#[data streams : audio]

[ortie-pnk]

We are supposed to interact with the web we visit. We are supposed to upload and download. We are supposed to leave a footprint behind us, other than cookies and trackers.

The web will not stay still, it is perpetually changing and what we are seeing today may not be tomorrow.

Share your things, comment and post.

But also save what you want to keep : write down the name of the artists you follow, download the content you like to stream, copie/paste the posts you want to re-read... We forget faster than internet but it is still fragile. What you got on a disc is far more durable.

[j-esbian]

the other thing i hate about Live Ads is that if you have previously downloaded episodes, they get disappeared periodically because god forbid you hear an old advertisement instead of the New Current Sponsor

[jcmarchi]

5 Best Digital Billboard Advertising Companies

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/5-best-digital-billboard-advertising-companies/

5 Best Digital Billboard Advertising Companies

In the rapidly evolving landscape of outdoor advertising, Digital Billboard Advertising Companies are at the forefront of innovation, harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize how advertisements are delivered and experienced.

These companies are leveraging AI to dynamically optimize ad content, ensure ads are displayed at the most effective times, and target specific audience demographics with unprecedented precision. By employing AI for dynamic pricing, they can adjust the cost of ad slots in real time based on various factors, ensuring maximum revenue generation and efficiency.

This integration of AI technologies allows these companies to not only enhance the effectiveness of billboard advertising but also redefine the viewer’s experience, making it more relevant and captivating. Here, we introduce the top 5 Digital Billboard Advertising Companies leading the charge in transforming urban landscapes into interactive, intelligent platforms for digital advertising.

Image: Cirrus

Cirrus has carved a niche in the digital marketing landscape with its innovative LED display solutions. Specializing in both indoor and outdoor digital signage, Cirrus caters to diverse business needs, offering visually captivating and cost-effective marketing tools. The high-resolution displays provided by Cirrus set a new standard in on-premise advertising, ensuring messages are not only seen but also remembered. Their unique approach combines aesthetic appeal with practical functionality, making high-impact digital marketing accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Cirrus’s technological edge is evident in their focus on display quality and user experience. They offer displays with higher pixel densities compared to traditional signage, resulting in sharper and more engaging visuals. This technological superiority extends to the ScreenHub content management system, an intuitive and powerful platform that simplifies content scheduling and management. ScreenHub’s versatility and ease of use empower businesses to create dynamic and compelling digital campaigns with minimal effort.

Top Offerings by Cirrus:

High Pixel Density Displays: Provides sharper, more detailed images for impactful visual messaging.

ScreenHub Content Management: An intuitive system for easy scheduling and management of digital content.

Solid-State Technology: Ensures reliable, long-lasting displays that withstand various environmental conditions.

Modular Architecture: Allows for easy upgrades and expansions, adapting to changing technology and business needs.

Comprehensive Support: A dedicated team offering personalized solutions, customer service, and technical support.

Cirrus not only leads with advanced technology but also with a commitment to service excellence. Their approach to customer satisfaction involves a concierge-level sales experience, backed by a team dedicated to ensuring optimal performance and longevity of their products. This emphasis on quality service and technological innovation positions Cirrus as a forward-thinking company in the digital billboard advertising space, continually driving the industry towards new horizons of customer engagement and marketing efficacy.

Image: Lamar

Lamar Advertising Company distinguishes itself as a leader in digital billboard advertising by offering the largest network of digital displays in the United States. With over 4,800 digital billboards, Lamar provides unparalleled reach and visibility for advertising campaigns. Their digital billboards are strategically positioned to capture the attention of a wide and diverse audience, making them a prime choice for businesses looking to expand their advertising impact.

The dynamic nature of Lamar’s digital billboards is a key differentiator. Ads on these billboards rotate in a slideshow format every 6 to 8 seconds, ensuring each message receives ample exposure. This rotation system is not only eye-catching but also allows for a variety of ads to be showcased, increasing the diversity and reach of the messages conveyed. Lamar leverages this dynamic feature to enhance the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, providing advertisers with a flexible and impactful medium.

In addition to their expansive billboard network, Lamar extends its advertising reach through specialized channels like airport and transit advertising. Their airport digital networks feature high-definition, full-motion LCD screens located in key areas such as concourses and baggage claims, ensuring high visibility to both arriving and departing passengers. Similarly, Lamar’s transit advertising takes the message off the interstates and into the heart of communities, engaging targeted consumer and business audiences through digital transit advertising. This form of advertising creates a striking presence in everyday settings, offering a cost-effective and memorable way to elevate brand messaging.

Top Offerings by Lamar:

Slide Show Ad Rotation: Ads rotate every 6 to 8 seconds, offering frequent and varied exposure.

Real-Time Data Streaming: Integrate live data and user-generated content from websites and social media.

Instant Ad Display: Ability to display ads within minutes of creation.

Cost-Effective Message Changes: Frequent message updates without additional production costs.

Dynamic Digital Content: Enhance campaigns with real-time updates, including live scores, news feeds, and more.

Through these diverse advertising channels, Lamar not only amplifies brand visibility but also ensures that messages resonate deeply and effectively with a broad spectrum of audiences.

Image: OUTFRONT

OUTFRONT stands out in the digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising arena with its innovative approach that combines location, creativity, and smart audience data. This synergy creates powerful connections between brands and audiences, making OUTFRONT a leader in America’s versatile and visible OOH media network. They are known for their ability to leverage the impact of outdoor advertising with the agility and flexibility of digital platforms, establishing themselves as a key player in one of advertising’s fastest-growing formats.

OUTFRONT’s digital billboards offer a distinct blend of contextual relevance and creative dynamism. Their advanced technology allows for advertising content to be triggered by various real-time factors such as daypart, location, traffic, or weather, enhancing the relevance and impact of the ads. Additionally, these digital platforms enable marketers to launch campaigns swiftly, a significant advantage over traditional billboard advertising. This flexibility is further enriched by the option of programmatic purchasing, providing a seamless integration of digital advertising strategies into outdoor media.

OUTFRONT’s focus on digital billboards extends to high-traffic and coveted locations, ensuring that brands make a significant impact where audiences are most receptive. They understand the importance of placement and have strategically positioned their digital billboards to capitalize on audience readiness to engage and purchase. Whether it’s digital place-based media in airports, lifestyle centers, shopping malls, or engaging digital street furniture in urban neighborhoods, OUTFRONT’s extensive network ensures that brand messages are not just seen, but experienced by the right audience at the right time.

Top Offerings by OUTFRONT:

Contextual Relevance: Dynamic creative content that responds to real-time factors for targeted messaging.

Flexibility and Speed: Rapid execution of campaigns, surpassing the limitations of traditional billboards.

Programmatic Options: Seamless integration with digital advertising strategies for efficient campaign management.

Measurement and Attribution: Advanced capabilities to track metrics like brand lift and foot traffic, offering valuable insights into campaign effectiveness.

OUTFRONT’s commitment to innovation and audience engagement through DOOH makes them a formidable force in the realm of digital billboard advertising.

Image: YESCO

YESCO, short for Young Electric Sign Company, has been a vanguard in the field of digital billboard advertising since 1920, consistently pushing the boundaries of what is possible in Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising. Specializing in custom signs, digital LED boards, gaming displays, and both outdoor and indoor advertising solutions, YESCO has built a reputation for quality and innovation. In the realm of digital billboards, particularly, YESCO has made significant strides, offering a range of traditional and digital options in strategic locations such as the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area.

What sets YESCO apart in the digital billboard space is their strategic placement of billboards. By positioning their displays in high-visibility areas, they maximize engagement opportunities for advertisers. YESCO’s digital outdoor advertising capabilities allow for the delivery of multiple messages at a single location. This dynamism in content presentation enhances the ability of marketers to target specific audiences effectively and adapt rapidly to the shifting market needs.

YESCO’s commitment to innovation is exemplified by their distinction as the first company in Utah to deploy digital billboards. These digital billboards not only offer flexibility in displaying multiple ads but are also tailored to reach the right audience at the right time. This adaptability enhances the overall effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

Top Offerings by YESCO:

Customized Digital Billboard Solutions: Tailored to meet specific advertising needs and campaign goals.

Strategic Placement: Billboards are located in high-visibility areas for maximum consumer engagement.

Dynamic Content Delivery: Enables multiple messages at a single location, increasing targeting efficiency.

Experience and Expertise: A pioneer in digital billboards in Utah, demonstrating a long-standing proficiency in this technology.

YESCO’s focus on cutting-edge technology and creative design ensures that their digital billboards stand out, capturing the attention of passersby. This, combined with their strategic locations in key areas like Salt Lake County, Utah County, and downtown Ogden, positions YESCO as a highly effective and valuable partner for businesses seeking impactful advertising solutions.

Image: Daktronics

Daktronics stands as a testament to innovation and excellence in the realm of digital LED display and audio system manufacturing. Founded in 1968 by Aelred Kurtenbach and Duane Sander, two engineering professors from South Dakota State University, Daktronics has evolved from a dream to retain local talent into a world-leading manufacturer and service provider of digital solutions. This American company, headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, has made significant contributions to various sectors, including sports, education, retail, government, and aeronautics, with its diverse range of products.

Daktronics is renowned for its extensive range of digital products, which include electronic scoreboards, large screen video displays, audio systems, digital billboards, and dynamic message signs. Their commitment to quality and innovation is evident in their history of notable achievements, such as providing scoreboards for the Olympic Games and developing advanced LED video displays. This legacy of innovation is underpinned by their global manufacturing capabilities, with facilities in China, Ireland, and the U.S., and business operations extending across North America.

