clues can be posted whenever you want according to what you and your partner have consented upon.

a new participant who received the original ftp ask, "corneliastreet" was added yesterday but partners remain the same!

I also feel like being an ultimate swiftie is NOT the only key to winning, it also includes how smartly you negotiate for YOUR survival.

We kinda flopped but it's ok lol

Thank you, honey, for all the hard work you're putting into this 🥺

[kyleperkinsauthor]

Alright, so I haven’t posted in a few months due to a new baby and a new job, but I am back with some cool shit to post over the next few days. Today, I am going to teach you some of the cool stuff you can do with a NAS or, Network Attached Storage. I upgraded mine over the last few days, and decided to share the process, because once you have a NAS, you’ll question why you never had one before. It basically becomes your own personal cloud server that you have total control over.

So first, here is my parts list.

Rexgear Micro ATX Cube – $49.99

Patriot Viper 3 Series, Black Mamba, DDR3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit – $62.99

MSI AMD FM2+ A68H DDR3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard – $46.99

ARCTIC Alpine 64 Plus – 90 Watts Low Noise CPU Cooler for AMD AM4 Sockets – $13.77

AMD AMD A6-7400K Dual-Core 3.5 GHz – $49.79

Hitachi 1TB (1 tb) SATA II 7200 RPM 32MB (Quantity: 3) – $34.58 x 3.

APEVIA ATX-VS450W Venus 450W ATX Power Supply – $21.99

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So, I got all of this for under $350, but all you really need is a cpu, power supply, motherboard, ram, case, and a hard drive. You can do this in any combination, and chances are, you have some shitty old PC laying in a closet somewhere that you could easily use.

You will also need two flash drives. They both should be empty. You need to put the nas4free installation media on one, and the OS will go on another.

So, now that you have your PC built, let’s get started.

First, go here.

Make sure to click on the link with the latest date. Since we’re using USB, we will be selecting this.

It will begin downloading. This could take fifteen minutes or so. Once that is completed, head over and download rufus.

Once that is finished, you have everything you need to install nas4free.

Turn on your freshly built PC. It will lead you straight to the BIOS, and you’ll need to switch the boot order to make booting from USB first priority. There are a million tutorials on how to do this, but it’s pretty straight forward. Find boot order, move everything related to USB to the top. It might be smart to make it reboot upon power loss as well. Save and exit.

Now, you need to plug a USB into the computer you are used to using. Open rufus, then select this usb. After, go down to where it says ISO, and change to DD. Find the nas4free image that you downloaded earlier.

Make yours look like mine, other than the very top option. It will be whatever your USB is called.Next to DD, where that CD looking icon is, that’s what you’ll click to browse and find the nas4free you downloaded earlier.

After you hit start, it will begin installing nas4free onto the USB. Once it completes, you’ll take the USB, along with the other blank one, and put those into the new PC. Then, reboot that PC.

Once you reboot, it will begin loading the new OS. Once it’s finished, you will come to a screen that looks like this.

Select option 9. Then you can begin installing the OS onto the other USB that will stay permanently in the PC. The next screen, pick the preferred option. Then it will guide you through. Once it comes to selecting the device to install on, pick the blank USB.

Once finished, you’ll be back to the first screen. You’ll need to configure a network IP. Go to your normal computer, and run command. (either windows key+ r, then type cmd.exe then hit okay, or type command in cortana or search in start menu). Once it’s open, type in ipconfig and hit enter. It will bring up important information about your network, but you’re looking for information on the gateway.

Now, you’ll know your gateway. So, back to the new PC, go select option 2. Then, it will bring you to these prompts.

For this option, select no. I know it is highlighted on yes, but select no.

For this, you’ll put whatever your gateway is. Usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, but you’ll change the last one to something over 20. So, 192.168.0.21 or 192.168.1.56 etc.

24.

Now, you’ll put your gateway that we found in command earlier.

For DNS, let’s use google’s. Just type 8.8.8.8

Finally for this, select no.

Now you will have a GUI login, or a way to log in from your normal computer. You can now unplug monitor and keyboard from new pc. You won’t need them anymore.

So, in your browser, go to the ip address you set up for your NAS. Whether it was the 192.168.0.21 or 192.168.1.56, or whatever you chose. This will bring you to..

Username will be admin and pw will be nas4free

You can change these later.

Now you have a fully functioning NAS. But, you want to be able to store things on it easily on your computer right? Well, first we need it to recognize your hard drives. So, go to the disks tab.

Then, it will drop down, go to management.

Hit import and you’ll see your disk, or disks. After this, click the HDD format tab.

Select UFS, then click all of your disks(aside from USB where OS is installed. Then hit next and go through prompts.

Then, return to HDD management. Click the little wrench next to each disk and make it look like this.

