#sites just remain normal challenge impossible

[smash-chu]

make a cohost account, make a blue skies account, make a pillow fort account, make a artfol account, share your discord, make a back-up account, make another account, make another account, make another account-

[anotheruserwithnoname]

The rare Jenna Coleman

(If you don't know what screenshot this is from, you aren't alone)

Incredible as it may sound, 2005 will mark the 20th year of Jenna Coleman's career as a professional movie and TV actress (timed from her joining the cast of Emmerdale). In that time, while nowhere near as prolific as some of her contemporaries (such as David Tennant who, for a while, seemed to have a new show out every fortnight), she has amassed a diverse body of work.

True, she has yet to score a major role in a billion-dollar blockbuster like Karen Gillan has done (Captain America doesn't count as it was only a cameo), and she tends to get snubbed by BAFTA and Emmy, but Jenna hasn't done too bad for herself.

That said, sometimes finding some of her work can be a challenge, or even borderline impossible, especially for fans who don't live in the UK.

Writing from the perspective of someone in Canada, here is a list of the Jenna Coleman performances that have become rare and difficult to see through normal channels. Some of these have circulated unofficially/illegally over the years but I won't go into that. I'm not including adverts or PSAs as they by their nature are ephemeral and usually end up on Youtube anyway (usually posted officially) so can be viewed worldwide.

Quick courtesy break for length...

Emmerdale: This was Jenna's first big role. In her 4 years on the show she appeared in something like 440 episodes (this per an Emmerdale fan site; some counts are far less). Although MANY clips of her from the show have appeared on YouTube, no full accounting of her appearances exists online, the 2005-2009 era of the show I do not believe is available for streaming outside the UK (if anywhere), and no DVD release exists obviously (Dark Shadows remains the only "soap opera" with a complete-series home video release). A fan site once had a rather big collection of Jenna clips, including from the "infamous" pantomime episode, but these were taken down long ago. Also impossible to find is the musical number the Emmerdale cast did for Children in Need on the same night Tennant had his first minisode as the Tenth Doctor.

Room at the Top: Jenna's first major role after Emmerdale was in this two-part miniseries that was infamously pulled from broadcast a few days before its scheduled 2011 airing due to last-minute rights issues; it eventually aired a year later (after Jenna's Who debut). Although it was at one point available for streaming in North America I don't believe it is anymore and unlike Jenna's other productions from her post-Waterloo Road/pre-Who era, this never got a DVD release, likely due to those rights issues. If you just want to see her topless scene, I guess it's everywhere, but the full movie is not easily obtainable.

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide - while not impossible to find as I believe they got official Youtube releases at one point, if you want to see these two 50th anniversary productions you pretty much have to obtain the expensive Matt Smith Years Blu-ray box set (North America didn't get a 50th anniversary set like the UK which I think had them). Another Who-related rarity is the short Songtaran Carols which was uploaded as a joke leading up to broadcast of The Snowman. It was also viewable on Youtube, but may not be anymore. It has never had a home video release in North America (nor has the Strax Field Report videos).

Lego Dimensions: Jenna has a cameo in the Doctor Who portion of this online video game. The game I believe has now been retired so you can probably find clips of her part online, but if you want to play the game itself, it may or may not still be playable if you can find it. As far as I am aware the two Xenoblade Chronicles games and DLC she did a voiceover for are still available. You can also find Youtube videos featuring just her bits, which is cheating but at least they're archived.

Victoria: The PBS Version. With the exception of the Christmas special (which was severely edited down instead), most episodes of Victoria aired on PBS in the US with several minutes of additional scenes - a number of which feature Jenna. These versions were available exclusively in the US on the PBS website, but for DVD/Blu-ray and rebroadcasts outside PBS, the ITV commercial edits have been used (which is good news for anyone wanting to see Tom Hughes' butt in the infamous skinnydipping scene). The extra scenes haven't even turned up on Youtube. There was also a PBS edit of Death Comes to Pemberley but I never saw it so do not know if any extra Jenna footage was included; the DVD/Blu-ray once again used the UK version.

All My Sons: National Theatre Live streamed a performance of Jenna's production to cinemas in the UK; the North American "broadcast" was delayed by months but eventually happened a couple of weeks before COVID lockdowns began. During COVID the broadcast was made available for a time on NTL's streaming service, and people with access to university library accounts may still be able to view it online through an archive service, but generally speaking it's hard to find these days. Don't even think about seeing her play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons. Despite a fan reporting a performance had cameras recording it, NTL never streamed it so, if you couldn't afford to travel to London a few years back, you're SOL.

Inside No. 9: Jenna's guest appearance is widely available in the UK on DVD and streaming. But not in North America where Inside No. 9 is not a thing. (Her other TV guest appearance on Thunderbirds Are Go is not available on home video in North America but the show is syndicated over here and I think is on streaming too).

A Separate Peace: See image at top. During lockdown Jenna and David Morrissey starred in a live-streamed Zoom-based production of a play. It felt like something out of Black Mirror and was meant to be the first of a series of plays that never happened. It has never been restreamed or released in any other format. Officially the only way to have seen this was to have been registered to view the Zoom stream on the day, as I was. Other than unrecorded stage plays this will probably remain the rarest Jenna performance.

Jackdaw: It's had some limited festival exposure, and they keep promising to put it on streaming. I've yet to find any indication of this film actually being made available in North America. Doing an online search I got a conflicting message as to whether her other recent film, Klokkenluider, is on streaming in North America or not. Outside festivals it never got a theatrical release either.

All of You: This one is still pretty new but so far no indication of a North American release/stream yet. Searching for this one is complicated because there is another film of the same title that is streaming, so searches for Jenna's film often bring up the other one.

---

It remains to be seen if Control, the project Jenna completed early in her pregnancy, gets a wide release. Series 2 of Sandman will be easy to find (Season 1 even got a Blu-ray release). Her other recent streaming shows are still pretty easy to find on streaming (and DVD in the case of The Cry, though North America did not get a DVD release for The Serpent like the UK got).

[revival-rp]

SUBPLOTS

Having trouble figuring out where you want to start? Take a look at our subplots! These scenarios are currently taking place in our wider plot. There is no set timeline or rigid structure to follow — just a brief summary of what's going on and who's involved. Our players are free to explore subplots at their own pace and in their own creative way. Staff will be expanding and adding more subplots as time goes on, so be sure to check back periodically!

NOTE: Subplots are optional and not the same as PLOT EVENTS, which are more detailed and integral to the site's plot.

SUBPLOT 01 | THE RADICAL AND THE EXTREME

Two opposing factions are challenging the foundations of law and order. One group, the Watchdogs, valiantly advocate for the rights of the Blipped, striving to make a more equal society for all at any cost. The other group, the Underground, fight to maintain the existing power structures and further exploit and suppress the people. Complexities hide in both their motives. As these groups collide in a bitter conflict of ideals and principles, many are caught in the crossfire.

SUBPLOT 02 | AS THEY FEAST UPON US

New York is struggling to cope with the influx of homelessness — more than normal due to the Decimation — leading to the overloading of shelters like F.E.A.S.T. Resources are being stretched thin, and with the housing market in shambles, many people are left without a place to go and are forced to sleep on the streets. F.E.A.S.T is desperate for volunteers to help with charitable operations — both in-house and on the street at their numerous tents dotted around the city. Be a good samaritan today!

SUBPLOT 03 | PLAYING WITH FIRE

In the bustling city of New York, crime rates have escalated to unprecedented levels. The sheer volume of offenses is overwhelming law enforcement, making it nearly impossible for them to address all criminal activities. What stands out most about this new wave of crime is the extraordinary power possessed by some of the perpetrators, displaying abilities never before seen. These powerful criminals continue to wreak havoc across the city while residents remain on high alert. Many look for heroes to restore order to these chaotic streets.

SUBPLOT 04 | THE KING AND HIS ROOK

In the midst of an intense mayoral race, Norman Osborn of Oscorp has emerged as a formidable candidate. Despite his fortune being common knowledge, Osborn's expanding influence has raised eyebrows across the city. With his power amplifying at an alarming rate, many speculate that it's not just his wealth or policy proposals that's driving his popularity, but possibly something — or someone — far more sinister at play. Osborn is making waves in the political landscape, but it's hard not to question the true intentions behind his campaign.

[excelizesoftwareblog]

T20 World Cup 2024: Nassau County Cricket Stadium Built in Just 100 Days Thanks to Modular Construction Technology.

The T20 World Cup 2024 is co-hosted by the USA and West Indies. This is the first time the USA has hosted the World Cup and a total of 8 matches of the T20 World Cup will be played in the USA.

The two venues in the USA were already declared but finding the third venue was challenging for the International Cricket Council (ICC). Less than a year was remaining to start the T20 World Cup and yet the third venue was not decided.

Finally, after the continuous 8 months of venue hunting, ICC was able to find the third venue in Nassau County. In November 2023 ICC signed the contract with Nassau County to play international cricket there.

The construction work began on 18th February 2024 just 105 days before the start of the world cup. The biggest challenge for ICC was to construct an international cricket stadium in 105 days. It was quite impossible and Don Lockerbie, venue development officer of the T20 World Cup 2024 declared it is an impossible project. But with the help of technology, ICC made it possible and built an international stadium just in 100 days. Modular construction technology enables all of these aspects to be seamlessly integrated and optimized, revolutionizing the way buildings are designed, constructed, and managed.

What is Modular Construction?

Normally, construction teams make all the structures and materials needed for construction on site and then fix them in the main building.

Modular construction is a technology where a complete building or a structure is constructed offsite using controlled plant conditions and then transported to the location.

Nassau County is the first-ever cricket stadium constructed using Modular Construction Technology in the history of Cricket.

The Role of BIM in Modular Construction

BIM nurtures the development of thorough, precise, timely, and verified models encompassing every intricate detail of the construction site.

This facilitates construction companies in creating precise 3D visualizations for each component to be constructed offsite, ensuring seamless integration within the rest of the structure.

The stadium has a capacity of 34,000, and it will host a total of 8 World Cup matches. ICC made the strategic decision to craft drop-in pitches for the Nassau County Cricket Stadium especially for T20 World Cup 2024, departing from the conventional practice of creating standard pitches on site.

What are Drop-in pitches?

Drop-in pitches are not prepared in the stadium these have to be made away from the stadium and transported to a location. Drop-in pitches are prepared in a steel tray with a layer of soil, clay, and grass. For making of single drop in pitch it took about 6 months of duration.

Difference between the Normal pitch and the Drop-in pitch

Both drop-in pitches and normal pitches are 22 yards. Only the difference is drop-in pitches are made outside the stadium while normal pitches are made at the stadium. Drop-in pitches can easily be removed too.

Why are drop-in pitches used at Nassau County Cricket Stadium?

Australia and New Zealand are two countries that use drop-in pitches for cricket. These countries play other sports also like Hockey, Football, Baseball, and others and none of the sports needs a pitch.

That is how the concept of drop-in pitch evolved. After the T20 World Cup 2024, drop-in pitches can be easily removed so that they can play other sports on the same ground. Keeping in mind the same thing ICC decided to use drop-in pitches at Nassau County Cricket Stadium.

10 drop-in pitches prepared for Nassau County Cricket Stadium in Adelaide Oval to host T20 World Cup 2024. The development of pitches has been overseen by Damian Hough, the head curator of Adelaide Oval. Out of the 10 pitches, 4 pitches were installed at the main ground while 6 were used for practice. All the staff of drop-in pitches will stay at Nassau County Cricket Stadium to take care of the pitches till the end of all the matches at the venue.

