#big and medium companies definitely be making things accessible

[we-re-always-alright]

I’m off work today but I’m thinking about it anyway and I’m thinking, you know, what cottage lawsuit industry is going to pop up next (if it hasn’t already) and my guess would be on CCPA/CPRA etc violations for small businesses

[jellogram]

How I Landed Professional Writing Gigs (from scratch)

Okay so I am currently a full-time writer for a travel company but this was absolutely not my first writing endeavor so I thought it would be helpful to write out some things that I wish I had known.

I write non-fiction/marketing/journalism-oriented work, but there's some overlap with fiction publishing. However, you should understand that making a living solely from fiction is significantly harder than this.

So here is what I did:

1. Write as much as you can.

This seems obvious, because you need to practice, but it's more than that. You NEED to be creating work to fill out your portfolio. Write everything. Write essays about things you like, write short stories, write social media captions, interview whoever responds to your emails and write about that, just write write write as much as you can. With as much variety as you can. Writing ad copy in different styles is going to be a big one.

2. Compile all of this into a portfolio.

There are many ways to do this, but you need a) a digital folder that you can submit on forms and attach in emails and b) a website with all of your work that you can link with one URL. You can make a website with something like wordpress or you can just use substack or medium.

In your portfolio, include all of your best work. This will likely be pretty unimpressive at first, and mostly school papers and passion pieces, but it's a start. You just need to get something together, because when you start applying, you will often need a portfolio to even complete the submissions.

Now, this is crucial, do not publish all your creative pieces. If you have a poem or a short story that is particularly good, you can add it to your digital folder, but DO NOT PUBLISH IT on a publicly accessible site. You'll see why below.

3. Apply to literally everything.

Now you are ready to start looking for gigs. These will, almost certainly, be unpaid at first. Obviously this sucks, but it also doesn't have to ruin your life. If you're in a position to take a whole unpaid internship, that will definitely help, but there's other options.

Your new best friend is Submittable. This is how I got my first fiction piece published. Submit to e v e r y t h i n g. Paid, unpaid, whatever you can find. If you have a piece of creative writing that you truly think is publishable, you grind on Submittable for hours after work/school, sending it off to every publishing call that's even vaguely related.

This is why you can't publish your best work on your own site — nearly all of these listings require first publishing rights, meaning you keep ownership of your piece, but they don't want it if the public has been able to access it already. Once your piece is published on their site, you can add it to yours.

4. Keep track of where you've been published and put that list in your bio from now on.

You are nothing but the places where you have been published, which is why it's vital to gather as many credits as possible.

5. You can also get gigs on Upwork.

This is a great way to gain more experience working for a client and hopefully getting a few publishing credits. This is technically paid work, but you're not likely to make more than a few bucks. Send bids for the lowest paying, least popular gigs. Just chat with the client back and forth a bit to make sure they're legit.

This kind of work SUCKS, but it can help you beef up your portfolio and get more credits. It will also teach you, unequivocally, if writing is really want you want to do for a living. If you hate dealing with client requests and doing grunt work and being told what to write, you're probably going the wrong direction and you'll learn that quickly from Upwork.

6. Once you have an OK portfolio/list of credits, start looking for more consistent work.

Technically you can start doing this at any time, but you're unlikely to land anything consistent until you have a few credits and some solid experience.

This type of work is usually paid. By this point, if you've gathered up enough credits, you should be beyond unpaid internships. That doesn't mean it won't be difficult to find work. Getting a job always sucks and this is no different, you're just better primed for it now than you were before the previous steps.

I found all my consistent jobs on Indeed. There's basically two kinds of work at this stage: contracted and salaried. I've done both.

Contracted work basically means you have an agency. They work with companies who are hiring out copywriting agencies for whatever writing they need. This kind of work is nice because you have a lot more control and flexibility in your daily life. However, you are at the will of your agency. If they don't give you any jobs that month, you're out of luck. Unless your particular agency is very very consistent, this is most likely more supplemental income than primary income, especially if you live in a place that taxes the living hell out of contracted workers.

There's also independent contractors, but I strongly advise against trying to make that work unless you already have years of experience in the field.

Salaried work is a JOB job. You might still have some flexibility, but your daily hours and workload will be out of your control. I started with the contracted work and moved to a full time job, and while I definitely prefer the lifestyle of contracted work, I would not trade the comfort of regular paychecks. Up to you.

7. If you can't find a regular job, start branching out your skills.

If you have been hitting every job board and publishing outlet you can find, you have credits, your portfolio is excellent, and you STILL can't find a consistent job, you might want to start adding semi-related skills to your resume.

Fortunately, you can do this (for free) online. It's time consuming, which sucks if you're already doing all of this while maintaining another job. But it can make or break your chances.

I looked at what all the writing-related jobs on Indeed were requesting as skills, and started learning them. I used Hubspot, Google Analytics Academy, and Coursera, because they give you certificates upon course completion that you can add to your resume. Codecademy is also really quick and easy for coding.

All of these are available for free, but with Coursera you have to apply for a scholarship for each course if you'd like to take it without paying.

In this process, I learned:

SEO

HTML5

CSS

Social media and email marketing

WordPress

Google Analytics

Obviously this list will vary depending on what type of writing gig you're looking for, but if you're in the market for advertising or blog work, I think SEO, html, and Google Analytics are good places to start.

Graphic design is also a super useful skill that will go a long way towards setting you apart from other candidates. Specifically Adobe, but even a little Canva experience can help.

Once you've acquired these skills, try to make something with them. Build a small website or collect a graphic design portfolio. The more skills and experience you can show off, the better.

And that's it! I'm sure some of you will read this and scream "But OP, I did that and it didn't work!" and I'm sorry. This is what worked for me, so that's all I can really offer.

Good luck out there!

[raven]

i get & kind of agree with your point, i guess i'm just looking at the bigger issue as a whole. i do think in a lot of cases it's super feasible to just. play something else. or to wait until you can afford to upgrade your pc, etc. but i think the trend in the gaming sphere (esp triple A titles) of not caring for optimization and expecting consumers to just keep up is a little concerning for the future of gaming. i think gaming is already something that's inaccessible to a lot of people for inescapable reasons (required internet access for most games now, having to purchase consoles or a pc isn't cheap, etc.) and with with the way optimization is becoming more scarce i think it's leading to a future where new releases will be entirely unreachable for a large portion of the community which is an issue that should not exist. if 60% of your target audience can't afford to play your game, what's the point?

yeah definitely. &i did somewhat feel this with the new dragon age, there were so many just.. pointless visual effects on the screen, most of which i couldnt turn off, and i couldnt help but think "would this game run better if it didnt have these...?" while style is important, i do think game studios should be focusing more on WHY you need a game to be in a certain visual style. why do you need certain filters etc. veilguard didnt even look good, imo, so whats the point... But also like. games are for two types of people: people with powerful computers, who care about their computers being top of the line and able to run anything, updating whenever they can and people who will buy a new console every console generation, because games are pretty much guaranteed to work on the latest consoles. and unfortunately if you are not a rich pc gamer or a slightly less rich console gamer, you might not be playing the big hits. but like, thats why you get a console, so you can play without needing to worry about an upgrade for several years. Idk. ive never had a console and i just play what i can play. but there are a lot of people out there with consoles. and it seems to be going fine for them, bc if games dont run on consoles theyre promised on, theres usually patches and more work done. I also dont really care about the AAA audience or studios and if the studios go under... Thats not my problem i dont really care if they live or die. Maybe the world would be better off without call of duty,? If gaming companies are fucking us over with optimization, theyre fucking themselves over, and if they have to shut down.. well that's on them. I have other games to play. (& like, when i say innovation in triple A games.. you know whats the kinda shit im talking about its game awards shit its not call of duty its like, god of war, red deaddedemption, death stranding (...2!), elden ring, baldurs gate 3 (not really triple a, but the reach and success can make it feel like one). (Im not personally interested in all of these, but im interested in what they have done for the medium.) of these games that have released, theyve had issues and most have been fixed. And most of them have done things worthy of discussion, even if they take up a lot of space and people like to complain about that. We can only hope interesting games arent dead on arrival because of poor optimization, but it seems most of them havent been.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

First off... Definitely go see THE BOY AND THE HERON / HOW DO YOU LIVE?

Number two... I can't believe I have to say all of this, but... Some avenues of animation fan-land need to C-H-I-L-L... Not just with this movie, but with a multitude of other things, but I won't get into them here. I just wanna talk about how Miyazaki's new film did in the U.S. Fantastic $10-13m opening, already bests the domestic totals of SPIRITED AWAY and PONYO. Looks to make a decent gross, maybe even outgross WISH- hey wait a minute...

So, one of my first questions is... Why are we even bringing "Disney" into this?

Or WISH for that matter?

I feel bad for the WISH filmmakers honestly, for all their hard work to culminate in their movie losing money at the box office. It barely passed $100m just recently. That all has zilch to do with Miyazaki's new movie. Or anything, for that matter. You might as well single out DreamWorks and TROLLS 3 while you're at it.

This should be about Miyazaki's new film, possibly his last, that he came out of retirement - in his EIGHTIES - to make, and how it's doing.

This and GODZILLA MINUS ONE's successes should be looked at, it shows that there are markets for other kinds of movies, it shows that some audiences will be there for some things... And that's great! We need more room in multiplexes for these kinds of movies, and their respective successes I feel are a positive sign for that...

