#object based storage system

[neilsblog]

Object-Based Storage: Future of Unstructured Data Management

In today’s digital-first world, organizations encounter vast and ever-growing volumes of unstructured data. From tweets, social media videos, and web pages to documents, emails, and data from IoT and edge devices — the diversity and scale of data formats pose a significant challenge. This unstructured data doesn’t reside in traditional databases, making it harder to store, manage, and retrieve…

[orellazalonia]

Unexpected Outlook

Summary: The Avengers launch a mission to raid a known base of the organization you now work with and discuss over what they found.

Word Count: 1.7k+

A/N: A little shorter since it’s Father’s Day, but I also wanted to add more weight to the previous chapter and progress the story.

Main Masterlist | The One You Don’t See Masterlist

Preparations moved fast. Too fast, maybe.

Steve didn’t like that they were running with incomplete information, but the longer they waited, the deeper this organization could dig itself into global systems. And the more time you had to assist them, whether willingly or not.

Still, it didn’t sit right. None of it did.

Bruce pulled the files. Natasha studied known locations. Sam monitored chatter. Bucky cleaned his weapons with a look in his eyes like he wanted answers he didn’t have the right to ask.

Yet no one brought up your name again. At least, not directly. But it hovered beneath everything.

The way Bucky checked each plan twice. The way Natasha’s jaw twitched when she reviewed footage. Even the way Steve hesitated before calling it an official mission.

The woman Bucky liked didn’t voice objections anymore. She simply kept a kind, quiet distance, like someone watching friends argue over a lost cause.

And within a week, the op was set.

Steve gave the greenlight with his jaw tight and eyes harder than usual. The mission was clear: infiltrate a suspected communications hub. A nondescript, rural compound masked as a grain storage facility. Satellite data showed encrypted signals routing through it over the last month, signals that matched ones the Avengers used internally.

Which meant either someone was watching. Or someone had been taught how.

They went in with a small team. Just Steve, Sam, Natasha, and Bucky. No need for Hulk or Thor; this wasn’t a battering ram job. It was a retrieval and disrupt operation. Quiet and clean.

Or so they thought.

The quinjet landed half a mile out, under cover of dense fog rolling over the hills. The forest beyond the compound was eerily still like it had been holding its breath since before dawn.

“They want us to find this,” Natasha muttered, brushing a branch aside as they crept through the trees.

Steve didn’t argue. His shield was strapped to his arm, but he hadn’t raised it once.

They reached the clearing. The compound was just as expected. Gray concrete, flat roof, minimal security fencing, and a gravel path leading to two entrances. No guards. No movement. Even the air felt… hollow.

Sam scanned the building with a handheld sensor. “No heat signatures. Not even a rat.”

“Too clean,” Bucky said, voice low.

They breached the back door.

Inside, it was dark but not ruined. Every surface was wiped. Consoles powered down. Not destroyed, removed. Carefully like a move-out rather than an attack. Upon investigating further, files had been cleared, drawers emptied, and chairs pushed in with bland desks.

Whoever had been here knew exactly when to leave.

Steve turned in a slow circle, taking it in.

“This was active,” He said. “Days ago.”

“Hours, maybe,” Natasha said, crouching beside a desk. She tapped the edge, there was a faint spot where something electronic had been sitting. Someone had worked here… and then vanished.

Sam stepped into the central control room. There was only one thing left behind: a monitor left switched on, flickering a soft blue light in the dimness.

A single message scrolled across the screen.

Too late, Captain.

That was it. There wasn’t any long monologues. No other mocking comments. Not even a signature or sign-off present. Just a cold fact. Steve stared at it like he could will it to change. Bucky stood a step behind him, arms folded, expression unreadable.

“I don’t like this,” Sam muttered.

Natasha approached a wall panel and pried it open effortlessly. Inside, wires had been sliced. Intentionally. However, there were no explosives. No traps could be seen anywhere either. It was all just… closure.

“They stripped this place surgically,” She said. “No fingerprints, no traces. It’s like they wanted us to know they were here… but not who they are.”

Steve closed the monitor with a clenched jaw. “This wasn’t a base. It was a decoy.”

“No,” Bucky said suddenly. His voice was soft but steady. “It was a base. It just outlived its usefulness.”

They all turned toward him. He looked at the empty room, the missing equipment, and the quiet hallways. Then, to the message. And for a moment, something shifted in his eyes. Guilt, maybe or something deeper.

“They planned for this,” He murmured. “Someone told them exactly how we’d come.”

No one responded, but no one needed to. Because they were all thinking it.

-

The debrief room was thick with a heavy silence, the kind that pressed down harder than shouting. Ghost-blue blueprints and photos of the abandoned compound still flickered on the monitors, reminders of how quickly their plan had unraveled. Notes about the missing equipment and the chilling message on the screen scrolled slowly, marking everything they should have anticipated.

Steve hadn’t sat once since they returned. He stood rigid at the head of the table, hands braced on his hips, and a deep furrow like it was etched there permanently. Sam had stopped pacing but his leg bounced nervously, jaw clenched tight. Natasha’s fingers tapped against her thigh in a rhythm so steady it barely seemed voluntary.

Only Bucky remained perfectly still, arms crossed, and eyes locked on the screen across the room. He said very little since they’d left the empty compound since that message haunted him.

Too late, Captain.

The words weren’t just text; they carried a weight, a deliberate coldness that dug into Bucky’s mind. Whoever had left it knew him. Not just the soldier, but his moves, his instincts. And worse, their enemy had used the knowledge you once held to outmaneuver them.

The memory played on loop in his mind. Not just the words but the feel of them. The calculation in them. Whoever was behind that terminal… knew him. Not just facts. His patterns.

And maybe worse than that, they’d used your knowledge to do it. They probably used you to do it.

The door hissed open.

She stepped in with her usual soft elegance, cradling a fresh cup of tea between her hands like she had no idea anything had gone wrong. Dressed casual, warm, and comfortable. Like she belonged. Like she didn’t feel the same tension that pulled everyone else taut. The one you used to be jealous of had sat out for the mission after all.

“Oh,” She said lightly. “You’re all back already.”

Her tone wasn’t mocking. If anything, it was gently surprised, as if she’d simply walked into a meeting that ended early. Steve didn’t answer right away. Neither did the others.

She blinked, smile sweet and expectant, like someone unaware they were intruding. “Was it a short mission?”

“We were too late,” Steve said flatly, straightening.

Her brows lifted, and she crossed to the table, setting the tea down. “Really? That’s unfortunate. I thought it was just one of those cleanup things. You all make those look so easy.”

Sam looked over, jaw tight. “They cleaned up, alright. Took every last trace of themselves. Left us a polite message, too.”

