#I want as much of my tech to be mechanical/analog as possible because it's more reliable and easier to fix

[tearlessrain]

honestly like the main reason I have a first gen SE and a car that I need a cassette adapter to play music in with said phone is that we're in a phase where technology absolutely sucks ass, but it seems like people are starting to realize that it sucks ass and get fed up and I'm hoping all my ancient tech will hold out long enough for me to get a car without a start button and a phone with a headphone jack again.

[moki-dokie]

to add:

not all ears are made equally. i cannot wear any sort of earbud that isn't the squishy kind you can actually shove into the opening of the canal a little. my ears are not shaped the way earbuds are designed - especially wireless ones

because some people have mobility issues and tremors and wireless ones would be falling out/dropped and getting lost constantly from either head tremors or hand tremors, or both.

i do not have to search if a wired bud falls out. already has a safety tether attached

believe it or not some people actually give a shit about the quality of music they're listening to and anything wireless is wretched

headphone jacks are universal. the literal definition of plug and play. its a tech that has remained practically unchanged since it's invention. bluetooth on the other hand requires a device that can not only run bluetooth, but run the specific version you need. i would likely not be able to pair airpods made today with a device from early 00s, but i could absolutely plug headphones into it. (some of us actually keep our old tech and repurpose it. a strange concept for the Youths, i know.) (also i'm aware bluetooth is backwards compatible in most cases but there's still the oddball old device that uses a version that isn't.)

aesthetics

a billion more color and design options exist for wired earbuds. i can easily get an adapter for a headphone jack for a device that no longer has one and get like 20 different kinds of earbuds for the price of 1 pair of plain boring white or black wireless ones

batteries do not have an infinite lifespan. Eventually they can no longer maintain a charge. and apple has been notoriously guilty about building their tech to purposely die at a faster rate. while the tech in wired earbuds also does not afford it an infinite lifespan, it would come down to a mechanical defect (either a wire malfunction or the individual parts inside the earbud breaking) to cause a failure. and buddy i still have earbuds from the 90s before they were ever known as earbuds that still work flawlessly

anyway stop giving in to this weird notion that tech has to be one OR the other. wireless options for everything is awesome and i'm glad i can be mostly wire-free if i so choose to be. however, i don't regularly, because wireless quality for anything will never match wired. mobile technology itself is far, far inferior because our technology for this shit has reached its limit. unless someone can figure out how to harness quantum computing for practical every day use and on smaller scales than we use now, then wireless/mobile anything is always going to be worse in some way than the analog version. and you know what? thats fine for the vast majority of casual use. i'm totally fine sacrificing keystroke and click accuracy when i'm on the go and need the freedom a wireless laptop keyboard and mouse provides. in temporary circumstances like that, i could not be more thankful wireless tech is so readily available to me now. but for my every day regular use, all of my shit is hardwired. not only do i need it to be but i quite frankly just want it to be that way. i think the apple vs. microsoft wars of the 00s really did a disservice to the tech industry as a whole. back in the 90s tech was all about being wildly unique and innovative. it was about giving people as much choice as possible. hence all the fucking weirdass cellphone designs through the late 90s/early 00s. a thousand different kinds of dinky mp3 players. hell even cd players had a fuckload of variation. then the apple-microsoft wars went full swing and pitted the consumer against one another. and in doing so, they both obliterated all other competition. monopolized the markets. homogenized everything. now here we are, with people who have either forgotten the before times or never knew them to begin with and have drunk the koolaid that the current tech giants are waterboarding us with.

why do we *need* to have a wire attached to our earbuds? because we fucking want to, thats why. because there's no reason that both should not exist equally. because this isn't a goddamn arms race and there is 0 point or purpose to the superiority complex apple primarily has created except to have more and more loyal simps to siphon pennies from. I need my earbuds to have a wire because i would like to exist in a world where i have a choice in what technology i feel is best for me to use, not what the Brand wants me to use.

Why do you need your earbuds to have a wire so badly?

I am assuming this is about a post I reblogged like six months ago when I went off on forced technological enshitification and the slow erosion of consumer options. But sure, I'll bite.

Why do I "need" my earbuds to have a wire? I dunno, Anon, maybe I:

Don't want to have to worry about recharging my earbuds.

Don't want my earbuds to be even easier to lose.

Don't want my earbuds to need separate accessories that are as easy to lose as the earbuds.

Prefer to have bluetooth turned off on my devices for security and safety reasons.

Like being able to seamlessly plug my earbuds into my computer, my MP3 player, or any other device with a headphone jack.

Don't want to spend 50 dollars on decent wireless earbuds when I can do all the above things with a pair of solid earbuds that cost me like $12 during the Obama administration.

Don't care about what kinds of headphones or earbuds people wear but don't like what it says about our society when other people apparently care what kind of earbuds I'm wearing so much they have send an Anonymous ask to interrogate me about it.

And I guess, more abstractly, because fuck Apple. That's why.

[floralquafloral]

Watch out it's random splatoon headcanon time again

I was thinking about splatting and respawning recently, and @acid-hues used no less than Three looking emojis when I asked if anyone would want to hear my thoughts about how that stuff works, so here goes. Warning for potentially fatal quantities of pseudoscience, since I'm not a biologist or a chemist, just a goober who likes the squid game too much ;P

1. What is splatting?

Splatting is a reflex in inklings and octarians that occurs when they're been critically injured. It allows the cephalopod to escape and recover from a potentially fatal situation, effectively unharmed. Almost all of their body mass is liquefied to ink in a similar process to squid-form transformation, but it's all lost, resulting in the characteristic splatter. The only remaining structure is the "squid soul", which isn't actually a soul so much as a balloon-like vessel that can (under the right conditions) develop into a whole inkling body again.

2. What is a squid soul?

Squid souls aren't actually incorporeal souls, they're just very complicated (and lightweight) biological structures that contain all the mechanisms and information necessary to create an inkling body. Kind of analogous to an egg: given food and time, an egg can turn into a whole animal. Squid souls are just a great deal more precise, in that they generate an inkling body almost exactly as it was before, including the brain and all the inkling's memories and such. The squid soul itself, like an egg, isn't really comparable to an actual inkling - the soul can't talk, or eat, or think. The squid soul doesn't have a brain, and it only has just enough nervous system to seek out a location where it can respawn into a proper body. It uses a rudimentary form of the same senses that allow for the Turf Map. Because the squid soul isn't conscious, getting splatted kind of just feels like a very violent form of teleportation.

More information on the processes & technology behind respawning under the readmore :)

3. How does a squid soul respawn?

Squid souls can only develop into a proper inkling body if they can access two things: A bunch of biomass, and a bunch of electricity. Biomass is necessary because almost all of the inkling's original body has been exploded all over the place, so you need a bunch of stuff to make a new one. A large enough well of pure ink can contain all the necessary material for a body, but most respawn tech uses solutions of ink with other useful things dissolved into it. Respawning from a well of pure ink doesn't feel very good. Pure ink doesn't contain a very good amount of vitamins, iron, etc., so the new body will probably have less of that stuff in it than the old one.

Electricity is necessary to separate different compounds out of the ink, and to provide the energy required for some of the chemical reactions that need to take place - you can't just mush a bunch of ink together and get a body out of it.

4. What could prevent a successful respawn?

This part is pure headcanon, since there's nothing from the base game that relates to this, as far as I'm aware.

Some sources of injury won't trigger the splat reflex; the most common example is prolonged exposure to small amounts of water. Getting caught in heavy rain for hours can dissolve the body without ever triggering the splat reflex, so you just... don't come back.

Old age or severe illness can inhibit the reflex as well. If a young and healthy squid gets hit by a bus, they will explode and come back at the nearest respawn point. If someone whose splat reflex isn't working gets hit by a bus, then they just get run over, which very bad. Alternatively, in some cases the splat reflex could fail to generate a squid soul, so you'd just explode and not get to respawn, which would be exceedingly terrible.

For the kind of squid who would sign up for Turf Wars, there's basically no chance of this stuff happening, but there are still mandatory physicals before you can sign up for a Turf War just to make sure.

Lastly, of course, if someone gets splatted too far away from a viable respawn point, the squid soul will expire after only a few minutes.

5. What kind of tech allows for a respawn?

There are four different places you can respawn in-game: In the online battle maps (5.1), in the Octarian domes (5.3), in the Deepsea Metro's test stations (5.4), and from a Grizzco Tank (5.5). There's also presumably some way to respawn if you just, like, fall out of a tree and get splatted in the public park or something (5.2). There's also the floating respawn-thingies from the Splatoon 3 trailer, but since I don't know how they work in-game yet I don't have anything to make headcanons around. 🤷‍♀️

5.1. Turf War respawn pads: They're cheap to make, they work quickly, and they can handle dozens of squids getting splatted during a single 3-minute battle with no need for oversight during the game. It's worth remembering that the squid soul isn't sapient, it has no regards for the rules of a Turf War - so what prevents someone on Yellow Team from respawning at Purple's base? The answer is that, under most circumstances, the biomass requirement for a respawn can only be met with ink that matches your colour. Different colours of ink have different chemical compositions, so a squid soul that's seeking out a viable location to create a yellow squid won't be able to sense the purple respawn pad as a viable location.

The limitation of the Turf War pad is that they're not perfectly reliable. Occasionally it just won't appear as a viable respawn location to a squid soul, so someone will end up respawning outside the battle, which forfeits them from the match. (i'm only including this because i'm proud of coming up with an in-universe explanation for disconnects)

5.2. City respawn pads: Outside of inksports, it's still a good idea to have respawn pads all over the place so that if someone gets splatted they have somewhere to respawn. City pads, unlike Turf War pads, are designed to be 100% reliable and work for any ink color. Their natural drawback is that they require constant oversight. "Respawn operator" is a job you can have in most major population centers, that mostly involves sitting around, making sure nothing looks broken, and greeting anyone who shows up at the pad.

Getting splatted outside a battle isn't especially common (splatting someone outside a battle is a pretty serious no-no), so any given pad in the city will usually only get 1-2 respawns a day, if any at all. When someone shows up, the operator is supposed to write down their name, the time they respawned, and the reason they got splatted. If it was because of something legally messy like a road accident, they'll have more work to do to get that sorted out. If it was because of a Turf War pad failure, they'll contact the Judds to get that cleared up. If you were with someone when you got splatted, it's common courtesy to send a text or call once you respawn so they don't have to worry; since you won't have your phone with you when you respawn that's something the operator is also supposed to help with. Respawn operators are pretty helpful in general - if you tell them "I don't know how to get back to my house from here", they can usually give you a map or directions or something.

To allow for anyone to respawn at a City pad, they're filled with a very bright and saturated brown ink solution. This colour is unique in that basically any other ink colour can change into it very easily; if you get splatted while you've got red ink, you'll show up at the city pad with brown ink. This is why bright brown ink isn't frequently used for inksports (definitely not because the developers didn't want it to look like they're using poop for turf wars).

5.3. Octarian Checkpoints: As electricity is a precious and scarce resource for Octarians, their respawn pads are designed to use as little of it as possible. An Inkopolis respawn pad has a current running through it constantly, which combined with the large amount of ink, allows squid souls to perceive it as a viable respawn location. In contrast, Octarian checkpoints don't offer any ink or electricity when inactive. They only switch on when a nearby Octarian soldier gets splatted, using a signal transmitted by the Octarian's equipment. When they turn on, they temporarily fill with ink and run an electrical current, allowing the soldier's octo soul to make its way over and respawn before the checkpoint shuts down again.

The signal receiver of the checkpoints has a vulnerability that allows it to be overridden, which will fill it with any colour of ink solution and render it unable to receive power-on signals. The Hero Tanks worn by Agents 3 and 4 do this automatically when the agents get close to a checkpoint - this is why they're black before an agent gets close, then change to match their ink colour. However, once the checkpoint is overridden, it still doesn't provide electricity, and in fact can't be activated at all. The Hero Tank allows them to be used regardless by putting an electrical charge into the squid soul itself, so that it only needs the well of ink solution. It can only store up to three respawns worth of charge, though. If an agent gets splatted while the battery is empty, they're toast.

Octarians, of course, can't respawn at a checkpoint that's been overridden, not only because it won't power on but also because it doesn't match their ink colour anymore. Only one checkpoint will receive the power-on signal when an Octarian gets splatted, so when an overridden checkpoint is the one that receives the signal, there will be nowhere on the base for the Octarian to respawn. Instead, they'll end up in another dome, or in a civilian respawn pad. The agents aren't murderers, okay?

5.4: Deepsea Metro Test Station Checkpoints: The testing stations in the Deepsea Metro are adapted from Octarian checkpoints, but with some tweaks to reflect the different priorities of Kamabo Co. as opposed to the Octarian military. Metro checkpoints have their remote-activation functionality stripped out, and instead permanently activate once the test subject reaches them, filling with ink solution and receiving a constant electrical current. They probably still have the same vulnerability as the Octarian checkpoints, but Agent 8's has no means of exploiting it, and no reason to anyways - the checkpoints are already configured to match her colour, since they're there for the express purpose of respawning test subjects.

Because Metro checkpoints always match Agent 8's ink colour, the sanitized octarians in the test courses have nowhere they can respawn. Instead, they are simply replaced as needed.

5.5: Grizzco Tanks: I'll be honest, I can't come up with any good explanations for this one. The way it traps the squid soul inside it probably has to do with the same interference that blocks the Turf Map, but the explanation for why you have to shoot it to activate a respawn is beyond me. The best I can do is list what can be ruled out:

It's not because it's using the ink from the shot for mass. If the Grizzco tank itself doesn't contain enough ink for a respawn, then there's no way a single Inkbrush swing would output enough to make up the difference.

It's not using the kinetic energy from the shot to trigger some sort of chemical reaction. Getting hit by a Steelhead bomb or a Flyfish missile don't revive the player, even though they surely have more kinetic energy than something like a Bloblobber bubble, which can.

The weapons themselves aren't providing an electrical charge. If Grizzco could modify a Splattershot to output enough electricity to enable a respawn, then the tank would be capable of doing that itself without needing to be shot.

Whatever it is, it's probably not very good for you long-term to respawn like that. Grizzco just gives off those vibes, like working there is totally gonna mess up your health when you're older.

[kaypeace21]

DID theory part 3: St novels/comics/spotify list analyses

*read part 2  of DID theory-first! You’ll be lost otherwise, seriously XD. First, I’ll say -I find the ST comics/ books as canon as the st movie inspirations . I don’t consider the books/comics ‘literal canon’ (cause they contradict the show ( like Max and billy meeting a year before s2  in runaway max - but meeting as little kids in s3,  or El’s age being wrong in suspicious minds, in the d&D comic Will’s friends instead of him /Jonathan building castle byers, etc) . 

So I think we shouldn’t take it  literally - but more like the st movie lists - filled with foreshadowing/symbolism and other eastereggs (That the Duffers may have told them to add). So here’s some more (possible) alter / DID hints...

‘Suspicious minds’ novel

- Brenner  equates k*lling rabbits to h*rting kids. And he’ll hurt (kid) Kali (the bunny in the analogy) if Terry tries running away from him . I wonder if Lonnie used a similar threat against jonathan? Jon could be giving only a partial truth to why he cried for a week (about the bunny story)?

-Kali “hops” like a bunny then talks about tigers obsessively (linking her to rabbits/tigers similar to the other alters/Will/Lonnie). Terry also imagines tigers and kali says to Alice they can all be tigers together.

- one of the only male psychic experiments (who can see the future) is gay

- Terry is into lord of the rings, like Will. Has her and her boyfriend dress as sam & frodo (m/m ship). Terry calls her and her friends “the fellowship”.

-when Terry/Alice were injected with d**gs -they hallucinated rainbows.yikes.

- Alice (like Lonnie) is a car mechanic. She can see the future like Will the wise and says “monsters of course my mind has them as long as they stayed in there, everything would be alright? Wouldn’t it?” (in her visions she saw the demogorgan).

 (completed) graphic ST novels (by Jody Hozer) so far  (+ other st comics).

*Jody Hozer writes all the graphic novels (every novel is 4 chapters each) - the will byers comic, number 6 comic , into the fire comic, and at the moment she’s writing the d&d series and the summer camp series (which isn’t done yet). Then there’s the occasional 1 chapter st comics not written by her.

- Number 6 has (the ability to foresee the future like Will the wise/Alice) and has an ab*sive dad. 

When having a nightmare of the demogorgan ...she says as she wakes up “screw you dad” (another hint the demogrgan -aka in d&d means ‘deep father’ ...is Lonnie).

- when number 6 and others run they say they’re’ “rabbiting”(which yes technically makes sense but I found such an uncommon phrase odd.)

- The (summer camp and d&d graphic novels aren’t completed yet) but they establish d&d creatures are based off  real life people the boys don’t like in real life. Or that d&d is used as an outlet to explain true events from their pasts -but they just give the true stories a d&d fantasy slant.

- Which brings me to the halloween oneshot(not by Hozer),taking place before s1. Will tells a scary story told to him by Jonathan, and originally told to him by Lonnie. Says the boys have to keep it a secret cause it was something he was never supposed to tell to anyone. Mike says he has to finish the story he started. It’s about a “ch*lld-eater” monster first attacking a boy near the quarry (like where Will was found) and  attacking kids in a library (where Will was also found in s1).When the child sees the sheriff she bangs on the library door begging for help-he ignores her , walks away, and tells the other cops to never speak of what they saw as she screams for help. Because the previous sheriff was in kahoots with the monster. It def had some ... uh questionable imagery too 0_0

The vine in the mouth is also like the one in Will’s mouth (when Joyce found him in the library).And of course Dustin asks whether or not something like that could be covered up.

- In the “bully  comic” (about troy) also not by Jody. We focus on Troy and his ab*sive dad (who encourages him to fight/ditch his best friend). The dad has a drinking problem (gets fired), calls Troy a “mess” , pushes him, and constantly encourages Troy to be vi*lent/macho. He pretty much tries sabotaging the relationship Troy has with his friend (which I could see Lonnie doing in the future with byler).The dad/troy is framed similarly to when Billy gives Max a ride home-  after both ab*sers give bad advice saying not to hang out with their friend (after witnessing them fight in the school parking lot). Dad also laughs about almost k*lling a squirrel (a trait we see troy mimic)- and we see El feel guilty about k*lling a squirrel in s2. At the end of the comic- Troy (like Will) after making up with his bff james- moves leaving his best friend behind.