Buuuuut, what the hell does HERON's success have to do with Disney?

I get that Disney is one of the largest players in both animation and mainstream movies, but really- BOY AND THE HERON's success is only going to tell Disney executives one thing, and it's what I just laid out above. It's not going to singlehandedly convince Disney execs to allow Walt Disney Animation Studios to open a full-on 2D unit and greenlight a 2D animated movie. HERON would have to make MARIO numbers in order to possibly do that, and that's being generous... And Disney used to distribute Ghibli films, too, even well after they called it quits on 2D films. (They released THE WIND RISES through the Touchstone banner in 2014.)

Like, let's celebrate the new Miyazaki film doing great without having to center Disney all the damn time. There are so many 2D movies that get made every few years all around the world, and they're far more accessible than ever before.

Why do we need big bad Diz to try again when so many other filmmakers are doing new and innovative stuff with that medium? And besides, what if they make a 2D movie and it has the same writing style as WISH, STRANGE WORLD, RAYA, etc.? "You made a 2D movie Disney, that's great! But it's still MID!" Disney gave you back the evil bad guy villains with King Magnifico, but WISH still sucked to you... You're just not going to get what you want out of this company anymore.

I get that Disney's 2D films are the bedrock of the enterprise, and of feature animation history. I get that in their official "canon", 46 of their 62 features are largely 2D/hand-drawn... But, we gotta stop expecting this big conglomerate to do it when they've steadfastly refused to for a decade now. They're answering to market research and what they think audiences want, not people like us who can detect a Milt Kahl head swaggle from a mile away...

Instead of making shallow remarks that only put down the animators/filmmakers, and not the bigwigs at the company (this whole "that'll teach 'em a lesson" mentality is among the dumbest on twitter and a few other places), just go find cool 2D stuff being made elsewhere and put your energy into making that stuff more known. You've got internet, right? Just google every year's crop of animated movies and even TV shows (like, say, SCAVENGER'S REIGN. Go watch that!), it's all right there, yeesh.

Like, let's celebrate BOY AND THE HERON's success, not make this another Disney Animation and Pixar bash-fest. Miyazaki didn't come out of retirement and hand-craft this film - which is an often heavy and painful reflective work on loss and grief and life and death and the universe - at his old age... for people to act like this is a playground, pitting it against another movie that has its own reason for existing. It just seems, among other obnoxious things some animation fans are currently doing, disingenuous to me. What is this hierarchy? Can we just enjoy and celebrate the art for once?

[onenet-2008]

What Is A Responsive Website Designing And Why Is It Important To Have One

If your website doesn’t perfectly work on all types of devices, you’re surely wasting some of your money spent on your website design. A responsive web design is a type of fluid layout that adjust as per the screen size and ratio of the device, resulting in a unified web presence that works perfectly on every types of devices but you can reach your customers through computers, phones, tablets irrespective of browsers

Responsive web design is an approach in web development that causes dynamic changes in the way a website appears in the browser, depending on the size and orientation screen of the device being used to view the website.

Today, almost every new customer wants a mobile version of their website. It’s practically impossible to have one website designed for the personal computers, another for the iPhone, the iPad, android. So, responsive design addresses this problem and fits in all screen sizes and resolutions and makes a website view compatible to them. It's believed that in the coming years, we’ll likely need to have a web design fits in a number of additional devices that are invented.

It's another thing that a responsive website design can deliver the best user experience across all devices and has many other plus points. If one is still unsure as to whether they should choose to go responsive then the big answer can be yes. In this article we will include some of the major advantages of responsive web design that may help forming your decision.

Benefits of Responsive Web Design

Appeal to a broader range range of audiences:Your viewers will be able to access your website from a range of different devices in all resolutions and sizes, and of course in all ratios. Responsive design will accommodate them irrespective of size of the screen, big, medium or small.

Convenience to monitor analytics:If you have different websites for different devices that means you have to keep an eye on each analytics. A responsive website is just one website, which essntially means your analytics is going to be just one source of information being displayed in one screen only.

Low on maintenance:Further, when you have multiple websites for multiple devices, it means at the time of updation or modification, you will need to make changes across all the websites. With a responsive website, you can be at peace as you will only have to make the change once, thereby saving time, efforts and money as well.

More powers for your SEO campaigns:Marketing your business is obviously the most crucial for any business to be found in the web pages. And SEO is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website. And, Google now said to value responsive websites, in order to improve their search results for mobile users, so they rank higher on the search engines results.

Conclusions:

As the competition in the market is increasing day by day it is paramount to stay ahead of your competitors in business by following practices that are less costly, less vulnerable and more profitable to your business. While having a website is the quinessential to your business so that your target audiences can view you. And having a responsive website definitely stands out to be beneficial for all business enterprises as it builds trust among the audiencces and opens new doors for more opportunities. Get in touch with OneNet Solutions Private Limited a leading responsive wesite design company in pune that is also regarded among best companies to provide web designing and development services!

[bebin-007]

SEO Services in Nagercoil

Unlocking Growth: Why Your Business in Nagercoil Needs SEO Services

In today's digital-first world, an online presence is the key to business success. Nagercoil, a thriving town with its culture and booming businesses, is not outside this line. If you are one of the business owners in Nagercoil, SEO services might be the missing piece of the puzzle that could unlock sustainable growth, a wider customer base, and outpacing local competition.

In this guide, we will discuss how important SEO is for business in Nagercoil, the kind of services SEO agencies provide, and what they can do to lift your brand's online visibility.

1. The Importance of SEO for Businesses in Nagercoil

A. Enhanced Online Visibility In a small town like Nagercoil, in which traditional businesses are being taken online, search engine optimization can make a big difference for your business. A website is made visible through search engines like Google under the art of Search Engine Optimization. This can lead to easy access when some customers search for the respective products or services offered by your business. More viewers will be captured through Google when your business comes under the first page as against being buried in some pages of Google.

B. Attracting Targeted Local Traffic SEO is not merely a means of traffic. It brings targeted traffic; it brings the kind of traffic you are interested in. With optimization on targeted keywords searched by the residents of Nagercoil, the customers would come looking for what you offer. Such keywords could be "best restaurants in Nagercoil" or "home decor stores in Nagercoil".

C. Cost-Effective Marketing Unlike other forms of advertising, SEO is free. Once you have invested in an SEO strategy, you reap the benefits many times over from the investment. After your website has been ranked on the search engines, you continue to receive organic traffic without having to continually spend money on ads.

2. Core SEO Services Offered in Nagercoil

Professional SEO agencies in Nagercoil offer a wide range of services that can be customized to your business needs:

A. Keyword Research and Strategy Keyword research should form the basis of all good SEO. Agencies at Nagercoil will, for instance, find suitable keywords that customers are searching for and then create a strategy on that basis. Whether they're targeting terms like "affordable salons in Nagercoil" or "organic shops in Nagercoil," keyword optimization brings your website in front of the right audience.

B. On-Page SEO Optimization On-page SEO is optimizing the elements of your website, from the meta title and meta description to headers and images. Good content combined with optimization makes sure that search engines know what your website is all about, which definitely raises your chances of ranking.

C. Off-Page SEO and Link Building Off-page SEO involves obtaining backlinks from quality websites, which in turn establishes the authority of your website from other quality websites. It tells search engines that your website is relevant and credible. Nagercoil-based SEO agencies can create quality backlinks through local partnership links, guest blogging, and directory listings.

D. Local SEO for Nagercoil Businesses These things help small to medium-sized companies the most. Local search-based optimizations appear as results like "cafe near me" or "plumbers in Nagercoil." The scope of Local SEO service is setting up and optimization of your Google My Business profile, acquiring local citations, and encouraging customer reviews, which increases rank for searches within the locality Nagercoil.

E. Content Creation and Optimization Quality content is at the backbone of SEO. Agencies also offer content creation services such as writing blog posts, articles, and service pages that answer most of your potential customers' questions. Well-written content not only attracts readers but also tells search engines that your site is a valuable resource.

F. Technical SEO Technical SEO is the backbone of behind-the-scenes activities that improve the website's performance. Site speed optimization, mobile-friendliness, adding security with SSL certificates, and making the website crawlable ensure the website can retain visitors and rank better on Google.

3. Key Benefits of Hiring an SEO Agency in Nagercoil

A. Local Expertise and Understanding A successful SEO agency in Nagercoil is well-abreast of the local market, its culture, and the behavior of its customers. A thorough understanding of their local environment allows them to devise a strategy that resonates with the audience of Nagercoil. Focus on keywords and trends that are central to Nagercoil can make local agencies channel relevant traffic and establish the brand in the community.

B. Tailored SEO Strategies Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach, a local agency provides customized SEO strategies. They assess the business goals, competition, and target audience to craft a plan that is just right for you. In a marketplace as diverse as Nagercoil, it is quite useful to customize, from old-fashioned retail shops to new-age tech ventures.

C. Direct Communication and Accountability A local agency can make communications much easier, and you'll usually talk about strategies and get updated on your progress. A local SEO agency also holds more accountability because they are committed to helping businesses in Nagercoil succeed. Therefore, frequent touchpoints would ensure that the agency will be aligned with the vision of your business and adapt accordingly at times when different strategies are required.