Top Offerings by Daktronics:

Diverse Product Range: Electronic scoreboards, large screen video displays, audio systems, and digital billboards.

Global Manufacturing and Operations: Facilities in China, Ireland, and the U.S., with a strong presence in North America.

Commitment to Innovation: Notable achievements include Olympic scoreboards and advanced LED video displays.

Wide Sector Engagement: Catering to sports facilities, educational institutions, retail stores, government departments, and more.

Daktronics’ approach to digital billboard advertising is characterized by its blend of reliability, longevity, and intuitive control software. The company’s dedication to creating solutions that leave lasting impressions is evident in their commitment to sharing knowledge and expertise with their customers.

Choosing a Digital Billboard Advertising Company

The digital billboard advertising landscape is enriched by the innovation and expertise of companies like Cirrus, Lamar, OUTFRONT, YESCO, and Daktronics. Each of these industry leaders brings a unique approach to digital out-of-home advertising, leveraging technology, strategic placement, and creative solutions to connect brands with their audiences effectively.

Cirrus revolutionizes on-premise marketing with high-resolution displays and user-friendly software, while Lamar’s extensive network offers unparalleled reach. OUTFRONT combines impactful OOH impact with digital agility, and YESCO provides customized, strategically placed digital billboards. Finally, Daktronics’ global reach and diverse product range underscore its commitment to quality and innovation. Together, these companies exemplify the dynamic and evolving nature of digital billboard advertising, setting new standards in audience engagement and advertising efficacy. As this industry continues to grow, these companies are poised to lead the way in transforming the digital advertising landscape.

[lovecolibri]

The way I just got SO excited thinking the Dark Ages podcast had new episodes just because the fecking post 10 ios for iPods made the podcast app an absolute nightmare to use 😒😒😒 The "recently updated" section is always a mess and the icons are huge so you have to scroll forever to find anything. It used to have a different section for things you weren't subscribed to so I used to download 1 episode of something I was interested in to bookmark it when I wanted to look for something new, but now those things are mixed in with my regular stuff so if any of those update I have to scroll past them to find my actual shows. And getting to the screen where I can actually pick the episode to listen is a mess too! Uuuuugh. I loved my 5th gen but the battery fully died and since Apple doesn't make iPods anymore, I couldn't get it fixed 😤 And all the 5th gens I found refurbished were 32GB and that's just not quite enough so I got a 6th gen and I kind of hate it. ANYWAY. Tech stop ruining perfectly good things challenge.

[stellophiliac]

how to build a digital music collection and stuff

spotify sucks aaaass. so start downloading shit!!

file format glossary

.wav is highest quality and biggest

.mp3 is very small, but uses lossy compression which means it's lower quality

.flac is smaller than .wav, but uses lossless compression so it's high quality

.m4a is an audio file format that apple uses. that's all i really know

downloading the music

doubledouble.top is a life saver. you can download from a variety of services including but not limited to apple music, spotify, soundcloud, tidal, deezer, etc.

i'd recommend ripping your music from tidal or apple music since they're the best quality (i think apple music gives you lossless audio anyway. .m4a can be both lossy and lossless, but from the text on doubledouble i assume they're ripping HQ files off apple music)

i also love love love cobalt.tools for ripping audio/video from youtube (they support a lot of other platforms too!)

of course, many artists have their music on bandcamp — purchase or download directly from them if you can. bandcamp offers a variety of file formats for download

file conversion

if you're downloading from apple music with doubledouble, it spits out an .m4a file.

.m4a is ok for some people but if you prefer .flac, you may wanna convert it. ffmpeg is a CLI (terminal) tool to help with media conversion

if you're on linux or macOS, you can use parameter expansion to batch convert all files in a folder. put the files in one place first, then with your terminal, cd into the directory and run:

for i in *.m4a; do ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i%.*}.flac"; done

this converts from .m4a to .flac — change the file extensions if needed.

soulseek

another way to get music is through soulseek. soulseek is a peer-to-peer file sharing network which is mainly used for music. nicotine+ is a pretty intuitive (and open-source) client if you don't like the official one.

you can probably find a better tutorial on soulseek somewhere else. just wanted to make this option known

it's bad etiquette to download from people without sharing files of your own, so make sure you've got something shared. also try to avoid queuing up more than 1-2 albums from one person in a row

tagging & organizing your music

tagging: adding metadata to a music file (eg. song name, artist name, album) that music players can recognize and display

if you've ripped music from a streaming platform, chances are it's already tagged. i've gotten files with slightly incorrect tags from doubledouble though, so if you care about that then you might wanna look into it

i use musicbrainz picard for my tagging. they've got pretty extensive documentation, which will probably be more useful than me

basically, you can look up album data from an online database into the program, and then match each track with its file. the program will tag each file correctly for you (there's also options for renaming the file according to a certain structure if you're into that!)

there's also beets, which is a CLI tool for... a lot of music collection management stuff. i haven't really used it myself, but if you feel up to it then they've got extensive documentation too. for most people, though, it's not really a necessity

how you wanna organize your music is completely up to you. my preferred filestructure is:

artist > album > track # track

using a music player

the options for this are pretty expansive. commonly used players i see include VLC, foobar2000, clementine (or a fork of it called strawberry), and cmus (for the terminal)

you can also totally use iTunes or something. i don't know what audio players other systems come with

i personally use dopamine. it's a little bit slow, but it's got a nice UI and is themeable plus has last.fm support (!!!)

don't let the github page fool you, you don't have to build from source. you can find the releases here

click the "assets" dropdown on the most recent release, and download whichever one is compatible with your OS

syncing

if you're fine with your files just being on one device (perhaps your computer, but perhaps also an USB drive or an mp3 player), you don't have to do this

you can sync with something like google drive, but i hate google more than i hate spotify

you can get a free nextcloud account from one of their providers with 2GB of free storage. you can use webDAV to access your files from an app on your phone or other device (documents by readdle has webDAV support, which is what i use)

disroot and blahaj.land are a couple providers i know that offer other services as well as nextcloud (so you get more with your account), but accounts are manually approved. do give them a look though!!

if you're tech-savvy and have an unused machine lying around, look into self-hosting your own nextcloud, or better yet, your own media server. i've heard that navidrome is a pretty good audio server. i unfortunately don't have experience with self-hosting at the moment so i have like zero advice to give here. yunohost seems to be a really easy way to manage a server

afterword

i don't know if any of this is helpful, but i just wanted to consolidate my personal advice in one place. fuck big tech. own your media, they could take it away from you at any moment

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Coldplay - Hymn for the Weekend 2016

"Hymn for the Weekend" is a single by the British rockband Coldplay from their seventh studio album A Head Full of Dreams, featuring uncredited vocals from American singer Beyoncé. It was written by the band's members, while the production was handled by Rik Simpson, Avicii, Digital Divide, and Stargate.

"Hymn for the Weekend" reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and also reached the top twenty in countries such as Switzerland, Ireland, France, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Spain. In the US, with the Seeb remix, the song reached number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The music video was shot at various Indian cities including Worli Village, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The fort showcased at the start and in between is Fort Vasai in Vasai, Mumbai. Scenes were also shot at the Maratha Mandir theatre, which is known for showcasing a single film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, for over 22 consecutive years. The video is themed on the Indian festival of Holi and was filmed by Ben Mor. It features Beyoncé and Indian actress Sonam Kapoor. With 2 billion views on Youtube as of January 2024, "Hymn for the Weekend" is Coldplay's most-viewed video. Luminate Data reported the song "had the most total combined audio and video streams globally in 2022", with 35.9 million views coming from Canada, and 434.5 million from the US.

"Hymn for the Weekend" received a total of 57,6% yes votes!

[sirfrogsworth]

Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

[iliketangerines]

I've been loving ur work this past month, can't go a day without them 🥴 ... With that being said, could I ask for one with Johnny? Where the reader gets horny at work, and so she starts texting Johnny to tease him about it, going to the bathroom to send him spicy stuff and whatnot. I'm not particularly creative, so u may go all out with this one! Thank u !! 🥰

big tease

a/n: wrote this while i was at work actually lmao

pairing: johnny cage x afab!reader

warnings: nsfw (MDNI), phone sex (?)

you’re sitting in your chair, looking at the computer, except you can’t focus as you rub your thighs together and try to relieve some of the pressure between your legs

something about today had you particularly frustrated, and you desperately wanted Johnny right now, to hold you down and fuck you until you were satisfied

but you’re on the clock at your boring desk job, putting in data entries and receiving too much paperwork for one person

but still…you look from your cubicle to the entrance, you’re situated in one of the corners and tilted conveniently away from the cameras so that they couldn’t see you on your phone and only had a view of your back

you rub your thighs together, biting your lip, and you pull out your phone and click on Johnny’s contact in messages, typing in a simple text for him

it’s a simple message, that you want him, but knowing Johnny, he would be all over you if he could the second he saw the text

hitting the send button, you put down your phone and put on vibrate, not wanting to get caught being on your phone by your desk, and place it on your desk

then, you look at your phone again and then carefully pick it up and place it between your legs right against where your clit is

that way you would know exactly when Johnny texted you back, and then you went back to clicking away on the computer, trying not to focus on the way your phone was pressed right against you

the seconds seem to tick away slowly as you put in number after number, and then there’s a slight buzz against you, making your spine shoot straight

you hadn’t realized that the phone’s vibrate function was so strong

picking your phone up carefully, you unlock it and read Johnny’s text

he’s sent back that he wants you too, and a picture of himself sitting in a chair in his trailer, legs spread and an obvious bulge in his pants

usually you would snort at the picture, ever the diva and the need to take a good picture but there’s a buzzing in your head and you wish you were there between his legs instead

