Did Marlon Vera simply run out of time in the UFC 299 headliner with Sean O&#x27;Malley?

Marlon Vera's coach reacts to UFC 299 loss to Sean O'Malley: 'With no clock? Chito goes to jail for murder'

Sean O’Malley retained the bantamweight title by unanimous decision

MMA fighter Marlon Vera lost the big fight in Miami. Then he got even more bad news

ITV viewers were forced to put on subtitles in a bid to understand Brenda Blythen saying the word &quot;Bairn&quot;, after thinking for years she said &quot;Ben&quot;.

Vera fans needed subtitles to understand Brenda Blethyn drama after learning 'new word' | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV | Express.co.uk

Vera doesn&#x27;t think this home invasion was the only injustice that occurred to him over the weekend. Going down the slippery slope, Vera lashed out at O&#x27;Malley, claiming the champ had cheated by being &#x27;greased&#x27; up for their title fight.

UFC 299 Aftermath: Chito Vera Accuses Sean O’Malley of Cheating, Rivalry Re-Ignites - Sports Illustrated MMA News, Analysis and More

O’Malley dominated Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera for five rounds in the main event of UFC 299

Sean O’Malley describes ‘disgusting feeling’ of viral knee to Chito Vera’s face | The Independent

tarform includes over-the-air updates for its keyless electric motorcycle ‘vera’ to save the rider time dropping by workshops.

tarform releases vera, a keyless electric motorcycle for both city streets and muddy trails

Sean O&#x27;Malley defeated Marlon Vera to retain the bantamweight title at UFC 299.

UFC 299 Sean O'Malley defeats Marlon Chito to retain bantamweight title - ESPN

Henry Cejudo lambasted Marlon Vera for his performance against Sean O&#x27;Malley at UFC 299.

Henry Cejudo rips Marlon Vera's performance vs. Sean O'Malley, open to fighting him next #UFC299

There was a ton of exciting action on Saturday night inside the Kaseya Center in Miami

UFC 299 -- Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon Vera: Results, highlights, fight card, winners, complete guide - CBSSports.com

In a brilliant performance, Sean O&#x27;Malley dominated Marlon Vera to retain his bantamweight title at UFC 299.

Sean O'Malley puts on show, routs Marlon Vera at UFC 299 - ESPN

Vera

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The United States v Meta Platforms Court Filing October 24, 2023 is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This is part 48 of 100. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here COUNT III: FALSE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS BY META IN VIOLATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE SECTION 17500 (BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA) 865. The People of the State of California (California) reallege and incorporate herein by reference each of the allegations contained in the preceding paragraphs 1 through 859 as though fully alleged in this cause of action. 866. From a date unknown to California and continuing to the present, Meta has engaged in and continues to engage in acts or practices that constitute violations of California Business and Professions Code section 17500 et seq., by making or causing to be made untrue or misleading statements with the intent to induce members of the public to use Meta’s platforms when such statements were likely to mislead members of the public about the nature and safety of Meta’s platforms. Meta’s untrue or misleading representations include, but are not limited to, the representations described in paragraph 846. 867. At the time the untrue or misleading representations were made, Meta knew or by the exercise of reasonable care should have known that the representations were untrue or misleading. Continue Reading . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case 4:23-cv-05448 retrieved on October 25, 2023, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. Washingtonpost.com

The Pursuit of Veracity: California Accuses Meta of Touting Falsehoods

Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE NEW HARBOR OF VERA CRUZ. here THE NEW HARBOR OF VERA CRUZ. Besides the enormous engineering work of rendering navigable one of the mouths of the Mississippi Delta, and the continuous labor of developing the more original and still bolder project for an Isthmian ship railway, Mr. James B. Eads has been engaged in the design of new and extensive harbor works at Vera Cruz, which, when completed, will secure for that city a commodious and secure port. The accompanying plan shows the natural features of the locality, as well as the new works. The harbor is formed by the coast line from the Punta de la Caleta to the Punta de Hornos, and by La Gallega reef. From the first named point a coral reef, nearly dry at low water, extends out about 300 yards into the gulf, and a similar one of about the same length runs out from the Punta de Hornos. Between these is a bay 2,000 meters wide, and at its northwest end lies the city of Vera Cruz. The bay is partly inclosed by an island or reef—La Gallega—which, on the harbor front, has a length of 1,200 meters. Beyond this, and to the southeast, is another small island—the Lavendera reef. Between the end of this reef and that projecting from the Punta de Hornos is 320 meters wide. As will be seen from the plan the natural harbor is exposed to the gale from the north and northwest, while the formation affords general protection from the northeast and southeast thanks to five large coral reefs. Not unfrequently, however, heavy seas sweep through the wide channels between these small islands interfering seriously with vessels lying alongside the present limited wharfage. Northeast, La Gallega and Gallaguilla reefs run northward from the harbor for 3,300 meters and these with the main coast line, form a bay exposed to the full fury of the winds from the north, and when northern winds prevail rough water is driven through the passage between La Gallega and Caleta reefs with great violence, and sets up a rapid and dangerous current into the harbor. From the foregoing it will be seen that, while presenting some advantages, the natural harbor of Vera Cruz possesses many drawbacks and dangers which the design of Mr. Eads will completely remove. The leading features of the works about to be carried out are indicated on the plan. They comprise The construction of a sea wall between La Gallega and the Lavendera reefs, with an extension over the latter. The construction of a sea wall from Punta de la Caleta to La Gallega. This part of the work will be begun after the completion of the first wall to a height of at least 3 ft. above low water. A dike connecting the northern ends of the first two dikes with each other, and stretching across the southern part of La Gallega, to prevent the seas which sometimes break over this reef from entering the harbor. The wall between La Gallega and Lavendera will not only cut off the rough water during northerly gales, but will also effectually prevent the deposition of sand in the harbor, because the through passage to the northwest will be stopped. Passages closed by sluice gates will be formed through this wall at about low water level, so that at any time the harbor may be flushed out and stagnation prevented. After the construction of the inclosing walls the harbor will be dredged out and cleared of coral to a depth of 25ft. below low water. Following these works of primary importance comes the construction of a wooden roadway from the Hornos reef to the northwestern dike. This roadway will form the south front of the harbor, and the excavated material will be deposited on the space between the roadway and the existing bottom, so as ultimately to make it a permanent work with a masonry retaining wall fronting the harbor. The land between the roadway and the city would also be reclaimed to the extent of more than 740,000 square yards. The construction of wooden piers at right angles to the roadway, which would be extended to run around the harbor as trade required it, for ships to be alongside for loading and unloading. The construction of these short piers would be similar to those used in New York and other United States ports, and they might afterward be replaced by masonry if the increase in trade justified so large an expenditure. The erection of a lighthouse, at or near the eastern end of the Lavendera sea wall of a second on the eastern side of La Gallaguilla reef, and of another on the west side of La Blanquilla reef. These houses will be furnished with distinctive signals to enable steamers running in before another to run with safety between La Gallaguilla and La Blanquilla as soon as the Lavendera light is seen between the other two. The width of deep water at the entrance between the Lavendera and Hornos reefs will be 1,000 ft. The estimated cost of these extensive works is ten millions of dollars, a large sum for the Mexican Republic to expend in harbor improvements at one port but it will doubtless be found a profitable investment as it will tend greatly to promote trade, and so increase indefinitely the commerce of the port. Mr. Eads' plan having been approved by the Mexican Government the work was formally commenced on the 14th of last August. Plans were also furnished by him at the request of the Government, for deepening the mouth of the Panuco River upon which is located the city of Tampico, the Gulf terminus of the Mexican central railway system.—Engineering. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Various (2006). Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18763/pg18763-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE NEW HARBOR OF VERA CRUZ