4. SEO Trends and Best Practices for Nagercoil Businesses

Keeping up with the latest SEO trends can give your business an edge. Here are some SEO practices relevant to businesses in Nagercoil in 2024:

A. Mobile Optimization In Nagercoil, most of the access to websites is through mobile. Mobile optimization is required for the reason that Google recently gives preferences to mobile-friendly sites in its ranking algorithm. Mobile-optimized websites provide great user experience and high rankings on search results.

B. Voice Search Optimization With the growing use of voice-activated devices, an optimization for voice search might be something to set one apart. For instance, many are in the practice of typing how they search using more conversational or natural language, especially regarding local services. Integrate phrases like "where to find the best curry in Nagercoil" to adequately capture the searches.

C. AI and Machine Learning SEO agencies have started to utilize AI and machine learning to analyze trends, customer behavior, and keyword opportunities. AI-driven tools enable deeper insights that will help your agency optimize better and get ahead of competitors.

D. Visual and Video SEO     The more attractive something is to the eye, the more chances it has of being watched. Even videos and pictures can improve the traffic and views on your site if made search engine-friendly. The videos and pictures posted in websites like YouTube and Instagram are also good means through which more people can view things in Nagercoil, based on their visual attraction.

5. How to Choose the Right SEO Agency in Nagercoil

Selecting the right SEO agency can make or break your SEO success. Here’s how to make the right choice:

A. Check Their Track Record Client testimonials, case studies, or examples of previous work should be looked for to assess the credibility of an agency. A reliable agency will have proven results and references from satisfied clients in Nagercoil.

B. Evaluate Their Knowledge of Local SEO Ideally, an excellent agency should have experience in local SEO. It needs experience in understanding the market for Nagercoil and then how they would optimize a site for local searches. Moreover, it must know about Google My Business setups and local citations.

C. Inquire About Transparency and Reporting Transparency is the ultimate key. Choose an agency that will constantly keep you updated, report on performances, and keep the communication clear. Reporting monthly can allow you to understand how your SEO campaign is coming along and where your money is being invested.

6. Case Studies: Real-World Success Stories

To truly see the value of SEO, look at real-world examples. Local businesses in Nagercoil have experienced impressive growth through SEO:

Retail Boutique: A small clothing boutique experienced an increase of 150 percent in foot traffic through targeted keywords such as "fashion boutiques Nagercoil." The agency optimized its Google My Business profile to attract local customers.

Home Service Company: For instance, a plumbing company in Nagercoil increased the calls and website inquiries after optimizing for keywords such as "emergency plumbers Nagercoil." This way, they rank on top of search results for queries relevant to their location.

7. Getting Started with SEO for Your Nagercoil Business

Ready to boost your online visibility? Here’s how to get started:

Audit Your Website: Have an SEO agency audit your website to understand its current performance and identify improvement areas.

Define Your Goals: Set specific, measurable goals for SEO, whether it’s increasing traffic, improving rankings, or driving more sales.

Choose the Right Partner: Partner with an experienced SEO agency in Nagercoil that understands your industry and has a track record of success.

Conclusion

Probably, the best decision to make for your business in Nagercoil is the invest in SEO services. SEO helps increase visibility in addition to bringing in better quality traffic and long-term growth. A local SEO agency will help you discover the digital landscape, develop your business, and further make your brand stronger so that it reaches more of your customers. For more info Eloiacs

[onemarkeingtek]

Usage of digital marketing steps to provide education to all sector’s people

One question arises in users’ minds how to overcome poverty, especially for specific groups. One should use their right to achieve their education to improve their literacy rate.  Getting a basic level of education is not difficult as it does not have the heavy charge to your education providers.   If you keep the social reforming though and want to execute it in reality, then you focus on providing easy accessibility of education.  Suppose, you are running a coaching center in a particular city to educate students well.  Then, you are doing your best to bring education hopes into their life.  

But, it is the obvious question of how can provide a great role to widen the knowledge to the great masses. It does not matter whether they belong to a high or low society group. In this sky-scrapping rate, you cannot below below-average fees in exchange for providing a better education. The unwanted infrastructures impose to keep some definite price.  If you replace the high fee-oriented education with affordable fees via digital marketing, you can do something better to transit the better education possibility.  There is no wonder to say that you should take the association of the digital marketing trend to invite the desired student to get an education.  

Choose the perfect digital marketing for online education

With the implementation of this concept, the fee is not a big hindrance to retaining the education.   If you want to achieve the goal of government and public sector jobs, then online education is the convenient medium to access education anywhere. To translate offline education into online, you can meet with reliable digital marketing. They have a basic digital marketing plan to achieve the digital marketing trend with us.

Understand your business requirements:  If you have the zeal to provide education to all income groups, then you never leave the attempt to make an online identity.  For instance, you make sure how can your competitors are ahead of you. After all, you know what online marketing should take into action to abreast your education competitors chain.

Create the organic traffic: The first and foremost thing to convert your education business into a simple one is to build the website. Apart from this, you pay attention to the concern that loading your website does not take more time. Do not dive into stupid on-page and off-page practices that lead your business to the end stage. But, you must keep in mind that online traffic does not come into practice in one day.

Pay attention to paid ads: If you want to run temporary and quick visibility for any educational entity, then paid ads are worth it for you. The association with a reliable company helps a lot to create ads that resonate with the targeted audience.

Conclusion:  Do not lose hope if you do not have the idea to end your query for running digital marketing ads. Then you do not think more and end your search at One Marketing Tek. The properly devised digital marketing plan is perfect for grooming your presence educational digital marketing professional.  So, you have created effective business leads for many professionals and get the credit of the best Digital Marketing Agency for educational institutes for Delhi.  So, you should describe your specifications and how you can track your targeted audience.

Source Url:

[globosetechnology]

Evolution of AI Training Data: From Data Origins to Intelligent Horizons

With the rise of AI in people’s lives, the need to acknowledge good training data has not been more significant in the past. AI, ML, and Big data play an important role in various industries including government, corporate, science, and more.

The AI market has been expanding like wildfire. AI Market size was 1.3 billion USD in 2021. It is expected to grow to a whopping 2.8 trillion by 2023, according to McKinsey Global Survey. According to IBM, 35% of companies are already using AI and 45% of companies are exploring AI to adopt them in the future. 

Even though AI and ML are quite a buzzing topic nowadays, the “thing” that fuels AI and ML remains under the shadow. AI Training data is something that trains the AI to function in the manner it should. And the quality of data matters a lot in this respect. 

In this blog, we’ll explore the evolution of AI training dataset, understand what qualifies as a quality dataset, and dive into its past, present, and future.

What is AI Training Data? — In Simple Terms 

Training data is a set of carefully curated information that is fed to a system for training. The quality of training data fed to any system determines the AI’s success. Better quality data means better intelligence of the computer or system. 

While training any data, loads of information are fed to the system. For example, for teaching the system about cats, a whole lot of cat images, videos, characteristic info, etc will be provided to the system. So, when the system encounters any such information or visuals about a cat, it understands that it’s a cat, and provides more information about the cat from its database if needed. 

This also means that the data must be so accurate and diversified, that the system must not confuse every four-legged animal as a cat. 

So, AI training data is like training a child. Kids are taught language by labeling A, B, C, D, etc. Similarly, the Machine is also trained about the information by feeding data to it. 

What is the Definition of AI Training Data? 

A collection of labeled data fed into the machine-learning algorithm to enable it to make accurate predictions is called AI training data. On the basis of the data, the ML system tries to identify, recognize, and understand the relations between different components and make necessary decisions by evaluating them. 

So, for enhancing the overall quality of machine learning, the data fed to it must be both in large quantity and good quality. The data must be unbiased, diversified, and valuable. Also, it needs to be well-structured, annotated, and labeled training data.

The Three Phases of AI Training Data 

Let’s dive into the timeline of AI Training data evolution. 

The beginning phase of AI Training Data 

The beginning phase of AI Training data was sans Machine learning. That is, humans (programmers) manually created new rules to create accurate module outputs by evaluating the existing module outputs. This was the 1990s.

During 2000–2005, Machine learning began to rise. The first major database was created, which was not very efficient. It was slow and expensive and relied on the resources. 

From 2005 to 2010, Amazon’s MTurk entered the playground and provided a widely-available platform for developing datasets at scale. 

2010–2015 encountered human labeling and annotation. Human non-programmers evaluated the medium output and annotated data. It was this time when deep learning models came into play, known as data-hungry neural models. 

Since 2015, Adoptive models began to rise. That means a system needs small datasets for making predictions. They do that by linking this small information with the pre-existing information. These state-of-the-art pre-trained adaptive models became available to others for free. 

AI and ML are becoming more accessible to people other than programmers such as analysts, business owners, decision, and policymakers, or simply people who are interested in AI and ML. The non-programmers can evaluate the data models too, without the need for complex AI models. 

Quality over Quantity: Previously, the quantity of data was given value. It was thought that more quantity means accuracy in module output. With time scientists realized that for accurate results, quality matters more, such as data completeness, reliability, validity, availability, and timeliness. 

What was lacking in early AI Training data?  A combination of poor training data and a lack of advanced computer systems resulted in the early AI system fiasco. 

The lack of quality training data resulted in faulty recognition of visuals. Due to the lack of speech datasets, spoken language recognition did not come to fruition too. Additionally, computers at that time did not have good storage capacities, which was one of the major setbacks in recording large datasets essential for machine learning. 

Quality AI Training Data: The Transition 

In order to upgrade to a better Machine learning process, It was crucial that systems learn to mimic human intelligence and make decisions like them. This needed to thrive on high-quality and high-quantity data.

