#and i saw some article blog thing from 8 years ago (2017 being 8 years ago makes me need to throw up immediately wtfffffffffffff) that said

[fairy-ganj-mother]

i actually feel like i was in a hole for 8 years

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, December 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the October report, although some may be older than that.

I am also missing a lot here, but pared it down somewhat to make more readable. The lead up to the holiday shopping season was a lot crazier than I expected 🙃

Given the time of year, please do not expect another report until January. However, I will do brief posts of important news/blog posts in the interim as needed.

There are going to be big changes to this report coming in 2020. Have any suggestions or feedback?  Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

You are going to need to add Etsy’s tax ID to customs forms on New Zealand orders as of Dec. 1. Etsy’s ID is: 122-669-18.

FTC issues huge fines for selling fake likes & followers on social media, and for posting fake reviews online. “The [likes and followers] case could pave the way for further legal action on the same grounds, using the Devumi case as precedent. Indeed, shortly after the initial finding by the NY Attorney General, Facebook announced that it was moving ahead with legal action against several providers which it had found to be dealing in fake social media engagement.”

Everyone should read this article, if only to learn what not to do: Using “priming” to convert more buyers/users is a crucial marketing tactic.”Priming works by using associations made in our subconscious, and are almost always unnoticeable to the subject.” Example: “During a study, researchers approached customers in an electronics store, who’d entered to buy a new laptop.Half of the customers were asked what their memory needs were, and the other half were asked what their processor needs were...The group who were asked about memory, bought computers with higher memory and the group who were asked about processor speed, bought computers with much higher processor speeds.”

Etsy removed the word “Bugs” from the Bugs forum, & admits they will only will be monitoring it from 9-5 Etsy time (ET) Monday to Friday. They won’t be replying, but expect “hundreds of sellers” to do that job for them, unpaid. If you have an issue, you will now need to email through the Contact page, use the new 24 hour live chat, or phone them. [Note the parts they aren’t mentioning - Support is taking over a week to reply to emails right now, live chat will only be able to help with the simplest of questions (e.g., how do I change my email address?) & it is possible to spend over an hour on hold when you phone. You could spend quite a bit of money on long distance fees, especially if you are in a country that doesn’t have its own phone number, all for something you used to be able to get for free in the forum, sometimes on the same day. This is Etsy’s definition of “major improvements”.]

Check out this proposed US legislation, which wants large internet companies [yes, Etsy fits their definition] to reveal their algorithms & offer visitors a version with no “filter bubble.” You might not like Etsy search now, but I can guarantee it would become impossible if they removed all of the algorithm factors. [This editorial is a bit over the top, but does cover some of the key questions.]

ETSY NEWS

Items have been disappearing from a small number of Etsy searches since July, & Etsy still won’t tell us what is going on. If you discover you are affected, please let me know.

There have been a few threads on Etsy sending threatening emails about shops being below Etsy’s customer service expectations, often for just a few bad feedbacks or cases, which has shocked many long time sellers (even though they have been sending them for years; it appears they have decreased the number of “problems” you need to have to get an email.) Without announcing anything, Etsy released a page of “seller service level standards” that can help explain what they are looking for, namely cases & 1-2 star reviews, as well as the exact formula they use. I started a discussion thread here, & in case Etsy deletes comments in the thread, here is the dashboard showing your score. (Some people cannot make that link work; Etsy says only shops that received a warning can see it.) My blog post is here.

I summarized the 3rd quarter report here, and Etsy summarized it here. The stock market is not happy with management at the moment, with Morgan Stanley this past week stating that they expected Etsy’s 4th quarter to be worse than originally predicted, due to state sales tax laws and Etsy’s reduction in its Google Shopping ad buying. Note Etsy removed the “priority placement” for US free shipping about a week after the 3rd Q report, without any announcement, probably due to the blowback about it reducing first page conversions. (They didn’t announce anything; it just disappeared.)

Cyber Week traffic on Etsy was more than double what they saw on the average summer day.

They did a Q & A thread on the new stats, which wasn’t particularly useful. They admitted they intentionally removed the keyword & other data prior to November 2017 because “older data periods are less comparable to current stats”. [I believe that is code for “we’re too cheap to pay for the storage; investors need their payouts.”] They did finally add YOY comparisons back in a few weeks ago.

Etsy has again changed a few category & attribute options, including more baby stuff.

They did a holiday gift shopping promotion where people could call Etsy & get suggestions for gifts on Nov. 5. All gifts shipped free, so non-free shipping shops were not included. “It could also be a case study for personalization efforts to come from the long-running handmade marketplace.”

You’ve probably already noticed that Convos are now called Messages, but here is the announcement with the details just in case.

Etsy ran an Etsy search critique thread on November 13; the thread wasn't particularly useful, as almost all the staff who do the critiques aren’t experts in search. Basically, they say to use all of your tags, avoid repeating words in tags & titles, have 3-4 short phrases in your title, use commas in your titles (”Buyer research shows that using commas instead of dashes helps titles appear more clean and readable”), offer free shipping, and use all of your photos. The big takeaway for me was - they think we all have unlimited photography budgets, models, and time to do different modelled photos for every listing (including at the beach! LOL), photos of each of our different pieces in progress, photos of us working, & photos of each type of packaging. Needless to say, none of those things are bad if you have gobs of time or the money to pay someone to do all of that. But if you are like me and are a one-person business, live in a small condo, don’t have the strength to take photos all day, don’t have an abundance of people to model when I am taking photos (i.e., people I know have real jobs & aren’t around when I work on photos), and don’t have anyone to take photos of me making things, then this is pretty laughable. I wouldn't even consider doing all of this for my 5 best selling listings, never mind all 430+. YMMV. [The repeated mentions of process photos makes me worry they will be requiring those for everyone at some point …but I am sure I am just being paranoid.] One notable error was telling someone to use “color” (the US spelling) instead of “colour” (the proper English spelling) because the shop’s language settings were US English - Etsy currently treats these both the same, so there is no issue at the moment. Are they trying to give us a hint about something?

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Introducing BERT: Google’s new technology to help organic search process natural language better. This isn’t likely a change you can optimize for, but it should help searchers get more relevant results for complicated queries. “Here is an example of Google showing a more relevant featured snippet for the query “Parking on a hill with no curb”. In the past, a query like this would confuse Google’s systems. Google said, “We placed too much importance on the word “curb” and ignored the word “no”, not understanding how critical that word was to appropriately responding to this query. So we’d return results for parking on a hill with a curb.” Moz’s Whiteborad Friday covered the basics. [warning - some bits are advanced. Just skip those if you need to.] A study said BERT still isn’t very good at understanding “not” and other negatives. The NY Times may be one of the sites that is affected.

If you were disappointed when keyword research tool Keywords Everywhere became a paid tool, a new alternative has been released. Note that Keyword Surfer is still in beta. I’m going to try it for a bit and write up a short report if I think it is worth using. (The traffic estimates are way off, as in almost 10 times too low, for the sites I have info on.)  If you try it, let me know what you think!

While we are on the topic, here’s 13 keyword research errors you don’t want to make. Short takeaways - not every high volume keyword phrase will work for your specific product, don't ignore long tail, and make sure you look at the search results for any keyword before you decide to use it.

Here’s another keyword and topic research tool that compiles questions people search along with a relationship tree so you can see how ideas are connected.

More common SEO problems with ecommerce sites.

If you code your own website, check out the new Google instructions on writing your organic search snippets. Note this is supposedly only about display & not about ranking.

Improve your Instagram traffic with 8 SEO tips for your profile and posts.

Which is better for SEO - Squarespace or WordPress? The results are likely skewed by the fact that “platforms like Wix and Squarespace tend to attract less SEO-savvy people than WordPress.” They agree with what I have been saying for a while: if you know what you're doing, Squarespace sites can rank just fine.

Excellent tips on how good SEO also helps you comply with US disability access laws.

The latest on Google updates - there was apparently one around November 7. This one may have hit affiliate websites more than other types.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article claiming Google manipulated search results to favour its interests & those of its advertisers, including eBay. [The original article is behind a paywall; the link is in that news coverage.] However, many in the SEO community - most of whom are not usually reluctant to criticize Google when they are behaving poorly - feel the article is way off base, & demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge of how Google works. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land & Search Engine Roundtable even did interviews with t WSJ staff for the article, and was amazed at how much they got wrong. “Even a basic understanding of the difference between organic listings (the free search results) and the paid listings (the ads in the search results) eluded them…[Glenn] Gabe told us that not only were his conversations with the paper off-the-record but also that he was misquoted”

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Here’s something I don’t see discussed much: using templates (& other consistent branding) in your social media, blog and website posts.

Content hubs are a very useful way to increase your search engine traffic for a core topic while providing a landing page for social media, ads etc.

Good primer here for beginning social media marketing for your business. You’ll need to do more research depending on your target market and what platform/s you choose, but it is definitely a good overview of getting started.

If you think influencer marketing is right for your business, here are 10 places you can find influencers to work with.

Your email subject lines can change the open rates; here are 19 tips to make them more clickable.

Instagram started testing hiding “likes” on posts in the US as of November 11th, & then announced plans to try it out globally. A study on previous tests showed that there may be some effect on influencer engagement.

Facebook has introduced its own payment system, currently in the US only, for limited situations only at the moment.

Reddit is an often overlooked social media platform to use for business but the traffic is strong, so check out these tips on asking it work for your business. [infographic]

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Pay for online ads (outside of Etsy) but don’t know what negative keywords are? Here’s how to use them with Google.

Hubspot continues their massive rush of “ultimate guides” with everything you wanted to know about Amazon ads.

Facebook now allows you to have different text in the same ads, which can be adjusted for different groups of users.

Amazon is predicted to continue cutting into Google’s online ad dominance through 2021; Google currently has 73% of money spent on online ads in the US.

If you are interested in long term brand building in your advertising, you might be interested in this article, where Adidas admits it was ignoring brand ads & pushing instant returns for too long.

Just in time for the holidays, Google Merchant Center rolled out a bunch of upgrades.

Buying TV ad time is losing popularity; it will be less than 25% of all advertising spend in just a few years, while digital spending is now over 50%.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Facebook changed how they count page impressions.

Everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Oh, and also everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Which one do you like best? [If you have your own website or freestanding blog and are not using the Console, you probably should be reading both of those. Seriously, just set the darn thing up, then learn how to use it later.]

Also, the Console now features a speed report, and has changed how they send you messages.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Trend alert: many struggling or failed retailers sell clothing. “This sector is saturated with supply and is arguably over-stored.” … “For younger shoppers, as they choose which apparel brands do get their attention, sustainability and other cultural issues are often at the forefront.”

US sellers can now get discounted UPS rates through Shippo.

A bug is keeping suspended Amazon sellers from being reinstated.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Don’t use these common customer service lines. ...“there are studies that support the use of positive language in customer service. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do for a customer, focus on what you can do. No one likes to be told no.”

Another article on the psychology of colour; beware that some of this is a bit simplistic, as there are always exceptions.

Holiday shopping will push further into December this year, with half starting around Cyber Monday (Dec. 2). 62% of “high spenders” (over $2100 spent on the holidays) will shop on their smart phones. 25% of respondents to this survey said they already started shopping in September. It turns out most people want gift cards, among other stats. Nearly half of US shoppers are more likely to shop with companies that are socially responsible. Mobile shopping is expected to beat desktop shopping for the first time this season. And yes, most Americans expect to add to their credit card debt before January, men more than women.

US retail sales fell 0.3% in September; online sales fell the same amount.  

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Trend alert - apparently Generation Z is not big on makeup, and it is affecting large companies’ profits.

Google’s co-founders hand the parent company Alphabet over to the current CEO. They still work for Google and will focus most of their time there.

Google Webmaster spokesperson John Mueller tackles the controversial question - is a hot dog a sandwich? [humour]

[stray--thoughts]

The Night Before Thanksgiving Part 8

This 2020 edition should be fun. 2020 sucks. That’s not news to anyone. It’s much worse for some than it is for me, and I’m sure I’m dealing with worse things than others. That takes me back to the fine line of “It could be better, but it could be worse”. It could always be both. 

A friend mentioned that this night use to be “the biggest party night of the year”. It was. Better than New Year’s Eve more times than not. Back when you are in your 20′s, friends are home from school, or back in town to see the family, and a lot of the popular places were packed. You’d have an old football coach belting out some Bob Seger on a karaoke machine with that long hair flowing and flopping around. You see faces you haven’t seen in years Just a fun night. If you scroll past the “keep reading”, you’ll see I’ve touched on some of this before.

Seeing her say that reminded me of when it was closing time and there wasn’t much of a cab service in my hometown, there wasn’t Uber at that point, so you either drove home a bit drunk (and some did), or you got carted home after someone that was sober went and picked up a parents minivan. Unfortunately there were a few nights that I was the dumbass that was sober and having to pretend I was the school bus driver. Even so, it was still good times. 

Earlier I was listening to a Longmire novel and Craig Johnson as Walt Longmire said the following:

It hit home.I have memories. Everyone has memories but with time some fade. Are the facts 100% crystal clear? No. Did x/y/z happen? I think so. Maybe. No way. Yes it did. Hell if I know. Somewhere in a blended blur of that is the truth. 

I’m sitting here beating on the keyboard trying to make this one a bit longer than last year and half wondering whether tomorrow’s Charlotte Observer is going to have a Thanksgiving column from Ron Green Jr. Last year his father, announced that 2019 would be his last installment, and it was one thing I looked forward to each Thanksgiving. The old man would wax poetically about things he was thankful for, whether it was a rocking chair on the porch with his wife, golfing with old friends, his grandkids,a favorite food or spirit, or a Carolina Panther star like a Christian McCaffrey. Maybe since 2020 is a bit special in the grand scheme of things with everything that is going on, just maybe he backtracks and gives us one more. I hope so. 

I do wonder what the 2020 version would be like. I know the now 58 year old longhaired ball coach who is now bald with a long beard, would likely be at home. No Seger, or “Funky Cold Medina” for him. I know some faces would be missing since they are no longer with us. I’m guessing I would need to be a fly on the wall, because I doubt my many of my friends, or people I know would be there. It would be a younger group.

I’m sorry for sharing some of those boring stories Springsteen pondered in “Glory Days”, but I guess the Boss was right, but so was Henley. “Those days are gone forever” 

Previous installments below:

2013

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/27/13

The night before Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite nights of the year. Back in my hometown, it was a night when friends would gather at one of the few watering holes where said friends could share some adult beverages.

We’d usually start off at one place with dinner and beers. Note there was an s on the end of the word beer, but then we’d cross the street to a new place that had karaoke, more BEER, and more old friends. Well, truth be told a few old enemies would pop in here and there.

We’d share some memories, stretch some truths, tell some lies, and it was fun seeing old friends. Of course it was fun seeing old flames too. We’d have a ball, signing each other up for the previously mentioned karaoke and trying to find the most fucked up song or funniest song for them to sing. Oh how I wish it were modern day where every cell phone had a video, because watching an ole ball coach singing “Funky Cold Medina” or “Brickhouse” as his long hair swayed and his hairy little nubby feet attempted a bit of a drunken dance. Oh I’d pay good money to have footage of that, but of course if that were modern day, seeing a coach/teacher slightly intoxicated on youtube or some other form of social media would be grounds for his dismissal which is bullshit, since he was simply an adult having some fun with other adults. Like I said I would pay good money (if I had good money) to see that footage once again.

You’d see faces pop in of people you hadn’t seen since high school, or hadn’t seen in quite some time You’d see a bombshell walk through the door and you are like well I could always see some cuteness in that awkward teen from years ago. Of course at the end of the night you’d have the same two or three guys trying to sneak out on a bar bill. At times you’d have a group of them trying to bribe someone into trying to get on top of the bull in the corral. Yes, an actual bull in an actual corral out in front of the steakhouse. He wasn’t there long, but he was there.

An ex would walk up and whisper in your ear, “I’ve got something to show you”, and you simply respond what’s that? While she says come out here and you walk to the back side of the building and she takes your hand and slides it down her pants and you feel her freshly shaved pussy, which was definitely new. You make plans for Black Friday to spend the day fucking like you used to.

As I said, you hear some old stories, that 55 yard touchdown was up to about 63. You argue about beating a rival 43-34 when some former teammate is swearing on his Momma that it was 43-30. You simply say, look, I know what it was. That is my pin # and has been ever since. You flag down another teammate and he confirms that it was 43-34, and then he gives the other guy a hard time for forgetting it.

At this point you are 15-20 beers into the night and you know you could very well drink another dozen or so if the bar wasn’t closing. You crawl into a minivan which was basically a shuttle service. You drop the old ball coach off at his miniature mansion and tell him to cut his hair. He flips the group off with that stumpy middle finger and then he waves.

You come home, crawl into bed and think about the night. You think about the memories, you think about that freshly shaved pussy.

Oh I sure miss those days.

2014

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/26/2014

It’s still one of the things I miss about my hometown. I don’t miss much, but I miss my friends, the old haunts, the stories that stretch the truth from time to time.  Someone bringing up a time at party and someone trying to deny it ever happened.   As I said in the original post it was a time for friends to see friends. That is/was one of the beauties about a small town. A part of it you didn’t really respect or understand completely when you were there.

I no longer have ties to my home town other than a few friends, with my parents being gone, and having moved away quite some time ago. A small part of me regrets leaving, but the majority of me is glad that I did.

Memories don’t die, but they sure can fade away.

2015

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/25/2015

I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, I’d call it just not in the mood to reminisce. With that said, I’ll give it a shot, since this become some annual ritual. I do know I’ll be tracking down the Ron Green(former Charlotte Observer columnist) annual Thanksgiving article tomorrow.

Earlier tonight on the back deck while grilling some burgers I thought of some old friends, some old times. That  made me remember that I have really neglected my YD&B side blog, but that happens.

Thoughts drift back 18-20-22 years. Thoughts drift to better times, happier times. Maybe it was being more carefree, not fully understanding responsibilities. Then it reminded me of a quote from a book I read this year year. “This is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper, it was made into a movie which was decent, but the book was better as books often are.  I know I shared the quote, but here it is again.

The last time I saw most of my old friends was the summer of 2014 at the funeral of one their father’s. While I sit here typing this, half thankful that I’m not there at the moment, I know it would be like that July night. Wouldn’t miss a beat and it would be like old times. Telling stories, sharing memories, laughing till you are about to choke on a beer. So I’m torn. Part of me wishes I was there instead of typing this, but another part is glad that I’m not.  The dreadfully sad part of it is that is one a handful of times that I’ve actually enjoyed myself.  Past > Present, with the future yet to be in the equation. Really sucks.

It really sucks knowing that the next time I’ll likely see most of them will be at another funeral. But that is how the cookie crumbles at times.  

