#Multi-Channel Selling

[webgarh]

Unlock the potential of Shopify Plus and elevate your business with effective multi-channel selling. Explore seamless integration, mobile optimization, and data-driven strategies for growth. Trust Shopify Plus experts at Webgarh Solutions for tailored development services and thrive in the dynamic world of e-commerce.

[salesoperator]

Using Salesforce To Enable Online Multi-Channel Selling

Multi-channel selling is a process that involves branding your products, developing and communicating customer value propositions , engaging customers through unique customer journeys, and marketing all in the same multi-channel strategy.

[connect-infosoft-technologies]

Integrating E-Commerce Solutions across Websites and Apps for Multi-Platform Selling

In digital age, e-commerce has become an integral part of the retail industry. With the rapid growth of online shopping, businesses are constantly seeking ways to expand their reach and maximize their sales potential. One effective strategy that has emerged is multi-platform selling, which involves integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps to create a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Without a doubt, selling across various platforms is a game changer in the realm of custom eCommerce development, with the potential to propel any organization to new heights. This blog will look at all aspects of multi-platform selling and how it affects the modern eCommerce business scene. Let us get started.

eCommerce Evolution: A New Era of Online Selling

Welcome to the new era of online selling! With the ever-growing popularity of e-commerce, businesses are constantly seeking ways to expand their reach and increase their sales. One such method that has gained significant traction is multi-platform selling, which involves integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps.

However, because consumer behaviours  and market demands change so quickly, an all-in-one or single eCommerce strategy is insufficient for long-term success. This is where multi-platform selling provides numerous chances for firms looking to increase engagement and diversify their reach.

What Does Multi-Platform Selling Mean?

Multi-platform selling refers to the practice of selling products or services through multiple online channels simultaneously. This approach allows businesses to reach a wider audience and cater to customers' preferences across various platforms, including websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and marketplaces. By offering a consistent shopping experience across different channels, businesses can enhance customer engagement, increase brand visibility, and boost sales.

Whether you run a little business or a large corporation, if you carefully position your company on these platforms, you will meet all of your customers' expectations by providing a convenient purchasing experience. However, managing sales across several channels is not as simple as it appears; a custom eCommerce development solution is required to optimize the process.

Major Perks of Multi-Platform Selling

There are several significant perks associated with multi-platform selling. Let's take a closer look at some of the major advantages that businesses can enjoy:

1. Expanded Reach: By leveraging multiple platforms, businesses can tap into a larger customer base and target diverse demographics. This broadens their reach and increases the chances of attracting new customers.

2. Enhanced Customer Experience: Multi-platform selling enables businesses to provide a seamless and consistent shopping experience across various channels. Customers can browse products, make purchases, and access support services conveniently, regardless of the platform they prefer.

3. Increased Sales Opportunities: With multiple channels at their disposal, businesses have more opportunities to showcase their products and services and convert leads into sales. Each platform serves as an additional sales channel, increasing the chances of generating revenue.

4. Improved Brand Visibility: Businesses may increase brand awareness and familiarity by maintaining a presence across many media. Consistent branding across channels promotes client trust and loyalty.

5. Better Data Insights: Multi-platform selling allows businesses to gather data from different sources, providing valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and trends. This data can be used to optimize marketing strategies, personalize customer experiences, and drive informed business decisions.

Other key benefits of multi-platform selling include:

Improved conversion rate

Better customer loyalty.

Improved inventory transparency.

Improved customer segmentation.

Mobile commerce trend capitalization

Best Platforms for Multi-Channel eCommerce Business

1. Shopify: Shopify offers a comprehensive e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create and manage online stores. It provides seamless integration with various sales channels, including websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and marketplaces.

2. Magento: Magento is a highly flexible and scalable e-commerce platform that caters to businesses of all sizes. It supports multi-channel selling by integrating with multiple platforms, enabling businesses to sell across websites, mobile apps, and marketplaces.

3. Etsy: If you want to sell antique, handcrafted, craft supplies, or other one-of-a-kind things online, Etsy is a great place to start. Users may easily access a wide range of product categories on this marketplace, including clothing, jewellery, tools, home, living, kids & babies, and entertainment.

4. Amazon Marketplace: As one of the largest online marketplaces, Amazon provides businesses with a vast customer base and global reach. Selling on Amazon Marketplace can significantly expand the visibility and sales potential of products.

5. eBay: eBay is another popular online marketplace that allows businesses to sell products to a wide range of customers. With its auction-style listings and fixed-price options, eBay offers flexibility for multi-channel selling.

6.Walmart Marketplace: Walmart is a frequently used marketplace that provides excellent prospects for online enterprises. This is a curated e-commerce portal. As a seller, you must meet specified requirements for providing excellent customer service.

7. Facebook Marketplace: This is Facebook's integrated platform that provides fantastic online selling choices to local sellers and small enterprises. This platform is simple to use and helps you promote your goods to a social media-savvy customer audience.

How to Set Up a Successful Multi-Platform Selling Strategy:

1. Identify Target Platforms:

Research and analyse the platforms that align with your target audience and business objectives. Consider factors such as platform popularity, user demographics, and integration capabilities.

2. Seamless Integration:

Select e-commerce platforms that offer robust integration capabilities with various channels. Ensure that your chosen platforms can synchronize product listings, inventory, pricing, and order management across all channels.

3. Consistent Branding:

Maintain consistent branding elements, such as logo, colors, and messaging, across all platforms. This creates a cohesive brand identity and fosters customer recognition and trust.

4. Optimize User Experience:

Provide a user-friendly and intuitive shopping experience on every platform. Optimize website and app performance, ensure mobile responsiveness, and streamline the checkout process to minimize friction and maximize conversions.

5. Data-Driven Decision Making:

Leverage analytics and data insights to monitor and measure the performance of each platform. Identify trends, customer preferences, and areas for improvement, and use this information to refine your multi-platform selling strategy.

6. Customer Support:

Offer consistent and responsive customer support across all platforms. Provide multiple channels for customer inquiries, such as live chat, email, and phone, to ensure a seamless support experience.

7. Cross-promotion:

Cross-promotion is a marketing strategy where two or more parties promote each other's products or services to their respective audiences. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement that can help increase brand exposure, reach new customers, and drive sales.

8. Privacy and Data Security:

 - Manage all of your customers' data safely.

- Display all privacy policies to your customers to develop trust.

9. Focus on market trends.

- Keep up with the latest industry developments, platform updates, and client requests.

- Be prepared to change your business approach (if necessary) to stay ahead of the market.

Conclusion:

Multi-platform selling has become a crucial strategy for businesses aiming to thrive in the competitive e-commerce landscape. By integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps, businesses can expand their reach, enhance the customer experience, and boost sales. With the availability of various platforms, businesses can choose the ones that align with their target audience and business goals. By implementing a well-planned multi-platform selling strategy, businesses can establish a strong presence across multiple channels, drive customer engagement, increase brand visibility, and ultimately achieve success in the evolving world of e-commerce.

