#Support for Word 2013 documents

[laika290]

ever wonder why spotify/discord/teams desktop apps kind of suck?

i don't do a lot of long form posts but. I realized that so many people aren't aware that a lot of the enshittification of using computers in the past decade or so has a lot to do with embedded webapps becoming so frequently used instead of creating native programs. and boy do i have some thoughts about this.

for those who are not blessed/cursed with computers knowledge Basically most (graphical) programs used to be native programs (ever since we started widely using a graphical interface instead of just a text-based terminal). these are apps that feel like when you open up the settings on your computer, and one of the factors that make windows and mac programs look different (bc they use a different design language!) this was the standard for a long long time - your emails were served to you in a special email application like thunderbird or outlook, your documents were processed in something like microsoft word (again. On your own computer!). same goes for calendars, calculators, spreadsheets, and a whole bunch more - crucially, your computer didn't depend on the internet to do basic things, but being connected to the web was very much an appreciated luxury!

that leads us to the eventual rise of webapps that we are all so painfully familiar with today - gmail dot com/outlook, google docs, google/microsoft calendar, and so on. as html/css/js technology grew beyond just displaying text images and such, it became clear that it could be a lot more convenient to just run programs on some server somewhere, and serve the front end on a web interface for anyone to use. this is really very convenient!!!! it Also means a huge concentration of power (notice how suddenly google is one company providing you the SERVICE) - you're renting instead of owning. which means google is your landlord - the services you use every day are first and foremost means of hitting the year over year profit quota. its a pretty sweet deal to have a free email account in exchange for ads! email accounts used to be paid (simply because the provider had to store your emails somewhere. which takes up storage space which is physical hard drives), but now the standard as of hotmail/yahoo/gmail is to just provide a free service and shove ads in as much as you need to.

webapps can do a lot of things, but they didn't immediately replace software like skype or code editors or music players - software that requires more heavy system interaction or snappy audio/visual responses. in 2013, the electron framework came out - a way of packaging up a bundle of html/css/js into a neat little crossplatform application that could be downloaded and run like any other native application. there were significant upsides to this - web developers could suddenly use their webapp skills to build desktop applications that ran on any computer as long as it could support chrome*! the first applications to be built on electron were the late code editor atom (rest in peace), but soon a whole lot of companies took note! some notable contemporary applications that use electron, or a similar webapp-embedded-in-a-little-chrome as a base are:

microsoft teams

notion

vscode

discord

spotify

anyone! who has paid even a little bit of attention to their computer - especially when using older/budget computers - know just how much having chrome open can slow down your computer (firefox as well to a lesser extent. because its just built better <3)

whenever you have one of these programs open on your computer, it's running in a one-tab chrome browser. there is a whole extra chrome open just to run your discord. if you have discord, spotify, and notion open all at once, along with chrome itself, that's four chromes. needless to say, this uses a LOT of resources to deliver applications that are often much less polished and less integrated with the rest of the operating system. it also means that if you have no internet connection, sometimes the apps straight up do not work, since much of them rely heavily on being connected to their servers, where the heavy lifting is done.

taking this idea to the very furthest is the concept of chromebooks - dinky little laptops that were created to only run a web browser and webapps - simply a vessel to access the google dot com mothership. they have gotten better at running offline android/linux applications, but often the $200 chromebooks that are bought in bulk have almost no processing power of their own - why would you even need it? you have everything you could possibly need in the warm embrace of google!

all in all the average person in the modern age, using computers in the mainstream way, owns very little of their means of computing.

i started this post as a rant about the electron/webapp framework because i think that it sucks and it displaces proper programs. and now ive swiveled into getting pissed off at software services which is in honestly the core issue. and i think things can be better!!!!!!!!!!! but to think about better computing culture one has to imagine living outside of capitalism.

i'm not the one to try to explain permacomputing specifically because there's already wonderful literature ^ but if anything here interested you, read this!!!!!!!!!! there is a beautiful world where computers live for decades and do less but do it well. and you just own it. come frolic with me Okay ? :]

*when i say chrome i technically mean chromium. but functionally it's same thing

[owlchimedes]

Any study/homework tips? Especially when it come to writing a essay?

I can definitely share what works for me! I generally feel that there are 3 types of essay assignment, so I'll break this answer into parts. I'm assuming your essays are untimed and can be written in advance.

General Persuasive Essay:

Could be a unit assignment, midterm paper, or a chiller final. Generally 2-6 pages with moderate sourcing (3-5 new sources per page).

Personally, I like to assemble all my arguments first. Think of it like a pearl necklace -- imagine what you want your essay to prove ("X is Y") and then gather thoughts and evidence supporting that: quotes, articles, journals, statistics, etc. These are your pearls. Once you have enough of them to meet the page count -zip- all you need to do is thread them together with explanations and transitions.

For me, this looks like a very messy trash document filled with nonsensical shorthand and meticulous citations exactly how I'm supposed to use them in-text for the paper and for the final bib. If your teacher wants Chicago, or MLA, or APA, be sure to use that from the get go. The best parts are that 1) you know exactly where to go to double check something, 2) you don't need to look anything up again, 3) you've already written your bibliography.

For me, a doc might look like:

"72% of people can detect fake statistics" (Example, et al. 2025 404-405) ... "what, you egg?" (Macbeth 4.2.94)... [NEED MORE SUPPORT HERE] "cat's toe beans can absorb 5.44 lbs/cm of force" (Akename, F. in Purrrfect: A Science Tail 2013 p. 102) [TIE BACK TO 3RD PARAGRAPH]

You get the idea. Messy, but helpful. I like to copy-paste each 'pearl' into a clean document that holds the actual essay as I write it. You probably won't use every piece of evidence you have, but it's better to have a lot to choose from than to be staring at a blank page trying to write. Collecting evidence this way is particularly helpful if you know ahead of time that you need to do a paper, because then you can add tabs or highlight materials as you read them, cutting your workload in half. Generally, unless I'm totally unfamiliar with the field, I try to roughly know my final essay topic on the 2nd day of class and then start putting things in the messy doc when I find them. If it's not in the syllabus, ask your teachers about the final prompts. The worst they can say is no.

One of the great things about the process is that it skips the paralysis of a 'draft'. There is no draft here because there is no writing. Ideally, you should have 0 of your own words on the page -- only pulls and quotes. You'll paraphrase and rearrange things later. Don't copy paste directly into your essay; even with citations, that's plagiarism. Don't use first-person unless your teacher explicitly says it's okay.

Once you have all your content, structuring it may seem difficult.

I taught the TISAS model (also sometimes known as TISAC). This stands for topic sentence, introduction, supporting evidence, analysis, & summary (or conclusion). For clarity here, I'll use TISAC.

The TISAC is a simple paragraph structure model for beginner writers, but can also apply to longer and more complex writings. The standard 5-paragraph paper form taught in most middle- and high-schools is a simple nested form: TI TISAC TISAC TISAC C. The pattern of topic sentence and introduction, three evidence paragraphs, and a final summary is clear. More complex writings may add more evidence to the same point: TISAISAISAC. Thus, the amount of evidence and analysis can be endless, but must always be bracketed by clear topic sentences and conclusions. You can also vary the amount of information on any one topic; all paragraphs do not need to be the same length. More supporting evidence often leads to stronger persuasion or proof, though if there is enough of it, a reader may require mini-summaries to keep track of what it going on: TI TI(SAISAC TISAC)C TISAC C. It's clear that these elements can be combined endlessly to whatever length and complexity is required. Overall, TISAC is a straightforward set of building blocks that serve both beginner and advanced persuasive writers.

The format of the above is TISAISAISAC.

Introductions and topic sentences benefit greatly from the use of transition words, which flag to the reader (and to you) exactly what you're trying to do with the information you've presented. All evidence should be cited correctly. Obviously, TISAC is a little cramped on style and not perfectly suitable for heavily data-based work or more lyric, narrative, or artistic writing. Keep in mind though, 'evidence' can be a graph, an image glossary, an appendix, or many other formats.

Reflective Essay:

Unlike the persuasive essay, this type is entirely first-person, focused on YOU and your own thoughts, experiences, and takeaways. These tend to be the first and/or last assignment in a class, and are usually 1-5 pages with minimal to moderate sourcing (1-3 sources per page).

For course/project reviews, make sure to cover all the topics in ASSASSIN: Anticipations, Surprises, Strengths, Awkward points, Struggles, Show an example, "In conclusion", and Next time.

You can organize your thoughts chronologically or by theme. Longer papers work better as chronological.

Get a sense of what your teacher likes. If a prof. is proud of a certain thing, don't bash it. If they expressed disappointment in an outcome, agree with them. Don't come off as smarmy, but this is the easiest way to an A.

Do not use AI. In general, don't, but especially for reflective papers. AI is trained on models of the external world --it has no clue about your private internal world or what the class was like. It's guesses will be wrong and it only takes one or two incorrect details for your professor to realize you didn't write the paper. Even with careful proofreading, it's not worth the risk.

Research Essay:

These tend to be longer papers, possibly a course final or graduation checkpoint (qualification exams/thesis), meant to show how well you know the literature and materials as well as your ability to argue. Usually 5-100+ pages with moderate to max sourcing (4-10 sources per page). I use the same general process as for any persuasive essay, but make sure to use a reference management software instead of a single document. Mendeley, Zotero, RefWorks, and EndNote are the ones I've noticed most among my peers. Zotero was a godsend for my thesis.

Lab reports are a whole different beast, so I didn't discuss them here. Good luck!

[askstevella]

—Alternate Civil War Universe!