For better recognition of patterns and accurate decisions, a data sample that contains all the possible variables is needed. 

Need for Quality Training Data For the advancement in AI Technology, quality AI Training data is needed. In order for ML models to be reliable, there is a need for efficient data collection, annotation, and labeling methodologies.

Quality Data Collection, Filtering, and Accuracy  Data needs to go through iterative data refining steps to draw accurate outcomes. An ML model needs, thousands of accurately labeled and annotated information and visuals to link its trained information with the information existing in the real world. That’s when it provides accurate results. 

The ML algorithm ML will render useless if the data is not reliable. 

Need for Data Diversity and Representative Training Data In today’s world, even humans are scorned for being biased. Then it is crucial that the machines are unbiased, just, and competent. This goal could be achieved by gathering diverse information globally. A homogenous dataset will serve only a particular group of people when it is structured to serve “humans”. A biased model would be considered an inaccurate model. 

The curated data needs to be annotated and labeled with diverse information that is balanced and represents the diverse population. 

AI Training Data: The Future  

Although both the quantity and quality of data are relevant, the relationship between quantity and quality of data differs with each prompt. 

Data Collection and Annotation Techniques Breakthrough There need to be effective policies for data collection and annotation, in order to derive accurate results. These policies are needed to minimize faulty output or errors such as inaccurate content, misrepresentation, incomplete measurements, data duplication, errors in data collection, erroneous measurements, and curation errors. 

There are various methods of accurate data collection including data mining, web scraping, data extraction, and crowdsourcing. 

Ethical Values in Training Data  Training data collection is prone to various ethical issues such as bias, non-consent, lack of transparency, and vulnerable data privacy. 

Data now contains vulnerable data including facial images, voice recordings, fingerprints, and other sensitive biometric data that puts people’s crucial data at risk. Thus, it is important to adhere to ethical and legal processes to maintain a healthy environment and avoid lawsuits.

Potential for Improved Quality and Diverse Training Data With time, the relevance and adoption of AI are only going to become more pronounced. The credit goes to awareness and interest in promoting high-quality AI growth and a vast number of AI data providers. 

The present times encounter data providers that use advanced technologies to derive high-quality, diversified, ethical, and legal data. These are also adept at accurately labeling, annotating, and customizing data for different ML projects.

The Bottom Line 

In order to create top-notch AI models, businesses or institutes needs to collaborate with organizations that have an accurate and reliable understanding of data and how to integrate it. 

Globose Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd is a leading vendor of high-quality data to train and validate your systems to execute your AI projects effectively and efficiently. Partner with us and experience reliability and competency at their best. Previous

[pngjamie]

Someone also hoping to make an indie web cartoon here ! Just some thoughts about what you perceive is ruining indie animation For starters I wanna highlight that as an indie project a lot of these things feel unfair or even silly to throw in since theyre yknow, indie. I.e. not some big established company such as - Based on youtube (Where else are people intended to easily share their work? Its easy and its clearly working, youtube is entering a new era in terms of how serious its taken so why not take advantage of what easy and accessible) - over priced merchandise + funded via crowdfunding (Both things contribute to the production of the show, I cant find it at the moment but Monkey Wrench released a breakdown of how expensive making an episode is and its- insane?! If people have the support, passion and disposable income to help I again see no wrong in the pipeline of freelancers doing whats necessary to create, I dont see how this is a bad thing) You said that this list as a whole is what constitutes labeling an indie animated series a "kicktoon" and in the end and in other posts deem this a bad thing, a dark age of indie animation, - Heavy lgbtqia+ rep - Creator is usually a woman and/or a queer person are both things you listed ! Implying these have part in what makes indie animation series bad ! Which, i think I dont have to explain I think that speaks for itself ! And you cant just say "its a commonality across kicktoons" so it goes on the list, Kicktoons are your self described mascot horror equivalents. bad/lazy popular projects why would you list things like that as something that adds to a series being bad/lh if its just an opinion it maybe shouldnt be in the definition list of "what makes an indie web cartoon bad" Speaking of opinion- again ! the point of - Usually features Michael Kovach and/or Elsie Lovelock this is something your listing as a commonality under kicktoons, youre including this in your definition of a bad indie web cartoon, this is just an opinion! o_o -Popular on sites on tumblr I dont know if youre exclusive to tumblr but if these projects are popular- yes theyre gonna be popular here ! Just as they are youtube, instagram, twitter, etc. I also again dont see whats wrong with this- how it constitutes as a negative You enjoy disney so im assuming thats a golden standard of like, the animation industry to you? Their projects are HELLA popular everywhere including tumblr! So I dont really see how its a bad thing

-Is loved by critics and cartoon/animation nerds, but generally disliked by or given lukewarm reception from general audiences and people who are indifferent to animation as a medium

o_o im losing ways to word this but again I dont get how this is super fair/makes sense Take for example the FNAF movie. It like, notoriously was loved by its fans but even the fans agreed yeah people outside of that wont really like it because its not made for them

you literally wrote "who are indifferent to animation as a medium" it wasn't made for them, the fact the reaction was lukewarm is a neutral thumbsup good thing imo to begin with ? of course people in our community like what we foster

I wish you luck with your animated series/g but if youre planning to make a indie web cartoon series just in general, I dont think its good to walk into the house of animation and start saying things like "I hope to breathe new life into indie web animation" (besides like it or not- Hazbins pilot already did that ! and so did Lackadaisy imo, which I know you already dislike but like it or not they impacted the indie animation scene HEAVILY and they will continue to :) ) but as you said, youre entitled to your own opinion o7

So someone asked me what the difference between a Kicktoon and a normal indie web cartoon series. Although I planned on explaining it through a meme, I figure that I just write them down here, an indie web cartoon has to meet at least five of these requirements in order to be classified as a Kicktoon, so here they are:

-Funded via a crowdfunding website

-Long point between pilot and series pickup

-Visual and/or Technical Marvel

-Generally aimed towards adults and mature audiences

-Gets abandoned by the creator in favor of other projects

-Over priced merchandise

-Came out after the release of the Hazbin Hotel pilot

-Creator is usually a woman and/or a queer person

-Merch and shorts are released between the pilot and the second episode/series pickup

-Usually features Michael Kovach and/or Elsie Lovelock

-Has behind the scenes controversy

-Creator is either a Jack A** or a kinky weirdo

-Heavy LGBTQ+ representation

-Furry bait

-Based on YouTube

-Popular on sites like Tumblr

-Popular with kids and teens

-Is heavily inspired by or flat-out plagiarizes other works

-Over relies on Slapstick

-Has crappy writing

-Jam-packs as much lore and characters into it’s pilot

-Is loved by critics and cartoon/animation nerds, but generally disliked by or given lukewarm reception from general audiences and people who are indifferent to animation as a medium

I hope to one day create an indie web cartoon that doesn’t fall into any of these categories and breathes new life into the indie web animation industry. But until then, here is my description of what I think is ruining it.

[studentofetherium]

could you give more of your thoughts on the ‘Genshin is a psyop’ thing, I find it to be very interesting as it was pretty wild to see the fast growth the fandom had and would like to know about your theories.

companies do their research. no one is making a game of Genshin'a size without knowing their audience. the game released in a highly accessible state, with things like multiple voice languages and cross platform play, both of which are rare for gacha games. clearly, they were trying to make their audience as big as possible

but if you want a dedicated audience, you go for fandom. fanfic, fanart, gameplay theorycrafting, story speculation, it's all fun, but it also works as marketing. i don't think this is a bad thing inherently, it's more like a natural aspect of fandom than anything else, but if you're able to make your game appeal to fandom, then that's so much free marketing out of nowhere

i believe every major media property these days is targeting fandom. the MCU, any new big TV show, whatever. Genshin isn't exactly special in that way. the difference is how immediately effective it was. very few gacha games hit the level of success it hit

calling Genshin a psyop is a joke, but there's definitely a lot to be said for the way it presents and markets itself using fandom as a marketing vector. in a very McLuhanesque way, the medium is the message

[goldeaglefire1]

You know, it really is fascinating to think about how fast the landscape of video games has changed and continues to change to this very day.

Now, take all of this with a grain of salt - I am not, and do not claim to be an expert on the history of film, animation, and what have you, and definitely not on the industry of those things. But from what I have seen in my experience as a consumer, change tends to be SLOW for most mediums. Directors will write a compromise between what they want to put on the screen and what they believe the audience wants to see, put it up for the public, either fail or succeed, and then slowly but surely the people behind the scenes change, and after some time the new directors are now the audience the old directors were writing for, and are now ready to repeat the cycle.

Sure, indie projects are a thing, but they rarely see too much success on account of the venues where they can show those visions - movie theaters and TV channels - are run by big companies with VERY strict standards for what they'll show to the world. So, as a result, there tends to be stagnation.

To pull an example - Transformers! A franchise near and dear to my heart, and also one with a notable live action movie series I'm going to be using for this. The very first Transformers movie, now infamous for being a glorified explosion fest, nevertheless gathered massive success at least in part due to using nostalgia from the 80s kids in the audience who were now grown adults. Cut to the most recent movie, set to release in 2023, and they finally decide to tackle Beast Wars, a rather notable series from the 90s. It took them over a decade and a half to try and profit off of 90s kid nostalgia.

