#Project 366 (2020)

[paranatellonta]

A warm welcome to everyone who's discovering Paranatellonta after Worldcon 2024 in Glasgow, and to everyone who's been here for a long time and may be rediscovering this project now!

For a quick introduction, we are Fie and Minerva. Fie's photos have been inspiring Minerva's 10-sentence stories since August 2013. We were initially inspired to pick up this concept because we were admiring Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell's Flax-golden Tales.

The main page will lead you to the newest stories, the chronological page will show you where we started in 2013, and the random button will let the fates decide to which of our 380+ stories you'll be led. We cannot promise that all of them are equally amazing, but we do promise a new edition on every 1st and 15th day of the month. (Up until October 2017, we had one every week!) All of those editions can be accessed here for free.

(Of course we do ask you to mention our names and link to the original if you are telling your friends about this, and none of these materials can be used for generative AI learning or financial gain.)

Minerva was on the Worldcon 2024 panel "Flash Fiction: The Art of Storytelling in Under 1,000 Words", moderated by Stephen Granade, with Aimee Ogden, Istvan Vizvary, and @microsff as fellow panellists. The panel talked a little about experimental forms, so among the most recent Paranatellonta stories Minerva would recommend Edition 372 (Extract from "A Travel Guide to the Fairy Realm"), Edition 366 (story in poem format), and Edition 364 (dialogue) as examples of that. As our photographer has a cat, there are also quite a few cat pov stories to be found!

For those who want to find the flash piece Minerva recommended at the end of the panel, that was @avakellyfiction's claustrophobic love story "Silence, Entwined" from queer horror anthology Neon Horror.

Ava Kelly was also the guest photographer and writer for Paranatellonta's fifth and tenth anniversary. They are the author of the beautiful book Alia Terra: Stories from the Dragon Realm, illustrated by @mspencerdraws.

In case you're curious about reading longer work by Minerva, xyr queer fairy tale novella The Dragon of Ynys came out with Atthis Arts in 2020, and xyr website is the place to keep an eye on for news.

Among the flash fiction pieces recommended by the other panellists were The God of Arepo (Tumblr, 2018), The Night the River Meets the Sky (Fireside Fiction, 2022), and Good (Flash Fiction Online). An additional recommendation from the audience was Litany in the Heart of Exorcism (Flash Fiction Online).

We also recommend Small Wonders magazine, co-edited by Stephen Granade, for more SFF flash fiction and poetry.

Enjoy all these flashes of imagination! We hope you, too, will be inspired. Thank you for being here!

[deathsmallcaps]

Masterpost of Art, Writing and Amusing Tidbits

My original masterpost started out as a place for me to link my 56 Win A Commission Stories (See below for more). Then tumblr mobile and eventually tumblr desktop said the post was getting too unwieldy. So here is a masterpost of my creations! It is not complete, because when I started out, I was not as careful about linking and keeping posts. But it is still fairly comprehensive :)

My Ao3 - Where I post both fanfics and original works that are too long for tumblr or come with no art.

Art Summary 2023 (January 2023 - December 2023) - A little showcase of my drawings from 2023! It has links to the previous years, and a new one will be posted every January.

366 Art Challenge (April 2019 to April 2020) - I posted a different creation every day for a year. It is not a masterpost (though it does have a few links) but more of an explanation and celebration.

OTGWtober 2020 (October 2020) - 31 days of Over The Garden Wall drawings for that October. It was part of the 366 Art Challenge.

Holes - An explanation of the movie Holes of which I am proud

ATLA Kuspuk Week 2022 (February to March 2022) - Drawings of various Avatar: The Last Airbender characters in kuspuks (a piece of modern Yup'ik clothing that resembles hoodies)

Derin Stories Fan Art (April 2019 to now) - A masterpost of my fanart for Derinthescarletpescatarian's writing.

Li's Friends: Horrible Pets to Protect You From a Horrible World (November 2020) - A stealth-ATLA fanart coloring book to which I contributed, and whose profits go towards wildlife funds.

Disney Princess Coloring Pages (January 2020 - now) Coloring pages of Disney Princesses and heroines that also went into my coloring books. Occasionally updates when new movies or inspiring outfits for these characters are posted.

Disney Princess Choose Your Own Adventures (July 2023) - A project I would like to continue one day. In excitement for polls coming out on tumblr, I tried to write a CYOA style fanfic. As of posting, it only has Snow White, but we shall see.

Win A Commission Contest (May 2019 to December 2024) was a project I started in 2017, back when I was 16. i decided to make a fairy tale coloring book for my little cousins, and it spiraled from there. In May 2019, after a month on tumblr, I started posting the stories onto here. The idea was that if you could guess the fairy tale (and later children's books - I branched out) from a daily post of one illustration through the story, you could win a commission. Over the course of many months and one year-long break, I posted all 56 of my stories. On this masterpost, it also has pictures of sketches, the commissions I completed, my real life coloring books, and a specific list of fairy tales I adapted to become queer :). Just as a side quest sort of thing, I also started coloring them in. Yes, I am ambitious to my own detriment, thanks for noticing! Anyways, you should check it out. The official stories stopped in December of 2024, but I do have plans to write a short, smutty sequel planned for my last story in 2025. It may be posted only to my ao3, only time will tell. It no longer allowed me to edit the post despite attempts to remove links, so this takes you directly to a reblog with the last few links of the project.

Colored-In WAC Illustrations (April 2021 to now) - what it says on the tin. I figured it deserved its own link considering that coloring what amounts to over 200 illustrations is also ambitious. I used to color these in on Google Drawings and occasionally by painting or coloring the actual initial drawing; now I mostly color them in on my phone in waiting rooms and such. Latest story was The White Snake, am currently working on coloring in Godmother Death.

Secondary Dashboards • ‘Pastboards’

[kittykittyhunter]

The Archive

Introduction On 14 June 2020, I accidentally deleted my tumblr, wiping out a blog that I had been maintaining since January 2011.  I was distraught due to losing a lot of fond memories – and crushed at the thought of so much of my writing disappearing.  I hadn’t been very disciplined about keeping offline back-ups of my work, so when my blog disappeared, so did a large collection of poems, short stories, vignettes and fanfics.