you text back that you need him to fuck you so bad, need him to ruin you right now and press send before shoving your phone right back between your legs

it’s a while before he texts back but when he does there’s several in a row, sending buzzes through your clit and up your spine

you’re sure that you’ve soaked right through your panties, but you can’t find yourself caring as you check what Johnny’s sent you

it’s a series of messages of him stuttering and then finally a text saying that he wishes he was there with you right now to bend you over your desk

another photo, him with his dick in hand, the tip flushed and a slight bit of pre-cum pearling at the tip, and you nearly drool as you wish you could get a taste

you shake the thought from your head as you type back a response with shaky fingers, speaking your thoughts and saying that you wanted his cock in your mouth

it’s just a short message, but you’re sure he would recall the memories of you in bed, his fingers in your hair pushing you down further, your lips stretched around the girth, the tears streaming down your cheeks

it’s only a minute when he responds back, and it’s a video this time

he’s slowly pumping his cock and god you wish you could turn on the audio and listen to his groans

his thumb swipes over the tip, spreading the pre-cum along the shaft, and then the video cuts off, only a few seconds long

his text underneath it reads that he wishes it was you because you would look so pretty between his legs right now

you can’t control the way your legs slightly twitch, how you want to grind your hips into your office chair except you’re still at work

so you hurry off to the bathroom and thankfully, they’re one of those family bathrooms where it’s like a small room in of itself

you lock the door, leaning against the wall, and turn on your own camera and record yourself with shaky hands as you dip your fingers below your waistband and rub at your swollen clit

small whines and whimpers come out of your throat, and you’re sure that the microphone has caught them as it points at your fingers moving underneath your pants

you dip your fingers a little lower and let out a little breath at how wet you are: you’ve definitely soaked through your panties

you slide in two of your fingers and curl them to push against that spot that makes you see stars, and you let out a small moan, hoping the door was thick enough to hide the sound

the pleasure is building, your palm grinding into your clit and your fingers buried deep in you, and the slick is just making everything so intense

you can barely think, only focused on how you desperately need to cum and that you want Johnny’s fingers  instead of your own

his are so much more rough and thicker than yours, and he would whisper in your ear with that smug voice of his and tell you to cum for him

he would be pressed against you, hot and heavy and so intense, and he would kiss you, tongue making its way into your mouth

he would trail kisses down your jawline and then suck dark hickeys into your neck, before biting you as you came

it’s enough to make you clench around your own fingers and cum on them, a slight whine of Johnny’s name coming out of your mouth 

you stop the video, taking a second to breathe as you slip your fingers out of yourself and stare at the mess on your fingers

you angle your phone with a shaky hand and take a picture of you licking your own cum off of your fingers, and then send the video and photo together

you collect yourself, wiping yourself clean with toilet paper and washing your hands in the sink, and you check your phone again and find a message from him

it’s a text saying that you’re in for a surprise when you get home, and there’s a photo of his cum splattered against his exposed stomach

you wish you could clock out early

[magentas-dystopia]

Something I really lament is the move towards digital media. Slowly we start to never own the things we like. Even if we "buy" a digital game, or movie or show. It's locked behind a certain platform or service. Once it shuts down we lose it forever.

(me when big booby anime girl explosion Is taken off of Netflix)

I also feel like there's a certain charm to owning physical media, like things you can hold and the satisfaction from pressing a clicky button or putting a disc or cassette in and seeing it work.

(oooh so classy so retro so.. expensive in the modern day)

More people should try to make copies of what they own digitally, or try to buy physical media before it's lost from streaming services and digital storefronts forever. Like the case with certain games like Godzilla 2014 and Transformers War for Cybertron. They don't exist digitally anymore. Only hard copies exist outside of emulation and at insane resell prices like... INSANE ones for a mediocre Godzilla game

So yea. Buy some more CDs of those albums you have on replay! Buy a DVD of that niche obscure anime you like! And most importantly PLEASE PLEASE START MAKING HARD BACKUPS OF SHOWS YOU LIKE THAT YOU PIRATE!!! media preservation is important!

(me downloading every episode of Daredevil onto my hard drive to burn to a DVD later so I can give it to all my friends)

This is now going to be a Comprehensive guide on how to rip a CD

POLL TIME!

Burning and Ripping Disc's❤️❤️💕💕🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

STEP ONE:

BUY A CHEAP BLU-RAY/DVD DRIVE FOR YOUR WINDOWS COMPUTER

here are some I recommend!!!

i personally use this pioneer one :)))

DVD drives in general are relatively cheap from 30-20 smackeroos, but Blu-ray drives are around 80-100 bucks depending on the manufacturer but offer better support for copying HD video such as on a Blu-ray.

STEP TWO:

FIND A PIECE OF MEDIA YOU ENJOY.

in this case its gonna be a CD!!

i really enjoy Vespertine by Bjork, but i wanna have it on my computer just in case anything happens to my CD. SO. ill open Windows Media Player

(she hasn't changed since 2011 <3333 be urself girl)

NEXT

ill insert the disc into the player. and it'll start playing!

Pause the disc and go into Rip settings

NEXT!! select the format!

if you want to conserve space and don't mind sacrificing audio quality select MP3! if you want to hear the same level of audio quality as preserved on the CD, select a format labelled LOSSLESS. I recommend .WAV files as they'll work with most devices including an android phone or iTunes on PC (more on that later ;3 )

NEXT!

create a folder on whatever u wanna save ur music to! (u can call it whatever u want the world is your oyster bestie)

THEN!!! FINALLY

go into more options on the Rip Settings menu!

select ur folder and press Rip CD!!!!

the fun thing of this now, is that you can pull these files on your computer and put it onto your Android device so you can listen to your hearts content without lugging around your CD in a player at high quality without any subscription service with free reign of who you can give your download to!

But Magenta! what if i have an iPhone?

ohohoo fear not bestie because iTunes on PC has an even EASIER way to do it

because simply putting in a disc with iTunes downloaded prompts THIS

(oooo so new age)

and if you have apple music on your iPhone this will sync to your phone if you logged into iTunes on PC!!

thank you for coming to my TED talk

[mbari-blog]

Deep-sea ASMR brought to you by a robot unspooling a cable. 〰️

MBARI's underwater hydrophone sits on the seafloor about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from shore, just west of Monterey Bay. It is attached (by this neat neon cable) to the MARS undersea cabled observatory, which carries data from the hydrophone back to shore.

Although the MARS hydrophone is located on the deep seafloor, most of the sounds it picks up are from animals and activities higher up in the water or even at the sea surface. For example, it is common for the hydrophone to pick up the calls of sea lions, dolphins, and other near-surface animals, as well as the sounds of rain, waves, and wind blowing over the sea surface.

Interested in listening to the ocean soundscape? Anyone can eavesdrop on sounds in the deep sea via a continuous audio stream that carries live sound from 900 meters (3,000 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay. Start your auditory adventure here.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 27)

Uzi found herself awakned abruptly, yanked out of sleep mode by some unseen force. She was groogy, the drone equivalent of a hangover due to loosing so much oil so suddenly and the disappearance of the adrenaline running through her.

After a few moments of dazed blinking, she realized what had woken her up, Tera made a rather loud gurgle from her crib, and the rolled herself into the bars of it, making a metallic rattle ring out into their room.

“I'm coming.” She mumbled, attempting to sit up but finding her self held down by metallic ropes.

They weren't ropes, rather N's arms wrapped tightly around her from behind, at her movement, he held her tighter, nuzzling into the back of her neck. A shiver went down her back, okay her neck was sensitive she knew that now.

“N, come on, Tera needs me.” Her voice was low and sleepy, and her limbs and body hadn't fully woken up yet, leaving her feeling weak and heavy.

“Mmm…” Came a very-much-not-awake reply, his tail came to lock her in place, and from his core came a deep rumbling purr, both trying their best to put her right back into sleep mode. And she would have, had Tera not made another noise;

A beep. A beep that sounded too much like the same noise that came from her systems when she was about to start overheating.

She snapped entirely awake.

“N! Let me go, Tera's overheating!”

Instantly, he uncoiled from around her and sprung to life, eyes coming on his screen as he jolted up.

“W-what?” His voice was husky, filled with sleep, he blinked as Uzi rocketed toward the crib, placing a hand on Tera.

For once, she had a small frown displayed on her face, looking uncomfortable. A little red light displayed on the top right corner of her visor, her silicone was warm to to touch, nearly the same temperature as N on a good day.

She rushed to fill a bottle, trying to comfort the uncomfortable infant, N shook his head rapidly, trying to shake off his drowsiness as he sat on the side of the bed, watching her pace around the room in worry.

She was so occupied with feeling terrible about not feeding Tera, that she didn't even notice the sparks of pain the siphon caused in her panel, it was only after the bottle was safely in Tera's port and the baby was calmed by the feed that the input went through her.

She sighed, the day was so hectic that they'd both entirely forgotten that Tera could overheat if not monitored closely, Uzi was already beating herself up over it. She left her alone, the exact opposite of what she ever wanted to do to her, she was just like her dad she was-

N’s arms came to pull her into his lap, taking care to keep her hand and Tera steady as he nuzzled into her shoulder, she could feel the gentle hum of his core on her back.

Tera finished the bottle, red light disappearing and a smile right back on her face, she giggled up at Uzi, cooing softly at the sight of her parents.

“M’sorry Jellybean, it won't happen again, I swear.” She whispered, even though she was 80% sure Tera didn't understand her, she tickled the babies chassis, making a peel of happy laugher erupt from her speakers.

“She okay?” N asked, voice still sleepy and pressed right up against her audio receptors, his arms wrapped around her stomach and his legs underneath her.

