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Wow...just realized, until last night, it had been nearly 7 years I had been on here. Sorry to anyone who still remembers me. Life happened and I completely forgot about this amazing place until last night. Recently survived a major hurricane. Which was historic. I live in the mountains of North Carolina and we got wrecked. Thankfully our home survived, but we took a hit financially. We were without power for two weeks, internet a month, and water for a month. Then there was three wild fires 13 miles away from our home. Anyways, my family is safe and I am going to try and get on here again and be more active.

That's interesting, you don't often see this kind of word in english; more so in other languages. In a way you could say the word is adscititious to the language in and of itself

Happy New Year!

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/atom-eve-ff090d Invincible Presents: Atom Eve is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/kardboard-kings-0962f8 Kardboard Kings is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://freebies.indiegala.com/tomato-jones-2 Tomato Jones 2 is currently free on IndieGala.

Fall Anime 2024 AniChart | MAL Chart | AniDB Chart Finally narrowed down my listing somewhat after taking a more in-depth look into PVs, source material, the people behind the series, etc. This season is truly the season of sequels. Oh my. Sequels: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 3 Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga Dragon Ball Daima Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V KamiErabi GOD.app Season 2 Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Disturbance Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse Season 2 Continuing: Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest New Series Potentially Watching: Dandadan Orb: On the Movements of the Earth The Do-Over Damsel Conquers The Dragon Emperor Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror Some of the returning shows I'm a little iffy on because past seasons were kind of on the fence as to whether I should continue them or drop, but I guess I'm willing to give them a shot again. This includes Arifureta, KamiErabi, Shangri-La, and Gun Gale Online. Seirei Gensouki is listed under sequels but I've yet to watch the first season despite it being on my list since it originally aired. So perhaps I'll try to make some time to watch that soon and then we'll see if it's something I want to continue with or not. Seven Deadly Sins I'm multiple seasons behind on now and it remains to be seen if I'll continue watching it after the point where the original story ends and the new cast of characters take over. That may end up being my stopping point, but we'll see how I feel about things at that point and I'll try giving the new cast a shot... It's just history showcases that changes like this rarely turn out good. And while ReZero Season 2 was a huge let down after the first seasons highs... I'm going into season 3 hopeful that it may improve things. It's suspected to be at least 3 cours long so we'll see. Meanwhile I've yet to watch Season 4 of DanMachi so I've got some catching up to do on that front as well. It's clear to me that there is no way I'm going to be able to watch all of these during the season so plenty will end up on my backlog... but it is what it is.

Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. It is the ninth game in the main Final Fantasy series. The plot focuses on a war between nations in a medieval fantasy world called Gaia. Players follow a thief named Zidane Tribal who kidnaps princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII as part of a ploy by the neighboring nation of Lindblum. He joins Garnet and a growing cast of characters on a quest to take down her mother, Queen Brahne of Alexandria, who started the war. Game development occurred in parallel with Final Fantasy VIII. Envisioned by developers as a retrospective for the series, it departed from the futuristic settings of Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII by returning to the medieval style of the earlier games. Consequently, it draws heavy influence from the original Final Fantasy and features allusions to the rest of the series. The game introduced new features to the series despite this approach, such as "Active Time Event" cutscenes, "Mognet", and skill systems. Final Fantasy IX was the last game in the main series whose music was composed solely by Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy IX was released to critical acclaim and commercial success, selling more than 5.5 million copies on PlayStation by March 2016. It was re-released in 2010 as a PS1 Classic on the PlayStation Store—this version was compatible with PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable; PlayStation Vita support arrived in 2012. In 2016 Square Enix released an enhanced port featuring minor gameplay and graphical enhancements, which would be released on several platforms. An animated series adaptation by Square Enix and Cyber Group Studios was announced in 2021. We've had many discussions surrounding this game through the years but imagine my surprise when I tried searching for a general discussion thread of the game as a whole and came up empty. Guess back in the day we more focused on specific topics of the games and not one all-encompassing thread. Honestly these days the best way to play this game is most definitely on PC with all the modding capabilities. Things like Memoria and Moguri really do a number on improving the visuals, fixing bugs, and adding quality of life features. There is also the upcoming Echo-S voice mod that is working to voice all dialogue in the game (as of this posting only the first 4 hours or so is available via a "demo". Below I'll detail a bit of modding for the PC version to get you started.

What's the Word: ADSCITITIOUS pronunciation: [ad-sih-TISH-əs] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Latin, 17th century Meaning: 1. Forming an addition or supplement; not integral or intrinsic. Examples: "When the dense fog stranded hundreds of travelers, the resort struggled to feed the adscititious crowd." "The Sunday papers used to come with more than a half-dozen adscititious magazines and promotional flyers." About Adscititious “Adscititious” is based on the Latin “adscitus,” meaning “admitted.” Did you Know? The word “adscititious” has a two-part definition: “forming an addition or supplement” and also “not integral.” While both parts make up the definition, they can be at odds with each other — something that is not integral can be seen as unneeded. However, supplements are usually helpful additions, and sometimes even necessary. Consider the nutritional supplement folic acid. This might fit both sides of the definition of adscititious; it’s not integral to most adult diets, but it’s extremely important to supplement as a prenatal vitamin.

The last episode of season one of HoriMiya. It was such a a sweet episode. The whole series was wonderful, but I love how it came to a beautiful ending of Izumi proposing to Kyoko. It was in a tasteful innocent way, and not some cheesy over the top way.

Just sitting here watching snow and playing Pokemon Violet.

