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tidymalism · 4 years

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How to Start a Low-Buy Year

I started a low-buy year for 2021. TL;DR: it’s been easier than I thought it would be.

What's a low-buy year?

It's a year of buying way less stuff. It’s essentially a more lenient variant of its strict cousin, the No-Buy Year. While the latter pretty much only allows for the purchase and consumption of food and essentials, you stipulate your own rules on a low-buy and can, for example, buy new shoes if you need them, purchase an app if it it's reasonable and justifiable, or get an occasional meal out.

Both schools are essentially methods to reign in your consumer habits and bid farewell to excessive spending. The reasons for doing so are personal and manifold. Maybe you have too much stuff at home and you don't know where to put it all. Maybe you're planning to downsize to a smaller place. Perhaps you're trying to get a grip on credit card debt, shopping addiction, or a tendency to hoard. Or maybe you were unexpectedly laid off and have simply had to cut way back on spending.

Whatever your situation and motivation may be, having a framework for cutting costs can set you up for success. Here are five steps to get you going on your low-buy journey:

1. Assess your budget and identify big expenditures in non-essential spending categories.

If you haven't been keeping a budget, you can refer to old bank and credit card statements to get a good idea of where you typically drop money.

I’ve used a budget application called Banktivity for over ten years, so it was super easy to pull up a report to see what my biggest non-essential spending categories were (fashion, cosmetics, and going out).

2. Set your rules.

After you identify your spending weaknesses, define your own rules for those categories. Do you need to cut back on hobby supplies? Books, apps, media? Bar-hopping or Starbucks? Look closely at whatever your personal weakness might be, and then think about what you can scratch.

In my particular case, I decided to cut spending on beauty products, clothing and accessories, eating out, and subscriptions. Here's what my rules look like for the year in those categories:

I may only purchase refills of cosmetics or skincare I truly run out of and need again for my daily regimen.

I may not purchase any clothing, shoes, or accessories, but I may use two vouchers I have, and I may purchase a bespoke item that was ordered one year ago if and when it finally arrives.

I may only get two takeaways or inexpensive meals out per month (this has been easy so far, as we're still in lockdown and no restaurants or pubs are open anyway).

I am only allowed to keep paid subscriptions to things I use multiple times a week. This turned out to be Microsoft Office, Spotify, and Netflix. Everything else was cancelled.

3. Remind yourself why you're doing a low-buy year.

Stay motivated. It's important to remember you have a reason for going low-buy. Be it abstinence until you've found a job again, or saving for financial independence, creating a tidier home with less clutter, or chipping away at your student loan or credit card debt. Remember your reason, and envision a successful outcome in your mind’s eye!

4. Avoid temptation.

If eating out was your thing and you've decided to totally cut back on it, set yourself up for success by making it easy to eat at home! You can do that by meal-planning, cooking ahead and meal-prepping for all those weeknights you feel too lazy to cook, and by organising your grocery shopping in advance.

If you are a shopaholic, you'll want to unsubscribe from all those newsletters and marketing emails you constantly get about sales. Ridding your inbox of this consumer click bait is a first big step in avoiding temptation! You’ll soon discover you will not die if you don't keep up with the bi-weekly new collections at Zara, or the latest drop on Net-a-Porter.

5. Enjoy your newly-won free time.

You're going to have more time on your hands when you're not shopping, browsing, scrolling, and pining for new stuff. Take a walk. Read that stack of books you've been meaning to read for forever. Call your grannie. Start a new blog. Teach the dog some tricks. Learn to code. Clean out the cellar. Take a nap. Or go volunteer for a cause you care about.

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So far this year, going low-buy has been less painful than I would have expected. I was very quick to replace my online shopping habits with new things like taking online courses and blogging. And while being in the midst of a pandemic is horrific and we all wish it would end, it has actually made it easier to buckle down on spending: having far fewer places to go has equated to less opportunity and need to spend money.

Does doing a low-buy year sound too daunting to you? You don’t have to do a whole year. Consider a low-buy week or a low-buy month instead. See how it goes, how much you saved, or if you need to tweak your rules. Leave a comment if you have any tips!

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#low buy #consumerism #budgeting #spending habits #minimalism #less is now #minimalist challenge #environmental protection #tidymalism #decluttering #inspiration

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officialcherubcampus · 4 years

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Three Futures - The Chairman

So what happens to James, Lauren, Kerry and all the gang after Shadow Wave?

Robert Muchamore has written three stories, depicting alternative futures for James and Kerry set in the year 2031.

October 2031 - No 10 Downing Street

James Adams tipped his armchair back and stared at the portraits on the wall. He recognised Winston Churchill, but he’d never paid much attention in history class at school so he didn’t know any of the other historical figures who were glaring at him.

He’d been waiting for long enough to know every detail of the room. He’d drunk two cups of black tea because he couldn’t figure out how to work the milk dispenser and didn’t want to splash his best suit. He’d also eaten two iced fancies and a mini scone off the cake stand and grown fond of the way his well-polished shoe left an impression every time he pulled it out of the ultra-thick carpet.

James’ thirteen-year-old middle daughter Sarah had polished th shoes before school. She was the only one of James’ three daughters who still lived at home, because fifteen-year-old Ellen was a qualified CHERUB agent who preferred to live amongst her friends on campus, and eleven-year-old Gwen had just begun her second attempt at CHERUB basic training.

A glance at his watch confirmed that James had been waiting for more than an hour, but as he lunged towards a second mini-scone the door clicked. James shot out of his seat, but was disappointed to see a slim civil servant in a three-piece suit.

“We’re sorry to keep you waiting, but the PM and your sister have been in an urgent meeting regarding the Bluewater Bombing.”

“Has there been any update on the casualty figures?�� James asked. “I usually keep a close eye on the news, but I had to surrender all my electronic devices when I entered the building.”

“At least a hundred dead, but they’ll find more because the roof of a department store has collapsed. There could be hundreds more shoppers trapped in the rubble.”

“Christ,” James said. “So can the prime minister still see me at all today?”

“She’s got a helicopter flight in less than half an hour,” the civil servant said. “If you’re willing to ride with her to the heliport, she’ll talk and walk.”

James nodded. “If she can, I can.”

“And your sister will be present as well, of course,” the civil servant added.

...

CHERUB campus, Basic Training Compound B

Gwen Adams had been in CHERUB basic training for sixteen days. It was going better than her first attempt when she’d only lasted eight before breaking her wrist during a jump out of a tree, but she hadn’t slept for the last two nights because the instructors kept waking all the trainees up with blasts of freezing water from a fire hose.

Now she’d been dragged out of her bed for her first one-on-one interrogation session with a training instructor. The idea of the one-on-one was to take a tired and physically exhausted recruit and subject them to a night of bright lights, choking smoke and deafening noise to try and break their spirit.

Gwen had spent the last hour trapped in a cramped steel dustbin that stank of pig manure, with a dozen vicious African bees for company and reggae firing from a huge loudspeaker stack that was so loud it made her teeth vibrate.

“Tell me why I should let you out,” Chief Training Instructor Jake McEwen shouted, as he ripped off the metal lid. “You get any stings off those nice bees?”

“No,” Gwen said, quiet but defiant.

“Pity,” McEwen said. “Next time I might have to drop the whole hive in!”

“If you keep still they won’t sting you,” Gwen said.

“Then maybe I’ll make you carry the can up a big hill, and roll it down with you and the bees inside. That should liven things up!”

Gwen didn’t give McEwen the satisfaction of an answer.

“You don’t deserve to be a CHERUB agent,” McEwen said nastily. “You didn’t get in on talent. You got in because of who your parents are - or were in your Mother’s case.”

“That’s bull,” Gwen said. “I’ve been a red shirt for four years. I’ve trained as hard as anyone who got recruited from outside.”

“You shoud have been sensible like your sister. She never even started basic training.”

“Ellen’s a black shirt,” Gwen replied. “A damned good agent. Sarah chose not to become an agent. She didn’t fail basic training. She never tried because she’s into drama and music and wanted to be an ordinary teenager. That was her decision and I respect her for it.”

“Well you haven’t got what it takes either,” McEwen said. “If you quit now, at least you’ll save a lot of suffering.”

Gwen sneered. “Is that the best you can do? You’ll have to try a lot harder than this to make me quit, McEwen.”

“How about another few hours in the container?”

“Bring it on, sir,” Gwen said defiantly.

“Your mother wasn’t the big hero everyone makes her out to be you know,” McEwen said. “Everybody loves you when you’re dead, but the Kerry Chang I knew was a moody slut. It wasn’t just your dad she slept with. She bonked half of the blokes on campus, you know.”

Gwen didn’t like anyone talking about her mum, but her big sister Ellen had given her some tips for basic training. One of them was that if an instructor is trying to torment you, the best thing to do is to waffle on for ages just to slow them down.