“She's okay, it didn't seem to effect her any, just made her upset.” She leaned back a little into her boyfriends chest, causing another bout of purrs to escape him, he moved farther into her neck, causing her to shiver again.

“I can't believe we forgot…” She glanced to the shoulder he was buried in, and found that he was now looking down at the baby in her arms, one of his hands came to stroke Tera's head, and she giggled in response.

“Today was insane, you shouldn't worry too much.” His voice so close to her ear sending pleasant streams of data directly to her core, and at this point she wasn't sure if he was doing it on purpose or not.

“Still, it's my job to remember.” She replied, looked back down at Tera, who seemed to be fully charged and raring to go despite the fact it was the middle of the night

“It's our job to remember, I forgot too.” He kissed her cheek, sending another fluster onto her visor, although a muted one, she was slowly beginning to get used to it.

“Mmm” Was all she hummed out, giving into the urge to nuzzle into his neck just as he had done to her, she felt her core give a rattle before she heard herself purr, the rumble being hardly noticeable to anyone that wasn't N.

“Awww,” He hummed back; sounding amused and a little touched, his tail wagging rapidly behind him.

She could fall asleep again, tucked into her boyfriends arms like this, feeling like the safest thing in the universe, or the luckiest, having him to hold her so tight.

“M-ma?” Both drones froze, looking back down at the droneling, who was looking like she was trying to figure out something.

“Mama!” Maybe it was cliche, Maybe it was dumb, but Uzi immediately felt tears spring into her eyes, getting choked up over Tera’s word, Tera herself was rocking herself happily, smiling from eyelight to eyelight.

“Oh… Is that me?” She lifted the droneling up to her face, smile so wide to threatened to be permanent.

“Mama!”

“Yeah it is.” N confirmed, chuckling as he took in his girlfriends face, smiling and yet on the verge of tears. “Looks like she's not mad at you.”

He lifted the both of them off his lap, setting them on the bed next to him, his smile was stuck on his face as well, and Uzi let Tera roll across the bed, laughing as the droneling launched herself into a pillow.

“You're next, “Dada”.” She laughed at his blush, and at his tail sticking up stiff, but in the next moment he was touching her face, shutting her up.

His eyes were so soft, absent of the worry from earlier today, she couldn't help but smile and lean into it, which only made N's smile grow wider.

“You're so pretty.” He said, low and breathless, a slight blush on his face, but it seemed he was getting used to it too, Uzi looked down at herself, in her black, skull printed pajamas and her bedhead.

“I think you need glasses.” She replied, although the compliment did get to her, and she found herself watching Tera to avoid his gaze.

“Nah… I'm right.” He said with faux confidence, before pulling her in to pepper tiny kisses all over her, her forehead, her cheeks, her visor, anywhere he could reach which was everywhere.

“N!, Hey! Haha!” A stream of impulsive, bubbly giggles left her throat, blushing so much she thought she might overheat, she kicked at him instinctively.

It only lasted a couple of seconds before he pulled away, holding her close to his chest and letting out a content sigh, their eyes locked, causing Uzi to let out a very girly giggle.

“Okay! Okay! Fine! Whatever you say!” N laughed along with her, before Tera rolled and bumped into his leg, he lifted her gently into his lap, causing her to gurgle up at him.

“En!” She belted, seeming to vibrate in his arms, he nuzzled her silicone, causing her to squeal and try to roll away.

“I guess we better start the day, there's no way she's going to let us sleep anymore.” Uzi said, still recovering from his attack on her face, she stood up and stretched, feeling the pressure release from between her joints.

“Yeah…”

They both got dressed, And began a tentative morning routine, N making himself some cold gasoline, while Uzi made a plan for the day (and V peaced out the moment she woke up.)

“Hey uh, did we ever explain to Thad where we went?” She asked as N took a sip out of his mug, and he smiled warily.

“Eh… no? I never did, did you text him?” He asked, holding Tera in one arm as she cooed up at him.

“No…” She laughed nervously, rubbing her arm. “I hope he's not too mad…”

“Don't you need to pick up more oil anyway? We can go together, if you feel up to it… yesterday was crazy, so if you wanna stay home we can-” He suggested, standing, Tera curled in one arm as he walked towards her, almost tempting her to curl up in the other.

“Nope! I'm good!” Which she refused! She could do more than cuddle all day, she wasn't fragile no! She'd almost died plenty of times now.

“Uh- are you sure? You almost died…” He pointed out, sounding worried and maybe a little dissapointed, likely wanting to continue to drown her in affection forever.

“I actively avoid thinking about the times I almost die.” She quotes him, giving him a smirk and eyelights that told him that she was fine now, a good bounce-back after a night of being taken care of.

That was something she wasn't used to, someone taking care of her that… tenderly, and unlike before her near death experience didn't weigh nearly as heavy on her as the others. She felt… good. Not 100% but good.

“That- I uh- you know that sounds way worse when I'm not the one saying it.” He laughed lightly, grabbing the baby bag that was hung over a chair and without much warning, wrapped it around her, pulling her close once more.

“Yeah well, now you know how I feel.” She said as if she was trying to be sarcastic, but failed as all she managed to sound was amused, she hugged him back lightly, both seemingly taking advantage of being able to touch the other freely.

She took Tera and swaddled her into the bag, even while knowing the little gremlin would somehow find a way to undo it without limbs.

“Come on.”

For the first time since they'd brought her home, Uzi and N were walking together with Tera in tow, the droneling not quite happy being contained in cloth and already rolling as much as she could to get out of it.

For the two parents, it was a strange experience.

N normally got stares regardless, he was several heads taller than any other drone and was, well, a disassembly drone. The gut instinct of most was to flee, at least until they realized who it was.

Now they were both getting looked at with a different kind of look, one accompanied by either whispers or smiles or both. Uzi had the distinct impression that this would be the new gossip of the colony for awhile.

But she found herself not minding too much. That was… okay, she looked up at N, who looked bashful at all the looks they were getting, and just smiled, it was okay, they'd be fine.

“Oh my robo-god, it's true…”

“How did that even happen…?”

“That's a lot of drone for him to handle…”

She almost laughed when her receptors caught the last one, yes, the tiny rebellious worker drone was a lot for the very large, armed to the teeth warmachine that was specially designed to murder her kind, yes. She was too much for him.

They walked into the nursery together, Mrs. Rayn propping her feet up on the desk while reading a magazine, she looked over her pair of glasses when they walked in, a beaming smile on her face.

“Why hello, Doorman Family, how can I help you three?” With the smirk on her face and the slight blushes on both parents faces, she knew what she did, she definitely knew.

“Hi Mrs. Rayn!” N replied cheerily, tail slightly wagging at the sight of her, Uzi gave her a small wave, and Tera squealed from her bag, already somehow out of her swaddle.

“Just picking up my oil, had an uh, “accident” yesterday and had to use a whole container.” Uzi explained, holding a hand over the baby bag to prevent the excitable infant from rolling onto the floor.

“I was about to say, you're a couple of days early.” Rayn grinned, putting down her magazine and stretching her fingers before typing some things on her computer.

“Hmm, Tera is due for her toddler body soon. Would you like me to start work on building her one? She's got a lot of energy and nowhere for it to go.” She asked, looking at the wildly rocking baby back attached to Uzi's side.

“Yes! I was going to bring that up soon. I know it's really early for her to have one, but… it would be best for her to be able to start learning limbs, she's already-”

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” Tera screamed, filling the entire room with her voice, Uzi blushed heavily, Rayn looked amused, and like her core had melted.

“How's that feel?” She asked the purple drone, getting a soft smile in return.

“Really good…” She admitted, a tone so soft you could sleep on it.

“I'll get the printers working, it'll be a couple days. In the meantime, let me go get you your oil.” She disappeared into the back, and left the young couple alone.

“So uh, we're going to have a very energetic toddler in a couple days.” N began, sounding a little nervous.

“Yeah.”

“How's that going to be?”

“Uh. Well it usually takes a few years for toddlers to get full control over their limbs, so… a lot of hitting if she's anything like me.” Uzi replied, looking a little amused, Tera probably wouldn't be as… violent of a toddler as Uzi was, but she didn't deny the possibility.

“Ah…” That did not seem to calm his nerves.

“Relax, we got this.” She smiled back at him, booping her little rolling gremlin and making her laugh.

N only smiled back, interlocking their hands.

“Yeah, we got this.”

Next ->

[peggy-uwu]

Black Butler Drive Link

Compiled pretty much all of black butler into a handy little drive file for u all.

Contained within:

ANIME:

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3 (book of circus)

Book of Murder (parts 1 & 2)

Book of the Atlantic

Ova's

MANGA:

Chapters 1-204

LINK:

I would add the musicals but they take up too much space,, google drive only lets you have 15GB of data stored for free at any one time, however they can be found here:

(regarding the anime: All seasons are available in both English and Japanese Dub, with english subtitles available. These cannot be streamed through google drive, you have to download them and watch with VLC media player. To switch through the audio tracks or toggle subtitles, click on subtitle/audio and subtitle track/audio track respectively at the top of the vlc player screen)

If any of you narc i swear to god

[slavghoul]

Hello, I prepared some statistics to give you a short overview of Ghost's amazingly successful 2022. It is based on data I collected between 22/12/2021 and 22/12/2022.

-

The big Ghost event of 2022 was of course the release of the band's fifth album, IMPERA.

Since March 11, it has sold nearly 500,000 copies, won the American Music Award for Favorite Rock Album and received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance ('Call Me Little Sunshine').

