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stellamore-after-dark · 6 years ago

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Can you guys tell us more about your oracles? Like who they’re romancing? Do you guys have a favorite? ❤️

We sure can Nonnie 😌

So I’m (this is Admin Nani speaking) gonna list them in order of who came first to the very last one. In total I have 5 MC’s (not all of them are Oracles except the very first one).

So the babies in order of creation are:

Meraris Urbina - She’s human, measures 5′4″, is a Virgo, and her personality alignment is ISTJ. She also has an animal companion named Pili and she is a Potoo bird. She is also half Hebrew and half Colombian and my main (and only actual) oracle. Meraris is romancing Cipactli.

Xochicotzin - She’s a subspecies of elf who are predominantly of Asian decent, measures 5′7″, is a Sagittarius, and her personality alignment is ENFP. She has an animal companion named Kapolin and she is a Mexican Milk Snake. Like previously stated, she is a subspecies of elf and in real life terms her heritage would closely resemble that of Chinese descent. In my story for her she is Cipactli’s sister (making her a princess and also a rebel child™) whom the Empress adopted after finding her thrown in the streets when she was a baby. She is romancing Taqtu.

Saoirse Connolly - She’s human, measures 5′8″, is an Aquarius, and her personality alignment is ISTJ. She has an animal companion named Clover and he is a Bank Vole. She is Irish, my story for her is that she is Xochicotzin’s handmaid. She was brought into the palace as a child after the murder of her parents in Huatzintepec as a means to give the newly orphaned child hospice and a ways to earn her keep. She is romancing Halle.

Gemma Anker - She’s half human and half jötnar, she measures 5′9″, is a Pisces, and her personality alignment is ENFJ. She also has an animal companion named Andromeda and she is a Norwegian Forest Cat. She is of Norse and Italian descent. In my story for her she comes to Huatzintepec searching for answers to her beliefs that were instilled in her at a young age by her parents. Both of them were devout worshippers of the Sun god and she grew up believing like them, however, when her father passes away her faith is shaken. Not knowing what to believe, she seeks her answers in the only thing that she knew. She joins the religious group of Huatzintepec and becomes and apprentice under Seneca. Gemma is romancing Seneca.

Frédérique Parent - She’s human, measures 5′3″, is a Libra, and her personality alignment is ESFJ. She also has an animal companion named Lafayette and he is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise. She is Seychellois. My story for her is that she is part of the human representative group who came as security/bodyguard for Mukondi and Meraris. She a smol but she a tuff Freddie is 5′3″ of pure muscle and sunshine. She is a single mother with a son named Yannick who is four years old, The events that lead to her unplanned pregnancy is what made her so tough physically, but on the inside there are tons of wounds that time and love can heal. She is romancing Ariki.

In terms of “favorite” as of right now I’m starting to add more detail and development to Saoirse’s story so I’m “spending the most time” with her at the moment. In actuality I love all my babies and cannot pick just one. In terms of LI’s Taqtu, Halle, and Cipactli are my favorites.

Admin Yara will soon hop on here and edit to put her babies up for you guys to meet

-Admin Nani

I’m a little late to the party, but here are my children also in order of creation💕:

Queralt al-Kahina: She’s my crafty, romantic & overly emotional oracle and my main oc at the moment. She’s human, 5’3”, Aquarius & INFP. Her country/culture is based on Moroccan Berbers & the Al-Andalus period, and she has a white dove named Núria. Like Meraris, she’ll be romancing Cipactli.

Enkh-Tsetseg: An elf from a clan closely associated with the “human homeland”, she accompanied Queralt & Mukondi to Huatzintepec as their personal bodyguard because she doesn’t trust other humans to keep them safe in an event of that scale. Her culture is based on medieval Mongolia/Mongol Empire era. She’s 6’2”, Leo, ESTP and has a horse that shouldn’t have a name according to tradition, but she calls him Batbayar. She had a brief flirtation situation with Taqtu but in the end she’ll be romancing Ariki (please pray for him).

Odette Cibaraya Guarocuya: She’s a princess from a small kingdom under control of Huatzintepec who was sent to live with the royal family as a child/teenager in an attempt to get her father to stop rebelling against them once and for all (so basically, she’s a hostage, but she’s always been treated well, if not as a part of their family). She’s 5’2”, Pisces, ISFJ & has two pets: Felicitas, a tody & Xicamatl, a white-nosed coati. She’s human (until further notice), and her country is based on West Indian cultures. She’s Halle’s girl.

Tiye-Neferure Meresmaat: She’s a girl from a noble family who was shunned by her stepfather’s family after her mother’s second marriage, and ended up becoming an apprentice of Seneca’s Sun God cult religious group after they took her in. She’s very close to Seneca and trusts his and the cult’s judgement a little to much. Her culture is based on Ancient Egypt under Hyksos rule, she’s 5’6”, Virgo, INFJ & has a Lanner falcon named Wadjet. She’s Taqtu’s emotionally damaged (human??) girlfriend.

