#Multi-agent Modeling

[northwoodsguru]

Manus AI vs GPT: Discover how a new autonomous, multi-agent system challenges GPT’s global scale & proven performance in AI's next era!

[dcdreamblog]

So, I was familiar with the fact that Starfire of the Titans did some modelling when she first came to Earth, anglicizing her birth name Koriand'r into Kori Anders for the work.

But looking back at some of the stuff said about the hot new model on the scene at the time.... did people actually not realize she was an alien for a while?

Your guess is as good as mine as to what exactly was in the fucking water in San Francisco back in the day. Because you are correct. People from outlets as diverse as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan looked at THIS.

(A Vogue cover of Starfire as "Kory Anders" I was able to find. Know I don't know which one, I don't read fashion magazines and she's on a lot of them) And said "yep, no need for further questioning or investigation here. That is a 110% real human woman". Like, guys. I know it's California. I know it's high fashion. But the woman is 6'4" in flats. Has bright green eyes with no pupils that glow in the dark. Her hair is wider than her torso, hangs down past her feet and ALSO glows at the ends. And her skin is BRIGHT SUNSET ORANGE.

This was AFTER Starfire had already become a well known and beloved public figure in San Francisco through her work with the Titans by the way! For months, maybe even close to a year people all over the world were under the impression that this woman was a human supermodel. She was a very POPULAR supermodel, the most popular new debut of her era by far she did shoots for just about ever magazine and brand under the sun but people from her agent on down were under the impression that she was a normal earth woman with a very "shocking" look. Do you know WHY this charade went on as long as it did? Because Starfire was truly, deeply under the impression no one on God's green Earth could possibly not have known. In a multi-million dollar game of "you never asked" she continued to cash the checks and take the gigs believing, entirely reasonably, that people were offering her these jobs knowing that she was also internationally famous superheroine Starfire. (As a note, she never intentionally Anglicized her name. 'Kory Anders' was the name a publicist came up with because 'Koriand'r' sounded 'too foreign') It wasn't until her teammates pointed out to her that no one seemed to be acknowledging that Kory Anders and Starfire were the same person that she made a point of bringing it up. At which point her agent and publicist acted like they had been entrusted with her secret identity, a secret identity Koriand'r had never cultivated in the first place! So that a whole lot of egg on the faces of every gossip reporter in the country (which is a silver lining lol). But ever since then she's continued her modelling work more or less uninterrupted. Coming from a highly militarized society and being born royalty, Koriand'r has said that fashion, the idea that people of any class, race or creed can choose to dress and express themselves how they please is one of the things she appreciates and loves the most about the Earth.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The Assembly sees a cast of thirty-five interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled, question an A-list celebrity for one extraordinary TV interview.

In this half-hour special, it's multi-award-winning actor and director, Michael Sheen, who is to face the grilling of a lifetime from the unique collective. No subject is out of bounds, no question is off the table.

On subjects as diverse as ex-girlfriends and on-screen kisses, to the OBE he gave back or his favourite motorway, how will the Good Omens star fare as The Assembly bring their unique approach to the celebrity interview?

The Assembly cast is a diverse cast ranging in age from eighteen to seventy-seven, amongst the group are musicians, artists, writers and students. Each will take their own approach in their attempt to get to the truth of Michael Sheen like nobody before has- whether that’s finding out his favourite sandwich filling or how he felt when his daughter was born.

The format is an adaptation of French show Les Rencontres Du Papotin, which saw the likes of Emmanuel Macron and Camille Cotin (Call My Agent) face the neurodivergent journalists of the Papotin. Gone was the flattery of the usual celeb fare – in its place, a mix of mischievous prodding, leftfield quizzing and profound exchanges. The superstars left completely off guard: actors asked about a driving ban or the death of a parent, the President asked if it’s really the behaviour of a role model to marry one’s teacher.

The show comes from Michelle Singer and Stu Richards' Rockerdale Studios, creators of mischievous content which seeks to put disabled agency at its heart. Stu is also known for co-creating and writing the BBC Three comedy, Jerk, and Rockerdale are most known for Channel 4’s Mission: Accessible.

Rockerdale Studios has worked closely with the BBC’s Creative Diversity Team, to ensure every element of the series works for and with autistic and neurodivergent voices.

The Assembly is a half-hour special to celebrate Autism Acceptance Week. Expect profound revelation, glorious chaos, and a lot of laughs.

The Assembly airs Friday 5 April, 10:40pm on BBC One and iPlayer

Interview with Michael Sheen

What made you say yes to being a part of The Assembly?

I said yes to being a part of The Assembly because it was just such an extraordinary and interesting idea. Then reading about the original French series, it just sounded so extraordinary, different and potentially a very revealing way to approach the tried and tested interview process, but obviously it is a lot more than just being an interview. The interview part of it is just one aspect of the project and I think there is still a lot of confusion, ignorance and fear around people with any kind of difference. I think being able to be involved in a project like this could maybe break down some of those barriers.

How is this different from any other TV show you’ve been a part of?

It’s very much unfiltered and that’s really exciting and quite nerve wracking for that reason! So much on TV is sort of smoothed out and filtered and made safe and this, certainly in the making of it, felt very not that! All the better and more refreshing for it too. I know a lot of work is put into the research and preparation for a show like this, but in terms of the actual questions being asked and the experience that you have in all being together when you’re filming, it feels very unpredictable in a really good way and really lead by the people taking part, which is terrific.

How did you feel going into filming?

Well I didn’t really have anything to go on, so I was excited. Sometimes when I’m going to be interviewed, I know what the interview is going to be about, I have a vague idea of the questions that will come up, I know the sort of things that I need to get across about what I’m there to talk about. But with this, I really had no idea what I was going to be asked, so I had to be prepared for everything and anything, there was a kind of freedom in that I suppose. Because of the unfiltered nature of what was going to happen and not being able to anticipate what might be asked, it was a little nerve wracking yes, but I was mainly just very excited!

Did your experience differ from what you were expecting and if so how?

Well I didn’t know what to expect really, so it’s not that it wasn’t what I was expecting because you can’t expect anything! There's no way you can expect anything because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, and because it is so unfiltered and unpredictable in terms of what might happen, where things might go, how people might be feeling on the day. For all the difficult questions that got asked at times, it just felt very loving and joyful and that everyone was very happy and excited to be there even though people were nervous or had anxiety at different times. There was a genuine feeling of community and I felt very welcomed into that community and ready to play so to speak, and you have to be ready to play. I felt very safe and looked after and it was just really, very funny as well – there was lots of laughter and wonderful things that people asked, responded to and performed, I mean I wasn’t expecting all of that, that was just wonderful! So many moments that I’ll never forget.

How does this compare to any other interview you’ve experienced?

It’s so unfiltered! The closest thing I can say is The One Show, where you go on to talk about one thing and then they ask you about everything else that’s going on on the show, so you get a question about your favourite bus route, then they ask you about otters! There’s an extraordinary pinball effect of questions and that’s the closest I could describe, but The Assembly is that x100. It really is extraordinary and that’s very unlike any other interview I’ve done really, usually everything is meant to follow on logically and have a kind of smoothness and polish to it, and this is just really raw and unfiltered and uncensored and I love that, I thought that was wonderful.

What can viewers expect from the show?

I imagine it will be very funny and I think quite moving. I was quite moved at times by seeing how much people had to struggle to overcome certain things they were dealing with in order to ask questions at times. That was uplifting. I think it will be different, it will be thought provoking I hope, and challenging in certain ways; challenging certain kinds of myths and stereotypes I think and ultimately just really entertaining and fun and joyful. I can’t really remember what I said, so I don’t know what people will learn about me... but it’s not about me, it’s about that fantastic group of people, but I certainly got a huge amount out of it too and I hope an audience will as well.

[brian-in-finance]

Instagram

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WHAT THE STARS ARE SAYING

Check out why so many famed actors use Backstage

Trusted since 1960

Founded in 1960, Backstage has a storied history of serving the entertainment industry. For over 60 years Backstage has served as a casting resource and news source for actors, performers, directors, producers, agents, and casting directors.