“They knew how we’d approach,” Natasha added with her arms crossed now. “Like they knew our pattern. Our flow. They stripped the place within hours of our arrival window.”

“Hmm.” She tapped a fingernail against the ceramic. “That’s strange. Maybe they had inside intel?”

“No,” Steve spoke, narrowing his eyes. “Not unless someone studied us long before they left.”

“Oh.” She blinked, tilting her head. “So… do you think your old administrator friend told them?”

Bucky stiffened.

Natasha’s voice was sharper now, eyes narrowing. “She’s not our anything.”

That seemed to amuse her. She let out a light laugh, the kind meant to dissolve tension, not that anyone was asking for it. “Well, you’re not wrong,” She smiled. “ She didn’t really fit in here anyways, did she?”

Bruce, who had been mostly quiet, looked up sharply. “She worked here for over two years.”

She didn’t seem phased. There was no malice on her face actually. Just soft confidence.

“I guess I didn’t think she’d be important,” She sighed simply. “Kind of kept to herself. I always assumed she’d move on.”

Sam stood, voice tight. “She did. Straight into the hands of the people trying to tear us apart.”

Her smile faltered just a touch. “I didn’t mean—look, I’m sure she was… sweet. I just don’t see how it helps to chase after someone who clearly didn’t want to be here. Don’t you think she made her choice?”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t know that yet.”

“I mean, sure,” She said gently, “But if she’s really that dangerous, wouldn’t you have noticed before she left? You didn’t even realize she was gone until weeks later, right?”

Bucky shifted slightly. The burn in his chest deepened. Not from her words exactly, but from how true they rang.

They hadn’t noticed. They hadn’t looked.

The woman moved closer to Bucky, noticing his subtle distress as she rested her hand lightly on Bucky’s shoulder.

“I just worry about you,” She confessed softly, smiling up at him. “You’re all stretched so thin already. I’d hate to see you waste energy chasing ghosts.”

Her hand lingered. But Bucky’s jaw clenched, and for once, he didn’t lean into her touch.

“She’s not a ghost,” He muttered. “She’s a mirror. Of everything we missed.”

Her expression flickered for barely a moment. Then the sweet smile returned.

“Well, if you have to go after her,” She brushed her hand away, her expression turning more solemn. A hint of pity evident, “I hope you’re prepared for what you find. Sometimes people change… and not always in ways you can fix. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

She reached for her tea again, her fingers wrapping around the cup like it was an anchor.

“And if you do decide to keep going after her, well.” She gave a gentle little laugh, looking around with open, innocent eyes. “I hope it goes well. I really mean that. And if you need my help at all… just let me know. I’m always happy to support the team.”

The door hissed softly behind her as she walked out, quiet heels tapping against the floor in steady, graceful rhythm.

The rest of the team stood in silence for a few long seconds, each lost in their own storm of thoughts.

Steve broke it first.

“We move forward. We stop that organization before it spreads deeper.”

“And if she’s helping them willingly?” Sam asked, his voice low.

Steve hesitated.

So, Bucky answered instead.

“Then we stop her, too.”

Taglist: @herejustforbuckybarnes @iyskgd @torntaltos @julesandgems @maesmayhem @w-h0re @pookalicious-hq @parkerslivia @whisperingwillowxox @stell404 @wingstoyourdreams @seventeen-x @mahimagi @viktor-enjoyer @vicmc624 @msbyjackal @winchestert101 @greatenthusiasttidalwave

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - January 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. Homes built with clay, grass, plastic and glass: How a Caribbean island is shying away from concrete

“[… Clay] traps moisture which then evaporates and pulls heat from the surface as it goes. […] The roof is covered in old recycled advertising banners and piece of a water tank, the other half of which is used to house some of Rahaman-Noronha's fish [… and] multi-coloured glass bottles inset into walls provide an avenue for streams of light and colour.”

2. To Combat Phoenix’s Extreme Heat, a New Program Provides Sustainable Shade

“The neighborhood workshops allow residents to get a shade plan tailored to their community’s needs and identify the locations where officials can plant trees. Meanwhile, the workforce-development side of the program creates the jobs needed to keep the trees alive for generations[….]”

3. Conservation corridors provide hope for Latin America’s felines

“[… S]cience has shown that to maintain healthy populations there needs to be connection between individuals. [… A] protected area that is close to another has more species and more potential for their survival.”

4. Social program cuts tuberculosis cases among Brazil's poorest by more than half

“The decrease [“in TB cases and deaths”] was over 50% in extremely poor people and more than 60% among the Indigenous populations. […] "We know that the program improves access to food [… and healthcare…] and strengthens people's immune defenses as a result.””

5. Geothermal has vast potential to meet the world’s power needs

“New geothermal systems could technically provide as much as 600 terawatts of carbon-free power capacity by 2050[…. C]ountries could cost-effectively deploy over 800 GW of geothermal power capacity using technology that’s in development today[….]”

6. New D.C. Catholic archbishop is pro-LGBTQ+ and anti-Trump

“In 2018, he objected to the blaming of gay priests for the clergy sexual abuse crisis, “saying that such abuse was a matter of power, not sexual orientation[….]” “We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies [… and] seek to rob our medical care, especially from the poor.””

7. Chesapeake Bay Will Gain New Wildlife Refuge

“The Chesapeake Bay area will have a new wildlife refuge for the first time in a quarter century. […] “This new refuge offers an opportunity to halt and even reverse biodiversity loss in this important place, and in a way that fully integrates and respects the leadership and rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.””

8. Inside Svalbard seed vault’s critical mission to stop our favourite fruit and veg from going extinct

“[… T]he world’s largest secure seed storage […] sits proudly in a massive former coal mine[….] Right now, there are over 1,331,458 samples of 6,297 crop species. […] “During 2024, 61 seed genebanks deposited 64,331 seed samples, including 21 from institutes that deposited seeds for the first time this year[….]””

9. Medical debt will be erased from credit reports for all Americans under new federal rule

“The rule will affect more than 15 million Americans, raising their credit scores by an estimated average of 20 points. [… S]tates and localities have already utilized American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to support the elimination of over $1 billion in medical debt for more than 700,000 Americans[….]”

10. 'Forgotten' water harvesting system transforms 'barren wasteland' into thriving farmland

“"The process started with the community-based participatory planning[….]” 10% to 15% of the water will actually soak into the ground to replenish the water table, creating a more sustainable agricultural process.”

December 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[snackodev]

Snacko's Mines & Magicks update is now live✨

Celebrate the launch of 1.0 with a 25% discount on Steam this week!

