Hole in the wall shirt shoppe

In recent years, the global finance industry has witnessed growth in both up and down directions. The financial situation has considerably changed, with many new peaks being established, continually surprising the public.
Amidst all the market uncertainty, businesses continue to focus on the subject of digital transformation. According to Software Outsourcing Journal, software outsourcing – particularly outsourcing healthcare software development or fintech – has attracted the most attention and vendor search since then.
Financial organizations to go outsource software development can more easily keep up with market trends and compete effectively. The following outline a few of the advantages and disadvantages of contracting software development in the financial sector.

Benefits of Outsourcing Software in Finance Industry

• Reaching to the vast talent pool: No more just hanging around using resources from your in-house or in-country. Now, choosing outsourcing allows you to access the massive talent group globally to any nation you want.
• Time saving implementation: Because a professional team will assist you with almost all technological aspects. As a result, you will no longer have to battle to discover or execute answers on your own. Furthermore, with highly experienced software developers, time-to-market would be considerably decreased.
• Avoiding incurring unnecessary expenses: With the assistance of experts, especially for outsourcing healthcare software development or finance, technical errors are unlikely to occur, allowing banks and financial organizations to save significantly.
• Get access to the latest trends: Skilled professionals can pick up on the latest technological terms with ease. As a result, financial organizations can take advantage of cutting-edge tech without covering the expenses of investing in it.
• Master the release time: By frequent check-ins to ensure that everything is in line with an agreed and established timeline, business clients can rest assured that the thorough step-by-step process will leverage the release time.
• Focus on vital operations of business: Letting experts from an outsourcing firm to take care of software development is possible for all work items with coding technical elements, businesses are able to concentrate in-house resources on their primary missions.

Outsourcing Software in the Finance Industry, What Risks to Tell?

• Blocks of understanding & communication: Since the outsourced team’s members might be based in a different nation, language barriers and societal variations might arise.
• Lack of influence over development: Miscommunication, tardiness, and security holes are all possible outcomes when financial organizations lack direct supervision of the development team.
• Quality control: When a business entrusts a certain vendor with the task of developing technology software, the business is at risk of introducing mistakes of a technical nature.

What are the directions to these potential risks?

However, there are ways for banks and other financial organizations to reduce their exposure to risk when delegating software development. They can begin by thoroughly investigating any prospective outsourcing partners to guarantee they are reputable, experienced, and properly certified.
In addition, financial institutions can establish transparent lines of contact with the hiring team and schedule frequent check-ins to monitor progress. Moreover, banks and other financial organizations can take extra precautions to safeguard their customers’ personal information.

Best Practices for Outsourcing

• Figure out what you want and need

It is crucial to establish your needs and objectives before contracting out software engineering. Finding the correct outsourcing collaborator and making certain that the undertaking is in line with your company goals will be much easier with this information.

• Pick a reliable software development firm

Find a collaborator who has worked with financial institutions before, has a previous record of success, and has a staff of talented coders who can meet your deadlines and stay within your budget.

• Create clear lines of dialogue

For hiring to be effective, clear and consistent information sharing is a must. Maintain open lines of contact with your contractor by providing them with frequent status updates, progress reports, and evaluations of key milestones.

• Concentrate on quality security

In the world of banking, where the smallest of mistakes can have enormous repercussions, quality assurance is more important than ever. Then, you should verify that the outsourcing company you choose employs stringent testing and certification processes as part of their quality assurance strategy.

• Verify data privacy and regulatory conformance

Keeping sensitive information safe and meeting regulatory requirements are two of the financial sector’s top priorities. If you’re going to outsource software development, you should check that your partner is taking all the necessary precautions to keep your data secure, by employing encryption, implementing access controls, etc.

Key Takeaways

One of the successful strategies for financial organizations to maintain competitiveness and adapt to shifting market demands is to go digital transformation. And for businesses that need to be fast and safe in terms of cybersecurity but achieve high efficiency in output quality, software outsourcing is the way. This importance is shown even for outsourcing healthcare software development, or financial services and many other fields.
With the suggested advantages, disadvantages as well as best practices above, the effectiveness of your project and the delivery of high-quality software that fulfills your business goals can be guaranteed.
Source: https://softwareoutsourcing.com/insights/outsourcing-software-in-the-finance-industry-benefits-risks-and-best-practices/

Hey everyone, DataHoarder in training here. I recently ordered 14x 16TB WD Ultrastar DC HC550 Manufacturer Recertified drives from serverpartdeals. Unfortunately they’re being shipped by FedEx so I expect the box to make it here with no less than 3 poorly patched holes and at least half of the drives being dead on arrival. So anyway, how can I go about load testing the drives to ensure they’re good for use? Two of the drives will be holding the contents of my current 30TB array while I migrate to TrueNAS and build a raid z2 array. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Were you now to practice keeping your minds motionless at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying; concentrating entirely upon the goal of no thought-creation, no duality, no reliance on others and no attachments; just allowing all things to take their course the whole day long, as though you were too ill to bother; unknown to the world; innocent of any urge to be known or unknown to others; with your minds like blocks of stone that mend no holes—then all the Dharmas would penetrate your understanding through and through.
In a little while you would find yourselves firmly unattached. Thus, for the first time in your lives, you would discover your reactions to phenomena decreasing and, ultimately, you would pass beyond the Triple World; and people would say that a Buddha had appeared in the world. Pure and passionless knowledge implies putting an end to the ceaseless flow of thoughts and images, for in that way you stop creating the karma that leads to rebirth—whether as gods or men or as sufferers in hell.
Huangbo Xiyun: On the Transmission of Mind [Zen master, died 850?]
_________________________________________________
Commentary: My work is almost done, for I have seen and followed the Way towards ultimate truth. I would say that there are other people, myself and even this earth and something to attain here in some way, but this is all in fact delusion. I would say that there is enlightenment in contrast to ignorance, but this is would still fall into the realm of picking and choosing...
All eight billion people are but differing aspects and illusory separate forms of the same Absolute; what interest would they have in the Way beyond delusion and suffering? The myriad things are the myriad things, knowing only conflict and turmoil, thus unknowingly entirely mired in a maelstrom of their own devices. Circumstances and conditions, circumstances and conditions... rare is the person who would set down their delusion and suffering all at once and give the entirety up their worldly treasures.