Over the last few years, I’ve steadily recovered a decent chunk of my writing (about 300 pieces) thanks to my friends reblogging my posts and being diligent with their tagging systems.  I’ve now been able to archive and remaster my poems and prose pieces – though my fanfiction remains in the ether (which, to be honest, I’m okay with). On that note, I would like to express immense gratitude to the people whose blogs I recovered my works from:

alistersangelsong

@brattyhalfpint

caitsylph

@houkou-nrl

jirohoushi

kara-kitsu-x

kasukasumoe

@kidasbrainspace

@kunimitsuchin

lassinajumper

@lenandbonten

@mono-frog

@mon-qi

seethebattlefield

@s-ephiroth

@tacotits

@ten-thousands-hobbits

thunderdownongreenside-archive

I know a lot of these bloggers either are no longer on tumblr or use these accounts (and tumblr wouldn't allow me to tag everyone?); even so, I want to share my thanks. And thank you to everyone else who read, shared or otherwise enjoyed my writing over the years.  I hope that it inspired deep feelings and I hope that it bought you comfort.  I want you to know that I wouldn’t still be pursuing writing if it wasn’t for all the support you sent my way.  I read and savoured your comments and tags and, I promise you, I am grateful for all the love I received. Methodology While it would have been simpler to reblog the old posts, save for those that were trapped under a Read More (and a fair few pieces fell into this category), for this archiving project, I opted to take the opportunity to edit my works (also, I didn’t particularly want to bombard my friends’ notes by reblogging ancient posts).  This gave me a chance to appropriately re-format some works which had, unfortunately, originally looked quite ugly! The editing process was incredibly interesting – I ended up making changes to almost all my posts, so it’s good to know that I’ve definitely grown as a reader and writer over the last decade.  A very small number of the posts were brand new for the blog, but at this stage, I’m happy to count them as part of my archive.  For me, it’s important to compartmentalise and draw a divide between the writing I shared then and the writing that I will, hopefully, go on to pen in the future. I’m still in the process of proofreading: some of my tags have typos and there are certainly some errant dashes, among other issues, here and there.  Nevertheless, I’m satisfied with the state of things for now. Some posts are titled [‘Circa …’].  If I had been savvier about using tumblr mobile in conjunction with the web version, I could have recovered all of the exact dates of my original posts.  However, what’s done is done and I am satisfied with what I was able to accomplish. Statistics I love numbers – here are some interesting graphs regarding my posts:

Posts by Form - Prose – 37 - Poems – 271 Total – 308

No. of Posts by Year - 2012 – 1 - 2013 – 4 - 2014 – 21 - 2015 – 61 - 2016 – 114 - 2017 – 44 - 2018 – 22 - 2019 – 16 - 2020 – 20 - 2022 – 4 - 2024 – 1 Total – 308 There’s definitely a lot of writing that I wasn’t able to track down: in 2016, for example, I believe that I posted 366 poems.  Still, I’m pleased with the works that I did find – it was great to rediscover works that I’d completely forgotten about. I think that draws this post to a close.  Thanks for reading!

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

#DRI

#SocialMedia

#SocialMediaMarketing

#PeekskillNY

#CityOfPeekskill

#PeekskillNewYork

#HudsonValley

#WestchesterCounty

#SocialMediaContent

#OrganicAd

#PedestrianFootTraffic

#Marketing

#Commerce

#DEI

David McKay Wilson

Adam Stone

River Journal

lohud

Spectrum News 1 Hudson Valley

A couple of questions occur to me……how much was paid to formulate the “Plan” in 2011 and the “Survey” in 2012, for instance? Were either of these implemented, and with what effect??

……………………………………………………………………

2011 - Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan

https://cityofpeekskill.com/366/Cultural-Heritage-Tourism-Strategic-Plan

…………………………………………………………………

2012 - Downtown Retail Consumer Survey

https://cityofpeekskill.com/364/Downtown-Retail-Consumer-Survey-2012

………………………………………………………………..

2020 DRI Grant #Peekskill

https://cityofpeekskill.com/DocumentCenter/View/771/Peekskill-Downtown-Revitalization-Initiative-Strategic-Investment-Plan-2020-PDF

A recent post from Chloe Wareham-Gordon:

“Hello friends and neighbors,

Inspired by Lia of The Lounge House’s recent on-point/accurate post re: lack of pedestrian foot traffic downtown on another community FB group, I feel compelled to share what I’ve been working on of late.

I submitted a FOIL request a few weeks ago for the W&C $174k November 2023 to November 2024 contract with the City as part of their DRI-delegated funds.

Ultimately, they are getting paid $174k to increase tourism/foot traffic and establish a DEI-focused brand tone, kit and voice to amplify diverse voices in our beautiful city.

As I wasn’t see much re: these efforts, I put in the FOIL request and executed an informal audit. My finding raised a lot of key questions that city leadership hasn’t answered yet, most specifically:

1. this company is getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to run inorganic ads, but per Facebook’s page transparency rules, I cannot see any ads carried out. If this is the case, where are those funds that were meant to go to inorganic ads?

2. the rates that the contractors and subcontractors are getting paid are high compared to industry averages (in my opinion, like I calculated the DEI officer is getting paid $200/hour, or $4000/month for 20 hours of work per month as mentioned in the contract)

3. according to reports, the DEI subcontractor (who is not a DEI-expert specifically, but is an events organizer who already runs the Peekskill Farmer’s Market), has taken over the content curation and posting roles of the project, with no clear social media growth portfolio, sans her personal business account, which she admitted to purchasing followers on (as is clear to any social media-savvy, discerning person).

4. The main contractors have a D+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and even an outstanding complaint. I can’t find positive reviews for them anywhere online. https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/mount-kisco/profile/marketing-programs/weinrib-connor-0121-87173274

5. as we are on month 7 now of this contract, and an estimated $104k has been paid out to this agency, while they have not met many deliverables per their timeline, including launching a new commerce site, Peekskill.com/discover, logo/slogan, brochures, hiring a city spokesperson, running paid ads, etc. when will the excuse of “delays” be deemed unacceptable? Local business owners are struggling due to lack of pedestrian foot traffic downtown; we need the marketing and commerce now.