Animation fares a little better, with Youtube and Netflix and such, but Youtube's demanding algorithm making it next to impossible to profit off of animation on there and the recent news of Netflix torpedoing it's animation department, it's not doing much better.

But then you get to video games and the entire landscape shifts. Sure, you have your triple A titles, Mario and Halo and Kratos, but not only do indie games have a notable presence, but they are THRIVING. Shovel Knight, Undertale, Five Nights at Freddy's...they've all made it big in the business, and are hardly the only examples. Dozens of tools to help a prospective game developer are out there, with easy to access tutorials available online and plenty of ideas out there considering how relatively young the video game industry is compared to other mediums. Steam and other platforms like it don't have strict standards or expectations, just that you have a product you'd like to share with the world.

So the result of this, of indie games becoming more accessible and easier to create for older and younger generations alike, is that you can see the prospective visions and influences for various games wildly shift. Shovel Knight and Undertale bring to mind early, classic games with their eight bit style, A Hat in Time and Yooka Laylee were made to bring back the collect-a-thons of the 90s, and the example that brought this to mind, Neon White, which I ultimately bought because reviews described it as "yeah this is the early 2000s in a blender. this could be an anime released in 2005 that people would make low quality AMVs to" and that alone was enough to make me go "well shit I have to buy this now." It really is a wonder how the market is so diverse compared to everything else.

All of which is to say, someone making an indie game capturing the vibe of early LEGO games like Lego Star Wars within the next few years is not only feasible, but PLAUSIBLE, and personally I would absolutely throw all my money at a game like that.

[stages-of-mania]

Lord Huron Timeline Masterpost

Disclaimer: A lot of this information is speculation and consists of a lot of theories. Feel free to take things with a grain of salt.

Lonesome Dreams: 

Setting: 19th century Wild West (some theories suggested could be the Middle East in the mid-20th century) 

Characters:

Huron (main character)

Blaquefut (Huron’s best friend)

Helena (Huron’s girlfriend)

nameless Helena’s Ex (we're gonna call him Sonny for convenience)

Story: (I’m sure that most of the songs are in chronological order from the album but a few of them I believe are flashbacks so I had to move them around.)

She lit a fire/one of the best love songs ever written: The story goes earlier in the timeline technically, as it’s flashing back to how Huron met Helena. This is how the pair met. She lit his fire to travel the world or something.

Ends of the earth: early on in Huron and Helena‘s relationship. He wants to travel the world but she doesn’t so they’re kinda like “let’s split up for a bit”

Setting sun/the most mindfucking song (yes this bonus track is played at the end of the song, but hear me out ): Sonny has noticed that Helena has found someone else. They both know that Huron is better for her, but Sonny’s still pissed so he goes full yandere and chases after Huron. This story was put at the end and made “unfinished” because Sonny will always have a vendetta while Huron’s alive.

Time to run: Huron and friends are being chased by Sonny’s goons. Blaqufut gets shot in the head while helping Huron escape.

lonesome dreams: now this is a bit of a stretch, but from this theory, LD is basically purgatory and Huron travels to it to rescue Blaqufut from death.

Ghost on the shore/best song: nothing too significant to the story, it’s just Huron talking about how he misses home/the Great Lakes

I will be back one day: again, nothing much, just Huron reminiscing over Helena in pursuit to find her.

Man who lives forever: again nothing too significant, just Huron not wanting to die.

Brother: this is possibly the aftermath of an altercation between Huron and Blaqufut that they resolve. It pretty much just reaffirms their friendship.

In the wind: this one actually occurs while Huron is still on the run but from Helena’s perspective. It’s basically her reminiscing over him. I think they put this one at the end because it’s spiritually the end of the album, as it discusses how long distances and death can stop love.

Lullaby: Huron finally makes it back to Helena. He’s a complete wreck but Helena’s just happy he’s back

Sidenotes: Lonesome dreams are a collection of stories from Jorge Ranger Johnson, a writer character that Ben made up. Because of this, some of lonesome dreams might not actually be real within the universe of Lord Huron. Or they might be real events and just happened to be written about by an author. 

Alternate theories suggest that Setting sun was actually about Huron the entire time and it did take place at the end of the album, causing Helena to find someone else and Huron to becoming a murderer. 

One last important thing, because these are stories and might not actually occur within the universe of Lord Huron, it is possible that there is no afterlife, as suggested in later albums.

Strange Trails: 

Setting:

1950s, somewhere in America.

George’s: A bar that several characters tend to spend time at (probably in reference to George Ranger Johnson)

Characters:

Frankie Lou: washed up singer who presumably had a failed romance that fucked up bad. Probably an alcoholic. Sings at George’s

Cobb Avery: zombie brought back to life out of vengeance. His family was killed because his boss gave him a piece of land on a sinkhole. leader of the “World Enders” gang. Basically a bunch of terrorists. Kills everyone from the company that sold him the house. Hangs out at George’s

Jonnie: member of the world Enders. Kind of trigger-happy in a thrill seeker. Probably one of the less malicious members of the group. Probably 19.

Buck Vernon: I also think another washed-up singer. What’s important though is that he suffers from hallucinations and is desperately trying to find the girl of his dreams.

Lily: some girl that every guy in town has the hots for. Hangs out at George’s

Jim: Lily's boyfriend. Hangs out at George’s.

Danielle: Young girl. The only child character, I’d say 11-14. Best character. You’re never too young to have an existential crisis.

Justine: not really important, presumably a writer.

Louisa: some random girl (Assuming that this theory is true, she might also be a witch and might’ve started out as an asshole, might also hang out at George’s)

There’s also some other guy but he was part of one song and it wasn’t significant so disregard him.

Story:

Love like ghosts: this is Frankie reminiscing over her failed relationship

When the night ends: Jonnie talking about appreciating the finer things in life while everything’s going to shit

Dead man’s hand/also best song: buck finds Avery presumably dead while wandering the desert. He buries him only to find out that Avery is still alive. Avery says that there’s no afterlife for him and he doesn’t want to go back in the grave. The pair become friends and go their separate ways.

Hurricane: just Johnny talking about living life on the edge

La belle fleur sauvage/the beautiful wildflower: just the lead singer gushing over Lily. The guy singing this only shows up in this song, but it’s just meant to establish that everyone has the hots for Lilly. The song could also be talking about Buck in his pursuit.

Fool for love: Buck goes to George’s to win over Lily, but Jim is already with her. Being delusional, buck tries to take on Jim (in the music video he gets Avery to fight him), he trashed the place and because of this is kicked out. He’s pretty optimistic but after this, he feels kind of defeated. (*Post-Rejection Depression Time*)

World ender: focuses on Avery‘s story. Follows him as he seeks vengeance and kills the people from the company that sold him the shitty house.

Meet me in the Woods: more of Frankie reminiscing over her failed romance

Yawning grave: (OK so this is the first big roadblock in the story, so the character that this song is about is very much left up to interpretation) I assume Avery has kind of calmed down But still intends to pursue the people that have wronged him.

Frozen Pines: (disappointingly) The only song about Danielle. Her parents were abducted by aliens in front of her. She is sort of in denial and refuses to leave where she is in the middle of the forest out of the delusion that they’ll come back. The song ends with her realizing that she has to move on as she attempts to leave the forest. (also, frozen Pines is the name of the motel so it could also just be that maybe Danielle is stuck at a motel which would honestly be kind of funny.)

Cursed/best love song ever written: Buck has found himself a new girl. However, due to previous failed romantic endeavors and hallucinations, he thinks that she’s an asshole trying to put a curse on him. (The song is presumably about Louisa. It’s entirely possible that Louisa was being manipulative but they sort things out)

Way out there: (The most difficult song to figure out) presumably about Avery. I can only best describe it as him having an existential crisis and him missing his dead family.

Louisa: after Buck was tempted to kick bricks, Louisa helped him out and gave him a newfound appreciation for life. Now they’re happy =]

Night we met: last song of Frankie reminiscing over her ex. Also, the lyric video confirms that Buck & Louisa either broke up or she was just a figment of his imagination, so uh, ya. Hopefully you weren't as emotionally invested in these characters as much as I was because that tore me a new one.

Sidenotes: this album definitely had the most interpretations. The biggest issues are the stories of yawning grave and way out there, as I am unsure that it is even about Avery. The real issue tho is the lack of songs about Danielle. Ben Come On!

There are also a couple connections between this album and the next

Vide Noir: 

Setting: 1960s. Detroit & Los Angeles. 

Background info: A drug called vide noir has recently been legalized. It’s basically just a hallucinogenic that destroys the fabric of reality, good times.

Characters:

Buck Vernon: Christ Ben just can’t seem to give this guy a break.

Lee Green: Buck’s new girl. Probably wants to be an actress or something.

Lady moonbeam: A medium/psychic. I think she’s black but it’s hard to tell because of the lighting.

Cobb Avery: Best Boy Electrician on “Products of the Universe” TV show. (only mentioned in 1 song)

Marsha Tanley & Dale Frander: “Products of the Universe” host; guy selling vide & its derivatives. (not in the songs)

Story:

Lost in time and space: Buck is upset because Lee left. He decides to chase after her nonetheless.

Never ever: Buck's spirits are lifted as he heads out to find Lee.

Ancient names: Buck goes to Lady Moonbeam For advice but she sees into the future and sees that Buck will become a drug addict. He’s in denial but she knows otherwise.

