* include more ancestors in candidate scoring
* fix medium-3 testcase
The original source file contained two copies of the document, which
was causing incorrect results
* remove unnecessary nested elements
* fix removal of empty elements
* add option to regenerate all testcases
* update tests
* fix quanta testcase
* fix creating testcase from network
* fix early exit in testcase generation
* format HTML before comparing while testing
* upgrade js-beautify
* don't merge outer readability div
<p><strong>So finally you're <ahref="http://fakehost/code/2013/testing-frontend-javascript-code-using-mocha-chai-and-sinon/">testing your frontend JavaScript code</a>? Great! The more you
write tests, the more confident you are with your code… but how much precisely?
That's where <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_coverage">code coverage</a> might
help.</strong></p>
<p><strong>So finally you're <ahref="http://fakehost/code/2013/testing-frontend-javascript-code-using-mocha-chai-and-sinon/">testing your frontend JavaScript code</a>? Great! The more you write tests, the more confident you are with your code… but how much precisely? That's where <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_coverage">code coverage</a> might help.</strong>
</p>
<p>The idea behind code coverage is to record which parts of your code (functions, statements, conditionals and so on) have been executed by your test suite, to compute metrics out of these data and usually to provide tools for navigating and inspecting them.</p>
<p>Not a lot of frontend developers I know actually test their frontend code, and I can barely imagine how many of them have ever setup code coverage… Mostly because there are not many frontend-oriented tools in this area I guess.</p>
<p>Actually I've only found one which provides an adapter for <ahref="http://visionmedia.github.io/mocha/">Mocha</a> and actually works…</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Drinking game for web devs:
<br/>(1) Think of a noun
<br/>(2) Google "<noun>.js"
<br/>(3) If a library with that name exists - drink</p>— Shay Friedman (@ironshay) <ahref="https://twitter.com/ironshay/statuses/370525864523743232">August 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<p><strong><ahref="http://blanketjs.org/">Blanket.js</a></strong> is an <em>easy to install, easy to configure,
and easy to use JavaScript code coverage library that works both in-browser and
with nodejs.</em></p>
<p>Its use is dead easy, adding Blanket support to your Mocha test suite is just matter of adding this simple line to your HTML test file:</p><pre><code><script src="vendor/blanket.js"
<p>Drinking game for web devs: <br/>(1) Think of a noun <br/>(2) Google "<noun>.js" <br/>(3) If a library with that name exists - drink</p>— Shay Friedman (@ironshay) <ahref="https://twitter.com/ironshay/statuses/370525864523743232">August 22, 2013</a>
</blockquote>
<p><strong><ahref="http://blanketjs.org/">Blanket.js</a></strong> is an <em>easy to install, easy to configure, and easy to use JavaScript code coverage library that works both in-browser and with nodejs.</em>
</p>
<p>Its use is dead easy, adding Blanket support to your Mocha test suite is just matter of adding this simple line to your HTML test file:</p>
<p>As an example, let's reuse the silly <code>Cow</code> example we used <ahref="http://fakehost/code/2013/testing-frontend-javascript-code-using-mocha-chai-and-sinon/">in a previous episode</a>:</p><pre><code>// cow.js
<p>As an example, let's reuse the silly <code>Cow</code> example we used <ahref="http://fakehost/code/2013/testing-frontend-javascript-code-using-mocha-chai-and-sinon/">in a previous episode</a>:</p>
<pre><code>// cow.js
(function(exports) {
"use strict";
@ -37,7 +35,8 @@ with nodejs.</em> </p>
};
})(this);
</code></pre>
<p>And its test suite, powered by Mocha and <ahref="http://chaijs.com/">Chai</a>:</p><pre><code>var expect = chai.expect;
<p>And its test suite, powered by Mocha and <ahref="http://chaijs.com/">Chai</a>:</p>
<pre><code>var expect = chai.expect;
describe("Cow", function() {
describe("constructor", function() {
@ -60,7 +59,8 @@ describe("Cow", function() {
});
});
</code></pre>
<p>Let's create the HTML test file for it, featuring Blanket and its adapter for Mocha:</p><pre><code><!DOCTYPE html>
<p>Let's create the HTML test file for it, featuring Blanket and its adapter for Mocha:</p>
<pre><code><!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
@ -88,9 +88,12 @@ describe("Cow", function() {
<li>The HTML test file <em>must</em> be served over HTTP for the adapter to be loaded.</li>
</ul>
<p>Running the tests now gives us something like this:</p>
<p>As you can see, the report at the bottom highlights that we haven't actually tested the case where an error is raised in case a target name is missing. We've been informed of that, nothing more, nothing less. We simply know we're missing a test here. Isn't this cool? I think so!</p>
<p>Just remember that code coverage will only <ahref="http://codebetter.com/karlseguin/2008/12/09/code-coverage-use-it-wisely/">bring you numbers</a> and raw information, not actual proofs that the whole of your <em>code logic</em> has been actually covered. If you ask me, the best inputs you can get about your code logic and implementation ever are the ones issued out of <ahref="http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/pair.html">pair programming</a> sessions and <ahref="http://alexgaynor.net/2013/sep/26/effective-code-review/">code reviews</a> — but that's another story.</p>
<p><strong>So is code coverage silver bullet? No. Is it useful? Definitely. Happy testing!</strong></p>
<p><strong>So is code coverage silver bullet? No. Is it useful? Definitely. Happy testing!</strong>
"excerpt":"For more than a decade the Web has used XMLHttpRequest (XHR) to achieve asynchronous requests in JavaScript. While very useful, XHR is not a very ...",
"readerable":true,
"siteName":"Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog"
"siteName":"Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog",
<p>The most useful, high-level part of the Fetch API is the <code>fetch()</code> function. In its simplest form it takes a URL and returns a promise that resolves to the response. The response is captured as a <code>Response</code> object.</p>
<p>The <code>fetch()</code> function’s arguments are the same as those passed to the <br/><code>Request()</code> constructor, so you may directly pass arbitrarily complex requests to <code>fetch()</code> as discussed below.</p>
<p>The <code>fetch()</code> function’s arguments are the same as those passed to the <br/>
<code>Request()</code> constructor, so you may directly pass arbitrarily complex requests to <code>fetch()</code> as discussed below.
</p>
<h2>Headers</h2>
<p>Fetch introduces 3 interfaces. These are <code>Headers</code>, <code>Request</code> and <br/><code>Response</code>. They map directly to the underlying HTTP concepts, but have <br/>certain visibility filters in place for privacy and security reasons, such as <br/>supporting CORS rules and ensuring cookies aren’t readable by third parties.</p>
<p>Fetch introduces 3 interfaces. These are <code>Headers</code>, <code>Request</code> and <br/>
<code>Response</code>. They map directly to the underlying HTTP concepts, but have <br/>certain visibility filters in place for privacy and security reasons, such as <br/>supporting CORS rules and ensuring cookies aren’t readable by third parties.
</p>
<p>The <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#headers-class">Headers interface</a> is a simple multi-map of names to values:</p>
<p>Some of these operations are only useful in ServiceWorkers, but they provide <br/>a much nicer API to Headers.</p>
<p>Since Headers can be sent in requests, or received in responses, and have various limitations about what information can and should be mutable, <code>Headers</code> objects have a <strong>guard</strong> property. This is not exposed to the Web, but it affects which mutation operations are allowed on the Headers object. <br/>Possible values are:</p>
<p>Some of these operations are only useful in ServiceWorkers, but they provide <br/>a much nicer API to Headers.</p>
<p>Since Headers can be sent in requests, or received in responses, and have various limitations about what information can and should be mutable, <code>Headers</code> objects have a <strong>guard</strong> property. This is not exposed to the Web, but it affects which mutation operations are allowed on the Headers object. <br/>Possible values are:</p>
<ul>
<li>“none”: default.</li>
<li>“request”: guard for a Headers object obtained from a Request (<code>Request.headers</code>).</li>
<li>“request-no-cors”: guard for a Headers object obtained from a Request created <br/>with mode “no-cors”.</li>
<li>“request-no-cors”: guard for a Headers object obtained from a Request created <br/>with mode “no-cors”.</li>
<li>“response”: naturally, for Headers obtained from Response (<code>Response.headers</code>).</li>
<li>“immutable”: Mostly used for ServiceWorkers, renders a Headers object <br/>read-only.</li>
<li>“immutable”: Mostly used for ServiceWorkers, renders a Headers object <br/>read-only.</li>
</ul>
<p>The details of how each guard affects the behaviors of the Headers object are <br/>in the <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/">specification</a>. For example, you may not append or set a “request” guarded Headers’ “Content-Length” header. Similarly, inserting “Set-Cookie” into a Response header is not allowed so that ServiceWorkers may not set cookies via synthesized Responses.</p>
<p>The details of how each guard affects the behaviors of the Headers object are <br/>in the <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/">specification</a>. For example, you may not append or set a “request” guarded Headers’ “Content-Length” header. Similarly, inserting “Set-Cookie” into a Response header is not allowed so that ServiceWorkers may not set cookies via synthesized Responses.</p>
<p>All of the Headers methods throw TypeError if <code>name</code> is not a <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-header-name">valid HTTP Header name</a>. The mutation operations will throw TypeError if there is an immutable guard. Otherwise they fail silently. For example:</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span> Response.<span>error</span><span>(</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span> Response.<span>error</span><span>(</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
console.<span>log</span><span>(</span><span>"Cannot pretend to be a bank!"</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<span>}</span></pre></div>
<span>}</span></pre>
</div>
<h2>Request</h2>
<p>The Request interface defines a request to fetch a resource over HTTP. URL, method and headers are expected, but the Request also allows specifying a body, a request mode, credentials and cache hints.</p>
<p>The simplest Request is of course, just a URL, as you may do to GET a resource.</p>
<p>You may also pass a Request to the <code>Request()</code> constructor to create a copy. <br/>(This is not the same as calling the <code>clone()</code> method, which is covered in <br/>the “Reading bodies” section.).</p>
<p>You may also pass a Request to the <code>Request()</code> constructor to create a copy. <br/>(This is not the same as calling the <code>clone()</code> method, which is covered in <br/>the “Reading bodies” section.).</p>
<p>Again, this form is probably only useful in ServiceWorkers.</p>
<p>The non-URL attributes of the <code>Request</code> can only be set by passing initial <br/>values as a second argument to the constructor. This argument is a dictionary.</p>
<p>The non-URL attributes of the <code>Request</code> can only be set by passing initial <br/>values as a second argument to the constructor. This argument is a dictionary.</p>
<p>The Request’s mode is used to determine if cross-origin requests lead to valid responses, and which properties on the response are readable. Legal mode values are <code>"same-origin"</code>, <code>"no-cors"</code> (default) and <code>"cors"</code>.</p>
<p>The <code>"same-origin"</code> mode is simple, if a request is made to another origin with this mode set, the result is simply an error. You could use this to ensure that <br/>a request is always being made to your origin.</p>
<p>The <code>"same-origin"</code> mode is simple, if a request is made to another origin with this mode set, the result is simply an error. You could use this to ensure that <br/>a request is always being made to your origin.</p>
<p>The <code>"no-cors"</code> mode captures what the web platform does by default for scripts you import from CDNs, images hosted on other domains, and so on. First, it prevents the method from being anything other than “HEAD”, “GET” or “POST”. Second, if any ServiceWorkers intercept these requests, they may not add or override any headers except for <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#simple-header">these</a>. Third, JavaScript may not access any properties of the resulting Response. This ensures that ServiceWorkers do not affect the semantics of the Web and prevents security and privacy issues that could arise from leaking data across domains.</p>
<p><code>"cors"</code> mode is what you’ll usually use to make known cross-origin requests to access various APIs offered by other vendors. These are expected to adhere to <br/>the <ahref="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Access_control_CORS">CORS protocol</a>. Only a <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-filtered-response-cors">limited set</a> of headers is exposed in the Response, but the body is readable. For example, you could get a list of Flickr’s <ahref="https://www.flickr.com/services/api/flickr.interestingness.getList.html">most interesting</a> photos today like this:</p>
<p><code>"cors"</code> mode is what you’ll usually use to make known cross-origin requests to access various APIs offered by other vendors. These are expected to adhere to <br/>the <ahref="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Access_control_CORS">CORS protocol</a>. Only a <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-filtered-response-cors">limited set</a> of headers is exposed in the Response, but the body is readable. For example, you could get a list of Flickr’s <ahref="https://www.flickr.com/services/api/flickr.interestingness.getList.html">most interesting</a> photos today like this:</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><span>var</span> u <span>=</span><span>new</span> URLSearchParams<span>(</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<pre><span>var</span> u <span>=</span><span>new</span> URLSearchParams<span>(</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<p>The <code>credentials</code> enumeration determines if cookies for the other domain are <br/>sent to cross-origin requests. This is similar to XHR’s <code>withCredentials</code><br/>flag, but tri-valued as <code>"omit"</code> (default), <code>"same-origin"</code> and <code>"include"</code>.</p>
<p>The <code>credentials</code> enumeration determines if cookies for the other domain are <br/>sent to cross-origin requests. This is similar to XHR’s <code>withCredentials</code>
<br/>flag, but tri-valued as <code>"omit"</code> (default), <code>"same-origin"</code> and <code>"include"</code>.
</p>
<p>The Request object will also give the ability to offer caching hints to the user-agent. This is currently undergoing some <ahref="https://github.com/slightlyoff/ServiceWorker/issues/585">security review</a>. Firefox exposes the attribute, but it has no effect.</p>
<p>Requests have two read-only attributes that are relevant to ServiceWorkers <br/>intercepting them. There is the string <code>referrer</code>, which is set by the UA to be <br/>the referrer of the Request. This may be an empty string. The other is <br/><code>context</code> which is a rather <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#requestcredentials">large enumeration</a> defining what sort of resource is being fetched. This could be “image” if the request is from an <img>tag in the controlled document, “worker” if it is an attempt to load a worker script, and so on. When used with the <code>fetch()</code> function, it is “fetch”.</p>
<p>Requests have two read-only attributes that are relevant to ServiceWorkers <br/>intercepting them. There is the string <code>referrer</code>, which is set by the UA to be <br/>the referrer of the Request. This may be an empty string. The other is <br/>
<code>context</code> which is a rather <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#requestcredentials">large enumeration</a> defining what sort of resource is being fetched. This could be “image” if the request is from an <img>tag in the controlled document, “worker” if it is an attempt to load a worker script, and so on. When used with the <code>fetch()</code> function, it is “fetch”.
</p>
<h2>Response</h2>
<p><code>Response</code> instances are returned by calls to <code>fetch()</code>. They can also be created by JS, but this is only useful in ServiceWorkers.</p>
<p>We have already seen some attributes of Response when we looked at <code>fetch()</code>. The most obvious candidates are <code>status</code>, an integer (default value 200) and <code>statusText</code> (default value “OK”), which correspond to the HTTP status code and reason. The <code>ok</code> attribute is just a shorthand for checking that <code>status</code> is in the range 200-299 inclusive.</p>
<p><code>headers</code> is the Response’s Headers object, with guard “response”. The <code>url</code> attribute reflects the URL of the corresponding request.</p>
<p>Response also has a <code>type</code>, which is “basic”, “cors”, “default”, “error” or <br/>“opaque”.</p>
<p>Response also has a <code>type</code>, which is “basic”, “cors”, “default”, “error” or <br/>“opaque”.</p>
<ul>
<li><code>"basic"</code>: normal, same origin response, with all headers exposed except <br/>“Set-Cookie” and “Set-Cookie2″.</li>
<li><code>"basic"</code>: normal, same origin response, with all headers exposed except <br/>“Set-Cookie” and “Set-Cookie2″.</li>
<li><code>"cors"</code>: response was received from a valid cross-origin request. <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-filtered-response-cors">Certain headers and the body</a>may be accessed.</li>
<li><code>"error"</code>: network error. No useful information describing the error is available. The Response’s status is 0, headers are empty and immutable. This is the type for a Response obtained from <code>Response.error()</code>.</li>
<li><code>"opaque"</code>: response for “no-cors” request to cross-origin resource. <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-filtered-response-opaque">Severely<br/>
restricted</a></li>
<li><code>"opaque"</code>: response for “no-cors” request to cross-origin resource. <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-filtered-response-opaque">Severely<br/> restricted</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The “error” type results in the <code>fetch()</code> Promise rejecting with TypeError.</p>
<p>There are certain attributes that are useful only in a ServiceWorker scope. The <br/>idiomatic way to return a Response to an intercepted request in ServiceWorkers is:</p>
<p>There are certain attributes that are useful only in a ServiceWorker scope. The <br/>idiomatic way to return a Response to an intercepted request in ServiceWorkers is:</p>
<p>As you can see, Response has a two argument constructor, where both arguments are optional. The first argument is a body initializer, and the second is a dictionary to set the <code>status</code>, <code>statusText</code> and <code>headers</code>.</p>
<p>The static method <code>Response.error()</code> simply returns an error response. Similarly, <code>Response.redirect(url, status)</code> returns a Response resulting in <br/>a redirect to <code>url</code>.</p>
<p>The static method <code>Response.error()</code> simply returns an error response. Similarly, <code>Response.redirect(url, status)</code> returns a Response resulting in <br/>a redirect to <code>url</code>.</p>
<h2>Dealing with bodies</h2>
<p>Both Requests and Responses may contain body data. We’ve been glossing over it because of the various data types body may contain, but we will cover it in detail now.</p>
<p>A body is an instance of any of the following types.</p>
<li><ahref="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FormData">FormData</a>– currently not supported by either Gecko or Blink. Firefox expects to ship this in version 39 along with the rest of Fetch.</li>
</ul>
<p>In addition, Request and Response both offer the following methods to extract their body. These all return a Promise that is eventually resolved with the actual content.</p>
<ul>
<li><code>arrayBuffer()</code></li>
<li><code>blob()</code></li>
<li><code>json()</code></li>
<li><code>text()</code></li>
<li><code>formData()</code></li>
<li><code>arrayBuffer()</code>
</li>
<li><code>blob()</code>
</li>
<li><code>json()</code>
</li>
<li><code>text()</code>
</li>
<li><code>formData()</code>
</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a significant improvement over XHR in terms of ease of use of non-text data!</p>
<p>Request bodies can be set by passing <code>body</code> parameters:</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><span>var</span> form <span>=</span><span>new</span> FormData<span>(</span>document.<span>getElementById</span><span>(</span><span>'login-form'</span><span>)</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<pre><span>var</span> form <span>=</span><span>new</span> FormData<span>(</span>document.<span>getElementById</span><span>(</span><span>'login-form'</span><span>)</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<p>Responses take the first argument as the body.</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span><span>new</span> Response<span>(</span><span>new</span> File<span>(</span><span>[</span><span>"chunk"</span><span>,</span><span>"chunk"</span><span>]</span><span>,</span><span>"archive.zip"</span><span>,</span>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span><span>new</span> Response<span>(</span><span>new</span> File<span>(</span><span>[</span><span>"chunk"</span><span>,</span><span>"chunk"</span><span>]</span><span>,</span><span>"archive.zip"</span><span>,</span>
<p>Both Request and Response (and by extension the <code>fetch()</code> function), will try to intelligently <ahref="https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#concept-bodyinit-extract">determine the content type</a>. Request will also automatically set a “Content-Type” header if none is set in the dictionary.</p>
<h3>Streams and cloning</h3>
<p>It is important to realise that Request and Response bodies can only be read once! Both interfaces have a boolean attribute <code>bodyUsed</code> to determine if it is safe to read or not.</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span><span>new</span> Response<span>(</span><span>"one time use"</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<pre><span>var</span> res <span>=</span><span>new</span> Response<span>(</span><span>"one time use"</span><span>)</span><span>;</span>
<p>This decision allows easing the transition to an eventual <ahref="https://streams.spec.whatwg.org/">stream-based</a> Fetch API. The intention is to let applications consume data as it arrives, allowing for JavaScript to deal with larger files like videos, and perform things like compression and editing on the fly.</p>
<p>Often, you’ll want access to the body multiple times. For example, you can use the upcoming <ahref="http://slightlyoff.github.io/ServiceWorker/spec/service_worker/index.html#cache-objects">Cache API</a> to store Requests and Responses for offline use, and Cache requires bodies to be available for reading.</p>
<p>So how do you read out the body multiple times within such constraints? The API provides a <code>clone()</code> method on the two interfaces. This will return a clone of the object, with a ‘new’ body. <code>clone()</code> MUST be called before the body of the corresponding object has been used. That is, <code>clone()</code> first, read later.</p>
<p>Along with the transition to streams, Fetch will eventually have the ability to abort running <code>fetch()</code>es and some way to report the progress of a fetch. These are provided by XHR, but are a little tricky to fit in the Promise-based nature of the Fetch API.</p>
<p>You can contribute to the evolution of this API by participating in discussions on the <ahref="https://whatwg.org/mailing-list">WHATWG mailing list</a> and in the issues in the <ahref="https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/buglist.cgi?product=WHATWG&component=Fetch&resolution=---">Fetch</a> and <ahref="https://github.com/slightlyoff/ServiceWorker/issues">ServiceWorker</a>specifications.</p>
<p>For a better web!</p>
<p><em>The author would like to thank Andrea Marchesini, Anne van Kesteren and Ben<br/>
Kelly for helping with the specification and implementation.</em></p>
<p><em>The author would like to thank Andrea Marchesini, Anne van Kesteren and Ben<br/> Kelly for helping with the specification and implementation.</em>
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tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,
quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo
consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non
proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
</p>
<p>
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tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,
quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo
consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non
proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
</p>
<p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
<p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
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tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,
quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo
consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non
proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
</p>
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<p> But Facebook and other massive web companies represent a strong push toward unaccountable centralized social control, which I think makes our society more unequal and more unjust. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is one instance of this long-running problem with what I call the "surveillance economy." I don't want to submit to these power structures, and I don’t want my presence on such platforms to serve as bait that lures other people into the digital panopticon. </p>
<p> But while I've never "opted in" to Facebook or any of the other big social networks, Facebook still has a detailed profile that can be used to target me. I've never consented to having Facebook collect my data, which can be used to draw very detailed inferences about my life, my habits, and my relationships. As we aim to take Facebook to task for its breach of user trust, we need to think about what its capabilities imply for society overall. After all, if you do #deleteFacebook, you'll find yourself in my shoes: non-consenting, but still subject to Facebook’s globe-spanning surveillance and targeting network. </p>
<p> There are at least two major categories of information available to Facebook about non-participants like me: information from other Facebook users, and information from sites on the open web. </p>
<h3><strong>Information from other Facebook users</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Information from other Facebook users</strong>
</h3>
<p> When you sign up for Facebook, it encourages you to upload your list of contacts so that the site can "find your friends." Facebook uses this contact information to learn about people, even if those people don't agree to participate. It also links people together based on who they know, even if the shared contact hasn't agreed to this use. </p>
<p> For example, I received an email from Facebook that lists the people who have all invited me to join Facebook: my aunt, an old co-worker, a friend from elementary school, etc. This email includes names and email addresses — including my own name — and at least one <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_bug">web bug</a> designed to identify me to Facebook’s web servers when I open the email. Facebook records this group of people as my contacts, even though I've never agreed to this kind of data collection. </p>
<p> Similarly, I'm sure that I'm in some photographs that someone has uploaded to Facebook — and I'm probably tagged in some of them. I've never agreed to this, but Facebook could still be keeping track. </p>
<p> So even if you decide you need to join Facebook, remember that you might be giving the company information about someone else who didn't agree to be part of its surveillance platform. </p>
<h3><strong>Information from sites on the open Web</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Information from sites on the open Web</strong>
</h3>
<p> Nearly every website that you visit that has a "Like" button is actually encouraging your browser to tell Facebook about your browsing habits. Even if you don't click on the "Like" button, displaying it requires your browser to send a request to Facebook's servers for the "Like" button itself. That request includes <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_referer">information</a> mentioning the name of the page you are visiting and any Facebook-specific <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie">cookies</a> your browser might have collected. (See <ahref="https://www.facebook.com/help/186325668085084">Facebook's own description of this process</a>.) This is called a "third-party request." </p>
<p> This makes it possible for Facebook to create a detailed picture of your browsing history — even if you've never even visited Facebook directly, let alone signed up for a Facebook account. </p>
<p> Think about most of the web pages you've visited — how many of them <em>don't</em> have a "Like" button? If you administer a website and you include a "Like" button on every page, you're helping Facebook to build profiles of your visitors, even those who have opted out of the social network. Facebook’s <ahref="https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/">“Share” buttons</a> on other sites — along with <ahref="https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-ads-pixel">other tools</a> — work a bit differently from the “Like” button, but do effectively the same thing. </p>
@ -20,26 +24,37 @@
<p> We use the information we have to improve our advertising and measurement systems so we can show you relevant ads on and off our Services and measure the effectiveness and reach of ads and services. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> This is, in essence, exactly what Cambridge Analytica did. </p>
<h3><strong>Consent</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Consent</strong>
</h3>
<p> Facebook and other tech companies often deflect accusations against excessive data collection by arguing "consent" — that they harvest and use data with the consent of the users involved. </p>
<p> But even if we accept that clicking through a "Terms of Service" that <ahref="https://tosdr.org/">no one reads</a> can actually constitute true consent, even if we ignore the fact that these terms are overwhelmingly one-sided and non-negotiable, and even if we accept that it's meaningful for people to give consent when sharing data about other people who may have also opted in — what is the recourse for someone who has not opted into these systems at all? </p>
<p> Are those of us who have explicitly avoided agreeing to the Facebook terms of service simply fair game for an industry-wide surveillance and targeting network? </p>
<h3><strong>Privilege</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Privilege</strong>
</h3>
<p> I don’t mean to critique people who have created a Facebook profile or suggest they deserve whatever they get. </p>
<p> My ability to avoid Facebook comes from privilege — I have existing social contacts with whom I know how to stay in touch without using Facebook's network. My job does not require that I use Facebook. I can afford the time and expense to communicate with my electoral representatives and political allies via other channels. </p>
<p> Many people do not have these privileges and are compelled to "opt in" on Facebook's non-negotiable terms. </p>
<p> Many journalists, organizers, schools, politicians, and others who have good reasons to oppose Facebook's centralized social control feel compelled by Facebook's reach and scale to participate in their practices, even those we know to be harmful. That includes the ACLU. </p>
<p> Privacy should not be a luxury good, and while I'm happy to encourage people to opt out of these subtle and socially fraught arrangements, I do not argue that anyone who has signed up has somehow relinquished concerns about their privacy. We need to evaluate privacy concerns in their full social contexts. These are not problems that can be resolved on an individual level, because of the interpersonal nature of much of this data and the complexities of the tradeoffs involved. </p>
<p> While they may not solve the problem, there are some technical steps people can take to limit the scope of these surveillance practices. For example, some web browsers do not send "third-party cookies" by default, or <ahref="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thirdparty">they scope cookies</a> so that centralized surveillance doesn't get a single view of one user. The most privacy-preserving modern browser is <ahref="https://www.torproject.org/">the Tor Browser</a>, which everyone should have installed and available, even if it's not the browser they choose to use every day. It limits the surveillance ability of systems that you have not signed up for to track you as you move around the web. </p>
<p> You can also modify some browsers — for example, with plug-ins for <ahref="https://requestpolicycontinued.github.io/">Firefox</a> and <ahref="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf">Chrome</a> — so that they <ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/">do not send third-party</a><ahref="https://requestpolicycontinued.github.io/">requests at all</a>. Firefox is also exploring even more <ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/">privacy-preserving techniques</a><ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/">.</a></p>
<p> You can also modify some browsers — for example, with plug-ins for <ahref="https://requestpolicycontinued.github.io/">Firefox</a> and <ahref="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf">Chrome</a> — so that they <ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/">do not send third-party</a><ahref="https://requestpolicycontinued.github.io/">requests at all</a>. Firefox is also exploring even more <ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/">privacy-preserving techniques</a><ahref="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/">.</a>
</p>
<p> It can’t be denied, though, that these tools are harder to use than the web browsers most people are accustomed to, and they create barriers to some online activities. (For example, logging in to <ahref="https://offcampushousing.uconn.edu/login">some sites</a> and accessing some <ahref="https://filestore.community.support.microsoft.com/api/images/0253d8fb-b050-401a-834d-9d80a99c0b12">web applications</a> is impossible without third-party cookies.) </p>
<p> Some website operators take their visitors' privacy more seriously than others, by reducing the amount of third-party requests. For example, it's possible to display "share on Facebook" or "Like" buttons without sending user requests to Facebook in the first place. The ACLU's own website does this because we believe that the right to read with privacy is a fundamental protection for civic discourse. </p>
<p> If you are responsible for running a website, try browsing it with a third-party-blocking extension turned on. Think about how much information you're requiring your users to send to third parties as a condition for using your site. If you care about being a good steward of your visitors' data, you can re-design your website to reduce this kind of leakage. </p>
<h3><strong>Opting out?</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Opting out?</strong>
</h3>
<p> Some advertisers claim that you can "opt out" of their targeted advertising, and even offer <ahref="http://optout.aboutads.info/">a centralized place meant to help you do so</a>. However, my experience with these tools isn't a positive one. They don't appear to work all of the time. (In a recent experiment I conducted, two advertisers’ opt-out mechanisms failed to take effect.) And while advertisers claim to allow the user to opt out of "interest-based ads," it's not clear that the opt-outs govern data collection itself, rather than just the use of the collected data for displaying ads. Moreover, opting out on their terms requires the use of third-party cookies, thereby enabling another mechanism that other advertisers can then exploit. </p>
<p> It's also not clear how they function over time: How frequently do I need to take these steps? Do they expire? How often should I check back to make sure I’m still opted out? I'd much prefer an approach requiring me to opt <em>in</em> to surveillance and targeting. </p>
<h3><strong>Fix the surveillance economy, not just Facebook</strong></h3>
<h3>
<strong>Fix the surveillance economy, not just Facebook</strong>
</h3>
<p> These are just a few of the mechanisms that enable online tracking. Facebook is just one culprit in this online "surveillance economy," albeit a massive one — the company owns <ahref="https://www.instagram.com/">Instagram</a>, <ahref="https://atlassolutions.com/">Atlas</a>, <ahref="https://www.whatsapp.com/">WhatsApp</a>, and dozens of other internet and technology companies and services. But it’s not the only player in this space. Google’s business model also relies on this kind of surveillance, and there are dozens of smaller players as well. </p>
<p> As we work to address the fallout from the current storm around Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, we can't afford to lose sight of these larger mechanisms at play. Cambridge Analytica's failures and mistakes are inherent to Facebook's business model. We need to seriously challenge the social structures that encourage people to opt in to this kind of surveillance. At the same time, we also need to protect those of us who manage to opt out. </p>
<p>Izuku was struggling to understand how he had even managed to get here, seated before the archvillain of Japan with only a sense of dread to keep him company. All Might sat concealed in an observation room, of the firm opinion that he could only aggravate the prisoner and he sent Izuku off with a strained smile. A vague haze hovered over Izuku’s memory. It started with a simple conversation gone astray on a long drive home. </p>
<p> “So, who is All For One? Do we know anything about him beyond what you told me before? He’s been imprisoned for months now.” Izuku remembered asking All Might from the backseat of the car as Detective Tsukauchi leisurely drove along a sprawling highway. </p>
<p>Playing on the car radio was an aftermath report of a villain attack in downtown Tokyo. Izuku caught the phrase “liquid body” from the female reporter before Detective Tsukauchi changed the channel.</p>
<p> “Nope. Still nothing. No one really wants to speak to him,” All Might had replied brightly. “He gives off polite airs, but he’s a piece of work.” All Might’s mostly obstructed shoulders in the front seat shrugged. “Not much you can do with someone like him. Everything that comes out is a threat or taunt.” All Might carefully waved his hand in a circular motion towards the side of his head.</p>
<p> “No one’s even made it through a full interview with him, from what I’ve heard,” Detective Tsukauchi added from behind the wheel. “He plays mind games with them. The prison also has a “no recent events” policy on any discussions with him as well. Just in case he ends up with ideas or has some means of communicating. Given that people only want to ask him about current events, it doesn’t leave much to talk about.” </p>
<p> “Wait, they still don’t know what Quirks he has?” Izuku asked exasperatedly. “They can’t if there’s still an information block on visits.” </p>
<p>“Nope. We have no idea what he can do. They can run DNA tests, but it’s not like anyone apart from him even knows how his Quirk works. They could get matches with any number of people, but if they’re not in a database then we can’t cross-reference them anyway. Even if they run an analysis, the data doesn’t mean anything without the ability to interpret it,” All Might gestured with a skeletal finger. “It’s a waste of time after the initial tests were conducted. They weren’t game to MRI him either, given he’s definitely got a Quirk that creates metal components.”</p>
<p> “No one’s bothered to ask him anything about… anything?” Izuku asked, dumbfounded. “He must be around two-hundred years old and people can’t think of a single non-current affairs thing to ask him?” </p>
<p> In some ways it was unfathomable that they’d let a potential resource go to waste. On the other hand, said potential resource had blown up a city, murdered numerous people and terrorised Japan for over a century. At the very least.</p>
<p> “Well, I tried to ask him about Shigaraki, but he didn’t say much of anything really. Some garbage about you being too dependent on me and him letting Shigaraki run wild and how he just wanted to be the ultimate evil,” All Might shrugged again. “He spends too much time talking about nothing.”</p>
<p>Izuku shifted his head onto his arm. “But, that’s not really nothing, is it?”</p>
<p> “What do you mean?” Izuku had the feeling that All Might would have been looking at him with the <i>you’re about to do something stupid aren’t you</i> expression that was thankfully becoming less common.</p>
<p> “Well, he clearly doesn’t know anything about us, All Might, if he thinks that you’re just going to let go of me after not even two years of being taught. Maybe Shigaraki was dependent on adult figures, but I don’t even remember my dad and mum’s been busy working and keeping the house together. I’ve never had a lot of adult supervision before,” Izuku laughed nervously. “I had to find ways to keep myself entertained. If anything, I’m on the disobedient side of the scale.” All Might outright giggled.</p>
<p> “I’ll say, especially after what happened with Overhaul. I’m surprised your mother let you leave the dorms again after that.”</p>
<p> “I’m surprised she didn’t withdraw and ground me until I was thirty.”</p>
<p>“Oh? That strict?” Tsukauchi asked.</p>
<p> “She has her moments,” Izuku smiled fondly. “Do you think she’d agree to me asking the archvillain of Japan about his Quirk?” Izuku asked, only partially joking. There was an itch at the back of his head, a feeling of something missing that poked and prodded at his senses. </p>
<p>All Might coughed and sprayed the dash with a fine red mist. “Absolutely not! I forbid it!” </p>
<p> “That’s exactly why I’m asking her and not you,” Izuku grinned from the backseat.</p>
<p> “He’s evil!”</p>
<p> “He’s ancient. You honestly don’t wonder about the sort of things someone with that life experience and Quirk would have run across to end up the way he did?” </p>
<p> “Nope, he made it perfectly clear that he always wanted to be the supreme evil,” All Might snipped through folded arms. </p>
<p> “Yeah, and I’ll just take his word for that, won’t I?” Izuku grinned. “If he does nothing but lie, then that’s probably one too, but there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere.” </p>
<p> “What would you even do? Harass him into telling you his life story?” All Might sighed.</p>
<p>“Not when I can kill him with kindness. Who knows, it might even be poisonous for him.” </p>
<p> “You’re explaining this to your mother. Teacher or not, I’m not being on the receiving end of this one.” </p>
<p>Izuku blinked for a moment. “You’ll let me?”</p>
<p>“I’m not entirely for it, but any prospective information on what influenced Shigaraki can only be a good thing. If anything goes south we can pull you out pretty easily. Just be aware of who and what you’re dealing with.” Struggling, All Might turned a serious look to Izuku around the side of the seat. “<i>Only</i> if your mother gives the okay.”</p>
<p>The conversation turned to school for the rest of the way. </p>
<p> It might have been curiosity or it might have been the nagging sensation that chewed at his brain for the three weeks that he researched the subject of the conversation. All For One was a cryptid. Mystical in more ways than one, he was only a rumour on a network that was two-hundred years old. There were whispers of a shadowy figure who once ruled Japan, intermingled with a string of conspiracies and fragmented events. </p>
<p>Izuku had even braved the dark web, poking and prodding at some of the seedier elements of the world wide web. The internet had rumours, but the dark web had stories.<br/></p>
<p> An implied yakuza wrote about his grandfather who lost a fire manipulation Quirk and his sanity without any reason. His grandfather had been institutionalised, crying and repeating “he took it, he took it” until his dying days. No one could console him. </p>
<p> Another user spoke of a nursing home where a room full of dementia residents inexplicably became docile and no longer used their Quirks on the increasingly disturbed staff. The nursing home erupted into flames just before a court case against them commenced. </p>
<p> A user with neon pink text spoke of how their great-great-great-great grandmother with a longevity Quirk had simply aged rapidly one day and passed away in her sleep, her face a mask of terror. No cause had ever been found. </p>
<p>A hacker provided a grainy CCTV recording of a heist and a scanned collection of documents from over a century ago, where there was a flash of light and entire bank vault had been emptied. What separated it from the usual robbery was that it contained a list containing confidential information on the Quirks of the First Generation. Izuku had greedily snavelled up and saved the video and documents to an external hard drive. </p>
<p>Paging through, Izuku saw someone recount how their Quirkless uncle had developed a warp Quirk and gone from rags to riches under a mysterious benefactor. A decade ago, the uncle had simply disappeared. </p>
<p>Numerous and terrifying, the stories were scattered nuggets of gold hidden across the web. They’d never last long, vanishing within hours of posting. Izuku bounced from proxy to proxy, fleeing from a series of deletions that seemed to follow Izuku’s aliased postings across snitch.ru, rabbit.az, aconspiracy.xfiles and their compatriots. </p>
<p>After thirty-two identity changes (all carefully logged in a separate notebook), a large amount of feigning communal interest in a lucky tabloid article on All For One which had been released at the start of the first of the three weeks, Izuku hung up his tinfoil hat and called it a month. He haphazardly tossed a bulging notebook into his bookshelf and lodged his hard drive in a gap containing seven others and went to dinner. </p>
<p>It took another week to present his research to All Might and Tsukauchi, whose jaws reached the proverbial floor.</p>
<p> “We never found any of this,” the Detective Tsukauchi exclaimed. “How did you find all of it?” </p>
<p> “I asked the right people. Turns out criminals have very long and very unforgiving memories,” Izuku explained through sunken eyes. “There’s more than this that could be linked to him, but these ones seem to be the most obvious.” </p>
<p> “They would do, you can’t be head of the underworld without making an army of enemies,” All Might agreed. “You know, if you can get any more information about these events, I think you’ll give people a lot of peace of mind.” </p>
<p> “Provided mum agrees to it.” </p>
<p>“Only if she agrees to it.”</p>
<p>It took another month to convince his mother, who eventually gave in once All Might provided an extremely comprehensive schedule of how the visitations and any resulting research would be carefully balanced against Izuku’s schoolwork and internship. </p>
<p>The day of the visit finally arrived, four months after the initial conversation, much to Izuku’s dismay. </p>
<p>Izuku remembered how he had arrived, with the Detective and All Might escorting him through its sterile, white innards. A list of rules rattled off at the gate, “no current affairs” was chief among them and an assertion that he’d be dragged from the room if need be if Izuku was to breach any of them. No smuggling of communication devices, no weapons, no Quirks, nothing that could compromise the prisoner’s secure status. </p>
<p>Heavily armoured and drilled guards leading him underground into the deepest bowels of the Tartarus complex. </p>
<p>Izuku understood the rules, dressed casually in a cotton t-shirt with “Shirt” printed across it in haphazard English and clutching at a carefully screened and utterly blank notebook. </p>
<p>Across from him, behind reinforced glass, the archvillain of Japan was bound and unmoving. </p>
<p> “Hello,” Izuku initiated uncertainly. His skin had been crawling the moment he crossed the threshold, a memory of the encounter and escape at the Kamino Ward months ago. </p>
<p>“Ah, All Might’s disciple,” drawled All For One, “is he too cowardly to come himself? Yet I don’t hear the garments of a hero.” With hardly a word out, All For One had already lunged for the figurative jugular. </p>
<p>A stray thought of <i>how does he know who I am if he’s blind and isn’t familiar with me?</i> whispered its way through Izuku’s head.</p>
<p> “Oh, no,” Izuku corrected hastily, almost relieved at the lack of any pretence, “I asked if I could talk to you. This isn’t exactly hero related.”</p>
<p> “I’m surprised he said yes.” While there was little by way of expression, Izuku could just about sense the contempt dripping from the prisoner’s tone. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t expecting. Kacchan had already said worse to him in earlier years. Water off a duck’s back. </p>
<p> “Well, he’s not my legal guardian, so I think you should be more surprised that mum said yes. She’s stricter with these things than All Might,” Izuku corrected again. “Mum gave the okay, but that was a stressful discussion.” And there it was, a miniscule twitch from the man opposite. A spasm more than anything else. <i>Interesting.</i> Pinned down as he was, the prisoner oozed irritation.</p>
<p>“At least your mother is a wise person. I wonder why the student doesn’t heed all of the advice of the teacher.” All For One’s tone didn’t indicate a question, so much as an implicit statement that All Might wasn’t worth listening to in any capacity. Kacchan would have hated the comparison, but the hostility had an almost comfortable familiarity. “He no doubt warned you off speaking to me, overprotective as he is, but here you are.”</p>
<p>Izuku found himself smiling at the thought of Kacchan’s outrage if he ever found out about the mental comparison as he replied. “I don’t think it’s normal for anyone my age to listen completely to their teachers. We pick and choose and run with what works best for us. He warned me, but I’m still here. Mum warned me as well, but I think she cared more about the time management aspect of it."</p>
<p> “Is that a recent development?” All For One probed. </p>
<p> “Not really. My old homeroom teacher told me not to bother applying to U.A.” His mother’s beaming face had carried Izuku through the cheerful and resolute signing of that application form. </p>
<p>“I see you followed their advice to the letter,” came the snide, dismissive reply. </p>
<p>Izuku hoisted up his legs and sat cross-legged in his seat. Leaning slightly forward as he did so as to better prop up his notebook.</p>
<p>“You’re a walking contrarian, aren’t you? All Might told me about his run ins with you. What someone does or doesn’t do really doesn’t matter to you, you’ll just find a way to rationalise it as a negative and go on the attack anyway. What you’re currently doing is drawing attention away from yourself and focusing it on me so you can withhold information.” Izuku flipped open his notebook and put pen to paper. “You’ve got something fairly big to hide and you diverting attention exposes that motivation as existing anyway. The only real questions here are what and why?” Izuku paused in mortification as the man opposite’s lips parted. “I just said that aloud, didn’t I?” </p>
<p>Of the responses Izuku had expected, it wasn’t laughter. Unrestrained, Izuku would have expected a violent outburst. In this situation, he would have expected another scathing comment. Instead, All For One laughed breathily, leaning into his bonds. Wheezingly he spoke, “I’ll have to change tactics, if that one’s too transparent for you. How refreshing.” </p>
<p>Doing his best not to glow a blinding red and simultaneously pale at the interest, Izuku carried on. “I add it to the list when you do. I’m not emotionally involved enough to really be impacted by what you’re saying. I know about you in theory, but that’s it. Maybe All Might has a history with you, but I don’t really know enough about you personally to…” </p>
<p>“Care,” All For One supplied, somewhat subdued as he struggled to breathe. “You’re only here to satisfy your curiosity as to whether or not the stories were true.” </p>
<p> Izuku nodded, scratching at his notebook with his left hand. “Yes and no, I’m actually here to ask you about how your Quirk works.” <i>For now.</i></p>
<p> Another chortle, more restrained that the last. </p>
<p> "What makes you think others haven’t already asked?” Had All For One been unrestrained, Izuku could imagine the stereotypical scene of the villain confidently leaning back in some overblown chair in a secret lair, drink of choice in hand, if the tone of voice was any indication. Deflections aside, the man easily rose to each comment. </p>
<p> “Whether or not they asked it’s irrelevant if they can’t read the answers.” Answers didn’t matter if the people involved were too attached to read into the answers. If none of the interviewers had managed a full interview, then it seemed unlikely that any sort of effort was put into understanding the villain. </p>
<p> “And you think you can? What expertise do you hold above theirs?” Doubt and reprimand weighted the words. Oddly enough, had Izuku been any younger he could have mistaken the man for a disapproving parent rebuking an overly ambitious child. Albeit an extremely evil one. </p>
<p> Izuku inhaled shortly and went for it. “If there’s something I know, it’s Quirks and how they work. Maybe I don’t know you, but I don’t really need to. Quirks fall under broad categories of function. You can take and give, consent doesn’t seem to be a factor. You either can’t “see” certain types of Quirks or you need to have prior knowledge of it before you take it with what I know about your brother. Despite your <i>nom de guerre</i>, because we both know it’s not your real name, you have a history of giving multiple Quirks and causing brain damage to the receiver. You clearly aren’t impacted by those same restrictions, so it must either alter your brain mapping or adjust functions to allow for simultaneous use and storage. It also must isolate or categories the Quirks you stock, because from the few people who do remember you, you creating certain Quirks is always in the context of giving them to someone else meaning there’s probably an inherent immunity to stop it from tainting your own Quirk with a mutation,” Izuku mumbled, almost to himself. “The only thing really in question about your Quirk is the finer details and whether or not you need to maintain those features or if they’re inherent and your hard limit for holding Quirks.” </p>
<p> There was silence, for only a moment. “If only my hands were free, I would clap for such a thoughtful assessment. Clearly you’re not all brawn,” All For One positively purred. “Speculate away.” A wide and slightly unhinged smile was directed at Izuku. </p>
<p> It was all Izuku could do not to wince at the eagerness. An image of a nervous All Might, hidden in the observation room above with the grim-faced prison staff, came to mind. </p>
<p> “I note that you said thoughtful and not correct,” and Izuku breathed and unsteadily jotted it down in his notebook. “You don’t seem bothered by the guess.” </p>
<p> “Few people live long enough to question my Quirk, let alone have the talent to guess so thoughtfully at its functions. It seems we share a hobby.” There was something terribly keen in that voice that hadn’t been there before, twisting itself through the compliment. </p>
<p> “I suppose it helps that you’re playing along out of boredom,” Izuku verbally dodged, unease uncoiling itself from the back of his mind. </p>
<p> “I <i>was</i> playing along out of boredom,” All For One corrected smoothly. “Now, I’m curious. Admittedly, my prior assumptions of you weren’t generous, but I’ve been too hasty in my assessments before.” </p>
<p> “I’ll pack up and leave now if that’s the case,” Izuku replied with only half an ear on the conversation as the words on his page began to drastically expand to distract himself from the building anxiety. </p>
<p> “Sarcasm, so you do have characteristics of a normal teenager. Your willingness to maim yourself has often left me wondering…” </p>
<p> “You’re deflecting again,” Izuku observed. “I’m not sure if that’s a nervous habit for you or if you’re doing it because I’m close to being right about your Quirk. That being said, I don’t think you know what a normal teenager is if Shigaraki is any indication. He’s about seven years too late for his rebellious phase.” </p>
<p> “I’m hurt and offended,” came the amused reply. </p>
<p> “By how Shigaraki ended up or your parenting? You only have yourself to blame for both of them.” </p>
<p> “How harsh. Shigaraki is a product of society that birthed him. I can’t take credit for all of the hard work,” All For One laid out invitingly. Perhaps someone else would have risen to the bait, but Izuku was already packing his mental bags and heading for the door. </p>
<p> Clearly the prisoner’s anticipation had registered poorly with someone in the observation room, because a voice rang through the air. “Time’s up Midoriya-kun.” </p>
<p> “Okay!” Izuku called back and etched out his last thoughtful of words, untangled his legs and rose to his feet. </p>
<p> “What a shame, my visitations are always so short,” All For One spoke mournfully. </p>
<p> “Well, you did blow up half a city. They could have just let you suffocate instead. Same time next week, then?” Izuku offered brightly, notebook stuffed into a pocket and was followed out the door by wheezing laughter. </p>
<p> It was only after he had made it safely back to the communal room where All Might waited did he allow the spring to fade from his step and discard his nervous smile. Shuddering, he turned to All Might whose face was set in a grimace. </p>
<p> “I won’t say I told you so,” All Might offered, perched on the edge of his couch like a misshapen vulture. </p>
<p> “He’s… not really what I was expecting. I was expecting someone, more openly evil.” Izuku allowed himself to collapse into the leather of the seat. He shakily reached for the warm tea that had been clearly been prepared the moment Izuku left the cell. “I suppose he does it to lull people into a false sense of security. I didn’t understand how someone with only half a set of expressions could have “villain” written all over them until I met him.” </p>
<p> “He’s always been like that. He feigns concern and sympathy to lure in society’s outcasts. They’re easy targets,” All Might said through a mouthful of biscuit. </p>
<p> “Has he ever tried it on any of the One For All successors?” </p>
<p> “Not really, but you might have accidentally given him the incentive for it. He never had access to any of the One For All wielders while they were young.” All Might snorted, “not that it’ll make a difference with you”. </p>
<p> “I think he was trying to gauge me for a world view before the wardens ended it. I need more time to work out his response to the stuff on his Quirk.” </p>
<p> “He’s conversation starved since it’s solitary confinement. If what the people monitoring his brain activity said was true, you’re the most exciting thing to have happened to him in months. He replied after you left, said he was looking forward to it.” </p>
<p> “That’s pretty sad." </p>
<p> “It’s even sadder that we’re the only two members of the public who have had anything to do with him. Stain gets a pile of mail from his “fans”, but All For One has nothing,” All Might waved a tea spoon. “That’s what he gets.” </p>
<p> “Let’s get out of here and tell Detective Tsukauchi how it went.” Izuku gulped down his tea and headed for the exit, with him and All Might reaching it at roughly the same amount of time. </p>
<p> “At least your mum’s making katsudon for us tonight," was All Might's only optimistic comment. </p>
<p> Anxiety was still ebbing over Izuku after Tsukauchi had been debriefed in the car. </p>
<p><i>“It seems we share a hobby.”</i> Haunted Izuku on the drive home. As if ripping someone’s Quirk from them and leaving them lying traumatised on the ground was just a fun pastime and not an act of grievous bodily harm. </p>
<p> And he’d be dealing with him again in another week. </p>
</div>
</div>
<divrole="article"id="chapters">
<h3 id="work"> Chapter Text </h3>
<p> Izuku was struggling to understand how he had even managed to get here, seated before the archvillain of Japan with only a sense of dread to keep him company. All Might sat concealed in an observation room, of the firm opinion that he could only aggravate the prisoner and he sent Izuku off with a strained smile. A vague haze hovered over Izuku’s memory. It started with a simple conversation gone astray on a long drive home. </p>
<p> “So, who is All For One? Do we know anything about him beyond what you told me before? He’s been imprisoned for months now.” Izuku remembered asking All Might from the backseat of the car as Detective Tsukauchi leisurely drove along a sprawling highway. </p>
<p>Playing on the car radio was an aftermath report of a villain attack in downtown Tokyo. Izuku caught the phrase “liquid body” from the female reporter before Detective Tsukauchi changed the channel. </p>
<p> “Nope. Still nothing. No one really wants to speak to him,” All Might had replied brightly. “He gives off polite airs, but he’s a piece of work.” All Might’s mostly obstructed shoulders in the front seat shrugged. “Not much you can do with someone like him. Everything that comes out is a threat or taunt.” All Might carefully waved his hand in a circular motion towards the side of his head. </p>
<p>“No one’s even made it through a full interview with him, from what I’ve heard,” Detective Tsukauchi added from behind the wheel. “He plays mind games with them. The prison also has a “no recent events” policy on any discussions with him as well. Just in case he ends up with ideas or has some means of communicating. Given that people only want to ask him about current events, it doesn’t leave much to talk about.”</p>
<p> “Wait, they still don’t know what Quirks he has?” Izuku asked exasperatedly. “They can’t if there’s still an information block on visits.”</p>
<p> “Nope. We have no idea what he can do. They can run DNA tests, but it’s not like anyone apart from him even knows how his Quirk works. They could get matches with any number of people, but if they’re not in a database then we can’t cross-reference them anyway. Even if they run an analysis, the data doesn’t mean anything without the ability to interpret it,” All Might gestured with a skeletal finger. “It’s a waste of time after the initial tests were conducted. They weren’t game to MRI him either, given he’s definitely got a Quirk that creates metal components.” </p>
<p> “No one’s bothered to ask him anything about… anything?” Izuku asked, dumbfounded. “He must be around two-hundred years old and people can’t think of a single non-current affairs thing to ask him?” </p>
<p>In some ways it was unfathomable that they’d let a potential resource go to waste. On the other hand, said potential resource had blown up a city, murdered numerous people and terrorised Japan for over a century. At the very least.</p>
<p> “Well, I tried to ask him about Shigaraki, but he didn’t say much of anything really. Some garbage about you being too dependent on me and him letting Shigaraki run wild and how he just wanted to be the ultimate evil,” All Might shrugged again. “He spends too much time talking about nothing.” </p>
<p> Izuku shifted his head onto his arm. “But, that’s not really nothing, is it?”</p>
<p> “What do you mean?” Izuku had the feeling that All Might would have been looking at him with the <i>you’re about to do something stupid aren’t you</i> expression that was thankfully becoming less common.</p>
<p>“Well, he clearly doesn’t know anything about us, All Might, if he thinks that you’re just going to let go of me after not even two years of being taught. Maybe Shigaraki was dependent on adult figures, but I don’t even remember my dad and mum’s been busy working and keeping the house together. I’ve never had a lot of adult supervision before,” Izuku laughed nervously. “I had to find ways to keep myself entertained. If anything, I’m on the disobedient side of the scale.” All Might outright giggled.</p>
<p> “I’ll say, especially after what happened with Overhaul. I’m surprised your mother let you leave the dorms again after that.”</p>
<p> “I’m surprised she didn’t withdraw and ground me until I was thirty.”</p>
<p> “Oh? That strict?” Tsukauchi asked.</p>
<p> “She has her moments,” Izuku smiled fondly. “Do you think she’d agree to me asking the archvillain of Japan about his Quirk?” Izuku asked, only partially joking. There was an itch at the back of his head, a feeling of something missing that poked and prodded at his senses.</p>
<p>All Might coughed and sprayed the dash with a fine red mist. “Absolutely not! I forbid it!”</p>
<p> “That’s exactly why I’m asking her and not you,” Izuku grinned from the backseat. </p>
<p>“He’s evil!” </p>
<p> “He’s ancient. You honestly don’t wonder about the sort of things someone with that life experience and Quirk would have run across to end up the way he did?”</p>
<p> “Nope, he made it perfectly clear that he always wanted to be the supreme evil,” All Might snipped through folded arms.</p>
<p> “Yeah, and I’ll just take his word for that, won’t I?” Izuku grinned. “If he does nothing but lie, then that’s probably one too, but there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere.” </p>
<p> “What would you even do? Harass him into telling you his life story?” All Might sighed. </p>
<p> “Not when I can kill him with kindness. Who knows, it might even be poisonous for him.” </p>
<p> “You’re explaining this to your mother. Teacher or not, I’m not being on the receiving end of this one.”</p>
<p>Izuku blinked for a moment. “You’ll let me?” </p>
<p> “I’m not entirely for it, but any prospective information on what influenced Shigaraki can only be a good thing. If anything goes south we can pull you out pretty easily. Just be aware of who and what you’re dealing with.” Struggling, All Might turned a serious look to Izuku around the side of the seat. “<i>Only</i> if your mother gives the okay.” </p>
<p>The conversation turned to school for the rest of the way.</p>
<p>It might have been curiosity or it might have been the nagging sensation that chewed at his brain for the three weeks that he researched the subject of the conversation. All For One was a cryptid. Mystical in more ways than one, he was only a rumour on a network that was two-hundred years old. There were whispers of a shadowy figure who once ruled Japan, intermingled with a string of conspiracies and fragmented events.</p>
<p>Izuku had even braved the dark web, poking and prodding at some of the seedier elements of the world wide web. The internet had rumours, but the dark web had stories.<br/>
</p>
<p>An implied yakuza wrote about his grandfather who lost a fire manipulation Quirk and his sanity without any reason. His grandfather had been institutionalised, crying and repeating “he took it, he took it” until his dying days. No one could console him.</p>
<p> Another user spoke of a nursing home where a room full of dementia residents inexplicably became docile and no longer used their Quirks on the increasingly disturbed staff. The nursing home erupted into flames just before a court case against them commenced. </p>
<p> A user with neon pink text spoke of how their great-great-great-great grandmother with a longevity Quirk had simply aged rapidly one day and passed away in her sleep, her face a mask of terror. No cause had ever been found. </p>
<p> A hacker provided a grainy CCTV recording of a heist and a scanned collection of documents from over a century ago, where there was a flash of light and entire bank vault had been emptied. What separated it from the usual robbery was that it contained a list containing confidential information on the Quirks of the First Generation. Izuku had greedily snavelled up and saved the video and documents to an external hard drive. </p>
<p>Paging through, Izuku saw someone recount how their Quirkless uncle had developed a warp Quirk and gone from rags to riches under a mysterious benefactor. A decade ago, the uncle had simply disappeared. </p>
<p>Numerous and terrifying, the stories were scattered nuggets of gold hidden across the web. They’d never last long, vanishing within hours of posting. Izuku bounced from proxy to proxy, fleeing from a series of deletions that seemed to follow Izuku’s aliased postings across snitch.ru, rabbit.az, aconspiracy.xfiles and their compatriots. </p>
<p>After thirty-two identity changes (all carefully logged in a separate notebook), a large amount of feigning communal interest in a lucky tabloid article on All For One which had been released at the start of the first of the three weeks, Izuku hung up his tinfoil hat and called it a month. He haphazardly tossed a bulging notebook into his bookshelf and lodged his hard drive in a gap containing seven others and went to dinner. </p>
<p>It took another week to present his research to All Might and Tsukauchi, whose jaws reached the proverbial floor. </p>
<p>“We never found any of this,” the Detective Tsukauchi exclaimed. “How did you find all of it?”</p>
<p> “I asked the right people. Turns out criminals have very long and very unforgiving memories,” Izuku explained through sunken eyes. “There’s more than this that could be linked to him, but these ones seem to be the most obvious.” </p>
<p> “They would do, you can’t be head of the underworld without making an army of enemies,” All Might agreed. “You know, if you can get any more information about these events, I think you’ll give people a lot of peace of mind.” </p>
<p> “Provided mum agrees to it.” </p>
<p> “Only if she agrees to it.” </p>
<p>It took another month to convince his mother, who eventually gave in once All Might provided an extremely comprehensive schedule of how the visitations and any resulting research would be carefully balanced against Izuku’s schoolwork and internship.</p>
<p>The day of the visit finally arrived, four months after the initial conversation, much to Izuku’s dismay. </p>
<p>Izuku remembered how he had arrived, with the Detective and All Might escorting him through its sterile, white innards. A list of rules rattled off at the gate, “no current affairs” was chief among them and an assertion that he’d be dragged from the room if need be if Izuku was to breach any of them. No smuggling of communication devices, no weapons, no Quirks, nothing that could compromise the prisoner’s secure status. </p>
<p>Heavily armoured and drilled guards leading him underground into the deepest bowels of the Tartarus complex. </p>
<p>Izuku understood the rules, dressed casually in a cotton t-shirt with “Shirt” printed across it in haphazard English and clutching at a carefully screened and utterly blank notebook. </p>
<p>Across from him, behind reinforced glass, the archvillain of Japan was bound and unmoving. </p>
<p>“Hello,” Izuku initiated uncertainly. His skin had been crawling the moment he crossed the threshold, a memory of the encounter and escape at the Kamino Ward months ago. </p>
<p> “Ah, All Might’s disciple,” drawled All For One, “is he too cowardly to come himself? Yet I don’t hear the garments of a hero.” With hardly a word out, All For One had already lunged for the figurative jugular. </p>
<p>A stray thought of <i>how does he know who I am if he’s blind and isn’t familiar with me?</i> whispered its way through Izuku’s head. </p>
<p>“Oh, no,” Izuku corrected hastily, almost relieved at the lack of any pretence, “I asked if I could talk to you. This isn’t exactly hero related.”</p>
<p> “I’m surprised he said yes.” While there was little by way of expression, Izuku could just about sense the contempt dripping from the prisoner’s tone. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t expecting. Kacchan had already said worse to him in earlier years. Water off a duck’s back.</p>
<p> “Well, he’s not my legal guardian, so I think you should be more surprised that mum said yes. She’s stricter with these things than All Might,” Izuku corrected again. “Mum gave the okay, but that was a stressful discussion.” And there it was, a miniscule twitch from the man opposite. A spasm more than anything else. <i>Interesting.</i> Pinned down as he was, the prisoner oozed irritation. </p>
<p> “At least your mother is a wise person. I wonder why the student doesn’t heed all of the advice of the teacher.” All For One’s tone didn’t indicate a question, so much as an implicit statement that All Might wasn’t worth listening to in any capacity. Kacchan would have hated the comparison, but the hostility had an almost comfortable familiarity. “He no doubt warned you off speaking to me, overprotective as he is, but here you are.”</p>
<p>Izuku found himself smiling at the thought of Kacchan’s outrage if he ever found out about the mental comparison as he replied. “I don’t think it’s normal for anyone my age to listen completely to their teachers. We pick and choose and run with what works best for us. He warned me, but I’m still here. Mum warned me as well, but I think she cared more about the time management aspect of it."</p>
<p>“Is that a recent development?” All For One probed.</p>
<p> “Not really. My old homeroom teacher told me not to bother applying to U.A.” His mother’s beaming face had carried Izuku through the cheerful and resolute signing of that application form. </p>
<p> “I see you followed their advice to the letter,” came the snide, dismissive reply. </p>
<p>Izuku hoisted up his legs and sat cross-legged in his seat. Leaning slightly forward as he did so as to better prop up his notebook. </p>
<p>“You’re a walking contrarian, aren’t you? All Might told me about his run ins with you. What someone does or doesn’t do really doesn’t matter to you, you’ll just find a way to rationalise it as a negative and go on the attack anyway. What you’re currently doing is drawing attention away from yourself and focusing it on me so you can withhold information.” Izuku flipped open his notebook and put pen to paper. “You’ve got something fairly big to hide and you diverting attention exposes that motivation as existing anyway. The only real questions here are what and why?” Izuku paused in mortification as the man opposite’s lips parted. “I just said that aloud, didn’t I?”</p>
<p>Of the responses Izuku had expected, it wasn’t laughter. Unrestrained, Izuku would have expected a violent outburst. In this situation, he would have expected another scathing comment. Instead, All For One laughed breathily, leaning into his bonds. Wheezingly he spoke, “I’ll have to change tactics, if that one’s too transparent for you. How refreshing.” </p>
<p>Doing his best not to glow a blinding red and simultaneously pale at the interest, Izuku carried on. “I add it to the list when you do. I’m not emotionally involved enough to really be impacted by what you’re saying. I know about you in theory, but that’s it. Maybe All Might has a history with you, but I don’t really know enough about you personally to…” </p>
<p>“Care,” All For One supplied, somewhat subdued as he struggled to breathe. “You’re only here to satisfy your curiosity as to whether or not the stories were true.” </p>
<p>Izuku nodded, scratching at his notebook with his left hand. “Yes and no, I’m actually here to ask you about how your Quirk works.” <i>For now.</i>
</p>
<p> Another chortle, more restrained that the last. </p>
<p> "What makes you think others haven’t already asked?” Had All For One been unrestrained, Izuku could imagine the stereotypical scene of the villain confidently leaning back in some overblown chair in a secret lair, drink of choice in hand, if the tone of voice was any indication. Deflections aside, the man easily rose to each comment. </p>
<p> “Whether or not they asked it’s irrelevant if they can’t read the answers.” Answers didn’t matter if the people involved were too attached to read into the answers. If none of the interviewers had managed a full interview, then it seemed unlikely that any sort of effort was put into understanding the villain. </p>
<p> “And you think you can? What expertise do you hold above theirs?” Doubt and reprimand weighted the words. Oddly enough, had Izuku been any younger he could have mistaken the man for a disapproving parent rebuking an overly ambitious child. Albeit an extremely evil one. </p>
<p> Izuku inhaled shortly and went for it. “If there’s something I know, it’s Quirks and how they work. Maybe I don’t know you, but I don’t really need to. Quirks fall under broad categories of function. You can take and give, consent doesn’t seem to be a factor. You either can’t “see” certain types of Quirks or you need to have prior knowledge of it before you take it with what I know about your brother. Despite your <i>nom de guerre</i>, because we both know it’s not your real name, you have a history of giving multiple Quirks and causing brain damage to the receiver. You clearly aren’t impacted by those same restrictions, so it must either alter your brain mapping or adjust functions to allow for simultaneous use and storage. It also must isolate or categories the Quirks you stock, because from the few people who do remember you, you creating certain Quirks is always in the context of giving them to someone else meaning there’s probably an inherent immunity to stop it from tainting your own Quirk with a mutation,” Izuku mumbled, almost to himself. “The only thing really in question about your Quirk is the finer details and whether or not you need to maintain those features or if they’re inherent and your hard limit for holding Quirks.” </p>
<p> There was silence, for only a moment. “If only my hands were free, I would clap for such a thoughtful assessment. Clearly you’re not all brawn,” All For One positively purred. “Speculate away.” A wide and slightly unhinged smile was directed at Izuku. </p>
<p> It was all Izuku could do not to wince at the eagerness. An image of a nervous All Might, hidden in the observation room above with the grim-faced prison staff, came to mind. </p>
<p> “I note that you said thoughtful and not correct,” and Izuku breathed and unsteadily jotted it down in his notebook. “You don’t seem bothered by the guess.” </p>
<p> “Few people live long enough to question my Quirk, let alone have the talent to guess so thoughtfully at its functions. It seems we share a hobby.” There was something terribly keen in that voice that hadn’t been there before, twisting itself through the compliment. </p>
<p> “I suppose it helps that you’re playing along out of boredom,” Izuku verbally dodged, unease uncoiling itself from the back of his mind. </p>
<p> “I <i>was</i> playing along out of boredom,” All For One corrected smoothly. “Now, I’m curious. Admittedly, my prior assumptions of you weren’t generous, but I’ve been too hasty in my assessments before.” </p>
<p> “I’ll pack up and leave now if that’s the case,” Izuku replied with only half an ear on the conversation as the words on his page began to drastically expand to distract himself from the building anxiety. </p>
<p> “Sarcasm, so you do have characteristics of a normal teenager. Your willingness to maim yourself has often left me wondering…” </p>
<p> “You’re deflecting again,” Izuku observed. “I’m not sure if that’s a nervous habit for you or if you’re doing it because I’m close to being right about your Quirk. That being said, I don’t think you know what a normal teenager is if Shigaraki is any indication. He’s about seven years too late for his rebellious phase.” </p>
<p> “I’m hurt and offended,” came the amused reply. </p>
<p> “By how Shigaraki ended up or your parenting? You only have yourself to blame for both of them.” </p>
<p> “How harsh. Shigaraki is a product of society that birthed him. I can’t take credit for all of the hard work,” All For One laid out invitingly. Perhaps someone else would have risen to the bait, but Izuku was already packing his mental bags and heading for the door. </p>
<p> Clearly the prisoner’s anticipation had registered poorly with someone in the observation room, because a voice rang through the air. “Time’s up Midoriya-kun.” </p>
<p> “Okay!” Izuku called back and etched out his last thoughtful of words, untangled his legs and rose to his feet. </p>
<p> “What a shame, my visitations are always so short,” All For One spoke mournfully. </p>
<p> “Well, you did blow up half a city. They could have just let you suffocate instead. Same time next week, then?” Izuku offered brightly, notebook stuffed into a pocket and was followed out the door by wheezing laughter. </p>
<p> It was only after he had made it safely back to the communal room where All Might waited did he allow the spring to fade from his step and discard his nervous smile. Shuddering, he turned to All Might whose face was set in a grimace. </p>
<p> “I won’t say I told you so,” All Might offered, perched on the edge of his couch like a misshapen vulture. </p>
<p> “He’s… not really what I was expecting. I was expecting someone, more openly evil.” Izuku allowed himself to collapse into the leather of the seat. He shakily reached for the warm tea that had been clearly been prepared the moment Izuku left the cell. “I suppose he does it to lull people into a false sense of security. I didn’t understand how someone with only half a set of expressions could have “villain” written all over them until I met him.” </p>
<p> “He’s always been like that. He feigns concern and sympathy to lure in society’s outcasts. They’re easy targets,” All Might said through a mouthful of biscuit. </p>
<p> “Has he ever tried it on any of the One For All successors?” </p>
<p> “Not really, but you might have accidentally given him the incentive for it. He never had access to any of the One For All wielders while they were young.” All Might snorted, “not that it’ll make a difference with you”. </p>
<p> “I think he was trying to gauge me for a world view before the wardens ended it. I need more time to work out his response to the stuff on his Quirk.” </p>
<p> “He’s conversation starved since it’s solitary confinement. If what the people monitoring his brain activity said was true, you’re the most exciting thing to have happened to him in months. He replied after you left, said he was looking forward to it.” </p>
<p> “That’s pretty sad." </p>
<p> “It’s even sadder that we’re the only two members of the public who have had anything to do with him. Stain gets a pile of mail from his “fans”, but All For One has nothing,” All Might waved a tea spoon. “That’s what he gets.” </p>
<p> “Let’s get out of here and tell Detective Tsukauchi how it went.” Izuku gulped down his tea and headed for the exit, with him and All Might reaching it at roughly the same amount of time. </p>
<p> “At least your mum’s making katsudon for us tonight," was All Might's only optimistic comment. </p>
<p> Anxiety was still ebbing over Izuku after Tsukauchi had been debriefed in the car. </p>
<p>
<i>“It seems we share a hobby.”</i> Haunted Izuku on the drive home. As if ripping someone’s Quirk from them and leaving them lying traumatised on the ground was just a fun pastime and not an act of grievous bodily harm.