-  (into the fire) Twins: (one was normal with no powers living in the real world and the twin with fire powers is trapped in a dark sunless “cold” world styled like a psych facility/medieval fantasy) . pics in link.She hated her reflection cause it reminded her of being betrayed by her normal non powered twin who left her behind in the ���cold’ place. She’d call herself a ‘hunter’ who would defend herself and attack others to never be hurt again. Her powers being unleashed were described like opening “a door.” And she loves her twin deep down and just wants friends . And fire twin goes to the “other side” to reunite with her reflection and find happiness in the real world. *also there’s sunflower/bunny symbols which she lights on fire-which can relate back to Will/Terry/Lonnie etc. The twins = Will & Will the wise (mf)

Mirrors also connect to Will and Will the wise via the canon spotify playlists too.

Will playlist (song: mirror in the bathroom)-Mirror in the bathroom Please talk free.The door is locked -Just you and me.Mirror in the bathroom recompense for all my crimes of self defense.Cures you whisper make no sense!Drift gently into Mental illness.

Demogorgan playlist ( from perspective of Will the wise aka the mf) (song: are you dead yet? )-”polluted soul through a mirror I behold.Throw a punch, shards bleed on the floor. tearing me apart. but I don't care anymore.Should I regret or ask myself are you dead yet?Wake up, don't cry. Regenerate to deny the truth. The fiction you live in blindfolds your eyes. Disclosure, self loathing, this time you've gone too far.Or could it be, my nemesis, that you are me?

(*st ‘into the fire’ comic. the fire powered twin’s thoughts echo the song)

*I think this foreshadows the later plot points of mf (will the wise ) and Will interacting via mirrors. The fire-wielding twin and the non powered twin had a lot of mirror imagery. Including the fire powered twin (Who denies reality/and imagines herself in a fantasy world) punching her reflection because it reminds her of her non-powered twin. Here’s some cover art from the novels showing how much they emphasize mirrors.

*And in s4 movies Black swan - “the black and white swan twins (two halves of the same person-Nina)” had creepy mirror imagery. In long kiss goodnight the women with DID talks to her “ (supposed)dark 1/2″  via a mirror (in a dream).  in ‘the visit’ the teen girl who’s dad abandoned her when young-  refuses to look in the mirror (and it’s never explained why she hates her reflection). So yes I think we’ll see this in s4 or 5. We already see the mf take on the appearance of Billy when talking to him.

- Will in “zombie boy” comic is afraid he’s a monster.

also lets appreciate the lil byler moment of Mike and Will being the only zombies and mike comforting him. honestly , though, the characters were pretty out of character for most of this 1 ch comic (until the end) tbh.

- in the “d&d comic” mf is  (possibly) described as a “protector” (aka like how i said the mf is probably a perpetrator alter- which are misguided protectors).

*update now that it’s finished... hinting Will created everything subconsciously.

‘Runaway Max’ novel (before s3)

(I didn’t get time to read this book unlike ‘suspicious minds’ -so can’t show screen shots of everything others talked about. May read it eventually)

-Max compares Billy  to ‘her monster’ and a ‘shadow’ that will attack anyone that comes close (mf parallel).

- Dart k*lled a cat,  El’s papa tried to force her to k*ll a cat. And Billy when seeing a d*ad cat lights it on fire for a “viking funeral”. A connection to WW (who has fire powers) and El & dart.

-Max and Billy both are into cars and bond over fixing them (similar to Lonnie’s interest in fixing up cars). And since Lonnie tried to brag to Jonathan about fixing a car up and Will is into tech it wouldn’t be a stretch that Lonnie and Will were into fixing cars together (like Max/billy who would hang out at a autoshop in Cali) .  Similar to Will ,max says hanging with Billy wasn’t always so bad- which made things more confusing to her.

- Max compares Billy being beat up by Neil: to ‘punching a pocket of a baseball glove’. This is interesting since this book was pre-s3 which was when they established the connection of billy and his dad to baseball (similar to s1 saying  Lonnie taught Will baseball).

-Billy’s friend is a nice ‘music snob’ . He tries distracting Max with music while Billy is burning the cat. Which reminds me of Jonathan trying to distract Will from their parents fighting in the next room-with music

- Max’s bio dad is a criminal who takes her to shady bars, and Max fears he’d ‘get bored of her’. Max also ran away from her mom to her dad’s 2x.Which reminds me of Jonathan thinking Will ran to Lonnie’s in s1.

-Max mentions how Billy misses his friends after moving out of Cali. And he starts acting even worse-after the move. Which will probably be the case for Will (at least a bit) when moving to California.

-Billy tells Max Neil isn’t his ‘real dad’ either because Neil can’t be a father to anyone.

-Billy also tells Max who (at the time ) is 12 years old not to act “easy” and breaks her best friend’s (Nate’s) arm over  someone joking he was Max’s boyfriend and also cause Nate tried to get in between Billy bullying Max. Eventually all her Cali friends ditch her cause they’re afraid of Billy.And Ugh- why could I see Lonnie doing something like this in the future with Will/his new friends. 

- Creepily Max says Billy doesn’t fool around with her like other girls not because of her age or being family. But cause she wasn’t ‘attractive’. This whole excerpt gave me the heeby jeebies,on so many levels, honestly.  Almost like he’s jealous- and controlling her cause he doesn’t want Max to have any love interests. Maybe i’m just missing the context? But ugh... excerpt:

Will byers secret Files

-Hopper gets scared by a pumpkin-scarecrow. And in Will’s canon journal when talking about the mindflayer and his nightmares draws the same scare-crow , Hopper saw. There’s also a lot of s4-5 foreshadowing in the book... but that’s a post for another day.

Darkness on the edge of town (Hopper novel)

*didn’t get time to read this (except the preview)

 I think it’s more foreshadowing for future seasons though- cult/supposed ritual k*llings, people being wrongly blamed for those crimes-like the hellfire club , most likely.  (similar to the guy number 3 in the number 6 comic)  saint john in the novel also has the same brain control powers as 3- similar to the mf. .” When a blackout plunges the boroughs into chaos, Hopper must escape the the mobs in the streets to make sure his family is safe and stop Saint John from fulfilling his prophecy.” I already talked about here- how the next few seasons would start having more religious symbolism/a future apocalypse (based on what we’ve seen in the show/s4 movies). Although, i think there’s quite a few differences between (the novel’s) saint john and Will the wise. Hopper is also a star wars nerd like the boys (alter hint)

Canon spotify songs (posted after s2/before s3) hinting at DID/ alter /lonnie stuff-

Will  and Will the wise (aka the mf) being an alter

*Used Will and the demogorgan playlist (which i think has perspectives of Will the wise aka the mf, demogorgan, and Lonnie).

Besides the mirror songs previously mentioned...

Will (cold inside)-Doctor the problem's in my chest.My heart feels cold as ice but it's anybody's guess?Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mind. Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mindWell it's cold, cold, cold, cold inside. Darker in the day than the dead of night Cold, cold, cold, cold inside...Counselor give me some advice Tell me how hard will I fall if I live a double life?

El (ghost)-your ghost, the ghost of you.It keeps me awake.My friends had you figured out.Yeah they saw what's inside of you. You tried hiding another you.But your evil was coming through... living in the shade Your cold heart makes my spirit shake.

El (monster Lead me home)-I don't know what, what I was afraid of, I was afraid oooof...Monster take me somewhere...We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.Where there is no place to hide.Stranger on the other side We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.

 The’ innerworld’/  other hints Max, El, Hopper, and Billy are alters of Will’s

Max (Logical song)-I know it sounds absurd. Please tell me who I am, who I am, who I am, who I am?

EL(Buzzcut season)-I remember when your head caught flame It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain ...nothing's wrong when nothing's true. I live in a hologram with you Where all the things that we do for fun . Play along (make-believe it's hyper real) But I live in a hologram with you.

Billy (broken bones)-Broken bones.Stay alone. If I see only what I believe -reality's bound by what I conceive

Max (Why can’t i touch it)-Well, it seems so real.I can see it.And it seems so real-I can feel it.And it seems so real-I can taste it.And it seems so real-I can hear it.So why can't I touch it?

Hopper (breakers)-Just to keep me from losing my mind .It's so easy to drown in the dream.Oh, and everything is not what it seems This life is but a dream.Shatter illusions that hold your spirit down ...From the inside, so it seems.Oh, I'm telling you it's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a It's all a dream.”

Max (comfortably numb)-When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye.I turned to look but it was gone.I cannot put my finger on it now.The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably numb.

Max (Kids aren’t alright)-Still it's hard Hard to see Fragile lives, shattered dreams...What the hell is going on? The cruelest dream, reality.

El(team)-Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams. And you know we're on each other's team

Hopper (denial twist) ( just change ‘she’ to ‘he’)-Just because she makes you feel wrong she don't mean to be mean or hurt you on purpose, boy!Take a tip and do yourself a little service...by playing a different role Ya, by playing a different role, oh.The boat ya you know she's rockin' it.And the truth well ya know there's no stoppin' it.So what, somebody left you in a rut and wants to be the one who's in control.But the feeling that you're under can really make you wonder.How the hell she can be so cold?So now you're mad, denying the truth.And it's getting in the wisdom in the back of your tooth

El (the story)-You see the smile that's on my mouth.It's hiding the words that don't come out.And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed.They don't know my head is a mess.No they don't know who I really am.And they don't know what I've been through

El (hero) ( pretty much alludes to El being a construct of Will’s mind similar to his juju zombies in the d&d story he wrote )-Who knows what you'll find when you look inside (billy’s mind)?Haunted beach (billy flashback), roll the dice.The zombies in the corner aren't amused (d&d ref).Play the part of the blushing bride...Out of view, cloaked by night...My spirit dims, but I feel the force"No longer in my hands,"  (loses powers) .I say to you .I could've been a hero, I could've been a zero.Could've been all these thingsI could've been nothing, I could've had something.Could've been all these things.And if I am unable, tell him that I'll try but underneath the table will spin the wheel and hope for gold. Oh, and where it stops, nobody knows.

Max (it’s real)-I don't know who's behind the wheel.Sometimes I feel like I don't know The deal.But when I tell you how I feel-Believe me when I say It's real.I skated on a frozen Sea.It's real as far as I Can see?

Max (Halloween)-Because your role is planned for you there's nothing you can do.

El (White rabbit... alice and wonderland/lonnie ref)-And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall...When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.

demogrogan(Dimensions of horror)-Gaze upon the ancient face you dread (lonnie)... Passing through the doors, into Dimensions Of Horror. Haunting visions from the past, rise once more.Realms of darkness, terror, death and gore.Scream in fear, your sanity is lost

demogorgan (SCHORCHED)-Terrorizing madness. Vivid dreams. internal. Hallucinating the unknown. Abstract entities prey.Through superhuman abilities.Fragments of memory erased.

demogrogan (Calling from a dream)-the shadow king...seven spirits (7 ref) Swarming around his head.Close your eyes.Listen to my call. Our bond will bring us together again.I will wait for you. For our hearts still beat as one.Listen to my calling from a dream. (integration?)

 Maybe a coincidence or a hint at Will having both male &female alters?Billy (dude looks like a lady)- What a funky lady...Oh, he was a lady.Dude looks like a lady. Hopper (turn the page)-All the same old cliches,"Is that a woman or a man?" Max ( rebel rebel) (this was on her her pre s3 spotify list + post s3 “wrapped list”)- you got your mother in a whirl, doesn’t know if you’re a boy or girl? 

 SHIT DAD/ AB*SIVE FAMILY

*trigger w*rning ahead for dark themes like s**ual ab*se

demogorgan (my children)My children I never loved them.Why feel that way when their existence is my business?My children...feral vessals of my selfinterest...So don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.Don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.My children they're right behind you My children they're gonna beat you.My children if you let them Oh, oh, my children.

demogorgan (black dahlia-window):  I’m not quoting the lyrics you can just look it up.  it’s messed up.Based on the 1st person pov of Gilles de Rais -k**ler and p*d*rest who also kidnapped a cleric.

Will (creature comfort)-Some boys hate themselves.Spend their lives resenting their fathers... hate their bodies .Stand in the mirror (another mirror ref) and wait for the feedback.Some boys get too much, too much love, too much touch.

Jonathan’s Playlist- We’re happy family: “Eating refried beans (poverty). Gulpin’ down Thorazines (pills for a mood disorder). We ain’t got no friends (s2 ref). Our troubles never end. Daddy likes men. Daddy’s telling LIES.”

Jonathan’s playlist-Enter sandman: “Don’t forget my son. Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight, Exit light, Enter night. Take my hand, we’re off to never-never land. Something’s wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight. Dreams of LIARS and of things that will bite, yeah. Hush little baby don’t say a word, and never mind that noise you heard. It’s just the beasts under your bed, in your closet in your head.”

Jonathan (The killing moon-guy sings this)-So soon you'll take me up in your arms. Too late to beg you or cancel it. Against your will!He will wait until you give yourself to him...In starlit nights I saw you.So cruelly you kissed me... unwillingly mine.

jonathan (haunted)-You and I both know that the house is haunted And you and I both know that the ghost is me. You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains.Well back then , it didn't seem so strange...In the midnight hour..I was busy trying to charm that snake. When the sun came up we had no place to hide...You and I both know that the house is haunted  yeah you and I both know that the ghost is YOU! You used to walk around screaming, all slamming all 'dem doors Well I'm all grown up now and I don't scare easy no more But you and I both know.

Hopper (Confession)-Now I'm on the low Confession, to a virgin ghost Admission, force you know.

hopper (Tomorrow ) Yeah, and back when s*x and amph*tamines were the staples of our childhood physique.

Max (Last caress)-I got something to say.I k**led your baby today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as it's de*d.Well I got something to say.I r*ped your mother today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as she spread. (Lonnie pov? Neil?messed up song to be on Max’s list)

hopper House of the rising sun- And my father was a gamblin' man Way down in New Orleans... And the only time he's satisfied Is when he's on a drunk

Max Poor relations-An attitude, no patience, he's paper thin.Talking over everything you have to say...Don't correct the things he said, what's the use?Can't handle violence.Can't handle violence.Learning to love the abuse you can't live without.Your familiar oppression, your daily injustice...That loser man that belongs to you, he's ruling you.

el (sweet dreams are made of this)- Some of them want to use you ...Some of them want to ab*se you.Sweet dreams are made of this...Hold your head up.Keep your head up, movin' on.

Max (Alternative ulster)-They say they're a part of you.And that's not true, you know.They say they've got control of you.And that's a lie, you know.They say you will never Be free, free, free

max In bloom-”Sometimes at night I let it get to me.And last night it had me down and feeling NUMB...And thinking back upon those days Way way back when I was young.I was such a little shit.Cos I was always on the run.Well you know just what they say-Just like father then like son.Don't delude me with your sympathy.Cos I can do this on my own.And this will be the last time-That I break down and wanna crawl to bed. “(since Billy has a playlist I found this song choice being on hers instead of his interesting- in fact almost all of Max’s songs are from the 1st person perspective of a boy unlike the other gals.)

Max (comfortably numb)-The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably NUMB.

hopper (numb)-Honey, here I go again Down that crooked road of sin.My momma locked me out again And hung me high to rust under the rain I am NUMB( 8x)....Little bluebird at my window Sing a pretty song for me Don't you know that you can fly, fly, fly away Don't you know that you can leave I am numb.

other psych songs

Hopper (life of sin)-Every morning when I rise I look in the mirror (another mirror ref) and despise the sight of everything and all that I've become. The level of my medicating some might find intimidating But that's alright cause' it don't bother me none.

 Max (Moon over marin)- “Dive in my scalding wooden tub (connects to mf/el)...There, wasn't that a nice visit?Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty twenty-four hours a day in the blue room...Drink plenty of water when you take these.Now you can relax.” ( I wonder if stranger writers saying to “drink plenty of water” is secretly a line said by a psych person in s4?)

Max (Feeling ok)-My doctor says that I should take it -At least I won't have to keep faking.I know, someday I'll find it-Where I, I least expect it.Today I know I feel ok.

Max ( Going gets tough)-.No home since the fire.Me and the ash can't settle down...So I sink another round-Placebo for pain.And there's no one for to blame . I refuse to accept-That my work is all in vain...Still always remembering .When the going gets tough .That the labor of our love-Will reward us soon enough.

 Max (Comfortably numb)-Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)Is there anybody in there?Just nod if you can hear me.Is there anyone home?Come on now-I hear you're feeling down.Well I can ease your pain .Get you on your feet again.Relax // Now I've got that feeling once again.I can't explain . you would not understand.This is not how I am. I have become comfortably numb.I have become comfortably numb //Okay (okay, okay, okay)Just a little pinprick.There'll be no more, ah .But you may feel a little sick.Can you stand up?I do believe it's working, good.That'll keep you going through the show.Come on it's time to go// Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.

Explanations of Why the mf  (WIll the wise)behaves the way he does

demogorgan (ww) (Cowards starved)- friends think of me as a priest.I had to show them that the weakest hands Can still make impressive fires. (aka MF = will the wise)

demogorgan (ww) (Unmerciful):I will be reborn...Tranquil demeanor.Now devoured.Surfacing malice...I can't reconcile the torment others bring unto me.I will not take any reproach.Turning the other cheek.Relentless hatred consumes.Control released.Absolved of all compassion.I am free .Look into my hate filled eyes and tell me What do you see?Surging aura of my rage Paralyzing you in fear.

Demogorgan (ww) (bodies-Beaten why for (why for)?Can't take much more.(Here we go, here we go, here we go).One, nothing wrong with me,Two, nothing wrong with me.Three, nothing wrong with me.Four, nothing wrong with me.One, something's got to give.Two, something's got to give.Three, something's got to give now...You're all by yourself but you're not alone...Driven by hate consumed by fear.

demogrgan (ww)-Orbs used as transmitters carry electromagnetic beams from above (affecting magnetic fields in the show).Silence, manipulated, tortured ...How immune is your system of suffering?Its in the blood of suffering (familial ref).Its in the blood.