6. why has there been such little penalty for unmet deliverables and oversight from marketing pros, as the project advisory committee only met once at the inception of the project?

7. the content posted so far on the city’s new IG page and FB page is underperforming re: reach, likely watch-time retention and interactions. Why did the contract not include clear KPIs (or Key Performance Indicators) to ensure that enough eyeballs would be reached?

8. Why is the city paying for the agency’s Hootsuite subscription? Agency norms typically don’t involve the client paying for such business expenses.

9. Why are the “filming/director” fees so high? I’ve never heard of such an expense for filming social media content…

10. Re: the inorganic ads, how were they to be tracked, and which were the primary demos aimed at being reached?

11. For such a DEI-centered project, what is the process for a citizen to submit their content feedback and thoughts? What is the goal re: outreach to the Hispanic community locally, which makes up 46% of the city or over 10k residents?

12. Why is there no mention of collaborations with local businesses, nonprofits, influencers, community groups, etc.?

13. For the 24 videos they are supposed to share by the end of the contract, are those all short-form, long-form… Is it overall and to be shared to each platform?

Overall, I came up with over 100 critical questions, but these are the most urgent to respond to.

I would recommend looking over the contract yourselves and then sharing your thoughts.

How should the city create effective tourist-centered assets, while still amplifying municipal/community announcements? How often do you see their posts? What do you think of the work that the agency has done?

I want to establish that I’m not alone in my frustration and concerns that Peekskill isn’t adequately marketing itself.

What recommendations would you have for the city re: marketing and branding? I can forward your responses via email to city leadership. Or you can email them yourselves with your thoughts. Our voices need to be heard. “

FOIL PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lFGcOOspN_wD4dTKXZ9jYxG9LUm3zqsq/view?usp=drivesdk

A summary of my informal report on it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-m2iM2f2dRx-8l8-WPlyxw0jROikFhrNYLM1Xaj3dic/edit

I created this Google Form for if those want to submit feedback about the City’s marketing efforts anonymously/off Facebook. I will share it with City Leadership: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U0fEfo2JadJvWCRYtSIIDiKqTSYpj9X2Q57kDmyiFPQ/edit

[webscarlet]

Sculpting Justice: The Symbolism of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Stone Tribute

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a trailblazer in law and advocate for gender equality, left a profound legacy upon her passing in 2020. One of the most substantial tributes to her is a stone sculpture taking pictures of her likeness and spirit. This sculpture symbolizes her power, resilience, and unwavering commitment to justice, serving as an enduring reminder of her effect on American society.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Trailblazer in Justice

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, Ruth Bader Ginsburg overcame gender discrimination to emerge as a Supreme Court Justice. She co-based the Women's Rights Project on the ACLU, argued landmark cases before the Supreme Court, and was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals before her Supreme Court nomination in 1993. Ginsburg's determination to gender equality and civil rights earned her the nickname "Notorious RBG" and made her a role model for generations.

The Stone Tribute: A Symbol of Strength and Resilience

The stone tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a testimony to her legacy. Carved from an unmarried block of stone, it depicts her in a dignified pose, symbolizing her willpower to justice. The desire of stone displays her lasting impact on American society and serves as a reminder of the ideals she fought for during her lifestyles. The sculpture's tricky details, along with her signature jabot, capture Ginsburg's essence and bring her tireless pursuit of equality.

Honoring Ginsburg's Legacy

Ginsburg's legacy is honored via public art, faculties, scholarships, books, films, and documentaries. Her effect on gender equality and civil rights encourages human beings worldwide. The stone tribute is simply one example of how Ginsburg's existence and work are remembered and celebrated. It stands as an image of wish and concept for future generations, encouraging them to carry on her legacy of fighting for justice and equality.

The Sculptor's Vision

The sculptor at the back of the tribute changed into inspired by Ginsburg's existence and paintings. They meticulously studied her mannerisms and expressions to seize her essence in stone, overcoming challenges to create an effective and emotive sculpture. The sculptor's determination to honor Ginsburg's legacy is obvious in every detail of the sculpture, from the intricacies of her facial capabilities to the folds of her robe.

Unveiling the Tribute

The unveiling of the stone tribute was met with massive acclaim. People from all walks of life came to pay their respects and replicate Ginsburg's impact. The network engagement surrounding the tribute underscored Ginsburg's profound impact on society. The sculpture has come to be a place of pilgrimage for folks who respect Ginsburg and wish to honor her reminiscence.

Permanence and Legacy

Stone's durability ensures the tribute will stand for generations, a lasting reminder of Ginsburg's legacy. Her work continues to shape the legal landscape, inspiring future generations to fight for justice and equality. The stone tribute is a beacon of hope, reminding us of the progress that has been made and the paintings that still desire to be finished to gain genuine equality.

The stone tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a poignant reminder of her legacy. As we reflect on her existence and work, let us keep to uphold her beliefs of justice and equality for all. The sculpture stands as a testament to Ginsburg's resilience and willpower to create the sector a higher location. Let us honor her reminiscence with the aid of persevering to combat for a greater just and equitable society.

Visit the stone tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and reflect on her legacy. Let her memory encourage you to champion justice and equality for your own existence and network. Join us in honoring Ginsburg's legacy and operating towards a brighter future for all.

For extra information, contact statues.com at 801-366-5900.

[new-albums-daily]

February Summary

↓ below the cut ↓

And now we're a whopping 1/6 of the way through. The end of February snuck up on me a bit, so be ready for 3 posts today. A lot, I know.

Stats first again:

Number of unique tracks played this month: 350

Total duration of music played this month: 21 hrs, 14 min, 9 sec

I should note that the above only considers new music I listened to as part of this project, not the rest of what I listen to.

Not much to talk about in this paragraph this time, as there's not a whole lot of general news to put here. The project finally caught up with me a bit and I fell behind once or twice, but my goal is to make up for that in some way to make it a full 366 albums this year. I will say I finally admitted to myself this month I don't like harder rock as much, so expect less of that in the future. Kinda surprised that I diversified the decades a bit better this month, it didn't feel like that to me at all. Definitely happy with the high number of 2020s records, I'm bad at listening to new music in particular. Also, it looks like I've skewed my ratings more towards the 7s this month, I should work on that in the future.