Hello and welcome to chapter five, below is a link to other chapters :
A book about cycles, size and perception : CrimsonCloverwriter (reddit.com)
The collective smiles. Through crowds it wanders unseen, down to the place where man rests. They are lined in their metallic coffins, hidden from view but evidently there, and the collective strolls between them. The collective salvates at the thought of him. Osmundowne, back for more? It had been such a long time, many of the collective had never seen him in the flesh. It was only their collectiveness that revealed Osmundowne, and the potential he brings.
The collective’s minds race, clashing into each other, bickering and floating together in a true state of catharsis. One of the collective remarked at the dangers contacting Osmundowne could bring, but he was quickly shut out by the overwhelming potential. There was no time to worry, no moments to rest in this place, the time had come to leave this place and never come back, lest the collective risk falling to the blankness. The argument continued, rising in the collective’s head, until finally they reached Osmundowne’s prison.
A sleek black gloss permeated the outer rim of this coffin, and through the wall the collective could hear it… the screams for something. The smile grew from ear to ear, and the collective moved their hands to the release.
The light had stretched to Osmund’s chest, revealing Osmund’s first true vision of what was below. Smooth stone floors were on the floor, sleekly carved and stretching around the room, bearing many hallmarks of the average fortress at a more even carving. Osmund also observed a small black object on his glass prison, and quickly realised it was a fly, buzzing in freedom. More of the room was revealed, and now Osmund could see to the other end of the room. It appeared to be a hallway of some sort, walls stretching down in both directions for an unknown distance. Directly across from Osmund was a large black object stretching far above into the ceiling. Strange objects connected to the object, resembling veins in the human body. On either side of the object were identical duplicates, leading Osmund to the conclusion of what he was inside of.
Beyond the black objects Osmund could see alabaster walls lining behind these prisons. The ceiling was high, even more so than the objects stretching to at the very least 30 feet in the air. A grey, foreign material looked down from this ceiling, and alongside it came a bright light, one that far exceeded the power of a lantern. It was cylindrical, pointing out of the ceiling and felt like looking at the sun itself. Osmund quickly averted his eyes.
No sound escaped the prison, and there was nothing more than silence in the air. There was no one around, the entire place appeared deserted, although there wasn’t enough information to make a sound judgement. Now with the gift of sight Osmund looked back to his own prison, making a few new judgements compared to before. The object attached to the rope appeared to be a piece of silver, with the shape of a strange key that seemingly clicked into the wall. Up above Osmund could see where he fell from, small holes that attached to the object he had taken with him. Above that Osmund could see an identical rope to the first and still failed to find any form of seam where the walls met. This place, while slightly better with light, was still going to remain Osmund’s prison.
Osmund was unnerved, but the terror of the black had faded. Now he knew there was a world out there, and the first thing to do was escape to it. He once again called out her name but to no avail, then he tried to slam himself against the glass, bouncing directly off. He searched his clothes, looking for any kind of material that may aid him in the future, however all was for naught. Osmund looked back to the outside, which remained alone, but then he saw it.
Across the ground, a dark shape appeared. A shadow. It was slowly edging closer and closer towards Osmund. He laughed to himself, a saviour was approaching, until he saw more of the shadow and began to worry. The lights appeared close together and yet this shadow was long, stretching far beyond a creature of human proportions. Osmund could see whatever was coming was tall, at the very least 17 ft tall, in line with such tall ceilings.
Slowly the shadow creeped closer, long since past the threshold of a human’s form, and Osmund began to feel the anxiety pressing in. An immense weight pressed down onto Osmund, shattering through his defences and beginning to make him lose himself to the fear. The shadow edged ever closer, and now it was just outside his sight, waiting to reveal itself and whatever monstrous creation it could be.
A hand stretched into Osmund’s view, reaching forward for something. The hand was similar to Osmund’s own, sharing the same basic concepts of a human hand, and yet things were mismanaged, abnormal. The skin was a sickly green, with purplish veins along the hand. Its fingers were each at least thirty centimetres, and Osmund could see the thumb was absent, a stump being all that was left. Surprisingly the hand’s nails were neatly trimmed, and the hand grabbed one side of the prison, using it to pull the unknown entity’s body towards Osmund’s sight.
There was a moment of peace before the full form of the figure appeared, and then it filled Osmund’s sight, everything it was taking up the glass in its entirety. Osmund froze, observing the eldritch creature in all its glory. A giant hulking mass of green flesh, the creature stood to be almost 18 ft tall, towering over Osmund. The creature was a poor attempt at making a human, with physical aspects such as the head, centre and limbs all being present, and yet they were all distorted, misunderstood, a half recollection of what man looks like.
The creature’s arms began as broad shoulders, Suddenly forming the shape of arms as they got further and further across. The shoulders themselves were an extension of a thick, pudgy neck, and even from below Osmund could see large clumps of bone extending through the throat, barely hidden by the skin. The creature’s legs were practically non-existent, seeming to meld together from the hip bone below. There was seemingly no gap between the thing’s legs, however Osmund couldn’t be sure due to the creature’s attire. The clothes were simple, a jumpsuit of some kind atop the creature’s waist ending in a black skirt to accommodate for the thing’s legs. In all honesty the clothes appeared to be finely crafted, and yet Osmund couldn’t comprehend what tailor would provide clothes for such a beast. Being so tall Osmund couldn’t see the thing’s face, only that it was looking down towards him.
The creature lowered its face, pressing its two long hands against the glass to steady itself. And now Osmund could see its face in full form, the abomination’s misshapen illusion of human form given shape from a talentless creator. The creature had those remnants of human design, eyes, a nose and a mouth, and yet it completely misunderstood the purpose of these things, their natural harmonic placement. The creature’s eyes were on either side of its head, with the nose breaching the location of the forehead. The creature’s mouth began far lower than any human, presenting the thing’s bluish gums to Osmund, and two rows of teeth. The mouth ended higher than it should, presenting much the same thing.
Osmund revolted at the creature, it was a disgrace, a misshapen reimagining of the human form, an unfinished project that was never started to begin with. Something foul made this beast, this undercooked piece of monstrous meat that now perverted the natural existence of nature. There was no divinity in this creature that existed in all others, there was only the soul of a tree stump. It had evidence of what once could be but was now never to be. This thing was a dishevelled replication of what humans should be, and would never match the majestic nature of the human form.
The thing, this monster, this abomination raised its hand, slowly tapping the glass. Even through such thick glass Osmund could hear the thumps of its incessant tapping. The creature’s mouth began to contort, moving up and down, stretching horizontally, tongue rising and lowering in the back of its mouth. It was trying to communicate. Osmund felt safe for now, knowing the creature couldn’t get to him at least for a time, and began to shiver at the thought of this abomination’s potential voice.
Its mouth contorted again, only this time the contortion was in slight befuddlement, and for a moment Osmund breathed a sigh of relief. The creature must lack intelligence to attempt speaking through the wall, but then the loud cracking began. It shattered Osmund’s ears, screeched inside and penetrated him, forcing itself into his head until finally it stopped. Osmund’s ears were covered by his hands, which he promptly lowered. One of the beast’s hands had slid out of sight onto something out of view, and remained there. A voice echoed through the room as the creature resumed its vocal contortions.
“Well hello there, why are you clutching your ears? Was it a bit loud? Sorry that I’m not good with these techy things. But I guess neither are you huh? I’m actually a big fan, maybe soon you could sign a shirt or something, I’ll ask later. So I see your belt must’ve snapped, sorry if you’re hurt, are you? You should actually still be asleep but sometimes these things are prone to failure.” The creature’s voice echoed into the room from strange black boxes in the top corners of the prison. It was shrill and fast, filled with a sense of excitement for some unknowable reason. Osmund steadied himself, assembling all of his courage, and pointed at the monster.
“I am Osmund of Alizia! Release me you foul abomination lest I free your head from your thick neck!” Osmund rarely spoke in such a manner, reserving it for times when he needed to strike fear into the hearts of greater enemy forces. The abomination just shrugged, pointing at Osmund and then towards his ears. The voice croaked back.
“Sorry I can’t hear you through the glass. This is one way, so no talking back. Listen I’ll go tell the boss that someone’s woken up but I’ll be back as soon as I can alright? Nod your head for yes if you understand.” Osmund slowly nodded his head.
“Okay good. Before I go though I just wanna say that was a great ending, with the siege and the sudden kooky kick you went on. I know a lot of people didn’t want the boss to do it, but fixing you up for the grand finale was a darn fine way to end it. Really gives perspective to them older ones like me that us coots have still got some lives to live ya know? I mean I know you’re only fifty but you still took a bedpan to the face, and it was good to see Balmun had a good ending. Funny guy, when he didn’t have a sword I gosh darn near pissed myself. Anyways, enough about that I’ll go get the big man upstairs. See ya mister Osmund sir.” And with that the creature slowly moved back the way it came, the shadow slowly getting further and further away.
Osmund quickly realised he was shaking, so he breathed in and out, relaxing his body by breathing in and out. Osmund had learnt fragments about this place, this location he was trapped in. All he needed to do was look back through them to try and find a way out, before whatever the ‘man upstairs’ could be.
Slowly Osmund began. The room he was in was clearly built as a temporary prison of some sort, as the abomination expected him to be asleep. The rope came undone, Osmund fell and woke up. Therefore the prisons are not high security and likely feature some form of overlooked feature that allows for escape. Supposing Osmund finds that and runs, he could likely outrun the monster should it see him, as the thing’s melted legs made it quite a slow creature. All Osmund needed to do was find a way out and he could do this, find a solution to this challenge.
During Osmund’s brainstorming session, he was so focused he failed to see the collective, observing from the distance. Osmund turned back to the glass and noticed them as if they had appeared from thin air, despite the fact that they walked like almost everyone else. Osmund jumped, an action unbecoming of a warrior such as himself but acceptable after such a hard day.
The collective stood tall, at twelve feet tall it still looked down upon Osmund, and yet this thing was by no means a monstrosity. It wore the clothes of a noble, a blue suit and tie combination that gave a certain sense of style to the man, one Osmund would’ve never expected. Grey hair obscured what was once the face of an attractive man, likely the kind that would never go home alone, and now was lined with age. The man likely only had around ten years on Osmund, and yet his incredible height made Osmund feel perplexed. As he moved closer to the glass Osmund saw the stranger’s eyes, in which the iris had been completely dilated, leaving no sense of what colour the eyes could be. The eyes of this man weren’t human, Osmund would struggle to say they were the colour of anything living, not even that of a god, who occasionally had peculiar features such as a sixth finger. This was a man like none Osmund had ever seen, and in that respect he was even worse than the abomination, so familiar and so wrong at the same time.
“Osmundowne, what a thrill to see such an old friend after so long. I see you’re still a fighter, threatening even the poor janitors of this world. Listen my friend, I know you don’t know me, but trust me when I say that we’ve known each other a long time.” The man placed a certain level of emphasis on the word long, and yet Osmund continued to struggle, not recalling any man who looked like him. And the distressing thing here was that the man’s voice wasn’t coming from above, it was merely going through the wall like there was nothing between the two.
“What are you? You are no creature that I’ve known. Even the monstrosity before you couldn’t project such a voice, so reveal your majick’s demon, for I know this reaches your ears.” A smile played upon the man’s face, and he slowly clapped his hands, the sounds continuing to bounce through the wall.
“Good my friend, still so smart even in your twilight years. I remember you before, back when you still had all of your hair, and to tell you the truth I prefer it like this. I’m also no magician, just a guy that knows a thing or two. But Osmundowne, all I wanna know now is do you wanna do your old friend a favour? If you do, I'll let you out right here and now, put some freedom into the air baby.”
“What favour could such a monster desire from one such as myself?” The smile grew.
“Simple my friend. No need to remember the details, as long as I tell you fate itself will place you in his path. There’s a man, a tailor by the name of Bybernabus Rexarbonous who I need killed. He’s similar to the janitor you just shit yourself when seeing. Do it however you want, just make it bloody.”
“Why would I kill a-” Osmund was interrupted by the sudden movement of the glass wall. Down it fell, becoming a small ramp for him to leave the prison on. Osmund jumped, surprised at the speed, before looking back to the mysterious man. But there was nothing there, the man had vanished in the flash of a second.
Osmund spun, peeking down either side of the hallway and yet the man had disappeared, without any form of goodbye or final message. Realising that he had jumped out of his prison Osmund froze dead in his tracks. He was out, he was free, the darkness had lost its grip on him. Osmund felt many things swell inside of him, joy, anxiety and dread, but he could feel something underlying, something powerful. Determination.

