text:
Stepping on cracks had never been something Jim liked doing. Although he didn’t have a mother whose back would break from it, he would still avoid the cracks in the pavement on the way to work every morning. He absolutely hated going to work, but not for the reasons most of us would think. Not because his boss was a troll, literally, or because the receptionist had bucked teeth that went down past her chin (yes, again, literally), but because of many other things. Two of those things being the atrocities he would see and endure on his way to work, as well as the fact that his job was boring and required him to do nothing, literally. In the elevator up Jim awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact with the elephant in the room. He was literally an elephant, one named Marshal. He took up a lot of room everywhere he went and would make any situation astonishingly awkward with his mere presence. Think: a big blue cartoony elephant. Jim was small. At 2 feet tall (2’2” actually), he was rarely noticed by anyone. He was bold except for the center of his head, where there was a 3 inch long little orange-red patch of hair.

As Jim climbed onto his chair and sat down in front of his computer screen, he couldn’t help but think of his old appearance: 6’5 with toned skeletal muscles and a great head of wavy brown hair. Living in a world where your appearance changes very suddenly and drastically as you reach adulthood and monsters with strangely arranged faces roamed the streets, however, Jim wasn’t exactly up to the task of figuring out why his ill fate had befallen him on his 21st birthday. Jim was snapped out of his day dream by his boss, the troll with a green eye and a grotesque face that nobody could love. “Jim! Why are you day dreaming? I’m telling you, the next time I catch you doing something I will give you an official warning!” said the troll. That was Jim’s 563rd time being warned about an official warning that year and although he found it absolutely stupid that his job was to do nothing, that his boss would do nothing but shout at the employees and attempt to make them feel bad (or die from his breath), his co-workers were unbearably meek and quiet and his boss never actually gave him official warnings, he just sat there and took whatever was said to him and sank lower into his chair, weakly. Something that he did bring him some excitement, though, was that every time his boss shouted at him he would lose a few hairs. Also, every time Marshal his elephant coworker made things awkward for everybody he would become slightly more elephant and awkward looking. Also, every time his boss was a/an (insert insulting term here) to anyone he would become slightly harder to look at and smell worse.

On the way home from work, Jim was attacked 6 times by 6 different people who didn’t really look like people. He also saw 5 murders by monstrous looking people on other monstrous looking people. All this was becoming a daily part of his life, despite the profound impact it initially had on him, and everything seemed to only get worse around him; People got uglier, people got meaner, Jim became smaller and lost more hair. Everything was deteriorating.

As Jim turned the key in the lock of his front door he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a large man approaching him rapidly. The 7’ tall zombie-looking creature slowly attempted to take a bite out of Jim’s second favorite drinking arm. On most days, Jim would have conceded and let him eat his entire arm but he was tired of being a victim. He pushed the creature off him, causing it to trip and fall into oncoming traffic where it was gruesomely hit by a car and lost its head. Jim felt a strange itch on the top of his head, followed by a piercing hair that made its way through his scalp. This was immediately followed by intense pain in his legs and the realization that his pants weren’t long enough anymore. Jim defended himself for once in his life, grew a few inches and grew a hair.

To the reader:
If you have read this far, then thank you. This is an experimental story I wrote in this obscure genre. I was trying to use the strange appearances of all the characters to represent their bad character traits. Essentially, in the story, the characters take on the appearance of their bad personality traits which tend to get worse because of the human tendency to give up when things are bad instead of changing.

Edit; Formatting

title: A story i wrote highlighting a problem in human society. Hope you enjoy

question: What does the text say about Jim?

answer: Jim used to be 6'5" with toned muscles and a great head of wavy brown hair, but when he turned 21, he began to shrink and lose his hair. He is not 2'2" and has only a small orange-red patch of hair. He hates going to work because of the atrocities he sees on the way and the fact that his job is literally to do nothing. At the end of the story, the narrator stands up for himself and in response, he grows a few inches and grew another hair.

question: What does the text say about Jim's boss?

answer: Jim's boss is a literal troll. He has a green eye and a grotesque face that the narrator says no one could love. Jim's boss does nothing but shout as his employees and attempt to make them feel bad, and he apparently had terrible breath. Every time the boss is mean to anyone, he becomes uglier.

question: What does the text say about Jim's family?


split: train

text:
ASTRONOMERS WITHOUT BORDERS (AWB) is a U.S.-based organization founded by Mike Simmons, dedicated to spreading astronomy throughout the world and connecting people through this universal interest. Projects include crowdfunding in developed countries to sponsor the purchase of equipment and training for people in developing countries. The group's aim is to create “goodwill and understanding” across all boundaries through the sharing of astronomy.[1]

The group was founded in 2007,[2] and achieved official tax-free status in 2009,[3] which was the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). AWB sponsored several events that year, including The World At Night (TWAN), and assisted in the IYA2009's Global Cornerstone Project 100 Hours of Astronomy. Utilizing important historical and natural settings across the globe, The World at Night created wide-angle images of the sky, in order to show the universality of star-gazing. 100 Hours of Astronomy ran April 2–5, 2009, the goal of which was to get as many people across the world to look through optical telescopes.[4] The World at Night was the idea of Babak A. Tafreshi, the editor of Iran's _Nojum Magazine_, at the time the only astronomy magazine in the Middle East.[5]

As a followup to 100 Hours of Astronomy, the group has organized Global Astronomy Month every April since 2010.[6]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

title: Astronomers Without Borders

question: Who founded the Astronomers Without Borders organization?

answer: Astronomers Without Borders organization was founded by Mike Simmons.

question: What was the International Year of Astronomy?

answer: The International Year of Astronomy was 2009.

question: Who is Mike Simmons?

answer: Mike Simmons is the founder of the Astronomers Without Borders organization.

question: What does The World at Night do?

answer: The World at Night creates images of the sky.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Astronomers Without Borders is a U.S.-based organization dedicated to spreading astronomy throughout the world and connecting people interested in astronomy. The group has organized Global Astronomy Month every April since 2010.


text:
Our Island Goddess Jewelry is handcrafted using natural seashells found on the beaches of Vancouver Island.

We enhance these beautiful seashells with real freshwater pearls, beach glass and high quality gemstones.

Feel like a real Goddess when you wear a piece of our jewelry.

Island Goddess Jewelry SHIPS WITHIN 1 - 2 BUSINESS DAYS

All of my Van Isle Goddess Apparel and Home Decor is designed using my own photography.

Definitely Goddess material!!

Van Isle Goddess Apparel SHIPS WITHIN 7 - 14 BUSINESS DAYS as each item is made upon ordering.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: An article on the Island Goddess Jewelry, handcrafted with natural seashells found on the beaches of Vancouver Island.


text:
We stood ready.

Ready to defend a nation against itself.
I watched with the precision of a million hawks, constantly scanning, analyzing. Watching the millions of protestors gathered there on that faithful day.
Hundreds of thousands stood before my brothers and sisters in arms, brandishing their rage.

I grasped my shield tight, feeling it grant me protection from the soulless indifference beaming on us like rays of blinding light.

A small child stepped forward from the crowd. His pale skin heavily contrasted with the dark smudges of poverty haunting his face. His dirty, matted hair complemented his skin, both in dire need of a hearty wash. But his eyes...I will never forget those eyes.

So cold and blue, like ocean flavored table top marble in the grasps of a wintery dance. They held no fear, only ruin and a deep longing to forget. His gait reminded me of a broken man with a broken body. Frail and fragile but there nonetheless, spirits pushing him onwards to his destiny.

His left foot introduced a profound boot like clunk into our shared silence. The right foot precariously slapped the ground, skin meeting gravel and concrete.

I wanted to feed him, bathe him and clothe him, lie and let him know that everything was going to be "okay". But, he would know better, his experiences keeping him the wiser of the two.

But we knew nothing of his suffering, we knew not of how his parents sacrificed theirselves to protect him from my brothers and sisters. How they had mercilessly broken his beloved parents bodies into their living room floor like hungry hyenas.

We only knew how to follow orders.

He stepped with a purpose, each one defining a moment of history. Closing in the distance between the destroyed streets of Washington and the charred remains of the once White House, now more of a Half House thanks to protestor Molotov's.

"STAND DOWN CITIZEN!" I command. I felt like a God, demanding his puppets to bend underneath the weight of my words and dance.

He continued to walk, eyes forcefully burning fiercely into mine.

I aimed down the sites of my beloved M-16 carefully.

