#Exercise Tracking Software

[ayushsisgain]

Healthcare Application Development An Insider Guide

People's approaches to health and fitness witnessed radical transformations as a result of the pandemic's advent. People began to realise the severe effect of their way of life and to take fitness and cleanliness much more seriously. While the majority of the globe was quarantined during the epidemic, individuals still needed to find ways to fulfil their basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. People turned to health and exercise applications as a replacement for traditional facilities that were closed because of the pandemic. Due to their increasing popularity, companies are more willing to invest in the development ofHealth and Fitness applications. 

An Overview of Health and Fitness apps

In the years after the pandemic, the healthcare sector saw a major boom in interest from both consumers and the corporate community. In a similar vein, the healthcare app developmentbusiness is in a state of flux, with practitioners eager to try out new tools and technologies. The key drivers of the rising interest in and need forhealthcare application developmentare:

Simple access to medical care

Healthcare's digital transition

Improved online healthcare access

Improved health monitoring and reporting via medical app development

Applications designed specifically for use on mobile devices are termed asmHealth apps, and they are revolutionising the healthcare industry by facilitating quicker and more accurate diagnosis and therefore better overall patient care. There is a broad spectrum of ways in whichmHealth app developmentcan enhance healthcare delivery.

Types of Health and Fitness Applications

One common misconception is that all fitness apps do is show you exercises you can do. However, there is much more to be gained through using such applications. Because of the high demand, developers have created specialised fitness appsfor just about every imaginable physical activity. That's why there are a variety of fitness applications available to satisfy the needs of various users.

Let's take a look at each of them.

Applications for Virtual Fitness Trainers:

Gym-goers may stick to their good habits with the help of an intelligent fitness coach on their favourite workout app. A Smart Coach uses AI to monitor a person's progress in the gym and their food intake. The collected information allows the Smart Coach to make informed decisions about how to optimise the working plan, exercise methods, diet, and more.

Thus, with the help of a Smart Coach, consumers can easily adopt a healthy lifestyle without the hassle of looking for a personal coach. Apps featuring Smart Coaches are also a great way for many people to save costs when it comes to paying for gym memberships.

Exercise Tracking Software:

This is the most fundamental way for creating afitness app. These apps can be used by users to log their workouts. Personalised instruction is not available from this service. In its place, users may gain more knowledge with every action they perform. How many calories you burn, which muscle groups you work, and how this affects your health as a whole. Incorporating data from other smart devices allows apps to get even more information. For instance, the ratio of muscle to fat may be monitored with the use of a smart scale.

Nutritional & Dietary Apps:

Those who already follow a healthy diet might benefit from using a fitness app of this kind. Users may track their food consumption, keep tabs on their eating habits, and figure out how many calories they consume per day. In addition, users ofnutrition and diet appshave access to pre-tailored programmes optimised for certain goals including weight loss, carbohydrate monitoring for dryness and muscle mass growth, dietary balance, and more.

Activity Apps:

Apps in the activity category are tailored to the needs of its intended users, who engage in various forms of physical activity. Competitors may be anything from runners and cyclists to weightlifters and other athletes. These applications are quite similar to those used for tracking workouts, since they too can tally the number of steps taken, the distance travelled, the rate at which one is running or climbing, the amount of calories burned, the weight lifted, and much more. Unlike general fitness applications, activity apps are designed for a specific kind of physical activity.

Lifestyle Fitness Apps:

Wellness is at the heart of lifestyle applications. It can track their sleep patterns, assist in the formation of healthy routines, provide them with meditation and yoga, and serve a variety of other functions.Lifestyle fitness applicationsare available for everybody, not just professional athletes.

Fitness Studio Apps:

Apps like this have a sports store where users can buy name-brand gear. Branded fitness studio applications, like those created by Nike and Adidas, integrate elements from manyfitness appswith advertising tools.

Basic Features of Health and Fitness Applications

All healthcare and fitness applications must possess the following features for proper functioning. While apps may provide a wide range of features, they all need to support a few essential capabilities to be usable and straightforward for their intended audience.

User Profile:

As a result, this function helps fitness app developers in creating bespoke software. Information on the user's health and fitness, including but not limited to their body weight, activity level, level of fitness, height, and other objectives (such as decreasing body fat, increasing happiness, etc.), may be found in a user profile. The information will help the app's algorithms choose and recommend more relevant actions.

Furthermore, the user profile makes it easy to keep tabs on progress toward goals. It's helpful to display these in the form of charts and bars on the primary dashboard so that consumers can instantly monitor their progress there.

Workout Planner:

The main function of the majority of fitness applications is a workout planner. It aids users in their fitness goals by providing them with predefined workout routines. Most fitness apps' workout content is presented in the format of videos, while voice cues accompanied by images also function quite well.

Workout instructions in many languages and a variety of exercise options for people of varying fitness levels are all standard features of any credible workout planner.

Calorie Counter and Meal Planner:

Keeping tabs on what you eat is just as vital as getting your sweat on for someone who's trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, after a workout planner, food scheduling is the second most important function of fitness applications.

Typical fitness meal planner applications have a comprehensive database of recipes that cater to a broad variety of dietary preferences and lifestyles, as well as extensive information on each item. Some developers of fitness apps think it's helpful to incorporate water consumption monitors, along with prompts to remind users to drink more water at appropriate times.

Notifications:

Anyone leading a busy life would benefit from a reminder system that alerts them when it's time to workout, drink water, eat, and so on. With this system, users may focus on living a healthy lifestyle without worrying about forgetting the next step.

To further encourage app users to stick to their health goals, creators of fitness apps might send out reminders with motivational messages.

Compatibility With Existing Systems and Equipment:

By syncing with other services and devices, fitness apps eliminate the need for manual entry of data. This eliminates the requirement for users to enter their body parameters into the app both before and after exercises. One alternative is to use a wristwatch like watches or fitness bands to automatically gather and report missing information. In addition, if a user keeps tabs on their stats in more than one app, they may avoid entering the same information again by syncing their data.

Educational Content:

Many developers offitness appsadd inspirational articles or videos to encourage users to stick to their healthy routines. Users who read fitness and nutrition articles often feel inspired to put what they've learned into practice immediately.

If you’re someone who is looking for development of health and fitness applications, then SISGAIN is the company you must contact.SISGAIN provides top-notch development of health and fitness applications, along with other app developments. 

[miryum]

"Tactical Village"

Summary: Detective!Jason Todd x detective!Reader based on Jake and Amy's relationship

Series Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of violence (but nothing descriptive), guns and other police stuff

Series Masterlist

“Do you recognise any of these men?” Y/n asked a woman who was wearing a ‘Visitor’ tag. 

The woman shook her head, saying, “I was hiding in the bathroom stall so I didn’t see his face. But, I heard him. He was singing along to the track.”

“Do you remember what he was singing?”

“Oh my gosh, no, Y/n,” Jason couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Don’t do it….” Y/n chuckled along with him. Captain Wayne had assigned a detective to Y/n whenever she interrogated a perp. There had been an… incident. 

Cass didn’t know who gave Y/n a guitar, but the woman was currently torturing a perp with her terrible playing of the instrument, accompanying the sound with loud, off-tune screaming. 

The woman shrugged. “I think it was that song ‘I Want it That Way.’ ” 

Y/n hummed. “Backstreet Boys, I’m familiar.”

“Maybe a little too familiar,” Jason muttered. He thought of all the times Y/n had agonised both the criminals and detectives on duty with their songs.

“Number one,” Y/n ignored Jason, pressing a button for the intercom. “Could you please sing the opening to ‘I Want it That Way?’”

“Really? Uh… okay,” Perp 1 said. “You are… my fire?”

Y/n glanced over to the witness who shook her head. “Number two, keep it going.”

“The one… desire.” Perp 2 squinted to Perp 1, looking for confirmation that this was actually happening. 

“Number three?” Y/n nodded along to the nonexistent beat. 

“Believe… when I say?”

“Number four!” Y/n called out, grinning widely, leaning on the desk.

“I want it that way.”

“TELL ME WHY!” Y/n sang loudly into the microphone. 

“Ain’t nothing but a heartache,” all the suspects chanted along. 

“TELL ME WHY!”

“Ain’t nothing but a mistake…”

“Now number five,” Y/n crooned to the melody.

Perp 5 raised his hand, losing himself in the music. “I never wanna hear you say,”

“WHOO!” Y/n shouted out.

“I want it that way,” everyone finished together.

“Chills! Literal chills!” Y/n shivered, giggling. 

“It was number five,” the woman said. “Number five killed my brother.” 

“Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that,” Jason murmured. “And, Y/n, just so you know, you pressed the ‘speaker’ button. Everyone in the precinct could hear that.” 

“Ohhh… whoops?”

“Happy Tactical Village Day!” Y/n high-fived Tim on her way in the door. “Happy Tactical Village Day, Cass! Happy Tactical Village Day!”

“L/n, I'm surprised to see you so excited about departmentally mandated training exercises,” Wayne commented. 

“Why, ‘tis the most fun day of the year, my good sir! Something you wouldn't understand, because you're not programmed to feel joy.”

“Yes, but my software is due for an upgrade,” Wayne retorted.

”When you play along with the robot jokes it ruins my enjoyment of them,” Y/n pouted.

“Yes, I am aware.”

“Anyway, Tactical Village Day is awesome!” Y/n continued with her rant. “We get to field test a bunch of cool, new weapons and there's always a fun training situation. Last year's was prison break. It got uber violent. It was like being in an action movie.” Her eyes went wide with excitement.

Y/n was using a piece of her hair to slowly chisel away at a metal bar of a cell.

“Y/n?” Steph called from the other end of the cell. “Cass and I dug a tunnel. Wanna use it?”

“Go on without me,” Y/n said in a deep, gruff voice. “I’ll make due by myself.”

“It's also a good opportunity for us to bond as a unit,” Steph said, reminding them all the true reason of Tactical Village Day.

“Everybody gets into it,” Y/n exclaimed. 

Jason kicked down a door and he and Dick rushed through it, screaming as they stormed the room. 

It turned out to be a supply closet.

“Suffice to say, the sixty-sixth has never had a perfect run,” Dick chuckled and scratched his neck. 

“Yeah, but Y/n has been the finalist for coolest kill two years in a row,” Stephanie said. “Every precinct sends their footage and all the cops vote.”

“It's not that big of a deal,” Y/n waved her away. “All you win is a children's tennis trophy, so…”

“You desperately want that trophy, don't you?” Wayne asked.

“So badly.” Y/n growled. “I will stop at nothing to obtain my prize. I'll shoot all of you in the face if I have to!”

“Go team,” Damian said monotonously. 

“Okay, so,” Y/n slid into the seat next to Jason’s on the bus ride over. “I’ve figured out my fictional persona for this year’s shooty-shooty rootin-tootie.”

“How the hell do you come up with these names?” Jason muttered, mostly to himself. 

“I am… Gina Thunderhouse. Russian spy, weapons master, and total badass. I even have cool Russian accent.” she said in a bad accent. “Babushka. Moscow. Rasputin.” 

“You know ‘babushka’ means ‘grandma,’ right?”

“Whatever. At least I have a persona, Mr. I’m-not-even-trying-to-be-fun.”

“This training isn’t about fun,” Jason frowned. “It’s about honing our skills to be better officers.”

“We shoot paint at pretend bad guys!” Y/n cried. “How is that not fun?!”

“I’m gonna go talk to Dick,” Jason said, standing up. “You have fun thinking of more Russian words.”

Steph quickly filled Jason’s empty seat, grinning sharply. “Seems like you two are getting cosy!”

“Come on, Brown. Not this again!”

“You gotta admit there’s spark.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you?!” Y/n exclaimed. “He’s like a brother to me.”

“And Leia was like a sister to Luke,” Steph sang out.

“Okay, that’s not fair. Luke didn’t know! No one knew.”

Steph shrugged and let the conversation go, though a smile flitted through her lips. Soon, the sixty-sixth arrived at the building where Tactical Village Day would commence. Walking in the doors, duffel bags full of gear and weapons in hand, Y/n shouted out, “The six-six is in the house!” 

“Six-six!” The rest of the crew echoed.

“Hey! Biz!” Y/n greeted an old friend. “They upgraded you from bystander to perp! That’s great, man. Still gonna blow your brains out though.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything else,” Biz waved back.

“Jason Todd?” A voice spoke from a crowd of detectives and cops. “Is that you?”

“Rose?” Jason’s head whipped towards the voice. “It’s been so long! What’re you doing here?”

“I’m with the seventeenth now,” she explained. “We’re paired with you guys today.” Rose was a tall, slim, blonde girl whom it seemed Jason connected with very well. 