Guan Yile: She’s also a noble or royal (I’m noticing a pattern here….) from another empire who was sent to Huatzintepec to hide away while her country went through a terrible war. She was supposed to seek refuge with empress Mizquixaual but decided to wing it and stayed with the Sun God cult instead for the drama of it all. She’s 5’5”, Gemini, ENFP, human(???), has a pet rabbit named Tiantian & her country is based on Tang Dynasty China. She’s Seneca’s feisty, dramatic, book-smart-but-street-smarts-nonexistent gurl.

I wouldn’t say they’re exactly my favorites, but Queralt & Odette are probably my most developed and the ones I’ve spent the most time on…which just means I have to get the other up to par. As far as LIs, Cipactli & Halle are my favorites (if you were wondering why Queralt & Odette are my most developed ocs….wELL) & maybe Seneca?? I mean, it’s more of an “I can’t stand your gorgeous face, let me smooch you” feeling, but yeah…

(I love Taqtu & Ariki too but…yeah)

- Admin Yara

#stellamore #admin nani #admin yara #admins characters #Admin Rambles

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mildredsoftwaretech · 4 years ago

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10 BEST GADGETS THAT COST LESS THAN 50 USD RECOMMENDED BY THE VERGE

The Verge is a multimedia effort founded in 2011 to examine how technology will change life in the future for a massive mainstream audience. It has a YouTube channel with more than 3.09 Million subscribers and with a total of 882,549,795 views. It’s a team of journalists that examines how technology will change life in the future. You can subscribe to the channel for explainers, product reviews, technology news, and more. When asked the Verge about stuff that costs less than $50, its responses are as follows.

8Bitdo M30 Wireless Gamepad

8Bitdo M30 is designed to play all SEGA’s classics, but with added modern features like turbo functionality mapping and USB-C. This controller is, far and away, the absolute best retro controller on the market. Based on the Sega Genesis 6-button controller with inspirations from the Sega Saturn Model 2 controller, this works extremely well with retro games and has several handy features to make the entire experience enjoyable.

The ergonomics are great and dare I say, better than the 6-button Genesis pad by a long shot. It just fits well in the hands. 6 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, and 2 extra buttons that function as a select and home button, all come together to make for a controller that works well with just about any retro game out there. It also has a turbo button. The d-pad is every bit as good as the original d-pad (so far, time will tell how durable it is). It is very accurate and doesn’t feel at all uncomfortable to use.

Panasonic ErgofitEarbuds

Ultra-soft and comfortable, the snug, elliptical-shaped earbuds conform instantly to your ears to help ease fatigue and block ambient noise. Three pairs are included (small, medium, large) to ensure a perfect fit for every ear. With an integrated microphone and call remote, these headphones are compatible with Apple (iPhone / iPod / iPad), Android, and Blackberry audio and smartphone devices. Express your individuality while enjoying your favorite music. With eleven brilliant color variations available, you’ll always find one that best matches your style, audio player, and mood. A comfort-length, 3.6-foot color-matched cord provides the flexibility and comfort needed for an active day. And they are priced at only 15 USD.

Pro-Optic Complete Optics Care and Cleaning Kit

Keep it Clean. Protect Your Creative Vision. The Pro-Optic Cleaning Kit contains all of your lens cleaning needs for photography and video optics, binoculars and spotting scopes, filters, and other glass elements, in one handy case. Pamper your lenses to the finest care. Use our safe and proven techniques to preserve the investment you have in made expensive precision optics. Never expose your lenses to industrial glass cleaners, rough cloths, or even common tissues, which could affect performance and cause permanent damage. The handsome reclose-able case holds a generous supply of agents to keep your photography clean.

RavpowerFilehub Wireless Travel Router

Transfer your photos, videos, music, and documents between SD cards, USB flash drives, external hard drives, and smart devices including your phone, tablet, and laptop, without the need for Internet connection, whilst as a travel router. You could connect a USB hard drive, SD card, and a flash drive to your phone, tablet, and laptop by the dedicated app or just webpage. It could be used to create a secure Wi-Fi hotspot to share with family and friends, regardless of Internet access. And the next god feature it offers is, access your external storage, edit or transfer files via the dedicated File hub Plus app or just a webpage, conveniently share media files or other documents app free. For the matter of security, Data encryption is enhanced by setting up login as Admin or guest users.

Anker Powerwave Stand

Simply place your phone or other Qi-enabled devices on the stand and PowerWave will do the rest. PowerWave automatically switches between 10W and 5W charging modes depending on the power needs of your device, ensuring optimized charging to Qi-enabled devices including iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and more. Our exclusive MultiProtect safety system is equipped with foreign object detection, short circuit protection, temperature control, and more, so you can experience Qi-certified wireless charging with total peace of mind.

