#and thus for organizational purposes. tagging also as

[hopecomesbacktolife]

all of this post is so important, but I had to repeat this particular paragraph in big text because it stuck out to me so much:

“…but I want cis men to think about their partners' pleasure because they care about their partners, not because they need to check a box in order to keep their man card. and don't get me started on small dick jokes– and the absolutely pitiful excuse people will use that "well, I don't believe it, but misogynistic men get upset when I say it, so it's okay!”

part of the reason i love how bell hooks talks about masculinity is that she shows real compassion towards men suffering from the effects of toxic masculinity. she was conscious of how we need to unlearn the ways we talk about men + masculinity just as much as we need to unlearn the same for women + femininity. so many times ill see someone talking about toxic masculinity like (hyperbolizing here but only slightly) "these FUCKING STUPID BABY BITCHES won't MAN UP and go to a therapist!!!" and like. i get the anger. but you see feminists recreating patriarchal manhood by only promoting good behaviors through patriarchal frameworks. any use of the term "real men" is bad because it reifies the idea that manhood is a special title you must earn, and it is something possible to fail and fake. & as important as it is to promote sexual equality + the pleasure of non-cis-men, lots of people are essentially still working with the idea that men need sexual prowess to have worth but just shifting it slightly so there is more emphasis on women's pleasure. but I want cis men to think about their partners' pleasure because they care about their partners, not because they need to check a box in order to keep their man card. and don't get me started on small dick jokes– and the absolutely pitiful excuse people will use that "well, I don't believe it, but misogynistic men get upset when I say it, so it's okay!"

basically bell hooks is so fucking right. in order to create loving men we need to love men, simply for being alive, whether or not they are performing. as much as we need to actively unlearn misogyny (and we do), it's equally vital we unlearn patriarchal ways of seeing manhood. we can't just assume that taking a feminist perspective automatically means there is no work to be done there.

[otsog-wcrp]

Current Poll Results

Here’s how things are shaping up! This post will be continuously updated as results roll in. While not set in stone, these are the poll results thus far:

INFORMATION

The community overwhelmingly prefers information to be shared on Tumblr, using links to other sources. A significant amount also showed preference for an informational website! We may go somewhere in the middle— information is posted to Tumblr, but will also be put on a simple website for ease of access and to put everything in one place.

PLATFORM

The vast majority prefer a simple Discord structure, where activity takes place in channels rather than forums. Forums may be used for organizational purposes, like group allegiances because it’s easy to change tags as needed.

AGE LIMIT

The results are quite clear— nearly 70% of votes went towards the server being gated for 18+!

SERVER JOIN PROCESS

In progress!

[nursingwriter]

Paws Veterinary Hospital Pets Hospital Betoull Dashti 16108 Sara Al Hindi 20088 The 3,000,000 KD capital input in the business will be used to buy the necessary equipment so that the organization can provide the service to its market target. This money will be used to buy drugs, insurance, cleaning gadgets and even pay for the insurance that will cover the business. About thirty percent of the capital will be used in buying the products and offering the services; equivalent to 1,000,000 KD. Another 1/8 of 2,000,000 will be set aside for training purposes to ensure that all staff members are aware of what their customers expect to receive from the hospital. The 250,000 KD will also be used to buy a uniform for the staff members to help their customers identify relevant personnel to ask questions if the need arises. Uniformity in the organization will also help the management get organization when it comes to running the business. The remaining balance, which is 1,750,000 KD, will be used in running the business and thus, this amount will cater for staff salary, miscellaneous things and petty cash. Furthermore, the management will also be given a small amount of their salary to enable the organization to have some money that will help them in sustaining the activities of the Hospital. When starting a business, it is also vital for management to set aside some amount of money for emergencies and savings that will go a long way in helping them get financing from banks and other financial institutions including investors. Therefore, the remaining amount will set aside 500,000 KD as savings, and this will be used when the company is in a fix and needs boosting. This money will also help in growing the company because management will use the money to realize organizational dreams in a systematic and organized way that promotes the development of activities and other productive aspects of customers, employees, and managers of the hospital. Tasks involved: Paws Veterinary Hospital will be linked to schools and pet owners. This will help in educating them more on taking care of their animals. School going children will need to be educated and learn more about the different aspects of taking care of their animals. Therefore, the hospital will work together with school boards in organizing field trips and provide the students with educational talks. Through all this, the organization intends to help the students learn about different topics. Some of the topics related to the organization's mission and vision are taking care of a pet, feeding, how to handle a pet, grooming, and veterinary career information among others. The passion of starting the organization is attributed to the aim of caring for and saving animals, which can only be achieved by educating the members of the public. In return, this will help them ensure that their pets live longer and have healthy lives. The pet owners will also be given educational talks, and classes will be formed to help improve their knowledge on effective animal welfare and pet-owner relationships. The veterinary surgeons at Paws will hold the talks once every month because of the increasing numbers of household pets in Kuwait. During the talks, pets will not be allowed because they are a form of destruction, but children can be tagged along because they are also stakeholders in the care management process of the pets. Pet owners will also be given information that concerns advice and information of the pets such as transporting the injured pet, dealing with behavioral problems in dogs, pre and post-surgery care, weight control, feline nutrition and care, vaccinations and traveling with pets. Since we are just starting, then these things will serve the organization well in trying to embrace the community to accept their organization as a good hospital that will care for their animals. Distribution of Roles And Deliverables For the technician positions, their tasks will involve nursing care, pet education, laboratory assessment, anesthesia assistants and kennel duty. In other instances, the technicians will perform the duties ascribed to a receptionist and assist a veterinarian. The position of the assistant will cover basic animal restraint, kennel and custodial duties, administration of oral medication and will be liable to assist the veterinarian. The receptionist will have tasks that involve operating software ascribed to veterinary institutions called VIA Veterinary Information Systems. The clinic is paperless, and thus, the receptionist will be expected to provide outstanding customer service and proper handling of financial transactions with clients plus other multiple organizational tasks. The same receptionists will provide veterinary assistance and kennel attention needed. Outcome: At the end of the visit, the client should be a happy customer leaving the hospital pleased because they have been given professional help. Furthermore, it is the duty and responsibility of each team player in the hospital to ensure that all tasks are performed in an efficient and effective way that promotes and corroborates to their clients that they are capable and competitive enough to survive in the industry and attain long-term goals of the establishment. Therefore, it is paramount for all members to perform their duties and roles diligently because this will reflect a positive image of a hospital that looks at attaining its mission and vision. Synopsis of the company: Executive Summary: Paws veterinary hospital will be specialized in providing health services for pets and vets. The level of clinical care in the hospital will be very high due to the staff and equipment that will be provided to the hospital. The staff that will be hired in this hospital will be hired based on their certificates, their veterinary practices, and experiences. In addition, there will be best medical equipment and technological kits that are very helpful for our staff and to the pets. Vision and mission statement: Paws Veterinary Hospitals is a center where people and their pets regularly visit to achieve a healthy and fulfilling life together. The Center provides a caring and educational environment where people learn about maximizing their pet's health and well-being hence; protect the health of their entire family. Client education and regular preventive health care help the animal have maximum wellness that includes physical examination, regular dental care, and wellness lab work. Things tailored to individual pet health requirements and lifestyles are diets and vaccinations. Clients will be supported in their quest to improve the health of their pets as it contributes to the share of their lives together. Paws Veterinary Hospital will support its clients by listening to their concerns, adapting health care to the needs of their pets at that particular situation, and providing education specific to their pet and family. In this center, employees may be able to realize their potential in the animal care field and their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives. Since we are all works in progress, we need to support each other when it comes to our personal endeavors. It is the passion of Paws Veterinary Hospital to heal injured or ill pets by using medicine and surgery and all this is available to our knowledgeable and friendly doctors and staff. The hospital is an accredited center and therefore, we will continuously hold ourselves to the highest standards. In our quest, we will constantly continue to seek new paths that will improve our knowledge of veterinary medicine and the delivery of excellent customer service to our clients or patients. Vision Paws Veterinary Hospital intends to be the recognized leader in Kuwait for providing excellent pet care, animal well-being, and health and customer service. Mission The mission is to improve the health and happiness of animals and the people who care for them. It is the mission of the hospital to provide the highest quality of medical and surgical care to pets through excellent service to our esteemed clients. This will be possible by following the highest standards of veterinary professional available. Paws Veterinary Hospital will provide the best working environment for our employees and other professional colleagues. We shall also give back to the community our services and time with the hope of further strengthening the bond between humans and animals. Description of Products and Services: In Paws Veterinary Hospital, both products and services will be provided to the customers. Services: Medical Services: Medical, surgical and treatments. Grooming Services: Brushing and cleaning. Training Service: Helping pets to enhance their behaviors and adjusting to the environment around them. Insurance: Guarantee for illnesses, injuries, and death. Products: Pets Pharmacy: Medicines and drugs for pets. Pet Store: Accessories and food. Technology Considerations In the field of medical care, technology considerations are critical, because present equipment and kits play a big role in treatments and healing processes. List of the equipment needed so far: - Anesthesia - Electrosurgical equipment - Veterinary monitors - Endoscope - Infusion Pump - Veterinary Medical Gas Systems Creation - Laboratory Microscope - Surgical Microscope - DRE Vision LED Surgery Lights - Surgery Tables - DRE Stainless Steel Mobile Table - DRE Stainless Steel Wet Table - Service Tower - Animal Stretcher - Medtronic Physio-Control Stakeholders: Public trust needs to be enhanced in Paws Veterinary Hospital. The promotion of safe and effective use of FDA-regulated animal products needs will be possible with the collaboration of: - Veterinarians - Top and senior managers - Pet owners - Graduates - Animal advocacy groups - Trainees - Employers from private and government sectors Marketplace: Market Penetration: In Kuwait, the market of pets and vets hospital is very low and weak; Paws Veterinary Hospital will be the fourth hospital in Kuwait to provide such a service. Service for animals is very low in Kuwait, and Paws Veterinary Hospital will be providing this kind of unique service. Marketing Strategy: - Massive campaigns (Bill bored, Newspapers and TV Ads in Cinemas) - Social Networks - Participating in Exhibitions - Massive Pets Event to introduce our Idea Organization and Staffing - Certified Veterans - Trained Staff - Staff with Experiences Future goals: Paws Veterinary Hospital's future goals are linked to its values that encompass the care and compassion aspect of treating all people and animals with kindness and empathy. Quality and affordability are the future goals of the center where we intend to work together in an environment that is safe to provide services that are accessible and sustainable and of the highest standard. The center should have the courage to do what is right, be accountable for our actions and communicate with honesty and courteously. Thus, the center should emphasize with integrity and respect at all times of their operations. We will strive to achieve our mission and vision on a daily basis; the top priority of the hospital is to deliver the best experience to clients and patients by providing the highest medicinal quality of care. In future, we expect to have continuous education through having house seminars, national conferences, and online webinars. Paws Veterinary Hospital wants to be able to provide the most current information on varied topics to our esteemed clients. In turn, our clients will be able to make well-informed decisions about their pets' health care, and they should always feel confident coming to Paws Veterinary Hospital for the treatment of their pets. Business Idea: Paws Veterinary Hospital intends to utilize all its resources in an efficient way in meeting organizational goals and objectives. The clients should remain happy at all times and therefore, the human resource management plan should distribute the duties depending on one's strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, pairing the members into teams makes them competitive and advocates for them to work together and build strong bonds that realize company mission and vision. The operational plan is to ensure that all the needs of the clients are met hence placing the needs of the patients first because they are important for the success of the company. The financial plan will stipulate all the required details basing on the assets, liabilities and other aspects that relate directly to the success of the company. Environmental Analysis External Environment Analysis Opportunities The opportunity of Paws Veterinary Hospital is that it has a high market size and trend. The sizeable population of the industry is high, and the animal population of Kuwait makes it a largely untapped market. The profitability of the market is high because only four companies are practicing veterinary medicine in the country. Therefore, Paws Veterinary Hospital will make profits in the industry. Threats The high cost of sales and marketing, competition from regional players has made the profession difficult to penetrate especially for start-up businesses. The industry has unregulated competition from generics, as well as, local and regional veterinary pharmaceuticals companies. Five Forces Model: Bargaining power of buyers: High Buyers include retailers, stockiest, and veterinarians. Medicinal feed supplement has the buyer power as very high. In therapeutics, customers have very little powers of bargaining because the veterinarian practitioners prescribe the medication. Thus, customers will have to buy the drug at any given price if they need it. The retailer's buyer power is very high due to the regional company, and some new entrants would offer high promotional discounts and credit facilities to make their products available. Pricing pressure is high due to the development of new markets and as such, this has significant pricing flexibility. Bargaining power of suppliers is moderate, and all this is attributed to the less number of companies in the market. Switching costs are high, and this prevents companies from switching from one company to another. The animal healthcare industry is a primary manufacturer with few and diversified suppliers. The suppliers have little room for negotiations. Threats of substitutes are high, and this is attributed to low costs and finding substitute medicine is easy if the original product is more expensive as compared to human medicine. However, since the products and services are still new in Kuwait, consumers will have no choice for alternatives. The high margins and the promotional discounts also justify the existence of fewer substitutes for pets' products. Threats of new entrants are moderate because of the low barrier entries and making the products available to all retail outlets is time taking and expensive. The large economies of scale create high barrier entries and thus, for small-scale start-ups they will require significant amounts of capital and will face many risks. The required amount of capital investment is heavy. Competitor rivalry is high becase of the existing barriers in Kuwait. Moreover, industry growth is slow and takes time, plus lower fixed costs and high working capital. The rivalry between companies is heavily severe: the processes of pets' pharmaceuticals are similar to that of humans, which creates high development costs and the release of new drugs. Competition is also huge based on product price among various companies. Resources of the company The company has sufficient human resource that will manage to deliver the product and service to the target market in a professional and intelligent way that meets the standards of the industry. The technological advancement is also a resource that is beneficial to the company in meeting the diverse needs of their patients who come with varying problems. The tangible resources comprise the financial, physical, human resource and organizational resources, and all these represent inputs into a firm's process of production such as employee skills, capital equipment, finances, talented managers and brand names. The intangible resources include technological and innovation. Capabilities of the company The capabilities of the company include meeting the needs of a wide variety of clients within a short period because their personnel are well trained and equipped with the knowledge necessary to provide the service to their target market. Four Criteria of Sustainable Competitive Advantage The valuable resources of Paws Veterinary Hospital are rare and continue to allow the company to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. The company will achieve sustained competitive advantage through building on their trainees and employees skills that meet the needs of their clients. The scarce resources of the company are what will make Paws Veterinary Hospital possess control competing firms. The ability of the employees to deliver service and excellent customer service to their patients is what makes the hospital have rare resources. The experience and training given to the employees are not imitable, and this resource is what makes it impossible for other companies to duplicate because it is costly and even difficult. The non-substitutable resources are what make the company have resources that are not imitable by the competing company such as qualified personnel. Value Chain Analysis The primary activities of the company are directly involved in transforming the inputs and outputs in delivering services and products and even after-sales support. They include inbound logistics where material handling and warehousing are vital. Operations will look at transforming inputs into the final product for the client. Outbound logistics will ensure order processing and distribution: marketing and sales where pricing, communication, and channel management are investigated. Services will entail installation, repair and parts of the equipment used in the company. The support activities will look at giving support to the primary and other support activities all that are handled by the staff. They include the procurement aspect where the purchasing of raw materials, supplies, and assets are all incorporated. Development of technology (technology inputs needed in every value chain activity). Human resource management includes appraisal; labor relations; selection, placement, and promotion. Company's infrastructure looks at the accounting, government affairs, legal and quality management among others. Strengths Weaknesses Resources, capabilities or competencies Action Sizeable population Highly fragmented channels of distribution Advertising resources Ensure the company is well advanced regarding reaching to its target population and market segment Faster animal-health research and development Low capability and motivation for research Research capability Advocate for the implementation and onset of research and development centers to facilitate the growth and development of the company The population has a largely untapped market Low barriers to entry and this lead to increasing competition and prices become competitive Competition competencies Engage with rivalry companies to ensure the company meets its set mission and vision Drug competition is less susceptible to generic influence Lack of appropriate marketing research Resources Managers should look into opening new avenues that will promote their marketing tactics   https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/project-plan-and-implementation-on-pet-products-2160840#:~:text=Logout-,ProjectPlanandImplementationonPetProducts,-Length9pages Read the full article