Favorite album this month goes to my only 10 out of 10, Fleet Foxes' self-titled. Again, just a fantastic album through and through; go read my post on that for more. Can't rave on it as much as I did on last month's Kimono My House, as I'm still listening to a frankly absurd amount of Sparks and very little else as a result of that. Hoping I can reign that in a bit by the end of March, I do like to listen to new music, but also I do love Sparks so... (3,374 plays on Sparks for the month, plus some more due to side projects and such).

Been a fun month for music, and honestly kinda surprised I've made it this far. Hope that's a good sign for the months to come!

[sleeppaw]

Time for another WT update

So far, since the announcement of the 3DS Online Shutdown, I have traded 366 Pokemon on my WT list. Considering I'm just one person who isn't relying on Cheats or Bots, instead just Breeding her Pokemon, I'm doing better than expected. I might combine the Sinnoh Gym Leaders and Clan Leaders Trades so I can focus on the Gorilla Tactics and Five Kanto Pokemon instead, as well as using the hot springs on the Pelago to hatch eggs. As at this point in time, all I want to do is Wonder Trade, not train up other people's Pokemon because they are too lazy to do it themselves. Especially as most of the iconic Wonder Traders in the 3DS era have either retired or caught up in scandals, and Masako have moved on to HOME. So really, I'm the last Wonder Trader from 2013 left. Most of my early Wonder Trades was random Pokemon I bred, in late 2016 I decided to send out Eeveelutions from a failed attempt at a Masuda Method a Shiny Eevee. In 2020, I began giving the Pokemon I sent out held items; at that point I had completed the Alola Dex, and was working on the project to clean up Wonder Trade; those I bred received an Event Berry, while those I received on WT and trained up or in the Alola Dex received a Common Berry. I had planned the majority of my recent Wonder Trades in 2020, as I know that the 3DS Online will shut down eventually, and I was determined to make it count. Until January 2024, only Pokemon in Rare Balls, Beast Balls, Starters, Eevee or given by their OT will be Trained up. When Pokemon Bank resets on Thursday, as well as taking out the spare Vivillon and the Meowstic, I will start putting in select Pokemon from one of my Boxes into Bank

[littlebee-trust]

Encryption and Web3 have gone through the cold winter to embrace a bigger stage, LittleBee Trust Fintech to help the innovation and development of the B-end market.

June came as expected. Looking back at the end of May, the crypto market has cooled slightly on its way back to recovery. But intelligent people will not miss any valuable news, and many hot projects in the Web3 field are still firmly moving forward.

On 25 May, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI's Venture Capital Fund had completed a $175 million fundraising round. ChatGPT developer OpenAI closed an investment fund, OpenAI Startup Fund I, worth more than $175 million, according to an SEC filing. Previously, the company had expected to put $100 million into the fund. OpenAI representatives have told potential investors that they plan to raise a second fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

In another news on the same day, Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced that it had completed a Series C round of financing, raising $115 million. Worldcoin's Series C round was led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz(a16z), Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global. The fresh funds will reportedly be used for Worldcoin’s product expansion and new hires to grow the startup's 150-person team.

These two big fundraisings are particularly relevant in the current Web3 market environment, where the leading players are always confident that they are fighting for the right cause. They will eventually be selected by the market and receive strong support.

In fact, for the cryptocurrency space and the Web3 industry market, the last year has been a cold winter for more than half of the year. Having survived 2022, all profoundly involved players look forward to a brand-new spring in 2023.

At the beginning of 2022, DeFi, NFT, cryptocurrency, blockchain infrastructure, metaverse, and other tracks in the Web3 space were booming and thriving. Turning to the second quarter, the global cryptocurrency market turned bearish, especially as LUNA's thunderstorm crash in May ushered in the crypto industry's darkest moment. Since then, Web3 has faced multiple tests, especially in the investment and financing market.

In the long crypto winter that began with the Luna/UST debasement, the industry was hit hard by a challenging macro environment and a series of dramatic events. The crypto ecosystem started 2022 with a market capitalization of almost $3tn and ended the year with $2tn wiped out, along with big players such as Luna, 3AC, and FTX.

After over half a year of ups and downs in the crypto space, global crypto investors are becoming more cautious and pickier about their investments or crypto projects. Public available information shows that the total amount of international blockchain venture capital financing has decreased since May 2022. By the end of the year, inflows had fallen further and market performance was hardly appeasing investor sentiment.

In the first quarter of this year, the crypto industry entered a bear market cycle and the pace of financing in the primary market fell off a cliff. Investment institutions were relatively cautious and did not take an active role. On the other hand, many projects saw an inverse valuation in the primary and secondary markets, making the secondary market more favorable to investors than the primary market.

According to Galaxy Digital, the crypto sector saw 439 investment and funding deals in Q1 2023, up around 20% from 366 sales in Q4 2022. Seed-stage funding deals accounted for a relatively high proportion of these. However, the crypto sector raised just $2.4 billion in the first quarter, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2020.

Regarding verticals, the Web3, NFT, DAO, metaverse, and gaming subsectors received the most funding deals, while crypto trading, lending, wallets, and other subsectors received a higher funding scale.

Although funding in the bear market has declined significantly compared to the bull market, Web3 remains one of the vital investment directions for institutional and individual investors, providing a wide range of investment opportunities. Venture capitalists and angel investors are pouring money into these emerging assets to generate strong returns.

Of course, while experiencing the test of winter, the global crypto industry is not all dark, and we can still see some hope. ChatGPT, for example, which has been setting off a global AI frenzy since the beginning of the year, is writing a new narrative for a new track in Web3, bringing endless possibilities.

While waiting for the industry to "spring back", more profound exploration and layout of the crypto field and Web3 market are also essential. The so-called opportunity is for those who are prepared. If you wait and do nothing, you will only be on the sidelines when spring blossoms.

LittleBee Trust Fintech is already in action. We are:

A Hong Kong-based provider of integrated solutions for hybrid financial transactions.