Huniepop is free on both steam and gog today, for its 10th anniversary: https://store.steampowered.com/app/339800/HuniePop/ https://www.gog.com/en/game/huniepop

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! What's the Word: EPHEMERA pronunciation: [ih-FEM-ər-ə] Part of speech: noun Origin: Latin, 14th century Meaning: 1. Things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time. 2. Items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity. Examples: "Realizing many of his belongings were basically ephemera, Greg donated them to charity before he moved." "When Sara is at the fair, she’d rather eat decadent foods than win ephemera on the midway." About Ephemera “Ephemera” is taken directly from the Latin, where it was borrowed from the ancient Greek “ἐφήμερᾰ” (“ephḗmera”), meaning “short lived” or “living for a day.” Did you Know? In the world of collectibles, “ephemera” refers to a broad category of items that were never intended to last a long time or have any particular value. This category includes things such as old periodicals, receipts, tickets, and product packaging, as well as outdated maps and documents that are now obsolete. All of these items were intended to exist for a very short period of time, but to modern collectors, ephemera from years ago provides a clear picture of life in the past.

Merry Christmas!

Kondo shared more info about the Trails in the Sky Remake. Saying the voice cast for Sky Remake is still undecided. So remains to be seen if we'll get the same cast from the recent games or brand new casting. Also confirmed that the game will feature new details that debuted in later entries of the series post-Sky that'll help cohesion and worldbuilding. So it's not a 1 for 1 remake. They're going to be adding stuff to make it better fit with later entries by including various additional details. Physical editions of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter in the West were confirmed. Limited Run Games will handle the collector’s launch with a standard release made available via Amazon.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-lord-of-the-rings-return-to-moria-f01344 The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is currently free on Epic Games Store.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_whispered_world_special_edition The Whispered World: Special Edition is currently free on GOG.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/bus-simulator-21 Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is currently free on Epic Games Store.

Batman Arkham Asylum and Sonic x Shadow Generations. I'm not a gamer so these are officicially my first ever games I've spent money on.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/beholder-8c3b4c Beholder is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://freebies.indiegala.com/jumping-knight Jumping Knight is currently free on IndieGala. https://store.steampowered.com/app/552990/World_of_Warships/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3254520/World_of_Warships__7th_Anniversary_Gift/ World of Warships — 7th Anniversary Gift DLC is currently free on Steam. The base game is free to play.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/ Half-Life 2 currently free on Steam.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/diggles_the_myth_of_fenris#Diggles-The-Myth-of-Fenris Diggles: The Myth of Fenris is currently free on GOG.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/castlevania-anniversary-collection-a61f94 Castlevania Anniversary Collection is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/snakebird-complete-e6f0ae Snakebird Complete is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://freebies.indiegala.com/wheres-my-helmet Where's My Helmet? is currently free on IndieGala.

Will continue the season 02 ongoing breakdown of skipped, altered, and original content for the new anime below. Season 02 Episode 01 : Chapters 58-60, few pages of 62. Episode 02 : Chapters 60 (three pages), 61-63, a page of 64. Episode 03 : Chapters 64-66. Episode 04 : Chapters 67-69, half a page of 70. Episode 05 : Chapters 70-71. Episode 06 : Chapters 72-73. Episode 07 : Chapters 74-75, a few pages of 76. Episode 08 : Chapters 76-78. Episode 09 : Chapters 79-80, 81 (all but 2 pages). Episode 10 : 25th Anniversary's Extra Chapter, Chapter 81 (2 pages). Episode 11 : Chapters 82-84. Episode 12 : Chapters 85-87.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/585690/Minimalism/ Minimalism is currently free on Steam.

Email functionality should be fixed now. Sorry about that!

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/football-manager-2024 Football Manager 2024 is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/sniper-ghost-warrior-contracts-c772b9 Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is currently free on Epic Games Store.

https://www.gog.com/game/once_upon_a_jester Once Upon a Jester is currently free on GOG. https://freebies.indiegala.com/shinobi-shift Shinobi Shift is currently free on IndieGala.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2761940/Haunted_Arcade/ Haunted Arcade is turning into a paid game on August 20, so add it now to still claim it for free. https://freebies.indiegala.com/conflictcraft-2-game-of-the-year-edition ConflictCraft 2: Game of the Year Edition is currently free on IndieGala.

Been watching a buddy's "lets play" on his youtube channel where he's playing through this game for his first time and it got me itching to replay the game. I've played through it probably 4 or 5 times but it's been ages since I last did so and that was all on the PS1, so it's my first time going through it with all the mods and such so figured I'd share the method of modding and the options and such and make a thread talking about it while I play through the game again. Didn't intend to play the game now, lmao... that means I'm putting some games I was playing on hold or on the backburner longer than intended but y'know when you got an itch you got an itch... and FF9 is one of the greatest titles in the series.

