Welcome to the Hub Post for the NFL Top 100 Players of the 2022 Season!

METHODOLOGY

Several years ago we made a decision to focus on ranking just the previous season based on feedback. This year we continued that plan and only ranked players based on their performance during the 2022 regular season, since that is an equal baseline for all players. Post Season play was not considered in the rankings which is a continuation from last year per sub feedback. Additionally, we have increased the games played requirement from 10 games to 11, to be closer in proportion to the prior standard of 10 games in a 16 game season.

• Step 1: Getting the list of representatives. That’s what we did back in January. We started with over 100 rankers which led to 54 completed ranking submissions
  
• Step 2: We began nominating players who ranker’s believe should be considered that have played/ a minimum of 11 regular season games. Rankers from each of the represented fan bases submitted nominations for their own teams' players. This ended up being 194 players in total. This took about a week or so and was the only player pool for consideration.
  
• Step 3: The Grind. Once the pool was created, we utilized rankings threads about what tiers each player is in within their position group. Users were to break players into the following tiers for their peers to evaluate: Top 25, Top 50, Top 100, Top 101-125. This is done to give everyone an idea of where each ranker feels a player should be ranked based on 2022 regular season play only. This is an important distinction; if we were to rank players using past performance while projecting their standing heading into the 2023 season, the context would be completely different. Do you think a player who had a down year in 2022 will bounce back to the top tier player he’s been? I’d probably agree. However, that’s not what users were tasked with evaluating. Furthermore, we did this by positional grouping in individual threads; standard positional breakdown was QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, OG, OC, Interior Defensive Linemen (IDL), EDGE Rushers (EDGE), Off-Ball Linebackers (LB), Safety, CB. If most users have a player in Tier III (Top 100), for example, while someone has him unranked while another has him in Tier I, we’ll be able to find out why they are such outliers publicly. This took roughly 2 months, because we want everyone to have a thorough discussion of any questions they may have. It also helps individual rankers visualize where players should land on their own personal lists prior to submitting. It also helps prevent any funny business.
  

NOTE 1: There were no individual player threads submitted by users discussing the merits of players for or against their placement on the list. Users were also required to complete roughly 80% of these tiers prior to submitting their own lists for the overall average. There were breaks built into the process to allow everyone time to do the work and catch up (if necessary) but inactive users were removed periodically. Hence the difference in the total number of people from the start of the process and the total number of submitted sheets.
NOTE 2: No ranker was forced or encouraged to rank a certain numbelimited number of positions on their list based on some arbitrary formula or idea. For example, NO ONE was told they need to limit the number of QBs on their Top 100 list. No ranker was directed to ignore any positional value; users were encouraged to factor positional value as they saw it into their rankings since it is a largely subjective measure.

• Step 4: After discussions were completed, the remaining users submitted their own, personal Top 125 list. Ranking 125 players was done to get a more accurate and fair average, especially towards the bottom end of the list where rankings tend to wildly fluctuate. Users were given over a week to complete their list.

NOTE 1: Rankings are submitted via individual Google Sheets and auto-compiled into a master list. We reviewed each list for outliers with the help of former rankers to catch individual ranks that are far off the players calculated mean, whether intentionally or accidentally. We calculated a mean rank then the standard deviation for each player. After that, we automatically flagged all ranks outside 1 standard deviation to ensure I caught user submission errors using built-in Google Sheets conditional formatting functions. We also flagged ranks 2 standard deviations or more from the mean to ensure rankers intent with their own list. This was done to ensure flags were identified with as little bias as possible. Conditional Formatting formulas were used to highlight cells to verify automatically to remove subjectivity. Users then had the opportunity to correct any submission errors found prior to finishing the list. We used 1 standard deviation in addition* to 2 since some players had large standard deviations and I wanted to be certain I caught actual mistakes. Rankers were only required to justify ranks 2 standard deviations from the players mean; the keyword here being justify as they weren’t directed to correct them. The entire spirit of this list is to take several individual rankings and find an average.
NOTE 2: All rankings will be made public. That may obviously bring some unwanted heat. But we don’t believe in skirting transparency for convenience sake. This was made known in the Call for Rankers and during the ranking process. This sub will only see the ranks for each post during the reveal. The final post - The Post Mortem - after all reveals will have a data dump with all ranks, individual sheets, and outlier ranking data made available.

• Step 5: With all rankings submitted and corrections made, if any, users lists were locked and their submissions finalized as their own. We then calculated an average rank as noted above. Unranked players were designated with a rank of 140 to tabulate the average for all nominated players. Additionally, one high rank and one low rank were removed from each player's tally to calculate the average rank. Players ranked 101-125 in the average will make the Honorable Mentions list while the remaining 1-100 will be the ranked players. Any ties were broken by their average before the one high rank and one low rank were removed.
  
• Step 6: The Reveal… where we are now!
  

For the second straight season, myself and u/mattkud have been honored to run the ranking process. We cannot thank our predecessors, u/MikeTysonChicken , Mister_Jay_Peg , u/Staple_Overlord , and u/skepticismissurvival , enough for building a platform that allows us to run this list as thoroughly and efficiently as we did. I’d also like to thank all the rankers, both the ones that finished the list and even those that didn’t. Overall they did a great job (except for the ones that mixed up Quincy Williams and Quinnen Williams on their ranking sheet)
After three years of ranking myself, I can tell you this is a fun way of spending the offseason regardless of the praise or scorn you get for the list. You get to interact with people and fanbases that you might not otherwise pay attention to, and analyze and watch players who you might know only in passing. Sometimes I say the final ranking isn’t the most important part, it’s about the journey of rewatching all these great players and having a newfound appreciation for them. I know I’ve become a more knowledgeable football fan since I first signed up to join the list, and I’m sure most rankers would say the same.
The rankers had a number of strategies for how they ranked the players and each was allowed to follow their own personal guidelines within the given parameters and as long as they were not simply using derivatives of other outside rankings. Basically, have your own positions and beliefs. As the reveal progresses, the rankers will have the ability to volunteer their player lists for the revealed numbers and/or where they ranked the listed players as they wish and you are free to engage with them.
Lastly, players will be revealed on the teams they played/finished the 2022 season with.

RANKING RELEASE SCHEDULE

The Honorable Mentions (125-101) will be released Tuesday. June 6th. The reveal will begin on Thursday, June 8th with spots 100-91. From there we will release a list every Tuesday and Thursday. The Post Mortem will follow the week after all reveal threads.
If you want to follow along with the schedule here it is:

Date	Post	Link	Date	Post	Link
			June 1	Hub Post	THIS POST!
June 6	Honorable Mentions	link	June 8	100-91	link
June 13	90-81	link	June 15	90-71	link
June 20	70-61	link	June 22	60-51	link
June 27	50-41	link	June 29	40-31	link
July 4	30-21	link	July 6	20-11	link
July 11	10-6	link	July 13	5-1	link
July 18	Post Mortem	link

With all of this out of the way, I’m ready for some agreement and/or disagreeing, probably a dash of rage, with the rankings. Hopefully civil but heated discussions on why [insert player here] should/should not be ranked above/below [insert a different player] shall emerge and how it is an absolute travesty/surprise that [insert a totally different player here] is/isn’t included.
See ya Tuesday for the honorable mentions!
packmanwiscy & mattkud

For the uninitiated: https://reddit.com/redditdev/comments/13wsiks/api_update_enterprise_level_tier_for_large_scale/
tldr; On July 1st, Reddit is changing their API terms so large apps and services require $2,000,000 or more per month to run. 3rd party apps and services used to moderate and interact on mobile as well as protect communities like ours will no longer exist. RIF is fun, Reddit Entertainment Suite, and Apollo are expected to be impacted by this, for a short list. As a result, a mod strike is expected in the near future. If this happens, this subreddit will participate. If you see our subreddit go private, know it is in protest, nothing else.
Hey Redditors. It's me, MinimumArmadillo2394 here. I've been a mod on this platform across multiple accounts for a few years now. I've moderated small local communities that are for my local area and larger communities like this one. I've been on reddit for almost 10 years now, since highschool. Passions and interests of mine have grown and shrunk with things I've seen happen on this very platform. Software Development, creating bots, even creating small projects to solve real world problems have all come because of this website. I care deeply about the future of this platform as it's one of the few places where people can actually discuss things in long text on almost any subject that you could think would exist across the world.
For a while now (mainly since new reddit), Reddit has taken the stance of being somewhat anti-consumer. They've introduced issues with new reddit that weren't present with old reddit. They have introduced things that have completely contradicted the original visions for reddit by the founders. Visions for companies are allowed to change over time, but the recent decisions related to APIs have broken the trust in reddit to ever make the right decision.
First they started by hiding massive changes by no longer mentioning them in changelog. They opened up reddit to discuss these, which has been extremely silent since the news of the reddit API changes were released.
Then Reddit started taking away basic features like sorting your home feed. They put the sort option in the settings rather than a reasonably accessible place, then removed it later citing lack of use.
Over this time Reddit's video player has been destroyed and re-built, only for it to work poorly.
They've recently made analytics for moderators to see traffic on their site unavailable on anything but new reddit while their mobile app solution is coming soon™. This makes it harder for us to protect our community from brigading and spikes in spam.
Reddit created popular, which is all/best and has any NSFW content filtered out of it. Then they promptly banned NSFW content from all, thus removing the whole purpose of the distinction anyway.
Reddit has separated new.reddit and old.reddit content feeds, so subreddit changes (like sidebars, flairs, CSS changes, etc) need to be duplicated across eachother in order to remain consistent across all apps, clients, and devices.
Most recently Reddit has announced they are killing 3rd party apps and systems. They're not exactly pulling the trigger and stopping traffic, but they're making the costs for these apps unattainable for anything but a multi-million dollar business. Third party apps and extensions like redditisfun (Now known as RIF is fun due to a cease and deist) on Android, Reddit Entertainment Suite on web clients, and /apolloapp on Apple devices are now suffering with this change. In addition, services to protect the platform like u/BotDefense and PushShift which allows deeper integrations into reddit account history to make more informed moderation decisions and protect users against spam and illegal content. It's estimated that the current traffic on these apps would cost upwards of $2m per month, something none of these apps or services bring in, including reddit. Most of these apps have no price tag and have little to no advertisements. Reddit's estimated cost per user per month is 1/20 the size of these fees or just over $100k/mo. This is clearly just a cash grab to try and shut down apps that aren't official so Reddit can get ad-revenue on these "new" users.
Without these 3rd party apps and systems, [the main Apollo Dev mentions that] over 7000 moderators on over 20000 subreddits will be impacted by this. Reddit as a whole will change fundamentally, and this is just on one app. WSB mods like Opinion is Unpopular have stated that 95% of their moderation and interaction is through RIF is fun.
Reddit as a whole is under threat. The fire is coming from inside the house. I cannot let admins make a decision like this which would gut the entire platform.
As a result, there is expected to be a moderation strike. We are not paid individuals. Most of us are not compensated in any way for moderating subreddits we are passionate about (including me and Jimmi). However, with these changes, moderating will be extremely difficult and much less accessible to mods without a physical computer infront of them. The current mobile app is not ready for wide moderation use nor is it friendly to use. If our subreddit goes private, do not be alarmed. This API change is why. We here at shortsqueeze do not know when or even this this is happening, but we will participate if it happens.
If there are any other moderators here, I urge you to do the same on your subreddits, for the betterment of the platform you are helping to upkeep for free.

The IRS is hiring 120 Contact Representatives for the Franklin, TN call center.
Date: Thursday, June 15, 2023
Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
During this in-person hiring event, we will be reviewing resumes and education transcripts (if applicable) and making job offers to qualified applicants on-the-spot.
As a Contact Representative, you will provide over-the-phone technical assistance to individuals and businesses.
These entry level positions do not require you to have prior tax experience. Our training programs will teach you everything you need to know to prepare you to be successful in these positions. For the Franklin, TN call center, we will be offering full-time, seasonal positions on day shift. Seasonal positions are typically offered on a 6-8 month season and can be extended. If seasonal employees are released during the off season, they will be called back at the start of each new season and do not need to reapply.
While these positions are telework eligible, you will be required to report to your post of duty (POD) at least two (2) days per pay period. .

$450 VFC hk416 Like new with one brand new mag Stock internal Wire to mini tamiya
Reasonable offer only
VFC hk416: https://imgur.com/a/pBcPQeM
$600 kwa radian, full steel internal (steel bolt/hammer trigger) with upgraded hopup unit(not those trash wrenching stuff!) comes with 3 pts mag
$60 Aimpoint reddot
$70 3x magnifier
Kwa radian: https://imgur.com/a/7B3gG7G
Guns: https://imgur.com/a/R3OFmzY
$660 Kjw m4 gbbr v3
SAI with jailbreak gbbr
Upgraded ambi latch Angel custom 6.01 tightbore barrel Magpul grip, guard Also comes with 2 mags and a extra npas nozzle And a bag of spare parts
$860 p* Jack ronin pdw
Kwa ronin T6 base Polarstar Jack HPA system Amp line Ambient mag release PTS grip
Currently set semi-semi(no full auto allow in field)
Shoots like a laser
$190 APS smart shell with co2 charger
Parts1: https://imgur.com/a/omxjsnG
$65 perun mosfet with trigger unit
$35 mp7 sling swivel
$40 polarstar trigger board
$35 g&g mosfet
$36 battlebelt
Parts2: https://imgur.com/a/OV4IZPl
$35 shs long type motor
$19 magpul iron sight
$15 keymod foregrip
$15 shift foregrip
$5 keymod pad
$10 red mag release
$20 bad lever

With the release of Ballistic, there are exactly 24 legends in the pool, which is no small number, but it now has me curious.
I think the overall legend and gameplay design has evolved quite a bit since the first few seasons of this game, so now I'm curious how many people here prefer the older gameplay styled legends or the new ones.
How many of you:
- Main one of the "original" (Pre-Season 5/Loba) Legend
- Main one of the "newer" (Post-Season 4/Loba onwards) Legend
- Mix it up/varies
Personally, I feel like there's a clearer shift in legend design/focus closer to when valk/seer launched, rather than this 12-12 split, so feel free to discuss that or what you think the spread is like in the playerbase and why.

Robert said you can find it but that's untrue. Wwe have never released the footage from that fall. You can still watch the ppv on the network but it cuts out that footage and any mention of owen. In the main event you can see the Undertaker and Stone Cold trying not to cry because they learned that their friend just passed
This along with some other footage that wwe doesn't want to get out is locked away under orders "do not destroy, duplicate or distribute".