Over that time, Backstage Magazine has also appeared on numerous TV shows, such as “Mad Men,” “Entourage,” “Glee,” “Oprah,” NBC's “Today” show, Comedy Central's “@Midnight”, NY1's “On Stage,” and “Saturday Night Live,” as well as multiple mentions on shows like “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” “Girls,” and appearances in films such as “13 Going on 30,” the Farrelly brothers' “Stuck on You” and Spike Lee's “Girl 6,” and even a mention in Woody Allen's short-story collection “Mere Anarchy” and Augusten Burroughs' novel “Sellevision” – and Backstage has received accolades from multiple Academy Award-, Emmy-, and Tony-winning actors and directors. (Plus, the hit musical “The Last Five Years” even includes Backstage in its lyrics: “Here's a headshot guy and a new Backstage / Where you're right for something on every page.”)

CAITRÍONA BALFE

ACTRESS

"I still get Backstage emails 'cause I still subscribe to Backstage. [Backstage is) kind of the Bible in the beginning, which is amazing. Samuel French and Backstage go hand in hand, you know? You go there for your plays when you're in classes, and then you get your Backstage."

Backstage 1

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Brian’s Note: The following story originally appeared in April 2015. Most recent update is December 2020.

The Gorgeous Determination of Caitríona Balfe

Caitríona Balfe is on the move. That's been true most of her adult life— especially the 10 years she was modeling for Victoria's Secret, Dolce & Gabbana, and others—but as she sits on the rooftop patio of a West Hollywood hotel in mid-March, she mentions that she's pulling up stakes from Los Angeles.

"It just feels silly to have an empty place for 10 months until I figure out what I'm doing with my life," the Irish-born actor says. "I've rented the same place for the last four years and now I have to give it up." Her apartment is being razed to put in condos, but her departure from L.A. is extra poignant considering this is the city where Balfe journeyed when she decided to put aside that successful modeling career and focus on the vocation she'd always wanted: acting.

Photo: Luc-Richard Elie

"I've moved so much since I was 18," she says. "I mean, l've lived so many places. New York, I lived in for almost eight years [while modeling], and that's been the longest of anywhere since I left Ireland. But L.A. is where I came and said, 'OK, this is what I wanna do with my life.' "

She refuses to think of her move as a permanent one, though. "I'll be back," she declares, "but it feels really sad. My little apartment, it's got so many memories."

Balfe's sadness is no doubt mitigated by the fact that part of her need to move is due to the precipitous rise in her fortunes. She'll soon be flying to Scotland to shoot the second season of "Outlander," which returns to Starz April 4 to conclude Season 1.

When last we saw Balfe's Claire, the resourceful British nurse who comes home after World War |I only to be inexplicably teleported into the 18th-century Highlands, she was half-naked with a knife to her breast. Don't worry: Claire will get out of that scrape, but more perils await-to say nothing of the emerging multi-era romantic triangle developing between her, the Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), and her 20th-century husband, Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies), who wonders where she's gone.

Based on the much-beloved Diana Gabaldon novels and developed for television by "Battlestar Galactica" rebooter Ronald D. Moore, "Outlander" is an ostensibly lush period-piece-within-a-period-piece drama that's consistently richer and thornier than its romance-novel trappings suggest. And much of the credit goes to Balfe, who had managed small parts in films such as “Super 8” and “Now You See Me” before landing the central role in this adaptation.

In person, Balfe is far less imposing than the steely Claire, who has to weather the dangers of being a woman in sexist, violent Scotland in the 1740s. Cast late in the preproduction of “Outlander”—Moore has mentioned in interviews how hard it was to find the right Claire—she didn’t have time to consider what the role would do to her life. “I’m so bad on social media," she confesses on this warm afternoon, nestled underneath a cabana. "I had set up an account on Twitter maybe a year or so before I got this job and had, I thought, a lot of followers — 250 or something, and most of them are my friends. Within about a month or two, it was thousands of people — and my phone, I didn't know how to turn off the alerts, so it was just going all the time. That was the beginning of the awareness."

Growing up in the small Irish community of Monaghan, Balfe had considered acting from an early age. ("I was devastated that I wasn't a child actor," she says, smiling. But after traveling to Dublin to study theater, she changed course once she received an offer to model. It wasn't a secret passion of hers, but who turns down a trip to Paris? "My parents felt that I should finish college," Balfe recalls, "but l'm slightly headstrong, so l took their advice and I completely ignored it."

Over the next decade, she lived in France, Italy, Germany, and Japan, her modeling inexperience hardly a detriment. "You'd be amazed how little information or training goes into it," she says. "When I first arrived in Paris, I was told to take a bus to the office. I left my suitcase — I barely spoke any French — and someone took me across the street, helped me buy a Carte Orange. They printed out five addresses that I had to go to that day, and then they sent me off." She still remembers at 18 riding the subway alongside 16-year-old aspiring Russian models, who knew no French or English, homesick and sobbing their eyes out. "That was just the way it was," says Balfe. "You become pretty tough. When I went to Japan, it was similar: They would drive you to their castings, but the minute you got a job, it would be like, 'Here's an address, here's a map. Good luck.' They don't have signposts in English in Japan, so the map and the address are not always very helpful."

Hear Balfe recount her early misadventures in modeling and you can't help but think of Claire, who's equally thrown to the wolves once she arrives in the 18th century amid people wary of the English in general and assertive women in particular. "Honestly, l've been in so many situations in my life where you just are completely displaced," Balfe says. “You have to adapt very quickly and figure it out. I definitely think that informs Claire a lot. It helped me understand her."

Did moving to Paris at such a young age teach Balfe that she can cope in any circumstance? "I think I didn't really realize that until many years later," she replies. "I have a great knack of not thinking about things and just going for it. You learn the hard way sometimes that you're able to get through, but sometimes it's quite tough when you're in a situation where you don't know anyone and you're trying to find your way around cities. But if an opportunity presents itself and it seems like a good idea, l'm just like, 'OK, let's do it, then I'll figure it out.'”

The decision to reconnect with her acting ambitions was conducted just as boldly. Ready to quit modeling, she moved to Los Angeles because a writer she was dating lived there. He was the only person she knew, but she had read a Vanity Fair interview with Amy Adams in which she said she trained with Warner Loughlin. "I could walk to that place from my ex-boyfriend's house," she says, "so l was like, 'Well, I'm gonna go there because I can't really drive. I started from scratch. I didn't have any managers, I didn't know any agents, I hadn't acted in almost a decade." But she just kept taking classes, moving from Loughlin to the studios of Sanford Meisner and Judith Weston. "I think when I first got here, I had a nice little air of delusion: 'It's gonna work out,'" she says with a laugh. “You just don't know how."

And then came "Outlander." By email, Moore admits that he didn't know Balfe's work until her audition tape came unsolicited to his office from her agent. Once she was chosen for Claire, he made it clear how demanding the job would be. “I told her in our first meeting that this was going to be an even bigger responsibility and workload than the normal TV lead," he writes. "Because the story was being told from Claire's point of view, Cait was going to be in every scene, every day for months, which is an extraordinary amount of work, far beyond what most actors are ever asked to do."

Moore's warning didn't faze Balfe. Writes Moore, "After she met with the president of Starz... and it was clear that she was going to land the role, I walked her to the elevator and just before the doors closed on her, I said 'Your life is about to change forever,' and she gave me a grin that was both thrilled and slightly nervous. I never saw her hesitate after that."

She's never hesitated before. As Balfe prepares to say goodbye to L.A. (for now, she thinks back to her early days in the city, trying to convince casting directors that she was more than just a model. "I went on many, many, many, many auditions that were Hot Girl No. 2 — you wanna shoot yourself," she says, laughing. "But, you know, I'm very lucky that l was even getting those auditions in the beginning. And it toughens you up. At least for me, to have that fuel to prove people wrong—it definitely spurs me on and makes me wanna work harder." Then she smiles conspiratorially. "And shove it to them."

Backstage 2

Remember… I told her in our first meeting that this was going to be an even bigger responsibility and workload than the normal TV lead. — Ronald D Moore

[regina-bithyniae]

people i'd like to know better

tagged by @gpuzzle

Last song – "Coming Down" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Love this guy. Probably the most unique vocal style I regularly listen to.

Last book – "Stalin's War" by Sean McMeekin

V. interesting revisionist book, arguing Stalin as an instigator of the Second World War equal to Hitler. I'm a bit skeptical on the particulars of his military assessments but he definitely shows just how easily the Soviets took us for a ride before the war, and particularly in it. Softness on Stalin was one of Roosevelt's major flaws.

Chamberlain also comes across less badly considering the strategic situation in 1939-40.

