#built after a fire around 360 AD...

[dlyarchitecture]

[rotzaprachim]

This article is from August 2023 and was written by Mohammed R. Mhawish, a Gaza-based journalist writing for the local +972/Local Call publication. I think it covers a LOT of the current talking points with a lot more knowledge and nuance than many of the takes.

"Last week, the southern governorate of Khan Younis and other areas in the center of the Gaza Strip witnessed tense scenes as several thousand Palestinians took to the streets to protest frequent power outages, food shortages, and overall harsh living conditions. Marching under the banner of “Bidna N’eesh” (“We Want to Live”), the mass protests mark a significant expression of public resentment that has accumulated among the blockaded population for years. 

In response, demonstrations in support of Hamas, the Islamist party ruling the strip, paraded down the streets cheering for the government and confronting those who were not voicing support for the movement. The police intervened shortly afterward, reportedly confiscating cell phones and making multiple arrests.

The protests followed days of intense frustration and dispute with the Hamas government, which began after a Khan Younis resident was killed when one of the walls of his house fell on top of him as local authorities attempted to demolish it, claiming it was initially built on a public road. The authorities alleged the man’s death was a tragic accident, firing the mayor of the responsible municipality.

Characterized by their mobility, brevity, and direct impact, the marches appear to be coordinated by grassroots movements through online platforms and social media. Several Palestinians who were among the crowds told me that their demonstrations stem from a fundamental demand for their basic human rights, which include necessities like public services, employment, freedom to travel, and the ability to engage in outside commerce. At the time of writing, the Hamas government has not shared with the public any foreseeable solution to any of these grievances, or how it will address people’s anger.

Electricity has been at the center of the protesters’ demands. While Gaza’s energy crisis predates the current protests, the scorching heat waves enveloping the region this summer have driven temperatures to soar above 38 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in the strip. The heat has only added to the growing discontent among the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents, who are confined to a stretch of land of around 360 square kilometers that has, since 2007, been cut off by an Israeli blockade that affects every facet of daily life.

This collective frustration has been building over a considerable period of time, as Gaza’s population has to subsist on a daily ration of only four-to-six hours of electricity. Certain residences and businesses resort to private generators or solar panels in order to cope with the prolonged power outages. For others unable to afford such costly equipment, modest battery-powered LED lights provide makeshift illumination, while others fan themselves with plastic trays to try and beat the heat.

According to local energy bodies, Gaza requires approximately 500 megawatts of power per day during the summer season. However, it currently receives a mere 120 megawatts from Israel, with the enclave’s solitary power plant — repeatedly damaged by Israeli military assaults and weakened by restrictions on materials — contributing an additional 60 megawatts. Lately, social media footage has shown Gaza shrouded in darkness at night, with few lights emanating from its cities. 

While the public and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank predominantly attribute Gaza’s challenges to Israel’s occupation, many people believe that Hamas still has some capacity, and the obligation, to initiate helpful measures, including by increasing the power plant’s production and operating it at maximum capacity, especially during the summer.

Bearing the toll

Over the past 16 years, Gaza has become a crucible for enduring humanitarian, economic, and political hardship. The enclave has experienced several rounds of deadly wars with Israel, most devastatingly in the summer of 2014. The closure imposed on all of Gaza’s entry points has plunged the economy into decay, leading to a sharp rise in unemployment and resulting in severe scarcity of essential supplies and other resources.

Palestinians have had to navigate significant divisions within their political leadership, the most apparent of which were the armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas in 2007. Hamas had secured victory in the 2006 parliamentary elections from other factions, controlling the legislature and prime minister’s post while Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas was elected to the presidency. 

The Palestinian government was immediately met with sanctions by Israel, the United States, and European countries, exacerbating the factional rivalry that led to Hamas taking over Gaza. Since then, the territory has sunk under the weight of Israel’s crippling siege. 

However, the present demonstrations in Gaza stand out due to the heightened level of public engagement and the number of protesters involved. The gravity of the situation is manifold, and the population’s living conditions are only becoming more challenging. 

Palestinians have long called for new, inclusive elections, reflecting an exhilarating demand for change. Yet public support for Hamas in Gaza persists, and there is rising concern that the voices of those who seek some form of change and restoration of their rights will be stifled — both by Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

There are several aspects to the evolving complexities among Palestinian political actors. Fatah and Hamas are involved in an ongoing mutual blame game, each attributing Gaza’s troubles to the other party. The PA urges Hamas to take action even as it primarily holds Israel responsible as the occupying power (one which the PA cooperates with under the Oslo Accords). All the while, it is the people who bear the toll and face ominous consequences while the feeble pursuit of reconciliation continues.

Members of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, guard the street in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, December 14, 2022. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Last but not least, Islamic Jihad, once a marginal movement, has recently emerged as a significant player in the Palestinian geopolitical landscape. During Israel’s latest two wars on Gaza in August 2022 and May 2023, Islamic Jihad displayed relatively independent and effective decision-making power on the military front, although it still seeks the political and military endorsement of Hamas as the ruling authority.

Beyond the social fragmentation in Gaza and the West Bank, one winner is currently taking all: the Israeli far right, which is relentlessly targeting the foundations of the Palestinian struggle and advancing its vision of permanently scattering the Palestinian population into disparate territorial and political enclaves.

Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current government is seizing every opportunity to solidify its presence in the West Bank. This includes the construction of illegal settlements, the annihilation of any attempt at armed or popular resistance, and the annexation of Palestinian land and resources — further weakening the basis of any Palestinian political process. 

A united front for liberation

The current protests in Gaza undoubtedly echo the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people, who are deserving and capable of forging a new, united front toward freedom and dignity. But the biggest question remains: do the Palestinian leaders possess the willingness to heed these calls, and to take effective measures toward fulfilling them?

Both external and internal observers often attribute the divisions among Palestinian factions to contrasting political and ideological interests. Yet such differences should, if anything, lay the foundation and impetus for a broad political coalition that can align communal needs with the pursuit of liberation. While some argue that the Palestinian factions are gradually realigning against Israel and not each other, many still hold a sense of despair over whether they will ever see a unified leadership that spans the spectrum of war and peace, resistance and governance, and that brings Palestinians together under one common rule.

Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh (center left) and Yahya Sinwar (center right) march during a protest against US President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” and the “Peace to Prosperity” conference in Bahrain, in Gaza City, June 26, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

In Gaza, there is a notable sentiment that having an armed presence that safeguards Palestinians’ right to self-defense against Israeli military aggression should not overshadow people’s aspiration to live with as much independence and prosperity as they can muster under occupation. The goal of breaking the Israeli blockade, once the primary beacon of hope for freedom in Gaza, is intertwined with the pursuit of meeting basic needs within Gaza’s borders, like two more hours of access to clean drinking water or electricity a day.

This is accompanied by a widespread view that Hamas, like other Palestinian factions, is trying to control and silence grassroots activism and dissent, eliciting further irritation from the public. The Palestinian leaders’ verbal acceptance of the idea of change should not only mean blending their varying perspectives together, but has to also mean a stop to sweeping the people’s collective calls under the carpet for a better future. 

Indeed, the intensification of Israeli attacks on all Palestinians across the land, and the aim to disperse the public sphere in Gaza, make these protests an ideal time to reassert the need for a unified Palestinian leadership that can thrive — one that prioritizes upholding human values and the basic needs of life under occupation, and that does not stumble amid the rapidly changing shifts in the regional and international landscape, which have marginalized the Palestinians’ demands for freedom and for decent living conditions too.

More importantly, the current leaderships — both in Gaza and the West Bank — should refrain from governing by diktat, and should instead respect the will of the majority and adhere to the country’s legal frameworks and vision for liberation. Attempting to force change through open conflict with a discontented public is unlikely to succeed. It has never been a successful or just method to achieve self-determination, especially when led by scattered minority factions, each chanting a different slogan and seemingly unconcerned with democratic representation. Each leader ends up clinging to power with no real intention of improving and safeguarding the lives of their constituents.

To overcome these challenges, Palestinians must be able to convey criticisms in a way that resonates with the supporters of each party, rather than simply proving their leaders wrong — thereby demonstrating the possibility of unity. The current Gaza protests, and the Unity Intifada that erupted across all of Palestine two years ago, indicate the necessity of such a united path. Once it has been truly achieved, no external influence will be able to hinder, disregard, or fragment the substantial majority of the people from breaking free from their cycle of exclusion.

Until then, the Palestinian people deserve the chance to address the very valid debate over a much-needed policy roadmap that would determine the fate of their struggle. By setting aside divergent realpolitik on the internal battleground, and doing what can be done for the people with the tools they have, only then can they remain steadfast and hopeful in the face of an occupying force."

[mhdiaries]

Iris Clops SDCC 2014 Exclusive Diary

02.28

I went to the casketball game tonight. It was the district championship game, and if we won it would mean a trip to the monster state tournament. The game was against the same gargoyle team that beat us last year. The game tonight was really close with several lead changes, the gym was totes rocking. I was there to cheer for the whole team, of course, but I was also hoping that Manny would have a better game than he did last year. I know he felt responsible for us losing last year, even though I know that the team didn’t blame him for it. Manny is... well, I’m not sure what Manny is. When he first came to Monster High he acted like a real bully, and most students tried to avoid him at all costs. Something must have happened after that game last year though, because he seems like a different monster since then. Anyway, this year there was a much happier outcome - both for Manny and the team - because not only did we win, but Manny made the winning shot! Adding to the excitement - more or less - okay, less, was my epic fail or rather fall down the bleachers. Typical me, I wasn’t watching where I was going and I stepped where there wasn’t one and badly twisted my ankle. Wow, did that ever hurt! The team athletic trainer, Mr. Mummy, saw what happened and came over to check on me. He had some of the ghouls help me to the training room where he examined my ankle, pronounced it sprained and then did a pretty thorough wrap job on it. He gave me some crutches, then called my parents to let them know what had happened. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the bit victory party after the game, which was a drag because I heard that Manny asked where I was at. 

03.05

I have decided in the interest of science to keep an ongoing list of my bumps, bruises, sprains, spills and breakages. Thus I have developed a clumsification scale so that each incident can be properly measured based on the approximate pain I feel at the time:

Ouch.

Just Give Me a Minute...

Oh, Hera, That Hurt!

Medic!

Don’t go into the light.

My hope is that I will eventually reach a point where in the midst of an “incident” I can just shout out a number and thus save my breath for holding against the agony. I had the chance to practice using my new scale tonight as I tried to navigate my way through the house on crutches. I called out a series of “1′s” while I bumped my way down the hall from my bedroom to the kitchen. When I got there, dad asked if I was all right, and I told him I was just trying out my new scale. “Oh, good,” he said, “I was afraid you’d finally gone binary on us.” I told him that if I didn’t think I would spend the next 15 minutes on the floor yelling “Four!” I would hit him with one of my crutches. He laughed, kissed me on the top of head and slid open the door to the back porch. He closed the door behind me and flicked on the trail of dim blue-green lights that outlined the path to the “observatory” he built for me. My dad is the kind of monster that keeps his eye more to the earth beneath his feet than to the stars above his head, but he is an amazing engineer and he built my observatory with a roof that opens and the whole thing rotates 360° so my telescope never has to move. He’s not much of a “tell you that he loves you” kind of monster, but he shows it all the time. Tonight I rotated my observatory so that I could see a star called Aldebaran. It’s an orange giant and forms one of the eyes in the constellation Taurus - the bull. As I was focusing in, two meteors crashed into each other sending glowing fragments across the night sky like fireworks. If I were the kind of ghoul that looked for omens I might think this was a sign. Hah! As if...

03.06

I was standing at my locker today, and Manny walked right by me without even acknowledging I was there. Maybe I should expand my scale to cover bumps and bruises of the heart as well. If so, today was a definite 2. 

03.07

Gigi came over tonight to do some stargazing. She’s so scary sweet and just so excited to experience every little detail of unilfe outside the lantern that she’s a scream to be around. We looked at the rings of Saturn, Mars and Alpha Centaur, and then a storm moved in, and we couldn’t see anything through the cloud cover. So we sat and talked about different things. I jokingly asked her if she had any wishes left, because I was really wishing I could know what was going on inside Manny’s head. She laughed and said that sometimes wishing is more satisfying than actually having the thing for which you have wished. She says it doesn’t sound logical, but it often is true. I’m not sure I understand, but she has a lot more experience seeing the power of wishes granted than I have, so I suppose I’ll just have to trust her on this. 

03.09 

Today in the creepateria I was sitting at a table with Draculaura, Clawd, Abbey and Heath. Manny walked by our table with his lunch, and Heath invited him to sit with us. The only open seat was across from me, and I swear it looked as if Manny started blushing. I think he was going to say, “No”, but he ended up sitting down anyway. We were right in the middle of a conversation about a comet that only passes by earth close enough to see once every 500 years or so, and Draculaura has seen it the last two times it appeared. She was telling us how some monsters thought it was an omen of doom the last time it passed and they literally went screaming for the catacombs. We were all laughing, and I suggested we have a comet party at my house the next time it shows up. That’s when Manny said, “Who cares about stars and planets and comets and stuff like that? It’s just a dumb waste of time looking at places you can never go to anyhow.” It took me completely by surprise, and I said, “It’s only dumb if you’ve got so much muscle in your brain there’s no room for imagination.” I don’t think I could have been more hurt if he had called me an eyesore. I asked Draculaura if she would take my tray for me, and I grabbed my crutches, hobbled out of the creepateria and straight into the ghoul’s restroom. As I was sitting in a stall crying my eye out, there was a knock on the stall door. “Go away,” I said. “Is Abbey - I punched Manny in nose for you.” I jumped up and opened the door. “You did what?” I yelled. “Relax, I am only doing the teasing.” I was torn between being angry and continuing my number “4″ sized cry. Abbey told me that Manny was like her brother. “He is big like Manny and is having same problem telling Yeti ghoul how he is feeling - so he makes the large snowballs to throw at ghoul he likes. Manny does not have snowball so he throws words.” I told her that I thought it was the dumbest way possible to let a ghoul know that she is liked. Abbey nodded, “Agreed, snowballs are much better as sting is going away sooner.” I think she is right. This “4″ doesn’t act like it’s about to slide down to a three anytime soon, and I guess Gigi was right about not wishing to know what’s in another monster’s head.

03.10

This morning when I opened my locker there was a small, folded up piece of paper wedged in one of the vent slots. It was folded so tightly, I though some monster must have wrapped up a piece of gum and shoved it through my locker because he couldn’t find a trash can. I almost threw it away but I unfolded it instead. Inside in carefully printed block letters was the message,

I’m sorry.

M.T.

I looked around to see if some monster might have done this as a prank, but everything looked normal, or at least as normal as it ever looks at that time of morning with monsters scurrying around trying to get to class on time. In terms of medicine, it certainly took the sting out of my “4″, and if it didn’t take it all away at least it moved it down to a “1″.

03.12

I’m not sure if it will be possible to put what happened today into words, but I think I have to try. We had a special assembly in the creepatorium that every monster was required to attend. The speaker was a famous centaur explorer/biteologist who was going to talk about his travels and adventures. It sounded pretty exciting when Headmistress Bloodgood was making the announcement over the intercom, and by the time I was able to hobble in, all the seats were taken except one in the very middle of a top middle row. I looked around for Manny and saw him several rows about me sitting with Heath. I managed to get to my seat without doing too much damage to either myself or any other monster, but I had to leave my crutches leaning against the wall, since there was no way I could make it down the aisle holding onto them. As it turned out, the speaker was a bit of a blowhard, and after 30 minutes of telling the assembly how great he was, most of us were figuring out this wasn’t going to be as exciting as we were lead to believe. That’s when he brought out the chimera. Although our speaker assured us that he had tamed it, our biteology textbook said that it was impossible to do so. I guess every other monster in the creepatorium had read the same book, because they all started shifting in their seats and looking for the closest exit. The speaker asked for calm and told us the creature was as harmless as a kitten. Not a beat after he said this, the chimera breathed a cone of fire into one of the stage curtains and mass chaos erupted as every monster tried to leave at once. I vaguely remembered seeing my crutches being kicked down the stairs and then disappearing under the mass of students trying to get out. It seemed like it was every monster for himself, and there was no way I was going to be able to get out. That’s when I felt myself lifted out of my seat and I looked up to see Manny’s face looking down and... smiling. “Need a lift?” he asked. I just nodded and before I knew it we were standing outside the school with everyone else. I kissed him on the cheek, and he gently set me down. I think I need a new scale for how my heart feels now.