"I SAID, STAND DOWN OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO FIRE!", I croak.

I tried to swallow but my mouth might as well been full of sand. The Zeus in me was afraid now, his lightning bolts disintegrating into piles of regrets before his feet.

The child fell face forward into the remains of the lawn.

He had crossed the forbidden barrier. He was trespassing in the Garden of Eden without our permission and we were the flaming seraphim, protecting the fruits of knowledge that lie within.

He was just another snake in our garden patch.

Hundreds of clicks filled my ears with recognition as my comrades removed their safety's from their flaming swords.

I looked around, but none of us had any wings to fly with.

As I look down my sights, finger hugging the trigger, the child used what seem to be the last of his strength to raise his head one last time.

To my surprise, he winked at me.

I winked back, and automatically squeezed the trigger, as I have countless times again and again.

They say that night the sky burned orange with rebellion. But I'd never know about any of that, I'm not a rebel.

I follow my orders.

title: Rebel

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: The soldier (or cop), the child

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: The narrator is a soldier tasked to defend the White House.

question: What is the relationship between the narrator and the child?

answer: They are antagonists - soldier versus rebel.

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: The streets in front of the White House, Washington DC

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Soldiers defend the White House from millions of protesters massing on the streets of Washington DC. One particular soldier and one destitute child are in a tense standoff as the child continues to advance on the soldier's position, despite warnings to stay back. The soldier feels pity for the child, but he knows nothing of the boy's suffering. The soldier raises his weapon and croaks a final warning as he hears other soldiers preparing to fire. The child falls face-first into the lawn as he crosses the threshold, but uses the last of his strength to raise his head and wink at the soldier, who winks back and opens fire, just following orders.


text:
The Allegheny Textile Strikes of 1845 and 1848 occurred in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. This was a factory town in the 1840s with bad working conditions and the fight for a ten hour day was prominent here. The 1848 strike was a response to relaxed laws following the 1845 strike despite agreements made in 1845. Both were led by women and children because they were the majority of the textile workforce.

Background

The Allegheny Textile Strike of 1845 began on September 15 in what is now known as the North Side in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Market House where more than 400 textile workers awaited an update on their push for a ten hour day, as opposed to 12, without a pay cut.[1] The strike began over textile workers, primarily women and children, fighting for a ten hour day without a pay cut from their typical 12 hour day.[2] Civic leaders and property owners were worried about three things other than the gender norms that were being rejected: scaring potential investors away from the city, the challenging the idea of class harmony, and the challenging of capitalist values.[3]

Strike of 1845

it was a peaceful strike until October 7th when there was a 'riot' that challenged gender norms about how women behaved in strikes and protests--women began literal mudslinging as well as the use of axes to break down the fences surrounding factories.[4] These actions were mainly taken to scare away scabs that took their place in the factories. These challengings of gender norms and the amoral or profane actions by women in these strikes were so powerful in the eyes of the public that it influenced people who supported the ten hour work day to no longer support it.[5] The strike of 1845 was only partially successful, with a law being passed that did limit the working day to 10 hours but with provision that a contract could be signed by workers making them work 12.[6]

Aftermath and the Strike of 1848

On October 13th, civic leaders attempted to write to factory owners and convince them to change the industry standard to 10 hour work days but they were unsuccessful in this effort.[7] It wasn't until mid-october that factories were reopened with about half of their normal number of workers.[8] In March 1848, a law was finally passed for the 10 hour workday; however, a provision in it allowed for special contracts allowing a twelve hour day.[9] This caused another strike in the textile industry that mirrored the 1845 strike.[10]

[1]

[2]

[3] Martinek, Jason (2011). “The Amazons of Allegheny: the Fire, the Riot, and the Textile Strike of 1845”. _Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018_: 40.

[4] Martinek, Jason (2011). “The Amazons of Allegheny: the Fire, the Riot, and the Textile Strike of 1845”. _Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018_: 42.

[5] Martinek, Jason (2011). “The Amazons of Allegheny: the Fire, the Riot, and the Textile Strike of 1845”. _Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018_: 43.

[6] Calvert, Monte A. “The Allegheny City Cotton Mill Riot of 1848.” _Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018_, vol. 46, 1 Apr. 1963, pp. 97–133., journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/1968. 102.

[7] Martinek, Jason (2011). “The Amazons of Allegheny: the Fire, the Riot, and the Textile Strike of 1845”. _Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018_: 47.

[8]

[9]

[10]

question: What were the Allegheny Textile Strikes of 1845 and 1848?

answer: Textile strikes in Allegheny, Pennsylvania by majority workforce women and children fighting for better working conditions and a ten hour work day.

question: What concerns did opposition to the strikes have?

answer: That they'd be scaring investors away from the city, that they'd be challenging class harmony, and challenging capitalist values.

question: How was the 1845 strike only partially successful?

answer: A law was passed limiting the work day to 10 hours, but with a provision that a contract could be signed by workers making them work 12.

question: Why did the outcomes of the 1848 strike result in further striking?

answer: Factory owners rejected a 10 hour work day, a law was passed in March stipulating 10 hours, but a provision allowed 12 hour days causing another strike.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The Allegheny  Textile Strikes of 1845 and 1848 were textile strikes in Allegheny, Pennsylvania by majority workforce women and children fighting for better working conditions and a ten hour work day. Opposition was concerned they'd be scaring investors away from the city, that they'd be challenging class harmony, and challenging capitalist values. Ultimately, a law was passed limiting the work day to 10 hours, but with a provision that a contract could be signed by workers making them work 12. This caused further striking.


text:
SØNDERGADE or STRØGET is a street in Aarhus, Denmark. It is located in the inner city neighborhood and runs 350 metres south to north from Ryesgade to _Skt. Clemens Stræde_ and provides access to the alleys _Telefonsmøgen_ and _Posthussmøgen_. Søndergade was created between 1854 and up through the 1860s as the city expanded southwards following the abolition of octroi and the city walls. The word _Sønder_ is an older Danish form of “south” and the name thus means “Southward-street”.[1] Søndergade is part of the 750 meters long shopping street and pedestrian zone _Strøget_ which runs from Aarhus Central Station to Aarhus Cathedral, consisting of the three streets Søndergade, _St. Clemens Street_ and Ryesgade. Strøget has about 47,000 visitors on a daily basis and some 14 million visitors annually, making it among the busiest commercial streets in Denmark.[2]

History

In 1851 octroi was abolished in Denmark and tolls were no longer collected at the city limits of the market towns, including Aarhus. The walls and city gates were subsequently dismantled and the city had more freedom to grow. The industrialization taking place in the 19th century resulted in a rapid population boom and the city gradually expanded onto the surrounding farmland. Most of Aarhus was at the time situated north of the Aarhus River although some limited development had taken place along the south shore. The southern boundary of the city was marked by what is today the alleyways _Telefonsmøgen_ and _Posthussmøgen_ which at the time had been toll stations.

The merchant _Henrik Schandorff_ owned the land immediately south of the city and in 1854 he petitioned the city council for permission to parcel the land off and construct new streets. The city council approved the proposal but demanded the primary, central street in the new neighborhood be wide which was considerable at the time. The initial development happened gradually and the new street was not fully built up until the late 1860s largely due to the fact that it was a dead end street ending at the river in a steep hill. In order to get to the center of the city from the railway station by carriage or tram it was necessary to move along Skolegade and use the bridge _Mindebro_ while going through Søndergade was only possible for pedestrians and then required a significant detour. In 1884 the bridge _Skt. Clemens Bro_ was constructed in Søndergade, effectively lengthening it and making it, along with Ryesgade, a direct route from the Central Railway Station to the central square Store Torv and the cathedral.

The opening of Skt. Clemens Bro made Søndergade into the premier commercial street in the city, connecting the old neighborhoods north of the river to the newer developments, such as Frederiksbjerg, south of the river. Several buildings constructed in the 1850s were demolished in favor of larger structures that could accommodate the need for larger businesses. In 1904 The first electrical tram lines were built to run through Ryesgade and Søndergade and in 1929 it was widened to a double line. In 1972, on 7 November, Søndergade was pedestrianized, the tram lines removed and new paving stones, street lights, benches, trees and phone booths put in while heating was installed under the street to keep it snow-free during winter. 30 years later in 2001-02 the paving was replaced again and the pedestrian zone expanded to include Ryesgade.

