Radeon image sharpening on or off

No one tells you how hard it is to move on from someone. I should hate you for what you did to me. But I still have days where a smell will hit me or a feeling and the nostalgia of our life together floods my senses. All it does is bring me incredible sadness. I am trying so hard to meet new people and to fall in love again. I might even be falling for someone new, but then I’ll have these thoughts about how not even a year ago I was ready to be your wife. It’s too bad that a year ago you left yelled at me the entire way to the emergency room about the expenses of the trip as if it was my fault I was dying. It’s too bad that when they told me I could die you had to go home for work the next day even though you had leave days. It’s too bad that when the hospital sent my life saving meds to the wrong place you yelled at me the entire way as if it was my fault. Was it such a stretch that I would have started to see myself as an inconvenience to you? That I was less than human, let alone your future wife? Is it so insane that when I started therapy to deal with the trauma of a near death experience, I would come to the conclusion that the stress of a wedding ceremony could be put off for a few months? I don’t think so. And then to have you spit in my face that it was now or never. What was I supposed to do? I asked my parents if I could stay with them until we resolved it. They said no. Was I supposed to live on the streets? No. I hadn’t finished my degree and it was a logical conclusion that if you weren’t going to take care of me like you promised, I needed to take care of it myself. The fact that you told your parents I went back to school to find myself disgusts me. You are so afraid of them that you couldn’t just tell them the truth? And on top of all that injury, to have the woman you said nothing was going on with help me pack my things to move out. How could you do that to me? You said you loved me. I won’t even get into the stuff you continued to do. The horrible things that happened because of your actions. But it all is really too bad. I would never tolerate this treatment from anyone else but I allowed you to absolutely violate me in every way out of love. And I still love you and I hate myself for it. I intend to be the happiest and most successful person you’ve ever met. I will make you regret this for the rest of your life. -You know exactly who I am

Hello, I have worked on potentional rework for our beloved space boi. The main idea is to keep his identity, but also fix his main problems that make him hard to balance: Weapons interactions between themselves and extreme utility.
Calibrum

REMOVED: Aphelios no longer gains bonus Attack range. 

NEW: Applies 5-70+10%bAD magical damage On-Hit.

Mark damage: 15+20%bAD -> 35+20%AD+25%AP REMOVED: Aphelios no longer Attacks marked enemies with off-hand weapon. NEW: Aphelios gains 20-60 Attack range when Attacking marked enemy, decreased to 15-30 when not using Calibrum. Attack range against marked enemies: 1800 -> 1350 Moonshot Damage: 60-160+42%-60%bAD+100%AP -> 60-200+50-60%bAD+100%AP NEW: This ability now applies Critical strikes, dealing 50% increased damage. Range: 1450 -> 1100 Width: 120 -> 150 Cast time: 0.4 -> 0 Cooldown: 10-8 -> 9-7 

Overall, this would be a trade - his Calibrum range for damage. Has new On-Hit damage (yes, mainly so Calibrum wouldn't be the only weapon without special Attacks effect), marks have increased damage, Moonshot can Crit and has increased damage. Also his sniping range from Q and marks is decreased to tune down these famous snipes, which are definitely some reasons for his low damage. And interaction with other weapons is removed.
Severum

Heal per Attack: 2.5-9% damage -> 10-90+10%AD NEW: Attacks grant 5-10 Move Speed. REMOVED: No longer has increased heal from abilities. REMOVED: No longer can overheal. Onslaught Attacks: 6+2 per 100%bAS -> 6 Damage per Attack: 10-40+20-35%bAD -> 20-50+40%bAD+5%bAD per 10%bAS Move Speed: 20%+10% per 100 AP -> 25%+10% per 100 AP NEW: Move Speed lingers for 3.25 seconds Duration: 1.75 -> 1.5 + 0.25 per 20%bAS REMOVED: Aphelios no longer heals from damage he deals. REMOVED: Aphelios no longer uses off-hand weapon during Onslaught. NEW: Aphelios takes 10-20% less damage during Onslaught and heals for 30-50% damage reduced. NEW: Aphelios can cast Phase during Onslaught. NEW: Aphelios can cast Moonlight Vigil during Onslaught Cooldown: 10-8 -> 12-10 

Again, interaction with other weapons removed. This should be overall huge nerf to his life steal, but would get a little Phantom Dancer as a bonus. Again, Onslaught is getting increased damage in exchange for less healing and not applying off-hand weapon effects. Well, if enemies are clueless, they will heal you more then before, but it can be easily dodged by not attacking you. Attack speed scaling is moved to damage and duration and Phase and R can now be used during Onslaught as quality of life buff.
Gravitum

Slow: 30% -> 18% Duration: 3.5 -> 2 REMOVED: Slow no longer decays. Binding Eclipse REMOVED: No longer roots. NEW: This ability is now skillshot that applies it's effects on first enemy hit. Damage: 50-110+26-35%bAD+70%AP -> 100-150+75%bAD+80%AP NEW: This ability slows enemy hit by 50% for 2 seconds and marks him. If Aphelios Attacks him, he consumes the mark, deals additional 10-30+25%bAD magical damage and roots him for 1-1.5 seconds. 