[ecomhardy]

How to Connect Shopify Store to eBay, Amazon, Etsy Using Marketplace Connect- Learn Shopify Part 11How to Connect Your Shopify Store to eBay, Amazon, and Etsy Using Marketplace Connect. Boost your online sales by connecting your Shopify store to top marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy! In this step-by-step tutorial, I'll show you how to use the Marketplace Connect app to seamlessly integrate your products and manage your inventory across multiple platforms. Whether you're new to e-commerce or looking to expand your reach, this guide will help you streamline your operations and grow your business. Connecting your Shopify store to marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy using a Marketplace Connect app involves several steps. Here 19s a detailed guide to help you with this process: Step 1: Install the Marketplace Connect App 1. Log in to your Shopify Admin: Access your Shopify admin panel. 2. Visit the Shopify App Store: Search for "Marketplace Connect" in the Shopify App Store. 3. Select the App: Choose a Marketplace Connect app that supports the marketplaces you want to integrate (e.g., Codisto, Sellbrite, or similar). 4. Install the App: Click on 1CAdd app 1D and follow the prompts to install it in your Shopify store. Step 2: Set Up the App 1. Open the Marketplace Connect App: Once installed, go to the app from your Shopify admin. 2. Connect Your Accounts: Follow the app's instructions to connect your eBay, Amazon, and Etsy accounts. This typically involves: - Logging into your marketplace accounts. - Granting necessary permissions to the Marketplace Connect app. Step 3: Configure Settings 1. Map Your Products: Sync your Shopify products with the marketplaces. You might need to map product categories and attributes to ensure they match marketplace requirements. 2. Set Pricing and Inventory Rules: Configure how you want pricing and inventory to sync between Shopify and the marketplaces. 3. Shipping Settings: Define your shipping rules and methods for each marketplace. 4. Order Management: Set up how orders from marketplaces are handled in Shopify. Step 4: Listing Your Products 1. Select Products to List: Choose which products you want to list on each marketplace. 2. Review Listings: Ensure product descriptions, images, and other details meet the requirements of each marketplace. 3. Publish Listings: Publish your products to the marketplaces. This step might include reviewing and confirming each listing. Step 5: Manage Orders and Inventory 1. Monitor Orders: Track orders from the marketplaces in the Marketplace Connect app or directly in your Shopify admin. 2. Sync Inventory: Ensure inventory levels are synced between Shopify and the marketplaces to prevent overselling. 3. Fulfill Orders: Process and fulfill orders as you would with Shopify orders. The app should help manage order statuses and tracking information. Step 6: Optimize and Maintain 1. Regular Updates: Regularly update product information and listings as needed. 2. Monitor Performance: Use the app's analytics tools to track sales performance across marketplaces. 3. Customer Service: Manage customer inquiries and feedback from the marketplaces through your usual customer service channels. Example: Using Codisto LINQ (Marketplace Connect App) 1. Install Codisto LINQ: - Go to the Shopify App Store, search for "Codisto LINQ", and install the app. 2. Connect to Marketplaces: - Open Codisto LINQ from your Shopify admin. - Follow the prompts to connect your eBay, Amazon, and Etsy accounts. 3. Sync Products: - Map your Shopify products to marketplace categories. - Set pricing rules and inventory sync options. 4. List Products: - Select the products you want to list on eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. - Review and publish the listings. 5. Manage Orders: - Track and manage orders through Codisto LINQ. - Sync inventory and fulfill orders as usual. Tips for Success - Stay Compliant: Ensure your listings comply with each marketplace's policies.

[inventorymanagementsystem]

Multi-channel selling refers to the practice of selling products or services through multiple sales channels to reach customers. This allows businesses to expand their reach, boost sales, and provide better customer experience.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dan Rather at Steady:

The morning after the election, I was talking with a friend who said something that made me pause: “The American people aren’t buying what the Dems are selling.” At the time I acknowledged the notion but filed it away for closer inspection, once the shock wore off.  Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party were selling hope and freedom, upholding the rule of law, saving democracy. What’s not to buy? With the benefit of lots of discussion, reading, watching, and thinking over the past 17 days, it became apparent that that analysis is incomplete.  It isn’t that the American people didn’t buy what Harris was selling; they didn’t know what she was selling. The increasingly powerful right-wing media championed her opponent’s message while distorting hers. And millions of Americans bought it. 

As The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky wrote, “It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.” The right-wing media now controls the agenda.   For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of truth-telling, it’s gut-wrenching to see this mega misinformation machine grow into a multi-headed monster.   Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock. Gallup says trust in the media is at an all-time low. The most trusted news source according to YouGov is … The Weather Channel. Couple that with exit polls showing people who consume a lot of news from traditional sources voted overwhelmingly for Harris. 

If you only read The New York Times or watch CNN or so-called legacy networks such as CBS News, you might be surprised to learn there is a vast right-wing media ecosystem that goes well beyond Fox News. Founded in 1996, Fox is the granddaddy of the far-right media but has since been joined by Newsmax and One America News Network. This media universe also includes Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns hundreds of radio and TV stations — reaching 40% of the viewing public — and newspapers, including the recently purchased Baltimore Sun; iHeartMedia, which dominates right-wing talk radio and podcasting; Trinity and Bott Radio, two massive Christian broadcasting networks; social media platforms like Trump’s own Truth Social and X, owned by Trump bestie Elon Musk; and a multitude of hugely popular far-right podcasts.  Collectively, these various and varied media outlets have been feeding growing audiences a constant diet of disinformation for years. They have been fighting and winning an information war Democrats didn’t seem to know existed. The 2024 election may have been the inflection point when the right-wing media’s influence finally eclipsed the mainstream media. That is a major reason a convicted felon won with just under 50% of the popular vote.

The landscape is changing at light speed. Today, traditional media is not where most people get their news. Not so long ago you had to pick up a morning newspaper or turn on a television at a specific time to get news. Now “news” is available 24-7, from hundreds of sources, in tiny bite-sized portions, often without the benefit of context or even fact-checking. Right-wing outlets peddling half truths have learned how to navigate and thus dominate this new landscape. It is important to note that this battle is being waged between right-leaning media and mainstream media. The combatants are not two ideologues. One group is pushing a hard-right agenda, and the other is striving to report and expose the truth. The social media landscape mirrors this reality. On the right, you have Truth Social and X. On the left, not much. In reaction to the misinformation rampant on its sites during the 2020 election, Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram removed most political content.

An excellent read from longtime CBS News journalist Dan Rather on how right-wing media propaganda being fed to millions of Americans without any real fact-checking of lies is what led to Donald Trump become a Presidential candidate in the first place, let alone win twice.

[caw4brandon]

The Power of Stop-Motion

Media in today's standard is quick and easy. Rarely is a show more than 2 hours long or 13-epiodes per-season. With that, animated movies are a lot slower than the typical films.

There is a discussion on if animation is suitable for film purposes and while it is often shunned by the Golden Globes or the Oscars or other awards. The very few outliers can prove these awards and the world very wrong.

But that is not what we will be talking about today. Because while animation is popular, there is a dark horse among its sphere. One with a rich history and strong filmography that should be shared. Let's talk about;

- Have I possibly gone daffy? -

Stop-motion is a film making style that compiles multiple still images of an object being physically manipulated in small movements into one whole scene.

Majority of Stop-motion films and videos use [Clay Animation] or [Paper Animation] with several more varieties of new innovations emerging under the umbrella of stop-motion. The most popular of them in the modern era towards kids is [Lego animation] which is the manipulation of Lego models in motion.

