Welcome to the Weekly Battlecats Thread. This discussion thread is for the purpose of containing content that doesn't belong in it's own post, such as "how do I beat X level" or "which of my cats should I upgrade next".
Make sure to indicate the levels of your cats for questions about completing a level, or your progress in SoL, ITF etc for questions about your cats. The more information you give, the easier it is for your fellow players to help you.
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Got any suggestion? Send them in modmail!
Other links:

• Uber Description Project (has some other units other than ubers)
• Useful FAQ
• The link to the discord server, in case you didn't know that the image on the sidebar is actually a link
• Event data, which just like the Discord Server invite is in the sidebar

SF/F (general)—Part 1 (of 15)

• SF Masterworks at Wikipedia
• Fantasy Masterworks at Wikipedia
• Hugo Award for Best Novel
• Nebula Award for Best Novel
• Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Book Lists WWEnd [Worlds Without End]
• /Fantasy "Top" Lists
• /Fantasy Themed and Crowd Sourced Lists
• Top Science Fiction [lists]
• Worlds Without End: Books [Lists]
• Rocket Stack Rank: Ratings tag; the blog covers short SF/F, though I don't use it myself
• "Not sure who will find it useful but I made a Twitter bot that tweets out daily a SF recommendation from Project Gutenberg’s public domain collection." (printSF; 08:07 ET, 17 January 2023; https://twitter.com/Gutenberg_SciFi)
• Locus Magazine, Best All-Time SF Novel (August 1998; published before 1990)
• Our Very Own Top Book Poll - Results! (printSF; 10 February 2023)
• u\BobQuasit's Book recommendations
• PMaranci's (u\BobQuasit's) reviews (with spoilers)

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (published in paperback in two volumes, A and B). There are audio book versions.

• "Any (book) scifi protagonists that use martial arts?" (scifi; 21 July 2014)
• "Recommend Me: Books about a 'scientist' of magic" (Fantasy; 19 January 2021)
• "Biology/Microbiology Focused Books" (printSF; 15:50 ET, 14 January 2022)—list
• "Fantasy books you love" (booksuggestions; 7 June 2022)
• "Sci fi martial arts thrillers" (printSF; 16 June 2022)
• "Series with a detailed magic system" (Fantasy; 27 June 2022)
• "Book where magic is explored in a realistic way" (Fantasy; 13 July 2022)
• "Are there any two unrelated books from different authors that you consider to be 'Twin Books' for whatever reason?" (printSF; 25 July 2022)
• "Book recommendations with non-Sandersonian magic" (Fantasy; 26 July 2022)—very long; hard magic
• "PrintSF Recommends top 100 SF Novels" (printSF, 6 August 2022)
• "I'm nearing the end of almost every 'must read' fantasy list and I need help" (booksuggestions, 8 August 2022)—SF; longish
• "SciFi novels for kids?" (scifi, 16:17 ET, 9 August 2022)—long
• "Fantasy books that include romance, but where it's not the focus?" (booksuggestions, 19:17 ET, 9 August 2022)—longish
• "fantasy books?" (booksuggestions, 19:30 ET, 9 August 2022)—long
• "Favorite stand alone fantasy novel?" (Fantasy, 09:46 ET 10 August 2022)—long
• "What are some good 21st century science fiction books to read?" (suggestmeabook; 11:27 ET, 10 August 2022)
• "best science fiction story of all time?" (suggestmeabook; 01:32 ET, 11 August 2022)
• "Most recommended fantasy series?" (suggestmeabook; 04:28 ET, 11 August 2022)
• "Sci-Fi recs for a mainly fantasy reader?" (Fantasy, 11 August 2022)—longish

​
Introduction
You might think that there is only one numogram, the Numogram, created in a joint collaboration between the CCRU and glass-grade methamphetamine. No longer! With this incredibly unhelpful toolkit, you too can become A Genius™ by assigning arbitrary meanings to the single-digit numbers in a given base system!
Numogram construction theory
Look at this graph:
​
The CCRU base-10 Numogram, from the cover of their collected works
Why did I use the Numogram from the cover of the book? Well, most of the versions of this diagram are actually incorrect! Because of a reliance on a certain blurry image to recreate the Numogram, and an ignorance of its stated structure, the 15 at the top is often mistakenly rendered as a 16, and the small 3 is often mistakenly rendered as an 8. This version of the diagram is the correct one.
So, how is this diagram structured? Well, firstly, it relies on base-10, the most popular number system on Earth. Does it need to? No. But it does. The large circles are paired based on syzygy, the Genius™ way of saying that the sum to the highest single-digit number in the base used, which is always the base-number (in this case, 10) minus one - so, each pair sums to 9 here. The large dark arrows create the major flow of the diagram, and point at whatever number is the difference between the pair. (Ex, 9-0=9, so the arrow goes from 0 and 9 to 9, while 5-4=1, so the arrow goes from 5 and 4 to 1) Lastly, the minor, smaller circles contain the first nine triangular numbers. They start at whichever major number is the index of that triangular number (ex, 45 is the 9th triangular number, so 45 originates from 9) and flow toward whichever number is the sum of the integers of that triangular number (ex, 28 becomes 2+8=10, and 10 becomes 1+0=1, so 28 flows into 1).
Now that we know the rules of constructing the base-10 Numogram, we can add a few more rules to create infinitely many arbitrary Numograms, for maximum Genius™. Firstly, we can only pick even bases. This is so that are no self-pairing numbers (something the CCRU explicitly derides) when we create the syzygy pairs. Secondly, the integer sums must be performed within the base used, to prevent arbitrary nonsense diagrams. (Ex, the 9th triangular number is 45 base-10, but 39 in base-12, and 33 in base-14, and 2d in base-16, etc. 4+5=9 in base-10, 3+9=10 in base-12, 3+3=6 in base-14, 2+d=f in base-16, etc.)
Example
Now that you know how to create your own arbitrary base-N Numogram, let's look at an example:
​
Ugly, but accurate, base-12 Numogram
(Minor flows are smaller lines and circles, while major flows are thicker lines with triangles pointing toward the terminus. All numbers are rendered in base-12.)
As you can see, this diagram follows the same rules as the base-10 Numogram, but for base-12. It has all the single-digit numbers that exist in base-12 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b) and uses base-12 sums for the triangular numbers (the 8th triangular number is 36 in base-10, and thus flows from 8 to 3+6=9, but the 8th triangular number is 30 in base-12, and thus flows to 3+0=3).
What can we learn from this example?
Note that the base-12 and base-10 Numograms share some structural features that correspond to CCRU-occultism. In the base-10 Numogram, the 0:9 pair and the 3:6 pair both lie outside of the major flows of the time-circuit. The 0:9 pair forms the Plex-region of the base-10 Numogram, while the 3:6 pair forms the Warp-region. The three remaining pairs, subject the normal major flows of time, are said to form the Torque-region. The base-12 Numogram, we see that major time flows come from 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and a, but never go into them. Likewise, we see that the 0:b pair forms a unidirectional self-consuming flow of time, much like the 0:9 and 3:6 pairs of the base-10 Numogram. Lastly, we can note that 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and b all have major time flows both entering and exiting them.
The correspondences in number flows between the base-10 and base-12 Numograms create a situation which contains both concepts congruent with CCRU-occultism and concepts which run their own way. In the Base-12 Numogram, the Plex region (0:9) and Warp region (3:6) are combined into a single Plexwarp region (0:b), which is the only self-consuming unidirectional flow of time in the base-12 Numogram. A new region presents itself, however, in the form of the five outer even-numbered regions, which produce a time-flow but never absorb one. This region, composed of even-numbered halves of syzygy-pairs, is the "archetypal" realm, in occult parlance, while the inner five odd numbers paired with them form the "Torque-region" of this Numogram, the time-circuit for base-12. The association of planets and zones in the CCRU base-10 Numogram can be paralleled with an association between zodiac signs and the zones of the base-12 Numogram.
Totally outside of the purview of CCRU-occultism, we can note that the flows of the 10 non-Plexwarp syzygy-pairs resembles the creative flows of the Wuxing), where each of the pairs a:1, 9:2, 8:3, 7:4, and 6:5 correspond to a Chinese element, while the 0:b pair corresponds to Taiji.
A few structural similarities and differences of note between the Base-10 and Base-12 Numograms regard the minor flows. In the Base-10 Numogram, the minor flows enter the Plex and Warp regions from the Torque, but never enter the Torque from the Plex or Warp. This makes them somewhat akin to whirlpools with their own smaller time-circuits than regions beyond time, as the CCRU describes them. In the Base-12 Numogram, the Plexwarp region almost takes this form, with minor flows entering from the Archetypal, but never entering it, but it does not take the same form, since the Archetypal is not the Torque, and the Torque is present in both the Base-10 and Base-12 Numograms. The Archetypal both produces and receives minor flows, making it somewhat distinct from the Plex or Warp of the Base-10 Numogram. There are two "entry" points in the diagram based on these minor flows, these being the zones 6 and 4. While 6 and 4 are outside of the major flows of time, they receive two minor flows from the Torque - 6 receives the 24 flow from 7, and the 6 flow from 3, while 4 receives the 13 flow from 5. These "entry" points are the underlying basis of magick, since they allow a person with "access" to zone-3, zone-5, or zone-7 to project influence throw minor flows into the more powerful Archetypal zones, via zone-4 or zone-6. This influence is then carried by minor flows into Zone-a, and thus through minor flows into the Plexwarp. From zone-4, zone-6, and zone-a, the influence is also carried via major flows into other parts of the Torque, until all components of the central time-circuit carry a degree of the influence of the magickal suggestion. Likewise, Jungian synchronicity comes via the "exit" points of the Archetypal, where minor flows from that region enter the Torque. Namely, zone-3, which receives the 3 flow from zone-2, and the 30 flow from zone-8. The time-fuckery spoken of by the CCRU is accomplished through the 39 flow, which runs against the major flow of time, proceeding from zone-9 to zone-1, despite the major flow of time running from zone-1 and zone-a to zone-9.
Conclusion
Using this free conceptual toolbox and the example of the Base-12 Numogram, you too can create your own Numogram in any arbitrary even base! Go forth, and be hailed a meth-addled Genius™!
​
Appendix A: Three more Numograms
​
The Base-2 Numogram, the smallest possible Numogram
​
The Base-4 Numogram, the smallest numogram with an inter-zone minor flow
​
The Base-6 Numogram, the smallest with a Torque (time-circuit) region
Appendix B: Afterthoughts
If we're going to study the Numogram in any serious fashion, we can't restrict ourselves to an arbitrary version of the Numogram. We ought to study them as a class of occult metaphors, rather than as a single object, since there is nothing that makes the Base-10 Numogram unique among the infinity of possible Numograms. They share similar features: many have a time-circuit, and all five examples given have a Plex-like/Warp-like region. We can study them as a class of mathematical objects, a class of occult metaphors, a class of hyperstitious diagrams, etc. The values of using more than one Numogram are extending the metaphor, discovering new features in higher-order Numograms, discovering persistent features across all Numograms (ex, do they ALL have a plex/warp region?), and discovering higher-order persistent features (ex, do all Numograms of Base-6 or above have a Torque region? If not, why not?).

