#9/10 times it’s corporations using it to steal artists’ work

[ploompkin]

To follow up my previous reblog about the AI thing— I checked in my settings and legit, you have to ACTIVELY GO AND DENY Tumblr the right to STEAL your original art.

Anyways, it’s under settings, visibility.

This is a disgrace; blatant theft.

Who wants to also bet this refreshes itself with every update? Lol.

[betafibiiiiiivviiixiiixxixxxiv]

Alright, this whole thing with Honey Impact is a clusterfuck, so I’m gonna make a rant (written with the help of friends) about it breaking every leg Honey Impact seems to think they can stand on. Buckle on in kids, because this is gonna be a long one.

Disclaimer: I am not a legal expert, but you do not have to be a legal expert to do some basic fucking research, which Honey Impact has clearly not done despite saying that they have.

First, it should be known that months ago Mihoyo released a statement asking people to stop supporting leaks and that they would be increasing efforts to deal with illegal disclosures of their unreleased content. This has been a long time coming, and honestly with the recent actions of leakers and/or dataminers, I think it’s deserved.

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1372142018621706240

Second, unlike what many people seem to think, it is not unfair of Mihoyo to shut down Honey Impact’s site. It is within their rights. Honey Impact is sharing and profiting from content that does not belong to them. That is the bottom line of this. They do not own that content and they do not have the permission, nor the right, to share it.

Furthermore, Mihoyo did not go behind Honey Impact’s back to shut down their website. For example, if a streamer or youtube video infringes copyright, the company/corporation/individual/whatever entity holding that copyright would go to the highest power to tell the streamer or person who uploaded that youtube video that they’re infringing on that copyright, which would be Twitch and Youtube respectively. In this case, the highest power was the host domain hosting Honey Impact’s website.

https://twitter.com/HoneyDodogama/status/1436309421932548098?s=20

https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com/2021/09/10/mhy-is-trying-to-take-us-down/?lang=EN

Heading on to the points from the 9/11 update Honey Impact shared on their website and on their discord blatantly trying to paint Mihoyo as the bad guy and claiming that what they’re doing is in fact not illegal and pretty much digging a bigger hole for themselves:

Here is where they claim they did some legal work to try and keep their website afloat. Honestly, it seems more like they were trying to find a way to keep doing their illegal work for profit.

1)    In their first point, they claim that the Terms of Service (ToS) is not a contract. That is incorrect. It is a contract. You may not have signed with your name in blood, but you agreed to it when you checked the little box(es) to access the game because a digital signature is still your signature. If you agreed to the ToS and you violate it, you can be held accountable for doing so. What kind of legal work are you doing that you don’t even know this?

2)     In this point they say that Mihoyo provides a software that requires Kernel level of access to your PC. First of all, you have to grant Mihoyo/Genshin this permission. It is like when an app on your phone asks you for permission to access your photos, your microphone, your camera, etc. Second, the Kernel level of access to your PC isn’t to steal and sell your information, install a virus, etc., but to enforce anti-cheat measures which is common in other games.

Furthermore, it has been adjusted to be as minimally invasive as possible and if they violated any rules or laws regarding invasion of privacy or if they made it so that your computer turned into a bitcoin farm, the Google Play Store and the Apple Store and other platforms would have removed Genshin Impact from their platform. (And Mihoyo would’ve gotten into a whole lot of trouble.) What kind of developer are you that you don’t even know this?

On top of their misleading accusations, they use cookie based ads on their own site. Aka the things that save and keep track of your emails, passwords, browser history, etc, and they sell it to the highest bidder without informing you of who or what it's for or giving you a single share of the profits they're making off the private information you have stored on your device(s) while accessing their site. So who is actually being invasive?

3)     Honey Impact does give credit where credit is due with the watermarks, but they host ads on the website and they run a Patreon asking people to support them in developing their website. Which is very hypocritical of them since they themselves said that they make 10kUSD+ a month and stated that they don’t want people in their discord server to donate to them. They also beg for donations in their streams.

They are not only illegally distributing someone else’s content, they are also profiting from it. This violates the fair use clause of copyright law.

This is like people taking artists’ work and selling them behind their back. Even if the artist is making bank compared to whatever you are making, it is still theft of intellectual property. You are pretty much reposting art that the artist has said not to repost. You are a thief. What kind of content creator are you that you don’t even know this?

4)     Unlike what Honey Impact has said, everything that is under the Genshin Impact banner, be it released content or unreleased is covered under the trademark that Mihoyo owns. As the owners of that trademark, they want Honey Impact to stop using their website to illegally share unreleased content that they illegally acquired.

Honey Impact also refers to their website as a fansite. But fansites generally aren’t for profit/have ad revenue, as profiting off of someone else's content goes directly against Fair Use, which they seem to think they are somehow entitled to if they scream about it loud enough… 

Just look at the Genshin Impact fandom wiki. There is a reason why they do not allow leaked/datamined/unreleased content on their page. (Because it is illegal!!!!!!!) Also, since Honey Impact was using Fandom, the host domain of the Genshin Impact fanwiki, as an example of an entity making money off of official content: first, Fandom hosts a lot more fanwikis than just the Genshin Impact fanwiki (which, btw, has no for-profit ads), which culminates in a lot more overall traffic compared to Honey Impact’s site of stolen goods. Which means Fandom needs more money.

https://twitter.com/HoneyDodogama/status/1436990491942342662?s=20

Second, again, the Genshin fanwiki DOES NOT POST UNRELEASED/LEAKED/DATAMINED CONTENT ON THEIR PAGES. BECAUSE DOING SO IS ILLEGAL. I don't know why Honey Impact thinks the fanwiki has that kind of content on its pages, but it doesn't.

Moreover, about not being subject to the NDA; it does not matter that Honey Impact, or anyone else on their team, did not sign an NDA. The crux of the matter is that the stuff they’re sharing doesn’t fucking belong to them. It is still theft of intellectual property.

Furthermore, this is not a grey area in law. Any company/corporation/individual/entitiy with a copyright has the right to tell other people to stop using their content protected by that copyright if they so choose. There has been precedent for this. D*sney is one such example as is Anne Rice.

As for other content creators that aren’t dataminers and/or leakers, they have been sanctioned by Mihoyo to release the content they have been releasing. Don't drag down other content creators such as streamers, artists, fanmerch creators, etc as they comply with a very much public list of conditions that Mihoyo has published to allow them to LEGALLY profit. They make fun of Mihoyo’s legal department not even being able to make a clear paragraph in English, yet Honey Impact’s English isn’t perfect either. So what if Mihoyo can’t spell? Honey Impact apparently can’t even read.

5)     What they are asking Honey Impact to do with their website is to follow the law. It is not some fraud company politics, it. Is. The. Fucking. Law. The reason they don’t want Honey Impact to have backups is because they’re not supposed to fucking have it in the first place. Furthermore, company politics has to do with what goes on inside the company, not what the company does to people/entities outside of it.

Ultimately, the stuff related to unreleased content of Genshin Impact Honey Impact has been posting on their website DOES NOT BELONG TO THEM. It’s bad enough that they were posting it without permission, it’s even worse that they were getting money for it.

Not to mention, with the way they have been acting, if you’ve been sympathetic and/or defending them, they really don’t deserve it. They added a pretty nasty disclaimer on their new website (which has since been deleted), which, by the way, can get them sued for libel, so that’s another charge on them, and also really shows how petty and childish they’re acting.

Moving on to how they claim they’re back, which at this rate won’t be for long, they say they’ve moved to an Amsterdam based server and that that server is non-DMCA compliant.

So Ionos, their former host server for their website, is, in Honey's words, "DMCA compliant" only in the sense that they take responsibility for the content posted on their platform(s) and domain(s). All that means is that Mihoyo has to go through the DMCA process with the company to officiate the start of the paperwork.

Moving to an Amsterdam server that claims to be "not DMCA compliant" doesn't mean they can't get struck by DMCA. It just means that the company disclaims any and all legal obligations regarding the content posted and it will be solely the content creator's responsibility. So all that means is that they'll get their DMCA even faster now because Mihoyo will not be legally obligated to send the paperwork to the hosting company before sending it to them.

By the way, DMCA laws are INTERNATIONAL. Just because you moved servers from the US to Amsterdam does not mean you suddenly do not have to follow DMCA laws. Also, Mihoyo does have a local EU branch to deal with such things in Europe.

[davidmann95]

How'd you like the new Death Metal special (and, more broadly, this week's comics)?

pretenderoftheeast said: Comics this week (12/9/2020)?

Batman: Black and White #1: The first of a platter of anthologies today:

* The Tynion/Moore story is predictably fire.

* JHIII is JHIII. Also he does a really nice surprising story about how Batman’s relating to this moment of the time, but let’s be real, you’re here because JHIII, and be assured he is JHIII as helllll here and it’s great.

* Dini/Kubert plays as the former building a story around accommodating requests by the latter, but that’s not a bad thing, and glad to see Kubert’s kept up the pace since his DK3/Up In The Sky creative rejuvenation.

* Ok I’m a philistine who has no idea what that Emma Rios thing was about but it was certainly pretty.

* Wilson doing Batman is surprisingly disappointing, but Smallwood doing Batman definitely isn’t.

DC’s Very Merry Multiverse: Not a very merry time! I hate to say it given this should be so geared to my interests, but this is the weakest overall effort we’ve gotten from one of DC’s quarterly anthologies in a good long while, at least among those I’ve picked up. Not to say it’s a dud, there are several nifty little stories in here including the much-hyped first appearance of Kid Quick (destined to become the Flash of Future State) and really almost everything here reaches ‘pretty okay’. But for $10, and a creative space that should reach so much more than ‘pretty okay’, I don’t know that this is a justifiable recommendation unless you’re understandably desperate for all the President Superman content you can get your hands on.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Flashpoint: I’m surprised I got it too, but the preview grabbed me and in practice it was a fun, mean little high-concept adventure of Reverse Flash being a total cock.

Wonder Woman #768: Credit where it is due, this has been getting a bit better in its closing stretch.

Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe: This ruled. Obviously there was the one story folks are most interested in, but almost all of the tales in here lived up to being a ‘final’ story of sorts for their leads.

* The Titans bookenders were pretty nice even if it’s hilarious that their big rallying cry basically amounts to “by god, our book may be shit, but we’re valuable IP so we’ll never be cancelled!”

* Green Lantern is basically an epilogue to Johns’ run sans the baggage of bringing back Johns (that we get in two weeks with Secret Origin and god forgive me I’m so looking forward to that), and definitely one of my favorite efforts from Lemire.

* Wonder Woman’s the stinker in what’s nominally her own event. I can parse the roots of most bad Superman stories one way or another, but I just can’t understand what’s behind most bad Wonder Woman stories beyond that the people handling it simply don’t give a shit.

* Astonishingly, the Green Arrow and Black Canary chapter in here might be my favorite of the bunch? Simone at her best, a really sweet slice of playful, sincere romance about two characters I’m not by default invested in but ended up quite caring for here.

* This Aquaman story is everything I generally hate in Aquaman stuff, a big long maudlin speech about the weight of the world as he swims through a black featureless ocean, except here between the real heart Sebela brings to the script and the mood artist Christopher Mooneyham manages to evoke, it all clicks together.

* The Batman Family story feels like it can’t quite make its pacing work, but it’s still a heartfelt little ode to the theoretical power of the concept.

* Hey, that Mark Waid guy? Turns out he can write him some Superman. It’s not perhaps the total barnburner you might have expected - I imagine he’s saving his biggest hits for later - but it’s a very solid execution of a gangbusters concept, and Manapul steals the show with absolutely sensational, gorgeous scenic Superman imagery. I’mma say 60/40 in favor of them doing a Superman project together on either a main book or Black Label (I know Manapul was supposed to be locked into a creator-owned thing with Scott Snyder but that was ages ago), because this is a paring that’s yielded some immediate results and I imagine everyone knows it. And given my upbringing, nice to see a big, iconic, beautiful Superman story with him rocking the mullet.

Anonymous said: Haha holy shit Crossover is literally Cates taking that page where Spawn meets all the corporate heroes locked up and spinning it out into a series

Anonymous said: Does Crossover #2 hold the crown for the funniest, dumbest, most baffling opening page ever?

Crossover #2: Readers I’m not too big to admit I laughed my ass off at the first page, and at least a little bit for the actual reasons intended. The sense of homaging that Spawn scene in the context of a book about “Gosh, isn’t IP the best folks?”, or Cates’ dialogue...(shall we say) proving why he likes the concept of ellipses enough to name a character after them aside though? That it’s already crossed the line with its central metaphor from “indefensibly insensitive in its ridiculous self-centeredness” to “out-and-out cartoonishly offensive” somehow actually makes it more rather than less palatable; there’s no longer the secondhand embarrassment of waiting to see how bad Cates is going to handle this, it simply is the worst it could possibly be and readers have to accept and perhaps revel in the sight of him stepping on rake after rake. I cannot wait for him to finally give an interview on this book where he explains what the hell he thinks this looks like, and I hope my dad keeps somehow enjoying it forever because I totally wanna see what pit this descends to next.

Penultiman #3: This is absolutely agonizing and probably the most relatable take on a ‘superman’ ever.

Home Sick Pilots #1: A new creator-owned book from Dan Watters (whose big two credits include the stupendous “Afraid of America” with John Paul Leon in the last Batman Secret Files, and the upcoming Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman) and Peter Cannon’s Caspar Wijngaard, this new book set against the backdrop of a Californian high school’s punk scene in 1994 describes itself as “Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really)”. The former influence isn’t much in play yet, but thus far this is a book that merges building tension and freewheeling dopey teen bullshit to an extent that’s subtly impressive as hell, and seems likely to proudly take a place among the current horror comic renaissance.

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #3: Ok again I don’t have any experience with this franchise but you’d better believe that cultural osmosis was enough that I popped for BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

King in Black: Namor #1: Kurt Busiek’s return to Marvel...sucks? Such is the power of Knull I guess even if he doesn’t manifest within the actual story here, this is a complete nothing of a comic and I’m not tuning in for issue #2.

Avengers #39: Eh, I’m not liking Aaron Avengers when it gets remotely serious nearly as much as when he’s doing stuff like having them finally help Blade with all those vampires or Captain America assisting with the delivery of an exploding space-baby in the back of a muscle car.

Anonymous said: That new Guardians of the Galaxy was something else. What do you think the odds are that Comic Books, with a decade or two of hindsight, recognizes Ewing as one of the best to ever do it?

Guardians of the Galaxy #9: I lack much context here beyond recalling from an interview that this is Ewing’s way of grappling with the ideas from Steve Englehart’s original unrealized vision of Star-Lord’s character arc, but wherever it stems from this is a hell of a comic.

S.W.O.R.D. #1: This is everything I’ve wanted from the non-Hickman X-books since the moment HoXPoX ended, and so much more, and also it is basically hilarious that Ewing is all but explicitly using his clout to force Marvel to let him to Ultimates3 under a currently cancellation-proof banner. Most importantly of all, Ewing has already mastered the subtle art of writing not merely Magneto, but the infinitely superior Jonathan Hickman Magneto. And good lord Schiti and Gracia, I already knew they were top-tier but these pages’d make a grown man cry.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Iron Man 3

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Continue Looking At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

And With Phase One Now Behind Us We Move Now Onto The Start Phase Two, With The First Movie Of Phase 2, Iron Man 3...

This Film Sees Tony Stark Attempting To Deal With The Events That Happened In The Avengers While Also Dealing With Terrorist Attacks From A New Enemy Called The Mandarin, Will Tony Succeed In Stopping This New Threat While Facing His Own Issues?

Lets Find Out As We Watch Iron Man 3...

The Film Starts With An Intro From Tony Stark (Played Again By Robert Downey Jr) Before The Film Actually Begins With A Flashback On New Year's Eve In 1999 In Switzerland, Where Tony Is With A Girl Named Maya Hansen (Played By Rebecca Hall) And Happy (Played By The Person Who Should Have Directed This Movie, Jon Favreau) At A Conference Where Tony Actually Met Yinsen Before They Were Captured By The 10 Rings...

On His Way Up To His Room With Maya And Happy, Tony Meets A Fanboy Named Aldrich Killian (Played By Guy Pearce) Who Attempts To Get Tony To Join His Team At Advanced Idea Mechanics (Otherwise Known In Marvel As A.I.M.) Seemingly Interested, Tony Tells Killian That He'll Meet Him On The Roof In 5 Minutes...

But Being An Asshole Back Then Tony Doesn't Show And Instead Spends His Night With Hansen Only To Ditch Her The Next Day...

But Eventually Growing Out Of His Asshole Phase, We Come To Now As Tony Works On A New Mark 42 Armor...

Mark 42?!? We Were On Mark 7 How The Hell Did We Get To 42?

Well Turns Out That Ever Since The Battle With The Chitauri, Tony Has Been Without Sleep And Has Been Making Suits Like Crazy, Some That Are Just Plain Iron Man Suits And Others That Serve A Certain Purpose (Space Travel, Underwater Capabilities, Heavy Lifting Etc..) And This... Is Just Another Iron Man Suit...