Olympic legend Ussian Bolt inaugurated the stadium on 15th May 2024 along with several legendary cricketers.

[rougedraconteur]

Apparently this was on Threads, Meta’s new challenger to Twitter. Good for him, I am excited that his writing continues, possibly for an older audience like YA. Apparently, folks who did well on Twitter are ready to get back to semi-normal on any such similar site that can give them the numbers of followers they want and need to maintain and grow their careers. For those folks who have the wherewithal to have professionals handle their work accounts, this could be a good thing. I would imagine their side accounts and actual personal accounts will be carefully vetted by same for any interference or cross-over.

About Threads—almost 50 million have signed up since it was launched just days ago, and it is not even available in Europe yet. It is a new offering from parent company Meta, home of Facebook, Instagram, and What’s App. If you like those sites, like your grandma does, or your old school chum, then this is the site for you, and it will harvest all your info and link all your sites automatically with its algorithym and sell the hell out of it to advertisers and marketers and anyone with cash wanting to buy. It has been rejecting some of the accounts from Twitter, where many folks have alternate versions of themselves, for various reasons both good and bad, and I think it will be impossible to remain anonymous here or preserve your privacy without a lot of savvy about VPNs and offsite servers. Professional accounts such as this may be managed by third parties, but some folks are still reporting it links those with their personal accounts, or other side accounts, as well. It will link folks who share servers within households, not just actual equipment, and cross-reference them with possible likes and friends. Think about how this might impact you and your life.

And this is still the guy who helped The Former Orange Guy get into office, and many folks who have not forgotten don’t trust it or him when he presents as Alternate Elon. I already have a couple of Meta accounts, I don’t need another, pretty sure he has scraped most of my data on there already, and that of everyone I have ever crossed paths with in my entire life, so I keep my time there very limited for that reason.

It is really interesting, though, and more than a little distracting from current events like Putin and the War in Ukraine, American politics, the writer’s strike, Artificial Intelligence, global warming, the collapse of journalism, The Supreme Court rulings, China, the Middle East conflicts, and a thousand other Real Things that matter a hell of a lot more and deserve more air time and exposure and discussion, that these two have an actual online feud going on now, about many of Elon’s former staff now working at Threads. right when Twitter is collapsing like the Burning of Rome. Their feud looks like a Real Housewives of the SuperRich Internet Geeks, or a WWA wrestling match. They should both hire Britney to give them tips on how to pull focus like a bitch, bitch.

Is this for real? I don't have Twitter to check! 🤣🤣🤣 A new book???

ETA: Apparently, it was on an app called Threads which I've never heard of? Anyone else?

[myheartlove]

Buff Orpington chickens beginning

Buff Orpington chickens are famous patio chickens. The chicken was developed to be a double-purpose chicken with maximum potential; they are bigger and more useful egg layers. Some chicken ranchers and metropolitan chicken managers have become very fond of Buff Orpingtons since they were created. It is the Buff, the most famous of all Orpingtons, that is responsible for the majority of the breed’s adaptations. With this chicken, everyone will find something they like. What Buff Orpington chicks resembleDo you need someone who can lay great eggs? You can’t go wrong with a Buff Orpington. Are you looking for a sweet bird that loves to cuddle? Alternatively, a bird that enjoys the attention of your children? The Buff Orpington seems to be a good choice, all things considered. Want to raise chicks in a broody hen or raise meat birds on your estate? The Buff Orpington, that’s right. No matter if you’re just beginning or a pro, you can’t go wrong with this sort of variety… Nevertheless, there are a few special cases. In spite of the fact that buff orpingtons endure hot temperatures, for instance, you should avoid potential risk to ensure they stay dry. There are numerous chicken varieties that distinguish their hens from their roosters quite easily. Several roosters show contrasting feather colors, making it easy to separate them from hens. Nevertheless, Buff Orpingtons are born buff and remain that way their entire lives. It doesn’t mean, however, that it will be impossible for you to distinguish between the hens and roosters. Evidently, you could wait for the hens to lay eggs. There’s no doubt that’s an idiot-proof method. The buff orpington rooster a notorious patio chicken variety. Breeding and growing these chickens is a cutting edge enterprise that produces chickens that are better for egg-laying and bigger for meat production. You can read more about chickens and pets in our site happychickensfarm.com. Is the Buff Orpington Appropriate For You?A popular lawn chicken variety is the buff orpington chicks. In other words, they are a cutting edge breed, created to be a chicken with maximum potential, meaning they are bigger and better egg layers. Chicks from buff orpingtons are strong chickens. The animals had often been raised in a wet and cold climate, where they were frequently exposed to cruel conditions. They have become very cold tolerant due to this rearing, and they particularly enjoy living where the winters are colder and the summers are mild. Their only flaw is a tendency toward broodiness. However, assuming you’re interested in raising your own buff orpingtons, the buff is the best breed for you. These mothers do a good job of caring for the chicks. This enormous bird cannot tolerate high temperatures, so you should provide shade, ventilation, and a lot of space for it. It depends on the shade variety you get when you order buff orpington chicken what kind of eggs they will lay. The buff is well known for being an excellent egg layer. As a rule, different assortments are more suitable for middle classes. Normally, you can expect anywhere between 3-5 eggs per week (150-250 per year). Orpington’s Appreciate EatingThe stoutness of these birds should be examined before feeding them – they can be heavy feeders. Despite spending most of its time at the feeder, the buff orpington is far from a lazily foraging bird. The Orpington, with its widely appealing free flight, will be able to successfully find what she needs on the farm. Her preference is for dishes and if you’re spending time on the patio or taking an outing, she’ll join in. The size of the OrpingtonThe enormous size of the Orpington and its small plume thickness make it a challenging bird for hunters to take down. The adorable variety is also reserved around hunters, which is why it seems to enjoy hanging out near the feeders. Regardless of this, you will have more eyes looking out for your hens if you add a rooster to your unfenced herd. There was a paradigm shift in the double-reason chicken-world with the introduction of the Buff Orpington breed. Prior to the introduction of the conventional table bird, it was typically really gaunt and did not lay good eggs. One of the numerous choices for coloring is the buff, which is unquestionably the best option. Possibly the warmth of the quills was combined with an air of peace and harmony. They aren’t loud similar to some different varieties, nor are they pushy. The Orpingtons have persevered, despite disagreements within the family. Your terrace chicken love has stopped a decline in numbers. There is no denying that legacy birds (particularly the buff) have most unquestionably earned a place in everyone’s home and hearts at the present time.

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Hostile school board meetings have members calling it quits (AP) A Nevada school board member said he had thoughts of suicide before stepping down amid threats and harassment. In Virginia, a board member resigned over what she saw as politics driving decisions on masks. The vitriol at board meetings in Wisconsin had one member fearing he would find his tires slashed. School board members are largely unpaid volunteers, traditionally former educators and parents who step forward to shape school policy, choose a superintendent and review the budget. But a growing number are resigning or questioning their willingness to serve as meetings have devolved into shouting contests between deeply political constituencies over how racial issues are taught, masks in schools, and COVID-19 vaccines and testing requirements. In his letter of resignation from Wisconsin’s Oconomowoc Area School Board, Rick Grothaus said its work had become “toxic and impossible to do.” “When I got on, I knew it would be difficult,” Grothaus, a retired educator, said by phone. “But I wasn’t ready or prepared for the vitriolic response that would occur, especially now that the pandemic seemed to just bring everything out in a very, very harsh way. It made it impossible to really do any kind of meaningful work.”

California fire approaches Lake Tahoe after mass evacuation (AP) A ferocious wildfire swept toward Lake Tahoe on Tuesday just hours after roads were clogged with fleeing cars when the entire California resort city of South Lake Tahoe was ordered to evacuate and communities just across the state line in Nevada were warned to get ready to leave. The popular vacation haven normally filled with tens of thousands of summer tourists emptied out Monday as the massive Caldor Fire rapidly expanded. Vehicles loaded with bikes and camping gear and hauling boats were in gridlock traffic, stalled in hazy, brown air that smelled like a campfire. Police and other emergency vehicles whizzed by. “It’s more out of control than I thought,” evacuee Glen Naasz said of the fire that by late Monday had been pushed by strong winds across California highways 50 and 89, burning mountain cabins as it swept down slopes into the Tahoe Basin.

Hurricane Ida traps Louisianans, shatters the power grid (AP) Rescuers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters Monday, and utility repair crews rushed in, after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid in the sticky, late-summer heat. People living amid the maze of rivers and bayous along the state’s Gulf Coast retreated desperately to their attics or roofs and posted their addresses on social media with instructions for search-and-rescue teams on where to find them. More than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi—including all of New Orleans—were left without power as Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland, pushed through on Sunday and early Monday before weakening into a tropical storm. As it continued to make its way inland with torrential rain and shrieking winds, it was blamed for at least two deaths. But with many roads impassable and cellphone service knocked out in places, the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus. The governor’s office said damage to the power grid appeared “catastrophic.” And local officials warned it could be weeks before power is fully restored, leaving multitudes without refrigeration or air conditioning during the dog days of summer, with highs forecast in the mid-80s to close to 90 by midweek.

Heavily armed criminal group ties hostages to getaway cars after storming Brazilian city (Washington Post) A heavily armed group of bank robbers wreaked havoc across a southeastern Brazilian city early Monday, striking several banks, setting fire to vehicles and tying hostages to their getaway cars, in an assault that left at least three people dead, officials say. Even in a country long accustomed to random spasms of violence, Brazilians reacted with shock and fear. The group stormed Araçatuba, a city of 200,000 in São Paulo state, around midnight to strike several city banking agencies. Gunshots punctured the early-morning quiet. Authorities asked residents to stay inside. Images on social media and local news reports showed at least 10 people clinging to getaway cars, apparently strapped there to deter fire from police. The hostages were reportedly released after the group escaped. The raid bore the characteristics of what criminologists have called a growing pattern: nighttime assaults on midsize Brazilian cities—often elaborate bank heists, intricately planned, well choreographed and executed by well-financed criminal groups equipped with the weaponry and gadgetry of war. The group flew a drone over Araçatuba during the raid, according to local reports, to track movements throughout the city.

EU travel restrictions (AP) The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in. The EU’s decision reflects growing anxiety that the rampant spread of the virus in the U.S. could jump to Europe at a time when Americans are allowed to travel to the continent. Both the EU and the U.S. have faced rising infections this summer, driven by the more contagious delta variant. The guidance issued Monday is nonbinding, however. American tourists should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent since the EU has no unified COVID-19 tourism policy and national EU governments have the authority to decide whether or how they keep their borders open during the pandemic.

Italy’s record droughts (La Stampa) The earth is cracking in Italy’s northwest region of Piedmont: the crops and the animals suffer. Italy has been ravaged by fires and storms, like Greece, Turkey and much of Southern Europe. Italy has recorded 1,200 “extreme” meteorological events—a 56% increase from last year. Wildfires ravaged the southern regions of Sardinia, Calabria and Sicily. The town of Florida, in Sicily, is thought to have recorded the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe: 48.8 °C. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall devastated other parts of the country. Coldiretti, Italy’s largest agricultural association, has just summed up the bill for this Italian summer: The damages to agriculture, it says, amount to €1 billion. Wheat yields have fallen 10%; cherries 30%, nectarines 40%. Tomato and corn crops have also suffered heavy losses. Giovanni Bedino, a 59-year-old Italian farmer, has been working the land since he was 15. “I love this job, but a year like this takes away your love,” he told Turin daily La Stampa. “We couldn’t water the fields and nothing came down from the sky. I remember, the summer of 2003 was a very difficult one—but it wasn’t even close to this year. I have never seen such a drought.”