In 1944 an act of Schalburgtage carried out by the Peter group demolished a number of buildings in Søndergade in 5-6 explosions. The destroyed buildings were Søndergade 1A, 29, 47, 49, 58 and 60 with the first building hit being _Ankerhus_ that burned down and was never rebuilt. The first explosion occurred at 1.20 in the night and the rescue operations were underway when the other bombs went of.

Structures

The first parcel of land sold in 1954 went to Søren Frich who established his factory Frichs there before it moved to Åbyhøj. In 1919 the factory was removed and the prominent _Regina_ building was constructed in its place, designed by local architect Axel Høeg-Hansen. The Regina building was a central event venue, hotel and cinema in the city for many years, but was later used for other purposes including and arcade with stores, a pub and a restaurant. From 2017, Regina is being redeveloped to house luxury apartments, but with the same original facade. The large department store Salling is located in Søndergade and there is a sculpture and fountain by the sculptor Erik Heide named _Fugl med Guldæble_ (Bird with Gold Apple) close by.

Regina-krydset 01.jpg|The granite fountain “_Fugl med Guldæble_” (Bird with Golden Apple) and the Regina building in the background Copper-roofed entrance.JPG|An entrance to the Regina building 2015-06-30 Aarhus Ryesgade RB1023.jpg|Street sales Søndergade.jpg|Søndergade is pedestrianized Salling (indgang).jpg|Salling department store Salling Christmas 2016 2.jpg|Salling department store decorated for Christmas

[1]

[2]

title: Søndergade, Aarhus

question: What is Søndergade?

answer: Søndergade is a street in Aarhus, Denmark, located in the inner-city neighborhood.

question: How long is Søndergade?

answer: Søndergade runs 350 meters.

question: When was Søndergade created?

answer: Søndergade was created between 1854 and 1860.

question: What is Regina?

answer: Regina is a prominent building in Søndergade designed by architect Axel Høeg-Hansen.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Søndergade is the premier commercial street in Aarhus, Denmark, located in the inner-city neighborhood. It is created between 1854 and 1860. Søndergade runs 350 meters and is part of the 750 meters long shopping street and pedestrian zone Strøget that has 14 million visitors annually.


text:
A vulture floated high in the desert sky, circling around. It looked like an insect struggling in the spiderweb of the broken windshield. The taste of iron was heavy in my mouth as my nose began to drip to the back of my throat. The steering wheel of my Chevy was slick from my slit hand and the shotgun was still wet with blood in the seat next to me. The shadows of the setting sun behind me pointed me down the highway to where I needed to go. My phone rang.

Don't do this.

I listened, but there was nothing she could say.

They're your family. He's your brother.

Not any more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I pushed open the side door of the bank and hurried to my truck parked in the alley. I opened the door and I traded the velvet pouch in my hand for some of the gauze inside the glove box. I rolled two strips and put them up my broken nose. I went around to the driver's side and got in. I reached for the shotgun under the back seat and it in the seat next to me. I started the engine and pulled onto the street in front of the bank. Dale came stumbling, bleeding, down the steps of the bank and ran into the middle of the street and held his hands up in front of me. I didn't stop.

He tried to jump when he realized it was too late. He rolled up onto the hood. Dale's head shattered my windshield before he rolled off onto the street. Then I stopped. I grabbed my shotgun and got out. I slowly walked over to Dale, writhing on the black pavement. Some people ran on the sidewalk. Some watched stunned. There were sirens in the distance.

Where are you going?

He knew the answer, but I guess he saw a little hope while looking at that light at the end of the tunnel. He spat the words out of his blood filled mouth again.

Where are you going!

I didn't answer. I stood with the shotgun, him under me laying on the blackness. I got down on one knee to look into Dale's eyes one last time. He didn't want me to see. He grabbed his knife and slashed. He opened up my hand. That was my fault. I underestimate the desperation of a man who no longer had anything. I stood back up and raised my shotgun, my right hand bleeding on the trigger. The anger was gone from his eyes and he was crying now. He muttered one last pitiful time.

Where are you going...

I pulled the trigger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My brother, Eddie, Oliver and I walked into the bank clean cut and in our nicest suits. I fired my revolver into the air and they pulled their knives and ran towards the patrons.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we are here to make a withdrawal. Please follow my associates into the room to your right so I can have some privacy with our bank. This will all be over in a minute.

My brother and Eddie herded the 9 patrons present in the bank into the small side room of the bank and collected their wallets. Oliver and the security guard locked the front door. I hopped the front desk to speak to the tellers.

You, take me to the safe deposit boxes. You, money better be in the bag by the time I get back.

I left a duffle bag with the young woman at the front desk and the young man took me back to the safe deposit boxes. I holstered my revolver. He took me to the room. I told him thank you and went in.

I felt my brother come up quick behind me. He had left his job of hero control in the side room. He grabbed my revolver from my side as he jumped in front of me and pointed it at my face.

You think you can sneak off like this?

What are you talking about?

I know why we are here. Give me the key.

Calm down.

He drove the butt of the revolver into my nose as hard as he could. I fell to a knee.

I'm not stupid. You thought I was your whole life. Well look where we are now.

He kicked me in the chest. I fell onto my back. He stepped up and pointed the revolver down between my eyes.

We aren't just here to take this bank. This is your stash. He laughed. They always said you were the smart one. Give me the key or I can just take it.

You know I won't do that.

You know I will.

Do it.

You have three seconds. If you don't give me the key, it's over for you, bro.

One.

I didn't say anything.

Two.

I smiled at my brother standing above me, pointing my revolver between my eyes.

Three.

He pulled the trigger. The silence was deafening. I grabbed his hand to use as leverage to kick him in the ribs. He was too stunned to counter and he fell to the ground. I got up and gave him another kick in the face. Dale never retaliated. He couldn't understand what had just happened. I beat him senseless in that room. I slid a bullet in the revolver and spun it shut. I looked at Dale, slumped in the corner of the room bleeding on his suit.

That a chance you want to take?

I opened my deposit box and grabbed the velvet pouch and left Dale in the room. I walked out to the lobby and gave the entire duffle bag to Eddie and Oliver and went to the side door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eddie, Oliver, my brother and I were sitting around Eddie's table discussing the plan of action for tomorrow. This was a small bank in a small town. Another day at the office for us.

Sounds good boys.

So you are really going to be done after this?

Yes sir. Hanging up the spikes and leaving Tucson for good tomorrow.

Who's gonna get the gun?

My brother laughed. We all get guns after this. No more knife bullshit. I trust you guys. He shot a sly smile at me.

Eddie gets the gun.

My brother looked at me. What about your stash?

Don't worry about my stash.

Well how much you still got left? How are you going to get it?

I looked at my brother. What's it to you?

He smiled. Just looking out for my older bro. Loosen up. He changed the subject. Mines in gold. 1.2 mil right under my house.

Eddie shook his head and took a drag from his cigarette. Why the fuck do you keep 1.2 million in gold in your house when your wife is there all day?

Under the house. She don't know about it. She's too worried about the baby all day to ever figure anything out. She don't know that right under her feet there is 1.2 mil in gold..

Christ baby brother, we know about the 1,196,000 in gold bars you have. Stop flaunting it. You should have more.

Says the guy with the brand new 1995 Chevrolet. He smiled. Seriously man, how much you got left.

This meeting is adjourned. See you tomorrow, fellas. It's a big day. Look sharp.

I walked out and got in my truck. I thought about how my brother was acting. He seemed off. It didn't feel right. If it had been Eddie or Oliver, they would have been out of the job. But he's my own brother. I couldn't just trust my gut. I needed to see him stab me in the back. When I got home I took 5 of the bullets out of my revolver.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My brother walked through Eddie's door for the meeting. He left his wife and kid in El Paso to help us pull one last job.

title: [MF] Reservoir Fiction

question: Summarize the plot twist.

answer: The story starts with the main character driving away. Next the confrontation between the main character and Dale is detailed. In the next part of the story it is revealed that Dale is the main character's brother that betrayed him during the bank robbery they were busy executing. Another surprise twist is revealed when the next part of the story talks about the main character being aware of his brother's intention to betray him and still going through with his plan.

question: Summarize the bank robbery.

answer: The main character, Dale, Eddie and Oliver walk into a bank smartly dressed for one last job, the main character fires his revolver into the air and states their intention of making a withdrawal. His brother and Eddie lead the patrons to an adjoining room and takes their valuables while Oliver and the security guard lock the door. The main character directs the tellers to fill his duffle bag with cash and take him to the safety deposit boxes. He empties his own safety deposit box, presumably filled with his stash, while holding his own brother off. He gives the cash to Oliver and Eddie and leaves through a side door.

question: Summarize the prevalence of bank robberies in Texas.

question: Summarize the primary source of tension in the story.

answer: The main character's brother, Dale, joins them for one last job. Dale probes the main character about his stash, the main character remains close. He realizes that he had an uneasy feeling about his brother, and that if it wasn't his brother he would have been out of a job. The main character acknowledges that he needs to see his brother stab him in the back and removes 5 of the bullets from his revolver. This underlying tension becomes the primary tension during the bank robbery.


text:
John Graham-Cumming Contributor

John Graham-Cumming is head of engineering at Cloudflare.

