#mede with code

[child-of-the-danube]

Time for a post Eurovision rant

Fuck the EBU for allowing a genocidal state to participate, fuck the production for covering the sounds of booing, whistling and "Free Palestine" chants (some still made it in, and whoever they came from, I love you ♥️), fuck them for forbidding *allegedly* all flags of countries not participating but in reality only the Palestinian one as I've seen flags of countries like Turkey, who is not participating, and they were apparently fine but a Palestinian flag no, fuck them for letting the Is*aeli journalists harass and follow Joost, Bambie, Marina etc., fuck them for allowing Is*ael to break rules by promoting the voting code of their own country (that shit was even on a Times Square screen I s2g), fuck them for unjustly disqualifying Joost, and fuck every jury and public voter who gave points and money to you-know-who!!!!

I am so fucking happy that a person who was outspoken against the genocide won!!

I am even happier for my country's representative Baby Lasagna winning the televote and coming in second place, giving us the best placement we've ever had. Proud of you, Marko ♥️🇭🇷

I applaud the Netherlands for refusing to give their jury vote, I applaud Alessandra Mele and Käärijä for stepping away from giving out the Norwegian and Finnish jury votes, I applaud Bambie, Nemo, Marina, Slimane, Iolanda, Joost, Olly, Fred Leone (not sure I named them all) who openly spoke out against the genocide and the EBU double standard bullshit.

I feel sorry for Angelina cause I think had RAI not fucked up with showing Italy giving 40% of semifinal votes to *redacted*, she would have been higher and deservedly above them

And I feel sorry for Petra Mede who, even tho she did an incredible job as always, looked like she was on the brink of vomiting for a good chunk of the show. If Sweden wins any time soon, I am pretty sure she will refuse to host again. Despite that, she still remains the inarguably best host of Eurovision.

I hope the contest goes on hiatus after this, cause I don't see how they could dig their way out of this shame. A contest made to unite a post-war Europe letting Israel, who is actively committing war crimes and who is responsible for the deaths of at least 30 000+ people in the last 7 months, participate is vile and hypocritical and just unacceptable

[captainnameless]

hi ! That video of GP and Max on the sim today mede me think of little Max it is so little coded ! Any way jus here to say I love the little bit of them in your stories!

“I’ve been good, yes? I was good!” Max’s picture could be put in the dictionary next to hopeful. He’s practically bouncing out of his skin, partially because they’re coming out of a three hour Red Bull meeting, partially because he’s waiting for confirmation of his reward.

GP had said it jokingly once, after Max kept bugging him about joining him on the SIM, or joining an online race.

“If you’re a good boy, I’ll play with you.”

Max had taking it as a vow though, and the first opportunity that arose GP was fed his own words. It’s become a little more regular, Max’s resolve easily slipping after a long intense sit with people in suits and ties.

And Max had been a good boy, it’s been different at times too where instead GP got a very tearful “But I was trying to be a good boy, it counts!”, but not today.

“You were.” GP’s unable to keep the chuckle out of his voice, reaching out to ruffle Max’s hair. “You are. What do you want?”

“SIM!” Max cheers, already setting off and shouting back that GP needs to follow him.

Max gets to choose the setup most times, sometimes he wants to be engineer like they do in the Red Bull challenges and sometimes Max wants to race GP, he’s quick with it too, usually has the entire thing set up before he can blink.

Max wins 9/10 times, but he never gloats, always makes sure he shuffles into GP’s space after and tells him he did well, he’s so good and that Max is proud of him. Daniel’s beams when he’s told about these little chats, goes on a little ‘the affirmations work!’ - rant.

GP’ll smile through it, he’s just happy Max is finally so well loved.

[sophie-frm-mars]

who up thinking about belshazzar's feast

Thinking about Belshazzar's feast, thinking about how King Belshazzar drank from the vessels from the temple of Jerusalem and violated something sacred, thinking about how the hand appeared and wrote in a language neither Belshazzar nor anyone else could understand, thinking about how he gets Daniel, a jewish boy taken into captivity by his father, to interpret the writing and Daniel tells him that the writing says "your days are numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting, your kingdom will fall to the Medes and the Persians."

It's a story about fucking around and finding out.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/24/watergate-hotel-protest-maggots-netanyahu-visit/

Thinking about the Palestinian Youth Movement releasing maggots and worms and crickets on the banquet tables of the Watergate hotel where Netanyahu was staying. Thinking about the American Empire being visibly complicit in genocide violates something sacred in the contract of sovereignty between the empire and its subjects. Thinking about Daniel reading the writing on the wall, graffed on in not only hebrew but in code that only he could interpret. Thinking about the pursuit of fossil fuel infrastructure dominance and how it drives America's investment in the Middle East, thinking about white supremacy and how it compounds America's investment in Israel as a genocidal settler colonial project.

