#all these services are also hooked up to my email

[officialtrashcant]

Why is it damn near impossible to verify your identity for a service without a phone number?? my phone and wallet were stolen last week and its really incredible the amount of services im suddenly locked out of, because they dont recognize the device im logging into and so they insist on sending a verification code to my phone. the phone that I don't have.

[raevenlyreads]

Lunar Cycle Read

For the LUNAR CYCLE Circle Read, the entire deck is spread out in a circle and  key points are read, representing the moon phases. This reading gives timed guidance over the next lunar cycle. For this read, I began with the upcoming New Moon and carried on through to the next Waning Moon. Deck used was The Nameless One by Xia Hunt.

Want a Lunar Cycle Reading of your very own? Come check out my ko-fi commissions page!

Read on for card close ups and interpretations

New Moon

This new moon brings the energy of The Hanged Man. Waiting is a challenge, especially when that waiting is for an end of circumstances that are hard to endure. But remember that this time has a lesson to teach. Be patient and be aware; you are enduring for better things to come.

Waxing Moon

As the moon begins to grow again, so too does your joy. Celebrate the happy things in this phase of the cycle, and enjoy them while they last. Appreciate the temporary while it is here.

Full Moon

The first card I drew was one of The Nameless One’s special oracle cards, the King Cat. This card’s blessing is “I am my best self, and the sole sovereign thereof.” I was inspired to draw deeper for some clarity as to what this self-love was in reference to, and drew the 3 of Blades. Together, these cards speak of laying aside a sense of martyrdom, and possibly leaving a situation which is not best for you. Use the illumination of the full moon to uncover the truth of these feelings, and trust your own instincts. Celebrate yourself, champion yourself, uplift yourself. There is no glory in suffering, and those who love you want you to love you, too.

Waning Moon

As the moon begins to wane, perhaps the glory of the full moon self-love wears a little thin, too. The 10 of Wands carries the weight of the word on its shoulders - not that the world is asking it to. Be wary of trying to take it all on yourself. Breaking your own back when a helping hand is right there is selfish and serves no one. A burden shared is a burden lightened - and sometimes, the act of accepting help is how love can be expressed. Let others show their love for you by accepting their help. They will appreciate it, and so will you.

SYNTHESIS 

This upcoming month offers you the chance to break old cycles. Try to see the bigger picture, and really examine why you take on what you do. Learn from the moments of joy, discover why they make you happy and what you can do to cultivate that energy in your life. Build a life that celebrates you, and remember that true strength comes from asking for help. Those that truly love you will love you even when you’re a “burden”. Let them show you love by accepting their service. Learn the lesson from your time on the hook and be wiser for the experience of it.

If you're interested in a reading of your own, or just want to know more about who I am and how I read, come check out my ko-fi page

You can also DM here, or email me at raevreadstarot@gmail.com

[sirfrogsworth]

So, the new lens is great. It takes beautiful pictures. And I am still brought to tears when I think about what an amazing gift this is. From a complete stranger, no less.

But there was some unexpected lens drama that kind of tarnished the excitement of this wonderful gift.

When I opened the lens initially, I noticed it was not in a retail box. It was still wrapped in plastic and that made it seem like it was new, but then I noticed there was no warranty card. Two red flags. Things that would be easily missed by a lot of people.

I was worried it was "gray market" which is a lens meant for another country. These can be imported cheaper but they will not have any warranty and if you try to get them repaired outside the intended country, manufacturers will often refuse to work on them.

I hooked up the lens to my computer so I could update the firmware. I also copied the serial number and sent it to Sigma to see if they had any info about the lens and if it was under warranty.

It was not gray market... but it was used.

Sigma's records show it being sold in 2018. Used lenses are fine. And they can be repaired in-country. But my gift giver did not pay for a used lens. Also, I wanted to get the lens focus calibrated. Sigma will calibrate the lens to my camera for free under warranty. Out of warranty, it would cost $100.

Maybe it was a mistake. They sent a used lens by accident perhaps. But then I found this review of the seller.

A pattern of behavior.

So this 3rd party Amazon seller basically committed fraud.

And this really upset me.

Amazon wouldn't let me message them directly due to it being a gift order. So I spent days talking to Amazon customer service and trying to figure out what to do. They asked if I wanted to file a complaint, but I told them no. I wanted to keep that option as leverage.

After some google-fu, I found the store's customer service email and wrote them a sternly worded message. I told them I wanted them to exchange the used lens for a new copy. I wanted them to promise never to sell anything used as new again. And if they did not comply, I would file a complaint and leave a 1 star review warning people not to do business with them.

That finally got their attention and I was emailed back promptly. They asked for pictures proving my claims. I sent them photos of the generic packaging and also this screen capture of my email from Sigma.

The good news... they agreed to exchange the lens.

But they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing and did not say they would no longer sell used lenses as new.

In any case, the matter should be resolved as long as they keep their word. But this all really bummed me out. I just wanted this one bit of joy to tide me over until I started feeling better. And I will have that joy soon. But all of the effort required to reclaim that joy is frustrating.

[xfandom-fairyx]

marching band au

bakugo fic

here goes nothing..

—————————————————

My car slowed as I turned the corner onto the road that held the dorm house I would be staying in for the next 4 years of my life. The sun was already going down, not quite setting, but the sky was already turning pinkish orange, rays of golden light peeking through the trees that were scattered amongst the houses I passed by. I took a deep breath, trying not to gape at the building at the end of the cul de sac, as I pulled up the cement driveway— where no other cars were parked. I sighed thankfully. Being the first person here meant I got first dibs on the bedrooms, the thought alone sending a wave of excitement through me. The house was gorgeous, and freaking huge. (How many roommates was I supposed to have, again?..)

Double checking I had the correct address from the email in my phone, I pulled my keys from the ignition, fumbling to find the key to the front door. The heat outside was suffocating compared to the cool AC from my car, making me want to quicken my pace a bit to get inside. Deciding to grab the rest of my luggage after a quick look around and picking my room, I grabbed my backpack and purse before heading up the stairs to the front door. The entrance was framed by a beautiful wrap around porch, a few chairs, benches, and a porch swing adorning the wooden planks on each side of the door. Gently swinging the painted blue door open, I took my first steps inside my new (temporary) home, my chest tight with emotion.

The foyer was a bright space, a few meters wide, but felt cozy. Along the wall to the left was a deep blue, cubby-like bench with coat hooks, cabinets and a shoe rack, while the right wall had an oak table with a beautiful crystal decorative bowl, a fake potted plant and a circular mirror. Placed on the table beside the bowl was a slip of paper that had a list of utilities with passwords, app suggestions, and numbers for the local emergency services since we lived off campus. I quickly snapped a picture of and saved it to my favorites album, a subtle reminder to download the security app for the house, and a separate app for the security cameras. I moved to the left again and placed my keys on the cubby hook on the far right, kicking my slides off to set them on the shelf below my keys, my fingers gently grazing the navy stained wood. I was in no real rush as I stepped to the end of the foyer, taking it all in.

“Holy shit.. wow..” was all I could muster in my awe. The house smelled like oak wood and vanilla— the sweet woody combination fit just right in my head and sent me reeling to see the rest of the place I would call home. The bottom floor had a completely open floor plan where I could see everything from almost every angle across the house. To my right, a deep sectional sofa fit for 10 sat in a semi U shape, a chaise piece attached to run parallel with the longest side of the sofa, the whole thing facing a wall with a 75” flat screen, and a decent sized electric fireplace below it. Sat in the corner about 10 feet away from the sofa was a sleek, black grand piano, surrounded by a corner bookshelf that was full of sheet music, vinyl records, CD’s and memorabilia. My eyes flickered to the other side of the space to a grand kitchen, granite countertops, a huge island with a second barn sink, beautifully crafted cabinets, stainless steel appliances (which were huge, by the way! An 8 range stove?? A fridge big enough to hold food for a football team?! Christ!), and a walk-in pantry to top it off? I was in absolute heaven, daydreaming of the cooking and baking I would have so much fun doing in this kitchen.