This past year was a big one for internet attacks, encryption, blackouts, speed and IoT, and 2017 is positioned to bring even more headlines for each of these. As Cloudflare prepares for the coming year, we made some predictions about what’s next for the future of the internet.

But first, let’s review what we saw as a result of the widespread use and abuse of the internet in 2016.

In both Gabon and Gambia, internet connectivity was disrupted during elections. The contested election in Gambia started with an internet blackout that lasted a short time. In Gabon, the internet shutdown lasted for days. Even as we write this, countries like DR Congo are discussing blocking specific internet services, clearly forgetting the lessons learned in these other countries.

DDoS attacks continued throughout the year, hitting websites big and small. In March, we saw weekend DDoS attacks that were peaking at 400 Gbps, and in December, we saw a new pattern of attackers treating attacks as a regular job to be performed from 9 to 5.

In addition to real DDoS, there were also empty threats from a group calling itself Armada Collective and demanding bitcoin for sites and APIs to stay online. Another group popped up to copycat the same modus operandi.

The Internet of Things became what many had warned it would become: an army of devices used for attacks. A botnet army of IoT cameras and a major attack took out DNS service provider Dyn.

Non-DDoS attacks continued apace with hacks that need WAF protection like httpoxy and ImageTragick causing disruption for unprotected sites. And TLS experienced yet another attack called DROWN.

  As the web has become more encrypted, the need to optimize TLS and TCP together has become more important.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. IPv6 saw significant mobile traffic and suddenly felt absolutely real. Apple announced that iOS apps must support IPv6-only networks and major ISPs started prioritizing IPv6 traffic. TLS 1.3 went live to dramatically simplify and improve the security of the internet.

And the internet got a lot faster with widespread support for HTTP/2, including Server Push and WebP conversion. As the web has become more encrypted, the need to optimize TLS and TCP together has become more important and Cloudflare helped contribute to increased security with Origin CA, HTTPS Everywhere and giving protected WebSockets to everyone.

Our team, comprised of engineers, programmers, cryptographers and hackers, took a look into a virtual crystal ball and came up with our predictions for 2017. Here’s what we think the year ahead will have to offer.

1TBPS DDOS ATTACKS WILL BECOME THE BASELINE FOR “MASSIVE ATTACKS”

Four years ago, we illustrated a blog post about a 65Gbps DDoS with a picture of the band Massive Attack. The following year, Massive Attack were back illustrating a 300Gbps attack; as internet speeds have gone up worldwide, so have DDoS sizes. In 2016, we’ve sporadically seen 1Tbps DDoS attacks reported from various service providers. We believe that in 2017, the baseline for a massive attack will be 1Tbps (and we hope that Massive Attack’s 2016 song releases presage a 2017 album).

THE INTERNET WILL GET FASTER YET AGAIN AS PROTOCOLS LIKE QUIC BECOME MORE PREVALENT

Although HTTP/2 has a large effect on web performance, it also depends on the TCP protocol for connections, which can cause performance problems on lossy networks. Google has been experimenting with a protocol called QUIC, which uses UDP instead of TCP. We expect such UDP-based web protocol experiments to continue and become mainstream.

IPV6 WILL BECOME THE DE FACTO FOR MOBILE NETWORKS AND IPV4-ONLY FIXED NETWORKS WILL BE LOOKED UPON AS OFF

Our data says IPv6 is 27 percent faster, Facebook says 10 to 15 percent faster, LinkedIn says between 10 to 40 percent faster for mobile. Regardless of which numbers you believe, it’s clear that IPv6 provides a speed advantage. At the same time, ISPs and mobile networks are pushing for greater deployment of IPv6, and we expect IPv6 to be the norm in 2017 for all networks. Specifically for mobile networks, we believe IPv4 will be deprecated.

This chart shows the percentage of top 25,000 websites (according to Alexa) that are available over IPv6:

A SHA-1 COLLISION WILL BE ANNOUNCED

Back in 1996, potential collisions in MD5 were identified, but it wasn’t until 2005 that actual collisions were demonstrated. At the time, the death of both MD5 and SHA-1 were predicted. MD5 is now seen as cryptographically useless and has even been used in malware to forge a certificate.

Since 2005, bad news about collision resistance in SHA-1 has been gathering and we predict that an actual collision will be computed in 2017.

LAYER 7 ATTACKS WILL RISE BUT LAYER 6 WON’T BE FAR BEHIND

When people think of DDoS attacks, they are typically thinking of volumetric attacks against layers 3 and 4 (such as SYN floods). We believe that Layer 7 attacks (particularly against the HTTP and DNS protocols) will continue to rise in 2017 as attackers look for smart ways to knock web applications offline beyond simply volumetric attacks.

At the same time, Layer 6 attacks against the TLS protocol will make an appearance. We have already seen such attacks in the past (attacks that were designed to consume server CPU by asking for slow or complex cryptographic operations) and smart attackers will continue their search for any weakness in a web application or protocol implementation.

MOBILE TRAFFIC WILL ACCOUNT FOR 60 PERCENT OF ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC BY THE END OF THE YEAR

The number of mobile internet users surpassed fixed internet users back in 2014, and today more than 80 percent of internet users own a smartphone, while 89 percent of their mobile time is spent using apps.

This means that acceleration and protection of APIs (that are used by apps for their internet connectivity) is essential and trends indicate that mobile traffic will be 60 percent of all internet traffic this year. This switch to mobile puts more emphasis on optimized web experiences and robust APIs than before.

THE SECURITY OF DNS WILL BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

The attack on Dyn’s DNS service showed how an often overlooked piece of the internet, the Domain Name System, is critical to its functioning. Much of the news around DDoS attacks until the Dyn attack was focused on attacks on websites and networks. With this realization that DNS is critical, its security will be taken seriously in 2017, and the protection of DNS infrastructure and servers will become a business necessity.

At the same time, the open nature of DNS will come into focus and DNSSEC will take on a greater role in securing DNS responses from attack.

question: What problem is being described in this article?

answer: The problem being described in this article deals with internet connectivity being disrupted during elections in Gabon and Gambia. In the election in Gambia, there was an internet blackout that lasted for a short amount of time. Then in Gabon, there was an internet shutdown that lasted for days.

question: Describe the DDoS attacks.

answer: The DDos attacks were internet attacks that continued for the year. The websites that it attacked were big and small. The attackers were taking this as a regular job that was performed from 9-5. There were also empty threats that came from a group calling themselves the Armada Collective, who wanted bitcoin for sites and APIs to stay online.

question: How much could the content of this article influence hackers to hack the internet even more?


text:
EVERETT BRADLEY (born March 16, 1963) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, choreographer and playwright.[1] He is currently a touring member of the rock band Bon Jovi.[2]

Biography

Born in South Carolina, Bradley attended Indiana University on a vocal scholarship.[3] He first came to the East Coast to play with John Eddie.[4] He has toured as a background vocalist and percussionist with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,[5] Jon Bon Jovi,[6] and Hall & Oates.[7] His theatre credits include being part of the creative team of _Swing!_,[8] being the first American to perform with and direct _Stomp_,[9] for which he was nominated for a Grammy,[10] and performing in the Cotton Club musical revue _After Midnight_.[11] He has served as musical director for Carly Simon and NBC's _The Meredith Vieira Show_, for which he also wrote the show's theme song and other music included in the program.[12] He has recorded with GRP Records' Dee Carstensen, Joey Ramone, Polygram act Jane Williams, Verve's Chris Botti and Cyndi Lauper.[13]