Uni 10-Foot USB-C Cable

Its Long Sturdy Braided Nylon Cable, Provide extra convenience for travel anywhere, and extra freedom to charge in the office/ home/ school. Support USB Power Delivery: Up to 100W 20V@5A Pass through, comparable to the full speed original apple cord (With 87W Apple charger at a full 87W). Built-in E-Marker: For Apple new 96W charger with built-in E-Marker offers data transfer speed up to 480Mbps.

Source:- 10 BEST GADGETS THAT COST LESS THAN 50 USD RECOMMENDED BY THE VERGE

#10BESTGADGETS #50USDRECOMMENDEDBYTHEVERGE #homemcafeeactivate #McafeeLogin

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jcsb69 · 5 years ago

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• • • Member @cb_colorsplash @splash_of_spain @lucky_csplash @hdr_photogram @hdr_transports @Fotofanatics_hdr @pic_eye @gallery_of_all @yes_hdr @total_vehicles @turkobjectif_hdr @lucky_transports @guruhdr @hdr_stronger @la_bwsplash @ig_monumentalworld_splash @editmoments_splash @vehiclesgrafias @ig_monumentalworld_transport @colorsplash_of_our_world_ @pasion_por_navarra VIP Member @phoenix_hdr @hdr_professional @hdr_stop @club_hdr @coolworld_hdr.@think_splash @think_hdr @exciting_vehicles_shotz King Member. @tudo_hdr Admin @portugalalive 🇵🇹📸 @hdr_igers @ind_hdr @shots_hdr (em Oostende Voor Anker) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBBa7O0pRNA/?igshid=frwd8c0e0u2l

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agilenano · 5 years ago

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Agilenano - News: submitted by Roy5.11 Tactical LV6, Tarmac M-Tac Tactical Bag...

submitted by Roy 5.11 Tactical LV6, Tarmac M-Tac Tactical Bag Insert Modular Organizer Utility Admin Pouch Hook Fasteners - Wallet (Coyote Brown) Apple iPhone XR Anker PowerCore Slim 5000 Bellroy Note Sleeve Wallet Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Leatherman Wingman Hand Sanitizer ChapStick Illuminated Pen Zip Ties Bic Lighter Gorilla Duct Tape Multi USB CHarger Keys #EDC #EverydayCarry

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/submitted-by-roy5-11-tactical-lv6-tarmac-m-tac-tactical-bag-1

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milkywaychasers · 7 years ago

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Pascal Kamm is at Engadin St. Moritz. --- REPOST: @kammpascal from http://ift.tt/1WIhwba chosen by @tracyleephotos — MWC Admin: @tracyleephotos --- #milkywaychasers to be featured or post on http://ift.tt/1WIhwba. Tag a friend who might enjoy this Milky Way image and journey! --- From Pascal about this image: --- STACKED SOCIAL http://ift.tt/2hHDqcZ fb.com/kammpascal STORY A situation like this is very rare to find. As the lake had no water at all it made for a unique foreground looking almost like it is on another planet. I chose a composition with this rock in the foreground so that it acts like an anker point and from there leading the viewer's eye all the way to the milky way stretching out from the valley in the background. As always I shot the foreground during dusk with the last bit of light to be able to stop down my aperture to get more depth of field as well as more sharpness. The consistency of the mud was quite a bit dump so that every piece of gear which I put down had some dirt stitched to it. Most of the gear still is a bit dirty as it is very sticky and hard to remove. However, that way I always remember back this cold but special night EXIF Canon 5DIV + Samyang 24mm f1.4 24mm - F/2.0 - 13s (20 dark frames and 20 light frames stacked) - ISO 32000 - WB2900K --- . . . . . #longexposure_shots #nightimages #nightshooterz #nightshooters #nightpics #milkywaygalaxy #astrophotography #astrophoto #astro_photography_ #astro_photography #longexposure #longexpohunter #longexpo #amazing_longexpo #amazingearth #natgeospace #milkyway #nightphotography #night_excl #amazingphotohgunter #fantasticuniverse http://ift.tt/2hveoCT

#IFTTT #Instagram

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savetopnow · 7 years ago

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2018-03-22 00 ANDROID now

ANDROID

Android Advices

Sharp Aquos S3 Mini Smartphone Announced with FHD+ display & 6GB RAM

HTC Desire 12+ and Desire 12 Smartphones Announced with HD+ Displays

Sony Xperia L2 and XA2 series starts receiving new updates

LG Zone 4 budget friendly Smartphone now available via Verizon for $115 on prepaid

Oppo R15 Announced with 20MP front camera, 6GB RAM and Android 8.1

Android Authority

It’s now way easier to go live on YouTube

IDC: Smartwatches aren’t dead just yet

Galaxy S9 Plus costs less to manufacture than iPhone X

Messaging app Telegram must give encryption keys to Russia

Want to triple your reading speed?

