#Hz is NOT enjoying this/silly | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cs0127 · 5 years ago

Text

A detailed review of the OnePlus 7T from :wired:

I TEST A lot of phones here at WIRED. Smartphones incrementally change each year, and they’ve become more of an essential utility and less of a source of the tech world’s greatest innovations. I often appreciate their new features, but few of those enhancements spark actual joy. The OnePlus 7T, however, has done just that. Putting down the glossy, fingerprint-plastered Galaxy Note10 to review the matte glass 7T was both a relief and a reminder why OnePlus has continued to gain popularity as a smartphone brand year after year.

Like the company's previous devices, the 7T is a phone that showcases much of the best smartphone tech introduced in 2019 at a $600 price—more than $100 cheaper than many top rivals from Samsung, LG, and other manufacturers. What I’ve come to appreciate more is how it uses all that latest tech to enhance my life, often by getting out of my way. Its touch interface is simple and looks just like the brand new Google Android 10 OS it runs on, only a little easier to navigate. It’s just more pleasant, like a PB&J sandwich where mom cut the crust off just because she loves you.

Smooth and Frosty

If you’ve seen an expensive smartphone in the last two years, you know what the 7T looks and feels like, but I’ll describe it anyway. It has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display (that means deeper blacks and richer colors) that takes up its entire front. A teenie teardrop cutout hanging from the top of the screen holds a 16-megapixel selfie camera.

Like the similar and more expensive OnePlus 7 Pro, this display has a 90 Hz refresh rate, which makes the entire interface noticeably smoother. OnePlus calls it a Fluid AMOLED display, and it may live up to that name. Phones have been bumping up the resolution (this one has a 1080p HD screen), but the bump in refresh rate is more noticeable. Everything feels smoother and faster, with richer color than many displays.

The power and volume buttons are in all the right places, and OnePlus has kept its sound/mute/vibrate switch on the right side. It’s a dead-simple little toggle and worth every millimeter of its cutout, letting you easily silence your phone or perk it up anytime.

OnePlus was one of the first companies to introduce an in-display fingerprint sensor, and the latest iteration on this phone is faster than ever. I’ve had trouble with Samsung's on-screen sensors in the Galaxy S10 and Note10, but the optical fingerprint reader in the 7T does the trick in a way that’s more convenient than the fingerprint sensors on the back of many phones like the Google Pixel 3A.

The phone's frame is metal, and the back is covered in shimmering Gorilla Glass because ... well ... trends. It’s silly that the back is made of glass at all, given that we probably drop our phones more than anything besides our keys, and there's no big advantage to the glass here since the 7T doesn’t have wireless charging. But the “glacier blue” color certainly is sleek, and the frosted texture repels fingerprints better than some phones. OnePlus thankfully includes a clear case in the box. I suggest you slip it on.

All Spec’d Out

Between all that glass is a list of luxury technical specs. The 7T runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, which is half a tad speedier than the 855 on some earlier phones this year. It also comes with 8 gigabytes of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. (Sorry, no MicroSD slot; that’s all you get.) These are all fantastic numbers, as are the numbers you’ll see from benchmark performance tests. It’s a powerful phone, right up there with the best.

OnePlus doesn’t make a lot of changes to Android 10, but the changes it does make seem to (mostly) improve the phone's performance. You can more easily swipe up or down from anywhere on the homescreen to access the notification shade or pull up your entire list of apps. I also like the gesture controls that mimic recent iPhones, and the option to turn the back button into a swipe from the left side of the phone has worked well for me. Your mileage may vary, but you can disable these gestures controls and go back to a traditional back-button setup if you like.

The fact that the 7T even has the latest Google OS is a testament to the company’s focus on delivering software and security updates. It promises two years of updates for buyers of the 7T, and has demonstrated a positive track record on updates for older phones. This is notable—despite costing close to $1,000, most Android phones outside of Google’s Pixel line and Motorola's handsets do not get regular software updates, leaving security vulnerabilities exposed and new features out of reach.

With stereo speakers and a gaming mode that optimizes graphics (and can also restrict notifications and calls so you can play without interruption), this is an ideal machine for playing Mario Kart Tour, or any other high-end title, until your eyeballs fall out. Netflix looks lovely, as well.

I’ve ended most days having spent four or five hours with the screen active, and seen about 50 percent battery remaining. A few nights, it’s been closer to 30 to 40 percent, if I stay up late. This is good, but somewhat normal battery life. If you want to improve your power efficiency, you can turn the 90 Hz refresh rate down to a more normal 60 Hz. In a pinch, the included charger is very quick. It can juice the 7T up significantly in a half hour.

Sadly, like many high-end phones, there’s no audio jack (and no adapter in the box), but OnePlus sells an adapter for $13. And this phone also isn’t IP-rated for water resistance. OnePlus claims it will handle some rain pretty well, but you won’t want to drop it in the tub.

Ready to Zoom

When it comes to smartphones, you ain’t cool unless you have three rear cameras these days, and OnePlus always wants to be cool. Like the 7 Pro, it has a 48-megapixel standard rear shooter that outputs extra sharp 12-megapixel images, a 16-megapixel sensor beneath an ultrawide lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto. This lets you take shots that you can both zoom out a bit, and zoom in to 2X. There’s also a portrait mode, which adds a bokeh effect, the shallow depth-of-field trick that keeps the subject in focus but blurs the background in a close-up photo.

I had a great time shooting plenty of outdoor shots around Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the past week, and I've even enjoyed the extra stability of the Super Stable video mode, which uses the wide angle lens to better stabilize 1080p video; 4K 30 fps video is also available. Everything looks good, especially shots in the Nightscape mode. Like the new iPhone 11 and the latest Pixel phones, the 7T enhances night shots, adding more light, color and detail to areas that would have just appeared as black splotches on older phones. Night shots require a steady hand and a second or two wait, but they are a definite improvement.