Bradley also performed vocals on the 1995 hit single from the Original, “I Luv U Baby”. Starting in 2002, he began putting on his own funk-influenced holiday production, Holidelic,[14] which has seen guests such as Fred Schneider, Vernon Reid, John Forté, Elmo Shropshire and Celeste Holm.[15] He has also worked and performed as a percussionist and backing vocalist with American rock band Bon Jovi in 2003 during _This Left Feels Right Live_ session, and currently he became the touring percussionist for Bon Jovi in 2016 to support the band's This House Is Not for Sale Tour.[16] He also provided his vocals to the songs “Throw It All Away”, “Rhythm and Balance”, “The Supernatural”, “For True Story” and “Supporting Me” for the character Shadow the Hedgehog in the 2001 video game _Sonic Adventure 2_.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

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[14]

[15]

[16]

title: Everett Bradley (musician)

question: What are Everett's credits?

answer: He has toured with a number of well known musicians including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Jon Bon Jovi and Hall and Oates. He has a history of working in theatrical productions as well as TV.

question: What is he currently doing?

answer: Heäs currenly touring with Bon Jovi (as of this article)

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A page for Everett Bradley, a musician currently touring with Bon Jovi.


text:
[]
Target's infamous data breach happened just over a year ago. Are we any the wiser? Have lessons been learned? Although not every detail has been made public, experts have developed an unofficial attack timeline that exposes critical junctures in the attack and highlights several points at which it could have been stopped.

The attack started on November 27, 2013. Target personnel discovered the breach and notified the U.S. Justice Department by December 13th. As of December 15th, Target had a third-party forensic team in place and the attack mitigated. On December 18th, security blogger Brian Krebs broke the story in this post. "Nationwide retail giant Target is investigating a data breach potentially involving millions of customer credit and debit card records," mentioned Krebs. "The sources said the breach appears to have begun on or around Black Friday 2013 -- by far the busiest shopping day the year."

Then things became interesting. Target informed about 110 million credit/debit-card wielding shoppers, who made purchases at one of the company's stores during the attack, that their personal and financial information had been compromised. To put that in perspective, the attackers pilfered 11 gigabytes of data.

ANATOMY OF THE ATTACK

Now let's look at the sequence of events that precipitated the data breach. Had any of these steps been noticed and countered, the attack would likely have fallen apart.

1. PRELIMINARY SURVEY We don't know for certain if or how the attackers performed reconnaissance on Target's network prior to the attack, but it wouldn't have required much more than a simple internet search.

Teri Radichel in this GIAC (GSEC) dissertation explains how the attackers may have gleaned information about Target's infrastructure. "Reconnaissance would have revealed a detailed case study on the Microsoft website describing how Target uses Microsoft virtualization software, centralized name resolution, and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to deploy security patches and system updates," writes Radichel. "The case study also describes Target's technical infrastructure, including POS system information."

The internet provides additional clues. "A simple Google search turns up Target's Supplier Portal, which includes a wealth of information for new and existing vendors and suppliers about how to interact with the company, submit invoices, etc.," adds Krebs in this blog post. After drilling down, Krebs found a page listing HVAC and refrigeration companies.

2. COMPROMISE THIRD-PARTY VENDOR The attackers backed their way into Target's corporate network by compromising a third-party vendor. The number of vendors targeted is unknown. However, it only took one. That happened to be Fazio Mechanical, a refrigeration contractor.

A phishing email duped at least one Fazio employee, allowing Citadel, a variant of the Zeus banking trojan, to be installed on Fazio computers. With Citadel in place, the attackers waited until the malware offered what they were looking for -- Fazio Mechanical's login credentials.

At the time of the breach, all major versions of enterprise anti-malware detected the Citadel malware. Unsubstantiated sources mentioned Fazio used the free version of Malwarebytes anti-malware, which offered no real-time protection being an on-demand scanner. (Note: Malwarebytes anti-malware is highly regarded by experts when used in the correct manner.)

Chris Poulin, a research strategist for IBM, in this paper offers some suggestions. Target should demand that vendors accessing their systems use appropriate anti-malware software. Poulin adds. "Or at least mandate two-factor authentication to contractors who have internal access to sensitive information."

3. LEVERAGING TARGET'S VENDOR-PORTAL ACCESS Most likely Citadel also gleaned login credentials for the portals used by Fazio Mechanical. With that in hand, the attackers got to work figuring out which portal to subvert and use as a staging point into Target's internal network. Target hasn't officially said which system was the entry point, but Ariba portal was a prime candidate.

Brian Krebs interviewed a former member of Target's security team regarding the Ariba portal, "Most, if not all, internal applications at Target used Active Directory (AD) credentials and I'm sure the Ariba system was no exception," the administrator told Krebs. "I wouldn't say the vendor had AD credentials, but internal administrators would use their AD logins to access the system from inside. This would mean the server had access to the rest of the corporate network in some form or another."

Poulin suggests several attack scenarios, "It's possible that attackers abused a vulnerability in the web application, such as SQL injection, XSS, or possibly a 0-day, to gain a point of presence, escalate privileges, then attack internal systems."

Not knowing the details, makes it difficult to offer a remediation for this portion of the attack. However, Poulin opines that IPS/IDS systems, if in place, would have sensed the inappropriate attack traffic, notifying Target staff of the unusual behavior. According to this Bloomberg Business article, a malware detection tool made by the computer security firm FireEye was in place and sent an alarm, but the warning went unheeded.

4. GAIN CONTROL OF TARGET SERVERS Again, Target hasn't said publicly how the attackers undermined several of their internal Windows servers, but there are several possibilities.

Radichel in the SANS dissertation offers one theory. "We can speculate the criminals used the attack cycle described in Mandiant's APT1 report to find vulnerabilities," mentions Radichel. "Then move laterally through the network... using other vulnerable systems."

Gary Warner, founder of Malcovery Security, feels servers fell to SQL-injection attacks. He bases that on the many similarities between the Target breach and those perpetrated by the Drinkman and Gonzalez data-breach gang which also used SQL injection.

5. NEXT STOP, TARGET'S POINT OF SALE (POS) SYSTEMS This iSIGHT Partners report provides details about the malware, code-named Trojan.POSRAM, used to infect Target's POS system. The "RAM-scraping" portion of the POS malware grabs credit/debit card information from the memory of POS-devices as cards are swiped. "Every seven hours the Trojan checks to see if the local time is between the hours of 10 AM and 5 PM," mentions the iSIGHT Partners report. "If so, the Trojan attempts to send winxml.dll over a temporary NetBIOS share to an internal host (dump server) inside the compromised network over TCP port 139, 443 or 80."

This technique allowed attackers to steal data from POS terminals that lacked internet access.

Once the credit/debit card information was secure on the dump server, the POS malware sent a special ICMP (ping) packet to a remote server. The packet indicated that data resided on the dump server. The attackers then moved the stolen data to off-site FTP servers and sold their booty on the digital black market.

LESSONS LEARNED

As a result of the breach, Target has tried to improve security. A corporate webpage describes changes made by the company regarding their security posture, including the following:

-   Improved monitoring and logging of system activity
-   Installed application whitelisting POS systems and
-   Implemented POS management tools
-   Improved firewall rules and policies
-   Limited or disabled vendor access to their network
-   Disabled, reset, or reduced privileges on over 445,000 Target personnel and contractor accounts
-   Expanded the use of two-factor authentication and password vaults
-   Trained individuals on password rotation

If these changes have been implemented as Target describes, they would help address the weaknesses exploited during the attack.

However, the attackers demonstrated extraordinary capabilities by exfiltrating data from a complex retail network as noted in this paper (courtesy of Brian Krebs) by Keith Jarvis and Jason Milletary of Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit, which makes their conclusion all that more poignant. "This level of resourcefulness points to the current value for credit-card data in the criminal marketplace," mentions the paper. "And similar breaches will be common until fundamental changes are made to the technology behind payment cards."

question: Summarize everything relating to software used by Target.

answer: Reconnaisance by the attackers would have revealed a casy study describing how Target uses Microsoft virtualization software, centralized name resolution, and Microsoft System Center Configuration manager to deploy security patches and system updates. Most, if not all applications at Target used Active Directory credentials, including the Ariba portal. A malware detection tool made by FireEye was in place, but the warning it gave went unheeded. The malware was used to infect Target's POS system. As a result of the breach, Target has installed an application whitelisting POS systems.

question: What does the article say about the aftermath of the attack?

answer: About 110 million credit/debit-card wielding shoppers who made purchases at one of the company's stores during the attack had their personal and financial information compromised. The stolen data was moved to off-site FTP servers and sold on the digital black market. Because of the breach, Target has taken steps to improve security, including improved monitoring and logging of system activity, improved firewall rules and policies, and the expanded use of two-factor authentication and password vaults.

question: What does the article say about how to carry out a hacking job?


text:
_PARVAIYIN MARUPAKKAM_ (Tamil: பார்வையின் மறுபக்கம், English: Other side of the eye sight) is a 1982 Tamil action sci-fi thriller film directed by K.M.Balakrishnan, starring Vijayakanth in the lead role.[1] The film explores the concept of Hypnotism, and has an ensemble cast including M. N. Nambiar, Sripriya, Sivachandran and Silk Smitha. Parthiban and Rohini in the early stage of their career, did supporting roles in this film.