</p>
<p> And he’d be dealing with him again in another week. </p>
<p>A flaw in the wildly popular online game <em>Minecraft</em> makes it easy for just about anyone to crash the server hosting the game, according to a computer programmer who has released proof-of-concept code that exploits the vulnerability.</p>
<p>"I thought a lot before writing this post," Pakistan-based developer Ammar Askar wrote in a <ahref="http://blog.ammaraskar.com/minecraft-vulnerability-advisory">blog post published Thursday</a>, 21 months, he said, after privately reporting the bug to <em>Minecraft</em> developer Mojang. "On the one hand I don't want to expose thousands of servers to a major vulnerability, yet on the other hand Mojang has failed to act on it."</p>
<p>The bug resides in the <ahref="https://github.com/ammaraskar/pyCraft">networking internals of the <em>Minecraft </em>protocol</a>. It allows the contents of inventory slots to be exchanged, so that, among other things, items in players' hotbars are displayed automatically after logging in. <em>Minecraft</em> items can also store arbitrary metadata in a file format known as <ahref="http://wiki.vg/NBT">Named Binary Tag (NBT)</a>, which allows complex data structures to be kept in hierarchical nests. Askar has released <ahref="https://github.com/ammaraskar/pyCraft/tree/nbt_exploit">proof-of-concept attack code</a> he said exploits the vulnerability to crash any server hosting the game. Here's how it works.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The vulnerability stems from the fact that the client is allowed to send the server information about certain slots. This, coupled with the NBT format’s nesting allows us to <em>craft</em> a packet that is incredibly complex for the server to deserialize but trivial for us to generate.</p>
<p>In my case, I chose to create lists within lists, down to five levels. This is a json representation of what it looks like.</p>
<h2itemprop="description"> Two-year-old bug exposes thousands of servers to crippling attack. </h2>
</header>
<divitemprop="articleBody">
<figure>
<imgsrc="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/server-crash-640x426.jpg"alt="Just-released Minecraft exploit makes it easy to crash game servers"/>
<figcaptionclass="caption">
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p> A flaw in the wildly popular online game <em>Minecraft</em> makes it easy for just about anyone to crash the server hosting the game, according to a computer programmer who has released proof-of-concept code that exploits the vulnerability. </p>
<p> "I thought a lot before writing this post," Pakistan-based developer Ammar Askar wrote in a <ahref="http://blog.ammaraskar.com/minecraft-vulnerability-advisory">blog post published Thursday</a>, 21 months, he said, after privately reporting the bug to <em>Minecraft</em> developer Mojang. "On the one hand I don't want to expose thousands of servers to a major vulnerability, yet on the other hand Mojang has failed to act on it." </p>
<p> The bug resides in the <ahref="https://github.com/ammaraskar/pyCraft">networking internals of the <em>Minecraft</em> protocol</a>. It allows the contents of inventory slots to be exchanged, so that, among other things, items in players' hotbars are displayed automatically after logging in. <em>Minecraft</em> items can also store arbitrary metadata in a file format known as <ahref="http://wiki.vg/NBT">Named Binary Tag (NBT)</a>, which allows complex data structures to be kept in hierarchical nests. Askar has released <ahref="https://github.com/ammaraskar/pyCraft/tree/nbt_exploit">proof-of-concept attack code</a> he said exploits the vulnerability to crash any server hosting the game. Here's how it works. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> The vulnerability stems from the fact that the client is allowed to send the server information about certain slots. This, coupled with the NBT format’s nesting allows us to <em>craft</em> a packet that is incredibly complex for the server to deserialize but trivial for us to generate. </p>
<p> In my case, I chose to create lists within lists, down to five levels. This is a json representation of what it looks like. </p>
<p>The root of the object, <code>rekt</code>, contains 300 lists. Each list has a list with 10 sublists, and each of those sublists has 10 of their own, up until 5 levels of recursion. That’s a total of <code>10^5 * 300 = 30,000,000</code> lists.</p>
<p>And this isn’t even the theoretical maximum for this attack. Just the nbt data for this payload is 26.6 megabytes. But luckily Minecraft implements a way to compress large packets, lucky us! zlib shrinks down our evil data to a mere 39 kilobytes.</p>
<p>Note: in previous versions of Minecraft, there was no protocol wide compression for big packets. Previously, NBT was sent compressed with gzip and prefixed with a signed short of its length, which reduced our maximum payload size to <code>2^15 - 1</code>. Now that the length is a varint capable of storing integers up to <code>2^28</code>, our potential for attack has increased significantly.</p>
<p>When the server will decompress our data, it’ll have 27 megs in a buffer somewhere in memory, but that isn’t the bit that’ll kill it. When it attempts to parse it into NBT, it’ll create java representations of the objects meaning suddenly, the sever is having to create several million java objects including ArrayLists. This runs the server out of memory and causes tremendous CPU load.</p>
<p>This vulnerability exists on almost all previous and current Minecraft versions as of 1.8.3, the packets used as attack vectors are the <ahref="http://wiki.vg/Protocol#Player_Block_Placement">0x08: Block Placement Packet</a> and <ahref="http://wiki.vg/Protocol#Creative_Inventory_Action">0x10: Creative Inventory Action</a>.</p>
<p>The fix for this vulnerability isn’t exactly that hard, the client should never really send a data structure as complex as NBT of arbitrary size and if it must, some form of recursion and size limits should be implemented.</p>
<p>These were the fixes that I recommended to Mojang 2 years ago.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ars is asking Mojang for comment and will update this post if company officials respond.</p>
<span>}</span></code></pre>
</div>
<p> The root of the object, <code>rekt</code>, contains 300 lists. Each list has a list with 10 sublists, and each of those sublists has 10 of their own, up until 5 levels of recursion. That’s a total of <code>10^5 * 300 = 30,000,000</code> lists. </p>
<p> And this isn’t even the theoretical maximum for this attack. Just the nbt data for this payload is 26.6 megabytes. But luckily Minecraft implements a way to compress large packets, lucky us! zlib shrinks down our evil data to a mere 39 kilobytes. </p>
<p> Note: in previous versions of Minecraft, there was no protocol wide compression for big packets. Previously, NBT was sent compressed with gzip and prefixed with a signed short of its length, which reduced our maximum payload size to <code>2^15 - 1</code>. Now that the length is a varint capable of storing integers up to <code>2^28</code>, our potential for attack has increased significantly. </p>
<p> When the server will decompress our data, it’ll have 27 megs in a buffer somewhere in memory, but that isn’t the bit that’ll kill it. When it attempts to parse it into NBT, it’ll create java representations of the objects meaning suddenly, the sever is having to create several million java objects including ArrayLists. This runs the server out of memory and causes tremendous CPU load. </p>
<p> This vulnerability exists on almost all previous and current Minecraft versions as of 1.8.3, the packets used as attack vectors are the <ahref="http://wiki.vg/Protocol#Player_Block_Placement">0x08: Block Placement Packet</a> and <ahref="http://wiki.vg/Protocol#Creative_Inventory_Action">0x10: Creative Inventory Action</a>. </p>
<p> The fix for this vulnerability isn’t exactly that hard, the client should never really send a data structure as complex as NBT of arbitrary size and if it must, some form of recursion and size limits should be implemented. </p>
<p> These were the fixes that I recommended to Mojang 2 years ago. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Ars is asking Mojang for comment and will update this post if company officials respond. </p>
"excerpt":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod\n tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,\n quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo\n consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse\n cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non\n proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.",
<p> Tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
"excerpt":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod\n tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,\n quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo\n consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse\n cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non\n proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.",
<p> Tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
"excerpt":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod\n tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,\n quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo\n consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse\n cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non\n proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.",
<p> Tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
<p>Hours after the interview, a gunman opened fire at a cinema in the US state of Louisiana, killing two people and injuring several others before shooting himself.</p>
<p>In a wide-ranging interview, President Obama also said:</p>
<ul>
<li><ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33647154">The UK must stay in the EU</a> to have influence on the world stage</li>
<li>
<ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33647154">The UK must stay in the EU</a> to have influence on the world stage
</li>
<li>He is confident the Iran nuclear deal will be passed by Congress </li>
<li>Syria needs a political solution in order to defeat the Islamic State group</li>
<li>He would speak "bluntly" against corruption <ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33646563">and human rights violations in Kenya</a></li>
<li>He would speak "bluntly" against corruption <ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33646563">and human rights violations in Kenya</a>
</li>
<li>He would defend his advocacy of gay rights following protests in Kenya</li>
<li>Despite racial tensions, the US is becoming more diverse and more tolerant</li>
</ul>
@ -18,17 +21,17 @@
<p>Mr Obama lands in Kenya later on Friday for his first visit since becoming president. </p>
<p>But with just 18 months left in power, he said gun control was the area where he has been "most frustrated and most stymied" since coming to power in 2009.</p>
<p>"If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands," Mr Obama said. </p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/462D/production/_84456971_gettyimages-167501087.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/462D/production/_84456971_gettyimages-167501087.jpg"alt="Gun control campaigners protest in McPhearson Square in Washington DC - 25 April 2013"height="549"width="976"/>
<figcaption><span>
The president said he would continue fighting for greater gun control laws
</span></figcaption>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/462D/production/_84456971_gettyimages-167501087.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/462D/production/_84456971_gettyimages-167501087.jpg"alt="Gun control campaigners protest in McPhearson Square in Washington DC - 25 April 2013"height="549"width="976"/>
<figcaption>
<span> The president said he would continue fighting for greater gun control laws</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>"For us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing," he added. </p>
<p>Mr Obama has pushed for stricter gun control throughout his presidency but has been unable to secure any significant changes to the laws. </p>
<p>After nine African-American churchgoers were killed in South Carolina in June, he admitted "politics in this town" meant there were few options available.</p>
<h2>Analysis: Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington</h2>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/6D3D/production/_84456972_p072315al-0500.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/6D3D/production/_84456972_p072315al-0500.jpg"alt="President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Jon Sopel of BBC in the Roosevelt Room of the White House - 23 July 2015"height="549"width="976"/></figure>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/6D3D/production/_84456972_p072315al-0500.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/6D3D/production/_84456972_p072315al-0500.jpg"alt="President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Jon Sopel of BBC in the Roosevelt Room of the White House - 23 July 2015"height="549"width="976"/></figure>
<p>Nine months ago, the president seemed like a spent force, after taking a beating in the midterm elections, during which members of his own party were reluctant to campaign on his record. </p>
<p>But the man sat before me today was relaxed and confident, buoyed by a string of "wins" on healthcare, Cuba and Iran, after bitter and ongoing battles with his many critics. </p>
<p>The only body swerve the president performed was when I asked him <ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33643168"> how many minds he had changed on the Iran nuclear deal </a>after an intense sell aimed at Gulf allies and members of US Congress who remain implacably opposed. </p>
@ -36,16 +39,16 @@
<p>But notably, he did not give a direct answer to that question, which leaves me with the impression that he has persuaded precisely zero.</p>
<p><ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33646875">Five things we learned from Obama interview</a></p>
<p><ahref="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33646545">The presidential body swerve</a></p>
<p>On race relations, Mr Obama said recent concerns around policing and mass incarcerations were "legitimate and deserve intense attention" but insisted progress had been made. </p>
<p>Children growing up during the eight years of his presidency "will have a different view of race relations in this country and what's possible," he said. </p>
<p>"There are going to be tensions that arise. But if you look at my daughters' generation, they have an attitude about race that's entirely different than even my generation."</p>
<p>Talking about how he was feeling after his recent successes, he said "every president, every leader has strengths and weaknesses". </p>
<p>"One of my strengths is I have a pretty even temperament. I don't get too high when it's high and I don't get too low when it's low," he said. </p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/142FD/production/_84458628_shirtreuters.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/142FD/production/_84458628_shirtreuters.jpg"alt="Customer looks at Obama shirts at a stall in Nairobi's Kibera slums, 23 July 2015" height="549"width="976"/>
<figcaption><span>
Kenya is getting ready to welcome the US president
</span></figcaption>
<figure><imgsrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/555/cpsprodpb/142FD/production/_84458628_shirtreuters.jpg"datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/142FD/production/_84458628_shirtreuters.jpg"alt="Customer looks at Obama shirts at a stall in Nairobi's Kibera slums, 23 July 2015" height="549"width="976"/>
<figcaption>
<span> Kenya is getting ready to welcome the US president</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Kenya trip</h2>
<p>Mr Obama was speaking to the BBC at the White House before departing for Kenya.</p>
@ -56,4 +59,4 @@
<p>"Well, they're not ideal institutions. But what we found is, is that when we combined blunt talk with engagement, that gives us the best opportunity to influence and open up space for civil society." </p>
<p>Mr Obama will become the first US president to address the African Union when he travels on to Ethiopia on Sunday.</p>
"excerpt":"I've written a couple of posts in the past few months but they were all for the blog at work so I figured I'm long overdue for one on Silic...",
<p><imgitemprop="image"src="http://media.breitbart.com/media/2016/11/GettyImages-621866810-640x480.jpg"alt="Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump cheer during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York on November 9, 2016. / AFP / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)"width="640"height="480"/></p>
<p>Zeev Sharon said that the old rule of thumb is that for every $1000 invested in a room, the hotel should charge $1 in average daily rate. So a room that cost $300,000 to build, should sell on average for $300/night.</p>
<h3>5. Beware the wall-mounted hairdryer</h3>
<p>It contains the most germs of anything in the room. Other studies have said the TV remote and bedside lamp switches are the most unhygienic. “Perhaps because it's something that's easy for the housekeepers to forget to check or to squirt down with disinfectant,” Forrest Jones said.</p>
<div>
<div>
<divdata-scald-gallery="3739501">
<h2><span></span>Business news in pictures</h2>
</div>
</div>
<divdata-scald-gallery="3739501">
<h2><span></span>Business news in pictures</h2>
</div>
<h3>6. Mini bars almost always lose money</h3>
<p>Despite the snacks in the minibar seeming like the most overpriced food you have ever seen, hotel owners are still struggling to make a profit from those snacks. "Minibars almost always lose money, even when they charge $10 for a Diet Coke,” Sharon said.</p>
<ahref="https://www.citylab.com/authors/sarah-archer/"data-omni-click="inherit">Sarah Archer</a> is the author of <em>The Midcentury Kitchen</em>. </p>
"excerpt":"Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit \n I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, \n and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable \n to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented.",
<h3>Prepared by <ahref="http://www.vcu.edu/engweb">Ann
Woodlief,</a> Virginia Commonwealth University</h3>
<h5>Click on text in red for hypertext notes and questions</h5> I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written:-- I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.
<p>Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented. </p>
<p><i>Imprimis</i>: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.. Hence, though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous, even to turbulence, at times, yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace. I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquillity of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title-deeds. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next, method. I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the last John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion.</p>
<p>Some time prior to the period at which this little history begins, my avocations had been largely increased. The good old office, now extinct in the State of New York, of a Master in Chancery, had been conferred upon me. It was not a very arduous office, but very pleasantly remunerative. I seldom lose my temper; much more seldom indulge in dangerous indignation at wrongs and outrages; but I must be permitted to be rash here and declare, that I consider the sudden and violent abrogation of the office of Master of Chancery, by the new Constitution, as a----premature act; inasmuch as I had counted upon a life-lease of the profits, whereas I only received those of a few short years. But this is by the way.</p>
<p>My chambers were up stairs at No.--Wall-street. At one end they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft, penetrating the building from top to bottom. This view might have been considered rather tame than otherwise, deficient in what landscape painters call "life." But if so, the view from the other end of my chambers offered, at least, a contrast, if nothing more. In that direction my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall,black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to bring out its lurking beauties, but for the benefit of all near-sighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes. Owing to the great height of the surrounding buildings, and my chambers being on the second floor, the interval between this wall and mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern.</p>
<p>At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy. First, Turkey; second, Nippers; third, Ginger Nut.These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters. Turkey was a short, pursy Englishman of about my own age, that is, somewhere not far from sixty. In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o'clock, meridian-- his dinner hour-- it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing--but, as it were, with a gradual wane--till 6 o'clock, P.M. or thereabouts, after which I saw no more of the proprietor of the face, which gaining its meridian with the sun, seemed to set with it, to rise, culminate, and decline the following day, with the like regularity and undiminished glory. There are many singular coincidences I have known in the course of my life, not the least among which was the fact that exactly when Turkey displayed his fullest beams from his red and radiant countenance, just then, too, at the critical moment, began the daily period when I considered his business capacities as seriously disturbed for the remainder of the twenty-four hours. Not that he was absolutely idle, or averse to business then; far from it. The difficulty was, he was apt to be altogether too energetic. There was a strange, inflamed, flurried, flighty recklessness of activity about him. He would be incautious in dipping his pen into his inkstand. All his blots upon my documents, were dropped there after twelve o'clock, meridian. Indeed, not only would he be reckless and sadly given to making blots in the afternoon, but some days he went further, and was rather noisy. At such times, too, his face flamed with augmented blazonry, as if cannel coal had been heaped on anthracite. He made an unpleasant racket with his chair; spilled his sand-box; in mending his pens, impatiently split them all to pieces, and threw them on the floor in a sudden passion; stood up and leaned over his table, boxing his papers about in a most indecorous manner, very sad to behold in an elderly manlike him. Nevertheless, as he was in many ways a most valuable person to me, and all the time before twelve o'clock, meridian, was the quickest, steadiest creature too, accomplishing a great deal of work in a style not easy to be matched--for these reasons, I was willingto overlook his eccentricities, though indeed, occasionally, I remonstrated with him. I did this very gently, however, because, though the civilest, nay, the blandest and most reverential of men in the morning, yet in the afternoon he was disposed, upon provocation, to be slightly rash with his tongue, in fact, insolent. Now, valuing his morning services as I did, and resolved not to lose them; yet, at the same time made uncomfortable by his inflamed ways after twelve o'clock; and being a man of peace, unwilling by my admonitions to call forth unseemingly retorts from him; I took upon me, one Saturday noon (he was always worse on Saturdays), to hint to him, very kindly, that perhaps now that he was growing old, it might be well to abridge his labors; in short, he need not come to my chambers after twelve o'clock, but, dinner over, had best go home to his lodgings and rest himself till tea-time. But no; he insisted upon his afternoon devotions. His countenance became intolerably fervid, as he oratorically assured me--gesticulating with a long ruler at the other end of the room--that if his services in the morning were useful, how indispensible, then, in the afternoon?</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said Turkey on this occasion, "I consider myself your right-hand man. In the morning I but marshal and deploy my columns; but in the afternoon I put myself at their head, and gallantly charge the foe, thus!"--and he made a violent thrust with the ruler.</p>
<p>"But the blots, Turkey," intimated I.</p>
<p>"True,--but, with submission, sir, behold these hairs! I am getting old. Surely, sir, a blot or two of a warm afternoon is not the page--is honorable. With submission, sir, we both are getting old."</p>
<p>This appeal to my fellow-feeling was hardly to be resisted. At all events, I saw that go he would not. So I made up my mind to let him stay, resolving, nevertheless, to see to it, that during the afternoon he had to do with my less important papers.</p>
<p>Nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon the whole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers-- ambition and indigestion. The ambition was evinced by a certain impatience of the duties of a mere copyist, an unwarrantable usurpation of strictly profession affairs, such as the original drawing up of legal documents. The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grind together over mistakes committed in copying; unnecessary maledictions, hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business; and especially by a continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked. Though of a very ingenious mechanical turn, Nippers could never get this table to suit him. He put chips under it, blocks of various sorts, bits of pasteboard, and at last went so far as to attempt an exquisite adjustment by final pieces of folded blotting-paper. But no invention would answer. If, for the sake of easing his back, he brought the table lid at a sharp angle well up towards his chin, and wrote there like a man using the steep roof of a Dutch house for his desk:--then he declared that it stopped the circulation in his arms. If now he lowered the table to his waistbands, and stooped over it in writing, then there was a sore aching in his back. In short, the truth of the matter was, Nippers knew not what he wanted. Or, if he wanted anything, it was to be rid of a scrivener's table altogether. Among the manifestations of his diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits from certain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy coats, whom he called his clients. Indeed I was aware that not only was he, at times, considerable of a ward-politician, but he occasionally did a little businessat the Justices' courts, and was not unknown on the steps of the Tombs. I have good reason to believe, however, that one individual who called upon him at my chambers, and who, with a grand air, he insisted was his client, was no other than a dun, and the alleged title-deed, a bill. But with all his failings, and the annoyances he caused me, Nippers, like his compatriot Turkey, was a very useful man to me; wrote a neat, swift hand; and, when he chose, was not deficient in a gentlemanly sort of deportment. Added to this, he always dressedin a gentlemanly sort of way; and so, incidentally, reflected credit upon my chambers. Whereas with respect to Turkey, I had much ado to keep him from being a reproach to me. His clothes were apt to look oily and smell of eating-houses. He wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy in summer. His coats were execrable; his hat not to be handled. But while the hat was a thing of indifference to me, inasmuch as his natural civility and deference, as a dependent Englishman, always led him to doff it the moment he entered the room, yet his coat was another matter. Concerning his coats, I reasoned with him; but with no effect. The truth was, I suppose, that a man with so small an income, could not afford to sport such a lustrous face and a lustrous coat at one and the same time. As Nippers once observed, Turkey's money went chiefly for red ink. One winter day I presented Turkey with a highly-respectable looking coat of my own, a padded gray coat, of a most comfortable warmth, and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck. I thought Turkey would appreciate the favor, and abate his rashness and obstreperousness of afternoons. But no. I verily believe that buttoning himself up in so downy and blanket-like a coat had a pernicious effect upon him; upon the same principle that too much oats are bad for horses. In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat. It made him insolent. He was a man whom prosperity harmed.</p>
<p>Though concerning the self-indulgent habits of Turkey I had my own private surmises, yet touching Nippers I was well persuaded that whatever might be his faults in other respects, he was, at least, a temperate young man. But indeed, nature herself seemed to have been his vintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable, brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless. When I consider how, amid the stillness of my chambers, Nippers would sometimes impatiently rise from his seat, and stooping over his table, spread his arms wide apart, seize the whole desk, and move it, and jerk it, with a grim, grinding motion on the floor, as if the table were a perverse voluntary agent, intent on thwarting and vexing him; I plainly perceive that for Nippers, brandy and water were altogether superfluous.</p>
<p>It was fortunate for me that, owing to its course--indigestion--the irritability and consequent nervousness of Nippers, were mainly observable in the morning, while in the afternoon he was comparatively mild. So that Turkey's paroxysms only coming on about twelve o'clock, I never had to do with their eccentricities at one time. Their fits relieved each other like guards. When Nippers' was on, Turkey's was off, and vice versa. This was a good natural arrangement under the circumstances.</p>
<p>Ginger Nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. His father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of a cart, before he died. So he sent him to my office as a student at law, errand boy, and cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week. He had a little desk to himself, but he did not use it much. Upon inspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various sorts of nuts. Indeed, to this quick-witted youth the whole noble science of the law was contained in a nut-shell. Not the least among the employments of Ginger Nut, as well as one which he discharged with the most alacrity, was his duty as cake and apple purveyor for Turkey and Nippers. Copying law papers being proverbially a dry, husky sort of business, my two scriveners were fain to moisten their mouths very often with Spitzenbergs to be had at the numerous stalls nigh the Custom House and Post Office. Also, they sent Ginger Nut very frequently for that peculiar cake--small, flat, round, and very spicy--after which he had been named by them. Of a cold morning when business was but dull, Turkey would gobble up scores of these cakes, as if they were mere wafers--indeed they sell them at the rate of six or eight for a penny--the scrape of his pen blending with the crunching of the crisp particles in his mouth. Of all the fiery afternoon blunders and flurried rashnesses of Turkey, was his once moistening a ginger-cake between his lips, and clapping it on to a mortgage for a seal. I came within an ace of dismissing him then. But he mollified me by making an oriental bow, and saying--"With submission, sir, it was generous of me to find you in stationery on my own account."</p>
<p>Now my original business--that of a conveyancer and title hunter, and drawer-up of recondite documents of all sorts--was considerably increased by receiving the master's office. There was now great work for scriveners. Not only must I push the clerks already with me, but I must have additional help. In answer to my advertisement, a motionless young man one morning, stood upon my office threshold, the door being open, for it was summer. I can see that figure now--pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn! It was Bartleby.</p>
<p>After a few words touching his qualifications, I engaged him, glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery one of Nippers.</p>
<p>I should have stated before that ground glass folding-doors divided my premises into two parts, one of which was occupied by my scriveners, the other by myself. According to my humor I threw open these doors, or closed them. I resolved to assign Bartleby a corner by the folding-doors, but on my side of them, so as to have this quiet man within easy call, in case any trifling thing was to be done. I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy back-yards and bricks, but which, owing to subsequent erections, commanded at present no view at all, though it gave some light. Within three feet of the panes was a wall, and the light came down from far above, between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome. Still further to a satisfactory arrangement, I procured a high green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice. And thus, in a manner, privacy and society were conjoined. </p>
<p>At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishingfor something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had be been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically. </p>
<p>It is, of course, an indispensable part of a scrivener's business to verify the accuracy of his copy, word by word. Where there are two or more scriveners in an office, they assist each other in this examination, one reading from the copy, the other holding the original. It is a very dull, wearisome, and lethargic affair. I can readily imagine that to some sanguine temperaments it would be altogether intolerable. For example, I cannot credit that the mettlesome poet Byron would have contentedly sat down with Bartleby to examine a law document of, say five hundred pages, closely written in a crimpy hand.</p>
<p>Now and then, in the haste of business, it had been my habit to assist in comparing some brief document myself, calling Turkey or Nippers for this purpose. One object I had in placing Bartleby so handy to me behind the screen, was to avail myself of his services on such trivial occasions. It was on the third day, I think, of his being with me, and before any necessity had arisen for having his own writing examined, that, being much hurried to complete a small affair I had in hand, I abruptly called to Bartleby. In my haste and natural expectancy of instant compliance, I sat with my head bent over the original on my desk, and my right hand sideways, and somewhat nervously extended with the copy, so that immediately upon emerging from his retreat, Bartleby might snatch it and proceed to business without the least delay.</p>
<p>In this very attitude did I sit when I called to him, rapidly stating what it was I wanted him to do--namely, to examine a small paper with me. Imagine my surprise, nay, my consternation, when without moving from his privacy, Bartleby in a singularly mild, firm voice, replied,"I would prefer not to." </p>
<p>I sat awhile in perfect silence, rallying my stunned faculties. Immediately it occurred to me that my ears had deceived me, or Bartleby had entirely misunderstood my meaning. I repeated my request in the clearest tone I could assume. But in quite as clear a one came the previous reply, "I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"Prefer not to," echoed I, rising in high excitement, and crossing the room with a stride, "What do you mean? Are you moon-struck? I want you to help me compare this sheet here--take it," and I thrust it towards him.</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to," said he.</p>
<p>I looked at him steadfastly. His face was leanly composed; his gray eye dimly calm. Not a wrinkle of agitation rippled him. Had there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; in other words, had there been any thing ordinarily human about him, doubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises. But as it was, I should have as soon thought of turning my pale plaster-of-paris bust of Cicero out of doors. I stood gazing at him awhile, as he went on with his own writing, and then reseated myself at my desk. This is very strange, thought I. What had one best do? But my business hurried me. I concluded to forget the matter for the present, reserving it for my future leisure. So calling Nippers from the other room, the paper was speedily examined.</p>
<p>A few days after this, Bartleby concluded four lengthy documents, being quadruplicates of a week's testimony taken before me in my High Court of Chancery. It became necessary to examine them. It was an important suit, and great accuracy was imperative. Having all things arranged I called Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut from the next room, meaning to place the four copies in the hands of my four clerks, while I should read from the original. Accordingly Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut had taken their seats in a row, each with his document in hand, when I called to Bartleby to join this interesting group.</p>
<p>"Bartleby! quick, I am waiting."</p>
<p>I heard a low scrape of his chair legs on the unscraped floor, and soon he appeared standing at the entrance of his hermitage. </p>
<p>"What is wanted?" said he mildly.</p>
<p>"The copies, the copies," said I hurriedly. "We are going to examine them. There"--and I held towards him the fourth quadruplicate.</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to," he said, and gently disappeared behind the screen.</p>
<p>For a few moments I was turned into a pillar of salt, standing at the head of my seated column of clerks. Recovering myself, I advanced towards the screen, and demanded the reason for such extraordinary conduct.</p>
<p>"<i>Why</i> do you refuse?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence. But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me. I began to reason with him.</p>
<p>"These are your own copies we are about to examine. It is labor saving to you, because one examination will answer for your four papers. It is common usage. Every copyist is bound to help examine his copy. Is it not so? Will you not speak? Answer!"</p>
<p>"I prefer not to," he replied in a flute-like tone. It seemed to me that while I had been addressing him, he carefully revolved every statement that I made; fully comprehended the meaning; could not gainsay the irresistible conclusion; but, at the same time, some paramount consideration prevailed with him to reply as he did.</p>
<p>"You are decided, then, not to comply with my request--a request made according to common usage and common sense?"</p>
<p>He briefly gave me to understand that on that point my judgment was sound. Yes: his decision was irreversible.</p>
<p>It is not seldom the case that when a man is browbeaten in some unprecedented and violently unreasonable way, he begins to stagger in his own plainest faith. He begins, as it were, vaguely to surmise that, wonderful as it may be, all the justice and all the reason is on the other side. Accordingly, if any disinterested persons are present, he turns to them for some reinforcement for his own faltering mind. </p>
<p>"Turkey," said I, "what do you think of this? Am I not right?"</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said Turkey, with his blandest tone, "I think that you are."</p>
<p>"Nippers," said I, "what do<i> you</i> think of it?"</p>
<p>"I think I should kick him out of the office."</p>
<p>(The reader of nice perceptions will here perceive that, it being morning, Turkey's answer is couched in polite and tranquil terms, but Nippers replies in ill-tempered ones. Or, to repeat a previous sentence, Nipper's ugly mood was on duty, and Turkey's off.)</p>
<p>"Ginger Nut," said I, willing to enlist the smallest suffrage in my behalf, "what do<i> you</i> think of it?"</p>
<p>"I think, sir, he's a little<i> luny</i>," replied Ginger Nut, with a grin.</p>
<p>"You hear what they say," said I, turning towards the screen, "come forth and do your duty."</p>
<p>But he vouchsafed no reply. I pondered a moment in sore perplexity. But once more business hurried me. I determined again to postpone the consideration of this dilemma to my future leisure. With a little trouble we made out to examine the papers without Bartleby, though at every page or two, Turkey deferentially dropped his opinion that this proceeding was quite out of the common; while Nippers, twitching in his chair with a dyspeptic nervousness, ground out between his set teeth occasional hissing maledictions against the stubborn oaf behind the screen. And for his (Nipper's) part, this was the first and the last time he would do another man's business without pay.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Bartleby sat in his hermitage, oblivious to every thing but his own peculiar business there.</p>
<p>Some days passed, the scrivener being employed upon another lengthy work. His late remarkable conduct led me to regard his way narrowly. I observed that he never went to dinner; indeed that he never went any where. As yet I had never of my personal knowledge known him to be outside of my office. He was a perpetual sentry in the corner. At about eleven o'clock though, in the morning, I noticed that Ginger Nut would advance toward the opening in Bartleby's screen, as if silently beckoned thither by a gesture invisible to me where I sat. That boy would then leave the office jingling a few pence, and reappear with a handful of ginger-nuts which he delivered in the hermitage, receiving two of the cakes for his trouble.</p>
<p>He lives, then, on ginger-nuts, thought I; never eats a dinner, properly speaking; he must be a vegetarian then, but no; he never eats even vegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts. My mind then ran on in reveries concerning the probable effects upon the human constitution of living entirely on ginger-nuts. Ginger-nuts are so called because they contain ginger as one of their peculiar constituents, and the final flavoring one. Now what was ginger? A hot, spicy thing. Was Bartleby hot and spicy? Not at all. Ginger, then, had no effect upon Bartleby. Probably he preferred it should have none. </p>
<p>Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance. If the individual so resisted be of a not inhumane temper, and the resisting one perfectly harmless in his passivity; then, in the better moods of the former, he will endeavor charitably to construe to his imagination what proves impossible to be solved by his judgment. Even so, for the most part, I regarded Bartleby and his ways. Poor fellow! thought I, he means no mischief; it is plain he intends no insolence; his aspect sufficiently evinces that his eccentricities are involuntary. He is useful to me. I can get along with him. If I turn him away, the chances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer, and then he will be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve. Yes. Here I can cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval. To befriend Bartleby; to humor him in his strange willfulness, will cost me little or nothing, while I lay up in my soul what will eventually prove a sweet morsel for my conscience. But this mood was not invariable with me. The passiveness of Bartleby sometimes irritated me. I felt strangely goaded on to encounter him in new opposition, to elicit some angry spark from him answerable to my own. But indeed I might as well have essayed to strike fire with my knuckles against a bit of Windsor soap. But one afternoon the evil impulse in me mastered me, and the following little scene ensued:</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "when those papers are all copied, I will compare them with you."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"How? Surely you do not mean to persist in that mulish vagary?"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>I threw open the folding-doors near by, and turning upon Turkey and Nippers, exclaimed in an excited manner--</p>
<p>"He says, a second time, he won't examine his papers. What do you think of it, Turkey?"</p>
<p>It was afternoon, be it remembered. Turkey sat glowing like a brass boiler, his bald head steaming, his hands reeling among his blotted papers.</p>
<p>"Think of it?" roared Turkey; "I think I'll just step behind his screen, and black his eyes for him!"</p>
<p>So saying, Turkey rose to his feet and threw his arms into a pugilistic position. He was hurrying away to make good his promise, when I detained him, alarmed at the effect of incautiously rousing Turkey's combativeness after dinner.</p>
<p>"Sit down, Turkey," said I, "and hear what Nippers has to say. What do you think of it, Nippers? Would I not be justified in immediately dismissing Bartleby?"</p>
<p>"Excuse me, that is for you to decide, sir. I think his conduct quite unusual, and indeed unjust, as regards Turkey and myself. But it may only be a passing whim."</p>
<p>"Ah," exclaimed I, "you have strangely changed your mind then--you speak very gently of him now."</p>
<p>"All beer," cried Turkey; "gentleness is effects of beer--Nippers and I dined together to-day. You see how gentle I am, sir. Shall I go and black his eyes?"</p>
<p>"You refer to Bartleby, I suppose. No, not to-day, Turkey," I replied; "pray, put up your fists."</p>
<p>I closed the doors, and again advanced towards Bartleby. I felt additional incentives tempting me to my fate. I burned to be rebelled against again. I remembered that Bartleby never left the office.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "Ginger Nut is away; just step round to the Post Office, won't you? (it was but a three minutes walk,) and see if there is any thing for me."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"You<i> will</i> not?"</p>
<p>"I <i>prefer</i> not."</p>
<p>I staggered to my desk, and sat there in a deep study. My blind inveteracy returned. Was there any other thing in which I could procure myself to be ignominiously repulsed by this lean, penniless with?--my hired clerk? What added thing is there, perfectly reasonable, that he will be sure to refuse to do?</p>
<p>"Bartleby!"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," in a louder tone.</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," I roared.</p>
<p>Like a very ghost, agreeably to the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he appeared at the entrance of his hermitage.</p>
<p>"Go to the next room, and tell Nippers to come to me."</p>
<p>"I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared.</p>
<p>"Very good, Bartleby," said I, in a quiet sort of serenely severe self-possessed tone, intimating the unalterable purpose of some terrible retribution very close at hand. At the moment I half intended something of the kind. But upon the whole, as it was drawing towards my dinner-hour, I thought it best to put on my hat and walk home for the day, suffering much from perplexity and distress of mind.</p>
<p> Shall I acknowledge it? The conclusion of this whole business was that it soon became a fixed fact of my chambers, that a pale young scrivener, by the name of Bartleby, had a desk there; that he copied for me at the usual rate of four cents a folio (one hundred words); but he was permanently exempt from examining the work done by him, that duty being transferred to Turkey and Nippers, one of compliment doubtless to their superior acuteness; moreover, said Bartleby was never on any account to be dispatched on the most trivial errand of any sort; and that even if entreated to take upon him such a matter, it was generally understood that he would prefer not to--in other words, that he would refuse point-blank. </p>
<p>32 As days passed on, I became considerably reconciled to Bartleby. His steadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry (except when he chose to throw himself into a standing revery behind his screen), his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under all circumstances, made him a valuable acquisition. One prime thing was this,--he was always there;--first in the morning, continually through the day, and the last at night. I had a singular confidence in his honesty. I felt my most precious papers perfectly safe in his hands. Sometimes to be sure I could not, for the very soul of me, avoid falling into sudden spasmodic passions with him. For it was exceeding difficult to bear in mind all the time those strange peculiarities, privileges, and unheard of exemptions, forming the tacit stipulations on Bartleby's part under which he remained in my office. Now and then, in the eagerness of dispatching pressing business, I would inadvertently summon Bartleby, in a short, rapid tone, to put his finger, say, on the incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which I was about compressing some papers. Of course, from behind the screen the usual answer, "I prefer not to," was sure to come; and then, how could a human creature with the common infirmities of our nature, refrain from bitterly exclaiming upon such perverseness--such unreasonableness. However, every added repulse of this sort which I received only tended to lessen the probability of my repeating the inadvertence.</p>
<p>Here is must be said, that according to the custom of most legal gentlemen occupying chambers in densely-populated law buildings, there were several keys to my door. One was kept by a woman residing in the attic, which person weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted my apartments. Another was kept by Turkey for convenience sake. The third I sometimes carried in my own pocket. The fourth I knew not who had.</p>
<p>Now, one Sunday morning I happened to go to Trinity Church, to hear a celebrated preacher, and finding myself rather early on the ground, I thought I would walk round to my chambers for a while. Luckily I had my key with me; but upon applying it to the lock, I found it resisted by something inserted from the inside. Quite surprised, I called out; when to my consternation a key was turned from within; and thrusting his lean visage at me, and holding the door ajar, the apparition of Bartleby appeared, in his shirt sleeves, and otherwise in a strangely tattered dishabille, saying quietly that he was sorry, but he was deeply engaged just then, and--preferred not admitting me at present. In a brief word or two, he moreover added, that perhaps I had better walk round the block two or three times, and by that time he would probably have concluded his affairs. Now, the utterly unsurmised appearance of Bartleby, tenanting my law-chambers of a Sunday morning, with his cadaverously gentlemanly nonchalance, yet withal firm and self-possessed, had such a strange effect upon me, that incontinently I slunk away from my own door, and did as desired. But not without sundry twinges of impotent rebellion against the mild effrontery of this unaccountable scrivener. Indeed, it was his wonderful mildness chiefly, which not only disarmed me, but unmanned me, as it were. For I consider that one, for the time, is a sort of unmanned when he tranquilly permits his hired clerk to dictate to him, and order him away from his own premises. Furthermore, I was full of uneasiness as to what Bartleby could possibly be doing in my office in his shirt sleeves, and in an otherwise dismantled condition of a Sunday morning. Was any thing amiss going on? Nay, that was out of the question. It was not to be thought of for a moment that Bartleby was an immoral person. But what could he be doing there?--copying? Nay again, whatever might be his eccentricities, Bartleby was an eminently decorous person. He would be the last man to sit down to his desk in any state approaching to nudity. Besides, it was Sunday; and there was something about Bartleby that forbade the supposition that we would by any secular occupation violate the proprieties of the day.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, my mind was not pacified; and full of a restless curiosity, at last I returned to the door. Without hindrance I inserted my key, opened it, and entered. Bartleby was not to be seen. I looked round anxiously, peeped behind his screen; but it was very plain that he was gone. Upon more closely examining the place, I surmised that for an indefinite period Bartleby must have ate, dressed, and slept in my office, and that too without plate, mirror, or bed. The cushioned seat of a rickety old sofa in one corner bore t faint impress of a lean, reclining form. Rolled away under his desk, I found a blanket; under the empty grate, a blacking box and brush; on a chair, a tin basin, with soap and a ragged towel; in a newspaper a few crumbs of ginger-nuts and a morsel of cheese. Yet, thought I, it is evident enough that Bartleby has been making his home here, keeping bachelor's hallall by himself. Immediately then the thought came sweeping across me, What miserable friendlessness and loneliness are here revealed! His poverty is great; but his solitude, how horrible! Think of it. Of a Sunday, Wall-street is deserted as Petra; and every night of every day it is an emptiness. This building too, which of week-days hums with industry and life, at nightfall echoes with sheer vacancy, and all through Sunday is forlorn. And here Bartleby makes his home; sole spectator of a solitude which he has seen all populous--a sort of innocent and transformed Marius brooding among the ruins of Carthage! </p>
<p>For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam. I remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces I had seen that day in gala trim, swan-like sailing down the Mississippi of Broadway; and I contrasted them with the pallid copyist, and thought to myself, Ah, happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay; but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none. These sad fancyings-- chimeras, doubtless, of a sick and silly brain--led on to other and more special thoughts, concerning the eccentricities of Bartleby. Presentiments of strange discoveries hovered round me. The scrivener's pale form appeared to me laid out, among uncaring strangers, in its shivering winding sheet.</p>
<p>Suddenly I was attracted by Bartleby's closed desk, the key in open sight left in the lock.</p>
<p> I mean no mischief, seek the gratification of no heartless curiosity, thought I; besides, the desk is mine, and its contents too, so I will make bold to look within. Every thing was methodically arranged, the papers smoothly placed. The pigeon holes were deep, and removing the files of documents, I groped into their recesses. Presently I felt something there, and dragged it out. It was an old bandanna handkerchief, heavy and knotted. I opened it, and saw it was a savings' bank.</p>
<p>I now recalled all the quiet mysteries which I had noted in the man. I remembered that he never spoke but to answer; that though at intervals he had considerable time to himself, yet I had never seen him reading--no, not even a newspaper; that for long periods he would stand looking out, at his pale window behind the screen, upon the dead brick wall; I was quite sure he never visited any refectory or eating house; while his pale face clearly indicated that he never drank beer like Turkey, or tea and coffee even, like other men; that he never went any where in particular that I could learn; never went out for a walk, unless indeed that was the case at present; that he had declined telling who he was, or whence he came, or whether he had any relatives in the world; that though so thin and pale, he never complained of ill health. And more than all, I remembered a certain unconscious air of pallid--how shall I call it?--of pallid haughtiness, say, or rather an austere reserve about him, which had positively awed me into my tame compliance with his eccentricities, when I had feared to ask him to do the slightest incidental thing for me, even though I might know, from his long-continued motionlessness, that behind his screen he must be standing in one of those dead-wall reveries of his.</p>
<p>Revolving all these things, and coupling them with the recently discovered fact that he made my office his constant abiding place and home, and not forgetful of his morbid moodiness; revolving all these things, a prudential feeling began to steal over me. My first emotions had been those of pure melancholy and sincerest pity; but just in proportion as the forlornness of Bartleby grew and grew to my imagination, did that same melancholy merge into fear, that pity into repulsion. So true it is, and so terrible too, that up to a certain point the thought or sight of misery enlists our best affections; but, in certain special cases, beyond that point it does not. They err who would assert that invariably this is owing to the inherent selfishness of the human heart. It rather proceeds from a certain hopelessness of remedying excessive and organic ill. To a sensitive being, pity is not seldom pain. And when at last it is perceived that such pity cannot lead to effectual succor, common sense bids the soul be rid of it. What I saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of innate and incurable disorder. I might give alms to his body; but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach. </p>
<p>I did not accomplish the purpose of going to Trinity Church that morning. Somehow, the things I had seen disqualified me for the time from church-going. I walked homeward, thinking what I would do with Bartleby. Finally, I resolvedupon this;--I would put certain calm questions to him the next morning, touching his history, &c., and if he declined to answer then openly and reservedly (and I supposed he would prefer not), then to give him a twenty dollar bill over and above whatever I might owe him, and tell him his services were no longer required; but that if in any other way I could assist him, I would be happy to do so, especially if he desired to return to his native place, wherever that might be, I would willingly help to defray the expenses. Moreover, if after reaching home, he found himself at any time in want of aid, a letter from him would be sure of a reply.</p>
<p>The next morning came.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, gently calling to him behind the screen.</p>
<p>No reply.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, in a still gentler tone, "come here; I am not going to ask you to do any thing you would prefer not to do--I simply wish to speak to you."</p>
<p>Upon this he noiselessly slid into view.</p>
<p>"Will you tell me, Bartleby, where you were born?" </p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"Will you tell me <i>anything </i>about yourself?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"But what reasonable objection can you have to speak to me? I feel friendly towards you."</p>
<p>He did not look at me while I spoke, but kept his glance fixed upon my bust of Cicero, which as I then sat, was directly behind me, some six inches above my head. "What is your answer, Bartleby?" said I, after waiting a considerable time for a reply, during which his countenance remained immovable, only there was the faintest conceivable tremor of the white attenuated mouth.</p>
<p>"At present I prefer to give no answer," he said, and retired into his hermitage.</p>
<p>It was rather weak in me I confess, but his manner on this occasion nettled me. Not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain disdain, but his perverseness seemed ungrateful, considering the undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me.</p>
<p>Again I sat ruminating what I should do.Mortified as I was at his behavior, and resolved as I had been to dismiss him when I entered my office, nevertheless I strangely felt something superstitious knocking at my heart, and forbidding me to carry out my purpose, and denouncing me for a villain if I dared to breathe one bitter word against this forlornest of mankind. At last, familiarly drawing my chair behind his screen, I sat down and said: "Bartleby, never mind then about revealing your history; but let me entreat you, as a friend, to comply as far as may be with the usages of this office. Say now you will help to examine papers tomorrow or next day: in short, say now that in a day or two you will begin to be a little reasonable:--say so, Bartleby."</p>
<p>"At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable was his idly cadaverous reply.,"</p>
<p>Just then the folding-doors opened, and Nippers approached. He seemed suffering from an unusually bad night's rest, induced by severer indigestion than common. He overheard those final words of Bartleby.</p>
<p><i>"Prefer</i> not, eh?" gritted Nippers--"I'd<i> prefer</i> him, if I were you, sir," addressing me--"I'd <i>prefer</i> him; I'd give him preferences, the stubborn mule! What is it, sir, pray, that he <i>prefers</i> not to do now?"</p>
<p>Bartleby moved not a limb.</p>
<p>"Mr. Nippers," said I, "I'd prefer that you would withdraw for the present." </p>
<p>Somehow, of late I had got into the way of involuntary using this word "prefer" upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions. And I trembled to think that my contact with the scrivener had already and seriously affected me in a mental way. And what further and deeper aberration might it not yet produce? This apprehension had not been without efficacy in determining me to summary means.</p>
<p>As Nippers, looking very sour and sulky, was departing, Turkey blandly and deferentially approached.</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said he, "yesterday I was thinking about Bartleby here, and I think that if he would but prefer to take a quart of good ale every day, it would do much towards mending him, and enabling him to assist in examining his papers."</p>
<p>"So you have got the word too," said I, slightly excited.</p>
<p>"With submission, what word, sir," asked Turkey, respectfully crowding himself into the contracted space behind the screen, and by so doing, making me jostle the scrivener. "What word, sir?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer to be left alone here," said Bartleby, as if offended at being mobbed in his privacy. </p>
<p>"<i>That's</i> the word, Turkey," said I--<i>"that's</i> it."</p>
<p>"Oh,<i> prefer</i> oh yes--queer word. I never use it myself. But, sir as I was saying, if he would but prefer--"</p>
<p>"Turkey," interrupted I, "you will please withdraw."</p>
<p>"Oh, certainly, sir, if you prefer that I should."</p>
<p>As he opened the folding-door to retire, Nippers at his desk caught a glimpse of me, and asked whether I would prefer to have a certain paper copied on blue paper or white. He did not in the least roguishly accent the word prefer. It was plain that it involuntarily rolled from his tongue. I thought to myself, surely I must get rid of a demented man, who already has in some degree turned the tongues, if not the heads of myself and clerks. But I thought it prudent not to break the dismission at once.</p>
<p>The next day I noticed that Bartleby did nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery. Upon asking him why he did not write, he said that he had decided upon doing no more writing.</p>
<p>"Why, how now? what next?" exclaimed I, "do no more writing?"</p>
<p>"No more."</p>
<p>"And what is the reason?"</p>
<p>"Do you not see the reason for yourself," he indifferently replied.</p>
<p>I looked steadfastly at him, and perceived that his eyes looked dull and glazed. Instantly it occurred to me, that his unexampled diligence in copying by his dim window for the first few weeks of his stay with me might have temporarily impaired his vision.</p>
<p>I was touched. I said something in condolence with him. I hinted that of course he did wisely in abstaining from writing for a while; and urged him to embrace that opportunity of taking wholesome exercise in the open air. This, however, he did not do. A few days after this, my other clerks being absent, and being in a great hurry to dispatch certain letters by the mail, I thought that, having nothing else earthly to do, Bartleby would surely be less inflexible than usual, and carry these letters to the post-office. But he blankly declined. So, much to my inconvenience, I went myself.</p>
<p>Still added days went by. Whether Bartleby's eyes improved or not, I could not say. To all appearance, I thought they did. But when I asked him if they did, he vouchsafed no answer. At all events, he would do no copying. At last, in reply to my urgings, he informed me that he had permanently given up copying.</p>
<p>"What!" exclaimed I; "suppose your eyes should get entirely well- better than ever before--would you not copy then?"</p>
<p>"I have given up copying," he answered, and slid aside. </p>
<p>He remained as ever, a fixture in my chamber. Nay--if that were possible--he became still more of a fixture than before. What was to be done? He would do nothing in the office: why should he stay there? In plain fact, he had now become a millstone to me, not only useless as a necklace, but afflictive to bear. Yet I was sorry for him. I speak less than truth when I say that, on his own account, he occasioned me uneasiness. If he would but have named a single relative or friend, I would instantly have written, and urged their taking the poor fellow away to some convenient retreat. But he seemed alone, absolutely alone in the universe. A bit of wreck</font> in the mid Atlantic. At length, necessities connected with my business tyrannized over all other considerations. Decently as I could, I told Bartleby that in six days' time he must unconditionally leave the office. I warned him to take measures, in the interval, for procuring some other abode. I offered to assist him in this endeavor, if he himself would but take the first step towards a removal. "And when you finally quit me, Bartleby," added I, "I shall see that you go not away entirely unprovided. Six days from this hour, remember."</p>
<p>At the expiration of that period, I peeped behind the screen, and lo! Bartleby was there. </p>
<p>I buttoned up my coat, balanced myself; advanced slowly towards him, touched his shoulder, and said, "The time has come; you must quit this place; I am sorry for you; here is money; but you must go."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not," he replied, with his back still towards me.</p>
<p>"You<i> must</i>."</p>
<p>He remained silent.</p>
<p>Now I had an unbounded confidence in this man's common honesty. He had frequently restored to me six pences and shillings carelessly dropped upon the floor, for I am apt to be very reckless in such shirt-button affairs. The proceeding then which followed will not be deemed extraordinary. "Bartleby," said I, "I owe you twelve dollars on account; here are thirty-two; the odd twenty are yours.--Will you take it? and I handed the bills towards him.</p>
<p>But he made no motion.</p>
<p>"I will leave them here then," putting them under a weight on the table. Then taking my hat and cane and going to the door I tranquilly turned and added--"After you have removed your things from these offices, Bartleby, you will of course lock the door--since every one is now gone for the day but you--and if you please, slip your key underneath the mat, so that I may have it in the morning. I shall not see you again; so good-bye to you. If hereafter in your new place of abode I can be of any service to you, do not fail to advise me by letter. Good-bye, Bartleby, and fare you well."</p>
<p>But he answered not a word; like the last column of some ruined temple, he remained standing mute and solitary in the middle of the otherwise deserted room.</p>
<p>As I walked home in a pensive mood, my vanity got the better of my pity. I could not but highly plume myself on my masterly management in getting rid of Bartleby. Masterly I call it, and such it must appear to any dispassionate thinker. The beauty of my procedure seemed to consist in its perfect quietness. There was no vulgar bullying, no bravado of any sort, no choleric hectoring and striding to and fro across the apartment, jerking out vehement commands for Bartleby to bundle himself off with his beggarly traps. Nothing of the kind. Without loudly bidding Bartleby depart--as an inferior genius might have done--I assumed the ground that depart he must; and upon the assumption built all I had to say. The more I thought over my procedure, the more I was charmed with it. Nevertheless, next morning, upon awakening, I had my doubts,--I had somehow slept off the fumes of vanity. One of the coolest and wisest hours a man has, is just after he awakes in the morning. My procedure seemed as sagacious as ever,--but only in theory. How it would prove in practice--there was the rub. It was truly a beautiful thought to have assumed Bartleby's departure; but, after all, that assumption was simply my own, and none of Bartleby's. The great point was, not whether I had assumed that he would quit me, but whether he would prefer so to do. He was more a man of preferences than assumptions.</p>
<p>After breakfast, I walked down town, arguing the probabilities pro and con. One moment I thought it would prove a miserable failure, and Bartleby would be found all alive at my office as usual; the next moment it seemed certain that I should see his chair empty. And so I kept veering about. At the corner of Broadway and Canal- street, I saw quite an excited group of people standing in earnest conversation.</p>
<p>"I'll take odds he doesn't," said a voice as I passed.</p>
<p>"Doesn't go?--done!" said I, "put up your money."</p>
<p>I was instinctively putting my hand in my pocket to produce my own, when I remembered that this was an election day. The words I had overheard bore no reference to Bartleby, but to the success or non-success of some candidate for the mayoralty. In my intent frame of mind, I had, as it were, imagined that all Broadway shared in my excitement, and were debating the same question with me. I passed on, very thankful that the uproar of the street screened my momentary absent-mindedness.</p>
<p>As I had intended, I was earlier than usual at my office door. I stood listening for a moment. All was still. He must be gone. I tried the knob. The door was locked. Yes, my procedure had worked to a charm; he indeed must be vanished. Yet a certain melancholy mixed with this: I was almost sorry for my brilliant success. I was fumbling under the door mat for the key, which Bartleby was to have left there for me, when accidentally my knee knocked against a panel, producing a summoning sound, and in response a voice came to me from within--"Not yet; I am occupied."</p>
<p>It was Bartleby.</p>
<p>I was thunderstruck. For an instant I stood like the man who, pipe in mouth, was killed one cloudless afternoon long ago in Virginia, by summer lightning; at his own warm open window he was killed, and remained leaning out there upon the dreamy afternoon, till some one touched him, when he fell. "Not gone!" I murmured at last. But again obeying that wondrous ascendancy which the inscrutable scrivener had over me, and from which ascendancy, for all my chafing, I could not completely escape, I slowly went down stairs and out into the street, and while walking round the block, considered what I should next do in this unheard-of-perplexity. Turn the man out by an actual thrusting I could not; to drive him away by calling him hard names would not do; calling in the police was an unpleasant idea; and yet, permit him to enjoy his cadaverous triumph over me,--this too I could not think of. What was to be done? or, if nothing could be done, was there any thing further that I could assume in the matter? Yes, as before I had prospectively assumed that Bartleby would depart, so now I might retrospectively assume that departed he was. In the legitimate carrying out of this assumption, I might enter my office in a great hurry, and pretending not to see Bartleby at all, walk straight against him as if he were air. Such a proceeding would in a singular degree have the appearance of a home-thrust. It was hardly possible that Bartleby could withstand such an application of the doctrine of assumptions. But upon second thoughts the success of the plan seemed rather dubious. I resolved to argue the matter over with him again.</p>
<p>Bartleby," said I, entering the office, with a quietly severe expression. "I am seriously displeased. I am pained, Bartleby. I had thought better of you. I had imagined you of such a gentlemanly organization, that in any delicate dilemma a slight hint would suffice--in short, an assumption. But it appears I am deceived. Why," I added, unaffectedly starting, "you have not even touched the money yet," pointing to it, just where I had left it the evening previous.</p>
<p>He answered nothing.</p>
<p>"Will you, or will you not, quit me?" I now demanded in a sudden passion, advancing close to him.</p>
<p>"I would prefer <i>not</i> to quit you," he replied, gently emphasizing the<i> not</i>.</p>
<p>"What earthly right have you to stay here? do you pay any rent? Do you pay my taxes? Or is this property yours?"</p>
<p>He answered nothing.</p>
<p>"Are you ready to go on and write now? Are your eyes recovered? Could you copy a small paper for me this morning? or help examine a few lines? or step round to the post-office? In a word, will you do any thing at all, to give a coloring to your refusal to depart the premises?"</p>
<p>He silently retired into his hermitage.</p>
<p>I was now in such a state of nervous resentment that I thought it but prudentto check myself at present from further demonstrations. Bartleby and I were alone. I remembered the tragedy of the unfortunate Adams and the still more unfortunate Colt in the solitary office of the latter; and how poor Colt, being dreadfully incensed by Adams, and imprudently permitting himself to get wildly excited, was at unawares hurried into his fatal act--an act which certainly no man could possibly deplore more than the actor himself. Often it had occurred to me in my ponderings upon the subject, that had that altercation taken place in the public street, or at a private residence, it would not have terminated as it did. It was the circumstance of being alone in a solitary office, up stairs, of a building entirely unhallowed by humanizing domestic associations--an uncarpeted office, doubtless of a dusty, haggard sort of appearance;--this it must have been, which greatly helped to enhance the irritable desperation of the hapless Colt.</p>
<p>But when this old Adam of resentment rose in me and tempted me concerning Bartleby, I grappled him and threw him. How? Why, simply by recalling the divine injunction: "A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another." Yes, this it was that saved me. Aside from higher considerations, charity often operates as a vastly wise and prudent principle--a great safeguard to its possessor. Men have committed murder for jealousy's sake, and anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and selfishness' sake, and spiritual pride's sake; but no man that ever I heard of, ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's sake. Mere self-interest, then, if no better motive can be enlisted, should, especially with high-tempered men, prompt all beings to charity and philanthropy. At any rate, upon the occasion in question, I strove to drown my exasperated feelings towards the scrivener by benevolently construing his conduct. Poor fellow, poor fellow! thought I, he don't mean any thing; and besides, he has seen hard times, and ought to be indulged.</p>
<p>I endeavored also immediately to occupy myself, and at the same time to comfort my despondency.I tried to fancy that in the course of the morning, at such time as might prove agreeable to him, Bartleby, of his own free accord, would emerge from his hermitage, and take up some decided line of march in the direction of the door. But no. Half-past twelve o'clock came; Turkey began to glow in the face, overturn his inkstand, and become generally obstreperous; Nippers abated down into quietude and courtesy; Ginger Nut munched his noon apple; and Bartleby remained standing at his window in one of his profoundest deadwall reveries. Will it be credited? Ought I to acknowledge it? That afternoon I left the office without saying one further word to him.</p>
<p>Some days now passed, during which, at leisure intervals I looked a little into Edwards on the Will," and "Priestly on Necessity." Under the circumstances, those books induced a salutary feeling. Gradually I slid into the persuasion that these troubles of mine touching the scrivener, had been all predestinated from eternity, and Bartleby was billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence, which it was not for a mere mortal like me to fathom. Yes, Bartleby, stay there behind your screen, thought I; I shall persecute you no more; you are harmless and noiseless as any of these old chairs; in short, I never feel so private as when I know you are here. At least I see it, I feel it; I penetrate to the predestinated purpose of my life. I am content. Others may have loftier parts to enact; but my mission in this world, Bartleby, is to furnish you with office-room for such period as you may see fit to remain.</p>
<p>I believe that this wise and blessed frame of mind would have continued with me, had it not been for the unsolicited and uncharitable remarks obtruded upon me by my professional friends who visited the rooms. But thus it often is, that the constant friction of illiberal minds wears out at last the best resolves of the more generous. Though to be sure, when I reflected upon it, it was not strange that people entering my office should be struck by the peculiar aspect of the unaccountable Bartleby, and so be tempted to throw out some sinister observations concerning him. Sometimes an attorney having business with me, and calling at my office, and finding no one but the scrivener there, would undertake to obtain some sort of precise information from him touching my whereabouts; but without heeding his idle talk, Bartleby would remain standing immovable in the middle of the room. So after contemplating him in that position for a time, the attorney would depart, no wiser than he came.</p>
<p>Also, when a Reference was going on, and the room full of lawyers and witnesses and business was driving fast; some deeply occupied legal gentleman present, seeing Bartleby wholly unemployed, would request him to run round to his (the legal gentleman's) office and fetch some papers for him. Thereupon, Bartleby would tranquilly decline, and remain idle as before. Then the lawyer would give a great stare, and turn to me. And what could I say? At last I was made aware that all through the circle of my professional acquaintance, a whisper of wonder was running round, having reference to the strange creature I kept at my office. This worried me very much. And as the idea came upon me of his possibly turning out a long-lived man, and keep occupying my chambers, and denying my authority; and perplexing my visitors; and scandalizing my professional reputation; and casting a general gloom over the premises; keeping soul and body together to the last upon his savings (for doubtless he spent but half a dime a day), and in the end perhaps outlive me, and claim possession of my office by right of his perpetual occupancy: as all these dark anticipations crowded upon me more and more, and my friends continually intruded their relentless remarks upon the apparition in my room; a great change was wrought in me. I resolved to gather all my faculties together, and for ever rid me of this intolerable incubus.</p>
<p>Ere revolving any complicated project, however, adapted to this end, I first simply suggested to Bartleby the propriety of his permanent departure. In a calm and serious tone, I commended the idea to his careful and mature consideration. But having taken three days to meditate upon it, he apprised me that his original determination remained the same; in short, that he still preferred to abide with me.</p>
<p>What shall I do? I now said to myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button. What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or rather ghost. Rid myself of him, I must; go, he shall. But how? You will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal,--you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door? you will not dishonor yourself by such cruelty? No, I will not, I cannot do that. Rather would I let him live and die here, and then mason up his remains in the wall. What then will you do? For all your coaxing, he will not budge. Bribes he leaves under your own paperweight on your table; in short, it is quite plain that he prefers to cling to you.</p>
<p>Then something severe, something unusual must be done. What! surely you will not have him collared by a constable, and commit his innocent pallor to the common jail? And upon what ground could you procure such a thing to be done?--a vagrant, is he? What! he a vagrant, a wanderer, who refuses to budge? It is because he will not be a vagrant, then, that you seek to count him as a vagrant. That is too absurd. No visible means of support: there I have him. Wrong again: for indubitably he does support himself, and that is the only unanswerable proof that any man can show of his possessing the means so to do. No more then. Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices; I will move elsewhere; and give him fair notice, that if I find him on my new premises I will then proceed against him as a common trespasser.</p>
<p>Acting accordingly, next day I thus addressed him: "I find these chambers too far from the City Hall; the air is unwholesome. In a word, I propose to remove my offices next week, and shall no longer require your services. I tell you this now, in order that you may seek another place."</p>
<p>He made no reply, and nothing more was said.</p>
<p>On the appointed day I engaged carts and men, proceeded to my chambers, and having but little furniture, every thing was removed in a few hours. Throughout, the scrivener remained standing behind the screen, which I directed to be removed the last thing. It was withdrawn; and being folded up like a huge folio, left him the motionless occupant of a naked room. I stood in the entry watching him a moment, while something from within me upbraided me.</p>
<p>I re-entered, with my hand in my pocket--and--and my heart in my mouth. </p>
<p>"Good-bye, Bartleby; I am going--good-bye, and God some way bless you; and take that," slipping something in his hand. But it dropped to the floor, and then,--strange to say--I tore myself from him whom I had so longed to be rid of.</p>
<p>Established in my new quarters, for a day or two I kept the door locked, and started at every footfall in the passages. When I returned to my rooms after any little absence, I would pause at the threshold for an instant, and attentively listen, ere applying my key. But these fears were needless. Bartleby never came nigh me.</p>
<p>I thought all was going well, when a perturbed looking stranger visited me, inquiring whether I was the person who had recently occupied rooms at No.--Wall-street.</p>
<p>Full of forebodings, I replied that I was.</p>
<p>"Then, sir," said the stranger, who proved a lawyer, "you are responsible for the man you left there. He refuses to do any copying; he refuses to do any thing; he says he prefers not to; and he refuses to quit the premises."</p>
<p>"I am very sorry, sir," said I, with assumed tranquillity, but an inward tremor, "but, really, the man you allude to is nothing to me --he is no relation or apprentice of mine, that you should hold me responsible for him."</p>
<p>"In mercy's name, who is he?"</p>
<p>"I certainly cannot inform you. I know nothing about him. Formerly I employed him as a copyist; but he has done nothing for me now for some time past."</p>
<p>"I shall settle him then,--good morning, sir."</p>
<p>Several days passed, and I heard nothing more; and though I often felt a charitable prompting to call at the place and see poor Bartleby, yet a certain squeamishness of I know not what withheld me.</p>
<p>All is over with him, by this time, thought I at last, when through another week no further intelligence reached me. But coming to my room the day after, I found several persons waiting at my door in a high state of nervous excitement.</p>
<p>"That's the man--here he comes," cried the foremost one, whom recognized as the lawyer who had previously called upon me alone.</p>
<p>"You must take him away, sir, at once," cried a portly person among them, advancing upon me, and whom I knew to be the landlord of No.--Wall-street. "These gentlemen, my tenants, cannot stand it any longer; Mr. B--" pointing to the lawyer, "has turned him out of his room, and he now persists in haunting the buildinggenerally, sitting upon the banisters of the stairs by day, and sleeping in the entry by night. Every body is concerned; clients are leaving the offices; some fears are entertained of a mob; something you must do, and that without delay."</p>
<p> Aghast at this torment, I fell back before it, and would fain have locked myselfin my new quarters. In vain I persisted that Bartleby was nothing to me--no more than to any one else. In vain:--I was the last person known to have any thing to do with him, and they held me to the terrible account. Fearful then of being exposed in the papers (as one person present obscurely threatened) I considered the matter, and at length said, that if the lawyer would give me a confidential interview with the scrivener, in his (the lawyer's) own room, I would that afternoon strive my best to rid them of the nuisance they complained of.</p>
<p>Going up stairs to my old haunt, there was Bartleby silently sitting upon the banister at the landing.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here, Bartleby?" said I.</p>
<p>"Sitting upon the banister," he mildly replied.</p>
<p>I motioned him into the lawyer's room, who then left us.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do something or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?"</p>
<p>"No; I would prefer not to make any change."</p>
<p>"Would you like a clerkship in a dry-goods store?"</p>
<p>"There is too much confinement about that. No, I would not like a clerkship; but I am not particular."</p>
<p>"Too much confinement," I cried, "why you keep yourself confined all the time!"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to take a clerkship," he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once.</p>
<p>"How would a bar-tender's business suit you? There is no trying of the eyesight in that."</p>
<p>"I would not like it at all; though, as I said before, I am not particular."</p>
<p>His unwonted wordiness inspirited me. I returned to the charge.</p>
<p>"Well then, would you like to travel through the country collecting bills for the merchants? That would improve your health."</p>
<p>"No, I would prefer to be doing something else."</p>
<p>"How then would going as a companion to Europe, to entertain some young gentleman with your conversation,--how would that suit you?"</p>
<p>"Not at all. It does not strike me that there is any thing definite about that. I like to be stationary. But I am not particular.</p>
<p>"Stationary you shall be then," I cried, now losing all patience, and for the first time in all my exasperating connection with him fairly flying into a passion. "If you do not go away from these premises before night, I shall feel bound--indeed I am bound--to-- to--to quit the premises myself!" I rather absurdly concluded, knowing not with what possible threat to try to frighten his immobility into compliance. Despairing of all further efforts, I was precipitately leaving him, when a final thought occurred to me--one which had not been wholly unindulged before. </p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, in the kindest tone I could assume under such exciting circumstances, "will you go home with me now--not to my office, but my dwelling--and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away."</p>
<p>"No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all."</p>
<p>I answered nothing; but effectualy dodging every one by the suddenness and rapidity of my flight, rushed from the building, ran up Wall-street towards Broadway, and jumping into the first omnibus was soon removed from pursuit. As soon as tranquility returned I distinctly perceived that I had now done all that I possibly could, both in respect to the demands of the landlord and his tenants, and with regard to my own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby, and shield him from rude persecution. I now strove to be entirely care-free and quiescent; and my conscience justified me in the attempt; though indeed it was not so successful as I could have wished. So fearful was I of being again hunted out by the incensed landlord and his exasperated tenants, that, surrendering my business to Nippers, for a few days I drove about the upper part of the town and through the suburbs, in my rockaway; crossed over to Jersey City and Hoboken, and paid fugitive visits to Manhattanville and Astoria. In fact I almost lived in my rockaway for the time.</p>
<p>When again I entered my office, lo, a note from the landlord lay upon desk. opened it with trembling hands. informed me that writer had sent to police, and Bartleby removed the Tombs as a vagrant. Moreover, since I knew more about him than any one else, he wished me to appear at that place, and make a suitable statement of the facts. These tidings had a conflicting effect upon me. At first I was indignant; but at last almost approved. The landlord's energetic, summary disposition, had led him to adopt a procedure which I do not think I would have decided upon myself; and yet as a last resort, under such peculiar circumstances, it seemed the only plan.</p>
<p>As I afterwards learned, the poor scrivener, when told that he must be conducted to the Tombs, offered not the slightest obstacle, but in his pale unmoving way, silently acquiesced. </p>
<p>Some of the compassionate and curious bystanders joined the party; and headed by one of the constables arm in arm with Bartleby, the silent procession filed its way through all the noise, and heat, and joy of the roaring thoroughfares at noon.</p>
<p>The same day I received the note I went to the Tombs, or to speak more properly, the Halls of Justice. Seeking the right officer, I stated the purpose of my call, and was informed that the individual I described was indeed within. I then assured the functionary that Bartleby was a perfectly honest man, and greatly to be compassionated, however unaccountably eccentric. I narrated all I knew,and closed by suggesting the idea of letting him remain in as indulgent confinement as possible till something less harsh might be done--though indeed I hardly knew what. At all events, if nothing else could be decided upon, the alms-house must receive him. I then begged to have an interview.</p>
<p>Being under no disgraceful charge, and quite serene and harmless in all his ways, they had permitted him freely to wander about the prison, and especially in the inclosed grass-platted yards thereof. And so I found him there, standing all alone in the quietest of the yards, his face towards a high wall, while all around, from the narrow slits of the jail windows, I thought I saw peering out upon him the eyes of murderers and thieves. </p>
<p>"Bartleby!"</p>
<p>"I know you," he said, without looking round,--"and I want nothing to say to you."</p>
<p>"It was not I that brought you here, Bartleby," said I, keenly pained at his implied suspicion. "And to you, this should not be so vile a place. Nothing reproachful attaches to you by being here. And see, it is not so sad a place as one might think. Look, there is the sky, and here is the grass."</p>
<p>"I know where I am," he replied, but would say nothing more, and so I left him.</p>
<p>As I entered the corridor again, a broad meat-like man in an apron, accosted me, and jerking his thumb over his shoulder said--"Is that your friend?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"Does he want to starve? If he does, let him live on the prison fare, that's all.</p>
<p>"Who are you?" asked I, not knowing what to make of such an unofficially speaking person in such a place.</p>
<p>"I am the grub-man. Such gentlemen as have friends here, hire me to provide them with something good to eat."</p>
<p>"Is this so?" said I, turning to the turnkey.</p>
<p>He said it was.</p>
<p>"Well then," said I, slipping some silver into the grub-man's hands (for so they called him). "I want you to give particular attention to my friend there; let him have the best dinner you can get. And you must be as polite to him as possible."</p>
<p>"Introduce me, will you?" said the grub-man, looking at me with an expression which seemed to say he was all impatience for an opportunity to give a specimen of his breeding.</p>
<p>Thinking it would prove of benefit to the scrivener, I acquiesced; and asking the grub-man his name, went up with him to Bartleby.</p>
<p>"Bartleby, this is a friend; you will find him very useful to you."</p>
<p>"Your sarvant, sir, your sarvant," said the grub-man, making a low salutation behind his apron. "Hope you find it pleasant here, sir;--spacious grounds--cool apartments, sir--hope you'll stay with us some time--try to make it agreeable. What will you have for dinner today?"</p>
<p>"I prefer not to dine to-day," said Bartleby, turning away. "It would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners." So saying he slowly moved to the other side of the inclosure, and took up a position fronting the dead-wall.</p>
<p>"How's this?" said the grub-man, addressing me with a stare of astonishment. "He's odd, aint he?"</p>
<p>"I think he is a little deranged," said I, sadly.</p>