Thinking about how Belshazzar's kingdom was going to fall anyway and the writing on the wall didn't make it happen. Thinking about the reel put on instagram set to Daboor & Shabjdeed's Inn Ann, a hip hop anthem of young palestinian resistance. Thinking about how Inn Ann means "the time is now"

thinking about

your days are numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting, your kingdom will fall

[levianui]

did you make the colour of your page the colour of your flesh on purpose? im scared.

Like my blog? I mede it myself..........

Hex Code #FEDAC2

[ikswoktawyar]

Sun Tzu’s Art of War – Sting Operation: Trump’s Strategic Silence. A Tactical Masterstroke, The QFS Encryption Code & Hidden Watermark - American Media Group

A must read/share article!❤️😎

[wagahai-da]

it's really funny how so many biblical studies scholar want the hebrew bible to be like. texts of Resistance(tm) to empire and want so much for it to be all coded polemics against babylon and persia and the seleukids and rome

and it's like ok there ARE texts like that but they are BARELY encoded like if they're about that they'll be like "oh this giant beast with a big horn came from greece and demolished a bunch of other beasts in one fell swoop and the name of those beasts were persia-animal and and medes-animal and the beast conquered the whole earth but then the beast died and four little beasts rose from the corpse with their own little horn and started fighting each other and they were ptolebeast and seleukabeast and macedonibeast and lysimachbeast and the ancient one made them fight to the death. the angel told me this was about imperial wars in the far future (written in present day dialect)"

but then there'll be a text like "oh yeah the angels intermarried with human women and defiled themselves and became impure so they must be exiled from the sanctuary and their bastard children who keep eating everything and doing bloodshed must be eliminated because they're a defiling mixture of spirit and flesh oh also they taught people improper things and that's Bad Knowledge make sure to only listen to authorized knowledge" and people will be like ah yes this is about the hellenistic rulers and it's a polemic about the stories of heroes being demigods to make fun of those rulers and the bloodshed is wars and it's like. my friends this is clearly inward-directed polemic. this is judean infighting

[wfhi0awhf0wef0ajfwj9]

Artes, deveria ter um debate mais abrangente sobre esse tema mas porque a "Arte contemporânea é péssima"?

Começo pela falência estética. Durante séculos, o pacto tácito entre artista e espectador era oferecer deleite visual primeiro, reflexão depois. A disciplina de anatomia, cor, composição e perspectiva — todas aquelas lições que obrigavam Velázquez a perder noites diante de cadáveres — foi relegada a ateliês de nicho. No jogo duro do mercado global, vale mais a anedota conceitual do que o assombro formal. O resultado é um museu repleto de cabos de vassoura em posição estratégica, entulho cuidadosamente empilhado e QR codes que despejam PowerPoints explicativos. A retina sai faminta e, se o visitante encontra mais prazer num meme do Reddit do que na Bienal, não há surpresa: a camada do deleite sensível sumiu quase por completo.

Deslizo, então, para a falência ética. O artista-celebridade de hoje vive preso ao ciclo de feira internacional: precisa chocar a cada seis meses para manter sua cotação, pois hype é a moeda mais volátil do planeta. Obras que denunciam a desigualdade percorrem o mundo embaladas em caixas climatizadas e pousam, cintilantes, no iate do bilionário que patrocina a vernissage. A denúncia serve de isca; a venda, de desfecho inevitável. Assim cria-se a contradição moral definitiva: o protesto vira troféu de quem lucra com o statu quo que a obra finge fustigar.

Sobra-nos a falência social. O vocabulário institucional — “decolonialidade rizomática situada na fenomenologia do não-lugar” — ergue um muro retórico que escorraça qualquer visitante não-iniciado. Se o espectador se sente burro, a culpa recai sobre ele, jamais na obra. Enquanto isso, a verdadeira vitalidade visual da época pulsa fora dos museus: grafite que ilumina viadutos, fanart que viraliza em segundos, motion graphics inventados no quarto de um adolescente, loops de TikTok que dominam o olhar global. Esses objetos culturais raramente entram na consagração curatorial, apesar de carregarem aquilo que se perdeu: técnica aplicada, emoção direta, sentido coletivo.

Alguém rebate: “Mas arte sempre foi incompreendida no seu tempo.” Verdade, porém até na vanguarda modernista havia camadas de fruição: quem quisesse pura cor podia se deixar hipnotizar por um Mondrian; quem buscasse teoria encontrava volumes inteiros de crítica. Hoje, quando a técnica evapora e a ideia cabe num tuíte, resta o quê? Outro contra-argumento popular: “Técnica não é tudo.” Concordo — mas quando ela desaparece e a narrativa conceitual não amarra o espectador, há um vazio que nem o cartaz do muro consegue preencher. Terceiro escudo: “Existem artistas brilhantes.” Claro, mas justamente o fato de lembrarmos só de meia dúzia de nomes confirma o diagnóstico: a feira global premia hype, não densidade.