“My mother died from breast cancer when I was three years old,” Gwen said deliberately. “I suppose you’re right in a way. I’m sure Kerry had flaws and wasn’t the perfect person that everyone makes out she was. I just wish I could have one chance to meet her in the flesh and find out for myself.”

“Christ,” McEwen said, making a gagging noise as he gave the metal bin an almighty boot and knocked it over. “You’re such a syrupy little brat I can barely hold off from heaving my guts up all over you.”

Gwen scrambled out on to muddy ground as the can began rolling down a slight hill. As the bin rolled on, McEwen grabbed the back of Gwen’s neck, yanked her to her feet and gave her cheek a hard pinch before shoving her so hard that she barely stayed upright.

“Grab your kitbag and get back to your bunk,” McEwen growled. “I’ve got eighty-four more days to break you Gwen Adams. And you might as well quit now, because McEwen will break you.”

“If you say so sir,” Gwen said, tired and angry but more determined than ever as she squelched down the muddy path towards the trainees’ dormitory.

...

James knew that the Prime Minister’s home had several basement levels, but he was surprised to find himself shooting down more than a dozen storeys in a high speed lift and stepping out on an underground railway platform.

“How long has this been here?” James asked.

The slim civil servant smiled. “Not very long. With the current level of sophisticated terrorist attacks, it was vital to have a system that enabled government officials and senior politicians to travel between buildings in complete safety.”

As the civil servant spoke, a driverless two-car electric train could be heard rumbling towards them. As the lead car pulled into the station, James noticed Prime Minister Finch sitting in a large leather recliner. The only other passenger was James’ sister Lauren, who had to make do with one of the shiny plastic benches along the side.

James felt rather special as the train pulled up just for him. Then he felt overawed as the Prime Minister of Great Britain and current president of the European Union reached out to shake his hand.

Prime Minister Finch had a little joke ready. “I take it you’ve met my intelligence minister.”

Lauren laughed as James shook the Prime Minister’s hand.

“You want to watch my sister,” James told Finch. “She’ll be after your job in no time.”

Finch seemed to like James and laughed noisily. “Over three thousand people have died in terrorist attacks in Britain so far this year. If Lauren does want my job, she’ll not be part of a very long queue. This isn’t a good time to be Prime Minister.”

“It’s an even worse time to be the minister in charge of fighting terrorists,” Lauren added.

Lauren had come into politics almost by accident. She’d been working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) when an undercover mission led her to meet members of Prime Minister Finch’s New Revolutionary Conservative (NRC) party.

The newly formed break-away political party had needed an intelligence expert to give it credibility and Lauren was on the lookout for a new challenge after working for British Intelligence since the age of ten, with only a three year gap for university.

When the NRC swept to power in the 2027 general election, Lauren found herself elected to parliament and thrust into the high-profile role of intelligence minister at a time when global terrorism was spiralling out of control.

“I wish I’d had time for the scheduled meeting,” Finch told James, as the hydraulic doors shut and the automated train began rolling into the tunnel in almost total silence. “I understand your role in the expansion of CHERUB has been absolutely critcal.”

“Back when I was a teenager there were two hundred and fifty kids on CHERUB campus,” James explained. “Now we have more than six hundred in the UK. Our European campus in Spain has another three hundred from EU countries. And there’s more than enough strife in the world to keep all of them busy.”

“And the Americans?”

“The Americans have developed their own CHERUB like facility with our support. We have joint training exercises. But we have to be careful: the more people using kids as undercover agents, the greater the chances of someone finding out about us.”

The concrete tunnel ribs started to blur as the train picked up speed.

“And as well as deputy chairman of CHERUB, you’re a single father?”

James nodded. “Three daughters.”

“You’ve never remarried?”

James laughed. “With three daughters and a high pressure job? I haven’t had a lot of time for dating these past few years.”

“Well I won’t keep you in suspense,” Prime Minister Finch said. “I’ve accepted your application to become the new Chairman of CHERUB, when Zara Asker retires on December first.”

James smiled. “Thank you very much.”

Becoming Chairman was a huge responsibility and James felt nervous. He’d only been on the CHERUB staff for twelve years, but the cards had fallen in his favour: Many more experienced staff had either declared themselves too old for the Chairman’s job, suffered health problems that took them out of the running, or simply lacked the appetite for such a demanding role.

“And if you’re chairman I’m your new boss,” Lauren added.

James couldn’t resist a dig at his little sister. “At least until your lot gets voted out next summer.”

But suggesting that the government was about to get kicked out touched a raw nerve with the Prime Minister. James withered under Finch’s steely glare and the remaining ninety seconds of the journey passed in awkward silence.

“I can’t believe you said that,” Lauren whispered, when the train doors finally opened and Prime Minister Finch got swallowed by a cloud of aides, bodyguards and civil servants.

“Will she have it in for me now?” James asked nervously.

“Finch has got much bigger fish than you to fry,” Lauren said. “But I wouldn’t make a habit of pissing her off...Oh, shit!”

“What?” James asked, as Lauren looked forlornly back into the train carriage. “Lost something?”

Now it was Lauren’s turn to look uncomfortable.

“I’m supposed to be flying on the helicopter with the prime minister,” she explained. “But I’ve left all my briefing documents in the cabinet room.”

“Can’t they just scan and e-mail them?” James asked.

Lauren shook her head. “Don’t be dense. They’re ultra secret. I’m not even supposed to let the briefcase out of my sight.”

Lauren left James behind and began pushing through bodies trying to speak with the PM. James followed his sister because he had no idea what else to do. He soon found himself sharing a rapidly ascending lift with Lauren, Prime Minister Finch and a couple of her political flunkeys.

Lauren used her most grovelly voice as she told her boss what had happened. James wasn’t prepared for the way Prime Minister Finch ripped into her.

“For god’s sake!” Finch yelled. “We’ve just had one of the biggest terrorist blasts in history and you’ve left some of the most sensitive papeers in government lying on a table.”

“It’s not a problem,” Lauren said. “It’s not like they just let any old cleaner in to tidy up the cabinet room after a meeting.”

“It had better not be a problem,” Finch roared. “If those papers get leaked I don’t know what the consequences would be. You go back and pick up those documents. Have we got another helicopter?”

One of Finch’s aides nodded and said that another helicopter could be dispatched for Lauren.

“I have to arrive on time because I’m the prime minister and I can’t be seen to have my schedule disrupted by terrorism. You get your papers back and fly up on the next flight.”

After dressing down Lauren, the PM turned and spoke to her press secretary. “If anyone from the press asks why the Intelligence Minister didn’t fly with me, we say that she was held back in an urgent crisis meeting. Right?”

By this time the high-speed lift was slowing and the doors opened into a full moon, with city lights all around them. They were on the rooftop of a twenty-four storey office building alongside the River Thames. There was an RAF helicopter ready to take flight. More than two-dozen armed police officers guarded the rooftop, while a fleet of pilotless protection drones hovered in the air overhead.

One thing James had learned in life was that the more important you are, the less time you spend waiting around in airports. The British Prime Minister was airborne in the time it took to walk to the helicopter and buckle her seatbelt.

“I can’t believe I left those papers in the cabinet room,” Lauren told James, shouting over the buffeting from the rising chopper. “I’m just so tired. With all this terrorist activity, I’ve barely slept in two nights. My kids haven’t seen me in over a week.”

James reached across to put a reassuring arm around his sister’s back, but as he did he saw an orange flash out of the corner of one eye. When he looked over, James saw that one of the protection drones had launched a missile directly at the Prime Minister’s helicopter.

“Jesus Christ,” James shouted, as the Prime Minister’s helicopter’s tail rotor was hit square on by the missile.

“The terrorists must have hacked into the controls for the protection drones,” Lauren said, as they both dived for cover.

James didn’t hear half of this sentence because the exploding helicopter had lit up the sky.

The force of the blast lifted several of the armed police who’d been guarding the perimeter off their feet, blowing them over the building’s edge to certain death when they splattered the streets below.

James was luckier and found the blast slamming him back into the lift. Lauren was alongside but she’d whacked her head as she’d fallen back and now slumped at James’ feet inside the lift car.

“Lauren?” James said, as he crouched over his sister and pinched her cheek.

But she was out cold.

Even worse, James now saw that the terrorists had hacked more than one of the protection drones. Two of the small, pilotless, planes swept low across the rooftop, shooting at lines of policemen who had nowhere to hide on the flat helipad.

The cops’ body armour was no defence against 20mm anti-aircraft shells, and while some managed to get a few shots at the drone, most were annihilated before they even raised their weapons.

James looked at the lift panel and hammered the controls, hoping that they’d descend back into the building, but the lift required some kind of pass or key to operate and James didn’t have one.

