#Code to Learn contest 2021

[govindhtech]

The BrowseComp: Benchmarking Web Browsing Agents

A simple yet challenging benchmark that tests AI agents' ability to discover hard-to-find information.

AI agents that learn from internet surfing are growing in importance. A performant browsing agent may locate hard-to-find information by visiting tens or hundreds of websites. Models using rapid browsing tools, such as GPT-4o, have exceeded SimpleQA criteria for extracting basic data. OpenAI is open-sourcing BrowseComp, or “Browsing Competition,” a benchmark of 1,266 challenging topics to test AI agents' ability to identify convoluted, hard-to-find internet content. You may get the study article and benchmark at OpenAI's simple evals github repository⁠.

The BrowseComp standard

OpenAI created BrowseComp, an easy-to-verify browsing benchmark that is hard for models. One challenge to evaluating big language models is that they tend to long, open-ended replies. Questions with concise answers and one right answer are its focus. Due to this emphasis on quick replies, BrowseComp performance may not correspond with open-ended user distribution performance. OpenAI accepts this trade-off since brief responses are easier to assess and the benchmark is simple.

OpenAI required human trainers to create fact-based questions with a single, consistent, evidence-based solution, following the SimpleQA⁠ standard. BrowseComp trainers created really challenging questions. OpenAI performed three tests to ensure question difficulty:

Existing models couldn't solve the query. Trainers were asked to check that GPT-4o (with and without browsing), o1, and an early deep research model were unable to address the tasks.

Trainers were asked to perform five simple searches and ensure the solution was not on the first few pages of results.

Trainers were told to create activities that someone could not do in 10 minutes. A second trainer attempted to answer certain queries, albeit this was not fully enforced. If trainers performed tasks above 40% of the time, they were asked to amend their assignments.

OpenAI suggested trainers to start with a fact and then create a “inverted” question with a hard-to-find but easy-to-confirm response to create challenging questions Trainers would start with a “seed” (a person, event, or artefact) and explore a large space for qualities to transform into questions. We offered a sample question:

Tell me the title of the 2018–2023 EMNLP conference scientific work. The first and fourth authors attended Dartmouth College and Penn, respectively. Frequency Effects on Transformer Syntactic Rule Learning (EMNLP 2021).

While a few online searches can verify this question, a brute-force search would require looking through hundreds of publications and researching each author's history. Due to their difficulty and reliability, “asymmetry of verification” issues are useful benchmarks.

BrowseComp is simple yet evaluates AI agents' productive browsing:

Models must reason about internet content's authenticity to respond correctly.

Because BrowseComp answers are hard to find, it takes persistence and extensive browsing.

Brute-force methods are too slow or impossible to find many answers. Thus, the model must be creative to get the proper answer in a reasonable period.

BrowseComp helps browsing agents but is incomplete. BrowseComp avoids the challenges of a real user query distribution, such as long replies or ambiguity resolution, but it tests the essential ability of patience and creativity to find information. Models that win programming contests like CodeForces have great coding abilities that may apply to other technical careers, but this is not guaranteed. To solve BrowseComp, the model must be adept in finding hard-to-find information, however this isn't true for all browsing jobs.

Dataset diversity and difficulties

When establishing the BrowseComp benchmark, OpenAI asked trainees to construct questions about their own interests to provide a more interesting experience and higher-quality data.

OpenAI asked human trainees to answer BrowseComp questions to assess dataset difficulty. They were the same trainers who created the questions, but they couldn't answer them. Human trainers were asked to complete the task without an AI assistant ( ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, or Gemini) and were not provided the correct answer.

Certain topics are challenging, thus OpenAI lets trainers identify a subject as unsolvable and progress if they can find a solution within two hours of investigation. As seen here, trainers solved 29.2% of issues and matched the reference answer 86.4% of the time.

OpenAI model performance

OpenAI evaluated GPT-4o, GPT-4.5, OpenAI o1 (medium) models without browsing, GPT-4o with browsing, and Deep Research, a persistent web surfing agent model, on BrowseComp. As seen in the table below, GPT-4o and GPT-4.5 achieved practically 0% accuracy, highlighting the difficulties of the benchmark. BrowseComp addresses exotic, multi-hop facts that models cannot uncover without strong reasoning or tool use.

When browsing was permitted for GPT-4o, accuracy climbed from 0.6% to 1.9%, but performance remained dismal. This shows that surfing alone is insufficient; models must also think strategically, detect relevant search pathways, and analyse retrieved material. This shows that internal knowledge inference can reveal BrowseComp replies. OpenAI o1, which cannot browse but has greater reasoning, is more accurate. These data indicate that reasoning and tool use greatly impact BrowseComp performance.

Deep Research solves half the issues better than any other model. Given its ability to freely explore the web, assess and synthesise data from various sources, and adapt its search technique, it can solve previously unsolvable issues. It excels at answering specialised, non-intuitive questions that require perusing many websites, the type of challenge BrowseComp is meant to assess, by synthesising massive amounts of online information, changing course, and citing each claim.

Compute scaling during testing

OpenAI o1 on AIME⁠ and OpenAI o3‑mini low/medium/high⁠ show that agent performance scales with inference time computation. Since the queries require iteratively examining many webpages and gathering information, OpenAI should expect more inference-time computation to improve BrowseComp performance.

Aggregation methods that utilise extra computation

OpenAI tried each problem several times and used different strategies to choose the best answer to see if the Deep Research model would perform better with more compute. This experiment aggregated the 64 model outputs per question using best-of-N, weighted voting, and majority voting.

Majority votes for most typical example response.

Weighted voting uses zero-shot triggering the model to calculate a confidence score for each attempt and voting accordingly.

Best-of-N picks the most reliable.

Conclusions

BrowseComp tests a model's online search for hard-to-find information. BrowseComp measures the ability to find a single piece of information, is straightforward to examine, and challenges existing browsing agents, even if it does not measure frequent searches. By releasing BrowseComp open-source, OpenAI hopes to spur research into more reliable AI.

[fraoula1]

𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐛3 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨: 𝐀 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦

In the fast-changing world of Web3 and cryptocurrency, scalability remains a top concern for decentralized applications (dApps). Layer 1 solutions, like Ethereum, have made significant strides but often face issues such as high gas fees and slow transaction speeds. This is where Optimistic Rollups come into play. These innovative tools are designed to increase scalability while ensuring the security of the blockchain itself. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at Optimistic Rollups and dive into two leading examples: Optimism and Arbitrum.

What are Optimistic Rollups?

Optimistic Rollups are a Layer 2 scaling solution that enhances the throughput of transactions while minimizing costs. They achieve this by handling off-chain computations and only submitting summaries of these transactions back to the main blockchain. This allows them to process thousands of transactions quickly and efficiently.

The term "Optimistic" comes from the system's assumption that transactions are valid by default. This reduces the burden on the network and leads to faster transaction confirmations. However, to maintain trust, there is a challenge period during which users can contest potentially fraudulent transactions.

Exploring Optimism

Optimism stands out as one of the first successful projects employing Optimistic Rollups. Launched in 2021, it has quickly garnered attention for its ability to allow Ethereum-based dApps to scale efficiently while remaining compatible with existing tools.

Key Features of Optimism

EVM Compatibility: One major advantage of Optimism is its seamless compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This means developers can migrate their dApps without having to make significant changes to their code.

Affordable Costs: Users can expect transaction fees on Optimism to be as much as 90% lower than those on the Ethereum mainnet. This reduction is vital, especially for smaller transactions, as it encourages broader activity within the ecosystem.

Interoperability: Optimism can interact with various Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions. This flexibility enhances its functionality and appeal within the broader landscape of blockchain technologies.

Exploring Arbitrum

Arbitrum has also made significant strides in the Optimistic Rollup space. Created by Offchain Labs, this platform focuses on increasing Ethereum’s capacity through efficient and scalable off-chain transactions.

Key Features of Arbitrum

Widespread Ecosystem Support: Many notable projects, including Onyx and Curve, have adopted Arbitrum to scale their operations. This opens doors for new developers looking for established support and infrastructure.

High Throughput: Arbitrum’s design allows for thousands of transactions per second, making it a great option for projects that expect a high volume of user interactions, like gaming or finance apps.

User-Friendly Experience: Arbitrum keeps the Ethereum interface familiar, making it easy for users to make transactions without needing to learn new processes. This lowered barrier encourages more individuals to participate in the blockchain space.

Comparing Optimism and Arbitrum

Both Optimism and Arbitrum have unique advantages and challenges that set them apart.

Technical Differences

Transaction Confirmation: Optimism typically has a two-week challenge window before finalizing transactions, whereas Arbitrum can finalize transactions much more quickly, generally within a few minutes.

Developer Community: According to statistics, Arbitrum has attracted three times more developers compared to Optimism. This larger community contributes to a more vibrant ecosystem, with a wider selection of dApps available for users.

Use Cases

These scaling solutions are making waves across various sectors. Both projects host key applications such as:

Optimism: Uniswap, Synthetix

Arbitrum: Chainlink, Aave

Advantages of Optimistic Rollups

Optimistic Rollups bring a range of benefits that extend beyond just improving scalability.

Enhanced Accessibility

With transaction fees dramatically reduced, Optimistic Rollups make it much easier for everyday users to access blockchain technology. A broader range of users means increased adoption and growth of the ecosystem.

Scalability While Maintaining Security

Differentiating itself from other Layer 2 solutions, Optimistic Rollups preserve both decentralization and security. They do this without putting additional burdens on users or developers, making for a smoother transition.

Development Flexibility

Developers can quickly test and launch new applications using Optimistic Rollups. This encourages innovation and rapid iteration, allowing for better products and solutions.