Within the first week of its release, the album reached #2 on the Billboard 200 (ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States) and ranked in the top 20 best-selling albums in 19 countries across the world:

#1 in Sweden, Austria, Germany, Finland, Spain

#2 in US, UK, Belgium, Norway, Netherlands

#3 in Australia, Canada

#5 in Switzerland, Ireland, France

#7 in Poland

#8 in Hungary

#12 in Denmark, Portugal

#20 in Italy

IMPERA is Ghost’s best charting album to date.

-

On YouTube, the band amassed a staggering 260 million views. 840,000 people subscribed to the channel this year, which makes up 42% of all current subscribers.

5 most watched videos on YouTube in 2022:

Mary On A Cross (Official Audio) – 32 million views

Call Me Little Sunshine (Official Music Video) – 15 million views

Square Hammer (Official Music Video) – 11 million views

Mary On A Cross (Live in Tampa 2022) – 8.2 million views

Spillways (Official Music Video) – 6.8 million views

-

On Spotify, the band amassed 1,285,625 new followers. That’s around 61% of all followers since the band appeared on the platform.

5 most streamed songs on Spotify in 2022:

Mary On A Cross -  193,709,473 streams

Call Me Little Sunshine – 41,108,589 streams

Square Hammer – 29,720,042 streams

Dance Macabre – 26,494,053 streams

Spillways – 24,910,870 streams

-

It goes without saying that the viral success of Mary On A Cross on TikTok brought in a lot of new fans this year, but the magnitude of it becomes even more astonishing if you look at numbers.

On this graph, I marked a few events that resulted in a noticeable spike in the number of monthly listeners on Spotify, including the approximate time when MOAC began to gain traction on TikTok. As you can see, nothing, not even the release of a new album, gave the band as much attention as the 3-year old song suddenly raising in popularity on one single platform.

Between end of July and beginning of October, the number of monthly listeners on Spotify skyrocketed from 2.5 million to 12 million. This is a 380% increase.

Although the numbers have been in decline since then, it appears that for the past month they have stayed at a steady 9 million. As of today (Dec 22, 2022) the exact number is 9,110,996. Exactly a year ago (Dec 22, 2021) the number was 1,999,951. A hefty 355% increase in only a year.

-

Some other milestones and fun facts:

On June 7, Cirice, Dance Macabre, and Square Hammer were all certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 units in the USA. Following the viral success, Mary On A Cross was also certified Gold on November 20.

The band's most liked post on Instagram this year was a video of Papa throwing the first pitch at the White Sox game (273,241 likes).

The episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live where Ghost performed Call Me Little Sunshine was watched by around 1.3 million people.

In September, Ghost reached over 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify and was the 450th most streamed artist globally - that's 450 out of over 11 million!

As of today with over 1.6 billion accumulated streams Ghost is one of the 1,000 most successful artists on the platform of all time (currently #808).

On September 11, Mary On A Cross peaked at #1 in the Viral Hits chart on Spotify in 54 countries across the world.

It was also the highest charting Swedish song on the platform in 2022, peaking globally at #31.

-

At this point I think it’s safe to declare that Ghost’s global success reached unprecedent heights this year and even allowed them to officially join the ranks of mainstream artists. With all of the above, 70 completed shows this year and many more to come in 2023, and with media of the likes of The Wall Street Journal proclaiming Ghost “the next generation of arena stars,” it looks like that the band is well on the way to become one of the biggest rock acts of this century. Not bad for a side project started by one Swede in his bedroom somewhere in Linköping. 

Let us hope 2023 will be as devilishly good!

[jcmarchi]

NVIDIA’s GTC in Four Headlines

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/nvidias-gtc-in-four-headlines/

NVIDIA’s GTC in Four Headlines

Impressive AI hardware innovations and interesting software moves.

Created Using DALL-E

Next Week in The Sequence:

Edge 381: We start a new series about autonomous agents! We introdice the main concepts in agents and review the AGENTS framework from ETH Zurich. Additionally, we provide an overview of BabyAGI.

Edge 382: We review PromptBreeder, Google Deemind’s self-improving prompt technique.

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📝 Editorial: NVIDIA’s GTC in Four Headlines

I tried to resist making this weekend’s editorial about NVIDIA because I think you might have been inundated with headlines from the GTC conference. Unable to resist, I instead decided to present the four most impactful announcements in terms of ambition and market impact. If I have to summarize two key takeaways from NVIDIA’s AI announcements this week, they would be these:

NVIDIA is not only outgrowing but also out-innovating everyone else in AI compute hardware by a large margin.

NVIDIA’s software ambitions should be taken seriously.

To put that in context, here are four key announcements from this week’s GTC:

Blackwell GPU Series: NVIDIA unveiled the Blackwell B200 GPU, optimized for trillion-parameter models. The chip can improve LLM inference by up to 30x, which is quite remarkable.

NIM Microservices: My favorite announcement of GTC was the NIM platform, which delivers models optimized for inference and packaged as containers. NIM speeds up inference by using the Triton Inference Server, TensorRT, and TensorRT-LLM.

Project GR00T: I think the coolest and most ambitious announcement was Project GR00T, which focuses on developing foundation models for humanoid robots. The stack is based on multimodal models for video, audio, and language.

Distribution: An overlooked announcement during GTC was the impressive list of strategic alliances with top software companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Dell, Oracle, and many others. NVIDIA is simply everywhere.

There were many additional announcements at GTC, but the aforementioned four are incredibly impactful. NVIDIA’s AI hardware dominance is unquestionable, but it’s quickly making inroads in the software space.

🔎 ML Research

Chronos

Amazon Science published a paper introducing Chronos, a family of pretrained foundation models for time series forecasting. Chronos models time-series data using the same techniques used by LLMs —> Read more.

Moirai

Salesforce Research also got into time series forecasting with foundation models with the publication of a paper detailing Moirai. The new model follows the paradigm of a universal forecasting model that can issues predictions across many domains and time scales —> Read more.

TacticAI

Google DeepMind published a paper detailing TacticAI, a model that can provide technical insights in football( soccer) plays, particularly corner kicks. The model uses geometric deep learning by generating possible reflections of a game situation including the player’s relationships —> Read more.

RAFT

Researcers from UC Berkely published a paper introducing retrieval-augmented fine-tuning(RAFT), a training technique that improves the ability of models to answer questions based on external data. Given a question, RAFT ignores the documents that are not relevant to formulagte the answer leading to more accurate outputs —> Read more.

Evolutionary Optimization and FM Model Merging

Researchers from Sakana AI published a paper that uses evolutionary optimization to merge foundation models. The technique attempts to harness the collective intelligence of different models to create more powerful foundation models —> Read more.

SceneScript

Meta AI Research published a paper detailing SceneScript, a method for reconstructing layouts of physical spaces. The technique can have profound implications in augmented reality scenarios that merge physical and virtual spaces —> Read more.

🤖 Cool AI Tech Releases

NVIDIA NIM

NVIDIA announced NIM, its cloud microservices endpoints for pretrained foundation models —> Read more.

Grok

Elon Musk’s xAI open sourced a version of its marque model Grok —> Read more.

Stable Video 3D

Stability AI released Stable Video 3D, an improved model that can generate 3D objects from text descriptions —> Read more.

🛠 Real World ML

AI Training Logging at Meta

Meta discusses Logarithm, their solution for AI training logging —> Read more.

GNNs at Pinterest

Pinterest details their use of graph neural networks(GNNs) for content understanding —> Read more.

RL at Lyft

Lyft discusses the architecture powering their internal reinforcement learning workloads —> Read more.

Cloud Monitoring at Microsoft

Microsoft discusses the AI used to monitor its Azure cloud services —> Read more.

📡AI Radar

NVIDIA unveiled plenty of AI hardware and software innovations at its GTC conference.

Reddit had a strong IPO debut fueled by AI data demands.

Apple is reportedly in conversations with Google to power IPhone AI features using Gemini.

On a surprising move, Microsoft hired Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and part of his team to lead its Copilot efforts.

After loosing several key people, Inflection announced a pivot into AI for business.

NVIDIA announced a series of AI partnerships with the world’s largest tech companies.

Databricks announced the acquisition of Lilac to improves its unstructure data preparation and analysis capabilities.

Astera Labs shares popped 70% in its IPO pushed by the demand of its AI data transfer features.

Roblox introduced new AI features for Avatar creation and texturing.

Anthropic, AWS and Accenture announced a strategic alliance to bring generative AI to enterprises.

ServiceNow released a new version of its Now platform for AI workflow automation.

Amazon and Snowflake announced a partnership to modernize data streaming pipelines.

TheSequence is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

[jokeroutsubs]

Joker Out interview with magazine Mladina, published on 30th of June 2023

Interviewed by Vanja Pirc

Photos by Borut Kranjc

This year's Slovenian representatives at Eurovision, the five-member band Joker Out, attracted an unusually large amount of attention with their accessibility and playfulness, especially with the song "Carpe Diem." In the days and weeks that followed, it became clear that their Eurovision entry, which only placed 21st, had indeed opened the door for them to go abroad. They started adding new concerts in Ireland, Croatia, the UK, Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Serbia, and others to the ones they had already arranged in Slovenia and the former Yugoslav republics. They sold out all of them, some in just a few minutes. Well over eight thousand people will see them on the UK and Nordic tour alone. For musicians working in Slovene, that's an incredible statistic.

It's a remarkable milestone to see how they've come from "Špil liga," where they first came to the limelight by winning in 2013 when they were still a high school band, to today, being greeted by masses of enthusiastic fans below the stage, and being selected by the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand to be their opening act at Croatia's Špancirfest festival. We spoke to lead singer Bojan Cvjetićanin, guitarists Kris Guštin and Jan Peteh, and bassist Nace Jordan. Unfortunately, drummer Jure Maček was missing, but we could see that he is a man of many talents by looking at the huge wooden structure with a platform that added another floor to the band's rehearsal space in Šiška, Ljubljana.