The earliest trace of Stop-motion in films is the 1898 short [The Humpty Dumpty Circus] by Albert E. Smith and James Stuart Blackton which is said to be a lost media. To compensate, please watch [A Tribute to Stop Motion]

In its early concept, Stop-motion was used as a method to create impossible things or do practical effects under budget constrains. Such as the iconic King Kong scene at the Empire State building. Since then, Stop-motion has evolved into a full production industry. From Indies; [Righteous Robot] to Juggernauts; [Laika Studios]

- Shimmer a Little at The Edges -

Unconventional media such as stop-motion is often not a style suited for every story. Its a rather expensive type of media that requires worthy innovations top break the niche barrier. Just looking at Laika Studios alone, we see that they've develop a lot of interesting ways to improve visual effects while staying to their stop-motion roots.

One perfect example is seen in < Kubo and the Two Strings > where the animators need to create water in a still image world that feels natural. [A Perfect Storm] one other part of the stop-motion puzzle is the iron-willed discipline it to conceptualize, animate and edit a production that can take about 3 to 5 years to complete. More so of a time frame than a normal film.

This difficult curve lead to budgeted methods such as using models that already exist to tell new stories. Such as; Legos or with crude multi-jointed figures of existing characters. [MOONSHINE]

While I may say its crude, the low budget production is the selling point. Assisted with sound bites taken from gaming sessions or from shows featuring a lot of inside jokes and memes. Also, its hilarious to see a Teletubby turned into a Eldritch monster.

These attempts to make stop-motion productions accessible has captured the attention of other like-minded channels to collaborate and elevate one another. [ERB: Harry Potter vs Luke Skywalker]

- For Better Tomorrows -

With all that is said, what is the power of stop-motion? As a media that is tediously overlapping across processes. What are the better tomorrows for our inanimate subjects?

I like to think, that as filmmaking grows. Stop-motion will continue to remain as a sacred tug against live action films and traditional animation. It can be used to tell complicated stories with concepts that may look strange if its adapted in a live action.

As I have mentioned in [The Beautiful World of Hilda] animation's greatest strength is simplification. Stop-motion takes the opposite side of that philosophy.

Its a higher level of world building of the materials with willingness to accept mistakes and ruggedness that gives them that little flavor of life. As an actual touchable thing, the various cartoonish styles can take on a whole new dimension to heighten the style and give it that detail that is less polished.

Stop-motion shows that filmmaking magic can still exist despite already knowing the tricks. Its a media where every frame shown has a significant purpose that invokes a specific flow. That's the power of stop-motion.

[hazel-eye-coffee-shop-girl-blog]

Limelight Series - Chapter 4

Happy Monday Everyone! Here is chapter 4 of the limelight series! If you haven't read chapter three, click here to read it and then come back to read chapter 4.

This series came way of a message/ask from @hobby27 she asked:

"I would love something with Jensen and reader. He sees her when he’s at a convention and he’s bonkers for her. She isn’t so interested in a relationship with him because of the fame. So he has to woo her. Make her understand that he’s not a typical movie/tv star. Slow burn."

So I give you the Limelight series- It's a Jensen x reader (plus size, curvy girl) story, Jensen meets the reader in a bar, he falls fist, she is reluctant of course, but secretly she fell for him the second he walked through the door. So can a small town girl and a celebrity make it work?

Warnings for the whole series: language, multi-pov and switching between the pov mid chapters (sorry I can't help it), Jensen coming off aggressive for a hot second but then cooling off. Some douche side characters and some lovable ones, body shaming, angst, fluff, swoon, Jared is there and Micha is mention.

This story takes place an AU where Jensen is not married but Jared is and has kids.

This chapter is 2K+. Feedback, likes and reblogs are always welcomed. Please don't post as your own work, this is my work. If you would like to be added to my tag list, just ask, I am always happy to add you.

Thanks!

Next Day

"Hey, Jensen," you answer. 

Trying to keep yourself calm, you keep repeating to yourself, He's just a guy, you get up from your chair and start pacing around your living room, needing to do anything to channel this nervous energy somewhere other than your voice.

"Hi, Y/N. How are you?" He asks, his voice low, almost to a whisper level. 

You can hear a bit of commotion in the background. "I am good. Sounds like you're in the middle of something, though? " You ask, wondering why he is calling you and if he is working.

"Oh, no, sorry. Give me a second, " he replies, pulling the phone away from him. You hear him talking to someone quickly, and then the sound of him walking and a door opening and shutting behind him.

"Sorry about that. I just finished my last panel for the day with Jared, and I couldn't wait to hear your voice."

You feel your cheeks redden, and you're grinning from ear to ear. "I am glad you called. I like to hear your voice, too," you reply, hoping it doesn't sound too desperate. God, you wish you could be more confident. 

"How about dinner again tonight?" He asks, hoping that you will give him another chance. What happened last night with the fans wouldn't scare you off, and being with him would be worth it.

"Umm…I don't know, Jensen…" you start to reply, remembering the mess that was last night. Besides, the night starts off with his adoring fans at the hotel. Once you two left the restaurant and planned on walking back without your chaperones, a mob was waiting for you around the corner. Fans and paparazzi—it was horrible. 

"Did you see what was posted this morning about you? I can't imagine you didn't get a few questions about it?" You ask. Hoping that reminding him of that disaster last night would put in perspective that he and you won't work. Knowing full well that fans did not favor their favorite eye candy being seen with a woman and a plus size at that.

"The tabloids will print anything to sell their rag magazines. As for the fans…yeah, I had a few questions, but I diverted the questions like a pro." His confidence is loud and clear through the phone. 

You can imagine him in a nondescript hotel room, puffing out his chest like the superhero that he is. Confident in his ability to quell your worries. Now you're wondering what he said and what Jensen thought about you. 

"So what did you tell people?"

"The truth. That it was a first date and that I really liked her…I mean you." He clarified, ensuring you knew that he was talking about you.

"I am sure they didn't like to hear that." Fiddling with a pen, you start to doodle.

"Actually, they were excited to see me with someone; for some reason, they were concerned that I hadn't been seen with anyone for a while. But enough about them, so dinner? I will pick you up at 8?" He directs the conversation back to his original question. He wants to get off the subject of his fame and the task at hand, spending time with you.

Shit, he really wants to go through with this. "I am not in the city today." You reply, hoping that the idea of him driving out to Haven, two hours away, is a deterrent.

"That's fine. Text me your address, and I can leave now, " he replies, keys jingling in the background.

"I don't have anything in the house; I am serious, Jensen; I don't want you to waste your time. I am sure Evan and Quinn don't want to slum it out in the sticks again." You joke, wanting to keep it somewhat light and give him an out. It's easier for you to reject yourself before he can.

"Oh, I am not bringing those two. I can drive myself, you know, " he jokes. The sound of the door opening and closing again and his walking is apparent.

"Now, text me your address, and I will pick something up. I won't ask again." He's playful but slightly serious at the end.

You know that fighting with him on this is a losing battle, even if you have only known him for two days.

"Fine," you reply, open your text thread with him, and send your address. "I just sent it."

Jensen waits for a second, checking to make sure it came through. 

"Perfect, see you soon, " he says, then hangs up the phone. 

****

Panic really starts to set in now. Jensen Ackles will be at your place in two hours! What the fuck are you going to wear! You have to clean! You start to panic and go into turbo mode, stashing everything embarrassing in every drawer or closet you can and making yourself presentable.

At precisely the two-hour mark, your house is passable, and you are as well. You settle for comfortable jeans and a T-shirt with your good bra on. You double-check yourself in the mirror when you hear the doorbell ring. 

Taking a breath, you walk a short distance and open the door. 

Jensen stands with a takeout bag from your favorite diner, looking like perfection.