Challenges Facing Optimistic Rollups

Despite their strengths, Optimistic Rollups do face some significant challenges.

Security Concerns

The optimistic nature of these rollups can lead to potential fraud. It's essential that the underlying challenge mechanism is robust enough to detect and prevent dishonest transactions.

Transitional Complexity

Moving from Layer 1 to Layer 2 can be complex. Both developers and users may find it challenging to navigate between these two models. This complexity could hinder widespread adoption without proper support and resources.

Practical Applications

Several initiatives are already leveraging Optimistic Rollups, showcasing their transformative potential.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

DeFi platforms strive to deliver inclusive financial services. With Optimistic Rollups, these platforms can manage more transactions at a lower cost, making services more accessible to users.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

NFT marketplaces gain significantly from faster transaction speeds and reduced costs. Optimistic Rollups create the ideal environment for both creating and trading NFTs, alleviating transaction overhead.

Future Prospects for Optimistic Rollups

The outlook for Optimistic Rollups is bright. As developers become more aware of their benefits, we can expect to see increased adoption across various sectors.

Strategic Collaborations

Both Optimism and Arbitrum are working to form partnerships that will push their ecosystems further. Collaborations with key players in the crypto world could lead to even quicker adoption rates.

Strengthening Security Protocols

As this technology matures, enhancing security features and challenge mechanisms will be crucial to maintain user trust and prevent future exploits.

Final Thoughts

Optimistic Rollups present an exciting solution to the scalability challenges facing Ethereum and other blockchains. With projects like Optimism and Arbitrum leading the way, the scope for application is vast. As the Web3 ecosystem expands, integrating these technologies will be essential for managing the growing number of users and transactions.

The future of blockchain will rely on strategies that focus on scalability, user access, and innovative security. Optimistic Rollups are central to this evolution, paving the way for a more efficient decentralized web.

[mariacallous]

Cybercriminals can be inventive—especially if there’s money on the table. One hacker has penned a 50-page essay on how to invest in cryptocurrency and sell at the right time to make a profit. Another put together a guide for how to create a fake version of blockchain.com that could be used to steal people’s usernames and passwords. And another produced instructions—cryptically titled “Elegantly breed daddies on lavender”—explaining how to scam money from people who pay to watch webcam models perform.

The unusual collection of documents and tutorials were all produced by cybercriminals and hackers trying to win money for their ideas, technical skills, and writing ability. Once they finish their articles, they submit them to be judged in competitions on Russian-language cybercrime forums. These contests, which can pay out thousands of dollars, are one of the forums’ more peculiar aspects.

For more than a decade, Russian-language cybercrime forums—which largely exist for trading stolen data, touting new security vulnerabilities, and connecting criminals—have run contests allowing their members to make some extra cash and gain some kudos in the process. A new analysis by cybersecurity firm Sophos is shedding some light on how these contests run and how they’ve rapidly grown in size in the last few years. For those entering, there’s the potential of a decent payday: $80,000 USD was the total prize pot in one recent contest.

“You can tell some people put a lot of work into these,” says Christopher Budd, director of threat research at Sophos X-Ops. “Sometimes what people present isn't necessarily the newest or most original stuff. But it's stuff that is interesting or in some way has appeal to the audience.”

In the analysis, Sophos researcher Matt Wixey examined the most recent contests on the cybercrime forums Exploit and XSS. The forums’ administrators announce the contests and ask people to submit written articles. While the entries are most often in Russian, Budd says, sometimes forum members will translate them into English to be “a good community member.”

The most recent competition on XSS was held between March and July 2022. There was a general prize pot of $40,000—up from $15,000 the previous year. The Sophos analysis says the contest was general, with forum members being asked to submit entries on around half a dozen topics. Malware development, methods for dodging antivirus and security products, ways of hiding malicious code, and social engineering techniques were all included in the list.

Meanwhile, Exploit’s last contest offered more prize money—$80,000 in total—but was more specific, asking for entries on cryptocurrency attacks, thefts, and vulnerabilities in April 2021. One sub-genre of the theme was “security of working with cryptocurrencies, except for banal things.”

“It's another way that the criminal world is mirroring and adapting and adopting best practices from the legitimate side of the business,” says Budd. He compares some of the processes and entries as akin to those of legitimate cybersecurity research conferences and events, such as Black Hat, Defcon, and Pwn2Own. Unlike cybersecurity researchers who find issues to make products and services more secure before sharing their research for others to learn from, the criminals are producing the work with malicious intent.

The criminal contests have their own rules to reduce the chance of cheating, Budd says. On Exploit, the rules say the entries “must not have been published elsewhere,” should be “meaningful and voluminous,” they should include technical details such as code or algorithms, and be “at least 5,000 characters (excluding spaces).” That equals out to around 1,000 words, or the rough length of this WIRED article. The rules on XSS are similar—“copy-paste = expulsion from the contest, in disgrace”—but they require articles to be longer (at least 7,000 characters) and say there should be “proper formatting, spelling, and punctuation.”

However, scammers are going to scam. In their most recent contests, Exploit had 35 entries and XSS had 38 entries. But XSS disqualified 10 of them. The winners of the competitions are decided by forum members voting on the entries, but the sites’ admins can also pick the winners, and there have been complaints of vote rigging, according to Sophos.

These competitions have evolved and grown over time, Budd says. Previous research from cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows, which has since been acquired by ReliaQuest, shows that contests on cybercrime forums started around 2006. Roman Faithfull, a cyber-threat intelligence analyst at ReliaQuest, says these earliest competitions were very simple. “At the start, they were quite low-key,” Faithfull says. “They weren't always organized by forum administrators.”

Some of the earliest competitions, he says, asked forum members to design logos or even offered a small monetary prize to the commenter on a forum thread who had the longest account history on the site. “As forums became more sophisticated, the contests in general became more sophisticated,” Faithfull says.

Since around 2015, the contests, most of which are held annually, have focused on writing and submitting articles and code, the ReliaQuest researcher says. “There's a lot of focus on stuff that will make people money,” he adds. As this has happened, the prize pots have increased too: On XSS, the total prize pot was $1,000 in 2018 and rose to $40,000 with $14,000 for the winner in 2021. “No one is going to put out their absolute best stuff into this unless they're in a really hard spot and need some quick cash,” Faithfull says. “You're unlikely to see a ransomware group, or really, someone really high up.”

The content of the entries to the most recent two contests is reasonably broad, the Sophos research found. Some were more innovative, while others were essentially repeating information found elsewhere. The winning entry in Exploit’s 2021 crypto competition was the creation of the cloned blockchain.com website, with Sophos saying it is “relatively simplistic” overall. “A cloned site like this would typically be used like any other phishing or credential-harvesting site,” the research says.

Other winning entries or those getting honorable mentions in the Exploit competition focused on targeting initial coin offerings, a guide to creating a phishing site to steal people’s cryptocurrency account details, and a tutorial on creating a cryptocurrency from scratch. However, it is worth noting that there have been free and publicly available tutorials on how to do this for several years,” the Sophos research says.

One entry into the XSS competition detailed the author's experience attacking Microsoft’s Active Directory service and how to hide hacking tools from Windows’ antivirus systems. The winning XSS entry, though, centered on vulnerabilities in electronic payment systems; it also highlighted one vulnerability in the XSS forum that allowed people to “effectively generate cryptocurrency out of thin air,” the Sophos research says. Only one article focused on hardware. The author wrote a guide to creating a hardware cryptocurrency wallet and included photographs and CAD drawings. It isn’t cybercrime-specific, and instead tries to keep people’s bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies safe from attacks, the research says.

“These are good for helping us to understand what people in the criminal underground are looking at, broadly speaking,” Budd says, adding he believes the main purpose of the contests for the forums is to encourage community. Multiple cybercrime forums of different sizes are operating at any one time, and if a forum has better conversation, technical information, and offers incentives, then there’s a greater chance people will keep coming back.

But the contests may also help to feed into more organized cybercrime groups. The prize money for the contests is often put up by the forum owners, but it can also be provided by prominent cybercrime gangs—including All World Cards and the LockBit ransomware group. The XSS competition in 2022 was sponsored by one threat actor using the handle Alan Wake, which has been linked to the Conti ransomware group by some. “If your sponsor likes your article,” one post read, “after the end of the competition you will be offered a highly paid job in the Alan Wake team.”

[madscientist008]

Meet Alexander Wang, 25, The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

You may have heard of Scale AI, the San Francisco-based company that helps hundreds of businesses unlock the potential of their data with artificial intelligence. But do you know the story behind its founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang? Alexandr Wang is not your typical tech billionaire. He grew up in New Mexico, where his parents were physicists working on weapons projects for the military. He was a math prodigy who competed in national contests and landed a full-time coding job at Quora when he was 17. He enrolled at MIT to study machine learning, but dropped out after his freshman year to start Scale AI with his cofounder, Lucy Guo. Scale AI provides a platform that connects companies with a network of human annotators who label and organize massive amounts of data, such as images, text, and audio. This data is then used to train and improve machine learning models for various applications, such as self-driving cars, satellite imagery analysis, and e-commerce. Scale AI has more than 300 clients, including General Motors, Flexport, and the US Air Force and Army. In 2021, Scale AI raised $325 million in a funding round that valued the company at $7.3 billion. Wang's estimated 15% stake in the company made him the world's youngest self-made billionaire, with a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes. He was only 25 years old at the time. Wang is not just a visionary entrepreneur, but also a generous philanthropist. He has donated millions of dollars to causes such as Covid-19 relief, education, and diversity in tech. He also supports young innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs through mentorship and investment. Alexandr Wang is an inspiration to anyone who dreams of making a positive impact on the world with technology. He proves that age is no barrier to success, and that passion, curiosity, and hard work can lead to amazing achievements.