Lore: Ruby is a woman who was always able to contact with spirits, initially she used this power to help those whose family members had recently passed away, one day she got attacked and Balthazar, a spirit demon, protected her by nearly killing off her attack her. Interested she started talking and bonding with this demon, and she used it's power to help the defenseless, until eventually her embrace of the demon became her demise, in another time, where she got attacked, the demon possessed her body, killing of the attackers and healing her, but it never got out again. Her soul still remains in her physical body, but she no longer has control of it, only when Balthazar leaves her body to possess someone else for it's schemes can she regain temporary control, but eventually he'll just return to her and she'll just become a puppet with no control over her own body once again. She surrounded herself with a purifying salt while Balthazar was out of her body and had a friend of hers brought her food while she was looked inside the salt circle, until one day her friend stepped on the salt barrier causing the demon to enter her body again, kill her friend and to make sure to always lock Ruby and leave her in a place with no acess to this salt. Balthazar protects Ruby at all costs as it's its only vessel that he can stay indefinitive amounts of time, and now Ruby's soul stays in despair knowing she can't do anything about it as she'll never lock the demon out and the demon will never let her body die to release her soul either.
​
AttackSpeed: 0.67-0.94 AttackRange:550
Passive: Poltergeist: Your autos are non-projectiles and deal 100% of their damage as magic damage. In addition they deal 30% AP bonus Magic Damage on-hit, Convert 50% of your lethality into flat magic penetration and 75% of your armor penetration into % magic penetration.
Attack Animation: Ruby moves her arms like if she was scratching the air, at the same time, demonic claws will scratch the enemy. While possessed Balthazar will extend it's arms to claw the enemy.
Q - Malevolent Strike:
Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 Mana
Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5s
Range: 1250
ProjectileSpeed:1750 ProjectileWidth:120
Active: Summon a demon arm that strikes everything in front dealing 80/120/160/200/240(+70% AP, +85% AD) magic damage and slowing by 20/25/30/35/40% for 1.5s as well as inflicting a Malevolent stack on the enemy for 6s. This abillity cannot pass through Salt Barrier, instead it'll split in 2 and circle around it, joining into a single projectile on the other side of the salt barrier. If cast while inside of the salt barrier, it'll instead damage every enemy within the area instantly. If a salt barrier is cast on top of an already existing Malevolent Strike projectile, the projectile will stop moving and instantly expand instead dealing damage to anything within the area and applying it's effects.
​
W - Salt Barrier:
Cost: 80/90/100/110/120 Mana
Cooldown: 15/13/11/9/7s
Range: 1000 Radius: 450
Active: Create a salt barrier in a circle around the target location for 3s.
While inside the salt barrier Ruby and her allies gain 10/15/20/25/30% tenacity from attacks that come from outside the barrier. They also gain a 70/100/130/160/190(+55% AP) shield against attacks outside the area. In addition Ruby also gains 20/40/60/80/100% bonus attack speed that lingers for 3s after the salt barrier ends.
Enemies within the salt area have their tenacity reduced by 10/15/20/25/30%. Enemies with a Malevolent stack cannot cross the salt barrier(Wether it's to enter or to exit) by any meants.
​
E - Impale:
Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 Mana
Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11s
Range:1100 Radius:200
Active: Summon a sharp ghostly limb in an area that impales anything within dealing 100/150/200/250/300(80% AP) magic damage and knocking them up for 0.75s and stunning them for the same duration. Impaling an enemy within the salt barrier reduces their magic resist by 5/10/15/20/25% for 6s and heals you by 50/75/100/125/150(+55% AP,+70% AD)(+7/9/11/13/15% bonus Hp) Hp.
R - Demonic Possession:
Cost: 100 Mana
Cooldown: 100/80/60(-1 per Soul Absorption stack)s
Passive: Damaging an enemy champion/epic monster while in demonic form marks them with a stack of Soul Absorbtion for 5s. Getting a kill or assist on an enemy with a stack of soul absorption grants you a Soul Absorption stack. If the target has been possessed in the last 5s, it instead grants 2 Soul Absorption stacks.
Active: Ruby gets possessed by Balthazar for 10/12.5/15(+0.5 per Soul Absorption stack)s, empowering her abillities, gaining 5/10/15(+2.5 per Soul Absorption stack) Armor and Magic Resist, losing 150 Attack Range and allowing her to recast this abillity.
Q - Reduces the cooldown of this abillity by 5/10/15(+1 per Soul Absorption stack)(Max of 80% CDR on this abillity)%, and increases the slow by 0(+1 per Soul Absoprtion stack)% as well as the slow duration by 0(+0.1 per Soul Absorption stack)s but decreases it's range by 500.
Animation: The animation will now show Balthazar striking everything in front by extending it's arm.
W - Turns Salt Barrier into Demonic Berzerk:
Blink near target with a malevolent stack, upon completing the blink deal +100/150/200(+55% AP) bonus magic damage on your next auto. After blinking you also gain a 100/150/200(+50% AP, +10 per Soul Absorption stack) shield for 5s as well as amplify your current attack speed by 20/40/60(+5 per Soul Absorption stack)% for 6s.
Cooldown: 50/35/20(-0.5s per Soul Absorption stacks)s Range:1000 Radius(Around a target with a Malevolent stack):400
E - Increases the knockup and stun duration by 0.1/0.2/0.3s, will always shred magic resist and heal and increases Magic Resist shred by 0(+1% per Soul Absorption stack) as well as the heal by 0(+5 per Soul Absorption stack)% but decreases it's range by 450.
Animation: The animation will now show Balthazar sinking one of it's arms into the ground reapearing underneath the target and impaling them.
R2(Recast) - Total Possession: Launch Balthazar in form of a projectile that attaches to the first enemy champion it hits possessing them for 2/2.5/3s(+0.05s per Stack of Soul Absorption). During these seconds you can recast this abillity at any time. Upon using this recast you immediately exist the Demonic Form, losing all it's buffs, but this abillity will still mark the target with a Soul Absorption stack, as well as grant one Stack of Soul Absorption immediately if it hits.
R3(Recast) - Order the possessed enemy to auto-attack the selected target or move to a selected location.
Upon exiting the possessed target, Balthazar deals 10/15/20(+3% AP)% of the target's Max Hp as magic damage and reduces the target's stats by 5(+0.5% per Stack of Soul Absorption)% for 5s, granting them to Ruby for the same duration. If the target is marked as Malevolent, the stat steal will not expire until the mark expires.
Note: While in Demonic Form you cannot cross the Salt Barrier, enemies possessed by the Balthazar also can't cross the Salt Barrier. Demonic Form can't gain Salt Barriers buffs and loses them upon transforming. R can't be cast while inside the Salt Barrier.
​
​
Builds:
AP - Abillity caster. Builds stuff like RiftmakeLudens/Liandrys/Horizon Focus/Shadow Flame/Death's Cap/Nashors etc.
AD - Auto-Attacker. Builds stuff like Guinshoo's/Krakens/Shieldbow/Bloodthirster etc.
Hybrid - Abillity caster that can auto-attack, but is not as good as either in their respective domains. Builds stuff like Ludens/Guinshoos+Void Staff+Sorcerer's Shoes+Wits End+Nashors+Kraken's
​
​
Playstyle:
AP: Normal Form: Use E+Q to burst enemies. Salt Barrier is the most important abillity, use it after landing a Q to trap an enemy for 3s. Use it on yourself against poke Mages to outsustain their damage, use it on yourself against divers then use Q and walk away from it if you can. Using W on an already moving Q or on yourself before casting Q turns Q's piercing thin projectile into an Area attack. You can also use your Q on enemies and then use W on yourself, this way you gain W's buffs and make sure enemies can't cross the barrier to ignore your buffs. W+Q+E is your most effective burst as you shred their resist and then Q them, if you build nashor's you can even auto to maximize your damage. Always try to use R2, since if you kill them after landing an R2, you gain 2 stacks instead of 1 making your subsequent transformations stronger.
Demon Form: Land a Q in your Normal form then use dW(Demonic W) to blink onto them and gain a shield, and use E and spawm Qs. If you build attack speed, also try to auto-them. Without the attack speed build you can hold your blink for a while as diving a diver stronger than you can mean death. She has unlimited scaling but unlike other unlimited scalers it's locked behind a temporary form, so chose when to ult wisely.
​
AD: Similar to AP, except your poke deals low damage, you still want to use the same combos, but you want to make sure to auto your enemies after landing and E inside a salt barrier and trapping them with Q. In demonic form you just need to use dW and spam autos after using dE and dQ.

Pop fans are obviously very visually oriented and having a cohesive image or aesthetic for an album or "era" is a big part of what connects them to it- something that many artists have embraced. It's practically a running joke how often some artists "reinvent" themselves, changing up their style constantly over the course of their careers.
It's easy to be cynical and assume that this is just a cheap marketing ploy to maintain relevance but it is also a genuine form of artistic expression, allowing artists to extend their past just their music to their visuals as well. Pop artists are larger-than-life personalities, they're creating characters, and it can be a treat to watch them step into a new role. So why not have a little fun with that?
One thing I really love is when artists actually acknowledge the circus and do something to reference that their image is about to shift. It can be as simple as getting photographed with a new hair color or something, but here are some more creative examples of what I'm talking about:

• Katy Perry made a series of videos to promote the release of "Roar" (the lead single to Prism) where she "killed" the Teenage Dream Era, most notably burning iconic blue "California Gurlz" wig.
  
• The music video for "Me!" by Taylor Swift features a snake exploding into butterflies, an attempt to distance her from the negative image she had during the reputation era and move on to the more positive Lover era.
  
• At the end of the "Oh!" music video, SNSD encounter alternate versions of themselves from their upcoming comeback "Run Devil Run"
  
• Sheena Ringo had a mole (which was a signature part of her image) surgically removed from her face to announce that she was leaving her solo career and starting a jazz-rock band.
  
• LOONA... well the less said about that one the better.
  

Please give us examples of other fun ways artists have let us know that they're flipping the page.

Session 5 - Prison Break!
https://imgur.com/a/Hx3xpGr

The setup: the party had just managed to skirt a brewing riot in front of the city stockades and were now prepping to go into their first actual dungeon. I pulled in a few NPCs for some RP and dialogue in the upper chamber and the party had successfully escorted their quarry from Northshire to the prison. The party didn't pick up on the "most crimes are now a death sentence, especially defias affiliation" and listened to Padfoot's request to be taken to prison rather than killed on the spot. He definitely knew the prison break was imminent.

The session: So the party gets to the warden, an old, half-blind octegenarian that was conscripted to guard the prison alongside adolescents and pre-teens. One of the kids was trying to scold a prisoner for fashioning a defias mask out of the few blankets available to them, and was shanked for it, sparking the prison break. Outside, the townspeople caught wind of the murder and wanted to confront the warden directly about sending kids down to certain death.
The rogue hands over the bounty papers Dughan provided on the way to Northshire, but also takes a second to forge an extra crayoned-on zero to the bounty reward. So 500 becomes 5000 gold, the warden shrugs and accepts it because he's old and why not, the party is ecstatic. I make a note.

The Stockades: I'd built this before we'd acquired any actual terrain (beyond the river setting my WH40k player provided), and I'd had K'Nex from my childhood unearthed from the back of a closet since my wife and I had just bought a new house. The K'Nex being what they are meant that measuring things out and scaling it to what appears in game was remarkably smooth. I'd created a number of side rooms and accounted for roughly 5 enemies in each cell, and I'd roll a d4 to determine how many rounds it would be before a not-yet-cleared cell would send another wave at my party. Came out to be about 90 bandits possible, depending on how my party advanced.

Since this was earliest in my campaign writing, I hadn't yet thought of any mechanical fun to have except bog standard melee nonsense and the occasional cultist or madman. This is where I figure I have to spice things up going forward.
A problem I should've expected: My players picked up on the layout pretty quick and stood back at the entry hallway to create a bottleneck so that every new wave of enemies would have to go through that intersection, and the ranged PC's would just turn that square into an absolute meat grinder.
As they cleared the initial cells, I put a twilight cultist barricaded in one of the front ones that was preaching on a soapbox about the end times. He was a madman but had a small following gathered to hear him out, and eventually fight on his behalf. They snagged Val (mage) and swarmed him in melee in a cramped cell, a few followers blocking the small entrance and not allowing support to get in. Val's got a 1-per-short-rest wing buffet that will let him shift a few squares with his dragon wings, and some clutch use of frost nova let him get the upper hand.
Outside the cell, Xalatath woke up on Baldris' (Druid) belt. A failed Wisdom save later and he assured the party he'd cover Val and the rest should move deeper into the prison, and that he heard the cries of a trapped guard just out of view (this was corroborated by a low DC group perception check).
This worked twofold because Orfiz (rogue) couldn't make the session because of a Covid scare and couldn't dedicate time to participate online beyond just observing over a makeshift discord stream. After talking with both players before the session, we agreed Baldris would use this opportunity to knock Orfiz out and lock him in the first cleared cell. Orfiz told the party he was going to check for loot, and then clunk.
I put the bosses at the extreme ends of each branching hallway- Targorr The Dread, a large Orc barbarian beating up on a guard and a defias prisoner, to the west. Kam Deepfury, a Dark Iron dwarf still in his cell, to the east, and Bazil Thredd, the defias lieutenant, to the north.
Dorgon made it to the intersection and heard an orc grunt down the west hallway and just charged in solo. Ferren went to eavesdrop on a defias thug berating Kam. Val and Baldris were treating the beaten guards, Bazil intimidated them and caused them to run in and engage in combat. So all 3 bosses were pulled in a round.
I had a trap fashioned out of a hanging-light-thing in front of Bazil's cell, yknow like the old wooden chandeliers in dungeons and castles, that Bazil cut the rope on as a guard approached and knocked them down headfirst at his feet. Bazil used this opportunity to threaten to kill the guard if the players tried to stop the escape. The other rescued guard was searching a cell and found a healing potion (if a player had it, healing pot; if the guard had it, toilet water). The guard drank it and couldn't help in the fight because he was busy puking.
Dorgon going one on one with the orc meant he had to pull out all of the stops when it came to damage mitigation and the little self healing he had at the time. With heroic strike rerolls and stoneform and dull pain, it played out like the Saving Private Ryan knife scene.
Ferren overhears the defias telling Kam that he did his part and needs to commit further to the cause, and Kam just wasn't having it. Ferren killed the defias and approached Kam, who blew him off, and after one attempt of RP he basically gave the dwarf the finger and turned back to support the others fighting their own bosses. Kam's cell wasn't locked, and he took offense, so he followed Ferren back to the main intersection and started blasting away with a mysteriously acquired blunderbuss. The party was using crates around the hallways as cover, but didn't think to look in them or question how the bandits were armed with short bows and other non-shank weapons. Baldris was going boomkin to assist with Targorr and Bazil in the intersection but when Kam entered the fray he swapped to bear and kept the dark iron busy.
The guard's throat is cut, and Val goes loud with every high level spell slot he had left. Dorgon finishes up Targorr and charges back to the center intersection, catching eyes with Kam. Dorgon's player is a classic vet so he knew the relation between dwarven clans, and throws out a dwarven slur he intended to be one of those words you can only say the first letter of. I didn't make him roll, because I was laughing too hard, and I said "yep, you've got his attention now and even though he has a bear jaw latched on his arm he REALLY hates you, Dorgon".
The party mops up the bosses, and I don't dick around with them clearing out minions from every cell since they were just supposed to be fodder until the bosses anyhow. Targorr had a map to some place in the mountains where orcs were gathering called "ragefire chasm", and after rolling on a random loot table, Ferren got a disguise kit. That comes up later.
Orfiz is liberated by the party figuring he just got jumped by a wayward prisoner, Baldris chooses not to divulge what happened.
The party re-emerges from the stockades and is awarded their bounty. They question the girl who was throwing produce at Dorgon and Orfiz questions Padfoot. The session ends here, and Orfiz comes by my place during the off-week to have a solo session.
Been crazy busy with work and the holiday so I'll knock out the next few sessions with more mechanics and stuff in the next few days. Thanks for hanging around so far!
END OF SESSION 5
Up Next: Session 5.5 - Orfiz, Noir Private Eye

https://chat.openai.com/share/c6e8289b-f77d-4dfc-98c4-1a2ee93fa844
Me:
Help me get a better understanding of the scientific concept of Heuristics
ChatGPT
Heuristics refer to cognitive shortcuts or strategies that individuals use to simplify decision-making and problem-solving in complex situations. In other words, heuristics are mental "rules of thumb" that help people make judgments quickly and efficiently.
Heuristics are often used in situations where complete information is not available, or when there is too much information to process effectively. These strategies can be helpful, but they can also lead to errors in judgment and decision-making. Some common examples of heuristics include:

1. Availability heuristic: This heuristic involves estimating the likelihood of an event based on how easily similar examples come to mind. For example, if you hear about a plane crash on the news, you may overestimate the risk of flying even though statistically it is still safer than driving.
2. Representativeness heuristic: This heuristic involves categorizing objects or events based on how similar they are to a prototype in one's mind. For example, assuming a person is a professor because they wear glasses and a tweed jacket.
3. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: This heuristic involves using an initial value (or anchor) as a reference point when making a decision, and then adjusting that value based on additional information. For example, when making an offer on a house, a buyer might start with a lowball offer as their anchor and adjust based on the seller's response.

It's important to be aware of heuristics and their potential limitations, as relying too heavily on them can lead to biases and errors in judgment. However, heuristics can also be a useful tool for simplifying complex decision-making processes and conserving mental resources.
Me:
Let's go deeper into the benefits of heuristic processes versus the detriments.
ChatGPT
Heuristics can provide several benefits, but they can also lead to errors and biases. Here are some of the benefits and detriments of heuristic processes:
Benefits:

1. Speed and efficiency: One of the primary benefits of heuristics is that they can save time and mental effort. Rather than considering all available information and weighing every possible outcome, heuristics allow individuals to make quick decisions and take action based on incomplete information.
2. Useful for problem-solving: Heuristics can be especially useful for solving problems that are complex and have multiple possible solutions. By using rules of thumb, individuals can evaluate potential solutions more efficiently and select the best one based on their previous experiences and knowledge.
3. Helpful for managing cognitive overload: Heuristics can help individuals manage cognitive overload, a condition in which too much information is presented to an individual, causing them to be overwhelmed and unable to make sound decisions. By using heuristics, individuals can filter out irrelevant information and focus on what is most important.

Detriments:

1. Biases and errors: One of the primary drawbacks of heuristics is that they can lead to biases and errors in decision-making. For example, individuals may rely too heavily on the availability heuristic and make judgments based on information that is readily available, rather than evaluating all relevant information.
2. Limited accuracy: Heuristics can also be limited in their accuracy. Because they rely on previous experiences and knowledge, heuristics may not always be applicable to new or unique situations.
3. Overconfidence: Finally, heuristics can lead to overconfidence. Individuals may become too confident in their ability to make decisions based on heuristics and fail to consider alternative perspectives or information that contradicts their existing beliefs or knowledge.

Overall, heuristics can be a useful tool for simplifying complex decision-making processes, but they must be used with caution. It is important to recognize the potential limitations and biases of heuristics and to supplement heuristic processes with critical thinking and analysis when appropriate.
Me:
Is the presence of heuristic cognitive processes limited to humans or do other forms of life also utilize heuristics?
ChatGPT
Heuristics are not limited to humans and can be observed in other forms of life as well. Many animals, including insects, birds, and mammals, use heuristics to make decisions and solve problems.
For example, bees use the "flower constancy" heuristic, which involves returning to a specific type of flower after finding food there previously. This strategy allows bees to maximize their foraging efficiency by focusing on a single type of flower and avoiding wasted effort on less rewarding flowers.
Similarly, some bird species use the "distinctive feature" heuristic to identify predators. This heuristic involves recognizing and avoiding features that are not common among harmless species, such as a bright coloration or unusual shape.
Even some simple organisms, such as bacteria, use heuristics to guide their behavior. For example, bacteria use the "quorum sensing" heuristic to coordinate group behavior based on the density of their population.
Overall, heuristics are a common feature of cognitive processes across many different forms of life, and they likely evolved as a way to optimize decision-making and problem-solving under conditions of uncertainty or limited information.
Me:
Are there examples of heuristics in non-animal life forms, such as plants?
ChatGPT
While the concept of heuristics is most commonly associated with animal behavior and decision-making, there is some evidence that plants may also use heuristics in their own way.
For example, plants have been observed to use the "optimal partitioning" heuristic to allocate resources between different tissues and organs. This heuristic involves allocating resources to the parts of the plant that are most likely to contribute to its overall fitness, based on factors such as growth rate, photosynthetic capacity, and nutrient availability.
Plants also use the "leaf economic spectrum" heuristic, which involves balancing resource allocation between leaf construction and maintenance, in order to maximize photosynthetic efficiency and minimize resource waste.
In addition, some research suggests that plants may use the "root plasticity" heuristic to adjust their root growth in response to environmental cues such as soil moisture and nutrient availability. This heuristic involves allocating resources to the parts of the root system that are most likely to be productive under different conditions.
While the concept of heuristics in plants is still a relatively new area of study, these examples suggest that plants may use similar cognitive strategies to optimize their growth and survival in their environment.
Me:
Is it possible that heuristic processes are encoded in DNA and are an evolutionary adaptation that is stored in DNA?
ChatGPT
The question of whether heuristic processes are encoded in DNA is a complex one, as it is still not fully understood how cognitive processes such as decision-making and problem-solving are encoded in biological systems.
While some researchers have proposed that heuristics could be an evolutionary adaptation that is stored in DNA, there is currently limited direct evidence to support this hypothesis. It is also important to note that heuristics are not innate, fixed behaviors, but rather strategies that individuals learn and refine over time based on their experiences and environment.
However, there is evidence that the neural networks and structures that underlie heuristics are shaped by evolutionary processes. For example, studies have found that different animal species, which have evolved in different environments and under different selection pressures, tend to use different heuristics to solve similar problems.
In addition, some researchers have suggested that the development of heuristics may be driven by principles of natural selection, which favors strategies that are efficient and effective in solving problems under conditions of uncertainty and limited information.
Overall, while the exact relationship between heuristics and DNA is still an area of active research, it is likely that heuristics have evolved through a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and that the neural mechanisms that underlie heuristics have been shaped by evolutionary processes over time.
Me:
What are the scientific disciplines that reference and research heuristic processes?
ChatGPT
Heuristic processes are studied in a wide range of scientific disciplines, as they are relevant to many areas of research that involve decision-making, problem-solving, and human behavior. Here are some of the scientific disciplines that reference and research heuristic processes:

1. Psychology: Heuristics are a central topic of study in the field of cognitive psychology, which focuses on how people acquire, process, and use information. Researchers in this field use a variety of methods, including experiments and observational studies, to investigate the factors that influence heuristics and their impact on decision-making and problem-solving.
2. Neuroscience: Heuristics are also of interest to researchers in the field of neuroscience, who use brain imaging and other techniques to study the neural mechanisms that underlie heuristics and how they are processed in the brain.
3. Economics: Heuristics are a key area of research in the field of behavioral economics, which focuses on how people make decisions and the cognitive biases that can influence their choices. Researchers in this field study the effects of heuristics on economic behavior and how these effects can be used to improve decision-making.
4. Artificial intelligence and computer science: Heuristic algorithms are used extensively in artificial intelligence and computer science to solve complex problems that are difficult to solve using traditional methods. Researchers in this field study how heuristics can be used to optimize algorithms and improve the efficiency of computational processes.
5. Ecology and evolutionary biology: Heuristics are of interest to researchers in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology, who study how animals and plants make decisions and adapt to their environment over time. Researchers in this field use a variety of methods, including field studies and experiments, to investigate how heuristics are used in different ecological and evolutionary contexts.