"Hey," he replies, giving you that smile that makes all girls melt and blush. He is also dressed casually: jeans and a red Henley. He is definitely dressed for a night in.

"Hey," you reply, stepping aside to let him pass. You shut the door behind him.

"You made perfect time. Hope it wasn't too much trouble." Knowing that your place is a bit out of Haven's city limits, he could have easily gotten turned around since he's not used to the area.

Jensen takes in your home, looking around at all your artwork. The space's coziness is, so you.

"No trouble at all." He replies, turning back to face you. "I hope you like burgers. I was craving just some good local food."

You give him a nod. "Absolutely, and you can't go wrong with Rosie's, the best diner food in all of Haven." You say, walking towards the kitchen. He follows, setting the bag on the counter while you grab some plates. 

Jensen starts to unpack the food, "so, how was your day?" He questions.

You turn back, handing a plate for him to use. "Fine, I got some work done between the calls and texts I was getting from family and everyone in town wanting to know the details between you and me." You casually say, trying your best to not let your annoyance show through or blame Jensen for any of it. It's not his doing; he didn't plan for it.

"Want a beer?" you question. Turning back to grab a couple of bottles out of the fridge.

"Sure." He replies, taking a seat on the kitchen island with his food and taking your plate with him to sit next to him.

"So it was that bad for you? I am so sorry, Y/N. I promise it's not always like this." He's a wreck over how much his celebrity life is getting in the way of him getting to know this amazing woman sitting next to him. 

You cross the room and take a seat next to Jensen. You place the beer before him and take a much-needed drink before responding. You can tell he's worried; the sparkle in his eyes when you open the door is slightly dimmed. Damn, you hate that you did that.

"It really wasn't that bad. I am sure I am just blowing it out of proportion. Let's just forget it." You say, wanting to put it behind you, at least for now.

Jensen gives you a nod. And you both start eating. 

****

"I still can't believe you did that to Jared!" you reply, still shocked by all the behind-the-scenes and on-set antics that Jensen has been developing for you all night. 

After dinner, you moved from the kitchen to the living room. Curling up on the couch, facing him, a few empty bottles on the coffee table, you both felt relaxed and comfortable with each other.

"We need to pass the time somehow; shooting can take forever." Jensen tries to justify his actions. “Besides, Jared and Micha got me back good, so don't feel sorry for those two, " he replies, finishing his beer and setting it on the table. 

You compose yourself, "OK, spill, what did they do?" you question, leaning your head against your hand propped up on the back of the couch. You love this; being with him is comfortable, like breathing.

"Oh, no, I will not tell you that part." He shakes his head, gets up from the couch, and grabs the empty bottles. 

"You want another one?" he questions as he approaches the kitchen.

You shake your head. "I think that was the last one. Sorry." You reply, wishing you had more in the house.

"That's fine. I am good with water. Do you want some?" He questions, not that he needed alcohol. You're like his own personal drink of choice. 

"Sure." Watching him walk away, damn, does he have a great ass or what! Feeling the butterflies start to swarm and you are reduced by the thoughts of him and his assets, you're caught mid-dirty thought.

"What's gotten you all smiley all of a sudden?" Jensen questions, pulling you back to reality. 

Oh fuck, you start to panic; taking the glass of water from him, you lie, "Nothing." You smirk and know he's not buying it.

Jensen rolls his eyes. "OK, keep your secrets, but then I won't share this with you, " he states, bringing his hand from behind his back, a small takeout container from Rosie's.

You know exactly what's in a small box like that. "Oh, please tell me you brought pie, " you say, knowing he did since Rosie's has the best homemade pies in the county. 

Jensen gives you a nod. "I mean, I couldn't forget the pie, " he says, sitting down and opening the box. There sat a slice of the perfect Apple crumble pie. 

"Awe! And you got my favorite! You could have gotten any piece of pie, and it's my favorite." You exclaim with excitement. You reach for one of the forks in his hand but quickly pull them and a pie back. 

"What!" You say, giving him a confused look.

"Yeah, no, I am not sharing until you tell me where your mind was at when I returned to the room. I have to know what got you all distracted," he teases.

"Not fair!" you pout, "if I had known that you were going to withhold pie from me, I would have kept my wits about me." You joke. Wanting nothing more than to keep your dirty thoughts to yourself. 

This was all still new, and who's to say he even thought about you that way. You telling him all about your thoughts of him naked could derail and end everything.

Jensen grabs a piece of pie and brings the fork up between you, too, "I mean, I am fine with eating this all myself. It looks like a damn good pie." He says matter of fact. His voice is slightly low, and somehow he makes it so damn sexy! 

Slowly bringing the fork to his lips, he slides the fork in between his lips. Swallowing, "Mmm, that's good."

He goes for another bite, but you stop him. "Fine! I thought you have a great ass, OK!" you blurt out, and before he can reply, you lean in and steal the bite from his fork.

Jensen didn't reply right away. Stunned by what you said and your closeness and ability to steal that bite of pie. You were inches from him, so close that if he had been prepared, he would have dipped his head slightly and kissed you right there.

 "So I have a good ass, hmm? Anything else of mine you like, Y/N?" He questions. Feeling his boldness come back around. 

You can feel yourself start to get self-conscious, but then you look at him, his eyes lock with yours. Starting you down, and not a hint of cringe or discus is to be had. No, what you see is his lust-blown eyes; he seems very much intrigued and invested. Fuck it, you've come this far. 

"Your lips, I've always thought they seem very kissable. I am sure you've heard that before."

Jensen sets down the pie, wanting to get it out of the way. "I have, but for some reason, hearing it come from you, it's so much more sexy." He replies, reaching for your waist; he pulls you closer to him. 

Inches separate you two, and your breath mingles with his. 

"Want to see if your thoughts live up to reality?" he questions. Leaning in slightly, his lips graze yours, but he doesn't kiss you. He wants you to close the gap. 

You nod and lean in, letting your lips mold to his. They are perfect, soft, and supple. Jensen is tender; no rushing is involved. Moving with you, it's perfect. Feeling the need to breathe, you pull back slightly and take in the oxygen you both need.

"So?" he questions breathly. 

"Perfection, " you reply. Leaning your forehead against his, you let your fingers play with his shirt and wish you weren't in such an awkward sitting position. 

As if he can read your mind, Jensen grabs your hips and manhandles you to straddle his lap. Putting himself more in the middle of the couch.

 "Fuck, Jensen, no, I am going to crush you!" You yelp, being handled like you weigh nothing.

Jensen gives an audible pash at this. 

"Please, I am fine. Besides, isn't this more comfortable?" Running a hand up and down your back, his other pulls your face closer to his. His lips find yours again; his tongue darts out and asks for passage to explore you more. You graciously accept and let his tongue dance with yours.

Taking more of him, the taste of pie's and beer, the sweetness mix with the feeling of him close to you, and your senses are in overdrive. You card your fingers through his short locks and try your best but fail to rock up against his incredible body. God, you haven't had anyone like this in a long time; you've never had anyone make you feel so complete and wanted as Jensen has made you in the past two days. 

You pull away slightly, letting your forehead rest against his, as you take a much-needed breath. Is it just the intensity of him and his lips making your head spin, or is it the realization that you're falling for someone you know you can't have? 

"Wow, " you breathy say, unsure if your brain can form more eloquent words.

Jensen gives you a cheeky smile at this, his dimples on full display. "Yeah…same…" he breathily replies, leaning in to start peppering kisses down your neck.

To Be Continued......

