#astc

[return-the-heads-in-baskets]

Hi

[gumisredgoggles]

New hyperfixation dropped. I love these goobers can't you tell?

[catinasink]

"All Students Take Calculus" factoid is a statistical error. most students dont take calculus. calculus georg, who takes calculus 10,000 times a yeaer, is a statistic outlier adn shoulndt be counted

[brockitty-goober]

wind predictions (and some thunder ramblings)

so astc thunder just came out and it was fire!

(MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THUNDER UNDER THE CUT)

So curlfeather was just the best and I loved her so so much, it was SO INSANE HOW SHE WAS EVIL??? i literally could not believe it. I mean, like, my brain went: “oh what? Is this a fake vision? Am I misunderstanding? Cuz she is NOT EVIL”

Before she had the “curlfeather is evil” vision and river star was like “ermmm you can’t see her in starclan rn” I thought maybe she could be in DF by a starclan misunderstanding? Or somehow died in starclan or DF? But it never crossed my mind she could be evil, what the twist!

I feel like curlfeather being evil is a little weird and doesn’t really fit in with the character they made her be, all nice and such? It kinda seems like a forced twist thinking about it, but cool and unexpected anyways.

AGHHHH I TOTALLY THOUGHT FROSTPAW’S FIRST VISIONS WERE REALL GRRRRRR it was by far the best part of the twist when we found out her first visions weren’t real. I think (hope) we all thought Frostpaw was becoming a warrior apprentice because she had too much pressure and stress and her visions were real, she just didn’t want to believe that.

but they actually weren’t real and just her mind??? That’s crazy, this book was INSANE

ALSO I FEEL LIKE FROSTPAW SHOULD HAVE REACTED MORE TO CURLFEATHER BEING EVIL?? After her vision she just went “Alr let’s head back now”

anyways, you’re here for wind predictions, not thunder rambling.

I really hope the prologue is gonna be curlfeather in DF, but honestly speaking it’s probably gonna be Berryheart or Splashtail or something.

I really want an interaction with Frostpaw and Curlfeather, I kinda wish Shadowsight could still see DF now because I need some cat to talk to curlfeather and find out what her actual motive other than I wanna be leader isss

Let’s be real, her only motive is “I wanna be leader”, isn’t it?

I would like to know if her reaction is “yeah I totally made up all ur visions and never loved u XD” or “ummm evil?? Murder??? Whaattt????”

I assume nightheart n Frostpaw are gonna run into the gathering (or warriors is gonna disappoint us and have them only say it to RC, ofc) and say everything. Splashtail’s gonna be like “ummmm huh?? Huh?? Wdym???”

in the end, I really want Frostpaw to become lead??? Like we haven’t had a protagonist with even a slightly powerful role like mentor since the prophecies begin?

it would be pretty refreshing, although poor mothwing, still nobody in this clan can talk to starclan 😭, and she’s still all alone 🤡

I want you guys to tell me what characters could potentially be lead! I’m gonna hold a vote soon! I have nightheart, Frostpaw, sunbeam, duskfur, splashtail, and tigerstar down as choice so far!

[satansleftnutcheek]

Thinking about how Miguel claimed that Miles is the original anomaly despite Gwen being right there. Like my guy if you're going to have a logical fallacy at least be right about it

[northguwahati]

ISBT Khanapara Guwahati : ASTC Bus Terminal

ISBT Khanapara Guwahati : ASTC Bus Ticket Counter. Electric Vehicle Green Energy Buses. Assam Government Bus ticket Counter Guwahati. The Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) Khanapara in Guwahati is a crucial transportation hub in Assam, facilitating seamless connectivity between different states and regions of the Northeast. Operated by the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC), a Government of…

[liquidcrystalsky]

lets talk about game files what a new an interesting concept

splatoon textures, along with all bfres textures, are stored using S3 compression, or "BCn" it's a series of formats from BC1 to BC7

this is only used in nintendo's ".bntx" format, and of course the industry standard for DirectX textures, ".dds"

(bntx can describe multiple images at once, like all the textures for an entire scene can be one bntx file, while dds only allows one image per file)

It's a bit similar to JPEG where things are stored in little chunks, jpeg is 8x8 and bcn is 4x4. JPEG uses combinations of cosine functions and fourier transforms to represent each block while bcn is fucking wizardry idk but it changes on each version.