Gravitum's crowd control would be much less OP and easy to use. Base slow would be shorter and, for first 0.7 seconds, smaller. Q would be a skillshot you need to hit, plus it doesn't go through minions. It is single target, but has large damage output.
Infernum

Attack's damage: 110%AD -> 100%AD Secondary damage: 82.5-110%AD -> 70-85%AD Duskwave Damage: 25-65+56-80%bAD+70%AP -> 90-180+90-110%bAD+80%AP REMOVED: No longer Attacks enemies hit. NEW: Aphelios' Infernum Attacks increase their both primary and secondary damage by 10% for each enemy hit, decreased to 3% for minions and jungle monsters. In addition, these empowered Attacks creates splashes around primary target instead of cocoon behind. This lingers for 4 seconds. Other guns gain ability to create these splashes, but their damage increase is reduced by 50%. Cooldown: 9-6 -> 8-5 

​
Decreases his large AoE impact he has on every aa, but again, it's stronger when you hit Q. It deals more damage and empowers damage dealt to both primary target and targets around. The damage increases with every enemy hit, plus, with what kind of skillshot this Q is, it would be an high risk - high reward ability. It can empower Attacks of other too, so it wouldn't be wasted ability if you ran out of Moonlight, but it is much more worth it to land Duskwave with enough Moonlight.
Crescendum

Attack's Speed: 600+75 per 10%bAS -> 625+100 per 10%bAS Damage increase per 20 chakrams: 138.5% -> 0 NEW: Bonus damage per chakram: 6+2%bAD Maximum chakrams: 20 -> Unlimited NEW: Each chakram grants Attacks additional 10 Speed. NEW: Every two Attacks, Aphelios generates 1 Chakram. 

NEW: Crescendum Attack apply Life Steal on 66% effectivness.

Sentry Health: 6->9 Damage per Attack: 31-100+40-60%bAD -> 40-105+45%bAD REMOVED: Sentry no longer uses off-hand weapon. NEW: Sentry's Attack generate 1 Chakram. NEW: Sentry's Attacks mark enemies. Aphelios can dash in their direction by clicking on them, consuming the mark. NEW: Sentry's Attacks generate 2 Moonlight. Cost: 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana -> 5 Moonlight + 60 Mana Cooldown: 9-6 -> 12-9 

In this one, I needed to find a way for Aphelios to create Chakrams, when Crescendum doesn't interact with other weapons anymore. So, I deleted Chakram number limitations, really, really decreased damage per Chakram, but gave him ability to generate one with each Attack. Also, I solved a problem that would easily appear: Aphelios running out of Moonlight. Sentry now has less damage, but restores Moonlight for Crescendum On Attack, has more HP and gives Aph an closegap ability. Also, I did some math to show you how much bonus damage he would have, if he had 310 bonus AD (Maxed AD, Galeforce, IE, Bloodthirster, Collector, Lord Dominik, level 18) 1 Chakram: 12,2 bonus damage on AA AA + 3 Sentry attacks + 5 men R (has increased chakram generation, see below): 207,4 (17 Chakrams) Yea, you really wanna kill that Aphelios fast before he gets to, idk, like 30 Chakrams (366 damage). I don't think this is too overtuned, becouse even if you hit 5 men ultimate, Attacks are still pretty slow and you need to go on close range.
Moonlight Vigil

Damage: 125/175/225+20%bAD+100%AP -> 200/275/350+100%AD+100%AP REMOVED: No longer Attacks all enemies hit. Cooldown: 120/110/100 -> 130/120/110 Calibrum bonus REWORKED: Aphelios gains 15/22.5/30% increased Attack range for 5 seconds if he hits an enemy. Applies marks on all enemies hit. Severum bonus: REWORKED: Aphelios heals for 200/275/350 if he hits an enemy. Additionally, he heals for 25/50/75 per second for 5 seconds. Gravitum bonus: REWORKED: Slows all enemies hit by 60% for 2 seconds. Aphelios can Attack up to 2 of enemies hit to root them for 1.5/1.6/1.7 seconds. All his Attacks will slow by 60% for 1 second. This effect lasts for 5 seconds. Infernum bonus: REWORKED: Creates a large splash, that deals additional 100/150/200+50%bAD physical damage. Additionaly, his AoE Infernum effects have size increased by 60% for 5 seconds. Crescendum bonus: REWORKED: When hitting an enemy, generate 5 Chakrams plus 2 per every additional enemy hit. Also, restore 10 Moonlight an increase Crescendum Attack's Speed by 10% for 5 seconds. (Note: 13 Chakrams on 5 men ult hit) 

No longer attacks with main-hand weapon, so I increased the damage and made weapon bonuses shine even more.
Maybe some numbers are off, I wouldn't look that much on them. But I believe this would help to balance him for regular players and pro players at the same time. He would still have his identity, but without the overtuned parts of his kit. Of course I would like to hear your opinions or ideas.

hey everyone!
i'm looking to buy my first few couple pieces off of lulu. i love leggings and flared leggings/yoga pants and i've been meaning to buy from lulu for a while now. about a year and a half ago, i went into a lulu and got fitted for my size but didn't have time to purchase anything that day, the advisor said my size was 12-14, i was about ~185-190 lbs, 5'2" and i had a 34 inch waist. i've lost weight since then and grew an inch (also enough that i've had to size down in my pants) and now weigh 160 lbs, 5'3" and have a 31.5" waist. according to the lulu website i'd be a size 10, does that seem right to anyone else with my stats or similar? i am also really interested in the lulu aligns and the wunder under leggings as i love a tight fit (plus leggings that dont roll down) and i have large hips, thighs and butt lmao. i'm mostly looking to wear these for casual/everyday purposes and not to work out in if that helps? also i unfortunately now live in the middle of nowhere and the nearest store to me is a 2.5 hour drive so i won't be able to go in person to try anything on or meet a lulu style advisor :( thank you everyone!