Mark Twain's Speeches by Mark Twain, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . ON POETRY, VERACITY, AND SUICIDE here ON POETRY, VERACITY, AND SUICIDE ADDRESS AT A DINNER OF THE MANHATTAN DICKENS FELLOWSHIP,
          NEW YORK CITY, FEBRUARY 7, 1906

          This dinner was in commemoration of the ninety-fourth
          anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.  On an other
          occasion Mr. Clemens told the same story with variations and a
          different conclusion to the University Settlement Society. I always had taken an interest in young people who wanted to become poets. I remember I was particularly interested in one budding poet when I was a reporter. His name was Butter. One day he came to me and said, disconsolately, that he was going to commit suicide—he was tired of life, not being able to express his thoughts in poetic form. Butter asked me what I thought of the idea. I said I would; that it was a good idea. “You can do me a friendly turn. You go off in a private place and do it there, and I’ll get it all. You do it, and I’ll do as much for you some time.” At first he determined to drown himself. Drowning is so nice and clean, and writes up so well in a newspaper. But things ne’er do go smoothly in weddings, suicides, or courtships. Only there at the edge of the water, where Butter was to end himself, lay a life-preserver—a big round canvas one, which would float after the scrap-iron was soaked out of it. Butter wouldn’t kill himself with the life-preserver in sight, and so I had an idea. I took it to a pawnshop, and [soaked] it for a revolver: The pawnbroker didn’t think much of the exchange, but when I explained the situation he acquiesced. We went up on top of a high building, and this is what happened to the poet: He put the revolver to his forehead and blew a tunnel straight through his head. The tunnel was about the size of your finger. You could look right through it. The job was complete; there was nothing in it. Well, after that that man never could write prose, but he could write poetry. He could write it after he had blown his brains out. There is lots of that talent all over the country, but the trouble is they don’t develop it. I am suffering now from the fact that I, who have told the truth a good many times in my life, have lately received more letters than anybody else urging me to lead a righteous life. I have more friends who want to see me develop on a high level than anybody else. Young John D. Rockefeller, two weeks ago, taught his Bible class all about veracity, and why it was better that everybody should always keep a plentiful supply on hand. Some of the letters I have received suggest that I ought to attend his class and learn, too. Why, I know Mr. Rockefeller, and he is a good fellow. He is competent in many ways to teach a Bible class, but when it comes to veracity he is only thirty-five years old. I’m seventy years old. I have been familiar with veracity twice as long as he. And the story about George Washington and his little hatchet has also been suggested to me in these letters—in a fugitive way, as if I needed some of George Washington and his hatchet in my constitution. Why, dear me, they overlook the real point in that story. The point is not the one that is usually suggested, and you can readily see that. The point is not that George said to his father, “Yes, father, I cut down the cheery-tree; I can’t tell a lie,” but that the little boy—only seven years old—should have his sagacity developed under such circumstances. He was a boy wise beyond his years. His conduct then was a prophecy of later years. Yes, I think he was the most remarkable man the country ever produced-up to my time, anyway. Now then, little George realized that circumstantial evidence was against him. He knew that his father would know from the size of the chips that no full-grown hatchet cut that tree down, and that no man would have haggled it so. He knew that his father would send around the plantation and inquire for a small boy with a hatchet, and he had the wisdom to come out and confess it. Now, the idea that his father was overjoyed when he told little George that he would rather have him cut down, a thousand cheery-trees than tell a lie is all nonsense. What did he really mean? Why, that he was absolutely astonished that he had a son who had the chance to tell a lie and didn’t. I admire old George—if that was his name—for his discernment. He knew when he said that his son couldn’t tell a lie that he was stretching it a good deal. He wouldn’t have to go to John D. Rockefeller’s Bible class to find that out. The way the old George Washington story goes down it doesn’t do anybody any good. It only discourages people who can tell a lie. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Mark Twain (2004). Mark Twain's Speeches. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3188/pg3188-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

