#excel compare two col

[maracujatangerine]

The Gift Exchange

CW: institutionalised slavery, pet whump, dehumanisation

“Miss Lydia, Miss Lydia, what do you think about this?.”

Coriander jogged into the kitchen, brandishing a roll of wrapping paper patterned with abstract swirls in silver and dark green. The silver accents glittered in the pale winter morning sunlight falling in through the windows.

“It is really pretty!” Miss Lydia smiled, brown eyes warm. “Good choice, Cory!”

The blonde pet ducked his head, but smiled back from underneath his bangs. He wore a soft, green sweater with leather patches on the elbows that matched his chestnut trousers.

Lydia was dressed in a dark grey, knitted dress with red leggings. She leaned over the table to move the pot with the red and white amaryllis out of the way.

“Should we wrap everything into one present, or should we wrap each gift separately, do you think?”

“T-this pet thinks we should w-wrap one gift for Colton and one for Linden, b-but that all their gifts can be wrapped together.”

“That’s a good idea, let’s do that.”

Coriander spread out several seed packages on the table and studied them thoughtfully. Closest to Lydia was a packet with a picture of lush, green sugar snap peas labelled: ‘Mangetout, pea seeds 'Norli' ORGANIC’. Then, there were two packets both marked ‘Thunbergia alata, Black-eyed Susan’, the first one called ‘African Sunset’ in shades of red and apricot, the second one ‘Alba Oculata’ in brilliant white. The final was a handwritten envelope simply marked in Cory’s neat handwriting: ‘Chili, mix’.

“Are you happy with those seeds?”

“Y-yes, Miss Lydia. C-Colton will be able to grow them on the balcony, and i-it will be fun that we both can try to grow the same seeds. P-perhaps we can compare notes.”

Cory gathered the seed packets and tied them together with a neat red bow. Meanwhile, Lydia grabbed a hardback book. The blue dust jacket had brightly coloured leaves scattered all over the cover. The title stood out in bright white: When we were birds, by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

Opening the book, she wrote on the inside of the cover. ‘To Linden. Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year.’ Signing it, she handed it over to Coriander to add his name too.

“‘It is a bit of a risky gift,” she admitted to Cory, “since I haven’t read the book yet, but it seems so good. I got a copy for myself too, and I hope I will get the chance to read it over the holidays.”

They added two bags of homemade butterscotch candy in green paper cups, and two reused milk cartoons filled with gingerbread cookies, the result of last night’s baking spree.

Lydia and Cory put their joint efforts into wrapping the gifts into two neat packages. The dark, red ribbon a nice contrast to the green and silver wrapping paper.

“Let’s go for a walk and send it off this afternoon.” Coriander nodded.

“Y-yes, Miss Lydia.”

*

Linden wiggled the pen between his thumb and index finger, deep in thought. Leaning back in his kitchen chair, he looked over at Colton, who was working diligently at the end of the table. With wholly unbroken concentration, he was pulling strips of sellotape from the dispenser and sticking them in a neat row along the table’s wooden edge. When Linden had done the altogether far more fiddly task of wrapping a gift up, Col could pluck a pre-cut piece of tape and stick it in place. It was, as Linden had said about fifty times, excellent teamwork.

“Hey, Col, have you ever seen this before?” Linden asked, lifting his hand for Col to see. With the pen held right in its middle, Linden wiggled it gently, until it looked as if the pen was bending at the edges.

Col’s eyebrows twitched, and for a beautiful second Linden thought he was going to burst out laughing. Instead, his mouth curved upwards into a tiny smile. “Yes, Sir. I have.”

“Ah, not too impressive then. Haha, no matter.”

“Do you need any tape for the envelope, Sir?” Col asked, eyeing the Christmas card laid out in front of Linden.

“In a second… I’m just trying to figure something out.”

“Ah, okay, Sir.”

Col took another breath, as if to speak, then stopped himself. Linden prided himself on reading Col well enough by now to know that it was because he wanted to ask a question. Probably what are you trying to figure out?

“I’ve written my part of Lydia and Cory’s card, but I’m not sure how to do yours. I’m not going to make you try and hold a pen. I was thinking - do you want to just dictate it? It doesn’t have to be much, just a little festive greeting sort of thing. I can be your text-to-speech robot.”

Linden was always cheery around Christmas time. Something about winter setting in, dark and long and rainy, and then being cut through by glittering lights, gifts and music. Today, he felt like he was on a veritable warpath to make Col smile.

“That sounds good, Sir… I can do that.”

“Great!” Linden said, overjoyed that Colton hadn’t taken issue with the idea of ‘dictating’ something to his owner, hadn’t overthought any possible rule-breaking that could come with speaking and forcing his Master to write it all down. “And instead of you signing the card the normal way, I thought you could do a fingerprint?”

“That’s a good idea, Sir, thank you for c-”

“Wait, no!” Linden said, making Col flinch. “Sorry, I’m sorry love. I just realised. We’ll both do our fingerprints. That’ll be nice. Then we’re the same.”

There it was again, the coveted half-smile. Col’s cheeks glowed. “Thank you, Sir, that’s really kind. I think- I, uh…”

“Go on,” Linden said warmly. “I want to hear what you think.”

“I think Lydia and Cory will like that, Sir.”

“I agree. Now, here’s what I’ve written.”

Linden pushed the card over. He’d written a short message making light of the strange way they first crossed paths, saying how glad he now was to know the both of them, wishing them a peaceful and happy holiday. He waited patiently as Colton gave his message some thought, then wrote it down exactly as dictated on the left hand side of the card.

Linden found some stamp ink in the back of a drawer, and the two of them rolled their index fingers in it until they could leave two bold prints, one below each message.

Once the card was sealed, it was time for the gifts. Lydia’s gift was a specially-made book embosser, which had EX LIBRIS - LYDIA WINTERTHORPE printed onto it. The embosser itself was a satisfying, weighty thing, and Linden hoped she’d get great pleasure out of stamping all of her most beloved books.

Cory’s gift was also a bespoke item: a brass door sign with his name, Coriander, printed on it. It had ornate rounded corners which gave the thing a rustic, rather stately look, and although Linden had never seen Lydia’s house he guessed it would fit right in. He had run the gift idea past Col first - would a pet such as Cory be okay with claiming the bedroom as his in this way? Col had given it a fair share of thought, ultimately telling Linden, in a way that sounded more like a sinful confession, that Cory would like it very much.

The two men performed their well-honed wrapping ritual, with Col sticking down the final piece of tape with a flourish.

*

This is a collaboration between @whumpzone and @maracujatangerine.

We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

*

Tag List Part 1: @cupcakes-and-pain @whump-em @wh-wh-whu @neuro-whump @carnagecardinal @cowboy-anon @whump-me-all-night-long @redwingedwhump @myst-in-the-mirror @haro-whumps @eatyourdamnpears @bloodsweatandpotato @pinkraindropsfell @whumptywhumpdump @theydy-cringeworthy @whump-in-progress @whumpsy-daisy @nicolepascaline @whumpcreations @briars7 @shiningstarofwinter @whumppsychology @alex-ember @miss-kitty-whumptastic @whumpy-writings @in-patient-princess @youtube-fandoms-bands @goblinchildindabog @mazeish @distinctlywhumpthing @inpainandsuffering @canniboylism @icannotweave @incoherent-introspection @kim-poce @broken-typewriter @the-monarch-whumperfly @whumpers-inc @grizzlie70 @lil-whumper @writingbackwards-blog @sunflower1000 @wingedwhump @thecitythatdoesntsleep @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @onlybadendings @rabass @wolfeyedwitch @melancholy-in-the-morning

[booksfromthevoid]

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

I've slowly made my way through Jon Krakauer's works over the last year. I started with Under the Banner of Heaven while on my honeymoon in January of 2024, so it only felt fitting to finish his work the same week, a year later. I've always had an interest in personal accounts of tragic stories, if anything because I have morbid curiosity in such things. Krakauer's catalog of works scratches the itch I have in my brain for that.

Into Thin Air was published in 1996, following Krakauer's expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. I had a general idea of why he was there in the first place --as a journalist, for a magazine that wanted to do a piece on climbing the mountain --but I had not realized he was part of the famously tragic March 1996 expedition. What I didn't realize, until after I picked up the book, was that he wasn't simply at Base Camp but actually going to the summit.

For those who don't know, in March of 1996, several teams of climbers paid thousands of dollars to be lead up the mountain. Some of these people were experienced climbers and some weren't by any means. Krakauer falls under the "experienced" category, though he admits it had been a while since he climbed by the time he ascended Everest. It's not the ascent that proved disastrous, however, but the descent. Multiple issues arose, weather turned against them, and by the time they reached Camp 4, many of the climbers had died.

I'm not going into the full story, because that's the point of the book.

I found the book to be very well written, if not a little chaotic at points as well as stressful. Because I have some prior knowledge about the expedition, I think knowing that something bad is going to happen to the people makes it hard to read, 29 years after. I kept thinking, "Why isn't Rob [the guide] turning them around like he said?" or "How can they do this to their bodies?" Perhaps that's the sign of a good story --true or not --if you have anxiety as you're waiting for the worst to happen.

Because it's his personal account of what happened, there are missing pieces. More importantly, even with interviews with people from the expedition, Krakauer admits that there are moments that none of them can agree on how it happened. I think he does a good job at addressing this, explaining that his account may be biased but he needed to get it out of his system. After experiencing something as traumatic as the 1996 Everest expedition, I don't blame him for wanting to get everything out on paper.

He does not defend his actions --or lack of, perhaps. He doesn't hurt anyone intentionally with his story, nor does he hurt anyone intentionally on the expedition. But he does explain why he lacked in what happened. "...the actuality of what had happened --of what was still happening --began to sink in with paralyzing force," he explains in the book. "I was physically and emotionally wrecked after having just spent an hour scouring the South Col for Andy Harris; the search had left me convinced he was dead" (Krakauer, 305). He goes onto to explain that, by the time he had returned to camp, he was facing hypoxia effects and there was little to no supplemental oxygen. The only camp radio left had died.

With everything working against him, it's clear that he feels survivor's guilt for everything that happened, even if it wasn't his fault. He addresses this, and explains that it was part of why he needed to write this story.