2016

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/23/2016

This is the 4th time I’ve sat here on Thanksgiving Eve slapping these keys trying to make sense. 2013, 2014, and 2015 can be found below.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to go back to my home town and hang out with some old friends, but I had to pass. I didn’t trust my car to drive the 30-35 minutes to Statesville to ride the rest of the way with another friend. I don’t trust it to go much further than the short trips that I generally take. It has two issues on it’s to-fix-list. One was quoted out at about 1k(and hopefully will be addressed shortly) the other yet to be determined. I’ve already thrown about 400 at that particular problem and that didn’t fix it. It’s frustrating. But, to be brutally honest, I could have had a 2017 whatever with 17 miles sitting in the drive way and I can’t promise that I would have gone. Well, maybe I wouldn’t be in the same mindset if the 2017 whatever was sitting outside.

This is where I could easily insert that Jonathan Tropper quote. Maybe it should just be my mantra, but it fits. If I didn’t mention it last year, I would quote it again, but if you read this whole jumbled cluster of letters you’ll see it, or you can click here.

It would have been nice to see them. In this little snippet from last year, I also wrote about the last time I saw them. I could quote that again since that hasn’t changed either. But it would have been nice to sit around with a cold beer or four and catch up, and spend some time with them.

Maybe I’ll wake up one day soon and shake myself out of this funk. I’m picturing a 75lb puppy coming out of a river and drying himself off. Maybe that would work.

I guess when I finish this I’ll sit down and read back through the previous 3 entries and I wish I could say I feel like I’m in a better place, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc, but that would be spitting lies.  

I think at one point I made a post about being thankful for having an imagination but in the end, it might be negative thing. Hard to tell.

The night before Thanksgiving used to be a part of the Holiday festivities. Now it’s just a Wednesday.

2017

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/22/2017

I’m sitting here typing this, mostly forcing myself to get something down, and It will be shorter than the others. I just have a haunted feeling engulfing my mind after reading through the previous 4 installments. Sitting back with last year’s installment knowing had I made that journey I would have had at least one more night with a good friend who took his life over the summer. That is hard to reconcile. I’m not thinking that the one night would have changed anything. There were a number of other friends at the get together, but selfishly it would have been a night where stories would have been shared. Memories rekindled and shared. …..A moment that is gone, that never was…. kinda reminds me of the Springsteen line:

Again,hard to reconcile and process.

Oh and those Jonathan Tropper quotes still ring true:

2018

thoughtsthatstray: Written  11/21/18

Sitting here beating on this keyboard. Trying to add something to this collection of whatever you call it. It’s hard for my mind not to drift to friends and family that have been lost and that are no longer with us.

I still have some regret about not taking that trip in 2016. Maybe it would have made a difference in the events that happened the following June 1st, but I doubt it. I’m sure we would have told some stories, some lies and stretched the truth like it was an old Stretch Armstrong toy. That is par for the course. The 138 yards rushing against a rival football team stretches to 171. The 51-8 ass beating of the 5th ranked team in the state will stay 51-8 since that is stamped deep in the brain.

I’ll wake up, fix some coffee and locate the annual article of retired Columnist of the Charlotte Observer Ron Green Sr. It’s a bit of a tradition. I’ll try to remember to come back and link it here. Not that anyone will read it.

I still pay to see some of that Karaoke action mentioned in a previous installment. It was better suited for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, than “Star Search” at least all of that is stamped on the brain too.

The Springsteen line still hits home:

I guess it always will.  

I’ll definitely have to fall asleep to a mindless sitcom tonight. Might have to have some Kenny Powers action.

2019

thoughtsthatstray: Written  11/27/19 

I woke up this morning with a lyric in my head. I couldn’t place it to start with. One of those things that pisses you off because it is on the tip of your tongue but it won’t come to you.  I fixed some coffee, turned the computer on and called on my old friend, Goo-gle, she’s still French and typed it in trying to knock that nugget loose from the back of my mind.

Not placing a lyric from one of my favorite songs. I need to be slapped.

The last few years, I’ve read through the previous entries, this year I simply copied and pasted, then put the images back in, so that everything is complete. I don’t want to read it. If there isn’t a storm hovering, that could easily cause one. It might storm anyway. I’m not even sure why I’m even typing this. Maybe a ritual. Forcing myself to spit something out. Nothing of any worth that is for sure.

Yeah those days are gone forever. That is for sure. At least, well hopefully, I’ll get to search for a Ron Green article (it appears this will be his final one, which simply sucks). Just another thing that will be gone forever.

[watchmanis216]

Past Prophetic Events are interesting. Here in the Summer of 2017 we experienced the Great Summer eclipse. It was at this time in which we had been telling people that the Prophetic aspect would show a great divide in America. It was a messenger to all America of a great event. One that was already there. A division, which did not happen when Pres. Trump was elected; as it already was there.

This event revealed what would be a major trouble in America. Division which we have not seen since the civil war. We look again at the hype, the experience, and the event in this post. -Editors note

Great Summer eclipse Harbinger of Portent

A Trooper with the Highway Patrol in Cheyenne reported early 5am that cars are wall to wall, and the roads packed with cars heading to view the eclipse. The cars are going around 15 mph heading north to view the eclipse. 

Past Prophetic Events:Wyoming Eclipse Summer 2017

This information came from a phone that a user among us was utilizing to see how packed the roads are. The fact that today, Monday is this packed also is backed up by the officials in Casper who say that many will come up Monday.

There are no hard numbers yet on the crowds in Natrona County for the eclipse, and at a press conference today, Eclipse Festival head Anna Wilcox said we may not know for sure until October.

But Detective John Hatcher of the Casper Police Department says it is obviously thousands. How many thousands, and how many more will come Monday he doesn’t know. But Hatcher said, “The crowd has been very well behaved, and the whole event has been a very happy one.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 Continue in post to view video of local events and more information. 

Eclipse in the Summer of 2017

The Great Summer Eclipse of 2017 has finally arrived. It’s precursor events around here included a street fair, a science gathering on the eclipse, and many events held on area Lakes. The hype has been fully noted and as we gathered ourselves to walk through the street fair here, no doubt the eclipse was the number one item on peoples minds. Yet for this area, the hype about how many would come to view the eclipse produced numbers of staggering size. We had been routinely telling people that the officials in Wyoming believed around 500 thousand would come to our state for the eclipse and it’s activities. On the streets, however; folks from Colorado said that around 600 thousand would come to the area alone. In addition, locally around fifty thousand were expected. As of this writing, the evidence is such that crowds may not be that packed.

Wyoming Summer Eclipse 2017 Street Fair from The_Watchman on Vimeo.

However while speculation is that many would have driven to our area on Sunday, officials say the majority will come up Monday and go home immediately.

Eclipse planners are now turning their attention to Monday itself as thousands will drive here in the morning and leave immediately after the event. 

During the street fair, we asked a number of people if they were from out of town. We managed to find a lot of friendly Wyoming locals, but few out of towners. But a drive on around town saw many out of town license plates.  It will be about a month before the figures will come in to verify the economic impact on our area. The good news is, that officials in the police department say that the crowds have been peaceful. I personally saw the CERT patrols and officers, both walking and on bicycle; proving that the local force of Police were out and about. Also noted was that the crowds were friendly, happy, and eager to enjoy the fair and the food. This is a good thing. Yet in spite of it all, America is divided and news has been duly reported of more upcoming protests and violence like that in Charlottesville are scheduled to occur in the upcoming weeks.

There is no doubt that today, the Americans who are willing to divide, conquer, and even cause deaths because of their violent protests is more important than America. These people also have been proven, that is some of them; as being paid anarchists who are hired to cause chaos and trouble on the streets. The bankrollers of such people are political related non profits and billionaires like Soros or political hacks like Obama. Both of whom and all of whom who fundamentally will stop at nothing to get their way in America, even if it destroys the nation.

There are views, opinions, and thoughts; along with biblical prophecy on signs and wonders. I have written a number of articles, which you will find on this site. These give understanding into such things. However, I do not rise and fall according to prophecy, human events, or debate on such things. I walk daily by faith and know that no matter what, the Lord will make a way for me and my family. I urge people to be civil, peaceful, and to also watch out for the dubious people who are among us to cause trouble.

In all this enjoy the time and the event, seek the Lord!

The Watchman Dana G Smith

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The Epic Saga of Responsibility

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America Blood Guilt ‘The Sins of Tophet’

Will the Ungodly, Rich, Powerful Escape America?

America House of Long Shadows

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Reprobate: The nation whose god is not the Lord!

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Islam and the Antichrist Jesus

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Eclipse in the Summer of 2017

Past Prophetic Events:Wyoming Eclipse Summer 2017 Past Prophetic Events are interesting. Here in the Summer of 2017 we experienced the Great Summer eclipse.

[colethewolf]

Ah, I see Jeff Davis hasn’t changed one bit over the years. Are you curious to see his true colors? If you haven’t already gotten a glimpse...

Now, I’ve spoken a lot about my feelings towards Jeff Davis & the way he has treated his cast members, the fans, and especially the Sterek fandom. This video interview from San Diego Comic Con, where he calls out a Geekiary writer, simply because they don’t sing his praise, but rather, point out Jeff’s continuous queerbaiting attempts & mistreatment of fandom, is another glimpse into the kind of person Jeff Davis is.

The video starts with each of the interviewers at the roundtable introducing which website or blog they come from. When an interviewer from Geekiary states when they’re from, Jeff immediately jumps into some poorly rehearsed, overacted, and dramatic (much like Teen Wolf’s acting) response, where he ponders for a moment, & then calls out one of the writers at Geekiary (Farid).

Now, if you don’t already know. Farid writes for Geekiary & doesn’t hold back when it comes down to calling out Teen Wolf for the large and insulting missteps that the show takes, as well as he speaks out against mistreatment of fans & the huge queerbaiting issue within the show. And because Jeff Davis has never been one to stomach hearing the uncensored, non-sugar coated truth about his failure as a showrunner, his failure as a writer, and his failure with Teen Wolf, you can bet that Jeff Davis took this SDCC interview to rear his bitterly lopsided & vindictive head.

In the video, he completely blindsides the available Geekiary interviewer by questioning her about Farid & asks (starts at 0:15) : “why does he still write about the show? Like, what show is he watching?”. And while the interviewer is clearly & audibly uncomfortable with Jeff unprofessionally questioning her about the articles of somebody else, he continues on with the interviews.

It’s probably important to tell you guys that Teen Wolf has actually had a large history of complaining about negative reviews, about negative reception from fans, and about the embarrassing loss of viewers per episode from season to season. I honestly don’t even know how many times they’ve come out to say that fans just aren’t giving the show a chance & that they’re not watching the show correctly & that they should stop watching if they don’t like something in the show & that the show is actually getting over 8 million views per episode....okay.

So, the interview goes on. Yet towards the end, Jeff clearly isn’t done. Before he gets up from his chair to leave the table, he turns to the Geekiary interviewer and says (around the 6:20 mark) : “Tell Farid hello from me personally. It’s because he’s a Sterek fan, right? I hope all this Sterek dreams come true.”

I mean, this attitude & the clear, noticeable, radiating bitterness & vindictive nature of Jeff Davis isn’t new to me. I experienced it first hand, alongside the rest of the Sterek fandom four years ago during season 3B. Of course, I’m not personally surprised, but I feel it’s important to keep reminding you of the kind of person that Jeff Davis actually is. His hatred towards Sterek & Sterek fans continues. He hasn’t changed.

Jeff Davis is cowardice personified. He specifically took the moment to call out Farid, negative responses towards his show, and Sterek (yet again) because Farid wasn’t sitting in front of him. Plus, he knew that he could blindside that poor interviewer by targeting her. But we know he’s a coward. We know he runs & hides away from where fans get direct access to tell him how we actually feel. 

For example, Jeff Davis isn’t on Twitter anymore. He hasn’t been for years. Although, he used to have a twitter. He used to talk to fans. He used to bait Sterek all the time via his twitter. But he deleted it after fans called him out for racism. Mainly regarding his decision to cast a black woman in the role of Kali, when Kali was originally supposed to be of Indian decent. Of course, it’s wrong to have somebody play a character of a race that they are not. But Jeff Davis didn’t like hearing it. 

Additionally, he was promptly called out for the fact that both Isaac & Erica received minor backstories during their season. With Isaac coming from an abusive household & Erica suffering from her epilepsy/ transforming into somebody that gets noticed. Yet, Boyd received little to no backstory whatsoever. Jeff was called out for it on Twitter, but couldn’t deal with that either.

Jeff also used to do Q&A’s on Tumblr, but stopped doing them once he realized that people wanted to question him about ridiculous writing, about baiting, about Sterek, and about other things that he couldn’t bear to be questioned about. So he left Tumblr & actually had one of the TWPR people take the blame for certain Jeff-related issues.

As I said, cowardice runs deep within this man. And of course, his bitterness & hatred towards Sterek & Sterek fans remains prominent, as detailed with this interview. Especially the last part, where he equates Farid’s necessary & enlightening critiques to being nothing more about Sterek-- demeaning them & essentially chalking them up to bitter rants from a shipper. When in actuality, Jeff’s queerbaiting, his abusive treatment of Sterek fans, and his no-homo’d treatment of Sterek within the show is something incredibly important to critique. 

Especially when it’s 2017.

Now, I’ve made countless posts before about Jeff Davis’ feelings towards Sterek. It’s simple. He hates it. He hates the fact that he couldn’t get away with destroying it in his show after baiting it & using it for views. He hates that he wasn’t the one to come up with the idea. He hates that his show got cancelled & ultimately failed, whilst Sterek continues to thrive within a community & fandom that doesn’t give two shits about Jeff Davis & his canon disaster. 

There are some newer Sterek fans that didn’t live through the horrendous Anti-Sterek era during season 3B, and there are some fans that still hang onto the hope that Jeff Davis will reward us with Sterek becoming endgame in this final season. If anything, THIS new interview with Jeff & his incredibly embarrassing performance as a Teen Wolf-style villain towards Stereks should tell you everything that you need to know. 

Jeff Davis does NOT care about Sterek. He doesn’t care about the fans. He decided to use Sterek one last time to promo the final season & he plans to use it even more to get ratings for his last season as incentive for whatever podcast mess he wants to do after the show ends. But other than that, he will disappoint you. Jeff is going to do everything in his power to destroy Sterek & make you feel like shit. Don’t give him what he wants. Don’t buy into his transparent trickery. Don’t think he cares about fans.

This is what Jeff Davis does.

Instead, continue to thrive within the Sterek fandom. As fans, we’ve created this home for Sterek fans to enjoy. Look at all of the wonderful material that we create. The fanfiction, the fanart, the manips, the gifsets, the ideas, the grand total of fanwork that has literally made Sterek one of the most popular & beloved ships of this time. We don’t need Jeff. 

Let Jeff continue to hate the ship. You know that he’s seething inside regarding the fate of this show, meanwhile, Stereks continue to make Sterek fanwork & everybody else is looking at Jeff Davis & his show w/ genuine laughter on their faces. 

I mean, seriously. Jeff Davis did everything he could to destroy Sterek within the show. He no-homo’d both Stiles & Derek (at the same time, might I say). He kept those characters apart. He didn’t let Dylan & Hoechlin work together. He refused to do any of the scenes that Dylan & Hoechlin proposed to Jeff. And look at where Jeff ended up....his show failed, Dylan & Hoechlin left, nobody is watching, and he has had to resort to using Sterek for views. 

Just like Criminal Minds, just like his Let the Right One In, & just like Teen Wolf. Jeff Davis has gotten himself fucked over. So much that his only path for a career is to hope for a TW podcast series....plus....his hopes that MTV will do a TW reboot in the coming years & give Jeff Davis the opportunity to be the showrunner....it’s not happening. 

In closing, 

Don’t allow yourself to get fooled for even a second to convince yourself that Jeff Davis is a good person. He’s not. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about fans. And he especially doesn’t care about Sterek. He cares about money, ratings, & getting his revenge on all the people that get to laugh at his failure. That’s why he targeted that Geekiary interviewer. 

He knew that if Farid had been the one sitting there, he wouldn’t have opened his mouth. It’s just like how he doesn’t have a Twitter or Tumblr anymore, because he knows he couldn’t handle getting directly bombarded with critiques from displeased fans. And also, he knows deep down inside that he fucked himself over by fucking Stereks over...which of course, leaves him the only option to pretend as if he’s perfectly fine.   

So play it safe, Stereks. Don’t fall for nonsense. Don’t fall into whatever tricks Jeff will try to play in 6B. Remember that all of the Sterek you saw in the trailer was icing. It was purposely put there to entice you into watching, so you’d end up falling into the lower levels of whatever rotten, shitty mess Jeff is trying to cover up. Because you know he’s going to probably bait Sterek in the beginning of 6B, only to disappoint in the finale...

And remember, don’t let yourself get bullied by anybody for being a Sterek shipper. We’re strong. This fandom has gone through a lot of shit, but we’ve managed to create something so beautiful for ourselves. We’ve won & Jeff Davis will watch from his sinking show. He’ll be vindictive & bitter for the rest of his days, because he knows that fucking over Stereks was the absolute WORST decision that he made with his show. 

Stay strong. Stay safe. Keep shipping. Sterek is Eternal.

-Cole

[stellacarrierscriptstories]

Stella Carrier Script Stories Law of Attraction Edition Script 36 and Memoirs of My Future Higher Self In A Heaven Afterlife Part Eleven

Stella Carrier Script Stories Law of Attraction Edition Script 35 and Memoirs of My Future Higher Self In A Heaven Afterlife Part Eleven

Start time of beginning both script stories and future higher self; by somewhere between 1139 pm to 1143 pm

Completion time of the scripts and future higher self memoir by  to 1150 pm

I preface by making it clear that I am definitely not telling anybody how to live, Rather I am doing this for my own writing passions and spiritual creativity/spiritual evolution, as a healthy and constructive spiritual and creative art therapy outlet for the various dreams and desires that I discovered can be channeled into artistic writing therapy. Additionally, I am following both my intuition and logic in doing what I consider this activity to be fun/exciting as I have a strong instinctive feeling that this activity ties into my destiny andor life purpose in various ways that I may only fully understand after my current lifetime. Last but not least, this activity actually helps boost my spirits and allows me to practice my creativity and writing dreams in all areas of my life for both present and future.

Stella Carrier Script Stories Law of Attraction Edition Script 36

December 19, 2017

 I Stella Carrier am so excited. The time period is now December 16, 2017 and I have reached my savings target goal of 2599 dollars after taxes. Both my husband and I have also achieved success at our current jobs at the University of Maryland College Park. We work different jobs but both multiple and several customers as well as multiple employees are happy with our work. I Stella Carrier am also happy to report that I have also reached my target weight of 137 pounds by December 1, 2017 as well

 Memoirs of My Future Higher Self In A Heaven Afterlife Part Eleven

November 8, 2170

Dear 36 year old Stella Carrier living on earth during your current incarnation. As your future higher self from this time period, I as your future higher self want to remind you to be humble when it comes to the positive sign you saw earlier. I know that you are striving to be your best in this regard but I had to put it here for reasons you are going to understand by the year 2025 or sooner. I want to call positive attention to what you noticed in the Virginian Pilot article, one of your main female spirit guides gave me permission to tell you that it is ok for you to acknowledge that connection between what you wrote earlier in your law of attraction scripts and what you noticed in the article later on. This was one of the positive things that you can mark as a win even though I am also here to remind you that your life is getting better each day and you are also being gifted with the ability to turn even challenges into beneficial opportunities and ladders towards what is considered the good life or happier life. Go ahead and write in ahead of time some of the things that you did write but leave the space blank for that for right now but allow yourself to fill in within 18 hours or less of this posting

 What I Did Write-To Be Updated by 6 pm or sooner tomorrow

 Future lifetime image of 500 years or less from now to also be updated by 6 pm or sooner tomorrow

 Future Dreams To Be updated by 7pm or sooner tomorrow

Resources

Resources

Whatever happened to "high speed" passenger rail service from Norfolk to Washington?