Coloured textures in splatoon 3 use "BC1" It's a format which allows 3 colour channels and a single bit alpha channel. It kinda sucks, a normal image has 3 channels each with 8 bits of colour, but bc1 uses 5 bits red, 6 bits green, 5 bits blue. And somehow the alpha is stored in there through wizardry. It's 16 bits per pixel rather than 32 and compresses really well and u can barely notice it so whatever yay

Single colour textures, like roughness, alpha, metalness, anything black and white which represents data rather than colour is "BC4". It only supports one channel so it can be a pretty small file for the data it contains. 8 bits per pixel but again, only one channel, no alpha at all, but you wouldn't need it

That accounts for maybe 80% of the textures in game, and 19% goes to "BC5" which is nearly exclusively used on Normal Maps. Instead of a colour or some data, it represents a direction using 2 channels. It's really cool because, if you have an X and a Y channel, for a direction, you can calculate the Z channel with no loss of information!!

This is why some normal maps are yellow instead of blue!

Nerd Shit: the blue channel is just sqrt(1 - x^2 - y^2), so if you have a yellow normal map, you can use math nodes in blender to convert it to a 3 channel one. That equation is actually a rearranged version of the Pythagorean Theorem!

another interesting thing is that BC5 textures sometimes calculated in a weird format, "SNORM" (signed normalized) which allows for negative numbers! For a byte, it maps [0, 255] to [-1, 1]

Nerd shit: it's actually [0, 127] to [0, 1] and 128 turns to -1, and [129, 255] to [-1, 0), note the last one does not include 0, a value of 0xFF is just slightly less than 0. By having two negative ones, the interval of [-1, 1] is represented with evenly spaced values unlike a float, which gets more precise as it goes to 0

the final 1% is BC6 and unlike where the value of a pixel is gotten from signed or unsigned bits, it's stored as floats! floats can store basically any number but you lose precision at really large numbers, but hell even at low numbers. Splatoon 3 uses BC6 for the skyboxes! by having the numbers as floats, you can parts to be extremely different. The largest difference in a normal image is a pixel with brightness 1 to a pixel with brightness 255, which is 255x more. A float technically can be infinitely times more, but it allows you to also have a lot of detail in the dark parts, while having detail in the lighter parts too! if you're making a realistic scene, it would make sense that the sun would have to be more than 255x brighter than the rest of the sky. even if your monitor cant display things that bright, it allows for much more realistic lighting

switch toolbox doesnt allow you to export to an easily usable format which supports floats, i can export it as a dds but not many programs can use that, and even less use ASTC. I want to get it to export to EXR but thats gonna take a bit.

thats my explanation on why i haven't ripped skyboxes that was the whole point of this post. bye

[motja-geu]

My personal third favourite OC

(first is someone else and second is Leina)

AUTAN!!!

(I forgot how my drawings were back in 2020... welp-) (Autan: was I supposed to be a serial killer or sth lol) (Yes) (A: ...?!)

DISCLAIMER: mentions of infanticide, homicide, burning people

Name: Autan Bastien Callebres (A: Do NOT call me ABC D:<)

Birth date: December 13th (officially making him the youngest of my main 6 characters) (A: why 🥲)

Age year: 0 (same age as the protagonist) (A: who is also my gf btw 😌)

Nationality: French

Appearance: pale, short and messy hair, dark brown hair, completely black eyes, 168cm height, scrawny

Race/species: hyol-ja (what is that? Acid's bio)

Family: Valerie Callebres (nee Domergue) (mother), Adro Callebres (father), Artas Callebres (older brother), Neona Callebres (adopted younger sister)

Backstory - He was born in South Korea as a very weak baby, not even having the (limited but still useful) self-healing ability every hyol-ja is born with. His heart stopped twice in the NICU shortly after birth. His gramma even suggested to kill him shortly after birth because 'no weak boy is allowed in the Callebres line' but his mom and dad fought back to keep him. And they had to pay for that. When Autan became 7, his parents were burned to death by hyol-ja hunters, the same ones who kidnapped Acid's parents. From then on, Autan's ambition was to get revenge but he was young back then, so his view of revenge was killing as many magicians as possible. Luckily, he and Neona (his adopted younger sister) were taken in by a friend of their mother, Professeur Rosaline Derosne, a French Muslim chemistry professor. His older brother, Artas, was also safe but Neona and Autan didn't find out until many, many years later. Professeur Derosne mainly influenced Autan's mindset and worldview. She managed to dampen his want for blood and revenge, but she also encouraged him to increase his abilities so he could defense himself and Neona, even if he was weak. He got his signature weapon, a dagger she made for him, and the idea that he could work around his weaknesses with his wits from her. Sadly, she also died when a someone bombed the building which housed her chemistry lab. The initial bomb didn't kill her, but the collapsing building did. This time, Autan lost it and killed the culprit using his hyol-ja skill: fire-based magic. Unfortunately, that drove him out of his mind since it triggered him, reminding of how his parents died. Neona and Professeur Derosne's fiance, Seo-ee Kang, couldn't calm him down. Seo-ee had to knock him out. Now Autan and Neona live under Seo-ee's guardianship, staying at ASTC (Association of Sangpersons Training Camp). He feels like Seo-ee dislikes him, because Seo-ee pushes Autan to his limit and beyond when training and doesn't show affection at all. Autan is not aware Seo-ee was engaged to Professeur Derosne or that Seo-ee cares for him like a son, but does not show it, knowing the risks he puts on Autan and himself if he does so. Autan was marked as a wayward hyol-ja, needing to be executed if found. Seo-ee was marked as a disgrace to his family, constantly targeted by his siblings for murder. Basically, we have no idea whose connection lead Rosaline to her death and both guys blame themselves, but Autan doesn't care because he wants to kill every hunter in existence anyway while Seo-ee cares and doesn't want Autan or Neona to die, too.