Destilo essa tragédia em um triângulo viciado. Primeiro, a ideia rala, enxuta em duas linhas de release para caber no catálogo bilíngue. Depois, a execução preguiçosa, terceirizada a assistentes pagos por hora. Por fim, a etiqueta milionária que legitima tudo num leilão em Londres. Diante desse circuito, o público comum confere, ri nervoso, tira a selfie para mostrar que esteve lá, e volta para casa reafirmado na tese de que “isso é horrível”. Difícil culpá-lo.

Quer sentir na pele? Compare três campeões de mídia — a banana de Maurizio Cattelan colada com fita prateada, o cachorrinho colorido em aço de Jeff Koons e qualquer NFT de primata entediado — com um pôster detalhado de anime pintado por fã anônimo. Quem entrega mais prazer visual genuíno? Arrisco dizer que a resposta está na parede do quarto do adolescente, não na ala VIP da Art Basel. Mais radicalmente, pergunte-se: se queimássemos metade das obras conceituais produzidas nas últimas quatro décadas, o mundo sentiria falta ou apenas soltaria um “ufa, sobrou espaço no depósito”? Na próxima visita a um museu, conte quantas peças exigem dois parágrafos de texto para “funcionar”; esse número mede a profundidade do buraco em que nos enfiamos.{ Tente refutar se for possível. Apenas depender da opinião de cada um ,ou seja, "Relativo" não é argumento.

[colunaps]

Se Luís XIV tivesse uma conta no Instagram, quantos seguidores ele teria? Com certeza, milhões. Afinal, o Rei Sol não apenas reinava sobre a França, mas também sobre a estética do poder. Sua corte em Versalhes era o equivalente a um feed perfeitamente curado, com jardins simetricamente podados, bailes luxuosos e um dress code rigoroso. Quem não seguisse as tendências ditadas pelo monarca simplesmente não fazia parte da alta sociedade.

Séculos depois, o jogo continua o mesmo, só mudaram as plataformas. Se antes a influência era medida pelo tamanho do castelo, hoje, ela se mede em engajamento, curtidas e seguidores (ou outra coisa).

A obsessão por criar uma imagem impecável permanece, mas agora ao invés de espelhos dourados, temos filtros e edições.

Vamos pegar as Kardashians como exemplo. Se Luís XIV mandava construir fontes e salões espelhados para impressionar visitantes, Kim Kardashian e sua família fazem isso através de stories e campanhas milionárias. Suas casas são palácios modernos, e suas aparições públicas, cuidadosamente planejadas para maximizar impacto.

A lógica é a mesma: mostrar opulência, lançar tendências e ditar comportamentos.

Mas a influência não se limita à ostentação. Assim como monarcas do passado usavam sua imagem para reforçar narrativas políticas, influencers de hoje fazem o mesmo, construindo impérios pessoais que movem bilhões de dólares.

Marcas brigam para serem associadas a nomes populares, assim como artistas e nobres se esforçavam para cair nas graças do rei.

Seja com uma coroa na cabeça ou um celular na mão, o poder sempre esteve na imagem. A diferença é que, enquanto antes a monarquia era um privilégio de poucos, hoje qualquer um pode tentar a sorte como rei ou rainha da internet.

Mas como a história já mostrou, conseguir se manter no trono é outra história.

[biblenewsprophecy]

Russia, Sanctions, Transnistria, Europe & Prophecy

In 2014 the USA and European Union put sanctions on Russia because of its acquisition of Crimea. Since Russia's 'Special Military Operation' into Ukraine, more sanctions were added. On February 23, 2024, the EU and USA announced more sanctions. Did the sanctions turn the "ruble into rubble" as Joe Biden hoped? Did Russia acquire more territory as Dr. Thiel warned in 2013, 2018, and 2022 prior to the current conflict? Was he right about sanctions? Will Russia and Europe acquire more territory? Will they one day trade more with each other? Will they one day turn against each other? What about Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, and Armenia? Are the Russian-led 'kings of the Medes' prophesied to destroy the coming Babylonian European Beast power? Does Europe, starting with Benelux to the European Economic Community to the European Union look to be fulfilling Daniel 8:9? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these issues.

A free online book of related interest is available titled 'Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?’

Youtube video link: Russia, Sanctions, Transnistria, Europe & Prophecy

Related Items;

Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?

Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy as are two video sermonettes Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy and Ukraine in Prophecy?

Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?

Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? Are we close to the battle with Gog and Magog? Four related videos are available: Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog War: Is it Soon?, Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?, Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code), and Gog, Magog, Vladimir Putin, and Ezekiel 38?

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is are links to related videos: European history and the Bible, Europe In Prophecy, The End of European Babylon, and Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European? Here is a link to a related sermon in the Spanish language: El Fin de la Babilonia Europea.