·        By Jordan Pascale 

 https://pilotonline.com/news/local/transportation/whatever-happened-to-high-speed-passenger-rail-service-from-norfolk/article_08a6d8c6-f646-5f18-8753-daaed0e57c52.html

 Resources

Less than 3 to 4 hours ago, Luxurious song by Gwen Stefani played on iheartradio less than 25 minutes after I was thinking about the song, note to self see if it is on a certain amazon music playlist by 6pm or sooner today.

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Affirmations

I mark a new beginning in the book of my life and wisely use the free time I have been giving to rest and tune even deeper into various aspects of my life-spiritual, athletic goals such as walking more, balancing my writing time with some online courses I have enrolled in etc.

I am in the process of becoming more cool,level-headed, and wise when it comes to how I conduct myself around my current work colleagues and future coworkers as I am now logically and intuitively aware that some of them may follow me to where I may reside within 7 years from now or less regardless if I am a private sector andor a government/military worker/employee.

I am well provided for. I live in an abundant universe.

http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/stage-names.php#.WTqvpOvyucw

http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dimension-names.php#.WXs6PVWGOcw

Resources and Affirmatiohttp://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/destiny-awoken-names.php#.WXs611WGOcwns

 My psychic abilities expand each day.

I am creating heaven on earth.

 I Call Upon What I Imagine To Be The Influence of Benevolent Spirits From the Heavenly Realms, my higher self, and my celestial spirit ally team for creativity in both my writings and all other areas of my life both present and future

Affirmations I am creating heaven on earth. I am learning to be in the right place at the right time at all times. I am learning to live all areas of my life in alignment with my divine life purpose for both the present and future My psychic/intuitive abilities, creativity/imaginative abilities, and my ability to tap into my wisdom are expanding each and every day. https://www.orindaben.com/pages/rooms/affirmations_room/ I am a healer through my words, thoughts, and deeds. I am aware of the messages my guide is sending me. I receive impressions from my soul and higher self. I am magnetic to my higher good and it is magnetic to me.

 My imagination becomes more powerful each day

imagination power quotes

http://awakenthegreatnesswithin.com/50-inspirational-quotes-on-the-power-of-your-imagination/

“Imagination should be used, not to escape reality, but to create it.” Colin Wilson

“Your imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, and live the life you have imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

“Use your imagination to fly to a world of prosperity, abundance, and success.” ATGW

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” Mark Twain

“Imagination creates reality.” Richard Wagner

“True change takes place in the imagination.” Thomas Moore

imagination affirmations

https://www.brucelee.com/podcast-blog/2016/10/19/15-affirmations-part-1-memory-subconscious-mind-imagination

3rd Affirmation: Imagination “Recognizing the need for sound plans and ideas for the attainment of my desires. I will develop my imagination by calling upon it daily for help in the formation of my plans.” “Creative intuition opens the wellsprings within man, activates the inner light, and is free and limitless.”

http://bmindful.com/affirmations/imagination

http://bmindful.com/affirmations/imagination

Beneficial ideas and solutions are now revealed to me from my imagination. I now discover beneficial ideas and solutions from my imagination.

My imagination overflows with great writing ideas.

I am so happy and grateful for the power I have with my imagination. I am a wonderful imaginative creator.

Imagination archangel

http://www.drstandley.com/angels_samandiriel.shtml

https://www.inspiredabundance.com/affirmations/my-imagination-is-an-asset/

I invent a story. Creative writing exercises introduce me to new worlds and characters. My life becomes more interesting. I immerse myself in the arts. I find inspiration in paintings, sculptures, and music.

 Today, I use my imagination to broaden my insights and experiences. I dream up new things and put them into action.

 Luxurious by  Gwen Stefani

Glamorous by Fergie feat. Ludacrais

Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty

Great Spirit

Spirits by Strumbellas

Shake it Off by Taylor Swift

People Are People by Depeche Mode

Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia

Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons

The Middle by Jimmy Eat World

The Voice by the Moody Blues

Feel Good Inc. by the Gorillaz

Say Youll Haunt Me by Stone Sour Together by Pet Shop Boys Strange Love by Depeche Mode Winning Steak by Glen Hansard Move Ya Body by Nina Sky Roc Me Out by Rihanna A Certain 'Je Ne Sais Quoi' by the Pet Shop Boys Come Baby Come by K7 A Modern Love Affair: This Renovated $23.5 Million Paris Mansion Is a Sight to Behold http://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/renovated-paris-mansion-rue-crillon-market-23-5-million-2727057/ You Know Pineapple and Pearls Serves Snacks and Drinks on the Patio, Right?https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/08/14/pineapple-and-pearls-serves-snacks-and-drinks-on-the-patio/ GW to Recognize Career Achievements of Eight Alumnihttps://gwtoday.gwu.edu/gw-recognize-career-achievements-eight-alumni https://scs.georgetown.edu/programs/70/master-of-professional-studies-in-public-relations-and-corporate-communications/career-outlook 5 Residential Developments with Unique Experiential Amenitieshttp://robbreport.com/shelter/spaces/slideshow/5-residential-developments-with-unique-experiential-amenities-new-york-miami-los-angeles/ https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/special-offer?utm_source=US_SocialMedia&utm_medium=SocialMediaAdvertisingFacebook&utm_campaign=142763 TV Preview: 9 takeaways from the “The Last Ship” season 4 premierehttp://gazette.com/tv-preview-9-takeaways-from-the-the-last-ship-season-4-premiere/article/1609121 Look Inside 12 of the Coolest Houses in Washingtonhttps://www.washingtonian.com/2017/08/08/look-inside-12-coolest-houses-washington-residential-design-awards/ Things to Do in DC This Week (August 14-16): Summer Restaurant Week, Free Shakespeare, and A Little Night Musichttps://www.washingtonian.com/2017/08/14/things-to-do-in-dc-august-14-restaurant-week-esperanza-spalding-sondheim/ Saturday October 6, 2018 and for Sunday October 7, 2018 https://www.virginia.org/ThingsToDo https://www.berrylook.com/en/outerwear-88/ matt damon chicken diet https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/matt-damon-losing-60-pounds-role-all-chicken-breast/ Damon, who normally weighs around 190lbs, got down to roughly 139lbs to shoot the film, according to the AMA. “I had to run about 13 miles a day, which wasn’t even the hard part. The hard part was the diet,” he revealed. “All I ate was chicken breast. It’s not like I had a chef or anything, I just made it up and did what I thought I had to do https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/matt-damon-losing-60-pounds-role-all-chicken-breast/ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-lost-weight-vanessa-rabb_n_2972663 I Lost Weight Vanessa Rabb Wanted to Join the Military and Lost 70 Pounds 4/24/2013 845 am/Updated December 6, 2017 I start by jogging on the treadmill and then running daily. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-lost-weight-vanessa-rabb_n_2972663 the diet christian bale used to lose weight https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-weight-loss-and-gain-movie-roles-2015-1#matt-damon-put-on-30-pounds-for-his-role-in-the-informant-10 Tuna and Apple Diet Christian Bale Bale's daily diet consisted of consuming vitamins, running, and eating an apple and can of tuna a day. https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-weight-loss-and-gain-movie-roles-2015-1#matt-damon-put-on-30-pounds-for-his-role-in-the-informant-10 https://www.inquisitr.com/1608434/christian-bale-weight-loss-diet-helps-him-to-lose-63-pounds-in-four-months/ https://www.inquisitr.com/1608434/christian-bale-weight-loss-diet-helps-him-to-lose-63-pounds-in-four-months/ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-lost-weight-vanessa-rabb_n_2972663 https://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/tuna-cranberry-pecan-salad-sandwich/ https://wellnessmama.com/1738/apple-walnut-tuna-salad/ https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/3-ways-drawing-more-will-make-you-smarter-even-if-youre-terrible-at-it.html 3 Ways Drawing More Will Make You Smarter by Jessica Stillman https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/3-ways-drawing-more-will-make-you-smarter-even-if-youre-terrible-at-it.html https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/this-is-what-a-great-book-does-to-your-brain.html?cid=landermore What A Great Book Does to Your Brain by Jessica Stillman https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/this-is-what-a-great-book-does-to-your-brain.html?cid=landermore https://www.inc.com/quora/this-is-what-motivates-warren-buffett-to-keep-working-hard-even-though-hes-a-billionaire.html https://www.inc.com/quora/this-is-what-motivates-warren-buffett-to-keep-working-hard-even-though-hes-a-billionaire.html https://www.navy.com/careers/purchasing-supply-logistics https://www.navy.com/index.php/careers/food-services-hospitality https://www.navy.com/index.php/careers/mass-communications-photography https://www.kayak.com https://pilotonline.com/business/biz-buzz/article_f8afccf4-c5bd-11e8-bc66-2752679fb065.html Open Table Restaurant by Elisha Sauers https://pilotonline.com/business/biz-buzz/article_f8afccf4-c5bd-11e8-bc66-2752679fb065.html songs for me to keep in mind;  Black Dog by Led Zeppelin,Turn Me On by David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Hands in the Air by Timbaland feat. Neyo, Animal by Leppard, So Alive by Love and Rockets, Lovin You by Robert Palmer, Infatuation by Rod Stewart, Saturday by Basshunter, Addicted by Saving Abel, Sexy (1981 Rehearsal) by Rod Stewart, Lovesong by the Cure, Just Like Heaven by the Cure, Shake it by Metro Station, Everything I Wanna Do by Nickelback, Magic by Robin Thicke, I Was Made For Lovin You by Kiss, Sensitized by Kylie Minogue, Love Affair by Kylie Minogue, So Hott by Kid Rock, I Feel You by Depeche Mode, Insatiable by Darren Hayes, Candyman by Christina Aguilera Link that I saw this morning about public relations by 1044 am Saturday October 6, 2018 eerily (in what appears to be a spiritually synchronistic way) less than an hour after I told my husband that I need to consider pursuing a career in public relations to brush up on my writing skills. However, I humbly understand that I am fortunate to have the University of Maryland College Park food services job that I am charmed/lucky to have. Additionally, even I commit to studying public relations, carry out my intent to study public relations I am humbly aware that it might be at least 1 to 2 years andor more before  I would potentially qualify to work in public relations unless I rejoin active duty navy in that timeframe. A person even with just a high school degree can have a job working in something public relations related in the U.S. navy provided that they are requesting said job at the right place andor the right time, a similar thing for qualifying to be a culinary specialist in the navy, a person straight from high school can train to be a culinary specialist where even in the current environment I am blessed to work in more than just a high school degree andor even college is sometimes needed just to even come close to being a kitchen cook in training. However, I believe that Tim Malloy has benevolent good intent in publishing this article.https://www.gijobs.com/public-relations-jobs-for-veteransWhy You Should Consider A Career in Public Relations Put Your Communication Skills To Use in a Public Relations Job by Tim Malloystorytelling idea;at least 130 men and women of various ages from 23 to 83 who work in both military andor civilian public relations are interviewed and generously share with others the steps they took in becoming public relations specialists in an ebook and book published by the year 2020 andor sooner. https://www.gijobs.com/public-relations-jobs-for-veterans I Stella Carrier connect to my heaven higher self and heaven spirit ally team of multiple heaven worlds of divine love and divine happiness both offline and online in all areas of my Stella Carrier life for both present and future. Both my husband Rusty Ridler and I Stella Carrier experience success and prosperity in both our personal and professional lives in all areas our lives both offline and online for both present and future. I Stella Carrier channel and manifest the creativity, wisdom, love energy and intuition energy of multiple heaven worlds of divine love and divine happiness  via both offline and online in all areas of my Stella Carrier life to create heaven on earth, love, and happiness through my storytelling writings words actions thoughts decisions actions choices and more that benefit both myself Stella Carrier and others who interact with me Stella Carrier both present and future. I Stella Carrier manifest a 155 pound andor thinner body by November 1, 2018 andor sooner and I Stella Carrier save at least 1800 dollars or more after taxes by December 1, 2018 andor sooner. I Stella Carrier become more intuitive, imaginative, and wiser in all areas of my Stella Carrier life for both present and future while also manifesting good luck, good fortune, passion, fun, excitement and resilience both for myself and others who interact with me Stella Carrier both offline and online. I Stella Carrier and my husband Rusty Ridler experience a passionate, loving, and celestially beneficial marriage for at least the rest of our current lifetimes for both present and future both offline and online. I Stella Carrier deliver self confident and passionate customer service and both self confident and wise job performances that benefit many customers and the following more people at my Stella Carrier University of Maryland College Park food services job both offline and online; Rob Fahey Robert Fahey, Kevin Williams, Cindy Bolden, Natalie,John, Marlo, Jerome, Maui Unique, Wil, Justin, Kaya, Eden, Daphne, Joy, George Gomez, Mary Maria Rachel Shalaya Juanita, Mariela, Justinia, Meghan, Francisca, Yarnell, Courtney, Rob, Steve, Nicole, Sara, Shiree, Shirley, Femi, Guylinda, Jorge, Julio, Maria, Solomon, James, Simon, Melissa, Berta, Daphne, Joy, Alyssa, Whitney, and many more people both present and future. creative fiction storytelling idea approximate time 138 am to 139 am creative fiction storytelling idea completion time parts from script 34 39 year old Willie Norman has a sleeptime dream where she is transported straight to the portal and realm that Oscar Berry took her to where she viewed the mirrors. However, this time Willie Norman gets to see the 2 mirrors titled military outcome for American born 39 year old Virginia Potter The first mirror is titled 39 year old Virginia Potter as a navy culinary specialist (military cook andor military chef) In this mirror Willie Norman views how Virginia Potter finds out about the different types of foods to watch both within what is popular in the military community and outside the military across the private sector and government populations. As a result, Virginia Potter's financial net worth reaches 5 million dollars after taxes by the time she celebrates her 41st birthday. There are more images for Willie Norman to see in the 39 year old Virginia Potter as a navy culinary specialist yet something tempts Willie Norman to look at the mirror titled 39 year old Virginia Potter as a mass communications specialist (public relations) In this mirror Willie Norman views how Virginia Potter also makes over $500,000 dollars after taxes in early 2000s money from the skills she learns as a navy public relations specialist (mass communications specialist) to promote her fiction books even though she wrote them via pennames by the time she celebrates her 40th birthday. However, Willie Norman also views some caveats/blessings for Virginia Potter; Virginia Potter's work as a mass communications specialist brings her an abundance of promotion and job opportunities including selection from her job as an enlisted E-5 into becoming an enlisted to  officer public affairs officer via the newly created navy second chance prior enlisted officer program put into place for prior enlisted men and women who are at least 35 years old andor older. However, the caveat is that Virginia Potter's work places both herself and her husband in a situation where a financially prosperous Virginia Potter fortunately is also a creative money provider for both herself and her husband which silences even the most socially popular men and women who spread some creative fiction stories of their own of Virginia Potter being some type of gold digger. Virginia Potter intentionally allowed that creative fiction rumor circulate even when she intuitively knew how to silence that gold digging rumor peacefully. However, Virginia Potter allowed even her most creative critics circulate the creative fiction because she intuitively figured out that such a rumor actually was providing intuitive and creative energy for her to manifest her career goals, her body weight and money goals, and her goals of residing wherever she wants regardless of what others thought quicker because of the goal. Additionally, Virginia Potter intuitively figured out that such a goal allowed all the supporters and admirers she has to love her for the personality that she truly has regardless of what others thought. However, the caveat is that the extended time away contributes to Virginia Potter's handsome and amazing husband being tempted by multiple professionally accomplished women where on the plus side the marriage between Virginia Potter and her husband stays intact. However the caveat is that one of the mistresses of her husband comes to Virginia Potter one day in front of one of her navy bosses and boldly declares and admits that the 2 twin red haired girls who look to be around 5 years old she sees before her are her husband's. Willie Norman intuitively sees that Virginia Potter must be open minded for she herself has been living a very wild lifestyle discreetly from the general public. Rather, Virginia Potter is wondering how much child support money that she is going to expected to pony up to her husband's mistress as Virginia Potter intuitively sees through the twin haired girls eyes that the mistress is telling the truth and is going to expect her to help her husband pay the child support money for the twin girls now that she can easily afford the money as a public affairs officer. Virginia Potter also counts herself lucky that her unconventional married love life is one where she is fortunately able to be secretive about it successfully. Willie Norman sees that fortunately the marriage between Virginia Potter and her husband is still intact as a navy culinary specialist in the navy culinary specialist mirror. Additionally,both Virginia Potter and her husband enjoy a voluntary child-free existence where both parents and child-free couples alike are open minded and understanding of their decision. However, the life as a navy culinary specialist has Virginia Potter working a great deal of hours even though her marriage is long distance free. Additionally Willie Norman sees both Virginia Potter and her husband living very wild lifestyle sexually speaking involving other consenting adults with Virginia Potter being more wild and uninhibited than her husband as a navy culinary specialist compared to her being more conservative in public as a mass communications specialist with Virginia Potter being a resourceful money provider for both herself and her husband and even paying for his schooling encouraging him to attend some type of training to become an intelligence officer. However the caveat occurs in the type of partners they secretly choose. Virginia Potter's husband has a taste for the danger in selecting women both who are wealthier than both Virginia Potter and her husband but who like to confront Virginia Potter in public if they sense that she has something to do with the amount of time they see her husband when only her husband decides this despite their perception. Sounds innocent enough until a socially prominent wife of one of her boss's friends boldly confronts Virginia Potter at work in front of the bosses caring little about Virginia Potter's coworkers having her be the talk of the workplace because she freely allows it. Virginia Potter's choice in partners are just as risky as her husband's as a navy culinary specialist. Her most recent partner that kept her company when McKay chase was busy is a civilian who was a former navy coworker which sounds innocent enough because this allows more discretion. Additionally, Virginia Potter learns alot about herself more than she expected which gives her a boost and gift talent in romantically attracting whoever Virginia Potter romantically wants, many of the men that would be simply creative sleeptime dream fantasies who now want her in her waking life as a navy culinary specialist residing in a military dominant area. Virginia Potter is even successful in maintaining discretion in her unconventional married life. However, the caveat is that Virginia Potter is currently romantically juggling at least two other men in her life with successful and secret discretion who have at least 2 to 3 andor sometimes more girlfriends mistresses at a time in addition to Virginia Potter. Because Virginia Potter is married both men admit their dating life to Virginia Potter and they even help Virginia Potter intuitively give her ideas that help and enhance her married life with  Virginia Potter's husband and also creative intuition ideas that enhance both her personal and professional life. For instance, one of the men gave Virginia Potter an idea for a creative fiction story that she found discovered yesterday has attracted the attention of 44 Hollywood script agents, actors, actresses and directors who want to select the creative fiction play for one of their films and to offer Virginia Potter at least $800,000 dollars after taxes upfront in early 2000s money. The second male love gave Virginia Potter an idea for a vacation spot that gave Virginia Potter both intuitive visions in her sleeptime dreams and waking life that has been a profitable stock market investment adding $80,000 dollars after taxes to her money net worth in the span of just 2 days. This all seems innocent enough because the affairs are conducted in secret even with the other women who are dating the 2 lovers of Virginia Potter fully aware of her presence because one of Virginia Potter's male lovers has a picture of her in his home and keeps it there regardless of what others say and the second male lover of Virginia Potter was inspired by the other male lover to leave pictures of himself in Virginia Potter's home knowing full well that she would keep them and thinking outside the box by keeping some music, magazine, and book collections of Virginia Potter's successfully convincing her after they would make love to keep them knowing that Virginia Potter can easily afford duplicates. This career and money success that Virginia Potter is enjoying as a navy culinary specialist while successfully juggling her married and career life the longer she is alive sounds charmed and with good luck and good fortune. However the caveat comes in when a number of the women either connected to the male lovers that Virginia Potter has made love to andor both women andor secret male admirers from her Virginia Potter's professional andor personal life wisely and creatively follow Virginia Potter to a multiple number of her workplaces in the military dominated area of Hampton Roads Virginia Beach Norfolk Virginia area some of them even from the previous place that Virginia Potter resided in before relocating. Virginia Potter actually manages to make the best of multiple men and women who know her following her in a happy way by going ahead and extending her stay at some of the Hampton Roads Virginia navy workplaces whenever possible with the caveat of Virginia Potter intuitively realizing that she also must keep an open mind to extending on the various navy aircraft carrier ships whenever the wisest to follow her creative intuition, which navy aircraft carrier life is also a soap opera in itself even with Virginia Potter now being more popular and more sought after in both her career and personal life.