After Eurovision, you made no secret of your disappointment at finishing 21st, but your Eurovision song "Carpe Diem," sung in Slovenian, is now one of the most listened-to songs of this year's Eurovision event. It's being played all over Europe, most notably in Finland, Poland, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain... Did you expect this turn of events?

Bojan: The result we achieved at the Eurovision Song Contest was really not the greatest. Not even close. But, as you can see, in the end, it doesn't even matter. What is more important for us is that we managed to achieve the rest of the goals we had set for ourselves. We approached Eurovision in a very organic way, aiming to translate our stage and concert experience from real life to the Eurovision stage. It was clear to us that this is the biggest show stage in Europe, maybe even in the world. We were aware that this is a competition of one song, one comprehensive performance to be presented in three minutes. Our goal was to ensure that the audience would remember Slovenia's performance in 2023, and we have achieved that. We also aimed to connect with other performers, and we succeeded in doing so. But most importantly, we wanted both our Eurovision song and our other songs to be well-received in the real world. The data from radio stations, online streaming platforms, and concert offers confirm that apparently, we have achieved that as well.

Before, you were known mainly in Slovenia, and to a lesser extent in the Balkans. However, your Eurovision song has temporarily climbed to the top 50 most viral songs in the world chart on the streaming platform Spotify. You even briefly surpassed Sweden's Loreen, the winner of this year's Eurovision, in terms of popularity.

Bojan: Just to clarify, we only surpassed her for a day or two. But it's really nice that it happened on Spotify's list of the most listened-to songs in the world.

Kris: Well, she did get a billboard in New York's Times Square as the winner at the time, so it's a matter of who surpassed whom, I suppose (gesturing with his hands).

Well, who did?

Bojan: I believe that what we will gain from this performance will surpass what many other performers will achieve. Eurovision has introduced us to a very large audience in a very short time, and they have really connected with our music. They are now translating our lyrics into their own languages and even learning Slovenian. We were surprised to see how many of them bought dictionaries to learn Slovenian - we know this because we were asked to sign them. Others are learning Slovenian through online platforms, and there are even dictionaries being created on TikTok. These listeners are not bothered at all that we are not creating in English at this point; on the contrary, they would like us to keep it that way. However, we have to be realistic. To truly expand our listener base, it's important to be accessible to people.

That's why you have already prepared an album a few months ago, featuring songs from both your previous albums rearranged in English. The album is now awaiting release. One of your main goals was to be able to translate your concert experience onto the stage.

Bojan: The first real international test after Eurovision was in Zagreb, where we performed as the opening act for the most popular young Serbian band at the moment, "Buč Kesidi", at a previously arranged concert. We performed outdoors in the middle of the day, with the sun still high up in the sky. However, we were greeted by a crowd of 2,500 people and received a phenomenal response. They sang along with us, and later we read in the Serbian media that we probably have the most Croatian fans among Slovenian bands. After this show, when we announced a solo concert in Zagreb's Tvornica for November, which is comparable in size to Ljubljana's Cvetličarna, the tickets sold out in five hours. So, we arranged another concert in the same venue, and that one sold out as well. The response in Croatia has been truly amazing, and they have set a very high bar for the future.

You have been intentionally engaging with the countries of the former Yugoslavia lately. Through songs like "Demoni" ("Demons"), you have approached them language-wise. In addition to Croatia, you have also been booked for concerts in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Your Eurovision song also reminds me a little of Plavi orkestar, which was once the most popular Yugoslav pop band, or Đorđe Balašević. It is probably not a coincidence that the line "The game of hatred is your thing, thank you, don't count on us" is reminiscent of his hit "Računajte na nas" ("Count on us")?

Bojan: No, no, it's not a coincidence.

Is it nevertheless more difficult to plan a breakthrough to the rest of Europe? After Eurovision, the Irish were the first to sign you up, did the audience there also know your songs by heart?

Bojan: Yeah, we haven't really gotten used to that yet (laughs). In Ireland, we managed to sell out our first show in 12 minutes. It's true that it was a small venue, comparable to Ljubljana's Orto bar, and it wasn't a solo concert, but a joint performance with this year's Irish Eurovision representatives. However, due to the high level of interest, we arranged another concert in a club twice as big, which is also their most iconic venue. Soon after, other venues started to show interest. We announced a UK tour, with over five thousand tickets on sale for four shows in major cities, and they sold out. We announced a Nordic tour, with around 2,500 tickets available, and it sold out in half an hour, along with three Finnish concerts in just ten minutes. Later, we released an additional 770 tickets, which were gone in five minutes. Offers are also coming in from many other countries, and it is impossible to predict what will happen in the upcoming months.

A number of Slovenian music artists have successfully reached international audiences, from Senidah to Laibach, from Gramatik to Umek, and you were the first ones to consider using Eurovision as a springboard. Would it make sense for our country to continue using this event to promote established musicians who are eager to make an international breakthrough? You were internally selected for this competition.

Kris: It all depends on what we as a country want to achieve from this competition in the future. We have to decide whether EMA is a competition where we find the most suitable representative and expect them to make the most of their opportunity while promoting our country along the way, or whether it is a competition where Slovenian musicians present themselves to Slovenian audiences. Personally, I believe that it is definitely better to choose a performer who already has an established infrastructure in place and a certain support base, because this can enable him to use his potential to the fullest.

Jan: I think that would be the best approach as well. However, since many musicians see EMA as one of the few opportunities to showcase their work to a wide audience through public broadcasting, it would make sense to maintain that aspect too, perhaps as a prelude to EMA, transforming it into a grand finale for carefully selected artists, similar to Sanremo.

Bojan: The main issue with the previous selections was that Slovenia didn't approach it with the intention of winning. Of course, success in such a significant event is not guaranteed. But why not approach it strategically nonetheless? For example, I believe we should send Senidah to Eurovision in 2024!

Senidah is the biggest star in the Balkans, the most listened-to musician. Is she also your role model in that sense?

Bojan: Absolutely. Senidah is the first Slovenian artist, after Mr. Predin and "Lačni Franz", to truly break through in the Balkans. She does write music in Serbian, but that's irrelevant; what's important is that she's made a remarkable breakthrough in a market that has so far been very closed off to Slovenians. And not only has she broken through, but she is topping the charts. However, I would understand if Senidah refused to participate in EMA, at least as long as the current rules are in place. EMA is too close in time to Eurovision. The winner has only one month to submit material. Imagine having to put together the most important performance of your life in just 15 days? We, on the other hand, had more time since we were internally selected—three months—and we utilized this extra time to design our pre-Eurovision campaign, which ultimately played a key role in our success. That's what left the biggest impression.

You managed to invest between ten and fifteen thousand euros of your own funds in this promotion. You have an extensive domestic touring career behind you. In October, you will fill our biggest venue, Stožice, for the first time, where you expect 12,000 people.

Kris: I've always considered it a privilege to have established a music career at such an early stage in our lives and to have quickly reached the point of financial self-sufficiency.

Bojan: It really worked out for us that right after we finished university, we began our professional lives as musicians.

Those who know you say that you are very disciplined, very organized. Bojan, your fellow classmates from Poljane Gymnasium in Ljubljana also say that even back then, you were absolutely convinced that you were going to make a breakthrough. Many people rolled their eyes at the thought, but you had a clear objective. You were networking with the right people, educating yourself, and Pavle Kavec taught you guitar...

Bojan: Yes, Pavle the legend. I knew during my time at Poljane Gymnasium that I wanted to be an artist. I hadn't fully decided whether it would be music or something else because I was also considering studying acting. But my thoughts were always centered around creating. I suppose that's more or less true for all of us. When Jure and Nace joined us, the first question was whether we were fully committed at 1000%, or if there was another one percent pulling us towards a "plan B," such as the directions we were trained in. No, there is no "Plan B" anymore. At some point, we made the decision to cut it off.

So, the high school students at Poljane Gymnasium may very well forget that you were once planning to be their sociology professor? We've also seen you in a few episodes of the series "Gospod profesor" ("Mr. Professor").

Bojan: I've given up on the professorship, but I still find acting very interesting. For once in my life, I would like to be in a film, playing a totally negative character. I would be mean as a snake. And it doesn't even have to be a Slovenian film; it can be from the Balkans.

Kris: I have to admit that I never thought of making a living from music, although I certainly saw it as an ideal. Even when I was deciding on my studies, I wavered between sociology and chemistry, and then preferred the latter because of its greater potential for employability. Well, later on, I did go into social sciences, for a master's degree in international relations.

Yet Kris, you were the one who had the ideal conditions to become a musician. You grew up playing guitar, because your father, Miha Guštin - Gušti, is the co-founder of "Big Foot Mama", one of the most popular Slovenian bands. Today, you are considered to be their successors.

Kris: I really had the ideal conditions to become a musician who does this for a living. Not only because of my dad, but my mum also worked for record labels for many years and has recently embarked on this path again, so I've been in touch with both sides of the music world, creatively and business-wise, since I was a little kid. But I didn't really start playing guitar until I was 14, 15. And nobody else among us is a trained musician either, except our drummer, Jure Maček.

Bojan: Yes, our Maček finished elementary music school, and he also played a lot, mostly with the "Logatec brass band".

Jan: Let's not forget his performances with the "Golaž brass band", and with the Cantabile Symphony Orchestra...