CHAPTER VIII
KITE
They marched through the darkness for a while, with Kite doing his best to lead the way in the dim light. Eventually, his nose detected a foul smell, and when he reported it, Leo told him to describe it. It took him a second to find the right words, but he eventually said, “Well… it smells like that bottle we found back at the dewfarm.” Leo perked up at that. “We’re going that way then.” Kite didn’t like the sound of that. “Wasn’t that water… not water?”
“Something like that. We need to go that way.”
“Whatever. The smell’s faint, but it’s getting stronger in… this direction.” He pointed, and began to walk in that direction. After a few twists and turns through the Underdune, Kite saw a glimmer of light beginning to poke through. “We’ve got light.” He called back. Leo and Alouette both nodded, and Kite led the way to a ramp leading up into the light. As soon as he exited back out into the light of day, he stopped before he fell into a sea of black water. He did a quick rotation to try and get his bearings, and saw that they had exited into a small island in a sea of blackness. At least, it seemed like it. There were many small islands poking out of the water, and as he looked around, he saw a couple of buildings erected out of it. Leo exited next, and took his own look around. “Hmph. It’s a different part than we’d been through.”
“So you have no idea where we are.”
“Nope. Not a clue, except that we’re obviously in the Blacklands.”
“Well…” Kite asked, looking at the water with grim trepidation. “What now?”
“Let’s go check out the buildings.” Ploob came out next, and grimly shook his head. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Metal and Water don’t mix. You all go on. I’ll wait right here.” Leo turned, and glared at Ploob. “It’s not water. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not water.”
“So? Is that supposed to make me want to go in it? I don’t know what’s in it.”
“That’s right. You don’t. But it’s either that, or go back into the Underdune alone.” Leo gave him a half smirk, before turning back. “Your choice.” He called, jogging ahead to catch up to Alouette and Kite. Kite heard Ploob groan in disgust before following. They walked to the edge of the island, and jumped down into the water. Kite sniffed the water experimentally, and curled his lip in disgust. “What the hells is this? This isn’t any kind of water I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s cursed water.” Leo bluntly stated. “Something big died a long, long time ago, and it cursed the land around here.” What? Cursed water, corrupted by the death of some figure centuries, or even millennia ago? Kite’s brain began turning those details with all his studies about the Great Blood War. Was it possible that this accursed land (or lack thereof) used to be free and clear? Was this the Great Blue? The ancient legends said that the Great Blue was a hydro-utopia, free of all imperfections and guarded by the Great Wyrms who dwelled in it. He knew that those Wyrms were still alive. Putting those inconsistencies together proved that this wasn’t his goal, but it was getting closer. Something to study when he got the chance. However, right now he had to focus on trudging through this waist-high water, and the horrible sensations that were singing his flesh. At least it felt that way. When they finally managed to clamber over to the wooden dock, he gratefully accepted Alouette’s hand to help him out of the water. Only then did he realize what was happening. There were thousands of little bite marks all over his skin, weaving through the robes he wore. In fact, the robes were covered in small dark splotches that disappeared as he shook around. “Fucking hells. What’s in that water?”
“Parasites.” Leo answered, sweeping down his legs. “They live in there, and eat anything that stays in it too long.”
“Ugh!” Kite called, patting himself down to try and get as many of them off him as possible. Their bites began to burn slightly, then growing steadily more irritable as time passed. “Gods above…”
“Hey, look on the bright side. At least they’re not poisonous.” Leo chimed. Kite glared at him. “I really hope at least a few snuck down below.”
“They’re everywhere, man. Come on, let’s check this place out.” Kite tried to follow, but these bug-bites were getting really annoying. Alouette seemed to notice, and smiled at Kite. “I’ve got you.” She called, and clutched at her necklace. A soft yellow glow emanated from Alouette which spread over to Kite, and he felt a warmth overtake him. Wherever it went, the itchiness and irritation faded to nothingness. “Ah. Thanks, Alouette.”
“Don’t mention it.” She grinned back. They moved as a group to a small collection of huts that jutted out of the water next to a half-sunken tower. Kite walked over to the closest hut’s door, and tried the handle. “Locked.” He reported. Alouette moved close, raising her mace, but stepped back when Leo shook his head at her. Instead, Leo raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, produced a small glowing white glove. It floated ahead of the group, and slid its way under the door. Within a few seconds, Kite heard a soft “click”, and the door swung open. “Right. We’re in.” Leo called. Kite nodded, and entered the small hut. The hut was pretty bare, with a small bedroll laid out in the corner. Kite moved closer and carefully pulled back the cover. “Oh gods…” he muttered as a humanoid skeleton rolled out. Alouette walked over at the sound, and slowly shook her head. “Poor bastard.”
“He’s been here a while. Two centuries at the least. There’s not a drop of moisture in these bones.” Kite said aloud, picking up the femur. He turned when Leo said, “He was a soldier. Likely perished when the beast that cursed this land died.”
“Where’d you guess that?” Kite asked. Leo pointed to a rusted sword-hilt peeking out from the edge of the bedroll. “This place is as abandoned as it gets. Even the Vultures don’t like this place.”
“So why are we here then?” Ploob asked, exasperatedly. “Because this isn’t the only place here.”
“I get the feeling you know something more about this place.” Kite said, turning back to Leo. Leo didn’t smile, but Kite could feel his smug demeanor through the air between them. “I might. I might not.”
“Would you be so kind as to inform us then, so we aren’t caught unawares like this guy?” Kite asked with a frown on his face. Leo rolled his eyes. “Sure thing. Bring me a parchment and quill, and I’ll write out the entire history of this place, dating back all the way to the Great Blood War.” Kite raised an eyebrow. “You know that much, huh?”
“Let me put it this way. I know some things. I know some things about this place. I know some things about the thing that died here. Do I want to know? No. Do I want to tell you? No. Do I know where we need to go? Yes.”
“Well then, if you’re being so tight-lipped, where do we need to go?”
“I can feel… I sort of know where we’re going.” Kite raised his hands in exasperation. “Great. We’re just stumbling around in this gods-forsaken wasteland, and you don’t even fucking know where we’re going.” A frown appeared on Leo’s face. “Hey, I didn’t ask for this shit. You think I actually like being stuck in a swamp full of parasites? If I had my way, I’d be off doing anything, and I mean, ANYTHING else. If you don’t like it, you can either shut up, or leave. I’m not forcing you to be here.” Kite growled, and let one of his claws emerge. “Maybe I will.” He shot back. “Fine! Go. You’ll be dead within a day.” Leo waved him away, and Kite unsheathed the rest of his claws. “Kite! Don’t. It’s not worth it. Leo’s right. We can’t afford to split up now!” Alouette pleaded to him. With her insistence, Kite was able to think past his frustrations. They were right. Both of them. Kite retracted his claws, and nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re right. It’s just… I hate not having control. I hate not knowing where we’re going.” Leo seemed to relax a little, and nodded sympathetically. “Yeah, I know the feeling. We’re getting closer, though. Once we’re done, we just keep going in this direction.” Kite nodded, and they went to check out the other houses. The next one was a sort of fishery, with racks of strange fishes lining the walls. There were buckets, rods, and bait all spread out haphazardly across the floor, and Kite went to examine the fish a bit more. To be fair, fish were a rarity that he’d read more about then actually seen. These matched no description he’d ever read. These fish were about as large as him, and looked quite heavy. He touched it, and marveled at the strange, slimy sensation of the scales on the outside. Kite opened the lower lip, and studied the sharp fangs in the fish’s mouth. They looked like they could seriously tear something up. Kite decided that this fish shouldn’t go to waste. He unsheathed a single claw, and tore one of the teeth from the jaw. He pocketed the tooth, and followed Leo out, who had apparently decided there wasn’t much to keep him interested here. Together, the group continued on through the muck, and failing passageways. “Hells sakes. Couldn’t they have included some guardrails?” Kite called after nearly falling when a plank broke beneath him. Leo smirked back. “Where’s the excitement in that?” Kite shrugged. “Better that than fall in.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me.” Leo said. Skib suddenly pointed ahead. “Skib thinks he sees it.” Kite craned his neck and thought he could make out the top of some kind of structure way out in the distance. “What is that?” Kite asked. Leo answered, “You’ll see soon. You’re going to love it.” Kite was sure he wasn’t. They continued trekking forwards, and the structure began to be revealed. It was a massive pyramid, surrounded on the lowest base by a curled tail of a slightly smaller wyrm. However, as they approached, the stench of death began to wave through the air. Kite had to pause every now and then to prevent himself from vomiting up his last meal. The other humanoids didn’t seem much better, with Alouette and Leo pulling clips from somewhere to plug their nose. “Can I get one of those?” Kite asked Leo. After a brief eyeroll, Leo pulled another one from his pack and handed it over. Kite plugged his nose, and tried to continue onwards. Soon, they could see the entire corpse wrapped around the pyramid. “Gods above…” Kite said. The massive Wyrm’s inky black skin was riddled with holes from centuries, if not millennia of decay. Only the gods could truly know. Skib slowly approached the dead Wyrm, and began to scrape the side with his claws. “Uh… Skib? Whatcha doing?” Kite called, only to watch as Skib pulled a vial from his bag and collecting some kind of dark liquid from the Wyrm. He then turned to Leo and nodded. What was that about? Kite followed Leo and Skib as they walked around the side of the pyramid, and began to scale the outside. Skib was tall enough to simply pull himself up each side, before turning back to help Leo up. He in turn, helped Alouette up, who helped Kite up. Ploob, meanwhile, simply rode his Rust Beast directly up the side. For once, Ploob took the lead. He whooped in excitement, and turned in his seat to look at the others. “See ya at the top, slowpokes!” He called. Kite shook his head in disgust, trying his best not to slow down, while simultaneously trying not to show how exhausted he was getting. It had been a long day, and he was rapidly approaching the limit of his stamina reserves. Alouette turned, and helped him up another step. “Come on, Kite. We’re nearly there.” She was right. Just four more, and they’d be at the top. He nodded breathlessly, and continued climbing. After four more exertions, they reached the top of the Pyramid. There, they all looked confusedly at a half-broken wooden door. “Uh… what does your sense tell you?” Kite says, letting his concern appear on his face. “We go in.” Leo says, kicking in the half a door. They walked inside, and Kite’s eyes took a second to adjust to the darkness inside. The light shining through the door illuminated a rickety elevator made of wood, a lever, and a single rusting chain. Skib didn’t even hesitate. He strode past everyone, and stood on the elevator. “Skib will operate it.” He said. Alouette looked at the chain with hesitation, and growing concern. “Skib, I don’t think that chain will hold.”
“Nonsense.” Skib replied, jumping up to grab ahold. He hung there on the chain for a solid minute before jumping back down onto the elevator. “Look. Safe.” He said. That seemed to be enough for Ploob who brushed past Kite and Leo to join Skib on the elevator. The elevator groaned in protest, and Skib flicked the lever. With a shudder, the elevator slowly started to descend into the darkness below. Kite looked at Alouette. “See? Skib knows what he was talking about.” Right as he finished saying that, the chain snapped, and the elevator collapsed into the darkness below.