Last movie – honestly no idea, I barely watch movies

Last TV show – watching "Another" horror anime and "Ming Dynasty in 1566"

Sweet/Savory/Spicy – probably "Sweet"

Relationship Status – with girlfriend

Last thing I googled – "marcus aurelius wife gladiator"

if you know, you know!

Looking forward to – playing a game of Epic 40k tomorrow, then having dinner with my dad

Current obsession – hmm...

One is Spy X Family, where the plot's finally moving forward again and fucking up all my jokes about the Desmond marriage

Another is the Horus Heresy + Adeptus Titanicus campaign I'm planning with some others in my gaming group, getting ready to paint up a bunch of models and plan some scenarios.

And I may be relapsing on Tsukihime.

Multi track obsession.

tagging: @caesarsaladinn @greatjobjeremy @007-nightfire-yakuza-agent @archangelic-aeon @tribulation-of-somnolence @miss---nothing @countrymint @mitigatedchaos

[oxford-garments]

Sierra Leone's Blood-Diamond Hydra

ROLE IN SCOTLAND 

The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC) is an organisation that represents many prominent clan chiefs and Chiefs of the Name and Arms in Scotland. It claims to be the primary and most authoritative source of information on the Scottish clan system. In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.[1] Chief of Mission is also the title of the team manager of a national delegation in major international multi-discipline sporting events, such as the Olympic Games.[3] The Royal Scots Navy (or Old Scots Navy) was the navy of the Kingdom of Scotland from its origins in the Middle Ages until its merger with the Kingdom of England's Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707. There are mentions in Medieval records of fleets commanded by Scottish kings in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. King Robert I (1274–1329, r. 1306–1329) developed naval power to counter the English in the Wars of Independence (1296–1328).

AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT DIAPREMEIR [Diamond and Premier]

Of Undisputed Origin.

Periodic Table Metallurgy Cultivator with Artisanal Primitive Anthropology, Nationalist, Art Intellect with Athletic Ability, Riverbanks Farmland, Real Estate Investment Trust and Real Estate Brokerage Trust Account, Pool-Live Monopoly Turf Accountant Board Game Tournament, Rugby and Kickboxing, Eagle Conservation, Painting, Polyrhythm Syncopated Progressive Drum Loops with Rhythm Flag (Bass Clef; Anacrusis; Staccato and Legato; Barcarolle; Tonic and Dominant; Triple G Positions; Riff Melody, Imitation Vocals, and Drum & Bass Licks), and (Diamond; Decapods; Mollusk; Opium; Deliriants; Tobacco; Coffee; and Arms) Black Market

(Artisanal Primitive King) Pedagogy: King Anthropology; Mixing a form of Royalty Title with Anthropology. CRAFT SOCIETY Sensory Processing Anthropology Artisan Primitive: Sensory Play of the Sensory Ethnography, Sensory Modulits CNS; Artisanal Plantation Metallurgy Cash Crops Spectrum; Evolution; Savagery, Emerging Markets, Civilianization, ECONOMICS OF FINANCIAL MARKETS; Economic Science (Supply-side Economics), Economic Geography (Artisanal Plantation), Economic Mathematics (CFD Probabilistic Model Exchange), Microeconomics (Contract Theory, Purchasing Theory, Portfolio Theory, Producer Price Index, Profit Sharing Plan, Lipstick Effect, Opportunity Cost, Private Limited Partnership, Public-Private Sectors, Pyramid Marketing, Minor Purchase Group) for Sensory Geography (5 Senses City); Prenatal Hormones with Fetus Alcohol Consumption for Sensory Overload Savant;

Randlords Agronomics Spirit: Economic Expansion, Economic Bubble, Supply-Side Economics, FX Counter Trading Party Interdependence Economics, Intermodal Port Economics, Horizontal Integration, Soil Chemistry;

Meturnomics: Periodic Table Element Manufacturing, Covalent Bonds Fertilizer with Soil Chemistry Ex. Carbon Compounds, Covalent Bonds Fertilizer with Soil Chemistry, Chandelier Tree for Bontonical Indicator; Diamond Vowels: A (Accessories Auctions), E (Exchange Probabilistic Model), I (Sensual Insurance), O (Open-pit Mines), U (Unanimous Laser Cutters and Laser Pressure); Metal Exchange Probabilistic Model for Derivatives CFDS; Crystalline Structure of Elements of the Periodic Table Covalent Bonds Fertilizer, The oxide mineral class includes those minerals in which the oxide anion (O2−) is bonded to one or more metal alloys. I treat my Fertilizer as a Mixing Agent.

AgCurrency: Economic Table, Barter Economics, NIRP Supply-side Fixed Rate Pegged De Facto; AgIndex: Commodities Portfolio Management; Agronomics CFDS//Option Exchange (Credit Spread Options, FX-CFD Interest Rates Beta-Arbitrage w/PPP and Supply-side Economics Currency Pair)

SIERRA PROCESS CERTIFICATE FOR EXPORT AND MARKET VOLUME

Open-pit Mines Economic Geography

Banking System and Probabilistic Model Exchange

Intermodal Cargo Countyline Trafficking Infrastructure

De facto SLL/SDM FX Counter Trading Party for Diamond And Oil CFD; SLL 5% AND SDM -0.5% Interest Rates Contract for Difference.

Diamond enhancements are specific treatments, performed on natural diamonds (usually those already cut and polished into gems), which are designed to improve the visual gemological characteristics of the diamond in one or more ways. These include clarity treatments such as laser drilling to remove black carbon inclusions, fracture filling to make small internal cracks less visible, color irradiation and annealing treatments to make yellow and brown diamonds a vibrant fancy color such as vivid yellow, blue, or pink.

the crystalline structures of the elements of the periodic table which have been produced in bulk at STP and at their melting point (while still solid) and predictions of the crystalline structures of the rest of the elements.

A brokerage account is an investment account held at a licensed brokerage firm. An investor deposits funds into their brokerage account, and the broker executes orders for investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on behalf of the investor.

The Argyll Arcade is a shopping arcade in the Scottish city of Glasgow . In 1970, the building was listed as an individual monument in the Scottish monument register in the highest monument category A. [ 1 ] Buchanan Street is one of the busiest shopping streets in Glasgow , Scotland's largest city . It forms the central section of Glasgow's famous shopping district and offers a more upmarket selection of shops than the adjacent streets, Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street. Buchanan Street is one of the busiest shopping streets in Glasgow , Scotland's largest city . It forms the central section of Glasgow's famous shopping district and offers a more upmarket selection of shops than the adjacent streets, Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street. Glasgow is considered a "working class city" in contrast to the Scottish capital Edinburgh . There is a 12th century cathedral and four universities, the University of Glasgow , University of Strathclyde , Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of the West of Scotland , as well as the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ).

CURRENCY, OIL, & GOLD COMMODITIES CANDLESTICK CHARTS

Swing Trading: Use mt4/mt5 With Heiken Ashi Charts, Setting at 14 or 21 Momentum Indicator above 0 as Divergence Oscillator and Volume Spread Analysis as Reversal Oscillator and Trade when bullish candlesticks above 200 exponential moving average and/or 20 exponential moving average (EMA) on H1 (Hourly) Time Frame; use H4 (4 Hours) and D1 (1 Day) as reference.

MARINE MILITARY SCIENCE

Pythagorean Military

A + B = C

Commando + Brigade = 12 Teams of 500

Tactical Thinking + Operational Thinking = Mission Intelligence ex. Amphibious or Shore; Mountain or Jungle Warfare

Aquatic Training + Land Skills = Marine Black Ops

Carbines + Machete = CQB and Melee

Divine language, the language of the gods, or, in monotheism, the language of God (or angels), is the concept of a mystical or divine proto-language, which predates and supersedes human speech. Fon was a highly militaristic language constantly organised for warfare; it captured captives during wars and raids against neighboring societies. Tactics such as covering fire, frontal attacks and flanking movements were used in the warfare of Fon. The military of Fon was divided into two units: the right and the left. The right was controlled by the migan and the left was controlled by the mehu. There is an effort to create a machine translator for Fon (to and from French), by Bonaventure Dossou (from Benin) and Chris Emezue (from Nigeria).[14] Their project is called FFR.[15] It uses phrases from Jehovah's Witnesses sermons as well as other biblical phrases as the research corpus to train a Natural Language Processing (NLP) neural net model.[16] A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Brigades formed into divisions are usually infantry or armored (sometimes referred to as combined arms brigades). In addition to combat units, they may include combat support units or sub-units, such as artillery and engineers, and logistic units. Historically, such brigades have been called brigade-groups. On operations, a brigade may comprise both organic elements and attached elements, including some temporarily attached for a specific task. Close-quarters battle (CQB), also called close-quarters combat (CQC), is a close combat situation between multiple combatants involving ranged (typically firearm-based) or melee combat. Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment."[1] Special operations may include reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counterterrorism, and are typically conducted by small groups of highly trained personnel, emphasizing sufficiency, stealth, speed, and tactical coordination, commonly known as special forces. A black operation (black op for short) is a covert operation which is done by a government or military. Black operations are secret and whoever does them does not admit that they ever happened.[1] There are differences between black operations and ones which are just secret. The main difference is that a black operation often uses deception. This deception might be not telling anybody who did the operation. It might also be blaming the operation on someone else ("false flag" operations).[2][3] Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in support of naval objectives) and the boarding of vessels during ship-to-ship combat or capture of prize ships. Suppressive Forts Defense and Partisan Raid for Sabotage Offense.

Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. It is based on the belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene in human affairs in various ways.[1]

Harmony and Contrast Guerilla Warfare: Raiding, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare "smash and grab" mission which has a specific purpose. Raiders do not capture and hold a location, but quickly retreat to a previous defended position before enemy forces can respond in a coordinated manner or formulate a counter-attack. Raiders must travel swiftly and are generally too lightly equipped and supported to be able to hold ground. A raiding group may consist of combatants specially trained in this tactic, such as commandos, or as a special mission assigned to any regular troops.[1] Raids are often a standard tactic in irregular warfare, employed by warriors, guerrilla fighters or other irregular military forces. A partisan is a member of a domestic irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity. Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a saboteur. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identities because of the consequences of their actions and to avoid invoking legal and organizational requirements for addressing sabotage. (Sabotage Partisan Raid)

Harmony and Contrast Siege Warfare: A siege (Latin: sedere, lit. 'to sit')[1] is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy. A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").[1] In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission"[clarification needed]. When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called covering fire. Suppression is usually only effective for the duration of the fire.[1] It is one of three types of fire support, which is defined by NATO as "the application of fire, coordinated with the maneuver of forces, to destroy, neutralise or suppress the enemy". (Forts and Suppressive fire)

Operational And Tactical Thinking: Operational intelligence is real time, or near real-time intelligence, often derived from technical means, and delivered to ground troops engaged in activity against the adversary. Operational intelligence is immediate, and has a short time to live (TTL). Tactical Thinking of or relating to tactics, especially the placement of military or naval forces in battle or at the front line of a battle. characterized by skillful tactics or adroit maneuvering or procedure, especially of military or naval forces: tactical movements.

SOCIO-ACCENT

County Speech Jargon

Glottal Stops Consonants

Ex. T is Eigh'een, G is Jar'on, L Ho'y; How are you amon' us Ho'y Shi'

Made up Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives with SCHWA Endings Endings: ER=SCHWA

Pover: Do you want a Pover to the Chin!

SOCIO-CULTIVATION MODEL

Pigou Effect, Corporate Tax Havens, Capital Gains Tax Havens, Private-Public Sectors, Joint Venture Plantations, Market Extension Mergers with Business Incubators and Enterprise Foundation Holding Company, Subsidiaries, and Horizontal Integration.

SOCIO-COLONIZATION

Bilingual Sensory Play TV Channel

Queen's English Immersion Liberal Arts Course

DRUGS AND CRIME NEXUS

First, the ‘psychopharmacological model’ argues that certain drugs may produce irrational, excitable, or violent behaviour in an individual. Many benzodiazepines are also likely to produce dependency in a regular user (Marshall & Longnecker 1992; Rall, 1992), and withdrawal from benzodiazepines has been associated with severe mood swings, irritability and personality changes (Marshall & Longnecker, 1992; Rall, 1992). In addition, use of benzodiazepines has been implicated in disinhibited behaviour (Bonn & Bonn 1998; Dobbin 2001; Rall 1992). Further, Makkai (2002) and Goldstein (1985) reported that some offenders use certain drugs purposely to reduce their fear of committing a crime, while Dobbin (2001) reported that benzodiazepine intoxication can produce feelings of over-confidence and invincibility in users, causing them to commit offences they would not normally undertake. Goldstein (1985) suggests that the incidence of psychopharmacological violence is impossible to assess, because such incidents may occur anywhere (including in the home, workplace, on the street and so on) and often go unreported, and also because when cases are reported the psychopharmacological state of the offender is often not officially recorded. The second model of the link between drugs and violence, the ‘economic compulsive’ model, argues that some drug users commit violent crimes, such as armed robberies, to support an expensive drug habit (Goldstein 1985), consistent with the enslavement model of property crime (Goode 1997). Theoretically, as illicit drugs are expensive and may be typified by compulsive patterns of use, the primary motivation of the user is to obtain money to purchase them. Thus, the violence is not usually intended, but occurs as a result of the situation where a property crime is being committed, such as the offender’s nervousness, the victim’s reaction, use of weapons by perpetrator or victim, or intercession by bystanders (Goldstein 1985). Studies have found that most 6 Benzodiazepine and pharmaceutical opiod misuse and their relationship to crime heroin users will avoid violent acquisitive crime if viable non-violent alternatives exist, because violence is more dangerous and also potentially increases the penalty if caught, and/or because perpetrators may lack a tendency towards violent behaviour (Goldstein 1985). In relation to violent crime, three models have also been put forward that may suggest implications for evaluating potential interventions aimed at reducing drug-related crime.

Abstract

Personality disorders and particularly antisocial personality disorders (APD) are quite frequent in opioid-dependent subjects. They show various personality traits: high neuroticism, high impulsivity, higher extraversion than the general population. Previous studies have reported that some but not all personality traits improved with treatment. In a previous study, we found a low rate of APD in a French population of opioid-dependent subjects. For this reason, we evaluated personality traits at intake and during maintenance treatment with methadone. Methods - The form A of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) was given to opioid addicts at intake and after 6 and 12 months of methadone treatment. Results - 134 subjects (96 males and 38 females) took the test at intake, 60 completed 12 months of treatment. After 12 months, the EPI Neuroticism (N) and the Extraversion-introversion (E) scale scores decreased significantly. The N score improved in the first 6 months, while the E score improved only during the second 6 months of treatment. Compared to a reference group of French normal controls, male and female opioid addicts showed high N and E scores. Demographic data and EPI scores of patients who stayed in treatment for 12 months did not differ significantly from those of dropouts (n=23). Patients with a history of suicide attempts (SA) started to use heroin at an earlier age and they showed a higher E score and a tendency for a higher N score at intake. Discussion - The two personality dimensions of the EPI changed during MMT, and the N score converged towards the score of normal controls. Opioid addicts differ from normal controls mostly in their N score. The EPI did not help to differentiate 12-month completers from dropouts. Higher E scores in patients with an SA history might reflect a higher impulsivity, which has been linked to suicidality in other patient groups.

Personality

So called 'benzo binges' have been associated with shoplifting and other crimes. Patients may also experience paradoxical excitement with increased anxiety, insomnia, talkativeness, restlessness, mania, and occasionally rage and violent behaviour (known as the 'Rambo effect').

High doses are also associated with a puzzling complication known as the “Rambo effect.” This unusual side effect occurs when a Xanax user begins displaying behaviors that are very unlike them. This might include aggression, promiscuity, or theft. It’s not clear why some people react this way or how to predict if it will happen to you.

Despite the fully legal status of several common deliriant plants and OTC medicines, deliriants are largely unpopular as recreational drugs due to the severe dysphoria, uncomfortable and generally damaging cognitive and physical effects, as well as the unpleasant nature of the hallucinations.

Deliriants are a subclass of hallucinogen. The term was coined in the early 1980s to distinguish these drugs from psychedelics such as LSD and dissociatives such as ketamine, due to their primary effect of causing delirium, as opposed to the more lucid (i.e. rational thought is preserved better, including the skepticism about the hallucinations) and less disturbed states produced by other types of hallucinogens.[1] The term generally refers to anticholinergic drugs, which are substances that inhibit the function of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.[1]

The systematic name (IUPAC) is [1R-(exo,exo)] -3-(benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2. 1]octane-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester. Cocaine is the methyl ester of benzoylecgonine and is also known as 3β-hydroxy-1αH,5α-H-tropane-2β-carboxylic acid methyl ester benzoate.

