#If you have an interest or expertise in a particular niche

[bibou89]

[thelaurenshippen]

finally taking the time to read through the SAG agreement summary and oof, I hope they have an AI town hall soon because...well, there are things to discuss!

so, in case folks are curious, here are my immediate takeaways from the deal as a SAG actor, a SAG producer, and person who is not any kind of expert but spends a lot of time being skeptical of contracts I sign. this is a summation/commentary, not a holistic breakdown of every point, nor even an in-depth discussion of the points I do talk about. and it is, of course, in no way legal advice or voting advice.

this post is already maybe the longest post I've ever written on tumblr (lol) and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. to be clear, nothing I'm saying here represents how I'm going to vote, how I think other actors should vote, or my be-all-end-all stance on a particular issue. this is me reading through, flagging what concerns me, and asking myself questions. and I'm here to take your questions too! though of course my expertise is limited.

(what?? something I wrote got annoying long?? in my tumblr? it's more likely, etc. huge write-up after the cut)

the good

self-tape stuff: this is one of the more niche/the thing that the general public will find least interesting, but they've put in a lot of provisions to make sure self-tape auditions have limits (# of pages, no stunts, no nudity, doesn't have to be professionally shot, etc.) which is amazing because these types of auditions have gotten out of control since the pandemic. this feels like a great gain

data transparency: in no world did I think the streamers were ever going to agree to any data sharing with either the wga or sag so even though the data is limited, this still feels huge to me.

folks who sing and dance will be paid for both of those things now, which is great

they've added MLK day and Juneteenth as holidays (about time)

a performer cannot be required to translate their own lines

principal performers are required to be given hair and makeup consultation or reimbursed for obtaining their own services - this seems like a small thing, but it's being put in here pretty much entirely because HMU services have generally been appalling when it comes to textured hair/a variety of skin tones. there's also stuff in here about working to hire more diverse HMU artists

it looks like it's going to be easier/provide a path for folks getting IMDb credits even if they're not credited on screen

miscellany: there's a bunch of gains in wage increases, P&H increases, relocation fees, franchise language etc. that all seem good to me, though my limited knowledge on those subjects prevents me from going in depth on them.

this is not important, but it tickled me, there's a term to replace all instances of "telegraph" in the contract with "email & text" which like...why has it taken us thirty years to do that lol.

the "...hm..."

intimacy coordinators: oof. when I watched the press conference SAG gave, I was fucking thrilled when they said that the new agreement required folks to hire intimacy coordinators for nudity and simulated sex scenes. that was almost reason enough for me to vote for it tbh - not requiring it is the exact reason I voted no on our last contract. however, reading the contract summary now, the exact language is: "Producer must use best efforts to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for scenes involving nudity or simulated sex and will consider in good faith any request by a performer to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for other scenes. Producer shall not retaliate against a performer for requesting an Intimacy Coordinator." this....sucks. "best efforts" and "good faith" are not the same as "required". IMO, an intimacy coordinator is the same thing as having a stunt coordinator or, like, any number of health and safety requirements. OSHA doesn't say you must "in good faith" put your "best effort" to providing fire exits. it's great that performers can request coordinators for any kind of scene, and this is still the strongest language we've ever had in a contract but....c'mon guys.

residuals: look, I can't speak to these new terms in any concrete way. there are increases, there are bonuses for streaming success, there's a whole thing about a fund regarding those successes that I need explained to me more in depth, but overall, it looks like we made some in-roads here. as someone who employs actors under digital distribution contracts that has no residuals (podcasts), I know how genuinely cumbersome the unholy trifecta of "views-success-profit" can be (as in views do not equal success, success does not equal profit, etc.). I also have no sympathy when the majority of companies dealing with that cumbersome trifecta are massive media conglomerates. anyway, long story short, idk if this is good enough, I'm hoping to attend the next info meeting sag has.

the bad

the new hair/makeup provisions are explicitly for principal actors. while I hope it leads to better, more inclusive HMU services all around I haaaate that this implies supporting or background actors (who oftentimes also have to sit in HMU) don't deserve the consideration. (then again, background actors are usually required to do their own HMU/bring their own costumes, but for productions where that's not the case, the same HMU provisions should apply IMO)

as with every contract, there's language that could be stronger, clarity that needs to exist, and important things missing - but this isn't the final contract and I'm not a lawyer, so I'm gonna leave that stuff to the experts.

but, "lauren", you say, "what about all the AI stuff? where does that go?" well, reader, I was planning on including that in the above but it's the hot-button issue right now and I think it's wickedly complicated, so I wanted to break it down separately, after I had a chance to point out all the good-bad-in-between stuff that's not getting talked about.

a note: in my career, I've learned there's two big things to keep in mind when reading a contract you might sign:

what is the worst case interpretation of this language (thank you to my lawyer, prince among men, for teaching me how to do this in practice (that said, anything I say here is not legal advice, he'd also want me to say that lol))

what are you willing to lose/compromise on/what are the limits of your pragmatism? contracts are not about a company giving you everything you want out of the goodness of their heart - it is always a compromise. pragmatism has to be a part of the equation.

so, with that said, I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, and a) try to find the good/the pragmatic and b) catastrophize the worst case scenario. but first, it might be handy to look at this SAG infographic for some basic definitions. let's go.

the AI good

a ton of stuff here requires consent. that is not a small thing, and the consent continues even after your death (whether it was a yes or no; though this can be complicated by your estate/your union)

the language does establish that the consent must be a separate signing from the employment contract, even if its in the contract, which is great (but more on that below - timing matters)

actors often do get paid for use of their digital replicas, though it's different based on the use/type of replica.

the actor must be provided with a "reasonably specific description of the intended use". this language is vaguer than I would like, because it allows producers to decide what "reasonably specific" and "intended" means - there's always going to be some vagueness when it comes to this specific thing, but a good start would be for producers to require not blanket consent, but conditional consent for each significant use of digital replicas.

if the replicas are being used in other mediums, that must also be consented to, thank god.

replicas cannot be used in place of background actor counts on a given day - if I'm understanding this correctly, this means a production can't just have a bunch of fake background actors by themselves, they have to engage real people up to a certain number first (which in this new contract is 25 for TV and 85 for movies). we're already filling in background with digital people or copy-pasting of the same crowd over and over and have been doing so since at least the late 90s, so it's good we're continuing to put up boundaries around that.