Plot

Peter (V.Gopalakrishnan) is a Professor of hypnotism, and has dedicated his life to research on hypnotism. He often visits his old friend (K. K. Soundar), who is a priest in the Siva temple in the village of Pooncholai. Viswanath (M. N. Nambiar) and Ramji are petty thieves released from prison. They plan to steal the gold Nataraja statue and jewels from the temple. During the heist, they are caught by the priest and his wife. As a result, Viswanath ties them to a tree and burns them alive. The priest's children Vijay and Geetha (Baby Meena) are witness to this incident. Geetha's eyes get burnt while trying to save their parents and she is blinded. Viswanath and Ramji go to the city with this stolen wealth and successfully establish a posh life for themselves. Vijay and Geetha live under the care of Professor Peter. Peter teaches Vijay the art of hypnotism.

Many years later, now Vijay (Vijayakanth) is a master of hypnotism. Despite Peter's repeated request to not use hypnotism with harmful intent, Vijay refuses to listen to him, and leaves him. Vijay tries to find a groom for Geetha, but since Geetha is blind, most of the grooms refuse to marry her. Viswanath, now a wealthy business magnate in the city has 5 children Siva (Sivachandran), Chitra (Sripriya), Shankar, Anita (Silk Smitha) and Rohini (Rohini). Anita, the eldest of them all, loves the care free life and parties all the time. Siva is a police officer, while Chitra is a lawyer and public prosecutor. Shankar and Rohini study in college. Chitra fights against the corrupt Ramji, and is frequently seen in court arguing with lawyer Parthiban (Parthiban) who defends Ramji. This creates a lot of problems between Ramji and Viswanath, and they avoid each other. Vijay, who has been waiting all his life to take revenge, now uses hypnotism to take revenge on Viswanath's family. He kills Anita at a resort where she is partying. He hypnotises Shankar's girlfriend into a trance, and makes her kill Shankar. Siva, the investigating officer in the murder cases, is confused by the fact that Shankar's girlfriend does not remember anything about Shankar's murder, even though she was caught with the knife in her hand. Meanwhile, Vijay starts dating Chitra, to take revenge, but eventually falls in love with her.

Siva eventually finds Peter during his investigation. Peter reveals to him that one of his students Vijay refused to listen to him and left him after mastering hypnotism. Meanwhile, Rohini and a boy from her college take some pictures in Viswanath's bedroom using her automatically timed Camera. Viswanath sees this and beats the boy, and locks Rohini up in her room. When he comes back to his room, Vijay is waiting for him. Vijay goes on to hypnotise and kill him, but is unaware of the Camera which is filming. The rest of the film deals with the constant pursuit of Siva behind Vijay. In the climax, the police manage to kill Vijay. Chitra also dies in the gunfire. Before Vijay and Chitra die, they give Geetha's hand to Siva (seemingly indicating that Siva marries Geetha and takes care of her).

Cast

-   Vijayakanth as Vijay
-   Sripriya as Chitra
-   M. N. Nambiar as Viswanath
-   K. K. Soundar as Priest
-   Sivachandran as Siva
-   Vanitha
-   Rohini as Viswanath's daughter
-   Parthiban as a Lawyer
-   Silk Smitha as Anitha
-   V.Gopalakrishnan as Professor Peter
-   Meena as Geetha
-   Kumarimuthu as a Lawyer

Music

Chandrabose has composed many melodious songs for this film.[2]

The soundtrack comprises the following songs:

  Song                              Singers
  --------------------------------- -----------------
  “Devathai Puriyum Thavangal”      P. Susheela
  “Poovachu Poothuvandu Maasam”     P. Jayachandran
  “Santhosha Nerangal Sangeetham”   P. Susheela
  “Paarvaiyin Marupakkam”           Vani Jairam

[1]

[2]

title: Parvaiyin Marupakkam

question: What is Parvaiyin Marupakkam written in Tamil?

answer: பார்வையின் மறுபக்கம்.

question: When was Parvaiyin Marupakkam released?

answer: 1982.

question: What is Parvaiyin Marupakkam?

answer: A Tamil action sci-fi thriller.

question: Who directed Parvaiyin Marupakkam?

answer: K. M. Balakrishnan.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Parvaiyin Marupakkam, a Tamil sci-fi action thriller from 1982. It lists the plot of the movie and its cast.


text:
[Damaged Schmalturm at the Bovington Tank Museum] [Scale model of prototype Schmalturm turret on Panther F] The SCHMALTURM (German for “narrow turret”) was a tank turret designed for use on the Panther Ausf. F medium tank. There was a Krupp proposal to fit it onto the Panzer IV medium tank as well. The turret's shape resembled the Soviet T-34 tank turret with a narrow conical gun mantlet resembling German Jagdpanzer mantlets. It featured a narrow front to maximize protection while minimizing weight. It was both lighter and easier to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. The turret had a stereoscopic rangefinder with lenses on either side of the turret, located in spherical bulges. No Schmalturms entered series production.[1][2]

History

Rheinmetall concept

The Schmalturm was initially conceived by German arms manufacturer and designer Rheinmetall during their tasking for designing the turret of the Panther II. The new turret design was named Panther 2 Turm mit schmale Blendenausführung (meaning “turret with narrow mantlet”). However, the Panther II project cancelled in May of 1943 so Rheinmetall switched the design for the original Panther tanks. By 1944, very little progress had been made on the design, with it not progressing beyond the drawing board. It was at this time that additional requirements were made for the turret design due to beginning of design for the newest Panther version, the Ausf. F occurring. The new design necessitated for the inclusion of a rangefinder to be incorporated into the turret as well as the replacement of the gunner's sight with a roof periscope. The rangefinder resulted in a discernible lump on the roof the turret appearing. However little progress was made beyond this, resulting in the project being transferred by Waffen Prüfen 6 to Daimler-Benz in February 1944.[3]

Daimler Benz design

Daimler Benz utilised little if not none from Rheinmetall's designs in their own designs for the Schmalturm. The company progressed significantly faster than Rheinmetall in designing and producing a Schmalturm and by 20 August 1944, a fully functional Schmalturm was mated to a Panther Ausf. G hull. The designs never made it to mass production, nor did the Panther F.

Postwar

After the war, the Allies retrieved two prototypes of Daimler Benz's designs with the Americans seizing one and the British taking the other, using it in ballistic testing. This prototype turret is now found in the Bovington tank museum.

Characteristics

The Schmalturm design featured several design requirements with the main concerns being the removal the shot trap found in the Panther's mantlet due to its cylindrical shape, an increase in turret protection while limiting weight, decreasing the size of the turret while still maintaining crew efficiency, as well as taking 30 percent less time to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. The addition of a stereoscopic rangefinder and making the turret easier and less expensive to produce compared to the Panther's turret. The end result of Daimler Benz's design resulted in a hexagonal-shaped turret which featured heavier armour on the turret as a whole. The front plate of the turret was 120 mm thick while the mantlet was a conical shape that was 150 mm thick angled to an extreme to ricochet any shells that hit it. The turret sides were upgraded to 60 mm, an improvement over the Panther's original 45 mm. The stereoscopic rangefinder of the Schmalturm could be identified through a bulb mounted to both sides of the turret. The 7.5 cm KwK 42 was equipped to the turret with a shorter recoil system to fit better in the smaller turret, allowing the gun to maintain a +20/-8 degrees of elevation/depression, leading to the new gun being designated KwK 44/1.