[machinegrab]

Protection machines/devices in Pakistan.

The focus of security problems in Pakistan is on the rise again. To tackle security threats in Pakistan, the requisite countermeasures are being taken. As steps are being taken to quell security threats in Pakistan, several computers and equipments are being built and used. Technology has progressed dramatically in the area of defense since the mid-2000s. The newest surveillance robots are constantly being added to the Pakistani industry. There are many forms of protection precautions and how they are placed.

 Alarm units/System.

The first security hardware is warning devices. The warning device is used to protect reasons such as stopping fires in the building and burglaries and robberies. In emergency incidents, alerting warns building guards that a fire has broken out or that an attacker has breached. There are many alarm systems, including electric current alarm system, wired alarm system, wireless alarm system, and controlled alarm system being used in various buildings.

 Machin Grab Scanning:

One typical security equipment category are scanners which are used for the security reason. These scanners have been used in numerous buildings such as banks and hospitals. They are also very popular in Pakistan (and most other countries) due to their ubiquity. Banks and other public buildings utilize detectors to ensure that a ticket holder is not holding a firearm. The scanners are used to test the purity of what the individual has.

 Machin Grab Metal Detector.

Metal detectors are used to identify dangerous materials and how they are located around where the metal detector is being used. The metal detector uses a warning. The alarm mounted to the metal detector rings as the dangerous metal is being detected in a nearby location.

 Machin Grab CCTV cameras:

The sort of surveillance equipment that is popular in Pakistan for the last two decades is CCTV (Closed Circuit Television Cameras). With increased theft rates in the past two decades and surveillance cameras, it became widespread in Pakistan. Today, nearly every house has a security device. In addition, Pakistan's busy roads also have CCTV cameras due to the need to control careless citizens' driving. About every road has CCTV cameras that document at all times. CCTV cameras have improved a lot over time as historically CCTV cameras were fixed at one location after that movable surveillance cameras were launched, sometime later the HD cameras were introduced, and a few years back 360-degree cameras have been introduced known as fisheye or eagle eye cameras as they cover the entire 360-degree view that's why they are known as 360-degree cameras

 Machin Grab Walkthrough/metal detector gates.

Electronic gates are built in front of companies and colleges to deter people from importing narcotics, chemicals, etc. That's why security guards carry uniforms in the buildings across Pakistan. Via the checkpoints, we may be confident that if anyone is holding some dangerous product, stuff, etc. Both pieces are visually checked through walkthrough gates throughout the body to decide whether anyone is bringing something illicit. If that is the case, the gate often issues audible warnings. These gates are classified as metal detector gates and pedestrians as these gates check pedestrians' clothes from which it is known whether a pedestrian is holding some dangerous metal material.

 Machin Grab X-ray scanning devices.

The X-ray devices are used for surveillance reasons, alongside medical applications, since they have become popular in Pakistan due to citizens attempting to smuggle medicines inside their bodies. Around the moment in time, there were many incidents where individuals tried to smuggle narcotics across their bodies and into ports of entry due to these causes.

Security scanners have been commonly used in recent years. Up to these accidents, x-ray imaging was only really utilized for medical analysis. And in the wake of these situations, X-rays are often seen as protective precautions.

 Machin Grab chemical detectors:

Chemical detectors are utilized by law enforcement to administer narcotics regulations and to identify hazardous chemical compounds in the area. The problem of narcotics smuggling/the illicit drug trade. It is popular in Pakistan because the system is used to verify if anyone is traveling with narcotics or other contaminants.

 Machin Grab Radiation monitoring system.

A radiation monitor is used to minimize failures at the precise location where the procedure is taking place. Using this unit, it is understood that the dangerous radiations are being released. The location from which they are being emitted is why radiation detectors are being used.

 As a consequence of the above, the above are the widely used surveillance machines and facilities in Pakistan. The most noteworthy point of these defense instruments is that they are all made by Pakistani firms. There are many Pakistani firms concerned with national security, and they operate to decide that the country's security is well-protected.

 Union technologies:

The business is based in Shahra-e-Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan, and installs security systems for security purposes.

  The business is based in Shahra-e-Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan, and installs security systems for security purposes. Virtual fire and security system:

 Since the name suggests, this organization specializes in fire alarm services. The highway situates the technical school.

 Al-Ramz PAKISTAN Private Limited.

This organization supplies security systems and installs security systems in a great many other countries; that's why it has mentioned the name of the nation in the name of the business itself.

 Pakistan surveillance (CCTV systems):

Pakistan is continually surveilled with CCTV cameras, which are recognized as Pakistan's surveillance devices. The shop is also situated nearby Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Universal Fire Safety Corporation produces fire protection and warning equipment that are found everywhere over the globe. It is based in Faisalabad, Punjab.

 Delta Tech.

This company specializes in cybersecurity systems for all areas of the world, one of the country's most sophisticated technical systems. Cyber threats have escalated a lot over the past few years; hence this organization has stepped in to offer cyber defense systems around the world. The protection systems were bought from corporations in the United States and overseas, and even from companies in other nations.

 Because of this, the above-identified companies have developed themselves as the best protection system vendors in the world. Most of these factories are based in Karachi since Karachi is called the financial sector of Pakistan and is one of the biggest manufacturing area, so these factories provide protection systems, security equipment, etc., to all over the world.

 Prices of like-kind defense devices and capital goods in Pakistan.

Another critical thing to remember when implementing surveillance devices is the systems' expense since price is a major factor. Therefore, this table outlines the expense of these defense solutions.

 Alarm systems

PKR 323.00 to PKR 46,000.

 Scanners.

Rs 3000 roughly.

 Metal detectors.

From Rs 7,200 to Rs 880,000.

 Video/CCTV monitors.

PKR 3000 up to PKR 10000.

 Metal detector gates.

Typically not accessible on the internet.

 X-ray scanners machines.

Rs. 6000/- to Rs. 25000/-.

 Chemical testing devices.

About Rs 8500 to Rs 14500.

 Radiation monitoring devices.

Between Rs 13,000 and Rs 100,000

 The table shown above lists the prices for protection equipments in Pakistan and how much each item costs concerning its functionality and efficiency. It will be understood where the right computer to buy is.

 Conclusion

Security threats in Pakistan are on the rise again. Countermeasures are being taken to tackle security threats. Technology has progressed dramatically in the area of defense since the mid-2000s. The newest surveillance robots are constantly being added to the Pakistani industry.

[magicunessay2020-blog]

Astrological Timeline

Early Influences

4242 BCE Egyptian calendar is one the first calenders in use, marking 12 months made of 30 days, with a year consisting of 360 days. 4000 BCE The basic concepts of astrology are first utilized in Mesopotamia. The Ziggurat at Uruk, Ur and Babylon, built by the Sumerians, are the first astrological observatories in the world, where early astrologers kept track of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets that they could see.

3000 BCE Egyptian calendar is revised to 365 days.

2872 BCE Sargon of Akkad, the first ruler of the Akkadian empire, is one the first to use astrologer priests to predict the future.

1200 BCE The Babylonians invent the written first systematic astrological system over thousands of years. The records survive in the form of the Babylonian star catalogs, making Babylonian astrology the oldest astrological system on Earth.

One of the earliest compilations is the Enūma Anu Enlil; meaning “When the Gods Anu and Enlil…” It is composed of approximately 70 astrological tablets, which include around 7000 predictions. The Babylonian astrological system was very omen-oriented, and such records were kept to predict the state of the king and the nation as a whole.

1000 BCE The MUL.APIN, was compiled, which consisted of the most significant star lists in Babylonian astrology. It contained 71 stars and constellations as well as their rising and setting times. The stars were also associated with specific deities. The Babylonians originally listed 17-18 constellations, but in later revisions, the number of constellations was reduced to 12 major ones. Many believe copies of the tablets carried astrology from Babylon to India, sometime between 400 and 300 BCE.

Babylonians recognized five planets—Jupiter associated with God Marduk, Venus with Goddess Ishtar, Saturn with Ninurta, Mercury with Nabu and Mars with Nergal.

The 12 Babylonian Astrological Signs

GU.AN.NA – Heavenly Bull, The Bull of Heaven (Taurus)

MASH.TA.BA – Twins, The Great Twins (Gemini)

AL.LUL – Pincers, Crayfish (Cancer)

UR.GU.LA – Lion, The Lion (Leo)

AB.SIN – Daughter of Sin, The Seed-Furrow (Virgo)

ZI.BA.AN.NA or GISH.ERIN – Heavenly Fate, The Scales (Libra)

GIR.TAB – That Which Claws And Cuts, The Scorpion (Scorpio)

PA.BIL.SAG – Defender, The Overseer (Sagittarius)

SUHUR.MASH – Goat-Fish, The Goat-Fish (Capricorn)

GU.LA – Lord Of Waters, The Great One (Aquarius)

SIM.MAH – Fishes, The Tails, Swallow Tail (Pisces)

LU.HUNG.GA – Field Worker (Aries)

700 BCE The present day zodiac wheel was shaped by the wheel that the Babylonians created  

549 BC Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid king of Persia, conquered Babylon.

572-490 B.C.E. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, identifies the wisdom embodied within numbers, and theorizes that numbers are important to the universe, and they come together in harmony to create the world that we see. He was one of the first to refer to the universe as the Cosmos. His ideas were the foundation for the Pythagorean Theorem. His theory solidified the mathematics and science behind the planetary aspects that are used today. His ideas influenced some of the greatest philosophers in history.

535 BCE Pythagoras sets up a colony to learn about astrology, numerology and the occult arts - the Brotherhood.

475 BCE. Empedocles replaces the theory of matter with the theory that all of the substances derive from the four elements: fire, air, water and earth - which are the basic principles of developing astrological interpretations used today. He theorized that nothing can be created or destroyed, only transformed.

428-348 BCE. Plato's Timeus (360 BCE) identifies the universe as a living entity, composed of four elements (air, fire, water, earth) which distinguish each form by their molecular structure, although all four elements are interconnected and interrelated in a perfect harmonious form.

460 BCE. Hippocrates used earlier astrological and universal principles laid before him, and applied them to the study of the human body in relation to the rhythms observed within the universe as a whole.

409 BCE The oldest known horoscope chart is created

370 BCE Eudoxus of Cnidus invented a model of twenty-seven concentric spheres by which he was able to calculate the sun's annual motions through the zodiac, the moon's motion including its wobble, and the retrograde motions of the planets (27 Spheres, one for the fixed stars, three each for the Sun and Moon and four for each of the five planets). He created calendars using the zodiac with all 12 equal zodiac signs.

331 BCE Alexander the Great conquers Babylon and establishes the city of Alexandria. Under his rule, the Greeks further advances in astrology, along with developments in medicine, geometry, mathematics, and philosophy - furthering on the theories put forth by Pythagoras, Plato, Hippocrates, and Aristotle.

330 B.C.E. Berossus a Babylonian/Chaldean astrologer founds the School of Astrology at the Island of Cos. Many Greek astrologers learned and taught there.

330 BCE Alexander the Great spreads the knowledge of astrology throughout the Middle East. Greece personalizes astrology. The word astrology itself is derived from the Greek word for "star," and the word zodiac which means “the circle of animals.” The Greeks borrowed some of their myths from the Babylonians and invented many of their own, such as adding the names of their heroes to the constellations. The animals representing the signs were placed among the stars usually for great acts of heroism, and were usually associated with the Greek gods. The Greek words were translated to the Latin words that are used today.

290 BCE The legendary Alexandria becomes the center of astrological research. 250 BCE Achinapolus and Antipatrus teach medical astrology based on the teachings of Berossus. They begin to experiment with natal horoscopes.

207 BCE Galen, a Greek physician, combines the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates, building upon them to create a functional system, for human anatomy and medical theories. He built upon Hippocrates earlier theory, that health requires an equilibrium between the four main bodily fluids, or humours—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Each of the humours is built up from the four elements and displays two of the four primary qualities: hot, cold, wet, and dry. He was one of the first to argue that humoral imbalances can be located in specific organs, as well as in the body as a whole. This modification of the theory allowed doctors to make more precise diagnoses and to prescribe specific remedies to restore the body’s balance. 

200 BCE Astrology for predicting the future appears in Rome.

Papyrus with Greek Horoscope of Anubion Son of Psansnos , 2nd century CE, from Thebes, Egypt, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Antiquités égyptiennes

100 BCE The Essenes develop the Qabbalah and esoteric astrology.

60 BCE First school of astrology opens in Rome.

7 BCE The birth of Christ is predicted by three Magi astrologers, using a star. 150 CE Ptolemy, a Greek astrologer and mathematician published the Tetrabiblos, which was one of the most revered astrology works ever written. The Tetrabiblos contained the core techniques of astrology including planets, zodiac signs, houses, and aspects, which are still relevant and heavily used today. 400 CE The Library of Alexandria containing many of the world’s texts on astrology is destroyed.

474 CE European astrology in decline after the Fall of the Roman Empire. 600 CE The Church condemns astrology and tries to suppress it. 639 CE Egypt is invaded and taken over by the Islamic Empire. This marks the end of the Hellenistic astrological tradition. 750 CE Muslim astrologers revive Greek astrology.

787-886 CE Arabic astrologer Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi writes the Kitab al-Madkhal al-kabir ila ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum (The Great Introduction). This was one of the most comprehensive astrology books written, that detailed scientifically, the astral influences on the material world, and the human body and life. The Great Introduction was translated into Latin first by John of Seville in 1133 CE.

801-873 CE The book De radiis stellicis (On the Stellar Rays) is written by Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, which further combines Galen’s work, with Arabic astronomy, setting a precedent for medical treatments using astrology. 

~ 1000 CE. Majriti (pseudo name) composes the Ghayat al-Hakim (The Picatrix), whose fundamental objective is to teach its reader how to determine the appropriate astrological time to contact celestial spirits and then “draw down” their essence by inducing them into a talisman created with materials which are sympathetic/resonate to, that particular spirit.

A page from the Picatrix

~1000 CE. Ibn Yunis, Moslem astronomer, compiles the Hakamite tables of planetary motions at Cairo.

1020 CE. Firdausi, or Abul-Qasim Mansur, Persia's epic poet, writes the Sah-Namah of over 60,000 couplets, containing many astrological references.

Kitāb al-tafhīm li-awā’īl ṣinā‘at al-tanjīm, Biruni, 11th century

~1114-1187 CE. Gerard of Cremona translates the Crises and the Critical Days from Arabic to Latin, allowing these great works to influence the educational climate of the time.

1200 CE The University of Bologna that was established in 1088 CE, becomes the center for learning medical astrology.

~1240-1311 CE. Arnald of Villanova wrote De iudiciis astronomiae, in which he wrote an influential treatise on the application of astrology to medicine. He combined Arabic teachings with Galen’s Critical Days, and used them to determine many methods of treating patients. 

1250 CE Ancient magic and astrology is linked in the Speculum Astronomiae by Roger Bacon. 

1255 CE Astrology is taught at Cambridge University in England. During this time Astrology is considered a science of the higher class, and many royals had court astrologers, and relied on them for predictions and medical advice.  1280 CE Johannes Campanus, an Italian astrologer and physician works for Pope Urban IV and develops a new way to divide astrological houses. ~1300 CE Almanacs (calenders) that contained star charts were employed by physicians, which allowed them to check the positions of the stars before making diagnoses. The book contained diagrams of the the body, and its corresponding star sign. 

1399 CE Almanac diagram of the ‘Zodiac Man’

Diagram from a 1486 CE Medical Almanac 

1400 CE The printing press is invented which allows mass production of astrological writings to be distributed in Europe. The Vatican promotes the instruction of astrology, with many Popes that were astrologers, and many served royal families in England, Italy, France and Austria.

1555 CE Andrew Dygges publishes A Prognostication, Manuscript on Medical Astrology in London, which became widely used by physicians. It attributed the zodiac signs to the specific body parts and organs of the human body, usually depicted visually.

~1500s CE All over Europe, physicians were required by law to calculate the position of the moon before carrying out complicated medical procedures.

1603-1668 CE Placidus, a monk and mathematics professor, created the house division system used by astrologers today.