He realised that if the terrorists had hacked the drones, they’d have high resolution night-vision images from the drone’s onboard cameras. As intelligence minister, Lauren was the most important person still alive on the rooftop and the drones would surely target her if the bad guys spotted her.

James looked around the lift car, hoping to see an access panel that would let him escape into the lift shaft, but if there was one he couldn’t see it.

As one drone took another sweep across the rooftop, one police officer acted dead until it was right over him. As it passed overhead he rolled over and aimed straight up with his gun. Several shots to the belly did enough damage to send the small black craft spiraling out of control, but the cop’s only reward for his bravery was a well aimed shell from a partner drone.

At least while the bad guys were munching up the cops, they weren’t looking at who was in the lift. James crawled out of the car and found what he was hoping to find: a maintenance grille on the outside of the rooftop lift shaft.

Years of lock picking experience meant he made short work of a bulky padlock holding the panel in place, but one of the drones was swooping in for a third attack run as he ripped the panel away, revealing a two-storey ladder that led down into a maintenance area around the lift shaft.

Luckily James’ best suit was a similar colour to heliport tarmac and the black beast skimmed overhead without taking a shot. As soon as the unmanned plane had passed, James scrambled back towards the lift.

But James wasn’t the only man alive on the rooftop. Three surviving police officers had seen him rip off the maintenance flap and began a desperate sprint towards it as the drone turned to make another attack run.

Their running would make the escape route obvious to the drone pilots, and while all the cops had to do was make it to the hatch, James had to double back and carry Lauren from the lift car.

“Christ you’re a big lump.” James told his unconscious sister, as he threw her on to his back.

As James staggered back out on to the roof, two drones were making attack runs from opposite sides of the gore-spattered helipad. Two of the cops had made it through the maintenance shaft and down the ladder, but the third man saw what James was trying to do and stayed bravely at the top of the ladder waiting to help James get Lauren inside.

James had spent much of the last few years working behind a desk on campus. He wasn’t terribly fit and his shoulders ached and stomach muscles strained as he waddled along with Lauren on his back.

The drones were closing from opposite sides at over a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour and James felt sure that it was only a matter of seconds before a 20mm laser-guided shell ripped through his torso and turned him into a big red smudge.

“I’ve got her legs,” the cop shouted. “Let her go.”

As James let Lauren flop off his back into the arms of the policeman, one of the drones opened fire. The three-metre-wide aircraft skimmed so close to James’ head that heat from its tiny jet engine singed hairs on the top of his head.

But instead of firing a 20mm shell at James, the drone sent a trio of missiles spiralling upwards, taking out the drone coming in from the opposite direction.

Apparently the terrorists hadn’t managed to hack into all of the Prime Minister’s protection drones and James had been saved by one of the ones still controlled by the good guys.

Still, James wasn’t about to stick around to watch dogfights and dived head first through the hatch, straining all the muscles down one side as he grabbed the metal ladder and pivoted his body until his feet hit the rungs.

He clanked breathlessly down two and a half storeys on the outside of a lift shaft that went all the way down to the secret railway twelve storeys below ground. The policemen who’d made it through the hatch had sat Lauren on a landing, then opened a fire door that led into an office whose workers had gone home several hours earlier.

“What happened?” Lauren asked groggily, as she rubbed her eyes. “I’ve got a concussion. I’ve not had a concussion in years!”

The struggle on the rooftop wasn’t over and chunks of rubble tumbled down the lift shaft as more 20mm shells punched through the helipad two storeys up. But nobody else made it through the access panel, either because they didn’t know it was there, or because they were all dead.

One of the cops smiled at James. “I don’t know who you are, but I reckon you saved all our lives up there.”

James didn’t respond because he’d ripped several muscles. As he slumped against the wall he knew he’d just witnessed one of the biggest terrorist acts in British history. The prime minister was toast, but James couldn’t think about that and all he saw in his head were the faces of his three daughters and he felt an almost overwhelming urge to find them and give them hugs.

“So who am I?” James asked himself quietly, as tears welled in his eyes.

“You’re the new Chairman of CHERUB and you’re going to do a great job,” Lauren said, as she shuffled half a metre across the carpet tiles and rested her badly-grazed hand on the ripped knee of her brother’s best suit.

...

As James and Lauren hobbled down forty-eight flights of stairs to ground level, an emergency meeting of senior cabinet ministers took place in Downing Street. The assembled ministers agreed that a decisive message had to be sent to the British people by rapidly selecting a new Prime Minister.

Three senior cabinet ministers put their names forward but the NRC was a deeply divided political party and even the candidates themselves eventually saw that they needed a compromise candidate that they could all unite behind.

When news arrived that the Intelligence Minister had survived the rooftop attack, a consensus began to form that in a time of major crisis a young dynamic minister with a background in intelligence and anti-terrorist operations would be an ideal candidate for Prime Minister.

Lauren was in the basement lobby of the office building when the Chancellor of the Exchequer called her mobile.

“We think you’re the right candidate and certainly the only one who might carry the support of the entire NRC party,” the chanellor told Lauren. “The top job’s yours if you want it.”

Lauren had just bumped her head and still wasn’t quite with it. “Top job,” she mumbled. “What are you talking about?”

“We want you to become Prime minister.”

Lauren gulped. Did she really want to make the biggest decision of her life right after a nasty bump on the head? Did a mother of two young kids really want to replace someone who she’d just seen blown up by terrorists?

“I’ll need a minute to think about it,” Lauren said.

And then she hung up.

#CHERUB #cherub books #Robert Muchmore #Three Futures #James Adams #Lauren Adams #Jake McEwen

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yeaahishowedupatyourparty · 4 years

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MORE ABOUT MY NEXT GEN BABIES.

Adelaide ‘Addy’ Maeve Coleman - daughter of Zara & Danny.

- scars to your beautiful - alessia cara - july 1st, cancer - actress, studying at diamond bridge (LA) - bisexual with no preference, single - esfp, hufflepuff - raised in lilac heights in zara & danny’s home they live in now - ditzy, naive, energetic but also sensitive and insecure. she has a tendency to let herself be walked all over by friends and lovers. she also lacks the confidence to really accept that she has talent and is capable of doing things. - she was painfully desperate to be one of the popular girls in high school, to the point where she would let her “friends” treat her like dirt. even though she’s now in college, the effects of the underhand bullying stay with her and it makes her very reluctant to trust and open up to new people.

Allison ‘Ally’ Marie Cortes-Smith - daughter of Adrian & Holly.

- seven - sleeping at last - august 13th, leo - model & athletics (surfing, figure skating & dance), studying at gold coast (australia) - heterosexual, dating brett jackson - entp, gryffindor - raised in violet springs (?), in her family home with adrian and holly - energetic, outgoing, adventurous but also explosive and stubborn. ally is constantly looking for family-like connections away from holly, adrian and haley. she craves feeling like somebody’s first choice because - particularly with holly - she felt like the back-up plan until she got custody of haley. she has one song about her, whereas haley has enough for an EP of music with holly worshipping her and she’s just always felt that subtle favouritism in her household. - from an early age, she’s sought out love in all of the wrong places but is currently in a good place with brett, who is definitely her safety net. she’d be lying if she said living in australia made her homesick.

Aurora Faith Kingsley - daughter of Soraya & Julian.

- boss bitch - doja cat - january 17th, capricorn - fashion designer, studying at rosewell (paris) - heterosexual, bisexual dating peter romano - entj, slytherin - raised in violet springs (?), in her family home with soraya and julian. she definitely has a dual-citizenship like soraya, though, and often spends summers in cuba with her grandparents. - outspoken, confident, witty but also explosive, judgemental and harsh. aurora was definitely spoilt with love when being raised by her parents; both soraya and julian doted on her in different ways, and while she knows the value of materialistic things, she’s not entirely used to not getting her own way or not having people adore her. that being said, she’s a fiercely loyal friend and shows the love she was given when she was younger to people she thinks deserve it. - aurora’s expectations and standards are impressively high and she’ll always credit her parents, who always modelled a healthy and secure relationship to her. she doesn’t take it for granted & always strives to find people who treat her the same way julian treats soraya.

Belle Cynthia Carmichael - Daughter of Anastasia

- donatella - lady gaga - november 3rd, scorpio - dancing & modelling, studying in west ivys (london) - heterosexual, single - esfp, slytherin - raised partially in los angeles and also in lilac heights with anastasia and her father (divorced) as well as her older sister, darcy. - aesthetic, good-humoured, magnetic but also irresponsible, self-indulgent and superficial. belle is the baby of the family and took a shine to the socialite los angles lifestyle from around 12 years old. she’s a big spender, loves the night life of any big city and is a BIG fan of the attention that being a rising star brings her. unlike her sister, who’s a lot more lowkey, belle demands attention and will do anything to get her own way in any situation. - everyone was expecting anastasia and ryder to split from their (what would have been) their fifteen year marriage. everybody except belle and darcy, anyway. the girls were caught off-guard and it wasn’t easy. belle had the most extreme reaction, becoming very emotional and self-indulgent. her way of dealing with it has been to do everything in her power to go against anything either of her parents ask of her; she’s definitely out of control.