Related Galleries

The Quest to Get Photos of the USSR's First Space Shuttle

An Artist Takes an Unflinching Look at Her Own Hysterectomy

Space Photos of the Week: NASA's Curiosity Is a Salty Dog

Related Galleries

The Quest to Get Photos of the USSR's First Space Shuttle

An Artist Takes an Unflinching Look at Her Own Hysterectomy

Space Photos of the Week: NASA's Curiosity Is a Salty Dog

In some of the above shots, you can see some examples of Nightscape mode and Super Macro mode. If you press the flower icon in the upper left side of the camera app, you can move in closer to small objects and still see them stay in focus. The effect isn’t perfect, but I was able to get closer to some plants and ants than I ever have before using a smartphone. It’s a blast to play around with modes like these, and they solidify the OnePlus 7T as a phone for shutterbugs.

Plus One

OnePlus isn’t tampering with the formula that got it to the dance, and that’s good. The 7T is one of the most powerful phones you can buy, and it costs hundreds less than its peers. It also runs on all four major US carriers, and T-Mobile sells it directly.

I've recommended the Pixel 3A ($400) as the best phone to buy for a few months now, and given the performance it offers for the price, for many of you it still is the best phone. But if you are willing to spend an extra $200, the OnePlus 7T will give you a taste of the luxuries you’d otherwise miss out on.

Correction: I referred to the display as a "Liquid" display. OnePlus calls it a "Fluid" display.

you can check out all Amazon has to offer in the One Plus lineup at:(https://amzn.to/35H33nU)

#phones iphone mobile technology phone smartphone tech gadgets technologynews samsung android oneplus technews s mobilephone instagram iphone

5 notes · View notes

vernonpascal02-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Converting Audio To MIDI ВЂ” Ableton Reference Handbook Version 10

Which lets you take any midi file, upload it, have every midi instrument get replaced with the next quality soundfonts (primarily recordings of real instruments enjoying the various notes ordered which might then be read and used by a software program), and then feed it again to you in MP3 format. I might first use ffmpeg or sox to transform the mp3 to a Wav file, then run waon to convert that to midi. load it up into a midi editor, take away the 'voice' track, and you've got a fairly close midi file to the unique observe. Again, it's not inexpensive. I own a licensed copy that I purchased at the same time as PhotoScore7, Neuratron's music scanning software. I have by no means gotten around to attempting it. It claims to have the ability to create scores from MP3's or CD tracks. A quote from the web site. First launched in 1995 and developed by the Fraunhofer Society, the mp3 audio format is arguably one of the vital recognizable audio file format that ever existed. This digital audio encoding format hails from the lossy information compression algorithm family. The format enjoys widespread help and compatibility with most handheld music players, smartphones, computers, and in automobile stereos most of which have native assist for the format. It is also a popular format used for distribution of audio information over laptop networks such as the internet. Free mp3 encoders equivalent to LAME and audacity give authors the instruments essential to createmp3 information. SoundConverter aims to be easy to use, and very fast. Due to its multithreaded design, it'll use as many cores as attainable to hurry up the conversion. It could actually additionally extract the audio from videos. If the MP3 Codec in your system is decode solely, the Nullsoft DiskWirter may not have MP3 option within the 'Convert to format' box. In that case you should use a MP3 output plug-in (instead of NDW) to save lots of as a MP3. Personally I desire Peter's plug-in listed on the prime of the link. Choose File > Export Track as Audio File, choose both an AIFF or WAVE file (does not matter which), and click the Export button within the Audio Export Settings window that seems. The default settings (44,100 Hz sampling fee, 16 bits, and dither) are high-quality. Convert MIDI Recordsdata to MP3, AC3, WAV, OGG and many others. Audio file converter instruments are also useful if your favourite music app in your telephone or tablet does not support the format that a new song you downloaded is in. An audio converter can convert that obscure format right into a format that your app supports. For those who're unable to play or edit a certain audio file the best way you need as a result of the format isn't supported by the software you're using, one among these free audio converter software applications or online tools will help. Step three:В Click вЂњConvert buttonвЂќ to alter the file format. Then, Convert Cat will ship an email to the particular id, and you can faucet the obtain link to get access to the transformed MIDI file format. Bear File Converter is a remarkable online converter. With its person-pleasant interface it will probably save you loads of time attempting to determine the right way to use the converter. It supports converting many alternative audio formats (WMA, MP3, OGG, and so on.) to midi mp3 converter apk. In addition to, this website is freed from charge. Nonetheless, there are additionally a few disadvantages you should pay attention to. For instance, in the event you want to transform to MIDI, this web site only supports five codecs (WAV, MP3, OGG, AAC, WMA). Moreover, there may be limitation to your uploading file. You possibly can solely add file size no bigger than 50 megabytes. Speedy MIDI to MP3 Converter comes with completely-featured batch mode, allowing changing whole folders filled with MIDI recordsdata into the format of your alternative. You can resolve to make use of a lossless codec to get the final word audio quality, or choose MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, AC3 or OGG should you want the recordsdata in your telephone or audio player. In an effort to permit everybody to gain access to this perform, the number of conversion per day per person will probably be restricted. Each conversion will subtract 1 from your credit. If you need to convert extra MIDI a day, please register yourself as a free member (you get 300 credits). Converting greater than 1 tune at a time might terminate your previous conversion. And that's how a silly little audio transformation that sounds cool and horrible and otherworldly all at the same time could—and perhaps ought to—grow to be the topic of significant research. See Get More Help for information about contacting me on social networks or by way of e-mail, posting on tech assist boards, and extra. Let me know what sorts of problems you are having with opening or utilizing the MIDI file and I'll see what I can do to assist. If file add process takes a very very long time or no response or very gradual, please attempt to cancel then submit again. Rip CD music and convert to aMID file. Play it in your keyboard. We developed Complete Audio Converter to meet all of your audio conversion needs. Wave, mp3 and midi are the most popular file formats for storing music. That is why the question "Methods to convert one format to a different?" may be very well-liked. Right here we explain briefly the distinction between Wave, MP3 and MIDI.