I made my way to the left, because behind the formal dining table that sat 6 feet from the giant island in the kitchen, was a wide staircase leading upstairs to a loft area, where I assumed the bedrooms were also. There were a few more doors that I would get to later, assuming one was another bathroom or bedroom, and at least one of them led to the garage.

The loft area sat mostly above the kitchen, dining room and above the piano, leaving a full view of the living room area, and the ability to see at least half of the kitchen and dining room from the side opposite the stairs, and the hardwood floors throughout the entirety of the main and second floors. The loft itself had a study area with a few desks lined against the wall; all 4 of them fit at least two chairs, a work lamp on each surface, and a table in the corner that had a computer with a printer, which I quickly assumed was going to be strictly for homework.

As I made my way down the hallway to our bedrooms, I opened each door to peek inside and see which room I would like most. There were 2 spare bathrooms and 8 bedrooms total on this floor, with the two at the very end of the hallway having their doors 45° angled into the hallway. I opened the bedroom to the right first, and immediately fell in love with the wide space, huge windows, walk-in closet, and a third door that I could only guess was my own bathroom. Giddiness flooded my system as I opened the door and saw I was right. I set my bag on the queen sized bed in the space I couldn’t wait to decorate, and decided I should go get the rest of my stuff and start unpacking. It was dusk now, which meant I didn’t have much more time to get my stuff before night fell over the house, so I slipped downstairs and back into my sandals, flicking the porch light on.

The first load I needed to bring upstairs was my bedding, and if I had enough hands, I could grab my laundry bag. I still didn’t have a clue where the laundry room was, but I figured I would figure that out later. Getting back upstairs and to the end of the hallway had my lungs and legs burning, and I groaned out loud at the several other trips down and back up those stairs I would have to make tonight.

“Ugghhh, fuck!” I groaned, pulling my shirt away from my body rapidly, trying to fan myself. By the 5th trip to my car, I was sticky from sweat, out of breath, red in the face and regretting life, but it was my last load to carry before I could stay inside and relish the cool air of the central cooling system. My last suitcase of clothes and a medium sized box that had my favorite dog’s ashes amongst other sentimental items were in my arms as a big black truck came down the road and to a stop in the driveway next to my Camry. I looked away, trying to juggle the box and suitcase around so I could shut the door of my car, the box slipping from my grasp. Just as I was about to drop that super important box, a second pair of hands reached out to help.

“Woah! Careful! Do you need some help?” A voice asked. My panicked eyes met kind vermillion, that gentle tenor voice belonging to a boy with long red hair that was tied back, a touch of black at his roots. His smile was just as sweet as it lit up his face.

“Yeah,” I said breathlessly, “some help would be great!” He grinned wider, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.

“Lead the way, pretty lady,” he charmed. As if my cheeks weren’t red enough from the exertion, more heat crept up my neck and bloomed in my face. I huffed out a giggle, making my way around the car, leading the redhead up the steps and through the house to my room. I opened the door for him to come in and set the box on my bed, and he let out a low whistle.

“Nice space, can’t wait to see what you do with it,” he commented, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

“Oi, Shitty Hair, you gonna get your shit out of my car or what? Stop flirting, you just met her,” a voice came from behind him. I peeked around the redhead’s shoulders to catch a glimpse at what looked like Adonis himself. A tall, sculpted blonde with gorgeous ruby eyes was scowling in our direction, his gaze narrowing as he saw me.

Shaking the scrutiny from his gaze off my shoulders, I turned my attention back to the redhead in front of me, trying not to let my gaze wander to his bare arms that were shown off from his cut off t-shirt.

“I’m y/n, by the way. Thank you for helping me with my stuff,” I grinned, holding my hand out for a handshake. He grinned back widely, but instead of shaking my hand, he held his arms out and pulled me into a hug, shocking me at first, but I absolutely hugged back. He felt so warm and his chest was cushioned, (not to mention he smelled amazing! Like marine moss, citrus and driftwood..)

“Name’s Eijiro, but you can call me Kiri, if you want,” he said over my shoulder, giving me a gentle squeeze before letting go, turning to head back downstairs. As I stepped into the hallway to follow him, two more boys came sauntering into view, one with sunny blonde hair and a black streak in it, the other with raven black hair. They were laughing and giggling at the top of the stairs, trying to trip each other to get to their rooms first, but stopped in their tracks as soon as they saw me. Eijiro chuckled and went around them to get back downstairs. The blonde one dropped all his bags, holding up hand to point a finger at me before shouting,

“GIRL! THERE’S A GIRL IN THE HOUSE!” Like I was some kind of 1600’s witch. The raven-haired boy cracked up, and I could hear Eijiro cackling from downstairs. The ash blonde was coming out of his room from behind me, coming to a halt a few inches from where I stood. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him, the smell of warm honey and sea salt floating to my nostrils.

“Yeah, Sparkplug, she’s a fucking girl. Stop ogling and get back to getting your shit out of my truck.” He said gruffly, grumbling out, “fucking idiot” as he passed us all on his way back downstairs.

Snapping out of my trance, I looked between the new boys in front of me, offering a small smile.

“Anyone up for some pizza and we can do introductions when it gets here?” I suggested, making them grin widely.

I got a, “for sure, man,” from the ravenette, and a, “heelll yeah, brother,” from the new blonde to cement my decision, and I grabbed my phone to open up the Domino’s app.

. • ° * ° • . … . • ° * ° • .

A/N: first part might be a bit awkward, I haven’t written in a while. (Help me out with tags?) Next part is in the works, hopefully as I get back into it, I’ll be more comfortable and it’ll get better. I can come back and edit later if I feel like it’s missing something. Hope you enjoy 🤍

[sundasystems]

3. Up in the Air

I booked a flight to Charlotte for the following week. A part of me wondered if I was taking the right tack with this. I didn't necessarily want to expose myself so early, but Sunda was a legal monstrosity. Any litigation other than the Lotus affair was settled out of court, records sealed. I didn't see much if a way forward without actually seeing the compound itself.

But it was okay. They didn't know who I was. I would just be a simple tech blogger who had come to see his favorite multinational conglomerate.

Tickets were expensive but I felt I needed to get there quickly to really get into this. I needed a lead and Sunda was the only place I could get one.

I could feel an unnatural pull toward the place. I hadn't felt this strongly about the thrill of chasing a story in... Maybe forever. This one could be big. I could feel it. I found it difficult to focus on anything else that week. The name Sunda just kept playing in my head over and over.

Finally, the day arrived and I woke up extra early to get to the airport. Check in went quickly. Security was smooth. And before long, I was boarded and seated. The flight attendants did their safety demonstration and then we were in the air.

However, I got my first surprise when I opened up my phone.

It seemed impossible to avoid them, these days, even for those people who weren't embarking on an investigative quest with them at the center. I clicked the button to join the wifi and smiles widely. Almost giggled. It was very funny to me that I'd be using their own service to forward my plan to bring them down.