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC, Steve x Stella

Summary: In other words, if Tony WASN’T the only father in Civil War

Note: thanks ChatGPT for helping to organize my thoughts and putting your own words to tie it all together..

~~~~~~

1. The Early Connection Between Steve & Stella ✨

So, Steve and Stella meet earlier in this universe, and the relationship blossoms by 2013, leading to their marriage and first child, Bradley. This foundation of family is so important, because by the time we get to 2016, Steve isn’t just fighting for his friends or his mission—he’s fighting for his family. And he’s not willing to let anything get in the way of his love for them. The fact that he’s already had Bradley by this point adds another layer of gravitas to the situation—he’s not just Captain America, he’s a father now, and every choice has more weight.

Steve balancing fatherhood, marriage, and being an Avenger:

This feels so grounded. Steve has always been a man of duty, but now, he’s juggling that with the very human responsibilities of raising a child, providing stability for his wife, and being the partner she deserves.

You really get the sense that being Captain America isn’t just about saving the world; it's about being the protector of his own world—his family. And that makes his decisions, particularly in the heat of a global crisis, even more complex. He’s thinking about the future, his legacy as a father, and his desire to be a present father.

2. The Accords: A Ticking Time Bomb in the Midst of Family Life 📑

Now we’re in 2016. The Sokovia Accords come into play, and stress is at an all-time high. On top of this, Steve and Stella are expecting Kendall—so Stella is heavily pregnant and everything’s amplified. The tension here must have been ridiculous. Imagine Steve, who’s never exactly had the best control over his instincts or emotions, now dealing with this huge ethical dilemma. The Accords are literally about restricting what he does as a hero. But on top of that, the world is already fraying with Bucky's frame-up, and then there’s Stella, pregnant, in the middle of it all.

The fact that Stella and Bradley are brought into the situation to potentially sway Steve’s mind just adds another layer to the tactical maneuvering—everyone’s trying to use his family against him in a way. But they can’t because Steve’s love for Stella, Bradley, and soon Kendall isn’t something that can be manipulated.

This is where Stella’s influence on Steve really comes in—she helps him balance his emotions and decisions because she’s the one keeping him grounded. And Bradley, as Tony’s nephew, really helps as a kind of emotional buffer to Tony, who’s trying to push Steve into agreeing with the Accords. Tony just wants his own family and friends safe as well.

3. Stella’s Early Labor & The Turning Point⌚️

Now we’re getting to the emotional gut-punch of this alternate timeline: Stella going into early labor due to the stress. They’re all stressed out since the day Ross came, period! This shifts everything for Steve. He’s at a literal crossroads—does he go fight for Bucky, try to clear his name and run off with his friend (who he feels so deeply responsible for), or does he stay and be the father and husband he promised to be?

Steve's choice to stay and be mature is SUCH a pivotal moment. He has to let go of some of his stubbornness. The self-sacrifice here is real—he’s always been the soldier who throws himself into danger without thinking twice, but this time, he chooses family. That’s a major turning point, and it’s such an interesting growth for Steve Rogers as a man. He’s not just a soldier anymore, he’s someone who’s learning to value the people he loves more than his duty as Captain America.

4. The Hospital Scene: Strategy, Support, and Family Unity 🎯

And then… in the hospital, in the middle of Stella's labor, Steve is studying documents and strategizing with Tony?! This moment is just epic. Picture Steve pacing around in hospital scrubs, baby Kendall on the way, and still strategizing to clear Bucky’s name and find a peaceful solution. There’s a combination of grief, love, stress, and determination in this scene, and it’s all happening in the backdrop of something as sacred as childbirth.

The fact that Steve and Tony actually sit down and talk things through instead of continuing the mindless fighting is HUGE. It’s like a perfect blend of emotion and logic—they finally listen to each other because Bradley (and soon Kendall) are both pulling them toward common ground. Tony can’t keep fighting with Steve when he’s watching his nephew run around, loving Steve like a father. Tony is a father of two children himself, he should know! That bond pulls them both in the right direction.

Stella in labor, reading documents with Steve—it’s just like she’s actively helping him figure out a plan while going through the most physically demanding thing in her life—talk about a badass. She’s fighting for her family, fighting for her husband, and fighting for peace all while dealing with contractions. It just elevates her strength as a character to a whole new level.

5. The Outcome: A Changed Steve, Tony, and The Avengers 🧩

Because Steve stays and focuses on a new plan—because he doesn’t just go off running with Bucky like he might have in the original timeline—he and Tony actually start collaborating on how to handle the Accords in a way that doesn’t tear the Avengers apart. Maybe Tony’s able to see things from Steve’s perspective, and vice versa. The idea that they come together to think of an alternative solution—without all the anger and fighting—feels like the right course for them, especially with family in the center of everything.

In this universe, the Avengers don’t fracture the same way. Yes, they have their differences, but because Steve wasn’t too stubborn, and Tony wasn’t too hurt to listen, they found a middle ground. It’s a beautiful arc of both Steve and Tony learning to prioritize what matters—family, integrity, and the future of their children—over their egos and pride.

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s all folks! 😁

Let me know what you think 💭 and we’ll see

Tags: @ask-starrk @missstrawbs2001 1 @purpleprincessonfyre @wizzzardofoz z @thechoooooosenone @rickb-chaos @luna-d-marsh h h @marvelsfavoriteuncle @elzabeth-stark @sci-fi-lexcon @jackiequick @blueboirick @gcthvile @aidanxsophxoxo @meiramel l @trulysummersprivate @yetanotherwells @gaminggirlsstuff

[inamindfarfaraway]

you said in tags once that you were thinking abt a Charlie and the chocolate factory animated series where the other kids get redeemed?? tell me more??? pls??

Gladly! I’m so happy that you’re interested in this! Sorry this answer took so long. I probably should have posted about my ideas sooner, I’ve been sitting on them for a while. But I only started actually consolidating them into a document after getting this ask and then I got really perfectionistic about making it good and finishing each section before I shared it (I am writing a full Season One outline because God help me). I will share the Chocument in its own post soon! The word count is currently over 25k! So look forward to that!

For now, here’s the show’s premise, backstory and some character notes. As concise as I can be (not very). It’s mostly the story of Season One, the book retelling, that I’m still ironing out.

Many thanks to my mutual @cornfieldsrambles for being my supporter and sounding board on this from the start. You’re the best, Corn.

OKAY SO

Premise:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but it's a 2D-animated musical kids’ show called The Chocolate Factory. The foundational twists are that the characters are three-dimensional and the narrative doesn’t always take Wonka’s side. As a result, the tour goes differently. Charlie still wins and the four naughty kids still make mistakes and suffer for them, but this time we actually see them learn; they have redemption arcs and recover from the bad parenting that shaped them. The adults are held more accountable, rather than portraying the kids as innately problematic. Charlie also has more agency, flaws and an arc. By the end of Season One, the Golden Ticket winners all apprentice under Wonka together as a team and start to become friends. My aim is to keep (a charitable, idealistic interpretation of) the spirit of the book intact while applying realistic psychology, dynamic character writing and a deeper, more nuanced approach to morality. 

Major themes: childhood and maturity, parenting, morality, responsibility, creativity.

The original story is so mean-spirited and many retellings escalate that even further. Why not try retelling it kinder and fairer?

Backstory:

It all started with my reblog of this post on the 9th of May, 2023.

The arguments were compelling, and inspired me to imagine a rough AU idea in the tags where the five kids become a team under Violet’s lead.

Corn loved these tags so much that they drew fanart(!!!!! ☺️🥰). Completely unprompted.

Then, after I gave some character design ideas, beginning to see this AU as my own continuity from the start despite the original post being specifically about the 1971 movie:

Their enthusiasm and our delightful DM exchanges are why just another one of my countless tag rambles grew into a large, prolific chocolate plot bunny. Many aspects of those character designs are now outdated, but I still like art style.

I have since reconsidered my dismissal of Charlie - the 2013 musical handles him really well, which inspired me a lot - he will be the protagonist of the series. He's also finally black, as Dahl wanted but his editor forbade! He is my precious little boy. I love him. (Though the show often basically has an ensemble cast, hence the title just being The Chocolate Factory because all the main characters are of similar importance and develop relationships with the factory.)

He and Violet are both foils to Wonka, reflecting the two main sides of his personality, the altruistic artist and the shrewd businessman. Each of the kids has something in common with him, but they have the most. Recognising himself in the naughty kids, having his expectations about how the tour will play out defied, seeing the good in humanity again and getting a support system who force him to deal with issues leads Wonka to improve himself to an extent; he never stops being a amazing, unsettling mad genius with an unconventional moral code, but he gets less cynical and self-righteous about it. I don't want to get into loads of detail here, but I'm trying really hard to do his iconic, captivating personality justice while somewhat deconstructing and then reconstructing it. He also doesn't have a backstory. He just Is. But he can Be a better version of himself.

The Oompa Loompas are fairies! Like, traditional folkloric fey. Creepy They're mostly controlled by the time of the story, because they have a deal/debt arrangement with Wonka and are directing their energy to working for him instead of kidnapping or cursing people, but they will cause problems if they're offended. Wonka Gets them. That should tell you a bit about him. Oh, and their magic has nothing to do with why his products are like that. While they use it for their jobs, the actual chocolate making and most of the factory's technology is all him and he says it's just science.

I'll save most information about the kids for later, but I will say that Augustus Gloop is very different. He's always the simplest of them, even across all the adaptations. Just a cruel fatphobic joke. So I'm pivoting his whole character away from gluttony. He does have issues with food, but they're more symptomatic of deeper problems and related to fatphobia and toxic diet culture's effects on mental health, and they're not his defining trait. His real fatal flaw is envy, and he might be one of the most complex and tragic characters? I just. I have to handle him with care, but my vision for him feels worth existing.

Thanks again! I hope that this taste of my project was a sweet one, and that I reach a place where I can share the Chocument soon (oh my God, is this a real pitch bible? What am I doing?).

[henrysglock]

i finally found an actual good analyst of henry!! hi hyd?? we rlly need more henry fans!! anyway, i haven't looked but do you think patty is coming back season 5? if yes how do you think that will play in with the plot of s5 and henrys emotions/intentions??

Hi!! I’m doing alright, thanks :3

I agree, we do need more Henry fans. And like…I mean real Henry fans. Iykyk.

I actually answered an anon about this exact topic earlier:

Since you're a newbie (pun very much intended), here's a little crash-course re: my feelings on Patty.

Given the sheer amount of unreality in TFS—specifically unreality in the same way NINA has verifiable elements of unreality—I'm of the opinion that Patty never actually existed in the capacity we see her in in TFS. That's not to say she didn't exist in someway, just that she's not what TFS has portrayed her to be. I believe the Patty we see in TFS is more connected to the Mindflayer than most people realize, and I think the relationship dynamic she has with Henry is quite unhealthy.

Given that TFS's version of Patty may not be real, I think any feelings Henry may have about her come ST5 will be extremely complicated—think along the lines of the movies Her (2013) and Ex Machina (2014). I think his feelings about Patty would be as complicated as El's feelings about NINA!Henry, given that there are vast amounts of NINA!Henry interactions that can't possibly have existed in reality. Especially so with Patty's connections to the Mindflayer...it'll be a touchy subject, that's for sure!

I've speculated that Henry is trapped in a Camazotz-style idyllic world per the leaks of Jamie that came out over the summer. If Patty is part of that inner world—especially since in TFS she keeps trying to draw Henry back to Hawkins and back to the source of his flaying in Nevada using emotional bids based on the connection that's been forged from both ends (i.e. the Mindflayer playing both angel and devil to try and get Henry to cooperate)—it may be hard to extract Henry from it and back to reality.

For as much as I don't believe Henry is in love with Patty, I don't disagree that he's deeply attached to her. In fact, his attachment to Patty is the Mindflayer biggest weapon against him, and that's something I dig into in more depth in my stupidly long category 9 autism event 50k word master analysis/theory on TFS.

I'm gonna link that masterdoc below. It contains links to a bunch of supporting posts for ease of referencing:

I've linked Chapter 4 specifically, wherein I begin to delve into TFS as a whole. (The first 3 chapters are concerned specifically with Brenner and the general unreality in Henry's story that lays a basis for TFS's unreality; chapter 4 expands out and begins to talk more about Henry in relation to the non-Brenner characters.) I encourage you to click around in it!

One thing, though: If you don't like what I'm saying, please just exit the document and refrain from sending me nastygrams. That's not to say that I think you're that type of person, but I just have to put the request out given recent events.

Stranger Things as a whole is one of my special interests, so if you have questions: Please, please, please!!!! reach out and ask them. I love discussing TFS, Henry, Patty, Brenner, and the Mindflayer, and I'll answer (or at least speculate on) just about any questions about them.

I promise I won't bite if you don't bite me first :3

Welcome to henryblr, and happy hunting!

[adhdnursegoat]

Episode 2

Word Count: 9.2k

Content Warning: none right now

Pairing: Edward Nashton X OC Romy Winslow

Setting: Pre-Arkham Origins; 2013

─── [ sequence: loading ] ───

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

Something isn’t right.

Edward narrowed his eyes at the screen, the onyx and emerald glow casting hard shadows across his face, deepening the lines of ever-present ire. The dataset sprawled before him, tangled, disorganized, and inefficient—a perfect mirror of the Gotham City Police Department itself. 

For years, the GCPD’s reputation for sloppy documentation had been almost impressive in its own way, as if this endless mess were some grand tradition they upheld out of sheer spite for change. Crime logs scrawled hastily, half-formed incident reports lost in the shuffle of physical files, a scattering of disjointed data without a semblance of order or care. And now, all of it had fallen to him.