<p>"Deranged? deranged is it? Well now, upon my word, I thought that friend of yourn was a gentleman forger; they are always pale and genteel-like, them forgers. I can't help pity 'em--can't help it, sir. Did you know Monroe Edwards?" he added touchingly, and paused. Then, laying his hand pityingly on my shoulder, sighed, "he died of consumption at Sing-Sing. so you weren't acquainted with Monroe?"</p>
<p>"No, I was never socially acquainted with any forgers. But I cannot stop longer. Look to my friend yonder. You will not lose by it. I will see you again."</p>
<p>Some few days after this, I again obtained admission to the Tombs, and went through the corridors in quest of Bartleby; but without finding him.</p>
<p>"I saw him coming from his cell not long ago," said a turnkey, "may be he's gone to loiter in the yards."</p>
<p>So I went in that direction.</p>
<p>"Are you looking for the silent man?" said another turnkey passing me. "Yonder he lies--sleeping in the yard there. 'Tis not twenty minutes since I saw him lie down."</p>
<p>The yard was entirely quiet. It was not accessible to the common prisoners. The surrounding walls, of amazing thickness, kept off all sound behind them. The Egyptian character of the masonry weighed upon me with its gloom. But a soft imprisoned turf grew under foot. The heart of the eternal pyramids, it seemed, wherein, by some strange magic, through the clefts, grass-seed, dropped by birds, had sprung.</p>
<p>Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping. Something prompted me to touch him. I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my feet.</p>
<p>The round face of the grub-man peered upon me now. "His dinner is ready. Won't he dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?"</p>
<p>"Lives without dining," said I, and closed the eyes.</p>
<p>"Eh!--He's asleep, aint he?"</p>
<p>"With kings and counsellors," murmured I.</p>
<p>* * * * * * * *</p>
<p>There would seem little need for proceeding further in this history. Imagination will readily supply the meagre recital of poor Bartleby's interment. But ere parting with the reader, let me say, that if this little narrative has sufficiently interested him, to awaken curiosity as to who Bartleby was, and what manner of life he led prior to the present narrator's making his acquaintance, I can only reply, that in such curiosity I fully share, but am wholly unable to gratify it. Yet here I hardly know whether I should divulge one little item of rumor, which came to my ear a few months after the scrivener's decease. Upon what basis it rested, I could never ascertain; and hence how true it is I cannot now tell. But inasmuch as this vague report has not been without a certain strange suggestive interest to me, however said, it may prove the same with some others; and so I will briefly mention it. The report was this: that Bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office at <ahref="http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/%7Ezeke/bartleby/parker.html"target="_blank">Washington</a>, from which he had been suddenly removed by a change in the administration. When I think over this rumor, I cannot adequately express the emotions which seize me. Dead letters! does it not sound like dead men? Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters and assorting them for the flames? For by the cart-load they are annually burned. Sometimes from out the folded paper the pale clerk takes a ring:--the bank-note sent in swiftest charity:--he whom it would relieve, nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of life, these letters speed to death. </p>
<p> Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!</p>
</div>
<h3>Study Webtext</h3>
<h2><spanface="Lucida Handwriting "color="Maroon
">"Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street " </span>(1853) <br/> Herman Melville</h2>
<h3>Prepared by <ahref="http://www.vcu.edu/engweb">Ann Woodlief,</a> Virginia Commonwealth University</h3>
<h5>Click on text in red for hypertext notes and questions</h5> I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written:-- I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel. <p>Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented. </p>
<p><i>Imprimis</i>: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.. Hence, though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous, even to turbulence, at times, yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace. I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquillity of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title-deeds. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next, method. I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the last John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion.</p>
<p>Some time prior to the period at which this little history begins, my avocations had been largely increased. The good old office, now extinct in the State of New York, of a Master in Chancery, had been conferred upon me. It was not a very arduous office, but very pleasantly remunerative. I seldom lose my temper; much more seldom indulge in dangerous indignation at wrongs and outrages; but I must be permitted to be rash here and declare, that I consider the sudden and violent abrogation of the office of Master of Chancery, by the new Constitution, as a----premature act; inasmuch as I had counted upon a life-lease of the profits, whereas I only received those of a few short years. But this is by the way.</p>
<p>My chambers were up stairs at No.--Wall-street. At one end they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft, penetrating the building from top to bottom. This view might have been considered rather tame than otherwise, deficient in what landscape painters call "life." But if so, the view from the other end of my chambers offered, at least, a contrast, if nothing more. In that direction my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall,black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to bring out its lurking beauties, but for the benefit of all near-sighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes. Owing to the great height of the surrounding buildings, and my chambers being on the second floor, the interval between this wall and mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern.</p>
<p>At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy. First, Turkey; second, Nippers; third, Ginger Nut.These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters. Turkey was a short, pursy Englishman of about my own age, that is, somewhere not far from sixty. In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o'clock, meridian-- his dinner hour-- it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing--but, as it were, with a gradual wane--till 6 o'clock, P.M. or thereabouts, after which I saw no more of the proprietor of the face, which gaining its meridian with the sun, seemed to set with it, to rise, culminate, and decline the following day, with the like regularity and undiminished glory. There are many singular coincidences I have known in the course of my life, not the least among which was the fact that exactly when Turkey displayed his fullest beams from his red and radiant countenance, just then, too, at the critical moment, began the daily period when I considered his business capacities as seriously disturbed for the remainder of the twenty-four hours. Not that he was absolutely idle, or averse to business then; far from it. The difficulty was, he was apt to be altogether too energetic. There was a strange, inflamed, flurried, flighty recklessness of activity about him. He would be incautious in dipping his pen into his inkstand. All his blots upon my documents, were dropped there after twelve o'clock, meridian. Indeed, not only would he be reckless and sadly given to making blots in the afternoon, but some days he went further, and was rather noisy. At such times, too, his face flamed with augmented blazonry, as if cannel coal had been heaped on anthracite. He made an unpleasant racket with his chair; spilled his sand-box; in mending his pens, impatiently split them all to pieces, and threw them on the floor in a sudden passion; stood up and leaned over his table, boxing his papers about in a most indecorous manner, very sad to behold in an elderly manlike him. Nevertheless, as he was in many ways a most valuable person to me, and all the time before twelve o'clock, meridian, was the quickest, steadiest creature too, accomplishing a great deal of work in a style not easy to be matched--for these reasons, I was willingto overlook his eccentricities, though indeed, occasionally, I remonstrated with him. I did this very gently, however, because, though the civilest, nay, the blandest and most reverential of men in the morning, yet in the afternoon he was disposed, upon provocation, to be slightly rash with his tongue, in fact, insolent. Now, valuing his morning services as I did, and resolved not to lose them; yet, at the same time made uncomfortable by his inflamed ways after twelve o'clock; and being a man of peace, unwilling by my admonitions to call forth unseemingly retorts from him; I took upon me, one Saturday noon (he was always worse on Saturdays), to hint to him, very kindly, that perhaps now that he was growing old, it might be well to abridge his labors; in short, he need not come to my chambers after twelve o'clock, but, dinner over, had best go home to his lodgings and rest himself till tea-time. But no; he insisted upon his afternoon devotions. His countenance became intolerably fervid, as he oratorically assured me--gesticulating with a long ruler at the other end of the room--that if his services in the morning were useful, how indispensible, then, in the afternoon?</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said Turkey on this occasion, "I consider myself your right-hand man. In the morning I but marshal and deploy my columns; but in the afternoon I put myself at their head, and gallantly charge the foe, thus!"--and he made a violent thrust with the ruler.</p>
<p>"But the blots, Turkey," intimated I.</p>
<p>"True,--but, with submission, sir, behold these hairs! I am getting old. Surely, sir, a blot or two of a warm afternoon is not the page--is honorable. With submission, sir, we both are getting old."</p>
<p>This appeal to my fellow-feeling was hardly to be resisted. At all events, I saw that go he would not. So I made up my mind to let him stay, resolving, nevertheless, to see to it, that during the afternoon he had to do with my less important papers.</p>
<p>Nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon the whole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers-- ambition and indigestion. The ambition was evinced by a certain impatience of the duties of a mere copyist, an unwarrantable usurpation of strictly profession affairs, such as the original drawing up of legal documents. The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grind together over mistakes committed in copying; unnecessary maledictions, hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business; and especially by a continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked. Though of a very ingenious mechanical turn, Nippers could never get this table to suit him. He put chips under it, blocks of various sorts, bits of pasteboard, and at last went so far as to attempt an exquisite adjustment by final pieces of folded blotting-paper. But no invention would answer. If, for the sake of easing his back, he brought the table lid at a sharp angle well up towards his chin, and wrote there like a man using the steep roof of a Dutch house for his desk:--then he declared that it stopped the circulation in his arms. If now he lowered the table to his waistbands, and stooped over it in writing, then there was a sore aching in his back. In short, the truth of the matter was, Nippers knew not what he wanted. Or, if he wanted anything, it was to be rid of a scrivener's table altogether. Among the manifestations of his diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits from certain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy coats, whom he called his clients. Indeed I was aware that not only was he, at times, considerable of a ward-politician, but he occasionally did a little businessat the Justices' courts, and was not unknown on the steps of the Tombs. I have good reason to believe, however, that one individual who called upon him at my chambers, and who, with a grand air, he insisted was his client, was no other than a dun, and the alleged title-deed, a bill. But with all his failings, and the annoyances he caused me, Nippers, like his compatriot Turkey, was a very useful man to me; wrote a neat, swift hand; and, when he chose, was not deficient in a gentlemanly sort of deportment. Added to this, he always dressedin a gentlemanly sort of way; and so, incidentally, reflected credit upon my chambers. Whereas with respect to Turkey, I had much ado to keep him from being a reproach to me. His clothes were apt to look oily and smell of eating-houses. He wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy in summer. His coats were execrable; his hat not to be handled. But while the hat was a thing of indifference to me, inasmuch as his natural civility and deference, as a dependent Englishman, always led him to doff it the moment he entered the room, yet his coat was another matter. Concerning his coats, I reasoned with him; but with no effect. The truth was, I suppose, that a man with so small an income, could not afford to sport such a lustrous face and a lustrous coat at one and the same time. As Nippers once observed, Turkey's money went chiefly for red ink. One winter day I presented Turkey with a highly-respectable looking coat of my own, a padded gray coat, of a most comfortable warmth, and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck. I thought Turkey would appreciate the favor, and abate his rashness and obstreperousness of afternoons. But no. I verily believe that buttoning himself up in so downy and blanket-like a coat had a pernicious effect upon him; upon the same principle that too much oats are bad for horses. In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat. It made him insolent. He was a man whom prosperity harmed.</p>
<p>Though concerning the self-indulgent habits of Turkey I had my own private surmises, yet touching Nippers I was well persuaded that whatever might be his faults in other respects, he was, at least, a temperate young man. But indeed, nature herself seemed to have been his vintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable, brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless. When I consider how, amid the stillness of my chambers, Nippers would sometimes impatiently rise from his seat, and stooping over his table, spread his arms wide apart, seize the whole desk, and move it, and jerk it, with a grim, grinding motion on the floor, as if the table were a perverse voluntary agent, intent on thwarting and vexing him; I plainly perceive that for Nippers, brandy and water were altogether superfluous.</p>
<p>It was fortunate for me that, owing to its course--indigestion--the irritability and consequent nervousness of Nippers, were mainly observable in the morning, while in the afternoon he was comparatively mild. So that Turkey's paroxysms only coming on about twelve o'clock, I never had to do with their eccentricities at one time. Their fits relieved each other like guards. When Nippers' was on, Turkey's was off, and vice versa. This was a good natural arrangement under the circumstances.</p>
<p>Ginger Nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. His father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of a cart, before he died. So he sent him to my office as a student at law, errand boy, and cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week. He had a little desk to himself, but he did not use it much. Upon inspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various sorts of nuts. Indeed, to this quick-witted youth the whole noble science of the law was contained in a nut-shell. Not the least among the employments of Ginger Nut, as well as one which he discharged with the most alacrity, was his duty as cake and apple purveyor for Turkey and Nippers. Copying law papers being proverbially a dry, husky sort of business, my two scriveners were fain to moisten their mouths very often with Spitzenbergs to be had at the numerous stalls nigh the Custom House and Post Office. Also, they sent Ginger Nut very frequently for that peculiar cake--small, flat, round, and very spicy--after which he had been named by them. Of a cold morning when business was but dull, Turkey would gobble up scores of these cakes, as if they were mere wafers--indeed they sell them at the rate of six or eight for a penny--the scrape of his pen blending with the crunching of the crisp particles in his mouth. Of all the fiery afternoon blunders and flurried rashnesses of Turkey, was his once moistening a ginger-cake between his lips, and clapping it on to a mortgage for a seal. I came within an ace of dismissing him then. But he mollified me by making an oriental bow, and saying--"With submission, sir, it was generous of me to find you in stationery on my own account."</p>
<p>Now my original business--that of a conveyancer and title hunter, and drawer-up of recondite documents of all sorts--was considerably increased by receiving the master's office. There was now great work for scriveners. Not only must I push the clerks already with me, but I must have additional help. In answer to my advertisement, a motionless young man one morning, stood upon my office threshold, the door being open, for it was summer. I can see that figure now--pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn! It was Bartleby.</p>
<p>After a few words touching his qualifications, I engaged him, glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery one of Nippers.</p>
<p>I should have stated before that ground glass folding-doors divided my premises into two parts, one of which was occupied by my scriveners, the other by myself. According to my humor I threw open these doors, or closed them. I resolved to assign Bartleby a corner by the folding-doors, but on my side of them, so as to have this quiet man within easy call, in case any trifling thing was to be done. I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy back-yards and bricks, but which, owing to subsequent erections, commanded at present no view at all, though it gave some light. Within three feet of the panes was a wall, and the light came down from far above, between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome. Still further to a satisfactory arrangement, I procured a high green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice. And thus, in a manner, privacy and society were conjoined. </p>
<p>At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishingfor something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had be been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically. </p>
<p>It is, of course, an indispensable part of a scrivener's business to verify the accuracy of his copy, word by word. Where there are two or more scriveners in an office, they assist each other in this examination, one reading from the copy, the other holding the original. It is a very dull, wearisome, and lethargic affair. I can readily imagine that to some sanguine temperaments it would be altogether intolerable. For example, I cannot credit that the mettlesome poet Byron would have contentedly sat down with Bartleby to examine a law document of, say five hundred pages, closely written in a crimpy hand.</p>
<p>Now and then, in the haste of business, it had been my habit to assist in comparing some brief document myself, calling Turkey or Nippers for this purpose. One object I had in placing Bartleby so handy to me behind the screen, was to avail myself of his services on such trivial occasions. It was on the third day, I think, of his being with me, and before any necessity had arisen for having his own writing examined, that, being much hurried to complete a small affair I had in hand, I abruptly called to Bartleby. In my haste and natural expectancy of instant compliance, I sat with my head bent over the original on my desk, and my right hand sideways, and somewhat nervously extended with the copy, so that immediately upon emerging from his retreat, Bartleby might snatch it and proceed to business without the least delay.</p>
<p>In this very attitude did I sit when I called to him, rapidly stating what it was I wanted him to do--namely, to examine a small paper with me. Imagine my surprise, nay, my consternation, when without moving from his privacy, Bartleby in a singularly mild, firm voice, replied,"I would prefer not to." </p>
<p>I sat awhile in perfect silence, rallying my stunned faculties. Immediately it occurred to me that my ears had deceived me, or Bartleby had entirely misunderstood my meaning. I repeated my request in the clearest tone I could assume. But in quite as clear a one came the previous reply, "I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"Prefer not to," echoed I, rising in high excitement, and crossing the room with a stride, "What do you mean? Are you moon-struck? I want you to help me compare this sheet here--take it," and I thrust it towards him.</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to," said he.</p>
<p>I looked at him steadfastly. His face was leanly composed; his gray eye dimly calm. Not a wrinkle of agitation rippled him. Had there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; in other words, had there been any thing ordinarily human about him, doubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises. But as it was, I should have as soon thought of turning my pale plaster-of-paris bust of Cicero out of doors. I stood gazing at him awhile, as he went on with his own writing, and then reseated myself at my desk. This is very strange, thought I. What had one best do? But my business hurried me. I concluded to forget the matter for the present, reserving it for my future leisure. So calling Nippers from the other room, the paper was speedily examined.</p>
<p>A few days after this, Bartleby concluded four lengthy documents, being quadruplicates of a week's testimony taken before me in my High Court of Chancery. It became necessary to examine them. It was an important suit, and great accuracy was imperative. Having all things arranged I called Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut from the next room, meaning to place the four copies in the hands of my four clerks, while I should read from the original. Accordingly Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut had taken their seats in a row, each with his document in hand, when I called to Bartleby to join this interesting group.</p>
<p>"Bartleby! quick, I am waiting."</p>
<p>I heard a low scrape of his chair legs on the unscraped floor, and soon he appeared standing at the entrance of his hermitage. </p>
<p>"What is wanted?" said he mildly.</p>
<p>"The copies, the copies," said I hurriedly. "We are going to examine them. There"--and I held towards him the fourth quadruplicate.</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to," he said, and gently disappeared behind the screen.</p>
<p>For a few moments I was turned into a pillar of salt, standing at the head of my seated column of clerks. Recovering myself, I advanced towards the screen, and demanded the reason for such extraordinary conduct.</p>
<p>"<i>Why</i> do you refuse?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence. But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me. I began to reason with him.</p>
<p>"These are your own copies we are about to examine. It is labor saving to you, because one examination will answer for your four papers. It is common usage. Every copyist is bound to help examine his copy. Is it not so? Will you not speak? Answer!"</p>
<p>"I prefer not to," he replied in a flute-like tone. It seemed to me that while I had been addressing him, he carefully revolved every statement that I made; fully comprehended the meaning; could not gainsay the irresistible conclusion; but, at the same time, some paramount consideration prevailed with him to reply as he did.</p>
<p>"You are decided, then, not to comply with my request--a request made according to common usage and common sense?"</p>
<p>He briefly gave me to understand that on that point my judgment was sound. Yes: his decision was irreversible.</p>
<p>It is not seldom the case that when a man is browbeaten in some unprecedented and violently unreasonable way, he begins to stagger in his own plainest faith. He begins, as it were, vaguely to surmise that, wonderful as it may be, all the justice and all the reason is on the other side. Accordingly, if any disinterested persons are present, he turns to them for some reinforcement for his own faltering mind. </p>
<p>"Turkey," said I, "what do you think of this? Am I not right?"</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said Turkey, with his blandest tone, "I think that you are."</p>
<p>"Nippers," said I, "what do<i> you</i> think of it?"</p>
<p>"I think I should kick him out of the office."</p>
<p>(The reader of nice perceptions will here perceive that, it being morning, Turkey's answer is couched in polite and tranquil terms, but Nippers replies in ill-tempered ones. Or, to repeat a previous sentence, Nipper's ugly mood was on duty, and Turkey's off.)</p>
<p>"Ginger Nut," said I, willing to enlist the smallest suffrage in my behalf, "what do<i> you</i> think of it?"</p>
<p>"I think, sir, he's a little<i> luny</i>," replied Ginger Nut, with a grin.</p>
<p>"You hear what they say," said I, turning towards the screen, "come forth and do your duty."</p>
<p>But he vouchsafed no reply. I pondered a moment in sore perplexity. But once more business hurried me. I determined again to postpone the consideration of this dilemma to my future leisure. With a little trouble we made out to examine the papers without Bartleby, though at every page or two, Turkey deferentially dropped his opinion that this proceeding was quite out of the common; while Nippers, twitching in his chair with a dyspeptic nervousness, ground out between his set teeth occasional hissing maledictions against the stubborn oaf behind the screen. And for his (Nipper's) part, this was the first and the last time he would do another man's business without pay.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Bartleby sat in his hermitage, oblivious to every thing but his own peculiar business there.</p>
<p>Some days passed, the scrivener being employed upon another lengthy work. His late remarkable conduct led me to regard his way narrowly. I observed that he never went to dinner; indeed that he never went any where. As yet I had never of my personal knowledge known him to be outside of my office. He was a perpetual sentry in the corner. At about eleven o'clock though, in the morning, I noticed that Ginger Nut would advance toward the opening in Bartleby's screen, as if silently beckoned thither by a gesture invisible to me where I sat. That boy would then leave the office jingling a few pence, and reappear with a handful of ginger-nuts which he delivered in the hermitage, receiving two of the cakes for his trouble.</p>
<p>He lives, then, on ginger-nuts, thought I; never eats a dinner, properly speaking; he must be a vegetarian then, but no; he never eats even vegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts. My mind then ran on in reveries concerning the probable effects upon the human constitution of living entirely on ginger-nuts. Ginger-nuts are so called because they contain ginger as one of their peculiar constituents, and the final flavoring one. Now what was ginger? A hot, spicy thing. Was Bartleby hot and spicy? Not at all. Ginger, then, had no effect upon Bartleby. Probably he preferred it should have none. </p>
<p>Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance. If the individual so resisted be of a not inhumane temper, and the resisting one perfectly harmless in his passivity; then, in the better moods of the former, he will endeavor charitably to construe to his imagination what proves impossible to be solved by his judgment. Even so, for the most part, I regarded Bartleby and his ways. Poor fellow! thought I, he means no mischief; it is plain he intends no insolence; his aspect sufficiently evinces that his eccentricities are involuntary. He is useful to me. I can get along with him. If I turn him away, the chances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer, and then he will be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve. Yes. Here I can cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval. To befriend Bartleby; to humor him in his strange willfulness, will cost me little or nothing, while I lay up in my soul what will eventually prove a sweet morsel for my conscience. But this mood was not invariable with me. The passiveness of Bartleby sometimes irritated me. I felt strangely goaded on to encounter him in new opposition, to elicit some angry spark from him answerable to my own. But indeed I might as well have essayed to strike fire with my knuckles against a bit of Windsor soap. But one afternoon the evil impulse in me mastered me, and the following little scene ensued:</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "when those papers are all copied, I will compare them with you."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"How? Surely you do not mean to persist in that mulish vagary?"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>I threw open the folding-doors near by, and turning upon Turkey and Nippers, exclaimed in an excited manner--</p>
<p>"He says, a second time, he won't examine his papers. What do you think of it, Turkey?"</p>
<p>It was afternoon, be it remembered. Turkey sat glowing like a brass boiler, his bald head steaming, his hands reeling among his blotted papers.</p>
<p>"Think of it?" roared Turkey; "I think I'll just step behind his screen, and black his eyes for him!"</p>
<p>So saying, Turkey rose to his feet and threw his arms into a pugilistic position. He was hurrying away to make good his promise, when I detained him, alarmed at the effect of incautiously rousing Turkey's combativeness after dinner.</p>
<p>"Sit down, Turkey," said I, "and hear what Nippers has to say. What do you think of it, Nippers? Would I not be justified in immediately dismissing Bartleby?"</p>
<p>"Excuse me, that is for you to decide, sir. I think his conduct quite unusual, and indeed unjust, as regards Turkey and myself. But it may only be a passing whim."</p>
<p>"Ah," exclaimed I, "you have strangely changed your mind then--you speak very gently of him now."</p>
<p>"All beer," cried Turkey; "gentleness is effects of beer--Nippers and I dined together to-day. You see how gentle I am, sir. Shall I go and black his eyes?"</p>
<p>"You refer to Bartleby, I suppose. No, not to-day, Turkey," I replied; "pray, put up your fists."</p>
<p>I closed the doors, and again advanced towards Bartleby. I felt additional incentives tempting me to my fate. I burned to be rebelled against again. I remembered that Bartleby never left the office.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "Ginger Nut is away; just step round to the Post Office, won't you? (it was but a three minutes walk,) and see if there is any thing for me."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"You<i> will</i> not?"</p>
<p>"I <i>prefer</i> not."</p>
<p>I staggered to my desk, and sat there in a deep study. My blind inveteracy returned. Was there any other thing in which I could procure myself to be ignominiously repulsed by this lean, penniless with?--my hired clerk? What added thing is there, perfectly reasonable, that he will be sure to refuse to do?</p>
<p>"Bartleby!"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," in a louder tone.</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," I roared.</p>
<p>Like a very ghost, agreeably to the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he appeared at the entrance of his hermitage.</p>
<p>"Go to the next room, and tell Nippers to come to me."</p>
<p>"I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared.</p>
<p>"Very good, Bartleby," said I, in a quiet sort of serenely severe self-possessed tone, intimating the unalterable purpose of some terrible retribution very close at hand. At the moment I half intended something of the kind. But upon the whole, as it was drawing towards my dinner-hour, I thought it best to put on my hat and walk home for the day, suffering much from perplexity and distress of mind.</p>
<p> Shall I acknowledge it? The conclusion of this whole business was that it soon became a fixed fact of my chambers, that a pale young scrivener, by the name of Bartleby, had a desk there; that he copied for me at the usual rate of four cents a folio (one hundred words); but he was permanently exempt from examining the work done by him, that duty being transferred to Turkey and Nippers, one of compliment doubtless to their superior acuteness; moreover, said Bartleby was never on any account to be dispatched on the most trivial errand of any sort; and that even if entreated to take upon him such a matter, it was generally understood that he would prefer not to--in other words, that he would refuse point-blank. </p>
<p>32 As days passed on, I became considerably reconciled to Bartleby. His steadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry (except when he chose to throw himself into a standing revery behind his screen), his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under all circumstances, made him a valuable acquisition. One prime thing was this,--he was always there;--first in the morning, continually through the day, and the last at night. I had a singular confidence in his honesty. I felt my most precious papers perfectly safe in his hands. Sometimes to be sure I could not, for the very soul of me, avoid falling into sudden spasmodic passions with him. For it was exceeding difficult to bear in mind all the time those strange peculiarities, privileges, and unheard of exemptions, forming the tacit stipulations on Bartleby's part under which he remained in my office. Now and then, in the eagerness of dispatching pressing business, I would inadvertently summon Bartleby, in a short, rapid tone, to put his finger, say, on the incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which I was about compressing some papers. Of course, from behind the screen the usual answer, "I prefer not to," was sure to come; and then, how could a human creature with the common infirmities of our nature, refrain from bitterly exclaiming upon such perverseness--such unreasonableness. However, every added repulse of this sort which I received only tended to lessen the probability of my repeating the inadvertence.</p>
<p>Here is must be said, that according to the custom of most legal gentlemen occupying chambers in densely-populated law buildings, there were several keys to my door. One was kept by a woman residing in the attic, which person weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted my apartments. Another was kept by Turkey for convenience sake. The third I sometimes carried in my own pocket. The fourth I knew not who had.</p>
<p>Now, one Sunday morning I happened to go to Trinity Church, to hear a celebrated preacher, and finding myself rather early on the ground, I thought I would walk round to my chambers for a while. Luckily I had my key with me; but upon applying it to the lock, I found it resisted by something inserted from the inside. Quite surprised, I called out; when to my consternation a key was turned from within; and thrusting his lean visage at me, and holding the door ajar, the apparition of Bartleby appeared, in his shirt sleeves, and otherwise in a strangely tattered dishabille, saying quietly that he was sorry, but he was deeply engaged just then, and--preferred not admitting me at present. In a brief word or two, he moreover added, that perhaps I had better walk round the block two or three times, and by that time he would probably have concluded his affairs. Now, the utterly unsurmised appearance of Bartleby, tenanting my law-chambers of a Sunday morning, with his cadaverously gentlemanly nonchalance, yet withal firm and self-possessed, had such a strange effect upon me, that incontinently I slunk away from my own door, and did as desired. But not without sundry twinges of impotent rebellion against the mild effrontery of this unaccountable scrivener. Indeed, it was his wonderful mildness chiefly, which not only disarmed me, but unmanned me, as it were. For I consider that one, for the time, is a sort of unmanned when he tranquilly permits his hired clerk to dictate to him, and order him away from his own premises. Furthermore, I was full of uneasiness as to what Bartleby could possibly be doing in my office in his shirt sleeves, and in an otherwise dismantled condition of a Sunday morning. Was any thing amiss going on? Nay, that was out of the question. It was not to be thought of for a moment that Bartleby was an immoral person. But what could he be doing there?--copying? Nay again, whatever might be his eccentricities, Bartleby was an eminently decorous person. He would be the last man to sit down to his desk in any state approaching to nudity. Besides, it was Sunday; and there was something about Bartleby that forbade the supposition that we would by any secular occupation violate the proprieties of the day.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, my mind was not pacified; and full of a restless curiosity, at last I returned to the door. Without hindrance I inserted my key, opened it, and entered. Bartleby was not to be seen. I looked round anxiously, peeped behind his screen; but it was very plain that he was gone. Upon more closely examining the place, I surmised that for an indefinite period Bartleby must have ate, dressed, and slept in my office, and that too without plate, mirror, or bed. The cushioned seat of a rickety old sofa in one corner bore t faint impress of a lean, reclining form. Rolled away under his desk, I found a blanket; under the empty grate, a blacking box and brush; on a chair, a tin basin, with soap and a ragged towel; in a newspaper a few crumbs of ginger-nuts and a morsel of cheese. Yet, thought I, it is evident enough that Bartleby has been making his home here, keeping bachelor's hallall by himself. Immediately then the thought came sweeping across me, What miserable friendlessness and loneliness are here revealed! His poverty is great; but his solitude, how horrible! Think of it. Of a Sunday, Wall-street is deserted as Petra; and every night of every day it is an emptiness. This building too, which of week-days hums with industry and life, at nightfall echoes with sheer vacancy, and all through Sunday is forlorn. And here Bartleby makes his home; sole spectator of a solitude which he has seen all populous--a sort of innocent and transformed Marius brooding among the ruins of Carthage! </p>
<p>For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam. I remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces I had seen that day in gala trim, swan-like sailing down the Mississippi of Broadway; and I contrasted them with the pallid copyist, and thought to myself, Ah, happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay; but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none. These sad fancyings-- chimeras, doubtless, of a sick and silly brain--led on to other and more special thoughts, concerning the eccentricities of Bartleby. Presentiments of strange discoveries hovered round me. The scrivener's pale form appeared to me laid out, among uncaring strangers, in its shivering winding sheet.</p>
<p>Suddenly I was attracted by Bartleby's closed desk, the key in open sight left in the lock.</p>
<p> I mean no mischief, seek the gratification of no heartless curiosity, thought I; besides, the desk is mine, and its contents too, so I will make bold to look within. Every thing was methodically arranged, the papers smoothly placed. The pigeon holes were deep, and removing the files of documents, I groped into their recesses. Presently I felt something there, and dragged it out. It was an old bandanna handkerchief, heavy and knotted. I opened it, and saw it was a savings' bank.</p>
<p>I now recalled all the quiet mysteries which I had noted in the man. I remembered that he never spoke but to answer; that though at intervals he had considerable time to himself, yet I had never seen him reading--no, not even a newspaper; that for long periods he would stand looking out, at his pale window behind the screen, upon the dead brick wall; I was quite sure he never visited any refectory or eating house; while his pale face clearly indicated that he never drank beer like Turkey, or tea and coffee even, like other men; that he never went any where in particular that I could learn; never went out for a walk, unless indeed that was the case at present; that he had declined telling who he was, or whence he came, or whether he had any relatives in the world; that though so thin and pale, he never complained of ill health. And more than all, I remembered a certain unconscious air of pallid--how shall I call it?--of pallid haughtiness, say, or rather an austere reserve about him, which had positively awed me into my tame compliance with his eccentricities, when I had feared to ask him to do the slightest incidental thing for me, even though I might know, from his long-continued motionlessness, that behind his screen he must be standing in one of those dead-wall reveries of his.</p>
<p>Revolving all these things, and coupling them with the recently discovered fact that he made my office his constant abiding place and home, and not forgetful of his morbid moodiness; revolving all these things, a prudential feeling began to steal over me. My first emotions had been those of pure melancholy and sincerest pity; but just in proportion as the forlornness of Bartleby grew and grew to my imagination, did that same melancholy merge into fear, that pity into repulsion. So true it is, and so terrible too, that up to a certain point the thought or sight of misery enlists our best affections; but, in certain special cases, beyond that point it does not. They err who would assert that invariably this is owing to the inherent selfishness of the human heart. It rather proceeds from a certain hopelessness of remedying excessive and organic ill. To a sensitive being, pity is not seldom pain. And when at last it is perceived that such pity cannot lead to effectual succor, common sense bids the soul be rid of it. What I saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of innate and incurable disorder. I might give alms to his body; but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach. </p>
<p>I did not accomplish the purpose of going to Trinity Church that morning. Somehow, the things I had seen disqualified me for the time from church-going. I walked homeward, thinking what I would do with Bartleby. Finally, I resolvedupon this;--I would put certain calm questions to him the next morning, touching his history, &c., and if he declined to answer then openly and reservedly (and I supposed he would prefer not), then to give him a twenty dollar bill over and above whatever I might owe him, and tell him his services were no longer required; but that if in any other way I could assist him, I would be happy to do so, especially if he desired to return to his native place, wherever that might be, I would willingly help to defray the expenses. Moreover, if after reaching home, he found himself at any time in want of aid, a letter from him would be sure of a reply.</p>
<p>The next morning came.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, gently calling to him behind the screen.</p>
<p>No reply.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, in a still gentler tone, "come here; I am not going to ask you to do any thing you would prefer not to do--I simply wish to speak to you."</p>
<p>Upon this he noiselessly slid into view.</p>
<p>"Will you tell me, Bartleby, where you were born?" </p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"Will you tell me <i>anything </i>about yourself?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to."</p>
<p>"But what reasonable objection can you have to speak to me? I feel friendly towards you."</p>
<p>He did not look at me while I spoke, but kept his glance fixed upon my bust of Cicero, which as I then sat, was directly behind me, some six inches above my head. "What is your answer, Bartleby?" said I, after waiting a considerable time for a reply, during which his countenance remained immovable, only there was the faintest conceivable tremor of the white attenuated mouth.</p>
<p>"At present I prefer to give no answer," he said, and retired into his hermitage.</p>
<p>It was rather weak in me I confess, but his manner on this occasion nettled me. Not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain disdain, but his perverseness seemed ungrateful, considering the undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me.</p>
<p>Again I sat ruminating what I should do.Mortified as I was at his behavior, and resolved as I had been to dismiss him when I entered my office, nevertheless I strangely felt something superstitious knocking at my heart, and forbidding me to carry out my purpose, and denouncing me for a villain if I dared to breathe one bitter word against this forlornest of mankind. At last, familiarly drawing my chair behind his screen, I sat down and said: "Bartleby, never mind then about revealing your history; but let me entreat you, as a friend, to comply as far as may be with the usages of this office. Say now you will help to examine papers tomorrow or next day: in short, say now that in a day or two you will begin to be a little reasonable:--say so, Bartleby."</p>
<p>"At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable was his idly cadaverous reply.,"</p>
<p>Just then the folding-doors opened, and Nippers approached. He seemed suffering from an unusually bad night's rest, induced by severer indigestion than common. He overheard those final words of Bartleby.</p>
<p><i>"Prefer</i> not, eh?" gritted Nippers--"I'd<i> prefer</i> him, if I were you, sir," addressing me--"I'd <i>prefer</i> him; I'd give him preferences, the stubborn mule! What is it, sir, pray, that he <i>prefers</i> not to do now?"</p>
<p>Bartleby moved not a limb.</p>
<p>"Mr. Nippers," said I, "I'd prefer that you would withdraw for the present." </p>
<p>Somehow, of late I had got into the way of involuntary using this word "prefer" upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions. And I trembled to think that my contact with the scrivener had already and seriously affected me in a mental way. And what further and deeper aberration might it not yet produce? This apprehension had not been without efficacy in determining me to summary means.</p>
<p>As Nippers, looking very sour and sulky, was departing, Turkey blandly and deferentially approached.</p>
<p>"With submission, sir," said he, "yesterday I was thinking about Bartleby here, and I think that if he would but prefer to take a quart of good ale every day, it would do much towards mending him, and enabling him to assist in examining his papers."</p>
<p>"So you have got the word too," said I, slightly excited.</p>
<p>"With submission, what word, sir," asked Turkey, respectfully crowding himself into the contracted space behind the screen, and by so doing, making me jostle the scrivener. "What word, sir?"</p>
<p>"I would prefer to be left alone here," said Bartleby, as if offended at being mobbed in his privacy. </p>
<p>"<i>That's</i> the word, Turkey," said I--<i>"that's</i> it."</p>
<p>"Oh,<i> prefer</i> oh yes--queer word. I never use it myself. But, sir as I was saying, if he would but prefer--"</p>
<p>"Turkey," interrupted I, "you will please withdraw."</p>
<p>"Oh, certainly, sir, if you prefer that I should."</p>
<p>As he opened the folding-door to retire, Nippers at his desk caught a glimpse of me, and asked whether I would prefer to have a certain paper copied on blue paper or white. He did not in the least roguishly accent the word prefer. It was plain that it involuntarily rolled from his tongue. I thought to myself, surely I must get rid of a demented man, who already has in some degree turned the tongues, if not the heads of myself and clerks. But I thought it prudent not to break the dismission at once.</p>
<p>The next day I noticed that Bartleby did nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery. Upon asking him why he did not write, he said that he had decided upon doing no more writing.</p>
<p>"Why, how now? what next?" exclaimed I, "do no more writing?"</p>
<p>"No more."</p>
<p>"And what is the reason?"</p>
<p>"Do you not see the reason for yourself," he indifferently replied.</p>
<p>I looked steadfastly at him, and perceived that his eyes looked dull and glazed. Instantly it occurred to me, that his unexampled diligence in copying by his dim window for the first few weeks of his stay with me might have temporarily impaired his vision.</p>
<p>I was touched. I said something in condolence with him. I hinted that of course he did wisely in abstaining from writing for a while; and urged him to embrace that opportunity of taking wholesome exercise in the open air. This, however, he did not do. A few days after this, my other clerks being absent, and being in a great hurry to dispatch certain letters by the mail, I thought that, having nothing else earthly to do, Bartleby would surely be less inflexible than usual, and carry these letters to the post-office. But he blankly declined. So, much to my inconvenience, I went myself.</p>
<p>Still added days went by. Whether Bartleby's eyes improved or not, I could not say. To all appearance, I thought they did. But when I asked him if they did, he vouchsafed no answer. At all events, he would do no copying. At last, in reply to my urgings, he informed me that he had permanently given up copying.</p>
<p>"What!" exclaimed I; "suppose your eyes should get entirely well- better than ever before--would you not copy then?"</p>
<p>"I have given up copying," he answered, and slid aside. </p>
<p>He remained as ever, a fixture in my chamber. Nay--if that were possible--he became still more of a fixture than before. What was to be done? He would do nothing in the office: why should he stay there? In plain fact, he had now become a millstone to me, not only useless as a necklace, but afflictive to bear. Yet I was sorry for him. I speak less than truth when I say that, on his own account, he occasioned me uneasiness. If he would but have named a single relative or friend, I would instantly have written, and urged their taking the poor fellow away to some convenient retreat. But he seemed alone, absolutely alone in the universe. A bit of wreck</font> in the mid Atlantic. At length, necessities connected with my business tyrannized over all other considerations. Decently as I could, I told Bartleby that in six days' time he must unconditionally leave the office. I warned him to take measures, in the interval, for procuring some other abode. I offered to assist him in this endeavor, if he himself would but take the first step towards a removal. "And when you finally quit me, Bartleby," added I, "I shall see that you go not away entirely unprovided. Six days from this hour, remember."</p>
<p>At the expiration of that period, I peeped behind the screen, and lo! Bartleby was there. </p>
<p>I buttoned up my coat, balanced myself; advanced slowly towards him, touched his shoulder, and said, "The time has come; you must quit this place; I am sorry for you; here is money; but you must go."</p>
<p>"I would prefer not," he replied, with his back still towards me.</p>
<p>"You<i> must</i>."</p>
<p>He remained silent.</p>
<p>Now I had an unbounded confidence in this man's common honesty. He had frequently restored to me six pences and shillings carelessly dropped upon the floor, for I am apt to be very reckless in such shirt-button affairs. The proceeding then which followed will not be deemed extraordinary. "Bartleby," said I, "I owe you twelve dollars on account; here are thirty-two; the odd twenty are yours.--Will you take it? and I handed the bills towards him.</p>
<p>But he made no motion.</p>
<p>"I will leave them here then," putting them under a weight on the table. Then taking my hat and cane and going to the door I tranquilly turned and added--"After you have removed your things from these offices, Bartleby, you will of course lock the door--since every one is now gone for the day but you--and if you please, slip your key underneath the mat, so that I may have it in the morning. I shall not see you again; so good-bye to you. If hereafter in your new place of abode I can be of any service to you, do not fail to advise me by letter. Good-bye, Bartleby, and fare you well."</p>
<p>But he answered not a word; like the last column of some ruined temple, he remained standing mute and solitary in the middle of the otherwise deserted room.</p>
<p>As I walked home in a pensive mood, my vanity got the better of my pity. I could not but highly plume myself on my masterly management in getting rid of Bartleby. Masterly I call it, and such it must appear to any dispassionate thinker. The beauty of my procedure seemed to consist in its perfect quietness. There was no vulgar bullying, no bravado of any sort, no choleric hectoring and striding to and fro across the apartment, jerking out vehement commands for Bartleby to bundle himself off with his beggarly traps. Nothing of the kind. Without loudly bidding Bartleby depart--as an inferior genius might have done--I assumed the ground that depart he must; and upon the assumption built all I had to say. The more I thought over my procedure, the more I was charmed with it. Nevertheless, next morning, upon awakening, I had my doubts,--I had somehow slept off the fumes of vanity. One of the coolest and wisest hours a man has, is just after he awakes in the morning. My procedure seemed as sagacious as ever,--but only in theory. How it would prove in practice--there was the rub. It was truly a beautiful thought to have assumed Bartleby's departure; but, after all, that assumption was simply my own, and none of Bartleby's. The great point was, not whether I had assumed that he would quit me, but whether he would prefer so to do. He was more a man of preferences than assumptions.</p>
<p>After breakfast, I walked down town, arguing the probabilities pro and con. One moment I thought it would prove a miserable failure, and Bartleby would be found all alive at my office as usual; the next moment it seemed certain that I should see his chair empty. And so I kept veering about. At the corner of Broadway and Canal- street, I saw quite an excited group of people standing in earnest conversation.</p>
<p>"I'll take odds he doesn't," said a voice as I passed.</p>
<p>"Doesn't go?--done!" said I, "put up your money."</p>
<p>I was instinctively putting my hand in my pocket to produce my own, when I remembered that this was an election day. The words I had overheard bore no reference to Bartleby, but to the success or non-success of some candidate for the mayoralty. In my intent frame of mind, I had, as it were, imagined that all Broadway shared in my excitement, and were debating the same question with me. I passed on, very thankful that the uproar of the street screened my momentary absent-mindedness.</p>
<p>As I had intended, I was earlier than usual at my office door. I stood listening for a moment. All was still. He must be gone. I tried the knob. The door was locked. Yes, my procedure had worked to a charm; he indeed must be vanished. Yet a certain melancholy mixed with this: I was almost sorry for my brilliant success. I was fumbling under the door mat for the key, which Bartleby was to have left there for me, when accidentally my knee knocked against a panel, producing a summoning sound, and in response a voice came to me from within--"Not yet; I am occupied."</p>
<p>It was Bartleby.</p>
<p>I was thunderstruck. For an instant I stood like the man who, pipe in mouth, was killed one cloudless afternoon long ago in Virginia, by summer lightning; at his own warm open window he was killed, and remained leaning out there upon the dreamy afternoon, till some one touched him, when he fell. "Not gone!" I murmured at last. But again obeying that wondrous ascendancy which the inscrutable scrivener had over me, and from which ascendancy, for all my chafing, I could not completely escape, I slowly went down stairs and out into the street, and while walking round the block, considered what I should next do in this unheard-of-perplexity. Turn the man out by an actual thrusting I could not; to drive him away by calling him hard names would not do; calling in the police was an unpleasant idea; and yet, permit him to enjoy his cadaverous triumph over me,--this too I could not think of. What was to be done? or, if nothing could be done, was there any thing further that I could assume in the matter? Yes, as before I had prospectively assumed that Bartleby would depart, so now I might retrospectively assume that departed he was. In the legitimate carrying out of this assumption, I might enter my office in a great hurry, and pretending not to see Bartleby at all, walk straight against him as if he were air. Such a proceeding would in a singular degree have the appearance of a home-thrust. It was hardly possible that Bartleby could withstand such an application of the doctrine of assumptions. But upon second thoughts the success of the plan seemed rather dubious. I resolved to argue the matter over with him again.</p>
<p>Bartleby," said I, entering the office, with a quietly severe expression. "I am seriously displeased. I am pained, Bartleby. I had thought better of you. I had imagined you of such a gentlemanly organization, that in any delicate dilemma a slight hint would suffice--in short, an assumption. But it appears I am deceived. Why," I added, unaffectedly starting, "you have not even touched the money yet," pointing to it, just where I had left it the evening previous.</p>
<p>He answered nothing.</p>
<p>"Will you, or will you not, quit me?" I now demanded in a sudden passion, advancing close to him.</p>
<p>"I would prefer <i>not</i> to quit you," he replied, gently emphasizing the<i> not</i>.</p>
<p>"What earthly right have you to stay here? do you pay any rent? Do you pay my taxes? Or is this property yours?"</p>
<p>He answered nothing.</p>
<p>"Are you ready to go on and write now? Are your eyes recovered? Could you copy a small paper for me this morning? or help examine a few lines? or step round to the post-office? In a word, will you do any thing at all, to give a coloring to your refusal to depart the premises?"</p>
<p>He silently retired into his hermitage.</p>
<p>I was now in such a state of nervous resentment that I thought it but prudentto check myself at present from further demonstrations. Bartleby and I were alone. I remembered the tragedy of the unfortunate Adams and the still more unfortunate Colt in the solitary office of the latter; and how poor Colt, being dreadfully incensed by Adams, and imprudently permitting himself to get wildly excited, was at unawares hurried into his fatal act--an act which certainly no man could possibly deplore more than the actor himself. Often it had occurred to me in my ponderings upon the subject, that had that altercation taken place in the public street, or at a private residence, it would not have terminated as it did. It was the circumstance of being alone in a solitary office, up stairs, of a building entirely unhallowed by humanizing domestic associations--an uncarpeted office, doubtless of a dusty, haggard sort of appearance;--this it must have been, which greatly helped to enhance the irritable desperation of the hapless Colt.</p>
<p>But when this old Adam of resentment rose in me and tempted me concerning Bartleby, I grappled him and threw him. How? Why, simply by recalling the divine injunction: "A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another." Yes, this it was that saved me. Aside from higher considerations, charity often operates as a vastly wise and prudent principle--a great safeguard to its possessor. Men have committed murder for jealousy's sake, and anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and selfishness' sake, and spiritual pride's sake; but no man that ever I heard of, ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's sake. Mere self-interest, then, if no better motive can be enlisted, should, especially with high-tempered men, prompt all beings to charity and philanthropy. At any rate, upon the occasion in question, I strove to drown my exasperated feelings towards the scrivener by benevolently construing his conduct. Poor fellow, poor fellow! thought I, he don't mean any thing; and besides, he has seen hard times, and ought to be indulged.</p>
<p>I endeavored also immediately to occupy myself, and at the same time to comfort my despondency.I tried to fancy that in the course of the morning, at such time as might prove agreeable to him, Bartleby, of his own free accord, would emerge from his hermitage, and take up some decided line of march in the direction of the door. But no. Half-past twelve o'clock came; Turkey began to glow in the face, overturn his inkstand, and become generally obstreperous; Nippers abated down into quietude and courtesy; Ginger Nut munched his noon apple; and Bartleby remained standing at his window in one of his profoundest deadwall reveries. Will it be credited? Ought I to acknowledge it? That afternoon I left the office without saying one further word to him.</p>
<p>Some days now passed, during which, at leisure intervals I looked a little into Edwards on the Will," and "Priestly on Necessity." Under the circumstances, those books induced a salutary feeling. Gradually I slid into the persuasion that these troubles of mine touching the scrivener, had been all predestinated from eternity, and Bartleby was billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence, which it was not for a mere mortal like me to fathom. Yes, Bartleby, stay there behind your screen, thought I; I shall persecute you no more; you are harmless and noiseless as any of these old chairs; in short, I never feel so private as when I know you are here. At least I see it, I feel it; I penetrate to the predestinated purpose of my life. I am content. Others may have loftier parts to enact; but my mission in this world, Bartleby, is to furnish you with office-room for such period as you may see fit to remain.</p>
<p>I believe that this wise and blessed frame of mind would have continued with me, had it not been for the unsolicited and uncharitable remarks obtruded upon me by my professional friends who visited the rooms. But thus it often is, that the constant friction of illiberal minds wears out at last the best resolves of the more generous. Though to be sure, when I reflected upon it, it was not strange that people entering my office should be struck by the peculiar aspect of the unaccountable Bartleby, and so be tempted to throw out some sinister observations concerning him. Sometimes an attorney having business with me, and calling at my office, and finding no one but the scrivener there, would undertake to obtain some sort of precise information from him touching my whereabouts; but without heeding his idle talk, Bartleby would remain standing immovable in the middle of the room. So after contemplating him in that position for a time, the attorney would depart, no wiser than he came.</p>
<p>Also, when a Reference was going on, and the room full of lawyers and witnesses and business was driving fast; some deeply occupied legal gentleman present, seeing Bartleby wholly unemployed, would request him to run round to his (the legal gentleman's) office and fetch some papers for him. Thereupon, Bartleby would tranquilly decline, and remain idle as before. Then the lawyer would give a great stare, and turn to me. And what could I say? At last I was made aware that all through the circle of my professional acquaintance, a whisper of wonder was running round, having reference to the strange creature I kept at my office. This worried me very much. And as the idea came upon me of his possibly turning out a long-lived man, and keep occupying my chambers, and denying my authority; and perplexing my visitors; and scandalizing my professional reputation; and casting a general gloom over the premises; keeping soul and body together to the last upon his savings (for doubtless he spent but half a dime a day), and in the end perhaps outlive me, and claim possession of my office by right of his perpetual occupancy: as all these dark anticipations crowded upon me more and more, and my friends continually intruded their relentless remarks upon the apparition in my room; a great change was wrought in me. I resolved to gather all my faculties together, and for ever rid me of this intolerable incubus.</p>
<p>Ere revolving any complicated project, however, adapted to this end, I first simply suggested to Bartleby the propriety of his permanent departure. In a calm and serious tone, I commended the idea to his careful and mature consideration. But having taken three days to meditate upon it, he apprised me that his original determination remained the same; in short, that he still preferred to abide with me.</p>
<p>What shall I do? I now said to myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button. What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or rather ghost. Rid myself of him, I must; go, he shall. But how? You will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal,--you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door? you will not dishonor yourself by such cruelty? No, I will not, I cannot do that. Rather would I let him live and die here, and then mason up his remains in the wall. What then will you do? For all your coaxing, he will not budge. Bribes he leaves under your own paperweight on your table; in short, it is quite plain that he prefers to cling to you.</p>
<p>Then something severe, something unusual must be done. What! surely you will not have him collared by a constable, and commit his innocent pallor to the common jail? And upon what ground could you procure such a thing to be done?--a vagrant, is he? What! he a vagrant, a wanderer, who refuses to budge? It is because he will not be a vagrant, then, that you seek to count him as a vagrant. That is too absurd. No visible means of support: there I have him. Wrong again: for indubitably he does support himself, and that is the only unanswerable proof that any man can show of his possessing the means so to do. No more then. Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices; I will move elsewhere; and give him fair notice, that if I find him on my new premises I will then proceed against him as a common trespasser.</p>
<p>Acting accordingly, next day I thus addressed him: "I find these chambers too far from the City Hall; the air is unwholesome. In a word, I propose to remove my offices next week, and shall no longer require your services. I tell you this now, in order that you may seek another place."</p>
<p>He made no reply, and nothing more was said.</p>
<p>On the appointed day I engaged carts and men, proceeded to my chambers, and having but little furniture, every thing was removed in a few hours. Throughout, the scrivener remained standing behind the screen, which I directed to be removed the last thing. It was withdrawn; and being folded up like a huge folio, left him the motionless occupant of a naked room. I stood in the entry watching him a moment, while something from within me upbraided me.</p>
<p>I re-entered, with my hand in my pocket--and--and my heart in my mouth. </p>
<p>"Good-bye, Bartleby; I am going--good-bye, and God some way bless you; and take that," slipping something in his hand. But it dropped to the floor, and then,--strange to say--I tore myself from him whom I had so longed to be rid of.</p>
<p>Established in my new quarters, for a day or two I kept the door locked, and started at every footfall in the passages. When I returned to my rooms after any little absence, I would pause at the threshold for an instant, and attentively listen, ere applying my key. But these fears were needless. Bartleby never came nigh me.</p>
<p>I thought all was going well, when a perturbed looking stranger visited me, inquiring whether I was the person who had recently occupied rooms at No.--Wall-street.</p>
<p>Full of forebodings, I replied that I was.</p>
<p>"Then, sir," said the stranger, who proved a lawyer, "you are responsible for the man you left there. He refuses to do any copying; he refuses to do any thing; he says he prefers not to; and he refuses to quit the premises."</p>
<p>"I am very sorry, sir," said I, with assumed tranquillity, but an inward tremor, "but, really, the man you allude to is nothing to me --he is no relation or apprentice of mine, that you should hold me responsible for him."</p>
<p>"In mercy's name, who is he?"</p>
<p>"I certainly cannot inform you. I know nothing about him. Formerly I employed him as a copyist; but he has done nothing for me now for some time past."</p>
<p>"I shall settle him then,--good morning, sir."</p>
<p>Several days passed, and I heard nothing more; and though I often felt a charitable prompting to call at the place and see poor Bartleby, yet a certain squeamishness of I know not what withheld me.</p>
<p>All is over with him, by this time, thought I at last, when through another week no further intelligence reached me. But coming to my room the day after, I found several persons waiting at my door in a high state of nervous excitement.</p>
<p>"That's the man--here he comes," cried the foremost one, whom recognized as the lawyer who had previously called upon me alone.</p>
<p>"You must take him away, sir, at once," cried a portly person among them, advancing upon me, and whom I knew to be the landlord of No.--Wall-street. "These gentlemen, my tenants, cannot stand it any longer; Mr. B--" pointing to the lawyer, "has turned him out of his room, and he now persists in haunting the buildinggenerally, sitting upon the banisters of the stairs by day, and sleeping in the entry by night. Every body is concerned; clients are leaving the offices; some fears are entertained of a mob; something you must do, and that without delay."</p>
<p> Aghast at this torment, I fell back before it, and would fain have locked myselfin my new quarters. In vain I persisted that Bartleby was nothing to me--no more than to any one else. In vain:--I was the last person known to have any thing to do with him, and they held me to the terrible account. Fearful then of being exposed in the papers (as one person present obscurely threatened) I considered the matter, and at length said, that if the lawyer would give me a confidential interview with the scrivener, in his (the lawyer's) own room, I would that afternoon strive my best to rid them of the nuisance they complained of.</p>
<p>Going up stairs to my old haunt, there was Bartleby silently sitting upon the banister at the landing.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here, Bartleby?" said I.</p>
<p>"Sitting upon the banister," he mildly replied.</p>
<p>I motioned him into the lawyer's room, who then left us.</p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, "are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?"</p>
<p>No answer.</p>
<p>"Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do something or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?"</p>
<p>"No; I would prefer not to make any change."</p>
<p>"Would you like a clerkship in a dry-goods store?"</p>
<p>"There is too much confinement about that. No, I would not like a clerkship; but I am not particular."</p>
<p>"Too much confinement," I cried, "why you keep yourself confined all the time!"</p>
<p>"I would prefer not to take a clerkship," he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once.</p>
<p>"How would a bar-tender's business suit you? There is no trying of the eyesight in that."</p>
<p>"I would not like it at all; though, as I said before, I am not particular."</p>
<p>His unwonted wordiness inspirited me. I returned to the charge.</p>
<p>"Well then, would you like to travel through the country collecting bills for the merchants? That would improve your health."</p>
<p>"No, I would prefer to be doing something else."</p>
<p>"How then would going as a companion to Europe, to entertain some young gentleman with your conversation,--how would that suit you?"</p>
<p>"Not at all. It does not strike me that there is any thing definite about that. I like to be stationary. But I am not particular.</p>
<p>"Stationary you shall be then," I cried, now losing all patience, and for the first time in all my exasperating connection with him fairly flying into a passion. "If you do not go away from these premises before night, I shall feel bound--indeed I am bound--to-- to--to quit the premises myself!" I rather absurdly concluded, knowing not with what possible threat to try to frighten his immobility into compliance. Despairing of all further efforts, I was precipitately leaving him, when a final thought occurred to me--one which had not been wholly unindulged before. </p>
<p>"Bartleby," said I, in the kindest tone I could assume under such exciting circumstances, "will you go home with me now--not to my office, but my dwelling--and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away."</p>
<p>"No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all."</p>
<p>I answered nothing; but effectualy dodging every one by the suddenness and rapidity of my flight, rushed from the building, ran up Wall-street towards Broadway, and jumping into the first omnibus was soon removed from pursuit. As soon as tranquility returned I distinctly perceived that I had now done all that I possibly could, both in respect to the demands of the landlord and his tenants, and with regard to my own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby, and shield him from rude persecution. I now strove to be entirely care-free and quiescent; and my conscience justified me in the attempt; though indeed it was not so successful as I could have wished. So fearful was I of being again hunted out by the incensed landlord and his exasperated tenants, that, surrendering my business to Nippers, for a few days I drove about the upper part of the town and through the suburbs, in my rockaway; crossed over to Jersey City and Hoboken, and paid fugitive visits to Manhattanville and Astoria. In fact I almost lived in my rockaway for the time.</p>
<p>When again I entered my office, lo, a note from the landlord lay upon desk. opened it with trembling hands. informed me that writer had sent to police, and Bartleby removed the Tombs as a vagrant. Moreover, since I knew more about him than any one else, he wished me to appear at that place, and make a suitable statement of the facts. These tidings had a conflicting effect upon me. At first I was indignant; but at last almost approved. The landlord's energetic, summary disposition, had led him to adopt a procedure which I do not think I would have decided upon myself; and yet as a last resort, under such peculiar circumstances, it seemed the only plan.</p>
<p>As I afterwards learned, the poor scrivener, when told that he must be conducted to the Tombs, offered not the slightest obstacle, but in his pale unmoving way, silently acquiesced. </p>
<p>Some of the compassionate and curious bystanders joined the party; and headed by one of the constables arm in arm with Bartleby, the silent procession filed its way through all the noise, and heat, and joy of the roaring thoroughfares at noon.</p>
<p>The same day I received the note I went to the Tombs, or to speak more properly, the Halls of Justice. Seeking the right officer, I stated the purpose of my call, and was informed that the individual I described was indeed within. I then assured the functionary that Bartleby was a perfectly honest man, and greatly to be compassionated, however unaccountably eccentric. I narrated all I knew,and closed by suggesting the idea of letting him remain in as indulgent confinement as possible till something less harsh might be done--though indeed I hardly knew what. At all events, if nothing else could be decided upon, the alms-house must receive him. I then begged to have an interview.</p>
<p>Being under no disgraceful charge, and quite serene and harmless in all his ways, they had permitted him freely to wander about the prison, and especially in the inclosed grass-platted yards thereof. And so I found him there, standing all alone in the quietest of the yards, his face towards a high wall, while all around, from the narrow slits of the jail windows, I thought I saw peering out upon him the eyes of murderers and thieves. </p>
<p>"Bartleby!"</p>
<p>"I know you," he said, without looking round,--"and I want nothing to say to you."</p>
<p>"It was not I that brought you here, Bartleby," said I, keenly pained at his implied suspicion. "And to you, this should not be so vile a place. Nothing reproachful attaches to you by being here. And see, it is not so sad a place as one might think. Look, there is the sky, and here is the grass."</p>
<p>"I know where I am," he replied, but would say nothing more, and so I left him.</p>
<p>As I entered the corridor again, a broad meat-like man in an apron, accosted me, and jerking his thumb over his shoulder said--"Is that your friend?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"Does he want to starve? If he does, let him live on the prison fare, that's all.</p>
<p>"Who are you?" asked I, not knowing what to make of such an unofficially speaking person in such a place.</p>
<p>"I am the grub-man. Such gentlemen as have friends here, hire me to provide them with something good to eat."</p>
<p>"Is this so?" said I, turning to the turnkey.</p>
<p>He said it was.</p>
<p>"Well then," said I, slipping some silver into the grub-man's hands (for so they called him). "I want you to give particular attention to my friend there; let him have the best dinner you can get. And you must be as polite to him as possible."</p>
<p>"Introduce me, will you?" said the grub-man, looking at me with an expression which seemed to say he was all impatience for an opportunity to give a specimen of his breeding.</p>
<p>Thinking it would prove of benefit to the scrivener, I acquiesced; and asking the grub-man his name, went up with him to Bartleby.</p>
<p>"Bartleby, this is a friend; you will find him very useful to you."</p>
<p>"Your sarvant, sir, your sarvant," said the grub-man, making a low salutation behind his apron. "Hope you find it pleasant here, sir;--spacious grounds--cool apartments, sir--hope you'll stay with us some time--try to make it agreeable. What will you have for dinner today?"</p>
<p>"I prefer not to dine to-day," said Bartleby, turning away. "It would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners." So saying he slowly moved to the other side of the inclosure, and took up a position fronting the dead-wall.</p>
<p>"How's this?" said the grub-man, addressing me with a stare of astonishment. "He's odd, aint he?"</p>
<p>"I think he is a little deranged," said I, sadly.</p>
<p>"Deranged? deranged is it? Well now, upon my word, I thought that friend of yourn was a gentleman forger; they are always pale and genteel-like, them forgers. I can't help pity 'em--can't help it, sir. Did you know Monroe Edwards?" he added touchingly, and paused. Then, laying his hand pityingly on my shoulder, sighed, "he died of consumption at Sing-Sing. so you weren't acquainted with Monroe?"</p>
<p>"No, I was never socially acquainted with any forgers. But I cannot stop longer. Look to my friend yonder. You will not lose by it. I will see you again."</p>
<p>Some few days after this, I again obtained admission to the Tombs, and went through the corridors in quest of Bartleby; but without finding him.</p>
<p>"I saw him coming from his cell not long ago," said a turnkey, "may be he's gone to loiter in the yards."</p>
<p>So I went in that direction.</p>
<p>"Are you looking for the silent man?" said another turnkey passing me. "Yonder he lies--sleeping in the yard there. 'Tis not twenty minutes since I saw him lie down."</p>
<p>The yard was entirely quiet. It was not accessible to the common prisoners. The surrounding walls, of amazing thickness, kept off all sound behind them. The Egyptian character of the masonry weighed upon me with its gloom. But a soft imprisoned turf grew under foot. The heart of the eternal pyramids, it seemed, wherein, by some strange magic, through the clefts, grass-seed, dropped by birds, had sprung.</p>
<p>Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping. Something prompted me to touch him. I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my feet.</p>
<p>The round face of the grub-man peered upon me now. "His dinner is ready. Won't he dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?"</p>
<p>"Lives without dining," said I, and closed the eyes.</p>
<p>"Eh!--He's asleep, aint he?"</p>
<p>"With kings and counsellors," murmured I.</p>
<p>* * * * * * * *</p>
<p>There would seem little need for proceeding further in this history. Imagination will readily supply the meagre recital of poor Bartleby's interment. But ere parting with the reader, let me say, that if this little narrative has sufficiently interested him, to awaken curiosity as to who Bartleby was, and what manner of life he led prior to the present narrator's making his acquaintance, I can only reply, that in such curiosity I fully share, but am wholly unable to gratify it. Yet here I hardly know whether I should divulge one little item of rumor, which came to my ear a few months after the scrivener's decease. Upon what basis it rested, I could never ascertain; and hence how true it is I cannot now tell. But inasmuch as this vague report has not been without a certain strange suggestive interest to me, however said, it may prove the same with some others; and so I will briefly mention it. The report was this: that Bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office at <ahref="http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/%7Ezeke/bartleby/parker.html"target="_blank">Washington</a>, from which he had been suddenly removed by a change in the administration. When I think over this rumor, I cannot adequately express the emotions which seize me. Dead letters! does it not sound like dead men? Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters and assorting them for the flames? For by the cart-load they are annually burned. Sometimes from out the folded paper the pale clerk takes a ring:--the bank-note sent in swiftest charity:--he whom it would relieve, nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of life, these letters speed to death. </p>
<figcaption><spanclass="caption"><p>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the man with the acquisition plan.</p></span><span>Photo by James Martin/CNET
</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Anyone who has ever been involved in closing a billion-dollar acquisition deal will tell you that you don't go in without a clear, well thought out plan.</p>
<p>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg knows a thing or two about how to seal the deal on blockbuster buys. After all, he's the man behind his company's <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-closes-19-billion-deal-for-whatsapp/"target="_blank">$19 billion acquisition</a> of WhatsApp, he <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/zuckerberg-did-1-billion-instagram-deal-on-his-own/"target="_blank">personally brokered</a> its $1 billion buyout of <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/why-facebook-plunked-down-1-billion-to-buy-instagram/"target="_blank">Instagram</a> and closed the <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-to-buy-oculus-for-2-billion/"target="_blank">$3 billion deal</a> to buy Oculus VR.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg offered a primer on the strategies he and his company employ when they see an attractive target during testimony Tuesday <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/zenimax-sues-oculus-over-virtual-reality-rift-tech/">in a lawsuit with ZeniMax Media</a>, which accuses Oculus and Facebook of "misappropriating" trade secrets and copyright infringement. At the heart of the lawsuit is technology that helped create liftoff for virtual reality, one of the <ahref="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-reality-of-the-virtual-world/"target="_blank"data-component="externalLink">hottest gadget trends today.</a></p>
<p>A key Facebook approach is building a long-term relationship with your target, Zuckerberg said at the trial. These deals don't just pop up over night, he said according to a transcript reviewed by <ahref="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-explains-facebooks-acquisition-strategy-2017-1"target="_blank"data-component="externalLink">Business Insider</a>. They take time to cultivate. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I've been building relationships, at least in Instagram and the WhatsApp cases, for years with the founders and the people that are involved in these companies, which made [it] so that when it became time or when we thought it was the right time to move, we felt like we had a good amount of context and had good relationships so that we could move quickly, which was competitively important and why a lot of these acquisitions, I think, came to us instead of our competitors and ended up being very good acquisitions over time that a lot of competitors wished they had gotten instead. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> He also stressed the need assure your target that you have a shared vision about how you will collaborate after the deal is put to bed. Zuckerberg said this was reason Facebook was able to acquire Oculus for less than its original $4 billion asking price.</p>
<blockquote>If this [deal] is going to happen, it's not going to be because we offer a lot of money, although we're going to have to offer a fair price for the company that is more than what they felt like they could do on their own. But they also need to feel like this was actually going to help their mission.</blockquote>
<p>When that doesn't work, Zuckerberg said scare tactics is an effective, if undesirable, way of persuading small startups that they face a better chance of survival if they have Facebook to guide their way rather than going it alone.</p>
<blockquote>That's less my thing, but I think if you are trying to help convince people that they want to join you, helping them understand all the pain that they would have to go through to build it out independently is a valuable tactic. </blockquote>
<p>It also pays to be weary of competing suitors for your startup, Zuckerberg said, and be willing to move fast to stave off rivals and get the deal done.</p>
<blockquote>Often, if a company knows we're offering something, they will offer more. So being able to move quickly not only increases our chance of being able to get a deal done if we want to, but it makes it so we don't have end up having to pay a lot more because the process drags out.</blockquote>
<p>It wasn't clear why these strategies didn't work on Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, who <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/snapchat-said-to-rebuff-3-billion-offer-from-facebook/">famously rebuffed</a> a $3 billion takeover offer from Facebook in 2013.</p>
<p><em><strong>Tech Enabled:</strong> CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility. Check it out <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/tech-enabled/">here</a>.</em><em><strong><br/></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Technically Literate:</strong> Original works of short fiction with unique perspectives on tech, exclusively on CNET. <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/technically-literate/">Here</a>.</em></p>
<p>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the man with the acquisition plan.</p>
</span><span>Photo by James Martin/CNET </span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Anyone who has ever been involved in closing a billion-dollar acquisition deal will tell you that you don't go in without a clear, well thought out plan.</p>
<p>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg knows a thing or two about how to seal the deal on blockbuster buys. After all, he's the man behind his company's <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-closes-19-billion-deal-for-whatsapp/"target="_blank">$19 billion acquisition</a> of WhatsApp, he <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/zuckerberg-did-1-billion-instagram-deal-on-his-own/"target="_blank">personally brokered</a> its $1 billion buyout of <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/why-facebook-plunked-down-1-billion-to-buy-instagram/"target="_blank">Instagram</a> and closed the <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-to-buy-oculus-for-2-billion/"target="_blank">$3 billion deal</a> to buy Oculus VR.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg offered a primer on the strategies he and his company employ when they see an attractive target during testimony Tuesday <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/zenimax-sues-oculus-over-virtual-reality-rift-tech/">in a lawsuit with ZeniMax Media</a>, which accuses Oculus and Facebook of "misappropriating" trade secrets and copyright infringement. At the heart of the lawsuit is technology that helped create liftoff for virtual reality, one of the <ahref="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-reality-of-the-virtual-world/"target="_blank"data-component="externalLink">hottest gadget trends today.</a></p>
<p>A key Facebook approach is building a long-term relationship with your target, Zuckerberg said at the trial. These deals don't just pop up over night, he said according to a transcript reviewed by <ahref="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-explains-facebooks-acquisition-strategy-2017-1"target="_blank"data-component="externalLink">Business Insider</a>. They take time to cultivate. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I've been building relationships, at least in Instagram and the WhatsApp cases, for years with the founders and the people that are involved in these companies, which made [it] so that when it became time or when we thought it was the right time to move, we felt like we had a good amount of context and had good relationships so that we could move quickly, which was competitively important and why a lot of these acquisitions, I think, came to us instead of our competitors and ended up being very good acquisitions over time that a lot of competitors wished they had gotten instead. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> He also stressed the need assure your target that you have a shared vision about how you will collaborate after the deal is put to bed. Zuckerberg said this was reason Facebook was able to acquire Oculus for less than its original $4 billion asking price.</p>
<blockquote>If this [deal] is going to happen, it's not going to be because we offer a lot of money, although we're going to have to offer a fair price for the company that is more than what they felt like they could do on their own. But they also need to feel like this was actually going to help their mission.</blockquote>
<p>When that doesn't work, Zuckerberg said scare tactics is an effective, if undesirable, way of persuading small startups that they face a better chance of survival if they have Facebook to guide their way rather than going it alone.</p>
<blockquote>That's less my thing, but I think if you are trying to help convince people that they want to join you, helping them understand all the pain that they would have to go through to build it out independently is a valuable tactic. </blockquote>
<p>It also pays to be weary of competing suitors for your startup, Zuckerberg said, and be willing to move fast to stave off rivals and get the deal done.</p>
<blockquote>Often, if a company knows we're offering something, they will offer more. So being able to move quickly not only increases our chance of being able to get a deal done if we want to, but it makes it so we don't have end up having to pay a lot more because the process drags out.</blockquote>
<p>It wasn't clear why these strategies didn't work on Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, who <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/news/snapchat-said-to-rebuff-3-billion-offer-from-facebook/">famously rebuffed</a> a $3 billion takeover offer from Facebook in 2013.</p>
<p><em><strong>Tech Enabled:</strong> CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility. Check it out <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/tech-enabled/">here</a>.</em><em><strong><br/></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Technically Literate:</strong> Original works of short fiction with unique perspectives on tech, exclusively on CNET. <ahref="https://www.cnet.com/technically-literate/">Here</a>.</em></p>
<p> But a new report released on Monday by <ahref="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi-dev/cgi-bin/"target="_blank">Stanford University's Center on Poverty and Inequality</a> calls that into question. </p>
<p> The report assessed poverty levels, income and wealth inequality, economic mobility and unemployment levels among 10 wealthy countries with social welfare programs. </p>
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<p> Among its key findings: the class you're born into matters much more in the U.S. than many of the other countries. </p>
<p> As the <ahref="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi-dev/cgi-bin/publications/state-union-report"target="_blank">report states</a>: "[T]he birth lottery matters more in the U.S. than in most well-off countries." </p>