ON POETRY, VERACITY, AND SUICIDE

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE GREAT RAILWAY TO VERA CRUZ here THE GREAT RAILWAY TO VERA CRUZ. "You have been a guest in his house. Then, I guess, the thing's about as good as done." These words were spoken with a fine, sharp, nasal twang by a brilliantly-dressed American gentleman in one of the smartest private rooms of the great railway hotel at Liverpool, and they were addressed to a young Englishman who was sitting opposite to him. Between them there was a table covered with maps, schedules, and printed programmes. The American was smoking a very large cigar, which he kept constantly turning in his mouth, and half of which was inside his teeth. The Englishman had a short pipe. Mr. Hamilton K. Fisker, of the firm of Fisker, Montague, and Montague, was the American, and the Englishman was our friend Paul, the junior member of that firm. "But I didn't even speak to him," said Paul. "In commercial affairs that matters nothing. It quite justifies you in introducing me. We are not going to ask your friend to do us a favour. We don't want to borrow money." "I thought you did." "If he'll go in for the thing he'd be one of us, and there would be no borrowing then. He'll join us if he's as clever as they say, because he'll see his way to making a couple of million of dollars out of it. If he'd take the trouble to run over and show himself in San Francisco, he'd make double that. The moneyed men would go in with him at once, because they know that he understands the game and has got the pluck. A man who has done what he has by financing in Europe,—by George! there's no limit to what he might do with us. We're a bigger people than any of you and have more room. We go after bigger things, and don't stand shilly-shally on the brink as you do. But Melmotte pretty nigh beats the best among us. Anyway he should come and try his luck, and he couldn't have a bigger thing or a safer thing than this. He'd see it immediately if I could talk to him for half an hour." "Mr. Fisker," said Paul mysteriously, "as we are partners, I think I ought to let you know that many people speak very badly of Mr. Melmotte's honesty." Mr. Fisker smiled gently, turned his cigar twice round in his mouth, and then closed one eye. "There is always a want of charity," he said, "when a man is successful." The scheme in question was the grand proposal for a South Central Pacific and Mexican railway, which was to run from the Salt Lake City, thus branching off from the San Francisco and Chicago line,—and pass down through the fertile lands of New Mexico and Arizona, into the territory of the Mexican Republic, run by the city of Mexico, and come out on the gulf at the port of Vera Cruz. Mr. Fisker admitted at once that it was a great undertaking, acknowledged that the distance might be perhaps something over 2,000 miles, acknowledged that no computation had or perhaps could be made as to the probable cost of the railway; but seemed to think that questions such as these were beside the mark and childish. Melmotte, if he would go into the matter at all, would ask no such questions. But we must go back a little. Paul Montague had received a telegram from his partner, Hamilton K. Fisker, sent on shore at Queenstown from one of the New York liners, requesting him to meet Fisker at Liverpool immediately. With this request he had felt himself bound to comply. Personally he had disliked Fisker,—and perhaps not the less so because when in California he had never found himself able to resist the man's good humour, audacity, and cleverness combined. He had found himself talked into agreeing with any project which Mr. Fisker might have in hand. It was altogether against the grain with him, and yet by his own consent, that the flour-mill had been opened at Fiskerville. He trembled for his money and never wished to see Fisker again; but still, when Fisker came to England, he was proud to remember that Fisker was his partner, and he obeyed the order and went down to Liverpool. If the flour-mill had frightened him, what must the present project have done! Fisker explained that he had come with two objects,—first to ask the consent of the English partner to the proposed change in their business, and secondly to obtain the co-operation of English capitalists. The proposed change in the business meant simply the entire sale of the establishment at Fiskerville, and the absorption of the whole capital in the work of getting up the railway. "If you could realise all the money it wouldn't make a mile of the railway," said Paul. Mr. Fisker laughed at him. The object of Fisker, Montague, and Montague was not to make a railway to Vera Cruz, but to float a company. Paul thought that Mr. Fisker seemed to be indifferent whether the railway should ever be constructed or not. It was clearly his idea that fortunes were to be made out of the concern before a spadeful of earth had been moved. If brilliantly printed programmes might avail anything, with gorgeous maps, and beautiful little pictures of trains running into tunnels beneath snowy mountains and coming out of them on the margin of sunlit lakes, Mr. Fisker had certainly done much. But Paul, when he saw all these pretty things, could not keep his mind from thinking whence had come the money to pay for them. Mr. Fisker had declared that he had come over to obtain his partner's consent, but it seemed to that partner that a great deal had been done without any consent. And Paul's fears on this hand were not allayed by finding that on all these beautiful papers he himself was described as one of the agents and general managers of the company. Each document was signed Fisker, Montague, and Montague. References on all matters were to be made to Fisker, Montague, and Montague,—and in one of the documents it was stated that a member of the firm had proceeded to London with the view of attending to British interests in the matter. Fisker had seemed to think that his young partner would express unbounded satisfaction at the greatness which was thus falling upon him. A certain feeling of importance, not altogether unpleasant, was produced, but at the same time there was another conviction forced upon Montague's mind, not altogether pleasant, that his money was being made to disappear without any consent given by him, and that it behoved him to be cautious lest such consent should be extracted from him unawares. "What has become of the mill?" he asked. "We have put an agent into it." "Is not that dangerous? What check have you on him?" "He pays us a fixed sum, sir. But, my word! when there is such a thing as this on hand a trumpery mill like that is not worth speaking of." "You haven't sold it?" "Well;—no. But we've arranged a price for a sale." "You haven't taken the money for it?" "Well;—yes; we have. We've raised money on it, you know. You see you weren't there, and so the two resident partners acted for the firm. But Mr. Montague, you'd better go with us. You had indeed." "And about my own income?" "That's a flea-bite. When we've got a little ahead with this it won't matter, sir, whether you spend twenty thousand or forty thousand dollars a year. We've got the concession from the United States Government through the territories, and we're in correspondence with the President of the Mexican Republic. I've no doubt we've an office open already in Mexico and another at Vera Cruz." "Where's the money to come from?" "Money to come from, sir? Where do you suppose the money comes from in all these undertakings? If we can float the shares, the money'll come in quick enough. We hold three million dollars of the stock ourselves." "Six hundred thousand pounds!" said Montague. "We take them at par, of course,—and as we sell we shall pay for them. But of course we shall only sell at a premium. If we can run them up even to 110, there would be three hundred thousand dollars. But we'll do better than that. I must try and see Melmotte at once. You had better write a letter now." "I don't know the man." "Never mind. Look here—I'll write it, and you can sign it." Whereupon Mr. Fisker did write the following letter:— Langham Hotel, London. March 4, 18—. Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure of informing you that my partner, Mr. Fisker,—of Fisker, Montague, and Montague, of San Francisco,—is now in London with the view of allowing British capitalists to assist in carrying out perhaps the greatest work of the age,—namely, the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway, which is to give direct communication between San Francisco and the Gulf of Mexico. He is very anxious to see you upon his arrival, as he is aware that your co-operation would be desirable. We feel assured that with your matured judgment in such matters you would see at once the magnificence of the enterprise. If you will name a day and an hour, Mr. Fisker will call upon you. I have to thank you and Madame Melmotte for a very pleasant evening spent at your house last week. Mr. Fisker proposes returning to New York. I shall remain here, superintending the British interests which may be involved. I have the honour to be, Dear Sir, Most faithfully yours. —— ——. "But I have never said that I would superintend the interests," said Montague. "You can say so now. It binds you to nothing. You regular John Bull Englishmen are so full of scruples that you lose as much of life as should serve to make an additional fortune." After some further conversation Paul Montague recopied the letter and signed it. He did it with doubt,—almost with dismay. But he told himself that he could do no good by refusing. If this wretched American, with his hat on one side and rings on his fingers, had so far got the upper hand of Paul's uncle as to have been allowed to do what he liked with the funds of the partnership, Paul could not stop it. On the following morning they went up to London together, and in the course of the afternoon Mr. Fisker presented himself in Abchurch Lane. The letter written at Liverpool, but dated from the Langham Hotel, had been posted at the Euston Square Railway Station at the moment of Fisker's arrival. Fisker sent in his card, and was asked to wait. In the course of twenty minutes he was ushered into the great man's presence by no less a person than Miles Grendall. It has been already said that Mr. Melmotte was a big man with large whiskers, rough hair, and with an expression of mental power on a harsh vulgar face. He was certainly a man to repel you by his presence unless attracted to him by some internal consideration. He was magnificent in his expenditure, powerful in his doings, successful in his business, and the world around him therefore was not repelled. Fisker, on the other hand, was a shining little man,—perhaps about forty years of age, with a well-twisted moustache, greasy brown hair, which was becoming bald at the top, good-looking if his features were analysed, but insignificant in appearance. He was gorgeously dressed, with a silk waistcoat and chains, and he carried a little stick. One would at first be inclined to say that Fisker was not much of a man; but after a little conversation most men would own that there was something in Fisker. He was troubled by no shyness, by no scruples, and by no fears. His mind was not capacious, but such as it was it was his own, and he knew how to use it. Abchurch Lane is not a grand site for the offices of a merchant prince. Here, at a small corner house, there was a small brass plate on a swing door, bearing the words "Melmotte & Co." Of whom the Co. was composed no one knew. In one sense Mr. Melmotte might be said to be in company with all the commercial world, for there was no business to which he would refuse his co-operation on certain terms. But he had never burthened himself with a partner in the usual sense of the term. Here Fisker found three or four clerks seated at desks, and was desired to walk up-stairs. The steps were narrow and crooked, and the rooms were small and irregular. Here he stayed for a while in a small dark apartment in which "The Daily Telegraph" was left for the amusement of its occupant till Miles Grendall announced to him that Mr. Melmotte would see him. The millionaire looked at him for a moment or two, just condescending to touch with his fingers the hand which Fisker had projected. "I don't seem to remember," he said, "the gentleman who has done me the honour of writing to me about you." "I dare say not, Mr. Melmotte. When I'm at home in San Francisco, I make acquaintance with a great many gents whom I don't remember afterwards. My partner I think told me that he went to your house with his friend, Sir Felix Carbury." "I know a young man called Sir Felix Carbury." "That's it. I could have got any amount of introductions to you if I had thought this would not have sufficed." Mr. Melmotte bowed. "Our account here in London is kept with the City and West End Joint Stock. But I have only just arrived, and as my chief object in coming to London is to see you, and as I met my partner, Mr. Montague, in Liverpool, I took a note from him and came on straight." "And what can I do for you, Mr. Fisker?" Then Mr. Fisker began his account of the Great South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway, and exhibited considerable skill by telling it all in comparatively few words. And yet he was gorgeous and florid. In two minutes he had displayed his programme, his maps, and his pictures before Mr. Melmotte's eyes, taking care that Mr. Melmotte should see how often the names of Fisker, Montague, and Montague, reappeared upon them. As Mr. Melmotte read the documents, Fisker from time to time put in a word. But the words had no reference at all to the future profits of the railway, or to the benefit which such means of communication would confer upon the world at large; but applied solely to the appetite for such stock as theirs, which might certainly be produced in the speculating world by a proper manipulation of the affairs. "You seem to think you couldn't get it taken up in your own country," said Melmotte. "There's not a doubt about getting it all taken up there. Our folk, sir, are quick enough at the game; but you don't want me to teach you, Mr. Melmotte, that nothing encourages this kind of thing like competition. When they hear at St. Louis and Chicago that the thing is alive in London, they'll be alive there. And it's the same here, sir. When they know that the stock is running like wildfire in America, they'll make it run here too." "How far have you got?" "What we've gone to work upon is a concession for making the line from the United States Congress. We're to have the land for nothing, of course, and a grant of one thousand acres round every station, the stations to be twenty-five miles apart." "And the land is to be made over to you,—when?" "When we have made the line up to the station." Fisker understood perfectly that Mr. Melmotte did not ask the question in reference to any value that he might attach to the possession of such lands, but to the attractiveness of such a prospectus in the eyes of the outside world of speculators. "And what do you want me to do, Mr. Fisker?" "I want to have your name there," he said. And he placed his finger down on a spot on which it was indicated that there was, or was to be, a chairman of an English Board of Directors, but with a space for the name, hitherto blank. "Who are to be your directors here, Mr. Fisker?" "We should ask you to choose them, sir. Mr. Paul Montague should be one, and perhaps his friend Sir Felix Carbury might be another. We could get probably one of the Directors of the City and West End. But we would leave it all to you,—as also the amount of stock you would like to take yourself. If you gave yourself to it, heart and soul, Mr. Melmotte, it would be the finest thing that there has been out for a long time. There would be such a mass of stock!" "You have to back that with a certain amount of paid-up capital?" "We take care, sir, in the West not to cripple commerce too closely by old-fashioned bandages. Look at what we've done already, sir, by having our limbs pretty free. Look at our line, sir, right across the continent, from San Francisco to New York. Look at—" "Never mind that, Mr. Fisker. People wanted to go from New York to San Francisco, and I don't know that they do want to go to Vera Cruz. But I will look at it, and you shall hear from me." The interview was over, and Mr. Fisker was contented with it. Had Mr. Melmotte not intended at least to think of it he would not have given ten minutes to the subject. After all, what was wanted from Mr. Melmotte was little more than his name, for the use of which Mr. Fisker proposed that he should receive from the speculative public two or three hundred thousand pounds. At the end of a fortnight from the date of Mr. Fisker's arrival in London, the company was fully launched in England, with a body of London directors, of whom Mr. Melmotte was the chairman. Among the directors were Lord Alfred Grendall, Sir Felix Carbury, Samuel Cohenlupe, Esq., Member of Parliament for Staines, a gentleman of the Jewish persuasion, Lord Nidderdale, who was also in Parliament, and Mr. Paul Montague. It may be thought that the directory was not strong, and that but little help could be given to any commercial enterprise by the assistance of Lord Alfred or Sir Felix;—but it was felt that Mr. Melmotte was himself so great a tower of strength that the fortune of the company,—as a company,—was made. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Anthony Trollope (2004). The Way We Live Now. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5231/pg5231-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE GREAT RAILWAY TO VERA CRUZ