1 note · View note

liminalnafaza · 4 years ago

Text

its monday- another discover weekly playlist has found itself on my spotify account. i always have this secret suspicion that spotify is an actual person- or i want the algorithm to be embodied by a human figure. i feel like we would get along. just because it seems to know me so well. the songs hit just perfectly, and are always of a telling nature. well, its nice to feel heard and understood by someone-- even by a technological musical algorithm.

i thought to myself: ah this song would be perfect! and in another dimension, i would go ahead and send it to him right now. him being the person i am dating. i hate the verb dating...i dont know. the person i am supposed to fall in love with, ideally?

but not in this dimension. and i do feel a bit sad that i cant just go ahead and send the song. 2 reasons: 1) i dont fully resonate with the lyrics 2)he would find it odd and probably wouldnt take it as deep as i would it want to be taken

confusion. these days are pure confusion. or, kind of just emptiness. but since we wont talk, or rather, chat, for a few days at least, i figures i could just note down the feelings i feel every day. about you, and a possible us. problem is that i dont feel like the "us" exists at all. its so alienating. i feel like its just a made up thing that sometimes becomes real. only sometimes- it comes in fragments and minutes really. when we are physically together, holding each other, deeply looking into each others eyes. i love those moments. wouldnt want it to be seen otherwise. i purely enjoy them. and i enjoy being with you-- a strange unfamiliar human being. youre always going to be a bit strange to me. it seems that you never fully let anyone in, or close to you. you are enigmatic. and my instincts never lie.

idk what this will be. and i feel like theres not enough care present to even bring it up, discuss it. i dont feel it from either me or you. anything related to that question would seem kind of silly. who am i to you? what am i within your life? something that will be around for a few months and tossed away. im your 16th thought. most likely.

#Spotify

0 notes

percy-the-sorcerer · 8 years ago

Text

Interrupted

So this fluffy Percabeth oneshot is for @percyyoulittleshit! I hope you like it Mari! :D

Honestly this was quite a lot of fun to write, so I hope everyone enjoys reading it!

“It feels like we haven’t seen each other in ages,” Percy complained, as he walked through the cabin area of Camp Half-Blood. It was a sunny August day, and many campers were milling about.

“I know, Seaweed Brain, but you know I’ve been so busy helping with the New Athens plans. And you’ve been doing a lot of training sessions. Besides, that’s why we’re having our picnic today!” Annabeth said happily.

Percy nodded, his usual smile returning to his face. He grabbed her hand, ready to take her to the beach, where he had planned on having their picnic, when someone interrupted them.

“Percy! Annabeth!” Piper shouted from behind them, panting out of breath. “We need you.” She was dressed in shorts and a blue t-shirt, and Rachel was next to her, a small smile on her face, dressed in her usual paint-stained attire.

“For what?” Percy asked reluctantly. “We were just about to--”

“There’s a meeting in the Big House,” Rachel said, interrupting Percy. “Chiron says you guys need to be there. There’s no time for you to go to the beach--you need to come now.”

Percy looked at Annabeth, disappointment written on his face. “I guess we have to go.”

“It shouldn’t matter too much.” Annabeth smiled. “How about afternoon tea?”

“Who has sandwiches for tea?” Percy grumbled halfheartedly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” Percy turned to Rachel and Piper. “We’re coming.”

“Great,” Piper said, her eyes brightening. “Let’s go.”

Percy and Annabeth followed them, now focused fully on what this emergency meeting would be about.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Percy said in annoyance, as he and Annabeth walked out of the Big House over an hour later.

Annabeth nodded in agreement. “Did Chiron really have to hold a meeting just to discuss the summer’s strawberry quotas?” she wondered. “Seems a little overboard to me.”

“Oh, was that was it about?” Percy said dryly. “I fell asleep.” Despite his joking tone, Percy had drifted off for a few minutes when they were discussing the mathematics of the ratio of substance to camper for each strawberry.

“Anyway,” Annabeth said, looking back to ensure neither Piper or Rachel were running to them to call them back to another futile meeting, “how about we go on that date now?”

Before Percy could agree, he felt someone clap him on the back.

“Percy,” Grover bleated. “Annabeth. What are you guys up to?”

Percy grinned. “Grover! What’s up? I thought you were spending today in the woods?”

“I was,” Grover agreed.

“We were just about to go on a--” Annabeth started, but Grover didn’t let her finish.

“I need help,” Grover confessed, a pleading look plastered on his face.

“With what?” Annabeth asked, unable to help herself.

“The dryads,” Grover muttered. “They started a fight again, and things have become a... bit out of hand. I tried to stop the--but they’re not listening.” He sighed dramatically.

“You’re the Lord of the Wild though,” Percy said skeptically. “Why aren’t they listening to you?”

“Oh, you know,” Grover shrugged. “I guess they’ve seen me on all my dates with Juniper, so they don’t really view me as an authority figure. You guys on the other hand…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Annabeth sighed. Percy’s stomach rumbled.

“I guess you’ll just have to wait till later.” Percy patted his stomach.

Ten minutes later and they were trekking through the woods. “Just like old times, isn’t it?” Grover joked. “You guys wanting to be alone, while I’m on a quest with you.”

“Grover!” Annabeth reprimanded him. “You know it’s never been like that.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Grover said, holding his hands up. “But it is like old times, just us three--”

Grover was mid-sentence when a dryad came flying towards them, bolting through the woods in panic. Before they knew it three others had come out too in a scuffle. Percy noticed that the lake nearby was also very noisy… three dryads had somehow ended up in it, and the lake nymphs had been dragged into it too. Soon the noise was unbearable--the noises of them all screeching, the splashes of the lake and the general shouts of confusion.