Wait by the river: just Buck talking about how you would do anything for Lee. Also reveals the potential of an altercation between the two of them, presumably the two of them having a fight before she left.

Secret of life: (OK this one’s a little hard, the singer is clearly Buck, but it’s hard to tell if he’s confronting either Lee or lady moonbeam) either way, whoever he is confronting has allegedly made a pact with Avery that will cause something bad to happen to Buck. Because of this, he downs a bottle of fukitol/vide noir.

Back from the edge: the MF dies but comes back (where have we seen that before)

Balancer's eye: Buck runs into God and is denied access to heaven. Either because he wasn’t supposed to die or maybe people who take drugs aren’t allowed in. Or God has really high standards and no one‘s allowed in (again, weird knowing that Blaqufut experienced purgatory and Avery said there’s no heaven at all)

When the night is over: realizing the effect of VN, Buck is becoming worried for Lee that she might overdose if he doesn’t find her soon enough

Moonbeam: Like with Louisa, Buck ran into a girl that saved him from a bad place. Hard to tell if it’s Lee (it likely isn’t because of later in the story)  or lady moonbeam.

Vide Noir: Buck talking about the effects of the drug.

Emerald star/The most depressing song ever written: after doing everything he can and fucking dying, Buck finally finds Lee but he is turned down as she would rather be a junkie. It’s also possible that she might die or be dying, judging by the fact that the second half of this song is just instrumental followed by a sudden halt at the end. {Yay, I get to experience “close to you” all over again}

Sidenotes: George ranger Johnson is a spiritual advisor for the show that Avery works on.

The events of the film are claimed to come at the end/after the album.

--------------------------------

All information was aggregated from the albums, interviews with Ben, music videos, articles about the film, Products of the Universe, & whatever else I could scavenge from LH’s YouTube channel.

I’d also like to give a huge thanks to the fanbase for their theories and research. It really helped out a lot piecing this all together. I had a lot of fun discussing this with fellow Wanderers and Enders and really appreciate being a part of this fanbase.

If you have any alternative theories, timelines, etc, be sure to mention them. A huge chunk of this info will probably become obsolete when the film/next album comes along so enjoy this while we can still be optimistic.

Dear Balancer help us.

[lesliemitchellwriting]

“That’s just like… The rules of feminism!”: An intersectional feminist review of the film “Mean Girls”

In modern western society we spend a lot of time telling ourselves that we are entirely inclusive of other people. We call ourselves a “mosaic” (as said by Jimmy Carter), that there is no right or wrong way to be human. While that is a wonderful notion that politicians and salespeople like to use a lot (see one of Justin Trudeau’s addresses (“Diversity…”), or the Dove Beauty Campaign (“Dove…”)), it is not entirely true. It is my belief that media is the most accurate depiction of what the general public actually believes, and so through that lens we can see that there is a clear definition of what is acceptable for a woman to be and not to be, and the consequences to be had if that definition is not upheld by a certain person or peoples. So, on that note, my chosen medium is through film, and specifically the 2004 American teen comedy Mean Girls. Through the dissection of this film I will discuss how Mean Girls portrays intersectional identities as background characters to Ideal Female leads, thereby othering them and deeming them unworthy of good social reputation, and what that means for us as a society. And, in good Mean Girls fashion, I have come up with a series of “girl rules” on which to structure my argument, beginning with this:

Girl Rule #1: “On Wednesdays, we wear pink!” or, “the structuring of the Ideal Female”

One of the first things that needs to happen is to identify what the supposed baseline is, which in this case is the Ideal Female—which is the term I have chosen to use to describe the people in this film that are considered worthy of respect, admiration, and of a good reputation. If one looks through this film, it is not hard to see what that is; the film implies heavily that in order to be the Ideal Female you must be white, wealthy, young, thin, and in this case, female. Being all of these things ensures that she is able to subscribe to all of the consumerist necessities—mainly, she is able to wear all of the most fashionable clothing (in accordance to whom those companies intended their clothing for (see Victoria’s Secret (Phelps) and Abercrombie and Fitch (Denizet-Lewis)) and access to living conditions far above basic necessity (i.e. expensive car, large house, etc..). This is important because it gives her so much free mental space that she is able to concentrate on the unchangeable faults of her body, and the items she can consume to fill that ever-growing pit of self-loathing.

This seems like a bleak baseline, but this film reasserts it over and over again. We see it most obviously in the scene where Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, all of whom have everything they could ever need and more, stand in front of a mirror saying out loud things they hate about their bodies, and Cady—someone who is not yet Ideal Female—has to think hard of something to add. It even asserts this message when it implies that it is not, like how Cady Heron benefits from her role as Ideal Female later in the film when that role is essentially supposed to be abolished—she now dresses more fashionably, wears makeup, and is socially acceptable and therefore still well-liked because she now upholds certain female standards.

Now that we have a baseline of what we’re looking at, that can bring me to my next point:

Girl Rule 2: “You can’t sit with us” or “scorning alternate identities”

This is a big one. The main thing that makes Mean Girls so problematic is in the way that it portrays literally anything other than the Ideal Female, and there are two scenes which portray this the best—or perhaps I should say, the worst. The first scene is the one in which Janice is going through each of the cliques that exist within the school vis a vis the cafeteria. It scans through each table and gives them a name—"cool Asians”, “nerdy Asians”, “girls who eat their feelings”, and “girls who don’t eat”, just to name a few. This actually does a couple of harmful things: the first is that it implies that people within certain races or disabilities only can and do associate with those other similar people, and the second is that it strengthens the idea behind the “truth” of stereotypes. Both of these things are harmful to the people who fall within these categories, because it furthers the social stigma that already exists, and mocks these people. And while of course it is a comedy and mocking is a large part the comedic factor, it is one of those things where it is unacceptable because they are only mocking those who are not the Ideal Female, i.e. those people who are already in power.

The second scene I want to discuss is the one that is a series of interviews of people who are asked about Regina George—the Ideal Female Elite. Every single one of these people is somehow an outsider—they have a fat girl, a girl in a wheelchair, a hyper-masculine girl, and every one of them is talking about how they love Regina George, even in terms of the abuse they face regarding her. This in and of itself sends the terrible message that the Ideal Female can and should be able to get away with even horrendous acts—a message that is often quite prevalent in our own society. Not only that, but it also reinforces the almost inherent competition between women, which is mainly manufactured as a form of oppression. There was a study done in which obese people were assessed in their biases towards other obese people, and it showed a great amount of negativity was held regarding obese people, even though they themselves were (“Internalized Weight Stigma”), which is similar to women. Often times, women are so involved with being in competition with each other (be it through body, clothing, or societal expectations) that they fail to remark on how to join in a more uniformed way in order to battle this manufactured competition—an idea that is fallaciously brought up in the film, when it is in fact encouraging it.

On the flip side of this, all of the men are exempt from the scorn of social acceptability—and are actually quite afraid of it when confronted directly with is, as can be seen in the scene when all of the girls are fighting in the hallways, and we close in on one boy who utters the words, “mom, can you pick me up? I’m scared” on his cellphone—except for one boy: Damien. Which brings us to the next rule:

Girl Rule #3: “Almost too gay to function” or, “the Damien Factor”

The thing in this film that singles him out from the rest of the boys in this film is that he is gay— “almost too gay to function”, as Janice so lovingly puts it. It is interesting to note, because while the other boys take a back seat to the stories of the girls, Damien is one of the main characters. This is often misconstrued as being forward thinking and almost radical for its time in Hollywood, but in reality it actually furthers the idea that gay males are inherently more female. He is the complete and utter stereotype of what a gay boy should be—he is only friends with females, he sings a normally female-lead song at the school talent show, and he is the one who offers Cady Heron a pink (a socially feminine colour) shirt, to name a few examples out of dozens within the film. The thing about this is that it is built for a straight audience, so while perhaps a gay person could theoretically gain some value by having a gay character in a big Hollywood film, I would actually argue that it is far more damaging than helpful in that it furthers this idea of what “should be” in the same way that the Ideal Female does for its straight female counterparts.

Furthermore, in keeping with the subject of homosexuality, while Damien’s gayness is considered an asset to the movie through its inherent femininity, Janice Ian’s supposed lesbianism is throughout the film silenced, and then only brought about at the end as some kind of major plot point about why Regina is so bad. And while of course it is wrong to assume the sexuality of anyone, let alone spread rumors about it—because as we find out, Janice is in fact not a lesbian—there is something to be said for the way that her gayness is considered different to Damien’s. Because lesbianism is considered to be almost a protest of female femininity, her gayness had to be hidden and publicly revoked, much unlike that of Damien’s.

Girl Rule #4: “Whatever, those rules aren’t real” or, “upholding of arbitrary standards”

The final thing that this film does to completely decimate intersectional identities beyond the Ideal Female is by, at the end of this film, implying that all of the standards that the girls in this film were held to were entirely false, and that with a quick speech and the metaphorical breaking of these rules through the literal breaking of a Homecoming Queen crown, we too could break these rules if we choose not to let it control us.

This, of course, is an utter fallacy. There are so many more ways that the oppression of women is fundamentally upheld than through the asinine squabbling’s of teenagers. And while this is meant to reinforce the “it starts with us” discourse, it ignores all the other factors that are entirely out of one’s control—religions, ruling governments, laws, and many others—and essentially dismisses them and puts the blame for how women act and are treated back into the hands of women as being a fault of their own. And again, one could argue that a film can hold no such power, but the entire point of comedies is to reinforce the ideas that we already hold in our society. Karnick’s article speaks about romantic comedies, and they way in which they show traditional beliefs, like nuclear families and traditional gender roles, and how they are essentially just a mirror of society already (Brunowska Karnick). If you extrapolate that into this film, it is easy to see that there could be dire consequences.

