#Long Island Digital Marketing

[atdny]

Long Island Website Design Services

Looking for a web design company to build your company's website? You're in the right place. We are All Things Digital, a New York website design company. We specialize in creating websites that get results. Visit www.atdny.com today!

[topnotchdezigns02]

Exploring Custom Web Design And SEO For Better Engagement

In the contemporary society, it is essential to have a good website appearance that is welcoming and simple to interact with. Nonetheless, web designing is not the only essential requirement for an efficient and effective website. 

Using SEO techniques is also paramount in order to direct traffic and conversion to the website. In this article, the author will discuss some of the important aspects regarding the web design that will improve engagement, as well as, some of the important tips concerning the SEO.

So, continue reading before you look for SEO company Long Island. 

Simplicity And Visual Design

When there is too much information crammed in a single page or there are numerous objects in the page that grab the attention, it becomes difficult for the visitor to get the information that he is looking for. 

However, large areas of white space, high contrast between elements, and well-placed pictures assist in giving direction. Also, synchronize the appearance of all pages with comprehensively matched colors, fonts, and menus. 

This aids branding while allowing the users to have an easy time when finding what they are looking for on the site. And most importantly, responsive design should always be the top priority so that the content will be easily readable on any devices.

Navigation Of The Website

Second, the approach to design achieved through simple and easy to understand navigation reduces confusion and the bounce rate. Texts should be comprehensible, communicative and placed on menu bar similarly in every page. 

Make utilization of site search bars to assist individuals in finding whatever they are searching for. Likewise, add buttons for seamless communication, and either sales or subscription paths depending on the business requirements. 

In other words, designing the site to be easily navigable and arranged in a way that meets the visitors’ requirements is helpful in enhancing the positive user experience.

Optimized Content

Now, let’s turn our attention to content, and ensure it contains useful information, relevant to answering a user’s question or solving a problem with the help of Long Island SEO companies. 

The properly done research blogs, eBooks, videos, and other material with a clearly stated and described benefits generate interest among the visitors. 

Reduce promotional material in order to provide useful resources that will help users trust the company and become loyal. Further, ensure that the page contains strong calls to action wherever possible to influence the audience towards the intended goal. 

Keyword Optimization And Quality Backlinks

Besides, website content should comprise of materials that are relevant to the website’s objectives and goals so that when users search for such topics online the website appears in the search list. 

Use the keywords to do research on other terms and questions that relate to a buyer’s needs and her problems. Then while writing content on web page it can be placed such that it is very much visible and at the same time it should not be used very frequently. 

Backlinks also enhance website quality for ranking optimization, therefore, partner with other industry websites seeking guest writers, sponsors, or other associations. 

Site Analysis And Control

Lastly, some basic specific actionable insights that can be derived are to use Google Analytics and similar tools to determine website visitor habits – peak hours, traffic vs no traffic content, high bounce rate meaning confusion etc. 

These should be used to improve the general design, design of content and sections that did not elicit positive responses so as to increase the chances of getting a positive response in other aspects that visitors come across. 

While doing it, you are developing the elements that are supported by analytics and users and end up with a website that converts and connects much more effectively in the long run.

Conclusion

An effective web presence both gets and keeps its target audience thanks to having a clean-cut design, easy navigation, content-centric and continuously enhanced approach. 

Combine this with keyword optimization plus high-quality backlinks and you have an SEO optimized website that can deliver value to the intended audiences. 

It is now time to apply the approaches discussed above to develop a site that will be interesting for the users and bring high conversion rates for your business.

[blogbound]

How Business Law Attorneys Can Create a Sustainable Stream of Leads

The lifeline of success of business law undeniably lies in the continuous flow of leads. These leads serve as the cornerstone for attorneys, paving the path towards sustainable growth and client acquisition. Picture this: a bustling marketplace where businesses navigate through intricate legal landscapes, seeking guidance and representation. Amidst this dynamic ecosystem, generating and nurturing leads isn't just a routine task; it's the essence of maintaining relevance and fostering long-term relationships.

For business law attorneys, the importance of this process cannot be overstated. It's akin to tending to a garden – diligently nurturing seeds of potential until they bloom into fruitful partnerships. Without a steady stream of leads, even the most skilled attorneys may find themselves adrift in a sea of competition, struggling to stay afloat. At its core, the significance of generating sustainable leads for business law attorneys lies in its ability to sustainably fuel their practice. Imagine a reservoir brimming with opportunities, where each lead represents a potential client seeking legal counsel. 

This reservoir isn't just a source of revenue; it's a testament to the attorney's credibility and expertise. By cultivating a steady influx of leads, attorneys not only ensure a consistent flow of work but also fortify their reputation within the industry. Moreover, in a landscape where client retention is paramount, nurturing sustainable leads fosters loyalty and trust. It transforms casual inquiries into enduring partnerships, where clients rely on their attorney not just for legal advice, but as a strategic ally in their business endeavors. In essence, the journey of generating sustainable leads isn't merely a business tactic; it's the cornerstone of building a thriving and enduring legal practice.

Defining Target Audience

In the realm of business law, understanding the intricacies of your target audience isn't just a strategic choice; it's the cornerstone of success. Picture this: a tailor crafting a bespoke suit, meticulously measuring every contour to ensure a perfect fit. Similarly, for business law attorneys, defining their target audience is akin to tailoring their services to meet the unique needs of their clients. It's about identifying and understanding the ideal client profile, a blueprint that guides attorneys towards fruitful partnerships and sustainable growth. Without this clarity, attorneys risk casting their net too wide, diluting their efforts and missing out on opportunities for meaningful connections.

Delving deeper into why this understanding is crucial, especially for the Long Island corporate attorney. Imagine navigating the bustling streets of Long Island, each business clamoring for attention amidst the vibrant tapestry of commerce. In this landscape, understanding the specific needs, pain points, and challenges of the target audience isn't just advantageous; it's imperative. It's about speaking their language, empathizing with their struggles, and offering tailored solutions that resonate on a personal level. By honing in on these nuances, Long Island corporate attorneys can position themselves not just as legal advisors, but as trusted allies in their clients' journey towards success. In essence, defining the target audience isn't merely about segmentation; it's about forging meaningful connections that lay the groundwork for lasting partnerships and mutual growth.

Building an Online Presence

In today's interconnected world, building an online presence is paramount for small business attorneys in Long Island. Think of it as laying the foundation for your digital identity—a virtual storefront that operates around the clock, showcasing your expertise and services to potential clients. A professional website serves as your digital business card, providing visitors with a glimpse into your legal prowess, the array of services you offer, and the satisfaction of past clients through authentic testimonials. It's like having a welcoming reception area where visitors can learn about your practice, fostering trust and confidence in your abilities right from the start.

Delving into the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) in enhancing your online visibility and attracting organic traffic. Imagine the internet as a vast ocean, with millions of websites competing for attention. SEO acts as your compass, guiding search engines like Google to recognize and prioritize your website amidst this sea of information. By strategically incorporating relevant keywords, creating valuable content, and optimizing your website's structure, you can improve your rankings in search engine results. This not only increases your visibility to potential clients but also drives organic traffic to your website, offering a steady stream of opportunities for engagement and client acquisition. For small business attorney Long Island, harnessing the power of SEO is essential for standing out in a crowded digital landscape and establishing a strong foothold in the local market.

Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing isn't just a buzzword; it's a strategic cornerstone for the Long Island business dispute attorney seeking to carve out their niche in the legal landscape. Picture this: a library filled with resources, each page brimming with insights and solutions to common legal issues. That's the essence of content marketing—a vehicle for delivering valuable and informative content that educates, engages, and empowers potential clients. From insightful blog posts to in-depth articles, from comprehensive whitepapers to compelling case studies, content serves as a bridge, connecting attorneys with their audience in a meaningful way.

Imagine navigating the complex terrain of business disputes, each case presenting unique challenges and nuances. In this landscape, addressing common legal issues and providing actionable solutions through content marketing isn't just beneficial; it's essential. By offering valuable insights and practical guidance through blog posts, articles, and case studies, attorneys position themselves as trusted advisors, ready to assist clients in their time of need. In essence, content marketing isn't just about creating content; it's about building relationships, solving problems, and ultimately, positioning Long Island business dispute attorneys as indispensable allies in the pursuit of legal resolution.

Networking and Relationship Building

Networking isn't just about exchanging business cards at events; it's about cultivating meaningful relationships that serve as the bedrock of success for business law attorneys. Imagine a vibrant tapestry of professionals gathering at industry conferences and networking events, each interaction a potential opportunity to forge alliances and foster trust. These gatherings aren't just social occasions; they're fertile grounds for building connections with both potential clients and referral sources. From rubbing elbows with fellow attorneys to engaging with industry leaders, networking events offer a platform for attorneys to showcase their expertise and establish themselves as trusted advisors within their field.

Picture a seasoned navigator charting a course through uncharted waters, armed with a compass and a keen sense of direction. Similarly, attorneys can navigate networking events by prioritizing quality over quantity, focusing on building genuine connections rather than collecting business cards. By actively listening, offering value, and demonstrating genuine interest in others, attorneys can position themselves as trusted advisors, fostering long-term relationships based on mutual respect and reciprocity. Additionally, partnering with a New York digital marketing company can amplify these efforts, leveraging digital platforms to extend their reach and enhance their visibility within the legal community. In essence, networking isn't just a means to an end; it's a strategic endeavor that lays the foundation for lasting partnerships and sustained success in the competitive landscape of business law.

Utilizing Social Media

Harnessing the power of social media has become indispensable for businesses seeking to elevate their brand presence. Picture a bustling marketplace where conversations buzz incessantly, each platform teeming with potential connections and opportunities. Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook serve as virtual arenas where businesses can not only showcase their expertise but also engage directly with their target audience. From sharing industry insights to highlighting company achievements, these platforms offer a dynamic stage for building brand awareness and fostering meaningful interactions with followers.

Imagine a master storyteller weaving tales that captivate and resonate with their audience, sparking conversations and forging connections. Similarly, businesses can create compelling social media content by crafting narratives that resonate with their audience's interests and pain points. Whether it's sharing informative articles, hosting live Q&A sessions, or showcasing behind-the-scenes glimpses, the key lies in delivering value and authenticity. Moreover, fostering meaningful interactions with followers involves active engagement, responding to comments, and initiating conversations to cultivate a sense of community. By embracing these strategies, businesses can leverage social media not just as a promotional tool but as a platform for building lasting relationships and driving meaningful engagement.

Key TakeAways of How Business Law Attorneys Can Create a Sustainable Stream of Leads

The ability to consistently attract and retain clients is paramount to sustaining a thriving practice. By implementing a strategic approach to lead generation, business law attorneys can create a sustainable stream of leads that fuels long-term growth and success. Understanding the unique needs of their target audience, establishing a strong online presence, leveraging content marketing, networking effectively, utilizing social media platforms, and implementing targeted lead generation tactics are all integral components of this approach. By adopting these strategies and remaining proactive in their implementation, business law attorneys can position themselves as trusted advisors and thought leaders within their niche, ultimately driving sustainable growth and profitability for their practices. 

To create a sustainable stream of leads, business law attorneys must adopt a holistic approach that combines both traditional and digital marketing tactics. By focusing on building meaningful relationships, delivering valuable content, and leveraging the power of technology, attorneys can establish themselves as go-to experts in their field. By consistently refining their strategies, staying attuned to market trends, and adapting to the evolving needs of their audience, business law attorneys can ensure a steady influx of leads that fuels their continued success in the competitive legal landscape.

[techacs]

Significance of Web Development Services Long Island - Techacs

Web Development Services Long Island

The Importance of Website Design and Web Development Services for a Company

Web development can include anything from essentially programming the information of a website to including client contact, network security, content and web server configuration, e-commerce development, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. It as a rule ranges from creating the simplest, plain text to the most troublesome web-based applications, informal community services, and electronic business. It ought to abandon saying that the better a website looks, the more visitors it will pull in, so it's worthwhile to concentrate on the design aspects just like the coding when developing your website. The content ought to accurately depict what your service provides and be geared towards enticing the site's visitors, so as to keep them engaged.

On the off chance that you need your business to prosper, web development is significant. Developing a well-designed, professional-looking website will get your foot in the entryway of the online market, and give you a base from which to construct your audience.

In the event that you truly need to create more business with a quality website. This might be the primary line of correspondence among you and potential visitors or audience. The website will be accessible 24 hours every day, 7 days per week, and can be seen from anywhere on the planet and anyone can gather reasonable data from the website whenever.

In the present business condition and to beat the opposition huge or little organizations certainly need to build up a decent website. Many entrepreneurs utilize the reason that their business is "verbal" and they needn't bother with a website. Be that as it may, an incredible method to strengthen the individual proposals of different clients is through expert website development. It likewise gives businesses the chance to depict themselves in the manners they need to be seen, with a stage that is based on their footing and can effectively market the services or items that they offer. Furthermore, a website will make businesses look more reliable in the event that they're represented in a professional manner.

Web development services help your company to build item information, keep up correspondence among you and potential clients, sell your items or services, create leads for the business, and increment the prominence of your company and significantly more.

Are you still on the search for the best Web Development Company? Techacs NY is the best of Web Development Company Long Island. For web development services, you ought to have a website with you. In the event that you are eager to make your own website, we are experts in making extraordinary and current highlighted websites for our clients. We build up the website in a modified manner and follow the customer's particulars and business requirements for building an amazing website. According to realities, the vast majority of the search engine users search for the initial 5 results in the search engine for their reference, and furthermore SEO not just expands your positioning in the web search tool yet additionally builds social mindfulness about your website. Great web development company like Techacs NY can outrank you in your opposition. The website is the main thing that the visitors go over and ought to be created remembering the need of the visitors. You can make a blog to engage individuals with your blog entries time by time. It will hold your imminent clients with you on your website.

Our Web Development Services in Long Island gives master web application development and web design services to our customers. Techacs NY offers an assortment of website plan and development services, from making portable web development arrangements and responsive website structures to building custom online business utilizing the most recent and demonstrated web technologies. With up to 85% of customers visiting the company's or service provider’s website before making a buy, an ever-increasing number of shoppers settle on choices dependent on their online experience: the appearance, ease of use, and openness of your website are a higher priority than at any other time, particularly in an undeniably competitive market.

Our web development specialists evaluate the customer's requirements and chalk out a strategy that will innovatively add creativity to it. We keep everyone's benefit at need. To put it plainly, Fairness to our audience, our employees, and the company.

CONTACT US NOW

TO HELP CLIENTS BUILD THEIR BRAND AND COMPANY ONLINE

📍 : 2957 Roxbury Rd, Oceanside, NY 11572

📞 :  (516)-882-3442

📞 : (212)-202-1952

📠 : +1-877-350-1529

📧 : info@techacs.com

🌎 : https://techacs.com/

[ideastreammarketing]

Boost Your Business Online with the Best Digital Marketing Agency in Long Island

Idea Stream Marketing, a top digital marketing agency in Long Island, offers an expert team of digital marketers who can help your business succeed online. We can improve your online presence, increase traffic, and boost your revenue through strategic and customized digital marketing solutions. Call now.