[global-khabari]

Google India Code to Learn contest 2021

Google India Code to Learn contest 2021 #Code #CodeToLearnContest #CodeToLearnContest2021 #Google #GoogleIndia #CodeToLearn

In the Field of Computer Science/Information Technology, there are various opportunities. Every teacher and parent wants a better future for their students and Child. From the future point of view, Everything is going online. So if your student/child wants to be part of the Digital world means in programming or in the IT sector. Then you must prepare them for the future from now. Image Source:…

[ls-daydreams]

Forget-Me-Not Intro

A suicidal reporter becomes the object of a serial killer's affections.

DETAILS: genre — thriller, romance // themes — grief, peculiar love, beauty in ugliness // status — finished // medium — film // wordcount — 25k words // warnings — murder, suicide, death, blood, panic attacks, cutting

READ HERE

Story Tag | Playlist - Spotify | Playlist - Youtube

Summary, Characters & More Info under the cut

SUMMARY: Haunted by never-ending tragedies, reporter Seo Joon decides to end his life in an almost derelict bath house. It's there he runs into a pair of odd strangers who force him to pick a side when they get into a violent fight, Seo Joon accidentally ending up killing one to save the other. A connection immediately forms between Seo Joon and the rescued stranger, Yul, who convinces the former to put off his initial plans.

It's only the next morning that Seo Joon learns two things: Yul is a photographer working for the police, and the man they killed was completely certain Yul was a serial killer trying to claim him as the next victim.

CHARACTERS:

Kang Seo Joon: Lonely and alone, Seo Joon struggles to make a life for himself after succumbing into a deep depression. Drawing no satisfaction from his repetitive job, drowning in grief, and haunted by the perception that he is unlovable, he is close to surrendering to his dark thoughts when he meets Yul.

Choi Yul: A seasoned photographer with a murky past, Yul is a deeply caring man trying (and failing) to alienate himself from people in order to protect them. Afraid of losing his loved ones, he immortalizes them in photographs, to keep them alive and by his side forever.

Kim Jiwon: An ambitious police officer who refuses to take things at face value, Jiwon carries her own deep grief after losing a family member in an accident for which she blames herself. Now haunted by a strange phobia and overlooked by her peers, she is forced to choose between staying loyal to an old friend or helping a charming newcomer.

Lee Kibum: A kooky private investigator who shares a past with Yul, Kibum sticks out like a sore thumb and loves it. Never still and always cheerful, he hides a dangerous and obsessive persona behind silly pretenses and an overwhelming friendliness.

Yong Sanghyuk: A troubled, vengeful man still feeling his brother's loss even after decades. Driven only by grief and rage, he carelessly throws away his life in his pursuit for revenge, managing to come only seconds away from achieving his goal.

MORE INFO:

The Inspiration & Idea: Originally titled Focus, this story served as my final major project for my Bachelor's. Having fought to write this idea (which was called too ambitious and hard to write at the time), it was all I could think about for months, and championing it proved to be the best decision I could possibly make. Inspired - again - mainly by Taemin's work, the story kept evolving throughout the years, and I with it. I wanted to explore the idea of grief and how different people experience and live with it, as well as discussing odd and intricate bonds between people who, despite being alienated from the world, understand each other perfectly.

The Feedback: This is my most successful story to date, having won Blue Cat's Fellini Award in 2020 and Best Dialogue & Best Characters at the 2021 Plot Point Awards, as well as placing as a quarterfinalist in Final Draft's 2020 Big Break Contest and semifinalist in Screencraft's 2020 Drama Competition. I was also a semifinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in 2020, which is still quite surreal.

The Extended Universe: I wrote two companion pieces to this:

1. Snapshots, a mock-up of Yul's photo album from the film. The idea would be to scan codes on the back of the photos, which would take you to a diary entry, a video, or a letter exploring that certain period in Yul's life. It goes from his childhood all the way to the night he meets Seo Joon.

2. To My Star, a transmedia experience in the form of a love letter Seo Joon writes to Yul. This letter is narrated, recorded, and played over a video containing photographs and articles from the film, as well as accompanied by physical elements such as Yul's origami rose and some of his polaroids. This piece was shown during the Underdog Scriptwriting Festival in 2019.

Both these pieces correlate to earlier drafts of the story, so I'm not making them public as they're riddled with inconsistencies. 

The universe of Forget-Me-Not also expands into both Metanoia and Flat 27, the action taking place in the same small town (Plain River)

[raphael-schreave]

Challenge 2: First Dates

Hii, guys! The waiting is over! Challenge two is here, and it’s time for the beautiful ladies to go out on their first dates with King Raphael.

This time, for organization purposes, we would like to ask you to fill [ THIS ] schedule sheet with the name of your OC to let us know the time you would like to start your date. When the day of your date comes Anya would send you a message 10 min before the chosen time so you would be ready to start.

Please note as to make sure everyone is given a good amount of time to have their dates start properly, only 2 slots a day will be open for dates to start. The order of the dates on the sheet will also be the order of the dates in OC time. If you haven’t signed up your OC’s name by September 8th, 2021 we will send you a reminder. Remember that this date Rp is mandatory.

The dates will be as follows:

Ivy - Movie Night at the Park

Meredith - Attend the Angeles Rams vs San Francisco 49ers Football Game

Diana - Attend a Charity Auction

Alassie - Visit the Angeles Sunday Market (aka Smorgasburg)

Ramona - Visit the Wildlife Learning Center

Rhea - Attend RENT live at the Hollywood Bowl

Cornelia - Go Karting + Visit the Sta. Monica Pier

Kaden - Bike Riding in Venice Beach

Andreia - A Scavenger Hunt at the Angeles National Art Gallery

Suzy - A Photography Contest at the Angeles County Fair 

A couple of days prior to your date, King Raphael will send a note with a dress code, hour, and place where your girl would meet him. RPs will begin with these messages indicating the specifics. 

Side Rps Beginning this challenge, Side rps will be open by request (meaning there will be no draw for it, you only have to fill the form). You can only request 2 side rps in total. Archie, Samuel, Sandra, Bellamy, and Eleanor will be available either before or after your girl’s date with Raffy.

  Raffy, Bianca, Austen, and Sylvan will be open only after being done with your mandatory date rp or if your date RP has exceeded more than a week or 7 days. In this round, you can only have 1 side rp with Raffy as part of your 2 Side RP requests.

Ooc this challenge will last 3 weeks. All rps should be done by September 24th, 2021 at 6 PM (UTC - 4:00). In the OC Timeline, the dates will be going on from September 15 to October 6. (Meaning all dates will be happening within those dates). 

As you know, if you have any questions or doubts you can message us on hangouts or send an ask on @oc8-admins  or @raphael-schreave​

Table setting

Eliminations King Raphael is sad to say goodbye to the following ladies: Lulu Martin Gianna Watson Lana Trajano Kristal Reger Madison Day Susan Haring Giselle Onassis Iris Sanders Nahla Hill Michaela Robinson

[amfgeog2260]

A Glimpse of the Semester...

Everyone always says how fast semesters go once they get going, and it's true once again! It is crazy to think that we are already writing our final blog posts for this class, and it feels like last week that I was creating my first Tumblr account and following all of my classmates who I did not know anything about. I am not sure whether it is the format, the class, or the layout of our discussions but it feels as if this semester has had some of the most engaging and interesting discussions while I have been at university. I find it difficult to take a whole semester of readings, course content, assignments, and discussions with peers, and pack it into a relatively small blog post… but I am going to do my best! 

3 Things I Know About Human Geographic Research

1. The first thing I can say I know about human geography, is more broadly what it is, and how qualitative methods of human geography are used in human geography. The first chapter of the textbook does a really good job at outlining from the beginning what it is, and how its complexity and open-endedness can be used. What I mean by that is exactly what the textbook says, that qualitative methods in human geography are concerned with “elucidating human environments and human experiences” (Hay 2016, p. 5). Fundamentally, all of the analysis, research, interpretation, and methods employed by qualitative human geographic investigators circles back to the goal of answering questions related to social structures and or individual experiences (Hay 2016, p. 5). At the beginning of the course, this idea of tackling both structural macro questions/issues along with individual experience or micro issues was hard for me to conceptualize. At this point I have a better understanding of the goal of qualitative research, human geography, and the methods employed to find answers about social and human behaviour. 

2. I mentioned the breadth of human geography in my first point, which leads me to the second thing I know about human geography. I know now how much is captured in the term human geography, or human geographic research. Not only was the idea of human geography not clear to me, but the ideas and sub-topics of human geography were not either. From the textbook readings, weekly course content, and our newest Digital Storytelling Project, some of the most prominent subtopics of human geography have become more clear to me. We have all taken a different approach and topic in our group projects; from social, cultural, economic, political, health, environment, and the list goes on (Hooykaas 2021). These are only a few subtopics, and the important thing I realize now is that human geography is everywhere we look, and it matters in order to find answers and ask more questions about the world we live in! 

3. Since the topic of human geography is so broad and all-encompassing, I now know how important and diverse the use of research, knowledge, and analysis can be in the real-world with the help of human geography. The specific example from this course that allowed me to value knowledge, analysis, reflection and research most was the way we can use it to break down social barriers of knowledge. Using cross-cultural research methods, ethics, and relationships, we can impact more inclusive research methods and break down previously colonial ways of understanding knowledge (Hay 2016, p. 45). Specifically from chapter 4, we gained an appreciation and understanding of the way colonial values and power shaped our understanding of the validity of knowledge (Hay 2016, p. 76). Using different, and equally valuable knowledge like feminist and indigenous approaches to research in geography can not only further our research in human geography, but can keep strong subjectivity and equal value in different kinds of knowledge, from people, cultures and places around the world (Hay 2016, p. 85). 