There is a certain aura, a cultural meme, regarding the United Nations Armed Forces. A very particular version of events that is peddled across the galaxy, generally the result of an interstellar game of telephone. This aura is that of an unflinching, uncaring war machine. One that starts with the goal of total destruction of its opponents, and works towards that by any means necessary.
It is easy to see how this came about. Even putting aside the pre-Contact War conflicts, there is plenty of brutality to be found. The exploits of Spearhead Platoon during the Second Hekatian War, fighting it's way from the Susquehanna to the palace of the Hekatian Emperor, has particularly dominated the popular consciousness for many, and it is difficult to argue they did not experience some of the worst the war had to offer. A still frame of Corporal Heppell, gas mask concealing all but his eyes, half a second away from plunging his plasma-enhanced bayonet into a Hekatian platoon commander, has become one of the most reproduced images of the whole Battle of New York.
While plasma bayonets were only issued to a small portion of British units during the Second Hekatian War, melee fighting still occupied a disturbingly high proportion of the wars with the Hekatians a modern war. The Battle of London (both 2021 and 2025) saw civilians armed with little more than axes and clubs achieving at least some success against mechanised Hekatian forces in the tight urban confines of the city, with their contributions in the Second Hekatian War forming a part of the critical force that halted the Hekatian offensive. Less well commemorated, but by no means less brave, was the near-complete annihilation of the 8th Battalion Rajputana Rifles in the opening phases of the Battle of New Delhi. Caught out-of-position by the surprise landing of Hekatian forces, the soldiers rushed into battle against a far-superior Hekatian force. By the day's end, only 3 soldiers survived from the entire ordeal, but their counterattacks, waged with everything from rifles to chunks of rubble used as clubs, successfully held up the better part of a division for some critical hours. Doubtless similar stories exist across every front of the war.
Infantry fought with all manner of weapons, with KPA forces famously utilising shovels and large quantities of grenades while fighting from trench to trench on the slopes of Mt. Paektu. During the later stages of the Battle of New York, Gurkha units roamed the irradiated rubble of the city, wielding plasma-enhanced kukris: this was so extraordinarily effective that Hekatian units in the Brooklyn area had a bounty set on the weapons, on the basis that each collected meant another of the feared soldiers had been eliminated, and that soldiers would be more watchful in hopes of collecting said bounty. The actual effect was that the number of losses credited to Gurkha units went up, as their soldiers (now aware of just how effective they were) delved deeper and deeper into psychological warfare. Meanwhile, Hekatian soldiers became so jumpy that they often exposed themselves to Human forces by firing away at nonexistent targets, and were so nervous as to lose all composure when engaged. When the United Nations counterattack successfully trapped a large quantity of supply-starved Hekatians in the radioactive ruins of New York, an intimidation campaign of such ferocity was launched that even a century later headless Hekatians are occasionally located within the New York area.
There are, of course, other ways to be brutal than a bayonet or bullet.
The Second Hekatian War, for example, saw the mass deployment of nerve gas against Hekatian forces landing in Southern England, with this considered to be the single deadliest event in the history of warfare (excluding attacks targeted at civilian populations). True numbers on the death toll are hard to come by, but it is estimated these attacks alone killed roughly 100,000 Hekatians, unprepared for the gas as they were exiting their ships, with an unknown number severely wounded. This is at present the only confirmed deployment of chemical weapons in either war: rumours persist of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea having used significant quantities during the fighting across the Korean Peninsula, and into Northeastern China. To this day, neither the People’s Republic of China, nor the Korean Federal Republic have confirmed these rumours, and all files regarding the status of the DPRK’s chemical arsenal have been sealed away until 2155.
Chemical weapons were not the only weapons of mass destruction brought out in desperate defence of Earth. Biological weapons were deployed, albeit in significantly less flashy ways. Though continuously denied by the United Nations to this day, all evidence indicates that a modified form of Tularemia was deployed against Hekatian forces in the United States. By all accounts, this was extraordinarily effective in shattering Hekatian morale, along with generally degrading their ability to resist United Nations counterattacks. This disease, relatively minor as far as biological weapons go, was generally non-lethal, and thus believed acceptable to be used against the Hekatians without causing further escalation if discovered.
Currently, there is significant reason to believe the Hekatians may have deployed biological weapons of their own, which may later have morphed into the infamous Cincinnati Flu, though this is highly controversial amongst war historians, and is believed to have occurred independently of the use of Tularemia. It is also worth noting that declassified British documents speak openly of a large stockpile of anthrax being distributed across the island at the start of the Second Hekatian War, with the intent being to release it en masse as a form of vengeance should Britain fall. Still uncertain is why, even a century after the war and the collapse of the Hekatian Stellar Imperium, several Hekatian-majority worlds (including, most infamously, Kulabaddos) semi-routinely see severe outbreaks of a disease worryingly similar to H1N1.
The most destructive WMDs in pure terms were the InterStellar Faster-than-light Missiles. Effectively the old idea of the Relativistic Kill Vehicle, except with a hyperdrive strapped to them, they saw very little use across the war, except for a few carefully calculated deployments by United Nations forces. Using stolen missiles, the Muaytrov and Hualkinov anchorages were utterly destroyed, followed by the military staging post of Traxio.
But these are not the weapons of mass destruction thought of when the Second Hekatian War springs to mind.
In the course of the Second Hekatian War, nukes were tossed around in large numbers. City after city across the United States of America fell victim to Hekatian nukes, while American strikes (generally tactical in nature, directed at concentrations of Hekatian forces and key command and control sites) usually invited yet more retaliation. Historians are unable to come to much of a conclusion on the effectiveness of this strategy by the American military, in no small part due to the difficulties of credibly predicting what would have happened without it. It is arguable that these attacks were responsible for the collapse of Hekatian morale and eventual widespread mutinies: this can also be attributed to any of hundreds of factors. It must be noted, though, that the Hekatians began the nuclear game with the destruction of Washington DC, and that ultimately all responsibility lies with them.
After the war, there was much debate on the morality of this action, rather than just the efficacy. It was declared by some that Humanity, now no longer in an existential fight for it's liberty and potentially survival, was in a "post-nuclear" age, where it could step away from these insanely destructive weapons. While this did hold for biological and chemical weapons, it simply could not for nuclear weapons, as the reality of maintaining an effective military on the interstellar scale quickly caught up. Nukes are fielded in what could be described as a liberal amount: fashioned into Nuclear Explosively Formed Projectiles or Casaba-Howitzers, they form the backbone of the Stellar Navy’s anti-ship missile arsenal. Special forces units have routinely made use of sub-kiloton devices in the Rigel Campaign, and conventional forces maintain large stockpiles for tactical usage. Even the famous SIM-94, defender of the skies, is more commonly than not fielded with a nuclear warhead of some sort.
These are carefully calculated tactical uses, yes. A Casaba-Howitzer melting a warship is a far different thing than the nuclear bombardment of Los Angeles, both in scale and morality. But most commanders do still hesitate when they order a nuclear strike in an exercise. Failsafes abound for all devices intended for anti-ship purposes to prevent their usage in other ways, while devices for use as bombs are subject to hyper-strict command-and-control procedures. ISFMs are subject to even stricter control, since their misuse could devastate an unshielded planet.