[jamiekturner]

Everything you need to know about skeleton screens

How do we know that skeleton screens actually work?

Years ago, I wrote about Designing for the Appearance of Speed, outlining some impetus and methods for creating the illusion of short page load times in apps and on the web.

Shortly after that article was published, I had amazing conversations with fellow designers and engineers, largely around a single question — “how do we actually know that skeleton screens work?” A valid question — no definitive studies exist to validate the efficacy of the pattern (which, to us, seemed to make so much sense).

Skeleton screens in different shapes and sizes are seemingly found everywhere across the web and apps — anywhere humans are forced to wait.

But do they actually work?

🔬Research summary (TL;DR)

Skeleton screens (as splash screens), when used to indicate that a screen is loading, are perceived as being shorter in duration when compared against a blank screen (our control) and a spinner — but not by much

Skeleton screens should not block gradual content loads (real content should replace skeleton objects immediately when the data is available). The vast majority of skeleton screens in use today are splash screens, and not skeleton screens in the original way described by Luke Wroblewski.

When designing skeleton screens, I recommend using motion to further decrease perceived duration time

Skeleton screens that leverage motion that moves from left to right (e.g. a wave or shimmer like animation, much like Facebook or Google uses) are perceived as shorter in duration than skeletons that pulse (opacity fading in and out)

Skeleton screens using motion that is slow and steady are perceived as shorter in duration than skeleton screens that use fast or rapid motion

The sample sizes in this study are too small to conclude anything definitively, but they do provide useful hints as to how we could design waiting experiences

Skeleton screens: an overview 💀

Luke Wroblewski first coined the term “skeleton screen” in a blog postadvising that designers eschew the use of spinners (typically a graphical element that is animated rotating on its center point) in favour of visual placeholders. He referenced work he had done on a native mobile app called Polar, specifically around excessive wait times reported by users when loading the app’s web views. Initially, spinners were used to indicate that a web view was loading in. Luke said it best:

“We had made people watch the clock… as a result, time went slower and so did our app. We focused on the indicator and not the progress.”

To mitigate focus on the loading process, versus the actual content that is loading, Wroblewski introduced a novel new design pattern — the skeleton screen. In his own words, they are “essentially a blank version of a page into which information is gradually loaded.” These visual placeholders were shown by Wroblewski to be light grey boxes that appeared instantly in areas where content had not yet completed loading.

Shifting our focus to the content being loaded, and away from the actual loading itself — an almost Dickensian red herring. But what’s the actual impact?

Explicit loading paradigms

Initially, spinners were used in the Polar app to communicate to users when the web view was pulling from a server. Let’s be clear here: in his post, Luke isn’t picking on the common place practice of using spinners — instead he is commenting (perhaps indirectly) on a natural human tendency to detest idle time, and the need to manage human perceptions.

Spinners and progress bars are explicit loading paradigms in that they focus the user on communicating a loading period and, more often than not, are blocking user interaction until a layout has loaded enough to be useful.

Common loading paradigms on the web and in apps today, from left to right: a custom loading animation, a spinner, and a progress bar.

Skeleton screens defined

Skeleton screens are blank pages that are progressively populated with content, such as text and images, as they become available (i.e. when network latency allows). Grey or neutral-toned filled shapes, commonly called placeholders, meet the user instantly upon user interaction with calls to action or links. The placeholders (the so-called “bones” of the skeleton) are then replaced with the actual site content, and the illusion is complete. That’s what skeleton screens do: create the illusion of an instant transition.

Skeleton screens in the wild

Facebook

Facebook’s newsfeed loading state in 2018

Linkedin

LinkedIn’s Home Feed loading state in 2018

Google Drive

Google Drive’s partially loaded state in 2018 — notice how skeletons are used in the Quick Access slots

YouTube

YouTube’s home screen loading state in 2018

Commonalities

All of these examples above employ common visual design approaches:

Use of motion within the skeleton objects

Skeleton objects are light grey or neutral in color

Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube seem to be using skeletons as splash screens, whereas Google Drive uses a spinner for loading its primary folder structure, and skeleton objects for the Quick Access slots

My makeshift testing booth in downtown Vancouver, BC, Canada

The study 🕵️‍‍

The study is comprised of two primary phases:

The first phase pits a common loading paradigm (a spinner) directly against the skeleton screen approach, and is described in more detail in the section titled “Paradigm vs Paradigm”.

The second phase investigates variations on skeleton screens, gauging the effectiveness of each variation. I planned this study before knowing fully the outcomes of the first phase, as my assumption was that the skeleton trend would continue regardless of its assessed efficacy, and I wanted to see for myself what would be optimal in my own work. See the section titled “Implementation variables” for more on this phase of the study.

Previous studies

Little research has surfaced that shows the effectiveness of skeleton screens at reducing perceived queuing times. Viget released a 2017 study that speaks against the touted value of skeletons when compared to spinners and a blank screen (spoiler alert: skeleton screens performed the worst in terms of perceived duration of time). Yet even with the Viget study in hand with seemingly indicative results, I wanted to take things a bit further.

Testing principles

I wanted to test skeleton screens as much as I could on a physical mobile device, as that best represents the “half-focussed” state that most of us are in when we’re on our mobile (half focussed on the device, and half focussed on traversing the streets or eating a bagel). I also wanted test participants that (preferably) did not work in the tech industry. So I took to the streets of downtown Vancouver and got to work talking to locals of all ages, genders, and life situations.

In the second part of this study, I leveraged testers on UserTesting.com (sadly because the weather had turned and it was becoming increasingly unpleasant to sit and wait for research participants outside).

Paradigm vs paradigm

Hypothesis: displaying a skeleton screen will cause humans to perceive a loading period as being shorter in duration.

Methodology

In considering how to best approach participants, I realized that past tests I had attempted against this hypothesis were rife with issues that could be easily mitigated, namely that:

Interrupting the test participant to collect an assessment by asking questions is disruptive

The questions I asked tended to be repetitive, as I ran 12 individual tests with each participant and needed to ask questions after each “round”

The order in which I showed each loading paradigm and duration was manually randomized, which was exhausting to keep up over the course of an entire day of testing

To mitigate some of these issues, I decided that an app on a physical phone, presented to the test participant to complete on their own, was the best solution. Preliminary user testing of the testing app proved positive after several iterations and refinements.

Once I approached a potential test participant on the street, I asked them to complete the tasks as instructed on the device and assured them that they could stop at anytime to ask any questions or rest. Once they completed the test, and offered any open ended comments on which paradigm they preferred, a donut was offered as a reward and my participants were sent on their way, happy in the knowledge that some odd fellow was on top of testing different loading methods with strangers. Hurrah! 🍩

126 total unique individuals were approached on the street from varying backgrounds, primarily from non-technology oriented backgrounds. The sample size was 80 individuals who have all had experience with mobile devices.

The testing app📱

The app was written in the Swift programming language and was loaded onto an iPhone 7 (this is the form factor I felt would feel comfortable in most hands). When the participant completed their test, the results were sent to a Firebase database from where I could pull daily results into a CSV (comma separated values) file for analysis.

Participants were asked to read the instructions presented in-app, and take their time when completing the presented tasks. Before beginning the tests, I ran the participants through a really quick warm-up, so that they knew what to expect. Here’s what our participants had to do:

Press a button to begin the test

Wait while observing a skeleton, a spinner, or a blank screen

Observe the loaded page state

Finally, they’re transitioned to a last step, where they answer two questions — how long did they feel the page load took in seconds, and how did waiting for that page load make them feel?

They would repeat this test, 8 more times (for a total of 9 total tests per session)

I also asked open-ended questions at the end to collect more qualitative observations. I usually prompted this conversation by asking “of the different ways of loading a mobile page as you saw today, did you have a favourite?”

In order to mitigate any bias, where seeing one pattern before another might skew the perceived duration, the app automatically randomized the order in which the different loading paradigms appeared.

The app also randomized the actual duration presented for each loading paradigm, so the duration didn’t seem as if it was progressively getting longer, or shorter.

Participants were asked to complete nine different tests (three different durations for each of the three loading paradigms)

A screenshot from Sketch, of the testing app.

Results

When testing skeletons versus spinners and our blank control in random order, the skeleton performed the best in terms of perceived durationwhen shown to people using mobile devices (see the below table for a summary of the mean test results for a sample size of 80 individuals). Actual durations shown to these participants were randomized to prevent them from interpreting a progressive increase in duration. Our blank control performed worst overall.

Results measuring perceived duration (how long the participant felt they were waiting for).

Results measuring emotional reaction (how the participant felt after viewing the loading method).

Skeleton screens also performed best on the emotional level, with participants being the most happy with skeleton screen loads, and least happy overall with a blank screen. After viewing each combination of duration and loading method, participants were asked to measure how each viewing made them feel using emoji, with 0 = Very happy, and 4 = Maximum frustration. Here’s what they were shown after each test:

After viewing each combination of duration and loading method, participants were asked to measure how each viewing made them feel using emoji.

Analysis & interpretation

When skeleton screens are used between page loads on mobile devices, the perceived elapsed time (duration) is shorter when compared to a spinner or a blank screen. In some instances, the skeleton is equivalent to the spinner, such as in our 5.5s duration tests, and indeed the superiority of skeletons over spinners is minor. One might hypothesize that different presentation methods of the spinner might affect results significantly. In our tests, I used a spinner that I thought was generic and looked most native to the platform (iOS in this case).

In both dimensions (perceived performance and emotional impact) using any loading indicator is superior to a blank screen.

Implementation variables

Hypothesis: the visual presentation of skeleton screens will cause humans to perceive a loading time as being shorter in duration.

I began hypothesizing how variations on the skeleton could affect perceived duration early on in this investigation (before I had results on whether skeletons were more performant than spinners).

Early hints that the visual presentation of skeleton screens could affect perceived duration came from sources such as this 2010 study (in this study, progress bars presented with a “ribbing” animation proved superior in terms of perceived wait duration). Further reading can be done on the contrast of objects and how they impact human perception of speed.

Methodology

In order to determine the effectiveness of any particular visual presentation of skeleton screens, I spent time to collect the most popular approaches currently used in the market. Here are some common approaches:

Static placeholders

Pulsing placeholders (the opacity of the skeleton objects transitioning in and out slowly)

A wave (or shimmer) animation (varying between moving from right to left or the opposite) overlaid atop the placeholders

With the weather turning outside (I had done all previous tests outdoors in downtown Vancouver, BC) I turned to 80 unique mobile devices users on UserTesting.com in order to test these implementation variables. Participants were from a largely North American audience and were asked to conduct the tests on mobile devices. To conduct the test, I mocked up a mobile product page for a make-believe footwear brand to make the comparison seem like a real-world example.

Participants were shown one presentation, then another immediately after. The order in which I showed each presentation method was flipped in each “set” presented. For example, if I tested a static versus pulsing skeleton screen, the first 10 participants were shown the static version first, and the last 10 were shown the pulsing version first instead. This was done to mitigate any concerns that a bias may arise from seeing one method before the other.

The participants were not told that the duration of each example they saw were exactly the same duration (all durations were 5 seconds in length). Upon viewing the two presentation methods, the participant was asked, “of the two page transitions you observed, which page transition was faster?”

The tests

I sequentially layered the implementation methods in order to move from macro variables into micro variables. Here’s the order of tests I went through:

I started by testing static skeletons against skeletons that pulsed, in order to determine if motion (or lack thereof) had an impact

Then I tested a pulsing animation against a wave (or shimmer) animation

In the third test, I pitted a quick wave transitions against slow and steady wave animation

Finally I tested a left to right motion, versus a right to left motion

An example of a pulsing skeleton load

An example of a slow and steady wave animation (otherwise known as a shimmer)

Results: Static vs animated skeletons

60% of test participants guessed that the animated skeletons represented a shorter duration. Sample size: 20 unique testers

Results: Pulsing animation vs wave animation

65% of test participants guessed that the wave animation represented a shorter duration. Sample size: 20 unique testers

Results: Quick vs Slow and steady wave

60% of test participants guessed that the slow wave animation represented a shorter duration. Sample size: 20 unique testers

Results: Left to right wave animation vs right to left

68% of test participants guessed that the left to right wave animation represented a shorter duration. Sample size: 20 unique testers

Analysis & interpretation

The results from this grouping of tests is indicative but not conclusive by any means. What might throw some flavour into these results is that, when speaking aloud about why they decided the way they did, test participants were fairly indecisive when it came to more nuanced tests (for example the quick versus slow wave test). However, when it came to tests that were more obvious to discern (such as the pulsing versus wave animation test) testparticipants were decisive and fully convinced that one was shorter in duration than the other (even though the durations were all consistent across the board).

How should we design skeleton screens?

The key role of motion

While further study of the efficacy and effectiveness skeleton screens is needed, this exercise has provided us with a few clues as to how we can make the most of this unique pattern, namely:

Designers should prefer a wave effect (or shimmer, much like Facebook uses) over a pulse

Motion should not be so fast as to draw attention to the skeleton objects (slow and steady, like found in the Google iOS app is optimal)

Designers should prefer animation that moves from left to right (it would be interesting to see if RTL reading cultures would interpret this differently)

Use of dominant colors

The use of dominant color based skeleton objects is a unique method of providing future context to objects that are loading, as if to imply more acutely the future loaded state. Google Photos uses this pattern, as does Pinterest.

Google Image Search uses dominant color placeholders.

Skeleton screens are not splash screens

Before we dove into the details of this study, I mentioned that the vast majority of skeleton screens implemented today act exclusively as splash screens. When designing loading experiences, strive to progressively load content, replacing skeleton placeholder objects with content like real text and images as soon as they are available. Luke Wroblewski (the early pioneer of skeleton screens) speaks about this in detail at the 2018 Conversions at Google. Luke calls this “gradual content loading”. Future studies should compare a true gradually loaded skeleton with other loading indicators, while leveraging a larger sample size.

Afterwards: on time perception

Allow me to be real for several thousand milliseconds here: why would the mere perception of a site or app loading several hundred milliseconds faster, prompt such a deep personal investigation into something seemingly innocuous as skeleton screens?

As part of the generation that inserted 13 floppy disks to install Windows 95, you would think that the LTE and fiber connections we enjoy today might make me nostalgic for simpler times, times when I could head to the fridge for pie while waiting for my favourite Geocities web page to finish loading in all its animated GIF glory.

But alas no.

I am as impatient as teenagers on the bus complaining about the 12mbps load of their Instagram feed. I cringe when the animation of a mobile navigation stutters along at sub-30 frames-per-second. I wonder why the payment terminal at the grocery store takes a full 2 seconds to actually get ready before I can tap my watch to pay. Our world and the society it hosts, now moves faster than large swathes of our species can process. Does it seem to you that our perception of time is accelerating beyond our ability to acclimate? You are not alone.

Delving into how humans perceive time in the context of the pace of technology around us, has been an enlightening experience. But I am also filled with trepidation. As Peter Conrad best put it, “Modernity is about the acceleration of time”. From pure personal observation, the truth of this seems self-evident. Our culture’s patience thins daily, our walking pace has seemingly quickened to near jogging speeds, and our waning tolerance for all things even mildly idle in nature has given way to an entire industry of productivity pundits. This very article grew from my own personal awe as I beheld our collective impatience.

In this human rebuke of slowness will undoubtedly arise new anxieties and irrational impulses. And perhaps new ways to stanch our fear that time is slipping from our grasp — as we sit and quietly contemplate skeleton screens.

With gratitude

This study would not have been possible if not for the hard work of my friend Karl Schmidt, an iOS developer who volunteered to code up an app to automate collecting results from research.

Thanks to designers Jaybe Allanson, Mitch Lenton, and UX researcher Ben Cole for their guidance in collecting data used in this study. Special thanks go out to Michael Chung and Nikki An for reviewing ahead of publication.

The post Everything you need to know about skeleton screens appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing https://www.designyourway.net/blog/user-interface-design/everything-you-need-to-know-about-skeleton-screens/

[angelamhiller-blog]

Black Coffee: The Needle and the Damage Done

It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what's been going on in the world of money and personal finance.

Happy New Year everybody! Let's get this party started, shall we?

Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is man's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values.

- from Francisco's “Money Speech,” in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

The modern banking process manufactures currency out of nothing - perhaps the most astounding sleight of hand that was ever invented. If you want to be slaves of the bankers, and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the banks create currency.

- Lord Josiah Stemp

Credits and Debits

Debit: Despite more than $25 trillion conjured out of thin air over the past 10 years by the extremely dubious coordinated central bank policy known as “quantitative easing,” Main Street is still struggling, with fully half of all American workers still making less than $30,533 per year. Of course, Wall Street has benefitted greatly from QE; since 2009, the average salary there has steadily climbed to $422,500. No, really.

Debit: With 50% of Americans not even earning enough cash in a single year to cover the cost of a modest Nissan Maxima, is it any wonder that more than 3 in 5 US jobs don't pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle?