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[knife-dad]

#all of a sudden I got a devastating thought#the attack on lotus pier compared to the attack on the villa in acok#the coming of age via losing your loved ones :(#personally I would like to see Gen interact with Wen Qing. more comic doctor fear. or possibly tragic self sacrifice for loved ones.#I love the middle aged scholar club idea though#I like the crossover thoughts. I wonder how AUs would go.#maybe have the peninsula royals go to horrible Mede summer camp? I could see Gen reciting Mede codes of conduct.

(tags via @thegoldenbees)

the lotus pier and villa comparison?! oof ouch :'(

Wen Qing is probably the only other person besides Eddis who could adequately bully Gen into submission, and I think Galen would appreciate that.

if we flip the script, the alternate AU is one where WWX doesn't try to do everything alone, and the Jiang/Nie/Lan clans form an unlikely alliance in the aftermath of the sunshot campaign, like Eddis/Sounis/Attolia. An AU where no one dies and there are elephants :')

The Untamed meets QT: Thoughts. Because I have them. Anyways:

I get the feeling that Eugenides and Wei Wuxian would not get along, because neither of them would want to share the spotlight. Their personalities are just too similar to be compatible. If they do decide to work together though... well, gods have mercy on whoever they decide to torment (probably Costis. Poor Costis)

If Attolia Irene and Lan Wangji were ever to speak to each other I think they could commiserate over having a nonsensical little guy for a soul mate. However. Realistically. I don't think they'd ever talk to each other, they'd just sit in silence instead. Companionable silence maybe, but still. Silence.

For some reason I feel like Wen Ning would be really popular and well-liked in the QT world. Like. Idk. I feel like the Eddisians especially would think he's dope as hell, despite the fact he's dead.

Similarly, I think Sophos would be really popular and well-liked in the Untamed world. He has no unhinged plots or schemes. He solves all his problems by duel-wielding weapons. Nie Mingjue in particular would love that

Lan Qiren and the Magus should have like, a little support group for people who have incorrigible and annoying students/road trip companions. They could get together and talk about their suffering and have tea or something.

Jiang Cheng and Eddis Helen should have a support group also. For having family members who are Like That.

[shadowsif]

Ro heights and stuff

important information about the next chapter and the future! not really

Hede will always be taller than the MC while in their teens. No matter which gender either of them are. So get ready for this:

Hede smiles down at you.

The next chapter after that, when all the growth spurts are over you can decide your height. I'm planning just vaguely give between 4 (?) set choices. But what would you prefer? Here's what I was thinking:

Darin/M!Mede (very tall, over 190cm/6'3,)

F!Hede (tall, 175-190/5'7-6'3)

Ora/Kallas (average, 159-175/5'2-5'7)

- (små, under 159/5'2)

This is mostly to help me with coding, if the characters are same height there will be no flavour text about who's the taller one but head canons are easier. If different height "classes" there will be flavour text about it. Also, I'm unsure if I want M!Hede and F!Hede to be different heights or not.

Any thoughts or wants?

[wieisdemol2022]

Opdracht 1 In het verschiet

Zo’n tien seconden nadat Thomas in de bus met Kim-Lian en Sahil gevraagd had na de moltelefoon gaat die af. Sahil doet helemaal verbaast dat de telefoon in zijn zak zit en neemt op. Rik verteld hen dat zij 2 groepen moeten maken, één groep van drie kandidaten die het mogelijk maken om geld te verdienen, en één groep van drie kandidaten die niet bang is voor het donker, niet bang is voor water en die het geld binnenhaalt. Daarnaast moesten de kandidaten zich in die groepen, na een korte pitstop, gaan verdelen over de bussen. Na het belletje werd Sahil maar heel kort aan de tand gevoeld over de telefoon, waarbij er werd geconcludeerd dat of Sahil liegt of Fresia de moltelefoon bij hem in de tas heeft gedaan. Sahil oppert dan snel dat de bussen waarin ze nu al zitten, de verdeling voor de volgende opdracht gaat worden. Thomas en Kim-Lian gaan hier snel in mee en zo delen ze het ook mede aan de overige kandidaten. Fresia, Laetitia en Everon hebben hier natuurlijk niks meer tegen in te brengen omdat het over wordt gebracht alsof Rik deze indeling heeft verzonnen, toch lijkt vooral Everon niet bij te zijn met deze informatie (en dat terwijl hij niet van water houdt).

De kandidaten die het mogelijk maken geld te verdienen zijn Fresia, Laetitia en Everon. Zij komen aan bij het kasteel Porto Palermo en ontmoeten daar Rik. Hij legt uit; “Goeiemorgen. Welkom bij het kasteel van Porto Palermo. Jullie kunnen met deze opdracht maximaal €3500 verdienen. Zorg dat je zo meteen het kasteel binnenkomt en ga zoeken naar sleutels. Die sleutels heb je nodig om vier kisten te openen met daarin pijlen en bogen. Jullie medekandidaten, die zitten op zee, in een speedboot, te wachten op die pijlen. Want die hebben ze nodig, daar staat een code op waarmee zij weer geldkisten kunnen openen. De totale speelduur is één uur maar bedenk wel dat jullie medekandidaten zeker een half uur nodig hebben om die geldkisten binnen te halen. Dus laat ze niet te lang wachten op jullie pijlen. Succes.”