The cumulative effects of such a war have continued to be felt for decades afterwards. The Second Hekatian War is believed to be the war with the single highest rate of PTSD amongst veterans. Post-war advances in medical technology helped to at least lessen the effects of physical wounds, and the general improvement in living standards that followed the wars has significantly helped many veterans, but some things can't be solved by getting to take a holiday to space on the cheap. This is of course not to mention the refugee populations of the former United States, many of them surviving by flukes while losing their entire family. It is a horror no one seeks to experience again.
Yes, the plasma bayonet is still technically fielded by both the Territorial and Stellar Army (though, notably, not the Orbital Infantry, who solely fight in the cramped confines of space stations). But it has not been used in combat in decades, and is widely agreed to only exist because of tradition, and also as a somewhat risky means of cooking food. To the average soldier, the idea of a bayonet charge is unthinkable, not least because it means a lot has gone wrong.
When the Hekatians were at the gates in 2025, it was necessary to project a certain image. The unflinching warrior, remorseless and unplagued by questions of morality. Even at the time, this had serious problems. Now, in 2150, things are different. That image is back in the box as far as the United Nations is concerned, even as the myth continues to spread. But the thing about boxes is that you can always open them up again. The only hope is it never will be.

---Authors Notes---

Some points: the Korean Federal Republic is supposed to be the unified state that now comprises the Korean peninsula. The Rigel Campaign thing is something I have been meaning to expand on for a while now, and has been mentioned before, though not by that name. Fingers crossed I can sort out the relevant stories for that some time soon.
Some may notice that there has been a slight retconning of ISFMs here. Originally they were intended to hit their target at FTL speeds: I have spent at least a year bothered by my earlier concepts of FTL. Firstly, the problem of where they got the energy to go FTL: this was covered by a "no one knows", which was eventually meant to be "no one knows but it's being siphoned from other dead universes and for some reason can't be harnessed by other uses", which was a cop-out to be honest. The second issue was that obviously any shield to protect against this would be absurdly powerful, so absurdly powerful as to render any planet basically invulnerable to everything. Thirdly, they had an interesting effect on space battles, in that they forced them to be more conducted in orbits of planets where collateral damage would prevent the usage of ISFMs. I really like this as a concept, especially since I think it's a kinda nice inversion of how anti-ship missiles work in reality (which force ships to get further and further away), but I realised that ISFMs were basically just too good at this. So I have decided to change it slightly, so that it's closer to a "slipspace" style. ISFMs are now just RKVs with the ability to go faster than light, then they drop out slightly before hitting the target. Still very powerful but less nakedly reality breaking. The point about forcing battles to be more in orbit still stands, but now those ships could better defend themselves or evade. Basically the difference between how hypersonic weapons are portrayed against modern carriers, and their current reality: still capable but not perfect. The same change applies broadly to regular hyperdrives, but they're not really that affected.
Anyway, if you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee, it helps a ton, and allows me to keep writing this sort of stuff. Alternatively, you can just read more of it.

Note from roberestarkk

I am blatantly copy-pasting this from elsewhere to help test a text-to-speech issue

Hello firstly, I have no idea what started this, I was playing project zomboid probably 3 hours after I updated my Nvidia graphics drivers, I downloaded some steam workshop mods on project zomboid, and played all night, turned my computer off and went to sleep.
Woke up, turned my computer on, about 5 minutes in it froze, and i get the bsod, i kept rebooting it, sometimes it would take a little longer to freeze, sometimes not, i eventually restored my pc to a restore point, which worked for probably 30 minutes until it froze, than my pc WOULD NOT load without getting bsod and be auto loaded into safe mode, i try to reset windows any way it would say windows cannot reset at this time, restore point wasnt working either, so i turned to command prompt, put a bunch of different stuff in that i found online until i decided to clean the drive, doing so now has me completely unable to boot up windows without it going into the bios menu, i have no idea what to do, i kind of need this pc for school, lost work is fine at this point because its saved online, but i need this pc for school and i have zero money, if anyone knows anything that could help please let me know, i can take pictures and video, anything..

My steam deck arrives tomorrow and since this is my first time stepping into the pc universe I need a mod list for the game I’ve probably watched over 100 hours of gameplay project zomboid

Hello firstly, I have no idea what started this, I was playing project zomboid probably 3 hours after I updated my Nvidia graphics drivers, I downloaded some steam workshop mods on project zomboid, and played all night, turned my computer off and went to sleep.
Woke up, turned my computer on, about 5 minutes in it froze, and i get the bsod, i kept rebooting it, sometimes it would take a little longer to freeze, sometimes not, i eventually restored my pc to a restore point, which worked for probably 30 minutes until it froze, than my pc WOULD NOT load without getting bsod and be auto loaded into safe mode, i try to reset windows any way it would say windows cannot reset at this time, restore point wasnt working either, so i turned to command prompt, put a bunch of different stuff in that i found online until i decided to clean the drive, doing so now has me completely unable to boot up windows without it going into the bios menu, i have no idea what to do, i kind of need this pc for school, lost work is fine at this point because its saved online, but i need this pc for school and i have zero money, if anyone knows anything that could help please let me know, i can take pictures and video, anything..