This update is disgusting. You purchased an IP to absorb a user base, but you didn’t fucking KEEP THE PURPOSE OF THE APP. Sure, update it. Make it ugly! I don’t care! But the purpose of the app is to get regional (5 mi radius) chitchat—gossip, “town crier” style news, relatable chat and interests.
By making icons optional for comments, you’ve prevented us from calling out certain users that repeatedly harass others, make unwanted sexual advances, etc. We used to be able to warn people to block certain predators that use the app. Now, with anonymous comments, it’s a free-for-all.
I cannot even begin to describe how god awful ugly scrolling the feed is. Design-wise, the incorporation of videos before was fine as posts were still small until clicked on. The feed had an aesthetic uniformity to it, and posts were easy to scroll past. Now, photos are massive in the feed (not thumbnails). It feels much less text-centric and more photo-centric, like Reddit, twitter or Instagram.
The chats feature is, for one, an absolute disaster. There is no option to just post nearby, only your college or nationwide. The nationwide chat is full of Raw Penis, Hairy Gaping Arses, And Other Holes. No amount of moderation takes them down fast enough.
Even then, if you genuinely want to chat, the user experience of chatting is AWFUL. 9 times out of 10 it is glitching. The inbox floods quickly and you need to click into individual chats to delete.
My school has multiple locations, so the “college” chat is basically an entire mess and we can’t post regional content without each campus wondering what we’re discussing.
Just… great! The only social media I really enjoyed—the kind of “underground town crier” kind of chats about my area—is obliterated. This is disgusting. You want to start a new social app? Great! Get your own! Don’t buy out another just to try to force people to sign up for it.

Hello everyone, I and my S/O are house sitting for my in-laws wall they are out of town. We’ve been here for for about 2 weeks now and I feel like this house is extremely haunted and I just needed to share what has been going on. It started with random banging and seeing thing out of the corner of my eye. But on Sunday everything escalated my S/O and I woke up in the middle of the night to knocking on our bedroom wall that faces the outside. (We are on the second floor). And the faucets in the kitchen are turning on and off. and when I am down stairs I can hear someone walking up and down the stairs. I am starting to really freak out. I don’t know what to do

I’ve been thinking… Taping and filling joints and screw holes seems infinitely easier than plastering a wall. So why, traditionally, do we plaster in this country and the US tends to tape and fill joints, then fill screw holes?

GTA Online is Rockstar's incredibly popular cash cow that has been keeping gamers busy since 2013. Although the game should be relatively mature at this stage in its life, it still has plenty of flaws, such as horrendous loading times. These loading time issues have annoyed countless players, and now one player has tracked down the root issue to improve performance.
GTA V fan T0ST recently picked up GTA Online again to finish some new heists that have come out since he last played, but he was "shocked (/s) to discover that it still loads just as slow as the day it was released 7 years ago." With some grit, determination, and perhaps even some spite, T0ST decided it was "time to get to the bottom of this."
gta online ridiculous load times fixed benchmark
In the process of digging into GTA Online, T0ST had to do due diligence and research to make sure no one else figured out the problem. Once it was established that no one had, he ran some benchmarks on his PC with an aging FX-8350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU, 16GB of DDR3, and a "cheap-o" Kingston SSD. Though these parts may be old, they should be plenty to get GTA Online off the ground in decent time, but that is not what happened. According to the data in the blog post, T0ST got into the story mode in approximately one minute and ten seconds, whereas it took nearly six minutes to get into online mode. After some polling, it appears that many other users are having the same issue . What could be happening here?
gta online ridiculous load times fixed taskmanager
Using the task manager, T0ST found that his CPU was being eaten for around four minutes during GTA Online's load process. Perhaps it was just a bottleneck happening on his CPU alone, but that would not make much sense. To track down the issue, T0ST went to dump the running processes' stack, showing where the offending process is happening in RAM. This information, acquired through Luke Stackwalker, gave T0ST a place to look for whatever was causing issues.
gta online ridiculous load times fixed lukestackwalker
After falling down the rabbit hole of trying to track down where the memory pointed, it all started to come together through assembly code reading and obfuscation. Evidently, when loading into GTA Online, a whopping 10MB worth of JSON is being parsed. It seems that it is data for something called "net shop catalog," which is likely just all the things purchasable in GTA Online using in-game currency.
gta online ridiculous load times fixed parseloop
Why this parsing takes so long is due to a function used called sscanf, which, in this instance, can be loosely equated to reading Romeo and Juliet by reading one word, then rereading the play, and then jumping back to the next word in the play. Furthermore, there is another bad programming issue just beside sscanf, which goes through the entire list of JSON entries in an array, one by one, and checks to see if there are duplicates by comparing a unique ID assigned to each item called a hash. Ultimately, it is a lot of extra and unnecessary work that slows down everything.
To solve this issue, T0ST decided to write a .dll (Dynamic Linked Library) and inject it into GTA so that sscanf is effectively streamlined. Also, rather than running duplication checks, they can just be skipped as items inserted into the storage array will always be unique, as was set up during the parsing effort. Once T0ST injected the DLL into GTA with both issues fixed, he saw his load times go from around six minutes down to a solid approximate two minutes.
As T0ST explains, this "won't solve everyone's load times - there might be other bottlenecks on different systems, but it's such a gaping hole that I have no idea how R* has missed it all these years." Ultimately, Rockstar needs to dig into this issue to save all GTA Online players headaches during loading. If you want to see what T0ST did exactly, you can check out his GitHub here and see what is going on. In any case, perhaps we will soon get an official statement from the development company, so keep an eye on HotHardware for updates.