De eerste hindernis voor dit team is het binnengaan van het kasteel. In de grond voor het kasteel zijn namelijk twee dolken verstopt die de kandidaten moeten vinden en gebruiken om de kasteeldeur open te maken. Everon is degene die het eerst zo’n dolk vind en Fresia vindt de tweede. Everon is vervolgens ook degene die aangeeft dat de dolken in het slot gestopt moeten worden om deze open te maken, wat juist blijkt te zijn. Vervolgens maakt Fresia de indeling: Everon in het midden, Laetitia rechts en Fresia links. Waar Laetitia haar jeugddromen aan het ophalen is, vindt ze ook binnen 8 minuten speeltijd (als we de klok mogen geloven) 2 van de 4 sleutels. En Laetitia lijkt geluk te brengen want zodra ze Everon gaat helpen met het zoeken naar sleutels vindt hij ook daadwerkelijk een sleutel in de muur. Dit terwijl er suggestief in beeld wordt gebracht dat Fresia langs een van de sleutels is gelopen. 3 van de 4 en Laetitia is er op gebrand in een andere ruimte de laatste sleutel te zoeken als Fresia aangeeft dat dit ook wel een mooie score is. Daar gaan de rest dan ook wel snel in mee, maar ze beseffen niet dat ze dan nog 45 minuten op de klok hebben staan. Ze zijn dus wel erg vroeg gestopt met het vinden van de sleutels. Eenmaal bovenop het fort konden ze de kistjes openen en vonden ze 7 pijlen. Deze 7 pijlen werden verassend goed richting de boei geschoten (hoewel het lijkt alsof het niet zoveel uitmaakt waar ze precies landen, als het maar in de richting is). En met nog 38 minuten op de klok kan het andere team beginnen met hun deel van de opdracht.

Opvallend voor team 1 is: -      Beste molpositie -      Laetitia is het minst verdacht in deze opdracht -      Fresia lijkt langs de een sleutel te lopen en vind niks. Oppert ook om de vierde sleutel te laten liggen. Door het laten liggen van deze sleutel lopen ze 3 pijlen en dus €1050 sowieso mis voor de pot. -      Fresia geeft aan bang te zijn voor het donker en of Everon bij haar komt. Een slimme actie want met twee personen op dezelfde plek vind je minder snel de sleutels. -      Everon lijkt de sleutel pas te vinden als Laetitia dichtbij komt. Wellicht bang dat hij betrapt werd op een molactie -      De titel van deze opdracht heet in het verschiet en Fresia, Everon en Laetitia moeten letterlijk ver schieten.

 Dan deel twee van de opdracht die wordt uitgevoerd door Thomas, Kim-Lian en Sahil. De opdracht voor hen begint met het uit de zee halen van de pijlen die zojuist waren afgeschoten. Ondanks een missertje van Thomas wat als tijdrekken gezien kan worden gaat dit zonder al te veel moeite. Ze varen vervolgens naar een voormalig Russische duikbootbasis waar ze gaan magneetvissen. Op een sup met een magneet aan de vislijn moeten ze in de duikbootbasis 10 kistjes opvissen. Deze kistjes kunnen ze dan proberen open te maken met de codes die op de pijlen te vinden waren. Maar, er zijn “badmeesters from hell” die proberen de kistjes weer van de sup af te slaan als je ze net binnen hebt gehaald.

Het opvissen van kistjes lijkt ook super goed te gaan, even hebben ze gedaan om de tactiek van het magneetvissen onder de knie te krijgen maar al snel hebben ze de juiste tactiek gevonden en worden er best veel kistjes naar boven gehaald. Maar dan komen de badmeesters from hell en vooral bij Sahil slagen ze er in om best veel kistjes van zijn sub te slaan. Sahil is de mol niet, dus helaas niet meer verdacht. Kim-Lian wellicht nog iets verdachter dan Thomas want zij gaat na twee kistjes en met nog 17 minuten op de klok de basis uit om de kistjes alvast proberen te openen.

Een overzicht van de kandidaten, het aantal kistjes die hij/zij naar boven bracht en de hoeveelheid die aan het eind van de opdracht ingeleverd zijn vind je hier: -      Kim-Lian: 2/2 -      Thomas: 2/2 -      Sahil: 4/1 