The so-called “cybercrime division” was practically a joke before he arrived, a name slapped on an old, cluttered storage room. Its single, flickering fluorescent light buzzed overhead like a dying insect; its lone, wheezing computer, so ancient it sounded like it was about to take off the first time he powered it on. It had taken him months to convince the precinct to let him install even basic equipment, months of tolerating the grinding fan and a monitor that crackled whenever he turned it on. He had even bought and collected his own equipment to help do their job for them.

But now, he had slowly, painstakingly transformed the place, pulling it from the brink of irrelevance.

He was the GCPD’s cybercrime division. And, if he were honest, he’d rather it be this way.

The first task had been nothing short of brutal, a punishment only someone as patient—or as obsessively thorough—as him could withstand. He had spent weeks, months even, combing through stacks of paper files that had yellowed with age, pulling arrest records, crime logs, and incident reports from years past, each entry a piece of Gotham’s history filed with indifference and half-hearted effort.

But that was just the beginning.

Once the data had been extracted and uploaded into a digital system, Edward moved to the next step: cleaning it. He combed through each entry, scrubbing it clean of mistakes, standardizing formats, deleting duplicates, and filling in the blanks left by years of neglect. It was an endless process, every correction a small battle against the chaos that had festered there long before his arrival. The work had been like sculpting—he chipped away at it, day by day, until the rough edges began to take shape.

With the groundwork set, he had turned his attention to the architecture itself. The system he was building would become Gotham’s digital skeleton, a structure capable of supporting and, eventually, predicting the city’s crimes. He designed SQL databases from the ground up, creating logical tables for every critical piece of data: incident types, time of day, locations, affiliations, every detail that could build a comprehensive picture of Gotham’s criminal underworld. Each table was linked, connected, and cross-referenced in ways that only he fully understood.

He wrote queries that could pull up crime histories, correlate locations, and flag patterns—all in the blink of an eye. Every inch of it had been optimized, refined, and customized, honed to be faster, sharper, and more intuitive than anything the department had ever seen. It was a framework only he knew how to navigate, the kind of code that would baffle even the most tech-savvy officer.

But this was Gotham.

Data alone wasn’t enough; the system needed security—a wall strong enough to withstand the city’s relentless forces. He had spent countless nights implementing layer upon layer of protection, configuring firewalls, building encryption protocols so complex that even he would struggle to undo them. Each file, each report, each encrypted string had become a piece of his fortress. He was transforming this forgotten room into a stronghold, its walls fortified against any threat that dared to infiltrate. Only he held the keys, and only he knew which locks he’d installed.

Then the real work had begun.

Once he had established a patent data flow in the system, he had started layering in more complex tools—predictive algorithms and crime prediction models that mapped Gotham’s streets like veins, arteries pulsing with the city’s crime. He had used regression analysis to find trends, drawing connections between crimes that no one else had even considered. He mapped crime incidents to temporal and spatial data, forming a pattern that gave him a lens into Gotham’s soul. 

But the GCPD couldn’t understand raw numbers—not the way he did. They needed visuals, pretty pictures, something digestible for their mushy minds. So he had built dashboards and reports, simple yet elegant, that displayed his work in colorful heat maps, time-series analyses, and relational charts. Even Gotham’s least tech-savvy officers could click through the data now, though they hardly knew what they were looking at. But Edward did. He could track hotspots, watch the swell of crime ebbing and flowing unlike anyone else.

Each day, as the system grew, he had refined it further. He ran diagnostics, tweaked scripts, and checked logs to ensure there were no breaches, no unexpected bugs. Every piece of data was backed up, replicated on secure servers, ready to be restored at a moment’s notice if Gotham’s chaos took a swipe at his work. And if it did, he would be prepared. Because this was more than a job; this was his creation, his legacy.

With every keystroke, every security protocol, every predictive model, he built a machine that made Gotham’s chaos readable, its patterns decipherable, and its secrets… well, not so secret.

Until a few days ago, his work had seemed routine—a necessary but unglamorous role. But then something unusual had caught his attention: a pattern in the officer response logs.

Every month, he reviewed the logs. It was a habit, part of his meticulous nature. Until recently, there had been nothing unexpected. But now, a repeated anomaly had begun to emerge. Certain neighborhoods showed response times that were curiously high, particularly in cases involving specific types of violent crimes—kidnappings, assaults, even homicides. In other areas, responses to similar crimes were fast, efficient, predictable. Yet, in these particular zones, it was as if time slowed.

He had noticed response times of fifteen, even twenty minutes, where they would typically average around five.

It was subtle, barely noticeable at first. Most people would have brushed it off as a glitch or user error. But Edward Nashton was not most people—and “user error” was not in his personal vocabulary.

“What if…” he muttered, pulling up a fresh SQL query and setting filters for crimes tagged as high-priority in those specific neighborhoods. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he added parameters, refining the search.

SELECT Neighborhood, AVG(Response_Time) AS Avg_Response 

FROM Incident_Reports 

WHERE Crime_Type = 'High-Priority' 

GROUP BY Neighborhood;

The query ran, and Edward leaned forward, his glasses catching the glow of the screen as rows of data populated in rapid succession. A comparison of average response times across all The data stared back at him, validating his suspicions. The averages for these neighborhoods were well outside the norm. Frowning, he created a quick bar chart to visualize the data, and there it was—a spike in response times, glaringly obvious, almost like a neon sign begging for someone to notice.

What’s more, the pattern seemed to correlate with the involvement of certain officers. He drilled down further, narrowing the logs to responses where these outlier times were recorded, and sure enough, the same handful of officers’ IDs kept appearing. At least three officers, in particular, showed up again and again, logged as the responding parties in incidents with suspiciously delayed responses:

Edison, James

Hartley, Jack

Murphy, Curtis

Edward leaned back, his lips twitching to the side in a faint sneer. Gotham’s filth didn’t just rest on its streets—it was deeply embedded within the very department meant to protect it. This pattern wasn’t accidental. The slow responses weren’t random errors; they were deliberate, selectively applied.

For the first time in months, Edward felt the rush of excitement he’d been craving since joining the GCPD. This wasn’t just data compilation or trend analysis anymore. He had uncovered something substantial, something buried, waiting to be unearthed. It wasn’t just about numbers; this was a deeper, darker game involving the very people entrusted with Gotham’s safety.

This wasn’t merely an inconsistency. It was corruption, plain and simple, hiding in the numbers. And if there was one thing Edward Nashton excelled at, it was peeling back layers to expose the truth lurking beneath.

The screen flickered faintly, his cursor hovering over rows of data as his mind picked apart the patterns, noticing every inconsistency, every shred of deception. This wasn’t an error or some accidental miscalculation. No, what he saw here was intentional—something deliberate and dark slipping under the radar, a clear thread of corruption woven into the fabric of Gotham’s police force.

If anyone could expose it, could tug at the threads until it unraveled into undeniable truth, it was him. The thought sent a thrill down his spine, a familiar surge of satisfaction that came with knowing he was on the verge of something significant.

Bing!

The sharp notification broke his concentration, dragging his attention to the corner of his monitor where an email preview appeared. Edward’s expression shifted, his lips pressing tight as he read the sender’s name: Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. A scowl formed before he could stop it, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. 

“come 2 my office”

The words glared at him. No punctuation, no capitalization—shorthand, as if Loeb couldn’t be bothered with even a semblance of respect. The sheer laziness grated on Edward, adding another layer to his already simmering disdain. Commissioner Loeb might as well have stomped down to his desk and demanded his presence with the same lack of decorum, and Edward doubted he would have been as irked. His lip curled, the faintest twitch of irritation betraying his thoughts.

Edward didn’t have friends here—never had. He didn’t linger by the watercooler, didn’t care for small talk, and had no interest in the routine camaraderie his coworkers indulged in. Loeb, however, wasn’t just a minor irritant like the rest. No, Loeb sat proudly at the top of a list of people Edward preferred to avoid—a list with its own special level of contempt reserved just for him. Loeb’s greed, his smug superiority, the way he flaunted his power as though it were untouchable—it all disgusted Edward. But he wasn’t foolish enough to ignore him.

He drew in a slow breath, pushing back the annoyance as he removed his glasses, his thumb and forefinger pressing firmly against the bridge of his nose. The tightness settling behind his eyes was familiar, a strain born from hours spent at the monitor. He rubbed at it, hoping to ease the creeping fatigue. Forcing himself to release a sigh, he closed his eyes briefly, letting the weight of the task at hand wash over him, clearing his thoughts.

Edward’s eyes flicked back to the fresh data on his screen, teeming with unspoken implications. He could go now, take this to Loeb, drop the details in his lap, and watch the Commissioner squirm. But… no. Not yet. If there was anything he’d learned, it was that timing was everything, and he wanted this case to be “pretty” and clean—undeniable.

With a quiet sigh, he finally pushed back from the desk, his legs and back groaning in protest. The human body wasn’t built for this kind of work, not the endless hours hunched over monitors and squinting at screens. He stretched, lifting his arms until he felt the crack in his shoulders, then rolled his neck, savoring the sharp pop that released some of the tension.

After a final look around his cramped, shadow-filled corner of the storage room, he made his way to the door. The space was dark and dank, with stacks of old case files and barely-functioning equipment shoved into every corner. He’d been asking for more space since the day he arrived, but as long as he remained the sole member of the “cybercrime division,” there was no point—not according to the people holding the budget. He could already imagine their dismissive words, the laughter as they shrugged him off. Why upgrade the closet for one man?

When he opened the door, a different kind of darkness hit him. GCPD’s main floor was lit by the harsh hue of fluorescent lights, casting an unnatural pallor over everything. The grime felt omnipresent, tinging every surface with a layer of wear that no amount of scrubbing could erase. The entire precinct pulsed like a spastic nerve, alive with chaotic energy.

He stepped out, crossing to the bustling bullpen. The layout was predictable—three levels stacked atop one another like a fortress of bureaucracy. A sublevel housed the detained. The main level, where he stood now, held the bullpen at its center, filled with two rows of desks paired off in clusters. Corridors stretched out on the east and west sides of the building, leading to file and evidence rooms, interrogation suites, and break areas.

Officers strolled by with coffee in hand, their conversations blending into the background noise. Detectives leaned against desks, swapping stories and laughing loud enough to be heard across the room. Secretaries rushed from one end of the bullpen to the other, arms stacked with paperwork or balancing phones against their shoulders. Above, the second and third levels housed offices for secretaries and various divisions, their windows glowing faintly in the overhead light.

And above it all, perched on the second-level landing like a throne, was the Commissioner’s office. It loomed over the precinct, a constant reminder of who held power there.

Edward shoved his hands into his pockets, his stride unfaltering, gaze fixed straight ahead. As he wove through the bustling bullpen, the familiar hum of GCPD’s endless chatter faded into a low buzz, a background noise he had long since learned to ignore. He didn’t belong here—not with these people, not with their idle gossip and endless banter. He was here to work, nothing more. And most of the time, they respected that, leaving him alone, unnoticed in the corners of the precinct.

“Dracula has risen!”

Most of the time.

Edward gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening as he caught the grating laughter ringing from behind him. He didn’t break stride, didn’t turn—just kept moving, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, shoulders hunched slightly as if to shield himself from the attention. Just keep moving. He had mastered the art of appearing unbothered, of letting these low-effort taunts roll off him. But Hartley’s voice, dripping with smug familiarity, broke through, just loud enough to draw the attention of a few nearby officers who exchanged knowing looks.

“Naaaashton!” the voice called, drawing out the syllables with exaggerated cheer, as if addressing an old friend. Edward could practically feel the man’s self-satisfied smirk boring into the back of his head. “I’m always surprised to see you out in the sun. More surprised when you don’t burn.”

It was the kind of comment he had grown used to, the small digs Hartley loved to throw his way whenever he passed by. Hartley, with his false bravado and ignorance parading as wit, never missed a chance to turn Edward into the precinct’s punchline.

Officer Jack Hartley—the poster boy of stereotypical “All-American” masculinity, with cobalt eyes and sandy hair, tall and built like he was carved out of an idealized gym catalog, complete with a bulky torso that fanned out into broad shoulders and arms that tapered down in a ‘V’ like an oversized Dorito. A man who would be lost without his badge to wave around and his flexed biceps, displaying that questionable tribal tattoo spiraling down one arm.

Edward kept moving, eyes trained straight ahead, but he allowed himself a sidelong glance, just enough to see Hartley’s smirk and the dumb faces around him. He could feel the heat of their attention, their eyes eagerly watching for his reaction. This time, he didn’t stay silent.

“Hartley,” he replied, his voice sharp and controlled. “I’m always surprised to see you haven’t been fired for your incompetence.”

There was a beat of silence. Edward didn’t stop to savor it, but he caught the reaction—the flicker of embarrassment in Hartley’s expression, the slight widening of his eyes before the scowl settled in. A few snickers rippled through the nearby officers, a sound that only deepened Hartley’s frown. His cheeks flushed slightly, the kind of reaction that Hartley, a man who considered himself untouchable, never expected to feel.

“Oh, you’re a real comedian, aren’t you, Nashton?” Hartley muttered, his voice barely audible now, laced with a gruff edge, the forced comeback of someone unprepared for a response.