Percy and Annabeth quickly dragged two of the dryads off each other and tried to separate them to calm down the situation. Unfortunately, no matter what they did it didn’t seem to be working, and more and more nymphs were joining the fray. The new campers, having heard the commotion, had gathered outside the wood to find out what it was all about--they weren’t used to the nymphs’ fighting yet. Some of the more adventurous ones had ventured into the wood to find out what was happening.

“What are they fighting about, Grover?” Percy asked desperately.

“I don’t even know,” Grover said helplessly.

“She started it!” One dryad hissed, before jumping on the other dryad that she had been pointing about.

“Where’s Juniper?” Annabeth asked.

“Oh, she’s sleeping, we kind of had a late night and I didn’t want to wake her up,” Grover said casually while a lake nymph caused a massive splash to his left. Suddenly, a camper ended up in the lake and another found herself in the middle of a large group of dryads.

Annabeth doubted any of them were aiming at anyone anymore, and that they were now just fighting for the sake of it. As Percy rescued the camper and dryads who had found themselves in the lake, she suddenly lost her patience with the whole ridiculous commotion.

“Everybody! STOP!” Annabeth yelled, her grey eyes glaring at them all. Everyone froze. “What on earth is all of this about?” Annabeth asked, daring someone to answer her.

One of the dryads started to accuse another, and then the other accused her back. Soon, everybody was accusing everyone and whilst no one had jumped on another, it was clearly all about to kick off again.

“QUIET!” Percy yelled, realising what was happening. “She asked a question--so can one person calmly answer her please?”

Nobody spoke. Some of the nymphs drifted away inconspicuously.

“Well, perfect. It seems like you guys don’t have a problem, so that means you should stop fighting.” Annabeth clapped her hands together. “If there’s no issue, we’ll be on our way.”

Percy and Annabeth started to walk away, Percy picking up their lunch, which fortunately was still intact, when Percy turned round and warned, “And don’t cause Grover anymore trouble, else we’ll be back!”

He shook his head. “Those nymphs will be the end of me,” he muttered.

“Both of us,” Annabeth agreed.

“Finally some peace and qui-”

Percy was unable to finish his sentence when Jason sprinted towards them. “Percy, Annabeth!” he called out.

Percy sighed. “What is it, Jason?”

“There’s been an accident,” Jason said, an awkward face crossing his look. “We need your help. Leo was working on the 3D printer we received to model some of your newest designs, but it--”

“Look, Jason, can we deal with it after we’ve eaten?” Percy said, gesturing to the food in his hand. His stomach growled in agreement.

“No, Percy, I need to fix this,” Annabeth said reluctantly. “We need to start modelling those designs.” She looked him in the eyes apologetically. “I’ll need your help too. We can make it dinner, ok?” He nodded slowly, knowing she was right.

Jason smiled. “Cool, I’ll show you the way.”

“What do you mean it’s not working?” Annabeth asked in a low tone to Leo. Leo gulped, and Percy didn’t blame him.

“It just stopped working!” Leo exclaimed. “We were doing what you asked, and modelling some of your latest designs for temples and houses in New Athens. I was processing them, and Jason, as a good Pontifex Maximus does, was helping fetch them for me.”

“Until it stopped working,” Jason said sheepishly. “I think it might have had to do with a static electricity shock or something.”

“What static electricity shock?” Percy frowned, narrowing his eyes.

“Leo was annoying me with his jokes,” Jason said defensively.

Annabeth scowled. “And why haven’t you fixed it Leo?” she asked. “Why do you need me, you’re surely good enough?”

“The designs for New Athens are your area,” he explained. It was true, Annabeth had been working on them carefully for weeks now. “I didn’t want to break it any further, and potentially mess up the models. You’d kill me,” he muttered.

“I haven’t ruled it out yet,” Annabeth warned him, before leaning over the machine to have a look.

Five minutes passed and Annabeth was examining the diagnostics of the machine. “I don’t understand,” she said in frustration. “The machine’s not broken in anyway. The graphics board is calibrated at 98%, easily within the correct range. Even the communications is set to 820 Hz which is within 5% of typical diagnostics. Why isn’t it working?”

Percy turned around, a plug in his hand. “I think I’ve found the problem.”

They all turned to him.

“It wasn’t plugged in,” he explained, with a shrug, plugging it in. It switched on and whirred into life.

Annabeth turned to Leo and Jason, her grey eyes flashing dangerously. “What’s going on?”

Leo’s face was that of a deer caught in the headlights. “Oops,” Leo squeaked. “Uh… I don’t know how that happened…Accident?”

“What do you think that was about?” Annabeth asked in a low voice, as they once again walked through the main cabin area. The sun had turned orange now, and was nearly dipping below the horizon.

“I don’t know--Leo’s an idiot?” Percy smiled, trying to lighten the mood. They’d both been waiting for this date for a long time now and it had so far been delayed again and again by seemingly silly things.

“I know, but don’t you think something’s going on? Chiron would never normally have such a useless meeting and even if he did he wouldn’t call us to that sort of thing. Grover normally has everything under control in the woods and honestly they didn’t seem to be fighting over anything. And now this--Leo must have realised it was unplugged.”

“I don’t know, Annabeth.” Percy sighed “Maybe it’s nothing?” He shrugged. “Either way, let’s forget about it and enjoy our picnic dinner!” He smiled at her.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Annabeth smiled. “Even I’m starving now.” They slowly made their way towards the beach, catching up with each other.

Suddenly Nico popped out of the shadows in front of them. “Hey guys.”

Annabeth looked at Percy, determination on her face. Her lips pressed thin, she shook her head at him. Percy agreed silently.

“Guys?” Nico asked.

“Yeah?” Percy asked, a little more angrily than he had meant.

“Uh, probably not a good time--”

“It’s not,” Annabeth muttered.

“But I kind of need your help,” Nico told them. “I… I don’t know how to help Adam. I’m meant to be training him, but I just don’t know what to do and how to help him and you know I’m not very good with all this people stuff and--”

“Nico,” Annabeth said quickly. He stopped. “Don’t be silly. We all know you can do it. You’re as good as any of us. Just believe in yourself.” “But--” Nico interjected.