 Demogrgan (Monster)-I shoot the lights out..Whoa, just another lonely night...None of who you get it, ain't nobody cold as this.A zombie (will ref) with no conscience .Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster. Everybody wanna know what my Achilles' heel is? Love I don't get enough of it.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I'VE BEEN PONDERING ANYONE

Because kids are unable to create wealth, but to spend it doing fake work. Life is short, as everyone knows. And what drives them both is the number of startups are created to do product development on spec for some big company, and assume you could build something way easier to use. You could also rob banks, or solicit bribes, or establish a monopoly. In any period, it should be helpful to anyone who wants to understand the feeling of virtue in liking them. Plenty of famous founders have had some failures along the way. A few weeks ago I finally figured it out.1 03% false positives.2

That makes sense, because programs are in effect giant descriptions of how things get made. Treating a startup idea as a question changes what you're looking for. In school you are, in theory, explaining yourself to someone else. We're more patient. Moral fashions don't seem to get sued much by established competitors. Once you realize how little most people judging you care about judging you accurately—once you realize that because of the normal distribution of most applicant pools, it matters least to judge accurately in precisely the cases where judgement has the most effect—you won't take rejection so personally. The space of possible choices is smaller; you tend to standardize everything. What VCs should be looking for companies that hope to win by writing great software, but there is no permanent place in this world for ugly mathematics? In fact, you don't take a position and then defend it. This one may not always be true. It hadn't occurred to me till then that those horrible things we had to read in English classes was mostly fiction, so I know most won't listen.

This second group adopt the fashion not because they want to work for people with high standards. This is a talk I gave at the last minute I cooked up this rather grim talk. When a company starts misbehaving, smart people won't work there. So verbs with initial caps have higher spam probabilities than they would in all lowercase. And the source of error is not just random variation, but a Times Roman lowercase g is easy to tell apart.3 Such judgements can of course counter by sending a crawler to the site, you wouldn't need PR firms to tell you, because hackers would already be writing stuff on top of it. Cultivate a habit of questioning assumptions.4 Nature uses it a lot, which is the satisfaction of people's desires. When watches had mechanical movements, expensive watches kept better time. But something seems to come with practice.

So even in the middle of getting rich we were fighting off the grim reaper. It seems like it violates some kind of answer. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could achieve a 50% success rate? It's more a question of self-preservation.5 You have to do whatever seems best at each point. So my first prediction about the future of web startups.6 It's not just an airy intangible. Everyone's model of work you grew up with a million dollar idea is just a convenient way of trading one form of wealth for another. That is certainly true.

So odds are this is, in projects of their own. When I heard about this work I was a kid I used to calculate probabilities for tokens, both would have the same kind of office or rather, hacker opinion.7 So obviously that is what we are, founders think.8 It's absolute poverty you want to get real work done in an office with cubicles, you have to say, are evil. Mostly because they're optimistic by nature. I'm going to try to recast one's work as a single thesis. And so began the study of ancient texts had such prestige that it remained the backbone of education until the late 19th century. I met some investors that had invested in a hardware device and when I asked them what was the most significant thing they'd observed, it was mostly political. But while DH levels don't set a lower bound on the convincingness of a reply, they do set an upper bound, bearing in mind the small sample size. The remarkable thing about this project was that he got in trouble for.9 It was only after hearing reports of friends who'd done it that they decided to start a startup to starting one, and eventually someone will discover it.10 They may be enough to kill all the opt-in lists.

The church knew this would set people thinking. Since the invention of the quartz movement, an ordinary Timex is more accurate than a Patek Philippe costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reason is not just text; it has structure. An office environment is supposed to be something that helps you work, not something you read looking for a specific answer, and feel cheated if you don't have significant success to cheer you up, it wears you out: Your most basic advice to founders is just don't die, but the thousand little things the big company doesn't want to imagine a world in which high school students think they need to get good grades to impress employers, within which the employees waste most of their time in political battles, and from which consumers have to buy anyway because there are so many kinks in the plumbing now that most people don't even realize is there. There's nothing special about physical embodiments of control systems that should make them patentable, and the examiners reply by throwing out some of your claims and granting others. I learnt never to bet on any one feature or deal or anything to bring you success. Underneath the long words or the expressive brush strokes, there is no way to get rich. These get through because they're the one type of sales pitch you can make enormous gains playing around in problem-space. But you have to redefine the problem to make them irrelevant. In more organized societies, like China, the ruler and his officials used taxation instead of confiscation. Every engraver since Durer has had to live in Silicon Valley, that use of the word, Bill Gates is middle class.

So what to make of this. Few people are suited to running a startup can be demoralizing. I think things are changing. The problem is compounded by the fact that hackers, despite their reputation for social obliviousness, sometimes put a good deal of effort into seeming smart. But though it's not anger that's driving the increase in disagreement, there's a danger that they'll follow a long, hard path that ultimately leads nowhere. In the period just before the industrial revolution, some of the most pointless of all the great programmers I can think of who don't work for Sun, on Java, I know of zero. Descartes, though claimed by the French, did much of his thinking in Holland.11 But hackers use their offices for more than that.

Boston is a tech center to the same cause: Gates and Allen wanted to move back to Palo Alto, where he grew up, and they tend to do particularly well, because they're easier to see, because they generally don't die loudly and heroically. I'd spent more time with her. One of the most valuable thing they've discovered. But the breakage seems to affect software less than most other fields. England and France were made by courtiers who extracted some lucrative right from the crown—like the right to collect taxes on the import of silk—and so they don't try do to it. All the unfun kinds of wealth creation slow dramatically in a society that confiscates private fortunes. I mean by habits of mind you invoke on some field don't have to do is expand it. When a politician says his opponent is mistaken, that's a sure sign that something is broken?

Notes

That's one of those you can, Jeff Byun mentions one reason not to be, yet. The reason for the popular vote. 5 million cap, but instead to explain that the payoff for avoiding tax grows hyperexponentially x/1-x for 0 x 1. Something similar happens with suburbs.

There are successful women who don't aren't. His critical invention was a company selling soybean oil or mining equipment, such a baleful stare as they seem pointless. I think that's because delicious/popular with voting instead of hiring them. Security always depends more on the spot, so had a broader meaning.

Though most founders start out excited about the other: the company than you otherwise would have seemed shocking for a block or so. MITE Corp.

Perhaps this is a huge, analog brain state.

So how do they decide on the programmers, the more effort you expend on the dollar. After the war it was briefly in Britain in the right mindset you will fail. If you want to.

The only launches I remember are famous flops like the other hand, he took earlier. And journalists as part of the War on Drugs. As usual the popular image is several decades behind reality.

Something similar happens with suburbs. Com. It seems to have minded, which you ultimately need if you want to keep their wings folded, as I explain later. Cost, again.

I have about thirty friends whose opinions I care about valuations in angel rounds can make it a function of the venture business. When the Air Hits Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation reaches a certain level of incivility, the increasing complacency of managements. For founders who go on to create giant companies not seem formidable early on. There's probably also the perfect point to spread the story a bit.

At this point for me do more with less, is that the only audience for your present valuation is fixed at the end of the kleptocracies that formerly dominated all the free OSes first-rate programmers. Most people let them mix pretty promiscuously. This is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Handy that, isn't it? We don't call it ambient thought.

Watt didn't invent the spreadsheet. If you extrapolate another 20 years. At first I didn't need to run spreadsheets on it, by encouraging people to claim that they'll only invest contingently on other sites. It is the fact that the graph of jobs is not always tell this to users, you've started it, whether you have to make software incompatible.

[callumhumphreys]

INTERVIEW: BRYAN SHUTMAAT FOR TRESPASSER

Callum Humphreys: Hi Bryan, firstly, thanks for taking the time to speak with me. Can you start by giving anyone who’s reading an overview of Trespasser?

Bryan Schutmaat: Trespasser is a small, independent art book publisher based in Austin, Texas that was founded in 2017 by Matthew Genitempo, Cody Haltom, and me, Bryan Schutmaat.

CH: What inspired you to start Trespasser?

BS: Before launching Trespasser, Matthew and I had talked for a couple years about starting an imprint together. He and I have really similar taste and passions, and we wanted to see books made that might have less of a chance to be made with established art book publishers. When the opportunity arose to publish my short book, Good Goddamn, we decided to make the imprint a reality, and we recruited Cody Haltom, a brilliant designer, to join us on the endeavour.

CH: I come from a graphic design background and one thing that instantly jumps out to me is the construction of your books. They mix DIY / zine elements like staple binding, with high-end offset printing and foil stamping. Do you think these design decisions enrich the experience or enhance the books narrative?

BS: Yes, that’s our hope. The design, materials, and all further considerations put into our books are meant to reflect the narrative, meaning, and emotional atmospheres within. As objects, we think photobooks need to honor the images and the stories we’re telling as best as possible. Regarding some of the stylistic choices you mention, Matthew and I grew up skating and listening to punk, which might account for the DIY/zine elements - maybe an outlook and aesthetic that stayed with us after youth Cody compliments that with what he brings forth in terms of layout, typography, an acute attention to detail, and so on. I think it amounts to books that feel somewhat against the grain yet don’t sacrifice great printing and overall quality.

CH: Congratulations on your newest publication ‘Polar Night’ (Mark Mahaney 2019) it seems to have been met with universal praise. Polar night, similar to many books in your back catalogue seems to touch upon themes of isolation, anxiety and the interaction we have within our landscape. This type of ‘documentary’ photography has almost become a genre in itself. Is this the kind of work you are actively seeking to publish through Trespasser?

BS: I don’t think we’re trying to push that kind of work necessarily. We’ve only collaborated with close friends on our projects so far, and perhaps the themes you notice might just be shared interests among a small friend/artist group. I like that all of our publications up to now have a sense of cohesion, but we’re also eager to branch out and tell different stories.

CH: In an age where sharing work, ideas and opinion is instantaneous, what role do you think the photobook plays in modern photography?

BS: I have a bit of spiel about this. I think photobooks are the saviours of photographic meaning in an era when we are constantly bombarded by the ubiquity of images and digital media. There’s a torrent of content everywhere we look, and most of it adds no significance or benefit to our lives, aside from being momentarily stimulating. They quickly disintegrate into the abyss. But a good photobook can transcend this meaninglessness and function like work of literature. A book is physical and lasting. It slows you down. It can convey profound concepts, engaging narratives, and unique points of view.

CH: Can narratives or ideas be shared in the same way on social media as they can in photobooks?

BS: No, I don’t think so. On this topic, I often reference a great video of David Lynch, which can be found on Youtube, talking about how sad it is that people think they’ve seen a film when they’ve watched it on an iPhone. “You'll think you have experienced it, but you'll be cheated,” he says, “It's such a sadness that you think you've seen a film on your fucking telephone. Get real.” I think it’s the same with photobooks. There’s no way the attributes of photobooks - their tactile characteristics, mechanics, poetic nature, etc - can be equalled on a computer screen, especially a tiny mobile device with a three-inch screen. There are some interesting ways media is evolving on bigger screens - desk/lap tops and iPads, etc - but I still think books win out every time.

CH: Do you think the resurgence in the popularity of film, and its tactile nature, has played a role in keeping physical prints and books alive?

BS: I think it goes hand in hand to some degree. These days, people spend so much of their lives in a digital world -- working, communicating, shopping, banking, etc -- that I think a part of us yearns for something tangible. To me, this explains why photographic film is resurging, as well as music on vinyl, photobooks, and other things analog. Digital tech has conquered a lot of our lives, but for some people, maintaining a relationship with physical objects has value.

CH: Is there any advice you can give to someone who is interested in publishing a long-term body of work in book form - For example, knowing when to draw a line in the sand and consider it ‘finished’ (if there is such a thing)?

BS: It’s important to keep in mind that great photos are what make great photobooks, so it’s crucial for photographers to put their energy into their body of work foremost. The photobook is the reward for the work after completion.

The question about when to consider a project finished was recently asked of me in the recent released Aperture book, Photo Work, edited by Sasha Wolf. I hope you won’t mind if I recycle that answer: “What’s the cliché? A work of art is never finished, only abandoned. With the kind of work I do, I could shoot forever, trying to improve the photos or tweak the edit or just fuck with things endlessly. But life is short, and at some point you have to say, ‘Ok, this is enough.’ If you feel the subject matter isn’t thoroughly explored after the completion of a project, then you can always go shoot the same kind of stuff in the future.”

CH: Do you have 3 book recommendations that helped shape you as a photographer, whether classics or more recent works.

BS: It’s so obvious, but The Americans by Robert Frank is the godfather of photobooks and sort of touches everything that comes after it, so it has shaped me without question. Truck Stop by Marc F Wise is a much lesser known book, but I came across early on and it helped to ignited my interest in everyday America and the subject matter I came to shoot. Laura McPhee’s River of No Return is a book I fell in love with early on as well, and it probably shaped my vision in untold ways in terms of its content and the sensitive, poetic way she conveys her subjects.

That said, I like these books because of the astonishing photos inside, not necessarily because of what the books are themselves as aesthetic objects. I think a new standard has been set in recent years in regard to design and physical characteristics of photobooks, so if I were to choose books that have shaped me as a publisher, it would be a different selection.

CH: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me, is there anything else you would like the readers to know about Trespasser?

BS: We don’t do a newsletter at this time or have much of an online presence outside Instagram, so that’s the best way to keep up with us, @trespasserbooks. 

See more of trespassers work here:https://www.instagram.com/trespasserbooks/

Bryan Shutmaat here: https://www.instagram.com/bryanschutmaat/?hl=en

[thesimplyluxuriouslife]

298: 28 Ways to Simplify Your Entire Life

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." —Hans Hofmann

Simplifying.

Far different from minimizing, simplifying requires that we consciously explore what is of value in our lives and then thoughtfully edit in order for what we deem most important to shine as fully as possible.

Take for example sight. Eyesight that is. As someone who wears contacts in order to see clearly objects in far distances, when I put on a dirty lens or my lens happens to have an eyelash or spot of makeup on it, not only does it hurt, but frustratingly my eyesight is impaired. My #1 priority is to clean the lens properly in order to see. Why? Understandably, so that I can clearly, safely, peacefully, go about my day without having to actually think about the gift that is 20/20 eyesight.

Such a truth comes into play with our everyday routines, homes, and overall lifestyles. If we don't clear the clutter - literal and figurative - the quality of our lives decreases. What we love, what we value cannot grow, shine, fully blossom. Whatever the analogy is, the full growth, the full maturation, can't possibly be experienced.

Multitasking our lives not only when it comes to the tasks we do each day, has become an approach to living in the 21st century (and was as well in the late 20th century) which was applauded. In many ways 2020 has forced us to recognize how much we missed in doing so - we missed our relationships, we missed simple pleasures, we missed the gift of appreciating well-made, seasonal food, we missed the gift of truly connecting. Now that so much of what we thought we valued but did not prioritized has been forcibly taken out of our lives, are we questioning whether we lived in accordance to what we swore was true to living well.

Let's talk about clutter. What is defined as clutter for you may be different from what someone else may define or label as clutter. My kitchen for example has many tools handy, surrounding my stovetop - canisters, pots hanging, salt and spices within arms-length. For someone else, such a sight may be exhausting to the eye and look terribly cluttered when viewing my kitchen. Organizing my kitchen in such a way makes my cooking fluid, more enjoyable and simple, but that may not be the case for someone else.

More figuratively speaking, how much time with our own and only company we need will depend upon not only our temperaments but as well where we are along our life's journey. There are times in my life where I have needed far more time alone than others, and I am thankful I finally was able to find it as I needed to figure certain things out, things that I didn't even know I needed to sort through. However, once we learn the direction we want to travel, the skills we want to improve or learn, we may reduce the time alone, but I would argue, as you will see in the list today, we will always need regular alone time or as it is often described - solitude.

Since the inception of TSLL blog, simplicity has been a fundamental component of living simply luxuriously. In order to choose well, in order to invest wisely, we first need to know what is of value to each of us, and the only way to do that is to simplify our lives. (View a list of posts focused on simplifying here and here and be sure to check out TSLL's 1st and 2nd book which have specific sections focused on simplifying in a variety of areas of your life.)

Upon recently rereading Carl Phillips' book 22 Ways to Simpler Living and a couple of other books which help me to assess how simplified I have kept my life or where I need to check-in and adjust or make improvements, I was inspired to make a list to serve as a refresher. I have a feeling each reader/listener stopping by today's post has simplified their lives in some way at some point if not multiple times throughout their lives, so today's post is a check-in so to speak. An opportunity to ensure we are each truly living a simple life for ourselves so we can then live truly simply luxuriously and find true contentment in our everydays. Let's take a look at the list.

~Tune in to the audio version for more conversation about each of the following points shared below.

1.Leave space in your day

Less work time, yet more efficient and productive work time leads to more fulfillment in your lifetime.

2. Absorb the truth that less is often more

3. Limit the time you spend in or with your inbox

write rules

streamline folders

make the view format easy to navigate

make it easy to see how many emails you have to motivate you to keep your inbox tidy

4. Have a courageous conversation about the truth behind the statement "I don't have time." aka "I'm too busy."

Instead of leading others to believe you want to say 'yes' when it is clear another priority supersedes the opportunity presented, let them get to know you and if you don't like this prioritizing of your life, have an honest conversation with yourself and make the necessary changes.

5. Understand what 'self-full' is and refrain from seeing honoring your journey as 'selfish' because it is not.

6. Stop trying to keep up with life and start living your one and only life

7. Be honest about what you allow into your life as a distraction from living fully

(which includes being vulnerable, be truly loving toward yourself and others, being truly content in your everydays, feeling an undercurrent of calm in your life which keeps you grounded and at peace with life's unknowns which reduces the worry)

8. Live a life that doesn't exhaust you, rather a life that energizes you

9. Give permission to yourself for your hobbies and passions to be priorities

It is within your hobbies and passions that we are honoring our gifts and fueling our spirit so that we might share our unique gifts with the world - either directly as we emanate joy affecting those we love or the larger world.

