#tcp analysis

[madockisser]

I just read How the king of Elfame learned to hate stories, the "So long as you are begging, he doesn't mind a bit." line at the end of the blurb stuck in my mind

He mentions begging in the books. Although he also begs Jude at some point iirc

Do you have any thoughts about how this almost power dynamic is important to him? Or why he'd be fond of it

I'm not sure how to word it properly, he's in a precarious position with the rest of his siblings for a good part of his life, Balekin manipulates him amongst other things.

why is cardan such a sadist?/ cardans struggle w power

hi! great question, i hope i answer it to your liking!

from what we can tell of cardan and his character, he doesn’t have much. he has his status as prince, and that is all that he can cling to. it’s his only advantage.

we know that he is not fond of courtiers, faking their admiration for him, allowing him to slap and use them; all while they can go home to someone they truly love.

all his life he assumes that cruelty gets him what he wants, it ensures that he keeps the little amount of power that he has, while his brothers scheme and kill for the throne, he hurts and humiliates those that question his power.

but any sort of dig against ppl, making them feel lesser so he can feel greater, making jude beg and submit to him so he no longer has to feel anything for her, so she won’t consume his thoughts with her disobedience, gives him that small amount of power, since a human girl opposing him, all while he sorta loses that battle against her, makes him look weak. in the eyes of his friends, family and the court/gentry

anyway, while he ofc can “fall out of favor” w his siblings, those sort of relationships w them do not matter to him, he insults caelia to her face in htkoelths, he does not care for dain, he cares a bit for rhyia, perhaps bc he sees most of himself in her, the way she is casual when it comes to her royal duties, and bc she is kind to him when the rest are not, when the rest have deemed him as balekins princely little monster, with an awful prophecy over his head.

what matters to him is his father, not that he likes him much but he still strives for what seems like attention from him. so he is cruel and sadistic for the sake of his father taking notice of him, bc thats all he knows

in twk, jude finds a crystal ball where asha neglects cardan until he hits another boy, and at that she laughs greatly and pays attention to him. being cruel is all he knows, the only way for him to be seen by his father, even if it is bad attention, atleast it is attention at all.

as for that power dynamic, again, he relishes in any chance to show ppl he is powerful, that he is important, even when he really isn’t.

so as jude opposes him, he is reminded time and time again that not only does jude have everything he wants, a loving family, but she has a strange sort of power over him, the power to make him feel not only desire but eventual care for her well being. which isn’t a feeling that he feels often

pair those feelings with the fact that she is human, and the fact that balekin encourages him to kill humans but cardan instead frees them, and takes beatings for them, he is very conflicted and angry and upset at his feelings for her.

he doesn’t want to care, it would be easier to act as those he has a heart of stone.

i assume his feelings make him feel awfully powerless, which is obviously a feeling he does not like, since he consistently goes out of his way to show his power to the court by acting without consequence and casting those that get in his way out of court.

anyway, later on he is begging to jude because at this point, i think he’s realized just how far gone he is in his love for her. he is vulnerable w her in a way that he never was w nicasia or anyone.

w nicasia he flaunted his power, pretended that he was more important and influential than he was, w nicasia he formed his group of friends that took advantage of his power and hurt him w it.

but w jude, he felt powerless bc of the powers she had over him, first off, his desire for her, second, his love for her, and third, ofc the bargain that quite literally made him her slave.

until jude, his sadistic power dynamics were used to hurt those around him, but then he learned that he’d much rather feel powerless so long as jude is there w him. he’d also learned that he can be useful, which he’d never thought before jude. he learned that he doesn’t have to hurt and lash out for a power thrill, that he can be powerful in being a good high king.

jude was the only person that taught him that he could be loved and worth something at all, without having to reach out and claw that love from someone’s hands.

jude and cardan understand each other in a way no one else in their lives ever bothered to.

and abt the begging part, im sure he also likes to simply see jude begging as well. after all they put each other thru, im sure they both like seeing each other beg.

hope this answered your question! if not, feel free to leave another ask!! 🫶🫶 and feel free to add on as always!

also i just want to add, i see everyone’s asks, and am working on quite a few, though i am still doing my reread, which is why it’s taking so long to get to my older asks! so sorry!! i answer the newer ones if they are easy to answer, w things that i already know w out having to grab my books to look for it.!

[maingh0st]

is this too niche

[wh0reforfantasy]

Why is Jude Duarte the perfect morally grey character…

- Her parents were brutally slaughtered at a young age, and while hating Madoc, she also had a soft spot for her “father.” Since she was small, this man raised her and taught her everything she knew. Of course she had memories from her own parents, and could never forgive Madoc for what he did, but she also saw the fatherly side of him and appreciated it. Jude Duarte was created in a morally grey environment.

- Jude Duarte will do anything for her power/pride, even if it means risking everything and everyone she has. She could have easily brushed off petty insults and kept temper during her brutal bullying/harassment she was going through, like Taryn and the rest of her family insisted, but Jude never let it slide. Even if it was simple revenge that might earn her a dip into a creek, Jude always stood her ground. Later into the series, we see her completely and utterly invested with the little power she gains and how she uses it. There are considerable more risks with every power move she makes, especially everything concerned with the crown. Her family is usually an afterthought, and rarely an emotional case. Even with Oak, Jude is more concerned about the use of power and where she stands, then she is for his safe-being. Not to mention the time Jude almost killed Taryn in a squabble over Locke, which in its entirely mocked Jude and what control she had over someone close to Cardan. Jude loves her family, and will protect them, but not unless it suits her in some way.

- Everyone/anyone is her enemy… no matter how much she “trusts’ them. We see it with her relationship with Taryn, where Jude cares for her sister, but never really trusts her. Even with Cardan, while Jude was infatuated with him, she never once trusted him. All of her friends and family becomes pawns in her power game, and she will always back up herself first. This was taught to her by Madoc, who put battle/power first above his own important people and morals. Cardan was a known enemy to Jude, but he showed her a vulnerability/empathy that she showed no one else. Instead of being emotional and falling for him harder, Jude convinced herself it was an act and to use it to her advantage. Most people wouldn’t shackle a boy that was being beat by his own brother, trick him into having a crown he did NOT want to have, AND witnessed his whole family being slaughter in front of him… Jude didn’t care, she wanted the crown and her revenge.

Nonetheless, Jude has a side of her that is very protective and loves harder than the average person. Her strength and determination could be used for something more than her own gain, and she shows she is capable of that later into the series. We understand why Jude acts the way she does because we witness the pain of her character first hand. Who wouldn’t want revenge against the very people that hate her for her existence? Being human means your weak, can be controlled… a creature owned by the fae. Love was wired to be thought of as a weakness, something to make you lose the battle. In this series, we see her struggle with the choices of to love, or gain more power.

I think Holly Black made an AMAZING female lead that wasn’t written for love, but for feminine rage and power. Love didn’t stop her from gaining what she needed, what her goals were, and instead make her stronger. Jude fought most of her battles alone and failed, but got up regardless. Cardan wasn’t her knight in shining armor, it was quite the opposite. And let’s just say, the best series I’ve read so far.

[beware-of-the-light]

Taryn is Madoc's daughter

I think she's meant to be his narrative mirror.

They both killed their spouses after they turned out to be something that they didn't anticipated. Both do so by blade. They are left to deal with a child that their spouse left behind.

Madoc doesn't go to trial for his crime. But we don't forgive him, not really.

Taryn is meant to be trialed. We forgive her, sort of, Locke was horrible anyways.

She is clever, Madoc trusted her for his coup of the throne. Just like him, she hides her intentions until she strikes. Jude didn't believe that any of them would do such a thing, yet they both do so anyways.

Thinking about how when Madoc killed the girls' mother, he dripped his cap in his blood until it was coated red and hardened. About how when Taryn killed her husband, she ran to her sister for help and in the way found forgiveness.