Specifically, the carbonyl oxygens and amine group on cocaine, on average, form ∼5 bonds with the water molecules in the surrounding solvent, and the top 30% of water molecules within 4 Å of cocaine are localized in the cavity formed by an internal hydrogen bond within the cocaine molecule.

£10 re-up and Marked up Pills BYOB.

Ex. Smurf the £10 re-up with $40 a pill for Molly Water.

Pill Presser Kids.

NMDA, ACETYLCHOLINE, AND WATER SOLUBLE PROTEIN.

💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎🏴����󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

ST. THOMAS MYR. OBASI

[canmom]

quick drop of interesting ML-related stuff I watched recently (that's machine learning not marxism-leninism, sorry tankie followers)...

great 3blue1brown-style explanation of both how attention works in general (and what the hell actually is in a KV cache) and how deepseek's 'multi-headed latent attention' works

some exciting research into making chip interconnects more axon-like, great explanation of the neuroscience side of why the brain is so much more energy-efficient than computational neural nets of the same size

idk if this one's hype or going places, but some researches made an end-to-end gpu-based physics sim and a different loss formulation that might potentially allow reinforcement learning of agent models to scale faster in ways similar to how self-supervised learning and transformers do

very technical video about a specific low-level gpu instruction the deepseek team used to get better cache performance in their hyperspecific use case. I have the knowledge to understand the context but it's definitely on a higher level than I can reach just yet

really cool visual demo of how neural networks transform spaces

ok, that's plenty of that for now, next post will not be about AI, promise

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 50, 2024

Synaptic rearrangement of NMDA receptors controls memory engram formation and malleability in the cortex. Bessières, B., Dupuis, J., Groc, L., Bontempi, B., & Nicole, O. (2024). Science Advances, 10(35).

Quantitative modeling of the emergence of macroscopic grid-like representations. Bin Khalid, I., Reifenstein, E. T., Auer, N., Kunz, L., & Kempter, R. (2024). eLife, 13, e85742.

Individual gaze shapes diverging neural representations. Borovska, P., & de Haas, B. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(36), e2405602121.

Competitive processes shape multi-synapse plasticity along dendritic segments. Chater, T. E., Eggl, M. F., Goda, Y., & Tchumatchenko, T. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 7572.

Neural circuit basis of placebo pain relief. Chen, C., Niehaus, J. K., Dinc, F., Huang, K. L., Barnette, A. L., Tassou, A., … Scherrer, G. (2024). Nature, 632(8027), 1092–1100.

Morphine-responsive neurons that regulate mechanical antinociception. Fatt, M. P., Zhang, M.-D., Kupari, J., Altınkök, M., Yang, Y., Hu, Y., … Ernfors, P. (2024). Science, 385(6712).

The limited memory of value following value directed encoding. Filiz, G., & Dobbins, I. G. (2024). Memory & Cognition, 52(6), 1387–1407.

Dynamic control of sequential retrieval speed in networks with heterogeneous learning rules. Gillett, M., & Brunel, N. (2024). eLife, 12, e88805.3.

Disinhibition enables vocal repertoire expansion after a critical period. Heim, F., Mendoza, E., Koparkar, A., & Vallentin, D. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 7565.

Dopaminergic manipulations affect the modulation and meta-modulation of movement speed: Evidence from two pharmacological interventions. Hickman, L. J., Sowden-Carvalho, S. L., Fraser, D. S., Schuster, B. A., Rybicki, A. J., Galea, J. M., & Cook, J. L. (2024). Behavioural Brain Research, 474, 115213.

Cl − -dependent amplification of excitatory synaptic potentials at distal dendrites revealed by voltage imaging. Higashi, R., Morita, M., & Kawaguchi, S. (2024). Science Advances, 10(35).

A circuit motif for color in the human foveal retina. Kim, Y. J., Packer, O., & Dacey, D. M. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(36), e2405138121.

Super-optimality and relative distance coding in location memory. McIntire, G., & Dopkins, S. (2024). Memory & Cognition, 52(6), 1439–1450.

Detection of Memory Engrams in Mammalian Neuronal Circuits. Niewinski, N. E., Hernandez, D., & Colicos, M. A. (2024). eNeuro, 11(8), ENEURO.0450-23.2024.

Distinct roles of monkey OFC-subcortical pathways in adaptive behavior. Oyama, K., Majima, K., Nagai, Y., Hori, Y., Hirabayashi, T., Eldridge, M. A. G., … Minamimoto, T. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 6487.

Multiunit Frontal Eye Field Activity Codes the Visuomotor Transformation, But Not Gaze Prediction or Retrospective Target Memory, in a Delayed Saccade Task. Seo, S., Bharmauria, V., Schütz, A., Yan, X., Wang, H., & Crawford, J. D. (2024). eNeuro, 11(8), ENEURO.0413-23.2024.

Maximum-entropy-based metrics for quantifying critical dynamics in spiking neuron data. Serafim, F., Carvalho, T. T. A., Copelli, M., & Carelli, P. V. (2024). Physical Review E, 110(2), 024401.

Intrinsic Motivation in Dynamical Control Systems. Tiomkin, S., Nemenman, I., Polani, D., & Tishby, N. (2024). PRX Life, 2(3), 033009.

Top-down modulation of the retinal code via histaminergic neurons of the hypothalamus. Warwick, R. A., Riccitelli, S., Heukamp, A. S., Yaakov, H., Swain, B. P., Ankri, L., … Rivlin-Etzion, M. (2024). Science Advances, 10(35).

A framework for the emergence and analysis of language in social learning agents. Wieczorek, T. J., Tchumatchenko, T., Wert-Carvajal, C., & Eggl, M. F. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 7590.

[therese-lokidottir]

Hi. I have question for fanfiction.

The Avengers in Endgame made a mistake and traveled dimensions, not time. The idea is that they release Loki in 2012, but that 2012 is Avengers/Dark World canon, without the later stuff - we remove Hela and so on. The TVA doesn't exist, so Loki is free, with the tesseract. Okay, let's move on to the controversial issue - the Loki x Sigyn romance. It's not that this marriage is controversial, but I want to make it 'morally questionable' a bit like the comics, but in the MCU style. Without bullying Sigyn, of course. It's about the beginning of a relationship. In the comics, Loki goes and proposes marriage to Sigyn, boasts about his wealth, finally he kills Theoric and disguises himself as him to marry her. She agrees to continue the marriage, despite Loki's deception.

In MCU style, I thought of kidnapping as an equivalent - because Loki indirectly did it in Avengers with the help of the scepter, i.e. he took the will of the Shield agents and they simply followed him.

Okay, so here we go - Sigyn is sleeping, so Loki takes her this way, no violence, just him taking her from the couch to the bed in his new hideout.

Just like a comic book - he considers her to be the ''true essence of beauty''… but he is labeled a villain after the events in New York and thinks of himself as a monster, Thor still wants to take him to Asgard to ''justice'', so Loki thinks this is the right way because no one will want him anyway

He puts her in a multi-room apartment - I think he would make sure this place was "worthy of her", so he would probably model it on Frigga's chambers.

And now the question is how he would canonically behave towards Sigyn in such circumstances in your opinion.

Sigyn has the ability to see Loki's past, so she knows about the events and does not have a false view of him, although she does not reveal that she knows it at first… but she is polite and nice to him because she feels sadness, compassion…

So he kidnaps her? That's a level of unhinged I think MCU Loki would do. Loki tends to become incredibly emotionally attached to people he wants to like him and will go to great lengths to gain their approval and affection. So that would probably be what would happen with Sigyn. He would make his whole self about making her the center of attention, constantly trying to impress her and do things that please her.

[scotianostra]

On November 8th 2001 Dorothy Dunnett, the cult Scottish novelist, died.

The writer of intricate and meticulously researched historical novels, she attracted a devoted following with her multi-volume sagas. Her novels included the million-word Lymond Chronicles, in six volumes, which covered 15 years in the life of a 16th-century Scottish aristocrat, Francis Crawford of Lymond, she followed that with the eight-part prequel The House of Niccolò.

Aficionados of the Dunnett epics formed their own societies, meet regularly at international conferences, and swap theories about the puzzles and the sub-plots that the author sewed so carefully throughout the developing storylines. They are also a protective bunch which I found out in my last post about the author, being pulled up for a previous post that was slightly wrong!

