Clarion inn international drive
Owensboro, KY's premiere reddit presence!
2011.11.05 01:49 neobchod Owensboro, KY's premiere reddit presence!
Consider this a loose info dump for anything happening in or around Owensboro.
2023.06.08 16:30 khoafraelich789 Toyota HiAce 2023 review: LWB turbo-diesel
| https://preview.redd.it/y1na5wq9oc3b1.png?width=1139&format=png&auto=webp&s=c3736453601632ca509e6878b140256178153f57 Toyota doesn't make hasty decisions and with good reason. As one of the world’s largest and longest-running automotive manufacturers (founded 1937), it applies the same rigorous assessment of each new model proposal or running change. That ensures each green light stacks up as a viable business case, from which the company is assured of getting a worthwhile return on its investment. This pragmatic approach was evident in Toyota’s decision in 2022 to offer a rear barn-door option for its HiAce van. Given this iconic commercial vehicle was launched in 1967, it’s taken 55 years for Toyota to finally offer an alternative to the HiAce's signature swing-up tailgate. Barn doors are ideal for those needing forklift access to cargo bays, so we assume this decision was prompted not only by competitors offering similar options but also growing demand from Toyota’s all-important fleet buyers. We recently tested one to see if this long-awaited option is on the money. Price and Features – Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with? Our test vehicle is the LWB (Long Wheel Base) powered exclusively by Toyota’s well proven 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel. It’s available with either standard six-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic, like our example. Painted in standard 'French Vanilla', it has a list price of $46,760, plus on-road costs, but ours is fitted with the new $750 Barn Door option which bumps the list price to $47,510. It’s available on all LWB and SLWB (Super Long Wheel Base) variants except for the HiAce Crew, HiAce Commuter and LWB manual versions. Our test vehicle is also the Panel Van variant, which means a buyer can order a full-panel left-hand side sliding door instead of the standard windowed version at no extra cost. The HiAce comes ready for hard work on sturdy 16-inch steel wheels with replaceable plastic covers and 215/60R16 tyres plus a full-size spare, along with a large centre console offering a variety of storage options. There are also useful creature comforts in the two-seater cabin like a tilt-and-reach adjustable leather-accented steering wheel, driver’s seat adjustable lumbar support, manual air-con, two 12-volt cabin accessory sockets, folding/heated exterior door mirrors with indicators, and more. The two-speaker multimedia system has a big 8.0-inch touchscreen plus steering wheel audio controls and 'DAB+2' digital radio. Multiple connectivity options include Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, Siri voice recognition, Bluetooth, sat-nav and 'Toyota Connected Services', which includes an app for mobile phones and safety/security functions like 'Stolen Vehicle Tracking', 'Automatic Collision Notification', 'SOS Emergency Call', and more. Design – is there anything interesting about its design? It’s a typically robust design comprising MacPherson strut front suspension, a leaf-spring live rear axle that’s excellent for load-carrying, variable-ratio rack and pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes on all automatic variants, like ours. The rear-wheel drive chassis has an inherent traction advantage over front-wheel drive vans, particularly on loose or slippery surfaces and with heavy payloads. Its 1990mm height allows access to underground and multi-storey car parks and its 3210mm wheelbase boasts an impressively tight 11.0-metre turning circle. The two-tone dash layout is neat and functional with easy-to-use controls and instrumentation. There’s still no fold-down inboard armrest for the driver’s seat to enhance comfort on long hauls, but given we had to wait more than half a century for a barn-door option, we know Toyota won’t be rushed on these decisions. Engine and transmission – What are the key stats for the engine and transmission? HiAce’s venerable (1GD-FTV) 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel produces 130kW at 3400rpm and in auto models like ours a meaty 450Nm of torque between 1600-2400rpm. Maintenance procedures are simplified by its Euro 5 emissions compliance which doesn’t require AdBlue. A smooth-shifting Aisin (AC60E) six-speed torque converter automatic optimises fuel economy with full converter lock-up on fourth, fifth and sixth gears, along with overdrive on fifth and sixth for relaxed highway driving. It also offers the choice of sequential manual-shifting if required. The live rear axle is equipped with an electronically-controlled automatic limited-slip diff, which optimises the inherent traction advantage of rear-wheel drive. Fuel consumption – How much fuel does it consume? Toyota claims an official combined cycle average of 8.2L/100km. After 215km of testing, without a load and with the automatic engine stop-start function switched off, our figure based on trip meter and fuel bowsers readings came in slightly higher at 9.8L/100km. This single-digit economy was achieved purely in city and suburban driving, which is thrifty for a large commercial vehicle weighing more than two tonnes. So, based on our figures, you could bank on a ‘real world’ driving range of around 700km from its 70-litre tank. Practicality – How practical is the space inside? With its 2225kg kerb weight and 3300kg GVM, the HiAce has a genuine one-tonne-plus payload rating of 1060kg, and up to 120kg of that can be carried on the roof using Toyota’s genuine accessory triple-bar roof rack set. It also has a braked tow rating of up to 1500kg and with a GCM (how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) of 4800kg, it can carry its peak 1060kg payload while towing that weight, which is a versatile set of numbers for a working van. Cargo bay walls and doors are lined to mid-height, the roof is internally lined and there’s ample internal lighting. It’s accessed from either side through sliding doors with 1010mm-wide openings, or from the rear through the barn-doors which are both equipped with demisters/windscreen wipers and can swing open to 180 degrees. Each door also has a simple brace which can hold them at 90 degrees opening if required. The cargo bay offers a sizeable 6.2 cubic metres of load volume, measuring 2530mm long, 1760mm wide and 1340mm high. With 1268mm between the rear wheel housings and six floor-mounted load anchorage points, it can carry up to two standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallets or up to three 1200 x 800mm/1200 x 1000mm Euro pallets. Its spacious driver’s cabin has numerous storage offerings including a large-bottle holder and bin in the base of each front door, small-bottle/cupholders in the centre and on either side of the dash, plus a single glove box. The centre console is well designed, comprising an open storage tray at floor level and a large lidded box between the seats. This not only has cavernous internal storage but there’s also an external shelf at the front, two large-bottle holders at the rear and another shallow tray set into the lid, which when closed can double as a handy work desk. What’s it like as a daily driver? The big front doors swing wide open to provide easy access to the cabin, where it’s easy to find a comfortable driving position given ample seat adjustment that includes lumbar support, plus a height-and-reach-adjustable wheel and big left footrest. Responsive steering and strong braking, combined with a reasonably supple ride quality when empty or lightly loaded, makes for a comfortable daily work environment. This is enhanced by commendably low internal noise levels for a van without a bulkhead between the cabin and cargo bay. We suspect the full-length roof lining helps here. Like all panel vans, the solid-walled cargo bay creates a huge blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder which can’t be avoided. And the central join of the barn doors obscures vision through the cabin’s rear-view mirror. However, the portrait-shaped door mirrors are a decent size and combined with a suite of driver aids like blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors and reversing camera, a competent driver can easily steer clear of trouble. And it has easy manoeuvrability thanks to the tight 11-metre turning circle and lightness of the variable-ratio steering at parking speeds. The 2.8-litre turbo-diesel has good flexibility with strong low-rpm response thanks to its ample 450Nm of torque. The smooth and snappy shift protocols of the six-speed auto optimise engine response, which is most evident in stop-start city and suburban driving. It also delivers relaxed and economical highway travel, particularly with the cruise control activated, with overdrive requiring less than 2000rpm to maintain 110km/h. What’s it like for tradie use? It’s ironic that a forklift should be out of service on the same day we wanted to test improved forklift access! However, that’s what happened when we went to load up the HiAce for our usual GVM test. Even so, you don’t need to be a forklift aficionado to see that the 180-degree opening will provide clear access to the cargo bay. We also know from experience that the HiAce is a consummate one-tonner, having previously secured 975kg in the cargo bay which with driver equalled the van’s 1060kg payload limit. There was ample rear suspension travel remaining thanks to minimal compression of the robust leaf springs. The engine made light work of hauling this payload, with effortless highway cruising and particularly strong performance in hilly terrain. It never felt sluggish on climbs and engine-braking was excellent on long, steep descents. As a workhorse, the HiAce is difficult to fault. Safety – What safety equipment is fitted? What safety rating? The current HiAce generation came armed with a maximum five-star ANCAP rating when launched in 2019 and still sets a safety benchmark. There are seven airbags plus a plethora of active features including AEB with day/night pedestrian and day cyclist detection, trailer sway control, hill-start assist, lane departure alert with steering assist, road sign assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, and more. Ownership – What does it cost to own? What warranty is offered? The HiAce is covered by a five-yeaunlimited km warranty. Scheduled servicing is set at relatively short six month/10,000km intervals, whichever occurs first. Capped-price of $290 per service covers the first six scheduled services over three years or 60,000km. Source: carsguide submitted by khoafraelich789 to CarInformationNews [link] [comments] |
2023.06.08 16:27 mnimum-viable-player Where are all the walkable, bikeable, diverse cities with lofts?
I'm in NY right now and it checks a lot of the boxes I want but the real estate is unsustainable and I'm sick of the vibe. I just want a space big enough for a bedroom, office, and small outdoor space without having to spend $4500 in rent or $800k to own. I have good steady income so mid to HCOL is fine, but NY just seems like it's on a completely different level of expensive now. I know it's impossible to do "New York but better" in the states, but I wonder if there's anything that checks these boxes:
Must have
- In or near mid-to-large city: I'm fully remote so I don't need to be near any HQ city, but being close to a some vibrance is good for me. I need people, shops, boutiques, performance and sports venues, or I'll go crazy. Bonus for robust transit system, baseball and basketball teams.
- Diversity/culture: I like seeing different faces, experiencing different micro-cultures, eating different foods. One of my problems with being in the north eastern cities is that often the default activity is drinking. I like a drink, but I don't want that to be the identifying culture of the place I live.
- Walkability / neighborhood vibe: Nothing is as walkable as NY in the states. But at least having neighborhoods that I can explore, even if there's a distance between them. Bonus if I can walk or bike through different residential areas without getting dirty looks or harassed.
- Cycling infrastructure: Cycling would be my main form of transportation. Would like to avoid owning a car, or owning one and driving it infrequently. Being able to bike from A to B for social events or errands is a major W. There's no place in the states that has a cycling culture, but if there was I'd be there in an instant.
Nice to have
- Near nature / water: I like a good hike or a contemplative moment overlooking a body of water, not necessarily a beach. Being a short bike ride to a river or lakefront park is huge.
- Industrial loft inventory: I have a weird thing for lofts. I would like to live in one without breaking the bank. And I don't mean those newly build loft style condos, but a converted factory type thing.
- Near a good airport: I like to travel. I do a handful of domestic trips and an international trip every year. Being near a far reaching and reliable airport is an excellent nice to have.
- Weather: I generally prefer mild weather. I think a lot of people will tell me Chicago is where I should be based on my preferences, but straight up I'm not built for Chicago winters.
My ideal cities are something like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris, Copenhagen. I would probably try relocating to Netherlands to if I didn't have to be in the states to work.
After writing all this out I feel like it's an incredibly short list that includes Chicago, parts of California, and maybe Atlanta but maybe there's a city I haven't considered that checks some of these boxes.
submitted by
mnimum-viable-player to
SameGrassButGreener [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 16:20 BigHeadDjango Series 21 Week 3 - Winter Seasonal Tunes! (Explore The Horizon) by BigHedDjango
Hello everyone!
BigHedDjango here, tunes for this week to help you out.
Weekly photo:
https://i.imgur.com/Jx593a3.png Photo by
Benny Driving. Check out more of their photos in-game!
All feedback on tunes is appreciated - good or bad. Specially when tunes are bad. At the end of the day I am just the mechanic and you guys are the racers. Do not hesitate irrespective of your tuning knowledge or racing skills!
Tuning method: 1.
Stock look - stock wheel rims, default wheel rim sizes, no aero (unless absolutely necessary for handling and stability) 2. Max performance with max handling possible 3. All cars
tuned vs. Unbeatable AI on championship tracks in seasonal weather.