📌 Over 200 quests to enjoy 🪴 Flexible build system & tons of furniture 🌨️ Explore the new mines utilizing spells, a drill, and your hovering Kart 🎵 ...and do it all while enjoying a beautiful soundtrack composed by Dale North and Camellia

All packed up and ready to go

Explore the island and its four distinct biomes

Customize your journey by combining different gems for different tool effects - each tool and gem has a unique combination, allowing you to tailor your upgrades to your playstyle

Easily manage your goodies and stamina by utilizing an array of tools and features, from auto-deposit to the Lunchbox for auto stamina restore

Never worry about the size of your rucksack when you're out! Craft from storage and the Overflow Storage lets you keep just the essentials on you

Explore the island and its four distinct biomes

Customize your journey by combining different gems for different tool effects - each tool and gem has a unique combination, allowing you to tailor your upgrades to your playstyle

Easily manage your goodies and stamina by utilizing an array of tools and features, from auto-deposit to the Lunchbox for auto stamina restore

Never worry about the size of your rucksack when you're out! Craft from storage and the Overflow Storage lets you keep just the essentials on you

Meet someone new

Invite shopkeepers and villagers based on personality, or work hard and build housing for everyone! With 26 characters of varying personalities (and species) to get to know, you're bound to find someone who clicks with you

Experience romance with 21 characters with no restrictions

Learn more about each character through quests, dialogue, and cutscenes

Get comfortable with these quality-of-life features

Running out of time? After a long day out, simply use the Go Home button or camp outside with a Sleeping Box

You can purchase items from shops when the shopkeeper is off duty - they trust you!

Pick between built in World Themes such as low contrast or dark mode, complete with a dark mode UI and a slider to change the strength

Build up your dream life

A flexible build mode means you get to decorate how you like

Snap to grid, free rotate, undo and redo, float items, dye objects, no building restrictions, and a search box in your catalog for over 300 items to place

Utilize Screenshot Mode and undo/redo to record your own build timelapses

Nudging objects while in Lock mode gives you finer control for decorating your surfaces with clutter... Or get creative and combine objects together

Expand your house, change the wallpaper and floors, and dye each wall a different color!

[tikkunolamresistance]

3,000-year-old artifact inscribed with earliest mention of the House of King David found in Israel provides archaeological evidence for the foundational narratives of three monotheistic faiths.

The Tel Dan Stele, a 9th century BCE stone monument fragment, containing the earliest mention of the royal House of David outside of the Hebrew Bible, will be on view at the Jewish Museum for a limited time. On loan from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the stone slab's inscription lends archaeological evidence to the existence of the Biblical King David as a historical figure, in parallel with the narrative of the Bible. 

Discovered in northern Israel in the early 1990s, the Stele—an archaeological term for an upright monument used in ancient cultures to commemorate a person, place, or event—was once part of an inscription on a basalt victory Stele commemorating the military victories of King Hazael of Aram (a region in present-day Syria) between c. 842 and 806 BCE. Although Hazael’s name is not cited in the inscription, scholars believe him to be its author. 

In the inscription, the Aramaic king boasts that he defeated King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziahu of Judah, a reference to Israel’s two kingdoms at the time, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, the latter also commonly known as the House of David. The engraved inscription’s mention of a “king of the House of David,” is a direct reference to ancient Israel’s monarch and his royal dynasty, corresponding with the Bible’s historical narrative. 

The first fragment comprising the Stele was unearthed in July 1993, during excavations of an ancient stone wall in Tel Dan, Israel. The following year, two additional fragments were discovered at the same site and linked to the original fragment. 

Building on the archaeological evidence of King David’s reign in Israel, the Tel Dan Stele will be exhibited alongside five late 8th century BCE handles stamped with royal seals, once part of large clay storage jars, from the Jewish Museum’s archaeology collection. The seals on these fragments are inscribed “[Belonging] to the king” in ancient Hebrew, attesting to the existence of kingship in ancient Israel. The jars were likely part of a royal provisioning system. Three of the jar handles cite the city of Hebron in their royal seal impressions, and two mention the city of Socoh in the ancient kingdom of Judah.

The Tel Dan Stele is presented within Engaging with History: Works from the Collection, a selection of rarely exhibited objects from the Museum’s holdings of over 30,000 works including new acquisitions by Carrie Mae Weens, William Kentridge, and others on view for the first time in dialogue with Museum treasures reflecting millenia of global Jewish culture.

The presentation of the Tel Dan Stele was initiated by James S. Snyder, Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director, in collaboration with Dr. Haim Gitler, Tamar and Teddy Kollek Chief Curator of Archaeology at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.  

This installation is made possible with generous support from the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with the Jerusalem-based Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology, The Israel Museum, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

[serpentface]

how does currency work in this world? do they use coins or some other item as a vehicle for exchange of goods and services?

Depends on the location. The only generalizations I'll make are that most economies worldwide are barter systems, items like valuable shells/seeds/etc are probably more common as mediums of exchange than coinage, and fiat money is Probably entirely absent (outside of proto-paper money in the form of promissory notes).

I'll give some examples from around the area I'm mostly writing:

Wardin is in a current transitory state where it has been freshly and increasingly flooded with foreign coinage, and has only just started minting its own coins at Scale in recent history (past 40 years, escalated in the past decade under current monarch Amanti Stawis). It's still predominantly a barter economy internally, and the price of goods and labor is (attemptedly) fixed by a weight unit called a tligai. This is not a coin or object in of itself and is rather a reference point for pricing commodities.

I am just 100% spitballing here to demonstrate the concept so don't take any numbers I'm about to give seriously, but say one tligai is the price of 100g of copper, a cask of mixed wine (there are semi-standardized units of volume), and a pair of good grass sandals. If you're owed one tligai for a days work, you can be fairly paid in any of these things and they Should all have the same purchasing power (its a little more complicated in practice). Foreign coinage is attemptedly translated into this system, ie: a foreign silver coin's weight is ascribed the internal tligai value of silver. The newish native coinage is also fixed and standardized along this value (with coins denoting fractions/multiples of tligai based upon their actual weight). Wardin is currently the most powerful state entity in its immediate sphere and a lot of its trade partners have had to adapt to the tligai system.

Taxes are still collected almost entirely in goods (namely grain and textile) and livestock. Tributary pulls are also exclusively goods (varied by the resources of the subjugated territory, and sometimes including artisanal goods). Household taxes are almost completely divorced from the tligai system and are based upon a percentage of agricultural yield (to the point that you can't substitute grain for a commodity of its otherwise equivalent tligai value, as much of the point of taxation is for grain storage/sale), taxes on trade goods are calculated along tligai weights. Tribute is completely separate from these systems and is 'fixed list of items your territory must provide annually or else we will take what we want by force'.