(Start At 0:51, End At 3:04)

The Next Day, A Broadcast From A Terrorist Criminal Known As The Mandarin Goes Over The Airwaves And In Response To This New Threat, President Ellis (Played By The Bad Guy From Die Hard 2) Rebrands Rhodey As The Iron Patriot As The Name War Machine Did Not Test Well With Focus Groups...

War Machine Did Not Test Well With Focus Groups...

What Was The Age Preference For These Groups? Ages 2 To 3 Years Old?

Asking What's Going On With The Mandarin, Rhodey Tells Tony (Despite It Being Classified Information) That There Have Been 9 Bombings Despite The Public Knowing About 8 And There Have Been No Evidence Of Bombs Whatsoever...

Interrupted By Two Kids Asking For An Autograph, Tony Gives It But When One Asks About His Experience With A Black Hole In The Avengers It Causes Tony To Have An Anxiety Attack. Going To His Suit Outside, Tony Leaves...

Meanwhile At Stark Industries, Pepper Potts (Played By The Queen Of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow) Has A Meeting With Aldrich Killian, Who Looks Less Geeky And More Suave And Debonair...

Anyway, Killian Is There To Show Pepper, A.I.M.'S Latest Project Called Extremis Which Hacks Into The Hard Drive Of A Living Organism And Recode It's DNA But With Pepper Believing That Killian's Project Is Dangerous, She Takes A Pass On It To Killian's Displeasure...

Returning To Tony's Mansion, Pepper Finds What She Believes To Be Tony Inside Of His Latest Iron Man Suit, Wanting A Kiss From Tony, Pepper Goes To The Lab To Get A Crowbar Only To Discover That Tony's Not Inside The Suit And That It's Just His Voice Coming From It....

Believing Their Date Night To Be Ruined, Pepper Decides To Go To Bed But Tony Stops Her When He Decides To Tell Her The Truth That Ever Since The Battle With The Chitauri, He's Been A Piping Hot Mess And That He Can't Sleep And The Only Reason He's Not In The Looney Bin Is Because Of Her...

Later That Night In Bed, Tony Has A Nightmare Accidentally Calls The Mark 42 Where It Attacks Pepper. Waking From His Nightmare, Tony Powers Down The Suit But Still Pissed Off Tony's Suit Almost Decapitated Her, Pepper Goes To Sleep On The Couch...

Meanwhile At The Chinese Theatre, Happy Follows Killian's Right Hand Man To There As He Looked Suspicious The Entire Time Killian Was Talking With Pepper And Boy, Was Happy Right, As He Seems To Be Selling Drugs To Someone...

(Start At 0:52, End At 3:10)

The Next Day A New Video From The Mandarin Is Released, As Tony Goes To See Happy In The Hospital Only To Do The Dumbest Thing In The World When Being Interviewed By The Press, He Gives Out His Home Address For The Mandarin To Come Face Him...

How Crazy Do Have To Be To Realize That This Is A Bad Idea?!?

So, Getting All Forms Of Information On The Mandarin From Everywhere And Even Recreating The Crime Scene In Virtual Reality, Tony Manages To Get A Look At The Dog Tags That Were Near Happy After The Explosion...

But He's Interrupted When He Gets A Visit From Maya Hansen...

Passing Out After Surviving That Attack, J.A.R.V.I.S. Eventually Wakes Up Tony When The Suit Reaches 5% Power And They're About To Crash Land In A Small Town In Tennessee, Letting Tony Out Of The Suit As The Power And J.A.R.V.I.S. Goes Out, Tony Drags The Suit Into The Workshop Of A Young Kid Named Harley Keener (Played By One Of The Kids From Jurassic World) Who Tony Recruits To Help Him Get His Suit Back On-Line...

Receiving A Call From Tony To Let Her Know That He's All Right, Pepper Ends Up Going With Maya Hansen, Who Believes That Her Boss, Aldrich Killian, Is Working With The Mandarin, Meanwhile Back In Tennessee, Harley Takes Tony To A Site Where A Former Military Solider Blew Himself Up, Killing 6 People In The Process...

But Tony Doesn't Buy It As There Are Only 5 Shadows On The Wall...

After Another Anxiety Attack When Harley Mentions The Avengers, They Get Back To Buisness By Talking To The Bomber's Mother Who Gives Him A File On Everything Only To Be Confronted By One Of Killian's Goons (And A Hot One At That, Despite The Scar On Her Face) Who Kills A Sheriff When Things Don't Go Her Way...

(Start At 2:52)

But When Killian's Right Hand Man Takes Harley Captive, He Uses A Device That Tony Gave Him Earlier Before Tony Blasts Him With A Handheld Repulsor Meant For One Time Use...

Stealing The Man's Car Keys Off Of Him, Tony Says Goodbye To Harley And Takes Off To Go Stop The Mandarin...

However As That Happens Another Message From The Mandarin Comes On The Screen, Stating That If The President Doesn't Call Him Within The Next Half Minute, He Will Kill The Accountant For The Roxxon Corporation, However, When The President Calls Him, He Shoots The Guy Anyway!....

Pissed Off About This, The President Tells His Vice President To Tell Rhodey To Find This Lunatic Now...

Looking Over The Files In His Car, Tony Realizes That A.I.M. Is Behind This, So, He Contacts Rhodey To Get His A.I.M. Account Name And Password As They Upgraded His Suit. Eventually Getting It, He Goes To A News Truck (Which Is Covering A Miss America Like Pagent Where Stan Lee Is Judging!)...

Stan Lee Cameo!

To Use Their Satellite To Encrypt Some Data Files But Only Problem Is Their Connection Is Slow To Say The Least, But Wouldn't You Know It The Guy Who Is Handling The Van Is A Tony Stark Fanboy...

So, He Speeds Up The Internet By About 40% So Tony Can Get His Files Which Reveal That Extremis Is What Is Causing People To Blow Up...

Pepper Talks With Maya At A Hotel Only For When Hears A Knock On The Door To Be Confronted By Killian Who Kidnaps Pepper As We Discover That Maya Is Actually Working With The Mandarin...

Meanwhile, Half Way Across The World, Rhodey Continues His Search For The Mandarin Only To Get Kidnapped Himself By...The Wicked Witch Of The West From Once Upon A Time...

Contacting Harley Back In Tennessee (Who Is Trying To Get The Suit Back On-Line) He Manages To Get Tony In Contact With J.A.R.V.I.S. Who Is Back On-Line And That After Factoring In A.I.M.'s Headquarters Around The World, Their Location Is In Miami...

That However, Is The Good News...

The Suit Is Charging But It Won't Be Enough Power To Revitalize The Mark 42. Having Another Anxiety Attack Without Harley Even Mentioning The Avengers Or New York, Harley Suggests That Since Tony Is A Mechanic That He Should Just Build Something...

So, Taking Harley's Advice To Heart Tony Does Build Weapons Before Driving To Miami..

Only For Tony And Us To Discover The Biggest F-You Moment Of The Entire Movie...

And That's That The Mandarin Is Not The Mandarin But An Actor Named Trevor Slattery...

What The Hell!?!

THIS HAS TO BE THE WORST TWIST IN A MARVEL MOVIE EVER!!!!

Why Did They Do This!?! Why Did They Think That We Would Be Shocked By This Huge Middle Finger Pointed At Us?

The Mandarin Is Supposed To Be A Genius Scientist And A Superhuman Martial Artist Whose Sources Of Power Come From Ten Rings That Adapted From Alien Technology From A Crashed Spaceship While Here You've Made Him An Actor Who Only Took The Job To Support His Drug Usage...

Screw You, Marvel, Screw You For Screwing Up A Good Character...

Knocked Out By Killian's Right Hand Guy, Tony Wakes Up Only To Be Confronted By Maya Who Asks Him To Help Her Fix Extremis, But Saying Go To Hell, Tony Is Then Confronted By Aldrich Who Tell Him Why He's Doing This Which Is Basically The Same Reason Syndrome Became A Villain In The Incredibles...

Yes, Everyone, Shane Black Is Stealing From Brad Bird's Closet...

Wanting To Repay Tony By Making Him As Desperate As He Was Killian Shows Tony That He Is Injecting Extremis Into Pepper, Not Liking This Maya Turns On Killian And Tells Him To Let Tony Go Or Else She'll Kill Herself By Injecting Extremis Into Her But Instead, Killian Decides To Leave Out The Middle Man And Just Shoot Her...

With Tony Calling Killian A Maniac, Killian Exits So He Can Attempt To Get Rhodey Out Of His Iron Patriot Armor By Burning Through It, Eventually Getting Rhodey Out, Killian's Right Hand Guy Knocks Him Out...

Guarded By 2 Guards, An Alarm Goes Off On Tony's Dora The Explorer Watch Which Gives Him The Go Ahead To Call The Mark 42 From Harley's In Tennessee...

With Pieces Of The Suit Coming One At A Time, Tony Takes Out The Guards. Going Outside, Tony Sees Killian Take Off In An Army Helicopter While His Second In Command Commanders The Iron Patriot Suit...

With Rhodey Coming To, He Takes Out Some Guards Before Contacting Tony Who Introduces Him To Trevor, Who Doesn't Tell Them Much About Killian's Plan Except That It's Happening On A Big Boat Off The Coast And It May Involve The Vice President...

Contacting The Vice President, He Tells Tony That He's Surrounded By Secret Service And He Doubts Anyone Will Attack And With The President Safe On Air Force One With Rhodey On-Board He Honestly Has Nothing To Say To Tony But When Rhodey Gets On The Phone Explaining Everything To The Vice President, He Tells Them That He'll Lock It Down And If Need Be, Have F-22's On Stand By...

However, It's Somewhat Implied By The Vice President's Crippled Daughter That He's Working With Killian...

With The President And "Iron Patriot" On-Board Air Force One, With The Plane Taking Off, Killian's Right Hand Man Locks 2 Security Guards In The Bathroom Before Taking Out The Security Guards That Are Guarding The President...

Placing The President Inside Of The Iron Patriot Suit, Killian's Right Hand Guy Is Preparing To Jump Ship, However, Tony May Have Something To Say About That....

(Start At 0:36, End At 3:56)

Tony Activates The House Party Protocol, While The President Arrives In The Iron Patriot On Killian's Ship, Asking What Killian Wants, He Tells The President Nothing Only Stating That With His Death The Vice President Will Have His Job...

Sneaking On-Board Killian's Freighter With Rhodey, They See The President Inside Of The Iron Patriot Suit Strung Up Like Jesus To The Cross, Only To Be Spotted By Killian's Men And Women Who Serve Him Who Start Shooting At Them...

(Start At 0:59)

With Pepper Alive, She Finishes Off Killian By Blowing Him Up Again...

What The Hell, If You Don't Succeed Killing A Guy With Explosions Once Then Try Try Again...

Understanding Now Why Tony Doesn't Want To Give Up Being Iron Man, Tony Promises Pepper To Find A Cure For Extremis By Limiting His Job As Iron Man Ten Fold By Activating The Clean Slate Protocol, Destroying All Of His Suits...

You Know, When I Saw This In Theatres I Thought This Was The End Of Iron Man, Tony's Suits Are Destroyed, His Arc Reactor Is Taken Out And Some Guy Who Yinsen Knew Takes Out The Remaining Shrapnel That Was In His Heart So There's No Way To Power His Suits So The Question Remained And Still Remains, How Could Tony Be Iron Man Without The Arc Reactor?

But Aside From That Lingering Question, The Vice President And Trevor Slattery Are Arrested, Tony And Pepper Spend Christmas In Some Continent, It Looks Like Happy Will Survive To See Spider Man Homecoming And Harley Gets A Laboratory Upgrade From Tony As A Thank You While Tony Tosses His Arc Reactor Into The Ocean As It's It Appears That He's Leaving Iron Man In The Past (Despite Us Knowing That We'll See Tony Again In Age Of Ultron)

After The Credits Roll We Get An End Credit Scene, Which Shows Us That The Person Tony Has Been Talking To All This Time Was Bruce Banner (Played Again By Mark Ruffalo) Who Fell Asleep While Listening To Tony Talk...

Before I Say What I Thought About The Movie I Think I Should Briefly Mention The Marvel One-Shot Entitled All Hail The King, (SPOILERS) Which Shows What Happened To Trevor Slatttery After The End Of Iron Man 3 As A Documentary Filmmaker Named Jackson Norriss Who Goes To Ask Trevor Some Questions About The Mandarin Incident...

Only For Us To Discover Later That Jackson Actually Is There To Break Trevor Out Of Prison So He Can Meet The Real Mandarin Who Wants Trevor To Pay For Impersonating Him On TV...

And Recently It's Been Revealed That We Will Meet The Real Mandarin In Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, There's Only One Problem That I Have With This And That's That It's Not Iron Man Who's Going To Be Fighting Him But Shang Chi!

The Mandarin Is Iron Man's Bad Guy Not Shang Chi's And Now That (Again, Spoilers!) Iron Man Is Dead, We Can't, And They Think It's Just Okay To Place Him With Another Superhero?

Well, It's Not, You Had Your Chance At The Mandarin And You Blew It, So Move On To Another Supervillain That Doesn't Belong To Another Superhero! Because I'll Tell You When This Film Comes Out I Have No Intention Of Seeing It Unless They Somehow Resurrect Tony For This One Movie Or Have Someone That Is Connected With Tony In Someway (Like Rhodey) In It To Make Up For The Mistakes In This Movie!

But Enough Of This Rant And Onto What I Thought About This Movie...

It's Okay, The Action Scenes Are Good And Robert Downey Jr. Is Good As Tony As Always But The Rest Of The Film Is A Jumbled Mess, From The Story To The Villain This Movie Is Horrible Everyone Says That The Problem With The First 2 Iron Man Movies Is That The Villain Is Just A Guy In Another Iron Man Suit, Well, No Offense I Would Rather Have A Guy In An Iron Man Suit As A Bad Guy Than Getting What We Got Here...

Also I'm A Little Upset That They Kinda Killed The Best Character Of These Iron Man Movies....DUM-E!!!! NO!!!!!! But Of Course I Kid, As We See Tony With DUM-E's Remains At The End Of The Movie, Either Way, This Movie Is One Hot Mess And I Say Skip It And Just Wait Until Age Of Ultron To Get Your Iron Man Fix...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[bjd-confessions]

1. Pro artist people are not against recasts because of their price. We are against them because they’re a form of art theft. Recasts hurt the companies and artists.

2. Doll companies are not large corporations. Doll companies are very small. These are real individual people that are losing profits, not nameless faces.

3. Several companies and artists have made public statements saying that recasts are harmful to them. Soom, Luts, Fairyland, Iplehouse, Dollzone, Kaye Wiggs, Atelier Momoni, and Lilycat, just to name a few of them.

4. Buying recasts is still harmful to the artists and companies whether or not you do good things like volunteer work or donating to charities.

5. Buying recasts is still harmful to the artists and companies whether or not worse things are happening in the world.

6. Buying recasts is still harmful to the artists and companies whether or not anti recast people do bad things too.

7. A company or artist having long wait times for their products does not justify stealing from them.

8. A company or artist not selling something in the color that you want does not justify stealing from them. Also, Rit Dye exists.

9. A company or artist having poor quality control does not justify stealing from them.

10. A company or artist doing something problematic or wrong does not justify stealing from them.

11. Being excluded for supporting art theft is not comparable to any group of minorities facing violence and discrimination.  

12. It’s not elitist to disagree with stealing from doll companies and artists.

13. It’s not elitist to exclude recasts from legit only groups.

14. It’s not bullying to say “supporting recasts is supporting art theft”.

15. It’s not bullying if a faceup artist refuses to work on a recast doll.

16. Pro artist people asking you to tag your recasts is not bullying.

17. If you can afford to buy multiple recast dolls then you can afford to buy at least one legit doll.  

18. Less expensive legit dolls exist, there are many wonderful legit bjd sculpts that are less than $300.

19. Most recast dolls go for around $130 or $200. There are plenty of legit dolls that cost the same amount or less.

20. For two recasts that cost $200 each, you could have one legit doll that costs $400 or even two legit dolls that cost $200 each.

21. Dolls are not a necessity. People getting paid for their work is a necessity.

22. You can use legit dolls for coping just as well as you could use a recast for coping.

23. Being mentally or physically ill is not an excuse to support art theft.

24. Being disabled is not an excuse to support art theft.

25. Being poor is not an excuse to support art theft.

[gsuartalexvalverde]

Sketchbook #7

impossible art ideas

1. never get a stain on your clothes ever again

2. push the waves the other way

3. film the wind

4. an installation piece that cures blindness

5. communicate thoughtfully with the ghost of cow that made the last burger you ate.

6. track down the owner of the penny you found on the ground

7. an art piece that is perpetually destroying itself and rebirthing itself at the same time

8. pose nude for a portrait painted by your older self

9. do a performance in space without a suit

10. install windows vista into your cerebral cortex 

11. be in london, berlin, and hanoi at once

12. never let yourself be appear in the background of a photograph

13. do not let your body touch ANYTHING for 24 hours

14. tear out your canines and will yourself into growing fangs

15. replace your leg muscles with bungee cords 

16. allow yourself to be pressed into a diamond, then give an interview

17. live under a different pull of gravity

18. sit at the bottom of the bottom of the ocean

19. do every drug at once 

20. listen to every recorded form of music, ever. 