the AI "...hm..."

it's unclear (to me) when an actor can be asked to consent. IMO, everything is meaningless if the consent is happening as part of regular contract negotiations. these things have to happen when - and only when - the actor has already been engaged in a role and feels empowered to say no

the use of independently created replicas (replicas pulled from existing footage, not created by the actor) being allowed without consent under first amendment reasoning - this is obviously concerning a lot of people bc first amendment arguments are so broad. that said, there's a pragmatism part of me that understands this is already happening/has been happening for a while and used in ways I think are perfectly fine - I was just watching the new episode of For All Mankind (one of the best TV shows right now!) and it's an alternate history, which meant that in the opening scenes of this season they had some bonkers good deep fakes of Al Gore saying stuff he never said. I think that's okay to do in a fiction show that imagines a different US history! "but Lauren", you might be saying, "Al Gore isn't a member of SAG!" are you sure? are you positive? because I'm pretty certain he is - he was in several episodes of 30 Rock, way more people are in SAG than you think (every NPR reporter for instance), and the two worst presidents we've had in the last 50 years (yes, those ones), are both definitely members of SAG (even if one is dead). now, the other side of this is that public figures like politicians are under a different social contract than actors, and if they wanted to sue, they could, unlike the average SAG actor who might have their image abused. this is why this is in the "hm" column - deep fakes and parody/satire/commentary use of replicas is already here and there's always going to be a 1st amendment argument to make, so we need to figure out how best to limit those and protect the most vulnerable.

alteration: with this language, a project can digitally alter without consent if the script and performance stays "substantially" the same. again, this language is too mealy-mouthed. I don't know that I have a huge problem with a line of dialogue getting replaced with a digital version of that actors voice if, for instance, a word was mispronounced, or wind garbled the sound or whatever - yes, it would eliminate the need for ADR, but if we put some limit on it like..."if there are more than 5 lines in a given episode/movie that require digital alteration in the service of clarity, the actor must be engaged for an ADR session or paid for the digital replacement" then I could see this being workable. I'm also personally okay with things like costumes being digitally altered but, again, we need limitations on that. digital altering cannot replace the art of costuming but, for instance, if a costume needs to be altered to include a hate symbol or something, I think that's fine (example: I have friends who worked at the VFX house for an alternate history TV show that involved a lot of Nazi costuming and set design - a huge part of that VFX house's job was to put swastikas in places, rather than props making nazi flags. I'm okay with that!) but again, these fringe cases do not a compelling arugment make, and this contract language can be interpreted too broadly for my comfort! like everything else in this "hm" category, I need to see the final contract language to decide.

the AI bad

there's a bunch of circumstances in which actors don't get paid for creating their replica/use of it and those circumstances are too broad for my taste.

synthetic performers - this is just awful. no. no, we should not be allowing AI to generate entire actors. just............no. there's some language about the producers having to talk to the union if the synthetic performer is "used in place of a performer who would have been engaged under this Agreement in a human role" but this doesn't apply to non-human characters so....wouldn't that be all roles?? leaving the producers room to be like "this role has to be synthetic, we never would've cast a human!" is bullshit. also, even if we're having AI create a magical talking unicorn whole cloth (which, like, also no, we have artists for this), that unicorn still needs to be voiced by a human person. this whole section is a disaster.

the exceptions to consent for digital alteration are bad-bad. I talked about the potential ADR replacement above and that has a whole host of issues with it that I didn't even get into, but I can see the argument. the rest are very troubling:

there is an exception under "any circumstance when dubbing or use of a double is permitted under the Codified Basic Agreement or Television Agreement" - okay, so does this mean we can replace dubbing artists and stunt performers entirely? this section is about digital alteration, but who's to say alteration couldn't turn an actor broadly miming a fight into an entirely digital, expertly performed fight that usually a stunt double would have done? with AI translation technology, does this mean we're replacing VO artists for dubs entirely? bad!

similarly, "Adjusting lip and/or other facial or body movement and/or the voice of the performer to a foreign language, or for purposes of changes to dialogue or photography necessary for license or sale to a particular market" - Justine Bateman has a great twitter thread on the terrible puppetry potential of this but I want to draw attention to the particular market bit - we all know that selling to china is such a huge part of studios' strategies that they'll remove entire scenes or lines around queer stuff. to me, this clause makes all of that so much easier. I know the argument here is going to be "we can replace swear words and license it for kids!" which.......sure? fine? but, uh, we already have ways to deal with that? and the potential for abuse here is terrifying to me. with all the digital alteration stuff too, there's just so much icky implication for the beauty/body standard to get so much worse.

if a background actor’s digital replica is used in the role of a principal performer, they'll be paid as if they actually performed the days for that role, which, sure, but uhhhh why are we saying it's okay for a digital replica of a background actor to suddenly be a leading role!?!?! I can't think of anything more demoralizing than going to set to act in background (a job I've done! an important job! a fun job a lot of the time! but creatively limited) and then getting a much bigger role (the dream!) and.....not being able to, you know, act that role or be in scenes with other principal actors or do the thing that you've dedicated your life to doing. nightmare stuff.

woof. there's so much more to say but I'm going to leave it there. these are the concerns I'm going to go into SAG's meetings with, and the concerns I'll be considering as I decide how to vote. I know there are things I didn't address and very possibly things I misinterpreted or misrepresented - if you're an actor, I highly recommend a) reading that Justine Bateman thread and b) attending SAG's meetings to ask questions and express your concerns. and I'd love to hear what y'all think! my ask box is open.

[ntrlily]

is it possible for people to like, create old consoles/computers from scratch? like if they could replicate the physical hardware using new materials, and plant old software onto the new hardware to create like, a totally new, say, win98 pc? cause i browse online and see a lot of secondhand stuff, but the issue is always that machines break down over time due to physical wear on the hardware itself, so old pcs aren't going to last forever. it makes me wonder if at a certain point, old consoles and computers are just gonna degrade past usability, or if it's possible to build new pieces of retro hardware just as they would have been built 30 or 40 years ago

Can of worms! I am happy to open it though. For the moment I will ignore any rights issues for various reasons including "those eventually expire" and "patent law is the branch of IP law I know the least about"

Off the top of my head so long as you're only* talking computer/console hardware there aren't any particular parts that we've lost the capability to start manufacturing again, but there's more economical approaches to building neo-retro** hardware.