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<p><ahref="http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/11/news/economy/rich-taxes/index.html?iid=EL"><span>Related: Rich are paying more in taxes but not as much as they used to</span></a></p>
<p> The report also suggested the U.S. might not be the "jobs machine" it thinks it is, when compared to other countries. </p>
<p> It ranked near the bottom of the pack based on the levels of unemployment among men and women of prime working age. The study determined this by taking the ratio of employed men and women between the ages of 25 and 54 compared to the total population of each country. </p>
<p> The overall rankings of the countries were as follows:<span><br/>1. Finland <span><br/>2. Norway<span><br/>3. Australia <span><br/>4. Canada<span><br/>5. Germany<span><br/>6. France<span><br/>7. United Kingdom <span><br/>8. Italy<span><br/>9. Spain<span><br/>10. United States </span></span>
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<p> The overall rankings of the countries were as follows:<span><br/>1. Finland <span><br/>2. Norway<span><br/>3. Australia <span><br/>4. Canada<span><br/>5. Germany<span><br/>6. France<span><br/>7. United Kingdom <span><br/>8. Italy<span><br/>9. Spain<span><br/>10. United States </span></span>
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<p> The low ranking the U.S. received was due to its extreme levels of wealth and income inequality and the ineffectiveness of its "safety net" -- social programs aimed at reducing poverty. </p>
<p>Daring Fireball is written and produced by John Gruber.</p>
<p><ahref="http://fakehost/graphics/author/addison-bw.jpg"><imgsrc="http://fakehost/graphics/author/addison-bw-425.jpg"alt="Photograph of the author."/></a><br/><em>Portrait by <ahref="http://superbiate.com/inquiries/">George Del Barrio</a></em></p>
<p>The Daring Fireball website is hosted by <ahref="http://joyent.com/">Joyent</a>.</p>
<p>Articles and links are published through <ahref="http://movabletype.org/">Movable Type</a>. In addition to my own SmartyPants and Markdown plug-ins, Daring Fireball uses several excellent Movable Type plug-ins, including Brad Choate’s <ahref="http://bradchoate.com/weblog/2003/06/24/regular-expressions">MT-Regex</a> and <ahref="http://bradchoate.com/weblog/2004/10/20/mtifempty">MT-IfEmpty</a>, and <ahref="http://bumppo.net/projects/amputator/">Nat Irons’s Amputator</a>.</p>
<p>Stats are tracked using <ahref="http://haveamint.com/">Mint</a>. Additional web nerdery, including the membership system, is fueled by <ahref="http://perl.org/">Perl</a>, <ahref="http://www.php.net/">PHP</a>, and <ahref="http://www.mysql.com/">MySQL</a>.</p>
<h2>Web Standards</h2>
<p>Web standards are important, and Daring Fireball adheres to them. Specifically, Daring Fireball’s HTML markup should validate as either <ahref="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/">HTML 5</a> or XHTML 4.01 Transitional, its layout is constructed using <ahref="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=http://daringfireball.net/css/fireball_screen.css">valid CSS</a>, and its syndicated feed is <ahref="http://feedvalidator.org/check?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdaringfireball.net%2Findex.xml">valid Atom</a>.</p>
<p>If Daring Fireball looks goofy in your browser, you’re likely using a shitty browser that doesn’t support web standards. Internet Explorer, I’m looking in your direction. If you complain about this, I will laugh at you, because I do not care. If, however, you are using a modern, standards-compliant browser and have trouble viewing or reading Daring Fireball, please do let me know.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>Daring Fireball is written and produced by John Gruber.</p>
<p>
<ahref="http://fakehost/graphics/author/addison-bw.jpg"><imgsrc="http://fakehost/graphics/author/addison-bw-425.jpg"alt="Photograph of the author."/></a>
<br/><em>Portrait by <ahref="http://superbiate.com/inquiries/">George Del Barrio</a></em>
<p>The Daring Fireball website is hosted by <ahref="http://joyent.com/">Joyent</a>.</p>
<p>Articles and links are published through <ahref="http://movabletype.org/">Movable Type</a>. In addition to my own SmartyPants and Markdown plug-ins, Daring Fireball uses several excellent Movable Type plug-ins, including Brad Choate’s <ahref="http://bradchoate.com/weblog/2003/06/24/regular-expressions">MT-Regex</a> and <ahref="http://bradchoate.com/weblog/2004/10/20/mtifempty">MT-IfEmpty</a>, and <ahref="http://bumppo.net/projects/amputator/">Nat Irons’s Amputator</a>.</p>
<p>Stats are tracked using <ahref="http://haveamint.com/">Mint</a>. Additional web nerdery, including the membership system, is fueled by <ahref="http://perl.org/">Perl</a>, <ahref="http://www.php.net/">PHP</a>, and <ahref="http://www.mysql.com/">MySQL</a>.</p>
<h2>Web Standards</h2>
<p>Web standards are important, and Daring Fireball adheres to them. Specifically, Daring Fireball’s HTML markup should validate as either <ahref="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/">HTML 5</a> or XHTML 4.01 Transitional, its layout is constructed using <ahref="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=http://daringfireball.net/css/fireball_screen.css">valid CSS</a>, and its syndicated feed is <ahref="http://feedvalidator.org/check?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdaringfireball.net%2Findex.xml">valid Atom</a>.</p>
<p>If Daring Fireball looks goofy in your browser, you’re likely using a shitty browser that doesn’t support web standards. Internet Explorer, I’m looking in your direction. If you complain about this, I will laugh at you, because I do not care. If, however, you are using a modern, standards-compliant browser and have trouble viewing or reading Daring Fireball, please do let me know.</p>
<p> Tuesday 15 October 2019 by Bradley M. Kuhn </p>
<p> The last 33 days have been unprecedentedly difficult for the software freedom community and for me personally. Folks have been emailing, phoning, texting, tagging me on social media (— the last of which has been funny, because all my social media accounts are placeholder accounts). But, just about everyone has urged me to comment on the serious issues that the software freedom community now faces. Until now, I have stayed silent regarding all these current topics: from Richard M. Stallman (RMS)'s public statements, to <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns">his resignation from the Free Software Foundation (FSF)</a>, to the Epstein scandal and its connection to MIT. I've also avoided generally commenting on software freedom organizational governance during this period. I did this for good reason, which is explained below. However, in this blog post, I now share my primary comments on the matters that seem to currently be of the utmost attention of the Open Source and Free Software communities. </p>
<p> I have been silent the last month because, until two days ago, I was an at-large member of <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board">FSF's Board of Directors</a>, and a <ahref="https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/fsf-amended-bylaws-current.pdf">Voting Member</a> of the FSF. As a member of FSF's two leadership bodies, I was abiding by a reasonable request from the FSF management and my duty to the organization. Specifically, the FSF asked that all communication during the crisis <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns">come</a><ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-and-gnu">directly</a> from FSF officers and not from at-large directors and/or Voting Members. Furthermore, the FSF management asked all Directors and Voting Members to remain silent on this entire matter — even on issues only tangentially related to the current situation, and even when speaking in our own capacity (e.g., on our own blogs like this one). The FSF is an important organization, and I take any request from the FSF seriously — so I abided fully with their request. </p>
<p> The situation was further complicated because folks at my employer, Software Freedom Conservancy (where I also serve on the <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/about/board/#bkuhn">Board of Directors</a>) had strong opinions about this matter as well. Fortunately, the FSF and Conservancy both had already created clear protocols for what I should do if ever there was a disagreement or divergence of views between Conservancy and FSF. I therefore was recused fully from the planning, drafting, and timing of Conservancy's statement on this matter. I thank my colleagues at the Conservancy for working so carefully to keep me entirely outside the loop on their statement and to diligently assure that it was straight-forward for me to manage any potential organizational disagreements. I also thank those at the FSF who outlined clear protocols (ahead of time, back in March 2019) in case a situation like this ever came up. I also know my colleagues at Conservancy care deeply, as I do, about the health and welfare of the FSF and its mission of fighting for universal software freedom for all. None of us want, nor have, any substantive disagreement over software freedom issues. </p>
<p> I take very seriously my duty to the various organizations where I have (or have had) affiliations. More generally, I champion non-profit organizational transparency. Unfortunately, the current crisis left me in a quandary between the overarching goal of community transparency and abiding by FSF management's directives. Now that I've left the FSF Board of Directors, FSF's Voting Membership, and all my FSF volunteer roles (which ends my 22-year uninterrupted affiliation with the FSF), I can now comment on the substantive issues that face not just the FSF, but the Free Software community as a whole, while continuing to adhere to my past duty of acting in FSF's best interest. In other words, my affiliation with the FSF has come to an end for many good and useful reasons. The end to this affiliation allows me to speak directly about the core issues at the heart of the community's current crisis. </p>
<p> Firstly, all these events — from RMS' public comments on the MIT mailing list, to RMS' resignation from the FSF to RMS' discussions about the next steps for the GNU project — <em>seem</em> to many to have happened ridiculously quickly. But it wasn't actually fast at all. In fact, these events were culmination of issues that were slowly growing in concern to many people, including me. </p>
<p> For the last two years, I had been a loud internal voice in the FSF leadership regarding RMS' Free-Software-unrelated public statements; I felt strongly that it was in the best interest of the FSF to actively seek to limit such statements, and that it was my duty to FSF to speak out about this within the organization. Those who only learned of this story in the last month (understandably) believed <ahref="https://medium.com/@selamjie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794">Selam G.'s Medium post</a> raised an entirely new issue. <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20161107050933/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#31_October_2016_(Down's_syndrome)">In</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170202025227/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_December_2016_(Campaign_of_bull-headed_prudery)">fact</a>, <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170224174306/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_February_2017_(A_violent_sex_offender)">RMS'</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170612074722/http://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_May_2017_(Prudish_ignorantism)">views</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170616044924/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_(Sex_offender_registry)">and</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20171020041022/http://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#10_October_2017_(Laws_against_having_sex_with_an_animal)">statements</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180131020215/https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#29_October_2017_(Pestering_women)">posted</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180104112431/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#27_November_2017_(Roy_Moore's_relationships)">on</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180509120046/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-mar-jun.html#30_April_2018_(UN_peacekeepers_in_South_Sudan)">stallman.org</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180911075211/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#17_July_2018_(The_bullshitter's_flirting)">about</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180911075211/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#21_August_2018_(Age_and_attraction)">sexual</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180924231708/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#23_September_2018_(Cody_Wilson)">morality</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180919100154/https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#assult">escalated</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20181113161736/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#6_November_2018_(Sex_according_to_porn)">for</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024048/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_February_2019_(Respecting_peoples_right_to_say_no)">the</a><ahref="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#11_June_2019_(Stretching_meaning_of_terms)">worse</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190801201704/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#12_June_2019_(Declining_sex_rates)">over</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190801201704/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#30_July_2019_(Al_Franken)">the</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050208/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_August_2019_(Me-too_frenzy)">last</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20191011023557/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#21_September_2019_(Sex_workers)">few</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180924231708/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#23_September_2018_(Cody_Wilson)">years</a>. When the escalation started, I still considered RMS both a friend and colleague, and I attempted to argue with him at length to convince him that some of his positions were harmful to sexual assault survivors and those who are sex trafficked, and to the people who devote their lives in service to such individuals. More importantly to the FSF, I attempted to persuade RMS that launching a controversial campaign on sexual behavior and morality was counter to his and FSF's mission to advance software freedom, and told RMS that my duty as an FSF Director was to assure the best outcome for the FSF, which <acronymtitle="in my opinion">IMO</acronym> didn't include having a leader who made such statements. Not only is human sexual behavior not a topic on which RMS has adequate academic expertise, but also his positions appear to ignore significant research and widely available information on the subject. Many of his comments, while occasionally politically intriguing, lack empathy for people who experienced trauma. </p>
<p> IMO, this is not and has never been a Free Speech issue. I do believe freedom of speech links directly to software freedom: indeed, I see the freedom to publish software under Free licenses as almost a corollary to the freedom of speech. However, we do not need to follow leadership from those whose views we fundamentally disagree. Moreover, organizations need not and should not elevate spokespeople and leaders who speak regularly on unrelated issues that organizations find do not advance their mission, and/or that alienate important constituents. I, like many other software freedom leaders, curtail my public comments on issues not related to <acronymtitle="Free and Open Source Software">FOSS</acronym>. (Indeed, I would not even be commenting on <em>this issue</em> if it had not become a central issue of concern to the software freedom community.) Leaders have power, and they must exercise the power of their words with <ahref="https://lwn.net/Articles/770966/">restraint, not with impunity</a>. </p>
<p> RMS has consistently argued that there was a campaign of “prudish intimidation” — seeking to keep him quiet about his views on sexuality. After years of conversing with RMS about how his non-software-freedom views were a distraction, an indulgence, and downright problematic, his general response was to make even more public comments of this nature. The issue is not about RMS' right to say what he believes, nor is it even about whether or not you agree or disagree with RMS' statements. The question is whether an organization should have a designated leader who is on a sustained, public campaign advocating about an unrelated issue that many consider controversial. It really doesn't matter what your view about the controversial issue is; a leader who refuses to stop talking loudly about unrelated issues eventually creates an untenable distraction from the radical activism you're actively trying to advance. The message of universal software freedom is a radical cause; it's basically impossible for one individual to effectively push forward two unrelated controversial agendas at once. In short, the radical message of software freedom became overshadowed by RMS' radical views about sexual morality. </p>
<p> And here is where I say the thing that may infuriate many but it's what I believe: I think RMS took a useful step by resigning some of his leadership roles at the FSF. I thank RMS for taking that step, and I wish the FSF Directors well in their efforts to assure that the FSF becomes a welcoming organization to all who care about universal software freedom. The <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/about/">FSF's mission</a> is essential to our technological future, and we should all support that mission. I care deeply about that mission myself and have worked and will continue to work in our community in the best interest of the mission. </p>
<p> I'm admittedly struggling to find a way to work again with RMS, given his views on sexual morality and his behaviors stemming from those views. I explicitly do not agree with <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180919100154/https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#assult">this “(re-)definition” of sexual assault</a>. Furthermore, I believe uninformed statements about sexual assault are irresponsible and cause harm to victims. #MeToo is <strong><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050208/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_August_2019_(Me-too_frenzy)">not a “frenzy”</a></strong>; it is a global movement by individuals who have been harmed seeking to hold both bad actors <em>and</em> society-at-large accountable for ignoring systemic wrongs. Nevertheless, I still am proud of the <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/freedom-or-power.en.html">essay that I co-wrote with RMS</a> and still find <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html">many</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">of</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html">RMS'</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html">other</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/microsoft-old.html">essays</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gpl-american-way.html">compelling</a>, <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html">important</a>, <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/stallman-kth.en.html">and</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">relevant</a>. </p>
<p> I want the FSF to succeed in its mission and enter a new era of accomplishments. I've spent the last 22 years, without a break, dedicating substantial time, effort, care and loyalty to the various FSF roles that I've had: including employee, volunteer, at-large Director, and Voting Member. Even though my duties to the FSF are done, and my relationship with the FSF is no longer formal, I still think the FSF is a valuable institution worth helping and saving, specifically because the FSF was founded for a mission that I deeply support. And we should also realize that RMS — a human being (who is flawed like the rest of us) — invented that mission. </p>
<p> As culture change becomes more rapid, I hope we can find reasonable nuance and moderation on our complex analysis about people and their disparate views, while we also hold individuals fully accountable for their actions. That's the difficulty we face in the post-post-modern culture of the early twenty-first century. Most importantly, I believe we must find a way to stand firm for software freedom while also making a safe environment for victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, gaslighting, and other deplorable actions. </p>
<p> Posted on Tuesday 15 October 2019 at 09:11 by Bradley M. Kuhn. </p>
</div>
<p> Tuesday 15 October 2019 by Bradley M. Kuhn </p>
<p> The last 33 days have been unprecedentedly difficult for the software freedom community and for me personally. Folks have been emailing, phoning, texting, tagging me on social media (— the last of which has been funny, because all my social media accounts are placeholder accounts). But, just about everyone has urged me to comment on the serious issues that the software freedom community now faces. Until now, I have stayed silent regarding all these current topics: from Richard M. Stallman (RMS)'s public statements, to <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns">his resignation from the Free Software Foundation (FSF)</a>, to the Epstein scandal and its connection to MIT. I've also avoided generally commenting on software freedom organizational governance during this period. I did this for good reason, which is explained below. However, in this blog post, I now share my primary comments on the matters that seem to currently be of the utmost attention of the Open Source and Free Software communities. </p>
<p> I have been silent the last month because, until two days ago, I was an at-large member of <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board">FSF's Board of Directors</a>, and a <ahref="https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/fsf-amended-bylaws-current.pdf">Voting Member</a> of the FSF. As a member of FSF's two leadership bodies, I was abiding by a reasonable request from the FSF management and my duty to the organization. Specifically, the FSF asked that all communication during the crisis <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns">come</a><ahref="https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-and-gnu">directly</a> from FSF officers and not from at-large directors and/or Voting Members. Furthermore, the FSF management asked all Directors and Voting Members to remain silent on this entire matter — even on issues only tangentially related to the current situation, and even when speaking in our own capacity (e.g., on our own blogs like this one). The FSF is an important organization, and I take any request from the FSF seriously — so I abided fully with their request. </p>
<p> The situation was further complicated because folks at my employer, Software Freedom Conservancy (where I also serve on the <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/about/board/#bkuhn">Board of Directors</a>) had strong opinions about this matter as well. Fortunately, the FSF and Conservancy both had already created clear protocols for what I should do if ever there was a disagreement or divergence of views between Conservancy and FSF. I therefore was recused fully from the planning, drafting, and timing of Conservancy's statement on this matter. I thank my colleagues at the Conservancy for working so carefully to keep me entirely outside the loop on their statement and to diligently assure that it was straight-forward for me to manage any potential organizational disagreements. I also thank those at the FSF who outlined clear protocols (ahead of time, back in March 2019) in case a situation like this ever came up. I also know my colleagues at Conservancy care deeply, as I do, about the health and welfare of the FSF and its mission of fighting for universal software freedom for all. None of us want, nor have, any substantive disagreement over software freedom issues. </p>
<p> I take very seriously my duty to the various organizations where I have (or have had) affiliations. More generally, I champion non-profit organizational transparency. Unfortunately, the current crisis left me in a quandary between the overarching goal of community transparency and abiding by FSF management's directives. Now that I've left the FSF Board of Directors, FSF's Voting Membership, and all my FSF volunteer roles (which ends my 22-year uninterrupted affiliation with the FSF), I can now comment on the substantive issues that face not just the FSF, but the Free Software community as a whole, while continuing to adhere to my past duty of acting in FSF's best interest. In other words, my affiliation with the FSF has come to an end for many good and useful reasons. The end to this affiliation allows me to speak directly about the core issues at the heart of the community's current crisis. </p>
<p> Firstly, all these events — from RMS' public comments on the MIT mailing list, to RMS' resignation from the FSF to RMS' discussions about the next steps for the GNU project — <em>seem</em> to many to have happened ridiculously quickly. But it wasn't actually fast at all. In fact, these events were culmination of issues that were slowly growing in concern to many people, including me. </p>
<p> For the last two years, I had been a loud internal voice in the FSF leadership regarding RMS' Free-Software-unrelated public statements; I felt strongly that it was in the best interest of the FSF to actively seek to limit such statements, and that it was my duty to FSF to speak out about this within the organization. Those who only learned of this story in the last month (understandably) believed <ahref="https://medium.com/@selamjie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794">Selam G.'s Medium post</a> raised an entirely new issue. <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20161107050933/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#31_October_2016_(Down's_syndrome)">In</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170202025227/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_December_2016_(Campaign_of_bull-headed_prudery)">fact</a>, <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170224174306/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_February_2017_(A_violent_sex_offender)">RMS'</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170612074722/http://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_May_2017_(Prudish_ignorantism)">views</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20170616044924/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_(Sex_offender_registry)">and</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20171020041022/http://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#10_October_2017_(Laws_against_having_sex_with_an_animal)">statements</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180131020215/https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#29_October_2017_(Pestering_women)">posted</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180104112431/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#27_November_2017_(Roy_Moore's_relationships)">on</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180509120046/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-mar-jun.html#30_April_2018_(UN_peacekeepers_in_South_Sudan)">stallman.org</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180911075211/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#17_July_2018_(The_bullshitter's_flirting)">about</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180911075211/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#21_August_2018_(Age_and_attraction)">sexual</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180924231708/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#23_September_2018_(Cody_Wilson)">morality</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180919100154/https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#assult">escalated</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20181113161736/https://www.stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#6_November_2018_(Sex_according_to_porn)">for</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024048/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_February_2019_(Respecting_peoples_right_to_say_no)">the</a><ahref="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#11_June_2019_(Stretching_meaning_of_terms)">worse</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190801201704/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#12_June_2019_(Declining_sex_rates)">over</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190801201704/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#30_July_2019_(Al_Franken)">the</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050208/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_August_2019_(Me-too_frenzy)">last</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20191011023557/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#21_September_2019_(Sex_workers)">few</a><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180924231708/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jul-oct.html#23_September_2018_(Cody_Wilson)">years</a>. When the escalation started, I still considered RMS both a friend and colleague, and I attempted to argue with him at length to convince him that some of his positions were harmful to sexual assault survivors and those who are sex trafficked, and to the people who devote their lives in service to such individuals. More importantly to the FSF, I attempted to persuade RMS that launching a controversial campaign on sexual behavior and morality was counter to his and FSF's mission to advance software freedom, and told RMS that my duty as an FSF Director was to assure the best outcome for the FSF, which <acronymtitle="in my opinion">IMO</acronym> didn't include having a leader who made such statements. Not only is human sexual behavior not a topic on which RMS has adequate academic expertise, but also his positions appear to ignore significant research and widely available information on the subject. Many of his comments, while occasionally politically intriguing, lack empathy for people who experienced trauma. </p>
<p> IMO, this is not and has never been a Free Speech issue. I do believe freedom of speech links directly to software freedom: indeed, I see the freedom to publish software under Free licenses as almost a corollary to the freedom of speech. However, we do not need to follow leadership from those whose views we fundamentally disagree. Moreover, organizations need not and should not elevate spokespeople and leaders who speak regularly on unrelated issues that organizations find do not advance their mission, and/or that alienate important constituents. I, like many other software freedom leaders, curtail my public comments on issues not related to <acronymtitle="Free and Open Source Software">FOSS</acronym>. (Indeed, I would not even be commenting on <em>this issue</em> if it had not become a central issue of concern to the software freedom community.) Leaders have power, and they must exercise the power of their words with <ahref="https://lwn.net/Articles/770966/">restraint, not with impunity</a>. </p>
<p> RMS has consistently argued that there was a campaign of “prudish intimidation” — seeking to keep him quiet about his views on sexuality. After years of conversing with RMS about how his non-software-freedom views were a distraction, an indulgence, and downright problematic, his general response was to make even more public comments of this nature. The issue is not about RMS' right to say what he believes, nor is it even about whether or not you agree or disagree with RMS' statements. The question is whether an organization should have a designated leader who is on a sustained, public campaign advocating about an unrelated issue that many consider controversial. It really doesn't matter what your view about the controversial issue is; a leader who refuses to stop talking loudly about unrelated issues eventually creates an untenable distraction from the radical activism you're actively trying to advance. The message of universal software freedom is a radical cause; it's basically impossible for one individual to effectively push forward two unrelated controversial agendas at once. In short, the radical message of software freedom became overshadowed by RMS' radical views about sexual morality. </p>
<p> And here is where I say the thing that may infuriate many but it's what I believe: I think RMS took a useful step by resigning some of his leadership roles at the FSF. I thank RMS for taking that step, and I wish the FSF Directors well in their efforts to assure that the FSF becomes a welcoming organization to all who care about universal software freedom. The <ahref="https://www.fsf.org/about/">FSF's mission</a> is essential to our technological future, and we should all support that mission. I care deeply about that mission myself and have worked and will continue to work in our community in the best interest of the mission. </p>
<p> I'm admittedly struggling to find a way to work again with RMS, given his views on sexual morality and his behaviors stemming from those views. I explicitly do not agree with <ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20180919100154/https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#assult">this “(re-)definition” of sexual assault</a>. Furthermore, I believe uninformed statements about sexual assault are irresponsible and cause harm to victims. #MeToo is <strong><ahref="https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050208/https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_August_2019_(Me-too_frenzy)">not a “frenzy”</a></strong>; it is a global movement by individuals who have been harmed seeking to hold both bad actors <em>and</em> society-at-large accountable for ignoring systemic wrongs. Nevertheless, I still am proud of the <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/freedom-or-power.en.html">essay that I co-wrote with RMS</a> and still find <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html">many</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">of</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html">RMS'</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html">other</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/microsoft-old.html">essays</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gpl-american-way.html">compelling</a>, <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html">important</a>, <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/stallman-kth.en.html">and</a><ahref="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">relevant</a>. </p>
<p> I want the FSF to succeed in its mission and enter a new era of accomplishments. I've spent the last 22 years, without a break, dedicating substantial time, effort, care and loyalty to the various FSF roles that I've had: including employee, volunteer, at-large Director, and Voting Member. Even though my duties to the FSF are done, and my relationship with the FSF is no longer formal, I still think the FSF is a valuable institution worth helping and saving, specifically because the FSF was founded for a mission that I deeply support. And we should also realize that RMS — a human being (who is flawed like the rest of us) — invented that mission. </p>
<p> As culture change becomes more rapid, I hope we can find reasonable nuance and moderation on our complex analysis about people and their disparate views, while we also hold individuals fully accountable for their actions. That's the difficulty we face in the post-post-modern culture of the early twenty-first century. Most importantly, I believe we must find a way to stand firm for software freedom while also making a safe environment for victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, gaslighting, and other deplorable actions. </p>
<p> Posted on Tuesday 15 October 2019 at 09:11 by Bradley M. Kuhn. </p>
</div>
<p><code>#include <std/disclaimer.h></code><br/><code>use Standard::Disclaimer;</code><br/><code>from standard import disclaimer</code><br/><code>SELECT full_text FROM standard WHERE type = 'disclaimer';</code></p>
<code>SELECT full_text FROM standard WHERE type = 'disclaimer';</code>
</p>
<p> Both previously and presently, I have been employed by and/or done work for various organizations that also have views on Free, Libre, and Open Source Software. As should be blatantly obvious, this is my website, not theirs, so please do not assume views and opinions here belong to any such organization. Since I do co-own ebb.org with my wife, it may not be so obvious that these aren't her views and opinions, either. </p>
<p> ebb <sup>℠</sup> is a service mark of Bradley M. Kuhn. </p>
"excerpt":"Glass cloche terrariums are not only appealing to the eye, but they also preserve a bit of nature in your home and serve as a simple, yet beautiful, piece of art. Closed terrariums are easy to care for, as they retain much of their own moisture and provide a warm environment with a consistent level of humidity. You won’t have to water the...",
<p>Glass cloche terrariums are not only appealing to the eye, but they also preserve a bit of nature in your home and serve as a simple, yet beautiful, piece of art. Closed terrariums are easy to care for, as they retain much of their own moisture and provide a warm environment with a consistent level of humidity. You won’t have to water the terrariums unless you see that the walls are not misting up. Small growing plants that don’t require a lot of light work best such as succulents, ferns, moss, even orchids.</p>
<p>Glass cloche terrariums are not only appealing to the eye, but they also preserve a bit of nature in your home and serve as a simple, yet beautiful, piece of art. Closed terrariums are easy to care for, as they retain much of their own moisture and provide a warm environment with a consistent level of humidity. You won’t have to water the terrariums unless you see that the walls are not misting up. Small growing plants that don’t require a lot of light work best such as succulents, ferns, moss, even orchids.</p>
<li>Planter saucer, small shallow dish or desired platform</li>
<li>Floral foam oasis</li>
<li>Ruler </li>
<li>Spoon</li>
<li>Floral wire pins or paper clips</li>
<li>Small plants (from a florist or nursery)</li>
<li>Moss</li>
<li>Tweezers</li>
<li>Other small decorative items (optional)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<p><span>What You'll Need:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Cloche</li>
<li>Planter saucer, small shallow dish or desired platform</li>
<li>Floral foam oasis</li>
<li>Ruler </li>
<li>Spoon</li>
<li>Floral wire pins or paper clips</li>
<li>Small plants (from a florist or nursery)</li>
<li>Moss</li>
<li>Tweezers</li>
<li>Other small decorative items (optional)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p><span>Step 1</span></p>
<p>Measure the circumference of your cloche and cut the foam oasis about 3/4 inch (2 cm) smaller. Place the foam oasis into a container full of water and allow to soak until it sinks to the bottom. Dig out a hole on the oasis large enough to fit your plant, being careful not to pierce all the way through to the bottom.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/fc249ef6-4d27-41b4-8c21-15f7a8512b50.jpg"alt="Dig a hole in the oasis."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Dig a hole in the oasis. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 1</span></p>
<p>Measure the circumference of your cloche and cut the foam oasis about 3/4 inch (2 cm) smaller. Place the foam oasis into a container full of water and allow to soak until it sinks to the bottom. Dig out a hole on the oasis large enough to fit your plant, being careful not to pierce all the way through to the bottom.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/fc249ef6-4d27-41b4-8c21-15f7a8512b50.jpg"alt="Dig a hole in the oasis."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Dig a hole in the oasis. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p><span>Step 2</span></p>
<p>Insert your plant into the hole.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/aae11d4d-a4aa-4251-a4d9-41023ebf6d84.jpg"alt="Orchid in foam oasis"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Orchid in foam oasis (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 2</span></p>
<p>Insert your plant into the hole.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/aae11d4d-a4aa-4251-a4d9-41023ebf6d84.jpg"alt="Orchid in foam oasis"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Orchid in foam oasis (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p>Gently place the cloche over the oasis. The glass may push some of the moss upward, exposing some of the foam.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/eeb1e0b4-e573-40a3-8db1-2c76f0b13b84.jpg"alt="Place cloche over oasis."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Place cloche over oasis. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 5</span></p>
<p>Gently place the cloche over the oasis. The glass may push some of the moss upward, exposing some of the foam.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/eeb1e0b4-e573-40a3-8db1-2c76f0b13b84.jpg"alt="Place cloche over oasis."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Place cloche over oasis. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p><span>Step 6</span></p>
<p>Simply pull down the moss with tweezers or insert more moss to fill in the empty spaces.</p>
<p>You can use any platform you wish. In this case, a small saucer was used.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/0cb3988c-9318-47d6-bc9c-c798da1ede72.jpg"alt="Place cloche on a platform to sit on."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Place cloche on a platform to sit on. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 7</span></p>
<p>You can use any platform you wish. In this case, a small saucer was used.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/default/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/0cb3988c-9318-47d6-bc9c-c798da1ede72.jpg"alt="Place cloche on a platform to sit on."data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Place cloche on a platform to sit on. (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p><span>Step 8</span></p>
<p>This particular terrarium rests on a planter saucer and features a small white pumpkin.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/e3e18f0b-ab2c-4ffb-9988-a1ea63faef8b.jpg"alt="Cloche placed on a terracotta saucer"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Cloche placed on a terracotta saucer (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 8</span></p>
<p>This particular terrarium rests on a planter saucer and features a small white pumpkin.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/e3e18f0b-ab2c-4ffb-9988-a1ea63faef8b.jpg"alt="Cloche placed on a terracotta saucer"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Cloche placed on a terracotta saucer (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p><span>Step 9</span></p>
<p>This particular terrarium was placed on a wood slice and a little toy squirrel was placed inside to add a little whimsy.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/2cd79f8d-0d16-4573-8861-e47fb74b0638.jpg"alt="Placed on a wooden slice"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Placed on a wooden slice (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
<p><span>Step 9</span></p>
<p>This particular terrarium was placed on a wood slice and a little toy squirrel was placed inside to add a little whimsy.</p>
</div>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/photography.prod.demandstudios.com/2cd79f8d-0d16-4573-8861-e47fb74b0638.jpg"alt="Placed on a wooden slice"data-credit="Lucy Akins"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Placed on a wooden slice (Lucy Akins) </figcaption>
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<p><span>Finished Terrarium</span></p>
<p>Displayed alone or in a group, these pretty arrangements allow you to add a little nature to your decor or tablescape.</p>
"excerpt":"Graduation parties are a great way to commemorate the years of hard work teens and college co-eds devote to education. They’re also costly for mom and dad.The average cost of a graduation party in 2013 was a whopping $1,200, according to Graduationparty.com; $700 of that was allocated for food. However that budget was based on Midwestern...",
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<p><timedatetime="2016-09-14T07:07:00-04:00"itemprop="dateModified">Last updated September 14, 2016</time>
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<p>Graduation parties are a great way to commemorate the years of hard work teens and college co-eds devote to education. They’re also costly for mom and dad.</p>
<p>The average cost of a graduation party in 2013 was a whopping $1,200, according to Graduationparty.com; $700 of that was allocated for food. However that budget was based on Midwestern statistics, and parties in urban areas like New York City are thought to have a much higher price tag.</p>
<p>Thankfully, there are plenty of creative ways to trim a little grad party fat without sacrificing any of the fun or celebratory spirit.</p>
</div>
<p><timedatetime="2016-09-14T07:07:00-04:00"itemprop="dateModified">Last updated September 14, 2016</time></p>
<p>Graduation parties are a great way to commemorate the years of hard work teens and college co-eds devote to education. They’re also costly for mom and dad.</p>
<p>The average cost of a graduation party in 2013 was a whopping $1,200, according to Graduationparty.com; $700 of that was allocated for food. However that budget was based on Midwestern statistics, and parties in urban areas like New York City are thought to have a much higher price tag.</p>
<p>Thankfully, there are plenty of creative ways to trim a little grad party fat without sacrificing any of the fun or celebratory spirit.</p>
<p>Parties hosted at restaurants, clubhouses and country clubs eliminate the need to spend hours cleaning up once party guests have gone home. But that convenience comes with a price tag. A country club may charge as much as $2,000 for room rental and restaurant food and beverage will almost always cost more than food prepped and served at home.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/FE/CB/121569D2-6984-4B2F-83C4-9D2D9A27CBFE/121569D2-6984-4B2F-83C4-9D2D9A27CBFE.jpg"alt="Save money hosting the party at home."data-credit="Thomas Jackson/Digital Vision/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
<p><span><p>Parties hosted at restaurants, clubhouses and country clubs eliminate the need to spend hours cleaning up once party guests have gone home. But that convenience comes with a price tag. A country club may charge as much as $2,000 for room rental and restaurant food and beverage will almost always cost more than food prepped and served at home.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/FE/CB/121569D2-6984-4B2F-83C4-9D2D9A27CBFE/121569D2-6984-4B2F-83C4-9D2D9A27CBFE.jpg"alt="Save money hosting the party at home."data-credit="Thomas Jackson/Digital Vision/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Thomas Jackson/Digital Vision/Getty Images </figcaption>
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<p><span><p>Instead of hiring a DJ, use your iPod or Smartphone to spin the tunes. Both easily hook up to most speakers or mp3 compatible docks to play music from your music library. Or download Pandora, the free online radio app, and play hours of music for free.</p>
<p>Personalize the music with a playlist of the grad’s favorite songs or songs that were big hits during his or her years in school.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/DF/FC/A05B0252-BD73-4BC7-A09A-96F0A504FCDF/A05B0252-BD73-4BC7-A09A-96F0A504FCDF.jpg"alt="Online radio can take the place of a hired DJ."data-credit="Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<p><span><p>Avoid canned drinks, which guests often open, but don't finish. Serve pitchers of tap water with lemon and cucumber slices or sliced strawberries for an interesting and refreshing flavor. Opt for punches and non-alcoholic drinks for high school graduates that allow guests to dole out the exact amount they want to drink.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/EB/DB/8A04CCA7-3255-4225-B59A-C41441F8DBEB/8A04CCA7-3255-4225-B59A-C41441F8DBEB.jpg"alt="Serve drinks in pitchers, not in cans."data-credit="evgenyb/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<p><span><p>Instead of inviting everyone you – and the graduate – know or ever knew, scale back the guest list. Forgo inviting guests that you or your grad haven't seen for eons. There is no reason to provide provisions for people who are essentially out of your lives. Sticking to a small, but personal, guest list allows more time to mingle with loved ones during the party, too.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/94/10/08035476-0167-4A03-AADC-13A7E7AA1094/08035476-0167-4A03-AADC-13A7E7AA1094.jpg"alt="Limit guests to those close to the graduate."data-credit="Kane Skennar/Photodisc/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Kane Skennar/Photodisc/Getty Images </figcaption>
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<p><span><p>See if your grad and his best friend, girlfriend or close family member would consider hosting a joint party. You can split some of the expenses, especially when the two graduates share mutual friends. You'll also have another parent to bounce ideas off of and to help you stick to your budget when you're tempted to splurge.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/06/49/4AD62696-FC95-4DA2-8351-42740C7B4906/4AD62696-FC95-4DA2-8351-42740C7B4906.jpg"alt="Throw a joint bash for big savings."data-credit="Mike Watson Images/Moodboard/Getty"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mike Watson Images/Moodboard/Getty </figcaption>
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<p><span><p>Skip carving stations of prime rib and jumbo shrimp as appetizers, especially for high school graduation parties. Instead, serve some of the graduate's favorite side dishes that are cost effective, like a big pot of spaghetti with breadsticks. Opt for easy and simple food such as pizza, finger food and mini appetizers. </p>
<p>Avoid pre-packaged foods and pre-made deli platters. These can be quite costly. Instead, make your own cheese and deli platters for less than half the cost of pre-made.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/D0/51/B6AED06C-5E19-4A26-9AAD-0E175F6251D0/B6AED06C-5E19-4A26-9AAD-0E175F6251D0.jpg"alt="Cost effective appetizers are just as satisfying as pre-made deli platters."data-credit="Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images </figcaption>
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<p><span><p>Instead of an evening dinner party, host a grad lunch or all appetizers party. Brunch and lunch fare or finger food costs less than dinner. Guests also tend to consume less alcohol in the middle of the day, which keeps cost down.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/35/B4/DD5FD05A-B631-4AFE-BC8F-FDACAD1EB435/DD5FD05A-B631-4AFE-BC8F-FDACAD1EB435.jpg"alt="A brunch gathering will cost less than a dinner party."data-credit="Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images </figcaption>
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<p><span><p>Decorate your party in the graduate's current school colors or the colors of the school he or she will be headed to next. Décor that is not specifically graduation-themed may cost a bit less, and any leftovers can be re-used for future parties, picnics and events.</p></span></p>
<figure><imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/A1/FA/2C368B34-8F6A-45F6-9DFC-0B0C4E33FAA1/2C368B34-8F6A-45F6-9DFC-0B0C4E33FAA1.jpg"alt="Theme the party by color without graduation-specific decor."data-credit="jethuynh/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/></figure>
<p>Instead of hiring a DJ, use your iPod or Smartphone to spin the tunes. Both easily hook up to most speakers or mp3 compatible docks to play music from your music library. Or download Pandora, the free online radio app, and play hours of music for free.</p>
<p>Personalize the music with a playlist of the grad’s favorite songs or songs that were big hits during his or her years in school.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/DF/FC/A05B0252-BD73-4BC7-A09A-96F0A504FCDF/A05B0252-BD73-4BC7-A09A-96F0A504FCDF.jpg"alt="Online radio can take the place of a hired DJ."data-credit="Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
<p>Avoid canned drinks, which guests often open, but don't finish. Serve pitchers of tap water with lemon and cucumber slices or sliced strawberries for an interesting and refreshing flavor. Opt for punches and non-alcoholic drinks for high school graduates that allow guests to dole out the exact amount they want to drink.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/EB/DB/8A04CCA7-3255-4225-B59A-C41441F8DBEB/8A04CCA7-3255-4225-B59A-C41441F8DBEB.jpg"alt="Serve drinks in pitchers, not in cans."data-credit="evgenyb/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
<p>Instead of inviting everyone you – and the graduate – know or ever knew, scale back the guest list. Forgo inviting guests that you or your grad haven't seen for eons. There is no reason to provide provisions for people who are essentially out of your lives. Sticking to a small, but personal, guest list allows more time to mingle with loved ones during the party, too.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/94/10/08035476-0167-4A03-AADC-13A7E7AA1094/08035476-0167-4A03-AADC-13A7E7AA1094.jpg"alt="Limit guests to those close to the graduate."data-credit="Kane Skennar/Photodisc/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
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<figcaptionclass="caption"> Kane Skennar/Photodisc/Getty Images </figcaption>
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<p><span>
<p>See if your grad and his best friend, girlfriend or close family member would consider hosting a joint party. You can split some of the expenses, especially when the two graduates share mutual friends. You'll also have another parent to bounce ideas off of and to help you stick to your budget when you're tempted to splurge.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/06/49/4AD62696-FC95-4DA2-8351-42740C7B4906/4AD62696-FC95-4DA2-8351-42740C7B4906.jpg"alt="Throw a joint bash for big savings."data-credit="Mike Watson Images/Moodboard/Getty"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
</figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mike Watson Images/Moodboard/Getty </figcaption>
</div>
</span>
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<p><span>
<p>Skip carving stations of prime rib and jumbo shrimp as appetizers, especially for high school graduation parties. Instead, serve some of the graduate's favorite side dishes that are cost effective, like a big pot of spaghetti with breadsticks. Opt for easy and simple food such as pizza, finger food and mini appetizers. </p>
<p>Avoid pre-packaged foods and pre-made deli platters. These can be quite costly. Instead, make your own cheese and deli platters for less than half the cost of pre-made.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/D0/51/B6AED06C-5E19-4A26-9AAD-0E175F6251D0/B6AED06C-5E19-4A26-9AAD-0E175F6251D0.jpg"alt="Cost effective appetizers are just as satisfying as pre-made deli platters."data-credit="Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
</figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images </figcaption>
</div>
</span>
</span>
<span>
<span>
<div>
<p><span>
<p>Instead of an evening dinner party, host a grad lunch or all appetizers party. Brunch and lunch fare or finger food costs less than dinner. Guests also tend to consume less alcohol in the middle of the day, which keeps cost down.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/35/B4/DD5FD05A-B631-4AFE-BC8F-FDACAD1EB435/DD5FD05A-B631-4AFE-BC8F-FDACAD1EB435.jpg"alt="A brunch gathering will cost less than a dinner party."data-credit="Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
</figure>
<figcaptionclass="caption"> Mark Stout/iStock/Getty Images </figcaption>
</div>
</span>
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<span>
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<p><span>
<p>Decorate your party in the graduate's current school colors or the colors of the school he or she will be headed to next. Décor that is not specifically graduation-themed may cost a bit less, and any leftovers can be re-used for future parties, picnics and events.</p>
</span></p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/640/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload/image/A1/FA/2C368B34-8F6A-45F6-9DFC-0B0C4E33FAA1/2C368B34-8F6A-45F6-9DFC-0B0C4E33FAA1.jpg"alt="Theme the party by color without graduation-specific decor."data-credit="jethuynh/iStock/Getty Images"data-pin-ehow-hover="true"data-pin-no-hover="true"/>
"excerpt":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod\n tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,\n quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo\n consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse\n cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non\n proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.",
<p> Tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
One X</a> is the ultimate video game system. It sports more horsepower than any system ever. And it plays more titles in native 4K than <ahref="https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/07/sony-playstation-4-pro-review/">Sony's
PlayStation 4 Pro</a>. It's just about everything you could want without investing in a gaming PC. The only problem? It's now been a year since the PS4 Pro launched, and the One X costs $500, while Sony's console launched at $400. That high price limits the Xbox One X to diehard Microsoft fans who don't mind paying a bit more to play the console's exclusive titles in 4K. Everyone else might be better off waiting, or opting for the $279 <ahref="https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/02/xbox-one-s-review/">Xbox
<li>Most powerful hardware ever in a home console </li>
<li>Solid selection of enhanced titles </li>
<li>4K Blu-ray drive is great for movie fans </li>
</ul>
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<li>Expensive </li>
<li>Not worth it if you don’t have a 4K TV </li>
<li>Still no VR support </li>
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<p>As promised, the Xbox One X is the most powerful game console ever. In practice, though, it really just puts Microsoft on equal footing with Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. 4K/HDR enhanced games look great, but it’s lack of VR is disappointing in 2017.</p>
<p>Despite all the power inside, the One X is Microsoft's smallest console to date. It looks similar to the Xbox One S, except it has an entirely matte black case and is slightly slimmer. It's also surprisingly dense -- the console weighs 8.4 pounds, but it feels far heavier than you'd expect for its size, thanks to all of its new hardware. The One S, in comparison, weighs two pounds less.</p>
<p>The Xbox One X's real upgrades are under the hood. It features an 8-core CPU running at 2.3Ghz, 12GB of GDDR5 RAM, a 1 terabyte hard drive and an upgraded AMD Polaris GPU with 6 teraflops of computing power. The PS4 Pro has only 8GB of RAM and tops out at 4.2 teraflops. Microsoft's console is clearly faster. That additional horsepower means the Xbox One X can run more games in full native 4K than the Sony's console.</p>
<p>Along the front, there's the slot-loading 4K Blu-ray drive, a physical power button, a single USB port and a controller pairing button. And around back, there are HDMI out and in ports, the latter of which lets you plug in your cable box. Additionally, there are two USB ports, connections for optical audio, IR out, and gigabit Ethernet. If you've still got a Kinect around, you'll need to use a USB adapter to plug it in.</p>
<p>The console's controller hasn't changed since its last mini-upgrade with the Xbox One S. That revision rounded out its seams, improved bumper performance and added a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's still a great controller, though I'm annoyed Microsoft is sticking with AA batteries as their default power source. Sure, you could just pick up some renewable batteries, or the Play and Charge kit, but that's an extra expense. And manually swapping batteries feels like a bad user experience when every other console has rechargeable controllers.</p>
<p>You won't find any major differences between the One X and the last Xbox at first — aside from a more dramatic startup sequence. Navigating the Xbox interface is fast and zippy, but mostly that's due to a recent OS upgrade. If you're moving over from an older Xbox One, you can use the backup tool to transfer your games and settings to an external hard drive. Just plug that into the new console during setup and it'll make it feel just like your old machine. It's also a lot faster than waiting for everything to download from Xbox Live.</p>
<p>You'll still have to set aside some time if you want to play an Xbox One X-enhanced title, though. Those 4K textures will make games significantly larger, but Microsoft says it's come up with a few ways to help developers make downloading them more efficient. For example, language packs and other optional content won't get installed by default.</p>
<p>We only had a few enhanced titles to test out during our review: <em>Gears of War 4</em>, <em>Killer
Instinct</em> and <em>Super Lucky's Tale</em>. They each took advantage of the console in different ways. <em>Gears of War 4</em> runs natively in 4K at 30 FPS with Dolby Atmos and HDR (high dynamic range lighting) support. It looked great -- especially with HDR, which highlighted bright elements like lightning strikes -- but I noticed the frame rate dip occasionally. I was also surprised that load times were on-par with what I've seen with the game on the Xbox One S.</p>
<p>You can also play in Performance mode, which bumps the frame rate up to 60FPS and uses higher quality graphical effects, while rendering it lower in 1080p. Personally, I preferred this, since it makes the game much smoother -- as if you're playing it on a high-end gaming PC, not a console. Some PlayStation 4 Pro games also let you choose how you wanted to distribute its power, so in some ways Microsoft is just following in its footsteps.</p>
<p>I've been playing <em>Gears of War 4</em> on my gaming PC (which is connected to my home theater) over the past year, and I was impressed that the Xbox One X is able to deliver a similar experience. It didn't quite match my rig though, which is powered by Intel Core i7 4790k CPU running at 4GHz, 16GB DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1080 GPU. Typically, I play at 1,440p (2,560 by 1,440 pixels) with HDR and all of the graphical settings set to their highest level, and I can easily maintain a 60FPS frame rate. The One X felt just as solid at 1080p, but there were clearly plenty of graphics settings it couldn't take advantage of, in particular higher levels of bloom lighting and shadow detail.</p>
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<h3> Gallery: Xbox One X screenshots | 9 Photos </h3>
Tale</em> run in 4K at a smooth 60FPS. They both looked and played better than their standard versions, though I was surprised they didn't take advantage of HDR. As usual, I noticed the improvement in frame rates more than the higher resolution. Unless you're sitting very close to a TV above 50-inches, you'd likely have a hard time telling between 4K and 1080p.</p>
<p>That poses a problem for Microsoft: It's betting that gamers will actually want true 4K rendering. In practice, though, PlayStation 4 Pro titles running in HDR and resolutions between 1080p and 4K often look just as good to the naked eye. The Xbox One X's big advantage is that its hardware could let more games reach 60FPS compared to Sony's console.</p>
<p>Microsoft says over 130 Xbox One X-enhanced titles are in the works. That includes already-released games like <em>Forza Motorsport 7</em> and <em>Assassin's
Creed Origins</em>, as well as upcoming titles like <em>Call of Duty: WW2</em>. You'll be able to find them easily in a special section in the Xbox store. There is also a handful of Xbox 360 games that'll get enhanced eventually, including <em>Halo
3</em> and <em>Fallout 3</em>. Some of those titles will get bumped up to a higher resolution, while others will get HDR support. Microsoft describes these upgrades as a bonus for developers who were prescient about how they built their games. Basically, don't expect your entire 360 library to get enhanced.</p>
<p>Even if a game isn't specifically tuned for the new console, Microsoft says you might still see some performance improvements. The PlayStation 4 Pro, meanwhile, has over one hundred games built for its hardware, and its boost mode can speed up some older games.</p>
<p>Microsoft is still pushing the Xbox as more than just a game console, though. 4K Blu-rays loaded up quickly, and I didn't notice many delays as I skipped around films. <em>Planet Earth II</em>, in particular, looked fantastic thanks to its brilliant use of HDR. Unfortunately, the One X doesn't support Dolby Vision, so you're stuck with the slightly less capable HDR 10 standard. That makes sense since it's more widely supported, but it would have been nice to see Dolby's, too.</p>
<p>And speaking of Dolby technology, Microsoft is also highlighting Atmos support on the One X, just like it did with the One S. The company's app lets you configure the console to pass audio Atmos signals to your audio receiver. You can also shell out $15 to get Atmos support for headphones, which simulates immersive surround sound. It's strange to pay money to unlock Dolby features, but it's worth it since it's significantly better than Microsoft's audio virtualization technology. The Netflix app also supports Atmos for a handful of films (something that the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4 offer, as well).</p>
<p>One thing you won't find in the new Xbox is VR support. Microsoft has mentioned that the console will offer some sort of mixed reality, but it hasn't offered up any details yet. It's technically powerful enough to work with any of the Windows Mixed Reality headsets launching this fall. It's a shame that Microsoft is being so wishy-washy because Sony has had a very successful head start with the PlayStation VR.</p>
<p>The biggest knock against the Xbox One X is its $500 price. The PS4 Pro launched at $400 last year, and there's a good chance we'll see plenty of deals around the holidays. If your friends are on Xbox Live, or you're a devotee of Microsoft's first party franchises, then the X makes more sense. If you just want to play third-party titles that come to both platforms, though, the PS4 Pro is clearly the better deal.</p>
<p>If you're looking to upgrade from an original Xbox One, and you have a new TV, the One X might be more compelling. It's faster and offers more features than the One S, and more importantly, it'll last you much longer without needing an upgrade. There's also plenty of wisdom in simply waiting a while before you buy the One X, especially if you haven't moved to a 4K TV yet. The new console can make games look better on 1080p sets, since it'll supersample high-res textures and have more graphical effects, but it's simply not worth the upgrade since those TVs don't support HDR.</p>
<p>If price isn't a huge concern for you, it's worth considering investing in a gaming PC. A decent one costs between $600 and $800, plus the price of a monitor, but it'll easily be more powerful than the One X. And you have the added benefit of upgrading components down the line. Now that Microsoft and game publishers are offering most major titles on PC, you won't be missing out on much by ditching consoles.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Xbox One X offers some major performance upgrades that gamers will notice -- especially if you're coming from an original Xbox One. But it's also a bit disappointing since it's coming a year after the PS4 Pro, and it doesn't offer VR yet. For Microsoft fans, though, none of that will matter. It's exactly what the company promised: the fastest game console ever made.</p>
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<div>
<p>The <ahref="https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/13/the-xbox-one-x-is-aspirational-in-the-purest-sense-of-the-word/">Xbox One X</a> is the ultimate video game system. It sports more horsepower than any system ever. And it plays more titles in native 4K than <ahref="https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/07/sony-playstation-4-pro-review/">Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro</a>. It's just about everything you could want without investing in a gaming PC. The only problem? It's now been a year since the PS4 Pro launched, and the One X costs $500, while Sony's console launched at $400. That high price limits the Xbox One X to diehard Microsoft fans who don't mind paying a bit more to play the console's exclusive titles in 4K. Everyone else might be better off waiting, or opting for the $279 <ahref="https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/02/xbox-one-s-review/">Xbox One S</a>. </p>
<li>Most powerful hardware ever in a home console </li>
<li>Solid selection of enhanced titles </li>
<li>4K Blu-ray drive is great for movie fans </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Expensive </li>
<li>Not worth it if you don’t have a 4K TV </li>
<li>Still no VR support </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p>As promised, the Xbox One X is the most powerful game console ever. In practice, though, it really just puts Microsoft on equal footing with Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. 4K/HDR enhanced games look great, but it’s lack of VR is disappointing in 2017.</p>
<p>Despite all the power inside, the One X is Microsoft's smallest console to date. It looks similar to the Xbox One S, except it has an entirely matte black case and is slightly slimmer. It's also surprisingly dense -- the console weighs 8.4 pounds, but it feels far heavier than you'd expect for its size, thanks to all of its new hardware. The One S, in comparison, weighs two pounds less.</p>
<p>The Xbox One X's real upgrades are under the hood. It features an 8-core CPU running at 2.3Ghz, 12GB of GDDR5 RAM, a 1 terabyte hard drive and an upgraded AMD Polaris GPU with 6 teraflops of computing power. The PS4 Pro has only 8GB of RAM and tops out at 4.2 teraflops. Microsoft's console is clearly faster. That additional horsepower means the Xbox One X can run more games in full native 4K than the Sony's console.</p>
<p>Along the front, there's the slot-loading 4K Blu-ray drive, a physical power button, a single USB port and a controller pairing button. And around back, there are HDMI out and in ports, the latter of which lets you plug in your cable box. Additionally, there are two USB ports, connections for optical audio, IR out, and gigabit Ethernet. If you've still got a Kinect around, you'll need to use a USB adapter to plug it in.</p>
<p>The console's controller hasn't changed since its last mini-upgrade with the Xbox One S. That revision rounded out its seams, improved bumper performance and added a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's still a great controller, though I'm annoyed Microsoft is sticking with AA batteries as their default power source. Sure, you could just pick up some renewable batteries, or the Play and Charge kit, but that's an extra expense. And manually swapping batteries feels like a bad user experience when every other console has rechargeable controllers.</p>
<p>You won't find any major differences between the One X and the last Xbox at first — aside from a more dramatic startup sequence. Navigating the Xbox interface is fast and zippy, but mostly that's due to a recent OS upgrade. If you're moving over from an older Xbox One, you can use the backup tool to transfer your games and settings to an external hard drive. Just plug that into the new console during setup and it'll make it feel just like your old machine. It's also a lot faster than waiting for everything to download from Xbox Live.</p>
<p>You'll still have to set aside some time if you want to play an Xbox One X-enhanced title, though. Those 4K textures will make games significantly larger, but Microsoft says it's come up with a few ways to help developers make downloading them more efficient. For example, language packs and other optional content won't get installed by default.</p>
<p>We only had a few enhanced titles to test out during our review: <em>Gears of War 4</em>, <em>Killer Instinct</em> and <em>Super Lucky's Tale</em>. They each took advantage of the console in different ways. <em>Gears of War 4</em> runs natively in 4K at 30 FPS with Dolby Atmos and HDR (high dynamic range lighting) support. It looked great -- especially with HDR, which highlighted bright elements like lightning strikes -- but I noticed the frame rate dip occasionally. I was also surprised that load times were on-par with what I've seen with the game on the Xbox One S.</p>
<p>You can also play in Performance mode, which bumps the frame rate up to 60FPS and uses higher quality graphical effects, while rendering it lower in 1080p. Personally, I preferred this, since it makes the game much smoother -- as if you're playing it on a high-end gaming PC, not a console. Some PlayStation 4 Pro games also let you choose how you wanted to distribute its power, so in some ways Microsoft is just following in its footsteps.</p>
<p>I've been playing <em>Gears of War 4</em> on my gaming PC (which is connected to my home theater) over the past year, and I was impressed that the Xbox One X is able to deliver a similar experience. It didn't quite match my rig though, which is powered by Intel Core i7 4790k CPU running at 4GHz, 16GB DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1080 GPU. Typically, I play at 1,440p (2,560 by 1,440 pixels) with HDR and all of the graphical settings set to their highest level, and I can easily maintain a 60FPS frame rate. The One X felt just as solid at 1080p, but there were clearly plenty of graphics settings it couldn't take advantage of, in particular higher levels of bloom lighting and shadow detail.</p>
</div>
<sectiondata-engadget-breakout-type="gallery">
<h3> Gallery: Xbox One X screenshots | 9 Photos </h3>
<p><em>Killer Instinct</em> and <em>Super Lucky's Tale</em> run in 4K at a smooth 60FPS. They both looked and played better than their standard versions, though I was surprised they didn't take advantage of HDR. As usual, I noticed the improvement in frame rates more than the higher resolution. Unless you're sitting very close to a TV above 50-inches, you'd likely have a hard time telling between 4K and 1080p.</p>
<p>That poses a problem for Microsoft: It's betting that gamers will actually want true 4K rendering. In practice, though, PlayStation 4 Pro titles running in HDR and resolutions between 1080p and 4K often look just as good to the naked eye. The Xbox One X's big advantage is that its hardware could let more games reach 60FPS compared to Sony's console.</p>
<p>Microsoft says over 130 Xbox One X-enhanced titles are in the works. That includes already-released games like <em>Forza Motorsport 7</em> and <em>Assassin's Creed Origins</em>, as well as upcoming titles like <em>Call of Duty: WW2</em>. You'll be able to find them easily in a special section in the Xbox store. There is also a handful of Xbox 360 games that'll get enhanced eventually, including <em>Halo 3</em> and <em>Fallout 3</em>. Some of those titles will get bumped up to a higher resolution, while others will get HDR support. Microsoft describes these upgrades as a bonus for developers who were prescient about how they built their games. Basically, don't expect your entire 360 library to get enhanced.</p>
<p>Even if a game isn't specifically tuned for the new console, Microsoft says you might still see some performance improvements. The PlayStation 4 Pro, meanwhile, has over one hundred games built for its hardware, and its boost mode can speed up some older games.</p>
<p>Microsoft is still pushing the Xbox as more than just a game console, though. 4K Blu-rays loaded up quickly, and I didn't notice many delays as I skipped around films. <em>Planet Earth II</em>, in particular, looked fantastic thanks to its brilliant use of HDR. Unfortunately, the One X doesn't support Dolby Vision, so you're stuck with the slightly less capable HDR 10 standard. That makes sense since it's more widely supported, but it would have been nice to see Dolby's, too.</p>
<p>And speaking of Dolby technology, Microsoft is also highlighting Atmos support on the One X, just like it did with the One S. The company's app lets you configure the console to pass audio Atmos signals to your audio receiver. You can also shell out $15 to get Atmos support for headphones, which simulates immersive surround sound. It's strange to pay money to unlock Dolby features, but it's worth it since it's significantly better than Microsoft's audio virtualization technology. The Netflix app also supports Atmos for a handful of films (something that the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4 offer, as well).</p>
<p>One thing you won't find in the new Xbox is VR support. Microsoft has mentioned that the console will offer some sort of mixed reality, but it hasn't offered up any details yet. It's technically powerful enough to work with any of the Windows Mixed Reality headsets launching this fall. It's a shame that Microsoft is being so wishy-washy because Sony has had a very successful head start with the PlayStation VR.</p>
<p>The biggest knock against the Xbox One X is its $500 price. The PS4 Pro launched at $400 last year, and there's a good chance we'll see plenty of deals around the holidays. If your friends are on Xbox Live, or you're a devotee of Microsoft's first party franchises, then the X makes more sense. If you just want to play third-party titles that come to both platforms, though, the PS4 Pro is clearly the better deal.</p>
<p>If you're looking to upgrade from an original Xbox One, and you have a new TV, the One X might be more compelling. It's faster and offers more features than the One S, and more importantly, it'll last you much longer without needing an upgrade. There's also plenty of wisdom in simply waiting a while before you buy the One X, especially if you haven't moved to a 4K TV yet. The new console can make games look better on 1080p sets, since it'll supersample high-res textures and have more graphical effects, but it's simply not worth the upgrade since those TVs don't support HDR.</p>
<p>If price isn't a huge concern for you, it's worth considering investing in a gaming PC. A decent one costs between $600 and $800, plus the price of a monitor, but it'll easily be more powerful than the One X. And you have the added benefit of upgrading components down the line. Now that Microsoft and game publishers are offering most major titles on PC, you won't be missing out on much by ditching consoles.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Xbox One X offers some major performance upgrades that gamers will notice -- especially if you're coming from an original Xbox One. But it's also a bit disappointing since it's coming a year after the PS4 Pro, and it doesn't offer VR yet. For Microsoft fans, though, none of that will matter. It's exactly what the company promised: the fastest game console ever made.</p>
<span><span>W</span></span>hale whisperer Hori Parata was just seven years old when he attended his first mass stranding, a beaching of porpoises in New Zealand’s Northland, their cries screeching through the air on the deserted stretch of sand. </p>
<span><span>W</span></span>hale whisperer Hori Parata was just seven years old when he attended his first mass stranding, a beaching of porpoises in New Zealand’s Northland, their cries screeching through the air on the deserted stretch of sand.
</p>
<p> Seven decades later, Parata, 75, has now overseen more than 500 strandings and is renowned in <ahref="https://www.theguardian.com/world/newzealand"data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"data-component="auto-linked-tag">New Zealand</a> as the leading Māori whale expert, called on by tribes around the country for cultural guidance as marine strandings become increasingly complex and fatal. </p>
<p> “Man’s greed in the ocean is hurting the whales,” says Parata, a fierce and uncompromising elder of the Ngātiwai tribe of eastern Northland. </p>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Hori Parata at his Pātaua farm, the place where he was born and grew up."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05cb692c634cd90e5411aab92ca3e649474ff786/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=575838a657b26493e956c7f84b058080"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Hori Parata at his Pātaua farm, the place where he was born and grew up."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05cb692c634cd90e5411aab92ca3e649474ff786/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=575838a657b26493e956c7f84b058080"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, watched by his father Hori Parata, carves a traditional Maōri design at their home in Whangārei. Kauri is a member of the Manu Taupunga group that is the organising arm of the whale-body recovery operation started by his father, Hori Parata"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/98c683a7df9c83b2c13de2d93ca1825199ed5150/0_0_4800_3166/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2f198e1958f140f3ac664a3fdd87177c"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, watched by his father Hori Parata, carves a traditional Maōri design at their home in Whangārei. Kauri is a member of the Manu Taupunga group that is the organising arm of the whale-body recovery operation started by his father, Hori Parata"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/98c683a7df9c83b2c13de2d93ca1825199ed5150/0_0_4800_3166/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2f198e1958f140f3ac664a3fdd87177c"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="A bin of small whale bones."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0447972cf47ca67882fcfc648edf7e574b0853bc/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=718132fd888108a18383c24a8425523b"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="A bin of small whale bones."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0447972cf47ca67882fcfc648edf7e574b0853bc/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=718132fd888108a18383c24a8425523b"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The baleen recovered from a stranded Pygmy Right Whale."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/416800b8d06039780c3e6de28564e6f277b4e7b7/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c5a53178ebbe54490c97fad6b5e032c4"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The baleen recovered from a stranded Pygmy Right Whale."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/416800b8d06039780c3e6de28564e6f277b4e7b7/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c5a53178ebbe54490c97fad6b5e032c4"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Squid beaks, from the stomach of a Sperm Whale."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8c207197c0a9e6f407dcddfded5f868a142c9cab/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0dd659ae339b1aea9a99ed7f6f8eadeb"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Squid beaks, from the stomach of a Sperm Whale."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8c207197c0a9e6f407dcddfded5f868a142c9cab/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0dd659ae339b1aea9a99ed7f6f8eadeb"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Buck Cullen with his daughter Kaiarahi (10 months) in his back yard where he is storing a pair of massive Sperm Whale jawbones. Buck is a integral member of the whale recovery team, alongside Hori Parata."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0d13adeb0790af5c5fa317ce477c323d0e1c773c/0_0_4800_2334/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=41b88ee343b9be76688b88443c7a8958"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Buck Cullen with his daughter Kaiarahi (10 months) in his back yard where he is storing a pair of massive Sperm Whale jawbones. Buck is a integral member of the whale recovery team, alongside Hori Parata."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0d13adeb0790af5c5fa317ce477c323d0e1c773c/0_0_4800_2334/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=41b88ee343b9be76688b88443c7a8958"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="12 Parāoa Whales (Sperm Whales) recently stranded on the South Taranaki coast of Kaupokonui, on a scale not seen on their coast in recent memory."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4973b41f53b8ade499f99a305b01157eca659ca5/0_0_1200_900/master/1200.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7c255bf6f8a27c56365a86813cdd1517"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="12 Parāoa Whales (Sperm Whales) recently stranded on the South Taranaki coast of Kaupokonui, on a scale not seen on their coast in recent memory."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4973b41f53b8ade499f99a305b01157eca659ca5/0_0_1200_900/master/1200.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7c255bf6f8a27c56365a86813cdd1517"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, of the New Zealand Māori tribe Ngāti Wai, in front of the carving shed at Hihiaua Cultural Centre in Whangarei"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d1941b6a6908314fab28f44da222a4c892213341/0_0_4800_3120/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=76a26a289728e3d625e57d32eced57d8"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, of the New Zealand Māori tribe Ngāti Wai, in front of the carving shed at Hihiaua Cultural Centre in Whangarei"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d1941b6a6908314fab28f44da222a4c892213341/0_0_4800_3120/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=76a26a289728e3d625e57d32eced57d8"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The Pou in front of the carving shed at Hihiaua Cultural centre"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/14b462f5d9489def554e0f9f436f13aec332f7b8/0_0_4278_4800/master/4278.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a45ec7578a392eec201d2f6920b609a0"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The Pou in front of the carving shed at Hihiaua Cultural centre"src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/14b462f5d9489def554e0f9f436f13aec332f7b8/0_0_4278_4800/master/4278.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a45ec7578a392eec201d2f6920b609a0"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, holds three whale teeth recovered from a beached whale. The middle tooth shows the marks where a poacher had attempted to hack it out with an axe before the recovery group arrived. Kauri is a member of the Manu Taupunga group that is the organising arm of the whale-body recovery operation started by his father, Hori Parata."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e2cf54c36f17c6894844ea0cdd4346288a002da9/915_0_3172_3189/master/3172.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0bd8e9f51bdf79a6e0a15ed176cfb57d"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Kauri (Tekaurinui Robert) Parata, holds three whale teeth recovered from a beached whale. The middle tooth shows the marks where a poacher had attempted to hack it out with an axe before the recovery group arrived. Kauri is a member of the Manu Taupunga group that is the organising arm of the whale-body recovery operation started by his father, Hori Parata."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e2cf54c36f17c6894844ea0cdd4346288a002da9/915_0_3172_3189/master/3172.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0bd8e9f51bdf79a6e0a15ed176cfb57d"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Whangārei Harbour from Tamaterau, looking south through Mangrove sprouts coming up through the harbourside silt."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b5f3736b2ba2ef4df364258b0efcaba26f571d6e/0_0_4800_3073/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7fcadc35b3a44ebafe3c469c6e89241d"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="Whangārei Harbour from Tamaterau, looking south through Mangrove sprouts coming up through the harbourside silt."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b5f3736b2ba2ef4df364258b0efcaba26f571d6e/0_0_4800_3073/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7fcadc35b3a44ebafe3c469c6e89241d"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The skull of a Brydes whale, in the storage container at Hihiaua Cultural Centre, Whangārei."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d5aaf60e3a427f278747acf0c3e7ba39b39ef923/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=1b74b488aedb864287ff160f86d74c9d"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="The skull of a Brydes whale, in the storage container at Hihiaua Cultural Centre, Whangārei."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d5aaf60e3a427f278747acf0c3e7ba39b39ef923/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=1b74b488aedb864287ff160f86d74c9d"/>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="A large calibre bullet of the type that the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) uses for euthanasing stranded whales that are beyond rescue."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3766106f73e858d5b140ae3cdd2eef84060180cd/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d2f5bb7c3c3642ac8733ca40509f6e20"/></picture>
<imgitemprop="contentUrl"alt="A large calibre bullet of the type that the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) uses for euthanasing stranded whales that are beyond rescue."src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3766106f73e858d5b140ae3cdd2eef84060180cd/0_0_4800_3200/master/4800.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d2f5bb7c3c3642ac8733ca40509f6e20"/>
"title":"1Password für Mac generiert Einmal-Passwörter",
"byline":"Mac & i",
"dir":null,
"excerpt":"Das in der iOS-Version bereits enthaltene TOTP-Feature ist nun auch für OS X 10.10 verfügbar. Zudem gibt es neue Zusatzfelder in der Datenbank und weitere Verbesserungen.",
<pclass="caption">1Password scannt auch QR-Codes.</p>
<p>(Bild: Hersteller)</p>
@ -11,6 +12,7 @@
<p>Zur TOTP-Nutzung muss zunächst ein Startwert an 1Password übergeben werden. Das geht unter anderem per QR-Code, den die App über ein neues Scanfenster selbst einlesen kann – etwa aus dem Webbrowser. Eine Einführung in die Technik gibt <arel="external"target="_blank"href="http://1pw.ca/TOTPvideoMac">ein kurzes Video</a>. Die TOTP-Unterstützung in 1Password erlaubt es, auf ein zusätzliches Gerät (z.B. ein iPhone) neben dem Mac zu verzichten, das den Code liefert – was allerdings auch die Sicherheit verringert, weil es keinen "echten" zweiten Faktor mehr gibt.</p>
<p>Update 5.3 des Passwortmanagers liefert auch noch weitere Verbesserungen. So gibt es die Möglichkeit, FaceTime-Audio- oder Skype-Anrufe aus 1Password zu starten, die Zahl der Zusatzfelder in der Datenbank wurde erweitert und der Umgang mit unterschiedlichen Zeitzonen klappt besser. Die Engine zur Passworteingabe im Browser soll beschleunigt worden sein.</p>
<p>1Password kostet aktuell knapp 50 Euro im Mac App Store und setzt in seiner aktuellen Version mindestens OS X 10.10 voraus. <span>(<atitle="Ben Schwan"href="mailto:bsc@heise.de">bsc</a>)</span>
"excerpt":"A HIGH-powered federal government team has been doing the rounds of media organisations in the past few days in an attempt to allay concerns about the impact of new surveillance legislation on press freedom. It failed.",
<p><imgdata-src="http://api.news.com.au/content/1.0/heraldsun/images/1227261885862?format=jpg&group=iphone&size=medium"alt="A new Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called ‘metadat"/></p>
<pclass="caption"><spanid="imgCaption">A new Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called ‘metadata’ for two years.</span><span><em>Source:</em>
Supplied</span></p>
</div>
<p><imgdata-src="http://api.news.com.au/content/1.0/heraldsun/images/1227261885862?format=jpg&group=iphone&size=medium"alt="A new Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called ‘metadat"/>
</p>
<pclass="caption">
<spanid="imgCaption">A new Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called ‘metadata’ for two years.</span>
<span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span>
</p>
</div>
<p><strong>
A HIGH-powered federal government team has been doing the rounds of media organisations in the past few days in an attempt to allay concerns about the impact of new surveillance legislation on press freedom. It failed.