Of immediate neighbors: Most Hnaimale and Wogan speaking nations have fixed-weight values that developed in relation to the Wardi tligai and it's uncertain who actually first developed this system. Chenaheyigi speaking nations are the only neighboring peoples with pretty much pure barter systems (with a few exceptions) (also tend to have Very complicated gift economies). Cholemdinae chiefdoms mostly use the Wardi tligai system for external trade but are internally a barter economy, and widely utilize non-metal commodity money (with camiche seeds being used as a standardized medium of exchange for small goods). Jazaiti society uses a very complicated shell/pearl/bead/seed commodity money system along with bartering.

Its Biggest adjacent powers and most of their surrounding states have coin currency systems. The Burri economy is similar to the Wardi economy in being a mixed system where the price of barter goods is partly fixed by a weight value, though this developed post societal collapse (Bad for Ecocomy :( ) when the expansionist state based out of the region imploded (most of the land is Relatively resource poor in precious metals, the former empire's currency system was heavily reliant on extracted foreign metal). It still has a silver coin system determined by this weight value, and its currency (having had about a century to develop and standardize into its present form) is a lot more stable than that of Wardin's.

Yuroma speaking city-states are the other Big powers in this eastern seaway trade system and have very well developed coin systems with bartering being heavily sidelined (mostly performed on a peer to peer basis). Most city-states share a semi-standardized silver coinage (name undetermined) but variants are minted separately by different cities/leagues and have effectively different purchasing power. Their currency systems are pretty much dominant on the southern west side of the Blackmane mountains where a few individual leagues (in competition with each other) have a combined monopoly over regional land and sea trade.

The other Large state on the eastern side of the mountain range is the Useyen people who live in parts of the Blackmane highlands (on the northern west-face end) and have a currency system with multiple forms of commodity money that convert neatly to one another- rice as a baseline unit (measured in standardized volumes), several precious feathers (mostly tail plumes of a few different pheasants), and bronze and silver 'arrowheads' with a hole in the center (intended to be strung), which are standardized but unstamped. The arrow coinage system has common ancestry with that of Yuroma states (their ancestors formerly had a tributary empire stretching to the southern coasts, both groups have some common cultural ancestry) and though have diverged beyond the commonality of their coins having holes.

[adaginy]

The Big Guide to Humans: Home Planet

Humans come from a small, rocky planet, called Terra or Earth or some other translation of "dirt," where they lived on the land surface despite the planet being mostly covered (area and volume) by water. They do, however, measure temperature in a scale based approximately on the freezing and boiling points of water (at their average atmospheric pressure), set to 0 and 100. As with "years" (see lifespan and development), your local human can probably tell you the conversion to local measurements, if the knowledge is not in your local storage and the numbers are not being converted automatically by your translation dock. The planet's rotational axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, resulting in "seasons," a predictable progression of local temperatures between local lows to local highs and back over the course of an orbit, despite its nearly round trajectory. This is in addition to the smaller temperature changes of the day/night cycle. Terran weather temperatures range from -90, below the freezing point of radon, to 60, nearly the boiling point of bromine, though humans mostly live where the weather over the course of a year ranges between -20 to 45.

Humans infamously breathe oxygen, but Terra's atmosphere is actually mostly nitrogen. The 23% oxygen concentration is enough for fires to sustain easily, assuming fuel and initial ignition, but low enough that fires smother nearly immediately when fully covered. Terra's rotation and heat from Sol combine to cause a predictable pattern of convection known as prevailing winds. Winds are often strong enough to move light objects without causing damage, not uncommonly strong enough to make it difficult for humans to move against it, or stronger, and sometimes strong enough to cause damage to buildings. This is in addition to regional threats of "extreme" winds, most notably tornadoes (fast-moving, localized funnels of winds strong enough rip buildings apart and fling heavy objects) and cyclones (weaker than a tornado, but traveling slowly and raining so copiously that shelters are also damaged by water).

Having such copious rain that buildings are damaged can happen outside of a cyclone, as well. While humans can swim surprisingly well for a non-liquid-dwelling species, this water has usually picked up so many contaminants that it is capable of overwhelming a human's immune system if it enters their body via their mouth or damaged skin.

Alternately, little or no water may fall on an area that does not usually experience water scarcity. The resulting "drought" kills plants and animals that cannot be moved. This is less predictable, but takes multiple years to come into effect. A vegetated area facing drought, however, is at particular risk for a wild fire, a fire that becomes too large and fast-moving to be smothered. Areas as big as residential ships can burned before the fire runs out of fuel or is able to be drenched.

Terra's planetary surface is made up of several pieces of "crust" floating on top of its liquid center. At the edges of these pieces, or at cracks in the pieces, huge pieces of crust can be forced upward or buckle under the pressure. Done slowly, so slowly no one notices, this produces mountains. Done quickly, it produces "earth quakes." Some earth quakes can only be sensed by sensors, but others cause buildings to shake apart. Humans know where these edges are and, instead of not building there, they design buildings that are able to resist being shaken. If the locus of the shaking is near or under the ocean, it can cause a fast-moving, towering wave called a "tsunami." An average tsunami is capable of obliterating buildings when it reaches shore, and then sucking any survivors into the ocean when it recedes (with strength far past even the best human swimmers). As with earth quakes, humans design buildings to survive being struck by this wall of water. The same edges and cracks also produce volcanoes, places where the earth's liquid center oozes or bursts out of the ground. This liquid will be at temperatures of 700 or more, above the melting temperature of radium and on past the the melting temperature of gold. It can cause fires when it touches things in addition to being so heavy and/or voluminous that it covers items in its path. Humans generally do not build very close to volcanoes that are frequently or explosively active. However, if a volcano is only likely to erupt once or twice within a human lifespan, or tends to ooze rather than burst, they will simply use several sensors to know when it will happen so they can get out of the way. Because they all originate in the same geological source, it is common to have two of these crack-based issues at once and not unusual to have all three.

Sometimes, rain falls in tiny frozen pieces, covering the ground in a layer of ice chips. Sometimes it falls in large rocks of ice, breaking and shattering what it strikes. Sometimes the temperature is anomalously hot or cold in places where the wildlife and human dwellings are not adapted to those temperatures. Sometimes massive sparks of electricity shoot from the sky to the ground. Sometimes the side of a mountain — or the ice chips piled on the side of the mountain — will fall off and slide down, burying and crushing everything in the way. Sometimes erosion under the surface will cause the surface to give way, leaving a hole in the ground big enough to swallow a person or a building. Sometimes the liquid inside Terra doesn't burst through the surface, but super-heats water until it does. While none of these features are unique to Terra, even among inhabited planets, it is uncommon for an inhabited planet to have so many of these features and it is nearly unique among humans to choose to live in afflicted areas. It can be helpful to understand, when one is wondering why humans and other life from their planet are "like that," that life only evolved on Terra once* and then experienced a burst of population up to and beyond local carrying capacities. Every species, including the plants, shares a common ancestor, and every creature that was ever born (hatched, sprouted, divided, etc) faced immediate competition from other, similar creatures. The ability to run faster, eat weirder, live hardier, spread farther provided an immediate benefit. Furthermore, in addition to the horrors described in this chapter of this guide, in Terra's planetary history there are multiple near-extinction-level events — new chemosynthetic species producing upheavals in the atmospheric gas balance, an asteroid strike, massive volcanic eruptions choking the air with ash and blocking energy from Sol — that further pressed evolution. Terra, truly, has earned its reputation as a death world — but less so for the life that has formed there.