21. switch magnetic north with magnetic south

22. pull two fault lines together

23. build a mountain range through your neighborhood

24. touch the center of the earth

25. find every single missing person

26. don’t let anyone’s air molecules enter your airstream

27. change blood types

28. splice one of your genes

29. turn your forearm into an electric guitar

30. put a window in your chest to show of your lungs

31. untangle your intestines 

32. switch brains with a pig

33. weld yourself to your favorite metal wall

34. encase yourself in gold and live as a statue for hire

35. live with jellyfish for a month

36. move through a black hole

37. become a felon in every country on the planet

38. have a citizenship in every country on the planet

39. sleep through a concussion

40. make your nervous system visible through your skin

41. read every rough draft to every essay ever written

42. read every book in the library of alexandria

43. make two bullets hit each other from 100 feet away

44. solve time travel

46. amass enough credit card debt so that it equals the US’s debt. you have a day to do this. 

47. don’t drink water for 4 months

48. fight an entire city and win

49. relive your exact childhood from 8-13 as an adult

50. remember the face of everyone you see in passing

51. remember everything you over hear.

52. leak a popular artist’s album before they even begin working on it

53. win a grammy without ever becoming a musician

56. change how every single hair on your head sits.

57. eat part of the elephant’s foot in chernobyl

58. revive ronald reagan. break his knees.

59. only travel by foot but always arrive early, no matter what or where

60. carry your own child

61. replace your eyes with cruelty free diamonds

62. go electric. stop using blood and switch to a charger.

63. never break anyone’s heart

64. achieve nirvana, then regress

65. save abraham lincoln

66. make mike pence think there’s constantly someone watching him, do this by stalking him.

67. never let water touch you

68. dance in between the air molecules

69. rearrange yourself atomically

70. find d.b cooper’s body

71. unlock every front door on the planet at once

72. make it from geneva, switzerland to des moines, iowa in under 45 minutes

73. become an honest to god bird

74. confirm what parts of the bible are fact and what is fiction

75. find out what the first human’s favorite song was

76. survive all forms of capital punishment

77. get a phd in evening

78. win the lottery every time you play it 

79. make your left wrist touch your left elbow

80. play your bare ribs like a xylophone

81. start a band with john lennon

82. listen every lost recording in hollywood

83. outdrink the entire state of florida by yourself

84. physically separate a state from the rest of the U.S

85. be present during the watergate scandal

86. become friends with the zodiac killer. turn them in later

87. teach your child self how to ride a bike

88. choreograph a dance that fixes scoliosis

89. win the oscar for best picture in 1988

90. steal every left handed man’s shoelaces

91. be invisible

92. find the blueprints for the egyptian pyramids

93. take a photo of earth from mars

94. let yourself lose your corporeal form

95. become a vibrating energy, only on wednesdays

96. grow a flower out of the palm of your hand.

97. eat a live grenade

98. bathe in lava

99. never get scared

100. have fun, always.

[dailynewswebsite]

Shopping online to stay safe during the pandemic? Here are 10 tips for avoiding scams

Slightly digging will help you keep away from these too-good-to-be-true traps when procuring on-line. martin-dm/E+ by way of Getty Photographs

The vacation season is already a booming time for on-line procuring. The COVID-19 pandemic solely will increase the chance that when individuals store this vacation season, they are going to select on-line procuring over brick-and-mortar shops. Nevertheless, this additionally means there may be more likely to be a increase in on-line scams.

Already, a number of corporations from outdoors the U.S. are promoting comparatively unchecked on the web, promoting – and even simply pretending to promote – all method of merchandise. The gadgets are sometimes marketed utilizing designs stolen from professional companies and artists, usually ripped off from Etsy, particularly if these designs have been featured on standard websites like Bored Panda.

When individuals purchase these rip-off merchandise, what arrives is usually of low high quality. That’s if something ever arrives. Usually the corporate simply shutters and renames itself with out sending something. In worst-case eventualities, in addition they steal clients’ bank card info.

So store good and spot scams? Listed below are some clues to look at for.

1. Is it too good to be true?

Does the product pictured match the value? Know the market. A tremendous product for a low value is trigger for suspicion. For instance, Instagram was that includes images of a “Halloween Creation Calendar.” The advert listed a value of US$59.99, however out there for a restricted time for $29.80. At first look you would possibly suppose you’re getting an ideal deal, however take a second to suppose it by means of. That value would barely cowl the price of transport and dealing with for a product of that measurement. The unique product, offered on Etsy, retails for over US$1,800, and the creator has a backlog of orders.

Two on-line adverts, left and prime proper, that use a product picture taken from an Etsy vendor after the seller’s ‘Halloween Creation’ product, backside proper, was featured on Higher Properties and Gardens, Pinterest and OddityMall websites. Screenshots by H. Colleen Sinclair, CC BY-NC-ND

2. When unsure: Google it

Maybe you’re not acquainted sufficient with Etsy workmanship to acknowledge a probable ripoff. When unsure, search the product title or obtain the picture and run a Google picture search. You might be more likely to discover the unique supply. If the product actually exists – not like this CG child shark that one firm used as an advert for its alleged child shark robotic toy – you possibly can select to pay the unique artist for his or her arduous work or take the chance and attempt to get the knockoff. The search will even reveal whether or not there are a number of alleged companies promoting the identical “distinctive” and “unique” gadgets utilizing the identical actual footage. When you begin seeing double or extra, that’s a warning signal.

3. Verify the enterprise repute

Looking for the enterprise title will doubtless simply take you to the enterprise’s web site. As a substitute, search the enterprise title with the phrase “rip-off.” It is possible for you to to inform fairly shortly if there’s a worrisome historical past related to the enterprise. You may as well attempt Scamvoid, which is devoted to figuring out the trustworthiness of on-line hyperlinks. There could also be a Higher Enterprise Bureau itemizing for the corporate, however watch out about counting on these. You may as well discover Fb teams, like this one for fashion-related scams, that observe untrustworthy websites.

4. Too new to belief

In some circumstances the enterprise is so new that you simply received’t have the ability to discover a observe document. It is a crimson flag. They’re doubtless a kind of corporations that shut up as soon as they’ve gotten sufficient orders then arrange a brand new title and new area and do it another time. There’s a likelihood that it’s a professional new companies attempting to open store throughout a pandemic. To inform the distinction between a professional new enterprise and a fly-by-night operation, apply a number of the following steps to guage them.

5. Evaluation the opinions

Take a detailed take a look at the opinions. If there aren’t any, again away. If there are, verify for the next warning indicators. The opinions are few and unanimously 5 stars with no feedback. If there are feedback, they’re loaded with damaged English or obscure reward that would have been copied and pasted from any product. Not one of the opinions contains footage of the particular acquired product. There aren’t any damaging opinions, which is a crimson flag as a result of even the most effective professional companies can’t please everybody on a regular basis. As a facet be aware, if you’re a professional product providing, watch out to not learn an excessive amount of into the damaging opinions.

6. Is it a ‘good’ web site?

Does the enterprise have a web site, and never only a Fb web page? If not, that’s a giant no. In the event that they do, is it an entire web site, or is it barely there? Verify that the enterprise has a cellphone quantity that works, and if you search the quantity it doesn’t have 12 different “companies” related to it. Verify that it lists a mailing tackle, ideally one which isn’t only a submit workplace field.

Verify the location’s “about us” web page. Doesn’t have one? That’s one other no. Does the “about us” embody a yr the enterprise began? Does it embody details about the merchandise’ creators? If the web page has a photograph purporting to be of the proprietor or artist, you are able to do a Google picture search to see if it’s a photograph copied from one other webpage, a inventory photograph or a faux created by an AI system. Do their claims about themselves maintain as much as scrutiny? For instance, does the location declare to be an American Black-owned enterprise however their WHOIS area info lists an organization in China?

7. Social media presence: Have they got one?

Equally, have they got a social media presence outdoors of the advert that pops up in your newsfeed? If not, steer clear. If that’s the case, you possibly can click on on the poster’s title to see the place the particular person or enterprise is positioned and when the web page was began. You may as well see how far again their posts go, in addition to verify the standard of these posts and chatter concerning the firm.

8. Beware the ‘going out of enterprise’ story

In the course of the pandemic, professional companies are, in actual fact, closing. Illegitimate companies have been latching onto this as a software to tug at individuals’s heartstrings to trick buyers. It’s unlawful for American companies to do that, however companies outdoors of the U.S. will not be topic to the identical legal guidelines. One strategy to inform the professional companies from the frauds is to verify the beginning date on web site area registrations and social media websites. If the enterprise popped up throughout the pandemic simply in time to exit of enterprise, steer clear.

Suspicious commercials on Instagram, left, and Fb, proper, with pandemic going-out-of-business tales that use a product picture taken from a professional enterprise, Lalabug Designs. Screenshots by H. Colleen Sinclair, CC BY-NC-ND

9. Fad advert clickbait

Be careful for fad gadgets. Knockoffs and ripoffs abound on any scorching or stylish merchandise. These days entrepreneurs are additionally choosing up on political traits. Companies crop up with names like “WeLuvTrump,” “FemPower” and “BlackGoodness.” The identical is occurring with political information. For instance, RBG gadgets are all the trend within the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying. Once more, following the steps above will provide help to type out which merchandise are professional.

10. Social affect methods

Additionally be careful for the widespread advertising methods initially uncovered by social psychologist Robert Cialdini which are utilized by professional and illegitimate companies alike. The commonest you might be more likely to see in rip-off websites are claims of unique entry, which attraction to your want for uniqueness, claims of restricted provide or time working out on a “sale,” which play on the psychological worth individuals place on scarce gadgets, and claims like “Karen S. from Indianola simply bought this merchandise,” that are “social proof” {that a} conduct is secure or acceptable as a result of others have executed it.

Finally, if these 10 ideas seem to be an excessive amount of to undergo simply to get that distinctive toy to your grandkid, purchase as an alternative from a trusted supply you could have counted on previously. It’s additionally a good suggestion to make use of bank cards or fee companies like PayPal that shield customers from fraudulent fees.

Store properly. Your checking account is relying on you.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

H. Colleen Sinclair doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/shopping-online-to-stay-safe-during-the-pandemic-here-are-10-tips-for-avoiding-scams/ via https://growthnews.in

[motivatingspeech]

Who is Jim Carrey : 10 things you didn’t know about Jim Carrey

Who is Jim Carrey : 10 things you didn’t know about Jim Carrey

About Jim Carrey: James Eugene Carrey is a Canadian-American artist, actor, comedian and a writer. Jim Carrey is famous  for his energetic slapstick performances. He first gained recognition in America in 1990 after landing a recurring role in the sketch comedy television series In Living Color.

10 things you didn’t know about Jim Carrey:

  1. Jim Carrey’s father lost his job when Jim was only 12 years old. An event the actor would later describe as a traumatic kick in the guts because the family was unable to pay the mortgage they had to live in a camper van for a while. While his parents as well as the children worked as security guards and janitors. Jim used to work 8-hour shifts after school which affected both his morale and his grades. Going from being a straight-a’s to a student getting bad grades and not wanting to have friends anymore.  They eventually managed to get back on track but having to work so hard at such an early age is probably something that not many of us can relate.   2. Jim Carrey started out as a comedian who gave stand up shows. Carrey was only 15 when he made his professional debut as a stand-up comedian in a Toronto Club. Guess what, he got booed off stage. Which gave him doubts about his capabilities as a professional entertainer. However, after his family managed to solve the financial problems they had, Jim found the strength and support to put together a better more carefully polished act. He then gave it another shot and this time the public immediately fell under his spell. By 1979 he was able to make a living as a comedian and making a name for himself. Especially because of his racing energy level, frenetic improvisation and of course his technically brilliant mimic.   3. Carry’s movie breakout was : Ace Ventura pet detective (1994) Carrey moved to Hollywood when he was 19 years old and started getting small parts and not so important productions. His real breakout though was Ace Ventura Pet Detective, the American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac. In spite of receiving mixed reviews from critics, the movie was a box office success grossing 107 million dollars worldwide from a 12 million dollar budget. But one could say 1994 definitely was Carrey’s year. As he also got lead roles in the mask as well as dumb and dumber in the last being a commercial success, that grossed over 270 million dollars worldwide. And so it began.   4. Jim Carrey is worth no less than 150 million dollars. Jim Carrey is one of the Hollywood actors who made history in terms of how well they were paid at some point in their career. To be more specific, he earned 20 million dollars for his 1996 film: The Cable Guy. And as surprised as your luxurious self might be, that was a lot of money back then. Still is by the way. He lives in a house situated at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and owns a 7,000 square foot duplex penthouse which is located in Manhattan, New York.  This upscale apartment cost Carrey 13.5 million dollars.  He also has a car collection and a private jet.   5. He struggles with depression. It’s not his wallet that makes Carrey sad, but this doesn’t make depression easier to bear. Not even when you’re the always happy extraordinarily funny and talented comedian on the surface. Whether it was due to his teenage struggles or because of stress combined with ADHD. The disease got so serious that eventually he had to be medicated.  He took Prozac for a long time before eventually deciding to no longer take medications or stimulants of any kind, including coffee. In 2009 he decided he had nothing to lose. So he finally opened up about the horrible battle he’s fighting on and off.   6. Carrey was married twice and has one daughter The first woman to steal Carrey’s heart was former actress Melissa Wormer and the two got married March 28 1987. They have a daughter together:  Jane Erin Carrey, who was born September 6, 1987. And she became known to the public in 2012, as she became a contestant on American Idol. However, Jim and Melissa divorced in 1995. Carrey then fell in love with his Dumb and Dumber co-star, Lauren Holly whom he married in 1996. But the fairy tale only lasted for a year. He also dated Jenny McCarthy, from 2005 to 2010. And they remained good friends even after the relationship ended.   7. Jim Carrey was the director’s first choice to portray Captain Jack Sparrow It seems the role of good old Captain Jack Sparrow was initially offered to Jim Carrey, not the handsome Johnny Depp.  Jim Carrey turned it down because Pirates of the Caribbean, the curse of the Black Pearl production schedule would have overlapped with the filming of Bruce Almighty. And this is how we ended up with Johnny Depp to play the legendary role of the drunken pirate in history. But it’s also a well-known fact that Carrey is not a big fan of franchise movies, so in the end it all turned out to be a win-win. 8. He’s the only one Christmas lover that had to steal Christmas on several occasions. One thing we know for sure about Jim Carrey is he’s a man of simple pleasures. He’s a huge fan of classic cartoons.  He likes Johnny Bravo and death metal.  And we know for a fact he loves Christmas. Paradoxically though he’s the mastermind behind the impersonation of two of the most famous Christmas antagonists in cinema history. The Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge, have both been played by Jim.   9. He started painting because he needed color. The recent documentary ‘I needed color’, reveals Jim Carrey’s newest hobby. It seems that his way of getting away from the darkness within is through painting. His new passion has its roots in this childhood, when Carrey used to do a lot of sketching. And the therapy he uses to heal in his own words a broken heart the documentary is honest and authentic and you can see on Carrey’s face the deep solitude he’s currently facing no matter how many of his works surround him.   10. Jim Carrey is spiritual but does not believe in organized religion. Raised a Catholic and having dabbled in Presbyterianism, later in life, Jim Carrey seems now more than ever willing to exploit his spirituality. He’s always been vocal about his relationship with God. But also never may a chance to express his distrust of organized religions, calling for their end. He once tweeted that he thought organized religion was quote fading and changing the Pope was a corporate maneuver. When he was asked whether he was a Buddhist, Carrey answered by saying:  “I’m a Buddhist I’m a Christian I’m a Muslim and whatever you want me to be it all comes down to the same thing”  Also Read: Who is Tony Robbins: 15 Things You Don’t Know About Tony Robbins. Read the full article

[bewarereport-blog]

Sam Ovens - Maker of the most useless course EVER

A 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a big inspiration to many, Sam Ovens is nothing more than a cheapstake who lies regularly and follows unethical practices. He has made a fortune selling courses on client acquisition and business growth. But the main problem is, it doesn’t matter whether his students succeed or not. Sam Ovens is an irresponsible teacher and a lying scum. He has betrayed many people, he runs a scamming company and his courses give you nothing. His business model is based on giving you a highly costing course and give you a useless plan to follow. You’ll end up panicking because of the various tasks the courses tell you to do and even if you do everything they say, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. Sam Ovens’ courses are not only a waste of money but also of time and resources. I can say this because I had taken one of his courses myself. It’s called “Uplevel Consulting’ and I can promise you, it was one of the most pathetic and worthless hours of my life. I have seen many scammers online and Sam is just the same. He runs a malicious scam and that’s why it’s absolutely necessary that you heed my advice.   DON’T BUY COURSES FROM SAM.   You might not believe in me, but I’m telling the truth. And I’m not the only person who feels the same way. There are hundreds of others who have lost their hard-earned money and precious time because of Sam’s courses. His business model works but only for himself. You’ll be the paying the heavy price for all of his earnings. The bad news is, he is so deceptive that it becomes nearly impossible for innocent people to identify whether he is really a scam or not. He has created a powerful online brand by gaining recognition from leading brands and generating a plethora of content for gaining followers. Due to his near-perfect online brand, people hesitate to question his methods. And these people also ignore the advice of those who have suffered because of Sam’s scams. His whole ‘Consulting.com’ is a sham and a mischievous organization to steal money from others.  

