#transformer oil analysis

[minimac-mspl]

Reclamation of FRF

A 1200 MW coal-fired thermal power plant using Indo-Chinese Turbine EHC System in Southern India

Synopsis

Problems

Failure of Moog valve: This was the main reason for the trip of the turbine and breakdown in the power plant.

Poor Oil Analysis Program: An oil analysis is supposed to be done monthly for Particle count & TAN (weekly if the trend is negative) and weekly test for water content but the customer has scheduled these indefinitely.

Inadequate Operation Practices: The solenoid valve of the LVDH (oil purification machine) vacuum line was only 20% closed which failed to generate vacuum.

Solutions

Benefits

1) Extended oil life 2) Reduced TAN value 3) Elimination of oil Replacement cost 4) Protection of Turbine against hunting 5) Increased Turbine reliability.

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[industrynewsupdates]

Key Players in Transformer Oil Market: A Competitive Landscape Overview

The global transformer oil market size is expected to reach USD 6.12 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 12.3% from 2024 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The growth is driven by the high utilization of transformer oil in the power generation sector along with an increase in demand for electric grids in emerging economies.

The product is used to insulate high-voltage electrical transformers. It is developed to operate at very high temperatures. Transformer oil surrounds the windings and the core of transformers to prevent their wiring and cellulose-based insulation from corroding and oxidizing.

Recent market expansion is driven by technological development and rising R&D activities by key industry players. For instance, Cargill received an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for developing transformer oil through natural esters. Market players are also focusing on manufacturing bio-based products to dominate the market.

Crude oil is the major raw material utilized for manufacturing transformer oil. Key industry participants involved in the production of this raw material are Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Shell Plc., and others. Some of the leading market players such as Exxon Mobil Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, and others are integrated across the value chain to produce crude oil, base oil, and transformer oil which increases their profitability margin.

Gather more insights about the market drivers, restrains and growth of the Transformer Oil Market

Transformer Oil Market Report Highlights

• By product, the bio-based segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 14.8% over the forecast period in terms of revenue due to growing regulations that are focused on reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy conservation

• By end-use, the residential segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 12.7% in terms of revenue over the forecast period owing to the growing population across the globe leading to an increase in the residential sector

• Asia Pacific is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 13.8% in terms of revenue over the forecast period owing to rapid industrialization in rural areas and investments by foreign bodies in the developing economies

• There is a significant demand for silicone-based products because of their capacity to extinguish themselves, making them acceptable for high-risk areas with possible fire threats. Due to their durability and lack of major maintenance requirements, silicones also contribute to longer transformer life

• In developing countries, the replacement of outdated transformers with new ones and technological advancements are anticipated to create numerous attractive job opportunities

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, and other federal agencies have adopted strict restrictions surrounding energy waste, and this has fueled demand for oil to reduce emissions and electricity waste.

Browse through Grand View Research's Petrochemicals Industry Research Reports.

• The global biolubricants market size was valued at USD 2.95 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2025 to 2030.

• The global automotive engine oil market size was valued at USD 41.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2024 to 2030.

Transformer Oil Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global transformer oil market  based on product, rating, end-use, and region:

Transformer Oil Product Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

• Mineral-based Oils

o Naphthenic Base Oils

o Paraffinic Base Oils

• Silicone-based Oils

• Bio-based Oils

Transformer Oil Rating Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

• <100 MVA

• 100 MVA to 500 MVA

• 501 MVA to 800 MVA

• >800 MVA

Transformer Oil End-use Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

• Utilities

• Industrial

• Residential

• Commercial

Transformer Oil Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

• North America

o U.S.

o Canada

• Europe

o Germany

o France

o UK

o Italy

o Russia

• Asia Pacific

o China

o India

o Japan

o South Korea

o Australia

o Indonesia

• Central & America

o Brazil

o Argentina

• Middle East & Africa

o Saudi Arabia

o South Africa

o Turkey

Order a free sample PDF of the Transformer Oil Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.

[probablyasocialecologist]

If Plan Dalet was a settler-colonial script for the destruction of Palestine from 1948 onwards, it was preceded by – and had its conditions of existence in – the imperialist vision of an entity imposed on the land of Palestine for the protection of the interests of the core: access to raw materials and markets, prevention of subversive projects, buffer zones and counterweights against more distant rivals. In 1840, it was cotton, Muhammed Ali and Tsarist Russia. 127 years later, when the occupation was completed, it was petroleum, third world liberation and the Soviet Union. We are dealing here with an exceedingly deep structure, not an event or two; a ratcheting up and escalation across two centuries, a worsening and intensification of patterns first developed in the early nineteenth – also, not coincidentally, the temporal form of global warming itself. I have pointed very quickly and superficially to three further pivotal moments of articulation. In 1917 and after, the British occupation of Palestine was part of the transformation of the Middle East into a foundation for fossil capital, by dint of its oil resources. In 1947 and after, Western support for the new Zionist state was informed by the consummation of that order; in 1967 and after, by its defence. The steps along the way to the destruction of Palestine were simultaneously steps along the way to that of the Earth.

[...]

The destruction of Gaza is executed by tanks and fighter jets pouring out their projectiles over the land: the Merkavas and the F-16s sending their hellfire over the Palestinians, the rockets and bombs that turn everything into rubble – but only after the explosive force of fossil fuel combustion has put them on the right trajectory. All these military vehicles run on petroleum. So do the supply flights from the US, the Boeings that ferry the missiles over the permanent airbridge. An early, provisional, conservative analysis found that emissions caused during the first 60 days of the war equalled annual emissions of between 20 and 33 low-emitting countries: a sudden spike, a plume of CO2 rising over the debris of Gaza. If I repeat the point here, it is because the cycle is self-repeating, only growing in scale and size: Western forces pulverise the living quarters of Palestine by mobilising the boundless capacity for destruction only fossil fuels can give.

[reasonsforhope]

"India’s announcement that it aims to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and to meet fifty percent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030 is a hugely significant moment for the global fight against climate change. India is pioneering a new model of economic development that could avoid the carbon-intensive approaches that many countries have pursued in the past – and provide a blueprint for other developing economies.

The scale of transformation in India is stunning. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world over the past two decades, lifting of millions of people out of poverty. Every year, India adds a city the size of London to its urban population, involving vast construction of new buildings, factories and transportation networks. Coal and oil have so far served as bedrocks of India’s industrial growth and modernisation, giving a rising number of Indian people access to modern energy services. This includes adding new electricity connections for 50 million citizens each year over the past decade. 

The rapid growth in fossil energy consumption has also meant India’s annual CO2 emissions have risen to become the third highest in the world. However, India’s CO2 emissions per person put it near the bottom of the world’s emitters, and they are lower still if you consider historical emissions per person. The same is true of energy consumption: the average household in India consumes a tenth as much electricity as the average household in the United States.  

India’s sheer size and its huge scope for growth means that its energy demand is set to grow by more than that of any other country in the coming decades. In a pathway to net zero emissions by 2070, we estimate that most of the growth in energy demand this decade would already have to be met with low-carbon energy sources. It therefore makes sense that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced more ambitious targets for 2030, including installing 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, reducing the emissions intensity of its economy by 45%, and reducing a billion tonnes of CO2. 

These targets are formidable, but the good news is that the clean energy transition in India is already well underway. It has overachieved its commitment made at COP 21- Paris Summit [a.k.a. 2015, at the same conference that produced the Paris Agreement] by already meeting 40% of its power capacity from non-fossil fuels- almost nine years ahead of its commitment, and the share of solar and wind in India’s energy mix have grown phenomenally. Owing to technological developments, steady policy support, and a vibrant private sector, solar power plants are cheaper to build than coal ones. Renewable electricity is growing at a faster rate in India than any other major economy, with new capacity additions on track to double by 2026...

Subsidies for petrol and diesel were removed in the early 2010s, and subsidies for electric vehicles were introduced in 2019. India’s robust energy efficiency programme has been successful in reducing energy use and emissions from buildings, transport and major industries. Government efforts to provide millions of households with fuel gas for cooking and heating are enabling a steady transition away from the use of traditional biomass such as burning wood. India is also laying the groundwork to scale up important emerging technologies such as hydrogen, battery storage, and low-carbon steel, cement and fertilisers..."