</strong></p>
<p><strong> A HIGH-powered federal government team has been doing the rounds of media organisations in the past few days in an attempt to allay concerns about the impact of new surveillance legislation on press freedom. It failed. </strong></p>
<p>The roadshow featured the Prime Minister’s national security adviser, Andrew Shearer, Justin Bassi, who advises Attorney-General George Brandis on crime and security matters, and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin. Staffers from the office of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull also took part.</p>
<p>They held meetings with executives from News Corporation and Fairfax, representatives of the TV networks, the ABC top brass and a group from the media union and the Walkley journalism foundation. I was involved as a member of the Walkley board.</p>
<p>The initiative, from Tony Abbott’s office, is evidence that the Government has been alarmed by the strength of criticism from media of the Data Retention Bill it wants passed before Parliament rises in a fortnight. Bosses, journalists, even the Press Council, are up in arms, not only over this measure, but also over aspects of two earlier pieces of national security legislation that interfere with the ability of the media to hold government to account.</p>
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<divid="read-more-content">
<p>The Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called “metadata” — the who, where, when and how of a communication, but not its content — for two years so security and law enforcement agencies can access it without warrant. Few would argue against the use of such material to catch criminals or terrorists. But, as Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has pointed out, it would also be used “for the purpose of determining the identity of a journalist’s sources”.</p>
<p>And that should ring warning bells for anyone genuinely concerned with the health of our democracy. Without the ability to protect the identity of sources, journalists would be greatly handicapped in exposing corruption, dishonesty, waste, incompetence and misbehaviour by public officials.</p>
<p>The Press Council is concerned the laws would crush investigative journalism.</p>
<p>“These legitimate concerns cannot be addressed effectively short of exempting journalists and media organisations,” says president David Weisbrot.</p>
<p>The media union is adamant journalists’ metadata must be exempted from the law. That’s what media bosses want, too, though they have a fallback position based on new safeguards being implemented in Britain.</p>
<p>That would prevent access to the metadata of journalists or media organisations without a judicial warrant. There would be a code including — according to the explanatory notes of the British Bill — “provision to protect the public interest in the confidentiality of journalistic sources”.</p>
<p>In their meetings this week, the government team boasted of concessions in the new Data Retention Bill. The number of agencies able to access metadata will be reduced by excluding such organisations as the RSPCA and local councils. And whenever an authorisation is issued for access to information about a journalist’s sources, the Ombudsman (or, where ASIO is involved, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security) will receive a copy.</p>
<p>That does nothing to solve the problem. The Government has effectively admitted as much by agreeing that the parliamentary committee should conduct a separate review of how to deal with the issue of journalists’ sources.</p>
<p>But another inquiry would be a waste of time — the committee has already received and considered dozens of submissions on the subject. The bottom line is that the Government does not deny that the legislation is flawed, but is demanding it be passed anyway with the possibility left open of a repair job down the track. That is a ridiculous approach.</p>
<p>Claims that immediate action is imperative do not stand up. These are measures that won’t come into full effect for two years. Anyway, amending the Bill to either exempt journalists or adopt the UK model could be done quickly, without any risk to national security.</p>
<p>AS Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said in a letter to Abbott last month: “Press freedom concerns about mandatory data retention would ideally be addressed in this Bill to avoid the need for future additional amendments or procedures to be put in place in the future.”</p>
<p>The Data Retention Bill will be debated in the House of Representatives this week. Then, on Friday, CEOs from leading media organisations will front the parliamentary committee to air their concerns before the legislation goes to the Senate.</p>
<p>Those CEOs should make it clear they are just as angry about this as they were about Stephen Conroy’s attempt to impinge on press freedom through media regulation under the previous Labor government.</p>
<p>Memories of the grief Conroy brought down on his head would undoubtedly make Abbott sit up and take notice.</p>
<p><b>LAURIE OAKES IS THE NINE NETWORK POLITICAL EDITOR </b></p>
</div>
<p>The Bill would require telecommunications service providers to store so-called “metadata” — the who, where, when and how of a communication, but not its content — for two years so security and law enforcement agencies can access it without warrant. Few would argue against the use of such material to catch criminals or terrorists. But, as Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has pointed out, it would also be used “for the purpose of determining the identity of a journalist’s sources”.</p>
<p>And that should ring warning bells for anyone genuinely concerned with the health of our democracy. Without the ability to protect the identity of sources, journalists would be greatly handicapped in exposing corruption, dishonesty, waste, incompetence and misbehaviour by public officials.</p>
<p>The Press Council is concerned the laws would crush investigative journalism.</p>
<p>“These legitimate concerns cannot be addressed effectively short of exempting journalists and media organisations,” says president David Weisbrot.</p>
<p>The media union is adamant journalists’ metadata must be exempted from the law. That’s what media bosses want, too, though they have a fallback position based on new safeguards being implemented in Britain.</p>
<p>That would prevent access to the metadata of journalists or media organisations without a judicial warrant. There would be a code including — according to the explanatory notes of the British Bill — “provision to protect the public interest in the confidentiality of journalistic sources”.</p>
<p>In their meetings this week, the government team boasted of concessions in the new Data Retention Bill. The number of agencies able to access metadata will be reduced by excluding such organisations as the RSPCA and local councils. And whenever an authorisation is issued for access to information about a journalist’s sources, the Ombudsman (or, where ASIO is involved, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security) will receive a copy.</p>
<p>That does nothing to solve the problem. The Government has effectively admitted as much by agreeing that the parliamentary committee should conduct a separate review of how to deal with the issue of journalists’ sources.</p>
<p>But another inquiry would be a waste of time — the committee has already received and considered dozens of submissions on the subject. The bottom line is that the Government does not deny that the legislation is flawed, but is demanding it be passed anyway with the possibility left open of a repair job down the track. That is a ridiculous approach.</p>
<p>Claims that immediate action is imperative do not stand up. These are measures that won’t come into full effect for two years. Anyway, amending the Bill to either exempt journalists or adopt the UK model could be done quickly, without any risk to national security.</p>
<p>AS Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said in a letter to Abbott last month: “Press freedom concerns about mandatory data retention would ideally be addressed in this Bill to avoid the need for future additional amendments or procedures to be put in place in the future.”</p>
<p>The Data Retention Bill will be debated in the House of Representatives this week. Then, on Friday, CEOs from leading media organisations will front the parliamentary committee to air their concerns before the legislation goes to the Senate.</p>
<p>Those CEOs should make it clear they are just as angry about this as they were about Stephen Conroy’s attempt to impinge on press freedom through media regulation under the previous Labor government.</p>
<p>Memories of the grief Conroy brought down on his head would undoubtedly make Abbott sit up and take notice.</p>
<p><b>LAURIE OAKES IS THE NINE NETWORK POLITICAL EDITOR </b></p>
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"excerpt":"We messed up. As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience. Twenty years ago we saw an explosion of websites, built by developers around the world, providing all forms of content. This was the beginning of an age of enlightenment, the intersection of content and technology. … Continued",
<p>We messed up. As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience.</p>
<p>Twenty years ago we saw an explosion of websites, built by developers around the world, providing all forms of content. This was the beginning of an age of enlightenment, the intersection of content and technology. Many of us in the technical field felt compelled, and even empowered, to produce information as the distribution means for mass communication were no longer restricted by a high barrier to entry.</p>
<p>In 2000, the dark ages came when the dot-com bubble burst. We were told that our startups were gone or that our divisions sustained by corporate parent companies needed to be in the black. It was a wakeup call that led to a renaissance age. Digital advertising became the foundation of an economic engine that, still now, sustains the free and democratic World Wide Web. In digital publishing, we strived to balance content, commerce, and technology. The content management systems and communication gateways we built to inform and entertain populations around the world disrupted markets and in some cases governments, informed communities of imminent danger, and liberated new forms of art and entertainment—all while creating a digital middle class of small businesses.</p>
<p>We engineered not just the technical, but also the social and economic foundation that users around the world came to lean on for access to real time information. And users came to expect this information whenever and wherever they needed it. And more often than not, for anybody with a connected device, it was free.</p>
<p>This was choice—powered by digital advertising—and premised on user experience.</p>
<p>But we messed up.</p>
<p>Through our pursuit of further automation and maximization of margins during the industrial age of media technology, we built advertising technology to optimize publishers’ yield of marketing budgets that had eroded after the last recession. Looking back now, our scraping of dimes may have cost us dollars in consumer loyalty. The fast, scalable systems of targeting users with ever-heftier advertisements have slowed down the public internet and drained more than a few batteries. We were so clever and so good at it that we over-engineered the capabilities of the plumbing laid down by, well, ourselves. This steamrolled the users, depleted their devices, and tried their patience.</p>
<p>The rise of ad blocking poses a threat to the internet and could potentially drive users to an enclosed platform world dominated by a few companies. We have let the fine equilibrium of content, commerce, and technology get out of balance in the open web. We had, and still do have, a responsibility to educate the business side, and in some cases to push back. We lost sight of our social and ethical responsibility to provide a safe, usable experience for anyone and everyone wanting to consume the content of their choice.</p>
<p>We need to bring that back into alignment, starting right now.</p>
<p><ahref="http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/getting-lean-with-digital-ad-ux.jpg"><imgwidth="300"height="250"alt="Getting LEAN with Digital Ad UX"src="http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/getting-lean-with-digital-ad-ux-300x250.jpg"/></a>Today, the IAB Tech Lab is launching the L.E.A.N. Ads program. Supported by the Executive Committee of the IAB Tech Lab Board, IABs around the world, and hundreds of member companies, L.E.A.N. stands for Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive ads. These are principles that will help guide the next phases of advertising technical standards for the global digital advertising supply chain.</p>
<p>As with any other industry, standards should be created by non-profit standards-setting bodies, with many diverse voices providing input. We will invite all parties for public comment, and make sure consumer interest groups have the opportunity to provide input.</p>
<p>L.E.A.N. Ads do not replace the current advertising standards many consumers still enjoy and engage with while consuming content on our sites across all IP enabled devices. Rather, these principles will guide an alternative set of standards that provide choice for marketers, content providers, and consumers.</p>
<p>Among the many areas of concentration, we must also address frequency capping on retargeting in Ad Tech and make sure a user is targeted appropriately before, but never AFTER they make a purchase. If we are so good at reach and scale, we can be just as good, if not better, at moderation. Additionally, we must address volume of ads per page as well as continue on the path to viewability. The dependencies here are critical to an optimized user experience.</p>
<p>The consumer is demanding these actions, challenging us to do better, and we must respond.</p>
<p>The IAB Tech Lab will continue to provide the tools for publishers in the digital supply chain to have a dialogue with users about their choices so that content providers can generate revenue while creating value. Publishers should have the opportunity to provide rich advertising experiences, L.E.A.N. advertising experiences, and subscription services. Or publishers can simply deny their service to users who choose to keep on blocking ads. That is all part of elasticity of consumer tolerance and choice.</p>
<p>Finally, we must do this in an increasingly fragmented market, across screens. We must do this in environments where entire sites are blocked, purposefully or not. Yes, it is disappointing that our development efforts will have to manage with multiple frameworks while we work to supply the economic engine to sustain an open internet. However, our goal is still to provide diverse content and voices to as many connected users as possible around the world.</p>
<p>That is user experience.</p>
<p>IAB Tech Lab Members can join the IAB Tech Lab Ad Blocking Working Group, please email <ahref="mailto:adblocking@iab.com">adblocking@iab.com</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Read <atarget="_blank"href="http://www.iab.com/insights/ad-blocking/">more about ad blocking here</a>.</p>
</div>
<p>We messed up. As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience.</p>
<p>Twenty years ago we saw an explosion of websites, built by developers around the world, providing all forms of content. This was the beginning of an age of enlightenment, the intersection of content and technology. Many of us in the technical field felt compelled, and even empowered, to produce information as the distribution means for mass communication were no longer restricted by a high barrier to entry.</p>
<p>In 2000, the dark ages came when the dot-com bubble burst. We were told that our startups were gone or that our divisions sustained by corporate parent companies needed to be in the black. It was a wakeup call that led to a renaissance age. Digital advertising became the foundation of an economic engine that, still now, sustains the free and democratic World Wide Web. In digital publishing, we strived to balance content, commerce, and technology. The content management systems and communication gateways we built to inform and entertain populations around the world disrupted markets and in some cases governments, informed communities of imminent danger, and liberated new forms of art and entertainment—all while creating a digital middle class of small businesses.</p>
<p>We engineered not just the technical, but also the social and economic foundation that users around the world came to lean on for access to real time information. And users came to expect this information whenever and wherever they needed it. And more often than not, for anybody with a connected device, it was free.</p>
<p>This was choice—powered by digital advertising—and premised on user experience.</p>
<p>But we messed up.</p>
<p>Through our pursuit of further automation and maximization of margins during the industrial age of media technology, we built advertising technology to optimize publishers’ yield of marketing budgets that had eroded after the last recession. Looking back now, our scraping of dimes may have cost us dollars in consumer loyalty. The fast, scalable systems of targeting users with ever-heftier advertisements have slowed down the public internet and drained more than a few batteries. We were so clever and so good at it that we over-engineered the capabilities of the plumbing laid down by, well, ourselves. This steamrolled the users, depleted their devices, and tried their patience.</p>
<p>The rise of ad blocking poses a threat to the internet and could potentially drive users to an enclosed platform world dominated by a few companies. We have let the fine equilibrium of content, commerce, and technology get out of balance in the open web. We had, and still do have, a responsibility to educate the business side, and in some cases to push back. We lost sight of our social and ethical responsibility to provide a safe, usable experience for anyone and everyone wanting to consume the content of their choice.</p>
<p>We need to bring that back into alignment, starting right now.</p>
<p><ahref="http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/getting-lean-with-digital-ad-ux.jpg"><imgwidth="300"height="250"alt="Getting LEAN with Digital Ad UX"src="http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/getting-lean-with-digital-ad-ux-300x250.jpg"/></a>Today, the IAB Tech Lab is launching the L.E.A.N. Ads program. Supported by the Executive Committee of the IAB Tech Lab Board, IABs around the world, and hundreds of member companies, L.E.A.N. stands for Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive ads. These are principles that will help guide the next phases of advertising technical standards for the global digital advertising supply chain.</p>
<p>As with any other industry, standards should be created by non-profit standards-setting bodies, with many diverse voices providing input. We will invite all parties for public comment, and make sure consumer interest groups have the opportunity to provide input.</p>
<p>L.E.A.N. Ads do not replace the current advertising standards many consumers still enjoy and engage with while consuming content on our sites across all IP enabled devices. Rather, these principles will guide an alternative set of standards that provide choice for marketers, content providers, and consumers.</p>
<p>Among the many areas of concentration, we must also address frequency capping on retargeting in Ad Tech and make sure a user is targeted appropriately before, but never AFTER they make a purchase. If we are so good at reach and scale, we can be just as good, if not better, at moderation. Additionally, we must address volume of ads per page as well as continue on the path to viewability. The dependencies here are critical to an optimized user experience.</p>
<p>The consumer is demanding these actions, challenging us to do better, and we must respond.</p>
<p>The IAB Tech Lab will continue to provide the tools for publishers in the digital supply chain to have a dialogue with users about their choices so that content providers can generate revenue while creating value. Publishers should have the opportunity to provide rich advertising experiences, L.E.A.N. advertising experiences, and subscription services. Or publishers can simply deny their service to users who choose to keep on blocking ads. That is all part of elasticity of consumer tolerance and choice.</p>
<p>Finally, we must do this in an increasingly fragmented market, across screens. We must do this in environments where entire sites are blocked, purposefully or not. Yes, it is disappointing that our development efforts will have to manage with multiple frameworks while we work to supply the economic engine to sustain an open internet. However, our goal is still to provide diverse content and voices to as many connected users as possible around the world.</p>
<p>That is user experience.</p>
<p>IAB Tech Lab Members can join the IAB Tech Lab Ad Blocking Working Group, please email <ahref="mailto:adblocking@iab.com">adblocking@iab.com</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Read <atarget="_blank"href="http://www.iab.com/insights/ad-blocking/">more about ad blocking here</a>.</p>
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<h4name="9736"id="9736"data-align="center">Welcome to DoctorX’s Barcelona lab, where the drugs you bought online are tested for safety and purity. No questions asked.</h4>
<pname="8a83"id="8a83">Standing at a table in a chemistry lab in Barcelona, Cristina Gil Lladanosa tears open a silver, smell-proof protective envelope. She slides out a transparent bag full of crystals. Around her, machines whir and hum, and other researchers mill around in long, white coats.</p>
<pname="b675"id="b675">She is holding the lab’s latest delivery of a drug bought from the “deep web,” the clandestine corner of the internet that isn’t reachable by normal search engines, and is home to some sites that require special software to access. Labeled as <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA"data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA"rel="nofollow">MDMA</a> (the street term is ecstasy), this sample has been shipped from Canada. Lladanosa and her colleague Iván Fornís Espinosa have also received drugs, anonymously, from people in China, Australia, Europe and the United States.</p>
<pname="3c0b"id="3c0b">“Here we have speed, MDMA, cocaine, pills,” Lladanosa says, pointing to vials full of red, green, blue and clear solutions sitting in labeled boxes.</p>
<figcaption>Cristina Gil Lladanosa, at the Barcelona testing lab | photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div>
<pname="7a54"id="7a54">Since 2011, with the launch of <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29"data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29"rel="nofollow">Silk Road</a>, anybody has been able to safely buy illegal drugs from the deep web and have them delivered to their door. Though the FBI shut down that black market in October 2013, other outlets have emerged to fill its role. For the last 10 months the lab at which Lladanosa and Espinosa work has offered a paid testing service of those drugs. By sending in samples for analysis, users can know exactly what it is they are buying, and make a more informed decision about whether to ingest the substance. The group, called <ahref="http://energycontrol.org/"data-href="http://energycontrol.org/"rel="nofollow">Energy Control</a>, which has being running “harm reduction” programs since 1999, is the first to run a testing service explicitly geared towards verifying those purchases from the deep web.</p>
<pname="4395"id="4395">Before joining Energy Control, Lladanosa briefly worked at a pharmacy, whereas Espinosa spent 14 years doing drug analysis. Working at Energy Control is “more gratifying,” and “rewarding” than her previous jobs, Lladanosa told me. They also receive help from a group of volunteers, made up of a mixture of “squatters,” as Espinosa put it, and medical students, who prepare the samples for testing.</p>
<pname="0c18"id="0c18">After weighing out the crystals, aggressively mixing it with methanol until dissolved, and delicately pouring the liquid into a tiny brown bottle, Lladanosa, a petite woman who is nearly engulfed by her lab coat, is now ready to test the sample. She loads a series of three trays on top of a large white appliance sitting on a table, called a gas chromatograph (GC). A jungle of thick pipes hang from the lab’s ceiling behind it.</p>
<pname="1549"id="1549">“Chromatography separates all the substances,” Lladanosa says as she loads the machine with an array of drugs sent from the deep web and local Spanish users. It can tell whether a sample is pure or contaminated, and if the latter, with what.</p>
<pname="5d0f"id="5d0f">Rushes of hot air blow across the desk as the gas chromatograph blasts the sample at 280 degrees Celsius. Thirty minutes later the machine’s robotic arm automatically moves over to grip another bottle. The machine will continue cranking through the 150 samples in the trays for most of the work week.</p>
<pname="15e0"id="15e0">To get the drugs to Barcelona, a user mails at least 10 milligrams of a substance to the offices of the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo, the non-government organization that oversees Energy Control. The sample then gets delivered to the testing service’s laboratory, at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, a futuristic, seven story building sitting metres away from the beach. Energy Control borrows its lab space from a biomedical research group for free.</p>
<pname="2574"id="2574">The tests cost 50 Euro per sample. Users pay, not surprisingly, with Bitcoin. In the post announcing Energy Control’s service on the deep web, the group promised that “All profits of this service are set aside of maintenance of this project.”</p>
<pname="2644"id="2644">About a week after testing, those results are sent in a PDF to an email address provided by the anonymous client.</p>
<pname="9f91"id="9f91">“The process is quite boring, because you are in a routine,” Lladanosa says. But one part of the process is consistently surprising: that moment when the results pop up on the screen. “Every time it’s something different.” For instance, one cocaine sample she had tested also contained phenacetin, a painkiller added to increase the product’s weight; lidocaine, an anesthetic that numbs the gums, giving the impression that the user is taking higher quality cocaine; and common caffeine.</p>
<pname="39a6"id="39a6">The deep web drug lab is the brainchild of Fernando Caudevilla, a Spanish physician who is better known as “DoctorX” on the deep web, a nickname given to him by his Energy Control co-workers because of his earlier writing about the history, risks and recreational culture of MDMA. In the physical world, Caudevilla has worked for over a decade with Energy Control on various harm reduction focused projects, most of which have involved giving Spanish illegal drug users medical guidance, and often writing leaflets about the harms of certain substances.</p>
<figcaption>Fernando Caudevilla, AKA DoctorX. Photo: Joseph Cox</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div>
<pname="c099"id="c099">Caudevilla first ventured into Silk Road forums in April 2013. “I would like to contribute to this forum offering professional advice in topics related to drug use and health,” he wrote in an <ahref="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"data-href="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"rel="nofollow">introductory post</a>, using his DoctorX alias. Caudevilla offered to provide answers to questions that a typical doctor is not prepared, or willing, to respond to, at least not without a lecture or a judgment. “This advice cannot replace a complete face-to-face medical evaluation,” he wrote, “but I know how difficult it can be to talk frankly about these things.”</p>
<pname="ff1d"id="ff1d">The requests flooded in. A diabetic asked what effect MDMA has on blood sugar; another what the risks of frequent psychedelic use were for a young person. Someone wanted to know whether amphetamine use should be avoided during lactation. In all, Fernando’s thread received over 50,000 visits and 300 questions before the FBI shut down Silk Road.</p>
<pname="1f35"id="1f35">“He’s amazing. A gift to this community,” one user wrote on the Silk Road 2.0 forum, a site that sprang up after the original. “His knowledge is invaluable, and never comes with any judgment.” Up until recently, Caudevilla answered questions on the marketplace “Evolution.” Last week, however, the administrators of that site <ahref="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"data-href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"rel="nofollow">pulled a scam</a>, shutting the market down and escaping with an estimated $12 million worth of Bitcoin.</p>
<pname="b20f"id="b20f">Caudevilla’s transition from dispensing advice to starting up a no-questions-asked drug testing service came as a consequence of his experience on the deep web. He’d wondered whether he could help bring more harm reduction services to a marketplace without controls. The Energy Control project, as part of its mandate of educating drug users and preventing harm, had already been carrying out drug testing for local Spanish users since 2001, at music festivals, night clubs, or through a drop-in service at a lab in Madrid.</p>
<pname="f739"id="f739">“I thought, we are doing this in Spain, why don’t we do an international drug testing service?” Caudevilla told me when I visited the other Energy Control lab, in Madrid. Caudevilla, a stocky character with ear piercings and short, shaved hair, has eyes that light up whenever he discusses the world of the deep web. Later, via email, he elaborated that it was not a hard sell. “It was not too hard to convince them,” he wrote me. Clearly, Energy Control believed that the reputation he had earned as an unbiased medical professional on the deep web might carry over to the drug analysis service, where one needs to establish “credibility, trustworthiness, [and] transparency,” Caudevilla said. “We could not make mistakes,” he added.</p>
<pname="7b5e"id="7b5e">While the Energy Control lab in Madrid lab only tests Spanish drugs from various sources, it is the Barcelona location which vets the substances bought in the shadowy recesses of of the deep web. Caudevilla no longer runs it, having handed it over to his colleague Ana Muñoz. She maintains a presence on the deep web forums, answers questions from potential users, and sends back reports when they are ready.</p>
<pname="0f0e"id="0f0e">The testing program exists in a legal grey area. The people who own the Barcelona lab are accredited to experiment with and handle drugs, but Energy Control doesn’t have this permission itself, at least not in writing.</p>
<pname="e002"id="e002">“We have a verbal agreement with the police and other authorities. They already know what we are doing,” Lladanosa tells me. It is a pact of mutual benefit. Energy Control provides the police with information on batches of drugs in Spain, whether they’re from the deep web or not, Espinosa says. They also contribute to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s early warning system, a collaboration that attempts to spread information about dangerous drugs as quickly as possible.</p>
<pname="db1b"id="db1b">By the time of my visit in February, Energy Control had received over 150 samples from the deep web and have been receiving more at a rate of between 4 and 8 a week. Traditional drugs, such as cocaine and MDMA, make up about 70 percent of the samples tested, but the Barcelona lab has also received samples of the prescription pill codeine, research chemicals and synthetic cannabinoids, and even pills of Viagra.</p>
<pname="e76f"id="e76f">So it’s fair to make a tentative judgement on what people are paying for on the deep web. The verdict thus far? Overall, drugs on the deep web appear to be of much higher quality than those found on the street.</p>
<pname="5352"id="5352">“In general, the cocaine is amazing,” says Caudevilla, saying that the samples they’ve seen have purities climbing towards 80 or 90 percent, and some even higher. To get an idea of how unusual this is, take a look at the <ahref="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"data-href="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"rel="nofollow">United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report 2014</a>, which reports that the average quality of street cocaine in Spain is just over 40 percent, while in the United Kingdom it is closer to 30 percent.“We have found 100 percent [pure] cocaine,” he adds. “That’s really, really strange. That means that, technically, this cocaine has been purified, with clandestine methods.”</p>
<pname="a71c"id="a71c">Naturally, identifying vendors who sell this top-of-the-range stuff is one of the reasons that people have sent samples to Energy Control. Caudevilla was keen to stress that, officially, Energy Control’s service “is not intended to be a control of drug quality,” meaning a vetting process for identifying the best sellers, but that is exactly how some people have been using it.</p>
<pname="cb5b"id="cb5b">As one buyer on the Evolution market, elmo666, wrote to me over the site’s messaging system, “My initial motivations were selfish. My primary motivation was to ensure that I was receiving and continue to receive a high quality product, essentially to keep the vendor honest as far as my interactions with them went.”</p>
<pname="d80d"id="d80d">Vendors on deep web markets advertise their product just like any other outlet does, using flash sales, gimmicky giveaways and promises of drugs that are superior to those of their competitors. The claims, however, can turn out to be empty: despite the test results that show that deep web cocaine vendors typically sell product that is of a better quality than that found on the street, in plenty of cases, the drugs are nowhere near as pure as advertised.</p>
<pname="36de"id="36de">“You won’t be getting anything CLOSE to what you paid for,” one user complained about the cocaine from ‘Mirkov’, a vendor on Evolution. “He sells 65% not 95%.”</p>
<pname="126b"id="126b">Despite the prevalence of people using the service to gauge the quality of what goes up their nose, many users send samples to Energy Control in the spirit of its original mission: keeping themselves alive and healthy. The worst case scenario from drugs purchased on the deep web is, well the worst case. That was the outcome when <ahref="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"data-href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"rel="nofollow">Patrick McMullen,</a> a 17-year-old Scottish student, ingested half a gram of MDMA and three tabs of LSD, reportedly purchased from the Silk Road. While talking to his friends on Skype, his words became slurred and he passed out. Paramedics could not revive him. The coroner for that case, Sherrif Payne, who deemed the cause of death ecstasy toxicity, told <em>The Independent</em> “You never know the purity of what you are taking and you can easily come unstuck.”</p>
<pname="5e9e"id="5e9e">ScreamMyName, a deep web user who has been active since the original Silk Road, wants to alert users to the dangerous chemicals that are often mixed with drugs, and is using Energy Control as a means to do so.</p>
<pname="19a6"id="19a6">“We’re at a time where some vendors are outright sending people poison. Some do it unknowingly,” ScreamMyName told me in an encrypted message. “Cocaine production in South America is often tainted with either levamisole or phenacetine. Both poison to humans and both with severe side effects.”</p>
<pname="9fef"id="9fef">In the case of Levamisole, those prescribing it are often not doctors but veterinarians, as Levamisole is commonly used on animals, primarily for the treatment of worms. If ingested by humans it can lead to cases of extreme eruptions of the skin, as <ahref="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712"data-href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712"rel="nofollow">documented in a study</a> from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. But Lladanosa has found Levamisole in cocaine samples; dealers use it to increase the product weight, allowing them to stretch their batch further for greater profit—and also, she says, because Levamisole has a strong stimulant effect.</p>
<pname="7886"id="7886">“It got me sick as fuck,” Dr. Feel, an Evolution user, wrote on the site’s forums after consuming cocaine that had been cut with 23 percent Levamisole, and later tested by Energy Control. “I was laid up in bed for several days because of that shit. The first night I did it, I thought I was going to die. I nearly drove myself to the ER.”</p>
<pname="18d3"id="18d3">“More people die because of tainted drugs than the drugs themselves,” Dr. Feel added. “It’s the cuts and adulterants that are making people sick and killing them.”</p>
<pname="839a"id="839a">The particular case of cocaine cut with Levamisole is one of the reasons that ScreamMyName has been pushing for more drug testing on the deep web markets. “I recognize that drug use isn’t exactly healthy, but why exacerbate the problem?” he told me when I contacted him after his post. “[Energy Control] provides a way for users to test the drugs they’ll use and for these very users to know what it is they’re putting in their bodies. Such services are in very short supply.”</p>
<pname="18dc"id="18dc">After sending a number of Energy Control tests himself, ScreamMyName started a de facto crowd-sourcing campaign to get more drugs sent to the lab, and then shared the results, after throwing in some cash to get the ball rolling. <ahref="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"data-href="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"rel="nofollow">He set up a Bitcoin wallet</a>, with the hope that users might chip in to fund further tests. At the time of writing, the wallet has received a total of 1.81 bitcoins; around $430 at today’s exchange rates.</p>
<pname="dcbd"id="dcbd">In posts to the Evolution community, ScreamMyName pitched this project as something that will benefit users and keep drug dealer honest. “When the funds build up to a point where we can purchase an [Energy Control] test fee, we’ll do a US thread poll for a few days and try to cohesively decide on what vendor to test,” he continued.</p>
<pname="bff6"id="bff6">Other members of the community have been helping out, too. PlutoPete, a vendor from the original Silk Road who sold cannabis seeds and other legal items, has provided ScreamMyName with packaging to safely send the samples to Barcelona. “A box of baggies, and a load of different moisture barrier bags,” PlutoPete told me over the phone. “That’s what all the vendors use.”</p>
<pname="bb78"id="bb78">It’s a modest program so far. ScreamMyName told me that so far he had gotten enough public funding to purchase five different Energy Control tests, in addition to the ten or so he’s sent himself so far. “The program created is still in its infancy and it is growing and changing as we go along but I have a lot of faith in what we’re doing,” he says.</p>
<pname="5638"id="5638">But the spirit is contagious: elmo666, the other deep web user testing cocaine, originally kept the results of the drug tests to himself, but he, too, saw a benefit to distributing the data. “It is clear that it is a useful service to other users, keeping vendors honest and drugs (and their users) safe,” he told me. He started to report his findings to others on the forums, and then created a thread with summaries of the test results, as well as comments from the vendors if they provided it. Other users were soon basing their decisions on what to buy on elmo666‘s tests.</p>
<pname="de75"id="de75">“I’m defo trying the cola based on the incredibly helpful elmo and his energy control results and recommendations,” wrote user jayk1984. On top of this, elmo666 plans to launch an independent site on the deep web that will collate all of these results, which should act as a resource for users of all the marketplaces.</p>
<pname="6b72"id="6b72">As word of elmo666's efforts spread, he began getting requests from drug dealers who wanted him to use their wares for testing. Clearly, they figured that a positive result from Energy Control would be a fantastic marketing tool to draw more customers. They even offered elmo666 free samples. (He passed.)</p>
<pname="b008"id="b008">Meanwhile, some in the purchasing community are arguing that those running markets on the deep web should be providing quality control themselves. PlutoPete told me over the phone that he had been in discussions about this with Dread Pirate Roberts, the pseudonymous owner of the original Silk Road site. “We [had been] talking about that on a more organized basis on Silk Road 1, doing lots of anonymous buys to police each category. But of course they took the thing [Silk Road] down before we got it properly off the ground,” he lamented.</p>
<pname="49c8"id="49c8">But perhaps it is best that the users, those who are actually consuming the drugs, remain in charge of shaming dealers and warning each other. “It’s our responsibility to police the market based on reviews and feedback,” elmo666 wrote in an Evolution forum post. It seems that in the lawless space of the deep web, where everything from child porn to weapons are sold openly, users have cooperated in an organic display of self-regulation to stamp out those particular batches of drugs that are more likely to harm users.</p>
<pname="386d"id="386d">“That’s always been the case with the deep web,” PlutoPete told me. Indeed, ever since Silk Road, a stable of the drug markets has been the review system, where buyers can leave a rating and feedback for vendors, letting others know about the reliability of the seller. But DoctorX’s lab, rigorously testing the products with scientific instruments, takes it a step further.</p>
<pname="b109"id="b109">“In the white market, they have quality control. In the dark market, it should be the same,” Cristina Gil Lladanosa says to me before I leave the Barcelona lab.</p>
<pname="e3a4"id="e3a4">A week after I visit the lab, the results of the MDMA arrive in my inbox: it is 85 percent pure, with no indications of other active ingredients. Whoever ordered that sample from the digital shelves of the deep web, and had it shipped to their doorstep in Canada, got hold of some seriously good, and relatively safe drugs. And now they know it.</p>
<h4name="9736"id="9736"data-align="center">Welcome to DoctorX’s Barcelona lab, where the drugs you bought online are tested for safety and purity. No questions asked.</h4>
<pname="8a83"id="8a83">Standing at a table in a chemistry lab in Barcelona, Cristina Gil Lladanosa tears open a silver, smell-proof protective envelope. She slides out a transparent bag full of crystals. Around her, machines whir and hum, and other researchers mill around in long, white coats.</p>
<pname="b675"id="b675">She is holding the lab’s latest delivery of a drug bought from the “deep web,” the clandestine corner of the internet that isn’t reachable by normal search engines, and is home to some sites that require special software to access. Labeled as <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA"data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA"rel="nofollow">MDMA</a> (the street term is ecstasy), this sample has been shipped from Canada. Lladanosa and her colleague Iván Fornís Espinosa have also received drugs, anonymously, from people in China, Australia, Europe and the United States.</p>
<pname="3c0b"id="3c0b">“Here we have speed, MDMA, cocaine, pills,” Lladanosa says, pointing to vials full of red, green, blue and clear solutions sitting in labeled boxes.</p>
<figcaption>Cristina Gil Lladanosa, at the Barcelona testing lab | photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
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</div>
<div>
<pname="7a54"id="7a54">Since 2011, with the launch of <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29"data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29"rel="nofollow">Silk Road</a>, anybody has been able to safely buy illegal drugs from the deep web and have them delivered to their door. Though the FBI shut down that black market in October 2013, other outlets have emerged to fill its role. For the last 10 months the lab at which Lladanosa and Espinosa work has offered a paid testing service of those drugs. By sending in samples for analysis, users can know exactly what it is they are buying, and make a more informed decision about whether to ingest the substance. The group, called <ahref="http://energycontrol.org/"data-href="http://energycontrol.org/"rel="nofollow">Energy Control</a>, which has being running “harm reduction” programs since 1999, is the first to run a testing service explicitly geared towards verifying those purchases from the deep web.</p>
<pname="4395"id="4395">Before joining Energy Control, Lladanosa briefly worked at a pharmacy, whereas Espinosa spent 14 years doing drug analysis. Working at Energy Control is “more gratifying,” and “rewarding” than her previous jobs, Lladanosa told me. They also receive help from a group of volunteers, made up of a mixture of “squatters,” as Espinosa put it, and medical students, who prepare the samples for testing.</p>
<pname="0c18"id="0c18">After weighing out the crystals, aggressively mixing it with methanol until dissolved, and delicately pouring the liquid into a tiny brown bottle, Lladanosa, a petite woman who is nearly engulfed by her lab coat, is now ready to test the sample. She loads a series of three trays on top of a large white appliance sitting on a table, called a gas chromatograph (GC). A jungle of thick pipes hang from the lab’s ceiling behind it.</p>
<pname="1549"id="1549">“Chromatography separates all the substances,” Lladanosa says as she loads the machine with an array of drugs sent from the deep web and local Spanish users. It can tell whether a sample is pure or contaminated, and if the latter, with what.</p>
<pname="5d0f"id="5d0f">Rushes of hot air blow across the desk as the gas chromatograph blasts the sample at 280 degrees Celsius. Thirty minutes later the machine’s robotic arm automatically moves over to grip another bottle. The machine will continue cranking through the 150 samples in the trays for most of the work week.</p>
<pname="15e0"id="15e0">To get the drugs to Barcelona, a user mails at least 10 milligrams of a substance to the offices of the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo, the non-government organization that oversees Energy Control. The sample then gets delivered to the testing service’s laboratory, at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, a futuristic, seven story building sitting metres away from the beach. Energy Control borrows its lab space from a biomedical research group for free.</p>
<pname="2574"id="2574">The tests cost 50 Euro per sample. Users pay, not surprisingly, with Bitcoin. In the post announcing Energy Control’s service on the deep web, the group promised that “All profits of this service are set aside of maintenance of this project.”</p>
<pname="2644"id="2644">About a week after testing, those results are sent in a PDF to an email address provided by the anonymous client.</p>
<pname="9f91"id="9f91">“The process is quite boring, because you are in a routine,” Lladanosa says. But one part of the process is consistently surprising: that moment when the results pop up on the screen. “Every time it’s something different.” For instance, one cocaine sample she had tested also contained phenacetin, a painkiller added to increase the product’s weight; lidocaine, an anesthetic that numbs the gums, giving the impression that the user is taking higher quality cocaine; and common caffeine.</p>
<pname="39a6"id="39a6">The deep web drug lab is the brainchild of Fernando Caudevilla, a Spanish physician who is better known as “DoctorX” on the deep web, a nickname given to him by his Energy Control co-workers because of his earlier writing about the history, risks and recreational culture of MDMA. In the physical world, Caudevilla has worked for over a decade with Energy Control on various harm reduction focused projects, most of which have involved giving Spanish illegal drug users medical guidance, and often writing leaflets about the harms of certain substances.</p>
<figcaption>Fernando Caudevilla, AKA DoctorX. Photo: Joseph Cox</figcaption>
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</div>
<div>
<pname="c099"id="c099">Caudevilla first ventured into Silk Road forums in April 2013. “I would like to contribute to this forum offering professional advice in topics related to drug use and health,” he wrote in an <ahref="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"data-href="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"rel="nofollow">introductory post</a>, using his DoctorX alias. Caudevilla offered to provide answers to questions that a typical doctor is not prepared, or willing, to respond to, at least not without a lecture or a judgment. “This advice cannot replace a complete face-to-face medical evaluation,” he wrote, “but I know how difficult it can be to talk frankly about these things.”</p>
<pname="ff1d"id="ff1d">The requests flooded in. A diabetic asked what effect MDMA has on blood sugar; another what the risks of frequent psychedelic use were for a young person. Someone wanted to know whether amphetamine use should be avoided during lactation. In all, Fernando’s thread received over 50,000 visits and 300 questions before the FBI shut down Silk Road.</p>
<pname="1f35"id="1f35">“He’s amazing. A gift to this community,” one user wrote on the Silk Road 2.0 forum, a site that sprang up after the original. “His knowledge is invaluable, and never comes with any judgment.” Up until recently, Caudevilla answered questions on the marketplace “Evolution.” Last week, however, the administrators of that site <ahref="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"data-href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"rel="nofollow">pulled a scam</a>, shutting the market down and escaping with an estimated $12 million worth of Bitcoin.</p>
<pname="b20f"id="b20f">Caudevilla’s transition from dispensing advice to starting up a no-questions-asked drug testing service came as a consequence of his experience on the deep web. He’d wondered whether he could help bring more harm reduction services to a marketplace without controls. The Energy Control project, as part of its mandate of educating drug users and preventing harm, had already been carrying out drug testing for local Spanish users since 2001, at music festivals, night clubs, or through a drop-in service at a lab in Madrid.</p>
<pname="f739"id="f739">“I thought, we are doing this in Spain, why don’t we do an international drug testing service?” Caudevilla told me when I visited the other Energy Control lab, in Madrid. Caudevilla, a stocky character with ear piercings and short, shaved hair, has eyes that light up whenever he discusses the world of the deep web. Later, via email, he elaborated that it was not a hard sell. “It was not too hard to convince them,” he wrote me. Clearly, Energy Control believed that the reputation he had earned as an unbiased medical professional on the deep web might carry over to the drug analysis service, where one needs to establish “credibility, trustworthiness, [and] transparency,” Caudevilla said. “We could not make mistakes,” he added.</p>
<pname="7b5e"id="7b5e">While the Energy Control lab in Madrid lab only tests Spanish drugs from various sources, it is the Barcelona location which vets the substances bought in the shadowy recesses of of the deep web. Caudevilla no longer runs it, having handed it over to his colleague Ana Muñoz. She maintains a presence on the deep web forums, answers questions from potential users, and sends back reports when they are ready.</p>
<pname="0f0e"id="0f0e">The testing program exists in a legal grey area. The people who own the Barcelona lab are accredited to experiment with and handle drugs, but Energy Control doesn’t have this permission itself, at least not in writing.</p>
<pname="e002"id="e002">“We have a verbal agreement with the police and other authorities. They already know what we are doing,” Lladanosa tells me. It is a pact of mutual benefit. Energy Control provides the police with information on batches of drugs in Spain, whether they’re from the deep web or not, Espinosa says. They also contribute to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s early warning system, a collaboration that attempts to spread information about dangerous drugs as quickly as possible.</p>
<pname="db1b"id="db1b">By the time of my visit in February, Energy Control had received over 150 samples from the deep web and have been receiving more at a rate of between 4 and 8 a week. Traditional drugs, such as cocaine and MDMA, make up about 70 percent of the samples tested, but the Barcelona lab has also received samples of the prescription pill codeine, research chemicals and synthetic cannabinoids, and even pills of Viagra.</p>
<pname="e76f"id="e76f">So it’s fair to make a tentative judgement on what people are paying for on the deep web. The verdict thus far? Overall, drugs on the deep web appear to be of much higher quality than those found on the street.</p>
<pname="5352"id="5352">“In general, the cocaine is amazing,” says Caudevilla, saying that the samples they’ve seen have purities climbing towards 80 or 90 percent, and some even higher. To get an idea of how unusual this is, take a look at the <ahref="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"data-href="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"rel="nofollow">United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report 2014</a>, which reports that the average quality of street cocaine in Spain is just over 40 percent, while in the United Kingdom it is closer to 30 percent.“We have found 100 percent [pure] cocaine,” he adds. “That’s really, really strange. That means that, technically, this cocaine has been purified, with clandestine methods.”</p>
<pname="a71c"id="a71c">Naturally, identifying vendors who sell this top-of-the-range stuff is one of the reasons that people have sent samples to Energy Control. Caudevilla was keen to stress that, officially, Energy Control’s service “is not intended to be a control of drug quality,” meaning a vetting process for identifying the best sellers, but that is exactly how some people have been using it.</p>
<pname="cb5b"id="cb5b">As one buyer on the Evolution market, elmo666, wrote to me over the site’s messaging system, “My initial motivations were selfish. My primary motivation was to ensure that I was receiving and continue to receive a high quality product, essentially to keep the vendor honest as far as my interactions with them went.”</p>
<pname="d80d"id="d80d">Vendors on deep web markets advertise their product just like any other outlet does, using flash sales, gimmicky giveaways and promises of drugs that are superior to those of their competitors. The claims, however, can turn out to be empty: despite the test results that show that deep web cocaine vendors typically sell product that is of a better quality than that found on the street, in plenty of cases, the drugs are nowhere near as pure as advertised.</p>
<pname="36de"id="36de">“You won’t be getting anything CLOSE to what you paid for,” one user complained about the cocaine from ‘Mirkov’, a vendor on Evolution. “He sells 65% not 95%.”</p>
<pname="126b"id="126b">Despite the prevalence of people using the service to gauge the quality of what goes up their nose, many users send samples to Energy Control in the spirit of its original mission: keeping themselves alive and healthy. The worst case scenario from drugs purchased on the deep web is, well the worst case. That was the outcome when <ahref="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"data-href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"rel="nofollow">Patrick McMullen,</a> a 17-year-old Scottish student, ingested half a gram of MDMA and three tabs of LSD, reportedly purchased from the Silk Road. While talking to his friends on Skype, his words became slurred and he passed out. Paramedics could not revive him. The coroner for that case, Sherrif Payne, who deemed the cause of death ecstasy toxicity, told <em>The Independent</em> “You never know the purity of what you are taking and you can easily come unstuck.”</p>
<pname="5e9e"id="5e9e">ScreamMyName, a deep web user who has been active since the original Silk Road, wants to alert users to the dangerous chemicals that are often mixed with drugs, and is using Energy Control as a means to do so.</p>
<pname="19a6"id="19a6">“We’re at a time where some vendors are outright sending people poison. Some do it unknowingly,” ScreamMyName told me in an encrypted message. “Cocaine production in South America is often tainted with either levamisole or phenacetine. Both poison to humans and both with severe side effects.”</p>
<pname="9fef"id="9fef">In the case of Levamisole, those prescribing it are often not doctors but veterinarians, as Levamisole is commonly used on animals, primarily for the treatment of worms. If ingested by humans it can lead to cases of extreme eruptions of the skin, as <ahref="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712"data-href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712"rel="nofollow">documented in a study</a> from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. But Lladanosa has found Levamisole in cocaine samples; dealers use it to increase the product weight, allowing them to stretch their batch further for greater profit—and also, she says, because Levamisole has a strong stimulant effect.</p>
<pname="7886"id="7886">“It got me sick as fuck,” Dr. Feel, an Evolution user, wrote on the site’s forums after consuming cocaine that had been cut with 23 percent Levamisole, and later tested by Energy Control. “I was laid up in bed for several days because of that shit. The first night I did it, I thought I was going to die. I nearly drove myself to the ER.”</p>
<pname="18d3"id="18d3">“More people die because of tainted drugs than the drugs themselves,” Dr. Feel added. “It’s the cuts and adulterants that are making people sick and killing them.”</p>
<pname="839a"id="839a">The particular case of cocaine cut with Levamisole is one of the reasons that ScreamMyName has been pushing for more drug testing on the deep web markets. “I recognize that drug use isn’t exactly healthy, but why exacerbate the problem?” he told me when I contacted him after his post. “[Energy Control] provides a way for users to test the drugs they’ll use and for these very users to know what it is they’re putting in their bodies. Such services are in very short supply.”</p>
<pname="18dc"id="18dc">After sending a number of Energy Control tests himself, ScreamMyName started a de facto crowd-sourcing campaign to get more drugs sent to the lab, and then shared the results, after throwing in some cash to get the ball rolling. <ahref="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"data-href="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"rel="nofollow">He set up a Bitcoin wallet</a>, with the hope that users might chip in to fund further tests. At the time of writing, the wallet has received a total of 1.81 bitcoins; around $430 at today’s exchange rates.</p>
<pname="dcbd"id="dcbd">In posts to the Evolution community, ScreamMyName pitched this project as something that will benefit users and keep drug dealer honest. “When the funds build up to a point where we can purchase an [Energy Control] test fee, we’ll do a US thread poll for a few days and try to cohesively decide on what vendor to test,” he continued.</p>
<pname="bff6"id="bff6">Other members of the community have been helping out, too. PlutoPete, a vendor from the original Silk Road who sold cannabis seeds and other legal items, has provided ScreamMyName with packaging to safely send the samples to Barcelona. “A box of baggies, and a load of different moisture barrier bags,” PlutoPete told me over the phone. “That’s what all the vendors use.”</p>
<pname="bb78"id="bb78">It’s a modest program so far. ScreamMyName told me that so far he had gotten enough public funding to purchase five different Energy Control tests, in addition to the ten or so he’s sent himself so far. “The program created is still in its infancy and it is growing and changing as we go along but I have a lot of faith in what we’re doing,” he says.</p>
<pname="5638"id="5638">But the spirit is contagious: elmo666, the other deep web user testing cocaine, originally kept the results of the drug tests to himself, but he, too, saw a benefit to distributing the data. “It is clear that it is a useful service to other users, keeping vendors honest and drugs (and their users) safe,” he told me. He started to report his findings to others on the forums, and then created a thread with summaries of the test results, as well as comments from the vendors if they provided it. Other users were soon basing their decisions on what to buy on elmo666‘s tests.</p>
<pname="de75"id="de75">“I’m defo trying the cola based on the incredibly helpful elmo and his energy control results and recommendations,” wrote user jayk1984. On top of this, elmo666 plans to launch an independent site on the deep web that will collate all of these results, which should act as a resource for users of all the marketplaces.</p>
<pname="6b72"id="6b72">As word of elmo666's efforts spread, he began getting requests from drug dealers who wanted him to use their wares for testing. Clearly, they figured that a positive result from Energy Control would be a fantastic marketing tool to draw more customers. They even offered elmo666 free samples. (He passed.)</p>
<pname="b008"id="b008">Meanwhile, some in the purchasing community are arguing that those running markets on the deep web should be providing quality control themselves. PlutoPete told me over the phone that he had been in discussions about this with Dread Pirate Roberts, the pseudonymous owner of the original Silk Road site. “We [had been] talking about that on a more organized basis on Silk Road 1, doing lots of anonymous buys to police each category. But of course they took the thing [Silk Road] down before we got it properly off the ground,” he lamented.</p>
<pname="49c8"id="49c8">But perhaps it is best that the users, those who are actually consuming the drugs, remain in charge of shaming dealers and warning each other. “It’s our responsibility to police the market based on reviews and feedback,” elmo666 wrote in an Evolution forum post. It seems that in the lawless space of the deep web, where everything from child porn to weapons are sold openly, users have cooperated in an organic display of self-regulation to stamp out those particular batches of drugs that are more likely to harm users.</p>
<pname="386d"id="386d">“That’s always been the case with the deep web,” PlutoPete told me. Indeed, ever since Silk Road, a stable of the drug markets has been the review system, where buyers can leave a rating and feedback for vendors, letting others know about the reliability of the seller. But DoctorX’s lab, rigorously testing the products with scientific instruments, takes it a step further.</p>
<pname="b109"id="b109">“In the white market, they have quality control. In the dark market, it should be the same,” Cristina Gil Lladanosa says to me before I leave the Barcelona lab.</p>
<pname="e3a4"id="e3a4">A week after I visit the lab, the results of the MDMA arrive in my inbox: it is 85 percent pure, with no indications of other active ingredients. Whoever ordered that sample from the digital shelves of the deep web, and had it shipped to their doorstep in Canada, got hold of some seriously good, and relatively safe drugs. And now they know it.</p>
<p>Posted by kovarex, TOGos, Ernestas, Albert on 2019-02-15, <ahref="http://fakehost/blog/">all posts</a></p>
<h2>The release plan <spansize="2">(kovarex)</span>
</h2>
<p>This week was the time to close and finish all the things that will go to 0.17.0.</p>
<p>Not all of the things that we originally planned to be done were done (surprise), but we just left any non-essential stuff for later so we won't postpone the release any further. The plan is, that next week will be dedicated to the office playtesting and bugfixing. Many would argue, that we could just release instantly and let the players find the bugs for us, but we want to fix the most obvious problems in-house to avoid too many duplicate bug reports and chaos after the release. Also, some potential bugs, like save corruptions, are much more easily worked on in-house.</p>
<p> If the playtesting goes well, we will let you know next Friday, and if it is the case, we will aim to release the week starting 25th February. </p>
<h3>After release plan</h3>
<p> Since there are a lot of things we would like to do before we can call 0.17 good enough, we will simply push new things into the 0.17 releases as time goes on. Even if 0.17 becomes stable in a reasonable time, we would still push things on top of it. We can still make experimental/stable version numbers inside 0.17. Most of the things shouldn't be big enough to make the game generally unstable. I've heard countless times a proposal to make small frequent releases of what have we added, this will probably be reality after 0.17 for some time. </p>
<p> The smaller releases will contain mainly: </p>
<ul>
<li>Final looks and behaviour of new GUI screens as they will be finished.</li>
<li>New graphics.</li>
<li>New sounds and sound system tweaks.</li>
<li>Mini tutorial additions and tweaks.</li>
</ul>
<p> This is actually quite a large change to our procedures, and there are many ways we will be trying to maximize the effectiveness of smaller and more regular content updates. </p>
<p> There are several GUI screens that are finished. Others (most of them) are just left there as they are in 0.16. They are a combination of the new GUI styles and old ones. They sometimes look funny and out of place, but they should be functional. </p>
<p><i>* Newly finished things since the last update in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-277">FFF-277</a>.</i></p>
<h3>Blueprint library</h3>
<p> The blueprint library changes have been split into several steps. The reason is, that there was a big motivation to do the integration with the new quickbar (final version introduced in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-278">FFF-278</a>) in time for 0.17.0, while the other changes can be done after. The thing with the quickbar is, that it is quite a big change to one of the most used tools in the game and people generally don't like change even when it is for the better. To minimize the hate of the change, we need to "sell it properly". By that, we should provide as many of the positive aspects of the new quickbar at the time of its introduction. </p>
<p> So the change that is already implemented and working for 0.17 is the ability to put blueprints/books into the quick bar in a way that the quick bar is linked directly to the blueprint library window, so you don't need to have the physical blueprint items in your inventory. The other change is, that picking a blueprint from the blueprint library and then pressing Q will just dismiss it, instead of silently pushing it to your inventory. This works the same as the clipboard described in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-255">FFF-255</a>. You can still explicitly insert the blueprint from the library to an inventory slot, but if you just pick it, use it, and press Q, it goes away. </p>
<p> In addition to this, other changes related to the blueprint library will follow soon after 0.17.0. The first thing is the change of how the GUI looks: </p>
<p> We will also allow to switch between grid and list view. It mainly provides a way to nicely see the longer names of the blueprint. We noticed that players try to put a large amount of info about a blueprint in its name, so we are planning to add a possibility to write a textual description of the blueprint. </p>
<p> The last big change is to allow to put blueprint books into blueprint books, allowing better organisation. Basically like a directory structure. Whenever a blueprint/book is opened, we plan to show its current location, so the player knows exactly what is going on. </p>
<p> Has it ever happened to you, that you have robots trying to put things into your full inventory, while you pick an item from it to build something, and then you just can't put it back, as the diligent robots just filled the last slot in your inventory by whatever they are trying to give to you? Wood from tree removal is the most frequent thing in my case. </p>
<p> This was annoying in 0.16 from time to time, but with the new quickbar, it started to happen even more, as now, you have only one inventory, and no reserved slots in the quickbar. To solve that, we just extended the "principal" of the hand. When you pick something from the inventory, the hand icon appears on the slot. As long as you hold the thing in your cursor, the hand stays there, and prevents other things from being inserted there. This way, you should always be able to return the currently selected item into your inventory as long as you didn't get it from external source like a chest. </p>
<p>Everyone has different opinions about what makes a good Factorio world. I've been working on several changes for 0.17, but the overarching theme has been to make the map generator options screen more intuitive and more powerful.</p>
<p> This was talked about somewhat in an earlier FFF (<ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-258">FFF-258</a>) regarding ore placement, but since then we found more stuff to fix. </p>
<h3>Biter Bases</h3>
<p> In 0.16, the size control for biter bases didn't have much effect. The frequency control changed the frequency, but that also decreased the size of bases, which <ahref="https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?t=55113">wasn't generally what people wanted</a>. </p>
<p> For 0.17 we've reworked biter placement using a system similar to that with which we got resource placement under control. The size and frequency controls now act more like most people would expect, with frequency increasing the number of bases, and size changing the size of each base. </p>
<br/><i>New preview UI showing the effects of enemy base controls. In reality the preview takes a couple seconds to regenerate after every change, but the regeneration part is skipped in this animation to clearly show the effects of the controls.</i>
</p>
<p> If you don't like the relatively uniform-across-the-world placement of biters, there are changes under the hood to make it easier for modders to do something different. Placement is now based on <ahref="https://wiki.factorio.com/Prototype/NamedNoiseExpression">NamedNoiseExpressions</a> "enemy-base-frequency" and "enemy-base-radius", which in turn reference "enemy-base-intensity". By overriding any of those, a modder could easily create a map where biters are found only at high elevations, or only near water, or correlate enemy placement with that of resources, or any other thing that can be expressed as a function of location. </p>
<h3>Cliffs</h3>
<p> We've added a 'continuity' control for cliffs. If you really like mazes of cliffs, set it to high to reduce the number of gaps in cliff faces. Or you can turn it way down to make cliffs very rare or be completely absent. </p>
<br/><i>Changing cliff frequency and continuity. Since cliffs are based on elevation, you'll have to turn frequency <strong>way</strong> up if you want lots of layers even near the starting lake.</i>
</p>
<h3>Biome Debugging</h3>
<p> Tile placement is based on a range of humidity and 'aux' values (humidity and aux being properties that vary at different points across the world) that are suitable for each type of tile. For example: grass is only placed in places with relatively high humidity, and desert (not to be confused with plain old sand) only gets placed where aux is high. We've taken to calling these constraints 'rectangles', because when you plot each tile's home turf on a chart of humidity and aux, they are shown as rectangles. </p>
<p> It's hard to make sense of the rectangles just by looking at the autoplace code for each tile, so I wrote a script to chart them. This allowed us to ensure that they were arranged as we wanted, with no gaps between them, and with overlap in some cases. </p>
<p> Having the humidity-aux-tile chart is all well and good, but doesn't tell the whole story, since tile placement also depends on a noise layer specific to each tile type, and could also influenced by user-adjustable autoplace controls (e.g. turning the grass slider up). So to further help us visualize how humidity, aux, tile-specific noise, and autoplace controls worked together to determine tiles on the map, there are a couple of alternate humidity and aux generators that simply vary them linearly from north-south and west-east, respectively. </p>
<br/><i>Using 'debug-moisture' and 'debug-aux' generators to drive moisture and aux, respectively.</i>
</p>
<p> This map helped us realize that, rather than having controls for each different type of tile, it made more sense to just control moisture and aux (which is called 'terrain type' in the GUI, because 'aux' doesn't mean anything). </p>
<br/><i>Sliding the moisture and aux bias sliders to make the world more or less grassy or red-deserty.</i>
</p>
<p> A pet project of mine has been to put controls in the map generator GUI so that we could select generators for various tile properties (temperature, aux, humidity, elevation, etc) at map-creation time without necessarily needing to involve mods. This was useful for debugging the biome rectangles, but my ulterior motive was to, at least in cases where there are multiple options, show the generator information to players. A couple of reasons for this: </p>
<ul>
<li>It was already possible for mods to override tile property generators via presets, but we didn't have a place to show that information in the UI. So switching between presets could change hidden variables in non-obvious ways and lead to a lot of confusion.</li>
<li>I had dreams of shipping alternate elevation generators in the base game.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Water Placement</h3>
<p> For 0.16 I <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-207">attempted to make the shape of continents more interesting</a>. Some people <ahref="https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/7n3mn1/016_swamplands_are_pure_awesome/">really liked</a> the <ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pkwTjG-sJg">new terrain</a>, or at least <ahref="https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/7krq86/question_about_water_generation_in_016/">managed to find some settings that made it work</a> for them. Others called it a "swampy mess". A common refrain was that the world was more fun to explore in the 0.12 days. </p>
<p> So in 0.17 we're restoring the <em>default</em> elevation generator to one very similar to that used by 0.12. Which means large, sometimes-connected lakes. </p>
<p> The water 'frequency' control was confusing to a lot of people including myself. It could be interpreted as "how much water", when the actual effect was to inversely scale both bodies of water and continents, such that higher water frequency actually meant smaller bodies of water. So for 0.17, the water 'frequency' and 'size' sliders are being replaced with 'scale' and 'coverage', which do the same thing, but in a hopefully more obvious way. Larger scale means larger land features, while more coverage means more of the map covered in water. </p>
<h3>New Map Types</h3>
<p> In order to ensure a decent starting area, the elevation generator always makes a plateau there (so you'll never spawn in the middle of the ocean), and a lake (so you can get a power plant running). Depending on what's going on outside of that plateau, this sometimes resulted in a circular ring of cliffs around the starting point, which looked very artificial, and we wanted to reduce that effect. </p>
<p> In the process of solving that problem I created another custom generator for debugging purposes. This one simply generated that starting area plateau in an endless ocean. I don't actually remember how this was useful for debugging, but at one point I directed Twinsen to look at it to illustrate the mechanics behind generating the starting area. </p>
<p> The rest of the team liked that setting so much that we're making it a player-selectable option. So in 0.17 you'll get to pick between the 'Normal' map type, which resembles that from 0.12, and 'Island', which gives you a single large-ish island at the starting point. There's a slider to let you change the size of the island(s). </p>
<p> And speaking of scale sliders, we're expanding their range from ± a factor of 2 (the old 'very low' to 'very high' settings) to ± a factor of 6 (shown as '17%' to '600%'). Previously the values were stored internally as one of 5 discrete options, but as the recent terrain generation changes have made actual numeric multipliers more meaningful in most contexts (e.g. the number of ore patches is directly proportional to the value of the 'frequency' slider, rather than being just vaguely related to it somehow), we're switching to storing them as numbers. This has the side-effect that if you don't mind <ahref="https://gist.github.com/Bilka2/a17841d0ff1028b63c60c2bbf6fa7e4f">editing some JSON</a>, you'll be able to create maps with values outside the range provided by the GUI sliders. </p>
<p> Mods will be able to add their own 'map types' to the map type drop-down, too. If you really liked the shape of landmasses in 0.16 and want to be able to continue creating new maps with it, please let us know on the forum. </p>
<p> The design of the accumulator has been always good. The 4 very visible cylinders, looking like giant batteries, Tesla poles and the electric beams perfectly telegraphed its function in terms of style and readability. That’s why for the high-res conversion we were very careful about keeping this entity as it was. </p>
<p> The only thing that was a bit disturbing (for some) are the poles crossing to each other when more than one accumulator is placed in a row. So we decided to fix it (or break it). The rest of the work was making the entity compatible for the actual look of the game. But in essence accumulators are still the same. </p>
<p> As always, let us know what you think on our <ahref="https://forums.factorio.com/64912">forum</a>. </p>
</div>
</div>
<h2> Friday Facts #282 - 0.17 in sight </h2>
<p>Posted by kovarex, TOGos, Ernestas, Albert on 2019-02-15, <ahref="http://fakehost/blog/">all posts</a></p>
<h2>The release plan <spansize="2">(kovarex)</span>
</h2>
<p>This week was the time to close and finish all the things that will go to 0.17.0.</p>
<p>Not all of the things that we originally planned to be done were done (surprise), but we just left any non-essential stuff for later so we won't postpone the release any further. The plan is, that next week will be dedicated to the office playtesting and bugfixing. Many would argue, that we could just release instantly and let the players find the bugs for us, but we want to fix the most obvious problems in-house to avoid too many duplicate bug reports and chaos after the release. Also, some potential bugs, like save corruptions, are much more easily worked on in-house.</p>
<p> If the playtesting goes well, we will let you know next Friday, and if it is the case, we will aim to release the week starting 25th February. </p>
<h3>After release plan</h3>
<p> Since there are a lot of things we would like to do before we can call 0.17 good enough, we will simply push new things into the 0.17 releases as time goes on. Even if 0.17 becomes stable in a reasonable time, we would still push things on top of it. We can still make experimental/stable version numbers inside 0.17. Most of the things shouldn't be big enough to make the game generally unstable. I've heard countless times a proposal to make small frequent releases of what have we added, this will probably be reality after 0.17 for some time. </p>
<p> The smaller releases will contain mainly: </p>
<ul>
<li>Final looks and behaviour of new GUI screens as they will be finished.</li>
<li>New graphics.</li>
<li>New sounds and sound system tweaks.</li>
<li>Mini tutorial additions and tweaks.</li>
</ul>
<p> This is actually quite a large change to our procedures, and there are many ways we will be trying to maximize the effectiveness of smaller and more regular content updates. </p>
<p> There are several GUI screens that are finished. Others (most of them) are just left there as they are in 0.16. They are a combination of the new GUI styles and old ones. They sometimes look funny and out of place, but they should be functional. </p>
<p><i>* Newly finished things since the last update in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-277">FFF-277</a>.</i></p>
<h3>Blueprint library</h3>
<p> The blueprint library changes have been split into several steps. The reason is, that there was a big motivation to do the integration with the new quickbar (final version introduced in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-278">FFF-278</a>) in time for 0.17.0, while the other changes can be done after. The thing with the quickbar is, that it is quite a big change to one of the most used tools in the game and people generally don't like change even when it is for the better. To minimize the hate of the change, we need to "sell it properly". By that, we should provide as many of the positive aspects of the new quickbar at the time of its introduction. </p>
<p> So the change that is already implemented and working for 0.17 is the ability to put blueprints/books into the quick bar in a way that the quick bar is linked directly to the blueprint library window, so you don't need to have the physical blueprint items in your inventory. The other change is, that picking a blueprint from the blueprint library and then pressing Q will just dismiss it, instead of silently pushing it to your inventory. This works the same as the clipboard described in <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-255">FFF-255</a>. You can still explicitly insert the blueprint from the library to an inventory slot, but if you just pick it, use it, and press Q, it goes away. </p>
<p> In addition to this, other changes related to the blueprint library will follow soon after 0.17.0. The first thing is the change of how the GUI looks: </p>
<p> We will also allow to switch between grid and list view. It mainly provides a way to nicely see the longer names of the blueprint. We noticed that players try to put a large amount of info about a blueprint in its name, so we are planning to add a possibility to write a textual description of the blueprint. </p>
<p> The last big change is to allow to put blueprint books into blueprint books, allowing better organisation. Basically like a directory structure. Whenever a blueprint/book is opened, we plan to show its current location, so the player knows exactly what is going on. </p>
<p> Has it ever happened to you, that you have robots trying to put things into your full inventory, while you pick an item from it to build something, and then you just can't put it back, as the diligent robots just filled the last slot in your inventory by whatever they are trying to give to you? Wood from tree removal is the most frequent thing in my case. </p>
<p> This was annoying in 0.16 from time to time, but with the new quickbar, it started to happen even more, as now, you have only one inventory, and no reserved slots in the quickbar. To solve that, we just extended the "principal" of the hand. When you pick something from the inventory, the hand icon appears on the slot. As long as you hold the thing in your cursor, the hand stays there, and prevents other things from being inserted there. This way, you should always be able to return the currently selected item into your inventory as long as you didn't get it from external source like a chest. </p>
<p>Everyone has different opinions about what makes a good Factorio world. I've been working on several changes for 0.17, but the overarching theme has been to make the map generator options screen more intuitive and more powerful.</p>
<p> This was talked about somewhat in an earlier FFF (<ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-258">FFF-258</a>) regarding ore placement, but since then we found more stuff to fix. </p>
<h3>Biter Bases</h3>
<p> In 0.16, the size control for biter bases didn't have much effect. The frequency control changed the frequency, but that also decreased the size of bases, which <ahref="https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?t=55113">wasn't generally what people wanted</a>. </p>
<p> For 0.17 we've reworked biter placement using a system similar to that with which we got resource placement under control. The size and frequency controls now act more like most people would expect, with frequency increasing the number of bases, and size changing the size of each base. </p>
<br/><i>New preview UI showing the effects of enemy base controls. In reality the preview takes a couple seconds to regenerate after every change, but the regeneration part is skipped in this animation to clearly show the effects of the controls.</i>
</p>
<p> If you don't like the relatively uniform-across-the-world placement of biters, there are changes under the hood to make it easier for modders to do something different. Placement is now based on <ahref="https://wiki.factorio.com/Prototype/NamedNoiseExpression">NamedNoiseExpressions</a> "enemy-base-frequency" and "enemy-base-radius", which in turn reference "enemy-base-intensity". By overriding any of those, a modder could easily create a map where biters are found only at high elevations, or only near water, or correlate enemy placement with that of resources, or any other thing that can be expressed as a function of location. </p>
<h3>Cliffs</h3>
<p> We've added a 'continuity' control for cliffs. If you really like mazes of cliffs, set it to high to reduce the number of gaps in cliff faces. Or you can turn it way down to make cliffs very rare or be completely absent. </p>
<br/><i>Changing cliff frequency and continuity. Since cliffs are based on elevation, you'll have to turn frequency <strong>way</strong> up if you want lots of layers even near the starting lake.</i>
</p>
<h3>Biome Debugging</h3>
<p> Tile placement is based on a range of humidity and 'aux' values (humidity and aux being properties that vary at different points across the world) that are suitable for each type of tile. For example: grass is only placed in places with relatively high humidity, and desert (not to be confused with plain old sand) only gets placed where aux is high. We've taken to calling these constraints 'rectangles', because when you plot each tile's home turf on a chart of humidity and aux, they are shown as rectangles. </p>
<p> It's hard to make sense of the rectangles just by looking at the autoplace code for each tile, so I wrote a script to chart them. This allowed us to ensure that they were arranged as we wanted, with no gaps between them, and with overlap in some cases. </p>
<p> Having the humidity-aux-tile chart is all well and good, but doesn't tell the whole story, since tile placement also depends on a noise layer specific to each tile type, and could also influenced by user-adjustable autoplace controls (e.g. turning the grass slider up). So to further help us visualize how humidity, aux, tile-specific noise, and autoplace controls worked together to determine tiles on the map, there are a couple of alternate humidity and aux generators that simply vary them linearly from north-south and west-east, respectively. </p>
<br/><i>Using 'debug-moisture' and 'debug-aux' generators to drive moisture and aux, respectively.</i>
</p>
<p> This map helped us realize that, rather than having controls for each different type of tile, it made more sense to just control moisture and aux (which is called 'terrain type' in the GUI, because 'aux' doesn't mean anything). </p>
<br/><i>Sliding the moisture and aux bias sliders to make the world more or less grassy or red-deserty.</i>
</p>
<p> A pet project of mine has been to put controls in the map generator GUI so that we could select generators for various tile properties (temperature, aux, humidity, elevation, etc) at map-creation time without necessarily needing to involve mods. This was useful for debugging the biome rectangles, but my ulterior motive was to, at least in cases where there are multiple options, show the generator information to players. A couple of reasons for this: </p>
<ul>
<li>It was already possible for mods to override tile property generators via presets, but we didn't have a place to show that information in the UI. So switching between presets could change hidden variables in non-obvious ways and lead to a lot of confusion.</li>
<li>I had dreams of shipping alternate elevation generators in the base game.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Water Placement</h3>
<p> For 0.16 I <ahref="https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-207">attempted to make the shape of continents more interesting</a>. Some people <ahref="https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/7n3mn1/016_swamplands_are_pure_awesome/">really liked</a> the <ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pkwTjG-sJg">new terrain</a>, or at least <ahref="https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/7krq86/question_about_water_generation_in_016/">managed to find some settings that made it work</a> for them. Others called it a "swampy mess". A common refrain was that the world was more fun to explore in the 0.12 days. </p>
<p> So in 0.17 we're restoring the <em>default</em> elevation generator to one very similar to that used by 0.12. Which means large, sometimes-connected lakes. </p>
<p> The water 'frequency' control was confusing to a lot of people including myself. It could be interpreted as "how much water", when the actual effect was to inversely scale both bodies of water and continents, such that higher water frequency actually meant smaller bodies of water. So for 0.17, the water 'frequency' and 'size' sliders are being replaced with 'scale' and 'coverage', which do the same thing, but in a hopefully more obvious way. Larger scale means larger land features, while more coverage means more of the map covered in water. </p>
<h3>New Map Types</h3>
<p> In order to ensure a decent starting area, the elevation generator always makes a plateau there (so you'll never spawn in the middle of the ocean), and a lake (so you can get a power plant running). Depending on what's going on outside of that plateau, this sometimes resulted in a circular ring of cliffs around the starting point, which looked very artificial, and we wanted to reduce that effect. </p>
<p> In the process of solving that problem I created another custom generator for debugging purposes. This one simply generated that starting area plateau in an endless ocean. I don't actually remember how this was useful for debugging, but at one point I directed Twinsen to look at it to illustrate the mechanics behind generating the starting area. </p>
<p> The rest of the team liked that setting so much that we're making it a player-selectable option. So in 0.17 you'll get to pick between the 'Normal' map type, which resembles that from 0.12, and 'Island', which gives you a single large-ish island at the starting point. There's a slider to let you change the size of the island(s). </p>
<p> And speaking of scale sliders, we're expanding their range from ± a factor of 2 (the old 'very low' to 'very high' settings) to ± a factor of 6 (shown as '17%' to '600%'). Previously the values were stored internally as one of 5 discrete options, but as the recent terrain generation changes have made actual numeric multipliers more meaningful in most contexts (e.g. the number of ore patches is directly proportional to the value of the 'frequency' slider, rather than being just vaguely related to it somehow), we're switching to storing them as numbers. This has the side-effect that if you don't mind <ahref="https://gist.github.com/Bilka2/a17841d0ff1028b63c60c2bbf6fa7e4f">editing some JSON</a>, you'll be able to create maps with values outside the range provided by the GUI sliders. </p>
<p> Mods will be able to add their own 'map types' to the map type drop-down, too. If you really liked the shape of landmasses in 0.16 and want to be able to continue creating new maps with it, please let us know on the forum. </p>
<p> The design of the accumulator has been always good. The 4 very visible cylinders, looking like giant batteries, Tesla poles and the electric beams perfectly telegraphed its function in terms of style and readability. That’s why for the high-res conversion we were very careful about keeping this entity as it was. </p>
<p> The only thing that was a bit disturbing (for some) are the poles crossing to each other when more than one accumulator is placed in a row. So we decided to fix it (or break it). The rest of the work was making the entity compatible for the actual look of the game. But in essence accumulators are still the same. </p>
<p>La protesta social es indisociable de la democracia. Cuando desborda, recanalizarla es más eficiente que reprimirla: ahí reside el arte del acuerdo. En la Argentina la tarea es delicada porque pocos confían en la imparcialidad de las instituciones. Entonces, cada actor reivindica sus intereses con los medios de que dispone: los sindicatos hacen huelga, los estudiantes toman colegios, los empresarios cierran las fábricas y todos hacen piquetes. El politólogo Samuel Huntington definía una sociedad así como pretoriana y el jurista Carlos Nino llamó a la Argentina "un país al margen de la ley". Al movilizarse por sus derechos y desconfiar del Estado, la comunidad mapuche se demuestra bien argentina.</p>
<p>Las cinco provincias patagónicas tienen una población similar a la de La Matanza. A diferencia de los Estados Unidos, que se integraron hacia el oeste otorgando parcelas de tierra a los colonizadores, y de Brasil, donde el rol de ocupación y desarrollo territorial fue cumplido por las fuerzas armadas, la Argentina obvió la tarea integradora tras consolidar su soberanía a finales del siglo XX. Hoy sobra tierra y falta gente. Gobernar sigue siendo poblar, pero también integrar.</p>
<p>Seamos claros: ningún individuo u organización tiene derecho a violar la ley. Pero el problema histórico del Estado argentino no fue tanto quiénes lo desafiaron como quiénes lo gobernaron. Cambiemos.</p>
<p><b><i>Andrés Malamud es politólogo e investigador en la Universidad de Lisboa. Martín Schapiro es abogado
administrativista y analista internacional</i></b></p>
<p><b><i>Andrés Malamud es politólogo e investigador en la Universidad de Lisboa. Martín Schapiro es abogado administrativista y analista internacional</i></b></p>
<pid="d2c1"> I work at <ahref="http://voodoo.io/"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">Voodoo</a>, a French company that creates mobile video games. We have a lot of challenges with performance, availability, and scalability because of the insane amount of traffic our infrastructure supports (billions of events/requests per day …… no joke!). In this setting, every metric is important and gives us a lot of information about the state of our system. </p>
<pid="0e89"> When working with Node.js one of the most critical resources to monitor is the CPU. Most of the time, when working on a low traffic API or project we don’t realize how many simple lines of code can have a huge impact on CPU. On the other hand, when traffic increases, a simple mistake can cost dearly. </p>
<pid="1efa"> What kind of resources does your application need? In most cases, we focus on memory and CPU. Good monitoring of these two elements is mandatory for an application running on production. </p>
<pid="dce9"> For memory, constant monitoring is the best practice to track the worst developer nightmare a.k.a memory leak. </p>
<pid="d2c1"> I work at <ahref="http://voodoo.io/"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">Voodoo</a>, a French company that creates mobile video games. We have a lot of challenges with performance, availability, and scalability because of the insane amount of traffic our infrastructure supports (billions of events/requests per day …… no joke!). In this setting, every metric is important and gives us a lot of information about the state of our system. </p>
<pid="0e89"> When working with Node.js one of the most critical resources to monitor is the CPU. Most of the time, when working on a low traffic API or project we don’t realize how many simple lines of code can have a huge impact on CPU. On the other hand, when traffic increases, a simple mistake can cost dearly. </p>
<pid="1efa"> What kind of resources does your application need? In most cases, we focus on memory and CPU. Good monitoring of these two elements is mandatory for an application running on production. </p>
<pid="dce9"> For memory, constant monitoring is the best practice to track the worst developer nightmare a.k.a memory leak. </p>
<pid="69dd"> A good way to debug memory leak is a memory dump and/or memory sampling but this is not the subject. </p>
<pid="1fbc"> (for more details about V8 and its garbage collector you can read my previous article <atarget="_blank"rel="noopener"href="http://fakehost/voodoo-engineering/nodejs-internals-v8-garbage-collector-a6eca82540ec">here</a>) </p>
<blockquote>
<p> Stay focused on the CPU! </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="40e6"> Most of the time we monitor this resource with a simple solution allowing us to get a graph representing CPU consumption over time. If we want to be reactive we add an alarm, based on a threshold, to warn us when CPU usage is too high. </p>
<pid="0728"> And what next? We don’t have data about the state of the instance when the CPU usage has increased. So we can’t determine why we had this peak, at least not without an important time of debugging, comparing log, etc. This is exactly why you need to use CPU profiling. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> “Most commonly, profiling information serves to aid program optimization. Profiling is achieved by instrumenting either the program source code or its binary executable form using a tool called a profiler” </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="3e11"> Basically, for Node.js, CPU profiling is nothing more than collecting data about functions which are CPU consuming. And ideally, get a graphic representation of the collected data a.k.a “flame graph” or “flame chart”. </p>
<pid="91c5"> It will help you to track the exact file, line, and function which takes the most time to execute. </p>
<h2id="dd40"> Add arguments to Node.js </h2>
<pid="0306"> Node.js provides a way to collect data about CPU with two command lines. </p>
<pid="66c8"> The first command just executes your application, the argument just tells to V8 engine to collect data. When you stop your script all information is stored in a file. </p>
<figcaption> The output of — prof-process </figcaption>
</figure>
<pid="85fa"> It seems better, here you can determine which function consumes the most of CPU (percentage of the time). </p>
<h2id="9e54"> ClinicJs </h2>
<pid="176a"> ClinicJs is a set of tools that allow you to collect data and display performance charts. With “clinic flame” you can generate a flame graph based on CPU consumption. </p>
<pid="5347"> But once again, you have to stop your app, launch the tool, then terminate the script in order to display the graph (files are generated on the disk). </p>
<pid="d6e6"> For more details, you can see the <ahref="https://clinicjs.org/"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">project</a>. </p>
<pid="be18">
<strong>To sum up</strong>, here is the list of drawbacks of the two previous solutions. </p>
<ul>
<liid="3bef">Downtime (you should kill your application to collect the data) </li>
<liid="c0df">Performance overhead </li>
<liid="27ec">Data collected locally </li>
<liid="a4fd">Need external tools (ClinicJs) </li>
</ul>
<pid="3f2c"> In conclusion: these are good solutions to debug on development environments and/or on a local machine. </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="fcd9"> Unfortunately, CPU issues have a worrying tendency to occur on production, and when you are not in front of your screen. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="294e"> “Inspector” refers to an API thanks to which you can debug your application. By debugging we mean to be able to connect directly to the core of Node.js to collect real-time data about the process. </p>
<pid="ea23"> A module, available since version 8.x of Node.js, provides this kind of feature. There are two advantages to use it: </p>
<ul>
<liid="ed54">it’s native (no additional installation required) </li>
<liid="7992">it can be used programmatically (no interruption) </li>
</ul>
<pid="731f"> And here is how to make a CPU profiling with this module: </p>
<figure>
<div>
</div>
</figure>
<pid="79d1"> As you can see, all the data is returned in variable “profile”. Basically, it’s a simple JSON object representing all the call stack and the CPU consumption for each function. And if you want to use an Async/await syntax you can install the module “inspector-api”. </p>
<pid="195d"> It also comes with a built-in exporter to send data to S3, with this method <strong>you don’t write anything on the disk</strong>! </p>
<figure>
<div>
</div>
</figure>
<pid="964f"> If you use another storage system you can just collect the data and export it by yourself. </p>
<figure>
<div>
</div>
</figure>
<pid="6933"> We have an API that we want to test with autocannon tool. At this step, our project is able to serve around 200 requests in 20 seconds. There is probably a mistake somewhere in the code which slows down our application. </p>
<pid="fb78"> But now, what if we want to trigger a CPU profiling remotely (without ssh connection to the server)? It’s possible using Websocket, SSE or any other technology to send a message to your instance. </p>
<pid="2c91"> Here is a simple example of a server using the “ws” module to send a message to a unique instance. </p>
<figure>
<div>
</div>
</figure>
<pid="2206"> Of course, it only works with one instance, but it’s a fake project to demonstrate the principle ;) </p>
<pid="e92d"> Now we can request our server to ask it to send a message to our instance and start/stop a CPU profiling. In your instance, you can handle the CPU profiling like this: </p>
<figure>
<div>
</div>
</figure>
<pid="c3d0">
<strong>To sum up</strong>: we are able to trigger a CPU profiling, on-demand, in real-time, without interruption or connection to the server. Data can be collected on the disk (and extracted later) or can be sent to S3 (or any other system, PR are welcomed on the <ahref="https://github.com/wallet77/v8-inspector-api"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">inspector-api project</a>). </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="6e87"> And because the profiler is a part of V8 itself, the format of the generated JSON file is compatible with the Chrome dev tools. </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<figcaption> Memory leak in action </figcaption>
</figure>
<pid="69dd"> A good way to debug memory leak is a memory dump and/or memory sampling but this is not the subject. </p>
<pid="1fbc"> (for more details about V8 and its garbage collector you can read my previous article <atarget="_blank"rel="noopener"href="http://fakehost/voodoo-engineering/nodejs-internals-v8-garbage-collector-a6eca82540ec">here</a>) </p>
<blockquote>
<p> Stay focused on the CPU! </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="40e6"> Most of the time we monitor this resource with a simple solution allowing us to get a graph representing CPU consumption over time. If we want to be reactive we add an alarm, based on a threshold, to warn us when CPU usage is too high. </p>
<pid="0728"> And what next? We don’t have data about the state of the instance when the CPU usage has increased. So we can’t determine why we had this peak, at least not without an important time of debugging, comparing log, etc. This is exactly why you need to use CPU profiling. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> “Most commonly, profiling information serves to aid program optimization. Profiling is achieved by instrumenting either the program source code or its binary executable form using a tool called a profiler” </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="3e11"> Basically, for Node.js, CPU profiling is nothing more than collecting data about functions which are CPU consuming. And ideally, get a graphic representation of the collected data a.k.a “flame graph” or “flame chart”. </p>
<pid="91c5"> It will help you to track the exact file, line, and function which takes the most time to execute. </p>
<h2id="dd40"> Add arguments to Node.js </h2>
<pid="0306"> Node.js provides a way to collect data about CPU with two command lines. </p>
<pid="66c8"> The first command just executes your application, the argument just tells to V8 engine to collect data. When you stop your script all information is stored in a file. </p>
<figcaption> The output of — prof-process </figcaption>
</figure>
<pid="85fa"> It seems better, here you can determine which function consumes the most of CPU (percentage of the time). </p>
<h2id="9e54"> ClinicJs </h2>
<pid="176a"> ClinicJs is a set of tools that allow you to collect data and display performance charts. With “clinic flame” you can generate a flame graph based on CPU consumption. </p>
<pid="5347"> But once again, you have to stop your app, launch the tool, then terminate the script in order to display the graph (files are generated on the disk). </p>
<pid="d6e6"> For more details, you can see the <ahref="https://clinicjs.org/"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">project</a>. </p>
<pid="be18">
<strong>To sum up</strong>, here is the list of drawbacks of the two previous solutions.
</p>
<ul>
<liid="3bef">Downtime (you should kill your application to collect the data) </li>
<liid="c0df">Performance overhead </li>
<liid="27ec">Data collected locally </li>
<liid="a4fd">Need external tools (ClinicJs) </li>
</ul>
<pid="3f2c"> In conclusion: these are good solutions to debug on development environments and/or on a local machine. </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="fcd9"> Unfortunately, CPU issues have a worrying tendency to occur on production, and when you are not in front of your screen. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="294e"> “Inspector” refers to an API thanks to which you can debug your application. By debugging we mean to be able to connect directly to the core of Node.js to collect real-time data about the process. </p>
<pid="ea23"> A module, available since version 8.x of Node.js, provides this kind of feature. There are two advantages to use it: </p>
<ul>
<liid="ed54">it’s native (no additional installation required) </li>
<liid="7992">it can be used programmatically (no interruption) </li>
</ul>
<pid="731f"> And here is how to make a CPU profiling with this module: </p>
<figure>
</figure>
<pid="79d1"> As you can see, all the data is returned in variable “profile”. Basically, it’s a simple JSON object representing all the call stack and the CPU consumption for each function. And if you want to use an Async/await syntax you can install the module “inspector-api”. </p>
<pid="195d"> It also comes with a built-in exporter to send data to S3, with this method <strong>you don’t write anything on the disk</strong>! </p>
<figure>
</figure>
<pid="964f"> If you use another storage system you can just collect the data and export it by yourself. </p>
<figure>
</figure>
<pid="6933"> We have an API that we want to test with autocannon tool. At this step, our project is able to serve around 200 requests in 20 seconds. There is probably a mistake somewhere in the code which slows down our application. </p>
<pid="fb78"> But now, what if we want to trigger a CPU profiling remotely (without ssh connection to the server)? It’s possible using Websocket, SSE or any other technology to send a message to your instance. </p>
<pid="2c91"> Here is a simple example of a server using the “ws” module to send a message to a unique instance. </p>
<figure>
</figure>
<pid="2206"> Of course, it only works with one instance, but it’s a fake project to demonstrate the principle ;) </p>
<pid="e92d"> Now we can request our server to ask it to send a message to our instance and start/stop a CPU profiling. In your instance, you can handle the CPU profiling like this: </p>
<figure>
</figure>
<pid="c3d0">
<strong>To sum up</strong>: we are able to trigger a CPU profiling, on-demand, in real-time, without interruption or connection to the server. Data can be collected on the disk (and extracted later) or can be sent to S3 (or any other system, PR are welcomed on the <ahref="https://github.com/wallet77/v8-inspector-api"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">inspector-api project</a>).
