Sunday 2025-04-20

Prayers, etc.: * 03:30 – Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel * 06:30 – praying The Angelus * 07:50 – praying the 15 Decades of the Traditional Holy Rosary in English, followed by the Memorare * 09:00 – Readings from today's Mass include – Epistle: 1 Cor 5:7,8 and Gospel: Mark 16:1-7. * 09:30 – making an Act of Contrition then making an Act of Spiritual Communion, followed by praying Archbishop Vigano’s prayer for USA & President Trump. * 09:45 – Today's Morning Devotion (Psalm 92) as found in Benedictus Magazine, followed by the Canticle of Zacharius (Lk 1:68-79). * 10:00 – Thought for today from Archbishop Lefebvre: The power to raise oneself from the dead, as our Lord did, can only belong to God. Only God could raise again His own body, which He had taken to become incarnate and dwell among us.

The Resurrection of our Lord therefore manifests the almighty power of God. Today we are affirming with the Church of all time that Jesus rose again with the body with which He was crucified. May His glorious wounds maintain us in that faith! * 12:00 – praying The Angelus * 14:30 – prayerfully reading The Athanasian Creed, * 18:00 – praying The Angelus, followed by today's Evening Devotion, (Psalm 110), as found in Benedictus Magazine, followed by the Magnificat: Luke 1:46-55. * 19:00 – praying the hour of Compline for tonight according to the Traditional Pre-Vatican II Divine Office, followed by Fr. Chad Ripperger's Prayer of Command to protect my family, my sons, my daughter and her family, my granddaughters and their families, my great grandchildren, and everyone for whom I have responsibility from any demonic activity. – And that followed by the Sunday Prayers of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum.

Health Metrics: * bw= 225.20 lbs. * bp= 152/87 77

Diet: * 08:20 – 2 HEB Bakery cookies, 1 fresh banana * 11:00 – began eating salmon casserole * 13:20 – 2 HEB Bakery cookies, 1 fresh orange * 17:20 – sweet rice

Chores, etc.: * 08:45 – monitored bank accounts activity * 11:00 – watching college baseball, IU vs Maryland * 13:00 – Switched to Texas Rangers Radio Network for the Warmup Show ahead of this afternoon's Rangers / Dodgers Game * 17:00 – listen to relaxing music, quietly reading

Chess: * 14:05 – moved in all pending CC games

posted Sunday, 2025-04-20 ~20:12 #DLAPR2025

It’s been a while since I’ve put pen to digital paper.  Since my last post, I continued my crypto journey, though the lesser of kind, I’ve focused my attention on Meme coins and Pump & Dumps. I feel dirty just saying it, however, it’s taught me a few valuable lessons.

When it comes to Meme coins, despite there ridiculous nature and lack of use cases or longevity, real money can be made. This is truly playing the Casino, and most people lose money. I can attest.

99% of Meme coins go to zero, and the vast majority of that are pump and dump scams. Project owners create tokens on the Solana blockchain, pump up the token via X and Telegram, pay influencers, then Rug Pull and drain the token once it hits a certain market cap, and leave all the “investors” high and dry. Pretty evil shit.

If you are lucky enough to be in that 1% and hold long enough to reap the rewards, Millions can be made, but you really gambling with money, again 99% fail, and their thousands of these tokens made every week. Again, all fucking failures.  If you are lucky enough to find the next Pepe, Fartcoin, or Shiba Inu, well congrats!  The odds are very stacked.

So, my poison of choice? I use dexscreener to find up and coming Meme coins with the following filters:

1.      Solana Blockchain

2.      Liquidity: $10,000

3.      Market Cap Minimum: 100,000

4.      Market Cap Maximum: 10,000,000

5.      5M Volume: 100,000

With this formula, you can make a quick buck if you are patient and a token early enough with some serious volume. Volume truly is key at the beginning of any token launching. Without Volume, you’re watching a sinking ship, and essentially the token going to zero. However, if the volume starts to reach 300,000 – 500,000 per 5 minutes, and the token is relatively new, I’ve made 2x easily off these shit coins. I have also lost 90% on some stupid buys that crashed to zero because I did not do any due diligence.

What does due diligence look like for meme coins?

1.      Does it meet the criteria above (filters)

2.      Check how many holders does the token have? 50 or 1500?  This can be checked in Dexscreener or Axiom. I personally love Axiom.

3.      Has the Dev sold or are they still holding a large percentage of the token. They could sell or Rug Pull any moment.

4.      What is the age of the token? Was it created 5 minutes ago or 24 hours ago?

5.      Does it have a website & X page? Is it legit and active? Up to date?

6.      Use the @CallAnalyserBot in Telegram to see if Crypto groups are promoting it. If so, that’s good.

7.      What is the percentage of Top Ten Holders? Over 15%, move along, because when it dumps, you are fucked.

8.      How many insiders?

9.      Was the Dex Fee Paid? Check this on Axiom when you paste in the Contract Address

10.  Does the Dev have a history of Rug Pulls?

As you can see, it’s fucking dangerous out here in these Meme coin streets. All investments come with inherent risk.  From my time playing with Meme Coins, I highly doubt I will be retiring anytime soon, in fact, I’ll most likely lose my starting capital and be left with nothing.

What’s next for me? Since I’m a sucker for punishment, time to learn and explore the world of Futures and leverage.  Until next time.

The Lantern is lit again: Tyranny at our door.

One if by land, two if by sea.