I spent some time re-reading my notes. I wanted to compile a list of players in this little story:

Dominic Rey, CEO of Sunda Systems Bethann Johnson, CFO of Sunda Systems Christian Hopkins, COO of Sunda Systems

Then there were the people I'd either interacted with directly or had done research on:

Emily Voss, Administrative Assistant, ORD Reggie (last name unknown), Employment Recruiter James Pepper, Fmr. CEO of Lotus Clinical, Executive CRD John Delphine, Fmr. COO of Lotus Clinical, Executive CRD

I also received a follow up email to my "Helen" email that I'd applied to the Behavioral Psychology position with. I will provide the body of the email here:

Good afternoon Helen! This is Reggie from Sunda Systems. We spoke on the phone about a week ago regarding the Behavioral Psychology position advertised on Karear. It was wonderful to speak with you and I just wanted to follow up to see if you'd given the application any more thought. The position is still available, and we are keenly interested in seeing your resume. Provided that you fit our criteria we are willing to give you a competitive offer. Please Sleep on it and let us know your decision. Connected in Harmony, Reggie

After that I must have drifted off. I remember reading the email and thinking that I really hooked them. I was planning on spending the rest of the flight drafting a fake CV to submit to them so that I could get access to their campus as many ways as possible. But my eyes were heavy. I had gotten up early to catch my flight, after all.

Without closing the laptop, I let my eyes rest for just a moment.

The flight attendant woke me with a light tap. She told me that we were beginning our descent into Charlotte and that I needed to stow my computer.

I'd slept for four hours.

I guess I must have needed it. My mind has been working hard on this project. I deserved a little break. I stretched as much as I could in a small plane seat and packed up my stuff. We touched down and taxied to the gate.

Charlotte International Airport was full to bursting with advertisements for Sunda. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. This was the closest major city to their headquarters in Eden Springs. I guess it also made sense then why planes flying in and out of this hub would have Sunda wifi on them.

By the time I was picking up my rental car, I was positively buzzing with excitement. I was wearing a constant smile. There was a spring in my step. I knew this was going to be a good trip.

The rental agent gave me my keys and I got into the car.

The touch screen in the center came to life with the logo of the company that made it. I recognized it immediate as one of the Sunda subsidiaries. It really was impossible not to get wrapped up in their web somehow.

They had hands so much of our daily lives and we didn't even know it. We just go about our days, completely unaware of the level of control they had over us.

I turned on the radio and began my drive to Eden Springs.

[junebugwriter]

Tiring night. I work overnight as a hotel night auditor, and a lot of that is a pull between customer service and managing certain accounting tasks for the next day, which is a pretty easy job all things told, as long as the "customer service" variable is relatively manageable. However, it was a Friday night, and those are usually rough. Phones ringing off the hooks, guests lining up in front of me, you know the drill. It can be maddening.

I get the feeling it wasn't supposed to be like this. None of this is supposed to be like this. The more money people have to blow, the angrier they seem. I'm doing a the job of a supervisor for the pay of an entry level worker, and I've done so for six months, since the time the last overnight supervisor quit. I've just... kind of done it. Nobody asked. I've trained several people in that time. I've applied for the supervisor job, too. I've been told for a month now that any day now, the "promotion" will be mine. My pay hasn't gone up. My authorization hasn't gone up. I'm still just doing the same thing I've always been doing, for not nearly enough money.

But my story is hardly unique, isn't it? Companies don't do anything unless they are forced to. Management doesn't care about the workers until they are made to care. But I'm isolated. There are three (3) total overnight auditors at this hotel with service for over 600 rooms. We should have at least 6 people doing this job. But we don't. Because we've gotten by without it for so long, the management seems to think it's going to be fine forever. I've told my direct boss, who is fine and who gets it (tm) because she was a front desk worker not long ago and deals with all the front line bullshit on a regular basis. She's been fighting for me. But management has never responded to any email I've ever sent. They've never corresponded. I've only ever seen the current front office manager twice. In five years. Once was on accident as I was leaving. The other time was when he had just started working here. I had been here for three years at that point. I've outlasted three rounds of management hiring and firing.

From what I can tell, though, this is how it is EVERYWHERE. Every time I talk with other hotel staff, or with other service workers, or hell, even with OFFICE workers, people are being over-extended. This goes well beyond burnout. I mean, I'm burnt out. I know I am. But I'm managing doing this job full time, while writing a PhD dissertation... and now managing gender dysphoria and beginning transition, too. It's all so much. Everything is just happening so fast, it feels like the world is accelerating so fast, and nothing will ever slow down, get easier, or get better.

I don't know of any person my age who has hope things will get better any time soon. Unless we all do something about it, nothing will get done. I tried a union, but the anti-union work is very real around here. Also, I work with max 3 other people a night. I don't see the bulk of the work force, so organizing isn't exactly something I'm primed to do. Not that "organizing" is a thing I'm at all good at anyways.

I just feel so fucking fried, so tired. I know part of it is my disability, but I also just know that this isn't how things are supposed to be, either. Nobody should have to do all the shit we have to deal with. Nobody should be paid pennies for working at a place you could never in a hundred years reasonably afford given our wages. Yet here we are. And the worst part? Management keeps finding new, stupider ways to scam people out of their money, which makes customers madder because they KNOW that they're being scammed--and take it out on the service workers!! As if we're in any position to do anything about the pricing that was decided by the upper levels of everything! As if we don't already know that the hotel is garbage, overpriced, and only this expensive because we're in a tourism town!

I work all the fucking time, to the point where I don't want to do anything on my days off because I need the time to recover. But recovery never comes. Just more anxiety, more worry, more work. And it seems never ending.

It shouldn't be like this. This cannot continue. But it will, until we have a broad and connected working class to push back against the powers that be. I know, I'm isolated, disenfranchised, and disenchanted intentionally, that's how capitalism works. But goddamn, each day feels like we're all squealing into the next on bald tires and broken brakes, but if we stop, we starve.

This cannot continue. It all has to burn, so we can build a better world in the ashes of the old.

[blazehedgehog]

Sir BlazeHedgehog, where is your nickname from?

Oh wow, somebody actually asked for once instead of me having to volunteer it.

This is probably at least the third time I've said this just on this blog alone, but since tumblr search is worthless, we'll take it from the top one more time, but I'll hide it behind a "read more" tag for those who would rather skip it.

And because I'm going to be hiding it behind a tag, I'm going to go all in and tell a story.

The short answer is I made it up.

I am from a time before the internet was everywhere, on everything. In the 5th or 6th grade, our computer lab teacher introduced us to the world wide web using the suite of Apple Macintoshes they had available.

And when I say "Macintosh" I mean the original. Black and white screens, Hypercard, the whole deal from 1984. Keeping in mind it was currently 1995.

About 25-30 of these little guys split in to two rows. In the middle of the classroom sat a lone Macintosh Performa. Good kids got to use the Performa.

The Performa was the only computer that was capable to render what we would begin to know as the modern internet. It had Netscape Navigator installed, which supported the somewhat-new technology of webpages with embedded images.

For the rest of us, we were introduced to the text-based internet. You would bring up a terminal application and have to type out commands to interface with the school's webserver in order to check things like email (using PINE). You browsed the internet using Lynx. There was no mouse, no clicking. You scrolled using the arrow keys and could highlight links with tab.

They taught us other terminal commands, like how to open a direct text chat with another student in the lab, some basic formatting and typing stuff, etc. It was slow, difficult to use, and the internet was a lot smaller back then. We had somewhat strict rules on what we could and could not do on these machines, but since they couldn't do much, it wasn't hard to enforce.

In high school, half of the lab was a mixture of older 5200 Performas and newer 6600 "Pizza Box" Performas, with the other half being more left over monochrome Macintoshes. They also had "the one really nice computer" but this one was a modern (by 1997 standards) Power Mac G3. New tech came newer rules: no installing games, no adult content (even soft stuff, like girls in bikinis), and no chat rooms.