But before digging into that I would like to mention that anecdotally, a great many hardware failures I see on old computers are on parts that you can just remove and replace with something new. Hard drive failures, floppy disc drive failures, damaged capacitors, various issues with batteries/battery compartments, these are mostly fixable without resorting to scavenging genuine old parts. Hard drive and floppy drive failures may require finding something that you can actually plug into the device but this isn't strictly impossible.

Additionally, it's common among retro computing enthusiasts to replace some of these parts with fancier parts than were possible when those machines were new. The primary use cases for buying say, floppy-to-USB converters are keeping old industrial and aviation computers alive longer, but hobbyists do also buy these (I want to put one in my 9801 too but that's pricy so it's just on my wishlist for after I have finished school and settled down ;u;) Sticking SSDs in old computers is also not an uncommon mod.

So-- hold on let me grab my half-disassembled PC-9801 BX2 to help me explain

(Feat. the parts I pulled out of it in the second photo)

In that second photo we have some ram modules, a power supply, floppy drives, a hard drive, and floppy+hard drive cables. The fdd+hdd+cables are easily replaceable with new parts as mentioned, the power supply is a power supply, and the ram chips are... actually I don't know a lot about this one. I have enough old ram chips laying around that I haven't had to think hard about how to replace them.

Now in photo number 1 we have the motherboard and some expansion chips. The sound card is centered a bit here*** and underneath it is a video expansion card and underneath that interesting expansion card setup is the motherboard itself.

The big kickers for manufacturing new would be the CPU and the sound card-- you in theory could make those new but chip fabrication is only economical if it's done beyond a certain scale that's not quite realistic for a niche hobbyist market.

But what you could use instead of those is an FPGA, or Field Programmable Gate Array. These aren't within my field of expertise so to simplify a bit, these are integrated chips (like a CPU or a sound chip) but unlike those, they can be reprogrammed after manufacture, rather than having a set-in-stone layout. So you could program one to act as an old CPU, at a cost that is... more than that of getting a standard mass-manufactured CPU, and less than attempting small scale manufacture of a CPU.

So in theory you could plunk one of those down into a custom circuit board, use the closest approximate off the shelf parts, and make something that runs like a pc-98 (or commodore, or famicom, or saturn, or whatever.) In practice as far as I'm aware, users who want hardware like this use something like the MiSTer FPGA (Third party link but I think it's a pretty useful intro to the project)

And of course for many users, emulation will also do the trick.

*manufacturing cathode ray tube displays is out of the question

**idk if this is a term but I hope it is. If it's not, I'm coining it

***That's a 26k which isn't the best soundcard but it's super moe!!!!!!!!!!

[transmutationisms]

do you have any reading recs on the topic of the disenfranchisement of children / children being property / “the child” as a construct etc? (i’m particularly interested in the context of the medical/psychiatric system, like denying minors patient autonomy and pathologizing their reactions to abuse.) from what i’ve seen on tumblr i’ve gotten “against parental rights” by samantha godwin and abolish the family by sophie lewis.

oh ya godwin and lewis are great. this is also a framework that's central to jules gill-peterson's work in her book "histories of the transgender child", and there's also "against their will" by allen hornblum, judith newman, and gregory dober, which is about medical experimentation on children in the usa during the cold war and touches on how their (lack of) legal status enabled that to happen. there was a relatively recent article in 'french historical studies' by claire cage called "child sexual abuse and medical expertise in nineteenth-century france" (DOI 10.1215/00161071-7558315) which talks about the use of medical experts in court testimony to discredit children, particularly working-class girls, who alleged sexual abuse; i haven't read it yet.

i don't know that i have anything else off the top of my head that speaks to this particular niche but i would definitely pay attention to the footnotes on some of these sources (particularly lewis and peterson) and see if you turn anything else up!

[drdemonprince]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the "top shortage" thingy because I read what you shared........... and didn't understand half of it........... because the sentences were too long and i got lost........... (can i blame it in not being a native speaker even if i'm fluent? can i play that card?)

Yeah that piece was super long and very academically worded, so if you struggled to parse it you are far from alone.

The core takeaway from that author's perspective is that some bottoms believe they can only be topped by their fantasy version of an all powerful brute, but that brute has to also be a person that they can respect, and how we view those two qualities is often skewed by classism, racism, sexism and so much more. This leads to certain bottoms yearning for a type of person so rare and so hard to reconcile with their own worldview and social position as to almost not exist. They want tops to be voracious animals who just magically claim them in exactly the way they want to be claimed but without ever having to do any of the work, and without ever seeing themselves as a person with real power. This often has to do with gender and racial biases the person has about what being strong or dominant has to look like, and it's very dehumanizing. It is kinda no wonder people with that worldview cant get laid.

MY take (and I do love that author's piece) is a lot more simple. The top shortage does not exist. When bottoms complain about there being a top shortage they reveal their own inability to communicate and to actively seek and initiate toward what they need. Or they dont see tops as human and arent mutually giving and considerate toward them. In short, communication, agency, and mutuality are key.

I have never had a problem finding tops. Any active attempt and I'm drowning in options within like moments. This was true at all points in my life and thru many identities and in a variety of scenes. straight bi gay bondage hypno vanilla furry groups parties cruising whatever whatever. I never had trouble because I a) approached people that I was interested in, b) could lay out in detail what I wanted, and c) was happy to learn what the top wanted and dole out in return while also just generally treating them like a person with feelings and insecurities.

Communication agency and mutuality destroy the top shortage.

The notable exception is seeking a person with very particular niche expertise that takes years or money to develop. So, if you are seeking an experienced suspension rope top (and particularly one with their own space to host play), you will be limited to the handful of people who have the time and resources necessary to develop into that. Bottoms might be more plentiful on the ground due to that.

BUT even then!! there is always a relative shortage of BOTH tops and bottoms who can communicate, initiate, and be giving.

One thing I have learned as a professional communicator is that people with confident communication skills are rare. If you are good at communicating, initiating, and being mutually giving as well as receiving, you are a glistening jewel in the dating market or kink world and prospects will be numerous for you accordingly.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Hey Dani,

Can I ask for some advice or maybe explanation. You had mentioned you got into consulting later on in your career.