Daisy Louise Romano, daughter of Florence & Dominic. (tw: cancer)

- style - taylor swift - may 22nd, gemini - dance, studying at liberty (new york city) - heterosexual, single - isfp, gryffindor - raised in violet springs (?) in dom and florence’s family home, but i imagine they have a family home in italy because of dominic’s roots too. florence and dom spend a lot of time in italy in general, so it’d make sense. - creative, friendy, warmhearted but also over-protected, nervous and idealistic. daisy is the only daughter in her family and it definitely shows. on top of dominic, she also has carter and peter who have kept a close eye on her growing up and has definitely been protected from things other girls her age may have learnt to deal with themselves, or without as much back-up. rather than rebelling against it, she’s very comfortable & probably relies on her brothers - especially peter - for more than she should. she’s very rooted in family and while she’s a hopeless romantic and loves flirting, going on adventures and seeing the world, her heart is with her family. - daisy’s pre-teen years were snatched away by the fact that she was diagnosed with cancer. she spent three years of what would’ve been her high school life in hospital and was far too weak to dance or do anything she usually did. she was put into remission at 15 and was cancer free for three years before it made a return, now she’s nineteen (pushing 20), she’s once again in remission but her anxiety and trauma from the sickness are very much alive.

Darcy Briar Carmichael - daughter of Anastasia.

- nothing breaks like a heart - miley cyrus - february 27th, pisces - modelling, studying at st judes (violet springs) - bisexual, single - infp, ravenclaw - raised partially in los angeles and also in lilac heights with anastasia and her father (divorced) as well as her older sister, darcy. - patient, imaginative, loyal but also argumentative, guarded and defensive. darcy has always been wise beyond her years in the sense that she’s mature and has a responsible head on her shoulders. anastasia used to worry that she wouldn’t enjoy her early twenties/teen years in the same way everybody else seemed to, but it just never appealed to her - she preferred to lose herself in art, reading and individual activities rather than going out to huge parties and festivals like her sister. she’s quietly confident and is happy to be seen as the ‘boring’ one if it means not having to be forced to sit at social events she’d rather not be a part of. - darcy’s confidence was knocked by her parent’s divorce. it actually ruined her application to blossom bell academy - where she wanted to go and do art and photography. she was unorganised and just a mess in general, so she knew she’d get rejected. st judes, her second choice, also rejected her art portfolio but because of her looks, offered her a modelling position. she figured it was better than nothing but it’s never been her passion. only now is she starting to feel inferior in comparison to her little sister.

Dixie Gisele Carmichael - daughter of Disney and Brody.

- god is a woman - ariana grande - october 1st, libra - fashion design, studying at rosewell (paris) - heterosexual, single - estj, slytherin - raised in new york but spends the summers in france & christmas in violet springs to be close to grandparents - confident, hard-working, charming but manipulative, calculated and jealous. dixie has grown up in the spotlight due to being the child of arguably the most famous couple to come out of st judes in her parents era. she’s very used to it and it’s something she’s numb too. however, unlike her sister, who seems to just get things a whole lot easier than dixie, she has clawed her way to the top of everything she has, not caring who she scratches on the way up; being the most popular, young socialite on the upper east side, her fashion career and everything else are things she’s had to fight for out of the threat of otherwise being branded as ‘fleur’s twin.’ she holds herself and others at a viciously high standard. she’s been on dates and enjoyed attention from guys but she hasn’t slept with anybody and has never had a boyfriend; it’s not something she hides either. her main goal right now is to become the best designer there is, and she’s proven that she’ll stop at nothing to get there. - while at gallagher high school, fleur was already booking modelling jobs and becoming the more successful of the twins. dixie resented it. she couldn’t stand feeling inferior or lesser than and wasn’t happy for her sister at all. quite the opposite. the two of them applied for rosewell but unfortunately for fleur, when their acceptance letters came through, she was out at new york fashion week, leaving dixie to reject her offer and forge a fake one telling her she’d been rejected....and she’d do it again.

Dylan Samuel Powell - son of Janey.

- fine line - harry styles - february 15th, aquarius - photographer, studies at west ivys (london) - heterosexual, dating lily - infj, hufflepuff - raised in sweden until he was thirteen, and then moved to violet springs to be closer to his family with janey. - patient, practical and compassionate but over-protective, nervous and sensitive. dylan had a quiet childhood. when janey graduated from west ivy’s, she moved out to a rural part of sweden where she started a new. her life consisted of writing and exploring until she had dylan with a man who’s no longer in the picture. dylan fell into janey’s lifestyle too; quiet, peaceful and creative. he enjoyed it for the most part, but the trauma of janey’s experiences definitely became his too. he grew up seeing his mother have anxiety attacks in public or not want to leave the house if she had a feeling she was being watched. in many ways, dylan became the parent. he was the one who made his mother feel safe. he was the protector. he never really understood until he finally met his grandparents at 15 and was told exactly why janey was the way she was. this only brought out an even more protective side of him, after having his eyes opened to how disgusting the world can be. - dylan was reluctant to study anywhere too far away from janey, but she pushed him to branch out at least a little, because she has a lot of guilt about holding him back for al of these years.

Emmett Charles Hamilton - son of Imogen & Nate.

- go stupid - polo g - april 12th, aries - actor, studying at st judes (violet springs) - heterosexual, single - entp, slytherin - raised in london (south kensington) with imogen and has always been a city boy. he’s your typical private school kid; his father has been out of the picture only for a few months but it hasn’t had much effect. his younger brother, ethan, chose to move in with nate while he stuck with imogen. - intelligent, intuitive, social but lazy, restless and unmotivated. out of emmett and ethan, emmett definitely takes the crown for the family disappointment. his brother’s childhood was full of sports trophies, A*’s on report cards and being at the top of the social hierachy. emmett, on the other hand, would’ve happily lived in his parent’s loft and never seen the light of the day if he could. he did pretty wel in school and had al of the potential, but a life of getting high and falling back on to his trust fund seemed way more appealing. imogen was more willing to let him coast through life (being from wealth herself), whereas nate was always pushing him to go out and make something of himself, meaning naturally he prefers his mother. - emmett is in the process of burning through his trustfund. he’s impulsive and careless and without proper guidance, will soon find himself with nothing. he has no respect for his dad - who is the stricter parent - and thinks he’s invincible.

Jay Alexander Hamilton - son of Park.

- tonight you’re perfect - new politics - september 17th, virgo - athlete, liberty academy - heterosexual, seeing sylvia(?) - enfj, ravenclaw - raised partially in the canary islands with his dad, running their hotel, but also in violet springs with his grandparents. - friendly, ambitious, a deep thinker but also impatient, overly-critical and a perfectionist. jay was brought up on the canary islands with his father after losing his mother when he was eight. constantly being at the beach, the hotel and new people, he’s a social person with an active imagination and is always on the go. he’s both book and street smart but can at times hold himself to impossible standards; he definitely gets his perfectionist streak from his aunt. the loss of his mum has hurt him, but he buries his feelings as much as possible to avoid talking about them. jay’s always fit in with popular crowds seamlessly and it’s exactly the same story for liberty academy. - jay has already shown huge potential at liberty academy and has been given attention that first years usually don’t get. he’s currently dealing with the end of a friendship with ethan, though, his best friend for many years. it’s lowkey weighing on him but he’d never show that it effects him.

Kai Arden Powell - son of Louis & Lexi.

- fireflies, owl city - march 3rd, pisces - writer and actor, studying at willow house (cardiff) - heterosexual, dating sofia - infj, ravenclaw - raised in violet springs (?) with louis and lexi, close to his family with good connections to both sides. - imaginative, selfless, creative but pessimistic, self-pitying and emotional. kai is the perfect example of a high achieving burn-out. all through his school life, he boasted great grades and came at the top of the class for most things, but as the years went on, he lost momentum and started to rest on his abilities. while everybody else levelled up and got better, he declined and started to slowly stop caring about his academic achievements. he was more concerned with the social side and fitting in with people who really didn’t care much about him. when it came to college admissions, he was already failing many classes and got rejected from everywhere besides willow house. he hates it and refuses to even try to enjoy it. - sofia is his lifeline, at the moment. she’s trying to get her dad, wesley, to negotiate with people at st judes to get him a space, but it isn’t necessarily going to work. especially if kai can’t get his grades up and apply himself to his writing and acting seriously.

Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Bradford - daughter of Drew & Annabel.