Android Central

Facebook Messenger updated with admin privileges and joinable links

The New York Times brings its AR experiences to Android

PUBG for Android review: The hype is real

HTC's Vive Focus standalone VR headset is coming to 'global markets'

Deal: Get $50 off the Essential Phone and a $25 gift card at Best Buy

Android Developers

Introduction to Wear OS Application Development

Introducing Google Play Instant

Introduction to Wear OS by Google Development

Android Developer Story: Homage finds success on Google Play with Start on Android

Google Play: Keep building (Stories from successful startup founders)

Android Guys

Bluboo S3 coming soon with a massive 8,500 mAh battery, 18:9 display (Promoted)

T-Mobile gifting its subscribers with MLB.TV for a year

Master & Dynamic teams up with Leica again for some exclusive headphones

Eight alternative SMS apps for Android

8 Ball Pool review: Head to the pool hall with a casual game of billiards

Android Headlines

Huawei Smartphone With 512GB Of Storage Gets Certified

U.S. Paid Streaming Services Grew 450% Since 2009: Study

Audible Now Available On Sonos’ Ecosystem Of Wireless Speakers

T-Mobile Customers Get MLB At Bat Premium For 2018 Season

Samsung Patents Expandable Mobile Display Design

Android Police

Bandai Namco's newest mobile fighting game 'Dragon Ball Legends' is available for pre-registration

Lineage opens up to developers with new SDK, including APIs for styles and profiles

Google opens Pixel 2's intelligent driving-detection API for developer use

[Deal Alert] Google Daydream (2017) is 50% off today at Best Buy

Outline is a secure VPN for news organizations and journalists, from Alphabet think tank Jigsaw

Droid Life

The Latest Android Minis Remind Me of Peeps and That Makes Me Hungry

YouTube TV Adds Two New Markets

AT&T Galaxy S8 Now Also Receiving Oreo Update

Google’s White Framed Adaptive Icons Sure are Pissing Off Galaxy S8 Owners Who Just Got Oreo

Keeper Password Manager Now Fully Integrated With Autofill in Android 8.1

Reddit Android

Early explorations with ARCore 1.0

Meizu E3 with 5.99-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 636, 6GB RAM, 12MP + 20MP dual rear cameras announced

Introducing the LineageSDK

Google Phone v18 switches to system settings for sound and vibration controls [APK Download]

AT&T Galaxy S8 Oreo update finally released

TechCrunch Android

8bitdo’s wireless adapter adds flexibility to Xbox, PlayStation and Switch controllers

Insta360 One gets a massive upgrade with FlowState stabilization

Waze Carpool expands to the entire state of Washington

Rylo’s shoot first, frame later camera is ideal for casual adventure-seekers

Anker’s Nebula Capsule portable projector is a pocket powerhouse

#android

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jobsearchtips02 · 5 years ago

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Working from Home Because of Coronavirus? These Are Your Tech Fixes

And on the umpteenth day of the coronavirus panic, the overlords commanded: Thou shalt work from house.

As brand-new cases of the viral infection appear within the U.S., many business have actually begun preparing staff members to work from home– or what the cool kids call “WFH.” Some organizations consisting of Twitter are motivating workers around the world to work from their personal homes until further notice.

For some, it’s a dream. Sweatpants and slippers all day long? Sign me up! For others, it’s a nightmare. Slow internet and chatty relative? I ‘d rather work from the germ-laden

McDonald’s

ball pit– heck, the Wi-Fi might be better

In search of the greatest work-from-home tech inconveniences and services, I got in touch with WSJ tech writer Christopher Mims, who simply invested six months composing a book– from house, naturally.

” I ‘d state the best obstacles have nothing at all to do with tech,” Mr. Mims informed me. “To work from home, you should change your mind-set and discover a place in your house that feels completely different. The modification in your tools will follow.”

As constantly, he’s right. As you prepare to telecommute, the first thing you need to do is specify your area. He’s likewise a little incorrect: That physical space must be dictated by your various tech needs, consisting of Wi-Fi strength and room for peripherals.

I gathered nine of the most significant WFH tech annoyances and dug up some options.

Just bear this in mind as you read: While many business might lack the best remote-work tech and security tools, they might also have rules about what you can and can’t utilize. Make certain to contact your organization’s IT contact prior to using any third-party software application, etc. I do not want any upset emails from your hard-working admins.

This is Christopher Mims, not Joanna Stern. Among the WFH-friendly gear in his personal armory are Rainbean’s $18 adjustable laptop stand; LapGear’s $55 lap desk with built-in mousepad; the $13 Grifiti Fat Wrist Pad; the $30 MOFT X tablet stand and Arteck’s $25 stainless-steel Bluetooth keyboard. Dog sold separately.

Image:. Amanda Shepherd.