Um at the risk of sounding stupid,

How?

How does one get into consulting?

Also what's freelancing and how is that different?

Also how does one start these things. Like are there forums that u just join? Is this like a job application? Do u need marketing for this? Like know how to market yourself?

Yours truly

A very confused early professional 🥺

No such thing as stupid questions in this household 😌

Let me take this one by one.

Firstly, freelancing and consulting are not the same, but they are kind of used simultaneously sometimes. They are both self-employed roles (where you can work with multiple people at the same time on a contractual basis). However, freelancing involves providing specific skills or services on a project basis, while consulting focuses on offering expert advice and strategic guidance.

For example, I am a freelance trainer. So people hire me when they need to do a training and I do that training and get paid for it. I get paid by the hour (or per workshop/assignment) for that. I don't have any other business than that. In the same way, you see freelance voice artists or translators or graphic designers, where you just go in and do one thing and get paid for it. You're not involved in the whole project or company or anything. This kind of work is idea if you're trying to make money and not get attached to the company/teams you work with.

Consulting is a more involved role. You're usually an advisor for a whole project so you're overseeing everything (but you're still not part of the organization or team). You're like an external person overseeing something in a specific capacity (gender in my case) and give advice on everything related to that. So for eg, I am a gender consultant for one organization and I basically not only do their gender training, but I also do their social media content, provide input on their strategies, etc.

I think what you are referring to and looking for is more of a freelance role than a consulting one because the latter can sometimes feel like a full-time job depending on how much work is there. The consulting jobs I do don't need me 24/7 and I work like twice a week so it's great for me. So whatever they need my advice on they have to ask me on those two days.

An important thing about doing freelance/consulting work is to set boundaries. I can do a separate post on that if necessary.

In terms of how do you become a consultant, a few things:

You need a brand. Like a niche thing. I can't tell you how to market yourself, but you need something to market yourself about. Like what are you offering? What is your area of expertise? Try to specialize on a particular area (but not too specific because then it's becomes difficult to find opportunities) so you can promote yourself based on that.

LinkedIn is a great place to boost yourself. Look at what other consultants in your area of work are doing. Follow organizations (depending on your sector of interest) that hire consultants. They ALL do. It's easier to pay someone to do a specific job than to train your employees to do it (which is sad tbh).

When you look for jobs set the type to 'consultancy' so you only find jobs that are consultancies (short-term/project-based opportunities).

Most important for consultancies and freelance work is word of mouth and a good reputation. I hardly apply for jobs anymore because once you become a consultant and create a reputation for yourself in a sector (it takes a few years trust me, I've been doing this since 2021 and I'm just now getting there), they will refer you to each other.

BUT - this depends on the sector you work in. If it's corporate, it's a bit difficult. Because they don't like hiring the same consultants as others because of competition. In this case, something that would REALLY help is a portfolio - it could be a website or a pdf document that people can look at - to see your approach, past work, credentials etc).

Overall, if you're an early career professional, I'd recommend that you find a good job where you can learn and build a reputation for yourself (like an org that allows you to thrive without being sucked into their overall company identity) so people know you and your work - not just as your company's work. In other words, work in a place that allows you to take credit for it. Then, once you become a mid-career professional, you can start doing consultancies. But again, this depends on your field. A lot of people, like designers, start off as freelance because it works better for their job. So, it's completely up to you.

Happy to answer more questions if you have them 💙

[sostar252]

How to make money online?

Making money online involves various methods, depending on your skills, interests, and resources. Here are some popular ways to make money online:

Freelancing: Offer your skills and services on freelance platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, or Fiverr. Common freelance jobs include writing, graphic design, programming, digital marketing, and virtual assistance.

Online Tutoring or Coaching: If you have expertise in a particular subject or skill, you can offer tutoring or coaching services through platforms like Tutor.com, Chegg Tutors, or Skillshare.

E-commerce: Start an online store to sell products. You can create your own e-commerce website using platforms like Shopify or sell on established marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy.

Affiliate Marketing: Promote products or services and earn a commission for each sale made through your referral link. Join affiliate programs of companies in your niche or use affiliate networks like Amazon Associates, ClickBank, or ShareASale.

Content Creation: Monetize your content by creating a blog, YouTube channel, podcast, or social media presence. You can earn money through advertising, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, or selling digital products.

Online Surveys and Market Research: Participate in online surveys, focus groups, or market research studies to earn rewards or cash. Websites like Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and UserTesting offer opportunities for paid surveys and testing products.

Dropshipping: Start a dropshipping business where you sell products to customers without holding inventory. When a customer makes a purchase, you purchase the product from a third party who then ships it directly to the customer.

Stock Photography: If you have photography skills, you can sell your photos online to stock photography websites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Getty Images.

Virtual Events and Webinars: Host virtual events, workshops, or webinars on topics you're knowledgeable about and charge attendees for access.

Online Courses and Digital Products: Create and sell online courses, eBooks, templates, or digital downloads on platforms like Udemy, Teachable, or Gumroad.

Remember that success in making money online often requires patience, persistence, and continuous learning. It's essential to choose methods that align with your skills and interests and to be wary of scams or get-rich-quick schemes promising unrealistic returns.

[jeannereames]

Hello Dr. Reames! When you decide to read a history book on your free time - and a book completely unrelated to your area of expertise - but you know nothing about said topic, you're only interested in learning about it. How do you choose which book you'll read?

FANTASTIC question. Thank you for asking it.

Let’s Talk How to Evaluate the Quality of a Book NOT on/in Your Specialization or Field

I’m going to start with some general bullet points of advice with discussion. Then I’ll give a concrete example of a book (or set of them) that I decided not to buy after a little rummaging.

The Basics

(These may seem obvious, but a lot of folks ignore them, like they skip over reading the introduction. Always read the book’s introduction!)

Who’s the author?

Most books have, on the back cover or inside, a note about the author. Also, google the person. Do they have a professional degree or some form of special training/ experience (e.g., say, they worked on a dig)? If they’re a professor, where do they teach? (But don’t put too much on that; the state of academia today means highly respected scholars could end up in Podunk Mississippi just to find a job.)

What type of book is it and who’s the intended audience?