-via IEA (International Energy Agency), January 10, 2022

Note: And since that's a little old, here's an update to show that progress is still going strong:

-via Economic Times: EnergyWorld, March 10, 2023

[shelandsorcery]

What I've Learned About Teaching Art

I've had the privilege of teaching art in a variety of environments - from still life oil painting at the college level, to combining art with science and history in a museum setting, to guiding highschool students through creating a comics anthology. Through these very different settings, I've found a list of constants that, when I keep them in mind, help me deliver the most enjoyable and effective art education for my students. One of my core beliefs is that art is, at the heart of it all, something a student must teach themself, and that a classroom, workshop, or camp that wants to teach art is actually responsible for creating an environment and offering projects that facilitate that self-driven learning. With that on the table, here is the pantheon of truths that, if I can hold on to all of them, help me create that learning environment:

- Almost no one is inherently unable to draw. Additionally, everyone can improve at drawing. With the wealth of "traditional" media, digital tools, and thousands upon thousands of years of art history with which we can map the possibility space, it seems obvious that if someone wants to make art, then they absolutely can.  If they want to draw, then no teacher should ever, EVER tell a student that they "can't." The teacher's role is usually to take a student who already secretly believes they can't draw and help them see both the breadth of possibilities and the potential within themselves to improve whatever skills they start with. - Drawing is not always about making a beautiful image. The obsession with one kind of "good drawing" creates an artificial limit on who is allowed to draw. Sometimes being an art teacher is about expanding a student's definition of art as opposed to pushing their frustrated and dejected pencil along a path towards a narrow goal. The reality is that even within pop culture we see so many gorgeous kinds of art! Beyond that, aiming superficially as an artist for a particular surface result will almost always create lesser work than creating an understand of underlying processes and theories that helped the "good art" come into existence. - Drawing can teach new ways of seeing. Observing with the intent of drawing can transform how a person perceives the world. So much of teaching art is teaching visual literacy, the literal act of reading meaning within visual input, whether that's a still image, a film, a building or a natural landscape. When you motivate students to read visuals by providing them with new ways to understand creating visuals, you jump start their investment in visual literacy. - Drawing can help us think about things differently. Thinking can shift along with modes of seeing - what is a structural way of thought? What is a compositional way of thought? When you teach art, you must teach a student to look at things holistically and in granular elements - besides just enhancing thought processes moving between the two states, you can get much more discovery in the analytical and planning modes of appreciating and creating artwork. - Drawing from reference is as educational as reading. Learning to examine visual reference closely creates a new kind of literacy - visual literacy. Drawing from reference, especially with guided or motivated questions to be answered, can create an opportunity for modes of analysis that students don't get to otherwise use. Developing visual observation and creating a practice of looking both closely and holistically can create a layered understanding of the subject. Even students resistant to traditional still life drawing processes can find benefit in using drawing to answer self-guided questions. - Learning by making art is a valid mode of learning. Making art can be a mode of learning that both alternates between input and output and creates a sense of ownership/agency in both modes. The hands on creative process is a kind of guess and check system that can be designed carefully to allow students to make a wide variety of types of decisions, and teaches them to create goals and investigate what processes will best allow them to achieve said goals. - Competition with each other or with some imagined ideal will deflate artistic potential. An art classroom cannot have winners and losers based on "quality" of final piece. Art education will benefit more students if it is process oriented. Quality, even in straightforward skills based art education, can still be subjective, and unless it's an aggressive battle Royale for some exclusive prize, the intent of any art programming is not to find the single best but to encourage each student to improve. So don't be a dick about it. - Art is a product of restraints. Material, process, time, subject or conceptual restraints allow for a kind of focused play. Giving students free reign is in itself a huge challenge of self direction, goal setting and prioritization. Making some of those choices for them gives them a chance to focus their own learning. - Materials change the kind of engagement. Diverse materials allow for diverse engagement. Just as subject matter can affect a student's personal investment in a project, the material or method of art making can change their engagement. Changing between drawing and painting, reductive or additive sculpting, stenciling or stamping, will not only change the tactile experience of art making but will affect the modes of thought used to make creative choices. - Venue or audience transform art. Pressure to show, and to whom, can change students self imposed limitations. Defining an audience will change and add pressure to art creation. This can help students hold themselves to a higher standard, but can also frighten or overwhelm them. Audience needs can be a useful limit or influence on the direction of an art project, but audience pressure needs to be modulated to the response of each student. - Art is most interesting when it leaves the comfort zone of its creator. This can only happen in a classroom where students feel safe to take risks. Art, even when the subject matter is utterly anonymous or benign, can be a hugely risky-feeling process. Even the act of making art in a classroom environment can feel frightening; if we want students to fully engage, and to take the artistic risks that allow them to learn, we have to spend class time making the classroom into a safe space for the students. This probably needs to be it's own post so I'll leave it there for now and come back and expand upon it in detail in future. - Subject engagement transforms art. Students with something to say about their subject may push themselves farther. Caring about the subject can be a blessing or a curse for a student - deep subject investment can drive problem solving around how best to present it in the artwork, while deep subject investment can also overwhelm a student with self imposed pressure and even a large dose of imposter syndrome. Therefore it can always be useful to intersperse self selected subject matter with "boring" or at least not emotionally significant subjects, to relieve some of the pressure and allow students to instead respond to the process alone. - Ownership of a process will empower students. Whether they've designed a process, built their own materials or set their own goals, agency gives students investment. One of the most exciting things about art is that students have a lot of potential control and thus ownership - they will always be making choices, and those choices are potentially exciting because they directly affect the outcome. You can increase this sense of ownership or investment in the class by facilitating student-made materials, like sketchbooks or mark-making tools; or by facilitating student-led exercises or challenges or projects. - Demos will guide what others make and must be done carefully. Demoing can empower and at the same time overwhelm or impose limits on the viewers. Demoing must be designed to specific goals of each assignment. Eg: if you want students to use surgical techniques to explore value, or depth, or composition, whole you absolutely have to demo the technique didactically, you need to be careful not to be didactic about the results you want in relationship to the subject of exploration. Showing a wide range of potential approaches can help in classrooms where students can handle large info dumps, but often it's better to demo the technique, get them trying it out without further instruction, and then redirect then to the topic of exploration as stage 2. - Material potential can power a room. Art supplies can be motivating all on their own. Getting excited about them can make it safe for the students to get excited as well. There are many different supplies available to teach art with, and trying different ones can add a lot of excitement to the room even if your topic of instruction is narrow. Getting excited about materials can change the mood of a classroom entirely. - Criticism must engage with the student's goals or it will work against you. Setting goals, and then reflecting on them, is key to art education as so much of art is self directed. If you then ignore that setup and approach critique without listening to your students' internal direction and goals and at minimum acknowledging them, they will not find your critique constructive. This goes for young children all the way to adults - you need to be in dialogue with them. - Open discussion and open ended questions will always help. Once you've found a way to make the classroom a safe space, group discussion powered by open ended questions can open everyone's mind up to broader possibilities. One on one conversation also benefits hugely from open ended questions and encouraging students to reflect and investigate their own process and practice. - Letting students share their learning is important to help the class grow beyond your own limited experiences. Students will often still feel in competition with each other, so instituting non-competitive collaboration and sharing will be important to minimizing classroom tension. This can be demonstrated first with art games and developed into collaborative processes on more serious projects. - You can never clarify the instructions enough. Always repeat yourself, be prepared to repeat demos, have a written list of instructions and delegate helpers. Breaking projects up into stages can help with detailed instructions, but always show an overview first. Art is overwhelming and there is no process so simple everyone is automatically good at it. Accurate following of a process will often help students who are unsure of themselves prove themselves to be competent and your job as the teacher is to make sure they have everything they need to do that. - Techniques are best remembered when students use them to solve specific problems. Show how applicable to different problems a technique is during demos. Be prepared to reteach or to teach new techniques whenever students hit a wall. Encourage them to reflect over the techniques they have at hand to see if there's a new way to use one that could solve their problem. - Art is mostly learned by doing. Material literacy is gained only through material exploration. If you spend too much time talking/demoing before they get to try the materials the enthusiasm can fade. If you have a student who is frightened of doing it wrong, the most important thing is to make a safe space for them to do it wrong, because that's the only way to eventually do it right. These are all best case scenario tips - and while I've tested them all to know they work, it's still hard work to keep everything in play in every classroom. I'm hopeful that having this written list will help me, and maybe by sharing I can help others as well. Art is a privilege to teach, but I believe it is incredibly important for everyone to get to learn it, in a safe environment where the effects of an art practice can be the most beneficial. Are you teaching a creative subject? What are some techniques or core values you bring to your classroom? Read the full article

[transformers-nerd-13]

Alrighty, you asked for it, so you got it! Here's my analysis of Transformers G1; More than Meets the Eye: Part Two. I did an analysis of Part one yesterday so go read that if you are so inclined (you can find it on my page; I'm still learning Tumblr so I'm not sure how to link posts lol). Fair warning this is pretty long. Without further ado, let's get into it!

We open with a recap of what happened in the previous episode to remind the viewer of what happened last time. It's pretty rapid fire so I assume some of it had to be cut or it had to be pretty short for episode time. 

We're then introduced to Huffer (unfortunate name sir) who has his arm stuck in some debris. He calls for help and Brawn comes to his aid. Brawn uses a...well, it looks like a welder or a blowtorch but functions more like a laser so I'm not sure what to call this--to free Huffer. As soon as Huffer is free, both Huffer and Brawn fly off because at this point, all the Autobots could fly, ditching the other Autobots. Thanks for your help guys. 