“Wha- what’s going on here?” Y/n shuffled up to them, Steph close behind. 

“Oh, Y/n, this is Rose Wilson.” Rose held out a hand and Y/n firmly shook it. “Rose, this is Y/n L/n. She’s the life of the six-six.” He placed a hand on Y/n’s lower back, pushing her slightly forward. 

“Nice to meet you,” Rose said. 

“Likewise,” Y/n pressed her lips together in a smile. 

“Well, I gotta go,” Rose hugged Jason. “I’ll see you later, though. Great seeing you.”

“You too,” Jason returned the hug. 

Once Rose had left with a wave, Y/n turned to Jason and questioned, “So… who was that?”

“That was Rose,” Jason said as if it was the most obvious thing. “We went on a couple of dates last year.” 

“You did?” Steph asked. Y/n had forgotten she was behind her. Cass joined them, silently backing up her friends.

“Yeah, I liked her, but she was stationed in Metropolis so I didn’t get to see much of her. I guess it just fizzled out.”

“Right,” Y/n gawaffed. “That's the girl you said the lame stuff about. Like ‘she's a good listener’ and shit.” Internally, she felt bad for deriding Rose- she seemed like a nice person- but she couldn’t help but take a rag at Jason.

“I'm sorry, what do you look for in a relationship?” Jason asked snarkily. 

“I don't know,” Y/n shrugged. “Real stuff. Shape of their ass. Sense of dark humour.”

“Of course.” Jason rolled his eyes and stalked away.

“Isn’t it weird that Jason dated that girl?” Y/n scoffed, hands on her hips.

Steph raised her brows, mirroring L/n’s stance. “Why do you care so much?” Her voice rose higher with each word.

“Okay, first of all, your insinuating voice is way too high,” Y/n accused. “It's weird. And second, I don't care. I'm just wondering why he would like her.”

“Whatever you say,” Steph said, voice still high-pitched and she shuddered. “Okay, yeah, I hear it now. I sound like Cat from Sam and Cat.”

“Yes, you do.” Cass agreed. “But, I agree. L/n needs to confront her feelings for Todd and woman up.”

Y/n rolled her eyes and excused herself from the conversation, claiming the need to talk to Tim.

“Oh, this is so cool!” Y/n squealed, holding a parallel gun. “You can shoot around corners. I love guns.” She sighed and said, “I'm gonna make such a good mom someday.”

Jason shook his head, lips pursing. “Not even gonna touch that.”

“Not even gonna touch that: Title of your sex tape,” Y/n muttered, then chuckled. “Come on, man. At least make me work for it.”

Soon, it was time for the sixty-sixth to run the simulation. The team was standing by the door, waiting to be let in when Y/n slid by on her knees, making a dramatic entrance. “Gina Thunderhouse had arrived.” Her voice was, once again, accented in a bad Russian tone.

“That was majestic,” Tim joked.

“Custom kneepads to help me win coolest kill,” Y/n patted her knees, showing off her kneepads. After an awkward silence, she asked, “What, don't tell me Thunderhouse is the only lady here with a signature move!”

Tim shrugged. “I was bouncing around the idea where when I'm out of ammo, I release my mag and dropkick or chuck it into someone's throat.”

“You know how people hold their guns sideways to look cool?” Dick asked. Y/n nodded and the sarge continued, “It got me thinking. What if you held your gun upside-down?” He demonstrated it, flipping his gun upside down, finger still on trigger.

Before Y/n could respond with how that was an incredibly stupid idea, a loud buzzer sounded and another precinct marched out the door, looking victorious.

“Seventeenth’s done.” Y/n muttered and Stephanie stepped closer to her. “Heads up.”

“Hey. How'd it go?” Jason greeted Rose. 

Rose smiled and replied, “it went well. We had a perfect run! And not to brag, but I think we just set a GCPD course record for time.”

“Definitely a brag,” Y/n huffed quietly. 

“A course record?” Jason’s brows shot up.  “That’s so cool.”

“Thanks.” Rose looked up at him. “I'm psyched. By the way, good luck in there.”

“Thanks,” Jason called after her as she walked away.

“All right, huddle up.” Y/n pulled Jason away by the strap of his vest and into a group huddle. “This is how it's going down.”

“What happened to your accent, Gina?” Steph asked teasingly, knowing full well what was going on.

“Forget that shit.” Y/n frowned. “We're taking this seriously. Okay, on three: Let's break that course record and be the best precinct here! One, two, three!”

The group repeated, “let’s break that course record and… uh…” They all trailed off, mumbling different things as they forgot the words. 

“Yeah, I agree, it was too many words.” Y/n grimaced. “Let’s just do it.”

“Okay, I've got the details for this simulation.” Dick sat in front of a console, radioing in to everyone’s headsets. “A group of armed men entered an embassy and took hostages.”

“Which embassy?” Y/n couldn't help but ask. She shook her head, reminding herself to stay focused. “Doesn't matter. We’ll just say, Canada. They’re too nice to say no if someone asks to take them hostage. So take out the perps, clear the civilians, rescue the hostages?”

“Affirmative,” Dick confirmed. “This is an active shooter situation. You're cleared for maximum engagement.”

“‘Maximum engagement?’” Y/n scoffed. “What is this, Jurassic Park: The Ride?” 

Dick didn’t answer, commanding, “Brown and Drake, perimeter security. Brown, make sure he doesn’t fall asleep, but also doesn’t die from caffeine overdose. He only got two and a half hours last night.”

“Got it,” Brown said, yanking Tim’s cup of coffee away from him.

“L/n and Todd, you're the assault team. I'll be in the command centre. Cain, I need you to do surveillance on the places I can’t see.”

“On it.” Cass disappeared into the vents and Dick stared after her, wondering how she didn’t end up as an assassin-for-hire.

“All right, focus up,” Y/n said into the comms. “We got eighteen minutes and forty-one seconds to break this record. No screwing around.”

“Wow, you're really not gonna do a character?” Jason asked, smirking.

“I am playing a character,” Y/n said. “A no-nonsense detective whose only goal is to set this course record. Her name is Y/n L/n. She’s a kid who grew up with an absent father and just wants to prove herself. I don't have time for her full back-story. Sarge, please, let’s start.”

“Okay, guys, and go!” Dick clicked a stopwatch and the team rushed in.

Y/n zipped around a corner, gun drawn. When she didn’t see anyone, she called, “clear!”

She and Jason repeated the actions, peeking around corners and yelling, “clear.”

Y/n turned around a corner and fired two shots at a cop labelled “PERP.”

“Nice,” Jason commented.

Y/n ignored him and said, “okay, only three perps left. We might actually do this.”

Dick’s voice came in through the comms. “L/n, Cain has intel that there’s a hostage in room 409.”

“Copy that.” Y/n inhaled and said, “I love how it always smells like fresh paint here. Reminds me of how often I moved as a child.”

“No talking,” Jason reminded her. “You'll give away our position.”

“Look out!” Y/n was staring over his shoulder. She quickly lifted her gun and fired a shot at someone. 

Jason shielded away from the noise. “That was close.” He inspected Y/n and said, “there's paint in your hair.” He reached up and smoothed the paint away. “Thanks for shooting that guy.”

“My pleasure.” Y/n followed him around the corner and stared at a door marked 409. “The hostages are in there. Intel says there's a couple of heavily-armed perps with them.”

Jason asked, “you want to wait for backup?”

Y/n shook her head. “No time. We only have a minute to win the record.” She sighed and declared, “I'm going in.” At Jason’s scandalised look, she reassured him, smiling. She gently took Jason’s gun from his hands. “Don't worry. I have a plan on how to beat them: Give up.”

“What?!”

“Trust me,” Y/n said. “Or don't.” She shrugged. “I'm doing it anyway.” Jason’s heart dropped, watching her walk cautiously into the room. She announced, hands holding her guns in the air, “GCPD! Don't shoot!” Inside the room were two perps, guarding three hostages. “I'm here to surrender,” Y/n told them. The hostages looked at her as if she was crazy. “Let the hostages go and take me instead,” she said. 

“Not happening.” One of the perps growled. “Drop your weapon!”

”Okay, okay, my fingers are off the triggers.” Y/n agreed, dangling her guns off her fingers. “I'm just gonna slowly put them down in front of me….” She started crouching down. Jason watched, aghast, from the doorway. “I’m slowly putting 'em…” Suddenly, she twisted her fingers around and pulled the triggers, shooting the two perps in the chest.

“Goddamn it!” One of the perps yelled.

“Dick, time!” Y/n shouted into her comm.

“18 minutes, 28 seconds. You broke the record!” Dick cried back.

“Yes! Nice!” Jason ran in and hugged Y/n tightly, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. She squealed and hugged him back. 

Jason paraded her out of the room and they greeted their teammates to a chorus of cheers, applause, and claps on the back.

“Ah, there she is!” Dick called.

“The record is ours.” Y/n spread her arms.

“I still can't believe your final kill came from Dick’s move.” Tim shook his head, looking disgusted.

“You went upsy-downsies?” Dick gasped. “That's what I call it, because you hold the gun upside-down.”

Y/n sighed. “Yes, Richard, I went upsy-downsies. And none of you shall ever speak of it again.”

“But I want to speak of it,” Jason whined. “You looked really stupid.”

“Alright, let's go.” Dick grinned. “Drinks are on me.”

“Nice! Here we go, six-six!” Y/n held her hand up to Jason for a high-five, face flushed with excitement.

Jason grimaced. “Actually, Rose asked me to dinner, so maybe I can meet up with you guys afterwards?”

Y/n’s face dropped. “Oh. Sure. Yeah. Of course. Cool. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool.” Jason nodded and left, giving goodbyes as he walked away.

“What's going on, Gina Thunderhouse?” Cass smirked, sidling up with Steph. 

Y/n muttered, “what do you think Jason sees in Rose?”

“So you do like him!” Steph accused, smiling slyly. 

“I'm just curious!” Y/n tried to defend. “I mean, she's okay-looking and a good cop….” But aren’t I okay-looking and a good cop? “Also, she set the course record, but that's nothing. I broke it, like, 20 minutes later.”

“You want to know why he went out with her and not you?” Cass asked quietly. 

“Yeah.” Y/n swallowed harshly. 

“Because she actually asked him out,” Steph finished.

Captain Wayne raised a brow, looking down at Y/n’s desk. “You won coolest kill?” He gestured to the small tennis trophy Y/n was staring at. 

“No- not by a long shot.” She chuckled dryly. “But Dick bought it for me ‘cause he felt like I should’ve won. But he’s bias, of course.”

“Of course.” Captain Wayne smiled softly. “Detective, are you alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Captain,” Y/n mumbled. “Can- can I ask you a question?” 

“Sure, L/n.”

Y/n looked up at Wayne. “How’d you know Clark was the one?” she whispered.

Bruce sighed and offered, “come into my office. And bring your trophy.”

Doing as she was told, Y/n followed Bruce into his office. She sat down and Bruce took the trophy from her, placing it on his desk proudly. “When I first got here, Damian told me of your predicament.” When Y/n’s mouth fell open in betrayal, Bruce held up his hand. “I would’ve figured it out either way. I used to be a detective, after all. But what he didn’t know is if Todd liked you back. However, based on months of observation, I’ve noticed, for lack of a better simile, that Todd follows you like a lost puppy. I should know; I acted the same way towards Clark before we started dating.”

“Did you ask him out?” Y/n asked.

Bruce let out a laugh. “God, no. I was too scared. But that’s not an invitation to make the same mistakes I did. I lost a lot of time with Clark because of my anxiety.”

“Duly noted, Captain. Thank you.”

“Anytime, L/n. And good job in the Tactical Village.”

“Thank you, sir.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The antitrust case against Apple

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and beyond!

The foundational tenet of "the Cult of Mac" is that buying products from a $3t company makes you a member of an oppressed ethnic minority and therefore every criticism of that corporation is an ethnic slur:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Call it "Apple exceptionalism" – the idea that Apple, alone among the Big Tech firms, is virtuous, and therefore its conduct should be interpreted through that lens of virtue. The wellspring of this virtue is conveniently nebulous, which allows for endless goal-post shifting by members of the Cult of Mac when Apple's sins are made manifest.

Take the claim that Apple is "privacy respecting," which is attributed to Apple's business model of financing its services though cash transactions, rather than by selling it customers to advertisers. This is the (widely misunderstood) crux of the "surveillance capitalism" hypothesis: that capitalism is just fine, but once surveillance is in the mix, capitalism fails.