- first man, camila cabello - june 30th, cancer - singer-songwriter & musician, studying liberty academy (new york) - enfp, ravenclaw - raised with drew & annabel as an only child - romantic, loving, protective and sympathetic but touchy, defensive and an overthinker. lottie grew up with both of her parents and spent a lot of time on the road with drew when he was touring. she’s used to big crowds, music and moving around a lot but grew up very attached to her mother, annabel, she’s her favourite person in the entire world and everything she does is to make her proud. - lottie ended up dropping out of high school to go to a stage school in london when drew stopped touring; she was around 14, but eventually got homesick and returned, spending her last few years at springs park high before she got accepted into liberty. she’s really set on making memories and doing her absolute best in music - but she’s prone to falling in love with people and getting extremely distracted.

Sullivan Rosini - son of Ruby.

- song undecided - 14th may, taurus - actor & singer (vc: frank ocean) - esfj, gryffindor - raised by ruby - independent, humanitarian and sociable but also head-strong, stubborn and judgemental. sullivan was adopted by ruby when he was seven and settled very quickly into the family home. since around 12 years old, he’s been an activist and had a huge presence online for animal rights. he’s been arrested multiple time at different protests and it gives ruby the most anxiety but she’s also very proud of him.

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theuntamedproject · 4 years

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"If the face says nothing, listen to the heartbeat" - Lan WangJi, Mo Dao Zu Shi (Weeks 3+4)

https://zhtheuntamedprojec.wixsite.com/theuntamedproject

... those who have read the novel know the real context of this line in the scene BUT taken out of context and used in a completely different (*cough* our) scenario..."If the face says nothing," translates to "Even if we seem calm on the outside,""listen to the heartbeat." translates to "we're so stressed to the point of ventricular fibrillation." (dunno if that's even a likely story but the overly exaggerated point still stands: we just handed our uni applications in and we're dreading admission tests and awaiting interviews...)

Quick overview

So aside from school work and university prep, TUP has taken up whatever spare moment either one of us has. However since Zara's Physics coursework began (good luck Zara!!) and both of us prepping for our respective admissions tests, we've decided instead of marching onwards with research on architecture and other food science related stuff, to settle on more relaxed Google seshes on MDZS (and totally not using this as an excuse to read the source text again) and beginning to design the buildings on CAD and paper.

So I'm going to introduce to you the barebones framework of what we plan to include in the design: characters, buildings and effects~ apologies in advance for not including the accents/tones in names (I cba tbh ;-; )

Characters

Because all these little dudes are just going to be cut out gingerbread men, we could include as many characters as possible (we did say we're making a universe are we not?). Those in italics are "maybe" characters depending on the dough remaining (or whether we like them to be part of the universe or not...) or how much gingerbread we're willing to eat ourselves (though huge shout out to everyone thats offered to eat our spare and broken gingerbread during materials testing - which I will get to a bit later :3)

Gusu Lan (the pretty sect)

Lan XiChen / Lan Huan (Sect Leader - simped so hard for his sworn brothers that both of them ended up dead)

Lan WangJi / Lan Zhan (repressed gay but we love him still)

Lan Yuan / Lan Sizhui (he's part of the Lan sect now goddamnit)

Lan JingYi (the most unLan Lan yet has the highest chance of being the next sect leader lmaoo)

Lan QiRen

Lan Yi / Lan An

QingHeng-Jun (Twin Jades' father)

Madam Lan (Twin Jades' mother)

Yunmeng Jiang (arguably the only "normal" sect here...)

Jiang Cheng / Jiang Wanyin (Sect Leader also an "angry grape" as put by Zara)

Jiang YanLi (OUR QUEEN)

Jiang FengMian (loved Wei Ying more than Jiang Cheng lol jk xd)

Yu ZiYuan (BAMF)

Wei Ying not included here since technically he defected from the Sect (; - ;)

Qinghe Nie (fans and sabers my bros)

Nie HuaiSang (Sect Leader - yeah, I can't believe it either)

Nie MingJue (noooooooooo)

Honestly, I swear this clan is either "big muscles or big brain?". If you have neither, you can't be part of their clique. I mean sect.

Lanling Jin (rich rich rich rich rich)

Jin Ling / Jin RuLan (Sect Leader - totally not named after Wei Ying's crush/ husband's family)

Jin GuangYao / Meng Yao (*smiles*)

Jin ZiXuan (peacock but JYL's husband nonetheless)

Jin GuangShan (gross)

Jin ZiXun (double gross)

Mo XuanYu (literally did not sign up to any of this. He just wanted to end his suffering at Mo Manor)

We decided against including everyone from Mo Manor since they literally died within the first few chapters of the novel / first episode of the drama so were kinda irrelevant. Also, we don't care about them like we care for the Lan Sect members either.

Off topic side rant, Zara has been on my case whenever I bring up Jin GuangYao. I have to say, he's way more lovable in the drama than in the novel (didn't really leave much of an impression on me in the novel, NHS did a better job at that). I'm here to briefly explain why this boy is misunderstood and deserved more than what he got (and also why you should love him because he deserves love).JGY is a poor soul who's goal in life was to please others because no one was ever satisfied with him. His mother wasn't satisfied. His father wasn't satisfied. Hell, even his sworn brother NMJ wasn't satisfied with him eventually. BUT GUESS WHAT Xichen the angel is the only person that showed any love or thanks to JGY that's why he didn't kill him in the end - he wouldn't kill people that actually cared about him. IF ONLY EVERYONE ACTUALLY PAID ATTENTION TO HOW CLEVER AND CUNNING THIS MAN WAS, THERE MAY NOT EVEN BE WENS THREATENING THE WORLD. end of brief rant.

Qishan Wen (too hot, hot damn)

Wen RuoHan (Sect Leader - could have taken over the world if his children weren't incompetent)

Wen Qing (half the reason why included this sect)

Wen Ning / Wen QiongLin (the other half of the reason)

Wen Yuan (WE NEED THIS BABIE ALONGSIDE SIZHUI OK)

Wen Chao (questionable)

Wen ZhuLiu (also questionable but less annoying than Wen Chao)

Rogue cultivators (including people we didn't really know where to put)

Wei WuXian / Wei Ying (Can work out how to cultivate resentful energy, fight against the biggest cultivation clans in the world and gain a formidable reputation as the Yiling Patriarch yet can't figure out that Lan Zhan has a crush on him. Makes it look like cultivating resentful energy is easy as pie.)

CangSe SanRen (Wei Ying's mother)

Wei ChangZe (Wei Ying's father)

Xiao XingChen (honestly, the nicest guy ever. Could rival Xichen in terms of kindness. But then again... where did that kindness lead either of them? Moral of story: screw kindness)

Song Lan (Wen Ning's dead buddy~)

Xue Yang (he was cool in the novel, a bit questionable in the drama ngl)

A-Qing (didn't report her situation to the police...)

Baoshan Sanren (without knowledge of her existence, Jiang Cheng may have given up on life after he lost his golden core)

Ouyang ZiZhen (I didn't know who he was at all from the novel (ie he left no impression) but since he's technically part of the juniors, we have to include him)

Wang Ling Jiao / Jiao Jiao (just so Wen Chao has a friend perhaps... I don't know if we're that kind)

Su She (ew. just. He's not our favourite. The whole thing could have gone smoother if he didn't exist)

Luo Qingyang / Mian Mian (that one girl that made Wei Ying think Lan Zhan was straight)

Whew! That's all the character's we've considered! We have yet to come up with individual designs for the clothes and what not but at least we know there are going to be straight up cutting them out using the gingerbread man cutters.

Also! let's not forget:

Li'l Apple (didn't sign up for any of this either)

Fairy (gift from JGY to JL, also good doggo)

All the bunnies in Gusu (yes.)

All the fans and sabers in Qinghe (it's part of their aesthetic)

Locations and Buildings

This section's going to be MUCH shorter than the previous one haha since we've basically come up with 5 main buildings and in 7 locations. We're planning these buildings to be architectural masterpieces (okay, that's a slight exaggeration but that's the point). These buildings will take SIGNIFICANTLY more time than the gingerbread characters and is the reason we've put so much effort into researching what would make the most stable type of building. This is because we've planned to mirror the buildings as close as possible to the drama. We haven't yet drawn 2D sketches as I've left that job mostly to Zara (sorry!) so it's sort of hard to describe in words but by next post, we hope to have these down~ (though please see the mood boards from Zara's post previously)~

Gusu Lan - Cloud Recesses

The Wall of Discipline

The Courtyard

The Orchid Room (the main classroom/hall)

Yunmeng Jiang - Lotus Pier

The Main Pier

Lotus Pod Lake

Qinghe Nie - The Unclean Realm

The Main Courtyard and stairs

Lanling Jin - Koi Tower

Koi Tower

Qishan Wen - Nightless City

Main building and stairs

Yiling - Burial Grounds

The Mountains (and farms/Wen settlements)

Demon-Slaughtering Cave

And of course, Yi City.