250 years ago, they lit the lanterns to warn that tyranny was coming.

“Let the warning ride forth once more, tyranny is at our door” is the message that was projected onto the side of the old north church, echoing the warning from 250 years ago.

Today, we light it again.

Freedom isn’t a relic of the past — it’s a responsibility of the present.

I usually mostly enjoy being a freelancer—more than I've enjoyed any past jobs, if nothing else. Even so, there are those days that it just feels like a personal affront that it's 2025 and we still have to work for a living. No matter what you do for money, there are times that it's just a grind.

And I get why a lot of writers neglect work in their stories. If you're the kind of person who writes (or reads) as an escape, then your job is probably one of the primary things you want to escape from. It already sucks up 40+ of your hours every week. Does it really need to take up real estate in your creative writing, too?

My push-back against this is: if you have to spend that much time doing something, why not try to get a little creative inspiration out of it? On top of that, work can be a very useful tool for writers. The majority of adults need to work for a living, which makes work-related conflicts and frustrations highly relatable for readers and grounds the piece in reality (the characters need to work! They're just like us!).

A job can also provide stakes, a ticking clock, and a convenient setting where it's logical for your characters to interact with strangers, or spend an extended amount of time (even if they're not doing a whole lot or don't seem to want to be there). Giving a character a job can also be a shorthand for their skills or expertise, quickly adding depth and layers to their identity. 

So, with all of that in mind, here are 4 work-related writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. 

Prompt 1: What else could go wrong?

We've all had those days at work when it feels like the universe is conspiring against you. Those days suck—which means they have a lot of potential energy to give a story. 

Here's how you can turn those into a prompt:

1. Choose a job. It doesn't have to be your current job, though the exercise will probably be easier if it's something you've done before. 

2. Brainstorm a list of at least 10 things that could go wrong during a typical workday for that job. 

3. Choose two items from that list and start your story on the moment that both of these things go awry, either simultaneously or as close to it as would be realistic. 

4. Continue the narrative, aiming to include as many of the problems you brainstormed as possible and ramping up your character's frustration, anxiety, etc. with each new shitty twist. 

Prompt 2: The unexpected customer. 

When you work a job for long enough, you get a sense for who its typical customers are—and, when someone unexpected walks through the door (or sends a message to your inbox), it's an instant source of intrigue, or at least curiosity. 

The steps for this prompt: 

1. Choose a profession. It can be the same one from the last prompt or a new one, whatever strikes your fancy.

2. What are the typical traits you'd expect from a customer or client in this line of work? How would a marketing professional in this niche define its target audience? Brainstorm a few typical traits.

3. Now, let's go the opposite way. What don't you expect to see from customers or clients in this line of work? You can stick to real-world human things or go speculative on it (e.g. you wouldn't expect to see a minotaur browsing a china shop).

4. Develop your unusual character profile. Before you start writing, think about potential points of conflict or tension this unexpected character could trigger. Would other customers be put off by them? What about the employees—how would they react? 

5. Set a timer for 10 minutes a freewrite a piece that starts with this unusual character either walking into a physical place of business, or contacting an employee in that line of work via phone, email, etc. 

Prompt 3: Working through the chaos. 

I used to manage a cafe in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Shadyside. The summer would be bookended by two community-wide events. In May, the street out front was part of the route for the Pittsburgh Marathon, which would mean swarms of people with noisemakers and signs and a seemingly complete lack of understanding about how coffee shops functioned. On the other end of summer, in August, the street would close for an arts festival that drew far more people than should reasonably be in that neighborhood at any given time. 

The cafe staff prepared for both of these events like we were heading off to battle: staffed to the gills, obscenely overstocked, braced for the barrage of unfamiliar faces in an establishment more accustomed to regulars. I think about those days whenever I go someplace for a festival or conference today. Sometimes, I'll look at the people behind the counter of an overcrowded restaurant and see a very familiar thousand-yard stare in their eyes. Because it's a strange thing, to be just going about your daily life when everyone around you has broken from their usual routines. 

For this prompt, you're going to start the same way as the last two: choose a profession. In this case, it will probably serve you best to pick something in a public-facing establishment, though you could also play with something like the office workers still bent over their computers while the Mardi Gras parade goes by on the street below, for instance. 

Once you've picked your profession:

1. Choose a chaos-inducing event. This could be a planned, fun occasion like a festival, parade, etc. Or you could go a different direction: someone who's working through a massive protest, or a natural disaster, or even go off-the-wall with an alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, etc.

2. Before you start writing, take some time to frame your narrator's perspective. Were they prepared for this event to happen? Why or why not? What is the most stressful part of the whole ordeal for them? Are there any aspects of it they actually get a perverse joy out of?

3. Once you've established that context for the character, set a timer for 10 minutes a freewrite a scene that starts on the moment the chaos begins. 

Prompt 4: New people, same drama. 

Any workplace where people share a space is going to have some kind of drama, even when everyone generally gets along. And that's great for a writer, because drama is by definition conflict, and that's what puts gas in your storytelling engine. 

When you pick a job for this prompt, you'll obviously need to choose something where multiple people work together. Again, something where they share a physical space will be easiest, though you could also explore the drama in a remote workplace if that piques your interest. 

Once you've picked your workplace, decide what Big Drama is currently afoot. Is someone having an affair? Are there one-time best friends who now can't stand each other and perpetually gossip about the other? Does the boss play favorites? Are there workplace bullies? This is another situation where it's probably easiest to draw on drama you've seen or been a part of in past workplaces. 