Edward didn’t dignify it with another verbal reply. But, to answer the question— no. He wasn’t a comedian. He hated jokes. He only spoke truth. The words, the tiny prick of retaliation, had already done their work, striking just the right note to unsettle Hartley without so much as breaking his stride. He allowed himself to savor it for only a second, a brief and private victory that curled ever so slightly at the corner of his mouth. He knew it was minor, a passing exchange that no one would remember by the end of the day—but that small reminder, that assertion of his own superiority, was more than enough. For Edward, it wasn’t about showing off; it was about reminding himself, and everyone around him, that he was sharper, quicker, and not someone who could be so easily dismissed.

As he steadied his pace toward Loeb’s office, his thoughts drifted to the people around him, each one of them blending into the other like dumb lumps of flesh. Idiots—all of them. The entire precinct was an echo chamber of mediocrity, swollen with officers who took pride in their badges but lacked even a shred of real intellect. They sat at their desks, shuffling papers, swapping jokes, indulging in the hollow camaraderie of shared ignorance. They had no ambition, no hunger for knowledge, no desire to see past the routines they repeated day after day. They were just bodies filling space, a backdrop against which his mind and his skills blazed brighter by contrast.

Each step up the stairs only solidified his distaste. Every click of his shoes against the metal felt like a declaration, a rhythm that reminded him he was alone in a sea of self-satisfied drones. None of them measured up. None of them could measure up. Hartley’s lazy jeers, the way he flexed as if it made him someone important, the way he reveled in the pointless antics of the bullpen—these were the people tasked with keeping Gotham safe. It would have been laughable if it weren’t so tragic.

His eyes stayed fixed ahead, not sparing a single glance back at the bullpen. He had no reason to look, no interest in indulging the officers’ empty stares or their shared smirks. They were beneath him, irrelevant to his purpose, and the thought only strengthened his resolve as he approached Loeb’s office.

When he reached the landing, Edward straightened, pulling himself up to his full height, his fingers brushing over the door handle. He spared no glances to the bullpen below as he entered the Commissioner’s office and shut the door behind him with a soft click. 

The room was a display of power—ornate but garish, every detail chosen for intimidation rather than taste. Heavy mahogany furniture dominated the space, the Commissioner’s oversized desk an imposing centerpiece cluttered with papers and a gleaming nameplate. The walls were lined with plaques and framed commendations, their polished surfaces reflecting the faint light from a brass floor lamp in the corner. A thick, dark green carpet muffled Edward’s steps as he moved further inside, the smell of old leather and cigar smoke lingering in the air like a stain. Behind Loeb, floor-to-ceiling windows framed the grimy skyline of Gotham, their blinds half-drawn, letting in just enough gray light to make the space feel oppressive rather than bright. The office was a monument to its occupant’s ego—a fortress designed to remind anyone who entered exactly who held the power here.

The old man, standing at the windows, barely glanced over his shoulder to see Edward enter. “Sit.”

Edward frowned but did as he was told. Then he waited. And waited. And waited some more. Loeb’s stance, hands clasped firmly behind his back, suggested authority—or, more precisely, a performance of it. Edward couldn’t tell if the Commissioner was actually observing anything down on the street or merely pretending to do so, basking in his own bloated sense of importance. The stance, the imperious tone, the refusal to even acknowledge him face-to-face—every detail screamed a carefully curated aura of authority. Loeb stood as if by habit, a fossil of bureaucratic pomposity, clinging to a legacy of hollow power.

The man himself was almost a caricature, the embodiment of the department’s rot. His body strained against his uniform, seams puckered and pulled tight around his frame. The cap on his head dug visibly into his pallid skin, leaving an indentation along his brow, a mark of fluid retention only emphasized by the puffiness of his jowls. Loeb was thick-necked, with sagging skin that folded around his face in a way that resembled a bulldog’s. The clubbed fingers clasped at his back gave away years of heart strain, his slow circulation, and unchecked lifestyle, further evident in the labored rise and fall of his shoulders. He was an uncomfortable-looking man, like a worn-out relic forced into a role it no longer fit.

Edward glanced at his watch.

At last, the coot deigned to speak.

“Nashton,” the Commissioner quipped, “you’ll be getting a student.” His tone brooked no argument.

Gillian Loeb finally turned from the window, taking heavy, unhurried steps toward the desk, his movements sluggish, a body too tired to fully lift its feet from the floor. The scuffing of his shoes against the linoleum was maddeningly loud in the otherwise silent office, each step punctuated by his labored breath—a rasping sound that filled the room, making his presence that much harder to ignore. He reached his desk, his eyes narrowing just enough to convey irritation, perhaps at the exertion of moving across the room. With a relieved huff, he lowered himself into the worn red leather chair behind his desk, and it groaned under his weight, the sound of old leather and strained springs filling the air.

Edward resented being voluntold for anything, especially by a man who likely couldn’t navigate a basic search engine. But what choice did he have? Loeb’s words, dripping with condescension, only served to deepen Edward’s frown. He shifted in the stiff wooden chair opposite the Commissioner’s desk. He crossed his arms, fingers digging into his elbows as he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. The impatience was barely masked—an edge to his expression that spoke volumes to anyone perceptive enough to notice. Loeb, of course, was not.

Then, the Commissioner began his speech, one that had likely been rehearsed, perhaps at his morning mirror. His voice rolled through the room, slow and full, each word dragging as he introduced the “exciting new work-study program.” Edward’s eyes flickered, resisting the urge to visibly wince as Loeb stressed the importance of “investing in someone’s future with the GCPD.” It was predictable, even painfully so, and Edward could practically see through Loeb’s words to the core of it: this so-called initiative was just a thinly veiled scheme, some tax break or budget cut disguised as a benefit to the community.

He was not naïve. He didn’t need the specifics to understand how the department operated. The GCPD’s funding, already stretched thin, had likely prompted this decision. The idea of a “program” that would cost them next to nothing while earning them goodwill with Gotham’s public was probably irresistible to the old bureaucrat. With students desperate for experience, the department could add another set of hands—hands they wouldn’t even have to pay. To Loeb, it was a flawless plan.

Edward’s leg bounced lightly as Loeb continued, the man oblivious to his impatience. Loeb droned on about the value of “real-world experience,” his words as empty as the promises they contained. Edward had read enough department memos and budget drafts to know the truth. This wasn’t about nurturing young talent or providing mentorship. It was about creating a self-serving “opportunity” that the GCPD could tout in press releases.

Loeb, meanwhile, was fully immersed in his monologue, clasping his hands as he expounded upon the program’s “benefits.” There was a look of smug satisfaction on his face, as if he were certain Edward should be grateful for the “honor” of mentoring this student. Edward could feel his jaw clenching, the tension in his arms building as he listened to the Commissioner pontificate about the duty of guiding someone who “could be the future of Gotham’s finest.”

Finally, Loeb paused, and Edward seized the chance to speak., his voice level, measured. “And this ‘student’ is supposed to assist me?”

“Yes, precisely.”

“I highly doubt they would be of any assistance, Commissioner.” Edward had a difficult time barring the condescension in his voice.

“You should be thankful.” Loeb narrowed his beady brown eyes at him. “Think of it as… additional help. Someone who can shoulder some of the workload.”

The Commissioner said it as if he were doing him a favor. Pfft. Edward knew better. He wasn’t being given a protégé; he was being saddled with an amateur who would inevitably fumble through tasks, leaving him to clean up the mess. More work—that’s what this was. The idea of a student trying to “help” in his field felt like a bad joke. He had spent a year refining his division—every system, every dataset was his creation. The thought of letting some kid handle even a fraction of it filled him with a quiet dread, like watching someone try to operate a complex machine without understanding a single gear.

Loeb shifted in his chair, taking Edward’s silence as agreement. “The youth these days, Nashton. They’re the future, and we have a duty to mold them. The department sees this as an investment. Someone to eventually join your endeavors full time.”

Edward’s jaw tightened. Investment? He couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the absurdity. Loeb had no real idea what Edward did, no real grasp of the complexity his work required. In Loeb’s mind, a student could simply step in and soak up skills like a sponge. But Edward knew better. To him, this wasn’t an investment; it was a hindrance, a risk of inefficiency, and the last thing he needed.

But with Loeb’s expectant gaze bearing down on him, he understood the futility of voicing his concerns. The decision had been made, probably long before he was even called into this office. He wasn’t being given a choice—he was being told to fall in line.

“We’ve got some candidates lined up. You narrow it down, and we’ll finalize it.”

Loeb pushed a stack of russet-colored folders toward him, and Edward suppressed a sigh as he unfurled his arms, grabbed the stack, and flipped open the first file. The pages were full of redacted lines—names, ages, and even genders all neatly blacked out. He rolled his eyes. There were pages of transcripts, an accompanying essay (which he was not going to read), academic achievements, extracurriculars, and sanitized letters of recommendation, none of which told him anything interesting.

Edward felt the familiar dull boredom creep in.

He eyed the first profile, scanning each line with a growing sense of irritation. Harvard, it read in bold letters, as if the word alone signified worth. Straight As, a laundry list of commendations from professors who probably barely knew this student beyond the name printed on their assignments. It was the kind of profile built from legacy admissions, expensive prep schools, and connections more valuable than skill. Every accolade, every honor felt manufactured, the result of privilege rather than grit or true intelligence. This was the sort of person whose future had been paid for, gift-wrapped, and delivered to them on a silver platter. A pawn that had been moved through life’s chessboard with no actual understanding of the game.

Edward flipped to the next file, another profile reeking of the same glossy, untarnished perfection: a prestigious background, impeccable grades, extracurriculars that spoke more to showmanship than substance. His lip curled, an almost imperceptible twist of disdain. What use was someone like this to him? He didn’t need another pre-packaged prodigy, the type who had been endlessly praised but never challenged, the kind who breezed through academia without ever truly understanding what it meant to think, to analyze, to push limits. He needed someone who had actually had to work for something, who had seen struggle, who understood what it meant to build something from scratch—someone with the kind of determination that couldn’t be bought.

These files in front of him represented everything he despised about the world: the hollow merit of titles, the pretense of excellence. It was the kind of privilege that relied on appearances rather than substance, and it left a sour taste in his mouth. He flipped through each one with growing impatience, each page a carbon copy of the last, all polished to an empty sheen that hid any real substance.

His gaze sharpened as he closed another file. What he wanted, if he was to have an assistant, was someone with actual mettle. Someone with grit, someone who hadn’t had everything handed to them. The kind of candidate who could be taught something beyond the regurgitated lessons of privilege. Edward’s jaw tightened as he tossed the files back onto the desk before grabbing another file near the bottom of the stack.

When he opened this one, he cocked a brow. Something caught his eye.

There was an entry—a two-month juvenile record attached to a high school transcript from their junior year. Edward’s interest piqued immediately. He leaned back in the chair, letting the file rest in his fingers as he read the details. The record noted a hacking incident: unauthorized access to school servers to alter grades. He almost chuckled, finding this much more intriguing than the immaculate résumés of Ivy League candidates.

The report stated they had felt their grades were given unfairly and decided to take matters into their own hands. It was an act of rebellion, yes, but also one of precision and calculation. They hadn’t sabotaged the system—they had simply revised their grades without damaging any other records or erasing traces of the hack. There was a comment from a principal decrying the act as undermining the school’s “integrity” and a record of a lengthy expulsion hearing. Yet, despite this incident, there were a handful of letters from teachers who seemed reluctant to give up on them.

He read further, finding notes on their turnaround at their senior year and at Gotham City Community College. After high school, it seemed no other institution had wanted to take a chance on them, except for this one. But instead of coasting through, they had thrived—joining the debate team, earning honors, and eventually transferring to Gotham University. Now they were a college senior majoring in computer science with a minor in criminal justice.

As he skimmed through the final notes, Edward smirked. This work-study tied directly into their capstone project—a predictive AI programmed to determine when and where crimes were more likely to occur. It was a smart move, one that showed ambition and resilience. They were not another cookie-cutter success story from an Ivy League—they were someone who had clawed their way out of a mess, took risks, and kept climbing. Whoever they were, they were far more intriguing than the other candidates. He didn’t need some entitled, bougie fraternity brat who would think they were smarter than him.

He closed the file with a soft pat, already deciding. He flicked it onto the desk with an air of indifference and slid to a stop in front of Loeb. “This one,” he said flatly.

The Commissioner picked up the folder, his thick fingers fumbling with the dry edges as he peeled it open. His brow furrowed deeper as he read, and he shot Edward a wary look over the papers. “This one? The one with the juvie record? Are you sure?”

Edward’s expression remained cool, detached. “It’s either this one or none at all,” he replied without missing a beat.

Loeb stared at him for a moment, rubbing his jaw, clearly weighing his options. After a long pause, he sighed and tossed the file back on the desk with a resigned grunt. “Fine,” he muttered. “They’ll be here after the holidays.”

─── [ sequence: loading ] ───

In under a month’s time, Edward Nashton found himself caught off guard.

It was not often he was caught off guard, and he did not like it.

He was hunched over his workstation, eyes narrowed as he sifted through lines of encrypted data. It was after lunch, during which he had remained in his space, still working, forgoing eating as he normally did. His office, if one could call it that, was a windowless space in a back corner of the GCPD headquarters, dimly lit and reeking of stale coffee and burnt-out ambition. It was crammed with outdated computers and stacks of scattered papers, the sort of place where Edward thrived in isolation. He was so absorbed in his task that when the door opened and a knock sounded on the doorframe, he muttered, “Yes?” without looking up, already bracing himself for another mundane IT request—misguided souls thinking that the "computer guy" could fix the printer.