We don't know if we want to include any more places but we'll let you know if there are any changes to this list. Plus the effects of LEDs and other arts and craft jazz besides gingerbread, we plan to make sure each Sect get's their own spotlight~

Please enjoy our baby Cloud Recesses, they're going to grow up and be a fine specimen of society worthy of the Lan name :D

The plan going forward

Although unfortunately, things haven't gone totally to plan due to fairly busy circumstances, we still have some major events along the way before starting to build the whole thing (which would probably be around mid-to-end of December) which have indeed started preparing for. Including:

Material testing gingerbread and icing (ie finally, bringing our research to the real world) - a lot of gingerbread will be made, so thank you to the willing volunteers who wanted to eat our failed experiments!

Finding / creating a suitable recipe for the gingerbread people

2D and 3D sketches of the buildings

Designing costumes for the gingerbread people

Another thing that we kinda want to do is to make this project benefit the wider community (we wanted to set up a GoFundMe at some point and raise some money for charity~). But we don't know how to do that as of yet T-T . Any ideas, feel free to contact us and let us know! We want to help others through this project (if at all possible haha)!

#mdzs #update #characters #gingerbread #gusulan #yunmengjiang #qinghenie #lanlingjin #qishanwen #weiying #lanzhan

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wolfespuppies · 4 years

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@rosalind-of-arden asked: Can't get asks to work. For the character ask thing, how about Santi 6, Zara 20

6: Their vices

Santi’s worst one is his overprotectiveness. For Wolfe especially, but anyone he considers under his protection - his soldiers, the kids, Scholars he goes on missons with. It’s part of what makes him so good at his job, but can and has backfired spectacularly, and he always takes that hard.

Also, when he cooks he makes a huge mess. He cannot keep a kitchen tidy, much to Wolfe and his mother’s distress.

20. What-ifs/aternate timelines

Well, the obvious one is Nic and Zara in a relationship. They’d be the power couple of the Garda, everyone would fight to be in either one of their companies. When Nic is elected Lord Commander, no one argues when Zara becomes his second in command. Both thoroughly competent, and attractive, the Garda sees a marked rise in applications.

#the great library

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mindthump · 5 years

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6 Technologies That Will Reshape Marketing In The Next Decade https://ift.tt/2SS8OeD

Augmented reality and the Internet of Things are among the defining forces going forward.

December 31, 2019 9 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When the internet was beginning to be commercially adopted in the early 1990s, few predicted how it would completely overhaul the marketing industry over the next two decades. Ingenious search engines that navigate a plethora of budding websites, along with the first online display and search ads, marked a drastic turn of marketing dynamics as individuals's active search behavior allowed for much more relevant and efficient ad delivery.

The emergence of social media represented an equally revolutionary milestone, whereby comprehensive data on user demographics, preferences and interests offered marketers unprecedented targeting options. The innovation of advertising is the foundation on which world-changing tech giants such as Google or Facebook are built upon. It has allowed them to claim a huge chunk of all ad spending and generate revenues surpassing the total GDPs of entire countries.

In a similar fashion, companies that manage to formulate the most scalable marketing ecosystems around the next wave of society-altering technology, coupling commercial with consumption intent more effectively, will experience astronomic growth and most likely become corporate superpowers -- or further cement their dominance.

Early adopters who leverage those novel tools and unsaturated channels will gain significant competitive advantages, and new companies and agencies will emerge that build out their own tools or business models to complement the most impactful future marketing technologies.

Related: How to Market Technology in the Digital Era

Big Data, AI and Quantum Computing

Why are these three buzzwords seemingly just lumped together? Because their development is strongly interdependent, and combined they’ll underpin most major technology advancements. The synergy of AI and big data is already deeply rooted in the core marketing activities of both large and small digital enterprises: Recommendation engines account for a staggering 35 percent of Amazon’s total sales, multi-channel sentiment analysis informs the brand strategies of companies like Samsung, and every minor e-commerce retailer can already harness the effectiveness of chatbots.

AI thrives on mountains of information to fuel its continuous learning mechanisms, and once leveraged by the mind-bending processing speeds of quantum computers to tap ever-increasing sources of big data, its capacity to deliver unique insights, automate a multitude of tasks and even take over various decision-making aspects from humans will surge exponentially.

The likes of IBM, D-Wave and Microsoft are all investing heavily into quantum computing, and Google has already modelled quantum neural networks in a race to build the first stable and commercially viable quantum computer, a force of (artificial) nature that would enable the conception of a sheer endless number of potential AI-powered applications, some which we haven’t even imagined yet.

It’s safe to assume that the first commercial applications to emerge from the current research will serve the core functions of the companies at the forefront of their development. As a result, all pillars of online marketing -- SEO, digital advertising, price matching etc. -- will be subject to massive disruptions as they become more efficient and autonomous.

It also means many jobs will become obsolete. Various custom services provided by agencies, especially in the realm of data analytics, will inevitably become commoditized through respective AI tools. The cannibalization will even spill over to the more creative marketing segments, given algorithms that autonomously generate personalized assets, copies and content exist already.

The technological leap driven by the development of the holy technological trinity of big data, AI and quantum computing will open a treasure chest of unprecedented opportunities for online marketers in the form of novel applications to reach and monetize customers as well as an enhancement of the current digital marketing ecosystems. Equally, those who fail to adapt will find themselves overhauled by the progress.

Internet of Things

As of now, our smartphones, laptops and some commercial machines and sensors comprise the majority of the current gateways to the internet. However, this is rapidly changing as the physical and digital realms increasingly (and somewhat frighteningly) converge. An estimated 41.6 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices will generating 79.4 zettabytes of data by 2025; a truly astronomical figure brimming with potential.

Beacon technology, 5G, sophisticated sensors, self-driving cars, smart wearables and smart homes all just mark the beginning of a world where almost anything powered by electricity may be connected to each other and with the all-encompassing web, opening up deep-reaching tracking and engagement opportunities for marketers.

CTRs of almost 100 percent will no longer be an impossibility, whereby companies and agencies shall strive for hyper relevance and aim to eliminate the interruptive commercial based on demographic and behavioral data from a limited few devices. Fridges, vending machines, shop displays, even plates; every ”thing” may serve as a touchpoint to accompany the consumer along a much richer, attributable and predictable journey in the quest to serve the right sales message at the right time.

To fully realize the potential, marketers will face the monumental technical challenge of implementing holistic, multi-device platforms that can assimilate and manage all these incredibly varied and intertwined gadgets and their associated data. Undoubtedly, this will give birth to many new entrants that take it upon themselves to deliver solutions for a new, hyperconnected cosmos.

Voice and Virtual Assistants

A promising child of AI harnesses one of the most ancient forms of human interaction: voice. The likes of Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant are slowly morphing into a ubiquitous and most seamless UI that will change the way we find information, consume media and buy things.

With 61 million people owning a digital assistant in the US alone and already 20 percent of all mobile searches being conducted orally, the value of including voice search in future marketing strategies is clear. Add to that moves like Google’s plans to integrate voice query data into the Search Console and roll out Google Actions, software that allows Google Assistant to interact with a site’s content, and the consideration of virtual assistants will no longer be advisable but instead become a must.

Businesses are already reaping the rewards of proper voice search optimization and attain significant boosts to their click-through and conversion rates, attributable to greater relevance and less competition on voice search result pages. Measures such as ensuring localized businesses are listed in the assistant-favored data-aggregators, or optimizing for semantics- -- with a greater focus on conversational interrogative phrases -- are already in the standard repertoire of forward-thinking SEO tools and agencies.

However, the new frontier revealed by virtual assistants lies beyond search. Cross-app integration and deeper access to big data are the first steps to transform them from mere search enhancers into predictors of users’s needs capable of autonomously serving highly targeted ads and carry out transactions on their behalf. In that light, it becomes self-evident that the proliferating number of IoT devices comprise the perfect ecosystem for virtual assistants to link up with. Alexa’s integration into newer BMW cars and into various Bosch home appliances pose examples that hint towards a future where VAs serve as a point of convergence for multi-device data on user’s behaviors and preferences and as the agent to deliver hyper-relevant ads at the right moment.

Right now, marketers should recognize the importance of voice search in SEO. In the future, once IoT becomes omnipresent, a whole new world opens up in which marketers can devise entirely new ways to reach consumers, leveraging stronger emotional connections enabled through voice and tapping into gargantuan reserves of big data.

