#Data analyse course

[urmverma0202]

Online vs. In- Person Data Analytics Course: Pros and Cons

Choosing between online and in-person data analytics courses is a crucial decision. Online courses offer flexibility and accessibility, making them ideal for those with busy schedules or geographic constraints in Agra. On the other hand, in-person courses provide immediate interaction, hands-on experience, and networking opportunities. Your choice should align with your needs and goals, especially if you're seeking the Best Data Analytics Training Institute in Agra.

[kodokberjamur]

If anyone asks me how life is going, I'll just show them this video and not elaborate further... Yes I keep posting I'm sorry

Warning: local toad crashes out in the tags

[jcmarchi]

How AI Is Reshaping M&A Strategy Amid Trade Tensions and Global Volatility

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-ai-is-reshaping-ma-strategy-amid-trade-tensions-and-global-volatility/

How AI Is Reshaping M&A Strategy Amid Trade Tensions and Global Volatility

As we head into summer 2025, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) stands at a crossroads. Geopolitical tensions, economic headwinds, and rapid advances in technology are forcing dealmakers to rethink how they source, structure, and close transactions. Trade policy is emerging as a major variable. Unpredictable tariffs, shifting alliances, and growing regulatory scrutiny have pushed global deal activity into more cautious territory. Yet amid the uncertainty, artificial intelligence is coming into focus.

AI is no longer a futuristic add-on. It’s becoming central to the way companies approach M&A. In a climate where speed, precision, and risk management matter more than ever, AI is giving dealmakers a critical edge. It helps surface opportunities faster, pressure-test assumptions, and spot risks early, before they derail a transaction. AI isn’t just making M&A faster. It’s making it smarter.

Trade Uncertainty Is Reshaping M&A Strategy

Changing US trade policies are stalling cross-border deals and making future revenue streams harder to predict. As a result, dealmakers face a two-sided challenge: how to keep deal momentum alive while insulating portfolios from geopolitical shocks.

Some of the effects are already evident on Datasite, which handles over 19,000 new deals a year. New deal kickoffs, especially asset sales and mergers, are up 4% globally in the first four months of this year compared to the same time a year ago. Since these are deals at inception before they are announced, it can provide a good sense of what’s to come and some of the momentum that has already occurred.

Yet there’s caution, too. Deal completion rates on Datasite sank to 44% after the first major US tariff announcement on April 2,  down from 49% year-over-year (YoY). This means buyers are slowing down. They want more time to evaluate risks. They’re asking more questions. They’re probing the fine print, and if necessary, they are walking away.

A key reason is tariffs. When tariffs are imposed on imported goods or raw materials, they can directly impact the cost structures and profit margins of target companies, especially those with global supply chains. This creates volatility in financial projections, which complicates valuation models and discourages dealmaking. Buyers face added risk as they try to assess whether a target’s current revenue performance can be sustained under changing trade conditions. In many cases, tariffs prompt companies to reconsider expansion into or acquisition within certain countries, shifting M&A activity toward regions with more stable trade relationships.

Additionally, ongoing trade tensions, such as those between the US and China, have led to increased regulatory scrutiny, which further delays or derails deals. These combined factors force dealmakers to spend more time conducting due diligence, modeling various tariff scenarios, and adding protective clauses to deal structures. This then makes the M&A process more complex and costly.

Tariffs are not just increasing operational expenses, they are also reshaping strategic planning by making it more difficult to forecast long-term growth, return on investment, and integration outcomes in cross-border transactions.

Risk models now routinely factor in tariff exposure. Buyers are looking not just at what a target company earns today, but how future trade policy could affect that cash flow. Some deals, particularly cross-border ones, are being paused or restructured entirely as the investment math shifts.

To stay competitive, dealmakers must adapt. That means embracing better tools, faster workflows, and more rigorous diligence. It also means building flexibility into the deal process to account for economic swings.

AI Streamlines Diligence and Strengthens Risk Controls

This is where AI is stepping in. It’s helping deal teams process more information in less time and with greater accuracy. Due diligence is a critical but resource-intensive process that traditionally involves manually reviewing large volumes of documents and information. This approach can be time-consuming and laborious, often placing significant strain on professionals, especially when working under tight deadlines. As a result, the quality and thoroughness of the review may be compromised. AI offers a solution to this challenge by enabling faster and more efficient analysis. AI tools can quickly sort, summarize, and highlight key clauses and relevant obligations within documents, allowing dealmakers to focus on the most important information. This not only improves accuracy but also significantly reduces the time required to complete the due diligence process. For example, AI can organize, categorize and flag key data and risks across thousands of documents in a virtual data room in real time, helping to reduce human error and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

It’s no surprise that one in five dealmakers now use generative AI in the M&A process, while many more say AI adoption is their top operational priority this year. Why? Because the M&A playbook is changing. Reviews are more intense. Regulators ask more questions. Investors demand deeper insight. AI helps answer the call.

Virtual data rooms are also evolving. It’s now common for deal teams to use AI-powered Q&A tools to interrogate information before making a move. In fact, the use of Q&A tools on Datasite has climbed since the start of the year, reflecting an increased need for sellers to be ready to respond quickly and thoroughly to buyers who want to see clean, complete data.

Additionally, AI is increasingly playing a valuable role in identifying potential acquisition targets. By analyzing various market signals, such as company descriptions, geographic compatibility, and size-related criteria, AI can help buyers pinpoint suitable candidates more efficiently. These insights are often derived from a combination of public, private, and proprietary data sources. As a result, some AI-powered platforms are already enabling dealmakers to discover potential targets more quickly and accurately. This proactive approach can improve strategic alignment, making it easier for companies to integrate new capabilities post-acquisition and achieve the growth objectives intended by the deal.

AI can also contribute to the valuation process by offering data-driven analyses based on historical trends and current market conditions. It can also automate routine and labor-intensive tasks, such as redacting sensitive information in documents. By streamlining these operational steps, AI allows professionals to focus more on high-level strategy and innovative thinking, ultimately improving the quality and effectiveness of decision-making throughout the M&A lifecycle.

Dealmakers Must Shift from Reactive to Proactive

In today’s environment, waiting for the perfect moment to launch a deal isn’t a strategy, it’s a liability. Timing matters, but preparation matters more. Those who succeed in this market will be the ones who invest early in deal readiness. That can include cleaning up financials, mapping supply chain dependencies, reviewing IP portfolios, and aligning management on deal terms.

Of course, AI alone isn’t the answer. The best strategies combine human insight with machine intelligence. Use AI to surface options. Use your team to make the calls. Technology should guide the process, not replace judgment.

The Future of M&A Is Here

M&A will always carry risk. But how to manage that risk is changing. AI is raising the bar. It’s giving dealmakers the tools to work faster, smarter, and with more foresight.

In a world where tariffs will likely continue to evolve, and regulators can shift course mid-review, speed and insight matter. The future belongs to dealmakers that are data-driven, tech-forward, and strategically agile.

[sanjeetkarki]

Looking forward to the future of data analytics in 2024, it's evident that the field will keep changing fast. This change will be fueled by tech progress, rules, and business shifts. To stay ahead, organisations should use advanced analytics, prioritise clear AI and ethical data use, merge analytics with IoT and edge computing, use augmented analytics, and target data privacy and security. This way, they can innovate, meet goals, and stay competitive in the digital future.

[monsterblogging]

Watching HBO Harry Potter at all, by any means is a bad idea, actually. Here's why.

For as long as Rowling's transphobia has been undeniable, a common refrain among fans who just don't want to let HP go has been "just pirate it!" Because if you're pirating it, that doesn't put money in Rowling's pockets, so it's all good - supposedly.

But here's the deal: if you watch this new series by any means whatsoever, you are going to want to do fandom things over it. You're going to want to make fanart. You're going to want to write fanfic. You're going to want to post analyses and headcanons, all of which will constitute free advertisement for the series.

Maybe you won't do that, though. Maybe you'll refrain with the self-control of the most devout nun. But it's gonna suck.

But also, those pirate sites? Many of them boost popular content on their front pages. And as benpaddon pointed out:

In a post-Community world, a lot of production companies are keeping an eye on which of their shows and films are being shared on illegal streaming and torrent sites. They still use that information to gauge a show's popularity and, again, they can and will use that data to attract licensees.

In other words, HBO will very likely be watching pirate sites to decide how much merch and tie-in media they're going to produce. And of course, all merchandise and tie-in media sales will benefit Rowling, and all merch will function as advertising.

It's understandable if you're having difficulty letting Harry Potter go because you got attached to the books or the movies. I get that. But watching the HBO series will make this problem even worse for you, and it will benefit JKR.