In conclusion, Mean Girls, a comedy meant for teenage girls, with inherently impressionable minds and limited knowledge on the systematic oppression of women, portrays all identities not in line with the Ideal Female as being included solely as background characters and comedic relief to those that are the Ideal, which others them and shows them as being unworthy of admiration, love, or any other benefit. Instead of allowing this kind of media to poison the young minds of women, we need to set higher standards for what we think is comedic, and what is actually good.

Works Cited

Brunowska Karnick, Kristine. “Commitment and Reaffirmation in Hollywood Romantic Comedy.” Introduction to Film Studies Readings, edited by Andre Loiselle and Jose Sanchez, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2007.

Denizet-Lewis, Benoit. “The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch.” Salon, 24 January, 2006. https://www.salon.com/2006/01/24/jeffries/.

“Diversity is Canada’s Strength.” Government of Canada. www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/11/26/diversity-canadas-strength.

“Dove Campaigns.” Dove. https://www.dove.com/ca/en/stories/campaigns

“Internalized Weight Stigma and Its Ideological Correlates Among Weight Loss Treatment Seeking Adults.” US National Library of Medicine. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165020/.

Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters, Paramount Pictures, 2004.

Phelps, Nicole. “‘we’re Nobody’s Third Love, We’re Their First Love’—the Architects of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show are Still Banking on Bombshells.” Vogue, 8 November, 2018. www.vogue.com/article/victorias-secret-ed-razek-monica-mitro-interview.

[luimnigh]

Would you still consider RWBY to be an indie show? RT has grown massively in size and budget since 2013, but they've remained smaller than most professional studios iirc.

That’s a very good question. 

The define something as “indie” is a difficult thing, because the definition of indie does change between mediums. Indie games and movies are made without the financial backing of a major publisher/studio. Indie music seems to have instead evolved into a genre, a band can make Indie Rock even on a major record label. Indie art is defined by distribution, it’s art that exists outside commercial fine arts establishments. 

There’s also the question of whether something can stop being Indie. If an indie games studio gets a publisher partway through development, does that game stop being Indie? If it’s an early access game, does it retroactively make previous versions “not indie”? If a piece of indie art gets put in a museum or gallery, does it stop being indie art?

RWBY began as an independent production. RoosterTeeth at the time was a self-owned company. In November 2014, it was purchased by Fullscreen, which was owned by Otter Media, which was part-owned at the time by AT&T.

But AT&T was not a studio, despite being a major company. 

However nowadays, when you go up the chain of ownership, you’ll see the RoosterTeeth is now owned by Warnermedia. Specifically, the Warnermedia Entertainment subsidiary, which is the part of the company that runs Warner’s TV Channels and Streaming services. 

Now that seems pretty cut-and-dry. Warner is a big-name production studio, RWBY isn’t an indie production anymore. But we don’t have any idea of RoosterTeeth’s financial situation, aka how much they’re being funded by Warner vs how much is self-funded. And how much of that funding is going to RWBY specifically. 

Ultimately the best indicator we have is RWBY’s credits. If a studio provides funding to a project, they’re credited. That’s the rules. Same with individuals, though that usually comes with a producer credit. 

And we can see that in RWBY’s credits, as it credits the Texas Film Commission. They got that credit for providing tax incentives to create the show in Texas. 

There’s no mention of Warnermedia. No mention of Otter Media even, which is RoosterTeeth’s direct parent company. 

Compare it to gen:LOCK, which not only credits the Texas Film Commission and the Screen Actors Guild, but also credits Michael B. Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society, and lists him and Outlier Society’s Head of Production, Alana Mayo, as Executive Producers. 

So despite being owned by a major studio, it doesn’t look like RWBY is funded by a major studio. That RoosterTeeth seems to be, for the most part, still self-funding. 

Which is a very long way of saying “Yeah, probably still technically counts as Indie”. 

[acsisoftpull]

Soft Pull Training: How Soft Pulls Can Help Transform Your Business

Would you like to know how to pull your customer’s credit using their name and their address only?

Learn how iSoftpull enables you to check your customers’ credit using their name and address only. Keep reading to learn more, or enjoy our complimentary soft pull training video that outlines everything you need to know.

Introduction

So, you want to learn more about soft credit checks. You’re probably a lender or a broker, or work in some type of industry that requires financing for your customers. And, because of that, you want to know your customer’s credit score at the beginning of the sales cycle, that way you know whether or not they would be approved if they applied. Our software delivers you just that, your customer’s credit score and their full credit report using their name and address only — keep reading to learn more.

The Problem

When we first started developing the technology for soft pulls back in 2017 we primarily served the auto industry. And, if you’ve ever financed a car through a dealership, you know that it takes a long time to get a deal done.

When you get to the dealership, you’re most interested in knowing what the potential payments would be for a particular financing plan. Generally, the salesperson will require you to do a hard pull where you’ll fill out a formal credit application just so you can know how much your payments will be. And then there’s this back and forth on the dealership side. You have to sit down with the sales manager, and then he has to talk to the financing guy, and you go back and forth for hours. Only to find out that the payment is not right. Or, you know you have good credit, but you don’t want to do a hard pull, you just want to know what the payments are.

Well, YOUR customers are probably thinking the same thing. They simply want to know how much their payments are going to be but, like the auto dealer, you probably have to have them apply first. It shouldn’t have to be that complicated, right? That’s how we got our start, we needed to help solve this problem for auto dealers on how they could speed up their sales cycle. To help solve this problem, we’ve introduced soft pulls for businesses.

Our Solution

Soft pulls help to bridge the gap in the sales cycle. Now, the customer simply gives the dealer their name, their home address, and the permission to do a soft pull. With that simple information, the dealer can then offer terms based on their credit report and their FICO score but without harming the credit score, or putting a hard inquiry on their credit report, AND without needing their sensitive information.

It not only helps the customer know their payment plan, but also helps the auto dealer. Now, the salesperson won’t have to spend three to four hours on somebody that in the end, won’t even qualify. Soft pulls help you find out at the beginning of the sales cycle, whether or not someone will be approved.

Industries We Serve

Back in 2017, when we were only serving the auto industry and we were doing a lot of cold calling. We were trying to get more deals, and were doing okay but knew that there had to be more people out there needing this type of software. Then, we heard about digital advertising and that changed everything. After posting a Google ad targeted towards auto dealers, we started getting a lot of calls from random companies across many industries — from solar, to business loans, even dentists. They’d call us and we’d ask why they needed soft pulls, and they would start telling us their story.

There was a guy who worked in solar, for instance, who explained that he had a whole team of door knockers in the field and they’d spend a lot of time and resources working on a deal. They’d spend weeks, even months, driving back and forth from a potential job site talking to the customer, only to find out that the client isn’t even qualified. Imagine doing all that work and having it be a total waste?!? Unfortunately, some of you might know this feeling all too well. And with that, we realized the home improvement industry needs soft pulls so they can know their customers’ credit at the beginning of the sales cycle, to help know which customers to pursue.

Or, people who do business loans, they used to have the customer submit a credit report so they could review it and know where to send the deal. But sometimes, the customer would never submit the credit report, so then the business loan people would shotgun the deal out to four or five lenders, and the customer would end up getting five different hard pulls on their credit report. So, this business loan company definitely needs to know the customer’s credit score so they know where to send the loan.

And the list goes on. We’ve found that there are so many different industries that need soft pulls. And they all have one thing in common, they need to know the customer’s credit at the beginning of the sales cycles, to know if they should spend time on this customer or not.

Today, we serve mortgage brokers, contractors, real estate agents, companies that do personal loans and business loans, auto dealers, we can serve most businesses who are lending money or administering services upfront who need to ensure that their client is able to adhere to lending terms.

Soft Pull vs. Hard Pull Difference

You might be wondering, what’s the difference between a soft pull and a hard pull? Well, let’s start by saying, it isn’t the data — hard pulls and soft pulls both show the full, up-to-date credit report and score. The difference is the borrower’s intent. See, with a soft pull the borrower is saying, “if I did apply, would I be approved?” They’re not actually asking for the loan right now, they’re checking to see if in the case they did want to submit a formal application, if they’d be approved or what they’d be approved for. So, by doing a soft pull, you can find out the terms and the exact credit score, so you can get the deal done.

You’ve seen this a lot, if you’ve ever shopped for a credit card online, like on a Capital One or American Express, it says, “get pre­qualified, will not impact your credit score” and then you put in your information and they say you’d be best suitable for the gold offer or the silver offer or the double points offer etc. In the past, this technology was exclusively used by the big players like Capital One and American Express but what we did was develop this technology and package it to bring to the middle market, to the small businesses and medium sized businesses. Now, companies of all sizes have access to the same exact technology as some of the largest lenders.

How it Works

The credit bureaus create data, and that’s all they really do, they’re data aggregators, but they rely on resellers like us to make technology to serve different niches and deliver credit reports. So that’s where we come in, we provide the software. We buy the data from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, and we enable you to run soft credit checks through our platform.