[goblincow]

Here's the big dicebreaker interview with the designers & publishers whose names you know well.

Where do we go next?

I'm advocating for tumblr, and I'm in the PlusOneExp discord (just ask me if you need a link to what I'm finding to be a very welcoming island in the storm).

For now, that will suffice for me. I've tidied up my social links, I've sorted out my instagram and started making good use of the Stories feature, and I've long since given up on twitter. But I'm in a position that I'm yet to release my first project, so I've started at the bottom of the mountain and I won't be hit hard by the loss. I really feel for those who have lost years of hard work & struggle. It must feel like shit.

I appreciate this quote at the end of the article from Jess Levine:

“Every platform wants their walled garden, and the VC money that funded the existence of social media platforms that acted like a public is drying up as they realise maintaining what amounts to public infrastructure isn’t profitable,” Levine said.

“We're basically just speedrunning the neoliberal enclosure of anything resembling a public commons, this time with digital spaces rather than physical ones. As a creator and a generalist that markets their work online—and in some ways, even just as a person—that’s terrifying.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A link-clump demands a linkdump

Cometh the weekend, cometh the linkdump. My daily-ish newsletter includes a section called "Hey look at this," with three short links per day, but sometimes those links get backed up and I need to clean house. Here's the eight previous installments:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

The country code top level domain (ccTLD) for the Caribbean island nation of Anguilla is .ai, and that's turned into millions of dollars worth of royalties as "entrepreneurs" scramble to sprinkle some buzzword-compliant AI stuff on their businesses in the most superficial way possible:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/08/ai-fever-turns-anguillas-ai-domain-into-a-digital-gold-mine/

All told, .ai domain royalties will account for about ten percent of the country's GDP.

It's actually kind of nice to see Anguilla finding some internet money at long last. Back in the 1990s, when I was a freelance web developer, I got hired to work on the investor website for a publicly traded internet casino based in Anguilla that was a scammy disaster in every conceivable way. The company had been conceived of by people who inherited a modestly successful chain of print-shops and decided to diversify by buying a dormant penny mining stock and relaunching it as an online casino.

But of course, online casinos were illegal nearly everywhere. Not in Anguilla – or at least, that's what the founders told us – which is why they located their servers there, despite the lack of broadband or, indeed, reliable electricity at their data-center. At a certain point, the whole thing started to whiff of a stock swindle, a pump-and-dump where they'd sell off shares in that ex-mining stock to people who knew even less about the internet than they did and skedaddle. I got out, and lost track of them, and a search for their names and business today turns up nothing so I assume that it flamed out before it could ruin any retail investors' lives.

Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory, one of those former British colonies that was drained and then given "independence" by paternalistic imperial administrators half a world away. The country's main industries are tourism and "finance" – which is to say, it's a pearl in the globe-spanning necklace of tax- and corporate-crime-havens the UK established around the world so its most vicious criminals – the hereditary aristocracy – can continue to use Britain's roads and exploit its educated workforce without paying any taxes.

This is the "finance curse," and there are tiny, struggling nations all around the world that live under it. Nick Shaxson dubbed them "Treasure Islands" in his outstanding book of the same name:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780230341722/treasureislands

I can't imagine that the AI bubble will last forever – anything that can't go on forever eventually stops – and when it does, those .ai domain royalties will dry up. But until then, I salute Anguilla, which has at last found the internet riches that I played a small part in bringing to it in the previous century.

The AI bubble is indeed overdue for a popping, but while the market remains gripped by irrational exuberance, there's lots of weird stuff happening around the edges. Take Inject My PDF, which embeds repeating blocks of invisible text into your resume:

https://kai-greshake.de/posts/inject-my-pdf/

The text is tuned to make resume-sorting Large Language Models identify you as the ideal candidate for the job. It'll even trick the summarizer function into spitting out text that does not appear in any human-readable form on your CV.

Embedding weird stuff into resumes is a hacker tradition. I first encountered it at the Chaos Communications Congress in 2012, when Ang Cui used it as an example in his stellar "Print Me If You Dare" talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njVv7J2azY8

Cui figured out that one way to update the software of a printer was to embed an invisible Postscript instruction in a document that basically said, "everything after this is a firmware update." Then he came up with 100 lines of perl that he hid in documents with names like cv.pdf that would flash the printer when they ran, causing it to probe your LAN for vulnerable PCs and take them over, opening a reverse-shell to his command-and-control server in the cloud. Compromised printers would then refuse to apply future updates from their owners, but would pretend to install them and even update their version numbers to give verisimilitude to the ruse. The only way to exorcise these haunted printers was to send 'em to the landfill. Good times!

Printers are still a dumpster fire, and it's not solely about the intrinsic difficulty of computer security. After all, printer manufacturers have devoted enormous resources to hardening their products against their owners, making it progressively harder to use third-party ink. They're super perverse about it, too – they send "security updates" to your printer that update the printer's security against you – run these updates and your printer downgrades itself by refusing to use the ink you chose for it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

It's a reminder that what a monopolist thinks of as "security" isn't what you think of as security. Oftentimes, their security is antithetical to your security. That was the case with Web Environment Integrity, a plan by Google to make your phone rat you out to advertisers' servers, revealing any adblocking modifications you might have installed so that ad-serving companies could refuse to talk to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

WEI is now dead, thanks to a lot of hueing and crying by people like us:

https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/02/google_abandons_web_environment_integrity/

But the dream of securing Google against its own users lives on. Youtube has embarked on an aggressive campaign of refusing to show videos to people running ad-blockers, triggering an arms-race of ad-blocker-blockers and ad-blocker-blocker-blockers:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/where-will-the-ad-versus-ad-blocker-arms-race-end/

The folks behind Ublock Origin are racing to keep up with Google's engineers' countermeasures, and there's a single-serving website called "Is uBlock Origin updated to the last Anti-Adblocker YouTube script?" that will give you a realtime, one-word status update:

https://drhyperion451.github.io/does-uBO-bypass-yt/

One in four web users has an ad-blocker, a stat that Doc Searls pithily summarizes as "the biggest boycott in world history":

https://doc.searls.com/2015/09/28/beyond-ad-blocking-the-biggest-boycott-in-human-history/

Zero app users have ad-blockers. That's not because ad-blocking an app is harder than ad-blocking the web – it's because reverse-engineering an app triggers liability under IP laws like Section 1201 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which can put you away for 5 years for a first offense. That's what I mean when I say that "IP is anything that lets a company control its customers, critics or competitors:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

I predicted that apps would open up all kinds of opportunities for abusive, monopolistic conduct back in 2010, and I'm experiencing a mix of sadness and smugness (I assume there's a German word for this emotion) at being so thoroughly vindicated by history:

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

The more control a company can exert over its customers, the worse it will be tempted to treat them. These systems of control shift the balance of power within companies, making it harder for internal factions that defend product quality and customer interests to win against the enshittifiers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

The result has been a Great Enshittening, with platforms of all description shifting value from their customers and users to their shareholders, making everything palpably worse. The only bright side is that this has created the political will to do something about it, sparking a wave of bold, muscular antitrust action all over the world.