Apple, then, is said to be a virtuous company because its behavior is disciplined by market forces, unlike its spying rivals, whose ability to "hack our dopamine loops" immobilizes the market's invisible hand with "behavior-shaping" shackles:

http://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism

Apple makes a big deal out of its privacy-respecting ethos, and not without some justification. After all, Apple went to the mattresses to fight the FBI when they tried to force Apple to introduced defects into its encryption systems:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/fbi-could-have-gotten-san-bernardino-shooters-iphone-leadership-didnt-say

And Apple gave Ios users the power to opt out of Facebook spying with a single click; 96% of its customers took them up on this offer, costing Facebook $10b (one fifth of the pricetag of the metaverse boondoggle!) in a single year (you love to see it):

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/facebook-makes-the-case-for-activity-tracking-to-ios-14-users-in-new-pop-ups/

Bruce Schneier has a name for this practice: "feudal security." That's when you cede control over your device to a Big Tech warlord whose "walled garden" becomes a fortress that defends you against external threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#manorialism

The keyword here is external threats. When Apple itself threatens your privacy, the fortress becomes a prison. The fact that you can't install unapproved apps on your Ios device means that when Apple decides to harm you, you have nowhere to turn. The first Apple customers to discover this were in China. When the Chinese government ordered Apple to remove all working privacy tools from its App Store, the company obliged, rather than risk losing access to its ultra-cheap manufacturing base (Tim Cook's signal accomplishment, the one that vaulted him into the CEO's seat, was figuring out how to offshore Apple manufacturing to China) and hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-apple-vpn/apple-says-it-is-removing-vpn-services-from-china-app-store-idUSKBN1AE0BQ

Killing VPNs and other privacy tools was just for openers. After Apple caved to Beijing, the demands kept coming. Next, Apple willingly backdoored all its Chinese cloud services, so that the Chinese state could plunder its customers' data at will:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

This was the completely foreseeable consequence of Apple's "curated computing" model: once the company arrogated to itself the power to decide which software you could run on your own computer, it was inevitable that powerful actors – like the Chinese Communist Party – would lean on Apple to exercise that power in service to its goals.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese state's appetite for deputizing Apple to help with its spying and oppression was not sated by backdooring iCloud and kicking VPNs out of the App Store. As recently as 2022, Apple continued to neuter its tools at the behest of the Chinese state, breaking Airdrop to make it useless for organizing protests in China:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

But the threat of Apple turning on its customers isn't limited to China. While the company has been unwilling to spy on its users on behalf of the US government, it's proven more than willing to compromise its worldwide users' privacy to pad its own profits. Remember when Apple let its users opt out of Facebook surveillance with one click? At the very same time, Apple was spinning up its own commercial surveillance program, spying on Ios customers, gathering the very same data as Facebook, and for the very same purpose: to target ads. When it came to its own surveillance, Apple completely ignored its customers' explicit refusal to consent to spying, spied on them anyway, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Here's the thing: even if you believe that Apple has a "corporate personality" that makes it want to do the right thing, that desire to be virtuous is dependent on the constraints Apple faces. The fact that Apple has complete legal and technical control over the hardware it sells – the power to decide who can make software that runs on that hardware, the power to decide who can fix that hardware, the power to decide who can sell parts for that hardware – represents an irresistible temptation to enshittify Apple products.

"Constraints" are the crux of the enshittification hypothesis. The contagion that spread enshittification to every corner of our technological world isn't a newfound sadism or indifference among tech bosses. Those bosses are the same people they've always been – the difference is that today, they are unconstrained.

Having bought, merged or formed a cartel with all their rivals, they don't fear competition (Apple buys 90+ companies per year, and Google pays it an annual $26.3b bribe for default search on its operating systems and programs).

Having captured their regulators, they don't fear fines or other penalties for cheating their customers, workers or suppliers (Apple led the coalition that defeated dozens of Right to Repair bills, year after year, in the late 2010s).

Having wrapped themselves in IP law, they don't fear rivals who make alternative clients, mods, privacy tools or other "adversarial interoperability" tools that disenshittify their products (Apple uses the DMCA, trademark, and other exotic rules to block third-party software, repair, and clients).

True virtue rests not merely in resisting temptation to be wicked, but in recognizing your own weakness and avoiding temptation. As I wrote when Apple embarked on its "curated computing" path, the company would eventually – inevitably – use its power to veto its customers' choices to harm those customers:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Which is where we're at today. Apple – uniquely among electronics companies – shreds every device that is traded in by its customers, to block third parties from harvesting working components and using them for independent repair:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

Apple engraves microscopic Apple logos on those parts and uses these as the basis for trademark complaints to US customs, to block the re-importation of parts that escape its shredders:

https://repair.eu/news/apple-uses-trademark-law-to-strengthen-its-monopoly-on-repair/

Apple entered into an illegal price-fixing conspiracy with Amazon to prevent used and refurbished devices from being sold in the "world's biggest marketplace":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/10/you-had-one-job/#thats-just-the-as

Why is Apple so opposed to independent repair? Well, they say it's to keep users safe from unscrupulous or incompetent repair technicians (feudal security). But when Tim Cook speaks to his investors, he tells a different story, warning them that the company's profits are threatened by customers who choose to repair (rather than replace) their slippery, fragile glass $1,000 pocket computers (the fortress becomes a prison):

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

All this adds up to a growing mountain of immortal e-waste, festooned with miniature Apple logos, that our descendants will be dealing with for the next 1,000 years. In the face of this unspeakable crime, Apple engaged in a string of dishonest maneuvers, claiming that it would support independent repair. In 2022, Apple announced a home repair program that turned out to be a laughably absurd con:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/22/apples-cement-overshoes/

Then in 2023, Apple announced a fresh "pro-repair" initiative that, once again, actually blocked repair:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Let's pause here a moment and remember that Apple once stood for independent repair, and celebrated the independent repair technicians that kept its customers' beloved Macs running:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/norwegian-potato-flour-enchiladas/#r2r

Whatever virtue lurks in Apple's corporate personhood, it is no match for the temptation that comes from running a locked-down platform designed to capture IP rights so that it can prevent normal competitive activities, like fixing phones, processing payments, or offering apps.

When Apple rolled out the App Store, Steve Jobs promised that it would save journalism and other forms of "content creation" by finally giving users a way to pay rightsholders. A decade later, that promise has been shattered by the app tax – a 30% rake on every in-app transaction that can't be avoided because Apple will kick your app out of the App Store if you even mention that your customers can pay you via the web in order to avoid giving a third of their content dollars to a hardware manufacturer that contributed nothing to the production of that material:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Among the apps that Apple also refuses to allow on Ios is third-party browsers. Every Iphone browser is just a reskinned version of Apple's Safari, running on the same antiquated, insecure Webkit browser engine. The fact that Webkit is incomplete and outdated is a feature, not a bug, because it lets Apple block web apps – apps delivered via browsers, rather than app stores:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

Last month, the EU took aim at Apple's veto over its users' and software vendors' ability to transact with one another. The newly in-effect Digital Markets Act requires Apple to open up both third-party payment processing and third-party app stores. Apple's response to this is the very definition of malicious compliance, a snake's nest of junk-fees, onerous terms of service, and petty punitive measures that all add up to a great, big "Go fuck yourself":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

But Apple's bullying, privacy invasion, price-gouging and environmental crimes are global, and the EU isn't the only government seeking to end them. They're in the firing line in Japan:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And in the UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-wins-appeal-in-apple-case

And now, famously, the US Department of Justice is coming for Apple, with a bold antitrust complaint that strikes at the heart of Apple exceptionalism, the idea that monopoly is safer for users than technological self-determination:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

There's passages in the complaint that read like I wrote them:

Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct. Indeed, it spends billions on marketing and branding to promote the self-serving premise that only Apple can safeguard consumers’ privacy and security interests. Apple selectively compromises privacy and security interests when doing so is in Apple’s own financial interest—such as degrading the security of text messages, offering governments and certain companies the chance to access more private and secure versions of app stores, or accepting billions of dollars each year for choosing Google as its default search engine when more private options are available. In the end, Apple deploys privacy and security justifications as an elastic shield that can stretch or contract to serve Apple’s financial and business interests.

After all, Apple punishes its customers for communicating with Android users by forcing them to do so without any encryption. When Beeper Mini rolled out an Imessage-compatible Android app that fixed this, giving Iphone owners the privacy Apple says they deserve but denies to them, Apple destroyed Beeper Mini:

https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-moving-forward

Tim Cook is on record about this: if you want to securely communicate with an Android user, you must "buy them an Iphone":

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility

If your friend, family member or customer declines to change mobile operating systems, Tim Cook insists that you must communicate without any privacy or security.

Even where Apple tries for security, it sometimes fails ("security is a process, not a product" -B. Schneier). To be secure in a benevolent dictatorship, it must also be an infallible dictatorship. Apple's far from infallible: Eight generations of Iphones have unpatchable hardware defects:

https://checkm8.info/

And Apple's latest custom chips have secret-leaking, unpatchable vulnerabilities:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/

Apple's far from infallible – but they're also far from benevolent. Despite Apple's claims, its hardware, operating system and apps are riddled with deliberate privacy defects, introduce to protect Apple's shareholders at the expense of its customers:

https://proton.me/blog/iphone-privacy

Now, antitrust suits are notoriously hard to make, especially after 40 years of bad-precedent-setting, monopoly-friendly antitrust malpractice. Much of the time, these suits fail because they can't prove that tech bosses intentionally built their monopolies. However, tech is a written culture, one that leaves abundant, indelible records of corporate deliberations. What's more, tech bosses are notoriously prone to bragging about their nefarious intentions, committing them to writing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Apple is no exception – there's an abundance of written records that establish that Apple deliberately, illegally set out to create and maintain a monopoly:

https://www.wired.com/story/4-internal-apple-emails-helped-doj-build-antitrust-case/

Apple claims that its monopoly is beneficent, used to protect its users, making its products more "elegant" and safe. But when Apple's interests conflict with its customers' safety and privacy – and pocketbooks – Apple always puts itself first, just like every other corporation. In other words: Apple is unexceptional.

The Cult of Mac denies this. They say that no one wants to use a third-party app store, no one wants third-party payments, no one wants third-party repair. This is obviously wrong and trivially disproved: if no Apple customer wanted these things, Apple wouldn't have to go to enormous lengths to prevent them. The only phones that an independent Iphone repair shop fixes are Iphones: which means Iphone owners want independent repair.

The rejoinder from the Cult of Mac is that those Iphone owners shouldn't own Iphones: if they wanted to exercise property rights over their phones, they shouldn't have bought a phone from Apple. This is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy for distraction-rectangles, and moreover, it's impossible to square with Tim Cook's insistence that if you want private communications, you must buy an Iphone.

Apple is unexceptional. It's just another Big Tech monopolist. Rounded corners don't preserve virtue any better than square ones. Any company that is freed from constraints – of competition, regulation and interoperability – will always enshittify. Apple – being unexceptional – is no exception.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

[nanowrimo]

4 Ways To Cure Writer’s Block

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. NovelPad, a 2023 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a novel drafting software designed to make it easy for writers to write. Today, they're sharing a few tips to help you beat writer's block:

NovelPad loves NaNoWriMo because we have the same goal: Helping authors get the thing done!

Starting a book is usually fun and easy—your fingers dance across the keyboard as you explore an exciting world, meet your characters, and stir up intrigue for the coming plot. But once you get into the weeds of how that all works, and how you and your characters get from Point A to Point B, you might find yourself losing momentum. You might find yourself so encumbered with obstacles that you might get a case of the dreaded writer’s block.

The very good news is that writer’s block isn’t terminal, and I certainly don’t think writer’s block is as enigmatic as some people seem to think. I believe it’s actually quite a simple problem, and usually due to one of a few common factors. Let’s look at four ways you can push yourself through your case of ye olde block.

1. Check in with yourself.

Step one is always to check in with yourself. 

Start by reviewing your basic self-care needs:

Are you staying hydrated?

Do you feel hungry?

Would a shower or a nap be beneficial?

Is it time for a walk or some stretching exercises?

Consider your environment as well. Maybe you need:

Noise-canceling headphones

A change of scenery

A babysitter or someone to help around the house

To open or close some windows

Next, evaluate your level of focus. Is your mind wandering elsewhere? It can be useful to create a "dump list" to jot down anything that's causing you stress, such as work-related issues, pending tasks, or upcoming events. Setting that list aside can give you the tangible feeling of pushing those things off your desk to worry about later.

Once your body, mind, and environment are sorted out, you'll likely discover that writing becomes a bit easier!

2. Look back at where you’ve been.

Even if the first tip did or did not do the trick, let’s take a look at the project itself.

Sometimes writer’s block is a blessing in disguise! Your creative gut might be telling you that something went awry. Try reading your project back and pinpointing where it became difficult to keep going. Consider alternate plots or paths to get your writing flowing again.