However! Unbeatable AI is broken and bugged. Not every car can win 7/10 random races vs Unbeatable AI without abusing rewind/restart. Very few cars can beat it consistently. Hope it gets fixed
soon one day... 4. Bodykit only used if it does not ruin performance
___
FORZATHON WEEKLY CHALLENGE - Designed For Driving
2011 BMW X5 M * Tune - 995 890 327 (S1 road tune) * Full aero; Roof lights; Custom rims; Widebody kit; Anti-lag * Good launch; Good acceleration; Decent grip even on wet roads * Event Lab BP - Easy Win Street Scene Sprint - 134 229 457
___
TRIAL - Bucking Broncos
Road Racing - Super Saloons - A 800
NOTE: Try to block and slow down AI and help teammates in order to win. One player on the team needs to take at least P3 and slow down the AI for a guaranteed win
2014 BMW M4 Coupe * Tune - 993 434 123
2012 Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG Coupe Black Series * Tune - 160 911 714 (v3 - full rebuild)
2018 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe * Tune - 537 526 594 * 6-gears; Heavy but fun to drive; v2 - full rebuild
___
EVENT LAB - How The West Was Raced
Offroad Capable - A 800
2016 Jeep Trailcat * Tune - 108 275 805 * Front bumper; Roof lightbar; Rear tire rack; Stock engine; Purist
___
SEASONAL PR STUNTS
Anything Goes - S2 998
Speed Zone - El Gancho
1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR * Tune - 788 818 587 (Tune by KapienPL; Full aero; Anti-lag) * Start ~700 yards from the east. Don't try and be fast, easy zone
Trailblazer - Festival Descend
2010 Mosler MT900S * Tune - 178 075 164 * Start ~170 yards from north, drive straight and turn right. You need to form an arc as you make the jump and be as close to the right side flag as possible. Land in decline and follow it to bottom, then to finish
(Rally Adventure) Danger Sign - Palm Forest
2019 Rimac Concept Two * Tune - 540 241 336 (Full aero tune; Custom rims) * Start in north hairpin
(Hot Wheels) Danger Sign - Forest Escape
2019 Rimac Concept Two * Tune - 540 241 336 (Full aero tune; Custom rims) * Start at T-junction north-east from danger sign, ~480 yards
___
NOTE: All Championships are locked to Highly Skilled difficulty
CHAMPIONSHIP 1 - Tropic Like It's Hot
Cross Country - Pickups & 4x4s - C 600
1970 International Scount 800A * Tune - 290 055 452 * Meta car so pretty good vs Unbeatable AI
2021 Ford Bronco * Tune - 456 879 906 * Good handling but lacks top speed and accel; Stock engine; True Purist
2019 Ford Ranger Raptor * Tune - 654 789 344 * Very similar to 2017 Raptor but just a tiny bit faster, both different to drive
2017 Ford F-150 Raptor * Tune - 870 386 833
2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor * Tune - 111 907 592
2016 Nissan Titan Warrior Concept * Tune - 103 379 176
1972 Land Rover Series III * Tune - 555 073 331 * Rear aero; High profile tires
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 2 - Ramble Scramble
Dirt Racing - AWD - A 800
2018 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5 * Tune - 589 436 345 * Good mid-speed accel; Comfortable to drive
2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI * Tune - 306 845 045 * Meta-ish car; Smokes Unbeatable AI
2015 Volvo V60 Polestar * Tune - 984 714 246
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 * Tune - 246 848 148 * Superb
2017 Ford Focus RS * Tune - 177 632 175 * Tiny lip rear wing; Car needs feathered throttle for fast corners else looses traction
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 3 - Letting Off Steam (Rally Adventure)
Dirt Rally - Buggies - D 500
1969 Volkswagen Class 5/1600 Baja Bug * Tune - 468 672 875 * Stock engine; Can almost-never win vs Unbeatable AI; v3 - major retune, smoother, better suspension
1970 Volkswagen #1107 Desert Dingo Racing Stock Bug * Tune - 182 732 413 * Slower; Rollover fixed, no sim steering required (but report any issues); Can never win vs Unbeatable AI; 7-gears; Stock engine; v2 - full rebuild, smoother
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 4 - The Chosen One (Hot Wheels)
Hazard - Rally Monsters - A 800
2007 Peugeot 207 Super 2000 * Tune - 841 509 187 * Biggest rear rims; Stock engine
1991 Hoonigan GYMKHANA 10 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A * Tune - 544 505 270 * What Unbeatable AI? 7 gears, 6 usable
1994 Hoonigan Ford Escort RS Cosworth "Cossie V2" * Tune - 796 319 780 * Good handling but low top speed; Purist; Stock engine only
1984 Opel Manta 400 * Tune - 396 029 853 * Innate suspension problems, cannot be tuned out completely
___
EVENT LAB BLUEPRINTS!
Easy Win
Road Sprint - 696 659 852 Easy Win
Road Circuit - 177 632 200 Easy Win
Dirt Trail - 991 376 926 Easy Win
Dirt Scramble - 135 436 707 Easy Win
Cross Country Sprint - 114 199 871 Easy Win
Cross Country Circuit - 181 401 852 Easy Win
Street Scene Sprint - 134 229 457 Easy Win
Drag Strip - 812 084 897 ___
HORIZON 4 AND 5 TUNES ARCHIVE THREAD!
https://www.reddit.com/useBigHeadDjango/comments/r4ptt6/forza_horizon_4_and_horizon_5_tunes_archive/ ___
Thank you to everyone for your downloads, uses, likes, follows, shares and feedback! Check my in-game profile for more tunes. You can check my reddit profile for more content 📸
Also don't stop yourself from checking out my photos on the creative hub. Wow! What beautiful photos! 📸
Don't hesitate to ask if you need any help! 🛠️
I am open to requests for cars you might want me to tune! It would also help me understand FH5 tuning better. So let me know the car and class and I'd get back to you! 🛠️
___
Have a great week! 🥳
submitted by
BigHeadDjango to
forza [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 16:20 BigHeadDjango Series 21 Week 3 - Winter Seasonal Tunes! (Explore The Horizon) by BigHedDjango
Hello everyone!
BigHedDjango here, tunes for this week to help you out.
Weekly photo:
https://i.imgur.com/Jx593a3.png Photo by
Benny Driving. Check out more of their photos in-game!
All feedback on tunes is appreciated - good or bad. Specially when tunes are bad. At the end of the day I am just the mechanic and you guys are the racers. Do not hesitate irrespective of your tuning knowledge or racing skills!
Tuning method: 1.
Stock look - stock wheel rims, default wheel rim sizes, no aero (unless absolutely necessary for handling and stability) 2. Max performance with max handling possible 3. All cars
tuned vs. Unbeatable AI on championship tracks in seasonal weather.
However! Unbeatable AI is broken and bugged. Not every car can win 7/10 random races vs Unbeatable AI without abusing rewind/restart. Very few cars can beat it consistently. Hope it gets fixed
soon one day... 4. Bodykit only used if it does not ruin performance
___
FORZATHON WEEKLY CHALLENGE - Designed For Driving
2011 BMW X5 M * Tune - 995 890 327 (S1 road tune) * Full aero; Roof lights; Custom rims; Widebody kit; Anti-lag * Good launch; Good acceleration; Decent grip even on wet roads * Event Lab BP - Easy Win Street Scene Sprint - 134 229 457
___
TRIAL - Bucking Broncos
Road Racing - Super Saloons - A 800
NOTE: Try to block and slow down AI and help teammates in order to win. One player on the team needs to take at least P3 and slow down the AI for a guaranteed win
2014 BMW M4 Coupe * Tune - 993 434 123
2012 Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG Coupe Black Series * Tune - 160 911 714 (v3 - full rebuild)
2018 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe * Tune - 537 526 594 * 6-gears; Heavy but fun to drive; v2 - full rebuild
___
EVENT LAB - How The West Was Raced
Offroad Capable - A 800
2016 Jeep Trailcat * Tune - 108 275 805 * Front bumper; Roof lightbar; Rear tire rack; Stock engine; Purist
___
SEASONAL PR STUNTS
Anything Goes - S2 998
Speed Zone - El Gancho
1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR * Tune - 788 818 587 (Tune by KapienPL; Full aero; Anti-lag) * Start ~700 yards from the east. Don't try and be fast, easy zone
Trailblazer - Festival Descend
2010 Mosler MT900S * Tune - 178 075 164 * Start ~170 yards from north, drive straight and turn right. You need to form an arc as you make the jump and be as close to the right side flag as possible. Land in decline and follow it to bottom, then to finish
(Rally Adventure) Danger Sign - Palm Forest
2019 Rimac Concept Two * Tune - 540 241 336 (Full aero tune; Custom rims) * Start in north hairpin
(Hot Wheels) Danger Sign - Forest Escape
2019 Rimac Concept Two * Tune - 540 241 336 (Full aero tune; Custom rims) * Start at T-junction north-east from danger sign, ~480 yards
___
NOTE: All Championships are locked to Highly Skilled difficulty
CHAMPIONSHIP 1 - Tropic Like It's Hot
Cross Country - Pickups & 4x4s - C 600
1970 International Scount 800A * Tune - 290 055 452 * Meta car so pretty good vs Unbeatable AI
2021 Ford Bronco * Tune - 456 879 906 * Good handling but lacks top speed and accel; Stock engine; True Purist
2019 Ford Ranger Raptor * Tune - 654 789 344 * Very similar to 2017 Raptor but just a tiny bit faster, both different to drive
2017 Ford F-150 Raptor * Tune - 870 386 833
2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor * Tune - 111 907 592
2016 Nissan Titan Warrior Concept * Tune - 103 379 176
1972 Land Rover Series III * Tune - 555 073 331 * Rear aero; High profile tires
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 2 - Ramble Scramble
Dirt Racing - AWD - A 800
2018 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5 * Tune - 589 436 345 * Good mid-speed accel; Comfortable to drive
2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI * Tune - 306 845 045 * Meta-ish car; Smokes Unbeatable AI
2015 Volvo V60 Polestar * Tune - 984 714 246
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 * Tune - 246 848 148 * Superb
2017 Ford Focus RS * Tune - 177 632 175 * Tiny lip rear wing; Car needs feathered throttle for fast corners else looses traction
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 3 - Letting Off Steam (Rally Adventure)
Dirt Rally - Buggies - D 500
1969 Volkswagen Class 5/1600 Baja Bug * Tune - 468 672 875 * Stock engine; Can almost-never win vs Unbeatable AI; v3 - major retune, smoother, better suspension
1970 Volkswagen #1107 Desert Dingo Racing Stock Bug * Tune - 182 732 413 * Slower; Rollover fixed, no sim steering required (but report any issues); Can never win vs Unbeatable AI; 7-gears; Stock engine; v2 - full rebuild, smoother
___
CHAMPIONSHIP 4 - The Chosen One (Hot Wheels)
Hazard - Rally Monsters - A 800
2007 Peugeot 207 Super 2000 * Tune - 841 509 187 * Biggest rear rims; Stock engine
1991 Hoonigan GYMKHANA 10 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A * Tune - 544 505 270 * What Unbeatable AI? 7 gears, 6 usable
1994 Hoonigan Ford Escort RS Cosworth "Cossie V2" * Tune - 796 319 780 * Good handling but low top speed; Purist; Stock engine only
1984 Opel Manta 400 * Tune - 396 029 853 * Innate suspension problems, cannot be tuned out completely
___
EVENT LAB BLUEPRINTS!
Easy Win
Road Sprint - 696 659 852 Easy Win
Road Circuit - 177 632 200 Easy Win
Dirt Trail - 991 376 926 Easy Win
Dirt Scramble - 135 436 707 Easy Win
Cross Country Sprint - 114 199 871 Easy Win
Cross Country Circuit - 181 401 852 Easy Win
Street Scene Sprint - 134 229 457 Easy Win
Drag Strip - 812 084 897 ___
HORIZON 4 AND 5 TUNES ARCHIVE THREAD!
https://www.reddit.com/useBigHeadDjango/comments/r4ptt6/forza_horizon_4_and_horizon_5_tunes_archive/ ___
Thank you to everyone for your downloads, uses, likes, follows, shares and feedback! Check my in-game profile for more tunes. You can check my reddit profile for more content 📸
Also don't stop yourself from checking out my photos on the creative hub. Wow! What beautiful photos! 📸
Don't hesitate to ask if you need any help! 🛠️
I am open to requests for cars you might want me to tune! It would also help me understand FH5 tuning better. So let me know the car and class and I'd get back to you! 🛠️
___
Have a great week! 🥳
submitted by
BigHeadDjango to
ForzaHorizon [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 16:01 Adam_RJ Cyber Attacks Are on the Rise, Due to Software Vulnerabilities, Says Beazley
Beazley is a market leader handling various lines of insurance, including professional indemnity, cyber, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, political risks, and contingency business.
Exploitation of software vulnerabilities is driving an increase in cyber incidents, according to the latest Cyber Services Snapshot report released by Beazley.
The report highlights the importance of implementing a layered cybersecurity strategy, known as “Defence in Depth,” to protect organisations from evolving threats.
Beazley report finds a rise in ransomware attacks
Beazley’s report provides global data on cyber incidents handled by its Cyber Services, including insights into the causes of loss across industries, ransomware drivers, business email compromise, and data theft. Notably, the findings reveal a rising trend in ransomware attacks exploiting software vulnerabilities, with incidents occurring at an alarming speed.
The data indicates a relatively equal distribution of methods employed by cybercriminals to launch ransomware attacks, emphasising the need for a multi-layered security approach to safeguard today’s IT systems. Supply chain attacks further reinforce the importance of layered solutions, making education on implementing these tactics crucial.
Christian Taube, Head of Cyber Services, International at Beazley, highlighted the increase in network attacks observed by their Cyber Services Team, many of which stemmed from cloud-based software vulnerabilities. He said: “Over the past quarter, our Cyber Services Team has seen an uptick in network attacks, many of which have been driven by cloud-based software vulnerabilities. And with recent supply chain attacks on the rise worldwide, the access opportunities available to hackers are increasing.”
“Cybercriminals are getting quicker at identifying security weaknesses and using them to gain entry into networks.”