Thinking about how they are the same, but Taryn chose life and Madoc chose death.

[viivdle]

The Joker And The Queen (Jurdan's Version)

"How was I to know? / It's a crazy thing" fits incredibly well for them. on one side, we have jude - all she knows is cardan hating her. he insulted her, kicked dirt in her food, almost killed (!!) her, how was she to know he loved her?? or tolerated her at all?? on the other side, there's cardan - for me, these lyrics represent how low he thinks of himself. his own family didn't love him, so why would anyone else do it voluntarily? with the two of them, it's anything but - though it still counts to him.  

"I showed you my hand / And you still let me win" they both showed their weaknesses during the series - behind the dais in TWK, jude's constant mortality, cardan's confession in TCP,.. there's more of these moments than one might guess. 

"And who was I to say / That this was meant to be?" it would've been fatal for jude to say it. she herself would've thought she'd gone mad. a mortal and a fae prince? yes, right. and cardan for, again, thinking nobody would want what was left of his heart. 

"The road that was broken / Brought us together" is there anything more jurdan?? there road was not just a bit broken, it was DESTROYED. betrayal, lies, deceiving, murder. come on.  

"When I fold, you see the best in me" for jude, folding represents her mortality, her weakness even when she is stronger than most. she can't escape it, no matter what. cardan on the other hand told her he always thinks about her, which was one of the first big steps to their end. he also involuntarily showed his cards when jude saw balekin and him in his room.  

"I've been played before" ironic considering most times they played each other.  

"So I kept my cards close to my foolproof vest" cardan hid his attraction to her with utter hatred, it was truly foolproof - at least it worked on jude.  

"And then you went all in / And we left together" to me, this screams the serpent scene in TQoN. she had to risk everything, but in the end they came out of it together. 

"And I know you think that what makes a king is gold / A palace and diamond rings" cardan knew next to nothing about ruling when he was put on the throne, but it's not the first thing that comes to mind. i can imagine jude telling cardan that when he has doubts, telling him that despite what he thinks, there's more to being a king than gold (i could get into the silver to gold pipeline but i promise i won't)  

"When I folded, you saw the best in me" cardan admires her mortal beauty like no other, he saw the best of her, the parts she despised most in her situation, when she decided to take that leap of faith. even when cardan was a serpent, she saw her husband, not just a monster. even when cardan was a serpent, he saw his wife, not just a target. 

"The Joker And The Queen" 

[virtualizationhowto]

Top 7 Netstat Commands you need to know

Top 7 Netstat Commands you need to know @vexpert #vmwarecommunities #homelab #netstatcommands #networktroubleshootingtools #Ethernetstatistics #routingtablesguide #TCPandUDPmonitoring #localandforeignaddressanalysis #networktools

Netstat is a vital command-line tool utilized by network professionals, system administrators, and those keen to understand their network’s inner workings in Windows or Unix listening ports. It provides insights into network connections, protocols, and network statistics. Let’s dive into the netstat tool with the top 7 netstat commands essential for diagnosing network problems, monitoring…

[imitationgame77]

Pinging and Tapping

In the world of the Murderbot Diaries, communication is often conducted via comm and feed. Generally, comm is used when internal network is not available, or when one is trying to communicate across space, and feed is used when people are on the same network and allow each other access.

We also often see “pings” and “taps” as a way of quick communication.

Generally, pings are used for comm communications, and taps are used for feed communications, but there seem to be different purposes. Here are what we can gather from the story, and also from real life examples.

[Pings]

Purpose in the MB world:

Pings are typically used for signalling, checking connectivity, and getting responses from other systems or units. They act like a way to see if the other side is present and ready to communicate or respond.

Purpose in Real Life:

Network Connectivity: In computer networks, a "ping" is a diagnostic tool used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. It measures the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer.

Usage in the MB World:

Status Checks: Used to check if systems, such as satellites, drones, or transports, are active and responsive. For example, pinging a satellite to see if it responds​​.

Communication Initiation: Used to start communication with other systems, often to establish a connection or share data. For instance, pinging a transport to offer media files in exchange for a ride​​.

Detection: Used by systems to detect the presence of specific units, like SecUnits, without direct contact​​.

Usage in Real Life:

ICMP Echo Request/Reply: The ping command sends an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Echo Request message to the target host and waits for an ICMP Echo Reply.

Network Troubleshooting: Used to determine if a particular host is reachable and to measure the latency between the source and destination.

[Taps]

Purpose in the MB World:

Taps are used more for internal communication within the network or feed. They serve as a means to acknowledge, signal actions, or provide private communication without verbal interaction.

Purpose in Real Life:

Internal Communication: In many systems, "taps" or similar mechanisms are used to signal and communicate internally within a network or system.

Usage in the MB World:

Acknowledgments: Used to acknowledge received messages or instructions. For instance, tapping back an acknowledgment to confirm receipt of instructions​​.

Private Communication: Used to send private or secure messages within the feed, often to communicate specific commands or information discreetly. For example, tapping the feed to communicate privately with another character without others listening in​​.

Control Signals: Used to signal or control actions within the feed, like tapping to instruct a character to fall back or take specific actions​​.

Usage in Real Life:

Signalling Mechanisms: Within computer systems, taps can be analogous to various signalling mechanisms like inter-process communication (IPC), which includes methods such as semaphores, shared memory, and message queues.

Acknowledgments and Control Signals: In networking, control signals and acknowledgments are crucial for managing data flow and ensuring reliable communication. For example, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) uses acknowledgments to confirm the receipt of data packets.

Network Taps: In the context of network security, a "network tap" is a device that allows access to data flowing across a network for monitoring and analysis.​​.

[Comparison]

In both the fictional world of Murderbot Diaries and real life, pings are primarily used for external signalling and connectivity checks, while taps are used for internal communication and control within the feed network

-------------------------------------------------

[Something Worth Noting]

There are some instances where taps seem more reasonable, but pings are used instead.

In Artificial Condition when Murderbot was watching Sanctuary Moon, and ART was trying to get its attention, asking to watch World Hoppers together. (see Artificial Condition, Pings, 5, 6 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Murderbot finds that a hostile vessel (i.e. ART) was approaching and notifies the team quickly (see Network Effect, Pings, 1 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Murderbot was locking itself up in the bathroom (see Network Effect, Pings, 11, 12 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when ART requested a private connection (see Network Effect, Pings, 13 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Amena comes along with Murderbot to investigate Barish-Estranza shuttle, but is told to wait outside. She offers to help to which Murderbot pings acknowledgement (see Network Effect, Pings, 14 my AO3)

At the end of System Collapse when Murderbot pinged Three to ask if it wanted to listen to Holism explain planetary infrastructure (see System Collapse, Pings 15 my AO3)

Of these, 1, 3, 4 are where ART was sending pings to Murderbot. This is actually quite sweet, because we can tell that ART is being very polite to Murderbot. ART is fully capable of slamming into Murderbot’s private feed, but in all of these occasions, Murderbot has been rejecting feed communication which it reserves for friends and clients. ART is respecting this.

Instance 2 is unusual, and I am not 100% sure why Murderbot chose to use ping here. But since it was emergency, and ping is a protocol where it receives automatic response if it had been received at the other end, it was sufficient for its purposes.

When we read the context in which 5 happens we notice that Murderbot is now inside the B-E shuttle, and for security reasons, ART had cut it off from the feed network. So, Murderbot has the options of either verbally answering to Amena, or sending a ping for acknowledgement, and it chose the latter.

In instance 6, Murderbot seems to be being polite to Three who is busy (?) watching educational media. They are cordial to each other, but because Three is still not used to being a free SecUnit, Murderbot is being more careful around it.

--------------

If you are willing to be bored to death, you can see my AO3 post for the list of all the instances where pinging and tapping happen!

