#Slate configurator

[deep-definition]

Slate Truck Electric Pickup: Affordable, Customizable EV

Discover the revolutionary Slate Truck – a fully electric, ultra-customizable pickup starting under $20,000. Backed by Jeff Bezos, it offers modular design, DIY upgrades, and endless personalization options. Slate Truck: The Bold, Customizable, Electric Pickup Backed by Jeff Bezos The press release for the new Slate Truck dropped. It claimed “unlimited personalization” and a starting price…

[tippertot]

oh you're right! i was going off a faulty memory. Riebeck and Gabbro's ships both have two engines. i was probably remembering that Riebeck's ship is similar to Feldspar's in that they both have their cockpits on top relative to the landing gear Feldspar's ship:

Riebeck's ship:

I love your fic, read it twice now and I'm having a great time analyzing it, but a question I have is who graduated first?? Gabbro or Riebeck? Idk if there's any official answers but I've seen some people say Gabbro was first and others say Riebeck.

i'm running with the headcanon that Riebeck graduated before Gabbro, based on Riebeck having an "old style" single-engine ship (like Feldspar and Chert) and Gabbro having the "new style" double-engine ship (same as the hatchling). but Gabbro is older than Riebeck. Gabbro got a late start and didn't start training until early adulthood

[4th-make-quail]

IWTV Fic Recs - Old Man Daniel Focused

I've been meaning to put together a list somewhere for this, and since I just sent a bunch to someone, here it is finally! it's a mix of Armand/Daniel, Daniel/Louis, Armand/Daniel/Louis in various configurations - please enjoy!

if you read and enjoy these fics, please make sure to leave a comment for the authors on ao3!

Daniel/Louis

Conflict of Interest, by hereticas - T, 2000 words

Louis comes by Daniel's room the morning after they recover their memories of San Francisco.

Very very cute kissing post s02e05 fic!

Daniel/Louis, Daniel/Louis/Armand, Armand/Daniel, Armand/Louis (combo of all)

it seemed the thing to do (what made me think I could start clean slated?), by fastcarmp3 - E, 3900 words, WIP

Louis asked Daniel if he wanted to… now. It wasn’t an empty offer.

Danlou with Armand watching which is SMOKING HOT

Terza Rima, by nothing_but_paisley - E, 1700 words

Daniel finally gets what he came to Dubai for, but the aftermath brings even more questions.

INCREDIBLY hot threesome with stellar character voices, bit of Armand Voyeurism (THE GOOD SHITE), bit of Daniel being a slut for being bitten

That's It, Mr. Molloy, by anonymous - E, 4900 words

Daniel finds himself distracted, during the interview. Rashid comes to help, and invites Louis along, too. He snaps his gaze away, clearing his throat. “So, are we, uh…talking about that? Or…” “Talking?” Rashid cocks his head, amused. “Is that what you would like to do, Mr. Molloy? Talk?” As he speaks, he steps forward, walking Daniel backwards until his knees hit the edge of the bed. Daniel looks back, startled, as though he hadn’t realized he was moving, at all. “Won’t you sit down, Mr. Molloy?” Rashid asks, gesturing.

that old man gets PROPERLY FUCKED!! bit of a Rashid!Armand situation, bit of massage, very very hot

Push it away but it all comes back again, by butchybats - E, 5400 words

“'Let me get this straight. You left me for dead,' Daniel addresses Louis, who very pointedly does not make eye contact with him. This time Daniel turns slightly to face Armand. 'And you saved my life in the most erotic way possible?'” Or: All Daniel wants is to resume the interview like normal after finding out about the supposed "love of Louis' life". Louis and Armand have better plans.

Threesome sex VERY HOT (includes a bit of flashback to 70s era) with a really fucking excellent Daniel Voice!

Armand/Daniel

were the flowers orange?, by andrealyn - T, 6700 words

Years ago, Daniel cut out the love of his life to save himself from choking on tiger eye, daylily, bird of paradise. Now, in Dubai, suddenly the disease returns even though the only thing that's changed is Rashid became Armand. And yet, the flowers tell him something -- whoever he cut out is fighting like hell to be remembered.

Absolutely DEVASTATING hanahaki fic, this shit is really fucking good!!!

the fog eating the night, by tei - E, 3700 words

If Louis had wanted him alive, he'd have escorted him out himself. But he hadn't. He'd left Daniel standing there stunned, and walked out like none of this had mattered to him at all. Whether he meant to or not, Louis had given Daniel to Armand.

Very tasty post s02e08 turning fic! Really damn good Daniel Voice.

At Close of Day, by nothing_but_paisley - E, 1700 words

On a frigid Christmas night, Daniel and Armand celebrate being alone together as they explore their budding relationship.

Really hot with human!Daniel! A top Armand who absolutely ADORES him, it's very fucking cute

Only a Name, by nothing_but_paisley - E, 1500 words

In Dubai, Daniel is visited in dreams by an opinionated young man--but there's something terribly familiar about him.

More Rashid!Armand fic, very very fucking hot

strange mutations, by leavethebes - E, 11000 words

Armand’s done it to him once before—gored him through the stomach, gutted him like a fish, snipped his gills off, and drained him right down to the fluttering valves of his heart. Left Daniel little more than a shriveled husk of a person, and somehow Daniel is back here anyway, on his knees in front of Armand and begging for the oblivion that was promised.

Post s2 but before Armand turns Daniel, really fun Armand interfering in Daniel's life post-Dubai and another excellent Daniel Voice!

Devouring, by verimeru - Mature, comic

An 11-page IWTV (2022) fancomic about the vampire Armand facing his worst nightmare.