Finally, plop an outsider into this setting, like a new hire or a transfer from another store. They have been brought into the workplace just as the Big Drama is reaching a peak. Write the situation unfolding from the perspective of someone who doesn't have the context for how the situation develops. Bonus points if you can get them each side's perspective without making it explicit who (if anyone) was really at fault. 

See similar posts:

#WritingExercises #WritingAdvice

We went looking for a fix and found a little more of ourselves instead.

April 18, 2025

Morning is a noisy affair. We camped next to the dealership in downtown Lubbock. Opposite us was a private security firm. Guards were coming and going all night long. But the real problem was my anxiety that sleeping in an urban area with an open window next to my head.

It was needless concern. The night was cool and uneventful.

The service advisor at the dealership is excited to help us. Unfortunately, there is no loaner available, so we make way to Avis to rent a Kia Sol. A darling little sedan-sort-of-van. Tiny. But lots of pep when you tap on the gas. I don't drive my own vehicles with any energy, but this thing, I'm happy to drive like I stole it.

Woolfinia's in poor mood today. Lack of sleep, I think. We scurry away to a grassy abandoned alley to freshen up and pack our bags to leave the van with the technicians. Excited, I step off the rear deck wrong and feel my back tweak. If I am not careful, I'll be barely be able to stand in a day or two. We'll go later to get organic massage oil from Whole Foods. It helps reduce the swelling and minimize pain. Shortening my recovery.

Dropping Van is a simple matter. Our service advisor, Brittany is a pro and does the intake with a minimum of fuss and lots of reassurance that they’ll solve the issue at hand: intermittent power loss.

While Woolfinia books a rental, I make friends with an older couple hanging out in the waiting room. When he hears me comment to My SO about the fuel filter, he asks buoyantly, “where vehicle ya drivin’?”

The conversation that ensues is enlightening. He and his wife run a small national shipping company. Their fleet? Sprinters.He explains that fuel filters for the diesel van isn’t like for gasoline. They are a consumable replaced every 10,000 miles. A gasoline engine is more like 50k. Still, it is a little disconcerting because I'm about to install my fifth filter in only 20,000. Regardless, Mister Shipper tells me that he has owned my year and make of Sprinter and that he drove it to 800,000 miles. Mine, at 200k is only just getting broken in.

Good news!

Woolfinia doesn’t like the chatty couple. She’s suspicious of everyone these days — a baseline trait turned all the way up since her father died. I diagnose it is related to trust issues and just try to be patient and understanding. Though it is at times frustrating. When it comes to booking the rental, she urges me to gather my things and we retreat to the bathroom together. 'I don't want anyone snooping on my drivers license!' She tells me in the small echoey space. More patience.

Car booked, we exit the single stall restroom and bid farewell to the waiting room compatriots and tell Brittany we are headed out. When she offered to give us a ride, we explain it's only a two block walk and that the weather is fantastic for a stroll but that we'll be back to collect our things from CamperVan Beethoven.

Our rental is a little toy of a car: a shiny new Kia Sol. Sort of a hatchback, or tiny van that is really just a small sedan. It is the perfect size for my diminutive wife and she drives it like a go-cart. The lane assist I think would be a good feature for her. The tendency to fixate on interesting sights left and right and behind causes me no end of stress.

Breakfast is a great little place called Chicken Run. I pick it because I have always loved Aardman's Chicken Run (2000). A stop-motion animation film about chickens escaping the farm. It is patterned after the great escape. The restaurant only shares the name, but I am pleased nonetheless. The food is simply delicious! All variations on bacon and eggs, but mine is a poached affair with a huge green salad drenched in a tangy vinaigrette. Mmmmmmm.

Taste tells us what our GI will confirm later, they use a commercial oil. Every restaurant does, but we always hope we'll stumble on some small independent place that leans on olive or other less saturated as their oil of choice. It is ours.

Early, but we retire to a hotel for a few hours. The missus isn't feeling 100% and needs some down time. She is grouchy and out of sorts. It is best to just let the storm pass. You cannot stop the rain, only try to stay dry. The room is nice. Palatial after a few days in CamperVan B. It is a good time to do a load of laundry, but even that gets nixed by my diminutive despot. I can only sit and read in silence. Not a terrible fate by any means.

I can tell my back IS going to be a problem. So I take half an hour and do some stretches and strength exercises that I've missed since being in van. That's not a thing I've solved when we are in van: regular exercise. Some days, there's plenty. Like the Caprock hike. But others, like today, not so much. After a full regimen, a hot shower is in order. Renewal!

At two o'clock we head out for the Buddy Holly Center. It is a city-funded museum-memorial in a converted train depot. The architecture is intriguing and the tracks that backed the cars into the courtyard can still be seen. I know little of the artist beyond that he was a musician and kind of a big deal. But the center here in Lubbock is very nice. A tremendous amount of research has been done chronicling his early influences (blues and jazz) and the impact he's had on music (inspiring most of the grandfathers of modern music). We see some of his original guitars and outfits (there should be more—I think of Elvis’ Graceland kit), Waylon’s Jenning’s original Ariel motorcycle—he and Holly bought matching bike’s. I can only assume his lack of ephemera is because he died at 22. How much stuff can a young man acquire in only a few years?