The renaissance period, marks the period of enlightenment, and ushers in a decline in the use of astrology as a science.

Solar Zodiologium – prognostications when the sun is in each of the signs of the zodiac. The writer offers advice related to daily life and health, matters that would readers would find useful in either the 15th century or the 21st.

[myheartbeatskids]

So Declan loved me and we talked about science and lab babies and clones and all that. So He told me he loved me because i was the first person to really really listen and understand as opposed to being the one to teach.

And so he had understood what he was taught then developed and built upon it correctly with help from his own brain and God. And del Muerte whom helped me understand as well cause that shit was mind blowing.

So he asked me to have his soul mate. To give birth to her.

And I was pretty much dragged out and Declan ran the show after that.

I agreed but it was more like a thing where i had to focus and talk instead of fainting.

So Matt actually helped to implant because I have an upturned uterious and so things like that are painful because of the rigidity and non flexible as i need materials used while Jeremiah comforted and helped me relax.

So then essentially i was kidnapped.

Declan is part clone and part Neanderthal.

Annabelle is part clone and part Neanderthal.

So some of us from Michael Jackson's boarding school --- although I wasn't i stayed there alot on my own. So i was part of it, unofficially as i am a civilian doing military shit now. --- have clones in a laboratory. But they are miniature human size as they are kept in barbie size containers.

Since Declan was a clone Jesse gave permission to make, they said i should use a clone.

It took 5 eggs until Declan approved the child that would be created in the embryo. Del Muerte communicated to us what God said.

Most males get their soul mates at age 7. Declan was only 2 years old. So God hadnt had enough experience to program or create his perfect soulmate.

So it just so happened it was 2 years of plus 5 embryos which makes the year 7 while added together.

So when Annabelle was born Declan came to get me and her but my now ex-husband got me all fucked up and i had amnesia and all that and i remember the power struggle type issues while signing the birth certificate which is why i get child support as my ex swore bla bla bla and signed papers to those statements but I was all "Dude while he's signing let's run!" Because he pissed me off during that time and i was all no hes wrong and all... But I guess I was scared of him or his aura csused me confusion or Idk. I remember feeling sick.

So craziness. We are 16 years late. And unfortunately yet fortunately a lot of research was done and i have a lot of government apology money coming my way. Which i don't have yet.... But soon.

This is Cambria AvaLynn named after Alexis Dejoria.

Because Matt's parents were into hiding, they named him after a mat. A common object so in case of ESP feom the people they hid from they would think "welcome mat" like welcome to travel with us son named Matt. Welcome to eat at the dining table, Matt. Well, come, Matt.

So came or come because i would always want to see Matt so I would say "You came!!!" When i saw him and hug him and he would say "welcome"

And Bria after me.

Turning the x into a v (for Victory) and Lynn as in the 80s most of my friends on the military base i lived on has Lynn as their middle names. So to remind me she is a friend.

She's my child that was ectopic due to the sponges Jamie & Doug Otis found and reminded us of. But we went to the hospital because i began to hemmoragge and they were able to save her and her twin.

Then my mom killed her and he died naturally as he was in ICU TO experiment on them being raised/healed as premies temporarily as one within an incubator and the other skin to skin contact. As woman need to be comforted more, we picked Ava to bring home.

They were the first experiment with soul mates being born as twins. Both clones of my and Jeremiah and his being Ava and my being the male Andrew.

Andrew after Jesse... "And he drew" cause he was always drawing beautifully.

And the other clones were of Jesse James and Alexis.

Alexis got kidnapped by her dad and so the story goes... I did too Eventually

Jeremiah's dad helped us as the grandparent in house.

This is Declan.

He told Jeremiah "I'm not the one sitting around waiting with a pouted lip waiting for someone to do it for me. Now i found the woman and go get my kid!!"

Dude WTF I'm not having someones kid... I'm only 21!!

"Now im the man around the house and what I say goes!!! And you are going to have my kid!!"

Dude whatever. So i did dream into the lab with them but... I thought we were just playing and so i agreed and so next thing i knew there was a frozen child ready to be implanted. Thus my ability to be kidnapped so easily...

Cause when a kid is all telling you about clones and labs and shit... And you're hearing voices... that shit is insane. Literally.

So i didn't take it seriously enough.

But Declan is only 19 Now. And my kid is 16.

So it's old enough to have a romantic relationship. To avoid issues i had as a child with social services.

The plan was to have them grow up as friends but also believed it may been too dangerous....

Yet I still don't agree that it was.

However for the last 10 year's I have been working daily for my amnesia to be solved and also saving the world (of NHRA especially) at the same time.

And have earned multiple Nobel Peace Prizes which i have yet to receive.

So working on law enforcement and the military and government, about to break into the public school system and tear that up ;) as a civilian has earned me billions of dollars i have yet to receive....

But i have given away as i can and have bought businesses that I want.

As proof that the government does care about all its people's hopes and dreams they have bought them on my behalf and am gsining bank! And i shop st my own businesses too... Ironically! I been shopping at Loves for nearly a year... went into Speedway a few times now i drive an extra 5 miles just to shop there because i like it more!!

Robert, the shift manager finally told me tonight as I bought all the GIANTS for my Giant 6'7" man. And i turned the ones in Valencia County to Speedway in honor of Aaron and Paul (twins) who wanted to show the dangers of meth and the meth community as they honored me with my idea of how to end Breaking Bad with the movie reel of El Camino (the mother road) of the manner of the psychological reality of life gone wrong.

I freak Robert out... He was worried when he saw me there that I was to audit like a monster, fire everyone and work the cash register and store myself.

So tonight he saw I bought milkshakes (not available at Love's) figured it out and gave me a pack of smokes for free and blurted out why.

So i took all the giants as i always do and fucked them all up and made them better.

So i own them till i make my money back on the businesses and then they get given to who I intended it for... As I do double check they will always be worthy... If not i keep them for me because I was being good snd honest and fair the whole time.

So 360° K i own.

So i only compete with Love's whom I always promised the King's Highway to... You know him... As an old time Western Thug bitch ass womanizer player. Motorcycle Guru. Hot Rod extraordinaire. Texas loving son of a gun. Jesse James Smith! Just kidding... Just regular old ole fogie mad scientist Jesse Gregory Smith. Of West Coast Choppers. Which i own and always have as i put up the money for his business intending to always be in his life and helping him. So my apology... The only one i can ever give as i can't predict the future without help is Love. And he loves everyone and won't let Google tell.

I bought every gas station in the country as we will be switching to electric and hydro electric and non fuel and solar and hybrid autos by 2030. So the previous owners have a nice retirement and no stress. As the storage oil facilities that were shot in Saudia Arabia were actually empty. I own them.

Fossil fuels are actually the blood of dinosaurs and other dead bodies that are converted and broken down and dehydrated by plant life...

I found that out by the eternal bushes burning.. I mean growing... here on the mountain. Tumble weeds otherwise known as thyme. And we found via satellite tons of skeletons by Earth xrays under the bushes and some not as they are closer to the Earth surface. I found a wooly mammoth knuckle bone.

We moved here in 2002 and there was a patch of earth that looked like concrete by the mail boxes and we just drove over them assuming that's what it was.

They were mummified wooly mammoths. Now broken up and scattered all over the desert road.

I would not like my blood which could potentially bring me back to life wasted on a car... For someone to get to a job they hate. So no more. Not from the USA anyways.

One night I was at dinner and i said Obama needs to handle thwt South Dakota pipeline. My dad was all what is he supposed to do? All simple solutions were crap and had an argument. I said "then lie! Tell the American people they are scum! Tell them we opened the pipeline up and the pipes broke and destroyed the precious land that needs to be protected." My dad laughed and i felt kinda stupid for being so angry.

But Uncle Donald heard my point and so thats exactly what he did. Fake news? Its real.

Because he saw the change I made in the NHRA with some lies that laid very close to the truth.

You don't need to believe in reincarnation for it to happen. I didn't until about 6 months ago. But my mom's mom and my great aunt my grandma's sister ... Granny Bessie Heltons 2 daughters did. My grandma explained it to me one night when I was 18 as i had asked my Great Aunt Nita i was closer to but she didn't explain she just said "because i do" And the dictionary explaination i already knew. But my grandma traveled with me like y'all know i do And showed me.

We started in Heaven with only having one human life and having the soul figure of a human that we select. Hers was a teenage body, absolutely beautiful. With her old ass mind and experience. I told her what I wanted was to be a child. A dirty raggedy haired barefoot blonde without a care in the world, feeling smarter than I feel now... Because that is when i was happiest. When i saw i could end pain and suffering with death, when i knew life could escape heart ache, even when evil exist.

And so now on her second cat life with me, as her first caused her kidnapping by the same drug induced psycho piece of shit that arrested and molested Jesse James dog, Coco and her untimely death as I did record in Tumblr. "Sister Kitty" was kidnapped by him, hes in a special jail. He just had his pinkie finger nail and big toe nail removed as he did kidnap Mogar and slice his face and slice Kizzys leg. So in order to understand what he did he agreed to similar punishment as he did to our precious cargo...

Cargo my bitches!

Jesse: No! I only ask!

Me: who do i have to convince?

Jesse: Idk Jeremiah?

Me: Ava who is your dad?

Ava: Idk I guess not Jeremiah?? IDK!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL!? you all always told me they are both my dad's. Let me ask God. Oh! Jesse! ..... And Jeremiah

Me: your dad is your dad and dad he will always be no matter shine or high water, love will always be there for you and for me. Alexis, do you know that one?

She nods all teary..

Jesse: well did i get loves?!

Me: uhh yes ass hole! We always love you back. What do you want with a gas station with no gas? That's like having a family with out us, most especially me!

Jesse: well it got gas now!!!

Me: well gas up at your local, bring a truck. I got a lot of stuff.

Declan: you hear her? Most especially me! Me! Well, me too, you better pick me up.

Me: Jesse... You ready for Orlando?? I got a Chase bank account with the Princess Castle on the debit card... Just needs a little cash in the account.

Jesse: You Mean You Will Pay!!!

Me: i see that was not a question so that does not deserve a response. But yes. I am suppose to have a wire transfer per last night's discussions that will pay for it.

Jesse: WHOA SHIT!

Me: Jeremiah you down?

Jeremiah: to pay Miss Giant Owner?

Me: uhh I'm Miss Speedyway now. No.. Carry me through times square after some Disney World Fun!

Jeremiah: FUCK YES!! uhh yes thank you for inviting me. I will go

Matt Hagan: look look at this. Im the best friend i even got her kid named after me

Me: Matt Hagan... Looks like you're invited, The Best Friend. In or out of Disney World for the hotel.

Matt: IN!!

Me: youre definitely going you know how to do it right! Pops... You gonna stay home alone with your woman?

Pops: not if i don't have to

M3: you don't

Pops: shit! Oh yeah!

Chuck: what about Cookie!!

Me: you and bring Your comrades I need to talk to

Chuckie: oh Cookies going!

Me: I didn't know he could do the Conga.

Jesse: yes you did!

Me: no wonder it looked familiar.

[pcttrailsidereader]

Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout: A Worthy Side Trip

By Rees Hughes

Perched on the very top of Sierra Buttes, nearly 8,600 feet high and well above any surrounding topography, the decommissioned fire lookout offers an amazing 360-degree view.  On a clear day, the view extends west across the Sacramento Valley to the Yolla Bollys and Sutter Buttes, south across the Yuba drainage and far into the High Sierra, and north and east are equally stunning.  It is a couple mile side trip from the PCT and well worth the detour.  I’ve gone a couple of times now including a visit in early August.

In 1975 the National Geographic Society published a comprehensive 196-page book on the nascent Pacific Crest Trail.  The book chronicled the thru-hike of author Will Gray and photographer Sam Abell.  This was well before trail names, trail angels, and even completion of the trail.  A friend of mine recently gave me a copy he had purchased at a library sale.  It truly captures the era when external frame Kelty packs, wool, and heavy leather boots reigned supreme. It is well worth a read.

This short excerpt begins at Sierra Buttes, just north of Sierra City. I have included a few photos of the lookout from my walk through the area:

“Lightning makes an incredible whipping and crackling sound just before it hits.  Then there’s a loud buzzing like radio static as the thunderclap shakes the whole building.  Sometimes there’s a blue glow around the roof overhang, and I’ve even seen electricity arc back and forth between the beams.  The first time I saw that, man, I was scared!”

Bill Thomason sat with his feet on a desk inside the fire lookout station that perches – at 8,587 feet – atop the highest of the Sierra Buttes.  The thumb-like spires of volcanic rock provide a vantage high above the rolling ridges of the northern Sierra, and I could trace, far below, the Pacific Crest Trail near Sardine Lakes. A side trail ended at the base of the 178 metal steps that climbed the rocks to our steel-and-glass cage.

Bill, a college student who works summers as a fire guard for the U.S. Forest Service, continued to describe the awesome display of a thunderstorm and I was glad that the sky was bright blue and cloudless. “One of the first things I learned,” Bill said, “was not to touch metal during electrical storms. But I’ve gotten so used to them now that I can usually sleep right through.”

What were his duties? “Basically, I just look for smoke, I take a compass reading and check my card file to see if it’s coming from a sawmill, say, or a campground. If not, I radio headquarters to have it checked out. Fortunately, this area’s not too vulnerable; there are relatively few fires each year.”

I asked Bill whether the isolation of sitting alone high on a remote mountain ever bothered him. “Usually it’s not all that lonely,” he answered. “Besides the hiking path, there’s a jeep trail, so I get a few visitors almost every day. Sometimes more than a few – over the Fourth of July weekend, at least 150 people trooped through. And there’s always communication through the radio. But I have gone as long as four days without seeing anyone.  I guess I’ve learned to appreciate both company and loneliness. The time of day I most like to be alone is at sunset.  It’s so peaceful up here then.”

Fire lookouts are fast going the way of the typewriter, Kodachrome and the handwritten letter. According to author Philip Connors, 90 percent of American lookout towers have been decommissioned with only a few hundred remaining, mostly in the West and Alaska.

A dozen miles north of Sierra Buttes, the trail skirts placid Gold Lake, named in acknowledgment of one of the biggest hoaxes of the gold rush days. In 1849 vague rumors of a lake with banks strewn with gold spread through the mining camps.  In the early summer of 1850, an English miner named J.R. Stoddard appeared in Nevada City with a poke of nuggets and a dramatic tale.  While on a hunting trip, he said, he had stumbled on the fabled lake of gold, and was astounded by its abundance of riches. As he scooped up handfuls of nuggets, he was suddenly attacked by Indians, and was wounded in the leg by an arrow while escaping.

He offered – for a price – to lead an expedition back to the lake; dozens of gold-hungry prospectors responded and paid the fee. When the party left Nevada City, a throng of perhaps a thousand other men followed along.

For days the horde vainly tramped the mountains. Stoddard became increasingly vague about his bearings, until at last the miners rebelled and gave him an ultimatum: He had 24 hours to find the lake or he would be strung from the nearest tree.

That night the wily Stoddard stole out of camp and disappeared. In the morning the miners, thoroughly chagrined, headed back to their old claims or sought new ones in the Gold Lake country.

Sam rejoined me on the trail north of Gold Lake and together we walked the dry, hot ridges of the northern Sierra.  Late one afternoon, as we followed a dusty road toward a bluff overlooking the North Fork of the Feather River, the aroma of cooking drew us toward a small prefabricated house alive with young men.

It was a crew of the California Ecology Corps, sponsored by the California Division of Forestry. Under contract with the U.S. Forest Service, the men were building a six-mile section of Pacific Crest Trail from the ridgetop down into the Feather River Canyon near the town of Belden. After we had demolished a supper of roast beef and corn on the cob, I sat sipping coffee and talking to Dick Hansen, project foreman and a 20-year veteran of the Division of Forestry, and Rick Lawrence, the 22-year-old crew leader.

“We’ve been up here for just under three weeks, and we’ve already got more than half a mile of trail built,” Dick said with pride. “The whole project should take no more than four or five months, we hope.”

“We’re averaging about 250 feet of finished trail per day,” Rick added, “and that’s through manzanita, which is hard to dig out. We have to follow strict specifications of trail width and drainage, of course, and we’re anxious to do a good job; we’re hoping that this one will lead to more contracts.”