For starters let me show you the difference between vanilla and an older version of Moguri: Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of the PC version of Final Fantasy IX helped by deep learning techniques (ESRGAN). The most important changes are in the background arts, that are now cleaner, more detailed and higher resolution. Featuring HD backgrounds (aided by AI and polished by hand), Manual redraw of all 11k layer edges and area names, HD textures (worldmap, NPC, battles), 30fps FMVs, and some various bug fixes. While Memoria, dubbed "Final Fantasy IX Engine", is a complete rewrite of the game's engine in C#. It maintains binary compatibility with the native parts of the game and the serialized data within the game archives, allowing the compiled version to be used in place of the original DLLs. The primary goal of this project is to provide mod makers with a convenient framework for developing gameplay mods, replacing game assets, expand original content, localizing the game into native languages, and fixing bugs of the original. Memoria addresses numerous bugs in the existing game port across various aspects like rendering, audio, and abilities. It includes built-in mods (turn-based battles, gameplay mechanics changes, a new card game system, cheat disablers, etc.) and provides a framework for integrating third-party mods, supporting import/export and modification of game resources. The engine integrates seamlessly with Unity, allowing the use of features ranging from loading external AssetBundles to manual manipulation of GameObjects and Components. However, many game elements like the event interpreter or animation pipelines emulate the PSX assembler, meaning significant modifications such as importing custom models, shaders, sounds, etc., require creating workarounds to either transform external data into the game's native format or completely alter the approach by transforming game resources into compatible formats and implementing custom rendering mechanisms. The engine introduces a new audio API, extending the native engine with the dynamic library soloud.dll, enhancing audio capabilities. To get started with modding, first install the game and run it at least once to ensure everything is good. Then download the latest Memoria.Patcher.exe from this link. Run the .exe program, and it should automatically detect your installation location. Once it's complete, launch the game through steam. These are just a handful of the settings you can modify with Moguri Mod. But you can enable or disable whatever you want on this window. The manual trance option is a godsend imo. In the vanilla game you waste trance on random enemies cause it just pops off whenever the bar hits max. Manual trance lets you hit the left d-pad to go into trance when you choose to. Similar to FFX's Overdrive system. So you can save it for the boss fights or whenever you like. Of course widescreen options are nice too, but some scenes will still be 4:3 due to limitations with the backgrounds and such. The No Random Battles toggle with F4 is also nice for when you're tired of running into enemies every few steps and feel like you're overleveled or already got all the AP you want. While the font options is great for getting rid of the terrible vanilla font they changed the PC version to and allowing you to bring back the original font the game used on PS1. ATB Mode lets you change the game to true turn-based if you want but that's also just a completely optional thing. Increasing UI lines to be less mobile-ish and more PS1-ish is good. Same with the Battle HUD option. Click Check for Updates (might have to check and uncheck a time or two) and install any updates if one pops up. Then Click ‘Play’ to run the game at least once to ensure the game will start. Exit the game and re-open the Launcher. Now click Mod Manager in the top right below the Play button and the following window will open: You can click the Browse Catalog tab and install the mods you want. I'd recommend at least getting Moguri - BETA 1, Moguri - 3D textures, and Moguri - 30fps videos. This is what is going to be the bulk of the visual enhancements. Though I'd also recommend High-Res Chocographs for better visuals of the Chocograph maps you get from the Hot & Cold mini-game... This will definitely help locate things on the world map. I'd also recommend Mog Addons for things like different button prompts depending on your controller, different avatars based on your preference (or just improved vanilla avatars), and darker ui options. Mog Addons also features some options for improving a few character related traits and some tweaks but these can alter the vanilla experience so it's up to you if you want to utilize them or not... they can easily be activated and deactivated separately. The other mods on the screenshot above that you see I have are just optional things. Like the Beatrice mod allows her to eventually become a permanent party member at a certain story point. The BetterCarpDrop improves the drop rate of cards and makes it so enemies will drop their specific card instead of whatever random card they might've been programmed for initially. As you probably already know, the actual card doesn't matter in the card game because stats of each card is random anyways. While the Black Cat - Endgame Shop literally just allows almost every item in the game to be purchaseable at the shop near End Game, which is neat if you missed specific stuff and wanted it but otherwise it's completely unneeded. So yeah just a bunch of optional stuff. There's a bunch of other stuff in the catalog but your mileage may vary on whether you see a use in them. Stuff like making Garnet the character you roam around as on the world map instead of Zidane. Improving and making Blank, Cinna, and Marcus actually useful and playable. Making Kuja, Fratley, and Lani playable characters. Increasing difficulty with Trance Seek mod, etc. Alternate Fantasy changing a lot of the game to give you a fresh take on the game. Etc... As for settings for the mods, you can click on them on the Installed mods tab and there should be a drop down box for the mods with options. Just go through each mod and each setting in the dropdown box and activate or deactivate what you want. Now lets get onto modifying other Memoria settings. Open the Memoria.ini file from the game root folder using any text editor, such as Notepad++ . I should note that the rule of thumb in configuring the settings FPS of the game is to understand that the Setting FPS should always be higher than Setting TPS, except for the menus. BattleFPS = 60 BattleTPS = 20 FieldFPS = 60 FieldTPS = 30 WorldFPS = 60 WorldTPS = 30 MenuFPS = 60 MenuTPS = 60 BattleSwirlFrames = 13 The BattleSwirlFrames is a new setting in the launcher to turn off the battle swirl animation, but I prefer it to be on and fast instead. 13 is about as fast as when the animation is turned off, but it doesn't just go black and start the battle. If you wish to skip the battle intro camera, you can disable that in the game config menu. RopeJumpingIncrement = 1, this is essentially cheating but if you don't want to sit there jumping rope for a 1,000 times in succession without a mistake, you can edit this so that each successful jump = whatever number you want. There is an achievement for hitting 100 and 1,000 and you need 1,000 to obtain the item from it. So something like 50 makes it possible to get everything to pop and that leaves you only having to successfully jump 20 times. ExcaliburIINoTimeLimit = 0, set this to 1 so that the Excalibur II isn't locked from being obtainable. As you're probably aware in the vanilla game you have to bumrush the game in 12 hours to obtain this sword. This setting simply disables the time limit so regardless of time the sword will be available when you reach it. To me this is a highly valued quality of life improvement, but for others they may see it as cheating, but whatever. I want to enjoy my time with the game not rush it for a sword. MaxCardCount = 100, this is how many cards you can have. By default its 100 and it discards any more cards you get. You can set this higher so you don't have to keep tossing cards. 100 only allows you to have one of each card if you're trying to collect them all. There's some other settings around there that have to do with the card game you can read the notes about them in the file.

Parmesan Cheese on the brain I think, lmao. Might not be the best, but it got me through the game. You probably won't have access to a lot of these quartz just yet though either. I'd show Altina, but this was before I started keeping more than one save slot for my games and the point I had saved at she's not on my party. Hard to believe CS3 was 4 years ago now.

https://www.gog.com/game/intravenous Intravenous is currently free on GOG. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/dnf-duel-07d055 DNF Duel is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/rawmen-03f74e RAWMEN: Food Fighter Arena is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/cygni-all-guns-blazing-98f872 CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/apex-legends-006cde https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/apex-legends-season-22-epic-content-offer-db02ab Apex Legends: Conduit Free Unlock Bundle is currently free on Epic Games Store.

Told you, lol. Glad you got through it.