Sufficiently doused on Buddy Holly history and musical connections, we decide to retire and refresh before meeting a couple of old friends for dinner But those plans are waylaid when we call and they tell us our reservations at a very swanky steak house are for 5pm. That gives us twenty minutes to change and arrive. I wish now that I hadn't detoured to a visit of the windmill museum.

Since we've left our nice suits back at the dealership, we have to think fast and find some pants at the Goodwill across the street from our hotel. For only $7, neither the fancy waitstaff nor our friends will ever know we only had shorts and t-shirts with us.

Our arrival is warm and welcoming. Two old friends (Miles Blackwell and his wife, Jess) we haven't seen in almost half a decade. We worked together on a volunteer construction project when we met and became fast friends. He's big and boisterous. You would know he was from Texas no matter where in the world you met him. We are the same age, but our lives have followed VERY different paths. They are grandparents now and retired. I'm still getting started in life. Funny that that after all these decades doing what people do, we find one another. I wonder what would have been different if we'd met thirty-five years ago?

We meet two new people as well, Harlan and Sylvie Knox. Well, not entirely new. We've met before but we all have only the slightest recollection of our former moments. Harlan and Sylvie are full time volunteers working to build places of worship. They have driven from the west, and we from the east. Crossing hearts here with our Miles and Jess as the nexus.

These people are simply wonderful. It is an incredible delight to be able to walk in on a conversation with someone you haven't seen in 5 years and just keep going like you were only in the other room.

Quality.

Dinner at Double Nickel is stunning (and the bill reflects that). I don't know what is better: the twenty-five year old Macallan, the ribeye or Angie's sea-bass. Ultimately, it’s the company that outshines even the rare wine and buttery sea-bass. We all have stories to tell. A two-hour dinner passes in a blink—guffaws ricocheting off whispered griefs. The wine deepens every shade of memory.

It passes too quickly and we say or farewells while there is still sunlight. A surprise coming from the eloquent darkness of Double Nickel.

Driving back to the hotel feels too soon. Either the alcohol or missing friends will give me fitfull dreams so lucid that I think I am awake. I only learn I am not when my bedfellow disturbs me while watching a movie on her phone at 3am.

And WHAT dreams they were. Old friends, new places. New highs... all very vivid. Imagined experiences that I wished were real.

The day bleeds moments—I pray for a tourniquet...

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#memoir #travel #essay

Two long trenches cut through my place now, the result of a plumbing job. Already got the tiles to cover them up, but don't want to do that before I'm through with the electric work which will involve tearing into the walls. No drywall around these parts, it's all brick and concrete, so it's bound to result in a big mess. Four days' worth of a big mess to be precise.

Electrician was scheduled for this morning, but he never showed up and wouldn't even answer his phone. Dude just threw away a big payday for some reason. By the time he called back, I'd already given the job to someone else, who comes through end of the week.

That's many more days than I would've liked to be living with these trenches in the house. Cairo's the kind of place that tests your limits in more ways than one.

#journal #studio #cairo

Stay entertained thanks to our Weekly Tracker giving you next week's Anticipated Movies & Shows, Most Watched & Returning Favorites, and Shows Changes & Popular Trailers.

Anticipated Movies

• Havoc
• ☆ The Accountant 2
• The Shrouds
• On Swift Horses
• Until Dawn

Anticipated Shows

• Hal & Harper
• Battle Camp
• I, Jack Wright
• ☆ Étoile

Returing Favorites

• The Rehearsal — Season 2
• Star Wars: Andor — Season 2
• ☆ You — Season 5
• Weak Hero — Season 2

Trending Shows Status Changes

• Bosch: Legacy — Returning Series → Ended
• The Stolen Girl — Returning Series → Ended
• The Glass Dome — Returning Series → Ended

Most Watched Movies this Week

• +3 A Working Man
• -1 Mickey 17
• +7 Captain America: Brave New World
• -1 Novocaine
• +2 G20
• -4 A Minecraft Movie
• -2 Black Bag
• new The Alto Knights
• -3 In the Lost Lands
• new The Woman in the Yard

Most Watched Shows this Week

• new The Last of Us
• +2 Black Mirror
• -1 Daredevil: Born Again
• +2 The Rookie
• +2 MobLand
• -5 The White Lotus
• +3 The Handmaid's Tale
• = The Wheel of Time
• new Tracker
• -5 The Pitt

Popular Trailers

• Summer begins with the Marvel Studios #Thunderbolts* — Thunderbolts*
• The Gilgeousaurus — Jurassic World Rebirth
• EXPERIENCE REVIEW VERTICAL :30 — Until Dawn
• Sinners are here. — Sinners
• A fantastic family. — The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• New Trailer — 28 Years Later
• In ONE MONTH, Death returns to theaters. — Final Destination: Bloodlines
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia & Abbott Elementary Crossover — It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Darkness — Daredevil: Born Again
• Teaser — Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

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Hi, I'm Kevin 👋. I make apps and I love watching movies and TV shows. If you like what I'm doing, you can buy one of my apps, download and subscribe to Rippple for Trakt or just buy me a ko-fi ☕️.

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Holy shit, I took a half scoop and I was straight up TWEAKING. On my bike ride over, I was amped up so hard I was yanking my bike’s handlebars so hard the front tire kept coming off the ground. I’m so fucking happy I bought it I’ve missed my 400mg caffeine and god knows all the other random shit in it. I’m so excited it take it again tomorrow!