3 Things I Am Confused By

1. I am still confused by concepts about Foucaldian Discourse Analysis in chapter 14. This might be too narrow of a topic to take for this blog, but the idea of discourse analysis still does not seem to make complete sense to me. I understand Gordon Waitt explains it as an “interpretive approach in geography… used to make sense of the world within particular social and temporal contexts” (Hay 2016, p. 288). This still teams like too large of a definition, or unspecific an explanation to make sense to me, or make me understand that it is in fact important and integral to the way we see the social structures we live in. 

2. The second thing I am confused by still is in that discussion about the broad topic of human geography. I know it relates to most, if not every thing in our social and physical lives, but when is it not human geography? That may seem unclear as a question, but it seems confusing to me to try and place human geography within a boundary. Every topic or research method has parameters in which it focuses, but this seems like such a broad idea that I am not sure I can wrap my head around what is and what isn’t human geography, if it actually relates to everything. 

3. The last thing that is considerably still confusing to me is the idea of universal objectivity and situated knowledges. We read about these topics in chapter 19, and I still am having a hard time understanding them individually and how they exist together. Situated knowledges is explained in the text as one of the most useful approaches to “contest universalist forms of knowledge” (Hay 2016, p. 400). This idea however, still gives me a hard time to fully understand it.

3 Things I Know About Myself as Human Geographic Researcher

1. I can’t assume that I am a human geographic researcher now, and that my road to learning, analyzing, research, reflecting, and creating is done just because this course is coming to an end. I can however, distinguish the very few things I know about myself so far, as a human geographic researcher. The first is that I know I won’t place inherent value on a specific type of research or knowledge. I mentioned it earlier briefly, but I feel that the impacts from assuming a type of knowledge or method of research is “correct” compared to another is problematic, and has the power to perpetuate age old colonial values. I know I will use the skills I have learned and will continue to learn, to provide reflection and knowledge of my own, while never discounting or taking for granted the knowledge of others. 

2. Secondly, I know I am a people person. I have known this for a while, but specific to human geographic research, I will always feel more confident and comfortable having discussion, reflection, or doing research in groups, or with others rather than alone. I found that although it was a lot of fun too, this blog post forum made this class a lot more enjoyable and gave me an environment to discuss and reflect with others! This comment goes along with now knowing the power of critical reflexivity in research and discussions, and to not discount the value of discussion with peer researchers, interviewees, or during the research process. 

3. The final thing I have learned about myself as a human geographic researcher is my interest in qualitative methods of human geography, over quantitative ones. Although I understand the importance of having both, I much prefer the use and methods in qualitative research rather than quantitative. This ties into my interest in group work and working with people, instead of numbers. Asking questions, making inquiries, participants in research, and listening to the stories of people (Hay 2016, p. 117-120) is what I find most interesting and appealing about this type of research method.                                                                                                                                                              

3 Things I Need To Spend Time On 

1. Having expressed my interest for qualitative methods of human geographic research, I need to start focusing and learning more about quantitative methods. I think its important to have a wholistic view and understanding of human geography, and I can’t do that if I isolate myself from an entire side of geographic research. I understand that this textbook is aimed directly at qualitative methods, however, there are lessons from quantitative research that can be used in qualitative research as well. Organizing, analyzing, coding, and surveys all can be used (as seen in chapter 18) as a means of communicating and interpreting qualitative research (Hay 2016, p. 373). Yet, these are different skills than interviewing, listening, or reflecting on the very typical qualitative methods of research. I need to spend time on the things that don’t come to me as easily, or interest me as much, to give myself a general confidence in human geographic research. 

2. The second area of human geography I need to more fully appreciate and understand is the value in historical perspectives and accounts and research. I find myself interested in human geographic research now, and interested in the future of social structures and individuals. Historical geography and reflecting on the past seemed boring or unproductive to me. I discredited the research that can be done contemporarily, based on the history of social identities, and not just solely focusing on the research that has yet to be done or discovered. This specific need relates to chapter 11, when Roche discusses historical research and “archival sources” (Hay 2016, p. 226). Michael Roche even discusses interest he has had in the past “30 years of being a historical geographer (Hay 2016, p. 225). There is something here I have yet to find interest in, but again, in order to further my skills and my full research potential, this is a crucial part of human geography I need to spend more time on.

3. Lastly, I find myself rushing to get answers or skipping ahead to find the ultimate “research findings” when I am reading, or even trying to do research of my own. I need to work on my patience as a researcher, and not be so set on finding a single concluding answer in research. Instead, I need to assume that the process of research and analysis is the answer, and that the answers will appear sometimes in the wait or in the depths of research. Finding definitive answers is exciting, but especially in a field as broad and open as human geography, I need to build my ability to reflect on and analyze answers that come from the research process. 

I hope this small amount of information has given you all a glimpse into my perceptions of the course, and my own learning along with it. I truly did not know the importance of human geography, qualitative research, or its actual application in the real world. I have really enjoyed being a part of this class and sharing blogs with one another every week! I hope you all have had a similarly educational, interesting, and engaging semester in this blog forum. All the best to everyone this summer!

References 

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Fourth ed., Oxford.

Hooykaas, A. (2021). https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/668082/viewContent/2730478/View

[jbbarnesnnoble]

Hello lovely humans!

I’ve recently hit the 500 follower milestone and want to celebrate with another challenge! This time, dark fics are welcome! 

I have a lot of prompts here and what doesn’t get used will probably be put aside for a future challenge. I like to make sure there is a wide array of prompts to be chosen from and tend to go overboard. Whoops. 

The Rules: 

1. Use the hashtag #JBBNN500 

2. Dark fics are welcome - Just be sure to utilize trigger warnings and indicate that it is a dark fic. 

3. Even if you aren’t writing a dark fic, use trigger warnings if the content warrants it. If you write something that has heavier themes, like those that delve into mental health topics, be sure to label it appropriately. 

4. Selecting Prompts: Just let me know which one you want to do! 2 people per prompt! Tell me which subheading and the number of the prompt so I can mark it down! If it’s a lyric prompt, please give me the song and the number! 

5. You don’t have to be following to participate! 

6. Deadline: January 11, 2021

Yes, I’m giving about 3 months for this. January 11 also happens to be my birthday, so I figured that would be a good date to choose. 

The subheadings are: dialogue prompts, sentence prompts, quotes from popular media, and song lyrics!

Find the prompts under the cut! 

Dialogue Prompts

“Life is made up of maybes and regrets. I don’t want this to be one of them.”

“You can’t do this. It’s my choice to make, and mine alone. If you don’t agree with it, the door is there. Feel free to use it.”

“I used to be afraid of the dark, you know. Until I learned that the real monsters thrive in the light.” 

“So, what you’re saying is if I gave you a nickel, you’d do it.”

“No, I don’t know how the cheese got there, and honestly, I don’t think I want to know.” 

“You’re sounding more like a cult leader every time you open your mouth. Don’t think I’ll be accepting any Flavor Aid from you anytime soon.” 

“How did you...you know what, I’m going to forget I saw a thing, and go read a book. Or bathe in Holy Water. Or both. Both is good.” 

“If you say one more word I swear--” “One more word” “I hate you” 

“You can’t come in here singing my favorite song and expect forgiveness, that’s not how this works!”

“No. You mean nothing to me. You never did. You never will.” 

“But if it did, it would work and you can’t convince me otherwise.” 

“You are simultaneously the smartest and least intelligent person I have ever meant. Truly, an amazing accomplishment.” @bonkywobble​

“Next thing you’re going to say is that ghosts are real...please tell me that’s a joke” 

“All I’m saying is, I could do that blindfolded.” 

“But why was there pizza on the ceiling?” 

“If you write me a four thousand word essay on why you think that’s a good idea, then sure.” 

“I didn’t think you were serious. Do you know how illegal this is?!” 

Sentence Prompts

Feel free to change the pronouns used to suit your needs, even if they aren’t bracketed! You can also change the tense if you need to! 

The January rain fell, feeling like razors against [your/her/their] skin as [you/she/they] stared out over the horizon.

This was it, the moment where life as [you/she/they] knew it ended.

 [His/her/their] gaze fell on [her/you], like a lion circling its prey. 

You never thought that it would come to this, come to being the one to end it all. 

You took a moment to calculate [his/her/their] next move, figuring out the perfect counter. 

Hanging by your ankles from a tree was most definitely not how you planned on spending your Saturday. 

Glancing around the room at the decor, one thing was obvious: it was [his/her/their] doing. 

Hurt was the only thing you felt, the only thing you could cling to in this abyss.

Lies, it had all been lies and they were crumbling around you. 

The screech of tires on the pavement sent a shiver down your spine.

He/She used to love this time of year, the beauty of it all. 

It was like climbing Everest: ambitious, dangerous, and maybe a little insane. 

Forgiveness was not something you were willing to offer so freely, not this time. 

Chaos may as well have been the code name of this mission. @nekoannie-chan​

Silence was your new best friend, one that never seemed to leave you alone.

That smile, that smile was something you could get used to waking up to every day. 

Your face twisted in disgust as you realized what you had fallen into.

You were beginning to wish you had taken [him/her/them] up on that trip to Madrid. 

Quotes from Popular Media:

With these prompts specifically, you can use the full thing, paraphrase, etc, since some of them are quite long, or just write something based off an idea it sparks. 