I've been playing Zomboid for years now and am genuinely interested in what you guys would like to see in a video. I've got some free time on my hands so I'm creating short vids. What do you want to see?

I play a lot of different genres of games and always down to buy a good suggestion.
Here are some of the games I've played recently.
Diablo 4 beta, Overwatch, Rimworld, Project zomboid, LoL, Chivalry 2, Rust, Crusader kings 3, Terraria, Battlefield V. These the games i been playing this month.
What games you been into?
Add me on discord Zen0#5617

As the title says the game is not launching on steam, I met all device requirements, All files are validated, no 3rd party app is blocking it, I don't have any mods installed, my firewall and antivirus don't affect it, yet it won't launch, It says ''Preparing to launch project zomboid'' for a split second then it closes and I have to press play again, and it does the same thing. I opened it using the alternate launch option, to which it worked but I have to manually go to steam and select it, which isn't too bad but its very inconvenient. Nothing is interfering with it or blocking it, so why does it still not launch?

Hi everyone. Inspired by some more recent approaches to tiki mixing, and in light of the relative age of the most solid and memorable tiki cocktails, I'm interested in experimenting, crowdsourcing, and crafting a new cocktail collection that represents the tastes, market, and cultural values of 2023.
I'm aware there are always modern approaches to tiki, but they are diffuse, loosely organized, sometimes proprietary, and when organized neatly--such as Beachbum or Minimalist--tend to revive and reuse Vic and Beachcomber era ingredients rather than utilize more contemporary ones. So here are the ideas and philosophies I want to explore while building a new tiki cocktail compendium:

• Update the liquors to be more modern and appropriately regional

Previous cocktails have been dominated by Caribbean rum, with the occasional gin or brandy. Modern cocktails can make use of modern, tropical, and Asia-Pacific spirits such as tequila, mezcal, coconut brandy, shochu and jeontong-soju, rice wine, Southeast Asian rum, infused rums, plum spirits, Martinique shrubb, Taiwanese and Japanese whiskey, palm spirits, and perhaps a bit more sherry, port, and regional beers.

• Update the fruits, aromatics, and syrups

Original tiki drinks were often advertised as "a mix of exotic spices and tropical fruit juices," but often ignore what the tropics and Pacific are producing. Tiki has traditionally mostly relied on almond, lime, grapefruit, pineapple, orange, and the occasional passion fruit. We can show better respect for local produce and tastes by utilizing the ingredients of modern bartenders in the regions formerly appropriated by the orientalist approach of the first tiki wave. We have access now to mangoes, mangosteens, lychees, longans, soursop, durian, jackfruit, pandan, ube, dragonfruit, a range of melons, banana leaf, heirloom bananas, pomelo, yuzu, chili, fermented coconut, tepeche, cacao nibs, rose water, all kinds of berries, flowers, and teas. Why is orgeat rarely made with pecans or macadamia nuts? Where's the coconut sugar? Why not add tea or sichuan peppercorn to falernum? Obviously many bars are doing this, especially in Southeast Asia, but these recipes never seem to become textbook tiki canon and, again, are often diffuse and proprietary.

• Accessibility

Not everyone in the world can get a bottle of Fee Bros 6 year limited edition gold orgeat or Pablo Escobar 21 year pot-still demerara rum. While frozen fruits can be surprisingly accessible outside of the tropics, specialized spirits are much harder to get. Recipes should make the most of Plantation or Evan Williams and be designed more around the general spirit than a very specific flavor obtained by a mix of three or four specific labels. Substitutability is key here, and posting results of experiments is very helpful.

• Free use and organization

Ideally this would involve citing blogs where you got the recipes, bars that inspired the recipe, and putting together a very user-friendly PDF or Wiki (or both) with hyperlinks, free and easy to download. This would be a community project rather than a business pursuit.

• Experimentation

There will always be tried and true ingredients and formulas, but we can do more than shuffle them around. We can go further and try new permutations of fruits, spices, and liquors to produce something more fresh and creative while maintaining the adventurous and spicy spirit of the original tiki revolution. The idea here is to produce new mixes while also introducing new audiences to fan favorite contemporary drinks.
Let me know if you are interested in contributing to, or at least perusing, this new compendium. It will cost you nothing to do either, so I will offer some initial recipes once I put them together.

Period: 363.38 days

	Submissions	Comments
Total	1000	183379
Rate (per day)	2.75	502.13
Unique Redditors	596	37270
Combined Score	1067824	3114907

Top Submitters' Top Submissions

1. 49330 points, 49 submissions: IsDaouda_Games
   
   1. Gitee, China’s answer to GitHub, to review all code by temporarily closing open-source projects to the public (2797 points, 371 comments)
   2. GitHub can now auto-block commits containing API keys, auth tokens (2626 points, 159 comments)
   3. Cloudflare mitigates 26 million request per second DDoS attack (2612 points, 222 comments)
   4. NVIDIA Transitioning To Official, Open-Source Linux GPU Kernel Driver (2303 points, 112 comments)
   5. Hackers find 122 vulnerabilities — 27 deemed critical — during first round of DHS bug bounty program (2138 points, 84 comments)
   6. Dear Europe, here again are the reasons why scanning devices for unlawful files is not going to fly (2108 points, 390 comments)
   7. A Google Cloud employee set a new record calculating the 100 trillionth digit of pi (2053 points, 366 comments)
   8. Nearly 100,000 NPM Users' Credentials Stolen in GitHub OAuth Breach (1985 points, 406 comments)
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2. 23717 points, 28 submissions: feross
   
   1. Firefox rolls out Total Cookie Protection by default to all users (3403 points, 242 comments)
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3. 23337 points, 24 submissions: speckz
   
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4. 22839 points, 24 submissions: iamkeyur
   
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5. 16994 points, 23 submissions: fagnerbrack
   
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8. 8836 points, 1 submission: DeeplyIncomparable99
   
   1. “There should never be coding exercises in technical interviews. It favors people who have time to do them. Disfavors people with FT jobs and families. Plus, your job won’t have people over your shoulder watching you code.” My favorite hot take from a panel on 'Treating Devs Like Human Beings.' (8836 points, 1395 comments)
9. 8572 points, 4 submissions: mitousa
   
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10. 8029 points, 1 submission: piotrkarczmarz
    
    1. "Software is a just a tool to help accomplish something for people - many programmers never understood that. Keep your eyes on the delivered value, and don't over focus on the specifics of the tools" - John Carmack (8029 points, 653 comments)

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1. AttackOfTheThumbs (9732 points, 741 comments)
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3. DemiPixel (7194 points, 10 comments)
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8. Worth_Trust_3825 (5709 points, 368 comments)
9. dominik-braun (5228 points, 78 comments)
10. renok_archnmy (4901 points, 143 comments)

Top Submissions

1. “There should never be coding exercises in technical interviews. It favors people who have time to do them. Disfavors people with FT jobs and families. Plus, your job won’t have people over your shoulder watching you code.” My favorite hot take from a panel on 'Treating Devs Like Human Beings.' by DeeplyIncomparable99 (8836 points, 1395 comments)
2. "Software is a just a tool to help accomplish something for people - many programmers never understood that. Keep your eyes on the delivered value, and don't over focus on the specifics of the tools" - John Carmack by piotrkarczmarz (8029 points, 653 comments)
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10. There aren't that many uses for blockchains by calp (6435 points, 2228 comments)