But then an unfamiliar voice responded.

“Excuse me? Are you Mr. Edward Nashton?”

It was not the tone he expected—there was no hint of impatience or condescension, which he had grown accustomed to when people sought him out. The voice was feminine, with an even pitch, its calm, smokey cadence infiltrating the monotony of his work. It was an unobtrusive sound, yet so unusual to his ears that he was compelled to see who it belonged to. He looked up. He froze.

A girl was standing at the doorway, her fingers resting lightly on the doorframe as if unsure whether to fully step inside. He had not even heard the door open.

Edward frowned.

His first impression of her was one of dissonance—a sharp, almost unsettling contrast between her and the office she had just entered. The grimy, worn-down precinct felt even darker with her in it, as if the dingy fluorescent lights themselves were suddenly more aware of their inadequacy.

She was beautiful—irritatingly so. Her long, sleek dark hair fell like silk curtains, parted perfectly down the middle, framing her face with an effortless elegance that didn’t belong anywhere near the GCPD. Her eyes, lined meticulously with dark, precise wings, were fixed on him with a hint of amusement. There was a different energy to her, one that felt deliberate, almost as though she knew exactly how out of place she looked and was inviting him to react. He barely realized how long he held her gaze.

With a faint scowl, he forced himself to look away, taking in the rest of her with a detached, analytical eye. Her lavender blazer dress caught what little light there was, gold buttons glinting as they drew a subtle line down her figure. The hem stopped just short of professional modesty, skirting the edge of propriety with a cut that was as tailored as it was daring. She had a designer bag slung over her shoulder, a fuzzy purple notebook and a gray-and-pink plaid winter coat clutched in the same hand, and she was only one chihuahua short of being GCPD’s own Elle Woods.

This office hadn’t seen anything like her, and by the looks of it, she was fully aware of that fact. For a moment, he wondered if she was mocking the precinct in her own way, challenging the drab confines of the facility with something so polished, so perfectly styled. 

His thoughts were cut short by the sound of her clearing her throat, and his eyes snapped back to hers. He realized with sudden embarrassment that she had caught him staring. Worse, she was smirking—her lips shiny and curved in an almost mocking acknowledgment of his mistake.

“Yes,” he said stiffly, clearing his own throat in a failed attempt to reestablish control. “And who might you be?”

“I’m your student, Romy. Romy Winslow.”  Her half-lidded eyes seemed to smolder in the low lighting.

“Student?” Edward repeated, the word coming out more as a question than he intended.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Like, they told you, right?”

“Of course,” Edward grumbled, scrambling to regain some semblance of authority. He wasn’t used to feeling unprepared, especially not in his own domain.

He did not like when Romy pursed her shiny lips and narrowed her eyes. “You forgot, didn’t you?” she pressed, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Edward’s back straightened, jaw tightening. “You will soon find that I forget nothing, girl,” he quipped. “I’m merely intrigued by your—” he gestured vaguely at her—“appearance. Are you sure your silly little head didn’t get confused? Got lost on your way to a sorority luncheon?”

Romy blinked. She checked her smartwatch, then looked back at him and tilted her head, the innocent confusion in her eyes seeming a little too thoughtful to be genuine. “No… The Greek Meet isn’t until Saturday.”

He frowned.

Oh, she was definitely fucking with him.

Soon, her pink lips pursed in a slight pout, and she glanced down at herself. “Is it too much?”

As she turned to the side, Romy casually modeled her silhouette, the lavender fabric clinging to her form in a way that was both tasteful and tantalizing. The movement drew Edward’s attention, his gaze instinctively tracing her figure. He couldn’t help but follow the curve of her form, from her shoulders that tapered elegantly down to the delicate arch of her spine, and finally to her shapely backside, perfectly showcased by the tailored fit of the dress. He resented that his gaze followed the lines of her legs, made even longer by the gray knee-high, heeled boots she had chosen.  Each line was accentuated with precision.

She caught his eye again, her expression playful yet somehow earnest. “I thought it was just the right amount of business meets pleasure.”

Edward cleared his throat. “Not quite what I was talking about,” he muttered, his gaze darting away in an attempt to collect his thoughts.

“What did you mean then?” Romy asked as she stepped further into the room. She glanced around, her nose wrinkling slightly at the sight of the meticulously stacked boxes of files, outdated monitors, and blinking fluorescent lights. “This is the GCPD Cybercrime Division?” she asked in an offhand manner. “This looks very—” she wriggled her fingers at the general space “—humble.” Though she smiled, it was clear she was struggling to be polite.

“I mean that I did not expect someone so— soft.” He glanced around the area, grimacing at the— as she called it—‘humble’ surroundings. “It is what it is.”

“You mean you didn’t expect a girl?”

“Yes,” he admitted, refusing to dance around it.

“Well,” she said with a shrug, “guess we both had false expectations of the situation, Mr. Nashton.”

Edward felt the frustration building, both at himself and at Romy’s unsettling confidence. “And what exactly did you expect?” he retorted, his eyebrow cocking. “Quantico?”

She smirked, but the movement was subtle, a brief twitch at the corner of her lips. “No.” Her fingers traced over the edge of a dusty computer monitor, her almond-shaped nails—a soft mint green—making the action seem delicate. “But, like,  maybe I expected something a little more contemporary than this, I suppose.”

He bristled at the unintentional insult to his sanctuary of cobbled-together tech that he had spent the better part of a year collecting to upgrade this dump. He found himself oddly off-balance, grappling with the realization that he had expected someone completely different. Someone less refined, more—unpolished. But here she was, her demeanor perfectly maintained in a lavender blazer dress, with the confidence of someone used to catching others off guard.

He did not like it. He did not like how she acted. He did not like how she talked. He did not like what she said. He did not like how she looked. He did not like her.

Edward sat behind his uncluttered desk, arms folded as he leaned back in his creaky chair, eyes narrowing at her. “The GCPD still does not see the full benefit of a cybercrime division,” he said, his voice laced with a bitterness that hinted at more than just professional frustration. He was used to his work being sidelined, his expertise disregarded by those who should know better. Her arrival was yet another inconvenience in a long line of offenses. “These bald apes are content to remain in the twentieth century.”

Trailing closer, she soon sat in a nearby chair, setting her belongings on a table crowded with equipment. “Quite the shame,” she replied, crossing one leg over the other as she settled into the seat he did not offer her to sit in. “I was hoping to gain some valuable expertise before graduating. I wanted to work here in fact.” There’s a glimmer of amusement in her eyes and her voice holds a polite, measured tone.  “My professors said you are brilliant.”

Smug satisfaction settled in his chest. 

“I am.” Edward’s lip curled ever so slightly, and he straightened, giving her a half-lidded look. 

Romy looked at him for a moment before speaking. “They said you were difficult too.”

“Who’s they?’”

“Duncan and Hadley.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed at the mention of his old professors, the faint smugness that had crept into his expression now sharpening into something colder, more cutting. He studied her with a slow, deliberate gaze. This close, he can finally see her eyes—a moss green

“Duncan and Hadley,” he repeated, his tone laced with disdain. “Duncan—let me guess—still regurgitating decades-old theories as if they’re groundbreaking revelations? And Hadley…” He sneered faintly, his lip curling. “Hadley’s what happens when tenure protects the incompetent. Is he still using Windows XP?”

“Unfortunately… They had strong opinions about you as well,” Romy remarked lightly, looking at her nails in an absent minded manner.

“I’m sure they did,” Edward replied smoothly, sitting forward now, his elbows resting on his desk as he leveled her with a pointed look. “Professors like them always do when confronted with someone who doesn’t just color outside their precious lines but redraws the entire picture. Of course, to them, that’s ‘difficult.’”

Her lips quirked at one side and she rested her chin on her hand, watching him with an amused air. “Then it seems I made the right decision to come to you.”

“While it would undoubtedly be an honor for you to work with someone of my genius firsthand,” Edward continued, his voice dripping with confidence as he narrowed his gaze at her, “you won’t stand a chance.”

Romy merely tilted her head, watching him with an expression of calm intrigue, seemingly unbothered by the sharp bite of his words. It unnerved him more than he cared to admit. He wasn’t used to this feeling, least of all in his own space.

“I’m used to people underestimating me, Mr. Nashton.”

“My estimations are always accurate,” he continued, his voice sharper now. He sighed giving her a bored look. “Let’s cut to it, I suppose.” He let one of his hands rest on the desk. “You will only get in my way. I don’t want to waste my time or my breath educating you on something that will likely go in one ear and out the other.” He tapped his fingers against the tabletop in a measured way, his voice cold. “You are to sit, stay, and not move. Don’t touch anything else. You can watch, and maybe, just maybe , you might be graced with a touch of my intellect... One would only be so lucky to have someone of my caliber rub off on them.”

Before Romy responded, there was a slight twitch of her perfectly plucked brow. “... Do you like to rub off on people, Mr. Nashton?”

He blinked, absorbing what she had just said. Rub off, he thought dryly. Clever, very clever. But what really stopped him wasn’t the phrasing; it was the look in her eyes—a knowing, steady gaze that held him longer than it should. There was a flicker of challenge there, of cool confidence, that made him shift in his seat, uncomfortable under the weight of that steady, unflinching stare.

“You know exactly what I mean, girl,” Edward snapped. He fixed Romy with a squint. “I can see you are going to be quite the pain in my ass, aren’t you?”

Romy’s lips twitched as she considered him with sharp eyes. “Oh, no, not at all,” she lilted. “I’m actually trying to make a good impression.”

He watched as she relaxed her slender hands on the arms of the chair, mint green nails clicking once on the wood. Then, when she crossed her legs, it was a slow movement. His attention flicked to her shapely thighs, noting how the lavender hem of her dress raised slightly with the movement. His frown deepened, brows knitting together, and then he looked back at her easy gaze.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” he asked.

Her eyes flicked across his face, and she hummed thoughtfully, obviously thinking about her answer. Then, a slow smirk stretched across her shiny, plush lips, and those young eyes of hers glittered with amusement. She clicked her tongue. “By being quiet, submissive, and obedient…”

Immediately, Edward felt the heat rise, an unbidden flush creeping up his neck and settling under his collar. He resented it, and his jaw tightened in frustration. She leaned back in the chair, her lips curling into that slow, deliberate smirk, and something glittered in her gaze. The subtle bite to her lip—did she even realize she was doing it?—and the way she settled back, so at ease, as if she were testing him, watching to see how he’d react. It was maddening. There was no reason to let a stranger, much less a student, get under his skin.

He kept his tone even, measured. “I have a hard time believing that,” he said with forced calm. “You are already disrupting my workflow by being here. I don’t have the time or interest to indulge anyone’s… antics.”

“Antics?” Romy repeated. “So, like, you assume I’m here to waste your time? That I won’t take this seriously?”

Edward smirked. “Well, if it looks like a duck and talks like a duck,” he chided, not at all masking the disdain in his voice.

Her smile sharpened. “Except when it’s a unicorn,” she simpered, lashes fluttering as she peered at him through half-lidded eyes. “Is that it, Mr. Nashton? Is it because I’m not some acne-riddled, snot-nose, basement incel?” She tilted her head to the side, her long black hair shifting with the movement, and she narrowed her gaze. “Is it because I’m pretty… ?”

The question struck him off balance. He realized he’d been observing every inch of her carefully put-together appearance, struggling to reconcile it with the notion that Commissioner Loeb thought it fit to place her here with him. But Loeb had been unaware of the candidates as well. The disconnect irritated him, the softness of her expression and the sharpness of her words stirring something hot in his chest.

“Listen, little girl,” he sneered, mustering every ounce of cold detachment, “I don’t know what game you’re trying to play, but I’m not the one to challenge.”

Romy’s smile widened, the look in her eyes unmistakably daring. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said, letting her voice dip playfully. “You seem like exactly the kind of man to enjoy a good challenge.” She tapped a nail thoughtfully on the wooden chair arm. “Or am I wrong?”

“Challenges are acceptable,” Edward said, his lips twitching as though considering a smile, though his gaze remained guarded. “But only those that actually require intellect. Challenges that flex the mind… not distractions.”

“So, that’s what you see me as? A distraction?” Romy tilted her chin up, looking at him with that gaze that made her look so cool. It only grated on his nerves. “I’ll make sure to cover my shoulders and hide my bra straps then.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to retort, but she was faster, leaning in with a look that was half-sweet, half-mischievous. “Unless, of course…” she purred, “a little distraction is exactly what you need. Maybe it would loosen you up.”

“Loosen up?” he echoed, his voice edged with forced calm. “I don’t need to loosen up. I need focus and productivity, two qualities I have a hard time believing you possess.”

“I have plenty of focus.” She settled back in her chair, unabashedly grinning at his obvious discomfort. “I’m sure we’ll make a… productive team, Mr. Nashton.”

He exhaled slowly, trying to maintain his composure. “You’re insufferably confident, aren’t you?”

“Pot meet kettle,” she replied breezily, gesturing in a casual manner, clearly unbothered by his barbs. “So… are you ready to be impressed, or are we going to keep up the foreplay?”

Edward rolled his eyes then shifted and spun back to his computer. “ Fine,” he said tightly. “You want to prove yourself? Then start by doing exactly what I tell you, without the smart commentary, Ms. Winslow.” He made movements to bring up his work, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard.

She shifted to the side, her eyes gleaming with a playful challenge as she retrieved a sleek laptop from her purse. “Yes, Mr. Nashton, sir.”

His fingers stalled over the keyboard, his usual fluidity momentarily broken. A shiver ran down his spine, slithering low. It made him grit his teeth.

With a deep inhale and an exasperated sigh, he settled into his work, typing with the familiar, precise rhythm he was known for. While he maintained perfect focus, he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling of having someone in his space. He worked alone. He had never had to precept anyone. He was not a teacher. He didn’t have the patience nor the desire for it. Professors had tried setting him up to tutor during his time in college—it hadn’t worked out as they thought it would. It had taken only one time to make someone cry for them to decide teamwork might not be something for him.