We help you to overcome the burden of not knowing your customer’s credit, we deliver you your customer’s full credit report and FICO score using their name and address only. Now, you might be wondering, how can you do that with just a name and address only? It’s simple really, the name AND address serves as a unique identifier, just like a social security number but without having to worry about the sensitive nature associated with that information.

We have an application programming interface (API) with the credit bureaus that enable us to pull credit using name and address only. This operates on a couple of assumptions:

The first being that the name and the address are only associated with one person. So if there’s a John Doe Jr. and a John Doe Sr. living in the same house, then we would need the date of birth or the social security number to access the credit report of the John Doe in question.

Or, if someone had gotten married and they gave you their new last name, we’d need their date of birth or their social security number.

Or, let’s say someone had moved and they gave you their name and new home address, but the new address wasn’t associated with any accounts on their credit report, then you’d need the DOB or ssn.

While there are rare instances (like those outlined above) that would require you to obtain additional information to pull someone’s credit report, the overwhelming majority of the time you’ll be able to successfully access the report using name and address only. The reason this is so important is because people have been trained not to give up their social security number, especially with the rise in identity theft and compromised data.

Benefit of Soft Pulls

Imagine if you’re cold calling, selling home re­finances, or whatever it is, but you haven’t built up a rapport with the customer. Before, if you wanted to qualify a customer, you’d need to do a hard credit pull using their social security number but chances are they wouldn’t be willing to give that information because you’re a stranger, right? Makes sense. But imagine it now, with soft credit checks, that customer is going to be a lot more willing to share their name and address to see if they qualify, knowing that there won’t be any negative impacts to them in doing so.

This is HUGE! If the majority of people would’ve walked away because they didn’t want to give their social security number or apply with a hard pull, you can now overcome these barriers and turn them into ACTUALborrowers and ACTUAL prospects. You’re going to convert more leads, plain and simple. Try and envision what your business would look like if you were able to transform all of your no’s into yeses?

We’ve found that by only asking for a name and a home address increases the conversion rate by 300% online. If you’re shopping online for a loan, you have two options, one is fill out just your name and your home address, the other is put in your name, home address, date of birth, social security number, occupation, employment history, and this whole litany of information. Between those two choices, you’re going to chose the name and address application over the other one, right?

You’re not alone, the name and address soft pull inquiry converts over 300% more than the traditional hard pull application. That’s 300% more viable leads and and I’m sure you can infer what that would mean for your bottom line. At the end of the day, the opportunity cost of not having soft pulls apart of your sales process is something that none of us can afford to bear.

How Soft Pulls Transform Business

Let’s discuss how businesses from different industries are using soft pulls. It all starts with consent, you have to get the customer’s consent, you can do that over the phone on a recorded line, online on your website, or you can even use a paper application if you’re in-person with the customer.

Over the phone works really well when you do an appointment setting, so let’s say a company that’s in the home improvement industry is going to send somebody out to a potential job where the client will require financing. With soft pulls. the company can run the client’s credit report, with consent, using name and address to find out whether or not they would be approved. Companies can phrase this by asking if they can run a soft credit check on the customer so they can give them the exact terms and an exact quote.

Now, in order to get consent over the phone, you need a recorded line, that’s why a lot of companies will have the consent clause on a written paper application or digital consent form that can be stored. Capturing consent can be easily incorporated into normal business practices, you can do it on appointment confirmations before you send them out or apart of your inquiry forms or onboarding process.

Businesses that provide re­financing for Home loans, for example, can utilize soft pulls as a lead generation and pre-qualify tool in their email marketing campaigns. They probably want to run a credit check that’s going to show a potential borrower’s mortgage and how much they owe on their home. Well, the company likely already has the customer’s name and home address, so they can send them an email with a “get pre­qualified” call-to-action button with an embeded pre-qual and consent form. You can simply include the consent form at the bottom of the application and when they click I agree, you’re able to run the soft credit check on them. This is great for doing lead generation. Instead of simply getting a lead from Facebook or Google, you can now generate a new lead and also get their full credit report and FICO score.

What Our Customers are Saying

There are a lot of different ways that companies can use soft pulls depending on their industry or business model. Take one of our best clients, Jason from Capwell Funding, a business loan company. He’s been using our product for years and has been able to scale his business because of it. Before he used soft pulls he had to rely on his client to provide a PDF of their credit report. These reports would come from various credit monitoring sites and could take up to two weeks to obtain from the client.

With soft pulls, Jason and his team at Capwell Funding are able to acquire the client’s credit report right away. They simply collect a few data points from the client and are good to go. Furthermore, Jason has found that the soft pull data is more detailed and comprehensive than most credit monitoring platforms. By checking credit internally, he’s been able to provide an accurate pre­-qual and doesn’t have to rely on the client to provide their credit.

“I almost didn’t believe it. Even after using it for a little bit, I still wondered, how long is this gonna last? How long am I gonna be able to do this? ’cause this is amazing, this is… I keep using the term, but it’s game-changing! We’ve been able to do a lot more deals with soft pulls because of the scalability. I really couldn’t imagine anyone that needs to review credit not having it. I don’t know how you would really be effective, how you would compete in the marketplace without soft pull. If you’re a business that needs to review your customer’s credit, I highly recommend iSoftpull.”

Jason, iSoftpull Customer

Check out this video to hear from Jason and learn how he’s transformed his business using iSoftpull.

Conclusion

We serve all types of businesses, from solar to business loans, auto, mortgage, the list goes on, but what all these people have in common is that they all want to pull their customer’s credit for financing purposes. Now, there are a lot of other industries that also have a reason to pull credit, like bankruptcy attorneys or credit repair or tenant screening but we are unable to provide our service to them at the moment. We specialize in financing and loans, net 30, and in-­house funding. So, if you want to pull your customer’s credit for the purpose of checking to see if they can pay back a loan, we can totally work with you!

Hopefully, you got a lot out of this training! Now you should know what soft credit checks are, how different industries are using them, and how they will transform your business.

Want more information?

Click here to schedule an appointment with one of our sales reps.

[promodomecommunications]

Are You Aware of Radio Advertising? Time to Know It All

Radio advertising can be highly effective for any business for their marketing campaign. Here, I have explained radio advertising in a crystal-clear way along with all its major benefits.

Any business whether small or big certainly cannot neglect the role that radio advertising plays in its success. Not only it helps in promoting the brand but also acts as a medium to communicate with those loyal customers. And, this in itself is a must for the growth of the company. There are tons of options available for advertising but today, you will get to know about the most underrated one - “radio advertising”.

Let’s start with the basics first i.e. its definition and how it can be beneficial for the business. Radio Advertising is actually a kind of marketing strategy which uses the platform of radio both traditional and internet too. 

The radio advertising agencies have to pay the radio stations in order to broadcast the commercial of the company. Well, one great thing about advertising on radio is that it is highly cost-effective and secondly, it can help in reaching a large set target audience.

What are the types of radio advertising?

Advertisement in radio comes with several layers and all have their own unique features. You must have a clear understanding of all to make the most of your campaign. Here are some of the major types of advertising tactics used in radio platform:

1. Live Radio reads

This is the most common and highly used strategy in radio advertisements. While driving your car or commuting on public transport, you must have listened to live radio shows to pass out the time where the jockeys read out different brands and products.

This is exactly how radio read works live and it is considered very useful as the audience is used to the voice of the RJs. So, you can say that promotion through a familiar voice seems more appealing to the audience.

2. Radio Sponsorships

The second popular type of radio ad is for the businesses who are looking to promote the brand or service in any niche category. This could be used to sponsor news, sports, weather, or any regular program where you are certain of finding relevant customers. For brand sponsorship in the radio platform, you can contact any reputed radio advertising agency that provide impeccable service in the market.

3. Straight read

It is basically a read that consists of multiple voices, sound effects, or could be even a funny jingle. Yeah, you heard it right! Straight read helps in letting the customers more about your brand and how they can avail the services or get the product.

What makes radio advertising a must-take on marketing strategy?

For an effective marketing strategy, it is essential to find that golden interval that can maximize the chance of selling the product to the customer. Now, what makes the radio unique from other platforms is that people use it completely for entertainment and to chill. Whereas, a guy using the internet might be doing his office work and could get irritated with the repetitive ads.

So, you see it is not only the platform but also the time that matters the most when it comes to advertisement. Here are some of the amazing benefits of the radio advertising agency in Delhi that you must know:

·         Radio reaches a wide range of audience

The first and foremost benefit of advertising on radio platforms is that it can help in reaching a larger set of audience. Millions of people listen to the radio whenever they get time on a daily basis and it has an emotional appeal to them. So, using this platform can be highly valuable.

·         Choose the location accordingly

Another great benefit of radio advertising is that you can select the demographic and location to target as per the business requirement. Now, this sort of strategy is bound to give immediate and effective results.

·         Cost-effective

Compared to other marketing techniques, using radio for advertisement is less expensive and provides access to a larger set of audience. Well, you don’t have to spend a large chunk of money in creating visuals, hiring actors, costumes, etc. A well-recognized voice will do the job. Wrapping it up, this was pretty much everything that you need to know about radio advertising and how fruitful it can be for your business growth. 

Also, before making the decision, make sure that you have hired a well-renowned the best advertising company in Delhi that can help achieve all your marketing goals.

About the Promodome

Promodome communications is one of the best advertising agency, we blend creativity & technology to transform and grow our clients’ businesses. We explained how radio advertising works and benefits your small-medium businesses.