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The first season of Lord of Mysteries gripped my imagination late last year, compelling me to read the entire series of light novels. This month, three special episodes came out covering parts of volume 1 that did not make it into season 1 for good reason. Again, the production was absolutely captivating. IMDb Blurb “Zhou Mingrui awakens in the body of Klein Moretti in a Victorian world of steam and hidden magic. As a new Beyonder, he confronts secret societies and dark rituals while seeking the truth behind his mysterious transmigration.” ...

The Price-Specie-Flow Mechanism The price-specie-flow (PSF) mechanism is the extension of the quantity theory of money (QTM) to a multi-country scenario. Proponents of the end-neutrality of QTM often implicitly assume a closed economy. But when nations trade amongst each other, the injection of monetary units in a nation can, instead of putting upward pressure on local prices, promote imports, and thus cause an outflow of money, in the short term. The price-specie-flow mechanism accounts for these dynamics. ...

Statement The level of prices depend on the quantity of money. Early discussions on this matter can be found in the essays of John Locke, David Hume and Irving Fisher (see Reference). Discussion Provided that the item used as money can be divided and combined as necessary, any amount of money is sufficient for running an economy. Ideas about bringing lasting changes to an economy by expanding the money supply are invalid. Should the money supply increase, all else equal, the prices of goods and services would increase proportionately. Thus, the outcome would ultimately be neutral. ...

Setting aside the question of morality as it relates to coercing citizens to part with their property, let us consider a tax regime based solely on the stock market. (Also, assume a Bitcoin standard.) Equity-Based Tax System In this system only top publicly traded companies are taxed. Taxation takes place in-kind, through shares. Only, say, the top 500 companies (by market capitalization) in the country are in consideration for taxation. And the taxation occurs thus: ...

The Verdict Witch Hat Atelier S1 was truly beautiful. The only annoying thing was Coco’s overly cartoonish reactions. I know it’s supposed to make her look cute, but it was overused. Everything else about the anime was great. The artwork and animation were beautiful. The characters were engaging. The conflicts were set up very well. The magic system was well designed. I don’t anticipate being able to wait a couple of years for the next season. I will probably pick up the manga at some point, especially given the sort of cliffhanger we have been left with. ...

Brandon Sanderson, the author of Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, etc. presents three points of consideration for fantasy authors. First Law Solving a problem through magic depends on how well the readers understand the magic. You cannot simply have vague magical powers and then use a wizard to enchant problems away. That would amount to deus ex machina, an unsatisfactory read at best, a betrayal of the readers at worst. Second Law Limitations are more important than powers. ...

Consider an academy of magic with the following seven disciplines. Disciplines are equivalent to general majors. I have taken help from existing D&D concepts; this video about the different schools of magic in D&D was instrumental to me bringing structure to ideas I have played with for a long time. Magical Disciplines Wardcraft shielding negating a spell reflecting a spell pocket building (with metamancy and others) Kinesomatics advanced physical capabilities heightened senses perfect weapon control agility endurance bodily enhancements, such as growing wings, claws, etc (in combination with metamancy for inorganic materials, or lifecraft for organic additions) Klesiurgy summoning objects summoning living beings teleportation telekinesis weather control (in combination with energetics) flying spying (in combination with mindcraft) Metamancy transmutation of objects alchemy potions controlling marionettes (in combination with lifecraft) earth-based elementalism Energetics weather control (in combination with klesiurgy) fire and water elementalism and related forms like smoke and ice thunderstrike explosions darkness heat and cold gravity manipulation (in combination with wardcraft) Mindcraft illusions, visual and auditory persuasion calming and agitating confusion memory loss memory manipulation telepathy Lifecraft healing taming birds, beasts, fish tending plants imbuing lifelike properties to mechanical objects, controlling marionettes (in combination with metamancy) instant death curse contracts Academic Structure Candidacy requires high mental and physical abilities along with proficiency in languages and mathematics. Candidates would typically rank in the top 0.1 percentile in mundanes’ college entrance examinations. Time at the academy is divided into three non-equal phases. All seven disciplines are taught in the first phase. There are additional lessons in mathematics and languages beyond those taught in these disciplines. Candidates study four disciplines in the second phase. Candidates study one or two disciplines in the third phase. There are exams at the end of the first and second phases, and a capstone project at the end of the third. The candidates’ third phase disciplines are their majors. The other second phase disciplines are their minors. Typically, it’s one major three minors, or two major two minors.

Free market interactions led to the emergence of gold as money. Gold was divisible, durable, recognizable, and most importantly, difficult to inflate. Thus, it maintained its purchasing power better than other commodities that were easier to produce. However, gold suffered from certain drawbacks. While it was divisible, dividing it physically was practical only to a certain point. Also, carrying it in large quantities was costly and cumbersome. Furthermore, verifying the authenticity of gold coins and bars was time-consuming. ...

Gresham’s Law stipulates thus. “Artificially overvalued money will drive out of circulation artificially undervalued money.” As terrible as the US Dollar has been at inflation in a century, other currencies have proven to be worse. Governments throughout the world have been egregiously inflationary. They have expanded their money supply and devalued their currencies. Entities in these countries have thus resorted to hoarding (a term without a negative connotation to me) US Dollars. The upward pressure on the demand for US Dollars is such that despite the massive expansion in US Dollar supply, we do not see the corresponding amount of price level rises in the US. The abysmal fiscal policies of the rest of the world allows the US to export its price inflation. ...

The Three Phases of Password Hosting For the longest time, I hesitated to use a password manager. Trusting a cloud service for such an important matter did not sit well with me. For years, I kept all my passwords in a notebook. This was the pen and paper phase. It worked, but over time, the content grew too large. Changing passwords got messy. And if I lost my notebook (which, fortunately, did not happen), I would be in trouble. Maintaining a backup ultimately meant taking photos and trusting internet-touching devices and internet-based services. ...