OUGH, MY FEELS.....

Daddy, by GreyGiantess & verimeru - Mature, comic

“What's with the face?” Daniel asked. Armand’s eyes widened slightly, which was probably meant to make him look innocent, but it only made The Face worse. “This is just my regular face, Daniel.” “Yeah, right. You’re up to something.” In which VERIMURU and GRAYGIANTESS team up to give you the Armandaniel age difference COMIC you didn't know you needed! Very loosely related to Baby.

VERY cute age difference comic with human Daniel! Appreciated him still having his parkinson's, and their relationship and dynamic is SO cute

whip in my valise, by firstaudrina - E, 3100 words

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Armand said. “Yeah,” Daniel said, the word an aggravated pull. “Well.” Old Man Daniel goes to Night Island.

Very very good, VERY VERY HOT, excellent level of fucked up with some delicious voyeurism also

[tmwcs]

heethans reaction if h/n posted revealing bikini pics with y/n on insta???

Warnings: yandere theme, slight bit of non-con turned dub con implied, choking, use of force, punishments, fingering, cursing, pet names, think that’s it.

A long day of classes. The weekend was too short as the first day of the week already drained you. How you wish tomorrow was Friday already.

“Hey y/n.”

A calm voice catches your attention up head and you recognize that deep tone and accent. “Oh, hey Jake.”

He smiles someehat mischievously as he walks in your direction. “What’s up?” You nervously smile as you route up your question. The expression on his face told you of his awareness in something that you felt as if you should know of.

“Nooooothing. Like your picture on IG. Maybe you can tell H/N where you got that swimsuit.” He speaks and stares down, but never pauses in his steps. He continues to walk past, unlike yourself, where you were caught off-guard by his words and stood still for a moment trying to figure if the slight bit of sarcasm was intentional.

You head out to meet with Heeseung at the curb, as usual. There he stood, leaning backs against the front passenger door with his arms crossed, his head angled at a downward tilt, allowing for his cap to cover his features. Some things will never change.

“Hey babe…I had a weird conversation with Jake just now—“ your mind snaps into a blank slate as you try to process the sudden jolt of movement that gripped you by the neck. Twirling you around, you found yourself being the one leaned up on the car, while being forced to fare directly into his eyes. His plush lips make contact with yours as he swipes his tongue over your bottom lip before breaking in and coating your entire mouth. “Bad girl.” He growls against youc barely breaking the kiss and allowing for you to catch a breath.

“W-what? I—“

“You what?” His voice antagonizes your unfinished sentence as he squeezes your throat. You let out a small gasp for air as you reach up, desperately trying to feed your fingers in between his in an attempt to loosen them. “H-Heeseung…”

“Can’t breathe baby?” Once again his words come off laconically. He propels a look of playful malice as he lets out a scoff through that wicked smirk. Kissing you once again, his tongue movements are much more aggressive. He finally releases the tightness of his hold, yet still has his palm wrapped around you. With your body being re-introduced to oxygen, your caught offguard when his free hand shoot’s down your jeans and feeds itself through your panties. He does not leave you any room to configure what was going on as he plunges his fingers inside you. “Time to feed Ethan.”

His dark expression turns murderous as you witness the switch on his personality. Unsure of what brought on this animalistic behavior, you beg him to give closure.

“W-what did I do wrong?”

He scoffs as he continues to violate you in the open parking lot, completely aware that no one was around to witness his volition, although you knew better than to figure that it wouldn’t have changed anything had there been eye witnesses present.

Biting down on your neck, he darkly chuckles against your skin, pinching it against his teeth. Taking his hand out from your jeans, he fishes it inside your satchel and pulls out your phone. Presenting it to your face, he lightly taps the screen against your collarbone. “No more social media for you.”

Leaning forward, he presses his nose in and rests his forehead against yours. “You just had to go and show off what’s mine. You trying to make me angry?” The smirk on his face flares sarcasm as you see past the smile and see nothing but anger. The way he grits his teeth was enough to nearly make you urinate your own jeans. “I—that wasn’t mean to—“

He cuts you off once more as he shoves you in the backseat. Nearly flinging you in, he straddles on top, restraining every bit of your movements. Pinching your chin, he forces you to face forward. “Don’t move.” He issues.

You knew better than to disobey. He was already mad, and considering he was Ethan now, doing anything more against his demands would only cause you pain. He’d make you pay for it all.

You felt him tighten his belt around your head, enforcing you to clamp down on it with your teeth. Oh no…

“Bite down, darling.” He says as he props himself on his knees, groin pressed against your buttocks as he stations your legs to rest around his waist. Undoing his jeans right before you, he smirks deviously. “Better the belt, than your own tongue, in which case I’ll bite it for you.”

Your eyes grow extremely teary as you brace for what is about to come. He smoothly pulls your jeans off, along with your panties. Rubbing the nub of your clot with his thumb, he fishes out his lengthy member and pulls his own jeans down just enough, until the waistband rests against his upper thighs. Slapping the tip against your swollen lips, he aims the head of his cock to hit your clit dead center. You whimper and jolt, all to his pleasure. “Let’s have some fun, hmm? I know i will.”

His words stamp your ears as you feel the sting of his swollen head pushing in. Without any four play, you weren’t exactly prepared to take in his member so suddenly. Your body hadn’t had the chance to lube up.

“Don’t worry baby, you’ll be wet here in a sec. And you don’t have to be in a bathing suit to enjoy riding the waves this time. Ethan’s got you.”