He felt it inevitable: Romy would say something completely idiotic; he would correct her; it would hurt her puny little feelings; she would cry; she would quit; and he would never have to hear from her again.

All he had to do was bide his time. He could be patient… when he wanted to be.

But, as much as it stung to admit, Romy surprised him. She was quiet—perfectly quiet, almost too quiet—and she seemed wholly absorbed in what he was doing. It was almost like she didn’t exist.

The minutes stretched, long and quiet, with nothing but the soft hum of computers and the steady beat of typing filling the air. Twenty minutes slipped into thirty, and then an hour, and still, she remained there, intently focused. The steadiness of her gaze as it flickered between her screen, his screen, and his hands—the unwavering attention she devoted to each click, each keystroke—was almost unnerving. There was something in the way she was present, so completely engaged, that felt oddly invasive. And yet, she wasn’t disruptive. She didn’t give any more snarky quips. She didn’t sigh in boredom. She didn’t ask questions or interrupt with idle conversation, simply watching, occasionally typing, the rhythm of her own keystrokes echoing his in a strange, synchronized cadence.

But it was the sound of her nails that really got to him. Each click of the keys under her fingers was punctuated by the sharper snap of those mint-colored acrylics atop them, a sound somehow distinct from the natural clack of a keyboard. It wasn’t irritating—not yet—but he sensed the potential. It was the kind of sound that, over time, could likely chip away at his concentration, like Chinese water torture, each click burrowing into his awareness with grating persistence.

Every now and then, Edward risked a glance at Romy, expecting to catch her on her phone or zoned out, ready to dismiss the task at hand. But she stayed. She was observant, her posture straight, fingers poised and ready, and she took in every word, every glance he spared her, without saying a thing—only a simple nod here and there in respectful acknowledgment. 

The hours slipped by faster than usual, her silence still unbroken. Edward leaned back, cracking his knuckles and flexing his fingers, savoring the temporary reprieve. But as he shifted, his eyes caught movement—Romy, standing right in front of his desk.

He jolted, a sharp intake of breath betraying his surprise. He hadn’t even heard her move.

“ What?” he snapped, his voice tight. “What do you want, girl?”

She blinked, glancing at her watch with maddening calm. “Time to go home.”

It was only then that he noticed the bag slung over her arm and the paper she was holding out. He scowled, snatching it briskly, his lips pulling into a tight, displeased line. A time log. Of course. With a resigned sigh, he grabbed his pen and scribbled his name and initials before shoving it back at her.

She glanced down at the sheet and grimaced. “You have terrible handwriting.”

“Get out,” he gritted, his flat look doing nothing to mask his irritation. He didn’t need her critique on top of everything else.

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Mr. Nashton,” she chuckled, her tone airy, carrying that infuriating undercurrent of amusement, as though his opinion of her couldn’t matter less. Then she spun on her heel and tossed a languid wave over her shoulder, twiddling her mint-colored acrylics.

“Unfortunately.”

Then, the door clicked shut behind her, leaving the office mercifully quiet and empty. Edward leaned back in his chair. Finally, he had his silence. But it wasn’t the victory he’d hoped for.

His gaze flicked toward the empty chair she’d occupied, a faint scowl tugging at the corners of his mouth. This was only the beginning. She’d be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday after that until the semester ended.

Edward’s jaw tightened at the thought, the weight of it pressing down on him like a slowly closing trap. She wasn’t just a nuisance; she was a disruption, a thorn in his side he couldn’t pull out, no matter how much he wanted.

Fifteen weeks and two days of this. Of her.

With a sharp exhale, he turned back to his monitors, forcing his attention onto the scrolling lines of data. He didn’t have time to dwell on irritations. He had work to do, and she was gone for the day. That was enough.

It would have to be.

[theawkwardvirgin]

Margaret Sanger: A Racist, Ableist Eugenicist

In honor of the March for Life taking place yesterday, here’s a friendly reminder that Margaret Sanger was a racist, ableist eugenicist.

In her article My Way to Peace, she outlined this 3-step plan to prevent “fifteen or twenty millions of our population” from tainting society:

Sterilizing anyone with mental or physical disabilities and putting them to work on segregated farms for the rest of their lives.

Putting poor, illiterate, drug-addicted, or sex-working individuals to work on state-run concentration farms, which they would only be allowed to leave if they reformed and accepted sterilization.

Institute mandatory birth-control training for women with serious illnesses like heart disease, to discourage them from having children.

In that same document, she specifies that she includes those “barred from entrance by the Immigration Laws of 1924” and their descendants among the undesirable groups that should be sterilized and segregated—said immigration laws barred Asians and imposed severe restrictions on the number of Africans and Arabs allowed to enter the country.

Her support for this plan actually resulted in 30 states passing laws allowing for forced sterilization: “At least 70,000 people in the United States were forcibly sterilized under the laws promoted by Sanger and her associates. Far more, especially women prisoners and women on welfare, were surreptitiously sterilized.”

She went on to say in A Better Race Through Birth Control that “women of subnormal mentality, however lacking they may be in vision and altruism, would prefer to avoid the pain and responsibilities of procreation, if the satisfaction of sex could be divorced from reproduction.”

In her article In Defense of Assassination, she said, “Exterminating warfare is also waged against the savage members of the human race wherever they oppose the establishment of conditions necessary for the development of the more highly organized types.”

In fact, Sanger’s eugenicist beliefs are so blatant that a Planned Parenthood center in NYC actually removed their founder’s name from their clinic because they didn’t want to be associated with her eugenicist policies—an ironic decision, as they continue to advocate for some of the methods of eugenics Sanger supported.

While Sanger’s ultimate mission of segregation and forced sterilization has failed, her eugenicist beliefs continue to succeed in more subtle ways. For instance, in NYC in 2013, more Black babies were aborted than born, at a rate of 67.3 per 1,000, a rate vastly higher than any other racial group. While that rate decreased to 32.6 in 2020, the disparity between races increased, with Black babies being aborted over 5 times more often than their white counterparts.

The fact that Margaret Sanger supported the forced sterilization and enslavement of POC, drug addicts, sex workers, and disabled individuals has been suppressed for decades, so as not to complicate the message that she is a champion of women’s rights. Ignoring these facts—ignoring her own words—allows these evils to continue uncontested. We cannot remain in ignorance. We cannot meaningfully separate Planned Parenthood’s current actions from their founder, especially as the racial disparities are only growing more extreme. Regardless of how you feel about abortion, it’s eugenicist roots are a vital piece of information to have when considering it.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the March for Life has turned even more attention to mitigating the damage done by Margaret Sanger’s eugenicist beliefs. Specifically, to ensure that all pregnant women and their families have easier access to several kinds of support, so they can make a truly informed decision instead of believing that abortion is their only option.

With every woman, with every child.

[advancetotraining]

Changing The Hyperlink Text Color Within A PowerPoint Theme.

The other day, I had to create a mock website using Power Point. Within the mock site, I needed to Hyperlink everything within the Power Point document so that the mock site would act like the actual site.

If you don't have experience, and have not had the need to change the textual color of Hyperlinks, then you definitely want to know this so that you will never be in a time sensitive situation where you need to change the textual color of a hyperlink in a Power Point slide and you have someone right there waiting.

1. As I went through the document, I made decisions as to hyperlinking entire pictures and/or shapes that people can click on vs. hyperlinking text so that people can click on a textual item to be taken to another slide within the same Power Point document.

2. So let's see how to change the color of the textual hyperlink within a particular PowerPoint Theme.

Step 1

Click on the Design tab and find the theme you are currently using and select it.

Step 2

If using 2010, Click “Colors” (right side) and then select “Create New Theme Colors.” A popup window appears, that displays the particular color settings of the theme you are currently using. If you are using 2013 and above then under the Design Tab, choose the down arrow to the right of the word “Variants" (which is on the right side of the ribbon) above, choose Colors, then Customize.

Step 3

Change the “Hyperlink” and “Followed Hyperlink” colors if you wish to use followed colors.

At the bottom of the Create New Theme Colors (customize in 2013 and above) pop-up window, you’ll see two selections labeled “Hyperlink” and “Followed Hyperlink.” If you’d like to change the color that the hyperlink turns once it has been visited "selected", click the box beside “Followed Hyperlink” and select a new color to represent the already selected link. Some people use the same color for the Hyperlink and Followed Hyperlink.

Step 4

Once you save and exit the Create New Theme Colors Dialog Box (customize for 2013 and above), if you have selected a different "Followed Hyperlink" color then you should see that new color for any Hyperlink that has been previously selected.

I suggest you go through this process at least once so if it comes up, you will say I have done this before!

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[strangesmallbard]

great point! in june 2019, robert kraft was awarded the genesis prize, which is "an annual $1 million award that honors living Jewish individuals who have attained international renown in their chosen professional fields, are proud of their Jewish heritage, care about the future of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and inspire young people to make the world a better place." he used the prize money to establish the kraft foundation to stop hate.

the genesis prize foundation is an israeli non-profit organization established in 2013. while the israeli government does not officially run the foundation nor do they choose the recipient, they were involved in its inception (x, x). the winner is announced each year at the home of the israeli president. the foundation was also funded by five russian jews; at least one founding member has a direct tie to putin and the russian government. the founders appear to have conservative politics, alongside some of the prize's previous recipients, such as michael bloomberg.

today, the public (jews and non-jews alike) can vote on the recipient; afterwards, the laureate is selected by the genesis prize leadership. although multiple advisory board and selection committee members have ties to the israeli government, only one member currently holds a position - danny dannon, who is on the knesset. other members have no political ties to the israeli government, including committee member rabbi laura janner-klausner, the former senior rabbi to reform judaism, UK, and jonathan fanton, a former president of the american academy of arts and sciences. (these members have varied political stances, which you are free to research on your own time.)

tl;dr - while dannon's involvement does imply political motive, there isn't conclusive information about the israeli government's involvement in the selection process. (if i missed something critical, absolutely send me a link.) however, i really don't think this information is relevant to my original post as the recipients themselves choose where to direct the prize money. robert kraft directed his funds to launch “Speak Out for Israel,' a global campaign to promote a true narrative about Israel and counteract efforts to delegitimize the Jewish State. The campaign awarded grants to 26 organizations." kraft also used some prize money to establish fcas; he and other independent donators supplied the rest of the necessary funds.

some people may not want to support robert kraft's foundation after learning this information; i won't put words into his mouth, but his views do seem to align with political zionism, which i am personally opposed to. for more information on the foundation's pro-israel stance. check out their newsletter. however, neither kraft's stance on israel nor the details i included above negate my original point: the ad was about antisemitism, not israel or the war in gaza. people saw this message and immediately bought into antisemitic conspiracy theories without doing any factchecking. buying into antisemitic conspiracy theories harms both jews and palestinians, as they obfuscate both 1) real antisemitic hate crimes vs. claims that aim to suppress palestinian activism, and 2) who has the power to make real, tangibles changes in the levant region.

"but wait, you literally did prove a direct link between kraft's foundation and the israeli government!" no, i traced the foundation's connection to the israeli government through the genesis award. i did not find conclusive evidence that the israeli government paid robert kraft to produce that ad, which is what the tag implies. this is why i was so wildly pedantic in my fact-checking just now. more than likely, kraft felt compelled by the documented rising antisemitism in the united states since the events on october 7, 2023, but we cannot know his exact intentions, as we are not in his brain. i suppose i can't stop you from believing the ad had a nefarious zionist intent; i can only hope you'll challenge the assumption that challenging antisemitism = zionist propoganda, feel more compelled to break down antisemitic conspiracy theories, and stop making the internet a miserable place for jews everywhere.

tl;dr 2 - i'm actually glad this tag brought this up! i appreciated the opportunity to become more informed + share this information to folks who stumble across this post.

hey so. i’ve seen many people reblogging some variation of “israel spent millions on a superbowl ad to distract everyone from the airstrikes on rafah” and decided to do some fact-checking. the ad was produced by the kraft foundation to stop jewish hate, founded by robert kraft, who owns the patriots. kraft also partnered with dr. clarence b. jones—who advised dr. martin king luther jr and helped him write the i have a dream speech—to create this ad. according to tara levine, the fcas president, this ad was made in response to rising antisemitism on social media platforms, which her team tracks.

here’s a link to the foundation’s about page on their website. their mission statement solely focuses on combatting antisemitism and does not mention i/p or the ongoing war. the ad itself does not mention i/p or the ongoing war. it’s pretty ironic, and yet not surprising, that an ad created to stop antisemitism is currently the eye of the antisemitic storm on social media. if you sincerely believe netanyahu secretly funded this ad campaign to “distract everyone” from the idf’s airstrike attack in rafa, then you have bought into two different antisemitic conspiracy theories: that jews control the media and that diasporic jews have dual loyalty to israel. while political zionists have used accusations of antisemitism to invalidate pro-palestinian efforts, that’s not what’s happening here. all this information is obtainable via google. please learn to fact check yourselves before posting. thanks!