Fact of the Day - BABY VIEWING WINDOW Did you know.... They used to be a staple of hospital maternity wards around the country—so, what happened? For much of the 20th century, hospital maternity wards featured a curious design choice: large glass windows that allowed families to gaze at rows of newborns, all bundled up and sleeping in neat, orderly rows. These so-called “baby viewing windows” gave proud families their first chance to spot their newest member—but nowadays, they’ve seemingly vanished. Upon further investigation, it becomes clear that their disappearance actually reveals a great deal about shifting attitudes toward birth, bonding, and even hospital marketing. The Origins of Baby Viewing Windows After childbirth began shifting from home to hospitals in the early 1900s, many hospitals established separate nurseries where nurses cared for newborns away from their mothers. These large windows weren’t just practical: They were meant to be a spectacle. As Smithsonian Magazine explains, hospitals used them to show off rows of healthy babies as proof of their modern, high-quality care. It’s also worth noting that the concept of putting babies in the public eye for all to see wasn’t entirely new. In the early 20th century, premature babies were often displayed in incubators at fairs and amusement parks to help raise money for their care. For decades, fathers weren’t typically allowed in delivery rooms either, so the nursery window was often their first real introduction to their new child. As Smithsonian notes, these glass-front nurseries helped project an image of hospitals as safe, nurturing places where science kept these tiny patients healthy and strong. The window moment became a rite of passage, not to mention a favorite photo op. The Evolution of Modern-Day Hospital Maternity Wards In the 1970s, hospitals began rethinking this approach. Instead of separating newborns from their mothers, they began promoting “rooming-in,” where babies stayed in the same room with their parents 24 hours a day. This new approach came with a long list of benefits: it encouraged breastfeeding, helped parents bond more quickly, and made mothers feel more confident caring for their newborns. Around this time, as Time reports, those once-beloved nursery windows soon started to feel outdated. Families preferred privacy and hands-on time with their new babies over the idea of putting them on public display. By the 1990s and early 2000s, growing security concerns also contributed significantly to their decline. As a result, hospitals became more cautious about disclosing the exact location of newborns to protect family privacy. Soon, it became clear that nursery windows no longer aligned with the public’s expectations for safety and confidentiality. Despite all this, our desire to show off newborns hasn’t waned; instead, it has simply evolved with the times. Many hospitals now offer online galleries (sometimes called web nurseries) where parents can share professional photos with friends and family. A private login is typically required to access the images, creating a modern, digital, and more secure version of the traditional nursery window. All in all, the move away from glass showcases reflects a broader cultural shift. Instead of treating childbirth like a distant medical event, today’s hospitals focus on intimacy and immediate family connection, keeping babies close from day one—literally. Source: Why Did Baby Viewing Windows Disappear From Hospitals?

Fact of the Day - CURVED METAL BARS Did you know..... Some old-fashioned window guards look like they have a potbelly. Turns out, this isn’t actually a design flaw. London, New York, Paris. Some of the most romanticized cities in the world share a common feature: an abundance of metal bars covering building windows. The bars don’t detract from the beauty of the buildings, but rather, add a certain elegance to them. Strolling along historic avenues, the gently curved ironwork—often featuring ornate details and motifs—can appear more like a piece of art than a security device. However, it also raises the question: what function does it actually serve? Below, we break down the history behind these old-fashioned window guards and why they’re shaped so oddly in the first place. A Brief History of Window Guards Metal bars covering windows are an age-old method for preventing break-ins in urban areas. They’re also useful for keeping people in—to keep them from falling out, of course. In New York, the law states that every apartment building of three or more units that may house children under 10 years of age must have some sort of guard on the windows for safety purposes. Montgomery County, Maryland, has a similar regulation: all apartment units above the ground floor housing children aged at 11 or under must have window bars [PDF] or some sort of stop to prevent windows from opening more than four inches. Though they’re effective safety mechanisms, not everyone is a fan; some people feel like they make their homes look “like a prison.” But in fact, beyond their usefulness, well-made cast iron and wrought iron window bars are often used to enhance aesthetics. They became especially popular in 19th-century construction, with ironworkers pulling from various artistic movements (such as Rococo, Gothic, and Renaissance styles) to make unique patterns. Certain cities stood out more for their distinctive window guards, too. Charleston, South Carolina, for instance, was known for signature palmetto designs. Meanwhile, Chicago was best known for more minimalistic, geometric designs. The Reason Why Some Old Iron Window Guards Have a Bulge Across the world, window guards can add a touch of historic elegance to any structure. But there’s one feature in particular that often makes more ornate sets of window bars stand out: the “potbelly.” This refers to the curve found on the lower half of some of these bars (the shape mimics that of a human stomach). The extra room at the bottom is there for two major reasons: For one, it accommodates planter boxes that people might like to hang in their windows. Having a curved window guard helps residents grow flowers, herbs, and other plants right from their windowsills, but with a certain degree of security. This enforced metal gap creates a wider space between people inside and outside the window, especially on a building’s ground level (which is where you may be most apt to see some of these potbellied window bars). This gap means that those inside have ample room to lean when peering outside the window, and those who may be trying to reach inside are pushed farther away. Do “Belly Bars” Actually Work? Despite their antique charm, however, window bars aren’t always the preferred method for protecting a house’s entry points. The famous Property Brothers, for example, seem to prefer a more open aesthetic for windows, getting rid of bars to create a light and airy look. For homeowners who share the same preferences, there are other methods for home security that are less obvious, such as reinforced glass, proper locks, and even strategically placed shrubbery. Source: Why Are the Metal Bars on Some Windows Curved?