The Google antitrust case is certainly the most important corporate lawsuit of the century (so far), but Judge Amit Mehta's deference to Google's demands for secrecy has kept the case out of the headlines. I mean, Sam Bankman-Fried is a psychopathic thief, but even so, his trial does not deserve its vastly greater prominence, though, if you haven't heard yet, he's been convicted and will face decades in prison after he exhausts his appeals:

https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/sam-bankman-fried-guilty-on-all-charges

The secrecy around Google's trial has relaxed somewhat, and the trickle of revelations emerging from the cracks in the courthouse are fascinating. For the first time, we're able to get a concrete sense of which queries are the most lucrative for Google:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/1/23941766/google-antitrust-trial-search-queries-ad-money

The list comes from 2018, but it's still wild. As David Pierce writes in The Verge, the top twenty includes three iPhone-related terms, five insurance queries, and the rest are overshadowed by searches for customer service info for monopolistic services like Xfinity, Uber and Hulu.

All-in-all, we're living through a hell of a moment for piercing the corporate veil. Maybe it's the problem of maintaining secrecy within large companies, or maybe the the rampant mistreatment of even senior executives has led to more leaks and whistleblowing. Either way, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the anonymous leaker who revealed the unbelievable pettiness of former HBO president of programming Casey Bloys, who ordered his underlings to create an army of sock-puppet Twitter accounts to harass TV and movie critics who panned HBO's shows:

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/hbo-casey-bloys-secret-twitter-trolls-tv-critics-leaked-texts-lawsuit-the-idol-1234867722/

These trolling attempts were pathetic, even by the standards of thick-fingered corporate execs. Like, accusing critics who panned the shitty-ass Perry Mason reboot of disrespecting veterans because the fictional Mason's back-story had him storming the beach on D-Day.

The pushback against corporate bullying is everywhere, and of course, the vanguard is the labor movement. Did you hear that the UAW won their strike against the auto-makers, scoring raises for all workers based on the increases in the companies' CEO pay? The UAW isn't done, either! Their incredible new leader, Shawn Fain, has called for a general strike in 2028:

https://www.404media.co/uaw-calls-on-workers-to-line-up-massive-general-strike-for-2028-to-defeat-billionaire-class/

The massive victory for unionized auto-workers has thrown a spotlight on the terrible working conditions and pay for workers at Tesla, a criminal company that has no compunctions about violating labor law to prevent its workers from exercising their legal rights. Over in Sweden, union workers are teaching Tesla a lesson. After the company tried its illegal union-busting playbook on Tesla service centers, the unionized dock-workers issued an ultimatum: respect your workers or face a blockade at Sweden's ports that would block any Tesla from being unloaded into the EU's fifth largest Tesla market:

https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-sweden-strike/

Of course, the real solution to Teslas – and every other kind of car – is to redesign our cities for public transit, walking and cycling, making cars the exception for deliveries, accessibility and other necessities. Transitioning to EVs will make a big dent in the climate emergency, but it won't make our streets any safer – and they keep getting deadlier.

Last summer, my dear old pal Ted Kulczycky got in touch with me to tell me that Talking Heads were going to be all present in public for the first time since the band's breakup, as part of the debut of the newly remastered print of Stop Making Sense, the greatest concert movie of all time. Even better, the show would be in Toronto, my hometown, where Ted and I went to high-school together, at TIFF.

Ted is the only person I know who is more obsessed with Talking Heads than I am, and he started working on tickets for the show while I starting pricing plane tickets. And then, the unthinkable happened: Ted's wife, Serah, got in touch to say that Ted had been run over by a car while getting off of a streetcar, that he was severely injured, and would require multiple surgeries.

But this was Ted, so of course he was still planning to see the show. And he did, getting a day-pass from the hospital and showing up looking like someone from a Kids In The Hall sketch who'd been made up to look like someone who'd been run over by a car:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/53182440282/

In his Globe and Mail article about Ted's experience, Brad Wheeler describes how the whole hospital rallied around Ted to make it possible for him to get to the movie:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-how-a-talking-heads-superfan-found-healing-with-the-concert-film-stop/

He also mentions that Ted is working on a book and podcast about Stop Making Sense. I visited Ted in the hospital the day after the gig and we talked about the book and it sounds amazing. Also? The movie was incredible. See it in Imax.

That heartwarming tale of healing through big suits is a pretty good place to wrap up this linkdump, but I want to call your attention to just one more thing before I go: Robin Sloan's Snarkmarket piece about blogging and "stock and flow":

https://snarkmarket.com/2010/4890/

Sloan makes the excellent case that for writers, having a "flow" of short, quick posts builds the audience for a "stock" of longer, more synthetic pieces like books. This has certainly been my experience, but I think it's only part of the story – there are good, non-mercenary reasons for writers to do a lot of "flow." As I wrote in my 2021 essay, "The Memex Method," turning your commonplace book into a database – AKA "blogging" – makes you write better notes to yourself because you know others will see them:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

This, in turn, creates a supersaturated, subconscious solution of fragments that are just waiting to nucleate and crystallize into full-blown novels and nonfiction books and other "stock." That's how I came out of lockdown with nine new books. The next one is The Lost Cause, a hopepunk science fiction novel about the climate whose early fans include Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben and Kim Stanley Robinson. It's out on November 14:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/05/variegated/#nein

[multifandomworldsposts]

Hey I was wondering if you could do a Austin Butler x virgin reader like she's a young French student in LA and she runs into 31 year old Austin late at night so he asks her what she's doing so late alone in the street and he walks her home then she asks if he wants to drink smth they talk a bit and then it gets hot...

(I love your writing btw)

fais moi l’amour

A/N: first off, thank you 🫶🏻 & hope everyone enjoys this story!

Pairing: Austin Butler x fem!reader

Warning: making out, him being a hot ass, oral sex, protected sex (PLS be safe), a lot of french.

Y/N’s POV

I got accepted to UCLA for my photography majors, so I have to go to Los Angeles to finish up my degree. I leave my friends from France and I’m obviously going to miss them because I don’t know anyone from America. I bought an apartment and I’m so excited to see it in real life, I did a digital tour of the apartment.

I fly out to LAX and everything looks beautiful! I get to my apartment and it looks amazing with a cool view of Downtown Los Angeles. I get unpacking and I take a little nap so I can go walk around and get groceries for myself.

I go to Whole Foods Market to get some things I need to make something for myself for a while. The staff were really nice, some people could understand my french accent and they understood on what I was coming from.

I get back home and organized my food and my alcohol, I’m 22 okay and I can handle my liquor. I put my alcohol at the bar I have in my apartment. My apartment looks good so far! I get ready to go out to see what LA is really about.

8:09 PM

I walk around to find a bar somewhere and I find Catch One, it looks interesting so I get in the line and immediately I hear whistling when I walking to the back of the line. God, american men, they’re fucking gross!

I finally get in and try to find the bar, I find it. I got sit down and a bartender comes up to me.

“What do you want princess?”

“Vodka please.”

“Alright.” He makes my drink.

I look around to see what’s going on until I hear my drink behind me, I turn around and I thanked the guy.

“That accent, you’re not from here.” The bartender asks.

“Yeah I transferred here from Paris.”

“You sound beautiful.”

“Je vous remercie.”

10:30 PM

I leave the club. I had a fun time, met wonderful people, I already have friends from Los Angeles and they are so nice!

I decided to walk, I drank one vodka, it doesn’t affect me. I look around on how beautiful LA is until I feel someone’s hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.

“Hi, I’m Austin and I just wanted to say how beautiful you are.” He smiles. The most sweetest smile I’ve seen a long time.