We cut over to Prime who's still trying to free Spike and Sparkplug. Optimus tells Trailbreaker--who's currently helping the oil rig workers escape--to use his force field to suppress the flames. Not sure how effective this would really be, I mean if you trap the flames in a closed space, it'd eventually burn up all the oxygen and burn out, but this is an oil fire so it also has to run out of fuel--maybe I'm overthinking this; this is an 80's cartoon, they didn't care about physics. Wheeljack offers Trailbreaker a hand in suppressing the flames and the two take off. Trailbreaker uses his forcefield, but Wheelack proves that force field immediately redundant by using his built in fire extinguishers on the fire. Why didn't Prime just ask Wheeljack to use his fire extinguishers in the first place?? Why does Wheeljack never have these extinguishers again?? They would've really helped when the Dinobots or Autobot Spike started wrecking the Ark/Teletraan One. Just sayin.

Optimus gets Spike and Sparkplug free and Jazz uses his built-in grappling hook sort of like a fishing line to reel Optimus in, getting them to safety on a somehow steady piece of debris. 

Sparkplug doesn't exactly thank Optimus? He says "I don't know who you are, but you saved our lives." Seeming completely unbothered that he's talking to a giant robot. He should've at least properly thanked Optimus. Manners Sparkplug. Optimus tells them that they're Autobots from the planet Cybertron and that the ones who attacked the oil rig were called Decepticons. Robots in disguise my side function! Spike asks if there's anything he and Sparkplug can do to help the bots. Optimus tells them that the Autobots are the only ones who can stop the Decepticons, but Sparkplug points out that he and Spike know more about earth than the bots do.

Cut to later where the Autobots have apparently taken the two humans back to the ruins of the Ark where Spike is sitting on a nearby rock formation and writing in his diary or notebook about the Autobots. He says that he doesn't know if they're from the past or the future, but they're highly advanced robots who can think and have "real" feelings.

Spike. They literally told you they're from another planet. They are an alien species. You're talking about them like they're a human creation. 

We pan over to see Soundwave spying on Spike not very discreetly from behind a rock. That's gotta be a fragging tall rock. When did Soundwave get here and why is he here?? How did Teletraan not pick him up on the scanners???

Spike puts his notebook in his backpack and starts back toward the Ark, walking towards Soundwave, who transforms into his cassette player mode.

Spike spots his cassette player mode and picks it up, and even though it clearly has the Decepticon symbol on it he picks it up and takes it with him because he’s apparently blind. Spike enters the Ark, his backpack has apparently vanished into the void, and he puts Soundwave near Teletraan. This totally won't bite him in the ass later.

Spike asks Trailbreaker about Cybertron, but asks him why the Autobots transform--it's not a question about Cybertron, it's a question about CybertronIANS. He could've asked about Cybertronians and the question about why they transform wouldn't seem so out of place. Trailbreaker answers that they transform for disguise, and that it beats walking.

Sir, since you've gotten to earth, every single Cybertronian has had all the stealth of an elephant in a room with a floor covered in bubble wrap. Disguise my boron compressor.

Spike asks how they transform. We cut over to Ratchet's medbay where Ratchet is currently fixing Huffer's arm (I guess it got damaged from the debris??), Sunstreaker and Cliffjumper are also there in their alt modes for some reason. Mirage and Hound are also there for some reason. Trailbreaker and Spike have materialized in the medbay and Trailbreaker tells Mirage and Hound that Spike wants to know how they transform. Hound transforms, and that's apparently a good enough answer for Spike. T-cogs hadn't been invented yet, so I guess a demonstration of a transformation was the best answer they had at the time. 

Hound makes a hologram of a man in his driver's seat, and Spike asks "What other tricks can you do?" I don't really like the phrasing of that question; I'm not really sure why, but it just rubs me the wrong way. It would've been better if Spike had asked "What else can you do?" Idk that might just be a personal preference. 

Mirage shows off his invisibility powers before Hound offers Spike a ride and Spike accepts. 

Cut over to Soundwave who transforms into his bot mode (seriously Teletraan how are you not seeing this-) and ejects Ravage so that Ravage can enter Teletraan in his (G1 Ravage was a he because literally everyone was a he in Season 1 of G1) cassette mode to gather information on Earth's resources before Soundwave turns back into his cassette player mode and starts recording again for some reason. There's nobody else in the room, Soundwave. What are you recording?? Also why does Teletraan have a cassette port?? And why does Teletraan already have recorded information of Earth's resources?? When did it have time?? Who gave it that command?? Or did it just do that on its own?? So many questions lol. 

Cut over to Hound and Spike who are taking a drive through the desert where the Ark crashed (side note, are there any deserts with volcanoes??). Hound says that Earth must be a nice place to live. Spike replies that it's okay, but he wants to know more about Cybertron. Spike doesn't realize is that Hound is just as curious about Earth as he is about Cybertron, and while it may have been boring for the kids watching to have them exchange information about their respective home worlds, it would've been a nice bonding moment between the two. Hound tells Spike that before the war, Cybertron was quiet and peaceful. Spike asks if he misses it, and Hound replies "Sometimes" and they move on from this really quickly. Maybe because it’s painful for Hound to talk about. Of course Hound misses it; it was his home. But he can't afford to stay in a state of grief over the loss of his home because there's a war going on; he needs to push through and help the Autobots win the war so that they have a chance of seeing their home world again, even if it'll never be the same as it was. It hurts to think about what his home once was. Or maybe I'm reading too far into this again.

Spike and Hound make it back to the Ark, and Spike finally notices something fishy about that cassette player he brought back since it's recording data from Teletraan. Soundwave decides that the jig is up and transforms into his bot mode, trying to grab Spike, missing horribly as the human ducks to avoid him. Spike hits an alarm that he could somehow reach and Soundwave and Ravage (who ejected from Teletraan at Soundwave's command) make a run for it. Optimus (who appeared from the void) sees them running out of the Ark and says "A Decepticon! Get him!"

One, do you not know who Soundwave is?? Two, “Get him”. That was your whole plan. Get him (If anyone gets the reference put it in the comments). Good plan Optimus.

The Autobots however do not go after Soundwave and he gets away. Bumblebee and Brawn manage to catch Ravage but that lasts for all of two seconds before Ravage gets out of their grasp. Sideswipe and Jazz fire on Ravage but since they have the aim of Stormtroopers, they miss horribly. 

I am now half convinced that the only reason the war has gone on so long is because nobody on either side can aim for shit.

Ravage disappears into the shadows and suddenly nobody can see him anymore. Gears and Hound have suddenly replaced Sideswipe and Jazz. Optimus tells Gears to use his infrared (I guess Cybertronians show up in infrared light??) which just looks like a red flashlight (mhm yep that's definitely infrared) that allows them to spot Ravage. Jazz and Prowl fire a net and capture Ravage (pictured above with Gears’ “infrared” light).

Cut over to the cons where Soundwave is somehow playing back the information Ravage gathered from Teletraan about Sherman (Sherma maybe? If so then Senator Sherma’s—MTMTE—name is a very obscure reference.) Dam without actually having Ravage (no idea how that worked), presenting the dam as a potential power source to gather more Energon. Megatron commends Soundwave for a job well done, while Starscream says that the dam doesn't possess enough electrical power to make the Energon cubes. Megatron tells Starscream that "Your knowledge is only overshadowed by your stupidity" (one of my favorite lines), and that they're going to create a tidal wave big enough to send enough power surging through the dam to make all the Energon cubes they need. At least they're using clean energy I guess?

Cut to the next day at sunrise when the Decepticons arrive at the dam. Soundwave ejects Rumble who goes to the bottom of the river and uses his pile-drivers to create the tidal wave (I don't think this would actually work but I could be entirely wrong) while the other cons take off and head for the power plant (aka the dam).

The employees inside the dam notice that the gauges are going crazy and say something must be wrong while one guy smacks the gauges to try and fix them (solid plan sir that'll definitely work). One of the other employees tells them that the river's rising and tells the others to man their emergency stations. 

Cut over to the Ark where Teletraan tells Jazz and Spike in complete gibberish writing about the tidal wave at the dam and that the power output is ten times what it is normally. Jazz says that it could be the cons (it couldn't possibly be a natural disaster, it must be the Decepticons!) 

Cut over to the cons who have arrived at the dam and Megatron starts making demands, telling the employees who have not manned their emergency stations to do exactly as he says.

Quick cut over to the Autobots who are now on their way to the dam, Optimus telling the others: "Autobots, accelerate!" and they all keep going at the exact same speed they were going at before.

Back with the Decepticons in the dam, the employees say that the dam is gonna blow and that they've gotta get outta there. The Decepticons don't care though and start making their Energon cubes anyway. The Autobots arrive on the scene and Prowl briefly gets Optimus' voice before regaining his own voice again and asks if he really thinks the cons are behind this. Before Optimus can answer, he's cut off by Megatron firing a warning shot at them, telling them that they're too late. The bots take to the air while Hound and Spike find the heart of the tidal wave. Hound goes into the river to investigate and finds Rumble. 