He added: “This means that organisations must work even harder to stay on top of these exposures – and to ensure that even if someone gains entry into their systems, multiple layers of defence are in place to prevent the worst outcome.”
submitted by
Adam_RJ to
insuretech [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 16:00 TrickOffice This is the first search result on ebay when I searched for xQc Aware
2023.06.08 15:56 OsuBeyk Building a new pc...
Hey so im building a new pc and i need help. Some ppl told me AM5 will be a way better deal etc. I dont wanna upgrade the pc for a good 6-8+ years and just wanna leave it be, which is why im going overkill, i mostly edit videos and do a lot of cpu demanding tasks. I dont see why AM5 would be better in my situation.
And i also dont have the budget to make this pc any better. Im buying all from a local company bcs shipping too expensive so yeah.
IMPORTANT: If you suggest any items etc. I can only upgrade for about 150 dollars maybe 200 if its that worth it. This is almost the most expensive i can do. Thank you.
[[PCPartPicker Part List](
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DRMwTn)
submitted by
OsuBeyk to
buildapc [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 15:52 SRMcleod They Wear a Human Face
This will be the last statement I ever make before I disappear forever. I’ve heard that this kind of a thing is quite common for those who finally grow a conscious and decide to leave for good. I personally don’t know anyone else apart from a few people I used to work with who knew about this, so here we go. My name isn’t important, but you can call me DD. When I think about it, I’m not important at all, I’m just the messenger or whistleblower, so anything else that would further “incriminate” me isn’t important either. What is important however is this story. It’ll probably be swept under some rug no doubt, that’s the usual approach to these things, the words “conspiracy theorists” has a strong negative vibe to it, we can thank the boys at Langley and the Pentagon for that one. They have been responsible for more cover ups and lies than anyone else on the planet, except for a few. Well anyway, spoiler alert; there’s a derelict object orbiting Ganymede which is one of the moons of Jupiter… Now that I have your attention let’s begin.
I work for NASA. Well, that’s half-truth really, if you saw my real credentials, you would say that I worked for NASA, and that’d be that. The truth is I’ve been free lancing for various intelligence agencies, some named, some not, for about the last 10 years... Most of the other guys that worked with me were sort of the same, varying in different fields. My job was to delete or remove all the UFO evidence the government “accidentally” let slip into the public eye. We call them UAP’s I’m not sure why the different name but that’s what we call them. What often happens is one of those idiot Astronauts goes for a spacewalk on the external side of the ISS and gets too wild with a camera and boom one of those things is front and center of the next biggest conspiracy to hit the internet; or one of those weather balloons go up for some science experiment or something and they catch one zooming on by. Let’s face it, its been happening a lot these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cover up and eradiate everything, whilst Tech Giant companies continue to sell to everyone on the planet a personal camera to record anything they want, with the ability to upload it.
You can only suppress this kind of thing for so long before the conspiracy theorists finally get enough evidence together to make most denials look suspicious at best, and if you keep denying it, well you just look dumb. One thing everyone must know about the Governments of the world, they really care about how they appear to the public, in their little Geopolitical world its known as Optics, its part of their control apparatus. But that’s another story.
So, with the Ganymede object. It requires context that it’s been seen by almost every major Government in the world. Before the James Webb telescope gave us detailed images, we were getting shots from Hubble, and so on and so forth. So, when you think about it this object sort of throws a whole wrench into well... Everything. As far as we were aware at the time when we found it there was a… damn I’m not sure what it was but shit... its strange. It looks like a space station sphere within a toroid, roughly 900 feet across in diameter, it or they both look as though they counter rotate. I think; around each other which is how it is maintaining its orbit, it’s hard to tell, because the body of it doesn’t have any patterns or distinctive features or something along those lines. Juno got too close to the thing, and made it shoot out a ping. So, they had to make it out to be a bunch of random sounds and disruption in downloads for those who wanted the pics from the Jovian planets moon for the mainstream media to keep the all the people calm. The media told everyone that Juno was disrupted, and communication would be shut down for a bit until the proximity was past. Sometimes I think those types of cover ups work a little too well. Juno got a lot closer, and no one was aware. That’s when people like me take over and we work to figure out as much as possible, and then cover the rest up.
The color of this thing shimmers from time to time, we couldn’t tell whether it was some sort of technology, or defensive camouflage or something that had been busted from the internals, or even if it had been naturally made to be iridescent, what we do know though however is that it emits little to no radiation, there is zero heat, and it has no life signatures whatsoever. Throughout this you will notice how behind the eight ball the intelligence services were when it came to this thing and can sometimes be with other of these major world altering revelations sometimes. But I digress.
So, we quickly began covering up everything, and gave it a name, Little Rock. Stupid and probably insulting but that’s what we call it as it looks like a rock anyhow. We tried dating how long Little Rock had been orbiting Ganymede, though without any form of reference it was anyone’s guess, quite possibly before life even existed here on Earth. There is another thing we had to verify about it, we had to make sure of this, but it has a giant freakin hole in the center of it, one of the guys who I worked with has been looking at UFO’s for quite some time, looking for offensive capabilities and the such, he told me that the hole could have been made by either a huge comet ramming through it, at some point in the past or, some other form of kinetic weapon that was shot through it. This evidence was in the images that Juno spat out and it’s like it’s been blown to pieces. We couldn’t make heads or tails as to how.
Moving along, we fast forward to why this has taken so long coming out. After the Juno cover up, we had to get on top of this thing before other Governments decided to move on this, so we launched another satellite in secret almost straight away, this one was launched by one of SpaceX’s rockets; they made a big show that it was only launching more of the Starlink satellites, but one of them had an Ion drive on it and slung shot itself around the planet to move into the trajectory of making it to Ganymede and hopefully running into Little Rock. Well, it worked. The Satellite we sent was called Nemo, it got into an orbit with Ganymede and has produced some more detailed photos of Little Rock, and well its worse than we thought.
Surprise to everyone we aren’t alone in the universe. I think I should just rip that band-aid off and let everyone digest what I just said. And yes, I meant that, we are not alone. We have the proof, but by now I think everyone’s suspicions are just confirmed.
Nemo was shot down, by probably the same thing that got Little Rock maybe? Whatever it was it had been hanging around after Juno passed it or it could have always been there, we aren’t sure. This thing looked like some inactive debris, so Nemo approached it and was instantly destroyed. When we looked at the play back footage, which took longer than we wanted it to get back to us, it looked like a small object had approached Nemo, it had a strange physical look which puzzled everyone, the only way to describe it would be the Angel depictions from the Genesis section of the bible like a sphere within a sphere.it was just bizarre.
The playback showed that as soon as Nemo got there it began moving and changing its orbital direction to meet Nemo, so we have limited information as to what it was and why it did it. When we saw the initial playback one of the four-star Generals who was there with us at the time told us all to copy it to his files for the Pentagon and delete the original. We had to do it but after that we all theorized about what our best guess was. The best one I remember was that it was some sort of proximity drone that activated too late when Little Rock got hit, went dormant again, then when Nemo turned up it went active and did its job. We think it’s a proximity drone since it never attacked Juno, because Juno didn’t get too close like Nemo did.
Now we get to the best part. Somewhere along the line the drone must have been scanning the wreckage of Nemo and figured out its origin, keep in mind that we didn’t leave one of those dumb golden plates on Nemo like Voyagers got, that pretty much says come and get us. So how it made the connection is a mystery to us. What happened next was very scary, we got the same frequencies that Juno picked up earlier here on Earth. For reference there is loads of space junk up there above our heads, and some of it woke up. To be specific the one that woke up is a bit infamous, it’s called the Black Knight Satellite, this thing has been in orbit for the longest time around the south pole; we had originally assumed it was a hunk of debris from the Mir station years ago, but as of more recently we thought it was something else, the conspiracies surrounding it say it is an Alien spacecraft, and well its true. We keep an eye on these things in case, and for the most part it stayed dormant all these years we have never had a way of getting to it without it being obvious or reckless, at least to my knowledge. When those frequencies started, post Nemo getting wrecked the Black Knight decided to start moving in a certain direction and it began emitting a frequency like the one that Juno read. Though it was softer and didn’t emit consistently it bleeped a few times then stopped and started moving.
From what we understand the Black Knight began moving towards Europe where it dropped something out of a holding bay onto a collision course with Earth. You guys should have seen the amount insanity that caused with the intel community, and NASA practically pooped themselves as this payload slammed into the Siberian tundra about 400 miles from anything remotely resembling human habitation and no one knew why or what it was.
That’s when the race had been on, every Government that wanted to see what it was, were sending everything they had up that way. The Russians had a huge head start and were pretty much all over it setting up quarantine stations and a huge facility over the top of what had struck the Earth. We were watching via spy satellites and stealth craft, whilst I’m told we had spies and wet work teams on the ground which made sense because we got photos from the inside of their makeshift facility. Our first reports showed that they’d been excavating it for days, it was a large 3 meter by 3-meter black cube. I’m serious it was a cube, with a lot of... well, I’m not sure, but the images we got back made it look like some sort of sludge. Like this oozing red sludge. The Russians were keeping away from the stuff as it probably freaked them out. They were instead sticking probes in it, taking samples and trying to figure out what it even was. The sludge was given a wide birth, as it was expanding out of the cube, the initial containment zone had been expanded, and was growing daily from the imagery we got back. This was concerning to us, and there had been talk of dropping all kinds of ordinance on the site. As far as we are aware we were moving into different defcons, which is a state of readiness for war.
It must have been something that happened because the cube emitted a pulse. This was read like a seismic event over in that region. For some reason the sludge apparently stopped moving. It just stayed in position and then it calcified. The info we got said the pulse made it crystallize and it looked like a ruby. Within the crystal were sacks or at least they looked like small gross little wiggling sacks full of puss and bile, like larvae or maggots looking for a meal.
No one exactly knew what had been going on, although they did know one thing, these larvae couldn’t be reached by anything, how we figured that out was easy. The Russians have some of the best drilling equipment on the planet and some of the largest and strongest diamond tipped filament drills in the world. Keep in mind that these types of machines and tech are specialized and leave a paper trail. They cost an exorbitant amount of money and are often from overseas corporate manufacturers. So, for secret projects they need a finer touch or end up leaving a large fingerprint on everything. In normal situations Governments will often pay using a black budget that no one can audit or talk about during a live parliament session. This relates to us because we were the ones who the Russians were buying extra drills from and our hardware to crack this structure. If Russia already had the equipment and they were buying more from overseas Manufacturers, it meant they needed help getting into it, and they didn’t care if it was obvious.
These larvae sacks eventually were dissected out of the crystalized structure The Russian government had stopped buying excessive amounts of drills, we heard. Now these larvae weren’t like the ones you find in movies, they looked like tiny little specs, which eventually grew to the size of human bodies, looked like a body bag that had veins and a lot of discharging sludge coming off them, they would wiggle around every now and then like a caterpillar moving around on a leaf, We knew that they didn’t get them all, but the willingness to continue wasting resources was weaning, they got a few of them and left the others, their scientists had found thousands of these things apparently, but they had just sealed off the cube and the word was they planned to fill the whole thing with concrete, or something worse.
The ones they extracted were moved to another facility and we only have sparring reports and rumor as to what had happened since their scientists are tight lipped and every spy that got close to this vanished. I’ll say this without any context. Its human. Somehow someway it’s human or at least appears to be. It has from the documents that we were able to obtain and translate, a human type of body with a working nervous system and humane features down to a detail. On a cellular level their cell structures and makeup of their nucleus is different though, they are harder to destroy, and the life cycle is elongated before undergoing mitosis. There was some speculation as to why they were birthed in those living larvae sacks, the theory went by some of the brains of the freelance contractors and the intel community that in order for any of those things to survive here they have to be birthed from this planet. which would include adapting their immune systems and growing on this planet. You can imagine the absolute nightmare fuel that brought about. This was when the higher ups really considered just dropping a nuke on the whole area and blowing it all to Jesus; and if I’m being honest, I don’t really blame them for wanting to do that. But somehow level heads prevailed, and they decided that if anything was going to happen the Kremlin would be the one to deal with it but if it went beyond their borders, it would be a NATO issue.
We had gotten assurances from higher ups that all data would be shared as it was increasingly obvious to every country involved. The negations meant that the Kremlin was prepared to drop any ordinance they had to deal with it. This wasn’t the best approach but there was an assumption from everyone that NATO would step in if something went sideways even if it was still in Russian territory. Things were very tense in those rooms, I’m just glad I’m not there anymore.
Here is the part that should scare the pants off anyone; we know for a fact that the larvae sacks eventually hatched, or something, and they all came out looking like humans, well they were birthed into various ages, some were 40 odd some were in their 20s, some female, some male. It was as if the birthing sacks had a set expectation of development, not only that, but they had ethnic diversity, meaning they had different racial traits and backgrounds. Some were Caucasoid, others Hispanic, Asian and so on. The Russians were smart enough to photograph and fingerprint all the ones that they had pulled from the ruby structure and thank God they did. Another weird coincidence was that when they ran the DNA and fingerprints most have matching DNA strands to those who have gone missing globally. Yeah, that’s right missing persons cases that have been all over the world, not just in the Russian region but globally. But the differences in their cell structure meant that these things weren’t those missing people, so that was its own pandoras box.