[lcriedlastnight]

Enemies to lovers with Lando: "you want me?" "you know i do"

thank you so much for your request, anon!

tw: fem!reader, swears, wee bit angsty, she's a big one, dickhead!lando. lmk if you want me to add anything.

w/c: 2.8k

this weekend had gone horrible for lando so far, and of course as his assistant you had gotten the brunt of it. on days like this you don't know why you didn't just quit your job. lando clearly didn't like you, in fact you would go as far to say that he hated you and wouldn't everything go much more smoothly if you both liked each other? you lay awake in bed at night - especially after a rough day of running around like a headless chicken after lando - thinking about having a job where your boss didn't curse the ground you walked on.

you had been working overtime this weekend, making sure that lando had everything he needed all weekend for press conferences, meetings with zak and andrea and even when he needed a second alone to himself in his drivers room, you would make sure to tell anyone who was looking for him that he was busy, just so he could get a break. you had decided when lando was in looking at data after both free practise rounds on friday to grab a bite to eat. you hadn't eaten since breakfast, it was now a little past five. it wasn't an exaggeration to say you were starving.

you head towards some tables next to the cafeteria and pull what you had brought for lunch out of your bag. you pull out your phone, scrolling through your texts, one catching your eye. it was the groupchat you had with all your friends, baring in mind there was only four of you.

'it's like a double date but for the four of us!" lara, had said. the other girls seemed to disagree with whatever her idea was. you scroll down further to see the newer messages.

'what if we set her up? i'm sure her boss will give her the saturday off to go on a date with him." again it was lara who suggested it, but it caught your eye because she was talking about you. who was she trying to set you up with and why was she even doing it in the first place? there was also no way lando would be giving you saturday off, never mind during a race weekend.

you tell them so before hearing the distinct voices of lando and zak chatting away as they make their way down the hall. you sigh and pack away your half eaten lunch. you could've finished it, you were sure lando wasn't that much of a dick that he would deny you of food but you didn't want him to hold it over your head. you knew for certain he would do that. you shove the lunch bag into the bigger bag then sling it over your shoulder. your phone pings, a message from the groupchat.

'too late it's already set up, ask your boss and we'll go shopping on monday when you're home.' lara says. you could kill her. you don't respond, just shoving your phone into your pocket and walking over to lando and zak.

"hey, great to see you again!" zak greets you with a cheery smile. it's easy to happy around zak, the only time you've seen him annoyed or upset has been on bad race days. you're sort of surprised he is so because lando has not been performing so far this weekend. you bite your tongue on that one, instead giving him a smile back and returning his polite words.

"well look, as i said before, this is only friday, the only day where what you drive like matters is sunday. that's when we get the points. although i'm sure you will be back on your game tomorrow. we all have off days." zak tells lando, a comforting hand on his shoulder before he walks off in the direction he came in. you spot oscar too, so there is no doubt that it is oscar's turn for his driving this weekend to be analysed. oscar's weekend comapred to lando's has been pretty good.

"that's you for today. nothing else you're needed for." you tell lando, triple checking his calandar, making sure you were looking friday. the time where you were accidentally looking at his saturday schedule instead stays at the forefront of your mind whenever you look at his calandar.

"i know. you told me that before." lando remarks, his voice blunt and a little nasty. its like your presence just pisses lando off. you remember the date your friends set you up with and will courage to fill your veins before asking him.

"what are you still doing standing there?" lando asks, not genuinely asking, just wanting you to leave him alone. he hates seeing you outside of work and although you were in the paddock, he deems this outside of work.

you take a deep breath before just directly asking him. "can i have next saturday off?". lando stops untying his fireproofs. he looks up at you.

"why? why are you making plans on a race weekend?" he condescends, like you were stupid.

"i didn't. my friends set me up on a date without asking." you explain. you hated explaining yourself to him but you knew if there was any chance you were getting saturday off then you had to do what he asked.

lando pauses for a second, staring at you then returns to undoing his fireproofs. "no. i need you here." he declares.

you shouldn't be shocked he said no, you really should have seen it coming but it still surprises you nonetheless.

"you can't go without me for just one day?" you ask, as if you were desperate to go on this date. now it was more about him not giving you the day off than it was about actually going on the date.

lando's brows crinkle. "no. if i give you the saturday off then you'll need the sunday off too as i'm guessing it's not here so unless you're planning on flying over straight after your date?" he spits out the end of the sentence. you had not thought about that. you are quiet as you take in his words.

"that's what i thought. tell your friends to cancel the date, you're coming with me all weekend." lando basically demands.

"i'm not sure why you even want me here. you hate me, i don't know why you haven't just fired me and found a new assistant. this would work a lot better for you if you actually liked the person you need to spend the whole weekend with." you grumble, annoyed at his attitude and how he felt like he could just go around telling you what you could and couldn't do with your life. it seriously felt like you were cutting off you social life for this job. you storm past lando and straight out of the paddock into the uber waiting for you, it stands out against the rich, fancy cars surrounding it in the carpark.

you drive back to the hotel in silence, in one of those moods where everything was annoying you. you hate the fact that you had to stay in the same hotel as him. you had never been this mad at your job before. you try to unwind once you are back at the hotel by jumping into the shower but it does not help.

once you have gotten yourself dry and have gotten changed for bed, you eat the rest of your ruined lunch/dinner and text your friends back letting them know that lando was in fact, not giving you the day off for the date. you then throw yourself into bed. you put the tv on but the only channel that spoke english was the news channel and you seriously couldn't care less about the way people make tea. how did stuff like this even make the news anyway?

you scroll through all your social media apps then decide to download a job app. you enter your qualifications, cv and a description about yourself and your current job. you apply to a few then feel yourself getting tired so you set your alarms and head to sleep, dreading having to see lando tomorrow. you hope he's in a good mood because even though it doesn't matter what mood lando is in, he's still a dick to you, he's a little bit nicer when he's in a better mood.

you go over everything in the morning before you leave, making sure you have everything. as you make your way to the uber waiting outside the hotel, you check the job app but you have no new notifications. you usually only uber back to the hotels and lando drives you there seeing as you both have to arrive at the same time but there was no way you were spending more time than what you had to with him today. you seen him in the hotel carpark getting into his car when your uber was pulling away, so at least you knew he would be on time.

you and lando arrive at the paddock at the same time, you know you would have to wait for him before going in because andrea wanted to have a quick meeting with the three drivers ahead of the practise session and qualifying.

lando sees you waiting and eventually catches up to you. "andrea wants to see you guys before free practise today. i don't know how long for but it might be long 'cause he wants to talk about quali too." you don't look up from your phone as you read out what had been added to his calendar late last night.

"alright." lando replies. there's no nasty comments, no bluntness and no condescension. you are completely shocked but don't let it show on your face as you both walk inside the mclaren motor home together.

you spot oscar in the corner, eating some sort or energy bar? or maybe some kind of breakfast bar. either way it reminded you that lando probably hasn't eaten yet today, so as he and oscar head towards the meeting room you try to find something lando can eat. oscar has told you many times that making sure lando eats is not in the assistants job responsibilities and yet you feel yourself compelled to make sure he is taking care of himself.

you grab a few of the same bars you seen oscar eating earlier before heading towards the meeting room. you hate walking into the meeting room when there was meetings going on so you try your best not to do it. you have only had to do it once and it was the worst thing you've ever had to do. you were so embarrassed.

everyone is surprised at your interruption but you give them a shy smile and head towards lando. you don't say anything just setting the three bars down on the table in front of him. lando locks eyes with you. "thank you." he says.

this time you can't hide your shock as it's written plainly on your face. it's hidden from the others in the room except lando. you only smile in response then rush out the room. what is going on with him today? you sit on the same table you tried to take your break on yesterday as you respond to emails of lando's behalf and it hits you. lando is clearly feeling bad. you'll talk to him before qualifying.

the meeting ends ends and both mclaren boys are quick to get ready for free practise. from the looks of it, zak was right. lando was back in the game today. he came in third on the time sheets. you hoped this would mean a good qualifying, if not for lando and mclaren but for you. this good mood and lando treating you nicer would definitely go down in flames if lando didn't place in the top five for qualifying. you have never been religious, but you prayed then for it to happen.

you stood at the back of the garage, talking to one of lando's engineers when the man himself came over and dragged you away from him. you didn't even get a chance to apologise for lando's rude behaviour before you were both standing in the hallway to the driver rooms.

lando doesn't speak he just leans forward, pressing his lips to yours in a hesitant and light, kiss. when you didn't react he kissed you again with a little more force. every single thing in you was telling you to kiss him back but there was a single thought in your brain that reminded you who he was and how had treated you the past year. you end up pulling away and asking "what are you doing?".

lando looks at you confused. "you know what i'm doing." he utters, voice laced with confusion, like he seriously didn't understand what the problem with kissing you out of nowhere was.

"uh i don't think i do." you cross your arms, waiting for an expantation.

"i want you." lando tried to say confidently, but it comes out a little weaker than what he expected. he puffs out his chest and stands a bit taller, trying to see more confident.

"you want me?" you repeat back to him. surely he wasn't being serious.

"you know i do." lando responds, hand flying up to cup your cheek. you look at him confused. there is no way he has been living the same year that you have. what the fuck does he mean 'i want you'? you have literally never felt more confused in your life.

"do i? last time we spoke you wouldn't let me have a day off?" you remind him. you want to remind him of a lot of things right now, like every single moment he made you go home or even back to your hotel room and cry. his hand moves from your cheek.

"yeah and why do you think that was? because you were going on a date. with some guy. i don't want you going on dates with random guys i want you going on dates with me." lando tries, desperate to explain himself to you.