Jan, you are a mathematician. The link between music and mathematics was explored by Pythagoras after he listened to a blacksmith striking a hammer, and from that he developed the study of harmony.

Jan: Yeah, at the moment it's kind of like, if you have an out-of-tune guitar, you can just say you have a Pythagorean tuning (everyone bursts out laughing). To me, maths is relevant because it's the only thing in the existence of human understanding that you can really count on. It can be used to get definitive answers to at least some questions. I see it as something that gives you structure in your life.

Nace: I would have chosen to study veterinary medicine if I had gone to university, but I discovered very quickly that music was my passion. After high school I went out into the world, I played in a band on a cruise ship that more or less sailed the Baltic, somewhere between Russia, Finland and Sweden. You could say I've got a lot of musical mileage from playing abroad. But it's limited to German schlager and German rock. Our audiences were mostly German families (laughs).

You also have the most experience of performing in front of TV cameras, especially as a member of the in-house band of the TV show "V petek zvečer" ("Friday Night"), which gives airtime to more folk-music genres on TV Slovenia. Have you scrapped this "plan B" now as well?

Nace: Officially, I'm still a member of that band; maybe the managers are expecting me to come back to the show in the autumn. But it remains to be seen whether that will be possible. Most probably not.

Today, together with MRFY, you are considered the successors of our most popular rock or pop-rock guitar bands who managed to appeal to the masses, not only of "Big Foot Mama", but also, for example, "Siddharta" and "Dan D". Why hasn't there been a real breakthrough of new bands of this kind in the last few years? Were guitars considered to be outdated, were young people closer to electronica, trap, hip-hop, mixtures of genres?

Bojan: The music of "Siddharta" and "Big Foot Mama" was a kind of basic building block for me from the very beginning. These people have influenced me more than any other world-renowned musicians. So having them support us really means a lot to me. And the Špil Liga, where student bands have been entering for the last decade, has definitely been a very strong factor in the revival of the scene. MRFY are also from Novo mesto, which is considered a mini Slovenian capital of rock'n'roll, as many of the bands that have developed under the patronage of Tokac, the music producer and frontman of "Dan D", originate from there. At the same time, in last few years the Slovenian youth has become hungry for home-produced music of all genres, and this has stirred up a strong wave of creativity, which is being held in the hands of our own generation, as well as those a little younger and older than us. At this point, the whole spectrum of what we need, from clothes to design to photography, is being created by people our age, as well as those a little younger and older than us. Well, with one exception, of course, being our producer Žare Pak, but he's young at heart.

As you reach out to a wider audience, do you also feel the pressure to meet the ever-increasing expectations of both listeners and the music industry?

Jan: I feel that right now, more than ever, we can be confident and sure of what we are doing. We didn't even enter Eurovision with some deliberately made hit-like song to suit Eurovision ears, but we did a Joker Out song that could easily have been on our album last year. Our achievements so far prove that we are doing something right because people at home and abroad like it.

Kris: I also feel like we have more freedom to create now but also fewer inhibitions to go into more experimental waters in terms of music, outfits, visuals, or anything else.

Do you think that's what some people expect from you now?

Bojan: Musicians are often criticized for their style, genre, or sound. But such criticisms are absurd.

In particular, Slovenian rock or pop-rock has always been attacked in this respect for relying too often on tried-and-tested forms and less often, for example, on boldness, innovation.

Bojan: We've been on the scene long enough, and we know that the very concept of what Jokers do bothers some people. And that's why they keep pushing their idea that we don't make authentic music but rather some crap that we invented just to exist. So, they feel it would be good if we would stop doing that. These people want, or even demand, that Joker Out should stop being Joker Out. And we're happy that on the first and second album we were able to make music completely unburdened by expectations of how people would react to it. I think the second album is quite challenging in both its sonic elements and the overall meaning of the lyrics in certain songs. I'm sorry that not one of the critics mentioned "Plastika" ("Plastics") in their reviews. None of these intellectuals who have so much to say against our love songs thought that this could be a harbinger of a different, new direction.

This song was written in response to a study showing that the vast majority of teenage girls today want plastic surgery and other body modifications to meet their perverse beauty ideals.

Bojan: There's a lot of content that people don't want to see. On the other hand, I also don't understand why songs about love, which are in the vast majority in this culture at the moment, should be inferior to those about society. In fact, I hope to be able to sing about love for the rest of my life.

Kris: You will, you will sing "Umazane misli" ("Dirty Thoughts") for the rest of your life (laughs).

You addressed Europe with the words "We'll be dancing all night long, we'll love and play with each other as if there was no tomorrow." You have stated several times that you are not a political band, but isn't that actually very political? What is more political than being able to smile and rejoice even in the worst of situations?

Bojan: I very much agree. I even think that if Tokac had sung our song, the message would have gotten through to a lot more people. But because we sang it, a lot of people didn't take it seriously.

The current Prime Minister, Robert Golob, after learning that the future coalition had brought down the government of Janez Janša, said, "Today people are dancing, I am waiting for you to start dancing too." Do you think that if we had had your song then, he would have said instead, "We'll be dancing all night long"? As some employees of RTV Slovenia did when the depoliticisation of their institution could begin?

Bojan: The song "Carpe Diem" is largely written with the idea of fighting back against the things that are happening today. The fact that we had Eurovision in a country that was not last year's winner, because the event could not be held there due to the war, is quite an indication of the troubled times we live in. On the other hand, our only defense as musicians is to spread positive energy among the people and send socially relevant messages. We cannot do more than that. We do not want to take up arms, and we won't. Our only weapons can be our songs.

Culture and art can certainly be weapons too, especially in situations where people are suffering. Do you think that's why Ukrainians supported you at Eurovision, both the audience and the jury? The country is in ruins because of the war, people are displaced, and there is no end in sight to the conflict. But your dancing until dawn has been noticed.

Bojan: I am a child of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. My parents had to leave their home in Banja Luka because of the war. They came to Slovenia as refugees and stayed here. They had to rebuild their lives. In light of today's events, I can only conclude that the saying 'Historia magistra vitae est' (“History is the teacher of life”) is clearly not true. Because one day, when all the problems of this world are solved, I too will be able to afford the attitude of being opposed to all that is positive. But at the moment, that is not a possibility.

Your parents, Bojan, had to move because of the war, and your mother, Kris, moved from the Netherlands to Slovenia for love.

Bojan: That's a much nicer reason, isn't it?

Kris: Well, I also have a grandfather who fled Indonesia because of the civil war.

Migration flows have been huge in recent years, with thousands of people pouring into Europe, but they are often met with contempt and harsh treatment. Do you feel that your intimate experience of all this migration has also shaped your attitude towards all those who are seeking a better life?

Kris: Absolutely. In my home, this has always been a topic we have talked about. When I was still living with my parents, we often watched the TV program "Dnevnik" together, and whenever they showed a piece on migration, my mother would get very emotionally involved in the scenes on the screen. And that sticks with you. When you see a parent who can understand someone who had to leave home for completely different reasons and on the other side of the world, it naturally rubs off on you.

Bojan: Most of all, you feel the spectrum of pain associated with having to leave your home is much more than just having to leave a place. Only then do you realize that home is really a tangle of space, of people, of smells, of tastes, of everything surrounding you. Leaving all that behind is not the easiest thing to do. It is even harder to leave under duress, and the hardest to leave knowing that your home is in the process of being destroyed and that when and if you return one day, it will not feel like home anymore. The same people will not be there, the same smells will not be there. What has shaped your life will no longer exist.

Alongside wars and conflicts, another key reason why people from other parts of the world are moving to Europe in large numbers is climate change. Your generation is leading the fight to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, to live more sustainably. How important is this cause to you?

Kris: The fight for climate fairness is one of our few very clear common political positions. Here we are completely united and support all political choices towards sustainability. It is also very clear that this is an important issue not only for us but also for a large part of our audience. It was interesting to note that two years ago, at a rally for climate justice in Ljubljana, we saw a poster with the lyrics of one of our songs. We've summed up our own thoughts on the subject in the song "Novi val" ("New Wave)," which was written last year and is currently one of our most successful and important songs.

In that song, you say "The radio only plays lightnings and strikes', the newspaper says that we' ve lost our way. Today we'll sing and raise our glasses, we were born yesterday and have already been blamed for everything." And what are you guilty of? Probably not the fact that your generation faces precarious employment, that loans are hard to come by, and so are real estate, even rental properties?

Bojan: These are the facts of life lived by the "born yesterday" generation. They are the result of the accumulation of bad decisions over decades. These facts manifest themselves in reality as obstacles that reduce our ability to build the pillars of our independence and, as a consequence, are the reason for our failure to live up to societal expectations. In a world where laws have been written for decades in favor of a mega-massive littering of the planet, we are guilty of standing up for environmental justice instead of "doing something smarter and more serious with our lives," even though previous generations have themselves turned the (labour) market into a war zone of precarious employment. We fight day in and day out with the uncertainty of whether or not we will be employed tomorrow...

But even in this song, you sing and you raise your glasses.

Kris: This song and the Eurovision song "Carpe Diem" are actually very similar in spirit and message, except the second one addresses the listener in a dance guise and this one in a much more serious manner.

The song "Novi val" ("New Wave") has received a lot of attention because of the English version you released before the Eurovision, which you performed with the renowned British musician Elvis Costello. Your now ex-member Martin has a godfather who is a friend of Costello's, and in 2013 you sent him the song "Gola" ("Naked") to listen to. He did listen to it and suggested that you send him more songs. So last year you sent him "Novi val" ("New Wave").