[daemonhxckergrrl]

chat, am I futureshock ?

occasionally I get people say stuff like this, and I'm glad they like my blog, I'm glad they enjoy the surface-level vibes. nonbinary matrix header, soft retro-vibe colourscheme, posts appearing as shell commands, etc.

but I'm not an aesthetic blog

I'm what happens when an autistic tranny who is A Bit Too Much Computer witnesses the realtime enshittification of everything.

first up, i wanna be clear that i'm not trying to shit on the person who sent me this or discourage people who enjoy these aesthetics (or what they perceive as my personal brand) for enjoying them, or from diving deeper. in fact, i would encourage it - please !! go look into things !! discover !! fuck things up !! fix them !!!

now i wanna talk about aesthetics. i love the design language of a lotta late 80s hardware, vehicles, physical interfaces. i love the design language of a lot that in the 90s, as well as software, early GUI stuff etc. and tbh a lot of that right up until the mid 00s. if we wanna play deeply unserious but whimsical visual signifiers for fun and silly reasons, sure then i'm webcore, i'm hackercore, i'm retrofuture and cyber, i'm cassette futurist, i'm cyberpunk or whatever. i'm cute glittery gifs of windows 95 slate dialog boxes and big standing racks full of das blinkenlights. i'm the cave shadow of a CD Walkman i'm that big chonky 80s red 7-segment alarm clock.

but i'm not just aesthetics. i'm not doing all this purely for the bit. up until a couple years ago i was sacrificing a ton of convenience for my principles. now i'm sacrificing certain specific conveniences and a buncha anti-consumer nonsense for my principles and a shit ton of other, better, conveniences.

this wasn't meant to be a long post, and may well end up influencing some of my cyberpriestess posting when i get my website going, as there's a lotta good jumping-off points here.

let me show y'all how i live. at least some of it.

daily driver ? 11-year-old gaming pc w/ some recent era-appropriate upgrades (well, the gpu is pushing it but like is reasonable someone would've done that upgrade).

this is what i mean. this is pluug2, my daily driver. and she still runs games. and yes i'm using arch rn bc i did a reinstall and for whatever reason the version of the void installer i had was corrupted and arch was the only other diy distro i had laying around. she'll end up running something infinitely more cursed in the future once i get s6 stuff figured out.

i spent like half an hour configuring fastfetch (the backend i'm using for hyfetch) bc the default kinda sucked. that's how this works.

i do dumb shit, i have fun, i live by my principles as much as possible...fuck idk

oh right, my thinkpad is a t61 from 2008. her graphics suck enough she literally can't load games. not anything made past idk DX9 ?? however her discord experience is about on part w/ my envy 360 from over 10 years later. she's kinda sick tho. idk. will probably turn her into a media pc or some kinda server since she's got a 2600U w/ 8 threads.

i don't get youtube ads. i don't get tempted by the comments section, i don't have my watch history profiled. i have a local database of playlists (the video tab on a channel counts as a playlist btw) that i can sync and fuzzy search in the terminal and it'll play via the video player on my system. however, i don't get stuff recommended which makes finding stuff entirely active.

i gotta test and tweak games i wanna play bc old hardware and also usually running via compatibility layer (proton my beloved) on account of..well no linux-native version. or the native version has issues.

discord and screenshare don't pay niceys all the time. this is partly a discord enshittification issue but also the discord devs don't care about linux as a platform. they "support" it bc hey electron works there. because it's the fuckign chrome browser. audio support in screenshare is an unofficial feature added by volunteer devs and that's a breach of TOS bc that's the world we live in now.

my brain is full of init system trivia, audio services and routing frameworks, a ton of incomprehensible nonsense that marks the difference between nostalgia-bait and Actually Being Like This.

come on in, by all means ! let's learn the semantics behind vim's actions/keybinds, let's discover old parts of the net, build up an environment from its component pieces. let's suffer together as the separation of accounts forces the use of several different email addresses, a TOTP app, and renewed access tokens to play one (1) game online w/ friends.

i'm not futureshock cybercore cassette retropunk, i'm stubborn and refuse to engage in as much of the bullshit forced on us these days as i physically can.

[xenodile]

Goddess of Victory: Nikke - Story Recap

Chapter 9: Secret - Part 1

With the Raptures cleared out and the MSIC deactivated, Counters enter the pre-Ark munitions factory. Shifty marvels at the sheer size of the facility for something built before the Ark, but Exia says it's only natural when mankind's survival hinged on their weapons technology in the years following the initial invasion...and that Shifty would know that if she paid attention. Shifty apologizes for being off her game, but Exia is already moving to the next subject, directing Shifty to start a Purification sequence and magnetic field scan to identify areas of the factory with functioning electronics.

As Exia continues drilling Shifty on search protocols, Neon remarks that Exia seems unusually hard on their operator. Anis shrugs it off as Exia being a stickler for procedure that not everyone can keep track of, and Rapi concurs, saying it's a good learning experience for everyone to have Exia on hand to guide them through it. Neon concedes that Exia is an excellent teacher, though Anis then wonders if perhaps Exia just wants someone else to do her work for her.

With their Operators otherwise preoccupied, Counters have a moment to speak to themselves, and Anis asks Rapi how she's holding up in terms of keeping her memory wipe a secret. Even if Exia is willing to keep it secret, the pressure to act as if Rapi is a blank slate after a memory wipe is still on. Rapi says she's trying not to think too hard about it, hoping that just acting natural will serve her better than trying to act like she's forgotten everything. It was less of an issue during their last mission because the weather kept them out of contact with the Ark for so long, but when they regularly have an Operator it's much harder. Neon suggests just telling Shifty, since she seems to have Counters best interest in mind. Anis counters that even if they can trust Shifty personally, her close ties to the Central Government make telling her anything a massive risk. Neon again thinks Anis is being a little paranoid, but is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Shifty speaks up to inform the team that her scan of the facility, under Exia's strict guidance, is finished and she's located the likely location of a terminal that will serve their purpose. Exia grumbles that it'd gotten done quicker if she'd just done it herself, but it was good for Shifty to get some on the job training.