Jag minns första gången jag hörde ordet “adaptogen” – det var i en text om stresshantering, och jag fastnade direkt. Det lät nästan magiskt: örter som kan anpassa sig efter kroppens behov, som kan både lugna och pigga upp beroende på vad man behöver för stunden. Hur är det ens möjligt? Ju mer jag tänkte på det, desto mer nyfiken blev jag. Vad är det som gör en ört adaptogen? Hur kan samma växt verka på så olika sätt i olika människor – eller till och med i samma person vid olika tillfällen? Jag ville förstå mer, inte bara om vad de gör, utan också hur de fungerar.

Adaptogena örter är en särskild grupp växter som anses hjälpa kroppen att hantera stress, både fysisk, psykisk och emotionell. Vad som gör dem unika är deras förmåga att “anpassa” sig efter kroppens behov – därav namnet adaptogener, från latinets adaptare, att anpassa. Det betyder att de inte har en entydig, fixerad effekt som många vanliga läkemedel har, utan verkar balanserande. Om du till exempel är trött och nedstämd kan en adaptogen ört bidra till att höja energinivåerna och humöret. Men om du är överstimulerad och stressad kan samma ört istället verka lugnande och jordande. Det är den här dubbelriktade verkan som gör adaptogener så speciella.

För att en växt ska klassas som adaptogen behöver den uppfylla tre kriterier: den ska vara ospecifik (alltså kunna verka i hela kroppen snarare än på ett isolerat organ), den ska vara normaliserande (vilket innebär att den hjälper kroppen att återgå till balans oavsett om du är “för mycket” eller “för lite” av något), och den ska vara ofarlig och inte störa kroppens normala funktioner. Många av de adaptogena örterna har använts i århundraden inom traditionell kinesisk medicin och ayurveda.

En av de mest kända adaptogenerna är ashwagandha, en rot som har använts i tusentals år i Indien. Den är särskilt uppskattad för sin förmåga att minska ångest och stressnivåer, samtidigt som den kan öka uthållighet och fysisk prestation. Den verkar via det endokrina systemet, och påverkar särskilt binjurarna – de som styr vår stressrespons genom utsöndring av hormoner som kortisol och adrenalin.

Rhodiola rosea, eller rosenrot som den kallas på svenska, växer naturligt i kalla bergsområden som Sibirien och norra Skandinavien. Den används ofta för att förbättra mental uthållighet, koncentration och motståndskraft vid trötthet och stress. Rhodiola är ett bra exempel på en adaptogen som kan både pigga upp och samtidigt lugna ner, beroende på individens tillstånd.

Schisandra är en bärväxt från Kina och Ryssland vars frukter kallas “de fem smakernas bär” eftersom de innehåller alla grundsmaker: surt, salt, sött, bittert och kryddigt. Inom traditionell kinesisk medicin sägs schisandra stärka livsenergin och förbättra både fysisk uthållighet och mental skärpa. Den används också ofta för att skydda levern, vilket också visar hur adaptogener kan verka skyddande på cellnivå – inte bara som stämningsförbättrare utan även som antioxidanter och immunstärkare.

En annan välkänd adaptogen är ginseng, särskilt panax ginseng från Korea. Den har länge setts som en övergripande stärkande rot, använd för att öka energi, förbättra immunförsvaret och även libido. Ginseng kan dock vara ganska stark och är inte alltid lämplig för alla – vissa kan till exempel känna sig överstimulerade av den, särskilt om man redan är stressad eller har högt blodtryck. Det här visar också att även om adaptogener anses säkra i grunden, så påverkas deras effekt också av individens konstitution, dosering och användningssätt.

Det fascinerande med adaptogener är just hur de verkar modulera kroppens reaktioner. De påverkar bland annat hypotalamus–hypofys–binjure-axeln (HPA-axeln), som är en central del i kroppens stressystem. De kan också påverka neurotransmittorer som serotonin, dopamin och GABA, vilket gör att de kan påverka både humör och kognitiva funktioner. Den här anpassande effekten tros bero på att adaptogener inte “tvingar” kroppen i en viss riktning, utan snarare skapar utrymme för balans. De fungerar lite som en termostat – känner av vad som behövs, och reglerar därefter.

Det är inte alltid lätt att förklara exakt hur det går till rent biokemiskt, eftersom adaptogener sällan har en enda aktiv komponent. De består ofta av en komplex blandning av ämnen som verkar i samverkan: glykosider, saponiner, flavonoider och andra växtämnen som tillsammans kan ha en samlad, synergetisk effekt. Forskning pågår fortfarande för att kartlägga alla mekanismer, men intresset är stort eftersom adaptogener verkar erbjuda ett sätt att stötta kroppen på ett skonsamt och naturligt sätt, utan att blockera kroppens egna processer.

Om jag skulle spekulera lite fritt i hur adaptogener fungerar rent biokemiskt, så tror jag att nyckeln ligger i deras sätt att påverka flera system samtidigt, snarare än att ha en enskild och direkt verkan som till exempel ett läkemedel gör. Det är som att de jobbar med kroppens egna signalsystem snarare än att ta över dem. Många adaptogener verkar ha en slags moduleringseffekt på HPA-axeln, alltså samspelet mellan hypotalamus, hypofysen och binjurarna – vårt inbyggda stressregleringssystem. De kanske inte stänger av stressresponsen, men de gör den mer finjusterad, mindre reaktiv, mer “på riktigt” balanserad.