Now that we have caught up, The worst part. They lost them. They literally broke out of their containment zone and ran off into the Siberian tundra, most of them nude or in hospital gowns, those damned idiots lost them. What we know is before the giant jail break. Is that they had been attempting the communication process and education with these hybrid humans, but it hadn’t gone very well, somehow one of them had figured out some information that they shouldn’t have, and even though they were housed in one of the most sophisticated dark gulags they got, these hybrids got out, this isn’t some old soviet era dump, its an actual top level place where they were housing most spies and just pure evil people the Russian Government hated but couldn’t kill. They housed them there moving everyone else out and the Hybrids, they could communicate without anyone else knowing. So, they got out and are in the wind now, and everyone is losing their minds trying to find them. Good luck, I say.
I had to blow the whistle on this one, what the hell is being done to find these people? And what are they going to do if they catch them? I don’t know and don’t want to know, they killed everyone who knew too much and that includes me. so I’m gone, I’m out, I’m leaving this mess behind me, this will be one of my last broadcasts, don’t expect anything in the future, they are probably going to try and find me, but I’ll head off grid and stay off grid forever ill step back if anything ever comes about from this.
Just one more thing before I go, this is more of a thought that we played with in game theory classes during the strategy meetings. When the owners of the Little Rock station had a let’s call it a “security measure” in place to activate Black Knight to have all of this happen with the Cube and the Hybrids, and let’s say it’s a contingency to make sure their civilization survives, who were they fighting? and why were they losing. Food for thought.
DD
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SRMcleod to
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2023.06.08 15:52 SRMcleod They Wear a Human Face
This will be the last statement I ever make before I disappear forever. I’ve heard that this kind of a thing is quite common for those who finally grow a conscious and decide to leave for good. I personally don’t know anyone else apart from a few people I used to work with who knew about this, so here we go. My name isn’t important, but you can call me DD. When I think about it, I’m not important at all, I’m just the messenger or whistleblower, so anything else that would further “incriminate” me isn’t important either. What is important however is this story. It’ll probably be swept under some rug no doubt, that’s the usual approach to these things, the words “conspiracy theorists” has a strong negative vibe to it, we can thank the boys at Langley and the Pentagon for that one. They have been responsible for more cover ups and lies than anyone else on the planet, except for a few. Well anyway, spoiler alert; there’s a derelict object orbiting Ganymede which is one of the moons of Jupiter… Now that I have your attention let’s begin.
I work for NASA. Well, that’s half-truth really, if you saw my real credentials, you would say that I worked for NASA, and that’d be that. The truth is I’ve been free lancing for various intelligence agencies, some named, some not, for about the last 10 years... Most of the other guys that worked with me were sort of the same, varying in different fields. My job was to delete or remove all the UFO evidence the government “accidentally” let slip into the public eye. We call them UAP’s I’m not sure why the different name but that’s what we call them. What often happens is one of those idiot Astronauts goes for a spacewalk on the external side of the ISS and gets too wild with a camera and boom one of those things is front and center of the next biggest conspiracy to hit the internet; or one of those weather balloons go up for some science experiment or something and they catch one zooming on by. Let’s face it, its been happening a lot these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cover up and eradiate everything, whilst Tech Giant companies continue to sell to everyone on the planet a personal camera to record anything they want, with the ability to upload it.
You can only suppress this kind of thing for so long before the conspiracy theorists finally get enough evidence together to make most denials look suspicious at best, and if you keep denying it, well you just look dumb. One thing everyone must know about the Governments of the world, they really care about how they appear to the public, in their little Geopolitical world its known as Optics, its part of their control apparatus. But that’s another story.
So, with the Ganymede object. It requires context that it’s been seen by almost every major Government in the world. Before the James Webb telescope gave us detailed images, we were getting shots from Hubble, and so on and so forth. So, when you think about it this object sort of throws a whole wrench into well... Everything. As far as we were aware at the time when we found it there was a… damn I’m not sure what it was but shit... its strange. It looks like a space station sphere within a toroid, roughly 900 feet across in diameter, it or they both look as though they counter rotate. I think; around each other which is how it is maintaining its orbit, it’s hard to tell, because the body of it doesn’t have any patterns or distinctive features or something along those lines. Juno got too close to the thing, and made it shoot out a ping. So, they had to make it out to be a bunch of random sounds and disruption in downloads for those who wanted the pics from the Jovian planets moon for the mainstream media to keep the all the people calm. The media told everyone that Juno was disrupted, and communication would be shut down for a bit until the proximity was past. Sometimes I think those types of cover ups work a little too well. Juno got a lot closer, and no one was aware. That’s when people like me take over and we work to figure out as much as possible, and then cover the rest up.
The color of this thing shimmers from time to time, we couldn’t tell whether it was some sort of technology, or defensive camouflage or something that had been busted from the internals, or even if it had been naturally made to be iridescent, what we do know though however is that it emits little to no radiation, there is zero heat, and it has no life signatures whatsoever. Throughout this you will notice how behind the eight ball the intelligence services were when it came to this thing and can sometimes be with other of these major world altering revelations sometimes. But I digress.
So, we quickly began covering up everything, and gave it a name, Little Rock. Stupid and probably insulting but that’s what we call it as it looks like a rock anyhow. We tried dating how long Little Rock had been orbiting Ganymede, though without any form of reference it was anyone’s guess, quite possibly before life even existed here on Earth. There is another thing we had to verify about it, we had to make sure of this, but it has a giant freakin hole in the center of it, one of the guys who I worked with has been looking at UFO’s for quite some time, looking for offensive capabilities and the such, he told me that the hole could have been made by either a huge comet ramming through it, at some point in the past or, some other form of kinetic weapon that was shot through it. This evidence was in the images that Juno spat out and it’s like it’s been blown to pieces. We couldn’t make heads or tails as to how.
Moving along, we fast forward to why this has taken so long coming out. After the Juno cover up, we had to get on top of this thing before other Governments decided to move on this, so we launched another satellite in secret almost straight away, this one was launched by one of SpaceX’s rockets; they made a big show that it was only launching more of the Starlink satellites, but one of them had an Ion drive on it and slung shot itself around the planet to move into the trajectory of making it to Ganymede and hopefully running into Little Rock. Well, it worked. The Satellite we sent was called Nemo, it got into an orbit with Ganymede and has produced some more detailed photos of Little Rock, and well its worse than we thought.
Surprise to everyone we aren’t alone in the universe. I think I should just rip that band-aid off and let everyone digest what I just said. And yes, I meant that, we are not alone. We have the proof, but by now I think everyone’s suspicions are just confirmed.
Nemo was shot down, by probably the same thing that got Little Rock maybe? Whatever it was it had been hanging around after Juno passed it or it could have always been there, we aren’t sure. This thing looked like some inactive debris, so Nemo approached it and was instantly destroyed. When we looked at the play back footage, which took longer than we wanted it to get back to us, it looked like a small object had approached Nemo, it had a strange physical look which puzzled everyone, the only way to describe it would be the Angel depictions from the Genesis section of the bible like a sphere within a sphere.it was just bizarre.
The playback showed that as soon as Nemo got there it began moving and changing its orbital direction to meet Nemo, so we have limited information as to what it was and why it did it. When we saw the initial playback one of the four-star Generals who was there with us at the time told us all to copy it to his files for the Pentagon and delete the original. We had to do it but after that we all theorized about what our best guess was. The best one I remember was that it was some sort of proximity drone that activated too late when Little Rock got hit, went dormant again, then when Nemo turned up it went active and did its job. We think it’s a proximity drone since it never attacked Juno, because Juno didn’t get too close like Nemo did.
Now we get to the best part. Somewhere along the line the drone must have been scanning the wreckage of Nemo and figured out its origin, keep in mind that we didn’t leave one of those dumb golden plates on Nemo like Voyagers got, that pretty much says come and get us. So how it made the connection is a mystery to us. What happened next was very scary, we got the same frequencies that Juno picked up earlier here on Earth. For reference there is loads of space junk up there above our heads, and some of it woke up. To be specific the one that woke up is a bit infamous, it’s called the Black Knight Satellite, this thing has been in orbit for the longest time around the south pole; we had originally assumed it was a hunk of debris from the Mir station years ago, but as of more recently we thought it was something else, the conspiracies surrounding it say it is an Alien spacecraft, and well its true. We keep an eye on these things in case, and for the most part it stayed dormant all these years we have never had a way of getting to it without it being obvious or reckless, at least to my knowledge. When those frequencies started, post Nemo getting wrecked the Black Knight decided to start moving in a certain direction and it began emitting a frequency like the one that Juno read. Though it was softer and didn’t emit consistently it bleeped a few times then stopped and started moving.
From what we understand the Black Knight began moving towards Europe where it dropped something out of a holding bay onto a collision course with Earth. You guys should have seen the amount insanity that caused with the intel community, and NASA practically pooped themselves as this payload slammed into the Siberian tundra about 400 miles from anything remotely resembling human habitation and no one knew why or what it was.
That’s when the race had been on, every Government that wanted to see what it was, were sending everything they had up that way. The Russians had a huge head start and were pretty much all over it setting up quarantine stations and a huge facility over the top of what had struck the Earth. We were watching via spy satellites and stealth craft, whilst I’m told we had spies and wet work teams on the ground which made sense because we got photos from the inside of their makeshift facility. Our first reports showed that they’d been excavating it for days, it was a large 3 meter by 3-meter black cube. I’m serious it was a cube, with a lot of... well, I’m not sure, but the images we got back made it look like some sort of sludge. Like this oozing red sludge. The Russians were keeping away from the stuff as it probably freaked them out. They were instead sticking probes in it, taking samples and trying to figure out what it even was. The sludge was given a wide birth, as it was expanding out of the cube, the initial containment zone had been expanded, and was growing daily from the imagery we got back. This was concerning to us, and there had been talk of dropping all kinds of ordinance on the site. As far as we are aware we were moving into different defcons, which is a state of readiness for war.
It must have been something that happened because the cube emitted a pulse. This was read like a seismic event over in that region. For some reason the sludge apparently stopped moving. It just stayed in position and then it calcified. The info we got said the pulse made it crystallize and it looked like a ruby. Within the crystal were sacks or at least they looked like small gross little wiggling sacks full of puss and bile, like larvae or maggots looking for a meal.
No one exactly knew what had been going on, although they did know one thing, these larvae couldn’t be reached by anything, how we figured that out was easy. The Russians have some of the best drilling equipment on the planet and some of the largest and strongest diamond tipped filament drills in the world. Keep in mind that these types of machines and tech are specialized and leave a paper trail. They cost an exorbitant amount of money and are often from overseas corporate manufacturers. So, for secret projects they need a finer touch or end up leaving a large fingerprint on everything. In normal situations Governments will often pay using a black budget that no one can audit or talk about during a live parliament session. This relates to us because we were the ones who the Russians were buying extra drills from and our hardware to crack this structure. If Russia already had the equipment and they were buying more from overseas Manufacturers, it meant they needed help getting into it, and they didn’t care if it was obvious.
These larvae sacks eventually were dissected out of the crystalized structure The Russian government had stopped buying excessive amounts of drills, we heard. Now these larvae weren’t like the ones you find in movies, they looked like tiny little specs, which eventually grew to the size of human bodies, looked like a body bag that had veins and a lot of discharging sludge coming off them, they would wiggle around every now and then like a caterpillar moving around on a leaf, We knew that they didn’t get them all, but the willingness to continue wasting resources was weaning, they got a few of them and left the others, their scientists had found thousands of these things apparently, but they had just sealed off the cube and the word was they planned to fill the whole thing with concrete, or something worse.
The ones they extracted were moved to another facility and we only have sparring reports and rumor as to what had happened since their scientists are tight lipped and every spy that got close to this vanished. I’ll say this without any context. Its human. Somehow someway it’s human or at least appears to be. It has from the documents that we were able to obtain and translate, a human type of body with a working nervous system and humane features down to a detail. On a cellular level their cell structures and makeup of their nucleus is different though, they are harder to destroy, and the life cycle is elongated before undergoing mitosis. There was some speculation as to why they were birthed in those living larvae sacks, the theory went by some of the brains of the freelance contractors and the intel community that in order for any of those things to survive here they have to be birthed from this planet. which would include adapting their immune systems and growing on this planet. You can imagine the absolute nightmare fuel that brought about. This was when the higher ups really considered just dropping a nuke on the whole area and blowing it all to Jesus; and if I’m being honest, I don’t really blame them for wanting to do that. But somehow level heads prevailed, and they decided that if anything was going to happen the Kremlin would be the one to deal with it but if it went beyond their borders, it would be a NATO issue.
We had gotten assurances from higher ups that all data would be shared as it was increasingly obvious to every country involved. The negations meant that the Kremlin was prepared to drop any ordinance they had to deal with it. This wasn’t the best approach but there was an assumption from everyone that NATO would step in if something went sideways even if it was still in Russian territory. Things were very tense in those rooms, I’m just glad I’m not there anymore.