Top Comments

1. 6466 points: DemiPixel's comment in ChatGPT Passes Google Coding Interview for Level 3 Engineer With $183K Salary
2. 5881 points: Nashesvobodnoye's comment in I scraped 7M programming job offers for 8 months and here are the most demanded programming languages
3. 4086 points: 3CN's comment in NSA urges orgs to use memory-safe programming languages - C/C++ on the bench, as NSA puts its trust in Rust, C#, Go, Java, Ruby and Swift
4. 3876 points: blind3rdeye's comment in StackOverflow to ban ChatGPT generated answers with possibly immediate suspensions of up to 30 days to users without prior notice or warning
5. 3718 points: Karenomegas's comment in Twitter Source Code Leaked on GitHub
6. 3188 points: omnilynx's comment in You should be reading academic computer science papers
7. 2575 points: ForSureLying's comment in How we reduced our annual server costs by 80% — from $1M to $200k — by moving away from AWS
8. 2537 points: 3131961357's comment in Atlassian to cease all operations in Russia
9. 2461 points: itijara's comment in Google announces a new OS written in Rust
10. 2461 points: renok_archnmy's comment in Toyota Accidently Exposed A Secret Key Publicly On GitHub For Five Years

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First Previous Wiki
"We should get ready," Kawtyahtnakal said. "They're coming soon."
His honor guard was already well-prepared for all of this, with numerous rehearsals of the event. But now was the final stretch, said more in case the Truth Speakers or Regulators needed to get ready. Some of the Patriarchs and, of course, Eyahtni was here as well, wearing armor denoting their ranks or family names and statuses.
Kawtyahtnakal stood, proudly puffing out his chest as the great doors to the throne room swung open.
On the other side, a hard light hologram of Hive Emperor Calanii, Hive Empress Ashnav'viinir, and a host of diplomats and public officials walked. Their shoes echoed loudly in the halls like heralds of the coming prosperity. Already, both the Vinarii Empire and the Hive Union were in a golden age. The business industry was expanding, and public health and consumer spending were up. New shipyards, spaceports, mines, orbital stations, luxury resorts, and technology were rapidly coming online. And that was in spite of the increasingly unpopular war on Galshaskir, which wasn't bearing any fruit.
It was likely that Kawtyahtnakal would set up a shield dome over the planet, one that was self-perpetuating and continuous. That way, he didn't have to send anyone else to die.
The Alliance had sent some soldiers and even more robotic machines, but its assistance had been sporadic compared to the entire planetary front. Kawtyahtnakal sensed that Calanii would also discuss the war with him when they got the chance.
"Greetings, Nest Overlord Kawtyahtnakal. I thank you for your hospitality, and your willingness to accept my request for a meeting."
"You are quite welcome, Hive Emperor Calanii. I am glad to have received it."
Now that the rehearsed theatrics were done, it was time to get to the meat of the discussion. An array of servants and cooks brought in food suitable for both Vinarii and Cawlarian consumption, laced with nutrients and tastes that each found appealing in their own way. Calanii, Eyahtni, and Kawtyahtnakal quickly established a shielded conversation area. A hologram formed around them, blocking their faces and bodies from the view of the others who had come for the meeting. They would have their own discussions while the most important one occurred.
"So. Are you here to discuss the war?"
"Yes. I have machines that would be helpful in alleviating your struggle. In particular, I have a set of sensors that could potentially locate Galshaskir."
"That is good to hear. What will that cost?"
"Only a favor, later on. That favor will not be extreme, like handing over territory or people."
"We will need more of a discussion on that favor," Kawtyahtnakal said. "May I know the nature of it?"
"I would request that you intervene with a group of pirates that is interfering with the border trade. They don't seem to be natural, and are likely based in and supported by an enemy nation."
Kawtyahtnakal nodded. "The Imperium?"
"Our sources are too dubious to confirm whether it's them or another nation posing as them. But it is someone, and somewhat likely to be the Imperium."
"Haven't you normalized relations with them?"
"I did when I came into power. They hated Ashnad'darii and disliked you. I think that they are worried about our continued moves toward cooperation. And they happen to share a direct border with me, though not with you."
"Have you talked to the Eternal Emperor recently?"
"I haven't directly talked to him at all, actually. He hasn't officially discussed matters of importance with the Vinarii Empire ever since our rise to power."
Calanii's antennae bent forward.
"He's building up his fleet, actually."
"He won't attack you with the mutual defense treaty in place. We've still got a massive military, and so do you. In fact, you're modernizing it," Kawtyahtnakal pointed out.
"Yes. But he is likely backed by others, to be so belligerent. And this comes to the third point. He is being aggressive, but support for a war is low. Not zero, but low. I can't declare on him."
"Do you need to?" Eyahtni asked. "Has there been anything that would serve as a casus belli?"
"No. Just increasing anti-Vinarii rhetoric. They killed a small refugee group, only about 30 thousand Vinarii or so. That's too small to declare war. They do not violate our borders officially, and their spy ships seem content to watch without interference."
"How exactly do you wish for me to alleviate this?"
"I want you to express public solidarity with me more often. Open more pacts and corporate collaborations. More sister cities, joint military operations. That sort of thing."
"If that is the favor, than it is acceptable," Kawtyahtnakal said, looking over to Eyahtni. Both of them already planned on doing this, though a little slower than Calanii likely wanted. It was something that would benefit them, with increased experience for their forces as well as better techniques and strategies.
"Yes, it is acceptable," Eyahtni asked. "What of other agreements?"
"We wish to open research agreements with your institutions for their latest advancements."
"That will take some doing, but I don't see why not," Kawtyahtnakal replied. Calanii looked relieved at that.
"And another thing. I would request that your Alliance tone down the anti-Sprilnav actions. It is bringing undue attention to this section of the galaxy. I'm sure you've noticed the number of searches related to your species in foreign data statistics going up. And that your spies are noticing increased chatter in your border states, and the wider galaxy as a whole. If not that, then surely you must have had an increase in contacts recently."
Kawtyahtnakal had noticed that as well. They seemed to have reached a peak recently, likely due to the birth of Edu'frec and also the publicized killing of the Elder that had bombed the Alliance recently. Kawtyahtnakal admired the hasty decision to kill the Sprilnav doing it before it got worse. Because he knew, as did many dead civilizations in the galaxy, that it definitely would have escalated.
To be honest, he'd wanted to establish relations with Edu'frec, and Eyahtni had already petitioned the Alliance for an official meeting. But with the justification that 'he's a child' and 'he doesn't understand diplomacy yet,' they had refused. Of course, both of them knew that it wasn't the Alliance that was actually refusing, but Phoebe. Her security around Edu'frec was surpassed by only a few individuals in the Alliance. And it was the equivalent of what regional governors that controlled multiple systems got in the Union.
"We have noticed, yes," Eyahtni said.
"And has the Alliance given any indication of their preference?"
"No. It does appear that it was both a matter of vengeance as well as prevention."
"The Sprilnav are moving massive fleets in their systems," pointed out Calanii.
"Yes. But they remain in their systems. If the Sprilnav decided to come for us, the whole galaxy couldn't stop them. The ships in their fleets are each the equivalent of battlecruisers and outnumber every civilian and military ship in the galaxy combined. And their Elder ships are so tough that the amount of force needed to crack them even a bit is only possible with the strongest dreadnaught cannons or with planet crackers."
"The Alliance's force projection capabilities are growing at an alarming rate."
"It is not alarming for us, since we are allies. You could always move for reconciliation."
"We don't know how the rest of the galaxy, and especially the Imperium, would take it."
"Well then, that is your risk," Kawtyahtnakal said. "But the longer you wait, the more favorable the terms will get for the Alliance."
"I'm not so sure. They're absorbing population at a high rate, which should start causing huge cultural friction between their constituent races. There's more Wisselen in the Alliance than Breyyanik or wanderers. And if their supposed plans of invading the Guulin are true, then that problem will worsen until they crack under the weight of culture war and political upheaval."
"Phoebe and the hivemind curb much of that. The Alliance's culture specifically preaches understanding and forgiveness for past wrongs. Most of their Wisselen citizens have jobs now, and those that don't are not only surviving, but actually living in houses and with access to free food and water."
"That shouldn't be possible."
"It is, because the elites of the Alliance have manufactured the cycle to benefit everyone, which makes them richer in the process. Money flows from governments into their economy, which goes into circulation, and makes it stronger. Most issues like inflation impact far less severely when food and housing are free."
"You seem to admire them," Calanii observed.
"I do. To go from their humble beginnings to an ascending superpower of the galaxy is no small feat. The Sprilnav don't even enforce their immigration controls on them. They use their advantages to the fullest, whether it's having an entire species linked to a non-predatory and sapient hivemind, to having not one but now two psychic AIs. I admire the resolve of the leaders who represent their people, and their desire to make the galaxy a better place, as best they can."
"They plan to invade a neighbor and have killed a Sprilnav Elder."
"If you killed an Elder, your people would have a year-long party," Eyahtni pointed out. "And they plan to capture and free the slaves of the United Legions, which is driven heavily by the cultural and political influence of the second largest species in their nation, the Guulin. What galactic power do you know that would have granted independence to a people they had annexed, just to make them more equal?"
Calanii sighed. "I suppose that they are the moral side to take."
"Yes, perhaps that is true."
"I'm glad that you see it."
"Do you think they would be willing to help with the Imperium?"
"You should ask them. But the Imperium doesn't have slaves, and doesn't heavily oppress its people, mostly because its propaganda is baked so deeply into its population. So it's a maybe. They won't help you invade, most likely, unless you are attacked. And by attacked, I mean their ships bombing a planet, not shooting at a police vessel."
"I see. Have you also detected the readings from their psychic amplifier bases?"
"We have. However, the Alliance is using the psychic energy predominantly to build shipyards, grow the orbital ring around Mercury, and to expand their production of rare alloys."
"It's incredible how powerful they are, for such a small nation."
"Not really. With Phoebe and the hivemind, they should be more so. Plus the individual known as Equisa should have knowledge that they could use. Though that big gun Phoebe built is certainly up to par with some of our own weapons."
"True. It does cause quite the stir in psychic energy when fired."