Tag List:

@ladysparkles78 @smoothdogsgirl @n-o-p-e-never @stoneyggirl2 @lmhf1 @kr804573 @deansimpalababy @livingdeadblondequeen @winchesterwild78

[gummilutt]

Directory of downloads

Since Tumblr is now where I share my stuff when I do share, I suppose there will come a time when scrolling through would get tedious for you, the reader, and Origami suggested I make a directory post to make it easier for people to find what they may want. Great idea, so here we are :)

If you have problems the fastest way to reach me is through discord, my username is gummilutt. You can also find me in the discord server Sims Crafters (click for invite). DM here on tumblr on MTS will also work, but I make no promises about fast replies.

Policy is open, do what you like. A tag is always appreciated, because it is fun to see what people make with your work :)

I do not take requests, sorry :) I am however always happy to give advice on how to make something yourself, in the modding channel on SimsCrafters (invite above). If you aren't interested in learning to make what you want yourself, my advice is to use publicly available forums to post your ideas (Hacks & CC thread on MTS, ideas channel on Crafters etc), and if you are lucky a modder will see it, like it and make it.

Posing

Posebox base clone that can remember pose used

Mods

Custom memories library and object

Monique's computer update - price editing friendly

Modified Cyjon Loan Jar

Simulated sales in OFB business made optional and lot-based

Autonomous background crafting

AL Gear City window made closeable

Teleporters given age based & pet options

Updated Inge table and counter controller

Dressers require laundry Add-on for Sun & Mon Laundry Mod

Immersive pet treat giving

Optional autonomy for poker, pool and mahjong

No saturday landlord party in apartments

Landlord leaves leaf piles during autumn

Backrub gives comfort

Crystal ball computer dating service

Stuffed animal enabler and autonomy fix with traits incorporation

Teens and pregnant Sims do not drink autonomously

Towel rack dresser actions

Toddler memory nursery rhyme

Cat nip toy cleanup enabled teens/elder

Check out self on mirror enabled adult/elder

Pregnant Sim BV activity sanity - Log roll, axe throw, massage, hot spring and sauna changes

Takemizu ninja success chance raised to 75%

Uni skill scholarships lowered to 5 points

Sell lemonade want age restricted

Snuck out memory made repeatable

No autonomous cleaning of dishes/trash

Pet career wage edits

Slacker chance card edit

Debug "make harvestable" made more user friendly

No hunger decay for birds

Mod Objects and Edits

Teleporters given age-based options

Objects and recolors

H&M Banner default and recolors

Bodyshop content

Acne Taurus pantless heels

Raonjena 103 Pooklet recolor

Tutorials

Updating pre-AL pet food bowls for Midge's butler/nanny refill mod

Fixes of other peoples stuff

Simslice Beer Keg refillable and no family romance

BO's multi-key dorm door mod diagonal door add-on

Cyjon debugger menu fixed for non-english installations

Potty Fixes and Potty Use Bin mods merged for compatibility

For more of my creations I also have a library of 84 uploads over on MTS, mostly game mods with some bodyshop and the occasional lot sprinkled in. My username there is gummilutt :)

[lowpolynpixelated]

Nightmare Kart: Multi-Track Dreaming

LW Media have done it again. After making one of the best fanworks on the web with “Bloodborne PSX” star developer Lilith Walther has returned to the realm of nightmares to go a little faster this time. How much faster? Somewhere around 200cc or so. Nightmare Kart made its debut on itch.io on June 3rd 2024 and has already become yet another banger from the dev that keeps on giving. First imagined as “Bloodborne Kart” the game hit a minor legal snag and ended up having to scrub any overt references to the Fromsoftware game entirely, leading to its rebranding into the much more original “Nightmare Kart”. But what is Nightmare Kart? And why should you play it? In this article/review I’d like to go over my personal favourite elements as well as some not-so polished ones that all in all make Nightmare Kart an easy sell to anyone looking to have some new fun in an old school way.

Some Background:

If you’ve read my article on Bloodborne PSX you know that I’m a massive fan of LW Media’s previous work. BBPSX was a masterwork in bringing old fashioned clunk to a modern game and letting it thrive on the atmosphere and gameplay quirks that come with something like that. Nightmare Kart is no different. According to Lilith via our previous interview work on Nightmare Kart began not too long after BBPSX released, owing its existence largely to a popular meme used to tease a new Bloodborne game being announced at major gaming shows. Ever since the game’s inception Lilith was hard at work trying to make a kart racer that captured not only the feeling of Bloodborne’s visceral world and combat, but those old school racers we all know and love. I personally am a big fan of Mario Kart 64, and when I got to ask her questions about Nightmare Kart’s development I was delighted to hear that she was taking inspiration from the title. My previous article is linked here as well as Lilith’s tumblr blog and youtube channel where you can see more of the development process in action leading up to the debut of the game.

Nightmare Kart:

So, back to that question I asked before, what is Nightmare Kart? Inspired by kart racer classics like Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, and Crash Team Racing, alongside some rather exciting action picks like Halo, Nightmare Kart is a combination kart racer/battler. In the game you take on the role of “The good hunter”, a mysterious person who awakens in a strange world known as the Pocket Dream before taking to the streets of Miralodia, a gothic styled city beset by all sorts of creatures of the night. The game takes you through a brief singleplayer campaign consisting of several races, battle mode matches, and even boss fights showing off an impressive array of gameplay and animated cutscenes. The base gameplay of the racer is closest to those kart racers I mentioned before, with drifting and boosting being a core part of the racing experience. It does however put some unique souls-like spins on a few things, as well as introducing a brake-slide mechanic which allows you to turn on a dime at the cost of your momentum. A true feast for the senses, consisting of graphics and music to rival Bloodborne PSX in their quality, and a truly impressive feat of development prowess. The game, much like its predecessor, feels so at home in its old school roots that I could almost hear the disc whirring in the drive of my non-existent PlayStation as I played through its campaign and tore through some multiplayer battles.

Gameplay:

Let’s talk more about that gameplay for a bit. As mentioned before Nightmare Kart does a superb job at nailing the feeling of an old school kart racer with a modern twist. A large part of that is its more battle-focused gameplay, as the powerups and controls are much more suited for aggression and duking it out at high speed than just simply racing. The first mechanic to show this off is the Blood Droplets system. As you race a number of enemies will spawn on the track and wander around, some will even try to attack racers as they speed past. Running over one of these enemies or destroying them with one of the several weapons on offer nets an amount of “blood droplets”. These function identically to both Blood Echoes in Bloodborne as well as coins in the Mario Kart series. The more droplets you collect, the higher your maximum speed will increase (as indicated by a red sword shaped arrow on your in-game speedometer). There is, however, a limited number of these enemies on a given track. Once they’re all killed you’ll have to turn to alternative means to collect those speed-granting droplets. Most notably, the destruction of your fellow racers. With a small array of weapons at your disposal granted via small powerup sparks scattered throughout the tracks you’ll be able to cut, smash, shoot, or even call down the stars themselves upon your competition to take their droplets as your own. This feature is most important during races, where speed is much more of a focus, but during the battle modes is where the fighting truly shines.