We were teenagers, though. You tell us not to do something, and that immediately makes you want to do it. I remember catching some of the particularly geeky among us logging in and playing online MUDs (the precursor to MMOs), and others trying to get around the Foolproof Software locks to install games or look at porn.

(This is a newer photo of that same computer lab, and I'm unsurprised that, outside of kids being on more modern hardware, absolutely nothing about the setup of that room has changed.)

I wasn't really in my spiral of depression yet, so I used the computers like a good little boy and followed the rules.

Until the last few days of the semester before summer break. That's when everybody -- students, teachers -- collectively stop caring about keeping up proper appearances. I remember having big free periods and spending time in the computer lab. I was usually the only one in there. So, immediately, I began looking up chat rooms.

A few friends and I had gotten into deep trouble a few months earlier, because one wild night during a sleepover we called into a "party line", which was a service where you were hooked into what is now known as a "discord group chat." Except you didn't know who you were getting connected with. They were total strangers. That was part of the thrill. It was new and exciting. We happened to be lucky enough to get a group of girls who were near enough to our age (maybe a little older), and we spent hours talking with them via speakerphone.

The thing was, there was a precedent that doing that cost money. You were calling a 1-800 number, and there were service fees associated with that. Per-minute. So we racked up a bill of something like $70-$100+ that night. That was a big problem.

But internet chat was free. The allure was impossible to ignore. And with it being the last few days of school, who could stop me? At worst I'd be kicked out of the computer lab, but they weren't going to, like, expel me. Being in trouble was a fake idea.

I forget where I ended up the first day, it was some kind of general Yahoo chat or something, but I remember I was too shy to be myself. Being 13 or 14 at the time, I decided to roleplay as Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. One of the only times I ever did anything like that. I was full-on "I send a rose to all the ladies @}---;----" and everything, it was awful.

On the final day, I started looking up Sonic fansites and ended up somewhere called "Ruby's Sonic Page." This was the homepage of Dawn Best, under the handle Ruby the Echidna. It was there she talked about a game I'd never heard of before -- Sonic Adventure -- and provided a link to the announcement trailer in glorious 160p MPEG-1 video. I was blown away. They were making new Sonic games again?

Provided was a link to discuss the game with other Sonic fans, and it lead to Missy's Sonic Chat, a Beseen Chat Room on a website called Xoom (one of the many Geocities clones). Beseen Chats weren't live chatrooms like we'd think of modern-day Discord, or even AIM or IRC. Beseen was much more comparable to Twitter, or Tumblr, in that it was a website where you could post messages and could refresh the feed to see what other people had posted. It was a bit of a hack, but it worked well enough.

The whole thing was broken down in to different frames (if you're too young to know what those are: imagine multiple separate embedded webpages, sectioned off to specific portions of the screen). So you'd have a frame on the left that was a userlist, where people had set names and even large image avatars for themselves. At the bottom you'd have a text entry field with two buttons at the end: Send and Refresh. And then taking up most of the screen real estate was the feed itself. Something sort of like this, I guess:

And a lot of people in this Beseen chat had made up their own, original characters. This was my first introduction to Sonic OCs. And Missy's chat was a veritable who's who extremely talented fanartists. Ruby, Barachan, T2, J. Axer, Rinacat, etc.

I wanted to fit in, so I felt like I needed to come up with "a character" of my own.

Literally the first name to jump to mind was "Blaze the Hedgehog." I didn't like it. It was too obvious. Surely there had to be other Blaze the Hedgehogs out there, right? And I wasn't even particularly attached to "flame" powers.

So I sat there for a few minutes, trying to think of something better. My mind went blank.

Admitting defeat, "Blaze the Hedgehog" it was.

The chat was rather dead, given it was still technically a school day, and once I went home that afternoon, that was the end of my access to the internet. The best we had at home was some sort of Hyundai thing -- amber monochrome monitor, no graphics rendering, no hard disk, basically just a glorified word processor.

That changed once my mom got her tax return a little while later. She invested in a 233mhz Packard Bell desktop computer with Windows 98 and a subscription to America Online.

When prompted to make my own AOL username, I decided to go with "Blazehgehg." BlazeHedgehog. The character I'd made up at school.There it was. For the first time, for real, it was set in stone. And from 1998 to 2023, I've never changed it. Other "Blaze the Hedgehog"s have come and gone, but I've been the constant.

Later that night, I found my way back to Missy's Sonic Chat, and I grabbed one of Axer's Sonic images, sloppily recoloring it in MSPaint. I printed it out for posterity and kept it in a folder with artwork I'd actually drawn.

Blue and green were my favorite colors. Sonic was blue, so Blaze was green. Instead of shoes, he had boots. He wore a leather vest with a black t-shirt on underneath that covered most of his body. And atop his head, a sprout of hair, colored like a flame.

Blaze's only real role as a "character" was in the first and only fanfiction I ever wrote for him; the story was a blend of Final Fantasy VII and an anime I was in love with at the time named "Green Legend Ran." It's better it was lost to time. Besides, I don't think it was ever finished.

Blaze would go through several revisions over the years. More immediately, The Matrix hit the next year, and Blaze was given a trenchcoat. Also, since I could like, actually draw, I decided to stop painting over other people's artwork and draw Blaze for myself.

Eventually, Blaze Hedgehog the character fell out of favor. I grew up. I never really used him for much more than a forum avatar anyway, and even then, I felt like people were judging me for having a Sonic OC. Especially a green hedgehog. There were a dime-a-dozen green hedgehog Sonic OCs floating around.

Once Sega introduced Blaze the Cat in 2005, that sort of became the final nail in the coffin. But by then, I'd been using "BlazeHedgehog" as an online username for seven years. I'd grown attached to it. I didn't want to change it. So... I didn't.

As I've gotten older and put some distance between myself and that time, I find myself a bit nostalgic for the character of Blaze the Hedgehog. I redesigned him a bit a few years ago to look more like a traditional Sega Sonic character, swapping in a bomber jacket and getting rid of the shirt.

And, of course, there was Sonic Forces. Options were limited there, but a brown leather jacket and the weird black bodysuit got closest. I was most surprised by the hairstyle options. While we don't get the classic yellow-to-red, we do get a green-to-red, which is good enough. And I really like these ring-strap boots.

That's about all there is to say, really. These days it's just a username for me, and I keep it so old friends can find me more easily. I'm pretty terrible at keeping up with some people, and I get the feeling I probably come off cold to others when that's never been my intention. But for those who want to keep tabs on me, they know where to find me.

[adultswim2021]

The Boondocks #42: “Mr. Medicinal” | July 18, 2010 - 11:30PM | S03E12

Currently having a CLUTTER CRISIS In my apartment due to water suddenly pouring down onto one of my closets, and a discovery of MOLD in my other closet. That’s TWO closets evacuated. Luckily I never did get around to furnishing my kitchen's dining area, so all my stuff is just sitting in some fair-sized stacks in a corner where a kitchen table ought to be. In other words, folks, I’m too stressed to blog these days. But if I’m being honest, I’ve been milking it, and I got let out of work early today because of inclement weather and I figure, why not just embrace the blog being bad and do a bad post on purpose.

The Boondocks dip their controversial little toesies into the turbulent topic of medical marijuana. Grand Dad Gets Hooked On The Stuff (i capitalized all the words because I think this should have been the title of the episode!!) after a sobering doctors visit regarding his stress levels. So off to WEED he goes… to say the least! 

This was a very funny one, it runs out of steam very very late into the episode, which is nice, because that means most of the episode was wildly entertaining. I love seeing that old guy get zooted. I also laughed at the commercial about the side effects of the pills, that’s very well done and I loved the little clip of the commercial dad playing in a garage band.