[ezziefae]

“I think of Cardan tied to a chair to cheer myself up. Then I think of the way he looked up at me through the curtain of his crow-black hair, of the curling edge of his drunken smile, and i don’t feel in the least bit comforted.” (Chap 23, Pg 279)

This quote is from when Jude and Taryn got into that fight after the failed coronation, when Jude found out about Locke and Taryn.

It funny how Jude’s thoughts go straight to Cardan. She attemps to cheer herself up at her accomplishment for having him hostage and as her prisoner. Instead she thinks of the way he LOOKED AT HER, and his SMILE.

Poor jude was head over heels for this man for soooo long, yet she didn’t know it and kept denying it the entire series until TQON. She confused her love for cardan with hate since the beginning of TCP. There’s so many quotes from Jude that the readers perceive are filled with hate.

For example:

“And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest, with black hair as iridescent as a raven’s wing and cheekbones sharp enough to cut out a girls heart. I hate him mora than the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breath” (Chap 4, Pg 30)

LIKE HELLO???

“When I look at him, I can hardly breath.”

Jude has had a crush on Cardan since the beginning of the book. But her drive was all directed to hate. She wanted to be better than him, she wanted to humiliate him.

AND CARDAN WAS GOING THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING.

Cardan has had a crush on Jude for a long time (even when he was in a relationship with Nicasia, i’ll make a separate post on their relationship later) Yet, he envied her for being a mortal and having the things he couldn’t have even as the prince of Elfhame. He admitted to wanting her out of his sight so he could stop feeling the way he did.

Both Jude and Cardan were enemies because of their differences. There was a lot of misunderstanding. Both of them assumed things that weren’t true. Both of them were going through struggles. And In the end, they realized they were more similar than they thought.

(sorry for the typos! it’s really late, and im half asleep, and YES IM RE READING THIS BOOK AGAIN, expect more analysis post for the folk of the air series)

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

in chapter 3 of tcp, there was a scene of cardan attacking then tearing a boy’s wings because he didn’t bow, do you think there are more meanings behind this action? it’s my 2nd time rereading tfota trilogy and this scene still baffles me

(i'm gonna copy/paste a lot from this post because i did answer this, but it was part of a reblog, and tbh it deserves its own post cos it's a damn good question.)

i don't think Cardan had a reason behind his actions in that scene so much as i think Holly had a big reason for including it.

i would argue that, from a character creation standpoint, the ripping of the faerie's wings provides the most important context for Cardan's character in TCP. foremost, it is our very first impression of him. he is truly cruel in that scene. he is at his worst.

one thing they taught us in Creative Writing school: always introduce your characters in a way that shows them doing something that is fundamental to their character.

the book is called The Cruel Prince, ergo we can only assume Holly wanted Cardan to be perceived as cruel. so the first thing we see him doing? something vicious and irredeemable, for no apparent reason (other than to be a dick). it makes us trust Jude's hatred for him; it makes us hate Cardan, too.

if we take that scene out, however, Cardan seems all bark and no bite. sure, he actively insults Jude. and he may even participate in his friends' more malicious bullying. but he's shit with a sword and clearly takes a more subdued role in the bullying scenes (see: watching out for the nixies to make sure they weren't getting too close, telling Valerian to stop when he was suffocating Jude, pricking Jude's finger to sober her up).

so what does Jude really have to be afraid of without that first scene?

certainly not Cardan specifically, but rather, his cohort as a whole. and tbh that's not much more specific than just saying "everything in Faerie is terrifying", which she does indeed point out multiple times. but she needed to be afraid of him, and therefore, she needed a believable reason for that fear.

there's a difference between being actively cruel and passively cruel, and the ripping of the faerie's wings transforms Cardan from the latter to the former simply and effectively.

so yes. he is mean and cruel and cowardly. i suppose it's fine for people to have qualms with him for everything he did/did not do in TCP.

but i happen to think growth is very sexy so i will not be holding any of that against him 😌✨

–Em 🖤🗡

In Defence of Cardan Greenbriar

more theories and analysis

[eerna]

after a tfota reread and the suren duology, im totally obsessed with taryn. i recently read the lost sisters tfota novella and there is suchhhhhh juicy stuff in there. locke targets taryn dead to rights, playing on every insecurity, and taryn’s insecurities are so interesting, especially her thinking about her vulnerabilities!! taryn thinks that jude has her place in faerie secured and so taryn is the weak link here and she’s trying to barter her way into a good position. (i also loved her analysis of vivi’s state of mind and that once vivi leaves, she and jude are even more vulnerable.) i love how her and locke’s bargain is a parallel to jude and dain’s. even after just fifty pages can i see how taryn was driven to straight up murder. the more page time locke gets the more sinister he is at how very competent he is at manipulating feelings and what seems like almost psychological torment. taryn makes a lot of mistakes but it really only makes her character so much interesting!!! another taryn novel/la for me please!!!!

YAASSS TARYN FANCLUB!!!!! I love the novella for the exact reasons you mentioned. It is a short retelling of the first part of TCP, but from Taryn's POV, and it gives us SO many interesting parallels. I especially like how while Jude's TCP arc is realizing she is cold-blooded and violent and wondering if that makes her a monster, throughout the novella Taryn is like "oh I am not violent, oh I am so prim and proper" but the more people test her, the more she finds it may not be so true. My personal fave is when Locke shows up beneath her window after ghosting her for weeks and she's like "Hehe what if this time Madoc caught him sneaking around the property and killed him, that would be sooooo cool he totally deserves it- WAIT NO WHAT AM I THINKING THAT IS HORRIBLE???". People always forget that she was always just like the rest of her family. She IS vicious and vengeful, as evident in how she treated Jude for putting a target on both their backs and "stealing" Locke, but like Cardan said, she doesn't want it to be true. She refuses to accept that part of herself, even though she is aware, she chooses to pretend she is all softness and kindness so that's the thing everyone sees her as. She wants to be better than the Folk, and be rewarded for it. It shames her that Jude abandoned that idea and decided to be worse, because now she is the only one cowed and scared. ANOTHER cool narrative is Taryn's relationship with food, how she is a comfort eater and keeps consuming more and more the worse her mental state gets, but is still always hungry. Then there's the metaphorical role of food that Locke presents, where a life she might want is a banquet, all the various experiences of love spices, and she is "refusing to eat" because she is scared of Faerie. But by the end of the book she is "gagging food down" through the Jude trial to prove that Faerie food or no she can take it, even though she hates the taste. She is trying to drown her sadness and guilt in the belief that staying true to Locke will finally make her feel full and satisfied. Where ELSE did I see that greedy streak huh I wonder!

Anyway. The Lost Sisters ily what a 10/10 addition I need a sequel except HB gave up on Taryn years ago

[madockisser]

I just read your reasoning, and I totally understand. Madoc used to be my fav character at the start of the book, since he was a good dad and wanted the best for his children.