Who is Sam Ovens?

  The reality behind the fake persona of Sam Ovens is quite harsh. Those who believe in him and his methods might question my words but if they would think logically and get rid of the emotions, they will also see that Sam is a total FRAUD. He has been cheating people since the very beginning and he has spent lavishly on creating a fake personality for this brand.  It’s hard to gain someone’s trust but like any other con artist, Sam knows how to gain one’s trust. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other leading publications as a renowned entrepreneur. But the problem is, they all are telling the story which Sam told them to. They don’t know the reality behind Sam and his disgraceful business model as well. So what is Sam’s story anyway? According to his Forbes profile, Sam had dropped out of college, he quit his corporate job and started a business with no investors or capital. The bio further adds that he grow an e-learning business to $10 million by the time he reached the age of 26. This story seems legitimate. He got named in the 30 under 30 list of Forbes Asia. Such a story and list of achievements can deceive anyone. What many people fail to realize is the fact that the products sold by his company, which are responsible for his success, are not what he claims to be. The course is supposed to help people in building businesses or accelerating the growth of their existing businesses. But the reality is, they are just a few jargon-filled and useless courses which provide negligible value to the user. The methodology is poor and the customer service is devastating. The courses don’t work for most people. And even if they do, they are designed in such a way that you will end up getting another one, which will leave you more confused. He has designed his company’s courses in such a way that you will end up buying all of them in the hope that you will make progress with your business. While the reality is, it will only help Sam in growing strongly. His online persona aids his business model and helps him in attracting numerous customers to fill his pockets.  

Sold me a worthless course for $2,000!

  Sam is a great marketer, there’s no doubt about that. If he wasn’t such a great marketing expert then he wouldn’t have been able to cheat so many people. He has created a large online following and a vast network of entrepreneurs to make sure that people don’t see him as the bad guy. He lies but he lies with such cunning that people aren’t able to realize that they are the victims of a scammer. How do I know all this? That’s because I run a business myself and I’m one of the past students of Sam Ovens’ consulting dot com. I had found out about his Consulting.com and its programs seemed quite impressive. Just take a look at the description of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ program, and you’ll see what I mean. Here is an excerpt from the same: “It is a 9-week online course with physical workbooks.....The course shows you how to scale using systems.” It was just a small introduction. I left out the details because Sam is notorious in the market for slapping people with the DMCA notice or a defamation suit if you quote any one of these products (or pages). The course descriptions also tell you that it is for established businesses which have customers. It will help you scale your business to 7-figures with the use of automation, PPC ads and predictable systems. A course from a leading marketer and such promise is sure to catch one’s attention. It lured me too and joining it was a huge mistake on my part. I first signed up for the course’s free trial. It contains a lot of material. And by a lot, I really mean a huge quantity. The courses touch a lot of subjects in the beginning and give you tasks to complete. You have to complete the tasks if you want to make progress in the course. But the content is laid out so poorly that it gets really annoying to keep up with everything. Apart from that, you also get access to a group of entrepreneurs when you join his courses. The group is full of yesmen who keep praising Sam on a regular basis and if you ask them a question they simply tell you that it would be better if you did it yourself, otherwise there’s no use of taking the course. In the end, you’re left alone, handling your business and taking this shitty course which teaches you something you can’t understand. It took me a lot of effort to get through the initial stages of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ course. In the course, he uses jargon often but doesn’t explain what they are and how they are related to your business. I used to spend hours trying to comprehend what Sam was teaching me. In the 25 days of the 30-day trial, I had made little progress in the course. I was disappointed in myself but I realized that I shouldn’t take this course. It just wasn’t the right fit for me. But how can I escape the jaws of this scammer. Because of his course, I wasn’t able to focus properly on my business. When I started following a few of his suggestions, my business began to face some serious setbacks. I asked the community for help and thought there must be some mistake in my implementations. But I received zero helpful responses from the group. I have begun to doubt that the ‘entrepreneur groups’ are filled with bots who keep chatting with each other and give automated responses. Either the real entrepreneurs don’t have the time to say there or they just don’t exist. Anyway, when I began to face losses because of Sam’s advice, I stopped using them. I lost a $17,000 client because of the advice Sam had told me to follow. Sam had discussed using new and innovative ways to generate clients. I ended up losing one because the client was no longer comfortable with our new working style. I lost his business and after that Incidence, I stopped following Sam’s advice. My free trial had already ended and I had already lost $697 to Sam and his company. So I went ahead with his course. In the second half of the course, I realized why I failed so miserably in its execution, the course’s material was way outdated. The marketing techniques and the discussed methods are no longer viable in the current industry. It’s almost as if Sam hasn’t even touched the course after creating it. The marketing tactics and the management advice I had followed at first was no longer effective. That’s why I lost a lot of business including a $17,000 client. His courses are outdated and full of useless information. They are just packaged nicely so you would think “Wow, what an amazing course.” He is a marketer who is selling trash which is covered in a nice wrapping paper. And that’s why he is a scammer. That’s what scammers do. They promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Sam is just like that. I was very depressed and disappointed when I realized the reality behind the course of Sam. It was supposed to be an effective course for businesses but it really is a compilation of useless advice which is no longer effective. When I contacted the customer support and described my situation, they said I should take the other course they offer. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me that this course isn’t helpful?” They said, “It would be better if you took this course after Consulting Accelerator and for the best results, you should take Quantum Mastermind too.” They meant to tell me that their course didn’t provide me with any value unless I bought two other courses. Wasn’t the course supposed to be for businesses? Wasn’t it supposed to help businesses in accelerating their growth? I had read the description of his preceding course called Consulting Accelerator, and I know the basics he has shared in that course. I don’t need to learn the basics of setting up a business. I was already running a successful business. I only wanted to go ahead and enhance its growth. Like I told you, I worked with the course for weeks. But no matter how much effort I put into it, it didn’t give me anything of value. So I concluded that it’s a useless piece of crap which shouldn’t be marketed this way. All the things Sam promises to you on his webinars and websites are lies. He has created these super-expensive courses just so you will purchase them, spend weeks thinking what are they teaching you and end up losing a great deal of money. If you ask me, this is a smart method to steal money from people. He markets his courses as they give you some advanced knowledge while in reality, they are full of useless information which doesn’t make any sense. Your whole free trial will be spent in comprehending what the course is telling you about. By the time you realize that the course doesn’t give you anything of value, you would have invested too much of your money and your trial would have expired. So, you lose your hundreds of dollars and at least a month of your productive time while Sam gets to keep the money and remain undisturbed. Due to its complexity, it is rather difficult for many people to identify the scam. Such deceptive people should be thrown in jail. We punish politicians for lying by throwing them out of power but Sam doesn’t get any punishment for lying to the people. I believe a fraud and scumbag like Sam Ovens should be thrown in jail and tried in court. Only then he will come to his senses.  

Allegations and Complaints

  There are many other people, apart from me, who have been cheated by Sam and his company, Consulting.com. People complain about poor customer service as well as thievery of their funds. Sam Ovens is popular as a scam. The number of people who know his reality isn’t that small. In fact, this number is considerably huge. Here is an interesting stat, Sam Ovens’ name is quite popular as a scam throughout the world.  

    In Google Trends, the term ‘Sam Ovens Scam’ is one of the most trending terms containing his name. This means there are many people who doubt the legitimacy of this man’s products. And they should, because Sam really is a scammer who has been cheating money from people for years and he has been using those funds to further fuel his nefarious schemes. One person had complained about the low quality of customer service his company has. The customer service didn’t respond to the queries of the person. And when the complainer had requested for a refund, the customer service simply stretched the conversation for so long that the trial period ended and the guy was forced to pay Sam and Consulting.com. Another person had a similar experience. He had taken part in the Consulting Accelerator program but he didn’t find anything of value in the course. So he contacted the customer support of the company and requested them to initiate his refund. They sent him an email telling him to try the product for at least a few more days before he can get the refund. He refused. He waited for some time but did not receive the refund. When he contacted the credit card company, they told him that there can’t be any reversal. Apparently, Sam’s company had sent him some emails and they were present in the complainer’s ‘Spam’ folder. Therefore, Sam had proper evidence as to why he couldn’t initiate a refund. You should head towards the ‘Sources’ listed below the article to find more complaints from his past customers. You will find that he has scammed many people in the past and the worst thing is, he is keeping it up without any kind of remorse or hesitation. Most of the complaints about Sam and his products are regarding stealing of funds and poor response from customer support. However, the number of people complaining about his courses’ contents isn’t small as well. He lied to one customer and told her that he will give her a refund even after the trial period if she stayed for a while longer. You can guess what happened next. She never received a refund and she lost a hefty sum of a few thousand dollars to Sam.  

Sam Oven's online presence

  There’s a reason why Sam methods work. He is able to attract many customers for his companies and increase the number of victims for his fishy plans because of social media. Social media has helped Sam a lot in attracting innocent people and in hiding his real identity from the users. His large number of following on these platforms is because of his daunting number of accomplishments. If a person gets featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, it shows that the person is worth following. It is a sad truth that Sam Ovens is one of the few guys who has fooled everyone through his shady business tactics. As I said earlier, finding out the reality behind the scam of Sam Ovens is really difficult. He has created his scam meticulously and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the various unethical practices for a new guy if he isn’t familiar with Sam’s products. However, there are many people who have suffered losses because of Sam Ovens. You can find innumerable complaints him and his company online. To hide these complaints, he uses social media platforms. Take a look at his Instagram profile for example:  

  You will notice that he has 81k followers. Now that number isn’t big, but the large verification tag alongside his name shows him as a trustworthy person. No one would suspect that he is running one of the biggest online scams on the planet. Believe me, if somebody told me that Sam Ovens was a scammer before all these incidents, I wouldn’t have believed that person either.  

  His Twitter Profile isn’t that big, however. It shows that either his marketing tactics aren’t fooling anyone or he is too new for Twitter. Twitter has more organic users than Instagram. Therefore, gaining followers is a difficult task for anyone.  

  On his YouTube channel, he posts videos for promoting his e-learning products. He has plenty of followers here as well. As you can see in the picture above, the number of his channel’s subscribers is 56k. It will increase in the future because Sam has the purchasing power (thanks to his scams) and the resources to boost his following. With the kind of money Sam has at this moment, one can buy followers on these social media platforms too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s followers on these platforms turned out to be fake. Because the number of people Sam has scammed until now isn’t small. And many of these people have voiced their opinions on different platforms. Sam has put a lot of effort into hiding his true identity from the market. But it is essential for people to see his true side. I don’t want other innocent people to lose their hard-earned money and time to this vicious guy. I hope my experience will help you make a better choice. Sam Ovens’ scams aren’t stopping anytime soon but the least we can do is make more people aware of his schemes. Don’t you agree?  

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-ovens/ https://www.samovens.com/story https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sam-ovens-consulting-accelerator-c885147.html https://sam-ovens.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/marketing-consultant/ovens-enterprises-group-llc-0121-162187/customer-reviews   Read the full article

[blouisparadise]

There were so many amazing bottom Louis fics posted or completed during the month of January. We really hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!

1) When Boys Become Drugs | Not Rated | 274 words

Louis' always been a wild child.

2) Imagine | Not Rated | 1203 words

"...Imagine a world like that."

Where Harry and Louis talk about what life would have been like if they did not decide to join the band and ran away together, but they quickly realize they would not be as strong and as in love as they are here in this moment in time if they would not have taken the risk. And no matter what they came face to face with, they both knew that in their hearts that they would be the definite endgame for one another and nothing could tear them apart.

Inspired by Ariana Grande's single, 'Imagine.'

3) You Make My Heart Race | Explicit | 1333 words

Louis just wants to have it rough, Harry gives him rough.

4) Scars Don't Make You Ugly | Mature | 1604 words

Sometimes Louis needs to be reminded that hes beautiful

5) Falling Too Deep | Explicit | 2895 words

Niall helps Harry find someone spend his rut with.

Louis can make alphas drop.

6) No One But You Got Me Feeling This Way | Explicit | 3787 words

The one where Harry has a particular desire that only Louis can fulfil.

7) One Touch Is Never Enough | Explicit | 3854 words

It’s been a rough year for Louis. First, he was turned into a werewolf, which hasn't been so bad, except that he didn't anticipate how it would affect his love life. Maybe it’d be easier to ignore if he wasn’t constantly bombarded by the sound of his two werewolf best friends getting it on in the next room.

At least they were nice enough to give him a gift certificate for a massage.

8) I Don't Want A Taste (I Want It All) | Explicit | 3865 words

AU where Harry tells Louis to go fuck himself, Louis tells Harry to fuck him himself, and Harry follows through.

9) In This Light (I Fell For You) | Mature | 5334 words

Christmas AU where Harry is going to perform his very first concert and Louis is his mute (and very supportive) boyfriend. Also lots of kittens, bad puns and boyfriends being cute.

10) Azaleas Where Your Face Should Be | Explicit | 5626 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

Harry and Louis having some sexy time and some sappy time and sometimes both at the same time.

11) Searching For A Sweet Surrender | Explicit | 7250 words

The one where Louis is acting extra bratty at Ed's wedding and Harry gives him exactly what he needs.

12) Beautifully Broken | Mature | 7827 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

Louis's a little broken, but that's okay. Harry's studying to be a psychologist. They bond over thrift shop trinkets and vinyls. They make it okay.

13) Into It | Explicit | 9197 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

Louis meets Harry. They hit it off.

14) The Heist | Explicit | 9423 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

“If you sabotage us, I get a bullet in my head. You’re willing to let me die just so you can avenge your-“ Harry pauses, glancing over Louis’ shoulder to see Liam and Zayn watching them carefully. Their eyes are squinted, arms crossed and ready to step in if need be. “Just so you can take care of some unfinished business?” Harry questions uneasily. Without hesitation, Louis replies, “Yes.” Harry grits his teeth together in frustration before stepping back, pinching the bridge of his nose as he feels a headache creep into his temples.

15) If Walls Could Talk | Explicit | 10028 words

Harry is in love with his straight best friend. He thinks he doesn't have a chance, until Louis presents him with a challenge he can't refuse.

16) Tattooed Heart | Explicit | 10035 words

Note: This is a sequel to this fic.

“Is that fucking real?”

Harry grins. “Feel for yourself.”

A curious hand comes to trace over Harry’s chest, sighing in awe. “Harry.”

He watches him as he does it and wishes he had a camera on him, because the sight of Louis’ dainty hand caressing the beautiful L written in intricate cursive right over Harry’s heart has to be the single greatest thing he’s ever seen.

“Like it?” he asks.

“Harry,” Louis repeats, suddenly digging his thumb into the skin as if it was going to disappear at any second—it wasn’t, something Harry’s tattoo artist made sure of. “That’s—that’s permanent.”

“You’re permanent,” Harry replies, simple as can be.

17) Holding Back the Flood | Not Rated | 11454 words

Louis Tomlinson has always been the star of the Manchester Megalodons, beloved by his coach and looked up to by his teammates. He won’t stand for anyone stealing his limelight, especially Harry fucking Styles...

18) Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies | Explicit | 14860 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

“Of course you’d use your free time to go to the gym.”

“Your idea of the best way to spend your free time is annoying your neighbors,” he laughs, dimples carved into his cheeks like marble.

No, Louis likes to annoy Harry. Everyone else on this floor is just an unfortunate casualty.

“No one has complained except for you,” Louis informs him smartly. Which is actually a good thing. If someone other than Harry had complained to him long ago, he would have unfortunately had to stop.

19) Pleasure Over Matter | Explicit | 15204 words

Harry is a bit out of his element, and an unsuspecting stranger provides him temporary relief.

20) I Been Feeling High When I Touch Your Body | Not Rated | 16946 words

Harry is a boxer, Louis is an architect and Liam is the worst cupid that could ever exist.

21) The Dream That You Wish | Explicit | 21543 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

Disneyland!AU where the park's Peter Pan is rumoured to be fooling around with Prince Charming in the castle. There's also Baymax desperately trying to capture the heart of Pooh Bear while shift manager boyfriends Niall and Shawn are tired of watching it all go down in the happiest place on Earth.

22) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23561 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

It’s like all week, Harry is a normal person. Him and Louis don’t know each other, don’t acknowledge each other but if they did, it would be with disdain. Then on Sundays, they gravitate towards each other without fail.

Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.

23) Etched in Salt (Is a Cathedral of the World) | Explicit | 24416 words

Note: This fic has mentions of BH.

Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he's stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.