“There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They'll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch.” -Epsilon, Season 13, Red vs Blue 

“We're so arrogant, aren't we? So afraid of age, we do everything we can to prevent it. We don't realize what a privilege it is to grow old with someone. Someone who doesn't drive you to commit murder or doesn't humiliate you beyond repair.” - Daniel, P.S I Love You 

“After centuries of men looking at my tits instead of my eyes and pinching my ass instead of shaking my hand, I now have the divine right to stare at a man's backside with vulgar, cheap appreciation if I want to!” - Denise, P.S. I Love You

“Life isn't just death. Don't ignore the living.” - Vada Sultenfuss, My Girl

“Life's full of barbaric customs. But I hope they all end with a kiss like that.” - Vada Sultenfuss, My Girl 

"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant ... but scary." - Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 

"I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there." - Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 

“Sweetie, this is one of those times when I know what's right and everybody else is confused.” - Angela Montenegro, Bones, Season 3 

“Oh, God. I'm in the middle of something, aren't I? Oh, look! Dead guy!” - Cam Saroyan, Bones, Season 5

“Don’t make it sound trivial when you know it isn’t. You keep talking about how we just need a little more time, but you’re not the one having to struggle.” -Nora, RWBY, Volume 7

“It's called survival. But I forgot, you two at best are functional morons.” - Crowley, Supernatural, Season 5, Episode 10

“I once had to judge a tighty-whitey contest for Lambda Kappa Pi. Trust me, I can handle anything.” - Elle Woods, Legally Blonde 

“How were we supposed to know? It's not like we run background checks on all her boyfriends.” - Kathryn Kennish, Switched at Birth

“Don’t try to get on my good side. I no longer have a good one” - Ouiser, Steel Magnolias 

“I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” - Shelby, Steel Magnolias 

“You have the handwriting of a serial killer” - Clairee, Steel Magnolias 

“I didn’t know if you would hire someone who might be married to someone who may or may not be a criminal” - Annelle, Steel Magnolias 

Lyric Prompts

What Do You Think Of - Lauren Alaina ft. Lukas Graham

What do you think of when you think of me?

When you look back on us what do you see? Is it the good times, is it the bad times, is it somewhere in between? 

I can’t even drive down 8th Avenue because the whole damn town reminds me of you

Hurts to Know - 1551

But you stayed when I made another promise to keep

And you waited and waited for the life you saw in your dreams 

You walk in and begin to try to heal me again, but each night is a fight that’s getting harder to win.

Sick - 1551

Everyone I meet feels like another target

I’m feeling sick, I’m feeling twisted, I wasn’t home before this feeling existed 

I never knew that wrong could feel so right

seven - Taylor Swift

Sweet tea in the summer, cross your heart won’t tell no other, and though I can’t recall your face, I still got love for you

Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long

I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why 

We’ll hide in the closet, and just like a folk song, our love will be passed on 

the last great american dynasty - Taylor Swift

How did a middle class divorcee do it? 

The wedding was charming, if a little gauche 

And they said “There goes the last great American dynasty. Who knows if she never showed up what could have been.” 

epiphany - Taylor Swift 

With you I serve, with you I fall down 

Something med school did not cover

And some things you just can’t speak about 

Chapters - Brett Young

Chapter one, I was raised on the Dodgers 

There’s no perfect life, you can’t hold back time

Everybody expecting perfection 

Things change in the blink of an eyelid, guess my body knew way more than I did

The Daughters - Little Big Town

Girl, know your place, be willing and able 

Girl, watch your mouth and watch your weight

Pose like a trophy on a shelf, and dream for everyone but not yourself

I wash the dishes, feed the kids, and clean up all this mess, do my best, forgive myself, and look good in this dress

It Won’t Always Be Like This - Carly Pearce 

I remember how I couldn’t wait to get out of my hometown, now I’m looking for every excuse to go back on the weekend

I remember hearing the door slam, twenty-two, didn't have a clue who I was, who I could trust, and who were my real friends

The heart won’t ache forever, no matter how hard it gets, it won’t always be like this

Next Girl - Carly Pearce 

You overlook a lot when he looks like that

He’ll charm your mama with that smile, hide the red flags for a while 

He’ll make you think it’s love, but I promise you it’s not 

Bar Back - Lauren Alaina 

You can have that coffee shop we went on our first date

I’ll give you back that sweatshirt, that one you know I love

I’m taking back that little hole in the wall, the red door sign saying “come on in y’all”

If I Was a Beer - Lauren Alaina

Honey you’re in luck, ‘cause I’m a fine, fine, wine. I’m a slow sweet pour, I can be a little bitter, but I ain’t a hard hitter, like a 30 from the grocery store

Waiting for Superman - Daughtry

She says “he’s still coming, just a little bit late” 

She’s talking to angels, counting the stars, making a wish on a passing car

If life was a movie, then it wouldn’t end like this 

Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi

When you hurt under the surface, like troubled water running could, well time can heal but this won’t

Before you go, was there something I could have said to make your heart beat better?

Our every moment, I start to replay, but all I can think about is seeing that look on your face  @arrowsandmixtapes​ 

Hard to Forget - Sam Hunt

It's kinda funny how I can't seem to get away from you, it's almost like you don't want me to

You’ve got a cold heart and the cold hard truth

Told me to leave all your things out on the porch on the swing

Oh you’re breaking my heart, baby you’re playing hard to forget 

This is It - Scotty McCreery

You can open your eyes

Can’t you see forever 

On top of the world here together

If there ever was a time for a perfect kiss, this is it 

Wish You’d Miss Me - Chase Wright

I was good for you, you were bad for me 

I was solid ground, you were broken wings 

I gave you love you gave me pain

You gave me hell, I gave you grace 

I knew all along that you were gonna leave 

What a Man Gotta Do - Jonas Brothers

I’m not trying to be your part time lover, sign me up for that full time @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad​

This Feeling - Chainsmokers ft. Kelsea Ballerini 

I lay out all my reasons you say that I need help

They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest

They got their hands at my neck this time 

I tell you all my secrets and you tell all your friends 

Hold onto your opinions and stand by what you say 

What Are You Gonna Tell Her - Mickey Guyton 

She thinks life is fair 

But what are you gonna tell her when she’s wrong?

What are you gonna tell her when she figures out that all this time you built her up just so the world could let her down? 

Do you tell her not to fight? 

Can you look her in the face and promise her that things will change? 

[tcstu]

March’s Honorable Mentions

For this month’s contest, I have one Honorable Mention and one disqualified entry. The Honorable Mention was created by @emilyelizabethfowl​. Emily has previously won my contest four times and is a truly talented writer. You can read their previous winning pieces here:

December 2020

August 2020

January 2019

June 2019

The second piece featured was disqualified based on length, but is still an awesome story that should be read. It was created by @daalseth​ who also won this contest in February 2021.

If you like one of these pieces, I hope you will reach out to the writer and let them know that you enjoyed their work.

As a reminder, this month’s piece is created by Liv @livinthefuture3000​ . This picture doesn’t have a title, but it is captioned by, “ Yo guys…I found this creepy mailbox while I was walking around the Level 5 neighborhoods 😦 There’s a keypad on the side…can someone help me figure out what it’s for…?” This piece is part of an incredible series the artist created, so if you would like to learn more, make sure to visit Liv’s page!

Untitled

By: @emilyelizabethfowl​

The mailbox had always been there, smack-dab in the middle of the small patch of grass and some bushes generously called the Park.

Every day, the postman would flick the flag up, and every single time, it would be back down before sunset.

There were quite a number of theories circulating around.

Some thought there was an invisible house next to it. Some argued there must’ve been a ghost house, demolished decades ago.

Others spoke of a faerie ring, or a werewolf post box, or even a direct line to Santa.

Kylie was going to figure that mystery out once and for all.

She was ready for anything: she had salt, and a cross, and the silver fountain pen her grandparents had gifted her as a graduation gift.

And, just in case it turned out to be Santa, she prepared a nice, long letter. She might not believe in the guy, but surely she could fake it long enough to get a gift or two out of it?

So, yeah, Kylie was ready for everything.

Except for a crow.

A crow, perhaps even one of the regulars at the bird-feeder her mother always put out, flew down to rest on the mailbox.

It preened a little, flicked the little flag down and, within seconds, it was gone again.

Surely that couldn’t have been it?

Kylie scrambled out of the bushes she was hiding in, reaching the mailbox in a record time.

Opening the flap, she was ready for anything.

Maybe it was filled with cobwebs or bugs or stuffed to the gills with mail. Maybe there was a cursed amulet, or a treasure map, or a pendant which would give her magical powers?

In any case, she was too curious to care about the possible breach of somebody’s privacy.

Kylie opened the flap and stared inside.

Emptiness glared back.

With a sigh, she closed the mailbox. A loud noise nearly gave her a heart attack before she realized it was just the flag, jarred upright by the sudden motion.

Well. That was boring.

As she made her way back home, she missed the light-blue glow seeping through the cracks in the mailbox, static filling the air just as an airplane was passing by.

The crow returned shortly after, flicking the flag back down with a slightly more vicious peck than before. 

(Note: The entry below was disqualified due to length, but is still awesome.)

Paper Tiger

By: @daalseth​

Lamont was not an impressive man. Small, balding, wearing an ill fitting suit, thick glasses with heavy frames, and clutching a file folder in his hand, he seemed to grow smaller as he entered the Oval Office. The new president was sitting behind the desk for the first time. He on the other hand was tall and loud and to be blunt, everything the first man wasn’t. But then he was a politician.

“Mr, President, sir?” said Lamont with a quiet mousy squeak, “Excuse me, but it’s time for your high security briefing, sir.”

“What?” said the President, “Didn’t we just spend the last three months briefing me on everything from the Chinese highway system to Agricultural Department Seating charts? You mean there’s more?”

“Yes sir. You see sir, there are a couple of items that can only be known by the sitting President. We had to wait until you had taken the oath of office.”

The President had a scowl on his face, “Oh all right then. What’s your name, son?”