With everything we do, we will save, save and restart, or apply. It will give you one of these options. You must select them.

Now, we need a mount point on the disks. You get there from the disks tab>mount point.

When you get there, hit the + button.

You’ll want to select each disk, then make each of them look like this.

Naturally changing media to what you’ll be storing on the particular disk, and change the description to reflect it.

Once that’s done, you’re disks are complete and ready to store. Problem is, windows can’t see them. Let’s fix that.

Once you’re in there, make it look like this.

Then go to the shares tab.

Once you’ve hit the plus button, change your to look like this.

Of course, change the emelia to whatever you want the folder to appear as in windows. On the path, click the three little dots, then go to the mnt and shares that you created earlier. You can create as many as you’d like. One for each disk, or use all three disks as one. If you only have one disk, just go to mnt and hit okay.

Now, you are sharing with windows. So, open up your explorer and at the top, type in whatever ip address you use to login to nas from web browser. So, \\192.168.1.25 or so on.

Now, right click each folder, and click map network drive.

Now, you can use your entire new NAS as a network folder on your computer. You can save documents, photos, movies, games, etc all in the folder and it will store it externally, outside of your computer. Now, everyone in your network(everyone using your modem or router), can use these folders. It will work as a community hub for anything you want to save or share.

But, that’s only on your network, and you’re limited as a guest. If you want to use this as a cloud server, where you can use this even outside of your network(say you travel to the other side of the planet and want to save something in the NAS sitting on your desk)), well, we need to create users and enable ftp.

So, go to access tab, then users & groups.

Like always, you’ll click the plus button.

Then make yours look like mine.

Pay special attention to the additional groups section. Make sure that ftp, dlna, and wheel are all highlighted. Then save. Repeat for every user in your house.

Now, go back to network shares in windows. You can right click them and disconnect. Go back to your \\ipaddressyousetup and remap the network drives, but this time, sign in with user credentials.

And now put in your user credentials, and have everyone use theirs on their computers.

Now you’re secure. But to access from outside of the network, we need to enable ftp.

So, go to services tab>ftp

Make yours look like mine, then save and restart.

Now, download winscp.

Once you’re done, you’ll open it to a screen like this.

But you’ll have no idea what to put here. Well, you’ll want to put port 21 and your nas user name and pw that you set up earlier, but as for ip address? We need to get your public one. So, click here. Now, hit login after you save. (So that you won’t need to do this every time. Now, if it won’t let you log in, it just means that your modem/router is being a pain in the ass and the port needs opened. (port 21).

There are so many variations of routers and modems that we couldn’t possibly go through every one, but your model number should be written on the modem or router itself. Put that into google with a “open port” or “port forwarding” for a tutorial on how to do this. Once that port is open, you’ll be good to login.

Now, you can send files to your humble little NAS from across the world.

BUT, you also want your media to play on your TV from the NAS. I got you, fam.

Go to services>DLNA/UPnP MiniDLNA>MiniDLNA then make your screen look like mine, selecting your mount point obviously.

Now, your smart TVs can pick it up and you can stream directly to it.

To make things easier, you can also download Plex.

Sign up, and then you will get a server. Make sure to do this on the strongest computer in your house. When it prompts you to pick your media directory, make sure to select the mnt point on the NAS that we made earlier.

Then, once it’s downloaded, go to your settings and enable remote access and DLNA. This will make sure that your smart TV can receive it, and you can also watch anywhere in the world on any device.

More info here:

Well, I hope you enjoyed this long and thorough tutorial. lol.

Enjoy your new NAS, you can thank me later.

Final product for me?

How to build a NAS Alright, so I haven't posted in a few months due to a new baby and a new job, but I am back with some cool shit to post over the next few days.

[amphitritie]

1,36,46,62,70,78,92!

thank youu ily 💕💕💕1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?closed bc i'm fucken in the damn closet in regards to coming out to my parents fjdkdkdk (also lowkey terrified monsters will come out of it idk)36: What is your usual bedtime?between 12-2am i'd say? i know i need to work on going to bed earlier but i generally don't start work until like 10pm so46: Are you afraid of heights?uhh not rly? i mean i wouldn't want to go skydiving but like going up the eiffel tower or whatever is absolutely fine62: What do you wear to bed?mix of rly faded old pjs & old t shirts70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?yeah Loving Me fjjdjddkdjksk in seriousness uhhh idk i mean i can see myself meeting a cute archaeologist/classicist on my course n falling in love so mayb that?? i mean like i guess if they were a cook or smth that would be the #dream so much good food but idk whatever they want to be lol78: Who would you like to see in concert?ooooo this is rly hard bc there's just so many. i feel like a hayley kiyoko concert would be so much fun (&gay) tho. @hayley come to the uk u coward. same goes for mary lambert. paramore/ftp look like their concerts would be really cool. i'd love to go to a paper kites/daughter/avalanche city concert w an acoustic set or smth my heart would probably implode. 92: Do you want to get married?uhhh yeah probably?? but also i'm in no rush yfm. i was never rly the kid obsessed w having a big white wedding or whatever but i think being married would be pretty cool, if you found the right person.