24) Sweet Dreams Are Made of This | Mature | 30004 words

Loosely based on The Wedding Date. Inspired by 27 Dresses. Basically, Fake Boyfriend AU with a twist. Louis' sister is unknowingly getting married to the ex who broke his heart. When faced with the prospect of turning up alone, Louis panics and hires a corporate escort named Harry. General chaos and epic jealousy ensues.

25) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words

Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.

26) Long Road To Ruin | Explicit | 38655 words

Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.

"I remember thinking I would have done anything you ever asked me to do, without reserve. I was a fool to think that maybe you’d grow to do the same for me." Or the one where two people can be in love but not belong to each other.

27) I Just Wanna Get Back to Us | Mature | 62131 words

Where Harry and Louis are divorced soulmates who are seeing each other for the first time in two years.

28) Non-Disclosure | Mature | 170219 words

Being a world class Director, producing some of the best rated Romance movies to date, Louis was easily a sucker for the ‘Happy Ever After’.

Except, in a world where he pretends and imagines true love. He was stuck inbetween what he thought was the love of his life and everything trying to stop them.

"I did a lot of thinking when I was gone and every scenario I came up with ended with you. I'm fucking scared and I have no idea what will happen from now but I'd risk it all, if you could promise me a lifetime"

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.

[liarscheatersrus]

Sam Ovens - Maker of the most useless course EVER

A 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a big inspiration to many, Sam Ovens is nothing more than a cheapstake who lies regularly and follows unethical practices. He has made a fortune selling courses on client acquisition and business growth. But the main problem is, it doesn’t matter whether his students succeed or not. Sam Ovens is an irresponsible teacher and a lying scum. He has betrayed many people, he runs a scamming company and his courses give you nothing. His business model is based on giving you a highly costing course and give you a useless plan to follow. You’ll end up panicking because of the various tasks the courses tell you to do and even if you do everything they say, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. Sam Ovens’ courses are not only a waste of money but also of time and resources. I can say this because I had taken one of his courses myself. It’s called “Uplevel Consulting’ and I can promise you, it was one of the most pathetic and worthless hours of my life. I have seen many scammers online and Sam is just the same. He runs a malicious scam and that’s why it’s absolutely necessary that you heed my advice.   DON’T BUY COURSES FROM SAM.   You might not believe in me, but I’m telling the truth. And I’m not the only person who feels the same way. There are hundreds of others who have lost their hard-earned money and precious time because of Sam’s courses. His business model works but only for himself. You’ll be the paying the heavy price for all of his earnings. The bad news is, he is so deceptive that it becomes nearly impossible for innocent people to identify whether he is really a scam or not. He has created a powerful online brand by gaining recognition from leading brands and generating a plethora of content for gaining followers. Due to his near-perfect online brand, people hesitate to question his methods. And these people also ignore the advice of those who have suffered because of Sam’s scams. His whole ‘Consulting.com’ is a sham and a mischievous organization to steal money from others.  

Who is Sam Ovens?

  The reality behind the fake persona of Sam Ovens is quite harsh. Those who believe in him and his methods might question my words but if they would think logically and get rid of the emotions, they will also see that Sam is a total FRAUD. He has been cheating people since the very beginning and he has spent lavishly on creating a fake personality for this brand.  It’s hard to gain someone’s trust but like any other con artist, Sam knows how to gain one’s trust. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other leading publications as a renowned entrepreneur. But the problem is, they all are telling the story which Sam told them to. They don’t know the reality behind Sam and his disgraceful business model as well. So what is Sam’s story anyway? According to his Forbes profile, Sam had dropped out of college, he quit his corporate job and started a business with no investors or capital. The bio further adds that he grow an e-learning business to $10 million by the time he reached the age of 26. This story seems legitimate. He got named in the 30 under 30 list of Forbes Asia. Such a story and list of achievements can deceive anyone. What many people fail to realize is the fact that the products sold by his company, which are responsible for his success, are not what he claims to be. The course is supposed to help people in building businesses or accelerating the growth of their existing businesses. But the reality is, they are just a few jargon-filled and useless courses which provide negligible value to the user. The methodology is poor and the customer service is devastating. The courses don’t work for most people. And even if they do, they are designed in such a way that you will end up getting another one, which will leave you more confused. He has designed his company’s courses in such a way that you will end up buying all of them in the hope that you will make progress with your business. While the reality is, it will only help Sam in growing strongly. His online persona aids his business model and helps him in attracting numerous customers to fill his pockets.  

Sold me a worthless course for $2,000!

  Sam is a great marketer, there’s no doubt about that. If he wasn’t such a great marketing expert then he wouldn’t have been able to cheat so many people. He has created a large online following and a vast network of entrepreneurs to make sure that people don’t see him as the bad guy. He lies but he lies with such cunning that people aren’t able to realize that they are the victims of a scammer. How do I know all this? That’s because I run a business myself and I’m one of the past students of Sam Ovens’ consulting dot com. I had found out about his Consulting.com and its programs seemed quite impressive. Just take a look at the description of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ program, and you’ll see what I mean. Here is an excerpt from the same: “It is a 9-week online course with physical workbooks.....The course shows you how to scale using systems.” It was just a small introduction. I left out the details because Sam is notorious in the market for slapping people with the DMCA notice or a defamation suit if you quote any one of these products (or pages). The course descriptions also tell you that it is for established businesses which have customers. It will help you scale your business to 7-figures with the use of automation, PPC ads and predictable systems. A course from a leading marketer and such promise is sure to catch one’s attention. It lured me too and joining it was a huge mistake on my part. I first signed up for the course’s free trial. It contains a lot of material. And by a lot, I really mean a huge quantity. The courses touch a lot of subjects in the beginning and give you tasks to complete. You have to complete the tasks if you want to make progress in the course. But the content is laid out so poorly that it gets really annoying to keep up with everything. Apart from that, you also get access to a group of entrepreneurs when you join his courses. The group is full of yesmen who keep praising Sam on a regular basis and if you ask them a question they simply tell you that it would be better if you did it yourself, otherwise there’s no use of taking the course. In the end, you’re left alone, handling your business and taking this shitty course which teaches you something you can’t understand. It took me a lot of effort to get through the initial stages of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ course. In the course, he uses jargon often but doesn’t explain what they are and how they are related to your business. I used to spend hours trying to comprehend what Sam was teaching me. In the 25 days of the 30-day trial, I had made little progress in the course. I was disappointed in myself but I realized that I shouldn’t take this course. It just wasn’t the right fit for me. But how can I escape the jaws of this scammer. Because of his course, I wasn’t able to focus properly on my business. When I started following a few of his suggestions, my business began to face some serious setbacks. I asked the community for help and thought there must be some mistake in my implementations. But I received zero helpful responses from the group. I have begun to doubt that the ‘entrepreneur groups’ are filled with bots who keep chatting with each other and give automated responses. Either the real entrepreneurs don’t have the time to say there or they just don’t exist. Anyway, when I began to face losses because of Sam’s advice, I stopped using them. I lost a $17,000 client because of the advice Sam had told me to follow. Sam had discussed using new and innovative ways to generate clients. I ended up losing one because the client was no longer comfortable with our new working style. I lost his business and after that Incidence, I stopped following Sam’s advice. My free trial had already ended and I had already lost $697 to Sam and his company. So I went ahead with his course. In the second half of the course, I realized why I failed so miserably in its execution, the course’s material was way outdated. The marketing techniques and the discussed methods are no longer viable in the current industry. It’s almost as if Sam hasn’t even touched the course after creating it. The marketing tactics and the management advice I had followed at first was no longer effective. That’s why I lost a lot of business including a $17,000 client. His courses are outdated and full of useless information. They are just packaged nicely so you would think “Wow, what an amazing course.” He is a marketer who is selling trash which is covered in a nice wrapping paper. And that’s why he is a scammer. That’s what scammers do. They promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Sam is just like that. I was very depressed and disappointed when I realized the reality behind the course of Sam. It was supposed to be an effective course for businesses but it really is a compilation of useless advice which is no longer effective. When I contacted the customer support and described my situation, they said I should take the other course they offer. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me that this course isn’t helpful?” They said, “It would be better if you took this course after Consulting Accelerator and for the best results, you should take Quantum Mastermind too.” They meant to tell me that their course didn’t provide me with any value unless I bought two other courses. Wasn’t the course supposed to be for businesses? Wasn’t it supposed to help businesses in accelerating their growth? I had read the description of his preceding course called Consulting Accelerator, and I know the basics he has shared in that course. I don’t need to learn the basics of setting up a business. I was already running a successful business. I only wanted to go ahead and enhance its growth. Like I told you, I worked with the course for weeks. But no matter how much effort I put into it, it didn’t give me anything of value. So I concluded that it’s a useless piece of crap which shouldn’t be marketed this way. All the things Sam promises to you on his webinars and websites are lies. He has created these super-expensive courses just so you will purchase them, spend weeks thinking what are they teaching you and end up losing a great deal of money. If you ask me, this is a smart method to steal money from people. He markets his courses as they give you some advanced knowledge while in reality, they are full of useless information which doesn’t make any sense. Your whole free trial will be spent in comprehending what the course is telling you about. By the time you realize that the course doesn’t give you anything of value, you would have invested too much of your money and your trial would have expired. So, you lose your hundreds of dollars and at least a month of your productive time while Sam gets to keep the money and remain undisturbed. Due to its complexity, it is rather difficult for many people to identify the scam. Such deceptive people should be thrown in jail. We punish politicians for lying by throwing them out of power but Sam doesn’t get any punishment for lying to the people. I believe a fraud and scumbag like Sam Ovens should be thrown in jail and tried in court. Only then he will come to his senses.  

Allegations and Complaints

  There are many other people, apart from me, who have been cheated by Sam and his company, Consulting.com. People complain about poor customer service as well as thievery of their funds. Sam Ovens is popular as a scam. The number of people who know his reality isn’t that small. In fact, this number is considerably huge. Here is an interesting stat, Sam Ovens’ name is quite popular as a scam throughout the world.  

    In Google Trends, the term ‘Sam Ovens Scam’ is one of the most trending terms containing his name. This means there are many people who doubt the legitimacy of this man’s products. And they should, because Sam really is a scammer who has been cheating money from people for years and he has been using those funds to further fuel his nefarious schemes. One person had complained about the low quality of customer service his company has. The customer service didn’t respond to the queries of the person. And when the complainer had requested for a refund, the customer service simply stretched the conversation for so long that the trial period ended and the guy was forced to pay Sam and Consulting.com. Another person had a similar experience. He had taken part in the Consulting Accelerator program but he didn’t find anything of value in the course. So he contacted the customer support of the company and requested them to initiate his refund. They sent him an email telling him to try the product for at least a few more days before he can get the refund. He refused. He waited for some time but did not receive the refund. When he contacted the credit card company, they told him that there can’t be any reversal. Apparently, Sam’s company had sent him some emails and they were present in the complainer’s ‘Spam’ folder. Therefore, Sam had proper evidence as to why he couldn’t initiate a refund. You should head towards the ‘Sources’ listed below the article to find more complaints from his past customers. You will find that he has scammed many people in the past and the worst thing is, he is keeping it up without any kind of remorse or hesitation. Most of the complaints about Sam and his products are regarding stealing of funds and poor response from customer support. However, the number of people complaining about his courses’ contents isn’t small as well. He lied to one customer and told her that he will give her a refund even after the trial period if she stayed for a while longer. You can guess what happened next. She never received a refund and she lost a hefty sum of a few thousand dollars to Sam.  

Sam Oven's online presence

  There’s a reason why Sam methods work. He is able to attract many customers for his companies and increase the number of victims for his fishy plans because of social media. Social media has helped Sam a lot in attracting innocent people and in hiding his real identity from the users. His large number of following on these platforms is because of his daunting number of accomplishments. If a person gets featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, it shows that the person is worth following. It is a sad truth that Sam Ovens is one of the few guys who has fooled everyone through his shady business tactics. As I said earlier, finding out the reality behind the scam of Sam Ovens is really difficult. He has created his scam meticulously and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the various unethical practices for a new guy if he isn’t familiar with Sam’s products. However, there are many people who have suffered losses because of Sam Ovens. You can find innumerable complaints him and his company online. To hide these complaints, he uses social media platforms. Take a look at his Instagram profile for example:  

  You will notice that he has 81k followers. Now that number isn’t big, but the large verification tag alongside his name shows him as a trustworthy person. No one would suspect that he is running one of the biggest online scams on the planet. Believe me, if somebody told me that Sam Ovens was a scammer before all these incidents, I wouldn’t have believed that person either.  

  His Twitter Profile isn’t that big, however. It shows that either his marketing tactics aren’t fooling anyone or he is too new for Twitter. Twitter has more organic users than Instagram. Therefore, gaining followers is a difficult task for anyone.  

  On his YouTube channel, he posts videos for promoting his e-learning products. He has plenty of followers here as well. As you can see in the picture above, the number of his channel’s subscribers is 56k. It will increase in the future because Sam has the purchasing power (thanks to his scams) and the resources to boost his following. With the kind of money Sam has at this moment, one can buy followers on these social media platforms too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s followers on these platforms turned out to be fake. Because the number of people Sam has scammed until now isn’t small. And many of these people have voiced their opinions on different platforms. Sam has put a lot of effort into hiding his true identity from the market. But it is essential for people to see his true side. I don’t want other innocent people to lose their hard-earned money and time to this vicious guy. I hope my experience will help you make a better choice. Sam Ovens’ scams aren’t stopping anytime soon but the least we can do is make more people aware of his schemes. Don’t you agree?  

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-ovens/ https://www.samovens.com/story https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sam-ovens-consulting-accelerator-c885147.html https://sam-ovens.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/marketing-consultant/ovens-enterprises-group-llc-0121-162187/customer-reviews   Read the full article

[topscammers-blog]

Sam Ovens - Maker of the most useless course EVER

A 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a big inspiration to many, Sam Ovens is nothing more than a cheapstake who lies regularly and follows unethical practices. He has made a fortune selling courses on client acquisition and business growth. But the main problem is, it doesn’t matter whether his students succeed or not. Sam Ovens is an irresponsible teacher and a lying scum. He has betrayed many people, he runs a scamming company and his courses give you nothing. His business model is based on giving you a highly costing course and give you a useless plan to follow. You’ll end up panicking because of the various tasks the courses tell you to do and even if you do everything they say, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. Sam Ovens’ courses are not only a waste of money but also of time and resources. I can say this because I had taken one of his courses myself. It’s called “Uplevel Consulting’ and I can promise you, it was one of the most pathetic and worthless hours of my life. I have seen many scammers online and Sam is just the same. He runs a malicious scam and that’s why it’s absolutely necessary that you heed my advice.   DON’T BUY COURSES FROM SAM.   You might not believe in me, but I’m telling the truth. And I’m not the only person who feels the same way. There are hundreds of others who have lost their hard-earned money and precious time because of Sam’s courses. His business model works but only for himself. You’ll be the paying the heavy price for all of his earnings. The bad news is, he is so deceptive that it becomes nearly impossible for innocent people to identify whether he is really a scam or not. He has created a powerful online brand by gaining recognition from leading brands and generating a plethora of content for gaining followers. Due to his near-perfect online brand, people hesitate to question his methods. And these people also ignore the advice of those who have suffered because of Sam’s scams. His whole ‘Consulting.com’ is a sham and a mischievous organization to steal money from others.  

Who is Sam Ovens?

  The reality behind the fake persona of Sam Ovens is quite harsh. Those who believe in him and his methods might question my words but if they would think logically and get rid of the emotions, they will also see that Sam is a total FRAUD. He has been cheating people since the very beginning and he has spent lavishly on creating a fake personality for this brand.  It’s hard to gain someone’s trust but like any other con artist, Sam knows how to gain one’s trust. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other leading publications as a renowned entrepreneur. But the problem is, they all are telling the story which Sam told them to. They don’t know the reality behind Sam and his disgraceful business model as well. So what is Sam’s story anyway? According to his Forbes profile, Sam had dropped out of college, he quit his corporate job and started a business with no investors or capital. The bio further adds that he grow an e-learning business to $10 million by the time he reached the age of 26. This story seems legitimate. He got named in the 30 under 30 list of Forbes Asia. Such a story and list of achievements can deceive anyone. What many people fail to realize is the fact that the products sold by his company, which are responsible for his success, are not what he claims to be. The course is supposed to help people in building businesses or accelerating the growth of their existing businesses. But the reality is, they are just a few jargon-filled and useless courses which provide negligible value to the user. The methodology is poor and the customer service is devastating. The courses don’t work for most people. And even if they do, they are designed in such a way that you will end up getting another one, which will leave you more confused. He has designed his company’s courses in such a way that you will end up buying all of them in the hope that you will make progress with your business. While the reality is, it will only help Sam in growing strongly. His online persona aids his business model and helps him in attracting numerous customers to fill his pockets.  

Sold me a worthless course for $2,000!