Cut over to Ironhide and Bumblebee who are diverting the water of the river so that it doesn't cause too much flooding (yeah, that's how that works. Also how the heck does Bumblebee fit in the back of Ironhide's Alt Mode???) which they succeed in. 

The other Autobots arrive at the power plant where they all shoot at the plant and finally manage to hit something--that something being Starscream, as well as a tiny Starscream with no wings who never gets addressed--before entering the plant. The bots and cons duke it out while Sparkplug gets the employees out of the power plant. Mirage saves Cliffjumper from Thundercracker and Skywarp and Cliffjumper compliments Mirage’s combat skills.

Megatron and Optimus go one on one with each other and it looks like Megatron has the upper hand until Starscream uses a slingshot and whatever he fires from the slingshot hits the computers in the dam and explodes. The explosion causes Megatron to lose his upper hand. He and Optimus begin duking it out once again while the other cons make their getaway with the Energon cubes. 

Meanwhile, Spike is getting worried about Hound, who is still fighting Rumble underwater. Rumble traps Hound under some rocks and makes his way back up to the surface. For some reason Spike asks Rumble where Hound is, and Rumble just shoves Spike away as he walks off.

Rude.

Spike picks a fight with Rumble and loses in under five seconds. Spike calls for help which distracts Optimus from the fight, allowing Megatron the opportunity to knock Optimus off the dam they were fighting on seconds before and into the river below. Megatron mocks him and makes his escape with the other Decepticons as Optimus is sent down river. Jazz appears from the void and once again uses his grappling hook to get Optimus to shore for the second time this episode.

Cut over to Spike who seems to have been knocked unconscious by Rumble before he left with the other cons off screen and is now waking up. He calls out for Hound, but there's no reply, so he dives into the river to find him. He finds Hound remarkably quickly and manages to gain temporary super strength as he un-buries Hound enough so that Hound can get them both back up to the surface.

Apparently the short time Spike was underwater was long enough for him to almost drown (I guess he didn't take a deep enough breath before going under??) and Hound helps Spike recover from this but....it...it just looks wrong. So we're going to move swiftly onward. 

Cut to the other Autobots. Mirage suggests that they repair the Ark and go back to Cybertron and forget about the Decepticons. Optimus tells him that they can't do that; if Megatron succeeds here on Earth (presumably succeeding in gathering energy), he'll be impossible to beat on Cybertron. Huffer says that the bots aren't fighters like the cons are (haven't y'all been fighting a war for millions of years?? I'd assume you'd at least pick up some fighting skills in that amount of time). Optimus tells Huffer that "We must have courage. We can't ignore the danger; we must conquer it." A very good line. 

Cut to a quick montage of the cons getting more Energon cubes from various sources. Soundwave reports to Megatron that the new space cruiser is almost complete, but they still need 3,000 astroliters of energy (however much that is). They need one more source of energy to get this amount and the cons choose the Ruby Crystals of Burma as their energy source since they're apparently the richest source of energy on the face of the earth. 

Starscream tests their Energon using a giant blaster hooked up to some of Energon cubes and firing on a mountain to ensure that the cubes actually work. Megatron calls him a fool for wasting the energy, but Starscream tells him that he didn't know for sure that they worked because they never tested them. In Starscream's defense, it was a good idea to make sure they actually worked to make sure that their hard work and plundering of resources wasn't for nothing, but it probably should've been done earlier and now they need even more energy to replace the amount that Starscream used by firing that blaster, which, needless to say, annoys Megatron since he's now set them back and they don't have the time to replace it. Except they do because Soundwave informs them of the existence of rocket fuel which they could plunder to make more energon cubes. 

Cut over to a lake not too far away from the cons where Trailbreaker is listening in on the cons plans using his satellite dish and Spike and Sparkplug are calmly drinking tea. They hear the con's plan and go to radio Prime.

Cut back to the cons where Starscream (unprompted) is telling Megatron not to test him and that his desire for power is as great as Megatron's. Megatron tells him that "Power flows to the one who knows how; desire is not enough." How what?? How to use it??? Probably what they meant. Starscream tells him that time makes all things possible, and that he can wait. A strike force of cons (aka every con who we've seen thus far) is assembled and they take off for the crystal mines. This interaction would've been better if it'd been before Soundwave telling them about the rocket fuel because it would give Starscream just cause to be annoyed because Megatron is yelling at him for performing a necessary experiment to ensure that what they'd been doing was actually working. Soundwave could've interjected after Starscream had said that he could wait, telling them about the rocket fuel and thus diffusing the situation. 

Cut to Trailbreaker, Spike and Sparkplug who've decided to drive back to the Ark and report back to Prime in person instead of radioing him off screen for some reason--maybe Trailbreaker's radio wasn't working? Thundercracker and Skywarp attack them on their way back (for some reason--how did they find them??) and since Trailbreaker isn't built for speed, they radio the Ark for backup.

So Trailbreaker's radio was working?? Why didn't you just radio Prime earlier???

Their backup arrives literally five seconds later in the form of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker who either drove at the speed of ZOOM to get there that fast or they weren't too far from the Ark, but if it was the latter, they really didn't need the backup because they would've arrived not long after, so I'm going to assume it was the former. Sunstreaker gets hit but it's only enough to damage his new paint job. He shoots Thundercracker in response (the autobots have good aim this episode) and apparently this is enough to send Thundercracker back for repairs. Skywarp accompanies him back to Decepticon HQ, but it never gets brought up again so we're going to ignore it. Trailbreaker thanks the twins for their help. Sunstreaker complains about his damaged paint job but Sideswipe tells him that nobody will notice if Sunstreaker only makes left turns.

I don't think that's how that works, but okay. 

Cut to the Decepticons who are currently in the crystal mines making Energon cubes. Somehow Skywarp and Thundercracker have already made it here and both are completely fine. Soundwave says that there's enough crystals in the mine to power the whole planet of Cybertron. So you guys don't need the rocket fuel after all??

Cut to the Autobots who've made it to just outside of the mines. Wheeljack suggests using a bomb of his to bury the Decepticons forever. They know the cons are in the mines, they just don't know where. Bumblebee and Sparkplug (who apparently used to work in these mines??) volunteer to go into the mine, find the cons, and plant the bomb. Wheeljack warns them that once they push the button to detonate the explosive, they have exactly one minute to get out of there. Prime tells the two that if there's any problems to get out of there. Sparkplug assures Prime that there won't be any problems.

Foreshadowing.

Bee and Sparkplug make it into the mines without much issue and place the bomb, but when they try to get out, they're caught by Thundercracker and Skywarp who start beating them up. 

Back outside, Jazz comments that the two should be out of there by now and Prime is getting worried. Ironhide volunteers to go check it out but Optimus says he'll go. Backup is offered but he refuses, telling the other bots that if he's not back in five minutes to come get him.

Optimus sends his drone Roller who sounds like R2D2 and will only appear in a handful of other episodes to go investigate just before the bomb detonates.

The bomb goes off and everyone inside of the mine is buried and Optimus is sent barrel-rolling dramatically in slow motion down the cliff side, leaving us with a cliffhanger. 

And that was the second episode of the Transformers. It crams a lot into one episode, but somehow when you watch it, it doesn't feel too rushed. I do wish they'd taken some more time for the humans and the Autobots to learn about and understand each other, but I understand that there was a time limit on the episode and these interactions may have been considered boring by the kids watching at home. Overall it's a very fun watch though.

I hope this was enjoyable! I'll probably be putting out my analysis of Part 3 within the next few days. Hope to see you there!

[sirenjose]

Hunter Norton - Short Analysis/Notes

Wolframite’s arm is made of pyrite aka Fool’s Gold. Hunter Norton’s name is “Fool’s Gold”

Lily’s essence where Fluorite and the others are affected by “phosphorescent illness” which “gradually erodes the skin” and causes them to “yearn for captivity”. We see in Fluorite’s design notes that this “phosphorescence” caused people’s skin to begin transforming into different ores. Hunter Norton is also made of rocks/minerals.

According to the short backstory given to Hunter Norton so far, it re-emphasizes his fear of the dark and being back in the “bottomless mine that he had always wanted to escape from”. So he stays in the light. This can tie to how in Lily’s essence, in her design notes and in her essence trailer, we see how being in the moonlight starts to cure/heal the “phosphorescence illness” from Lily aka her ore/mineral parts. If being in the light helps, that could relate to why Norton is avoiding the darkness, and especially the mine itself.

On Hunter Norton’s hip is what appears to be an Oil-Wick Cap Lamp or Tea Pot lamp. These were 1st used in Scotland around 1850, with a hook on the back and a spout where the fat and oil for fuel were pulled from and lit. Miners typically used the cheapest fuel they could find. A drip ring could be added to catch any oil falling from the wick. Compared to candles, the light was brighter, lasted longer, and was easier to carry, but the flame was smokier. The open flame could also ignite flammable gases in mines and causing explosions. The threat of explosions led to the invention of the safety lamp for use in potentially combustible mines and the invention of the carbide lamp which replaced the oil-wick lamps by the 1920s. (Main difference is Oil-wick lamps were hung from their hats while Hunter Norton has it on his hip hanging from a chain.)