Abilities:

-Pyrokinesis (it's called 'fire-based magic' in my world tho, but he doesn't use it due to PTSD) -Flying (every hyol-ja can do that) -Minor magic (again, every hyol-ja can do that) -He's smart. Very smart. That's like his only strength lol XD

Thanks for reading, as always!

[underdark-dreams]

You are such an amazing writer! I hope I can write as well as you one day! would you be willing to talk about your process and how you come up with your amazing ideas? (like your Rolan x Tav A Strand to Climb it is a work of art!)

Love your work! please keep writing Rolan fics!

I am so humbled by this! Thank you so much!! I’m really glad you enjoy A Strand To Climb, it is honestly the first long fic I’ve attempted. As such I was a little ashamed to answer this ask 🫣 So I apologize that I had to stew over the answer for a few weeks. My writing process is pretty improvisational, poorly planned, and spur of the moment.

Thankfully I have been saved by the bell somewhat by @dutifullylazybread's amazing answer on a their writing process! Their advice is pretty much exactly what I would tell anyone else, and it helped me sort through some of my own WIPs better after reading. Just read their fic Deeply and Immovably So and see how well crafted it is.

Finding the process that works for you personally is honestly the best advice you can follow as a writer, whether that’s outlining all the chapters or finding the story on the way. I know many very talented writers who use both methods, so don’t be scared to give both a shot and see which works for you. I can tell you, for me, my goal is to outline my fics better in the future. I occasionally go back and read my works and cringe at the little inconsistencies that better planning could have avoided.

It’s also a real privilege to write for a game that’s already as well-written as Baldur’s Gate 3 is. The framework of events and the character development are already fleshed out beautifully in this game, which has made writing for Rolan or other characters much easier than it could be.

Personally, I do find that moments or scenes come to me very strongly. For ASTC, I’ve written many chapters just by having one or two key events in mind that I know I want to fit in somehow. Then I write all the connecting bits of the chapter around those. For example: 

Ch3 - Wanted to see a heart-to-heart conversation between Lakrissa and Rolan, since I find their personalities similar yet contrasting in interesting ways

Ch5 - Wanted to give Rolan and Tav a quiet, hurt/comfort moment together in a bath (who doesn’t love that trope)

And in general, I encourage you to read or listen to books in the Forgotten Realms universe if you’re looking for ideas! Having the world/atmosphere built up in the back of your mind is super helpful when you’re drafting out a story. Fight scenes are not my strength, but I knew I’d need to write some in ASTC and in other stories. Reading Baldur’s Gate by Philip Athans was a huge help with that. Really, doing lots of reading will always help your writing!

[warehouse-fujiki]

1月13日　ヴィンテージ新入荷。

1960's Heavy Cotton Football shirts　￥38,000

1960年代のフットボールジャージーです。練習用と思われますが。肉厚なコットンを使用して作られており、エルボーパッチも付いています。学生が応援のために着たものではなく、選手が実際に着用した「Real worn jersey」です。67はオフェンスのガードがよく使用する番号です。

1960's WILSON ASTC FOOTBALL REAL WORN SHIRTS　¥58,000

アーカンソーの教員養成大学である「ARKANSAS STATE TEACHERS COLLAGE」のフットボールTシャツです。実際に練習で着用されたもので、「Lサイズ」とあることから部で共有したものかと思われます。肉厚なコットンボディに肘当てもついており、街着のTシャツちおは一線を画すクォリティです。マスコットは「BEARS」で、当時は強豪がひしめくアーカンソー州の大学の中で強豪であったようです。