Also, the part where Grand Dad eats Cheerios. Also funny one-time characters like Officer Douche, the Mark Hammil dealer, and the funny judge that loves wikipedia (please don’t tell me if this judge was in other episodes! IF I CARED I WOULD HAVE BOONDOCKS WIKI’D IT [wow, he just like me fr]). 

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG

I saw that you had copies of the adult swim lost pilot/pilots Southies. I can't find them anywhere. Do you happen to know where I could get them?

hey dont know how else to reach you but saw you had the pilot for southies and wondering if you were able to send me a copy. anythings appreciated. heres my email if you decide to help out: [e-mail redacted]

I intend to e-mail the one person with the provided e-mail, but as a back-up/public service, here is the actual television-aired pilot for Southies. My write-up for Southies details a bunch of differences between the various versions of the pilots. Bottom line for those who don't wish to read it: I watched each version of them and sincerely believe this is the best, most watchable, fully-realized version of the pilot out there. I will leave it up until I forget why I uploaded it and thoughtlessly delete it. Feel free to post it elsewhere, as well.

do you like klasky-csupo. You know they used to make one of your favorite shows, starring a certain yellow family. And I ain't talking duckman, bud

Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (pronounced "Class-key Chuppo") is a multimedia entertainment production company which specializes in animation and graphic design located in Los Angeles, California and it was founded by the American artist and producer Arlene Klasky, the master Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó and their nephew Attila Csupó in 1980, hence the company's name. It was known for co-producing a majority of Nickelodeon shows.

Klasky-Csupo did the animation of The Simpsons Ullman shorts and the first three seasons of the series until the animation was taken by Film Roman, though the shorts were all completely animated from the ground up in-house over there (AKOM, of South Korea, took on the role as doing the in-betweening, coloring and filming when the show proper was renewed). The company had a major argument with the executives of the show about "Some Enchanted Evening", declaring "maybe this shit isn't funny!" (What they basically meant when they said that was that the show's writing quality was the real problem.). The episode that was originally going to be the first one (and was produced as such), but was left as the first season finale, since the animation was not good for the producers.

You wanna know something? For years I've pretended to not like Klasky-Csupo, but I like their in-house style. I will not tell my famous anecdote about seeing their building once, though. Okay

[soundorp]

How to make 1000$ money per month with podcasts? Here are the Hacks.

So you’ve got a podcast, huh? Maybe it’s something you started just for fun, or perhaps you’re using it as part of your business strategy. Either way, did you know you can actually make some serious cash from it? And if you were searching “How to make money with podcasts” on the internet you are on the right page!

Brand Sponsorships: Turning Your Passion into Profit

Let’s get to the first way of making money with your podcast, which is brand sponsorships. Brands and businesses these days pay top dollars to put their products and services in front of specific audiences. Currently, we’re seeing a shift where big and small businesses are investing more money in sponsoring independent podcasters like you and me instead of spending money on traditional forms of advertisement like paid ads. Because independent creators have a closer relationship with their audiences. They’ve been building trust and building their relationship with their listeners and followers by posting content and showing up consistently. Even more so if you have a podcast.

What’s a Brand Sponsorship?: Think of it like – big and small companies pay you to talk about their stuff on your podcast.

Why Are Brands Interested in You?: Because you have something special – a connection with your listeners that big ads can’t buy.

The Power of Podcasting: Unlike social media, where people swipe ads faster than flash, your podcast keeps listeners hooked for the whole show.

Quality Over Quantity: Why 200 Engaged Listeners Beat 2000 Social Media Followers

A thousand podcast listeners is more powerful than having thousands of followers on social media when the topic is monetizing your audience. Why is that? Because, my bud, it’s all about attention. For how long? How frequent can you keep your audience’s attention? Attention is currency these days. People get lost on their smartphones, sometimes going back and forth between apps and tapping on notifications. That iss getting increasingly hard for brands to keep the attention of their target audience for more than a few seconds. Unlike social media, podcasting has the incredible power of keeping listeners hooked for the duration of an entire episode.

The Attention Game: Attention is like gold these days. It’s hard to keep, but podcasting makes it easier because listeners stick around if you and your guest are talking stuffs.

Niche is Nice: Having a small but super-focused audience means your listeners are more likely to buy what you recommend.

The Parasocial Connection: Your listeners might not know you personally, but they feel like they do. That’s powerful!

Building Relationships with Brands

You might be sitting on some real opportunities without even knowing. Start reaching out to brands and businesses that would be interested in putting their products and services in front of your audience. Find the contact information for their marketing department and shoot that person a DM or an email telling them about your podcast and your interest in creating episodes highlighting their products. Be thoughtful and clear in your communication and highlight how excited you are to introduce their product or service to your audience. Also, don’t forget to include your podcast analytics and use the same argument I presented about why you have a small but real audience.

Reaching Out: Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. They don’t come when you sit idle. Make a list of brands you’d like to work with and reach out to them personally.

Audience First: Choose brands that match with your audience’s interests and needs. Trust is important, so only promote products/services you believe in.

The Power of Follow-Up: Even if a brand initially says no, staying on their radar can lead to future opportunities.

How to Land Those Brand Deals: Tips for Reaching Out to Companies

Get Their Attention: Find the right person to talk to in the marketing department and shoot them a message.

Be Clear and Excited: Tell them why you love their product and why your audience will too.

Show Them the Numbers: Share your podcast stats and explain why your small audience is mighty.

Creating and Selling Intellectual Property

Another way to make money from your podcast is by packaging and selling your intellectual property online. So, it sounds more complicated than it is. Let me simplify it. You identify a problem your audience has, and you create a solution so they can go from point A to point B. You may be doing this already with your business. Maybe you have a digital course or an ebook you’re selling to your audience. If this is the case, I want you to create a special offer only for your podcast listeners, add more value in the form of a one-on-one coaching session or a mastermind or a more intimate event.

Identify Audience Needs: Use your podcasting to identify common problems your audience faces.

Offer Solutions: Develop digital products like courses, ebooks, or coaching sessions to address these needs. Just like a blog. We provide solution and sell products from amazon or services from in the process according to your needs.

Tailored Offers: Provide exclusive offers for your podcast listeners to add more value and deepen your relationship with them.

Affiliate Marketing

You know those awesome guests you have on your show? Well, if they’ve got something to sell, why not ask them for a little something in return? You can ask for a commission for helping them sell their things. Plus, don’t forget to score a discount for your listeners – they’ll love you for it! Just make sure to tell them you’re earning a commission, so they know what’s up.

Easy Entry: Start earning commissions by promoting products/services through affiliate marketing.

Know Your Audience: Choose affiliate products/services that resonate with your audience.

Transparency Matters: Always disclose your affiliate relationships to maintain trust with your listeners. Sane goes with the sponsors.

I have discussed some more hacks in my Full article on How to make 1000$ money per month with podcasts.

[dailymanners]

If your job requires emailing at all, I've also picked up a few methods for responding to rude emails.

In my current job I strictly work B2B (business to business) and before this job had only worked retail and food service. I thought when I broke into office work that I was finally done with, well, the types of things you deal with in public facing customer service roles (the constant rudeness, dehumanization, unnecessary hostility, etc you know) but unfortunately after nearly two years sending and receiving emails in a B2B setting I regret to inform you that people are still rude dehumanizing jerks even when you are both professionals at work representing your own respective companies.

So, here's a few firm yet professional replies I've picked up.

If you are emailing with a supplier (as in a situation where *you* are the client) obviously you still need them to function at your job so you still need to be professional and remain on good terms with them, but unfortunately with the way things work when you are the client you do get a little more leeway in being firm and standing up for yourself. My go-to response when a supplier is being out of line rude / unprofessional / disrespectful is:

"Unfortunately I have to express disappointment at the lack of professional tone in your email."