"i don't think you have a right to tell me who i can and can't go out with, lando." you are seething. who does he think he is messing around in your life like this? "you're abusing your position as my employer."

"fine. you want the weekend off to go on a date? you can have it off then." lando says, firm and a little sad. before you can say anything back to him, he storms away into his drivers room. you don't know why you just did that. you don't even want to go on the date, you would love to go on the date with lando instead, just like he proposed but you were still annoyed at the way he treated you. you know why he did it now but it still doesn't make it right.

you don't see lando for hours until there are people crowding around his driver room telling him it's time to come out for qualifying. you guess from the noise that lando eventually comes out. zak is there telling him information about the car. you suddenly feel that you need to tell him you do like him. right now. you just felt like he had to know. so you squeeze through the people making their way to his car with him. you find lando's hand and give it a tight squeeze to get his attention.

you pull him closer before you whisper into ear, not wanting all the people surrounding him to hear. "i want you too, but you hurt me. apologise and we can maybe work something out." you reveal. lando's eyes widen, with what you can clearly tell is happiness. he doesn't even have any time to answer you so all he gets to do is nod as he's told to get into the car.

you watch the qualifying with eager eyes, this is the fiirst time since you started that you were actually excited to watch lando race, even though it was just qualifying. he really does put the 'flying' into the flying laps. after a very long hour, lando qualifies in second.

"front row for lando!" the garage exclaims in joy. you can't help but join in. you all wait for lando's car to return to the garage before people are patting him on the shoulder in congradualations.

lando speaks to a few people before he spots you through the crowd, he wades through it to get to you. "hi. i'm so fucking sorry for being a dick to you for the past year. i don't know how to cope with my feelings and i ended up turning positive feeling into negative ones and taking it out on you. i'm so fucking sorry, please let me make it up to you." lando begs. you don't know how he knew that you didn't want anything big as an apology, just lando admitting he was wrong was enough for you.

you nod with a smile to his question and lando seals it with a kiss, not caring that the garage was filled with people and most importantly cameras. he could deal with that later. for right now he had you.

[keferon]

Why’d monster hunter brainstorm timetravel to the specific era the story takes place?

Will the others ever see his alt mode?

The reason is the same as in canon - he wanted to save Quark.

Okay, I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

Brainstorm lives in the far future and is happy with Quark, until one day it turns out that Quark has a fatal spark disease that will kill him if nothing is done about it. They of course go to the hospital, but it turns out that only certain types of the disease are treatable and modern science still can't do anything about it.

Long story short, no one knows how to cure Quark's spark.

Brainstorm, as a true scientist and a good conjunx, naturally begins to research the subject himself and stumbles upon some strange information. All the sources, studies and records on the study of this disease go back a long fucking way. All that modern scientists have been doing for the last million years is just improving and refining the method of treatment, which was invented in absolute antiquity.

Brainstorm investigates further.

He discovers, all the original research records belonged to a mech named Perseptor, who amongst many other things was studying sparks. And it's when Brainstorm manages to get his hands on copies of these very original records that he finally realises why no one has been able to take this research any further. The records are very well structured, detailed and accurate, but half of the information is taken out of nowhere. The Perseptor specifies the types of sparks that certain substances affect in certain ways, but nowhere does he mention where he got this information from. He might, for example, write that certain types of sparks tend to develop internal micro-cracks when exposed to certain factors for long periods of time. And Brainstorm, having read that, can only stare blankly into space, because yes, micro-cracks in sparks is something that exists. But even in his time, there's no equipment that can detect them if they're INSIDE. So how the hell did an ancient mech with his primitive tools figure all this out???

His curiosity isn't satisfied. The research just cuts off in the middle, as if the mech that did it just abandoned it or died suddenly.

Brainstorm, like many scientists before him, tries to start his own research based on the information pointed out by Perseptor, but finds himself at the same dead end as all the medicine of his time. He just doesn't have the same mysterious way of collecting data that this...Perseptor had.

And Quark isn't getting any better

Eventually, Brainstorm comes up with a brilliant idea. What if, instead of trying to find a cure, he just (ha! Just.) went back in time and saved the dude who was definitely going to invent the cure but didn't have time? He decides it's genius and creates a time machine.

He goes back in time to find Perseptor and well, he gets a surprise. Turns out the dude who researched spark disease was a spark eater. And also on the verge of starvation, but Brainstorm finds a way to help him, it's all good:) It turns out that all this time, Perseptor didn't have any mysterious equipment to analyse the sparks, he was the equipment himself. In fact, he didn't specify the sources of his findings for the research, because the phrase ‘I figured it out because it tasted different’ sounds incredibly compromising and would have signed Percy's death warrant if his notes had fallen into the wrong hands.

Next, I'm not sure how it would have developed. I think as the story progresses, Perseptor and Brainstorm work together to invent a cure for Quark. And then, if you like to cry, Brainstorm goes back to the future and cures him, and Perseptor stays in the past.

If you want adventure, Brainstorm could take Percy back to the future with him. Quark would be really fucking scared and confused at first, but they'd figure it out quickly and conjunx Percy into their futuristic fluffy pairing. (Also, I have a lot of fun thinking about Brainstorm and Quark showing Percy the advances of future science, and the future world in general.

Also, I think Brainstorm would do a good job of hiding his alt mode while he was in the past, but a couple of times would use it to escape from someone. One time he'd also give Percy a ride, and I know Percy would be incredibly freaked out by the breakneck speed that jets can achieve ahahaha

——

That…wasn’t as short as I wanted…..my inner fic writer took control

[cheapshrimpysheep]

You Will Stop the Wedding! - Azul Ashengrotto

SUMMARY: YOU were the one being kidnapped by Princess Eliza to marry her. How would he react and how would he save you? With the aggravation of he already having a crush on you.

CHARACTERS: Azul Ashengrotto x Reader

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Declaration

WORD COUNT: 1.110 words

Riddle Rosehearts / Leona Kingscholar / Azul Ashengrotto / Jamil Viper / Vil Schoenheit / Idia Shroud / Malleus Draconia

Rescuing You - Deuce Spade; Jack Howl; Floyd Leech; Kalim Al-Asim

COMMENTS: What have I done? Why did I commit to writing this? And why did I write so much? Why was I so inspired? There were seven of them! Why do I do this to myself? So yeah, this took me a long time. But I hope it was worth it, for me and for you.

CONTEXT: Someone was kidnapped to marry some ghost princess and might end up turning into a ghost too. And he just found out that someone was you.

Azul had already offered to help if he had something in return. So when he heard your name, he managed to cover up his concern with that excuse.

When rescue groups are formed, he asks to be in the last one. He first needs to analyse the behaviour of the ghosts to try to figure out the best approach. He is extremely cautious, so he needs all the information he can get first. After all, it's your life that's at risk and he doesn't like to leave things to chance, especially something like this.

When it's the last group's turn, whenever someone needs to stay behind to tie up the ghosts, Azul asks one of the others to do so. And when they ask him why he doesn't stay behind, he starts bargain and trying to make deals with them. He manages to be the only one to reach the ceremony hall.

He followed the plan. He analysed the other teams' data and came up with the perfect approach by the ghost's standards. He even managed to reach her with a bouquet of roses in perfect condition.

He is a man of words, of many words, perhaps even too many words. At a certain point the princess asked him to stop talking. She says everything he says is very flattering. And you even recognize that way of speaking, it's very similar to the way he speaks to potential valuable clients. And perhaps because of that, the princess had realized that it was not sincere.

She was about to rejection-slap him when he asked for one last chance because he had a song to sing for her. She decides to give him this last chance because she was curious.

Surprisingly, there was a piano in the ceremony hall. He sat down, placed his fingers on the keys and began to play. It had a clear, bright, and uplifting sound. He really was talented at the piano. He started to sing, a love song, of course. However, more than in speech, it is in singing that his lack of sincerity would be even more easily captured. The song was a clarion love song, about strong feelings of love, joy, and hope. And the others could tell he didn't genuinely believe in what he was singing. He realized this too. That was his last chance.

Then, when the guards were preparing to take him away from the piano, he subtly changed the melody. And his own way of singing too, now it was starting to sound sincere. It got slightly sadder and in the lyrics he admitted he didn't believe what he had sung until that moment. That he never understood those songs, but that he always hoped that one day he would. And then he met “you”. He was singing in second person. The song talked about how the two of "you" had started off on the wrong foot, but that didn't stop "you" two from overcoming it. That didn't stop "you" from seeing something worthy in him, and from giving him a second chance. And it ends on a note of hope despite the uncertainty.

When he finished, the princess and some of the guards were crying emotionally. She starts to say how beautiful that song was, and he turns back to her, as if he had woken up, as if while he was playing he had forgotten what was around him. But he quickly regained his composure, and he went back to his act.

And one of the guards notices this. The guard who is in love with the princess. And he accuses Azul that that song wasn't for the princess. She starts to defend Azul, and this almost makes the guard take back what he said. But he said that Azul should prove it by saying some of those words looking directly into the princess's eyes. You, because you know him, noticed that Azul was slightly apprehensive, but accepted with a charismatic smile.