In India, a debate over population control turns explosive (Washington Post) Yogi Adityanath, a star of India’s political right wing, stood before television cameras in his trademark saffron tunic and dramatically introduced a bill pushing for smaller families—two children at most. In previous decades, this measure by the leader of the country’s most populous state might have been uncontroversial. Over the past month, it’s been explosive. Critics saw a veiled attempt to mobilize Hindu voters by tapping into an age-old trope about India’s Muslim population ballooning out of control. As India barrels toward a pivotal election in Uttar Pradesh early next year, population bills introduced by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have become a new flash point in the national debate, vividly illustrating how the issues of religion and identity, spoken or implied, form the most powerful undercurrent in the country’s politics. Since 2011, when official census figures emerged showing Hindus dipping to 80 percent of India’s population compared to 84 percent in 1951—Muslims increased from 10 percent to 14.2 percent during that same period—the question of how to maintain “demographic balance” has gained urgency for the Hindu movement’s leaders. A 2016 national survey finding that Indian Muslim women had, on average, 2.6 children compared to 2.1 for Hindus provoked more concern.

North Korea appears to have restarted Yongbyon nuclear reactor, U.N. body says (Washington Post) North Korea appears to have restarted its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July, a “deeply troubling” sign that the country may be on track to expand its nuclear program, according to a new report by the United Nations’ atomic agency. The finding adds another challenge to the Biden administration’s goal of denuclearizing North Korea. Although Yongbyon is not the only site where North Korea has produced highly enriched uranium, its role at the heart of Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions made the facility a bargaining chip in previous negotiations. In 2008, North Korea ceremoniously blew up the reactor’s cooling tower in a largely made-for-TV event amid nuclear talks between the United States and former leader Kim Jong Il. (A new cooling tower was built after the negotiations fell through.)

Last troops exit Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war (AP) The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war. Hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for shutting down a final airlift, and thus ending the U.S. war, Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport. Thousands of troops had spent a harrowing two weeks protecting a hurried and risky airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and others seeking to escape a country once again ruled by Taliban militants. In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. He said a number of American citizens, likely numbering in “the very low hundreds,” were left behind, and that he believes they will still be able to leave the country. The final pullout fulfilled Biden’s pledge to end what he called a “forever war” that began in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania.

Afghanistan’s ‘Gen Z’ fears for future and hard-won freedoms (Reuters) Almost two third of Afghans are under the age of 25, and an entire generation cannot even remember the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until it was toppled by Western-backed militia in 2001. During that time they enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law, banning girls from school, women from work and carrying out public executions. Since 2001, the militants fought an insurgency in which thousands of Afghans died. Since re-taking power, the group has been quick to reassure students that their education would not be disrupted, also saying it would respect the rights of women and urging talented professionals not to leave the country. But used to a life with cellphones, pop music and mixing of genders, Afghanistan’s “Generation Z”—born roughly in the decade around the turn of the millennium—now fears some freedoms will be taken away, according to interviews with half a dozen Afghan students and young professionals. “I made such big plans, I had all these high reaching goals for myself that stretched to the next 10 years,” said Sosan Nabi, a 21-year-old graduate. “We had a hope for life, a hope for change. But in just one week, they took over the country and in 24 hours they took all our hopes, dreams snatched from in front of our eyes. It was all for nothing.”

They made it out of Afghanistan. But their path ahead is uncertain. (Washington Post) As the United States winds down its evacuation operation in Afghanistan, the Biden administration is accelerating efforts to resettle Afghans on U.S. soil, where they will be expected to apply for visas or humanitarian protection that could put them on a path to legal residency and citizenship. But the chaotic nature of the enormous airlift means that much is unknown: Officials have not said precisely how many Afghan evacuees have made it into the United States or whether all will be allowed to stay. More than 117,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan on U.S. and other flights as of Saturday, and Pentagon officials said the vast majority are Afghan citizens. Thousands have arrived in the United States, while thousands more are waiting in “transit hubs” in Europe and the Middle East. They are a mix of brand-new refugees and families with existing immigration applications that have been pending for months or years. Where the evacuees will end up is “a hard question to answer,” said Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, one of the refugee resettlement agencies operating in the United States. “I don’t really know where they stand,” Hetfield said in an interview. “It’s chaos.”

[corporatehitechblog]

Open The Opportunity Window By Hiring Web Development Company

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[daedriclorde]

A Thief in Wolf’s Clothing, Part III; Chapter 9, “The Dragon Remains”

Summary: In light of her new, evil beast form, Kjolti knows what she has to do. Can she do it alone? Or will her stubbornness be the death of her?

Read it here on Ao3!

Chapter 9, “The Dragon Remains”

Kjolti sat still while Tilma fussed over her wounds. She absently listened while the old maid berated her and all Companions ever for perpetually seeking out danger, in increasingly stupid ways.

Between her stinging words and salves, Tilma did grumble something about how Farkas did an “acceptable” job of patching her up. Kjolti was grateful when some of the maid’s tirade was then directed at Farkas for a moment. Farkas just grinned and took the abuse. He seemed familiar with it.

His assessment had been right: Kjolti would be unable to lift her greatsword for weeks. Luckily, it was her left arm that the bear tore up, not her right, which she favored. However, both were required for her behemoth weapon. 

I looked like Alduin.

Kjolti tried to construct the image in her head. Having never seen herself in beast form, she had to guess what she looked like. She imagined she was roughly the same size of Aela’s wolf shape, maybe a little smaller. Her black hair probably had a courser texture.

But as soon as she pictured the red eyes of Alduin on her changed shape she shuddered. Those eyes staring down at her were a sight she would never forget. 

At her insistence, Farkas had recounted her battle to her. Kjolti couldn’t remember, and that frightened her too. He described the vicious ways she attacked the bears, the gore flying from her claw tips. He tried to hide it, but she could hear the fear in his voice. 

She saw vividly the nightmares she’d had outside of Ysgramor’s tomb, watched Alduin tear apart those that she loved.

And then the vision shifted.

It was her tearing apart her friends. 

Kjolti bit her lip to stem the tears in her eyes.

She knew what she had to do.

***

Kjolti went to her room like everyone else at nightfall. She waited silently until she was certain everyone was asleep. 

She crept through the halls, stopping outside of Farkas’s door. Her greatsword was in his care, he had carried it back from their hunting trip.

Kjolti paused. Part of her wanted to wake him, to have him accompany her. But she could still see the lingering fear in Farkas’s eyes when he described to her what she had done. She saw the blood on his face after battling a dragon with her. 

No. This, I must do alone.

Adjusting her pack, Kjolti crept up the stairs, into the mead hall, and out into the night. Slinking through the shadows, it was nearly impossible to see her. A familiar chill raced down her spine. She padded to the stables and mounted one of the horses that belonged to the Companions. 

Kjolti directed the beast at a quiet walk until she was out of range from the city, and then spurred the horse northward at a gallop.

***

Kjolti rode hard all through the night and day. She ate in the saddle, fought to keep her eyes open through her exhaustion. The gait of the horse jostled her arm painfully, but she grit her teeth and moved on. She had to cover ground. She felt compelled to.

Her eyes scanned the skies every few minutes. Alone and wounded, a dragon attack would mean certain death for her. She rode on.

It was mid afternoon when she made it to the site where she had camped with Aela, Farkas, and Vilkas weeks ago. The signs of their battle with the dragon there still scarred the land, but curiously, the bones were gone. 

I have so much to learn about these beasts, she thought as she dismounted. She froze for a moment as she realized that in spirit, she was one of those beasts.

Her instincts were driving her to cross the waters to the tomb now, to go, to move, but Kjolti was practically shaking from exhaustion. The icy waters alone could probably kill her in this state, to say nothing of the dangers within. She had to rest, regardless of how much she didn’t want to.

Kjolti fed her mount and spread out her bed roll. She managed to get a small fire going next to her. Muttering the most informal prayer to the divines for safety, Kjolti laid down and closed her eyes. Sleep took her within moments.

She woke to freezing winds and insatiable hunger. Fumbling through her pack, she found a grilled pheasant breast, a slice of goat cheese, and an apple. It was a significantly better meal than she had expected. As she bit into it, she realized she had no recollection of when that food made its way into her pack. 

Kjolti chose not to dwell on that. 

When she finally looked upward, her breath left her. 

The skies were painted in shining pastels that shimmered and shifted. The aurora made the snow sparkle and glitter like thousands of diamonds.

Tears welled in her eyes and a sharp pit formed in her stomach. She could almost feel Brynjolf next to her.

Shaking off the memory, Kjolti finished eating and repacked her bedroll. She strapped it back onto the horse. 

It was a dumb idea to cross the waters at night, Kjolti knew that, but she couldn’t stop herself. A wild desperation overcame her. She was driven by the beast blood that now felt like poison coursing through her. 

I have to do this. I have to do this NOW. Go. Move. NOW!

Kjolti grit her teeth and waded into the icy waters. 

The cold took her breath away, shocked her down to her core. It took monumental effort to keep moving forward, having to command each leg to move forward one at a time. Suddenly hearing Tilma scold her, Kjolti thrust her injured arm above the waters and winced.

In this manner Kjolti made her way across the waters. Each motion was wracked with pain, the icy waters digging into her and compressing her lungs. It felt like an eternity.

Gasping, Kjolti sloshed onto the shore. If she was shaking from exhaustion before her nap, she was doubly shivering now. Even though she was on solid land once more, each step was labored as if she still faced the resistance of the water. It took her longer than normal to reach the barrow. 

Now on her hands and knees, Kjolti dragged herself into the barrow and pulled herself to the feet of the statue of Ysgramor. Wuthraad still loomed in his hands. Teeth chattering, Kjolti looked away from the blood stained axe and attempted to make a fire. 

It took her nearly ten minutes to light the scraps of wood and foliage left inside as offerings, but eventually they took spark and a small fire formed beside Kjolti. She twisted her body, trying to put as much of it by the flame as possible. 

Just a little nap, she thought as she shut her eyes. Just till I’m warm again. 

Kjolti had no sense of time when she awoke again, just throbbing pain from her injured arm. She had not taken care to place it gently when she curled up by the fire and had slept on it painfully. Kjolti muttered an oath as she tested its range and found it even more limited than before. 

The fire had smoldered out, indicating she had slept longer than she meant to. She cursed again and rose to her feet. Her head was throbbing. Had she drank any water that day? Kjolti fumbled with her waterskin and dripped its last contents into her mouth.

Kjolti began to make her way down the corridor when she stopped in her tracks. 

The Original Companions. Would they still be there?

She ducked into a crouch and peered through the doorway. There they were, milling about the chamber, waiting for the next fool to come through and prove their worth.

Kjolti slunk back. It was challenging to get through when she had full use of her arm and both Aela and Farkas with her. What chance did she have alone and wounded?

Wait, isn’t there another way through? Didn’t I open some passage?

Kjolti crept back up the passageway and found the shortcut to the final chamber. She walked silently, sneaking through just in case. Every creak of a floorboard made her jump, every shadow a foe. 

When she arrived at the main chamber, Kjolti felt a shiver run through her. She couldn’t tell if it was from the cold she had endured, or something else entirely. Kjolti eased herself to the ground and opened her pack. She began rummaging through it, searching for something specific that she hoped was still there.