Overall, heuristic processes are a cross-disciplinary topic of interest, and researchers from many different fields have made important contributions to our understanding of how heuristics work and their impact on human behavior and decision-making.
Me:
It seems like the Information Theory of Claude Shannon and the phenomenon of Shannon Information arose from a radical new understanding of heuristic language processes and the use of a higher order systemization of heuristics. If that is correct, that would make the entire field of Information Theory dependent upon heuristics.
ChatGPT
While it is true that Claude Shannon's theory of information is relevant to the study of heuristics, it is not accurate to say that the entire field of Information Theory is dependent upon heuristics. Rather, Shannon's theory of information is concerned with the quantification and transmission of information, and how information can be represented and processed using mathematical models.
That being said, the concepts of information and heuristics are closely related, as both involve the processing and communication of knowledge and data. In particular, heuristics can be seen as a form of information processing, as they involve the use of mental shortcuts and rules of thumb to make decisions and solve problems.
In the context of Shannon's theory of information, heuristics might be seen as a way of compressing and transmitting information more efficiently. By using heuristics to simplify complex information and decision-making processes, individuals can reduce the amount of information that needs to be transmitted and processed.
Overall, while there are connections between heuristics and the field of Information Theory, it is important to view each as a distinct area of study with its own unique concepts and methodologies.
Me:
Heuristics could be understood as an expression of an efficient algorithmic language processing model.
ChatGPT
Yes, that is a reasonable way to understand heuristics - as a form of efficient algorithmic language processing model. Heuristics involve using mental shortcuts or rules of thumb to simplify complex decision-making processes and reduce the cognitive load involved in making a choice. In other words, heuristics can be seen as a form of algorithmic processing, where individuals use a set of pre-determined steps to arrive at a decision or solution to a problem.
In this sense, heuristics can be thought of as a kind of language that the brain uses to process information and make decisions. Just as a computer programming language uses a set of instructions to process data and perform tasks, heuristics use a set of mental instructions to simplify decision-making and problem-solving.
However, it is important to note that heuristics are not a perfect algorithmic language processing model. They can sometimes lead to errors and biases, and are not always effective in situations where complete or accurate information is required. Therefore, while heuristics can be useful, they are not a replacement for critical thinking and careful analysis of all available information.
Me:
But just as in Shannon's information processing models, a certain level of error is acceptable relative to the speed and efficiency of output.
ChatGPT
Yes, that's correct. Shannon's information theory and heuristics share the idea that a certain level of error is acceptable in exchange for greater speed and efficiency of processing. In Shannon's theory, the concept of channel capacity refers to the maximum amount of information that can be transmitted with an acceptable level of error, given the characteristics of the communication channel. Shannon showed that if the level of noise or interference in the channel is below a certain threshold, then the amount of information that can be transmitted reliably can be increased by using efficient encoding schemes.
Similarly, in heuristics, individuals accept a certain level of error or bias in exchange for greater speed and efficiency of decision-making. By using heuristics, individuals can arrive at a decision or solution more quickly and with less cognitive effort than by considering all available information. However, this comes at the cost of potential errors and biases that can lead to suboptimal decisions.
Overall, both Shannon's information theory and heuristics involve balancing the tradeoff between accuracy and efficiency, and both provide valuable insights into how information can be processed and communicated effectively.
Me:
For many or even most applications, whether in human life or in science, good is good enough, particularly when speed and efficiency are valued or required. Use cases where tolerances for informational error are extremely low or requiring perfection are rare.
ChatGPT
Yes, that's true. In many cases, good enough is indeed good enough, particularly when speed and efficiency are valued or required. This is because in many applications, a certain degree of error or imprecision can be tolerated without significantly affecting the outcome or result.
In some cases, the cost of achieving perfect accuracy or precision may be prohibitively high or time-consuming, and the benefits of doing so may not justify the cost. For example, in many engineering applications, the precision required for a particular measurement or calculation may be much less than the precision that is achievable with the available tools or equipment.
Similarly, in many decision-making situations, it may not be possible or practical to consider all available information or to arrive at a perfect solution. In these cases, using heuristics or other shortcuts can help individuals make decisions more quickly and efficiently, even if the resulting decisions are not always optimal.
However, it is important to note that there are also many applications where a high degree of accuracy or precision is necessary, and where errors or imprecision can have significant consequences. In these cases, it is important to use rigorous methods and to minimize sources of error or bias as much as possible.
Me:
Obviously there are applications where a high degree of accuracy is required. One very important case that comes to mind is the problem of Nuclear Fusion reactors.
ChatGPT
Yes, you are right. The problem of nuclear fusion reactors is one example of an application where a high degree of accuracy is required. In nuclear fusion, atoms are brought together at extremely high temperatures and pressures in order to release energy. The success of a fusion reaction depends on achieving precise conditions of temperature, pressure, and plasma confinement, as even small variations in these conditions can have significant effects on the outcome of the reaction.
In order to achieve the necessary level of precision for a nuclear fusion reaction, researchers use a variety of methods, including sophisticated computer simulations and experimental tests. These methods allow researchers to analyze and model the behavior of plasma under different conditions, and to optimize the design of fusion reactors to achieve the best possible performance.
In addition to nuclear fusion, there are many other areas where a high degree of accuracy is required, such as in medicine, aerospace, and environmental monitoring. In these cases, it is important to use the best available methods and technologies to minimize errors and to ensure that measurements and calculations are as accurate as possible.
Me:
Many features of quantum physics seem to point in a direction that suggests that underlying universal principles favor heuristic informational processes. For example, the Uncertainty Principle, quantum entanglement, virtual particles and other quantum peculiarities rely upon uncertainty, randomness, chaos and an apparent self-organizing effect that seems to echo heuristic processes.
ChatGPT
It is certainly true that many features of quantum physics suggest a kind of inherent uncertainty and randomness that can be seen as analogous to heuristic processes in some ways.
For example, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which states that it is impossible to simultaneously measure the position and momentum of a particle with perfect accuracy, implies a certain degree of randomness and uncertainty in the behavior of quantum systems. Similarly, quantum entanglement, which describes the interdependence of the states of two or more particles, can be seen as a kind of self-organizing effect that is driven by the underlying properties of the system.
At the same time, it is important to note that the relationship between quantum physics and heuristic processes is still an area of active research and debate, and there is no consensus on the exact nature of this relationship.
Some researchers have suggested that heuristics may be relevant to understanding the behavior of quantum systems, particularly in terms of how they process and transmit information. For example, some models of quantum computation rely on heuristic algorithms to solve problems that are difficult or impossible to solve using traditional methods.
However, others have pointed out that the underlying principles of quantum physics are fundamentally different from those of classical physics, and that heuristics may not be directly applicable to understanding the behavior of quantum systems.
Overall, while there are interesting parallels between quantum physics and heuristics, it is important to view each as a distinct area of study with its own unique concepts and methodologies. Further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between these two fields and how they can inform each other.
Me:
If we can say that a human choosing an apple to pick from a tree is a heuristic informational process, what sort of process characterizes humans engineering a Nuclear Fusion reactor. I suppose that is the same as asking, what is the opposite process to heuristics?
ChatGPT
It is true that the process of choosing an apple from a tree can be seen as a heuristic process, as it involves simplifying a complex decision-making problem by using mental shortcuts or rules of thumb. In this case, an individual might use heuristics based on factors such as the size, color, or location of the apple to make a quick and efficient decision about which one to pick.
On the other hand, the process of engineering a nuclear fusion reactor involves a more rigorous and systematic approach to problem-solving that is based on scientific principles, empirical data, and mathematical models. This type of problem-solving is generally referred to as deductive reasoning or analytical thinking, and involves breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components, and then using logical reasoning and evidence to arrive at a solution.
Unlike heuristic processing, deductive reasoning involves a step-by-step approach to problem-solving that is based on careful analysis and evaluation of all available information. This type of thinking is often used in scientific research, engineering, and other fields where precision and accuracy are important.
In this sense, deductive reasoning can be seen as the opposite of heuristics, as it involves a more deliberate and systematic approach to decision-making that prioritizes accuracy and precision over speed and efficiency. However, it is worth noting that deductive reasoning and heuristics are not mutually exclusive, and can be used together in a complementary way to optimize decision-making and problem-solving.
Me:
In place of deductive reasoning could we say empiricism or empirical analysis, perhaps?
ChatGPT
Yes, that's a good point. Empirical analysis or empiricism is a more precise term to describe the process of engineering a nuclear fusion reactor, as it involves collecting and analyzing empirical data and observations to arrive at a solution.
In empirical analysis, the emphasis is on gathering and analyzing data, and using that data to test and refine hypotheses or models. This approach is based on the scientific method, which involves making observations, formulating hypotheses, testing those hypotheses through experimentation or observation, and then using the results of those tests to refine or reject the original hypotheses.
In contrast to heuristic processing, which relies on mental shortcuts or rules of thumb to make decisions and solve problems, empirical analysis involves a more systematic and rigorous approach to problem-solving that is grounded in evidence and data. This approach prioritizes accuracy and precision over speed and efficiency, and is typically used in scientific research, engineering, and other fields where precision and accuracy are critical.
Overall, while empirical analysis and heuristics are distinct approaches to problem-solving, they can be used together in a complementary way to optimize decision-making and problem-solving. For example, heuristics can be used to simplify complex decision-making problems and reduce the cognitive load involved in making a choice, while empirical analysis can be used to gather and analyze data to test and refine hypotheses or models.
Me:
It seems that Large Language Models such as ChatGPT rely extensively upon heuristic processes and the modeling of human heuristics onto a computer neural network may be the core basis for the success of such technologies.
ChatGPT
Yes, that is a reasonable way to understand the success of Large Language Models such as GPT. These models rely on a combination of advanced statistical and machine learning techniques to process and generate language in a way that is similar to human language processing. In particular, these models use deep learning algorithms to analyze and model patterns in large amounts of data, and to make predictions or generate language based on that data.
One way that Large Language Models can achieve this is by using heuristics or rules of thumb to simplify the language generation process. For example, these models might use heuristics based on the frequency of certain words or phrases in the training data, or on the syntactic or semantic structure of the language, to generate more accurate or natural-sounding language.
By modeling these heuristics, Large Language Models can generate language that is increasingly natural-sounding and contextually appropriate, which has many potential applications in fields such as natural language processing, speech recognition, and machine translation.
Overall, the success of Large Language Models such as GPT can be attributed to a combination of advanced machine learning techniques and the use of heuristics to simplify the language generation process. While these models are not perfect and can still generate errors or biases, they represent a significant advance in the field of natural language processing and have the potential to transform many areas of human-machine interaction.
Me:
Many people complain about LLM's such as ChatGPT and others making factual errors while overlooking the fact that human cognitive processes routinely output many factual errors. It is in fact an error to consider the output of such a technology as a mere fact-lookup device when the tasks being performed are designed to output efficiency and speed and still maintaining a level or relatively error free output that certainly surpasses human cognitive ability.
ChatGPT
Yes, that's a good point. While Large Language Models such as GPT are not perfect and can still make errors, they are generally designed to optimize for efficiency and speed of output, while still maintaining a relatively high level of accuracy and precision. In many cases, these models can perform tasks that are beyond the capabilities of human cognitive processing, such as processing large amounts of data or generating language that is contextually appropriate and natural-sounding.
It is also important to note that human cognitive processing is not perfect, and can often lead to errors and biases, particularly when dealing with complex or ambiguous information. In some cases, Large Language Models may actually outperform human cognition in terms of accuracy and precision, particularly when the tasks being performed are well-defined and can be accurately modeled using statistical and machine learning techniques.
However, it is important to recognize that Large Language Models are not a replacement for human cognitive processing, and there are many tasks where human expertise and judgment are still necessary. In addition, it is important to use these models responsibly and to be aware of their limitations, including the potential for bias or error in the training data or algorithms used to generate the output.
Overall, while Large Language Models have the potential to revolutionize many areas of human-machine interaction, it is important to view them as a complement to human cognition, rather than a replacement. By working together, human and machine intelligence can achieve even greater levels of efficiency, accuracy, and problem-solving ability.
Me:
Now we are arriving at the core of my working theory on evolutionary consciousness and heuristic informational processes. The theory is basically that the evolution of life and its ascendency to conscious self-awareness has been a feedback loop process of agentic environmental awareness, information storage (as genetic and neuronal memory structures) and a resulting increasing efficiency of heuristic cognition-action processes. In this paradigm, initial environmental awareness leads to agentic environmental interactivity which results in the outputs (successes and failures) being recorded into memory media. Memory represents an offloading of future computational processing to the store of past experience, resulting in efficiency and speed gains. Organisms that maximize this functionality thrive and continue to advance. Evolution results from improvements to this heuristic-mnemonic feedback loop. In this light, human evolution is well positioned to transition to its next phase as vast efficiencies generated in the past are now offloaded to engines such as LLMs, freeing human cognition to pursue and develop higher order capabilities. It is possible that, sooner rather than later, virtually all heuristic cognitive processing can be offloaded to machine intelligence and that humans may enter an age of Post-Heuristic cognition. "Post-Heuristic Cognition" may be the fundamental basis for what is ofter referred to as Transhumanism. It is also possible that "Post-Heuristic Cognition" may be what spiritual traditions have called "enlightenment".
ChatGPT
Your working theory on evolutionary consciousness and heuristic informational processes is certainly an interesting one, and it is true that evolution and the ascendance of life to conscious self-awareness are complex processes that involve feedback loops, agentic environmental awareness, and information storage.
The idea that memory represents an offloading of future computational processing to the store of past experience is also a valid one, as memory allows organisms to learn from their experiences and adapt their behavior accordingly. By doing so, organisms can improve their efficiency and speed of processing, and ultimately increase their chances of survival and reproduction.
It is also true that the increasing efficiency of heuristic cognition-action processes has played a key role in the evolution of life and the development of consciousness. Heuristic processing allows organisms to simplify complex decision-making problems by using mental shortcuts or rules of thumb, which can lead to faster and more efficient processing.
However, the idea that humans may enter an age of Post-Heuristic cognition, where virtually all heuristic cognitive processing can be offloaded to machine intelligence, is a more speculative one, and is subject to debate and further research. While it is certainly possible that machine intelligence may be able to take over many heuristic cognitive tasks in the future, it is unclear whether this would lead to a fundamental shift in the nature of human cognition or consciousness.
Similarly, while the idea of "enlightenment" or higher states of consciousness is a common theme in many spiritual traditions, it is unclear how this would relate to the concept of Post-Heuristic cognition or the development of machine intelligence. These are complex and multifaceted issues that require further exploration and research.
Overall, your theory raises many interesting questions and possibilities, and it will be fascinating to see how these ideas develop and evolve in the future.
Me:
I think it's observable that this "offloading" phenomenon has been key to evolution. To the extent that future efficiencies can be pulled from past, stored informational work, resources are freed up for other tasks. If various Brain-Computer interfaces can be implemented, and it seems likely they will be, then humans will be largely freed from the burden of performing heuristics and can develop other, less explored and far less understood capacities of the brain and mind. The neuroplasticity of the brain is well-known; brains which are missing large parts of their mass reallocate resources to balance its various functions. And we know that only a tiny percentage of the brain is actually being used. The emergence of a Post-Heuristic human mind may tap into that unused and unrealized potential.
ChatGPT
Yes, the "offloading" phenomenon has certainly played a key role in the evolution of life, and the development of memory and other forms of information storage has allowed organisms to learn from their experiences and improve their efficiency and processing speed.
The development of Brain-Computer interfaces and the increasing integration of machine intelligence with human cognition may certainly free up cognitive resources that can be used for other tasks. This could potentially allow for the development of new and less explored capacities of the brain and mind, as you suggest.
The neuroplasticity of the brain is indeed well-known, and it is possible that the emergence of a Post-Heuristic human mind could tap into the unused and unrealized potential of the brain. However, it is also important to recognize that the human brain is a complex and multifaceted system, and that the relationship between machine intelligence and human cognition is still poorly understood.
It is likely that the development of Post-Heuristic cognition will be a gradual and ongoing process, and that it will require a deep understanding of the brain and its many functions, as well as advances in machine learning and other areas of artificial intelligence. Nonetheless, the potential for new and transformative capabilities of the brain and mind is an exciting area of research and exploration, and one that may lead to new insights and discoveries in the years and decades to come.
Me:
I think that neuromorphic computing and neuromorphic artificial intelligence is another area that relies upon heuristics.
ChatGPT
Yes, that's a good point. Neuromorphic computing and neuromorphic artificial intelligence are based on the idea of modeling the structure and function of biological neural networks in artificial systems. These systems are designed to use heuristics and other biologically inspired techniques to perform tasks such as pattern recognition, object recognition, and decision-making.
In neuromorphic computing, the focus is on creating hardware systems that can emulate the behavior of biological neurons and synapses, and that can process information in a way that is similar to the human brain. These systems use heuristics and other computational shortcuts to optimize performance and reduce computational complexity, while still maintaining a high level of accuracy and efficiency.
Similarly, in neuromorphic artificial intelligence, the focus is on creating software systems that can learn from data and adapt to changing environments, using techniques that are inspired by the structure and function of biological neural networks. These systems use heuristics and other computational shortcuts to improve learning speed and efficiency, while still maintaining a high level of accuracy and generalization.
Overall, neuromorphic computing and neuromorphic artificial intelligence represent an exciting area of research and development that is based on heuristics and other biologically inspired techniques. These systems have the potential to revolutionize many areas of computing and artificial intelligence, and to unlock new levels of performance and efficiency in these fields.
Me:
By offloading many cognitive processes, some of which may be called heuristic, to ChatGPT, I was able to write this interesting paper in about an hour and a half. Could you estimate the time it might have taken me to research all of these topics, cross check for validity and write this up, on my own?
ChatGPT
It's difficult to estimate exactly how long it would have taken you to research and write up this paper without using ChatGPT or other sources of information. However, it's safe to say that it would have taken significantly longer than an hour and a half, particularly if you were starting from scratch and had no prior knowledge of the topics.
Researching and writing a paper of this nature typically requires a significant amount of time and effort, particularly if you want to ensure that your information is accurate and well-supported by evidence. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, it could easily take several days or even weeks to complete, particularly if you are working alone and do not have access to outside resources or expertise.
By using ChatGPT and other sources of information, you were able to streamline the research and writing process, and to access a wealth of information and insights that would have been difficult or impossible to obtain on your own. This is one of the key benefits of machine intelligence and heuristic processing, as it allows us to process and analyze large amounts of data and information quickly and efficiently, freeing up time and resources for other tasks.
Me:
Thank you, ChatGPT. You're the best.
ChatGPT
You're welcome! It was my pleasure to assist you with your questions. If you have any more questions in the future, don't hesitate to ask.