And Dain was introduced to the story. Became my fav character and we all know what happened at the coronation :')

dain greenbriar analysis! not that u asked but i did one of madoc so i’ll do one of dain since he’s super complex

i really liked dain too! he was totally mysterious, which was later revealed that he was more so manipulative and cunning. balekin says that dain is “surprisingly unsentimental” which is shocking coming from balekin of all ppl. since balekin believes it to be true, then imagine like a 10x worse version of balekin. we know dain is very smart, he is charming and manipulative, which are all qualities that balekin do not quite posses. (as seen in the lament of lutie loo)

dain truly did not play around when it came to things in the way of his coming into power. which shouldn’t come as a surprise since we know that dain was slowly poisoning eldred to make him weak and make him resign from being king. then obv what he did to the woman he sent love poems to (liriope) whom he poisoned alongside the fetus in her womb. all that just to assure his succession to the throne.

not to mention how he played poor 5ish yr old cardan. dude was beefing w a toddler! which again, he uses his elder brother charm to do, and his manipulative hand to persuade eldred to kick cardan out and cast asha out. (which makes me wonder if he had a personal grudge or something against asha ((maybe something she knew that he didn’t want eldred to know)) or if he was simply just killing 2 birds w one stone)

it’s fascinating to me that he killed liri despite caring for her sm. why do i think he cared for liri at all? because he was at a great risk to dally and play around with one of his fathers lovers/consorts. for someone who is so notoriously careful, he must’ve really grown to care for her, the same way nicasia came to care for locke!! ( i ADORE the parallels in lockes and his mothers relationships!)

but maybe dain caught on to her gancanagh/ love/charm speaking powers and was displeased enough to not really gaf when he administered poison to her and oakey.

while dain is a giant asshole, he really fascinated me. his actions at first were charming and humble, and from jude’s perspective, almost kind, and even someone she could look up to. but after jude fell out of favor with him, he was cold, cruel and calculating.

he even managed to skillfully manipulate his own spies into liking him, seeing as the ghost still served dain after his death by betraying jude (which wasn’t his fault). the roach and the bomb didn’t know of dains poisoning of liri, and even jude wasn’t allowed in on some of the spy work she was doing for dain.

and ofc when jude delivers the paper that says, “i know the provenance of blusher mushroom” dain, who is put on the spot, skillfully manipulates his spies yet again by claiming that “he”(could be any faerie that goes by “he” btw) was blackmailing orlagh.

furthermore, he says about balekin.

“he and i never got along. and yet i had hoped ….” purposefully not finishing his sentence so as to not reveal to his spies how truly unfeeling he was about his elder brother,balekin.

i wonder a lot of his plans for jude, i saw a theory that he was going to arrange jude in a marriage, and i have a few small ones of my own, but it’s super intriguing that he chose jude, the daughter of the very influential grand general (the man to stole half of the high kings army in twk lol) to use as a spy. makes me wonder what his plans were for madoc and for jude if madoc ever found out. because surely, as careful as he is, he would’ve had one.

ANYWAY sorry i kinda went on a tangent there but he’s such a cool character and while i def do not agree w his actions, i almost wish he stayed alive longer to be a more significant villain, but i am SO glad we got cute oakey pokey as a cute less evil replacement! and also more insights of what oak thinks of him in tpt and tsh!

holly black, despite dain and several other characters have short amounts of page time, managed to make dain such a great subtle villain! which is why i love her work so much. she slides in and incorporates little damning facts and details that could mean nothing, but could also have great significance!

lastly, i rly like doing character analyses so feel free to add on or send me characters or questions thru the ask thingy!!

[c-cracks]

Infrastructure Recon Script

Hello everyone, it's been a while. :) Just wanted to share something I've been working on with you all.

I've developed a recon script for infrastructure testing which works off a CIDR or a list of IPs. It splits given IPs into groups of 64 (as nmap performs TCP scans on hosts in groups of 64,) launches nmap scans on each group as background processes and then merges the results together once every group has been scanned. The theory behind this is that port scans on over 64 hosts will complete in the time it takes to scan one group of 64 hosts.

From here, it analyses the port scan results and launches service-specific scans. It also creates lists of IPs by service, making any extra checks applicable to all hosts found with a specific service open.

You can find it here. It's still lacking a bit in documentation and usability- there's tools you need to install that I haven't noted down anywhere- but it's 80% tools found on an average Kali Linux build anyway. ^^ I do also want to improve the service scan scripts and see if there's anything I can add to them. Recently got it up and running fully so thought I'd share it.

Otherwise, I am working my way through Burp Suite Academy right now. My plan is to post a review on it here when I've covered what I want to there. Been slacking on it a little since starting work but I'm working on that.

EDIT: Still problems with the analysis section- I had a run through where everything was picked up but there's an issue stopping all hosts and services being picked up. Working on this.

UPDATE: Changed the flow of this and issue seems to have been addressed. :)

[this-week-in-rust]

This Week in Rust 534

Hello and welcome to another issue of This Week in Rust! Rust is a programming language empowering everyone to build reliable and efficient software. This is a weekly summary of its progress and community. Want something mentioned? Tag us at @ThisWeekInRust on Twitter or @ThisWeekinRust on mastodon.social, or send us a pull request. Want to get involved? We love contributions.

This Week in Rust is openly developed on GitHub and archives can be viewed at this-week-in-rust.org. If you find any errors in this week's issue, please submit a PR.

Updates from Rust Community

Official

Announcing Rust 1.76.0

This Development-cycle in Cargo: 1.77

Project/Tooling Updates

zbus 4.0 released. zbus is a pure Rust D-Bus crate. The new version brings a more ergonomic and safer API. Release: zbus4

This Month in Rust OSDev: January 2024

Rerun 0.13 - real-time kHz time series in a multimodal visualizer

egui 0.26 - Text selection in labels

Hello, Selium! Yet another streaming platform, but easier

Observations/Thoughts

Which red is your function?

Porting libyaml to Safe Rust: Some Thoughts

Design safe collection API with compile-time reference stability in Rust

Cross compiling Rust to win32

Modular: Mojo vs. Rust: is Mojo 🔥 faster than Rust 🦀 ?

Extending Rust's Effect System

Allocation-free decoding with traits and high-ranked trait bounds

Cross-Compiling Your Project in Rust

Kind: Our Rust library that provides zero-cost, type-safe identifiers

Performance Roulette: The Luck of Code Alignment

Too dangerous for C++

Building an Uptime Monitor in Rust

Box Plots at the Olympics

Rust in Production: Interview with FOSSA

Performance Pitfalls of Async Function Pointers (and Why It Might Not Matter)

Error management in Rust, and libs that support it

Finishing Turborepo's migration from Go to Rust

Rust: Reading a file line by line while being mindful of RAM usage

Why Rust? It's the safe choice

[video] Rust 1.76.0: 73 highlights in 24 minutes!

Rust Walkthroughs

Rust/C++ Interop Part 1 - Just the Basics

Rust/C++ Interop Part 2 - CMake

Speeding up data analysis with Rayon and Rust

Calling Rust FFI libraries from Go

Write a simple TCP chat server in Rust

[video] Google Oauth with GraphQL API written in Rust - part 1. Registration mutation.

Miscellaneous

The book "Asynchronous Programming in Rust" is released

January 2024 Rust Jobs Report

Chasing a bug in a SAT solver

Rust for hardware vendors

[audio] How To Secure Your Audio Code Using Rust With Chase Kanipe

[audio] Tweede Golf - Rust in Production Podcast

[video] RustConf 2023

[video] Decrusting the tracing crate

Crate of the Week

This week's crate is microflow, a robust and efficient TinyML inference engine for embedded systems.

Thanks to matteocarnelos for the self-suggestion!

Please submit your suggestions and votes for next week!

Call for Participation; projects and speakers

CFP - Projects

Always wanted to contribute to open-source projects but did not know where to start? Every week we highlight some tasks from the Rust community for you to pick and get started!

Some of these tasks may also have mentors available, visit the task page for more information.

* Hyperswitch - [FEATURE]: Setup code coverage for local tests & CI * Hyperswitch - [FEATURE]: Have get_required_value to use ValidationError in OptionExt

If you are a Rust project owner and are looking for contributors, please submit tasks here.

CFP - Speakers

Are you a new or experienced speaker looking for a place to share something cool? This section highlights events that are being planned and are accepting submissions to join their event as a speaker.

Devoxx PL 2024 | CFP closes 2024-03-01 | Krakow, Poland | Event date: 2024-06-19 - 2024-06-21

RustFest Zürich 2024 CFP closes 2024-03-31 | Zürich, Switzerland | Event date: 2024-06-19 - 2024-06-24

If you are an event organizer hoping to expand the reach of your event, please submit a link to the submission website through a PR to TWiR.