Targeting the B-side of the global financial transactions market that integrates Web2 and Web3.

Accelerating the polishing of our core competencies and looking to make a difference in our industry markets - we are focused on Fintech and connectivity to digitally transform the global financial markets.

Integrating traditional and digital finance to deliver HyFi solutions.

We are focused on Fintech and connectivity to digitally transform the global financial marketplace, blending traditional and digital finance to deliver hybrid finance (HyFi) solutions.

The company is committed to providing innovative business models for global B-side financial partners and financial transaction services infrastructure solutions around "trading, payments, Web3 ecosystem, blockchain infrastructure", providing comprehensive support in the four dimensions of "system, compliance, assets, ecology". We provide comprehensive support in the four dimensions of "system, compliance, assets and ecology", enabling the B-side to give its end customers with services to connect to stocks, futures, options, bonds, funds, insurance, and more asset classes through "one account", helping our customers to improve the efficiency of financial transactions, enhance trust, fairness, and security of transactions while complying with the regulations. We are committed to helping our clients improve the efficiency of their financial transactions, strengthen trust, justice, and safety, and maximize creativity in financial value.

With the continuous development of information technology, the innovation space of mobile Internet in the consumer end (C end) is constantly shrinking, and the business model shows a trend of gradual transformation from C-end innovation to enterprise end (B end) creation. The market valuation judgment of technology enterprises is changing from the traditional traffic acquisition to profit realization introduced. How technology can better serve the B-end has become the market’s focus.

Based on the current application of Fintech in the market, we believe the next windfall of the Internet will be on the B-side, where technology-enabled B-side and C-side services, or "T2B2C", will become the mainstream business model. The study estimates that by 2025, the overall market capitalization of technology companies in the "T2B2C" model will reach RMB40-50 trillion.

Against this backdrop, LittleBee Trust Fintech's one-stop turnkey T2B2C solution creates the perfect brand for B-side financial partners with an all-in-one Fintech solution. As the crypto and Web3 industry markets emerge from the winter, LittleBee Trust Fintech, as a provider of integrated solutions for hybrid financial transactions, is poised to join its peers on a larger stage and contribute to the innovative development of the global financial market.

[dkeraisporteventmangement]

Entry 2: Design innovation of a sporting venue

enclos, (2023)

The allegiant stadium is home to the Las Vegas raiders, it is in Las Vegas Nevada. The stadium was opened in 2020. According to (enclos, 2023) the stadium is 207 ft tall and in 2022 the stadium was awarded best of the sport/ entertainment award. The stadium can hold 72,000 people and it has 65,000 seats. According to (Allegiant stadium, 2023) the venue alone is set to bring the state of Nevada $620 million dollars in economic impact while creating 6000 permanent jobs.  The owner of the stadium is the Las Vegas stadium authority. The cost of stadium was approximately $1.9 billion dollars.  

According to (allegiant stadium., 2023) Allegiant stadium was the first stadium to introduce cigarette waste collection stadium. The stadium collects cigarette waste from landfill and converts it to energy, this sustainable practice helps contribute to overall health of the community.

According to Hienze & Soderstorm (2017) through the process of management and planning of events sports contribute to environmental sustainability. At both the colligate and professional levels, American stadiums, arenas and ball parks are increasingly focusing attention and resource on “green” sourcing, design and waste management. (Hienze & Soderstorm 2017) suggests that stadium themselves are massive physical spaces that require a lot of energy for lighting, water, turf and electricity. Sport venues can take steps to reduce their harmful effects on the environment. By encouraging spectators to engage in actions that decrease their carbon footprint and go beyond the venue, a sporting event can indirectly encourage environmental responsibility.

All venues have unique looks and personality that attracts its fans to spend time at the venue where consumers are spending money to watch the entertainment that you put on. (Can et al., 2011) states that modern information technology has been advancing rapidly in the fields of economy and technology, including sports. Currently facilities for the organisation and management of international and domestic sporting events, athletes, training in relevant areas and sport specific equipment research and development. (Zawadzki, 2012) explains the premise that these developments to sporting venues are necessary to deal with the rising usage of these facilities and the reported demand from fans serves as the starting point for further analysis. Las Vegas can be deemed as a entertainment mecca over in the United states therefore venues within the city must be able to attract to fans and entertainers to use their facilities. 

References:

Enclos. Las Vegas NFL stadium. (2023). https://enclos.com/project/las-vegas-nfl-stadium/  

Heinze, K. L., & Soderstrom, S. (2017). Sport Venue Sustainability: the role of local context and stakeholder engagement. In Routledge handbook of sport and the environment (pp. 267-277). Routledge.  

Can, H., Lu, M., & Gan, L. (2011). The research on application of information technology in sports stadiums. Physics Procedia, 22, 604-609.

Zawadzki, K. M. (2022). Social perception of technological innovations at sports facilities: justification for financing ‘white elephants’ from public sources? The case of Euro 2012 Stadiums in Poland. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 35(2), 346-366.  

[paynxt360]

Funding rounds highlight the investor confidence in the Middle East BNPL sector in 2023

Despite the bearish market sentiments in the global buy now pay later sector, the Middle East region is showing a strong growth potential. Low credit penetration, coupled with favorable regulatory oversight, are among the factors that are expected to aid the growth of the BNPL industry across the Middle East in 2023. Investor confidence is also high when it comes to the growth potential of the BNPL market and this is evident in the different funding rounds raised by providers.

In January 2023, Tabby, one of the leading BNPL firms based in Dubai, announced that the firm had raised US$58 million in its Series C funding round, which included participation from Sequoia Capital India, PayPal Ventures, STV, Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Investment Capital, and others. With the Series C round, the firm is now valued at US$660 million.

The demand for BNPL services offered by Tabby is driven by the growth of the e-commerce sector in the region. As the trend of online shopping continues to grow across the Middle East over the next five years, PayNXT360 expects the BNPL penetration to accelerate subsequently, thereby aiding the growth of the industry from the short to medium-term perspective.