Related: 4 Major Marketing Trends for 2020 and Beyond

Augmented Reality

A scene from the Netflix series Altered Carbon presents what an augmented/mixed-reality urban landscape could look like: The main character walks along the alleys of a futuristic city, and through high-tech contact lenses sees a myriad of flashy holograms promoting mostly dubious amenities. In 2019, overlaying augmented reality through such lenses still belongs to the realm of sci-fi movies (for now). Instead, smartphones are still the marketer’s AR gateway to the consumer, and an increasingly effective one at that.

Various e-commerce niches in particular may see significant boosts in sales as the online shoppers’s hesitation is alleviated by being able to more vividly visualize the products with their smartphone from the comforts of their homes. For example, IKEA’s Place app, developed with Apple’s ARKit, allows thousands of pieces of furniture to be virtually previewed anywhere in a roomm, causing the likelihood of buying to increase 11-fold. It’s quite possible that, for some industries, offering visualizations to "try out" products pre-sale will transition from being a mere value-adding gimmick to a standard consumer expectation.

Similarly, AR is set to play a huge role in enhancing the physical shopping experience of retail stores. More engaging shop displays, like Zara’s virtual catwalk that replaced mannequins in one of its stores, allow brands to make stronger emotional connections through interaction. Walmart enhanced its mobile app with an AR scanner, allowing the product-conscious customer to easily retrieve an item’s reviews or additional information.

Most interesting for online marketing agencies, however, is the dawn of AR ads on social-media platforms. Earlier this year, Snap Inc. opened up programmatic auctions for AR Lenses to the masses, and by rolling out the complementary Lens Studio, agencies possess an additional format to offer to clients that’s more compelling than video. Facebook, too, tested AR ads in its Newsfeeds and Messenger, resulting in companies like WakeMeUp, who let customers try on new shades of makeup, to boast a sales uplift of 27.6 percent.

Furthermore, as tech behemoths open up the technology for audiences to engage with the real world through AR on a daily basis, it won’t be long for shops and amenities in proximity to promote themselves on those overlaid screens, effectively positioned between physical billboards or signs and Google Maps entries.

Considering AR interaction is especially

appealing to younger demographics

and that the number of mobile AR devices

could exceed 2.5 billion by 2023

, it’s no wonder that the next decade and beyond will see AR ads shift from the domain of early adopters to the mainstream.

#IFTTT #Feedly #business #good to know

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bellechantelle · 6 years

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You got to paste to the business for at the least one to two years to recognize & get preserve of it. Whilst you try this well. There's nothing in this global that has the energy to stop you from going massive.

Right here why do i say that, things need to consider before buying t shirt

In the end, “it’s your brand value & agree with on your emblem that’s gonna mint money”

It’s not about selling tshirts on line. It’s approximately growing, nurturing cost & constructing your emblem. In the end, it’s now not your tshirt that sells but it’s your emblem that gonna make a huge distinction & differentiate every different competitor looking to promote merchandise on-line.

Be aware:

Be very touchy approximately your brand. Never ever go away that clumsy patron to rant approximately your brand on-line. Take that extra mile to fulfil the wish of the purchaser & your brand grows there of.

What do i want to start t blouse commercial enterprise on-line in india?

– gst registration – internet site & gear & technology – investments – knowledge about tshirts design & exceptional & printing types. – know-how & cognizance approximately marketplaces – clever methods to build your emblem

Gst registration:

Thanks to indian government for bringing gst,

There are no longer waiting days for registering your business & no exceptional bribe situation anymore. My usa “india” is developing at unheard of phase transferring toward clean governance.

Gst has made each procedure less difficult 🙂

All you need is proper documents & upload it online. You get your gst registration relaxed. All of the registration is linked to pan card of your corporation or an person’s pan card.

Magnificence 2 digital signature:

In case in case you didn’t recognise approximately virtual signature. It's miles a small usb pen drive device with a purpose to have your identification. With digital signature, you could signal, authenticate or approve any document digitally.

Make sure you have got subscribed to elegance 2 digital signature as it's miles now practically needed for gst returns & other authorities techniques.

The registration fee could be costing from rs 2500 to rs 20000 depending upon the form of registration ( proprietorship, partnership, one individual company or pvt ltd) & the auditor.

Documents required:

– pan card of the commercial enterprise or applicant – identity and address evidence of directors or partners or proprietor – business registration report – cope with evidence for place of job – bank account proof – virtual signature magnificence-2

Be clever during registration ( just for startups) whilst there are companions:

Being in enterprise isn't that smooth. You bought to be frugal, thrifty & clever. Proprietorship registration is greater than sufficient to run even a conglomerate:)

Take a look at the under situations carefully.

1. When you have companions who are obsessed with the business & has a clear expertise, recognition about the future of the enterprise as well as the phrases & deeds.

2. Except or until you are going to elevate funding from angel investor or venture capitalist vc or equity or bank or any other economic corp for the next years from the start.

Hire a honest companion as a proprietor.

Don’t entertain restricted legal responsibility partnership (llp) or private restricted or one person company opc registration until you are at least a 5 crore employer. ( just a proposal)

Right here why do i say that?

1. The limited legal responsibility partnership (llp) or private restrained firm attracts 30% profits tax of the internet income of the organisation & surcharges apply as nicely. Ask your ca to reveal the price.

2. You acquire to document separate it returns for your agency as well as personal it

3. You've got an excessive amount of pre-registration & submit registration documentation & filing to be completed like din, mou & aoa & agm & yoy overall performance statements with the check in of groups (roc) each single 12 months.

4. The fee concerned preserving all this.

5. Separated pan card & even reg charge for restricted legal responsibility partnership (llp) & private confined under gst is on the dearer side.

While with a proprietorship registration, Proprietorship has just one it returns to be filed & no separate pan card is wanted. Actually, no documentation besides gst & it returns.

Warning: i am now not demotivating or chorus oneself from paying taxes to the authorities. I'm simply suggesting for the startups to live on and hustle frugally keeping off price here and there to move ahead with much less legal responsibility

Website & gear & technology:

Earlier than you do any form of registration, determine your “brand call”

Emblem name is your identification so consider an easily pronounceable name for the emblem call. At once check for the area name.

Additionally, discover if there's any struggle with existing brands. You could get the procedures to check for battle at the give up of this article with ip assessments code. Keep studying 🙂

To buy a internet site area for starting your tshirt enterprise:

The website has grow to be an quintessential a part of a enterprise on this digital generation. Both you launch e-trade or don’t. Domain name and internet site is one way that you show the sector that your enterprise exists and gonna develop greater powerfully.

I'd suggest you purchase website domain names with beneath stated widespread organizations.

Allow me placed an cease to this misconception for you & doubts:

Domain call registration is nothing to do with prison registration or felony call of your commercial enterprise until or until you infringe a registered firms name at once.

You could function your domain call and legal name with special names. But your business transaction and submitting of gst need to happen for your criminal call of the commercial enterprise, no longer with the emblem area name.

I can provide an explanation for it to you with my enterprise: Http://tirupurexportcompany.Com is the internet face of my business. Ramsay exports is the criminal face of my enterprise.

Even if you upload charge gateway offerings. Your internet site doesn’t require separate registration with the tax government. Your felony face of the commercial enterprise is what required to take the price gateway offerings.

To test whether or not your brand call is trademarked or now not.

You acquire to test with ministry of commerce & enterprise For apparels, incase in case you are beginning your tshirt logo. This is the primary component that you want to do. Take a look at for the name which you have selected for your emblem conflicts with other brands or don’t

There are numerous training for distinctive products. Want to test click right here For apparels its class 25 http://heatpressmachinereviews.net/gecko-heat-press-machine-review/

It may be done without problems. Click on the link under.

#How to start business of t shirt?

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wlwaas · 5 years

Text

answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you want to know better

tagged by the lomls @goldbutch and @bacio no mf in this joint can doxx me but them

nicknames: gonan

zodiac sign: 🦂

height: almost 5'4"

hogwarts house: it was ravenclaw last time I took the test which makes no sense since I'm dummy stupid

last thing I googled: flights to Chicago ✈️

favorite musicians: the neighborhood, arctic monkeys, msi, fob, p!atd, 3OH!3, death cab for cutie

song stuck in your head: Jenny from the block..........

following: 2070 🤕

followers: 1080

do you get asks: not unless I LITERALly beg for them

amount of sleep: depends on whether I have work or not bc I go to sleep at 5am regardless so either I'm getting up at 8am for work or sleeping until 4pm

lucky number: 12, 25

what you're wearing: black sweatpants and a b&w striped tank top

dream job: author

dream trip: tour around europe, musts are greece italy france uk and spain

instruments: I took guitar lessons for a hot second in third grade and haven't touched an instrument before or since

languages: english & japanese

favorite songs: lush life by zara larsson, radioactive by imagine dragons (lol), you get me so high by the neighborhood, no brainer w dj khaled, jb etc

random fact: I just filled out the housing application for my college dorms and I put my preference for keeping the window CLOSED at an obscenely high priority because I'm still triggered by how my old roommate used to have it open all the time "for fresh air" when it was 20 degrees out

aesthetic: fruit, old european architecture, stained glass, paintings of parables and mythology, white linen, succulents, warm tones, crop tops

tagging:

@butchblossoms @sapphealing

and uuuuh uuuuuuuuh anyone who wants to I get embarrassed tagging ppl I don't talk to

#tag game #tagged in #mutuals

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northofsomewhererp · 5 years

Text

Your Name, Age (17+), & Timezone: mars, 22, cst ? i think?