“Lamont, sir. Avery Lamont.”

“Well then Lamont, pull up a chair and let’s get on with this.”

Lamont pulled a chair up to the front of the President’s desk and sat down awkwardly. He was uncomfortable in the presence of the President. Brassy, loud, strong men always made him uncomfortable. To be honest, that was also true of loud, strong women as well. For that matter, quiet, meek, men and women made him uncomfortable too. Avery Lamont was just not comfortable around people.

“Ok, well to begin sir, it’s about the nuclear codes.”

“Aw everybody knows about them. They’re in the Nuclear Football that the Secret Service or one of my aids carry wherever I go. If we’re attacked, we open it and there’s our options for retaliation. I already covered this with the Joint Chiefs.”

Lamont looked even more uncomfortable, “Well sir, that’s the thing, uh, they aren’t in there.”

“What do you mean?” asked the new President in surprise.

“Well sir, the Joint Chiefs don’t know this but the football is all a ruse, a decoy. The bag actually contains a pair of running shoes, and a sweatshirt.”

The President was stunned, “Well then where are the codes?”

“W-well sir, that’s the, uh, thing sir. We, uh, d-don’t actually know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Well sir, it’s kind of a funny story,” said Lamont shifting in his chair and looking at the floor. “Do you remember a few administrations back, one of your predecessors was a bit, um, unstable?”

“Unstable? He was a complete loon. When they carried him out of here he was talking to the wallpaper.”

“Exactly sir, well we decided that with his habit of getting mad at people, and lashing out at them, that it might not be a good idea to have the nuclear codes within arms reach, so we took them out of the football.”

“Ok, that makes sense. But where did you put them?”

Lamont shifted uncomfortably, “We don’t know sir.”

“How could you not know?”

“Well we know approximately. We know about where they are sir.”

“How approximately?’

“They are either in Kansas or Nebraska.”

“Kansas or Nebraska?” said the President in astonishment. “That’s a hell of a lot of territory. Can’t you narrow it down any more than that?”.”

“Well, we do know they were put in a mailbox.”

“What do you mean in a mailbox?”

“We wanted to put them in the last place somebody looking for the nuclear codes would think to look. In that light, a rural mailbox made the most sense.”

“A mailbox?’

“Yes sir.”

“You mean, on a post, with a door in front, and little flag you put up?”

“Yes sir.”

“This is unbelievable,” said the President to himself. “The codes to launch our nuclear missiles are sitting unsecured in a mailbox somewhere in Kansas OR Nebraska?” A vein was beginning to pulse on his forehead.

“No sir they are not unsecured.“ Lamont looked up at the President. “I was adamant about there needing to be tight security on the box. There is an electronic lock on the side, with a keypad. Only someone with the code can get in.”

“Or any kid with a baseball bat, did you ever think about that?”

Lamont was crestfallen and stared at his shoes, “Oh, uh, w-well, no sir, in-in hindsight I guess that should have occurred to us.”

“And anyway how could you lose track of where this mailbox was?”

“Well sir, you see after the attacks of 9/11 things were a bit disorganized around here. People got transferred, documentation was never completed. It turned out the people who knew the location of the mailbox all ended up getting sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“Well get them back,” bellowed the President.

“They are all dead, sir.”

The President looked at Lamont in astonishment. Suddenly he sat up straight.

“Wait, wait, 9/11 and president nutcase was twenty years ago. You mean to tell me that for two decades this country hasn’t had a nuclear deterrent.”

“Oh no sir. We have a deterrent. No one knows that we just can’t actually use it.”

“But anyone who found those codes could?”

“No sir. We were worried about that so just after we lost the codes we quietly pulled all of our nuclear devices back and put them in secure locations.”

“What are the bombers and missiles carrying then?”

“Concrete dummy warheads, they’re perfectly safe in case of accidental launch, sir.”

“I don’t want our nuclear deterrent to be perfectly safe,” said the President sarcastically. “I want them to go boom when I need them too.”

“Yes sir.”

“You mean to tell me if there had been a nuclear exchange all we could have done was throw rocks at the other guys?”

“Well sir,” Lamont stumbled for a bit, “that’s a bit harsh, but I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, sir. That’s why your predecessors were always so bellicose, so no other country would challenge us.”

“Well, effective immediately I want those warheads pulled out of storage and made ready for use. We’ll figure out how to activate them.”

Lamont paused for a bit, “We can’t do that sir,” he said quietly.

“Why the hell not?”

“We uh, we-we don’t actually know where they are either.”

“What?!?” The president was now approaching the colour of the carpet, and two veins were bulging on his forehead.

“You see sir, after the transfer was completed, there was a fire at our documents storage facility in Langley Virginia. It wasn’t a big fire, but it destroyed the documentation for the transfer, where all the devices went.”

“Well somebody must know where in the hell they are.”

“The person who completed all of the authorization paperwork, uh he quit. Became a monk sir.”

“I don’t care if he’s the goddamned Pope. Get out there and ask him where in the hell the warheads went.”

“I’m sorry sir, but it won’t do any good sir.”

“Why not?” The president was now nearly apoplectic.

“Vow of silence sir. He has not talked or written anything at all in fifteen years. We do go out there once a year to see if he’s changed his mind, but so far no luck, sir.”

“I don’t believe this. Can’t you just start asking the various depots? “Hey did you get a bunch of megaton nuclear devices?” You’d think somebody would have noticed them arriving.”

“Well sir, of course we didn’t tell the people in the depots,” Lamont was somewhat indignant. “We always use false packing lists and bills of lading, even the labels on the crates are false. The people at the depots are not cleared for that level of information. To tell them would risk it leaking and the devices getting stolen. We always use fictitious documents for nuclear devices. For security reasons, you understand, sir.”

“Can’t you search the depots? They shouldn’t be that hard to find.”

“We have tried, sir, but these depots are very large, some have square miles of warehouse space with multiple floors. They contain millions of crates, all of which would need to be opened. In that context the warheads aren’t really that noticeable.”

The President slumped back in his chair, he was shocked, and frustrated. Finally he asked sarcastically, “We do have a conventional military force still, don’t we?”

“Oh yes sir, fleets of ships, bombers, soldiers, tanks, we have those.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“I mean, sort of…”

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

(click the link above to view ASIHTB's events in the Gen Con Event Finder)

Gen Con Indy Attendees:

As you probably know, Gen Con event registration opens in just two days, on July 11!

Given the attendance cap and event restrictions for 2021, ASIHTB is doing things a little differently this year. Instead of our usual hands-on workshops, we're instead offering a full day of seminars. The good news is that all of our events are absolutely free with your Gen Con badge! The downside, of course, is that there's no hands-on project to take home this year. (Group workshops with shared equipment aren't really feasible with social distancing/sanitation mandates in place.)

More good news: You can attend any of our seminars even if the event is listed as sold out in the catalog. There are almost always more seats available than what is shown online, and we will allow as many people into the room as fire code/Gen Con seating density restrictions permit us to. (If you do reserve a ticket through event registration, please do be sure to turn that in to us, as ticketed attendance is how Gen Con chooses who gets room space at future cons.)

All of our seminars are on Thursday, September 16, and we're offering some new (and updated) ones this year! Here's what's on the schedule:

10AM - Go West! The Journey to the West Legend From Dragon Ball to Saiyuki, there's no shortage of adaptations, retellings, and wholesale lifts of one of the world's most popular tales. But most of the western world enjoying these retellings knows little of the original novel, and even less of the stories it itself combined and retold. Let's look at the historical and cultural context for the original 16th century novel and the lore it collected into a single tale. We'll discuss some key adaptations as well, with the knowledge to enjoy them more.

12PM - Storytime from Japanese History As the oldest monarchy in the world, Japan’s had plenty of time to have some amazing moments in history. Hear a few of the most important, most famous, or most fun—from the Genpei War to the Meiji Revolution, from girl power to magical red cows, from archery contests to smallpox—with illustrations, photos, ties to your favorite anime/manga, and plenty of geekery.

2PM - The Phantom Thief: An Illustrated History How did Edgar Allen Poe influence Sailor Moon? What do Norse gods, Joan of Arc, and Lupin III have in common? Who was the real-life Moriarty? Learn the origin of the kaitou, Japan’s archetypal thief, from his birth in Gilded Age literature to his high-tech 21st century incarnations. Follow this truly international antihero’s development through history with examples from animé, manga, film, and literature.

4PM - Intro to Sewing: Patterns Lie! (And Other Useful Facts) Want to cosplay or craft, but don't know how to sew? Learn to select and read a pattern, choose fabric, cut, pin, stitch, press, & more in this novice-friendly presentation. Bring your questions!

We hope to see you in person at Gen Con!

[prakhayth]

Understanding The Different Types of Cryptocurrency

January 15, 2021 · 8 minute read

We’re here to help! First and foremost, SoFi Learn strives to be a beneficial resource to you as you navigate your financial journey. Read more

Cryptocurrencies can act like real money—in a sense, they are real money—but they take a digital monetary form and are not managed or governed by any central authority. A true product of the digital age, cryptocurrencies operate without the involvement of banks, governments, or any middleman. However, in most cases you will need to use a digital currency exchange to buy and sell cryptocurrency.

In 2020, there were more than 50 million blockchain wallet users.

What provides security is that cryptocurrencies are encrypted (secured) with specialized computer code called cryptography. They’re designed like a complicated puzzle on purpose so that they’re hard to crack (and hack).

By September 2020, the number of blockchain wallet users rose to more than 50 million, according to research published by Statista  —with Bitcoin boasting more than 7 million active users.

Insiders call it “crypto,” so that’s what we’ll be calling it going forward.

How Many Different Types of Crypto Are There?