On the topmost tier of the hotel verandah

Meriem and Bwana were sitting on the verandah

Three persons stepped from the veranda of Lord Greystoke's

By Javier Valez, Ph.D. Overview We’re excited to announce that will be starting a new series of posts on here at the blog. The series will explore quite a few aspects, including: Veracity Forge.AI Machine learning models for veracity Moral and ethical aspects of modeling veracity Experimental design and processes for creating machine learning models System design Validation This series is being written in tandem with the development of our system and models at Forge.AI and, as such, it is more of a journey than a destination. I will explore the rationale behind our choices and structure in order to illuminate hidden assumptions that may be baked into our models. We will also include my thoughts on being a (as opposed to other viewpoints and stances one can take when designing, building, or using machine learning). Modeler Why Veracity? At Forge.AI we consume many types of textual data as input including, but not limited to: news articles, research and analytical reports, tweets, marketing materials, shareholder presentations, SEC filings, transcripts, etc. At Forge.AI we are working to turn this “soup” of data into coherent, succinct, and salient nuggets we call Events. These Events are consumed by our customers to make decisions, take actions, and reason about concepts relevant to their business. Before we can transform our input data into such Events we need to consider one of the most fundamental principles of computational system, including machine learning systems: the concept of . This principle is most succinctly represented as: . any input quality Garbage In, Garbage Out Well, easy enough. We just won’t give our systems bad inputs! Done. End-of-Post. Yet this post is still going… So, what did we miss? To continue our metaphor, what people sometimes leave out is that . Whether so-called bad inputs should be ignored or treated as informative is a matter of perspective and use-case. This is especially true for us at Forge.AI since we do not, and can not, know every single use-case for every single possible consumer of our Events. Knowing the quality of the input is key to being able to decide what to do with the it — whether to not even use the input or to treat it as highly informative and useful in a particular system. one man’s trash is another man’s treasure One such quality of textual data that is often of interest is whether the meaning of the text is actually true or not. For numerical data we might measure quality with a but textual data quality is not as easily quantified. So, we turn to in hopes of being able to understand and reason about the quality of textual input. signal-to-noise ratio, veracity In addition to our own machine learning algorithms here at Forge.AI, we must also be cognizant of our customer’s machine learning systems. Do our customer’s systems handle “bad” quality data well? Is it useful for consumers of our Events data to know about things that are perhaps low-veracity? Some algorithms can leverage low-veracity Events such a tabloid hearsay or campaigns, for others ignorance is bliss. Our Events are designed to be inputs to machine learning systems far and wide; systems which themselves have to reason about their input data quality. Veracity is not just of interest to our internal machine learning algorithms, it is paramount for all consumers of our Events. Our models of data quality not only allow us to reason about *our* machine learning systems, they allow our consumers to reason about *their* machine learning systems. FUD A Definition Our initial definition for veracity comes from the the Merriam-Webster dictionary: . Even though this definition uses only five words we can already see the complexity of trying to model veracity. To start, we have a choice in how to interpret : is this a boolean property or are there gradations of conformity? We are a client-facing company therefore the results of our model of veracity — and our chosen definition of veracity — will be used by our clients to reason about their very own machine learning systems. At Forge.AI we pursue simplicity when building machine learning models in order to improve our own reasoning and because the users of our model results can reason about whether and how to use the results more efficiently. For these reasons we will treat conformity as being all-or-nothing. conformity with truth or fact conformity Rewriting the definition, we now have: Veracity = “Does [a blob of text] fully conform to truth or facts? [ Yes | No ].” Notice that I have now made veracity a boolean property and I have further focused our models to work on blobs of text. It is important to narrow the scope of the model early on so that we can: Construct a valid and useful problem statement Create hypotheses and design experiments Gather relevant data Let’s tackle the last two salient words: and . Wow. These words are loaded with potential meanings, nuances, politics, and philosophical pitfalls — entire fields are devoted to these two words. We need a base definition that is widely adopted from a trusted source, so we turn to one of the most reputable dictionaries of the english language: The Oxford English Dictionary. From the Oxford English Dictionary: truth fact Truth: That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality Fact: The truth about events as opposed to interpretation Seems clear enough — even with the circular definition; is a boolean property that represents whether a blob of text contains things, or Events, that are true according to reality. This definition is scoped to what the Event(s) represents. For example, one can have a “true” Event that asserts “Javier *said* I cannot write” and a second, false, Event that incorrectly asserted “Javier cannot write”. veracity Knowledge, Infinities, and Truth We now have a definition of what we want to model, but no model yet. How do we begin to model veracity, as defined in the previous section?, It seems like any model will have to ascertain whether something, call it X, is true. How many things can be true? How do we represent facts? How do we query something, call it Y, for whether X is true or not? There will never be a Y that can store “all true things”, or, at least, practically never. We can have local regions of knowledge stored in , and such objects would allow us to query for whether X was true or not according to the Knowledge Base, but having a global, sufficient Knowledge Base seems like