I'd like to start a campaign of "We are watching you". If you see someone run a stopped school bus, report their ass. If you have a dashcam, let the 911 dispatcher know to have an officer call you and you will get them the video footage.
People out here are crazy, the way they drive constantly puts them and others in danger.
But when it comes to kids, that's a whole different ballgame.
I was sitting on kilborne behind a stopped bus ( 4 or 5 back) and a guy in a black BMW came around the people stopped on the other side and blew past the bus, WHILE it was unloading kids. Luckily they were all getting off and going to the right and not across the road. If they had been crossing the road it could have been bad.
And honestly, if that fucker would have hit a kid and tried to flee, I would have driven my truck straight into his car and made damn sure he stopped and dealt with the insurance issues later.
So, I ask each of you to take the pledge to report that shit.
You may think they won't catch them. And it is possible they won't, that time. But if they did it once they will again.
Stupid Assholes

Understand that my gf is on the spectrum while i am neurotypical at best. Sometimes she does strange or questionable things that i cannot understand why she would do that. So i usually tend to question her on alot of the things she does and its something that i do with most people. And its usually pretty simple things like “why do you always carry so many things in your bag” “why would u walk over there instead of over here” “why are you doing this versus that”. There is zero judgement they’re just reflex questions. But she says that she feels like im criticizing her. But i dont understand why she doesnt just stand firm in whatever she’s doing. Its not like im saying what she’s doing is wrong im just wondering why she does what she does.
Most of my friends and family would stand firm in whatever their doing and brush me off by either saying idk or because i want to. Since im questioning simple stuff. And ill accept that and move on. But my gf is convinced that im criticizing her. What should do i or am i doing something wrong.

I am designing a new website for a client. Basically they had the website made in 2008 and never updated it until now. I have a copy ready to go and they love it but there is one issue. They do a lot of work for various government agencies so naturally they want to show that on the website as some of their clients. However, they want logos above the names of their clients and I am unsure if I legally can or not so I just put placeholder images. Do they need to get permission from the agencies to use their logos or can I put them on?

Oh, and head of personnel, did I forget that?
TW: cishet internalized misogyny and fake allyship. All the good things.
So yeah, someone in the time record keeping misgendered me. Mister (Herr) Stapelfeldt. First via email, and then on the phone, as I was calling to tell her, politely, that GENDER. And then she basically did a verbal ok ok ok motion, and told me that "we can do that if you want, but I'll keep saying Herr and Frau."
And repeated said responses when I started again to say no, that's not the point, the point is that our employer, the city government, is bound by council resolution to use genderfair communication, internally and externally. For five years now. Nope.
And today we had a meeting. Head of personnel, and the only ally I thought I had in the hierarchy. Who had pushed me off twice, to the point where I boiled over and sent her a very angry email, explaining what had happened. Which I put together as I was writing it. Then we had a meeting. After I had insulted her. To be heard.
And at this long, meandering, emphatic conversation, where head of personnel congratulated himself, and formulated the highest goals, and how great it is that the city is doing this. After and hour and change, where I was moved to lay out basically most of my life's story. And why I am not just doing this for myself, but mostly for my siblings who don't have the same privileges as I. Who don't have the stomach, or the resources to stand up to this. Who get hurt by this far more often and more deeply than I do.
We came to the point where he basically asked me to let it go, or I would be sabotaging "my cause. Our cause" (quoted loosely). And the diversity strategy they are planning to develop. And all the great things. Flowers. And rainbows. And happiness.
And that's when I was fed up enough to cut through the bullshit, and I asked: was I discriminated against. Yes, or no. Twice.
No. Because said colleague offered to not address me as Herr Stapelfeldt again.
And that's when I walked out.
I quit my shipbuilding job about a year ago. On a dime, in a very irresponsible manner. Right around the time I separated from my wife, moved house, and came out. Coming out of a burnout, flirting with the next one.
On the strength of my internalized male privilege, my amab habitus and look, an my enthusiasm for urban renewal and new mobility, I got a job in a field that I have no experience in: Traffic engineering. I fell on my feet, completely. For the first in my ten years of working, I'm in a job that I love. Where I thought: damn, I could do this for the next thirty years? That would be awesome.
And today: gender. HR is not your friend.
Fuck this shit. My queer elder basically nodded and said: welcome on the other side of the patriarchy. Surprise. It's real.
So yeah, quick poll: anyone surprised?