As of April 2021, there are over 10,000 different types  of cryptocurrency.

The different types of crypto generally fall into one of two categories: •  Coins, which can include Bitcoin and altcoins (non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies) •  Tokens

Below, we’ll get into the basics of crypto tokens vs coins.

Crypto Tokens vs. Coins

Encrypted coins and tokens can fall under the heading of crypto. And, generally, they can be listed into two sorts of cryptocurrency: alternative cryptocurrency coins (Altcoins) or tokens.

Alternative Cryptocurrency Coins (Altcoins)

Altcoins usually refer to any coins that are not Bitcoins. Bitcoin is a popular digital currency that’s produced by computational solutions to complicated math problems. It works separately from a central bank or state entity (i.e., government-backed Treasury).

Some altcoins include:

•  Peercoin •  Litecoin •  Dogecoin •  Auroracoin •  Namecoin

In fact, the name “altcoin” actually means “alternative to Bitcoin.” Namecoin is considered the very first altcoin, created in 2011.

Like Bitcoin, most cryptocurrencies listed here have a limited supply of coins—to keep the balance in check and to reinforce its perceived value. There is a fixed number of Bitcoins that can exist—21 million, as decided by the creator/s of Bitcoin, though some remain to be mined. Once all 21 million are tapped (the number changes when new blocks are mined), that’s it. The only way to bring in more is for Bitcoin’s protocol to allow for it.

Though most altcoins are built upon the same basic framework as Bitcoin, many claim to be better versions of Bitcoin. Each system can differ from the next, as they’re created to serve various purposes and applications, and identified in different ways.

Some coins don’t work with the same open-source protocol that Bitcoin does, however. For example, the following list of cryptocurrencies have created their own separate systems and protocols:

•  Ethereum •  Ripple •  Omni •  Nxt •  Waves •  Counterparty

They’re each self-supporting, too.

Tokens

Unlike altcoins, tokens are created and given out through an Initial Coin Offering, or ICO, very much like a stock offering. They can be represented as:

•  Value tokens (Bitcoins) •  Security tokens (to protect your account) •  Utility tokens (designated for specific uses)

They are not so much meant to be used as money as they are used to describe a function. Like American dollars, they represent value but they are not in themselves of value. Tokens are a type of encryption, specifically referring to the long lines of numbers and letters representing the crypto used in a transaction, such as a money transfer or bill payment. In short, tokens cover a number of meanings.

For instance, both Bitcoin and Ether (from Ethereum) are considered crypto tokens.

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The Most Common Types of Cryptocurrency

Here’s a list of popular cryptocurrency types and descriptions:

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency; it is “cash for the internet.” More specifically, it’s considered cryptocurrency since cryptography facilitates Bitcoin creation and transactions.

Possibly the “Kleenex” or “Coca Cola” of all crypto, in that its name is the most recognizable and the most closely associated with the cryptocurrency system.

There are currently  more than 18.5 million Bitcoin tokens in circulation, against a present capped limit of 21 million.

2. Bitcoin Cash

Introduced in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is one of the most popular types of cryptocurrency on the market. Its main difference with the original Bitcoin is its block size: 8MB. Compare that to the original Bitcoin’s block size of just 1MB. What that means for users—faster processing speeds.

3. Litecoin

Litecoin is increasingly used in the same breath as Bitcoin, and it functions practically the same way. It was created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former employee of Google. He designed it to improve on Bitcoin technology, with shorter transaction times, lower fees, more concentrated miners.

4. Ethereum

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum focuses not as much on digital currency as it does on decentralized applications (phone apps). You could think of Ethereum as an app store.

The platform is looking to return control of apps to its original creators, and take away that control from middlemen (like Apple, for instance). The only person who can make changes to the app would be the original creator. The token used here is called Ether, which is used as currency by app developers and users.

5. Ripple

Ripple is one type of cryptocurrency on the list, but it’s not Blockchain-based  . It’s not meant so much for individual users as it is for larger companies and corporations, moving larger amounts of money (its coinage is known as XRP) across the globe.

It’s more well-known for its digital payment protocol more than for its XRP crypto. That’s because the system allows for transfer of monies in any form, be it dollars or even Bitcoin (or others). It claims to be able to handle 1,500 transactions per second (tps). Compare this with Bitcoin, which can handle 3-6 tps (not including scaling layers). Ethereum can handle 15 tps.

6. Stellar

Stellar focuses on money transfers, and its network is designed to make them faster and more efficient, even across national borders. It was designed by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb in 2014 and is operated by a non-profit organization called Stellar.org  .

Its goal is to assist developing economies that may not have access to traditional banks and investment opportunities. It doesn’t charge users or institutions for using its Stellar network, and covers operating costs by accepting tax-deductible public donations.

7. NEO

Formerly called Antshares and developed in China, NEO is very aggressively looking to become a major global crypto player. Its focus is smart contracts (digital contracts) that allow users to create and execute agreements without the use of an intermediary.

It’s going after its main competition, Ethereum, but NEO lead developer Erik Zhang mentioned  on a Reddit AMA that NEO has three distinct advantages—better architecture, more developer-friendly smart contracts, and digital identity and digital assets for easier integration into the real world.

Ethereum, on the other hand, uses its own programming languages that developers must first learn before creating smart contracts on its platform.

8. Cardano

Cardano aka ADA is used to send and receive digital funds. It claims to be a more balanced and sustainable ecosystem for cryptocurrencies, and the only coin with a “scientific philosophy and research-driven approach.”

That means that it undergoes especially rigorous reviews by scientists and programmers. It was founded by Charles Hoskinson, who is also the co-founder of Ethereum.

9. IOTA

Launched in 2016, IOTA stands for Internet of Things Application. Unlike most other Blockchain technologies, it doesn’t actually work with a block and chain; it works with smart devices on the Internet of Things (IoT).

All you need to do to use it is to verify two other previous transactions on the IOTA ledger, which is called the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), but IOTA creators call it The Tangle.

According to Coin Central  , this means the devices need to be able to purchase more electricity, bandwidth, storage, or data when they need them, and sell those resources when they don’t need them.

The Role of Miners In Cryptocurrency

How exactly do you get your virtual hands on different types of cryptocurrency? You can buy it the old-fashioned way. Or, you can trade it on an exchange using other crypto (for example, using Bitcoin to buy NEO). Some blogs and media platforms pay its content providers in crypto.

Then, there are the miners  . Miners usually don’t pay directly for their crypto; they earn it with their smarts. These tech savvy investors can be compared to the prospectors of the Old West, panning for gold in 1848.

The value is built in because the supply is limited—it’s just up to the complex computers to dig it up by cracking codes and solving complicated puzzles. A lot of it is guesswork, but once the “block” (of the blockchain) is solved, the other miners drop what they’re doing and go on to the next block. No parting gifts—the contestants just turn their attention to the next game round.

If the puzzle is solved, the reward is a certain amount of crypto, and sometimes even voting power on the platform. As of October 2020, the value of one bitcoin had well exceeded $13,000  .

Sounds sweet, but mining isn’t cheap. It requires powerful, expensive hardware and lots of electricity. Also, the number of awarded crypto will be going down, usually by halves every four years or so. Unfortunately, that might not do your utility bill any favors.

Forks, Hard Forks, and Soft Forks

Sometimes, a cryptocurrency—whether Bitcoin or an altcoin—forks. This typically happens when systems need an upgrade or update, or occasional steering (ie a large enough group of miners decide to make new rules for the network.

You could think of a fork like an actual fork, the kind you eat with. Each prong represents a different open-source code modification, but the prongs are designed to work together to assist in the main function.

Sometimes, forks happen by accident when nodes start making copies or if they do not recognize conflicting or unfamiliar information or characteristics. This is what leads to the difference between hard forks and soft forks.

Hard Forks

If a protocol is changed so that the old protocol version is no longer valid, call that a hard fork. This could be problematic, because if the older, now-invalid protocol is still running, it could lead you to scratch your head and say, “what the fork?” It could cause confusion and even possibly a loss of funds, because the old and new protocols running together are butting heads and making mysteries.

An example of a hard-fork problem—with Bitcoin, for instance, a hard fork is a must when making changes and protocol updates to the Blockchain. The new protocol is cool with the changes, but the old protocol becomes a hot mess, not understanding the new activity going on.

Since the old protocol rejects the new changes because it doesn’t recognize them, that causes a traffic jam or worse. The old protocol will claim that the changes and updates are not valid, even if they are. What you then get are two blockchains, one old and one new. As these chains grow, so can your problems.

The hard-fork challenge, then, is to get all the nodes on the old protocol to switch to the new protocol all at once, and at the same time. This sounds easy, but technically it’s easier said than done.

Soft Forks

Unlike a hard fork, a soft fork is totally cool with the new changes and keeps working. The old version accepts the newer version. Harmony! The newer, updated blocks become longer, and it becomes obvious that the older (shorter) blocks are obsolete and unusable. This recognition eliminates confusion over which protocol is now the real deal (it’s the newer, valid one.)

When a soft fork is implemented, there has to be a “majority vote” on whether to accept it into the established fold. If not, the new soft fork fails, and the rest of the chain simply goes on it with its life with no interruption. Hard-and-soft forking can cause all kinds of unintended consequences. When members of the Ethereum community rejected a hard-fork change and decided to keep going with the non-forked version of Ethereum, that old-school system was renamed Ethereum Classic.

When Bitcoin hard-forked in order to add more functionality, a portion of the Bitcoin Cash community was left behind and was cut off from the rest of the network.

The Current View of Crypto

Bitcoin and other crypto have recently come under fire for their ability to be involved in illegal transactions.

Three words—wait and see. And add two words to that—be careful. An October 2020 Bloomberg report  stated that Bitcoin approached its highest valuation since 2017.