an impossible task. It is not even clear whether the number of truths or facts is finite or infinite. Additionally, what is known changes over time: non-stationarity will get you every time! Knowledge Bases Of course, we can always certain things about truth. We could assume that truth is finite, or we could go down the non-parametric Bayesian route and assume truth is infinite but only a finite representation is needed at any point in time. We can also assume that truth and facts change slowly over time, perhaps not at all, in order to ignore the non-stationarity or make the growth rate manageable. How far do these assumption take us? We can reduce the problem of veracity down to the following: given a blob of text representing X, is X contained in our Knowledge Base Y? Unreservedly glossing over we get X from the blob of text (where X is something we can then query our Knowledge Base Y about), we have now turned our model of veracity into a query of a Knowledge Base. The caveats: assume how Our Knowledge Base must contain all (finite, current, pertinent) truths Our Knowledge Base contains no falsehoods So, even with two very strong assumptions regarding finiteness of truth and stationarity, we have to somehow construct a Knowledge Base that contains truths and nothing but the truth. A back of the envelope calculation is enough to see the sheer magnitude, and impracticality, of storing all possible facts: There are 7.6 billion people on earth (source: ) and each makes at least one decision daily which gives rise to at least one fact … and this does not include facts about things that are not people! still all worldometers This line of thought has given me pause. Let us say, for now, that we will have a Knowledge Base big enough to contain all truth. Can we, perhaps, only apply veracity towards subjects that we care about? How then, do we define what we care about? Is it based on some form of utility function, perhaps applied to a future state? However we define it, we try to build a knowledge base whose facts and truth cover a certain region or domain of knowledge well. We can quantify what means, as well as . In fact, this ideas of how one builds a knowledge base is . not can well cover already being discussed here at Forge.AI There will invariably come a time, though, when we must apply a model of veracity to something which is not in our Knowledge Base; either because it is a brand new thing or because our Knowledge Base is just incomplete. What recourse, then? Do we throw up our hands and say that anything not in our Knowledge Base is, by construction and definition, unreasonable (unable-to-be-reasoned-about)? What then of consumers who are on the bleeding edge, whose needs require reasoning over new and unexplored regimes? The real question, then, is can we make a model of veracity that does not depend on our, or any, Knowledge Base? *1 Veracity Devoid of Fact Eschewing a Knowledge Base, what is left? Let us consider we want a model for veracity in the first place. I can come up with the following reasons: why We want to know when someone or something is lying in order to “count lies”. It does not matter what the lie is about, or why, just that we see a lie We want to know if we can something trust We want to know if someone or something is lying (or not) because we want to know they are lying (or telling the truth): was it simply a mistake, or is there some other game afoot? why Option #1 seems like we really do need a Knowledge Base. This option is all about whether the text is truthful or not and is a direct application of our definition of veracity. I can see, for example, academics wanting to study the statistics of lies, or the dynamics of lies, being interested in this option. I do not see a way to create a model of veracity for option #1; it is a valid problem but not one we will consider from now on. Option #2 is all about . Now, trust certainly has a similar feel to facts and truth, but it is not exactly the same thing. You may be able to trust the content of a blob of text by trusting the of that text. In fact, it is very reasonable to know the truth behind a piece of text and to trust the source and therefore learn what the text says as a fact. Here I see several ways that we can try to model a quantity much like veracity but whose goal is actually trust: trust source not Reputation Expertise (global) Expertise (specific) Community Membership/”Points” Multiple Sources and Corroboration Past Experience Intention of Source Option #3 is all about the of the source for the target audience. Notice that the last bullet point for the previous option also has the intention of the source. Coincidence? I think not! intention Intention: An Aim or Plan The section heading comes straight out of the definition of from the Oxford English Dictionary. Intention is all about the aim or the goal of a particular piece of text. Is the textual piece trying to persuade? Is the piece trying to inform as objectively as possible? Is the piece trying to get itself re-syndicated somehow (sensational writing and/or headlines)? Are there, possibly hidden, agendas for the textual information? If so, what are the agendas? Are there utility feedback loops in the environment which can inform the intention of a piece of writing, for example: intention clickbait Web ads + click revenue = clickbait Academic publication + grant likelihood = doomed to succeed One striking property of the examples on intention above is that none of them revolve around . In fact, they are all relevant and interesting questions irregardless of the factual content (or lack thereof) of a piece of text. This looks like a promising direction since intention, it seems, does not require a Knowledge Base. truth Stepping Back and Stepping Forward: The Modeler’s Dance Okay, let’s step back and see where we have arrived. We started with the idea of and a solid and clear definition: conformity to truth or facts. However, when we began digging for a model of veracity we stumbled upon Knowledge Bases and the seemingly impossible task of ever having “the right Knowledge Base containing all truth and nothing but the truth”. So, what does a modeler do? We started dissecting the reasons why we would want a model of veracity. It turns out that for two of the three reasons we quickly came up with, the idea of was paramount. And intention has nothing to do with truth, or Knowledge Bases, so we can sidestep that whole mess altogether. veracity intention Such back-and-forth reasoning I call the because it is an unavoidable process when creating