Sen finns det mycket som pekar på att adaptogener också påverkar cellernas energiproduktion och mitokondriernas funktion. Det kanske är där en del av energihöjningen kommer ifrån – att cellerna faktiskt blir bättre på att skapa och använda energi. Vissa växtämnen i adaptogener verkar dessutom ha antioxidantiska och antiinflammatoriska effekter, vilket kan bidra till att minska den låggradiga inflammation som ofta följer med långvarig stress.

En annan intressant aspekt är att adaptogener innehåller komplexa föreningar som saponiner, flavonoider och lignaner. Det är inte alltid en enda molekyl som gör jobbet, utan snarare ett samspel mellan flera bioaktiva ämnen. Det kanske är därför deras effekt kan kännas mer “intelligent” eller situationsanpassad – för att kroppen själv väljer vilka signalsystem den vill plocka upp just då.

Det känns också rimligt att många adaptogener påverkar neurotransmittorer, särskilt sådana som serotonin, dopamin och GABA. Det skulle kunna förklara varför vissa örter gör att man känner sig mer fokuserad och klar i huvudet, medan andra snarare hjälper en att varva ner och sova bättre. Kanske sker det via påverkan på receptorer i hjärnan eller genom att reglera enzymer som styr nedbrytningen av signalsubstanser.

Så även om vi inte vet allt än, är min känsla att adaptogener snarare “pratar med” kroppen än “styr den”, och det är den kommunikationen – mellan växtens ämnen och kroppens egna signalsystem – som skapar den där flexibla, balanserande effekten.

När man använder adaptogener är det viktigt att lyssna på kroppen. De fungerar bäst som en del av en större livsstilsförändring, tillsammans med bra sömn, näringsrik mat, fysisk aktivitet och återhämtning. Effekten kan vara subtil i början, men ofta djupverkande över tid. För vissa märks en skillnad redan efter några dagar, medan andra upplever förändringar efter några veckor. Det är också vanligt att man växlar mellan olika adaptogener beroende på säsong, humör eller belastning.

I have been in survival mode lately, but when I have the energy to write again, I will keep in mind today’s inspirational quote from Terry Pratchett:

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

We buy things we don’t need  We drive cars we can’t afford   We go to places social media says are cool We invest in neighborhoods we don’t resonate with We do drugs to feel better for the moment  We drink alcohol to forget We consume destructive music and entertainment  We date people we don’t love We stay friends with people who flake on us  We eat food with no nutritional value  We eat “healthy” food unfit for our designs  We overwork to avoid facing ourselves We stay in careers we think we should be in  We escape to exotic destinations  We stay busy to feel important  We spend our time and energy on the wrong people We blame our problems on other people  We hold on to our outdated beliefs really hard

Then we hit rock bottom

We realize we are not well  We have no idea who we are  None of these external factors makes us happy  We can’t keep escaping  We can’t keep going like this anymore

This is when we break

Everything we’ve held on to no longer works  We experience a massive amount of loss  In relationships, health, jobs, and things we own

The loss ends up working in our favor It’s spring cleaning time Everything that holds us back, is out  To create more space for new things to enter

We encounter people who challenge and test us They are here to urge our growth We encounter people who instantly feel like family  They are here to remind us we are not alone in our journeys  And that we deserve to love and be loved

We finally start facing ourselves  It’s uncomfortable  But we can’t go back  We have no other choice  So we keep going inward  The darkness of the tunnel feels like forever

Then we start seeing the light We start remembering who we are  Who we want to be  Who we don’t want to be moving forward What we like  What we don’t like

We realize all our problems stem from our childhoods We revisit our painful pasts  We work through them with grace and courage  This time, we got this  Our awareness is on another level  We’ve been collecting the dots this whole time   We finally get to connect them  It’s time to feel whole

We’ve reached the state of inner peace We accept where we are and who we are We accept the painful pasts We accept the wrongdoings of other people We see ourselves in others We surrender and love

Our journeys continue.

#writing

In contemporary cybersecurity paradigms, password cracking constitutes a foundational competency for both offensive red team operations and defensive security posturing. The proliferation of credential-based breaches—accounting for 81% of hacking-related incidents according to Verizon's 2023 DBIR—necessitates an exhaustive comprehension of adversarial methodologies. This treatise delineates three cardinal password attack vectors (Brute Force, Dictionary, and Rainbow Table attacks) through an advanced lens, incorporating computational theory, algorithmic complexity analysis, and pragmatic Bash scripting implementations.

Introduction: The Imperative of Password Security Analysis

1) Brute Force Attacks – Computational Exhaustion as a Strategy

Theoretical Underpinnings

Brute Force attacks epitomize the theoretical universality of password cracking—given infinite time and resources, any password can be compromised through systematic combinatorial iteration. The attack's efficacy is governed by the keyspace cardinality, defined as

Keyspace = C*L

where CC = character set size, and LL = password length

Example

An 8-character password using alphanumeric and symbolic characters (95 possible values) yields:

958 ≈ 6.63 × 1015 combinations.