In the late mountain twilight the corpsmen returned from swimming, fishing, or rock climbing and crawled into the sleeping bags scattered around the prefab building. A few minutes after five o'clock the next morning I was served a tasty cheese and mushroom omelet by camp cook Jim Atha. Breakfast over, we crowded into a truck and bumped along the dirt road leading to the new trail site.

Following the newly constructed section, I rounded a well-engineered switchback and faced a tangle of brush. Ahead of me a proficient team of two strong corpsmen worked with lopping shears to cut out the tough branches and trunks and form a rough corridor. A couple of dozen yards behind them, another team wielding picks and shovels grubbed out rocks and roots and widened the initial path. Other teams graded, cleared, and trimmed, until finally a permanent section of Pacific Crest Trail had been completed.

“We rotate the men every day so they don’t get burned out on any one  job,” Rick told me. “As we work, we’re careful to preserve the natural lay of the land as much as possible. We only take out boulders or trees where they would be a serious hindrance to hikers.”

From the top of the canyon wall, Rick looked down at his crew and said, “This is the kind of work you can appreciate doing. You feel like you’re leaving your mark, that you can come back in 20 years and be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

Bob Birkby wrote a wonderful piece that is included in the Oregon/Washington volume of The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader, “The Art of the Trail: An Aesthetic Appreciation of What’s Underfoot”.  It captures the work of art that results from good trail building … and reminds us not to take for granted the work of Dick Hansen, Rick Lawrence, and their team and countless similar teams that built the PCT.

[kulvefaggoth]

HI THIS IS YOUR LOCAL GARBAGE GAY BOY AND HE WANTS TO VENT ABOUT KINGDOM HEARTS

A couple of days ago i had an enligtening talk about my favorite hot garbage series with a mutual and i kind of ended up realizing i had a lot of pent up stuff about it that i never really let out

While i did vent a little already i feel like i need to put this really out of my head because it’s been consuming me in a way. And since this site is designed for just screaming random stuff into the void i wanna take advantage of that for once

Now first and foremost this is meant as a very personal thing. This is not an elaborate critique or a well thought work. This is a vent and i want this to be read as a vent by a gay with a lot of feelings about video games. ESPECIALLY about Kingdom Hearts and some stuff about KH3. 

Now let’s get to the meat of this course of mind screaming

I’ve been into Kingdom Hearts for a very long time. The first game i played was Kingdom Hearts II (the original KH was kinda hard to find here for some reason) circa 2005/2006. Bear in mind i had no idead what KH was. Game advertisement wasn’t (and still kind of isn’t) a big thing here in Brasil specially if you were a poor kid like me. Hell consoles were pretty inacessible to most of the people i was close with and me and other 2 kids must’ve had a PS2 in the same time frame. The main way you would know about new or cool games was through word of mouth or recognizing brands like Castlevania and Mega Man. 

But i was always kind of a freaky little avant-garde child which meant i ended up having a very different taste from most of the people around me. I had like 1 other friend who had actually played a Final Fantasy around let alone something like Shin Megami Tensei for an exemple which i also didn’t even knew was a thing. And i’ve always tried to find something new. Something that gave me some new experience. I’ve ended up playing a lot of more niche games like Drakengard and the Atelier Iris games (god i still love 2 and 3 a lot) and it was this mindset that eventually led me into the game that had a bunch of random anime kids and disney characters in it’s cover.

To say that i was confused by KH2 is an understatement. I knew absolutelly nothing about the previous games. Who is this “Sora”? Who was the red haired man? Why the fuck am i fighting with a giant key? Again what the hell is up with the Disney characters? Also bear in mind i must’ve been 9/10 yo brazillian kid whose entire english vocabulary came from video games and a couple of songs. Some stuff wasn’t even the plot getting dense it was just me not getting the actual language. 

And yet it’s also an understatement to say the i fell very deeply in love with that weird little game. The combat was great. The plot had SO MUCH DRAMA and i knew only about 1/3 of what was happening at any given time. Keyblades where fun and ridiculous. Demyx was a bitch.

As soon as i’ve finished KH2 for the first time i used what little internet i had back then to learn more. I found out there was a game for the easy emulated GBA. It kind of sucked but it was more Kingdom Hearts. Being unable to locate a copy of KH1 for a while i did the only thing i could actually do: i’ve played and replayed KH2 to exaustion. I did most of the stuff except a couple of the minigames and gummy routes because they where boring. The feeling of learning how to fight against Sephiroth, mastering his moves and eventually being able to beat him with a Kingdom Key in proud was a big moment for me. Beating all the Hades cups felt great.

About a year later i was able to get a copy of KH1 and by this time Re:CoM was out so i got that too. Played both of them throughly even thought KH1 clumsy mechanics kick my ass to this day probably.

Then another year passes i hear two new games where coming out... to consoles i didn’t own and honestly i couldn’t justify the cost of to my parents. I was pretty bummed but still i kept getting invested. Hell i was already balls deep into this series and only dreamed of how it would take off in the future. I even remember kind of writing a “script” for a sequel that i tried to make with two other randoms in RPG Maker. Never went anywhere and i know in my heart it sucked but still. That was how into this i was. The prerelease hype for Days was killing me even. Member XIV? How?

Also side note: to my edgy ass 12/13 year old self the idea of playing as Organizattion XIII was literally a dream. 

Days came out and if you where like me in the good old days of youtube videos that had like 5 minutes at max then you know that video game let’s play were almost impossible to do. I had to get a LOT of info from second hand about what actually happened in Days. Then i ended up getting a “decent” pc and was able to emulate it with absolute WORST frame rate. Still it worked and i was able to know what was happening.

But BBS was a completly separate beast. PSP emulation was basically non-existant when it came out so it actually took me a couple of years to actually play it. I had a friend that had a PSP (and that to this day i feel only got a PSP because i kept raving about it having both a KH game and a Final Fantasy fighting game on it because he was 100% that little shit but that is completly besides any point) and of course he couldn’t lend me because it was pretty expensive around here and that’s a very useless tangent.

Anyway time passes as it must and just as Sora fell deeper and deeper into the realms of sleep i too fell into as much Kingdom Hearts stuff as i could. The complex theories, the AMVs (GOD the AMVs), the plot summaries for games i didn’t play, all that good shit. So for years i’ve built within myself this... tension i shall call. The grand plot momentum that mr Nomura seemed to be building. The misterious indentities the hinted at hidden plots. The nature of stuff that seemed very vague and opaque. And as the new games where released it seemed more and more that they where building blocks into the grand prize: Kingdom Hearts 3.

Now here’s the thing. I don’t 100% agree of the narrative that we waited “13 years” for KH3. I think if you where actually a fan of the series back then then each game in it’s own way seemed to be it’s own event. With that i want to say the while we ALL waited for KH3 for me at least it seemed it needed time to build up. 

Now here’s the thing. Between BBS and DDD being both in consoles i didn’t own and me getting an Xbox 360 (PS3 prices where absolutelly INSANE here) i seemed to drift a bit away from KH. While before i waited for new game releases with baited breath i now found myself very blasé about DDD. I was getting used to it i guess. Also high school came and a lot of stuff started changing. KH felt like a bit too connected to my childhood too i guess. I was still a fan and still loved it to death but KH ended fading away a little for me even if it lighted a fire in me when people talked about it. This must’ve been around 2010.

I think it wasn’t until KH3 was formally announced that it all came back to me. The drive to find and consume and engage with as much of KH lore and theories as possible. Also i didn’t really get into “proper social networks” as a whole until 2012/2013. Weirdo i know. By then consuming these thing was a lot easier. Internet was a lot more acessible. I could just open up a tab of a KH wiki in my phone and read away from there.

And there was this rush y’know. This thing of finally seeing a finish line. Not that actually expected or even wish for KH to end but it was KH3! The big one! And remember the tension i’ve mentioned earlier? It was always kind of present and it ended up skyrocketing during this period. I was already knowledgeable about KH but during this time i was almost a goddamn lore master. I knew the whole gig inside and out. Even the weird shit from DDD. The stuff they added to the collections just kept it going too. As did X/UX (which in my grand KH tradition i too didn’t play but i think most people feel me here).

All a big ball of complex yarn and plot and madness that would SURELLY burst with KH3. After all this time all this tension it would come. Release. Answers.

But to me that was the aspect in which KH3 failed.

Now don’t get me wrong i actually like KH3. Quite a lot. And Nomura did apparently tied up a lot of arcs. The lost are found and saved. Piss Grandpa Xehanort is dead.

But it didn’t release my tension. It didn’t burst it into the magic fireworks and ecstasy. The tension is still here. Hell the tension seems even stronger now.

And a lot of it has to with how KH3 seems to still be hiding so many fucking cards from us. Literally in one case. It was a vague feeling of unceartainty before but when i came through the Sleeping Worlds theory it just RUSHED onto me. The story doesn’t feel complete.

Now this is not the same as FFXV. I have a couple of... harsh opinions about it and it’s plot and story are front and center on the list. That story was absolutelly unfinished but not in the same way. To me it feels like Nomura just HID parts of the story. We are not getting the full picture. A lot of shit is really really REALLY weird. I’m still not over Riku’s sudden haircut.

But here’s the real gag to me. Nier: Automata gave me the same feeling the first time i played it. But then i came upon route B. And then Route C. and that’s when the TRUE game showed itself. Nier kept a lot hidden but it was hidden within itself. If you just keep playing you actually can access those hidden parts and eventually you reach your true goal. The actual ending. An ending so final that you might even like giving up your save data to help somebody else achieve it too is the only true option.

Yet KH3 has no such crowning grace. At least not for now. And that’s half the reason i made this. 

KH3 feels incomplete but in a way i could really love if the game eventually completed itself. Reading the Sleeping Worlds theory i was like “omg this makes VERY much sense. but if it makes so much sense why isn’t it in the game?”. And then it clicked. DLC. It’s 100% possible the actual plot may come as DLC. 

But an even darker thought crossed my mind and it’s filing me with actual rage: This is meant to be another game. This is the Powers That Be (Nomura, Disney, Square-Enix, take your pick...) unaturally extending this “Saga” beyond it’s ending point. If it does turn out that KH3 had some dream hijinks going on then it was 100% possible and BETTER to include that in the actual game. But since KH is known for having so many side games what is the harm in doing another right?

Well you harm the integrity of your plot. I know we say the plot is hot garbage but come the fuck on that is what is holding us here. Or at least it’s what is holding me for so long. Setting up another saga is absolutelly fine but breaking away for you ending like this is even worse. How? Why? The why is probably money but still.

Or maybe KH3 is just meant as that. There is no twist not weirdness. Maybe all that is by design y’know. 

This is long enough already. I’m tired. I started writing this at 2:30 am. It’s about 4am now. I slept very little last night.

This is a big colletion of nothing i guess. Not even sure it helped me. Oh well.

[qubemagazine]

New Post has been published on Qube Magazine

New Post has been published on https://www.qubeonline.co.uk/sustainable-office-spaces/

Sustainable office spaces

NEWS FEATURES FIRE & SECURITY SUBMISSIONS RESOURCES

– what the future holds for commercial design

Whether you’re on board with ethical design or just see it as yet another corporate buzzword, there’s no denying the fact that sustainability has well-and-truly found itself a seat at the boardroom table – and it’s here to stay.

Kirsty Shearer, development director at pan-European construction firm, Agilité Solutions – which counts the likes of Booking.com, Deloitte, and Indeed.com among its client roster – looks at what the future holds for commercial design, and the role we all must play.

By no means is the commercial property sector alone in its bid to minimise humanity’s impact on the planet, but as experts in the day-to-day operations of buildings, we, as peers, are perfectly positioned to play a part in creating a sustainable future for generations to come – with efficiency and moderation in the supply chain, careful use of materials, and colleagues all proving central to its success.

Of course, management preferences, budgets, and timescales all have a considerable effect on just how sustainable any structure can be – particularly when it comes to designing for industry. But, now more than ever, we’re answering briefs which centre around a project’s carbon footprint – so change is afoot.

Although our collective conscience should want to ensure all elements of the built environment are as close to ‘net zero’ as they possibly can be – the hard truth is that it isn’t easy. Such change is as much about careful curation of products and suppliers, as it is altering behaviours and challenging the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ mentality, too.

While not often involved in the initial construction and/or fit our phases of their sites, facilities managers are in a unique position of being able to dictate – to some extent – how buildings grow and mature once they are established.

Ensuring that the places in which people work, play, learn, and live are safe, comfortable, productive, and sustainable is only a small part of a FM’s role – being held responsible for what is often an organisation’s largest and most valuable asset allows for a real contribution to the business strategy and bottom line.

In terms of sustainability, it is the collective responsibility of all who operate in the built environment to be that ‘critical friend’ and challenge what’s always been done – if there’s a way to make a site more ‘green’ at any stage of its lifecycle.

While more cost-effective and ecological operations and maintenance is a great place to start, our attentions shouldn’t end there. In fact, by empowering colleagues to strive for a development which not only creates a better future for its tenants, the building, and its occupants, we protect the future of our planet, too.

Sustainable supply chain in construction

With the best will in the world, the ability to develop a sustainable solution is only ever going to be as ‘open’ as those which highlight a company’s business strategy, outline the budget, and make the final decisions. That’s why, rather than adding such a sentiment as a ‘nice to have’, there should be a sustainability target set in every five-year plan – with all stakeholders bought into the strategy and rationale behind it.

Of course, that’s in an ideal world. But a great place to start is by making the case to source materials and labour responsibly – and preferably, locally. Negating the requirement to ship supplies across vast oceans in a bid to keep costs down, will help to reduce the emissions associated with ‘getting’ the infrastructure to site, but also means any issues can be rectified quickly, too.

With a vast pool of sub-contractors to choose from – in most locations – it pays to be picky. As well as sourcing endorsement from ‘happy customers’, look for proven eco-credentials too, particularly when it comes to recycling, travel, and the firm’s own procurement.

Naturally, there will always be cases where operations are driven entirely by budget and ambition – rather than longer-term implications of the decisions – or when it’s simply impossible to procure goods in any other fashion.

But, even if you are surrounded by people for whom ethical construction sits at the very bottom of the pile, it is still possible to make a difference. Examine your own carbon footprint, implement change if necessary, and be sure to highlight your own ‘green ambitions’ as part of any discussions.

Sustainability is about more than bricks and mortar

When considering sustainability within the built environment, it’s important to look beyond the physical elements of construction, too. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that organisations need to embrace commercial spaces which fit the bill in terms of function, form, and wellbeing.

While an overnight shift to homeworking gave the commercial landscape a complete shake-up, it has forced employees to consider what they want from their career too – as well as where they want their workspace to be.

As some brands close satellite offices in favour of one central hub, others are adopting more of a hybrid/co-working approach, with workers given the freedom to select their hours and desk locations – and in turn, their work-life balance.

Although it’s not an approach which suits every corporate entity, many organisations have woken up to the need to offer sustainable solutions not just in the bricks-and-mortar sense, but via the attitudes and environment they offer colleagues.

Flexible and remote working is here to stay, and the requirement to create a workspace that answers the needs of all who use it – be that retail, hospitality, or office staff – is firmly at the top of many priority lists. Fast-forward to 2021, and in their place are locations which support hybrid working and wellness – with hotdesking, ‘breakout’ zones, and open-plan leisure areas.

While bricks and mortar are central to any sustainability strategy, the human elements of continuity mustn’t be overlooked as we consider this ‘new normal’. Wellbeing is an important part of a living building, meaning that consideration should be given to the people who will use the space too.

From a design point of view, ‘health and safety’ should go beyond simply risk assessing areas against accidents, trips, or falls – and include a nod towards mental health too. Factor in plenty of natural light and strive to enhance people’s mood, creativity, and ability to collaborate.

Lead from the front

Including a nod to sustainability in your company’s value proposition should hopefully be a given, but bringing those to life rests solely on the shoulders of the people who live and breathe them. Simply recruiting someone based on their ‘green’ interests isn’t where investment should start and end, though. Offering continued training around what it means to be sustainable to colleagues – perhaps through CPD-accredited courses – will pay dividends in the long run.

While paper-free offices are nothing new, technology allowed many firms to maintain some semblance of ‘business as usual’ during the height of the pandemic. Switching maintenance records from physical documents to concise PDFs, embracing 360-degree photographic reports, and implementing virtual walkthroughs and handovers are all solutions which are here to stay.