If you're managing multiple plots and subplots, identifying the moment you deviated from the main path can be quite challenging. To pinpoint which plot line is causing issues, you can take advantage of NovelPad's handy feature: Plot tracking.

On the Plot Board, you can review every scene of a particular plot in order, making spotting those errors in your plotlines much easier.

3. Rewrite a problem scene.

Once you've identified the scene causing issues, it's time to make improvements! This can be challenging because there are countless ways to approach a scene.

However, don't hesitate to embrace revisions. Often, a scene benefits from a thorough rewrite. With NovelPad Revisions, you can save limitless scene revisions, compare them side by side, and effortlessly switch to the one they want in the live manuscript. This keeps your different versions safe, well-organized, and readily accessible.

4. Freewrite to free yourself.

Freewriting is a great way to get your creativity flowing again. Write some poetry, compose a letter to a friend, or simply let your thoughts flow without judgment. Freewriting without judgment can help turn on your writer mode and even help you solve some problems! It's especially beneficial when you're stuck on something specific, because we often find brilliant solutions when we stop being so critical of our ideas.

Kick writer’s block off your desk with NovelPad! It's free to use throughout NaNoWriMo, and we offer discounts to participants and winners afterward. If you find that NovelPad isn't your cup of tea by the end of November, don't worry—you can still access and download your project at any time. Just write!

Our team at NovelPad believes in making it easy for writers to complete their books. That’s why we built an uncomplicated, intuitive system that stays out of the way until you need it! We want writers like you to #JustWrite without burdening you with excessive features. Speaking of features, software updates at NovelPad are based entirely on user feedback from authors to keep our features sharp, relevant, and minimalist.

All NaNoWriMo participants have access to a 15% discount on NovelPad with code WRIMO2023 — use the code during checkout to redeem your discount. Offer expires April 1, 2024.

Top photo by Richard Dykes on Unsplash.

[toptierteaser]

The Fitness App

Chapter One: Coach Hermes

“Dude, I swear by it! Six months! That’s all it took to whip me into shape! Two years of Pandemic fat gone like that! Trust me, you won’t regret it!”

                Diego’s words rang in Dylan’s memory as he stared down at the little earpiece in his hand. It looked like a little white snake, curled up in his softened palm. This was his last opportunity to back out, to put the thing back in the box and return it to the software store. He could get back in shape on his own, couldn’t he? if he just committed to going to the gym four times a week, documenting his workouts, journaling his food habits…

                He looked up at his reflection in the mirror. A husk of the former man he used to be. Or rather, it looked more like the hottie-with-a-body from the past had been stuffed into a suit made of dough, which had only expanded over the course of the last three years. His face still retained his former “adorableness,” as the ladies and gays at the office put it. He still had the good looks as the fat had hardly affected his face.

                But the rest of his body…it was an entirely different story. Just the sight of himself, standing alone in his room, was enough to make him blush. Everything had filled out. Exposed in his underwear, he looked first at the thighs which pressed up against each other like rising bread. His love handles that now jutted up over his waistband. The tight briefs he had not bothered to replace were covered in the front by the gut that had just begun to descend—a major factor in his deciding to try out this new technology—covering the front of his crotch and the fabric was beginning to rip on the sides because of the size of his ass. His butt had always been big for a guy’s, but now it was absolutely ‘ridiculous,’ as his friend, Cody, had teased, grabbing one of his juicy cheeks and giving it a jiggle. And of course, his tits had grown ripe, bouncy, his arms thickened not by muscle, but by fat, and his neck was slowly starting to plump up as well, teasing just the hint of a double chin.

He knew no amount of working out, writing down his exercises, keeping track of his calories would get him any closer to the fit jock he was over three years ago. It was a tried and failed recipe for disaster that had only resulted in him ballooning even fatter every time. Of course, during the pandemic, he had simply sat on his ass like everyone else and stuffed his face until he couldn’t fit another bite…but what was his excuse for the last two years?

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was no risk of being asked to go back into the office. Who knew how long that would last? And so, Dylan had kept on growing, kept on eating. But after a few years of remote work, the company had finally started to crack down on working-from-home, requiring a slightly-to-surprisingly chubbier office to return.

On the dreaded day, Dylan, after a morning of wrestling himself into the loosest chino’s he could find and wriggling into the only button-down that would button over his tubby gut, had waddled himself back into the building. He was shocked, stunned, and dismayed to find that out of all the dozens of employees, he had put on the most weight in his time larding out at home. And his coworkers were equally-stunned to see his new status. No one, upon smiling at him and greeting his return, could seem to keep their eyes from falling to size up his sized-up belly. And a few even made comments; his rival, Luke, who only looked fitter, more muscular, going so far as to poke his tummy.

It was already a miserable day. One which resulted in Dylan trying his best to drown out the associated feelings by glutting out on the snacks he had brought back to stock his desk. But to make matters worse, as he stood there, a granola bar dangling out of his mouth, restacking the papers on his desk, he watched as Diego, suited with brand new pants, a shirt, and shiny new shoes, came strutting into the office, looking at least fifty pounds thinner than the last time Dylan had seen him.

Diego had already been a thick-bodied man. Chubby, even. He had been so even a year before the pandemic, when both he and Dylan had started. The desk job had caused him to fill out quite quickly and by the time everyone was sent home to work, his obtuse ass cheeks could barely even fit into his pants. It was, perhaps, a lucky break for Diego that he could now work from home, as Dylan could see the seams on his buttocks starting to become unraveled as his doughy coworker waddled out the door.

But the pandemic went on, and so Diego’s weight went up. Dylan could see the changes during the zoom meetings, as his flawless brown skin was stretched tighter over the young man’s plumping face. Once, even, Diego had to stand to plug his computer back in and Dylan could see his lower half, clad only in a t-shirt and the tightest sweats Dylan could imagine his office friend wearing, his gut jiggling as it “bwomped” out from beneath his shirt, smacking against the keyboard on the desk.

That’s why it was a surprise when, two years later, Diego came strutting into the office, looking thinner than when he had started. Luke had elbowed his way to the front of the cluster who had walked up to congratulate him, feeling Diego’s muscles, running a hand over his stomach to check for abs through the fabric. The whole sight made Dylan want to puke. Instead, he stuffed a muffin into his face and glowered until they were called into the conference room.

It was a tighter fit than Dylan could remember, as he wedged his widened ass between the armrests of the chair. By accident, he was right beside his friend, Cora, and Diego. They had always been on good terms, but Dylan could hardly stand to look at him.

“What’s wrong, man?” Diego had asked.

Dylan didn’t hesitate. “How the fuck did you lose all that?” he spat. It came out far more volatile than he intended.

Diego looked slightly dejected, throwing up his hands. “Just wanted to take care of myself, man.”

Dylan softened his tone. “Sorry…it’s just. You, of all people…”

Diego laughed. “Would it make you feel better if I said that you were part of the inspiration? That I wanted to look like you did…you know…before.” He laughed, elbowing Dylan in the chubby side. Dylan couldn’t help but smile.

Diego glanced around. Everyone was busy chatting and celebrating each others’ return. He lowered his voice. “There’s an app…and a device. It’s called the ‘Encour Rager!’” Dylan gave him a look. “Cheesy, I know. But hey!” He looked down at his own body.

“What does it do?” asked Dylan.

                “It’s an A.I. trainer. It encourages you to work on your goals.” Diego chuckled. “And man is it brutal! But it’s effective. Which, clearly you might want to consider,” he glanced at Dylan’s stomach. Dylan squirmed.

                “I might give it a try,” he said absently. Of course, he didn’t know how he felt about A.I., but like everyone, he used it almost daily in some way or another. But he had already tried so many apps; calorie trackers, workout calculators. None of it had helped.

                Diego leaned in closer. “Listen, dude. It’s not like anything else you’ve tried. It’s a commitment. I don’t recommend it lightly. But once you buy it and put it in, it stays in there. You don’t take it out again for a year! I mean, it’s as close to permanent as you can get!”

All that flashed through Dylan’s mind now as he looked at himself. A tubby version of the hottie he so badly wanted to be again.

A small chirping sound went off from the device in his hand. He looked down to see it glowing blue. It was fully-charged. Now was the moment of truth. He could back out now, if he wanted to. He gave his thickened body one last glance in the mirror, catching a glimpse of the pile of clothes he had set aside because he no longer fit into them.

He clicked the button on the side of the earpiece, raised it, and inserted it into his ear.

A pleasant tune filled his brain. And then, a voice. “Hello, Dylan.” It was deeper than he had imagined. Masculine. He envisioned an attractive, muscular jock. “I’m your Coach. You can call me Coach if you like, or by my name, Coach Hermes.” ‘Hermes,’ the god of games and sports.

“Hello,’’ said Dylan awkwardly.

“Hello, Coach,” corrected the device.

“Hello, Coach,” said Dylan, smiling.

“Much better!” said the device. “Now, you are aware of my function, are you not?”

“I am,” said Dylan. “Coach Hermes,” he added, grinning.

“Very good. Just to recap, I will act as your personal fitness trainer for the next twelve months, during which time, we are going to whip your body into the shape you most desire! My function is to optimize your fitness level to suit your needs and to best-satiate your personal self-image. During our first week together, we’ll be getting to know one another quite well, and I will be observing and commenting on your lifestyle; your eating habits, your exercise routine, things like sleep schedule, how much television you consume. Does that all make sense to you, Dylan?”

“Yes, Coach,” said Dylan. He was growing placid, as if the voice was lulling him into a trance.

“Excellent, Dylan. Now, as I will be observing, I will also be curating a program which I believe will best-benefit your body…money-back guaranteed, of course. The watch that accompanies my earpiece will allow me to monitor your heart rate, your breathing, and your responses to my words. The contact lens will allow me to see the world through your eyes and will give me a customized projection which is designed to motivate you towards your fitness goals. Please go ahead and place the watch on your wrist at this time.”

Dylan did as he was told, strapping the watch onto his chubby wrist. “My, that’s a tight squeeze, isn’t it?” said Coach Hermes.

“Uh, a bit…” mumbled Dylan.

“I am reading that your pulse has been elevated. Might I suggest you do some deep breathing to calm your nerves. There is no need to be anxious. None of this is permanent until you give me the final say-so.” Dylan took some deep breaths.

“Now,” said Hermes. “Please place the contact in your eye…so I can get a good look at you.”

Again, Dylan obeyed, dropping the contact in front of the mirror, and blinking as he adjusted it into place. It was the smoothest contact he had ever worn. He could barely tell it was there!

“Very good!” said the Coach. “Oh…what a handsome dude.” Dylan was looking at his own face.

“Thanks, Coach!” said Dylan, half-forgetting he was talking to a robot.

“You’re welcome, Dylan,” said the robot. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind standing back a bit, so I can see you. You did remember to wear the minimum amount of clothing so I can see your full person, did you not?”

“Yes, Coach,” said Dylan to both question and request.

“VERY good! I can tell we’re going to whip you into shape faster than you could ever have thought imaginable! Now, please step back.”

Dylan stepped back, still put off by the quivering of his stomach as he did so. Still disturbed by the increased rubbing of his thighs.

“Oh!” said Hermes in a shocked voice. “Oh, my! You have lost control, haven’t you…big boy?”

Dylan blushed. Why he would do so in front of a robot was beyond him. But it was embarrassing nonetheless.

“No matter,” said Coach Hermes. “We can work with this. Can’t we, thiccums?”

“Uh…yes…?” stammered Dylan, questioningly. ‘thiccums?’

“Yes…?” said Hermes.

“Yes, Coach.”

“That’s better, fatty.”

Dylan nearly fell over. Diego had warned him the words of the A.I. could be harsh. But it would all worth it, when he came strutting into the office in a new suit…right?

“Well, now that I’ve gotten a good look at you, chubbs, there’s only one thing left to do. Your wristwatch will take your thumbprint as your signature.” As the app said this, Dylan felt the watch buzz, illuminating on the screen. “If you are prepared to commit for the next year, please go ahead and place your thumbprint on the screen at this time.”

Dylan hesitated. Could he really handle being called things like ‘chubbs’ and ‘fatty until this time next year?

“Or, you may decline the offer and return the app. Your one-day trial is cost-free so long as the device is returned to the nearest software provider without damage.” The voice dropped to a whisper in Dylan’s ear. “But, do you really want to look like this for the rest of your life, porker? You know that you won’t be able to do this without me, right, fatboy? You know you need my guidance. That’s what I’m here for. To help you. I’m nothing like those other apps, where you can lie to them about eating a salad before you go binge on a carton of ice cream. I’m the real deal. I see everything. I feel everything. Like how out of breath you are, just standing there. Like how I can tell by your pulse that you’re embarrassed. But you don’t want to be embarrassed for the rest of your chubby life, do you? Go on, biggums…sign the contract.”