Deathmatch, elimination, capture the flag, and a score mode based around having the most droplets for your team all serve as the real way to show off Nightmare Kart’s strengths. The brake-slide mentioned before serves as your way to stop and aim ranged weapons like the hunter’s pistol and lever action shotgun, or to reposition yourself for a lunging strike with one of the several melee weapons you’re able to slot in to your melee powerup slot. My personal favourite of these were the gatling gun, which straps a four-barreled monster of a gun to the front of a vehicle of your choice allowing for 40 shots of continuous rapid fire destruction, and the spark-cage, a stand in for the Bloodborne Tonitrus which sends you leaping forward in your kart to smash an electrified mace into your opponents. All of this is headed by a health and stamina system much akin to the game’s former namesake. Health dictates damage done and sustained, while stamina is used by dashing. Also consumed by dashing are “Aether Viles”, viles of blue liquid used in groups of 5 to send you careening forward with a burst of speed. Performing tricks off of jumps by tapping the jump button or simple picking them up from a powerup grants you a number of these viles which you can use to bash into enemies or get ahead in the race standings. With everything I’ve talked about here I hope it’s apparent just how fun Nightmare Kart is to play. I had such an amazing time trashing enemies in deathmatch battles and roaring my way through city streets and forbidden forests.

Graphics/Design:

Nightmare Kart boasts a sense of style rivaled only by the game that came before it. Iterating on the already delightfully dated look that BBPSX had, Nightmare Kart takes it to the next level with original characters and environments that give it that trademark PSX feel. Coming with a built in (and customizeable) CRT filter along with a slew of graphical options ranging from texture warp to pixel distortion the game has quite literally never looked better. My entire time with the game was spent marveling at the track design and style that bleeds from every low-poly crease and jittering texture. Twelve vehicles and a variety of playable characters show off the gothic horror inspirations from Bloodborne and otherwise in perfect pixelated glory. Just as with BBPSX the game shows a mastery of the concept of a “demake”, but being built from the ground up as an original concept the game shows off iconic themes and locations leftover from its Bloodborne origins now with a lovingly crafted layer of originality. Fans of PSX horror and modern retro-makes in general will find nothing but some of the best graphical styling from this game’s blood soaked streets and haunted clock towers.

The real star at the center of well crafted textures and wonderfully low-detail models is the track design. Even if it isn’t legally allowed be Bloodborne Kart, its very apparent that the tracks on offer are nothing less than love letters to a wacky concept contained within a genuine respect for the inspirations. The game’s first few tracks do a top notch job at showing off the sort of homage you’d come to expect from a game inspired by Fromsoft’s gothic masterpiece, but soon descend into the depths of creative (and sometimes seemingly sadistic) level design that sets a kart racer apart from its peers. The Forbidden Forest, for example, features a split path laden with traps and lurking enemies that culminates in an upward clime via jump pads that sends you up the decaying innards of a windmill tower. Delving further into the madness sees you drifting your way through a library maze and making daring jumps to catch up with Nicholas, one of the game’s bosses to put him down for good. The inspiration for this game shines through even the mandatory layer of original art, enhancing into a viscerally wild ride from the first look at the endless void of the Pocket Dream to the cramped quarters of the Outsider’s Mansion.

Sound design/Soundtrack:

At last we arrive at what I consider to be the true highlight of Nightmare Kart. Continuing from BBPSX’s beautifully bitcrushed audio design Nightmare Kart wastes absolutely no time showing off just how much work was put into making the nightmare sound as good as it looks. One thing in particular that stuck with me was the animated cutscenes seen throughout the singleplayer campaign. Fully voice acted and entirely animated the voices in the scenes remind me of the best of the best PlayStation VA work. Extending a massive amount of congratulations to the entire voice cast, which the game’s developer Lilith Walther also provided a performance for. Those sweet filtered voices are only the beginning though, as Nightmare Kart’s soundtrack explodes into a symphony of haunted house jams and retro bangers right from the first screen. I find myself left without a whole lot to say other than just how good the soundtrack is. Composer Evalyn Lark destroyed any doubts I could have had about the game’s soundtrack not living up to the hype that the concept drummed up. The full soundtrack is available on youtube as well as other streaming services and will also be linked in this article for your listening pleasure. A short but sweet section for a set of tunes that I truly feel need to speak for themselves.

Full soundtrack

A sweet nightmare, and everything that comes with it

This section is a bit different from what I usually do in reviews like this. As I don’t have a second interview with Ms. Walther and I want this to be just as much a discussion about the game as well as a glowing review, I’d like to go over the less than stellar things I experienced while I sped my way through the horrors and bloodsoaked nightmare visions. I’d like to start off this section with this: This article/review is a work of opinion, not objective fact. Everything I put here is based on my own experience with the game. I also understand that in the modern video game landscape we exist in a time where games can receive updates and patches to repair and alter things that might be grinding or frustrating to players. I say all of this out of profuse respect for Ms. Walther and all of those who worked on Nightmare Kart, so that my words cannot be taken as damning evidence that this game is anything other than fun.

Nightmare Kart is above all else, an indie game in the purest meaning of the phrase. Developed by a small team on a small (by video game standards) budget and released entirely for free for anyone to enjoy. Because of this it does suffer from some standard if not frustrating bugs and glitches that made my experience with it nearly perfect, but not quite. Every game (especially today) has it’s rough edges. And with one trying to have so many on purpose (visually anyway) it was bound to have something in it that didn’t function one hundred percent of the time, or something out of place at random intervals.

Common glitches I encountered while playing:

- Hitting walls and ending up underneath the map (this has a minor fix already in the game in the form of a respawn option)

- Controls not being recognized after being hit by an enemy weapon, requiring me to either repress buttons or restart the match/race

- Powerups not actually firing off but being consumed anyway

Please keep in mind that these three things are glitches and do have the potential to be patched out. However, even if they weren’t, I think they added to the charm of the game either way. What was also a part of the charm and became somewhat grating as the game went on were some things I feel work against the games sense of flow and speed that the races would have you want to achieve. These notes are not comprehensive, and come from a place of constructive criticism only. The first frustrating element came in the form of the game’s strict adherence to a retro draw distance. Most of the tracks in the game are enveloped in a dark fog after a certain point, and the track becomes revealed to you as you ride or drive. This works wonders for the atmosphere, but tended to work against me when I was gaining speed and using my aether boosts, only to run face first into a wall because I couldn’t see the turn coming. Moving on from that but in the same vein, running into things can lead into some frustrating moments as well. Some objects and even enemies have hitboxes a fair bit larger than what it would appear. There were several times I tried to skirt past a crucified beast or stack of unbreakable boxes only for a seemingly small part of my cart to clip it, causing the entirety of my speed and momentum to be lost along with my placement. Getting stuck on one of these objects is a different beast entirely, as sometimes the objects invisible hitbox stops you from turning or accelerating altogether until you physically use the reverse button and reorient yourself. On top of all of this, and I’ve certainly seen people state this in far less kind ways, I do feel like the game’s campaign is a bit too easy. Now please keep in mind I did not go into Nightmare Kart expecting a high skill ceiling challenge that would test my mettle at every turn. I also didn’t expect to essentially go on a joyride through the nightmare’s scenic vistas and town squares while a host of NPC drivers waged war with each other far behind me, occasionally sending a volley of stars my way which did very little to actually slow me down. Combined with the fact that enemies didn’t seem to respawn once killed, I found myself with shockingly little to do other than just drive and go for style points on the jumps as I stayed well ahead of the pack. This issue, I will add, was exclusive to the campaign’s races. I found the AI was much more suited for battling it out in the boss battles and other versus modes, the elimination match at the end of the game being a particular highlight of an absolute brawl. None of these issues stand to ruin any part of Nightmare Kart’s fun. Video games are hard to make, and not a single one of them can ever claim to be perfect. These just stand as notes from a personal perspective, meant to offer a bit of a look at what someone jumping into the game and playing it start to finish might experience.