Audio Visual Transcript 001 Date of Origin: Unknown
Audio Self-Translated by player for universal understanding by all sapient species with audio receptors
“Just a slight adjustment here, and it should be working.”
A Kolshian walked into view. His dark purple skin bordered on a rich red and his yellow eyes almost glowed in the backdrop of the bright light of the room.
“Hello, my name is Doctor… Well, my name doesn’t matter. What does matter is why I’m making this. We have made an astonishing discovery this day in the Commonwealth. While we have known for some time now that we are not alone in this universe, what with our contact with the now familiar herbivore species we call our friends, what we have here is something new.”
The man pulls up a datapad in view of the camera to display an avian creature with brightly colored feathers.
“The Krakotl, as they are called, have taken the scientific community by storm—at least those who are aware of their existence. As with standard protocol that was formed shortly after our first contact with another species, we are not immediately alerting the public to their existence. It’s mostly for political reasons, which are not important here.”
He flicked a tentacle finger at the end of the datapad and pulled up a video of a few sapient avians picking at both fruits and something else just slightly out of view. The Krakotl lifts its head just enough to show a chunk of flesh in its beak.
“They are the first species we have found that can ingest animal biomaterial for nourishment. The ramifications of this are… Exciting!”
The scientist makes a gleeful gesture as he sets the holopad down. “This entire situation is unique in so many ways. The situation is being handled delicately I’m sure. After all, we can’t assume this should be handled the same way it was in the past. The fact that they are not as advance as us pulls so many things into question.”
He took a moment to compose himself. “This is why I’m making this recording. It is important, I feel, more than any data we gather that this entire process be documented. There is so much to learn, to observe, to understand. I feel that even with all the technology that we have we still have more we can learn from them than they can from us. That’s why I’m expanding outside of my usual scope and making this a massive project the likes of which I would have never attempted before. Biology will be hard to understand, but I’m sure with a humanly gathered sample I can crack their genetic code just as we have done for our own species.”
He lifted the holopad again and flicked through countless different settings. The videos and images he quickly went through all showed Krakotl performing a variety of rituals, playing games, and instigating countless other different activities.
“It doesn’t stop with the DNA though. That can only tell you so much. I want to know more. Their culture, who they are, what their morals are, what they love, and what they hate. I want to learn. We just have to be cautious about how we go about this. Small scout missions sent down to the surface of the world can only do so much without breaking that thin barrier of anonymity that keeps things stable. There is no telling what would happen if they became aware of us too soon. The last thing I would want to see is that level of culture shock happening to a species before we can properly catalog how they are now.”
He once again lowered the datapad while his face turned stern. “Now, there is one thing I want to address. There are murmurs of people questioning if this species can truly be sapient if they consume animal biomass. That is a ridiculous question to even bring up.”
“Of course they are sapient. There is a rich culture here, one that we must tread around with caution. Perhaps there will be some hurdles to overcome, but I want to make one thing very clear here. What an organism consumes does not dictate its level of sapients. I believe much of the academic and political community would best be reminded that we are dealing with aliens here. The most basic principles of biology will still apply, but this world’s ecosystem is something entirely different from ours. Call me a quack if you will, but I think the best course of action in most cases is preservation.”
He stood up and moved to the other end of the camera. “I’ve said my peace on the matter here. Hopefully, oceans and skies willing, I can focus entirely on the scientific aspects of this discovery moving forwards. I simply feel it would be dishonest not to mention such large overarching ideals seeping around. The true nature of preservation and history is to make sure that even the ugliest parts are remembered.”
Audio Visual Transcript 005 Date of Origin: Unknown
Audio Self-Translated by player for universal understanding by all sapient species with audio receptors
The reddish Krakotl from the previous log is sat down. Despite several physical signs of exhaustion, he appears excited.
“I’ve, no, we’ve done it. It went smoother than I could have ever hoped for. We cracked their genetic code and have fully decoupled their DNA as we did for ours. We even managed to do it without making ourselves known to the local population. It is amazing what modern science can do. Getting the samples was honestly the hardest part, but I’ve been assured that everything obtained was done without disturbing the Krakotl.”
He swiped through a holopad in his grip with the screen facing away from the camera.
“There is so much we can do with this. I know it’s getting ahead of myself a bit, but with genetics, this cleanly displayed we might even be able to cure most of their genetic illnesses before we even make contact.”
He hugged the holopad close to himself. “We can even cure them of one of the greatest universal illnesses that plague all life it seems. Curing cancer for an alien species, can you imagine that?!”
He loosened his grip and gently sat the holopad down on a table next to him. He adjusted himself, exhaustion being kept back by pure elation.
“I must not get ahead of myself. Before we do anything of that sort we must integrate them into the larger world. Though I’ve been assured by everyone, from our political backers to the head scientists who work alongside our leaders, that curing this species will be one of our top priorities before final integration is complete. I’m sure it will be a long and slow process getting there, maybe it won’t even be finished in my lifetime, but even that has its blessings. I’ve collected so much on the Krakotl and their culture this past year. Not to mention I’ve logged their original DNA composition down to the finest detail. That way, if just for historical purposes, we will always have a pure original example of their genetic makeup.”
He rubbed the back of his head with a tentacle. “I’m told I’m being overeager doing such. That any changes made will only be for the better, but… It just feels wrong not at least doing that. Yes, no species would ever want to have genetic diseases again. The body eating away at itself is truly a horrible thing, but it still feels important to preserve. If just to show where we started.”
The doctor’s body went limp for a moment, only to snap back up straight seconds later. He gurgled a low groan and stood back up.
“That will have to be all for now. I must sleep. These last few weeks have been exciting, but bad for my personal health. There is just no end to the work that needs to be done.”
Audio Visual Transcript 007 Date of Origin: Unknown
Audio Self-Translated by player for universal understanding by all sapient species with audio receptors
The same reddish doctor as before sat himself down. He remained quiet, fiddling with his tentacles. His big yellow eyes were aimed at the floor as if the doctor didn’t dare look directly at the recording device. He opened his mouth a few times to speak but stopped short of a gasp.
“They… They started the uplift process. It’s… I…”
He sucked in a breath and finally stared at the camera. His face was one of pure exhaustion. No excitement held it back this time.
“It’s gone awful. It’s gone atrociously. It’s gone… All according to plan without a single hiccup I’m told.”
He lifted a datapad. “Their infrastructure is being ripped apart. Their culture is being erased and replaced with a more ‘clean’ variation. I’m not even privy to the full extent of everything. I don’t know if they're fighting back, I don’t know if they tried to fight back. I tried to push back against it all, and I was blacklisted from all projects related to the Krakotl. I’m being moved to different projects now. Something about a machine interfacing with a brain. It’s… A ridiculous dead-end project that I’m being sent to so I won’t have any impact on the academic world anymore.”