The team proceeds along the highlighted route and find a massive machine. Exia explains its a powerful if old material scanner, able to identify the composition of whatever is placed in it. The Commander places Snow White's bullet into the scanner, and hooks up their CombiLink. Exia tells Shifty to connect to the CombiLink so she can configure it to interface with the outdated machine, but then takes over and does it herself when Shifty struggles to do so and tells Shifty to go back to looking for mines around the facility.

Neon again comments that Exia is being rather harsh with Shifty. Before the team can do anything further however, Shifty alerts them to additional Raptures closing in on the facility, as Exia tells them to protect the scanner while it works.

For a mercy, the intruding Raptures are not terribly threatening, and the squad clears them out just as Exia finishes her scan of the Pilgrim's bullet. Disappointingly, it is a completely mundane small caliber round, compatible with most rifles and personnel weapons. The only thing that stands out is a small trace of some kind of strange chemical mixed into the bullet itself, something the scanner designates as "UNCHAIN".

Shifty and Exia are both at a loss. Neither have ever heard of anything called "UNCHAIN" or what that designation is supposed to mean. Exia dejectedly says she'll double check every database she can for a lead and advises Counters to head back to the Outpost. Though a somewhat disappointing result, the Commander agrees they've done all they can here, and gives the order to head back.

The team continues back along the path they took to reach the factory. Exia grumbles that she can't find anything on UNCHAIN, no matter where she looks. She concludes that if had such a specific name in a pre-Ark factory, there must be SOME record of what it is...and its absence suggests that someone wanted that information buried. She asks Shifty if she can access the Central Government's restricted archives, but Shifty's clearance doesn't go that high.

Exia decides that if that's the case, she'll just have to hack into Central Government's system herself.

Anis and the Commander both object, saying the risk and consequences of Exia being caught are far too great. Exia says, quite matter of factly, that she won't get caught. She can't stand not knowing something, so there is no risk not worth taking to learn.

Without waiting for anyone else's input, Exia connects to the Central Government's archives. Shifty looks on incredulously over the call, and sheepishly asks if there's anything she could do to...help? Anis says the best thing Shifty can do is look the other way and pretend she didn't see anything, leaving Shifty shaking her head that she's just LETTING someone breech security at her own workplace.

The squad waits with bated breath as Exia works, picking through files in the restricted archives for any trace of UNCHAIN. She breaks the silence to make an announcement.

Everyone's breath catches in their throats. Exia is remarkably calm about it, all things considered. She ponders aloud how they managed to pinpoint her location, despite her operating out of an isolated safehouse on the surface over closed network. Well regardless, Triangle is likely already on their way. Neon fearfully asks what will happen next, and Exia reassures her that none of their communications have been recorded. Neon, frantic, says that's not what she's scared of.

Exia pauses to think, even as she continues scrolling through the Central Government's deepest secrets. Just to be absolutely safe, she'll burn out her own brain before Triangle gets to her. That way whatever she's learned will die with her, and Rapi's secret will be safe.

Anis, Rapi, and Neon all scream through the call telling Exia to stop, but she simply says good bye as a hail of gunfire rips through the door to her saferoom.

The squad can only look helplessly through the video call as Exia goes limp and collapses, blood spatter covering her workstation.

Through the still open call line, they hear a voice speaking in Exia's saferoom, confirming her death. Another voice chides her for playing stupid games and winning a stupid prize. A third points out there's still an active video call on Exia's computer. A blue haired figure steps into frame just as Rapi disconnects from the call.

Counters are left in stunned silence. Anis and Neon reason that...maybe she's still alive. Maybe Triangle didn't shoot her in the head and got to her before she could destroy her own brain so maybe she'll be okay..! Rapi and the Commander are not as optimistic. Shifty glumly says she'll try and find the shortest route to take them back to the Ark.

The squad travels in silence until the reach another minefield. Shifty initiates a new scan and marks the locations of the mines. Rapi urges the team to move quickly, and Neon agrees, saying they need to return as quickly as possible...but as soon as she takes a step the ground beneath her explodes.

As the dust and smoke clear, Neon is lying on the ground. She's terrified, panicking, can't feel her leg. Rapi tries to calm her down, explaining that she fortunately avoided the mine itself, but the shockwave from the explosion has made Neon's frame seize up. She should be able to move again in a little while.

Anis snarls at Shifty to explain herself, and Shifty frantically apologizes, saying the mine was too small and didn't register on her scan. Rapi warns that the explosion will surely attract Raptures, and the Commander bandages up Neon's leg, gives the order to proceed with caution, prioritizing protecting the hobbled Neon.

The pace is agonizingly slow. With the knowledge that not every mine showed up the scan while also trying to pick off Raptures that draw too close, Counters trudge through the minefield. Shifty encourages them, saying they're doing well and are nearly home free, just about 10 minutes out from the nearest elevator.

Unfortunately once they squad gets clear of the minefield, their path forward is blocked by a Lord-class Rapture and its entourage. Anis again snaps at Shifty, asking what the hell Shifty is doing if she's not bothering to do her job, wondering if Shifty's TRYING to get them all killed. Shifty tries to apologize, and Neon tries to calm Anis, reasoning that Shifty must still be shaken by what happened with Exia. Distraught, Anis says that Exia's dead and dwelling on it isn't going to keep them alive, but trails off, feeling herself losing her grip.