Overall, Into Thin Air is an excellent read. If you, like me, have a morbid curiosity as to why people do things like climb Everest as well as are curious about the impacts of the tragic outcomes that can come from it, this is a great book to read. One of the other guides, Anatoli Boukreev, wrote what's essentially a counterargument against Krakauer's perspective, which I will be picking up to compare the two.

[saipharmacycollege]

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Career Prospects

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Upon completing the D Pharma course in Dehradun, students can look forward to a wide range of career options, including research and development, manufacturing, quality control, and sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. With the increasing demand for pharmaceutical professionals, the job prospects for D Pharma graduates are promising, and the salary packages are competitive. Moreover, the course also provides a strong foundation for students who wish to pursue higher education and research in pharmacy.

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[rennyji]

Solutions to Senate Hearing with Tech Execs

(UPDATE: 2/25/2024 7:17 PM - added 2 images, an Excel formula, and the starred sections at bottom, particularly last starred section)

So,

I need to establish a couple of thoughts before getting into addressing the alleged harm coming from social media.

One: One of the things I realized from my teenage interest in being a doctor, compared to my actual attempt at engineering, is that both fields require different methodologies to studying, and producing results, in a career. I believe, to a large extent, you can make a Doctor Robot. But you can't necessarily create an Engineer Robot, at least not until AI becomes more advanced. Why do I say this? A Doctor or pre-med student internalizes a database of medical knowledge. They go through documented possible scenarios in procedure/surgeries. They are essential well trained. Engineering is different because you're not trained for all possible scenarios. You have to come up with something new. You learn a subset of knowledge, to build on that, and create solutions, to be innovative. This contrasts with the medical database a Doctor/Pharmacist internalizes. Not to belittle a high paying respected profession, but if you have a gifted memory, you can match patients cases, with your internalized medical database, and output a list of possible solutions, based on what your internalized textbooks and practices say. You're almost, at least from the perspective of a Pediatrician, always coming up and treating problems that have happened before. Not the case with engineers.

Two:

In my last job, I held a job where direction was so limited, the managers turned it around to "success with navigating through ambiguity" on our yearly evaluations. One one project, what they called a SKU mapping project, I was presented with a task. Ultimately, I had to map columns from two different files to non matching text in a third file. The result had to have a SKU code and a Product Description, determined by a Brand, Flavor, what kind of pack it was (6 pack/12 pack), its weight in grams, from two other files. To add to the difficulty or the vagueness of the task, it was based on a file of 1000 rows. Because, again, the criteria was vague and the rows didn't exactly match, I couldn't use a VLookUp formula or Index/Match in Excel. I didn't want to check every row manually, and then guess, if it matched the vague text in a third file, and then jot down the corresponding SKU code. It didn't make sense to do something if "I thought" it matched. I realized in the process of implementing my solution that Excel ended up spending hours processing my spreadsheets, stating that it's "calculating" in the status bar with a percentage. I don't think, at least me, have ever seen Excel spend hours calculating how much of a spreadsheet it processed. Now the problem may sound poorly described or the task may sound poorly described, but my solution, simple as it may be was:

I copied the data from the multiple files into Excel tabs, kind of like a figurative or symbolic database. I took the columns that needed to be "seen" and "determined" (based on vague criteria), in this case: Brand, Flavor, Pack size, and Weight in grams (which may need to be converted to grams)

I took the text from those aforementioned columns and put them in rows with wild card searchable characters like the asterisk or question mark.

Every column in the top half of the file (with the exception of the first two columns: A+B), from C onwards, listed the various products at my company, with its text broken into the rows below.

Columns A+B listed the mapping output data that I needed to produce. I formed a list form the aforementioned third file and I listed it out. It contained a Product Description that I was going to search the keywords for, and the corresponding mapping SKU Codes.

Now based on the search criteria in columns C and onwards, if the descriptions in Columns A+B contained keywords, from Columns C and onwards, the intersecting row or cell would add a 1. If no match was detected, it would assign a 0.

Whichever cell had the highest value, based on again, the vague criteria preventing a simple VLookup, was assigned the SKU code to the product description not worded perfectly, but matched closely enough.

-the image shows creating count of searchable terms (listed topRight) in Microsoft Excel & adding aCount ofHits 2 description, on leftHandSide.Along w/help of Name Manager in Excel, I calculated&checked everything in2 1 cell w/formula: =SUM(COUNTIFS($C28,INDIRECT(G$1)))

- with regards to last two tweets, I'm talking about doing this with images on a bigger scale. need a lot of computational power though.

---

So I mentioned points 1 and 2 above. Now, I read the articles on Google News and followed the Senate Hearing of the Tech Execs on CNN on January 31 up until 3 PM.

But how much is the tech execs fault?

On kids spending time on these apps. Things like Likes and immediate results can increase dopamine and continued interest on the platforms. After writing these things, I noticed my mind is active and I need to wait for it to reach a quiet level. That's the onus of the children and their parents, not the tech execs.

On self image, increases in anorexia/bulemia, kids killing themselves over their kids envy of their peers...that again is the onus of users of social media. There is a bigger problem. Kids are now impulsive and have no restraint. If your friend is prettier than your own self perception, that's something that person needs to work on, by changing themselves or adjust their perception.

On drugs, you probably shouldn't buy any kind of medication, whatever you're trying to treat-pain killer or not-from social media, in place of CVS or Rite Aid or even Amazon. That's education that needs to come from parents, common wisdom. Everyone knows you don't walk in front of a moving car. Likewise, it should be common knowledge not to buy any drug (medicinal/recreational) from social media. Does it even make sense? It like people knowing they need to be careful when operating off "Craigs List" - common accepted knowledge. THIS IS THE BIG ONE WHERE SOLUTIONS NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED. NUMBER FOUR.

On child predators, disinformation about Bin L*den and such, Revenge porn, or children posting salacious pictures of themselves of their peers, companies like Facebook already have troves of data. That existing data and pictures of what counts as genitals and other inappropriate things should fed into a private Facebook server like a dictionary for the machine. Image recognition, not to be funny or inappropriate, should know which curves or spaces are - I'm sorry has to be said - breasts or cleavage. And the detections, kind of like my Excel detection, should keep a count of the number of "Flags" raised on posted content, and it should be matched with different age groups. It really boils down to if/else logic statements and some for loops for checking. If the total count for a particular age group is too high, the content should be removed, and if their parents are listed, they need to be emailed about the matter. "The total count of flags raised" for what's appropriate should be different for different age groups. Little girls shouldn't show off their chests, and if skin is detected in a "particular region" of a picture, that needs to be automatically removed through AI, and their parents contacted. It can all be automated.

iphoneImageDetection/Arkose Challenge IDverify showItsPossible

iphoneImageDetection/Arkose Challenge IDverify showItsPossible Conversely, and not to express one view or another on this, college woman or woman at a party dressed in skimpy dress, posting themselves on Facebook, should also have pictures scanned by Facebook with Image Recognition, but ALLOWED if their age defined is that of a consenting adult. For people basically saying on social media, "Hey man, you want to buy Fentanyl from me?!", that kind of text should be matched with all the forms and slang of Fentayl, all the ways that question can be asked, and removed from Facebook postings if their is a match or if the total flag count raised is too high. On questionable people contacting your kids for whatever ill intent, parents need to educate their kids. My parents told me, growing up, go Trick or Treating, but don't eat the candy. You never know what people might put in it or do to it or how old it is. Parents need to make clear, don't talk to strangers in reality and in virtual reality. The high flag count search result method should also be used with a Facebook user's postings and photo uploads. Once it crosses a threshold of indecency, that account should be notified as per a REVIEW. High LIKED OR VISITED content should also be REVIEWED. Creates jobs. As per the dopamine high, where the mind is over active, that comes down to limiting your time on social media, knowing yourself and how much is too much for you, and learning mind quieting techniques like the secular Relaxation Response from Dr. Herbert at Harvard. Think about your inhale when inhaling, think about your exhale as exhaling, and when you exhale, say "ONE" in your head or some meaningless monosyllable word. It's that simple. Do it for 5 min after social media use. A less aggravated mind is less likely to compound that agitation with pot/cocaine. Social Media Companies: you don't need 40,000 employees things. Just do some coding and stock up on the data that needs to be stocked up.

I mentioned point one at the top of this post about doctors because you could automate intelligent psychological advice in response to troublesome content posted. It's just taking the postings and images, interpreting the data, matching it to a database of psychological knowledge, and outputting advice. You can even make it comical. "Eat healthy, and you can look just as good as you're friend..." Free speech can still be preserved. *** Updated separately with below

When people say to social media Execs, that "your products are killing people," I'm reminded of Oxycontin from Purdue Pharma. People say that Purdue Pharma knew their drug was addictive and killing people. And they did, and in this context, their argument that people have to make responsible choices doesn't count. The drug is addicting by nature. It's a pain killer. Social media and gaming is a luxury, not a necessity. It is not a drug. Whether you watch too much tv or post, that's a choice under the supervision of individuals and people in their lives.

***

Encourage social media timeouts with a notification and meditate!

Overactive after going through Facebook, X, Instagram? Try doing the Relaxation Response from Dr. Herbert- Harvard. Set aside 5 min, do a conscious inhale, hold breath for 2 secs, do a conscious exhale, followed with saying a meaningless word like "One" in your head. Repeat.

*** Social Media companies need to have 800 numbers to report users and posts for parents and children. It's not enough with just an email or chat. Opportunity for jobs.