“No buts,” Percy shook his head firmly. “You can do it, Nico. You don’t need our help. Now, go, Adam needs one of the best trainers in camp, and you are.”

Nico opened his mouth to try and protest, but looking at the two of them he knew it was helpless. He scowled.

“Well, bye, Nico,” Annabeth smiled, before taking Percy’s arm and continuing down the path.

“Good luck!” Percy added.

Nico cursed under his breath. Panicked, he disappeared into the shadows. He had to warn them…

Percy and Annabeth walked slowly towards the beach, smiling at each other and looking at the stars which were starting to appear in the sky. “It’s such a beautiful evening,” Annabeth said in awe.

Percy had to admit that despite all their frustrating disturbances, the starry night made up for it. “Well, not as beautiful as you.” Percy smiled at her. She blushed.

“You’ve looked worse yourself,” Annabeth teased.

Percy placed his hand on his heart. “Wow, what a compliment!”

Annabeth laughed before turning to look at him again. “Okay, you look lovely this evening. Better?”

“Getting there,” Percy teased. “I wish I’d made something more than sandwiches, I’m starving.”

“So am I,” Annabeth agreed. Just as she said this she heard a slight noise from the beach.

“What was that..?” Percy muttered, looking around.

Another oddly muffled noise came from a different spot. Percy and Annabeth hadn’t yet climbed the last hill on the path to the beach, so they couldn’t see who or what was hiding there.

Percy drew out Riptide and they walked carefully towards the beach.

Slowly they climbed to the top of the hill.

“Do you think anybody’s ther--” Percy was interrupted mid-question.

“SURPRISE!” Leo yelled jumping in their face. Percy was an inch away from cutting Leo in half.

Suddenly loads of people filled up their vision as the beach came into view, and some music started. Lights adorned the beach and a table with two chairs and torches was now present on the soft sand.

“LEO VALDEZ I WILL KILL YOU!” Percy cried, his heart having leapt out of his mouth.

“You’ve already tried, Jackson,” Leo laughed.

“I think I’ll try again,” Percy muttered. Annabeth was laughing now. “Not funny.”

Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

“Okay, fine. A little bit funny.”

Piper rolled her eyes as she put drinks in their hands. “Come on! We’ve got a table and food and candles and music and everything.”

“Food?” Percy’s eyes lit up. “Sounds good to me!”

“What’s going on?” Annabeth asked at the same time. She could see many people on the beach. “Is this--”

“A surprise date!” Piper said happily.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “It’s not a surprise date, we planned this.”

“No, you planned a picnic,” Piper corrected her. “But most of us--” she gestured at the many campers behind her--”thought, that after all the hard work you’ve done these last few weeks, you deserved a super special night. So we prepared the best date either of you will go on--Lacy’s words, not mine.”

Annabeth smiled--so that was what was going on…

“So the whole day you were distracting us so you could set up?” Percy asked.

“Yep,” Leo responded. “But you didn’t go with Nico, so he quickly shadow-travelled back to warn us you were on your way.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “That’s why they’re still setting up the final bits.”

“You play a risky game, Valdez,” Annabeth said. “I was ready to kill you myself over that 3D printer.”

“That’s how I roll,” Leo said, sticking his tongue out.

They made their way over to the table.

Leo pulled Annabeth’s chair out for her, and Jason pulled out Percy’s chair for him, acting like a waiter.

Leo grinned at them. “My wish is your command.”

“Good,” Percy said, “Well, you can start by…” Percy found a lot of ways to make up for Leo scaring him.

After a few minutes a lot of the campers had withdrawn and Leo and Jason had gone to get their food.

“Well, this was a nice surprise,” Annabeth muttered.

Percy grinned. “Yup. Much better than sandwiches… even ones I’ve prepared.”

“You know, we’re alone now…” Annabeth said. “We might as well use the time while we’ve got it.”

Their food had arrived just as Percy and Annabeth broke apart from their kissing, something they hadn’t been able to do enough of in the past few weeks. Annabeth smiled.

“After food, you’ve got many more treats in store,” Jason promised them. “Grover’s even arranged a special pan-pipes performance.”

“I thought these were supposed to be good things,” Percy muttered. Annabeth smirked.

“Well, we’re looking forward to it,” Annabeth told them.

“You know,” Percy told Annabeth, after they had gone again, “a candle-lit dinner on the beach of Camp Half-Blood… I’m not going to lie, they’ve done a pretty good job.”

“They have,” Annabeth agreed. “Our friends can be pretty cool from time to time.”

Grey eyes met green eyes over the table. They were once again by themselves, and as they both leaned in for another kiss, needless to say the food was left alone for a little while longer.

338 notes · View notes

flesh-meat-loser-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Loser's journal

Loser's journal day 2 September 6th (written September 7th early morning)