[puffinproof2]

i'm a puffin, i don't do much -- I'm puffin / selkie, and this is my personal blog ! I use this space to talk about my original characters & projects, vide games, mental health & positivity, life in general, + other shenanigans. I'm pretty friendly and chill, just trying to be supportive and survive. ♡ good vibes only !! feel free to say hi, I love meeting new folks and making new friends ! just make sure to read my pinned post completely before reaching out uwu puffin / selkie. they/she. 25. AuDHD. discord & steam available. previously on: @yeoldepuffinproof || roleplay blog: @shdwtouch (on hiatus)

my pinterest. my spotify. my toyhouse.

name - you can call me puffin or selkie ♡

identity - nonbinary (aro?)ace lesbian

pronouns - any, default to they/she

contact - discord & steam are available upon request ! I'm happy to add people, text chat, voice chat, & play games ! you can also add me in warframe: sealkii

special interests - warframe, my original characters

aye ! you may refer to me as puffin or selkie, I go by and accept both. c: I am 25, living in the US, and neurodivergent. I have a cat named Gambit. I'm currently on online college student majoring in game development, otherwise I mostly just play video games and sleep and sometimes I write / roleplay or hangout + play games with online friends. I'm just doing my best, honestly.

self-described as a queer af aggressively supportive neuro spicy character collecting dumbass extraordinaire ! ♡ but mostly I just try to be friend shaped and supportive / positive. please don't be shy, I'm very easy going. uwu

I have AuDHD ( plus other flavors of neuro spicy ) so please be aware that I often have trouble engaging with others, communicating, and understanding social boundaries. basically just understand that I go into everything with love and good intentions; I'm just trying to be the best version of me I can be, and I appreciate folks being patient and understanding. in general, know that I can be slow responding to DMs. I am not fast ! me not responding is not an indication of me not liking you or not wanting to talk to you, it is literally just me struggling to find social energy and/or being distracted ! I do want to talk with folks, I'm just not always in a place to respond, even if I appear online or am posting. its not personal, I promise. ; w ;

note that I primarily post from mobile !

other misc info:

you can block #♡ current events ! and #us politics to avoid seeing posts about politics & current events. the first tag is a general tag I use for organizational purposes, while the second tag is a tag specific to us politics

the #♡ actually [insert here] ! is a catch all tag containing posts about mental health, neurodivergency, autism, disability, queer identities, + more probably

I have a couple of sideblogs dedicated to different things, but I honestly suck at utilizing them, thus everything kinda ends up on this blog. uwu; I have a post dedicated to keeping track of relevant tags & sideblogs for better navigation.

folks are ALWAYS welcome to ask about my original characters, aus, projects, headcanons, meta, etc ! owo

if I do, say, reblog, etc anything that seem problematic or uninformed it most likely was not intentional, and was uninformed. I would rather be communicated with than have folks assume I've done something on purpose / with bad intent. we all make mistakes, and we always have room to grow and learn. I'm not asking other people to take time to educate me, I'm just asking to be given the benefit of the doubt and told if I've done something suspect or harmful.

as a note, this is a remake of my old personal ! I chose to remake cuz my old blog had 0 organization and it was driving me kinda crazy :,D my old blog had 2000+ posts, and I intend to reblog some of them here, most likely via queue. I may also reblog some of my original posts, or repost them altogether.

[ravioverse]

Hi! I just saw found your ravioverse on ao3 and thus this blog. I read the character bio post linked in “the lore of the ravioverse” and tried to read other posts, but naturally coz I’m new I don’t understand everything and it’s a little overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions for starting points to know who everyone is and stuff without reading… everything on this blog and the other blogs? I’m really really interested and I feel like I need an intro for dummies to lay the ground work 😅

Hi! We’d be more than happy to help with that. This is the only blog that we post our Ravioverse things on, which may help with finding all of our posts. There's only a few early posts that are linked from our main blogs, but they're VERY few. We have almost everything linked on our masterpost (please let us know if it doesn’t work lol, tumblr can be a hot mess sometimes lol). Aside from that, we have all of our lore posts that have been written thus far on Ao3 in “The Lore of the Ravioverse,” except for Oracle of Elements and Dimensions. That might be the easiest way to read the lore posts, we will be putting the most recent two ‘games’ there once we finish up with Dimensions.