[katerinaaqu]

Okay as per my latest random posts about Achilles and the beautiful idea @margaretkart had for the small "crossover" between the sources of China (Ballad of Hua Mulan) and Greece (The Iliad) and how the two would get along made me remember the beautiful animated movie "Mulan" by Disney

By the way absolutely NO comparison to the original source. In fact I believe is not even the same character thus the name "Fa Mulan" instead of "Hua Mulan" and all (in fact i appreciate that Disney changed the name of the character so that we can clearly speak on two different characters)

But the cinematography of "bring honor to us all" Why does it look like a perfect inspiration of Achilles being rushed to Skyros and get his first makeover? Hahaha ❤️ 😆

Like imagine him being rushed there with only a few loyal servants and slaves and just rushed in, in a sneaky manner, before he has the time to think about it, be washed and anointed with oils and perfumes put some clothes and makeup on (or dye his hair, see what I did there @h0bg0blin-meat 😜👍) then off he goes to be taught how to move and act like a woman hahaha 😆

And even if he would be a natural he would still have to clog his way through at first like more used at holding swords and spears than looms and such but eventually like being kinda fond of his new look and try to see the positives even if he craves for glory and such hahaha dunno the cinematography was really good in my head!

Like I so love the confused look on Mulan's face being so Achilles who still has second thoughts about it, sneak peak other women trying to copy what they do. Move from one place of the palace to the other to get used to his new clothes and jewelry or even looking at boys and such playing war around, still thinking on war and glory but his servants not let him have time to breathe and think till his transformation is over... (at least we expect he has Patroclus by his side as support)

But on a serious note the changes Achilles went through were indeed spectacular. From a son of a king he became a soldier training under a wise centaur then dragged from peace to war and then to the life of a woman and then returned to the bloodiest war he ever faced...I gotta give it to him for that at least... And someone proud as him at first even if he could have been worried on his life he might as well not be sure of this or worry that he will look ridiculous and embarass himself and his family (as per my other analysis) but eventually nailing it and even discovering some parts he likes himself and all. But yes gotta give it to him he worked hard on his disguise if no one figured it out for years.

[wannabe-valkyrie]

Hiccstrid Analysis

Typically media has had negative and unrealistic portrayals on romantic relationships and how they are “supposed” to look like, but this is what made the How to Train Your Dragon franchise that much more enjoyable. The relationship dynamic between Hiccup and Astrid is really an anomaly in Hollywood so it’s refreshing to see this much more appealing take. Astrid is not someone that needs rescuing from Hiccup the entire movie which ends up being the plot, she commands respect as a leader which is ultimately one of the reasons why Hiccup ends up falling for her. Astrid gives Hiccup the space to grow into a leadership role while giving him advice and supporting him. This is not a one-sided relationship, however, as Hiccup provides the nurturing support and devotion that makes Astrid feel safe and loved. For example, in the first movie Snotlout is competing with Astrid because he thinks that by being better than her, she will like him. This clearly doesn’t win Astrid over but Hiccup’s compassion and sensitivity (which is what Astrid said herself in RTTE) is what truly won her heart. They are a well oiled machine and support each other’s endeavors to the end, choosing to work together instead of one partner having to sacrifice their happiness for the other. Their dynamic really inspired me to delve further into their strengths and weaknesses so I started writing Symphony of Shadows. Read on Wattpad under my user @jaguarreads95 or on AO3 below!

[sunshinesmebdy]

Moon in Virgo: Tidy Up Your Biz and Harvest Financial Abundance

Astrologers, rejoice! Business gurus, unite! Because under the meticulous gaze of the Moon in Virgo, it's time to blend cosmic wisdom with practical strategy. Get ready for a potent mix of grounded energy, keen analysis, and a sprinkle of earthy magic ready to boost your business and finances.

Virgo's Virgo-ness: Picture a spotless spreadsheet, a perfectly balanced budget, and a to-do list so organized it whispers sweet satisfaction. That's Virgo's domain. When the Moon dances through this earth sign, it brings a laser focus on details, a knack for efficiency, and an urge to declutter both your physical and financial spaces.

Business Benefits:

Sharpened Skills: Hone your expertise, take that online course, or finally master that new software. Virgo's energy fuels learning and skill development, making you a powerhouse of knowledge and competence.

Channel your inner Hermione Granger under the Virgo Moon! Devour knowledge like polyjuice potion, mastering that new software with flick-of-the-wand ease. Whether it's an online course on astrological forecasting or the intricacies of blockchain technology, Virgo's studious energy makes you a sponge for information, transforming you into a confident, competence-wielding powerhouse ready to tackle any business challenge.

Streamlined Operations: Virgo loves a well-oiled machine. Use this lunar phase to audit your business processes, identify bottlenecks, and implement systems that save time and resources.

Don your efficiency hat, because under the meticulous Virgo Moon, streamlining your business becomes a cosmically ordained quest. Scrutinize processes like a celestial accountant, unearthing time-sucking bottlenecks and banishing them with automated spells (aka, handy new systems). Watch as email chains unfurl into streamlined communication channels, meetings morph into laser-focused action sessions, and your once-chaotic workflow hums like a perfectly tuned engine, freeing up precious time and resources for your entrepreneurial magic to truly shine.

Networking with Purpose: Quality over quantity is Virgo's motto. Connect with potential clients or collaborators who share your values and expertise. Think strategic partnerships, not random coffee chats.

Forget the business card bingo of generic gatherings – Virgo's discerning Moon demands quality connections. Seek out collaborators and clients who mirror your values and expertise, like kindred spirits drawn together by constellations of shared passion. Think chess match, not cocktail party. Craft targeted pitches that resonate with their specific needs, and cultivate strategic partnerships that feel like cosmically ordained alliances. This intentional networking isn't about collecting contacts, it's about igniting mutually beneficial collaborations that propel your business towards the stars.

Marketing Magic: Craft targeted campaigns that speak directly to your ideal customer's needs. Virgo's analytical prowess helps you understand your audience and deliver messaging that resonates.

Under the analytical gaze of the Virgo Moon, ditch the shotgun marketing blasts and unleash laser-focused campaigns that whisper sweet nothings to your ideal customer's soul. Virgo's eagle eye pinpoints their deepest desires and pain points, transforming you into a messaging maestro. Craft content that speaks their language, addresses their specific struggles, and showcases your solutions like the missing puzzle piece to their perfect life. Let go of generic pitches and embrace storytelling that resonates with their values, because under this lunar influence, targeted marketing isn't just effective, it's downright magical.

Financial Fortunes:

Budgeting Bliss: Break out the spreadsheets and get granular. Categorize expenses, track income, and create a budget that feels secure and sustainable. Virgo loves a balanced bottom line.

Spreadsheets sing and budgets balance under the Virgo Moon! Unleash your inner accounting alchemist and transform financial chaos into crystal-clear clarity. Categorize expenses with the precision of a cosmic librarian, track every penny like a moonbeam, and craft a budget that feels not like a restrictive cage, but a beautifully organized, secure haven for your financial future. Virgo craves equilibrium, so find that sweet spot where income and outgoings waltz in perfect harmony, leaving you feeling abundant and empowered, the maestro of your own financial orchestra.

Debt Disposal: Tackle outstanding debts with renewed determination. Negotiate better terms, make extra payments, and experience the liberation of financial freedom.

Ditch the debt demon and embrace the warrior spirit under the Virgo Moon! Channel your inner debt disposal dragon, breathing fire upon outstanding balances with renewed determination. Hone your negotiation skills like a celestial diplomat, securing lower interest rates and crafting repayment plans that fit your budget like a cosmic glove. Make extra payments with the fervor of a moonbeam illuminating a dark cave, watching those numbers shrink faster than a vampire in sunlight. Embrace the sweet liberation of financial freedom, feeling the weight of debt lift like a cosmic spell dissolving, leaving you empowered and ready to conquer your financial Everest.

Savvy Investments: Research, compare, analyze – Virgo's energy is perfect for making informed investment decisions. Seek advice from trusted professionals and prioritize long-term stability over short-term gains.

Transform into a celestial stockbroker under the Virgo Moon! Put on your research goggles and analyze potential investments like a cosmic detective, comparing, contrasting, and sniffing out hidden risks. Consult trusted financial oracles for guidance, but ultimately, let your own Virgo-honed discernment be your compass. Prioritize long-term stability over fleeting trends, building a portfolio that grows like a well-tended celestial garden, not a gambler's dice roll. Embrace the slow and steady path, for under Virgo's meticulous gaze, informed investments blossom into financial freedom, one calculated decision at a time.