And, to take that one step further, consider the potential of using green power to heat offices, reducing non-essential travel, and offsetting the environmental cost of commuting – both in-country and overseas.

Of course, as a global population – never mind industry – we still have a long way to go. But as the people behind buildings which might outlive us all, it’s our responsibility to look after them with the future firmly in mind.

  Sustainable office spaces

NEWS FEATURES FIRE & SECURITY SUBMISSIONS RESOURCES

[tkmedia]

Kobe Bryant's 40 greatest moments

Kobe Bryant has given fans some of the best moments in sports. From his elite athleticism, peerless work ethnic and insatiable desire to win, “the Black Mamba” struck fear in his opponents during his exceptional career. Here are 40 great (and not so great) moments that are classic Kobe Bryant.   1 of 40

Kobe officially buries the hatchet with Shaq

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images It’s been 14 years since the dynamic duo of Kobe and Shaq broke up in spectacular fashion. Even if they’ve been friendly in their respective retirements, they buried the hatchet on-air in an intense and intimate interview. It was a sweet ending to what was one of the most bitter feuds of the NBA.   2 of 40

Bryant shows a different side with Arianna Huffington

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Bryant was always a special basketball player, but he was famously distant from teammates and fans. No one seemed to know who the real Kobe was. But as he aged, he let more and more people in. Eventually, he would be interviewed by Arianna Huffington, and there he revealed how beautifully bizarre he was with topics ranging from his upbringing to meditation. Turns out, the Black Mamba is a human.   3 of 40

The trade request

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images After being eliminated in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Bryant did the unthinkable: requested a trade. For all of his scoring, he couldn’t carry a team of nobodies far and he wanted to go to a team where he would get support. He eventually withdrew his request, but his discontent with management motivated the move to get Pau Gasol, giving the Lakers a championship-caliber duo to build around.   4 of 40

Striking gold at the Oscars

Matt Petit/A.M.P.A.S via Getty Images Many wondered how Bryant would transition into retired life. Turns out, he stays winning. Mamba focused on his production company, swung big on his first project, “Dear Basketball,” and he came away with one of the most coveted awards a filmmaker can win. Success is not limited to the basketball court with Vino.   5 of 40

Baptizing Ben Wallace

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Bryant entered the league as a precocious, wiry teenager. General managers and coaches knew he was going to be special, but the NBA fans found out how good he was going to be when he rocked a facial over a very young Ben Wallace in the preseason of his first year. Welcome to the league, rook.   6 of 40

Destroys Nets, Game 3, 2002 NBA Finals

Fernando Medina /NBAE/Getty Images Bryant’s legacy is built on performances when his team needs it the most. In the 2002 NBA Finals, the Lakers had a chance to put the stranglehold on the Nets and go up 3-0. Bryant put up 36 points, including clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game.   7 of 40

Beats the Celtics to add to Lakers legacy

Bruce Yeung/NBAE via Getty Images There aren’t many players who are bigger basketball nerds than Kobe Bryant. So when he had the chance to add to the Lakers legacy against Boston and failed in 2008, he was devastated. Given a second chance in 2010, Bryant capitalized and added to the Lakers-Celtics lore with his fifth championship and second Finals MVP.   8 of 40

First 50-point drop at 22

Tom Hauck /Allsport via Getty Images At 22, regular dudes are maybe graduating from college, grinding it out at a job or trying to figure out whether Stacy is really into them or not. Kobe Bryant was not a normal dude at 22. A kid who should’ve been more worried about grades dropped 51 on the Golden State Warriors and established himself as one of the baddest guys in the league.   9 of 40

Stops the bleeding against the Detroit Pistons

Kent Horner/NBAE via Getty Images Unexpectedly down 1-0 to the stingy Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves with their backs against the wall in Game 2. The Pistons were up by three with 10.9 seconds when Bryant rose up from 27 feet to drain an ice cold, overtime-clinching three. The Lakers may have lost the series, but for one game Bryant carried the team.   10 of 40

Clinches first NBA Championship without Shaq

Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images Many experts doubted Bryant’s ability to get a team to the championship without Shaquille O’Neal. Given the opportunity, he did what he always does: close. Bryant put up 30 points to put away the Orlando Magic to secure his fourth championship, proving he could lead a team to the Promised Land on his own.   11 of 40

Downs the Hawks with a dunk and a shot

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images At 34 years old, people wrote off the Black Mamba as washed. In 2013, the Lakers had their detractors, but Bryant proved he was still up to the task of carrying the team when he turned back the clock to rock a poster dunk over Josh Smith and sank a game-winning shot to beat the Atlanta Hawks.   12 of 40

Wills the Lakers to victory over Raptors in 2013

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images It seems the Toronto Raptors bring out the best in Bryant. In a back-and-forth game in the last minute, he hits two clutch threes to help send the game to an extra frame. Then he shows up right on time to hit a game-winning shot to sink the Raptors and finish with 41 points.   13 of 40

Shakes and Bakes James Harden in the Drew League for a game-winner

Chris Graythen/NBAE via Getty Images When the NBA locked out its players, there was a lot of ballers who were out of a job. True to form, Bryant took his game from the bright lights to the humid gyms of Drew League, where he put on a show. Not only did he pour in 45 points, he sniped the game-winning shot over rising star James Harden. Take that, young gun.   14 of 40

Shuts down Rucker Park

Marc Lecureuil/Getty Images for Nike You never know who’s going to show up at Rucker Park in the summer. In 2002, coming off his third straight title, Bryant stepped onto the legendary court for the first time. Before going with the Black Mamba moniker, Bryant received a couple of nicknames from iconic Rucker Park announcer, Hannibal, but none stuck out more than “Lord of the Rings.”   15 of 40

Gives LeBron James a dagger

David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images LeBron James’ prime and Kobe Bryant’s didn’t quite overlap totally, but it was there long enough for some epic duels between the two. Bryant put his stamp on the rivalry with a beautiful rainbow shot over James in Cleveland to give the final blow to the Cavaliers’ chances.   16 of 40

Dunks over LeBron and wins the 2011 All-Star MVP

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Bryant always prided himself in being better than the best, and he proved it four times at the NBA All-Star Game with four MVP awards. His last one may have been the sweetest when he dunked on a trailing LeBron James and helped the West blowout the East.   17 of 40

Releases “Detail”

Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images To label Bryant a “student of the game” would be underselling his knowledge and wisdom when it comes to playing basketball. He took that IQ to the fans for easy consumption in his ESPN series, “Detail.” This gave incite to habits, tendencies and solutions that brought every basketball fan closer to the game and its intricacies.     18 of 40

1997 Slam Dunk Champ

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images An 18-year-old Kobe Bryant barely took his training wheels off when he burst into the spotlight with a series of high-flying dunks to win the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.  It would be one of many trophies Bryant would collect in his career.   19 of 40

Putting Vincent Yarbrough through the spin cycle

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images This may be one of the slickest poster dunks ever to occur in the NBA. Bryant not only dribbled the ball behind the back to get the necessary room to set up the dunk, but he also added a 360 when he could have easily just went up with two hands. Only Kobe has that much swag.   20 of 40

Welcome to the league, Dwight

Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images When Dwight Howard went to the Los Angeles, he and Bryant could not get along. I’m guessing this highlight hung over the big man’s head. If you believe this didn’t result in Howard’s hate for Kobe, you’re more naïve than Lakers management, who thought it could get Howard back after the 2013 season.   21 of 40

Great Wall of Yao crumbles

Andrew D. Bernstein/ NBAE via Getty Images The 7-foot-6 Yao Ming was a player who didn’t have many challengers in the NBA. Kobe Bryant never saw a challenge he couldn’t solve. Something had to give. (Hint: it was Yao). Oh, and Bryant scored 52 points.   22 of 40

Averages 40 points…for a month

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images Some NBA players can have a great stretch of maybe four to five games where they are on fire. For Bryant, however, a fire five-game stretch is the norm. An entire month of incredible scoring performances in February 2003? Now that is some legendary stuff.   23 of 40

Shooting free throws with a torn Achilles

Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images You think you know tough? Try sinking two free throws after ripping apart your Achilles tendon, knowing your season and career might be over.   24 of 40

Two threes to win against Portland and claim the Pacific Division in 2004

Sam Forencich/NBAE Getty Images The Lakers needed the W against the Trail Blazers to finish atop the Pacific Division and secure a higher seed in the playoffs. Portland was not going to go easily, giving Los Angeles a fight. But that’s why you have Kobe Bean to sink a game-tying shot in regulation and a game-winning rainbow in overtime. How about that, Ruben “Kobe Stopper” Patterson?   25 of 40

Four straight games of 50+ points 2007

Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images The NBA 2K video game franchise has ruined the standard for amazing performances done in real life. Bryant did his best to emulate it. He made the real thing look like the game at the rookie difficulty setting with this incredible stretch of games.   26 of 40

Downing Spain in 2008

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[trublog709]

Subtitle Workshop For Mac Free Download

Download subtitle workshop for mac for free. Audio & Video tools downloads - Subtitle Workshop XE by URUWorks and many more programs are available for instant and free download.

Subtitle Workshop. Free subtitle editor. Subtitle Workshop is a free application for creating, editing.

Subtitle Workshop, a free subtitle editor. Official website - download Subtitle Workshop and get Subtitle Workshop news and information. Subtitle Workshop is not available for Mac but there are a few alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The most popular Mac alternative is Aegisub, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't work for you, our users have ranked 23 alternatives to Subtitle Workshop, but unfortunately only two of them are available for.

Download subtitle workshop for mac for free. Audio & Video tools downloads - Subtitle Workshop XE by URUWorks and many more programs are available for instant and free download.

by Kayla Morrison • 2020-02-18 11:29:49 • Proven solutions

Have you ever seen some text script display on the bottom of a video as you watch a movie? The writing texts are known as subtitles, but you can also call them annotations or captions. They are printed translation of the dialogue of a film or video. The subtitles are displayed on the bottom of the video so that they do not interfere or obstruct what you are watching. The commonly used subtitle formats include ASS, SSA, and SRT. Various reasons necessitate the adding of subtitles to MKV. Some of the advantages include:

They are useful in translating foreign language in the movie or video.

It is multilingual thus you can add your native language.

Subtitles can be helpful in transcribing dialogues for easier understanding.

Subtitles can be added as story narrator, clip narrator and caption maker.

If you desire to add subtitles to a video, here we provide 2 tools for your selection-Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) and Apowersoft Video Converter Studio. To know the specific operations on how to add subtitles to MKV, read the information contained in this article.

Part 1. How to Add Subtitle to MKV on Mac/Windows Easily

Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate)

Your Complete Video Toolbox

Edit, enhance & personalize your MKV files

Versatile toolbox combines fix video metadata, GIF maker, cast video to TV, VR converter and screen recorder

Convert to 1000+ formats, like MKV, AVI, MOV, MP4, etc.

Convert to optimized preset for almost all of the devices

30X faster conversion speed than any conventional converters

Burn video to playable DVD with attractive free DVD template

Download or record videos from video sharing sites

Stream your videos from Windows or Mac to other devices, including Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Xbox 360 or PS3

Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista, Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6

Security Verified, 5,942,222 people have downloaded it

Wondershare UniConverter (Originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) is available for both Windows and Mac users, which works perfectly with Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6. It's such an amazing tool to add subtitles to MKV that also permits video editing to your preferred adjustments and converts MKV to other 150+ output format for playback.

Step-by-Step Guide to Add Subtitles to MKV on Mac

The steps indicated below shows the procedure for using the Mac version to add subtitles to your MKV video.

Step 1 Import MKV Videos.

Run Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate), and import your MKV files to the program. You can import files by dragging them and dropping them into the primary window. Alternatively, you can navigate to the top left side of the primary window and click the +Add Files. From there you can locate your MKV file from a browse window that will popup.

Step 2 Add Subtitle to MKV Video.

After you have successfully imported the MKV video that you want to insert the subtitles, click the icon as below to go to the editing window. Go to the top menu and then click the Subtitle tab. From there, you can load the subtitle you want to use such as the SRT, SSA, and ASS using the Triangle button.

Once the subtitle is loaded, you can see it on the MKV video. A preset style will be used by default. You can also customize the color, font, position, size, transparency and any other setting that you want to change in your subtitle. Once you finish making the changes, click the Save button to confirm the settings.

Step 3 Choose MKV output format.

You can stick the subtitle permanently to your MKV video. Just go to the Convert all tasks to and choose the MKV as your output format from the drop-down list. You can also select a device to save your MKV video and play in it directly. Such devices include iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Android smartphone.

Step 4 Start the MKV conversion.

When you have followed all the necessary steps, you can now click the Convert All button to begin the conversion. Once the process is complete, the subtitles will be exported permanently to the specified video format in the Converted section.

Part 2. Add Subtitle to MKV via Apowersoft Video Converter Studio

Apowersoft Video Converter Studio supports the addition of subtitles to MKV videos and allows for various subtitle formats such as SSA, STR, and ASS. The detailed steps are as follows.

Step 1: Install and run the Apowersoft Video Converter Studio on your PC.

Step 2: Add the MKV files by clicking the Add Files button.

Step 3: Edit your MKV video by clicking the Edit button, which will take you to an editing window.

Step 4: Hit the Subtitle icon to add your desired subtitles to MKV video.

Step 5: You can make some adjustments to the added subtitle. For instance, you can change the height, color, position and font.

Step 6: After you comfortable with the settings, you just need to click the OK button.

Step 7: Lastly you can click the ConvertKsp mod manager for mac. button to save the MKV videos with the subtitles.

After trying both tools to add subtitles to MKV video, we noticed that Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) works better as it ensures that the subtitles are added permanently without corrupting the quality of the video, whereas Apowersoft interferes with the quality of the final file.

Nothing will ruin a movie quicker than terrible subtitles. They could be totally out of sync or badly translated. Luckily, there is software out there to correct subtitles, such as Subtitle Workshop. If you are keen to edit subtitles, either as an act of personal heroism to share with fellow viewers, or perhaps as part of your job as a translator, editor or sound engineer, then you may already be familiar with this program. It is a nifty application that allows you to edit and create subtitles online. Given the increasing access to quality foreign language films and TV series, this could be a great tool.

Sterling subtitle software for beginners

The ultimate subtitle software for beginners and professionals

Subtitle Workshop is a cross-platform and open-source program for editing, creating and converting subtitles. When it comes to quick, easy and ultra-effective subtitle software, this program is pretty hard to beat. It runs on over 60 platforms, it is highly customizable and best of all, it has an exceptional Preview Mode. According to the developer it has an 'intuitive interface' and 'must have features'. They will say that though! Does it live up to the hype? We’ll take you through some of the highs and look for the lows of this software, to see if it is the best subtitle program for you.

First of all the technology itself. The latest version (SubtitleAPI version 1.05) supports around 56 formats for subtitling, and it can handle both time and frame-based text. You are behind the controls of the timing, thanks to the feature allowing you to upload plain text files. Formats including DVDSubtitle, SAMI, Sonic Scenarist, SubStation Alpha, SubViewer 1 & 2 and TMPlayer are supported. You can read and write various styles and fonts (Wingdings being a possible exception!) so you can have fun and personalize your subtitles.

Subtitle Workshop is known for its famously friendly and intuitive user interface. It was certainly a breeze to install and the in-built features are clear and easy to navigate. If you need to hone in on getting that accurate dialogue and correct spelling, then the Translator Mode gives you spell check with Microsoft Word’s engine (you will need to have Word installed) and you can toggle the 'Insert' and 'Delete' keys for speedy subtitle correcting.

Download Subtitles For Free

If you want to check your progress, simply fire up the Preview Mode, a great feature rare in these programs. In this mode, you can customize the subtitles down to the last 't' – choose the color, perfect the position and even the width of the shadow of the subtitles.

The stylistic corrections are made smooth by the powerful settings. Keep your edits a different color or font style to mark your changes. Browse the configurations and make your editing a walk in the park with the customizable automated checks. In a nutshell, this software will let you tailor make your subtitles down to the spacing, position, color font and more. It is simple, powerful and free. What is there not to like?

At the time of writing, Subtitle Workshop will not allow you to edit Chinese, Japanese or Korean subtitles (although Arabic has now been added).

Where can you run this program?