Opvallend is natuurlijk weer Sahil die minimaal 4 maar misschien wel 5 of 6 kistjes naar boven heeft gehaald maar die telkens weer van zijn sup werden afgeslagen. Uiteindelijk is hij met zijn laatste kistje ook nog te laat binnen en heeft Thomas zijn ene kistje binnengehaald. Maar Sahil is niet de mol, dus laat het gaan. Wat opvallend is aan Kim-Lian en Thomas: -      Kim-Lian is een anti-mol als zij alleen gelaten wordt met de kistjes en het geld. Ze kan hier heel makkelijk mollen door te zeggen dat ze kistjes niet open krijgt of juist wel open halen en geld achterhouden (en daar is ze niet vreemd van). -      Kim-Lian kan eigenlijk alleen te verwijten vallen (in de opdracht zelf) dat ze met nog 17 minuten op de klok al weg gaat en niet even bij Thomas en Sahil kijkt of ze kistjes mee kan nemen, dit had wellicht wat vallende kistjes kunnen voorkomen. Het feit dat er maar 5 kistjes naar boven zijn gehaald, waarvan er 4 open zijn gegaan betekend dat ook hier van het maximaal haalbaar (7 kistjes want 7 pijlen) ook nog eens €1050 is blijven liggen. -      Kim-Lian zorgt wel weer voor wat verwarring aan het eind van de opdracht, waar Kim-Lian en Thomas net €1400 geteld hebben zegt ze een seconde daarna tegen Sahil €1100 te hebben opgehaald. Maar dit ligt zo op de neus dat ik oprecht denk dat ze Sahil wou testen. Thomas kijkt haar ook oprecht verbaast aan na deze opmerking.

-      Thomas geeft aan in zijn biecht dat er “Badmeesters from hell” aanwezig zijn. Nu gebruikte Rik precies dezelfde woorden in de uitleg naar ons en geeft zelfs aan dat de kandidaten dat nog niet weten. Dit kan er op wijzen dat Thomas voorkennis heeft.

 Tot slot. Kunnen we even een momentje nemen om te kijken hoe mooi deze mensen (waarvan 1 de mol) allemaal zijn en het feit dat ik een beetje jaloers op ze was deze opdracht (niet alleen deze tho).

Hebben jullie nou de ultieme hint gevonden in deze of andere opdrachten? Laat het ons weten!

[waywardtidalwavetiger]

Cryptocurrency Protocol: TulpSwap, door Studenten

Graag willen wij jou, de lezer, voorstellen aan TulpSwap. TulpSwap is een Decentralized Finance protocol voor handel en geautomatiseerde liquiditeitsverstrekking gerund op het Ethereum Network. De startup is gerealiseerd door acht studenten met verschillende achtergronden van het Saxion Hogescholen. Het doel van de startup is het introduceren van Decentralized Finance (DeFi) aan Nederlandse studenten wiens interesse liggen op het gebied van cryptocurrency. Deze Blog gaat over wat TulpSwap is precies is en wat je er mee kan.

Cryptocurrencies

De hype rond cryptocurrencies is groot. En ook het onderwerp DeFi, dat er onder valt, is booming. Het TulpSwap protocol is oorspronkelijk bedoeld voor studenten en docenten van het Saxion. Snel kwamen we er al achter dat er ook buiten het Saxion veel interesse werd getoond voor ons product. Nu de meeste van ons thuis voor de computer zitten zijn de meeste mensen op zoek naar nieuwe manieren om hun kennis te verbreden. Graag vertellen we je meer over onze eigen cryptomunt.

Whitepaper

TulpSwap heeft een Whitepaper. De Whitepaper beschrijft hoe ons idee tot stand is gekomen. Deze is bedoeld voor elke gebruiker die kennis wil hebben over elk technisch detail van TulpSwap. Hier vindt men alles over het ontwerp, token-strategie, beleid en de marketing van TulpSwap. Deze Whitepaper is mede mogelijk gemaakt door een aantal gastlezers die ons geholpen hebben met ons project. Ook hebben de begeleiders van Saxion en de opdrachtgever hierbij goed geholpen met tips. Lees de Whitepaper hier!

Decentralized Finance

Daarnaast wil TulpSwap zich voornamelijk richten op beginners m.b.t Decentralized Finance. Dit zijn gebruikers die nog niet veel verstand hebben van cryptoeconomics en de blockchain. TulpSwap wil hier graag op in spelen door op een gemakkelijke en gebruiksvriendelijke manier ERC20 tokens (munten gecreëerd op het Ethereum Network) te swappen (ruilen). Het is sinds kort mogelijk om je eigen wallet aan de tool te koppelen. Het protocol wordt ontwikkeld als een hardfork van Uniswap, met onze eigen veranderingen daarop. Het is niet gelinkt aan Uniswap maar gebaseerd op de code van Uniswap. Benieuwd naar hoe het werkt?  Klik hier voor uitleg over Decentralized Finance!

Community

Momenteel zijn wij bezig met het vormen van een werkend protocol en het opbouwen van een community. Wij willen mensen introduceren in de wereld van DeFi. Daarom zijn we actief op zoek naar personen die graag met ons mee willen denken! Door een eigen community op te zetten hopen we, door middel van interactie, samen nieuwe ideeën omtrent ons protocol op te doen. Hiermee kunnen wij als onderneming, gericht op de wensen en behoeften van de klant, aanpassingen doen aan het product.