He went in front of the princess, took her hands, looked into her eyes and said one or two of the phrases from the song. And the tone was completely different from what he sang. Proving that music really wasn't for her. Shocked, she slapped Azul. But... he was still able to move.

Everyone gasps, including the princess. When the guards ask what's going on, the princess says it can only mean one thing. The thing is that her slap is capable of petrifying anyone, except those who have already found their true love. The reaction from all NRC students is like "What the F-?!" And Azul’s reaction was blushing, as if he had been caught.

The princess became even more depressed about that. His song was actually true, but it was for someone else. She starts to feel sorry for herself and that's when the guard starts to consulate her. Saying that she also has someone who feels that way about her: Him. And that whole ending of the princess realizing that she loved him too happens, they get married and happily ever after.

After everything and while the first-years were getting ready to tidy up and clean the cafeteria, you asked Azul to wait a bit. You leave the room so you can talk alone. You tell him that song was very beautiful and ask him who it was for. After all, that slap thing revealed that it was true and for someone. He blushes a little and acts like he's admitting something, reluctantly.

“I know I made the song more ambiguous so the princess would think I was singing about her, but I know you are more insightful than this.” You wonder out loud if he was singing about money or Mostro Lounge. “Wha-?! Who do you take me for?” He wasn't acting offended, he genuinely seemed a little offended. “Do you really think I would love money as much as I love you?” and then, realizing what he had just said, he shuts up. And blushes even more. “N-No, w-wait, I...”

You laugh. He says, extremely embarrassed: “I just saved you, don't laugh at me like that!” You explain that you're not laughing at him, but more at the situation. You say that the way he spoke, in the heat of the moment, only revealed how truthful he was. And it was cute that he declared himself like that.

If you also tell him that you feel the same way about him, how you loved the song, eventually you will have to prove it with a kiss.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[save-the-villainous-cat]

So! I know you did inexperienced villain with a hero that's been there for a long time but what if it was the opposite? The hero is new (could possibly be thrown a lot of work without knowledge on how to do them, pretty naive and just wanted to save everyone) and they found the villain but they're nervous and pretty awkward. You're singlehandedly saving the heroxvillain prompt tumblr and I've been reading every single one godbless

-I,A

“Oh.”

“Oh indeed.” The villain cocked their head and observed the hero calmly. They didn’t have their suit on, had barely anything on and yet, the hero was terrified of that seemingly normal person staring at them.

“I…sorry, this must be the wrong address,” the hero muttered. It shouldn’t have been that terrifying — after all, the villain didn’t have any weapons (the hero knew of) on them and altogether, they seemed to be getting ready for bed.

But, hell, the things the villain was able to do were beyond horrifying. The hero had done their research, had educated themselves on everything the data system had to offer. No matter how many times they updated the system, every time they read the same thing.

Weaknesses: Unknown.

It wasn’t necessarily the violence. It was the intimidation and the blackmail. It was their choice of words and how they looked at people. The villain was so incredibly careful with everything they did, it even surprised the hero how they’d come this far.

“No, you have the right address,” the villain said. The hero felt quite stupid where they stood in the living room. The window was still open from their rough entry and they considered just jumping out of it. That would have probably been the first smart decision of theirs today. “You’re that newbie.”

“I—” Their face started to heat up. The villain knew about them? The hero had made one public appearance and that had been a month ago. One. One.

“Wow. You’re impressive, detective.” The villain crossed their arms in front of their chest and smiled. They had dimples. “How many graveyard shifts did you work through to figure this out?”

“I…I’m arresting you.”

“Technically, you can’t arrest me and heroes aren’t supposed to say that.” The villain shook their head and tutted. “You could get into big legal trouble for that.”

The hero’s eyes widened. That sounded plausible but they couldn’t remember if it was true. They couldn’t tell if the villain was lying to them or not.

“Crap,” the hero whispered. They looked down at the ground just for a split second and then, suddenly, the villain pushed them into their armchair and got on top. Somehow, they were pressing a knife against the hero’s ribcage.

“Nononono— wait, please—” the hero begged, putting their hands on the villain’s sturdy shoulders to push them away. It didn’t really change anything, though.

Their heartbeat skyrocketed and they started to panic.

They felt so stupid. Of course they hadn’t called for backup. Of course they hadn’t told anyone about their current location. Of course they were totally gonna die on this chair.

“Mmm,” the villain hummed, satisfied by the hero’s reactions. “How did you find me?”

“Ahh— analysing your routes and mapping and please don’t kill me—” The villain chuckled softly but the hero didn’t feel any more comfortable. They were so close that the hero didn’t even dare to let out a breath.

Their enemy’s eyes were on them, studying them relentlessly. The hero could feel the warmth of their skin under their fingertips, right there where they touched the villain’s bare shoulders.

“Gosh, you’re adorable.” The villain let out an honest laugh and leaned in. They seemed to be very invested in this. “Did you put up any cameras?”

“…no, I reckoned you’d find them—”

“You’re damn right about that. How’d you do it, then?” They moved the knife and finally, the hero allowed themselves to breathe again. The villain let the knife disappear and the hero prayed it wouldn’t show up between their ribs next.

“I asked for the footage from stores or cafés…and I, uh, sometimes I spent a few hours on rooftops.”

“Mmm. Dedicated. I like that. What did you do then?” the villain asked. Their hand was still on the hero’s shoulder and their other one on the armrest of the chair. It was quite impossible to break free, especially with the villain being merciful enough to put away the knife.

The hero didn’t want to risk anything.

Besides, the hero was clearly no match for them.

“I documented everything. And then I took a map of the city and started to draw your routes…I considered the sewer system, too. I got twenty-eight different locations where you come from and disappear to regularly.”

“Why’d you choose this one?”

“There’s a supermarket across the street. I figured you wouldn’t have much time for grocery shopping. So, after a fight or something you could still get some food.”

“Is that so?” The villain’s mouth curled into a smile again. “You’re actually wrong about that but the rest is thoroughly impressive. I guess you’re very lucky. Good job.”

“Oh, I—”

“I hope the agency gives you a promotion,” they said. With their hand, they pushed loose strands of their own hair out of their eyes. “And I’m sorry we have to meet under…these conditions.”

They looked down at their own half-naked body and the hero followed their gaze. Which they regretted quickly. Their entire head must’ve been red.

“Listen, I really don’t want any trouble, well, I mean I am obviously here to catch villains, but technically you’re not…you’re technically not at work right now...right?” The villain grinned again, showing their dimples once anew.

“Are you on patrol, yet?”

“…in two months,” the hero said.

“Two months? C’mon, I can’t wait that long. How can I contact you?”

The hero blinked. Their mouth was dry. “What?”

“I can leave you a note at the library’s front desk.” They leaned in, tickling the hero’s neck with their breath. The hero’s heartbeat spiked. “Does that sound good?”

“Oh— sure?”

“Great!” The villain took the hero’s hand and pulled them out of the chair. They bumped against each other clumsily and the hero felt, once again, incredibly stupid. “Oh, give this to your boss, will you?”

They gave them the knife they had threatened the hero with. They led them towards the door and pushed them gently into the hallway.

“Wait, before I throw you out completely—” their gaze darkened only a little “—don’t put your nose into any villain’s business like that ever again. Especially when you do not have the experience yet. Got it?”

The hero looked at the knife in their hands and then at the villain.

They nodded. The villain winked.

And then the door closed.

At least they didn’t have to climb out of the window.

[minimarvelh]

Tony: kid, why did Friday alert me that you are 17 hours straight sitting at the computer?

Peter, who is wearing gravity falls pyjama, hugging plush waddles, having all the journals with him, drinking coffee from gravity falls cup and trying something on his computer: sorry, I don’t know why did she alert you

Tony: god, no, I didn’t ask you why did she alert me. it was a rhetorical question and now if you won't do it yourself, then i will carry you to bed.

Peter: NO! I can't!! I have already deciphered 123 codes, BUT THERE’S MORE!

Tony: wait, what do you mean? please tell me you didn’t hacked Pentagon again?

Peter: of course not, I’m not stupid! I’m deciphering codes from Gravity Falls.

Tony: from that stupid cartoon?

*Peter, slowly putting on Gravity Falls season 1*

25 hours later

Tony: kid, try ad astra per aspera. Friday, analyse all the data about gravity falls and show list with all the ciphers that we need. Call Pepper, tell her I’m sorry but I need to cancel all my meetings for an indefinite time

[dawnfelagund]

I expect the outcome of these data will surprise no one. Women speak less, and women speak less. This isn't a typo: It means that they have fewer instances of dialogue in The Silmarillion by a substantial margin, and when they do speak, they speak nine fewer words than men, on average.

Instances of women speaking is much nearer to speakers of unknown gender than to men speaking. (And before we get excited and think that the "unknown gender" speakers are rejecting the gender binary, this category represents mostly dialogue attributed to a group, plus two unnamed individuals who are given dialogue and one sword.)

This matters because dialogue signifies several important things in The Silmarillion. First, in a pseudohistorical text like The Silmarillion, direct quotes mean that someone said something important enough to preserve in the historical record. Men, based on the data, are saying far more important things than women, at least in the various narrators' estimation. Next, dialogue is often a proxy to action: Characters debate, give directives, and make speeches. Dialogue also humanizes, and even though Tolkien rejects many modern literary techniques in The Silmarillion, he does use dialogue as a characterization technique. As I will show in future analyses, some characters are distinguishable based on how they speak.