models. Modelers are not, strictly, scientists in the sense of a search for truth; a model may be an approximation of reality, or it may be a useful tool to compute something. As such, modelers are not explicitly tied to the truth of the universe but sometimes are like engineers and create tools that are useful for specific functions. modeler’s dance Now, you may think that modeling anything but truth will always be worse than if you modeled truth itself. If that thought crossed your mind, I ask you this: have you ever found a self-deception to be useful, perhaps even necessary, during some part of your life (e.g. when dealing with fears or anxieties self-deception is a useful )? We do not have the freedom to wait until we have fully understood reality to live in it (we are alive right now!). Similarly, a modeler cannot fail to consider that the model needs to be used, the questions need to be asked and answered, even if the truth of the matter is as yet unknown to all of humanity (or even just to the modeler). There is always a part of a modeling process where we need to determine both what we believe to be truth, and what we believe we need to model; the two are not always the same thing: ego defense Dance of the Modeler 1: Intention and Syntax Our journey so far has taken us to a new goal: creating a model of . We want this model to explicitly distance itself from Knowledge Bases, facts, and truth. Further, we would like this model to apply as generally as possible to pieces of text. How do we do this? We turn to the somewhat contentious ideas, authored by James E. Pennebaker in , that the use and structure of language carries information about the emotions and self-concepts of the author of said language. As an example, people who obsess about the past use high rates of past-tense verbs. Pennebaker’s ideas are alluring because they tie together language and creator of that language so that analyzing the language reveals something about the creator — such as their intentions. In order to be general to types of text, is there something in the syntax that can help infer the intention of the piece of text? According to Pennebaker: Yes. “Functional word” (pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs) usage may give insight into the speaker, the audience, or both. We will go a step further and try to use the syntax structures themselves (not the actual word choice) as features with which to build a model of intention. An example and teaser of how syntax differs by intention is the following: the average number of adverbs used in survey questions (designed by statisticians to be unbiased) differs from that in reading comprehension questions (where presumably statisticians were not employed to create unbiased questions). intention “The Secret Life Of Pronouns” *2 While syntax seems to align with intention, we must be extremely cautious not to end up creating a model for . Voice, sometimes erroneously referred to as the writing style of a piece, is not fully understood. Different communities and cultures may have norms determining the voice that is “proper” or “good” for a particular piece of text. Human readers are often swayed by the voice of a piece of text, especially if the voice goes against the norms of the reader’s community. While voice may be an interesting part of a piece of text, it is not the intention of the text. Our wish is for a model of intention, irregardless of voice. Why? Because as modelers, we are responsible for the decisions, actions, and possible misuses of our models. We want to be very careful to make a model that unfairly biases towards/against: voice not Race Gender Age Culture For us, we will use the following definition: voice is all stylistics elements that are and are to the speaker/writer; voice encompasses intrinsic properties of the speaker/writer devoid of intention. Style, on the other hand, is a made by a writer and has an inherent intentionality behind it; I may choose to write in a persuasive style, or an analytical style. For those further interested in voice, Dell Hymes’ is an interesting read. based on the individual speaker/writer inherent choice “Ethnography, Linguistics, Narrative Inequality: Toward an Understanding of Voice” Now that we have a traded one seemingly impossible modeling task (veracity) for another just as seemingly impossible modeling task (intention), look forward to the next step towards a model of intention using syntax on a future post. Cooldown I started this post talking about the importance of knowing the “quality” (by which I meant veracity) of data being given to machine learning algorithms — not just here at Forge.AI but also any consumers of our Events data stream. We danced, we’ve thought, and we have even shifted our original goal from a purely truth-based veracity model to one whose use-case of trust is explicit form the start: a model of intention. We begin by using , the underlying structure of language itself, as a way to generalize our model into one useful over many types of texts. But there are dangers that we must explicitly guard against; dangers of bias against culture or race, voice or gender. In this way, a Modeler is always willing to create the future, reality be damned! As always, my hope is that our models perform better than a human audience. Is this an attainable goal? Perhaps; but it is our goal nonetheless. syntax Footnotes: Going into this exercise, I had a strong leaning towards one particular outcome. However, it’s important to understand when your feelings are tied to your intuition. It is even more important to understand that intuition is sometimes wrong. The process of creating a machine learning model is sometimes touted as an or a . That may be true for some but, in my view, models are rational and the process for creating a machine learning model should also be rational. The best place to live is right at the edge of intuition, and a little beyond! art creative process In case you were wondering, I just throw in the concept of intention without any real definition. As it turns out, , and one which deserves it’s own post (or two or three as we progress down our journey). For now, let us say that intention boils down to one of a small set of future changes to the reader a writer may have hoped for, including staples such as: deception, persuasion, information transfer, objective query-and-response, and emotional modification. did intention is a confusing concept Note: This post was originally published on our blog: https://www.forge.ai/blog/veracity-models-methods-and-morals