If you just want to see posts about an individual one of our lads, we tag the posts that focus on them with “[nickname] (ravio)” for organizational purposes, which would probably be a good way to find the boy you want to see lol. So for example, if you wanted to see posts about Vex, you could search “Vex (ravio)” on our blog and it should come up.

I hope that helped somewhat! It may also help to read our Lorulean versions of Zelda games that you’re familiar with, if only because you’d know what we’re playing off of already. We’ll make a post with some more clear descriptions of our characters shortly. If you have any other questions, we’ll be more than happy to answer them! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy our stories!

[heywriters]

Not every writer wants to post their work online, however there are positives to doing so. If you seek feedback and advice from readers and writers, or just want to share your fanfic, you might consider posting a draft or two. Even a few chapters or a poem can be uploaded online to get a little audience feedback.

Here are writing sites I’ve explored along with brief reviews of my experience in using them:

Archive Of Our Own (AO3) | Fanfiction only** | No covers — Invite only, but getting in isn’t hard. High viewership, exceptionally well organized, and ad-free. Some written feedback, especially if you ask for it, but the “kudos” button is open to the public so anyone can leave their mark of approval. You can also set individual stories to “users only” along with other useful privacy options. Another useful feature is “orphaning” a story so that people can still enjoy it, but it is no longer in your name.

Crossover friendly, so you can finally post that multi-fandom fic and tag each property for search. Ships, subject material, and trigger warnings can also be tagged for search (or weeded out). Lets you group individual stories into a series, and has various features for sharing/gifting your work with others.

The purpose of AO3 is to preserve fanworks so they can’t be taken down or deleted by third-parties as has happened to other fanfic sites in past. For this reason, AO3 regularly takes in smaller archives that cannot continue functioning on their own. They are backed by a non-profit organization (OTW) that defends creators’ legal right to create and distribute fan media.

— Adult Material Allowed

Major Demographics: Female, All ages.

Popular Genres: fluff/angst, epic dramas, whump, smut

Wattpad | Original & fan fiction | Covers Req. — Here, some writers receive tons of feedback and appreciation, but most receive very little. In-line comments and a profile message board help make this the most interactive writing site I’ve used yet. Besides writing, a useful and appreciated skill to have on Wattpad is the ability to make book covers. Some accounts exist solely to create free graphic designs for other writers.

Circa 2018, Wattpad introduced the “Paid Stories” feature to earn money for writers who fit specific criteria. There is also a “premium” version where I assume you pay not to have ads and commercials interrupt your reading...this is a given on other story sites, but okay. In 2020, Wattpad was bought by Naver. This was done partly to increase Wattpad’s share in the “books to TV” market. Overall, the site’s attitude has moved from encouraging creatives for the sake of creativity, to encouraging a few writers to churn out mediocre pop-lit so the site can profit.

The search function and organizational system are completely useless. Results for a specific title bring back the most popular stories that are abstractly related to your search, if at all. Stories are recommended to you based on either your click history, or just whatever they are trying to promote right now. Finding stuff you actually like is difficult, thus finding readers has gotten harder.

— Adult Material allowed, but Explicit material banned.

Major Demographics: Female, LGBTQ, pre-teens & teens.

Popular Genres: romance, young adult, supernatural, celeb fic, imagines

Fictionpress & Fanfiction.net Neither site allows you to remove reviews, delete your account, or budges an inch about harassment reports. This attracts many trolls, spammers, and critics who feel you’re entitled to their extremely negative opinions of your work. I don’t want young or amateur writers going through that, and the rest of us don’t deserve harassment either. There are wonderful readers and writers on both sites, but overall it’s an unsafe environment I can no longer recommend (further info).

A decent alternative to FF.net is Fictionpad. This site appears to no longer exist. Kinda saw that coming, but it was a nice little place.

Royal Road | Original & fan fiction | Covers Opt. — This was suggested in the replies, so I did some research. Haven’t used it myself, looks nice, but here are the main points interested writers should know: 

Site is affiliated with Amazon, has been running for several years, and is based in Israel.

Site does not claim ownership of your work, copyright stays with you.

Popular stories receive much feedback and viewership in the millions.

You cannot remove reviews on your own stories, and you must submit a ticket to remove your story or delete your account.

From their FAQ: “All new submissions are manually checked for appropriate tagging and plagiarism, so expect it to take 12-24 hrs for a submission to be approved.” Also, stories with low-quality spelling and grammar will be removed by moderators.

Keeping a steady update schedule of “polished” drafts seems to be mandatory, and reviewers sound entitled.

One-shots seem to be out of the question, this is a site for novels.

Premium and free options exist for both readers and writers.

Fantasy, supernatural, epic dramas.

Adult Material Allowed

Smashbook, Livejournal, Inkspired, and Booknet are sites I am aware of, but have too little knowledge of to review. Likewise Wordpress, Blogger, or right here on Tumblr you can regularly post stories or novels and receive feedback. However, for those sites you do have to figure out a blogging system for yourself.

While researching good sites for this post, I found this user’s comments insightful. She suggested Writer’s Digest and Absolute Write as good places to seek professional feedback on your work. They don’t appear to be sites where you post work, but rather they provide tips and resources to help improve your work.

There are dozens of other places online where you can post your original fiction, non-fiction, and fan fiction. Things to keep in mind when site shopping:

READ THEIR SUBMISSION POLICIES & GUIDELINES FIRST

Search for reviews of the site by individuals who’ve actually used the site and are not affiliated with the site.

See what the site’s policy is on deleting works & accounts. You don’t want to get your name and work trapped on a site with a bad reputation.

If “popular” stories have very little feedback on them, this means the majority of stories on that site get none.

If most users haven’t updated in months/years, this means the site is practically dead and may soon shut down. RED FLAG: the site does not date anything.

If the “feedback” on users’ pages and stories are “Like my work!” or “Read for read?” and other self-promotional messages, don’t sign up.

If a site looks cool to you but you’re still unsure, make an account with a junk email and post something you don’t care too much about just to test the waters. Good/bad doesn’t matter much right now, what’s important is figuring out how traffic works and what readers there are interested in. 

Sites to AVOID due to spam, scams, and shifty behavior:

Inkitt—spam/shifty; claims it’s the #1 site for online publishing, but this is misleading. Their idea of getting users is to send copy/paste “invitations” to pre-existing online accounts (often dead accounts), and lie about how good one’s writing is even though they’ve never read it. Signing up with them also gets you endless emails about their pathetic contests.

Dreame/Ficfun—spam/scam; similar deceptive invitation tactic, except they are relentless (they’ve “invited” me fourteen times on two different sites). Their gimmick is to offer you pennies for 5yr rights to your work. Both are owned by their Singaporean parent company Stary PTE Ltd. (who personally sent me my 5th “invite”).

Webnovel—spam; their tactics are extremely annoying and deceptive. For a while they were in my Wattpad inbox two or three times a week.

Rnovel—spam/scam; this Chinese app began sending spam messages to writers before they were even launched. A few people are saying they’re a scam, while others distrust the legitimacy of their initial “5 star” reviews when they first launched. Most importantly, they make you enter a contract with them to buy the copyrights to your work(s), but have already failed to live up to some of those contracts.

+ Please review my pinned Ask Policy before submitting an ask. Thank you!

+ If you benefit from my updates and replies, please consider sending a little thank you and Buy Me A Coffee! 

+ HEY, Writers! other social media: AO3 -  Wattpad - Pinterest - Unsplash

—

*Based on what I see as receiving the most traffic and feedback on each site. These are not accurate statistics, merely observations.

** “Is AO3 really just for fanfic?” (tl;dr—YES)

[varelitecnac]

LinkedIn vs Facebook: Which is best for business

Social media acts as a powerful tool for every enterprise for marketing. If you are planning for a strong campaign strategy, social media platforms are the true network for streamlining the business. Among several platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn are the most used platforms for business branding. These two most popular platforms are designed to connect people online across the globe. These platforms serve web-based tools to build interaction and connect with each other online. The most commonly asked query is which platform is best for business purposes. Highlighting some basic differences between Facebook and LinkedIn in this article: Lead Generation: In each of these two social media platforms, people create their accounts to connect more, personally or for commercial purposes. For streamlining business, lead generation ensures business growth. To dominate the market, the rate of lead conversion into clients is very crucial. Facebook is fast and has every feature for growth. But LinkedIn is professional and less massive thus resulting in high ROI. LinkedIn increases your professional image rather than Facebook which is often used for personal use. How They Operate: Facebook is truly a social networking site engaging people in interactions. Whereas LinkedIn is purely meant for business users. LinkedIn is considered as one of the salient tools of digital marketing. Facebook focuses on one to one relation whereas LinkedIn proliferates organizational growth. For both sites account creation is free but unlike Facebook, LinkedIn offers a paid membership option and also has a service termed as LinkedIn Answers. Both sites are highly active and cater to the high rate of interaction among people.

Target Audience: There are many similarities between the two most used social networking sites, but the major difference lies in the targeted audience of both platforms. We can undoubtedly state that Facebook has the number of users than LinkedIn, but the earlier one is more of a personal nature. Groups that are interested in more professional interaction are more inclined towards LinkedIn than Facebook. LinkedIn is a better way for business branding. As it is a professional platform you can reach out to the targeted audience in just a click.

Features: There are several features available for the users in both the social sites that allow users to share and upload messages. Tag, status, photos, videos, chat, blogging, live are the few features available on Facebook. Connections, company profile, LinkedIn Answers are features used by LinkedIn users to gain business and build trust among them. Both the social platform provide a common feature termed as 'Group', and this salient feature is highly used among users. There are debates on which one is better for business purposes, and users sometimes suggest both. Two accounts can also be beneficial, as it allows to separate your personal life from your working life. Both are proven a beneficial social platform for different reasons. Ultimately targeting the audience and focusing on business growth is desired. Total number of reach and engaging your user is the prime goal of every business.