Rapi, ice cold, addresses their Operator and asks...

Shifty is taken off guard by the question, saying she's a mission operator in employee of the Central Government Intelligence Department, but Rapi doesn't relent, questioning again who they really are.

"Shifty's" expression shifts into a condescending smirk, as she comments that Rapi's pretty sharp for someone who was supposed to have her memory wiped. The image of Shifty on the video call distorts and breaks down, revealing who's actually on the other end.

Anis and Neon are shocked into silence as Syuen laughs, remarking that it's quite impressive that Rapi figured her out, and asks what gave her away. Rapi replies that only the best of the best land jobs with the Intelligence Department, and Syuen's performance as an Operator was anything but. Syuen laments that Operator work is tough, so she can't be blamed for being out of her depth, but she deserves some credit for getting the Purification protocol active.

Rapi snarks that at the very least, Syuen did her homework. Syuen thanks her, words dripping with venom, as she says that she had plenty of time to study and plan while she was in the hospital with all those broken ribs Rapi gave her. Syuen says it was a lot of hard work preparing for this scheme, but pulling one over on them was worth it, shamelessly fishing for compliments on her acting skills.

Anis coldly asks what Syuen has done with the real Shifty, to which Syuen replies that the actual Shifty has been occupied with a routine training camp for the past month, confirming that it's been Syuen from the moment they first came up to the surface. Anis then asks if it was Syuen that sold out Exia.

Syuen cheerfully confirms Anis's suspicions. It was only a matter of time before Exia figured out she wasn't talking to an actual Operator and outed her, so Syuen had to get rid of her first. Besides, Exia had committed treason by hacking the Central Government's archives, so really Syuen was just doing her civic duty as a concerned citizen. Rapi is quick to remind her that impersonating a high ranking member of the Government is also a serious criminal offense.

Syuen remarks that even if she is found out, she's too powerful for the Government to touch her, so any threats Counters makes are empty. Anis tells Syuen she's underestimating them, and Syuen feigns distress, mockingly calling Anis soooo scary, and crying that she needs protection. A grating, mechanical screech blasts over the video call. A Rapture distress signal.

Anis glares threateningly at Syuen through the video feed, who merely continues to laugh and mock her, calling for the Raptures to come save her from the scary Nikkes.

The Counters brace for combat as the enemy closes in.

[crow-musings]

I desprately need someone to talk to about this

I've been working on a system to allow a genetic algorithm to create DNA code which can create self-organising organisms. Someone I know has created a very effective genetic algorithm which blows NEAT out of the water in my opinion. So, this algorithm is very good at using food values to determine which organisms to breed, how to breed them, and the multitude of different biologically inspired mutation mechanisms which allow for things like meta genes and meta-meta genes, and a whole other slew of things. I am building a translation system, basically a compiler on top of it, and designing an instruction set and genetic repair mechanisms to allow it to convert ANY hexadecimal string into a valid, operable program. I'm doing this by having an organism with, so far, 5 planned chromosomes. The first and second chromosome are the INITIAL STATE of a neural network. The number and configuration of input nodes, the number and configuration of output nodes, whatever code it needs for a fitness function, and the configuration and weights of the layers. This neural network is not used at all in the fitness evaluation of the organism, but purely something the organism itself can manage, train, and utilize how it sees fit.

The third is the complete code of the program which runs the organism. Its basically a list of ASM opcodes and arguments written in hexadecimal. It is comprised of codons which represent the different hexadecimal characters, as well as a start and stop codon. This program will be compiled into executable machine code using LLVM IR and a custom instruction set I've designed for the organisms to give them a turing complete programming language and some helper functions to make certain processes simpler to evolve. This includes messages between the organisms, reproduction methods, and all the methods necessary for the organisms to develop sight, hearing, and recieve various other inputs, and also to output audio, video, and various outputs like mouse, keyboard, or a gamepad output. The fourth is a blank slate, which the organism can evolve whatever data it wants. The first half will be the complete contents of the organisms ROM after the important information, and the second half will be the initial state of the organisms memory. This will likely be stored as base 64 of its hash and unfolded into binary on compilation.

The 5th chromosome is one I just came up with and I am very excited about, it will be a translation dictionary. It will be 512 individual codons exactly, with each codon pair being mapped between 00 and FF hex. When evaulating the hex of the other chromosomes, this dictionary will be used to determine the equivalent instruction of any given hex pair. When evolving, each hex pair in the 5th organism will be guaranteed to be a valid opcode in the instruction set by using modulus to constrain each pair to the 55 instructions currently available. This will allow an organism to evolve its own instruction distribution, and try to prevent random instructions which might be harmful or inneficient from springing up as often, and instead more often select for efficient or safer instructions.

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

Hi Bury. If you’re still doing the WIP game, what is Taker, Devil Maker? Because all of them sound awesome but that is such an amazing title

omg hello and thank you!! (´∀｀)♡

this one is for MDZS/CQL! i honestly keep forgetting about it even though its like. fully outlined and i have a good chunk written, oops. its also pretty old, so pardon the slightly weird writing haha

summary: Wei Ying never had a lucky encounter with a sect leader on the streets of Yiling as a child. Instead he teaches himself cultivation from nothing but dusty scrolls and wandering masters, tracing talismans on the walls of alleys and practicing sword forms with tree branches. When he hears of cultivation lectures hosted by the Gusu Lan, he just has to find a way to attend.