Every time I've used this with a supplier I get an apology and a change of tone from thereon. You don't want to escalate the aggressive tone in a work related email, that never ends well, once they drag you down to their level there's no coming back from the fact that you just normalized the aggressive and unprofessional tone of your email communications with this supplier, so you want to keep the "high ground" so to speak. When you keep on the high ground instead you can shift the tone back to professional and courteous, which obviously makes your job easier.

However, you're still not letting them off the hook or just letting it slide with expressing your disappointment, and it's also good to be (professionally) putting your foot down and calling out the behavior so they don't get the idea that they can throw tantrums at you again in the future in a professional setting.

Handling rude and unprofessional emails from clients is obviously more tricky, because depending on what industry you're in the power dynamics are typically shifted more in their favor, so you have to watch your tone a little more.

I'm lucky enough that at my job I'm not only part of a union, but I have a boss who takes my side when clients are being unreasonable and unprofessional, so I can get away with a:

"Let's keep the tone of our communications professional, shall we?"

It still has a bit of a "customer service" tone to it, it still gives you the high ground (again, you don't want to sink down to their level and normalize rude / petty / hostile interactions with this client, it will make your job harder and more stressful if you do) but it does still address the behavior and let them know you're not just letting it slide.

Tips and ideas for how to respond when someone is being rude to you

For personal reasons I won't get into, I have a history of just freezing when some is rude / hostile / aggressive / condescending / patronizing / etc. It's obviously not something I'm happy about at all, most people who freeze or fawn aren't happy about it and would change it if they could.

One day I confided in my co-worker, a middle aged woman in her 50's, that this is something I struggle with. Considering how confident and assertive she always struck me as, I was shocked when she told me this is also something she's struggled with.

The advice she gave me is to just memorize and practice a few broad statements or reactions that you can pull out of your pocket so to speak when someone is being rude or disrespectful to you. It's not easy if you're someone who's been conditioned to freeze or fawn, but practice helps. Practice saying these things when you're alone. Put up a sticky note next to your bed or on your bathroom mirror with these phrases and practice them when you see them. Practice saying these with a partner or trusted friend, role-play scenarios where you might need to use these phrases.

Here's a few phrases that have worked for me. The nice thing about them is that they tend to shut down the situation rather than escalating, while still letting the aggressor know that you don't find their behavior acceptable.

"Are you okay?"

This works well in professional settings, because it's not like your work place's residential bully can run to HR about you asking if they're okay (but they might if you try to retaliate and give them a taste of their own medicine). However, it still effectively sends the message "I think there's something wrong with your behavior and don't accept it". It's also not likely the response they're expecting, so it'll likely throw them off and prevent further verbal aggression.

"Could you repeat that for me? I didn't catch what you said."

This one is most effective for people you believe to actually have a conscious and might regret what they said if they actually thought about it a little more. I find that often when I do this one, when people repeat the rude/snippy/patronizing/etc thing they either shamefully stumble over their words and show some remorse, or they change altogether what they say. In the off chance they don't regret what they said and end up repeating exactly what they said, this at least buys you some time to think of a better reaction since you're no longer caught off guard by a sudden rude and snippy remark.

"Can you explain what you mean by that?"

Similar logic to the last one. Often when people are being rude/snippy/patronizing/etc they're caught up in their own emotions in that moment and didn't think it through. This is a polite and civil way of putting their rude behavior in the spotlight and making them reconsider what they said. The other advantage to this one is that in case you did misread their intentions and they meant no harm by what they said or did, this gives them an opportunity to clarify that, instead of you just feeling bad over a statement or actions they actually had no ill intentions with.

If anyone has any further examples of reactions / responses / statements that have worked for them, I'd love to hear about them. I'm new to studying the art of how to civilly yet effectively shut down bad behavior from others, so I'm always open to hearing more suggestions.

[yashkhanna2042-blog]

 6 factors to consider before hiring a digital marketing agency

5 factors to consider before hiring a digital marketing agency

Why hire a digital marketing expert or agency?

Digitization is fuelling the current market and businesses. According to Forbes magazine, around 80% of people shop or view a business online. Having heard that, businesses have now gauged the importance of going digital. This offline-to-online shift has brought tremendous changes, one of them being the enormous growth of digital marketing. The rapid growth of digital marketing has changed the business dynamics, thereby telling us that it is worth the hype. Hiring the right digital marketing agency can effectively help you please your online goals.

Nobody turns down amplified traffic and proliferated sales, bringing along the right partnership. However, here are some things to look for before signing up the final deal. Save your pockets with this elaborate guide below.

Digital marketing services:

Before we delve deep, these are some services that all digital marketing agencies provide:

Social media marketing

Search Engine optimisation

Content Marketing

Web design and development

Search Engine Marketing.

Public Relations

Advertising

Pay per click

Ad management

Email Marketing

Five factors to keep in mind whilst hiring a digital marketing agency:

Before you move ahead with your hunt, make sure you know what you're looking for. If you're looking for SEO services to boost your rankings, an SMM-specialised agency will not give you the desired results. Are you looking for a more responsive website, or are you seeking effective link building, etc? Evaluate all your requirements; the better you understand your goals, the closer you are to hiring a digital marketing agency that fits well.

1. Make sure you're under experts: This comes as a harsh fact, but it is true! Nobody wants a callow agency that runs on a trial-and-error basis. Therefore, before signing up make, you are under the right experienced expertise. Additionally, it is also important to know whether they are experienced in your business niche. For example, if you are a fashion brand looking to grow your social platforms, make sure that the approached agency has some previous experience in running such campaigns. Lastly, do not fail to check its outcomes and conversions!

2. Are they up-to-date with the tools? This criterion might have you dig some stuff. It is important to stay relevant to the tools and trends that revolve around your particular industry interest. If you are hooked on enhancing your rankings, make sure the chosen digital marketing company is updated with SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc. Our advice on this is, 'Don't go rookie'! In this case, half knowledge about things can help you differentiate between mediocre and quality digital marketing agencies.

3. Are they result-oriented? If an agency is promising to bring you results that are unfathomable, then it probably is 'too good to be true'. Exaggeration doesn't always provide the required results. If the approached agency is talking about greater results, make sure you ask them about their strategy and plans. Marketers are smart people; make sure you don't fall for their compelling CTAs whilst hiring a digital marketing agency.

4. Decode their pricing model: No doubt these services come with an expense, but dealing with contradictory pricing schemes is challenging. If you have a set spending limit, you would not have to work with a company whose fees are significantly more than your means. Also, it is important to understand their monetary bifurcation before signing the deal. Believe us when we say, 'reduced prices do not bring multiplied results. Save yourself from falling for this trap!'

5. Is it well-reputed? Through customer feedback and testimonials, research a company's web reputation. To get a wider perspective, you can also conduct a Google search. Google My Business (GMB) profiles should be present for the majority of credible digital marketing companies. This is one of the many important factors to keep in mind before hiring a digital marketing agency. Be espionage for your business!

Conclusion:

Collaboration with the right digital marketing agency can add the desired value to your business. There are many agencies out there claiming promising results. Your job as a brand owner is to dodge the average and choose the best fit! As a brand, you can leverage their experience and prowess to upscale your business. The hunt for a credible agency might befuddle you at times. Don't let it overwhelm you. Make sure the chosen one checks all the boxes given above before signing the real deal! 

[hotcupoteckla]

one more thing from actual statistics- hope!