“Thank you Austin.” I blush.

“I know this will sound creepy but, why are you walking all alone at this time at night?” He itches his head.

“Well, Austin, my apartment is close on where we’re at right now.” I look at him.

“Do you want me to walk with you if something happens?”

I trust him. “Yeah sure.”

We began to walk and we started to talk about ourselves.

“Y/N, that accent? Where are you from?”

“You like the 9th person who asked me that.” I look at him while walking.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m from France.”

“France really! I visited there a couple times, it’s so beautiful.”

“I mean I feel like a lot of french girls would love you.” I said smiling.

I can tell he loved the comment.

MY APARTMENT

“Do you want to come inside?” I said to him.

“Yeah sure, if that’s okay with you?”

“It’s okay with me.”

I unlock my door and allow Austin to go inside first.

“You just moved here?” He looks at me.

“Yeah, I got groceries, some decorations and some alcohol.” I look at him while getting my jacket off and put my keys on the counter.

“What type of alcohol do you have?” He leans on the island.

“Vodka, Champagne, Whiskey and Wine.” I walked up to him.

“I like the whisky Y/N.” He smirks.

“Go to the couch and I’ll get our drinks.” Austin walks to the couch and I start making the drinks.

I walk up to him with his whisky, he grabs it gently out of my hand. I sit next to him.

“So, why did you travel here?” Austin says. He drinks his whisky and puts it down on my coffee table.

“Well, I’m majoring in Photography and I’m trying to finish my degree and UCLA accepted me. So that’s why I moved here.”

“Are you good at photography?” He looks at me.

“I believe so. Would you like me to take a picture of you?” I drink my vodka at bit.

“I would love you to Y/N.” He leans closer to me.

“Alright.” I go get my camera and come back to see Austin shirtless. I think I can’t handle this.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” He smirks again.

I smirk, I take a few pictures. He looks so photogenic.

When I was done taking pictures of him, I showed him the pictures.

“You’re really good at this.” He says.

“Thank you Austin.” I look at him then to my camera.

“Speak a little french to me Y/N.” He whispers in my ear.

“Je suis amoureuse d’un homme qui s’appelle Austin Butler.” I said in french.

“What did you say?” He questions.

“I said ‘I’m in love with a man name Austin Butler.’”

“You’re in love with me?” He makes me look at him by putting his right hand on my chin to make me look at him.

“I am, when I saw you the first time, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”

The way he looks at me, he’s in love with me as well. He leans in and kisses me. I kiss him back. I put my camera on my coffee table and get on top of him. I take my shirt off. He puts his hands on my waist. I look down to see his belt and unbuckle his belt and unzips his pants. I can tell he’s ready for me. He flips me down on the couch so he could be on top of me. He unzips my pants as well.

I lean up to his ear and said, “Je veux que tu me baises comme les hommes américains baisent les femmes américaines.”

“What do you say honey?” He questions.

I look at him and say, “I want you to fuck me like you american men fuck american women.”

“Do you have a condom?” He asks.

“In my room, it’s the last door in the hallway next me.”

He gets off of me and goes to my room. He comes back really quick with a condom in his hand.

“You found them quick.” I sit comfortably on the couch.

“They were easy to find babe, just on your nightstand.”

I forgot to put them away somewhere safe.

“By the way, are you a virgin?” He looks at me.

“Yes I am.” I confess.

“Then we have to take this slow Y/N.”

I nod.

“If I were you, give this french girl a kiss and give her the time of her life by fucking her.”

Austin looks at me and straddles my waist, gets his underwear off, he’s huge. He gets the condom on. I try to get my panties off, he helps me out of them. He leans down to kiss me.

The way he goes in and out of me, it’s feels so good. I felt a lot of pain but it went away. He pick me up to take me to my bedroom but he makes us stop on the wall a few feet away from my room. He lifts me up, I wrap my legs around his waist. He kisses my neck, I can feel him bitting me. I moan but screamed.

“What did you just do Aus?” I make him look at me.

“I gave you a hickey.”

I try to give him a hickey as well. The way he moaned.

“I feel like you just gave me a hickey Y/N.”

I giggle.

“Je voulais juste que tu te senates bien Austin.” I whisper in he’s ear.

“What baby?”

“I said, I just wanted to make you feel good Austin.”

“God your french is turning me on.” We did nose to nose.

I giggle again.

“If that’s what turns you on, guess what turns me on Austin.” I touch his hair.

He pretends to think. “Me giving you hickeys.”

“No.”

“Hmm, me touching you.”

“No.” I chuckle.

“Then what Y/N?”

“Your deep voice in my ear while we were on my couch, having sex.” I whisper in his ear.

“It’s puberty baby.” He holds me close.

“Fais moi l’amour.”

He looks at me confused.

“Make love to me Austin.”

He takes me to my bedroom. He lays me down on my bed. I sit up. He crawls up to me, lays me down on my bed. He began to fuck me harder then when we were on couch. I scream.

“You like that huh?” He continues to fuck me.

“Yes! Ah fuck!” I said scratching his back.

Serveral minutes later I flip us over so I can be on top of him. I still have him inside me. I readjust myself so I can feel him in a different position.

“I thought you were a virgin?” He looks at me.

“I am but, you know that porn exists right?”

“You french girls really do know what to do.” He looks at me.

He leans up to get closer to me, we make out, I start to french kiss him. He french kisses me. He sets me on the bed again to give me love bits on my body.

1:30 AM

We’re in my bed, heavy breathing, sweating.

“Y/N.” He looks at me.

“Yeah.” I look at him.

“How did that felt by being your first time?”

“Étonnante.”

He looks confused again.

“Amazing.”

“Let’s be more than just a hookup Y/N/N.” He heavy breathed.

“Please Aus.”

“I’ll show you what I’m really about. You saw a different part of me tonight.” He cuddles up to me.

“Same here Austin and I’ll teach you some french so you can understand on what I’m saying.” I wrap my arms around him.

“When’s your first day at UCLA?”

“Next Wednesday.”

“I’ll show you around LA and maybe drop and pick you up at school.”

“I would love that Austin.”

“Um, Y/N?” He questions.

“How old are you?”

“22, you?”

“31.”

“I feel like I just, baisé un papa de sucre.”

“Did you say something bad?”

“I said, fucked a sugar daddy.”

“Because of me being older than you?”

“Austin I still love you.”

“Do you care that I’m a few years older than you?”

“I don’t care baby. I just know that you treated me so special.”

“I’m glad you think that way.”

“No one made me feel this way in Paris, you’re the only man in America that makes feel that way.”

[yanxioustrikas]

this is long overdue but i'm just gonna share a chill idea of yet another oc for the supa strikas universe set in the future timeline lol

leon art #1

leon cyril archambault is a young man who is very passionate about creating digital content and is a semi-famous social media influencer. studying marketing at a university in prince edward island 🇨🇦, leon is currently doing an exchange (paid) internship at altivo entertainment (the headquarters is most likely in johannesburg 🇿🇦), where he is supervised and mentored by devon schumaker (who has been promoted, in this future timeline, as marketing manager).

yes, he wears his jacket like this sometimes

yes, he made the conscious decision to have his hair dyed like this

— info —

pronouns: he/him

age range: early 20s

height: 6’0 ft

birthday: november 21

nationality / ethnicity: canadian / acadian french

sport(s): competitive dance

hobbies: photography, journaling, gaming (he plays every genre), playing the guitar, indoor gardening

— traits —

energetic, kind, confident, passionate, creative

stubborn, reckless, smug

— family —

father: cyril archambault

mother: jeanne archambault (née thibodeau)

twin sister: genevieve archambault

maternal uncle: marc thibodeau

— additional info —

has a pet fish

staying with his uncle marc's family during his internship

loves noodles

leon and hiram both attended the same high school together, and while they are not super close, they still get along

[atdny]

Website Maintenance Tips Every Business Owner Should Know

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There are numerous factors that determine the speed at which a website loads. The top three factors in website loading times are the quality of the host, the website owner’s website maintenance schedule, and the website hosting company. If you’re unsure about the speed of your website, we can help you better understand! Nothing makes people leave a site faster than slow load times.