Does anyone know what happened to that little hole in the wall sushi place on Ann street in the city just across from Noosa chocolate factory? There would always be a big line around the block at lunch times. It’s been ages since I’ve been into the cbd and I went today and it’s gone.

In my research online for gold investing I am learning a lot of new things. Some salient points so far:

1. Gold is GOLD. The money of the Gods. Upside is promising. Doing up 60% in a decade is possible.
   
2. Gold Bars, Bullions, Biscuits = investment
   
3. Jewelry = Just plain bling, not as good to invest in. In crunch time, they sell at a loss. The buyer will probably melt it down, whatever art is worthless. Screw “craftsmanship”. Though some have made decent money, about 40% upside after 3-5 years for certain pieces.
   
4. 24K goes for 4-5 grand per gram, 18k is like 3500-3800/g
   
5. Available smaller cuts - .3, 1, 2.5, 5, 10 - 30 gram, 50 gram onwards harder to come by and pricey
   
6. In Thailand Gold is cheaper by 20%, they obsessed with bling as well.
   
7. KSA, JPN gold is pretty much the same thing.
   
8. Per my canvass, Binondo/Gold Center Chinatown pricing very consistent. Online purchases more expensive.
   
9. The Chinese have a weird sense of art with gold. Some designs are just out of this world.
   
10. Bars/Biscuits the way to go for investment. Swiss bars more expensive.
    
11. It's a bloody zoo at the Binondo Gold Center. Amazing that all those people shop for bling. Scary because of COVID and crime.
    

Bling was never my style. In fact I don’t have friends or relatives that are that into jewels. Even my friends that own their own pawnshops don’t wear fancy watches, multi layer necklaces, rings, bracelets to match their flashy car or classy bags. The most attractive girls I met hardly wore any "excessive" bling.
​
Now the Youtubers I have seen are definitely very informative. However, I in the course of watching, I find them irritating. Some dress to nines as they feature jewelry shops. Often they look like a billboard out of Rustan’s –Gucci shirt, Chanel hat - you get my drift. As the video moves to portions in their home, I see their priorities. What comes first is the LV bag, Prada this, Hermes that. All the glam, way before fixing the rat hole that they live in. There was another chick, again, very informative and later on, all I could see was her materialism. She points to where to buy stuff, shows her collection and all. She uses the term “investment” a lot. Looking at her stuff, I don’t think she sells anything. She just hoards and shows it off online.
​
https://youtu.be/0zixfaBaZxI
​
I have also have yet to see a channel on jewelry shops hosted by someone properly educated, with a wider vocabulary that does not include words like “charot”, “besh” or “tropa”.
That’s cool. Whatever floats their boat right?
If ever I do this, gold will be an investment. To preserve wealth or when SHTF in the coming war. Period.
Maybe I’ll get me a necklace with a pendant to satisfy my “inner” Run-DMC vibe.