Here is the part that should scare the pants off anyone; we know for a fact that the larvae sacks eventually hatched, or something, and they all came out looking like humans, well they were birthed into various ages, some were 40 odd some were in their 20s, some female, some male. It was as if the birthing sacks had a set expectation of development, not only that, but they had ethnic diversity, meaning they had different racial traits and backgrounds. Some were Caucasoid, others Hispanic, Asian and so on. The Russians were smart enough to photograph and fingerprint all the ones that they had pulled from the ruby structure and thank God they did. Another weird coincidence was that when they ran the DNA and fingerprints most have matching DNA strands to those who have gone missing globally. Yeah, that’s right missing persons cases that have been all over the world, not just in the Russian region but globally. But the differences in their cell structure meant that these things weren’t those missing people, so that was its own pandoras box.
Now that we have caught up, The worst part. They lost them. They literally broke out of their containment zone and ran off into the Siberian tundra, most of them nude or in hospital gowns, those damned idiots lost them. What we know is before the giant jail break. Is that they had been attempting the communication process and education with these hybrid humans, but it hadn’t gone very well, somehow one of them had figured out some information that they shouldn’t have, and even though they were housed in one of the most sophisticated dark gulags they got, these hybrids got out, this isn’t some old soviet era dump, its an actual top level place where they were housing most spies and just pure evil people the Russian Government hated but couldn’t kill. They housed them there moving everyone else out and the Hybrids, they could communicate without anyone else knowing. So, they got out and are in the wind now, and everyone is losing their minds trying to find them. Good luck, I say.
I had to blow the whistle on this one, what the hell is being done to find these people? And what are they going to do if they catch them? I don’t know and don’t want to know, they killed everyone who knew too much and that includes me. so I’m gone, I’m out, I’m leaving this mess behind me, this will be one of my last broadcasts, don’t expect anything in the future, they are probably going to try and find me, but I’ll head off grid and stay off grid forever ill step back if anything ever comes about from this.
Just one more thing before I go, this is more of a thought that we played with in game theory classes during the strategy meetings. When the owners of the Little Rock station had a let’s call it a “security measure” in place to activate Black Knight to have all of this happen with the Cube and the Hybrids, and let’s say it’s a contingency to make sure their civilization survives, who were they fighting? and why were they losing. Food for thought.
DD
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2023.06.08 15:37 alartsf Need help/feedback of first PC build
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2023.06.08 15:08 SilverCapital-1 Silver Capital: Building a World-Class Investment Firm, Providing Top-Notch International Investment Solutions
| With the rapid growth of global e-commerce, an increasing number of individual and institutional investors are recognizing the investment opportunities in this field. As an independent investment firm based in California, USA, Silver Capital has emerged as a force to be reckoned with among international top-tier investment firms. Its groundbreaking "Perpetual Value Engine" model has set the direction for the global investment market. Since its inception, Silver Capital has been committed to the mission of "accelerating the expansion of impactful ventures" by simplifying investment processes, optimizing portfolios, and providing a comprehensive range of investment services. In sectors such as blockchain, consumer goods, biotechnology, water resources, aerospace and defense, electronics and information technology, energy conservation and environmental protection, securities, chemicals, artificial intelligence, new energy, semiconductors, big data, software, cybersecurity, Internet of Things, cloud services, 5G, sharing economy, 3D technology, autonomous driving, quantum technology, transportation, elderly care, smart cities, medical aesthetics, robotics, nuclear energy, steel, and transportation, Silver Capital has successfully forged projects worth trillions of dollars, achieving remarkable accomplishments. Among the success stories of Silver Capital, there are some projects worth special attention. For instance, Silver Capital partnered with the decentralized storage network Filecoin in a $1 billion project, contributing to the rapid rise of its ecosystem token FIL, which has become one of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Through a strategic partnership and a total investment of $700 million, Silver Capital doubled the value of EOS, a prominent blockchain platform. By investing in the international B2C fast-fashion cross-border e-commerce platform SHEIN, Silver Capital helped it become the most influential global fashion cross-border e-commerce platform, generating a total revenue of up to $3.6 billion. Against the backdrop of the ongoing rapid development of the cross-border e-commerce industry, Silver Capital is actively seeking new opportunities and partners. Cross-border e-commerce represents a vast market, with global e-commerce sales projected to exceed $70 trillion by 2025. Silver Capital will dive into investments in the cross-border e-commerce sector and establish TopPlaza, a cross-border e-commerce platform, to jointly share the dividends of the digital information era. TopPlaza will operate under a B2C model, providing a new online shopping environment for global consumers through the internet. All partners will receive shares calculated based on their invested capital and collectively share the investment returns generated by the platform. https://preview.redd.it/shfe13yhms4b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=e63fe63851045c0defcc8e724afba5df95dbc991 In conclusion, as an independent investment firm dedicated to building a world-class investment institution and providing top-notch international investment solutions, Silver Capital has achieved remarkable success and will continue to seek new opportunities and partners to empower millions of entrepreneurs worldwide in sectors such as blockchain, biotechnology, consumer goods, and e-commerce, facilitating the rapid expansion of their impact on a global scale. submitted by SilverCapital-1 to NFTsMarketplace [link] [comments] |
2023.06.08 15:03 cargoson Freight Rate Management Software: An Essential Tool for Modern Businesses
| Originally posted on the Cargoson blog In today's competitive business environment, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers are always seeking new methods to improve their operations and reduce costs. Logistics is one area where these efficiencies are particularly needed. Freight rate management software is emerging as an invaluable tool that can help businesses optimize these processes, providing real-time insights and seamless management of freight contracts and quotes. The Shift from Manual to Digital Freight rate management often resembles a complex, intricate puzzle, due in large part to the lack of a standardized process. Picture this scenario: within the same freight forwarding or carrier company, one employee might send a customer a freight rate sheet as an Excel spreadsheet, while another uses a PDF file. Even more critical, each sheet could follow a distinct price calculation logic. This lack of uniformity makes the comparison of rates a challenging task. When you bring different carriers into the mix, the complexity magnifies. Each carrier's rate sheet may differ significantly, complicating the task of calculating and comparing freight prices. It's not unlike decoding different languages - the core message might be the same, but it takes time and effort to comprehend and translate the details accurately. Some carriers offer some structure by providing customer-specific rate calculations on their websites. While this is an improvement, it's not quite a complete solution for businesses working with multiple carriers: they are left to manually navigate each carrier's website, input shipment information, and then laboriously standardize and compare quotes. Spot rate requests Spot rate requests present another layer of complexity. While certain carriers have adapted to the digital age, offering online tools for these requests, there are many that continue to rely on traditional methods such as emails and phone calls. It's a process that lacks the convenience and speed of modern digital tools, contributing to operational inefficiencies. The old method of managing freight contracts manually and comparing quotes from various carriers is not only labor-intensive, it's also prone to errors. This approach can lead to businesses overpaying for shipping or misquoting their customers due to discrepancies between contract and actual freight costs. There's a growing recognition of the need for change, an evolution from manual to digital. Modern software solutions, like a freight rate management system incorporated into a broader Transportation Management System (TMS), represent a new wave of efficiency. With an advanced rate management solution, businesses can centralize all their freight contracts and streamline the quote request processes. This brings consistency and structure to a formerly unstandardized landscape, ushering in a new era of accuracy and efficiency in freight rate management. Efficient Freight Contract Rate Management A freight contract rate management system empowers businesses to maintain and manage all their freight contracts on a single platform. By doing this, businesses can request freight quotes from all their carriers with a single click, and have them returned to the same platform, eliminating the need for manual comparison and significantly reducing the chance for human error. This process not only improves efficiency but also allows businesses to gain complete visibility into their logistics operations. The system offers a single source of truth for all freight contracts and quotes, enabling accurate rate comparisons and freight cost calculations. Real-time Quotes and Accurate Pricing Freight rate management software enables businesses to assure their customer quotes are both accurate and competitive. By offering real-time access to pre-negotiated contract rates with their carriers, businesses can readily calculate precise shipping costs before setting the final product price for the customer. This technology is applicable in a variety of business tools. For instance, Cargoson's Freight Price API can be integrated into a company's existing ERP, online store or other business software. This integration allows customers to receive instant freight quotes or enables salespeople to rapidly determine prices when providing a final quote to a customer. However, if direct API integration isn't required, Cargoson offers a simple, standalone tool, the CargoPriceList shipping calculator. This tool is designed for ease of use by the salespeople when creating quotes to their customers. Some businesses even choose to give their customers direct access to the calculator. It serves as a practical application of the Freight Price API for businesses that need instant access to freight rates without needing to integrate the API directly into their existing software. Shipping calculator Moreover, with the contact rate management software's ability to provide aggregated transport price statistics, businesses can leverage valuable insights to negotiate better rates during the next year's transport tender process. Read how VBH, the expert supplier of hardware and ancillaries to the window and door industry, improved their transport tendering process. Streamlining Costs and Improving Margins A key benefit of freight rate management software is the potential for cost savings. By providing visibility into actual freight costs and enabling accurate quotes, businesses can manage their freight costs more effectively, leading to improved profit margins. The software also assists in optimizing internal processes and reducing operational costs. By minimizing bureaucratic and administrative tasks, such as organizing transport tenders, managing freight contracts, and calculating prices based on these contracts, businesses can focus their resources on their core operations, thereby driving operational efficiencies. Freight rate management software is more than just a digital platform - it's a strategic tool that enables businesses to transform their logistics operations, enhancing customer satisfaction, and driving business growth. From delivering instant freight quotes and simplifying freight cost calculation, to streamlining the shipping process, this software solution unlocks the full potential of modern logistics management. But remember, when choosing a transportation management system, ensure it incorporates a comprehensive freight rate management module - it's a critical component for making your logistics operations more efficient and competitive. submitted by cargoson to u/cargoson [link] [comments] |
2023.06.08 14:57 jlunduski Adriatic Itinerary Check + Hertz (rental car) Question
Hey All! My Fiancee and I planned our honeymoon along the Adriatic Sea and wanted to get a gut check on how we did, any suggestions, or experiences for you all to add.
Also we rented a rental car from Hertz. From what I read, we should have no issue crossing the borders of these countries, but I wanted to hear any tips/tricks. I tried chatting/calling Hertz but they said I would have to call the international support line. I want to basically confirm that I can one-way rental across countries. Even though it confirmed the rental online, I don't want to run into additional issues upon arrival.
- Flying into Dubrovnik and picking up rental car.
- 3 Nights - Kotor, Montenegro
- We splashed out on a nice airbnb with private pool to relax after the chaotic wedding. With the car we could take half day trips around the bay.
- 2 Nights - Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Drive back to Dubrovnik and spend a few nights there
- Day Trip - Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
- We wanted to try to have one "travel" day. We could spend a half day in Mostar on our way to Split.
- 2 Nights - Split, Croatia
- 1 Night - Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 2 Nights - Venice, Italy
- Flying out of Venice
If there are any must sees, dos, don'ts, or advice to our plan or rental car advice - please let me know, cheers!
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2023.06.08 14:56 cmakohon [USA-NC] [H] Gaming PC with RTX 3070 8GB, Ryzen 7 3700X, 1.5TB SSD, 16GB RAM, X570-PLUS [W] Paypal
Just not using my PC enough to warrant keeping it. Everything is in perfect working condition, there is some scratching on the metal side of the case but that is always against the wall for me. GPU has only ever been used for (pretty light) gaming, never mining.
Asking $850 shipped to CONUS Paypal G&S. Local to Charlotte, NC is even better. Happy to ship however the buyer wants, I have most of the boxes for the individual parts still. Here is a link to pictures as well as the PCPartPicker list. Please let me know if you have any questions!
PICTURES PCPartPicker Part List
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2023.06.08 14:54 The_T113 Looking for a high capacity drive (14 TB+) but I have no idea what I'm doing.
I'd like to get a very high capacity drive (at least 14 TB), preferably internal but I'm not opposed to external. It would be used almost entirely for storing videos.
- I genuinely don't understand what read/write speeds I should be looking for. If I do plan to watch videos from the drive (nothing 4K, but at the most good quality 1080p video), is this a concern?
- I know almost nothing about RAIDs. At this capacity point, should I be looking into one? If so, where do I begin with this?
- I've seen a lot of drives that are NAS. I have no idea what this is. What is the benefit of it? Are they drives I can use as a single drive, and not as part of a RAID? What benefits do they offer, how are they "network accessible"? If I have another computer that I'd want to be able to write to the drive, how viable is that to set up?
Some things I'm looking at but I don't understand:
https://www.newegg.com/seagate-exos-x18-st18000nm000j-18tb/p/1B4-00VK-00616?Item=1B4-00VK-00616 - All the info about it mentions RAID storage; is this drive usable outside of a RAID, or do I want to be looking into a RAID?
https://www.newegg.com/red-pro-wd181kfgx-18tb/p/N82E16822234430 - Similar to above; what does the NAS offer me, and is this usable standalone?
I am definitely open to other suggestions, these are just two that I've been looking at for their size and the price being about what I'm ok with.
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2023.06.08 14:43 jpitha Just A Little Further 23/40
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It's still early, so we go and find a cafe and have lunch. Once again, I don't have to use my voice, they just give us our meal for free. I really should get an idea about money though. I know they are called Skys, I know at least part of them are small green metallic coins - actually they look like the same metal the Throne and Chairs are made out of, I wonder if they are - and I know that everyone uses them here to buy stuff. I should ask about banks. We should pay a visit to one. I'm sure they'd be... happy to explain it to me.