Fact of the Day - THE TOWN THAT NEVER WAS Did you know... There’s off the map, and then there’s Argleton. The English town was visible on Google Maps until 2009, which is notable for one major reason: No such place exists. So how did it get listed? Though never confirmed by Google, it’s been speculated that Argleton may have been akin to a trap street — a fictitious road used by cartographers to catch anyone copying their work. The reasoning is as simple as it is clever: If a street (or, in this case, town) that you made up ends up on another map, you’ll have caught its creator red-handed in copyright infringement. Though little more than an empty field in West Lancashire, Argleton once had its own (presumably auto-generated) job listings and weather forecasts. Once its (non-)existence became known on the internet, humorous T-shirts with slogans such as “New York, London, Paris, Argleton” and “I visited Argleton and all I got was this T-shirt” appeared online, too. Google itself was tight-lipped on the subject, releasing a brief statement noting that “Google Maps data comes from a variety of data sources. While the vast majority of this information is correct there are occasional errors.” The good people of Argleton likely would have been highly offended by that characterization — if they actually existed. Most maps are highly misleading. If you ever had a map of the world on one of your classroom walls, there’s a good chance it used the Mercator projection. Created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, it has proved popular for centuries — but it also distorts sizes and distances near the North and South poles, resulting in major discrepancies. Perhaps the most notable of these is how small Africa appears: Greenland looks larger than the continent, for instance, despite being about 14.5 times smaller. To demonstrate this, a graphic artist created a map of his own showing that the United States, China, India, Japan, and most of Europe could all fit inside Africa. Source: Google Maps once listed a town that never existed.

What's the Word: WHEEPLE pronunciation: [WEE-pəl] Part of speech: verb Origin: Scottish dialect, 10th century Meaning: 1. To emit a shrill cry or whistle, sometimes feebly. Examples: "The chicks in the nest outside my window wheepled as they waited for their mother to bring them worms." "CJ wheepled up to Veronica’s window, hoping not to wake her parents." About Wheeple “Wheeple” is a Scottish dialect term adopted into English in the early 19th century. Did you Know? The term “wheeple” in Scottish also appeared as “whipple,” “wheeble,” “wheeffle,” and “feeple,” and originally referred particularly to the high-pitched cries of birds such as the plover and curlew. After the mid-19th century, “wheeple” also described people whistling, especially tunelessly.

Fact of the Day - ORIGIN OF 'BEAT AROUND THE BUSH' Did you know.... Here’s a hint: It has a little something to do with hunting. If you talk around something you don’t want to discuss, avoid answering a question directly, or just generally hedge or prevaricate, then you could be said to be “beating around the bush.” But what kind of bush are we talking about here? And why exactly are we beating around it? The Hunting Origins of Beat Around the Bush Like a lot of our most bizarre phrases and expressions, beat around the bush was once referred to something entirely literal: It came out of hunting and alluded to those who were tasked with thrashing bushes and undergrowth in an effort to scare out any birds, rabbits, or similar creatures that could then be caught in nets by their accomplices. This bush-beating is an age-old hunting technique, a fact backed up by the very earliest written evidence of the phrase: The Oxford English Dictionary unearthed a version of the expression (“Cast yowre sparehawke in to a tre and beete the bushes”) way back in 1486 in the Book of St. Albans, while Phrase Finder tracked it down in a manuscript of the poem Generydes – A Romance in Seven-line Stanzas from around 1440 (“Butt as it hath be sayde full long agoo, / Some bete the bussh and some the byrdes take”). It’s likely the technique was around before that, and it still survives among hunting parties today, with “beaters” employed in grouse and pheasant shoots to rouse the birds from bushes and heathland. (Fun fact: Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro was a grouse beater for the British royal family.) The OED’s earliest citation for beat around the bush as we would recognize it today dates back to 1572 (“He bet about the bush, whyles other caught the birds”). As for why the beaters were only beating around the bush, it’s been suggested that doing so would prevent them from striking the animals directly, and thereby avoid landing a blow on something more dangerous, like a wild boar. The Phrase’s Evolution How, then, did we get from an activity related to a literal a bird hunt to prevarication? It’s probably because the bush-beating and bird-rousing part of the hunt would have essentially been the preamble to the actual hunting and catching. Ultimately, in the late 1500s, beat around the bush came to be used more metaphorically to refer to acting ahead of or in spite of the inevitable, or whatever else was still to follow. And from there, the phrase later came to be used more pejoratively of somehow delaying, avoiding, or actively putting off doing something altogether. Source: Where Did the Phrase ‘Beat Around the Bush’ Come From?