*there is a long-standing idea that cephalopods may have originated separately, but this is really only taken seriously by the Chiparsen, who used to colonize via panspermia. While the Unified Government no longer accepts this as a valid territorial claim, the Chiparsen still hope to prove relation in order to put forth a diplomatic demand that Terrans remove cephalopods from their diet.

[t52b]

Heart Toy mayor update continuation

So now onto the other two parts

The album builder is used to build albums for the joi suite later the joi suite can only use the albums built here so its a pre requisite to build albums for later useI

mage Fetching from Image Boards: Fetch random images using tags from popular image boards: Danborou, R34, Realborou, The Great Image Board, and e621. Input your desired tags, separated by spaces, and press the button to fetch images. If the image cannot be found or if the HTTP request fails, an error will be displayed, and the fetch button must be pressed again to retry.

Invalid JSON Errors: If an invalid JSON error occurs, it typically means no image was found for the given tag on the selected site. Try fetching from another site or use a different tag. Album

Management: Create new albums by inputting an album name and saving images directly to them. If no album name is provided, images are saved to the root of the app's storage (counted as an album).

Image Selection from Local Storage: Pick images from your phone's local storage using the file picker. Save them directly to an album or create a new album.

Direct URL Saving: If you have the direct URL to an image, input it and save the image to your selected album. The process is easier on Windows, but somewhat difficult on Android. Album Deletion: Delete selected albums, but requires multiple clicks if the folder is not empty.

File Organization and Limitations: The app uses Android's file system for album management, which can involve some manual navigation (copying and pasting files into albums using the file picker). The app remembers the last location when accessing files via the file picker, making it easier to pick from specific folders. on pc this is much easier as the file explorer can access the persistent storage and copy images with control c control v

Joi Suite Feature List:

Interval Creation & Editing

Interval Object: Tempo: The tempo (beats per minute) for the interval.

BeatTightness: Controls how tight the beats feel, influencing the spacing between beats.

EndTempo: The tempo the interval will gradually reach by the end.

TempoAcceleration: How quickly the tempo changes during the interval.

BeatNumber: The number of beats within the interval.

SyncopalGalop: A setting that modifies the rhythm to alternate 1 and mltiple beat per metronome tick.

Duration: The length of time this interval will last.

Imageshiftperiod: The speed at which images will change during the interval.

Imagefadein: Controls how quickly images fade in.

EndPauseLength: The length of time the pause lasts at the end of the interval.

Interval Editor Window:Input fields for each of the interval parameters (Tempo, BeatTightness, EndTempo, etc.). Add Interval Button: Creates an interval based on the current input and adds it to the interval list. Suggest

Random Values Button: Generates random values for the parameters, which can then be added as a new interval. Range-Based Interval Creation: Enter two values for each and all parameter (in an "x-x" format) to generate random intervals within that range. Interval List: Displays all created intervals as cards.

Card Swap: You can swap the order of two intervals in the list by clicking on their cards.

Delete Last Interval: Removes the most recently added interval card from the list.

Sequence Creation & Management:

Sequence: The collection of intervals you’ve created. You can give it a name, save it, load it, or delete it. Once you’re happy with your sequence, you can start it by pressing the Start Button.

Sequence Start: The interface allows for fullscreen mode once the sequence starts. A small blinker will appear in the bottom right corner, showing the current BPM. The color of the blinker changes based on the rhythm:

Green: Downstroke

Red: Upstroke

Black: after-stroke pause

Inter-Sequence Notifications: before each interval ends, a 5-second message will fade in, showing the tempo, tightness, and beat pattern of the next sequence. If there’s an intermittent pause, the screen will fade to black, and text will instruct the user to breathe, relax, and wait for the pause duration.

Image Display & Album Integration:During the intervals, images from the selected album will fade in. The image transition speed is controlled by the Imagefadein parameter. Images will shift at the speed defined by Imageshiftperiod.

Album Selection: You can change the selected album at any time during the sequence. The next image will fade in from the newly selected album once it’s changed.

Timing & Pause Features:

End Pause: At the end of the interval , a pause will occur. If the inteval has an end pause, the screen will fade to black and instruct the user to breathe and wait. The countdown will guide the user through the pause.

Infinite Inteval: The last interval of the sequence will stretch infinitely until the user stops the sequence. Every 300 seconds (or configurable time), a warning will notify the user that the sequence is ongoing.

Overall User Experience:Interactive and rhythm-driven experience, combining beats, tempos, and visuals from the album. Ability to customize and randomize beats, tempos, and image transitions, creating a personalized rhythmic experience. Seamless transitions between intervals and a clean user interface that helps focus on the rhythm while enjoying the accompanying imagery. for a bit more detailed explanation consult the help menu in each section

Once Again i state that these parts can access adult image boards thus the app is now considered NSFW and ADULTS ONLY because of these additions

[d8tl55c]

well @illmoraineakoi ive switched phones since you asked this, but i have not(!) forgotten. it seems it was a tiny teensy itty bitty bit more complex to discuss than i expected ';3 or i just ran out of steam LOL, tco_physeng_breakdown.png was a lot

but i digress! let's get to it

a TCO power core generates energy via superradiant⠀scattering.⠀

at the part of their THROUGHLINE* that would be considered the upper-torso on a human, a cylindrical compartment holds a tiny spinning object called a black hole.

because the black hole is spinning, the gravitational forces pull spacetime strangely in an oblong region around the black hole called the ergosphere. when electromagnetic radiation (light) enters the ergosphere, it is yanked along by the spinning, amplifying it (in exchange for some rotational energy).

this is a theoretically** extremely efficient method of generating energy, because all you have to do to spin up the black hole again is feed it some kind of mass—literally anything—and the trade results in net positive power.

the superradiance part happens when the light bounces off of the container walls, sloshing in and out of the black hole's area of influence over and over, and constructively interfering with itself, to build frightening power very, very quickly. this is the motivation for developing a material like the superinsulator lining.

if the radiation doesn't reflect, it doesn't build properly.