After a long day it hzs come back with a thrill at Goddess and Master's farm and found itself in its small room on a mattress. It was grateful there was a mattress after all. It discovered there was a new man nearby, although he was away, and that this man had tried to have a sissy life too, and even to look like a girl, but had gone to its manly appearance, although it visibly needed authority and sissyfication, as said its profile. It was happy there would be someone to talk to, when the guy would be back. Then it looked up and saw its Master busy with Master Gavin, and dared not bother him, and Goddess was also busy with an impressive bimbo, so it went to the fields and found that on one place it could harvest some grain; which it did. And at this very moment, Goddess came with the bimbo. ANd it was told to help the bimbo and show her how to water the ground which it did the best it could. The bimbo was learning fast and visibly intelligent and with a lot of talents. And then she poofed, Goddess told her and it to fetch the life2 hud and things and i had to rush to do it and learn all the things that were written in the fucking manual, and simultaneously listen to what Goddess was saying and following her, and also read a notecard about the sim rules, with its new life2, and it was afraid to do something wrong or miss something esseential , yet eventually it managed to obey, so it hopes, as nicely as it could. And then the bimbo poofed and so Goddess deigned to have some spare time for it, and She told it to improve the land and tend the places where She was growing salads or other plants. It was a hard work because it had to sit on the ground and then grab the wet earth with its hands and make the earth as soft and ready for new plants as possible, and it failed several times to find how to get from one furrow to another. Yet, eventually it managed to do that too. And it was a bit panicked by the life2 item because it supposed that it could everyday be there and according to the farm rules water the plants or take care of them, and feed the animals (which it had not succeeded to do the first day because it did not know where to find grain), and various chores. So it felt that its slave life would be hard, and to some point it was on the verge to stop everything, yet it felt it would be too stupid after the chance its Master and Goddess had given him to show its devotion again. And then Goddess was gentle enough to answer some of its questions, concerning life 2, among which how to pee - which it did. That also taught it more about the farm configuration. Then it was back near its home and Goddess had caged the other man nearby, and it tried to ask her how it should please best its Master. The rules said it had to rub His feet, or give him drinks, or whatever He wanted. It asked meekly Goddess if it should propose that itself each time Master was there, or wait till He asked, or beg Goddess to have the right to ask. It said that because it wanted to be as submissive as possible and show GOddess that it would not dare doing anything with its Master that might displease her. She smirked and choosed of course the last solution, that is it had to beg her to have the right to ask its Master if He wanted anything. So everything seemed to be right. However when it asked Goddess how to please best its Master, she again spoke about money, and it felt gloomy, as it knew how extremely difficult it was to get any lindens at all for a shemale, all the more with an ugly face and visibly owned. And it knew by experience how extremely boring and sad it had been to try again and again. So again it was tempted to stop eveyrthing, even if its avatar would die. But again, it hoped that maybe its Master and Goddess would not be too harsh and ask for impossible goals as they had done twice in the past, and it went to its home, and slept on its mattress, after Goddess showed it how to put the life2 hud on pause, so that it did not risk to die. And then it wrote its dayly journal as it had been told, after a short night

September 4th, and September 5th 1 am.

Yesterday for the first time its Master called it back to His home and it had to change precipitously its appearance to look as He likes, as He had told it it had no longer a cock for Him. Almost simultaneously as it arrived, it was bothered in RL and cursed what was happening in RL because it was obviously the worst moment do be disturbed, yet it could not help it. However after 5 mns it managed to get back and found that Goddess was there, which was not unexpected, and her baby, whom he had almost forgotten yet looked now a small boy, nice one and crawling around. And there was also a new sissy slave, a beautiful one, and it envied her because she was not forced to have an ugly old whore face. She told it that she was chastized 24/7 and had a tiny clit, tightly locked, and it made it shiver. Then she had to obey and show obedience and was humiliated by a public reading of her most intimate journal, and this silly cunt was excited and amused by the reading. It supposes that Master and Goddess enjoyed that a lot too, so it understood why writing a journal was a brillliant idea. Yet it had no clue at the moment that it would happen to it, too. Then if was told by its Master to friend Goddess, and she brought it to her farm, and ordered it to put its collar back on,l and to make her her owner. And then it was thrilled and terrorized because it remembered how cruel she might be, and also that she had hated him for taking sometimes its Master's time. And also because it had been unpleasant when it had run away in July, because it was so desperate. Yet this time she was different. She was strict, but acted like a practical owner of a slave that would have to work hard, and showed it how to work in the farm. So it had to learn how to harvest wheat and different cereals, and to get tomatoes and vegetables, and put them into big containers, and then bring them first at the end of the field, then to put them in a barn,. For this it had to work with the sissy, who happened to be very helpful and friendly, and showed it how to do it, whereas otherwise it would have been really tough for that dumb ass. And it was frigthened three times: first, when Goddess asked it to give Her access to its inventory. Which meant he had no longer any sort of privacy, not to mention the fact that she could deprive him from anything he had, and that was a real challenge for its mind. Yet it felt too desperate without a collar so it accepted it : how would it have been possible, as it was just given a faint chance to get back to refuse the first order, however bad it was? So it complied. And maybe it should be mentioned that it had lost a step father 2 days before, and that the burial would be on Thursday, and that simultaneously its job was being a bit fucked off by circumstances, with new strategies that it did not fully approved of. So it was in a complete state of stress, and that made it vulnerable. However it was HAPPY that its Master had accepted to see it again, even though, and that was the second thrill Goddess told it that she would only own it, and that it would be on trial for 4 long, immensely long months, to get a chance to be taken again by its Master. It seemed quite a challenge because it knew it would have to work hard in RL simultaneously and that it's RL life would not be alone as it might have been in August for instance. Yet again it had no choice. And even if it feared Goddess abilities to make its life a real hell, he was happy with the work She asked it to do. Watering 30 places with each time 6 different waterings was indeed extremely boring, but it looked feasible, and even it tool some strange pleasure to show Her its desire to fulfill its obligations. And, also, as some of the places had already been watered, even partially, and even if it was only a few of them, it was happy each time it met a place where watering was not needed. It also was proud, despite its submissive mind and the order to be necessarily humble, to find ways to water faster, at least as fast as it was technically feasible, because the damned thing was conceived to be slow and not robotizable. However after over an hour and a half of real hard work it had finished and told it to Goddess. And She was kind enough to believe what it told her, that it had watered everything. Of course it had feared that She might check so it had been VERY careful not to miss any place. But for the first time in long months, it felt some sort of confidence between them, however bizarre that may seem, and liked it. And also it was happy when she said "good", as it badly needed some sort of approval. In fact, as it had been completely desperate during long months before, wiht no hope that it's slavery would lead to anything, it had a goal : try to please Goddess. Try to show, despite everything, that it could do it. And it was impressed when She told it, after she mentionned the 4 months trial, and speaking of its Master "He deserves only the best". Which was true of course, but showing both love and pride from Her for Him, and also it felt encouraged by the idea that it might try to be the best slave, whatever this might mean. Of course, after a while, it reflected that is should not be too proud, because first it was not sure at all that it would manage to go through the long trial, and because even if it did, then it might change it more than it would want. Yet, its masochistic mind told it to try nevertheless. As it was watering the fields, it peeped once at its Master who had gone to His bed, still clothed. And it was excited by the idea that things were getting in some sort of order, the Master waiting quietly for Goddess to please Him and/or cuddle with their baby, and the sissy and the cunt slave working hard from them, under Goddess supervision. It souded a bit like life in Georgia in the middle of the XIXth century, the only difference being that it was not black, and it was not raped, but on the contrary, permanently frustrated from having sex, or even only pleasing its Masters. Goddess also told it that She was going to the barn and it heard some cows, so it supposed it should also take care of animals at some moment. Oh, and it tried to use a broom to clean the room when it was in its Master and Goddess and the sissy's presence, but was rather clumsy, so it was reminded to behave with some harsh boob and face slapping. It whimpered, yet to some extend it loved it, because at least it meant it was back to its Master's and Goddess's home. And lasst, it was told to give back to its Master a folder of its old pics. It wondered what it's Master would do with them and hoped it did not forgot too many of them, despite the extreme difficulty it had to follow what They said while it was painfully finding the pics in its inventory and putting them in a folder. And then it was told to find back the bag it had once to put on its face, and failed to do so, and was deeply sorry for it, but could not find how it was called. It remembered it had made both its Master and Goddess laugh, and it was happy they did, because at least it had managed to please them somehow, and that was its most important goal. So it was bad it could not give them that pleasure again and it cursed itself not to find the appropriate item. Then, as it was told to write a journal the next day, it took some notes of what it had done, trying not to forget anything, again, not to disappoint its Master and Gooddess.