The Nest Overlord knew that he was talking about the small amount of psychic energy that all lasers dragged along. It enabled them to be visible to certain sensors even when they missed and when they were high-energy enough to also glow in all directions. Without psychic energy, the lasers would always be invisible in space.
"Yes."
"Well, with that out of the way, I would like to congratulate you on your 86th year of service."
"Thank you. Overlord Day's next week, though."
"I'm aware."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Equisa, it's very good to see you again." Meihala smiled as Equisa hugged her. The relatively thin human woman smirked, saying, "Joshua's in the kitchen, making that beef lasagna that we like."
"Mmm. Yes, we do."
"I'll be right in. Don't you wor-"
A message flashed across her vision.
*Elder Equisa. Your presence is requested.\*
She quickly tapped back a response inside her implants.
*Not yet.\*
*Then we will come to you.\*
"Hang on, I need-"
A hologram appeared next to Equisa, of an older Sprilnav man. Wrinkles were visible over his whole body and most prevalent near his joints and face. His jaws hung slightly agape, a common symptom of not just old age but old design. He was likely one of those Elders who had been alive before most galaxies had been born.
Eyes older than stars looked at her and Meihala.
"Equisa. What is... this?"
"You tasked me to investigate the humans and to provide information pertinent to the cause of the psychic pulse. I did so, and you did not reassign me."
A second Sprilnav appeared next to him. Both of them appeared to be male, though with Sprilnav this old, Equisa could never be sure with her eyes alone. But her implants did the identifications for her, confirming her thoughts.
"Ah, so my suspicions were correct. I can smell it on you."
"Smell what?" Joshua asked, entering the room. His eyes widened upon seeing the three Elders. "Oh, uh, what's your names?"
"Refined Elder Rho and Refined Elder Sai." Elder Sai looked at the human with a confused look. "Equisa, why are you mingling with these... beings?"
"Please don't be racist if that's your thing. We're people. Humans, specifically. I'm Joshua, and this is Meihala." He pointed to himself and then to her. Equisa felt like she was swimming in awkwardness.
"Well then. We have questions for your mate."
"She is an acquaintance," Meihala said.
"Mates and friends are different things. You have mated with this Elder, therefore you are... no, both of you have. Equisa, you didn't have any information about this preference in your file."
"It's not a preference; it's just... something new, alright? Yes, I'm in a relationship. But the operation is over, so there's no need for me to do anything." Equisa tried to move away, but Rho just smiled.
"Don't worry. You're not in trouble. Your body is your own, and your words are true. However, this is about the death of a Secondary Galaxy Elder. There has been expressed displeasure at your actions from the Elders of the Secondary Galaxy."
Equisa was surprised that they were saying all of this in front of the humans.
"Why-?"
"We in the Primary Galaxy had a vote, and in that vote we moved to allow knowledge of us to be spread to trusted individuals. As an Elder and one of sound mind and proper, if strange, judgement, then this applies to your mates."
"So you're saying that... everyone knew about this? Everyone?" Equisa asked.
"Everyone knows, yes. Including your family, since that's likely your next question. Your father actually placed a bet on how you would react when you were made aware of this. He's just become a richer man."
Equisa sighed, knowing that her father's nature had somehow remained the same throughout the long millennia. Ever since his time before the Source War, he'd been a gambler and better. He was prolific and just successful enough to win enough to pay the debts of his losses. But he wasn't a bad person.
"Wow, that's gotta be like, I don't know, really embarrassing," Meihala laughed. "I'm sorry."
"Yes. You're one of the most famous Elders in existence, as the first Elder to mate with a member of another species in... 7 billion Earth years or so? Maybe 8, I'm still not exact on the length."
"You carry the 3, so 8," Rho said. Sai smiled as if not knowing basic math was a running joke between them. Perhaps it was.
"Alright. So what's the consequences for it, then?"
"None. They expressed displeasure, that's all. But they lost the war, so who cares about what they think? Plus, this is way more fun. I'm particularly keen on meeting Phoebe and Penny."
"Penny's single," Rho said. "But too young, especially for you. Age gaps that large are too weird for me."
"Well, Equisa doesn't care," Sai laughed. "She's what, a hundred million times older than these humans here? That's gotta be strange."
"Can you two not pry into my love life? Thank you. I'd prefer that this visit ends quickly," Equisa said. Rho and Sai then changed into forms that were human, though still old.
"Alright. We won't bother you, but we'd be happy to do some sightseeing. Can you take us to walk around?"
"No."
"What if I ordered you?" Sai asked.
"I'd refuse."
"Aw, you're so grumpy now. Good old Equisa. Well, not older than me, is she?" Sai joked, laughing with Rho and slapping his back. He exited Equisa's house, followed by Sai close behind.
"Can you explain this to us?" Joshua asked.
"I... it'll take a while."
"We're not mad, just confused," Meihala added. "I wouldn't exactly want them to know about my love life, either."
"How many Sprilnav are in the Primary Galaxy?"
"About... a septillion of them?"
Joshua laughed. "You're serious?"
"Absolutely. We've got Dyson spheres, ringworlds, and artificial worlds."
"Full spheres?"
"Segmented. But the concept remains true."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Aw, this guy's kind of adorable," Penny heard. She was busy being absolutely destroyed at a game with Edu'frec, who definitely didn't have the skill of a mere ninth grader. Whether that was because of further advancement or because he was an AI was hard to know for sure. But whatever the case, that was what things had been.
Penny's head craned leftward to the sound, strings of psychic energy already starting to form on her fingers. But they stopped when they saw a pair of old men standing at the door. And they weren't just people with grey hair, but really old. Like they were thousands of years old, with hanging jowls, wrinkled faces, and spotted skin. One even sported a wart on his nose.
"Oh, hello there!" one said, waving at her as if he wasn't a person out of a hospital bed. "I'm Sai, and this is Rho. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. How did you get here?"
"We walked, obviously."
"Phoebe has incredibly powerful security, and you just... walked in?"
"Yeah, it looked expensive. But don't worry. We just want to pat him on the head."
"Who are you?" Edu'frec asked. "Don't treat me like a child."
"My name is-"
"Not your names. What are you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Rho said.
"You don't walk like humans. Your gait and stance are wrong, as if you're compensating for something that's not there. Like you had four legs before, instead of two. So I'll ask again. What are you?" Edu'frec bared his teeth in a growl.
"Well, isn't it quite obvious? We're Sprilnav. And we're here to-"
An android suddenly walked into the room. Phoebe moved in a blur, her hands rushing forward to slam into both of them. However, she passed through them. A second android pulled back Edu'frec as shields appeared around him thick enough to hide him from view. Penny wasn't sure what to do.
"We're here to pet him."
"I'm not a child," Edu'frec growled through the shield. There was a pulse of something, and then the two old men became Sprilnav. Penny switched into action, standing between them and Phoebe's son. All of them were on a hair trigger.
"Ok, we'll leave," Rho and Sai said. "We're sorry."
"You don't just get to-"
"Yes, we do. I'm not going to be locked in a cage, and neither is my friend here. We're sightseeing."
"How did you get here?"
"Don't worry about it. We won't do any harm to you."
"You need to learn about what to do and what not to, if you're going to remain in the Alliance."
"Sai, they're treating us like we're vermin."
Sai frowned. "Oh. Phoebe, we're not from the Secondary Galaxy. We're here because Equisa hacked a communication device, which resulted in the death of an Elder."
"So you're punishing us?"
"Not at all. We're just seeing the Alliance that we've heard so much about."
"Would you stay and protect us against the Primary Galaxy?" Phoebe asked, calming quickly with the revelation.
"Probably not. Why, are they trying to kill you all or something?"
"Sort of."
"Then why are you still alive?" Sai asked with genuine confusion.
"Come on, you aren't that senile," Rho said. "It's the Source's Servant that's in the mindscape, trying to hide from us."
With that, Rimiaha appeared in the room as if he'd always been there. "What are you trying to do here?"
"We really do just want to do some sightseeing. There's nothing wrong with it."
"How do we know?"
"Just him and I are enough, if that wasn't true."
"What do you mean by that?" Phoebe asked.
"We are enough."
Rimiaha sighed. "I'd still beat you."
"We can block the Source's power from reaching you. All you'd have is your reserves, and they're not enough," Sai said.
"Please. I could smack you into tomorrow, quite literally," Rimiaha retorted.
"We get it," Phoebe said. "You're only using 1% of your power or whatever. But you're getting guards, both for your sake and ours."
"We can become humans again."
Penny sighed. Nilnacrawla ended another psychic energy class, looking at the scene in bemusement.
Are these guys really as stupid as they're acting?
Older Sprilnav are generally smarter, so not likely. And these guys are very old.
Generally?
Generally, it's likely that they are purposely doing this for entertainment.
"Well, you'd do it badly, but yeah," Phoebe replied. "I'm sorry that I got upset. But I'm going to explain this to you. I'm... very protective of Edu'frec. I really love him. So when I saw you two so close to him, and heard what I thought would be a declaration of intent to kill him, I was upset. Very upset."
"Nilnacrawla says that you guys are faking it," Penny said.
"Nilnacrawla? He's alive?"
"Yes, he's in my head," Penny stated dryly. "Do you not know this?"
"I didn't," Sai said.
"First of all, what kind of Elders are you?" Edu'frec asked.
"Refined Elders. Those who were born not only before the Source war, but before the most major of the genetic modifications preparing for it."
"I see. Another title," Phoebe said.
"You can call is Rho and Sai, if you want. We won't make you use our titles."
"You seem a lot more... chill than the Elders in our galaxy," Penny noted.
"Yes. We haven't had much to do, really. Most of us waste away in drug-induced euphoria or implants that do the same."
"That's sad," Edu'frec said.
"Perhaps it is. It is said that their throats are dry as bones from all the laughing they do. But anyway. We will stop acting senile. Rho and I are here to see whether your Alliance is worthy of our attention, after so long in isolation."
"Why?"
"The psychic pulse. It has reached us, and made a number of people very concerned. But upon seeing you, we have decided to ignore that. Given that Equisa's been able to find love among your kind, you are clearly not as hostile to Sprilnav as we were led to believe. For the right price, perhaps a deal can be worked out."
"What deal?"
"Exports, specifically. We'd like some of your food and cultural works."
"The originals?"
"Copies will suffice," Rho said.
"You came all the way here to ask for art and act like this?" Penny asked.
"Yes. And to see if Equisa's father would win his bet. He did."
"So you want to do something fun, huh?" Phoebe asked. "Want to hear about the hard light simulators?"
"We have those where we're from," Sai replied.
"Not like we do," Phoebe grinned. "I'll get you two tickets to the Infinite Skiing Hill, if you want. Think of it as compensation for my earlier actions."
"I would very much like to see this, and to see Rho fail," Sai smirked. "But what is skiing?"