(bonus: here’s a 20-minute video where kraft and dr. jones discuss the civil rights movement, anti-black racism, antisemitism, and the history of solidarity between black and jewish activists during the civil rights movement. very cool!)

[nursingwriter]

Malnutrition Education Intervention Nursing Education Malnutrition Education Intervention for Mercy Medical Center Redding Malnutrition Education Intervention for Mercy Medical Center Redding The Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, a 267-bed non-profit level II trauma center within the Dignity Health healthcare system (Mercy Medical Center Redding, 2013), appears to be unaware of a growing concern about the impact of inpatient malnutrition on health care outcomes. A word search on Mercy's website using the word 'malnutrition' retrieved only one result and this document discusses malnutrition in a patient resource guide ("Search," 2014). The lack of apparent concern about inpatient malnutrition among hospital clinicians and administrators is not atypical of many U.S. hospitals, but a few have begun to take this issue seriously (Vesely, 2014). Close to one-third of all patients admitted to hospitals in the U.S. are estimated to suffer from malnutrition (Vesely, 2014, p. 32), whether due to unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, or drug-induced dietary changes (Sheperd, 2009), but only 3% are ever diagnosed with this condition (Corkins et al., 2014). This prevalence estimate also applies to patients residing in hospitals, because malnutrition often goes undetected, even when it has an iatrogenic etiology (Bavelaar et al., 2008). The Alliance to Advance Patient Nutrition (AAPN) represents the collaborative efforts of Abbott Nutrition, the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Society of Hospital Medicine (AAPN, 2013). The goal of the AAPN is to improve patient nutrition practices and therefore health care outcomes. If malnutrition is left untreated the risk of complications, delayed wound healing, infections, longer hospital stays, readmissions, and mortality increase significantly (Bavelaar et al., 2008). In the current climate of healthcare cost awareness, malnutrition cannot be ignored. The main categories of malnutrition are kwashiorkor (ICD-9-CM 260), malnutrition of a moderate degree (ICD-9-CM 262), and marasmus (ICD-9-CM 261), with the first two representing protein intake insufficiency and the latter also involving insufficient carbohydrate ingestion (Sheperd, 2009). All are eligible for significant Medicare reimbursement (Bryant, 2012). Frame Factors The City of Redding is located at the northern-most end of California's Central Valley and is home to approximately 90,000 citizens. An estimated 22.8 and 16.4% of Redding residents are under 18-years of age or 65 and older, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). The median household income is about 30% below the California average, which is consistent with a greater proportion of the population living below the federal poverty line. In 2002, close to 18% of school children within California's Central Valley were eligible for welfare assistance and over 50% were receiving subsidized lunches, although children living in the North Valley fared slightly better (Danenberg, Jepsen, & Cerdan, 2002, p. v, vii). This is a solidly blue collar town, with more residents completing high school and not attending college compared to the rest of the state (U.S. Census Bureaur, 2014). Redding is a relatively homogenous community ethnically, with over 80% of the population sef-identifying as Caucasian. The next biggest ethnic group is Hispanics, which represents only 8.7% compared to 37.6% state-wide. The academic environment in Redding is limited, with only two academic institutions offering nursing degrees and none providing graduate level coursework (Board of Registered Nursing, 2013). Accordingly, Shasta County where Redding is located has been designated a registered nurse (RN) shortage area by the State of California (OSHPD Healthcare Workforce Development Division, 2011). Approximately 70% of voters supported the Republican presidential candidate in the last five general elections, so it is a politically conservative city (City-Data.com, 2013). In 2011, the Shasta Regional Medical Center owned by Prime Healthcare Services captured the attention of a watchdog group because of a surge in kwashiorkor Medicare claims (Williams, Jewett, & Doig, 2011). The allegations of Medicare fraud could make it difficult for other local hospitals to implement a malnutrition screening program if it results in significantly higher prevalence rates; however, this should not be a significant barrier, only a consideration. The mission statement of Mercy Redding emphasizes meeting the healthcare needs of the poor and disenfranchised (Mercy Medical Center Redding, 2014). Accordingly, Mercy Redding is committed to engaging with the community and making a positive contribution. For example, during fiscal year 2013 Mercy Redding contributed over $43 thousand dollars to the Good News Rescue Mission to support heart health programs for the homeless and very low income residents. Given Mercy Redding's focus on serving the poorest residents of the city it seems reasonable to assume that a higher percentage of its patients would be suffering from malnutrition. Of the five core values Mercy Redding identifies with, stewardship and excellence seem most relevant to identifying and treating inpatient malnutrition. Stewardship is defined as promoting healing and wholeness, while excellence means exceeding expectations through teamwork and innovation. Despite these important values, however, Mercy Redding does not include evidence-based practice in its vision. On the positive side, over 98% of nursing staff are RNs (California Department of Health Care Services, 2012). Inpatient Malnutrition Education Intervention Implementing effective malnutrition screening requires modification of nursing workflow processes. Accordingly, an education intervention for malnutrition screening would probably be most effective if it was based on experiential learning theory as outlined by David Kolb in 1984 (Lisko & O'Dell, 2010). According to Kolb, learning occurs when the experience is transformed. Implementation of a nursing education intervention to identify patients suffering from malnutrition would be most effective, therefore, if it took place during patient admissions, nursing rounds, patient handoffs, and patient discharges. The person best situated to implement and enforce malnutrition screening, treatment, and follow-ups is the charge nurse. Based on best practice recommendations the only costs associated with implementing this education intervention would by the extra hours required of the charge nurse, since any costs associated with treatment would be reimbursed. Two weeks of full-time equivalent (FTE) hours for the development of an education intervention, along with six hours per week for the next six months, should be sufficient to implement malnutrition screening education into the relevant nursing workflow tasks. At Mercy Redding the cost of an average hour of work by an RN is about $45 (California Department of Health Care Services, 2012), so the budget for the intervention would be x $45 = $10,620. See Appendix for the intervention outcome evaluation tool. References AAPN. (2013). Who we are. Retrieved from http://malnutrition.com/alliance. AAPN. (2014). Nutrition care recommendations: Nurse. Retrieved from http://static.abbottnutrition.com/cms-prod/malnutrition.com/img/Alliance_Roles_Nurse_2014_v1.pdf. Bavelaar, J.W., Otter, C.D., van Bodegraven, A.A., Thijs, A., & van Bokhorst-de van der Schueren, M.A.E. (2008). Diagnosis and treatment of (disease-related) in-hospital malnutrition: The performance of medical and nursing staff. Clinical Nutrition, 27, 431-8. Board of Registered Nursing. (2013). Pre-Licensure RN Programs. Retrieved from http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/rnprograms.shtml. Bryant, G. (2012). Gloryanne's Corner: Compliance with physician queries needed. Retrieved from https://hfma-nca.org/HFMAMembers/SharedFiles/TheEdge_May2012.pdf. California Department of Health Care Services. (2012). Report on the Audit of Rate Development Branch Schedules, Mercy Medical Center Redding. Retrieved from http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/dataandstats/reports/Documents/AI_Acute_2008_K-O/0140_0608_106450949.pdf. City-Data.com. (2013). Redding, California. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Redding-California.html. Corkins, M.R., Guenter, P., DiMaria-Ghalili, R.A., Jensen, G.L., Malone, A., Miller, S. et al. (2014). Malnutrition diagnosis in hospitalized patients: United States, 2010. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 38(2), 186-95. Danenberg, A., Jepsen, C., & Cerdan, P. (2002). Student and School Indicators for Youth in California's Central Valley. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_902CJR.pdf. Lisko, S.A. & O'Dell, V. (2010). Integration of theory and practice: Experiential learning theory and nursing education. Nursing Education Perspectives, 31(2), 106-8. Mercy Medical Center Redding. (2014). Community benefit report FY2013. Community Benefit Implementation Plan FY2014. Retrieved from http://www.dignityhealth.org/stellent/groups/public/@xinternet_con_sys/documents/webcontent/196191.pdf. OSHPD Healthcare Workforce Development Division. (2011). Registered Nurse Shortage Areas (RNSAs) by county: Using the mean as the analytical unit. Retrieved from http://gis.oshpd.ca.gov/atlas/content/report/shortage/rnsa.pdf. Search. (2014). Retrieved from http://redding.mercy.org/search/index.htm. Sheperd, A. (2009). Nutrition support 1: Risk factors, causes and physiology of malnutrition. Nursing Times, 105(4), 18-20. U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). Table 214. Households and persons having problems with access to food: 2005 to 2009. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0214.pdf. U.S. Census Bureau. (2014). State & County QuickFacts: Redding (city), California. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0659920.html. Vesely, R. (2014). Hospitals put nutrition on the front burner. Hospitals & Health Networks, 88(3), 30-3. Williams, L., Jewett, C., & Doig, S.K. (2011, February 20). Hospital chain bills for high malnutrition rate. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Hospital-chain-bills-for-high-malnutrition-rate-2474106.php. Appendix Malnutrition Education Intervention Outcome Evaluation (adapted from AAPN, 2014) 1. Which patients should be screened for malnutrition? a. Underweight patients b. Obese patients c. Elderly patients d. Young children e. All patients 2. Should malnutrition screening findings be entered into the patient's chart? a. Yes b. Only if a dietician consult is requested c. No 3. How often should patients be screened for malnutrition? a. Daily b. Weekly c. Monthly d. Only when the signs and symptoms of malnutrition are apparent 4. If a patient is diagnosed as malnourished or at risk for malnourishment, how soon should the nutrition intervention be implemented? a. Immediately b. Within 12 hours c. Within 24 hours d. Within 72 hours 5. What are some of the signs of malnutrition or malnutrition risk (circle all that apply)? a. Low body mass index b. Unexplained weight loss c. Overweight d. Obese e. Poor appetite f. Missed meals g. Unfinished meals Read the full article

[spiderpanic]

16. Learn from peers in other countries -----------------------------------------------

Keep your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

in 2016, American journalists seemed to misunderstand a presidential campaign. As a long shot candidate surmounted barrier after barrier and accumulated victory after victory, our commentariat blithely assured us that at the next stage he would be stopped by one fine American institution or another. There was, meanwhile, one group of observers who took a different position: Easter Europeans and those who study Eastern Europe. To them, much about the president's campaign was familiar, and the final outcome was no surprise. Ukrainian and Russian journalists who sniffed the air in the Midwest said more realistic things than American pollsters who had built careers on understanding the politics of their own country.

To Ukrainians, Americans seemed comically slow to react to the obvious threats of cyber war and targeted lies. When Russian propaganda made Ukraine a target in 2013, young Ukrainian journalists and others reacted immediately, decisively, and sometimes humorously with campaigns to expose disinformation. Russia deployed many of the same techniques against Ukraine that it later used against the United States -while invading Ukraine. When Russian media falsely claimed in 2014 that Ukrainian troops crucified a small boy, the Ukrainian response was rapid and effective (at least within Ukraine itself). When Russian media spread the story in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was ill because she mentioned on an article "decision fatigue" (which is not an illness) In an email, the story was spread by Americans. When Russia invaded Ukraine a second time in 2022, it's leading mercenary unit was commanded by the same man who coordinated the propaganda of 2016. The Russian atrocities in occupied Ukraine continued, that unit was driven from the country, and its leader acknowledged the senselessness of the war.

The Ukrainians won, and the Americans lost, in the sense that Russia failed to get the regime it wanted in its neighbor, but did see its preferred candidate triumph in the United States. It supports him again in the 2024 elections. He is Putin's great hope for the rise of a dictatorial world. This should give us pause. History, which for a time seemed to be running from west to east, now seems to be moving from east to west. Everything that happens here seems to happen there first.

The fact that most Americans do not have passports has become a problem for American democracy. Sometimes Americans say that they do not need travel documents, because they prefer to die defending freedom in America. These are fine words, but they miss an important point. The fight will be a long one. Even if it does require sacrifice, it first demands sustained attention to the world around us, so that we know what we are resisting, and how best to do so. So having a passport is not a sign of surrender. On the contrary, it is liberating, since it creates the possibility of new experiences. It allows us to see how other people, sometimes wiser than we, react to similar problems. Since so much of what is happening now is familiar to the rest of the world or from recent history, we must observe and listen. -On Tyranny (Timothy Snyder)

[bcamelsamples]

Sample: Kylind Campaign—Revising the Chronologist Class (OC)

A long time ago (around the last time I was part of a major layoff), I spent most of that time developing my own D&D world. I was very ambitious with it - the projected included:

A whole continent

A full 1-year long adventure

5 new subraces

2 new classes

An entire new school of magic + spells for it

Its own pantheon of gods

New monster types and templates

New weapon categories

A handful of subclasses/prestige classes

... and probably more that I've forgotten about. The document, last I checked is 78 pages long and over 30,000 words on its own, including history, tables, descriptions, and rules. I dubbed this work "The Kylind Campaign" and it wound up becoming the first ever adventure I ran for my now-husband.

I've always intended to go back to it and revise the information, because the conclusion of that campaign was so earth-shattering, it needs it. There's also just some stuff I wrote back then that needs updating, either because I've become a better writer and designer or because it's been 13 years and general philosophies in the industry have changed substantially.

The world itself was originally written for the 3.5 Edition of Dungeons & Dragons and later formally converted to the 1st Edition of Pathfinder. I'm not sure if I'll convert further from there—our play group really likes the crunchier, heavier mechanics those systems offer.

I wanted to show some of the work I had done on my old blog, in part to just have content out there, but also because I was planning on publishing this stuff some day. I still might! You can read the original article here, but it's from 2013, so it definitely shows its age.