[aro-aizawa]

(Shadowking2015) I normally send Recs for two reasons: The user I'm sending the Rec two might be or is interested in the franchise in question, and I also send the Rec to publicly spread the word on Tumblr. I saw DC on ur tags list and thus sent the Rec. I don't have a Tumblr account and for various reasons, I've decided not to get one. Also, you told me to stop with the Recs, so just like that I'll stop. No biggy :)

(Shadowking2015) Oh yea, just saw that list of things u said I could Rec u from awhile back. Sorry for not adhering to it.

it’s cool!! just keep that in mind going on ahah

also! i saw you messaged me on my ff.net account too. i don’t wanna sound mean but it’d probs be best if you didn’t message that account?? i mean if you message me on tumblr i’m p much 99% likely to see it, anyways so it’s just idk double messaging unnecessarily?? 

and ye i p much tag literally everything if i know what its from! it’s mostly for organizational purposes and also because this blog although is primarily a mha/marvel blog, it’s mostly a multi-fandom blog so i tag whatever i can so that followers don’t have their dashes cluttered with stuff their not interested in! 

and speaking of, to any followers who wanna see what tags i use to block them check out my tag list here. it’s mostly up to date rn, except for needing to add a couple of character tags. but ye!

[mirsdrone]

Drone survey

A drone survey refers to the use of a drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), to capture aerial data with downward-facing sensors, such as RGB or multispectral cameras, and LIDAR payloads. During a drone survey with an RGB camera, the ground is photographed several times from different angles, and each image is tagged with coordinates.

What are the benefits of drones in surveying?

Reduce field time and survey costs

Capturing topographic data with a drone is up to five times faster than with land-based methods and requires less manpower. With PPK geo-tagging, you also save time, as placing numerous GCPs is no longer necessary. You ultimately deliver your survey results faster and at a lower cost.

Provide accurate and exhaustive data

Total stations only measure individual points. One drone flight produces thousands of measurements, which can be represented in different formats (orthomosaic, point cloud, DTM, DSM, contour lines, etc.). Each pixel of the produced map or point of the 3D model contains 3D geo-data.

Map otherwise inaccessible areas

An aerial mapping drone can take off and fly almost anywhere. You are no longer limited by unreachable areas, unsafe steep slopes, or harsh terrain unsuitable for traditional measuring tools. You do not need to close highways or train tracks. In fact, you can capture data during operation without an organizational overhead.

What are drones used for surveying?

Land surveying/cartography

Survey drones generate high-resolution orthomosaics and detailed 3D models of areas where low-quality, outdated, or even no data, are available. They thus enable high-accuracy cadastral maps to be produced quickly and easily, even in complex or difficult-to-access environments. Surveyors can also extract features from the images, such as signs, curbs, road markers, fire hydrants, and drains.

Land management and development

Aerial images taken by drones greatly accelerate and simplify topographic surveys for land management and planning. This holds true for site scouting, allotment planning, and design, as well as final construction of roads, buildings, and utilities.

These images also provide the foundation for detailed models of site topography for pre-construction engineering studies. The generated data can also be transferred to any CAD or BIM software so that engineers can immediately start working from a 3D model.

As data collection by drones is easily repeatable at low cost, images can be taken at regular intervals and overlaid on the original blueprints to assess whether the construction work is moving according to plan specifications.

Precise measurements

High resolution orthophotos enable surveyors to perform highly accurate distance and surface measurements.

Stockpile volumetric measurements

With 3D mapping software, it is also possible to obtain volumetric measurements from the very same images. This fast and inexpensive method of volume measurement is particularly useful to calculate stocks in mines and quarries for inventory or monitoring purposes.

Slope monitoring

With automated GIS analysis, it is possible to extract slope measurements from DTMs and DSMs generated by drone imagery. Knowing the steepness of the ground’s surface, the areas can be classified and used for slope monitoring purposes, including landslide mitigation and prevention.

[brownada311]

Asana Desktop App For Mac

Microsoft Remote Desktop App For Mac

Asana Desktop App For Mac Download

Synctunes Desktop App For Mac

Asana App For Windows

AppSana is a smart app that integrates with Asana. Designed to be the perfect client for Asana with native notifications, app icon badge, smart tabs, screen lock option, dark mode support, and mobile view option.

Thank you for your review

SoTasks provides a native Asana experience even while you are up in the air. Maximize your productivity and create more space in your life.

TMetric is a great time tracking app for Windows, Mac, and Linux that allows you to control your time and stay productive throughout the day. TMetric mobile app on Android or IoS is the most convenient way to track your time whether in the office or away on customer meetings. Zenkit is now available on your desktop. Apps for Mac, Windows and Linux mean you can work in a dedicated Zenkit window away from distraction. Quickly add items with the new quick-add feature, bring Zenkit up to the front with a shortcut, and stay productive, even when you're offline.

Features

Organise Your Tasks - Mark your inbox by Today, Upcoming, and Later. List them easily.

All Workspaces Together - SoTasks presents a unique feature for Asana which combines all workspaces and projects in a single menu.

Smart Task List - Starred Tasks, All Tasks, and All Your Tasks Due Today.

'Star' Your Tasks - You can 'Star' your critical tasks and see all More..

What's New in SoTasks

Version 1.3:

Note: Currently available for $9.99

Full-featured comments section added

Migrated to Swift 3

Bug fixes, and performance and stability improvements

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Like this app? Be the first to add it to a collection!Create a Collection by bringing together complementary apps that have a common theme or purpose, then share it and discover new collections!+

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$0.00

Pros

Flexible, fast, and modern design. Capable free version. Feature-rich. New Timeline view makes it easier to manage dependencies.

Cons

Not ideal for graphics-intensive work. Can't switch between Task and Kanban project views after creation.

Bottom Line

Asana is a top-notch collaboration tool that helps teams manage all kinds of tasks. Although it may be confusing at first, its flexibility and vast capabilities are well worth the initial effort it takes to get started.

Productivity enthusiasts love Asana—and for good reason. This online team collaboration tool specializes in workflow management, but it also handles the nitty-gritty of task management with aplomb. That said, Asana should not be confused with full-on project management software, despite its new Timeline feature. It includes neither native time tracking nor other advanced tools we expect to see for full-scale project management. But for managing tasks and workflows, it's a flexible and elegant tool that you can bend to your will. Asana is one of the best collaboration and productivity apps for teams and an Editors' Choice.

$36.00

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Pricing and Plans

If you want to see what Asana is all about, the service offers a free account tier for teams of 15 members and fewer. The only other major restrictions are that you can't use Asana's Timeline view, advanced Dashboards, or advanced search tools. We discuss all these features in detail later on. Free account users get all other task management features, however, including the ability to create tasks, assign people to them, add due dates, write comments, and attach files. There are also no limits on the number of tasks or projects you can create. We recommend using the free account for at least a few weeks with a small test group before upgrading to a paid tier of service.

App for google photod mac. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET • You'll notice the 'Add to Chrome' button is grayed out. Right-click on it and select 'Inspect Element' from the drop-down menu.

Asana Premium costs $119.88 per person per year or $11.99 per person if you pay monthly. The Premium account includes everything in the free account and removes the limits on team sizes, dashboards, and search tools. Premium accounts come with a few additional perks, including Asana's Timeline feature, private teams and projects, custom fields, task dependencies, administrative controls, and priority support. Private projects are only accessible to invited members, while projects that are not private are accessible to everyone on the team.

Very small teams of 15 people or fewer who want Premium features pay a lower rate: $75 per person per year, or $7.50 per person per month. Student groups can also contact the company for a free six-month trial of Asana Premium. The price has increased in the last few years, but people who have existing and active Asana agreements can continue at the lower rates.

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For comparison, Todoist Premium costs $29 per year for personal use or $29 per person per year for teams. On the high end, Podio starts at $9 per person per month or roughly $86 per year if paid annually. So Asana is a lot more expensive than Todoist, but is close in price to Podio's Basic and Plus plans.

Asana has kanban board features, too, so other popular kanban apps, such as Trello, Wrike, and Volerro, are also fair game for comparison. Trello charges $119.88 per person per year, the same as Asana. Volerro charges just $7.99 per person per month. Wrike charges nearly the same amount as Asana Premium for its Professional tier of service ($117.60 per person per year) and a much higher rate for its Business grade service ($297.60 per person per year)

What Is Asana?

Asana is a workflow management tool that you primarily use to manage tasks. It differs from traditional project management apps namely due to its lack of structure. Asana is like a deck of cards, whereas project management software is like a board game. Board games are designed to be played with a series of preset rules. It's unusual for players to stray too far from these set instructions, although everyone might agree to some modifications from time to time.

With a deck of cards, you have more options. For example, you could play a well-known game with established rules, such as five-card draw, or invent your own game. Let's say you decide to play rummy. Everyone at the table must first agree on which version of rummy to play (straight rummy, 500 rummy, gin rummy, and so on). There's a template for the game, but the exact rules need to be established by all players beforehand.

In the case of Asana, there are just as many predefined ways you can use it as there are custom ways. One more point of distinction is that Asana is better suited for ongoing work, whereas project management apps are typically better for projects with clear beginning and end dates, as well as a deliverable. Building and launching a news website is a project. Writing daily content for a news website is ongoing work.

In more specific terms, Asana keeps track of who is responsible for what task, the information related to each task, and all other information related to that task's progress. If this still sounds confusing, know that setting Asana up for your needs is the hardest part. After that initial period, Asana's open-ended nature is also one of its best aspects. Check out Asana's Guide on how to get started with, and eventually master all of, its features.

Asana's Structure

Before opening up Asana to everyone in the organization, a group of administrators needs to make a final decision on how Asana will be implemented and used. While some collaboration tools tout simplicity, that's really not the case with Asana. Asana is intuitive, but once you get going, its complete lack of structure may make it difficult to dive in without a good amount of forethought. Asana does offer some help with structure with Project Templates, which we discuss later, but the prospect of translating an organizational structure in a way that makes sense could be intimidating.

As for the basic workflow hierarchy, each team is responsible for a series of projects with individual task lists. Each task can have subtasks, as well as an assignee, due date, attachments, comments, tags, and followers. You use these tasks and subtasks to track work. The comments and other data help you understand what's happening with the task so that you don't need to discuss matters over email or some other way. As tasks and subtasks are completed, all of their history and everything that occurred ends up being attached to the task itself. Thus, every work action has meaningful context.

In addition to its ability to keep track of minutia, Asana is also useful for getting a broader perspective on the responsibilities of each team member. Custom searches, which we discuss in more detail later, or even just looking at someone else's task list is an effective way to figure out whether someone is overbooked or underperforming. You can use these insights to make effective changes.