Finally, her fingers found a familiar hilt. 

She pulled a daedric dagger from the worn leather and inspected it.

Even in the dim blue light of the chamber, the weapon glowed with sinister black and red energy. Its edge had not dulled in the years since its last use, and Kjolti suspected it wouldn’t ever, or perhaps it would take much longer than any other blade. As she wrapped her fingers in a familiar grip, the hilt seemed to mould itself to her hand.

Kjolti stood, wincing as she rose. She took a practice swipe with the blade. When she was Aerisif, this weapon had been like an extension of her arm. 

Now, it felt like her arm had been cut off. So used to the length and weight of a greatsword, Kjolti shifted her weight all wrong. She stumbled forward from the force of her swing. She was a finger’s breadth away from stabbing herself in her still aching midsection in the process, when she managed to twist aside at the last second. 

Panting, Kjolti looked at the dagger.

Have I truly forgotten?

She turned the dagger over in her hands again. Kjolti closed her eyes.

She pictured herself, not so long ago, in her onyx leathers. Shadow cloaked her, clung to her form. She moved as one with the darkness. Her fingers twitched as she gripped the blade. It was like a shard of the night sky. 

This weapon had been part of her, a piece of her mystique and legend.

When she was Aerisif The Shadow, Master of the Thieves’ Guild.

Aerisif opened her eyes. The blade seemed to pulse in her hand. Shadows cloaked her form. As if controlled by some other being, she grabbed a witch head, strode over to the blue flame, and dropped it within.

The beast lunged forth almost immediately, knocking Aerisif back. She scrambled, fear piercing her heart as she took in the shape before her.

Where as Kodlak’s wolf had been all red, this wolf was strikingly different.

While still spectral, this wolf was pure black.

With red glowing eyes.

Unbidden, a cry escaped her lips. Aerisif flung her good arm up, dagger clutched tightly, as the wolf attacked again. This time the blade caught some of its face and it whimpered and fell back. Aerisif had just enough time to get to her feet. 

The two circled each other, moving slowly and surely, each staring unblinking at the other. Aerisif lunged forward, but telegraphed her movement and the wolf leapt nimbly aside and lashed out at her flank. Aerisif whirled but still felt the icy teeth catch her thigh. She used the momentum of her whirl to swing, sinking the dagger into the ghostly form of the giant wolf. It snarled and snapped.

They circled again. The wolf feinted and Aerisif fell for it, not expecting the wolf to move again so quickly. Massive icy paws struck her chest and knocked her down again, but Aerisif raised her dagger arm again and sliced into the wolf once more. Her injured arm caught the bulk of the fall and Aerisif buckled under it, falling completely prone on the ground. 

The wolf advanced. Aerisif was gasping for breath.

Its red eyes locked on her. Aerisif felt the dragon in her chest flailing, raging wildly. It was screaming and tearing and fighting for survival, and so was she.

The wolf leapt toward her, jaws open and aiming for her exposed throat.

The life force of the dragon within her burst from her lungs, compacted into a single, power packed word.

“Fus!”

The word was rough on her tongue, just as it was when it escaped her lips on the plains. But now it felt more familiar, tinged with the same power that she felt when she absorbed a dragon soul.

The spectral wolf was flung back several paces, knocked down.

Aerisif did not waste her advantage. She leapt up and hurled herself forward, blade before her, shadows streaking behind her. The wolf looked up just in time to see a shadow fly through the air as the shard of bloody midnight pierced its ghostly form. Aerisif drove the blade in deep and yanked, as if to sever the nerves and sinews, if they had existed.

The gargantuan wolf whimpered once as it crumbled. As its life extinguished, its spectral body faded into nothingness. Grimacing with pain and supporting her weight on her knees, Aerisif closed her eyes. She felt the beast blood fade from her veins, felt a vigor return to her muscles that she hadn’t even realized was lacking before. Her acute sense of smell vanished, and although that avenue of sensation faded, her world seemed to become brighter and more alive once more.

The wolf inside her was dead.

Only the dragon remained.

A whispered shout echoed in her ears, and somehow she knew that she was the only one who could hear it:

“Doh…vah…kiin!”

“I am coming,” she panted. “I need to do one thing first, but I am coming, Masters. I will not delay any longer.” She could not know if the Greybeards heard her or not, but she whispered the words aloud just the same. 

[niqhtlord01]

Destiny: War of the False Speakers (Fanfic of Destiny Lore) The Speaker.  An unknown warlock that has lived since the founding of the last city and has strove to unite the various factions under the shadow of the traveler into the bulwark that would hold back the coming darkness and reclaim the world’s humanity once called theirs.  Ask any citizen of the Last City and they will all tell you as much as many of them know little of the enigmatic figure behind the mask. There are stories and rumors, whispers that surround him; but the majority are all stories that have been passed down from father to son, grandmother to daughter and so on. Only those blessed with the Traveler’s light could claim to know more of the mysterious figure as few of them stood with the Speaker when he helped found the bastion of humanity, and of those few even less know of the time when the Speaker was not alone.  Even during the onset of the Dark Age following the sacrifice of the Traveler, when technology became the stuff of magic and legends, all knew of the Traveler. Though they had lost their understanding of its nature they understood that it held power strong enough to turn deserts into jungles, smash frozen mountains into lush fields, and most powerful of all, bring the dead back to life through the ghosts.  Some strove to use their power to better the lives of those around them, others carved pocket kingdoms offering protection for loyalty and tribute, while a rare few wandered the wastes heeding the call of some unknown summons. Eventually many found their way to the Traveler and settled in the shadow of their god and it was here that the cults of the Traveler were strongest.  Several factions arose in the communities around the Traveler, many of which were centered around a individual or small group of individuals that had been brought back by the grace of the Traveler. The most prominent of these factions were led by those who claimed that they spoke for the mighty Traveler and in some more extreme cases that the Traveler spoke directly to them in their dreams. These claims were never fully proven though to the starved and frightened masses of normal citizens seeking to rebuild their lives it didn’t matter. These powerful individuals were accompanied by the ghosts, descendants of the Traveler, who would argue against them if the great sphere spoke to them as well?  Of the factions there were three that stood above all others, each bearing strong powers of persuasion and charisma, each followed by massed throngs of devout followers, and each claiming to be the true voice of the Traveler.  Astrid Blackmoon, Maiden of the Black Marsh A young woman with hair the color of wheat stalks and eyes as blue as the ocean, she bore the striking resemblance of a Valkyrie of old. Her ghost was of polished gold that shun so brightly it could blind those that stared too long at it. Having made her pilgrimage from what had once been Denmark to the last city, she preached that when the Traveler spoke to her it wished for humanity to repopulate the lush world the Traveler had remade for them and that no other world was needed. Astrid herself was not prone to violence and often portrayed frailty which in turn had the strange effect of making her followers believe that it was their duty to fight for and protect her at all costs. Her followers quickly seized the most fertile lands surrounding the Traveler and became the main supplier of food for the entire region. Hades-969, Butcher of the shifting Sands  Some Exo’s add a number to their name to remind themselves how many times they have had to reset, Hades-969 had his number set to remind him of how many people he’s killed. Cloaked in the skin of a savage beast, Hades-969 emerged from the scorching desert far to the southeast of the Traveler and left a trail of burned villages and broken bodies in his wake. He claimed that the Traveler spoke to him and told him that humanity had grown decadent from the gifts it had bestowed on them and thus had lost its favor, telling him to cull the weak and that only when the strong remain the Traveler would reawaken. Village by village he slaughtered the weak and leading the strong ever closer to the Traveler. His followers organised by a caste system of strength with those that wished to advance higher needing to slay a member from the caste above. This system led all the way to Hades-969 himself and was not surprised to find one of his lieutenants challenging him to a blood duel. His ghost was covered in rusted spikes and would often be thrown by Hades-969 as a projectile and impale his foe with it.    Morgan the one eyed  Not much was known of Morgan other than he had only one eye and could not remember what had happened to his other. He had stumbled into one of the surrounding camps one night and made himself at home. Many didn’t spare a thought for him as they assumed he was just another lost soul in search of the Traveler. After some time he began shouting warnings to any that would hear him about events that seemed impossible to predict, grabbing hold of those involved to try and save their lives only to be cast out and pushed aside as a mad man. This changed when his visions began coming true one by one until he had amassed a considerable group of followers proclaiming that the Traveler had taken his eye in exchange for visions of the future to lead humanity back to the golden age. His ghost was blind and remained firmly perched on Morgan’s shoulder at all times.  These three factions were locked in a seemingly endless struggle for sole control over the Traveler and the honor of being the chosen of the Traveler. Their conflicts grew to such a scale that were it not for the rise of the Iron Lords these Speakers may very well have left the remaining population in tatters.  The Iron Lord’s rise to power was a game changer as never before had such a large concentration of undying been rallied to a single standard. While still vastly outnumbers by the other factions the Iron Lord were mainly undying and could easily fight foes ten times their number and emerge victorious. More and more the Iron Lords began enforcing their will upon those under the Traveler’s shadow which led to tension among the would be Speaker’s.  Hades-969 saw the Iron Lords as a challenge sent by the Traveler to test his strength. He mobilized every warrior under him and declared war against the Iron Lords, personally leading the charge at the head of his ten thousand strong army as they scaled rocky slopes of Felwinter Peak.  The disciplined ranks of Iron Lords stood their ground and repelled wave after wave of fanatical followers as they through themselves at them with sometimes nothing but bones and rusty blades. It wasn’t until Hades-969 finally ascended the mountain fortress and challenged Lord Saladin to a duel to which Saladin agreed. The battle all but ceased as the two leaders drew their weapons and charged each other. Hades-969 unleashed a flurry of blows with his dual axes against Lord Saladin but the Iron Lord have become like the mountain he stood upon and deflected each attack with ease while not moving an inch until finally he raised his Iron Battle Ax and brought it down with a such strength that with a single blow it had shattered Hades-969 axes and cleaved through his ghost. Lord Saladin demanded that Hades-969 surrender but he refused declaring “Only the strong deserve to serve the Traveler.” Realizing that Hades-969 was too dangerous to let live, Lord Saladin struck him down and threw his broken body from the top of Felwinter Peak, scattering the surrounding army with the death of their leader.  With the removal of Hades-969′s faction the Iron Lord’s established a semi present group in the Traveler’s shadow and began construction of the wall around it for greater protection and was the source for the next conflict. Morgan the one eyed had received a vision of the future regarding the Last City. He saw the walls assaulted day and night by hordes of Fallen and swarms of unknown alien vessels, one so large that it wrapped itself around the Traveler itself. Believing this was a sign from the Traveler that a wall would only invite enemies to challenge and eventually lead to disaster Morgan denounced the construction project and actively sought to halt it with his followers quickly supporting him.  It was during a peaceful demonstration against the wall at the site of its construction that things spun out of control. A large crowd had gathered around the base of the main wall section led by Morgan while several members of the Iron Lords were present overseeing construction. While Morgan was at the head of the group a large stone block being placed at the top of the wall broke free and crashed down to earth like a meteor crushing Morgan in an instant before he had time to react. With the sudden loss of their leader as a result of the wall many of Morgan’s supporters took it as a sign that he had been speaking truthfully the entire time and attacked the wall forcing the present Iron Lords to defend themselves. In the end the riot was quelled and order restored, but with the loss of Morgan the faction had lost the source of visions of the future leaving many to find a new purpose. A few however remained fanatical to the belief that seeing into the future was the key to the survival of humanity and would continue in their belief until many centuries later when the Future War Cult was founded.  As the Iron Lord wiped another faction clean off the map, Astrid decided it would be better to work with them instead of against them and happily supported their cause. Ironically it was from supporting the Iron Lord that brought down Astrid as the Iron Lords invested the majority of their resources in searching for the long lost technology know as “SIVA”. This quest left the Iron Lords shattered and Astrid’s faction as well. With such a loss the majority of her followers turned on her and cast her out as a false prophet. She was last seen making her way back to the EDZ.  It was shortly after the fall of the Iron Lords that a new individual came to power, calling themselves only “The Speaker” and uniting the survivors into a new governing body.  Realizing that the previous conflicts involving those who claimed to speak on the Traveler’s behalf would undermine his authority, the Speaker sought to expunge any mentions of the other Speaker’s from records and despite those who had survived the war continuing to tell the events verbally, over the centuries the events faded to all but legend.  