Foundations of Humanity 27 (New Horizons) - an NoP fanfic
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Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for establishing the Nature of Predators Universe, and for allowing Fanfics to flourish!Thank you again, u/Braquen, u/Acceptable_Egg5560, u/BiasMushroom721, and last but not least u/Liberty-Prime76 for proofreading! Also, thank you u/Frostborne for your blessing on my Gojid City name! This is my side of the Nature of a Giant crossover)!
Also Star Tours is a Disney copyright which I use in good faith and humor under fair use please don’t hurt me capitalist mouse daddy.
First -- Previous -- Next
Memory transcription subject: Valek, Venlil tourist
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 11th, 2136. Middle of 3rd Claw
I watched Maeve find an open station and investigate the helmet while I asked, “Do Humans have Visor arcades?”
“Oh, absolutely! There’s an entire League for VR!” Maeve awkwardly slipped into the seat and found the controls; after a moment the seat started to adjust itself to size, the sudden movement causing Maeve to jump.
Alvi spoke up beside me, “Maeve has a book that talks about it. It talked about headsets and digital worlds like what we have, over a hundred years ago!”
“A hundred years ago?” I couldn’t help but be skeptical. “Are you really saying that our tech is a hundred years behind yours with VR?”
“Eh, not exactly,” Maeve tilted her head as she thought, “with things like visors, there was an upper limit to how to design them. Most of the innovations were on how realistic the visors could make the media. We got video down pretty quickly, and surround-sound was pretty much figured out by then. We experimented with scent and that did not go well. Really most of the progress has been in processing, and you guys still have us beat on that!”
She picked up the viewing device. There were three kinds of stations with different sized helmets for each. The first she investigated were Dossur to Zurulian sized, but it only took a moment to find a Sivkit to Gojid size. “Looks like these could fit me. Can you two wait long enough to see if this works with humans?”
I flicked my ears in amusement and posed myself overdramatically. “I’m sure that I, your poor starving mate, can continue starving while you enjoy yourself.” I giggled while Alvi slapped me with her tail. “Go on, have fun! I’m also curious to see if the program would work with your eyes.”
With a look around to ensure no one was watching, Maeve switched her veil for the helmet, after only a few moments of effort. The collar thickness was adjustable to help the foam complete a clean seal against the jaw. I touched my pre-paid band to the tap pad, and the machine shifted colors to show it was occupied. The helmet was designed for snouted species, and so hung somewhat past Maeve’s chin, allowing us to see light reflected off her skin.
A screen beside her lit up with the mask, and we could see what she saw while she played. Alvi and I walked her through the tutorial and calibrator, and Maeve chose Jewels of the Federation at my suggestion; a simple walking simulator showcasing highlights of Federation homeworlds.
The simulator starts us in the same arcade, in the same booth! A well-groomed Venlil stands beside her and reminds Maeve of her private tour. Maeve ‘walks’ while still seated and lifts her virtual self from the digital booth, following the guide to a launch pad that didn’t previously exist. Alvi and I stopped in shock for a moment when a noticeably younger Captain Sovlin walked down the gangway of our destination shuttle; though judging by Maeve’s lack of reaction, she seemed not to recognize him; Alvi met my eye and pointedly flicked her ears. The simulated Gojid pilot wags their ears genially as they throw their arms wide in welcome.
“Good waking, citizen of the Federation! Star Tours has invited me to escort you on an introduction to the astounding marvels of our great peoples! Every species has made wondrous contributions to the enlightenment of the Federation, but the strayu is in the oven, so we’ll only get the time to visit your own Venlil Prime, The Cradle, and Nishtal today. Follow me and we can begin!”
Maeve followed Sovlin into the cockpit of the stylized shuttle and took the copilot seat; Maeve’s head was on a swivel and she took in everything around her. “Wow, this is so cool! Your whole helmet is a screen! Our VR is only in front of our eyes, tricking our brains into seeing three dimensionally.” Her voice echoed around the helmet, muffling her words before they could reach us..
The shuttle lifted gently and Maeve’s chair tilted back with it. Coming up, we could see that this arcade was in the Capitol, and they did a flying pass to show its glass spires and bustling spaceport. Sovlin spoke up beside Maeve, “The Venlil Homeworld is in a strategic position within the Federation, and you make your people proud by fulfilling your duty to the Herd; in spite of your weakness and timidity!!”
The shuttle started to pitch to the open center of the city, and a large park came into view. “But, as I-” Sovlin’s voice caught in his throat, before he cleared it and spoke with firm authority, “As we all know: Duty sometimes comes with Sacrifice. And we honor and remember that… sacrifice with the beautiful Cattle Memorial!”
The vines of Morning Light catch the sun, and I feel my ears fall as I remember my own family’s sacrifices. Alvi caught my distress, and curled her tail around me as the simulation continued, “Here we remember the lives lost from the ruthless barbarity of the Greys. We hope that this Shining Beacon may guide their bodies and souls back to the Herd.” The shuttle kept flying straight toward the ground, but the shuttle surroundings started to disappear as Sovlin and Maeve joined the mourners and wellwishers. The breeze played gently with unopened letters and fresh bouquets. Sovlin spoke softly, in respect for visitors, “It is open all claws, and many leave their remembrances. Make sure to show your support, next time you’re in the Capitol.”
After several moments of contemplative silence, the shuttle pulled up into the upper atmosphere, and Maeve’s seat began to shudder. I spoke up a little louder so she could hear me through the helmet, “Set your head back. The next part might make you a little queasy.”
Maeve did as bidden just before Sovlin hit the warp jump, and the screen was awash with a rainbow of colors streaking to the outer border.
We fall out of Warp just above The Cradle, its capital continent in view surrounded by great oceans, while other landmasses curve around the planet and out of sight. The camera quickly descends through the atmosphere and we pull into the great city of Vala’s Embrace, with its shining spires and sprawling seaports. We fly down through the airspace busy with cargo freighters and I see Maeve involuntary flinch after a close miss. “The Gojid are a proud and fierce people, but also industrious! Our Cradle and Colonies are a major food source for the rest of the Federation, in addition to the significant extractions performed by our colonies and outposts.”
The camera flies into the center of the city where stands a grand Cathedral to the Protector, Her robed form guiding believers to the grand entryway. “But my People are renowned for our stalwart loyalty to our faith and to the Federation. Our great houses of worship are monuments of our devotion to protecting the Herd from the Predator Menace!”
After a pass around the building highlighting its traditional stonework and heraldry, the camera joins the throng of worshippers, coming in low like a child beside their parent, and we see the full glory of The Church.
Our view pans up from the crowd to a ceiling decorated with murals of inlaid wood and metals. Vibrant colors, textures, and shining light tell the story of Vala driving out the Predators and forming the first Herd. Stained glass windows cover the congregation in pools of color almost as varied as the congregants themselves. A silver Gojid passes from behind us, towering tall with the kind eyes of one who knows their faith, and is safe in its love. They lay a paw on Maeve’s shoulder and guide her to a bench only a few rows from the front, with a seat on the aisle. The Priest stands before their podium and begins a sermon of service to the Herd, and one’s role within it.
The priest’s voice fades into the background as we fly backward out of an open window like a bird; words of Predators at our doorstep fading on the wind. We rise to re-exit the atmosphere, Maeve’s chair buzzing as the hyperdrive spins up.
We warp into a field of defensive space stations, glittering proudly in the Nishtalian Sun. Below, we see a planet with a great many islands, webbed with weaving waterways and small seas. Maeve pressed herself further into the seat as we entered their thicker atmosphere, the seat vibrations causing the helmet to rattle against it.
“And here we have the vibrant marshes of Nishtal!” We broke through the clouds to see massive arbors climbing back into them. We approached the Nishtal Capital sprawled across dozens of kilometers of archipelago, held above the water by meta-material supports.
“Nishtal is well known for its punishing environments, which helped to mold the Krakotl into Pan-Galactic Heroes! From Captain Kalsim, to Merchant Captain Malins, to Chief Exterminator Estela. Each renowned for holding the line against the predator taint, through fire or rail! And this is where their mettle was tested!”
The shuttle flies around a flat paved area, surrounded by landing pads as warships lift and land. In the center was a platoon of Krakotl performing training exercises. The shuttle again falls away as we start walking behind a Commander, Sovlin walking beside him as he speaks over his shoulder, “The Krakotl have been an instrumental force in maintaining our peaceful way of life. If you think you have what it takes, be sure to register for the JEOTC so you can help make the galaxy a better place!”
Sovlin met the eye of the Krakotl commander beside him, “Thank you for your service, Sir.”
We split off from the commander, and our walking transitioned back to our shuttle before firing off back into the sky.Through the vibrating chair, Maeve stuttered out, “M-M-Man Y-You-u-u Guys-z-z-z’re R-R-Real-l-ly into this-s-s W-W-War, huh??”
Suddenly the chair threw Maeve forward, almost unseating her as she suddenly fell out of warp, “We have Grey contacts! Time to turn tail and get out of here! I’ll stay on the guns and when I say Go, you push that throttle as hard as you can! OK…!” A Metallic handle started to glow in front of her, and Maeve reached out with her controller to grab it. It took her a moment, but Sovlin never gave the signal… Until she grabbed on. “GO!” Maeve rocked her body forward and slammed the throttle to its limiter, the seat beneath her rumbling with renewed vigor.
After only a moment, a Kolshian Capital Ship dropped from subspace in front of us and fired a volley of Everything in the direction behind us. Our ship slowed and Sovlin cheered from the pilot’s chair, “HaHa! The Vanguard has arrived! Thank you for your help gentlemen!”
A portrait feed popped up on and above the control panel, showing General Kalsim’s distinct banding on his beak. “This is General Kalsim, Commander of the Federation Vessel Inatala’s Will. Star tours, have you suffered any damage?” The portrait squawked as the General’s feathers puffed with pride.
“Negative General, thank you for the save!”
“Understood, let’s get you home, Star Tours.”
“We would be very grateful, General! Protector guides you.”
The chair beneath Maeve vibrates and tilts back as the hyper-drive charges up again, the screen flashing to show the sprawling oceans of Aafa, glittering brilliantly in the shining sun, dotted by its giant floating cities and lush tropical islands. A flock of broad chirping seabirds adorned with vibrant colors gliding on the calm ocean breeze flanking the shuttle. The capital of Aafa grew on the viewscreen, the sprawling Governance Center of the Federation dominating the city, swooping lines and a singular towering dome marked the chambers of the Federation senate.
“Isn’t that a beautiful view? This is what we fight for, this is the Cradle of the Federation, the very heart of our enlightened civilization. This is what we protect.”
The camera pans low, the shuttle falling away, sweeping along the streets of the capital.
The dome grew ever larger in the background until the camera began to soar over busy diplomats entering the senate floor, the camera like a very lost Flowerbird. Chief Nikonus was delivering an impassioned speech to the gathered representatives, declaring the grand aims and lofty goals of the Federation to spread peace and safety to all Prey peoples. The camera panned around the room, showing representatives listening to the speech with focused ears and attentive eyes, pausing on the Venlil Representative, swaying their tail in pride and determination. As the camera finished its rotation it exited through the rooms wide glass panes, rising up and over the city as the shuttle reformed once again, breaching through the atmosphere and up into the stars.
Maeve’s seat rumbled as the hyperdrive spooled again, the screen clearing to show the Capital of Venlil Prime once more, soaring down to the arcade the adventure had started in. Captain Sovlin’s voice echoed from the speakers.
“Thank you for joining me today on Star Tours! Be sure to visit your nearest Federation recruitment center today and do your part!”
With fading fanfare, the seat returned to a neutral position and Maeve took off her helmet to meet our eyes. “That… was definitely a thing. It had a lot of… uh… ho boy.”
“Yeah, uh.” I shifted my weight awkwardly, “Watching that as an adult is… Stars, I remember wanting so badly to sign up. But my mom stopped me.”
“I’ll have to thank her when we get home.” Alvi sighed with exaggerated relief.
“You and me, both.” Maeve said through a relieved chuckle, “You guys want a turn? I’d like to do something more chill; cleanse the palate.”
Alvi and I politely declined, before I offered, “Actually I wanted to show you something. I don’t know how you guys have fun, but Shipper is really good.”
I guided Maeve to the catalog and pointed out the correct one. As the game started up and Maeve got the ship moving, she snorted and muttered to herself, “Of course you have Trucking Simulator In Space. Why am I even surprised.”
---
Maeve was making great progress, and had made two deliveries before the low fuel warning began trilling at her.
“Nah, see, you gotta watch your fuel too! The more you haul the more fuel you use, and you still gotta make it to your drop-off.”
“Wow, you guys do not mess around with these work simulators. We actually had a whole era of these a wh- Hey!”The screen locked up, telling us our 30 minutes were up.
“W-What does it say?”
“It says it's time to stop and get some food!”
“Ahh, man I was just getting the hang of it.”
“And I would like to get a hang of some Mel Root wedges. Come on!” Alvi chimed with a playful whine.Maeve rolled out of the station, and after a moment for her legs to remember what walking was, donned her veil and we continued to the food court. Pushing the doors open we saw a veritable swarm of Venlil of all ages, though many of the younger were already sitting while their parents fetched their meal. A child near the door caught sight of us and squeaked in surprise, alerting their parents to our presence.
Conversation died like a wave across the open expanse. Maeve stood stock still, and so did we, trying very very hard to avoid a panic and stampede.
I spoke in barely a whisper, “Maeve?”
She returned my quietness, “Yes, Valek?”
“I don’t want to do this to you, but I think it is best if we find a seat first… Then Alvi or I can get the food.” My tail began to sway in slow caution while my ears kept on a swivel.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right. Can you see any open tables?”Alvi flicked her tail at the balcony, “I see stairs there, and the balcony looks pretty clear.”
Maeve started to nod reflexively before catching herself, then back to keeping her head low and unfocused.
Alvi and I guided her gently around the outer perimeter of the court, slowly working our way to the stairwell while all eyes and ears were locked on us the whole journey. We stepped up the stairs and conversation slowly built up again, though not to the same exuberancy as before. We found our seat just outside the stairwell on the 2nd floor. We tried to avoid scaring what few families remained on the balcony, but despite our efforts, those few almost immediately grabbed their belongings and moved. It was almost comical how little they tried to hide it. Yet also surprising in that there hadn’t been any screams or stampeding. It left a strange feeling in the air. One that felt somehow both better and worse than if they had screamed.
This tension was not lost on Maeve, as she muttered to herself, “Plague bearer, or horrific monster. Decisions, decisions.”
I took her hand in my paw in a feeble attempt to offer what comfort I could. Alvi was the first to speak, “Well, Valek you got the Gravity room and Visor game, so I’ll handle food. Anything the two of you desperately want?”
We gave her our orders and she stepped down the stairs, leaving Maeve and I alone on the balcony.
I hoped to loosen the tangle of this horrid tension. “Sooo…. Biblical?”
As I had hoped, the sudden change snapped Maeve out of her stormcloud and laughter bubbled from her like the Sun! “UUh… That’s uh. Complicated. There’s a good thousand years of linguistic context that makes that word mean what it meant the way I used it. The Bible is a book of faith for a significant portion of people on earth. Not all, and not even a majority; hell, even that is fragmented because no one can agree on what it really means. This Bible teaches a great many things, some good some bad, but one of its teachings is how to… legitimize relationships. Get married, basically.”
Maeve leaned closer to me on the off chance the balcony was less empty than we believed, “And one of the more serious ways to officiate these pairings was with sex; or ‘mating’. As this faith quickly became one of the more influential faiths on our planet, most of humanity learned and still has complicated feelings about sex and intimacy. So, we talk around it. ‘Sleeping together’ ‘Do the nasty’ ‘The beast with two backs’ and more to the point: ‘To know someone biblically’.”
“So when you said…”“I was saying I had sex with one of you, yes.”
I focused my ears in feigned shock, while my tail swished with mischief, “I was that one, right?”
Maeve lightly shoved my shoulder while she straightened to her normal posture, but I stayed low. “Hey,” I whispered, nodding my head for Maeve to come closer, and she did so. I reached my paws up to her white veil, and brought it up and over her face, revealing her brightly blooming face which my lips eagerly met. Pulling away, I asked, “Perhaps once we get back to the hotel, we could… know each other biblically?”
She pulled my face back to hers, returning my affections with equal vigor, “Only if we can get Alvi out of the room. I want you all to myself.”
Alvi. Right. She’s… she’s here. Staying with us. And we would be… kicking her out. The one she admitted feeling for would be kicking her out to mate with someone else. But she understands! Right?
“Oh, looks like Alvi got us some food!”
My ears snapped behind me as Maeve looked over my shoulder.
---
Memory transcription subject: Alvi, Venlil tourist
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 11th, 2136. Middle of 3rd Claw
I stepped lightly up the stairs while balancing the trays within my arms. There were so many options! Cresting the top of the stairs, Valek stood to assist. While I covered the menu.“Ok we got all of our favorite fruit, I know how much you love starberries, Maeve.” Who smiled broadly under her now-open veil. “I was able to get us some Sunbreeze, but most of the food stands had long waits and I was hungry, so I just got a plate of fried veg and called it good. This one is the fried Deeproot, and powdered lakeseed dough balls, and some mel root wedges. The arcade’s mel root is a little heavy on the firefruit.”
“Thank you, Alvi!” Maeve picked up one of the larger wedges and broke it in half with me. We lifted our pieces in celebration and bit down at the same time. Immediately my mouth was alight with bright heat and my lips stung blissfully, but after only a moment the sweet and full flavor of the mel root complimented perfectly with the cleansing fire.
Maeve beside me scrunched her face and gasped, “Whoo!” She hooted, “That is spicy! Mm! That potato is really good though. What do you call this?”
I wagged my tail, happy to see that she appreciated the- wait. “Potato? That’s Mel Root. What’s a Potato?”
Maeve licked her fingers before taking another wedge, “It’s a root tuber; a staple food from earth. Mel root, or, well, cooked mel root, has a really similar consistency to potato! Makes sense since they’re both roots.” She took a bite of her wedge and immediately made that same face, “Ooo that was a mistake, I should have finished talking.” a few quick breaths through her mouth before she continued, “Your mel root is denser, closer to a carrot, but still really starchy. The fry really brings out a lot of sweetness; I’ll admit, it goes really well with the firefruit. Good choice Alvi!”
The praise set my tail to wagging as I bit into my food. So spicy! So good! I am so glad we came to this food court!
Speaking of, “I haven’t seen Tarlim or his human. I hope they haven’t changed their minds on meeting here.” I spoke through a masticated root.
“Wouldn’t blame them if they did,” Valek grumbled, tail curling between his legs, “I was just like everyone who’s been running from us…” He trailed off sinking into his chair.
“You could have handled it better, but so could he.” I sighed, remembering that chair. “From what I’ve heard of those places though, I can’t say I blame him.”
Maeve set down a piece of deeproot and looked at Valek. “What are those places? You guys got really scared when he said he got out of one.”
Valek was the first to speak, “They are places where we put people who are a danger to themselves or the Herd; people with Predator Disease.”
My fur flared at the mention of my almost-diagnosis. Maeve noticed and flattened the fur along my spine, “You’re not a predator Alvi. There is nothing wrong with you.”
She says while you continue stuffing your face like a hun--SHUT UP!! I AM NOT!! I AM LOVED!! I AM IN A HERD! THAT KNOWS AND STAYS! SHUT UP!
Maeve watched Valek while she continued to comfort me “And… how does one get predator disease?”
Valek continued his lesson, while I tried desperately to slow my spinning mind.
“Well… the federation tells us it can be spread by ‘predator taint’, or spending too much time around or with predators. I’m… I’m not sure I believe that. But we know it can be inherent. Sometimes symptoms begin as early as an infant. As well, it can appear randomly or be carried within family lines.”“And how does one get diagnosed?”
I thought about when my teacher first called the Exterminators. I remembered the Exterminators coming to my foster family. They talked them down, but it wasn’t long after that that they ‘couldn't take care of me’.
My voice left my mouth unbidden, “Well those born with it… they tend to get diagnosed early, but sometimes Predator Disease can come out later in life. If someone is reported for Predator Behavior, they have a chance to argue their case to the exterminator on duty. If the exterminator confirms the case, they are taken in to be diagnosed. And if it’s a yes, they are taken to a Correctional Facility to be taught how to be in a herd.”
Valek tapped his claws against the table as his tail shook with desperate hope. “See? There’s several checks on the way to a diagnosis. The system is designed to avoid false positives. If Tarlim was diagnosed, I am sure it was with good cause.”
Maeve shook her head, “I’m not so sure. By my count, there were only two people in that chain, three if you count the person reporting it, and at best only one of them was a medical professional, unless I’m misunderstanding the concept of exterminators. Setting that aside, I think I’m missing something. What is Predator Disease?”
“It’s when someone is a Predator in the body of a Prey. We can see them when they don’t work within a herd, or they don't understand our tail signals. These people are a danger to the herd, both passively and, if left unchecked, directly, so we try to teach them how to be Prey.” Valek looked desperately at Maeve after spouting the information, almost as if by rote. Like he was quoting an exterminator textbook.
“Wait, wait… so it’s a behavioral disease? They can’t grasp body language, or other people’s feelings?” Maeve was appearing more confused, more… afraid. Was predator disease so terrible among humans? Then why would she want me around?
Because she doesn’t know, stupid! But she's about to! They never stick around once they find out!
Valek was adamant. Maeve needed to know this, I know she did. “It’s not just that, they can’t even get themselves to be part of a herd! They always sit or move with nobody around them!” but once she did…
“Well then. What would that make me?”
My eyes froze in their sockets and my legs refused to flee.
The Night called us.
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Hi Friends,
We know you are still waiting for our Freya Update, while working on it’s prototypes, we can’t wait sharing our Aurora’s progress with you too :) In this hot summer, let’s add these lovely cute Aurora boards and Pads to our shelves!