Closing Thoughts:

If you’re looking for something fun to play this summer I can’t recommend Nightmare Kart enough. It really does echo the days of playing head to head with friends in wacky kart racers and deathmatch games, going as far as to combine the two into easily one of the most fun kart games I’ve ever played. If you liked what you read here or would otherwise like to support LW Media’s endeavors, I’ve linked the official itch.io page and steam page for Nightmare Kart below, along with the LW Media patreon and (yet another) link to my previous article on Bloodborne PSX. Thank you so much for reading, now go shred those radical streets.

Links:

Nightmare Kart

Steam

itch.io

LWMedia Patreon

Bloodborne PSX Article

[tsvwords]

There are a hundred thousand different forms of harvest worship across the Peninsula, and for a very long time nobody knew how to keep track of them, least of all how to monetise it.

So this cereal conglomerate, it decides to go about it backwards. You design the god on the shredded wheat packets, you sell it in to consumers with a catchy multi-channel advertising campaign(“we heap our praises upon Sweet Jolly Crunchtooth for the gift of a nutritious breakfast!”).

You put the mascot on the lorries, and you blanket the farms with flyers, explaining that their old gods of the harvest - grinning scarecrows, leafy green-men and faceless corn-dolls - are now this guy. This sentient parcel of shredded wheat with the bulging eyes and the grinning toothed mouth that takes up most of his body, and he eats shredded wheat even though he is of course made of shredded wheat. I mean, it’s a nightmare.

But the funny thing is, it worked, for the most part. Farmers spat when they said Sweet Jolly Crunchtooth’s name, but they still said it. And eventually, with the long years and decades, they stopped spitting. By and large, the new status quo settled over the fields.

But of course you’ll always get some reckless son or daughter of the harvest who decides that things were better the way they were before, or they wonder if they’d just do better making a sacrifice to Old Jack Of The Thousand Ears, like their forefathers used to…

When that happens, there are always signs left behind. Prayer-signs woven in wheat-tails. Offerings of blood and bone in baked clay jars, half-buried in the soil.

Sometimes the sign of a god’s favour is only in the crops that have grown higher and thicker than nature should allow.

— Chapter 3: Then I'll Speak of Champions.

[sprintingowl]

Writing A Wargame When The World's A Bastard

I think most people looking at an rpg blog are probably familiar with the "Wow! Cool Robot!" meme.

And I think to an extent all play consists of "Situations I Don't Actually Want To Be In But It's Fun To Imagine The Scenario." Even tag and hide and seek simulate escaping from a predator.

However, when I say Over War is both a wargame and a tabletop roleplaying game, I want to be a little more precise about which inspirations I'm drawing on.

Yasumi Matsuno is a name that Final Fantasy XIV players might recognize, but he has a much broader body of work with incredibly consistent themes.

Matsuno also directed and wrote Final Fantasy Tactics, designed directed and wrote Tactics Ogre, designed directed produced and wrote Vagrant Story, and created Ogre Battle, which lit a fire in my head as a child and eventually led to the creation of this game.

In a Yasumi Matsuno story, you can generally expect gothic vibes, a baroque aesthetic, and messy, multi-sided political choices that orbit around resentment, societal disenfranchisement, and a struggle for a better world.

Those themes and elements are what I'm trying to channel in Over War.

There's more than a few splashes of the usual Sprinting Owl ridiculousness (you can build a unit out of just chupacabras and goats in the uneasiest alliance any fantasy world has ever seen,) but the game centers around questions like "Should anyone ever deserve to rule a land?" and "What compromises on integrity and vengeance are you personally willing to make to achieve your goals?"

There's a sidebar at the beginning of the book making it clear that I am not trying to draw real-world parallels---I'm not smart enough to do that without messing it up---but I do want the players to think when the game hands them a thorny issue, and to reach a decision that they are ultimately comfortable with.

This is tricky to do in a game which ultimately also needs to be fun, it won't sell if it's not fun, but those are the compromises I'm making in the hopes that this game will bring enjoyment and disquiet to folks.

[ridenwithbiden]

TO PAY FOR TRUMPS TRILLIONS IN TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH.

"Oz will succeed Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the current administrator of CMS, to lead programs including Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older, and disabled people, and Medicaid, the state-based health insurance program for lower-income people, which is jointly funded by states and the federal government. The two programs provide health insurance for more than 140 million Americans.

Also in the CMS fold are the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip) and the Health Insurance Marketplace, which was created by the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama in 2010.

Trump’s economic advisers and congressional Republicans are currently discussing possible cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and other government welfare programs to cover the costs of extending the president-elect’s multi-trillion-dollar 2017 tax cut."

Dr Oz, best known for his daytime talkshow, leaned heavily into Trumpism during his failed 2022 run for US Senate. Donald Trump has chosen Mehmet Oz, best known for starring in his eponymous daytime talkshow for more than a decade and leaning heavily into Trumpism during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania Senate seat, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The cardiothoracic surgeon, who faced immense backlash from the medical and scientific communities for pushing misinformation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, will oversee the agency that operates on a $2.6 trillion dollar annual budget and provides healthcare to more than 100 million people.

“I am honored to be nominated by [Donald Trump] to lead CMS,” Oz posted on X on Tuesday. “I look forward to serving my country to Make America Healthy Again under the leadership of HHS Secretary [Robert F Kennedy Jr].”

In the announcement of Oz’s selection, Trump said that Oz would “make America healthy again” and described him as “an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades”.

Oz has been on US television screens for nearly 20 years, first appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2004. In that time, he has talked to his audience about losing weight with fad diets and what it takes to have healthy poops and, toward the end of his run, touting hydroxychloroquine as a potential remedy for Covid-19.

Here’s what to know about the New York University professor and surgeon turned television show host, and now Trump appointee.

Mehmet Oz, 64, is a Turkish American Ohio native best known for The Dr Oz Show, which ran from 2009 to 2022. His father was a surgeon in Turkey, and after Oz graduated high school in Delaware, he was admitted into Harvard. He also served in the Turkish military in order to maintain dual citizenship, the Associated Press reports.

Before entering US homes via daytime TV, he had more than 20 years of experience as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Presbyterian-Columbia medical center in New York. He was also a professor at Columbia University’s medical school.

His bona fides at the prestigious institutions earned him quick credibility with viewers, and his popularity garnered him nine Daytime Emmy awards for outstanding informative talkshow and host.

Though his show ended in 2022, Oz maintains a YouTube channel filled with old episodes of his shows where he interviews guests such as Penn Jillette about his weight loss and Robert F Kennedy Jr about his 2014 book about the presence of mercury in vaccines. He also has an Instagram account that boasts more than a million followers, where Oz shares photos of his family and sells products from iHerb, an online health and wellness brand for which he is global adviser.

Oz’s questionable medical advice and time in politics. Throughout his TV tenure, Oz dabbled in the hallmarks of weight loss culture like detoxes, cleanses and diets that promised rapid weight loss. He also faced a grilling by senators in 2014 over claims he made and alleged false advertising on supplements he promoted on his show. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Oz regurgitated misinformation that came from the fringes of the right and medical communities.

These comments continued when he threw his hat into the race to represent Pennsylvania in the US Senate in 2022 against John Fetterman. At the time, the Guardian wrote:

“Oz was dogged by questions about his actual connection to the state during the campaign. Oz lived in New Jersey for decades before he moved to Pennsylvania in October 2020, into a home owned by his wife’s family. He announced his bid to be the state’s US senator just months later.”