[ramialanko]

Thoughts on Turtledove

Things are getting exciting. We are holding our breath to see what solution will eventually replace 3rd party cookies. This is almost as exciting when waiting for the final GDPR docs; we all know it is going to hurt our industry but how, how much, and exactly when. Apple has paved the way with ITP and IDFA, now Google is also making big changes to the world’s most popular browser Chrome and its Privacy Sandbox. For advertisers and traditional data vendors, this nightmare is called Turtledove. 

What is Turtledove?

Turtledove will basically be an API (application programming interface) which tries to enable behavioural targeting while limiting the amount of user data that is shared with advertisers. What Turtledove is proposing is to completely re-architect the current system so that user behaviors are not stored in a remote database, they are stored in your browser and they never leave your browser. In other words, Turtledove brings the auction and final decisioning out of the cloud and into the browser. Kind of funny though, since Google — that company that lamented the terrible things the header was doing to latency while proclaiming the brilliance of server connections—  now decided to leverage edge computing. 

There is no official doom day date yet but it will be released sometime within the next 24 months. Note that this applies to Chrome, it is too early to say if this move has any affect on Safari and the rest. 

User benefits

Questions also remain about how users would really benefit from Turtledove. Well, you could argue that it: 

Eliminates third-party cookies and all cross-site tracking.

Reduces browser signals dramatically making “inferred IDs” (aka, device fingerprinting, cache inspection, link decoration etc. ) unreliable and unusable.

Enables sufficiently large user groups ascertaining anonymity of any one person/device within that group, but sufficiently small to enable relatively fine-grained reach.

Utilizes these user groups instead of device-based or cookie-based identifiers.

Potential pitfalls

At this stage, some of the pitfalls are:

Turtledove would disable many common web advertiser tactics such as frequency capping, A/B testing, attribution and reporting. For these to work, Turtledove relies on the Aggregate Reporting API. Yet another early sandbox proposal to be defined. 

Turtledove could risk handing Google yet another advantage over its ad tech competitors. Only this time they are being more tactical in their approach to their antitrust practices.

An average citizen is still going to feel like being chased.

The browser turns from a relatively passive piece into an active player in the bidding. This would strain the bandwidth and computational power consumed by ad tech, particularly on mobile devices. Servers can process huge amounts of data, but data on a phone is limited by Wi-Fi, cell service and available device storage.

Complex auction logic does not seem possible. Even not-so-complex segmentation, such as merging two interest groups to create a more nuanced audience segment. 

What about Safari users today, ITP and alternative solutions?

Basically this boils down to ITP (Safari, Firefox), which in turn means no cookies, my friends. And because the adtech world is built on 3rd party audiences, ITP poses an impossible challenge for marketers. Only contextual targeting seems to provide the working solution. Which in turn, can be considered a rather one-sided approach if we merely target based on the page content. But it has proven to be effective, so it is a viable solution that is able to address all browsers. 

On top of old-school contextual targeting, advances in machine-learning and AI have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for intelligent targeting. Personally I am very excited about how well a system can profile a user without any PII and prior information with just a few signals at the time of the data request. It feels like magic but is actually based on years of AI and realtime scalability tuning. When compared to 3rd party audiences, this is revolutionary. Realtime moments can be seen as more relevant and efficient ways to profile and target. And the best part - it is a sustainable model and it is here now.

Final words

Targeting without personal data is set to become the new normal, and to me this now seems entirely appropriate. Advertising theories and methods have evolved continually over the years and I see this shift in ad tech, seismic as it is for many, as simply the latest chapter for this smart and agile industry. Moving away from cookies is going to be uncomfortable for many and unanswered questions do still remain. It will require loads of brainstorming, and brave minds to have the courage to try out new approaches in the new world of adtech.

The relief is that there already are future-proof solutions that indeed can replace and sometimes even more efficiently, the old world targeting cookie-based models. So heads up, this is going to be a rewarding ride!

[calorieworkouts]

10 Tips to Sleep More for Weight Loss

Sleep is not just excellent for slimming down, but improves immune function and also has loads of anti-aging benefits ... Could catching a couple of additional "Zzz's" throughout going to bed actually assist in accomplishing a slimmer figure? Recent study conducted at the College of Tubingen has actually shown that there are numerous benefits to obtaining even more sleep per night. They have discovered that rest deprival can potentially raise food desires and decrease the body's natural 'fat-burning' capabilities. Not just that, they additionally discovered that individuals who slept less had revealed lowered muscle mass mass.

With the expanding variety of weight-loss programs available, it might be helpful for an individual wanting to lose weight to exercise a regular rest schedule. This research is really important, particularly to individuals who might be enduring with excessive weight and sleep conditions. Fixing rest issues may aid in lowering excess weight naturally, combined with normal workout as well as a healthy and balanced diet regimen, of course.

There are numerous means to incorporate much better sleeping patterns into your life. Below are our TOP 10 suggestions to getting better sleep which may in turn assist you lose weight for summer.

Nap Smart

The simplest means to integrate even more sleep into your day is to sleep much more. Avoid exceedingly long snoozes that can interfere with your routine rest routine. For some, naps might seem impossible. Nevertheless, there are many imaginative methods to take a nap. Find out more regarding exactly how to appropriately "Power Nap" like a pro.

Eat Smart

Adapting a healthy and balanced diet plan will certainly enhance rest cycles. Collision diet plans can trigger several wellness problems, including sleep cycle interruption and also certainly, weight gain. Eating whole foods, at normal times, with adequate calories (do not deprive) will decrease the opportunities of insomnia or troubled sleep patterns.

Set A Schedule

Approach your sleep patterns like a job timetable. Program up to bed on time everyday, as well as awaken at the very same time everyday. The body reacts well to regular timetables as well as will certainly adjust accordingly. If it seems impossible to do, remind yourself of the excellent benefits of obtaining more sleep such as accomplishing a youthful glow, raised immune function, rise life span and also obviously capacity for weight-loss/ boosted health.

Exercise Regularly

With so many individuals (in the first world) spending a lot of their lives in the 'sitting' position at job, in the vehicle as well as at house before the T.V., its not surprising that why our bodies refute rest. Human background shows that the body was indicated to be physically challenged. Integrating regular exercise and also staying clear of an inactive lifestyle will certainly boost the chances of obtaining exhausted in the evening.

Get Happy

Although we go to # 5 on our listing of "Top 10 Tips to Rest Even more", boosting happiness is extremely essential when trying to gain restful and also invigorating sleep patterns on a routine basis. Depression can bring about over tiredness, as well as dullness can create patterns of sleep problems. Having the appropriate quantity of excitement will surely manage healthy and also happy sleep.

Avoid Over Stimulation

Getting happy is wonderful, yet occasionally over excitement can cause sleep disturbances. When life is 'as well on the go' it is hard to unwind from an 'overstimulated day'. Not just will an exceedingly busy day disrupt rest cycles, but the overuse of LED light gadgets at evening such as computers, smart phones and so on have been clinically verified to over promote the eyes. Visit this site to check out a short article that talks about exactly how utilizing cellphones as well as tablet computers before bed can influence sleep.

Meditate More

This might be a no brainer (no pun), yet practicing meditation more assists to calm the mind as well as boosts rest. Look into our fit body post "How to Practice meditation". There are many benefits to practicing meditation regularly. If you have not already attempted but you endure from inadequate rest patterns, this could be a wonderful service for you.

Get Flexible (Literally)

Yoga as well as various other adaptability workouts help elongate tense muscular tissues, lowering discomfort and also strain on the body. Pain is a huge reason for disrupted sleep cycles. Decreasing discomfort will normally increase the amount of 'audio' rest time. Below is an impressive youtube video clip that can assist you enjoy even more time under the covers,

Keep Busy

The finest way to remain up all night is to maintain boredom around all day. If rest is what you seek, developing adequate tasks to keep your brain as well as body active, all the while sensation alive, will surely encourage a great evenings rest.

Avoid Stress

Although it is a good suggestion to "keep active", being too busy can have negative impacts. Stress and anxiety is usually the source of so lots of ailments, including interrupted sleep patterns. There is a fine equilibrium between keeping an energetic lifestyle and also avoiding a 'stressed out' experience. Integrating a lot of the previous ideas such as eating healthy, exercising frequently, practicing meditation usually can lead to an unified and also healthy method of life.

Over all, getting even more rest has to be accompanied with a deep desire to boost one's existing rest patterns. If the intention exists, but the desire is lacking, it will be an extremely challenging procedure to change. Nevertheless, if attaining a life long course of health as well as happiness remains in your future, FitBodyHQ.com recommends obtaining adequate rest to assist manifest any one of your deepest and most creative dreams.

Happy snoozing all!

[koreanling]

Korean Media with Cultural Impact

I had the thought of what korean shows and movies are really important in korea; things like the simpsons, star wars, friends, etc. where its important culturally and influnced korean society. Getting two birds with one stone of practicing korean and getting some cultural information as well. 