  Sam is a great marketer, there’s no doubt about that. If he wasn’t such a great marketing expert then he wouldn’t have been able to cheat so many people. He has created a large online following and a vast network of entrepreneurs to make sure that people don’t see him as the bad guy. He lies but he lies with such cunning that people aren’t able to realize that they are the victims of a scammer. How do I know all this? That’s because I run a business myself and I’m one of the past students of Sam Ovens’ consulting dot com. I had found out about his Consulting.com and its programs seemed quite impressive. Just take a look at the description of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ program, and you’ll see what I mean. Here is an excerpt from the same: “It is a 9-week online course with physical workbooks.....The course shows you how to scale using systems.” It was just a small introduction. I left out the details because Sam is notorious in the market for slapping people with the DMCA notice or a defamation suit if you quote any one of these products (or pages). The course descriptions also tell you that it is for established businesses which have customers. It will help you scale your business to 7-figures with the use of automation, PPC ads and predictable systems. A course from a leading marketer and such promise is sure to catch one’s attention. It lured me too and joining it was a huge mistake on my part. I first signed up for the course’s free trial. It contains a lot of material. And by a lot, I really mean a huge quantity. The courses touch a lot of subjects in the beginning and give you tasks to complete. You have to complete the tasks if you want to make progress in the course. But the content is laid out so poorly that it gets really annoying to keep up with everything. Apart from that, you also get access to a group of entrepreneurs when you join his courses. The group is full of yesmen who keep praising Sam on a regular basis and if you ask them a question they simply tell you that it would be better if you did it yourself, otherwise there’s no use of taking the course. In the end, you’re left alone, handling your business and taking this shitty course which teaches you something you can’t understand. It took me a lot of effort to get through the initial stages of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ course. In the course, he uses jargon often but doesn’t explain what they are and how they are related to your business. I used to spend hours trying to comprehend what Sam was teaching me. In the 25 days of the 30-day trial, I had made little progress in the course. I was disappointed in myself but I realized that I shouldn’t take this course. It just wasn’t the right fit for me. But how can I escape the jaws of this scammer. Because of his course, I wasn’t able to focus properly on my business. When I started following a few of his suggestions, my business began to face some serious setbacks. I asked the community for help and thought there must be some mistake in my implementations. But I received zero helpful responses from the group. I have begun to doubt that the ‘entrepreneur groups’ are filled with bots who keep chatting with each other and give automated responses. Either the real entrepreneurs don’t have the time to say there or they just don’t exist. Anyway, when I began to face losses because of Sam’s advice, I stopped using them. I lost a $17,000 client because of the advice Sam had told me to follow. Sam had discussed using new and innovative ways to generate clients. I ended up losing one because the client was no longer comfortable with our new working style. I lost his business and after that Incidence, I stopped following Sam’s advice. My free trial had already ended and I had already lost $697 to Sam and his company. So I went ahead with his course. In the second half of the course, I realized why I failed so miserably in its execution, the course’s material was way outdated. The marketing techniques and the discussed methods are no longer viable in the current industry. It’s almost as if Sam hasn’t even touched the course after creating it. The marketing tactics and the management advice I had followed at first was no longer effective. That’s why I lost a lot of business including a $17,000 client. His courses are outdated and full of useless information. They are just packaged nicely so you would think “Wow, what an amazing course.” He is a marketer who is selling trash which is covered in a nice wrapping paper. And that’s why he is a scammer. That’s what scammers do. They promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Sam is just like that. I was very depressed and disappointed when I realized the reality behind the course of Sam. It was supposed to be an effective course for businesses but it really is a compilation of useless advice which is no longer effective. When I contacted the customer support and described my situation, they said I should take the other course they offer. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me that this course isn’t helpful?” They said, “It would be better if you took this course after Consulting Accelerator and for the best results, you should take Quantum Mastermind too.” They meant to tell me that their course didn’t provide me with any value unless I bought two other courses. Wasn’t the course supposed to be for businesses? Wasn’t it supposed to help businesses in accelerating their growth? I had read the description of his preceding course called Consulting Accelerator, and I know the basics he has shared in that course. I don’t need to learn the basics of setting up a business. I was already running a successful business. I only wanted to go ahead and enhance its growth. Like I told you, I worked with the course for weeks. But no matter how much effort I put into it, it didn’t give me anything of value. So I concluded that it’s a useless piece of crap which shouldn’t be marketed this way. All the things Sam promises to you on his webinars and websites are lies. He has created these super-expensive courses just so you will purchase them, spend weeks thinking what are they teaching you and end up losing a great deal of money. If you ask me, this is a smart method to steal money from people. He markets his courses as they give you some advanced knowledge while in reality, they are full of useless information which doesn’t make any sense. Your whole free trial will be spent in comprehending what the course is telling you about. By the time you realize that the course doesn’t give you anything of value, you would have invested too much of your money and your trial would have expired. So, you lose your hundreds of dollars and at least a month of your productive time while Sam gets to keep the money and remain undisturbed. Due to its complexity, it is rather difficult for many people to identify the scam. Such deceptive people should be thrown in jail. We punish politicians for lying by throwing them out of power but Sam doesn’t get any punishment for lying to the people. I believe a fraud and scumbag like Sam Ovens should be thrown in jail and tried in court. Only then he will come to his senses.  

Allegations and Complaints

  There are many other people, apart from me, who have been cheated by Sam and his company, Consulting.com. People complain about poor customer service as well as thievery of their funds. Sam Ovens is popular as a scam. The number of people who know his reality isn’t that small. In fact, this number is considerably huge. Here is an interesting stat, Sam Ovens’ name is quite popular as a scam throughout the world.  

    In Google Trends, the term ‘Sam Ovens Scam’ is one of the most trending terms containing his name. This means there are many people who doubt the legitimacy of this man’s products. And they should, because Sam really is a scammer who has been cheating money from people for years and he has been using those funds to further fuel his nefarious schemes. One person had complained about the low quality of customer service his company has. The customer service didn’t respond to the queries of the person. And when the complainer had requested for a refund, the customer service simply stretched the conversation for so long that the trial period ended and the guy was forced to pay Sam and Consulting.com. Another person had a similar experience. He had taken part in the Consulting Accelerator program but he didn’t find anything of value in the course. So he contacted the customer support of the company and requested them to initiate his refund. They sent him an email telling him to try the product for at least a few more days before he can get the refund. He refused. He waited for some time but did not receive the refund. When he contacted the credit card company, they told him that there can’t be any reversal. Apparently, Sam’s company had sent him some emails and they were present in the complainer’s ‘Spam’ folder. Therefore, Sam had proper evidence as to why he couldn’t initiate a refund. You should head towards the ‘Sources’ listed below the article to find more complaints from his past customers. You will find that he has scammed many people in the past and the worst thing is, he is keeping it up without any kind of remorse or hesitation. Most of the complaints about Sam and his products are regarding stealing of funds and poor response from customer support. However, the number of people complaining about his courses’ contents isn’t small as well. He lied to one customer and told her that he will give her a refund even after the trial period if she stayed for a while longer. You can guess what happened next. She never received a refund and she lost a hefty sum of a few thousand dollars to Sam.  

Sam Oven's online presence

  There’s a reason why Sam methods work. He is able to attract many customers for his companies and increase the number of victims for his fishy plans because of social media. Social media has helped Sam a lot in attracting innocent people and in hiding his real identity from the users. His large number of following on these platforms is because of his daunting number of accomplishments. If a person gets featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, it shows that the person is worth following. It is a sad truth that Sam Ovens is one of the few guys who has fooled everyone through his shady business tactics. As I said earlier, finding out the reality behind the scam of Sam Ovens is really difficult. He has created his scam meticulously and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the various unethical practices for a new guy if he isn’t familiar with Sam’s products. However, there are many people who have suffered losses because of Sam Ovens. You can find innumerable complaints him and his company online. To hide these complaints, he uses social media platforms. Take a look at his Instagram profile for example:  

  You will notice that he has 81k followers. Now that number isn’t big, but the large verification tag alongside his name shows him as a trustworthy person. No one would suspect that he is running one of the biggest online scams on the planet. Believe me, if somebody told me that Sam Ovens was a scammer before all these incidents, I wouldn’t have believed that person either.  

  His Twitter Profile isn’t that big, however. It shows that either his marketing tactics aren’t fooling anyone or he is too new for Twitter. Twitter has more organic users than Instagram. Therefore, gaining followers is a difficult task for anyone.  

  On his YouTube channel, he posts videos for promoting his e-learning products. He has plenty of followers here as well. As you can see in the picture above, the number of his channel’s subscribers is 56k. It will increase in the future because Sam has the purchasing power (thanks to his scams) and the resources to boost his following. With the kind of money Sam has at this moment, one can buy followers on these social media platforms too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s followers on these platforms turned out to be fake. Because the number of people Sam has scammed until now isn’t small. And many of these people have voiced their opinions on different platforms. Sam has put a lot of effort into hiding his true identity from the market. But it is essential for people to see his true side. I don’t want other innocent people to lose their hard-earned money and time to this vicious guy. I hope my experience will help you make a better choice. Sam Ovens’ scams aren’t stopping anytime soon but the least we can do is make more people aware of his schemes. Don’t you agree?  

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-ovens/ https://www.samovens.com/story https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sam-ovens-consulting-accelerator-c885147.html https://sam-ovens.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/marketing-consultant/ovens-enterprises-group-llc-0121-162187/customer-reviews   Read the full article

[unhappyclient-blog]

Sam Ovens - Maker of the most useless course EVER

A 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a big inspiration to many, Sam Ovens is nothing more than a cheapstake who lies regularly and follows unethical practices. He has made a fortune selling courses on client acquisition and business growth. But the main problem is, it doesn’t matter whether his students succeed or not. Sam Ovens is an irresponsible teacher and a lying scum. He has betrayed many people, he runs a scamming company and his courses give you nothing. His business model is based on giving you a highly costing course and give you a useless plan to follow. You’ll end up panicking because of the various tasks the courses tell you to do and even if you do everything they say, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. Sam Ovens’ courses are not only a waste of money but also of time and resources. I can say this because I had taken one of his courses myself. It’s called “Uplevel Consulting’ and I can promise you, it was one of the most pathetic and worthless hours of my life. I have seen many scammers online and Sam is just the same. He runs a malicious scam and that’s why it’s absolutely necessary that you heed my advice.   DON’T BUY COURSES FROM SAM.   You might not believe in me, but I’m telling the truth. And I’m not the only person who feels the same way. There are hundreds of others who have lost their hard-earned money and precious time because of Sam’s courses. His business model works but only for himself. You’ll be the paying the heavy price for all of his earnings. The bad news is, he is so deceptive that it becomes nearly impossible for innocent people to identify whether he is really a scam or not. He has created a powerful online brand by gaining recognition from leading brands and generating a plethora of content for gaining followers. Due to his near-perfect online brand, people hesitate to question his methods. And these people also ignore the advice of those who have suffered because of Sam’s scams. His whole ‘Consulting.com’ is a sham and a mischievous organization to steal money from others.  

Who is Sam Ovens?

  The reality behind the fake persona of Sam Ovens is quite harsh. Those who believe in him and his methods might question my words but if they would think logically and get rid of the emotions, they will also see that Sam is a total FRAUD. He has been cheating people since the very beginning and he has spent lavishly on creating a fake personality for this brand.  It’s hard to gain someone’s trust but like any other con artist, Sam knows how to gain one’s trust. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other leading publications as a renowned entrepreneur. But the problem is, they all are telling the story which Sam told them to. They don’t know the reality behind Sam and his disgraceful business model as well. So what is Sam’s story anyway? According to his Forbes profile, Sam had dropped out of college, he quit his corporate job and started a business with no investors or capital. The bio further adds that he grow an e-learning business to $10 million by the time he reached the age of 26. This story seems legitimate. He got named in the 30 under 30 list of Forbes Asia. Such a story and list of achievements can deceive anyone. What many people fail to realize is the fact that the products sold by his company, which are responsible for his success, are not what he claims to be. The course is supposed to help people in building businesses or accelerating the growth of their existing businesses. But the reality is, they are just a few jargon-filled and useless courses which provide negligible value to the user. The methodology is poor and the customer service is devastating. The courses don’t work for most people. And even if they do, they are designed in such a way that you will end up getting another one, which will leave you more confused. He has designed his company’s courses in such a way that you will end up buying all of them in the hope that you will make progress with your business. While the reality is, it will only help Sam in growing strongly. His online persona aids his business model and helps him in attracting numerous customers to fill his pockets.  

Sold me a worthless course for $2,000!

  Sam is a great marketer, there’s no doubt about that. If he wasn’t such a great marketing expert then he wouldn’t have been able to cheat so many people. He has created a large online following and a vast network of entrepreneurs to make sure that people don’t see him as the bad guy. He lies but he lies with such cunning that people aren’t able to realize that they are the victims of a scammer. How do I know all this? That’s because I run a business myself and I’m one of the past students of Sam Ovens’ consulting dot com. I had found out about his Consulting.com and its programs seemed quite impressive. Just take a look at the description of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ program, and you’ll see what I mean. Here is an excerpt from the same: “It is a 9-week online course with physical workbooks.....The course shows you how to scale using systems.” It was just a small introduction. I left out the details because Sam is notorious in the market for slapping people with the DMCA notice or a defamation suit if you quote any one of these products (or pages). The course descriptions also tell you that it is for established businesses which have customers. It will help you scale your business to 7-figures with the use of automation, PPC ads and predictable systems. A course from a leading marketer and such promise is sure to catch one’s attention. It lured me too and joining it was a huge mistake on my part. I first signed up for the course’s free trial. It contains a lot of material. And by a lot, I really mean a huge quantity. The courses touch a lot of subjects in the beginning and give you tasks to complete. You have to complete the tasks if you want to make progress in the course. But the content is laid out so poorly that it gets really annoying to keep up with everything. Apart from that, you also get access to a group of entrepreneurs when you join his courses. The group is full of yesmen who keep praising Sam on a regular basis and if you ask them a question they simply tell you that it would be better if you did it yourself, otherwise there’s no use of taking the course. In the end, you’re left alone, handling your business and taking this shitty course which teaches you something you can’t understand. It took me a lot of effort to get through the initial stages of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ course. In the course, he uses jargon often but doesn’t explain what they are and how they are related to your business. I used to spend hours trying to comprehend what Sam was teaching me. In the 25 days of the 30-day trial, I had made little progress in the course. I was disappointed in myself but I realized that I shouldn’t take this course. It just wasn’t the right fit for me. But how can I escape the jaws of this scammer. Because of his course, I wasn’t able to focus properly on my business. When I started following a few of his suggestions, my business began to face some serious setbacks. I asked the community for help and thought there must be some mistake in my implementations. But I received zero helpful responses from the group. I have begun to doubt that the ‘entrepreneur groups’ are filled with bots who keep chatting with each other and give automated responses. Either the real entrepreneurs don’t have the time to say there or they just don’t exist. Anyway, when I began to face losses because of Sam’s advice, I stopped using them. I lost a $17,000 client because of the advice Sam had told me to follow. Sam had discussed using new and innovative ways to generate clients. I ended up losing one because the client was no longer comfortable with our new working style. I lost his business and after that Incidence, I stopped following Sam’s advice. My free trial had already ended and I had already lost $697 to Sam and his company. So I went ahead with his course. In the second half of the course, I realized why I failed so miserably in its execution, the course’s material was way outdated. The marketing techniques and the discussed methods are no longer viable in the current industry. It’s almost as if Sam hasn’t even touched the course after creating it. The marketing tactics and the management advice I had followed at first was no longer effective. That’s why I lost a lot of business including a $17,000 client. His courses are outdated and full of useless information. They are just packaged nicely so you would think “Wow, what an amazing course.” He is a marketer who is selling trash which is covered in a nice wrapping paper. And that’s why he is a scammer. That’s what scammers do. They promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Sam is just like that. I was very depressed and disappointed when I realized the reality behind the course of Sam. It was supposed to be an effective course for businesses but it really is a compilation of useless advice which is no longer effective. When I contacted the customer support and described my situation, they said I should take the other course they offer. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me that this course isn’t helpful?” They said, “It would be better if you took this course after Consulting Accelerator and for the best results, you should take Quantum Mastermind too.” They meant to tell me that their course didn’t provide me with any value unless I bought two other courses. Wasn’t the course supposed to be for businesses? Wasn’t it supposed to help businesses in accelerating their growth? I had read the description of his preceding course called Consulting Accelerator, and I know the basics he has shared in that course. I don’t need to learn the basics of setting up a business. I was already running a successful business. I only wanted to go ahead and enhance its growth. Like I told you, I worked with the course for weeks. But no matter how much effort I put into it, it didn’t give me anything of value. So I concluded that it’s a useless piece of crap which shouldn’t be marketed this way. All the things Sam promises to you on his webinars and websites are lies. He has created these super-expensive courses just so you will purchase them, spend weeks thinking what are they teaching you and end up losing a great deal of money. If you ask me, this is a smart method to steal money from people. He markets his courses as they give you some advanced knowledge while in reality, they are full of useless information which doesn’t make any sense. Your whole free trial will be spent in comprehending what the course is telling you about. By the time you realize that the course doesn’t give you anything of value, you would have invested too much of your money and your trial would have expired. So, you lose your hundreds of dollars and at least a month of your productive time while Sam gets to keep the money and remain undisturbed. Due to its complexity, it is rather difficult for many people to identify the scam. Such deceptive people should be thrown in jail. We punish politicians for lying by throwing them out of power but Sam doesn’t get any punishment for lying to the people. I believe a fraud and scumbag like Sam Ovens should be thrown in jail and tried in court. Only then he will come to his senses.  