if the radiation escapes at the wrong moment, it annihilates the entire local physics simulation.

if the radiation builds too much***, the container explodes, even more violently shredding everything nearby into free quarks.

so, above everything else, the compiler and physeng put extra care into these details....

a double-layer superinsulator surrounds the power core. the inner one handles active particles through total internal reflection, and the outer one cuts off the inner components from the outside world. this composite is so effective that it prevents TCO from feeling any sense of temperature in that area, and it absorbs so much ambient heat that it can feel painfully cold to touch them here.

a standard superinsulator lining wraps all the way around the rest of their body, protecting the channels that funnel energy to their limbs, weapons, and flight systems. their coat of feathers overlaps this layer, and both forms of armor protect TCO from burns.

the "weakest" superinsulators are at the hardpoints, where flames and lasers and things are refined and fired. this type of barrier is one-way selectively permeable, which means it allows certain things (like heat) to flow one way, but not the other (so TCO also cannot detect heat on their palms).

notably, the absence of heat sensation does not correspond to an absence of touch sensation.

*(the spine: compiled base code, storage, processing space, et. al.)

**(source: learn more about spinning black holes here!)

***(smaller black holes shrink faster than larger ones, and when spinning objects shrink, they spin faster, and when the black hole spins too fast it yanks even the most tame radiation above acceptable limits, and so there are several monitors and protocols in place to make sure the black hole will not get too small)

(further discussion of this diagram)

_ _ _ _ _ _

in this context, a node is a region with little to no particles or energy or whatnot, and an antinode is the exact opposite of that.

right before using any special abilities, one or more antinodes are formed to provide the hardpoints with enough energy**** to function.

if the raw energy were somehow expelled without first being transformed, TCO could unmake anything they touched. Anything. there is no known material across the Outernet that would survive contact, and they would be likely to dissolve parts of themself in the process.

****(the hardpoints are actually some of the simplest components in this system. if you're a physicist with practically endless energy, you can make amazing stuff happen without a lot of hassle)

⠀

[otternalremnant]

Switch 2 Price: Objectively

Before I get started let me just say that I absolutely agree that $450 is a lot of money, not denying that one bit. Please do not be mean in the comments, I am mildly autistic and was abused as a child so I cry stupidly easy.

It goes without saying that some of this price has also been adjusted due to the new 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. (This has not been confirmed by Nintendo but it follows the market trend of companies passing those costs directly to consumers).

With that out of the way, lets look at the hardware specifications of the Switch 2 that have been confirmed by Nintendo and nvidia.

4k 120 FPS when docked

7.9" 1080p HDR LCD screen built in

DLSS, ray tracing, and g-sync support

256GB SSD storage

These specifications put the Switch 2 firmly above the capability of a PS4 in the form factor of what is essentially a tablet. The Switch 1 was about as capable as the PS3, which is also somewhat impressive for the formfactor. While we likely won't have actual benchmark tests until review units go out near launch, we can still see that the hardware is quite good based on the info we have. Now let's take a look devices with similar capability of Switch 2 that are currently available on the market.

PS5

The PS5 is a more powerful system than Switch 2 without a doubt with Sony originally toting 8k resolution support. However it is also a much larger device and is notoriously sold at a loss as has been the trend with all console manufacturers since the 1970s. The PS5 slim comes in at the same $450 as Switch 2 due to its lack of Bluray drive. It also cannot be played anywear other than your home unless you invest in the $200 Playstation Portal streaming handheld.

Xbox Series X/S

While the Xbox Series S comes in at $150 cheaper than the Switch 2, it has also been notoriously hard for developers to get their games running in 4k on the device and is widely considered a non option for others, with Microsoft having to wave certification requirements for certain games such as Baldur's Gate 3 in order for Larion Studios to even consider porting it to the Xbox.

These are also not a portable system and are likely to be discontinued soon due to Microsoft shifting focus away from console exclusivity and on to their GamePass streaming service.

Laptops

The lowest price I could find on a laptop that features similar performance to Switch 2 will cost you around $650. And while laptop PCs can do much more overall due to the nature of the Windows desktop environment, I'm looking at this from a purely gaming performance focus. These lower end devices often suffer from performance dips due to lack of proper cooling and the overhead of the OS as well.

Handhelds/Steamdeck likes

The Steam Deck is a pretty incredible value starting $400 with access to a vast amount of the Steam Library. However it struggles with running complex games in 4k and its ray tracing support is quite lacking as well, but to be fair the device was not really designed to do that. It also only has a 720p 60hz display and is quite a bit bulkier than the Switch. Steam Deck competitors such as the ROG Ally and Legion Go are a bit more capable, but have notoriously poor battery life and are much more expensive in the $700-800 range.

Switch 1

The Switch 2 is also bound to compete with the Switch 1 for sales due to pricing and availability in the first couple of years of its lifespan. While the system is 8 years old, it still has quite a vast amount of support from developers and publishers due to it having a great lifetime sales figure. It has unfortunately been notoriously under-powered since its initial launch in 2018 with developers often having to greatly pare down their games in order to get them running on the system and often releasing 1-2 years after they have already launched on other platforms. The system also hasn't dropped its price from $300 outside of rare holiday sales.

The extra power of the Switch 2 should allow for more games to run on the system at a much less compromised experience compared to PS5/PC ports.

TLDR; Yes $450 is expensive, but the cost of the hardware is a fair market price.

$80 for the games is batshit insane tho.

[neilsblog]

Unlocking the Power of Object-Based Storage for Modern Data-Driven Enterprises

In today’s fast-paced digital world, organizations are leveraging data-driven technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, and insight-driven functions to gain a competitive edge. These applications demand efficient data availability, seamless data retrieval, and secure access from any geographical location. Object Based Storage solutions have emerged as the cornerstone for…

[cityof2morrow]

EP11KB: Industrial Storage Units (3t2)

Published: 2-7-2024 | Updated: N/A SUMMARY “In need of a funkier, more futuristic skyline? The EP11 Kitbash Series (Simmons, 2022-2023) makes neighborhood assets from Sims 3: Into the Future (EA/Maxis, 2013) (and other EPs) available for Sims 2. Sets include single-tile shells and other items you’ll be able to plop on lots. Then, build above, below, in, and around them to create useable structures. Shell challenge anyone?” Here is a set of industrial storage containers from Oasis Landing (Sims 3: Into the Future, EA/Maxis, 2013) as decorative lot objects. They work well on industrial and/or factory lots and will go down with walls. The Storage Cylinder has space for up to four 1-tile doors and/or full-height windows. Otherwise, cover the openings!