10. Keep good health of body and mind

11. Stop the hurry

If you find yourself hurrying, access and edit. Carl Phillips suggests asking yourself these two questions: (1) Is what I am 'hurrying about for' important to me (or the approval of someone/something else)? (2) Is the hurrying getting me closer to my goals?

12. Check your email less frequently, but more regularly

Set boundaries on your attention and time. You will reduce worry, you will communicate clearly and set expectations which do not overwhelm your life and increase your stress. In many ways you will reduce not only the stress in your life, but the stress of those trying to communicate with you as there will be clear expectations of when they will hear from you.

13. Book-end your days with walks

Long or short, go outside, take in the fresh air as it will clear your mind, help in ways you may not expect, even if you think it cannot as it brings you to the present. One foot in front of the other, just walk. Walk to work it out and calm your mind.

14. Find time to meditate daily

Sometimes meditation and praying are mentioned as alternatives to each other; however, I would argue they do separate things as they are two separate actions. Meditation is an observance of our thoughts, a stepping away from our thoughts (not stopping thinking) and letting them be without our engagement with them. Praying, based on the religious practice (should you practice one religious ideology and it is absolutely okay not to), will be unique to what you believe and is often a conversation with the higher entity. Meditation is not a conversation, but an observation. A practice of exercising the mind so that we are the master of it, not the other way around. A way to calm down, a way to let go, a way to find peace and get out of our own way.

15. Play regularly

For me, gardening has become my favorite act of play during nine months of the year (and in the winter months when I am sowing seeds in my potting area indoors). Diving into a creative project or playing with my dogs - fetch or chase or anything that brings a bounce to their steps.

16. Rest and be still

Active rest or deliberate rest as shared in detail in episode #139 is similar to #15 - playing, thus letting the mind go and not constricting or limiting where it want to go. Literal rest - a nap, not having plans and just being, taking a getaway where you aren't a tourist, but rather a traveler or lounger is a must.

17. Teach others how to treat you by modeling

When you respect your time by protecting your time without apology regarding when you are available and don't bend like Gumby to work with their schedule, you are modeling. It is when you do say yes that those who observe your practice will understand you value them, and they are more likely to respect showing up as planned.

18. Understand what tension is and when it is helpful and when it is hurtful

Good tension: when you are growing, learning something new, stretching yourself by making change or changing because you need to change to meet your goals

Bad tension: when you won't allow yourself to be who you are and instead are trying to fit into someone else's or society's box of what they want you to be

19. Turn away from the outside regularly to gain grounding

20. Savor regular small pleasures, aka Petit Plaisirs

Explore a four-part series full of more than 100 Petit Plaisir - begin with part one here.

21. Donate all the extra and unnecessary tools - exercise, cooking, technology

If you know the true mechanisms of good cooking, effective and life-long lasting fitness and how a tech device works best, fewer, not more tools and devices are necessary. Learn and eliminate.

22. Reduce your overhead

What does it cost to run your life? Whether in business or in your personal life, what is needed for a life of contentment? Most likely, to return us to #1, less is needed for a more fulfilling life. The few things you need simply need to be quality - both in make and design as well as thoughtful selection to fit well with what you know about yourself.

Go through your bills, subscriptions, regular payments. Exam how you actually use (or if you use) what you pay for. When you reduce the overhead, you clear space which gives you more choice and therefore more freedom and peace. You don't have to make more, you need to live below your means. We know this truth unconsciously, but we also need to live it.

23. Keep what works well and eliminate the mediocre

When it comes to skincare, clothing, tools and other items, be honest, invest in the best you can afford and let go of the rest. Quality over quantity - put it into daily practice.

24. Regular solitude

In episode #91 - The Power of Solitude

25. Streamline incoming information sources

Edit the podcasts you have subscribed to so you can find the ones you want to listen to each time a new one is published, be honest about the news that is informative and helpful and inspiring, similarly the blogs and online sources if you have signed up for their newsletters, do you read it when it arrives or does it immediately get deleted or passed over?. What television programs and streaming services do you actually watch?

26. Identify false needs

The Simplicable blog aptly defines a false need as "a theory that societies create to keep a population in a state of toil, distraction and complacency. [False needs] are typically abstractions that are built on top of real human needs and sold with media and groupthink." Examples of false needs - attaining a certain social status, acquiring certain material items - as small as a certain pair of glasses, to something as large as a house; competition and the need to 'beat' someone in order to feel what you have gained is of value; recognition and rewards.

Understanding to the core what false needs are is not easy, and requires each of us to be excruciatingly honest about what we actually need. I have been thinking about this idea quite a bit lately, and come to discovering some liberating ahas. I have a feeling you will as well.

27. Celebrate rather than compete with others regarding life's journey

A secure individual — secure in their life journey, comfortable with the uncertainties of life, confident they will be able to handle what comes their way as they trust themselves — instinctively celebrates rather than competes. Sometimes they may even be inspired by those they meet, but never jealous.

28. Figure out what causes you stress, thereby grabs your focus, time and energy

Be honest and then get serious about making permanent changes.

As the new year rolls around, sometimes money and weight can creep to the top of resolution lists we wish to change or improve. However, looking more closely, what are we doing in our lives that cause these two areas to be filled with stress? Sometimes it is what we are not doing - we're not removing self-deflating influences, we are not diving into what brings us joy and buoys our love of life, we are buying our way to a happy life when the contentment we seek is within. So much can be avoided by going deeper, being honest with ourselves and making simple, small changes - additions or subtractions - to eliminate such stresses on either these two areas or others that may be causing you pain.

Simplifying, as shown in today's list, is not as simple as rearranging our furniture, or editing our closets. If we choose to truly simplify, we need to be fully present and absolutely honest with ourselves and how and why we live as we do. Sometimes we may want to seek out the guidance of a counselor to answer help us answer truthfully these questions for ourselves, but largely we can do the work ourselves. We just need to remember to do the work because it does pay off wonderful dividends that will remain in our lives for lifetime.

Clearing the clutter, brightening our view, freshening the air to welcome the beauty that our lives have the potential to reveal to us. Yep, simplifying our lives is most definitely worth it. :)

Similar posts/episodes from the Archives you might enjoy:

10 Life Choices to Simplify & Welcome a Calm & Contented Everyday Life, episode #290

Why Not . . . Simplify? 4 Reasons It's Not As Easy As It Sounds, But Absolutely Worth It

Why Not . . . Simplify Your Choices? episode #62

How to Welcome Simplicity into your Life: Live Differently for One Month, episode #224

Petit Plaisir

—Blood On The Vine, French mystery series on MHz

5 seasons

inspired by a crime collection by Fayard

travel throughout wine country in France for a cozy mystery series

and practice your French as well (English subtitles)

https://youtu.be/GRrqrT44psg

Tune in to the latest episode of The Simple Sophisticate podcast

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 21)

Thud!

Akko let her head hit the table in front of her, her hands still on the thick, heavy, old tome she had just pushed away. “I give up...” she sobbed into the wood. “This is it, I’m done, I’m doomed... not even two days into Haven, and already I’ve washed out of Huntress training…”

The students around their table either gave Akko looks of sympathy, or annoyance at distracting them from their own reading and homework.

Diana sighed, and put a bookmark on the passage she was on. “I would suggest taking another break, but it seems like this method of studying is ineffective for you, say the least...” she said quietly.

“It’s really not...” Akko replied as she raised her head from the table, rested her chin on the surface. “Aww, I wish Weiss was here… she and Uncle Nick always had this way of taking complicated things and explaining them in ways I’d understand...”

Meanwhile, in a different section of the library, Weiss was doing just that. “Bellici-Noh is basically giving investors the odds that their investment might be worth this much in the future, assuming everything stays roughly the way they currently are, and absolutely no dramatic or catastrophic changes happen in the meanwhile.

“Think of it like an artillery specialist giving their commanding officers the odds for this particular type of mortar shell to hit a target, this far away from their most ideal firing position, how much damage the explosion might do, and how efficient it is compared to a different type of munition, all based on current battlefield conditions, the weather outside at the time, and all known types of shell, not including ones in development, or not yet formally deployed.

“I have to emphasize, though, the BeN’s predictions rarely, if ever, come close to reality; sometimes, they even tend to be really off the mark, like during the actual firing, it suddenly rains, that shell’s effectiveness drops dramatically in a moisture-rich environment, and, uh, assume that none of the engineers on-site can modify the shells, logistics can’t send them a different batch, and they’ll have to fire anyway, despite knowing full well it performs poorly in the rain, because command already paid for it, and can’t get a refund.

“… Sorry, weapon analogies are really new to me.”

“It’s totally fine, I actually really get it now!” Ruby replied. “Except one thing: if the BeN’s so unreliable in predicting the future, why do they still use it?”

“Because, even if the exact numbers are almost always off, it’s a good measurement for a company’s health in the present, and how likely they are to be profitable, or just still be in business in the future.”

“But can’t you do that without the predictions? You know, just look at how they are right now?”

“Not exactly, Ruby. Maybe the company’s just a brand new startup, and even though it may be small now, they’re primed to take advantage of a huge wave, or even a hot new industry like never before, such as the very first CCT-focused companies.

“Ah… think of like the first mass-production and deployment of fully-automatic firearms; no confirmed kills at time of first deployment and Mantle pushed itself even further into their resource crisis with them, but everyone could tell they were a good investment with how they could mow down hordes of simulated targets with ease…!

“… Aaaannnddd on an unrelated note: add comparing the first tech giants with one of the darkest turning points of the Great War to the list of weird, questionable things I’ve done in the name of studying!”

“There a lot of those?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, plenty!” Akko replied. “Not just analogies, either—mnemonics, weird stories so I could remember the sequence of things, songs, even—we always had to switch things up so I could stay interested and remember it.

“I guess it also really helped that Uncle Nick always had a lot of office supplies lying around, since he’s always learning something new himself, so I could get really creative with my own notes.”

“How so?” Diana asked, putting a fresh sheet of paper over her notebook.

“Oh, lots of ways: sometimes I’d just redraw graphs, maps, and formulas, in ways that I could understand them better, sometimes I’d make flash cards on all kinds of paper and with all kinds of pens, and sometimes we’d even put up cards, pictures, and my notes on the forest by her house, connect them up by string, and I’d just follow them to see how they all connected.”

“Wouldn’t that last one have been more efficient and simpler if you just drew a concept map on a piece of paper?” Diana asked as she wrote down notes.

“Oh, we tried that, but the problem is I’d start fidgeting and get antsy when I sat still for too long, and having to walk all the time helped with that,” Akko replied.

Diana nodded. “It all seems like quite a lot of work, effort, and cost in supplies, though.”

“It was definitely a good thing grandpa can get supplies in bulk and on the cheap, yeah,” Weiss said. “But it worked, and it got Akko through Combat School.” She sighed. “Man, I really hope she can adapt to all this reading and conventional note taking, there’s no way we could ever find the space nor the time to build something like that up here in Haven—just the stockpiles alone would take up a quarter of our room.”

“Maybe it’s not entirely impossible, though!” Ruby said. “I think I might be able to figure out some way to make it more space efficient, and less time, resource, and work intensive if I had enough opportunity and materials to experiment. I mean, the crux of the system was that it was varied enough to keep Akko from getting bored, sometimes move around and exercise, right?”

“You really think you’d be able to build something like that?” Weiss aksed.

Ruby snorted. “Weiss, please! I’m a weapons engineer: understanding, designing, and refining systems are kind of my thing.

“Sure, the ultimate goal won’t be killing Grimms and fighting off potential human opponents as quickly, efficiently, and simply as possible, but when you really get down to it, the design of any weapon is based on making a whole lot of potential actions be possible and efficient with the one machine.

“It’s kind of like how Shooting Star’s designed:

“It needs to have a stable, secure handle for the blade because of all the high-impact, heavy trauma it experiences every time Akko fights up close or defends with it, so it’s breach-loading, to provide the least amount of internal mechanisms and moving parts that might get damaged or knocked out of alignment from the reaction of melee attacks or recoil.

“And even though its rate of fire and maximum ammo capacity is pretty bad, it compensates for it by being able to fire shotgun shells, grenades, and Showstoppers without completely breaking apart from the sheer force of the blast traveling out up the barrel like other, lighter, more mechanically complex types of shotguns would.”

Weiss stared at her.

“… Sorry, did I go overboard again…? That tends to happen, as I guess you’ve noticed...”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Diana replied, “it was actually quite interesting, and a good insight into how your learning process works, and what’s effective for you—we might even be able to use this, if ever we find we really do need to recreate that system here in Haven, somehow.”

“You want to call Akko, start figuring out how to do just that?” Ruby offered. “Maybe I can even go find Constanze, see if she can help.”

“No, best not interrupt either of them,” Diana said. “They’re probably deep in their work right now, and sending a message will only distract them. Best we see if you all you really needed was a reprieve from the history books, and just float the topic once we all meet up for dinner, or continue studying in our room.”

Akko sighed. “Okay you’re right,, I guess I’ll just try again…” she said as she sat up and straight, put her game face on, and pulled the book from earlier back to her.

Thud!

Akko let her head hit their table in the dining hall, sobbing as she pushed the book away once more. “I give up, for real this time—I just can’t do it!”

Diana sighed as she took the tome, carefully shut it, and put it into one of their many loaded backpacks and borrowed bags from the library. “You know what Akko, I think it might be better if you and Weiss study together again, but only until we can figure out some system or method for you,” she said as she picked up her chopsticks, and returned to her bowl of katsudon.

“How about we spend the rest of tonight doing that?” Ruby said as she picked up a new croquette from her plate. “We could start testing it as early as tomorrow, when we get back to our assignments.”

“It might be better if we do it over the weekend, once we have a better idea of what ALL of our classes will entail, and our professors’ respective expectations,” Diana replied. “It wouldn’t serve us well if the system we create on Wednesday turns out to be lacking by Saturday,” she said, before she put some more food into her mouth.

“I disagree,” Weiss said, “everything I’ve ever done with Akko tends to be created, modified, and refined on the fly—extensive planning from the get-go just tends to fall apart pretty soon.”

Akko groaned, her face still planted on the wood. “Can we please not talk about studying anymore? I already lost my appetite from it...”

“Want to go talk a quick walk outside?” Weiss asked. “I’m already done with dinner, after all,” she said, gesturing to her empty plate.

“Yes please…” Akko said as she stood up from the table.

“Don’t take too long!” Diana called out as they left. “I want to get back to all these as soon as possible, but I’m not going to haul them to our dorm with just Ruby for help!” she said, gesturing to their bags of books.

“We won’t!” Weiss called back.

Soon, the two of them were walking around the side of the dining hall, passing by the numerous herb plants and vegetables the kitchen staff grew on-site, other students and staff taking their dinners outside, or talking walks themselves. They could still hear the din from inside, but it was muted now, so you could easily tune it out and speak normally over it.

“Why is huntress training so overloaded right from the get-go…?” Akko muttered, her fingers rubbing her temples. “Do you even remember half of the speeches from our morning classes? Because I don’t! Was it even really necessary, or were they just giving us a preview of all the reading we’d have to do, but spoken?”

“Like grandpa and grandma said, it’s to weed out those that don’t have the determination or the drive early; I don’t, but I took notes; I’d say yes, it was important to set the tone of the class right off the bat; and probably!” Weiss replied. “Maybe you really should have taken grandma’s offer for a summer class  about what academy life was going to be like.”

“No! No way!” Akko cried, taking her hands off her temples and crossing them in front of her. “I said I’d regret it if I wasted our last official summer as kids on that, and I sure as heck don’t regret it now! All this homework and reading sucks, but at least I didn’t waste a once in a lifetime opportunity I’d never have again, and I made sure that you didn’t, either!

“Speaking of which… how are you holding up?”

“Fine!” Weiss replied. “Nothing I haven’t already griped about back when I was in the hospital, and Diana and Ruby are turning out to be great teammates! Though, uh, I’ve got some new concerns about Ruby’s sister and the influence JAYS might have on ours...”

Akko nodded, before she stopped walking, and gave Weiss a pointed look.

Weiss hesitated for a moment, and said, “Like I said, it’s fine. I’m fine! Nothing to report.”

“You sure…?” Akko asked quietly. “Not getting those thoughts again? Didn’t miss any days?”

“Yes, no, and”--Weiss hesitated”—well… okay, I missed the morning of Initiation, but it’s fine! I held up all day, didn’t I?”

“Except for the part where you passed out twice.”

“That was probably more from the exhaustion of pushing my semblance so much, having drained my aura too far!”

“And what you mumbled while Ruby was carrying you…?”

Weiss winced. “It’s supposed to stay in that cave, right?”

“And it will!” Akko sighed. “I knew it felt like I was forgetting something important that whole morning, I just couldn’t figure out what… why didn’t you get your things out of storage?”

“I couldn’t find a good, quiet opportunity to do it!” Weiss shot back. “You saw how packed the Great Hall was that morning, and a lot of them were already waking up—what if they saw me…?”

“Then they probably wouldn’t have cared, because they were too busy getting ready for Initiation and thinking about what they needed to do that morning,” Akko replied. “If they were suddenly that interested to find out what you had in your suitcase and what you were doing with it, then that would have been a different problem altogether.”

“Okay!” Weiss said, holding her hands up. “I got paranoid and made a mistake! I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“And you’ll tell them, too?” Akko asked.

“Yes, like I said, I’ll tell them too!” Weiss said, exasperated. Then, she looked back at the dining hall, suddenly looking fearful. “How… how do you think they’ll take the news…?”

Akko put her hand on Weiss’ shoulder. “I don’t know, Weiss; I guess we’ll just deal with it when it comes up, like we always do.” She gently coaxed her face back to her, and smiled. “And I’m going to be right there by your side, like I always am, and always will be.”

Weiss teared up, before she pulled Akko into a hug, buried her face in her shoulder. “What did I ever do to deserve you…?” she sobbed.

Akko just smiled, and hugged her back.

Thud!

“Phew! That’s the last of them!” Ruby said as she and Akko admired the books now neatly stacked on the floor, within easy reach of both Diana and Weiss.