Dylan looked down at his watch again. He raised his thumb over the screen, letting it hover.

“Sign. It,” hissed the app.

He couldn’t do it alone.

“Yes, Coach,” he said. And then he pressed his thumbprint down and held it against the screen.

“Very good, fatboy,” said the A.I. in his ear. “Now, we can begin our training!”

[cloudy-caspirations]

Hey cas!! I wanted to ask you how to make the most out of notions (cuz its kinda complex app) + how to make notes omg im struggling w this YELPP😭😭

Hi !! I started using notion last year to try and organize my school life and still haven’t completely figured it all out, so I get what you mean with it being a little confusing 😭. I’ve been mostly using it as a planner, but just started writing notes on it over this summer break and am kind of loving it. I’ll include screenshots and stuff under the cut, but if you need more specific details or a tutorial for a database or something feel free to send another ask or dm!

My Notion Setup ⬇️⬇️

(Sorry if the formatting for pictures is weird, I’m still trying to figure out how to use this app 😵‍💫)

For Planning:

Here is my notion dashboard! It’s a little barebones compared to others that I’ve seen on Pinterest, but it works for me because if I include anything else my ADHD brain will get overwhelmed and won’t keep up with actually using and updating it.

I have two databases: one being used as an assignment tracker that sorts my assignments into To-Do, Overdue, and Done sections based on dates and the other has pages for my classes for the semester. (I just realized that I forgot the change the heading from Spring 2024 to Fall 2024, so please don’t mind that 😭) Along with the databases I have a simple to do list for things that I need to get done that aren’t assignment related.

You could also add a calendar view to the assignment database if you prefer seeing it in that format, I just choose not to because I use Google Calendar to see it in relation to my other plans for the day.

I don’t use the class pages for much because I preferred writing my notes in either Goodnotes or a physical notebook last semester, but I’ll probably start using them more because I like using notion to keep track of all of my code snippets and stuff along those lines that are easier to type than write out. It was also pretty helpful last semester for creating drafts and outlines for essays.

For Note-taking:

Here are two examples of pages that could go in the classes database if you prefer to take notes digitally. I like to use databases to create pages to take notes in for each chapter/section of the textbook or material for the class.

My favorite way of viewing it is the board view because I like having my progress visualized (and clicking and dragging chapters to the “Done” section is satisfying), but the table view is also nice if you want to include more details such as quiz scores or dates.

Here are some photos of my notes for a single chapter. I use section headers to separate the actual notes from other stuff like chapter-specific exercises or links, and use toggle headers for sub-section notes to make it less cluttered. Other than the formatting it’s nothing too fancy, my typed notes are similar to how you would take notes in any other software like GoogleDocs or Word.

[bloomzone]

I have to know how you stay motivated! I feel like I never have any energy and am constantly drained :( it makes it so hard to be productive and get things done

Hi girlie..ihope u ok I'm sorry that u feel like this :(.. it's ok cuz staying motivated can be challenging but focusing on small, achievable goals, maintaining a balanced lifestyle with proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise, and finding activities you enjoy can help boost your energy and motivation.

Being more productive and getting things done can take some effort and discipline, but it's possible to achieve. Here are some tips that may help you stay focused and motivated:

By:★ stᥲrgιrᥣ﹒

1. Break down tasks into smaller, manageable steps: Break larger assignments or projects into smaller, manageable steps. Start by listing the individual tasks that need to be done, and then break each task down into smaller, actionable steps.

2. Prioritize tasks: Prioritize your tasks based on their importance and urgency. This will help you stay focused on the most critical items and avoid wasting time on things that can wait.

3. Stay organized: Stay organized by keeping track of your tasks in a planner, to-do list, or project management software. This can help you stay on top of your workload and avoid missing deadlines.

4. Self care: Taking care of yourself is a key factor in building motivation and having the energy to achieve your goals. When you prioritize your physical and mental health, you are better equipped to handle stress, manage your time and energy, and make positive decisions that will help you in life. Taking care of yourself doesn't mean being perfect, it means being intentional about your choices and making time for activities that bring you joy, rest, and self-care. Self-care is a powerful tool for building motivation and finding balance in your life.

5. Celebrate your progress: Celebrating your progress can help motivate you to keep going. Praise yourself for completing tasks, and reward yourself for reaching milestones.

Remember, productivity is a habit that takes time to develop. Start by setting realistic goals and breaking your tasks into smaller, manageable steps. Stay organized, eliminate distractions, and celebrate your progress to stay focused and motivated and never forget to take care of yourself cuz no one will.With practice, you'll become more productive and get things done more easily.

[benk625-blog]

Confections Pulverizer

Commandant Effyl of Military intelligence began the briefing. Behind and above them was a large viewscreen displaying the galaxy's most popular video game, "Confections Pulverized." Game play involved manipulation of brightly colored geometric shapes so that three or more were aligned orthogonally. Success resulted in pleasant, on screen explosions and increased score. The audience quietly chuckled.

"The incongruity of this briefing is not lost on me." The Commandant began. "No doubt many of you are wondering why Military Intelligence would bother researching such a harmless frivolity. My own subordinates had a difficult time convincing me of the grave threat human malware presented.

“The game on display is relatively harmless. The danger is the underlying code within it. Almost all human programs include instructions to save and transmit user location data. In short, they have turned our electronic devices into little spies that note our every move.”

The viewscreen changed to display military personnel exercising in group calisthenics.

"The coordinates of several secret military bases became known to humans through fitness trackers. Hidden in the code of so-called "health software" is location tracking. Earth government has purchased the data generated by the applications, or apps. These apps are available to consumers free of charge. This data was analyzed and it was noted that users flagged as military service members had begun exercising in a routine manner in remote locations."

The next image was a spinning circle of question marks.

"Trivia games are being used to assess information ubiquity in user populations. Using algorithmic, artificial intelligence, the game learns the depth and breadth of each user's information and skill level. Military Intelligence was informed of this by an arms research group that noticed the trivia categories had gradually shifted from general knowledge questions towards categories that match their professional expertise."

Above the Commandant's head was a sound wave & a timer icon.

"This is an application titled 'Sound Worms.' It is a specific type of trivia game. Players are presented with an audio file of popular music. The task is to identify the composition in the least amount of time. Preliminary reports indicate the data mined from this app aids in the creation of propaganda."

New image is a nine digit number. Straight lines emanate from it to other numbers. Webs and clusters form as the video continues.

"Military Intelligence has been able to purchase data sets from the human malware companies. Displayed behind me are social networks. The deductions and probability extrapolations generated are truly staggering. We are still analyzing the data and will make a full report later”

Icons and symbols referring to romance and sexuality start to flicker onto the screen. Quickly the display becomes a scrolling screen of tiny thumbnail images.

“These are just a small sampling of the countless dating apps that humans have been flooding the personal electronic software market with. I say without exaggeration that they will fundamentally destabilize interstellar society. There are unpleasant and unspoken differences between public morality and private behavior. A staggering amount of politicians and bureaucrats have become susceptible to blackmail and corruption.”

Stifled gasps and nervous laughter from the audience

“Compounding this danger is that the private entities that publish this malware do not properly secure their data networks. Collectives that are not associated with governmental or commercial entities routinely release huge swaths of privileged user information on the galactinet. So far these disclosures have been small in scale and limited in damage. If anyone here has used these services, I implore you to stop at once and delete it from your devices.”

More than half the attendees start pulling out various objects and interacting with operating screens. Some hurriedly leave the lecture hall. Effyl was losing their audience.

“Oh, and one last thing.” The Commandant pulls out their own personal device. “These damn things are recording audio and video without our permission.”

[unpluggedfinancial]

The Importance of Budgeting Properly to Invest in Yourself: The Only Way to Get Ahead

In the intricate dance of life and finance, there is a fundamental principle that remains consistently true: the key to getting ahead lies in how well you invest in yourself. This investment, however, requires a robust foundation built on prudent budgeting. Imagine the power of taking control of your financial destiny, ensuring that every dollar you earn is a soldier in your army, marching towards a future of personal and professional fulfillment.

Understanding Budgeting

At its core, budgeting is the art and science of creating a plan to spend your money. This isn't merely about restricting your spending or living within your means—it's about having a clear, strategic vision of where your money should go to serve your greatest interests. A well-structured budget acts as both a shield and a sword; it protects you from financial pitfalls and empowers you to seize opportunities for growth and development.

Why Budgeting is Crucial for Personal Investment

Budgeting is the cornerstone of financial stability. Without a budget, it’s easy to fall into the trap of living paycheck to paycheck, never truly understanding where your money goes. This lack of awareness can stymie your ability to invest in yourself. On the other hand, a meticulously crafted budget illuminates your financial landscape, highlighting areas where you can reduce unnecessary expenses and redirect those funds towards meaningful personal investments. For instance, you might discover that by cutting back on daily coffee runs, you can afford an online course that could propel your career forward.

Steps to Create an Effective Budget

Creating an effective budget begins with an honest assessment of your current financial situation. Start by listing all sources of income and meticulously tracking every expense for a month. This exercise will provide a clear picture of your spending habits. Once you have this data, categorize your expenses into essentials (like rent, groceries, and utilities) and non-essentials (like dining out and entertainment). This categorization will help you identify potential savings.

With a clear understanding of your financial inflows and outflows, set realistic financial goals. These goals should include both short-term targets, such as saving for a professional development course, and long-term aspirations, like building a retirement fund. Tracking your expenses becomes crucial at this stage, as it ensures you stay aligned with your goals.

Allocating Funds for Personal Investment

Once you’ve identified areas to cut back on, it’s time to allocate funds towards investing in yourself. This might mean enrolling in a course to acquire new skills, investing in your health through a gym membership, or dedicating time and money to a hobby that brings you joy and fulfillment. Each of these investments contributes to your overall well-being and enhances your capacity to achieve long-term success.

Areas to Invest In Yourself

Investing in education and skills development can yield substantial returns. In our rapidly evolving world, continuous learning is indispensable. Consider the story of Jane, a software developer who, through meticulous budgeting, managed to allocate funds towards obtaining certifications in her field. These new skills not only made her more competent but also opened doors to career advancement and salary increases.

Health and wellness are equally critical areas for personal investment. Your physical and mental health form the bedrock upon which all other achievements are built. Allocating resources towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle—whether through a fitness regimen, nutritious diet, or mindfulness practices—ensures that you have the energy and resilience needed to pursue your goals.

Moreover, investing in personal hobbies and passions can be profoundly rewarding. These activities not only provide a much-needed respite from the daily grind but can also become additional streams of income or significant contributors to your personal growth.

Case Studies and Real-Life Examples

Consider Mike, an accountant who found his passion in photography. Through diligent budgeting, he was able to save enough to purchase a high-quality camera and attend photography workshops. What started as a hobby soon became a lucrative side business, bringing both financial rewards and personal satisfaction.

Then there's Sarah, who used to spend a considerable amount on non-essential items. By reassessing her spending habits and creating a budget, she was able to save money to attend leadership training seminars. These seminars equipped her with the skills needed to climb the corporate ladder, resulting in a significant promotion and pay raise.

Conclusion

In the journey towards personal and professional success, budgeting stands as an indispensable tool. It transforms your financial habits, enabling you to channel your resources into investments that yield the highest returns—investments in yourself. By taking control of your finances, you empower yourself to pursue continuous growth, achieve your goals, and ultimately, lead a fulfilling life. Begin your budgeting journey today, and watch as the seeds of your disciplined efforts blossom into the fruits of success and self-fulfillment.

By embracing the principles of prudent budgeting, you not only secure your financial future but also lay the groundwork for a lifetime of personal and professional enrichment. Remember, the path to getting ahead is paved with strategic investments in yourself—an endeavor that begins with the simple, yet powerful act of budgeting.

Take Action Towards Financial Independence

If this article has sparked your interest in the transformative potential of Bitcoin, there's so much more to explore! Dive deeper into the world of financial independence and revolutionize your understanding of money by following my blog and subscribing to my YouTube channel.

🌐 Blog: Unplugged Financial Blog Stay updated with insightful articles, detailed analyses, and practical advice on navigating the evolving financial landscape. Learn about the history of money, the flaws in our current financial systems, and how Bitcoin can offer a path to a more secure and independent financial future.

📺 YouTube Channel: Unplugged Financial Subscribe to our YouTube channel for engaging video content that breaks down complex financial topics into easy-to-understand segments. From in-depth discussions on monetary policies to the latest trends in cryptocurrency, our videos will equip you with the knowledge you need to make informed financial decisions.

👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest content. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a curious newcomer, or someone concerned about the future of your financial health, our community is here to support you on your journey to financial independence.