Which treats of the pleasant and ingenious method of drawing our enamoured knight from the very rigorous penance he had imposed on himself.
Prompts:
1) “[knights-errant] are bound to assist them merely as being in distress, and to regard their sufferings alone, and not their crimes.” -- what did you think of Don Quixote’s justification for releasing the prisoners, regardless of what they choose to do with their freedom?
2) Don Quixote’s hot-headedness strikes again; does this make you fear what he would do if he finds out he is being duped?
3) What did you think of the story Dorotea made up?
4) What do you think of the discussion between Cardenio and the priest about Don Quixote’s madness?
5) Favourite line / anything else to add?
Free Reading Resources:

• Project Gutenberg
• Standard eBook
• Librivox Audiobook

Illustrations:

1. Don Quixote chastises Sancho for belittling Dulcinea
2. gave him two such blows -
3. - that he laid him flat on the ground
4. had not Dorothea called out to him to hold his hand, doubtless he had killed him on the spot
5. who, thinkest thou, has gained this kingdom, cut off the head of this giant and made thee a marquis (for all this I look upon as already done)
6. While they were thus talking, they saw coming along the same road a man riding upon an ass
7. Sancho embracing his ass
8. 'How hast thou done, my dearest Dapple, -
9. - delight of my eyes, my sweet companion?'
10. And then he kissed and caressed him as if he had been a human creature.
11. The ass held his peace, and suffered himself to be kissed and caressed by Sancho, without answering him one word.

1, 8 by Gustave Doré (source) 2, 5 by Apel·les Mestres (source, source2) 4, 6, 9 by Ricardo Balaca (source) 3, 11 by George Roux (source) 7 by José Moreno Carbonero (source) 10 by Tony Johannot (source)
Past years discussions:

• 2021-03-29
• 2022-03-29

Final line:
Depending on your edition, it could be:

‘[..] if you do not touch him upon the subject of chivalries you would never suspect but that he had a sound understanding.'

or:

'No, sir,' answered Sancho: 'for after I had delivered it, seeing it was to be of no further use, I forgot it on purpose; and if I remember aught of it, it is that of "the high and subterrane (I mean sovereign) lady", and the conclusion, "thine until death, the Knight of the Sorrowful Figure"; and between these two things, I put above three hundred souls and lives, and dear eyes.'

for the former, the latter is at the start of the next chapter.
Next post:
Sun, 2 Apr; in four days, i.e. three-day gap.