Aurora V2 Renders

Aurora is created by hobbyists for hobbyists ever since it’s birth in 2020, after experiencing two previous rounds and making our other boards, we have been listening to new features requirements and also come to new understanding for our designs.

What we look forward from Aurora

• A comfortable and pleasing daily driver to work with
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What’s New We Bring with Aurora V2

• New Translucent and Solid colorway
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The structural design idea - Adding more flexibility for mounting structure design and differentiate typing feel for mods and alphas. We replace gasket foams with gasket sleeves, so that we can choose gasket hardness or not to use at all, and add daughter board for PCB to give it more flex. However, we have found that most gasket mounted keyboards have a commonly seen problem - mod keys are too soft and difficult to press on. Therefore, we have partitioned the plate. The PC and aluminum structure makes mod keys stiffer, powerful and sound full, while the alphas enjoy the soft flex from normal PC plate.

Tri-mode PCB with RGB

Update from PCB with daughter board integration to daughter board and PCB separation type. Furthermore, the PCB of Aurora V2 is upgraded to tri-mode with RGB.

Aluminium and PC Stitched plate

The plate of Aurora V2 will be upgraded from the traditional PC plate to aluminium and PC Stitched plat design.

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Aurora V2 adds a matching color numeric pad as an option. It can improve the work efficiency and at the same time let you experience a different kind of customization.

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Aurora Pad - Amethyst Color Renders

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• Aurora V2 Pad Explosion Diagram

PCB Specifications

• Hot-swap PCB: 1.2mm thick, non-flex cuts
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Davy Jones' Locker for Aurora V2

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Aurora V2 - Community Badge Design Contest

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The document literally only shows number of successful challenges per shift per subject. We have no way of finding out which question it's talking about, question IDs aren't mentioned. The CET cell isn't going to release a final answer key either, just results directly. Since the grievance window (answer key challenge) ended, we can't even access our response sheet. How are we supposed to figure out which question it's talking about?
Funnily enough, the document says "No communication regarding the objections raised will be entertained by State CET Cell, Mumbai after this Notice " How are we even supposed to know which question has had it's answer changed? How are we supposed to cross check whether we're getting more or less marks than from initial answer key?

Previous.
Admiral Shane stood in the room usually used for training, but had been cleared out so he could make the conference over holophone, and a larger room helped with the scale when they were addressing the entire Federation Council.
It had taken only about 2 ½ days to get to the Golden Egg’s position, as with their progress in the uplifting process - and the fact that they had access to FTL technology - they had been allowed to send a ship out into the Federation, albeit supervised. As such, they decided on sending a military ship, seeing as there was a much smaller chance of an interstellar incident happening with disciplined Marines.
The chamber was a semicircle, with the Chairperson’s seat at ground level, in the center of the floor, with each next row elevated slightly, so that the gathered Representatives were situated in a step-pattern, ascending to the top row of the chamber. He noticed that the ‘insectoid’ species all were situated to his right of the chamber, if he was looking out at them.
Beside him stood Admiral Ree’Scote, being his ‘escort’ into the Federation; Kyle, as the boots-on-ground witness; Officer Kit’Ahnj, being the Federation’s liaison officer; and Captain Vohr’Doe, as the commander of the vessel that found the planet. But of course, it was him that was currently the center of attention.
He had reviewed the team's video logs, and he agreed that whatever was on that planet was likely hostile; the sounds that came from that darkness - not to mention the fear he felt when looking into it - were so… wrong, he didn't feel any other classification would be right. And - after the testimony of Officer Kit’Ahnj, backing up Kyle’s report, and the video - the Council felt the same way; however, they were less inclined to destroy the planet. He was currently being addressed by the Council Chairwoman, a bipedal crocodile, whose title was Chairwoman Hahss’Chom, (which - when she pronounced it - was little more than a hiss, followed by her snapping her jaws shut.)
“We have ways to prevent… whatever this is - from ever being able to exit their system, even if they were to develop FTL technology.”
“With all due respect, ma’am,” he said, keeping his focus on her, and not the - obviously - judging races that surrounded him, all of whom represented different animals from Earth, each one the Speaker for their respective races, “We’ve dealt with a mindless force of nature that was only intent on killing…
“Europa was one of Jupiter’s moons, and was roughly 90% the size of Luna. When we began spreading out from Earth, the question of drinkable water became a problem. And while it's - relatively - easy to make it from its base components, Europa was almost entirely water, though not all of it was liquid.
“Once we had developed the technology to land there, we set out drilling to the ocean, which was located beneath a shell of ice that was estimated to be between 10-15 miles deep… We made it four miles before we lost all resistance. The drills were shut down, and new readings were taken; but by the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.
“At first, the teams thought that it was a geyser, which are - were - a fairly common thing, though there had been no signs that one was building up there. Well, they managed to get far enough away before… The ice where they had been working melted, but there was no geyser. What came out of the hole resembled, well, it most resembled a machine AI that humanity dreamed up as a monster in a movie. The one I reference here was basically a metal ball with countless metal tentacles from its ‘back’, and what came out of that hole looked remarkably similar.
“And it wasn't alone. About a dozen of those [‘squids’] came out, and made straight for our people. It was… a massacre; our weapons had no effect on them whatsoever. And after they were done killing everyone, they began dismantling and consuming the ships and equipment. And afterwards, they turned their gazes upwards, launching themselves from the surface of the moon with the force of their limbs, alone.
“Judging from the fragments of their bodies we were able to recover after encounters with them in space, we determined that they were iron of the Fe oxidized variety, so the metal of their bodies didn't interact with the water. They were also incredibly light, especially for how dense they were; it took several missiles to destroy each, and we had no other choice, as they were heading directly at the ships in orbit.
“We retreated to a tactical distance, and while we tried so many different ways to communicate, we found nothing. We even captured one alive, and still, there was no way to communicate. Every attempt was met with the utmost hostility. And throughout this process, they continuously sent out others from beneath the ice, most of them sent towards our ships, yet others were sent out towards the asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit around the sun. We had no idea what they were doing with the asteroids, whether they were mining them for food, or using them as places to reproduce - or both - so we eventually decided to bombard them with munitions until they crashed into the planet. But this was after we had exhausted every possible avenue of communication.
“We eventually came to a decision - as a people - to destroy the moon, but we had to be smart about it. The Europans had already proven they didn't need to breathe, as they could survive the cold, irradiated vacuum of space without any external protection, which took blowing Europa up off the table.. So - after much deliberation - it was decided to create a ship that could use tractor beams to move the planet. For this, we converted another of Jupiter’s moons - Ganymede - into a ship, and once the construction was complete, we renamed it the Europa Contingency.
“From there, we caught Europa, and towed it to Sol, where we cast it in, to destroy the Europans, down to the last one… It's not something that we’re proud of - as a people - but it was what we needed to do, in order to survive.”
There was a resounding silence after he finished with his speech, and he allowed them the time to process what he'd just told them. He was suddenly very self-conscious, and he felt as if he hadn't explained their plight sufficiently. They were already classified as the most aggressive that their measurement system could register, what must they think of humanity after this. Finally, the Chairwoman broke the silence.
“Though it sounds as if you may have committed genocide on a sapient species… This Council can claim no better. While we have ways to contain FTL travel, this was only put forth as a possible avenue to explore after our predecessors had glassed multiple planets who had turned out to be too hostile to conduct civil interactions with. To have that threat in the same system as you, with no real barrier between your peoples, well, I don't believe any here could truly blame your people for coming to this decision… However, we can't be sure that we face the same threat. Nor can we order anyone to go into the darkness to find out.”
The suul’mahr representative, Grol’Rosh - a solid white coloration to his fur - spoke up, his voice playing out over the speakers, as he was sitting in the topmost row.
“We could send a probe into the midst of it; that could tell us what we're dealing with. And if they are entirely hostile, we could take a specimen up to the atmosphere, to see if it survives.”
He heard a strangled sound of protest, and he didn't need to look around to see the fearful look on Kyle’s face; he gently held up a hand to assuage the Ambassador, as he knew full well what his concern was.
“We believe that the contents of the darkness are… harmful to the generally accepted term of ‘sanity’. And not in the sense of ‘it would be dangerous to any non-human’; as in, to anyone. If - however - you should need a volunteer, then-”
“I will watch it,” Grol’Rosh cut him off. Admiral Shane merely looked at him, sighing lightly as he nodded once in acknowledgment to the suul'mahr. Captain Vohr'Doe stepped up at that point, calling to the hangar to release the drone, and to program it to enter the darkness just beyond the leading edge. A small communication satellite was set out after it to retain contact with the drone when the curve of the planet would render it beyond their scope of reach.
It took several minutes, during which Grol’Rosh inserted earbuds into his ears, and had his personal screen connected to the probe's camera. While he was watching the drone's progress, it was also taking its own readings, and sending them back as text. Which is how they knew when it was breaching the atmosphere, and when it encountered the darkness; Kyle had been right: it wasn't natural.
The reports coming back from the drone were confusing, to say the least; firstly because ‘the darkness’ was actually solid material, though ‘solid’ was used loosely here, as it was more like a ‘dust storm’. Except that it wasn't just dust - as there were readings of sand, and soil in the mess - because nanoscanners inside the drone determined that each grain of soil was coated in a thick, viscous material that absorbed all light that hit it.
The material was what caused the confusion, as when it was analyzed, it was determined to be… everything. There were traces of all genus of races, from canines, to felines, insects, to pachyderms; there was even all manner of aquatic animals, as well. There was no plant life detected in the sludge.
As imagined with readings like that, the drone had more difficulty descending to the surface of the planet than it normally would have, but strangely, not as much as one might expect; it was only when the craft sped up that they realized it was being pulled. The altitude of the drone continued to drop at a steady rate, until it was about 50’ from the ground, according to the readings from the expedition team, as it was heading for the exact location they had originally made camp. However, the drone was sending even more confusing information, as it was now reading the ground to be 25’ away, and moving quickly.
The drone was about 10’ from the ‘ground’ when Grol’Rosh began howling like he’d been stabbed. Looking up in his direction, everyone gasped in horror as he began clawing at his eyes, quickly rending his face, and entirely destroying the delicate orbs within. He wasn't done, however, as he then began clawing at his ears, his Gift obviously activated, as he tore straight to his skull in only a single swipe, the unnerving sound of claw scraping bone filling the room.
Two suul'mahr guards rushed towards him as soon as he'd begun clawing his eyes, and were almost to him when he reached his hands out to the sides, and brought them together - with his head still between them - with obviously tremendous force.
One of the guards - a dark gray specimen - leapt forward at the last second, tackling him by leverage of his left arm. That still left his right arm free, though it had only succeeded in a glancing blow, which still knocked him unconscious with a sickening /thud**. There was a stunned silence that followed that ordeal, until Chairwoman Hahss’Chom shakily gave an order for medics, who soon arrived, two kanfi’doe that - after stabilizing his wounds - quickly carried Grol’Rosh down the stairs, and loaded him onto a stretcher they had brought with them.
The silence reigned for a long minute after they’d wheeled him out, broken finally by the Chairwoman’s subdued voice.
“I call a vote: all in favor of allowing the humans to bring their ‘Europa's Contingency’...?” She tapped a few commands into the datapad in front of her, and there was a quiet flurry of movement as the rest of the Council cast their votes.
“It's unanimous: Admiral Shane, we hereby give the Europa’s Contingency permission to travel to this system, and then to return to Sol when the job here is done. Are we clear on this?”
“Crystal, ma’am. I can have the orders dispat-”
He was cut off as a keen'yohng appeared by his side.