Privacy and Security

Asana secures connections to its site using at least the TLS 1.1 protocol and hosts its data in 'secure SSAE 16 audited data centers via Amazon in the US.' Asana also offers a bug bounty program for disclosing vulnerabilities with the service. Asana recently earned SOC 2 Type 1 certification. Soc 2 Audits are run by the American Institute of CPAs and according to that organization, concern 'the controls at a service organization relevant to security, availability, and processing integrity of the systems the service organization uses to process users' data and the confidentiality and privacy of the information processed by these systems.' As with Slack, you can also check the Asana's status via an online dashboard.

At the usage level, Asana embraces collaboration among all team members. You can certainly keep projects and tasks private in Asana, but the nature of the tool is to allow all team members equal access to see, edit, and interact with information in the app. That said, Asana does allow you to mark projects as Comment-Only or assign this permission level to individual members.

For teams who do use Asana as an open platform, it's very important to maintain dialogue about the rules of engagement to ensure everyone agrees to use the app in the same way, not overwrite one another's work, and so forth. Recently, Asana added new enterprise security options, including the ability to control which apps are usable across the integration and restrict who can add guests.

Look and Feel

Asana is available on the web and via the App Store and Google Play Store, but it does not offer a desktop app. Some collaboration apps, such as Slack, offer desktop variants, but it's not a deal breaker.

Asana's web interface is efficient and responsive, with enough color and design flair to keep it interesting and useful without looking too cluttered. It has some surprises as well, like celebratory animations that appear on screen from time to time, although you can disable these extra effects if they don't appeal to you. Asana also includes a series of keyboard shortcuts called Hacks in its settings section, which add various kinds of functionality and personality. For example, hit TAB+B for a bit of feline fun after enabling the related hack.

The web dashboard is divided into three main areas: a left rail; a main window that changes based on what you select from the left; and a right information box that drills down into whatever you're viewing in the main window. The main window also includes a button for quickly adding items such as tasks or projects, a search bar, and a profile icon. In your profile settings, you can add basic account information, set notification preferences, adjust display preferences and the aforementioned visual effects, and configure integrations with other apps such as Harvest and Zapier. Asana maintains a full list of supported apps and integrations.

Per the latest design update, you navigate the interface via the left rail menu, which can also be completely hidden if you want to focus on the main page. From top to bottom, your main options are Home, My Tasks, Inbox, and Dashboard. These options might differ based on your organization's global settings. Home is a new section that shows your favorite and recent projects, while My Tasks shows everything assigned to you or that you are following. If you see a New banner over any project in the Home tab, you can mouse over it to view the latest activity. Inbox is just a feed of Asana activities. You can add specific projects to the Dashboards section to keep track of updates and get an overview of task completion. A yellow dot appears next to Inbox when you have unread notifications.

Thoughtful design makes the main window in Asana bend to your needs. For example, when you click on a project on the left, the main window pops up a contextual menu under the project name, with Timeline, Calendar, Conversations, Progress, and Files. You can also sort items by Assignee or Due Date under any Task View, for example, or choose to only show either completed or incomplete tasks. Tasks glide across the screen when you click and drag them to change their order, which makes reprioritizing really simple. If you want, you can also organize tasks into Sections, but note that these sections don't affect any task classifications elsewhere.

Additional Features and In Use

Asana doesn't skimp on features. When you create a task, you can assign it to a team member, schedule a due date or add a recurring date, upload or link to associated documents, write comments, add tags, and even subscribe or unsubscribe yourself and others to receive notifications whenever changes occur on the task. The Comments section is particularly useful since it supports rich text formatting, comment editing, and direct mentions via the @ symbol among other things.

Tags help make tasks more searchable, and the advanced search function, which we dive into later, is quite good. Interactive checkboxes let you tick off tasks as you complete them—and just as easily untick them if you or another Asana member strikes something off in error. Asana also gives you the ability to create a custom field. You might add a field that indicates a task's priority (low, medium, high), or you could use custom fields to indicate the state of a task (pending, in progress, awaiting final approval).

Asana also integrates a calendar that you can use to keep track of due dates. On a positive note, Asana seems to take user feedback seriously. After receiving overwhelmingly negative feedback about changes to the calendar, Asana reverted the update and is working on making sure that legacy features are maintained in addition to the performance improvements.

Asana does not offer chat features, which is disappointing, though it does integrate with Slack and Microsoft Teams. Asana does provide a space called Conversations, a message board on which team members can discuss issues with one another that aren't directly related to any one particular task. For example, members could discuss the scope of future projects, creative ideas, or procedure. Still, this is not effective for direct messaging or casual conversations.

Asana isn't the most adept tool for graphics-intensive projects either, but it has improved over the years. The kanban view, which we discuss later, is one such improvement. You can upload images to tasks, but you can't mark them up in the app itself. You can preview attached images, however, form the app.

Templates and Views

If you aren't sure how to set up a project, Asana provides a series of templates you can use. To get started, hit the Plus button > Project. Templates is the middle tab. Examples of predesigned templates include Meeting Agenda, Product Roadmap, and Employee Onboarding. Of course, you can create your own template as well aren't stuck to these structures either. Think of them as a starting point.

Another useful feature is Asana's ability to create dependencies between tasks. Let's say we have task A, task B, and task C logged in Asana. If task C cannot get done until tasks A, and then B are complete, we can add dependencies between those three.

Naturally, then, you might expect Asana to have some sort of Gantt chart functionality. Enter the relatively recent Timeline View. Here, users can see every one of their tasks laid out in a Gantt style format. Dependencies are represented by lines between tasks and you can make changes at will. Gantt charts are particularly helpful for seeing how a delay in one task or an extended absence of a team member can affect target dates down the line. Asana also rolled out the ability to organize tasks in the view into sections. Teamwork Projects offers a Gantt chart view, but it's not nearly as well-designed.

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Kanban Boards in Asana

Asana now includes a Board view, designed to give teams a way to manage work using kanban. Kanban apps specialize in helping you visualizing all the work that needs to be done and all the work in progress, with an emphasis on making sure teams don't get overloaded with so many tasks that they lose focus and become less productive. Kanban does this by limiting the number of tasks that can be assigned to a person or department at a given time.

Trello is another productivity app that uses the kanban style. One method is to set up several columns that correlate to a state of completion. It might make sense, to have columns for DEV, QA, and Production for example. To move a task from one stage to another, simply drag it over to the next one.

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Note that using this Board View requires you to create projects specifically in this style. In other words, you can't simply switch from the default task view to this style at the time of this review. To change your view, during the Project creation phase, just look under the layout section and select the Board option.

As previously mentioned, Board views can be more useful for teams who work with visual materials, since you can set cover images for each task in a column. Just as with Asana's other views, you can create custom fields when in the Board view and flag comments directly to people with the @ symbol, a useful but less common feature among dedicated kanban apps. Asana doesn't have every desirable kanban feature, however. It's missing swim lanes and work-in-progress limits. KanbanFlow has all these features.

Advanced Search and Reports

Asana includes excellent advanced search functionality. At the top level, when querying for a term, you can specify if you are looking for a task or conversation. Other default fields include: Assigned to, In projects; and Followed By. Further, you can specify whether a task has an attachment, if it is completed, as well as its due date. To drill down even further, you can add Filters for custom fields, People, Tags, Dependencies, and even Subtasks. If you can't find what you are looking for with these tools, it likely did not exist in the first place.

Asana makes it easy to save any of these complex searches as interactive Reports, which live in the left-hand menu for quick access. These reports update as new items match the terms and you can edit the terms of the search at any point. We appreciate this feature as it can be invaluable for managers who are looking to figure out who is being productive. Even for individuals, it's a good way to track individual progress over time.

Asana's Mobile Apps

Asana offers free mobile apps for Android and for iOS. For testing, we installed Asana on a Google Pixel running Android 9.0. We had no trouble downloading the app and singing into an account.

The app is set up slightly differently than on the web, but the interface retains its clean look. For example, most of the navigation links and structures are on the right-hand side of the screen, instead of the left. Once you sign in, Asana takes you directly to your Task List, which is likely where you will spend most of your time. Although all the core functionality, including the ability to create, track, and complete tasks, is in the app, Asana tends to work best on a big screen where you can see a lot of information at once, so the small screen size isn't ideal.

That said, it is definitely possible to be productive from your phone and we appreciate that you can access Asana from anywhere you have an Internet connection. Notably, the apps have a good deal of offline capabilities, too. When you work offline in the mobile apps, you see gray clouds indicating that the content hasn't synced yet, so none of your collaborators will be able to see it until your device reconnects and syncs.

A Deck of Cards

Asana's thoughtful design, fluid interactive elements, and generous member allotment in its free version make it a powerful task-management app for personal projects and teamwork. Its flexibility, extensive feature set, and variety of workflow views are also commendable. For all those reasons, Asana earns an Editors' Choice for collaboration apps. Although it's not cheap and its lack of structure may initially cause some anxiety, we promise that it is a tool well worth using.

Asana

Bottom Line: Asana is a top-notch collaboration tool that helps teams manage all kinds of tasks. Although it may be confusing at first, its flexibility and vast capabilities are well worth the initial effort it takes to get started.

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Asana App For Windows

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[crotle]

Manage your Team like a Pro with these Project Management Software

The need for technology in our day-to-day life has made us vulnerable and addicted to it. But on the other hand, it has single-handedly increased human efficiency and potential to achieve the unachievable. The software has dominated the contemporary corporate universe since it became mainstream. Different types of software are used as an eminent corporate tool to get a job done in no time, Project Management software is one of them.

Project management means the methods used by a manager (leader) to lead a team of employees (co-workers) onto a specific project and deliver it in a designated time by the process of initiation, planning, execution, and monitoring.

Why should you choose a Project Management software?

The rate of project completion has decreased in recent times, as an average employee faces an immense workload in his day-to-day work and personal life resulting in the delay of a project. Often people find it difficult to maintain a proper schedule and meet the deadlines on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This is where project management software comes to the rescue. A good project management app comes with a proper set of applications that help in routine sorting, distribution, and tracking of the work. This in the long run reduces work pressure and boosts the energy level of the team, producing optimum results.  

There’s a lot of project management software available online which offers a variety of different features to the users. Some software are exclusively designed to meet the purpose of a big corporation while others are designed for small businesses. Therefore, choosing the best project management software is not always as easy it seems.

So, here we provide you with information about a few online project management software suited to various workloads divided into categories.