Alongside Tabby, other regional firms are also seeking to capitalize on the growing use of deferred payment methods in the e-commerce sector. For instance,

In April 2023, Shaker Group, the Saudi Arabia-based manufacturer and distributor of home appliances, announced that the firm had acquired a 10% stake in Cashew, another BNPL provider in the Middle East. With its investment in Cashew, Shaker Group is planning to strengthen its e-commerce and retail platforms.

In collaboration with Cashew, Shaker Group is expected to offer its customers a digital financing solution. This will enable the firm to leverage the growing adoption of the BNPL payment method among customers while unlocking the growth potential in the e-commerce sector.

The growing adoption of BNPL schemes in the e-commerce sector also presents a growth opportunity for foreign providers. Consequently, PayNXT360 expects foreign BNPL players to expand their presence in the Middle East region, before the payment method becomes the standard in the online shopping space.

While regional firms are seeking to expand their market share in the fast-growing sector, a few of the players are also exploring to expand their business outside of BNPL. To support their expansion plans and drive business growth, these firms are also raising capital in the Middle East.

In March 2023, Tamara, another leading player in the segment based in Saudi Arabia, announced that the firm had secured a US$150 million debt facility from Goldman Sachs. Since its launch in September 2020, the firm had raised a total of US$366 million in equity and debt funding rounds.

In addition to supporting the accelerated demand for its BNPL product, Tamara is also planning to use the capital for expanding its presence in other business verticals. The firm, notably, intends to build a presence across retail, payments, and banking, where it sees a much deeper demand to fulfill with its technology.

These multi-million-dollar funding deals announced by Middle East-based BNPL providers are a clear indication that venture capital and private equity firms are foreseeing a strong growth potential in the regional market over the next five years. As the demand for making payments on credit continues to grow in the Middle East, BNPL usage is poised to experience accelerated growth.

Consequently, PayNXT360 expects more venture capital and private equity funding to enter the Middle East BNPL industry over the next three to four years. This will not only drive the industry growth but will also aid innovation from the short to medium-term perspective. The BNPL sector in the Middle East is also projected to experience an influx of foreign BNPL providers over the next three to four years, owing to the favorable regulatory environment across the region. As a result, PayNXT360 expects the competitive landscape to grow at a rapid rate in the Middle East BNPL market from the short to medium-term perspective.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the BNPL market in the Middle East, click here.

[atlanticcanada]

City of Moncton on track to hit short-term housing targets

As Moncton’s population continues to grow at a rapid rate, the city says it’s on track to keep up with the projected growth when it comes to future developments and making sure everyone has a place to live.

“We are on track right now to hit our short-term targets,” said Joshua Adams, a senior planner in the long range planning division for the City of Moncton.

According to city estimates, 4,500 new housing units will be needed in the next five years alone, which Adams says accounts for the short-term goals.

“What we’re seeing so far in our building permit numbers is we’re actually on track to hit that. So last year alone we did about 1,285 resident units, so that’s new units added just to the city,” he said.

“2022 was the biggest year, but I think since the pandemic, and really since 2019, growth has really taken off,” he added. “So 2020 was a record, 2021 was another record after that and 2022 was our latest record. So each year is just record-breaking year after record-breaking year, which is really a sign of how much growth the city is currently experiencing.”

In fact, Adams says that in 2022 the city saw over $366 million in building and development permits.

“We need all types of units, basically from rentals to single family dwellings,” he said. “Right now, a lot of the growth that we’ve been experiencing has been from new immigrants, new immigration to the city of Moncton, new permeant residents. Often times these people, when they first arrive, they look for more of the rental market; they’re not quite ready to go into home ownership just yet, so that’s where a lot of the growth has been -- in that sector to accommodate that growing segment of the population.”

According to preliminary estimates from the city, Moncton’s population is expected to grow to about 100,000 people by 2031.

“Over the long term, over 25 years, we expect to need over 16,000 new housing units and that’s what we’re currently working on planning,” said Adams.

There are currently a number of projects in the pipeline, including residential projects in and around the downtown, industrial projects and employment centres -- including a new industrial park off Shediac Road and another planned off Horseman Road later this year.

Planning is also underway for the long-term development goals, including a municipal plan amendment that is expected to take place soon.

“This is going to be a real opportunity to engage with the citizens of Moncton and really try to answer the question of, ‘How should the city grow over the next 10 years, 20 years and what should that development look like and whose needs is that development going to serve?’” said Adams.

As for creating more affordable housing, he says the city has a number of programs in place to help stimulate affordable housing developments.

“I think it’s no secret that we have a housing crisis currently in this city,” he adds. “All we can do is continue to plan for the growth the best we can and continue to work with our provincial departments, our partners there, and our partners at the federal government, to try and ensure that we’re tapping into as many programs as we can to try and stimulate affordable housing and continue those talks as well.” 

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/7Emycoh

[kayrosebee]

Nov 22, 2020

327/366

Einstein watching his (other) crush's panel😂

💙

[ghostsandgod]

205/366 - The Great Fire of London by Tomos Kay Via Flickr: Just a quick snap for today.

[ksj1]

[♡] 002/366 days with kim seokjin ☾

[w0-2013-365]

364-20

times like these.... (scribble)

[who-is-page]

Legalize Awoo: The Problems and Solutions of Howls

Author: Page Type: Essay Words: 2,766 Summary: On the importance of Howls, the decline we've seen in them over the years, and how we can potentially navigate Howls in a pandemic world and revitalize them post-pandemic. Author's Notes: Happy Therianthropy Day! Awoooooo!!!!

[Part of the Sol System's Alterhuman Writing Project for NaNoWriMo 2021. If you don't want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedpaws]

Howls, Gatherings, Meows, Hisses, Roars—whatever you want to call them, they’re a staple of the therian and otherkin communities and a tradition passed down from the in-person gatherings held by the were community in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. They’re so important to the communities that they’re actually a main focal point of Therianthropy Day’s history— what originally started as “International Werewolf Day,” then later becoming “Awereness Day,” before finally transforming into the modern Therianthropy Day we know and love today, was originally decided to be celebrated on the first full moon of each November to coincide with alt.horror.werewolves’s first ever Howl.