That's for later though. For now, we work our way to the dock, and find the internal docking bay that Omar found.
Walking in, it becomes clear that we have a lot of work ahead.
High Line is in here thanks to Omar earlier and it's...
It's junk.
Even when it was operating, it was clearly made up of a hodgepodge of between three and five different starships. This thing has been limping along on patches and ad hoc repairs for
centuries it looks like.
Human ships from our side of the galaxy tend to be very personalized. Riots of color, patterns, little flourishes here and there that speak to the tastes and preferences of the operator. It's probably a function of the fact that all our ships are AI operated. It's their body, and they decorate and personalize it.
High Line is... downright drab in comparison.
Grey on grey with streaks of soot and... is that rust? It looks like rust. What would rust on a spacecraft hull? High Line is all boxes and blocks stuck together where they fit or where a need was found. I'm much more used to the sweeping, flowing shapes the Starjumpers have. In addition to looking fast, they look much more elegant. Even our smaller ships, the Frigates and Destroyers tend towards looking more like living creatures than... a box.
As I walk around staring at things and - apparently - making a sour face, Starlight, Ocean and River are standing there, looking nervous and worried. "So Empress... Here is High Line. We admit, it's a little more worse for wear than the ship you came to us on, but.." Starlight stands a little taller. "It got my forebears here all those years ago and through all that time put many light-years on it shuttling people around the system and still held air and gravity. It's not much to look at, but it was ours."
I mean, they're right. Maybe I'm being too hard on it. They got centuries of use out of with with barely any maintenance. All the more reason to refit it right and make it soar once again.
Omar seems like he's having a great time. Walking around, taking measurements going in and out. "Melody, it might not be much to look at now, but it's actually a pretty good foundation! We can add some improved thrusters, beef up the armor, add a wormhole generator and some laser batteries and while we won't be able to take on a dreadnought or even a Starjumper, we'll be able to hold our own against anything local we've seen. It's got plenty of room inside too. You won't have a suite of rooms like at the Royal Dawn, but I should be able to make you an... appropriately royal room.
"At this point
a starship is better than
no starship so I'll take what I can get. How long will the refit take, Omar?"
He looks at the ship, at the Aviens and then at me. "It will depend on their printer and how well we can integrate the designs from my copy of the database but maybe a month? Hopefully less?"
"Well then, you had better get started Omar. You spend your time getting High Line up to your satisfaction, and let me know about your progress. For now, we will be staying at the Royal Dawn. I don't know if there's other royal quarters that we just haven't found or if the hotel is made out of the original royal quarters, but I'm satisfied with our current accommodations. Make your own schedule and if you need something or someone, just let me know. Starlight" - I look pointedly at them - "can help you with any personnel needs you have." Starlight bobs their head eagerly. "If you need to speak to me or the others, you should be able to though the Reach. Just... concentrate and it should work."
"Okay Melody, I'll get on it. Come on Starlight, show me the printer. Ocean, go see what kind of help you can find for us. River, go see about the condition of the other starships. Some of them have to be operable, how else is food getting here?" Omar looks up at us as the Aviens run off in different directions to obey Omar. "What happened to Ottarn, that Mariens who took their ship and tried to run? If nothing else, we could use that ship."
"They went with FarReach. They told me that they scooped up Ottarn and their ship and were going to take them where they wanted to go."
"Hmm, do you think that means back to human space?" Um'reli asks and she's looking at the ship.
"I have no idea, I don't think so? I'm not sure what they'd find out there to benefit them."
This time Ava puts her hands on her hips and stares at us. "You mean, other that some sympathetic ears to listen to their story about a human who has installed herself as Empress in their space and might be willing to lend a hand with a couple of Starjumpers and their assorted lasers and missiles? You
did lock the Gate after FarReach left, right?"
Uh oh. I forgot.
"Uh, sure thing Ava, let me just go... double check that it's locked. I reach out and I can feel the Gate from here though it's faint and... fuzzy. The lock was simple enough though I push here... pull that... and...
"Okay, yes, it's locked."
"Good. We don't want Ottarn coming back with reinforcements or something just yet. Later though... let them come. We'll show them." Ava's grin is worrying me a little bit. She seems much too excited about showing off.
I grab Ava and Um'reli "Come on, let's leave Omar to his work. We have other things to take care of. I think we're going to have to hire on some help, but before that we're going to have to figure out money."
Ava scoffs as we walk "You're still going on about money? Just make people help us out."
"Ava we're looking to help out here, not be overthrown in a couple weeks. If I make people help us, the moment we walk away people will start to wonder why they're helping us at all."
"Melody has a point Ava. What is it that we
do here?" Um'reli is really good at throwing cold water on Ava's plans. I'm glad she came. Without her I have a hunch that Ava would be talking me into all kinds of bad ideas.
"Builders seem to work like the AIs on Starbases back home. So it's not like we have
no job."
"Well then, let's go back to the Throne and do some
work. I'm tired of walking around trying to mooch free stuff from people because they're scared of Melody." Um'reli stars walking back towards the Throne. I really don't have anything else to do, so I follow. "You coming, Ava?"
"I guess. I don't have anything else to do." Ava looks around somewhat wistfully and follows. I wonder what she was hoping to do instead. Probably have me order people to give her something.
As we walk into the entryway to the Throne - there's still no back door, I really need to find one or make one - something catches my eye. I walk over and... "It's a shrine"
"What?" Ava peeks over my shoulder "Oh, it's
beautiful."
It really is. Someone made a drawing of us in some kind of pastel medium, like pencils or chalk. It's... me at the top, my wings spread wide and I'm glowing. Below that, it's Um'reli, Ava and Omar standing tall and proud looking up. Under that is a decent representation of hundreds of people bowing before us. Written on the bottom in the same local script I see all over it says "May They Protect Us." The drawing is on a little easel and there are flowers and candles all around it in a semicircle.
Protect them from what though?
"These flowers are amazing! I've never seen ones like this before" Um'reli bends down to get a closer look. She takes a deep breath "And they smell so good, Ava, Melody, you should smell them!"
Well if Um'reli, a K'laxi can smell them and not immediately break out in allergic hives, it's probably fine for us to smell too. I bend down low and... they smell... familiar? Why is that?
Ava straightens "These were grown. We need to find out where the gardens are and visit it!"
Um'reli stands as well. "
After we get some work done Ava. We need to show everyone that we do something and aren't a drain on resources because Melody can order them around and they can't say no."
"What's the point of all this power if we don't use it!"
"Ava, we 'use it' like you want to and people will come after us with guns and knives. Who was the Empress before Melody?" Um'reli is looking hard at Ava.
"We have no idea."
"
Exactly." Um'reli continues up the stairs to the Throne itself. I follow and Ava pouts but doesn't say anything further.
In the Builder room, Um'reli and Ava sit down. Their bodies go distant and they are integrating. "Okay Ava, Um'reli. You get down to work, I'm going to see about finding a bank and talking to them. Any idea where one is?"
"One moment Melody..." Ava is searching. "Okay, looks like a bank is down the street from the Administration building. It's not far."
"Thanks! Just reach out to me if you need anything." I head back out and down the stairs of the throne, passing by the little shine again. It really is cute, though I wish they put something a little more specific about what they wanted us to protect them from. Oh well, with our luck we'll find out soon enough.
It's not actually a long walk to the bank, Ava was right, it was just down the street from the Administration building. As I walk past I see that a couple people are cleaning up the barricades finally. I wave as I walk by, and they stand smartly and bow. Nice.
Soon enough, I come across what I assume is the bank. It's a large building, made out of the same material as the Administration building, marking it as very old. There is a large double door in the front made of what looks like the same metal as the coins everyone uses. The doors stand open with two people (an Azurian and a Mariens) standing out front. With a little wave to them, I walk in.
It's... a bank. Really. Tellers, little booths where people can discuss finance, even a little table before you get in line to fill out small slips of paper. I walk over to an Aviens who is sitting at a desk by the front door. They look up and do a double take when they see me. I'm not wearing my wings and crown anymore, but I still have on the gown from earlier.
"Uh, good day Holy One, what may this one help you with?" Holy One. Interesting.
"I would like to speak to the Bank Manager, please."
They rush to stand and their chair slides back with a squawk. "Of course, Holy One. Please, wait right here." The gesture over to a small group of chairs up against the wall. I can't really think of a reason why not, so I go over and sit.
Next to me is one of the pressure suited people. Up close, I can see how their suits are segmented metal colored bronze and completely decorated in elaborate carvings. They really are quite beautiful. Their helmets are almost completely featureless except for a bar where human eyes would be and there is what looks like a speaker on their neck.
I clear my throat. "Pardon me, I'm so sorry, but I haven't met one of you yet. Can you tell me your name and the name of your people?"
With just the most subtle clank and whir, they turn their head. "I am known as Vaaqo, and here, people call us Falor in your tongue." His head inclines slightly. "That is to say, the language that most people here speak call us Falor. I do not know your word for us in your Builder tongue."
"Falor is fine with me." I say brightly, and then stop. "Unless it is insulting to you or something."
They make a gesture with their hands. The Nanites indicate that they are indicating no. Oh, that makes sense! If they're suited all the time, most body language markers are lost. Hand gestures could take over for a bunch of nonspeaking conversation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Vaaqo, thank you so much for the information. I have so many questions, but I will only ask one for now. Do you have to stay in your suit all the time?"
The same gesture meaning no. "We are fortunate that the upper sunward lobe of the Reach has a pressure door. We're able to maintain our helium methane atmosphere and higher ambient pressure and live suit free. The remains of our starship are installed up there, and we use it to control our own breathing gas."
They took their ship apart to survive? "Oh but that means you're trapped here! Once we open the gates and build more ships, we can send a message to your people."
Another gesture. The Nanites say it might be a smile "That is kind of you to offer, Empress. Before... well before, we were in the middle of a war. We were offered refuge here and so we do not know if any others of our kind remain. It will be... nice to find out for sure."
They're holding something back. I think they don't want to insult you. It's fine. I see no need to compel them to tell me what they're hiding. It's probably something embarrassing to them or they think to me.
Luckily for all of us, you have no shame. Ha ha.
As I argue with my Nanites, a Mariens walks up, looking nervous. "Hol-Empress, what a pleasant surprise. Thank you for taking the time to visit our fine financial establishment! My name is Utaid and I am at your service." He bows elaborately.
I stand and try to tower only slightly. I want to impress, not intimidate. "The pleasure is all mine Utaid, I am happy to have met you. I wish to open an account so that I will be able to pay people for services they render me."
They look shocked. "E-Empress, of course. We will do everything in our power to help. Since... all here is yours that of course includes all the money stored in the different banks across the Reach."
I nod. "While this is true, I am not a tyrant. I wish to make sure that people are paid and that operations continue as closely to before as possible. Please accept payment requests that come in from people in my name and keep records. We will do our utmost to make sure that the money going in is equal to or greater than the money coming out... in the long term."
They visibly relax. I wonder if they thought I was just going to come in and demand all the currency?
"It will be our
most sincere pleasure Empress. We are proud that you have selected us to carry out your financial orders in Your name. We shall set up everything and dispatch a runner to you when it has been completed. I assume you are residing at the Royal Dawn hotel?"
"Yes, that's correct. How did you know?"
They look smug and embarrassed? How did they manage that? "Even though Reach of the Might of Vzzx is a very large starbase, rumors still seem to fly faster than light."
"Ah, thank you Utaid for all your help. I await your runners." They bow low again and I walk out.
Huh, that was easy. I guess people are starting to realize that I really am Empress and I really am trying to help everyone. Feeling very happy, I begin to walk back to the Throne.
"Uh, Melody there might be a problem." Um'reli's voice sounds worried in my head. She figured out how to contact me directly, very nice!
"What is it Um'reli?"
"Just a minute ago, I saw what looked like an alert. Ava and I checked it out and there's
something going on at the main transit hub station. We either don't understand the alert or can't ready it yet. Can you check it out please?"
"Oh neat! I haven't been there yet. Sure, I'll go down and check it out. You two stay up there and be my eyes and ears."
The transit station is right around the corner from the bank. It reminds me a lot of photos of transit stations back on Earth. platforms, people milling about, advertising. But I see no crowds or anything worrying. I connect to the Starbase and think to Ava and Um'reli "I don't see any problem here, what's going on?"
"It's not here, it's at the main station. Get on the next train and ride two stops, you'll see it."
Oh, okay. Just as Ava finished speaking, a train rolls up. Like a lot of this place, it clearly was very fancy a long long time ago. The fact that it's still working is pretty impressive, even if it looks a bit run down. I walk on, and look around. There are seats all along the walls of the train car and poles along the middle to hang on to. Mentally I shrug and sit down near the door. After a moment, there's a trilling chime and the doors close.
With a lurch and a hiss of brakes, we get moving. I wonder if this train is automated, or if someone drives it. I should ask later. I'm lost in thought for the ride through the first station stop, but then I look around and realize
everyone is staring at me.
"Oh, Hello!" I say brightly.
Immediately, the people closest to me drop to the ground, bowing their heads. "Oh, thank you, but you don't have to do that right now, please just sit. I'm just riding the train over to the hub station. My Builders tell me there's some kind of issue and I'm going to check it out."
"But, Empress... Surely you have people that you can send to do that for you?" It's a Mariens sitting across from me. They look amused.
"Oh not right now. I'm... between retainers and assistants right now. One of my Builders, Omar is helping to repair the High Line, that Aviens ship, and my other two, Ava and Um'reli are sitting in their Chairs, assisting with the operation of the Reach." Oh wait. "Do
you want a job? I do find myself needing more people to help out with-" I gesture "-all this. I'm not sure how much to pay yet but I did just come back from the bank, so I'll be able to pay you; I'm sure I'll work all the rest out soon enough."
The Mariens chuckles "Thank you for the generous offer Empress, but I quite like my job. If you so order it... of course I'd help. If you're just asking though, no thank you."
"Oh, that's quite all right. I don't want to order you. But, if you know anyone that would like to help, have them come to the Throne chamber tomorrow, we'll see what we can do!" I look around at everyone trying very hard to look like they're not listening in. "That goes for anyone here too! If you want a job, come see us, if you know someone that does, send them. I need help, and I would love for it to be you!"
And with that same trilling chime, the doors open and I'm at the hub station.
Ah. Okay. I see what Ava and Um'reli are talking about.
There's a riot.
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2023.06.08 14:42 Choice_Client_5400 $EPAZ Bounce Play Watchlist (EPAZ, GAXY, AABB, HMBL)
$EPAZ Bounce Play Watchlist (EPAZ, GAXY, AABB, HMBL)
06/08/2023 03:28am EDT
In the fast-paced world of stock trading and investment, savvy market participants are constantly scanning the horizon for lucrative opportunities hidden within market fluctuations. These periods of volatility can present a unique window for astute investors to capitalize on potential bargains.
For this article, let's turn our attention to a selection of four penny stocks that have recently encountered a temporary downturn. However, beneath the surface lies an intriguing narrative of resilience and potential resurgence, capturing the attention of shrewd investors seeking hidden gems in the market.
EPAZZ INC. (OTC: EPAZ)
The first company with the potential for a bounce play is Epazz, Inc. (OTC:EPAZ). EPAZ is a mission-critical provider of drone technology, blockchain mobile apps, and cloud-based business software solutions.
Throughout this spring, EPAZ and their spinoff company, ZenaDrone, have been making significant strides with their flagship product, the ZenaDrone 1000. This advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has garnered substantial interest from various sectors, positioning Epazz as a rising stock in the industry.
In March 2023, ZenaDrone, Inc., received a letter of support from the U.S. Air Force, solidifying the drone's potential for drone cargo delivery, including critical blood transport. The U.S. Air Force invited ZenaDrone to conduct tests at an overseas base under battlefield conditions, showcasing the drone's capabilities in a military environment. This milestone not only attracted attention from the U.S. Air Force but also caught the interest of the U.S. Army.
The successful presentation of the ZenaDrone 1000 at the AERO General Aviation Convention in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in April further bolstered its reputation. This exposure resulted in multiple scheduled demonstrations with NATO partner countries, law enforcement departments, and a prominent German rail line. In addition, ZenaDrone's engagement with German UAV regulators for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations also demonstrates the company's commitment to staying ahead of industry standards and expanding its market reach.
In another update, EPAZ announced a meeting with Ossian Smyth, minister of state at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform of Ireland, at ZenaDrone's offices in Dublin. ZenaDrone is currently in negotiations with a financing institution for a deal to purchase up to 100 ZenaDrone 1000s, paving the way for drone-as-a-service operations in Ireland, which could prove to be a lucrative opportunity for the company.
Something that could help with a rebound is that EPAZ is not only focused on the drone technology itself but also on key supporting components. The company has been actively filing patents for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based drone technology, with two patents already granted and two others under review with the US Patent Office.
In line with their commitment to innovative technologies, EPAZ recently formed Galaxy Batteries Inc., a subsidiary dedicated to housing their battery technology intellectual property. The company's high-powered battery solutions are essential for running specialized devices and aircraft. EPAZ is evaluating opportunities to monetize these technologies and provide additional value to the company.
Epazz's strategic updates this spring, including securing military interest, expanding international partnerships, and advancing patent filings, could make them a compelling investment prospect.
As EPAZ continues to develop and commercialize cutting-edge drone technology and battery solutions, investors may want to keep an eye on Epazz, Inc. (OTC: EPAZ) for potential opportunities within the ever-growing drone industry.
GALAXY NEXT GENERATION (OTC: GAXY)
GAXY is a leading provider of interactive learning technology solutions and school communication platforms. With over 22 resellers across the United States, the company serves the commercial and educational markets. The K-12 education segment accounts for nearly 90% of Galaxy's sales.
Latest Contract Win on June 6: Galaxy recently secured a significant contract worth a minimum of $200,000 from a prominent school district in Northeast Ohio. The contract involves supplying G2 Bell, Paging, Intercom, and Clock (BPIC) hardware, along with G2 Communicator software, to five schools within the district. Implementation is expected to take place over the next few weeks, marking a promising growth opportunity for Galaxy.
Q3 FY 2023 Earnings Highlights from June 1: In its recent earnings report for Q3 FY 2023, Galaxy showcased progress. Revenues climbed quarter over quarter, rising from approximately $430,000 in the three months ending December 2022 to around $657,000 in the three months ending March 2023. Notably, G&A expenses decreased from roughly $1.5 million to approximately $670,000, resulting in a significant improvement in net loss.
Strategic Partnerships Fuel Growth: Galaxy's recent partnerships with major audiovisual (AV) dealers have been instrumental in driving sales growth. With a pipeline exceeding $5 million and several upcoming opportunities, Galaxy is capitalizing on their expanded product portfolio. The company expects this shift towards higher-margin products to substantially improve profit margins and contribute to the company's performance.
ASIA BROADBAND INC. (OTC: AABB)
AABB is a resource company focused on producing and selling precious and base metals primarily in Asian markets. AABB is focused on providing an efficient metal supply from Mexico to Asian clients.
In addition, AABB has also ventured into digital assets, introducing AABBG, a gold-backed cryptocurrency, and proprietary platforms such as AABBExchange and
PayAABB.com.
Yesterday, AABB provided an update on its operations. The company successfully verified shipments of processing equipment for its new facility in Mexico, which is set to enhance processing throughput while minimizing production costs. With an exclusive agreement to purchase a significant gold and silver ore stockpile worth over $800 million, AABB demonstrates its commitment to strategic expansion and increasing physical gold holdings.
The initial processing capacity of 200 tons per day, expected to generate over $11 million in annual revenue, is just the beginning, as AABB plans to expand the capacity fivefold to 1,000 tpd once the initial level is consistently at full capacity.
This state-of-the-art plant, equipped with advanced mining equipment automation, aims to maximize metal extraction while minimizing production costs.
AABB's strategic acquisition of the large-scale gold and silver ore stockpile in Las Jimenez, Etzatlan, Jalisco, Mexico, presents a potential high-yield asset addition. The new processing facility, located in close proximity to the ore stockpile and the AABB Buenavista mining warehouse, is expected to bolster revenue generation and pave the way for further expansion.
Overall, Asia Broadband Inc.'s recent progress, including the verification of equipment shipments, exclusive purchase rights to a substantial gold and silver ore stockpile, and the development of an advanced processing facility, could indicate a positive trajectory for the company.
HUMBL, INC. (OTCQB: HMBL)
At the end of May, HMBL took significant steps to strengthen its position and drive shareholder value. The company announced an extension of the conversion limitations on its Series B preferred stock, signaling its commitment to reducing dilution and securing investor interests.
Under the revised terms, Series B holders are restricted from converting any shares between June 2023 and September 2023. From October 2023 to June 2024, conversions will be limited to 500 shares per month, and from July 2024 to December 2024, the limit will increase to 1,000 shares per month. These measures aim to streamline the company's restructuring plan, which includes consolidating and retiring existing debt.
Additionally, HUMBL announced it has entered into a marketing partnership with the Swish Foundation, a renowned 501(c)3 organization, and the Swish Pro-Am Summer League. As part of this collaboration, the HUMBL logo will be prominently displayed on jerseys and courts during Swish Pro-Am games. The partnership extends to merchandise, which will be verified and commemorated on the BLOCKS Registry for enhanced tracking and verification.
This strategic alliance not only opens avenues for increased brand exposure but also presents opportunities for fan engagement. Swish Pro-Am athletes and teams will connect with fans through verified profiles on HUMBL's social media platform, catering to a global audience across 130+ countries. HUMBL will further leverage its digital wallet, search engine, and verified social media to activate sponsorships and offer authenticated, signed merchandise from the league during the 2023 Pro-Am Summer season.
The Swish Pro-Am Competition, set to begin on June 22, 2023, at Lincoln High School Gym in San Diego, promises an exciting showcase of talent and entertainment. HUMBL CEO Brian Foote expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, recognizing the growth potential and enhanced fan experiences this collaboration brings.
With these recent developments, HUMBL demonstrates its commitment to driving shareholder value and expanding its presence in the sports and digital content spaces. The company's efforts to reduce dilution and establish strategic partnerships contribute to its potential for a significant bounce in investor interest.
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2023.06.08 14:27 KennyShabi [Elemental][Tonberry][Kujata][FC][LFM][C][MC] Islander FC Recruiting!
Hello everyone! Islander is a casual FC in the GMT+8 timezone looking for SG/MY/International players! Players of all skill levels are welcome! We are currently preparing for future raids and are setting up a few static teams, bring your friends along!!!
We are a small to medium-sized FC on Tonberry, Kujata. Please be patient with us as we continue to grow. We have a CWLS to facilitate in-game chats between members.
We also are farming mounts or duty roulettes as a team for the members that are willing to build this family with us. If you would like to join a static team or form one of your own, let us know in addition to joining the FC! If you don't want to raid, it's fine with us too! We are on voice chat almost everyday, come and make friends! More information will be available on our Discord server.
If you have any enquiries, just come onto the Discord and ask any of our FC Leaders/Officers! No strings attached.
Information
We are a Small to Medium-sized FC on Tonberry, Kujata. Please be patient with us as we continue to grow. We have a CWLS to facilitate in-game chats between members.
Own Internal FC Events will take place on either server.
Islander Points will be awarded to members which can used for exchanging of items and for auctioning of items (Duty-Free Shop and Auction Hall)
English / Chinese Speaker (Or at least can understand a bit)
We welcome both Sprouts (fresh to the game) and Veterans.
We are willing to guide & help, but you must be willing to learn as well. We cannot spoon-feed you all the time!
For Japanese speakers, we are willing to learn Japanese too.
Positive mindset and helpful, willing to learn
Cheerful, easy-going, chatty, able to handle jokes
Strictly no dramatic, political, and self-centered personalities. Remember, we are not fighting for election!
Voice chat is not compulsory but it's also encouraged when we run dungeons, events, or raids together.
We have an in-house static for high end raid as well (We don't take in players who refuse to Voice Chat)
Remember...nobody is perfect; do your best to make your team better instead of just whining.
Don't blame others by telling us, "this is the reason I want to quit / I don't want to join."
Might as well admit that you are incompetent. Talk it out and offer solutions, we are all adults right?
If you tried talking but it didn't work out, share with us and we will work something out for you.)
Carefree with some drive to do end-game dungeon
We have everything from max Rank FC to max Airship & Submersibles
Normally we hang out on discord every night to have fun _^ (A few of us tend to stick around Discord for music and do dailies together )
In-Game Whisper : Karry Kinoko / Slyph Estra / White Oath / Silver Surfer
Discord : KennyShabi#1353 / Slyph#3178 / soul#0139 / Silversurfer#5091
Contact Us Feel free to send any of us a /tell if you're interested to join! Or better yet, hop into our Discord server and we'll get you onboard asap. You can also find us at:
[ Tonberry ] - Ward 25, Plot 30, Shirogane
[ Kujata ] - Ward 7, Plot 37, Shirogane
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2023.06.08 14:23 JustimeLee MX4SIO FreePSXBoot SSDisk Fun
2023.06.08 14:20 JustimeLee MX4SIO - FreePSXBoot
2023.06.08 14:11 Angel466 [Bob the hobo] A Celestial Wars Spin-Off Part 0842
PART EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO [Previous Chapter] [The Beginning] [Patreon+2] Friday Thomas had no idea how Miss Webber did it, but by the time his phone pinged with her message less than ten minutes later, he was directed to the resort’s front entrance, where a town car would be waiting for him.
Thomas had showered, shaved and packed his duffle within the seven minutes he’d said he needed and had spent the next few minutes moving silently through the resort. As a licenced bodyguard (albeit an out-of-work one), he still had a valid multi-state CCW licence for all of his weapons, some of which he wore, and others were stashed in his bags.
The first thing he’d done after leaving the apartment he’d shared with Donald with everything he owned in garbage bags was go to the nearest army surplus store and buy himself an oversized duffle and shoulder pack. The guy behind the counter barely glanced at his CCW licence, already knowing a war vet when he saw one. Thomas also loaded up on ammunition and spare knives because one could never be too careful. He was offered a substantial discount for his service, but he declined and paid for everything with a swipe of his card.