******* Can take computation load of calculating threshold with a mix of server side and client side programming or a browser plugin or some framework like old Java framework download or .net installer for c# programming. Someone logins into something like Facebook, they’re asked to download plugin or can’t login. Or, just pure server side/client side programming where before contentious pic or video clip uploaded, image recognition threshold counter scans and verifies upload of post. Should be easy with racey text.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with aka "Jake"

aka "Jake" has 83 stories at Gossamer, but don't miss her website for fics because a number of them come with cover images and/or illustrations you can't see at Gossamer. She's written some of the most epic and well-known stories in the fandom, including Abaddon's Reign and The Mastodon Diaries. Big thanks to aka "Jake" for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

It does surprise me! It just goes to show the series has amazing staying power and there are many excellent writers in the fandom who were able to capture the essence of Mulder and Scully and expand on XF canon every bit as successfully as the writers of the TV show. Some even more so.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

Like any online community, there were upsides and downsides. But what impressed me most were the lasting friendships that spilled into real life. Overall, the folks I encountered in the fandom were kind, helpful, talented, and inspiring. I’m still in contact with many of them and even meet up regularly with a couple of people who I consider my closest friends now, though we live far apart. Readers could be especially encouraging, poking authors with virtual sticks to get them to write more and faster. An amazing group called the Mastoholics formed to spur me on while I was posting The Mastodon Diaries as a work in progress. Several of them traveled to my house for a mini-con after the story was finished. Other folks called betas provided invaluable editing advice to authors. I was lucky to have several very good ones, but especially appreciated mimic117 and xdksfan. They went beyond proofreading; they pointed out confusing passages, missing plot points, and anything that seemed OOC (out of character). This polishing was a vital step before posting. To think they did it for nothing but the love of fanfic. It was a considerable time commitment.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

There were several key sites for posting and discussing fic when I started writing in 1997. These included Ephemeral, Gossamer, and Haven. Several sites issued writing challenges, like Haven, The Project, and The Church of X. Others gave out awards, like P1013 [Lilydale note: short for Prometheus1013] and the Spookys. I Made This! Productions invited authors, including me, to write episodes for virtual seasons of the show. I recall joining a couple of listservs early on, too.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Overall, it was an uplifting experience. My writing improved tremendously thanks to honest feedback and several key collaborations, particularly with co-authors Brandon D. Ray and the Secret Squirrels. I’d never written anything longer than an office memo when I started my first fic. I had nowhere to go but up. These gifted and generous authors helped me grow as a writer. Collaborating with them made the experience of writing even more creative, exciting, and special.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

The first episode I watched was The Field Where I Died. It hooked me immediately. Back then, there was no way to go back and watch the earlier episodes. It wasn’t until several years later I was finally able to watch the first 3 seasons on DVDs.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I stumbled upon Ephemeral where I read a fic called Acadia by RivkaT, which was set in Acadia National Park in Maine. If I recall correctly, it was a casefile with an emphasis on Mulder and Scully’s relationship. It felt like an episode of the show. I was thrilled to find a seemingly endless supply of XF stories that allowed me to extend my enjoyment of the TV series. It wasn’t long before I considered writing a story myself, a case file, although as mentioned above, I had no previous writing experience, just the desire to write down and share my ideas about Mulder and Scully.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

I haven’t been active in the fandom for quite some time. I have no idea where writers post or readers go to find fic. That said, to keep my mind off the pandemic and other disheartening news this year, I began writing a new fic, which I plan to add to my site in September.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

No, I never joined any other fandoms.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Sadly, no fictional characters have captured my heart and attention the way Mulder and Scully did.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Yes, I do still watch XF. Before Seasons 10-11 aired, I rewatched the entire series and both movies. I enjoy the stories as much now as I did back in the day.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

No, not for ages. I’ve never read any stories from other fandoms.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

There are so many great authors and I’m hesitant to name them for fear of leaving someone out and hurting their feelings. Like a lot of fic writers, I was inspired by Prufrock’s Love beautiful way with words. Mountainphile wrote taut, realistic case files that I admired. David Hearne took on unique perspectives. To name just three.

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

I think my best writing may be in my long, post-col story Abaddon’s Reign. The story I most enjoyed writing was The Case of the Exuberant G-Man. It was a fun story that seemed to write itself.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

As mentioned above, I’m finishing up a new fic now and plan to post it on my site on or near the anniversary of the airdate of Season 1’s episode Squeeze. My story takes place in 2023, 30 years after Eugene Tooms was mangled to death in an elevator. I wanted to explore the idea of Tooms returning. How would that be possible? And what would Mulder’s and Scully’s lives be like five years after losing their son at the hands of CGB Spender and learning Scully was pregnant once again? I honestly thought I’d never write another fic but here we are.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Often from the unanswered questions left by the show, the off-screen scenes we didn’t get to see.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

The majority, no. Years ago, I told my sister I was writing XF fanfic and she looked at me like I’d grown two heads. We didn’t speak of it again. More recently, my sister-in-law discovered my work. She’s a big XF fan and still reads fanfic, so her reaction was very accepting. Back in the early days, fanfic wasn’t considered serious writing and had a pretty bad reputation, which honestly didn’t jibe with the truly fine quality of some of the writing in the fandom. Sure, it wasn’t all good but there were some real gems.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

All of my stories are on my site at akajake.net.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Just that I’m pleased there are folks like you who are helping to continue the tradition and fun! Thank you for interviewing me and giving me the opportunity to stroll down memory lane.

(Posted by Lilydale on September 1, 2020)

[shinygoku]

Top 10 CSatM Episodes (1/2)

Ahhh, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons...! Probably only Second to Thunderbirds when it comes to the most popular and beloved Supermarination programme, with only Stingray able to compete for that coveted Silver Medal. But for me, it’s my Favourite!

I could go on and on about it, but for now I’ll go over my personal picks for a Top 10, which may give some insight into what about the way the series ticks makes it so enthralling.

Without further ado, let’s jump in! I’m not ordering them by preference, but rather the Episode order as I watched them on my DVDs (tediously the ep listings never seem to be consistent :T) Spoilers for all eps covered! ✂

Winged Assassin

Starting off my Favourites is the 2nd episode of the whole show, featuring a good condensed version of the events of Ep 1 if ya missed it and probably the best explanation on the workings of Retrometabolism that canon media is ever gonna grant us. The plot is fairly straightforward, but what elevates this is the aforementioned Exposition, which feels more organic than it did last episode, the interactions between Scarlet and Blue, and even the shocking twist at the ending, where the mission that had been going so well falls at the very last hurdle, in spite of Spectrum’s best efforts.

One of the most chilling visuals in the series is a surfaced shard of a downed passenger plane floating up from the sea, before the camera pans out to show the duplicated plane flying through the air, and another dark shot later on, of Scarlet’s limp hand with blood running down after he died in the effort to prevent the massive explosion that occurs regardless.

Winged Assassin sets a lot of standards of things to follow; traits like massive collateral damage just as part of the Mysteron’s grander scheme, the close partnership of Scarlet and Blue, Scarlet’s seldom used Sixth Sense and even the occasional downer ending, where the Mysterons manage to sneak a victory in and actually kill or destroy their stated target.

White as Snow

This episode shines a very interesting light on the dynamics between Col. White and Scarlet. It’s obviously one of a superior giving orders most of the time, but in a twist from the somewhat strict nature of Jeff Tracy over his sons who show respect to their father by not arguing back, with these two there’s actually the occassional spark of friction, that Scarlet will voice when he doesn’t like the commands and will only reluctantly go through the motions in the situation. I’m referring mostly to the first Mysteron attack, where a satellite is on a collision course with Cloudbase, but Scarlet unsubtly opposes the plan as there’s the possibility of innocent people on board who would get killed if Spectrum shot it down first. However, he’s overruled... and it turns out that it was indeed a trap, the people on board had been exploded hours ago and what was shot down was a Replicant copy. And that’s just the first half of the episode! But I find it interesting that again, back in Thunderbirds, the call to not remotely destroy something like that on the offchance it was populated would be the Correct course of action, but in this show pragmatism is needed, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Anyway, the episode has another Mysteron attack aboard a submarine, with plenty of tension... but yet, there’s something of a comedic bend to the episode, such as a furious White shouting at the currently dead Scarlet, much to the Naval crew’s confusion, and the scene at the end which I’ve taken the picture from. The weakest part of the episode is probably Blue in charge of Cloudbase, as he doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing and I feel they coulda done more with him. Oh well! At least we got the fantastic music insert, which is also titled White as Snow.

Operation Time

Probably ranking in my Top 3, Operation Time is pretty remarkably both one of the most tension filled... yet an extremely funny episode. I guess some of that’s just due to my own odd sense of humour, though some moments are clearly intentional. Both the operation scenes, the Mysteron’s pursuit of the Doctor, and finally Spectrum chasing the Mysteron!Doctor are all played very suspensefully, and I find myself holding my breath. But then the funny scenes, like everything with Magenta and how hilariously pissy and unsubtle the Fake!Doctor gets leave me in stitches! [pun unintended lol]

I dunno, maybe some of the amusement effect is enhanced by the strong contrast between the scenes. Also we get a very grisly death for the Fake!Doctor and this episode establishes weaknesses for the Mysterons that will come up in future instalments. There’s a lot this ep has to offer, even something of an insight into 60′s medicine (though the series is set in 2068). While an extremely minor point, both the scenes with operations have the pssssshh.....fsssssshhhh sound that I associate with ventilators even though they ain’t being used, what’s up with that? But it’s another thing to add to the Atmosphere so s’all good, man.

Odd that I can’t think of much else to put here, I love it so much but maybe it’s so solid in the couple of things it does that’s all there really is to say? I’m feeling frustrated at how I don’t seem to have written enough for it, but trust me when I say it’s excellent and that it’s absolutely a Must Watch if you’re giving the series a look. (Though again, I’m spoiling each ep covered so uhh... read at your own risk if you’re using this to judge it!)

The Heart of New York

An interesting tale that I’ve actually Heard more than I’ve watched, as the audio adaptation is a free sample on the official Gerry Anderson site! [At least at the time of writing lmao, it’s worth a look anyway. This message was not paid for.]

This story is somewhat unique in that the Mysterons’ plan is pretty tame by their standards. They want to blow up... a Bank. Sure, it contributes to the long game they play, causing disruption and destruction, but compared to the casual massive collateral damage they inflict as part of a more focused murder attempt (again, see Winged Assassin and the passenger plane) this is small potatoes. But still, they end up feeling more moral in this episode than the actual ne’er do wells, a trio of would-be Robbers. These guys are pretty assholish, deliberately using the horrible cosmic war that’s already taken lives in the triple digits to hide behind while they take their pickings from a vault. Captain Black locking these morons in with the explosives feels like poetic justice, that they really did get what they wanted and are punished in kind.

Maybe this feeds the Mysteron’s point, that humans are aggressive, corrupt and selfish... though Colonel White challenges this view at the end of the episode, stating the robbers aren’t indicative of humanity as a whole. The whole shebang is a lot like The Twilight Zone, honestly. All we need is Rod Serling to open and close the episode...