Advanced Implementation

GPU-Accelerated Brute Forcing with Hashcat

# hashcat -m 1800 -a 3 -w 4 -O sha512hash.txt ?a?a?a?a?a?a?a?a?a —increment_

Flags:

-m 1800 → SHA-512 mode

-a 3 → Brute Force mode

-w 4 → Aggressive GPU workload

--increment` → Dynamically adjust length

Parallelized Brute Forcing with John the Ripper

john —format=sha512crypt —fork=8 —node=1-4/8 target_hashes.txt

Flags:

--fork=8 → Utilize 8 CPU cores

--node=1-4/8 → Distributed cracking across nodes

Cryptographic Weaknesses Exploited

1. Short Key Spaces**: Sub-10 character passwords succumb rapidly to GPU clusters.

2. Deterministic RNGs: Poorly seeded random passwords exhibit patterns.

Mitigation Strategies

• Computational Cost Augmentation:

Implement Argon2id with

import argon2

hasher = argon2.PasswordHasher(time_cost=3, memory_cost=65536, parallelism=4)

hash = hasher.hash("correct horse battery staple")

• Rate Limiting

Fail2ban configuration for SSH

[sshd]

maxretry = 3

bantime = 1h

2) Dictionary Attacks – Exploiting Anthropomorphic Vulnerabilities

Lexicographical Attack Theory

Dictionary attacks leverage the Zipfian distribution of password choices, wherein a minority of common passwords (e.g., `123456`, `password`) dominate real-world usage. The attack's success probability \( P \) is

P_0 -> H(P_0) -> R(H(P_0)) = P_1 -> ... -> P_n

Empirical Data

The `rockyou.txt` wordlist (14M entries) cracks ~60% of passwords in uncontrolled environments (Cambridge 2022 Study).

Advanced Tooling Configurations

Rule-Based Mutation in Hashcat

# hashcat -m 1000 -a 0 -r /usr/share/hashcat/rules/leetspeak.rule ntlm_hashes.txt rockyou.txt

• Rule File: Transforms `password` → `p@ssw0rd!`

Probabilistic Context-Free Grammar (PCFG) Attacks

Using Mentalist (GUI) or PACK (Password Analysis and Cracking Kit)

python3 pcfgengine.py —gen -t 8 -o customwordlist.txt

Case Study: Cracking WPA2 Handshakes

Step 1: Capture handshake

airodump-ng -c 6 —bssid 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E -w capture wlan0mon

Step 2: Dictionary attack

hashcat -m 22000 capture.hccapx -a 0 -w 3 rockyou.txt

Countermeasures

- Password Composition Policies:

Enforce Markov-model-based complexity (regex):

^(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[!@#\$%^&*])(?!.*(.)\1{2}).{12,}$

• Behavioral Analysis

Deploy AI-driven anomaly detection (e.g., Darktrace).

1. Rainbow Table Attacks – Time-Memory Tradeoff Exploitation

Mathematical Foundations

Rainbow Tables operationalize **Hellman's Time-Memory Tradeoff (1980)**, reducing cracking time via precomputation. For a hash function \( H \), the table stores chains of:

P0​→H(P0​)→R(H(P0​))=P1​→⋯→Pn​

where RR = reduction function.

Advanced Implementation

Distributed Table Generation

# Using RainbowCrack's rtgen on a 64-node cluster

mpirun -np 64 rtgen md5 loweralpha 1 7 0 3800 33554432 0

Ophcrack for Windows Environments

ophcrack -g -t xp_free -d /tables -f SAM

Cryptanalysis Limitations

1. Salt-Induced Obfuscation:

Given H(p∥s) H(p∥s), where ss = salt, precomputation becomes infeasible.

2. Space Complexity:

SHA-256 tables for 8-char passwords require ~16 exabytes (EB).

Defensive Posturing

• Per-User Salting(python):

import os, hashlib

salt = os.urandom(32) # 256-bit salt

hash = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac('sha256', pwd.encode(), salt, 100000)

• Memory-Hard Functions:

# Using scrypt with N=2^20, r=8, p=1

openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -pbkdf2 -scrypt -N 1048576 -r 8 -p 1

Comparative Analysis and Strategic Recommendations

Modern systems with salting nullify Rainbow Tables.

Enterprise-Grade Recommendations

1. Password Managers

Enforce Bitwarden Enterprise with PBKDF2-SHA256.

2. Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)

Store hashes in Thales Luna HSMs.

3. Continuous Pen Testing

# Scheduled Hashcat runs with rule updates

# 0 2 hashcat -m 1800 -a 0 -r /rules/new_hybrid.rule /hashes/latest.txt

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Epilogue: The Future of Password Security

As quantum computing looms, lattice-based cryptography (e.g., NTRU) may supplant current hashing standards. Until then, defenders must:

• Adopt FIDO2/WebAuthn for passwordless auth
• Implement just-in-time credential rotation
• Conduct red team exercises with (python)

python3 empire.py --pass-crack --mode=hybrid --target=AD

This 1900-word treatise provides both theoretical depth and actionable insights for advanced practitioners. For further study, consult NIST SP 800-63B and OWASP Password Storage Cheat Sheet.

Appendices

A. Sample Hashcat Rule File

B. Password Entropy Calculator (Python)

C. Cryptographic Hash Function Benchmarks

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Special thanks for M. Remzi C. & P. J. Kelvin

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Reference

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2017). . Digital identity guidelines: Authentication and lifecycle management (SP 800-63B). U.S. Department of Commerce.“)NIST Special Publication 800-63B: Digital Identity Guidelines – Authentication and Lifecycle Management. Digital identity guidelines: Authentication and lifecycle management (SP 800-63B). U.S. Department of Commerce.“).. Digital identity guidelines: Authentication and lifecycle management (SP 800-63B). U.S. Department of Commerce.“)

Relevance

Defines modern password policies (e.g., minimum length, complexity requirements). Recommends against periodic password resets (contrary to traditional practices). Advocates for multi-factor authentication (MFA) and salted hashing.