This is quite a big list and I dont want to bog down anyones feed so it will be under the cut

note the english and korean might not match up, I’m just putting the english title and the korean title so not all are direct translations

VARIETY

Running Man - 런닝맨 easily the most popular variety tv show, popular internationally as well. great to learn about popular celebs PLOT MCs and guests complete missions to win the race. The show has since shifted to more focused on games

Master in the House - 집사부일체 recently becoming very popular variety show. great to learn about celebs important in korea but outside of the popular hallyu wave PLOT The cast spends 2 days 1 night together with ‘masters’ of various fields in hopes of gaining knowledge and wisdom

Infinite Challenge - 무한도전 predating running man its been called "the nation's variety show" and "Korea's real first variety" PLOT similar to a challenge-based reality television programs but the challenges are often absurd or impossible, so the program takes on a more satirical comedy aspect

I Live Alone - 나 혼자 산다 PLOT showing celebs daily lives living alone

The Return of Superman - 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 PLOT celeb fathers have to take care of their young children without the mothers help while she takes a much needed break

DRAMAS

Boys Over Flowers - 꽃보다 남자 started hallyu wave in 2009 within asian countries, probably the most popular kdrama PLOT a normal girl attends a rich prestigious private school after saving a student's life. She stands up the popular rich well loved bullies and ends up developing a relaionship with them

Sky Castle - SKY 캐슬 highest rated kdrama in history PLOT wealthy housewives try to make their husbands more successful and to raise their children like princes and princesses

Reply 1988 - 응답하라 1988 second highest rated kdrama, the rest of the reply series are well recieved as well and showcase different eras in modern korean history (1997 and 1994) PLOT Set in 1988, it revolves around five friends and their families living in the same neighborhood

My Love From the Star - 별에서 온 그대 another hugely successful kdrama PLOT An alien who has been stranded on Earth for more than 400 years is almost able to return home, but finds himself developing feelings for a famous actress

Descendants of the Sun - 태양의 후예 so popular it caused resoration projects for filming locations from the show PLOT love story between the captain of the korean special forces, and a surgeon in a war-torn country

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God - 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 - 도깨비 or just Goblin - 도깨비 first cable kdrama to surpass 20% ratings. It was also popular to parody it on various social media sites PLOT Kim Shin, a goblin and protector of souls, wants to end his immortal life but the only way he can do that is find a human bride

CHILDRENS TV SHOWS

good for beginner practice because of the easy to follow plots and simple dialouge and story

Pororo the Little Penguin - 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 most popular recent childrens tv show

Dooly the Little Dinosaur - 아기공룡 둘리 late 80s to 90s kids tv show, also dooly is an official south korean citizen

Anpanman - 안판만 popular childrens show about a bread super hero, its japanese but still big in korea, also referenced in a BTS song

OTHER TV SHOWS

That's what I want to know - 그것이 알고싶다 popular journalistic program, goes really indepth and shows facts, not swayed by corruption PLOT analyzes corruption, society, religion, and unresolved cases in Korea

TV Animal Farm - TV 동물농장 koreas most popular animal show PLOT talks about animal rights and promotes connections between animals and humans

Please Take Care of My Refrigerator - 냉장고를 부탁해 PLOT chefs compete to create impromptu dishes that feature ingredients found inside the guest stars' personal refrigerators

MOVIES

The Admiral: Roaring Currents - 명량 - 鳴梁 the most watched film in South Korea PLOT based on the historical Battle of Myeongnyang, where Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin's led the only 12 ships remaining in his command to a heroic victory against an invading Japanese fleet numbering 333 vessels

Old Boy - 올드보이 most praised korean film internationally (please dont watch the american remake its terrible..) PLOT On his daughters fourth birthday Oh Dae-su is suddenly imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing anything about the reason why. When he is finally released he dedicates his time to finding his captor

Extreme Job - 극한직업 highest grossing Korean comedy film of all time PLOT undercover detectives start a chicken restaurant for a drug-bust operation, but end up busier than ever when their food becomes famous

Ode to My Father - 국제시장 korean history! also fourth highest-grossing film in korean cinema PLOT depicts modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man

A Werewolf Boy - 늑대소년 the most successful Korean melodrama of all time PLOT a teenage girl is sent to a country house for her health, where she befriends and attempts to civilize a feral boy but the beast inside him is constantly waiting to burst out

A Tale of Two Sisters - 장화, 홍련 highest-grossing Korean horror film with american remake ‘The Uninvited’ PLOT inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale “장화홍련전” The plot focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house

My Sassy Girl - 엽기적인 그녀 popular within korean and asia, inspired japanese, english, chinese, nepali, and indian remakes PLOT A college student becomes involved with a self-centered young woman who humiliates him at every turn.

A Taxi Driver 택시운전사 more korean history! based on a true story, shows the gwangju uprising which really set off democracy in korea PLOT widowed father working as a taxi driver gets a german customer who is looking to report on the political unrest in Gwangju, they end up getting caught up in the gwangju uprising

Since this list is under a read more cut I can add more anytime so if you guys know of any influencial korean media just tell me and I can add it! Likewise if something here isnt actually that influencial within korea I can remove it, especially because of the hallyu wave its possible something could be well known internationally but actual koreans couldnt care less about it

[darkangeldesignstudio]

Cherry Pie

summary: You have been working with the Winchesters for a couple of years now. Weird since you were once their target. Who would have ever thought a Kitsune could be friends with Hunters. But you wanted more than friendship, you wanted Dean and you would do anything to get him.

pairing: Dean x female reader

warnings: death, magical powers, and dirty dancing!

word count: 4.3k

A/N: Hello again! This is my second entry for @tilltheendwilliwrite‘s “T Shows Her Age: Songfic Challenge.” My song? Oh just a little number named Cherry Pie by Warrant, one of my favorite songs to dance to in the club. I saw this song on the list and thought, “who better to dance for than a sexy Dean, who just so happens to also be a fan of pie?” lol. First of all, I want to give a big thanks to my Beta @sexykitty96 for all of the encouragement and support. I really appreciate it love! This was the most frustrating fic I have written to date and I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge it has posed for me. No smut this time, unfortunately, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. Much love and happy reading!

Cherry Pie

It all started with a phone call.

Two female dancers from a local club, called Mischief, were dead. Both found in inconspicuous places near the club, but upon examination, neither case pointed to foul play. The police wrote both off as natural deaths and closed their case.

Luckily, the local coroner was a friend, and he noticed something that nobody else ever would have. “To the mortal eye, they appear as if they collapsed and expired from a heart attack.”

“Marvelous thing we aren't completely normal, then.” Your little quip caused Dean to chuckle. You smirked over your shoulder at him, flicking a fluffy black tail teasingly at him. Thinking back, it was somewhat funny how much your relationship had changed now that the brothers weren't trying to murder you.

Reminiscing on that fateful day made you smirk, but that was a story for another time. There were urgent matters to handle.

The team split. Sam left to stake out Mischief while Dean, moving as a private investigator, prepared to interview the locals. You, on the other hand, moved straight to the crime scenes.

Both were in alleys near the club, only a few blocks apart. You were met by overflowing dumpsters and the acrid stench of tobacco, vomit, and piss in the first alley. Since it was the older of the two sites, by a few weeks, it came as no surprise you discovered no magical residue. So, you decided it would be best to move on to the most recent scene before you became nose blind.

You got most of the same. The stink of moldy cigarettes and trash violated your senses as you went by a scrap of yellow police tape fluttering in the breeze. You sighed in relief. This alley was cleaner than the last. Only half a block away from Mischief, it appeared to have been thoroughly picked over by police and was only just starting to accumulate trash again. Lucky for you, because you could lock onto the slight notes of magic easily.

The scent was fading, but potent. The delicate smell held bittersweet notes of sexual pheromones. Only a specific creature could produce that smell.

You sent a text to the boys. “Meet me at the Motel. I found something interesting.”

Once you reached your motel room, you filled the guys in on what you’d found: “It has to be an incubus. But I've never known an incubus to execute its victims in this manner, most of them die quietly in their beds from multiple encounters.” Your tails, free of your magical glamor, swished around your frame as you paced the room.

Dean watched you pace, observing your body language as Sam asked questions. “What makes you suspect an incubus? Couldn't it have been just a regular vampire?” Your tails stiffened slightly with Sam's prodding, as if they were taking his doubt as a personal insult even though he knew you would never think that. This was business. You had to cover every base to be positive you were prepared for all probabilities.

Still, Dean didn't want you to think they doubted you. “Don't push so hard, Sam. You know she has a better nose for this sort of thing than we do. If she says it’s an incubus, then it is an incubus.”

You grinned at them. “Don't worry guys. I realize you are only sifting through all the possibilities. But the creature we are hunting is definitely an incubus, the smell in that alley was unmistakable.”

Sam nodded, pulling his notebook to his lap to look for any clue on incubi and how to slay them. Dean smiled sweetly and patted the bed next to him. You needed to rest, and he saw it. “It will take at least a day to get a plan worked out and get everyone into Mischief to stake it out. You should rest [Y/N]. Remaining in your human form drains you too much and we will need you to be in top form for what’s about to happen.”

“Thanks, Dean.” You smiled, touching your hand to his shoulder as you reached him. “I'm gonna grab a shower first. I smell like a dumpster.”

Dean laughed when you wrinkled your nose, making you giggle. He began to put his jacket on and walk towards the door. “I'll go out to grab us some food while you guys do your thing. What's it gonna be?”

You settled your order with Dean. By the time he returned, you had showered and Sam had a complete strategy in place for the next day. Tomorrow would be eventful; you just hoped they wouldn‘t bust up your plan before you could execute it.

The next morning, you set out towards Mischief. You and Sam would apply for jobs at the club while Dean, functioning as a wealthy patron, came in after the club was in full swing. You had to admit, Sam's idea was great, but you had a better plan.

A few hours later, you exited the club triumphant. The hostess practically dragged you to the back room when you said you wanted a job as a dancer. She never even glanced at your fake resume. You had a dance routine and song picked out within the first ten minutes of meeting her. She even provided you information on the two dancers that had died, while still assuring you that there was nothing to worry about. She showed you a costume that Dean was sure to drool over and granted you the stage name, Vixen.

It took every bit of control you had not to laugh at the irony. A kitsune called Vixen. Who could have guessed you’d receive a name so ironically exact? Picking up donuts on your way back to the motel, you informed the brothers of your success and sent Sam on his way to apply. Dean seemed suspicious of your chipper mood. Good thing you bought sweets to distract him.

It wasn't pie, so you wouldn't be safe from his queries for the long run. But if you played your cards right, he would be more than happy to have pie later.

You left for Mischief around five with Sam trailing behind you. It was better if everyone in the club thought you strangers. Less suspicion towards you meant more opportunity to catch the incubus in action tonight.

You entered through the front door and met a tall, gangly man in a monkey suit more fitting of the fifties. He leaned over your frame, raking his eyes over your body. Your hackles went up. This guy was a creep, and he made you suspicious, but his cologne made it impossible to tell if he possessed magic. It was frustrating.

The hostess from the night before sauntered towards you, putting her hand on the man's back to catch his attention. “George, this is our new dancer Vixen. Vixen, George is the owner of Mischief.” She smiled as she looked between the two of you. You shook George's clammy hands before he nodded and walked back towards his office.

You released the breath you didn't know you had been holding, looking up at the hostess. “Sorry, hun. George is a bit strange.”

You shrugged your shoulders, as nonchalantly as possible. “It's okay, ma'am. I've dealt with my fair share of strange in the past.” You both laughed.

“You are the first dancer here, dear. Once the other girls show up, I will call you to the back to introduce you.” She wandered off to the rear of the club.

Turning towards the bar, you locked eyes with Sam. If his expression was any indication, you knew he had overheard. “Shit.” You tried your best to appear innocent as you went towards the bar, hands in your pockets.

As you took a seat, Sam picked up the glasses from behind the bar and wiped them down. He plastered a fake smile onto his face. The perfect semblance of a coworker greeting a new friend. His eyes were another story. “A dancer? Really, [Y/N]? What the hell are you thinking?”

You growled at him. It wasn't the most menacing since you were in human form, but his questioning pissed you off. “It‘s the best course of action, Sam. I am a better use to you as bait than I am as extra eyes.”

He sighed. “Are you going to tell Dean or am I?”

“Neither.” You sighed, preparing to spill everything to Sam. "This is as much for him as for the case. We love each other, but he won't admit it because he doesn't want emotions to impede his duty. This is the best way I could think to show him I can be an asset to the team and care for him.”

“I understand.” He shook his head, smirking at you. “He‘s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”

You smiled deviously. “His anger won't last long when I'm through with him.” Sending Sam a wink, you stood just in time to hear the hostess call you from the back.

“Good hunting, Sam.”

Dean walked into Mischief at ten and made his way towards Sam. His eyes scanned the bar for [Y/N], expecting to see her there or waiting tables. Nerves seized his heart when you were nowhere to be seen. He perched himself on a stool at the far end of the bar, watching the rest of the club through the mirrors on the back wall, still scanning for you.