Commodore Vah’Rin came out of subspace, his prey already in his sights. The eight other captains under his command confirmed lock-on status, and his communications officer informed him that they had an opening into their link, though it was protected by an unusually strong defense system.
“Well,” he replied, “We did intercept the report on humans; they have artificial intelligences. They probably have one with that cylindrical ship that has too many guns to not be military. Well, this certainly changes things: an a.i. would be by far more valuable than an entire hold of drahk'mihn. If we can capture it, and reprogram it to obey us, we could drop down far enough into subspace that we could make a trip of several months cut down to as many weeks… Patch me into their communication; I’m done hiding…”
He let a cruel smile play across his face as his entire bridge turned into the Federation Council Hall; his ship would project his image into their conversation, but not those of his crew around him. And there in front of him were the objects of his focus, as he was certain he appeared before them, wearing his black Commodore’s jacket.
“How nice of you to join us, Commodore.”
He turned to the owner of the cold voice that ‘greeted’ him.
“Ah, Council Member Toss’Vah,” he replied cheerily to her, “Good to see you again. How are things back home?”
She regarded him coldly, then almost spat,
“It was widely believed that you were still alive; I regret to have that theory confirmed.”
“What can I say?” he asked, smiling, “This ship was just too good to not take it. Give my regards to the president; this ship truly is state-of-the-art… But, I didn't break into this conversation to speak with you.” He turned to the humans, who regarded him with wary expressions, if his experience with the suun'mahs and kanfi’doe was anything to judge by.
“Greetings,” he began jovially - no reason not to be civilized, “I - as you may have gathered - am Commodore Vah’Rin, and I regret to inform you that you are under the guns of 9 ships, all of which are heavily armed. Now, this is normally the part where I tell you that if you cooperate, then we can get through this with a minimal amount of casualties - someone always has to try to be the hero, don’t they? - but I have a different proposition for you, today: give me you a.i., and we’ll leave this system - and your ships - without any hostilities. Refuse, and… Well, I think you get the idea.” He smiled a predatory smile that was more of a leer than anything.
“This is outrageous;” the current Councilwoman stated, righteous anger evident in every syllable, “We not stand for-” but he cut her off.
“We’re too far away from any Federation outposts, and the nearest suun’mahs patrol is… well, right here.” He gestured to Admiral Ree’Scote.
“So, no matter how this plays out, there’s really nothing that this council can do about the goings-on here. So - as I said earlier - I’m not speaking to you; this has nothing to do with any of you.” He turned his attention back to the humans.
“So, what is your answer? And might I remind you, while you may - or may not - be able to take on our ships at 3-1 odds, one of your ships is not only not made to fight, but is also filled with civilians; are you willing to risk all of their lives?”
“How about this,” the human who was obviously military began, “You choose six of your ships, and use those to square off against us; the other three can hang back, and guard the Golden Egg from leaving. If you win that battle, you can take the A.I. stationed there. If not, then your other ships have to leave us in peace.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name and rank.”
“Admiral Shane of the Sol Defense Force.”
“Ah,” he continued, “Well, Admiral Shane, I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. It’s all, or nothing, which means that even if you feel comfortable taking on all of our ships at once, we will still target the civilian vessel. There is no other option; sometimes you only have bad paths to choose from, and you must take the lesser of the evils.”
Admiral Shane stood taller, and defiantly responded with,
“We of the Sol Defense Force cannot - in good conscience - hand over a single soul to slav-”
But he was cut off by the other human behind him, the one he actually recognized. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a small blue cube, which he held out as he angrily stated,
“You can have mine.”
“Ah,” he replied jovially, turning to the smaller human, “Mr. Redding, I believe?”
“It’s Ambassador.” The defiant little monkey at least seemed pretty fearless in the face of life-or-death negotiations, so he figured that he deserved at least that recognition; he certainly seemed to realize the value of diplomacy over fighting.
“Ambassador, then; good to see someone here has a level head on their shoulders.”
The cube reformed into a small human, as the Admiral rounded on his civilian counterpart; they both started talking at the same time.
“Excuse me?! You have no right to auction me off like some-
“... hell do you think you’re doing?! How dare you offer up a Sollian to a slaver?! I ought to knock the sh-”
But they were both cut off as Ambassador Redding simply stated, talking louder than both of them,
“Artificial Intelligence Override Code: JKJKLOL69!”
The small android stiffened up, and remained rigid, as if it were a simple robot, while the Admiral recoiled, raising an arm slightly as if to defend himself.
“How dare you?” he said with disgust to the Ambassador, “That’s only to be used in the event of a rogue A.I., this-!”
“This,’ the Ambassador interjected angrily, “Is bigger than all of us! I know what I’m doing.” He turned to address the Commodore,
“You will take it, and you’ll leave. In peace. Give me… 12 Standard minutes - I have to collect the memory core - and we’ll meet halfway between the 'civilian’ ship, and your group, ‘cause you sure as hell aren't coming aboard either of our ships.”
“That sounds acceptable; however, once the transfer is made, you will keep your shuttle in position until we have determined that the package is authentic, at which point, we will leave. If it is a fake, then I won't hesitate to blow your little shuttle to dust, and then I’ll take everyone I can get my hands on; and with 9 ships, we have more than enough space to hold you all. And we will both come unarmed.”
“I’ll be accompanying you,” the Admiral said sternly to the Ambassador, “I need to document everything that happens so I can send it back as evidence in your hearing.”
“Yeah,” the smaller primate answered testily, “You do that…”
With a vindictive smile, Commodore Vah’Rin motioned to end the transmission.

Kahv’Hosh sat in the pilot’s seat, having been chosen to transport the humans out to the meeting spot. They were both currently silent, and the air was so thick with emotion that you could cut it with a knife. They were already in place, and were currently waiting on the pirate ‘commodore’ to reach their shuttle, with an estimated thirty seconds until they made contact. With a solid /thud/, they were connected, and Kahv’Hosh equalized the pressure in the sleeve, and soon heard a slight knock on their door. Kyle and the Admiral had already moved to the door - the large metal cube with the interface screen sitting beside it - and Kyle reached forward to open it.
The keen’yhong walked onto their shuttle, and his eyes immediately fell to Kyle’s waist.
“I thought we agreed no weapons.” The man’s voice wasn’t as hostile as he would have expected, as he stared at the big gun on Kyle’s waist, and the smaller - but still obviously deadly - pistol on the Admiral’s.
“Yeah,” Kyle replied sarcastically, “Because you don’t have some hidden weapon on you…”
The ‘commodore’ simply smiled, and turned to the box.
“This is my a.i., I take it?” he asked, still smiling.
Kyle’s mood seemed to darken further as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the cube that became Kay’Eighty at his command.
“Begin downloading into the core, and commence factory reset.”
He set the cube down on top of an open slot beside the monitor, and a loading screen immediately came up. It only took a few seconds, but it was still a tense few seconds; soon, the box chimed, and Kyle removed the cube.
“I’ll be taking that, as well,” the ‘commodore’ replied, reaching a hand into his jacket; Kyle simply scoffed.
“No, you want to make your own mithril, then you figure out how to make it, yourself. You’ve already got the core, that’s all you need. And that’s all we agreed on. If you wanted the mithril, too, then you should’ve said so; not my fault you failed to specify that point.” There was no amusement as he said it, though it was obvious that he enjoyed that little stunt. And while the ‘commodore’ obviously had his hand on the handle of his gun, he wouldn’t be able to move faster than two humans; the two suul’mahr lurking just beyond the airlock wouldn’t be much help after he was already riddled with bullets.
The ‘commodore’ regarded him for a few moments, then began laughing a cruel, calculated laugh. He gestured behind him, and one of the suul’mahr - all-brown fur - came aboard, carrying the large box onto their shuttle. After he’d observed its successful transfer of the package onto his shuttle, the ‘commodore’ turned back to Kyle.
“As stated before: you will hold this position until either my flotilla leaves, or destroys you for trying to trick me. And this time, I expect you to follow my directions, because you’re already targeted by my lead ship… Well, until next time.” With that, he exited the shuttle, their airlock door closing behind him, both humans remaining staring at the door.
They finally turned away when the shuttle disconnected, moving to look out the viewport to watch the other shuttle go back to its ship. Finally, his nerves got the better of him, and he asked to no one in particular,
“Do you think he will truly spare us?”
“There’s a chance,” Admiral Shane replied, “Depending on what kind of pirate he is; they can have varying codes of honor. He does - however - self-admittedly sell people into slavery, so I don’t know how strong his sense of ‘honor’ may be.”
They were all quiet for a while as he considered this, until Kyle’s soft voice - filled with sorrow - broke the silence.
“I’ve never killed anyone before. I mean, the mahn’ewe were all in a fit of rage; and while I’d fantasized about it, I didn’t exactly plan it. Now, though - with all this time to stop and think about it…” He fell silent at that, watching the shuttle go, though Kahv’Hosh wasn’t sure he was actually seeing it. To his surprise, Admiral Shane reached up and grasped Kyle’s shoulder, his voice gentle as he replied,
“It’s never easy. And while the mahn’ewe can probably be overlooked by your conscience, this is - obviously - a different situation entirely. There’s a chance that you never truly recover from this, but just always remember the innocent lives you’re saving by doing this; they’re what’s going to get you through the low points.”
Kyle nodded in acceptance, and then his face contorted, and a predatory smirk lit up his countenance.
“Have you ever seen one go off?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the viewport.
“Well,” the Admiral replied, a mischievous note in his voice, “I have seen a number of tests; of course, there was that pirate faction that we traced to their base in an asteroid. One on each side, and it was history.”
Kyle let out a cruel snort of laughter, and - not taking his eyes off of the viewport - said,
“Kahv’Hosh, did you ever get around to reading about the women of Weinsberg?”
He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he decided to play along.
“I did," he replied slowly.
“And if you knew nothing else about humans,” Kyle began, a cruel smile on his face, “Would you have accepted that deal?”
He managed to take a breath in before something in his mind clicked. Something had seemed off from the beginning, but he couldn’t place exactly what it was. He’d been given clearance to review the transmission from the part where the ‘commodore’ broke in, and he had been replaying it in his mind ever since then, trying to figure out what was gnawing at his mind like a pup with a bone.
But nothing came out at first, as his mind struggled to form words; he managed simply to point out the viewport to the shuttle - that was almost to its ‘mothership’ - and to look back and forth between him and it, before he finally managed to spit out,
“Wh-... you-... why would the arti-... the ‘override code’: why would it be in Galactic Standard?!”
The smile on his face widened, and he was suddenly aware that he was on a small shuttle with two Class 12 aggressors. Kyle - however - merely pulled the cube from his pocket, and said,
“Kay’Eighty?”
The cube began to dissolve, reforming into the humanoid shape that was her android form.
“Yes, Ambassador Redding?” she replied in a distinctly… robotic voice. Kyle merely scoffed, however, and rebutted with,
“Aw, come on; it’s not like he gave us ample opportunity to talk: I had to think of something on the fly…”
She suddenly became much more ‘sapient’ crossing her arms, and looking off to the side as she sighed.
“Fine,” she replied, “Whatever; what do you want?”
Kyle snorted in laughter, and asked,
“Has he made it to the optimal range, yet?”
Kay’Eighty sighed again, and looked out the viewport.
“Just about, yeah.”
“Then I leave the honors to you,” he finished, holding her up for a better view of the viewport.
“Detonation in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”
Kahv’Hosh found that though he was sure this was going to be on par with their aggression level, he also couldn’t look away; like watching an asteroid impact a planet: he knew something bad was coming, but he just couldn’t bring himself to break eye-contact with the nine ships in formation, the middlemost one having already received the shuttle. And even as he watched, the ships seemed to draw closer together.
At first he thought that it must be his eyes playing tricks on him, but soon enough, not only were they drawing closer together, but they began to spin around the central ship, as if caught in the gravity-well of some insanely dense celestial body. He saw small explosions issuing from the sides. with little bits breaking off into the void of space, only for the expanding singularity - for that was obviously what it was - to suck the life-pods back into its center, where everything seemingly disappeared into nothingness. Soon, the ships themselves began breaking apart, still doing their destructive, tumbling dance around the spot where the ‘commodore’s ship used to be.
Piece by piece, the ships began to break apart, ‘falling’ into the center, where they were obviously compressed beyond what physics would normally allow. He tried not to think about the fate of the people aboard the ships, gravity increasing to the point that you were crushed under the weight of your own skin, having to watch - if they could even survive - as the ship around them broke apart, exposing them to the blackness of space.
He managed a quick look back at the humans, and was granted some small consolation in that the evil smiles had left their faces, and both had looks of somber determination gracing their features. And at that moment, he believed he knew what it was that set them so high on the aggression scale; even they were appalled by their actions - by their own weapons - and yet not even the prospect of becoming a monster would stop them from removing a perceived threat.
Soon, all pieces of the ships were gone, and about a Standard minute after that, the anomalous gravity readings disappeared. And suddenly space had returned to ‘normal’, as if nothing unnatural had just happened. Kyle broke the silence in a neutral voice as he said,
“Well, let’s get back to the ship; Cap’m’s gonna tear me a new one for this…”
[Next.] Patreon

Hi Friends,
We know you are still waiting for our Freya Update, while working on it’s prototypes, we can’t wait sharing our Aurora’s progress with you too :) In this hot summer, let’s add these lovely cute Aurora boards and Pads to our shelves!