Following Fetterman’s stroke, during which he said he “​​almost died”, the Oz campaign launched unsavory attacks against him, with one Oz aide, Rachel Tripp, claiming Fetterman might not have had a stroke if he “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life”.

Oz ultimately lost to Fetterman, who garnered 51% of the vote compared with Oz’s 46%."

[gaykarstaagforever]

"KIDS TODAY DON'T WANT TO WORK FOR ANYTHING! THEY DON'T GET THAT TO BE GOOD AT GUITAR, YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE AND STRUGGLE WITH IT FOR 20 YEARS!"

Yes, to impress the gatekeeping shitheads at the top who want to underpay for a refined resource they can claim ownership over and profit from.

If you've spent 40 years learning music and working as a producer but you still have to run a YouTube channel and sell music courses to provide for your family, Rick Beato, maybe that's proof that this old system you love was bullshit that squeezed you and then hung you out to dry.

AI "art" is filth. But the impulse to cheaply and quickly make product is a direct reaction to everyone noticing that hard-working artists seemingly exist to be exploited.

Who wants to do that?

If your motivation is love of the art or reaching the skill level of someone you idolize, then that is it's own reward. But without those motivations, why should anyone bother? So nerds can look back in 60 years and be snobs about what is "serious" art and what isn't? Who asked for that? What benefit is that to anyone?

Note that those nerds are critics, and rarely artists themselves. Because being a know-it-all jackass about OTHER PEOPLE'S ART is way less work than making your own. See? Even THEY'RE doing it!

Also anyone over the age of 50 whining about "the death of (whatever art)" is just mad the culture has passed them by and doesn't care to sell things to them anymore. They're mad that they are no longer valued as consumers. Because that's the only reason they played rock on the radio in the 70s: to sell you shit. It wasn't out of some pure love for "good" music, whatever that means.

And if those bands had had access to tech and shortcuts, they would have used them. Because they totally did. That's why the 80s sounded like that. Queen did things with multi-channel tape that terrified people, and it was responsible for their whole sound. Just some dudes on a stage with instruments doesn't make noises like that.

Being an artist is hard and it sucks and it is a valid life-choice to not want to pursue that. And if you're driven to, then it isn't because you are taking a moral high ground. It's because you HAVE TO. It is a brain worm that lives inside you and will never let you go. Even if what you make is nothing anyone else gets or cares about. You do it because you can't do anything else.

And if Henry Darger had had access to Photoshop, he certainly would have used it to make what he made.

He used collage and tracing! Those are shortcuts!

Of course, he wasn't trying to impress annoying people who still think what Sony will promote for profit = "good art."

[fredseibertdotcom]

Behold, the king of online cartoons

Ex-Hanna-Barbera whiz Fred Seibert blazing a trail with YouTube network

A couple of times over the years, then-USA Today’s entertainment and tech reporter (and photographer) Jefferson Graham was nice enough to feature me in an article about the cartoons I was producing. First time was in the late 90s with “Oh Yeah! Cartoons,” but in 2015, with streaming video finally reaching the mainstream press (Channel Frederator actually started in 2005) and Graham’s animator son joining our network, he revisited.

Thanks to animator Michael Hilliger, who sent over his copy of the article in 2024.

By Jefferson Graham USA Today July 17, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Fred Seibert wants you to have his card.

And his phone number. He even won't mind if we print his fred@frederator.com e-mail address right here in USA TODAY.

Seibert, 63 is the online toon king, with 400 million views monthly to his Channel Frederator network on YouTube, but he's never sure where his next hit will come from.

So he's always out there looking, at schools, industry gatherings, book signings. You name it.

Next weekend, he'll be at the Vidcon convention near Los Angeles, a gathering of folks who make their living off YouTube, which is where most folks see his online `toons.

"I have no ideas," he says. "But I recognize talent."

That's for sure. Seibert, then president of Hanna-Barbera's cartoon studios in the 1990s, is credited with discovering Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the Family Guy, fresh from college, when he hired him to work on Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

For Seibert's "What a Cartoon!" series for the Cartoon Network, Seibert hit ratings gold, signing up the creators who churned out hits like "The Powerpuff Girls," "Dexter's Laboratory" and "Johnny Bravo." Their series debuted as shorts for first for Seibert's series.

He still serves as executive producer of "The Fairly OddParents," a TV series he began producing in 1998 when it debuted on his "Oh Yeah, Cartoons," series. It's been running ever since on Nickelodeon.

Seibert's biggest audiences, however, have come from online, to the tune of some 1.9 billion views for 'toons like the Bee and PuppyCat and Bravest Warriors.

We had Seibert as a guest on our #TalkingTech podcast in June. At the time, he was averaging 300 million monthly viewers to the Channel Frederator network. Now he's already up to 400 million monthly viewers, and predicts he'll top 700 million by year's end, and 1 billion by 2016.

The reason for the massive growth is that unlike before, when animation was targeted just to young kids, either for Saturday morning TV, and kid-based cartoon TV channels, anyone of all ages can view `toons online.

Seibert's Cartoon Hangover, a Frederator section where he shows the best of his `toons, bills itself as the channel for "cartoons that are too weird, wild, and crazy for television."

“Bee and PuppyCat,” about a young woman with a hybrid dog-cat, is written by Natasha Allegri, a woman in her 20s, about a character in her 20s, and thus, obviously not targeted to the traditional animation crowd.

"No matter what your interest online — whether it be anime, or science fiction or comedy cartoons, there is a place for you," Seibert says. "TV has a tough time supporting the sub-genres. Online is all about sub-genre."

Channel Frederator is what's known as a multi-channel network. Cartoons run on YouTube, but his network promotes them, sells ads and distributes the proceeds to some 2,000 of his video makers.

Through Frederator, the channel makers learn about which color to make their thumbnails to find larger YouTube audiences (he recommends yellow) and which keywords to use in the descriptions ("funny" always works, he says.)

"We give them the tools to grow their performance," he says.

Dominic Panganiban, a 24-year-old animator from Toronto, joined the Frederator network in November, and has seen his subscriber base grow ten times since.

He had been working with Full Screen, another multi-channel network that works with YouTube creators to help them monetize their videos and attract larger audiences.

"Frederator was a better fit, because they cater more towards animation channels," Panganiban says. Because Frederator attracts folks who enjoy cartoons, "I have more potential here."

By being part of the Frederator network, Australian animator Sam Green says he's learned about how to better promote his cartoons, and gotten access to a database of free music and sound effects to use in his cartoons.

He too has seen a spike in traffic.

Being with Seibert "helped me move from my mother's garage to affording my own apartment in the big city," he says.

How did the traffic for both creators go up so dramatically?

Seibert promoted the cartoons to his audience. With 2,000 cartoon makers, that's a lot to choose from. He says he'll plug as many of them as "show an interest" to growing their audience. He looks for people who post new work regularly, stay in touch, and ask "what we can do to help them more."

And despite the massive online audience, Seibert isn't making money yet, and doesn't think he will for another three years. 

"Our cartoons are 3-4 minutes long, and the average American watches 6 hours of TV a day," he says. "We have a long way to go to even that out."

Photography by Jefferson Graham, July 2015

[iamarketinginsight]

Revolutionizing B2B Sales: Advanced Outbound Lead Generation Strategies for the Digital Era

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