In-person meetups and group gatherings are just as important to nonhumanity as online and digital groupings, but there’s been an issue of Howls, especially large-scale ones, seeming to become less common as the years go on. This is also the more recent outside issue of the global pandemic currently ravaging much of the world, which discourages face-to-face meets for safety and health reasons. Why are Howls becoming less common, even outside of the pandemic’s immediate and drastic effects? And how can we navigate the landscape of meetups in this unique plague period we’re all living through?

The first question is a multi-layered issue: first and foremost that comes to mind is age and income. A majority of the therian and otherkin community is made up of young adults and older teenagers, with surveys suggesting late teens to mid-twenties as being the largest grouping in specific. Many individuals within this age range are not going to be financially secure while also having the free time to engage in the travel a Howl might entail, with some towards the younger side of the spectrum still being largely reliant on their immediate family. College students and recent graduates have these issues, as they both often have no money and no free time due to schooling and job limitations, while also still being attached at the hip to their family. And if someone doesn’t want their family to know about their nonhumanity—a fairly common issue—that can result in Howls simply being an impossibility.

There’s also the fact that many, if not most, therians and otherkin are either some shade of queer or LGBT, or are neurodivergent in some form. My own personal observations and surveys seem to support this, though they are largely website-dependent: Kinmunnity’s 2016 Census cited 57.92% of its userbase as having some form of neurodivergence, with 212 of the 366 participants saying that they either have been professionally diagnosed or considered themselves self-diagnosed with a mental health condition of some kind. Therian Guide’s in-forum poll of “do you have a mental disorder?” similarly reported 72.96% of participants, 143 of 196, said yes. Additionally, on the Kinmunnity’s 2016 Census, 18.02% of participants identified as heterosexual, and 46.72% identified as cisgender. In PinkDolphin’s Therianthropy and Gender Experience survey from 2020, only 23.2% of participants considered themselves cisgender, or 53 of 228 responses, and only 8% considered themselves straight, or 18 of 225 responses. Posts about connections between therianthropy or otherkinity and mental illnesses or neurodivergency in some form are also not that uncommon on many popular forums: Werelist has threads such as “Similarities between therianthropy and mental/neurological illness” (with posts ranging from 2017 to 2020), Kinmunnity’s most recent iteration has threads like “ASD Linked to Therianthropy?” (with posts from 2019 to 2021), Therian Guide has threads such as “Theory of Therianthropy as a Developmental Adaptation to Trauma or Autism” (with posts from 2021), and Nonhuman National Park has threads such as “What if Non-humanity became a medical diagnosis?” (with posts from 2021). With that point ironed out beyond argument, it has to be recognized that there’s a likelihood that otherkin and therians have a tendency to be in the lower income brackets we often see neurodivergent and queer and LGBT individuals fall into due in part to this connection and likely also because of other, more blatantly nonhumanity-related, factors such as more niche job preferences or inabilities to work well with others due to potential misanthropic attitudes. This just furthers the “money” issue that ties into travel and time-off that is often necessary for Howls.

The tendency for therians and otherkin to be LGBT, queer, and/or neurodivergent can also tie into larger disinclinations towards face-to-face meetups. There are general anxieties related to such identities and experiences on a societal level, and neurodivergence within otherkin and therian communities can be something of a powder keg topic, especially in regards to intrusive thoughts, psychosis, and both disordered and nondisordered forms of plurality. It can be difficult to want to engage with peers when you face the potential of being immediately disregarded or removed from spaces based on facts about yourself that you can’t control, but which others have strong opinions on.

This also relates into how some kintypes and theriotypes within the communities are viewed. A phytanthrope, paleotherian, or fictherian is likely to be disinclined from interacting with therian spaces in the same way someone who’s nonhuman fictionkin, conceptkin, or mahinekin might be disinclined from interacting in otherkin spaces. When emotions run high over who is and isn’t allowed to call themselves one thing or another, or allowed participate within groups in the community, it’s perceived as a safer option to just avoid the situation entirely. This is an issue that affects even online therian and otherkin spaces as well, mind you—this is by no means offline-specific or unique.

It may also be worth mentioning that it appears to me that there is a growing divide between online life and offline life in terms of interactivity. While people often enjoying mentioning factors of their offline life in their online lives and vice versa, whether because of the paranoia instilled in us at young ages about online strangers, constant concerns stemming from ideas around the commonality of crimes such as kidnappings, and the general high tensions that exist in this politically charged time (especially/mainly in America), there’s a notable resistance to interacting with Internet-met groups and individuals. This is fair and understandable, but also may contribute to some of the anxieties and reasons individuals have for not participating in Howls.

The global pandemic is perhaps the topper of the cake for it all: in-person meetups aren’t just discouraged, they’re now outright potentially dangerous to engage in depending on meeting size and the vaccination records of attendees. Depending on your location, they even may be outright illegal. So even for therians and otherkin who more often have the time, money, and ability to comfortably attend in-person meetups are largely now unable to do so.

So where does that leave us? With only digital or very small, personal meetups safely available, how do we both encourage more engagements to Howls while keeping them safe and accessible for more people to attend?

Digital Howls and conventions, as demonstrated by OtherCon ’20 and ’21 and AlterCon ’20, have had quite a lot of success in online spaces such as Discord and in VR, and shouldn’t be excluded as a possibility. While a far-cry from the woodsy camping physical gatherings that Howls are most frequently associated with, they’ve successfully provided the community bonding spaces and nonhumanity-engaging that are so critical to what makes Howls important.

Digital Howls and other forms of gatherings also offer the unique benefits of guidelines that can be easily enforced and broadened accessibility. I’ve heard my fair share of creepos and weirdoes driving people away from Howls and of campsites being on terrain that disabled therians and otherkin find difficult (or impossible) to traverse—this helps to circumvent both neatly, with the assistance of digital ban hammers and a wholly nonphysical space to navigate around.

The broadened accessibility also helps to diversify the Howls themselves, making individuals with less-common identities feel more at-ease and accepted. This can be combined with guidelines, such as ones which blatantly forbid witch-hunting and validity-hounding, for further inclusivity if so desired. All in all, it appears to be that digital Howls easily have the capacity to side-step many of the issues we’ve seen raised by the pandemic and in-person anxieties people might have, and are a recipe for success for the time being.