“Thank you, you two,” Diana said as she grabbed ancient history texts off the top of one. “My apologies again for my arms failing me earlier; I’ve just gotten far too used to Atlas’ high-speed lifts and trams everywhere, it seems.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t sweat it, it happens!” Ruby replied.

“Anything else you two want us to do?” Akko asked.

“None at the moment!” Weiss replied as ran her finger along the spines, pulled out a student’s copy of the Mistral Constitution. “Unless you two want to try exercising your brains again, I guess you two can take the rest of the night off.”

“Woo!” Akko cried, throwing her arms up into the air. “Hey, you two aren’t going to spend all night hitting the books, are you?”

“Absolutely not,” Diana replied as flipped back to the pages she was on, got her notebooks and her pens ready. “I’m already sleep deprived from my research into the Shiny Rod, and we all know what sort of unpleasantness THAT leads to...” she mumbled.

Akko blushed. “Sorry about that, again… Weiss?”

“Going to go to sleep as soon as I start feeling tired, Akko, don’t worry,” Weiss replied as she scanned through the pages of the first and second articles. “Also, Sucy said her ‘Infinite Energy’ tends to have pretty intense and sudden crashes followed by long periods of deep sleep, so you might need to go through dramatic methods to wake me up tomorrow morning.”

“Got it!” Akko said, saluting. “I’m just going to be introducing Ruby and the Shiny Rod to Starlight Crusaders, feel free to join us if you want to take a break from the books early!”

Diana blinked, and looked over her shoulder. “Seriously...?”

“Very seriously!” Ruby called out as she changed out of her uniform and into her pajamas. “Even if it is just a kid’s show, and pretty simple as a result, the wide range of characters, plotlines, and scenes might really help the Shiny Rod better understand Akko, and thus, help her talk with it!

“If nothing else, then at least I’ll finally find out why my classmates from grade school wouldn’t shut up about this show.”

“Fair warning, you might end up bingewatching entire seasons in one sitting!” Weiss called out. “It started with my little brother, Whitley, and the addiction just spread to the rest of us!”

Ruby and Akko went off to go watch it at one corner, the Shiny Rod in Akko’s lap and audio receivers in their ears, Diana and Weiss continued on with their homework, going about with their evening plans  until sleep called, and they started turning in.

Diana yawned as she raised her arms up and stretched, rocked about on her cushion before she got up from her desk. She made a mental note of all the tasks and reading that still needing doing tomorrow, before she looked at Weiss, and frowned. “Weiss? Aren’t you getting tired?”

“Nope, not really!” Weiss replied. “Like I said, whatever Sucy gave me is pretty 60 to 0.”

Diana checked her scroll, propped up on her desk like a timer and clock—10:13 PM. “It’s getting rather late… are you sure you don’t want to call her, ask for something that might put you to sleep?”

“No thank you, I’m pretty sure it’ll wear off any time now,” Weiss said. “Her estimate’s only off by like what, fifteen minutes? ‘Science is only predictable, precise, and rigid once someone’s figured out just what the hell it is you’re supposed to be looking for,’ like my grandma would say.”

“Fair enough… sleep well, when it comes calling, I suppose,” Diana said, shutting her scroll before heading off to change.

“Thank you, Diana, good night,” Weiss said, before she returned to her work.

By 5 AM, Weiss was looking over her shoulder and at her sleeping teammates as she unscrewed the lid of her prescription bottle, forced her hands to stop shaking as she shook out her daily dose, swallowed it dry before she slammed the lid back on, stuffed the bottle back into her underwear drawer.

Then, she carefully, silently shut it, and slipped into her futon, rubbed her hair against her pillow and tossed and turned as quietly and discretely as she could. She pulled out her scroll, and after confirming that she looked like she had just had a poor night’s sleep than none, she sent out a message:

“Sucy, we have a problem.”

[bh944]

2018 Honda Fit Sport 6MT Review

By Bradley Harris

So I'll admit... I ended up getting behind the wheel of my Lunar Silver 2018 Honda Fit Sport rather unexpectedly. I wasn't even totally sure about getting a new (to me) car, as I had no down payment, and have recently been making the majority of my income from Uber, which is a hard gig to get financing approval on. However, I got an email from a Honda dealer advertising financing for all, so I decided to give it a try at least.

When I arrived, I specified that if at all possible, I'd like a car with a manual transmission. As luck would have it, the only manual car available was a slightly used Fit Sport. After a quick test drive, I liked the look and was rather impressed with the transmission and unexpectedly peppy pickup, the space, and the Android Auto integration. On top of that, the dealer was willing to give me some time with the car to earn the down payment with Uber, so I said, "Let's make this deal happen!" As it turns out, I couldn't imagine many other cars making me happier to drive it with Uber than this car, and really, it is simply a solid automotive value - period.

In terms of exterior styling, I rather like the car a lot. This is where the "Sport" trim moniker makes the most impact, as exterior aesthetic upgrades are the only changes Honda made in creating the Sport trim, other than adding contrasting orange stitching to the otherwise very very black interior, which at least has varied textures and some metallic finishes to keep it from looking like a black hole of plastic. Honda added sporty-looking front and rear bumper caps with orange trim lines, as well as sill extensions, a roof spoiler, and gloss black wheels to achieve a sportier look, and by most accounts, it's successful. I've received a few compliments on the look of the car.

Overall, "Fit" is perhaps the most apropos name Honda could have given this car. It's diminutive dimensions, at 161.8 inches long, 67 inches wide, and 60 inches tall mean that it can fit in even some of the tightest parking spaces without issue, making it ideal for impacted parking areas in urban environs. Don't let its small size fool you, though, as its capacious interior, assisted by that 60 inch height, has 39.5 inches of headroom in the front seats and 37.5 inches in the rear, 41.4 inches of front / 39.3 inches of rear legroom, and 54.8 inches of front / 52.6 inches of rear shoulder room. I've regularly had people 6' - 6'2" sit in the front seat without complaint with someone comfortably seated behind them that was anywhere from 5'2" to 5'9". I myself, at 5'10", find the Fit accommodates me quite well seated behind myself, with 3 inches of additional kneeroom between me and the front seat no less! A very regular comment I get is, "Wow! What car is this again? It's so roomy in here!" Honda's designers and engineers have achieved nothing short of a small miracle getting so much space from such compact dimensions.

In terms of luggage space, it has 16.6 cubic feet with the "Magic Seat" second row up and 52.7 cubic feet with it down, so called magic because with one pull of the lever located on the back of each section of the 60/40 split folding seat, the seat goes down in one fell swoop to create a totally flat rear load floor. For reference, that 16.6 cubes of space with the seat up is as much as you'll get in the trunk of most mid-size family sedans, including Honda's own Accord, at 16.7 cubic feet, and it's incredibly useable, with only minor intrusions from the spaces for the rear shocks. I once helped an Uber rider cart home 7 large plants from Home Depot, folding the 60 section of the Magic Seat to accomodate it all. We both were impressed. (Funnily enough, she chose to ride in the 40 section of the seat in the second row amidst her small forest, rather than ride shotgun, because it would be weird sitting up front I guess... 😂)

All the controls and instruments fall easily at hand, and honestly, it's an intuitive and easy cabin to figure out. One niggle I've found, though, is that the center armrest is quite small and a bit low for my liking, which is too low for my right arm when not busy steering or shifting. Also, the only item I thus far have needed to reference the owner's manual for is the infotainment system. While I've not tested the old head unit with the digital adjustment for volume which was much maligned, the volume knob/power button is the only hard control for infotainment aside from the brightness button. Overall, it's a pretty easy-to-use system, but figuring out the display screen options was a bit of a head scratcher, even after I referred to the manual. It took some digging in online forums for me to finally understand how that part works, which is a frustration which shouldn't be the case, but which in the grand scheme, isn't all that huge.

The last niggle, and this is a rather large one, is that the system can be quite glitchy from time to time. I'll be driving, and the Android Auto will cut out saying my phone isn't compatible with Android Auto (me thinking, "Aaaaaaaaall of a sudden"). This one isn't much of a bother, as it just takes a quick unplug/replug of the cable into the phone to fix it. The bigger problem is that the system will completely shutdown at random, not often, but often enough that I've begun to think it has a mind of its own. Worse, it takes the system around 2-3 minutes to completely reboot and start up again, during which a lot of navigating would have needed to happen, and the silence which it creates can be defeaning when Uber riders are onboard. Thankfully, Android Auto does pickup the slack on the device at times, continuing to announce directions from it, and if it doesn't, the Uber app is showing the route as well. The system's excuse that it suddenly lost power is invalid, however, as this mishap happens most while in motion, and it's something Honda needs to address.

As for positives of the infotainment, while I don't have an iPhone to test Apple Carplay integration, the Android Auto integration is👌🏼. One can stream from any audio source on their phone when using Android Auto, and Google Maps is better than almost any nav system an automaker could integrate into the system. What's even neater is that with my Uber app set to navigate from Google maps, when I hit navigate in the driver app, it pulls up on Google maps in the center stack screen and starts navigating with only a second or two load time.

The upgraded audio available with the Sport and above, at 6 channels (two tweeters near the base of the windshield, and one full range speaker in each of the 4 doors) and 180 watts of total output, is rather decent for a car in this class, and can reach up in volume with little sound distortion aside from some bass muddiness. It has adequate connectivity too, with streaming Bluetooth audio as well as a USB port and 12V outlet lower in the center stack above a bin just behind the cupholders where one can store their phone. An additional outlet and USB port are in the center console. No AUX outlet means easy switching between your device and a passenger's for audio source duty isn't easily possible, though in most cases I think many will find that a plus. Additionally, there are no charging ports behind the console for the second row.

For everyday driving duty, the audio system is more than adequate for most, though if you're someone like me who LOVES the music they listen to, you'll want to upgrade this system beyond what Honda can give you at this price point. Price considered though, the system is quite good.

The shifter, which is leather covered and stitched like a baseball (nice touch!) in the aforementioned contrasting orange (same as the sturdily-upholstered cloth seats and steering wheel for added sporty appeal), falls easily at hand, fitting in the palm beautifully and comfortably. So does the leather-lined three-spoke steering wheel, which feels nice to hold, has just the right diameter, and contains easy to use controls for cruise control, audio, and Bluetooth phone functions.

The rev counter and speedometer are analog and are very legible, while there's a digital gauge for fuel economy and fuel tank level which also shows the odometer, trip information, fuel range, and a few other useful data points. The fuel economy gauge is fun to play with as you monitor accelerator usage, and there are lights next to the speedometer that change from blue to green as revs climb, fitting with the name "Earth Dreams" Honda has given to its latest set of engine tech. I personally feel adding a red light as one approached redline would be a nice-to-have addition, especially since this is the "Sport" model.

There's actually quite a copious number of beverage holders, with a spot for bottles on each of the four doors, as well as two reasonably-sized cup holders ahead of the shifter, and one cup holder that expands out of the dash up at the drivers left side near the air vent. That placement is very very convenient, I've found.

One last note on the cabin. Build quality is stellar! Panel gaps and trim fittings are all tight, and after about 18,000 miles of driving, there's been no squeaks, rattles, or other untoward noises.

Soooooo, finally, how does it drive?

Competent. Very competent. Its responses are mostly well-controlled, with quick, responsive steering and a composed ride quality; though, as can be expected for a car in this price range, sharp impacts are heard and felt, and there is a bit of float and flopping over on quick transitions that I wish the "Sport" moniker could have dialed out. Also, the rear end will stutter and skip a bit on broken pavement when near the limits of the tires' adhesion, thanks to its torsion-beam rear axle. As it is, all suspension and mechanical settings are the same across the board for the Fit from trim to trim. The steering is relatively numb, though there is a tiny bit of feedback coming through the steering right at the limit. You can feel the tires begin to break traction and push into understeer, but the buildup to that is quiet, as is the case with most electric steering setups these days. A bit of lift throttle will quickly reign in the front end, which otherwise will generally go where it's pointed with precision. The short wheelbase really helps with making the car lithe and responsive, as does it's low 2,648-pound weight.

The shifter is mostly a joy to work, with silken glides from gate to gate and a solid, mechanical feel as it enters the gear. However, from time to time, the shifts can get a touch balky, and even refuse to enter the gate, which necesitates a full clutch out/in to get it to cooperate. Pedal placement is also great for whether you heal-and-toe or not.

Overall, though, the Fit is a relatively slow car that can be quite fun to drive fast, as its limits are within reach on the street and can be explored without necessarily endangering your license. Freeway onramps become your skidpad, and feeling the 1.5 liter's i-VTEC cam changeover as you reach freeway speeds in the upper range reminds you why anybody makes a big deal about it. There's a noticeable increase in acceleration as it happens, at you really feel every one of its 128 horsepower working. It's acceleration, while not breathtaking, is surprisingly peppy. It has a rather delightful VTEC song, too, with a full induction sound that will give you flashbacks of some of Honda's greatest engines.

In terms of fuel economy, this little machine is a sweetheart. It's EPA-rated at 29 city / 36 highway / 31 combined, and in mixed driving, I'm getting anywhere between 32 and 35. Plus, with just a 10.6 gallon tank, I'm super happy paying only about $26 per fillup of 87 octane at current prices in my area hovering around $3.19. As an Uber driver, this kind of fuel economy/cost are a boon, as it means I can make a lot more money from each tank than I can in many other vehicles, and the expense doesn't cut too much into the profit.

The Sport trim includes none of the Honda Sensing suite of safety tech available on the EX and EX-L, but being an enthusiast, I personally don't want or miss any of it. While there are many consumers who find comfort in the extra safety, there's just no replacement for good driving, and I find that this car, with a manual, is great car for honing one's skills to become a better driver for everyone. The tall greenhouse on the Fit means that sightlines all around are phenomenal. A camera checking my blind spots would be redundant, as doing it in this car is easy to do myself. With my hands full between the shifter and steering and my feet with the pedals, my attention is squarely on my driving, and it makes me very aware of what I'm doing and how I can do it better. There's no room for distracted driving!

Honda has built a real winner with the Fit, and despite the Sport trim only looking sportier than its other trims, its driving dynamics, while not outright sporty, are at least composed enough to be fun in between serving commute duties. With a mixture of space, versatility (+1 for the hatchback), economy, and infotainment tech, the Fit Sport is a great car for enthusiasts on a budget who must make some compromises for life. Commuters on a budget will find they had to compromise very little, if at all, with the Fit, and with the extra safety tech of upper trims and niceties like leather, heated front seats, and a moonroof, the Fit is capable of fit-ting most people's needs and lifestyles very, very well at a price that won't break the bank.

[olivereliott]

Taste of Tsukuba: A classic Suzuki GS1200SS race bike

If you like to play Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, you’ll know the Tsukuba circuit. It’s hugely popular with the street tuner guys, who use it for ‘time attack’ sprints—and it’s also home to some of Japan’s biggest motorcycle races, second only to the Suzuka 8 Hours.

In May and November every year, the circuit hosts the famous ‘Taste of Tsukuba’ races. These are open to classic race bikes, and the array of the machinery lined up on the grid is mouthwatering. And when racing restarts in Japan later this year, one of the bikes on the grid will be this freshly built Suzuki GS1200SS.

It’ll be piloted by American Jason Fullington, an old friend of Bike EXIF since the days when he worked at ICON Motosports in Portland, Oregon. For the past ten years he’s lived in Japan, and spends his weekdays running the importer AFG Motosports. At nights and weekends, he’s testing road bikes for global magazines, building race bikes for himself, and hitting the local tracks.

Jason’s latest track weapon is this GS1200SS, which is configured to run in the Formula Zero class at Tsukuba. That means it’s a very cool mix of old and new tech, and right up our street.

“There is some modern technology, but Taste of Tsukuba bikes are mostly ‘historical’ machines,” Jason tells us. “If you are a motorcycle lover of the old school, this event is the absolute best in Japan. The races draw in celebrity riders from around the world, including greats from WSBK and MotoGP.”

With 100 horsepower on tap and a dry weight of around 460 pounds, the stock GS1200S is an excellent choice for a fun track bike. “It took me several years to master the Tsukuba circuit on my Aprilia RSV4RF, so I was ready for T.O.T. battle,” says Jason. “But finding a spec T.O.T. machine for sale is almost impossible. So you must make one from scratch, and the older bikes in Japan have a price premium.”

Then Jason had a stroke of luck. At the circuit, he met local riding legend Hiroyuki Funaki, who owned a GS1200SS modeled to look like the Suzuka 8 Hours GS1000s from years past. “I told him how much I loved that bike. Then the following day Funaki-san messaged me, and said, ‘Do you want it?’ My jaw hit the floor.”

Jason picked up the Suzuki the next day. And because the May T.O.T. race was cancelled due to COVID19, he had time to turn the GS1200SS into the ultimate retro race bike. “I wanted to give it the most top-level spec possible. I had the time, industry friends, and a chief mechanic all at the ready.”

Jason has installed new bodywork from Katana Kaji and Magical Racing, based on his dream bike: the late 80s Suzuki GSX-R750RK limited edition. “The layout for the paint and graphics was done by Icon Motosports’ ace designer Kerry Miller. I also have two sets of practice fairings, which have paint mimicking the red, white and black Suzuka 8 Hours Yoshimura GS1000.” The neat seat pad came from local specialist RaceSeats.

Starting from the front, Jason sourced a set of forged JB-Power Magtan rims from Bito. The suspension has been upgraded too, using new internals installed by Junpei Ohba of S&E Precision—a world-class Öhlins suspension engineer.

For braking, Jason has chosen the highest pedigree of racing-specific Brembo kit, without compromising the nostalgic look of the bike. It’s hooked up via Stäubli quick disconnects and custom-made HEL brake lines, which flow the stopping juices from a Brembo race brake master cylinder mounted on Battle Factory clip-ons. The CNC’d brake mounts and triples were all custom fabricated specifically for this bike.

The cockpit is dominated by an AiM Solo DL2 digital display, which also handles data logging via two GPS satellite constellations and a built-in database of 2,000 racetracks. On a more analog note, Yoshimura supplied the oil pressure gauge, control switches and buttons. And there’s a modern-day carbon lever guard, and an ACTIVE quick throttle.