What's the story behind your first contact with Touhou Project and what did you think the series was like before you became a fan yourself? What made you interested in taking the dive into Touhou project in the first place? I'll give my story and put a TLDR down below.
​
For me the first time I seen anything related to Touhou Project was , of course, the Bad Apple music video. Specifically with Vocaloid covers of the song as I was really into Vocaloid at the time.
While it wasn't long until I learned better I first thought that Touhou Project was a collaborative work of fiction writing (think like the SCP wiki), the Bad Apple song and music video were (somehow) a contribution to this project, and that Alice Margatroid was the main character LMAO. I really tried researching to try and understand what Touhou Project was and that was what I walked away with at the time, this was years ago mind you and I was young so I might have misinterpreted something or I read a very funny troll post.
I did learn that Touhou Project was a bullet hell video game series and that Reimu was the actual main character but didn't learn much else about it. I stayed my distance as I never had a huge interest in bullet hell games and the all female cast had me assuming the games were shallow and perverted (Some of the fan art and the copious amounts of hentai definitely aided the perception)
On a whim I decided to get the Touhou Gensokyo Warfare mod for Mount & Blade: Warband and found it compelling enough that I decided to finally take the dive into Touhou Project by playing the games. I couldn't have been more wrong about the assumption that the games were perverted that I honestly felt bad and I've been a huge fan since!
By the way the thing that really drew me into the series was the character designs! I feel like I don't hear that one so much but ZUN's sense of character design is so wonderful and distinct, the Mount & Blade mod also painted a grandiose image of Gensokyo that interested me in the world right away too.
Anyway I'd love to hear everyone's answers about their experience with Touhou Project before... experiencing Touhou Project... and I hope that my story was interesting in some way.
​
TLDR: First heard of Touhou through the Bad Apple music video, stayed distant from the series assuming it was shallow and perverted, played a video game mod that inspired me to try the games and have been a fan since, was interested in the series by the character designs and world setting

One thing that always bothered me about Project Zomboid was that the First Aid skill is practically useless and didn't have any practical way in the game of leveling up the skill.
So my mod solves both of those issues, you can now level up your medical skill by harvesting dna from zombies and crafting vaccines, and those First Aid can actually save your life by preventing you from turning into a zombie.
Another benefit is once you are bitten you are no longer guaranteed dead, so no longer will you just immediately give up on life once bitten, you still have a chance. If the vaccine does prevent zombification you will still have to heal from the bite and the wound infection.
Vaccines are not a cure, they are a preventative measure that have to be taken ahead of time. Once taken they last 30 days, with 7 days of ramp up time before reaching their peak effectiveness, they are also not 100% effective but the higher your first aid the better vaccines you can make.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2954167467

Hi everyone. I'm not a product manager, but I'm interested in your thoughts as I am looking to join ClickUp someday. I admire their product and company culture, but the more I dig into their business model and product, I have my concerns on whether they will be able to deliver on every tool they are building against every competitor they're up against.
For those not familiar with ClickUp, they are a project management tool, competing against companies like Asana, Monday.com, etc but they go further and are looking to be the "One app to replace them all" (which is their tagline).
It seems they're comfortable bumping up against such a wide variety of competitors. As a quick example, their features include the following and more:

• To-do lists to replace trello / todoist
• Project management solutions to replace Asana / Jira
• Docs & wikis to replace Notion / Confluence
• Whiteboard / diagramming tools to replace LucidChart
• Spreadsheets to replace SmartSheet / Google Sheet / Airtable
• Internal comms tools like email & comments & chats to replace Slack
• Goal tracking to replace workboard and GTMhub
• Screenshots and recording to replace Loom

I can't imagine how large their product roadmap is, but I guess I don't have to because it's public. But with all this said, do you think ClickUp can succeed in delivering on all of these features or are they biting off more than they can choose? Do they need to deliver the best diagramming tool compared to LucidChart, or will it be okay to offer a less mature product because clients prefer an integrated / centralized solution?

Hey there, folks! Im currently looking into getting back into gaming with other people. I finally got bored of playing solo games hah! you know what I mean lol ?
Anyway, I've actually met some awesome people here before, so I wanted to give it another try . I don't really consider myself a super competitive player, but I do love that feeling of accomplishment when you win a fight or achieve something in a game.
I play all sorts of genres, like FPS, co-op horror survival, and more. Right now, I'm really looking to try out some of the games I bought but never got around to playing, or ones that just aren't as fun when you're playing solo. Some of the games I'm interested in at the moment include Deep Rock Galactic, Phasma, Ready or Not, Day Z (which I really want to try out!), Project Zomboid,valo (I suck hah ), 7 Days to Die, Raft, Hell Let Loose, Satisfactory, Sea of Thieves, Scum, Stardew Valley (modded or vanilla), Don't Starve, and a bunch of others.
Oh, and just a little something about me - I'm a bit of a science nerd. I love watching sci-fi and thriller series, and I'm always interested in learning about rabbit holes. My schedule's a bit all over the place right now, but generally, I'm free around 6 pm and usually play until pretty late. So if you're interested, feel free to shoot me a message and let's see if we can find a game or two to play together! I'm currently waiting for a call from a new job I got so my schedule is very open ATM.
please be 18+ and don't be a toxic person hah ! I'm open to play in a group as long as is not very big hah !

Greetings from the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative!
We are thrilled to announce our March programming. First of all, thank you to those who attended our February CCCCWI Speaker Series event! Dr. Katie Bramlett hosted a great discussion on genres of memory and Asian/American women’s activism. Check out the event materialshere.
The CCCCWI Speaker Series is running all this 2022-23 academic year. You will hear from scholars presenting their research and have the opportunity to write their scholarship into Wikipedia. Each workshop will start with a talk from a scholar, continue with Wikipedia training, and end with an editing session. Alongside this, we are hosting our coffeehouse session and CCCC Wikipedian-in-residence office hours.
Be sure to follow us onTwitterto keep track of upcoming events and ongoing activities!
Latin American Writing Studies in Higher EducationMonth-long @ WikiProject Writing Check out the event page hereThis month, we are working to prioritize the inclusion of topics related to the rapidly-evolving field of Latin American writing studies in higher education. We aim to work together to addressinequitieson Wikipedia as we create and contribute to these articles.
CCCCWI Speaker Series: Latin American Writing Studies in Higher EducationFriday 3/31 @ 4:00pm-5:30pm EST Register here(limited to 25 participants) This month,Dr. Federico Navarrowill share an overview of how post-secondary writing studies have rapidly developed over the last twenty years in Latin America. He will look into the female-dominated field of scholars and scholarship that has shaped writing studies research and practice and the predominant lines of research currently being sought. Finally, he will focus on how the field has been shaped by a history of inequity and segregation, leading to a more critical view of reading, writing, and literacy teaching as research and open-access, multilingual research.After the talk, participants will be trained on how to edit Wikipedia. There will be opportunities to improve and create Wikipedia articles--in English, Spanish, and Portuguese--related to pivotal scholars and scholarship about Latin American scholars in higher education.
CCCC Wikipedian-in-Residence Office HoursMonday through Friday one-on-one ORby appointment Sign up here If you would like to discuss something Wikipedia-related one-on-one or get help with a Wikipedia article you’re working on, please feel free to sign up for office hours or [email [email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) to find a better time to meet.
I look forward to seeing you at one of our programs and events soon!
Melanie
==================================
Melanie Kill, PhD (she/her)
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Co-coordinator, Minor in Rhetoric
University of Maryland
Director, WikiProject Writing
Founder and Chair, CCCC Wikipedia Initiative
via IFTTT