Fact of the Day - DAKOTAS AND CAROLINAS Did you know.... We have an even 50 states thanks to these geographic decisions. If the colony of Carolina and the Dakota Territory hadn’t decided to split themselves up a few hundred years ago, we’d have only 48 states right now. But why did these particular places become geographic variants of each other? Here are the answers. Why Is there a North and South Carolina? John White’s painting of an Indigenous village at the time of the English settlers’ arrival at Roanoke Island, in present-day North Carolina, 1585. | Print Collector/GettyImages Though French officials had attempted to establish forts along the coast, permanent European settlement of the Carolinas began with Juan Ponce de León claiming most of the present-day southeastern U.S. for Spain in 1513 and calling it La Florida. Indigenous peoples resisted the Spanish incursion for decades and Spain eventually abandoned its efforts to settle the region. In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh convinced a group of English settlers to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, but by 1590, their fort had been abandoned and the people had mysteriously disappeared. Then, England’s Attorney General Sir Robert Heath managed the Carolina territory for King Charles I of England. Heath made no attempts at colonizing the area and, following the king’s execution in 1649, Heath fled to France. Heath’s heirs would eventually try to reassert their claim to the territory, but King Charles II ruled the claim invalid and gave ownership to a group of eight noblemen known as the Lords Proprietors. The Lords—helmed primarily by Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, who was influenced and assisted by the philosopher John Locke—retained control of the area from 1663 to 1729, with members of the eight-man group being replaced as necessary with other lords. A 1676 map of Carolina prior to the split. | Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain The Lords Proprietors set up a framework for governance and settlement of Carolina and dispatched an expedition of colonists. Mostly, though, they fought constantly and were unable to make decisions that made sense for the economic development of the enormous territory. None of the original eight lords ever set foot in North America. They hired and fired a laundry list of governors, noted in their papers: “John Jenkins was deposed,” “Thomas Miller was overthrown and jailed by ... ‘armed rebels,’ ” “Thomas Eastchurch was forbidden to enter the colony,” and “Seth Sothel was accused ... of numerous crimes for which he was tried, convicted, and banished.” On top of all that, wars broke out with the Tuscarora and Yamasee tribes. The lords, realizing that this strategy wasn't working, appointed a governor to oversee the entire territory and a deputy governor to handle the northern half in 1710. Two years later Carolina was permanently divided into north and south territories. The English Crown eventually took back South Carolina from the Lords Proprietors and made it a royal colony; the Crown also convinced the reluctant Lords to sell back their shares of North Carolina, and it was made a royal colony in 1729. Both retained this status until they ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788 (South Carolina) and 1789 (North Carolina). The Origins of North and South Dakota A flotilla of covered wagons and military equipment accompanies George Armstrong Custer’s 1874 expedition to the Black Hills. | Historical/GettyImages Most of the land that would become North and South Dakota was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. After Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858 and the federal government and Sioux officials signed the Yankton Treaty the same year, the remaining land and ceded territory was organized into the Dakota Territory. But it wasn’t until the 1874 discovery of gold in the Black Hills, the sacred land of the Sioux, did prospectors and the military really begin invading the area. (Ironically, Dakota means “friend” or “ally” in the Dakota language.) Railroads followed the gold rush; settlers poured into the upper Great Plains. Until 1883, Yankton in the far southeastern corner served as the capital of the whole territory, but northern settlers refused to recognize the remote town as the center of governance. They declared their own capital, Bismarck, in 1872. This caused enough tension to require a split down the 46th parallel into two territories—but there were other factors in play. President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, and the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives resisted giving the Dakotas statehood, since the overwhelmingly Republican states would likely elect Republicans to Congress. The situation changed when Republican Benjamin Harrison was elected president and Republicans gained majorities in both houses of Congress, paving the way for a statehood bill to pass. On November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota were admitted to the union, becoming the 39th and 40th states, respectively. Source: Why Are There Two Dakotas and Two Carolinas?

Fact of the Day - EXPRESSION Did you know.... For most of us, literally putting our feet in our mouths isn’t a physical possibility once we reach adulthood. So, where did this curious expression originate? We’ve all put our foot in our mouths at least once—metaphorically, at least. This vivid little expression commonly refers to making an awkward blunder in a conversation, like mixing up someone’s name or making an ill-timed joke. It first appeared in print in the late 18th century, but its exact origins are murky. Putting your foot in your mouth came about only after the phrase put your foot in it had established itself in the English language as a way to refer to making a mistake. The first print appearance of the expression was in a 1796 play. In Bannian Day, a play by George Brewer, one character expresses their uncertainty: “To be sure I an’t now a little at a loss to know whether I’ve made a good hand of this, or whether I’ve put my foot in it.” The fact that the phrase was tapped for a medium that’s meant to be acted out suggests that people may have been saying something similar, if not identical, aloud regularly before it was ever written down. It’s thought that this original expression may first have emerged from the idea of accidentally stepping in something undesirable, like mud or feces. It’s not clear if putting your foot in your mouth, in particular, was a derivative of this first phrase or if it emerged independently, but it wasn’t until 1879 that the version we know initially appeared. The Iowa-based Waterloo Courier reported that someone was “bound to put his foot in his mouth whenever he [opened] it,” and in 1902, the Atlanta Constitution wrote, “General Bragg has gone and done it again! His happy faculty of putting his foot in his mouth whenever he opens it hangs to him like a toper’s appetite.” Putting Your Foot in It vs. In Your Mouth: What’s the Difference? Still, as similar as they may appear to be, there are slight differences between these two phrases. For one, put your foot in it is more often used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, whereas put your foot in your mouth both emerged in and more commonly appears in the American lexicon. But put your foot in it is also a much more general saying. Conversely, putting your foot in your mouth is reserved for conversational mishaps—your foot is in your mouth because of a verbal mistake, specifically—while put your foot in it could refer to any erroneous action. So, for example, while accidentally spoiling a surprise gift for someone would be considered both putting your foot in your mouth and putting your foot in ‘it,’ buying someone a terrible gift would only ever be called putting your foot in it. Moving away from its original construction, putting your foot in your mouth further evolved in the mid-20th century into the term foot-in-mouth disease for those who can’t help but make constant social blunders. It’s a tongue-in-cheek term referencing foot and mouth disease, which is a real illness that affects livestock with hooves, like cows, pigs, and sheep. Usually, animals that contract this illness are put down to avoid it spreading to others—though luckily for humans with foot-in-mouth disease, the consequences aren’t usually so severe. Interestingly, however, putting your foot in something may not always be used negatively. A notable exception to the usual association is the phrase’s definition within African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Instead of referring to an embarrassing mistake, the phrase is used to compliment particularly delicious cooking. If someone made an especially phenomenal meal, they’re said to have put their foot in it. So, next time someone tells us we’ve put our foot in something, we can only hope they’re talking about a dish we’re serving them and not something we’ve just said. Source: Where Does the Expression ‘Put Your Foot in Your Mouth’ Come From?