DETAILS Requires all EPs/SPs. Cost: §1100 | Build > Architecture Storage Sphere 001 and the “-RECOLOR” files are BOTH REQUIRED for recolors to work – this set includes 30 color options. You also need the BB_Niche1_Master (BuggyBooz, 2012) and Element TXTR Repository from the Repository Pack (Simmons, 2023). ITEMS Storage Cylinder (~23x23 Tiles) (3248 poly) 5-Story Storage Spheres 001 and 002 (3004 poly) - click on the BASE of Storage Sphere 1 to recolor it. Storage Filler Material (638 poly) – make sure it is facing in the same direction as Sphere 001 and placed on the same tile. **Poly counts are semi-high due to meshing issues but limiting placement to 1-2 per lot should minimize the risk of pink flashing. Mind your system settings! DOWNLOAD (choose one) from SFS | from MEGA BUILDING TIPS (suggested methods) Build an octagon (20 tiles across, 19 tiles front-to-back) with sides of alternating lengths of 6 and 7 tiles respectively. Going clockwise, the front side should be 7 tiles across, the next should be 6 tiles across…and so on.

Once you’ve got 8 sides, add doors and/or windows to the center tile on the sides which are 7 tiles across. Use these entrances to get sims in and out of the building. Finally, place the Industrial Storage Cylinder on the tile directly in front of the front door/window. Add other details as needed.

For the Industrial Storage Spheres, you can build a functional catwalk between them. Place at least two, making sure the sides with the opening in the top gate and floor supports are facing one another.

Using columns, walls, etc., build up to the sixth floor, then add floor tiles and fencing.

CREDITS Thanks: Simblr community. Repository Technique Tutorial (HugeLunatic, 2018), Sims 3 Object Cloner (Jones/Simlogical and Peter, 2013), Sims 3 Package Editor (Jones/Simlogical and Peter, 2014), S3PI Library (Peter), S3PE Plugin (Peter, 2020), TSR Workshop v2.2.119 (2023). Sources: BB_Niche1_Master (BuggyBooz, 2012), Beyno (Korn via BBFonts), Oasis Landing (The Sims 3: Into the Future) List of Community Lots (Summer’s Little Sims 3 Garden, 2014), Recolors-ACYL (CuriousB, 2010).

[drewandan08]

Nacre

The predecessor and creators of the modern pearl, these gems were one of the first to be ever produced after rocks and are the direct creations of White Diamond, who only requires little to no essences from the other diamonds to produce them. She only uses their essence to produce Nacres that belong to their respective courts anyway.

Unlike other gems, whose gemstones are attached to a part of their body, they have the capability of living without them attached to their forms (as is the case for this Nacre, whose gem is inside the mollusk). Moreover, they have the capability of changing the color of their forms whenever they please due to their natural iridescence.

These gems used to be servants in the caste system, produced only in The Reef, but when these gems were discovered to have the capability of producing pearls, a more “superior” servant-type gem, all Nacres were elevated to the status of highest ranking servant gems, second only to the Copals, but servant nonetheless. They currently reside in The Reef, the location where all pearls are created.

This gem type is found in all courts (Black, White, Yellow, Blue, and Pink)

Powers: Unlike their creations/successors, they have fewer powers and limited capabilities. However, the little that they do have is still impressive nonetheless.

Holograms: Like pearls, they have the capability of producing solid or incorporeal holograms.

Storage: Like pearls, they can store objects in their gem. But this is a rather limited ability.

Mollusk Creation: They can synthesize chitin, calcium carbonate, and organ tissue in order to create mollusk-like constructs

Pearl Creation: Probably their greatest feat, these gems have the capability of producing pearls through the mollusks they create. They can do this by storing the essence they sweat out into the mollusk shells. The amount of pearls vary, but many are produced.

Pearl Manipulation: They can manipulate any pearl and shell. Besides this, they could also manipulate Calcium-Carbonate based substances. In addition, they could also rejuvenate and change the settings of any pearl without the need of The Reef.

[caelwynn]

Caelwynn's Mod List for Stardew 1.6.9+ - Gameplay/Quality of Life (pg 1)

Last Updated: April 17, 2025

Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4.

Abilities — Experience Bars 1.6 — Adds additional information to the experience bars, such as how much XP you have and how much you need. Also makes it easier to show such information for mod-added skills.

Actually Lucky Rabbit's Foot (Rebooted) — Makes the Rabbit's Foot actually give you some Luck! A passive luck bonus is applied to your character whenever you carry around a rabbit's foot.

Activate Sprinklers — lets you activate sprinklers by right-clicking them.

Archaeology Skill — Adds a new skill tree based around digging artifact spots and panning mechanics as well as a couple of new machines, new food, and a way of displaying artifacts.

Auto Animal Doors — automatically releases your animals from the buildings at a set time each day, and then locks the buildings back up at another set time.

Auto Heal and Energize — Automatically consume food to recover when your health or stamina is low!

Automatic Gates — for those of us too lazy to open/shut gates.

Better Crafting — an extensive overhaul of the crafting system. I mostly use it for the ability to bulk craft.

Better Chests — allows for better organization and search/filtering capabilities for your chests.

Better Friendship — adds a bubble above the heads of NPCs informing you if you've spoken with them today and what in your current inventory they might like to receive as a gift.

Better Junimos — allows Junimos to automatically plant crops, fertilize, water plants, harvest forage, clear dead crops, and NOT harvest your flowers.

Better Quarry Redux — improves the spawn rate of geodes, ore, and gems in the quarry.

Better Ranching — adds a bubble above the heads of farm animals informing you if they need petted and/or milked/sheered/whatever.

Better Truffles — Adds the capability for pigs to dig for truffles in tall grass and provide a bubble to show that the truffles are there.

Better Winter Star Gifts —reduces the number of 'dud' gifts at the Feast.

Bigger Backpack — allows you to purchase an additional row of storage space in your backpack.

Bigger Fridges — Increases the size of the fridge from 36 slots to 70.

Blue Eggs and Golden Mayo — allows you to make blue eggs/blue mayo from blue chickens, and golden mayo and ostrich mayo.

Boss Battles — This mod adds 7 new unique bosses to the mines with varying difficulty settings and arenas, each dropping cool costumes and valuable materials.

Brown Cows Give Chocolate Milk — Exactly what it says. Also allows you to make chocolate bars from chocolate milk.

Build and Place Anything Anywhere — Lets you build, farm, or place furniture / objects anywhere.

Catalogue Filter - Continued — Adds a filter field for shop menus and catalogues that lets you filter shown items based on text input.

Central Station — Travel to other mods' destinations by boat, bus, or train. You can also get a ticket to the Central Station to change line, visit the gift shop, and more.

Challenging Community Center Bundles — A bundle overhaul mod which tries to create a challenging but not frustrating experience playing Stardew Valley.