Of course, the reduced dialogue of women in The Silmarllion is a direct effect of there being significantly fewer women than men: Women constitute only 19% of the named characters in The Silmarillion. Even given this, however, women speak less than we would expect.

When we look at character groups, there are notable differences, namely that women of the Ainur speak more than Mortal Human and Elven women do. (Only four Elven women and five Mortal Human women speak in The Silmarillion! Excuse me while I scream!) This was the thesis of the long-ago Inequality Prototype that spurred this data collection endeavor: The Valar, being prototypical, show an equal penchant for entering into the world based on gender: It is a 50/50 split. So we can't say that women have less desire to influence the world than men in the legendarium. When we see less action and fewer instances of dialogue among women, then, we have to ask why.

Complicating the data for the Ainur (overall, not just this set) is the fact that a big chunk of their dialogue occurs in the "Of Aulë and Yavanna" chapter that Christopher Tolkien wrote. I don't want to treat these data differently until I have the opportunity to collect more data on where dialogue outside this chapter comes from; for all I know, Christopher wrote most of it! (Actually, I know he didn't, but this chapter does illustrate how his additions can skew data for a particular group, in this case the Ainur.)

Another future area of inquiry will be the type or purpose of the dialogue and whether/how this varies based on gender. Characters speak for many reasons. Do women speak for different purposes than men?

If these data illustrate anything to me, it is the importance of fanworks in amplifying the voices of women characters who we know existed and know said and did things that mattered. We are being given a historical record much like our own Modern-earth historical record: biased toward the contributions of some over others. Only we can fix that.

---

This is part of my ongoing project The Silmarillion: Who Speaks? The data is available under a CC license for others who wish to play with it: View the data | Copy the data

[jcmarchi]

Peter Ellman, President and CEO of Certis Oncology Solutions – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/peter-ellman-president-and-ceo-of-certis-oncology-solutions-interview-series/

Peter Ellman, President and CEO of Certis Oncology Solutions – Interview Series

Certis Oncology Solutions, led by Peter Ellman, President and CEO, is a life science technology company dedicated to realizing the promise of precision oncology. The company’s product is Oncology Intelligence® — highly predictive therapeutic response data derived from advanced cancer models. Certis partners with physician-scientists and industry researchers to expand access to precision oncology and address the critical translation gap between preclinical studies and clinical trials.

Can you describe the broader problem in oncology research that the CertisOI Assistant is addressing?

The failure rate of oncology investigational drug candidates is high. It was recently reported that in 2023, 90% of oncology programs ultimately failed. That figure is a remarkable improvement over the historical trend, which hovered around 96% until 2022. Considering the cost of developing drugs, a 90% failure rate is not sustainable. Imagine how patients would benefit if the success rate were even 50%.

CertisOI Assistant immediately addresses two really important issues that contribute to this failure rate:

Improved preclinical model selection: Many compounds show promising results in preclinical studies but fail to demonstrate a sufficient therapeutic effect in humans.Most members of the scientific community point to preclinical models as part of the problem. Choosing preclinical models with the correct gene expression signature (and using orthotopic engraftments for pivotal studies) can improve “translation” into the clinic.

Earlier, better biomarker identification: Relying on biomarkers that do not accurately predict therapeutic response can result in failed clinical trials. CertisOI Assistant is integrated with CertisAI, our patent-pending predictive AI/ML platform, enabling the identification of predictive biomarkers early in the drug development process.

How does the CertisOI Assistant use AI to improve access to oncology data, and what sets it apart from other AI tools in the field?

The CertisOI Assistant provides advanced data analysis and predictive modeling capabilities through an easy-to-use, natural language interface. It stands out in several ways:

Comprehensive Dataset Integration: The assistant integrates a wide range of oncology data, including patient information, tumor characteristics, genetic profiles, and drug response predictions. This holistic approach allows for a more comprehensive analysis than tools focusing on isolated data types.

AI-Based Predictions: The assistant employs AI algorithms to predict drug response and resistance, offering insights into which treatments will likely be effective for specific cancer models. This predictive capability is crucial for personalized medicine and sets it apart from tools that rely solely on historical data.

User-Friendly Interface: By providing an intuitive interface for querying and analyzing complex datasets, the assistant makes it easier for researchers to access and interpret oncology data without requiring advanced technical skills.

Focus on Pre-Clinical Models: The assistant specializes in pre-clinical oncology research, particularly PDX and cell line models, offering unique insights into early-stage drug development and tumor biology.

Interactive Visualizations: The assistant supports interactive visualizations, such as pharmacology and tumor growth studies, enabling researchers to explore data more engaging and informatively.

How does the tool transform complex data into actionable insights, especially for researchers working on drug sensitivity or genomic data?

CertisOI Assistant leverages a structured workflow to transform raw data into meaningful insights. It involves querying a comprehensive oncology dataset, analyzing the data, and presenting the results in a clear and interpretable format. Here’s how it works:

Data Querying: CertisOI Assistant can access a relational database containing detailed information about oncology models, including patient data, tumor characteristics, genomic data, and drug response predictions. It uses SQL-like queries to extract relevant data based on the researcher’s specific needs.

Data Analysis: Once the data is retrieved, CertisOI Assistant can perform various analyses, such as identifying common mutations, correlating gene expression with drug sensitivity, or evaluating pharmacology study results. It can also rank and filter data to highlight the most significant findings.

Visualization: The assistant can present data in tabular formats, generate interactive charts for pharmacology and tumor growth studies, and display histology images. This visualization helps researchers quickly grasp complex data patterns and relationships.

Interpretation and Insights: By providing a clear interpretation of the data, including predictions for drug sensitivity or resistance, CertisOI Assistant helps researchers make informed decisions about potential therapeutic strategies or further experimental directions.

Customization and Flexibility: Researchers can tailor their queries to focus on specific cancer types, genetic markers, or treatment responses, allowing for a highly customized analysis that aligns with their research objectives.

How does the CertisOI Assistant enhance researchers’ ability to select cancer models, design biomarker strategies, or perform in silico validations?

I covered the first two areas – the cancer model section and biomarker strategy design – at the outset of this interview, so I’ll focus on performing in silico validations. CertisOI Assistant provides a virtual environment to test and validate hypotheses related to drug efficacy, target engagement, and biomarker discovery without the need for immediate laboratory experiments. This allows them to rapidly refine their hypotheses and focus experimental efforts on the most promising avenues.

Here are a few examples:

Drug Response Predictions: Use AI-based predictions for drug response and resistance to assess how different models are likely to respond to specific drugs. This can help validate the potential efficacy of a drug in silico before moving to in vitro or in vivo studies.

Genomic and Molecular Profiling: Analyze the genomic data, including mutations, gene expression, and copy number variations, to identify potential targets and validate their relevance to the drug’s mechanism of action. This can help in understanding the molecular basis of drug sensitivity or resistance.

Biomarker Discovery: Correlate molecular characteristics with drug response predictions to identify potential predictive biomarkers. This can guide the selection of patient populations more likely to benefit from a particular therapy.

Combination Therapy Exploration: Explore drug synergy predictions to identify promising drug combinations that may enhance therapeutic outcomes. This can provide insights into potential combination strategies that can be further validated experimentally.

Histological Analysis: Use histology images to validate the morphological effects of drugs on tumor tissues, providing additional evidence for the drug’s mechanism of action and potential efficacy.

Cross-Model Comparisons: Compare different models to understand how various genetic backgrounds influence drug response, helping to validate hypotheses about the role of specific genes or pathways in silico.

Virtual Screening: Perform virtual screening of drugs against a wide range of models to prioritize candidates for further experimental validation.

Can you share examples of how researchers are anticipated to use this tool to improve their workflows or achieve breakthroughs?

The simplest example is preclinical model selection. Every preclinical study begins with the selection of tumor models. CertisOI Assistant takes the manual effort out of this process and brings great precision to selecting the optimal models for any given study.

Another is developing a biomarker strategy. The traditional approach is to hypothesize what biomarker or biomarkers might be linked to the drug’s mechanism of action and then test those hypotheses in preclinical studies, which is usually an iterative process. If preclinical data is promising, researchers must validate predictive biomarkers in human clinical trials—and as discussed, the failure rate is high.

The CertisOI Assistant helps researchers identify and validate more precise, predictive gene expression biomarkers earlier in the development process and with less iteration than the traditional workflow—saving time, and money, and improving chances for commercial success.

What kinds of cancer models or datasets does the tool support, and how does this breadth benefit the research community?

The current version of CertisOI gives researchers access to Certis’ rapidly expanding library of PDX and PDX-derived tumor models and the entire Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) of models. The platform’s algorithms also draw on data from Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), CI ALMANAC, O’Neil, and other datasets. This holistic approach to data integration allows for a more comprehensive analysis than tools that focus on isolated data types.

The CertisOI Assistant is designed to be user-friendly. How do you ensure that it is accessible to researchers who may not have extensive technical expertise?