Little Jim is playing Xbox like there’s no tomorrow. Not-so-little Susie is FaceTiming with all her pals. And it’s taking permanently to download a 600- page deck.

According to my coworkers’ reporting, most U.S. homes do not utilize the majority of their bandwidth. You might experience downturns throughout durations of heavy usage due to a variety of elements– not simply your service provider and your screen-addicted kids, but also your router and your location in the house.

You can evaluate your Web speed via Ookla’s Speedtest, though you’ll need to be able to understand things like “megabits per second.”

” Unless you have a low-bandwidth internet service provider connection, you’re most likely not lacking web bandwidth. More likely you are exhausting Wi-Fi bandwidth,” stated Tim Higgins, managing editor of router-review website SmallNetBuilder and my on-call networking guru.

The best solution for superior connectivity? Given that most laptops do not have Ethernet ports any longer, you’ll need a dongle for that.

Amazon

( Anker is my preferred dongle brand) You’ll also need an Ethernet cable television to link to your router.

If Ethernet isn’t a choice, relocation as close as you can to your Wi-Fi router. “Devices that are getting weak signals eat up more bandwidth,” Mr. Higgins said. “So if Susie is continuously FaceTiming from the back bedroom that is far from the router, she’s most likely sucking up airtime.” Household bonding the 2020 way: Everybody ’round the router, singing campfire tunes.

A mesh router can assist. WSJ’s Joanna Stern and her miniature friends describe how the brand-new Wi-Fi router systems work– and which is the finest one to purchase.

Wait, the Wi-Fi is just fine. I think … perhaps … Gmail is just down?

Bookmark Is It Down Right Now?

I can not potentially be productive without my 2nd, 3rd or 53 rd monitor.

Apparent service: Purchase a screen for house. Take a look at The Wirecutter’s suggestions I bought a $150 Asus display nearly five years back and we’re still really happy together. Dongle alert #2: You’ll likely require one to link to a more recent USB-C laptop computer.

Not-as-obvious option: Utilize an iPad. Sure, it’s a smaller display, however I discover it excellent for setting up a messaging window or a crucial site I regularly need– especially since it’s a cordless connection. If you have a Mac running the current MacOS Catalina and an iPad with iOS 13 you have actually a function called Sidecar. This allows you to wirelessly utilize your iPad as your Mac’s 2nd screen. Fire up the Sidecar app on your Mac and it’s real easy to establish. ( Detailed guidelines from Apple discovered here)

If you have a Windows PC or an older Mac, try Duet, an app that lets you do the very same thing. You’ll likely need a good iPad stand to make this work– or among these cool arms that connects your iPad to your laptop computer screen

The canine! The kids!

Noise-canceling earphones, individuals.

Ugh, email. It’s so much simpler to just walk over to somebody’s desk.

Opportunities are your business is set up with some sort of chat or video-conferencing tools.

Apple’s latest $249 AirPods Pro assure a much better fit thanks to the new, different-sized silicone ear tips, however how well do they remain in? WSJ’s Joanna Stern got on a mechanical bull and recruited some street performers to discover. Picture illustration: Adele Morgan/ The Wall Street Journal.

Sometimes, however, it’s easier to hash something out on the phone or via video chat. You’ve got great deals of video-calling apps to select from– Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom or even FaceTime. Select whatever your coworkers use and feel comfortable with.

I’m not going to supply pointers on how to finest video-chat. Just keep in mind: The electronic camera is on, and your associates do not wish to see your zebra-patterned pajamas. Oh, and lights should be in front of you, not behind you– no backs to the window.

Enjoyable fact from Mr. Higgins: Video-conferencing services are likely to be larger bandwidth hogs than.

Netflix

Streaming apps download streams in chunks of information, while video chat needs to be continuously streaming.

Crap, there’s an important file on my work desktop.

Business now offer cloud drive storage that’s protected and simple to utilize. You can tuck files you might require in there for safekeeping and remote access. If your business doesn’t have the alternative, you might utilize the storage available devoid of Google,.

Apple,

Microsoft

or.

Dropbox,

or spend for an upgraded strategy. Despite the fact that cloud drives are personal, it’s on you to make certain you’re not copying over anything that could be deemed specifically delicate by your company.

There are likewise ways to access your desktop remotely, but this falls under the domain of your IT department, and I don’t suggest you do it without your employer’s approval and support.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS

What are your greatest tech obstacles when working from home? Join the discussion listed below.

Martin in Sales: Your child is cute and all, however we don’t wish to hear “Let It Go” for the 100 th time.

Mute your mic, aka MYM. Write it down on a Post-it, your hand, I don’t care. If you’re on a call, simply mute whenever you aren’t talking. And please share this tip with Martin in Sales!

I use my desk phone to make abroad calls, and there’s no way I’m using my smartphone and paying overage expenses.

Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and Skype allow you to make phone calls over the Internet to anywhere in the world for very low rates. And if you’re both on the service, the call is complimentary.

Speaking of calls, you’ll likely be on a lot of them. Keep a portable battery charger useful. Again, I like Anker– especially this design

I decided to rapidly clip my toe nails in the bathroom, and now my employer is flipping out that I’m not responding.

Communication is the toughest part of telecommuting. Supervisors, the very best thing you can do is set expectations ahead of time. One excellent, however by no means foolproof, solution? If you’re utilizing Slack or Google Hangouts, set a status message that informs your colleagues you’ve stepped away and when you’ll be back. In Slack, click the down arrow by your name (upper left corner) and select “Edit Status.”

In the interest of openness: I composed this column not in your home however at The Wall Street Journal head office– where my toenails may or may not have also been clipped. Don’t forget to send me your WFH gripes or helpful tips.

—- For more WSJ Technology analysis, evaluations, advice and headings, sign up for our weekly newsletter

Write to Joanna Stern at [email protected]

%%.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/working-from-home-because-of-coronavirus-these-are-your-tech-fixes/

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glennmalcolm · 5 years ago

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Oculus Quest - Room-Scale VR For Schools - A Full Review

Since the original Oculus Rift was launched several years ago, I was converted to the use of VR. There was so much potential out there for VR for the forward thinking technology departments to drop into. As I learned more about the modification (or home brew) scene in VR I was hooked on the Oculus Rift Developer kit - even when there was only 4 degrees of movement and the tethering of the HDMI cables meant you were attached to a laptop or desktop and usually seated because there wasn’t and Z axis tracking.

Then came the addition of things like VorpX. This allowed you to take a first person type environment and then transpose it into a VR game. Driving, roaming, exploring and being part of a game became a truly immersive experience. I loved it - even on the mediocre screen back then.

Then came all sorts of varieties and news in the tech media of what was technically possible - Leap Motion was one of the main ideas of this time - the mapping of hands and limbs within VR. There was a very positive outlook for VR back then. Then came the HTC Vive. Wow. A standing, ‘outside-in’ trackable environment that ran on a beefed up PC hardware pushing the realms of a not-too-distant future of VR for the masses. Along with this came the Leap Motion clip-on module, the additional ‘pucks’ for tracking and backpack PCs for untethered outside in tracking.

A little back story: the phrase ‘VR for the masses’ has been around since the mid-nineties when I remember seeing an advert for Sega and Nintendo VR. The snag is that VR has been around a while and the mantle for which VR type, style and format is best. The real bone of contention is, if it’s for the masses, then it really needs to be pared down because not everyone has a PC with a (now aging) GTX 1080 to provide room-scale grunt for their VR realms and the floor space to create the ‘Guardian’ that is required for room-scale VR.

The pared down version comes at a cost to the user, I feel. Namely the appliance-like nature of the device so that the mass-produced all-in-one case can provide a three-click platform: turn on, choose game, hit go. The appliance also pares down what the ‘user’ should be able to do. I find that this channels the user into what the appliance’s designers want you to use and how you should use it. Think of it like an IKEA type VR. You shop at IKEA and all you can do is trundle through the alleyways following the arrows pointing you to checkout and exiting with items you never came in for. The format and style of current titles is also of a low poly nature, that to be frank, surely cannot keep going where every title has the same blocky nature.

That is where I feel we are at with the Oculus Quest. This takes the room-scale usership to a simplified level - albeit a well crafted one. Unlike the IKEA analogy, the Quest is very well built, offers a robust material set and has very ergonomic controllers that offer a some hand tracking that seems (at the moment at least) to halt at finger pointing to turn switches on and off in-game. Here the Quest’s controllers are AA style removable batteries. Knowing how fast the Vive’s paddles are depleted I think you’ll be looking for something like Sony Eneloops to get all-day longevity out of these. The same goes for making a hack for the headset’s USB-C battery bank connection as I had gone through half the battery in about an hour of intermittent use. In school though, I think most tech departments are looking for internal rechargeable batteries where a power bank can be USB connected and recharged.

The well-built nature of the headset means that the phone-like innards (Qualcomm 835 (3years old equivalent to a Samsung Galaxy 8), Adreno 540 GPU and 4Gb RAM run the device pretty well. The heavy coating of the Quest, combined with the screen means this thing is pretty heavy on the face after about an hour. Other people have said they get tiredness around two hours however I have a gigantic Roman nose that felt like it was supporting the entire thing after a while.

When you put the headset on, I like the way it recognises the headset is on your head and uses similar sensors to that of the eye-piece of a digital camera to turn the LCD off and turn on the viewfinder. This presents you with a lovely screen and decent adjustable lenses to view content. The controllers are simple to find (they light up on screen when the headset is on which is a nice touch) and the pass-through camera lenses on the front of the device also highlight the controllers which is similar to the more high-end Vive where searching for the controllers/ searching the room is needed.