Chests Anywhere — access your chests from anywhere on the map, or from select locations as set up in the config.

CJB Cheats Menu — a GUI to access various console commands. I mostly use it to freeze time while decorating or to warp to certain locations prior to unlocking the minecarts, because with as many expansions as I have, it takes for-freaking-ever to walk everywhere.

CJB Item Spawner — allows you to spawn any item in the game. Useful for cheating for respawning an item that bugged.

CJB Show Item Sell Price — shows a tooltip telling you how much an item (or stack of items) would sell for.

Cornucopia - Artisan Machines — Similar to PPJA Artisan Valley, this adds ten new artisan machines, over eight new goods, four new special orders, and vanilla-style balance.

Cornucopia More Crops — adds over 90 new crops and 35 new trees. I moved to this when PPJA did not get updated for 1.6.

Cornucopia More Flowers — adds over 40 new flowers and 5 new flowering trees to the game. Again, moved to this after PPJA was discontinued.

Custom Wedding Ceremony — Adds seven different wedding locations, more decorations, changes Lewis's speech, and other delightful small details.

The Masterpost for all of the mods is located here.

[friendsfan04]

Blog Post #3

Do companies such as Apple benefit from the fact that their phones cannot be updated after a certain number of years? 

Companies, such as Apple, do tend to benefit from not allowing users to update their phones after a certain amount of time. Apple has been known for having the newest gadgets and the highest level of technology. People go as far as to describe it as a “luxury” brand. However, as many of us have probably experienced at some point, the IOS systems tend to run slower as time passes, making it hard for Apple users to keep up with the newest technology. They stop allowing older phones to download the newer versions of IOS, apps run slower, storage space disappears in the blink of an eye, battery life decreases, etc. All of these things start happening so that users will seek out the latest iPhone and buy more items from Apple. 

2. How does digital literacy feed into the digital divide in terms of older vs newer generations? 

When looking at the digital literacy of previous generations, it’s very different than younger generations. Older generations are used to platforms such as Facebook, AOL, MySpace, dial-up internet, etc. However, younger generations are hopping on all the new trends on a variety of social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. When we compare these different does of communication, previous generations don’t have the same digital literacy as the newer generations because so much has changed in the last few years, and it’s hard to keep up with everything because things are constantly changing. 

3. What are some of the potential limits of “the New Jim Code” and how do they affect people? 

“The New Jim Code” is based on the previous “Jim Code Laws” which basically describe how things are changing in terms of technology. People are changing their opinions of things they see online and marking them as either objective or progressive, depending on the time period it’s coming from. This affects people because we tend to care a lot about how we are perceived by others, and whether or not they will agree with our views. 

4. Why do people often complain about facial recognition? How can we fix this problem? 

People complain about facial recognition technology because it’s often modeled after the generalized “white man.” I’ve also heard people say that this is just another way for the government to keep tabs on us, which may or may not be true. However, this code that was originally entered for facial recognition is failing humans because it is very inaccurate. For example, it’s basically implying that Black men and women look alike, and this is criminalizing innocent people. I think this problem should be taken into careful consideration and developed with more detail so that it can be more specific and precise, instead of putting innocent people behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit. 

5. How does intersectionality coincide with social media? 

Intersectionality is defined as a frame, which when used, is able to single out the issues within institutions that might have been previously overlooked. I’ve seen instances of intersectionality pop up across social media platforms because some people will point out something that a business or institution is doing wrong, and will create a lot of noise around it. This allows more people to see the issue and in turn, causes the company to make a change.

Benjamin, R. (2020). Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity. 

Crenshaw, K. (2016, December 7). The Urgency of Intersectionality. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o 

Everett, A. (2002). The Revolution Will Be Digitized. Duke University Press. https://read.dukeupress.edu/social-text/article-abstract/20/2%20(71)/125/32619/The-Revolution-Will-Be-DigitizedAFROCENTRICITY-AND?redirectedFrom=fulltext 

[santoschristos]

Vivekananda: Sexual Force

Kundalini: Realise the soul not as matter, but as it is. We are thinking of the soul as body, but we must separate it from sense and thought. Then alone can we know we are immortal. Change implies the duality of cause and effect, and all that changes must be mortal. This proves that the body cannot be immortal, nor can the mind, because both are constantly changing. Only the unchangeable can be immortal, because there is nothing to act upon it.

We do not become it, we are it; but we have to clear away the veil of ignorance that hides the truth from us. The body is objectified thought. The "sun" and "moon" currents bring energy to all parts of the body. The surplus energy is stored at certain points (plexuses) along the spinal column commonly known as nerve centres.

These currents are not to be found in dead bodies and can only be traced in a healthy organism.

The Yogi has an advantage; for he is able not only to feel them, but actually to see them. They are luminous in his life, and so are the great nerve centres.

There is conscious as well as unconscious action. The Yogis possess a third kind, the superconscious, which in all countries and

in all ages has been the source of all religious knowledge. The superconscious state makes no mistakes, but whereas the action of the instinct would be purely mechanical, the former is beyond

consciousness.

It has been called inspiration, but the Yogi says, “This faculty is in

every human being, and eventually all will enjoy it.”

We must give a new direction to the “sun” and “moon” currents and open for them a new passage through the centre of the spinal cord. When we succeed in bringing the currents through this

passage called “Sushumnâ”, up to the brain, we are for the time being separated entirely from the body.

The nerve centre at the base of the spine near the sacrum is most important. It is the seat of the generative substance of the sexual

energy and is symbolized by the Yogi as a triangle containing a tiny serpent coiled up in it. This sleeping serpent is called Kundalini, and to raise this Kundalini is the whole object of Raja-Yoga.

The great sexual force, raised from animal action and sent upward to the great dynamo of the human system, the brain, and there stored up, becomes Ojas or spiritual force. All good thought, all prayer, resolves a part of that animal energy into Ojas and helps to give us spiritual power. This Ojas is the real man and in human beings alone is it possible for this storage of Ojas to be accomplished. One in whom the whole animal sex force has been transformed into Ojas is a god. He speaks with power, and his words regenerate the world.

The Yogi pictures this serpent as being slowly lifted from stage to stage until the highest, the pineal gland, is reached. No man or woman can be really spiritual until the sexual energy, the highest

power possessed by man, has been converted into Ojas.

No force can be created; it can only be directed. Therefore we must learn to control the grand powers that are already in our hands and by will power make them spiritual instead of merely

animal. Thus it is clearly seen that chastity is the corner-stone of all morality and of all religion. In Raja-Yoga especially, absolute chastity in thought, word, and deed is a sine qua non. The same laws apply to the married and the single. If one wastes the most potent forces of one's being, one cannot become spiritual. – Swami Vivekananda, Lessons on Raja Yoga