Fact of the Day - APRIL FISH Did you know.... What do you call someone who’s fallen for a prank? There’s no punchline here — in most English-speaking places, you’d probably just call them gullible. But in France, you might use the term poisson d’avril, meaning “April fish.” The centuries-old name is linked to a 1508 poem by Renaissance composer and writer Eloy d’Amerval, who used the phrase to describe the springtime spawn of fish as the easiest to catch; young and hungry April fish were considered more susceptible to hooks than older fish swimming around at other times of year. Today, celebrating “April fish” in France — as well as Belgium, Canada, and Italy — is akin to April Fools’ Day elsewhere, complete with pranks; one popular form of foolery includes taping paper fish on the backs of the unsuspecting. While the first reference to poisson d’avril comes from d’Amerval’s poem, historians aren’t sure just how old the April Fools’ holiday is. It’s often linked to Hilaria, a festival celebrated by the ancient Romans and held at the end of March to commemorate the resurrection of the god Attis. However, many historians believe that while Hilaria participants would disguise themselves and imitate others, there’s little evidence that it’s the predecessor of April Fools’. Other theories suggest that April 1 trickery stems from switching to the Gregorian calendar. One such explanation dates to 1564, the year French King Charles IX moved to standardize January 1 as the start of the new year, which had often been celebrated on Christmas, Easter, or during Holy Week (the seven days before Easter). Despite the royal edict, some French people kept with the Holy Week tradition and celebrated the new year in late March to early April, becoming the first “April fools.” The BBC once claimed spaghetti noodles grew on trees. The most convincing April Fools’ pranks often come from the most unexpected sources, which could be why the BBC has a history of successful hoaxes. This includes a 1957 joke, considered to be one of the first April Fools’ TV pranks, wherein the British broadcaster aired a two-and-a-half-minute segment claiming spaghetti noodles grew on trees in Switzerland. Footage showed Swiss noodle harvesters on ladders collecting noodles and drying them in the sun before dining on a large pasta dinner. While the prank likely would have fallen flat today, spaghetti wasn’t commonly eaten in the U.K. during the 1950s, which meant the dish was entirely unfamiliar to most viewers. But the hoax didn’t just prank viewers. Many BBC staffers were also fooled after being purposefully kept in the dark about the fictitious story — the production brainchild of cameraman Charles de Jaeger and a small crew — and were taken aback by a deluge of callers looking to acquire their own spaghetti trees. Source: On April Fools’ Day, France celebrates “April fish.”

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What's the Word: DIERESIS pronunciation: [di-ER-əs-əs] Part of speech: noun Origin: Latin/Greek, 17th century Meaning: 1. A mark (¨) placed over a vowel to indicate that it is sounded in a separate syllable, as in “naïve,” “Brontë.” 2. The division of a sound into two syllables, especially by sounding a diphthong as two vowels. Examples: "The New Yorker' is known for using a dieresis on words with a repeated vowel, such as 'reënter.'" "Luanne and Sally chose to use a dieresis in place of a hyphen when naming their store Coöperative." About Dieresis “Dieresis” comes directly from the Latin “diæresis,” meaning “division” or “split.” Did you Know? The dieresis is sometimes confused with its identical-in-appearance relative, the umlaut, yet the two serve different functions. Both appear as two dots over a letter; however, a dieresis is specifically used to indicate that the pronunciation of vowels in a word is split. A dieresis is the reason the word “naïve” is pronounced as two syllables. Without the dieresis, it might rhyme with “rave” or “cave.” Umlauts appear only in German, and their job is either to change the sound of a vowel, or to modify the word in some way (for example, by making it plural).

Fact of the Day - WOOLLY MAMMOTH ACTION FIGURE Did you know... This mammoth is pretty portable. The long-rumored resurrection of the woolly mammoth is close to happening, but it won’t necessarily involve DNA or complex ethical questions. These mammoths will be recreated at 1:18 scale, in plastic, and for educational purposes. Eons, a PBS Digital Studios production, is teaming up with educational hub Complexly and action figure house Creative Beast Studio to unveil a collectible that doubles as a learning tool. The snugly-coated woolly mammoth, or Mammuthus primigenius, once stood 13 feet tall. Its smaller plastic counterpart is 9 inches tall, 14 inches long (including tusks), and has 24 points of articulation. The mammoth was designed by paleoartist Ross Persichetti to ensure scientific accuracy. It also comes with three interchangeable tusks: one male, one female, and one damaged from locking up with a peer. “There is enthusiastic demand for high quality, realistic action figures of extinct fauna, and it’s an honor to work with PBS Eons and Complexly to create the first proboscidean action figure line of my career,” Creative Beast Studio founder David Silva said in a statement. “With these woolly mammoths, we’re transporting the engaging, educational content from Eons directly into the hands and hearts of viewers. Built using data from the latest scientific discoveries and painted with colors inspired by modern-day creatures living in similar environments, we know that fans will love this line of prehistoric proboscideans.” The team behind the action figure is using crowdfunding site BackerKit to finance the project via a preorder approach. Those pledging $200 will receive just the mammoth. For $225, donors will get exclusive, snow-dusted variants of the adult mammoth and its 3.5-inch-long baby. A $55 pledge buys you a smaller mammoth at 1:35 scale (7.5 inches long and 4.25 inches tall), and $35 nets you the calf. (You can also donate as little as $1, but there will be no mammoths for you.) The fundraiser is more than two-thirds of the way toward its $185,000 goal as of this writing. The mammoths are expected to ship in late spring of 2025. As for the real thing: Woolly mammoths marched into extinction 10,000 years ago, but some scientists say resurrection is possible via fossilized chromosomes. The genes giving the mammoth its district traits, like its fluffy coat, could be inserted into the genome of their close counterpart, the African elephant, to act as a surrogate. It may not be an exact match, but it would be close enough to spark both amazement and controversy. Some critics believe reversing nature’s course could result in franken-animals or invasive species. Fortunately, the plastic mammoth poses no such dangers—aside from the one to your wallet. Source: PBS’s Woolly Mammoth Action Figure Recreates the Majestic Beast at 1:18 Scale