Several features make CertisOI Assistant accessible to researchers at all levels:

Intuitive Interface: The interface is designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing users to perform complex queries and analyses without needing to understand the underlying technical details.

Guided Workflows: The assistant provides guided workflows for common research tasks, such as querying drug response predictions, analyzing genomic data, and exploring pharmacology studies. This helps users focus on their research questions without getting bogged down in technical complexities.

Natural Language Processing: Users can interact with the assistant using natural language queries, making accessing the information they need easier for those without technical expertise. The assistant interprets the queries and translates them into the appropriate database queries.

Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed documentation and tutorials help users understand how to use the assistant effectively. This includes step-by-step guides, examples, and explanations of key concepts.

Interactive Visualizations: The assistant provides interactive visualizations for data analysis, such as charts and histology images, allowing users to explore and interpret data visually without needing to write code.

Responsive Support: Users can access responsive support to assist with any questions or issues. This ensures they can get help quickly and continue their research without unnecessary delays.

Customizable Queries: While the assistant provides default workflows, it also allows for customization, enabling users to tailor queries to their specific research needs without requiring deep technical knowledge.

Collaboration is a key aspect of research. How does the CertisOI Assistant facilitate teamwork among researchers or institutions?

With CertisOI Assistant, researchers from different teams or institutions can access the same dataset and tools, allowing them to work collaboratively on shared projects or research questions. The platform also makes it easy to download and share data queries, results, and insights among team members so everyone involved in a project can contribute effectively.

What are the biggest challenges in scaling AI adoption in cancer research, and how can they be addressed?

Significant challenges include data security, data integration, and trust in AI‐based outcome predictions. I am not an expert on data security or data integration, but great minds are working to solve those challenges. With respect to trusting AI-generated predictions, we need efficient and credible ways to validate those predictions.

Certis has taken a two-pronged approach to this: in silico validation via internal, cross-validation studies, and in vivo validation—performing studies in clinically relevant mouse models to evaluate the accuracy of our platform’s predictions. Over time, these tools will also be validated clinically in human patients—but of course, that will take a great deal of time and money, as well as the willingness to change the current cancer treatment paradigm. The medical and regulatory community will have to stop relying on how things have always been done and embrace the power of computational analyses to inform decisions.

How do you envision tools like the CertisOI Assistant shaping the future of cancer treatment and precision medicine?

Modern medicine doesn’t yet have a great way to match patients to the ideal treatments. Overall, only 10% of cancer patients experience a clinical benefit from treatments matched to tumor DNA mutations. That not only hurts patients’ health, but it also harms them financially. An estimated $2.5 billion —with a B—is wasted on ineffective therapies. It is a very sad fact that 42% of cancer patients fully deplete their assets by the second year of their diagnosis.

Tools like CertisOI Assistant and CertisAI will help us realize the promise of precision medicine—getting people the optimal treatment for their unique form of cancer the first time, every time…. And to democratize access to more effective, personalized care.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Certis Oncology Solutions.

[blorger]

So, picture this:

Here I am, sat in an internet-less room, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for time to crawl ever so slowly by. For lack of a better alternative, I start flipping through the pages of Chamber of Secrets and I notice A Thing.

"My, how peculiar" I say to myself, fully intending to let The Thing be, but alas; time moves slowly, boredom persists and, not unlike the tell-tale heart, The Thing calls to me.

"Come," it beckons, "notice me further". "Compile some data" it begs, "that's surely the most productive way to pass the time"; like a moth to a flame, I am caught.

This, dear reader, is how I found myself tallying all the different ways the word "mudblood" is used in canon. So gird your loins and let me introduce you to

The Mudblood Chronicles, or what's in a name?

part 1: methodology

Since the purpose of this exercise is to analyse the use of the term "mudblood" as a slur, I'm not going to count the times in which the word is not being used with malicious intent. Throughout the books this happens on several occasions, those being:

during the course of the narration (it happens once in the context of "everyone present knew mudblood was a very offensive term")

when Harry uses the term, since it only happens when he either recalls someone else saying it (one time with Draco and once with Snape) or he's forbidding Kreacher from using it (twice).

when Ron uses it; it happens once to explain the slur's meaning and once (in conjunction with Ginny) to demand Kreacher stop using the term.

when someone is quoting themselves. Draco quotes himself to Dumbledore once ("you care about me saying mudblood when I'm about to kill you?"; incidentally, it's also the last time he ever utters the word)

I am counting instances in which a muggleborn character uses the term to refer to themselves, since it happens in the context of reclaiming the insult and I am interested in who the author chooses to highlight thusly.

part 2: the results/ WHEN

The word "mudblood" and its plural "mudbloods" are used as an insult a total of 62 times in the Harry Potter books. Here we can see the book by book breakdown:

Unsurprisingly, The book where "mudblood" is used the most ( a total of 34 times) is Deathly Hallows since it takes place during a war about muggleborns. Chamber of Secrets, where the term is introduced, follows with 10 mentions, after which is Order of the Phoenix (7 mentions), followed by Goblet of Fire (6 mentions) and Half-Blood prince (5 mentions). The term "mudblood" is not used in either Philosopher's Stone or Prisoner of Azkaban.

part 3: the results/ WHO

So who is our biggest culprit?

Draco Malfoy is our uncontested lead, having both the advantage of appearing in all books and of orbiting around our narrator. Both Bellatrix and Kreacher make a good showing, with Bellatrix's 6 times being especially notable since they all occur during the course of Deathly Hallows.

Let's break this down further, shall we?

Despite introducing us to the term, Draco appears to scale back his usage of the slur as he ages.

Before partaking in this experiment, I was under the vague impression that, in the wizarding world, "mudblood" is seen as a childish insult. I can now see why: in times of peace (i.e. before Voldemort's resurrection), Draco is the only person in Harry's day-to-day life saying it and he himself peters off in the usage of "mudblood" as things get more serious. To Draco, it appears, "mudblood" IS a childish insult, and we'll see further proof of this at a later date.

part 4: the results/ HOW

Let us now look at how the term is used:

Unsurprisingly, the person "mudblood" is hurled most often at is Hermione. As a main character, she is the most visible muggleborn in the narrative and, if that wasn't enough, she is more often than not the only muggleborn present, even when it doesn't make much sense (Hermione is the only known muggleborn member of the order of the phoenix, an organization whose supposed aim is the fight for muggleborn rights.)

There are no known instances of the word "mudblood" being used to refer to any other muggleborn student during Harry's time at Hogwarts. Lily Evans is the only other school-aged character who gets the dubious honor of being a "mudblood".

Let's break this down further and look at who people are referring to when they say "mudblood":

*= Walburga's portrait never directly addresses Hermione, she only alludes to the presence of various filth (muggleborns, blood traitors, werewolves..) in her home. That said, Hermione is the only muggleborn we ever see in Grimmauld Place so it must stand to reason that Walburga is referring to her, just like she's indirectly referring to Remus Lupin when she mentions werewolves.

**= Both Hermione and Lily use the term mudblood to refer to themselves in an attempt to reclaim the slur, they both do it twice.

***= Our only "other" is mr Ted Tonks, who Bellatrix only mentions in order to disavow when Voldemort talks about Remus and Tonks's marriage.

Interestingly, the only people who ever refer to Lily Evans as "mudblood" to her face are Severus Snape (one instance recounted three separate times) and Lily Evans herself. Voldemort uses the insult when talking about her with Harry long after her death.

Of further note, our only written "mudblood" comes by courtesy of a ministry pamphlet Harry finds in Diagon Alley, heavily implied to have been written by one ms Dolores Umbridge.

part 5: a brief interlude/ Draco's language

Draco refers to Hermione as “Granger” 13 times and, while their interactions often consist of him talking about her blood status, he uses "mudblood" instead of her name only 4 times. Furthemore, there are 4 additional times where he uses both mudblood and Granger (as in "that mudblood Granger").

The very first time Draco mentions Hermione in the books occurs during this exchange with Lucius:

I find this interesting because, even in private, his first instinct is to use her given name. It's only after he is scolded by Lucius* that we get our first "mudblood", in a scene where he is once again feeling threatened by her.

*= Guess who never utters the word "mudblood"? Lucius, that's who.

part 6: conclusion

I am not a linguistics expert, I cannot tell wether JKR uses the slur she made up in a way that mimics real world slurs. What I can do with the data I compiled is try to track various characters' attitudes towards muggleborns in the books by looking at what they call them.

People whose views remain unchanged (Voldemort, Kreacher, Walburga) remain consistent with their usage of "mudblood"; Draco, who grows up as the books progress, scales back. Snape only ever uses the word once, in the past, and the incident is retold multiple times to signify its importance.

As the situation in the wizarding world worsens, more people feel emboldened to use an otherwise taboo term, as seen by how most one-off utterances of "mudblood" take place in book 7, during wartime.

Finally, I would like to note that we only ever hear two muggleborns' (Lily and Hermione) opinions on "mudblood" as a slur, the rest of the time it's mostly purebloods (and the occasional half-blood) telling us how to feel about the insult; I find that very interesting.