The interface is simple and has a store that seems to be filled with large number of apps and games (50at present). Now, I was expecting a lot more from this section for both apps and games. I was kind of expecting something similar to the Oculus, Vive and Steam stores. Lots of people have said that this has plenty of games starting with 50 for this specific Quest store. This is where people get a bit miffed in terms of ‘content’. If you are a Steam user then you know that there may be 5,000 games and apps in the store, yet there will only be around 10% of those games that have good reviews or good enough for you to start there. Then there will be only about 30% of these top rated games that are to your taste and of those about 10% are affordable. I think you get what I mean here, there are only about 5 of those games that I would like to play yet this is not what I’m after in this instance. What I'm after is creative or story telling experiences that wow the user...

You see, the apps needed in a school are creative, world—builder type apps that put the controllers front and center and the device set to its limits. I want it to allow me and my students to create and build something then export it somewhere to be used elsewhere, say, in TinkerCAD and 3D print it. There is only Tilt Brush by Google that I can see in the Oculus store and this was $30 (around 1000thb here in Thailand -that's way too much). TiltBrush on Steam for the full version on the Vive is much cheaper. Also, I say ‘full’ because there is no way that this phone could cope with building the scale of the models you will end up creating and exporting from a whole class - especially if you are making a walkthrough gallery of models.

The next part is looking for experiences for my students because the creative angle is blocked within a single mainstream application. I looked for video and 360 degree environments either from YouTubeVR or from sites that offer the experience from the site itself. In this regard, I tried out FirefoxVR - this has potential however as of yet there’s not much difference to a phone VR experience. What I wanted in this realm were the types of environments such as Allumette that guide you in room-scale via sound or trinkets and want to immerse you within the story itself. No such luck. Maybe there’ll be some ported over.

I also searched for apps similar to Google Expeditions, Google Stories and places to build or explore such as Museums. Sadly there isn’t really anything that stood out as something I would use a Quest for in my classroom other than what I have used previously with Android phones and Google Cardboard (or Cardboard-like headsets). These offer the same experiences as on the Quest for students that teachers always ask for, and, more importantly class teachers need to be able to search for content to splice into class projects. Having Android phones as your class set of VR devices also allow you to log into a single Admin user on the Play store and wirelessly push out the apps to each of the phones.

The other snag I felt that limited the use in the primary classroom especially is, should you work in a large school such as mine (8 form entry and a total of 2600 students from 3-18), having just one Quest in class, where usually two lessons of specialist provision or eight classes are running simultaneously, how can you reasonably use something like Tilt Brush, Blocks or should it ever arrive: Co Spaces, and include all children. In my school I only see the children in the 16 Junior classes once a fortnight for an hour at a time. It would require 8 devices per class set minimum with a teacher’s unit to get close to coverage.

The next item to think about here is the overall cost of a class set of Quests versus a class set of Android phone based class sets. Even if it was a set of 6 Quests, these 6 a need an additional phone for ownership for each seat in the app store (or users in the Oculus store per app per device) after the initial $500(+pp +duties) each. (The ones we have are 128Gb models the 64Gb models are $400 each) - that makes a class set cost of a minimum USD$3000 (for the models we have) before shipping and import duties.

Compare this to my previous set up of:

13 Xiao Mi Red Note 6’s with jelly-like cases =13 x S$230 (2017 models) = S$2990

2019 Mi RedNote 7 (3Gb, Qualcomm 632, 6” , 4000mah, ) similar pricing here

14 iamcardboard headsets (spare included): 14 x S$ 322 + S$50 shipping

6 Anker 10000MiA battery packs = 5 x S$55 = S$330

14 Sennheiser HD202 headphones (spare set) 14 x S$54.99 = S$769

Grand total for 1:2 class set of VR headsets: S$4488 = USD $3243.48

We can easily skin this total down by not purchasing battery packs or the Sennheiser and only buying Apple style earbuds ( I prefer these hard shell earphones for their durability). Cheap copies are available on the likes of TaoBao, Ali express or Lazada for a lot less. However, for this comparison, I’m going with the Oppo/ Huawei standard 3.5mm type that come in at S$19.

13 Xiao Mi Red Note 6’s with jelly-like cases =13 x S$230 (2017 models) = S$2990

2019 Mi RedNote 7 (3Gb, Qualcomm 632, 6” , 4000mah, ) similar pricing here

14 iamcardboard headsets (spare included): 14 x S$ 322 + S$50 shipping

14 Oppo/ Huawei earbud type earphones: S$19 x S$266

Grand total for 1:2 class set of VR headsets: S$3628 = USD $2619.42

With import duties and shipping, the Quest set works out roughly the same for a 1:2 class set (our classes are capped at 24 children ) of devices that, in my experience are simple to manage and above all else, provide a bookable resource of mobile devices that are not locked down in the same way as the Oculus Quest and provide all the functionality of a phone: video, stills, editing, QR and other apps too. The locked-down nature of the Quest where there needs to be another phone attached with a person’s Oculus account to release the developer mode really is a bind that you don’t really experience on Android devices, nor do you want to experience this as a class teacher with your students. Unless, of course, you have a teacher cohort at your school that frequently flash custom Android ROMs on their devices. However, I doubt this very much.