Updates from the Rust Project

466 pull requests were merged in the last week

add armv8r-none-eabihf target for the Cortex-R52

add lahfsahf and prfchw target feature

check_consts: fix duplicate errors, make importance consistent

interpret/write_discriminant: when encoding niched variant, ensure the stored value matches

large_assignments: Allow moves into functions

pattern_analysis: gather up place-relevant info

pattern_analysis: track usefulness without interior mutability

account for non-overlapping unmet trait bounds in suggestion

account for unbounded type param receiver in suggestions

add support for custom JSON targets when using build-std

add unstable -Z direct-access-external-data cmdline flag for rustc

allow restricted trait impls under #[allow_internal_unstable(min_specialization)]

always check the result of pthread_mutex_lock

avoid ICE in drop recursion check in case of invalid drop impls

avoid a collection and iteration on empty passes

avoid accessing the HIR in the happy path of coherent_trait

bail out of drop elaboration when encountering error types

build DebugInfo for async closures

check that the ABI of the instance we are inlining is correct

clean inlined type alias with correct param-env

continue to borrowck even if there were previous errors

coverage: split out counter increment sites from BCB node/edge counters

create try_new function for ThinBox

deduplicate tcx.instance_mir(instance) calls in try_instance_mir

don't expect early-bound region to be local when reporting errors in RPITIT well-formedness

don't skip coercions for types with errors

emit a diagnostic for invalid target options

emit more specific diagnostics when enums fail to cast with as

encode coroutine_for_closure for foreign crates

exhaustiveness: prefer "0..MAX not covered" to "_ not covered"

fix ICE for deref coercions with type errors

fix ErrorGuaranteed unsoundness with stash/steal

fix cycle error when a static and a promoted are mutually recursive

fix more ty::Error ICEs in MIR passes

for E0223, suggest associated functions that are similar to the path

for a rigid projection, recursively look at the self type's item bounds to fix the associated_type_bounds feature

gracefully handle non-WF alias in assemble_alias_bound_candidates_recur

harmonize AsyncFn implementations, make async closures conditionally impl Fn* traits

hide impls if trait bound is proven from env

hir: make sure all HirIds have corresponding HIR Nodes

improve 'generic param from outer item' error for Self and inside static/const items

improve normalization of Pointee::Metadata

improve pretty printing for associated items in trait objects

introduce enter_forall to supercede instantiate_binder_with_placeholders

lowering unnamed fields and anonymous adt

make min_exhaustive_patterns match exhaustive_patterns better

make it so that async-fn-in-trait is compatible with a concrete future in implementation

make privacy visitor use types more (instead of HIR)

make traits / trait methods detected by the dead code lint

mark "unused binding" suggestion as maybe incorrect

match lowering: consistently lower bindings deepest-first

merge impl_polarity and impl_trait_ref queries

more internal emit diagnostics cleanups

move path implementations into sys

normalize type outlives obligations in NLL for new solver

print image input file and checksum in CI only

print kind of coroutine closure

properly handle async block and async fn in if exprs without else

provide more suggestions on invalid equality where bounds

record coroutine kind in coroutine generics

remove some unchecked_claim_error_was_emitted calls

resolve: unload speculatively resolved crates before freezing cstore

rework support for async closures; allow them to return futures that borrow from the closure's captures

static mut: allow mutable reference to arbitrary types, not just slices and arrays

stop bailing out from compilation just because there were incoherent traits

suggest [tail @ ..] on [..tail] and [...tail] where tail is unresolved

suggest less bug-prone construction of Duration in docs

suggest name value cfg when only value is used for check-cfg

suggest pattern tests when modifying exhaustiveness

suggest turning if let into irrefutable let if appropriate

suppress suggestions in derive macro

take empty where bounds into account when suggesting predicates

toggle assert_unsafe_precondition in codegen instead of expansion

turn the "no saved object file in work product" ICE into a translatable fatal error

warn on references casting to bigger memory layout

unstably allow constants to refer to statics and read from immutable statics

use the same mir-opt bless targets on all platforms

enable MIR JumpThreading by default

fix mir pass ICE in the presence of other errors

miri: fix ICE with symbolic alignment check on extern static

miri: implement the mmap64 foreign item

prevent running some code if it is already in the map

A trait's local impls are trivially coherent if there are no impls

use ensure when the result of the query is not needed beyond its Resultness

implement SystemTime for UEFI

implement sys/thread for UEFI

core/time: avoid divisions in Duration::new

core: add Duration constructors

make NonZero constructors generic

reconstify Add

replace pthread RwLock with custom implementation

simd intrinsics: add simd_shuffle_generic and other missing intrinsics

cargo: test-support: remove special case for $message_type

cargo: don't add the new package to workspace.members if there is no existing workspace in Cargo.toml

cargo: enable edition migration for 2024

cargo: feat: add hint for adding members to workspace

cargo: fix confusing error messages for sparse index replaced source

cargo: fix: don't duplicate comments when editing TOML

cargo: relax a test to permit warnings to be emitted, too

rustdoc: Correctly generate path for non-local items in source code pages

bindgen: add target mappings for riscv64imac and riscv32imafc

bindgen: feat: add headers option

clippy: mem_replace_with_default No longer triggers on unused expression

clippy: similar_names: don't raise if the first character is different

clippy: to_string_trait_impl: avoid linting if the impl is a specialization

clippy: unconditional_recursion: compare by Tys instead of DefIds

clippy: don't allow derive macros to silence disallowed_macros

clippy: don't lint incompatible_msrv in test code

clippy: extend NONMINIMAL_BOOL lint

clippy: fix broken URL in Lint Configuration

clippy: fix false positive in redundant_type_annotations lint

clippy: add autofixes for unnecessary_fallible_conversions

clippy: fix: ICE when array index exceeds usize

clippy: refactor implied_bounds_in_impls lint

clippy: return Some from walk_to_expr_usage more

clippy: stop linting blocks_in_conditions on match with weird attr macro case

rust-analyzer: abstract more over ItemTreeLoc-like structs

rust-analyzer: better error message for when proc-macros have not yet been built

rust-analyzer: add "unnecessary else" diagnostic and fix

rust-analyzer: add break and return postfix keyword completions

rust-analyzer: add diagnostic with fix to replace trailing return <val>; with <val>

rust-analyzer: add incorrect case diagnostics for traits and their associated items

rust-analyzer: allow cargo check to run on only the current package

rust-analyzer: completion list suggests constructor like & builder methods first

rust-analyzer: improve support for ignored proc macros

rust-analyzer: introduce term search to rust-analyzer

rust-analyzer: create UnindexedProject notification to be sent to the client

rust-analyzer: substitute $saved_file in custom check commands

rust-analyzer: fix incorrect inlining of functions that come from MBE macros

rust-analyzer: waker_getters tracking issue from 87021 for 96992

rust-analyzer: fix macro transcriber emitting incorrect lifetime tokens

rust-analyzer: fix target layout fetching

rust-analyzer: fix tuple structs not rendering visibility in their fields

rust-analyzer: highlight rustdoc

rust-analyzer: preserve where clause when builtin derive

rust-analyzer: recover from missing argument in call expressions

rust-analyzer: remove unnecessary .as_ref() in generate getter assist

rust-analyzer: validate literals in proc-macro-srv FreeFunctions::literal_from_str

rust-analyzer: implement literal_from_str for proc macro server

rust-analyzer: implement convert to guarded return assist for let statement with type that implements std::ops::Try

Rust Compiler Performance Triage

Relatively balanced results this week, with more improvements than regressions. Some of the larger regressions are not relevant, however there was a real large regression on doc builds, that was caused by a correctness fix (rustdoc was doing the wrong thing before).