Unexpected Windfalls: Keep an eye out for unexpected opportunities to increase your income. Virgo favors those who put in the work, so your dedication could be rewarded with a bonus, a new client, or a lucky windfall.

Keep your antennae tuned to cosmic whispers under the Virgo Moon, for fortune often favors the prepared! Your dedication and sharpened skills could attract unexpected boons like a bonus shimmering out of thin air, a new client drawn by your newfound expertise, or a windfall landing softly as a celestial feather in your lap. Remember, Virgo rewards hard work, so keep hustling, honing, and learning, and trust that the universe may just surprise you with a bonus chapter in your financial story.

Bonus Tip: Embrace the earthy magic of Virgo! Surround yourself with green spaces, incorporate crystals like citrine and jade into your workspace, and practice grounding exercises to channel the Moon's practical energy.

So, there you have it! The Moon in Virgo is your invitation to tidy up your biz, fine-tune your finances, and reap the rewards of your focused efforts. Remember, success is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself, celebrate the small wins, and trust that under Virgo's meticulous guidance, your business and finances will shine.

Now go forth and conquer, astrologically savvy entrepreneurs! Your financial stars are aligned.

[minimac-mspl]

Reconditioning of EH oil

A 1200 MW coal-fired thermal power plant using Indo-Chinese turbine EHC system in southern India.

Synopsis

The plant was struggling with the rapid increase in TAN values in the EH oil of the governing system of the turbine. Also, the moisture content was more than permissible limits. Degradation of the oil was due to contamination ingression into the system resulting in by-product formation.

Minimac’s EH oil reconditioning system “MLC LVDH TRIX 20” proved to be the savior and an unexpected shutdown of the turbine worth ₹1.05 Cr per day was saved.

Problems

A rapid increase in the Total Acid Number (TAN) could degrade the EH oil and lead to the possibilities of failure of servo valve, hunting, power generation loss, unplanned shutdown, etc

Solutions

Installation of Minimac’s EH oil reconditioning system “MLC LVDH TRIX 20” comprehensively designed with 4 major technologies to:

Remove solid contamination from oil by Superfine filtration

Remove moisture from oil by vacuum Dehydration technology

Reduce Total Acid Number (TAN) by Ion exchange technique.

EHC system tank moisture removal and ingress prevention by Inert Gas blanketing technique.

Along with equipment installation, our service engineer trained the customer’s team on the functions of the EH oil re-conditioner, FRF maintenance, contamination control, and importance of the oil analysis program.

Cost Saving

This plant managed to save:

Cost of oil replacement: ₹60 Lakh approx.

Cost of downtime: ₹4.2 Cr approx

CO2 e Saving

14,400 kg of CO2 e / 0.0144 gigagrams of CO2 e

Benefits

Extending oil life.

Eliminate oil Replacement cost.

Protect Turbine against hunting.

Increased Turbine reliability.

Total Consumable Details

Filter - 01 qty of 10 - microns

Filter - 01 qty of 3 - microns to achieve NAS 5 cleanliness

Total resin - 60 liters

Subscribe to our What's App Community and be a part of our Journey - Click Here

[magnetictapedatastorage]

full article under the cut

June 12, 2024

By David Wallace-Wells

Opinion Writer

Here is what the indefinite pause on New York City’s congestion pricing program, if it sticks, will cost: 120,000 more cars daily clogging Lower Manhattan’s bumper-to-bumper streets, according to a New York State analysis, and perhaps $20 billion annually in additional lost productivity and fuel and operating costs, as well as health and environmental burdens and a practically unbridgeable budget shortfall for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that will straitjacket an already handicapped agency and imperil dozens of planned necessary capital improvement projects for the city’s aging subway system.

Here is what it gains Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, who announced her unilateral decision about the suspension last week: perhaps slightly better chances for New York Democrats in a couple of fall congressional races. According to reporting, these are especially important to the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who may still be somewhat embarrassed about his state’s performance in the 2022 elections, when surprise victories for several New York Republicans kept the House of Representatives out of Democratic control. It has also handed the governor several news conferences so bungled, they have made reversing a policy unpopular with voters into a genuine political humiliation.

In her announcement, Hochul emphasized the precarious state of the city’s recovery from the Covid pandemic, but car traffic into Manhattan has returned to prepandemic levels, as has New York City employment, which is now higher than ever before; New York City tourism metrics are barely behind prepandemic records and are expected to surpass them in 2025. Tax coffers have rebounded, too, to the extent that the city canceled a raft of planned budget cuts. The one obvious measure by which the city has not mounted a full pandemic comeback is subway ridership — a measure that congestion pricing would have helped and pausing it is likely to hurt.

In announcing the pause, she also expressed concern for the financial burden the $15 surcharge would impose on working New Yorkers, though the city’s working class was functionally exempted from the toll by a rebate system for those with an annual income of $60,000 or less. In a follow-up news conference, she emphasized a few conversations she’d had with diner owners, who she said expressed anxiety that their business would suffer when commuters wouldn’t drive to their establishments. But each of them was within spitting distance of Grand Central, where an overwhelming share of foot traffic — and commercial value — comes from commuters using mass transit.

Robinson Meyer, a contributing Times Opinion writer, wrote for Heatmap that delaying the plan will be “a generational setback for climate policy in the United States,” adding that “it is one of the worst climate policy decisions made by a Democrat at any level of government in recent memory.” He called it worse than the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Willow oil project in Alaska — not just because of the direct effect on emissions, though that would be large, but what a pause means for the morale and momentum of any American movement toward a next-generation, climate-conscious urbanism.

For years, the country’s liberals have envied the transformation of London by its Ultra Low Emission Zone, which generates hundreds of millions of pounds annually and quickly cut nitrogen dioxide air pollution in central London by 44 percent from projected levels. And liberals practically salivated over the remaking of Paris by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, whose policies have significantly reduced the number of cars in the city center, cutting nitrogen oxide pollution by 40 percent from 2011 levels, and turned huge swaths of the urban core into a paradise for pedestrians and bikers.

Similar programs have been carried out in Stockholm and Oslo, proving remarkably popular, and while it didn’t exactly seem likely that all the world’s cities were on the verge of leaving behind the car, the fact that any American city was taking the leap looked like a sign that change was possible. There aren’t many places in the United States that could plausibly hope to take even a few steps in the direction of the 15-minute city. But the New York City metro area — which has higher public transportation ridership than the next 16 American cities combined and whose residents account for 45 percent of U.S. commutes by public transit — was the obvious place to try. At least until last week.

To enthusiastic reformers, the reversal was all the more painful because the obvious hurdles had already been cleared. Especially after the Inflation Reduction Act kicked off a frenzied real-world spending spree, progress-minded Democrats have argued about the difficulties of building things at anywhere close to the necessary speed, taking aim at a bundle of obstacles to more rapid development and build-out of green infrastructure — rampant NIMBYism, burdens of environmental review, permitting and zoning challenges, social justice litmus tests. It had taken a few decades, but congestion pricing had jumped through all the necessary hoops. The everything bagel had been slathered with cream cheese and was ready to serve. And Hochul put the kibosh on it anyway.

The cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent $500 million developing the system and installing its hardware, and the inevitable shortfall now means a much less ambitious future for the agency, to trust its spokesmen, which is now probably incapable of extending the Second Avenue Subway or undertaking the Interborough Express project, which promised to revitalize huge corridors of Brooklyn and Queens and give more than 100,000 New Yorkers more viable public transit commutes. (Hochul says the pause won’t imperil those projects.) The pause may even be illegal, as State Senator Liz Krueger argued last week in The Daily News.

But for all its inscrutability, Hochul’s reversal follows a recent partisan pattern, a sort of centrist backlash among establishment Democrats and their supporters against left-wing causes and their supporters in the run-up to the November elections, partly as a matter of electoral strategy and perhaps as part of a pre-emptive blame game in anticipation of Republican victories, possibly including Donald Trump’s re-election.

The backlash is perhaps most visible in commentary from liberal pundits, who in recent weeks have tried to blame the party’s left wing for President Biden’s dicey re-election prospects, though the most obvious drags on those chances are his age and voters’ perceptions about the cost of living. At the national level it is best embodied by Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who rarely speaks at length but happily seizes opportunities to punch left, particularly toward those protesting the war in Gaza. More locally, it is embodied by Mayor Eric Adams, who won election in 2021 as a kind of centrist backlash candidate — hailed at the time as a political counterweight to progressive candidates like Maya Wiley and progressive forces like the Black Lives Matter movement and perhaps even as a future face of the Democratic Party — and whose approval ratings are now lower than any other New York City mayor in decades, even as the city has inarguably bounced back from its pandemic trough on his watch.