Later that day, he had booked into a hotel where he’d considered his next move. There were a couple of brothers from the military who had started a security firm in Chicago that would welcome him with open arms. He also had a few favours owed to him inside the military, provided those people were still in the service. He hadn’t exactly had a lot of downtime to chase up old friends working for the Portsmiths.
In the end, after drinking half a bottle of vodka, he decided an overseas vacation would be the best thing for his frayed nerves. Especially when he thought if he stayed, he might be running into Sam … or the monster that was watching over him. It had to be a monster. Before that day, he’d only ever believed in the two-legged kind of monsters. Even as a kid, he was convinced everything had a weakness and could be killed.
And every time he convinced himself he’d been drugged into thinking it (which only took seconds because the concept was insane), he’d look at his chest or a reflection of his chest, see the lie for what it was and freak out all over again.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that. So he’d covered his chest in a black t-shirt and pulled on olive-green cargo pants and combat boots. He knew it was a long way from what he would be expected to wear around Mr Portsmith, but the clothes he’d been assigned had remained with Donald right along with all his electronics since they’d come with the job.
Sure enough, a dark green sedan with tinted windows was waiting for him in the loading bay with a driver standing at the back door. “I’ll sit up front with you,” he said as he tossed the duffle and his pack across the back seat.
“Very well, sir,” the driver said, shutting the back door while Thomas opened the front passenger door for himself.
The drive across the island to Grand Bahama International Airport took under five minutes, and Thomas knew for the price Portsmith Electronics had paid for this fancy cab fare, he could’ve saved them that money and run that distance in thirty. Maybe longer since he was lugging his overweight kit and his days of hauling ass while fully loaded up were a decade behind him, but still, he shook his head at the excessive expense.
A woman in a sharply pressed flight attendant’s uniform stood at the foot of the stairs of a seven-windowed jet with Reno Air Express painted across the sides in green when they pulled onto the tarmac. As soon as the car drew to a halt, Thomas removed his seatbelt and climbed out of the passenger seat before the driver could reach the door. He went to the back door and hauled out his gear, throwing his duffle onto his shoulder and carrying the backpack by the straps out of habit since that left his strongest arm free to handle the rifle he wasn’t currently carrying. Some things were just ingrained like that.
“Mister Cole,” she said as he approached her.
“Yes,” Thomas answered, snapping back into the professional façade he’d been using for almost a decade. He walked past her and climbed the stairs, ducking inside. As his eyes scanned the nineteen seats of the small cabin, he found himself biting the inside of his cheek in amusement. For the last nine years, he’d been flying in private jets set up for those who had more zeroes in their bank accounts than some small countries. After all that time, it was something of a step back to go from that to a basic commercial model.
“We’ll be taking off just as soon as you’re buckled in, sir,” the flight attendant said, hauling the stairs up and locking them into place. “Would you like me to stow your bags?”
Thomas shook his head, tossing his duffle across the two seats on the opposite side of the aisle from the pair he claimed for himself. As ingrained as it was for him to keep his gear with him wherever possible, it was just as hammered in to put himself as close as possible to the cockpit and the door in case of a problem.
Besides, with the equipment he had in that duffle, there was no way she could lift it. The two chairs groaned and sank under the weight. It was why he’d gone to the army surplus store to buy it. That sucker could carry over four hundred pounds without breaking if it had to. In comparison, the commercial versions fell apart just thinking about triple-figured weights.
After clipping the seatbelt through the handles and under the duffle to secure it to the seat, he threw his smaller pack in the overhead storage and took his front aisle seat. He strapped himself in, then watched the flight attendant do likewise in a rear-facing seat beside the cockpit door. She pressed a button on the wall that probably notified the pilot they were ready, and within seconds, they were taxiing onto the main runway.
“Where will we be putting down?” he asked just as soon as the jet leveled out and both he and the attendant unbuckled for comfort.
“We’ll be flying directly to the Pensacola International Airport and landing just before seven-thirty, sir. A car will be waiting for you there.” She stood up with a smile. “Are you hungry, sir? A hot breakfast has been supplied by one of the local hotels.”
Thomas tried really hard not to let his surprise show. Clearly, whoever wrote Marvel’s Pepper Potts character had met Miss Webber! Within ten minutes, she had a car and jet and a hot breakfast ready to go … on an island soooo not set up for any of that!
Note to self … stay on Miss Webber’s good side, Thomas reminded himself, for perhaps the millionth time since first meeting the scary executive assistant that had not been given her position to sit on the boss’ knee and look pretty. Tucker Portsmith and Martin Laurier were dangerous in their own right, but Miss Webber was like so many staff sergeants he’d worked with. Fuck with her at your own peril.
“Breakfast would be great, thank you.”
The woman beamed and moved down the seats, stopping in the hallway to open some manner of bag that had been strapped into the seat like a passenger.
She returned with a large tray with two domed lids. “Apple juice or coffee, sir?” she asked as he lifted the first lid and breathed in the sausages and scrambled eggs on toast.
He paused mid-whiff and suspiciously lifted his eyes to her.
“We were informed of your beverage preferences, sir.”
It was more than a preference. Thomas was allergic to citrus fruits. It was why he always carried at least two epi-pens on him, even though he was able to use the excuse of carrying it for Miss Geraldine since she had her own food allergies. He huffed without a word and went to work cleaning up the meal before him.
“Also, in case you wish to change before our arrival…” the woman stood up and made her way to the rear of the plane, returning with a sealed garment bag. “I believe these are your measurements.”
Thomas fought hard to curtail his reaction.
Jesus Christ! A car, a jet, a breakfast that took his allergies into consideration, AND a semi-fitted suit?! The fuckin’ US military isn’t this organised! It was novel to be the sole focus of the flight attendant. Normally he was the muscle that the plane staff ignored in favour of the family, so having her offer a range of beverages and even a few simple snacks like he was a VIP, despite the journey only taking a little over two hours, was a treat.
The ascent and descent were the most time-consuming parts of the flight, and about five minutes before he’d need to be buckled in for the second time, Thomas stood up and took the suit that had been draped over the back of the second set of seats.
“I’m about to get changed,” he said over his shoulder, more to give the woman time to do whatever the hell she needed to do. It wasn’t as if he was shy, though he’d react badly to being touched without being asked. That was a no-go.
He moved to the centre of the plane still facing the rear, unzipped the garment bag and unhooked it from the shoulders. As he expected, there was an undershirt, a long-sleeved grey silk shirt and a dark jacket with matching silk tie. Behind it were the long pants. “I assume there’s shoes somewhere too?” The combat boots he was presently wearing didn’t really cut it.
“Yes, sir. I have them in the overhead storage.”
With a nod of approval, he untied each shoe and kicked them off, then wedged his knees into the armrests on either side of the narrow aisle and hauled his t-shirt over his head.
Twenty minutes later, after taxiing into the private hangars, the stairs were lowered, and Thomas strode down them. In his left hand, he held the duffle over the thin rail that most would need for balance, while his right held the smaller backpack the same way. He still hadn’t allowed the hostess to kill herself trying to lift his duffle, and the pack offered him a small measure of counterbalance. He wouldn’t allow either to crease his suit. At the foot of the stairs stood two men, who broke apart as he descended with their hands up to relieve him of his bags.
One look at their sizes, and Thomas told them to switch.
“Why?” the much smaller of the two asked.
“There’s over a hundred and forty pounds in that duffle.” He knew that because it had cost him a small fortune to fly it to the Bahamas. “Are you good with lifting that kind of dead weight?”
Tiny Tim? the snarky part of his brain added.
The only person of minute stature who Thomas had seen hold his own without batting an eye was a little blond bullet from Texas who’d been temporarily attached to his unit back in '03. Kelsey could also toss the biggest of them on their asses too, but this guy clearly wasn’t him.
“One forty?” the bigger guy repeated, then looked at his colleague. But instead of switching as Thomas suggested, that guy took the small pack and slung it onto one shoulder, then went the other side where both men shared the weight of the duffle between them back to the SUV parked a short distance away.
Thomas shook his head at them. They were both in their mid-twenties. The bigger of them should’ve been able to handle that duffle on his own for the twenty feet they had to cover to reach the car. Wherever Miss Webber dug them up from, they clearly weren’t former military.
But then, that’s what
he was there for.
He followed them to the car, almost laughing when the bigger one put the duffle down (forcing his smaller companion to just about face-plant) and moved quickly to open the rear passenger door for him. “I sit in the front, bud. You take the back.” He actually preferred to drive, but that wouldn’t be up to him. Not when the company was paying him four-fifty an hour for however many hours he was needed.
* * *
((Author's note: I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but Reddit is attempting to force out 3rd party apps at the end of this month, and many, many sites across Reddit are undertaking a self-imposed posting ban from 12th June to the 14th June. I'm talking very big hitters as well as little ones are joining this fight. I don't personally agree with Reddit's decision to charge each of the 3rd party companies 20 million dollars a year to maintain their programs either, so for those three days, I'll be withholding BtH posts in solidarity with the heavy hitters. Every little bit helps. I'm not sure if it will only affect one or two posts yet, depending on if the timing of the 'strike' is all going to happen at the same time around the world or if everywhere is doing it according to their local timetable. I'll be watching some of the bigger AU sites to find out. I hope you all understand my reasons, and I'll be back soon after that, as per usual.)) ((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS
here.
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2023.06.08 14:09 NASDQplayer97 CapitalGainsReport: Bounce Play Watchlist (EPAZ,
Epazz, Inc. (OTC:EPAZ). EPAZ is a mission-critical provider of drone technology, blockchain mobile apps, and cloud-based business software solutions.
Throughout this spring, EPAZ and their spinoff company, ZenaDrone, have been making significant strides with their flagship product, the ZenaDrone 1000. This advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has garnered substantial interest from various sectors, positioning Epazz as a rising stock in the industry.
In March 2023, ZenaDrone, Inc., received a letter of support from the U.S. Air Force, solidifying the drone's potential for drone cargo delivery, including critical blood transport. The U.S. Air Force invited ZenaDrone to conduct tests at an overseas base under battlefield conditions, showcasing the drone's capabilities in a military environment. This milestone not only attracted attention from the U.S. Air Force but also caught the interest of the U.S. Army.
The successful presentation of the ZenaDrone 1000 at the AERO General Aviation Convention in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in April further bolstered its reputation. This exposure resulted in multiple scheduled demonstrations with NATO partner countries, law enforcement departments, and a prominent German rail line. In addition, ZenaDrone's engagement with German UAV regulators for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations also demonstrates the company's commitment to staying ahead of industry standards and expanding its market reach.
In another update, EPAZ announced a meeting with Ossian Smyth, minister of state at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform of Ireland, at ZenaDrone's offices in Dublin. ZenaDrone is currently in negotiations with a financing institution for a deal to purchase up to 100 ZenaDrone 1000s, paving the way for drone-as-a-service operations in Ireland, which could prove to be a lucrative opportunity for the company.
Something that could help with a rebound is that EPAZ is not only focused on the drone technology itself but also on key supporting components. The company has been actively filing patents for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based drone technology, with two patents already granted and two others under review with the US Patent Office.
In line with their commitment to innovative technologies, EPAZ recently formed Galaxy Batteries Inc., a subsidiary dedicated to housing their battery technology intellectual property. The company's high-powered battery solutions are essential for running specialized devices and aircraft. EPAZ is evaluating opportunities to monetize these technologies and provide additional value to the company.
Epazz's strategic updates this spring, including securing military interest, expanding international partnerships, and advancing patent filings, could make them a compelling investment prospect.
As EPAZ continues to develop and commercialize cutting-edge drone technology and battery solutions, investors may want to keep an eye on Epazz, Inc. (OTC: EPAZ) for potential opportunities within the ever-growing drone industry.
GALAXY NEXT GENERATION (OTC: GAXY)
GAXY is a leading provider of interactive learning technology solutions and school communication platforms. With over 22 resellers across the United States, the company serves the commercial and educational markets. The K-12 education segment accounts for nearly 90% of Galaxy's sales.
Latest Contract Win on June 6: Galaxy recently secured a significant contract worth a minimum of $200,000 from a prominent school district in Northeast Ohio. The contract involves supplying G2 Bell, Paging, Intercom, and Clock (BPIC) hardware, along with G2 Communicator software, to five schools within the district. Implementation is expected to take place over the next few weeks, marking a promising growth opportunity for Galaxy.
Q3 FY 2023 Earnings Highlights from June 1: In its recent earnings report for Q3 FY 2023, Galaxy showcased progress. Revenues climbed quarter over quarter, rising from approximately $430,000 in the three months ending December 2022 to around $657,000 in the three months ending March 2023. Notably, G&A expenses decreased from roughly $1.5 million to approximately $670,000, resulting in a significant improvement in net loss.
Strategic Partnerships Fuel Growth: Galaxy's recent partnerships with major audiovisual (AV) dealers have been instrumental in driving sales growth. With a pipeline exceeding $5 million and several upcoming opportunities, Galaxy is capitalizing on their expanded product portfolio. The company expects this shift towards higher-margin products to substantially improve profit margins and contribute to the company's performance.
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