</p>
<blockquote>
<pid="6e87"> And because the profiler is a part of V8 itself, the format of the generated JSON file is compatible with the Chrome dev tools. </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<pid="2cda">
<strong>How can we identify an issue?</strong>
</p>
<pid="e0d2"> A CPU profiling should be read like this: </p>
<ul>
<liid="27e6">the x-axis shows the stack profile population </li>
<liid="194a">the y-axis shows stack depth </li>
</ul>
<pid="e950">
<strong>What does it mean?</strong>
</p>
<pid="174c"> The larger is a box (a function call) the more it consumed CPU. So a good CPU profiling should look like a “flame” graph where each stack is the finest possible. </p>
<pid="48d9"> In our example, every request try to generate a token. For this purpose, it calls the function pbkdf2 which is CPU consuming. Our CPU profile looks like a sequence of big blocks of time, like if the last function in the call stack takes 99% of the total time. </p>
<pid="d62c"> The CPU profiling after optimizations, with the same time range. </p>
<figcaption> CPU profiling after optimizations </figcaption>
</figure>
<pid="10ee"> As you can notice, we have to zoom to the profile if we want to see the call stack, because after optimizations the API was able to take a lot more traffic. Now every function in the call stack looks like a microtask. </p>
</div>
<pid="2cda">
<strong>How can we identify an issue?</strong>
</p>
<pid="e0d2"> A CPU profiling should be read like this: </p>
<ul>
<liid="27e6">the x-axis shows the stack profile population </li>
<liid="194a">the y-axis shows stack depth </li>
</ul>
<pid="e950">
<strong>What does it mean?</strong>
</p>
<pid="174c"> The larger is a box (a function call) the more it consumed CPU. So a good CPU profiling should look like a “flame” graph where each stack is the finest possible. </p>
<pid="48d9"> In our example, every request try to generate a token. For this purpose, it calls the function pbkdf2 which is CPU consuming. Our CPU profile looks like a sequence of big blocks of time, like if the last function in the call stack takes 99% of the total time. </p>
<pid="d62c"> The CPU profiling after optimizations, with the same time range. </p>
<figcaption> CPU profiling after optimizations </figcaption>
</figure>
<pid="10ee"> As you can notice, we have to zoom to the profile if we want to see the call stack, because after optimizations the API was able to take a lot more traffic. Now every function in the call stack looks like a microtask. </p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<pid="10f1"> And now our application is able to serve more than 200,000 requests in 20 seconds; <strong>we increased the performance by a factor of 100k</strong>! </p>
<pid="e1ad"> With the inspector module, you can do much more than just CPU profiling, here is a non-exhaustive list: </p>
<ul>
<liid="eb04">memory dump & memory sampling </li>
<liid="a9ea">code coverage </li>
<liid="b896">use the debugger in real-time </li>
</ul>
<pid="731b"> Every tool, even the most powerful, comes with its own disadvantages. If you enable the profiler and/or the debugger on your production you have to keep an eye on two things: </p>
<pid="e485">
<strong>1) performance overhead</strong>
</p>
<pid="0513"> A profiler needs to use CPU to work and it collects data into memory. The longer you let it run and the more CPU / memory it will need. This is why you should begin with very short CPU profiling, no more than a few seconds between the start and stop command. And never forget to monitor the impact of the profiler on your own infrastructure. If everything is fine you can increase the time and the frequency of CPU profiling. </p>
<pid="049c"> One more very important thing: <strong>never forget to always stop a started CPU profiling</strong>. You can add a timer to automatically call the stop function after a while. </p>
<pid="0656">
<strong>2) security</strong>
</p>
<pid="7999"> Using the inspector in Node.js it’s like opening the door of the core of your application. You should be very careful about who can use features like CPU profiling and/or the debugger. Never make the inspector “public” as being able to launch a feature from an unsafe route (not protected with an authentification mechanism). Even the collected data can be seen as critical, never send it to a system you do not trust. </p>
<pid="ae1a"> CPU profiling is really a must-have tool for every developer. And now, with some precautions, we can run it on production thanks to the amazing work done by the V8 and Node.js team. </p>
<pid="1eab"> The inspector module offers a lot more features than you can use to debug your application. </p>
<pid="0aba"> I will write another article about using CPU profiling and the inspector on production on a high traffic project. </p>
<pid="10f1"> And now our application is able to serve more than 200,000 requests in 20 seconds; <strong>we increased the performance by a factor of 100k</strong>! </p>
<pid="e1ad"> With the inspector module, you can do much more than just CPU profiling, here is a non-exhaustive list: </p>
<ul>
<liid="eb04">memory dump & memory sampling </li>
<liid="a9ea">code coverage </li>
<liid="b896">use the debugger in real-time </li>
</ul>
<pid="731b"> Every tool, even the most powerful, comes with its own disadvantages. If you enable the profiler and/or the debugger on your production you have to keep an eye on two things: </p>
<pid="e485">
<strong>1) performance overhead</strong>
</p>
<pid="0513"> A profiler needs to use CPU to work and it collects data into memory. The longer you let it run and the more CPU / memory it will need. This is why you should begin with very short CPU profiling, no more than a few seconds between the start and stop command. And never forget to monitor the impact of the profiler on your own infrastructure. If everything is fine you can increase the time and the frequency of CPU profiling. </p>
<pid="049c"> One more very important thing: <strong>never forget to always stop a started CPU profiling</strong>. You can add a timer to automatically call the stop function after a while. </p>
<pid="0656">
<strong>2) security</strong>
</p>
<pid="7999"> Using the inspector in Node.js it’s like opening the door of the core of your application. You should be very careful about who can use features like CPU profiling and/or the debugger. Never make the inspector “public” as being able to launch a feature from an unsafe route (not protected with an authentification mechanism). Even the collected data can be seen as critical, never send it to a system you do not trust. </p>
<pid="ae1a"> CPU profiling is really a must-have tool for every developer. And now, with some precautions, we can run it on production thanks to the amazing work done by the V8 and Node.js team. </p>
<pid="1eab"> The inspector module offers a lot more features than you can use to debug your application. </p>
<pid="0aba"> I will write another article about using CPU profiling and the inspector on production on a high traffic project. </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 800w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zu12g5xzyxojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 800w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 800w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zu12g5xzyxojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zu12g5xzyxojpg.jpg 800w"/>
</p>
</div>
</figure>
<p>
@ -18,7 +16,8 @@
<p> It’s a place in which xenocide is a commissioned service, and grievances are resolved with planetary apocalypses. Everything is chaotically connected to a dead race of avian prophetic poets fighting a war throughout the cosmos. It’s a dark place to visit. </p>
<p> There are two purposes to this article: to explore the expansive lore of the <em>Metroid</em> universe – with speculation to fill in the gaps – and to exhibit some extraordinary <em>Metroid</em>-inspired art. All artwork is credited to its original source – follow the links to see further works of these spectacular artists. </p>
<h3id="h3288">
<aid=""></a>Notes on Speculation and Lore </h3>
<aid=""></a>Notes on Speculation and Lore
</h3>
<p> The games tell us much about this hostile universe, but there are a lot of unresolved story points. In response to these mysteries, the article will provide a healthy amount of speculation. You can consider the piece to be either a makeshift timeline illustrated with fan-artwork, or simply an enthusiastic attempt to reconcile the series continuity into a cohesive whole. The article is informed by the extensive research previously performed by its author. The approach taken regarding speculation is thus: The logical inclusion of probable events that resolve mysteries, while maintaining the themes of the series. </p>
<p> Before we begin, let’s briefly revisit the five points of essential lore: </p>
<uldata-type="List"data-style="Bullet">
@ -46,25 +45,22 @@
<em>(Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus)</em>
</p>
<h3id="h3289">
<aid=""></a>Referencing </h3>
<aid=""></a>Referencing
</h3>
<p> Each story section includes one or more of the below superscript annotations, to help inform the reader as to where the lore or speculation comes from. A brief key: </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqg21aub0sljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqg21aub0sljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg21aub0sljpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
</figure>
<p>
@ -73,50 +69,40 @@
<p> On an unknown planet in the universe, a race of avian humanoids evolved. The species that will come to be known as the Chozo possessed great strength, agility and intelligence. The species is peaceful, and is driven by a social/religious value that nature is sacred. [M1 / MP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqg86aaay9kjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqg86aaay9kjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqg86aaay9kjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Certain blessed individuals were born with a unique gift – the vague comprehension of events set to take place in the distant future. Driven by these prophecies, the race advanced quickly and became space faring. With abstract predictions of a hostile universe, the Chozo developed powered armour and armaments to defend themselves. Prepared for whatever hostility awaited them, the Chozo explored the stars. [M1 / MP / MP SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgmn6fovtyjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgmn6fovtyjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgmn6fovtyjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
</figure>
<p> (<em>Artist: Elearia</em>) </p>
<p> The Chozo discovered that – despite their prophets’ visions of a chaotic and warring universe – the cosmos was enjoying a prolonged period of peace and enlightenment. First contact was made with a number of old and wise races, such as the Ylla, the N’kren, the Bryyonians, the Alimbic and the Luminoth. The species shared their cultures and technology, and gently colonised wild worlds such as Aether, Elysia, and Tallon IV. [MP / MPH / MP2 / MP3] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgp7wzq6v9jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgqj9kac9hjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgqj9kac9hjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgqj9kac9hjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> During this calm, the Chozo prophets continued to receive increasingly severe visions of chaos. They foresaw a universe consumed by war, horrors evolving on distant worlds, and a great toxicity waiting to be unleashed. As the visions became more precise, the species isolated itself from its allies. The Chozo civilisation became intensely driven to fight this unclear threat. [MP / MP3 SP / M2 SP /MF SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgrykgsndujpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgrykgsndujpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgrykgsndujpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Probes were launched across the universe, and the Elysians and Chozo scrutinised the data. The search took generations, while the planet’s tempestuous atmosphere battered SkyTown, weathering the station faster than the Elysians could maintain it. After countless probe launches, a partial transmission received from a decaying and distant satellite set prophecy in motion. [MP3] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgtjse9p7rjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgtjse9p7rjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgtjse9p7rjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> With this find, the Chozo purpose on SkyTown was fulfilled. The race departed the facility, leaving the Elysians to continue their monitoring of the stars. The abandoned race of robots continued to launch satellites to try and rediscover the blue world, hopeful that such a discovery would herald the return of their Chozo creators. The Elysians searched unsuccessfully until Elysia’s endless storms eroded their civilisation into a rusted remnant. [MP3] </p>
<p> The Chozo reconciled their vague discovery of a blue living planet with their prophecies of toxicity. On this distant world of poison, could creatures have evolved so vicious that they endangered the universe? [MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgy9h1t7injpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqgy9h1t7injpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqgy9h1t7injpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Finding the exact location of the deadly planet becomes a priority for the Chozo civilisation. A gargantuan ship was assembled on the holy planet of Tallon IV, and dispatched to the dark corner of the universe where the Elysian satellite had been lost. The greatest Chozo warriors, scientists and prophets commenced a crusade for the hostile world, knowing that they would likely never make it back home. During their long journey, they conceive a name for their target: Phaaze. [MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhapd1bv1hjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhapd1bv1hjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhapd1bv1hjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhdvss5le8jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhdvss5le8jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhdvss5le8jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhfmxw5dphjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhfmxw5dphjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhfmxw5dphjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The scientists within the ship began to harness the intense radiation around them, to try and engineer an artificial predator that could neutralise the planet’s superpredators. With access to the unique Phazon mutagen that covered the poisonous world, genetic engineering that should have taken decades was done in days. The Chozo engineered the first Metroid. [MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhh28q856sjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhh28q856sjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhh28q856sjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Chozo mission was complete. The worst creatures were being hunted to extinction, and the Metroids were expected to die from starvation soon after. The cost had been enormous – most of the crew had been killed defending the ship, and the survivors were deathly ill from radiation poisoning. The burnt and damaged ship took off for the long journey home, but the crew soon succumbed to the radiation they had endured. The autopilot took the ship of Chozo bodies home. [MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhipfm1vidjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhipfm1vidjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhipfm1vidjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The expedition ship – heavily damaged by radiation and lack of maintenance – was guided back to civilisation by an increasingly erratic auto-pilot. After decades it eventually approached the Chozo world of Zebes, and crash-landed onto its surface. The Chozo civilisation attempted to recover data logs from the wreckage with very limited success – they were able to understand the sacrifice that the heroic crew had made, and confirmed the apparent success of the Metroids in neutralising the creatures on the living planet. The Chozo authorities were unable to establish the location of Phaaze, or recover much in the way of scientific data concerning it. [MP3 SP / SM SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhkgkmizwijpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhkgkmizwijpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhkgkmizwijpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> As the Tallon IV seed began its centuries of travelling through space, the lone Metroid within absorbed vast amounts of Phazon and radiation. It became self-aware, and grew in size, intelligence and strength. It used the ruined pieces of Chozo armour to construct itself an exoskeleton, and descended into madness. The exoskeleton failed to protect the creature from the endless radiation, and the Metroid became as exotic as Phaaze’s extinct superpredators: An undying tortured genius. [MP / MP2 / MP3 / MP3 SP] </p>
<p> The creature that would come to be known as Metroid Prime resented Phaaze for imprisoning it in the Leviathan. It resented the Chozo for creating and discarding the Metroids. It decided that it would survive, bring order to the chaotic universe that birthed it, and somehow enslave Phaaze to its will. In its solitude, immortal as a consequence of its mutations, Metroid Prime plotted its revenge against the universe. [MP / MP2 / MP3 / MP3 SP] </p>
<h3id="h3293">
<aid=""></a>The Dark Planet </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Dark Planet
</h3>
<p> With a clear understanding of the danger of living planets, the Chozo authority commenced a search for similar threats. With far more advanced technology than their ancestors had during the Elysian era, the Chozo were unfortunate enough to find a planet of even greater horrors. [MP 3 SP / M2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhnuwesum0jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhnuwesum0jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhnuwesum0jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhokjxzrgmjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhokjxzrgmjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhokjxzrgmjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Deep in the planet, a glass laboratory was created, its walls highly resistant to SR388’s acid belly. Here, in dangerous proximity to the X-Parasites, the Chozo scientists began their work. [M2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhrsyn6h9wjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Chozo tried to recreate the plan of their ancestors – the use of Metroids to pacify superpredators too dangerous to exist. Without access to the same planetary radiation and materials the Phaaze expedition had, progress was slow. As the war against the planet was raging around them, the Chozo scientists were able to engineer Metroids, but not a variant strong enough to overcome the X-Parasites. As more and more Chozo died protecting the laboratory, a different approach was needed. [M2 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqht0ddb9ozjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqht0ddb9ozjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqht0ddb9ozjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The X-Parasites did not return, and the Metroid Queen continued to scream as her glass prison shook. The Chozo didn’t realise it, but her despair was being heard. [M2 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhuzegzvcfjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqhuzegzvcfjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqhuzegzvcfjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Alpha, Gamma, Zeta and Omega Metroids spawned quickly, and responded to the screams of their Queen. With their bulk and strength, they smashed through the glass laboratory and slaughtered their Chozo creators. The Chozo warriors were hunted down and crushed. [M2] </p>
<p> SR388 developed into a new cauldron of hostility. The Metroids served as the apex predator, and the robots of the Chozo decayed into machine madness and prowled the ruins, killing on sight. The Chozo mission to suppress the X-Parasite had been a success, but the planet had gained its revenge. [M2 / M2 SP / MF] </p>
<h2id="h3294">
<aid=""></a>Part Two: The End of the Renaissance </h2>
<aid=""></a>Part Two: The End of the Renaissance
</h2>
<h3id="h3295">
<aid=""></a>The Holy World </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Holy World
</h3>
<p> The Chozo had devastated two planets for the good of the universe, and sustained many causalities. The superpredators of Phaaze were extinct and the X-Parasites were permanently suppressed. With the crisis over, the race became consumed with a collective sense of guilt over their necessary actions. The Chozo believed the life of the universe to be sacred, and had to reconcile their aggressive actions with their faith. [MP SP / MP3 SP / M2 / MF] </p>
<p> Worse still, their prophets continued to have visions of endless conflict and death. War was coming to the universe, and it seemed that their sins had not saved them. Many began to doubt these visions, and a schism occurred. [MP/ MP3 SP] </p>
<p> The bulk of the Chozo civilisation retired themselves from galactic affairs, leaving only a few scattered colonies amongst the stars. The race retreated to the holy planet of Tallon IV, to shun their technologies and begin simpler, poetic lives. These Chozo reconnected themselves to the natural world and tried to find a harmony with it. As time went on, the most potent prophets became manic, and tried to warn their fellows of a great poison that was to come. [M1 / MP] </p>
<p> These visions were met with increasing dismissal, but the day finally came when the prophets were believed. After eons swimming in the stars, Phaaze’s seed entered the Tallon system. [MP / MP3] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqidecyjp0ujpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqidecyjp0ujpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqidecyjp0ujpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Leviathan crashed down, and rained poison and death unto the world. The impact survivors watched as their sacred nature succumbed to the mutagens leaking from the seed, and barricaded themselves in their temples as the flora and fauna transformed. Phazon spread beneath the surface of the dying planet, and radiation storms battered the surface. [MP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiejsfe664jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiejsfe664jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiejsfe664jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> As their numbers dwindled, the last of the Chozo constructed a great temple above the impact crater. Within this temple, they used what little technology remained to project an energy field around the Leviathan to slow the spread of contagion. As the Chozo civilisation on Tallon IV was extinguished, their dying prophets told of a hero who would one day emerge, to enter the crater and defeat the evil worm within. [MP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqigaxkohx4jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqigaxkohx4jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqigaxkohx4jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Within the Impact Crater, Metroid Prime remained trapped within the Chozo energy field. In its armour constructed from ancient Chozo power suits, it continued its wait to be unleashed on the universe. [MP / MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiho9ab5xrjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiho9ab5xrjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiho9ab5xrjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> On the planet Aether, an ancient race of mystics known as the Luminoth received the horrifying data coming from Tallon IV. In distant times, the Luminoth and the Chozo had been steadfast allies – until the Chozo retreat ended their ties. Desperate to assist, the Luminoth began to organise a rescue mission. [MP2 / MP2 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqijbga70tljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqijbga70tljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqijbga70tljpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The people of Aether turned to their technology to save them. Their planet had no native star of its own, and had been implanted millennia ago with a complex energy network that sustained all life. This system was reverently called the Light of Aether, and harnessed the light of the universe in its mechanism. The Luminoth realised that even with this great power, they could not destroy the Phazon Leviathan. A different approach was needed. [MP2 / MP2 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqim04ra2w5jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqim04ra2w5jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqim04ra2w5jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqimznelg78jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqimznelg78jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqimznelg78jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Luminoth surveyed the devastation. The Phazon seed was gone – it had indeed collided with the dark universe. Entire continents, with millions of inhabitants, had vanished with it. [MP2 / MP2 SP </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiocyxn4ksjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiocyxn4ksjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiocyxn4ksjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Aether and its echo, the Phazon-infested Dark Aether, existed in synchronicity. As the Luminoth tried to rebuild their planet, it took only decades for cracks to form in the ether separating the two realities. As rips in the universe shattered open, Aether became a battlefield. [MP2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiq826qgjkjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiq826qgjkjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiq826qgjkjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> A womb of Phazon mutation and dark energies had birthed a cunning and ferocious horde. The Ing erupted through the cracks between the two worlds, and commenced slaughter. They were fought back by the Luminoth, and a war began between the two parallel worlds. The Ing invaded Aether with regularity, and killed, pillaged and destroyed all that they could find. The Luminoth retaliated and crusaded into Dark Aether in their Light Suits, on suicide missions to exterminate the source of the Ing menace. Both sides suffered colossal casualties as the decades went on. [MP2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqirpbvm7a1jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqirpbvm7a1jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqirpbvm7a1jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The war was being lost by the Luminoth. The Ing had exterminated most of their race and had stolen too many vital technologies. With the theft of essential energy components from the Light of Aether power network, they had become a defeated people. [MP2] </p>
<p> The Ing had destroyed all of Aether’s ancient ships, and condemned the Luminoth to no escape from their doomed world. With no other choice, the survivors sealed themselves in an inner sanctum, and entered a state of suspended animation. One custodian, U-Mos, volunteered to be their guardian. As Aether became weaker and weaker, the Luminoth waited for someone to save them. They would wait a very long time. [MP2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqitehsufhejpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqitehsufhejpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqitehsufhejpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> This alien juggernaut was named Gorea by the Alimbic race, and they soon understood it brought only death. Gorea killed every Alimbic it could find, and destroyed everything in its path. Planet after planet fell to Gorea, and the Alimbics realised the creature would never stop. [MPH] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiuxqv4hadjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiuxqv4hadjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiuxqv4hadjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Alimbics performed an act of supreme sacrifice. They combined the mental energies of their entire race to forge a prison for Gorea. The psychic prison held it bound, and it was transplanted into an organic vessel called The Oubliette. The vessel was launched into the void outside of the universe, a course that would keep its indestructible prisoner in exile forever. The systems of the prison ship were tasked to scan the every molecule of the imprisoned Gorea, and devise an Omega weapon that could be used to kill it. [MPH / MPH SP] </p>
<p> The mental energies expelled in this plan consumed the physical bodies of the entire Alimbic race. They vanished from the universe in an instant. Their sacrifice protected all life in the cosmos from Gorea’s murderous rampage. [MPH] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqixy9iqkrejpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqixy9iqkrejpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqixy9iqkrejpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Over the previous centuries, the scientific agenda had dominated, with space travel proving beneficial and enlightening. As the Chozo, Luminoth and Alimbics faced extinction, the religious Bryyonians believed more than ever that the universe was a hostile place, and became desperate to stop their scientific counterparts. [MP3] </p>
<p> A great war exploded across Bryyo. By its end, the scholars had been wiped out and the survivors of both sides had regressed to a feral existence. The race devolved into animals, wandering around ruins that they no longer understood. Language vanished and strength ruled. Anyone who landed on Bryyo was meat, to be killed and eaten. [MP3] </p>
<h3id="h3299">
<aid=""></a>The Little Rainy Planet </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Little Rainy Planet
</h3>
<p> The onslaught of vengeances, conquerors, poisons and politics destroyed the old races. The Alimbics had lost their flesh, while the Bryyonians had lost their souls. The Luminoth had retreated into stasis, and the Chozo of Tallon IV had been condemned to a living death. [MP / MPH / MP2 / MP3] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiznfcy0icjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqiznfcy0icjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqiznfcy0icjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> On a small, rainy planet called Zebes, the last known Chozo colony had watched the stars with impotence. This small settlement of the nearly-extinct avian race witnessed the end of the great universal renaissance, and the slow beginning of a new chapter in galactic history. Gradually, the younger races were launching their first satellites into space. In time, new empires would rise to take the place of the old. [M1 / M1 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqj0sv6pheljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqj0sv6pheljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj0sv6pheljpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Zebes prophets’ saw the visions the Chozo had always endured: great wars, spreading poison and death. And suddenly, something bold was foreseen. [M1 SP / MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqj1sdn0v6rjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> A great hunter, clad in orange, red and green. The Chozo glimpsed a future hero, alone in the darkness beneath worlds, fighting so that good could survive evil. They saw her curing poisoned planets, and ending galactic wars. They saw the universe’s one chance to survive its apocalyptic future. They saw the only one who could defy prophecy. [M1 / MP3 SP] </p>
<p> And they saw her wearing Chozo armour. [M1] </p>
<h2id="h3300">
<aid=""></a>Part Three: The New Empires </h2>
<aid=""></a>Part Three: The New Empires
</h2>
<h3id="h3301">
<aid=""></a>The Humans </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Humans
</h3>
<p> On the planet Earth, the human race had finally developed a ship capable of leaving their solar system. A brave crew ventured into the universe to learn whether life existed elsewhere. Their discoveries fundamentally changed the human condition. On planet after planet, they found ruined tombs and cities, guarded by weathered statues of dead races. Most significant of all, they found technology. [M1 SP] </p>
<p> The humans reverse engineered their salvage, and advanced with pace. Within another century, faster-than-light ships explored the stars, and colonies transformed hostile worlds into homes. Peaceful relations formed between other younger races, and a great Galactic Federation was founded. [M1 SP] </p>
<h3id="h3302">
<aid=""></a>The Space Pirates </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Space Pirates
</h3>
<p> In a less hospitable region of space, a cabal of battered races joined their forces to survive. On planets where acid rain burned flesh and magma flowed, the alliance expanded into a hardened space empire. They ventured into nearby systems and took what they needed from anyone they could reach. They found the ruins of the old races and ransacked the ancient technologies within. They immersed themselves in science and unlocked the secrets of their finds. Within decades, they had advanced their spread with stronger and faster ships. The creatures enhanced themselves, rewriting their genetics and integrating mechanisms beneath their flesh. They were unique: a cybernetic race of furious murderers with a skill for patient scientific process. As more planets were invaded, their conquered civilisations were conscripted by force. [M1 SP / MP / MP3] </p>
<p> The inevitable moment came when their Empire reached the borders of the vast Galactic Federation. [M1 SP / MP / MP3] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjuebmfw70jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjuebmfw70jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjuebmfw70jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> First contact was brief and furious. On that day, the warning went out to all the worlds of the Federation: Beware the Space Pirates. Though no state of war was officially declared, the empires attacked each other on sight. The Galactic Federation was large enough to repress any meaningful incursions into their space. [M1 SP / MP SP / MP3 SP / SM SP] </p>
<h3id="h3303">
<aid=""></a>The Massacre of Two Families </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Massacre of Two Families
</h3>
<p> The Galactic Federation discovered the last Chozo Colony on Zebes. The tired, ancient avians welcomed the humans and shared with them wisdom and knowledge. They offered the Galactic Federation new sciences, and taught them how to make organic computers. The Federation studied the Chozo’s own central processing unit, an engineered brain that mothered over their colony, and left with plans to assemble their own variants. On the nearest habitable planet of K-2L, a colony was established. [M1 / MP3 SP] </p>
<p> On this world, the human Samus Aran was born. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjw7ft0zj5jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Across the colony, the Prophets experienced a simultaneous moment of clarity. They understood immediately that they had found their prophesised hero. The young girl was their inheritor, and would grow strong. She would learn all she could from them, and take their strongest technologies into the universe. She would be the hero against the oncoming storm. [M1 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjz9xd98ltjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjz9xd98ltjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjz9xd98ltjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Samus Aran reached maturity amongst the Chozo. She was trained in the combat arts of the great extinct races. She was infused with Chozo genetic material so she could employ their technologies. She was educated to be a scientist, an explorer, and a tactician. Everything that was good about the Chozo civilisation was allowed to live on in Samus. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjzzky4ffnjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqjzzky4ffnjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqjzzky4ffnjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> As Samus tried to reconnect with her heritage on Earth, the last Chozo prophets on Zebes received a final vision: The Space Pirates were coming for them. It was time for the last Chozo to be extinguished from the universe. [M1 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk1guma1bojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk1guma1bojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk1guma1bojpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Chozo hid their technologies throughout the planet, in places that they were certain Samus would find them. They concealed a second Power Suit within the walls of their holy temple, having foreseen that Samus may require it in the future. They then returned to the surface to await the inevitable. [M1 SP] </p>
<p> The Space Pirates invaded in force, and murdered Samus Aran’s second family. The Chozo became extinct. [M1 / MP SP] </p>
<h3id="h3304">
<aid=""></a>The Mother Brain </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Mother Brain
</h3>
<p> Space Pirate scientists arrived shortly after the carnage and focused their attention on the legendary Chozo organic central processing unit. They rewrote its benign programming and injected stimulants into its flesh. They enabled it to form an artificial intelligence obsessed with strategy and conquest. They drove its computational potential towards absolute advancement of the Space Pirate Empire. [M1 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk2icdbv0cjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk2icdbv0cjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk2icdbv0cjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The results went beyond High Command’s most optimistic projections. The Space Pirates had created a leader, a desperately needed figure to unite their fragmented empire. They had created their Mother Brain. The great Space Pirate generals Ridley and Kraid arrived at Zebes, ready to pay tribute to their new master and to plan for the future. Mother Brain delivered to the Space Pirates knowledge and power. She told them of a world referenced in her oldest Chozo databanks, a planet bathed in a mutagenic poison waiting to be farmed. She instructed High Command to prepare an armada of ships and invade the planet Tallon IV. [M1 / MP SP] </p>
<p> The order was followed immediately, and the High Command discovered a world deranged by contagion. Beneath its surface, endless pools of Phazon waited to be weaponised, and a great mining operation began. Mother Brain received data from their readings on the planet; even after thousands of years, the source of the Phazon was still contained in the Chozo force field. She scrutinised her records further, and was unable to ascertain any method of breaching the barrier. The Space Pirates could retrieve the Phazon, but were denied access to its source. [MP] </p>
<h3id="h3305">
<aid=""></a>The Metroids </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Metroids
</h3>
<p> A perfect storm brewed. As the Space Pirates gained access to the most potent mutagen in the universe, the Galactic Federation made an equally eventful discovery: They found the dark planet SR388. [M1 / M2] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk5mt4ocetjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
</div>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk5mt4ocetjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk5mt4ocetjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> The Space Pirates overran the Galactic Federation vessel and stole the Metroid creatures. They divided their prize: some were sent to their nearest Homeworld; others were sent to the Tallon IV outpost; and the most potent were delivered straight to Zebes for the experiments of Mother Brain. [M1 / MP / MP3] </p>
<p> With the arrival of the first Phazon samples from Tallon IV, the exotic substance allowed the Space Pirates to slowly produce stable cloned Metroids across their breeding sites. [M1 SP / MP SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk7ps96cb3jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 470w"/>
</p>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk7ps96cb3jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk7ps96cb3jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> In her first mission as a Bounty Hunter, Samus Arran was commissioned by the Galactic Federation to neutralise the stolen Metroids. Through careful investigation, Samus discovered that the Pirates are operating from Zebes – her home. She concluded that the Space Pirates had murdered her second family, as they had done with her first. They have took from her everyone she ever loved, and destroyed her two worlds. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk8x71i4gnjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqk8x71i4gnjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqk8x71i4gnjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p> (<span><adata-ga="[["Embedded Url","External link","http://stuarthughe.deviantart.com/art/Samus-Varia-322194081",{"metric25":1}]]"href="http://stuarthughe.deviantart.com/art/Samus-Varia-322194081"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Artist: Stuart Hughe</em></a></span>) </p>
<p> Samus stormed Zebes and killed everyone in her path. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkachpcz0ijpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkachpcz0ijpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkachpcz0ijpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> As her defences were breached, Mother Brain unleashed the great generals Ridley and Kraid. Both were killled, and, desperate to stop the intruder, Mother Brain released the Metroids. Samus Aran exterminated the creatures, and invaded the inner sanctum. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkbhxb2ugpjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Extremely lucky to be alive, Samus crawled out of the remains of her destroyed power suit, and fled as Space Pirate forces stormed the area. Samus hid, crawled and ran to find sanctuary in the deepest part of the Chozo’s most revered temple. [M1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkdb1egv73jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkdb1egv73jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkdb1egv73jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Samus found herself surrounded with murals of the dead Chozo, and accepted she was alone in the universe. Overcoming despair, she solved the trials of the Chozodian temple and a concealed power suit was revealed to her. This shining armour was even more potent than the one she had just lost, and was able to integrate the most exotic Chozo technologies. Samus realised the greater meaning of her find; the Chozo had left her gifts for her in places they had foreseen she would traverse. Her adopted family continued to protect her long after their deaths, and she would find their statues cradling survival equipment in the darkest corners of the cosmos. [M1 / MP / MP3 / M2 / SM] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkeig3z5btjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkeig3z5btjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkeig3z5btjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> With her new armaments, Samus cleansed the Space Pirate presence from Zebes. She came to be known as “The Hunter”, and the Space Pirates learned that they will always be hunted down for what they did to her families. They fled the planet in terror. [M1 / MP / MP2 / MP3] </p>
<h3id="h3307">
<aid=""></a>Tallon IV </h3>
<aid=""></a>Tallon IV
</h3>
<p> As years passed, Samus Aran accepted further missions from the Galactic Federation. The bounty earned funded her personal vendetta against the Space Pirates. She improved her armaments, paid for black market information and stormed their outposts. Samus showed her enemies no mercy, and became the feared nemesis of their entire civilisation. With the income from her Federation services, Samus had soon amassed enough money to buy the most secret information regarding the Space Pirates: the coordinates of their stronghold on an old forgotten planet called Tallon IV. [MP1 SP] </p>
<p> Samus guided her ship into the Tallon system and investigated an orbiting space station. She discovered a failed genetic engineering facility whose Space Pirate crew was murdered when they lost control of their own creations. Samus fought her way through the ferocious beasts scattered within, and discovered a half-insane cyborg recreation of the Space Pirate general Ridley. As the station began to collapse, the biomechanical dragon fled to the world below, and Samus pursued. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkglfb56vojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkglfb56vojpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkglfb56vojpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> She continued her exploration, and battled ferocious flora and fauna. The Hunter came to understand that the Space Pirates had established a complex military installation that descended far below the surface. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkick4w4i9jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkick4w4i9jpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkick4w4i9jpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Samus hunted the Pirates and accessed their computer logs. The Empire had found quantities of an intensely potent mutagen called Phazon. Laboratories across the outpost experimented with the substance, and in a short space of time they had created prototypes for the next generation of their races: powerful Phazon-fuelled juggernauts. Should these advances continue, Samus knew that the Space Pirates would be able to conquer the Galactic Federation. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 800w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkje1rl63yjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 800w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 800w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkje1rl63yjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 470w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18zqkje1rl63yjpg.jpg 800w"/>
<p> In the most secure laboratory, Samus made a devastating discovery. The Space Pirates had used Phazon to create an army of stable clone Metroids and lost containment. The Metroid creatures were roaming the caverns deep in the planet, reproducing and mutating as the Phazon influenced their physiology. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqklb3wp0jajpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqklb3wp0jajpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqklb3wp0jajpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Samus’ final discovery was the most horrific. The powerful, poisonous Phazon was not a rare material on Tallon IV. Despite the Chozo shield containing the Impact Crater, the substance had spread and consumed the world inside-out. The core of the planet presented the Space Pirates with a vast supply of Phazon, enough to fuel their conquest of the stars. [MP1] </p>
<p> Samus destroyed the mining facilities and laboratories, and reconstructed the twelve parts of the ancient Chozo cipher. She destroyed living weapons such as the Thardus experiment, and annihilated the prototype Omega Pirate. She overcame corrupted Metroids, and banished the tormented Chozo ghosts from the living world. She fought the mad Meta Ridley, and on his demise deactivated the Chozo containment shield. As prophesised, Samus Aran entered the Impact Crater. [MP1] </p>
<h3id="h3308">
<aid=""></a>The Worm </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Worm
</h3>
<p> Samus Aran had opened Metroid Prime’s cage, and had no understanding of what she was about to unleash on the universe. The creature had been imprisoned in a different era, and had spent eons being tortuously transformed by Phazon into an undying mad genius. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkn672gklqjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkn672gklqjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkn672gklqjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p> (<em>Artist: Chrysaetos-Pteron</em>) </p>
<p> Samus and the ancient Metroid battled, and the bounty hunter shattered the creature’s metal armour. By channelling the surrounding Phazon deposits into a supercharged energy beam, Samus was able to devastate Metroid Prime’s gelatinous body. After a tremendous battle, the old creature began to collapse on itself. [MP1] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkodlj2z8kjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkodlj2z8kjpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkodlj2z8kjpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p> Seemingly dying, Metroid Prime lashed out, grabbing a layer of material from Samus Aran’s armour. The creature melted into a pool of Phazon particles, and the bounty hunter evacuated the Impact Crater. [MP1] </p>
<p> Samus Aran had seemingly succeeded in her mission. The surviving Space Pirates abandoned their devastated facilities and hastily evacuated the planet. With the defeat of Metroid Prime, the Phazon contagion was slowly stopping its spread. The tormented Chozo spirits that had been bound to the planet were finally able to achieve their rest. Leaving the world to recover from its devastation, Samus Aran headed back to the stars. [MP1 / MP1 SP] </p>
<h3id="h3309">
<aid=""></a>The Dark Hunter </h3>
<aid=""></a>The Dark Hunter
</h3>
<p> Metroid Prime’s exposure to millennia of Phazon had given the creature extremely exotic abilities, the most potent being its durability – to recreate itself after nearly any level of destruction. As it had collapsed on itself, the essence of Metroid Prime craved the strength and adaptability present in Samus Aran. In the Talon IV impact crater, Metroid Prime recreated itself as a dark copy of the woman who had defeated it. [MP 1 / MP2 / MP3 SP] </p>
<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 470w"/>
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<p><imgalt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 470w"draggable="auto"data-chomp-id="18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg"data-format="jpg"data-alt="Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One Of Gamings Richest Universes"data-anim-src=""srcset="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_80,q_80,w_80/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 80w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 320w, https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_470/18zqkq6pqyr8ljpg.jpg 470w"/>
<p>Les députés ont, sans surprise, adopté à une large majorité (438 contre 86 et 42 abstentions) le projet de loi sur le renseignement défendu par le gouvernement lors d’un vote solennel, mardi 5 mai. Il sera désormais examiné par le Sénat, puis le Conseil constitutionnel, prochainement saisi par 75 députés. Dans un souci d'apaisement, François Hollande avait annoncé par avance qu'il saisirait les Sages.</p>
<p><strong>Revivez <ahref="http://fakehost/pixels/live/2015/05/05/suivez-le-vote-de-la-loi-renseignement-en-direct_4628012_4408996.html">le direct du vote à l’Assemblée avec vos questions.</a></strong></p>
<p>Ont voté contre : 10 députés socialistes (sur 288), 35 UMP (sur 198), 11 écologistes (sur 18), 11 UDI (sur 30), 12 députés Front de gauche (sur 15) et 7 non-inscrits (sur 9). <ahref="http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/scrutins/detail/%28legislature%29/14/%28num%29/1109">Le détail est disponible sur le site de l'Assemblée nationale.</a></p>
<p>Un troisième Français a été tué dans le tremblement de terre samedi au Népal, emporté par une avalanche, <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/video/2015/04/30/laurent-fabius-plus-de-200-francais-n-ont-pas-ete-retrouves_1278687"target="_blank">a déclaré jeudi le ministre des Affaires étrangères</a>. Les autorités françaises sont toujours sans nouvelles <em>«d’encore plus de 200» </em>personnes. <em>«Pour certains d’entre eux on est très interrogatif»</em>, a ajouté Laurent Fabius. Il accueillait à Roissy un premier avion spécial ramenant des rescapés. <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/video/2015/04/30/seisme-au-nepal-soulages-mais-inquiets-206-survivants-de-retour-en-france_1278758"target="_blank">L’Airbus A350 affrété par les autorités françaises s’est posé peu avant 5h45</a> avec à son bord 206 passagers, dont 12 enfants et 26 blessés, selon une source du Quai d’Orsay. Quasiment tous sont français, à l’exception d’une quinzaine de ressortissants allemands, suisses, italiens, portugais ou encore turcs. Des psychologues, une équipe médicale et des personnels du centre de crise du Quai d’Orsay les attendent.</p>
<p>L’appareil, mis à disposition par Airbus, était arrivé à Katmandou mercredi matin avec 55 personnels de santé et humanitaires, ainsi que 25 tonnes de matériel (abris, médicaments, aide alimentaire). Un deuxième avion dépêché par Paris, qui était immobilisé aux Emirats depuis mardi avec 20 tonnes de matériel, est arrivé jeudi à Katmandou, <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2015/04/29/embouteillages-et-retards-a-l-aeroport-de-katmandou_1276612"target="_blank">dont le petit aéroport est engorgé</a> par le trafic et l’afflux d’aide humanitaire. Il devait lui aussi ramener des Français, <em>«les plus éprouvés»</em> par la catastrophe et les <em>«plus vulnérables (blessés, familles avec enfants)»</em>, selon le ministère des Affaires étrangères.</p>
<p>2 209 Français ont été localisés sains et saufs tandis que 393 n’ont pas encore pu être joints, selon le Quai d’Orsay. Environ 400 Français ont demandé à être rapatriés dans les vols mis en place par la France.</p>
<p>Le séisme a fait près de 5 500 morts et touche huit des 28 millions d’habitants du Népal. Des dizaines de milliers de personnes sont sans abri.</p>
<p>Un troisième Français a été tué dans le tremblement de terre samedi au Népal, emporté par une avalanche, <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/video/2015/04/30/laurent-fabius-plus-de-200-francais-n-ont-pas-ete-retrouves_1278687"target="_blank">a déclaré jeudi le ministre des Affaires étrangères</a>. Les autorités françaises sont toujours sans nouvelles <em>«d’encore plus de 200» </em>personnes. <em>«Pour certains d’entre eux on est très interrogatif»</em>, a ajouté Laurent Fabius. Il accueillait à Roissy un premier avion spécial ramenant des rescapés. <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/video/2015/04/30/seisme-au-nepal-soulages-mais-inquiets-206-survivants-de-retour-en-france_1278758"target="_blank">L’Airbus A350 affrété par les autorités françaises s’est posé peu avant 5h45</a> avec à son bord 206 passagers, dont 12 enfants et 26 blessés, selon une source du Quai d’Orsay. Quasiment tous sont français, à l’exception d’une quinzaine de ressortissants allemands, suisses, italiens, portugais ou encore turcs. Des psychologues, une équipe médicale et des personnels du centre de crise du Quai d’Orsay les attendent.</p>
<p>L’appareil, mis à disposition par Airbus, était arrivé à Katmandou mercredi matin avec 55 personnels de santé et humanitaires, ainsi que 25 tonnes de matériel (abris, médicaments, aide alimentaire). Un deuxième avion dépêché par Paris, qui était immobilisé aux Emirats depuis mardi avec 20 tonnes de matériel, est arrivé jeudi à Katmandou, <ahref="http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2015/04/29/embouteillages-et-retards-a-l-aeroport-de-katmandou_1276612"target="_blank">dont le petit aéroport est engorgé</a> par le trafic et l’afflux d’aide humanitaire. Il devait lui aussi ramener des Français, <em>«les plus éprouvés»</em> par la catastrophe et les <em>«plus vulnérables (blessés, familles avec enfants)»</em>, selon le ministère des Affaires étrangères.</p>
<p>2 209 Français ont été localisés sains et saufs tandis que 393 n’ont pas encore pu être joints, selon le Quai d’Orsay. Environ 400 Français ont demandé à être rapatriés dans les vols mis en place par la France.</p>
<p>Le séisme a fait près de 5 500 morts et touche huit des 28 millions d’habitants du Népal. Des dizaines de milliers de personnes sont sans abri.</p>
"title":"How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need",
"byline":"Patrick Allan",
"dir":null,
"excerpt":"We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.",
<pdata-textannotation-id="58a492029dca5e6a6e481d21b6b2933a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"data-chomp-id="n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a043044f9b3e31fd85568b17e3b1b5f3"><span>We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.</span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="58a492029dca5e6a6e481d21b6b2933a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"data-chomp-id="n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a043044f9b3e31fd85568b17e3b1b5f3"><span>We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.</span></p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="e51cbbc52eb8c3b33571908351076cf7"><strong>Understand How Your Own Brain Works Against You</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="268f7702467d33e3b0972dd09f1cf0a6"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"data-chomp-id="o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="268f7702467d33e3b0972dd09f1cf0a6"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"data-chomp-id="o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="32604538f84919efff270e87b61191a1">It may come as no surprise to learn that stores employ all kinds of tricks to get you to part ways with your cash, and your brain plays right along. Through psychological tricks, product placement, and even color, stores are designed from the ground up to increase spending. We've talked about the biggest things stores do to manipulate your senses, but here are some of the biggest things to look out for:</p>
<ul>
<lidata-textannotation-id="cd748c8b681c781cdd728c5e17b5e05f"><strong>Color:</strong> Stores use color to make products attractive and eye-catching, but they also use color on price labels. Red stands out and can encourage taking action, that's why it's commonly associated with sale signage and advertising. When you see red, remember what they're trying to do to your brain with that color. You don't to buy something just because it's on sale.</li>
@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
<pdata-textannotation-id="1eb4a4df2a670927c5d9e9641ebf9d40">And sure, we can blame the stores all we want, but you won't change how they operate—you can only be aware of how your <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-stores-manipulate-your-senses-so-you-spend-more-mon-475987594"x-inset="1">brain is falling for their tricks</a>. Even without the stores, <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5968125/how-your-brain-corrupts-your-shopping-choices"x-inset="1">your brain is working against you on its own</a>, thanks to some simple cognitive biases.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="89992f1ca493b248eea6ed1772326c46">For example, confirmation bias makes you only believe the information that conforms to your prior beliefs, while you discount everything else. Advertisers appeal to this bias directly by convincing you one item is better than another with imagery and other tricks, regardless of what hard facts might say. Keep your mind open, do your own research, and accept when you're wrong about a product. The Decoy effect is also a commonly used tactic. You think one product is a deal because it's next to a similar product that's priced way higher. Even if it's a product you need, it's probably not as good of a deal as it looks right then and there. Again, always research beforehand and be on the lookout for this common trick to avoid impulse buys.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="eedde8c384145f2593efc2a15a4d79de"><strong>Make a List of </strong><em><strong>Everything</strong></em><strong> You Own and Do Some Decluttering</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="8044cf9aab698fd28931acd90ba96f7a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"data-chomp-id="xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="8044cf9aab698fd28931acd90ba96f7a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"data-chomp-id="xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a2a886d841e5aed848cdf7088edde4ea">Now that you know what you're up against, it's time to start changing the way you think. Before you can stop buying crap you don't need, you need to identify what that crap is. The first step is to make a list of <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-defeat-the-urge-to-binge-shop-1468216943"x-inset="1">every single thing you own</a>. <strong>Every. Single. Thing</strong>. This might sound extreme, but you need to gather your data so you can start reprogramming your mind.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bbe57b7aa20b48550e5f66b7c530822c">The purpose of this exercise is twofold: you see what you already have and don't need to ever buy again, and you get to see what you shouldn't have bought in the first place. As you list everything out, separate items into categories. It's extremely important that you are as honest with yourself as possible while you do this. It's also important you actually write this all down or type it all out. Here is the first set of categories to separate everything into:</p>
<ul>
@ -32,19 +32,19 @@
<pdata-textannotation-id="816cd504161fecc6f3e173779b33d5db">Remember to be honest and adjust your lists accordingly. There's nothing wrong with keeping things you wanted. Material items can <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-buy-happiness-the-purchases-most-likely-to-brin-1681780686">bring happiness to many people</a>, but make sure the items on your "want" list actively provide you joy and are being used. If an item doesn't get much use or doesn't make you happy, add it to the "crap" list.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="675103d9c0da55e95f93c53bb019f864">Once you have everything organized, it's time to do some serious decluttering. This listing exercise should get you started, but there are <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5957609/how-to-kick-your-clutter-habit-and-live-in-a-clean-house-once-and-for-all">a lot of other great ideas</a> when it comes to ditching the junk you don't need. Regardless, everything on your "crap" list needs to go. You can donate it, sell it at a yard sale, give it away to people know, whatever you like. Before you get rid of everything, though, take a picture of all your stuff together. Print out or save the picture somewhere. Some of it was probably gifts, but in general, this is all the crap you bought that you don't need. Take a good look and remember it.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="f15ab0a628b159459f095f04fef851ba"><strong>See How Much Money and Time You Spent on the Stuff You Threw Out</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bc2f55587bf4ab07a1852a8d26217233"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"data-chomp-id="qodag11euf2npkawkn9v"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bc2f55587bf4ab07a1852a8d26217233"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"data-chomp-id="qodag11euf2npkawkn9v"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="95ab4fe30c3ade42a8011966ea54aa0b">Now take a look at your "crap" list again and start calculating how much you spent on all of it. If it was a gift, mark it as $0. Otherwise, figure out the price of the item at the time you bought it. If you got a deal or bought it on sale it's okay to factor that in, but try to be as accurate as possible. Once you have the price for each item, add it all together. Depending on your spending habits this could possibly be in the hundreds to thousands of dollars. Remember the picture you took of all this stuff? Attach the total cost to the picture so you can see both at the same time.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="f654efec679064b15826d8ee20bc94e4">With the money cost figured out, you should take a look at the other costs too. Time is a resource just like any other, and it's a finite one. What kind of time did you pour into these things? Consider the time you spent acquiring and using these items, then write it all down. These can be rough estimations, but go ahead and add it all up when you think you've got it. Now attach the total time to same picture as before and think of the other ways you could have spent all that time. This isn't to make you feel bad about yourself, just to deliver information to your brain in an easy-to-understand form. When you look at it all like this, it can open your eyes a little more, and help you think about purchases in the future. You'll look at an item and ask yourself, "Will this just end up in the picture?"</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="6342bf7f15d9eddd21489c23e51ca434"><strong>List Every Non-Material Thing In Your Life that Makes You Happy</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bafeac1c3808e0d2900190979f058b2c"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"data-chomp-id="imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bafeac1c3808e0d2900190979f058b2c"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"data-chomp-id="imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4bd8fbaabb33ff1cb5dc93c16e1f83cc">Now it's time to make a different list. While material items may bring plenty of joy, the things in your life that make you happiest probably can't be bought. Get a separate piece of paper or create a new document and list out everything in your life that makes you happy. If you can't buy it, it's eligible for the list. It doesn't matter if it only makes you crack a smile or makes you jump for joy, list it out. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="104a646a62ad7a0cfb4e3ff086185fdc"><span>These are probably the things that actually make you want to get out of bed in the morning and keep on keepin' on. Once you have it all down, put it in your purse or wallet. The next time you feel the urge to buy something, whip this list out first and remind yourself why you probably don't need it.</span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="104a646a62ad7a0cfb4e3ff086185fdc"><span>These are probably the things that actually make you want to get out of bed in the morning and keep on keepin' on. Once you have it all down, put it in your purse or wallet. The next time you feel the urge to buy something, whip this list out first and remind yourself why you probably don't need it.</span></p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="532cf992ff45d52de501c1a8f80fc152"><strong>Spend Some Time Away from Material Things to Gain Perspective</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="64f5c7155ad89bd2835399d33c1ae28a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"data-chomp-id="afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="64f5c7155ad89bd2835399d33c1ae28a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"data-chomp-id="afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="84554492c487779e921b98fb64222177">If you're having a really hard time with your spending, it can help to get away from material objects completely. When you're constantly surrounded by stuff and have access to buying things at all times, it can be really tough to break the habit. Spend a day in the park enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors, go camping with some friends, or hike a trail you haven't been on before. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="b44add1c7b690705d672186e3a9604b6">Essentially, you want to show yourself that you don't need your "things" to have a good time. When you realize how much fun you can have without all the trinkets and trivets, you'll start to shut down your desire to buy them. If you can't get really get away right now, just go for a walk without your purse or wallet (but carry your ID). If you can't buy anything, you'll be forced to experience things a different way.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="98c11bebae0bbcdbe8411df0186d6465"><strong>Develop a Personal "Should I Buy This?" Test</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="ff438b878771354bb7f6d065ff50dbb2"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"data-chomp-id="s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="ff438b878771354bb7f6d065ff50dbb2"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"data-chomp-id="s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4af04ae83f18d9c37da21527bcd4a290">If you don't have a personal "should I buy this?" test, now's the perfect time to make one. When you find an item you think you need or want, it has to pass all of the questions you have on your test before you can buy it. Here's where you can use all of the data you've gathered so far and put it to really good use. The test should be personalized to your own buying habits, but here are some example questions:</p>
<ul>
<lidata-textannotation-id="fcfd78b1619bdf0b7330f4b40efb899d">Is this a planned purchase?</li>
@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
</ul>
<pdata-textannotation-id="0162d779382cdc7de908fc1488af3940">Custom build your test to hit all of your weaknesses. If you make a lot of impulse buys, include questions that address that. If you experience a lot of buyer's remorse, include a lot of questions that make you think about the use of item after you buy it. If buying the latest and greatest technology is your weakness, Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist suggests you ask yourself <atarget="_blank"href="http://www.becomingminimalist.com/marriage-hacks/">what problem the piece of tech solves</a>. If you can't think of anything it solves or if you already have something that solves it, you don't need it. Be thorough and build a test that you can run through your mind every time you consider buying something.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="c0ed0882675acc340dcd88e13ca514b3"><strong>Learn to Delay Gratification and Destroy the Urge to Impulse Buy</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1d43712fc5ce8f156e4661cca5750575"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"data-chomp-id="y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1d43712fc5ce8f156e4661cca5750575"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"data-chomp-id="y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="3d8086719c5da749f877629d498ccab9">When it comes to the unnecessary crap we buy, impulse purchases probably make up a good deal of them. We love to feel gratification instantly and impulse buys appeal to that with a rush of excitement with each new purchase. We like to believe that we have control over our impulses all the time, but we really don't, and that's a major problem for the ol' wallet.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="620ca9836425e09ec7fa50bfad204665">The key is teaching your brain that it's okay to <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/overcome-the-need-for-instant-gratification-by-delaying-1636938356">wait for gratification</a>. You can do this with a simple time out every time you want something. Look at whatever you're thinking of buying, go through your personal "should I buy this?" test, and then walk away for a little while. Planning your purchases ahead is ideal, so the longer you can hold off, the better. Set yourself a reminder to check on the item <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5859632/buyers-remorse-is-inevitable-how-to-make-purchases-you-really-wont-regret">a week or month down the line</a>. When you come back to it, you may find that you don't even want it, just the gratification that would come with it. If you're shopping online, you can do the same thing. Walk away from your desk or put your phone in your pocket and do something else for a little while.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a85d9eb501c898234ac5df2a56c50a13">You can also avoid online impulse purchases by <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5919833/how-to-avoid-impulse-purchases-in-the-internet-shopping-age"x-inset="1">making it harder to do</a>. Block shopping web sites during time periods you know you're at your weakest, or remove all of your saved credit card or Paypal information. You can also <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5569035/practice-the-halt-method-to-curb-impulse-purchases"x-inset="1">practice the "HALT" method</a> when you're shopping online or in a store. Try not to buy things when you're Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired because you're at your weakest state mentally. Last, but not least, the "<ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5320196/use-the-stranger-test-to-reduce-impulse-purchases"x-inset="1">stranger test</a>" can help you weed out bad purchases too.</p>
@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
</blockquote>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4b6cc2900ffacd3daef54b13b4caceac">You probably have things in your life that provide plenty of gratification, so don't get caught substituting it with impulse buys. Always make sure you keep yourself happy with plenty of time doing the things you like to do and you won't be subconsciously trying to fill that void with useless crap.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="aed9b435c4ed23e573c453ceeb34ed18"><strong>Turn the Money You Save Into More Money</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="21154394d63f1943d01f2b717aa31115"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"data-chomp-id="atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="21154394d63f1943d01f2b717aa31115"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"data-chomp-id="atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="6141942e977cc058fd7a0fa06a3f7389">Once you've programmed your mind to stop buying crap you don't need, you'll have some extra cash to play with. Take all that money and start putting it toward your future and things you <em>will</em> need further down the road. You might need <atarget="_blank"href="http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-start-saving-for-a-home-down-payment-1541254056">a home</a>, a vehicle, or a way to retire, but none of that can happen until you start planning for it. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="90f08afddc08e2c3b45c266f2e6965ec">Start by paying off any debts you already have. Credit cards, student loans, and even car payments can force you to <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-break-the-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-cycle-1445330680">live paycheck to paycheck</a>. Use the <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5940989/pay-off-small-balances-first-for-better-odds-of-eliminating-all-your-debt">snowball method</a> and pay off some small balances to make you feel motivated, then start taking out your debt in full force with the <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-pay-off-your-debt-using-the-stack-method-576070292">stacking method</a>: stop creating new debt, determine which balances have the highest interest rates, and create a payment schedule to pay them off efficiently.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1106cb837deb2b6fc8e28ba98f078c27">With your debts whittled down, you should start an emergency fund. No matter how well you plan things, accidents and health emergencies can still happen. An emergency fund is designed to make those kinds of events more manageable. This type of savings account is strictly for when life throws you a curveball, but you can grow one pretty easily <atarget="_blank"href="http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-grow-an-emergency-fund-from-modest-savings-1638409351">with only modest savings</a>.</p>
"title":"How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need",
"byline":"Patrick Allan",
"dir":null,
"excerpt":"We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.",
<pdata-textannotation-id="58a492029dca5e6a6e481d21b6b2933a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"data-chomp-id="n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a043044f9b3e31fd85568b17e3b1b5f3"><span>We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.</span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="58a492029dca5e6a6e481d21b6b2933a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"data-chomp-id="n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--hqqO9fze--/n1s6c2m6kc07iqdyllj6.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a043044f9b3e31fd85568b17e3b1b5f3"><span>We all buy things from time to time that we don't really need. It's okay to appeal to your wants every once in a while, as long as you're in control. If you struggle with clutter, impulse buys, and buyer's remorse, here's how to put your mind in the right place before you even set foot in a store.</span></p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="e51cbbc52eb8c3b33571908351076cf7"><strong>Understand How Your Own Brain Works Against You</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="268f7702467d33e3b0972dd09f1cf0a6"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"data-chomp-id="o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="268f7702467d33e3b0972dd09f1cf0a6"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"data-chomp-id="o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QeUTCiuW--/o4dpyrcbiqyfrc3bxx6p.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="32604538f84919efff270e87b61191a1">It may come as no surprise to learn that stores employ all kinds of tricks to get you to part ways with your cash, and your brain plays right along. Through psychological tricks, product placement, and even color, stores are designed from the ground up to increase spending. We've talked about the biggest things stores do to manipulate your senses, but here are some of the biggest things to look out for:</p>
<ul>
<lidata-textannotation-id="cd748c8b681c781cdd728c5e17b5e05f"><strong>Color:</strong> Stores use color to make products attractive and eye-catching, but they also use color on price labels. Red stands out and can encourage taking action, that's why it's commonly associated with sale signage and advertising. When you see red, remember what they're trying to do to your brain with that color. You don't to buy something just because it's on sale.</li>
@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
<pdata-textannotation-id="1eb4a4df2a670927c5d9e9641ebf9d40">And sure, we can blame the stores all we want, but you won't change how they operate—you can only be aware of how your <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-stores-manipulate-your-senses-so-you-spend-more-mon-475987594"x-inset="1">brain is falling for their tricks</a>. Even without the stores, <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5968125/how-your-brain-corrupts-your-shopping-choices"x-inset="1">your brain is working against you on its own</a>, thanks to some simple cognitive biases.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="89992f1ca493b248eea6ed1772326c46">For example, confirmation bias makes you only believe the information that conforms to your prior beliefs, while you discount everything else. Advertisers appeal to this bias directly by convincing you one item is better than another with imagery and other tricks, regardless of what hard facts might say. Keep your mind open, do your own research, and accept when you're wrong about a product. The Decoy effect is also a commonly used tactic. You think one product is a deal because it's next to a similar product that's priced way higher. Even if it's a product you need, it's probably not as good of a deal as it looks right then and there. Again, always research beforehand and be on the lookout for this common trick to avoid impulse buys.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="eedde8c384145f2593efc2a15a4d79de"><strong>Make a List of </strong><em><strong>Everything</strong></em><strong> You Own and Do Some Decluttering</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="8044cf9aab698fd28931acd90ba96f7a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"data-chomp-id="xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="8044cf9aab698fd28931acd90ba96f7a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"data-chomp-id="xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mlR3Ku0_--/xrhkwleyurcizy4akiae.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a2a886d841e5aed848cdf7088edde4ea">Now that you know what you're up against, it's time to start changing the way you think. Before you can stop buying crap you don't need, you need to identify what that crap is. The first step is to make a list of <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-defeat-the-urge-to-binge-shop-1468216943"x-inset="1">every single thing you own</a>. <strong>Every. Single. Thing</strong>. This might sound extreme, but you need to gather your data so you can start reprogramming your mind.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bbe57b7aa20b48550e5f66b7c530822c">The purpose of this exercise is twofold: you see what you already have and don't need to ever buy again, and you get to see what you shouldn't have bought in the first place. As you list everything out, separate items into categories. It's extremely important that you are as honest with yourself as possible while you do this. It's also important you actually write this all down or type it all out. Here is the first set of categories to separate everything into:</p>
<ul>
@ -32,19 +32,19 @@
<pdata-textannotation-id="816cd504161fecc6f3e173779b33d5db">Remember to be honest and adjust your lists accordingly. There's nothing wrong with keeping things you wanted. Material items can <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-buy-happiness-the-purchases-most-likely-to-brin-1681780686">bring happiness to many people</a>, but make sure the items on your "want" list actively provide you joy and are being used. If an item doesn't get much use or doesn't make you happy, add it to the "crap" list.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="675103d9c0da55e95f93c53bb019f864">Once you have everything organized, it's time to do some serious decluttering. This listing exercise should get you started, but there are <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5957609/how-to-kick-your-clutter-habit-and-live-in-a-clean-house-once-and-for-all">a lot of other great ideas</a> when it comes to ditching the junk you don't need. Regardless, everything on your "crap" list needs to go. You can donate it, sell it at a yard sale, give it away to people know, whatever you like. Before you get rid of everything, though, take a picture of all your stuff together. Print out or save the picture somewhere. Some of it was probably gifts, but in general, this is all the crap you bought that you don't need. Take a good look and remember it.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="f15ab0a628b159459f095f04fef851ba"><strong>See How Much Money and Time You Spent on the Stuff You Threw Out</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bc2f55587bf4ab07a1852a8d26217233"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"data-chomp-id="qodag11euf2npkawkn9v"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bc2f55587bf4ab07a1852a8d26217233"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"data-chomp-id="qodag11euf2npkawkn9v"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tacb0tyW--/qodag11euf2npkawkn9v.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="95ab4fe30c3ade42a8011966ea54aa0b">Now take a look at your "crap" list again and start calculating how much you spent on all of it. If it was a gift, mark it as $0. Otherwise, figure out the price of the item at the time you bought it. If you got a deal or bought it on sale it's okay to factor that in, but try to be as accurate as possible. Once you have the price for each item, add it all together. Depending on your spending habits this could possibly be in the hundreds to thousands of dollars. Remember the picture you took of all this stuff? Attach the total cost to the picture so you can see both at the same time.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="f654efec679064b15826d8ee20bc94e4">With the money cost figured out, you should take a look at the other costs too. Time is a resource just like any other, and it's a finite one. What kind of time did you pour into these things? Consider the time you spent acquiring and using these items, then write it all down. These can be rough estimations, but go ahead and add it all up when you think you've got it. Now attach the total time to same picture as before and think of the other ways you could have spent all that time. This isn't to make you feel bad about yourself, just to deliver information to your brain in an easy-to-understand form. When you look at it all like this, it can open your eyes a little more, and help you think about purchases in the future. You'll look at an item and ask yourself, "Will this just end up in the picture?"</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="6342bf7f15d9eddd21489c23e51ca434"><strong>List Every Non-Material Thing In Your Life that Makes You Happy</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bafeac1c3808e0d2900190979f058b2c"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"data-chomp-id="imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="bafeac1c3808e0d2900190979f058b2c"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"data-chomp-id="imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--x9hLbIKJ--/imfc9ybqfw0jmztbhfrh.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4bd8fbaabb33ff1cb5dc93c16e1f83cc">Now it's time to make a different list. While material items may bring plenty of joy, the things in your life that make you happiest probably can't be bought. Get a separate piece of paper or create a new document and list out everything in your life that makes you happy. If you can't buy it, it's eligible for the list. It doesn't matter if it only makes you crack a smile or makes you jump for joy, list it out. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="104a646a62ad7a0cfb4e3ff086185fdc"><span>These are probably the things that actually make you want to get out of bed in the morning and keep on keepin' on. Once you have it all down, put it in your purse or wallet. The next time you feel the urge to buy something, whip this list out first and remind yourself why you probably don't need it.</span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="104a646a62ad7a0cfb4e3ff086185fdc"><span>These are probably the things that actually make you want to get out of bed in the morning and keep on keepin' on. Once you have it all down, put it in your purse or wallet. The next time you feel the urge to buy something, whip this list out first and remind yourself why you probably don't need it.</span></p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="532cf992ff45d52de501c1a8f80fc152"><strong>Spend Some Time Away from Material Things to Gain Perspective</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="64f5c7155ad89bd2835399d33c1ae28a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"data-chomp-id="afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="64f5c7155ad89bd2835399d33c1ae28a"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"data-chomp-id="afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6NwBgQLy--/afy7n45jfvsjdmmhonct.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="84554492c487779e921b98fb64222177">If you're having a really hard time with your spending, it can help to get away from material objects completely. When you're constantly surrounded by stuff and have access to buying things at all times, it can be really tough to break the habit. Spend a day in the park enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors, go camping with some friends, or hike a trail you haven't been on before. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="b44add1c7b690705d672186e3a9604b6">Essentially, you want to show yourself that you don't need your "things" to have a good time. When you realize how much fun you can have without all the trinkets and trivets, you'll start to shut down your desire to buy them. If you can't get really get away right now, just go for a walk without your purse or wallet (but carry your ID). If you can't buy anything, you'll be forced to experience things a different way.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="98c11bebae0bbcdbe8411df0186d6465"><strong>Develop a Personal "Should I Buy This?" Test</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="ff438b878771354bb7f6d065ff50dbb2"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"data-chomp-id="s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="ff438b878771354bb7f6d065ff50dbb2"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"data-chomp-id="s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ciqk42G0--/s3pq8vjrvyjgne4lfsod.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4af04ae83f18d9c37da21527bcd4a290">If you don't have a personal "should I buy this?" test, now's the perfect time to make one. When you find an item you think you need or want, it has to pass all of the questions you have on your test before you can buy it. Here's where you can use all of the data you've gathered so far and put it to really good use. The test should be personalized to your own buying habits, but here are some example questions:</p>
<ul>
<lidata-textannotation-id="fcfd78b1619bdf0b7330f4b40efb899d">Is this a planned purchase?</li>
@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
</ul>
<pdata-textannotation-id="0162d779382cdc7de908fc1488af3940">Custom build your test to hit all of your weaknesses. If you make a lot of impulse buys, include questions that address that. If you experience a lot of buyer's remorse, include a lot of questions that make you think about the use of item after you buy it. If buying the latest and greatest technology is your weakness, Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist suggests you ask yourself <atarget="_blank"href="http://www.becomingminimalist.com/marriage-hacks/">what problem the piece of tech solves</a>. If you can't think of anything it solves or if you already have something that solves it, you don't need it. Be thorough and build a test that you can run through your mind every time you consider buying something.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="c0ed0882675acc340dcd88e13ca514b3"><strong>Learn to Delay Gratification and Destroy the Urge to Impulse Buy</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1d43712fc5ce8f156e4661cca5750575"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"data-chomp-id="y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1d43712fc5ce8f156e4661cca5750575"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"data-chomp-id="y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mtob1sjR--/y2ldv5eufb3jcrtfouye.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="3d8086719c5da749f877629d498ccab9">When it comes to the unnecessary crap we buy, impulse purchases probably make up a good deal of them. We love to feel gratification instantly and impulse buys appeal to that with a rush of excitement with each new purchase. We like to believe that we have control over our impulses all the time, but we really don't, and that's a major problem for the ol' wallet.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="620ca9836425e09ec7fa50bfad204665">The key is teaching your brain that it's okay to <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/overcome-the-need-for-instant-gratification-by-delaying-1636938356">wait for gratification</a>. You can do this with a simple time out every time you want something. Look at whatever you're thinking of buying, go through your personal "should I buy this?" test, and then walk away for a little while. Planning your purchases ahead is ideal, so the longer you can hold off, the better. Set yourself a reminder to check on the item <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5859632/buyers-remorse-is-inevitable-how-to-make-purchases-you-really-wont-regret">a week or month down the line</a>. When you come back to it, you may find that you don't even want it, just the gratification that would come with it. If you're shopping online, you can do the same thing. Walk away from your desk or put your phone in your pocket and do something else for a little while.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="a85d9eb501c898234ac5df2a56c50a13">You can also avoid online impulse purchases by <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5919833/how-to-avoid-impulse-purchases-in-the-internet-shopping-age"x-inset="1">making it harder to do</a>. Block shopping web sites during time periods you know you're at your weakest, or remove all of your saved credit card or Paypal information. You can also <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5569035/practice-the-halt-method-to-curb-impulse-purchases"x-inset="1">practice the "HALT" method</a> when you're shopping online or in a store. Try not to buy things when you're Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired because you're at your weakest state mentally. Last, but not least, the "<ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5320196/use-the-stranger-test-to-reduce-impulse-purchases"x-inset="1">stranger test</a>" can help you weed out bad purchases too.</p>
@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
</blockquote>
<pdata-textannotation-id="4b6cc2900ffacd3daef54b13b4caceac">You probably have things in your life that provide plenty of gratification, so don't get caught substituting it with impulse buys. Always make sure you keep yourself happy with plenty of time doing the things you like to do and you won't be subconsciously trying to fill that void with useless crap.</p>
<h3data-textannotation-id="aed9b435c4ed23e573c453ceeb34ed18"><strong>Turn the Money You Save Into More Money</strong></h3>
<pdata-textannotation-id="21154394d63f1943d01f2b717aa31115"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"data-chomp-id="atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="21154394d63f1943d01f2b717aa31115"><span><imgwidth="636"height="358"data-format="jpg"data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"data-chomp-id="atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw"alt="How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need"src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--4Ajak63w--/atb9qm07fvvg7hqkumkw.jpg"/></span></p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="6141942e977cc058fd7a0fa06a3f7389">Once you've programmed your mind to stop buying crap you don't need, you'll have some extra cash to play with. Take all that money and start putting it toward your future and things you <em>will</em> need further down the road. You might need <atarget="_blank"href="http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-start-saving-for-a-home-down-payment-1541254056">a home</a>, a vehicle, or a way to retire, but none of that can happen until you start planning for it. </p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="90f08afddc08e2c3b45c266f2e6965ec">Start by paying off any debts you already have. Credit cards, student loans, and even car payments can force you to <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-break-the-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-cycle-1445330680">live paycheck to paycheck</a>. Use the <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/5940989/pay-off-small-balances-first-for-better-odds-of-eliminating-all-your-debt">snowball method</a> and pay off some small balances to make you feel motivated, then start taking out your debt in full force with the <ahref="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-pay-off-your-debt-using-the-stack-method-576070292">stacking method</a>: stop creating new debt, determine which balances have the highest interest rates, and create a payment schedule to pay them off efficiently.</p>
<pdata-textannotation-id="1106cb837deb2b6fc8e28ba98f078c27">With your debts whittled down, you should start an emergency fund. No matter how well you plan things, accidents and health emergencies can still happen. An emergency fund is designed to make those kinds of events more manageable. This type of savings account is strictly for when life throws you a curveball, but you can grow one pretty easily <atarget="_blank"href="http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-grow-an-emergency-fund-from-modest-savings-1638409351">with only modest savings</a>.</p>
"excerpt":"Posted by Andrew Hayden, Software Engineer on Google Play Android users are downloading tens of billions of apps and games on Google Pla...",
<p><em>Posted by Andrew Hayden, Software Engineer on Google Play</em></p>
<p> Android users are downloading tens of billions of apps and games on Google Play. We're also seeing developers update their apps frequently in order to provide users with great content, improve security, and enhance the overall user experience. It takes a lot of data to download these updates and we know users care about how much data their devices are using. Earlier this year, we announced that we started using <ahref="https://android-developers.blogspot.com/2016/07/improvements-for-smaller-app-downloads.html">the
Colin Percival)</a>. Using bsdiff, we were able to reduce the size of app updates on average by 47% compared to the full APK size. </p>
<p> Today, we're excited to share a new approach that goes further — <strong><ahref="https://github.com/andrewhayden/archive-patcher/blob/master/README.md">File-by-File
patching</a></strong>. App Updates using File-by-File patching are, <strong>on average,</strong><strong>65% smaller than the full app</strong>, and in some cases more than 90% smaller. </p>
<p>
<em>Posted by Andrew Hayden, Software Engineer on Google Play</em>
</p>
<p> Android users are downloading tens of billions of apps and games on Google Play. We're also seeing developers update their apps frequently in order to provide users with great content, improve security, and enhance the overall user experience. It takes a lot of data to download these updates and we know users care about how much data their devices are using. Earlier this year, we announced that we started using <ahref="https://android-developers.blogspot.com/2016/07/improvements-for-smaller-app-downloads.html">the bsdiff algorithm</a><ahref="https://android-developers.blogspot.com/2016/07/improvements-for-smaller-app-downloads.html">(by Colin Percival)</a>. Using bsdiff, we were able to reduce the size of app updates on average by 47% compared to the full APK size. </p>
<p> Today, we're excited to share a new approach that goes further — <strong><ahref="https://github.com/andrewhayden/archive-patcher/blob/master/README.md">File-by-File patching</a></strong>. App Updates using File-by-File patching are, <strong>on average,</strong>
<strong>65% smaller than the full app</strong>, and in some cases more than 90% smaller.