User Cases

Het TulpSwap protocol en de TulpSwap token (TULP) kunnen verschillende user cases vervullen. Over de verschillende mogelijkheden wordt momenteel nog gebrainstormd. Er kan gedacht worden aan de mogelijkheid om TulpSwap te integreren binnen het Saxion als een “coupon’. TulpSwap wil graag samen met gebruikers kijken naar de mogelijkheden rond om user cases. De inbreng van de community is erg belangrijk, daarom verwijzen we mensen graag door naar onze Discord & Telegram kanalen. 

Geïnteresseerd in het project? Neem dan een kijkje op onze socials of onze Discord en Telegram.

· Telegram: https://t.me/TulpSwap

· Discord:  https://discord.gg/qG7pVqUFCb

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/TulpSwap

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tulpswapofficial/

· Officiële website: https://tulpswap.com/

[leguin]

notes on smike from various sources

Smike himself is denied the kind of idealization Dickens's prose allows- muting with rhetoric the realities of deprivation in a process that touches even as it distances- but is made to stumble on stage with bent, swollen, deformed legs and the perpetually disconnected expression and open-mouthed contortion of the spastic. At once more and less human than in the original conception, more literally a medical case history and more symbolically a clamor for social change, he may well prove (as does the central figure in the vastly overrated The Elephant Man) merely an encouragement to sentimentality and self-righteousness in the audience.

- “The RSC ‘Nicholas Nickleby’: A Review,” Margaret Ganz, Dickens Studies Newsletter 11:3 (Sept. 1980).

...it is not at all easy to locate the precise spot on the continuum of tone to slot this denial-cum-endorsement of the heart on the sleeve, or even the following utterance by Smike:

“To go with you - anywhere - everywhere - to the world’s end, to the churchyard grave,' replied Smike, clinging to his hand. Let me, oh do let me. You are my home - my kind friend - take me with you, pray.'” (159; ch. 13)

On the one hand this alludes to Ruth 2.17 ("Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me") but the allusion is pushed and dramatized almost out of recognition, as if the language of the opera libretto (almost always concerned with archetypes and absolutes) had once again supervened upon the restraint of the Hebrew/Jacobean English text. We recall, for instance, how, in the Italian translation of Cherubini's Medee, Neris cries "Ti seguirò ognor fedel, con te saro ognor fedel, / in morte a te fedel saro! a te sempre fedel" ("I shall follow you, always faithful; to you I shall always be faithful; I shall be faithful even in death - always faithful to you") (39). Smike has a weak mind, after all, and Dickens is not above suggesting that devotion so intense is abnormal, though the suggestion is perhaps too delicate for us to be certain it is there.

- “Marring Curious Tales: Code-Crossing Irony in ‘Nicholas Nickleby,’“ Rodney Stenning Edgecombe, Dickens Quarterly 18:1 (March 2001).

In the novel Smike at his worst comes across as a male test case for Little Nell; he is one of those child characters driven to an early death but lingering long enough to drop every tear along the way. So too the Dotheboys crew might appear tokens of Victorian pathos, but consummate acting and sensible direction keep pathos in check at the Aldwych. The brain-crippling effect of child abuse comes across with painful clarity. Even though Smike's efforts to con the apothecary's lines in Romeo and Juliet draws a laugh, his trembling performance and his recollection of it just before he dies remain grim reminders that performance, even among the phenomenal Crummleses, may mock rather than invariably sustain life.

- “The RSC ‘Nicholas Nickleby’: Dramatic Rites for Dickens,” Richard Dunn, Dickens Studies Newsletter 11:3 (Sept. 1980).

At such points Nicholas seems poised to deepen, and perhaps even darken, the meaning of his life and adventures, to show youth, hope and spirit truly embattled in their struggle with a world that rolls on "from year to year, alike careless and indifferent" (791), embodying in his own person something of that darker spirit which Jerome Meckier has seen hovering over the comic world of the novel.

But it is Smike and not Nicholas who plays out the alternative fate suggested by episodes such as these. It is Smike who suffers at the hands of the enemies Nicholas heroically defies; Smike who despairs and is defeated while Nicholas triumphs; and Smike who carries a broken heart to the grave as Nicholas goes on to win both wife and fortune. It is as if the impulse towards the "natural" which, in the early chapters of the novel, finds expression in the comedy Nicholas provides is transposed by novel's end to the near tragedy of Smike. In a sense, the born victim serves as surrogate for his more fortunate cousin,allowing Dickens to dramatize "natural" (that is non-literary, unconventional) possibilities of deprivation, suffering and, finally, death without, as he would later put it in the case of Walter Gay in Dombey and Son, "making people angry" by depriving them of the happy ending they naturally expect. Such sufferings as Nicholas does endure - in contrast to Smike - are, like those of any fairy-tale prince down on his luck, reassuringly short-lived. Benevolent spirits in the shape of the Cherrybles soon intervene on his behalf and he is whisked off, not to a castle, but to the still more solid comfort of a rent-free cottage in the country. Once again, it is the "natural" that loses ground as the conventional, and Nicholas, win out.