Wei Wuxian smoothed his robes, ran carefully scrubbed fingers over the faint embroidery on the fine fabric. The layers of cloth lightened from black to slate to steel and violet and lavender in sheets of soft cotton, with tasteful designs of swallows and oak branches stitched into the sleeves and lapels.  They were the second most expensive thing he’d ever owned. The first was tied in pride of place at his hip. Wei Wuxian sighed as the lines of neat stitching caught on the calluses of his hands. It made nervousness flutter in his stomach. Could someone look at these clothes and know they’d taken every last penny of savings their owner had to buy? Would someone take his hand and just from the feeling of the skin know that these weren’t the hands of a young master, even one who practiced often at the blade? Fine clothes could only do so much. He was, after all, planning to single-handedly break into one of the Great Sects.  On the path ahead, a cluster of purple-robed disciples stood at the wooden gate set into the pale stone of the mountain. From his convenient and super dignified position hiding behind some rocks, Wei Wuxian could peek around and observe them without even needing to crouch behind a bush like a particularly pathetic deer-slash-burglar.  “My sister knows Sect Leader Lan,” a young-ish one was saying to the gate guard, who looked deeply uninterested in who his sister may or may not know. Then new Lan cultivators were arriving, carrying stretchers with strange figures on them, and in the commotion Wei Wuxian was able to get a little closer still to observe the Jiang and the configuration of the Cloud Recesses wards.  As the handsome disciple leading the group with stretchers headed through the gates, Wei Wuxian couldn’t help a little excited shuffle in place. Even these young cultivators could look so cool!  His foot made the faintest sound against the stones where he was hiding. Wei Wuxian froze as the leading Lan’s stony face turned towards his hiding spot. He quickly went flat against the rock, perfectly still, and counted his most silent possible breaths. A moment, two, and he could hear footsteps going up the steps into the Cloud Recesses, then fading into the background murmuring of the Jiang. Wei Wuxian slumped and let out a quiet hiss. Way too close—he’d come much too far to get caught now.

[p1anetpopstar]

Manifest V3 is becoming the standard on Google Chrome soon (slated for June 2024; post written May 21, 2024). This update is placing stricter limitations on extensions and is expected to interfere with adblockers.

Tumblr is the "switch to Firefox" website and while I agree that it's the preferable option, I know that there are Chrome users that have their own reasons on why they may not want or be able to.

The option to disable automatic updates used to be in plain sight but has since been hidden, so here's a walkthrough. If anybody has instructions for OS other than Windows feel free to add onto this post!

How to Disable Automatic Updates on Google Chrome for Windows

Search "System Configuration" and open the application.

Navigate to the "Services" tab.

You can click on "Manufacturer" to sort alphabetically if you wish. If you do this, you'll be looking for Google LLC.

There will be three services manufactured by Google LLC: GoogleUpdater InternalService, GoogleUpdater Service, and Google Chrome Elevation Service. If you're confused about the third one, it's required for Chrome Recovery, an application that repairs Google Update when the system detects that the version is out of date.

Uncheck the blue boxes next to all three and click "Apply". The status on all three should be listed as "Stopped" afterwards.

All done! Let a cool wave of relief wash over you.

[butchsophiewalten]

FindJackWalten update and More! 1/13/24

Some of you may be familiar with the twitter thread Martin made a few days ago, talking mostly about stress and burnout and how he was planning to take some days away to relax, but that he was starting to feel like his current approach to the series was unsustainable and that he was probably going to have to re-evaluate things.

Cue last light! Or this morning, really, when two FindJackWalten pages updated. First we have the main page:

Findjackwalten.com

This page has updated to, seemingly, just show the title of The Walten Files: 4? (Or, if your screen brightness is configured specifically, a little bit more...)

This is really all a single image, which appears like This if i copy/paste it from the website:

But if taken into a photo editing program and color-adjusted appears like this:

Hi Bon! And the titles of... the next three Walten Files episodes?

We get a better understanding of this when we take a look at Findjackwalten.com/name-me:

The first short part of this page is about the same, except the top text has changed to read "THE WALTEN FILES SEASON ONE (2020-2024)". Then the first three episodes are listed as they were, and then we see the new stuff

The three new episodes we'd seen before, subtitled as "CyberFun Tech's Collection"? It seems to me like The Walten Files 4 has been split up between three smaller, more manageably-sized videos. Considering TWF4 was estimated to be about an hour and 20 minutes long, I'm envisioning these new episodes to be within the 20-30 minute range, much more like TWF2 was.

Also importantly, it looks like the end of TWF4, now TWF6, is going to be the Season 1 Finale. This leaves the numbers the same, but the actual plot is different. Originally Season 1 was going to have a two-part finale revisiting Sophie and Jenny's narrative where we left off in BunnyFarm.

Speaking of, if you highlight all the text on the page, (ctrl+A is a help,) something new appears:

That all said, it looks like these next 3 episodes are all slated to release sometime in February? Which is exciting.

We also have some new tweets from Martin:

As well as some replies he left on some other people's tweets that give a little more context and explanation for everything:

I'm like, ridiculously excited, honestly? I think this was a really good decision for him to make. Pivoting to smaller episodes rather than really big theatrical ones is a really good move for him, I think. I also think this is going to be better for a lot of fans who were starting to feel like the ever-increasing scope and standard of the series was starting to feel kind of... cumbersome? I've seen more than a few people worried than an almost feature-length episode was going to feel really overwhelming.

So yeah. I think this was a good decision both to make The Walten Files more accessible for new and returning fans and to make it less of an incredible burden on its creator. And that's just a win-win to me. I'm so pleased.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA reveals prototype telescope for gravitational wave observatory

NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources.