So, about that whole "polls can be manipulated, Millenials and Gen Z don't poll the same way" bit, allow me to reassure you with MATH!

First thought: I want you to think of all of the calls and texts and emails you've had to Block recently.

Each of those was a poll.

It was likely either a party centered poll trying to figure out which side you were on and if they need to convince you to vote for them, OR it was a 3rd party poll like for the PEW Reasearch Center or CNN polls to find out how likely it is you'll vote a given way.

Now think about again how you blocked them, and how EVERY ONE YOU KNOW OF IN YOUR AREA has been complaining about those harassing, spammy pollsters.

Those blocklists? Those are a phenomena called NON-RESPONSE.

Polls will day they "reached out to 10000 households" and these are "the results we received" they're about even, right?

Wrong.

Those responses might be only 30% of the people they tried to reach, and while they do try to break it down to different categories

From the responders

They're not capturing a lot of data. If you need to find out, Try to find the sample size as well as the total respondents to get a better picture of what's going on.

There's also the voluntary response that is both the polls and voting!

Voluntary responses are

Not as reliable

For capturing accurate data. Why? Because in making these types of surveys there's a lot of non response AND

Response error (untrue responses, by hook or crook)

Convenience bias (using phones, emails, website surveys, 'street surveys')

& undercoverage

Because Millenials and Gen Z are chronically online, they're not as willing to give attention to telemarketers asking bunches of personal questions, and develop strategies to avoid those. This messes those surveys up with smaller sample sizes, and allowing more extreme opinions to prevail/influence the averages data (sample mean, sample standard deviation)

Voluntary responses

are also more to collect the extremes in responses - like product reviews online.

You get 1 stars(rants), you get 5 stars(raves/bots), and the Most Helpful reviews tend to be those very few 3 star reviews for details & accuracy of both the quality of the product AND the quality of service - even these helpful reviews are from very opinionated people, too!

So for every vote you see out there in the polls - you aren't seeing at least 7 to 10

7 to 10 voters who are more likely

Younger,

Less /extremely/ opinionated,

Online more often,

Encouraged to be civically engaged by what's at stake & having already made headway with certain issues as a collective action.

Etc.

However, while this is great for the media and stressful to see, I want you to note how it's also forcing civic engagement.

In a close election, every vote matters.

It's very easy to make that argument this year, especially when there are attacks against our voting systems to try and disrupt voting.

Especially when one party is saying every vote against them is faked.

Your vote matters, and it's your responsibility to both use your right to determining your governance and make sure your vote is ACCURATELY ACCOUNTED FOR.

Don't forget about that last bit.

You can be darn sure I'll be suing my clerk for reports if my early vote was rejected or counted erroneously.

So, take heart & take those polls with a block of salt until the votes are all in, but be sure to use their closeness to get your family & neighbors involved in the election, and TELL EVERYONE TO CHECK ON THEIR VOTE!

It’s the Saturday before Election Day 2024 here in the US, and stress/anxiety/fear/etc… is pretty high for a lot of people. That’s warranted, because another 4 years of Trump/GOP rule will harm so many people. You should do whatever you need to manage the next few days (including voting if you haven’t already), but I really want to encourage you to stop giving polls and “close race” media coverage much / any of your time or consideration.

Polling processes are wildly obsolete for how Millennial and Gen Z voters act compared to Gen X and Boomers (this is not a dig at these generations, just a factual observation). Polls are also easily manipulated to return a desired result, and the people running polls have a vested interest in getting your engagement. Keeping the results tight keeps eyeballs on them.

Similarly, the 24/7 media environment needs you constantly on edge and worried so you keep checking in and listening. They have no interest in a boring election or landslide victory. The majority of journalists have not risen to address this moment with the deliberate, in-depth reporting that we need. It’s far easier to throw together click-bait headlines to pump their numbers. It’s why they spend days covering the tiniest slip by Harris/Walz (and previously, Biden) while giving Trump/Vance a pass on every insane thing they say. Trump is *incredible* for news companies. He is so outrageous that their headlines write themselves, and as long as they don’t follow-up to truly report on him in a way that would end any other politician, they have unlimited content. Whatever you think about Biden, just remember: a single debate performance that wasn’t great was seized upon by the media (because it made for great engagement) and ended his candidacy. Trump can say the most batshit things (they’re eating the dogs!), and they minimize it at every opportunity, because he is good for them. They are sacrificing their journalistic integrity and responsibility at the expense of real people’s lives and rights.

So, what do we do if polls and most news coverage isn’t useful? Remember:

Trump lost the 2020 election. The Electoral College is the only reason it was even close. People were fed up then, and they are even more fed up now.

Roe was overturned by an activist Supreme Court that Trump is responsible for. In virtually every state-level election since then, the results have been outstandingly positive for Democrats, including in the Deep South™. This is why so many GOP politicians have stopped talking about abortion, even going so far as to remove their position from their websites, or directly contradicting themselves when asked about it. The only person making a decision about a woman’s body should be that woman, and these predominantly white dudes still don’t realize how badly they fucked up.

The majority of Trump’s former Cabinet and senior leadership have very publicly turned on him. While it would have been nice for them to do this earlier, it’s unprecedented to see so many prominent Republicans declare they will not vote for him. This doesn’t impact the hardcore MAGA crowd, but it absolutely speaks to more centrist Republican voters.

Trump has been convicted of sexual assault, and he is an adjudicated rapist. He’s been convicted of 34 felony indictments, with more to potentially come. Even though it seems like he never suffers consequences for these legal issues, it costs him voters. People who could justify supporting him before are finally reaching a limit, even if they don’t publicly admit it. (Some do!)

Also, more and more people who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 are willing to publicly admit they are tired of him and can’t do it again. His rallies are smaller and smaller, the crowds are less engaged, and, yes, people leave during his rambling rants more and more often.

Gen Z is getting to vote for the first time at any real scale. Say what you will about TikTok and other platforms, but they are more informed and showing up and caring about issues that didn’t move the needle for Gen X or Boomers. Remember the Access Hollywood, grab ‘em by the pussy, tape? That should have ended his original campaign, but it didn’t. Gen Z has found out about that, and it’s just one of so many things driving them to get out and vote. The turnout is going to be incredible.

Because we still use the stupid Electoral College, this election largely comes down to swing states. The Trump campaign has done almost everything imaginable to lose those voters. Whether it’s bashing unions (Trump said a child could do the same job as automotive workers building cars, he bragged about not paying overtime, etc…), immigrants (they’re eating the dogs, GOP-led states demonizing them), Puerto Ricans (calling their home a floating pile of garbage, Trump denying hurricane relief for almost two years), or women (abortion, telling women they should vote how their husband wants them to, Vance thinking their purpose is nothing more than baby-making, stay-home, wait-on-a-man’s every need), they are losing the swing states.

Elections are *incredibly secure and trustworthy.* The Trump/GOP camp has attacked this at every opportunity with virtually no success. The few instances of voter fraud we’ve seen in the last few years are almost entirely from Republicans. They have already started the narrative that the election is rigged if Trump loses. This narrative will only increase as results start to roll in on Tuesday. Don’t even worry about it. They will lose every / almost every single lawsuit they try to bring. It will have no impact on the eventual outcome.

Early voting, including absentee and mail-in ballots, turnout is incredibly encouraging. The higher the turnout, the better, and people are showing up. There’s fatigue and embarrassment on the GOP side (you’re gonna eventually hear from those voters that they stayed home, voted for Harris, etc…), and there’s excitement and motivation on the Dem side.

Are there reasons to be worried? Of course. The Trump campaign is going to try and obstruct the voting process in every way they can. They’re blocking poll monitors in Texas and Florida. Drop boxes in some states have been attacked. Voter rolls have been illegally purged. They’re bringing lawsuits (most of which they’ve already lost) even before Election Day. They’re going to claim fraud. They’ll probably incite violence again.