Rather than repost that exact content here, I've instead written a revised piece below that's less about the mechanics and more about the philosophy and what I learned in playtesting this class. The campaign has long since ended, and there's a lot about it I'd like to revisit.

*****

What is the Chronologist?

Chronomancy seeps throughout the land of Kylind, challenging its structure and even its history. None are more passionate in seeking to understand and harness that power more than the Chronologist. From mastering raw power to understanding the intricacies of ancient weaponry, their passion and fervor is so intense that they are often decried as zealots, compared more frequently to religious fanatics than to wizards. The life of a Chronologist is usually lonely, though they rarely care for the company of others. All that matters is understanding, and ultimately controlling, time itself.

Why the Chronologist?

My initial goal with the Chronologist class was to design a support-based Divine caster who could replace a Cleric in a party. I've been at far too many tables that consider Clerics boring to the point that someone almost always gets "forced" to be the healing stick, and I wanted to solve that by creating a new class that can serve that purpose with a different flair. 

I also really wanted there to be an Intelligence-based support class. I was very stuck on this concept, and kind of still am if I'm being honest.

Unfortunately, it really didn't pan out that way—the Chronologist wound up landing somewhere between a support and a damage-dealing caster, to the point where it served neither role well enough to take those tasks on alone. This meant it felt a lot like Bard did in Pathfinder and 3.5 - they're nice to have as a 5th or more party member, but hard to justify if you need perfect team balance.

The group recruited a Cleric later in the campaign because our Chronologist couldn't quite keep up with healing demands, and I re-evaluated the Chronologist's overall structure as a result.

The Future of the Chronologist

I still feel very strongly about including the Chronologist as a class in my world. It feels key because time manipulation and time travel play such an important role in the world of Kylind (to the point of being considered a form of divine intervention). However, we set it up for failure by adding a way for Wizards to specialize in Chronomancy on their own. This lead to a new problem: now I have two classes that basically do the same thing, with one of them wildly out-performing the other.

The answer is likely in combining the two concepts together and meeting somewhere in the middle. We gave the Wizard (Chronomancer) specialty some very cool crafting and construct flavor that is probably better suited to being moved to Artificer. Because Artificer wasn't a class in Pathfinder 1E, I was stuck finding another way to convert it.

My current thinking is probably to kill the Chronomancer specialization in Wizard (or at least tone it down) and let the Chronologist stand on its own. Perhaps the Chronologist needs to be my version of an Artificer, so we can carry forward some of that crafting and automaton vibe without losing the unique flavor of time manipulation it carries. In either event, some things either need to be shifted or removed so that it avoids becoming too good, too utilitarian, or overshadows other existing classes.

Next Steps

Before I can really make decisions on what to do with the Chronologist or the Chronomancer, I have a big decision to make:

What edition and system do I build this class and world for?

If I intend to publish this, it doesn't make a lot of sense to stick with two systems that are both now out of print. However, my home group isn't super big on playing 5th Edition D&D (old OR revised) or 2nd Edition Pathfinder, so I'm left in a difficult place.

It's part of why this project has stayed on the backburner so long. The other reason is that this world isn't entirely just mine anymore—both my husband and I have used aspects, characters, philosophies, and stories from this original campaign in newer adventures with our friends. Much of our lore has evolved and changed, and needs to be recorded and reflected. If I continue to develop this class, it won't be on my own!

[gravekilla69]

Week 10: Discussing the Seven Weekly Topics as a Whole

Discussing the seven weekly topics as a whole highlighted the multifaceted nature of critical thinking in design. Each topic offered a unique approach, from understanding visual metaphors to the significance of structured research and collaborative work. The Critical Thinking Skills module has impacted my approach as a designer and student representative by enhancing my learning and leadership capabilities. Week 1’s introduction to critical thinking reshaped my analytical process, reinforcing the value of questioning assumptions and approaching issues from multiple perspectives. This has aided my CPJ work, encouraging more thoughtful reflections and better project outcomes!

Week 2’s collaborative skills proved essential for my group projects in Studio, teaching me to communicate effectively and balance different viewpoints. This skill has also been crucial in my role as class representative, enabling me to mediate discussions and foster an inclusive environment. Effective communication is key to building trust within teams (Wheelan).

Week 3’s focus on emotional intelligence taught me to manage stress and understand team dynamics better. This has been particularly helpful in coordinating group efforts and addressing classmates’ concerns. Emotional intelligence also played a key role in maintaining composure during demanding assignments, supporting personal growth and teamwork (Goleman).

Week 5’s growth mindset encouraged me to view challenges as opportunities for improvement. Applying this in Craft Workshop allowed me to experiment without fear of failure, fostering innovation. It also inspired me to encourage peers to take creative risks, boosting morale during group efforts.

Week 9’s digital media documentation reinforced the importance of tracking creative processes. Integrating this into my CPJ led to clearer project presentations, adding value to my role as a student representative, where structured documentation aids communication.

These interconnected topics formed a toolkit that improved my ability to lead and collaborate. Understanding critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and growth mindset made me more empathetic and effective in group settings, supporting my leadership and academic growth. 

Total word count: 330 Words

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Works Cited:

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam, 1995.

Wheelan, Susan A. Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders. SAGE Publications, 2016.

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Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, 2009 - Yayoi Kusama

Infinity Mirrored Room – Love Forever, 1966/1994 - Yayoi Kusama

Phalli’s Field, 1965 - Yayoi Kusama

LOVE IS CALLING, 2013 - Yayoi Kusama 

[harshitthecreator]

MS Word

Microsoft Word: Overview, Features, and Uses

Microsoft Word (MS Word) is a word processing software developed by Microsoft, designed to help users create, edit, and format text documents with ease. It is part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 suites and has become the standard for writing tools worldwide. Word offers a wide range of functions that make it useful for personal, academic, and professional work, including reports, letters, books, and more.

1. Introduction and History

Microsoft Word was first released in 1983 as “Multi-Tool Word” for Xenix systems, later ported to MS-DOS and other operating systems. It was one of the earliest applications to feature a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface, showing users exactly how the printed document would look. Since its inception, Word has undergone continuous improvements, gaining advanced features and better compatibility with other programs.

Key milestones in Word’s history include:

1989: Word for Windows introduced a graphical interface.

2007: The Ribbon interface replaced the traditional menu bar.

2013: Cloud integration with OneDrive for easy access and collaboration.

2020: Microsoft rebranded Office 365 as Microsoft 365, enhancing real-time collaboration and AI-powered tools.

2. Features of Microsoft Word

a) Document Creation and Formatting

Word allows users to design professional and polished documents with flexible formatting tools.

Templates: Ready-made templates for reports, letters, resumes, flyers, and more.

Styles: Predefined formatting options for headings, paragraphs, and titles for consistency.

Text Formatting: Control over fonts, sizes, colors, alignment, and spacing.

Page Layout: Customizable margins, page orientation (portrait/landscape), columns, and section breaks.

Headers and Footers: Add page numbers, dates, and custom headers/footers across pages.

b) Editing and Reviewing Tools

Word offers several features to ensure error-free writing and promote collaborative editing.

Spell Check and Grammar Check: Automatic detection of spelling and grammatical errors.

Track Changes: Keep a record of all edits, allowing multiple users to make and review changes.

Comments: Add feedback or suggestions without altering the original text.

Find and Replace: Search for specific words or phrases and replace them quickly across the document.

c) Tables, Graphics, and Multimedia

Users can enhance their documents by incorporating structured data and visual elements.

Tables: Create and format tables to organize information efficiently.

SmartArt: Use diagrams to illustrate processes, relationships, and hierarchies.

Images and Icons: Insert pictures, shapes, and online icons to improve aesthetics.

Charts: Integrate charts from Microsoft Excel for data visualization.

d) Collaboration and Cloud Integration

Microsoft Word’s collaboration features are enhanced through Microsoft 365, making teamwork easier.

Real-Time Co-Authoring: Multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously.

Comments and Feedback: Collaborators can leave comments and tag other users.

Version History: View and restore earlier versions of a document.

OneDrive Integration: Save documents to the cloud for easy access from any device.

Teams Integration: Share Word documents and collaborate through Microsoft Teams.

e) Automation with Macros and Quick Parts

Word provides tools to automate repetitive tasks and save time.

Macros: Record a sequence of actions to automate complex or repetitive tasks.

Quick Parts: Save frequently used text, tables, or graphics and insert them quickly.

Table of Contents and Indexing: Automatically generate tables of contents, indexes, and bibliographies.

f) Language and Accessibility Tools

Microsoft Word promotes inclusivity and supports users with different needs.

Read Aloud: A text-to-speech feature for proofreading or accessibility purposes.

Language Support: Word supports multiple languages and includes built-in translation tools.

Accessibility Checker: Identifies potential accessibility issues and suggests improvements.

3. Applications of Microsoft Word

a) Education

Microsoft Word is essential for students, teachers, and researchers for tasks such as:

Writing assignments, essays, and research papers.

Creating lesson plans, handouts, and study guides.

Generating references, footnotes, and bibliographies.

b) Business

Organizations use Word for a variety of professional needs, including:

Drafting contracts, agreements, and legal documents.

Writing reports, business proposals, and meeting minutes.

Creating letterheads, invoices, and internal communications.

Automating personalized letters through Mail Merge.

c) Creative Writing and Publishing

Writers use Word to draft and edit books, articles, and blog posts. Features like Outline View and Track Changes help plan and edit long documents efficiently. Word also offers page layout controls that assist with publishing-ready formatting.

4. Integration with Other Microsoft Apps

Word seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft applications, enhancing productivity:

Excel: Insert tables and charts from Excel to present data.

PowerPoint: Export Word content to create presentations.

Outlook: Use Word’s formatting tools to compose emails.

OneNote: Save Word documents as notes for future reference.

Teams: Collaborate on documents within meetings or chat conversations.

5. Security and Privacy

Microsoft Word offers several features to protect sensitive information.

Password Protection: Encrypt documents to restrict access.

Document Inspection: Remove hidden data and personal information before sharing.

Restricted Editing: Lock certain parts of a document to prevent unauthorized changes.

Digital Signatures: Add electronic signatures to authenticate documents.

6. Advantages of Microsoft Word

User-Friendly Interface: The Ribbon interface simplifies navigation.

Versatility: Suitable for a variety of tasks, from personal journals to business proposals.

Collaboration: Real-time co-authoring promotes teamwork.

Customizability: Templates, macros, and styles allow users to create personalized documents.

Cloud Access: OneDrive integration ensures files are accessible from anywhere.

7. Limitations of Microsoft Word

Cost: Requires a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time purchase, which can be expensive.

Learning Curve: Some advanced features, such as macros, may require training.

Compatibility Issues: Formatting may be altered when opening Word documents in other software.

8. Alternatives to Microsoft Word

While Word is the most popular word processor, other options include:

Google Docs: A free, cloud-based word processor with real-time collaboration.

Apple Pages: A word processing tool for macOS and iOS users.

LibreOffice Writer: An open-source alternative with similar features.

WPS Office: Offers compatibility with Microsoft Word at a lower cost.

[austedu]

Instructions for Joining a Blackboard Collaborate Session at AUST Lebanon

Login: Go to AUST Moodle and log in with your credentials.

Join Session:

Click on the session displayed under your deadlines.

Join the available session according to your schedule.

Enable Plugins: If your browser prompts you to enable audio and video plugins, do so (Google Chrome is recommended to avoid issues).

Audio Setup: Ensure your PC’s audio is on and use a headset for better audio quality (camera is optional).

What is Blackboard Collaborate?

Blackboard Collaborate is an online virtual classroom/meeting space. It allows users to:

Connect via audio

See each other via webcams

Use a chat tool

Collaborate on documents

View presentations

Access other interactive features

Browser and Computer Requirements

Supported Browsers: Use compatible versions of Firefox or Chrome. Do NOT use Internet Explorer.

Browser Check: Perform a browser check to ensure compatibility

Internet Connection: Minimum speed required is a consistent 1.5 Mbps or higher. A UPS for your router is recommended to avoid interruptions during exams/sessions.

Operating System: Blackboard supports Windows and Macintosh systems. Linux is not supported. Windows 7 is the minimum OS requirement, but Windows 8 or 10 is recommended.

Advised Hardware/Software

Office Software: Microsoft Office 2010 / 2013 / 2016 or any word processing software that can output .doc, .docx, .html, .txt, .rtf, .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .pps, .hwp.

PDF Reader: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Media Player: Windows Media Player or VLC.

Headset: For better audio quality during sessions.

Webcam: Optional, but useful if you want others to see you.

Audio Setup

Once in the session, check your audio setup:

Adjust speaker and microphone volume.

Click the microphone and camera icons to begin full participation (you may be muted or hidden by the moderator).

Equipment Needed

PC, Mac, or Mobile Devices: Sessions are hosted in your browser. Google Chrome is recommended. For iPhone/iPad, install the “Moodle” or “Open LMS” app.

Internet Connection: A fast, stable web connection is ideal. Regular broadband should suffice.

Headset and Microphone: Required if you need to speak during the session.

Webcam: Optional, but useful if you want to be seen. Use either a built-in or USB webcam.

Technical Support

Contact the IT Department for any technical issues:

Landline: 961218717 ext 377

Email: it@aust.edu.lb

Source: Student’s Guide at AUST in Lebanon