Hochul has been a less visible and less polarizing figure than Adams. But every time she has poked her head up and made national news lately, it has been in the same spirit, to roll her eyes at or pick fights with those to her left. In February she mocked critics of Israel’s war in Gaza by saying, “If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I’m sorry, my friends, there would be no Canada the next day.” (She later apologized.) In March she suddenly deployed the state’s National Guard to patrol the subways, on the same day that Adams boasted about rapid declines in subway crime. And now on congestion pricing, just weeks after bragging she was proud to stand up to “set in their ways” drivers, she reversed course out of apparent deference to those drivers and their outsize political clout. The state government and the transit authority have hard-earned reputations for ineffectuality, and faced with an opportunity to do something big, the governor chose to retreat and do nothing instead.

“It makes me think about the fight for progress, and how any real progress in the moment seems impossible,” wrote Cooper Lund in a melancholy reflection he called “Who Gets to Be a Constituent?” Nine times as many people ride public transit into the central business district each day as take cars there. There are 11 times as many people living in Manhattan who breathe the air polluted by automobile exhaust each day as there are who drive there for work. And those who work in the greater New York area lose 113 million hours each year to traffic, at an estimated cost of nearly $800 for each commuter. “With N.Y.C.’s reputation you’d think that the Democrats would be eager to uphold the city as an example of what a liberal, multicultural society is capable of, and to foster it,” Lund went on. “But both the mayor or the governor proved that they don’t have any interest in that. Instead, the things that would improve the city are pushed away for the suburban lifestyle that both parties seem to agree represents their actual constituency.”

A generation ago, it was common for informed liberals to lament the transformation of the country’s densest and most walkable city into a traffic-snarled carscape at the hand of Robert Moses in the mid-20th century. But despite the rise of YIMBYism and a sort of conventional wisdom new urbanism, the city hasn’t become meaningfully less automobile-centric since. More cars traveled into Lower Manhattan in 1990 than in 1981, more came in 2000 than in 1990, and although the rates dropped a bit after Sept. 11, they were still slightly higher in 2010 than they were 20 years before and have remained pretty flat since. Decades into new urbanism, the country’s most walkable city has just about the same number of cars driving into its in-demand downtown.

Taxi registrations doubled from 1980 to 2010 and then grew even more rapidly through the Uber years that followed, so that there are now five times as many taxis registered in the city as there were nearly 40 years ago and two and a half times as many taxi rides. (The difference between the two figures suggests that a pretty big portion of the increase is empty cars idling or cruising without fares.) Since 2006, excess congestion has grown by 53 percent, and since 2010, the average travel speed in the central business district has fallen 22 percent, from a crawl of 9.1 miles per hour to a glacial 7.1. I can comfortably run faster.

As has been the case everywhere, the kind and size of cars in New York have changed, too. When I was growing up there in the 1980s and ’90s, I could look out at the streetscape and see things other than trucks and supersized sport utility vehicles — trees, storefronts, pedestrians on the opposite curb, each of them visible because the streets were much less packed with automobiles the size of small elephants. Parking spots were not walls of S.U.V.s back then but lines of sedans, nestled along the sidewalk, it seemed, almost like a string of small boats puttering by the boarding platform of a flume ride. I remember climbing down into cars then, even as a 9- or 10-year-old. As a grown-up, I’m now climbing up, into what feels more like a cockpit and an imperious claim to the street.

My parents and in-laws remember a different kind of city still, the kind where you could park right in front of restaurants, play stickball in the street with infrequent interruptions, ride bikes down the cobblestones of SoHo and see only the occasional delivery truck along the way. I never knew that world, except through photographs and the haze of secondhand nostalgia. By the time I came around, the streets were already pretty full of cars. But even so, the city as a whole didn’t seem to belong to them yet. Certainly they didn’t seem to be holding its future hostage.

[theseshipsshallsail]

Alrighty, Peaches, lets get these two lovesick idiots back together 🍑❤️

Summary:

He’s no longer the clueless grad-student pretending to know himself, but a tenured college educator proclaiming his truth. The pageantry of normalcy is over. Reconciliation: more than wishful thinking. So with his children’s permission - and a go get him, tiger from Micol - he’s torn up the script. Followed the siren song of redemption to its source. Spanned oceans and continents for the man who’s got him glued to his mobile like a lovesick innamorato.

Chapter 1

Hope, it has been said, is a waking dream, but of the countless scenarios Oliver’s envisioned in his parallel life, this, first and foremost, exceeds even his wildest expectations. 

There were times he’d considered himself cursed. Chronically addicted to whimsy. He could never begrudge his traviamento. Not when it led to a family he adores. Success in his chosen field. A happiness his martyr complex once deemed inconsequential. Yet fulfilment, he’s learned, exists not in doing what he ought, but in having the autonomy to do what he needs, and as the northbound regionale hurtles through Lombardy’s rustic foothills, he can’t help marvelling that his decades long odyssey is almost at an end.

No more hypotheticals.

No more conjecture.

No more fearing the nuclear fallout. 

August is peak tourist season, as the packed Trenitalia carriage can attest. Floral perfumes vie with the sour musk of travel. Coal, oil, and the bitter hint of espresso combine under the burnt-tyre haze of Gauloises. He hasn’t smoked since the cows came home - as his beloved bubbe used to say - so Oliver relishes the guilty pleasure whilst scowling at his cryptic crossword; unable to recollect the third moon of Pluto even if you paid him.

Initially, Elio’d insisted on meeting his flight at Côte d'Azur, but numerous factors have seen Annella’s condition deteriorate in recent weeks. The progressively smudged line between son and caregiver has him reeling - loath as he is to admit it - yet Oliver’s qualms about an overnight road trip on top of yesterday’s hospital appointment were sufficient to swing the debate. Old habits die hard - his protector gene is dominant - only now he’s stuck willing the powerful engine to speed up as the relentless carping from the couple behind wreaks havoc on his budding migraine. 

He’d emptied his inbox en route to Genoa. Transferred trains at Milano Centrale, and exited his solitaire program not thirty minutes later. His snacks have dwindled. His research analysis is clear as mud. Even his audiobooks fell victim to his inability to focus, and Oliver balls a fist under his jaw as he ponders the poetic vagaries of opportunities lost and found.

Of the meteoric shift that set him on this tack.

Of a voice - breathless as his own - that interrupted his jog one overcast Sunday.

“Elio…” it said.

One word. 

Just one word. 

Three honeyed syllables that pulled him up short as every barricade, every coping strategy, everything he’d told himself to justify the silence came crashing down around him. In one fell swoop the arena had changed, yet middle-age and a teenage journal brought with them a unique perspective on the past, and together, they’ve dispensed of the sword of Damocles poised so ominously above.

He’s no longer the clueless grad-student pretending to know himself, but a tenured college educator proclaiming his truth. The pageantry of normalcy is over. Reconciliation: more than wishful thinking. So with his children’s permission - and a go get him, tiger from Micol - he’s torn up the script. Followed the siren song of redemption to its source. Spanned oceans and continents for the man who’s got him glued to his mobile like a lovesick innamorato.

Pining like the Britton Forest.

Even more doe-eyed than Bambi’s mother.

And yes, alright, he’s raised a pair of weisenheimers in Noah and Jesse, but they’re not wrong. He and Elio have been in regular contact since that pivotal weekend. Emails. Texts. Meandering conversations when the disparate time zones allow. He’ll ask after his day as he sips his pre-dawn coffee. Fight a ubiquitous yawn whilst tending to the household chores. It’s a work in progress - balancing the see-saw of little things that add up to the whole - yet they’re getting better at spilling their innermost secrets. Redefining their boundaries. Upending Pandora’s box.

As a result, they’ve gone over it all these past two months. 

Michel, Micol, his kids; their careers.

Their lives apart, versus the one they aim to build together. 

Elio’s mother, and her Sisyphean struggle to stay present.

Oliver’s, and her farcical ultimatums when she learned of his forthcoming divorce. 

Each discussion was inherently painful - though there’s no denying they’re richer for them - and it’s humbling, quite frankly, to be trusted with all Elio is. Moreso on account of his transgressions. All human beings have things they regret - things that aren’t often forgivable by those who’ve felt the effects - but avoidance and supposition have cost them enough already, and come what may they’ve mapped a course through their personal minefields; triggering just a few minor explosions in their wake.

That said, some wounds slice deep - for all that the mind strives to cover them over - and the character limit of their SMS history is a palliative cure at best. To make matters worse, jet lag in his forties is a total crapshoot - not at all remedied by the piecemeal catnaps he’d caught on the plane - and thwarted by the blurry letters, Oliver soon turns to his iPod instead; selecting the dynamic strains of Elio’s back catalogue to muffle the grizzly toddler four rows along.  

It was the winter of ‘88 he last had the privilege of seeing him play in person. Juilliard's lauded Christmas recital: a selfish, one-sided affair by which he’d skulked in the shadows of the Lincoln Center’s mezzanine. That Elio forgave his audacity is a mystery in itself. That he's kindly suggested a repeat performance is a testament to how far they’ve come. A number of mornings were spent in such Spartan luxury their halcyon summer, and drumming his fingers in idle counterpoint Oliver pictures the give of that leather easy-chair in the villa’s spacious living room. 