For academic projects

For students studying in schools or colleges, time management is mandatory. Many undergraduates and graduates struggle to keep up with their college exams, assignments, projects, and other diploma courses whilst working on part-time jobs. Project Management Software can help them via efficient time and resource management.

These are some of the popular project management software among students:

Asana: It is extensively used by students for its handy interface and useful features, such as setting goals and helps in the building of the Gantt chart, etc.

Teamwork Projects: This is a free project management software. It has many features like messaging, a task list, and monitoring time that help students get the most out of their work. Teamwork is easy to use and requires a minimal cellular data connection to use.  

For corporate projects

For Small corporations

The success mantra of small business revolves around cooperation and teamwork. Small businesses generally require effective management, transparency, fair play, and team spirit to grow and prosper. Thus, the delivery of projects on time becomes very important as one wrong move could result in the loss of client and cause. Thus, project management software is an angel in disguise for small corporations.

Some of the popular project management software among small corporations:

Crotle: One of the best Project management softwares, Crotle comes equipped with an easy-to-use interface and abundant features. It is a reliable platform through which teammates can stay connected with each other despite remote geographical locations. Crotle is a helpful tool for managers as it provides overall vigilance and control over the organization’s workflow. Admins can create a team, designate positions, assign tasks, provide real-time feedback, and track & control all projects to ensure their timely delivery. The software’s dashboard feature and Kanban Boards help all employees track their growth and efficiency on a periodic basis. All the information stored in Crotle is backed up in secure client servers to ensure optimum secrecy of organizational functions. Crotle is available as a project management app on Google Play Store and IOS App Store. One can also sign up on its website and enjoy a one-year free trial. The overall perfectness and affordable price tag make Crotle ideal for small to medium organizations.

Trello: Delivered with all the basic project management features, Trello is good online project management software. It offers a number of template design options for different functions. Trello comes equipped with various features like real-time project tracking, Workflow monitoring, etc.

For Big Corporations

The dependency on project management tools cannot go unnoticed for big corporations where various projects are being completed simultaneously. This dependency has increased tenfold after the outburst of the global pandemic where most of the employees are working from home.

These are some of the top project management software used by big companies:

Microsoft Projects: Nothing beats Microsoft when it comes to developing software for big enterprises. It stands at the top of the game with a plethora of features like global tracking, updated dashboard, Dropbox pro, etc. MS Projects also boasts the best level of cloud security.

Primavera: A powerful project management software that makes working on numerous projects seem like a piece of cake. Primavera is one of the most well-known project management software on the market.

These are some of the widely used and preferred project management software in different spheres of the corporate wcorld.

However, the one that stands apart from the rest is Crotle. Its boundless features, affordable prices, optimum levels of security and connectivity make it suitable for every professional workload. Download their mobile application today and watch your workload get diminished significantly.

Must Read:  Top 5 Operations Management Tools in 2021

[s4g2world]

The Debate Over Choosing A Web Design Company

When you're looking on the best way to design your website, you should start with the layout of your site. Thus, it's imperative that your web design company should be related to your business enterprise model. The majority of the company owners prefer doing this work independently. Because of this, any design you have must be professional and fashionable. As a way to do so, you will have to have a very customized website for your organization.

If you need your site finished in a rush, it's essential that the web design company will be in a position to complete it in an acceptable period of time. You will receive a website which will continue to keep your visitors engaged and interested in what you've got to offer you. If you have made the decision to develop a web site for your company in PHP then you've got to hire PHP developer who is best or search for the ideal PHP development company which may deliver you excellent site.

A website will help to connect the visitors with the provider. Everyone knows that a site can be of fantastic aid to a business but then to be able to derive the vest possible results it is crucial to pick the very best web design company. Website has changed into an amazing medium for business proprietors to reach out to their clients and increase sales. A company website will help to grow your brand on the internet and the site must appear great when compared with your competitors to remain in the market.

It will become imperative that you select a web design company which is both dependable and inexpensive. If a company is unwilling to disclose the specific services they intend on supplying you with, this ought to be considered a red flag for you to move on to another company. Some companies also supply online shopping that is the demand of this modern age. Thus, be sure that the final chosen web design company has the complete grasp of your company.

With the growth in the usage of social media and internet advertising, it is now essential for a company to indulge in Web Design for superior business benefits. So if you're a business you will need to have across what you can do to help your clients or any offers you might have. Unless you operate a web-based organization, you likely do not have web design experience within your organization. As your company grows so will your site. Therefore, picking an ideal web design company in line with the budget is very much important to keep up your organization on the market.

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[productquality54654747]

ProductQuality

After this, corrective action must be decided upon and taken. For example, defective units must be repaired or rejected, and poor service repeated at no charge until the customer is satisfied. If too many unit failures or instances of poor service occur, a plan must be devised to improve the production or service process; then that plan must be put into action.Finally, the QC process must be ongoing to ensure that remedial efforts, if required, have produced satisfactory results and to immediately detect recurrences or new instances of trouble.The Hitachi Method of quality control is another approach that emphasizes the roles of research and development, product design, and product development in reducing the occurrence of defects and failures in products. The Hitachi Method considers design to be more important than the manufacturing process in quality control and tries to eliminate variances in production before they can occur. Quality control inspectors protect the consumer from defective products and the company from damage to its reputation due to inferior manufacturing processes. If the testing process reveals issues with the product, the inspector has the option of fixing the problem himself, returning the product for repairs or tagging the product for rejection. When issues arise, the inspector notifies supervisors and works with them to correct the problem.Quality control is the process that allows you to ensure the conformity of your products or services. It’s used to examine and test a product or service to make sure it meets the correct specifications and quality benchmarks. Through quality control testing, a quality inspector analyzes products, quality control and other indicators using statistical analysis and sampling. Quality control monitors not only the product itself, but the way it is produced, stored and transported. When a product lacks conformity to quality standards, it is considered defective. Some quality control is voluntary, but sometimes quality control records must be kept for state and federal regulations.The primary focus of any organization should be to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations and needs. When an organization can understand the customers’ current and future needs and cater to them, that results in customer loyalty, which in turn increases revenue. The business is also able to identify new customer opportunities and satisfy them.  When business processes are more efficient, quality is higher and more customers can be satisfied.Good leadership results in an organization’s success. Great leadership establishes unity and purpose among the workforce and shareholders. Creating a thriving company culture provides an internal environment that allows employees to fully realize their potential and get actively involved in achieving company objectives. Leaders should involve the employees in setting clear organizational goals and objectives. This motivates employees, who may significantly improve their productivity and loyalty.Staff involvement is another fundamental principle.

Quality control auditors shield the purchaser from deficient items and the organization from harm to its notoriety because of second rate fabricating forms. In the event that the testing procedure uncovers issues with the item, the overseer has the alternative of fixing the difficult himself, restoring the item for fixes or labeling the item for dismissal. At the point when issues emerge, the controller advises administrators and works with them to address the problem.Quality control is the procedure that permits you to guarantee the congruity of your items or administrations. It’s utilized to look at and test an item or administration to ensure it meets the right details and quality benchmarks. Through quality control testing, a quality controller breaks down items, forms and different pointers utilizing measurable investigation and inspecting. Quality control screens the item itself, however the manner in which it is delivered, put away and moved. At the point when an item needs adjustment to quality guidelines, it is viewed as faulty. Some quality control is willful, however once in a while quality control records must be saved for state and government regulations.The essential focal point of any association ought to be to meet and surpass the clients’ desires and needs. At the point when an association can comprehend the clients’ current and future needs and take into account them, that outcomes in client reliability, which thus builds income. The business is likewise ready to distinguish new client openings and fulfill them. At the point when business forms are more proficient, quality is higher and more clients can be satisfied.Good authority brings quality control an association’s prosperity. Extraordinary initiative sets up solidarity and reason among the workforce and investors. Making a flourishing organization culture gives an inward situation that permits workers to completely understand their latent capacity and get effectively engaged with accomplishing organization targets. Pioneers ought to include the workers in defining clear authoritative objectives and goals. This rouses representatives, who may altogether improve their efficiency and loyalty.Staff inclusion is another central guideline. The administration draws in staff in making and conveying esteem whether they are full-time, low maintenance, redistributed, or in-house.

[leftovercakecrumbs]

Okay so I’ve been wanted to draw out my own YJ dream team, but the drawing process takes forever so I’ll just write it out for now. YJ pics thus far can be seen here. Feel free to look through this post, but it’s mostly for organizational purposes so everything’s in one place…

The team’s initially started by Damian (who acts as leader…for now) and a few others, but later the League takes over and puts in some regulations so not every super powered kid the team comes across can join (”It’s for safety reasons” says Batman). Members are a mix of kid characters who’ve existed pre and post reboot, alive and dead characters, developed and having little to no development. A definite mixed bag. Also some personal interpretations of characters which is a given.

A lot more info about the team under the read more [13 members in total+7 allies]:

Note: sidekick and protege are similar, though for the sake of this list sidekick means that they work alongside the person stated, while protege means that they are being trained by said person

Requirements for joining

Have to be under a hero’s mentorship or recommended by a League member

Minimum 3 years experience in the field

Has to agree to go through further evaluation and background checks to join because the last thing the team needs is a potential mole or double agent.

The official roster of members [in order of initiation]:

Damian Wayne [15] | Robin | Leader of YJ and a Founding Member | Son and sidekick of Batman

Powers/Abilities: He’s pretty much Batman, but smaller.

Strengths: Very intelligent, determined, ambitious | Weaknesses: Loves to gloat, stubborn, argumentative

Likes: Proving people wrong, his pets, spending time with Dick | Dislikes: Being wrong, people questioning his authority

Lian Harper [16] | Speedy | Second in Command [becomes leader after Damian later hands over the position] and Founding Member | Daughter and sidekick to Arsenal

Powers/Abilities: Expert marksman and weapons expert, advanced deductive reasoning

Strengths: Compassionate, resourceful, works well under pressure | Weaknesses: Altruistic, has a guilt complex

Likes: Sparring, spending time with her dad, cooking | Dislikes: Failing others, being alone, rats

Milagro Reyes [14] | Green Lantern | Founding Member | Sister of Blue Beetle [Jaime Reyes] and sidekick protege of Guy Gardner 

Powers/Abilities: Green Lantern Ring: Allows her to create constructs from her imagination.