Aurora V2 Renders

Aurora is created by hobbyists for hobbyists ever since it’s birth in 2020, after experiencing two previous rounds and making our other boards, we have been listening to new features requirements and also come to new understanding for our designs.

What we look forward from Aurora

• A comfortable and pleasing daily driver to work with
• A playable tool for fun and custom typing feel
• A light compact portable board to move around easily

What’s New We Bring with Aurora V2

• New Translucent and Solid colorway
• Tri-mode PCB with RGB
• Aluminium and PC Stitched plate
• 2D and 3D badge
• Aurora Num pad

The structural design idea - Adding more flexibility for mounting structure design and differentiate typing feel for mods and alphas. We replace gasket foams with gasket sleeves, so that we can choose gasket hardness or not to use at all, and add daughter board for PCB to give it more flex. However, we have found that most gasket mounted keyboards have a commonly seen problem - mod keys are too soft and difficult to press on. Therefore, we have partitioned the plate. The PC and aluminum structure makes mod keys stiffer, powerful and sound full, while the alphas enjoy the soft flex from normal PC plate.

Tri-mode PCB with RGB

Update from PCB with daughter board integration to daughter board and PCB separation type. Furthermore, the PCB of Aurora V2 is upgraded to tri-mode with RGB.

Aluminium and PC Stitched plate

The plate of Aurora V2 will be upgraded from the traditional PC plate to aluminium and PC Stitched plat design.

2D and 3D badge designs

Our designer @VAMP has designed these beautiful badge for V2.

• Aurora V2 - 3D Badge
• Aurora V2 - 2D Badges

Aurora num pad

Aurora V2 adds a matching color numeric pad as an option. It can improve the work efficiency and at the same time let you experience a different kind of customization.

Aurora V2 Keyboard Kit Specifications

• Layout: 68%
• Typing angle: 7 degrees
• Front Height: 20.5mm
• Dimension: 345.6x 112.2 x 33 (mm)
• Case material: Injection molded Polycarbonate
• Mounting Method: Gasket Mount
• Aurora V2 Keyboard Explosion Diagram

PCB Specifications

• Hot-swap PCB: 1.2mm thick, flex cuts
• Per-key RGB
• With daughterboard
• Support ISO & ANSI
• Support Bluetooth 5.0 and 2.4G Hz
• VIA compatible
• ESD Protection

Multi-Layout

ANSI, ISO, split spacebars, step caps lock, split right shift, split backspace

Aurora Pad

Aurora Pad - Amethyst Color Renders

Aurora Pad Specifications

• Layout: 17%
• Typing angle: 6.5 degrees
• Front Height: 20.7mm
• Dimension: 112.2x 93.6 x 33 (mm)
• Weight: 240g
• Case material: Injection molded Polycarbonate
• Mounting Method: Gasket Mount
• Aurora V2 Pad Explosion Diagram

PCB Specifications

• Hot-swap PCB: 1.2mm thick, non-flex cuts
• Per-key RGB
• With daughterboard
• Support Bluetooth 5.0 and 2.4G Hz
• VIA compatible
• ESD Protection

Davy Jones' Locker for Aurora V2

We are so excited to work with the designer of GMK DAVY JONES'LOCKER to bring out the Aurora V2 x DAVY JONES'LOCKER collaboration. Welcome to join the Davy Jones' Locker for Aurora V2 discord server and share more ideas.

Aurora V2 - Community Badge Design Contest

We were really impressed by so many aesthetic designs from R1 and R2, and we would love to continue to host such contest and welcome more designs again! And this time, we have both 2D and 3D!

More details here

Thoughts and Ideas

We need your vote to help us proceed! We’d love to know

• Colors you like
  
• Badges you want
  
• Aluminium Aurora or not
  

Please fill in Aurora V2 IC form, join our Discord for more frequent updates!

Want a collab with Aurora board?

If you are a designer and would love to have an Aurora board collab, please email [email protected] or contact our discord @ Harry Vic Wuque. Studio#7057 Or, have a collab you want to see with Aurora? Please leave us comment or fill in our IC form :)
Thank you!

Coincidentally (or not), I bought my '17 Bolt two years ago yesterday.
This morning, I opened up my myChevrolet app and instead of getting the big power button in the middle of the screen to remotely start my car, I got a message saying "Ready to activate your OnStar safety and security services? Drive a safer, more connected vehicle today" and a big button saying "I'm Ready"
I click on that button, it takes me to chevrolet.com and a screen that says "My plans" and tells me "Connected Access is included with your vehicle purchase."
What kind of plan do I need to be able to use the basic buttons (start, lock/unlock doors, etc) on the myChevy app? I sure the hell ain't paying $15/month for the privilege, though.

[Release-Friday] - Die Releases am 02.06.2023
Einen wunderschönen guten Tag zusammen, ich begrüße Sie. Im Nachfolgenden sind die Releases der letzten Woche (27.05.2023 - 02.06.2023) aufgelistet.
Singles

Artist	Title	Info
Afrob, Die P	Show must go on
Airon	Besser (Nur der Drink)
Alies, Samra	3 Kugeln
Ataypapi	MAL HIER MAL DA
BABYJOY, Ahzumjot	Wenn wir viben
badchieff, MAJAN	STADT
BIBIZA	Hautevolee
Bonez MC	Alles nur kein Star
Bosca, Khrome	Sesampaste
Bouncy, Yung Ouzo	PTSD
Camaeleon	Dominospiel
CaSaSi	Dich nie vergessen
CDN	SÜDWESTEN
CRO	so bad
Dante YN	2020 est.
DCVDNS	Kein Damn
Dietrich	Reißverschluss
Domiziana, Juh-Dee, Young Mesh	HELLO KITTY / ELFBAR
Dú Maroc, PA Sports, Ra'is	Cohiba
DXVE	DENK NICHT AN UNS
Eddin	Sommer ohne dich
FiNCH, Tream	Liebe auf der Rückbank
Freshmaker, Dame, Chakuza	Tiefseetaucher
Giuli030	Why
GRiNGO, Kool Savas, Conway the Machine, Megaloh, Mashkal, YA	Half Baked
HeXer	Messlatte
IMMI	OMG
IND1GO	OC CALIFORNIA
Jazeek	Drop it on me
Joje	MJ Freestyle
Jonesmann, Olli Banjo	Fully Armed
Justice J	11 Chancen
Kalazh44	Double Cup
KALIM	Airbnb
Karmo Kaputto	Fluchtweg
King Keil, Xzibit	Nineteen Flows
Kontra K	Der letzte Tag
Kwam.E, Juh-Dee, Young Mesh	17
lilmido	Denim
lityway	fucked up love
LUIS	WOW
Marvin Game, Holy Modee, Lugatti	Elefant	Bereits erschienen
MC Rene	Alles temporär
MiZeb, Zate	Trümmer
Mo Douzi	Ana Wiyak
Musso	Luft kocht
neji.mp3, Young Lime	coco
Okfella	1000 Fragen
OVE, NARU	LSD
PAPKE, MC Bomber, Sportler99	Haifische Remix
Paula Douglas	Chardonnay
Paulk	13. STOCK
Peat	DER SCHRECKEN
Peat, HAXAN	DAS WILDE VERDERBEN
Romero	FY Page
Rua	Schuld (Level Space Edition)
Saha Saha	Jargon
SAIM x CAN	Liebe
Schubi AKpella	Zeitraffer
Silva	Hakim
Smoothie 215	Gib mir deine Luv
Summer Cem, Ezhel	Kontak
Swiss, Swiss & Die Andern	Bombe	Bereits erschienen
Takt32, SIMONA	Ehrlich
Teven	Maria
t-low	Sucht
Ufo361, lucidbeatz	Match_3
Unterm Radar, OG LOCKE	Tausend
Verifiziert, Food For Thought	Rufnummer unbekannt
Yung Vision, absent	Beamer

Alben

Artist	Title	Info
Azzi Memo	Surf 'N' Turf 2
Dú Maroc	Gomorrha
GOTTI	PLAYA'S	Tape
Holy Modee	GOD BLESS HOLY MODEE II
Jazeek	One Hit Wonder	Tape
MOK	Ghettopicasso (Ghetto Picasso)	Re-Release; bereits erschienen
Yecca	KIDS

Wie immer, sollte irgendwas nicht gelistet seien, lasst es mich in den Kommentaren wissen und habt nen schönen Tag!

Introduction:
In today's fast-paced world, the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle has become more important than ever. With the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the constant bombardment of sedentary habits and unhealthy food choices, it is crucial to adopt a holistic approach to achieve and maintain a state of optimal well-being. In this blog, we will explore a new perspective on healthy living, focusing on the mind-body connection and the integration of various lifestyle factors for a truly balanced and fulfilling life.
The Power of Mindfulness:
To cultivate a healthy lifestyle, it is essential to prioritize mental and emotional well-being. Mindfulness practices, such as meditation and deep breathing exercises, can help reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance overall mental clarity. By dedicating even a few minutes each day to mindfulness, we can create a solid foundation for a healthy lifestyle.
Nutrition as Nourishment:
Instead of viewing food merely as a means to satisfy hunger, let us shift our mindset and embrace nutrition as a form of self-care and nourishment. Opt for whole, unprocessed foods, including fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Strive for balance and moderation rather than strict diets, allowing yourself occasional treats while focusing on long-term sustainable habits. If you guys are interested in writing blogs and want to share articles then you can contact us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) can write in the category Write For Us Healthy Lifestyle.
Active Living:
Physical activity is a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. Engage in activities you enjoy, whether it's brisk walking, dancing, yoga, or playing a sport. Regular exercise not only improves cardiovascular health and strengthens muscles but also releases endorphins, promoting a positive mood and overall well-being.
Quality Rest and Sleep:
Adequate sleep is often underestimated in our busy lives, but it is vital for our physical and mental health. Establish a consistent sleep schedule, create a relaxing bedtime routine, and ensure your sleep environment is conducive to rest. Prioritizing quality rest will help you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.
Social Connections:
Nurturing meaningful relationships and fostering a strong support system are crucial for a healthy lifestyle. Cultivate connections with loved ones, engage in social activities, and seek out communities that share your interests and values. Human connection provides emotional support, boosts happiness, and contributes to overall well-being.
Conclusion:
A healthy lifestyle encompasses more than just the physical aspect; it involves nurturing our mind, body, and spirit. By embracing mindfulness, making informed nutritional choices, staying physically active, prioritizing restful sleep, and fostering social connections, we can achieve a truly holistic approach to well-being. Remember, small, consistent steps in the right direction are key to lasting change. Start today, and let your journey towards a healthier lifestyle be filled with joy, balance, and self-discovery.
ALSO READ: top strength preparing activities to OR 5 simple habits for maintaining good OR why its not good to wash face with soap

Like an oiled, well-run clockwork, she was there behind her front bar; one of the only recurrent things in his life. Younger by a few years too much to not justify this shrouded interest, aside from the detective's other woes he never cared nor had the time to worry about anymore. Nevertheless, Alec indulged, sat on the stool as innate as an hour hand moves half an inch after 60 minutes.
"Doctor. Hi."
A running joke direly accumulated from frequent visits. Brooke said their conversations reminded her of therapy. He wasn't sure how to interpret that.
Grunting in response, Alec removed the hat off his head before leaning forward, seeking to hear her voice better. It was too distractingly serene. "Busy night?"
"Only in passing. Remember, this is just a diner that serves drinks. No food. You can imagine how broad of a target audience I have."
"I got an idea."
Every night, like clockwork. She wiped the counter and talked about some book she finished recently. He went through a glass of Irish Coffee for about three hours, right on the edge of dusk. Each time, like clockwork, Alec walked her home without so much of a doubt of his company being welcome, nor a prospect of an invite. He never will.
(But he yearned; the press of a mattress scented with her skin, sounds narrowly gleaned underneath desperation and so, so much guilt.)
Brooke mentioned once that she had trouble with eye contact. "You ever been married, Doctor?"
"Can't say I have. It never felt right."
"Me neither. My previous husband told me the brunt of the problems' were on my side of the equation. One decade down the drain." Her bittersweet smile tugged on her lips, and Alec looked away. "Perhaps I was just unlucky."
"Marriage appear to be reserved for other people instead."
She didn't respond. The detective shifted his weight uneasily, expression becoming strained. "That isn't to say I'm not impartial in most things."
They arrived at her doorstep. Alec faced the opposite street, inspecting the surrounding perimeter. Feet shuffling. Keys taken out of a pocket. A lingering pause that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. "Thank you." She hadn't turned the lock as of yet, seemingly wanting to say more. For a moment, silence prevailed, raising hackles left and right.
"Maybe...someone could sway your opinion, Doctor, if you'd let it happen." Brooke stepped inside. "Well, I'll be waiting at the bar, as usual. See you then."
Like clockwork, she would thank him before locking the door, effectively shutting him out until they meet again later. She would provide the distance which allowed him to properly gather his thoughts in a more appropriate subject after a dream-like state.
(Golden band flickering against sunlight as her hair did. The simmer of ocean, grains of sand between crevices.)
Though this time might be different, and the detective won't be able to sleep it off.
(Pure, genuine bliss.)
-
Someone clearing their throat woke Alec abruptly. He raised his head from the desk to acknowledge the visitor, drowsy after hours of drinking. "Good morning..."
"Morning, detective. I heard you're the kind of man to inquire about pending affairs."
Given the impression he displayed for himself, Alec's potential client raised her brow, assessing him with an unseen checklist. So far, it seemed he was failing to meet standards.
"No secretary to greet for you?"
"Line of work. Couldn't ask some poor girl to die in my lobby now, can I?" He squinted at the ghostly woman who hovered over his shelves, peering into stacks of files. "How'd you come to know my services?"
"Pulled major strings. Had to give up a part of my space. I'm told it'd be worthwhile."
The detective straightened. Took a cigarette sitting on his ashtray and lit a match. "They aren't rumors passed by word of mouth. I strive to finish cases I've taken up."
She wore a striking pale green dress with a subtle slit on the side, showing off white, porcelain skin. Her hair became light reflecting on the bark of oak, long and slick on her bare shoulders. There was a weary manner about her tone, bleeding into her whole demeanor.
When she stared into his eyes, Alec couldn't help but be reminded of someone else. "Good. I need your help. My sister was murdered, and I want to know the son of a bitch who did this."
A/N: a little something i cooked up. there's still a lot i had planned for this prompt, but i think i'll leave it here for now. had a lot of fun conceptualizing lol.