Fact of the Day - BLINK Did you know.... The average adult blinks about 15 times a minute, whether to lubricate the eyes, clear unwanted irritants, or refocus attention. Babies, on the other hand, blink far less often — only two to three blinks per minute on average. So, why do infants blink less than adults? The answer may lie with our brain’s dopamine levels, which control human blinking. Scientists initially made connections between this feel-good neurotransmitter and blinking because people with schizophrenia, who usually have excess dopamine production, may blink more frequently. The inverse is also true — Parkinson’s disease, caused by damaged dopamine-producing neurons, makes people blink less often. So a baby’s infrequent blinking may be a clue about how the brain forms after we’re born, showing that a baby’s dopamine system is likely still forming and thus impacting blinking frequency. However, dopamine production is only one piece of the mystery. Scientists also theorize that because a baby’s eyes are small, they likely require less lubrication than adult peepers. Babies may also blink less often because it’s actually pretty demanding to be a baby, requiring more active attention to gather the necessary visual information for survival (and thus leaving less energy for blinking). So while babies may seem like pint-sized layabouts, they’re actually putting in a lot of work to become functioning and frequently blinking members of society. Blinking neurologically resets our brain. Blinking is vitally important for the healthy upkeep of our eyes, but it also gives our brain a much-needed rest throughout the day. In 2012, scientists from the University of Osaka observed participants as they watched a television show by recording their blinks at 600 frames per second. When the TV scene changed or actors exited the frame, subjects would often blink. Scientists theorized that this blinking activated a “default mode network” causing sections of the brain associated with attention to temporarily shut down. This brief mental reprieve explains a variety of behaviors involved with blinking, including why humans tend to nictitate far more than mere lubrication requires. Blinking essentially allows the human brain to refocus, and this momentary suppression of attention — which also switches off the visual system — is why humans have little to no perception of blinking at all. Source: Babies blink less than adults.

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What's the Word: POLLEX pronunciation: [PAH-leks] Part of speech: noun Origin: Latin, 18th century Meaning: 1. The innermost digit of a forelimb, especially the thumb in primates. Examples: "Ernie’s polydactyl cat had an additional pollex." "The shopping bag was light enough that I could carry it with my pollex alone." About Pollex “Pollex” comes directly from the same word in Latin, meaning “thumb” or “big toe.” Did you Know? The English word “pollex” comes directly from Latin, though variations on the word exist in other European languages. In Russian, “palex” means “finger,” “bol′šoj palec” means “thumb,” and “palec nogi” means “toe.” In both Czech and Bulgarian, “palec” means “thumb.”

Fact of the Day - DIAMONDS Did you know... A Canadian diamond mining company recently made history when it discovered the world’s second-largest diamond in Botswana. The Cullinan Diamond, also known as the world’s largest diamond, weighed a whopping 3106 carats in its unrefined state. After it was unearthed in 1905 at the Premier mine in what is now South Africa, the gigantic blue-white gem was cut into over 100 stones, with the largest of them ending up in the English Crown Jewels. Now, nearly 120 years later, miners have discovered a gem that gives the Cullinan Diamond a run for its money. Lucara Diamond Corp., a Canadian mining company, found the diamond in Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa that’s also the second-largest producer of the jewel. More specifically, it was uncovered from the Karowe Mine in the country’s center. This gemstone comes in at 2492 carats, making it the second-largest diamond found since 1905. Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi presented the gem to the world on August 23, 2024. The newly discovered treasure doesn’t have a name or a value at the moment. You can get an idea of the diamond’s impressive size in the video below. South Africa is famous for producing the world’s largest and most incredible gems, such as the Excelsior and the Golden Jubilee diamonds. Countries throughout Central and Southern Africa are rich in this resource as well. The reason lies in the continent’s tectonic plates—when they collide, they create the ideal environment for gem creation. A perfect cocktail of high temperatures and pressure causes carbon to crystallize and diamonds to form. While the rocks are made deep within the Earth’s mantle, carrot-shaped structures known as kimberlite pipes bring them to the surface during volcanic eruptions. As the magma explodes upward, it breaks off parts of rocks with diamond fragments and sends them to the surface. Only 1 percent of kimberlite deposits have quality diamonds. Technological advancements have also allowed companies to find large diamonds. They use X-rays to identify the jewels in ore and grinding mechanisms to remove the gems without damaging them. Source: World’s Second-Largest Diamond Uncovered in Botswana

Fact of the Day - PAUSING PREGNANCY? Did you know.... Evolution has devised a mind-boggling number of amazing methods for perpetuating life on Earth. But one of nature’s most impressive tricks is pumping the brakes on pregnancy with a process known as embryonic diapause. This isn’t a rare prenatal feat, either: An estimated 130 mammal species, such as mice and seals, can pause a pregnancy for anywhere from a few days to as many as 11 months, as is the case with the tammar wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii). The pause usually occurs during the blastocyst stage, when an embryo forms in the uterus but doesn’t embed into the uterine wall until conditions are right. Scientists have identified two reasons why some mammals pause pregnancies. When animals are nursing, a rise in hormones prevents embryos from implanting, which gives the nursing young time to wean off their mother. The second reason is a bit more complicated, but certain animals can pause pregnancies when external conditions — such as a lack of food or harsh temperatures — are not ideal for raising a newborn. Scientists have known about this kind of diapause since at least the 1850s, but are only now beginning to understand its inner workings. In 2020, a study found that a catalytic enzyme known as mTOR — which regulates cell proliferation, growth, and protein synthesis, and also senses a cell’s nutrient and energy levels — instigated a metabolic response related to diapause when it was inhibited. Scientists are still piecing together exactly why humans, who also have mTOR enzymes, can’t pause pregnancies; understanding how this process works could lead to advancements in stem cell research and cancer treatment. Humans might be born 12 months too early. Ever wonder why humans are born relatively defenseless compared to other mammals? Some scientists believe a human’s gestation period should be around 21 months — not nine. So what gives? Turns out, a variety of factors might explain why humans are born less developed compared to other mammalian species. The traditional belief is that natural selection favors our big brains and bipedalism at a detriment to longer gestation. These factors, combined with the small pelvises of people who give birth, create a situation where humans are essentially born prematurely. However, some scientists instead suggest that a person’s metabolism, and the energy demands of pregnancy, might be the reason. Simply put, a human can only spend so much energy daily until they max out. A person will almost always give birth right before reaching that “metabolic danger zone.” Source: Some animals can pause their pregnancies.

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