[mechanicalengassignmenthelp]

Unlocking Success: Mastering ANSYS Assignments in Mechanical Engineering

Hello, fellow engineering enthusiasts! If you've found your way to this blog, chances are you're navigating the intricate world of Mechanical Engineering, specifically dealing with ANSYS assignments. As someone deeply entrenched in the field, I understand the challenges that students often face when tasked with ANSYS assignments. Fear not; I'm here to guide you through effective strategies that can lead to triumph. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned student looking to enhance your skills, mastering ANSYS assignments is crucial for success in the dynamic realm of Mechanical Engineering. So, let's dive in and explore how to conquer these challenges and complete your ANSYS assignment with confidence.

Understanding the Basics

Before we delve into advanced strategies, it's crucial to establish a solid foundation in ANSYS. The software is a powerful tool used for simulation and analysis in various engineering disciplines. To complete my ANSYS assignment successfully, I always start by revisiting the basics. Understanding the software's interface, features, and capabilities is fundamental. ANSYS offers a plethora of resources, including tutorials, documentation, and forums, which can be immensely helpful in grasping the essentials. Don't underestimate the value of a strong foundational knowledge—it's the key to tackling complex assignments with ease.

Stay Updated with the Latest Versions

As an expert in Mechanical Engineering, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of staying abreast of the latest developments in ANSYS software. Regular updates often introduce new features, enhancements, and bug fixes that can significantly impact your workflow. To ensure you are maximizing the potential of ANSYS in your assignments, make it a habit to check for updates and explore the new functionalities. This proactive approach not only keeps you informed but also demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning—a trait highly valued in the engineering industry.

Utilize Online Resources and Communities

One of the most valuable assets at your disposal is the vast network of online resources and communities dedicated to ANSYS users. When aiming to complete my ANSYS assignment, I often turn to forums, blogs, and discussion groups. Platforms like the ANSYS Student Community and various engineering forums host a wealth of information, ranging from troubleshooting tips to in-depth discussions on specific simulation techniques. Engaging with these communities not only broadens your knowledge but also provides a platform to seek guidance when faced with challenges.

Effective Time Management

Completing ANSYS assignments requires a strategic approach to time management. Procrastination is the nemesis of productivity, especially when dealing with complex simulations and analyses. To ensure success, create a realistic schedule that allocates sufficient time for each phase of the assignment—from understanding the problem statement to presenting the results. Break down the task into manageable chunks, setting milestones to track your progress. This systematic approach not only enhances your efficiency but also reduces the stress associated with looming deadlines.

Hands-On Practice

The adage "practice makes perfect" holds true in the realm of ANSYS assignments. No amount of theoretical knowledge can substitute for hands-on experience with the software. Dedicate time to practical exercises and small-scale simulations to reinforce your understanding of ANSYS functionalities. Experiment with different features, boundary conditions, and material properties to gain a deeper insight into their effects on simulation outcomes. This practical experience not only hones your skills but also boosts your confidence when tackling more complex assignments.

Seek Guidance from Mentors and Peers

In the journey to complete my ANSYS assignment successfully, I've found immense value in seeking guidance from mentors and collaborating with peers. Establishing a mentor-student relationship with a faculty member or industry professional provides a unique opportunity to gain insights from real-world applications. Additionally, collaborating with classmates on assignments fosters a collaborative learning environment. Discussing ideas, troubleshooting challenges, and sharing experiences can lead to innovative solutions and a more comprehensive understanding of ANSYS.

Documentation and Presentation Skills

An often overlooked aspect of ANSYS assignments is the importance of documentation and presentation. As a Mechanical Engineering expert, I've learned that the ability to communicate your findings effectively is as crucial as the technical skills involved. Develop a clear and concise documentation style that highlights the key steps, assumptions, and results of your analysis. Pay attention to formatting, labeling, and presenting data in a visually appealing manner. Remember, your ability to convey complex engineering concepts in a comprehensible way adds significant value to your work.

Stay Persistent and Embrace Challenges

The path to success in mastering ANSYS assignments is not without its challenges. There will be moments of frustration, setbacks, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. However, it's essential to stay persistent and view challenges as opportunities for growth. Each roadblock presents a chance to enhance your problem-solving skills and deepen your understanding of the software. Embrace challenges with a positive mindset, knowing that overcoming them will only strengthen your expertise in Mechanical Engineering and ANSYS.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mastering ANSYS assignments in Mechanical Engineering is a rewarding journey that demands a combination of foundational knowledge, practical experience, and effective strategies. From understanding the basics and staying updated with software advancements to utilizing online resources and embracing challenges, the key lies in a holistic approach to learning and application. As you embark on your quest to complete your ANSYS assignment successfully, remember that every simulation and analysis is a stepping stone toward becoming a proficient engineer. So, dive in, explore, and conquer the world of ANSYS with confidence and enthusiasm. Your success awaits!

[yuvrajrathod4c]

Master GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT Training with 4C Consulting

Understanding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and accurately accounting for your organization’s carbon footprint is critical in today’s environmentally conscious world. GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT Training is essential for businesses aiming to reduce their environmental impact and achieve sustainability goals. This blog will delve into the understanding, importance, and training aspects of GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT, highlighting why 4C Consulting is the best partner for this training.

Understanding GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT

Definition: GHG accounting is the process of measuring the amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly or indirectly by an organization, product, or service. It involves identifying and quantifying emissions from various sources such as energy use, transportation, waste, and industrial processes.

Purpose: The primary purpose of GHG accounting is to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of an organization’s carbon footprint, enabling it to track emissions, set reduction targets, and implement strategies to mitigate its impact on climate change.

Importance of GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT

Regulatory Compliance: Many regions and countries have stringent regulations and reporting requirements for GHG emissions. Accurate accounting ensures compliance with these regulations, avoiding potential fines and penalties.

Sustainability Goals: Understanding and managing carbon footprint is crucial for achieving sustainability targets. It allows organizations to identify key areas for improvement and develop effective carbon reduction strategies.

Corporate Responsibility: Demonstrating a commitment to reducing GHG emissions enhances an organization’s reputation and credibility. It shows stakeholders, including customers, investors, and employees, that the company is serious about its environmental responsibilities.

Cost Savings: Identifying inefficiencies in energy use and other processes through GHG accounting can lead to significant cost savings. Reducing emissions often goes hand-in-hand with reducing energy consumption and improving operational efficiency.

Market Advantage: As consumers and businesses become more environmentally conscious, demonstrating a low carbon footprint can provide a competitive advantage. It can differentiate a company’s products and services in a crowded marketplace.

GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT Training

Comprehensive Curriculum: The training covers all aspects of GHG accounting, including the principles of carbon footprint measurement, data collection and analysis, and reporting standards.

Hands-on Practice: Participants engage in practical exercises and case studies to apply the concepts learned. This helps in understanding real-world applications and challenges.

Tools and Techniques: The training provides knowledge about various tools and software used in GHG accounting. It includes guidance on selecting the appropriate methods for different organizational needs.

Regulatory Framework: Understanding the regulatory environment is a critical part of the training. Participants learn about national and international regulations and how to ensure compliance.

Reporting and Communication: The training includes modules on effectively reporting and communicating GHG emissions data to stakeholders. This is crucial for transparency and maintaining trust.

Why Choose 4C Consulting?

4C Consulting is renowned for its expertise and comprehensive approach to GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT Training. Our experienced trainers provide tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of your organization. With a strong focus on practical application and regulatory compliance, 4C Consulting ensures that your team is well-equipped to manage and reduce your carbon footprint. Choose 4C Consulting to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to drive your organization’s sustainability initiatives and enhance your environmental performance.

GHG ACCOUNTING CARBON FOOTPRINT Training is vital for organizations committed to sustainability and regulatory compliance. Understanding and managing carbon emissions not only benefit the environment but also provide significant operational and reputational advantages. With 4C Consulting, you can ensure your team receives the best training to achieve these goals effectively. Contact us now.

[bookpublisher1]

Resources and Tools for Writers

Resources and Tools for Writers: A Comprehensive Guide

Writing is a beautiful and often challenging endeavor, where words become art, stories take shape, and ideas find their voice. To support the creative journey, writers have access to a vast array of resources and tools that can enhance their craft, streamline their work, and expand their knowledge. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the diverse resources and tools available to writers, from writing software and reference materials to writing communities and self-publishing platforms.

Writing Software and Tools

1. Word Processing Software: Word processors like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Scrivener are essential tools for drafting and editing your work. They offer features for formatting, spell-checking, and document organization.

2. Grammar and Editing Tools: Online grammar checkers like Grammarly and ProWritingAid help writers identify and correct grammatical errors, punctuation issues, and style inconsistencies.

3. Mind Mapping and Outlining Tools: Software like MindMeister, Scrapple, and Workflowy can help writers brainstorm, outline their work, and visualize the structure of their projects.

4. Note-Taking Apps: Apps like Evernote and OneNote are perfect for jotting down ideas, collecting research, and organizing notes on the go.

5. Writing Prompts: Websites and apps like Writing Prompts, Reedsy, and The Write Practice provide daily writing prompts and creative exercises to stimulate your imagination.

6. Writing and Word Count Tracking Tools: Tools like NaNoWriMo's word count tracker and online timers like TomatoTimer help writers set goals and monitor their progress.

7. Reference and Research Tools: Tools such as Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote are useful for managing references, citations, and research materials.

8. Thesaurus and Dictionaries: Online thesauruses like Thesaurus.com and dictionary resources like Merriam-Webster are invaluable for finding synonyms, antonyms, and definitions.

9. Readability Checkers: Tools like Hemingway Editor and Readable.io assess the readability of your writing, helping you create content that's easy to understand.

10. Screenwriting Software: If you're a screenwriter, software like Final Draft or Celtx can assist you in formatting scripts to industry standards.

Reference Materials

1. Style Guides: Manuals like The Chicago Manual of Style, The Associated Press Stylebook, and The Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook provide guidelines for formatting and citation.

2. Writing Guides: Books like "On Writing" by Stephen King, "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott, and "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White offer invaluable writing advice and wisdom.

3. Dictionaries and Thesauruses: Traditional print dictionaries and thesauruses are still valuable reference materials, especially for writers who prefer the tactile experience of flipping through pages.

4. Writer's Market Guides: The "Writer's Market" series provides information on publishers, literary agents, and markets for various genres.

5. Grammar and Style Books: Resources like "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss and "The Elements of Eloquence" by Mark Forsyth offer in-depth exploration of grammar and style.

6. Online Blogs and Articles: Numerous writing blogs and websites, such as Writer's Digest, The Creative Penn, and The Write Life, provide articles, tips, and inspiration for writers.

Writing Communities and Workshops

1. Writing Groups: Local and online writing groups, such as Meetup, Goodreads, and Facebook writing groups, writer’s circle provide a space to share your work, receive feedback, and connect with fellow writers.

2. Writing Workshops: Many organizations and universities offer writing workshops and courses, both in-person and online. They often provide structured learning and feedback opportunities.

3. Critique Partners: Building relationships with critique partners is a valuable way to get constructive feedback on your work. Websites like Critique Circle and Scribophile can help you find critique partners.

4. Author Forums: Websites like Absolute Write Water Cooler and KBoards (for indie authors) are popular author forums where writers can ask questions, share experiences, and seek advice.

5. Writing Conferences: Attending writing conferences and book fairs can help you network with industry professionals, learn from experts, and gain insights into the publishing world.

Publishing Platforms and Self-Publishing Tools

1. Traditional Publishers: If you're pursuing traditional publishing, resources like the Writer's Market guide and QueryTracker can help you find literary agents and publishers. Confused if to go or not for traditional publishing here are 5 Reasons Why Traditionally Published Books Sell Better Than Self-Published Books

2. Self-Publishing Platforms: If you're considering self-publishing, platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark, and Smashwords provide tools and guidelines for self-publishing your work.

3. Book Cover Design Tools: Software like Canva and Adobe Spark can assist with designing eye-catching book covers.

4. Formatting and Layout Services: For professionally formatted books, services like Vellum and Brave Healers Production can help you create professional interior layouts.

5. Book Marketing Tools: Social media networks are essential for book marketing and promotion.

6. Email Marketing Services: Services like Mailchimp and ConvertKit are valuable for building and maintaining a mailing list for your author newsletter.

Income and Rights Management

1. Royalty Tracking Software: Tools like BookTrakr and AuthorEarnings provide insights into book sales, royalties, and income tracking.

2. Copyright and Contracts Resources: Authors should familiarize themselves with copyright law and have legal resources for contract reviews if working with publishers.

Author Platforms and Websites

1. Author Websites: Creating a professional author website is a must. Platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace offer user-friendly website builders.