Is it an academic book meant for other specialists? A book intended for use as a textbook? Something marketed to general audiences: “pop” history, or creative non-fiction? These may all be well-done. Yet if I’m wanting to learn about a topic I’m not familiar with, I specifically seek out a textbook, as they're geared to teach the topic to non-specialists. They won’t go down a research rabbit hole. Specifically in ancient history, those “Companion to…” collections are great, as you get multiple experts weighing in on what they know the most about. And they're intended for interested readers but not specialists in that particular topic. Also they’re curated by an editor who IS a specialist, so you know the chosen authors are respected in the field.

When was it written?

If the publication date is 50 years ago, it’s been superseded. It might be out of date even if it’s 20 years ago—or 10. But newer is not necessarily better.

What press published it?

Princeton, Cambridge, Brill/DeGruyter, Berkeley, Peeters, Harvard, Chicago. Any would be a good sign. But the University of Oklahoma does not mean it’s a bad book. (Beth Carney’s important first monograph on Macedonian women came from UOk.) University presses can corner the market on a particular topic: Univ. of Nebraska does a LOT of native history. Also, it may not be a university press at all. Routledge is perfectly respectable, as are Bloomsbury and Penguin. For local histories or something niche, you may get publication by a historical society, not a major press at all. (I picked up a perfectly fine book about ghost stories in the city of Savannah done by the local historical society.) BUT IF IT’S SELF-PUBLISHED, that’s a big ol’ Red Flag.

Going a Little Deeper

Ask somebody you know, who IS a specialist in the field, if they’ve read the book and what they think

Depending on your personal circle, this may not be possible.

Find a review (or three)

I regularly teach my undergrads (and grad students) to look for reviews.

Look at the bibliography

Probably more important for academic books, but how long is the biblio? Yes, topics can have more or fewer publications, but it should go on for some pages. Also, is it all in just one language? Some fields may tend that way (much American history), but a well-done monograph in, say, Greek or Roman history should not be monolingual in the research.

Actually check (don’t ignore) footnotes

They tell stories. Again, this largely pertains to academic books, but you can find fun (and occasionally catty) scholarly quarrels in them. Very early in my reading on Alexander, I became fascinated by the back-and-forth in footnotes between the “Three Bs” (Badian, Borza, and Bosworth) plus Green and Hammond. BUT some red flags: 1) the author disproportionately citing themself, especially if it’s because 2) the author seems to have quarrels with a large number of colleagues. Maybe the author is just original! But sometimes that tells you their conclusions are questionable. Use your common sense.

Now, for a concrete example … as some of you know, I have American indigenous ancestry, specifically Peoria-Miami (Myaamia). While I know some things about our tribe, I’m far from an expert. On our Facebook page, one of the other members recently dropped mention of a series on the early history of Indiana, and the conflicts between settlers and natives during the French-Indian Wars—including St. Clare’s Defeat, effected by the Myaamia and led by Little Turtle (Mihshihkinaahkwa), the worst defeat [proportionally] ever suffered by American troops.

I thought, Oh, cool, maybe I should pick these up and read them in my “copious” spare time. E.g., probably years from now.

I followed the provided link, and immediately thought, This doesn’t look good. Page ran on forever, not well organized, and I had to hunt for info about the author. Although he was a retired schoolteacher, he didn’t seem to have any specific training in doing historical research; I don’t think he was even a history major in college (probably did education). Additionally, the book-covers and purchasing info made it clear all the books were self-published, and the provided text snippets contained grammar errors.

Yeah, I left that page bookless. Maybe the info in them was perfectly fine and he just couldn’t find a publisher who wanted creative non-fiction about an event most people have never heard of led by a chief with a name most can’t pronounce…. But I’m going to bet the research matched the grammar: slap-dash.

Now, that was a relatively easy one to figure out; I spent all of 10 minutes on the page. (And no, I’m not naming the author nor linking to the books, as this is an example, not an attempt to humiliate the person.) But it gives you some idea how I evaluate books in a field very far from my own specialty.

———————

* Although that said, they’re starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with new topics for Yet Another “Companion to….” Some I’ve seen would be better just sold as a collection on X topic, not “Companion to….”

[fallowhearth]

David Graeber and David Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, 2021

This is not a review. It will probably be a bit of a ramble about my approach to reading history and thinking through why I bounced off this so many times. This is also about letting myself off the hook - I'm going to let this one remain unfinished. I don't need to finish reading it.

After I dropped out of grad school (highly recommended), it took me a good few years to be able to stomach picking up a history book again. But, I do really enjoy the discipline. There's a reason I wanted to do it as a career. I eventually found a way back in - from YouTube video essays, to a few podcasts, to reading history from outside my field. I had the most success with ancient/pre-modern histories; obligatory Tides of History plug as I've loved all the deep dives into genetic history and archaeology (and gotten quite a few great book recommendations). I don't have any particular knowledge in these fields, I don't have the language skills or context to interpret sources myself, I've never even taken an ancient history course. So reading these I have no option but to basically rely on the expertise of the historian, to see what they say about various topics and about each other. It's the opportunity to read history like a layperson, and hey, it's pretty interesting!

On the one hand, Dawn is engagingly written - I'd call it kind of magazine style? - and tells a compelling story. But, the whole time I'm wondering, but is any of it true?

My impulse when reading something from within my area of academic expertise is to go and take a look at some of the sources myself. It's always a useful sense-check; it's due diligence. History is by its nature kind of subjective. Historians don't just deal in lonely facts (to paraphrase someone whose name escapes me), but in interpretation and argumentation. Everything has been passed through several human filters before a historian even looks at it. So, in a room full of historians you respect, you can have a lively, contentious discussion where no two people have quite the same reading of the source. There's a skill you pick up after a while - you get a sense for the range of defensible interpretations of a particular piece of evidence. You'll feel more affinity for part of that range, based on the things you believe about how the world works, your particular axe to grind, other things you've read, niche academic beef, etc.

I'm confident I've read at least a few of the sources Dawn uses, and I've definitely read within adjacent bodies of sources. So, I have an incredibly strong need to go and take a look at the specific things they're basing their argument on. I trust my own judgement; I want to establish that range of defensible interpretations, I want to see what readings I'd pull out first, I want to see what the distance is between Dawn's point on that range and mine. The problem is that I can't. Even if I wanted to dive back into the archive, I literally don't have any of the institutional accesses that would allow me to. Also I really don't want to. So I'm constantly feeling this itch I can't scratch at the back of my mind while reading Graeber and Wengrow's work.