Debit: Heck … According to a recent study, even people who are in their so-called golden years are having trouble making ends meet, as the number of senior citizens filing for bankruptcy has tripled since 1991.

Credit: In other news, the Dow was up nearly 750 points on Friday. That's after losing 650 points on Thursday - and falling another 400 points on Wednesday … before a frantic rally saw it end that session up 18 ticks. Yes, the S&P and Nasdaq saw similar daily ups and downs last week. And market volatility hasn't been this bad since 2011, with the S&P trading in an intraday range of more than 2% (!) on 15 of the last 21 days.

Debit: In case you're wondering, the Dow was either up or down by 1% or more just 8 times in 2017. Last year, it happened 64 times. Prolonged volatility is typically the result of shifting long-term sentiment. In many cases, the wild swings can also be a sign of a market in troubled waters, as any seasoned cruise ship passenger will tell you:

Credit: Meanwhile, last month the US economy created the highest number of jobs since February 2018, with upward revisions to the totals from last October and November as well. If you believe the data, the unemployment rate is still under 4% too. Even better, wages are continuing to climb; the average December paycheck was 3.2% higher than the year before. Hooray!

Debit: Notwithstanding the positive job and wage numbers, for the first time since 2008, an extremely-accurate gauge of economic health that's closely watched by the Fed is forecasting a recession. The indicator, which fell into negative territory last week, reflects the difference between the forward rate implied by Treasury bills six quarters from now and the current three-month yield. Uh oh.

Credit: Speaking of the Fed, they're clearly in a pickle, with a petulant stock market demanding rate cuts on one side - or else! - and what appears to be a somewhat overheated labor market on the other. Last week money manager Peter Schiff spoke truth to power by concisely capturing the pecuniary dilemma that the US central bank is facing in 2019 - and pointing out that, in reality, the emperor has no clothes:

Commentators keep asking why the Fed can't raise rates if the economy is so strong? They still don't realize that the economy was never strong. They confuse a bubble for strength. Without 0% rates and QE the bubble can't survive. But a return to those policies kills the dollar!

Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 27, 2018

Credit: Needless to say, the Fed has only itself to blame for the position it now finds itself in because, as Michael Farr opined six years ago, QE created a moral hazard: “Caveat emptor (was) lost as the Fed and Congress joined forces to save the financial system. Investors learned the stock market was far too important to let it fall too far … (and) of the mind-altering pain relief that comes from the morphine drip of QE.”

Credit: Today, a growing number of financial professionals are weighing in on the damage done. This week, asset manager Lindsay Politi warned that, “QE has done something much more damaging than the Fed could have imagined: It changed the very nature of the market, destroying the diversity of the market ecosystem, and making it incredibly vulnerable to the smallest change in the macro environment.”

Credit: Legendary hedge fund manager Bill Fleckenstein issued his own dire assessment of the Fed's ill-fated decision to unleash QE: “The Fed has basically turned a market that could be rescued with aspirin into one that needs heroin, while making the country's problems far, far worse in the process.” I hear ya, Bill. It's kind of like this:

Debit: So, aside from making Wall St. richer than ever, and anesthetizing pension fund managers and other investors to risk, what else has QE achieved? Answer: not much. Well … unless you consider hastening America's long-overdue day of reckoning, and the loss of the US dollar's reserve currency status - along with the temporary, but sharply-lower, American living standard that would result - an achievement.

Insider Notes: A Primer on Blockchain Technology

Hey! You need to be an Insider to view this section! If you'd like to join, please click “Insider Membership” at the top of my blog page.

By the Numbers

Everywhere you looked in 2018, it seems like some movie box office record was being broken:

$11,800,000,000 The North American box office take for 2018; it was the biggest year on record for that region.

6.8 The percentage increase in box office revenue over 2017.

1,200,000,000 The total number of movie tickets sold last year.

$9.14 The average cost of a movie ticket in 2018; that's the highest ever.

23 The number of consecutive years that movie ticket prices have increased from the previous year.

814 The number of movies released last year; that is also a record.

$700,000,000 The domestic box office take for the highest-grossing movie of 2018. (Black Panther)

2 The number of movies that achieved a higher domestic gross than Black Panther. (Avatar, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Source: Vox

The Question of the Week

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Last Week's Poll Results

If you could travel through time, where would you go?

The past (59%)

The future (41%)

More than 1300 Len Penzo dot Com readers responded to last week's question and it turns out that if they could travel through time, 3 in 5 of them would prefer to visit the past. As for me, my curiosity about the unknown is why I'd be leaping into the future.

Useless News: Phone Call

Several men were in a gym locker room when a cell phone on a bench rang and a man put the phone on speaker and began to talk:

MAN: Hello

WOMAN: Hi, Honey; it's me. Are you at the club?

MAN: Yes.

WOMAN: I'm at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1000. Is it OK if I buy it?

MAN: Sure, go ahead if you like it that much.

WOMAN: I also stopped by the BMW dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked.

MAN: How much?

WOMAN: $95,000.

MAN: OK, but for that price I want it with all the options.

WOMAN: Great! Oh, and one more thing. The house we wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking $990,000 for it.

MAN: Well, then go ahead and make an offer for $900,000. They'll probably take it, but if not I'm willing to go the extra $90,000 if that's what you really want.

WOMAN: OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!

MAN: I love you, too. Bye.

And with that, the man hung up. Meanwhile, the other guys in the locker room were staring at him in astonishment, mouths wide open.

The man who was speaking then turned around and asked, “Does anyone know whose phone this is?”

(h/t: Stewie)

Other Useless News

Programming note: Unlike most blogs, I'm always open for the weekend here at Len Penzo dot Com. There's a fresh new article waiting for you every Saturday afternoon. At least there should be. If not, somebody call 9-1-1.

Hey! If you happen to enjoy what you're reading - or not - please don't forget to:

1. Click on that Like button in the sidebar to your right and become a fan of Len Penzo dot Com on Facebook!

2. Make sure you follow me on Twitter!

3. Don't forget to subscribe via email too! Thank you.

And last, but not least …

4. Consider becoming a Len Penzo dot Com Insider!

Letters, I Get Letters

Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment - assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it's interesting or not! You can reach out to me at: Len@LenPenzo.com

Emma passed along something she wanted me to share with all of you:

I was doing some research on people's opinions of Ticketmaster and found a really great website. I thought your readers might find it interesting too.

So 116 out of 120 reviewers at Consumer Affairs rated Ticketmaster one out of five stars; and three more folks gave them two stars? If you ask me, I'd say Ticketmaster is overachieving.

If you enjoyed this, please forward it to your friends and family. I'm Len Penzo and I approved this message.

Photo Credit: brendan-c

[deployhub-blog]

On the State of Tech Funding in NM

How Can New Mexico Create a Thriving Technology Economy?

Let’s be honest here, the technology startup scene in New Mexico is somewhat lacking. There is to be sure, the Labs (Sandia, LANL etc), a source of a certain kind of technology but when you compare New Mexico’s economy to our neighbors in the region, we’re so far behind as to be embarrassing.

In 2017, our state is “The highest in the nation in general unemployment, skilled labor is well below the national average” according to a report cited on the NM Tech Council website, (Robert Half Technologies, 2018).

The New Mexico Technology Council is a member-based business that advocates for, promotes, and represents technology companies in the area. Since 1972, NMTC has slowly expanded to now have 160 IT/Tech related companies. Their focus, in a 2017 report, stated that they encouraged more STEM education and training programs, encouraged Tech Based Economic Development, and wanted to address the need for more training to create a suitable software workforce. The website also puts out a Call for Action: Outsource your Software Development to New Mexico!” Their launch, when giving reasons to software businesses to set up shop here, talks of low business costs, quality of life, and the skilled workforce. Didn’t they just contradict themselves? Well, that aside, let’s look at how we’re doing statistically compared to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Oh, let’s look at Kansas and Oklahoma too.

First though, the backstory and then some definitions to clarify what I’m looking at here and why you should care.

This spring, I realized that my little side project, running an online sharing platform for travel blogs has a potential to become a profitable and scalable technology-using business, employing others. With a global reach of 58,000 views in the first year with only $350 spent on marketing costs, and with readers from 114 countries and writers from 64, the website (www.wanderlust-journal.com) has expanded beyond hope. Once I saw these numbers, I contacted a few successful business entrepreneurs and incubators for advice. The responses varied considerably; SCORE told me to get QuickBooks and WESST suggested looking for venture capitalist funds. I went with the latter, which leads me to the following definitions.

I’d not thought of my website as a technology startup but in some circles, it is. I’d thought of tech as being software development, those behind the scenes geeks coding in little cubicles with mugs of Starbucks and Bluetooth earbuds, nodding off to some inner enthusiasm for numbers.

Technology is many things to many people. For now, I’ll give you the definition of software by the BSA Foundation, an association that advocates for the software industry around the world. Their website, software.org, explains that the modern definition of technological advancements no longer is limited to only tangible and packaged software products. The term now includes cloud-based software as service (SaaS), cloud storage and computing, mobile application development, hosting, software publishers, computer system design, data processing and internet publishing/websites/broadcasting, my own area of interest.

The BSA Foundation reported on the Economic Impact of Software (2017) by compiling information from US Bureau of Labor, US Census, US Bureau of Economic Analysis and others. I focused on software jobs’ growth as a percentage, the total number of jobs both direct and indirectly created by software technology companies, and the direct value to the state’s GDP, all within a four-year framework of 2014 to now.

Arizona had a 21.21% increase in software jobs, with a total of 99,625 such jobs, and a $6.7 Billion value added to their GDP.

Colorado’s software jobs grew by 12.2% with a total of 140,271 tech related jobs, and $14 Billion.

Kansas grew by 37.5%, a total of 38,382 jobs, and $3 Billion.

Oklahoma grew by 11.8%, a total of 24,706 and $1.8 Billion.

Utah was up 13.3%, to 98,282 jobs, and $5.9 Billion.

New Mexico’s software jobs grew by 14.8%, to a total number of direct and indirectly software related jobs to…9,993. The direct value added to the NM GDP was $874 Million.

After reading this report, my question shifted from worrying about my own selfish wish for funding to what are these states doing that we’re not? How can we become a thriving software economy like our neighbors have? Let’s look first at one of these states, checking the facts and figures and then I’ll address what I found to be the case for New Mexico.

Utah ranks as 7th for venture capital activity. Over the last 20 years, Utah’s expanded from 1500 tech companies to 6,700. Their technology industry provides over 302,000 jobs. Twenty-five years ago, they had only one VC Fund. Their Governor, Michael O. Leavitt, called it “a whopping $20 Million.” (Remember this figure, it comes back into conversation.) Leavitt actively went to the big tech companies in Silicone Valley and asked what could he, and Utah, do to become a viable destination for their businesses to move their headquarters? He was told that in order to bring in tech jobs to Utah, he needed to invest in creating a skilled workforce. Since 2007, the Utah Engineering Initiative has grown to more than 40,000 students graduating with relevant skills at higher education levels. In the last three years alone, Utah has added over 17,000 small businesses (not just technology) with approximately another 400,000 new jobs created.

New Mexico is not quite so impressive for venture capital activity although we too have $20 Million available, just like Utah did — twenty-five years ago.

With $5M from US Treasury, $10M from NMSIC, and $5M from private institutional investors, New Mexico has the Catalyst Fund. The program was implemented in 2016 to invest in locally based technology startups who would benefit the state’s economy. Sun Mountain Capital, a private investment partnership, acts on behalf of this Catalyst Fund. They have the job of finding, vetting, and investing in approximately 8–10 Venture Capital companies to act as portfolio fund managers, who themselves then are responsible for investing in technology startups. The average investment into these Portfolio funds was meant to be about $2M. These chosen VC companies must then raise at least 60% matching capital. The Executive statement of 2016 says that Catalyst Fund was to invest in fifty tech startups within three to five years. It’s now 2019, three years in, and it’s been challenging and interesting to ask where that original $20M of federal money is now. Who’s benefitted from the funds? Bear in mind, these funds are matched by the companies working as portfolio managers, so somewhere there’s approximately $40 Million waiting to be invested in the NM tech economy.

I spoke to a couple of partners at Sun Mountain Capital, who explained how the process of finding and vetting appropriate VCs to hold the Portfolio Funds took longer than expected. Another Venture Capitalist said, (quite candid once promised anonymity), “The decision to have six companies to manage the CF investments is questionable; some of these VCs have limited experience in the field of tech startups, they’re unfamiliar with the challenges and needs of the industry or staffing.” As part of my research, I also talked to Dorian Radar from NMA Ventures. When I asked for her opinion on the current situation of the tech startup industry, she said, “It’s growing but there are problems with outreach. Five years ago, in Albuquerque, there were many business accelerators and little funding. Now it’s the opposite, more funds than tech startups and not enough entrepreneurs know what’s available.”

When I asked four of the six Catalyst Fund Portfolio Managers how they define ‘tech’ in this context, the range of answers covered medical, customer software for sales and marketing, and hard sciences for bio/agriculture industry. Not one mentioned or focuses on business to business software development. One VC replied that it’s “a wide category that includes Meow Wolf since they use so much technology,” although I’ll admit to thinking of Meow Wolf as an immersive entertainment experience and not a tech startup. Another interviewee mentioned that if the startup were innovating software, then their product should be patented. Unfortunately, that’s not a realistic case in this industry. Big corporations such as IBM and Microsoft no longer innovate or develop software; they buy smaller companies who already have the adoption. Think about the modern definition of technology and software that I mentioned earlier. Perhaps the fund managers’ understanding (of the field they’re meant to invest in) is outdated and needs a good reboot? VCs, I’m talking to you.

So, who is getting funded with the Catalyst Fund?

“Targeted companies will originate from New Mexico’s research universities and national labs, as well as from the private sector,” Sun Mountain stated in their Executive Statement in 2017. This seems to be the consistent focus as in an article online at Santa Fe Today (2018) repeated the idea: “New Mexico is well leveraged to develop and commercialize innovative technologies from its research universities and three federal laboratories.”

Cottonwood and Tramway invested in BennuBio, a hard science/health company. The second success story is BayoTech, another hard science/agriculture focused company based in Albuquerque, who had help from Cottonwood and Sun Mountain. NMA Ventures recently invested in Fusion Funnel, a sales and marketing tool software company for $300,000. These examples were all I could find on Crunchbase, Discover.org, through various web searches and in conversation with four of the main six investors in New Mexico. I’d love to be corrected if my findings are wrong. Why? Because it brings up the lack of transparency and oversight. Why is it so hard to know who has benefitted from the federal govt’s fund for our state? Why has it taken me so long to only uncover those three?

Compared to other states, NM is the only one that tries to build technology companies with seed rounds under $500K. This approach may work with smaller cottage industries like mine but is somewhat unrealistic for tech companies. According to some, it’s safer to invest at this initial amount to test out the idea before investing at a higher level of $1.5M with an expected growth to $100M. That initial round of funding at $300K is only enough for a small team over six months — not enough time to create a product, much less understand customer needs or product market fit. Bearing in mind that only three such companies have received Catalyst Funds so far; we know that NM still has the money. The recruitment of experienced CEO, management, and staffing is still the issue. How then do we create the ideal of innovation, management, and money?

On May 9th, 2019, Mayor Webber hosted an event called the Santa Fe Tech Industry Spring Convening. The question raised at the meeting was how do we develop a thriving, sustainable technology industry? And who supports such efforts? Is this all talk and no action?

Matt Brown, from the Office of Economic Development spoke of how many tech business startups have 1–5 employees and are still in their first five years of development. Matt mentioned the obstacles of funding, recruitment, and education, and the need for a game plan to work together across the sector. Peter Mitchell from the NM Economic Development then gave an overview of state-run programs. The NM Tech Council is promoting the state as a destination for new software businesses to move here, citing lower running costs, lower salaries (as if that’s a good thing), and ample skilled workers (which I question). NM Tech Works offers basic coding, website building classes, and social media type skills. The NM Job Training Incentive Program has supported the creation of 46,000 jobs within 1500 businesses in the last 47 years. We also have the programs such as the Small Business Development Center, WESST, Arrowhead, Startup New Mexico, SCORE, not all are focused on software or technology, but software relates to all aspects of our lives these days whether it’s acknowledged as such. Still, it looks like we’re actively looking for solutions.

Mayor Webber joked that “Santa Fe is one large TED Talk,” a combination of the creative and technology minded. Many of us living here are freelancers, independent, creative, and educated, looking for work through networking opportunities. The state has a history of history, technology, art, entertainment, film, tourism, service industry. He asked, how do we connect across the different areas to share our expertise and experiences to grow our economy together?

Dorian Radar, one of the panelists, talked of how a few years ago, there were many more events and conferences, almost too many. Nowadays, she said, there are less events and outreach opportunities to reach those in rural NM with great ideas and products. NMA Ventures and NM Angels hold Office Hours in Alb and online/virtual for those with ideas to get suggestions, references, ideas. More coaching opportunities are still needed for startups in my opinion, the information is hard to find, and the path to funding is difficult to maneuver.

Others mentioned how there’s problem with creating an ecosystem for employees. There’s money to invest, there are some great ideas here, but there’s not enough of a skilled or experienced workforce. It’s a concern and a challenge to bring in qualified leaders and managers. Paying high enough wages is only one aspect of the struggle to bring in qualified managers for any businesses. People might move here with an offer of work but what happens if they want to change companies? Who else can they work for, especially in the tech industry? Employees need to cross-pollinate, as in, be able to find other local work in the industry rather than move away, following the money and funds. Many of the tech staff moving here are young adults, with families, interested in settling long term.

At this meeting, the Mayor stated, “Denver and Austin are losing their souls” with their big tech growth. He even said, “you can have tech sophistication, growth, investment but we’ll keep it our way.” He then introduced Descartes Labs on the panel for discussing the state of technology in New Mexico.

Descartes Labs, Skorpius, and RiskSense are often mentioned as role models for other tech startups. However, Skorpios received seed funds from out of state and once at Series B rounds only then did Sun Mountain and Cottonwood invest. RiskSense got seed funding from out of state and at Series A, Sun Mountain invested. They opened an office in CA to attract funding. Mark Johnson, the CEO of Descartes Lab, did all the hard work himself, he brought in both funding and higher management from Silicon Valley and other states to complement the core group from the Labs. None of these companies received Catalyst Funds or financial help as true startups, they were only invested in locally after they’d proven themselves through their own efforts.

The Mayor talked highly of investing time and money into new solutions and programs, networking across the existing technology community in the state. He mentioned the need for affordable housing, jobs for the trailing spouses, but said little of investing in STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), internships’ training and he seemed interested more in quality of life and creating a downtown innovation district.

After the meeting, I handed him my notes on what the neighboring states are doing, the original version of this article, and he agreed to meet with myself and Tracy Ragan, of DeployHub, a central microservice sharing platform for software developers. (I work for DeployHub as a Communications Officer part time.) We’d wanted to share our findings on funding for tech startups, coming from both ends of the spectrum, with my customer focused product and hers a business to business for enterprise software development. We had an appointment for June 13th at 10.30am. The Mayor’s secretary, once we’d driven from Madrid to Santa Fe, rescheduled for half an hour later. We returned only to be postponed for another week. The next day, a call from the Mayor’s office cancelled our upcoming meeting. They wouldn’t reschedule for another time. It was most odd to put it politely. Especially after all his talk of being open to coffee with his constituents, community building, and sharing information.