Dead Coins lists 1,050 digital currencies and initial coin offerings (ICO) as either “deceased.” Coinopsy  catalogues cryptocurrency lists of more than 1,700 coins as nearly worthless.

It’s possible that a good number of those failed cryptos were scams, and the authentic, true-quality systems remain in place.

Furthermore, from a perception perspective, Bitcoin and other crypto have recently come under fire for their ability to be involved in illegal transactions, thefts, and scams. That’s just one of the reasons that investing in the list of cryptocurrencies out there still carries significant risk. Crypto has also been suspected as being a part of an economic bubble that may still pop.

The Takeaway

While Bitcoin launched a new asset class little more than a decade ago, today there are many different cryptocurrencies for investors to learn about and invest in.

If your curiosity about cryptocurrency is fueled by a desire to start investing, SoFi Invest® can be a great place to start. SoFi members can manage crypto investments in the SoFi app, with the peace of mind of knowing their crypto is in a secure platform.

Find out how SoFi Invest can help you with your investment goals.

Learn More

SoFi Invest® The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA  / SIPC  . SoFi Invest refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below. 1) Automated Investing—The Automated Investing platform is owned by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (“Sofi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC, an affiliated SEC registered broker dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, (“Sofi Securities). 2) Active Investing—The Active Investing platform is owned by SoFi Securities LLC. Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation. 3) Cryptocurrency is offered by SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, a FinCEN registered Money Service Business. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of Sofi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit www.sofi.com/legal. Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Lending Corp and/or its affiliates. Crypto: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t endorsed or guaranteed by any government, are volatile, and involve a high degree of risk. Consumer protection and securities laws don’t regulate cryptocurrencies to the same degree as traditional brokerage and investment products. Research and knowledge are 

[soulshield40]

Trigger Warning: Blood, Child Death

Have you heard the tale of Shinjuku Jack?

He was a robot built by Silph Co. to work at Celadon City’s Game Corner and other establishments like it as a bouncer/floor manager, heavily influenced by the popular “Mega Man” series (both in and out of universe). His purpose in life was to work at the game corner and primarily keep kids aged 10-15 out if they didn’t have trainer cards. He had blades in his arms in case he needed to pry things open. He had large metal dice as an accessory, but could also be used as a tripwire to apprehend children or people who tried scamming the location.

One busy night, someone had too much to drink and began attacking people. Naturally, Jack stepped in to assist, but the attacker stole the dice and bludgeoned the robot with them repeatedly, breaking him. The next morning, the corner was closed to the public so Jack could be repaired. Silph Co., not wanting to expend their most experienced staff (who were working on the Silph Scope prototype) on this machine, sent an experienced intern to repair him. Unfortunately, the intern was not familiar with Jack’s code or blueprints, so when he was finally repaired properly, the code had accidentally been tampered with, and the project was rushed, meaning there was no proper kill switch Silph Co. could reliably use in a safe manner. The robot snapped awake and attacked the intern, who barely made it out with his life. While escaping, Jack’s scanners broke, meaning he could no longer detect trainer cards. However, he still had code indicating that kids 10-15 years old were bad, which meant eliminating them according to what little actual judgement he had.

Jack sought a child that didn’t have any signs of being a trainer capable of defending themselves, and found a 10 year old girl with nothing but an eevee. He would follow the child everywhere, until finally, it was night. The girl was scared and alone, wandering the alleyways trying to find her eevee. Then Jack struck. He knocked the girl to the ground with his dice, budgeoning her. When she tried to crawl away, Jack tackled her and used the blades in his arms to finish the job. He then disappeared into the night in search of more potential victims.

He would continue doing this, killing at least one preteen a day, for years, until 1996, when his code made a lapse in judgement. A ten year old boy, orange hair, blue eyes, a jacket, jeans, and a backpack, was found wandering the streets at night. His name is Blue Oak, and rather than keep pokémon around his waist, he would keep them in his bag. This caused Jack to assume he was an easy target, maybe even the easiest target that week. He ensured the boy was alone and attempted to attack him. Blue panicked, and made the mistake of sending his starter out to fight. This did minimal damage, as Jack was designed to be waterproof due to the nature of his previous job. It wasn’t until Red used his Charizard to fend off the robot that Blue was finally safe. The robot fled and only became a threat to those who passed him alone at night.

Jack would be active for another four years until the year 2000, when his energy source finally gave out and his exoskeleton was reclaimed by Silph Co. In the year 2003, Silph Co. faced a class action lawsuit. It was known as “Celadon City v. Silph Co”, and there were allegations of negligence, child endangerment, and involuntary manslaughter. They ended up losing the lawsuit due to the overwhelming amount of evidence against Silph Co. and had to pay thousands if not millions of dollars to the families of the children who were killed or endangered by Shinjuku Jack. They also had a mass recall of all Shinjuku Jack models all over Japan.

Jack has since been deactivated for good and placed inside Silph Co.’s main building, never to be seen again. There were rumors of an updated model making Jack less prone to violent behavior, but the plans were cancelled to the obvious negative reception. The remaining intact Jack models have since been used as spare parts for other robots or sold to collectors in a deactivated state.

As of 2021, Silph Co. has made more robots in a variety of shapes and sizes and in a better quality. Now professionals are sent to make repairs, and there is a remote kill switch in case one of them go rogue. They are generally also incapable of moving without human intervention. Despite all of this, Shinjuku Jack will never make a return.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Shinjuku Jack is inspired by an unused trainer class in Pokemon Red and Green, going by the same name.

At first, I didn’t know how to implement him into the AU, but had an idea when I learned that he was meant to be the series’ first robot trainer. I immediately assumed a robot named Shinjuku Jack would work at Celadon City’s Game Corner and other places like it, such as Goldenrod’s Department Store, Celadon’s Department Store, Goldenrod’s Game Corner, Olivine Cafe, Frontier Access, Slateport Market, Hoenn’s contest halls, Hoenn’s battle tents, Mauville City in general, Lilycove’s Department Store, Jubilife TV, Veilstone Department Store, Veilstone Game Corner, Sunyshore Market, the Fight Area, the Survival Area, and the Resort Area.

In shopping areas, Shinjuku Jacks function as security and do not use the programming that forces them to exclude children who are not also trainers. Jubilife TV had a Jack that excluded all but trainers and members of the crew.

Naturally, I thought of killer robots, and that led me to think of stuff like Mega Man.

So the natural conclusion was that there was a serial killer robot that looks like he’s ripped straight out of Mega Man X.

[addierose444]

Designing a Programming Contest

For the past three months, I have been collaborating with my computer science professor in designing and organizing a remote programming contest for high school students. My professor has been running this contest since 2006 and was looking for an assistant. My prior programming experience made me a very strong student in her data structures course last fall. (You can read about my journey into engineering and computer science here.) Despite being a student taking the course for credit I took on additional responsibilities as an unofficial course assistant. I am not saying any of this to brag but rather to explain how it is that I got a job offer without even asking for one. A fun fact is that actually participated in this contest back when I was a sophomore in high school. 

My early responsibilities included helping to write the problems and rules. I also tested all of the problems by coding them in both Java and Python. More recently, I have been dealing with registration which has involved creating forms, working with spreadsheets, and sending lots of emails. Today was the actual competition which meant I was overseeing and assisting the jury. I’d be lying if I said that everything went off without a hitch, but I am also very proud of all the work I put in to make it an overall success. 

My work as a contest assistant was fortunately funded through a student research assistance grant from the Committee on Faculty Compensation & Development (CFCD). As it was technically a research grant, I got paid a little over minimum wage. (Most on-campus jobs pay minimum wage whereas research positions pay a bit more. To read more about on-campus jobs, click here.) 

While this job had a programming component, the real experience I gained was from developing systems and communicating with people. We set up the whole contest in Google Drive, which meant I made extensive use of my Google Suite skills. I also got a lot of practice with written communication through writing the rules, problems, and various emails. Furthermore, as the course assistant, I had a lot of responsibilities but was also wasn’t the project lead. This was a new team dynamic that I learned a lot from. Finally, as mentioned in my post about my Summer 2021 Plans, this job is something that stood out in my résumé. 

[tater-tots-last-of-the-romanovs]

Here are the entries for my chelka contest! Each one was drawn by a very talented kid, and I love them all, so I'm going to let you guys pick! In the comments just let me know which one you think should be first, which should be second, and which should be third. On March 10th, 2021, I'll end the voting, tally them up, and announce the winners! A chelka is a magically-powered construct in the world of Ink Adept.  Chelka are silent and never speak. To communicate with their creators and others, they tap using a variation of Morse Code. They are powered by glyphs on forehead, wrists, and ankles. For special instructions, most chelka have an area on their head that is rewritable. Chelka MUST be built entirely from earth materials or they won't work. In the Cold Lands, chelka are used for a huge variety of mundane and/or dangerous jobs. Check out my website (link in bio) to learn more! As a reminder, the prizes for the chelka contest are: 1st place: A free signed copy of Ink Adept, four character posters(Munayair, Anjita, Khuson, and Bast), and a mention of your chelka in the sequel to Ink Adept. 2nd place: A free signed copy of Ink Adept and two character posters (your choice of either Munayair, Anjita, Khuson, and/or Bast). 3rd place: A free signed copy of Ink Adept. Ella's Chelka: Made for protection Nearly invisible when next to wood Knows martial arts Heavy Loyal George's Chelka: Made for war Body covered in poison ivy oil Shell has moveable plates Emits poison gas to immobilize enemies Gabe's Chelka: Made for war Covered in spikes Dripping with oil to be set on fire Used for kamikaze missions https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9i163B8Ap/?igshid=tigvf5dcf8h6