He swallowed. “They’re changing them. It’s not just their culture. The DNA we translated, that I helped translate, it’s being used in horrifying ways.”
He dropped the datapad and buried his face in his arms. His face being buried did little to muffle the long shout he emitted. His voice gurgled to the point it started cracking. When the loud scream ended he looked back up, his voice nearly too quiet to be picked up.
“They took everything they thought I had. Unfortunately for them, this project was never a part of my work. It means nothing compared to the amount of damage that is being done, but maybe I can keep something of their people safe.”
He reached down for the holopad and stood back up. “They don’t know what I still have. Cultural records are just the tip of the iceberg. There is still time to salvage more as well. Even the Commonwealth can’t reach every Krakotl that fast. For now, whoever may end up watching these records, if anyone, know that the Krakotl were a proud people. Know that whatever they will become, what they were won’t be forgotten forever. They will be preserved, at least here.”
Audio Visual Transcript 018 Date of Origin: Unknown
Audio Self-Translated by player for universal understanding by all sapient species with audio receptors
The red scientist sat on a chair with a panel crowded with buttons, switches, and wires behind him. The clean room with bright lighting from before was now a metal box with dim red lighting.
The Kolshian himself looked disheveled. Years had visibly aged off of him, and grease covered his arms.
“More people have been removed from this project. It seems that they’re slowly taking people who have ‘served their time’ away if they’ve been acting right. Keep your head down and nod your head, and get put back into real projects. I know I’m never leaving this place, though.”
He reached for the recorder and turned it to the side to reveal a strange machine. Two legs, two arms that ended in three vice-like grips evenly distributed in a circle to act as digits, a bulky center, and a small bump of a head with a single glowing eye-port.
“This is where science goes to die. I haven’t been able to gather much new information of the avians all the way out here, but it has been some time since I’ve documented anything. Might as well show this off since I’ve got the time to. Not like I need to work hard to keep these recordings hidden anymore. I can count on my digits the number of people still on this project.”
The doctor stood up and lifted the camera with him. A click came from the direction of the panel and the center of the machine popped open to reveal an internal compartment.
“It has just enough space for a single Kolshian. It’s big compared to us as you can plainly see. The idea behind it is to interface the brain through a few connectors at the top. It sounds as dangerous and asinine as it sounds. At this point, I’m the only one that even knows how it works on a basic level since I’ve been here so long. The trick is that it doesn’t work. Not at all.”
He slipped a tentacle into the head and clicked something. The head popped open to reveal a series of wires and a strange helmet lined with needles.
“This thing is as barbaric as it is advanced. The idea is to use these needles to puncture the skull in specific areas to not cause damage while also forming a direct connection. Basically trying to turn the machine into your new body as long as you’re inside it. I don’t think I need to explain to anyone why that’s a bad idea.”
He trails his tentacle down to the legs of the machine. The basic structure offers enough to support the rest of the body and could reasonably move forward at a walking speed.
“All the ideas in this thing that are reasonable are already in use. We have diving and space equipment best suited for our species, and mines operate at a level that something like this is too clunky to use. It can produce audio and translate it in real-time, but even that is something we already have. Even if it was perfectly functional it would be a bad idea. Don’t even get me started on mass production. Getting one to work would be a miracle. Getting more than one? I’ll believe it when primates fly.”
He huffs. “One good thing about this machine though that isn’t widely used has resulted in a lot of its bulk. Not only can it survive massive impacts, but it has backup systems to keep the user alive in case of critical failures. At least for the short term, the only part of you that needs to function to use it is the brain. Again though, if it would ever work.”
He turned the camera back to himself. “I’m sorry I don’t have more about the situations in the world. I’ve basically been cut off from that information. This place is technically a government secret so I can’t contact the outside world, and they sure as the depths aren’t trying to contact me. It’s like being sent to prison except I’m working on someone’s pipe dream. Seriously, my degree isn’t even in mechanics but I’ve been working at this place long enough to know more than some engineers.”
A loud beep echoed through the room.
“Someone’s opening the door. Signing off.”
Audio Visual Transcript 019 Date of Origin: Unknown
Audio Self-Translated by player for universal understanding by all sapient species with audio receptors
The feed cuts to the doctor in the same spot he was at during the last video. Before he can open his mouth there is a beep that echoes in the room. He quickly tossed something over the camera.
The rest of the transcript is audio only.
The sound of metal sliding across metal is heard, followed by the steps of someone else entering the room.
“Ah, sir, what are you doing here? You’re not scheduled for another check-in until next week.” The doctor spoke.
“Cut the pleasantries. You know why I’m here, defect. The fact that you get to work on a backwater nothing project like this is already too good for someone with your ideals.” another deeper voice boomed with anger from what sounded like a second Kolshian.
“Well, yes, maybe it is too good for me, but what does that have to do with anything official here?”
“Simple, this project doesn’t have enough scientists to continue. On top of that, it’s just been a waste of resources.”
“And what does that entail for the people still on the project?”
“For the rest of this facility, they will simply have to stay quiet and be put back into society.”
“The rest of this facility.”
“Right, well, how do I best put this? Your death certificate has already been signed. Got a lot of officials who think it would be best if you just weren’t around anymore. You’re considered too much of a liability with how you looked at those predators.”
Several more steps can be heard coming into the room.
“You're going to execute me?! What crime have I committed?!”
The second figure chuckled. “Crime? We don’t even need to justify a crime for this. See, a hot new buzzword has been going through the government that I think fits you to a T. You’ve got predator disease, and anyone with predator disease is a danger to themselves and others as long as they're alive. Oh, less extreme cases might be treatable especially if caught early, but your doc? Well, I’m sure the few people who know about this project will understand that a man getting on in years with a bad case of predator disease had to be dealt with. Fuck, we plan on taking most of this facility down, we can just blow it up and pin it on you! Not like a deadman can argue his case.”
“This absurd, you can’t just-”
A loud bang cut the doctor short. A second later there was a thump.
“Eh, don’t bother with the double tap. We’re going to blow this facility up. We already went and scrubbed this star system off all our maps. Red dwarf snugged between so many bright stars it's barely visible, and it’s in a section of space no one would bother to look in anyways. Remember, none of you saw anything here. We’re technically not even supposed to be here.”
“Sir!”
“Let’s get out here before he starts to stink up the place.”
“Sir!”
The sound of at least half a dozen people walking out of the room was followed by silence.
The audio picked up another sound. Something wet that sounded like it was dragged against metal. It went further and further away from the recorder until it was out of earshot.
A loud snap of metal opening was followed by multiple smaller snaps of pieces clicking back together. Several minutes went by in silence again after the last click.
Then there was a thunk. Then another, and another. The rhythmic sound of metal hitting metal came closer to the recording. There was a jostle of the camera was whatever kept it covered came off.
A bright red light flashed the camera which still made it impossible to discern anything.
The transcript ended abruptly.