＊販売は2024年１月１３日（土）よりウエアハウス東京店にて

1960's Heavy weight Footbal shirts

ネックラインにリンガーネックを使用したヘビーウエイトのフットボールTシャツです。その重厚なつくりから、実際に練習などで着用したものと考えられます。DOGIESとは犬ではなく、「母牛からはぐれた子牛」という意味で、Newcastle High School Dogies というインディアナ州の公立高校のフットボール部のものであると考えられます。

＊販売は2024年1月13日（土）よりウエアハウス東京店にて

[return-the-heads-in-baskets]

holy shit hagane len

[gumisredgoggles]

why so yellow

Bc uhm yellow

[widogasted]

also (guy who works at a museum) you'd be surprised how big those reciprocal networks ARE!!! the museum i work at? reciprocal in the same network as my local ZOO!!!!!! (caveat they don't overlap because ASTC reciprocity only works 90 miles outside of your home museum, but we have some local agreements we honor to try and make up for it a little). zoos, aquariums, children's museums, art museums, history museums, aviation museums- SO many folks who create and curate these spaces WANT people to come!! we want you to come visit us! come visit us!!!!

[casuallynoisytavern]

How to Choose the Right Samsung Refrigerator Repair Service for Your Needs

When your Samsung refrigerator begins to show signs of malfunction, it’s important to hire the right repair service to get it back in working order. A reliable refrigerator repair service can help you restore your appliance quickly and efficiently, ensuring that your food stays fresh and your home remains comfortable. With so many repair services out there, how do you choose the best one for your needs? In this article, we’ll explore the key factors to consider when selecting a repair service for your Samsung refrigerator.

1. Look for a Service Specializing in Samsung Appliances

While many repair services can handle generic refrigerator issues, it’s always best to choose a service that specializes in Samsung refrigerators. Samsung appliances are equipped with advanced technology, which means that they often require specialized knowledge and tools for effective repairs.

Why It Matters:

Samsung-specific parts: A repair service that specializes in Samsung will have access to genuine Samsung parts, which are critical for ensuring that your fridge operates as efficiently as possible after the repair.

Experienced technicians: Technicians who are specifically trained in Samsung products will have a deeper understanding of the brand’s unique features and common issues, ensuring a more accurate diagnosis and quicker repairs.

2. Check for Proper Licensing and Certification

It’s essential to hire a refrigerator repair service that is licensed, insured, and certified. This ensures that the technicians are qualified and adhere to industry standards. In many regions, licensed repair services are required by law to provide certain guarantees and meet specific quality standards.

What to Look For:

License and insurance: Make sure the repair service is fully licensed to operate in your area and carries appropriate insurance in case of any damage during the repair process.

Certified technicians: Look for technicians who are certified by recognized organizations, such as the Appliance Service Technician Certification (ASTC), to ensure they have the necessary expertise to handle complex issues with your Samsung refrigerator.

3. Look for Experience and Reputation

Experience matters when it comes to appliance repairs. A well-established refrigerator repair service will have a proven track record of successfully repairing refrigerators, including those made by Samsung. Customer reviews and testimonials can also provide insight into the quality of service you can expect.

How to Evaluate Experience:

Years in business: A repair service that has been in business for several years is likely to have more experience and a better understanding of common refrigerator issues.

Customer reviews: Check online reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, or the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for feedback from past customers. Positive reviews and high ratings are indicators of a reliable service.

Word-of-mouth: Ask friends, family, or neighbors for recommendations based on their experiences with refrigerator repair services.

4. Ensure They Offer a Warranty on Repairs

When you hire a repair service for your Samsung refrigerator, it’s essential to ensure they offer a warranty on their repairs. A warranty provides peace of mind, knowing that if something goes wrong after the repair, the company will take responsibility for fixing it.

What to Expect:

Labor warranty: The service should offer a warranty on labor, typically ranging from 30 days to 1 year, depending on the repair.

Parts warranty: Reputable services will also offer a warranty on any parts they replace, ensuring that you don’t have to pay for faulty parts if they break down shortly after the repair.

5. Assess Their Customer Service

Good customer service is a critical aspect of choosing the right refrigerator repair service. The repair process can be stressful, especially if you’re dealing with a malfunctioning appliance in the middle of a busy household. It’s important to hire a company that is responsive, polite, and willing to work with your schedule.

What to Look For:

Easy communication: Ensure the company is easy to reach via phone, email, or online chat. A responsive company will provide quick answers to your questions and schedule service promptly.

Professionalism: The technicians should be professional, courteous, and respectful of your home. They should arrive on time, clean up after the repair, and be willing to explain the issue and repair process.

Clear pricing: Reputable repair services will provide upfront pricing before any work is done, so there are no surprises when you receive your bill.