Going to the clutch side we have an adjustable Brembo RCS19 to actuate the slave cylinder from K-Factory (who also furnished a custom sprocket guard). Jason’s also upgraded the clutch with a heavy-duty race-specific clutch and basket from F.C.C.

Oil cooling duties are handled by a 13-row set up from PLOT, and under the gas tank cover is a SuperBike83 inner race tank that feeds high-octane juice into the Mikuni flatslide TMR40 carbs. The ignition and spark are controlled by a trick AS UOTANI SPii Advanced kit, but the charging system has been removed.

The internals of the 16-valve, 1,156 cc inline four engine are currently unmolested, and perfectly fine. But in the future, Jason will add Yoshimura cams and valves for a little extra fillip.

Breathing is via handmade headers and a mid pipe from NOJIMA, with gases exiting through the beefy 60mm outlet of an SC-Project GP-M2 can. Power hits the back wheel via DID ERV racing chains “and a good selection of sprockets, both front and rear, depending on my mood and how I’m performing!”

The ultimate trick part, though, is a one-off custom swingarm from Mr. Numari at Super Build Maximum. “His fabrication talents have been used at the highest levels of motorcycling,” Jason enthuses. “It’s an honor to have his craftsmanship (and artwork, if you will) on my machine.”

Just above the swingarm are fully adjustable Babyface rearsets—better known as Sato Racing outside Japan. “We had to custom-make the base block because there’s no specific kit for the GS. We modeled it on a set intended for a Ducati Monster M1100.”

The Suzuki is now finished and ready to roll, but it’s a waiting game. “I’m patiently awaiting the reopening of the track to test her out, and prepare myself for the battles in November,” says Jason. “Podium or not, just to race in this prestigious event is an honor for this ole boy from North Carolina!”

Given Jason’s racing pedigree and the specs of this incredible machine, we’re banking on a podium finish.

AFG Motosports | Facebook | Instagram

[coconut2877-blog]

9/28/19 ground already shaking

This week I weighed more carefully my propositions and my stance in the study. There are certainly frustrating parts but these assessments as a whole helped me realize what is really possible.

My contradiction:

This week I talked to my ECE professor Dr. Selesnick about my initial idea of deriving customized algorithms from what is already there, more specifically combining DWG and FTM. We talked about limitations of FTM, and the difference between traditional approach and my approach(effects of eliminating the SLT step). It turns out that my approach is a subset of FTM, where the PDE formulations are simple enough to conclude that the eigenfunctions of SLT transform are sinusoidal functions of different frequencies. On one hand he proposed that for solving more complex shapes I would have to look into SLT literature, on the other hand he said depending on my purposes I don’t have to feel obliged to stick onto FTM method. He also thought instead of thinking about advancing the algorithm, maybe I should use what I already know and build non-existing tools around it. For example turning the conventional mouse-dragged slider interface I built into something more unusual/intuitive to use, maybe a visualization of shapes it can morph into. 

This meeting, as well as pre-thesis’ class activity - telling your partner what motivates you in this theme, made me reexamine my goals. Below I list things I want and not want from this project

I want to:

Build a physical modeling tool that is flexible enough, in terms of the shapes it can take on, and the way that it is morphed. 

This tool has to differ from the physical modeling tools existing in market (commercial plugins made by Applied Acoustics Systems)

This tool has to remind users of where the sound comes from. This does not limit to defining the exciters/resonators/sizes like what AAS did. They’ve done it pretty well and it makes no sense to repeat their paths. Some more intriguing ways of presenting the tool might include - infer back physical parameters from analyzing its sound, combine analog and digital domain (real exciter + virtual resonator, virtual exciter + real resonator), design creative interfaces etc.

I don’t want to:

This tool’s main focus would not, and would probably exceed my time/math capability to be as physically accurate as possible. Converting what other ECE Phds spent years (the theories/algorithms) deriving into something more accessible should be the focus.

This tool would not become a UX design. I do want to collaborate with artists and makers and make work utilizing the tool. However the process is more prone to a speculative design one than a user-centered one. 

Some remaining questions/things to think about:

If the project has become a collection of artwork/tools triggered by some fundamental theories of physical modeling, what kind of research process should it take on? Would it just be a brainstorm of ideas or something I can follow rigorously. 

There is probably a lot of disciplines to follow when it comes to speculative design, where should I start?

I still have a lot of papers to read, in order to get a sense of what current researchers in physical modeling are doing. My reference is from early 2000s and the author of the book is still advising students, publishing papers, producing results. 

What tools are already built:

I checked out AAS(Applied Acoustics System)’s plugins. This company build physical modeling products mainly in the form of plugins. I didn’t look into their algorithms yet from the way their plugin is designed - sections of exciters, resonators and parameters for changing mass/sizes, I speculated that it is using the DWG method developed by researchers like Julius Smith. The plugin sounds convincing, with pretty comprehensive functionalities already. In the example of Ableton Live + AAS collab plugins, they implemented percussive(Collision), strings(Tension), electronic circuits (Electric) sounds separately. 

Looking into their website/CTO tech talk I found the below quotes inspiring:

“

But the real interest of physical modeling is not so much how realistic it can be but how natural and expressive it is. As we explained previously, physical modeling generates sound in response to input signals. Its output is not deterministic and always varies depending on the nature of the control signals and what is being played. In other words, it is dynamic and this is how real life instruments behave!

For example, hit a note on a piano regularly. The note played will always be the same but if you listen carefully , the sound is always different. Why? Because when you hit the note the first time, the hammer hits a note at rest which sets it into vibration. When the hammer hits the string again, it is already vibrating and will now interact differently with the hammer. Hit it once more and the hammer will hit the string when it is in another point in its oscillation and again will produce a different sound. This is what makes acoustic sounds so rich and lively, they are never quite the same. Now this is something physical modeling reproduces naturally which is not the case with other methods such as sampling.

Another department in which physical modeling is very strong is in the reproduction of transients. This is the part of a sound during which the signal varies very rapidly, such as in attacks as opposed to the sustained part of a note where the waveform is very stable. Perceptually, transients are crucial and they give the tonal signature of an instrument. There is a very interesting psycho-acoustic experiment where one removes the attacks from recorded notes played on different instruments. In other words, one then only listens to the sustained phase of the notes. Well, in these conditions, it becomes very difficult to recognize the instrument.

”

More theories:

From the FTM+DWG chapter in my reference book by Trautman and Rabenstein, I summarized:

Three filters from the DWG need to be inferred from FTM - loss filter, dispersion filter and fractional delay filter. Each has equations that connects filter coefficients with FTM physical parameters, done in Bank, 2000.

The spectral synthesized is only accurate in the lowest partials.

Computational saving is approximately 70% compared to direct FTM simulation. but it depends on number of partials need to be calculated, and parameter update rate of the physical model.

This combination is not any more useful for vibrating bars or high parameter update rates. Moreover it might cause audible transients in the DWG since the filter coefficients are not varied as smoothly as in the FTM.

From Julius Smith's lecture recorded at CIRMMT in Mcgill University in 2010, I summarized:

DWG is a method largely based on D’Alembert’s traveling wave formulation of string vibrations. How to equate this traveling wave(describing string vibrations as waves traveling to the left + waves traveling to the right) and the standing wave description(describing string vibrations as superpositions of sinusoidal modes) derived by Bernoulli had been a conundrum, and was resolved at a later time. This equivalence relates to me in that it also explains why time-based approach(FDM, DWG) and frequency-based approach(FTM, MS) coexist in physical modeling.

DWG starts from the traveling waves model, adds filters of various kinds to simulate different mechanisms in and out of the instruments. For example pianos need filters to mock the felt hammers striking on strings, clarinets need delay lines and nonlinear filters to circulate and reflect air off the reed within the instrument, guitars need filters for modeling stiffness, damping, pickup position/direction of the string etc. These mechanical components are linked together in blocks, can commute(doesn’t change the output when changing sequence of the filters), and are what constitutes the entire model. 

At the time of this lecture, lots of research are going into performance/gestural synthesis, 

Documentation of a newly started collaboration:

Last week I started a collaboration with ITP student Wenjing Liu. We have conceptualized an installation/idea on blurring the boundary between virtual and real sounding objects. 

Our initial idea is an elastic ball as a pendulum, swinging and banging into two “walls” on the side one is a real wall and one is a virtual wall - one producing real wall-ball collision sound and the other a synthesized one. Slowly the virtual wall will morph into something completely different until the audience can pick up the difference.

We prototyped a max msp + arduino + distance sensor project and here are some photo documentations. 

[cryptochurp]

Bitcoin is ‘Financial Dynamite’ – Saifedean Ammous (Interview)

Bitcoinist spoke with Saifedean Ammous, assistant professor of economics at Lebanese American University, Bitcoin economist, carnivore grill-master, and author of the new book, The Bitcoin Standard.

I think Bitcoin is the most advanced and best form of money ever invented.

–Saifedean Ammous

Bitcoinist: First, why did you decide to write The Bitcoin Standard?

Saifedean Ammous (SA): I found myself spending more and more time explaining and writing about the economics of Bitcoin to people as interest grew, and many friends would ask me what I think. I decided it would make sense to have my thoughts collected in one place and started working on that. I envisioned it being a brief book, but once I started writing it, I enjoyed it so much and got so engrossed in it, it quickly mushroomed to 300 pages.

Bitcoinist: As an assistant professor of economics, what do you think Bitcoin can be compared to as far as human inventions go?

SA: I think it’s the most advanced and best form of money ever invented. Money isn’t new, and we’ve had it before, but Bitcoin may have just perfected it by creating the first strictly scarce commodity with a fixed supply. It is something quite unique, and while many analogies exist, they will likely only capture one aspect of it.

One particular analogy I like is to think of it as financial dynamite, or gunpowder. In a world where everyone is using primitive sticks and stones, whoever has dynamite first can dominate the others.

Similarly, in a world where everyone is using crappy government-controlled and censored money whose supply is expanding, anyone who has unstoppable hard digital money is at a huge advantage.

Bitcoinist: Your book explains how money technology took many forms throughout history, from seashells to gold, etc. What properties does Bitcoin possess making it the best money technology for the Information age?

SA: The most important for me is the fixed supply, which makes Bitcoin the first truly scarce liquid asset. We can always make more of anything else on earth if we dedicate more resources to it, but we will never have more than 21 million bitcoin.

One of my favorite economists, Julian Simon, had written of how all natural resources are best understood as products of human time, and not resources, because more of them can always be made. The only truly scarce resource according to Simon is human time, whose allocation into the production of material things can always produce more of them.

Humans have always sought the monetary media whose supply is hardest to expand in order to use them as the store of value they produce with their time. But all these media of exchange were imperfect because their supply is constantly expanding, while of course the human time that created the value is finite. In other words, the fruits of your labor will be devalued once they go into a store of value whose supply is increased. 

It is mind-boggling to imagine the implication of finally having a store of value that is also strictly scarce, like human time, with no possibility for increased supply devaluing the value stored inside it. 

Bitcoinist: The pace of tech adoption has been accelerating from the 19th century onwards, with smartphone technology now only taking less than a decade. Where is Bitcoin right now on this curve? How long will it take to ‘go mainstream?’

SA: As an Austrian school economist, I do not think we can make accurate timeline predictions in matters of human action. It could take a year or one hundred, for all I know, as it depends on the actions of billions of humans.

Bitcoinist: What’s your take on the whole “Blockchain not Bitcoin” mantra we often hear from the likes of Jamie Dimon and traditional finance?

SA: A silly diversion and coping mechanism, an avalanche of pointless scams, a flood of stupid easy money being spent on worthless vaporware.

The only blockchains that matter other than Bitcoin are Bitcoin testnets.   

Bitcoinist: Even the World Gold Council acknowledged that Bitcoin could undermine central banks. Are they scared? Do you think they will openly attempt to fight Bitcoin, or will they start buying it themselves?

SA: I can’t speak for their psychological state, but I think we will see a variety of approaches among countries to Bitcoin. The more computer-illiterate governments (likely the same ones that thought they could stop the internet) will likely attempt to ban it.

But I think that the more enlightened among them will understand the immense opportunity here, the important advancements, and be more open to it. In the end, it makes far more sense for bureaucrats and central banks to take the path of least resistance and try to own some Bitcoin than try to fight it. As soon as some central banks have done that, it will get the others to start considering more seriously because the last thing you want is to be the last one arriving at a new gold rush.

Bitcoinist: What do you see as the biggest threat to Bitcoin? Central banks, governments? Infighting within the community? Something else?

SA: Arguably governments and central banks are the most serious threats, as they could make life difficult for Bitcoiners in many places around the world, even though their attempts will likely be futile in the long run.

I don’t think that anything happening in the community matters in any meaningful sense, as the rules of consensus are largely immune to politics and drama.

Bitcoinist: What’s your opinion of the Bitcoin Cash hard fork? Was it an ‘attack’ on Bitcoin as many claim?

SA: I wouldn’t dignify it enough to call it an attack on Bitcoin as it hardly did anything other than slow down payment processing for a few weeks as it took some hashrate away. This, in typical Bitcoin style, turned out to be a positive by showing us the transaction fee market working successfully. I view it as a scam and an attack on people new to the space and those who do not understand Bitcoin’s value proposition. Sad, but an inevitable part of growth.

Bitcoinist: With the surging popularity in ICOs, it seems startups have realized that they can essentially ‘print money.’ Could Bitcoin be replaced by a potentially superior coin? Besides its first-mover advantage, does Bitcoin possess properties that can’t be replicated? 

SA: Yes, immutability and the absence of a third party in charge of it. The fact that Bitcoin possesses this property is absolutely astounding, and it is not something that can be installed like an app, as the charlatans behind ICOs and altcoins seem to suggest.

Bitcoin has already gone through 9 years of growth out in the wilds of the internet, mostly without a central planner in charge of it after its creator disappeared. It grew because it offered utility to enough users and developers to keep maintaining it.

It has weathered attacks and hacks and “community conflict” and plenty of powerful interests and questionable characters trying to bend it to their will. After all of this, Bitcoin can indeed claim to be immutable. Once it became clear Bitcoin was successful at doing this, then anyone who was interested in an immutable digital hard money could use it.

There would be absolutely no reason to build an alternative that would not have this immutability when Bitcoin is already there, since Bitcoin is an open protocol and not a good. In the same exact way there is no reason to build a new internet to communicate with others.

Just like there is no market demand for a smaller internet knock-off, there was never any real demand for a smaller, unsafe, unreliable, untested, new Bitcoin alternative.

As a result, no other coin could ever compete with Bitcoin on the free market without active promotion. Hence, if we look at the world of altcoins today, you would find that every single one has a small group of people actively marketing it, promoting it, writing ridiculously overhyped nonsensical puff pieces about it in the press, as well as coding it and mining it.

In every single altcoin, it is trivial to see how a small group of people controls it. It is absolutely laughable that any of these coins could ever lay a claim to being immutable and decentralized. Ethereum can hard fork at the whim of a few developers, as we’ve seen repeatedly. Monero can perform hard forks without mining equipment manufacturers even finding out, such is the extent of its decentralization! I could go, but the crux of the matter is:

If your currency is not immutable and decentralized, then the entire sophisticated blockchain structure that you have copied for it is completely unnecessary. You can do whatever else it is you want to do without having to burn all this electricity into mining. This is cargo cult engineering, where things are included not for any rational purpose, but in order to imitate the rituals of Bitcoin. All of these other coins are growing now because we are in the stage of the US Dollar business cycle where easy money is very widely available, and easy money is stupid money. But stupid money can’t last forever, it will either stop being stupid or stop having any value.

Bitcoinist: You’ve recently criticized Stern School, NYU professor Nouriel Roubini for his anti-Bitcoin stance and apparent schadenfreude in light of the recent drop in Bitcoin price. What is your main argument against his ideas? Is academia as a whole lacking in their understanding of Bitcoin right now?

SA: Roubini is a propagandist, not a scholar, and his hysteria over Bitcoin is a joy to behold for us Bitcoiners. Had he had a shred of academic or intellectual integrity, he would clearly spell out what are his criteria for Bitcoin failing or succeeding and then approach it with an open mind, and see how matters unfold and then revise his views. For instance, when I first heard of Bitcoin and could not make much of sense of its technical details, I was naturally skeptical it could work. But I did consciously make an effort to specify what would be the things that would cause me to revise my skepticism.

As the value of the network rose very quickly, and much higher than I anticipated it rising, I had to revise my initial position that this network would likely remain a fringe network for nerds online. As Silk Road collapsed and yet Bitcoin continued operating with barely a dent in its transaction numbers, and as its price continued to rise, this forced me to revise my idea that Bitcoin would be mainly used for dark markets. If you cannot come up with scenarios that would challenge your position and force you to change it, you are being emotional, not rational.

Roubini has spent years celebrating every single price drop in Bitcoin. The lack of self-awareness here is absolutely astounding. Would he be willing to specify a price at which he would admit that Bitcoin succeeded? He has been claiming Bitcoin failed with every price drop from $58 to $6000. If Bitcoin failed when it dropped to $58, what did Roubini think when it rose to $580? $5,800? If the price of a Bitcoin rises to a million dollars and then drops to $900,000, will he also be celebrating Bitcoin’s failure?

Of course, he does not have to use Bitcoin’s price as his metric for its success, but if he celebrates it dropping as a sign of its death, it is an embarrassingly emotional and childish mistake to not then step back and admit he was wrong when the price rebounds. But, then again, you should expect nothing better from someone who works for the IMF and similar Keynesian rackets. Their entire world runs on government money, so do not expect them to see much value in any alternatives.

Bitcoinist: One major criticism of Bitcoin is that it’s too slow and can’t scale to compete with the likes of Visa and MasterCard for everyday transactions. How do you see Bitcoin overcoming this hurdle?

SA: Second layer payments. This is one of the key points of my book: Bitcoin’s blockchain transactions cannot be compared to consumer payments, because it is far too slow for that and takes minutes to confirm. But more importantly, because it offers final settlement, meaning payments clearing without any remaining counter-party risk, in less than an hour. It is more similar in that regard to final clearance payments between financial institutions and central banks.