The broad version of Dawn's thesis is something like: 'humans have experimented with diverse ways to live and organise their societies across space and time, in ways that are not accommodated by the teleological models developed within the colonial context'. I'd say, yeah, I pretty much agree with that! (In fact it's a thesis I'd love to nail to the doors of many popular history writers.) But I get the same sense reading Dawn as I did reading various provocative works of global history (many of which I really like): the broad thesis is generally defensible, but it falls apart on the page-to-page level. Of course I can't actually confirm this since, well, I haven't done my due diligence!

[youroriginalcontent]

Reasons to Choose the Best Content Writing Agency in Delhi

As we live in the digital era, the content is the king. Whether you have a small business or a big corporation, providing quality and "engaging" content is crucial to capture and retain your customers. In addition, generating interesting and useful content would be a big undertaking, especially if you can't find just the right time, talent, or resources to do it. Then comes the role of the Content Writing Agency in Delhi, where its services are required. Collaboration with a skilled agency provides access to all opportunities for your content to transform your business targets. The following article will unveil what stands behind the choice of the best Content Writing agency in Delhi, which can be the right option for the success of your business.

1. Expertise and Experience

Among the crucial reasons is their knowledge and rich experience in the given sector. A professional organization should have a constellation of writers and editors with the requisite comprehension of the major market sectors and niches. These experts embrace new technologies for content creation and keep abreast of the latest trends and innovations to ensure that the content is always engaging, unconventional, and fresh.

The Content Writing Agency in Delhi will also have an established practice of consistently producing superior writing material for people of various business backgrounds. They will clearly explain how the content writing service effectively generates measurable results through the proofs they will provide.

2. Time and Cost Efficiency

Building high-quality content can be quite expensive and time-consuming unless you are committed to outsourcing, i.e., employing a third party and managing an in-house team. Hiring a Content Writing Agency in Delhi to outsource the content creation process can save you much of the time and money you would otherwise spend, freeing up those resources for other business areas.

The professional firm must have a strong structure and tools and techniques to ensure your content is delivered on time and within budget. This team will collaborate with you to define your particular demands and aims and then develop a content plan that harmonizes with your business objectives.

3. Diverse Range of Services

The finest Content Writing Agency in Delhi will feature many service options to attain your content goals. Whether it is website copy, blog posts, social media content, or email marketing, they’ll have the know-how to create engaging content across several platforms and formats.

Some of the services that a top-notch agency may offer include:

Digital Marketing Content Writing

Best Website Content Writing Services

Affordable Article Writing Services

Copywriting Services

Social Media Content Writing

Conclusion

Hiring the best Content Writing Agency in Delhi will help companies stay on top of their content game as they try to break into new markets and win over customers. Collaborating with Your Original Content involves the use of professional services, knowledge, and different types of services that they offer. Being a leading content writing service provider in India, we have shown results that are pure and good content that attracts the audience and helps to get good results.

[earningskills]

Certainly! Here are some ideas to potentially earn $100 daily:

Freelancing: Offer your skills online on platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, or Fiverr. Whether it's writing, graphic design, programming, or virtual assistance, there are opportunities in various fields.

Online Tutoring: If you're proficient in a particular subject or language, you can offer tutoring services through websites like Tutor.com or Wyzant.

E-commerce: Start an online store selling products through platforms like Shopify, Etsy, or Amazon. You could sell handmade items, print-on-demand products, or source goods from wholesalers.

Content Creation: Start a blog, YouTube channel, or podcast focusing on a niche topic you're passionate about. Once you build an audience, you can monetize through ads, sponsorships, or affiliate marketing.

Social Media Management: Many businesses need help managing their social media accounts. If you're adept at creating engaging content and growing followers, offer your services to businesses in need.

Virtual Assistance: Assist busy professionals or entrepreneurs with tasks like email management, scheduling, research, or customer service remotely.

Stock Photography: If you have a knack for photography, you can sell your photos on stock photography websites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Getty Images.

Consulting: Leverage your expertise in a particular field to offer consulting services to businesses or individuals seeking advice.

Online Courses: Create and sell online courses on platforms like Udemy or Teachable. If you have expertise in a particular skill or subject, others may be willing to pay to learn from you.

App Development: If you have programming skills, consider developing and selling mobile apps or software solutions.

Remember, success often comes from combining your skills and interests with market demand. It may take some experimentation to find the right fit, but with determination and effort, earning $100 daily is achievable.see more

[jenniferlawrence06]

INFLUENCER | JENNIFER LAWRENCE

Hi! I’m Jennifer Lawrence, a seasoned influencer based in the USA. I specialize in influencer marketing, blog and article writing, paid marketing. With over 2 years of experience in this industry, I’ve become an expert in influencer marketing. Now, I’m here to introduce myself at tumblr as a influencer. So, people can aware about my services and expertise here. Let me simplify it for you.

WHAT IS INFLUENCER MARKETING?

Influencer Marketing focuses on promoting your products or services through individuals who have a significant following on social media platforms. When consumers admire your offerings and have a substantial social media presence, they are inclined to share their positive experiences, thereby increasing awareness of your business. As these individuals share their reviews on social media, their audience becomes interested in your products or services, leading to brand interaction and awareness. This phenomenon underscores the effectiveness of influencer marketing in promoting brand recognition and engagement.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING?

BRAND AWARENESS:

In influencer marketing, “brand awareness” refers to the extent to which consumers recognize and recall a particular brand. It involves creating familiarity and visibility for the brand among the audience through influencer collaborations. Brand awareness aims to establish a strong presence, increase recognition, and cultivate positive associations with the brand, ultimately driving consumer engagement and loyalty.

IMPROVE CONVERSIONS AND ROI:

Influencer marketing have the potential to expand sales through website traffic, generating sales leads, enhancing conversions, and referrals from current customers. These elements collectively enhance the return on investment (ROI) from paid advertising platforms such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

HELPS BUILD TRUST AND CREDIBILITY:

When people see an influencer talking about your products or services, they are more likely to trust your brand and be more interested in buying from you. It is because people generally trust recommendations from people they know and follow rather than advertising messages.