Bojan: Yes, that was true, and when I sent him that song, I also asked him if he would be willing to re-arrange it in English. And he wrote back that he was up for it. Shortly after that, only about a week later, he sent me another email saying if we all agreed, he was ready to sing the song with us. Interestingly enough, he felt the song even before he understood what it was about. His first reaction after hearing the Slovenian version was that it was "a charming song that transcends the understanding of language". He recorded his vocals in New York, and we recorded them in Ljubljana. At the end of the song, we kept the chorus in Slovenian, at his request.

Costello has two Grammys, two Brit Awards, and was named one of the 100 greatest rock'n'roll musicians of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. What does his support mean to you?

Bojan: I can say without any reservation that even if I never wrote another song after this, I would forever be proud of what I have achieved. But it was this collaboration that gave us an indescribable amount of new energy to create. I am very proud of it. However, I must add that I felt the same pride when Tomi Meglič or Grega Skočir gave us words of encouragement. The moment when I first felt their sincere appreciation was a turning point for me, and since then I have existed quite differently as a musician. But of course, it is clear that Elvis Costello's encouraging words carry international weight. And that is something completely new for us. It's just a pity that we haven't been able to meet up yet because he was on tour in the US at the time of the recording of the song and later the video.

He will be touring Europe in the autumn, including Hamburg. You recorded the Eurovision song there in December.

Bojan: He honored us greatly then. He sent us the song "Hamburg Postcard", which he wrote especially for us.

Kris: Let's not forget something else. Our band has always described our music as "shagadelic rock'n'roll" (the Oxford English Dictionary defines shagadelic as "sexy, but in a psychedelic or retro way", A/N). We borrowed this term from "Austin Powers", but it was actually spoken by Elvis Costello, who played himself in that film. When we sent him our song "Gola" ("Naked") in 2019, we thought it would be a good idea to let him know that we also use the term "shagadelic rock'n'roll". And then he personally gave his permission to use it because he felt that that was what it was. To complete the circle, Elvis Costello is one of the original protagonists of the English New Wave, and we are now singing together about the New Wave. He is also from Liverpool, which hosted this year's Eurovision. Our collaboration was clearly written in the stars.

Costello, as a Liverpudlian, knew the most famous local musicians, The Beatles, very well and had worked with Paul McCartney. The Beatles are also among your role models, and this year you also visited the place where the Beatles began their musical journey for the first time. Do you now understand better why they remain the greatest?

Kris: For me, visiting Liverpool and the places that influenced the Beatles and their music gave me some perspective. We knew them through songs, like Penny Lane, for example, but in reality, it's much smaller and more 'plain' than we imagined. Liverpool is a beautiful city, but the suburbs where the Beatles lived are very ordinary working-class housing estates. One could say quite bland. Now I walk around Ljubljana with different eyes. I can imagine that one of our future songs could also feature an insignificant, less exposed street that made its mark on us...

Bojan: And this is where you can see very clearly why the Beatles are the Beatles. Because everybody has a Penny Lane in their life, an ordinary street where you meet a friend. Penny Lane is the most universal thing in the world

The English song "Novi val" ("New Wave") was covered by the BBC and ITV, and the British voted for you at Eurovision. Your music and performances have always been influenced by British pop. Is that one of the key places for you, besides the Balkans?

Bojan: I think our focus is on any place that is willing to accept us, but England has a special charm because we ourselves have been heavily influenced by British music. I'm not the ultimate "nomad," I dislike long flights and exotic destinations that can be unpredictable, so Europe is very dear to my heart. I would be very happy if we could establish ourselves as a European band that could travel a little bit around Scandinavia in the summer and then Dalmatia in the winter...

Kris: Or Spain, where we would eat tapas.

Is the interest in your band in the country also related to the fact that Bojan speaks Spanish?

Bojan: Yes, I ended up doing more interviews in Spanish than in English. The Spanish have also been very active because of our links with their Eurovision representative Blanca Paloma.

Kris: It's really amazing how you can charm a foreign audience by speaking their language. I understand it with the Spanish, as they are mostly less proficient in English, but I was surprised by the Dutch. Dutch is my mother tongue, of course, but I didn't expect that it would matter because in the last few years I have noticed that in Amsterdam, almost only English is spoken on the street. Even the oldest market vendor speaks perfect English. But they were very enthusiastic. On streaming platforms, the Netherlands is one of our top 10 countries.

You mentioned earlier that your fans are now learning Slovenian. What about your future - will it be written in English?

Bojan: The next album will almost certainly have songs in English, Slovenian, and Serbian, but it's very possible that there will also be some in French or Spanish.

What about Finnish? At Eurovision, the most talked-about thing was your friendship with the Finnish representative Käärijä, who came in second place. When you, Bojan, sang his song, he praised you, saying it was "better than the original".

Bojan: We haven't talked about a musical collaboration yet, but I was a guest at his concert in Helsinki in June, and we would be very happy to have him at our concerts. Unfortunately, that won't happen in Stožice because he has a big concert on the same day.

Now that it is clear that your international ambitions are growing exponentially, what is the ultimate goal where you would say, well, now we have made it?

Kris: Even before we had international ambitions on the level we have today, we often talked about how performing on the main stage of the Hungarian festival "Sziget" would be a testament to the fact that we have achieved something in our lives. Do you remember?

Bojan: How European of us, right? (laughs)

And - have they called you yet?

Jan: Not yet, but we are already learning Hungarian just in case (laughs).

Kris: And we were just wondering why we shouldn't just announce a concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 2030.

Bojan: Yeah, because if we started selling tickets now, we might even be able to sell them by then. (Everyone bursts out laughing because the stadium seats 90,000).

[archivists-plus-one]

So, after this episode of TMAGP, I have some thoughts.

(Spoilers for The Magnus Protocol up to episode 10 below. You have been warned.)

First of all, Mr Bonzo is terrifying and I am regretting making a model of him, which now sits and watches me from my bedroom shelf. I have so many questions, and nowhere near enough answers to satisfy my brain.

But what got me even *more* is what happened at the Magnus Institute ruins with Sam and Alice.

And who is this [ERROR] (Voiced by Beth Eyre) that is seemingly unleashed from the institute ruins at the end?  

Well, I don't know. But I do have a bit of a theory...

What do we know about [ERROR]? Well. Not much. But I did come across this casting call from RQ, posted by @pinkelotjeart, which at the time they thought might be about Celia, however I can't see how it could be anybody if not [ERROR].

Mysterious? Absolutely. Hostile? If they're not, I'd be shocked. Raspy voice? If that breathing was anything to go by, definitely. Initially dormant, trapped + forgotten for twenty years? Well, the institute burned down just over twenty years ago, so I'm going to say that's a match too. Now the line that interested me most is the one that OP also highlighted - "building an identity for itself at the expense of its victims". 

What else have we seen "building an identity for itself"? Something that Colin has warned Alice against personifying over and over again? FR3-D1. And Freddie certainly seems to be taking its toll on Colin, who could feasibly be it's "Victim"...

Now what exactly does this mean? I don't know! But noting that [ERROR] is also the way Jonny, Alex + Tim Fearon's character names were written out by RQ when the casting was announced (as they couldn't do the glitchy effect from the images), it feels significant. 

But like I said. I don't know. That being said, imagine, for a moment, that you are this "[ERROR]" character...

You know your body is under the Magnus Institute, so you wait, biding your time, collecting as much information as you can. You watch through people's devices - harder, at first, but it gets easier and easier as technology advances. Some select few get the chance to relive their experiences, a "test screening" of sorts you name 'Voyeur' - you need to check your recordings are accurate somehow. You get involved with a tattoo artist named 'Ink5oul', who helps you out by live streaming their tattoo processes, showing you what the symbols they tattoo onto their clients mean, and how they combine.

You're not entirely undisturbed in your tomb under the Institute, of course - some idiots come poking around. It's a newer craze, "urban exploration", but you need it to stop. You find the most popular urbex forums, and, using the moderators accounts, make sure that your ruins are marked as "cleared" - there's nothing interesting to find there, so nobody will bother you. 

That is, until someone who goes by the name of "RedCanary" comes to the ruins, and almost destroys everything. It isn't time yet. You find their post about the Institute and see that they're planning to post photos of the symbols that have been drawn over the ruins. That will only invite more interest, you can't have that. So you go through their phone and warp the photographs they took beyond recognition. You send them "anonymous" threats, making it look like it's through the forums. You use their webcam to watch them, making them more and more paranoid. The paranoia makes you stronger. You dispatch of them, and take a photo as a warning to everyone else, then post it on the blog. That'll keep them away. 

When you've gathered enough audio data to learn to emulate voices, you start to speak. You read out the cases that will give the OIAR employees the tools they need to help you in your plight. But nobody notices. You can't be too specific, that'd only lead to more people poking around the ruins, destroying your chance. No, you need the right person. Somebody who understands The Magnus Institute, who can help you properly. 

And then, conveniently you listen to the interview of one "Samama Khalid", and know that it's your time. He was on the list from KLAUS. So you start slipping in hints, waiting for him to get involved. And he does. And now he's freed you, and has absolutely no idea what he's just unleashed.

Anyway! On that happy note! What does any of this mean? Who knows! I am very excited to see where this goes. But I will leave you with a couple of thoughts:

- If [ERROR] was created "from someone on the point of death", is this how the other voices in FR3-D1 appeared? In which case, that leaves Jon, Martin + Jonah (?) dead. Did [ERROR] die in the fire that destroyed the Institute? Were they the cause of the fire?

- How are the artifacts we've seen so far (the dice + violin) related to all of this?

- How are Starkwall involved in all of this?

- And last of all, how do I destroy my model Mr Bonzo? I never want to witness his horrible face again.

If you've made it this far, well done. Let me know what you guys think! Happy listening!