Point 783

This episode is a bit harder to go into depth on, to be honest, it’s not one with a particular gimmic that makes it more memorable, but it’s a very solid ep all the same. There’s still a fair few layers that keep me thinking, like how it seems one of the Methane Trunk drivers had seemingly been Mysterionised offscreen to enable the Mysteron’s main pawns to me made. Then the first attempt to kill the Supreme Commander is thwarted by Scarlet’s (somewhat inconsistant) Mysteron Sense and perspex tubes that take their sweet time to descend and don’t even prioritise the actual target lol

Anyway, the meat of the episode is focused on the guest vehicle, the Unitron implacable unmanned Tank that can be controlled remotely by human operator or programmed to destroy something particular, and it will not stop or slow down no matter what’s thrown at it. Something something Proto-Drone Warfare commentary. The Mysterons’ last big attempt to assassinate today’s dude has one of their Mysterionised guys from earlier become the target, unknown to everyone else until he draws his gun inside the SPV (who even points out the 6th sense didn’t activate!). Scarlet gets shot 3 times but manages to eject himself and the Supreme Commander, which leads to the above scene, which offers a nice, human response.

Mr Supreme Commander later chews Blue out as it emerges instead of Scarlet going to a Hospital within 10 minutes, Spectrum insisted on waiting for one of their Helicopters to pick him up, which took 3 hours. Poor Blue has to try reassuring the army guys that Scarlet will be fine, truuuuust hiiiim. It makes me wonder if Spectrum is making things easier or harder overall by keeping his Retrometabolism under their hats, though I can understand they’d have reservations, but just trying to gloss over it with a ‘no no, it’s fine, he’ll get better.’ type answer doesn’t seem all that convincing. But I enjoy that it’s semi challenged here. And this episode summary ended up longer than expected cause all the Thinking I’ve done, haha!

=======

This has gotten a lot longer than expected and will be Two Parts! Find the second half here~

[didanawisgi]

Anatomy of a Sheepdog

Book Excerpt; Grossman, D., with Christensen, L., On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, WSG Research Publications, 2004.

​Reprinted countless times. Feel free to distribute as long as you attribute Lt. Col. Dave Grossman as the author and that it is an excerpt from his book, On Combat.

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs (From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)

“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?” - William J. Bennett In a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

“One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million. Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators. “Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial. “Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” Or, as a sign in one California law enforcement agency put it, “We intimidate those who intimidate others.” If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath–a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed. The gift of aggression

“What goes on around you… compares little with what goes on inside you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone has been given a gift in life. Some people have a gift for science and some have a flair for art. And warriors have been given the gift of aggression. They would no more misuse this gift than a doctor would misuse his healing arts, but they yearn for the opportunity to use their gift to help others. These people, the ones who have been blessed with the gift of aggression and a love for others, are our sheepdogs. These are our warriors. One career police officer wrote to me about this after attending one of my Bulletproof Mind training sessions: “I want to say thank you for finally shedding some light on why it is that I can do what I do. I always knew why I did it. I love my [citizens], even the bad ones, and had a talent that I could return to my community. I just couldn’t put my finger on why I could wade through the chaos, the gore, the sadness, if given a chance try to make it all better, and walk right out the other side.” Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed, and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence than by school fires, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial. The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.” Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. As Kipling said in his poem about “Tommy” the British soldier:

While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be'ind,” But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind, There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind, O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001, when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference. While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory acts of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself. However, when there were cues given by potential victims that indicated they would not go easily, the cons said that they would walk away. If the cons sensed that the target was a “counter-predator,” that is, a sheepdog, they would leave him alone unless there was no other choice but to engage. One police officer told me that he rode a commuter train to work each day. One day, as was his usual, he was standing in the crowded car, dressed in blue jeans, T-shirt and jacket, holding onto a pole and reading a paperback. At one of the stops, two street toughs boarded, shouting and cursing and doing every obnoxious thing possible to intimidate the other riders. The officer continued to read his book, though he kept a watchful eye on the two punks as they strolled along the aisle making comments to female passengers, and banging shoulders with men as they passed. As they approached the officer, he lowered his novel and made eye contact with them. “You got a problem, man?” one of the IQ-challenged punks asked. “You think you’re tough, or somethin’?” the other asked, obviously offended that this one was not shirking away from them. “As a matter of fact, I am tough,” the officer said, calmly and with a steady gaze. The two looked at him for a long moment, and then without saying a word, turned and moved back down the aisle to continue their taunting of the other passengers, the sheep. Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs. Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers–athletes, business people and parents–from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground. “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” - Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door. For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to slaughter you and your loved ones. I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a police officer he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down 14 people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?” Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?” The warrior must cleanse denial from his thinking. Coach Bob Lindsey, a renowned law enforcement trainer, says that warriors must practice “when/then” thinking, not “if/when.” Instead of saying,“If it happens then I will take action,” the warrior says, “When it happens then I will be ready.” It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up. Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: You didn’t bring your gun; you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by fear, helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth. Chuck Yeager, the famous test pilot and first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, says that he knew he could die. There was no denial for him. He did not allow himself the luxury of denial. This acceptance of reality can cause fear, but it is a healthy, controlled fear that will keep you alive:

“I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.” - Brigadier General Chuck Yeager Yeager, An Autobiography

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation:

“..denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling. Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.”

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7 for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself… “Baa.” This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-grass sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.”

[cuorepietoso]

-010. il nono

no trigger warnings.

Overview:

     The 9º Reggimento d'Assalto Paracadutisti (9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment) Col Moschin is considered a Special Forces unit of the Italian Army due to the arduous training which members must undertake. The Col Moschin, also referred to as “il nono”, has been involved in numerous military and anti-terror operations all over the world, and is roughly comparable to the British SAS in size, operation, and quality. Approximately 300 members go through arduous, specialized training in mountainous, wooded, desert, and amphibious terrain for two or more years before their enrollment in the force. Il nono specializes in operating outside of military support and far from friendly lines, often conducting operations in guerilla warfare, counterterrorism, and VIP protection.

     An il nono fireteam usually numbers about five to six soldiers, and contains an Incursor with a Combat Medic specialization, a Breacher (explosives handling), an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) Specialist, an Intelligence Officer, and one to two Snipers.

Fireteam Dumbfuck:

     Battista’s squad consisted of six people to his fireteam, their commanding officer being Colonel Maximo Bianchi, and their executive officer being Captain Flavio Lombardi. Those two rarely, if ever, went out on actual assignments with the core fireteam, because they were technically in charge of multiple fireteams at once and didn’t often partake in combat roles. The next highest rank belonged to Alessio Rossi, a Lieutenant, as he was the fireteam’s intelligence officer. Battista Tahan, Achille Mancini, and Mauro Moretti were considered NCOs, or noncommissioned officers, with Tahan and Mancini's rank of Ordinary Marshall coming slightly higher than Mancini’s rank of Sergeant. Savio Balotelli and Nico Marchesi are of the lowest rank, Corporal-Major, which is just considered to be Enlisted.

     NCOs are enlisted soldiers with specific skills and duties such as training, recruiting, tech or military policing, and often supervise lower ranks to ensure assignments are done properly. Officers are essentially management-- they give NCOs and lower ranks their missions, their assignments and their orders. Cooperation between the two groups is important in planning and carrying out operations.

     Though Rossi technically outranked him, because his role and training was mainly in intelligence gathering, Battista typically took command of the fireteam in the field because of his practical experience. They all took orders from Bianchi and Lomnardi.

Col Moschin 2 yr training: src. 

3 weeks of intense physical and mental testing

5 months OBOS – Operatore Basico Operazioni Speciali

23 weeks - Special Forces Combat Course, two weeks of which is purely lecture and three weeks of which is considered “torture”, the rest of which is explosives and combat medicine training, etc.

5 weeks - Advanced Combat Course, which expands on concepts learned in the prior SFCC courses.

Year 2 - Acclimatization training: ski+mountaineering, high and low altitude parachuting, amphibian warfare and combat diving courses.

Close quarters combat training: IMA (italian martial arts), knives, unarmed

6-Man Cell:

Mammone (Momma’s Boy) AKA Maresciallo Ordinario Mancini, Achille Born 1984. Active Duty 2002 - Present

Battista and Achille went through training for the Col Moschin together, all two years. They were bunkmates, and assigned to the same squad upon graduation. Achille stands at an even six feet tall, rather bulky, dark haired with a deep tan and a heavy Neapolitan accent. He specialized in EOD, diffusing bombs and IEDs and safely disposing of them, and the pair of them often studied together and quizzed each other while they were learning for their respective fields. They were never particularly friendly, always just the slightest bit antagonistic toward one another-- clashing personalities, or perhaps they were just too competitive with each other. These things happen. But they functioned incredibly well as a team, characterized by a fierce protectiveness and loyalty, and their relationship could be considered brotherly.

Mannaggia (Damn!) AKA Tenente Rossi, Alessio Born 1988. Active Duty 2006 - KIA 2016

Alessio Rossi was assigned to the unit in 2010 when they were briefly stationed in Pfullendorf, Germany for further training. Relatively tanned and russet-haired, sharp features, lean muscled and 5’11”, he tended to excel more in mental pursuits than physical, in comparison to the average soldier on their squad (he was a good runner, though--fast. Probably from chasing all of his younger siblings around for eighteen years). Hailing from Taranto, a fishing town in the deep south of Italy, left him deeply Catholic and almost incomprehensible when speaking to non-native Italians-- luckily, he had a variety of other languages under his belt. He was a Human Intelligence Officer, which put him in charge of gathering intel, as well as handling informants and, occasionally, interrogations. Battista and Alessio swiftly grew nearly inseparable, well known in their unit for being completely in each other's pockets.

Rana (Frog) AKA Caporale Maggiore Capo Balotelli, Savio Born 1985. Active Duty 2003 - Present

Savio Balotelli joined the team in 2010, later in the year than Rossi. He’s approximately 5’8”, stocky, red haired and fair-skinned. He hails from Turin, in the Piedmont region, and has a deeply thoughtful, gentle air about him. Savio was one of the team’s two snipers, the younger of the pair, and well known for having eyes as sharp as a hawk, and little to no brain to mouth filter. Battista and he got along very well, often exchanging cigarettes, jokes, pranks, advice, and making up increasingly elaborate “secret” handshakes in an effort to irritate the rest of their teammates. Savio and Mauro were considered inseparable, and one of the greater sniper teams in the Col Moschin, where they often switched between shooter and spotter.