Dunnet also wrote a novel about the real Macbeth called King Hereafter, and a series of mystery novels centred around Johnson Johnson, a portrait painter and roving agent for British Intelligence, it showed her versatility as a writer.

An only child, Dorothy went to James Gillespie’s High School for girls, where she overlapped with Muriel Spark, and was taught by Miss Kay, the model for Jean Brodie. She discovered a talent for painting, and contemplated a career as an artist, but war broke out, and at the age of 18 she went to work as a, typist.

Only after the death of her father, which caused her great misery, did her husband suggest that she take up writing. She began researching the childhood of Mary Queen of Scots, and invented a character, Francis Crawford of Lymond, a dashing Scots mercenary, who travelled widely, visiting the French and English courts, caught up in intrigues across 16th- century Europe.

The Game of Kings, her first novel, was rejected by English publishers because it was considered too long, but was spotted in New York by Lois Cole, who had published Gone With the Wind. It came out in 1961 and was an instant best-seller, marking the beginning of a remarkable fictional journey, which took Dunnett round the world in pursuit of historical detail.

Dunnett, tempted her fans with buried clues and red herrings that keep them reading and rereading the books, indeed I had a comment on a post about her a few years ag, that on rereading they would often find certain parts that they somehow missed first time around.

Although she led a busy life, her favourite relaxation was sitting in their Morningside home, with a glass of malt whisky, discussing the day’s events, sounds good to me!

As with many of our writers, Dorothy Dunnett is remembered in Makars Court, the stone bears her name, her coat of arms, and a brief quote from one of her books “Where are the links of the chain … joining us to the past”.

Dorothy Dunnett has a slab in Makar's Court beside the writers museum, it reads;

Where are the links of the chain… joining us to the past? and is from her novel, Checkmate, part of the Lymond Chronicles

Dorothy Dunnett died on this day in 2001 after a short illness; she was 78 years old.

[invisibleicewands]

In this half-hour special, it's multi-award-winning actor and director, Michael Sheen, who is to face the grilling of a lifetime from our unique collective: no subject is out of bounds, no question is off the table. Expect chaos, delight, revelation. Anything can happen.

Michael Sheen says: “I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest on The Assembly. It’s such a fresh and exciting idea and I can’t wait for what I’m sure is going to be a surprising and challenging experience. I really don’t know what to expect, which is both exhilarating and a little bit terrifying.”

The format is an adaptation of French show Les Rencontres Du Papotin (a.k.a The A Talks), which launched in 2022 on France 2, and quickly became their most watched unscripted show of the year, and has since been adapted in Spain, Denmark and Poland.

They saw the likes of Emmanuel Macron and Call My Agent’s Camille Cottin, face neurodivergent journalists. Gone was the flattery and junket PR of the usual celeb fare; in its place, a mix of mischievous prodding, leftfield quizzing and profound exchanges. The mantra: ‘no filter’.

The superstars left completely off guard: iconic actors asked about a driving ban or the death of a parent, the President asked if it’s really role model behaviour to marry one’s teacher.

The show comes from Michelle Singer and Stu Richards' Rockerdale Studios, creators of mischievous content which seeks to put disabled agency at its heart. Stu is also known for co-creating and writing the BBC Three comedy, Jerk, and Rockerdale are most known for Channel 4’s Mission: Accessible.

Together with the BBC, Rockerdale has worked with national and local autistic and neurodivergent organisations to ensure every element of the series works for and with autistic and neurodivergent voices.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, BBC’s Head of Entertainment Commissioning says: ”The BBC is delighted to introduce viewers to The Assembly. It’s a feel-good stand out entertainment show unlike anything viewers have seen before. Big thank you to Michael Sheen, for being game on to have a no holds barred interview with the superb interviewers who bring the show to life."

Executive Producers, Stu Richards and Michelle Singer say: "The Assembly has been the most remarkable project that most of us have ever worked on. And sure, it's brilliant representation of a part of society we rarely see given agency on our screens but, far more than that, it's also mischievous, funny, profound, and can turn from one to the other in a heartbeat.”

Stu added, “when we saw the French version of the show it blew my head off, and it's quite a large, cumbersome head so it really takes something impressive."

The Assembly (1 x 30’) is a Rockerdale Studios production for BBC One and iPlayer. Commissioned by Head of Entertainment Commissioning, Kalpna Patel-Knight for BBC One and iPlayer. Led by Clodagh O'Donoghue as Commissioning Editor.

[justsomekpopstuff]

stray kids as a hockey team - part 2

A/N: hi everyone! Hope you enjoy these as much as I did! If you are a kpop/hockey fan, or if you want to learn more about hockey, feel free to reach out! I am also working on Skz as D&D characters, but its taking me a bit longer. Keep an eye out!

current masterlist | fic recs

part 1

stray kids team colors are black, grey, and electric blue based on vibes and vibes alone

the team mascot is a feral fluffy bright blue monster, lovingly named Maniac

one time during the playoffs, the team had to go into double overtime, which means they played through the team's usual meal time

Defenseman!Changbin, of course, was officially starving and going into "hangry" mode. The team switched out starting goaltender!Lee Know with backup goaltender!Seungmin to preserve Lee Know's energy for a potential future game. Lee Know heard Changbin getting hungrier, so he went down the tunnel, and 10 minutes later came back with a full-on sandwich with all the fixings for Changbin to eat on the bench. No one knows how he made the sandwich or where it came from to this day.

starting goaltender!Lee Know has a running Weird Goaltender™️ bet with the entire team, all based around his love for his cats

He got teased one too many times and said "okay, payback time". Now, he regularly sticks little cat stickers over all of his teammates and their gear without them knowing. Whoever accumulates the most cat stickers by the end of the season gets to wear a tutu during the final regular season warm-up. Forward!Felix, forward!Han, and defenseman!Changbin lose regularly.

The team keeps a running tally of how many times everyone falls into and out of the bench during the season (it happens more often than you think)

They honestly try their best to be so careful, but because everything is so fast-paced its easy for them to just completely flop off of and on to the ice. 99% of the time everyone gets a good laugh out of it. At the end of the season they give an award for the best bench-fail of the season. Starting goaltender!Lee Know won one season with an incident just like THIS.

forward!Hyunjin once got a very big modeling contract offered to him when the team was out for a group dinner on an off day

He had to turn it down at the time because they were still in-season, but as soon as the agent left the entire team burst into (supportive) laughter. And, of course, without his knowledge, they called the agent back and told them to get him during the off-season.

when he was first brought on to the team, defenseman!Bang Chan let the managers know that as long as he was on the team, everyone would officially have a no-trade clause in their contracts

They brought him on because of his skill, and allowed him to form the team how he wanted. But that was something that he would not budge on - whoever he picked, as long as they wanted to be there, would be part of the team, no matter what. The higher-ups tried to sneak by him, which led to a multi-day protest where the rest of the team, led by Bang Chan, refused to get on the ice until everyone was brought back and present. Whoever is on the team, Bang Chan will always have their back (and that is why he is the captain).

one of the team's most iconic memes comes at the hands of forward!Han and defenseman!Jeongin

A player from the other team was getting chirpy and decided to ram into forward!Hyunjin as he was starting to skate towards the bench. In perfect unison, Han and Jeongin stood off the bench leaned over and started yelling every ridiculous insult under the sun at that player like two feral raccoons. Some particular highlights included "your hair looks like it came from a halloween store" and "you have the IQ of a preschooler" as well as many other more colorful insults. Fans made merch of feral raccoon Han and Jeongin that have become more popular than some of the team's regular merch.

when the three stars of the game are announced after each game, they come out and throw a plush version of Maniac into the stands for the fans

best tape job: backup goaltender!Seungmin, who uses taping his goalie sticks as a form of meditation before each game, and will sometimes volunteer to do some of his teammates tape-ups as well

worst tape job: forward!Felix based on nothing but pure vibes and energy

the whole team are close friends with hockey team!Ateez, but when they play each other all bets are off and it will be the most chaotic game anyone has ever watched

[acuvate-updates]

How Agentic AI & RAG Revolutionize Autonomous Decision-Making

In the swiftly advancing realm of artificial intelligence, the integration of Agentic AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is revolutionizing autonomous decision-making across various sectors. Agentic AI endows systems with the ability to operate independently, while RAG enhances these systems by incorporating real-time data retrieval, leading to more informed and adaptable decisions. This article delves into the synergistic relationship between Agentic AI and RAG, exploring their combined impact on autonomous decision-making.