Veracity: Models, Methods, and Morals

Miami, Florida, May 29th, 2025/GamingWire/--In a major visibility push, FLOKI has signed a sweeping media partnership with New to The Street, a leading multi-platform financial media brand. FLOKI FLOKI The three-month campaign will spotlight FLOKI’s fast-growing ecosystem, including its flagship MMORPG game Valhalla, and its broader mission to bring real-world utility to crypto. Valhalla Valhalla The media rollout includes biographical interview segments airing nationwide on Fox Business and Bloomberg TV, commercial placements during business hours, high-frequency digital billboard displays in Times Square, and live investor events. “FLOKI is one of the most innovative and community-driven platforms in crypto today,” said New to The Street Founder Vince Caruso. “This campaign ensures they get the national stage and financial audience they deserve.” “FLOKI is one of the most innovative and community-driven platforms in crypto today,” said New to The Street Founder Vince Caruso. “This campaign ensures they get the national stage and financial audience they deserve.” From Times Square to Bloomberg: What’s in the Campaign FLOKI leadership will appear in two in-depth TV interviews each month, airing as sponsored content across Fox Business and Bloomberg TV, reaching over 219 million U.S. households. FLOKI ads will light up the iconic Reuters 42nd Street Billboard 20 times per hour, four weeks a month. The initial ad campaign will spotlight Valhalla, FLOKI’s much-anticipated blockchain game, launching on mainnet June 30, 2025. Over 100+ thirty-second commercials will run monthly across major financial networks like CNBC, FOX Business, and Bloomberg, with another 50 ads on Bloomberg kicking off in month two. Three press releases per month, NYSE interview recaps, and targeted pitches to ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates will amplify FLOKI’s reach beyond crypto circles. All content will be posted across New to The Street’s 2.47 million YouTube subscribers and social platforms. FLOKI will join meet-and-greet events with brokers, host intimate retail investor gatherings in New York City, and take part in virtual sessions with family offices and accredited investors. “I’m very excited about this partnership and sharing how FLOKI is making blockchain better than they found it,” said Pedro Vidal, the Community Relations Officer for FLOKI spokesperson. “This campaign will expand our efforts in revealing the levels of enhanced utility that is witnessed within our ecosystem. I'm dually proud and excited!” “I’m very excited about this partnership and sharing how FLOKI is making blockchain better than they found it,” said Pedro Vidal, the Community Relations Officer for FLOKI spokesperson. “This campaign will expand our efforts in revealing the levels of enhanced utility that is witnessed within our ecosystem. I'm dually proud and excited!” About Floki Floki is the people’s cryptocurrency and utility token of the Floki Ecosystem. Floki aims to become the world’s most known and most used cryptocurrency and intends to achieve this ambitious goal through a focus on utility, philanthropy, community, and marketing. Floki Floki Floki currently has 550,000+ holders and a strong brand recognized by billions of people worldwide due to its strategic marketing partnerships. Website: https://floki.com https://floki.com https://floki.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealFlokiInu About TokenFi TokenFi is an innovative platform for crypto and asset tokenization, enabling users to launch or tokenize assets effortlessly. TokenFi is committed to revolutionizing the trillion-dollar tokenization industry by offering a user-friendly interface that requires no coding expertise. TokenFi TokenFi Website: https://tokenfi.com https://tokenfi.com https://tokenfi.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/tokenfi About Valhalla Valhalla is a blockchain-based MMORPG inspired by Norse mythology, offering players the chance to discover, tame, and battle with creatures called Veras. The game features a player-driven economy and a hexagonal battlefield designed for dynamic combat. Learn more at https://valhalla.game/ Valhalla Valhalla https://valhalla.game/ https://valhalla.game/ Users can play the game now, and it will be officially launched on Mainnet on June 30, 2025. Valhalla was developed by FLOKI. Website: https://www.floki.com/ https://www.floki.com/ https://www.floki.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FlokiOfficial https://www.youtube.com/@FlokiOfficial https://www.youtube.com/@FlokiOfficial Telegram: https://t.co/vBZd3lbFQK https://t.co/vBZd3lbFQK https://t.co/vBZd3lbFQK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floki_crypto/ https://www.instagram.com/floki_crypto/ https://www.instagram.com/floki_crypto/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@floki_crypto https://www.tiktok.com/@floki_crypto https://www.tiktok.com/@floki_crypto Discord: https://discord.com/invite/floki https://discord.com/invite/floki https://discord.com/invite/floki Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/290420602797109/?ref=share https://www.facebook.com/groups/290420602797109/?ref=share https://www.facebook.com/groups/290420602797109/?ref=share Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Floki/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Floki/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Floki/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/officialfloki https://www.twitch.tv/officialfloki https://www.twitch.tv/officialfloki Valhalla: https://valhalla.game https://valhalla.game https://valhalla.game Contact Community Relations Officer Pedro Vidal Floki marketing@floki.com This story was published as a press release by Gamingwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. This story was published as a press release by Gamingwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Program Program

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