CONCLUSION:

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that targets influential users and uses their influence to sell products. In other words, it’s a strategy businesses use to partner with key figures in the same field or niche as theirs and use their trusted status to drive sales of products or services. With Influencer Marketing, brands can easily tap into the trust and loyal followers have for an influencer and effectively drive conversions through authentic recommendations. It is a great place to start if you are new to influencer marketing.

CONTACT ME FOR YOUR INQUIRIES:

jennilawrence06@gmail.com

[mmnazzar]

Mastering the Art of Being a Stellar Affiliate Marketer

Introduction:

In the digital age, affiliate marketing has emerged as a lucrative avenue for individuals seeking to generate passive income. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer entails more than just promoting products; it requires strategic planning, relationship building, and a keen understanding of your audience. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the intricacies of excelling as an affiliate business, offering practical tips and insights to help you thrive in this dynamic industry.

Understanding Affiliate Marketing:

Understanding affiliate marketing basics is crucial before delving into success tactics. Fundamentally, affiliate marketing is collaborating with businesses to advertise their goods or services in return for a cut of purchases made via your referral link. Because it enables higher sales and brand exposure, this business model benefits both the merchant and the affiliate marketer.

Choosing Your Niche:

A key to becoming a successful affiliate marketer is choosing a niche that fits your target market, area of expertise, and interests. You may gain your audience's trust and position yourself as an authority in a particular field by concentrating on it. Make sure there is enough demand and competition in lucrative sectors by conducting in-depth research.

Building a Strong Online Presence:

You must have a strong online presence on a variety of channels in order to market affiliate products. This involves setting up a polished blog or website where you may post excellent information relevant to your specialty. Utilize email marketing, social media, and other digital channels as well to connect and interact with your target market.

Creating Compelling Content:

In the realm of affiliate marketing, content is king. You need to be producing worthwhile, educational, and interesting content all the time if you want to draw in and keep readers. Blog entries, product reviews, guides, videos, and more can be used for this. With your content, put your attention on solving the issues and meeting the wants of your audience.

Selecting the Right Affiliate Programs:

With so many affiliate programs out there, it's important to pick the ones that pay competitive commissions and fit your specialty. To determine which affiliate network or program best suits your audience and objectives, do some research on them. Seek for programs that offer a variety of goods and services, prompt payouts, and dependable tracking methods.

Building Trust with Your Audience:

The foundation of effective affiliate marketing is trust. You need to come across to your audience as a reliable and trustworthy source of advice and information. Be open and honest about your affiliate relationships, and only recommend goods and services that you sincerely believe in. Developing a lasting relationship with your audience is considerably more important than closing a deal right away.

Optimizing for Conversions:

As an affiliate marketer, you must improve your techniques for conversions if you want to maximize your earning potential. This entails employing convincing copywriting strategies, search engine optimization (SEO), and the strategic placement of calls-to-action (CTAs) across your content. To raise your conversion rates over time, evaluate your performance indicators frequently and make any improvements.

Diversifying Your Revenue Streams:

Although affiliate marketing can be a very profitable source of income, it's a good idea to diversify your sources of income in order to reduce risk. Consider looking at additional revenue streams like consultancy, digital product sales, and sponsored content opportunities. Not only may diversification boost your earning potential, but it also offers protection against changes in the affiliate marketing industry.

Staying Updated and Adaptable:

Affiliate marketing is a dynamic area that is always changing due to the frequent emergence of new technology, trends, and techniques. Make a commitment to lifelong learning and follow industry advancements to stay ahead of the curve. In the always evolving digital landscape, you must be prepared to modify your strategy and try out new approaches in order to stay competitive.

Conclusion:

A systematic strategy, effort, and dedication are necessary to become a great Affiliate marketing You can fully utilize Affiliate marketing as a long-term revenue stream by selecting the appropriate niche, establishing a solid online presence, producing engaging content, and developing trust with your audience. Continue honing your tactics, keeping up with market developments, and never stop learning. In the fast-paced world of Affiliate marketing, you can succeed spectacularly if you have the correct attitude and perseverance.

To Becoming a Great Affiliate Mindset & Fokus E-Book! JOIN NOW

[script-a-world]

I'm creating some animals for my planet, especially fish, one thing I can't seem to find any info is fish anatomy that live in mangroves where it's half salt and half freshwater. I can only find salt and freshwater separately.

Tex: Doing a quick peek into Wikipedia, I found a few articles to orient myself on this subject: mangrove forest (Wikipedia) with its section on mangrove fish (Wikipedia), and intertidal zone (Wikipedia). There’s also a section in the first article for mangrove crab holobint (Wikipedia), which looks both interesting and the crabs themselves having their own particular function in the niche environment.

Pulling from the list of mangrove fish, we have:

Mangrove jack - or mangrove red snapper (Wikipedia)

Mangrove snapper (Wikipedia)

Old World silverside (Wikipedia)

Barracuda (Wikipedia)

Yellow seahorses - or Hippocampus kuda (Wikipedia)

Mudskipper (Wikipedia)

Whipray - or stingray (Wikipedia)

The Wikipedia article on fish anatomy gives a reasonable amount of detail, though I’m not sure if you’ve already read that one. A little more in-depth poking around finds me with Coastal Fish § Intertidal Fish (Wikipedia) and intertidal ecology (Wikipedia).

I’m not sure if you’re wanting to know about particular organs and their functions for a given species of fish, but if that’s the case then unfortunately this data is hard to come by as a matter of course - research on this subject is highly specialized and academia vies for funding for everything they want to learn and write about.

There are a few sites I could recommend, with varying degrees of detail in information. The first is FishBase, an internationally-created database which has accompanying journals named Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria and Journal of Fish Biology. The second is the US’ Science dot gov, which has a heck of a lot of information collated between various agencies.

The third is the University of Texas Marine Science Institute library, from their College of Natural Sciences. It’s a highly specialized library, and given their location along the Gulf Coast, their expertise of mangrove forests and their accompanying ecology is higher than most and makes them a good candidate if you really, truly need to reach out to a live person. I’m not sure if there are other colleges or universities with similar libraries, but this one is a solid find.