The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of spacecraft distributed in a vast configuration larger than the Sun. Each side of the triangular array will measure nearly 1.6 million miles, or 2.5 million kilometers.

“Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will both transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA is supplying all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The prototype, called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope, will guide us as we work toward building the flight hardware.”

The Engineering Development Unit Telescope, which was manufactured and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, arrived at Goddard in May. The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared lasers and to reduce heat loss from a surface exposed to cold space since the telescope will operate best when close to room temperature.

The prototype is made entirely from an amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. The material is widely used for telescope mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures.

The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.

TOP IMAGE: On May 20, the full-scale Engineering Development Unit Telescope for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, still in its shipping frame, was moved within a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit NASA/Dennis Henry

LOWER IMAGE: The prototype LISA telescope undergoes post-delivery inspection in a darkened NASA Goddard clean room on May 20. The entire telescope is made from an amber-colored glass-ceramic that resists changes in shape over a wide temperature range, and the mirror’s surface is coated in gold. Credit NASA/Dennis Henry

[k7tt1]

Friendly reminder that Jenny Slate ( particularly, her performance in the Lego Batman film as Harley Quinn, ) is my personal default voiceclaim for Kitty!

[bluedalahorse]

Slates of Standard Pairings

Does your fandom have a Slate of Standard Pairings?

Maybe there’s a better term for this that TVTropes came up with years ago. But this is what I call it in my head.

A Slate of Standard Pairings is a phenomenon where if you have a fic with multiple pairings and almost every character being paired off, it will most likely include the pairings on the slate. This doesn’t mean the fandom only ships those pairings. It just means that those pairings have gained enough momentum, and enough momentum in proximity to one another that they sort of… show up together quite frequently.

For instance, I would argue that the Slate of Standard Pairings for Young Royals fandom is as follows:

Simon/Wilhelm, Sara/Felice, Maddie/Rosh, Stella/Fredrika, Walter/Henry, Nils/Vincent

If you are a boy in Young Royals and your name starts with the letter A, you are SOL for romantic relationships according to the Slate of Standard Pairings.

(Back when I was more active in Les Mis fandom, there were I believe two competing slates of Les Amis pairings, both of them headlined by Enjolras/Grantaire. Is that still the case, or have things shifted?)

For the most part, Slates aren’t intentionally created, but they do sort of drift together by probability. The thing about the Slate of Standard Pairings is that it can sometimes feel like a fandom rule, in an unconscious way where its structure is sort of encoded into the background of a lot of fics and discussions. They can also influence the prevailing fanon at any given time, in terms of which configurations of an ensemble hang out the most, who tops versus who bottoms, etc. There are some folks who actively choose all the pairings in the slate. Others choose some of the pairings in the Slate when writing a fic, but they may not choose all of them. Other people’s reading of their work may be affected by the Slate.

There are always ships that get popular outside of the Slate. For instance, Young Royals fandom has a fondness for Madisander. At one point we were getting into Roshella. Are we still into that? We should still be into that, it coulda been fun.

The Slate is not an inherently bad or an inherently good thing, but I think it’s good for fandoms to be aware of them. It’s also good to recognize the influence they have on fanon and interpretations of canon. It might also make you aware of which characters do and don’t get shipped a lot, or patterns in who your fandom recognizes as more dominant/more repressed/more desireable/whatever else.

You can also go against the Slate to shake things up once in a while, because it’s not actually a rule. I say this because “chronic desire to shake things up” was on my paperwork when I got diagnosed with hyperactive-subtype ADHD. (Yes, that was a neurodivergent joke, sorry.) For instance, Sara/Felice means so much more to me as a platonic relationship than a romantic relationship, because it reminds me of some of the strong platonic friendships that make my life rich and livable, but I’m totally here to ship Felice romantically with Rosh or maybe even Ayub. Or like, as far as non-canon August pairings go, I think we’re really sleeping on August/Nils. It could be so good! And then sometimes you get ideas for a crack pairing, because we all love a good crack pairing.

Anyway, what do you think? Does the Slate of Standard Pairings theory hold water?

What does it look like in your fandom?

Are you someone who tends to like Slates of Standard Pairings, or are you someone who prefers to ignore them?

[spacenutspod]

2 min read NASA Reveals Prototype Telescope for Gravitational Wave Observatory NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources. On May 20, the full-scale Engineering Development Unit Telescope for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, still in its shipping frame, was moved within a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA/Dennis Henry The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of spacecraft distributed in a vast configuration larger than the Sun. Each side of the triangular array will measure nearly 1.6 million miles, or 2.5 million kilometers. “Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will both transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA is supplying all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The prototype, called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope, will guide us as we work toward building the flight hardware.” The prototype LISA telescope undergoes post-delivery inspection in a darkened NASA Goddard clean room on May 20. The entire telescope is made from an amber-colored glass-ceramic that resists changes in shape over a wide temperature range, and the mirror’s surface is coated in gold. NASA/Dennis Henry The Engineering Development Unit Telescope, which was manufactured and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, arrived at Goddard in May. The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared lasers and to reduce heat loss from a surface exposed to cold space since the telescope will operate best when close to room temperature. The prototype is made entirely from an amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. The material is widely used for telescope mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures. The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s. Download additional images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio By Francis ReddyNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media Contact:Claire Andreoli301-286-1940claire.andreoli@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Oct 22, 2024 Related Terms Astrophysics Black Holes Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Gravitational Waves LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) The Universe Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System

[agbpaints]

I've had some ideas kicking around for a homebrew variant of the shadowhawk for a while now that I finally decided to put to paper (or I guess in this case Solaris Skunk Werks). My goal was to maintain the SHawk's character within the 55 ton trio (low heat, mid range harrasser with a flexible and balanced mixture of ballistic, energy, and missile weapons) while making it less aggressively mediocre than its succession war era designs thru the use of some lostech.