Strengths: Courageous, strong morale, empathetic | Weaknesses: Runs on emotion, tends to be impulsive, confrontational

Likes: Hanging out with friends, writing music, playing pranks | Dislikes: Loud mouths [Guy’s an exception], cowards, the color yellow

Iris “Irey” West II [15] | Impulse | Founding Member | Daughter and sidekick to Flash 

Powers/Abilities: Speed force [superhuman speed, agility, durability, etc.]

Strengths: Quick to react, fast learner, works well under pressure | Weaknesses: Somewhat scatterbrained, lacks patience

Likes: Candy, adventure, teasing her friends | Dislikes: Being underestimated, being seen as stupid, bugs [ALL bugs]

Jai West [15] | Velocity | Founding Member | Son and sidekick to Flash

Powers/Abilities: Superhuman strength, speed force conduit

Strengths: Cool headed, analytical, team player | Weaknesses: Workaholic, can’t relax to save his life, overthinks

Likes: Video games, fighting crime, hard candies | Dislikes: Being useless, being bored, tea

Jon Samuel Kent [12] | Superboy | Son and sidekick to Superman

Powers/Abilities: Kryptonian Physiology [superhuman strength, speed, durability, flight, etc.]

Strengths: Intelligent, team player, compassionate | Weaknesses: Impulsive at times, sensitive

Likes: Having down time, hanging out with his family | Dislikes: Bad attitudes, being the butt of the joke

Cynthia “Sin” Lance [16] | White Dove | Daughter and sidekick of Black Canary, protege of Huntress

Powers/Abilities: Expert level martial artist; marksman

Strengths: Works well under pressure, cool headed, resourceful | Weaknesses: Aloof, lacks social skills, only works with others if she’s absolutely needed

Likes: Spending time with her mom, tea, shopping | Dislikes: Confrontation, working with others, people forcing friendships on her

Maxine “Max” Baker [15] | Little Wing | Daughter and sidekick to Animal Man, tag-along kid to Vixen

Powers/Abilities: Avatar of The Red, allows her to use raw red power and can gain animal abilities/turn into any animal

Strengths: Powerful, thinks outside of the box, always honest | Weaknesses: doesn’t always take things seriously, tends to run off and do her own thing, risk taker

Likes: Goofing off, girls, trying new things | Dislikes: Playing it safe, things not going as she planned

Arthur Curry III [16] | Ocean Prince | Son and protege of Aquaman and Queen Mera

Powers/Abilities: Atlantean physiology [ enhanced abilities, superhuman strength]

Strengths: Confident, charismatic, skilled fighter | Weaknesses: Somewhat easy to fool [with flattery], short tempered, bratty

Likes: Being the center of attention, showing off, kicking ass | Dislikes: Being made a fool off, having his patience tested, anyone who bothers Cerdian

Cerdian [15] | Son of Tempest, protege of Queen Mera

Powers/Abilities: Atlantean physiology and magic

Strengths: Observant, very skilled and powerful,always follows orders | Weaknesses: hesitant, lack of agency

Likes: morning swims, Arthur, human foods | Dislikes: Deep sea creatures, having to lead, being teased

Amistad Ervin [16] | Soaren | Son and protege of Rocket, godson and unofficial sidekick of Icon

Powers/Abilities: Inertia belt which gives him power over kinetic energy [just like his mom’s!]

Strengths: Courageous, practically fearless, intelligent | Weaknesses: Judgmental [pretty black and white view of the world], needlessly brutal, prefers to work alone

Likes: Looking good, beating up bad guys, cute girls | Dislikes: “Idiots,” back talk, being seen as a bad guy

Colin Wilkes [15] | Abuse | Under the supervision of Batman, no official mentor

Powers/Abilities: Bane-esque venom that allows him to transform into a more superhuman form.

Strengths: Mediator, observant, open-minded | Weaknesses: not knowledgeable about the world around him, paranoid

Likes: his bear Rory, going on adventures, making friends | Dislikes: being taken advantage of, being abandoned

Nell Little [15] | Spoiler | Sidekick to Batgirl

Powers/Abilities: An elite athlete and acrobat, competent detective skills

Strengths: Charismatic, resourceful, creative | Weaknesses: Doesn’t work well under pressure, lacks experience compared to the rest of the team

Likes: Gymnastics, dancing, a mission going well | Dislikes: Stress, not performing well, the dark

Allies of YJ [were unable to become official members for one reason or another, but are allowed called on for additional help]:

Maya Ducard [16] | Nobody

Reason for Rejection: Given the chance to join by Damian but refused to be a member due to her dislike over the idea of being watched over and investigated by the League. She took the offer to be an ally however due to her loyalty to him.

Mia “Maps” Mizugochi [15] 

Reason for Rejection: Recommended by Damian but due to her lack of hero experience and mentor, she was rejected but was more than eager to accept the offer to help YJ whenever she can.

Cliff Baker [18]

Reason for Rejection: He’s technically dead [but his “spirit” lives on through The Red]. Somewhat acts as Maxine’s spiritual support and keeps her powers in check. 

Rani Carter [16] 

Reason for Rejection: Was given consideration to join from a recommendation from Booster Gold but he later retracted it after she ended up causing trouble. 

Ramsey Robinson [17] | Manhunter Jr.

Reason for rejection: Lacks actual experience and his mother didn’t approve of him going into a hero team where she couldn’t regularly watch over him. 

Traya Sutton [15]

Reason for Rejection: Lacks hero experience and isn’t under any kind of mentorship. However her intelligence and computer smarts make her valuable to YJ [Also Jai has a big ‘ol crush on her].

Klarion [???]

Reason for Rejection: Aside from the obvious, he’s only an ally because he’s somewhat “loyal” to Batgirl [Stephanie Brown] and in turn Nell and Damian…on a good day.

Mar’i Grayson [16]

Reason for Rejection: She’s currently displaced in time so there isn’t much legitimate and provable info on her at the moment. For now she can only be an ally until further notice.

Overseers/”Den Mothers” [watch over the kids, regularly check on them, gives them mission reports and evaluations, etc. etc.]:

Dick Grayson | Nightwing: Directs and plans training sessions, gives mission reports, gives out evaluations, embarrasses Damian, etc.

Chris Kent | Nightwing: “Den Mother”; lives in the base with the team, attempts to keep the peace, big-brother figure

Dinah Lance | Black Canary: Everything Dick does, acts as the main trainer, is the counselor, the only reason Sin is still involved with the team

[sonaliiiii]

A Comprehensive Guide to Big Data: 5Vs, Types and Challenges

According to a research conducted by the IBM Marketing Cloud in 2017, 90% of the data was generated in last two years. Just imagine how much data has been created since then!

The use of Big Data may be in its early stage but the act of creating, gathering and storing large piles of data is ages old. The concept gained momentum when Doug Laney, an industry analyst defined big data as the three Vs in the early 2000s.

Volume: It refers to the amount of data that has been stored from ages and is growing rapidly. Experts and industrial big-wigs have predicted that over 40 Zettabytes (40,000 Exabytes) will be produced by 2020, which is 300 times more than the year 2005.

Velocity: It is the pace at which different sources and media generate different volume of data. Over 1.03 billion Facebook users are active every day and generate massive and continuous data. This gives a clear idea about social media and its impact in generating data than any other medium. Experts articulated that controlling data velocity can help in generating insights on real-time data.

Variety: The type of data varies due to the different sources that contribute to Big Data. From structured, semi-structured to unstructured, the data can be in any form. Days are long gone when the data was only in the form of excel and databases. Now, the data is being generated and gathered in the form of audios, images, sensor data, videos, and web logs.

The Introduction of Two More V’s: Veracity and Value

These two additional Vs may not be the part of 3Vs, but they have increasingly become significant to the Big Data concept. Veracity refers to the accuracy of data. With the continuous increasing piles of data, it has become very difficult to filter the data which genuinely holds value. To make it clearer, you can take the example of social media content which is often volatile one way or another.

Value refers to the process of analyzing the data and adding value to Big Data content. As Big Data doesn’t analyze like a human brain thus, we cannot expect bringing much value to the content. It is important to find methods to utilize all the data to extract a set of factful and meaningful data for our targeted audiences.

3 Different Types of Big Data

The influx of more media, storage options, and devices has not only increased the volume of data but also the different types of data.

Structured Data

The data that can be stored in a fixed structured format is classified under Structured Data. You can take the example of RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) as a structured data. It is very easy to process and utilize such data as it has a fixed schema, I.e. how the data is constructed. You can use SQL for this purpose.

Semi-Structured

It is a type of data that doesn’t have any fixed structured format or data model, but it does have some organizational features in the form of tags that segregate semantic elements within the data. XML files and emails are some of the examples of semi-structured data.

Unstructured data

According to some experts only 80%-90% of all the data is unstructured, hence it makes sense why we haven’t been able to tag a lot of it, barely 3% of it. Unstructured data refers to such sets of data that are complex to identify and classify by any machine language. It is surprising to know that unstructured data is usually text-heavy. Text messages are one of the biggest examples of unstructured data as they aren’t arranged in a logical way.

Best Examples from Where This Massive Data Comes From

It is mind-boggling that 90% of the data has been created in just past two years. But, from where does this data come, let’s find out:

 Facebook analyzes, processes, and stores more than 30 Petabytes of user generated data.

 Walmart accesses over 1 million customer transaction every hour.

 More than 230 million tweets are created every day.

 Every minute YouTube users upload 48 hours of video and approximately 3 billion videos are watched every day.

 Over 5 billion people text, call, tweet, share, and browse on mobile phones every day.

 Amazon handles more than 15 million customers click stream user data to promote their products every day.

 More than 294 billion emails are sent every single day.

Wow, this is humongous and surely overwhelming!

Few Challenges to Reckon with

As they say, ‘Not everything in the garden is rosy’. Big Data has indeed made the task easier for many industries to analyze the data and improve customers’ relation but there are also several challenges that come along with the Big Data leverages.

1- Data Quality: This sums up the 4th V i.e. Veracity. The data which is generated every day is messy and uncategorized, hence makes the Big Data process complex. According to a report conducted by Fathom, US invests over $600 billion for eliminating dirty data annually.

2- Storage: Everyday huge sets of data are created therefore, managing data has become a problem. People are looking for methods to store the data while accessing and recovering it when needed.

3- Security: As the data is huge in size, keeping it secure and safe is another hurdle. This includes user authentication, restricting access from unknown user, utilization of data encryption, and access data histories.