Overview

Agentic AI refers to AI systems capable of autonomous operation, making decisions based on environmental inputs and predefined goals without continuous human oversight. These systems utilize advanced machine learning and natural language processing techniques to emulate human-like decision-making processes. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), on the other hand, merges generative AI models with information retrieval capabilities, enabling access to and incorporation of external data in real-time. This integration allows AI systems to leverage both internal knowledge and external data sources, resulting in more accurate and contextually relevant decisions.

Read more about Agentic AI in Manufacturing: Use Cases & Key Benefits

What is Agentic AI and RAG?

Agentic AI: This form of artificial intelligence empowers systems to achieve specific objectives with minimal supervision. It comprises AI agents—machine learning models that replicate human decision-making to address problems in real-time. Agentic AI exhibits autonomy, goal-oriented behavior, and adaptability, enabling independent and purposeful actions.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): RAG is an AI methodology that integrates a generative AI model with an external knowledge base. It dynamically retrieves current information from sources like APIs or databases, allowing AI models to generate contextually accurate and pertinent responses without necessitating extensive fine-tuning.

Know more on Why Businesses Are Embracing RAG for Smarter AI

Capabilities

When combined, Agentic AI and RAG offer several key capabilities:

Autonomous Decision-Making: Agentic AI can independently analyze complex scenarios and select effective actions based on real-time data and predefined objectives.

Contextual Understanding: It interprets situations dynamically, adapting actions based on evolving goals and real-time inputs.

Integration with External Data: RAG enables Agentic AI to access external databases, ensuring decisions are based on the most current and relevant information available.

Enhanced Accuracy: By incorporating external data, RAG helps Agentic AI systems avoid relying solely on internal models, which may be outdated or incomplete.

How Agentic AI and RAG Work Together

The integration of Agentic AI and RAG creates a robust system capable of autonomous decision-making with real-time adaptability:

Dynamic Perception: Agentic AI utilizes RAG to retrieve up-to-date information from external sources, enhancing its perception capabilities. For instance, an Agentic AI tasked with financial analysis can use RAG to access real-time stock market data.

Enhanced Reasoning: RAG augments the reasoning process by providing external context that complements the AI's internal knowledge. This enables Agentic AI to make better-informed decisions, such as recommending personalized solutions in customer service scenarios.

Autonomous Execution: The combined system can autonomously execute tasks based on retrieved data. For example, an Agentic AI chatbot enhanced with RAG can not only answer questions but also initiate actions like placing orders or scheduling appointments.

Continuous Learning: Feedback from executed tasks helps refine both the agent's decision-making process and RAG's retrieval mechanisms, ensuring the system becomes more accurate and efficient over time.

Read more about Multi-Meta-RAG: Enhancing RAG for Complex Multi-Hop Queries

Example Use Case: Customer Service

Customer Support Automation Scenario: A user inquiries about their account balance via a chatbot.

How It Works: The Agentic AI interprets the query, determines that external data is required, and employs RAG to retrieve real-time account information from a database. The enriched prompt allows the chatbot to provide an accurate response while suggesting payment options. If prompted, it can autonomously complete the transaction.

Benefits: Faster query resolution, personalized responses, and reduced need for human intervention.

Example: Acuvate's implementation of Agentic AI demonstrates how autonomous decision-making and real-time data integration can enhance customer service experiences.

2. Sales Assistance

Scenario: A sales representative needs to create a custom quote for a client.

How It Works: Agentic RAG retrieves pricing data, templates, and CRM details. It autonomously drafts a quote, applies discounts as instructed, and adjusts fields like baseline costs using the latest price book.

Benefits: Automates multi-step processes, reduces errors, and accelerates deal closures.

3. Healthcare Diagnostics

Scenario: A doctor seeks assistance in diagnosing a rare medical condition.

How It Works: Agentic AI uses RAG to retrieve relevant medical literature, clinical trial data, and patient history. It synthesizes this information to suggest potential diagnoses and treatment options.

Benefits: Enhances diagnostic accuracy, saves time, and provides evidence-based recommendations.

Example: Xenonstack highlights healthcare as a major application area for agentic AI systems in diagnosis and treatment planning.

4. Market Research and Consumer Insights

Scenario: A business wants to identify emerging market trends.

How It Works: Agentic RAG analyzes consumer data from multiple sources, retrieves relevant insights, and generates predictive analytics reports. It also gathers customer feedback from surveys or social media.

Benefits: Improves strategic decision-making with real-time intelligence.

Example: Companies use Agentic RAG for trend analysis and predictive analytics to optimize marketing strategies.

5. Supply Chain Optimization

Scenario: A logistics manager needs to predict demand fluctuations during peak seasons.

How It Works: The system retrieves historical sales data, current market trends, and weather forecasts using RAG. Agentic AI then predicts demand patterns and suggests inventory adjustments in real-time.

Benefits: Prevents stockouts or overstocking, reduces costs, and improves efficiency.

Example: Acuvate’s supply chain solutions leverage predictive analytics powered by Agentic AI to enhance logistics operations

How Acuvate Can Help

Acuvate specializes in implementing Agentic AI and RAG technologies to transform business operations. By integrating these advanced AI solutions, Acuvate enables organizations to enhance autonomous decision-making, improve customer experiences, and optimize operational efficiency. Their expertise in deploying AI-driven systems ensures that businesses can effectively leverage real-time data and intelligent automation to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Future Scope

The future of Agentic AI and RAG involves the development of multi-agent systems where multiple AI agents collaborate to tackle complex tasks. Continuous improvement and governance will be crucial, with ongoing updates and audits necessary to maintain safety and accountability. As technology advances, these systems are expected to become more pervasive across industries, transforming business processes and customer interactions.

In conclusion, the convergence of Agentic AI and RAG represents a significant advancement in autonomous decision-making. By combining autonomous agents with real-time data retrieval, organizations can achieve greater efficiency, accuracy, and adaptability in their operations. As these technologies continue to evolve, their impact across various sectors is poised to expand, ushering in a new era of intelligent automation.

[angelhotchner]

roze & twine

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Style: Multi-part Fic Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [named] Fem!Reader [non-descriptive OC] Timeline: Post ep100 Fic Content: Pining, eventual friends to lovers, smut Chapter Warnings: None

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Prologue

Everyone had their own outlet. Morgan loved to renovate houses - he was on his sixth property now, each one different from the others but all built with the same fervour: every wall holding secrets of the sight of the agent breaking down, letting his anger leave him, allowing hope to enter his soul once again. Garcia had literally everything. Knitting, ukulele, clay models - you name it, Penelope had tried it and created something adorably loud and vibrant, then displayed it in her cave if she could. The goodness of the world penetrated the disgust and heartbreak that she saw on her screens every day and it kept her outlook fresh. Reid was similar to Garcia...his interests were seemingly endless, but specific. As long as it was knowledge that he hadn’t gained yet, he was interested in it. Magic seemed to be his number one though - if it had been a particularly bad week, he’d arrive on Monday morning with a set of new tricks he’d learned. Prentiss...she had weekends away. No-one really knew what she was doing, although JJ had the best idea, but she always came back refreshed and focused. Her outlet usually landed her in Atlanta for two days - that’s all she’d ever given away to the team. JJ had her family - most importantly, Henry’s Sunday soccer games. Watching her son run around the field, dribbling the ball between his feet with his little face scrunched in concentration warmed her heart so much that she could forget the week she’d just had and the week that was waiting for her the next day.

Hotch shared the same outlet - his son was the light of his life and the only thing that really kept him going. Raising his son in the shadow of his passed wife was a hard feat, but when the little guy said something so pure and innocent it touched Hotch’s heart deeper than he’d let on, pulling the dark clouds in his mind away for a little while. Rossi had company. Whether it was hosting a dinner party for old time friends or enjoying himself at another charity banquet, he found solace in the people around him and their stories. Meeting new faces, listening to their own wisdom - it granted him a better outlook on life, a more peppered perspective on the world. The team teased that his outlet was finding another wife, but they knew that Rossi had almost given up hope on marrying again. Harris had bracelets. Seriously. Ever since third grade queen Lola Grey had taught her how to braid tiny strings of wool and what the best colour combinations for beads were, Harris was obsessed...even when Lola rejected the bracelet that she’d spent hours creating for her. When Lola’s friends threw it into the muddy puddles on the playground and laughed, Harris saw that as a challenge to do better. That kind of thinking followed her as she grew up, straight into the FBI Academy and into the hands of the Behavioural Analysis Unit. Never quit, do better.