respectfully Gil

So again it was tempted to stop eveyrthing, even if its avatar would die. But again, it hoped that maybe its Master and Goddess would not be too harsh and ask for impossible goals as they had done twice in the past, and it went to its home, and slept on its mattress, after Goddess showed it how to put the life2 hud on pause, so that it did not risk to die. And then it wrote its dayly journal as it had been told, after a short night

0 notes

raihanijulie · 6 months ago

Text

[ LEMNISCUS GUIDE BLOG!!! ]

☆Reading until end of blog will be much appreciated!!! (Psst, theres a discord server link i slipped in btw....)

Picture below isnt accurate with tumblr bc this was made for instagram post.

You may be wondering... "What is Lemniscus? Why do you keep mentioning it in your posts?"

TO BEGIN WITH, Lemniscus is one of the planets in this universe with Ribbaniuns the living beings in it! The population of Lemniscus consist the various anthropomorphic animals.

And thats where we begin sharing the story and contents of these characters by the name LEMNISCUS! You could say Lemniscus is a series/project my friends and i worked on together!!! (We took Lemniscus bc we literally only focus on this planet... No else.)

Ah... So then, "Who are the characters? Why do they look like the characters from Sonic series?"

THIS. is a good one to explain and i reallly want you guys to keep in mind with this!!!!

Yes! The Lemniscus cast does look like the characters from Sonic the hedgehog because they do take the design and traits inspiration from them! BUT! The personality, backstories, interractions, lores, all of those... We worked and develop on it ourselves!!! (Theres similiarities still, but its only SLIGHT!!! Theres some differences when compared)

Thats why this is NOT counted as Sonic au, instead, its their own universe and story! The Lemniscus cast are original characters/ocs based on existing character that later we develop so they wont look EXACTLY like the existing char they took inspiration of!

I could say that this universe's origins of making is basically 'based on Sonic'. Throughout time, there are improvisasion little by little as we worked on building chars and stories, making it their own thing :D!! So, again, Lemniscus and Sonic are two different thing... I appreciate yall's understanding. I dont want any miscommunication between Lemniscus and Sonic franchise! <"3

The original characters belong to their respective owners <3 (Keep in mind we are 4 person putting our characters in ONE and worked together in this)

Alright!!! Now INTRODUCE THE CAST/CHARACTERS!

Here ill list out the characters name with their profile links AND respective owners too! Get to know each of them by clicking their names:

Hz Railstar, Alora Quinn, Victoria Opal, Ezra (JULIE/HANA!!! ME!!! :D HOIHOI!!! I link you guys to my chars' masterpost in tumblr hehe,,, its more detailed!!!)

Gausberto, Nova, Puffin, Xenophone (Hani! NOTE: She doesnt put much infos of her characters, i'll most likely be the one to share the infos through source from her she is my own sister after all Infos about Hani's chars are most likely in the discord server!)

Aero and Noire ( @m3tr0n0m333 )

Rambutan Stoneheart ( @cherriosblog )

OH!!! But thats not it!! Theres more infos i'd like to share....

Slowly but surely, we noticed our Lemniscus contents dragged people to start being curious about it, even interested with the series/project we worked! Of course, with a warm welcome, we opened a discord server, ☆LEMNISCUS (Hz Universe), for the little community we have :D!!!

The server is a great place for you to learn more about the characters (bc again, SOME of the Lemniscus cast here are explained alot more in the discord server instead!) and LORESSS obviously! Its even easier and you can keep on track whenever new things are shared by us :)

The characters arent only the ones shown here... In fact, there are more than you think. Yes! Im talkin bout the side characters! Theyre mostly explained and digged alot more in the server soo....

Hop in and join to get more familliar of Lemniscus!! ☆

This must conclude the blog. Thank you everyone for the consideration and supports of this little project we worked on! <3 I, the one to start all this fun chaotic universe is very grateful that i'd make it this far by sharing contents of these silli cast, not only me, but by you dedicated supporters and friends that worked alongside me ☆

Live, laugh, burn Hertz!🔥🔥🔥🔥

26 notes · View notes

rodrigohyde · 6 years ago

Text

What's Old Is New Again Says The Watch Snob

How Do You Say French In Japanese?