</p>
<p> The savings, compared to our previous approach, add up to 6 petabytes of user data saved per day! </p>
<p> In order to get the new version of the app, Google Play sends your device a patch that describes the <em>differences</em> between the old and new versions of the app. </p>
<p> Imagine you are an author of a book about to be published, and wish to change a single sentence - it's much easier to tell the editor which sentence to change and what to change, rather than send an entirely new book. In the same way, patches are much smaller and much faster to download than the entire APK. </p>
<p><strong><span>Techniques used in File-by-File
patching </span></strong></p>
<p>
<strong><span>Techniques used in File-by-File patching </span></strong>
</p>
<p> Android apps are packaged as APKs, which are ZIP files with special conventions. Most of the content within the ZIP files (and APKs) is compressed using a technology called <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DEFLATE&oldid=735386036">Deflate</a>. Deflate is really good at compressing data but it has a drawback: it makes identifying changes in the original (uncompressed) content really hard. Even a tiny change to the original content (like changing one word in a book) can make the compressed output of deflate look <em>completely different</em>. Describing the differences between the <em>original</em> content is easy, but describing the differences between the <em>compressed</em> content is so hard that it leads to inefficient patches. </p>
<p> Watch how much the compressed text on the right side changes from a one-letter change in the uncompressed text on the left: </p>
<p> File-by-File therefore is based on detecting changes in the uncompressed data. To generate a patch, we first decompress both old and new files before computing the delta (we still use bsdiff here). Then to apply the patch, we decompress the old file, apply the delta to the uncompressed content and then recompress the new file. In doing so, we need to make sure that the APK on your device is a perfect match, byte for byte, to the one on the Play Store (see <ahref="https://source.android.com/security/apksigning/v2.html">APK Signature
<p> File-by-File therefore is based on detecting changes in the uncompressed data. To generate a patch, we first decompress both old and new files before computing the delta (we still use bsdiff here). Then to apply the patch, we decompress the old file, apply the delta to the uncompressed content and then recompress the new file. In doing so, we need to make sure that the APK on your device is a perfect match, byte for byte, to the one on the Play Store (see <ahref="https://source.android.com/security/apksigning/v2.html">APK Signature Schema v2 </a>for why). </p>
<p> When recompressing the new file, we hit two complications. First, Deflate has a number of settings that affect output; and we don't know which settings were used in the first place. Second, many versions of deflate exist and we need to know whether the version on your device is suitable. </p>
<p> Fortunately, after analysis of the apps on the Play Store, we've discovered that recent and compatible versions of deflate based on zlib (the most popular deflate library) account for almost all deflated content in the Play Store. In addition, the default settings (level=6) and maximum compression settings (level=9) are the only settings we encountered in practice. </p>
<p> Knowing this, we can detect and reproduce the original deflate settings. This makes it possible to uncompress the data, apply a patch, and then recompress the data back to <em>exactly the same bytes</em> as originally uploaded. </p>
<p> However, there is one trade off; extra processing power is needed on the device. On modern devices (e.g. from 2015), recompression can take a little over a second per megabyte and on older or less powerful devices it can be longer. Analysis so far shows that, on average, if the patch size is halved then the time spent applying the patch (which for File-by-File includes recompression) is doubled. </p>
<p> For now, we are limiting the use of this new patching technology to auto-updates only, i.e. the updates that take place in the background, usually at night when your phone is plugged into power and you're not likely to be using it. This ensures that users won't have to wait any longer than usual for an update to finish when manually updating an app. </p>
<p><strong><span>How effective is File-by-File
Patching?</span></strong></p>
<p>
<strong><span>How effective is File-by-File Patching?</span></strong>
</p>
<p> Here are examples of app updates already using File-by-File Patching: </p>
<divdir="ltr"trbidi="on">
<divdir="ltr">
<table>
<colgroup>
<colwidth="142"/>
<colwidth="102"/>
<colwidth="176"/>
<colwidth="176"/>
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p><span>Application</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p><span>Original Size</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p><span>Previous (BSDiff) Patch Size</span></p>
<p><span>(% vs original)</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p><span>File-by-File Patch Size (% vs original)</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<divdir="ltr">
<p><ahref="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.king.farmheroessupersaga&hl=en"><span>Farm Heroes Super Saga</span></a></p>
<p><em>Disclaimer: if you see different patch sizes when you press "update" manually, that is because we are not currently using File-by-file for interactive updates, only those done in the background.</em></p>
<p>
<strong><span>Saving data and making our users (& developers!) happy</span></strong>
</p>
<p> These changes are designed to ensure our community of over a billion Android users use as little data as possible for regular app updates. The best thing is that as a developer you don't need to do anything. You get these reductions to your update size for free! </p>
<p> If you'd like to know more about File-by-File patching, including the technical details, head over to the <ahref="https://github.com/andrewhayden/archive-patcher">Archive Patcher GitHub
project</a> where you can find information, including the source code. Yes, File-by-File patching is completely open-source! </p>
<p> As a developer if you're interested in reducing your APK size still further, here are some <ahref="https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/reduce-apk-size.html?utm_campaign=android_discussion_filebyfile_120616&utm_source=anddev&utm_medium=blog">general
<p> If you'd like to know more about File-by-File patching, including the technical details, head over to the <ahref="https://github.com/andrewhayden/archive-patcher">Archive Patcher GitHub project</a> where you can find information, including the source code. Yes, File-by-File patching is completely open-source! </p>
<p> As a developer if you're interested in reducing your APK size still further, here are some <ahref="https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/reduce-apk-size.html?utm_campaign=android_discussion_filebyfile_120616&utm_source=anddev&utm_medium=blog">general tips on reducing APK size</a>. </p>
"title":"LWN.net Weekly Edition for March 26, 2015 [LWN.net]",
"byline":"By Nathan Willis\n March 25, 2015",
"dir":null,
"excerpt":"The Arduino has been one of the biggest success stories of the open-hardware movement, but that success does not protect it from internal conflict. In recent months, two of the project's founders have come into conflict about the direction of future efforts—and that conflict has turned into a legal dispute about who owns the rights to the Arduino trademark.",
<p>The current fight is a battle between two companies that both bear the Arduino name: Arduino LLC and Arduino SRL. The disagreements that led to present state of affairs go back a bit further. </p>
<p>The Arduino project grew out of 2005-era course work taught at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea (IDII) in Ivrea, Italy (using <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processing_(programming_language)">Processing</a>, <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiring_%28development_platform%29">Wiring</a>, and pre-existing microcontroller hardware). After the IDII program was discontinued, the open-hardware Arduino project as we know it was launched by Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, and David Mellis (who had worked together at IDII), with co-founders Tom Igoe and Gianluca Martino joining shortly afterward. The project released open hardware designs (including full schematics and design files) as well as the microcontroller software to run on the boards and the desktop IDE needed to program it. </p>
<p>Arduino LLC was incorporated in 2008 by Banzi, Cuartielles, Mellis, Igoe, and Martino. The company is registered in the United States, and it has continued to design the Arduino product line, develop the software, and run the Arduino community site. The hardware devices themselves, however, were manufactured by a separate company, "Smart Projects SRL," that was founded by Martino. "SRL" is essentially the Italian equivalent of "LLC"—Smart Projects was incorporated in Italy. </p>
<p>This division of responsibilities—with the main Arduino project handling everything except for board manufacturing—may seem like an odd one, but it is consistent with Arduino's marketing story. From its earliest days, the designs for the hardware have been freely available, and outside companies were allowed to make Arduino-compatible devices. The project has long run a <ahref="http://arduino.cc/en/ArduinoCertified/Products#program">certification
program</a> for third-party manufacturers interested in using the "Arduino" branding, but allows (and arguably even encourages) informal software and firmware compatibility. </p>
<p>This division of responsibilities—with the main Arduino project handling everything except for board manufacturing—may seem like an odd one, but it is consistent with Arduino's marketing story. From its earliest days, the designs for the hardware have been freely available, and outside companies were allowed to make Arduino-compatible devices. The project has long run a <ahref="http://arduino.cc/en/ArduinoCertified/Products#program">certification program</a> for third-party manufacturers interested in using the "Arduino" branding, but allows (and arguably even encourages) informal software and firmware compatibility. </p>
<p>The Arduino branding was not formally registered as a trademark in the early days, however. Arduino LLC <ahref="http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=3931675&caseType=US_REGISTRATION_NO&searchType=statusSearch">filed</a> to register the US trademark in April 2009, and it was granted in 2011. </p>
<p>At this point, the exact events begin to be harder to verify, but the original group of founders reportedly had a difference of opinion about how to license out hardware production rights to other companies. Wired Italy <ahref="http://www.wired.it/gadget/computer/2015/02/12/arduino-nel-caos-situazione/">reports</a> that Martino and Smart Projects resisted the other four founders' plans to "internationalize" production—although it is not clear if that meant that Smart Projects disapproved of licensing out <em>any</em> official hardware manufacturing to other companies, or had some other concern. Heise Online <ahref="http://www.heise.de/make/meldung/Arduino-gegen-Arduino-Gruender-streiten-um-die-Firma-2549653.html">adds</a> that the conflict seemed to be about moving some production to China. </p>
<p>What is clear is that Smart Projects filed a <ahref="http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92060077&pty=CAN&eno=1">petition</a> with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2014 asking the USPTO to cancel Arduino LLC's trademark on "Arduino." Then, in November 2014, Smart Projects changed its company's name to Arduino SRL. Somewhere around that time, Martino sold off his ownership stake in Smart Projects SRL and new owner Federico Musto was named CEO. </p>
<h2><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637533/">Mapping and data mining with QGIS 2.8</a></h2>
<p> By <b>Nathan Willis</b>
<br/>March 25, 2015 </p>
<br/>March 25, 2015
</p>
<p><ahref="http://qgis.org/">QGIS</a> is a free-software geographic information system (GIS) tool; it provides a unified interface in which users can import, edit, and analyze geographic-oriented information, and it can produce output as varied as printable maps or map-based web services. The project recently made its first update to be designated a long-term release (LTR), and that release is both poised for high-end usage and friendly to newcomers alike. </p>
<p>The new release is version 2.8, which was unveiled on March 2. An official <ahref="http://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/visualchangelog28/index.html">change
log</a> is available on the QGIS site, while the release itself was announced primarily through blog posts (such as <ahref="http://anitagraser.com/2015/03/02/qgis-2-8-ltr-has-landed/">this
post</a> by Anita Graser of the project's steering committee). Downloads are <ahref="http://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html">available</a> for a variety of platforms, including packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and several other distributions.</p>
<p><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637747/"><imgsrc="http://fakehost/images/2015/03-qgis-map-sm.png"alt="[QGIS main interface]"width="350"height="264"/></a></p>
<p>The new release is version 2.8, which was unveiled on March 2. An official <ahref="http://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/visualchangelog28/index.html">change log</a> is available on the QGIS site, while the release itself was announced primarily through blog posts (such as <ahref="http://anitagraser.com/2015/03/02/qgis-2-8-ltr-has-landed/">this post</a> by Anita Graser of the project's steering committee). Downloads are <ahref="http://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html">available</a> for a variety of platforms, including packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and several other distributions.</p>
<p><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637747/"><imgsrc="http://fakehost/images/2015/03-qgis-map-sm.png"width="350"height="264"alt="[QGIS main interface]"/></a></p>
<p>As the name might suggest, QGIS is a Qt application; the latest release will, in fact, build on both Qt4 and Qt5, although the binaries released by the project come only in Qt4 form at present. 2.8 has been labeled a long-term release (LTR)—which, in this case, means that the project has committed to providing backported bug fixes for one full calendar year, and that the 2.8.x series is in permanent feature freeze. The goal, according to the change log, is to provide a stable version suitable for businesses and deployments in other large organizations. The change log itself points out that the development of quite a few new features was underwritten by various GIS companies or university groups, which suggests that taking care of these organizations' needs is reaping dividends for the project. </p>
<p>For those new to QGIS (or GIS in general), there is a detailed new-user <ahref="http://docs.qgis.org/testing/en/docs/training_manual/">tutorial</a> that provides a thorough walk-through of the data-manipulation, mapping, and analysis functions. Being a new user, I went through the tutorial; although there are a handful of minor differences between QGIS 2.8 and the version used in the text (primarily whether specific features were accessed through a toolbar or right-click menu), on the whole it is well worth the time. </p>
<p>QGIS is designed to make short work of importing spatially oriented data sets, mining information from them, and turning the results into a meaningful visualization. Technically speaking, the visualization output is optional: one could simply extract the needed statistics and results and use them to answer some question or, perhaps, publish the massaged data set as a database for others to use. </p>
<p>But well-made maps are often the easiest way to illuminate facts about populations, political regions, geography, and many other topics when human comprehension is the goal. QGIS makes importing data from databases, web-mapping services (WMS), and even unwieldy flat-file data dumps a painless experience. It handles converting between a variety of map-referencing systems more or less automatically, and allows the user to focus on finding the useful attributes of the data sets and rendering them on screen. </p>
<h4>Here be data</h4>
<p>The significant changes in QGIS 2.8 fall into several categories. There are updates to how QGIS handles the mathematical expressions and queries users can use to filter information out of a data set, improvements to the tools used to explore the on-screen map canvas, and enhancements to the "map composer" used to produce visual output. This is on top of plenty of other under-the-hood improvements, naturally.</p>
<p>In the first category are several updates to the filtering tools used to mine a data set. Generally speaking, each independent data set is added to a QGIS project as its own layer, then transformed with filters to focus in on a specific portion of the original data. For instance, the land-usage statistics for a region might be one layer, while roads and buildings for the same region from OpenStreetMap might be two additional layers. Such filters can be created in several ways: there is a "query builder" that lets the user construct and test expressions on a data layer, then save the results, an SQL console for performing similar queries on a database, and spreadsheet-like editing tools for working directly on data tables. </p>
<p>All three have been improved in this release. New are support for <tt>if(condition, true, false)</tt> conditional statements, a set of operations for geometry primitives (e.g., to test whether regions overlap or lines intersect), and an "integer divide" operation. Users can also add comments to their queries to annotate their code, and there is a new <ahref="http://nathanw.net/2015/01/19/function-editor-for-qgis-expressions/">custom
function editor</a> for writing Python functions that can be called in mathematical expressions within the query builder. </p>
<p>All three have been improved in this release. New are support for <tt>if(condition, true, false)</tt> conditional statements, a set of operations for geometry primitives (e.g., to test whether regions overlap or lines intersect), and an "integer divide" operation. Users can also add comments to their queries to annotate their code, and there is a new <ahref="http://nathanw.net/2015/01/19/function-editor-for-qgis-expressions/">custom function editor</a> for writing Python functions that can be called in mathematical expressions within the query builder. </p>
<p>It is also now possible to select only some rows in a table, then perform calculations just on the selection—previously, users would have to extract the rows of interest into a new table first. Similarly, in the SQL editor, the user can highlight a subset of the SQL query and execute it separately, which is no doubt helpful for debugging. </p>
<p>There have also been several improvements to the Python and Processing plugins. Users can now drag-and-drop Python scripts onto QGIS and they will be run automatically. Several new analysis algorithms are now available through the Processing interface that were previously Python-only; they include algorithms for generating grids of points or vectors within a region, splitting layers and lines, generating <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypsometric_curve">hypsometric
curves</a>, refactoring data sets, and more. </p>
<p>There have also been several improvements to the Python and Processing plugins. Users can now drag-and-drop Python scripts onto QGIS and they will be run automatically. Several new analysis algorithms are now available through the Processing interface that were previously Python-only; they include algorithms for generating grids of points or vectors within a region, splitting layers and lines, generating <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypsometric_curve">hypsometric curves</a>, refactoring data sets, and more. </p>
<p>The process of working with on-screen map data picked up some improvements in the new release as well. Perhaps the most fundamental is that each map layer added to the canvas is now handled in its own thread, so fewer hangs in the user interface are experienced when re-rendering a layer (as happens whenever the user changes the look of points or shapes in a layer). Since remote databases can also be layers, this multi-threaded approach is more resilient against connectivity problems, too. The interface also now supports temporary "scratch" layers that can be used to merge, filter, or simply experiment with a data set, but are not saved when the current project is saved. </p>
<p>For working on the canvas itself, polygonal regions can now use raster images (tiled, if necessary) as fill colors, the map itself can be rotated arbitrarily, and objects can be "snapped" to align with items on any layer (not just the current layer). For working with raster image layers (e.g., aerial photographs) or simply creating new geometric shapes by hand, there is a new digitizing tool that can offer assistance by locking lines to specific angles, automatically keeping borders parallel, and other niceties. </p>
<p>There is a completely overhauled "simplify" tool that is used to reduce the number of extraneous vertices of a vector layer (thus reducing its size). The old simplify tool provided only a relative "tolerance" setting that did not correspond directly to any units. With the new tool, users can set a simplification threshold in terms of the underlying map units, layer-specific units, pixels, and more—and, in addition, the tool reports how much the simplify operation has reduced the size of the data.</p>
<p>There has also been an effort to present a uniform interface to one of the most important features of the map canvas: the ability to change the symbology used for an item based on some data attribute. The simplest example might be to change the line color of a road based on whether its road-type attribute is "highway," "service road," "residential," or so on. But the same feature is used to automatically highlight layer information based on the filtering and querying functionality discussed above. The new release allows many more map attributes to be controlled by these "data definition" settings, and provides a hard-to-miss button next to each attribute, through which a custom data definition can be set. </p>
<p>QGIS's composer module is the tool used to take project data and generate a map that can be used outside of the application (in print, as a static image, or as a layer for <ahref="http://mapserver.org/">MapServer</a> or some other software tool, for example). Consequently, it is not a simple select-and-click-export tool; composing the output can involve a lot of choices about which data to make visible, how (and where) to label it, and how to make it generally accessible. </p>
<p>The updated composer in 2.8 now has a full-screen mode and sports several new options for configuring output. For instance, the user now has full control over how map axes are labeled. In previous releases, the grid coordinates of the map could be turned on or off, but the only options were all or nothing. Now, the user can individually choose whether coordinates are displayed on all four sides, and can even choose in which direction vertical text labels will run (so that they can be correctly justified to the edge of the map, for example). </p>
<h2><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637735/">Development activity in LibreOffice and OpenOffice</a></h2>
<p> By <b>Jonathan Corbet</b>
<br/>March 25, 2015 </p>
<p> The LibreOffice project was <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/407383/">announced</a> with great fanfare in September 2010. Nearly one year later, the OpenOffice.org project (from which LibreOffice was forked) <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/446093/">was
cut loose from Oracle</a> and found a new home as an Apache project. It is fair to say that the rivalry between the two projects in the time since then has been strong. Predictions that one project or the other would fail have not been borne out, but that does not mean that the two projects are equally successful. A look at the two projects' development communities reveals some interesting differences.
<br/>March 25, 2015
</p>
<p> The LibreOffice project was <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/407383/">announced</a> with great fanfare in September 2010. Nearly one year later, the OpenOffice.org project (from which LibreOffice was forked) <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/446093/">was cut loose from Oracle</a> and found a new home as an Apache project. It is fair to say that the rivalry between the two projects in the time since then has been strong. Predictions that one project or the other would fail have not been borne out, but that does not mean that the two projects are equally successful. A look at the two projects' development communities reveals some interesting differences. </p>
<h4>Release histories</h4>
<p> Apache OpenOffice has made two releases in the past year: <ahref="https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/entry/the_apache_openoffice_project_announce">4.1</a> in April 2014 and <ahref="https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/entry/announcing_apache_openoffice_4_1">4.1.1</a> (described as "a micro update" in the release announcement) in August. The main feature added during that time would appear to be significantly improved accessibility support. </p>
<p> The release history for LibreOffice tells a slightly different story: </p>
@ -625,13 +620,10 @@
<h4>Some conclusions</h4>
<p> Last October, some <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637742/">concerns</a> were raised on the OpenOffice list about the health of that project's community. At the time, Rob Weir <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637743/">shrugged them off</a> as the result of a marketing effort by the LibreOffice crowd. There can be no doubt that the war of words between these two projects has gotten tiresome at times, but, looking at the above numbers, it is hard not to conclude that there is an issue that goes beyond marketing hype here. </p>
<p> In the 4½ years since its founding, the LibreOffice project has put together a community with over 250 active developers. There is support from multiple companies and an impressive rate of patches going into the project's repository. The project's ability to sustain nearly monthly releases on two branches is a direct result of that community's work. Swearing at LibreOffice is one of your editor's favorite pastimes, but it seems clear that the project is on a solid footing with a healthy community. </p>
<p> OpenOffice, instead, is driven by four developers from a single company — a company that appears to have been deemphasizing OpenOffice work for some time. As a result, the project's commit rate is a fraction of what LibreOffice is able to sustain and releases are relatively rare. As of this writing, the <ahref="https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/">OpenOffice
blog</a> shows no posts in 2015. In the October discussion, Rob <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637750/">said</a> that "<span>the dogs may
bark but the caravan moves on.</span>" That may be true, but, in this case, the caravan does not appear to be moving with any great speed. </p>
<p> OpenOffice, instead, is driven by four developers from a single company — a company that appears to have been deemphasizing OpenOffice work for some time. As a result, the project's commit rate is a fraction of what LibreOffice is able to sustain and releases are relatively rare. As of this writing, the <ahref="https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/">OpenOffice blog</a> shows no posts in 2015. In the October discussion, Rob <ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637750/">said</a> that "<span>the dogs may bark but the caravan moves on.</span>" That may be true, but, in this case, the caravan does not appear to be moving with any great speed. </p>
<p> Anything can happen in the free-software development world; it is entirely possible that a reinvigorated OpenOffice.org may yet give LibreOffice a run for its money. But something will clearly have to change to bring that future around. As things stand now, it is hard not to conclude that LibreOffice has won the battle for developer participation. </p>
<h2>Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition</h2>
<ul>
<li><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637395/">Security</a>: Toward secure package downloads; New vulnerabilities in drupal, mozilla, openssl, python-django ... </li>
@ -641,9 +633,11 @@
<li><ahref="http://fakehost/Articles/637399/">Announcements</a>: A Turing award for Michael Stonebraker, Sébastien Jodogne, ReGlue are Free Software Award winners, Kat Walsh joins FSF board of directors, Cyanogen, ... </li>
<header> Neuroscience tells us that most of the work done by our brains happens on an unconscious level, but when does that "a-ha!" moment occur? And what happens during it? New research investigates. </header>
<em>A new study investigates when the 'a-ha!' moment takes place in the brain, and how similar it is to other brain processes.</em>
</p>
<p> Many of us have noticed that we seem to get our best ideas when we're in the shower, or that we can find the answer to a difficult question when we least think about it. </p>
<p> A large body of neuroscientific <ahref="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612446024"target="_blank"rel="noopener">studies</a> has pointed out that the brain does a lot of work in its spare time, the so-called idle state - wherein the brain does not appear to be thinking about anything at all - and that this is the time when it works at its hardest to find solutions to complex problems. </p>
<p> With time and advances in <ahref="http://fakehost/articles/248680.php"title="What is neuroscience?">neuroscience</a>, it has become more and more clear to researchers that Freud <em>was</em> right and the mind, as well as the brain, do work unconsciously. In fact, it would be safe to say that what is consciously known to us is just the tip of a much larger iceberg, deeply submerged in unconscious waters. </p>
<p> But the exact moment at which information becomes known to us - or when the "tip of the iceberg" pierces through the water, and the unconscious becomes conscious - has been somewhat of a mystery, from a neuroscientific point of view. </p>
<p> In other words, we do not yet know when that intellectually satisfying "a-ha!" moment takes place, or what the biology is behind it. This is why a team of researchers at Columbia University in New York City, NY, set out to investigate this moment in more detail. </p>
<p> The scientists were led by Michael Shadlen, Ph.D., of Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, and the <ahref="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30784-4"target="_blank"rel="noopener">findings</a> were published in the journal <em>Current Biology.</em>
</p>
<h2> The hypothesis </h2>
<p> Dr. Shadlen and colleagues started out from an interesting hypothesis, one which they derived from previous research on the neurobiological processes involved in decision-making. </p>
<p> As the authors explain, research conducted in both monkeys and humans shows that many of our decisions take place at a point when the brain "feels" as though it has gathered enough information, or when a critical level of information has been accumulated. </p>
<p> This process of making a decision once the brain has accumulated enough evidence bears the name of "bounded evidence accumulation." Reaching this threshold is important because, although the brain does not use <em>all</em> of the information available, it uses as much as is necessary to make a speedy yet accurate decision. </p>
<p>
<strong>The researchers wondered whether or not this threshold is also responsible for our "eureka!" moments.</strong>
</p>
<p> In Dr. Shadlen's words, "Could the moment when the brain believes it has accumulated enough evidence be tied to the person's awareness of having decided - that important 'a-ha!' moment?" </p>
<h2> Examining the 'a-ha!' moment </h2>
<p> To answer this question, the scientists asked five people to perform a "direction discrimination" task. In it, the participants looked at dots on a computer screen. The dots moved randomly, as grains of sand would when blown by the wind. The participants were asked to say in which direction the dots had moved. </p>
<p> The moment they "decided" which direction the dots seemed to be taking was considered to be the equivalent of the "a-ha!" moment. </p>
<p> In the center of the screen, there was a fixed point and a clock. The display also had two "choice targets" - namely, left or right - and these were the directions in which the participants had to decide that the dots had moved. </p>
<p> Shortly after the dots had stopped moving, the participants used an electronic, hand-held stylus to move the cursor in the direction that they thought the dots had moved. </p>
<p> To determine when the decision was made, the researchers used the technique called "mental chronometry" - that is, after they made their decision, the participants were asked to move the clock backward to the point when they felt that they had consciously done so. </p>
<p> "The moment in time indicated by the participants - this mental chronometry - was entirely subjective; it relied solely on their own estimation of how long it took them to make that decision," Dr. Shadlen says. "And because it was purely subjective, in principle it ought to be unverifiable." </p>
<h2> 'A-ha' moment similar to making a decision </h2>
<p> However, by applying a mathematical model, the scientists were able to match these subjective decision times to the bounded evidence accumulation process. </p>
<divitemprop="articleBody">
<header> Neuroscience tells us that most of the work done by our brains happens on an unconscious level, but when does that "a-ha!" moment occur? And what happens during it? New research investigates. </header>
<em>A new study investigates when the 'a-ha!' moment takes place in the brain, and how similar it is to other brain processes.</em>
</p>
<p> Many of us have noticed that we seem to get our best ideas when we're in the shower, or that we can find the answer to a difficult question when we least think about it. </p>
<p> A large body of neuroscientific <ahref="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612446024"target="_blank"rel="noopener">studies</a> has pointed out that the brain does a lot of work in its spare time, the so-called idle state - wherein the brain does not appear to be thinking about anything at all - and that this is the time when it works at its hardest to find solutions to complex problems. </p>
<p> With time and advances in <ahref="http://fakehost/articles/248680.php"title="What is neuroscience?">neuroscience</a>, it has become more and more clear to researchers that Freud <em>was</em> right and the mind, as well as the brain, do work unconsciously. In fact, it would be safe to say that what is consciously known to us is just the tip of a much larger iceberg, deeply submerged in unconscious waters. </p>
<p> But the exact moment at which information becomes known to us - or when the "tip of the iceberg" pierces through the water, and the unconscious becomes conscious - has been somewhat of a mystery, from a neuroscientific point of view. </p>
<p> In other words, we do not yet know when that intellectually satisfying "a-ha!" moment takes place, or what the biology is behind it. This is why a team of researchers at Columbia University in New York City, NY, set out to investigate this moment in more detail. </p>
<p> The scientists were led by Michael Shadlen, Ph.D., of Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, and the <ahref="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30784-4"target="_blank"rel="noopener">findings</a> were published in the journal <em>Current Biology.</em>
</p>
<h2> The hypothesis </h2>
<p> Dr. Shadlen and colleagues started out from an interesting hypothesis, one which they derived from previous research on the neurobiological processes involved in decision-making. </p>
<p> As the authors explain, research conducted in both monkeys and humans shows that many of our decisions take place at a point when the brain "feels" as though it has gathered enough information, or when a critical level of information has been accumulated. </p>
<p> This process of making a decision once the brain has accumulated enough evidence bears the name of "bounded evidence accumulation." Reaching this threshold is important because, although the brain does not use <em>all</em> of the information available, it uses as much as is necessary to make a speedy yet accurate decision. </p>
<p>
<strong>The researchers wondered whether or not this threshold is also responsible for our "eureka!" moments.</strong>
</p>
<p> In Dr. Shadlen's words, "Could the moment when the brain believes it has accumulated enough evidence be tied to the person's awareness of having decided - that important 'a-ha!' moment?" </p>
<h2> Examining the 'a-ha!' moment </h2>
<p> To answer this question, the scientists asked five people to perform a "direction discrimination" task. In it, the participants looked at dots on a computer screen. The dots moved randomly, as grains of sand would when blown by the wind. The participants were asked to say in which direction the dots had moved. </p>
<p> The moment they "decided" which direction the dots seemed to be taking was considered to be the equivalent of the "a-ha!" moment. </p>
<p> In the center of the screen, there was a fixed point and a clock. The display also had two "choice targets" - namely, left or right - and these were the directions in which the participants had to decide that the dots had moved. </p>
<p> Shortly after the dots had stopped moving, the participants used an electronic, hand-held stylus to move the cursor in the direction that they thought the dots had moved. </p>
<p> To determine when the decision was made, the researchers used the technique called "mental chronometry" - that is, after they made their decision, the participants were asked to move the clock backward to the point when they felt that they had consciously done so. </p>
<p> "The moment in time indicated by the participants - this mental chronometry - was entirely subjective; it relied solely on their own estimation of how long it took them to make that decision," Dr. Shadlen says. "And because it was purely subjective, in principle it ought to be unverifiable." </p>
<h2> 'A-ha' moment similar to making a decision </h2>
<p> However, by applying a mathematical model, the scientists were able to match these subjective decision times to the bounded evidence accumulation process. </p>
<p>
<strong>The subjective decision times fit so well with what the scientists determined as the evidence accumulation threshold that they were able to predict the choices of four of the five participants.</strong>
</p>
<p> "If the time reported to us by the participants was valid, we reasoned that it might be possible to predict the accuracy of the decision," explains Dr. Shadlen. </p>
<p> "We incorporated a kind of mathematical trick, based on earlier studies, which showed that the speed and accuracy of decisions were tied together by the same brain function." This "mathematical trick" was the evidence accumulation model. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>
<strong>The subjective decision times fit so well with what the scientists determined as the evidence accumulation threshold that they were able to predict the choices of four of the five participants.</strong>
<span>"</span>Essentially, the act of becoming consciously aware of a decision conforms to the same process that the brain goes through to complete a decision, even a simple one - such as whether to turn left or right."
</p>
<p> "If the time reported to us by the participants was valid, we reasoned that it might be possible to predict the accuracy of the decision," explains Dr. Shadlen. </p>
<p> "We incorporated a kind of mathematical trick, based on earlier studies, which showed that the speed and accuracy of decisions were tied together by the same brain function." This "mathematical trick" was the evidence accumulation model. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>
<span>"</span>Essentially, the act of becoming consciously aware of a decision conforms to the same process that the brain goes through to complete a decision, even a simple one - such as whether to turn left or right." </p>
<p> Michael Shadlen, Ph.D. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> In other words, the study shows that the conscious awareness of the "a-ha!" moment takes place precisely when the brain has reached that threshold of evidence accumulation. </p>
<p> The findings provide unique insights into the biology of consciousness, say the researchers, and they bring us closer to understanding the biological basis of decisions, ethics, and, generally, the human mind. </p>
</div>
<p> Michael Shadlen, Ph.D. </p>
</blockquote>
<p> In other words, the study shows that the conscious awareness of the "a-ha!" moment takes place precisely when the brain has reached that threshold of evidence accumulation. </p>
<p> The findings provide unique insights into the biology of consciousness, say the researchers, and they bring us closer to understanding the biological basis of decisions, ethics, and, generally, the human mind. </p>
<pname="c9d4"id="c9d4">Photography was my lucky way of experiencing the many types of people my generation seemed to avoid, as well as many the public spends too much time discussing. One of my habits as a photographer was scouring sites like Flickr to see how others could frame the world in ways I hadn’t previously considered.</p>
<pname="e498"id="e498">Information had changed form, but the student newsroom hadn’t, and it was becoming harder to romanticize the dusty newsprint smell coming from the shoes we were handed down from previous generations of editors. It was, we were told, all part of “becoming a journalist.”</p>
<pname="0142"id="0142">Instead of having computers that are locked down, try setting aside a few office computers that allow students to play and “break”, or encourage editors to buy their own Macbooks so they’re always able to practice with code and new tools on their own.</p>
<pname="5d29"id="5d29">From all this we realized that changing a student newsroom is difficult. It takes patience. It requires that the business and editorial departments of the student newsroom be on the same (web)page. The shoes of the future must be different from the shoes we were given.</p>
<pname="1ffc"id="1ffc">We need to rethink how long the new shoe design will be valid. It’s more important that we focus on the process behind making footwear than on actually creating a specific shoe. We shouldn’t be building a shoe to last 40 years. Our footwear design process will allow us to change and adapt as technology evolves. The media landscape will change, so having a newsroom that can change with it will be critical.</p>
<pname="2888"id="2888"><strong>We are building a shoe machine, not a shoe.</strong></p>
<pname="2888"id="2888"><strong>We are building a shoe machine, not a shoe.</strong>
</p>
<h3name="9c30"id="9c30">A train or light at the end of the tunnel: are student newsrooms changing for the better?</h3>
<pname="4634"id="4634">In our 2013 research we found that almost 50% of student newsrooms had created roles specifically for the web. <strong>This sounds great, but is still problematic in its current state.</strong></p>
<pname="4634"id="4634">In our 2013 research we found that almost 50% of student newsrooms had created roles specifically for the web. <strong>This sounds great, but is still problematic in its current state.</strong>
<figcaption><strong>We designed many of these slides to help explain to ourselves what we were doing</strong></figcaption>
<figcaption><strong>We designed many of these slides to help explain to ourselves what we were doing</strong>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<pname="39e6"id="39e6">When a newsroom decides to create a position for the web, it’s often with the intent of having content flow steadily from writers onto the web. This is a big improvement from just uploading stories to the web whenever there is a print issue. <em>However…</em></p>
<pname="39e6"id="39e6">When a newsroom decides to create a position for the web, it’s often with the intent of having content flow steadily from writers onto the web. This is a big improvement from just uploading stories to the web whenever there is a print issue. <em>However…</em>
</p>
<ol>
<liname="91b5"id="91b5"><strong>The handoff</strong><br/>Problems arise because web editors are given roles that absolve the rest of the editors from thinking about the web. All editors should be involved in the process of story development for the web. While it’s a good idea to have one specific editor manage the website, contributors and editors should all play with and learn about the web. Instead of “can you make a computer do XYZ for me?”, we should be saying “can you show me how to make a computer do XYZ?”</li>
<liname="6448"id="6448"><strong>Not just social media<br/></strong>A web editor could do much more than simply being in charge of the social media accounts for the student paper. Their responsibility could include teaching all other editors to be listening to what’s happening online. The web editor can take advantage of live information to change how the student newsroom reports news in real time.</li>
<liname="ab30"id="ab30"><strong>Web (interactive) editor<br/></strong>The goal of having a web editor should be for someone to build and tell stories that take full advantage of the web as their medium. Too often the web’s interactivity is not considered when developing the story. The web then ends up as a resting place for print words.</li>
<br/>Problems arise because web editors are given roles that absolve the rest of the editors from thinking about the web. All editors should be involved in the process of story development for the web. While it’s a good idea to have one specific editor manage the website, contributors and editors should all play with and learn about the web. Instead of “can you make a computer do XYZ for me?”, we should be saying “can you show me how to make a computer do XYZ?”
</li>
<liname="6448"id="6448"><strong>Not just social media<br/></strong>A web editor could do much more than simply being in charge of the social media accounts for the student paper. Their responsibility could include teaching all other editors to be listening to what’s happening online. The web editor can take advantage of live information to change how the student newsroom reports news in real time.</li>
<liname="ab30"id="ab30"><strong>Web (interactive) editor<br/></strong>The goal of having a web editor should be for someone to build and tell stories that take full advantage of the web as their medium. Too often the web’s interactivity is not considered when developing the story. The web then ends up as a resting place for print words.</li>
</ol>
<pname="e983"id="e983">Editors at newsrooms are still figuring out how to convince writers of the benefit to having their content online. There’s still a stronger draw to writers seeing their name in print than on the web. Showing writers that their stories can be told in new ways to larger audiences is a convincing argument that the web is a starting point for telling a story, not its graveyard.</p>
<pname="5c11"id="5c11">When everyone in the newsroom approaches their website with the intention of using it to explore the web as a medium, they all start to ask “what is possible?” and “what can be done?” You can’t expect students to think in terms of the web if it’s treated as a place for print words to hang out on a web page.</p>
<pname="4eb1"id="4eb1">We’re OK with this problem, if we see newsrooms continue to take small steps towards having all their editors involved in the stories for the web.</p>
<figcaption>The current Open Journalism site was a few years in the making. This was an original launch page we use in 2012</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3name="08f5"id="08f5">What we know</h3>
<ul>
<liname="f7fe"id="f7fe"><strong>New process</strong><br/>Our rough research has told us newsrooms need to be reorganized. This includes every part of the newsroom’s workflow: from where a story and its information comes from, to thinking of every word, pixel, and interaction the reader will have with your stories. If I was a photo editor that wanted to re-think my process with digital tools in mind, I’d start by asking “how are photo assignments processed and sent out?”, “how do we receive images?”, “what formats do images need to be exported in?”, “what type of screens will the images be viewed on?”, and “how are the designers getting these images?” Making a student newsroom digital isn’t about producing “digital manifestos”, it’s about being curious enough that you’ll want to to continue experimenting with your process until you’ve found one that fits your newsroom’s needs.</li>
<liname="d757"id="d757"><strong>More (remote) mentorship</strong><br/>Lack of mentorship is still a big problem. <ahref="http://www.google.com/get/journalismfellowship/"data-href="http://www.google.com/get/journalismfellowship/"rel="nofollow">Google’s fellowship program</a> is great. The fact that it only caters to United States students isn’t. There are only a handful of internships in Canada where students interested in journalism can get experience writing code and building interactive stories. We’re OK with this for now, as we expect internships and mentorship over the next 5 years between professional newsrooms and student newsrooms will only increase. It’s worth noting that some of that mentorship will likely be done remotely.</li>
<liname="a9b8"id="a9b8"><strong>Changing a newsroom culture</strong><br/>Skill diversity needs to change. We encourage every student newsroom we talk to, to start building a partnership with their school’s Computer Science department. It will take some work, but you’ll find there are many CS undergrads that love playing with web technologies, and using data to tell stories. Changing who is in the newsroom should be one of the first steps newsrooms take to changing how they tell stories. The same goes with getting designers who understand the wonderful interactive elements of the web and students who love statistics and exploring data. Getting students who are amazing at design, data, code, words, and images into one room is one of the coolest experience I’ve had. Everyone benefits from a more diverse newsroom.</li>
<br/>Our rough research has told us newsrooms need to be reorganized. This includes every part of the newsroom’s workflow: from where a story and its information comes from, to thinking of every word, pixel, and interaction the reader will have with your stories. If I was a photo editor that wanted to re-think my process with digital tools in mind, I’d start by asking “how are photo assignments processed and sent out?”, “how do we receive images?”, “what formats do images need to be exported in?”, “what type of screens will the images be viewed on?”, and “how are the designers getting these images?” Making a student newsroom digital isn’t about producing “digital manifestos”, it’s about being curious enough that you’ll want to to continue experimenting with your process until you’ve found one that fits your newsroom’s needs.
<br/>Lack of mentorship is still a big problem. <ahref="http://www.google.com/get/journalismfellowship/"data-href="http://www.google.com/get/journalismfellowship/"rel="nofollow">Google’s fellowship program</a> is great. The fact that it only caters to United States students isn’t. There are only a handful of internships in Canada where students interested in journalism can get experience writing code and building interactive stories. We’re OK with this for now, as we expect internships and mentorship over the next 5 years between professional newsrooms and student newsrooms will only increase. It’s worth noting that some of that mentorship will likely be done remotely.
</li>
<liname="a9b8"id="a9b8"><strong>Changing a newsroom culture</strong>
<br/>Skill diversity needs to change. We encourage every student newsroom we talk to, to start building a partnership with their school’s Computer Science department. It will take some work, but you’ll find there are many CS undergrads that love playing with web technologies, and using data to tell stories. Changing who is in the newsroom should be one of the first steps newsrooms take to changing how they tell stories. The same goes with getting designers who understand the wonderful interactive elements of the web and students who love statistics and exploring data. Getting students who are amazing at design, data, code, words, and images into one room is one of the coolest experience I’ve had. Everyone benefits from a more diverse newsroom.
</li>
</ul>
<h3name="a67e"id="a67e">What we don’t know</h3>
<ul>
<liname="7320"id="7320"><strong>Sharing curiosity for the web</strong><br/>We don’t know how to best teach students about the web. It’s not efficient for us to teach coding classes. We do go into newsrooms and get them running their first code exercises, but if someone wants to learn to program, we can only provide the initial push and curiosity. We will be trying out “labs” with a few schools next school year to hopefully get a better idea of how to teach students about the web.</li>
<liname="8b23"id="8b23"><strong>Business</strong><br/>We don’t know how to convince the business side of student papers that they should invest in the web. At the very least we’re able to explain that having students graduate with their current skill set is painful in the current job market.</li>
<liname="191e"id="191e"><strong>The future</strong><br/>We don’t know what journalism or the web will be like in 10 years, but we can start encouraging students to keep an open mind about the skills they’ll need. We’re less interested in preparing students for the current newsroom climate, than we are in teaching students to have the ability to learn new tools quickly as they come and go.</li>
<liname="7320"id="7320"><strong>Sharing curiosity for the web</strong>
<br/>We don’t know how to best teach students about the web. It’s not efficient for us to teach coding classes. We do go into newsrooms and get them running their first code exercises, but if someone wants to learn to program, we can only provide the initial push and curiosity. We will be trying out “labs” with a few schools next school year to hopefully get a better idea of how to teach students about the web.
</li>
<liname="8b23"id="8b23"><strong>Business</strong>
<br/>We don’t know how to convince the business side of student papers that they should invest in the web. At the very least we’re able to explain that having students graduate with their current skill set is painful in the current job market.
<br/>We don’t know what journalism or the web will be like in 10 years, but we can start encouraging students to keep an open mind about the skills they’ll need. We’re less interested in preparing students for the current newsroom climate, than we are in teaching students to have the ability to learn new tools quickly as they come and go.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h3name="009a"id="009a">What we’re trying to share with others</h3>
<ul>
<liname="8bfa"id="8bfa"><strong>A concise guide to building stories for the web</strong><br/>There are too many options to get started. We hope to provide an opinionated guide that follows both our experiences, research, and observations from trying to teach our peers.</li>
<liname="8bfa"id="8bfa"><strong>A concise guide to building stories for the web</strong>
<br/>There are too many options to get started. We hope to provide an opinionated guide that follows both our experiences, research, and observations from trying to teach our peers.
</li>
</ul>
<pname="8196"id="8196">Student newsrooms don’t have investors to please. Student newsrooms can change their website every week if they want to try a new design or interaction. As long as students start treating the web as a different medium, and start building stories around that idea, then we’ll know we’re moving forward.</p>
<h3name="f6c6"id="f6c6">A note to professional news orgs</h3>
<pname="d8f5"id="d8f5">We’re also asking professional newsrooms to be more open about their process of developing stories for the web. You play a big part in this. This means writing about it, and sharing code. We need to start building a bridge between student journalism and professional newsrooms.</p>
<pname="abd5"id="abd5">We’re trying out some new shoes. And while they’re not self-lacing, and smell a bit different, we feel lacing up a new pair of kicks can change a lot.</p>
<pname="63ec"id="63ec"><strong>We’re still in the early stages of what this project will look like, so if you want to help or have thoughts, let’s talk.</strong></p>
<pname="63ec"id="63ec"><strong>We’re still in the early stages of what this project will look like, so if you want to help or have thoughts, let’s talk.</strong>
<h3name="b098"id="b098">On Behalf of “Literally”</h3>
<pname="1a73"id="1a73">You either are a “literally” abuser or know of one. If you’re anything like me, hearing the word “literally” used incorrectly causes a little piece of your soul to whither and die. Of course I do not mean that literally, I mean that figuratively. An abuser would have said: “Every time a person uses that word, a piece of my soul literally withers and dies.” Which is terribly, horribly wrong.</p>
<pname="104a"id="104a">For whatever bizarre reason, people feel the need to use literally as a sort of verbal crutch. They use it to emphasize a point, which is silly because they’re already using an analogy or a metaphor to illustrate said point. For example: “Ugh, I literally tore the house apart looking for my remote control!” No, you literally did not tear apart your house, because it’s still standing. If you’d just told me you “tore your house apart” searching for your remote, I would’ve understood what you meant. No need to add “literally” to the sentence.</p>
<pname="c2c0"id="c2c0">Maybe I should define literally.</p>
<blockquotename="b239"id="b239">Literally means actually. When you say something literally happened, you’re describing the scene or situation as it actually happened.</blockquote>
<pname="a8fd"id="a8fd">So you should only use literally when you mean it. It should not be used in hyperbole. Example: “That was so funny I literally cried.” Which is possible. Some things are funny enough to elicit tears. Note the example stops with “literally cried.” You cannot <em>literally cry your eyes out</em>. The joke wasn’t so funny your eyes popped out of their sockets.</p>
<h4name="165a"id="165a">When in Doubt, Leave it Out</h4>
<pname="e434"id="e434">“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” means you’re hungry. You don’t need to say “I’m so hungry I could literally eat a horse.” Because you can’t do that in one sitting, I don’t care how big your stomach is.</p>
<pname="d88f"id="d88f">“That play was so funny I laughed my head off,” illustrates the play was amusing. You don’t need to say you literally laughed your head off, because then your head would be on the ground and you wouldn’t be able to speak, much less laugh.</p>
<pname="4bab"id="4bab">“I drove so fast my car was flying,” we get your point: you were speeding. But your car is never going fast enough to fly, so don’t say your car was literally flying.</p>
<h4name="f2f0"id="f2f0">Insecurities?</h4>
<pname="1bd7"id="1bd7">Maybe no one believed a story you told as a child, and you felt the need to prove that it actually happened. <em>No really, mom, I literally climbed the tree. </em>In efforts to prove truth, you used literally to describe something real, however outlandish it seemed. Whatever the reason, now your overuse of literally has become a habit.</p>
<h4name="d7c1"id="d7c1">Hard Habit to Break?</h4>
<pname="714b"id="714b">Abusing literally isn’t as bad a smoking, but it’s still an unhealthy habit (I mean that figuratively). Help is required in order to break it.</p>
<pname="f929"id="f929">This is my version of an intervention for literally abusers. I’m not sure how else to do it other than in writing. I know this makes me sound like a know-it-all, and I accept that. But there’s no excuse other than blatant ignorance to misuse the word “literally.” So just stop it.</p>
<pname="fd19"id="fd19">Don’t say “Courtney, this post is so snobbish it literally burned up my computer.” Because nothing is that snobbish that it causes computers to combust. Or: “Courtney, your head is so big it literally cannot get through the door.” Because it can, unless it’s one of those tiny doors from <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> and I need to eat a mushroom to make my whole body smaller.</p>
<h4name="fe12"id="fe12">No One’s Perfect</h4>
<pname="7ff8"id="7ff8">And I’m not saying I am. I’m trying to restore meaning to a word that’s lost meaning. I’m standing up for literally. It’s a good word when used correctly. People are butchering it and destroying it every day (figuratively speaking) and the massacre needs to stop. Just as there’s a coalition of people against the use of certain fonts (like <ahref="http://bancomicsans.com/main/?page_id=2"data-href="http://bancomicsans.com/main/?page_id=2"rel="nofollow">Comic Sans</a> and <ahref="https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14448723154"data-href="https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14448723154"rel="nofollow">Papyrus</a>), so should there be a coalition of people against the abuse of literally.</p>
<h4name="049e"id="049e">Saying it to Irritate?</h4>
<pname="9381"id="9381">Do you misuse the word “literally” just to annoy your know-it-all or grammar police friends/acquaintances/total strangers? If so, why? Doing so would be like me going outside when it’s freezing, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and t-shirt in hopes of making you cold by just looking at me. Who suffers more?</p>
<pname="b57e"id="b57e">Matthew Inman of “The Oatmeal” wrote a comic about literally. Abusers and defenders alike <ahref="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally"data-href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally"rel="nofollow">should check it out</a>. It’s clear this whole craze about literally is driving a lot of us nuts. You literally abusers are killing off pieces of our souls. You must be stopped, or the world will be lost to meaninglessness forever. Figuratively speaking.</p>
<h3name="b098"id="b098">On Behalf of “Literally”</h3>
<pname="1a73"id="1a73">You either are a “literally” abuser or know of one. If you’re anything like me, hearing the word “literally” used incorrectly causes a little piece of your soul to whither and die. Of course I do not mean that literally, I mean that figuratively. An abuser would have said: “Every time a person uses that word, a piece of my soul literally withers and dies.” Which is terribly, horribly wrong.</p>
<pname="104a"id="104a">For whatever bizarre reason, people feel the need to use literally as a sort of verbal crutch. They use it to emphasize a point, which is silly because they’re already using an analogy or a metaphor to illustrate said point. For example: “Ugh, I literally tore the house apart looking for my remote control!” No, you literally did not tear apart your house, because it’s still standing. If you’d just told me you “tore your house apart” searching for your remote, I would’ve understood what you meant. No need to add “literally” to the sentence.</p>
<pname="c2c0"id="c2c0">Maybe I should define literally.</p>
<blockquotename="b239"id="b239">Literally means actually. When you say something literally happened, you’re describing the scene or situation as it actually happened.</blockquote>
<pname="a8fd"id="a8fd">So you should only use literally when you mean it. It should not be used in hyperbole. Example: “That was so funny I literally cried.” Which is possible. Some things are funny enough to elicit tears. Note the example stops with “literally cried.” You cannot <em>literally cry your eyes out</em>. The joke wasn’t so funny your eyes popped out of their sockets.</p>
<h4name="165a"id="165a">When in Doubt, Leave it Out</h4>
<pname="e434"id="e434">“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” means you’re hungry. You don’t need to say “I’m so hungry I could literally eat a horse.” Because you can’t do that in one sitting, I don’t care how big your stomach is.</p>
<pname="d88f"id="d88f">“That play was so funny I laughed my head off,” illustrates the play was amusing. You don’t need to say you literally laughed your head off, because then your head would be on the ground and you wouldn’t be able to speak, much less laugh.</p>
<pname="4bab"id="4bab">“I drove so fast my car was flying,” we get your point: you were speeding. But your car is never going fast enough to fly, so don’t say your car was literally flying.</p>
<h4name="f2f0"id="f2f0">Insecurities?</h4>
<pname="1bd7"id="1bd7">Maybe no one believed a story you told as a child, and you felt the need to prove that it actually happened. <em>No really, mom, I literally climbed the tree. </em>In efforts to prove truth, you used literally to describe something real, however outlandish it seemed. Whatever the reason, now your overuse of literally has become a habit.</p>
<h4name="d7c1"id="d7c1">Hard Habit to Break?</h4>
<pname="714b"id="714b">Abusing literally isn’t as bad a smoking, but it’s still an unhealthy habit (I mean that figuratively). Help is required in order to break it.</p>
<pname="f929"id="f929">This is my version of an intervention for literally abusers. I’m not sure how else to do it other than in writing. I know this makes me sound like a know-it-all, and I accept that. But there’s no excuse other than blatant ignorance to misuse the word “literally.” So just stop it.</p>
<pname="fd19"id="fd19">Don’t say “Courtney, this post is so snobbish it literally burned up my computer.” Because nothing is that snobbish that it causes computers to combust. Or: “Courtney, your head is so big it literally cannot get through the door.” Because it can, unless it’s one of those tiny doors from <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> and I need to eat a mushroom to make my whole body smaller.</p>
<h4name="fe12"id="fe12">No One’s Perfect</h4>
<pname="7ff8"id="7ff8">And I’m not saying I am. I’m trying to restore meaning to a word that’s lost meaning. I’m standing up for literally. It’s a good word when used correctly. People are butchering it and destroying it every day (figuratively speaking) and the massacre needs to stop. Just as there’s a coalition of people against the use of certain fonts (like <ahref="http://bancomicsans.com/main/?page_id=2"data-href="http://bancomicsans.com/main/?page_id=2"rel="nofollow">Comic Sans</a> and <ahref="https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14448723154"data-href="https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14448723154"rel="nofollow">Papyrus</a>), so should there be a coalition of people against the abuse of literally.</p>
<h4name="049e"id="049e">Saying it to Irritate?</h4>
<pname="9381"id="9381">Do you misuse the word “literally” just to annoy your know-it-all or grammar police friends/acquaintances/total strangers? If so, why? Doing so would be like me going outside when it’s freezing, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and t-shirt in hopes of making you cold by just looking at me. Who suffers more?</p>
<pname="b57e"id="b57e">Matthew Inman of “The Oatmeal” wrote a comic about literally. Abusers and defenders alike <ahref="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally"data-href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally"rel="nofollow">should check it out</a>. It’s clear this whole craze about literally is driving a lot of us nuts. You literally abusers are killing off pieces of our souls. You must be stopped, or the world will be lost to meaninglessness forever. Figuratively speaking.</p>
"title":"Samantha and The Great Big Lie - John C. Welch - Medium",
"byline":"John C. Welch",
"dir":null,
"excerpt":"How to get shanked doing what people say they want",
"readerable":true,
"siteName":"Medium"
"excerpt":"(EDIT: removed the link to Samantha’s post, because the arments and the grubers and the rest of The Deck Clique got what they wanted: a non-proper person driven off the internet lightly capped with a…",
<pname="97e7"id="97e7">How to get shanked doing what people say they want</p>
<blockquotename="df70"id="df70">don’t preach to me<br/>Mr. integrity</blockquote>
<pname="c979"id="c979">(EDIT: removed the link to Samantha’s post, because the arments and the grubers and the rest of The Deck Clique got what they wanted: a non-proper person driven off the internet lightly capped with a dusting of transphobia along the way, all totally okay because the ends justify the means, and it’s okay when “good” people do it.)</p>
<pname="342d"id="342d">First, I need to say something about this article: the reason I’m writing it infuriates me. Worse than installing CS 3 or Acrobat 7 ever did, and the former inspired comparisons to fecophile porn. I’m actually too mad to cuss. Well, not completely, but in this case, I don’t think the people I’m mad at are worth the creativity I try to put into profanity. This is about a brownfield of hypocrisy and viciously deliberate mischaracterization that “shame” cannot even come close to the shame those behind it should feel.</p>
<pname="2e61"id="2e61">Now, read this post by Samantha Bielefeld: The Elephant in the Room. First, it is a well-written critical piece that raises a few points in a calm, rational, nonconfrontational fashion, exactly the kind of things the pushers of The Great Big Lie say we need more of, as opposed to the screaming that is the norm in such cases.</p>
<pname="cd31"id="cd31">…sorry, I should explain “The Great Big Lie”. There are several, but in this case, our <em>specific</em> instance of “The Great Big Lie” is about criticism. Over and over, you hear from the very people I am not going to be nice to in this that we need “better” criticsm. Instead of rage and anger, volume and vitriol, we need in-depth rational criticism, that isn’t personal or ad hominem. That it should focus on points, not people.</p>
<pname="ae07"id="ae07">That, readers, is “The Big Lie”. It is a lie so big that if one ponders the reality of it, as I am going to, one wonders why anyone would believe it. It is a lie and it is one we should stop telling.</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<sectionname="c360">
<div>
<div>
<pname="a02f"id="a02f">Samantha’s points (I assume you read it, for you are smart people who know the importance of such things) are fairly clear:</p>
<ol>
<liname="9213"id="9213">With the release of Overcast 2.0, a product Samantha actually likes, Marco Arment moved to a <ahref="http://www.marco.org/2015/10/09/overcast2"data-href="http://www.marco.org/2015/10/09/overcast2"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">patronage model</a> that will probably be successful for him.</li>
<liname="dfa5"id="dfa5">Arment’s insistence that “<ahref="https://medium.com/@marcoarment/pragmatic-app-pricing-a79fc07218f3"data-href="https://medium.com/@marcoarment/pragmatic-app-pricing-a79fc07218f3"target="_blank">anyone can do this</a>” while technically true, (anyone can in fact, implement this pricing model), also implies that “anyone” can have the kind of success that a developer with Marco’s history, financial status, and deep ties to the Apple News Web is expected to have. This is silly.</li>
<liname="e55d"id="e55d">Marco Arment occupies a fairly unique position in the Apple universe, (gained by hard work and no small talent), and because of that, benefits from a set of privileges that a new developer or even one that has been around for a long time, but isn’t, well, <em>Marco</em>, not only don’t have, but have little chance of attaining anytime soon.</li>
<liname="35fb"id="35fb">Marco has earned his success and is entitled to the benefits and privileges it brings, but he seems rather blind to all of that, and seems to still imagine himself as “two guys in a garage”. This is just not correct.</li>
<liname="38e2"id="38e2">In addition, the benefits and privileges of the above ensure that by releasing Overcast 2 as a free app, with patronage pricing, he has, if not gutted, severely hurt the ability of folks actually selling their apps for an up-front price of not free to continue doing so. This has the effect of accelerating the “race to the bottom” in the podcast listening app segment, which hurts devs who cannot afford to work on a “I don’t really need this money, so whatever you feel like sending is okay” model.</li>
</ol>
<pname="0481"id="0481">None of this is incorrect. None of this is an ad hominem attack in any way. It is just pointing out that a developer of Arment’s stature and status lives in a very different world than someone in East Frog Balls, Arkansas trying to make a living off of App sales. Our dev in EFB doesn’t have the main sites on the Apple web falling all over themselves to review their app the way that Arment does. They’re not friends with the people being The Loop, Daring Fireball, SixColors, iMore, The Mac Observer, etc., yadda.</p>
<pname="5a45"id="5a45">So, our hero, in a fit of well-meaning ignorance writes this piece (posted this morning, 14 Oct. 15) and of course, the response and any criticisms are just as reasonable and thoughtful.</p>
<pname="3bc7"id="3bc7">If you really believe that, you are the most preciously ignorant person in the world, and can I have your seriously charmed life.</p>
</div>
<p><arel="noopener"href="http://fakehost/@johncwelch?source=post_page-----d146a92473a1----------------------"><imgalt="John C. Welch"src="https://miro.medium.com/fit/c/96/96/0*qPHQu8WqsC6cV_ud.jpg"width="48"height="48"/></a>
</p>
</div>
</section>
<sectionname="2ba2">
<div>
<pid="97e7"> How to get shanked doing what people say they want </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="df70"> don’t preach to me<br/> Mr. integrity </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="c979"> (EDIT: removed the link to Samantha’s post, because the arments and the grubers and the rest of The Deck Clique got what they wanted: a non-proper person driven off the internet lightly capped with a dusting of transphobia along the way, all totally okay because the ends justify the means, and it’s okay when “good” people do it.) </p>
<pid="342d"> First, I need to say something about this article: the reason I’m writing it infuriates me. Worse than installing CS 3 or Acrobat 7 ever did, and the former inspired comparisons to fecophile porn. I’m actually too mad to cuss. Well, not completely, but in this case, I don’t think the people I’m mad at are worth the creativity I try to put into profanity. This is about a brownfield of hypocrisy and viciously deliberate mischaracterization that “shame” cannot even come close to the shame those behind it should feel. </p>
<pid="2e61"> Now, read this post by Samantha Bielefeld: The Elephant in the Room. First, it is a well-written critical piece that raises a few points in a calm, rational, nonconfrontational fashion, exactly the kind of things the pushers of The Great Big Lie say we need more of, as opposed to the screaming that is the norm in such cases. </p>
<pid="cd31"> …sorry, I should explain “The Great Big Lie”. There are several, but in this case, our <em>specific</em> instance of “The Great Big Lie” is about criticism. Over and over, you hear from the very people I am not going to be nice to in this that we need “better” criticsm. Instead of rage and anger, volume and vitriol, we need in-depth rational criticism, that isn’t personal or ad hominem. That it should focus on points, not people. </p>
<pid="ae07"> That, readers, is “The Big Lie”. It is a lie so big that if one ponders the reality of it, as I am going to, one wonders why anyone would believe it. It is a lie and it is one we should stop telling. </p>
</div>
<div>
<pid="a02f"> Samantha’s points (I assume you read it, for you are smart people who know the importance of such things) are fairly clear: </p>
<ol>
<liid="9213">With the release of Overcast 2.0, a product Samantha actually likes, Marco Arment moved to a <ahref="http://www.marco.org/2015/10/09/overcast2"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">patronage model</a> that will probably be successful for him. </li>
<liid="dfa5">Arment’s insistence that “<atarget="_blank"rel="noopener"href="http://fakehost/@marcoarment/pragmatic-app-pricing-a79fc07218f3">anyone can do this</a>” while technically true, (anyone can in fact, implement this pricing model), also implies that “anyone” can have the kind of success that a developer with Marco’s history, financial status, and deep ties to the Apple News Web is expected to have. This is silly. </li>
<liid="e55d">Marco Arment occupies a fairly unique position in the Apple universe, (gained by hard work and no small talent), and because of that, benefits from a set of privileges that a new developer or even one that has been around for a long time, but isn’t, well, <em>Marco</em>, not only don’t have, but have little chance of attaining anytime soon. </li>
<liid="35fb">Marco has earned his success and is entitled to the benefits and privileges it brings, but he seems rather blind to all of that, and seems to still imagine himself as “two guys in a garage”. This is just not correct. </li>
<liid="38e2">In addition, the benefits and privileges of the above ensure that by releasing Overcast 2 as a free app, with patronage pricing, he has, if not gutted, severely hurt the ability of folks actually selling their apps for an up-front price of not free to continue doing so. This has the effect of accelerating the “race to the bottom” in the podcast listening app segment, which hurts devs who cannot afford to work on a “I don’t really need this money, so whatever you feel like sending is okay” model. </li>
</ol>
<pid="0481"> None of this is incorrect. None of this is an ad hominem attack in any way. It is just pointing out that a developer of Arment’s stature and status lives in a very different world than someone in East Frog Balls, Arkansas trying to make a living off of App sales. Our dev in EFB doesn’t have the main sites on the Apple web falling all over themselves to review their app the way that Arment does. They’re not friends with the people being The Loop, Daring Fireball, SixColors, iMore, The Mac Observer, etc., yadda. </p>
<pid="5a45"> So, our hero, in a fit of well-meaning ignorance writes this piece (posted this morning, 14 Oct. 15) and of course, the response and any criticisms are just as reasonable and thoughtful. </p>
<pid="3bc7"> If you really believe that, you are the most preciously ignorant person in the world, and can I have your seriously charmed life. </p>
</div>
<div>
<pid="0fb2"> The response, from all quarters, including Marco, someone who is so sensitive to criticism that the word “useless” is <ahref="http://www.marco.org/2011/03/30/here-is-a-tip-for-all-the-non-developers-out"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">enough to shut him down</a>, who <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/641330113934700544"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">blocked a friend of mine for the high crime of pointing out that his review of podcasting mics centered around higher priced gear and ignored folks without the scratch, who might not be ready for such things</a>, is, in a single word, disgusting. Vomitous even. </p>
<pid="9a6e"> It’s an hours-long dogpile that beggars even my imagination, and I can imagine almost anything. Seriously, it’s all there in <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld/with_replies"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">Samantha’s Twitter Feed</a>. From what I can tell, she’s understandably shocked over it. I however was not. This one comment in her feed made me smile (warning, this wanders a bit…er…LOT. Twitter timelines are not easy to put together): </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="3271"> I can see why you have some reservations about publishing it, but my gut feeling is that he would take it better than Nilay. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="ec72"> Oh honey, bless your sweet, ignorant heart. Marco is one of the biggest pushers of The Big Lie, and one of the reasons it is <em>such</em> a lie. </p>
<pid="5cc4"> But it gets better. First, you have the “hey, Marco <em>earned</em> his status!” lot. A valid point, and one Bielefeld explicitly acknowledges, here: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="4e5f"> From his ground floor involvement in Tumblr (for which he is now a millionaire), to the creation and sale of a wildly successful app called Instapaper, he has become a household name in technology minded circles. It is this extensive time spent in the spotlight, the huge following on Twitter, and dedicated listeners of his weekly aired Accidental Tech Podcast, that has granted him the freedom to break from seeking revenue in more traditional manners. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="cee9"> and here: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="3f1b"> I’m not knocking his success, he has put effort into his line of work, and has built his own life. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="e527"> and here: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="3e4f"> He has earned his time in the spotlight, and it’s only natural for him to take advantage of it. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="8a01"> But still, you get the people telling her something she already acknowledge: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="7685"> I don’t think he’s blind. he’s worked to where he has gotten and has had failures like everyone else. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="b151"> Thank you for restating something in the article. To the person who wrote it. </p>
<pid="87bc"> In the original article, Samantha talked about the money Marco makes from his podcast. She based that on the numbers <ahref="http://atp.fm/sponsor/"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">provided by ATP in terms of sponsorship rates</a> and the number of current sponsors the podcast has. Is this going to yield perfect numbers? No. But the numbers you get from it will at least be reasonable, or should be unless the published sponsorship rates are just fantasy, and you’re stupid for taking them seriously. </p>
<pid="dbda"> At first, she went with a simple formula: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="1b4e"> $4K x 3 per episode = $12K x 52 weeks / 3 hosts splitting it. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="0b33"> That’s not someone making shit up, right? Rather quickly, someone pointed out that she’d made an error in how she calculated it: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="76d7"> That’s $4k per ad, no? So more like $12–16k per episode. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="a089"> She’d already realized her mistake and fixed it. </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="b369"> which is actually wrong, and I’m correcting now. $4,000 per sponsor, per episode! So, $210,000 per year. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="8b3b"> Again, this is based on <em>publicly available data</em> the only kind someone not part of ATP or a close friend of Arment has access to. So while her numbers may be wrong, if they are, there’s no way for her to know that. She’s basing her opinion on actual available data. Which is sadly rare. </p>
<pid="135a"> This becomes a huge flashpoint. You name a reason to attack her over this, people do. No really. For example, she’s not calculating his <em>income taxes correctly</em>: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="5e7e"> especially since it isn’t his only source of income thus, not an indicator of his marginal inc. tax bracket. </p>
<pid="6036"> thus, guessing net income is more haphazard than stating approx. gross income. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="aac1"> Ye Gods. She’s not doing his taxes for him, her point is invalid? </p>
<pid="600f"> Then there’s the people who seem to have not read anything past what other people are telling them: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="9b62"> Not sure what to make of your Marco piece, to be honest. You mention his fame, whatever, but what’s the main idea here? </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="c18a"> Just how spoon-fed do you have to be? Have you no teeth? </p>
<pid="c445"> Of course, Marco jumps in, and predictably, he’s snippy: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="0c21"> If you’re going to speak in precise absolutes, it’s best to first ensure that you’re correct. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="8f8d"> If you’re going to be like that, it’s best to provide better data. Don’t get snippy when someone is going off the only data available, and is clearly open to revising based on better data. </p>
<pid="cc97"> Then Marco’s friends/fans get into it: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="f9da"> I really don’t understand why it’s anyone’s business </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="0094"> Samantha is trying to qualify for sainthood at this point: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="0105"> It isn’t really, it was a way of putting his income in context in regards to his ability to gamble with Overcast. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="cdd1"> Again, she’s trying to drag people back to her actual point, but no one is going to play. The storm has begun. Then we get people who are just spouting nonsense: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="f56c"> Why is that only relevant for him? It’s a pretty weird metric,especially since his apps aren’t free. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="4fef"> Wha?? Overcast 2 is absolutely free. Samantha points this out: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="0f36"> His app is free, that’s what sparked the article to begin with. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="40d2"> The response is literally a parallel to “How can there be global warming if it snowed today in my town?” </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="6760"> If it’s free, how have I paid for it? Twice? </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="7b13"> She is still trying: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="44ba"> You paid $4.99 to unlock functionality in Overcast 1.0 and you chose to support him with no additional functionality in 2.0 </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="2152"> He is having none of it. IT SNOWED! SNOWWWWWWW! </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="99a6"> Yes. That’s not free. Free is when you choose not to make money. And that can be weaponized. But that’s not what Overcast does. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="5e6f"> She however, is relentless: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="1b0f"> No, it’s still free. You can choose to support it, you are required to pay $4.99 for Pocket Casts. Totally different model. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="d24f"> Dude seems to give up. (Note: allllll the people bagging on her are men. All of them. Mansplaining like hell. And I’d bet every one of them considers themselves a feminist.) </p>
<pid="10e1"> We get another guy trying to push the narrative she’s punishing him for his success, which is just…it’s stupid, okay? Stupid. </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="9b01"> It also wasn’t my point in writing my piece today, but it seems to be everyone’s focus. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="340c"> (UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR) </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="7244"> I think the focus should be more on that fact that while it’s difficult, Marco spent years building his audience. </p>
<pid="ffb1"> It doesn’t matter what he makes it how he charges. If the audience be earned is willing to pay for it, awesome. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="e44e"> She tries, oh lord, she tries: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="a502"> To assert that he isn’t doing anything any other dev couldn’t, is wrong. It’s successful because it’s Marco. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="7dcd"> But no, HE KNOWS HER POINT BETTER THAN SHE DOES: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="a62a"> No, it’s successful because he busted his ass to make it so. It’s like any other business. He grew it. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="df8c"> Christ. This is like a field of strawmen. Stupid ones. Very stupid ones. </p>
<pid="521a"> One guy tries to blame it all on Apple, another in a string of Wha??? moments: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="d80d"> the appropriate context is Apple’s App Store policies. Other devs aren’t Marco’s responsibility </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="db0b"> Seriously? Dude, are you even trying to talk about what Samantha actually wrote? At this point, Samantha is clearly mystified at the entire thing: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="7a78"> Why has the conversation suddenly turned to focus on nothing more than ATP sponsorship income? </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="6e09"> Because it’s a nit they can pick and allows them to ignore everything you wrote. That’s the only reason. </p>
<pid="b7db"> One guy is “confused”: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="3626"> I see. He does have clout, so are you saying he’s too modest in how he sees himself as a dev? </p>
<pid="9daa"> Yes. He can’t be equated to the vast majority of other developers. Like calling Gruber, “just another blogger”. </p>
<pid="f6da"> Alright, that’s fair. I was just confused by the $ and fame angle at first. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="d5b1"> Samantha’s point centers on the benefits Marco gains via his fame and background. <em>HOW DO YOU NOT MENTION THAT? HOW IS THAT CONFUSING?</em>
</p>
<pid="58d0"> People of course are telling her it’s her fault for mentioning a salient fact at all: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="30d2"> Why has the conversation suddenly turned to focus on nothing more than ATP sponsorship income? </p>
<pid="765b"> Maybe because you went there with your article? </p>
<pid="61fe"> As a way of rationalizing his ability to gamble with the potential for Overcast to generate income…not the norm at all. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="f17c"> Of course, had she not brought up those important points, she’d have been bagged on for “not providing proof”. Lose some, lose more. By now, she’s had enough and she just deletes all mention of it. Understandable, but sad she was bullied into doing that. </p>
<pid="0b60"> Yes, bullied. That’s all this is. Bullying. She didn’t lie, cheat, or exaagerate. If her numbers were wrong, they weren’t wrong in a way she had any ability to do anything about. But there’s blood in the water, and the comments and attacks get worse: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="65ab"> Because you decided to start a conversation about someone else’s personal shit. You started this war. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="1adb"> War. THIS. IS. WAR. </p>
<pid="de94"> This is a bunch of nerds attacking someone for reasoned, calm, <em>polite</em> criticism of their friend/idol. Samantha is politely pushing back a bit: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="4458"> That doesn’t explain why every other part of my article is being pushed aside. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="aeac"> She’s right. This is all nonsense. This is people ignoring her article completely, just looking for things to attack so it can be dismissed. It’s tribalism at its purest. </p>
<pid="0078"> Then some of the other annointed get into it, including Jason Snell in one of the most spectactular displays of “I have special knowledge you can’t be expected to have, therefore you are totally off base and wrong, even though there’s no way for you to know this” I’ve seen in a while. Jason: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="c4c9"> You should never use an ad rate card to estimate ad revenue from any media product ever. </p>
<pid="b66b"> I learned this when I started working for a magazine — rate cards are mostly fiction, like prices on new cars </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="6907"> How…exactly…in the name of whatever deity Jason may believe in…is Samantha or anyone not “in the biz” supposed to know this. Also, what exactly does a magazine on paper like Macworld have to do with sponsorships for a podcast? I have done podcasts that were sponsored, and I can retaliate with “we charged what the rate card said we did. <em>Checkmate Elitests!</em>” </p>
<pid="41ec"> Samantha basically abases herself at his feet: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="0b14"> I understand my mistake, and it’s unfortunate that it has completely diluted the point of my article. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="590f"> I think she should have told him where and how to stuff that nonsense, but she’s a nicer person than I am. Also, it’s appropriate that Jason’s twitter avatar has its nose in the air. This is some rank snobbery. It’s disgusting and if anyone pulled that on him, Jason would be very upset. But hey, one cannot criticize The Marco without getting pushback. By “pushback”, I mean “an unrelenting fecal flood”. </p>
<pid="69dc"> Her only mistake was criticizing one of the Kool Kids. Folks, if you criticize anyone in The Deck Clique, or their friends, expect the same thing, regardless of tone or point. </p>
<pid="5ab4"> Another App Dev, seemingly unable to parse Samantha’s words, needs <em>more</em> explanation: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="957b"> so just looking over your mentions, I’m curious what exactly was your main point? Ignoring the podcast income bits. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="0a7e"> Oh wait, he didn’t even read the article. Good on you, Dev Guy, good. on. you. Still, she plays nice <em>with someone who didn’t even read her article</em>: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="f7db"> That a typical unknown developer can’t depend on patronage to generate revenue, and charging for apps will become a negative. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="937f"> Marco comes back of course, and now basically accuses her of lying about other devs talking to her and supporting her point: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="c9dd"> How many actual developers did you hear from, really? Funny how almost nobody wants to give a (real) name on these accusations. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="c522"> Really? You’re going to do that? “There’s no name, so I don’t think it’s a real person.” Just…what’s the Joe Welch quote from the McCarthy hearings? </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="907e"> Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency? </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="2158"> That is what this is at this point: character assasination because she said something critical of A Popular Person. It’s disgusting. Depressing and disgusting. No one, none of these people have seriously discussed her point, heck, it looks like they barely bothered to read it, if they did at all. </p>
<pid="13f8"> Marco starts getting really petty with her (no big shock) and Samantha finally starts pushing back: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="96c6"> Glad to see you be the bigger person and ignore the mindset of so many developers not relating to you, good for you! </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="5d3f"> That of course, is what caused Marco to question the validity, if not the existence of her sources. (Funny how anonymous sources are totes okay when they convenience Marco et al, and work for oh, <em>Apple</em>, but when they are inconvenient? Ha! PROVIDE ME PROOF YOU INTEMPERATE WOMAN!) </p>
<pid="c07c"> Make no mistake, there’s some sexist shit going on here. Every tweet I’ve quoted was authored by a guy. </p>
<pid="8b32"> Of course, Marco has to play the “I’ve been around longer than you” card with this bon mot: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="de26"> Yup, before you existed! </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="a3bd"> Really dude? I mean, I’m sorry about the penis, but really? </p>
<pid="1c51"> Mind you, when the criticism isn’t just bizarrely stupid, Samantha reacts the way Marco and his ilk claim they would to (if they ever got any <em>valid</em> criticism. Which clearly is impossible): </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="9848"> Not to get into the middle of this, but “income” is not the term you’re looking for. “Revenue” is. </p>
<pid="f2a6"> lol. Noted. </p>
<pid="aed9"> And I wasn’t intending to be a dick, just a lot of people hear/say “income” when they intend “revenue”, and then discussion … </p>
<pid="f9d8"> … gets derailed by a jedi handwave of “Expenses”. But outside of charitable donation, it is all directly related. </p>
<pid="f61c"> haha. Thank you for the clarification. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="5dd9"> Note to Marco and the other…whatever they are…that is how one reacts to that kind of criticism. With a bit of humor and self-deprecation. You should try it sometime. For real, not just in your heads or conversations in Irish Pubs in S.F. </p>