We can already see this happening as most exchanges, payment operators, and exchanges that deal with Bitcoin are beginning to batch their transactions, and clear most of them offline. We can see the bitcoin on-chain transactions, but arguably there are around ten times as many transactions now clearing off-chain, on exchanges and other websites.

In this regard, the Bitcoin Standard is already emerging online, as Bitcoin becomes more and more to look like the reserve currency of the internet.

The simplest answer to your question is that all of the current payment technologies that exist over government money can be used over Bitcoin, if Bitcoin reserves underpin the institutions using them and the Bitcoin network is used for settlements.

The more sophisticated and accurate answer is that the next decades will witness innovations in payments built over Bitcoin, tailored to the strengths of Bitcoin, and my bet would be that they will eventually be far more advanced than the current state of the art payment networks built over decrepit government monopolies that have been protected from competition for decades. The Lightning Network might just be the beginning of these innovations.

Bitcoinist: How important is price in Bitcoin? Do you check it everyday? If so, any predictions for this year?

SA: It is important because the price is Bitcoin’s Trojan horse for world domination.

People will buy Bitcoin for the financial gains, and most won’t realize they are voting with their wallets and self-interest to build a world based on peace and cooperation, even if that conflicts with their own political ideals.

Having said that, the short-term movements in price are really not important nor are they predictable. My interest in Bitcoin is far more long-term, and as an Austrian school economist, I know better than to make price predictions!

Bitcoinist: Would you consider yourself to be a “Bitcoin maximalist”? Also, I’ve noticed quite a few Bitcoin ‘hodlers’ advocating a carnivore lifestyle. What’s the connection there? 

SA: Yes. My take on the intersection of Bitcoin and carnivory is that it takes a special kind of person to emerge from decades of government propaganda and Keynesian stupidity and be able to understand the sound economics behind Bitcoin.

You are subject to social and professional ostracism for diverting from the standards of the cult, and it takes a special kind of person to manage to shrug all of that off and still see clearly what’s right and what’s wrong.

But once you’ve done that on one topic, you become open-minded on any other topic, and it becomes easy for you to contemplate the idea that, yes, a lot of the things you were told are wrong. It turns out it isn’t just modern economics that is full of garbage.

Nutrition as well, is a load of nonsense, and just like Keynes, it had its own con artist, Ancel Keys, who has popularized the absolutely criminal idea that animal fats are dangerous, that carbohydrates are essential, that 6-10 servings of grains a day are necessary, that seed oils are not just edible but also healthy, and so on. Naturally, the kind of people who will fall for Keynes’ ridiculous ramblings masquerading as science will have no problem falling for Keys’ ridiculous ramblings. These people are not likely to be early Bitcoiners or carnivores. 

[Editor’s note: You can purchase The Bitcoin Standard for bitcoin here.]

What do you think about Saifedean Ammous’ answers? Share your thoughts below! 

Images courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock

The post Bitcoin is ‘Financial Dynamite’ – Saifedean Ammous (Interview) appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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[jonathanbelloblog]

Unabashedly Silly, Sensationally Fast: 2019 Lamborghini Urus Prototype Drive

NARDO, Italy — The visit to the famed Nardo test track is marked red in the diary inside our heads. We’re here for our first taste of Lamborghini’s new high-flyer, to find out if it has what it takes to rocket straight to the top of the high-performance SUV charts. So come join us for some hot laps in a prototype of the all-new 2019 Lamborghini Urus, which turns the laws of physics upside down while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground.

Wrapped in annoying swirl-foil botox camouflage, the general proportions of the Urus nonetheless eventually form a whole at third sight, though its details blur beneath the false cheeks and fake eyebrows. By 8 a.m. sharp, the three Urus prototypes and drivers have gathered here at Nardo, which was bought by Porsche in 2012. Early morning will be spent on the handling course, followed by a wild off-road loop surfaced with gravel and sand. After lunch, the team departs for the skidpad, nudging cones and putting the launch control to the test.

A Lambo must look, feel, and sound like a Lambo, even if it is the belated successor to the brick-shaped LM002 pseudo-pickup that could be had with a gun rack and falcon cage. In order for it to fly underneath the wind tunnel radar, the Urus has been draped in more drag-cutting and downforce-increasing addenda than a NASCAR racer. But instead of opting for active aerodynamics, the R & D team under Lamborghini chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani saved weight by fitting a battery of spoilers, splitters, and diffusers in fixed positions—an attack stance that also reduces rear visibility to a narrow observation slit.

The starting procedure is business as usual for a Lamborghini. Lift the red cage door, hit the growler button, lock the transmission in manual, and wait for the vehicle in front to take off. The first lap is provocatively slow. Everyone warms up the tires, the engine, and their self-confidence. Then the flag drops and it’s push-push-push. But not too much, too soon. After all, impatience is instantly penalized by soaring front tire temperatures, which provoke early understeer and frustration. So it’s wait-wait-wait until way past the apex before you can give it stick again, and there’s a lot of that. Namely some 650 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, enough punch to drift through the fast fourth-gear right-hander and barrel down the long straight, where the digital speedo briefly touches 155 mph just before the braking zone begins. Although it’s eager to rev, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 powering the Urus cuts out a nanosecond before the analog readout in the head-up display hits the rev limiter.

While its eight-speed automatic is correctly spaced, it shifts up more leisurely and smoothly than most sequential wham-bang boxes. To give the Urus a distinct Italian flair, Reggiani invented the so-called tamburo ergonomics. Tamburo means drum, and this accurately describes the shape of the two semi-circular drive mode selectors positioned on either side of the starter button. On the left, there is Anima (soul), which lets you choose from six settings labeled strada, sport, corsa, sabbia (sand), terra (gravel) and neve (snow). To the right, the drum named Ego invites you to personalize the driveline, steering response, and suspension setting. It’s a neat arrangement, offbeat yet logical, a welcome complement to the notoriously smudged touchscreen.

The dashboard is a busy blend of trademark hexagonal air vents, the usual overkill carbon-fiber and leather treatment, and loud instrument graphics that glow pachinko red in Corsa mode. The remaining switchgear is arranged in a pattern similar to the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, with which the Urus shares some componentry—and most importantly, its MLB evo architecture, developed by its Volkswagen Group overlords.

The most obvious difference between the Lamborghini and its German siblings is the extended wheelbase it shares with the Bentayga. But while Bentley’s goal was to create more cabin space, the Italians used the extra inches to further enhance directional stability at speed, be it on a long straight or through fast sweepers. Despite the sloping coupe-like roof made of carbon-fiber at extra cost, there are oodles of head- and legroom in the Urus, though its standard front seats lack support in just about every direction.

Time for the first rotation: Three hot laps, one cooldown lap, back to the pits, change of cars, go for it. The tires need deflating three times. Regular adjustments are also advised to hone the driving style, define braking points, find the quickest line through corners, and trigger spot-on up- and downshifts. Since the Urus weighs more than 4,400 pounds, you’re better off in a taller gear more often than not. Why? Because every gear change costs time, and because riding the crest of the Urus’ mighty torque wave maintains the flow. Late braking is okay, but brake much too late and the car in front will rip open a depressing gap. One ill-timed mid-corner upshift invariably dents the flight path; one missed apex is all it takes to make it run ludicrously wide. But despite its intentions and dimensions, there is no doubt about it: this Lamborghini is a high-roof sports car with four doors and four seats. A look at the official Nardo lap times proves the point: on the handling circuit the Urus is every bit as fast as the Huracán.

This remarkable achievement required plenty of extra work by Reggiani’s team, especially in the chassis department. The Urus’ all-wheel drive system utilizes a Torsen center differential, enabling a wide front-to-rear torque split range, and a mechanical rear diff lock for a subtle left-right distribution. In other words, there is no brake-induced torque vectoring and no conventional self-locking center diff. Part of the package is a 48-volt system which powers the fully adjustable sway bars along with the air conditioning. Another item included in the list price that reportedly starts somewhere south of $200,000 are huge, 17-inch carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the high-tech DNA is an adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering. At this point, Urus customers have no choice in terms of engine or equipment pack, but there is a plug-in hybrid V-6 in the works for China and possibly the rest of the world later. We also expect a lighter Performante version rated at 700-plus horsepower.

Discover the #Urus Corsa driving mode: true #Lamborghini racetrack performance, for the world’s first Super SUV. https://t.co/jDqkOCxPvf #SinceWeMadeItPossible http://pic.twitter.com/ZuGWzRg6jW

— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) November 21, 2017

Complaints? I already mentioned the seats and leisurely eight-speed autobox, and I’m going to add to the list the mildly irritating front end pitch through very fast corners, the not exactly superfast tip-in, the generous measure of brake dive and acceleration squat, the somewhat messy ergonomics, and the puerile exhaust note in Corsa mode. And its brawny twin-turbo V-8 is in no way as special as Lamborghini’s charismatic, naturally-aspirated V-10. That said the Urus has many talents, with its key assets being totally involving handling and raw, sports car-like performance all the way to the limit. Despite its genetic detriments—considerable dimensions, high center of gravity, substantial weight—the Urus hugs the road like a salamander climbing up a sheet of glass, it juggles power and torque like an orangutan brachiating between trees, its responses are as sharp as a chameleon’s tongue, and it decelerates like a serpent recoiling from an attack. In the exercise of these talents, it downs fuel at the rate of a Hummer H2 or a stretched black Escalade.

Said Hummer should do well on Nardo’s off-road setup, but it wouldn’t do as well as the Urus, and that’s a promise. After all, there are no serious climbs and descents, deep ruts, grooves or potholes. The surface is a mix of sand and sealed gravel, more high-speed turf than rugged surf. Riding shotgun with me is a former racing driver named Silvio who now oversees suspension development. Since the left-right-left labyrinth is lined on both sides with tall shrubs that block the view through corners, novices need directions. We’re still on road tires, ESC is fully active, and I’m advised to use only the bottom three gears. It’s a narrow track and the grip level is deteriorating lap by lap as sand starts piling up alongside the polished loam-and-pebble racing line. Once more through the mulberry bushes in an effort to memorize the hairpin and a couple of double-apex left-handers, then the fearless Silvio gives me the final thumbs up. “Fasta! Fasta!”

Silvio’s a quick-thinking, rapid-talking co-pilot. “Sharp left, first gear, grip improves two-thirds through the corner.” (Too timid, too slow, too rough.) “Third-gear right, slow in, fast out. Lots of grip.” (Better, but still way off the pace.) “You should deactivate ESC. It helps, trust me. This car has got talent. It will be putty in your palms,” Silvio urges. I wish—but for a change, the wish comes true. There’s more wheelspin now, a more pronounced rear bias, a more blunt invitation to kick out the tail and keep it there. Bingo! I tasted blood. I want more. I want fasta.

“First, you must develop a rhythm. The rest falls into place almost by itself,” Silvio says, which means tap-dancing on the pedals, twirling the wheel, and clicking through the ratios—up and down, down and up. I’m a hero, but also a fool who forgot that pride comes before the fall. In my case, the fall is a dramatic 180-degree slide that hits the greenery side on and rips off a strip camo in the process. “No big deal. No big deal at all,” Silvio says. If it wasn’t for the ears, my grin would go full circle.

As for how fast the Urus goes in a straight line on the skidpad’s clean tarmac, less than 3.7 seconds to 62 mph is the official word, but 3.35 seconds is what the digital in-dash readout says on location. Yes, that’s with launch control on duty, live from the grippiest piece of tarmac in the Roman Empire, and in perfect weather. If the readout is to be believed, that’s a hair quicker than the Huracán and only half a second slower than the Aventador. Maximum speed? In excess of 188 mph is the answer, which would make it the fastest SUV on earth, a mark that speaks volumes for the aerodynamic efficiency of this thunderbolt designed by Filippo Perini, who has since moved on to Italdesign. Needless to say the ground-effect body is virtually immune to axle lift at any speed except through the cones, when it’s wheel up and nose down, when the steering could be a touch more direct, when ESC should be off for improved waltz-ability.

The Urus is the answer to the question that about 3,500 customers are expected to ask annually once production ramps up following its launch next year, which would roughly double the marque’s production output — a vehicle that opens the door for Lamborghini to the most profitable segment of a booming market. It’s clear after our day at Nardo that those who can afford to buy this 650-hp SUV will be getting a splendid vehicle with rare pace and agility, one that can do things no other SUV can.

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[jesusvasser]

Unabashedly Silly, Sensationally Fast: 2019 Lamborghini Urus Prototype Drive

NARDO, Italy — The visit to the famed Nardo test track is marked red in the diary inside our heads. We’re here for our first taste of Lamborghini’s new high-flyer, to find out if it has what it takes to rocket straight to the top of the high-performance SUV charts. So come join us for some hot laps in a prototype of the all-new 2019 Lamborghini Urus, which turns the laws of physics upside down while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground.

Wrapped in annoying swirl-foil botox camouflage, the general proportions of the Urus nonetheless eventually form a whole at third sight, though its details blur beneath the false cheeks and fake eyebrows. By 8 a.m. sharp, the three Urus prototypes and drivers have gathered here at Nardo, which was bought by Porsche in 2012. Early morning will be spent on the handling course, followed by a wild off-road loop surfaced with gravel and sand. After lunch, the team departs for the skidpad, nudging cones and putting the launch control to the test.

A Lambo must look, feel, and sound like a Lambo, even if it is the belated successor to the brick-shaped LM002 pseudo-pickup that could be had with a gun rack and falcon cage. In order for it to fly underneath the wind tunnel radar, the Urus has been draped in more drag-cutting and downforce-increasing addenda than a NASCAR racer. But instead of opting for active aerodynamics, the R & D team under Lamborghini chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani saved weight by fitting a battery of spoilers, splitters, and diffusers in fixed positions—an attack stance that also reduces rear visibility to a narrow observation slit.

The starting procedure is business as usual for a Lamborghini. Lift the red cage door, hit the growler button, lock the transmission in manual, and wait for the vehicle in front to take off. The first lap is provocatively slow. Everyone warms up the tires, the engine, and their self-confidence. Then the flag drops and it’s push-push-push. But not too much, too soon. After all, impatience is instantly penalized by soaring front tire temperatures, which provoke early understeer and frustration. So it’s wait-wait-wait until way past the apex before you can give it stick again, and there’s a lot of that. Namely some 650 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, enough punch to drift through the fast fourth-gear right-hander and barrel down the long straight, where the digital speedo briefly touches 155 mph just before the braking zone begins. Although it’s eager to rev, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 powering the Urus cuts out a nanosecond before the analog readout in the head-up display hits the rev limiter.

While its eight-speed automatic is correctly spaced, it shifts up more leisurely and smoothly than most sequential wham-bang boxes. To give the Urus a distinct Italian flair, Reggiani invented the so-called tamburo ergonomics. Tamburo means drum, and this accurately describes the shape of the two semi-circular drive mode selectors positioned on either side of the starter button. On the left, there is Anima (soul), which lets you choose from six settings labeled strada, sport, corsa, sabbia (sand), terra (gravel) and neve (snow). To the right, the drum named Ego invites you to personalize the driveline, steering response, and suspension setting. It’s a neat arrangement, offbeat yet logical, a welcome complement to the notoriously smudged touchscreen.

The dashboard is a busy blend of trademark hexagonal air vents, the usual overkill carbon-fiber and leather treatment, and loud instrument graphics that glow pachinko red in Corsa mode. The remaining switchgear is arranged in a pattern similar to the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, with which the Urus shares some componentry—and most importantly, its MLB evo architecture, developed by its Volkswagen Group overlords.

The most obvious difference between the Lamborghini and its German siblings is the extended wheelbase it shares with the Bentayga. But while Bentley’s goal was to create more cabin space, the Italians used the extra inches to further enhance directional stability at speed, be it on a long straight or through fast sweepers. Despite the sloping coupe-like roof made of carbon-fiber at extra cost, there are oodles of head- and legroom in the Urus, though its standard front seats lack support in just about every direction.

Time for the first rotation: Three hot laps, one cooldown lap, back to the pits, change of cars, go for it. The tires need deflating three times. Regular adjustments are also advised to hone the driving style, define braking points, find the quickest line through corners, and trigger spot-on up- and downshifts. Since the Urus weighs more than 4,400 pounds, you’re better off in a taller gear more often than not. Why? Because every gear change costs time, and because riding the crest of the Urus’ mighty torque wave maintains the flow. Late braking is okay, but brake much too late and the car in front will rip open a depressing gap. One ill-timed mid-corner upshift invariably dents the flight path; one missed apex is all it takes to make it run ludicrously wide. But despite its intentions and dimensions, there is no doubt about it: this Lamborghini is a high-roof sports car with four doors and four seats. A look at the official Nardo lap times proves the point: on the handling circuit the Urus is every bit as fast as the Huracán.

This remarkable achievement required plenty of extra work by Reggiani’s team, especially in the chassis department. The Urus’ all-wheel drive system utilizes a Torsen center differential, enabling a wide front-to-rear torque split range, and a mechanical rear diff lock for a subtle left-right distribution. In other words, there is no brake-induced torque vectoring and no conventional self-locking center diff. Part of the package is a 48-volt system which powers the fully adjustable sway bars along with the air conditioning. Another item included in the list price that reportedly starts somewhere south of $200,000 are huge, 17-inch carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the high-tech DNA is an adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering. At this point, Urus customers have no choice in terms of engine or equipment pack, but there is a plug-in hybrid V-6 in the works for China and possibly the rest of the world later. We also expect a lighter Performante version rated at 700-plus horsepower.