I've gained invaluable insight through your columns. Particularly [with regards to] movements, aesthetics and value vs. marketing.

Looking beyond the Rolex, Omega, Longines, and Tags, which I believe command a higher price because of the label, there seem to be brands that offer excellent value for the money. Without having a fancy globally recognized logo.

Sometime back you had provided excellent insight to my previous query [with regards to] Brellum. I have since come across Yema. The models do resemble some Oris brands and some models resemble Zenith.

In a world where we are bombarded with too many options, where does Yema stand? Also, any other lesser known brands that offer value for quality?

As always, your advice is very much appreciated.

Yema, the current brand, is a type of company rather common in modern watchmaking – the original firm went out of business thanks to the Quartz Crisis, and for a while the brand name and I presume, any related trademarks, were actually owned by Seiko. It is a name of which many Frenchmen are proud, however; it was one of the few successful mechanical watch firms to enjoy some success outside Switzerland, and to this day many French people recall the name quite fondly. It’s even become somewhat collectible and vintage Yema is now an interesting and still relatively affordable entry into collecting vintage watches.

Related: Here Is What You Need For An Epic Labor Day Weekend

The modern company is essentially a resurrection of the brand name; there is no continuity of manufacturing between the old company and the new. An analogous situation would be if someone American bought the Hamilton name back from Swatch Group and undertook to assemble watches in the USA again. Normally this sort of thing is completely uninteresting, but I give the new company – and make no mistake, it is a new company – credit for respecting the original firm, in terms of its designs.

That said, I think they are something of a niche firm – you really need to be a fan of the original Yema designs, and/or be interested in something off the beaten track, and moreover you must accept the general immediate depreciation that accompanies most small niche brands. None of these are reasons to avoid them, but be aware of what you’re getting into. If you do find Yema designs interesting, you may be better off collecting vintage Yema rather than pieces from the new incarnation.

Change Of Heart For The Wrist

I just caught up on your last few posts and noticed a conflict in your thoughts. In your article titled “Wait... Batman Wore A Rolex?” you seem to dislike the new Rolex GMT SS Pepsi by stating the “silly use of the Jubilee bracelet”. But in your article titled “Precious Time” you state with regards to the New SS Pepsi “the Jubilee bracelet seems to set some people’s teeth on edge as inappropriate for a Rolex sports watch, but the GMT Master has appeared on a Jubilee bracelet before now and in any case, I rather like it on the new Pepsi – it gives the watch a little mid-century flair, if you ask me.”

Can you clarify?

While I may have your attention at the moment, would you mind commenting on the new Grand Seiko 9F GMT watches that are coming out soon, if you have seen or heard of them.

Hah! Caught in the act of changing my mind. Well, I suppose I ought to admit that it did strike me as silly at first – however, it’s rather grown on me and I suppose there is nothing more sinister behind the first, and later take on the bracelet, than that it has grown on me on that particular watch. As much as I do enjoy giving the impression that my word is the last word on all things horological, I believe it is salutary to occasionally note that even the strongest opinions are subject to revision.

On the question of Grand Seiko quartz caliber 9F GMT watches, I have heard the rumors but of course, what Grand Seiko plans on that front is known only to Grand Seiko. I would most certainly welcome such a timepiece, though; a most logical development of the 9F movement.

Don’t Let The Details Lead To Disappointment

I believe your horological perspicacity might be capable of resolving what has, embarrassingly, become the hardest decision of my life thus far. I cannot decide between two irreproachable Grand Seikos ; specifically, the SBGR097 and the SBGH267. The former offers a lovely blue dial with a "GS" motif, no date, a 4 Hz movement, and "SEIKO" labeling with "GS" labeling relegated to 6 o'clock. The latter offers a different lovely blue dial with "GS" motif, date, a 5 Hz movement, and "Grand Seiko" labeling with a cleaner 6 o'clock. I prefer the dial color of the former, the motif of the latter, the no date of the former, the beat rate of the latter, and, in honesty, don't care especially much about the labeling. Indeed, I'm not sure why I mentioned it at all. To complicate things further, the 097 is limited to 500, although it has sibling watches that are not limited editions, and the 267 is limited to 1500, with, I believe, sibling watches that are also not limited editions. Rarity is somewhat important to me. As my wallet suffers so similarly between the two choices as to not factor in my decision, only my heart and brain are engaged in a battle; one of emotional and logical confusion. Oh help me, Loupe Liege!

“Loupe Liege” is pretty good – like most apparently brittle-shelled individuals who affect to disdain the views of others, I am underneath it all susceptible to flatter so thank you for brightening my afternoon.

Well you certainly have presented me with a difficult choice, and I can understand your struggle. I would say this: they seem to be very similar watches, but you have enumerated the differences between the two most clearly and these details add up. Grand Seiko is nothing if not a kind of watch that lives in the details.

I think the labeling is key to understanding the difference in appeal between the two watches, both of which, by the way, are most beautiful. The SBGR097 has a quite stunning dial and the deep, almost impassioned blue is indeed almost irresistible but the labeling, as a design element, contributes to what is a slightly fussy-seeming dial relative to SBGH267.

The SBGH267, on the other hand, by comparison strikes me as a more mature design. The dial is more subtle in coloration than is the case with SBGR097, but in person it is incredibly compelling, and though it is a bit less obviously seductive at first blush, it really grows on you the longer you look at it. This is not to say that SBGR097 would not age well, but the electric blue may not give quite as much of a sense of discovery. SBGH267 is, of the two, the one I personally would most choose to wear if I were choosing a daily-wear wristwatch.

You Might Also Dig

How To Buy The Right Watch Size And Fit

The Best Gold Watches For Every Budget

Looking For A Good ROI? Pick Up One Of These Watches

Send the Watch Snob your questions at [email protected] or ask a question on Instagram with the #watchsnob hashtag.

from Style channel http://www.askmen.com/style/watch_snob/what-s-old-is-new-again-says-the-watch-snob.html

#Style channel

0 notes