“She's not there.”

Dean looked up at his little brother and saw the smirk on his lips. “What did she do, Sam?”

“You will just have to wait and see, Dean.” With that, Sam opened a beer in front of his brother and pointed him towards the tables in the center of the room. “Just go with it.” He walked over to the other patrons.

Dean huffed, annoyed at his brother's cryptic answer and your absence. Why didn't you follow the plan? He stalked towards a small table towards the center of the dancer's stage to sit and nurse his beer. If you had changed the plan, you had a good reason for it. But why didn't you tell him?

As you donned your costume in the dressing room, you were giddy with nerves. Sure, you’re on a mission to kill a dangerous creature that could take the bait and attack you. But you’re also on a mission for the man you loved. A cool hand on your shoulder made you shiver.

“Hey Vixen, do you need anything before you go out on stage?” The blonde's voice was sickening sweet and her smile was as fake as her double D breasts and her icy blonde tresses. Diamond was a veteran and your costar for the night. The hostess had introduced her earlier, and you hated her immediately.

“I'm good, Diamond.” You smiled brightly up at her. “I may be new here, but I'm no novice to seducing men.” You almost missed the flicker of hate in her eyes. To her, you appeared young, beautiful, and delicate. An advantage of your magic; it made you irresistible to others. They never knew the threat you posed until it was too late.

The hostess walked into the room, cutting your conversation short. “Ladies, it's the last number of the night. I want you to give your best, go out there and show these men what they are missing.” Looking pointedly at you and Diamond, she smiled. “Vixen, you and Diamond will be the first to walk the floor. Pick a patron and show him a wonderful time. Everyone else will follow. Good luck, girls.”

When the hostess left through the curtains, you glimpsed Dean before a chilling voice whispered in your ear. “Break a leg, Vixen.” Diamond's smile was almost predatory, but you just smiled as the lights dimmed onstage.

You stepped out, this was your moment, and the music kicked on with that all familiar scream.

You smiled as the lights illuminated the girls on stage, one by one. Dean's jaw went slack and you giggled. Where the rest of the men saw the sexy leather bustier and leggings, you know Dean saw more. He saw the true you underneath the magic.

Dirty, rotten, filthy, stinkin....

Dean felt a surge of possessive energy take over. He couldn't take his eyes off of you. You personified beauty and danger and all he thought was, “MINE”.

She's my cherry pie Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise Tastes so good, makes a grown man cry Sweet Cherry Pie

Your beautiful black tails swung with the beat of the music. Your waist length, purple black hair flowed like silk as you rocked your hips and tossed your head to the rocking beat. The song was sinful and sexy and you never took your eyes from Dean's for more than a second.

Well, swingin' on the front porch, swingin' on the lawn Swingin' where we want 'cause there ain't nobody home Swingin' to the left and swingin' to the right If I think about baseball, I'll swing all night, yeah Yeah, yeah

All you ever wanted was for Dean to look at you the way he was right now. Eyes blazing like an inferno. It was exhilarating.

Swingin' in the living room, swingin' in the kitchen Most folks don't 'cause they're too busy bitchin' Swingin' in there 'cause she wanted me to feed her So I mixed up the batter and she licked the beater

You walked from the stage first, heading straight for Dean's chair. Diamond tried to cut you off, but Dean only had eyes for you. He waved her away from his chair. Her face was one of pure rage, but he didn't notice. You did, but you ignored it for now.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for her Don't even try 'cause you can't ignore her

You danced and swayed around his chair, touching him with light, sensual caresses. You wreathed your tails in icy, blue fox fire, running them around his arms, over his hands and under his chin. Leaning over the back of his chair, you tipped his head back and placed a sweet kiss to his lips, smiling when he groaned an impatient sound.

She's my cherry pie Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise Tastes so good, make a grown man cry Sweet cherry pie, oh yeah

Dancing in front of his chair, you enticed him. Dean had been struck dumb by the immense power you were demonstrating under everyone's noses. Where everyone else saw a pretty blonde, he saw a striking kitsune in all of her dangerous glory. It was astonishing, but all thoughts of your power had flown out the window when you kissed him.

She's my cherry pie Put a smile on your face, ten miles wide Looks so good, bring a tear to your eye Sweet cherry pie

He watched your body writhe like a snake in front of him, blue fox fire spread over your beautiful tails as you teased him. When you straddled his lap, his hands moved to grip your hips, but you used your magic to tie his hands to the arms of the chair. Much to his surprise.

Swingin' to the drums, swingin' to guitar Swingin' to the bass in the back of my car Ain't got money, ain't got no gas But we'll get where we're goin' if we swing real fast

Your hands were on his shoulders as you ground your hips into his. A little preview of what you would do to him tonight, you thought. His heated expression made you smile as you rolled your chest into his.  Stroking your tails over his arms and legs, you heard him groan as the cool sensation of your fox fire connected with his heated skin.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for her Don't even try 'cause you can't ignore her

You tossed your head back, giving him a full view of your exposed abdomen and tight leather leggings as you did a back bend over his knees, placing your hands on his ankles for balance. You skimmed your fingers over his legs as you rose over him.

She's my cherry pie Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise Tastes so good, make a grown man cry Sweet cherry pie, oh yeah

Grinding your pelvis into his as you stopped mere centimeters from his lips. Smirking, you flicked your tongue over his lips causing him to growl. The sound shot to your core and you gasped as Dean's hands escaped your magical hold.

She's my cherry pie Put a smile on your face, ten miles wide Looks so good, bring a tear to your eye Sweet cherry pie, yeah, pie

Dean's hands grazed your thighs, leaving a trail of heat up to your hips where he gripped you hard. He leaned into you with a devilish grin. “You are gonna pay for that sweetheart.” You gasped when his hands pushed you down hard, rocking your clit roughly over his hard cock. It felt so good, you almost lost the hold on the illusion you had made for the rest of the club. Dean chuckled when he saw your focus wavering. “Don't drop that illusion, babe. You are mine. I don't want to share this sight with anyone else.”

(Swing it!) All night long (Swing it!) Like a trained professional

His words struck a chord in your soul and you smiled. “You ready for the finale, love?” Dean nodded his head slightly. Unsure of what you had planned, but ready for anything as long as you never left his lap.

Swingin the bathroom, swingin' on the floor Swingin' so hard, we forgot to lock the door In walks her daddy standin' 6 foot 4 He said, "You ain't gonna swing with my daughter no more"

You gave him the most sensual lap dance of his life. It was clothed sex. Dirty as all hell and he couldn't have asked for more. His hands roamed your body. Touching every inch of skin he could find. It was heaven and you couldn't wait to get him alone later.

She's my cherry pie Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise Tastes so good, make a grown man cry Sweet cherry pie, oh yeah She's my cherry pie Put a smile on your face, ten miles wide Looks so good, bring a tear to your eye Sweet cherry pie Sweet cherry pie, yeah, huh

You ended the song with a kiss as Dean's hands stroked through your hair. It was everything you hoped for. Your tongues battled for dominance as he explored your mouth. He was like a man starved and you were more than happy to be the one he was starving for.

Swing it!

When the song ended, you were both jolted back to reality. The applause was loud and boisterous as the rest of the dancers stood. You smiled down at Dean. He smiled back, squeezing your ass when you stood to walk away with the rest of the dancers. You winked over your shoulder at him as you walked away, missing the hateful glare that Diamond shot your way.

In the back room, the hostess congratulated everyone on a job well done. “Vixen, you are one of the most phenomenal dancers I have seen in a long time. I hope you can stay for a while. Having you here will definitely bring in more customers.”

You smiled gratefully at her. Thanking her for giving you the opportunity. You lied, telling her you would love to stay, even though you had no desire to dance for anyone but Dean ever again and would be gone by morning. She was none the wiser.

Once she exited the room, you began to change into your normal clothes to go out onto the floor and speak with Dean and Sam. When you saw Diamond glaring at you, you just smiled and continued gathering your things. She was a small fry, no need to let a jealous bitch impede your case.

You met Dean at the bar and called Sam over. As he poured you both a drink, you told them of your suspicions of the club owner. He was the only male, so far, that had your instincts screaming at you. He was your most practical suspect and he would be the target at the end of the night.

Sam's thoughts on the matter made you pause. “I haven't seen him all night. He hasn't even left his office.”

“There are cameras everywhere in here. Maybe he's just watching the dancers from inside to discourage any suspicion.” Dean's point was valid, but something didn't seem right. What if you were wrong?

“There is one other person who could be involved.” Dean and Sam looked at you quizzically. They had never heard you doubt yourself this way. “Diamond. The dancer you waved off earlier. She's been acting weird since the moment she walked in today.”

Dean smiled. “Yeah, she looked pretty pissed when I told her I wasn't interested earlier.”

“Wait. What?” You were astonished. “She tried to get to you twice?” He nodded and your blood started to boil. “I'm gonna ring that bitch's scrawny neck.”

Both brothers chuckled and Dean stroked his fingers over the back of your clenched fist. “Don't fly of  the handle now, [Y/N]. You will need your energy to fight later.”

Sam laughed a bit more. “So, what's the plan for catching this thing? I'm assuming you have a new one since you changed your plan without telling us.”

You nodded and filled them in on the new plan. All thoughts of strangling Diamond gone, for now.

After closing time at Mischief, you left out the back door to wait in the alley. You pretended to play games on your phone as if you were waiting on a friend to pick you up. Half an hour passed before someone joined you in the alley. You looked up, expecting a hideous monster, but all you saw was Diamond. You pretended to ignore her, acting as if she was an insignificant bug under your shoe. No threat.

When she sauntered up to you and began talking, you sent an SOS to Dean's cell. “So, Vixen. You planning to take my place here?”

You gasped as if her question hurt. “Why would you ever think that, Diamond? I am only trying to make money like every other person in the world. I have no desire at all to take your place.”

She laughed maniacally, her face morphing into an ugly scowl. “Sure seemed like you are. That man should have been mine tonight. I could have made him mine.”

“So, that's what happened to those girls. You got jealous because they kept taking your prey?” You laughed darkly at the creature in human skin standing before you. “You are one nasty bitch.” Your smile was smug as shock filled her, now monstrous, features.

She screeched in rage, grabbing you by the throat and lifting your feet from the ground. You only smiled as you released your hold on your own powers.

The succubus dropped you to the ground. Backing away as your sleek black tails, wrapped in fox fire, fanned out behind you. You pulled your hair into a quick ponytail, exposing your pointed ears as the creature watched you. “I'm confused though.” You stared at her. Your prey. “How does a succubus mask their magic with the same scent as that of in incubus?”

She offered no explanation, only crouched into a fighting stance and running full speed towards your body. You blocked her with a wall of blue fire. Lighting up the dark alley around you.

The succubus shrieked as her flash began to bubble like melted wax. It was nasty. She fell to the ground raking long furrows into the flesh of her face, trying with all of her might to remove the fire before it killed her.

Her shrieking was deafening in the otherwise silent night as her flesh slowly melted away from her bones. As Sam and Dean rounded the corner, into the alley, a beautifully grisly sight met them. A black kitsune, wrapped in blue fox fire stood over a succubus, flesh melted from her bones as she was reduced to a begging and pleading mess on the ground.

Dean approached calmly, motioning for Sam to stay back. When he reached your side, your eyes connected with his and he gasped. The blue of your fox fire was reflected in those haunting eyes. This was a kitsune's power. The power to protect and the power to destroy.