Brutto (Ugly) AKA Caporale Maggiore Marchesi, Nico Born 1980. Active Duty 1998 - Retired 2018

Nico Marchesi worked with Mauro Moretti for almost a decade before the rest of the dream team joined, and he specialized in Breaching: blowing up walls, doors, and windows, when one needs to get inside a building without any necessity for stealth.  Nico is from Rome, standing at a little over six feet tall and broad-shouldered, with black hair and a rare smile. He was known for being rather taciturn and acting without thinking much about it, and was denied promotions because of both his lack of leadership skills and his bullheadedness- which suited him just fine. Nico and Battista often sparred with one another, because they were perhaps the two most competitive people on the squad.

Rospo (Toad) AKA Sergente Maggiore Capo Moretti, Mauro Born 1970. Active Duty 1980 - Retired 2016.

Mauro Moretti was the longest-standing member of the squad, directly involved with work for the Col Moschin for almost twenty five years by the time he retired. He was the team’s other sniper, a hard-mouthed career military man, quiet but always willing to lend a listening ear and some gruff advice. He’s nearly six and a half feet tall, dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyed, and in Battista’s memory of him he’s almost constantly smoking menthol cigarettes. He’d been born on a farm outside of Florence, had three daughters and a wife, and he retired there too, shortly after Battista’s medical discharge. Mauro looked out for everyone in the squad in his silent, fatherly way, and he and Battista often talked about art, and family.

Tombarolo (Graverobber) AKA Maresciallo Ordinario Tahan, Battista Born 1986. Active Duty 2004 - Medical Discharge 2016.

The motherfucker we all know and love. Battista was well known in the entirety of the Col Moschin for being a fair-minded, albeit demanding leader, as well as a talented combat medic with a penchant for mischief. Modern day combat medics function as regular infantry until there are casualties, and they rarely wear the red cross patches because it often makes them a target. When not in combat settings, they often assist Doctors in infirmary clinics, performing checkups and looking after the health of their comrades.

[lupinepublishers]

Lupine Publishers- Journal of Cardiology Research

Abstract

Introduction and objective: The 20 Meter Shuttle Run Test (20mSRT) is a cardiorespiratory fitness test that measures maximal aerobic power and indirectly maximum oxygen consumption; which, the larger it is, the greater the capacity of that organism to produce energy through aerobic metabolism. The objective was to compare the aerobic capacity and cardiopulmonary response of university students in Puebla, Mexico against university students in Cúcuta, Colombia.

Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study with 2 groups of 100 participants of average age of 20.5±3 and 21±2 years for Mexicans and Colombians respectively. Anthropometry, vital signs, climatic conditions and the 20mSRT test were obtained. In addition, it was analyzed by means of the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test and then ANOVA with post hoc test using the Scheffe test.

Results: 56% (62% Mex and 50.5% Col.) Of the participants had a BMI of normal weight, 9.5% (7% Mex and 6% Col.) Underweight and for overweight and obesity was 26% (28% Mex and 24% Col.) And 8.5% (9% Mex. And 8% Col.) Respectively. Regarding abdominal circumference, 93.73±11.84 and 81.37±12.20 were found for Mexican and Colombian university students, respectively. The VO2max. in the Mexican university students it was 34.7±6.06 with 672.8±385.4 meters and in the Colombian universities it was 32.9±7.12 with 533.8±371.3 meters.

Conclusion: No significant differences were found in BMI (p=0.967), abdominal circumference (p=0.258), VO2max. (p=0.089) nor hemodynamic variables such as maximum heart rate (p=0.344), arterial oxygen saturation (p=0.811), TAS (p=0.945) and TAD (p=0.597) post test. In both groups, the results of aerobic capacity were below the “Good” or “Excellent” aerobic capacity

Keywords:  Maximum oxygen volume; Leger test; Stress test; Aerobic capacity

Introduction

Childhood and adolescence are key stages to promote healthy lifestyles, such as the increase of physical activity and the improvement of physical condition [1]; Now, we now find that sedentary lifestyle, the high consumption of energy-rich foods, rich in saturated fats and sugars, represent the lifestyles of a large part of the student population [2]. In this sense, the lack of physical activity and the acquisition of an unhealthy diet are two clear components of risk to develop cardiovascular diseases, being considered as one of the main public health problems of the 21st century [3-5]. And not only for older people but also in young adults who, due to the increase in their bad habits, increase the probability of cardiovascular diseases in the early stages. A factor intimately linked to the level of exercise and/or physical activity is the state of physical condition, which is an integrated measure of all the functions and structures that intervene in the performance of physical-sporting activities [6,7]. The physical condition includes a set of physical qualities such as aerobic capacity (AC), strength, muscle endurance, mobility, joint range, speed of movement,  agility, coordination, balance and body composition; being the aerobic capacity, one of the most important qualities of the physical condition in relation to health [8-11]. In turn, we can say that aerobic capacity is the most studied component of the physical condition related to health and, in turn, represents one of the most important qualities of physical condition related to health, since it constitutes a direct measure of the general degree of health and specifically the state of the cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic system [12,13].

In addition, it is inversely associated with different health parameters in young people, such as the lipid profile, insulin resistance, lean mass, parameters related to metabolic syndromes and arterial resistance [14-16]. One of the most used tests to determine aerobic capacity is the 20 Meter Shuttle Run Test (20mSRT) or also known as the Leger Test. Highlighting that in a research conducted in Colombia showed that after the 20mSRT test the aerobic capacity of university students was determined and no significant differences were found in the percentage of fat (p=0.863), muscle (p=0.740) and water (p=0.804) of the participants. However, there were significant changes in heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, red blood cells, white blood cells, lymphocytes, hemoglobin, platelets and glycemia (p=0.000). Regarding VO2max. (p=0.597) and meters traveled (p=0.619) no differences were found according to gender [17]. That said, the great importance of knowing and intervening the aerobic capacity of young people is recognized; however, the systematic review conducted by Gonzales G. Zurita F. San Roman S. (2018) It shows that “The number of articles that face the analysis or treatment focused on aerobic capacity as an essential quality of the physical condition and main indicator of health in students, are scarce in comparison with the total production referring to the subject of study, which focuses on sports populations” [2]. That is why the present research is generated in international cooperation to compare and determine the aerobic capacity and cardiopulmonary response to the Leger Test in university students in Mexico and Colombia.

Materials and Methods

Subjects

An experimental study was created in which 200 adult students collaborated. The population was chosen randomly, being all the individuals chosen for being Physiotherapy students in the city of Cúcuta (Colombia) and Puebla (Mexico) of the same socioeconomic level. The students collaborated voluntarily after having received in detail the objective and repercussions of the research. The written informed consent of the participants was obtained. The population was divided indifferently into 2 groups of 100 students (H:43 - M:57 from Colombia and H:22 - M:78 from Mexico), each group with the participation of both sexes between ages 18 to 25 years of age. age, with an average age for Colombians of 21.06±2.43 and Mexicans of 20.5±3.

Measurements

The personal data of each of the students was taken first through a series of fixed questions and mandatory completion. Then, continuing with the taking of anthropometric measurements: The Adult Acrylic Halter Wall Kramer 2104 was used for the size, asking the student to stand with his head on the Frankfort plane. The dyspnea felt and the effort were evaluated by means of the modified Borg scale pre and post test. Aerobic capacity (VO2max) was measured indirectly by Leger’s formula (Léger, Mercier, Gadoury, & Lambert, 1988), through the results of a maximal test whose interpretation was based on Pernia’s study and the Castillo [18] (Table 1). The test that was used was the 20 Meter Shuttle Run Test (20mSRT) [19]. This test allows assessing the maximum CA of adolescents, being their objectivity, reliability and validity demonstrated in young people [20]. The test is of maximum incremental character and consists of running between two lines 20m following the rhythm that marks the 20mSRT protocol; The initial speed is 8.5 km/h and increases 0.5km/h every minute.

Table 1:  Aerobic capacity in relation to indirect Vo2.

The students were given clear instructions on how to perform the test. All the students carried out the test personally in an open field with suitable climatic conditions and adjusted by the researchers themselves and at the same time (between 08:00 and 11:00 am). The adolescents were advised to limit themselves to carrying out exhausting exercise 24 hours prior to the test. Similarly avoid smoking, drink or ingest any type of drug or medication that could alter their vital signs or performance before the test. Therefore, vital signs were taken pre and post test to follow each of the participants. The heart rate was carried out manually and confirmed with the Nellcor Puritan Bennett pulse oximeter, which was also useful in assessing arterial oxygen saturation. Blood pressure was obtained manually at the beginning, end and after 5 minutes after completing the stress test.

Geographic and atmospheric conditions

The investigation had 2 groups of which; Group I conducted the investigation in Cúcuta, Colombia at an altitude of 320 meters above sea level; whose geographic coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes are: Latitude: 7°53.6346’ N and longitude: 72°30.4692’ W. With a temperature during the tests in ranges of 24 to 32°C. For group 2 it was in Puebla, Mexico at an altitude of 2,135 meters above sea level. With latitude coordinates: 32°33.9924’ N and longitude: 115°21.204’ W; whose environmental temperature during the tests was between 12 to 16°C.

Statistic analysis

The figures of the multiple values are shown as mean and standard deviation. To compare the variables with respect to gender, the Welch test was used after verifying the normality of the variables studied. To perform the comparison between groups, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test and then ANOVA were used. In all the results obtained, multiple post-hoc comparisons were made using the Scheffe test. All data were analyzed using the statistical program SPSS. The level of significance was 5% for all analyzes. The design and development of the research was carried out under the ethical considerations of each country against the recommendations of the Ministry of Health of Colombia and Mexico as research.

Results

100% of the sample (n=200) were university students where 50% were university students from the first country and the remaining one from the second. From the anthropometric point of view, there were no significant differences when relating the Z score of the Body Mass Index (BMI) (Colombia 23.83±4.40 vs. Mexico 23.77±4.25, p=0.159) ; which allowed grouping the sample in underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity, presenting higher percentages in young Mexicans in the underweight categories (7% vs 6%), overweight (28% vs 24%) and obesity (9% vs 8%); As in the abdominal circumference values (93.73±11.84 vs 81.37±12.20, p=0.258). Participants in Colombia demonstrated a higher level of normal weight (62% vs. 56%) than that found in Mexico (Table 2).