I’d hoped to give him my research on how Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma are all creating huge technology growth, impacting their states GDP in the millions, improving median incomes, lowering unemployment, training tens of thousands of students with technical skills, and creating anywhere from 24,000 to 140,000 tech jobs. Unlike in New Mexico with our 9,000 jobs. I’d wanted to give him their recommendations and share the programs that worked. We don’t have to do it “our way” as the Mayor says, we can learn from others and collaborate by reading their roadmaps to success for software and technology startups.

In the meantime, I’ll share with you what these neighboring states say contributed to their economic growth. These are the steps and programs they have implemented with incredible success, their recommendations.

1. Mayors and Governors to actively approach the technology corporations and find out what they need in order to move to our region.

2. Create community: sponsor monthly social events for local tech industry people to gather, chat, talk shop, share ideas, ask for suggestions, and build strong network.

3. State-run meetings: Each quarter host a gathering for tech industry that is educational, and network/skills based with a featured speaker (startup leader etc.) followed by breakout sessions on various topics of interest.

4. Websites: User friendly, easy access to resources, to training programs, to events, and relevant information that is updated regularly, with clear links that work.

5. Education/Training programs:

- Create scholarships for higher ed training in tech

- Internships (e.g. Talen Ready Utah’s certificates/hands on training while in high school)

- New businesses sponsor in-house internships as part of the initial funding agreements

- Provide training programs across the state at all levels of entry into field

- Higher education degrees (not only entry level skills)

6. Invest in education from both sides: Pay teachers well and keep talented workforce committed to the state which then creates an educated, well-paid and engaged populace, more likely to stay. Support staff, new textbooks, upgraded technology and infrastructure.

7. Taxes: To develop and pass pro-technology legislation. Easier and business friendly regulations that respect the needs of different business needs. Research & Development (R&D) tax credits, and others that promote incentives for more investments for startups.

8. Physical Clusters/real estate for tech companies who can collaborate, share info, resources, and buildings to create a stronger micro-community/economic base. (e.g Utah created clusters and real estate by voting to move state run prison off prime location along their business corridor)

9. State-wide Collaboration: Connect with other cities to work together, share programs, resources, information across Santa Fe, Alb, Las Cruces etc. Connect. Develop. Work together.

10. Promote these partner programs, the infrastructure of light-railway, housing, incubators, co-offices etc. and not only the quality of life aspect when courting investors and businesses.

11. Annual Tech Summit with featured speakers, startups, investors, from the region, spread over two days, treat the investors to explore the area and colleges as Utah did with great pro-active success.

12. Inclusive/Diversity: When promoting each state for new tech businesses, be wary of language that is divisive, xenophobic or limiting. Encourage outsiders. Welcome investors and companies. Invite them to visit, ask them to talk at local universities and schools in exchange.

And lastly, I’d like to return to a specifically New Mexico concern: The Catalyst Fund.

Created three years ago to invest $20M in tech startups, it now has approximately $40M with the matching funds. It has not done its job. There needs to be oversight, accountability, and transparency. Who benefits from holding onto the funds? Why is it so impossible to discover who has received CF $? Which tech companies have received the funds, how much, and why were they chosen?

As far as I can tell, the local venture capitalists could

- Take more financial risks

- Research what technology (software) is these days

- Better understand the various needs of tech startups

- Invest at seed instead of waiting for second rounds of funding

- Be open to soft science tech/software business to business development

- Consider larger initial funds so the startup caps tables aren’t impacted negatively

- Learn more about the industry

- Update the Catalyst Fund website regularly with full information, links to the fund managers and lists of who has received help and why.

- Focus on outreach and education about the money available

- Research other state’s investments and successes

And finally, please, simply invest in more tech startups.

New Mexico needs to play catch up as without greater investments, pro-technology legislation, and the government physically out on the field, we’re a losing team. After all my research into our neighbors’ successes and the situation here, I believe that it’s a matter of scope. We need to expand the dollar amounts invested, increase the number of larger sized startups, build more STEM programs in high schools and higher education, outreach to our rural communities with more access to training, and actively seek technology businesses to move here. We can grow into a thriving technology economy, we have the beginnings of great lifestyle, climate, real estate, a need and hunger for training and skilled employment, ideas and prototypes for tech startups. Let’s expand what we’re already achieving and aim higher, wider, and claim our state as one to invest in. We’re doing it. We just need to expand our idea of what success looks like in New Mexico.

Startup

Nm Tech

Technology

Funding

New Mexico

[edgarwseidel]

Will Brazil Lead A Recovery In Deepwater Drilling?

Introduction

The Pre-salt arena, discovered only a decade ago, contributes an increasing share of Brazil’s daily oil production. In the graphic below, you can see that there is a steady ramp up in Pre-salt production since 2009. You can also see a slow, but steady decline in other sources.

Source

With the scandals and political strife that have become the stuff of legend in the last decade, Brazil finds it again needs external sources of capital to supply its oil requirements. In furtherance of that goal, it has been auctioning off attractive blocks, and happily pocketing the Dinheiro that the IOCs (International Oil Companies) offer up for them.

Why drill in deep water?

This is a fair question. With all the press that the American shale has received in recent years, the Deepwater arena has been neglected. Deepwater drilling has fallen by the way over the last few years, largely due to the front end cost. The rigs needed to drill in this environment were very expensive, and when added to the ancillary services used across the life of the wells, made the overall proposition uneconomic for the oil companies.

Deepwater is a necessary part of the energy basket that modern society will need to make sure that it is adequately supplied with power. To understand why it is helpful to know that not all hydrocarbon reservoirs are alike. So, to further the discussion, I will discuss the topic briefly below.

I will start by defining some terms to help you understand the points I will make below.

· Clastic. This refers to a type of petroleum reservoir comprised of detrital sediments that accumulate over time; typically sandstone. Shale is also a clastic, but its grain structure is so tightly compressed that it has little or no matrix permeability.

· Matrix permeability. This refers to the rock’s flow characteristics and is measured in Darcy units.

· Stimulate. That’s what fracking is — an attempt to massively increase the near-wellbore flow characteristics to increase production from the well.

Back to our question. Why drill in Deepwater? The short answer is that if you want big discoveries, you must drill in prolific reservoirs that are capable producing thousands of barrels per day for a long period of time, reservoirs that are typically the target of DW exploration. Part of the reason for this is that many of these DW reservoirs are clastic (sandstone) and have some matrix permeability already. What this means is that unlike most shale reservoirs, where the permeability lies in tiny, vertical fractures, sandstone reservoirs have at least some horizontal connectivity back to the well bore. When you stimulate (frack) this type of reservoir, the increase in permeability is huge, literally achieving gains of 1,000s of times. Part of the reason shale is so drilling-intensive is that it lacks that horizontal permeability. Fracking overcomes this for a while, but in the end — usually two to three years usually — Mother Nature takes over and these wells play out.

OK, that’s it for the tech stuff. If you want more you’re going to have to take a class. If you didn’t understand any of this, then I will ask you to take my word as an industry veteran — and the word of virtually every major oil company on the planet — that DW is where the big finds are.

Tool Box Talk

What is the Pre-salt? It consists of oil formed from depositional activity in basins formed by the breakup of the super-continent of Gondwana 300 hundred million years ago. In modern times these deposits lie beneath a thick layer of evaporite salt and is further overlain by additional sedimentation, and of course about 6,500 feet of water.

Source

It is a massive resource that is likely replicated to a large extent in West Africa as the graphic above reveals. In Brazil, it is estimated that the Pre-salt runs from Santa Caterina to Espirito de Santo, a distance of some 800 kilometers. It may also be as much as 200 kilometers wide.

Petrobras has drilled a number of wells in the Pre-salt and has not hit a dry hole yet (a fact which might account for the strong IOC interest in this play). This resource was originally declared so basic to Brazil’s oil independence that it was restricted to Petrobras. Over time, the capital cost to develop these fields led the ANP, the Brazilian oil regulator, to open the Pre-salt to IOCs. Which brings us to the recent auctions.

The success of this auction, Round 15 in particular, might also account for the relatively mild showing in the recent U.S. GoM auction that yielded only a $124 million for a record auction of 77K acres. By contrast, the Brazil auction net the government $2.4 billion in hard currency. In short, each auction had many of the same players, and clearly, the big money was tied up in Brazil.

Who got what in Brazil’s 15th Round?

Source

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil (XOM) and partners were the big winners and snagged 8 blocks to add to the 10 blocks captured in the September 2017 round. Clearly, XOM who needs to start ramping up reserves replacement, and has not operated in Brazil before is on the board now. Exxon was so confident in one block, CM-789, that it paid a record $853 mm for that block alone.

Source

Why was Block CM-789, so special to XOM and partner Petrobras? Perhaps it was the fact that the Paleocene, turbidite depositional mechanism creates the potential for huge finds. This geology is similar to the West African structures it has tapped offshore Angola and Liberia. It has further similar acreage offshore Ghana. Perhaps they dream of a reservoir that will deliver the Erha-type performance it found offshore Nigeria- wells making twenty-thousand BOED.

Turbidite describes a depositional state characterized by a high energy environment that often yields clean, high quartz reservoirs capable of delivering wells with flow rates as high as 20-30K BOPD. These wells can produce for many years.

Source

Exxon’s interest is surely also drawn by the tantalizing proximity to some of the Pre-salts biggest finds to date, Lula. Shown above in orange. It also near another new Petrobras operated Mega-field that has just come online, Libra. Libra is shown in gray in this graphic. Libra has been estimated to contain between 8 and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil. With reserves potential like this, XOM’s interest in block CM-789 comes into sharp focus.

Source

Note in the graphic above that this block is directly adjacent to the Pre-salt polygon, originally reserved for exclusively for Petrobras.

Source

This is a structure identified as a “lead” in the ANP Roadshow prior to the lease sale. In the paste below, you see a lot of wonderful anticlines (an upward folding of the rock, with the oldest sediments at the center) that are famous for forming stratigraphic traps for oil accumulation. The ANP has helpfully pointed out in blue what might appear to be hydrocarbon accumulations just under the salt.

Source

Was what XOM saw here worth almost a billion dollar front-end investment? Time will tell. One thing is for sure. With a billion on the table, exploration drilling will begin shortly. Even Exxon doesn’t park that kind of money for very long. I see a rig getting a contract soon.

Chevron

Chevron, (CVX), picked up four new blocks. It was the first time in a number of years CVX had participated in the Brazilian play. It has other Deepwater operations in Brazil’s offshore market, key among them the Frade (FYI- “D” makes a soft “g” sound in Portuguese) project. You may recall CVX and Brazil had a bit of a dustup regarding oil leaks from shallow flows on Frade, that to senior CVX execs being slapped in jail for a weekend. There’s nothing like a night in a South American jail to cool the ardor of oil execs for a particular country. Time heals all wounds, however, and CVX is back in Carioca-land. Perhaps with a new set of execs.

Source

You can see that CVX has been treading water the last couple of years, with reserves being markedly down since 2014. So back to Brazil, and Deepwater exploration it came.

Shell

Shell has operated in Brazil for nearly 30-years. It has a considerable infrastructure already and is in a good position to develop the blocks it picked up in round 15.

Shell picked an additional 4-blocks in round 15. Those, with the 6-blocks it picked up last Fall give it a total of 18 exploratory blocks to probe for oil and gas. It plans drilling on the highly prospective Gato do Mato (Jungle cat) block in 2019.

Repsol

The Spanish oil operator could use some reserves addition as well. It has been treading water largely for the last several years. This particularly true when the recent suspension of their license in Vietnam to drill the CRD project is taken into account.

Source Chart by author

Statoil (STO), BP, and Wintershall, Division of Germany’s (OTCQX:BASFY), were all winners in this auction as well.

Summary

With billions of dollars in leases laid out, these companies are not going to be sitting on their hands. They need to replace reserves… badly. That’s the reason for the interest in the Brazilian Pre-salt. Drilling will start soon, as these companies look to start capitalizing on the huge down payments they’ve made here.

Over the next year or so we should see some DW rigs returning to service, and starting the cycle for other service providers to follow.

Author’s Bio.

Dave Messler is an oil industry veteran who maintains a consulting and training practice called, ACME Fluids Training. More info can be obtained at www.acmefluidstraining.com.

In addition, he writes for a financially oriented blog site called Seeking Alpha, under the pseudonym The Fluidsdoc. There he runs a Market Place investing service known as The Daily Drilling Report. More info on this can be obtained at https://seekingalpha.com/author/fluidsdoc/articles#regular_articles.

  The post Will Brazil Lead A Recovery In Deepwater Drilling? appeared first on Drillers.

from Updates About Oil And Gas https://drillers.com/will-brazil-lead-a-recovery-in-deepwater-drilling/

[katiezstorey93]

ESP8266 Mesh Experiment

In case anyone else (such as me) was sitting on the shelf within this particular one — and might like to have a go with an ESP8266 mesh… we’ve been having a play.

Regular readers may recall I wasted the better part of a year using those AWFUL NRG24L01 boards becoming no-where and finally hoping to generate a mesh — really I think it’s the mere presence.

Fast forward to December 2017 – take 3 ESP8266 modules, run the identical code on each of the three, attach a LED+resistor to GPIO12… choose ESP8266 modules for a walk. One is in the office out of scope, the other in the midst sitting in my car in the freezing cold.     After all 3 are speaking to each other you’ll notice 3 flashes in rapid succession…

That’s it no setup. . You can see the output of a few of these on the serial port and find out how many are speaking (if your eyes are quickly enough) to a LED.

So — here is where we began….

https://github.com/Coopdis/easyMesh

That relies on two libraries — before compiling install.

https://github.com/bblanchon/ArduinoJson

From this one you need the SimpleList library

https://github.com/blackhack/ArduLibraries

Once added to your Arduino Development surroundings (yet you do this — I use Arduino 1.8.5 — also on other events Atmel Studio — on this occasion — the easy Arduino IDE on Windows 10 64 piece) — grab the example StartHere…. That’s it you need to have the ability to figure out once it is working to go from that point.

To test this as suggested previously, we abandoned one unit at my workplace (protected from the home by a small stone construction) and place one unit at the home.   The one from the home saw nothing.   We included one to a battery between, sitting on my vehicle –  therefore it could visit the workplace and the home by line of site.    Bingo, the home unit saw all three .   That remained up for a while among the components dropped out. A reboot fixed that but It dropped out again — subsequently reconnected.

At this point I was prepared to throw in the towel ANOTHER failed mesh. So to explain it doesn’t have anything to do with your house/office WIFI and doesn’t  require access to an access point or router. No installation is required. Units can broadcast to everyone in the mesh when we’ve cracked it can talk to apparatus which talk or as you will see at some stage.

As you can see here “piggy in the middle” was speaking to the others.

Well, that is the idea but obviously it didn’t work reliably.

After some time we became a little despondent this was showing indications of becoming undependable — I sent a message to the ISSUES department for the repository but noticed that someone had beaten me to it 3 weeks ago and never heard anything back. Remember this code had not been modified in annually.

I obtained side-tracked because you do — and from chance I came across this particular variation. .

https://gitlab.com/BlackEdder/painlessMesh

Same codebase but altered recently.   We hooked that the sole immediate difference and up to all 3 planks was that the LED being predicated as against earth based.   With three components connected using this code that is new, the flashes were a tad too close together so I set my OWON scope on scan to see them. To date (hours later) with a single unit at the home, one sitting freezing to death in my vehicle and the next in my office, we’ve never missed a beat.

Debugging on this particular one is more complicated and shows memory usage.

I’m keeping a watch out for this RAM — which began in 32720 free and currently hovers between 33904 along with 31766… i.e. RAM usage looks just fine.

A great deal of things in the picture above but no real errors that I can see. I do see three different node numbers (automatic, from MAC address). From the code you can select how much should any debugging you see. This looks a little more complex than the code but the majority of it I guess not and we can assume works worry about it.

So here is the strategy

Once we are happy that this is functioning — the strategy is to give each and every meaningful name… to then take ONE of these ESP8266s and have it talk to a normal ESP8266 via sequential or similar across the lines of packages like  topic:”who to”, payload:”the payload”

i.e.. An ESP8266 would use software that is normal to talk to MQTT and relay that message. The unit doing the link would subsequently BROADCAST to all (simplest, I know you could do it another way) in which the issue is the “name” of this unit. Each would compare, do what it’s supposed to perform using the payload and send a message back up — ie broadcast…. Oh… subject:”who from/reply”,payload:” answer payload” which would be picked up from the unit connected to the external community — and shipped back to return to MQTT.

Okay this would be great for high speed connectivity however I’m guessing would be fine for turning things on and off.

This gets around a problem where WIFI isn’t functional except for a single unit permitted in scope through a single unit or a firewall — the remainder of the MESH want be no-where near WIFI access.

That’s where we are like I talk the scope is reporting, despite the poor piggy-in-the-middle unit+battery out freezing to death at –6c, groups of 3 relations constantly — and RAM is fine.

THIS is what makes things fun…. experimenting!