Subtitle Workshop is a cross-platform software. It is primarily used for Windows. With the trend towards mobile there is talk of developing a version for iOS and Android smartphones but this is still in the pipeline. As for the formats supported by Subtitle Workshop, it has to be handed to them that outside of the mega expensive programs used by companies this all-in-one package supports an impressive 60 plus subtitle formats.

Is there a better alternative?

While Subtitle Workshop is one of the best known and best-loved apps for efficient, highly configurable and (intuitive) editing, it is not the best. For lightning fast processing and feature-rich subtitle tools for your armory, then check out MovieCaptioner and FinalSub. They both have a commercial license, they run on Windows and MacOS and each one supports a variety of formats. Be prepared to pay the price however, these professional programs don’t come cheap. For budget alternatives, Oona Tools can be used for outsourcing your subtitles and translations for both professional and personal use. For a totally free option, check out fellow freeware N!kse.se Subtitle Edit. This is basically just like Subtitle Workshop but with more enhanced and complex features. Aegisub and Sublight also deserve honorable mentions.

Our take

With the giants of Netflix and others dominating our living rooms, unwinding in front of a movie or TV series is becoming a pretty cherished part of the evening. With access to cinema from around the world, bad subtitles are holding us back from some epic foreign language options. With Subtitle Workshop you can take ownership of the subtitles yourself. Creating subtitles is made easy, thanks to the automated timing corrections, in-built spell checker and the highly useful preview mode. Whether you are looking for software for personal or professional use, this is a great program for creating bespoke subtitles in a stream-lined and intuitive interface. Plus, you can share them with the world afterwards.

Should you download it?

Subtitle Workshop For Mac

Subtitle Workshop 6

Yes. If you are looking to create or edit subtitles for video, then Subtitle Workshop is a fantastic and comprehensive program. The controls are easy to use, and the user manual is a great guide for beginners. Professionals needing more complex features should look at alternatives like Subtitle Edit, but for the simple subtitle creation, this ticks all the boxes. Go ahead and download it and see for yourself.

6.0a

[devbloglinks]

What are 4 efficient lead generation strategies for B2B marketers?

B2B marketing strategies, regardless of their tactics, perform the same function: they signal how to reach a goal and how to allocate resources along the way. That means that the first step on any strategic journey is to define that ultimate goal. After all, marketing goals keep team members on track and allow team leaders to judge progress.

To lock down your marketing objectives, or goals, consider where your brand is positioned right now in the market. Choose two or three objectives that make sense in terms of the overall business direction and competitive landscape. Most B2B marketing strategies will work toward at least one of the following common goals:

Lead generation

Lead nurturing

Customer retention

Brand differentiation

Customer education

Profit increase

Revenue increase

Once you define a goal, decide how much you can spend on reaching it using a marketing strategy. Marketing strategies can contain dozens of activities, from live events to outsourced tasks and public relations, making them tough to budget for accurately.

Sagefrog found that CMOs of B2B healthcare, technology, industrial, and business services companies are spending 10 percent or more of their yearly budget on marketing in 2019. Not sure if you’re spending enough (or wondering if you’re spending too much)? A marketing budget template can help you keep track of just how much you’re spending and the value you get in return.

Now let’s dive deep into the strategies.

Influencer Marketing

Emotion-led Marketing

Event Marketing

LinkedIn Marketing

1.Influencer Marketing for B2B

Influencer marketing conjures images of millennials posting Instagram Stories. But it’s a powerful B2B marketing strategy in its own right. 84% of business decision-makers initiate their purchasing process by researching opinions from industry experts and peers. B2B marketing teams can tap into that behavior by using an influencer marketing strategy.

Start by identifying industry influencers. These don’t have to be people with enormous social media followings necessarily; rather, they should be people who are seen as thought leaders. Targeting so-called ‘micro-influencers’—professionals with under 10,000 followers on social media platforms—is a good way to identify people with an established community and a high niche relevance for your target audience.

Once you’ve identified relevant influencers, consider what kind of marketing activities would be of mutual benefit for both you and them. For example, webinars are often a good way to leverage an influencer’s existing community and grow brand credibility within the group.

An influencer marketing example for B2B:

Amex did exactly that when they launched the ‘Love My Store’ campaign with bloggers Grace Bonney and Emily Henderson. Both the influencers have a committed following of small business owners in the lifestyle sector.

Bonney and Henderson created designs and content to encourage business owners to place Amex signage in their store windows. The influencers documented the project via online platforms, boosting trust among target customers and creating a network-effect distribution among communities.

The campaign resulted in 400,000 Amex store window stickers being distributed, and 5 million impressions on YouTube.

Find out how to create an influencer marketing strategy from start to finish.

2- Emotion-led Marketing for B2BB2B marketing is often thought of as an emotion-free zone, a place of numbers and quantifiable results. While it’s true that B2B selling often involves marketing to multiple decision-makers, the individuals in those groups are motivated by emotions. Think with Google found that B2B purchasers are almost 50% more likely to buy a product or service when they see personal value in it.

But the emotional factors behind B2B buying are different than those behind B2C buying. In B2B, purchase decisions are often motivated by two forces:

Risk Aversion: B2B decision-makers play for high professional stakes when making a purchase decision. A decision that impacts the bottom line negatively could cost someone their job or at least their personal status within the company. IBM’s iconic sales pitch ‘Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM’ tells a truth about B2B marketing.

Groupthink: B2B decisions are made collectively. While combining executive expertise is helpful sometimes, it can also lead to groupthink, when people strive for consensus rather than choosing the best option for the organization.

An emotion-led marketing strategy can help marketers tackle these factors head-on—countering risk aversion with reassurance and groupthink with peer-to-peer marketing. This could mean a personalized referral program that connects existing and potential executive customers or a strong claim like IBM’s pitch. Both are effective ways to reassure B2B decision-makers that they’re not going out on a limb by choosing your product.

For example, business software suite Zoho allows existing customers to earn commission by becoming Partners. These third-party referrers provide personal reassurance to peers. That kind of tactic pays off: B2B companies with referral programs log a 70 percent higher conversion rate than those without and a 69 percent faster close time on sales.

But emotion-led marketing for B2B doesn’t stop at risk aversion or groupthink. Take the example of Xerox, which used emotionally positive paid ads to sell their Genuine Rewards program.

Let’s be honest: Of all the elements that make up a professional office, photocopiers are probably the least fun. Yet in a campaign that reinforced the motivational aspect of a rewards program, Xerox used goofy content videos to sell the program to team leaders looking to motivate their employees.

B2B marketing teams that take an emotion-led approach to strategy will be able to tap into the often-neglected psychological drivers behind B2B purchases. This could give you the edge over competitors solely focused on selling through logic.

Event Marketing for B2B

Thankfully, digital marketing has hardly done away with real-world events because meeting clients out in the real world is still an effective way to generate leads and close sales. Almost 75 percent of B2B marketers agree that hosted events are becoming more integral to their marketing success, not less.

Event marketing isn’t without its challenges though, particularly when you host the event from scratch. Tracking revenue back to events is notoriously tough, and event budgets can spiral upwards faster than most marketing strategies spend. Making an event marketing strategy work for your B2B business is about aligning activities closely to goals and keeping a tight rein on activities.

Consider these 3 tactics when incorporating an event into your B2B marketing strategy:

Define Event Type

Start by figuring out the right type of event for your goals. If your marketing goal is strong growth, large events like trade shows or conferences can generate a large number of leads. If your objective is to shorten the sales cycle, intimate self-hosted events can move leads down the sales pipeline faster.

You’ll probably find yourself choosing one of the following event types:

Trade show

Conference

Invite-only self-hosted event

Public self-hosted event

Webinar

Remember, a 360 strategy could involve more than one type of event as long as your budget stretches to it. Once you have your event type and budget in place, you’ll need to set goals and define what success looks like for your event.

3- Promote the Event

Effective promotion is vital for a successful B2B event. Email marketing is best for events that aim to move existing leads down the sales funnel. When it comes to lead capture, you could experiment with paid ads on niche industry sites, or engage your micro-influencers in event promotion. Also, it might be worth experimenting with social media promotion depending on your B2B niche.

Even if you’re attending someone else’s event, promote your company’s attendance with relevant Twitter hashtags and perhaps even Facebook Live videos. If permitted by the event organizer, get a list of attendees ahead of time to reach out on LinkedIn to connect with possible leads before event kick-off.

Capture Leads Effectively

Make sure you’ve got processes in place to capture as many leads as possible from the event. That information will need to get into your CRM system without any leaks. Three out of four B2B marketers say their current mix of technology and resources doesn’t work for them, resulting in lost data around leads, spend, and revenue according to The 2018 State of B2B Event Marketing Report.

As the event gets closer, keep an eye on your lead count. Are you on track to accomplish the goals you set out when you defined what success looks like? If not, circle back to the step above and find new ways to promote your event.

Cutting-edge software like Leadature allows marketers to collect lead information by scanning QR codes on attendee badges. That information is then sent to the cloud and integrated into a CRM. If your budget doesn’t stretch to that kind of software, promoting the event on a platform like Eventbrite also allows you to collect the email addresses of everyone who signed up. You can then manually export these.

GE’s Healthymagination events are a great example of B2B events for a niche audience. The Healthymagination initiative brings innovative healthcare technology to underserved communities worldwide. The campaign’s events help sell the initiative—and the GE-produced technologies it uses—to health and development professionals.

Seven hundred industry professionals attended the event to watch giant movie screens on which doctors shared how GE’s healthcare technology improved health in rural communities. GE not only generated a pool of 700 leads and potential brand advocates, but they also built positive associations for the company and its products.

4- LinkedIn Marketing for B2B

B2B topics may not often (ever?) go viral on Twitter or Instagram. But B2B digital marketing strategies can crucial role in your overall marketing plan. LinkedIn in particular can be a rich source of leads and traffic.

The professional network is 277 percent more effective at generating B2B leads than Facebook and Twitter and generates 64 percent of all social media visits to corporate websites. Marketing consultant Louis Camassa goes so far as to claim that “LinkedIn is where 80 percent of B2B leads are generated on social media.”

Marketers that choose a LinkedIn-focused digital marketing strategy can follow this three-step playbook.

Identify Potential Customers

Proactively identify potential decision-makers for your brand. LinkedIn provides Advanced Search features that allow you to filter profiles by company, industry, location, school, profile language, and nonprofit interests.

For teams using Premium LinkedIn features, the Sales Navigator feature recommends possible leads based on your brand’s specifications and integrates that information in your CRM.

Connecting with these potential customers will expose them to more of your brand’s content. If you’re using more aggressive tactics, Premium LinkedIn users can send prospects Sponsored InMails.

Segment Audiences Using Showcase Pages

Just like you create specific landing pages on your website to speak to different audiences, Showcase Pages allow your brand to target specific customer segments within LinkedIn. Large, multi-faceted companies like Salesforce have a ton of Showcase Pages.

By breaking out pages for different customer groups such as sales teams and development teams, Salesforce uses Showcase Pages to deliver targeted content and build brand awareness on a micro-level.

On top of that, the platform recently introduced native video, similar to Facebook Live or Instagram Stories. This feature won’t be right for every B2B brand, but streaming native video can help certain B2B companies appear more authentic and extend their brand presence on the network.

Generate Leads

Frictionless lead capture is the Holy Grail for B2B marketers. You can avoid having potential leads fall out of the pipeline by using LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms. When a potential lead clicks on your brand’s sponsored content ad, an in-app form is automatically filled with their profile data. They can submit that form without ever having to navigate away from the app.

Once submitted, marketing teams get the lead’s name and contact info, company name, seniority, job title, and location.

Enterprise software multinational SAP is a great example of a multi-pronged LinkedIn marketing strategy. They use Showcase Pages to connect with different audiences, employ prospecting tool Sales Navigator to connect with leads and distribute their message through short-form video.

This broad-brush LinkedIn playbook can be tweaked into a leaner B2B digital marketing strategy based on ongoing results.

Want to know more? leave a comment below.

[2sem2]

JARGON

let’s touch the base

thats a no-brainer

this is going to be a game changer

just pick it up and run with it

we are on a journey

its in the mission statement

i want you to leverage your synergies- use design senese to guide this project

lets get our ducks in a row

make it disruptive

youll be having a 360 view

start building a consensus

we are working with silos here

we are sticking to our corer competency

give you aheads up

youll be able to focus on a critical idea for us

take that offline

there is a low hanging fruit

customercentric

they were first to market

results driven, pushback, insourcing, cosourcing, outsourcing

📷

negative growth

bandwith

leverage synergies

risk averse, strategic fit, paradigm shoft, core competency, downsizing, rightsizing, plate’s full

-its the next big thigng=best in the given category=ongoing change of paradigm= lets do a brainstorming=little bit of a visionary=im a team player, accepting only team players=strategize,analyze,incentivize= it is the 20/80 rule= we must fulfill the expectactions= we are leaving the money on the table=we have to do a bit of due dilligence=im the bringer of changes=its going viral=we have an open door policy=adding value=we are doing a reogranization=following the bestpractices=EQ/IQ

SPRING

plain environment erroded by the wind. two figures at best and a car. choosing walking around. what would you do pick up some materials, interests examiners. building being built. choosing by the wind choice is made the ui is being built. talkative direction. pick up the object which will be chosen to you, given to you. swiftness and cars acceleration, cars overgrown with moss, with spring flowers. meadows and intuition.

screams morning, anger, childhood, crying, anger. planning.

DIALOGUE

on with this idea right from the get go.

there will come a time to realize what is supposed to be, however now we have to make sure to start on the right path.

--car

--letters

--finding the pieces of the ui, the talk. end of regeneration

UI

-dialogue box

-stamina-high then low

-health- low then high

-items

START

-company ex year, seeds, sundown, sprouts, the main cause of the whole to continue what could it be. office computer lifts, cars, letters, forms, phones, talks, folders, lifts, escalators, doors, enter, building. suits, trackers, what could there be. spring two people waiting in the lobby, fast always changing, the foreword to the great finalle.

what is the environment- it is firts a smaller building with offices ye enter to. the short dialogue with the people, the garage door, the car in the office, why would you wish to jump to any conclusions, that is not a part of the process. no. that is not a part of the process. at the beginning many are born, at the end of the start half of it will die so the best of the best will remain to create what comes next.

escalators, lifts, going, excruciate, exterminate, demoralize

END

SUMMER

sun high up in the sky. mania. prosperity. lion, sun.

sincerity, face, heart, burns.mars laughter- starts with ends with and melts.

dialogue-

each plant takes different envrionemnt and different amount of time to bloom. there can be prosperity in any age.

AUTUMN

singing, honesty, redistribution. crying. saturn, yellow. sun evening. vines, apples pears.

walk and put it back to place.

dialogue-

to be the most honest one. so we can continue with the prosperity.

take what is left, and learn from it. how else would you have done succeed?

WINTER

sadness, strenght of will, diplomacy.

break the elements and distribute them. let them calm. diplomacy. figure in the distance. old, to mend. howling. water. adaptability. no matter the state, no matter the surface you will be there wont you. go as waterddoes. it is winter, boat, ice.

ACTUAL

Spring

whas should i focus on

establish somekind of a due dilligence. none will go unnotice, amke sure to give us a report.

to whom exactly? trying to maintain a strict open door policy.

-- we have this one idea, this few ideas more likely. will you be the one to decide which is the corrrect one?

have you come to establish ideas or to determine them? does not matter, we have enough of them already.

what you will do is help us choose, the choice is not yours, but play your part well and you will go with the flow.

This is a low hanging fruit right here. One among many, bet it will go viral in just a few hours.

what is this next big thign you are talking about

the first month was cold, something in the air, one could be sure we are all going on a journey.

next month?

let us brainstorm, we are all visionaries here after all. Establishing a stric open door policy to top it.

the third mo-

dont even ask, this product is gonna be a game changer.

-----------car thing======

summer

Told you to pick it up and run with it, no going back at this stage, nto that anyone would even want to.

What? we made it disruptive, focus on the critical idea.

Not want to push a burnout on anyone would we?

We are team players, accepting only team players

the prices are up, the money is here. there is so much to loose and at this point it feels like onothing. it is in our core competency to fulfill the expectations. we expect to be more results driven.

Secondly we have already went viral. spread outside the world like fire. Should we attribute it to all the insourcing or was it inevitable already?

third month and the plate was full ,make sure to incentivize the next harvest.