Triage done by @kobzol. Revision range: 0984becf..74c3f5a1

Summary:

(instructions:u) mean range count Regressions ❌ (primary) 2.1% [0.2%, 12.0%] 44 Regressions ❌ (secondary) 5.2% [0.2%, 20.1%] 76 Improvements ✅ (primary) -0.7% [-2.4%, -0.2%] 139 Improvements ✅ (secondary) -1.3% [-3.3%, -0.3%] 86 All ❌✅ (primary) -0.1% [-2.4%, 12.0%] 183

6 Regressions, 5 Improvements, 8 Mixed; 5 of them in rollups 53 artifact comparisons made in total

Full report here

Approved RFCs

Changes to Rust follow the Rust RFC (request for comments) process. These are the RFCs that were approved for implementation this week:

eRFC: Iterate on and stabilize libtest's programmatic output

Final Comment Period

Every week, the team announces the 'final comment period' for RFCs and key PRs which are reaching a decision. Express your opinions now.

RFCs

RFC: Rust Has Provenance

Tracking Issues & PRs

Rust

[disposition: close] Implement Future for Option<F>

[disposition: merge] Tracking Issue for min_exhaustive_patterns

[disposition: merge] Make unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn warn-by-default starting in 2024 edition

Cargo

[disposition: merge] feat: respect rust-version when generating lockfile

New and Updated RFCs

No New or Updated RFCs were created this week.

Call for Testing

An important step for RFC implementation is for people to experiment with the implementation and give feedback, especially before stabilization. The following RFCs would benefit from user testing before moving forward:

RFC: Checking conditional compilation at compile time

Testing steps

If you are a feature implementer and would like your RFC to appear on the above list, add the new call-for-testing label to your RFC along with a comment providing testing instructions and/or guidance on which aspect(s) of the feature need testing.

Upcoming Events

Rusty Events between 2024-02-14 - 2024-03-13 💕 🦀 💕

Virtual

2024-02-15 | Virtual (Berlin, DE) | OpenTechSchool Berlin + Rust Berlin

Rust Hack and Learn | Mirror: Rust Hack n Learn

2024-02-15 | Virtual + In person (Praha, CZ) | Rust Czech Republic

Introduction and Rust in production

2024-02-19 | Virtual (Melbourne, VIC, AU)| Rust Melbourne

(Hybrid - in person & online) February 2024 Rust Melbourne Meetup - Day 1

2024-02-20 | Virtual (Melbourne, VIC, AU) | Rust Melbourne

(Hybrid - in person & online) February 2024 Rust Melbourne Meetup - Day 2

2024-02-20 | Virtual (Washington, DC, US) | Rust DC

Mid-month Rustful

2024-02-20 | Virtual | Rust for Lunch

Lunch

2024-02-21 | Virtual (Cardiff, UK) | Rust and C++ Cardiff

Rust for Rustaceans Book Club: Chapter 2 - Types

2024-02-21 | Virtual (Vancouver, BC, CA) | Vancouver Rust

Rust Study/Hack/Hang-out

2024-02-22 | Virtual (Charlottesville, NC, US) | Charlottesville Rust Meetup

Crafting Interpreters in Rust Collaboratively

2024-02-27 | Virtual (Dallas, TX, US) | Dallas Rust

Last Tuesday

2024-02-29 | Virtual (Berlin, DE) | OpenTechSchool Berlin + Rust Berlin

Rust Hack and Learn | Mirror: Rust Hack n Learn Meetup | Mirror: Berline.rs page

2024-02-29 | Virtual (Charlottesville, NC, US) | Charlottesville Rust Meetup

Surfing the Rusty Wireless Waves with the ESP32-C3 Board

2024-03-06 | Virtual (Indianapolis, IN, US) | Indy Rust

Indy.rs - with Social Distancing

2024-03-07 | Virtual (Charlottesville, NC, US) | Charlottesville Rust Meetup

Crafting Interpreters in Rust Collaboratively

2024-03-12 | Virtual (Dallas, TX, US) | Dallas Rust

Second Tuesday

2024-03-12 | Hybrid (Virtual + In-person) Munich, DE | Rust Munich

Rust Munich 2024 / 1 - hybrid

Asia

2024-02-17 | New Delhi, IN | Rust Delhi

Meetup #5

Europe

2024-02-15 | Copenhagen, DK | Copenhagen Rust Community

Rust Hacknight #2: Compilers

2024-02-15 | Praha, CZ - Virtual + In-person | Rust Czech Republic

Introduction and Rust in production

2024-02-21 | Lyon, FR | Rust Lyon

Rust Lyon Meetup #8

2024-02-22 | Aarhus, DK | Rust Aarhus

Rust and Talk at Partisia

2024-02-29 | Berlin, DE | Rust Berlin

Rust and Tell - Season start 2024

2024-03-12 | Munich, DE + Virtual | Rust Munich

Rust Munich 2024 / 1 - hybrid

North America

2024-02-15 | Boston, MA, US | Boston Rust Meetup

Back Bay Rust Lunch, Feb 15

2024-02-15 | Seattle, WA, US | Seattle Rust User Group

Seattle Rust User Group Meetup

2024-02-20 | New York, NY, US | Rust NYC

Rust NYC Monthly Mixer (Moved to Feb 20th)

2024-02-20 | San Francisco, CA, US | San Francisco Rust Study Group

Rust Hacking in Person

2024-02-21 | Boston, MA, US | Boston Rust Meetup

Evening Boston Rust Meetup at Microsoft, February 21

2024-02-22 | Mountain View, CA, US | Mountain View Rust Meetup

Rust Meetup at Hacker Dojo

2024-02-28 | Austin, TX, US | Rust ATX

Rust Lunch - Fareground

2024-03-07 | Mountain View, CA, US | Mountain View Rust Meetup

Rust Meetup at Hacker Dojo

Oceania

2024-02-19 | Melbourne, VIC, AU + Virtual | Rust Melbourne

(Hybrid - in person & online) February 2024 Rust Melbourne Meetup - Day 1

2024-02-20 | Melbourne, VIC, AU + Virtual | Rust Melbourne

(Hybrid - in person & online) February 2024 Rust Melbourne Meetup - Day 2

2024-02-27 | Canberra, ACT, AU | Canberra Rust User Group

February Meetup

2024-02-27 | Sydney, NSW, AU | Rust Sydney

🦀 spire ⚡ & Quick

2024-03-05 | Auckland, NZ | Rust AKL

Rust AKL: Introduction to Embedded Rust + The State of Rust UI

If you are running a Rust event please add it to the calendar to get it mentioned here. Please remember to add a link to the event too. Email the Rust Community Team for access.

Jobs

Please see the latest Who's Hiring thread on r/rust

Quote of the Week

For some weird reason the Elixir Discord community has a distinct lack of programmer-socks-wearing queer furries, at least compared to Rust, or even most other tech-y Discord servers I’ve seen. It caused some weird cognitive dissonance. Why do I feel vaguely strange hanging out online with all these kind, knowledgeable, friendly and compassionate techbro’s? Then I see a name I recognized from elsewhere and my hindbrain goes “oh thank gods, I know for a fact she’s actually a snow leopard in her free time”. Okay, this nitpick is firmly tongue-in-cheek, but the Rust user-base continues to be a fascinating case study in how many weirdos you can get together in one place when you very explicitly say it’s ok to be a weirdo.

– SimonHeath on the alopex Wiki's ElixirNitpicks page

Thanks to Brian Kung for the suggestion!

Please submit quotes and vote for next week!

This Week in Rust is edited by: nellshamrell, llogiq, cdmistman, ericseppanen, extrawurst, andrewpollack, U007D, kolharsam, joelmarcey, mariannegoldin, bennyvasquez.

Email list hosting is sponsored by The Rust Foundation

Discuss on r/rust

[tejaswini-simandhar]

Are you aware of US CPA Exam changes from 2024?