Allegations and Complaints

  There are many other people, apart from me, who have been cheated by Sam and his company, Consulting.com. People complain about poor customer service as well as thievery of their funds. Sam Ovens is popular as a scam. The number of people who know his reality isn’t that small. In fact, this number is considerably huge. Here is an interesting stat, Sam Ovens’ name is quite popular as a scam throughout the world.  

    In Google Trends, the term ‘Sam Ovens Scam’ is one of the most trending terms containing his name. This means there are many people who doubt the legitimacy of this man’s products. And they should, because Sam really is a scammer who has been cheating money from people for years and he has been using those funds to further fuel his nefarious schemes. One person had complained about the low quality of customer service his company has. The customer service didn’t respond to the queries of the person. And when the complainer had requested for a refund, the customer service simply stretched the conversation for so long that the trial period ended and the guy was forced to pay Sam and Consulting.com. Another person had a similar experience. He had taken part in the Consulting Accelerator program but he didn’t find anything of value in the course. So he contacted the customer support of the company and requested them to initiate his refund. They sent him an email telling him to try the product for at least a few more days before he can get the refund. He refused. He waited for some time but did not receive the refund. When he contacted the credit card company, they told him that there can’t be any reversal. Apparently, Sam’s company had sent him some emails and they were present in the complainer’s ‘Spam’ folder. Therefore, Sam had proper evidence as to why he couldn’t initiate a refund. You should head towards the ‘Sources’ listed below the article to find more complaints from his past customers. You will find that he has scammed many people in the past and the worst thing is, he is keeping it up without any kind of remorse or hesitation. Most of the complaints about Sam and his products are regarding stealing of funds and poor response from customer support. However, the number of people complaining about his courses’ contents isn’t small as well. He lied to one customer and told her that he will give her a refund even after the trial period if she stayed for a while longer. You can guess what happened next. She never received a refund and she lost a hefty sum of a few thousand dollars to Sam.  

Sam Oven's online presence

  There’s a reason why Sam methods work. He is able to attract many customers for his companies and increase the number of victims for his fishy plans because of social media. Social media has helped Sam a lot in attracting innocent people and in hiding his real identity from the users. His large number of following on these platforms is because of his daunting number of accomplishments. If a person gets featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, it shows that the person is worth following. It is a sad truth that Sam Ovens is one of the few guys who has fooled everyone through his shady business tactics. As I said earlier, finding out the reality behind the scam of Sam Ovens is really difficult. He has created his scam meticulously and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the various unethical practices for a new guy if he isn’t familiar with Sam’s products. However, there are many people who have suffered losses because of Sam Ovens. You can find innumerable complaints him and his company online. To hide these complaints, he uses social media platforms. Take a look at his Instagram profile for example:  

  You will notice that he has 81k followers. Now that number isn’t big, but the large verification tag alongside his name shows him as a trustworthy person. No one would suspect that he is running one of the biggest online scams on the planet. Believe me, if somebody told me that Sam Ovens was a scammer before all these incidents, I wouldn’t have believed that person either.  

  His Twitter Profile isn’t that big, however. It shows that either his marketing tactics aren’t fooling anyone or he is too new for Twitter. Twitter has more organic users than Instagram. Therefore, gaining followers is a difficult task for anyone.  

  On his YouTube channel, he posts videos for promoting his e-learning products. He has plenty of followers here as well. As you can see in the picture above, the number of his channel’s subscribers is 56k. It will increase in the future because Sam has the purchasing power (thanks to his scams) and the resources to boost his following. With the kind of money Sam has at this moment, one can buy followers on these social media platforms too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s followers on these platforms turned out to be fake. Because the number of people Sam has scammed until now isn’t small. And many of these people have voiced their opinions on different platforms. Sam has put a lot of effort into hiding his true identity from the market. But it is essential for people to see his true side. I don’t want other innocent people to lose their hard-earned money and time to this vicious guy. I hope my experience will help you make a better choice. Sam Ovens’ scams aren’t stopping anytime soon but the least we can do is make more people aware of his schemes. Don’t you agree?  

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-ovens/ https://www.samovens.com/story https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sam-ovens-consulting-accelerator-c885147.html https://sam-ovens.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/marketing-consultant/ovens-enterprises-group-llc-0121-162187/customer-reviews   Read the full article

[verifiedcomplaints-blog]

Sam Ovens - Maker of the most useless course EVER

A 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a big inspiration to many, Sam Ovens is nothing more than a cheapstake who lies regularly and follows unethical practices. He has made a fortune selling courses on client acquisition and business growth. But the main problem is, it doesn’t matter whether his students succeed or not. Sam Ovens is an irresponsible teacher and a lying scum. He has betrayed many people, he runs a scamming company and his courses give you nothing. His business model is based on giving you a highly costing course and give you a useless plan to follow. You’ll end up panicking because of the various tasks the courses tell you to do and even if you do everything they say, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. Sam Ovens’ courses are not only a waste of money but also of time and resources. I can say this because I had taken one of his courses myself. It’s called “Uplevel Consulting’ and I can promise you, it was one of the most pathetic and worthless hours of my life. I have seen many scammers online and Sam is just the same. He runs a malicious scam and that’s why it’s absolutely necessary that you heed my advice.   DON’T BUY COURSES FROM SAM.   You might not believe in me, but I’m telling the truth. And I’m not the only person who feels the same way. There are hundreds of others who have lost their hard-earned money and precious time because of Sam’s courses. His business model works but only for himself. You’ll be the paying the heavy price for all of his earnings. The bad news is, he is so deceptive that it becomes nearly impossible for innocent people to identify whether he is really a scam or not. He has created a powerful online brand by gaining recognition from leading brands and generating a plethora of content for gaining followers. Due to his near-perfect online brand, people hesitate to question his methods. And these people also ignore the advice of those who have suffered because of Sam’s scams. His whole ‘Consulting.com’ is a sham and a mischievous organization to steal money from others.  

Who is Sam Ovens?

  The reality behind the fake persona of Sam Ovens is quite harsh. Those who believe in him and his methods might question my words but if they would think logically and get rid of the emotions, they will also see that Sam is a total FRAUD. He has been cheating people since the very beginning and he has spent lavishly on creating a fake personality for this brand.  It’s hard to gain someone’s trust but like any other con artist, Sam knows how to gain one’s trust. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other leading publications as a renowned entrepreneur. But the problem is, they all are telling the story which Sam told them to. They don’t know the reality behind Sam and his disgraceful business model as well. So what is Sam’s story anyway? According to his Forbes profile, Sam had dropped out of college, he quit his corporate job and started a business with no investors or capital. The bio further adds that he grow an e-learning business to $10 million by the time he reached the age of 26. This story seems legitimate. He got named in the 30 under 30 list of Forbes Asia. Such a story and list of achievements can deceive anyone. What many people fail to realize is the fact that the products sold by his company, which are responsible for his success, are not what he claims to be. The course is supposed to help people in building businesses or accelerating the growth of their existing businesses. But the reality is, they are just a few jargon-filled and useless courses which provide negligible value to the user. The methodology is poor and the customer service is devastating. The courses don’t work for most people. And even if they do, they are designed in such a way that you will end up getting another one, which will leave you more confused. He has designed his company’s courses in such a way that you will end up buying all of them in the hope that you will make progress with your business. While the reality is, it will only help Sam in growing strongly. His online persona aids his business model and helps him in attracting numerous customers to fill his pockets.  

Sold me a worthless course for $2,000!

  Sam is a great marketer, there’s no doubt about that. If he wasn’t such a great marketing expert then he wouldn’t have been able to cheat so many people. He has created a large online following and a vast network of entrepreneurs to make sure that people don’t see him as the bad guy. He lies but he lies with such cunning that people aren’t able to realize that they are the victims of a scammer. How do I know all this? That’s because I run a business myself and I’m one of the past students of Sam Ovens’ consulting dot com. I had found out about his Consulting.com and its programs seemed quite impressive. Just take a look at the description of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ program, and you’ll see what I mean. Here is an excerpt from the same: “It is a 9-week online course with physical workbooks.....The course shows you how to scale using systems.” It was just a small introduction. I left out the details because Sam is notorious in the market for slapping people with the DMCA notice or a defamation suit if you quote any one of these products (or pages). The course descriptions also tell you that it is for established businesses which have customers. It will help you scale your business to 7-figures with the use of automation, PPC ads and predictable systems. A course from a leading marketer and such promise is sure to catch one’s attention. It lured me too and joining it was a huge mistake on my part. I first signed up for the course’s free trial. It contains a lot of material. And by a lot, I really mean a huge quantity. The courses touch a lot of subjects in the beginning and give you tasks to complete. You have to complete the tasks if you want to make progress in the course. But the content is laid out so poorly that it gets really annoying to keep up with everything. Apart from that, you also get access to a group of entrepreneurs when you join his courses. The group is full of yesmen who keep praising Sam on a regular basis and if you ask them a question they simply tell you that it would be better if you did it yourself, otherwise there’s no use of taking the course. In the end, you’re left alone, handling your business and taking this shitty course which teaches you something you can’t understand. It took me a lot of effort to get through the initial stages of his ‘Uplevel Consulting’ course. In the course, he uses jargon often but doesn’t explain what they are and how they are related to your business. I used to spend hours trying to comprehend what Sam was teaching me. In the 25 days of the 30-day trial, I had made little progress in the course. I was disappointed in myself but I realized that I shouldn’t take this course. It just wasn’t the right fit for me. But how can I escape the jaws of this scammer. Because of his course, I wasn’t able to focus properly on my business. When I started following a few of his suggestions, my business began to face some serious setbacks. I asked the community for help and thought there must be some mistake in my implementations. But I received zero helpful responses from the group. I have begun to doubt that the ‘entrepreneur groups’ are filled with bots who keep chatting with each other and give automated responses. Either the real entrepreneurs don’t have the time to say there or they just don’t exist. Anyway, when I began to face losses because of Sam’s advice, I stopped using them. I lost a $17,000 client because of the advice Sam had told me to follow. Sam had discussed using new and innovative ways to generate clients. I ended up losing one because the client was no longer comfortable with our new working style. I lost his business and after that Incidence, I stopped following Sam’s advice. My free trial had already ended and I had already lost $697 to Sam and his company. So I went ahead with his course. In the second half of the course, I realized why I failed so miserably in its execution, the course’s material was way outdated. The marketing techniques and the discussed methods are no longer viable in the current industry. It’s almost as if Sam hasn’t even touched the course after creating it. The marketing tactics and the management advice I had followed at first was no longer effective. That’s why I lost a lot of business including a $17,000 client. His courses are outdated and full of useless information. They are just packaged nicely so you would think “Wow, what an amazing course.” He is a marketer who is selling trash which is covered in a nice wrapping paper. And that’s why he is a scammer. That’s what scammers do. They promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Sam is just like that. I was very depressed and disappointed when I realized the reality behind the course of Sam. It was supposed to be an effective course for businesses but it really is a compilation of useless advice which is no longer effective. When I contacted the customer support and described my situation, they said I should take the other course they offer. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me that this course isn’t helpful?” They said, “It would be better if you took this course after Consulting Accelerator and for the best results, you should take Quantum Mastermind too.” They meant to tell me that their course didn’t provide me with any value unless I bought two other courses. Wasn’t the course supposed to be for businesses? Wasn’t it supposed to help businesses in accelerating their growth? I had read the description of his preceding course called Consulting Accelerator, and I know the basics he has shared in that course. I don’t need to learn the basics of setting up a business. I was already running a successful business. I only wanted to go ahead and enhance its growth. Like I told you, I worked with the course for weeks. But no matter how much effort I put into it, it didn’t give me anything of value. So I concluded that it’s a useless piece of crap which shouldn’t be marketed this way. All the things Sam promises to you on his webinars and websites are lies. He has created these super-expensive courses just so you will purchase them, spend weeks thinking what are they teaching you and end up losing a great deal of money. If you ask me, this is a smart method to steal money from people. He markets his courses as they give you some advanced knowledge while in reality, they are full of useless information which doesn’t make any sense. Your whole free trial will be spent in comprehending what the course is telling you about. By the time you realize that the course doesn’t give you anything of value, you would have invested too much of your money and your trial would have expired. So, you lose your hundreds of dollars and at least a month of your productive time while Sam gets to keep the money and remain undisturbed. Due to its complexity, it is rather difficult for many people to identify the scam. Such deceptive people should be thrown in jail. We punish politicians for lying by throwing them out of power but Sam doesn’t get any punishment for lying to the people. I believe a fraud and scumbag like Sam Ovens should be thrown in jail and tried in court. Only then he will come to his senses.  

Allegations and Complaints

  There are many other people, apart from me, who have been cheated by Sam and his company, Consulting.com. People complain about poor customer service as well as thievery of their funds. Sam Ovens is popular as a scam. The number of people who know his reality isn’t that small. In fact, this number is considerably huge. Here is an interesting stat, Sam Ovens’ name is quite popular as a scam throughout the world.  

    In Google Trends, the term ‘Sam Ovens Scam’ is one of the most trending terms containing his name. This means there are many people who doubt the legitimacy of this man’s products. And they should, because Sam really is a scammer who has been cheating money from people for years and he has been using those funds to further fuel his nefarious schemes. One person had complained about the low quality of customer service his company has. The customer service didn’t respond to the queries of the person. And when the complainer had requested for a refund, the customer service simply stretched the conversation for so long that the trial period ended and the guy was forced to pay Sam and Consulting.com. Another person had a similar experience. He had taken part in the Consulting Accelerator program but he didn’t find anything of value in the course. So he contacted the customer support of the company and requested them to initiate his refund. They sent him an email telling him to try the product for at least a few more days before he can get the refund. He refused. He waited for some time but did not receive the refund. When he contacted the credit card company, they told him that there can’t be any reversal. Apparently, Sam’s company had sent him some emails and they were present in the complainer’s ‘Spam’ folder. Therefore, Sam had proper evidence as to why he couldn’t initiate a refund. You should head towards the ‘Sources’ listed below the article to find more complaints from his past customers. You will find that he has scammed many people in the past and the worst thing is, he is keeping it up without any kind of remorse or hesitation. Most of the complaints about Sam and his products are regarding stealing of funds and poor response from customer support. However, the number of people complaining about his courses’ contents isn’t small as well. He lied to one customer and told her that he will give her a refund even after the trial period if she stayed for a while longer. You can guess what happened next. She never received a refund and she lost a hefty sum of a few thousand dollars to Sam.  

Sam Oven's online presence

  There’s a reason why Sam methods work. He is able to attract many customers for his companies and increase the number of victims for his fishy plans because of social media. Social media has helped Sam a lot in attracting innocent people and in hiding his real identity from the users. His large number of following on these platforms is because of his daunting number of accomplishments. If a person gets featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, it shows that the person is worth following. It is a sad truth that Sam Ovens is one of the few guys who has fooled everyone through his shady business tactics. As I said earlier, finding out the reality behind the scam of Sam Ovens is really difficult. He has created his scam meticulously and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the various unethical practices for a new guy if he isn’t familiar with Sam’s products. However, there are many people who have suffered losses because of Sam Ovens. You can find innumerable complaints him and his company online. To hide these complaints, he uses social media platforms. Take a look at his Instagram profile for example:  

  You will notice that he has 81k followers. Now that number isn’t big, but the large verification tag alongside his name shows him as a trustworthy person. No one would suspect that he is running one of the biggest online scams on the planet. Believe me, if somebody told me that Sam Ovens was a scammer before all these incidents, I wouldn’t have believed that person either.  

  His Twitter Profile isn’t that big, however. It shows that either his marketing tactics aren’t fooling anyone or he is too new for Twitter. Twitter has more organic users than Instagram. Therefore, gaining followers is a difficult task for anyone.  

  On his YouTube channel, he posts videos for promoting his e-learning products. He has plenty of followers here as well. As you can see in the picture above, the number of his channel’s subscribers is 56k. It will increase in the future because Sam has the purchasing power (thanks to his scams) and the resources to boost his following. With the kind of money Sam has at this moment, one can buy followers on these social media platforms too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s followers on these platforms turned out to be fake. Because the number of people Sam has scammed until now isn’t small. And many of these people have voiced their opinions on different platforms. Sam has put a lot of effort into hiding his true identity from the market. But it is essential for people to see his true side. I don’t want other innocent people to lose their hard-earned money and time to this vicious guy. I hope my experience will help you make a better choice. Sam Ovens’ scams aren’t stopping anytime soon but the least we can do is make more people aware of his schemes. Don’t you agree?  