Roy Rahim turned 33 years old on October 7th. He’s a police detective in Greensville. His face claim is Riz Ahmed.

Admin note: *SQUEALS*

Bio:

It was hard for people to find words to describe Roy Rahim. He was a criminologist turned police detective who kept his life, for the most part, private. He had a few close friends he trusted and sisters he talked to every day, but even they didn’t know what he was up to most of the time. They knew he was immersed in his work, locked in his apartment with a few beers and some take out, and that was it; that was as much as he let them know. He kept his job and personal life as separate as they could be, and his meticulous personality made sure they stayed that way. He’d made that mistake once before, with Isolde, and he vowed to never do it again.

Their marriage ended abruptly. He should’ve seen it coming - they weren’t happy anymore - but the months prior had been pretty good. He thought they were fixing up their marriage, working through their issues. He’d been more supportive of his wife, and they’d been going to couples therapy, which was all he’d ever wanted. Roy, always obsessed with the mind and how it worked, was completely baffled by the way his wife’s did; she’d go from warm and affectionate to cold and emotionless in less than 3 seconds. Isolde had convinced Roy to give them a second chance after he slid the divorce papers across the table during their 3 year anniversary dinner. A heartless move, but the only way she would listen. Eyes wide, she cried that it wasn’t fair - she thought their marriage was going great, and if it wasn’t, that she was willing to change. 2 months later, Roy got home to find divorce papers stuck to the fridge with a souvenir magnet from their honeymoon in Hawaii. It dawned on him later that Isolde didn’t want to fix their marriage, she just wanted to have the last word.

Around the time his divorce finalized, Roy’s grandfather, Apa, fell sick. He decided to take some time off work to return home to Windsor, Ontario to take care of him and spend time with the rest of his family - his grandmother, Ama, and his two sisters, Seline and Zara. He hadn’t seen them in a while because Isolde always conveniently fell sick when they were supposed to travel to Windsor - she said it was probably because she didn’t feel very comfortable around them (– and funnily enough, neither did they), and the nerves made her sick.

Roy’s parents died in an accident when he was 6 years old. They were headed back from the airport after celebrating their 8 year wedding anniversary when a drunk driver crashed into them. Roy and his sisters were waiting for them eagerly at their grandparents house, but they never arrived. The police showed up at their door with the news, and everything that came after - them going to the police station, Roy’s grandparents identifying the bodies, the funeral - was completely blank for Roy. Before he knew it, he was living with his sisters at his grandparent’s house and his parents were gone.

This loss was very hard on them while growing up, a little harder on Roy because he, in his grandfather’s words, was the man of the house now. He had to be tough and suck it up because men didn’t cry. Although he had always been very sensitive, he believed that for the longest time, and shoving those feelings down for so long made him cold. He shed all of that - those ideologies, those thoughts - when he moved out to go to college in Boston. It was challenging everything he knew about the world and about himself, but he was different now. He could be vulnerable when he wanted to, he showed affection and love and kindness. Working at the police force was like moving back a hundred years, but then he found that his empathy, his sensitivity, his passion was what made him good at his job.

Three weeks into taking care of his grandfather, when Roy was starting to think maybe he would stay a little longer, maybe take a break from work, got a call that they needed a detective to investigate a few murders happening in a town in North Carolina. They were stumped and needed fresh, new eyes for the case, and they thought he was perfect for the job. He debated rejecting the opportunity and staying for a month or two, but his Ama and Apa told him to go, that they would be fine. He said goodbye, packed his bags, and left. Unable to find any housing in this other town, Roy rented an apartment in Greensville which was close enough. It was supposed to be temporary - he was supposed to return to Boston when he was done - but he decided to stay and work there instead. He’d made a few friends already, and it wasn’t half bad.

Activity (1-10): 6? More or less?

Have you read the rules?: removed

In the event that you leave, can we keep your biography for future use? I’m going to say no, sorry love u.

Any comments/questions?: I’m really eager to play Roy, but you can 100% hold this application until I’m back because ya girl is about to request a teensy hiatus. I just wanted to send it in because I just finished his bio and I’m excited about him. (and I hope you are too. I love him)

Sample (2+ paragraphs):

Roy’s apartment building held meetings on the first Tuesday of every month to discuss different, very important building matters; whether they would use blue or green tiles for the pool (they picked blue), whether they’d put a fountain in the back garden (which was voted no by Norma Jane Grace-Barnard because she was afraid her son, the 20 year old Harvard student, could fall in and drown), and the latest was whether they would fix the elevator because it had broken down 3 times in the past month, and Roy had been in it two of those three times. It was this incident that made him reluctantly agree to go to the meeting.

“You’re a victim, Roy,” Norma said with her funny little Southern accent as she felt up his bicep. “You’re a victim of the building administrators disregard for our safety.”

He agreed. Not with the victim part, but about the building administrators tendency to ignore real problems and instead focus on stupid non-issues like whether the lobby should be painted pearl or cotton. (“What the fuck’s even the difference between those two?” he’d asked his friend Carter as he tossed a stress ball in the air. “Pearl and cotton - they’re both fucking shades of white.”)

The meetings were held at the conference room next to the gym - a place Roy had no idea existed until he read the notice in the elevator.

“ALL MEETINGS HELD IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM. BRING FOOD TO SHARE.”

He arrived early with a box of donuts he’d stolen from the station (box he promised he’d replace the very next day), and he dropped it off at the refreshments table. Norma Jane Grace-Barnard was the first one to greet him. “Hiiii!” she’d waved from her seat. “Saved ya a seat, hun bun,” she said, patting the spot next to hers. Roy had been the subject of today’s unofficial pre-meeting: Roy Rahim, the attractive, mysterious police detective would possibly be attending the meeting. Would they in trouble? Would he arrest them? Cuff them? Norma Jane was excited and she wanted to go first, a fact she’d told Roy and then giggled about. Roy just chuckled and shook his head. “I might have to, Norma” and he winked before pulling out his phone and texting a simple “WTF” to his sisters. “Strangerville @ meeting.”

The meeting wasn’t so much a chat about the building and more of a mixer for the single tenants. Roy and the six other people who’d gotten stuck in the elevator talked about their experience and then the meeting was adjourned. Final verdict: they would be fixing the elevators. After that, it was like a new season of the bachelorette; wine was being served, spilled, and he was pretty sure at least 2 people interrupted his conversations with an “excuse me, can I steal you for a sec?”

Roy didn’t know anyone at the apartment building, but he’d investigated most of them on his first week living there. “I have to know who I’m living with,” he’d said to himself to justify the snooping. He’d found a lot of very interesting things about the tenants, like the fact that the girl from 302 had been arrested for stealing other people’s dogs 5 times already and that the guy from 506 had a restraining order put against him by his college professor. The one person he knew was the 23 year old who lived upstairs, Max, but only because he’d had to arrest him twice for getting in bar fights or shoplifting. Max Lawrence, who was walking into the conference room with a black eye, a beer, and an unbuttoned flannel shirt.

“Yo, Rahim,” he said, throwing his limp arms around Roy. “The elevators working yet?” He reeked of beer. Roy chuckled and shook his head. “Dude, you smell so good.”

He was the perfect excuse to leave. He raised his hand up at Norma and her friends (Amy, Stacey and Natalie? Or was it Anna, Casey and Natasha? Either way, he had to take this drunk idiot back upstairs.) “Sorry, gotta take care of this now, ladies. It was nice talking to you,” he said as he put an arm around Max, who winked at the ladies and then proceeded to burp in their faces.

“Sorry,” he slurred, tipping his invisible hat. “Ladies.”

They both walked out of the conference room, Max dragging his feet as they walked, winking and doing finger guns at anyone who looked his way. As soon as the door closed behind them, Max stood up straight and pushed Roy off. “You’re welcome, Rahim. You owe me now,” he said as he wiped his hands on his shirt.

“I owe you? Who bailed you out last week, huh?” he asked, shoving him playfully. “You had me there for a second, Lawrence – I really thought you were drunk.”

“Well, years of practice,” he said, bowing his head. “What do you say? Take out and a beer? My dad’s treat,” he said, already running off toward the elevators. Roy smiled and shook his head.

“Take out and a beer.“

#original character #submission #accepted #nosaccepted

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