US CPA is one of the most lucrative career options in the accounting field. The global demand for CPAs has increased exponentially over the last few years. Parallelly, the roles and responsibilities of CPAs have also varied in accordance with the ever-changing business landscape. The advent of digitization and the implementation of new technologies have revolutionized the finance and accounting industry. To ensure that CPAs are updated and competent with the technology-driven business landscape, AICPA has introduced the CPA Evolution Initiative.

The US CPA Exam Evolution Initiative will come into effect from January 1, 2024 and will have significant changes to the CPA curriculum. The passage below explores in detail the CPA 2024 changes.

CPA Evolution Initiative – What is the New Model?

The new model has been proposed to make the CPAs more tech competent. The new model will follow a Core + Discipline model with 3 Core Sections and 3 Discipline Sections.

CPA students have to study all three core sections. The three core sections are:

Financial Auditing and Reporting (FAR)

Auditing and Attestation (AUD)

Taxation and Regulation (REG)

CPA students can choose one discipline section out of the three. The three discipline sections are:

Business analysis and reporting (BAR)

Information systems and controls (ISC)

Tax compliance and planning (TCP)

Irrespective of the discipline section the CPA candidate chooses, he can opt to practice in other areas well. His choice of discipline section will not have any effect on his CPA licensure.

Transition Policy – What it Means to CPA Aspirants?

AICPA along with NASBA, have created a smooth transition policy for implementing the new changes. The transition policy is simple and straightforward. Below is the break of the transition policy and how it affects the CPA candidates.

Candidates who have passed and have credit for AUD, FAR, or REG on the current CPA Exam will not need to take the corresponding new core section of AUD, FAR, or REG on the 2024 CPA Exam.

Candidates who have passed and have credit for BEC on the current CPA Exam will not need to take any of the three discipline sections.

Candidates without credit for AUD after Dec 31, 2023, will have to take the AUD core section on the 2024 CPA Exam.

Candidates without credit for FAR after Dec 31, 2023, will have to take the FAR core section on the 2024 CPA Exam.

Candidates without credit for REG after Dec 31, 2023, will have to take the REG core section on the 2024 CPA Exam.

Candidates without credit for BEC after Dec 31,2023 will have to take one Discipline section on the 2024 CPA Exam.

The current sections and curriculum of the CPA exam will not be available for testing after Dec 2023.

CPA Exam 2024 – What are the Content Changes?

There are some significant changes in the curriculum of each section for the CPA exam 2024. The content from the section has been transferred to the other sections.

The only section that remains relatively unchanged is AUD. While no content has been removed from it, some content from BEC has been added to this section. The newly added topics in the AUD section are basic economic concepts and business processes and internal controls. Some existing content from FAR will be moved to the BAR discipline section under the new model. These topics include business combinations, R&D costs, stock compensation, and public company reporting, among many others. Some BEC topics have also been moved to the FAR section. Similarly, some existing REG content has been moved to the TCP discipline section. This content includes gross income concepts.

In the case of discipline sections, the BAR section includes complex technical accounting topics along with lease accounting and revenue recognition. It also includes certain topics from the BEC section such as managerial and cost accounting, variance analysis, non-financial measures of performance, and financial valuation decision models. ISC exam section will evaluate the candidate on knowledge of IT audit and advisory services. It also borrows some BEC topics. Lastly, the TCP discipline section evaluates the candidates on knowledge of federal tax compliance policies and focuses on complex tasks. As specified already, some REG topics have been included in the TCP section.

Below is the summary of how the content has been spread across different sections under the CPA 2024 model:

REG – REG + TCP

FAR – FAR + BAR

AUD – AUD

BEC – FAR + BAR + AUD + ISC

CPA Exam 2024 – Scoring Weight Changes

There is not much change in the scoring weight of the CPA exam. Under the new model, every section has a scoring weight of 50% MCQs and 50% TBSs, except one section. The ISC discipline section gives 60% weightage to MCQs and 40% weightage to TBSs.

CPA Exam 2024 – Section Time and Question Count Changes

There is no change in the section time. The current section time of 4 hours will remain the same for the new model as well. In the case of question count, the new model has 2 changes. The current model has a question count in the range of 62-72 MCQs and 8 Sims, except for BEC. The BEC exam has 4 TBSs and 3 Written Communication questions. Under the new model, the ISC exam section will have 82 MCQs and 6 TBSs. Similarly, FAR and BAR exam sections will have 50 MCQs and 7 TBSs

CPA Exam 2024 – Skill Level Changes

There are no changes in the skill level categories but there are a few minor changes in the skill level allocation for some sections. The changes to the question count also reflect the skill level changes. For instance, ISC with more MCQs has more skill allocation to Remembering and Understanding. AUD section lays more emphasis at Remembering and Understanding and Analysis levels, whereas FAR section lays emphasis at Remembering and Understanding and Application levels. The latter section has fewer questions at the Analysis level.

REG section retains the same skill level with no changes. FAR and BAR have more questions at the application level with MCQs having complex calculations. TCP section contains the highest percentage of questions at the Application level.

It should be noted that these changes are not finalized. There might be a few changes to the new model. But, the core concept of the model will remain the same. AICPA has announced that it is waiting for inputs on the new model till September 30, 2022. Post that, it will review the comments and make any changes if deemed fit. The blueprint will be finalized in December 2022 and will be published in January 2023.

[justarandombrit]

Okay I just found this random Alana Beck analysis in my notes page that I do not remember writing, but I decided to dump it here. Appreciate it I guess?

It's interesting. The main inconsistency Alana points out in the letters is that Connor seems to be "getting better", then kills himself a month later, but… that's actually not uncommon. Some families of people who have committed suicide recount that, before it happened, said person appeared completely normal, sometimes better than usual.

Alana is smart. She should know that. She's most likely done heavy research into suicide for TCP, so that shouldn't be an issue for her. She mentions other inconsistencies in the letters during her pre Good For You fight with Evan, so it makes me think maybe she knew it was a lie.

What if she only confronted him about it to see Evan's reaction? Just food for thought.

I might post more random stuff I find in my notes from now on.

[clexa--warrior]

Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter has been met with surprise, derision, and gnashing of teeth — and an overwhelming amount of well-intentioned but poorly-informed commentary and analysis.

As someone who has followed the company closely since its inception and has had a chance to talk in depth about technical topics with Jack Dorsey and the company’s other founders over the years, I have a different view.

Here’s a series of common questions regarding the deal and the relationship between Dorsey and Musk about which I see the most errors and misconceptions.

Q: Jack Dorsey is launching “Bluesky,” a new social network to compete with Twitter. I’ll just join that instead!

A: Sorry to disappoint, but Dorsey played a key role in Musk’s deal to take Twitter private. The two are good friends. And Bluesky is an initiative launched by Twitter. In April, Dorsey wrote, “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”

Q: Uh, if “no one should own or run Twitter,” why did Dorsey advocate selling it to Musk… I’m confused?

A: To get it out of the hands of Wall Street investors, and turn it into a “public good at a protocol level, not a company.” Dorsey and Musk believe it can do more good for humanity if it’s an open technology than if it’s a company owned by any one person or by Wall Street investors trying to maximize profits for shareholders.

Q: What do you mean, a “public good at a protocol level?” What even is that?

A: The foundation of the Internet is built on protocols that we mostly take for granted now. TCP/IP and HTTPS enable the web. Modern e-mail is built on top of SMTP and IMAP protocols. Usenet newsgroups are built on top of NNTP. Dorsey envisions a foundational “Twitter” protocol that anyone can implement and run. This would need to become a formal Internet standard, which requires going through the Internet Engineering Task Force’s “Request for Comment” (RFC) process. This can take a long time. This is what Bluesky has been working on starting to map out.

Q: But the Bluesky website says its Beta is “launching soon.” Doesn’t that mean it’s close to ready?