[1]

[2]  For the Record|access-date=2017-05-18}}

[3]

title: Schmalturm

question: What was the Schmalturm?

answer: A tank turret designed for use on the Panther Ausf. F medium tank.

question: What were it's distinguishing features?

answer: The turret's shape resembled the Soviet T-34 tank turret with a narrow conical gun mantlet resembling German Jagdpanzer mantlets. It featured a narrow front to maximize protection while minimizing weight. It was both lighter and easier to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. The turret had a stereoscopic rangefinder with lenses on either side of the turret, located in spherical bulges.

question: Why did production transfer from Rheinmetall to Daimier Benz?

answer: They had very little and slow progress.

question: What characteristics did the final production have?

answer: A hexagonal-shaped turret which featured heavier armor on the turret as a whole

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: The Schmalturm was a German tank turret designed for use on the Panther Ausf. F medium tank and the Panzer IV medium tank. After a slow beginning with Rheinmetall, it was designed by Daimier Benz. The turret's shape resembled the Soviet T-34 tank turret with a narrow conical gun mantlet resembling German Jagdpanzer mantlets. It featured a narrow front to maximize protection while minimizing weight. It was both lighter and easier to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. In the end, it was a hexagonal-shaped turret which featured heavier armor on the turret as a whole.


text:
“ON THE BEACH” is the 178th episode of the NBC drama series _ER_. It chronicled the last days of Dr. Mark Greene as he died from a brain tumor and marked the final performance of Anthony Edwards until his return in a flashback during a Season 15 episode. [1]

Synopsis

Dr. Greene has resigned his fate and decided to forgo his remaining chemotherapy treatments, choosing to spend his remaining days in Hawaii with Elizabeth and Rachel. He creates a list detailing everything he wants to do before he dies, with one of the items being to “fix Rachel”. Rachel becomes surly but while walking with her dad, she sees him suffer a seizure and comes to his aid.

As his health deteriorates, Greene makes amends with Rachel and gives her some last advice: “be generous with your time, with your love, with your life.” Rachel puts a pair of headphones on him and he listens to Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's “Over the Rainbow” as we see him walk through the empty hallways of the ER. The next morning, Elizabeth discovers that Mark has died.[2]

Reception

The episode received an emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for Executive producer John Wells.

[1] http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Apr/06/il/il04a.html

[2] http://edition.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/08/er.edwards/

title: On the Beach (ER)

question: What is the title of the 178th episode of the NBC drama series ER?

answer: It is titled "On The Beach".

question: Name one of the things Dr. Greene wants to do before he dies?

answer: He wants to "fix Rachel".

question: What was Dr. Greene's last advice to Rachel as his health deteriorates?

answer: “Be generous with your time, with your love, with your life.”

question: What kind of nomination did "On The Beach" receive?

answer: It received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
On The Beach is the 178th episode of the NBC drama series, ER. This episode focuses on the health decline of Dr. Greene and how he made amends with his daughter, Rachel.

The episode received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for Executive Producer John Wells.


text:
THE RANI is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series _Doctor Who_. She was played by Kate O'Mara.

The Rani is a renegade Time Lady,[1] an amoral scientist who considers everything secondary to her research; she has been known to enslave entire planets such as Miasimia Goria in order to have a ready supply of experimental subjects and a place to carry out her experiments uninterrupted. Her major interest is in tinkering with other species' biochemistry — she was exiled from Gallifrey after some of her lab mice, as a result of an experiment, grew to enormous size and ate the President's pet cat, and according to The Master, “took a chunk out of him too”. She is established as being the same age as the Doctor.[2]

The Rani was, like the Master, intended as a recurring foe of the Doctor, but only appeared in two serials, _The Mark of the Rani_ (1985) and _Time and the Rani_ (1987), before _Doctor Who_ went off the air in 1989. The Rani also appeared as the principal villain in _Dimensions in Time_, a 1993 _Doctor Who_ charity special created for Children in Need. She was intended to appear in another serial entitled _Yellow Fever and How to Cure It_, but the show was put on hiatus and the serial was cancelled.

Television episodes

The Rani appears in two _Doctor Who_ classic series serials, _The Mark of the Rani_ (1985) and _Time and the Rani_ (1987), portrayed both times by Kate O'Mara.[3][4][5] She made her final appearance as the Rani in 1993, in a Children In Need mini story called _Dimensions in Time_, comprising two episodes to celebrate _Doctor Who_{{'s}} 30th Anniversary.[6][7]

_The Mark of the Rani_ (1985)

In _The Mark of the Rani_, the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is attempting to visit Kew Gardens when the TARDIS is drawn off course and instead lands in Killingworth during the time of the Industrial Revolution.

The Rani is ruling the planet Miasimia Goria where she has removed the need for sleep from the alien subjects. This causes the planet to collapse into chaos, as without sleep the aliens turned violent. To restore order and continue her experiments, she begins stealing the chemical that allows sleep from human brains, carrying this out in violent periods of Earth's history so her experiment's after-effects would go unnoticed. When carrying this out during the Luddite rebellion, her operation is co-opted into the Master's attempt at hijacking the Industrial Revolution and killing the Sixth Doctor. The Doctor and his companion, Peri (Nicola Bryant), are shocked, as they believed the Master to have been destroyed. Eventually, the Doctor traps the Rani and the Master in the Rani's TARDIS, where an embryo of a ''Tyrannosaurus rex '' starts to grow as the result of a time spillage. Her operation is thwarted.[8]

_Time and the Rani_ (1987)

[The Rani's costume in this serial, on show at the Doctor Who Experience.] In _Time and the Rani_, the Rani uses a time funnel to trap the Doctor's TARDIS. The ferocity and resulting turbulence have devastating effect, forcing him to regenerate into the Seventh Doctor. When the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) wakes up, he figures out what the Rani is doing, and a Tetrap (from the planet Tetrapyriarbus) knocks him out when he threatens to smash a piece of machinery. The Rani then injects the Doctor with an amnesia drug, and disguises herself as the Doctor's companion, Mel (Bonnie Langford); she later uses a hologram of Mel to get the Doctor to return a vital piece of machinery.

It is revealed that the Rani plans to use an approaching asteroid composed of strange matter and various equations calculated by assorted geniuses from across history—including the Doctor—to turn the planet into a temporal manipulator that would allow her to manipulate evolution on a cosmic scale. This plan is thwarted when the Doctor is able to delay the missile the Rani would have used to destroy the asteroid, causing it to just miss its target. The Rani manages to escape in her TARDIS; however, the Tetraps are also in there, and have her take them back to Tetrapyriarbus to help them with their larger tasks.

In the novelisation written by Pip and Jane Baker, it is revealed that the Rani, and the Master, escaped the growing T-Rex due to the same time spillage that made it mature; it grew so rapidly that it broke its spine on the ceiling of the Rani's TARDIS.

_Dimensions in Time_ (1993)

O'Mara reprised her role as the Rani in _Dimensions in Time_, which was broadcast over two nights as part of Children in Need for the 30th anniversary of _Doctor Who_. In this story, the Rani attempts to trap the first seven incarnations of the Doctor in a time loop. She is also seen to be travelling with a companion called Cyrian.

Other appearances

Pip and Jane Baker wrote the Rani as the lead in the BBV audio drama _The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind_, following on from _Time and the Rani_, and also wrote her as the villain in a Choose Your Own Adventure-style children's game book entitled _Race Against Time_.

The Rani appears in the _Virgin Missing Adventures_ spin-off novel _State of Change_ (1994) by Christopher Bulis. Here, the Master escapes the Rani's TARDIS in _The Mark of the Rani_ by splitting the console room from the rest of her TARDIS, leaving the Rani adrift in a space-time bubble until she encounters a benign entity that creates a distorted pocket reality where the Egyptians possess 20th-century technology due to their access to the databanks of a duplicate of the Doctor's TARDIS console. The Rani tries her hand at political machinations in this reality before the intervention of the Doctor breaks her control over the entity, at which point she escapes in her repaired TARDIS.

The Rani is mentioned in BBC Books' _Eighth Doctor Adventure_ novel _The Ancestor Cell_ (2000) by Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole. The Eighth Doctor's former companion, Fitz, now Father Kreiner of Faction Paradox, claims to have killed the Rani and the Master (during the “Second War in Heaven” described in Lawrence Miles' EDA: _Interference: Book One_), and now displays their skulls as trophies.

The _Past Doctor Adventure_ novel _Divided Loyalties_ (1999) by Gary Russell, features a dream sequence where the Rani is one of a group of promising young Time Lords called “the Deca” which include many future renegades, including the Doctor, the War Chief, the Meddling Monk and the Master. The dream also suggests that her given name is (or begins with) “Ushas”, likely a reference to the Vedic goddess of that name.