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14.  Test All the Opt-in Forms on Your Website.

Sometimes website owners will contact us as they feel their website is becoming ineffective.  Maybe their conversion rates are decreasing over time. They stop getting calls, leads and sales. Interestingly enough, the cause of this problem is sometimes a broken contact form or form code errors on the website. Site visitors are literally unable to submit their email, enter their information for you to contact them, or even make a purchase. This is inexcusable! It’s imperative to test your websites forms and source code after each and every update to be sure they are still working properly. You could be losing out on potential customers email addresses, contact info or even purchases.

15.  Change Your Passwords regularly

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[toxooz]

The canvases aren’t even safe 😭 they used the Boroque era as reference for their search engines. Like I’m losing my shit constantly over ai art so bad. Like this is totally gonna be a rant so forgive me but it’s driving up the WALLS. Ai art being readily available is killing the incentive for people to be creative. I cannot tell you how many times I think I’ve found a really cool fellow artist on tiktok and then see #midjourney. I take psychic damage every time that happens to me. And I’m starting to see it infiltrating business too where they generate ai images instead of hire photographers. I also saw someone selling tshirts with ai art on it at my local farmers market. MOTHERFUCKER THE FARMERS MARKET??? HAVE YOU NO SHAME????

NAW PREACH IT cause its become a nagging issue for me for a while that i simply try to not think about and dwell on but dear FUCKING god is it everywhere and it's painfully obvious too! just about every ad takes me 3 seconds to find damning evidence that its ai and im 99% ready to just delete facebook bc #1 i dont give a fuck abt anyone on there anymore and #2 Literally every other post is the most deplorable ai shit ive ever seen that everyone is carelessly oblivious to i mean total abominations that don't make any sense as an image but ppl share bc its the most bottom of the barrel ''relatable'' shit and that's just the sad reality of it is most people don't even give a shit what they're looking at as long as it looks pretty to their eyes for 3 seconds they don't give a damn

and that's just on basic everyday world shit like u said there's so many mfs i think are decent artists where i legitimately cant tell its ai until i read their fuckshit bio or somethin, like that midjourney i didnt even know it was an ai program i would've just thought it was the name of a video game or some shit! like I feel like I'm kinda turning my back on the whole art community involuntarily bc i just dont trust any image i see most of the time and its fukkin sad i ESPECIALLY feel for the real artists prior to this shitshow who have art styles that now look so much like ai that they basically hijacked to feed the machine like I couldn't imagine spending thousands of dollars on an art college and hours of practice just for your art style to be The Blueprint for empty soulless photos cranked out at inhuman rates by any stupid fucking lazy ass clown like Fuck Man it all sucks so much and the worst part is I just feel like it's one of those things where it will not stop until Something caves and i honestly dont know which one it will be but i just know its only going to get worse idk i try to remember that i can pick up a paintbrush or even whatever the hell i want and make something beautiful while 98% of these ai sacks of shit are just limited to stealing other peoples art on the internet and they couldn't even paint a damn flower if their lives depended on it and if i was stuck on a deserted island I'd probably still find ways to make art with whatever tools and resources i have cause that's an artist baybay but as far as The Internet and its grasp it has on the world and trying to make it as a digital artist and trying to make money from your homemade artwork is very grim man and dont even get me started on art and artists in just about every job field rn my heart goes out to them

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Florida neighbors band together to recover (AP) When ankle-deep floodwaters from Hurricane Helene bubbled up through the floors of their home, Kat Robinson-Malone and her husband sent a late-night text message to their neighbors two doors down: “Hey, we’re coming.” The couple waded through the flooded street to the elevated front porch of Chris and Kara Sundar, whose home was built on higher ground, and handed over their 8-year-old daughter and a gas-powered generator. The Sundars’ lime-green house in southern Tampa also became a refuge for Brooke and Adam Carstensen, whose house next door to Robinson-Malone also flooded. The three families met years earlier when their children became playmates, and the adults’ friendships deepened during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. So when Helene and Hurricane Milton struck Florida within two weeks of each other, the neighbors closed ranks as one big extended family, cooking meals together, taking turns watching children and cleaning out their damaged homes. “Everyone has, like, the chain saw or a tarp,” Robinson-Malone said Sunday. “But really the most important thing for us was the community we built. And that made all the difference for the hurricane rescue and the recovery. And now, hopefully, the restoration.”

Thousands march in Spain to demand affordable housing (Reuters) Thousands protested on Sunday in Madrid to demand more affordable housing amid rising anger from Spaniards who feel they are being priced out of the market. “Spaniards cannot live in their own cities. They are forcing us out of the cities,” said nurse Blanca Prieto, 33. Spain is struggling to balance promoting tourism, a key driver of its economy, and addressing citizens’ concerns over unaffordable high rents due to gentrification and landlords shifting to more lucrative tourist rentals. Residents of the Canary Islands and Malaga have also staged protests this year against the rise in tourist rentals. Seasonal hospitality workers struggle to find accommodation in these tourism hot spots, with many resorting to sleeping in caravans or even their cars.

Russian Strikes on Ukrainian Ports Target Shipping (NYT) Russia has stepped up its assaults on Black Sea port infrastructure and civilian shipping in recent days, in what Ukraine says is an attempt to disrupt its exports and damage its economy. The attacks are part of an intensifying campaign of strikes on the city of Odesa and the region along Ukraine’s southern coast. Since last Monday, Russia has carried out five attacks in the area, killing 14 civilians and injuring 28, the U.N.’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported on Friday, citing local authorities. The strikes on ships were mostly aimed at those flying flags of small countries unlikely to retaliate against Russia. Last Monday, a container ship under the flag of Palau was hit, Ukrainian official said. The day before that, a missile damaged a vessel under a Saint Kitts and Nevis flag, according to the regional military administration.

Pakistan’s internet slows to a crawl as blame falls on government (Washington Post) Mobile internet in Pakistan has been painfully slow for over two months. Now, technology experts and political activists are accusing the government of intentionally throttling the internet to suppress political protesters. Digital rights activists fear that Pakistani officials are installing new controls to more tightly monitor social media and to censor political content.

China’s ‘New Great Wall’ Casts a Shadow on Nepal (NYT) The Chinese fence traces a furrow in the Himalayas, its barbed wire and concrete ramparts separating Tibet from Nepal. Here, in one of the more isolated places on earth, China’s security cameras keep watch alongside armed sentries in guard towers. High on the Tibetan Plateau, the Chinese have carved a 600-feet-long message on a hillside: “Long live the Chinese Communist Party,” inscribed in characters that can be read from orbit. Just across the border, in Nepal’s Humla District, residents contend that along several points of this distant frontier, China is encroaching on Nepali territory. The Nepalis have other complaints, too. Chinese security forces are pressuring ethnic Tibetan Nepalis not to display images of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in Nepali villages near the border, they say. “This is the new Great Wall of China,” said Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, the former provincial chief minister of the area. China’s fencing along the edge of Nepal’s Humla District is just one segment of a fortification network thousands of miles long that Xi Jinping’s government has built to reinforce remote reaches, control rebellious populations and, in some cases, push into territory that other nations consider their own.