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-ovens/ https://www.samovens.com/story https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sam-ovens-consulting-accelerator-c885147.html https://sam-ovens.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/marketing-consultant/ovens-enterprises-group-llc-0121-162187/customer-reviews   Read the full article

[tinseltine]

Look Back at the Movies of 2018

Tinsel & Tine's

Look Back at the Movies of 2018

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

This year feels like the fastest movie season to date. I still feel like we just stopped talking about the movies up for awards last year, like The Shape of Water, Call Me By Your Name, 3 Billboards, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread etc.. Now we already have 2019 Golden Globe Awards nominations, and Oscar noms just a month away on Jan 22, 2019. This years’ crop of movies being talked about for awards are a bit more main stream than some of those films that I just mentioned from last year, which were not your average movie-goers cup of tea. Whereas this year: A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, Vice, Black Panther, The Favourite, these movies have more universal appeal. They’re important, but contain more humor. Even If Beale Street Could Talk with all its social implications, on the surface is a romance. Then we have a couple of family dramas like Beautiful Boy, Boy Erased & Ben is Back which no one is going to be able to keep straight, as Lucas Hedges is in two of them and two are about drug addiction, but they’re not artsy films. I'd like to thank God and the Universe for continually orchestrating my life so that every year I get to see and enjoy an abundant number of movies. Between film festivals and often going to the theater 3-4x a week. I feel I can formulate a pretty darn good end of the year list. Much of which does coincide with the movies being bandied about as noteworthy, but I threw in a couple of surprises. I’m gonna start with my least favorite movies of 2018, because it's a short list. It's always difficult for me to say I hate a movie because of the work and number of people involved in getting even a short film to the screen. But there's always a few that should have gone through a lot of reworking before being released. Then I move on to my Top 10 Favorites. This was particularly difficult to pair down this year, I had 26 movies that I really, really liked. So I have a Just Missed the Top 10 category and an Honorable Mention category. Note: Links go to my full review of the movie Hope you enjoy and hit me up on Facebook or Twitter to discuss your favorites!

Worst Movies of 2018

In order of most disliked

RED SPARROW (20th Century Fox) dir Francis Lawrence, starring Jennifer Lawrence & Joel Edgerton. Lawrence plays a Russian ex-ballet dancer turned reluctant sex spy in a poorly executed thriller set in Russia. Everything about it felt phony and forced, except for one small scene where Mary Louise Parker steals the show. SECOND ACT (STX Films)– dir Peter Segal, starring Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Milo Ventimiglia. A movie about a woman without a college degree lying her way up the corporate latter in a cosmetic company. Parts of it remind me of a cheap imitation of Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty, but Shumer had a handle on her plot devices and comedic timing. I think if they kept the main plot of Second Act on the relationship of the mother and daughter discovering each other, that could have helped a lot, but really this movie is short on charm and big on makeup caked on like colorful spackle. A WRINKLE IN TIME (Disney) dir Ava Duvernay, starring Storm Reid, Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon & Mindy Kaling. This much anticipated film based on a beloved children’s novel did not translate well to film - story-wise, visually it had some good moments, but Jennifer Lee, Jeff Stockwell’s screenplay needed punching up and smoothing out all over the place. And I can’t let DuVernay entirely off the hook as the pacing of the film is way off too, but mostly, it was a waste of Oprah. LIFE OF THE PARTY (Warner Bros) dir Ben Falcone, starring Melissa McCarthy, who I love (I’ve become addicted to reruns of Mike & Molly) but this movie about a 40 something year-old woman returning to finish her degree at the same time as her daughter, went nowhere. It wasn’t at all funny, it wasn’t heartfelt, it wasn’t mother/daughter bonding, it wasn’t McCarthy run amok, it was just boring. ADRIFT (STX Films) dir Baltasar Kormákur, starring Shailene Woodley & Sam Claflin. Based on the true story of Tami Oldham’s 42-day ordeal lost at sea, but told through a cheesy story device that’s a cheat for the movie and completely unnecessary to hold the attention of the audience.

My TOP 10 Favorites Movies from 2018

1. BLACK PANTHER (Marvel Studios) dir Ryan Coogler, starring Chadwick Boseman. The movie hit theaters last February and broke all kinds of box office records, heavily featured women (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright) in key roles. Once and for all it broke down the myth that movies with a black cast don’t make money overseas. But best of all, it’s a good movie. When I saw it a 2nd time I knew it wasn’t just about the social implications. It was about enjoying something that was cinematically pleasing. 2. CRAZY RICH ASIANS (Warner Bros.) dir. Jon M. Chu, starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh. Same goes for this movie, which I also saw in the theater twice. The ensemble works very well together, the movie has great energy, Singapore is gorgeous and it was so nice to bring a quality rom/com back to the screen. 3. GREEN BOOK (Universal Pics) dir Peter Farrelley, starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali as Tony Vallelonga an Italian-American bouncer & African-American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley embarking on a road trip down to the segregated south- this is the new odd couple. As much as I love a good romance, I think friendships and bromances are more interesting to watch unfold on screen. Also saw this twice and loved it even more the second go round. 4. PUZZLE (Sony Pictures Classic) dir Marc Turtletaub, starring Kelly Macdonald & Irrfan Khan a remake of an Argentina film (2010). I know most people did not get a chance to see this movie, it played at Ritz 5 for probably only a week, but it’s a quiet gem about a current day housewife living in a New York suburb who discovers she has a knack for quickly putting together jigsaw puzzles and unexpectedly finds more than just a fitting puzzle partner after answering an ad to join a competition. 5. MR SOUL! (BlackStar Film Festival) dir. Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip. SOUL! was a nationally televised weekly variety show that aired from 1968-1973 on PBS featuring prominent and emerging Black artists including poets, classical, pop and jazz musicians, dancers and political figures. The documentary is not only an amazing look back on seeing early performances of people who became household names, but it's also an interesting biopic on the creative host and producer Ellis Haizlip, who had his finger on the pulse of an early post-Civil Rights Movement America. 6. A STAR IS BORN (Warner Bros) dir Bradley Cooper made this classic his own and made a fantastic decision to make his partner in this endeavor Lady Gaga. Not only does their chemistry and music make this a more than engaging film. But Cooper captures up-close the backstage feeling of the entertainment industry in so many ways. 7. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (Annapurna Pictures) dir Boots Riley, starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick a lot of buzz was generated for this first time filmmaker and rightly so as Riley's style is to keep dialing up the crazy, notch by notch until you're at a full rolling boil of absurdist, off-beat, comedic Sci-fi soup with a social message. Not easy to do in one movie, but I feel he really pulled it off. 8. HOTEL ARTEMIS (Global Road) writer/dir Drew Pearce, starring Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Dave Bautista, and Zachary Quinto. I know I’m alone having this one on my top 10 list, but I truly enjoyed this strange action thriller. From the production design to the pre-apocalyptic setting, to the idea of taking place inside a secret high-tech hospital and supposed safe space for criminals to get patched up by an agoraphobic nurse. 9. RBG doc (Magnolia Pictures) dirs Betsy West & Julie Cohen. I saw On The Basis of Sex too and Felicity Jones is good casting as a early pioneering Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but the documentary is so much more encompassing of this remarkable woman’s life and journey. Before seeing this doc what I basically knew about this female chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I got from SNL skits and seeing some “The Notorious RBG” T-shirts. So glad to now be aware of her huge contribution to our freedoms and civil liberties. 10. LOVE, SIMON (20th Century Fox) dir Greg Berlanti, starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel - In this post "Glee", legalized Gay marriage, "Moonlight" Oscar winning, Caitlyn Jenner accepting society we live in - it's hard to figure that a movie about a young boy feeling extreme anxiety about admitting he's gay would be anything worth discussing. Yet, that's part of the value and charm of this movie along with a likeable young cast.

Just Missed the Top 10

SPIDERMAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (Sony Pictures Releasing) dir Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman. Since Columbia still owns the rights to the Spiderman character, they like to get good mileage out of the web slinger, hence the terrible Andrew Garfield Spiderman reboot thrust on us while we were still in the throes of the Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst upside down kiss. Thankfully, something was worked out between Marvel and Sony so that we have the Tom Holland Spiderman of the MCU. So when I first heard about this animated Spider-verse, I was like, why? Is this necessary? Probably not. But it’s so well done I don’t question it anymore! Love the mixed media graphics and the fantastic sci-fi premise of having multiple spider people from different dimensions come together and initiate a new black/latino Spiderman into the realm. A SIMPLE FAVOR (Lionsgate) dir Paul Feig, starring Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding a good campy script, some excellent costuming and unexpected humor turned this quasi-thriller into an early fall sleeper hit. A QUIET PLACE (Paramount Pictures) dir John Krasinski, starring Krasinski and Emily Blunt. A tight, emotional ride containing horror tropes, yet written for someone like me who likes to be thrilled with fear at the movies, but not up for anything too sinister that stays with me as I try to sleep. WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR (Focus Features) dir Morgan Neville. This doc on Fred Rogers, the well-liked host of the popular children's television program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", is an honest look at this man of principals who truly believed in the transformative power of love - love for others, but most importantly, for yourself. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (Paramount Pictures) dir Christopher McQuarrie, starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg this 6th installment in the Mission: Impossible film series shows there’s still A LOT of juice left in the franchise. So many amazing stunts, fun and thrills.

Honorable Mentions

(alpha order) ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Marvel) dir Peyton Reed, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer – kept pace with the original in terms of style and storytelling, while adding in more shrinking, enlarging sight gags in all the right places. BLINDSPOTTING (Lionsgate) dir Carlos López Estrada, starring Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs – A good first effort by these screenwriters/actors, but it’s the final scene which makes the movie above average. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (20th Century Fox) dir Bryan Singer finished by Dexter Fletcher, starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello – seemingly Epic music biopic, not truly as good as it seems, but a fun ride. FIRST MAN - (Universal Pictures) dir Damien Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll - Not as well loved as La La Land, but as far as commitment to filmmaking and vision this movie is stellar. GRINGO (Amazon Studios) dir Nash Edgerton, starring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton – Wish this movie had gotten more attention. It takes you on a nutty adventure showcasing Oyelowo's comedic chops. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Annapurna Pictures) dir Barry Jenkins, starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King – Beautifully directed, strong cast, wonderfully adapted from a James Baldwin novel. Didn’t make my top 10 because sometimes it’s hard to watch movies based on the themes of systemic racism.(click link for Q&A with Barry Jenkins) PETER RABBIT (Sony Pictures Releasing) dir Will Gluck, starring Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson – Not just adorable, but truly entertaining. THE FAVOURITE (Fox Searchlight Pictures) dir Yorgos Lanthimos, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn - Stylized, female-centric period piece, balancing a delightful tone of zany ridiculousness and historical accuracy. THE HATE U GIVE (20th Century Fox) dir George Tillman Jr., starring Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, KJ Apa, Common, Anthony Mackie – I really fell in love with this family unit and the messages ring clear, but not too loud. TULLY (Focus Features) dir Jason Reitman, starring Charlize Theron & Mackenzie Davis – Oddly, I condemned “Adrift” for using a similar storytelling device as “Tully”, but here it works. Besides, the meat of the story is about roads and paths started down, but not followed and wondering how you ended up being in your current life; which, I truly related too, despite not being a wife or mother. WIDOWS (20th Century) dir Steve McQueen, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo – After “Hunger” “Shame” and “12 Years A Slave” it was a great idea for McQueen to bring his extraordinary filmmaking skills to a heist film with a touch of Lifetime movie. The climax had our audience talking back to the screen, and the actresses are all on point. I had “Widows” in my Top 10 at first, then relegated it to those that just missed the top 10, and then honorable mention. I think it kept getting pushed down just because I don’t really like the final scene. Share :)

Tinsel & Tine

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[neighbourart]

KÁRPÁTI RÓBERT - grafikus/graphic designer

Éjjel, sötétben, egyedül szeret a legjobban alkotni, stílusa "puritán, de mégis több rétegű", szereti a kutyákat, kedvenc étele a steak véresen, szívesen körülnézne 2500 környékén, amennyiben még létezik és emberek lakják a Föld nevű bolygót.

He likes to work alone, in the dark at night, his style is ‘puritan’  but layered, he likes dogs, his favorite dish is a bloody stake, he would like to visit 2500 if planet Earth still exists and is still inhabited by humans.

Robi asztala/Robi’s table.

1. Milyen típusú emlékek inspirálnak jobban: a jók vagy a rosszak?/What kind of memories inspire you the most: good or bad ones? Szeretném azt mondani, hogy a jók, de a rosszak sokkal produktívabbak. Elsősorban a feladatok és a kihívások inspirálnak, mert alkalmazott művészettel foglalkozom.

I would like to say the good ones, but bad ones seem to be more productive. I am primarily inspired by tasks and challenges due to the fact that I am an applied artist.

2. Ha újjászülethetnél egy ma élő vagy már halott művész személyében, kit választanál?/If you could reincarnate as a living or dead artist, who would you choose to be? Jó helyen érzem magam.

I feel like I am in the right place.

3. Hogyan lendülsz túl az időszakos alkotói válságon?/How do you overcome a temporary artistic crisis? Nem hiszek az alkotói válságban, ha van feladat, akkor azt a legjobban igyekszem megoldani, ha nincs, akkor adok magamnak. Mindig van, ami éppen érdekel.

I don’t believe in artistic crisis. If there is a task, then I want to accomplish it the best way I can. If I don’t have an external task then I am giving myself things to do. There is always something that in-terests me.

4. Kinek mutatod meg először az új munkádat?/Who sees your work first? A megrendelőnek.

The customer.

5. Mit érzel, amikor egy másik művész a tiédhez hasonló munkát készít?/What do you feel when a fellow artist creates something similar to your work? Ez függ a hasonlóság mértékétől és mikéntjétől. Ha sikerül valakit inspirálnom, az nagyon jó érzés. Ha ellopják egy munkámat, akkor dühös vagyok (és büszke).

It depends on the extent and the ‘how-s’ of the similarity. If I manage to inspire someone that feels really good. If someone steals my work, well, that makes me angry (and proud).

6. Van-e napi rutinod?/Do you have a daily routine? Reggeli kávé.

Morning coffee.

7. Hogyan fogsz neki egy új munkának?/How do you get started on a new project? Megpróbálok olyan inspirációkat keresgélni, amik csak laza szálon kötődnek a feladatomhoz és begyűjtök sok-sok információt.

I try to find inspirations that have only a slight connection to my task and I collect tons of information.

8. Van egy jól körülhatárolható hangulat, amikor könnyebb számodra az alkotás?/Is there a particular mood that makes creating and working easier for you? Éjjel, sötétben, egyedül, a gépem a ölemben.

At night, in the dark, alone, my laptop on my lap.

9. Sör vagy bor?/Beer or wine? Whisky.

Whisky.

10. Kutya vagy macska?/Dog or cat? Kutya.

Dog.

11. Milyen a stílusod?/What is your style like? Puritán, de mégis több rétegű.

Puritan and yet layered.

12. Hol leszel 10 év múlva?/Where will you be in 10 years? Remélem, ugyanitt.

Right here, I hope.

13. Kedvenc étel?/Favorite food? Steak, véresen.

Steak, bloody.

14. Kedvenc évszak?/Favorite season? Tavasz, nem hideg, nem meleg, nem nedves. 

Spring. Not cold, not hot, not wet.

15. Melyik korban élnél szívesen?/Which era would you prefer to live in? I.sz. 2500 környékén körülnéznék, amennyiben még létezik és emberek lakják a Föld nevű bolygót. A múltra van valami rálátásom, a jövőre nem lehet. De visszajönnék a jelenbe. 

I would like to visit 2500 A.D. but only if planet Earth still exists and is inhabited by humans. I have some kind of review over the past but I can’t see the future. I would come back to the present for sure.

16. Mi az az alkotás, amit mindenképpen meg kell csinálnod, mielőtt meghalsz?/What is that specific artwork you have to accomplish before you die? Szeretnék egy jó szöveg betűcsaládot tervezni.

I would like to design a good script font.

17. Ha egyetlen tanácsot kellene adni más, esetleg még kezdő tehetségeknek, mi lenne az?/If you could give one piece of advice to someone else, maybe to a beginner talent, what would it be? Szorgalom, alázat, kitartás. És ne gondolják, hogy mindent tudnak, később úgyis kiderül, hogy az hajt, amit nem tudunk.

Diligence, humbleness, persistence. Don’t think you know everything, you will get to know by the time that the things we don’t know drive us.

---------------------------------------- NÉVJEGY - Kárpáti Róbert:

"Kárpáti Róbert tervezőgrafikus vagyok. Budapesten élek. 2002 óta dolgozom grafikusként. Specialitásom a céges és személyes arculattervezés az emblémától egészen a teljes arculati rendszerekig. Rajongok a piktogramokért és a tipográfiáért. Szeretem, ha munkáim első ránézésre magától érthetődőnek tűnnek, de vannak rétegeik, mindig valamit felfedez a néző."

"I am Kárpáti Róbert and I am a graphic designer. I live in Budapest. I work as a graphic designer since 2002. My specialty is corporate identity design from designing emblems to whole identity design systems. I am a fan of pictograms and typographies. I like it if my works seem obvious by looking at them, but they still have layers leading the viewer to discover something new about it."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ROBI MUNKÁI ITT TEKINTHETŐK MEG/CHECK OUT ROBI’S WORK HERE: http://robertkarpati.com https://www.behance.net/robrob