An "Off-the-grid" vacation home, young-adults, beer, magic mushrooms. And absolutely, positively, nothing evil lurking in the shadows. This is Super Happy Vacation Time!
Check out Part 1 - Beach Episode
Available now, wherever YOU get your podcasts!
​
A quick teaser of (standalone) season 2: The Pipeline
The trailer for season 1 (Carnival of Madness, as seen on Seth Skorkowsky's channel)
If a haunted house is more to your tastes, try our playthrough of The Dare.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Spotify.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Apple.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Google.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Youtube.
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please let us know what you think on Twitter, where we also post information and pictures of the things found and encountered.
Check out "The Grindhouse Collection" and other modules by Alex Guillotte at DriveThruRPG
Trigger warnings:
Body Horror, Graphic Violence, Drug Use, Adult Language, Gaslighting, Mental Health Issue, Self-harm, Suicide

Hello All. I am needing some advice from everyone on fixing my credit situation. I am currently looking to consolidate debt that I have right now.
Up until last year I had a Credit Score of 740-770 depending on what bureau you were looking at. Unfortunately, around that time I had a lot of money taken from me that should not have been and retained an attorney to get it back. To pay for this attorney, I used some of my cards to pay them. Also during this time I had a medical emergency and had to put some of that on a card. Long story short, I racked up debt on my cards. My score has dropped and depending on which bureau you look at it is currently as low as 615. I have perfect payment history and no collections. The only bad thing is high usage.
My income usually is between 85-125k, as I am self employed. It comes in at an irregular interval, and it has been slow in the last 8 months due to clients not meeting financial obligations.
Here are my cards, their limits and my debt:

Card	Balance	Limit
Discover	$8358	$10,000
Discover (balance xfer card)	$7980	$10,000
Citi	$2781	$5800
Citi Authorized User	$1700	$26000
FNB Omaha	$6234	$6650
FNB Omaha	$5271	$5500
Paypal	$554	$5000
Chase Amazon	$2916	$3000
Amex Platinum	Paid in full monthly
Amex Gold	Paid in full monthly
Amex Blue cash	$716	$19400

Because my score dropped so much I have been looking at way to lower my CC debt and because my score is so low a consolidation loan doesn't appear to be an option. However, I spoke with a company called Strategic Consulting that apparently helps consolidate debt through plans with the CC companies at 0% interest. The caveat being that I need to close any of the accounts that I consolidate.
So I am currently looking to currently close the discover and FNB Omaha cards. That would wipe out a total of $27, 843 of CC debt where I would pay it off over 44 months at $520, which actually totals $22,880. Whereas if I continued, I would be stuck paying back all that plus the interest, except on the balance xfer card.
So my question is: Is this sort of plan worth it to do? Or is there something better that I should be doing? It seems like a really good deal other than losing the limit outset and not being able to open a new card with those companies until this debt is paid off

An "Off-the-grid" vacation home, young-adults, beer, magic mushrooms and absolutely, positively, nothing evil lurking in the shadows. This is Super Happy Vacation Time!
Check out Part 1 - Beach Episode
Available now, wherever YOU get your podcasts!
​
A quick teaser of (standalone) season 2: The Pipeline
The trailer for season 1 (Carnival of Madness, as seen on Seth Skorkowsky's channel)
If a haunted house is more to your tastes, try our playthrough of The Dare.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Spotify.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Apple.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Google.
Find ZeroDead Podcast on Youtube.
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please let us know what you think on Twitter, where we also post information and pictures of the things found and encountered.
Check out "The Grindhouse Collection" and other modules by Alex Guillotte at DriveThruRPG
Trigger warnings:
Body Horror, Graphic Violence, Drug Use, Adult Language, Gaslighting, Mental Health Issue, Self-harm, Suicide

Hold on this is gonna be confusing I have a hard time getting my thoughts down but here.So my partner and I originally were searching for someone so we can have a closed committed poly relationship. I thought that’s what a form of poly is having closed or open relationships i don’t know. I’m really confused am I a unicorn? Is it bad to be a unicorn? I don’t know if I’m poly or into a different branch of ENM. I read a post of someone looking for 2 partners to have a triad/throuple and ppl in the comments were not happy and saying the person was coming off as a unicorn. So I just rambled a lot but in the end is looking to have a traid wrong is what I’m trying to say I guess. Sorry this is confusing