He drew his gun, aiming at the half-dead creature's head without ever taking his eyes off of you. The sound of the gun made you both jump and you watched as the ashes of the succubus floated away on the breeze.

“Let's go home, [Y/N].”

You took Dean's hand and followed him back to the motel where you all gathered your things. A few hours later, you, Dean, and Sam were on a plane headed home.

When Dean asked you what happened in the alley, you only smiled. “Nobody gets to claim what is mine, Dean. That's a kitsune's promise.”

He laughed, pulling you into a deep kiss that left you breathless. You made it home soon after that and spent days in bed together. Exploring each other’s bodies and loving one another from sun up to sun down and throughout the night. There was no place you would rather be.

[a-quiet-echo]

Anyone relate

So the simplest way I can describe some of my experience with depression and stuff is by putting it on a scale 1-10 everyone even normally people fall on this scale so most people’s average mood is about hmmm I say a six or 7 they don’t always have a 10 the best day but they never really venture past a 5 or six unless it’s a really terrible day for me my average mood is a 3 or 4 I can laugh and smile and joke but it’s not the same it’s all sardonic and cynical I’m irritated easily and it’s just awful but about half of the time I’m at a 1 or 2 I don’t feel anything at all every noise and sound turns into white noise I can still walk and I’ll go to school but I won’t talk to anyone and I can hardly focus everything feels like it’s spinning and its extremely hard to get trough the day but I still manage I can still function on a 1 or 2 but then on the rare occasion maybe once a month I’ll wake up and just feel it I’ll be at a complete 0 siting up is an impossible challenge and talking is completely off the table I go almost catatonic the ringing in my ears is loud as ever and thinking brings me pain Normally I’m lucky enough for this to fall on weekends but on the very rare ocassion that it’s a school day I’ll just stay home it’s annoying and it’s as if all my energy just left me and all that remains is an empty shell

[s-c-i-guy]

Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory

A controversial new paper argues that universes with dark energy profiles like ours do not exist in the “landscape” of universes allowed by string theory.

On June 25, Timm Wrase awoke in Vienna and groggily scrolled through an online repository of newly posted physics papers. One title startled him into full consciousness.

The paper, by the prominent string theorist Cumrun Vafa of Harvard University and collaborators, conjectured a simple formula dictating which kinds of universes are allowed to exist and which are forbidden, according to string theory. The leading candidate for a “theory of everything” weaving the force of gravity together with quantum physics, string theory defines all matter and forces as vibrations of tiny strands of energy. The theory permits some 10500 different solutions: a vast, varied “landscape” of possible universes. String theorists like Wrase and Vafa have strived for years to place our particular universe somewhere in this landscape of possibilities.

But now, Vafa and his colleagues were conjecturing that in the string landscape, universes like ours — or what ours is thought to be like — don’t exist. If the conjecture is correct, Wrase and other string theorists immediately realized, the cosmos must either be profoundly different than previously supposed or string theory must be wrong.

After dropping his kindergartner off that morning, Wrase went to work at the Vienna University of Technology, where his colleagues were also buzzing about the paper. That same day, in Okinawa, Japan, Vafa presented the conjecture at the Strings 2018 conference, which was streamed by physicists worldwide. Debate broke out on- and off-site. “There were people who immediately said, ‘This has to be wrong,’ other people who said, ‘Oh, I’ve been saying this for years,’ and everything in the middle,” Wrase said. There was confusion, he added, but “also, of course, huge excitement. Because if this conjecture was right, then it has a lot of tremendous implications for cosmology.”

Researchers have set to work trying to test the conjecture and explore its implications. Wrase has already written two papers, including one that may lead to a refinement of the conjecture, and both mostly while on vacation with his family. He recalled thinking, “This is so exciting. I have to work and study that further.”

The conjectured formula — posed in the June 25 paper by Vafa, Georges Obied, Hirosi Ooguri and Lev Spodyneiko and further explored in a second paper released two days later by Vafa, Obied, Prateek Agrawal and Paul Steinhardt — says, simply, that as the universe expands, the density of energy in the vacuum of empty space must decrease faster than a certain rate. The rule appears to be true in all simple string theory-based models of universes. But it violates two widespread beliefs about the actual universe: It deems impossible both the accepted picture of the universe’s present-day expansion and the leading model of its explosive birth.

Dark Energy in Question

Since 1998, telescope observations have indicated that the cosmos is expanding ever-so-slightly faster all the time, implying that the vacuum of empty space must be infused with a dose of gravitationally repulsive “dark energy.”

In addition, it looks like the amount of dark energy infused in empty space stays constant over time (as best anyone can tell).

But the new conjecture asserts that the vacuum energy of the universe must be decreasing.

Vafa and colleagues contend that universes with stable, constant, positive amounts of vacuum energy, known as “de Sitter universes,” aren’t possible. String theorists have struggled mightily since dark energy’s 1998 discovery to construct convincing stringy models of stable de Sitter universes. But if Vafa is right, such efforts are bound to sink in logical inconsistency; de Sitter universes lie not in the landscape, but in the “swampland.” “The things that look consistent but ultimately are not consistent, I call them swampland,” he explained recently. “They almost look like landscape; you can be fooled by them. You think you should be able to construct them, but you cannot.”

According to this “de Sitter swampland conjecture,” in all possible, logical universes, the vacuum energy must either be dropping, its value like a ball rolling down a hill, or it must have obtained a stable negative value. (So-called “anti-de Sitter” universes, with stable, negative doses of vacuum energy, are easily constructed in string theory.)

The conjecture, if true, would mean the density of dark energy in our universe cannot be constant, but must instead take a form called “quintessence” — an energy source that will gradually diminish over tens of billions of years. Several telescope experiments are underway now to more precisely probe whether the universe is expanding with a constant rate of acceleration, which would mean that as new space is created, a proportionate amount of new dark energy arises with it, or whether the cosmic acceleration is gradually changing, as in quintessence models. A discovery of quintessence would revolutionize fundamental physics and cosmology, including rewriting the cosmos’s history and future. Instead of tearing apart in a Big Rip, a quintessent universe would gradually decelerate, and in most models, would eventually stop expanding and contract in either a Big Crunch or Big Bounce.

Paul Steinhardt, a cosmologist at Princeton University and one of Vafa’s co-authors, said that over the next few years, “all eyes should be on” measurements by the Dark Energy Survey, WFIRST and Euclid telescopes of whether the density of dark energy is changing. “If you find it’s not consistent with quintessence,” Steinhardt said, “it means either the swampland idea is wrong, or string theory is wrong, or both are wrong or — something’s wrong.”

Inflation Under Siege

No less dramatically, the new swampland conjecture also casts doubt on the widely believed story of the universe’s birth: the Big Bang theory known as cosmic inflation. According to this theory, a minuscule, energy-infused speck of space-time rapidly inflated to form the macroscopic universe we inhabit. The theory was devised to explain, in part, how the universe got so huge, smooth and flat.

But the hypothetical “inflaton field” of energy that supposedly drove cosmic inflation doesn’t sit well with Vafa’s formula. To abide by the formula, the inflaton field’s energy would probably have needed to diminish too quickly to form a smooth- and flat-enough universe, he and other researchers explained. Thus, the conjecture disfavors many popular models of cosmic inflation. In the coming years, telescopes such as the Simons Observatory will look for definitive signatures of cosmic inflation, testing it against rival ideas.

In the meantime, string theorists, who normally form a united front, will disagree about the conjecture. Eva Silverstein, a physics professor at Stanford University and a leader in the effort to construct string-theoretic models of inflation, thinks it is very likely to be false. So does her husband, the Stanford professor Shamit Kachru; he is the first “K” in KKLT, a famous 2003 paper (known by its authors’ initials) that suggested a set of stringy ingredients that might be used to construct de Sitter universes. Vafa’s formula says both Silverstein’s and Kachru’s constructions won’t work. “We’re besieged by these conjectures in our family,” Silverstein joked.  But in her view, accelerating-expansion models are no more disfavored now, in light of the new papers, than before. “They essentially just speculate that those things don’t exist, citing very limited and in some cases highly dubious analyses,” she said.

Matthew Kleban, a string theorist and cosmologist at New York University, also works on stringy models of inflation. He stresses that the new swampland conjecture is highly speculative and an example of “lamppost reasoning,” since much of the string landscape has yet to be explored. And yet he acknowledges that, based on existing evidence, the conjecture could well be true. “It could be true about string theory, and then maybe string theory doesn’t describe the world,” Kleban said. “[Maybe] dark energy has falsified it. That obviously would be very interesting.”

Mapping the Swampland

Whether the de Sitter swampland conjecture and future experiments really have the power to falsify string theory remains to be seen. The discovery in the early 2000s that string theory has something like 10500 solutions killed the dream that it might uniquely and inevitably predict the properties of our one universe. The theory seemed like it could support almost any observations and became very difficult to experimentally test or disprove.

In 2005, Vafa and a network of collaborators began to think about how to pare the possibilities down by mapping out fundamental features of nature that absolutely have to be true. For example, their “weak gravity conjecture” asserts that gravity must always be the weakest force in any logical universe. Imagined universes that don’t satisfy such requirements get tossed from the landscape into the swampland. Many of these swampland conjectures have held up famously against attack, and some are now “on a very solid theoretical footing,” said Hirosi Ooguri, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology and one of Vafa’s first swampland collaborators. The weak gravity conjecture, for instance, has accumulated so much evidencethat it’s now suspected to hold generally, independent of whether string theory is the correct theory of quantum gravity.

The intuition about where landscape ends and swampland begins derives from decades of effort to construct stringy models of universes. The chief challenge of that project has been that string theory predicts the existence of 10 space-time dimensions — far more than are apparent in our 4-D universe. String theorists posit that the six extra spatial dimensions must be small — curled up tightly at every point. The landscape springs from all the different ways of configuring these extra dimensions. But although the possibilities are enormous, researchers like Vafa have found that general principles emerge. For instance, the curled-up dimensions typically want to gravitationally contract inward, whereas fields like electromagnetic fields tend to push everything apart. And in simple, stable configurations, these effects balance out by having negative vacuum energy, producing anti-de Sitter universes. Turning the vacuum energy positive is hard. “Usually in physics, we have simple examples of general phenomena,” Vafa said. “De Sitter is not such a thing.”

The KKLT paper, by Kachru, Renata Kallosh, Andrei Linde and Sandip Trivedi, suggested stringy trappings like “fluxes,” “instantons” and “anti-D-branes” that could potentially serve as tools for configuring a positive, constant vacuum energy. However, these constructions are complicated, and over the years possible instabilities have been identified. Though Kachru said he does not have “any serious doubts,” many researchers have come to suspect the KKLT scenario does not produce stable de Sitter universes after all.

Vafa thinks a concerted search for definitely stable de Sitter universe models is long overdue. His conjecture is, above all, intended to press the issue. In his view, string theorists have not felt sufficiently motivated to figure out whether string theory really is capable of describing our world, instead taking the attitude that because the string landscape is huge, there must be a place in it for us, even if no one knows where. “The bulk of the community in string theory still sides on the side of de Sitter constructions [existing],” he said, “because the belief is, ‘Look, we live in a de Sitter universe with positive energy; therefore we better have examples of that type.’”

His conjecture has roused the community to action, with researchers like Wrase looking for stable de Sitter counterexamples, while others toy with little-explored stringy models of quintessent universes. “I would be equally interested to know if the conjecture is true or false,” Vafa said. “Raising the question is what we should be doing. And finding evidence for or against it — that’s how we make progress.”