4- Discovery: Finding new insights or knowledge on Big Data concept is like finding a needle in a haystack. Also, it is very challenging to analyze petabytes of data to categorize and find right patterns with the help of algorithms.

There is a reason behind the exponential growth of Big Data. It has allowed customer-centricity to come at the forefront. The concept is helping many sectors including telecommunications, finance, healthcare, education, advertising, and IT. Meanwhile, there are some loopholes in the process but emerging technologies like Machine Learning (ML) and AI are working in the direction to add more value and authenticity to the Big Data.

Source: A Comprehensive Guide to Big Data: 5Vs, Types and Challenges

[furederiko]

The 2nd episode of Kyuranger paves way for an intriguing Duo of Thieves!

- Our episode opens with "The Space Shogunate, Jark Matter has designated the insurgent force Rebellion's Kyurangers..." Wow. Looks like the Shogunate is controlling the media as well, because the news comes up really quick. LOL at that bounty photos. Even Lucky is showing a "For real?" expression on his headshot. Hahaha. - As hinted last week, we get to see two more core characters of this show. Namely, the golden-colored robot(?) Balance (VA: Yuuki Ono, whose image song as Wen Yang in "Dynasty Warriors" series is to-die-for), and the silver-haired humanoid Naga Rei (Taiki Yamazaki) whose name might be derived from 'Nagareboshi' that means 'Shooting Star' in Japanese. Gold and Silver? Yep, that's a bit on-the-nose, eh? Both of them are already introduced in the opening, so not really a surprise. This duo is located in an industrial planet called Planet Jigama, and are inhibiting contrasting personalities. Hmmm... - Hooo... interesting! Raptor is briefing Lucky and Garu about the Jark Matter's... pyramid organizational structure! We actually always had this in past titles, but I think this is the first time it's been charted so... neatly. Above the cannon fodd... er I mean Combatants, there are Malisters (Daikaan in Japanese) who are essentially the MotWs. In higher rank, there are Menasters (Karo) who represents the 88 constellation systems (That's A LOT). And on top is Don Armage himself as the Shogun. I think the more important part would be that top-left part, the "Lecture by Raptor 283", because she IS acting like a lecturer. A strict one at that. I told you last week that her personality would clash with Hammy's, and well... it's happening already. LOL. We need more of this internal conflicts! By the way, Over-Time has changed Dorado Yellow's naming from Sparda into Spada (as well as Planet Jagama into Jigama, and Malicestrate into Menasters), which might be more appropriate. So I'll be following suit in my reviews. - Updated opening sequence! Lucky and Garu are in it now. Judging from the preview and the pattern so far, we're going to get the complete (9 Kyurangers) version come episode 5! Hey, I just noticed the sequence actually includes scenes from this episode too. Hope this trend continues. Oh, and yeah, the Lacerta Kyu Globe (Tokage/Lizard) has also debuted in this episode! During the CM that is (Kyuranger Choco!!!)... LOL. - Dumb Lucky is trusting people TOO easily. I'm considering to call him Dumb-Luck from now on. In case you're wondering why Balance and Naga call themselves as BN Thieves, that's simply their initials put together. All those colored-skinned aliens reminds me of "Guardians of the Galaxy", but this diner scene also easily reminds me of Star Wars' Mos Eisley. Does this mean the BN Thieves are nods to Han Solo (or should I say, Duo)? I used to think that way last week, in that Naga might be serving as a Han-esque figure, while Balance as his Chewbacca. But it seems I might have been inaccurate. In fact, Naga's lack of emotion might be a nod to a particular Marvel's movie character instead: Drax the Destroyer! Then again, he also has that lack of social knowledge, that makes him feels like... a robot? A clone? Okay, hold that thought. Turns out everyone in his silver-haired planet also LOOKS the same. Creepy. Like, "Children of the Corn"-level creepy. By the way, Naga's actor looks so MUCH better without that silver wig. It's amazing the effect of make up to people, right? - Dumb-Luck is also very naive, isn't he? Or perhaps, too... optimistic? But that's why I can't hate him, because he's basically acting like a little brat. Speaking of personality, Balance is VERY lively. And he's sleazy too. I LOVE HIM already LOL. He reminds me of Hondo Ohnaka from "Star Wars REBELS". The fansub might not reflect it, but he has a habit of spouting slang and/or making wordplay in his speech. Like that line "Nice to meetcha!"? In Japanese he actually uses the word 'Shiku-yoro' instead of the spelling-correct 'Yoroshiku'. Perhaps, this is his character's signature style? He makes a fun pair with Naga though. One half who doesn't know how to express emotions (and longs to obtain ones), the other is expressing a little too much (without caring for other's emotions). There's a hint that Balance is just using Naga though, so I can't help but wonder how the two of them get together in the first place? Hmmm... - We have a big cast, and that's a fact. Which is probably why, the transformation and stylish roll calls are incorporated in the battle. I like this approach. Of course, this goes for the Kyurangers who are not taking the spotlight. In this case, it's the other Kyurangers beside Lucky, who plot-wise, are put to the side. That's both the advantage and disadvantage of having a big cast. - Our MotW is Malistrate Gammetsui, who seems to be based on... a turtle? Salamander? He's the boss of Jigama, and he's interested about the Kyuranger's 50 million bounty. But the team is divided into two, so which one will he target? Lucky for him, it's Dumb-Luck's team. What about the other team? Eridron (who shoots arrows, obviously, since he's from Sagittarius) himself deals with Spada and the rest. This is just episode 2, but already a Menaster is on the front line? And forcing our heroes to run for their life? NICE. After all, it's 9 Kyurangers against... the galaxy *sigh*. - Great Gawd, Dumb-Luck triggers the alarm on purpose, and calls it LUCK *smh*. He sees the good in everything, doesn't he? Holy twist, Balance actually SELLS OUT Lucky to Gammetsui. That's 'GOI-SU'!! (FYI, 'Sugoi' means 'Awesome', but you've probably known that already). All for the sake of the blue-colored treasure he's trying to steal. Technically, he's acting like the episode's 2nd MotW, much to Naga's dismay. Hence, the part where Naga chooses to be a 'friend' for Lucky and betrays him, gives Balance the shock of his life. Worse that that, Lucky actually believes that all these are merely Balance's plan? He IS that naive, eh? Wait till he knows the truth... - Which won't happen. LOL. Of course, Balance's conscience wins over him, thus he chooses to rescue Naga. It seems they are connected with a bond that's stronger than... wait a sec?! Why do they remind me of... C3PO and R2D2?!! OvO... Anyways, thanks to this rescue, we get to know who, or WHAT exactly Balance is. He's a machine organism who has the ability to control other machines. Basically, like the antagonists of "Chouriki Sentai Ohranger". Hmm... it'd be great if he is from one, right? Because that would make both series canon. Naga on the other hand, has the ability to freeze enemies just by glaring at them with his glowing green eyes. A neat nod to Greek Myth's Medusa, perhaps? - Balance wants to team up with Lucky to get loots, and also emotions for Naga. So definitely NOT in this to play a hero. He blatantly says this goal outloud, and Lucky's okay with it! I think it's good that these 2 new members have their own 'selfish' goals to be part of the Rebellion. In fact, we need more heroes who function in grey-areas like these. And nothing's wrong with that, because hey, they have awaken their Libra and Ophiucus Kyu Globes JUST because of that. Random trivia: in the recent 13 Zodiacs concept, Ophiucus is also a horoscope sign just like Libra. It's closely aligned after Scorpio, which will have a representation in this show very soon. - Yep, Balance and Naga are the focus characters, so they have the rights for a full transformation and roll call sequence. #4 The Trick-Star Libra Gold and #6 The Silent Star Ophiucus Silver make their debut! Before you complain that Leo Red is tagging along, do remember one thing for the sake of being fair: he hasn't had the chance to do these properly last week! XD. And yes, though many might be annoyed with it, I'm loving Libra Gold's dandy atttitude and attention-seeker poses too. It makes him stands out and... unique. At least audience would be worried that Naga might be in some bad company! Hahaha. Also... LOL at that not-so-subtle Kyu the Weapon's sales promotion. But never mind that, because the cool group finisher "All-Star Crash" is genuinely cool. - First 'earth'-based mecha battle and also first shot of the enlargement method for the show's MotW. Looks like all Jark Matters have the ability to do this, with the help of that weird Empire's symbol. I'm liking how Libra Voyager and Ophiucus Voyager have two forms, the spaceship one and humanoid. And the way the two practically kicks Chamaeleon Green and Dorado Yellow out of Kyuren-Oh? LOL to that. They even have their own finisher, the yo-yo slam "Kyuren-Oh! Trick Break! Super Galaxy". Due to the limb-changing concept, looks like TOEI can't rely on stock footage for the mecha's transformation and final moves this season. I hope this means we'll be getting a variety of new combination every week. - Since they have officially joined the team, Naga wears the Rebellion's uniform, while Balance? He gets a new paint-job. The best part of this closing scene, is already we're seeing personality clashes. The easy friction between Hammy's manner of speech with Balance, or how Balance and Spada seems to be on the same 'dandy' page. Whoops, that's not the closing scene. We get a quick glimpse of the next Kyuranger. This mysterious man (seriously? XD) has an Orange Kyu Globe, but his pendulum looks like a Kyu Globe too, and it's colored... Blue? Hmmm... intriguing! - Ending sequence is obviously updated as well. The BN Thieves are now included, and put center stage. It looks even crowded now, and we still have two more! At least the dance is fun, right?

Overall: This episode introduced two more characters, and more importantly two more different types of personalities. It's going to be interesting to see how they interact with the previous six members (including Raptor). The dynamic of Balance and Naga Rei was more than just intriguing or fun to watch, it evoked questions and mysteries as well. These are great potentials that are prime to be explored in future episodes, and I sincerely hope that will indeed be the case. After all, opportunities to dish out and develop every characters are just too good to ignore. On a side note, we're only in episode 2, and we already have seven Kyurangers. Do you think the plot is moving too fast? I mean, they could've simply made the BN Thieves intro into a 2-parter, right? If the show gathers all its core heroes in just 5 episodes, I wonder how the story will play out in the episodes that follow? Hmmm... Next week: Meet the Dragon Commander! Also, beware the sting of... Dopplegangers?

Episode 02 Score: 8 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: February 19th, 2017 - Version 04. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.