Part 60
Julie Allard, CEO, Divine Crisis Management Group
Julie straightened up, the lines across her hips from the edge of the desk beginning to itch now that they were free. Bill collapsed back in his chair, opening a desk drawer to produce a box of tissues. He pulled a handful out to clean himself with.
"That was good," Julie purred, her knees shaking as she waited for Bill to finish so she could sit on his lap. Bill crumbled up the tissues and she plopped down. "Mmm, this is good, too," she said, leaning back against him.
"We could stay just like this for a while," Bill suggested.
"I wish," Julie said. "I'm going to start leaking soon... And we need to clean your desk." Bill leaned around her, seeing the mess on his desk. He chuckled. "I have to admit, I like the fact that I never have to worry about you faking it."
Julie snorted, then leaned against him.
"You gave me a funny look earlier," she said. "When the guys from the Army were here."
"Well, in my defense, a naked, beautiful woman stood up from under my desk while I was trying to talk shop with an old buddy of mine."
"Mmmhmm," Julie said. "It didn't have anything to do with the... Details of said naked woman?"
Bill looked at her. He reached forward, wiped a finger through the cooling bodily fluids on the desk and stuck it in his mouth.
"That only proves you're a pervert," Julie said with feigned primness.
"I'll drink it straight from the tap, then," Bill said, seizing her hips and plopping her on the desk. Julie squealed. "Not so soon, you ass!" Bill grinned at her.
"You'll make me giggle like a little girl," Julie tried to pout as she said it, but she couldn't stop grinning back at him.
"That only makes it more appealing," Bill said. Julie crossed her legs. "No! We can do that later. I need to go call in the rest of the guys your friend needed, anyways."
Bill glanced over at the potted plant with a small pile of fabric behind it. "Your clothes are over there," he said.
Julie finally managed to pout. "You're not going to get them for me?"
Bill eyed her legs. "Not as long as you've got that ass, no. I will never pick anything up off the floor for you."
Julie chuckled and stood, walking over to the plant and retrieving her clothes. She quickly dressed and arranged herself so as to minimize the evidence of a desktop tryst.
"How do I look?" she asked, turning for Bill's inspection.
"Harried," he said. "Which tracks with what's been going on. Also amazing, but that's par for the course."
She walked over as he finished buckling his own pants to kiss him. "I'll be back if I can. If not, I'll see you after work."
She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard Bill's voice. "Julie," he said. He sounded concerned. She turned to find him frowning.
"What is it?" His look worried her.
"It's Jerry," he said. "I think you might be too harsh on him."
Julie sighed. She tamped down on the twisting in her guts at his words and reminded herself that she needed to be objective.
"Explain," she said, her voice much colder than she intended.
"Julie," he said. "Haven't you noticed that virtually everyone who knows him has stood up for him? I mean, I know that the stuff Dylan told you sounds bad, and I know that you confirmed it. Hell, I know that him going rogue again looks bad... But there's got to be a reason so many people support him."
"He's nice to everyone he meets," Julie said. She had intended to go on, but she caught herself. She was making excuses. She was about to claim that the most awkward, easily-embarrassed wallflower of a man she'd ever met had simply charmed everyone else. And she damn well knew that wasn't the case. Sure, he could turn on an aura that would make women -and presumably gay men- go wild for him, but she was fairly certain he hadn't done so in years. He was self-conscious about even discussing the last time he had, even though she knew he'd had his memories erased at the time and was acting out of character, thanks to some kind of magical illness.
"I'll think about it, Bill," she said, her voice much softer.
"That's all I'm asking," he said. "And I'll support you, whatever decisions you come to."
She smiled at him. That part, she had no trouble believing.
"I'll see you later," she said.
"L- I mean, later, beautiful," he replied. His face twisted a little, but quickly returned to normal. Julie left, wondering what that look was about.
----
Julie went to the bathroom first. When she was done, she went to her office and sent out the emails to recall the men for the Army. She had just gotten those sent when she sensed a presence and looked up to find a woman sitting in the chair in front of her desk.
"Hello," Julie said, surprised.
"Hi," the woman responded. She wore a nice dress suit, much like Julie's own, except the woman still had her jacket on and buttoned. She had fair features and black hair with a red stripe in it.
"Can I help you?" Julie asked.
"No," the woman said.
They sat there for a moment, Julie edging a finger closer to the alarm rune on the underside of her desk.
"I'm here to help you," the woman said at length. There was something about her voice that seemed familiar, but Julie couldn't place it.
"Okay," Julie responded. "Can you explain how?"
"Yes. Listen to Bill about Jerry," the woman said. She leaned forward and the sense of vague familiarity hit Julie again. She was certain she knew this woman from somewhere.
"What did Bill say about Jerry?" Julie asked, carefully choosing her words to avoid any accidental admissions.
"That you're being too harsh on him," the woman said. She leaned forward some more, putting her elbows on her knees.
"Bill's right. You see, Bill is a very confident man. He's aware that other men might be better in bed, or better fighters, or better at their jobs than him. He doesn't really care. You pushing away Jerry isn't going to make him feel more secure in your relationship. He's not worried about you leaving him to return to the arrangement you had with Jerry and his wife. He knows you well enough to know you wouldn't want that. Being a fifth wheel, I mean."
Julie gasped as the recognition suddenly crystalized. "Jane," she breathed. Jane flashed her a tight smile and a little nod. "more or less," she said cryptically. Julie took that to mean this was an avatar.
"What can you tell me about everything that's happened?" Julie asked.
"Well, General Stanley's fears are justified, so don't hold back aiding him. Some of the gods are dissenting. A few will sit out the upcoming conflict. A few will side with humanity. A few more will side specifically with Jerry. In fact, they already have. Unfortunately, those who've sided with Jerry are probably not going to help us in this fight."
"And why? Why are they turning on us?"
"Because They're afraid of you. You have power now, and Jerry worked out a way to kill a god. They know if he can do it, another human can, as well. Some of the work your wizards are doing is shockingly close to what Jerry did. Most of them have turned against him, though not all. But in doing so, many have turned against humanity as a whole. They don't plan to let you have back the army you've sent to assist them. Most of them think that will be a serious blow to your might. They don't know it's just a small part of one army among many. And when they learn that, well... They're not going to grow any less afraid of you, that's for sure."
"You make out like the gods are a bunch of cowards," Julie said. Jane chuckled and nodded, crossing her arms.
"They are. They're scared of Jerry, scared of Sarisa, scared of you, scared of me and Yarm. Mostly me, but still. They'd be afraid of their own shadow, if they didn't know better. The gods have spent thousands of years being immortal and invincible. Only one god has ever truly died, and that was a massive fluke. They've never been given the chance to develop any courage. They're experiencing a threat for the first time ever, so their reaction is to attack everything until there's nothing left to threaten them."
"Except Yarm," Julie said. Jane nodded. "Except Yarm. And you can guess where he stands."
Yarm would stand with Jerry, no doubt. Julie knew that the two of them were as close as they could be without becoming lovers. "And what about Jerry?" she asked.
"Jerry is doing exactly what he needs to be doing right now. For himself, and for everyone else."
Julie nodded, taking that in. "And you? Where do you sit in this fight?"
Jane shrugged. "I was human until a few years ago. Old loyalties die hard."
Julie leaned back in her chair, relieved.
Jane stood. "I have to go. I have a lot on my plate, lately. There's no certainty, but I want you to know that things are on the right track, so far. As long as Sarisa doesn't have any more tricks up her sleeve, everything's going to work out."
"And if she does?" Julie asked, rising as well.
Jane shrugged again, making a sort of sneer that Julie recognized as a suppressed wince. "Then we'll either adapt or lose."
"And what happens if we lose?"
"The destruction of all the gods and the extinction of humanity. At least in this world."
"So, no pressure," Julie drawled. Jane grinned. "No pressure," she said. She turned to the door and opened it, then paused.
"Oh, one more thing..." She met Julie's eyes.
"Tell Bill that you're in love with him. He's been itching for 'the right time' to tell you, but you know how men are about that kind of stuff."
Julie gaped at the goddess as she left with a wink. A moment later, she returned to her computer and began typing more emails. She had a feeling that pulling out all the stops might be appropriate.
----
Command Sergeant Major Eric Hale, 5th Special Forces Group
"The president will see you now, Sergeant," the marine guard said. Hale stood and walked in. Hale walked into the conference room to find the POTUS and a Navy Admiral shaking hands.
"Thank you, Fred," the President said. The Admiral nodded and walked out as Hale snapped to attention and saluted his Commander in Chief.
"Knock it off," the President told him, pulling out a chair, and then walking around the table to take one opposite. "Take a seat. I've been on my feet all day."
"Thank you, sir," Hale said as he sat down and scooted his chair in.
"I'm told you have a message for me from General Stanley."
Hale nodded. "Yes, sir. I was to give you his message verbatim. It goes as follows: 'Sir, if this shit goes down and we don't throw everything we have at it in one big mass, right off the bat, I do not think we will survive'. End of message."
The President nodded.
"I expected this, you know," he said. "The folks from the DCM -including that guy from the television show and the woman who produces it- were fairly apocalyptic in their description of events."
The President heaved a big sigh. "That was Admiral Strang. He happened to be in the building, so he personally reported to me that the second and third battalion of the Tenth Special Forces just arrived stateside on naval flights. They're preparing to be deployed as we speak."
"Sir, with all due respect, I think we're going to need more than just two more battalions of quiet professionals. We're going to need a complete mobilization. I just came from the DCM, and they promised me a hundred wizards and over four hundred shooters with magic gear. I think we're going to need more, sir. A lot more."
"A total war footing," the President said. "That's what you're talking about. A return to a World-War-Two era economy."
"Sir, I couldn't speak to economic concerns, but I have the upmost faith in the General's judgement."
"You and me both, Sergeant," the President said with a sigh. He sighed again a moment later.
"Okay, Sergeant. My break is over, I need to get moving. You can tell the General I'm doing everything I can. If you want to return to the waiting room, I'll send a Marine to escort you to the helipad and you can take the chopper over to Fort Carson. I'll send instructions for Colonels Macy and Gibbs to follow your lead."
"Thank you, sir," Hale said, standing up. He snapped another salute, but the President stuck out his hand.
"Thank you, Sergeant. You and every single one of the men out there right now, and all of those heading there today and in the future. Your service is an inspiration to all of us. I know you hear empty platitudes from politicians all the time, but I want to personally assure you that I mean it."
"You served yourself, sir," Hale said, shaking the President's hand.
"I did. In Afghanistan. It seems like forever ago."
"Then thank you, Mister President," Hale said. The President laughed.
"Yeah, thank me, too. Go on. I'm a busy man, Sergeant."
Hale hurried out, back to the waiting room. He had barely sat down before a Marine Gunnery Sergeant walked into the room. "Sergeant Hale?" he asked.
Hale stood. "This way, si- Sergeant," the Marine said.
"Do I have to say it, Gunny?" Hale asked.
"Nope," the Marine responded. "I'm kicking myself already."
----
President James Carter
James' staff met him as he left the conference room. "Okay," he asked Marcy, to his left. "Who's next?"
"Director Stillman, sir," she said. James sighed with relief. "Good. Hopefully he's got some good news for us."
He followed Marcy through the halls, to one of the secured meeting rooms. Inside, he found Frank Stillman, Director of Central Intelligence.
"Frank, please tell me you've got good news," James said as he shook his old friend's hand.
"Well, that depends on what you need the news for. Word is that we're going to war. Like World War Three. Is that true?"
"Jesus, you guys work fast," James breathed. "I literally just came from hearing about it."
"Ways and means, sir," Frank said. James chuckled ruefully.
"So yeah, I wanted to know about project Hoplite."
"Hoplite is ahead of schedule. We can field the first cadre, already. The second will be ready in a month."
"Good. What about project, uh..." James snapped his fingers. "Project Merlos, sir?"
"Yes, I could never remember that name. We should have just called it 'Merlin'. Or maybe 'Gandalf'."
"We almost called it Project Dresden, sir, but we've had one of those already."
"I don't even want to know. So how far along is Merlos?"
"We have four cadres ready right now. That's about three hundred and sixty men."
"That'll be a big help. How fast can they get organized?"
"They're prepping now, sir. They'll be ready to go within the hour. I had planned to have them travel ahead."
"Good, good. And you know I have to ask about the last one."
Frank's face split into a grin. "Project Tarragon, sir."
"That's the one."
Frank's grin grew wider. "Six," he said. James' jaw dropped. "Six?!"
"Yes, sir. Ready to go right this instant."
"Shit, the NRF riders must be fast learners."
"There's a sort of bonding that happens. By training the riders first, we can have another two ready two months from the next hatch."
"You look pretty pleased with yourself," James noted. Frank winked. "I am, sir. These projects have been my baby for the past few years. Having them come to fruition right as they're needed, well... I'm eager to see them in action."
"Don't be too eager. I'm told that if we don't win this one, we go extinct."
"Extinction has shades of gray, sir. If things get too bad, well, we've got a plan for that, too."
"Oh?" James quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do tell."
"Well, sir. You see, me and Jerry go way back. I was his boss when he worked for the Agency."
"I'm aware," James said. Frank smiled.
"Well, he and I got on quite well. So well, in fact, that neither of us wanted to end our professional relationship when he left for the private sector. As a result, we've been in touch about important matters. The last thing he contacted me about was a sort of extra dimensional bunker, set up by the gods to preserve humanity in the event of some extinction-level event. Except the gods don't really seem to know about it. Well, except one, and I've been given assurances that she's sympathetic to our cause."
"Well, that does sound useful."
Frank's smile turned into a grin that split his face from ear to ear. "We've also taken the liberty of adding some extra defenses, sir. If we can hold out for two more months, in addition to the two new Tarragon pairs, I can provide you with a bunker from which any continuing war effort can be directed in perfect safety."
"Well, shit, don't let me keep you, then. Have your project's soldiers travel to the other side as quickly as possible, and report their capabilities and needs to General Stanley."
"Right away, sir."
Frank walked out without another word. A very efficient man, that one, James thought. He stepped outside to find Marcy and the others waiting.
"Next?" he said with a sigh.
----
Bill Martin, All in All, Having a Pretty Good Day
Bill finished up the rest of his work and shut down his computer. Eric was as set as he could be. Gear for a thousand DCM security agents was being shipped to the Army camp, and hundreds of wizards and security agents (with their own gear, of course) were heading there as well, some already moving, others heading out in the days to come.
He stretched his back and then angled his desk lamp to be sure he'd cleaned up the mess from earlier. As he nodded to himself in satisfaction, he heard the door opening and looked up. Julie was there, her shirt half-unbuttoned and her hair a bit more of a mess than he remembered leaving it in.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yes, just..." She sighed. "It's been a long day."
"I rather enjoyed lunch," Bill said. "Though I'm still hungry, for some reason..." Julie smiled at him.
"You know, there's probably no-one left in the office who might come knocking..." Bill said, suggestively.
"I know," Julie said, indicating her shirt. "But before we get to that, I need you to do something. In a professional capacity, I mean."
Bill's eager grin faded, replaced by his business expression, which some people tended to find intimidating for some reason. He scratched one heavily cauliflowered ear and idly wondered why as he waited for Julie to go on. For her part, she seemed reluctant to say it.
Finally, she worked up the nerve. "I want you to take a team. Six security, six wizards. The best, even if you have to recall them from the other side. I mean, the best we have. Take them and go find Jerry, and assist him with whatever he needs. Here," she reached into the pocket of the jacket slung over one arm and produced a compass.
"What's this?" Bill asked, accepting the compass.
"It will lead you directly to him. He gave it to me once, in case..."
"In case you needed to get laid?" Bill asked, his expression still all business. "I'm sorry, that sounded bitter. I mean, I don't understand why you'd need to find him."
"In case I needed to have him killed," Julie blurted out. "He made it and gave it to me. I think he made a few and gave them to the people he trusted."
"And he trusted you with one," Bill said. Julie winced.
"I'm not jealous," Bill said.
"What?" Julie asked.
"I'm not jealous, I said. I know you two used to have some kind of a thing going, and I know he's probably some kind of inhuman lover. But I can live with the fact that you were his sidepiece for a while."
Julie winced again.
"Sorry," Bill said. "My mouth is bad at translating what's in my head sometimes. I just mean to say that I've never had a problem with you and him working together, or even being friends. I know there wasn't any... Romance there."
"Are you... Is there romance here?" Julie asked him in a quiet voice.
"I sure as shit hope so, or I'm in for a really bad time," Bill said. He wanted to say something else, but it was hard to just jump to that.
Julie giggled.
"What?" Bill asked.
"Nothing, it was just something someone said to me earlier today."
She stepped forward, her body pressed to his and kissed him.
"I love you, Bill Martin," she whispered.
"I lo- Wow. Uh, I wasn't expecting that..." he muttered, his thick neck turning a bright shade of red.
"Sounds like maybe you were," Julie said.
"Motherfucker," Bill swore. "Julie, I've had a crush on you since the moment we met. At my interview. I saw you sitting there and afterwards, when I went home, I couldn't get that image out of my head. And I... I'm... I've been in love with you since that morning at the diner, when that asshat kept running his mouth."
Julie smiled at him. "So you love me?"
"Yeah," Bill said. Something snapped inside his chest and he seized her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Her lips felt different, warmer, softer than he remembered. The skin of her cheeks under his calloused thumbs was smoother, fuller. The feeling of her body pressed up against his was...
It felt like coming home, he thought.
They kissed for a long moment before Bill drew back. "I uh..." he stammered.
"You need to get your team together," Julie said.
"Yeah," he responded, looking around as if they were here, waiting for him.
He clutched the compass to his chest. "I saw Michelle's report," he said. "From what she said, he's moving across planes."
"Stacey Compton is probably the most talented plane walker we have," Julie said. "And she's been working on the teleporter improvements. She should still be here."
Bill nodded. "I'll grab her. She got a rave review from one of the security teams when she was doing field work. Cool head under pressure. I still need to figure out the rest."
"You can leave in the morning, you know," Julie said. Bill met her gaze, and saw the twinkle there.
"The door's still open," he said.
"I thought you said there wasn't anyone left to disturb us..." Julie said teasingly. Bill grinned. "In that case, the couch in the lobby is bound to be more comfortable than my desk."
Julie took his hand and led him out of the office.
----
Bill woke up and froze, the unfamiliarity of his surroundings speeding up his heart. But only for a second. He recognized Julie's bedroom. His hand brushed her sleeping back as the memories of last night returned. His eyes went to the dresser, where his handgun, wallet, and a small compass were laid out.
They'd had dinner, then come back here and enjoyed their third tryst of the day before falling asleep in each others arms. He remembered the words they'd shared, and tried them out again on her sleeping back.
"I love you," he said. Julie murmured something and pulled the hand he'd placed on her hip down over her belly. He gave her a moment to cuddle, then gently extricated his hand and climbed out of bed. He jumped in the shower and washed quickly. A small pump bottle of brightly colored body wash-slash-shampoo and conditioner, obviously marketed to men, sat unopened to one side, so he cracked that one and used it.
He climbed out and dried himself off, and found Julie still asleep when he emerged. She'd rolled onto her back and lay stretched out on the bed, her hair a chestnut halo around her head, like some kind of angel. He considered snapping a picture, but the blankets were tangled around her knees, and he didn't want to do something that would piss her off, like taking nude photos of her sleeping. But he really wanted to remember this, so he stared for a long moment before getting dressed.
"Mmm, leaving?" Julie murmured as he pulled his boots on.
"Was gonna wake you up, see if you wanted to get breakfast before I go," he said.
"Mmmmmmm," she responded, her eyes still closed. She reached out and seized his forearm gently.
"Mmm, I love you," she said. Bill grinned down at her, barely able to stand how gorgeous and adorable she was.
"I love you, too," he said.
Her eyes snapped open. "I wanna get breakfast," she said.
"Okay, then come on," he replied.
She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I need a shower," she said.
"Clock's ticking," Bill noted. She swung her legs out of bed, then slumped.
"Fuck the shower, you have to go, soon."
"Yeah," Bill agreed sadly.
"Okay, lemme brush my teeth, at least." She stood and padded into the bathroom, so Bill sat patiently on the bed and waited. She emerged a few minutes later. "Clothes," she said, then turned to the closet as if she'd just remembered that clothes were a thing. She dug out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and quickly pulled them on.
"I'll wear sandals," she said, grabbing a pair of large-framed sunglasses from her dresser. "Come on."
They went to a diner two blocks away that they'd visited a few times before. Breakfast was ordered, delivered and eaten, coffee was poured, fawned over, and drank quickly. Finally, Julie settled the bill.
"Bill," she said. "When you get there, tell him I'm sorry, okay? I was... Part of it was personal reasons. I kinda wanted to push him away. So you could..."
"So I could get closer?" Bill asked. she nodded.
"I'll tell him."
They stood and walked outside. At Bill's car, he stopped and turned. "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"
"Yeah, this is a safe neighborhood. And I've still got that handgun in my purse. And it's only two blocks. You need to get moving, as much as I want to draw this out."
Bill nodded. He stroked her hair, then pulled some of it to his face and breathed deeply.
"Yuck," Julie said. "I haven't washed it."
"It smells like you," Bill said. "Best thing I've ever smelled."
"Ahh, that's right. We haven't been out for tacos yet," Julie said. Bill chuckled.
"You don't have any jewelry on," he said, disappointed. Julie cocked her head at him. "Is that a problem?"
"I guess not, I just... I wanted something of you. To bring with me. I'm damn sure I'm riding into a fight."
"Give me your knife," Julie said. Bill's eyebrows rose, but he complied, handing over the razor-sharp Benchmade he kept clipped to his belt. She unfolded it, seized a lock of her hair and chopped it off in a quick motion. Bill gasped.
"Your hair!" he said. Julie handed him the knife back and carefully began to tie the hair into a complex knot.
"I was about to cut it short, anyways. I like to change it up from time to time. Here," she handed him the small ring of braided hair, and he took it. Bill looked at it, then up at Julie.
"I love you," he said again.
Julie beamed at him. "I love you, too. Now let me go get in the shower. I've got to get to the office." She kissed him once on the lips and spun on her heels, striding away quickly. Bill climbed in the driver's seat and looked up to see she'd stopped and was watching him.
He raised the hair and kissed it. She smiled, blushed and turned away.