There are more benefits as well, that have to do more specifically with the digital aspects of certain spaces: Discord is a surprisingly good space for panels and lectures with their stage feature, and also offers generally positive voice chat. Twitch is useful for gatherings which are focused on a set number of individuals or people who wish to talk or showcase something such as a project, but with more accessible audience engagement and recording than Discord. VR, Second Life, and similar specific spheres offer the benefit of avatars that can look like one’s kintype or theriotype, not something that might necessarily be possible IRL outside of fursuits and costumes.

Through advertising these digital Howls and encouraging engagement with them on a variety of platforms, such as social media websites, personal sites, forums, and the like, we also might be able to in turn see a resurgence in in-person Howls once the pandemic fades again in a few years. When we make them places of community bonding and joy and reaffirm that association on a larger scale, then that might encourage individuals to look into hosting them in-person and see how they go—a few successful Howls in-person that are spoken of highly might be just the spark needed to set the flame roaring. Talking vocally about how well Howls in-person go would have the dual affect of interesting individuals who might otherwise not be invested in attending, and reassuring the nerves of new or nervous individuals who are thinking of hosting or joining a local Howl.

Of course, there’s other things that need to be taken into account in a theoretical shift from digital Howls to post-pandemic in-person Howls and I’m pinning my faith on the idea that people might find the digital ones so important and wonderful as to be willing to migrate them into physical spaces, but I feel like that’s not a misguided leap of faith. Our communities are known for doing exactly that sort of jump of engagement when presented with something they particularly enjoy: we’ve seen it happen on smaller scales with the ways we see the commonality of essays in the community over the years surge in connection to a few major essay projects or challenges put out into the community, and we’ve seen it happen on quite a decent scale with the resurgence of small, personal websites of otherkin and therians that were snowballed by a few specific individuals starting up new projects and websites and encouraging others to do the same. The therian and otherkin communities are nothing if not over-exuberant nonhumans at their core, excited about anything they can sink their teeth into.

Of course, I also recognize that digital Howls aren’t perfect themselves. They can be potentially difficult for slow typers and individuals who use screenreaders, as well as those who are hard of hearing or have audio processing issues. Not everyone has Discord, or Twitch, or VR avatars, or uses Second Life, or any other number of problems. But that’s the thing—what’s accessible for one person may not be accessible for others, and that’s an unfortunate roadblock in every space. That’s part of the reason it’s important to have a multitude of options and encourage multiple different meetings rather than a few centralized ones, because if one person can only attend text meetings and one person can only attend over-voice meetings, that doesn’t mean one person can’t go to a Howl at all: they just go to separate Howls that work best for them.

I also know that some people are probably perplexed about why I’m going to bat for Howls at all, especially in-person ones. Either because they view it as unneeded—whether because they believe Howls are a thing of the past, or because they find that in-person gatherings are of no particular note—or because they personally view Howls as something that isn’t generally worth the risk they present in-person to people. Believe it or not but there is an important reason for this essay, though it isn’t readily apparent.

The otherkin and therian communities primarily exist in nonphysical spaces, it’s true. That’s an undeniable part of these communities that makes them what they are, filled with rambunctious discourses and with polarized scholars. However, the fact that we exist largely in nonphysical spaces does not remove the importance of physical spaces in both individual nonhumanity and in community nonhumanity. Our nonhumanity cannot and does not exist in a vacuum of characters and emojis. It’s something we live every day of our lives, in the real, physical world, and it’s important that we remember that.

The phrase “go outside and touch grass,” is petty at best, and typically used in infantilizing and downright ableist ways at worst, so I do not want what I say here to be misunderstood as such. But the importance of going out and interacting with the natural world, with humans, and with your nonhuman peers cannot be understated. There is a reason that “werehouses” filled with nonhumans are something that still exist today: we gain something from being physically around others so similar to us on such a fundamental level that I struggle to articulate. A reminder of the connection between us all, of the variety of our experiences, of how much our nonhumanity is us in comparison to non-therians and non-otherkin. Everyone should experience the collective effervescence of nonhumanity with others at least once in their life and get drunk off of it, should experience the raw numinous of being surrounded by other shifted therians and otherkin for the first time, especially under a sky of stars. This not only grounds us and reminds us of what is important, it enriches our lives and helps to connect us to each other, empathize with one another.

I also worry about some sections of the nonhuman communities, I confess. Therian spaces in particular—though by all means they should be going strong, it only seems that the minor-specific spaces are particularly boisterous in their participation, with large-scale places like Therian Amino. I don’t have to wonder why this is, given the therian community has previously been the victim in the past of a blaze of grilling and gatekeeping attitudes, and is now currently wrestling with an influx of bestialists that make people hesitant to associate with it.

In encouraging Howls, especially inclusive and accessible Howls, a part of me hopes to see people reclaim therianthropy and the label therian, and to introduce fresh blood in the long-term into the community. I’m not a therian myself and so cannot be involved with any processes that the therian communities go through themselves in terms of what flourishes and what dies out, but I can’t help but feel invested and hopeful for the future. I don’t want to see therianthropy be relegated into a rarely-used term that many associate with bestiality or zoophilia—I want therianthropy to be molded and shaped into the experiences of animalpeople everywhere, a term used loudly and proudly by individuals of all fur, scales, fin, leaf, shell, and feather. A community to appreciate and admire, with all its flaws and battles, filled with active voices who aren’t afraid to talk about their animality even as they grow older. A community whose older members won’t either disappear to the sands of time or shelter themselves wholly in otherkin spaces because they no longer feel welcome in therian spaces. But that’s just what I’m hopeful for in the future—not necessarily what may happen, and perhaps that vision is not ideal to most current therians, which is also something to consider.

Howls and other gatherings are important. Our connections to each other, the bonds we make with one another, are a backbone to this community of nonhumanity. If we don’t inspire each other, if we don’t interact with each other, if we don’t enjoy each other to some degree, then what’s the point of being in communities together at all? Physical gatherings may be out of reach for now, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit on our hands and wait to start fostering a sense of connection and cooperation until it becomes more possible—in fact, that makes it more important now than ever that we reach out and interact with each. In some ways, we’re all we have.