<pid="dc44"> But now, the door has been cracked, and the cheap shots come out: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="0c94"> @testflight_app: Don’t worry guys, we process <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@marcoarment</a>’s apps in direct proportion to his megabucks earnings. <ahref="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fairelephant?src=hash"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">#fairelephant</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<pid="343b"> (Note: testflight_app is a parody account. Please do not mess with the actual testflight folks. They are still cool.) </p>
<pid="09bf"> Or this…conversation: </p>
<figure>
<div>
<pname="0fb2"id="0fb2">The response, from all quarters, including Marco, someone who is so sensitive to criticism that the word “useless” is <ahref="http://www.marco.org/2011/03/30/here-is-a-tip-for-all-the-non-developers-out"data-href="http://www.marco.org/2011/03/30/here-is-a-tip-for-all-the-non-developers-out"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">enough to shut him down</a>, who <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/641330113934700544"data-href="https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/641330113934700544"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">blocked a friend of mine for the high crime of pointing out that his review of podcasting mics centered around higher priced gear and ignored folks without the scratch, who might not be ready for such things</a>, is, in a single word, disgusting. Vomitous even.</p>
<pname="9a6e"id="9a6e">It’s an hours-long dogpile that beggars even my imagination, and I can imagine almost anything. Seriously, it’s all there in <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld/with_replies"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld/with_replies"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">Samantha’s Twitter Feed</a>. From what I can tell, she’s understandably shocked over it. I however was not. This one comment in her feed made me smile (warning, this wanders a bit…er…LOT. Twitter timelines are not easy to put together):</p>
<blockquotename="3271"id="3271">I can see why you have some reservations about publishing it, but my gut feeling is that he would take it better than Nilay.</blockquote>
<pname="ec72"id="ec72">Oh honey, bless your sweet, ignorant heart. Marco is one of the biggest pushers of The Big Lie, and one of the reasons it is <em>such</em> a lie.</p>
<pname="5cc4"id="5cc4">But it gets better. First, you have the “hey, Marco <em>earned</em> his status!” lot. A valid point, and one Bielefeld explicitly acknowledges, here:</p>
<blockquotename="4e5f"id="4e5f">From his ground floor involvement in Tumblr (for which he is now a millionaire), to the creation and sale of a wildly successful app called Instapaper, he has become a household name in technology minded circles. It is this extensive time spent in the spotlight, the huge following on Twitter, and dedicated listeners of his weekly aired Accidental Tech Podcast, that has granted him the freedom to break from seeking revenue in more traditional manners.</blockquote>
<pname="cee9"id="cee9">and here:</p>
<blockquotename="3f1b"id="3f1b">I’m not knocking his success, he has put effort into his line of work, and has built his own life.</blockquote>
<pname="e527"id="e527">and here:</p>
<blockquotename="3e4f"id="3e4f">He has earned his time in the spotlight, and it’s only natural for him to take advantage of it.</blockquote>
<pname="8a01"id="8a01">But still, you get the people telling her something she already acknowledge:</p>
<blockquotename="7685"id="7685">I don’t think he’s blind. he’s worked to where he has gotten and has had failures like everyone else.</blockquote>
<pname="b151"id="b151">Thank you for restating something in the article. To the person who wrote it.</p>
<pname="87bc"id="87bc">In the original article, Samantha talked about the money Marco makes from his podcast. She based that on the numbers <ahref="http://atp.fm/sponsor/"data-href="http://atp.fm/sponsor/"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">provided by ATP in terms of sponsorship rates</a> and the number of current sponsors the podcast has. Is this going to yield perfect numbers? No. But the numbers you get from it will at least be reasonable, or should be unless the published sponsorship rates are just fantasy, and you’re stupid for taking them seriously.</p>
<pname="dbda"id="dbda">At first, she went with a simple formula:</p>
<blockquotename="1b4e"id="1b4e">$4K x 3 per episode = $12K x 52 weeks / 3 hosts splitting it.</blockquote>
<pname="0b33"id="0b33">That’s not someone making shit up, right? Rather quickly, someone pointed out that she’d made an error in how she calculated it:</p>
<blockquotename="76d7"id="76d7">That’s $4k per ad, no? So more like $12–16k per episode.</blockquote>
<pname="a089"id="a089">She’d already realized her mistake and fixed it.</p>
<blockquotename="b369"id="b369">which is actually wrong, and I’m correcting now. $4,000 per sponsor, per episode! So, $210,000 per year.</blockquote>
<pname="8b3b"id="8b3b">Again, this is based on <em>publicly available data</em> the only kind someone not part of ATP or a close friend of Arment has access to. So while her numbers may be wrong, if they are, there’s no way for her to know that. She’s basing her opinion on actual available data. Which is sadly rare.</p>
<pname="135a"id="135a">This becomes a huge flashpoint. You name a reason to attack her over this, people do. No really. For example, she’s not calculating his <em>income taxes correctly</em>:</p>
<blockquotename="5e7e"id="5e7e">especially since it isn’t his only source of income thus, not an indicator of his marginal inc. tax bracket.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="6036"id="6036">thus, guessing net income is more haphazard than stating approx. gross income.</blockquote>
<pname="aac1"id="aac1">Ye Gods. She’s not doing his taxes for him, her point is invalid?</p>
<pname="600f"id="600f">Then there’s the people who seem to have not read anything past what other people are telling them:</p>
<blockquotename="9b62"id="9b62">Not sure what to make of your Marco piece, to be honest. You mention his fame, whatever, but what’s the main idea here?</blockquote>
<pname="c18a"id="c18a">Just how spoon-fed do you have to be? Have you no teeth?</p>
<pname="c445"id="c445">Of course, Marco jumps in, and predictably, he’s snippy:</p>
<blockquotename="0c21"id="0c21">If you’re going to speak in precise absolutes, it’s best to first ensure that you’re correct.</blockquote>
<pname="8f8d"id="8f8d">If you’re going to be like that, it’s best to provide better data. Don’t get snippy when someone is going off the only data available, and is clearly open to revising based on better data.</p>
<pname="cc97"id="cc97">Then Marco’s friends/fans get into it:</p>
<pname="0094"id="0094">Samantha is trying to qualify for sainthood at this point:</p>
<blockquotename="0105"id="0105">It isn’t really, it was a way of putting his income in context in regards to his ability to gamble with Overcast.</blockquote>
<pname="cdd1"id="cdd1">Again, she’s trying to drag people back to her actual point, but no one is going to play. The storm has begun. Then we get people who are just spouting nonsense:</p>
<blockquotename="f56c"id="f56c">Why is that only relevant for him? It’s a pretty weird metric,especially since his apps aren’t free.</blockquote>
<pname="4fef"id="4fef">Wha?? Overcast 2 is absolutely free. Samantha points this out:</p>
<blockquotename="0f36"id="0f36">His app is free, that’s what sparked the article to begin with.</blockquote>
<pname="40d2"id="40d2">The response is literally a parallel to “How can there be global warming if it snowed today in my town?”</p>
<blockquotename="6760"id="6760">If it’s free, how have I paid for it? Twice?</blockquote>
<pname="7b13"id="7b13">She is still trying:</p>
<blockquotename="44ba"id="44ba">You paid $4.99 to unlock functionality in Overcast 1.0 and you chose to support him with no additional functionality in 2.0</blockquote>
<pname="2152"id="2152">He is having none of it. IT SNOWED! SNOWWWWWWW!</p>
<blockquotename="99a6"id="99a6">Yes. That’s not free. Free is when you choose not to make money. And that can be weaponized. But that’s not what Overcast does.</blockquote>
<pname="5e6f"id="5e6f">She however, is relentless:</p>
<blockquotename="1b0f"id="1b0f">No, it’s still free. You can choose to support it, you are required to pay $4.99 for Pocket Casts. Totally different model.</blockquote>
<pname="d24f"id="d24f">Dude seems to give up. (Note: allllll the people bagging on her are men. All of them. Mansplaining like hell. And I’d bet every one of them considers themselves a feminist.)</p>
<pname="10e1"id="10e1">We get another guy trying to push the narrative she’s punishing him for his success, which is just…it’s stupid, okay? Stupid.</p>
<blockquotename="9b01"id="9b01">It also wasn’t my point in writing my piece today, but it seems to be everyone’s focus.</blockquote>
<pname="340c"id="340c">(UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR)</p>
<blockquotename="7244"id="7244">I think the focus should be more on that fact that while it’s difficult, Marco spent years building his audience.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="ffb1"id="ffb1">It doesn’t matter what he makes it how he charges. If the audience be earned is willing to pay for it, awesome.</blockquote>
<pname="e44e"id="e44e">She tries, oh lord, she tries:</p>
<blockquotename="a502"id="a502">To assert that he isn’t doing anything any other dev couldn’t, is wrong. It’s successful because it’s Marco.</blockquote>
<pname="7dcd"id="7dcd">But no, HE KNOWS HER POINT BETTER THAN SHE DOES:</p>
<blockquotename="a62a"id="a62a">No, it’s successful because he busted his ass to make it so. It’s like any other business. He grew it.</blockquote>
<pname="df8c"id="df8c">Christ. This is like a field of strawmen. Stupid ones. Very stupid ones.</p>
<pname="521a"id="521a">One guy tries to blame it all on Apple, another in a string of Wha??? moments:</p>
<blockquotename="d80d"id="d80d">the appropriate context is Apple’s App Store policies. Other devs aren’t Marco’s responsibility</blockquote>
<pname="db0b"id="db0b">Seriously? Dude, are you even trying to talk about what Samantha actually wrote? At this point, Samantha is clearly mystified at the entire thing:</p>
<blockquotename="7a78"id="7a78">Why has the conversation suddenly turned to focus on nothing more than ATP sponsorship income?</blockquote>
<pname="6e09"id="6e09">Because it’s a nit they can pick and allows them to ignore everything you wrote. That’s the only reason.</p>
<pname="b7db"id="b7db">One guy is “confused”:</p>
<blockquotename="3626"id="3626">I see. He does have clout, so are you saying he’s too modest in how he sees himself as a dev?</blockquote>
<blockquotename="9daa"id="9daa">Yes. He can’t be equated to the vast majority of other developers. Like calling Gruber, “just another blogger”.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="f6da"id="f6da">Alright, that’s fair. I was just confused by the $ and fame angle at first.</blockquote>
<pname="d5b1"id="d5b1">Samantha’s point centers on the benefits Marco gains via his fame and background. <em>HOW DO YOU NOT MENTION THAT? HOW IS THAT CONFUSING?</em></p>
<pname="58d0"id="58d0">People of course are telling her it’s her fault for mentioning a salient fact at all:</p>
<blockquotename="30d2"id="30d2">Why has the conversation suddenly turned to focus on nothing more than ATP sponsorship income?</blockquote>
<blockquotename="765b"id="765b">Maybe because you went there with your article?</blockquote>
<blockquotename="61fe"id="61fe">As a way of rationalizing his ability to gamble with the potential for Overcast to generate income…not the norm at all.</blockquote>
<pname="f17c"id="f17c">Of course, had she not brought up those important points, she’d have been bagged on for “not providing proof”. Lose some, lose more. By now, she’s had enough and she just deletes all mention of it. Understandable, but sad she was bullied into doing that.</p>
<pname="0b60"id="0b60">Yes, bullied. That’s all this is. Bullying. She didn’t lie, cheat, or exaagerate. If her numbers were wrong, they weren’t wrong in a way she had any ability to do anything about. But there’s blood in the water, and the comments and attacks get worse:</p>
<blockquotename="65ab"id="65ab">Because you decided to start a conversation about someone else’s personal shit. You started this war.</blockquote>
<pname="1adb"id="1adb">War. THIS. IS. WAR.</p>
<pname="de94"id="de94">This is a bunch of nerds attacking someone for reasoned, calm, <em>polite</em> criticism of their friend/idol. Samantha is politely pushing back a bit:</p>
<blockquotename="4458"id="4458">That doesn’t explain why every other part of my article is being pushed aside.</blockquote>
<pname="aeac"id="aeac">She’s right. This is all nonsense. This is people ignoring her article completely, just looking for things to attack so it can be dismissed. It’s tribalism at its purest.</p>
<pname="0078"id="0078">Then some of the other annointed get into it, including Jason Snell in one of the most spectactular displays of “I have special knowledge you can’t be expected to have, therefore you are totally off base and wrong, even though there’s no way for you to know this” I’ve seen in a while. Jason:</p>
<blockquotename="c4c9"id="c4c9">You should never use an ad rate card to estimate ad revenue from any media product ever.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="b66b"id="b66b">I learned this when I started working for a magazine—rate cards are mostly fiction, like prices on new cars</blockquote>
<pname="6907"id="6907">How…exactly…in the name of whatever deity Jason may believe in…is Samantha or anyone not “in the biz” supposed to know this. Also, what exactly does a magazine on paper like Macworld have to do with sponsorships for a podcast? I have done podcasts that were sponsored, and I can retaliate with “we charged what the rate card said we did. <em>Checkmate Elitests!</em>”</p>
<pname="41ec"id="41ec">Samantha basically abases herself at his feet:</p>
<blockquotename="0b14"id="0b14">I understand my mistake, and it’s unfortunate that it has completely diluted the point of my article.</blockquote>
<pname="590f"id="590f">I think she should have told him where and how to stuff that nonsense, but she’s a nicer person than I am. Also, it’s appropriate that Jason’s twitter avatar has its nose in the air. This is some rank snobbery. It’s disgusting and if anyone pulled that on him, Jason would be very upset. But hey, one cannot criticize The Marco without getting pushback. By “pushback”, I mean “an unrelenting fecal flood”.</p>
<pname="69dc"id="69dc">Her only mistake was criticizing one of the Kool Kids. Folks, if you criticize anyone in The Deck Clique, or their friends, expect the same thing, regardless of tone or point.</p>
<blockquotename="957b"id="957b">so just looking over your mentions, I’m curious what exactly was your main point? Ignoring the podcast income bits.</blockquote>
<pname="0a7e"id="0a7e">Oh wait, he didn’t even read the article. Good on you, Dev Guy, good. on. you. Still, she plays nice <em>with someone who didn’t even read her article</em>:</p>
<blockquotename="f7db"id="f7db">That a typical unknown developer can’t depend on patronage to generate revenue, and charging for apps will become a negative.</blockquote>
<pname="937f"id="937f">Marco comes back of course, and now basically accuses her of lying about other devs talking to her and supporting her point:</p>
<blockquotename="c9dd"id="c9dd">How many actual developers did you hear from, really? Funny how almost nobody wants to give a (real) name on these accusations.</blockquote>
<pname="c522"id="c522">Really? You’re going to do that? “There’s no name, so I don’t think it’s a real person.” Just…what’s the Joe Welch quote from the McCarthy hearings?</p>
<blockquotename="907e"id="907e">Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?</blockquote>
<pname="2158"id="2158">That is what this is at this point: character assasination because she said something critical of A Popular Person. It’s disgusting. Depressing and disgusting. No one, none of these people have seriously discussed her point, heck, it looks like they barely bothered to read it, if they did at all.</p>
<pname="13f8"id="13f8">Marco starts getting really petty with her (no big shock) and Samantha finally starts pushing back:</p>
<blockquotename="96c6"id="96c6">Glad to see you be the bigger person and ignore the mindset of so many developers not relating to you, good for you!</blockquote>
<pname="5d3f"id="5d3f">That of course, is what caused Marco to question the validity, if not the existence of her sources. (Funny how anonymous sources are totes okay when they convenience Marco et al, and work for oh, <em>Apple</em>, but when they are inconvenient? Ha! PROVIDE ME PROOF YOU INTEMPERATE WOMAN!)</p>
<pname="c07c"id="c07c">Make no mistake, there’s some sexist shit going on here. Every tweet I’ve quoted was authored by a guy.</p>
<pname="8b32"id="8b32">Of course, Marco has to play the “I’ve been around longer than you” card with this bon mot:</p>
<blockquotename="de26"id="de26">Yup, before you existed!</blockquote>
<pname="a3bd"id="a3bd">Really dude? I mean, I’m sorry about the penis, but really?</p>
<pname="1c51"id="1c51">Mind you, when the criticism isn’t just bizarrely stupid, Samantha reacts the way Marco and his ilk claim they would to (if they ever got any <em>valid</em> criticism. Which clearly is impossible):</p>
<blockquotename="9848"id="9848">Not to get into the middle of this, but “income” is not the term you’re looking for. “Revenue” is.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="aed9"id="aed9">And I wasn’t intending to be a dick, just a lot of people hear/say “income” when they intend “revenue”, and then discussion …</blockquote>
<blockquotename="f9d8"id="f9d8">… gets derailed by a jedi handwave of “Expenses”. But outside of charitable donation, it is all directly related.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="f61c"id="f61c">haha. Thank you for the clarification.</blockquote>
<pname="5dd9"id="5dd9">Note to Marco and the other…whatever they are…that is how one reacts to that kind of criticism. With a bit of humor and self-deprecation. You should try it sometime. For real, not just in your heads or conversations in Irish Pubs in S.F.</p>
<pname="dc44"id="dc44">But now, the door has been cracked, and the cheap shots come out:</p>
<blockquotename="0c94"id="0c94">@testflight_app: Don’t worry guys, we process <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"data-href="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@marcoarment</a>’s apps in direct proportion to his megabucks earnings. <ahref="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fairelephant?src=hash"data-href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fairelephant?src=hash"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">#fairelephant</a></blockquote>
<pname="343b"id="343b">(Note: testflight_app is a parody account. Please do not mess with the actual testflight folks. They are still cool.)</p>
<pname="09bf"id="09bf">Or this…conversation:</p>
<figurename="4d63"id="4d63">
<div></div>
</figure>
<pname="f2a3"id="f2a3">Good job guys. Good job. Defend the tribe. Attack the other. Frederico attempts to recover from his stunning display of demeaning douchery: <ahref="https://twitter.com/viticci"data-href="https://twitter.com/viticci"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@viticci</a>: <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@s_bielefeld</a> I don’t know if it’s an Italian thing, but counting other people’s money is especially weird for me. IMO, bad move in the post.</p>
<pname="ae0c"id="ae0c">Samantha is clearly sick of his crap: <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@s_bielefeld</a>: <ahref="https://twitter.com/viticci"data-href="https://twitter.com/viticci"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@viticci</a> That’s what I’m referring to, the mistake of ever having mentioned it. So, now, Marco can ignore the bigger issue and go on living.</p>
<pname="2047"id="2047">Good for her. There’s being patient and being roadkill.</p>
<pname="4139"id="4139">Samantha does put the call out for her sources to maybe let her use their names:</p>
<blockquotename="6626"id="6626">From all of you I heard from earlier, anyone care to go on record?</blockquote>
<pname="8a7d"id="8a7d">My good friend, The Angry Drunk points out the obvious problem:</p>
<blockquotename="68c9"id="68c9">Nobody’s going to go on record when they count on Marco’s friends for their PR.</blockquote>
<pname="317d"id="317d">This is true. Again, the sites that are Friends of Marco:</p>
<pname="9523"id="9523">Daring Fireball</p>
<pname="dbc7"id="dbc7">The Loop</p>
<pname="c706"id="c706">SixColors</p>
<pname="0acb"id="0acb">iMore</p>
<pname="8c8c"id="8c8c">MacStories</p>
<pname="643e"id="643e">A few others, but I want this post to end one day.</p>
<pname="6b76"id="6b76">You piss that crew off, and given how petty rather a few of them have demonstrated they are, good luck on getting any kind of notice from them.</p>
<pname="f7d1"id="f7d1">Of course, the idea this could happen is just craycray:</p>
<blockquotename="de59"id="de59"><ahref="https://twitter.com/KevinColeman"data-href="https://twitter.com/KevinColeman"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@KevinColeman </a><ahref="https://twitter.com/Angry_Drunk"data-href="https://twitter.com/Angry_Drunk"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">.@Angry_Drunk</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@s_bielefeld</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"data-href="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@marcoarment</a> Wow, you guys are veering right into crazy conspiracy theory territory. <ahref="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JetFuelCantMeltSteelBeams?src=hash"data-href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JetFuelCantMeltSteelBeams?src=hash"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">#JetFuelCantMeltSteelBeams</a></blockquote>
<pname="f01b"id="f01b">Yeah. Because a mature person like Marco would never do anything like that.</p>
<pname="7e30"id="7e30">Of course, the real point on this is starting to happen:</p>
<blockquotename="5d93"id="5d93">you’re getting a lot of heat now but happy you are writing things that stir up the community. Hope you continue to be a voice!</blockquote>
<blockquotename="436b"id="436b">I doubt I will.</blockquote>
<pname="ac25"id="ac25">See, they’ve done their job. Mess with the bull, you get the horns. Maybe you should find another thing to write about, this isn’t a good place for you. <em>Great</em> job y’all.</p>
<pname="07ba"id="07ba">Some people aren’t even pretending. They’re just in full strawman mode:</p>
<blockquotename="3d60"id="3d60"><ahref="https://twitter.com/timkeller"data-href="https://twitter.com/timkeller"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@timkeller: </a>Unfair to begrudge a person for leveraging past success, especially when that success is earned. No ‘luck’ involved.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="87f5"id="87f5"><ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@s_bielefeld: </a><ahref="https://twitter.com/timkeller"data-href="https://twitter.com/timkeller"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@timkeller</a> I plainly stated that I don’t hold his doing this against him. Way to twist words.</blockquote>
<pname="3720"id="3720">I think she’s earned her anger at this point.</p>
<pname="7341"id="7341">Don’t worry, Marco knows what the real problem is: most devs just suck —</p>
<figurename="babe"id="babe">
<div></div>
</figure>
<pname="503d"id="503d">I have a saying that applies in this case: don’t place your head so far up your nethers that you go full Klein Bottle. Marco has gone full Klein Bottle. (To be correct, he went FKB some years ago.)</p>
<pname="b8c0"id="b8c0">There are some bright spots. My favorite is when Building Twenty points out the <em>real</em> elephant in the room:</p>
<blockquotename="36f4"id="36f4"><ahref="https://twitter.com/BuildingTwenty"data-href="https://twitter.com/BuildingTwenty"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@BuildingTwenty</a>: Both <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"data-href="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@s_bielefeld</a>& I wrote similar critiques of <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"data-href="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">@marcoarment</a>’s pricing model yet the Internet pilloried only the woman. Who’d have guessed?</blockquote>
<pname="06b9"id="06b9">Yup.</p>
<pname="eff9"id="eff9">Another bright spot are these comments from Ian Betteridge, who has been doing this <em>even longer than Marco</em>:</p>
<blockquotename="18f1"id="18f1">You know, any writer who has never made a single factual error in a piece hasn’t ever written anything worth reading.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="9776"id="9776">I learned my job with the support of people who helped me. Had I suffered an Internet pile on for every error I wouldn’t have bothered.</blockquote>
<pname="8d44"id="8d44">To which Samantha understandably replies:</p>
<blockquotename="7147"id="7147">and it’s honestly something I’m contemplating right now, whether to continue…</blockquote>
<pname="e0cd"id="e0cd">Gee, I can’t imagine why. Why with comments like this from Chris Breen that completely misrepresent Samantha’s point, (who until today, I would have absolutely defended as being better than this, something I am genuinely saddened to be wrong about), why wouldn’t she want to continue doing this?</p>
<blockquotename="a379"id="a379">If I have this right, some people are outraged that a creator has decided to give away his work.</blockquote>
<pname="f026"id="f026">No Chris, you don’t have this right. But hey, who has time to find out the real issue and read an article. I’m sure your friends told you everything you need to know.</p>
<pname="e1c2"id="e1c2">Noted Feminist Glenn Fleishman gets a piece of the action too:</p>
<figurename="067c"id="067c">
<div></div>
</figure>
<pname="4df8"id="4df8">I’m not actually surprised here. I watched Fleishman berate a friend of mine who has been an engineer for…heck, waaaaay too long on major software products in the most condescending way because she tried to point out that as a <em>very</em> technical woman, “The Magazine” literally had nothing to say to her and maybe he should fix that. “Impertinent” was I believe what he called her, but I may have the specific word wrong. Not the attitude mind you. Great Feminists like Glenn do not like uppity women criticizing Great Feminists who are their Great Allies.</p>
<pname="bf45"id="bf45">Great Feminists are often tools.</p>
<p><imgalt="Image for post"src="https://miro.medium.com/max/796/1*kbPh7V97eyRodSOw2-ALDw.png"width="398"height="542"srcset="https://miro.medium.com/max/552/1*kbPh7V97eyRodSOw2-ALDw.png 276w, https://miro.medium.com/max/796/1*kbPh7V97eyRodSOw2-ALDw.png 398w"sizes="398px"data-old-src="https://miro.medium.com/max/44/1*kbPh7V97eyRodSOw2-ALDw.png?q=20"/>
</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<sectionname="c883">
<div>
</figure>
<pid="f2a3"> Good job guys. Good job. Defend the tribe. Attack the other. Frederico attempts to recover from his stunning display of demeaning douchery: <ahref="https://twitter.com/viticci"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@viticci</a>: <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@s_bielefeld</a> I don’t know if it’s an Italian thing, but counting other people’s money is especially weird for me. IMO, bad move in the post. </p>
<pid="ae0c"> Samantha is clearly sick of his crap: <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@s_bielefeld</a>: <ahref="https://twitter.com/viticci"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@viticci</a> That’s what I’m referring to, the mistake of ever having mentioned it. So, now, Marco can ignore the bigger issue and go on living. </p>
<pid="2047"> Good for her. There’s being patient and being roadkill. </p>
<pid="4139"> Samantha does put the call out for her sources to maybe let her use their names: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="6626"> From all of you I heard from earlier, anyone care to go on record? </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="8a7d"> My good friend, The Angry Drunk points out the obvious problem: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="68c9"> Nobody’s going to go on record when they count on Marco’s friends for their PR. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="317d"> This is true. Again, the sites that are Friends of Marco: </p>
<pid="9523"> Daring Fireball </p>
<pid="dbc7"> The Loop </p>
<pid="c706"> SixColors </p>
<pid="0acb"> iMore </p>
<pid="8c8c"> MacStories </p>
<pid="643e"> A few others, but I want this post to end one day. </p>
<pid="6b76"> You piss that crew off, and given how petty rather a few of them have demonstrated they are, good luck on getting any kind of notice from them. </p>
<pid="f7d1"> Of course, the idea this could happen is just craycray: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="de59">
<ahref="https://twitter.com/KevinColeman"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@KevinColeman</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/Angry_Drunk"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">.@Angry_Drunk</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@s_bielefeld</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@marcoarment</a> Wow, you guys are veering right into crazy conspiracy theory territory. <ahref="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JetFuelCantMeltSteelBeams?src=hash"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">#JetFuelCantMeltSteelBeams</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<pid="f01b"> Yeah. Because a mature person like Marco would never do anything like that. </p>
<pid="7e30"> Of course, the real point on this is starting to happen: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="5d93"> you’re getting a lot of heat now but happy you are writing things that stir up the community. Hope you continue to be a voice! </p>
<pid="436b"> I doubt I will. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="ac25"> See, they’ve done their job. Mess with the bull, you get the horns. Maybe you should find another thing to write about, this isn’t a good place for you. <em>Great</em> job y’all. </p>
<pid="07ba"> Some people aren’t even pretending. They’re just in full strawman mode: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="3d60">
<ahref="https://twitter.com/timkeller"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@timkeller:</a> Unfair to begrudge a person for leveraging past success, especially when that success is earned. No ‘luck’ involved.
</p>
<pid="87f5">
<ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@s_bielefeld:</a><ahref="https://twitter.com/timkeller"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@timkeller</a> I plainly stated that I don’t hold his doing this against him. Way to twist words.
</p>
</blockquote>
<pid="3720"> I think she’s earned her anger at this point. </p>
<pid="7341"> Don’t worry, Marco knows what the real problem is: most devs just suck — </p>
<figure>
<div>
<pname="45bb"id="45bb">Luckily, I hope, the people who get Samantha’s point also started chiming in (and you get 100% of the women commenting here that I’ve seen):</p>
<blockquotename="c053"id="c053">I don’t think he’s wrong for doing it, he just discusses it as if the market’s a level playing field—it isn’t</blockquote>
<blockquotename="7b5e"id="7b5e">This is a great article with lots of great points about the sustainability of iOS development. Thank you for publishing it.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="a321"id="a321">Regardless of the numbers and your view of MA, fair points here about confirmation bias in app marketing feasibility <ahref="http://t.co/u79ZLsnhdM"data-href="http://t.co/u79ZLsnhdM"title="http://samanthabielefeld.com/the-elephant-in-the-room"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">http://samanthabielefeld.com/the-elephant-in-the-room …</a></blockquote>
<blockquotename="76fe"id="76fe">thank you for posting this, it covers a lot of things people don’t like to talk about.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="bf90"id="bf90">I’m sure you have caught untold amounts of flak over posting this because Marco is blind to his privilege as a developer.</blockquote>
<blockquotename="0f66"id="0f66">Catching up on the debate, and agreeing with Harry’s remark. (Enjoyed your article, Samantha, and ‘got’ your point.)</blockquote>
<p><imgalt="Image for post"src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1388/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png"width="694"height="771"srcset="https://miro.medium.com/max/552/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png 276w, https://miro.medium.com/max/1104/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png 552w, https://miro.medium.com/max/1280/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/max/1388/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png 694w"sizes="694px"data-old-src="https://miro.medium.com/max/54/1*Fpb2Bvdx7Q-688vdm-NdkQ.png?q=20"/>
</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<sectionname="8ab2">
<div>
</figure>
<pid="503d"> I have a saying that applies in this case: don’t place your head so far up your nethers that you go full Klein Bottle. Marco has gone full Klein Bottle. (To be correct, he went FKB some years ago.) </p>
<pid="b8c0"> There are some bright spots. My favorite is when Building Twenty points out the <em>real</em> elephant in the room: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="36f4">
<ahref="https://twitter.com/BuildingTwenty"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@BuildingTwenty</a>: Both <ahref="https://twitter.com/s_bielefeld"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@s_bielefeld</a>& I wrote similar critiques of <ahref="https://twitter.com/marcoarment"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">@marcoarment</a>’s pricing model yet the Internet pilloried only the woman. Who’d have guessed?
</p>
</blockquote>
<pid="06b9"> Yup. </p>
<pid="eff9"> Another bright spot are these comments from Ian Betteridge, who has been doing this <em>even longer than Marco</em>: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="18f1"> You know, any writer who has never made a single factual error in a piece hasn’t ever written anything worth reading. </p>
<pid="9776"> I learned my job with the support of people who helped me. Had I suffered an Internet pile on for every error I wouldn’t have bothered. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="8d44"> To which Samantha understandably replies: </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="7147"> and it’s honestly something I’m contemplating right now, whether to continue… </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="e0cd"> Gee, I can’t imagine why. Why with comments like this from Chris Breen that completely misrepresent Samantha’s point, (who until today, I would have absolutely defended as being better than this, something I am genuinely saddened to be wrong about), why wouldn’t she want to continue doing this? </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="a379"> If I have this right, some people are outraged that a creator has decided to give away his work. </p>
</blockquote>
<pid="f026"> No Chris, you don’t have this right. But hey, who has time to find out the real issue and read an article. I’m sure your friends told you everything you need to know. </p>
<pid="e1c2"> Noted Feminist Glenn Fleishman gets a piece of the action too: </p>
<figure>
<div>
<pname="6134"id="6134">I would like to say I’m surprised at the reaction to Samantha’s article, but I’m not. In spite of his loud declarations of support for The Big Lie, Marco Arment is as bad at any form of criticism that he hasn’t already approved as a very insecure tween. An example from 2011: <ahref="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9"data-href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9"rel="nofollow noopener"target="_blank">http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9</a></p>
<pname="ba3c"id="ba3c">Marco is great with criticism as long as it never actually criticizes him. If it does, be prepared a flood of petty, petulant whining that a room full of bored preschoolers on a hot day would be hard-pressed to match.</p>
<pname="a5a0"id="a5a0">Today has been…well, it sucks. It sucks because someone doing what all the Arments of the world claim to want was naive enough to believe what they were told, and found out the hard way just how big a lie The Big Lie is, and how vicious people are when you’re silly enough to believe anything they say about criticism.</p>
<pname="2a25"id="2a25">And note again, every single condescending crack, misrepresentation, and strawman had an exclusively male source. Most of them have, at one point or another, loudly trumpted themselves as Feminist Allies, as a friend to women struggling with the sexism and misogyny in tech. Congratulations y’all on being just as bad as the people you claim to oppose.</p>
<pname="a47a"id="a47a">Samantha has handled this better than anyone else could have. My respect for her as a person and a writer is off the charts. If she choses to walk away from blogging in the Apple space, <em>believe me</em> I understand. As bad as today was for her, I’ve seen worse. Much worse.</p>
<pname="aa8e"id="aa8e">But I hope she doesn’t. I hope she stays, because she is Doing This Right, and in a corner of the internet that has become naught but an endless circle jerk, a cliquish collection, a churlish, childish cohort interested not in writing or the truth, but in making sure The Right People are elevated, and The Others put down, she is someone worth reading and listening to. The number people who owe her apologies goes around the block, and I don’t think she’ll ever see a one. I’m sure as heck not apologizing for them, I’ll not make their lives easier in the least.</p>
<pname="34c5"id="34c5">All of you, all. of. you…Marco, Breen, Snell, Vittici, had a chance to live by your words. You were faced with reasoned, polite, respectful criticism and instead of what you should have done, you all dropped trou and sprayed an epic diarrheal discharge all over someone who had done nothing to deserve it. Me, I earned most of my aggro, Samantha did not earn any of the idiocy I’ve seen today. I hope you’re all proud of yourselves. Someone should be, it won’t be me. Ever.</p>
<pname="9710"id="9710">So I hope she stays, but if she goes, I understand. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s wrong either way.</p>
<p><imgalt="Image for post"src="https://miro.medium.com/max/616/1*lvOySry5gHHJfGU_bQXrzA.png"width="308"height="269"srcset="https://miro.medium.com/max/552/1*lvOySry5gHHJfGU_bQXrzA.png 276w, https://miro.medium.com/max/616/1*lvOySry5gHHJfGU_bQXrzA.png 308w"sizes="308px"data-old-src="https://miro.medium.com/max/60/1*lvOySry5gHHJfGU_bQXrzA.png?q=20"/>
</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
</figure>
<pid="4df8"> I’m not actually surprised here. I watched Fleishman berate a friend of mine who has been an engineer for…heck, waaaaay too long on major software products in the most condescending way because she tried to point out that as a <em>very</em> technical woman, “The Magazine” literally had nothing to say to her and maybe he should fix that. “Impertinent” was I believe what he called her, but I may have the specific word wrong. Not the attitude mind you. Great Feminists like Glenn do not like uppity women criticizing Great Feminists who are their Great Allies. </p>
<pid="bf45"> Great Feminists are often tools. </p>
</div>
<div>
<pid="45bb"> Luckily, I hope, the people who get Samantha’s point also started chiming in (and you get 100% of the women commenting here that I’ve seen): </p>
<blockquote>
<pid="c053"> I don’t think he’s wrong for doing it, he just discusses it as if the market’s a level playing field — it isn’t </p>
<pid="7b5e"> This is a great article with lots of great points about the sustainability of iOS development. Thank you for publishing it. </p>
<pid="a321"> Regardless of the numbers and your view of MA, fair points here about confirmation bias in app marketing feasibility <ahref="http://t.co/u79ZLsnhdM"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">http://samanthabielefeld.com/the-elephant-in-the-room …</a>
</p>
<pid="76fe"> thank you for posting this, it covers a lot of things people don’t like to talk about. </p>
<pid="bf90"> I’m sure you have caught untold amounts of flak over posting this because Marco is blind to his privilege as a developer. </p>
<pid="0f66"> Catching up on the debate, and agreeing with Harry’s remark. (Enjoyed your article, Samantha, and ‘got’ your point.) </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<pid="6134"> I would like to say I’m surprised at the reaction to Samantha’s article, but I’m not. In spite of his loud declarations of support for The Big Lie, Marco Arment is as bad at any form of criticism that he hasn’t already approved as a very insecure tween. An example from 2011: <ahref="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9"target="_blank"rel="noopener nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9</a>
</p>
<pid="ba3c"> Marco is great with criticism as long as it never actually criticizes him. If it does, be prepared a flood of petty, petulant whining that a room full of bored preschoolers on a hot day would be hard-pressed to match. </p>
<pid="a5a0"> Today has been…well, it sucks. It sucks because someone doing what all the Arments of the world claim to want was naive enough to believe what they were told, and found out the hard way just how big a lie The Big Lie is, and how vicious people are when you’re silly enough to believe anything they say about criticism. </p>
<pid="2a25"> And note again, every single condescending crack, misrepresentation, and strawman had an exclusively male source. Most of them have, at one point or another, loudly trumpted themselves as Feminist Allies, as a friend to women struggling with the sexism and misogyny in tech. Congratulations y’all on being just as bad as the people you claim to oppose. </p>
<pid="a47a"> Samantha has handled this better than anyone else could have. My respect for her as a person and a writer is off the charts. If she choses to walk away from blogging in the Apple space, <em>believe me</em> I understand. As bad as today was for her, I’ve seen worse. Much worse. </p>
<pid="aa8e"> But I hope she doesn’t. I hope she stays, because she is Doing This Right, and in a corner of the internet that has become naught but an endless circle jerk, a cliquish collection, a churlish, childish cohort interested not in writing or the truth, but in making sure The Right People are elevated, and The Others put down, she is someone worth reading and listening to. The number people who owe her apologies goes around the block, and I don’t think she’ll ever see a one. I’m sure as heck not apologizing for them, I’ll not make their lives easier in the least. </p>
<pid="34c5"> All of you, all. of. you…Marco, Breen, Snell, Vittici, had a chance to live by your words. You were faced with reasoned, polite, respectful criticism and instead of what you should have done, you all dropped trou and sprayed an epic diarrheal discharge all over someone who had done nothing to deserve it. Me, I earned most of my aggro, Samantha did not earn any of the idiocy I’ve seen today. I hope you’re all proud of yourselves. Someone should be, it won’t be me. Ever. </p>
<pid="9710"> So I hope she stays, but if she goes, I understand. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s wrong either way. </p>
<p> Once you have mastered the art of mutable history in a single repository (see the <ahref="http://fakehost/test/user-guide.html">user guide</a>), you can move up to the next level: <em>shared</em> mutable history. <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> lets you push and pull draft changesets between repositories along with their obsolescence markers. This opens up a number of interesting possibilities. </p>
<p> The simplest scenario is a single developer working across two computers. Say you’re working on code that must be tested on a remote test server, probably in a rack somewhere, only accessible by SSH, and running an “enterprise-grade” (out-of-date) OS. But you probably prefer to write code locally: everything is setup the way you like it, and you can use your preferred editor, IDE, merge/diff tools, etc. </p>
<p> Traditionally, your options are limited: either </p>
<blockquote>
<div>
<ul>
<li>(ab)use your source control system by committing half-working code in order to get it onto the remote test server, or </li>
<li>go behind source control’s back by using <tt><span>rsync</span></tt> (or similar) to transfer your code back-and-forth until it is ready to commit </li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p> The former is less bad with distributed version control systems like Mercurial, but it’s still far from ideal. (One important version control “best practice” is that every commit should make things just a little bit better, i.e. you should never commit code that is worse than what came before.) The latter, avoiding version control entirely, means that you’re walking a tightrope without a safety net. One accidental <tt><span>rsync</span></tt> in the wrong direction could destroy hours of work. </p>
<p> Using Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> to share mutable history solves these problems. As with single-repository <tt><span>evolve</span></tt>, you can commit whenever the code is demonstrably better, even if all the tests aren’t passing yet—just <tt><span>hg</span><span>amend</span></tt> when they are. And you can transfer those half-baked changesets between repositories to try things out on your test server before anything is carved in stone. </p>
<p> A less common scenario is multiple developers sharing mutable history, typically for code review. We’ll cover this scenario later. First, we will cover single-user sharing. </p>
<divid="sharing-with-a-single-developer">
<h2>
<ahref="#id5">Sharing with a single developer</a><ahref="#sharing-with-a-single-developer"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
<ahref="#id6">Publishing and non-publishing repositories</a><ahref="#publishing-and-non-publishing-repositories"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> The key to shared mutable history is to keep your changesets in <em>draft</em> phase as you pass them around. Recall that by default, <tt><span>hg</span><span>push</span></tt> promotes changesets from <em>draft</em> to <em>public</em>, and public changesets are immutable. You can change this behaviour by reconfiguring the <em>remote</em> repository so that it is non-publishing. (Short version: set <tt><span>phases.publish</span></tt> to <tt><span>false</span></tt>. Long version follows.) </p>
</div>
<divid="setting-up">
<h3>
<ahref="#id7">Setting up</a><ahref="#setting-up"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> We’ll work through an example with three local repositories, although in the real world they’d most likely be on three different computers. First, the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository is where tested, polished changesets live, and it is where you synchronize with the rest of your team. </p>
<p> We’ll need two clones where work gets done, <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> and <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg clone public test-repo
<divid="evolve-shared-mutable-history">
<p> Once you have mastered the art of mutable history in a single repository (see the <ahref="http://fakehost/test/user-guide.html">user guide</a>), you can move up to the next level: <em>shared</em> mutable history. <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> lets you push and pull draft changesets between repositories along with their obsolescence markers. This opens up a number of interesting possibilities. </p>
<p> The simplest scenario is a single developer working across two computers. Say you’re working on code that must be tested on a remote test server, probably in a rack somewhere, only accessible by SSH, and running an “enterprise-grade” (out-of-date) OS. But you probably prefer to write code locally: everything is setup the way you like it, and you can use your preferred editor, IDE, merge/diff tools, etc. </p>
<p> Traditionally, your options are limited: either </p>
<blockquote>
<div>
<ul>
<li>(ab)use your source control system by committing half-working code in order to get it onto the remote test server, or </li>
<li>go behind source control’s back by using <tt><span>rsync</span></tt> (or similar) to transfer your code back-and-forth until it is ready to commit </li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p> The former is less bad with distributed version control systems like Mercurial, but it’s still far from ideal. (One important version control “best practice” is that every commit should make things just a little bit better, i.e. you should never commit code that is worse than what came before.) The latter, avoiding version control entirely, means that you’re walking a tightrope without a safety net. One accidental <tt><span>rsync</span></tt> in the wrong direction could destroy hours of work. </p>
<p> Using Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> to share mutable history solves these problems. As with single-repository <tt><span>evolve</span></tt>, you can commit whenever the code is demonstrably better, even if all the tests aren’t passing yet—just <tt><span>hg</span><span>amend</span></tt> when they are. And you can transfer those half-baked changesets between repositories to try things out on your test server before anything is carved in stone. </p>
<p> A less common scenario is multiple developers sharing mutable history, typically for code review. We’ll cover this scenario later. First, we will cover single-user sharing. </p>
<divid="sharing-with-a-single-developer">
<h2>
<ahref="#id5">Sharing with a single developer</a><ahref="#sharing-with-a-single-developer"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
<ahref="#id6">Publishing and non-publishing repositories</a><ahref="#publishing-and-non-publishing-repositories"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> The key to shared mutable history is to keep your changesets in <em>draft</em> phase as you pass them around. Recall that by default, <tt><span>hg</span><span>push</span></tt> promotes changesets from <em>draft</em> to <em>public</em>, and public changesets are immutable. You can change this behaviour by reconfiguring the <em>remote</em> repository so that it is non-publishing. (Short version: set <tt><span>phases.publish</span></tt> to <tt><span>false</span></tt>. Long version follows.) </p>
</div>
<divid="setting-up">
<h3>
<ahref="#id7">Setting up</a><ahref="#setting-up"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> We’ll work through an example with three local repositories, although in the real world they’d most likely be on three different computers. First, the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository is where tested, polished changesets live, and it is where you synchronize with the rest of your team. </p>
<p> We’ll need two clones where work gets done, <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> and <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> is your local machine, with GUI merge tools and IDEs and everything configured just the way you like it. <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> is the test server in a rack somewhere behind SSH. So for the most part, we’ll develop in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, push to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>, test and polish there, and push to <tt><span>public</span></tt>. </p>
<p> The key to shared mutable history is to make the target repository, in this case <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>, non-publishing. And, of course, we have to enable the <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> extension in both <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> and <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<p> First, edit the configuration for <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R test-repo config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>[phases]
</div>
<p>
<tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> is your local machine, with GUI merge tools and IDEs and everything configured just the way you like it. <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> is the test server in a rack somewhere behind SSH. So for the most part, we’ll develop in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, push to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>, test and polish there, and push to <tt><span>public</span></tt>.
</p>
<p> The key to shared mutable history is to make the target repository, in this case <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>, non-publishing. And, of course, we have to enable the <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> extension in both <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> and <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<p> First, edit the configuration for <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R test-repo config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<div>
<pre>[phases]
publish = false
[extensions]
evolve =
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Then edit the configuration for <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R dev-repo config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<p> Keep in mind that in real life, these repositories would probably be on separate computers, so you’d have to login to each one to configure each repository. </p>
<p> To start things off, let’s make one public, immutable changeset: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd test-repo
</div>
<p> Then edit the configuration for <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R dev-repo config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<p> Keep in mind that in real life, these repositories would probably be on separate computers, so you’d have to login to each one to configure each repository. </p>
<p> To start things off, let’s make one public, immutable changeset: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd test-repo
$ echo 'my new project' > file1
$ hg add file1
$ hg commit -m 'create new project'
@ -83,97 +74,83 @@ $ hg push
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> and pull that into the development repository: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../dev-repo
</div>
<p> and pull that into the development repository: </p>
<ahref="#id9">Example 2: Amend again, locally</a><ahref="#example-2-amend-again-locally"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> This process can repeat. Perhaps you figure out a more elegant fix to the bug, and want to mutate history so nobody ever knows you had a less-than-perfect idea. We’ll implement it locally in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> and push to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ echo 'Fix, fix, and fix.' > file1
</div>
</div>
<divid="example-2-amend-again-locally">
<h3>
<ahref="#id9">Example 2: Amend again, locally</a><ahref="#example-2-amend-again-locally"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> This process can repeat. Perhaps you figure out a more elegant fix to the bug, and want to mutate history so nobody ever knows you had a less-than-perfect idea. We’ll implement it locally in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> and push to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ echo 'Fix, fix, and fix.' > file1
$ hg amend
$ hg push
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> This time around, the temporary amend commit is in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, and it is not transferred to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>—the same as before, just in the opposite direction. Figure 4 shows the two repositories after amending in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> and pushing to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG04: each repo has one temporary amend commit, but they’re different in each one] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Let’s hop over to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> to test the more elegant fix: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../test-repo
</div>
<p> This time around, the temporary amend commit is in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, and it is not transferred to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>—the same as before, just in the opposite direction. Figure 4 shows the two repositories after amending in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> and pushing to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG04: each repo has one temporary amend commit, but they’re different in each one] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Let’s hop over to <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> to test the more elegant fix: </p>
<p> This time, all the tests pass, so no further amending is required. This bug fix is finished, so we push it to the public repository: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push
</div>
<p> This time, all the tests pass, so no further amending is required. This bug fix is finished, so we push it to the public repository: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Note that only one changeset—the final version, after two amendments—was actually pushed. Again, Mercurial doesn’t transfer hidden changesets on push and pull. </p>
<p> So the picture in <tt><span>public</span></tt> is much simpler than in either <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> or <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>. Neither of our missteps nor our amendments are publicly visible, just the final, beautifully polished changeset: </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG05: public repo with rev 0:0dc9, 1:de61, both public] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> There is one important step left to do. Because we pushed from <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> to <tt><span>public</span></tt>, the pushed changeset is in <em>public</em> phase in those two repositories. But <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> has been out-of-the-loop; changeset de61 is still <em>draft</em> there. If we’re not careful, we might mutate history in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, obsoleting a changeset that is already public. Let’s avoid that situation for now by pushing up to <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../dev-repo
</div>
<p> Note that only one changeset—the final version, after two amendments—was actually pushed. Again, Mercurial doesn’t transfer hidden changesets on push and pull. </p>
<p> So the picture in <tt><span>public</span></tt> is much simpler than in either <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> or <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt>. Neither of our missteps nor our amendments are publicly visible, just the final, beautifully polished changeset: </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG05: public repo with rev 0:0dc9, 1:de61, both public] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> There is one important step left to do. Because we pushed from <tt><span>test-repo</span></tt> to <tt><span>public</span></tt>, the pushed changeset is in <em>public</em> phase in those two repositories. But <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt> has been out-of-the-loop; changeset de61 is still <em>draft</em> there. If we’re not careful, we might mutate history in <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>, obsoleting a changeset that is already public. Let’s avoid that situation for now by pushing up to <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../dev-repo
pushing to ../dev-repo
searching for changes
no changes found
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Even though no <em>changesets</em> were pushed, Mercurial still pushed obsolescence markers and phase changes to <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<p> A final note: since this fix is now <em>public</em>, it is immutable. It’s no longer possible to amend it: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg amend -m 'fix bug 37'
</div>
<p> Even though no <em>changesets</em> were pushed, Mercurial still pushed obsolescence markers and phase changes to <tt><span>dev-repo</span></tt>. </p>
<p> A final note: since this fix is now <em>public</em>, it is immutable. It’s no longer possible to amend it: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg amend -m 'fix bug 37'
abort: cannot amend public changesets
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> This is, after all, the whole point of Mercurial’s phases: to prevent rewriting history that has already been published. </p>
</div>
<p> This is, after all, the whole point of Mercurial’s phases: to prevent rewriting history that has already been published. </p>
<ahref="#id10">Sharing with multiple developers: code review</a><ahref="#sharing-with-multiple-developers-code-review"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Now that you know how to share your own mutable history across multiple computers, you might be wondering if it makes sense to share mutable history with others. It does, but you have to be careful, stay alert, and <em>communicate</em> with your peers. </p>
<p> Code review is a good use case for sharing mutable history across multiple developers: Alice commits a draft changeset, submits it for review, and amends her changeset until her reviewer is satisfied. Meanwhile, Bob is also committing draft changesets for review, amending until his reviewer is satisfied. Once a particular changeset passes review, the respective author (Alice or Bob) pushes it to the public (publishing) repository. </p>
<p> Incidentally, the reviewers here can be anyone: maybe Bob and Alice review each other’s work; maybe the same third party reviews both; or maybe they pick different experts to review their work on different parts of a large codebase. Similarly, it doesn’t matter if reviews are conducted in person, by email, or by carrier pigeon. Code review is outside of the scope of Mercurial, so all we’re looking at here is the mechanics of committing, amending, pushing, and pulling. </p>
<divid="id2">
<h3>
<ahref="#id11">Setting up</a><ahref="#id2"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> To demonstrate, let’s start with the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository as we left it in the last example, with two immutable changesets (figure 5 above). We’ll clone a <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository from it, and then Alice and Bob will both clone from <tt><span>review</span></tt>. </p>
<ahref="#id10">Sharing with multiple developers: code review</a><ahref="#sharing-with-multiple-developers-code-review"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Now that you know how to share your own mutable history across multiple computers, you might be wondering if it makes sense to share mutable history with others. It does, but you have to be careful, stay alert, and <em>communicate</em> with your peers. </p>
<p> Code review is a good use case for sharing mutable history across multiple developers: Alice commits a draft changeset, submits it for review, and amends her changeset until her reviewer is satisfied. Meanwhile, Bob is also committing draft changesets for review, amending until his reviewer is satisfied. Once a particular changeset passes review, the respective author (Alice or Bob) pushes it to the public (publishing) repository. </p>
<p> Incidentally, the reviewers here can be anyone: maybe Bob and Alice review each other’s work; maybe the same third party reviews both; or maybe they pick different experts to review their work on different parts of a large codebase. Similarly, it doesn’t matter if reviews are conducted in person, by email, or by carrier pigeon. Code review is outside of the scope of Mercurial, so all we’re looking at here is the mechanics of committing, amending, pushing, and pulling. </p>
<divid="id2">
<h3>
<ahref="#id11">Setting up</a><ahref="#id2"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p>Todemonstrate,let’s start with the<tt><span>public</span></tt> repository as we left it in the last example, with two immutable changesets (figure 5 above). We’ll clone a <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository from it, and then Alice and Bob will both clone from <tt><span>review</span></tt>. </p>
<ahref="#id12">Example 3: Alice commits and amends a draft fix</a><ahref="#example-3-alice-commits-and-amends-a-draft-fix"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> We’ll follow Alice working on a bug fix. We’re going to use bookmarks to make it easier to understand multiple branch heads in the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, so Alice starts off by creating a bookmark and committing her first attempt at a fix: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg bookmark bug15
</div>
<p> We need to configure Alice’s and Bob’s working repositories to enable <tt><span>evolve</span></tt>. First, edit Alice’s configuration with </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R alice config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<p> Then edit Bob’s repository configuration: </p>
<ahref="#id12">Example 3: Alice commits and amends a draft fix</a><ahref="#example-3-alice-commits-and-amends-a-draft-fix"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> We’ll follow Alice working on a bug fix. We’re going to use bookmarks to make it easier to understand multiple branch heads in the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, so Alice starts off by creating a bookmark and committing her first attempt at a fix: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg bookmark bug15
$ echo 'fix' > file2
$ hg commit -A -u alice -m 'fix bug 15 (v1)'
adding file2
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Note the unorthodox “(v1)” in the commit message. We’re just using that to make this tutorial easier to follow; it’s not something we’d recommend in real life. </p>
<p> Of course Alice wouldn’t commit unless her fix worked to her satisfaction, so it must be time to solicit a code review. She does this by pushing to the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push -B bug15
</div>
<p> Note the unorthodox “(v1)” in the commit message. We’re just using that to make this tutorial easier to follow; it’s not something we’d recommend in real life. </p>
<p> Of course Alice wouldn’t commit unless her fix worked to her satisfaction, so it must be time to solicit a code review. She does this by pushing to the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push -B bug15
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
exporting bookmark bug15
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> (The use of <tt><span>-B</span></tt> is important to ensure that we only push the bookmarked head, and that the bookmark itself is pushed. See this <ahref="http://mercurial.aragost.com/kick-start/en/bookmarks/">guide to bookmarks</a>, especially the <ahref="http://mercurial.aragost.com/kick-start/en/bookmarks/#sharing-bookmarks">Sharing Bookmarks</a> section, if you’re not familiar with bookmarks.) </p>
<p> Some time passes, and Alice receives her code review. As a result, Alice revises her fix and submits it for a second review: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ echo 'Fix.' > file2
</div>
<p> (The use of <tt><span>-B</span></tt> is important to ensure that we only push the bookmarked head, and that the bookmark itself is pushed. See this <ahref="http://mercurial.aragost.com/kick-start/en/bookmarks/">guide to bookmarks</a>, especially the <ahref="http://mercurial.aragost.com/kick-start/en/bookmarks/#sharing-bookmarks">Sharing Bookmarks</a> section, if you’re not familiar with bookmarks.) </p>
<p> Some time passes, and Alice receives her code review. As a result, Alice revises her fix and submits it for a second review: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ echo 'Fix.' > file2
$ hg amend -m 'fix bug 15 (v2)'
$ hg push
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files (+1 heads)
updating bookmark bug15
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Figure 6 shows the state of the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository at this point. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG06: rev 2:fn1e is Alice’s obsolete v1, rev 3:cbdf is her v2; both children of rev 1:de61] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> After a busy morning of bug fixing, Alice stops for lunch. Let’s see what Bob has been up to. </p>
<ahref="#id13">Example 4: Bob implements and publishes a new feature</a><ahref="#example-4-bob-implements-and-publishes-a-new-feature"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> Meanwhile, Bob has been working on a new feature. Like Alice, he’ll use a bookmark to track his work, and he’ll push that bookmark to the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, so that reviewers know which changesets to review. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
</div>
<p> Figure 6 shows the state of the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository at this point. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG06: rev 2:fn1e is Alice’s obsolete v1, rev 3:cbdf is her v2; both children of rev 1:de61] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> After a busy morning of bug fixing, Alice stops for lunch. Let’s see what Bob has been up to. </p>
<ahref="#id13">Example 4: Bob implements and publishes a new feature</a><ahref="#example-4-bob-implements-and-publishes-a-new-feature"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> Meanwhile, Bob has been working on a new feature. Like Alice, he’ll use a bookmark to track his work, and he’ll push that bookmark to the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, so that reviewers know which changesets to review. </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
$ echo 'stuff' > file1
$ hg bookmark featureX
$ hg commit -u bob -m 'implement feature X (v1)' # rev 4:1636
@ -262,72 +227,60 @@ $ hg push -B featureX
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files (+1 heads)
exporting bookmark featureX
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> When Bob receives his code review, he improves his implementation a bit, amends, and submits the resulting changeset for review: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ echo 'do stuff' > file1
</div>
<p> When Bob receives his code review, he improves his implementation a bit, amends, and submits the resulting changeset for review: </p>
<p> On the bright side, the second review said, “Go ahead and publish once you fix that.” So Bob immediately publishes his third attempt: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../public
</div>
<p> On the bright side, the second review said, “Go ahead and publish once you fix that.” So Bob immediately publishes his third attempt: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../public
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> It’s not enough just to update <tt><span>public</span></tt>, though! Other people also use the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, and right now it doesn’t have Bob’s latest amendment (“v3”, revision 6:540b), nor does it know that the precursor of that changeset (“v2”, revision 5:0eb7) is obsolete. Thus, Bob pushes to <tt><span>review</span></tt> as well: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../review
</div>
<p> It’s not enough just to update <tt><span>public</span></tt>, though! Other people also use the <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository, and right now it doesn’t have Bob’s latest amendment (“v3”, revision 6:540b), nor does it know that the precursor of that changeset (“v2”, revision 5:0eb7) is obsolete. Thus, Bob pushes to <tt><span>review</span></tt> as well: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../review
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files (+1 heads)
updating bookmark featureX
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Figure 7 shows the result of Bob’s work in both <tt><span>review</span></tt> and <tt><span>public</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG07: review includes Alice’s draft work on bug 15, as well as Bob’s v1, v2, and v3 changes for feature X: v1 and v2 obsolete, v3 public. public contains only the final, public implementation of feature X] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Incidentally, it’s important that Bob push to <tt><span>public</span></tt><em>before</em><tt><span>review</span></tt>. If he pushed to <tt><span>review</span></tt> first, then revision 6:540b would still be in <em>draft</em> phase in <tt><span>review</span></tt>, but it would be <em>public</em> in both Bob’s local repository and the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository. That could lead to confusion at some point, which is easily avoided by pushing first to <tt><span>public</span></tt>. </p>
<ahref="#id14">Example 5: Alice integrates and publishes</a><ahref="#example-5-alice-integrates-and-publishes"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> Finally, Alice gets back from lunch and sees that the carrier pigeon with her second review has arrived (or maybe it’s in her email inbox). Alice’s reviewer approved her amended changeset, so she pushes it to <tt><span>public</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../public
</div>
<p> Figure 7 shows the result of Bob’s work in both <tt><span>review</span></tt> and <tt><span>public</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG07: review includes Alice’s draft work on bug 15, as well as Bob’s v1, v2, and v3 changes for feature X: v1 and v2 obsolete, v3 public. public contains only the final, public implementation of feature X] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Incidentally, it’s important that Bob push to <tt><span>public</span></tt><em>before</em><tt><span>review</span></tt>. If he pushed to <tt><span>review</span></tt> first, then revision 6:540b would still be in <em>draft</em> phase in <tt><span>review</span></tt>, but it would be <em>public</em> in both Bob’s local repository and the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository. That could lead to confusion at some point, which is easily avoided by pushing first to <tt><span>public</span></tt>. </p>
<ahref="#id14">Example 5: Alice integrates and publishes</a><ahref="#example-5-alice-integrates-and-publishes"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> Finally, Alice gets back from lunch and sees that the carrier pigeon with her second review has arrived (or maybe it’s in her email inbox). Alice’s reviewer approved her amended changeset, so she pushes it to <tt><span>public</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg push ../public
[...]
remote has heads on branch 'default' that are not known locally: 540ba8f317e6
abort: push creates new remote head cbdfbd5a5db2!
(pull and merge or see "hg help push" for details about pushing new heads)
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Oops! Bob has won the race to push first to <tt><span>public</span></tt>. So Alice needs to integrate with Bob: let’s pull his changeset(s) and see what the branch heads are. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg pull ../public
</div>
<p> Oops! Bob has won the race to push first to <tt><span>public</span></tt>. So Alice needs to integrate with Bob: let’s pull his changeset(s) and see what the branch heads are. </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg pull ../public
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files (+1 heads)
(run 'hg heads' to see heads, 'hg merge' to merge)
@ -337,12 +290,10 @@ o 5:540ba8f317e6 (bob)
| @ 4:cbdfbd5a5db2 (alice)
|/
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> We’ll assume Alice and Bob are perfectly comfortable with rebasing changesets. (After all, they’re already using mutable history in the form of <tt><span>amend</span></tt>.) So Alice rebases her changeset on top of Bob’s and publishes the result: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg rebase -d 5
</div>
<p> We’ll assume Alice and Bob are perfectly comfortable with rebasing changesets. (After all, they’re already using mutable history in the form of <tt><span>amend</span></tt>.) So Alice rebases her changeset on top of Bob’s and publishes the result: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg rebase -d 5
$ hg push ../public
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
@ -351,30 +302,28 @@ $ hg push ../review
added 1 changesets with 0 changes to 0 files
updating bookmark bug15
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> The result, in both <tt><span>review</span></tt> and <tt><span>public</span></tt> repositories, is shown in figure 8. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG08: review shows v1 and v2 of Alice’s fix, then v1, v2, v3 of Bob’s feature, finally Alice’s fix rebased onto Bob’s. public just shows the final public version of each changeset] </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p> The result, in both <tt><span>review</span></tt> and <tt><span>public</span></tt> repositories, is shown in figure 8. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG08: review shows v1 and v2 of Alice’s fix, then v1, v2, v3 of Bob’s feature, finally Alice’s fix rebased onto Bob’s. public just shows the final public version of each changeset] </p>
<ahref="#id15">Getting into trouble with shared mutable history</a><ahref="#getting-into-trouble-with-shared-mutable-history"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> is a powerful tool, and using powerful tools can have consequences. (You can cut yourself badly with a sharp knife, but every competent chef keeps several around. Ever try to chop onions with a spoon?) </p>
<p> In the user guide, we saw examples of <em>unstbale</em> changesets, which are the most common type of troubled changeset. (Recall that a non-obsolete changeset with obsolete ancestors is an orphan.) </p>
<p> Two other types of troubles can happen: <em>divergent</em> and <em>bumped</em> changesets. Both are more likely with shared mutable history, especially mutable history shared by multiple developers.</p>
<divid="id3">
<h3>
<a href="#id16">Setting up</a><ahref="#id3" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> For these examples, we’re going to use a slightly different workflow: as before, Alice and Bob share a <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository. But this time there is no <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository. Instead, Alice and Bob put on their cowboy hats, throw good practice to the wind, and pull directly from each other’s working repositories. </p>
<p> So we throw away everything except<tt><span>public</span></tt>and reclone:</p>
<ahref="#id15">Getting into trouble with shared mutable history</a><ahref="#getting-into-trouble-with-shared-mutable-history"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> is a powerful tool, and using powerful tools can have consequences. (You can cut yourself badly with a sharp knife, but every competent chef keeps several around. Ever try to chop onions with a spoon?) </p>
<p> In the user guide, we saw examples of <em>unstbale</em> changesets, which are the most common type of troubled changeset. (Recall that a non-obsolete changeset with obsolete ancestors is an orphan.)</p>
<p> Two other types of troubles can happen: <em>divergent</em> and <em>bumped</em> changesets. Both are more likely with shared mutable history, especially mutable history shared by multiple developers. </p>
<divid="id3">
<h3>
<ahref="#id16">Setting up</a><ahref="#id3" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> For these examples, we’re going to use a slightly different workflow: as before, Alice and Bob share a<tt><span>public</span></tt>repository. But this time there is no <tt><span>review</span></tt> repository. Instead, Alice and Bob put on their cowboy hats, throw good practice to the wind, and pull directly from each other’s working repositories.</p>
<p> So we throw away everything except <tt><span>public</span></tt> and reclone: </p>
<p> Once again we have to configure their repositories: enable <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> and (since Alice and Bob will be pulling directly from each other) make their repositories non-publishing. Edit Alice’s configuration: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R alice config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>[extensions]
</div>
<p> Once again we have to configure their repositories: enable <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> and (since Alice and Bob will be pulling directly from each other) make their repositories non-publishing. Edit Alice’s configuration: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R alice config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
<p> and add </p>
<div>
<pre>[extensions]
rebase =
evolve =
[phases]
publish = false
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Then edit Bob’s repository configuration: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R bob config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> and add the same text. </p>
</div>
<divid="example-6-divergent-changesets">
<h3>
<ahref="#id17">Example 6: Divergent changesets</a><ahref="#example-6-divergent-changesets"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> When an obsolete changeset has two successors, those successors are <em>divergent</em>. One way to get into such a situation is by failing to communicate with your teammates. Let’s see how that might happen. </p>
<p> First, we’ll have Bob commit a bug fix that could still be improved: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd bob
</div>
<p> Then edit Bob’s repository configuration: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg -R bob config --edit --local
</pre>
</div>
<p> and add the same text. </p>
</div>
<divid="example-6-divergent-changesets">
<h3>
<ahref="#id17">Example 6: Divergent changesets</a><ahref="#example-6-divergent-changesets"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> When an obsolete changeset has two successors, those successors are <em>divergent</em>. One way to get into such a situation is by failing to communicate with your teammates. Let’s see how that might happen. </p>
<p> First, we’ll have Bob commit a bug fix that could still be improved: </p>
<p> Since Alice and Bob are now in cowboy mode, Alice pulls Bob’s draft changeset and amends it herself. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../alice
</div>
<p> Since Alice and Bob are now in cowboy mode, Alice pulls Bob’s draft changeset and amends it herself. </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../alice
$ hg pull -u ../bob
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
$ echo 'better fix (alice)' >> file1
$ hg amend -u alice -m 'fix bug 24 (v2 by alice)'
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> But Bob has no idea that Alice just did this. (See how important good communication is?) So he implements a better fix of his own: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
</div>
<p> But Bob has no idea that Alice just did this. (See how important good communication is?) So he implements a better fix of his own: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
$ echo 'better fix (bob)' >> file1
$ hg amend -u bob -m 'fix bug 24 (v2 by bob)' # rev 6:a360
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> At this point, the divergence exists, but only in theory: Bob’s original changeset, 4:2fe6, is obsolete and has two successors. But those successors are in different repositories, so the trouble is not visible to anyone yet. It will be as soon as Bob pulls from Alice’s repository (or vice-versa). </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ hg pull ../alice
</div>
<p> At this point, the divergence exists, but only in theory: Bob’s original changeset, 4:2fe6, is obsolete and has two successors. But those successors are in different repositories, so the trouble is not visible to anyone yet. It will be as soon as Bob pulls from Alice’s repository (or vice-versa). </p>
<div>
<pre>$ hg pull ../alice
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 2 files (+1 heads)
(run 'hg heads' to see heads, 'hg merge' to merge)
2 new divergent changesets
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Figure 9 shows the situation in Bob’s repository. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG09: Bob’s repo with 2 heads for the 2 divergent changesets, 6:a360 and 7:e3f9; wc is at 6:a360; both are successors of obsolete 4:2fe6, hence divergence] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Now we need to get out of trouble. As usual, the answer is to evolve history. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ HGMERGE=internal:other hg evolve
</div>
<p> Figure 9 shows the situation in Bob’s repository. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG09: Bob’s repo with 2 heads for the 2 divergent changesets, 6:a360 and 7:e3f9; wc is at 6:a360; both are successors of obsolete 4:2fe6, hence divergence] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> Now we need to get out of trouble. As usual, the answer is to evolve history. </p>
<p> Figure 10 shows how Bob’s repository looks now. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG10: only one visible head, 9:5ad6, successor to hidden 6:a360 and 7:e3f9] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> We carefully dodged a merge conflict by specifying a merge tool (<tt><span>internal:other</span></tt>) that will take Alice’s changes over Bob’s. (You might wonder why Bob wouldn’t prefer his own changes by using <tt><span>internal:local</span></tt>. He’s avoiding a <ahref="#bug">bug</a> in <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> that occurs when evolving divergent changesets using <tt><span>internal:local</span></tt>.) </p>
<p> # XXX this link does not work .. <spanid="bug">bug</span>: <ahref="https://bitbucket.org/marmoute/mutable-history/issue/48/">https://bitbucket.org/marmoute/mutable-history/issue/48/</a>
<ahref="#id18">Phase-divergence: when a rewritten changeset is made public</a><ahref="#phase-divergence-when-a-rewritten-changeset-is-made-public"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> If Alice and Bob are collaborating on some mutable changesets, it’s possible to get into a situation where an otherwise worthwhile changeset cannot be pushed to the public repository; it is <em>phase-divergent</em> with another changeset that was made public first. Let’s demonstrate one way this could happen. </p>
<p> It starts with Alice committing a bug fix. Right now, we don’t yet know if this bug fix is good enough to push to the public repository, but it’s good enough for Alice to commit. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd alice
</div>
<p> Figure 10 shows how Bob’s repository looks now. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG10: only one visible head, 9:5ad6, successor to hidden 6:a360 and 7:e3f9] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> We carefully dodged a merge conflict by specifying a merge tool (<tt><span>internal:other</span></tt>) that will take Alice’s changes over Bob’s. (You might wonder why Bob wouldn’t prefer his own changes by using <tt><span>internal:local</span></tt>. He’s avoiding a <ahref="#bug">bug</a> in <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> that occurs when evolving divergent changesets using <tt><span>internal:local</span></tt>.) </p>
<p> # XXX this link does not work .. <spanid="bug">bug</span>: <ahref="https://bitbucket.org/marmoute/mutable-history/issue/48/">https://bitbucket.org/marmoute/mutable-history/issue/48/</a>
<ahref="#id18">Phase-divergence: when a rewritten changeset is made public</a><ahref="#phase-divergence-when-a-rewritten-changeset-is-made-public"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h3>
<p> If Alice and Bob are collaborating on some mutable changesets, it’s possible to get into a situation where an otherwise worthwhile changeset cannot be pushed to the public repository; it is <em>phase-divergent</em> with another changeset that was made public first. Let’s demonstrate one way this could happen. </p>
<p> It starts with Alice committing a bug fix. Right now, we don’t yet know if this bug fix is good enough to push to the public repository, but it’s good enough for Alice to commit. </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd alice
$ echo 'fix' > file2
$ hg commit -A -m 'fix bug 15'
adding file2
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Now Bob has a bad idea: he decides to pull whatever Alice is working on and tweak her bug fix to his taste: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
</div>
<p> Now Bob has a bad idea: he decides to pull whatever Alice is working on and tweak her bug fix to his taste: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
$ hg pull -u ../alice
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
@ -508,50 +437,44 @@ added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
$ echo 'Fix.' > file2
$ hg amend -A -m 'fix bug 15 (amended)'
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> (Note the lack of communication between Alice and Bob. Failing to communicate with your colleagues is a good way to get into trouble. Nevertheless, <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> can usually sort things out, as we will see.) </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG06: Bob’s repo with one amendment] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> After some testing, Alice realizes her bug fix is just fine as it is: no need for further polishing and amending, this changeset is ready to publish. </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../alice
</div>
<p> (Note the lack of communication between Alice and Bob. Failing to communicate with your colleagues is a good way to get into trouble. Nevertheless, <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> can usually sort things out, as we will see.) </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG06: Bob’s repo with one amendment] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> After some testing, Alice realizes her bug fix is just fine as it is: no need for further polishing and amending, this changeset is ready to publish. </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../alice
$ hg push
[...]
added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> This introduces a contradiction: in Bob’s repository, changeset 2:e011 (his copy of Alice’s fix) is obsolete, since Bob amended it. But in Alice’s repository (and the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository), that changeset is public: it is immutable, carved in stone for all eternity. No changeset can be both obsolete and public, so Bob is in for a surprise the next time he pulls from <tt><span>public</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
</div>
<p> This introduces a contradiction: in Bob’s repository, changeset 2:e011 (his copy of Alice’s fix) is obsolete, since Bob amended it. But in Alice’s repository (and the <tt><span>public</span></tt> repository), that changeset is public: it is immutable, carved in stone for all eternity. No changeset can be both obsolete and public, so Bob is in for a surprise the next time he pulls from <tt><span>public</span></tt>: </p>
<div>
<pre>$ cd ../bob
$ hg pull -q -u
1 new phase-divergent changesets
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<p> Figure 7 shows what just happened to Bob’s repository: changeset 2:e011 is now public, so it can’t be obsolete. When that changeset was obsolete, it made perfect sense for it to have a successor, namely Bob’s amendment of Alice’s fix (changeset 4:fe88). But it’s illogical for a public changeset to have a successor, so 4:fe88 is troubled: it has become <em>bumped</em>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG07: 2:e011 now public not obsolete, 4:fe88 now bumped] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> As usual when there’s trouble in your repository, the solution is to evolve it: </p>
<p> Figure 8 illustrates Bob’s repository after evolving away the bumped changeset. Ignoring the obsolete changesets, Bob now has a nice, clean, simple history. His amendment of Alice’s bug fix lives on, as changeset 5:227d—albeit with a software-generated commit message. (Bob should probably amend that changeset to improve the commit message.) But the important thing is that his repository no longer has any troubled changesets, thanks to <tt><span>evolve</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG08: 5:227d is new, formerly bumped changeset 4:fe88 now hidden] </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p> Figure 7 shows what just happened to Bob’s repository: changeset 2:e011 is now public, so it can’t be obsolete. When that changeset was obsolete, it made perfect sense for it to have a successor, namely Bob’s amendment of Alice’s fix (changeset 4:fe88). But it’s illogical for a public changeset to have a successor, so 4:fe88 is troubled: it has become <em>bumped</em>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG07: 2:e011 now public not obsolete, 4:fe88 now bumped] </p>
</blockquote>
<p> As usual when there’s trouble in your repository, the solution is to evolve it: </p>
<p> Figure 8 illustrates Bob’s repository after evolving away the bumped changeset. Ignoring the obsolete changesets, Bob now has a nice, clean, simple history. His amendment of Alice’s bug fix lives on, as changeset 5:227d—albeit with a software-generated commit message. (Bob should probably amend that changeset to improve the commit message.) But the important thing is that his repository no longer has any troubled changesets, thanks to <tt><span>evolve</span></tt>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p> [figure SG08: 5:227d is new, formerly bumped changeset 4:fe88 now hidden] </p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<divid="conclusion">
<h2>
<ahref="#id19">Conclusion</a><ahref="#conclusion"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Mutable history is a powerful tool. Like a sharp knife, an experienced user can do wonderful things with it, much more wonderful than with a dull knife (never mind a rusty spoon). At the same time, an inattentive or careless user can do harm to himself or others. Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> goes to great lengths to limit the harm you can do by trying to handle all possible types of “troubled” changesets. Nevertheless, having a first-aid kit nearby does not mean you should stop being careful with sharp knives. </p>
<p> Mutable history shared across multiple repositories by a single developer is a natural extension of this model. Once you are used to using a single sharp knife on its own, it’s pretty straightforward to chop onions and mushrooms using the same knife, or to alternate between two chopping boards with different knives. </p>
<p> Mutable history shared by multiple developers is a scary place to go. Imagine a professional kitchen full of expert chefs tossing their favourite knives back and forth, with the occasional axe or chainsaw thrown in to spice things up. If you’re confident that you <em>and your colleagues</em> can do it without losing a limb, go for it. But be sure to practice a lot first before you rely on it! </p>
</div>
</div>
<divid="conclusion">
<h2>
<ahref="#id19">Conclusion</a><ahref="#conclusion"title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a>
</h2>
<p> Mutable history is a powerful tool. Like a sharp knife, an experienced user can do wonderful things with it, much more wonderful than with a dull knife (never mind a rusty spoon). At the same time, an inattentive or careless user can do harm to himself or others. Mercurial with <tt><span>evolve</span></tt> goes to great lengths to limit the harm you can do by trying to handle all possible types of “troubled” changesets. Nevertheless, having a first-aid kit nearby does not mean you should stop being careful with sharp knives. </p>
<p> Mutable history shared across multiple repositories by a single developer is a natural extension of this model. Once you are used to using a single sharp knife on its own, it’s pretty straightforward to chop onions and mushrooms using the same knife, or to alternate between two chopping boards with different knives.</p>
<p> Mutable history shared by multiple developers is a scary place to go. Imagine a professional kitchen full of expert chefs tossing their favourite knives back and forth, with the occasional axe or chainsaw thrown in to spice things up. If you’re confident that you <em>and your colleagues</em> can do it without losing a limb, go for it. But be sure to practice a lot first before you rely on it! </p>
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consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
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<p>
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cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non
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<p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
<p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. </p>
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PalmerAL
4 years ago
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