====

AUTUMN

we shoudl start the first part with more co-sourcing. there are still opportunities to be taken yet the fire is fading and we cannot expect them to last much longer.

to incentivize the same amount of success in the next cycle we need to have an actual 360 view of the practices used in the recent months.

Starting second month is to remember to push forward our custommer centric designs. moderate the time and utilize the strict 20/80 rule. otherwise it could be said that we are just leaving the money on the table.

the third month/---

WINTER

reorganization,

get our ducks in a row.

core competency

outsourcing

mission statement

what is

remember the flow always finds a way

shaping the environment to its will

no matter the state no atter the environment we will be there. outsource,

reorganize

focus. diplomacy.

core competency.

melt , flow, evaporate, pour, solidify.

[allgasnosxc]

He Had an R.V., a Camera and a Plan to Document America. Was That Enough? Andrew Callaghan, 23, built a following with his YouTube series “All Gas No Brakes.” This month, he announced that he’d left the show. Here’s what happened.

Since 2019, Andrew Callaghan, 23, has been crisscrossing the country in a beat-up R.V. with his two best friends, documenting the absurd, outrageous and infuriating aspects of American life.

“All Gas No Brakes,” his popular YouTube show, features dispatches from the road and conversations with Bigfoot hunters, protesters, porn stars, Proud Boys and lots of partyers, from Bourbon Street to Burning Man.

Through his reporting, Mr. Callaghan — 6-foot-3, with a mess of curly hair and a uniform of oversized taupe suits — has earned a following of 1.7 million on YouTube and thousands of paid supporters on Patreon.

But recently, fans have been wondering if his show is over. He hasn’t posted on YouTube since mid-November. The show’s social media accounts have been inactive for months. His podcast last released an episode on Jan. 15. “What is happening to All Gas No Brakes?” one fan commented below the show’s last Instagram post, in January.

On Tuesday, March 9, fans were met with a cryptic message posted to the “All Gas No Brakes” Instagram account. “Sorry for the lack of content … the team is still working on a secret project that we can announce soon,” the statement read. “In the meantime we’re officially taking the show international and we’re looking for correspondents from around the world.” Soon after, Mr. Callaghan issued a statement on his personal Instagram account.“I am no longer associated with All Gas No Brakes,” the statement read. “I no longer receive any of the Patreon crowdfunding, YouTube monetization, or any other income. My team, Nic and Evan, who lived in the R.V. and created the original material with me, are also no longer involved. We have no control over any AGNB pages or future of the show.”“I signed an employment contract without reading it,” Mr. Callaghan added. “Lesson learned.” Hitting the Road  Mr. Callaghan started “All Gas No Brakes” in the fall of 2019. He’d graduated that year from Loyola University New Orleans, where he’d been accepted on a full scholarship.

As a teenager in downtown Seattle, he’d covered the Occupy movement, Juggalos, the online black market known as Silk Road and Seattle’s rap scene for his student newspaper.

“He’s always surrounded himself with odd people and been really able to talk to very odd people and allow them to feel seen and comfortable in ways some of the oddest among us don’t always feel,” said Owen Borges, 24, a filmmaker and friend of Mr. Callaghan’s who briefly worked on “All Gas No Brakes.

”During his senior year of college, Mr. Callaghan filmed a series called “Quarter Confessions,” featuring interviews with inebriated people on Bourbon Street. The series earned him coverage in Loyola’s student newspaper.

“Wherever he went, a moderate crowd would follow, some for a chance in front of the camera, others just to watch the spectacle unfold,” a reporter for The Loyola Maroon wrote in 2019.

When he graduated, Mr. Callaghan knew he wanted to take his interviews on the road. The summer after his freshman year, he’d hitchhiked across America for 70 days, meeting all kinds of people. But to do that full time, he’d need money: for transportation, to hire a video team, and basic living costs.

Mr. Callaghan connected with Doing Things Media, a company founded in 2017 that had built a network of popular meme accounts, in the hopes of brokering a partnership.

The founders, Derek Lucas and Reid Hailey, monetized the accounts by producing branded content, selling merchandise and licensing videos. At the time, Doing Things was interested in making more original content. Mr. Hailey said he had seen Mr. Callaghan’s videos from New Orleans and felt that his work could be a fit for the brand.

“I was like, ‘Yo, if you guys buy me this R.V., I’ll make a sick show out of it and it’ll be a cultural exploration of America,’” Mr. Callaghan told Vice in a video from January. “That’s how it started: I convinced a company to buy me an R.V.” (He declined to comment for this article.)

In addition to the R.V., Doing Things offered Mr. Callaghan a salary of $45,000, plus additional money for equipment and production costs, and later, profit-sharing, according to people involved in the agreement. They hired two of Mr. Callaghan’s childhood best friends, Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz, to help make the show. All Mr. Callaghan had to do was sign a contract. It was a no-brainer.

The group set off in the fall of 2019. Mr. Callaghan, always dressed in his signature suit, interviewed people at Burning Man, the Area 51 raid, a Flat Earth conference and a festival for furries (people who dress up as anthropomorphic animal characters for fun); the tone of the show was often humorous. As Mr. Callaghan’s audience grew, he started to get recognized at events.

Doing Things pushed the crew for higher output but continued to grant Mr. Callaghan creative control.

Political News or ‘Party Content’?

In late May, the crew traveled to Minneapolis to cover the protests after the killing of George Floyd. Mr. Callaghan felt that many news outlets, in focusing on looting and fires, hadn’t captured the anguish of the protesters.

“It wasn’t so much of me being like, ‘Let me get political because I want to get more of a liberal audience,’” Mr. Callaghan told Vice. “It was like, ‘Media is not covering this. The media is not talking to the people causing destruction in Minneapolis and figuring out why.’”

His followers relied on him to make sense of the events. “The Minneapolis video set the show to a completely different level,” said Nate Kahn, 24, a podcast producer and videographer in Los Angeles who worked on “All Gas No Brakes.” “It basically went from funny one-minute Instagram clickbait to an actual boots-on-the-ground news source.”

According to people who worked on the show, Mr. Hailey asked Mr. Callaghan to focus on “party content” rather than news. “Reid from Doing Things was constantly pressuring us to make the show less political,” said Mr. Kahn.

Still, “All Gas No Brakes” continued to cover current events: anti-lockdown protests, a Proud Boys rally and the protests against police brutality in Portland.

Mr. Callaghan, in partnership with Doing Things, also entered into a development deal with Abso Lutely Productions, helmed by the comedians Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, to turn the show into a longform project.

When shooting for that project began in October, Mr. Callaghan was still expected to produce content for Instagram and YouTube on the side, according to several people who worked on the show. Doing Things continued urging Mr. Callaghan to stick to humor, rather than news and politics.

“Andrew wanted to prioritize the things he cared about and was inspired by — the conditions of the pandemic, the end of the election cycle — rather than just crank out content for the purpose of being monetized by Doing Things Media,” said Lance Bangs, 48, a filmmaker and director in Portland, Ore., who worked on “All Gas No Brakes.”

Mr. Callaghan and his two best friends were parking the R.V. in Walmart lots and showering only when they could. “They were truly a three-person team making everything,” said Mr. Bangs.

Doing Things had started a Patreon for the show. Mr. Callaghan received 20 percent of the profits from the show and another 20 percent was split among other members of the show; Doing Things received the remaining 60 percent. (The company confirmed the figures.)

“It was a 360 deal where Doing Things owned everything Andrew did,” Mr. Kahn said. “They offered him a ‘promotion,’” he explained, but it included a six-month extension of his contract. Mr. Callaghan had also signed over the rights to the brand’s intellectual property and the name “All Gas No Brakes” to Doing Things.

‘This Is Not the End’

By the end of 2020, the relationship between “All Gas No Brakes” and Doing Things was strained. The crew wanted to produce independent journalism; and didn’t feel they could do that under the umbrella of Doing Things.

“We are always thinking about how to turn our social presence into a product,” Mr. Hailey told The Hustle in November of last year. “Can we make a game? Can we make a beverage?”

Mr. Callaghan’s image became commodified as merchandise. “I remember being in my house and seeing my best friend’s face on air fresheners, Hawaiian shirts and I.P.A. beer cans,” said Mr. Kahn. There were also action figures. Mr. Kahn said the pressure to produce content and the loss of control over the brand began to take a toll on his friend. “He was incredibly stressed,” Mr. Kahn said.

In mid-December, Mr. Callaghan asked for a larger portion of the Patreon earnings and to get out of his contract, which was set to expire in February 2022. A few days after the request, Doing Things locked Mr. Callaghan, Mr. Gilbert-Katz and Mr. Mosher out of the “All Gas No Brakes” social media profiles, citing a security issue.

“Andrew said this was a punishment for us not creating enough content for them and he wished he never signed the deal,” Mr. Kahn said.

In February, Doing Things sent a letter to Mr. Callaghan saying his job would be terminated if he didn’t produce two pieces of Patreon content by March 1. The company fired Mr. Gilbert-Katz and Mr. Mosher, and tried to get Mr. Callaghan to hand the show over to a new host. He refused, and on March 4, he was fired too.

“We’re really bummed it didn’t work out with Andrew,” Mr. Hailey, the C.E.O. of Doing Things, said in a statement. “He was the heart and soul of the show. It was a special moment in time and we’re excited we got to be a part of it. We wish him the absolute best and we’ll be watching along with everyone else for where he goes next.”

Mr. Callaghan is still working on the longform project with Abso Lutely and Doing Things. And he’s assured his fans there’s more to come.

“This is not the end,” he wrote on Instagram Stories last week. “It’s a new beginning to a truly independent and bright future for all of us. Stay tuned. Love y’all.”

[mysteriouslylegendarydream]

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App for macbook pro. Portable monitors are still fairly expensive (and bulky), luckily, though, you can use an iPad instead using a nifty app called Duet. Just realize that the bandwidth isn’t quite what you would get with one of the, so it can be a bit laggy when you bump the quality up. Price: £14.99 (around $20 or AUS$25)If you’re anything like us, working on just one monitor or screen is just painful. But it’s still better for watching videos, reading websites and typing up documents. Developed by ex-Apple engineers, it works by tethering your iPad to your Mac using one of Apple’s Lightning cables and firing up the app on both devices.You can then drag apps and windows onto your iPad’s screen just like you would with a second monitor, and if you have a more recent iPad with a Retina display, you’ll get the full benefit of all those beautiful pixels.

VPN 360 is very essential because your network will be protected whenever you are connected to it. You can prevent yourself from getting hacked because this app will encrypt the connection between you and the website you are accessing.

Whenever you use it, the following that we provided were not the only benefits of this application. The other benefits of this VPN apps are to hide your IP address from outside network. That’s why you can access a country-specific blocked website.

It is also beneficial for people who love to use facebook, youtube or any other social networking app without anyone knowing that you are surfing from these websites. With this feature, you can expect your connection to be anonymous and secured, giving you complete privacy online.

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This VPN app will also let you ignore strict firewall rules from their switch or routers. Allowing you to enjoy accessing websites that you wanted.

Since VPN 360 have a lot of advantages and benefits, most of you wanted to use it on a computer. But the problem is, no version was released for the Windows and Mac OS. But there’s a trick that will let you run VPN 360 for PC so continue reading this whole article.

How To Use VPN 360 App On PC

If you are one of the people who are looking for a way to install and use the VPN 360 app, then you must follow our simple guidelines that you can see below. Make sure that your computer has enough resources such as free disk space and RAM.

To get this app working, we are going to use a tool for emulating the Android Operating System like BlueStacks. With this software, you can almost download and run all games and apps on your computer as long as it is based on Android. This means that you can also use the VPN 360 on PC using this tool.

You Might Also Like: Kiwi VPN Free For Windows And Mac

Steps To Download And Install VPN 360 For PC

First, make sure that you have an internet connection and then go to the website of BlueStacks emulator. This is required for running VPN 360 app so this is the only choice for now.

The second step is to download and then install it to your computer or laptop. Make sure that you download the installer for the Operating System that you are using, for example, if you are using Windows OS, then get the Windows version, else, Mac version.

The third step is to accept all of its terms and condition and then click next to continue the installation of BlueStacks emulator for your PC.

The fourth step is to enter your Google account ID from the PlayStore since you need it in order to install VPN 360 on your PC. Wait for the set up to finished and when it does you can proceed to the next step.

Next, you need to download the app that you wanted to install, use the search function and then look for the VPN 360 using the search function. You can click the install button after you found it.

Installing this will finally allow you to run VPN 360 app on PC. So go ahead and open the app after the installation. This is the most simple way of installing this app on your computer but if you want to use an alternative way of installing VPN 360, you skip the PlayStore activation.

Must Download: Free Download VPN Melon For PC – Windows & Mac

Installing VPN 360 App Using The APK Installer

If you don’t like to provide your Gmail ID, that is also fine. So, the first thing you need to do is to get the installer file and look for Google.

Run the BlueStacks emulator and hover your mouse to the triple-dot located at the upper left side of the emulator. Now click install apk so that you can add the APK of VPN 360 that you have downloaded recently.

This will start the BlueStacks to run this application and finally start using the VPN app on your PC. However, this method has a small drawback. The APK file does not automatically update itself so to get the latest version, you need to download it again.

Installation Of VPN 360 App With Nox Emulator

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If you wish to try a different emulator, you can also check NoxPlayer for running Android-based software. To make the VPN 360 works on your computer, follow the installation procedure below:

Download the NoxPlayer from its website which you can access from here. That link will direct you to its one and only official website.

Run the setup file of NoxPlayer and configure it.

Wait until the set up completed and then enter your account of Google.

Open PlayStore and search for the VPN 360 app.

Install and wait for it.

Go back to Home and then click the icon of VPN 360. Now you can enjoy using this app on your PC.

Also Check: Free Fast VPN Service

Conclusion

VPN 360 is beneficial and one of the best apps that you can use for free. They also offer a premium version that will provide you a faster connection and more option for choosing a server location. Thanks for the emulator without it, we cannot run the VPN 360 for PC.

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Privacy is major concern and with increasing heinous cybercrimes, one has to be very careful while browsing Internet. To keep your online privacy intact and access websites blocked in your country, you can use VPN. With VPN installed on your Mac, you can hide your IP address and access blocked content easily.

VPN expands the horizon and expose you to wide variety of content, which you couldn’t access in your area. Moreover, it is an excellent tool which you help you to maintain privacy and anonymity when surfing the web. Most VPN are available at a minimal cost but if you are looking for a VPN app, we will help you with that. Before that, you need to know what a VPN does and how to choose best free VPN for Mac?

What A VPN Does & How To Choose Best Free VPN For Mac?

VPN acts much like a firewall and it enables users to safely access private network and make it easy to share data remotely via public networks. Mostly VPN services takes help of a desktop application that runs in background encrypting your data when browsing web. However, this is not the ultimate solution to protect your privacy, but just a part of it. Before choosing a free VPN for Mac, you need to consider a few things. Some of them are free bandwidth, major locations, P2P, ad blocking and more. We have listed some of the best VPN services for Mac, have a look!

1. CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN a complete VPN solution that allows you to access blocked site, stream sport events, play region locked games and more. Let’s look at the features of CyberGhost VPN:

Connects you with everything keeping privacy intact

It hides your Wi-Fi address, to make online browsing secure.

Protects your online identity guards and secures your banking transaction.

One tap protection to encrypt data transfer.

Automatically connects you with the best matched server based on the location.

Lets you enjoy your Internet without any restriction.

CyberGhost VPN provides 24/7 customer support via live chat.

2. Surfshark

Surfshark is a secure VPN that provides private access to open Internet. This VPN encrypts all Internet traffic shared between devices. Plus, users IP address is also hidden so that nobody can track your online activity. Let’s look at the features of the Surfshark in detail:

It gives a clean browsing experience by blocking ads, malware and more.

It allows specific apps and websites to bypass the VPN.

It comes with AES 256-GCM encryption to safeguard personal information from hackers and third parties.

It offers camouflage mode so that no one including your Internet provider can’t identify that you are using a VPN.

3. Nord VPN

Nord VPN is one of the best free VPN for Mac as it provides secure and private network. Let’s look at the features of Nord VPN:

It protects you while on public Wifi networks, annoying ads, secure your online activity from malware and other cybercrimes.