<< The flickering red lights felt like they had a soul of their own, the beat dropped and the boom resounded in every clubber’s soul, The concussion blasts reverberating through the ears of the hundreds of people either yelling "what" at one another, or pretending to hear what the other person actually said and laughing drunkenly. This club looked like any other club, it had its mosh pit of desperate souls holding out their cash at the bar hoping only one of the two bartenders would notice, it had its inevitable drunk who wanted to start a fight, and it had its fair share of drunk unconsciousness. Yet this club, “The Connection”, had a different feel, it had a strange and dark light to it, as if something in the air gave everyone this instinct of being submerged by the place’s aura, by this place’s stenching overwhelming aura.
It was wall to wall people dancing erratically, you couldn’t even see the floor, and what annoyed Diego the most was how hard it was to navigate this mass of people without sinking his teeth into someone. Most of all, the smell had a virulent effect on him. He squeezed his way through the mass and could notice scattered pairs of red eyes among the clubbers, some of these red-eyed guests gave nods, others gave blank stares, and the rest gave nasty looks. Diego wasn’t in a truly welcoming place since some of the “people” who go to The Connection didn’t have a nice appreciation of our man because of some unfortunate past event.
Eventually, Diego stopped in the middle of the club, as all the clubbers formed a cyclone of drunken dancing, he stood still in the middle… for he was enamoured. As his eyes were scanning the venue for something interesting, his eyes met the gaze of beauty itself. A pale woman with the most beautiful red eyes stood still just like him a few feet away, and she was staring. For a moment…as these two vampires who didn’t know each other stared at each other…time stopped. >>
Hey, I’m looking for a literate or semi-literate partner to roleplay with me in a story which takes place in a city full of opportunities and esoteric secrets. The setting is The World of Darkness universe, specifically Vampire: The Masquerade since I’m a big fan. In this setting, vampires live in secret amongst humans and, in the same fashion, the themes of this story will be tied to interpersonal horror. In addition to my personal favourite theme: unattainable toxic love.
I would like my partner to be able to create and manage multiple “NPC” characters since I will be doing the same. Also I would like my partner to have autonomy and to create plotlines as they wish. I am not a GM so please don’t expect that of me. I do not have any clear ideas of where the story goes, I only have my character figured out for now but I’m sure that we can come up with something good if we put both our visions together. Please message me only if you have a character in mind with a brief bio and ref pic. Not a big fan of "mushy" characters or pure and innocent characters who need to be babied around, I'm looking for someone to play a raw and experienced character who's been through it (hope it doesn't sound weird or condescending).
If this genre of supernatural sappy romance and dark contemporary fantasy interests you ; if stories of secret underground vampire courts fascinate you ; or if you’re, just like me, a big VtM fan, then this RP might be real fun and a nice writing exercise in the genre for you. So, come join me and let’s dive deep into the occult vampiric side of the city of Roth while desperately and madly falling in love with each other in a world that cannot allow it.