There. Now all this useless information is out of my brain and into the aether, where other nerds can ponder on its significance while this nerd here sleeps the sleep of the truly righteous.

xoxo

[sanjeetkarki]

Modern data modelling techniques play a crucial role in ensuring the success of data warehousing projects and enabling organisations to maximise the value of their data assets. Whether employing dimensional modelling for analytical insights, relational modelling for transactional integrity, data vault modelling for enterprise integration, or graph modelling for complex relationships, each approach offers unique advantages tailored to address specific business needs.

[pia-nor481]

Champion of the world

Max Verstappen x reader smut

3.1k words

Max had preformed so well this year. He won races and was on the podium often and yet he couldn't help but feel anxious. Max was one of those people who often bottled their feeling and thoughts up, thinking it was the best idea, when in fact, it was not. They were sat in his red bull drivers room before the start of the race. "Max it will be okay, you'll do amazing like always. You've spent so much of your life racing and preparing for racing, it's your time." Her words didn't soothe him all that much, no matter how right she was, nothing would get through to him. "That doesn't mean I'll win, anything could happen on the track, no matter how good of a driver I am. There could be a safety car, someone could crash into me, the engine could fail or a really slow pitstop." He always made it worse for him self, yes all those things were possible, but it didn't mean it was all going to happen and ruin the race. He still had a chance of winning the championship. She looked up at him, trying to hide her disappointment in his statement, he was sat above her on top of what was the most uncomfortable 'bed', while she sat with her legs crossed on the floor, she enjoyed max looking down at her, regardless of the context.

They where in this position often, every race she turned up to, Max was on the top step of the podium, he knew it was superstitious, but he felt as though she was a good luck charm. Monaco was the first race she attended, rushing down from their flat towards the paddock after spending a little too much time in bed with Max. They'd ended up in his drivers room once again, her pulling the zip of his race suit up, not without him running his hands over her body. They quickly made a rule, if she was dressing him, he could undress her. It often lead to her freezing adorning just underwear. It made max relax, and she'd do anything to ensure that. But it max didn't win, even if he left covered in champagne and walking away with a trophy, it didn't seem to be enough.

So Max would lock him self in his so called 'office' of their shared flat and worsen his eyesight by staring at a screen. He would spend said time analysing data and strategies, or watching previous races trying to see where he would lose time, and then use the sim for hours on end. Max would barely leave the room, Jimmy and Sassy would often scratch at the door wanting their owner's attention, but would hardly get it. She would be left to look after his cats, and try to look after him. She would try everything possible to make Max leave those four walls, mainly make him some sort of meal, depending on the hour. First she'd call out to him, and get no response, then she'd text, again no response. Finally she walk straight into the room and just place the plate on his desk, hoping he might actually acknowledge her. But he never really did. Of course Max appreciated everything she did, he just wasn't overly connected. Most nights she'd go to bed with out him, and be woken up at an ungodly hour upon feeling the bed dip slightly, but when she would reach out in the morning, his side of the bed would be cold. Although the dishes she left in the sink last night were washed, there was no trace of her boyfriend anywhere. Not even in the sim room.

Around three hours later, Max would come back drained, clearly coming back from what was a particularly difficult training session. His kissed her on the lips before promptly walking toward the bathroom. She knew that he wouldn't be seen again for a while. This became a cycle for the couple. Until it was Saturday, post qualifying was always a fun time. Max usually felt better about racing when he was starting on the front row. This usually fixed the slight drift in their relationship; Max became a lot more aware for what he was doing, the proper term would be neglecting, but it would take him a while to come out of this hyper focus and begin to look after himself, and his girlfriend of course. He wouldn't leave her side, man felt so debilitated because of his actions, then he often would feel his heart thumping loud in his ears. His cortisol levels would have been sky high, a long with his disappointment in himself. He couldn't believe that she would still be loving and caring towards him, after all he had been putting her through this year. She must have felt so lonely, so unloved, and yet she would still kiss him like there was no tomorrow. She never turned him down because she loved him dearly.

"I love you, thank you so much for everything, you honestly don't know how much I appreciate it, appreciate you." It seemed like a simple sentence that would be written in cursive inside of a birthday card, yet Max meant every word. It would clear the stress of points was getting to him. He was so irritable and angry, he couldn't sleep and constantly had headaches even paracetamol could cure. It was daunting to see her boyfriend in such a way. "Max, just come to bed, please, I'm struggling to sleep without you here." She already had to settle with out cuddles, max felt as though he got too warm in bed, but now having to sleep without him. It was becoming too much. "I need to win the next few races, I don't want to get far behind in the points." Receiving 12.5 points in Belgium wasn't particularly helpful in this situation.

"Give me a kiss before you go." She almost begged as Max stood up, the national anthem was going to start soon and so he needed to be out in the pad ok by now. So he pulled her closer by the waist and connected their lips. She gripped his upper arm in the process, just wanting to feel him once again. They stayed like this for a few minutes, not wanting to let go, she may have not realised it, but Max felt most relaxed in her presence, feeling her helped the most though. "I love you"

The race was horrifying. Abu dabi was already a tricky race, that coupled with a safety car was not great for Max. He was however, capable of over taking Lewis Hamilton, and thereby won the race. Elated was all Max could feel, finally he was able to take a full breath and smile, he finally felt relaxed in away; stress free. He was practically screaming down the radio. Max was the world champion and he was ecstatic. After coming down from the high of a win, max decided he wanted another. You wouldn't think Max verstappen would be overly fond of a quicky, due to his nature of trying hard and making things perfect, that should take time, but it was something he enjoyed, the thought of getting caught was such a turn on for him. "Come here." He stated, grabbing her, not overly rough, that however was not his thing. Covered in champagne, Max pulled her back towards his drivers room, and as soon as the door was shut he pulled her close. His mouth immediately attacked her neck and she moaned out, running her hands up his body and into his hair, tugging on it slightly. "Don't start, baby."

Max was angry, the fact he had to ask on multiple occasions if they were sure he won was most likely the cause. He liked to be dominant, he always was, in every aspect of his life. He slid his hands over her back and under her ass, pulling her up so she could wrap her legs around his hips, he gently, as possible, placed her on the bed of the room. Max didn't let go, he was being possessive. His hand constantly made contact with her skin. Just as he slid his hand between her thighs she moaned out, "Please Max." Everything he did always felt good, she felt it through out her whole body. She pulled the zip of his race suit down and began palming his cock, he groaned at the feeling, becoming a little more loud than usual. "Please Max, just fuck me already." She knew they were running out of time, he had places to be.

As Max slid in he felt as though he was losing all control of himself. With every thrust of his hips he got closer to ecstatic, he reached down again, putting pressure on her clit, making sure she was getting as close as he was. Her moans echoed through out the room as Max sped up, rubbing faster circles on her skin. "Feels so good." She was losing the ability to form coherent sentences, thoughts too, Max knew she was close and wouldn't leave the room until she was satisfied. "Cum with me, love" He practically moaned out, leaning closer to her body. With her eyes still rolled to the back of her head, Max pulled out slowly, almost rushing to pull his clothes back on properly. She sat there for a while, watching Max, she was so happy to just be around him, that much was clear with the smile on her face, she was so blissed out, not that Max was surprised. They'd not had sex for a few weeks, so she'd not cum in a while. Once he didn't look disheveled, he began to kiss her lightly, wanting to provide some form of comfort before he had to disappear for interviews and debriefing. "I've got to go, love" he spoke softly as he shifted closer to the edge of the bed, and so, he kissed her and help do the buttons of her top up. "I know, I'll go back to the hotel and get ready, it seems like we have a lot of celebrating to do." With one final kiss to the forehead before walking towards the door. She knew that going to a club tonight wasn't nonnegotiable, they would all be getting immensely drunk.

Once they got off of Max's private jet, they practically rushed towards their flat. Max hooked his arm around her neck as they approached the front door, he was yawning the whole ride over, Max was exhausted, not physically but mentally; the stress of the season was really affecting him. "Talk to me, please, love." She looked over to him as the words left her mouth, she placed her phone and keys on the table and looked at him again. "About what?" Max looked a little on the pale side compared to normal, yet he still tried to give her everything he had. "How you are actually feeling, I hate to say it, but I'm going to because I love you so much, you seem to be so worn out, you need real rest, and yet I know you will be in that sim room, trying to improve your already amazing performance." A small trace of defeat laced her words, Max did become a tad bit displeased with the statement, but he didn't have the strength to be more than so. "Everyone thinks I cheated, as if there's a point of racing. There's no point in winning if I didn't try for it; and I know I've put in so much effort. I spent the better half of the year on the sim, I've had to get new glasses I've been staring at that screen for so long. But that's not even the worst part... I've driven you away in the process. I've been an awful boyfriend and no doubt made your life so much harder. I'm so sorry,love."

He felt so relieved having got that off of his chest, with rather loud sigh and a fall of his chest, Max walked towards her again, He rested his head on top her. "Oh Max, I love you, I'm not going to leave just because you were busy. You wanted to win and you definitely deserve it. You're right in the sense that locking yourself away for so long wasn't fair on me, but I knew how much you wanted this. And if it was going to make you happy, then it would make me happy." He was almost in tears. There wasn't anything they wouldn't do for each other. "You need to relax." She said, feeling his finger tug on her top slightly, before his hand slipped all the way up her chest. " I think I know how to relax." He smirked, grabbing her wrist and lightly pulling her towards their bedroom.