It enables you to secure up to 6 devices with single Nord VPN account.

It lets you enjoy your Internet with no boundaries, no matter where you travel.

It secures your IP address so that nobody can track which websites you surfed and what files you downloaded.

Nord VPN comes with excellent customer service which are always ready to support every hour of the day

4. HotSpot Shield

HotSpot Shield is a secure VPN which comes with ultra-fast VPN servers which comes with military grade encryption. Let’s look at the features of Hotspot Shield:

It supports all platforms, so you can download Hotspot Shield and access on whichever device you want.

You can get secure access to Internet without being hacked or tracked.

It hides your IP address, physical location of VPN server.

Hotspot Shield VPN doesn’t log your browsing activity, so your ISP can’t keep a track of websites or apps that you use.

HotSpot Shield comes with Kill Switch protection which protects your identity if the connection is lost for some time so that you are not vulnerable even for a second.

5. TunnelBear

TunnelBear is a secure VPN that works well and provides private connection to less restricted Internet. With this free VPN, you can hide your IP address and location from websites, ads and hackers. Let’s look at the features of the TunnelBear in detail:

It comes with AES 256-bit encryption which safeguards your personal information from third parties and hackers while using public Wi-Fi.

It makes accessing emails, domestic news, favorite sites whilst travelling abroad.

It limits advertisers from tracking your online activities.

You get to stream faster with TunnelBear VPN and also you can avoid getting tracked by ISP.

TunnelBear is one of the best VPN software for Mac as it doesn’t log any activity of its customers and keep the privacy intact. You can also use TunnelBear against VPN blocking with Ghostbear feature as it makes your VPN data less prone to detection to ISPs, governments or others.

6. Express VPN

Express VPN is a high speed, easy to use and setup which makes best vpn for MacOS. It is secure & anonymous which makes it easier to keep you off the radar of hackers and privacy intruders. Let’s look at the features of Express VPN:

It helps you to unblock the websites and apps across 94 countries.

It has a huge network of more than 2000 global VPN servers with faster connections, unlimited bandwidth.

You can use Express VPN service for Mac, iOS, Windows, Linux and Android.

It lets you stream or download anything from anywhere in the world without revealing IP address to intruders.

Express VPN comes with 256-bit AES encryption, kill switch, DNS/IPv6 leak protection, and split tunneling. It comes with 148 VPN server locations in 94 countries with unlimited server switches.

7. VYPR VPN

VYPR VPN is one of the best VPN services for Mac which gives you Internet privacy and freedom to browse any site without any intrusion. Let’s have a look at the features VYPR VPN:

It offers OpenVPN, Chameleon, PPTP and L2TP/IPsec, so you can choose your preferred level of speed, encryption and protection.

It lets you connect to any VyprVPN server without any limitations, server switching apps, and download caps.

Vypr VPN offers more than 70 server locations across six continents.

When you connect to VyprVPN, your ISP can only see encrypted traffic.

Vypr VPN has NAT firewall to provide an extra layer of security. It has a support team which works 24*7*365 to help you via email or live chat.

8. Hide me

Hide me is one of the best VPN software for Mac if you want to maintain your anonymity and encrypts your connection. Let’s take a look at the features of Hide.me:

It has more than 150 dedicated gigabit servers through Europe, The United States and Asia so that you can access websites securely.

me manage and create without logging user data or activities. So, your information never goes to third party.

It has various VPN protocols such as PPTP, SoftEther, SSTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN and IKEv2

It comes with AES 256-bit encryption with 8192-bit keys.

Hideme works on MacOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Routers, Linux, Smart TVs, and Consoles. It provides you complete protection against IPv6, IP leaks and DNS leaks.

9. Private Tunnel

Private Tunnel is one of the best free VPNs for Mac which comes with more than 50 VPN servers over 23 regions in 12 countries. Let’s take a look at the features of Private Tunnel:

It masks your public IP address and encrypt connections to protect your privacy.

It protects your network from online threats, reducing cyber-attacks, spoofing & DDoS attacks.

It connects your devices to unrestricted access to websites and information.

It provides 24*7 customer support online via ticketing system and chat support.

Private Tunnel comes with AES encryption, AES block size makes it less prone to attacks than others. It encrypts traffic, secure connections on Wifi HotSpots as well.

10. Windscribe

Windscribe is a secure VPN which unlocks all locations and comes with config generator. It secures your identity by hiding your IP and timestamp. Let’s look at the features of Windscribe:

It has larger network which comes with server in over 55 countries and 100 cities.

It has strongest encryption which has AES-256 cipher with SHA512 auth and a 4096-bit RSA key.

It helps you generate OpenVPN, SOCKS, and IKEv2 config for all your devices.

It blocks all connectivity outside the tunnel to avert all types of hacks and leaks.

With this VPN, your computer becomes a secure Wi-Fi router. You can change your time zone and access the websites blocked for your location. Windscribe blocks ads and trackers to ditch the hackers.

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11. Speedify

Best Free Vpn For Mac

Speedify is yet another best free VPN for Mac which comes with bonding technology, which enables you to use multiple Internet connections concurrently to get maximum speed. Let’s take a look at the features of Speedify:

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You get better streaming, live broadcast without throttled Internet connection.

You can set preferences rules for all the Internet connections individually to monitor usage.

The server network covers 28 countries so that you get better connection on the basis of availability and latency.

This VPN also improves latency, reduce lag for faster gameplay and trustable performance.

It uses a ChaCha- or AES-based encryption algorithm, depending on device support to provide security. Speedify has no log VPN policy so nothing is traced or tracked back.

Is a Free VPN the Right Solution for Your Mac?

There are plenty of free VPNs in the market however, not every one of them work well on your Mac. You have to be very careful with free VPNs as they come with restrictions such as limited data transfer, pop-up ads, slow speeds and more. Although, there are other harms of using it such as planting trackers, intruding your security and privacy.

Therefore, we have listed some of the safest and free unlimited VPN for Mac to help you maintain your anonymity and surf online without any restrictions and worries.

[jamierenfrey]

Week 5a - Development: Unicorns Rage!

Objective

This week I set out a number of large tasks to bring this game into fruition and meet as close as possible to my overall vision. Being that the design sprint challenge 2 is based on asteroids, I really wanted to play on the style and twist the concept.

Goals

Now that I have developed a greater understanding of GDevelop and its events system, I set forth newer challenges in comparison to the last design challenge;

Mechanic: Particle Beam

Global Variables: Health, Mana, Level Timers, High Scores

Character Selections: Choice of coloured Unicorns

Scenes: Title, Character Select, Win/Lose, HighScore, 3 Levels

Mechanic: Rotations Without Gravity to Recharge Mana

Mechanic: Different Moves

Dynamic Screen: Destroyed Planet with Partices and Debris Loop

Sounds: Self Voiced Effects for Spawns, Attacks and Enemy

Mechanic: Random Enemy Spawner

Mechanic: Multi-Directional Player Movement

Challenges and Solutions

To establish a playtestable game I encountered an array of problems. Learning from my previous experiences with the last challenge, I didn’t move on to the next challenge until I had a solution for what I was presently working on. At the very minimum, almost every mechanic I introduced was solely playtested 20 times, some a lot more so.

Mechanic: Multi-Directional Player Movement

Challenge

The overall goal for this game was that the player would rotate in different directions around asteroids and attack enemies while spinning. Then as another asteroid would move closer by force, the player could jump to the other asteroid.

After at least 50 playtests and a multitude if different event condition structures I found that for every degree the player rotated around an asteroid, of any direction, the move which would be set at a certain point of a sprite, accross any animation or frame, would start 2 degrees behind the intended point and continue to start further behind for every additional degree the player rotated.

After countless hours of searching the internet and many feeble attempts to rectify this, changing points, conditions, instances, etc, I discovered that, unfortunately Gdevelop is limited in its point system and there wasn’t a solid way around this.

Solution

To have the moves with decent effect, I had to introduce multi directional movement of the player. However, I did not scrap the idea of rotating around the asteroids, I used it in a different and unique way.

I accomplished the multi directional movement by simply adding the multi directional movement behaviour to the player.

Mechanic: Particle Beam

Challenge

The challenge with this particular mechanic was directional. Initially, I created a rainbow object to fire only once while rotating around asteroids, as mentioned above, unfortunately it was not possible and a lot of time was lost to attempting to fix this.

Once I had decided to move forward with a different idea, it was easy enough to create a particle attack in any direction and angled correctly to player angle and direction.

The challenge that I faced later down the track was changing the particle colours to link to the player selected unicorn as I intended to have the particle effects match the colour of the player.

Solution

I created the basis of the moveset for one player and toward the end of production, duplicated the effects and scenes and linked the correct effects to player colour.

Global Variables: Health, Mana, Level Timers, High Scores

Challenge

I had only used variables based on objects prior to this design sprint. Global variablkes were easy enough to traverse, however, in my rush I duplicated instances but did not chage the string conditions correctly, resulting in health being affected for a mana altering instance for example.

Solution

I combed the events page for each scene intricately to double check each condition and instance aligned as intended. After many play through tests I had the system working as expected.

Character Selections: Choice of coloured Unicorns

Challenge

I left this particular inclusiomn until the very end of production. The reason being, I felt that by creating the game with the basic player first, I could replicate the scenes and change the player based on character.

Because I chose to have differing move colours, this resulted in having to comb through a long events page for my first character and ensuring I changed the events to meet the character of choice, ie collisions, particles, behind the scenes objects, forces, etc.

I also duplicated every scene and added the colour behind the name then playtested through each colour to ensure it all linked up correctly and so I could identify sections I missed.

A number of hours were spent editing the inital sprite to be a basic white, so that each following character frame was easier to paintbucket all with the desired hex colour. In total I edited 80 frames then duplicated in the root file path for each coloured player. Days were spent on this, shout out to the animaters yet again! hard hard work.

Solution

To save time, after doing one player colour, I thought “maybe I could do ctrl-F to find and replace each item”, to my surprise, this is a feature in Gdevelop, which shaved hours of my production! Once the first round of colours were done, I simply had to ctrl-F “pink” (example) and replace with “Blue” and every event updated instantly with no error. I still double checked for my own sanity!

Scenes: Title, Character Select, Win/Lose, HighScore, 3 Levels

Challenge

Creating multiple scenes to link the players selection.

Due to leaving the player choice to last, I sillyly did not consider how many scenes I would end up having to make. I believe final count was 37, drastically increasing the size of the game and making, in actuality, 6 individual games.

Solution

Rather than delete scenes and comnb back through all events at the end of production (for a tenth time each page, minimum), Ive noted that I should instead create the sprites, animations, points etc first, then upon level design use the built in “OR” condition for collisions such as “If Enemy is collision with, BlueMove or RedMove or YellowMove etc - do 10+ score, delete enemy, etc”.

Then upon beginning of the scene I could have used global variables to indicate which player colour was selected and created the correct player upon startup of each level based on the Global Variable.

This method could drastically reduce the amount of scenes and events required and I have definitely learnt my lesson.

Mechanic: Rotations Without Gravity to Recharge Mana

Challenge

Since scrapping the intial movement system, I wanted to keep the concept of the unicorn rotating around an asteroid as if caught by gravity and in certain directions I wanted to see the unicorn change its z order to give the effect the game is 3d, so moving in front and behind the asteroid upon rotation.

This was one of the hardest tasks for this design sprint. 

Gravity became an issue and upon removing it, it affected other asteroids, resulting in having to revisit all asteroids again.

Rotations, flipping the sprite became a series of issues for all other coding, resulting in again, revisiting all other completed areas to double check where I had created problems. I also struggled with having the unicorn perform a perfect circle around the asteroid, resulting in oval rotations.

Z Layering, finding a simple way to alter the layer, using variables and hidden sprites this was accomplished, but I had to move the objects out of screen as hidden objects still created their effect on the player even if they werent on the asteroid, so moving them out of screen and back each time the player was on a specific asteroid as to not collide during normal play.

Solution

Firstly, I created a perfect circle on screen, had the asteroid and circle move with eachother regardless of force, added a “Tip” point on the circle and had the circle rotate in a direction at a normal speed. I then used variables to determine when the player was on which asteroid, example being that if RShift was held down when at asteroid one, the player variable “Asteroid” changed its string to “One” when the variable “Asteroid” was set to “One” it then triggered the player to move to the CircleOne point “Tip” and rotate with the circle around the asteroid. This initially worked, though the player would circle the asteroid in an oval shape.

I revisited the player points for all animations and found the middle axis at the very base of each animation and moved the “Center” and “Origin” points to that location. I “showed” the circle at the start of screen and tested the player movement, it worked perfectly!

Some asteroids had to also trigger which animation, this way the player would be facing the correct direction the background circle was rotating in. Forces woud lag or glitch the player if they were going to fast round the circle, this was easily fixed by slowing down the rotation and asteroid forces.

Though this was a difficult feat, I managed to create four different asteroid rotations with player interactivity!

Mechanic: Different Moves

Challenge

The main challenge with the different moves was bringing my inital vision to life. Ie the colour scheme based on player and the “Bane of The Horn” move, which I wanted to explode from the player “Center” point outward in 360 degrees. I found this effect worked as intended but when enemies collided with the particles the collision events would not trigger. I later found that the reason being was that they needed to collided with the actual sprite object, not just the particles.

Solution

To combat the collision problem above, I decided to add another hidden rotating circle behind the player that moved as the player moved. Then creating the “Bane of The Horn” move at the player circle point “Tip” this created distance between the player and the object and it rotated swiftly around the player, meaning that collisions were extended around the player and hitting their mark.

Dynamic Screen: Destroyed Planet with Partices and Debris Loop

Challenge

Firstly, the planet image was a challenge to edit with piskel, this tooka  lot of time loading between edits, even when I attempted to use the paint all bucket to remove the white (I painted in a seperate program) as to limit the area I had to erase. Once that was surpassed I wanted to have the planet in the background getting smaller each level, but also displaying a fire effect, like it was burning from the core.

Lastly, I wanted to have a rotating loop of debris of sprites from my previous design sprint, as if to say the last game was on the same planet and the unicorn destroyed it. Though the setup of the debris loop took time, once filled with sprites I felt there were too many gaps between objects.

Solution

The debris loop took time, creating multiple points on a large circle and many object sprites, then the event conditions to move them to those points at the start of the scene. This worked, leaving gaps between these objects as they rotated around the circle and rotated themselves as they looped. My solution to this was to add a textured particle using the asteroid sprite and adding it to each point as well, this created an asteroid field like effect as the circle rotated.

Though the debris loop is a background element, Im really proud of how it turned out.

Sounds: Self Voiced Effects for Spawns, Attacks and Enemy

Challenge

I wanted to play with the idea of including sounds this time around as my last design challenge I didnt. 

I am not exactly equipped with a sound studio so my laptop microphone was the way to go. I took my grunts and typical frustration sounds while developing the game and hitting roadblocks and utilised them as enemy spawning sounds.

I also created little sounds for player attacks. Though these oddly when converted, became robotic on level 3.

Solution

I will need to revisit the robotic sounds and rerecord.

Mechanic: Random Enemy Spawner

Challenge

The sprites I opted to use for this game I acknowledge Craftpix.net and gamerart2d.com as my main sources.

There wasn’t really too much of a challenge establishing a random spawner for each individual enemy I incorporated into the game. The challenge ensued more in creating an enemy move while rotating and from a distance.

Solution

I tackled this obstacle by playtesting through many possibilities. I ended up settling on an “Elf” enemy move that deducts mana from the player when the elf is facing the player in its rotation and force, shooting a particle effect toward the player.

I added a hidden object in the center of each level so when enemies collided with the border, they were forced back toward that object and so on.

In Closing

This game brought a multitude of challenges, I eventually found solutions or new ways to incorporate my intial vision without sacrificing too much.

The game is not exactly perfect, but I am very proud of what I have produced. The above is only some of the many challenges and solutions I had with the development of Unicorns Rage, however the aforementioned is the bigger of the tasks and learnings during this design sprint!

Next, feedback and playtesting!

Sprite Acknowledgement

https://www.gameart2d.com/freebies.html

https://craftpix.net/freebies/

Unicorns Rage! Playtest Link

This link will take a while to load, once loaded it operates fine :)

https://games.gdevelop-app.com/game-de5f335c-4ad8-4256-ad78-03999ce704c7/index.html