As the ashes began to settle following the Blakist Jihad, the Magistracy of Canopus determined they needed a cheaper and more flexible alternative to their fleet of advanced SHD-7Ms. Utilizing light fusion engine and multi-missile launch system technology from the allied Dutchy of Andurian, surplus production spares from the Canopan defense industry's work on the Taurian Brahma heavy mech, and the output of their own 7M line, Majesty Metals & Manufacturing produced three functioning prototypes for a design they called the Shadowhawk XA1. Despite costing 20% less than the model it was intended to compete with, internal politicking between MMM and the Magistracy government eventually sank the project. One of the prototypes was donated to the Magistracy Armed Forces Museum on Canopus IV while another was converted back into a standard 7M. The final prototype was sent to Capellan space for further testing but it vanishes from MMM's and the CCAF's records shortly before it was slated to arrive at the testing range.

Designed to fill the role of a medium-range skirmishing unit with a degree of inter-mission flexibility, the SHD-XA1 is built on the same endo steel chassis as the 7M. The bulky and fragile Core Tek 275 XL power plant has been downgraded to a more resilient experimental 275 light fusion engine while the 5 jump jets have been retained. 9 tons of armor leaves the pilot moderately well protected, relying on the XA1's speed and cover to protect the mech.

As opposed to the 7M, which saw fit to upgrade the size of the venerable 2H's weapons, the XA1 attempts to beat it in quantity amd accuracy. In the place of the guass rifle, a pair of light class 5 autocannons have been mounted in the left shoulder weapons pod, while an extended range medium laser has been installed in both the center torso and head. A five-tube multi-missile launcher is located in the right torso. All of the mech's direct fire weapons are networked to a targetting computer in the left torso, while all of its ballistic and missile systems draw from a shared 4-ton cellular ammunition stowage bay in the right torso. 10 double heat sinks allow a mechwarrior total freedom to use her weapons as she chooses, and while the torso-mounted weapons load leaves the mech vulnerable to flanking attacks and narrows its effective firing arcs, it does leave the arms free to engage in melee attacks once the mech closes.

The SHD-XA1's lends itself towards acting as a skirmisher or fast response unit that can tailor its exact role thru the use of specialty ammunition. Smoke and inferno missiles allow the mech to provide cover to advance under and anti-infantry/anti-vee capabilities with its MML, while the TC-linked autocannons can be configured to combat heavily armed units, aircraft, or fast moving targets through the use of armor piercing, flak, or precision ammo. The design's thin armor, fair mobility, and moderate range mean that the mechwarrior is advised to maintain distance and speed slightly behind the lime of battle until the enemy is weakened enough for her to close on and dispatch isolated unit.

This was fun to put together! Let me know what you think- should I do more homebrew mech variants?

[christiangrest]

CZ Pistols Multiply

Recently I talked about a new CZ Pistol that I picked up from Brownells, the CZ shadow 2 Compact. With a few hundred rounds down range of a variety of ammunition… both Federal 115gr and S&B 124gr, I’ve been quite impressed with one of CZ’s top of the heap offering. CZ has long been a company with a strong following from firearm enthusiasts and finally I could say that I’m starting to see what all of the fuss is all about. So what about CZ’s more budget friendly options? The P10 series has been around for quite a few years and folks really seem to like those. The P10 series is a polymer framed striker fire pistol that’s priced a decent amount below the comparable Glock offerings. When I got to looking at an additional CZ pistol, of course just a bare bones CZ-75 was an option, but that’s basically a blank slate for the CZ Shadow series. CZ does offer polymer framed SA/DA pistols, both the P-07 and P-09. So which one would be my next CZ pistol acquisition?

Enter the CZ P-07. The CZ P-07 is a compact sized polymer framed SA/DA pistol with a de-cocker or a safety that can be configured. The P-07 pistol is comparable in size to the CZ Shadow 2 compact and a Glock 19. Price wise it comes in $100 or so less than a Glock 19 depending upon the deal you find. IUt comes with 2 15 round magazines. Unfortunately those magazines aren’t compatible with the CZ Shadow 2 compact as far as I can tell. The CZ P-07 also isn’t cut for an optic which is kind of a bummer as I believe that all pistols manufactured today should come optics ready. It can of course be milled for an optic, but I’m planning on running it as is. The sights are a common fixed metal 3 dot sight system with a small trick…the dots are luminescent meaning they glow at night. These are not night sights, but give you some dot glow in low light. I’ll most likely swap them out at some point for a proper set of night sights, but these will do. The pistol also ships with a 9MM dummy cartridge for dry fire practice as well as 3 different grip back straps. CZ has put a lot of value into this pistol. The DA trigger pull is quite heavy, off my scale at probably in the 12lb range and the SA trigger pull is right at a consistent 5lb. A spring swap can make a difference here and I’ve already ordered a new spring set.

So what do I think of this pistol so far? 100 rounds down range just the other day and it’s a really nice pistol for the money. It- doesn’t shoot quite as good as the CZ Shadow 2 Compact, but for a duty or EDC pistol, this one would fit into that role very nicely. I plan on spending much more time with this pistol and will probably throw it into my carry rotation at some point. If you’re on the fence like I was about picking up a CZ pistol, just do it! Head over to Brownells as they typically have a decent collection of CZ pistols.