The Rani briefly appears in an artificially created parallel universe in the _Past Doctor Adventures_ novel _The Quantum Archangel_ (2001). In this reality she, the Master, the Meddling Monk, and Drax are posing as a group of German scientists.

The short story “Rescue”, by David Roden (who also wrote _Dimensions in Time_), reveals how the Rani rescued Cyrian from a Cyberman invasion of his home planet. It was published in the _Doctor Who Yearbook 1995_.

The Rani returns as the main antagonist of the 50th anniversary Sixth Doctor Puffin E-short “Something Borrowed” by author Richelle Mead.

Audio dramas

At the time of her death in 2014, O'Mara was in negotiation with Big Finish Productions, producer of fully licensed audio dramas based on the _Doctor Who_ franchise, to reprise the character.[9] Producer David Richardson said:

Scottish actress Siobhan Redmond was subsequently cast as a new incarnation of the Rani, first appearing in the 2014 story _The Rani Elite_.[10] In this Sixth Doctor audio adventure, the Rani attempts to reverse engineer chaos theory using the collective minds of the academic elite attending the College of Advanced Galactic Education.[11] Her meeting with the Sixth Doctor is out-of-sequence, similar to television stories featuring River Song, and it is the first audio adventure to reference the Deca, specifically Ushas (the Rani's previous moniker) and Mortimus.

Redmond's incarnation of the Rani returns in the 2015 audio drama _Planet of the Rani_, having been imprisoned for 90 years and then escaping to seek her revenge against the Doctor.[12] She arrives on the planet Miasimia Goria, a world she once ruled over, where the current leader, Raj Kahnu, regards her as his mother whilst also harbouring deep contempt for her. Kahnu, a genetically engineered humanoid who resides inside the body of a mechanical cockroach, later allows the Rani to leave the planet in a TARDIS survival pod that her previous incarnation had left there.

The Rani's TARDIS

[The interior of the Rani's TARDIS] Unlike the Doctor's TARDIS, the Rani's TARDIS has a fully functional chameleon circuit, and can still disguise itself wherever it lands. It can also be opened with the Doctor's TARDIS key.

In _Mark of the Rani_, the Rani hides her TARDIS (disguised as a cabinet) behind a screen, and has managed to link it to, as the Doctor says, a Stattenheim remote control, which he describes as “genius”. It is in this TARDIS that she and the Master get trapped with a gradually growing _Tyrannosaurus rex_ embryo.

In _Time and the Rani_, her TARDIS appears as a reflective pyramid. She is eventually trapped by the Tetraps in her TARDIS. In _Dimensions in Time_, for scenes set inside the Rani's TARDIS, the Doctor's console from the original series was set inside a TARDIS console room mock-up constructed for a recent fan convention as the Rani's original console room for the series had already been destroyed.

Appearances

Television episodes

-   _The Mark of the Rani_ (1985) by Pip & Jane Baker
-   _Time and the Rani_ (1987) by Pip & Jane Baker
-   _Dimensions in Time_ (1993) by John Nathan-Turner and David Roden (charity episode)

Audio plays

-   _The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind_ by Pip and Jane Baker
-   _The Rani Elite_ by Justin Richards (New incarnation portrayed by Siobhan Redmond)
-   _Planet of the Rani_ by Marc Platt

Novels

-   _State of Change_ by Christopher Bulis (Virgin Missing Adventures)
-   _Divided Loyalties_ (appears in flashbacks) by Gary Russell (BBC Past Doctor Adventures)
-   _Race Against Time_ by Pip & Jane Baker (Find Your Fate)
-   _Something Borrowed_ by Richelle Mead

Annual

-   _Rescue_ by David Roden (Doctor Who Yearbook 1995)

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[2]  Doctor Who|website=Doctor Who|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-07-24}}

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[12]

title: The Rani (Doctor Who)

question: How many years apart are the serial episodes in which Kate Mara stars set?

answer: Two years.

question: What is meant by serial episodes?

answer: Episodes that occur in chronological (or whatever time-keeping format the show uses) order.

question: Why did the Rani want to manipulate evolution?

answer: Entire species and races would be non-existent or their track would be diverted.

question: Which duo created both television as well as audio episodes in the Rani's storyline?

answer: Pip and Jane Baker.


text:
The clanging sound I’d heard a thousand times before rang through my head like a warning alarm; the "5 minutes till lights out" bell. That’s what my life has been reduced to, a government enforced bedtime. I miss the days of being free to duck out to the shops for a snack, or to heat up a microwavable meal when I wanted it. I used to spend all my free time at home with Miranda, doing boring things like watching too many movies and marathoning too many TV shows. That's how it should be now, free to do as we please instead of Miranda trapped underground and me trapped in a cell.

I’d been woken up one lazy Saturday morning by a pounding at the door. Miranda bounded over the messy living room floor, knocking over the previous night's dinner bowl on her way. She peeked through the peephole and let out a hushed squeal of delight, before opening the deadlocks and swinging the front door open. Not a second after she turned the handle, the sound of a gunshot pierced my skull. It was just like in the movies, Miranda falling backwards and crashing into the ground like a big tree being cut down. I'll spare you the details, but it was messy.

After that morning, I devoted my life to finding who'd shot her. I was determined to get revenge. It took months, but eventually all the details fell into place. His name was Big P, or at least that was his street name. Big P was a pretty "well known" drug dealer, specialising in the heavy stuff. Miranda had got in contact with him during her senior year, when she was suffering constant panic attacks. Starting out, she became addicted to pot and codeine, before working her way up to coke. Turns out she owed Big P a fairly decent sum of money, and when she didn't pay up, his patience ran out and he shot her. Just like he'd shot the countless other young girls that couldn't pay him. The cops hadn't got him yet because he works through a clever network of messengers and runners, only doing the work himself when absolutely necessary. Word is he also had some pretty strong connections up high too, making him virtually invisible to the law.

When I did eventually find him, I took Miranda's car and slammed straight into his. It all went so smoothly I thought it was a dream; I escaped unharmed, and Big P sat dead in his car, the blood on his forehead from smashing into the windscreen as vivid and viscous as the blood of those he'd shot. The plan was for the police to think of it as an accident, to be glad a murderous drug lord was off the streets, and forget about the whole accident. When they found out that the car belonged to Miranda, they launched an investigation and well, here I am.

When the court ordered psychiatrist asked me if I regret what I did, I said "Not for a single second," which probably didn't help my sentence. Why should I regret it? He was endangering lived by selling drugs, and then putting those lives in more danger by pulling the trigger in their face. I took care of him, I took the trash out. If it had been the cops that got to him it would've been fine, but I was a civilian, "acting out of spite" and "without remorse". And if that makes me a murderer, then I will wear that badge with pride.

The lights went out in the jail. "Lights out! Yelled a guard, in case we couldn't work that out ourselves.

Oh what I would give to spend another day watching cheesy dramas with Miranda, escaping the horrors of the world. What I would give for this to have just been one big nightmare...

I was woken up by a pounding at the door. Miranda bounded over the messy living room floor, knocking over the previous night's dinner bowl on her way. She peeked through the peephole and let out a hushed squeal of delight, before opening the deadlocks and swinging the front door open...

title: [SP] The Alarm

question: What does the story say about why the narrator didn't feel remorse for killing the man who murdered Miranda?

answer: A popular drug lord called Big P, who was notorious for murdering all the people who ever owed him money for the drugs he supplied them murdered Miranda. Evidently, Miranda owed him a substantial amount, and Big P ran out of patience. Hurt by Miranda's death, the narrator decided to avenge her death by killing Big P in a car crash. However, the police apprehended the narrator after further investigation into Big P's death, and the narrator was imprisoned. The narrator showed no remorse whatsoever for committing murder because of their relationship with Miranda and the fact that the person they murdered was a ruthless drug lord who seemed to be above the law.

question: What does the story say about what led to Miranda's tragic and sudden death?

answer: Miranda was a drug addict. When she was in her senior year in school, she contacted a popular drug dealer called Big P to supply her with some drugs to help her cope with the constant panic attacks she suffered. Miranda started with codeine and pot before she moved up to cocaine. Unfortunately for her, she wound up in Big P's bad books when she began to default in payments. Big P was notorious for killing those who owed him, and since Miranda owed him the money she couldn't pay back, he shot her.