The article ESP8266 Mesh Experiment appeared first on Scargill’s Tech Blog.

from network 8 http://austresearch.com/esp8266-mesh-experiment/

[phynxrizng]

A MEMORIAL TO THOSE HURT AND KILLED YESTERDAY IN KENTUCKY,

Skip to content Witches Of The Craft® PRIMARY MENU  We Will Be Closed Today But Back Tomorrow….. Good morning, my dear sweet brothers & sisters of the Craft! As you have probably guessed by now, we are off the internet today. Yesterday took a very heavy toll on all of us. I didn’t realize how heavy the toll would be till the names of the victims were released this morning. One I already knew had been killed at the school, her aunt called me. The other, a fifteen year old young man, my ex-husband worked with his father and knew him also. This area is a tight-knit community and it seems everyone is kin to everyone else or else we know each other. The girl’s aunt called me and I know she was looking for words of comfort. I tried to console her as the best as I could. But that school shooting had opened up old wounds for me and the words became very difficult to find. She asked if I could come and spend some time with her today and I am going. Her aunt is a good friend and you don’t desert your friends in their time of need. The story for her aunt only gets sadder. A little over a year ago, her husband passed away. I comforted her and consoled her during that. She told me that I was her rock and she couldn’t have made it through her husband’s passing without me. This rock is crumbled. I know there will be questions and I don’t know if I have the answer for those questions. The biggest question will be, why did this happen? Why was my baby girl taken from me? How do you answer those questions. These are all good people, why did it have to happen to them, that is the question that keeps going through my head. I know you have probably seen the candle light vigils on TV but the people who lost their children and those in critical condition are in a way angry at God right now. I can understand that completely. If I was in their shoes, I would be angry at the world. Most of the times the words come easily for me but not today. I dread going to the aunt’s house. I dread going to the prayer vigil. I dread the moments the aunt will turn to me for comfort. The only words I can think of is that there is pure evil in this world. The Divine creates us in Her own image and gives us freewill. Freewill is one of the greatest gifts she gives us. But there are those among us that cannot handle freewill. How some people use that freewill is different from others. I don’t know if they are born with an evil seed or something in their environment pushing them towards evil. But when that evil is released no good can come from it. When the evil is released, killing like we saw yesterday occur. We must mourn the lost of our loved ones and then we have to stand strong against that evil. For that is the truest test, standing strong when the world seems it has taken everything from you. If you don’t, the madman who took your loved one wins. You have to stand strong so that doesn’t happen, you mourn, you miss them but you must go on with life as they would have wanted you too. You have to live your life in their memory and their honor. The pain will be unbearable at times and I don’t lie, I have lost too many. But it does ease some. You have good days and you will have bad days. On those bad days, imagine your loved one, how they loved you and they wouldn’t want you to be upset and crying over their loss. I believe the answer to that question is no, they wouldn’t. Even though they were taken in such a violent way and before their time, they would want you to continue living your lives in their honor and their memory. Most of all remember, they are no longer on this plane but they are now in a much better place. A place were there is no pain, no suffering, just love. Love of the purest form. We all have the promise of one day we will be reunited with the ones we have lost. Think of that day, live for that day. When you are at your lowest, call their name. They will come and you will feel their presence. Their love for you will last an eternity and as long as you keep them in your hearts, they will always be with you. You never know what to say, sometimes words are not needed, just being there is enough. I am sincerely hoping that is the case today. I would ask that you say a prayer for the Holt family and the Cope family as they go through this very difficult time. Pray that the Divine gives them comfort and strength. Pray for those at Vanderbilt Hospital, that they will make a speedy recovery. Pray for all those who had to witness the horror of yesterday. No one should ever have to witness a thing such as those young people had too. Help them deal with every emotion they are feeling. Pray for us all in the days ahead. Pray that I can find the words to comfort a grieving family. Remember my dear, sweet family, hug your children and your loved ones tight and long every day. For in these days and times we ever know. I love you, Lady A  To The Holt Family To The Cope Family Our deepest condolences, love & prayers Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die. Advertisements  Report this ad  Report this ad ADVERTISEMENT  Share With Others   Save Share on Tumblr inShare 1PrintEmail  Posted on January 24, 2018 by ladyoftheabyss Posted in Articles, Daily Posts RELATED Remember Me? In "Articles" A Very Beautiful & Blessed Sunday Morning To All Our Brothers & Sisters of the Craft! 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[travelexperienceblog]

2017 has been an amazing year for the three of us. Travelling for 40% of the year and visiting 13 different countries has made 2017 the best year of our lives to date. This blog post will look back at everywhere we have been and what made it so amazing.

In February, we travelled to Krakow as a group of 8. This was the biggest group of people that we have travelled with and it lived up to all expectations. Some of the best highlights of Krakow were visiting Auschwitz and the salt mines. Although very sobering, Auschwitz was an incredible place to visit and you felt a sense of disbelief at walking around and listening to the tour guide. Should you get the opportunity, we would highly recommend visiting Auschwitz as it’s an incredibly important historical place. Additionally, going in the winter where it was -8°C allowed us to at least experience some of the weather conditions in which the prisoners had to work in, the difference being we had appropriate winter clothing. A truly reflective experience.

Auschwitz

Old Town Square

The salt mines were also incredible. We weren’t expecting much, but it really blew us away. I remember us walking through and we came to a chapel completely built out of salt. The architecture involved was mesmerising and anyone who is thinking of going definitely should! Obviously with Krakow comes great nightlife, and it didn’t disappoint. The hostel, The Little Havana Party Hostel, made sure that we all had a great time with its constant free drinks and games.

Havana Hostel

Shooting

Shooting

After Krakow, we travelled to Iceland. We knew that Iceland was going to amaze us, but it was better than we could have ever imagined. Renting a car really did give us the flexibility that made our trip so great. Picking a couple of highlights from this trip is just too hard. From snorkelling in Pingvellir national park, to the Blue Lagoon and seeing Geysers erupt. Honestly, Iceland is one of our favourite places and it is up there with one of our best trips. I think what made Iceland so good for us is that it felt for the first time that we were travelling properly. We had learnt so much from our other trips that now we had learnt enough to feel that we were doing things right.

Hraunfossar

Hraunfosser

Pingvellir

Why people should visit Iceland is that it genuinely has everything you could want to see or do. Whale watching (although we didn’t see any whales) was a wonderful experience seeing the number of dolphins and sea life that we did. Being able to experience the Northern Lights in the most amazing way was truly an experience that we will never forget. Iceland had so many highlights that it should be at the very top of everyone’s bucket list!

Aurora

Pingvellir

sejlandsfoss

Black Sand Beach

Skogafoss

In April we planned some small trips to Edinburgh and Dublin. These trips were planned as we wanted to go somewhere in the Easter holidays, and it would be our last trip before our Asia trip. In Edinburgh, we visited the dungeons, the castle and Arthur’s seat, as well as drinking enough alcohol to last us a lifetime. Like in Edinburgh, we also drank far too much alcohol in Dublin. Dublin’s bars are a crazy and surreal atmosphere of beer, fun and laughter. One highlight was in a pub on the Dublin pub crawl, where a couple from Barcelona started Irish dancing and the whole pub went crazy for it. We also stopped off at the Guinness Brewery where, you guessed it, Guinness is made. This was actually a really cool experience, not only for the free Guinness but also learning how it has been brewed throughout its history.

Our Asia trip began in Hong Kong. At the time only two of us started the trip together as the other was volunteering for 5weeks in Cambodia. Hong Kong was our first experience of Asia, and its safe to say it only got us more excited. The favourite bit of Hong Kong was completing the Dragons Back Trail. Whilst hiking through the jungles and mountains of Hong Kong, we saw some absolutely stunning views before finishing at one of the best beaches we’ve ever seen. This is something that anyone visiting Hong Kong should put right at their top of their to-do list. Other memories of Hong Kong include going to see the Big Buddha, and to get to it we took the longest cable car journey in the world! Also walking down to Star Ferry Pier where we took a boat tour of the harbour to see the city all lit up of Hong Kong. We thought Hong Kong would just get us used to the culture without changing too much from England. However, it got us so excited for the rest of the trip that we instantly fell in love with HK.

Malaysia is really where we started to do all the typical travelling stuff. During our 9 days stay in Malaysia we met so many people from all over the world, many of whom we still are in regular contact with. The people we met in Malaysia were amazing and really made us have an awesome time! One person, we’d like to give a big shout out to was the hostel rep, Kat. Kat was the hostel rep for the pub crawl which happened 5 times a week and was the reason why the pub crawl was so fun. Unfortunately for you if you’re thinking of visiting, she no longer works at the hostel, which is a big shame for anyone who is wanting to visit Kuala Lumper. Not only did she make sure everyone was so drunk that it was impossible not to have a good night, but she also made me meet my current girlfriend. So, it’s safe to say that Malaysia really was incredible. Activities that added to our wonderful experience whilst in KL was visiting the elephant sanctuary and the Cameron Highlands Tour.  The elephant sanctuary was fun and interesting to go and see. It gave us an educated insight into the torture that so many elephants experience all around the world, but particularly in Southeast Asia. Visiting the Cameron Highlands, where we saw stunning mountain ranges and learned about the history of the tea plantations there, which date back to the British Empire. This was something quite different than we had ever done before and found it surprisingly interesting. Both activities are something that we would highlight as things to do in Malaysia. Before we started our trip, I didn’t really want to go to Malaysia that much compared to the other countries, but I can honestly say that Malaysia has a place in my heart.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Moving onto Cambodia where we spent the next two weeks soaking up the sun and experiencing the Cambodian culture. Staying in Phnom Penh for around a week, we visited many of the temples and took a bike tour around some of the islands that surround the Cambodian capital. The highlight of Phnom Penh was learning about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide that happened around 40 years ago. As we mentioned in our article, we were frustrated to learn about the genocide in depth, which we previously knew little about. This genocide was beyond horrific, as it affected every Cambodian family and still effects Cambodian life today. Visting S21 and the Killing Fields was a solace moment for the both of us, something we can only compare to Auschwitz. Even if history does not interest you, this is so important to learn about as it really widens your eyes to the horrors that took place so recently.

Our 2nd week in Cambodia was spent in Siem Reap where we later met up with Max and met some of his volunteering group. Obviously visiting one of the world wonders, Angkor Wat, was a phenomenal memory that we will never forget. Although it wasn’t the best sunrise we could have had, it was still a magical moment and feeling around the place. Its quite surreal that Angkor Wat was built so many centuries ago, and is still standing today in all its glory. What we loved about Siem Reap was that it had more of a travel scene compared to Phnom Penh.  The more relaxed, party-like atmosphere created a great buzz where it was easy to have fun.  A couple of activities we enjoyed were driving quads around the countryside, and riding motorbikes around the city which were amazing and something that everyone should do when visiting Siem Reap! Something we loved about Cambodia was the hospitality of the people. They always made you feel so at home and always made you laugh and have the best time possible. We have so many memories of Cambodia and Cambodia really added a lot to our trip.

Now the three of us were finally together, Vietnam was our next stop. The next 17 days were hectic but probably the best 17 days of our lives. It’s going to take some trip to beat our experience of Vietnam. Starting off on Castaways Island in Ha Long Bay, we spent two nights here partying with about 100 other people. On the second day you get your own private party boat where you tour Ha Long Bay and have a mad party at the same time. Other activities you can do in your time here include kayaking, rock climbing, tubing and wake boarding. If you choose to visit this place just expect to have a crazy time! After our mad adventures in Ha Long Bay, we travelled from Hanoi to Sapa where we spent the next three days trekking in the mountains. The North of Vietnam is stunning, and the view in the mountain ranges are phenomenal. If you enjoy trekking, then you will absolutely love Sapa because some of the walks, mountain views and scenery are out of this world. This just added to the Vietnam highlight reel and really was one of our favourite things we did our entire Asia trip. Rounding off Vietnam with an absolute bang, was spending a week doing the Buffalo Run with some of the best people we’ve ever met from all over the world. Starting in Hanoi and finishing off in Hoi An, the buffalo run was a weeks long adventure down the east coast of Vietnam. Attempting to replicate Top Gear’s Vietnam Special (in reverse), we completed the Hai Van Pass in army jeeps from the Vietnam war, learnt a lot about the war and Vietnamese culture, played plenty of volleyball, as well as seeing some of the most beautiful beaches all with the best company. As you can tell, we couldn’t have enjoyed Vietnam more if we tried.

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Now we were halfway through our Asia trip we flew to Thailand to spend the next 21 days, island hopping, drinking and spending our time relaxing with the most amazing views to look out. Starting off our trip island hopping through the islands of Phi Phi, Samui, Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, we enjoyed 10 days of absolute madness. Ranging from the mad parties on the beach, to spectacular waterfalls and completing our diving licenses, Thailand really couldn’t get much better. Or so we thought. After completing our diving courses, which we all agree was one of the best things we have done to date, we really thought that the rest of our travels in Thailand couldn’t be beaten. However, we were so wrong. After stopping over in Bangkok for four days, we travelled north to the city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai was incredible and stopping at the elephant sanctuary where we fed and cleaned the elephants was really enjoyable. After the elephant sanctuary took us on a trek to see some waterfalls and later gave us the amazing opportunity to do river rafting, we all agreed that Chiang Mai was one of our favourite places. From Chiang Mai, we travelled to Pai, where our hostel had a pool that overlooked the mountain ranges of northern Thailand. Renting a motorbike and driving around the countryside, seeing waterfalls, canyons and fantastic views, Pai was a place which we never wanted to leave. Unfortunately, due to time constrictions we only spent 48hours there. Nevertheless, we all agree that we will return to Pai as soon as we can.

Japan was our next stop on our travels. Although we visited Toyko for two days the main point of our Japan trip was to attempt to climb Mt Fuji. During our time in Fuji, we stayed at a brilliant hostel, K’s house, which was very relaxed and chilled out. If you choose to climb Mt Fuji, you’ll find this is exactly what you’ll need afterwards. We really enjoyed walking around all the lakes and looking at all the mountain views from our hostel. At the hostel, we met a traveller called Andy who made the trip to the top with us. The climb itself which took over 24hours straight to ascend and descend was probably the physically hardest thing we’ve ever done. However, it was by far one of the most rewarding as it was an amazing feeling reaching the top and then being back at the hostel again. Even though we weren’t overly keen on Toyko, we loved our time in Fuji and we really want to go and visit other Japanese cities such as Osaka and Kyoto. Our short stay in Japan really made us get the Japan bug, and Fuji was one of those places which we really do like.

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The last place on our itinerary was India. When we were travelling to India we all couldn’t believe just how quickly the last 3months of our trip went. But we were determined to make the most of our last 17 days. While we had a difficult start In India (getting scammed in Delhi), we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Agra and it was just what we needed. Needless to say, seeing the Taj Mahal at both sunrise and sunset was an unbelievable experience and one we won’t soon forget. The architecture and level of detail put into the interior decoration is absolutely incredible. However, India gave us many problems that we just didn’t encounter on the rest of our travels. One major problem was our train was somehow delayed over 8hours. This significantly cut our time short in Jaipur, where we only got to see some of the attractions like the Amber Fort. We ended our trip in Goa, visiting the amazing town of Hampi along the way. Hampi, like Pai, was just an incredible place that is hard to explain to people that have never been. All we can say is that these places are a backpacker’s heaven and anyone wishing to visit these places will truly be mesmerised by them. Unfortunately, we didn’t have long in Hampi either as we had to head back to Goa to catch our flight back to the UK. During the last few days in Goa, we booked a resort which was close to the beach, so we could just relax and look back on what an incredible time we had. Everyone says you experienced a once in a life-time trip, and travelling around for so long has all got us in agreement, that we will  make it not a once in a life-time trip!

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Rounding the year out with returning to Thailand and visiting Bali in early November was an awesome feeling. Visiting my girlfriend that I had met in Malaysia during my Asia trip, and now visiting her some months later was a strange moment. During our time in Thailand, we visited the markets in Bangkok, as well as eating lots of Thai food. We left Bangkok to fly to Bali for the next five days where I had my first luxury holiday without my family. Usually, we are used to hostels but this time we stayed in a 4-star hotel which had its own pool and a shuttle taxi to its private beach. Although in Bali we mainly relaxed while only seeing a few of the things that Bali has to offer by hiring a motorbike, the trip made me want to visit Bali again and see it properly. The Indonesian people reminded me a lot of the rest of the  Southeast Asian people, very friendly and very kind. Finishing our travels in Bali really topped of our 2017 travels and got us excited for what’s to come in 2018. Although we only have two trips planned as of now, (Norway in January and Lisbon in April), we are excited to see what the future has in store!

  2017:  A Year for Travelling 2017 has been an amazing year for the three of us. Travelling for 40% of the year and visiting 13 different countries has made 2017 the best year of our lives to date.

[eleonoremarie]

The Other Gift Guide: 10 Charity Presents for Christmas 2017

Christmas is coming closer with every day now, the shops are filling up on chocolate Santas, cookies, decorations for our homes and presents for our loved ones. But each year around this time, I am starting to ask myself a very important question. Why Christmas. 

I've stopped believing in anything religious years ago and since then, started somewhat of a love-hate-relationship with the favourite holiday around the world. I still truly love the idea of Christmas, the coming together of family and friends, celebrating ourself, being aware of what we have and how beautiful all of our lives are.  But while I was growing up, a lot of negative thoughts slowly came up in me and the biggest of all: What are people doing this day without a family? What are those doing that can't afford a beautiful Christmas meal, the ones that maybe lost everything to a natural disaster or even the ones who never had much?

Since then, I started writing those Charity Christmas Posts. I always saw those beautifully curated articles on other blogs and magazines, saying, get this for your loved ones, buy here, spend money there. And it made me sad, sad to realise we live in a society where we don't doubt buying a T-Shirt for 150 bucks but wouldn't give a hungry a few coins so they can enjoy a meal or tea. 

I am still a totally commercial chick, don't get me wrong, I am that person who is willing to spend 150 bucks on a stupid T-Shirt that probably wasn't even produced ethically correctly.  But still, I do give myself a monthly budget I HAVE to spend on people living in the streets. I will never not ask them if they need anything from a close supermarket when I am short on cash and have the time pop into the store for a quick shop and even if not, I will always try to give them at least a warm smile in those cold days.  We live in such a hectic world, we are all so busy, that we often forget about the real things in life, forget that there are people with real problems, who are not thinking about where to get the perfect party dress from, no they are probably thinking on where they can sleep tonight, if they can afford a hostel and how they will find a space to be safe from the harsh weather conditions we are experiencing right now. 

My biggest achievement in Life for myself is not that I managed to get into college in London all on my own or this blog, no, is that I spend one and a half months building up a refugee-home in Vienna during one of the biggest crisis we ever experienced. I am proud to have met so many wonderful souls, just looking for a safe place to stay for themselves and their family, proud to be able to take back on my life and being fully committed into the wellbeing of someone else. 

Anyway, I kind of had to write that from my soul right now. I did collect my favourite Charity Presents for your beloved ones below.  I tried to do a bit of a mixture of British and Austrian charity organisations, jewellery companies that help others and ethically good produced beauty products. There is truly something for everyone in here, so, please, if possible, think about maybe giving away a pig for a family in need, lunch for a school-kid that otherwise would be hungry or maybe just some seeds for a poor family living in a totally different World. If you are ever in doubt what to get your parents, grandparents, uncles, sisters or friends, I am sure they will appreciate the thought of getting them something that will mean the world for another human being.  I know it’s a lot to ask for, but if there is any chance you are willing to help, I’d be forever grateful and maybe, the person you are gifting too, will be too. 

None of the pictures in this post are from me, they are all sourced by either the charity sites itself or from people that posted about them. The other images, the homeless on the streets decorated with fairy lights, are from one of my favourite holiday campaigns so far, published by ADOT.COM in 2014. It is here, to make us more aware of people sleeping rough through the holiday season, the cold months of the year, and asks one simple question:

What will it take for you to see them?

#1: CRISIS

One of my favourite charity ideas for London, here you can reserve a place for one person in need at their Christmas dinner, where they not only offer hot food, but also advice, healthcare screenings, learning workshops and most importantly, someone to listen. It’s a beautiful curated package for every person in need and, what I think is extra special, is not just for one day, not, it is for NINE days. With your donation here, someone could be able to have a beautiful meal every day for over a week straight, for just £26.08.

#2: GIVESCENT

Givescent was found by two beautiful souls, after a trip to Italy. They not only wanted to create a new scent full of amazing aromas, also with every bottle they are selling they support the Women for Women International organisation, helping women all over the world to get the medical advice they need, help them to find jobs and educate them on their rights. 