She pushed his chest lightly, forcing him to lay down on the bed, she enjoyed the feeling of warmth against her finger tips, Max's touch was divine. He began to sit up, reach out for her body. Her hands made contact again, while she spoke, "I don't think so." Her tone was teasing, she wanted him to feel good, he wanted to feel good, but she would control the when. "Oh, please, love. Don't tease me." Her hands slid over his torso, feeling every divot and muscle, the sensation was intense; max let out an exasperated sigh. As she climbed into his lap, she could feel his hard cock, it was almost painful. She palmed him once again, changing pressure to ensure he would be on the edge. He was practically moaning, the loudest she had ever heard him. "Be good." She whispered out, as his cock jumped. They had never discussed the possibility of Max having a praise kink, although he definitely deserved all the praise in the world after this season. "Did you like, hm? Do you like me calling you good? Or do you like when I tell you what to do?" Max's chest was rising and falling rapidly. "Answer me, Max." It didn't come across as aggressive, yet it was still demanding.  He was shocked with himself, never did he think giving someone else completely control of his body would be so marvellous. She began to stroke his cock faster, slowing down every few moments to tease the tip, edging him further. "Yes, yes to all. Please, Love. Let me cum." He was virtually begging as she liked along the underside of his cock; the precum leaked heavily, and so she began sucking him dry. "Uh, yes." He could feel the sensation through out his entire body, and could hold back, her mouth quickly filled with his cum.

Max was panting as he sat up, making eye contact with her in the process. She leaned forward, kissing his neck, giving him as much attention as possible, he didn't cheat, never, not in any aspect of his life, he loved everything too much. He loved her. Her so called kisses left bright red marks all over his pale skin. "Sit back, baby." Max moved back towards the headboard, still blissed out and a little coherent; in the meantime, she slowly stripped of her clothes, giving him a little show while he caught his breath. Max's gaze shifted back towards her and he felt his cock harden again almost immediately, blood was rushing through his body rapidly. A lazy smirk dawned his face as she straddled him again, stoking him a bit before sitting down fully, taking him whole in her cunt. Her eyes rolled back temporarily at the feeling, it felt like he was in her stomach in this position; his hands rested firmly on her hip while she got used to the feel of the stretch. Max didn't have to say anything, she could tell by the look on his face, and the hunger in his eyes, that he felt euphoric, just being inside her.

"Fuck, Max, feels so good." He felt almost cocky at the statement, he didn't even have to do anything and she was already moaning. Max shifted slightly, bending his knees in an attempt to thrust his hips up, but her hands came down from his chest to stop his movements. "No, why won't you listen to me? I said you're not doing any of the work, and I mean it."  As much as Max like control, he also liked to please.  She began to lift her hips up and then down rather slowly, easing Max into it, without overstimulating him. She was already squeezing him tight, so it was hard for max to resist, he was desperate, desperate for her, desperate to cum. Her hands gripped the headboard for support, allowing her to fuck him faster, he moaned out as she leaned forward, almost coming off his cock completely. It all felt too good, they were both edging on ecstasy, so much so that Max's grip only tightened, leaving marks on her skin. Her hands came down from the bed and onto his chest as she began to ride him even faster, his eyes closed and mouth agape, he felt his legs start to shake slightly. "That's it, so good for me." She practically huffed out as his breath hitched. Max came hard, he could feel it through out his whole body; legs shakes, head thrashing with his eyes rolled to the back of his head, a choked out moan bounced off the walls in the process.

After riding out his high, her arms came down as she went to rest her head on his chest, silence filled the room for a moments as they both caught their breath. Her hands trailed over his body once again, this time, in a slightly less erotic way, a more comforting act. His hands slid up her back and into her hair, playing with it, this was an act they both enjoyed. "I love you." She knew that. “I’ll be better, I promise.” Light laughter filled his ears, “Max, I love you so much, don’t doubt that.” A smiled covered his face, he not only promised her, but himself; he felt terrible for what he did and so would never do it again. He could not treat her in such a way.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

From November 2022

By Cate Swannell

IF further proof was needed that infection with SARS-CoV-2 has long-term sequelae for the human body, research led by Monash University has provided it, highlighting the need for GPs and other frontline physicians to be aware of their patients’ COVID-19 history.

The research, led by epidemiologist and PhD candidate Stacey Rowe, and coauthored by Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton and renowned infectious disease epidemiologist Professor Allen Cheng, among others, is published by the MJA.

“Essentially what we wanted to do was look to see what sort of hospitalisations might have been associated with having COVID-19 – did it cause other than respiratory complications, for example,” Ms Rowe told InSight+.

Rowe and colleagues analysed population-wide surveillance and administrative data for all laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases notified to the Victorian Department of Health from 23 January 2020 to 31 May 2021 – prior to the vaccination rollout and the appearance of the Omicron variant – and linked hospital admissions data (admission dates to 30 September 2021).

“A total of 20 594 COVID-19 cases were notified, and 2992 people (14.5%) were hospitalised with COVID-19,” Rowe and colleagues reported in the MJA.

“The incidence of hospitalisation within 89 days of onset of COVID-19 was higher than during the baseline period for several conditions, including myocarditis and pericarditis (IRR, 14.8; 95% CI, 3.2–68.3), thrombocytopenia (IRR, 7.4; 95% CI, 4.4–12.5), pulmonary embolism (IRR, 6.4; 95% CI, 3.6–11.4), acute myocardial infarction (IRR, 3.9; 95% CI, 2.6–5.8), and cerebral infarction (IRR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.4–3.9).”

In other words, says Ms Rowe, “there are considerable risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection” beyond the initial COVID-19 illness.

“You are 15 times more likely to acquire myocarditis requiring hospitalizations following COVID-19 compared with beforehand,” she said.

“Things like heart attacks, or acute myocardial infarction occur quite proximally to getting COVID infection, but other conditions such as the clotting conditions – pulmonary embolism, for example — that risk was highest later in the course of COVID illness, highest around 14 to 60 days following COVID illness.”

Other results were also telling.

“The incidence of hospitalisation with cerebral infarction was twice as high after COVID-19 onset as during the baseline period,” Rowe and colleagues wrote. “Other investigators (here, here and here) have estimated the risk of stroke to be 2–13 times as high for people with COVID-19.”

Professor Cheng, speaking with InSight+, said with testing and tracing of positive COVID-19 cases now not mandatory in Australia, it was harder to know just who has had COVID.

“What this study does suggest is that [the possibility of a previous COVID illness] should be on the radar, because there is a window of elevated risk,” he said.

“If someone presents with, say, chest pain, within a couple of months of having COVID, we really need to be attentive to that, because it’s probably a bit more likely that pain does represent a myocardial infarction than at other times.

“You can’t say that every heart attack that happens after COVID is due to COVID. But there is a period of elevated risk, and it seems to be close to when you got COVID.”

Rowe and colleagues recommend vaccination and “other mitigation strategies”.

“Our findings indicate the need for ongoing COVID-19 mitigation measures, including vaccination, and support the early diagnosis and management of complications in people with histories of SARS-CoV-2 infection,” they wrote.

“The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying symptom persistence and the development of major complications still need to be elucidated, the prevalence of the post-COVID-19 condition (by vaccination status) established, and the risks of complications following vaccination quantified.”

Professor Cheng told InSight+:

“What [this study] does show is you’re better off not getting COVID and whatever way that you do that is probably a good thing.

“Vaccination is the simplest way to protect yourself from getting COVID, but it’s not perfect. Not going out when there’s a lot of COVID out there, wearing masks, improving ventilation and all those other things, are also important.”

At one point in the MJA article the authors wrote:

“Some COVID-19 complications clinically resemble those reported after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, which is important when evaluating putatively post-vaccination adverse events. Further, we found that the incidence of hospitalisation with severe cardiac and thrombo-embolic events after SARS-CoV-2 infection was higher than the reported risk of these events after vaccination.”

Ms Rowe told InSight+:

“What we found with this study, and what other studies have found internationally is the risk of myocarditis is higher following SARS-CoV-2 infection, than it is following vaccination.

“While people [who feel they have been injured by the vaccine] might grab on to that, there are lots of studies now demonstrating that the risk is higher following infection, than it is following vaccination.”

Professor Cheng agreed.

“It’s important to acknowledge that people do get side-effects after vaccination – myocarditis happens, often after the second dose, usually within a day or so,” he said. “That’s very unambiguously due to vaccination.

“But the question from a public health point of view is, do the benefits outweigh the risks. COVID itself can cause myocarditis at a higher rate [than vaccination]. And that means you’re still better off getting vaccinated.”

Ms Rowe said the study showed that COVID-19 was not a simple respiratory disease.

“These findings really demonstrate COVID-19 is a multi-organ disease, it’s not a respiratory infection. If more research can be channelled into understanding those pathophysiological mechanisms, then we can then start thinking about how best we can prevent these.”

Study link: www.mja.com.au/journal/2023/218/1/associations-between-covid-19-and-hospitalisation-respiratory-and-non