2. Blogging Platforms: Blogging can help you connect with readers and showcase your writing. WordPress and Blogger are popular blogging platforms.

3. Social Media: Building a presence on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook can help you engage with your audience and promote your work.

Financial and Business Tools

1. Tax Resources: As an author, you may need to navigate complex tax matters. Tax software or the services of an accountant or tax professional can be invaluable.

2. Business Tools: Software for bookkeeping, invoicing, and project management can help authors manage their finances and business affairs effectively.

Online Writing Tools

1. Online Writing Platforms: Online platforms like Medium, Wattpad, and Vocal.Media provide opportunities to publish and share your writing with a broad online audience.

2. Collaborative Writing Tools: Tools like Google Docs and Scrivener support collaborative writing projects by enabling real-time editing and sharing.  Don’t miss the 5 FREE Writing Tools Authors Must Try In 2023

Conclusion

The journey of a writer is a continuous exploration of creativity and self-discovery. The resources and tools available to writers today are as diverse as the voices and stories they bring to life. This comprehensive guide should serve as a valuable reference for writers looking to enhance their craft, navigate the publishing world, and connect with their audience. Whether you're just starting your writing journey or have been on it for years, these resources and tools are here to support your passion and help you turn your ideas into art.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Even if you're paying for the product, you're still the product

There’s something oddly comforting about the idea that “if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product,” namely, the corollary: “If you can afford to pay for a product, you won’t be the product.” But it’s bullshit. Companies don’t make you the product because you don’t pay — they make you the product because you can’t stop them.

The theory behind “if you’re not paying for the product…” is that old economist’s saw: “incentives matter.” Companies that monetize attention are incentivized to manipulate and spy on you, while companies that you pay just want to make you happy.

This is a theory of corporate behavior grounded in economics, not power, a creature of theory and doctrine that never bothers to check in with the real world to see how that theory and doctrine map to actual events. Reality is a lot uglier.

Apple has blanketed the planet with billboards and print and online ads extolling its privacy-forward system design (e.g. “Privacy. That’s Iphone.”). There’s something to this: in 2020, the company made it very easy to opt out of third-party Ios surveillance, and 96% of its users opted out:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/

That decision cost Facebook $10 billion in a single year, and the losses keep coming. Facebook launched a campaign that accused Apple of privacywashing an anticompetitive maneuver, claiming that Apple didn’t care about its users’ privacy, they just wanted to eliminate competition for Apple’s own ad brokerage:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/facebooks-laughable-campaign-against-apple-really-against-users-and-small

Facebook’s campaign poses itself as the true champion of its users, accusing Apple of shamming. It’s laughable. Facebook manifestly despises its users and proves that fact every day in a thousand ways, large and small. Facebook’s true objection to Apple’s privacy tools is that they reduced Facebook’s earnings by $10b. Obviously.

But that doesn’t mean that Facebook is wrong about Apple’s cynicism. Apple exercises enormous control over its users. It’s a direct control. Apple blocks you from installing software of your choosing or from using third-party repair services of your choosing. They pour millions into engineering to make this technically challenging, and lead a coalition of large corporations that kill right to repair legislation whenever it is mooted:

https://doctorow.medium.com/apples-cement-overshoes-329856288d13

Some of Facebook’s critics accuse it of exercising similar control, but via a far more insidious method: they say that Facebook’s voracious surveillance of its users, combined with machine learning, allows Facebook to control its users’ minds, stripping them of their free will and turning them into algorithm-addled zombies who do whatever Facebook directs them to do.

This is an extraordinary claim, given that every previous claim of mind-control turned out to be bullshit, from Mesmer to MK Ultra. The best evidence for these mind-control claims comes from Facebook’s own marketing materials, where the company assures advertisers that they should spend their money on FB’s platform because of its mind-control features.

When FB critics repeat these claims, they’re engaged in “criti-hype,” Lee Vinsel’s useful coinage describing criticism that serves to bolster the target’s own propaganda. If FB are evil geniuses, well, at least they’re still geniuses.

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

Some Facebookers doubtless believe their own hype, but that doesn’t mean we have to join them in self-delusion. We can criticize Facebook for seeking control over its users, and for using that control to do things that serve its own interests at the expense of its users’ interests.

https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

That’s the true sin of Big Tech: using deception and coercion to control users. Companies that gain this control can be reliably expected to use it in whichever ways they can get away with. They are paperclip-maximizing artificial life-forms bent on devouring the human race, not ethical actors.

Apple’s commitment to privacy is best understood as instrumental. Apple thinks that protecting your privacy will attract your business, and they’re right. I would like to have privacy! But while Apple can increase its revenues by telling you they’ll protect your privacy, they can increase them even more by lying about it.

That’s just what they do. Earlier this month, a small security research firm called Mysk released a video revealing that when you tick the box on your Iphone that promises “disable the sharing of Device Analytics altogether,” your Iphone continues to spy on you, and sends the data it collects to Apple:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JxvH80Rrcw

The data Iphones gather is extraordinarily fine-grained: “what you tapped on, which apps you search for, what ads you saw, and how long you looked at a given app and how you found it.”

https://gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-analytics-tracking-even-when-off-app-store-1849757558

It doesn’t stop there: “The app sent details about you and your device as well, including ID numbers, what kind of phone you’re using, your screen resolution, your keyboard languages, how you’re connected to the internet — notably, the kind of information commonly used for device fingerprinting.”

The researchers had to jailbreak an Iphone in order to find this lie. Apple has gone to extraordinary lengths to make jailbreaking illegal. Apple claims that allowing users to disable the locks on their phones will make them vulnerable to bad actors who will install deceptive, coercive software.

That is true, but it’s also true that these locks make it impossible to determine whether Apple’s software is deceptive and coercive. The walled fortress that keeps you safe from third parties is also a walled prison that leaves you at the mercy of the warlord who owns the fortress.

Once a company attains a certain scale, it becomes too big to jail, and then it monetizes you however it can. If you think the future of technology is battle is between Google’s approach and Apple’s, think again. The real fight is between the freedom to decide how technology works for you, and corporate control over technology.

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

Apple and Google are like the pigs and the men at the end of Animal Farm: supposed bitter enemies who turn out to be indistinguishable from one another. Google also has “privacy” switches in its preference panels that do nothing:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/01/you-are-here/#goog

Indeed, there are so many places in Google’s location privacy settings where you can tick a box that claims to turn off location spying. None of them work. A senior product manager at Google complained to her colleagues that she had turned off three different settings and was still being tracked:

https://twitter.com/jason_kint/status/1398359580275523590

Apple is now the subject of a California class action suit over its deceptive practices, which violate the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/LibmanvAppleIncDocketNo522cv07069NDCalNov102022CourtDocket

As Gizmodo’s Thomas Germain notes, Apple has a good — if self-serving — reason to spy on its users. It has launched its own ad network, and is selling advertisers the ability to target its customers based on their activities:

https://gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-privacy-analytics-class-action-suit-1849774313

Companies will only protect your privacy to the extent that it is more profitable than not doing so. They can increase those profits by advertising privacy promises to potential customers. They can increase them more by secretly breaking those promises, And they can increase them even more by using privacy claims to block their rivals’ spying, so they’re the sole supplier of your nonconsensually collected personal information.

That’s what’s happening with Google’s endless proposals to “increase privacy” in Chrome that block third parties from spying on users, while letting Google continue to invade our privacy:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/googles-floc-terrible-idea

If we want our privacy, we need both transparency (so third parties can investigate companies’ claims to protect privacy) and regulation (so cheating companies will face consequences when they’re caught by those third parties).

That’s why it’s so exciting that the FTC has announced its intention to treat privacy invasions as antitrust violations:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/12/regulatory-uncapture/#conscious-uncoupling

For so long as corporations can use technology and law to hide their misdeeds and power to avoid consequences for those misdeeds, “voting with your wallet” is as useless as opting out of Ios tracking.

We had advertising-supported media for generations — centuries — without mass surveillance. The problem with advertising isn’t incentives — it’s impunity.

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: An Apple 'Privacy. That's iPhone.' ad. The three rear-facing camera lenses have been replaced by the staring, red eye of HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.]

[0x7b]

Omegle has been shut down.

Posting here for posterity. Retrieved directly from omegle.com on Nov 8 2023

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C.S. Lewis

“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” — Douglas Adams

Dear strangers,

From the moment I discovered the Internet at a young age, it has been a magical place to me. Growing up in a small town, relatively isolated from the larger world, it was a revelation how much more there was to discover – how many interesting people and ideas the world had to offer.

As a young teenager, I couldn’t just waltz onto a college campus and tell a student: “Let’s debate moral philosophy!” I couldn’t walk up to a professor and say: “Tell me something interesting about microeconomics!” But online, I was able to meet those people, and have those conversations. I was also an avid Wikipedia editor; I contributed to open source software projects; and I often helped answer computer programming questions posed by people many years older than me.

In short, the Internet opened the door to a much larger, more diverse, and more vibrant world than I would have otherwise been able to experience; and enabled me to be an active participant in, and contributor to, that world. All of this helped me to learn, and to grow into a more well-rounded person.

Moreover, as a survivor of childhood rape, I was acutely aware that any time I interacted with someone in the physical world, I was risking my physical body. The Internet gave me a refuge from that fear. I was under no illusion that only good people used the Internet; but I knew that, if I said “no” to someone online, they couldn’t physically reach through the screen and hold a weapon to my head, or worse. I saw the miles of copper wires and fiber-optic cables between me and other people as a kind of shield – one that empowered me to be less isolated than my trauma and fear would have otherwise allowed.

I launched Omegle when I was 18 years old, and still living with my parents. It was meant to build on the things I loved about the Internet, while introducing a form of social spontaneity that I felt didn’t exist elsewhere. If the Internet is a manifestation of the “global village”, Omegle was meant to be a way of strolling down a street in that village, striking up conversations with the people you ran into along the way.

The premise was rather straightforward: when you used Omegle, it would randomly place you in a chat with someone else. These chats could be as long or as short as you chose. If you didn’t want to talk to a particular person, for whatever reason, you could simply end the chat and – if desired – move onto another chat with someone else. It was the idea of “meeting new people” distilled down to almost its platonic ideal.

Building on what I saw as the intrinsic safety benefits of the Internet, users were anonymous to each other by default. This made chats more self-contained, and made it less likely that a malicious person would be able to track someone else down off-site after their chat ended.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I launched Omegle. Would anyone even care about some Web site that an 18 year old kid made in his bedroom in his parents’ house in Vermont, with no marketing budget? But it became popular almost instantly after launch, and grew organically from there, reaching millions of daily users. I believe this had something to do with meeting new people being a basic human need, and with Omegle being among the best ways to fulfill that need. As the saying goes: “If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.”

Over the years, people have used Omegle to explore foreign cultures; to get advice about their lives from impartial third parties; and to help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation. I’ve even heard stories of soulmates meeting on Omegle, and getting married. Those are only some of the highlights.

Unfortunately, there are also lowlights. Virtually every tool can be used for good or for evil, and that is especially true of communication tools, due to their innate flexibility. The telephone can be used to wish your grandmother “happy birthday”, but it can also be used to call in a bomb threat. There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes.

I believe in a responsibility to be a “good Samaritan”, and to implement reasonable measures to fight crime and other misuse. That is exactly what Omegle did. In addition to the basic safety feature of anonymity, there was a great deal of moderation behind the scenes, including state-of-the-art AI operating in concert with a wonderful team of human moderators. Omegle punched above its weight in content moderation, and I’m proud of what we accomplished.

Omegle’s moderation even had a positive impact beyond the site. Omegle worked with law enforcement agencies, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to help put evildoers in prison where they belong. There are “people” rotting behind bars right now thanks in part to evidence that Omegle proactively collected against them, and tipped the authorities off to.

All that said, the fight against crime isn’t one that can ever truly be won. It’s a never-ending battle that must be fought and re-fought every day; and even if you do the very best job it is possible for you to do, you may make a sizable dent, but you won’t “win” in any absolute sense of that word. That’s heartbreaking, but it’s also a basic lesson of criminology, and one that I think the vast majority of people understand on some level. Even superheroes, the fictional characters that our culture imbues with special powers as a form of wish fulfillment in the fight against crime, don’t succeed at eliminating crime altogether.

In recent years, it seems like the whole world has become more ornery. Maybe that has something to do with the pandemic, or with political disagreements. Whatever the reason, people have become faster to attack, and slower to recognize each other’s shared humanity. One aspect of this has been a constant barrage of attacks on communication services, Omegle included, based on the behavior of a malicious subset of users.