[bruiser52training]

Week 1: A Learning Week

Last week, Kevin gave me my training plan for the next four weeks.  I now have structure and I feel like I have purpose again.  I am no longer second-guessing myself.  All I have to do is just follow Kevin’s plan and execute.  There are a few “new” things on the training plan I have never done before.  A few new swim drills, an FTP test on the bike, and my gait analysis by Dr. Green at Active Chiropractic so needless to say this was an interesting week.  

There is one thing I have learned by following a well-thought out training plan.  When a coach puts together the plan, he (or she) is putting it together with it being the maximum amount they want you to do during the time period.  It’s like they are daring you to do everything set forth in the plan.  Kevin posted this on his Facebook site when he messaged me and said “training plan has been sent”.  Needless to say, I was concerned.

Dr. Green said “Training plans are done in pencil.  If you find yourself needing some extra recovery time or if you just aren’t feeling it, don’t be afraid to move things around”.  However, I am the kind of person if it is on the plan, then come hell or high water; I’m going to get it done.

The first week of training went well.  It didn’t really start off that great because there was a swim and a run scheduled for Monday and he said “no swim on Monday”.  I have been experiencing a little pain in my left elbow.  Dr. Green said “you need to have a better understanding between soreness and an ‘issue’”.  It’s okay to have pain and soreness as long as it goes away in the span of a few days.  If it lingers, then you need to take a step back and re-evaluate how things are going. I thought the soreness in my elbow was just that, soreness.  But it hasn’t been going away and actually has been getting worse.  So I did some research and it is basically “swimmers elbow” and it is just a little inflammation from over-use.  It is just like how tennis players get tendonitis in their elbow.  So I decided to wait until Wednesday before I hit the pool again and re-evaluate and Kevin confirmed my decision.  Wednesday’s swim was much better and the elbow felt better.  It still wasn’t 100% but better than it was.  I will have to keep a close eye on it.  

On Thursday, Kevin had me do an FTP test on the bike.  I was nervous all week about this workout.  FPT, which stands for Functional Threshold and Power, represents your ability to sustain the highest possible power output/heart rate over 45 to 60 minutes.  I don’t have a power meter yet, so this test was used to determine my threshold heart rate. I have heard horror stories of this test.  The last interval is a 20 minute all-out effort and by the end of that effort, you should practically fall off the bike.  This is the first time I have done a test like this and I really didn’t know what it would be like and I was afraid I would not go as hard as I could for fear of not being able to endure the entire test.  It didn’t take much for my legs to heat up.  My rear tire is bald so I have to put a few “clicks” on the bike trainer so the tire does not slip.  I keep telling myself that is why my trainer workouts are harder than my outdoor rides. I feel like I did the best I could. Needless to say, I didn’t die and didn’t fall off the bike after the last interval.  My average heart rate during the 20-min interval was 157, which is 85% of my max heart rate.  I’m interested to see how my performance on this test changes over time and how it goes once I get a power meter.  Here was the output from my heart rate monitor during the FTP test.  

As part of my rehab, Dr. Green wanted to do a gait analysis to determine if I have any biomechanical issues with my running.  There are some places that do gait analysis and all they are concerned about is how your foot strikes the ground.  That is only part of the story.  It is more than just what is the proper pair of shoes I need to wear.  How your foot strikes the group could be the result of an imbalance in your hips in which case strength training your weaker hip can alleviate the issue and put you into a neutral gait.  It turns out my right hips is weaker than the left.  So when my right foot strikes the ground, my left hip drops lower than my right hip and this causes me to pronate slightly with my right foot.  When my left foot strikes the ground, my hips are in alignment and I have a solid foot strike.  So I just need to work on making my right hip a little stronger.  

He also observed I need to bring my heel up in the back end of the run stride and drive the knees forward. I have what is commonly referred to as the “marathon shuffle”, even though I have never run a marathon (lol). Some distance runners shorten their stride and basically shuffle their feet in an attempt to “conserve energy”. By bringing up my heel and driving the knee forward, this will engage the hamstrings more.  I always wondered my hamstrings get so tight towards the tail end of a race or long run.  This poor run form is the reason I have had hamstring issues.  So I need to make a conscious effort to improve my run form in order to become more efficient.  So Saturday run was a challenge because I was trying to incorporate his observations. Over time, I hope it gets easier as I try and get use to this new run gait.  

So this week has been a “learning” week.  I have a lot of work to do.