Merchandising is a crucial aspect of running a pharmacy, as it can significantly impact sales and customer satisfaction. By effectively arranging and displaying products, you can create a better shopping experience for your customers and increase sales. Here are five rules to follow for effective pharmacy merchandising:

1. Keep it clean and organized.

First impressions are essential, so make sure your store is tidy and well-organized. Dust and clutter can turn customers away and make them think your store is not well-maintained. Keep shelves well-stocked, and arrange products in a way that makes sense. Consider using signage to help customers find what they need quickly.

1. Create a focal point.

A focal point is a prominent display that catches the customer's eye and draws them in. Use it to showcase new products or promotions. It could be a table display or a wall display that features products with eye-catching graphics or packaging. Make sure the focal point is well-lit and easy to see from anywhere in the store.

1. Use cross-merchandising.

Cross-merchandising is the practice of displaying products together that are complementary or related. For example, if you sell vitamins, display them near the pharmacy section. Customers who come in to fill a prescription may also be interested in purchasing vitamins. You can also use cross-merchandising to promote seasonal products or create themed displays.

1. Make use of end caps.

End caps are the shelves at the end of an aisle, and they are prime real estate for displaying products. Use them to promote your best-selling items, new products, or products that are on sale. Make sure the end cap is well-stocked and visually appealing. Use signage to draw attention to the display.

1. Keep it fresh.

Finally, keep your displays fresh by regularly rotating products and changing up the displays. Customers may stop coming in if they see the same products in the same spot every time they visit. By changing things up, you can keep the shopping experience interesting and encourage customers to return.
Effective pharmacy merchandising can help increase sales and customer satisfaction. By following these five rules, you can create an inviting shopping experience that keeps customers coming back.
Read more: http://surl.li/fvvot

Currently, I am a junior with the following academic and extracurricular achievements:
Academic:

• Unweighted GPA of 4.0
• Rank of 20 out of 404, placing me in the top 5% of my class
• By the end of my senior year, I will have completed 7 APs, 4 Honors, and 1 Dual Credit class

Extracurriculars:

• Lead Light Technician for my school's Technical Theatre program; received the Outstanding Technician Award at the state competition and qualified for the national lighting design competition; Honor Thespian with over 600 hours devoted to theatre
• Conducted independent research on black holes through the ISM research program at my school
• Served as an advocate for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and raised awareness about the environmental impact of war to over 1000 individuals, leading a team of 8 and raising $500 towards the cause; qualified for a free Washington trip as one of 20 out of 800+ advocates and received the Golden Presidential Award for dedicating over 250 hours to the cause
• Held leadership positions in both the Red Cross club (Public Relations Officer in 11th grade, Vice President in 12th grade) and Theatre club (Publicist in 11th grade, President in 12th grade) at my school
• Maintained a small video editing account with over 1000 followers and 20k likes
• Served as the Digital Media Coordinator for CareerReady
• Completed a social media internship where I created over 100 posts, designed graphics, and wrote blogs
• Completed a coding internship where I helped code a landing page using HTML for a small company
• Volunteered with PAL/Tribes for Goods, working with children from adverse backgrounds and providing emotional support and educational assistance

Also I moved to the US in the middle of my sophomore year and was not allowed to take any AP classes until my junior year.
Additionally, I have applied to research programs such as NASA SEES and PAN, and am hopeful that I will be accepted into at least one of them.
Currently, my SAT score is 1440, and I achieved this without putting in any effort so, if I work hard, I can raise my score to a 1500.

Overall, the rate is 5.0, FIVE STARS. *****
I do not regret that I paid $67990 for this Telsa 2022 Long Range + FSD, in early 2022.
Delivered on 2/14/2022, now it's 13 months, 20K miles.

1. Battery degradation: from 323 miles (90% full) 300 miles, 7.1% degradation
2. I got FSD at the miles of 5000, my safety score was 96
3. Cost:

• Wall connecter: $425 + $800 (installation)
• Accessories: $380
  • All-weather interior liners (Tesla)
  • Trunk lines (Amazon)
  • Glass roof sunshades (Amazon)
  • Phone mount (Amazon)
• Charging: $775 (Tesla APP charging status) includes Supercharger and home charging (I have solar at home)
• Service Center: $265 (Actually this tire rotation service is not necessary)
• Windshield liquid: $5
• Car wash: $70 :D
• Premium connectivity: $99

So the total cost is $1214, $93.38 per month. (exclude the cost of wall connector & accessories, would be cheaper if I didn't do the unnecessary tire rotation)
I was supposed to do a tire service next month, although I didn't feel there is any problem with the tires. Tesla's service center is too expensive, I think I will do it at Costco or America Tire depot.