[treffendesign]

The Ultimate Overview to Affiliate Advertising And Marketing: Just How to Boost Your Online Revenue

Comprehending the Essentials of Affiliate Marketing

Associate marketing has come to be one of one of the most prominent ways to make money online. It is a performance-based advertising and marketing strategy where people or organizations promote products or services as well as make a compensation for every sale made through their affiliate links. This kind of advertising allows anybody, no matter of their experience or experience, to tap right into the large on the internet market and generate a passive revenue stream.To get going with affiliate advertising and marketing, you need to select a niche that straightens with your interests and expertise. This will certainly aid you produce material that reverberates with your target market. Next off, you will certainly need to join an affiliate program or network, such as Amazon Associates, ClickBank, or ShareASale, to find services or products to advertise. When you have actually picked the service or products, you can begin including your associate web links right into your website, blog, social media sites articles, or other marketing channels.Strategies to Maximize Your Associate Marketing Success While associate advertising and marketing can be a rewarding endeavor, it calls for mindful planning and execution to attain substantial outcomes. Here are some strategies to boost your associate advertising and marketing success:1. Construct a strong online existence: Develop a professional internet site or blog site and regularly create top quality content to attract as well as involve your target market. Maximize your website for internet search engine to increase its exposure and also drive organic website traffic.2. Understand your target market: Conduct market research study to identify your target market's requirements, preferences, as well as pain factors.

Dressmaker your web content and item recommendations to give worth and address their certain requirements.3. Advertise products tactically: Instead of pounding your audience with associate web links, concentrate on building count on by recommending service or products that you truly think in. Give truthful testimonials as well as useful understandings to develop yourself as a trusted authority in your particular niche.4. Leverage numerous advertising networks: Explore numerous advertising channels, such as social media, e-mail advertising and marketing, YouTube, or podcasting, to reach a broader target market. Experiment with various strategies as well as track your outcomes to recognize one of the most reliable networks for your associate marketing efforts.By adhering to these approaches and also constantly learning and also adjusting, you can unlock the full capacity of affiliate marketing and also produce a sustainable on-line revenue stream. Keep in mind, success in affiliate marketing requires time, dedication, and also determination, however with the ideal technique, it can be a satisfying and rewarding endeavor.

Read more here Sumobi Japan

[cinematicnomad]

hi! i hope this is okay to ask, but i was just wondering if you could tell me/us a bit more about how you landed your job (which seems SO cool)? like, is this something you were always interested in? did you have to go to school for it? i'd love to work on the comm/marketing team for a university in my country--because i really miss the feeling of being on a busy, bustling campus--but idk if there's a better way of going about it than just cold-calling or emailing the hr dept about vacancies...

(2/2 uni job anon) comm/marketing and recruitment (which is what you do, i think?) are quite different ofc--i just think that these particular universities could really use a hand with their various english-language dispatches and know i could really help them out if i found a way onto their staff roster...

hey anon! i'm definitely happy to answer any questions. i can't comment on how your countries university's handle hiring. in the states, universities tend to list all of their open administrator/staff positions online. you can literally google a university name + jobs and you'll find a link. once on it, you can usually narrow you're search—so in your case, you could potentially narrow it down to positions with the words 'marketing' 'communications' 'social media' etc etc. then find the position that fits your interest and fill out the application and submit it. then you just have to...wait. which for universities (at least in the states) can take some time.

i put my personal journey in my work below the cut if anyone's interested:

i didn't originally go to school with the intention of working in higher ed. i got my bachelors in english lit with a minor in history. i thought i might become a writer or go into publishing or something. i v much did not know what i wanted to do by the time i finished undergrad. i traveled some the summer after college and didn't really seriously thinking about my post-school plans until late july. i didn't have a drivers license (let alone a car or easy access to public transportation) and i was living in suburbia with my parents so my options were really limited—but i lucked out in that we lived about a 15 minute walk from a large public university so i just kind of...applied to everything? i didn't have much by the way of experience—at this point my resume amounted to 3 summers working as a clerk in a doctor's office, a summer as a day camp counselor, a summer working as a sales associate at homegoods, and an internship at a british private publishing company. basically i had customer service skills and i knew how to function in an office and i could string coherent sentences together. the one guiding point i had when applying to jobs was that...i'd grown up traveling around the world and so i was intrigued by the jobs i saw that had to do with international admissions/students/etc. i prioritized those applications, but honestly i would have taken anything.

i luckily got an interview and an eventual offer for a part-time assistant job in the office of international admissions. and my career kind of just...evolved from there? about 6 months later my supervisor moved into a new position and i was asked to apply for his job so i did. it wasn't exactly what i wanted to be doing—i spent my days sitting in an office reviewing international transcripts to determine a) if the school was recognized/accredited; b) the US degree equivalency; and c) the student's equivalent US gpa AND i was given the task of processing and issuing immigration documents for incoming int'l students. these are two incredibly niche, vital processes for international admissions and having that baseline expertise was good for me. i stayed at that university for a total of 4 years before accepting a position at a smaller private university in DC—by this point i had a license and a car and could afford to move closer to public transportation. career-wise it was lateral move—i didn't get a title bump, but i did get a decent salary increase AND the job was more generalized. which was good for me! all of my work up until that point had been SO specialized and isolated that i spent a lot of time on my own cooped up in an office doing work alone—and bc my job was so isolated and no one could cover for me, and it was so reliant on being in the office, i was never given the opportunity to travel. which sucked. my new job let me experience different facets of admissions with a team of people and also allowed me the chance to get some experience recruiting domestically.

after i'd been there for a while i took advantage of one of the common benefits of working in higher ed in the US—tuition benefits. i applied for and was admitted into a master's program int'l education and my job covered 90% of the tuition. whenever i had a performance review or check in with my supervisor i let her know i was interested in recruiting internationally for the office. halfway through the program my boss offered me the chance to apply for a new position in my office with the understanding that it would come with a pay increase, a title bump, and FINALLY: int'l recruiting. i applied, got the job, renewed my passport so i could be ready to travel...and then COVID hit.

that derailed plans a little but i stayed in my job and kept working. i finally got to start recruiting internationally for my job last fall and around november i had another conversation with my boss about a new position—this one would be focused on recruiting internationally and on developing partnerships with other universities and designing joint programs. so that's what i'm doing now! and that's how i got here.

not sure if anyone is actually here still reading this! but if you are, i am happy to answer any questions you might have about preparing for interviews, what to expect, other nitty-gritty details, etc.