#3: VASELINE RELIEF KIT

One of my personal biggest surprises when researching possible charity gifts for you guys, was when I found that Vaseline is working together with Direct Relied to provide dermatological care all over the world where it’s most needed. The best part here is, that they have a new and engaging way on how you can choose how much and what you’d like to donate. On their website, you have to option to build your own Relief Kit, where you can drag and drop products like, Emergency Blankets, Soap, Plasters or Blood Pressure Cuffs into your little Box, which you can that purchase and send to places they are needed most. And with every one of those little boxes, Vaseline sponsors one pack of their own renowned Vaseline itself!

#4: SOAP CO

Another truly beautiful brand I found, is Soap & Co. Not only are they a fully sustainable and earth-friendly beauty company, producing products like Lotions, Exfoliating Soap Pebbles and well, soaps itself, no, each of their products is produced by blind people in London, who otherwise wouldn’t find work. For me this is one of those pioneer projects, everyone should know about and help, because that’s the way we should treat any kind of disabled human being, give them a chance at something they will succeed. Beside that, they have beautiful gift packages, who are insanely cute packaged and ready to give immediately. 

#5: SCHENKEN MIT SINN

Schenken mit Sinn probably only really makes sense for my Austrian & German Followers, since it’s based there. It’s the present shop of Caritas, the biggest charity organisation in Austria and everything you can buy in their store will help someone else. You can choose from pigs for families in Africa, seeds, baby care packages or lunches for school kids around the world. As treat, you get a beautiful little card, explaining exactly where your money is going and how it’s gonna help. This is perfect for everyone you don’t exactly know what to get for example their grandparents, aunts and uncles or cousins. 

#6: OXFAM

Oxfam is the equivalent to Schenken mit Sinn in the UK, where very similar, you can go and shop to change another person's life for the better this Christmas. They are called the Unwrapped Gifts, where you will get not something physical, but a beautiful curated card explaining your loved one exactly where their Christmas Gift is helping. You can choose between education for kids, medical help for refugee camps, grow vegetables or my personal favourite, a goat couple, giving a family milk and cheese to sell.

#7: GIVING KEYS

Coming to one of my personal heroes I found while researching, the Giving Keys Jewellery Brand form Los Angeles. They are another one of those companies, trying to change the world to a better place and in my eye, they are 100% succeeding. Every single one of their beautiful necklaces, bracelets or earrings, is made by a person transitioning out of homelessness. They make new jobs, teach every single person important knowledge in money management and other things someone might need trying to get out of the streets. People are treated to food and beverages and the brand also helps everyone to not only set their personal goals but also on the way to achieve them. Beside that, I think that their design is just undoubtfully one of the best ones I’ve seen so far. No one would ever think it’s for charity because it just looks perfect.

#8: PURPOSE JEWELLERY

Let’s stay with Charity Jewellery, but a different cause this time. Purpose Jewellery’s beautiful item are all created by women reduced from human trafficking, by buying one of their products, you provide freedom, dignity and hope to so many poor souls. The young women are getting taught every part of the business, to gain important skills they will need in their future careers.

#9: BRITISH RED CROSS 

A classic under the charity organisations, where you can choose from many different places to send an important donation too. Syria, West Africa, Yemen and Iraq are some of them. It’s incredibly easy to donate, and even though if you’re not getting a pretty card or anything else out of it, just the thought that £30 alone would be enough to buy a food parcel for a whole family for a month, is extremely satisfying in my eyes.

#10: GO FUND ME

Go Fund Me doesn’t seem like the traditional place for charity, but I recently became a bit addicted to it and wanted to share it here. I love the idea that there is real human being out there, just simply asking for a little help out of the comfort of your living room. There are projects to build schools, water fountains, pay medical bills for children, resume wildlife animals or just simply families that need a little help for a hard time. Her I can only encourage you to trust into people, look out for stories that touch you personally the most, and maybe even connect with some of them through social media.

[junker-town]

11 things to know about the Texas vs. USC 2006 Rose Bowl, the greatest college football championship ever

A 2017 reunion between these two teams has everyone (except maybe USC fans) reminiscing on one of the biggest games of all time.

USC and Texas are playing football in 2017 (Sept. 16, 8:30 p.m. ET, Fox) for the first time since the last time. Because the last time was the 2006 Rose Bowl — which doubled as the national title game and was maybe the best ever played — this is an especially big deal.

Hopefully, Saturday’s game will be good. For a quick refresher course, here are some things about the night whose shadow it will be played in.

Just wanna watch the whole game? You can do that, too:

1. Even the losing QB calls it the best game ever.

“Every time the game gets brought up, I just think, ‘Man, what if?’” Matt Leinart, now a Fox analyst tells SB Nation in an article also including stories from winning head coach Mack Brown. “We were so close. We had the game won, and obviously they made the plays in the end, but you just felt like we kind of let the game slip away from us. Credit Texas. But that’s really what I think about. And then, as I’ve gotten older, I just think more about being a part of that game, just the history of it, and really thinking back and just thinking, ‘Wow.’ I think it’s the greatest game ever played in college football.”

It was significant even by national championship standards. USC had been the country’s wire-to-wire No. 1, and Texas had been the wire-to-wire No. 2.

In an SB Nation poll of fans earlier this year, the ‘06 Rose Bowl came in as the No. 2 most beloved game of the millennium, behind the ‘07 Fiesta Bowl.

2. It was the night Vince Young became a college legend.

His winning touchdown on a fourth-and-5 in the last minute:

Young’s line: 30-of-40 passing for 267 yards passing, plus 19 runs for 200 yards and three scores. He brought Texas back from a 38-26 deficit with 6:42 to play.

Young’s 467 total yards were a Rose Bowl record until the 2016 season’s game, when USC quarterback Sam Darnold got 473 in a similarly wild game.

3. It was the last broadcast call for a legend.

Keith Jackson rode into the sunset with one of his best calls ever, an understated pronouncement of Young’s touchdown. SB Nation interviewed his ABC crew mates that night:

“That was the tough part about the assignment, because here is the greatest college football — the voice of college football,” Dan Fouts said. “This was gonna be his last game. The thing about it was, it may have been his best game ever, too. He was all over it. He was perfect that night.”

Right before Young’s Longhorns lined up on that fourth down, Jackson said with a chuckle and a nod to his Bible Belt roots: “I kinda feel like Job. I’m too old for this.” When it was over, Young’s game wasn’t just good; the QB had “stepped beyond the pale.”

As a USC player knelt in the corner of the end zone and confetti rained, Jackson pointed out the “agony of defeat,” just like former colleague Jim McKay did in the famous opening to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, where Jackson had served as a reporter and announcer. Jackson’s last telecast ended with a bridge to the beginning.

4. It featured one big wrong call and one iffy call against USC.

Texas’ first touchdown came on a Young option pitch to Selvin Young, but the QB clearly had a knee down.

“Obviously, Vince’s knee was down, a hundred percent,” Leinart says. “We all know it. They know it. It doesn’t matter. It was a missed call. I’m sure we had some calls go in our favor. It is what it is. You can’t dwell on those plays.”

Earlier, a Reggie Bush attempted lateral became a fumble recovery for Texas.

Was Bush’s fumble really on a lateral, or was it a forward pass? The latter would’ve meant a penalty on USC, but the Trojans would’ve kept the ball. Bush released the ball here:

And the ball contacted a teammate here, probably without hitting anyone on Texas:

5. USC would’ve won if any number of plays had gone differently.

The obvious one is the Young touchdown in the final minute. Preceding that was a fourth-down stop by Texas on USC running back LenDale White:

If you’re a USC fan, you could torture yourself for weeks by doing nothing but hashing out all the things that could’ve been different. The play that bugs Leinart most is a fourth-down failure in the first quarter.

“That was a possession that we got no points on, and people kind of forget about that, but that was some play that always sticks out in my mind, that I just felt like I should’ve called time out,” Leinart says. “Even when I didn’t get it, I remember coming off the field just thinking, ‘God, we should’ve called time out.’ The coaches could’ve called time out, but I really felt like that was my job to do.”

6. Right before this game, Reggie Bush won the Heisman over Young and Leinart.

Bush later lost it in an NCAA sanctioning, but anyway. As Bill Connelly argues:

The Trojans owned college football in the calendar year of 2005. Depending on how you define the terms, USC was either a dynasty in the making or was already a dynasty. Pete Carroll signed the best recruiting classes and put star athletes in position to make star plays.

And there’s a perfectly valid case that the Trojans were the better team than Texas for the season as a whole. One of the hazards of football’s short season is that we have only a best-of-one series to decide our champion. Texas won the one game that counted (and yes, it counted), and good for the Horns. They were incredible, too.

But let’s not pretend USC wasn’t amazing or that Bush only won because he played for a glamorous program. Texas is kind of a marquee name in its own right.

Let’s put this all another way: Bush won the Heisman by 933 points, despite his own quarterback finishing third and potentially siphoning off some votes. This was a runaway victory, and it was warranted.

Bush totaled 2,218 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns. As a public service, here is a highlight video, which you will enjoy:

7. LenDale White, USC’s best RB that night over Bush, has had a hard post-playing career.

Against Texas, White racked up 124 yards on 20 carries and scored three times. He had a brief NFL career. His night ended when Texas stopped him on that critical fourth down that set up Young’s game-winning drive. In the week before 2017’s game, the Los Angeles Times published a devastating profile of White that touched on his injury history:

White estimates he sustained 20 to 30 concussions, about one every other game. But he can’t be sure. Only one was diagnosed, he says.

“You lose consciousness and then all of a sudden it’s like shoooo-ooooof,” White says, making a slurping noise, his eyes growing wide as he described the sensation. “Like, that’s how it sounds, like shhhhhhloooof, and then all of a sudden you hear the play again.” He’d wander around in a haze, Young directing him to the right spot until he regained his senses.

His head throbbed. His body ached. When his career began to slide, he slipped into a funk. Pain pills, he found, dulled the misery.

8. The NCAA later vacated USC’s record from that season. The Trojans are 0-0 that year, in the NCAA’s warped view of things.

The Trojans list themselves as having not lost the game to Texas. That’s not usually a thing, since the NCAA typically only vacates wins, but it somehow is, this time.

ESPN reported:

According to USC sports information director Tim Tessalone, the program was instructed in 2010 by Jim Wright, then the NCAA director of statistics, not to include participation in any games that year as part of its official records. That edict included the Rose Bowl.

"I have documentation in a letter sent in July 2010 to Wright noting all the changes he instructed us to make, including that losses had to be vacated," Tessalone said in an email. "The letter also states that he had reviewed all our revisions and approved them."

When asked to clarify how the NCAA officially views USC's record from 2005, Jeff Williams, the associate director of media coordination and statistics for the NCAA, provided a link to the organization's list of USC's season-by-season records. It lists the Trojans as 0-0 in 2005.

9. All these years later, the QBs are good friends.

ESPN reports on their relationship:

"I have never been as focused as I was that night," says Young, who was 22 years old then. Now 34, he can still recall every detail of his second-ranked Longhorns facing the top-ranked Trojans in the Rose Bowl. "But before the game when I saw Matt, I couldn't help but smile. We were both so focused, but even in that moment I was like, 'Wassup, Matt? You ready to play some ball, man?'"

And Leinart’s still close with Young, he told SB Nation:

We were just a lot of places together post-college and really got to be friends, and we’ve remained friends for the last 10, 12 years. We see each other every once in a while. We sat down a couple weeks ago and did a little feature for this game coming up this weekend. But any time I see him, man, it’s just like old buddies talking shop.

10. Dozens of players from the game went on to NFL careers.

Sports Illustrated counted out the top-50 pro careers from the game. The highest-profile players (Bush, Leinart, and Young) were all high picks, but other players in the game lived out better careers.

USC had 10 picks in the April NFL draft that followed the Rose Bowl, and Texas six. The ‘06 Rose Bowl’s NFL alums include USC linebackers Brian Cushing, Ray Maulauga, and Keith Rivers, and receiver Dwayne Jarrett. Texas produced running back Jamaal Charles, safeties Michael Huff and Michael Griffin, and tight end Jermichael Finley.

11. Here are some other really good things you can read about that game:

This definitive Texas oral history, from 247Sports.

Another oral history that brings in USC, from CBS Sports.

“The Night is Young’s,” the Sports Illustrated cover story afterward.

Visit SB Nation’s USC blog at Conquest Chronicles.

Visit SB Nation’s Texas blogs at Burnt Orange Nation and Barking Carnival.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: Required Reading

Spanish furniture designer Fernando Abellanas has a new “creative home” under a highway underpass in Valencia and it looks hilarious. (via Colossal)

Jean-Michel Basquiat is having his first solo show at a UK museum (unbelievable, right?) and the Guardian speaks to people who knew him well:

So perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that everyone I talk to who knew Basquiat when he was alive, from girlfriends to collectors, musicians to painters, speaks about him as special. Still, it’s noticeable that they all do. Basquiat – even before he was acknowledged as an artist – was seen by his friends as exceptional.

“I knew when I met him that he was beyond the normal,” says musician and film-maker Michael Holman, who founded the noise band Gray with Basquiat. “Jean-Michel had his faults, he was mischievous, he had certain things about him that could be called amoral, but setting that aside, he had something that I’m sure he had from the moment he was born. It was like he was born fully realised, a realised being.”

“He was a beautiful person and an amazing artist,” says Alexis Adler, a former girlfriend. “I recognised that from the get-go. I knew he was brilliant. The only person around that time I felt the same thing about was Madonna. I totally, 100% knew they were going to be big.”

The title says it all:

“The Most Important Skill I Learned at Art School: How to Bullshit“

Ok, here’s some more:

The first few months at art school dramatically changed my perception of where I fit in on the class scale. I was easily one of the poorest kids on campus. Of course there were other poors, like me. These were people taking on massive amounts of debt, who wouldn’t allow themselves to purchase a cup of coffee, and who wore clothes their grandma had bought them before their freshman year of high school. The poors blended in pretty well, though. Art school is a great equalizer. Intentionally insane and disgusting attire was expected and encouraged, found objects counted as fine art, and eating cheap microwavable garbage was viewed as good time management. Plus, no one assumes you are poor when you’re attending a college that costs $30,000 a year. No one is looking at you for clues of your poverty.

Making political comics in the United States has a long lineage and this article looks at the state of the artists engaged in the form today:

When Benjamin Franklin decided to draw his famous “Join or Die” artwork and submit it to the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1954, he started what is now known as the modern day political cartoon. Since then, political cartooning has not only provided a way for artists and writers to express themselves, but they also have been able to do so freely under the First Amendment.

From the President’s tweets to natural disasters to the resurrected argument refuting science and claiming that the world is actually flat, there is literally no shortage of material for the satirical medium. And they are no longer regulated to just the back of the newspaper. Now political comics are available in webcomic format, as ebooks and yes, even in print. Many artists are using their talents to criticize, protest and report. Often with a bird’s-eye view of society.

How the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston prepared for Hurricane Harvey:

Shemon Bar-Tal, the chief technology officer, was there to keep data flowing across the facilities. (Even the parking lots are connected to the digital system.) He could move infrastructure if necessary. And he double-checked the disaster-recovery site he’d installed since Tropical Storm Allison, when the museum lost most of its communication equipment.

The team would split 18-hour shifts, sleeping six hours if they could, in their offices or designated quiet zones. The freezer was full. Air mattresses inflated. Ample water supplies ready. And each of them had a handy-dandy list of emergency contacts (including first and second responders) in their pockets, printed on a slip of waterproof Tyvek, just in case.

And then the MFAH’s senior decorative arts conservator gives artists advice for salvaging water-damaged belongings:

The first step is to get your belongings to safety and get them clean. That will keep mold at bay and will go a long way toward saving your flooring, furniture, textiles and other things.

While many people recommend using bleach water for cleanup and mold prevention, Pine and his colleagues – experts at preserving museum-quality valuables – prefer a mixture of 7 parts alcohol and 1 part water.

This nonprofit is saving historic churches in the US state of Georgia through careful documentation:

However, the process is not as simple as driving to a church, snapping a few photos, and reading a handy historical marker to learn its history.

“The church stories and histories are widely scattered, and a lot of it has been lost. It’s very difficult to retrieve it, especially so in African-American communities,” Seals laments. Armed with a network of volunteer photographers who live in all parts of the state, the organization has documented more than 200 churches that are, in many cases, in danger of disappearing. They find the history in local libraries and oral histories. Frequently, however, it’s a struggle to compile a complete history.

A new team has come up with a cosmic hypothesis for the mysterious beachings of sperm whales last year:

Mass sperm whale strandings have been recorded since the Middle Ages, but Vanselow was specifically interested in one that occurred in the winter of 2016, when 29 male sperm whales washed ashore in Germany, Britain, France and The Netherlands. Autopsies revealed that the whales were all healthy aside from some debris in nine of their bellies, not enough to kill them.

Vanselow realized that many animals, including cetaceans, navigate via the Earth’s magnetic field (he has studied the effect of magnetic anomalies on whale behavior in the past). The team collected data on the magnetic field’s strength and the angles it made with the Earth, and noticed that just before the strandings began, some measuring stations recorded magnetic field changes from solar storms, flares of particles blasting off of the Sun and streaming at Earth. He and his co-authors published their findings in the International Journal of Astrobiology last month.

This US propaganda flyer distributed in Afghanistan has caused an uproar because of local attitudes towards dogs (which is negative) and the fact that a koranic verse was superimposed on the animal (the thread has more):

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick. This is a propaganda leaflet the US military distributed in Afghanistan a few days ago./1 http://pic.twitter.com/Gr3Zv5B8LT

— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) September 6, 2017

That photo of men golfing as forests burn in the background went viral this week and yes, it is a real photo (many thought it was digitally manipulated):

In the pantheon of visual metaphors for America today, this is the money shot. http://pic.twitter.com/09COuDutBC

— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 7, 2017

The golf/fire photo is real, just zoomed in with a very long telephoto lens. https://t.co/KLLOvOT2Gb https://t.co/TWoZILewXO

— PicPedant (@PicPedant) September 7, 2017

The week, the man who witnessed the abduction of Emmett Till died:

Simeon Wright was only 12 at the time. He was sharing his bed with Emmett the night of Aug. 27 when two white men — Carolyn Bryant’s husband, Roy, and his half brother, J. W. Milam — abducted Emmett at gunpoint.

It was Simeon who identified Emmett’s ring for the police a few days later, after his cousin’s beaten body, one eye gouged out, had been fished from the Tallahatchie River, weighted down with a 75-pound cotton gin fan tethered to his neck with barbed wire.

And it was Mr. Wright who five decades later would donate a sample of his DNA, helping federal prosecutors prove that the disfigured body — the one the nation saw in shocking photographs of the open coffin — was Emmett’s. (The defendants had claimed they could not be convicted because the victim was never conclusively identified.)

If anyone tells you art doesn’t change anything, then read them this passage:

Incredible story about the role of Beat poet Gary Snyder in one of the most consequential leaks in US history. It's legit. Via Randy Roark. http://pic.twitter.com/AV59lJCzQR

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) September 8, 2017

Required Reading is published every Sunday morning ET, and is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.

The post Required Reading appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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