Discover the #Urus Corsa driving mode: true #Lamborghini racetrack performance, for the world’s first Super SUV. https://t.co/jDqkOCxPvf #SinceWeMadeItPossible http://pic.twitter.com/ZuGWzRg6jW

— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) November 21, 2017

Complaints? I already mentioned the seats and leisurely eight-speed autobox, and I’m going to add to the list the mildly irritating front end pitch through very fast corners, the not exactly superfast tip-in, the generous measure of brake dive and acceleration squat, the somewhat messy ergonomics, and the puerile exhaust note in Corsa mode. And its brawny twin-turbo V-8 is in no way as special as Lamborghini’s charismatic, naturally-aspirated V-10. That said the Urus has many talents, with its key assets being totally involving handling and raw, sports car-like performance all the way to the limit. Despite its genetic detriments—considerable dimensions, high center of gravity, substantial weight—the Urus hugs the road like a salamander climbing up a sheet of glass, it juggles power and torque like an orangutan brachiating between trees, its responses are as sharp as a chameleon’s tongue, and it decelerates like a serpent recoiling from an attack. In the exercise of these talents, it downs fuel at the rate of a Hummer H2 or a stretched black Escalade.

Said Hummer should do well on Nardo’s off-road setup, but it wouldn’t do as well as the Urus, and that’s a promise. After all, there are no serious climbs and descents, deep ruts, grooves or potholes. The surface is a mix of sand and sealed gravel, more high-speed turf than rugged surf. Riding shotgun with me is a former racing driver named Silvio who now oversees suspension development. Since the left-right-left labyrinth is lined on both sides with tall shrubs that block the view through corners, novices need directions. We’re still on road tires, ESC is fully active, and I’m advised to use only the bottom three gears. It’s a narrow track and the grip level is deteriorating lap by lap as sand starts piling up alongside the polished loam-and-pebble racing line. Once more through the mulberry bushes in an effort to memorize the hairpin and a couple of double-apex left-handers, then the fearless Silvio gives me the final thumbs up. “Fasta! Fasta!”

Silvio’s a quick-thinking, rapid-talking co-pilot. “Sharp left, first gear, grip improves two-thirds through the corner.” (Too timid, too slow, too rough.) “Third-gear right, slow in, fast out. Lots of grip.” (Better, but still way off the pace.) “You should deactivate ESC. It helps, trust me. This car has got talent. It will be putty in your palms,” Silvio urges. I wish—but for a change, the wish comes true. There’s more wheelspin now, a more pronounced rear bias, a more blunt invitation to kick out the tail and keep it there. Bingo! I tasted blood. I want more. I want fasta.

“First, you must develop a rhythm. The rest falls into place almost by itself,” Silvio says, which means tap-dancing on the pedals, twirling the wheel, and clicking through the ratios—up and down, down and up. I’m a hero, but also a fool who forgot that pride comes before the fall. In my case, the fall is a dramatic 180-degree slide that hits the greenery side on and rips off a strip camo in the process. “No big deal. No big deal at all,” Silvio says. If it wasn’t for the ears, my grin would go full circle.

As for how fast the Urus goes in a straight line on the skidpad’s clean tarmac, less than 3.7 seconds to 62 mph is the official word, but 3.35 seconds is what the digital in-dash readout says on location. Yes, that’s with launch control on duty, live from the grippiest piece of tarmac in the Roman Empire, and in perfect weather. If the readout is to be believed, that’s a hair quicker than the Huracán and only half a second slower than the Aventador. Maximum speed? In excess of 188 mph is the answer, which would make it the fastest SUV on earth, a mark that speaks volumes for the aerodynamic efficiency of this thunderbolt designed by Filippo Perini, who has since moved on to Italdesign. Needless to say the ground-effect body is virtually immune to axle lift at any speed except through the cones, when it’s wheel up and nose down, when the steering could be a touch more direct, when ESC should be off for improved waltz-ability.

The Urus is the answer to the question that about 3,500 customers are expected to ask annually once production ramps up following its launch next year, which would roughly double the marque’s production output — a vehicle that opens the door for Lamborghini to the most profitable segment of a booming market. It’s clear after our day at Nardo that those who can afford to buy this 650-hp SUV will be getting a splendid vehicle with rare pace and agility, one that can do things no other SUV can.

IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

Unabashedly Silly, Sensationally Fast: 2019 Lamborghini Urus Prototype Drive

NARDO, Italy — The visit to the famed Nardo test track is marked red in the diary inside our heads. We’re here for our first taste of Lamborghini’s new high-flyer, to find out if it has what it takes to rocket straight to the top of the high-performance SUV charts. So come join us for some hot laps in a prototype of the all-new 2019 Lamborghini Urus, which turns the laws of physics upside down while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground.

Wrapped in annoying swirl-foil botox camouflage, the general proportions of the Urus nonetheless eventually form a whole at third sight, though its details blur beneath the false cheeks and fake eyebrows. By 8 a.m. sharp, the three Urus prototypes and drivers have gathered here at Nardo, which was bought by Porsche in 2012. Early morning will be spent on the handling course, followed by a wild off-road loop surfaced with gravel and sand. After lunch, the team departs for the skidpad, nudging cones and putting the launch control to the test.

A Lambo must look, feel, and sound like a Lambo, even if it is the belated successor to the brick-shaped LM002 pseudo-pickup that could be had with a gun rack and falcon cage. In order for it to fly underneath the wind tunnel radar, the Urus has been draped in more drag-cutting and downforce-increasing addenda than a NASCAR racer. But instead of opting for active aerodynamics, the R & D team under Lamborghini chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani saved weight by fitting a battery of spoilers, splitters, and diffusers in fixed positions—an attack stance that also reduces rear visibility to a narrow observation slit.

The starting procedure is business as usual for a Lamborghini. Lift the red cage door, hit the growler button, lock the transmission in manual, and wait for the vehicle in front to take off. The first lap is provocatively slow. Everyone warms up the tires, the engine, and their self-confidence. Then the flag drops and it’s push-push-push. But not too much, too soon. After all, impatience is instantly penalized by soaring front tire temperatures, which provoke early understeer and frustration. So it’s wait-wait-wait until way past the apex before you can give it stick again, and there’s a lot of that. Namely some 650 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, enough punch to drift through the fast fourth-gear right-hander and barrel down the long straight, where the digital speedo briefly touches 155 mph just before the braking zone begins. Although it’s eager to rev, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 powering the Urus cuts out a nanosecond before the analog readout in the head-up display hits the rev limiter.

While its eight-speed automatic is correctly spaced, it shifts up more leisurely and smoothly than most sequential wham-bang boxes. To give the Urus a distinct Italian flair, Reggiani invented the so-called tamburo ergonomics. Tamburo means drum, and this accurately describes the shape of the two semi-circular drive mode selectors positioned on either side of the starter button. On the left, there is Anima (soul), which lets you choose from six settings labeled strada, sport, corsa, sabbia (sand), terra (gravel) and neve (snow). To the right, the drum named Ego invites you to personalize the driveline, steering response, and suspension setting. It’s a neat arrangement, offbeat yet logical, a welcome complement to the notoriously smudged touchscreen.

The dashboard is a busy blend of trademark hexagonal air vents, the usual overkill carbon-fiber and leather treatment, and loud instrument graphics that glow pachinko red in Corsa mode. The remaining switchgear is arranged in a pattern similar to the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, with which the Urus shares some componentry—and most importantly, its MLB evo architecture, developed by its Volkswagen Group overlords.

The most obvious difference between the Lamborghini and its German siblings is the extended wheelbase it shares with the Bentayga. But while Bentley’s goal was to create more cabin space, the Italians used the extra inches to further enhance directional stability at speed, be it on a long straight or through fast sweepers. Despite the sloping coupe-like roof made of carbon-fiber at extra cost, there are oodles of head- and legroom in the Urus, though its standard front seats lack support in just about every direction.

Time for the first rotation: Three hot laps, one cooldown lap, back to the pits, change of cars, go for it. The tires need deflating three times. Regular adjustments are also advised to hone the driving style, define braking points, find the quickest line through corners, and trigger spot-on up- and downshifts. Since the Urus weighs more than 4,400 pounds, you’re better off in a taller gear more often than not. Why? Because every gear change costs time, and because riding the crest of the Urus’ mighty torque wave maintains the flow. Late braking is okay, but brake much too late and the car in front will rip open a depressing gap. One ill-timed mid-corner upshift invariably dents the flight path; one missed apex is all it takes to make it run ludicrously wide. But despite its intentions and dimensions, there is no doubt about it: this Lamborghini is a high-roof sports car with four doors and four seats. A look at the official Nardo lap times proves the point: on the handling circuit the Urus is every bit as fast as the Huracán.

This remarkable achievement required plenty of extra work by Reggiani’s team, especially in the chassis department. The Urus’ all-wheel drive system utilizes a Torsen center differential, enabling a wide front-to-rear torque split range, and a mechanical rear diff lock for a subtle left-right distribution. In other words, there is no brake-induced torque vectoring and no conventional self-locking center diff. Part of the package is a 48-volt system which powers the fully adjustable sway bars along with the air conditioning. Another item included in the list price that reportedly starts somewhere south of $200,000 are huge, 17-inch carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the high-tech DNA is an adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering. At this point, Urus customers have no choice in terms of engine or equipment pack, but there is a plug-in hybrid V-6 in the works for China and possibly the rest of the world later. We also expect a lighter Performante version rated at 700-plus horsepower.

Discover the #Urus Corsa driving mode: true #Lamborghini racetrack performance, for the world’s first Super SUV. https://t.co/jDqkOCxPvf #SinceWeMadeItPossible http://pic.twitter.com/ZuGWzRg6jW

— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) November 21, 2017

Complaints? I already mentioned the seats and leisurely eight-speed autobox, and I’m going to add to the list the mildly irritating front end pitch through very fast corners, the not exactly superfast tip-in, the generous measure of brake dive and acceleration squat, the somewhat messy ergonomics, and the puerile exhaust note in Corsa mode. And its brawny twin-turbo V-8 is in no way as special as Lamborghini’s charismatic, naturally-aspirated V-10. That said the Urus has many talents, with its key assets being totally involving handling and raw, sports car-like performance all the way to the limit. Despite its genetic detriments—considerable dimensions, high center of gravity, substantial weight—the Urus hugs the road like a salamander climbing up a sheet of glass, it juggles power and torque like an orangutan brachiating between trees, its responses are as sharp as a chameleon’s tongue, and it decelerates like a serpent recoiling from an attack. In the exercise of these talents, it downs fuel at the rate of a Hummer H2 or a stretched black Escalade.

Said Hummer should do well on Nardo’s off-road setup, but it wouldn’t do as well as the Urus, and that’s a promise. After all, there are no serious climbs and descents, deep ruts, grooves or potholes. The surface is a mix of sand and sealed gravel, more high-speed turf than rugged surf. Riding shotgun with me is a former racing driver named Silvio who now oversees suspension development. Since the left-right-left labyrinth is lined on both sides with tall shrubs that block the view through corners, novices need directions. We’re still on road tires, ESC is fully active, and I’m advised to use only the bottom three gears. It’s a narrow track and the grip level is deteriorating lap by lap as sand starts piling up alongside the polished loam-and-pebble racing line. Once more through the mulberry bushes in an effort to memorize the hairpin and a couple of double-apex left-handers, then the fearless Silvio gives me the final thumbs up. “Fasta! Fasta!”

Silvio’s a quick-thinking, rapid-talking co-pilot. “Sharp left, first gear, grip improves two-thirds through the corner.” (Too timid, too slow, too rough.) “Third-gear right, slow in, fast out. Lots of grip.” (Better, but still way off the pace.) “You should deactivate ESC. It helps, trust me. This car has got talent. It will be putty in your palms,” Silvio urges. I wish—but for a change, the wish comes true. There’s more wheelspin now, a more pronounced rear bias, a more blunt invitation to kick out the tail and keep it there. Bingo! I tasted blood. I want more. I want fasta.

“First, you must develop a rhythm. The rest falls into place almost by itself,” Silvio says, which means tap-dancing on the pedals, twirling the wheel, and clicking through the ratios—up and down, down and up. I’m a hero, but also a fool who forgot that pride comes before the fall. In my case, the fall is a dramatic 180-degree slide that hits the greenery side on and rips off a strip camo in the process. “No big deal. No big deal at all,” Silvio says. If it wasn’t for the ears, my grin would go full circle.

As for how fast the Urus goes in a straight line on the skidpad’s clean tarmac, less than 3.7 seconds to 62 mph is the official word, but 3.35 seconds is what the digital in-dash readout says on location. Yes, that’s with launch control on duty, live from the grippiest piece of tarmac in the Roman Empire, and in perfect weather. If the readout is to be believed, that’s a hair quicker than the Huracán and only half a second slower than the Aventador. Maximum speed? In excess of 188 mph is the answer, which would make it the fastest SUV on earth, a mark that speaks volumes for the aerodynamic efficiency of this thunderbolt designed by Filippo Perini, who has since moved on to Italdesign. Needless to say the ground-effect body is virtually immune to axle lift at any speed except through the cones, when it’s wheel up and nose down, when the steering could be a touch more direct, when ESC should be off for improved waltz-ability.

The Urus is the answer to the question that about 3,500 customers are expected to ask annually once production ramps up following its launch next year, which would roughly double the marque’s production output — a vehicle that opens the door for Lamborghini to the most profitable segment of a booming market. It’s clear after our day at Nardo that those who can afford to buy this 650-hp SUV will be getting a splendid vehicle with rare pace and agility, one that can do things no other SUV can.

IFTTT

[chicasoleada-blog]

Replica Panerai Luminor Marina Analog Display Mechanical Hand Wind Brown PAM00564 review

Panerai is a highly revered brand throughout the globe and the brand is renowned for its superlative automatic timepieces for both men and women.The replica Panerai Luminor Marina Analog Display Mechanical Hand Wind Brown PAM00564 is in a league of its own.

Let's introduce another watch,it may be the rare watch nerd (that happens to also be a materials science nerd) who will be able to fully appreciate why Panerai decided it was a good idea to note "BMG-TECH" on the dial of a Luminor Submersible as a way of telling you about the watch case materials. Panerai themselves refer to the value of the PAM 692 (debuted on aBlogtoWatch here) as being an "invisible innovation." In a sense that is a good thing when it comes to the appeal of bulk metallic glass. What is hidden in the Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 BMG-TECH 3-Days Automatic PAM 692 is a hint at what future materials will be increasingly used in watches.

The popularity of ceramic, for example, demonstrates a real need for watchmakers to move beyond traditional metals. The decision to work with non-metallic case materials isn't just about being trendy and fashionable, but is often related to real value for the consumer. While we are on the topic of ceramic, indeed it was a material that allowed you to have a permanently white case. It also allowed for high levels of scratch resistance as well as resistance to various chemicals.

Panerai likes to experiment with new case materials regularly – so the fact that they would take a product and make it out of bulk metallic glass isn't particularly novel. With that said, if BMG-TECH proves cost-effective to produce and popular with customers, I think it has big potential. In short, bulk metallic glass is a metal alloy with an amorphous structure versus a crystalline structure. This allows for fewer surface imperfections in the base material, that translates into a number of benefits for the consumer.

Compared to traditional stainless steel, bulk metallic glass is 2-3 times stronger and more scratch resistant, lighter in weight, tougher in terms of rigidity, and also more corrosion resistant. I think the appeal to brands like Panerai (in addition to wishing to bring new value to their consumers) is to have materials that allow them to make better products more easily. I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that an alloy like bulk metallic glass can be machined to look attractive in either fewer steps or more simple steps given the fewer imperfections in the material. If this is true, watchmakers would prefer it because it would allow them to make ideal-polished cases more easily and if they need servicing, they can be polished more easily. It, of course, helps that consumers will enjoy the extra added durability.

Unlike steel, bulk metallic glass has a lot more zirconium in it (which is why it has "glass" in the name), and it also happens to be non-ferrous (not magnetic). Panerai says that their particular bulk metallic glass alloy blend consists of zirconium, copper, aluminum, titanium, and nickel. What matters is that BMG-TECH looks a lot like steel, and can be decorated like steel – but it isn't steel. Other alternative materials to metals sadly don't look like metals – even if they are preferred by consumers and offer manufacturing benefits. Bulk metallic glass is essentially a metal alloy, so it can be polished like metal, and is tough like metal in that a fall on a hard surface would never shatter it (a possibility with ceramic). So the goal here is to find materials that offer the same aesthetic appeal as a metal, but that are easier to produce into finely-finished parts, and that offer consumers clear durability benefits.

If bulk metallic glass indeed proves to be easy and wise to industrialize, then I think consumers will benefit from a material that is easier to care for and will look newer longer. Even though watch visual design and mechanical movement technology appear to evolve glacially, the watch industry has always been very accommodating to interesting materials and colors for their products. More so, they have readily adopted newer materials over older ones if they are more effective. Consider for example the move from acrylic crystals to ones made out of sapphire crystal (and what a big deal that was), or the move from aluminum to ceramic bezel inserts on certain timepieces. Each of these material adoptions occurred (for the watch industry) very quickly. Thus, innovations in case material technology – if economical on all ends – has a high likelihood of being adopted by the brands.

Let's return to the replica panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 BMG-TECH 3-Days Automatic PAM 692, that is otherwise an entirely competent, albeit unremarkable Panerai that you might never know had something different about it if someone didn't tell you in advance. David from our team took photographs of the watch, and I recall in the hectic circumstances of SIHH 2017 I didn't think twice about the watch after handling it. It isn't bad or anything, just not something that offers too much benefit over a standard Luminor Submersible for current owners.

All that being said, this is one of the most "big personality" yet elegant-looking retro-styled diving watches I've recently seen. Other than the hands, which I feel are a bit on the stubby side, this is a very attractive and useful base watch that is just different enough amongst Panerai products to feel non-generic. It also happens to be a real diver's watch, which makes it feel more authentically "Panerai" given the brand's core history and purpose for existing.

The bulk metallic glass case is 47mm wide – and yes it wears large (but comfortably). As far as we know the case dimensions are the same as any other Luminor Submersible 1950 model. Inside the 300m water resistant case is an in-house made Panerai P.9000 automatic movement with three days of power reserve. Stylistically, the dial is marked by shades of blue including a darker blue dial, with lighter-blue accents mixed with steel-colored elements.

Luckily,replica Panerai Luminor Marina Analog Display Mechanical Hand Wind Brown PAM00564 is similar to the watch above,this watch was amde by best material,you may not recognize from authentic.If you want to buy a watch,why not follow the link to see,Ibelieve you will be impressed by it.