Table 2:  Characteristics of the population.

Th

e chronotropic response was greater in the group of Mexicans both in pre and post test. The maximum heart rate of the group of Colombians was 128.9±34.5 lpm in relation to 150.1±31.5 lpm in the group of Mexicans, p=0.344. Regarding blood pressure values, we found that Colombians increased their systolic levels by 27mmHg and 7mmHg diastolic; data very similar to those found in Mexico where the participants presented blood pressure averages of 29mmHg for systole and 5mmHg for diastole (Table 3). On the other hand, the period and speed reached in the Test were higher in the group of Mexicans. In this group, the period reached was 5, with a speed of 10.3±1.01 km/h, while Colombians reached period 4, with a speed of 9.9±1.07 km/h (Table 2). Including a higher perception of dyspnea (7.16±1.98 vs. 6.38±1.96) and fatigue (7.48±1.67 vs. 6.99±1.89) compared to the group of Mexicans. However, the VO2max of the group of Mexicans was higher compared to the group of Colombians 34.7±6.06 mL/kg-1/min-1 vs. 32.9±7.1 mL/ kg-1/min-1, p=0.089.

Table 3:  Hemodynamic variables and results in 20 Meter Shuttle Run Test.

Discussion

We know that youth and access to the university is a decisive stage that admits an important change in the individual to promote health and generate lifestyles, be they negative or positive. All of this makes this segment of the population a particularly vulnerable group from a nutritional point of view [21]. Since, the population of young adults tends to be directed towards the adoption of risky behaviors and unhealthy lifestyles [22]. These young people are at a critical stage for the development of so-called eating habits, characterized by insufficient time to eat, skipping from one meal to another, or doing it at odd hours, likewise the high consumption of fast food, among others [23]. Added to this, they present a decrease in the practice of physical activity. In addition, there has been an increase in the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption [24], affecting an adult potentially exposed to the evolution of diseases belonging to this group, such as diabetes, hypertension, overweight and metabolic síndrome [25,26]. On the other hand, physical activity in university students has also been studied. It has been found that, in countries such as Germany, 28.5% perform less than once a week. For the Latin American area, some studies have reported prevalences of sedentary lifestyle in university students from 85 to 90%. A study [27] carried out in Colombian university students found that 77% did little or no physical exercise for at least 30 minutes, often three times a week; results similar to ours with 62%. Values that to a certain extent are shown in the test performed.

Although the differences in VO2max are statistically significant, the aerobic capacity in both groups is within the “Regular” ranges. However, these findings are worrisome when contrasted with previous studies such as that of Laukkanen and collaborators, cited by Boraita [28,29], where the subjects who had a very low fitness (VO2max <27.6 mL/kg/min) and who lasted less than 8 min in a stress test, presented an r=2.76 for death of any type and a r=3.09 for cardiovascular death, evidenced by both aerobic fitness and shorter duration in tests of this type are similar risks to high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and diabetes for both outcomes. In the study conducted by Melo G. and Rueda O. (2007)29 in a sample of university students from Bucaramanga, Colombia in which the aerobic capacity was determined by means of the Mc step test. Ardle-Katch and Katch (2010) was obtained in men 51.7 ml/kg/ min-1 and in the study by Carrasco V; Martínez C; Caniuqueo A. and Díaz E. (2014) [30] it was 42.21 mL/kg-1/min-1. Likewise, that reflected by the physiotherapists García A; Pachón A; Garay P. and Santiago L. (2014) [31] who found in their results a VO2max 41.7±4 mL/kg-1/min-1. All these were much higher than those found in our sample, where the values were lower (Col: 34.7±6.06 mL/ kg-1/min-1-Mex: 32.9±7.1mL/kg-1/min-1). These results in young Colombians and Mexicans are much lower than those found in studies published in Greece [32], Turkey [33], India [34], Romania [35], Germany [36], Norway [37] and the United States [38] in young athletes. But higher than those shown in the United States with a sedentary population [39] and Croatia [40].

Conclusion

The aerobic capacity of university students in Colombia was on average lower than the group of Mexican university students. However, in both groups on average, an adequate rating of a good aerobic capacity was not obtained. Therefore, this early identification would allow to create strategies for the prevention of cardiopulmonary diseases in university life.

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[ratliffdiaz]

Common Uses of Excel for Businesses

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Pretty much all office workers and even students are familiar with Excel, the spreadsheet software that comes with the Microsoft Office Suite. If you ever need a tool that can help you input and organize data, and also do several complex calculations, then Excel is the right tool for you. It is also very easy to use since it comes with in-software tips and tutorials that help you get started.

However, Excel is more than just a home software. Millions of businesses around the world, both big and small, use Excel on a regular basis, and there are some perfectly good reasons for that. Excel can be an invaluable tool for your business, and below are some of the reasons.

Analyzing and storing big data

Excel helps you input and sort data based on criteria that you can set. This makes Excel a great asset for home computer users and a greater one for business owners. Through several tools such as charts and graphs, Excel will process data of large volumes and of a wide variety. Excel will also offer you the means to store those data in such an orderly way that it would be very easy to trace back even the most obscure strings of values.

Complex mathematical calculations

Let’s say it’s the end of the month and you have to calculate exactly the amount of money that you will need to pay for your employees. Which software should you use? Businesses will need to perform calculations like this on a daily basis, and Excel helps them streamline this process. There are other programs that can run complex calculations, but Excel can give out results very quickly, and you can reapply the calculations to another set of data easily. Doing so helps you do accurate calculations even on large volumes of data.

Highly-secured storage

If you are a business owner, you will have to go the extra mile to ensure the security of your company’s data. One false move and the precious data that you have been collecting for years could be lost in a moment’s notice! This is why Excel is such a great choice for businesses. Every Excel file can be password-encrypted to ensure that only the company’s employees will be able to access those files.

Excel also takes another step further in securing your files by allowing storage on Microsoft’s cloud system. Microsoft’s cloud storage is ultra-secure, thanks to the continual efforts of the world’s finest computer engineers. There is almost zero chance of tampering your data. Not all licenses come with cloud storage though, but if you are really concerned about the security of your data, then this is a worthy investment.

Excel is not only famous with home computer users but also with businesses around the world. Although the software is often considered outdated by some, its usefulness to your business should not be underestimated. Excel can make managing really complex big data easier, which is what a lot of dedicated tools struggle with from time to time.

Common Uses of Excel for Businesses published first on http://www.earnandexcel.com/ Common Uses of Excel for Businesses published first on http://www.earnandexcel.com/

[46ten]

The Knoxes and Hamiltons socialize with Henry Hill, 1790s style

I’m really including this as evidence of the above but am taking the opportunity to also write a bit about Henry Hill.  

Henry Hill (1732-1798) was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature during the American Revolution and one of the founders of the Bank of North America. Hill was also one of the executors of Benjamin Franklin’s estate. Based in Philadelphia, he made his wealth as a Madeira* merchant. He married Ann Meredith, daughter of the Philadelphia merchant Reese Meredith, in 1770. Washington set up his HQ at Hill’s country house (Carlton) near Germantown, PA in 1777. One can check out Hill’s Philadelphia home, now known as the Hill-Physick-Keith house.

Hill built an impressive home. [It was one block away from William Bingham’ s manor.] One need only look at the intricate fanlight, imported from England, which crowns the double doors to know that the owner was a man of social standing. Inside, the 32 rooms included a ballroom, several large bedrooms, and mirrored fireplaces made with Valley Forge marble. Unfortunately, Hill did not have long to enjoy his home. In 1798, he succumbed to Yellow Fever.  

In addition to the Hamiltons and the Knoxes and the Wolcotts, little Lucy Knox (born 1776, so at that time around 17 years old) was also at Hill’s home for supper and dancing and “making merry.” As was John and Abigails Adams’ son Thomas Boylston A. (born 1772), the author of this letter.

The old business of hunting down the secy of the Treasury has employed a considerable share of the present session, of which this is the last day— He has risen superior to all the unmanly insinuations that have been promulged against him; and it must be the ardent prayer of every honest patriot that he may still maintain his superiority. 

...A party, of whom I had the honor to make one, were invited to sup with Mr: Hill on the 1st: of March. It consisted of Col & Mrs: Hamilton; Genl & Mrs: Knox, Mr & Mrs: Wolcott, Mr: Breck & Family, Mr. & Mrs: Peters Mr: Dalton and Family & Col. Smith; the younger class, were Mr: & Mrs. G Harrison, Miss Knox Miss Patty Meredith Miss Peggy Clymer, and one or two others, beside four or six young Gentlemen; after dancing a little and making merry we were called to a splendid supper which was not a little enlivened by the presence of Judge Peters who sung one or two fine songs—the greater part of the company retired at half past eleven, and at twelve all were gone except Miss Meredith & Miss Clymer, whose carriage had not arrived; I perceived these young Ladies had come without a gallant and therefore requested permission to see them safe home. The ladies grew impatient; we were some what fatigued by dancing, and I belive, (at4 least I speak for myself) had rather more inclination for the pillow of repose, than for the company of the Graces, (including Mr. Hill) during this suspence, endeavoring to keep each other awake, we indulged in what Mr. Hill termed homely compliments, and when he made the remark he happened to address Miss Meredith. (This goes on about a misunderstanding of homely compliments and someone getting insulted over it.) Thomas Boylston Adams to Abigail Adams, 2March1793. 

Hill was also involved in the publication of a column in the Philadelphia Gazette defending AH from the charge that he believed in limiting democracy and creating a class of aristocrats (seemingly, a House of Lords) and had offered to help secure Gov Mifflin (then gov of PA) the vice-presidency if he assisted. 

*Madeira being oh-so-important to having a good time - AH wrote to the U.S. Consul of Madeira (John Pintard): “I thank you for your attention in shipping me a pipe of Madeira, which I have received, and anticipate from its excellent quality, a regale in due time to my friends and myself.” AH had also proposed that Madeira merchants get an extra nine months (compared to regular old wine merchants) to pay duties on their shipments - Hill was wise to buddy up to AH!