- “’Nicholas Nickleby’ and the Idea of the Hero,” Beth F. Herst, Dickens Quarterly 5:3 (Sept. 1988).

The imaginative critical investment in Smike as a reform- provoking icon of child abuse tends to obscure the novel’s later emphasis on his effortful adult expressions of sexual agency.

Traditionally, critics have tended to interpret Smike as “worship[ing …] his deliverer” and exhibiting a “dog-like devotion” to Nicholas. The canine comparison, which frequently recurs in critical descriptions of Smike, obscures the actual complexity of his multifaceted and very human response to Nicholas.

- “Charles Dickens’s Families of Choice: Elective Affinities, Sibling Substitution, and Homoerotic Desire,” Holly Furneaux, Nineteenth-Century Literature 62:2 (Sept. 2007).

While [the Nickleby] family can accommodate socially marginal figures such as the hard-up single landlady Miss LaCreevy and the eccentric and impoverished Newman Noggs, the place it affords Smike is less secure. Michie has justly expressed frustrations with a plot, which having held out the promise of an elastic ideal of domestic kinship, suddenly tightens to exclude its most vulnerable new member. Michie rightly rejects an entirely affirmative reading of this novel’s‘capacious sense of family’ by dwelling on the questions ‘Why can’t Smike marry Kate?’ and ‘Why must Smike die?’:

“Smike’s presence is a consistent reminder of the porousness of family. While this porousness is a virtue for most of the novel, it cannot and must not survive the marriage plot, where all relations, including Nicholas’s to the Cheeryble brothers must be rerouted through the law and through marriage.”

Though in-lawing can provide a way of linking marital and homoerotic plotting, exposing the queer spaces within the institution of marriage that only masquerades as sealed and straight, Dickens never acknowledges Smike as an acceptable suitor for Nicholas’s ‘pretty sister’. In consequence, Smike cannot realize his fantasy of legally enshrined brotherhood with Nicholas, and so dies of a broken heart. Though Dickens allows Smike a brief, exclusively male Arcadia, being nursed and cared for by Nicholas in an idyllic and remote rural setting, there is no recovery from his desire,which here proves to be terminal.

- Queer Dickens: Erotics, Families, Masculinities, Holly Furneaux, 2009.

[felicereviews]

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

I didn’t expect to like this movie.  The length of the film was daunting as was the subject matter.  Daunting and old-fashioned.  An ‘80′s kid my war movies were largely based on Vietnam and were bloody as hell.  I thought I would be bored and anxious for the end.

However, maybe the curators at TCM knew what they are talking about when they created The Essentials because I ended up finding this film wonderful.  Wonderfully sad, sometimes funny, always in motion.  I mean, it’s a motion picture so....

Pictured above are Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim playing a German soldier and his commanding officer, respectively.  The acting style of the time was not naturalistic and Lew Ayres plays up his lines in a manner that seems over-the-top today.  Louis Wolheim doesn’t do that so much but his character is not the emotional compass of the film that Ayres’ is.

Young men join the army to serve their country and see their friends get blinded, crippled, and killed.  While on the front they shoot and kill advancing enemy soldiers as they run toward the line, shooting and killing because they have to or they will be killed.  

What I didn’t expect to see in the movie was the leading man cry over and regret his position as a soldier.  John Wayne would never have stood for such weakness and the production code (which I believe came later) wouldn’t allow such a thing on the big screen.  I loved it.  I loved that his fellow soldiers were scared and screaming when they were trapped in a bunker.  I loved that one of the guys asked an amputee if he could have his boots.  I loved that even though Ayres’ character didn’t want to be there, he didn’t fit in anywhere else, so he went back to the front.  It really is a beautiful story.  I forgot pretty quickly that I was watching ‘the other side’ in the lead roles.  It didn’t matter anyway.  

Ah - one more thing - I saw the Sam Medes movie 1917 in theaters last year and I know that was done with CGI and other modern techniques to recreate the front lines.  And it was very striking and well-done but I didn’t get the feeling that I was there with soldiers or that my ass was on the line, other than being anxious as hell as he ran through the field.  All Quiet on the Western Front was made entirely in a film studio or on a film lot and I felt the terror and hopelessness the German soldiers must have felt fighting a war that none of them could tell you the reason for.  I felt compassion and fear.  It’s a fine film and a true hallmark of war pictures. 

[throwaninkpot]

The Mede (I've given up distinguishing which particular ambassador I'm talking about; they're all interchangeable sleezeballs) saying, "My wife would write just such a description." Unaware that he just read off a coded letter.

The Implications. The Irony. You're so close to the realization that maybe your wife, like all women, is capable of being super clever and conpetent, but you just have your head stuck too deep in the I Hate Women box.