Young Writers Society

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1. #JUMPTHE LEADERBOARDS - MAY REVIEW CHALLENGE
2. THE GREAT TORTOISE RACE: 2021 EDITION
3. MORSE CODE
4. WORD OF THE WEEK: AUSPICIOUS
5. SHAMELESS PLUGS
6. SUBSCRIBERS

#JUMPTHE LEADERBOARDS - MAY REVIEW CHALLENGE written by IcyFlame< PM: >

As we say goodbye to May and wave in sunny June, we also mark the end of the second of 2021's Review Challenges: #Jumptheleaderboard

Following on from the great turnout for the January Review Challenge, #Jumptheleaderboard was just as successful, with 28 members pledging to take up the task throughout the month.

The premise was pretty simple, especially for those who have seen the hashtag circling YWS before. Using the All Time Leaderboards declare your intent to move up by one or more places by jumping the user(s) above you! The race lasted for the whole of May, giving reviewers plenty of time to meet their reviewing goals.

For those who weren't currently ranked on the leaderboards (YWS only shows those who have at least 50 reviews) this was also an excellent opportunity to earn a spot in the rankings!

At the end of the month, 12 fearless challengers had successfully jumped the leaderboards, earning themselves eternal glory, bragging rights and a shiny new badge to show off!

Congratulations to the winners of the May Review Challenge:

@Plume @manilla @whatchamacallit @HarryHardy @MailicedeNamedy @LittleLee @Magebird @IcyFlame @stygianmoon17 @SpiritedWolfe @TheScribe @FlamingPhoenix

If you didn't manage to complete this challenge, keep an eye out for the next in our site wide review challenges and until then, happy reviewing!

THE GREAT TORTOISE RACE: 2021 EDITION

written by alliyah < PM: >

This year The Great Tortoise Race is back in action! Every month is an opportunity for YWSers to join up in Team Tortoise (the challenge to write one review, every day, for the whole month) but in the Great Tortoise Race which often occurs in June, the stakes are even greater and there's more hype! Winners each get a very special Great Tortoise Race badge, and will get added into the Team Tortoise Legacy Records for all the glory!

Last year the race started out with 32 reviewers and ended with 8 finishing a review every day all the way through. And coincidentally this year also started with 32 racers after day 1, we'll see if the numbers continue to stay steady - after that first week often people run out of steam, but it is definitely possible to make it through the whole month.

This year's race also has a few other unique features. There's a collection of Review Banners over in the thread, and also there's plenty of resources being shared with the hashtags "#ReviewTips" and "#ResLove". In addition to that Liminality is generating some dialogue over on the People Tab about their experiences reviewing! Here's what Lim said about the new bandwagon in the Team Tortoise thread,





The question for week one was, "Is there a reviewer on the site you really admire? Why?" and it was very heartwarming to see what comments people shared! If you haven't had a chance to join in on that question, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try, or joining in for the next week.

Congratulations to the 15 reviewers still in on the race at the time of this article! @HarryHardy @MailicedeNamedy @Dossereana @anne27 @MayCupcake @TheWarriorMingan @IcyFlame @LittleLee @Plume @TheScribe @FireEyes @Spearmint @Otterpop @NivedaJames22 @Liminality @starlitmind @SpunkyKitty @ImaginativeAlice @slubbs24 ! You can keep up with the latest race updates over at The Great Tortoise Race Thread in the lounge.

MORSE CODE

written by Spearmint < PM: >

Hiya, and welcome to another code-themed article! C: Alright, you've probably heard of Morse code before, but if not, let's start off with a quick introduction! So, Morse code uses a system of dots, dashes, and spaces to encode characters. For example, the letter "a" is a dot followed by a dash (I'll type it as ".-"), and the letter "e" is a single dot ("."). The dots and dashes can be represented by sounds (with a dash being represented by a longer sound than a dot), flashes of light, or markings on paper. Enspoilered is an image of the International Morse Code system:


Something that's super neat about Morse code is that it takes character frequency into account (frequency is basically how commonly-used a character is). In English, some of the most common letters are "e", "t", and "a". In Morse code, that would be: ".", "-", and ".-", respectively. When you compare these codes to "z" ("--..") or "y" ("-.--"), for example, it's clear that the more common letters tend to have shorter or easier-to-memorize encodings. That definitely makes it easier to send messages in Morse code!

Character frequency also comes in handy for codebreaking. If you're faced with an enciphered message, but you don't know what strategy was used to encipher it, you can use something called "frequency analysis" to decipher it! Knowing which letters, words, and phrases are used more frequently can help you make educated guesses as to what certain sections of the enciphered message mean.

Okay, so that's about it for this article! Thanks for reading, and see you next time! =D

WORD OF THE WEEK: AUSPICIOUSwritten by EternalRain < PM: >

Pronunciation: awe-spih-shus

Part of Speech: adjective

Definition: conducive to success; favorable.

Synonyms: favorable, promising, bright, encouraging

Origin: from latin “auspex” meaning “bird seer”; from English auspice

Used in a Sentence: It was an auspicious day for the young girl’s adventure: bright, lively, sunshiney.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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June Poetry Readers Discussion

Join Poetry Readers for their June discussion for a discussion on The Facebook Sonnet by Sherman Alexie - find out more about the monthly poetry discussions over at The Poetry Readers Club or reach out to Liminality or whatchamacallit.

The Great Tortoise Race of 2021

more information here !



That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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