These are the actions of a desperate campaign that isn’t trying to actually win, because they know they’ve already lost.

So, we can acknowledge our stress, anxiety, and fear, but we don’t have to let it ruin the next few days. Get outside and enjoy (hopefully) beautiful Fall weather. Snuggle your pets. Listen to your favorite albums. Read a great book. Hang out with your people. Vote.

We’re a few days away from a massive weight being lifted from our shoulders. Don’t let it weigh you down until then.

[startblogpro]

What Does a Blogger Do?

Hey there, aspiring wordsmiths and digital storytellers! Have you ever wondered what a blogger actually does? Is it all about sipping coffee at hipster cafes and typing away on a laptop?

Well, my friend, there's a lot more to blogging than meets the eye. So grab your favorite beverage and join me on a journey through the exciting world of blogging—a comprehensive guide to what bloggers do!

Part 1: Crafting Captivating Content

At the heart of blogging lies the art of crafting captivating content that engages, informs, and entertains readers. Here's what bloggers do in the realm of content creation:

Researching Topics: Bloggers spend time diving deep into various topics to gather insights, facts, and inspiration. It's like embarking on an intellectual treasure hunt!

Writing Engaging Posts: Bloggers put their writing skills to work, creating well-crafted posts that resonate with their target audience. They weave words together like master storytellers, capturing readers' attention and keeping them hooked until the very last sentence.

Adding a Personal Touch: Bloggers infuse their unique personality, voice, and perspective into their writing. It's like adding a pinch of spice that makes their content stand out in the vast sea of information.

Fun Fact: Blogging Bonanza

Did you know that there are over 600 million blogs on the internet? That's like a whole galaxy of ideas, experiences, and knowledge waiting to be explored!

Part 2: Navigating the Technical Landscape

Blogging is not just about writing—it also involves navigating the technical landscape of the digital world. Here's what bloggers do behind the scenes:

Managing Websites: Bloggers set up and manage their own websites or blogging platforms. They customize layouts, design aesthetics, and ensure a smooth user experience for their readers.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Bloggers optimize their content for search engines, strategically incorporating relevant keywords, meta tags, and descriptive URLs. It's like unlocking the secret codes that help their content get discovered by eager readers.

Analyzing Performance: Bloggers dive into analytics tools to understand how their content performs. They analyze website traffic, user engagement, and conversion metrics to refine their strategies and provide better content.

Part 3: Engaging with the Blogosphere

Blogging is not a solitary endeavor—it's a vibrant community of creators, readers, and enthusiasts. Here's how bloggers engage with the blogosphere:

Building a Community: Bloggers actively interact with their readers through comments, social media, and email newsletters. They create a sense of community, fostering discussions, and building relationships.

Collaborating with Others: Bloggers often collaborate with fellow bloggers, industry experts, or brands. They engage in guest posting, interviews, and collaborative projects to expand their reach and provide diverse perspectives.

Staying Updated: Bloggers continuously learn and stay updated on the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in their niche. They attend conferences, webinars, and workshops, and connect with other bloggers to exchange insights and ideas.

Fun Fact: Blogging Evolution

Blogging has come a long way since its inception. What started as personal online diaries has now transformed into a powerful platform for businesses, thought leaders, and creative individuals to share their ideas with the world.

Part 4: Monetizing the Blog

Yes, blogging can be a source of income too! Here's how bloggers monetize their blogs:

Display Advertising: Bloggers can earn revenue by displaying ads on their websites. They can join advertising networks like Google AdSense or work directly with brands for sponsored content.

Affiliate Marketing: Bloggers promote products or services through affiliate links. When readers make a purchase through those links, bloggers earn a commission. It's like being a trusted recommender of awesome products.

Selling Products or Services: Many bloggers create and sell their own products or offer services like coaching, consulting, or online courses. They leverage their expertise to provide value to their audience while generating income.

[bitchesgetriches]

Dear bitchlings! We’re proud to announce that we’re partnering with Capitalize to help you roll over your 401k and make sure you're getting the most out of your retirement accounts! 

Capitalize is a third party company that takes you gently by the hand and guides you lovingly through the 401k rollover process.

They also help you find any old retirement plans you might have left behind, even if you forgot where they are, who handles them, and any passwords you need for access. They handle the paperwork, the phone calls, the scheduling, the faxes, mailing checks, and all those wild notaries.

Go to Capitalize’s website and fill in some basic info.

Schedule your phone call between your Capitalize rep and your retirement fund. They’ll give you a list of dates and times to choose from, then handle the logistics while you go make yourself a snack.

At the scheduled time, answer some simple questions on the phone with the loving and carefree guidance of your Capitalize rep. (Julia was heckin’ delightful. She translated all the financial legalese for me in real time, and answered my questions, and advocated for me with the rep from my 401k servicer.)

Receive some emails with some documents for you and your spouse (if you’re hitched) to electronically sign. Sign ’em! At the same time, they’ll hook you up with a notary you can meet online??? Like a civilized person???????

Wait a few days for Capitalize to send the money to your rollover account. Check your fat new balance once the rollover’s complete!

Bask in the knowledge that at no point were you stalled by confusing instructions, forced to start over due to bureaucratic shitfuckery, nor ghosted by a self-important pencil-pusher.

Start your 401(k) rollover with Capitalize

[precipikitten]

In case anyone else is wondering how i made my Rina cosplay, here's an explanation!

The clothes were mostly just clothes I bought online and modified - planning to sew mostly from scratch for future cosplays though. Got a blue hoodie, replaced the drawstrings to be white and sewed the white stripes on. The skirt was too big so I took some fabric off to make it fit and used the extra to make into a purse. The shoes were just regular red hi-tops and I replaced the laces with light blue ones.

Now the part people are probably actually interested in, the Rina-chan Board!

Most of the Rina-chan Board was from PorzellanProps on Etsy - they sell either a fully printed version they ship to you, or the 3d model files for much less. I live in Ireland so getting a local service to print it was much faster and less expensive than buying the version they printed from the U.S.. It usually comes with swappable faceplates which seem to work really well from what I've seen other cosplayers do with them, but I wanted to make it work like Rina's!

Doing what I did with the LEDs it involved a lot more DIY and improvisation that I can't really get in get into without writing for far longer than I want to the day after an English exam, so I'll give the short version.

I ordered a perforated LED matrix from online, where holes are punched in the unused space between each LED so you can see through it from the other side. Unfortunately something like that was so obscure I had to email the company directly to get an invoice for it since they'd stopped listing it online, but if anyone wants to know where they can get one lmk and I'll see if I can find a link!

I needed a way to keep it in place, so I modelled a custom slot to glue between the faceplates, so the matrix would rest in it without sliding around. I also glued a plexiglass panel cut to shape between the front faceplate and the matrix holder.

To get it to actually work, I hooked the matrix up to an Arduino and installed all the plugins I need for it to run. To control the faces and brightness while actually wearing it (especially at cons), I also connected the Arduino to a small 12-key number pad and coded it so each button corresponded to a face. One fun fact about the default smile face is that it actually blinks randomly every 5-7 seconds!

As a last minute addition just before going to MegaCon with it, I wrapped the faceplates with duct tape and coloured it with an acrylic marker, then cut holes in the tape so the panel would still slide in. Both for aesthetics and structural integrity.

So yeah it's kinda scuffed and a lot went wrong in the process of making it, definitely wouldn't recommend mine as the best way of going about this But it worked well and held up for 3+ hours in a crowded con, so I consider that a win!