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Marasmus

Marasmus only has a handful of fics left at Gossamer, but you can find more X-Files fics at AO3 (as finisterre). Some of my favorites of her stories I've recced here before, including one of the most clever fics you could read, Cellphone (here at AO3), and the lovely, London-set A Candle for Katherine (here at AO3, bonus commentary at LJ). Big thanks to Marasmus for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Mine, yes, older XF in general, no — some of that stuff is amazing. Though I wonder how well fandom operates now there is not a plethora of rec sites. I know of yours and one more Tumblr blog and that’s it.  I find it really difficult to find good stories in any fandom unless someone whose taste maps to mine recommends something.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

I look back on it fondly, but it was one of the first things that really hammered it home to me that every grouping throughout life follows the pattern of school.

A lot of people are really talented and funny and kind. Then there are absolute ego-rampaging nightmares who act like lady bountiful in public but do cruel things in private, or chuck their toys out of the pram at the least provocation.

And like school, fandom brings together a disparate group of people who you’re friendly with, but once you leave, the ones you stay in touch with are your friends.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Thank God.

I watched the show pre-widespread internet and mostly when I had almost no money. I didn’t have regular internet access until the third season, and that was only at my incredibly conservative workplace. I didn’t get home internet access until midway through season six. You couldn’t download episodes easily, you couldn’t stream, you just had to wait until it aired overseas. I decided I didn’t care if I was spoiled and that worked for me. In fact for some particularly annoying episodes, I was glad.

I was a newsgroup and mailing list sort of person. Never really did message boards unless a newsgroup counts, though I had a Haven account.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Mostly, how talented people are. I know some are now professional writers, but so many people who didn’t do it as anything but a hobby were also amazing.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I always liked science fiction, oddness and urban legends, so it was kind of made for me. But it was the relationship between Mulder and Scully that kept me around, and after season six, it was the fandom that kept me around. I loved Scully in particular, cos let’s be honest, Mulder can be kind of a twerp at times.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I hung out on alt.tv.xfiles.analysis (a newsgroup), which was one of the smartest boards I’ve ever been on. The threads were full of well-read, erudite people. That led to a site which collated reviews of XF episodes. They mentioned alt.tv.xfiles.creative, and I got there the summer after Gethsemane, which was pretty optimal timing.

I’d take floppy disks into conservative workplace and quietly download the most gloriously filthy fanfic onto them for reading at home on my ancient second-hand Mac.

After that I joined Scullyfic, a mailing list, which was a lovely place to hang out for a while, and got stories through a couple of other mailing lists.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Like my relationship to ice hockey: glad that activity exists and that some people enjoy it, but not watching and not involved myself.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Reading, yes, and writing the odd bit of feedback, but any other fandom involvement didn’t really take. I’ve never found a bunch of people I liked as well as I liked some of the people in XF.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

I am usually more interested in female characters than male ones (the Doctor, Mulder and Jack O’Neill notwithstanding), which is why I only read a bit of m/m slash. I usually develop a perverse dislike for any woobie the fandom loves.  

Some favourites are: Samantha Carter and Jack O’Neill, Granny Weatherwax, Furiosa, everyone from The Good Place, Donna Noble, Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones and Yasmin Khan, Maia from The Goblin Emperor, Cordelia Naismith and Miles Vorkosigan, General Leia Organa, Rey and Finn, and lately all of The Old Guard, even Booker...

I like nerds, pining, best friends discovering feelings for each other, second chances, redemption narratives, people being sneaky for good ends and stoics who stay stoic through all kinds of misery, only to crack and start crying when they get a happy ending.

Basically, you know Eleanor at the end of the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility? That.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

No. I had about four years there where I made up stories about Mulder and Scully on any commute where I’d forgotten a book, but that’s gone now. I watched two episodes of the revival, but it wasn’t for me.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I occasionally wander in and read a bit on AO3, but nothing that deals with anything past season seven. Not interested in William, not interested in domestic fiction, not even interested in post-col any more, which was 100% my crack during XF fandom days. I did read By the Dim and Flaring Lamps [Lilydale note: by @sunflowerseedsandscience] earlier this year. Love a bit of AU historical.

I read lots of different fandoms, though I am between intense enthusiasms at the moment, which always feels a bit odd.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

Yes, but they’re all about 20 years old. Is there such a thing as fandom classics any more?  There used to be a litany of stories that ‘everyone should read’. I wonder how well they hold up now.

I think there are waves of writers who come into a fandom and then leave again: I think I was part of a second wave, with the first wave being Mustang Sally, RivkaT, Karen Rasch, Lydia Bower, Nascent etc.

Then there must’ve been a third wave for the revival (and mini-waves in between). I don’t know that group of writers, so I am probably leaving out people who are really good.

One of my favourite Scully voices is Five Years and One Night [Lilydale note: by Shalimar], because of the contrast between her inner monologue as written and how little she actually says.

I really like quieter, thoughtful authors like Michelle Kiefer, Cecily Sasserbaum, Scullysfan, Cofax, Anjou, Maria Nicole, Kipler.  Love everything Kel ever wrote.

At one point there were also about three authors called Rachel who were knockout. I like to think Rachel Howard is writing professionally because it’s a waste of talent if she’s not. Rachel Anton had a crazy gift for pacing and wrote a good Krycek.

I really liked Branwell’s strange AU novels, which riff off The Field Where I Died (a wretched episode but so much good writing came from it.) [Lilydale note: Condemned to Repeat It by Branwell is a really long story involving The Field Where I Died.]

Everyone who is reccing other people’s stuff here is also a good writer. (and their taste in recs is — mostly — excellent): http://www.thebasementoffice.com/museaxfnet/museans/TitlesAF.html

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

I like The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow. I loved trying to work out the timelines. I like the one about airships and cross-dressing which only exists on my iPhone and in my imagination right now.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

Only an AU, if ever. I am completely at sea with canon.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

In my head. Mostly AUs. Everyone has daemons! It’s an airship! They’re exploring space! It’s mediaeval Slovenia!

Most of my creativity is sucked away by work. Which is good I suppose, as writing fanfic never paid my Netflix subscription.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Reading long-form journalism and non-fiction books.  

What's the story behind your pen name?

Well, I changed mine. The first one was picked out of a magazine article about Branwell Bronte, and I liked the shape of the word. Then I got to feel uncomfortable with it because it was a real illness that made people suffer. The current one comes from the shipping forecast when I was a kid.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

No, and also absolutely not. Over my dead body. Over YOUR dead body.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I took my stories off Gossamer but I don’t remember why. They’re on AO3 now and there are probably stray copies on some archives out there.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I have made all of these mistakes. All of ‘em.

— On no account offer unsolicited concrit. In fact, do not provide concrit EVEN IF THE PERSON ASKS FOR IT, unless you know them reasonably well and it’s in private.

— Avoid the wank. If you have the perfect riposte to something awful, write it and file it to drafts for two days. If you still want to send it after that, godspeed.

— Write anything you want, and when you start keep going. You can edit later.

— Never put any story into the public sphere unless you’ve had a second pair of eyes on it, preferably the eyes of someone who is willing to say “are you SURE about that?”

Finally, just have fun. Being in the grip of love of story is a wonderful thing, and you never know how long it will last.

(Posted by Lilydale on September 29, 2020)

[didanawisgi]

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Context:

Book Excerpt; Grossman, D., with Christensen, L., On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, WSG Research Publications, 2004.

​Reprinted countless times. Feel free to distribute as long as you attribute Lt. Col. Dave Grossman as the author and that it is an excerpt from his book, On Combat.

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs (From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)

“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?” - William J. Bennett In a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

“One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million. Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators. “Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial. “Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” Or, as a sign in one California law enforcement agency put it, “We intimidate those who intimidate others.” If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath–a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed. The gift of aggression

“What goes on around you… compares little with what goes on inside you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone has been given a gift in life. Some people have a gift for science and some have a flair for art. And warriors have been given the gift of aggression. They would no more misuse this gift than a doctor would misuse his healing arts, but they yearn for the opportunity to use their gift to help others. These people, the ones who have been blessed with the gift of aggression and a love for others, are our sheepdogs. These are our warriors. One career police officer wrote to me about this after attending one of my Bulletproof Mind training sessions: “I want to say thank you for finally shedding some light on why it is that I can do what I do. I always knew why I did it. I love my [citizens], even the bad ones, and had a talent that I could return to my community. I just couldn’t put my finger on why I could wade through the chaos, the gore, the sadness, if given a chance try to make it all better, and walk right out the other side.” Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed, and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence than by school fires, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial. The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.” Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. As Kipling said in his poem about “Tommy” the British soldier:

While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be'ind,” But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind, There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind, O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001, when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference. While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory acts of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself. However, when there were cues given by potential victims that indicated they would not go easily, the cons said that they would walk away. If the cons sensed that the target was a “counter-predator,” that is, a sheepdog, they would leave him alone unless there was no other choice but to engage. One police officer told me that he rode a commuter train to work each day. One day, as was his usual, he was standing in the crowded car, dressed in blue jeans, T-shirt and jacket, holding onto a pole and reading a paperback. At one of the stops, two street toughs boarded, shouting and cursing and doing every obnoxious thing possible to intimidate the other riders. The officer continued to read his book, though he kept a watchful eye on the two punks as they strolled along the aisle making comments to female passengers, and banging shoulders with men as they passed. As they approached the officer, he lowered his novel and made eye contact with them. “You got a problem, man?” one of the IQ-challenged punks asked. “You think you’re tough, or somethin’?” the other asked, obviously offended that this one was not shirking away from them. “As a matter of fact, I am tough,” the officer said, calmly and with a steady gaze. The two looked at him for a long moment, and then without saying a word, turned and moved back down the aisle to continue their taunting of the other passengers, the sheep. Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs. Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers–athletes, business people and parents–from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground. “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” - Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door. For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to slaughter you and your loved ones. I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a police officer he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down 14 people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?” Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?” The warrior must cleanse denial from his thinking. Coach Bob Lindsey, a renowned law enforcement trainer, says that warriors must practice “when/then” thinking, not “if/when.” Instead of saying,“If it happens then I will take action,” the warrior says, “When it happens then I will be ready.” It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up. Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: You didn’t bring your gun; you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by fear, helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth. Chuck Yeager, the famous test pilot and first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, says that he knew he could die. There was no denial for him. He did not allow himself the luxury of denial. This acceptance of reality can cause fear, but it is a healthy, controlled fear that will keep you alive:

“I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.” - Brigadier General Chuck Yeager Yeager, An Autobiography

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation:

“..denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling. Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.”