The thing I’m going to lead onto here is that the need for another phone’s Oculus app to pair the device for the Quest to enter Developer mode really is a step too far by comparison to a standard mobile phone for general class use. This enhanced mode allows you to you sideload apps from your Windows computer which, as a stand alone R&D device is perfect. The real stickler here is twofold and this is part and parcel of it being a great R&D device for honing staff member’s understanding of what technology is just around the corner. What I’ve learned from this type of R&D is that when single units like this are dropped into classrooms they spark so many ideas and lead-in for new wild projects or add-ons for already outstanding projects. What they don’t do is shape the current use and ready-planned resources within a school, the working, easy-to-use devices do this. The Quest is a fabulous device for future planning and aligning budget cycles especially if you run a 10% R&D already or are about to.

The two fold nature of this device is that, yes, you can mirror your computer with Riftcat and run Steam VR from here. However, I found it sketchy at best and, in school environment this has a ‘faff-to-success’ ratio of about 2:10 which, is how I found the HTC Vive originally but the ideation that came from that HTC and all the teachers who used it was astounding. The other issue, and this is a big one in terms of school use, is the tethering of the Quest to another mobile phone with the app on it. This makes it instantly a 1:1 device or in an environment such as a school is a put on/ pull off situation where there is limited time to actually make anything, say an .OBJ, for something such as Co-spaces a very tricky thing to achieve with a large proportion of kids younger than 13 or 14. Time constraints and, subsequently the exclusive nature of the device is difficult to bring into a specialist lesson. An all day round-robin cycle of activities that had this as a 20 minute building set would also hone the ideas for what we can do with the class set of Android phones for VR. The bigger social issue with this is that a single VR device, while that one kid is using it everyone is looking at that one kid wondering what the hell they are seeing. It is possible to cast the screen to another computer however, again I found the picture quality contained a lot of artefacts that may have just been the setup of our school network. This was certainly the case for streaming Steam content and to remote desktop. The ‘faff’ scale was hockey stick shaped with this endeavour.

Back to the tethering. This is mandatory for developer mode (why this isn’t a toggle on the device to begin with I don’t know as it’s an eight tap sequence in Android settings) which in turn is needed for the creation of the business account at Oculus.com. Once this is done, you can install the ADB drivers, Powershell script and then you can add other free VR apps from the Sideloader platform. As a serial tinkerer, this had me very much tempted into the ‘what if...? idea stream in my mind’. I was thinking along the lines of ‘what if we can build something and export it. Can we make a simple video compilation or edit game streaming as stories” for example. As it turns out, not really, maybe we will have this soon. Remember, the original Rift was like this and the Quest is a similar informant.

Now then, the Sideloader games and apps... as with any communities such as this, you need to be sympathetic to the wants and desires of devs and tinkerers, and the unstoppable desire for nostalgia. I’m talking really about the porting of games such as Quake into a VR headset such as the Quest. Sadly these don’t really work, but the desire is there to produce these kinds of channels for once champions of the gaming world. In fact, I’m still searching for a port of a game where the parabolic head movement combined a similarly moving horizon doesn’t induce instant nausea. On the other hand, these kinds of apps and games are for niche elements of school life and are a far cry from being useful for the layman - such as the painting polygon app in Sideloader. It’s an early start, yet these are not built school use in mind.

The final note here is to do with the trajectory of VR for schools versus the path VR is taking. The types of kits and the resources that are available for schools is fantastic. Something so simple as the Tuscan villa or Google Earth VR is an exceptional example of how children can be inspired to write or experience a scene that inspires other aspects of our curricula. Google Earth VR has a real Gulliver’s Travels feel about it. The snag is, harking back to the phrase ‘VR for the masses’ earlier, means that the likes of Facebook need to earn back their investment and to gain a profit by securing users to a platform. And to do this, they need to make the devices locked down and appliance-like. The games need need to be just that, games where eyeballs are on the screen as much as possible and to serialise these mini franchises. Google Earth et al is not going to do that job. Ever.

In essence, schools need to think and research very carefully how they are going to incorporate these types of devices into classes, to include as many children as possible because the learning experiences to be had from VR, as much as I’ve experienced with my classes, provide a primary source knowledge base for nearly all students, that has an outstanding knock-on effect, especially in areas such as creative writing and as I mentioned above, ideation.

#VR #Virtual Reality #educational technolgy #virtual environments

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