Crystal started talking about her brown hair. She thought Aaron would exclaim with praise when he first saw her brown hair. But yet Aaron’s first reaction was to inquire about removing the red tone and then further stated that she normally looked more put together. (Jeezuz! lol, It was put together. Ariana spent a lot of time doing Crystal’s hair.)
Crystal’s feeling was really hurt then. She was very offended.
Crystal and Aaron had worked on their communications throughout the years that they will give each other the benefit of the doubt - he was not trying to hurt her feelings but just was shocked.
Crystal: One day Hannah was saying she was supposed to hang out with her friends but couldn’t because her internet stopped working. Joe told her that although her internet doesn’t work, her cellphone still works- her cell service still works. Joe explained to her that she could call her friend asking her to come out. Hannah was so confused. Crystal thought it was so funny. (Having a daughter who doesn’t know anything is funny? Everything is a fucking joke to Botox Face.)
Another time when Aaron paused the internet connection, a couple of the Pettit girls claimed they were chatting with a guy and were afraid the guy would misunderstand. Joe suggested they just text or call the guys up. But the girls claimed it was weird.
The kids mostly communicate with their friends through Snapchat. When they can't, they feel they can't communicate at all. (Again Botox Face found it funny.)
Aaron: Current generation of teenagers complicated the levels of relationships to such a degree that they have a “talking stage” in dating.
I googled it and found this in Vogue. “”The talking stage” is a label apparently coined by Gen Z’ers to describe a maddening, undefined early stage of many relationships. “The talking stage is kind of like the test run of a situationship……It’s this period of developing the feelings before you’re even actually dating.” Isn’t that just…dating? No! It’s the talking stage! “It’s basically doing everything that is required of a relationship without the relationship title,” (wtf? lol)
Max: He is not dating until he is 20 years old. He talked to many girls but it ended fairly quickly.
Aaron advised Max to start dating now because Max can learn a lot of things.
Crystal: She learned to set an expectation out front when she talks to Aaron. If she just wants to vent, she would tell him to just listen to her. If she wants him to fix things, she would tell him to do so.
Aaron: When communicating, give people the benefit of the doubt. If your relationship is founded on trust, why not trust that they are trying to do the best for you now? Even if they say something that hurts your feelings, maybe they don’t mean to but that’s how you took it. If you hear something and instantly think it’s negative, it’s going to come off negative and you will feel like it hurts your feelings.
Crystal: In the past one morning, Crystal had just woken up, one of her foster kids who had just come 3 days ago, now daughter, looked at her and remarked, “wow, that’s why you wear makeup.” (LOL)
Later on, Crystal got the kid to explain why she said that. The kid said she just had never seen her without makeup. It was a shock to her.
Crystal: she didn’t think the kid meant that she was ugly. A lot of kids nowadays don’t know how to properly communicate.
Aaron: When you are a licensed fostered or adopted parent, you have to take continuing education. They teach you about fostered and adopted kids miscueing. The kids don’t properly respond to things because their guardians from previous situations don’t teach them the proper ways to respond to things. Sometimes they will act out and you would think it’s misbehavior but it’s actually them trying to cue you that they need something.
Crystal: They had a 16-year-old fostered son who was playing his video game in the other room. Crystal was laying down with a blanket on her watching tv. The boy came in, turned off the tv, grabbed and threw her blanket onto the floor. He then went back to playing his video game. She thought he was just teasing her. She turned the tv back on but he came and turned it off again. She realized this was miscueing. She went to sit next to him and watch him play video games.
They then talked and he open up about the situation he was going through at school. It was the best conversation they ever had. He really wanted to talk about his day and vented about his problem. But he didn’t know how to communicate what he wanted. He resorted to getting on her nerves to get her attention. In his previous house, he would have been yelled at. A lot of behaviors are miscommunication. Find out the root cause of it.
Max: He saw this from the kids. Someone’s computer was broken. They just left it broken and and didn’t say anything.
Crystal: One of their daughters really struggled with being able to communicate feelings. (This sounds like Bella.) She had a really hard day in school but she didn’t want to talk about her feelings at all. Crystal told her to write her a note - could be about anything. The daughter ended up giving Crystal a very long sweet letter.
Crystal: Crystal’s close friend had a hard time in school when she was young. She cursed at the teacher. Her father wouldn’t allow her to speak for the whole week to anyone in school or at home. The only way she could communicate was through writing notes. She said it was very hard but also the best thing for her. She was able to read what she wrote first, erased the bad words, and rewrite them before giving the notes to other people. When she was allowed to talk again, she was able to really think about her words and be able to put her words together better.
To this day some of Crystal’s kids still write her letters.
Aaron: A lot of times when the kids get in trouble, they have a smile on their faces. It’s just their way of dealing with the emotions that are going on in their head knowing they are in trouble. But Aaron took it as them mocking him. It really bothers him.
Crystal: One of her kids usually laughs when she gets hurt. One time she fell down the stairs but she was still laughing. Crystal didn’t know if she was hurt or not. This is also miscueing. Because in the past, their emotions were not properly expressed. They might be protecting themselves from being hurt emotionally or physically by their guardians. In abusive situations, their emotions don’t necessarily match how they actually feel inside or they just don’t show any emotions at all.
Max: When he does voice-over, Crystal told him to smile. This makes his voice sounds happier.
Joe: He used to train people in customer service over the phone. For new hires, a lot of time they were given a mirror to put on their desks to make sure they are smiling when talking to the customers.
Crystal: One day, one of her kids was really struggling, refusing to do chores, and homework, and then threw a complete temper tantrum - had a meltdown even over being told to take the backpack to the room. At first, Crystal was feeling frustrated that the kid refused to listen to her. But after the kid calmed down, the kid told her what happened that day. (Ok, I bet this kid was Lazy Alex. Therefore I use the pronoun he.)
It turned out that he just had a very bad day. That morning the kid noticed his white shirt had a big stain on it. He also couldn’t find his shoes. He forgot to bring his homework to school resulting in the teacher yelling at him. In gym class, when he tripped, everyone laughed at him. It was a series of events and by the time he got home, he had a meltdown over Crystal telling him to bring his backpack to his room. That was the final straw for him.
If you have a hard time talking face to face with someone, Crystal advised writing a handwritten letter to them.

Hi,
I was doing some research on the Internet about software that converts video/image to HEVC/HEIF, but it only finds converter from HEVC/HEIF to old formats.
​
I want instead convert file from the old video/image formats to the new HEVC/HEIF.
​
Any idea? Free or paid does not matter.
​
Thanks.