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7 for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself… “Baa.” This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-grass sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.”

[veworao]

Openoffice conditional formatting and

Note: links to a row are absolute links to a cell are mixed (only the column is fixed). The order of filling in the formatting conditions for «Completed projects». Choose a formula as the type of condition. Click «Highlight Cells Rules»-«New Rule». Select the range containing the table values A2:D12. For the completed projects' data («Completed»), the green fill in color should be applied. We need to highlight in red the information on the projects in progress («Underway»). The task is to highlight the row containing a cell with a certain value. Conditional formatting of the row by a cell's value Fill in the box as follows:Ĭlick Ok to close the window and view the result. Click «Use a formula to determine which cells to format». Select the range containing the numbers and open the «Highlight Cells Rules» menu. We need the cells with even numbers to be highlighted with a color. The capabilities of this instrument are limitless, so virtually any formula can be used. If the standard rules are not sufficient for the task, the user can apply a formula. Conditional formatting in Excel using formulas The red fill color highlights the cells containing the dates within the past week (the date when this article was written is March 3, 2017). Select the suitable one (for instance, for the last 7 days) and click OK. In the newly-opened window, you can seen the list of available conditions (rules): Conditional formatting of dates in ExcelĪpply «Highlight Cells Rules»-«A Date Occurring» to it. That is, the number 24, which is simultaneously greater than 6, 10, and 20, is highlighted in accordance with the condition «=$А1>20» (the first one on the list). The highlighting priorities depend on the order of the rules listed in «Rules Manager». Note: the values in some cells simultaneously corresponds to two or more conditions. Likewise, set the second and third formatting conditions: Fill in the formatting parameters for the first condition. Method: Go to the menu of the «Conditional formatting» tool and select «New Rule».In the same way, set the yellow fill color for numbers greater than 20. Set the formatting condition as «Format cells that are GREATER THAN:» 10, and choose «Green Fill Dark Green Text». In the right one, select «Light Red Fill Dark Red Text». «Highlight Cells Rules» - «Greater Than». We need the numbers that are greater than 6 to be highlighted with red. Conditional formatting – several conditions In the newly-opened window, you can see which rule is applied to which range. Open the tool's menu click «Manage Rules».Select the first cell in the range to which conditional formatting is applied.You can do the following to check the accuracy of the established condition: Pay attention to this nuance in order to ensure the «Conditional formatting» tool performs the task properly. And the program would compare B1 with A11. If we selected the column from the bottom upwards rather than from top to bottom, the A11 cell would be the active one. Consequently, Excel compares the value in the A1 cell with the B1 value. In our example, the A1 cell was active at the moment we opened the tool. Since it's the active cell to which the reference in the condition is “tied.” Important note! When you use relative references, you have to pay attention to which cell was active the moment you opened the «Conditional formatting» tool. The coinciding values have been highlighted with a fill color. The program has compared every value in the A column with the corresponding value in the B column. The link should be Mixed or Relative! And not absolute! In the left box, enter the link to the B1 cell. Click «Conditional formatting» - «Highlight Cells Rules» - «Equal To». We will compare the column А1:А11 with the column В1:В11. Let's set the following formatting conditions: compare the values of cells in different ranges and highlight the same values. The values in the А1:А11 range that are less than the value of the B2 cell are filled with the selected color. The formatting result is plain to see in the Excel sheet immediately. In the left box, enter the link to the B2 cell (click on this cell and its name will appear in the box automatically). In this example, let's apply the condition «less» («Highlight Cells Rules» - «Less Than»). Select the initial range and open the window of the «Conditional formatting» tool. Let's compare the values in the range А1:А11 with the number in the B2 cell.

[docrotten]

LIFEFORCE (1985) – Episode 206 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“I mean, in a sense, we’re all vampires.” Everyone is draining the life out of everyone else in one way or another? Hmmm, that’s a dark take, but a fair point. Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr  – as they drain everything possible from Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce (1985).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 206 – Lifeforce (1985)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.

Director: Tobe Hooper

Writers: Dan O’Bannon & Don Jakoby (screenplay); Colin Wilson (from 1976 novel The Space Vampires)

Music: Henry Mancini

Cinematography: Alan Hume (director of photography)

Production Design: John Graysmark

Makeup Department: Nick Maley (makeup effects & prosthetics supervisor)

Visual Effects: John Dykstra (special visual effects)

Selected Cast:

Steve Railsback as Col. Tom Carlsen

Peter Firth as Col. Colin Caine

Frank Finlay as Dr. Hans Fallada

Mathilda May as Space Girl

Patrick Stewart as Dr. Armstrong

Michael Gothard as Dr. Leonard Bukovsky

Nicholas Ball as Roger Derebridge

Aubrey Morris as Sir Percy Heseltine

Nancy Paul as Ellen

John Hallam as Lamson

John Keegan as Guard

Chris Jagger as First Vampire

Bill Malin as Second Vampire

Jerome Willis as Pathologist

Derek Benfield as Physician

John Woodnutt as Metallurgist

John Forbes-Robertson as The Minister

Lifeforce is the first of three films Tobe Hooper made with Canon, followed by Invaders From Mars (1986) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). As Bill’s pick, it’s a film he frequently revisits trying to understand the choices made during its making. He’s always liked the film, even while feeling a bit baffled. Chad first read about Lifeforce in Fangoria. He loved how crazy and wild it was when he first saw it and he still does. Chad’s never quite sure what he thinks of Steve Railsback’s performance because to him, he’ll always be the Charles Manson he portrayed in Helter Skelter (1976). The excellent practical and visual effects are what pull Jeff into this movie. 

All three of this episode’s Grue-Crew compare Lifeforce to the feel of Hammer’s Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and indeed, may have been a better picture if Hooper had gone full-Quatermass. And of course, they all agree that Mathilda May is phenomenal at portraying the female vampire with style and grace while spending nearly the entire film unabashedly nude.

For other Decades of Horror discussions of Tobe Hooper films (and Quatermass and the Pit to boot), checkout the following episodes:

Eaten Alive (1976) – Episode 136 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

Salem’s Lot (1979) — Episode 69 — Decades Of Horror 1970s

The Funhouse (1981) — Episode 90 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Poltergeist (1982) – Episode 106 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) — Episode 81 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Quatermass And The Pit (1967) – Episode 93 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

If you so desire, at the time of this writing, you can stream Lifeforce from Tubi and PlutoTV with ads, or from various PPV streaming services. If physical media is what trips your trigger, Lifeforce (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD) is scheduled for release May 24, 2022 from Scream Factory. And let’s face it, it’s always time to revisit Tobe Hooper’s films.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal will be Vamp (1986), featuring a speechless Grace Jones. 

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave them a message or leave a comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

Check out this episode!

[oombamichaelwilliams]

Which Games Are Compatible With Older Computers?

You've certainly heard of the class-based online multiplayer PC game genre and wondered whether titles are suitable for older computers. The answer is straightforward: there are a plethora of them! Many of these games are DOS-based, while others are Windows-based. Warcraft II, Civilization II, and Quest for Glory I and IV are examples of popular games in the genre. If you like, you can even play homebrew versions of these games!

According to Oomba Michael Williams, real-time strategy games are one kind of game that is ideal for the PC. These games place players in the shoes of armies battling for control of regions, objectives, and maps. While these games are complicated, they are simple to learn and play. Star Craft II is one of the genre's greatest entries. This game isn't as well-known as the other two, but it's still worth a look if you like strategy games.

You should also look at some of the most popular PC games of the recent decade. Civilization and Another World by Sid Meier helped to formalize the 4X genre and influenced many others, including Hideo Kojima. Lemmings was another genre-bending PC game that was popular at the time. This game was published on over 30 platforms and impacted a lot of other games. It catapulted DMA Design into the limelight.

There are a few games that you should try playing before upgrading your old PC if you are a newcomer. If you're new to the genre, Mechwarrior 4 is a great place to start, while the Diablo series and the famed Counter-Strike series are great places to start. However, if you have an older computer and cannot purchase newer games, you may always test out the free versions of these titles.

Oomba Michael Williams explained that if you're searching for a new PC game that's worth your time, you may utilize a guide to help you choose the correct one. Of terms of Metascores, the best PC games in 2017 were listed in the top three. There were three PC games with Metascores of 90 or above in 2017, compared to five in 2016 and 2015. In fact, more excellent PC games were launched in 2017 than in any other year since 2009.

Another wonderful option is control. While the main character's journey is told from the perspective of a god in the narrative mode, the game also offers relationships with other characters. This is one of the year's finest PC games. Its narrative mode depicts a strange New York City structure that only the people seeking for a missing brother can see. This game is worth a shot and will be remembered for years to come.

This year's greatest PC games are ones that are presently available. The classic Age of Empires and the highly praised remake of Doom were the finest PC games of 2018. Diablo III, the best video game of all time, is also included on this list. It is a great pick for the whole family and is appropriate for gamers of all ages. Try Minecraft if you want to play a more current game. These are some of the finest PC games, and you won't be disappointed by any of them!

If you haven't played these games yet, this is a fantastic opportunity to do so. There are several games available to test - there is something for every PC player. Try several classics if you can't decide which ones to purchase. You'll be happy you did! When looking for a new game for your PC, don't forget to go over our list of vintage PC games.

Oomba Michael Williams disclosed, if you want to have some fun, you may also play free PC games. While the amount of levels and visuals may seem to be restricted, they are excellent for children and provide hours of enjoyment. The disadvantage of these games is that they often need you to provide your email address or spam, but the reward is unending entertainment! You may even download full versions of these games and play them for free for hours. You may also play free online games, but keep in mind that some of them may be sluggish or have restricted features.

Check out A Hat in Time if you're seeking for a new game that blends quick combat and collaboration. This PC game is comparable to famous console games, except it includes a platform. They become considerably more lively and enjoyable as a result. The game has many playstyles, a Nordic-looking avatar, and even electric shocks to make your opponents respond. A Hat in Time is available on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch through Steam.