The dizzy dance of dust motes towards the vaulted ceiling.

Elio - brow furrowed in concentration - resplendent in the saffron sunlight that pools through the wide, unshuttered windows. 

It’s a slightly static announcement on the tannoy that stirs him from his stupor, yet Oliver has no issue discerning la stazione di Clusone amidst the liquid notes of Gershwin pouring through his headphones. 

The griping Brit’s are still going at it: running an asinine gamut from Bergamo’s high humidity to the dearth of sandy beaches surrounding Lake Como. Oliver snickers when they denounce the price of an Aperol Spritz, and maybe it's an omen - one of Mafalda’s legendary signs - because right on cue a droning rhythm vibrates the laminate tabletop; Elio’s name lighting up his phone screen as he hits the green accept button like his life depends upon it.

“Suppose I were to meet you at the station?” he hears in greeting, a verbal ambrosia for his pilgrim soul. “Suppose I’ve been on pins and needles since you landed in Nice, and if one more meddling kibitzer extols the virtues of patience, I’m going to tell them exactly where to stick their conseils d'ingérence! Self-restraint was never my forte, mon ami.”

Nor his suppressor, Oliver thinks, admiring the fragrant lavender that flourishes about the bay. “God bless Annella for passing on that stubborn streak.”

“Fingers crossed that’s all I inherit,” Elio mutters glumly, inured to the savagery of his mother’s disease in a way that occasionally knocks him for six. “But suppose I’m waiting here,” he forges onwards, easing the Gordian knot in Oliver’s midsection. “On the same rotting bench I sat on at seventeen. Trying not to worry that you’ve missed a connection. Or the signals at Albino failed like they did in the spring. Or your train arrived ahead of schedule, and I’ve just driven eighty kilometres in Miranda’s Cinquecento -”

“- for a head-full of what-ifs and an ass-full of splinters?”

“Esattamente.” A pause. “So, am I?” Elio asks, sounding as exhausted as Oliver feels. “Fretting over nothing? Or has the universe devised yet another way to -”  

A piercing whistle cuts him off mid-flow.

The pneumatic judder of brakes ensues straight after.

“I guess that answers my question,” he murmurs, and if Oliver weren’t sitting on shpilkes himself, perhaps he’d refrain. As it is though… 

“A wise man once argued the way up and the way down are one and the same,” he answers primly, and when Elio barks something resembling a laugh and a snort he prides himself on lifting the mood. “Do you have any idea?” he asks then, scooting over to lean his forehead against the dingy glass. “How glad I am you came?” 

Compliments are risky business. Especially coming from him. But nonetheless -

“How could I not?” Elio replies: a vast improvement on his obsolete I don’t know. “The pullman might be less extortionate than a cab, but that old bus takes forever, and I just…” His vulnerability is audible. “I’m sick of being on edge,” he continues with no small amount of chagrin. “I needed to see you. To be sure this is real.”

To be sure you want me, hangs unsaid, which is ironic, when it's Elio himself who carries all the cards. 

“Do you remember the crux of my next column?” Oliver asks then, blood pounding in his ears. “That it’s not happenstance that determines destiny? But individual choice?” 

Elio’s pensive hum rumbles through the handset. 

“Well, there’s a difference, by and large, in walking a path blindly, and opting to walk it with hindsight,” Oliver explains, the simple fact resonating like a call to arms. “We can’t let our track-record hinder who we’ll become, but my path, Elio Perlman, was always destined for your door. And mark my words. To find you? To keep you?” The anticipation is glorious. “I’ll walk it to the ends of the earth…”

[averageclawcodeenjoyer]

Alright so as far as introductions go, I guess I should probably make one before I get too far into this.

HERES MY ABOUT ME POST!

My name's Leonardo, and you can call me any version of that that you want (Leo, Leon, Leonard, Nardo[my favorite], either way, it's all the same to me.) My pronouns are He/Him. I am an artist, author, animator, and a DEDICATED CLAWCODE ENTHUSIST (Hence the name)

I am also VERY autistic and don't get tone a lot, so tone tags are very important to me, especially when there's joking or sarcasm involved.

Ahem.

I know the Spiderverse Fandom isn't particularly alive (SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP) but I will try to post often, even if it's just a shitpost here and there. I really want to help feed into the ClawCode brain rot since the content for these two is SEVERELY FUCKING LACKING. So. If you have requests for things, I will probably end up doing them! My asks are always open, and I'd love to hear from anybody. I don't have any friends that love them the way that I do 😔😔

I have not had Tumblr before! Which is a little insane, so I'm new to all of this and learning how everything works. Please forgive me if I don't know the proper etiquette on this app lmao. My friend has been guiding me through all of this and told me to make an About Me post, so that's what I'm doing.

Here are some tags that will frequent my posts!

Yapping Hour - Will either be used for headcanons, or short stories/ideas/other ClawCode related crap. It's just going to be a general tag that will probably go on most of my posts from here on out.

Slur Gallery - Will be of the art I post of them, be it ship art or other :3 because everybody deserves a gallery of slurs to look at. AND JUST LOOK AT THEM!

Earworm - Is the tag I'll use when there's music involved, like songs that remind me of them (and the heavy analysis that goes with it **COMING SOON**), or animatics that I'm working on, or just anything that has to do with a song. Edits, artworks, the whole shebang.

Talkaholic - This will ALSO be used for mini stories/facfics, but more often than the yapping hour. So if you wanna read my writing of them that's what you can find it under.

Offline - will be under posts like these, where it isn't directly related to anything, just random blocks of text or other art that I feel like posting.

Oil And Water - THIS tag will be about the fanfic I am currently (excruciatingly slowly) writing! It doesn't have a happy ending and is meant to be a HEAVY angst story, like hurt/no comfort or very little comfort. I have one chapter out currently but will be working on more soon (and will make a separate post about it! But I will link it here as well. MOTIVATE ME TO WRITE IT /HJ)

Prowler Party - Is what I'll put on ALL of my posts as an extra way to help find me if one so desires d=(^o^)=b

OOC - On the chance that I might make something intentionally out of character, I will put this beneath it. I know a lot of people don't like mischaracterization, or incorrect portrayal of a character, but sometimes it's really fun to write, so I will be including that was well.

I think that's all that I can think of right now (I'm running off of an hour and 40 minutes sleep), but things may change or be edited in the future. But for now, I'll be signing off.

Shipwrecked - THIS WILL BE ABOUT MY SELKIE/SIREN AU BECAUSE IM ACTUALLY NOT OKAY ABOUT IT AND NEED TO SHARE MY INSANITY

HELLO AND THANK YOU TO THE WARM WELCOME I'VE RECIEVED!!

MORE COMIGN SOON

[alchemyofazeroth]

Kawphi

The kawphi plant is an herbaceous perennial native to the beaches of Azshara. It is characterized by its distinctive segmented caudex, from which palmate compound leaves emerge. Each leaf consists of 5 to 7 lanceolate leaflets with serrated margins. The plant produces terminal inflorescences of small white flowers that give rise to round, fleshy fruits. Within each fruit is a single seed, commonly referred to as a kawphi bean, that contains high concentrations of caffeine. This alkaloid functions as a natural insecticide and herbivore deterrent, protecting the plant from potential predation. Interestingly, the caffeine also serves to attract pollinators, particularly honeybees. The olfactory memory induced by caffeine exposure causes the bees to preferentially return to kawphi flowers, thereby increasing the plant's reproductive success. Phylogenetic analysis has revealed that caffeine biosynthesis has arisen independently in several distantly related plant lineages, including the true coffee genus. This convergent evolution suggests that caffeine production likely confers a significant adaptive advantage and has played an important role in shaping the evolutionary trajectory of these plants.

From the beans of the kawphi plant, locals brew an energizing beverage simply known as "kawphi." When I asked if it was meant to be an alternative to "coffee," the goblins assured me that their own brand of beverage was indeed spelled differently. Regardless, a cup of kawphi begins with selecting high-quality kawphi beans. The beans must first be harvested, processed to remove the outer layers, and dried. The green kawphi beans are then roasted over high heat, which causes complex alchemical reactions that transform the beans' taste, aroma, and color. Lighter roasts generally seem to have higher acidity and less bitterness, while darker roasts have fuller bodies and tend to be less acidic.

After roasting, the beans are ground to a specific coarseness appropriate for the brewing method. The ground kawphi is placed into a filter, and near-boiling water is poured over the grounds, allowing the water to extract the kawphi's oils, acids, and flavor compounds as it passes through the grinds and filter. The optimal brew time varies by method but is typically between 2-4 minutes.

The finished kawphi can then be enjoyed black or enhanced with additives like milk, cream, or sugar according to one's taste preferences. I have found that black kawphi is unforgivingly bitter but an efficient drink before battle, whereas sweetened kawphi is labor-intensive to make but more rewarding to drink on my way to training.