• LMT MWS/MRP-H 12.5" MLOK upper --$900
• LMT MWS/MRP-H 13.5" LW CL 7.62 barrel with p/w (by d.wilson) Surefire warcomp & BRT eztube gas tube (normal/unsupressed) --$730
  
  • Barrel price break down (~$550 for barrel, ~$130 warcomp, ~$70 gas tube, ~$60 pin and weld). Both barrel and upper are take-off from a complete LMT battle rifle. Buy both barrel and upper for $1560. Both have less than 100 rounds. Purchased new, first owner.
• LMT MRP-L converted Proof Research carbon fiber 14.5" 223 wylde barrel with p/w (by d.wilson) Surefire SF3P & Superlative Arms AGB (black, steel, .750, set screw) --$1090
  
  • Barrel price break down (~$850 for barrel, ~$90 for AGB, ~$130 for SF3P, $140 for MRP conversion, $60 for pin and weld). Proof barrel has less than 100 rounds through it. Purchased new, first owner.
• LMT MRP-L Specwar 11.5" MLOK upper. In an effort to prevent this from being resold at scalper prices on gunjoker, I'll only sell this to users with 12+ flair (sorry) --$960
  
  • Purchased new, first owner. Still brand new in bag
• Unity Hot Button, MLOK, black, surefire lead --$100 Still brand new in sealed box
  
• FCD safety q-levers. 2 long, 2 short. Barely used. These are just the levers and pins --$30 per pair
  
• Badger Ordnance j-arm mount for RMR. Part number 200-13B --$25
  
• Primary Machine RMR to ACRO adapter, .150” height --$45
  
• Surefire ST07 switch, black --$45
  
• Cloud Defensive LCS for ST07 switch, black, MLOK --$40
  

All prices include shipping. If you want insurance, you're gonna cover it. Zelle preferred, but can do paypal friends & family if needed.
Don't like my prices, or am I too off the mark from market value? Let me know!
PICTURES

I am very curious how this works or what the reason might be. If I see the author’s name on a book cover printed larger than the title, my instinct is it is a marketing ploy. I realize my opinion on this could be wildly off base which is the reason for this post.
I didn’t read any fiction during my career because I had a lot of daily technical reading which caused me to look to other pursuits in my time off. I’m reading again—using a Kindle account—starting with the classics: Hemingway, Faulkner, Stoker 😉 but I want to branch out and it’s very confusing to me while browsing books why the book titles are so small in so many cases. Has it always been like this and I didn’t notice? Is it a red flag? I enjoy more difficult prose so tend to gravitate in that direction if I know what to look for but my brain is telling me a large printed author name is going to be too easy to read, so I would love some feedback regarding this and the reason they do it.
If this post doesn’t fit this sub, I’m fine with deleting it. Thanks

We were on and off for about a month and officially ended things this week. Throughout the entire relationship, there were several times where I tried to break up with him. I felt disconnected and that we were incompatible, but then when I brought this up and we talked about it, I would instantly feel better and I would change my mind.
I’ve never been in a healthy, safe relationship. I’ve had short term boyfriends who I quickly lost interest in, and my only “long-term” (several months) boyfriend was emotional and physically abusive.
I think because of this, I had self-doubt about my relationship and was worried that he wasn’t “the one”, even though I felt that he was when we first started dating.
I guess my question is, how do you know if you want to break up with someone for valid reasons or if you’re just overthinking/overly anxious and are being too nitpicky?

TIMESTAMPS
The Z53 will NOT be included as it is broken. If you buy this PC, you are buying everything EXCEPT the Z53.
Hey all, as I've disclaimed above, I'm trying to offload this PC without the Z53 on it, since I'm trying to replace it. I'm really hoping to offload everything else as a whole PC, but we'll see how we go. If I get offers for everything, I'd be happy to part out everything. Everything was pretty new, I couldn't even get to installing windows cuz of the AIO.
--If I'm off base lemme know.--
PURCHASING AS A WHOLE - I'd be asking for $1800 shipped, $1750 local, local heavily preferred. Even factoring in the fact that newer CPUs have substantially impacted the value of Z590 and the 11900k, I feel like I'm offering a decent price, as even getting these parts used would probably amount to more than $1900 after tax(depending on your tax rate, ofc).orPARTING OUT - If I can get buyers for most, hopefully, all of the parts.A bit of justification for the prices, the Lian Li case still has the peels on the side panels, that's how little I progressed with it, just some chipping where screws mounted the unifans. GPU was hardly used as well, just booted and played a couple of games to make sure it worked since I couldn't really progress with the broken AIO in my way. PSU has hardly worked a sweat too.

CPU	Intel I9-11900K	$260 shipped, $250 local
RAM	Corsair Veng. RGB 3200mhz CL16 32gb	$100 shipped, $90 local
SSD	Samsung 980 PRO 1TB	$95 shipped, $90 local
MOBO	ASUS STRIX Z590-A WIFI	$150 shipped, $135 local
GPU	Gigabyte AERO OC 4070 TI	$825 shipped, $780 local
Case	Lian Li O11D Mini Snow Edition	$140 shipped, $110 local
PSU(sff!)	Silverstone Extreme 850R Platinum	$210 shipped, $190 local
Fans	3x Lian Li AL360 UNIFAN	$75 shipped, $65 local

I'll let this listing sit for a couple of days to give it time to (hopefully) get more offers.
Moving on to the Asus B550M-A Wifi, though, also hardly used, I unfortunately do not have the IO shield for this mobo, so I'm looking to get $80 shipped, $70 local. If you want to go through the extra time to order an io shield, getting this board from me along with that io shield from eBay is 30-45 bucks cheaper than getting a new board from Amazon.