It was no surprise that this case had taken a toll on her. The unsub had suffered the same upbringing as her - the only difference was their responses to it. Harris had channeled all of her hurt and frustration into making her life better, the unsub had channeled his into ending other lives. She had been the one to know the most, to understand him the best, and ultimately tackle him into an arrest with just a small scratch on the side of her cheek. Now, she sat quietly at the back of the plane, her hands twirling and knotting the burgundy yarn until it began to take shape. She didn’t need to look down and concentrate, the muscle memory of her fingers took over as she gazed out of the window. Hotch glanced over. He studied her face for a few seconds, ready to focus his attention back to the file in front of him but his eyes drifted down to her hands, catching the movement. He watched with curious amusement, flickering his gaze between her face and her hands, noticing how her eyes seemed to droop a little further with every twist of the wool. Her shoulders were beginning to relax, her mind becoming easy. He smiled gently, although he wasn’t sure why, and turned his attention back to the paperwork. “Aaron Hotchner, did you just smile?” Hotch’s cheeks felt flushed as he dipped his head slightly, realising he’d been caught out. Of course he had. Harris never missed anything. He raised his head and looked at her, finding her still twirling the wool but looking directly at him. Her cheeks were lifted with a small smirk, her eyes shining with devilment. She seemed cool and mischievous, but Harris’ mind was freaking out like a teenage girl. Hotch just smiled at you, she thought. For no reason. He never smiles. He smiled at you. He cares...no, no. Hotch doesn’t care about you like that. Maybe it wasn’t a good smile. Maybe he was laughing at you. The bracelets. He thinks you’re childish. He- “It happens,” He shrugged, knocking Harris from being locked in a battle of her own thoughts. “Your work on this case was exemplary, Roze,” She felt giddy with hearing the praise, but maintained her cool expression. “Thanks, Hotchy,” The nickname awarded her with another small smile. Hotch wasn’t sure when she started calling him that, but he welcomed the playful nature. He knew he shouldn’t be revelling in the fact that she hadn’t given any of the other team members a nickname, it probably didn’t even much to her, but he savoured the idea of being someone that stood out more than anyone else to her. She nodded at him and turned back towards the window, her brain dangerously close to overdrive. God damn praise kink. ���═ ⋆☆⋆ ══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════ ⋆☆⋆ ══

[bharatpatel1061]

Beyond Scripts: How AI Agents Are Replacing Hardcoded Logic

Introduction: Hardcoded rules have long driven traditional automation, but AI agents represent a fundamental shift in how we build adaptable, decision-making systems. Rather than relying on deterministic flows, AI agents use models and contextual data to make decisions dynamically—whether in customer support, autonomous vehicles, or software orchestration. Content:

This paradigm is powered by reinforcement learning, large language models (LLMs), and multi-agent collaboration. AI agents can independently evaluate goals, prioritize tasks, and respond to changing conditions without requiring a full rewrite of logic. For developers, this means less brittle code and more resilient systems.

In applications like workflow automation or digital assistants, integrating AI agents allows systems to "reason" through options and select optimal actions. This flexibility opens up new possibilities for adaptive systems that can evolve over time.

You can explore more practical applications and development frameworks on this AI agents service page.

When designing AI agents, define clear observation and action spaces—this improves interpretability and debugging during development.

[circumlocutive]

Fuckin

Semi masturbatory caffeinated ramble reflecting on skills acquired in my PhD

Thinking about how broad and interdisciplinary my project is and the kinda of things I have to be familiar with or an expert in. I get down on myself sometimes for progress but looking at all the shit I've learned.... Without formal classes or a senior grad student or (for the majority of it) no post doc. And a PI who can't help bc she's really a business lady at this point not a professor. Maybe shouldn't be hard on myself?

Like. I did completely different projects in undergrad (biotech/proteins/genetics/regenerative medicine, advanced manufacturing/composite fabrication/CNC/welding/process statistics, translational neuropharma studies of addiction/rodent handling and operant training and behavioral video analysis/neural tissue slicing n staining/hand making neuroelectrodes for implantation, design and fabrication of impedance spectroscopy based electrochemical sensors/automation of sensor fab and use w a micro fluidic flow cell)

Like. Since I've started I've learned:

- how to do multi-step air-free water-free chemical synthesis (with glove box and schlenk line) and purification (extraction, filtration, chromatography) of light sensitive amphiphiles (extra tricky)

- how to get and read NMR even for massive fucking molecules and interpret weird peaks (I can casually see if I've got water or any of my common solvents contaminating the spectra without referencing a table at this point)

-how to fucking take down and set up and fix everything in our chemical synthesis lab (because we moved and all our shit was abused for years) and all the intricate non-unified and sometimes conflicting rules for hazardous chemical storage

- the theory/math and how to actually use the equipment to do optoelectronic/photophysical characterization (e.g. using the UV vis spectrometer and writing python to convert the data files into readable tables and figures, learning theory so I can develop equations to relate photon flux to change in absorbance of an actinometer ((light sensitive molecule with a consistent quantum yield)) then obtain quantum yield of charge transfer in a different molecule but same setup, how to use the fluorimeter and get intensity and quantum yield, how to set up lasers and LEDs, what cuvettes to use, how to get fluorescence lifetimes or take two photon excitation data, how to spin coat wafers n do thin film transistor studies), more theory about how photo induced electron transfer voltage sensors work and the importance of angle of insertion on sensitivity (and how to measure it with polarization microscopy) other voltage sensing dye mechanisms like FRET or electrochromic dyes and why to use intensity vs lifetime vs whatever when interpreting signal readouts and the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting that interpretation.

- how to do vesicle fabrication and immobilize for imaging, typical membrane compositions and dynamics (e.g. phase orders depending on cholesterol concentrations, significance of packing parameters to membrane organization), measurimg particle radius with DLS, controlling inner cargo and gradients over a membrane by manipulating the bulk solution, the interplay between non radiative decay and the stiffness of the membrane microenvironment around a fluorophore

- the math and bio behind electrophysiology/advanced neuroscience pertaining to modeling and calculating and quantifying signalling/equivalent RC circuit analysis, what spatiotemporal requirements there are for studying this shit <- though this was through a class, not self taught

- I already had cell culture experience and did some adherent and suspended cultures, some live dead imaging assays, etc, but I've learned new facets like how to go about picking electrically exciteable lines (ease of growing? What media requirements? time to multiply and differentiate? What agent to differentiate? How to induce firing without a patch clamp?) and troubleshooting uptake/optimizing staining and imaging parameters (what media or buffer for growth vs staining vs washing vs imaging? Can it have serum? Can it have calcium and magnesium? What salts, how is it buffered, whats the osmolarity I can get away with? What concentrations work for what # of cells? What dilution factors? Do I need to admix equivolumes of dye solution and cell solution? Do I prep the organic solvent+ dye + aqueous solution with sonication or filtration or vortexing before mixing? Is DMSO or ethanol or DMF a better organic for dispersal or biocompatibility? What's the Ideal incubation time for uptake and viability? How long before I absolutely need to image or the dye gets internalized? If it's retained long, how many days could I image for?) for my tricky aggregation-prone non-diffusive thermodynamically-partitioned dye. Also stuff like what commercially available live imaging dyes can I compare to or complement my visualizations with or use for colocalization studies (other lipophilic membrane dyes that insert in the bilayer with preferences for diff order regions? What about comparison with surface adhering dyes like WGA-iFluor that bind surface sugars, to show that our dye can laterally diffuse to areas blocked by cell-cell contacts?), what fluorescence specific parameters do I need to characterize (photo toxicity/photo bleaching time?)

And then there's other shit I've picked up like. Idk. How to make orders in the particular institute I'm in. Better citation managers and ways to search literature. Recognizing what groups and journals and conferences are major players in the fields I'm touching. Getting comfy presenting my shit.

I need to learn a little more about microscopy (especially FLIM and how to build a polarizer module into the scope we have for polarization microscopy), and a little more about the state of the art for voltage dyes and live-imaging dye characterization but man. I think I'm getting somewhere. I'm starting to know enough to see the end of this project and pick my directions moving forward and argue when my PI is wrong

Gahhhhhh