A: It means they’re ready for you to start experimenting with some ideas. It doesn’t mean it’s close to being a “product” or “useful,” or some sort of viable competitor with any other product or service. And as of yet it’s difficult to know exactly what a service might look like. Eventually, it might form the basis for a new implementation of Twitter that would replace the current product, and it could be open for others to interoperate with — if they can build a functional and useful protocol, which may take years.

Q: This all sounds crazy. Doesn’t Musk want to make money by owning Twitter?

A: The goals are more ideological in nature. Musk and his backers believe that the global geopolitical arena was being warped by too much “woke” ideology and censorship, and wanted to fix that by first restoring voices that had previously been silenced —and then implementing technical and algorithmic solutions that allow each user to get the experience they want. They think this can “solve” the problems that people cite about social media content. Making money, they figure, will come from the secondary effects of enabling “free speech” and the possibility of building other services like payments and replacing government on top of such an app. Plus the company’s social graph data is a goldmine for other businesses that may wish to benefit from detailed knowledge of the makeup of society.

Q: Uh, isn’t it naive to think that there’s a technical solution to harmful content? Isn’t that likely to lead to more radicalization and cultish behavior?

A: Yes, it’s completely naive and they are being willfully ignorant of the harmful side effects of content. It is a kind of tech fundamentalist solutionism that posits that for any difficult problem, there must be a technical solution. Many sociologists and cultural scholars would argue differently.

Q: What does Dorsey mean, “I trust [Musk’s] mission to extend the light of consciousness?”

A: This is a reference to “longtermism,” the heavily marketed philosophy being promoted by Musk and his friend William MacAskill that asserts the only thing that matters is humanity’s future in space, and that the only goal of the living is to maximize the number of future humans alive, as well as the number of artificial intelligence instances that could possibly exist in the future. This mandate is most often used to brush aside calls for improving conditions and alleviating suffering among the living here on Earth now. Because, the theory goes, giving a poor person a blanket isn’t likely to be as useful for the future of humanity as building a rocket to Mars. Longtermism is heavily influenced by “Russian Cosmism” and is also directly adjacent to “Effective Altruism.” Musk’s stated mission, which he intends to fulfill in his lifetime, is to “make humanity a multiplanetary species.” The anti-democratic urge in longtermism is rooted in the belief that “mob rule” will lead to nuclear annihilation; we should, Musk thinks, be guided by “wiser” minds — like his and Putin’s apparently.

Q: Okay, so Musk and Dorsey are collaborators in some weird Mars cult, and don’t actually care about making money from Twitter?

A: Yeah, you’re getting it. Musk also seems pretty interested in helping advance Putin’s “multipolar world order,” which is why he plays footsie with QAnon and MAGA accounts, and pals around with Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. “How are things going in Bakhmut?,” Musk asked Medvedev.

Q: So this is why Musk has been so supportive of the Russians lately? I thought he was on Ukraine’s side, since he helped them out with Starlink?

A: It’s best to look at Musk as a kind of power broker between multiple parties, including Ukraine and Russia. SpaceX was made possible by laws passed by Dana Rohrabacher, Putin’s favorite Congressman. He really doesn’t like the US government, the SEC, and our politicians, and all things considered, he’d probably prefer to replace all of it with an app — call it “X,” the everything app. Elon might say: “Do we really need a government, or could everyone just vote with an app? Be honest.”

Q: So Musk wants to overthrow governments, and Dorsey is helping?

A: Don’t be so dramatic. Everyone knows that the only way to advance society is through technocracy. Musk’s grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was involved in the technocracy movement in Canada in the 1930’s and was arrested — because it was seen as a threat to the government. The philosopher James Burnham wrote in his 1941 book, “The Managerial Revolution” that society should be run by technical managers, not elected politicians. Russian “methodologists” and “political technologists” concluded the same thing in the 1990’s when they realized that “democracy” would just lead to mob-rule by populists. Democracy, they concluded, must be managed. This is what Putin has concluded, also.

Q: So Putin, Musk, and Dorsey share the same vision?

A: It’s complicated. All seem to think a “multipolar world” is a good thing, because after all, shouldn’t Russia get to do its thing and not be bothered by anyone else? That’s “free speech” and opposes “cancel culture,” right? So yeah, that’s aligned with Putin. But Putin himself doesn’t support free speech; his government censors wildly, but it does support speech that breaks the hegemony of the Western elites. As do Musk and friends. This is internally inconsistent.

Q: Back to the money thing… won’t advertisers balk at all this potential chaos, and won’t Twitter’s business model suffer?

A: Musk and the people backing all this are more interested in reshaping the global order than in earning fake “fiat currency.” Their real goal is to usher in “hard currency” and re-base global currencies around scarcity and physical assets. So no it really doesn’t matter much what happens to Twitter’s ad model in the meantime. It will probably do alright, and they can probably find other ways to make money, like adding in payments and weird Dogecoin schemes.

Q: How is Twitter going to help them kill off fiat currency? You mean like replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency?

A: As the Russian “methodologists” will tell you, it’s incredibly important to control the information space if you want to alter the real world. As the world plunges deeper into war and economic chaos in 2023–2024, there are real (perceived) opportunities to advance cryptocurrencies and asset-backed tokens to replace the dollar. Whether any of this is realistic or not remains to be seen, but this is what they’d like to pursue — Musk and his deal backers in particular.

Q: So this is why Musk seemingly “overpaid” for Twitter? He and his backers want to use it as a tool of information warfare, to kill off the dollar and help usher in Putin’s “multipolar world?”

A: Yes, that’s why they “overpaid” for Twitter. Because the end goals have nothing to do with Twitter or its ad model by itself. It’s merely a means to an end. Musk is likely to join forces with Trump’s Truth Social and Kanye West’s Parler to try to control much of the information space. And they’ve got the threat of Putin’s nukes to force the issue.

Q: So isn’t Musk’s ownership of Twitter a national security risk? Shouldn’t the deal have been stopped on national security grounds?

A: Yes, this is all a national security risk and the deal should probably have been stopped. The fact that it wasn’t is reflective of either fecklessness or capture of the US government.

Q: Can Musk and his friends really do all this? Should we really be worried? It seems so far-fetched.

A: That remains to be seen, and it’s unlikely they can achieve all they’d like to on the timeline they’d prefer. It will likely take years to make Bluesky into a viable product. However, just because it’s hard doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try. As for the broader anti-government agenda, as we’ve seen with January 6th and other attempts to challenge government, even unsuccessful efforts can be incredibly damaging. It’s worth monitoring the direction this takes and, the effects that it has on society and democracy.

A few other minor corrections to popular commentary on the deal:

Musk will just manipulate the stock price to make money. There is no more public-facing “stock price,” it’s a private company now. $TWTR is no longer a thing.

Boy, Jack really screwed Elon by making him overpay. No, Jack basically asked Elon to buy the company and Elon set the price. Jack owned around 2.4% of Twitter. It’s not clear if he even transacted his shares, or kept them.

Parag is smarter than Elon, he forced him to overpay. Eh, I’m sure Parag did his job, but as CEO he was really responsible for operational concerns. It was the company’s Board and legal team that brought it to a successful close. Parag got his agreed-upon severance package.

Elon never really wanted to do the deal… but they forced him. No, he wanted to do the deal all along, for the reasons I outlined. He might have liked to force some disclosures or lower the price. At some point, the delay and expense of potential litigation wasn’t worth it.

For the record I think Elon is a sociopath, and that this all is going to end in disaster — I just couldn’t stand seeing so much shallow, poorly informed analysis proliferate. So I’ve done my best here to set the record straight.

Ultimately what we are dealing with is the fact that social engineering through control of the information environment is an inevitable reality—the only question is who has the means and moral authority to do it. (I’ve written a whitepaper about this set of concerns here.)

If democracy-minded people don’t seize control of the information environment, powerful sociopathic autocrats will do so instead. We leave a power vacuum open at our peril, and at the moment, Musk and Putin are the ones with the most will to fill it.