Sri Lanka closes schools as floods hammer the capital (AP) Sri Lanka closed schools in the capital Colombo and suburbs on Monday as heavy rains triggered floods in many parts of the island nation. Heavy downpours over the weekend have wreaked havoc in many parts of the country, flooding homes, fields and roads. Three people drowned, while some 134,000 people have been affected by flooding, according to the country’s Disaster Management Centre. Sri Lanka has been grappling with severe weather conditions since May, mostly caused by heavy monsoon rains. In June, 16 people died due to floods and mudslides.

Can the Government Get People to Have More Babies? (NYT) In 1989, Japan seemed to be an unstoppable economic superpower. Its companies were overtaking competitors and gobbling up American icons like Rockefeller Center. But inside the country, the government had identified a looming, slow-motion crisis: The fertility rate had fallen to a record low. Policymakers called it the “1.57 shock,” citing the projected average number of children that women would have over their childbearing years. If births continued to decline, they warned, the consequences would be disastrous. Taxes would rise or social security coffers would shrink. Japanese children would lack sufficient peer interaction. Society would lose its vitality as the supply of young workers dwindled. It was time to act. Starting in the 1990s, Japan began rolling out policies and pronouncements designed to spur people to have more babies. The government required employers to offer child care leave of up to a year, opened more subsidized day care slots, exhorted men to do housework and take paternity leave, and called on companies to shorten work hours. In 1992, the government started paying direct cash allowances for having even one child (earlier, they had started with the third child), and bimonthly payments for all children were later introduced. None of this has worked. Last year, Japan’s fertility rate stood at 1.2. In Tokyo, the rate is now less than one. The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since the government started collecting statistics in 1899. Now the rest of the developed world is looking more and more like Japan.

The Brewing War With Israel Is Boosting Iran’s Young Hard-Liners (Foreign Affairs) The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s influential, ideological armed force, has been riven by divisions between its older, conservative commanders and its younger, radical ranks. The former generally favor exercising some restraint when it comes to Israel, whereas the latter want to go directly after the Islamic Republic’s nemesis. Typically, the older elite have held more influence with the supreme leader. But as more and more IRGC commanders and partners have been killed, the younger generations have gained the upper hand. They have done so by questioning the competence of their elders but also by suggesting that some IRGC elites are actually Israeli assets, including Esmail Ghaani, the IRGC commander who controls Iran’s Quds force—which, in turn, controls Iran’s network of proxy militias. After Israel killed Nasrallah, Khamenei’s calculus appears to have been shaped by this younger cohort. It is part of why Khamenei launched the October 1 attack.

Netanyahu Is Killing Us To Set Us Free? Logic, Grief And Resistance In Beirut (Daraj/Lebanon) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed us, the Lebanese people, and offered us a gift: a massacre. He sent soldiers to the Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras, raised an Israeli flag there, and sent the picture to the whole world. Netanyahu, who has so far killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and about 3,000 Lebanese, addressed us directly—and said that he is killing us for the sake of our future [by destroying Hezbollah]. Netanyahu tells us that he wants to give us after killing us, a homeland, one that is no more than a graveyard and no less than a colony. This speech he addressed to us is truly amazing, a summary of what awaits us if Netanyahu, owner of the “massacre doctrine,” achieves what he wants.

U.S. to Deploy Missile Defense System and About 100 Troops to Israel (NYT) The United States is sending an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with about 100 American troops to operate it, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. The move will put American troops operating the ground-based interceptor, which is designed to defend against ballistic missiles, closer to the widening war in the Middle East. It comes after Iran launched about 200 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1 and as Israel plans its retaliatory attack. The THAAD battery, a mobile defense system, will give the Israel Defense Forces another layer of protection to defend cities, troops and installations from short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles like those deployed by Iran in its last attack.

Netanyahu tells U.S. that Israel will strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets, officials say (Washington Post) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, according to two officials familiar with the matter, suggesting a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war. In the two weeks since Iran’s latest missile barrage on Israel, its second direct attack in six months, the Middle East has braced for Israel’s promised response, fearing the two countries’ decades-long shadow war could explode into a head-on military confrontation. It comes at a politically fraught time for Washington, less than a month before the election, and President Joe Biden has said publicly he would not support an Israeli strike on nuclear-related sites. When Biden and Netanyahu spoke Wednesday—their first call in more than seven weeks after months of rising tensions between the two men—the prime minister said he was planning to target military infrastructure in Iran, according to a U.S. official and an official familiar with the matter.

Is Israel deploying a ‘surrender or starve’ strategy in Gaza? (Washington Post) Northern Gaza, already pummeled by a year of ruinous war, is in the grips of a punishing new Israeli offensive. Israeli forces encircled the battered Jabalya refugee camp in a bid to “systematically dismantle terrorist infrastructure,” according to an IDF statement. Israel issued evacuation orders to some 400,000 remaining residents in northern Gaza, telling them to go to areas farther south that are already teeming with the displaced and still hit by Israeli bombardments. Airstrikes have killed dozens. Aid workers described a catastrophic scene. “It is like hell to be honest,” Fares Afana, the head of ambulance services in northern Gaza, told The Washington Post in a voice note on Sunday. Israeli forces were attacking the Jabalya refugee camp “for the third time and its surroundings in Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun,” Afana said, and the camp was surrounded “from all sides.” Humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders said Friday that thousands of people—including five of its staffers—were trapped in the Jabalya camp. “Nobody is allowed to get in or out—anyone who tries is getting shot,” Sarah Vuylsteke, a project coordinator for the organization, said in a news release. The intensifying siege will “continue as long as required in order to achieve its objectives,” the IDF said in a statement. It comes alongside an apparent blockade. No food trucks have entered at all in October. Such a tactic may fuel further accusations that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza.

[xtruss]

The 10 Most Expensive Homes That Sold in 2023, From Jay-Z’s Malibu Manse to Jeff Bezos’s Miami Getaway

Waterfront properties were the star of this year's list, with coastal estates in the Hamptons, Palm Beach and Connecticut selling for blockbuster numbers.

— By James McClain | Robb Report

Daniel Milstein For Sotheby's International Realty

Don’t let these blockbuster numbers fool you. While 2023’s 10 priciest real estate transactions racked up a total sales volume of nearly $1.2 billion, slightly surpassing our 2022 list’s tally, these deals were the exceptions. In almost every luxury market across the country, overall volume declined by double-digit percentages compared to the prior year, driven by economic jitters and soaring interest rates. Among the most severely impacted markets was the greater Los Angeles area, where there’s currently a glut of luxury mansions up for grabs, many of them sporting heavily slashed listing prices. Even typically downturn-proof communities such as Aspen and Palm Beach were not immune to the slowdown.

As always, a majority of the top 10 deals were hush-hush transfers inked off-market. And it’s worth noting that all but two of the deals involved oceanfront—or at least waterfront—properties, suggesting buyers are still willing to shell out big for trophy vacation homes with direct beach access. Here’s our list of 2023’s priciest residential sales.