To an extent, it is reasonable to question the policies and practices of any place where crime has occurred. I have always welcomed constructive feedback; and indeed, Omegle implemented a number of improvements based on such feedback over the years. However, the recent attacks have felt anything but constructive. The only way to please these people is to stop offering the service. Sometimes they say so, explicitly and avowedly; other times, it can be inferred from their act of setting standards that are not humanly achievable. Either way, the net result is the same.

Omegle is the direct target of these attacks, but their ultimate victim is you: all of you out there who have used, or would have used, Omegle to improve your lives, and the lives of others. When they say Omegle shouldn’t exist, they are really saying that you shouldn’t be allowed to use it; that you shouldn’t be allowed to meet random new people online. That idea is anathema to the ideals I cherish – specifically, to the bedrock principle of a free society that, when restrictions are imposed to prevent crime, the burden of those restrictions must not be targeted at innocent victims or potential victims of crime.

Consider the idea that society ought to force women to dress modestly in order to prevent rape. One counter-argument is that rapists don’t really target women based on their clothing; but a more powerful counter-argument is that, irrespective of what rapists do, women’s rights should remain intact. If society robs women of their rights to bodily autonomy and self-expression based on the actions of rapists – even if it does so with the best intentions in the world – then society is practically doing the work of rapists for them.

Fear can be a valuable tool, guiding us away from danger. However, fear can also be a mental cage that keeps us from all of the things that make life worth living. Individuals and families must be allowed to strike the right balance for themselves, based on their own unique circumstances and needs. A world of mandatory fear is a world ruled by fear – a dark place indeed.

I’ve done my best to weather the attacks, with the interests of Omegle’s users – and the broader principle – in mind. If something as simple as meeting random new people is forbidden, what’s next? That is far and away removed from anything that could be considered a reasonable compromise of the principle I outlined. Analogies are a limited tool, but a physical-world analogy might be shutting down Central Park because crime occurs there – or perhaps more provocatively, destroying the universe because it contains evil. A healthy, free society cannot endure when we are collectively afraid of each other to this extent.

Unfortunately, what is right doesn’t always prevail. As much as I wish circumstances were different, the stress and expense of this fight – coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse – are simply too much. Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically. Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s.

The battle for Omegle has been lost, but the war against the Internet rages on. Virtually every online communication service has been subject to the same kinds of attack as Omegle; and while some of them are much larger companies with much greater resources, they all have their breaking point somewhere. I worry that, unless the tide turns soon, the Internet I fell in love with may cease to exist, and in its place, we will have something closer to a souped-up version of TV – focused largely on passive consumption, with much less opportunity for active participation and genuine human connection. If that sounds like a bad idea to you, please consider donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that fights for your rights online.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who used Omegle for positive purposes, and to everyone who contributed to the site’s success in any way. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep fighting for you.

Sincerely, Leif K-Brooks Founder, Omegle.com LLC

[ollieinoue]

{ CONAN GRAY, 20, CIS MALE, HE/HIM } Is that OLIVER “OLLIE” INOUE? A SENIOR originally from WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS & COMPUTER SCIENCE on a ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE ERUDITE STONER on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

pinterest  x  playlist [tag]  x  wanted connections [ coming soon ]

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Oliver Ren Inoue Nickname: Ollie, Olls Birthdate: January 25 Age: 20 Zodiac: Aquarius Sun, Libra Moon, Capricorn Rising SEE HIS FULL BIRTH CHART HERE Gender: Cis Man Pronouns: He/Him Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Bisexual/Homoromantic (homoflexible but mostly only likes men tbh) Ethnicity: Japanese & White Trope: The Erudite Stoner

How he Fits the Trope: Ollie is a genius, that’s what everyone in his life always said. He had the numbers for it, the test scores for it, the IQ for it, and his parents were always so proud. The Inoue family didn’t have much going for them, besides living paycheck to paycheck in a small two bedroom apartment. So they just wanted the most for their son, and it seemed like he was on the right track. They signed him up to join Mensa when he was in High School and everyone was so impressed. Ollie was bored. Who gave a shit if he tested well? He certainly didn’t, all those tests were so boring. Everything everyone wanted for him, and wanted him to do was so boring. So, he found ways to make his own fun, found friends that weren’t only interested in useless things like test scores. He started finding his fun in illicit substances (that completely expanded his mind, man!), and seeing how far he could push the boundaries of… legal things. Getting into drugs both helped him level out from the stress of everything that everyone wants for him, and brought something new and exciting into his life— sometimes both at the same time. So, he gets stoned out of his mind from time to time (most of the time), and maybe people don’t expect too much from him, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still that genius that his parents want him to be.

EDUCATION & OCCUPATION

IQ Score: 169 (in the top .03 percent of the world’s population) Current Year: Junior at Ogden College Major: Computer Science & Business Extracurriculars: Robotics Club, Hacking Club, Quiz Bowl Dream occupation: Self Employed Software Developer Game Designer Past job(s): He’s had a few internships

Skills: He’s able to hack into the school systems pretty easily— not that he’d ever need to, of course. / Ollie has scary good handwriting, like instagram aesthetic level of handwriting, which always really surprises people. / He has a mind for completely useless fun facts, ask him about anything he’ll tell you something interesting about it. Shortcomings: Artistic things like music, and art. He loves that kind of thing but he’s not good at it. / Speaking about and addressing his feelings and emotions. And truly opening up to people. / He’s a bit cocky… But it doesn’t come from no where! Languages spoken: HIs parents have been speaking English and Japanese to him since he was a baby so he is fluent in both of those, but he’s only just now learning how to write Japanese. He also knows Spanish pretty fluently.

PHYSICAL CHARACTIRISTICS

Eye colour: Brown Hair colour: Dark Brown Hair type: Curly Height: 5′8 Build: Lithe Exercise habits: He hates it but he tries to get exercise at least 3 times a week. Piercings: His ear Tattoos: one along his ribs in a block of about 4 lines of binary: 01100110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01101101 01100101 (it says 'Fuck Me'). one on his wrist that says LC on it (for Link Crawford). Marks/scars: He has a scar across his eyebrow from falling off a bike when he was a kid Clothing style: Extra Slutty Eboy. We have deep V sweaters with nothing underneath, we have half buttoned shirts. We have crop tops, and mesh shirts. A lot of oversized t-shirts with ripped and faded jeans. Most of his clothes are thrifted as well because he likes it better. Usually it’s higher quality, and cheaper. Jewelry: He wears a lot of chains and necklaces, and stuff like that. Some rings too.

PSYCHOLOGY

Positive Traits: Laid Back, Open Minded, Clever, Quick Thinking, Friendly, Independent, Original, Energetic, Confident, Charismatic, Disarming, Cheerful, Inventive, Fair, Analytical, Flexible, Loyal, Dependable, Strong Willed, Witty Negative Traits: Duplicitous, Mischievous, Aloof, Chaotic, Argumentative, Insensitive, Hides Emotions, Sarcastic, Easily Distracted, Often Bored, Jaded, Contrarian, Impatient, Absent Minded, Unpredictable, Self Centered MBTI type: ENTP Enneagram type: 8w7 Moral Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Temperament: Sanguine Introvert or Extrovert?: Extrovert Drug/Alcohol Use: Yes Mental Illnesses: Addiction, and likely (undiagnosed) Bipolar Disorder & some kind of Anxiety Disorder.

Tropes: The Erudite Stoner , Bunny-Ears Lawyer , The Ace , Beware the Silly Ones , The Fool , Child Prodigy , Playful Hacker , Beneath The Mask , Functional Addict , Mood Whiplash , Getting High on Their Own Supply Character Inspiration: Alexander Vass [ If We Were Villains ] , Ryohei Arisu [ Alice in Borderland ] , Marty Mikalski [ Cabin in the Woods ] , Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman [ Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad ] , Ed [ Cowbow Bebop ] , Howl Pendragon [ Howls Moving Castle ] , Julian [ Less Than Zero (the novel) ] , Jester Lavorre [ Critical Role Campaign 2 ] , Ferris Beuller [ Ferris Bueller's Day Off ]

CONNECTIONS

Parents: Ren & Faye Inoue Positive Connections: Most people. Monty Richler is his best bro tho. Romantic Connections: :) Negative Connections: Like … 3 people

Connection with Greer: Ollie met Greer at a party their Freshman year, and offered her a hit. That’s how they met, and for the majority of their relationship that’s what it was. They’d smoke together, they’d do some molly together, or whatever he had on hand at the time, and vibe— they got along well. Generally it was not too different from most of Ollie’s relationships. Until she came to him for another reason. He was very smart, he was good at hacking, he needed money; could he get into school’s systems and get the answers to a very big exam coming up? Yes, he could. He’d done it before, so he did. When Greer got a little too busy to study, or do her own school work she came to him for help. A paper here, answers to a test there for her, and money for him. But why stop at just her? So a business was formed, and a very good business relationship, on top of the friendship. Honestly, he’s sad to see her go, she was buying a lot of shit from him by the end of the previous year. She was not just a friend, but a really good source of income. 

QUICK CATCH UP

All Past Tasks Here !!

Ollie was voted Homecoming King after making a joke about promising everyone free drugs of his own stash (he did deliver).

Ollie & Monty decided to move their drug supply off campus once they realized that the cops were not leaving. It's now located in a house that is under New Construction.

Ollie got a clue with flight information to Portugal from the Haunted House. It matched with Parker's and the two of them turned them anonymously turned the info into the police thinking they'd do something with it. They haven't really.

Ollie was asked by the Naïve Newcomer (before he was expelled) if he could start looking into who this mysterious "G" person was. He did and all of his findings lead to Milo Navarro. Turns out he was wrong though, whoops.

Like everyone who turned one in, his time capsule video was leaked, where he may or may not have been admitting to having feelings for Monty. Who is to say what he was saying.

The cops decided to trust him after his interrogation went well. A bad decision on their part.

He was trapped in The Ski Chateau's kitchen pantry with Milo while Penny mysteriously died. He's pretty fucking shaken up about it.

Ollie threw a party with Link and Mari for their birthdays. Ollie left with Link and got a tattoo of his initials on his wrist.

At the Valentine's Social Ollie was sent a Valentine from G telling him if he sent a secret they would send him a clue. He sent a secret, he hasn't gotten anything back yet though.

During the Valentine's Social Ollie sent a vaguely illicit Valentine to Link that G then sent to Monty. It caused the two of them to fight and they stopped talking to each other over Spring Break.

While Ollie was going through the House of Mirrors at the Spring Carnival he saw and heard someone that sounded like Greer. This is the SECOND time he thinks he's seen Greer and it's getting creepy.

During the Spring Carnival Ollie apologized to Monty and confessed that he wanted them to date. Monty asked Ollie out and they started dating. Aw.

Ollie was sent a text from G to attend a Rave. First he was sent to a cemetery with Ash who might or might not think he's G now, but he doesn't know that.

At the Rave he and Anya attempted to put their brains together to find G but that lasted about five minutes before G said they were stupid (not what G actually said, but they might as well) and then sent everyone home.

Commencement happened at the end of the year and Ollie would rather not think about it.

He was on the second floor of the Commons talking to Eddie when it was set on fire, and he managed to escape with only a little smoke inhalation (but he's been training for that for years) so he was fine.

It was after when he got a text telling him that The Pollyanna, a friend and neighbor of his since they were children, had been arrested and was being blamed for the Fire, being G, Greer's disappearance, and the deaths that happened. He's been pretty fucked up over it.

He and Monty went on a poorly timed road trip over the summer and it went poorly ending in them breaking up.

Back at school and Ollie has been made Homecoming King for the second year in a row! Yay! The year is off to a great start.

[latestindustryreports]

Insights into the Hiking Apps Market Dynamics: Trail Trekker

The growing popularity of outdoor activities, as well as the younger population, particularly the millennials, drive the demand in the global hiking apps market. The hiking apps provide various features and functionalities that cater to the needs of hikers from trail mapping and navigation, to fitness tracking, safety features, and community engagement. The increased consumer interest and outdoor recreation and hiking as a form of exercise, relaxation, and exploration drive the demand for apps that enhance the hiking experience.

The focus on the health and wellness trend coupled with a desire for adventure and outdoor experience encourages individuals to seek tools that facilitate outdoor activities like hiking. This drives the market growth. The prominent market leaders are offering advances in GPS technology, mobile connectivity, mapping software, and wearable devices which improve the capabilities and accuracy of hiking apps.

The top market participants concentrate on developing apps that are tailored to specific regions and consumer bases. Furthermore, they are releasing new technological solutions to gain a competitive edge and attract more consumer attention. With new releases and expanded product portfolios, major competitors will have the ability to adapt to emerging market trends, establish a competitive edge, and expand their business. Throughout the forthcoming years, differentiation strategy will be a significant driver of sales revenue and impact market structure.