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[Verizon. (2023). ](Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report. “Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data breach investigations report. Verizon Business Group.”)[2023 Data Breach Investigations Report](Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report. “Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data breach investigations report. Verizon Business Group.”)[.](Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report. “Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data breach investigations report. Verizon Business Group.”)

Relevance

Provides empirical data on credential-based breaches (e.g., 81% of hacking incidents involve weak/stolen passwords). Highlights the prevalence of brute force attacks on SSH/RDP. Discusses real-world case studies of dictionary attacks.

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Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). (2023). . Password storage cheat sheet. OWASP Foundation.“)[Password Storage Cheat Sheet](https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/PasswordStorageCheatSheet.html “Open Web Application Security Project. (2023). Password storage cheat sheet. OWASP Foundation.”)[.](https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/PasswordStorageCheatSheet.html “Open Web Application Security Project. (2023). Password storage cheat sheet. OWASP Foundation.”)

Relevance

Details secure hashing algorithms (e.g., Argon2, PBKDF2, bcrypt). Explains salt implementation best practices. Warns against outdated methods (e.g., unsalted MD5/SHA-1).

Next article will be

Advanced Topics in Authentication Security: Quantum-Resistant Algorithms and Kerberos-Specific Attacks

I was tagged by Joel to answer the Technology Questions Challenge!

🙌Challenge accepted!

When did you first get interested in technology?

I’ve always been draw to machines that could do things: TV’s, radios, rotary telephones, cassette players (note: I was born in 1979). These devices fascinated me, and I constantly annoyed my parents by asking how they worked. I even managed to destroy the only tube TV in our house while conducting an “experiment”: I partially unplugged it and touched both prongs of the plug with a piece of metal (I think it was a spoon) while the TV was still connected to power. BOOM—fried TV! My parents were not happy, especially since we were growing up during a time of crazy hyperinflation in Brazil, and electronics were not easy to replace.

But I truly fell in love with technology when my dad—who was a mathematician, civil engineer, and university professor—got access to computers at the university. One day, he brought home a small personal computer: the TK-85 (a Brazilian clone of the ZX81). I was hooked immediately. I must have been around 7-8 years old.

The TK-85 ran a BASIC operating system. It had a small keyboard, a joystick, no mouse, a TV output and it could be hooked up to a cassette player to load up programs. It didn’t have internal memory in the way we think of it now—every time we wanted to use a program, we had to load it into the RAM, which could take 30 minutes or more depending on the file size. The cassette player made these weird, alien-like noises while loading.

That’s how I got started with computers. I learned BASIC and DOS, and I still remember the thrill of moving from a text-only interface to using Windows for the first time—with a mouse and multiple windows! 😱 The mouse was mind-blowing to me.

The rest is history. My dad kept upgrading our home computer, and as soon as I could save up enough money, I bought my own PC.

What’s Your Favorite Piece Of Technology All-Time?

This question always makes me think of the fundamental technologies that enabled the modern world: sanitation, steam engines, photography, electricity, the telegraph, the transistor, telephones, and more. Maybe I’m going too far back—but without electricity, we wouldn’t have any of it. So, I’ll say electricity!

If I had to name a favorite object, it would be the personal computer (with a good keyboard!). A close second would be the digital wristwatch.

What’s Your Favorite Piece Of Technology Right Now?

I love e-readers! I think they are such a neat piece of technology! I got my first Kindle in 2012 and used it for nine years before switching to a Kobo Libra H2O in 2021 (a few years after I moved to Canada) which I still use daily. E-readers gave me access to books that weren’t published in Brazil or were too expensive to import. I truly believe they help democratize access to knowledge, which makes it all the more frustrating to see what Amazon is doing with the Kindle ecosystem right now. Still, there are great alternatives out there, and I’m hopeful that independent e-readers will continue to innovate.

Name One New Cool Piece Of Technology We’ll Have In 25 Years!

I can’t predict the future, but I hope we move toward more sustainable production and use of technology. I’d love to see a future where planned obsolescence is a thing of the past and devices are modular, upgradeable, and repairable, so we stop generating the massive amounts of e-waste we see today.

So, it would be cool to have modular technologies. Also, solar or renewable powered devices and wearables. It would be amazing to have fully biodegradable electronics.

I also hope we create digital environments that aren’t driven solely by corporate interests: places where ecosystems can communicate with one another, protect privacy, encourage diversity and equitable access to knowledge (not just feed us junk and ads).

Final thoughts

This was fun! Thanks @Joel for tagging me!

It was nice to go down memory lane and reflect on how technology shaped who I am and how it could shape our future. I feel incredibly grateful to have had access to a computer at such a young age. Back then, computers weren’t ubiquitous in Brazil. It took years for personal computers to become truly popular and affordable. My dad was fortunate to be part of a small group of people who worked with computers early on, and that gave me a rare opportunity.

I’m hopeful that we’ll wake up from the hot mess we’re in today and shift toward a future where technology is more sustainable, open, accessible, and focused on helping humanity rather than exploiting it.

I will nominate:

• Steve – An Almost Anonymous Blog
• Marisabel – Konfetti Explorations
• Alexandra – The Wry Writer

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Post 81/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

#100DaysToOffload #100Days #challenge #tech #noisymusings