6. Consider Availability and Emergency Services

Refrigerator issues can occur at any time, and when your Samsung refrigerator stops working, it’s important to get it fixed quickly. Look for a refrigerator repair service that offers flexible scheduling and emergency repair services.

Why It Matters:

Quick response time: A reputable service should be able to send a technician to your home quickly, especially if the refrigerator is malfunctioning in a way that affects your daily life.

Emergency services: If your fridge is leaking water or not cooling, it’s important to have access to emergency services that can resolve the issue right away.

7. Evaluate the Cost of the Repair Service

While price should not be the only factor you consider when hiring a refrigerator repair service, it’s important to ensure that the cost of the repair is reasonable and within your budget. Some companies may offer lower upfront prices, but the cost of parts and labor can add up quickly.

How to Compare Prices:

Get multiple quotes: Contact a few different repair services to get quotes for the repair. Make sure the quotes are detailed and include both labor and parts.

Be cautious of lowball prices: If the price seems too good to be true, be wary. Extremely low prices may indicate that the repair service is cutting corners or using substandard parts.

Understand the pricing structure: Ask for a breakdown of the pricing to ensure that you understand what you’re being charged for.

8. Ask About the Repair Process

Before hiring a Samsung refrigerator repair service, it’s essential to understand how they will handle the repair process. Will they diagnose the issue first and provide an estimate? Do they offer a thorough inspection? Knowing what to expect will help you make a more informed decision.

What to Ask:

Diagnostic fees: Some companies charge a fee for diagnostics, which may be applied toward the final repair cost if you choose to proceed with their services.

Timeframe for repair: Ask how long the repair will take and if they can fix the issue on the same day.

Repair details: Inquire about the steps involved in the repair process and how the technician plans to resolve the problem with your Samsung refrigerator.

Conclusion

Choosing the right Samsung refrigerator repair service is crucial to ensuring that your fridge runs smoothly for years to come. By considering factors such as specialization, experience, customer service, warranty, and price, you can make an informed decision that ensures your appliance is repaired properly and efficiently. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and do your research to find the best repair service for your needs.

[nareshkumartech]

How to Manage Memory Efficiently in Mobile Games

Memory management is a cornerstone of mobile game development. Unlike desktop or console platforms, mobile devices operate with limited RAM and often juggle multiple applications at once. Poor memory management can lead to crashes, slow performance, overheating, and ultimately, a frustrating user experience that drives players away. For those working in game development, especially on mobile platforms, learning to optimize memory usage is not just a technical necessity—it's a key to delivering smooth, engaging gameplay that retains users.

One of the first steps in managing memory efficiently is understanding how your game loads and unloads assets. Graphics, audio files, and animation data consume significant memory, especially if they’re loaded all at once. Instead, adopt dynamic loading strategies. Load assets only when needed, and unload them once they're no longer in use. For example, in level-based games, assets for the current level should be the only ones in memory, with others streamed in or out as the player progresses. This strategy helps keep the memory footprint low and the gameplay experience fluid.

Another crucial practice is the use of object pooling. In mobile games where objects like bullets, enemies, or effects are repeatedly created and destroyed, memory fragmentation becomes a major issue. Object pooling solves this by recycling a fixed number of pre-instantiated objects, which reduces garbage collection overhead and improves performance. This is especially important in action or arcade-style games where hundreds of objects may appear on screen in a short time.

Texture compression and asset optimization also play a significant role. Mobile GPUs are limited compared to their PC counterparts, so using compressed textures like ETC2 or ASTC formats can drastically reduce memory usage without compromising visual quality. Additionally, resizing images and audio files to appropriate resolutions and bitrates ensures that your game isn't wasting memory on unnecessarily high-quality assets that provide no noticeable improvement in gameplay.

Finally, developers should always test across a wide range of devices. New phones may handle memory better, but budget or older models are still common among users. Testing on low-end hardware ensures a consistent experience and helps catch memory-related problems that might not appear on high-performance devices.

In the ever-competitive world of mobile game development, performance is directly tied to player satisfaction and retention. Efficient memory management not only prevents technical issues but also improves load times, battery consumption, and overall gameplay responsiveness. With careful asset handling, smart optimization techniques, and consistent profiling, developers can create mobile games that run smoothly across devices and deliver high-quality experiences to all players.

[dee2822]

If only

Photo by Juliano Astc: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-pink-floral-dress-smiling-14106658/ Life was sweet like a fairytale all the time Where a life of maybe hardship turned into a story of love and strength. A story of finding one’s self with a smile on their face no matter what came their way. For having a fairytale reality is far more thrilling and exciting. To dress up like a…