Top: Paradise Cove, Malibu—$190 Million

Coming in at the top of the heap, and the only California property to make the list, was this colossal blufftop complex atop Paradise Cove in Malibu, which sold for $190 million in cash. This year’s biggest real estate transfer was also likely the most highly publicized, thanks to A-list buyers Jay-Z and Beyonce. It’s the priciest-ever deal for a California home, and the second-priciest ever recorded nationwide.

First commissioned in the late 1990s by Bill and Maria Bell—he the son of the soap opera tycoons who created The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful—the house took 15 years to plan and build. Completed circa 2014, the monolithic fortress was created, at least partially, to display the Bells’ enormous collection of modern art, including numerous works by Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Marcel Duchamp. Though the property was never publicly marketed for sale, the Bells had reportedly shopped the place off-market with a whopping $250 million ask.

— Photo: Google Earth

Bottom: North Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach—$155 Million

In April, New York-based car dealership mogul Michael Cantanucci broke the Palm Beach record with his $170 million purchase of this oceanfront estate, which features a nearly 25,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style mansion built in the 2000s. The house was never on the market, so further details are scant, but the seller was billionaire coffee entrepreneur Bob Stiller, who paid just $25 million for the estate in 2014.

— Photo: Google Earth

Copper Beech Farm, Greenwich—$138.8 Million

Photo : Daniel Milstein For Sotheby's International Realty

This year’s most out-of-left-field big transfer was likely the sale of Connecticut’s Copper Beech Farm, which recorded at a state record of nearly $140 million. The deal came even as the Greenwich real estate market has badly sagged in recent years. The seller, billionaire Ray Dalio, had paid $120 million for the place back in 2014, though that unconventional transaction reportedly included the assumption of tens of millions worth of debt on the estate. The all-cash buyer, who remains anonymous for now, is thought to hail from Mainland China. Copper Beech Farm features 50-acres of land with a 13,500-square-foot main house originally built in 1898, plus spectacular gardens and roughly a mile of private water frontage on Long Island Sound.

Meadow Lane, Southampton—$112.5 Million

Photo: Google Earth

New York’s biggest deal of 2023 was inked in the Hamptons, and it’s no surprise that the property in question is one of the largest estates on Southampton’s ultra-prime Meadow Lane—often called Billionaires’ Row. The titanic spread sold for $112.5 million to an as-yet-unidentified billionaire shielded behind a Delaware entity called Meerkat LLC, with the thrifty buyer negotiating a cool 36% discount off the estate’s $175 million original ask. Long owned by ad exec Marcia Riklis, the so-called Mylestone estate is anchored by an 18,000-square-foot manor house situated on 8-acres of land, with nearly 500 feet of ocean frontage.

Windmill Lane, East Hampton—$91.5 Million

Photo: Google Earth

Talk about a profitable flip. The seller of this two-parcel East Hampton compound, real estate investor Peter Fine, bought the property in 2020 for $45 million. Just three years later, without making any significant changes to the place, he flipped it for an eye-popping $91.5 million to an unidentified buyer. Still not crazy enough for you? There are rumors the new owner might tear down the estate’s current structures to build something more lavish, so that $91.5 million might’ve been for the land alone.

Great Island, Darien, Connecticut—$85 Million

Photo: Google Earth

Great Island, a 63-acre waterfront property on Long Island Sound, features a land bridge that connects to the mainland in Darien, Conn. For decades, the island served as the ultimate private compound since it was built at the turn of the century, with amenities such as world-class equestrian facilities (including a polo practice field), a private beach, and a secluded harbor with a dock and boat house. Owned for over 100 years by different generations of the same family and originally offered at $175 million, the giant estate was acquired by the town of Darien for a heavily discounted $85 million. At last check, the town was still deciding what to do with the island, which features a 13,000-square-foot historic mansion and multiple ancillary structures.

220 Central Park South, New York City—$80 Million

Photo: Google Earth

The two-building skyscraper at 220 Central Park South is famously a huge hit with billionaires, so it’s no surprise that New York City’s biggest residential deal of 2023 was recorded at the limestone complex. This time, it was a duplex penthouse at the shorter “villa” building that fetched $80 million in a staggering resale. While the unit itself was never on the market, sellers Suna Said and her husband Scott Maslin had paid about $66 million for the Central Park-facing apartment in 2020. The anonymous buyer, who may or may not be a big-name celebrity, has a Los Angeles mailing address.

Indian Creek Island, Miami—$79 Million

Photo: Google Earth

In October, two months after paying $68 million for an oceanfront estate on Miami’s Indian Creek island, Jeff Bezos dropped $79 million on the house next door. The lucky neighbor, who acquired the 19,000-square-foot mansion back in 2014 for just $28 million, remains unknown. Bezos reportedly plans to bulldoze both properties to make way for a custom compound of his own creation, so that $79 million was likely just for the dirt alone.

Ute Avenue, Aspen—$76 Million

Photo: Google Earth

Aspen’s biggest-ever home sale was unconventional in more ways than one. Unlike most of the other properties on this list, the $76 million deal was not an all-cash transfer. The buyer, car dealership mogul Terry Taylor, paid $51 million of the purchase price in cash but also gave the seller, real estate developer Leathem Stern, a smaller Aspen home valued at $25 million. The ski-in, ski-out house features four full floors totaling more than 20,000 square feet of living space. Not everyone who crossed paths with the property enjoyed the experience, however—a Christie’s real estate agent is currently suing Stern for $1.7 million in commission payments she claims were owed to her in the deal.

[satoshi-mochida]

Single-player action adventure game Jurassic Park: Survival announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC

Gematsu Source

Saber Interactive has announced single-player action adventure game Jurassic Park: Survival for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. A release date was not announced.

“As longtime fans of Jurassic Park, we’re truly honored to embark on this exciting journey,” said Saber Interactive chief operating officer Tim Willits in a press release. “Our goal is to capture the magic and wonder of the iconic film by bringing a blend of long-time development expertise and a genuine passion for the source material.”

Universal Games and Digital Platforms senior vice president of production and marketing Jim Molinets added, “We’ve consistently heard from our fans that they’ve been waiting for a game to immerse them in Jurassic Park like never before and, well, we found a way. We’re excited to finally reveal that the iconic film is coming to life in an all-new video game in partnership with the amazing talent at Saber Interactive and can’t think of a better way to culminate the year-long celebration of Jurassic Park‘s 30th anniversary than with this thrilling announcement.”

Here is an overview of the game, via Saber Interactive:

About

Welcome to Jurassic Park: Survival. Players will take on the role of Dr. Maya Joshi, an InGen scientist who was unable to evacuate Isla Nublar, in an original adventure made for fans of the Jurassic Park franchise and those who revel in narrative-driven games. They’ll be challenged to survive an intense mix of first-person stealth and action in thrilling encounters with dinosaurs, each with their own distinct and adaptive behaviors brought to life by John Hammond’s vision. Players will be able to dive into a lush world full of wonder, mystery, and danger as two species separated by 65 million years come face to face in an all-new adventure.

Key Features

Explore Isla Nublar – Players will venture through a fully realized Isla Nublar filled with reactive wildlife, dinosaurs, and other surprising threats. From the iconic towering park gates to the Visitor Center and beyond, Jurassic Park comes alive like never before.

Evade Prehistoric Predators – Players will outsmart, escape, and interact with the film’s iconic dinosaurs. They’ll use their ingenuity through distraction and stealth to navigate intense and unforgettable encounters in a journey to outlast some of the deadliest creatures to ever walk the earth.

Survive The Island – Players will be challenged to explore the park and face its dangers. They’ll use all the resources at their disposal to find intelligent solutions to endure the many threats lurking on Isla Nublar.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer