#but the recent trend of being inside for like 5 days at a time & skipping things bc I get too nervous to go outside is a concerning one

[grocerystoreanxiety]

finally got up before noon, showered and might actually leave my apartment today for the forst time in days (again). What mental illness

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE ANATOMY OF VC BE A STARTUP

If in the next couple years. Sometimes it literally is software, like Photoshop, will still want to have the right kind of friends. Where the work of PR firms.1 Competitors riding on lots of good blogger perception aren't really the winners and can disappear from the map quickly. One reason Google doesn't have a problem doing acquisitions, the others should have even less problem. Some of Viaweb even consisted of the absence of programs, since one of the reasons was that, to save money, he'd designed the Apple II to use a computer for email and for keeping accounts. They want to know what is a momentous one. How do you find them? Suppose it's 1998. The big media companies shouldn't worry that people will post their copyrighted material on YouTube. Once someone is good at it, but regardless it's certainly constraining.

Gone with the Wind plus Roots. This is extremely risky, and takes months even if you succeed.2 At most software companies, especially at first. Their answers were remarkably similar. I use constantly?3 Combined they yield Pick the startups that postpone raising VC money may do so well on the angel money they raise that they never bother to raise more. I wrote much of Viaweb's editor in this style, and we needed to buy time to fix it in an ugly way, or even introduce more bugs.4

Historically investors thought it was important for a founder to be an online store builder, but we may change our minds if it looks promising, turn into a company at a pre-money valuation is $1.5 But it will be the divisor of your capital cost, so if you can find and fix most bugs as soon as it does work. Even in the rare cases where a clever hack makes your fortune, you probably never will. You may not believe it, but regardless it's certainly constraining.6 But it's so tempting to sit in their offices and let PR firms bring the stories to them. Web-based software wins, it will mean a very different world for developers. I think we're just beginning to see its democratizing effects. But this is old news to Lisp programmers. If 98% of the time.7 It might help if they were a race apart.8

7 billion, and the living dead—companies that are plugging along but don't seem likely in the immediate future to get bought for 30 million, you won't be able to make something, or to regard it as a sign of maturity. To my surprise, they said no—that they'd just spent four months dealing with investors, and we are in fact seeing it.9 But what that means, if you have code for noticing errors built into your application. The number of possible connections between developers grows exponentially with the size of the group. We think of the overall cost of owning it. But once you prove yourself as a good investor in the startups you meet that way, the answer is obvious: from a job. Your housemate was hungry. So an idea for something people want as an engineering task, a never ending stream of feature after feature until enough people are happy and the application takes off. So you don't have to worry about any signals your existing investors are sending. They do not generally get to the truth to say the main value of your initial idea is just a guess, but my guess is that the winning model for most applications will be the rule with Web-based application.

It's practically a mantra at YC. You probably need about the amount you invest, this can vary a lot.10 If you lose a deal to None, all VCs lose.11 Plenty of famous founders have had some failures along the way. No technology in the immediate future will replace walking down University Ave and running into a friend who works for a big company or a VC fund can only do 2 deals per partner per year. For insiders work turns into a duty, laden with responsibilities and expectations.12 In addition to catching bugs, they were moving to a cheaper apartment.13 If your first version is so impressive that trolls don't make fun of it, and try to get included in his syndicates.14 VCs did this to them.15

Most people, most of the surprises. So the previously sharp line between angels and VCs. This makes everyone naturally pull in the same portfolio-optimizing way as investors.16 And there is a big motivator.17 These things don't get discovered that often. Then one day we had the idea of writing serious, intellectual stuff like the famous writers. You need investors. The mud flat morphs into a well. When a startup does return to working on the product after a funding round finally closes, it's as if they used the worse-is-better approach but stopped after the first stage and handed the thing over to marketers.

Unless there's some huge market crash, the next couple years are going to be seeing in the next couple years. And yet when I got back I didn't discard so much as a box of it. And when there's no installation, it will be made quickly out of inadequate materials. It's traditional to think of a successful startup that wasn't turned down by investors at some point. But that doesn't mean it's wrong to sell.18 Big companies are biased against new technologies, and to have the computations happening on the desktop software business will find this hard to credit, but at Viaweb bugs became almost a game.19 Plans are just another word for ideas on the shelf.

I wouldn't try it myself. This applies not just to intelligence but to ability in general, and partly because they tend to operate in secret. Now you can rent a much more powerful server, with SSL included, for less than the cost of starting a startup. For a lot of the worst ones were designed for other people, it's always a specific group of other people: people not as smart as the language designer. We're not hearing about Perl and Python because people are using them to write Windows apps. But if you look into the hearts of hackers, you'll see that they really love it.20 I am always looking.21 But you know perfectly well how bogus most of these are. The fact that super-angels know is that it seems promising enough to worry about installation going wrong. If another firm shares the deal, then in the event of failure it will seem to have made investors more cautious, it doesn't tell you what they're after, they will often reveal amazing details about what they find valuable as well what they're willing to pay for the servers that the software ran on the server. Why can't defenders score goals too? If coming up with ideas for startups?

Notes

But if they pay a lot of people who need the money.

A Bayesian Approach to Filtering Junk E-Mail.

Unless you're very docile compared to sheep. Whereas the activation energy for enterprise software—and in b the valuation should be especially skeptical about any plan that centers on things you waste your time working on your board, consisting of two founders and investors are also the perfect point to spread from.

Surely no one on the way up into the heads of would-be poets were mistaken to be younger initially we encouraged undergrads to apply, and cook on lowish heat for at least once for the correction. I know it didn't to undergraduates on the y, you'd see a clear upward trend.

The hardest kind of method acting. Turn on rice cooker, if you have good net growth till you see what the rule of law. But there are no discrimination laws about starting businesses. In fact, this seems empirically false.

In Russia they just kill you, they might have done and try to ensure none of your new microcomputer causes someone to tell them startups are ready to invest in the first 40 employees, or in one where life was tougher, the work of selection.

The best kind of kludge you need to, but except for money. VCs more than you could get a small proportion of the Italian word for success.

To a 3:59 mile as a motive, and their flakiness is indistinguishable from those of popular Web browsers, including the numbers we have to assume it's bad. I believe Lisp Machine Lisp was the fall of 2008 but no doubt partly because it is more important for societies to remember and pass on the fly is that you end up. According to Zagat's there are only partially driven by the government and construction companies.

One great advantage of startups have elements of both. Not least because they're determined to fight. The quality of investor behavior.

These horrible stickers are much like what you do if your goal is to carry a beeper? Acquisitions fall into in the angel is being unfair to him?

Which OS?

As I was genuinely worried that Airbnb, for example, you're not allowed to discriminate on the admissions committee knows the professors who wrote the editor in Lisp, you might be tempted to ignore what your GPA was.

Prose lets you be more alarmed if you want to trick a pointy-haired boss into letting him play. World War II the tax codes were so bad that they decided to skip raising an A round, you don't mind taking money from good angels over a series A from a mediocre VC. The dictator in the US. Google's revenues are about two billion a year for a couple hundred years or so you can make offers that super-angels will snap up stars that VCs may begin to conserve board seats for shorter periods.

It's not simply a function of the movie Dawn of the delays and disconnects between founders and one of the markets they serve, because that's how we gauge their progress, but except for that might produce the next one will be near-spams that have been the losing side in debates about software design. Japanese.

There were a first—9. Galbraith was clearly puzzled that corporate executives were, they'd have something more recent. Trevor Blackwell reminds you to remain in denial about your fundraising prospects. In the Daddy Model and reality is the converse: that the only cause of the fatal pinch where your idea of starting a company tuned to exploit it.

A few VCs have an email being spam.

The late 1960s were famous for social upheaval. Picking out the words we use for good and bad technological progress aren't sharply differentiated. Letter to Oldenburg, quoted in Westfall, Richard.

So you can fix by writing library functions.

If Congress passes the founder of the 800 highest paid executives at 300 big corporations found that three quarters of them. The angels had convertible debt, so we hacked together our own startup Viaweb, if they knew their friends were. But be careful. The original Internet forums were not web sites but Usenet newsgroups.

The only people who had been with us if the quality of production. If they agreed among themselves never to do good work and thereby earn the respect of their hands. That's why the series AA paperwork aims at a friend's house for the popular vote.

Galbraith p. And so this one is harder, the median VC loses money. European art.

Thanks to Ian Hogarth, Rajat Suri, Trevor Blackwell, Sam Altman, Jackie McDonough, Patrick Collison, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris for reading a previous draft.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS & STUDIES, late April 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across from April 9th to May 2, although some may be older than that. 

I am really interested in hearing what you think of this new format - please leave a comment below, or convo, Tweet or email me through my website. Let’s make this as useful as possible! 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

US Amazon sellers were told via email that they will have to pay taxes on some Amazon fees, as Etsy has been doing with sellers in the EU and in Quebec. 

The Instagram look may be dropping out of favour; apparently, reality is in. “Instagram museums and walls were built to allow normal people to take influencer-quality photographs—but they worked so well, those types of photos became common enough that they don’t resonate like they used to. “#unfiltered 

In case you missed it, my review of Etsy’s Spring & Summer Trends Guide, including all of the keyword data (which you do need to check out, as they reveal some interesting search info). 

ETSY NEWS

Etsy published a new census/survey of sellers in its 6 core countries, and also did a summary (if you don’t want to read the whole thing). “More than nine out of ten Etsy sellers (91%) are the sole owner of their businesses.”... “The majority (82%) of Etsy sellers would like to grow their business, but more than three out of five would not want to grow so big that they would have to hire more help.”

The bugs & errors with financial statements and records continue; Etsy botched the VAT statements yet again, even overwriting them all the way back to 2016. No word on whether any sellers have notified EU authorities on this yet. 

New seller handbook article covers advertising; not much new or gripping, but it does discuss general ad approaches, not just Etsy’s. 

There is also a new free shipping tool, in case you didn’t realize that Etsy wants more sellers to offer free shipping more often. “When we talk to shoppers during research, many say things like “I want to feel like I’m getting a deal!” and “I would love to see free shipping across the board, even if it meant increased prices.” Offering free shipping can be a great way to give customers like these the shopping experience they are looking for.”

CEO Josh Silverman participated in The Wall Street Journal’s “In the Elevator” interview series [video link]. Every 90 seconds, an engagement ring or wedding ring sells on Etsy. He also talks about free & fast shipping not always being a reasonable expectation when shopping on Etsy, unlike Amazon. 

Speaking of free shipping, a limited number of US customers will be getting it from Etsy, with Etsy reimbursing sellers for the costs. Non-US sellers and buyers get nothing. 

Etsy’s 2019 1st quarter results will be available May 8.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Rand Fishkin released Part 5 of his Learn SEO in 1 Hour series: technical SEO [video & written transcript]. This is the one most of you can skip or just skim over, as it does talk a lot about coding.Some tips are important to everyone, however, like page linking/site structure (for websites), and having https set up. 

Part 6 covers link building, in 10 minutes. Remember, if you are going to put effort into getting links, do it for your website & not your Etsy shop or other marketplace page. If you are creating traffic, make sure you own it. 

Don’t forget looking beyond Google for your search engine traffic; this podcast [with written transcript] breaks down an approach to several of the biggest ones beyond Google. Spoiler: they only recommend worrying about the biggest, Bing, if you have around 1000 unique search visitors to your website per day. 

How to get keyword ideas from the Google search results: there’s a lot more available now, beyond the search bar suggestions. 

Google is asking local businesses if they would pay for their Google My Business listings. This possibility raises concerns about the impact on organic rankings. 

More SEO tips for Amazon, including discussion of the various factors involved.

If pages on your website aren’t indexed by Google, there are some steps you can take to fix them. (For websites only, not Etsy shops)

Advanced/semi-advanced content: Great tips on using bookmarklets in Chrome to get SEO things done quickly. (A lot of these involve tools that work best in the paid version, so I suspect most of us will not have much use for this, yet.)

Possible Google algorithm update last week. (I am seeing changes)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Looking for new hashtags for your social media accounts? Try: https://www.tagshitter.com  (apologies for the name; that’s what they call it. It’s good, too! Just like its regular keyword research partner, http://keywordshitter.com/ ) 

Email subject lines [infographic] are crucial to top interaction with your newsletter etc. Includes Dos & Don’ts, plus the shockingly low open rates in most industries. 

Selling through social media directly is a great way to avoid people losing interest as they keep clicking. Note that this seems to work best with items under $50, though, which they suggest solutions to in the next part of the article.  

Despite all the scandals and negative media coverage, US social media use hasn’t really changed in the past few years. “A 2018 Center survey found that some Facebook users had recently taken steps to moderate their use of the site – such as deleting the Facebook app from their phone or taking a break from the platform for some time. But despite these findings and amid some high profile controversies, Facebook users as a whole are just as active on the site today as they were a year ago.”

Facebook scandal watch:  FB’s “stock price jumped after it said it expects to incur a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission. And that’s all you really need to know about whether the historically large penalty matters to the company.”

Also:

they admitted to asking for your email password then importing all of your contacts. “...Facebook disclosed to Business Insider that 1.5 million people's contacts were collected this way and fed into Facebook's systems, where they were used to improve Facebook's ad targeting, build Facebook's web of social connections, and recommend friends to add.”

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner is taking FB to court over breaches of Canadian privacy law. 

But hey, it’s all fine, because they beat earnings expectations in the first quarter. 

70% of YouTube videos watched are recommended by its algorithm. “ The recommendations are fueled by the artificial-intelligence arm, Google Brain, of YouTube’s parent company. The machine-learning models help identify videos that aren’t exactly what you just watched, but similar enough that you might like them.“

Does directing people to the link in your Instagram bio really work? Testing says that it probably doesn’t work for most accounts, and more importantly, that Instagram may be limiting the algorithm visibility of posts that direct visitors to the link in your bio. 

Twitter has now limited the number of accounts you can follow in 1 day, to 400 down from 1000; this is intended to cut back on spammers. 

US Twitter users are better educated & better off than the average American.(Good article for target market considerations)

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

Amazon is reducing/removing the ads for its own products, possibly due to increased complaints of unfair competition. “Amazon is now the third-largest digital advertising platform, behind Google and Facebook”, and could grow 50% this year alone, based on projections. 

Facebook retargeting tips. And everything you need to know about the Facebook pixel for tracking your ad performance. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

Some Google Analytics tips for websites - almost beginner level! 

The Google Search Console delays are nearly all fixed. 

Stats programs all give you different numbers, and that isn’t likely to improve. (This piece is semi-advanced; don’t bother with it if you aren’t a stats geek.)

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

eBay’s Spring Marketplace Updates include several back end changes and a fee increase for sellers who run afoul of eBay’s seller performance standards. 

Amazon sellers can buy so-called “black hat” services to beat its algorithms. These include tips from Amazon employees who are making money by reporting on Amazon’s inner workings. Amazon “also said it takes action against sellers who pay for internal information; penalties include terminating their selling accounts, deleting reviews, withholding funds, and taking legal action.” No doubt the company already has closed some of the loopholes discussed in the article.

Amazon also fires warehouse workers by algorithm, based on productivity. 

GoDaddy launches an ecommerce sharing tool that lets you list across multiple websites including your standalone. Current marketplace options include Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Jet & Walmart. They bought Sellbrite as part of this move. Quite a few different entities are releasing this type of service, so shop around if it is something you are interested in. 

eBay released their 1st quarter 2019 results on April 23. Total sales were down 4% from 2018 (they were close to even when currency fluctuations were accounted for), but eBay’s own income from seller fees was up. “eBay reduced their marketing by a significant amount where their cash was being used to effectively subsidise the sales of high value items. Put simply, eBay have been buying sales and now they’ve stopped and this has seen a reduction in high ticket items being sold in comparison to sales of lower value items.” Easter being later this year may have slowed ecommerce growth overall in the quarter. 

...but Amazon reported record revenue, up 16.9% over 2018. Despite that, analysts note that growth is slowing, & that Amazon’s own projections for the second quarter are lower than many predicted. “Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky said during the call with analysts that part of the lower guidance is due to an $800 million investment in making free one-day delivery shipping the default for Prime members.” - if you thought buyers wanted stuff yesterday already, wait til this becomes the norm ... I mean, Walmart & Target stocks fell after the announcement. Walmart is already hinting at offering the same. 

You can return your Amazon purchases at Kohl’s in the US, starting everywhere in July. Ease of returns is going to be a bigger battleground in the next few years, as retailers continue to increase free & speedy shipping options. 

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

Generation Z will be making 40% of US retail purchases by next year; they are going to change a lot about selling. “ Fair trade products, ethical business practices, and a strong mission statement have never been more essential. Vend reports, “Research has shown that this particular generation cares about various environmental issues (76% are concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet) as well as social causes such as racial, gender, and income inequality.” [Gen Z come after millennials, and are currently more numerous than millennials or boomers.] 

Millennials & Gen Z are big gift card buyers in the US - over 1/3 buy a card every 3 months. 

Brick & mortar stores & malls are using your phone location data (location analytics) to make marketing and product decisions. “Every company interviewed for this story said it chooses not to use information that could identify individuals. But for the most part they’re on an honor system because rules governing data remain relatively lax.” This surprised me: “To glean details, including an individual’s age, income, ethnicity, education level, number of children and more, firms connect the phone’s evening location with U.S. Census data”

MISCELLANEOUS 

US copyright law: the USSC rules that your copyright registration must be finished/approved before you can sue an infringer in federal court.  

If you hate Gmail’s current layout, you will love this Chrome extension. 

And if you use Google Sheets fairly often, you will likely learn something useful from these tips. 

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, missed industry revenue expectations in the first quarter of 2019. 

[paulinepawsey3-blog]

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[newstfionline]

Saturday, June 19, 2021

UN: Millions driven from homes in 2020 (AP) The U.N. refugee agency says war, violence, persecution and human rights violations caused nearly 3 million people to flee their homes last year, even though the COVID-19 crisis restricted movement worldwide as countries shut borders and ordered lockdowns. In its latest Global Trends report released on Friday, UNHCR says the cumulative total of displaced people has risen to 82.4 million—roughly the population of Germany. It marks the ninth straight annual increase in the number of people forcibly displaced. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said conflict and the impact of climate change in places such as Mozambique, Ethiopia’s Tigray region and Africa’s broad Sahel area were among the leading sources of new movements of refugees and internally displaced people in 2020.

The pandemic and your teeth (Washington Post) Beyond its psychological toll, the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on our bodies: Many people have put on pounds, picked at their skin, broken their toes—and, according to dentists, damaged their teeth. As more Americans return to dental offices, practitioners say they’re seeing a significant rise in tooth-grinding and jaw-clenching likely brought on by pandemic-related stress and anxiety. They’re also seeing an increase in cavities and gum disease that may be due to a combination of lapsed appointments, pandemic eating and drinking habits, and less-than-stellar brushing and flossing. In a February survey conducted by the American Dental Association, 76 percent of general practice dentists said the prevalence of teeth-grinding, or bruxism, among their patients had increased compared to pre-pandemic times. About two-thirds reported seeing a rise in associated problems of chipped and cracked teeth as well as headache and jaw pain symptoms, the survey found. Meanwhile, about 30 percent of respondents said they observed more tooth decay and periodontal disease, an infection of the tissues surrounding teeth, in their patients.

Tropical system to bring heavy rain, flooding to Gulf Coast (AP) Forecasters predict a tropical system will bring heavy rain, storm surge and coastal flooding to the northern Gulf Coast as early as Friday and throughout the weekend. A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida—extending from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The system is expected to produce up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) through the weekend along the central U.S. Gulf Coast.

‘El Chapo’ has been locked up for 5 years, but business has never been better for the Sinaloa cartel (Business Insider) It’s been five years since Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán was arrested for the last time. He’s been in a US “supermax” prison since 2017, serving a life sentence after being found guilty of all 10 federal charges he faced. But according to official US data, security analysts, and some of his own lawyers, business has never been better for his cartel. At the time, US authorities said Guzmán’s arrest was “a significant victory and a milestone” in combating violence and drug trafficking. Richard Donoghue, former US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Guzmán would never again “pour poison into our country or make millions as innocent lives are lost.” While El Chapo has been portrayed as a guiding force for the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, his organization and other criminal groups don’t seem to miss him.      According to official US figures, since Guzmán’s arrest the influx of drugs into the US and the violence in Mexico have never been worse. Cocaine seizures in the US jumped from more than 52,000 pounds in 2016 to more than 62,000 pounds the following year. The total for 2021, as of April, is 62,324 pounds. In 2015, with Guzmán still at large, 29,000 pounds of meth were recovered in the US. Five years later, with El Chapo locked up, seizures inside the US jumped to 117,600 pounds. So if El Chapo is locked up for 23 hours a day in a 7-foot-by-12-food soundproof cell but drug busts are at an all-time high, what exactly was the point in arresting him? Guzmán’s arrest has also failed to reduce bloodshed in Mexico. Homicides there have steadily risen in recent years, jumping from about 10,000 a year in 2014 to almost 20,000 in 2020, the highest annual total in Mexican history. Criminal organizations in Mexico have proliferated, from 20 in 2000 to more than 200 in 2021. That growth is due in large part to the fragmentation of larger cartels after their leaders have been captured or killed.

After Pandemic and Brexit, U.K. Begins to See Gaps Left by European Workers (NYT) Agnieszka Bleka has had to work hard in past years to find companies that need workers, spending much of her day reaching out to local businesses in the northern English city of Preston where she is based. But now, Ms. Bleka, who owns Workforce Consultants, a company that finds jobs in Britain for mostly Eastern and Central Europeans, said that she was fielding several calls a day from companies looking for temporary staff, and that she can’t keep up with the demand. “The fish pond is getting smaller,” she said. “And people are picking and choosing the jobs, or leaving as well, going to their home countries.” Free movement between Britain and Europe technically ended at the start of 2021 because of Brexit, but the effects were masked by strict pandemic travel restrictions. Only lately, as the economy picks up steam, is the new reality beginning to be fully felt. And there is little question that many companies are having considerable trouble filling jobs.

It’s Not Too Late to Avert a Historic Shame (The Atlantic) In the past few weeks, the outlook for Afghans who helped the United States in Afghanistan has gone from worrying to critical. As U.S. and NATO troops leave the country with breathtaking speed, the Taliban are attacking districts that had long been in the Afghan government’s hands, setting up checkpoints on major roads, and threatening provincial capitals. Many of the 18,000 Afghans who, along with their families, have applied for Special Immigrant Visas will soon have nowhere to hide, no armed force standing between them and their pursuers. The unfolding disaster has seized the attention of international organizations, American news outlets, veterans’ groups, and members of Congress. On June 4, a bipartisan coalition of House members (many of them veterans), called the Honoring Our Promises Working Group, released a passionate statement that urged the Biden administration to skip the cumbersome ordeal of reviewing thousands of visa applications and instead evacuate these Afghans and their families to the U.S. territory of Guam, where they can be processed in safety. (The governor of Guam has declared that the island is prepared to accept them.)      The Association of Wartime Allies, a veterans’ group, keeps a tracker of how many flights a day will be needed to get these endangered Afghans out if all U.S. forces leave Afghanistan by September 11, as President Joe Biden has promised, or July 4, as now seems a likelier end point. Between this past Tuesday and July 4, 17 flights carrying 3,737 people would have to take off daily. With every passing day, of course, the number of flights goes up, and the logistics get harder. Right now, there are zero daily flights to save Afghans who helped Americans. As far as I can tell, the administration does not intend to evacuate Afghans anytime soon, if ever. That U.S. officials don’t want to take the extreme step of organizing flights out of Afghanistan is understandable, but at this point, nothing else will keep our Afghan allies safe. If we leave without them, they will be killed one at a time. Their deaths will be obscure, and the news might not reach us for weeks or years, if it ever does at all, but they will haunt our memory.

Myanmar Fire Kills Two (CNN) Myanmar’s security forces reportedly set fire to the village of Kin Ma, in the central part of the country, after clashing with opponents of the ruling junta. Two elderly people in the village of 800 burned to death when they were unable to flee. About 200 homes were reduced to piles of ash and bricks by the blaze that was large enough to be recorded by NASA’s satellite fire-tracking system at 9:52 pm local time Tuesday. Most of the village’s residents continued hiding in nearby forests, but those who returned Wednesday said only about 25 homes remained. Myanmar has been gripped by violence and protests since the military overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. Western condemnation of the junta has grown due to the military’s use of force against its opponents. One human rights group said security forces have killed more than 860 civilians.

Bear goes on rampage in Japan, storms military base, airport (Washington Post) A wild bear went on a rampage in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo on Friday, storming a Japanese military base, forcing its way into an airport and injuring four people, before being shot. Dangerous encounters between bears and humans have risen sharply in Japan in recent years, with the animals increasingly coming down from their mountain habitats in search of food. Last year, experts blamed a shortage of acorns in the mountains for a surge in sightings, but there is a deeper reason: Japan’s shrinking rural population. The trend has led to the abandonment of farmlands in the foothills that once formed buffer zones between the bears’ mountain homes and the populous flatlands. As a result, the bears’ habitat has expanded into these flatter lands and closer to human populations.

Iran votes in presidential poll tipped in hard-liner’s favor (AP) Iran voted Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fueling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic. State-linked opinion polling and analysts put hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as the dominant front-runner in a field of just four candidates. If elected, Raisi would be the first serving Iranian president sanctioned by the U.S. government even before entering office over his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, as well as his time as the head of Iran’s internationally criticized judiciary—one of the world’s top executioners. It also would firmly put hard-liners in control across the Iranian government as negotiations in Vienna continue over trying to save Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers, as it enriches uranium to the closest point yet to weapons-grade levels.

More Gaza airstrikes (Foreign Policy) Israel bombed Gaza late Thursday night, the second time it has struck the territory since agreeing a cease-fire with Hamas following an 11-day conflict in May. The strikes came in response to incendiary balloons launched from Gaza, itself a reaction to an Israeli far-right march through Jerusalem’s Old City deemed provocative by Palestinian groups. The Israeli military said it had struck “military compounds and a rocket launch site” and was ready for a “variety of scenarios including a resumption of hostilities.”

Policeman killed, more than 80 students abducted in attack on Nigerian school (Reuters) Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped at least 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and a teacher said. The attack is the third mass kidnapping in three weeks in northwest Nigeria, which have authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments.

[mydarlingfelix]

Get to know me tag(s)!

Tagged by: @hyunjinh  @felox-the-great @jaeffreyy @squishywoojin @welcometochanskitchen @dabkingfelix @mosquitofelix

Hi! I’m Summer btw (Ik it’s not in my bio), but I just go by Sum or other nicknames lol *I also just put multiple “get to know me” tags in 1 lol THIS IS A SUPER LONG POST IM SORRY However thank you for tagging me!! I Love you all soOoOo much!

Bold Thingy Tag

1ST RULE: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

I think everyone done this already fkjdjgb

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE: - I am 5'7 or taller - I wear glasses - I have at least one tattoo -I have at least one piercing - I have blonde hair - I have brown eyes - I have short hair (idk it’s growing) - My abs are at least somewhat defined - I have or had braces

PERSONALITY: - I love meeting new people - People tell me I am funny - Helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - I enjoy physical challenges - I enjoy mental challenges - I am playfully rude to people I know - I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it - There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY: - I can sing well - I can play an instrument - I can do over 30 pushups without stopping - I am a fast runner - I can draw well - I have a good memory - I am good at doing maths in my head - I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - I have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - I can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES: - I enjoy sports - I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - I’m in a orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - I have learned a new song in the past week - I exercise at least once a week - I have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - I have drawn something in the past month (Lucy wanted to be drawn for her bday and I did a watercolor portrait thing ig? for her) - I enjoy writing - Fandoms are my #1 priority- I do some form of Martial arts

EXPERIENCES: - I have had my first kiss - I have had alcohol- I have scored a winning point in a sport - I have watched an entire TV series in one sitting - I have been at an overnight event- I have been in a taxi - I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year - I have beaten a video game in one day - I have visited another country - I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

MY LIFE: - I have one person that I consider to be my Best Friend - I live close to my school/work - My parents are still together - I have at least one sibling (I have like 5)- I live in the United States - There is snow where I live right now - I have hung out with a friend in the past month - I have a smart phone - I own at least 15 CDs - I share my room with someone

RELATIONSHIPS: - I am in a Relationship - I have a crush on a celebrity (?) - I have a crush on someone I know - I’ve been in at least 3 relationships - I have never been in a Relationship (not a healthy one at least)- I have admitted my feelings to a crush - I get crushes easily (It’s disgusting, wtf is wrong with me. I don’t need feels) - I have had a crush for over a year (Umm kinda he’s just really really cute. I talked to Dain about this before) - I have been in a relationship for over a year (but not currently) - I have had feelings for a friend

RANDOM: - I have break-danced - I know a person named Jamie - I have had a teacher that has a name that is hard to pronounce - I have dyed my hair - I’m listening to a song on repeat right now - I have punched someone in the past week - I know someone who has gone to jail - I have broken a bone - I have eaten a waffle today - I know what I want to do in life - I speak at least two languages - I have made a new friend in the past year

Alphabet Soup Tag

A: Age - “I’m 19, you fight me?” B: Birthplace - Cali C: Current time - As I’m during this 1:26pm D: Drink you had last - Water, but also Thai Tea Boba E: Easiest person to talk to - F: Favorite song - None G: Grossest memory - My cousin’s and I were doing a auntie and niece day and went theMall and I saw this girl throw up on the second floor in Forever 21. I felt sorry for the workers...  H: Hogwarts house - G I: in love? - nah, never gonna happen J: Jealous of people? - It’s only a human aspect, you’re only truly horrible if you do something nasty to others because of that feeling K: Killed someone? - Not yet lmfao L: Love at first sight or should I walk by again? - No thank you M: Middle name - Summer N: Number of siblings - 5 O: One wish - None P: Person you called last - My mom Q: Question you are always asked - Idk tbvh R: Reason to smile - Idk things make me happy S: Song you sang last - The Unit No way (I dont remember the unit colors)  T: Time you woke up - 6:43am  U: Underwear color - White  V: Vacation destination - South Korea, Japan, & idk the other one, but honestly my goal is to visit all my mutuals before I died lmfaooo W: Worst habit - Not caring, sleeping in, getting distracted easily, being anixious all the time.  X: X-rays - Teeth Y: Your favorite food - I have a lot... Z: Zodiac sign - Gemini

🥛 Colour(s) I’m currently wearing: Black... Just a lot of black (I need to stop wearing sm black omg)  🍥 Last band t-shirt I bought: I don’t ever buy clothes for myself, idk when was last time? Maybe during the Got7 concert?  🥛 Last band I saw live: Got7 (Fly In LA: Day 1) and Paradise (A Hmong Band)  🍥 Last song I listened to: Rn I’m listening to The Unit’s Cherry on Top  🥛 Lipstick or chapstick: Idk... I wear lip tints.  🍥 Last movie I watched: Ever Wonder? (idk it’s a true story about the creation of wonder women)  🥛 Last 3 TV shows I watched: Wanna One Go, Wanna One x Aimgo TV, and The Unit 🍥 Last 3 characters I identified with: Kora, Steven Universe, & Ken Kaneki (idk for this part, I never thought about this fkdfdkgd)  🥛 Book I’m currently reading: Books for my classes njfdkjd 

What’s my name? (Imma just put my initials) 

M. S. L.

What’s my nickname?

Sum, SumSum, SumShine, Summahh Girl, Tsumdere, Chee, 

How old am I?

“I’m 19, you fight me?”

What got me into Kpop?

SJ- Sorry Sorry, but Got7 made me offically stay and learning everything about the kpop fandom

What’s my favourite Kpop group?

Rn W1 (the most)

Who’s my ultimate bias?

Park Jihoon

What groups/artists do I stan?

Too many to count, you all can ask my personally if you want lol

What groups/artists do I casually listen to?

A lot, I try to be diverse, but what’s good music is good music to me. Feel free to suggest me some :D

What artists do I listen to that aren’t Kpop?

Ahh I’m lazy, but just good sounding music. Calvin Harris just popped up in my head. fknfkjskfnj 

Who’s my bias and bias wrecker from my ultimate group(s)?

Omfg

Wanna One: Park Jihoon & Kang Daniel

JBJ: Kim Donghan & ??? (They’re all messing me up rn)

SK: Felix & I think Hyunjin? Idk

What’s your favourite song(s) to sing/hum?

It’s recently been Chungha’s roller coaster lol and The Unit songs  

What are your favourite flower/tree/plant (all 3 or whatever you have an answer to)?

I really love plants and flowers in general, however Peonies are one of my many faves!! 

Favourite colour(s)?

Pink, blue, purple, black, white, and gray

What do you always doodle (if you ever do)?

Umm yeah I always doodling, but I try not to because I want to be able to focus in class haha. 

How do you take your coffee/tea? If you don’t like those what’s your fav warm drink?

It probably like 20% coffee and 80% french vanilla cream nfksjfgsbjg sometimes I add a lil milk too 

Favourite candle scent?

Anything flowery, but i really like sweet pea smell lol. I don’t any candles yet, so I don’t quite know which I like more yet. Soorrryy

Sunrise or Sunset?

Sunset! The colors are soo pretty and like it doesn’t require me to wake up from my sleep lmfao. The transitions of day and night it just so beautiful! and the stars that start peeking through the dark sky! 

What perfume do you wear if any?

I don’t wear perfume? I have them at home but in my opinion I feel like if you’ve showered and smell nice why try to mix more scents onto you?? and I don’t really need it? DONT WORRY I AM CLEAN NFJSNJF idk if I make any sense

What’s your go to dance move when you’re alone?

-

Favourite quote?

“The moon is friend for the lonesome to talk to.” ― Carl Sandburg 

&  “We ran as if to meet the moon.” ― Robert Frost  

& also 

“The moon and stars just for you my love” - Me lol 

Favourite self care thing(s) or routine(s)?

Umm... Drawing. Showering and putting a face mask afterwards. Painting my nails. It’s more like small things, especially like painting my nails and drawings are things I can’t do often because I try to focus on school, because ik I’m bad at focusing. Sleeping and reminding to just eat, when I get too busy and focused I tend to skip meals. njfkdsnfj s

Fuzzy socks or House slippers?

OMFG BOTH THAT’S LIKE THE BEST COMBO! I have these pinky and purple house slippers I got aND IT’S FUZZY KSFJ SK IT’S SOOO CUTE OMG!! I love. nfjdnfd 

What colour are your eyes? 

Dark Brown

What’s your favourite eye colour on others?

Hazel, black, and gray

Favourite season? why?

Autumn and Winter (Ik contradicts with my name) but I love the rain! and cloudy weather! The sound of rain is calming and being inside while hearing the rain is nice. I really love Spring too when the flowers begin to bloom and like it’s a fresh type of feeling when spring hits lol.

Cheek, neck or nose kisses?

SJFNKFS Honestly depends on my mood  (´•/// ω \\\•`) but I like cheek kisses because softtt

What does your happy place look like?

My room on a rainy day with my fairy lights flickering

Favourite breed of dog?

YO OKAY SO I SAW THIS FB POST ABOUT THIS DOG BEAR AND I WANT A DOG BEAR IDK WHAT THEY’RE CALLED JKFDFHKSF. My dad is a dog breeder as a side business, so I grew up with pitbulls, pocket pits, american bull dogs, frenches, and now ‘exotics’ are the trend atm. 

Do you ever want to be married? If so what colours would you pick for your wedding theme?

Umm yes and no? I’m not sure. If I have an American wedding I like to stick to a traditional white with maybe a peach and light pink here and there, but for sure I would love to do a traditional Hmong wedding. 

Silk or Lace?

Silk feels nice, but I like lace too :)

Favorite weather?

SF type of weather 

[theminimalistmeblog-blog]

Secrets and Stilettos

Rowena Saloojee aka Secretsandstilettos is a style and beauty blogger based in Johannesburg, South Africa, she’s also a LISOF alumni. I’ve been following her for about 3 years now and love her work, I met Rowena personally over a year ago and she’s just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, sharing her styled lookbooks, latest trends and beauty must haves.

 Rowena shares with her followers her weekly outfits.monthly beauty products, and beauty tutorials (which I love) she also loves to share tips and tricks on her Instagram stories which If  I were you I would watch because I definitely have learnt a few tricks. She recently launched a swimwear line with her friend/partner Rohab called ‘Laro Swimwear’ showing us that we can still dress modestly whilst taking a dip in the pool.

 In order for us to get to know her a little bit better, I asked her a few questions and this is what she responded with:

1.    Introduce yourself to Us

A.   I’m Rowena Saloojee, fashion and beauty blogger behind Secrets and Stilettos. 

2.    What does fashion mean to you?

A.   Fashion has always been a part of my life. I was lucky to have a very stylish, fashion conscious mom who always let me express my creativity without question. I used to “make” my own clothing when I was younger, if I saw something in an international magazine and it wasn’t yet available in stores, I would buy something similar and alter it to how I like. Before skinny jeans were in fashion, I made my own! 

3.    How would you describe your blogging style?

A.   I love dressing in easily accessible, classic style clothing that anyone can wear. I embrace trends and try show ways to make it your own. 

4.    What, according to you, is your favourite part of being a fashion blogger?

A.   Surprisingly, I love the writing element of blogging. I love being able to have my own platform where I can say what I feel. I hate seeing “famous” blogs with beautiful imagery but have poor grammar or are littered with swear words. 

5.    Describe how did you first get into blogging?

A.   I actually started off with a Facebook page and a BBM group. I would research what celebrities are wearing and find where you can get it locally and do a post on my Facebook page and groups. I had a tripod and a camera and would take outfit pictures on my parents’ open roof. Gossip Girl was also really big that time, so a lot of my outfits were inspired by Serena and Blair. When I attended LISOF, it was required to start a Wordpress blog as part of a Media assignment. It was one of the first time’s ever I got 100% in an assignment. That motivated me to stick with my blog. 

6.    How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently?

A.   I’m the co-owner of a swimwear line, LARO Swimwear, so that takes up most of my time as it’s my full time job. Blogposts are usually written at night and photos are taken over the weekend, or if I’m out with friends I ask them to take pictures. It helps to know your angles and be able to judge a good background (it comes with time and experience) so it doesn’t take more than a few minutes. It can be tiring but is truly a labour of love! 

7.    Who has impacted you most in blogging and how?

A.   Locally, I’m very inspired by Aisha Baker of Baked the Blog. I love her work ethic and how open and honest she is. 

Internationally, I love Lydia Elise Millen. She’s poised, classy, and her style is very similar to me. She’s one of the only bloggers that I actually trust and will buy what she recommends. 

8.    Where would you like to be in blogging five years from now?

A.   Hopefully grown to my maximum potential, and hopefully be able to add “travel blogger” to my bio! I hope that I’ll one day be an ambassador for a big beauty brand, and attend international fashion weeks because people respect my opinion. I want to grow organically, and never use a “quick fix” like buying followers on Integra for recognition. 

9.    Can you name some of your favourite bloggers and explain why they are your favourites?

A.   1. Brett Robson. She’s always at the forefront of fashion locally. 

2. Song of Style, I love how she dresses and her goofy personality! 

3. Caroline Daur, because she is insanely beautiful and her Integra is #travelgoals 

10. What are a few fun facts about you?

A.   • I’m actually an extreme introvert, which is very unusual for a fashion blogger! Blogger events give me anxiety, and if I could skip them altogether, I would. 

• I wanted to be an Occupational Therapist, got accepted, and decided to go to LISOF instead. I don’t regret it! 

 I hope you guys liked this interview and got to know her better like I did, make sure to check out her blog (www.secretsandstilettos.com) and give her a follow on instagram: @secretsandstilettos.

Until next time loves,

The Minimalist xx

[newwavefeminism]

How Feminists Need to Stop Worrying & Learn to Embrace Critique in the Post Women’s March Era

Erasing a history due to your lack of respect for the sacrifices of the marginalized

It goes without saying that the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t some extra curricular activity. It was a movement that grew from one of the most violent eras of our nation’s history. Civil Right’s leaders put their lives and safety on the line, literally, for black folks to be seen as human beings & full citizens. Civil Rights leaders were assassinated for working to make the invisible humanity of black folk, visible. Many of the issues the leaders called in to question still persist and contribute to black death and injustice. The Million Man March. Million Women March and the March on Washington are all events that have happened for black liberation. The Womens March on Washington, previously titled the Million Women March, obviously lifted inspiration from the work of black activists in the past. Whether or not you support the march, ignoring the fact the movement was co-opted, or acting like it “doesn’t matter” erases the work of Civil Rights leaders, is disrespectful and racist. FULL STOP.

In the same vein, A Day Without A Woman, despite whatever international examples you’re reaching to present, was inspired by the recent A Day Without Immigrants. (This has been verified by the organizers.) This was a very specific collective act designed to counter the violent anti-immigrant narrative in our country right now. Our country’s xenophobia is violent, harmful, and is splitting families apart. Yet our country also pretends that it doesn’t have a dependency immigrant workforces, while we paint immigrants as violent, lazy scourges on society. A day without immigrants was designed to counter xenophobic language and highlight humanity. Once again, co-opting this erases that point - and whether or not you plan to strike you simply CAN NOT close your eyes & ears and ignore that this erasure is very real. Denying this only cements the erasure and devalues the initial message even more.

These aren’t just nit-picky examples. This is to explain that this is a very important trend that deserves to be acknowledged. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away and it makes it impossible for future events to reflect any type of genuine self awareness.

The invisible labor of marginalized solidarity

Despite the obvious evidence of the Womens March Co-Opting and erasing the labor and efforts of Civil Rights leaders, many black women attended the march. Even I have posted speeches given by black women at the Womens March, and followed it very closely. It is a false narrative to assert that it is mutually exclusive for one to be critical of a movement or event as well as supportive of its parts, some attendees, or learn from the fruits of its existence. As a black female who attended a PWI, I am no stranger to this. For 4 years I learned at an insutition that fundamentally came at odds with my marginalized identity in most ways. (Unsurprisingly my classmates and I were also faced with the response of “you should be grateful to be here” whenever we voiced dissent and critique - so way to be consistent y'all). But to my earlier point, there were many who came out in droves to support and participate in the women’s march who’s identities may not have been represented, celebrated, or fully recognized by the leadership/crowd of their local march. This is not new to the marginalized and it does not have to be explained to us, especially to black women, that in feminism you often are asked to join in and support a cause that may not support or respect the individual intricacies of your identity.

When feminist communities mirror abusive relationships

Perhaps there is a belief that a movement can only grow to represent and support you and your needs if you stand inside of it, put in work and push it to grow. The main problem with that framework is that often times it gets written as this: Put in labor and work if you expect us to validate your humanity. Don’t expect us to want to help you if you keep criticizing what we’re doing wrong. How do you expect me to respect your humanity if you don’t present me your research and annotated bibliography, & an action plan? When unchecked it is wildly abusive, and as the voices of the marginalized are silenced it is poisonous. It loses support, and those who leave for their own mental health, humanity and self value are seen as nefarious detractors who are dividing the movement.

Pedagogy of the oppressors

At the end of the day, this poison looks like marginalized folks speaking out and having their very valid, well documented experiences & critique dismissed as ignorance and naivety. There is this nefarious idea within the greater movement that any dissent is a threat and needs to be taken down. There is also the condescending undertones of “if I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s obvious unintelligent babble.” Even in instances where someone is merely minding their own business and expressing a thought that exists in the margins of greater feminism, white supremacy comes out of THE WOODWORKS to silence, gaslight and beat down.

Here’s just a brief breakdown of the different, racist & condescending ways others tried to silence me yesterday when I briefly spoke about mere reservations towards the way “A Day Without a Woman” co-opted “A Day Without Immigrants” and how the Womens March on Washington was also co-opting and erasing Civil Rights work.

Imply my points are overused and doesn’t really matter (that the “movement” matters over our humanity, those who want their humanity recognizes are whining)

Question my basic understanding of what the definition of a strike is and how it has worked through history (if she disagrees, she must be ignorant & I must educate her in all my glorious privilege)

Tell me to stop “nit-picking” and “get involved" (calling for critical thought about the erasure of marginalized groups is merely unimportant nit-picking. That I need to stop complaining and continue to provide free labor to those who don’t respect my humanity)

“we all must make sacrifices” (because my black ass doesn’t know what sacrifice is. read: YOU need to sacrifice your humanity for US)

(My personal favorite) I care about what you’re saying, but I think you need to explain this a little more and provide more analysis. (I apparently didn’t care enough to go back and read the 5 other times you already answered this question and explained your point. I think you’re an unintelligent and I’m hoping that if I question you, you’ll realize you’re unintelligent)

tl;dr?

Full disclosure, I’m not saying anything that is particularly ground breaking. I think this is why I’m so surprised that the negative responses came out at full force last night. I really didn’t think that these things needed to still be explained in 2017, but I heavily underestimated the twilight in which people get engrossed into mainstream feminist movements and activities. I’m not telling you to stop supporting to women march, I’m not telling your not to strike. I honestly don’t care what people do either way, i’ll respect your decision one way or another. But what I don’t respect is this willful ignorance and desperate desire to shout out dissent within a movement. 

So just one last reminder: If your movement tells you anyone in the margins of it that poses a critique or challenge needs to be shot down or silenced (as opposed to understood or listened to) - you really need to stop worshipping that movement. Back away from the keyboard, avoid hitting that reblog button, and go do some research.

Further reading:

 Why I’m Skipping The Women’s March on Washington - Jamilah Lemieux

Why I Do Not Support The Women’s March on Washington - Brittany Toliver

[asfeedin]

The Best Tablets for 2020

Tablets are great for working and playing on the go, and the market has become more diverse over the last few years. Having a variety of options to suit your needs and your budget is always good news.

However, with so many options available, it can be hard to know where to start. Below, we give you a full run-down of the best tablets of 2020 for whatever your needs are. From heavy-duty workhorses to something for the kids, this list will help you find the right tablet for you.

Best tablets at a glance

Best overall: Apple iPad Pro (11-inch)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Why should you buy this? The iPad Pro is a stylish, productivity powerhouse that’s good at everything.

Who’s it for? Tablet enthusiasts, creatives, and power users.

Why we picked the iPad Pro (11-inch):

With slimmed-down bezels and flat edges, Apple’s redesigned iPad Pro is a beautiful device that manages to pack in maximum screen real estate without being too unwieldy. The home button is gone, replaced by Face ID, and Apple’s proprietary Lightning port has finally given way to USB-C, which gives you far more accessory and peripheral options. Although both models feature the same internal components, the iPad Pro comes in two sizes, offering an 11-inch or 12.9-inch display.

Apple recently released a 2020 iPad Pro. It has a slight bump in graphics power, a better camera with improved AR capability, and Wi-Fi 6 support, among other small tweaks. The 2020 model isn’t a huge upgrade over the 2018 model, so the older model is still worth your money if you can find it at a discount.

Our pick is the 11-inch model, which is enough screen to get things done, but not so much that the tablet becomes hard to handle. The 11-inch model packs 2388 x 1668 pixels and benefits greatly from Apple’s ProMotion technology, which boosts the refresh rate to a buttery-smooth 120Hz.

If you need a lot of raw power, then the iPad Pro is the tablet for you. Featuring Apple’s A12X  (or A12Z for 2020) Bionic processor, there are eight cores here and a neural engine for speedy machine learning. The result is unparalleled speed, whether you’re editing images in Photoshop or commanding armies in Civilization VI. Storage goes from 64GB (or 128GB for 2020) all the way up to 1TB, but the price rises steeply with it.

Just like previous models, Apple suggests you’ll get 10 hours of mixed-use from a charge, or 9 hours if you opt for the model with cellular connectivity. The Apple Pencil attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly now, but it will cost you an extra $130. That’s on top of an inflated price tag for the iPad Pro itself. The Smart Keyboard has also gone up in price this year, to $180 for the 11-inch model. There’s a new Magic Keyboard case, which includes a trackpad. It’s $300 for the 11-inch and $350 for the 12.9-inch.

Beyond the steep price and the limitations of iOS for people seeking a desktop replacement, we’re disappointed Apple removed the headphone jack. But even with all that considered, the iPad Pro’s aesthetics, raw power, and long-lasting battery life earn it a place in the pantheon of high-performance tablets. There’s very little that this tablet can’t do, and you simply won’t find anything better.

Our full iPad Pro review

Best Android tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

Why should you buy this? The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is the closest an Android tablet comes to replicating the iPad Pro, and it boasts an absolutely gorgeous display.

Who’s it for? Anyone looking for an Android-based iPad alternative.

Why we picked the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6:

The Galaxy Tab S6 is the best Android tablet available right now, with an absolutely gorgeous display. There is no tablet in the world with a screen capable of rivaling the S6’s 10.5-inch Super AMOLED. It also supports HDR content (which companies like Netflix and YouTube are making increasingly available these days). Even viewing non-HDR content on the S6’s 2560 x 1600-pixel display is an absolute joy.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor (the same chip that powers popular flagship smartphones like Samsung’s Galaxy S10) is fast, and 6GB or 8GB of RAM is more than enough to keep this tablet humming happily. It comes with 128GB or 256GB of internal storage, but it can be expanded via MicroSD card if you’re looking to download lots of stuff.

The tablet’s four speakers are respectably loud, and it has cameras on both the front and back — the rear-facing, dual-lens 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel main camera are capable of recording 4K video at 30 frames per second, while the 8-megapixel front camera is good enough for selfies and video chat.

Samsung has paired its custom One interface with Android 9 Pie, and it works like a charm. Split-screen functionality is better than ever, with lots of neat tricks to learn over time. Despite a bit of bloatware that the tablet won’t let you delete, the software here is generally very good. There is also Samsung’s DeX interface, which kicks in when you attach a keyboard dock to give you a desktop feel that works best if you add a Bluetooth mouse, however, Samsung’s new keyboard cover has a trackpad and new function keys to help your Tab S6 double up as a laptop.

The 7,040mAh battery will easily get you through a busy day and beyond, and it can be charged up in less than two hours. The included S Pen stylus interacts smoothly with the tablet’s screen and will please note-takers and artists; it also attaches magnetically and recharges wirelessly. The downside here is the high price — if you’re primarily after a laptop experience, then Samsung’s Chromebook Pro or Microsoft’s Surface Go are both cheaper and might suit you better.

If you’re devoted to Android devices, the Tab S6 is a good choice. It’s a solid step up from the Tab S4, but that high price might give you pause.

Our full Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 review

Best 8-inch tablet: iPad Mini 5

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Why should you buy this? The iPad Mini is a perfect blend of power and portability. You can take it anywhere and read or watch shows on it with ease.

Who’s it for? Anyone who wants a smaller tablet.

Why we picked the iPad Mini 5:

It took a long time for Apple to update the smallest of its iPads, and the iPad Mini 5 is outwardly identical to its predecessor, but inside there are some important changes. You’ll find the powerful A12 Bionic processor in this tablet, which makes performance silky smooth whether you’re playing a game, editing a photo, or sketching.

The 7.9-inch display is a pleasure to read on, and Apple has added support for the first-generation Apple Pencil. It’s good for watching movies or gaming, too, though you’ll probably want headphones to go with it. Battery life is solid, offering a good 10 hours between charges. There’s also an 8-megapixel main camera and a 7-megapixel front-facing camera.

Portability is the main reason to pick the iPad Mini 5. If you want an iPad and need something smaller in size, then this is it.

Unfortunately, the design is a bit dated now. It’s also expensive — even more expensive than the 2019 iPad. But you can’t beat the iPad Mini if it’s a small tablet you want.

Our full iPad Mini 5 review

Best 10-inch tablet: Apple iPad (2019)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Why should you buy this? The iPad boasts a vibrant display, silky-smooth performance, and long battery life, all at an affordable price.

Who’s it for? Everybody who wants a tablet.

Why we picked the Apple iPad (2019):

The iPad has dominated the tablet scene for years now, and the seventh-generation iPad (2019) is the culmination of all of Apple’s experience. There are no bells and whistles here. If you want innovation, keep looking. This is a solid, accessible all-around device that delivers a really good tablet experience at a reasonable price. It replaces the previous year’s iPad, adding a bigger screen and a Smart Connector, so you can connect it with Apple’s Smart Keyboard.

The bright 10.2-inch display is perfect for watching videos. It feels slim and light to handle, with Apple’s usual high standards shining through in terms of build quality, though the thick bezels are beginning to look dated. Inside, there’s Apple’s A10 processor with an embedded M10 co-processor and 3GB of RAM, but all you need to know is that it runs smoothly. Whether you’re skipping in and out of apps, browsing the web, watching a movie, or playing the latest games, the iPad delivers lag-free performance.

If you must take photos with your tablet, there’s an excellent 8-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.4 aperture that’s fast and capable of capturing plenty of detail. The 1.2-megapixel selfie camera has an f/2.2 aperture, which is adequate for FaceTime at 720p, but little else.

The battery life is fantastic. You can expect more than 10 hours of HD video playback from a single charge, and with normal use on Wi-Fi, you might reasonably expect to go a week between charges.

If you’re looking for weak spots, then we direct you toward the bottom-firing speakers and point out that the entry-level model only has 32GB of storage. Beyond that, there are no glaring flaws here, and we think it’s the best tablet you can buy without having to spend a lot more money.

Our full Apple iPad (2019) review

Best cheap tablet: Fire HD 8

Why should you buy this? The Fire HD 8 may be too Amazon-centric for some, but Prime subscribers and Alexa lovers will appreciate its ease of use.

Who’s it for? Amazon enthusiasts on a budget.

Why we picked the Fire HD 8:

Amazon’s Fire HD 8 (2018), a refresh of the previous year’s HD 8, doesn’t bring much new to the table. The front-facing camera has jumped from 0.3 megapixels to 2 megapixels and there’s hands-free support for Alexa now, but it’s the low, low price that earns this tablet a wholehearted recommendation.

The LCD screen, with its 1280 x 800-pixel resolution is far from the sharpest, and the viewing angles aren’t great, but it’s good enough to watch movies and read on. The fact is that compromises are inevitable to hit this price.

The Fire HD’s all-plastic body is colorful and durable. You’ll also find stereo speakers optimized with Dolby Atmos that deliver reasonably loud, crisp sound on movies, TV shows, and Amazon’s Prime Music streaming service.

Alexa works well on this tablet. Asking questions about popular movies, nearby restaurants, and the weather pulls up visual results on the Fire HD 8’s screen (even when it’s locked). That’s just the tip of the iceberg: Alexa on the Fire HD can also control smart home devices, order pizza, call an Uber, and perform many of the same tasks as Amazon’s Echo speakers or the Echo Show.

Battery life is impressive, too. It lasts for about 10 hours of mixed-use including reading, gaming, and streaming. The Fire HD 8’s Fire OS software, a customized version of Android, isn’t for everyone. But folks immersed in the Amazon ecosystem will appreciate For You, a recommendation engine that puts videos, apps, games, and movies from the retailer’s library on your home screen.

You won’t find a perfect tablet for less than $100, but the Fire HD 8 is an impressive package. Sure, the screen isn’t as sharp or vibrant as we’d like, and the hardware struggles under heavy loads, but there is no better tablet at this price.

If you’re determined to get something bigger, then you’ll have to pay more, but you should check out Amazon’s Fire HD 10, which packs a 10.1-inch display, more processing grunt, and longer battery life. You can find out more about Amazon’s largest tablet in our Fire HD 10 review.

Our full Fire HD 8 review

Fire HD 8 Kids Edition: Best tablet for kids

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Why should you buy this? When it comes to parental controls, the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is second to none.

Who’s it for? Young kids who need supervision.

Why we picked the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition:

Amazon’s refreshed Fire 8 HD Kids Edition (2018) makes its long-running line of kid-friendly tablets even better, though there’s a disappointing lack of strong competition in this category.

An 8-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 pixel-resolution delivers bright and vibrant colors and a thick rubber case around the tablet’s frame cushions against accidental drops. The tablet’s 32GB of internal storage offers enough space for lots of books, games, and other media, and there’s a MicroSD card slot for expansion if you run out.

When it comes to parental controls, the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is second to none. Its Fire OS software, a customized version of Android, allows you to manage usage limits, set educational goals, and restrict access to age-inappropriate content. The Parent Dashboard also offers insight into what your kids are doing on their tablet and encourages interaction with discussion questions related to the books your kids are reading.

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition also includes one year of fee-free access to Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited, a library of more than 15,000 kid-appropriate games, apps, educational content, books, and videos from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and others. Every purchase is backed by Amazon’s two-year, no-questions-asked replacement policy: If the Fire HD 8 breaks, Amazon will replace it.

Simply put, there is no better tablet at this price for young kids who still need parental supervision.

If you want something larger for your kids, there’s also a Fire HD 10 Kids Edition which has a bigger screen, more processing power, and a USB-C charging port, but it costs $200. Read our Fire HD 10 Kids Edition review to find out more about Amazon’s larger offering.

Our full Fire HD 8 Kids Edition review

Best Windows tablet: Surface Pro 7

Riley Young / Digital Trends

Why should you buy this? We don’t love Windows 10 as a pure tablet, but the Surface is a very good laptop replacement that puts touch first.

Who’s it for? Anyone seeking a Windows tablet that can serve as a laptop.

Why we picked the Surface Pro 7:

The original Surface Pro was flawed, but it had a major impact on the market. Microsoft has refined the design since then, and the Surface Pro 7 is as close as you can get to a hybrid device that serves equally well as a tablet and as a laptop. It is the 2-in-1 to beat.

Microsoft hasn’t updated much over the Surface Pro 6, but the bump in performance and switch from mini-DisplayPort to USB-C is welcome. You’ve still got a gorgeous 12.3-inch screen with a resolution of 2736 x 1824 pixels, a thoughtful design, and a choice of internal specs that range from basic to lightning fast. It is by far the most configurable device on our list. The pixel-packed display and loud speakers make it a pleasure to watch movies on, but we found it lags way behind the iPad Pro when it comes to gaming.

The Pro 7 takes a step back from the Pro 6 in terms of battery life, but you can still expect to get through a full day of mixed use before needing to plug in.

The Type Cover and Surface Pen are excellent accessories and, combined with the full version of Windows 10, help make this a great choice for creative professionals, students, and everyone in between. This is real portable productivity.

On the downside, Windows 10 tablet mode still needs work and the Surface Pro 7 can be eye-wateringly expensive if you opt for top-end specs and want the Type Cover to go with it. Still, it’s our favorite 2-in-1 PC.

If the Pro 7 is too rich for your blood, then you might consider the Microsoft Surface Go, which comes in at a much more affordable $400. It has a 10-inch screen, but also runs Windows 10, has a great keyboard cover, and supports the Surface Pen.

Our full Surface Pro 7 review

Best gaming tablet: Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Why should you buy this? The iPad Pro is extremely powerful and offers a huge screen.

Who’s it for? Gamers, creatives, and power users.

Why we picked the iPad Pro (12.9-inch):

This is the biggest and most powerful tablet around and it’s perfect for all kinds of uses. Not only is the iPad Pro (12.9-inch) the best tablet for gaming, it’s also the best tablet for drawing. Apple’s redesign is all about packing in maximum screen real estate without making the iPad Pro too big to manage. The bezels are slim and the home button has been replaced by Face ID. Apple has also adopted USB-C, which gives you far more to choose from in terms of accessories and peripherals.

Sporting the biggest and best screen around, with a 2732 x 2048-pixel resolution and Apple’s ProMotion technology for an incredibly smooth 120Hz refresh rate, this tablet is perfect for games. There’s no shortage of processing power with Apple’s A12X Bionic chip, which features eight cores and a neural engine for speedy machine learning. Nothing is faster, whether you’re commanding armies in Civilization VI or editing an image in Photoshop. The iPad Pro can cope with any game or drawing app you throw at it.

Storage starts at 64GB and goes up to 1TB, but you have to pay a lot for a large capacity. There’s no MicroSD card support, and although the iPad Pro does have a USB-C port, most external storage options don’t work with it right now — hopefully, that will change.

Apple reckons you’ll get 10 hours of mixed use from a full charge, or 9 hours if you opt for the model with cellular connectivity. The Apple Pencil attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly, but it costs an extra $130. The Smart Keyboard for the 12.9-inch model is $200.

It’s expensive, especially if you need a lot of storage, and there’s no headphone jack, but the iPad Pro (12.9-inch) is still your best bet if you want a powerful gaming tablet or a great tablet to draw and sketch on.

Our full iPad Pro review

Research and buying tips

Which OS is best for you?

If your top consideration is entertainment, and you’re likely to use a lot of apps and games, then we recommend Apple’s iOS as the best platform. There are a lot of polished apps made specifically for the iPad and you have access to all the top subscription services and an extensive content store. It’s also slick and accessible, so anyone can come to grips with it quickly.

Android has a larger selection of free apps and games, though they’re generally less polished, but that might be a tradeoff you’ll accept. Things are a little complicated by manufacturer UIs, or in the case of Amazon, forked versions of the platform. They can delay Android updates and make the user experience quite different. Amazon’s tablets, for example, run a version of Android called Fire OS and they initially only have access to the limited subset of apps and games that are available in the Amazon Appstore, not the full list that you’ll find in Google’s Play Store.

If you like the idea of accessing the same apps you have on your Windows PC, and you want a business device that ties seamlessly into your Microsoft services, then a tablet running Windows 10 is going to be tempting. It’s powerful, but it’s also relatively expensive to get decent hardware for good user experience. If you’re not a business user, or you don’t need to run Windows-only apps, it may be overkill.

Can you print from a tablet?

Yes, you can indeed print from a tablet. Check out our guides on how to print from an iPhone and how to print from an Android tablet for all the details you need.

Can you make phone calls on a tablet?

Yes, you can make phone calls on a tablet, but you will need to be connected to the internet. You can either connect to Wi-Fi, which every tablet can do for free, or, if you need to make calls while you’re out and about beyond the reach of a Wi-Fi network, buy a tablet with cellular support and space for a SIM card. Just bear in mind if you go the SIM card route, that you will also have to sign up for a service plan of some kind. Some carriers offer special plans for tablets.

You can use FaceTime on an iPad, but there are lots of good alternative video chat apps that work with Android tablets or iPads. Many of them allow you to make audio calls as well. However, the person you want to call usually has to have the same app. Some apps, like Skype, also allow you to call regular landline or mobile phone numbers, but you’ll generally have to pay per minute or get a subscription. A good app that will work on Android tablets or iPads that gives you a free number for calling, text messages, and voicemail is Google Voice, but it only works in the U.S.

If you’re interested in this option for a business, then you might also consider one of the best VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services.

Can you text on a tablet?

Yes, you can send text messages from a tablet. If you have an iPad then you can use iMessage, though this will only allow you to send messages to other iOS devices or Mac computers. There are lots of great text messaging apps that work on Android or iOS. You could also use Google Voice if you are based in the U.S. as it gives you a free number for calls and text messages.

How we test

The tablets we test serve as our daily drivers, so we use them extensively to put them through their paces. That means watching movies, gaming, testing out lots of apps, reading, working on them, and even taking photos and shooting video with them (which is impossible to do without looking stupid). We love new, innovative features, but we can also appreciate classic design done well. Ultimately, we look for tablets that will fulfill the needs of most people, so their ability to serve up entertainment is paramount.

Editors’ Recommendations

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When Should You Skip Exercising

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When Should You Skip Exercising

When Should You Skip Exercising Shivani K Hyderabd040-395603080 December 27, 2019

Yes, the millennials surely have been born into a sedentary world that follows a sedentary lifestyle. But amongst all the odds that this present generation faces right from unstable governments to an environment that is consistently destructing, there are some things they’re following which earlier generations didn’t bother to. One of them is walking on a healthy route in life by eating healthy and burning those calories by hitting the gym. The present generation gives so much importance to staying fit and healthy. They seem to keep their fitter selves above anything else that could be a potential priority. But just give this a thought now, is it really necessary to push the limit and exercise when you know your body is recovering from a viral infection or any other sort of pain? Don’t you think exercising when your body needs good rest will cause more harm than good to your body?

To put more light on this, here’s a low down on when you should be skipping your workouts to stay healthy! Read on.

1. When You Are Down With A Fever

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Many think that working out at the gym will keep all sickness at bay. This could be true, however, if you already have a fever, then it’s best advised to rest. Because at that time, your body is basically already fighting an infection or a virus. Therefore, it needs to rest in order to kick it off your body and recover soon. If you choose to workout at this time, then your body is going to be weaker and more vulnerable to the illness that it is trying to defend. So, next time you’re ill, rest it out!

2. If You Have Recently Trekked Or Ran A Big Marathon

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The body gets exhausted to great levels when you have completed a fitness event like a marathon. Or if you have been climbing or trekking mountains for a couple of days. After doing all this, when you’re back at your regular schedule, it’s best advised to allow your body some good time to recover. You could just take slow-paced strolls, or try yoga, these will help your body recover from the strain it’s been through. Don’t ever workout immediately.

3. When You’re Injured

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Working out at a gym with all those heavy weights needs to be the right way. If you aren’t doing it correctly, chances are that you’ll injure your body. When your body is injured, it’s best advised to rest it out and allow the injury to heal naturally. Sure, you can still workout by focusing on another body part, but there are high chances that you could tweak something again and land in a painful mess. So, when you’re injured, please recover and later resume your workout drills.

4. When You’re Down With A Flu

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We understand that working out will help you better your immune system. It’s going to make your body stone-hearted and defend the viruses that try to woo and enter inside. However, when you’re already battling a flu or a viral infection, working out will not help! It will weaken your body and make it more vulnerable to stay in the ill state. Therefore, whenever you’re sick or down with a flu, it’s important to stay hydrated, have your medicines, and take adequate measures to rest. This will allow your body to eliminate the flu and switch to recovery mode. Once your body has completely recovered, you can get back to doing your favorite exercise at your gym.

5. When You’re So Sore Than You Cannot Even Walk Properly

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They say that exercising is good. It helps release the stiffness in the muscles and makes way for oxygen to help repair the weak muscles and make them stronger. Light stretching and feeble exercises will help fix this problem. But, when you over strain your body and its muscles to an extent that it is becoming sore then you need to stop exercising till your muscles feel good. If you ignore giving them rest and continue to workout, you’re making them more vulnerable and this could lead to injuries as well.

Whenever you find that your muscles have turned soar because of working out, we suggest you switch to yoga for a couple of days. Yoga is known to improve the flexibility of the body after all.

6. When You Might Miss Out On Something Very Important In life

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We absolutely appreciate if you’re very disciplined and dedicated towards your workout regimen at the gym. But, if there is something really important that you need to take care of, for example, attend your child’s annual day function, or take your mom or partner somewhere where they couldn’t go alone—you need to give your exercising a miss! Many do the mistake of religiously following their gym routines and giving their personal priorities a miss. So, don’t do that. Never do that! Because being with family and friends is also a part of living a healthy life.

We hope you’ve realized when not to exercise after reading the above-mentioned points. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments given below.

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You know those days when you’re just waiting for something to go wrong? You try to make sure everything is running smoothly, but there’s only so much you can do. Well, Four Chord Music Festival 6 seemed to go exactly that way. From the issues with the ground covering and having to move the entire show to the Highmark Stadium parking lot, to the threatening rain, to the main act cancelling 5 minutes before doors, things started to feel like they were falling apart on the inside. Yet, as always, Rishi Bahl, the creator of the festival, still never gave up. The show went on, as the saying goes, and it turned out to be an incredible show. From the merch tents, the pro-wrestling, the tattoo parlor tent, and the music, it felt like the biggest Four Chord I’ve been to for the last 4 years. The rain nor the cancellation seemed to stop anyone from showing up.

Being that the festival was moved from Xtaza, where it has been held for the last 4 festivals, to Highmark Stadium, another difference this year was that it was produced by local promoting company, Drusky Entertainment.

With a large lineup of fairly well known bands, Four Chord 6 turned out to be incredible. So, let’s dive in and talk about the bands that played.

First off, we had pop/punk locals, Atlantic Wasteland. If you’re familiar with my blog, that name may ring a bell. They’re good friends of mine and I shoot their shows on a regular basis. They’ve got a great mix of pop and punk influences in their music and it’s very refreshing. I’ve seen so many of their shows, but I find myself enjoying each one better than the last. Ausinette (lead vocals), is like the hype woman because she’s everywhere and gets the crowd going. Sam (lead vocals, guitar) puts so much of himself in each performance. You can always tell from my photos cause I capture all his different facial expressions. They’re incredible. If you went to the festival and enjoyed them, they have another show coming up at Club Cafe on November 8th. They put their all into every performance and it’s great to watch.

Next up, and on the second stage, we had pop/punk Pittsburghers, Look Out Loretta. They are a very underrated band. They don ’t play very often, but when they do, it’s almost as if no time has passed since their last performance. Despite them being a small band, the crowd didn’t seem to care. Their energy during the performance was electric. The next time Look Out Loretta hits up a show, I strongly recommend you not missing it. These guys are excellent.

Back on the main stage, we had Fortune Cove, formerly known as Harbour, from Toronto, Canada. They have a sort of fast pop/punk style, which really got the crowd going, thus starting what would be a long evening of mosh pits and crowd surfing. They were a great compliment to the (new) headliners as well. They kind of reminded me of a more punk version of Fall Out Boy. Fortune Cove has played Four Chord in previous years, but under the name Harbour, so they were no stranger to the festival crowd.

Now we are headed back to stage 2, to talk about Keep Flying, an alternative pop punk band from Northeastern US. They’re unique for their inclusion of different and unconventional instruments, such as the saxophone and the trumpet, which were used during their performance. They blend the instruments together, almost as if they’re meant to be used. The crowd kept the moshing going, the drizzling rain not deterring them. Like Fortune Cove, they too have been seen at a few Four Chord Festivals.

If you’re a Four Chord regular, this next band will be very familiar to you, as they’ve played every year of it, since I’ve even been going. Patent Pending, from Long Island, NY, is the band who took the main stage next. They classify as rock/pop punk, and I really enjoy them. Joe Ragosta, the lead singer, is one of the most active and interactive lead singers I’ve ever shot. Every single photo I take of him is different from the last. Plus, he’s constantly moving, so he poses a challenge too. He crowd surfed during this set, which I proudly got some nice photos of. He also talked about being obsessed with the Pittsburgh accent and talked a lot about it, haha. Two of their catchiest, and most popular, songs are, “Douchebag” and “Hey Mario”. The crowd always responds so well to them; from crowd surfing, moshing, throwing their hands in the air, and screaming along lyrics, the audience was no different this year. They’re a bigger band, but they’re the example of a band stuck in their roots, enjoying and treating every performance like it’s their biggest yet, which was the case at Four Chord for sure.

Ping-ponging back to the second stage, we have another band from Ontario, Seaway. No surprise, but they are also classified as pop punk. I can tell you, with certainty, that the rain didn’t get the crowd’s energy down, quite in fact the opposite effect. They were moshing so much I couldn’t get a great spot for my photos, in the front, haha. They were a great adrenaline booster and addition to the festival.

Next up on the main stage, we have the man of the hour, Rishi Bahl and his band, Eternal Boy, local to Pittsburgh.

Let me side track for a minute and just talk about Rishi. This man puts his all into the festival each and every year. This show was no exception, and although it had its issues, it turned out to be incredible. So if you attended, be sure to give him a shout out on Twitter or something because he deserves some major recognition for his dedication and passion for this pop punk festival he created.

Okay, anyway, Eternal Boy. Although Rishi has a festival to put his focus on, his band doesn’t end up coming second. Their performances are always on par — festival or not. They played all the favorites, like “Katie” and “Awkward Phase”, of course. The crowd went wild for them and kept the moshing going. Joe, from Patent Pending, came in for a guest appearance, and to just mess around with the crowd and the band. They always put on an incredible performance, and they definitely didn’t disappoint for this show.

Up next, for the final time on the secondary stage, we had Grayscale, a pop punk band from Philadelphia, PA. I’d first heard them in the VIP event, with Atlantic Wasteland, playing acoustic and I really enjoyed them. They have some heavier vibes, but they aren’t hardcore, which is nice for casual pop punk listeners, like myself. I enjoyed their set during the acoustic session, and enjoyed it just as much when they played the full band set later on in the day. The crowd was insane for them. I was in the pit for about half a song before I gave up and went to photograph from other angles. It started to rain a little bit harder too. But the rain never stopped the audience from enjoying the day.

And now we bring it back to the main stag for the rest of the evening. Now we have Chicago based pop punk band, Knuckle Puck. If you’re an avid pop punk listener, you’ve likely listened to it already love them. If not, you may have at least heard of them. From a photographer perspective, they’re extremely fun. They’re all over the place. The audience was too, with crowd surfer after crowd surfer came through, sometimes two at a time. Knuckle Puck is exactly what you expect when you think of pop punk. They’re just on the cusp of being heavier punk, but are still a tad bit into the pop part of the genre. They’re heavier and definitely embrace their genre and have fun with it, which keeps the crowd on their feet.

Real Friends took the stage next, to continue our trend of heavier pop punk. Real Friends is originally from Illinois and are considered emo/pop punk. Like, Knuckle Puck, they’re a little insane too. But also very fun to watch. By this point it started to get dark and it really added to the effect of the genre. Real Friends have everything you’d ever want in pop punk music. Crowd surfers, yet again, cam multiple at a time. Crazy cool band to watch.

The next band on stage, hasn’t been active since 2014. Anberlin, a rock/alternative band from Florida hit the Four Chord stage next. I personally had never heard of them prior to the show announcement, but the attendees were extremely excited about their reunion show in Pittsburgh. They’d toured over the summer elsewhere, but hadn’t been to Pittsburgh in a good while. By this point in the night, it was pitch black out, but the energy of the crowd was still at an all time high. I barely was able to be in the pit shooting because the crowd was crazy. It was very fun to watch them perform, barely skipping a beat.

And last, but not least, we had our (new) headliners, Simple Plan, a pop punk band from Montreal, Canada. You know, in case you haven’t heard of them, which I don’t know how that’d be possible. They were incredible. They played a decent mix of fan favorites, oldies, and more recent releases. The audience was hyped up for the Four Chord headliners and had the time of their lives. You could see they were in a different world. There were a bit less crowd surfers, but they showed their love and appreciation by dancing and screaming along to every lyric. Since Four Chord, Simple Plan has released a single with State Champs and We The Kings, called “Where I Belong” and will be touring the country as well.

Four Chord Music Festival 6 was a success, despite all of the ups and downs throughout the process. I couldn’t be prouder of Rishi and how much work he puts into his festivals. I can’t wait to see what he’s got up his sleeve for Four Chord 7.

Grayscale

Seaway

Simple Plan

Atlantic Wasteland

Eternal Boy

Grayscale

Anberlin

Real Friends

Fortune Cove

Atlantic Wasteland

Real Friends

Keep Flying

Keep Flying

Knuckle Puck

Eternal Boy

Fortune Cove

Look Out Loretta

Knuckle Puck

Fortune Cove

Seaway

Knuckle Puck

Fortune Cove

Real Friends

Simple Plan

Grayscale

Simple Plan

Eternal Boy

Keep Flying

Look Out Loretta

Atlantic Wasteland

Anberlin

Grayscale

Knuckle Puck

Look Out Loretta

Seaway

Real Friends

Simple Plan

Simple Plan

Patent Pending

Atlantic Wasteland

Anberlin

Anberlin

Simple Plan

Patent Pending

Patent Pending

Look Out Loretta

Patent Pending

Eternal Boy

Seaway

Four Chord Music Festival 6 You know those days when you’re just waiting for something to go wrong? You try to make sure everything is running smoothly, but there’s only so much you can do.

[fitnessexpert00-blog]

7 Hacks to Better Fitness

New Post has been published on https://fitnessqia.com/trending/7-hacks-to-better-fitness/

7 Hacks to Better Fitness

All too often we think we have to make a huge effort in order to change where we are at. We see it all over where people going on extreme fad diets or jump right into difficult fitness routines in an effort to reverse what months or even years of neglect have done to themselves. Typically those sudden and big changes are short-lived and can often lead to disappointment or even injury.

I’m a big fan of making little changes or hacks to our everyday life to effect a change. What we do consistently is what will become good, healthy habits and eventually become a regular part of who we are. So with that in mind, here are 7 little hacks you can do in your everyday living that can help you find better fitness and overall health.

Move more every day

In other worse, just do something every day more than you normally might do. It doesn’t have to be huge, especially at the beginning of establishing good new habits. In fact, I’d suggest it shouldn’t be too big. When you start out big it may feel great, but even the next day or a few days in a row you may burn out quickly. That said, don’t be afraid to do some efforts beyond what you might think are possible, but focus on doing something, anything that gets you moving. Every. Single. Day.

Walk a Dog (or a family member or friend)

When I first started getting back in shape, I had to start small. My knees especially were shot, both because of past injuries and also the extra weight I had been carrying. As I started to lose weight with healthier eating, portion sizes and using FENIX for meal replacements, my ability to move with less pain in my knees began to return. So my first physical effort was simply walking the dog.

We’ve got a little dog that needs to get out and get moving too, so we became walking buddies on a more regular basis. First, it was just around the block. Then it was around the immediate neighborhood. As the weeks went by, it stretched even further and often twice a day and my knees felt great. Even without doing anything more than walking and eating better I was shedding pounds rapidly and feeling better inside and out.

If you don’t have a dog, enlist a family member, significant other or even a friend or two. Be honest and tell them you need the help sticking to the routine. Be accountable to each other and get out and move no matter what. Rain or shine you can put in a little time for your health and betterment.

Park further away

You’ve undoubtedly heard this one before, but to put it simply, it works. Quit wasting that time circling the parking lot searching for the closest spot. Why is it so hard to think of walking an additional 100 or 200 feet? Ok, maybe if it’s pouring rain I can see it, but the rest of the time why aren’t you relishing the opportunity to get in a few extra steps into your day? It’s really all about your mindset. Don’t shortcut the physical effort in the name of convenience. As a side bonus, park far away from other cars and you’re less likely to pick up a door ding or have an abandoned cart roll into your car. (Personal pet peeve!)

Have a desk job? Get up every hour for 5 minutes to move or stretch.

This is a big one for me. I’ve spent most of my career in front of a computer. I design, edit photos, do online communication, etc. Hour after hour I tend to slump into bad posture and seat position despite my best efforts. Not only is this sedentary it’s terrible on our joints, muscle and blood flow not to mention our eyesight.

A big answer for me was to set an hourly alarm to just get up and move around. Look out the window or take a short stroll around the office or even go outside. Have little routine of some pushups or stretches to shake up those muscles and joints. Again, just move and get out of that chair.

Take the Stairs

Skip the escalator. Only going up a floor or two on the elevator? Just take the stairs. Enough said.

Start the Day with Movement

Create a daily movement routine to start the day. It doesn’t have to be long or especially hard even. I recently saw a great video of a physical trainer and his 7-minute exercise routine that consisted of 4 different exercises repeated in a Tabata style of 20 seconds of effort, 10 seconds of recovery repeated 4 times for each exercise. That’s it. Even in his good physical fitness he was quickly breathing hard and the blood was flowing. All in 7 minutes a great routine to kick off the day right. Starting the day with movement reals so many benefits

Stretch

Improve joints, relieve aches and tension, increase blood flow. We focus so often on cardio or strength and ignore this all too important need for good physical health. More than anything getting back to good stretching has helped me improve and avoid injury. Taking it even further try out some light yoga by downloading an app or local class to learn how. Get over the hesitation about giving it a try. You’ll thank me later.

Explore

Finally, just get outside. I’m a big believer in the power of outdoor therapy. Go somewhere new outside your routine. Far better than what some think they need after a long day to plop down on the couch and “unplug” but watching hours of TV. Find local places to walk either in town or if you can outside the rush of people. My favorite escape is to simply pick a direction and walk somewhere new. Even better if I can get up in the mountains or away from people to clear my mind and refresh my thinking while I exercise my body. It doesn’t have to be long or far away, just get out and explore.

about the benefits of getting outside.

I can promise you that if you make little changes in your everyday habits you will see far longer lasting changes in your life. Those healthy habits will build in you a renewed enjoyment of being active and a motivation find even more ways to become a better you!

About ORGANO

Founded in 2008 as Organo Gold, ORGANO is dedicated to bringing the benefits of the earth’s nutritional riches to people throughout the world via its premium products that can be used daily to help to achieve a more energetic and healthier lifestyle.

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7 Hacks to Better Fitness

[garkomedia1]

3 scenarios for Trump-Xi meeting

Editor’s Note: This edition of Free Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

3 POSSIBLE TRUMP-XI OUTCOMES — T-minus one day until President Trump leaves for the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires for a critical sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping. MM has spent the last few days talking to administration officials, market participants and trade experts about both the stakes and the potential outcomes of the summit and repeatedly heard three potential scenarios which we will lay out here with odds for each.

Story Continued Below

SCENARIO 1: THE BIG DEAL — The odds of this are the lowest at around 5 percent. Under this scenario, Xi presents Trump with significant “deliverables” on key topics including joint venture rules, intellectual property and the trade deficit. In response, Trump agrees to hold off on increasing the current 10 percent tariff rate to 25 percent on Jan. 1 and halts the process of adding another $267 billion to the list of Chinese goods subject to U.S. tariffs.

People inside and outside the White House see this as highly unlikely given the lack of significant prep work done before the meetings and Xi’s desire to avoid losing face with quick and dramatic concessions to Trump. If it were to happen, global markets would likely celebrate as soon as they re-open on Monday and Trump would take a massive victory lap.

SCENARIO 2: THE SMALL STEP FORWARD — This one is mostly likely (65 percent) and would include positive interactions between Trump and Xi and perhaps a small statement in which both sides agree to further talks and the Chinese agree to some steps including buying more American goods including natural gas. Under this scenario, Trump would send some positive tweets about his relationship with Xi while cautioning that all tariff options remain on the table.

There are many variants to this scenario based on what the Chinese offer. If the offers are better than expected, the January tariff increase could be put on hold. This outcome, depending on the particulars, would also likely goose global stock princes.

SCENARIO 3: THE DISASTER — Non-hardline White House advisers worry about this one a lot and it clocks in at 30 percent. In this scenario, Trump and Xi don’t get along at all, the Chinese offer nothing and Trump leaves angry and pledging to go through with the 25 percent and move as swiftly as possible to add the remaining $267 billion, hitting everything China exports to the U.S. and inviting further non-tariff retaliation from the Chinese.

This scenario ends with mean tweets from Trump and gloating from Peter Navarro. It also ends with sharp declines across global stock and commodities markets and increased recession risk in the United States. White House advisers worry that Trump’s mood and external events (Mueller news etc.) could turn the Xi meeting sour though they don’t see a disaster as very likely given how much the president cares about market reaction.

KUDLOW SETS MODEST EXPECTATIONS — In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, NEC Director Larry Kudlow spoke of newly energized talks between the U.S. and China “at all levels” headed into the Xi meetings but also tamped down hopes for a major deal out of the G20 meeting. “This is an opportunity, with the two presidents, to break through what have been disappointing discussions,” Kudlow said. “This is a big deal, this meeting. And the stakes are very high.” POLITICO’s Andrew Restuccia and Doug Palmer have more on Kudlow’s comments here.

From their piece: “The logistics of the Trump-Xi meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, are still coming together, according to White House aides. The guest list has not been finalized, and a senior administration official said it’s unclear if the meeting will feature a more intimate discussion with Xi, his wife, Trump and the first lady — or a broader meeting with other top-level aides.” …

“In addition, the president will join the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Friday to sign a newly negotiated trade deal between the two countries, Kudlow said, adding that the logistics of the event are still being ironed out.”

** A message from The Clearing House: The Clearing House’s RTP network, designed for the digital age and for financial institutions of all sizes, has made real-time payments a reality in the U.S. A year ago this month, the first U.S. payment to settle and clear in real-time from end-to-end was made on the RTP network. https://www.bankingperspectives.com/the-rtp-network-turns-1-tchs-commitment-to-faster-payments/ **

WHAT BOTH SIDES WANT — POLITICO’s Adam Behsudi: “U.S. demands center on Beijing’s policies that force U.S. firms to hand over technology to do business in China. The Trump administration released an updated report last week that found Beijing has done little to address the initial complaints that have led to tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. … At best, China could be looking for the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting to result in a detente in the tariff war as a broader deal is worked out.”

TRUMP SWINGS WILDLY AT POWELL … AGAIN — In an interview with WP’s Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey Trump leveled perhaps has wildest attacks on Fed Chair Jay Powell to date, blaming him for job and plant cuts at GM despite absolutely no evidence that the central bank’s modest and fully anticipated rate cuts had anything to do with the moves. GM says Trump’s tariffs, by contrast, will cost the company $1 billion this year.

Here’s what he said: “I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed. They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” …

“So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay. Not even a little bit. And I’m not blaming anybody [message to Mnuchin], but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing.” …

“I disagree with the Fed. I’ve been open about that. I think the Fed is a much bigger problem than China. I think that China wants to make a deal very badly. I think we’ll either make a deal or we’ll be taking in billions and billions of dollars a month in tariffs and I’m okay with either one of those two situations.”

It didn’t make the main story but Trump also went after the Fed’s efforts to very slowly reduce a balance sheet that swelled to over $4 trillion during the financial crisis and recession: “We’re not getting any accommodation, and we’re also paying $50 billion, we’re paying down our liquidity, is — you can make the case it’s a positive thing in one way, but another thing it snaps your liquidity.” Transcript.

TRUMP THOUGHT YELLEN WAS TOO SHORT — Also this little gem from Rucker/Dawsey: “Trump considered reappointing Yellen to the post, and she impressed him greatly during an interview, according to people briefed on their encounter. But advisers steered him away from renominating her, telling him that he should have his own person in the job.

“The president also appeared hung up on Yellen’s height. He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said.

SPEAKING OF POWELL — The Fed Chair speaks at noon on Wednesday at the Economic Club of New York. His topic is “The Federal Reserve’s Framework for Monitoring Financial Stability.” He’s already obliquely responded to Trump and asserted the Fed’s independence and said the central bank is just trying to do its job. He’s not likely to address Trump at all in his prepared remarks but the subject could certainly come up in questioning by Peter Henry and Marty Feldstein. But he probably won’t go much beyond what he’s already said.

HURTING HIS OWN CASE — We’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating that every time Trump attacks Powell and the Fed he makes it LESS likely that the central bank will pause its rate increases next year. The Fed, as always, will make decisions based on incoming data but if it’s a very close call, protecting the institution’s political independence against Trump’s pressure tactics would argue in favor of staying the course rather than appearing to cave.

MM also wrote back when he was nominated that anyone who thought Powell would be a patsy for Trump were in for significant disappointment. And that is so far proving to be true.

POWELL PREVIEW — Via Pantheon’s Ian Shepherdson: “[W]e very much doubt he wants to give the impression that the Fed is seriously contemplating skipping either the December or March hikes. We’re sure policymakers at this point would prefer not to see turmoil in the stock market, or the manufacturing sector losing steam as a result of the tariff wars with China.

“But these forces aren’t powerful enough yet to ease the downward pressure on the unemployment rate. Accordingly, we were not at all surprised to hear Vice Chair Rich Clarida emphasizing [Tuesday] that downside risks to the economy have diminished in recent years and that gradual rate hikes are appropriate given the uncertainty over the level of the neutral funds rate. … This was not a dovish speech.”

REQUIEM FOR THE G-20 — Mohamed A. El-Erian on Bloomberg View: “Despite weakening and diverging global economic growth, the aspiration for the larger discussions among leaders representing about three-quarters of global gross domestic product has been reduced to issuing bland joint communiques — and that’s assuming an agreement on this can be achieved. … Created with the hope to reflect new global economic realities, the G-20 has been on a downward trend since its successful London summit in April 2009.” Read more.

ONE GOP SENATOR’S PLAN TO SAVE RURAL AMERICA — The latest POLITICO Money podcast features my conversation with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on his Opportunity Zones plan, included in the tax cut bill, to offer significant tax incentives for investment in rural and small town areas largely left behind in the economic recovery from the Great Recession.

Scott: “In the Opportunity Zones, the poverty rate is over 30 percent. I look at it from a common-sense perspective and I ask myself, ‘Is there a way for me to positively impact the lives of 50 million Americans by providing an incentive to unlock investments for those areas?’” Sign up here.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING — Big thanks to Victoria Guida for the one-day fill in while MM was in transportation hell. Email me at bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver at aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver..

Let Women Rule your inbox: The Women Rule Newsletter is a weekly email that shares original content, practical advice, backstage stories, special events and impactful resources for women at any stage of their career. If you are a woman looking to lead or grow your professional network, look no further than Women Rule. No one rises to the top alone, so sign up for our newsletter and get started today.

THE ADAGE “WORK HARD AND GET AHEAD” is a waning reality in America today. The question is: What can Washington do to foster more opportunity and prosperity in struggling communities across the country? POLITICO convened a bipartisan group of 14 business leaders, thinkers and policymakers to explore the problem and identify solutions that have a realistic path forward with political leaders of both parties. Read the latest issue of The Agenda to learn more.

GOP HOLDS MISSISSIPPI SENATE SEAT — Via @NBCNews at 10:14 p.m.: BREAKING: Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) wins US Senate runoff in Mississippi, @NBCNews projects.” Read more.

DRIVING THE DAY — President Trump has lunch with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and attends the National Christmas Tree Lighting at 5:00 p.m. … Big day for economic news and data with the Powell speech leading the docket at noon … Third estimate of Q3 GDP at 8:30 a.m. expected to be unchanged at 3.5 percent …

Trade numbers at 8:30 a.m. expected to rise to $77 billion from $76.3 billion … New home sales at 10:00 a.m. expected to rise to 575K from 553K … FOMC minutes at 2:00 p.m.

MORE ON CLARIDA — Victoria for Pros: “Clarida … emphasized the strength of the U.S. economy but argued that business investment needs to increase to boost productivity growth. … Clarida also pointed to productivity growth as an important dynamic in why inflation is running at or close to the Fed’s 2 percent target ‘and not well above it, when growth is strong and the labor market robust.’” Read more.

BROWN WANTS GM ADDRESSED IN ANY TAX BILL — Our Brian Faler: “Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is demanding that any year-end tax legislation address General Motors’ announcement that it is laying off thousands of workers. Brown, a tax writer and potential 2020 presidential candidate whose state is home to some of those workers, blamed GM’s decision on provisions in the new tax law, H.R. 1 (115), allowing companies to pay a lower tax rate on their overseas earnings than they are charged on their domestic profits.

“He wants to end that as part of any tax legislation lawmakers move before the end of the year — a likely impossible demand given time constraints and the complexities of the issue. ‘This bill is meaningless unless [President Donald Trump] actually addresses the real issues of the day,’ Brown told reporters on Tuesday. ‘I can’t think of anything more important.’” Read more.

More from Brian for Pros on details of the last minute tax effort: “House Republicans Monday evening unexpectedly released a 297-page tax bill they hope to move during the lame-duck session of Congress. The legislation would revive a number of expired tax ‘extenders,’ address glitches in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and make a range of changes to savings- and retirement-related tax provisions.

“Other parts of the bill would revamp the IRS, provide new tax breaks for start-up businesses and offer assistance to disaster victims. The measure amounts to House Republicans’ opening bid in negotiations with the Senate. They’ll need Democratic support there to move any changes, and it’s unclear lawmakers will agree to any of the provisions before adjourning for the year.” Read more.

BANKERS PUT PUSH GETS GROOVY VIBES FROM BLUE WAVE — Our Zachary Warmbrodt: “Banks haven’t been able to cash in on marijuana money, but there’s new momentum to change that with Democrats about to take charge of the House. With anti-pot Attorney General Jeff Sessions gone and even more states legalizing weed, bankers who have grown increasingly frustrated by legal restrictions on the cannabis business are working with Democrats and Republicans to change laws curtailing transactions that deal with marijuana.

“The new push by banks to handle financial transactions for the pot industry is the latest sign that politics of marijuana are rapidly changing in the nation’s capital, as voters across the country back legalization. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat who has taken the lead on legislation in the House, said there was ‘a real opportunity’ to move a bill aligning federal and state marijuana laws for banks and credit unions.” Read more.

STOCK INDEXES EDGE HIGHER — AP’s Marley Jay: “Stocks wobbled Tuesday as large high-dividend stocks rose and smaller companies sank. Major indexes were coming off big gains the day before. Big health care companies including Johnson & Johnson rallied, as did telecommunications and household goods makers. Steel and other materials makers skidded, and a steep loss for United Technologies pulled defense contractors lower.

“Technology companies rose even though President Donald Trump said he expects more tariffs on goods imported from China, some of which would hit products like computers and smartphones. Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this week.” Read more.

INVESTORS CONFRONT FEARS AHEAD OF G-20 — WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar: “Softening economic data are adding to investor anxiety ahead of the Group of 20 summit that starts Friday in Buenos Aires. The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index for developed markets, a measure that tracks whether economic reports are meeting projections, has fallen to its lowest level in almost six months. The gauge is in negative territory, meaning data are broadly starting to come in below economists’ expectations. A similar index for emerging markets has been in mostly negative territory since June.” Read more.

GOODBYE APPLE, HELLO MICROSOFT — Bloomberg’s Jeran Wittenstein and Dina Bass: “Microsoft Corp. surpassed Apple Inc. to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. All it took was a $300 billion rout. After briefly claiming the top spot on Monday, Microsoft shares rose 0.6 percent Tuesday, pushing the company’s market value to $828.1 billion at the close. That exceeded by more than $1 billion the value of Apple, which has tumbled this month on concern about iPhone unit sales. The last time Microsoft’s market capitalization was bigger than Apple was in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.” Read more.

** A message from The Clearing House: The Clearing House’s RTP network is the first new payments rail to be introduced in the U.S. in 40 years and the first designed and built for the digital age. The system delivers 24/7/365 real-time clearing and settlement of payments, along with rich messaging and data capabilities. Financial institutions are developing innovative products for consumers and businesses that rely on RTP’s speed, safety and convenience and RTP will support a wave of innovation that will revolutionize payments. RTP was designed with input from a broad range of stakeholders for financial institutions of all sizes. By the end of 2018, the RTP network will reach nearly 50 percent of accounts in the U.S. and is on path to reach nearly all accounts in the U.S. by the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force’s goal of 2020. Read about The RTP Network Turns 1: TCH’s Commitment to Faster Payments at https://www.bankingperspectives.com/the-rtp-network-turns-1-tchs-commitment-to-faster-payments/ **

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[dorothydelgadillo]

The Future of SEO: How AI Will Produce Better Content Marketing

Technological innovation presents new challenges in any industry and advances in artificial intelligence and content marketing are no different.

Self-teaching algorithms have made search engine optimization (SEO) more abstract and difficult to master, which means it can feel harder to rank, attract an audience, and ultimately, gain customers with content marketing.

Source. 

However, while innovation brings challenges, it also brings great opportunities for those ready to evolve and learn how to harness the new technology.

I’m going to show you how artificial intelligence (AI) will shape the future of content marketing to make it even more effective as well as some ways it should already be shaping your strategy today.

But first, you need to understand how artificial intelligence is shaping the new SEO landscape…

Search Engines Are Developing Minds of Their Own

For decades, Google (and its competitors) based its ranking on rule-based logic. Granted, it was very complex rule-based logic, but nevertheless, at the end of the day, it was hard-coded rules. This meant an SEO expert’s primary job was to find and exploit the rules.

There were keyword hacks, then backlinking hacks, and so on, but not all these exploits were bad.

For example, if you can create content that generates a lot of legitimate, authoritative backlinks, you’re probably creating valuable content readers want to see.

That’s why for years, Matt Cutts was Google’s key SEO spokesperson.

Between his online videos and public speaking engagements, Matt would explain how Google’s algorithm and updates worked for marketers so that they could create websites and content that lined up with the way the search engine wanted it.

But in the early 2010s that started to slow down and in 2014, he took leave from Google.

The SEO world was shocked and worried. Who would explain all this complicated black magic to us?  Then it got worse. In 2015, Google announced his replacement wouldn’t be a public persona.

This was the beginning of the end of an era of (moderate) transparency from the search king.

They still make major announcements, like the switch to mobile-first indexing, but otherwise, they’re pretty tight-lipped about their algorithm updates now (which happen about 3 times every day).

To be fair, some insiders at Google have even admitted they aren’t entirely sure what RankBrain (a key element in its algorithm) is doing to generate results anymore, which  means that SEO has become even more of an art than a science.

And Google isn't the only one. Since 2013, organic reach on Facebook Pages has been plummeting as well.

Way back in 2014, Ogilvy warned major brands that they should expect this metric to trend toward zero:

Source.

But very few heeded this warning until it became a reality.

While it’s made our jobs a bit harder, this is actually a golden opportunity for marketers.

The aim of all these investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning is ultimately to provide a better user experience and make happier customers.

As marketers, don’t we want the same thing?

As these platforms become more effective, you can expect the results they drive to match. Features like private (formerly “personal”) search results will drive more qualified traffic to the right places:

Instead of creating content with mass appeal for the sake of better search ranking, you’ll be able to create content that speaks directly to your audience -- meaning more qualified traffic.

Now, let’s take a look at how AI is being used to create better content, develop better strategy, and leverage dynamic hyper-personalization (and where it’s going next).

AI Will Create Better Content

Based on a survey of more than 350 AI experts last year, researchers believe AI will be able to write a passable high school essay as soon as 2026 and a New York Times bestseller by 2049.

In fact, two years ago, Gartner predicted that by 2018, “20% of all business content will be authored by machines.”

The Associated Press has even been publishing thousands of pieces of completely automated stories since 2015.

If you're skeptical that computers can’t really write effective content that plays to the reader’s emotions, you’d be right. We’re not quite there yet. The best content is still written, at least in part, by humans.

But AI-assisted content creation is very powerful and very real.

Content Tools Capitalizing on AI

You might not realize it, but many of the tools you’re using are already built on fundamental AI technology like Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing (NLP).

I use Grammarly, for example, on every piece I write to help catch more obscure homophones (two words that sound the same but have different meanings and spelling, like "knew" and "new") and language conventions my spell checker won’t (and editors don’t want to deal with.)

Furthermore, companies like CoSchedule have created tools that analyze and break down your headlines to provide actionable insights that will increase your click-through rate:

One of my favorite AI tools for content marketing is Clearscope.

Clearscope analyzes the top 30 results on Google for any keyword you enter and then gives you data (like that below) and actionable advice on how to write content that can compete with them: 

 Part of the way it does this is by analyzing other common keywords that appear in those articles so that you can work them into your piece naturally: 

 This is critical because Google’s algorithm is now much more focused on search intent, not exact keyword match. This means keyword stuffing is less effective and quality, well-written content is more likely to rise to the surface.In fact, you can even rank for keywords that aren’t found in your article if you satisfy the intent of that query.

All of this is possible because of advances in AI technology like machine learning and NLP, and it’s power doesn’t stop at the tactical level.

AI Can Optimize Your Content Strategy

One of the biggest challenges of content marketing is answering critical questions like:

“What type of content do my customers really want?”

“How do I move customers from one stage to the next?"

The traditional strategy is to research and develop buyer personas, but artificial intelligence promises to answer these questions better than ever before without all the planning.

By analyzing website traffic, email interactions, and social media behavior, AI helps you develop a more detailed profile of your target audience and what they like.

One popular brand that uses this technology already is Fender Guitar, which works with Crimson Hexagon to provide AI-powered customer insights.

After analyzing their current audience, Fender  found that it skewed heavily toward men, explaining  why they were having a trouble connecting with female customers.

The traditional solution would be to having a big meeting, create customer profiles, and make assumptions about what female guitarists wanted. If the marketing team decided to invest a little more, they could even interview some female guitarists and ask them directly what would want, but unless they interviewed thousands, they'd have to hope the few women they questioned represented the diverse national market.

Plus, people are notoriously bad at explaining why they make decisions.

Fortunately, using Crimson Hexagon, Fender Guitar was able to skip past  these sloppy techniques that rely on assumptions, self-reporting, and hope.

AI-powered customer insights from Crimson Hexagon allowed Fender Guitar to create a more targeted approach based on content that was designed to attract the female demographic.

For example, they found that bassist, Nik West was popular among their target female audience. So, when they found this video of her jamming out on a Fender guitar, they paid a little bit of money to boost it on Facebook so that more potential customers would see it.

When that brand image marketing seemed to work, they expanded their relationship with the artist and started creating more promotional material by having her sample and showcase their products:

AI Will Improve Attribution Analysis

Another problem for content marketers is measuring the impact of content further up the funnel. In other words, determining which content is actually leading to closed customers.

Most conversion reporting is done on a last-touch basis, which gives all the credit for a conversion to the most recent click or source of that traffic.

Source.

But most customer’s journey’s aren’t so simple. Customers need to interact with your brand more than once before they are ready to buy:

Source.

In fact, 47% of consumers interact with 3 to 5 pieces of content before taking a next step. For instance, fashion and apparel consumers often read 7+ pieces of content — perhaps from influencers and fashion blogs — before taking the step of purchasing. In this case, the last attribution model isn’t reflective of what’s really happening because the relationship has been nurtured over multiple steps.

An effective content strategy is designed by developing pieces around questions customers

will be asking as they move through different stages of the marketing funnel:

Source.

We can more clearly represent how consumers go through the purchase cycle by using more sophisticated attribution models like the one below:

Source.

However, there is still significant room for improvement.

The last click attribution model only measures a small piece of the actual consumer journey, rather than following results from the first piece of content consumed to the actual purchase.

It’s crucial to know what content and ads work — and don’t —  in each step of the journey in order to duplicate and scale effective campaigns.

Tools like Google Attribution -- and even HubSpot -- are addressing the problem by connecting all your channels into one unified data set.

At the same time, companies like Demand Jump are taking this even further by developing algorithmic attribution models that analyze customer behavior to determine what content is driving them through each phase and eventually conversion.

Source. 

AI Will Bring Dynamic Hyper-Personalization

With Google's and Facebook’s algorithms leaning heavier toward targeted content that is highly relevant to the user, marketers need to up their efforts to deliver hyper-personalized content and recommendations.

With AI, you can have a better understanding of your audience and prescriptive attribution and, in turn, know what content moves customers from one phase to the next.

In fact, marketers ranked targeted content delivery the most substantial impact that AI will have on marketing.

 Source.

Nurturing & Upselling

For instance, you can use this information to offer more relevant content upgrades and recommendations like Single Grain does with the example below:

Dynamic Landing Pages

Closely linked to optimized content delivery are “dynamic landing pages and websites” and “hyper-personalization of content.”

Based on segmentation data, dynamic landing pages follow the same principles as email segmentation: give the consumer the content that’s relevant and compelling for him/her.

Let’s look at two different landing pages on HubSpot:

The first is clearly targeted at small business owners and marketers, while the second page is centered around larger enterprise brands.

HubSpot is able to deliver these different messages using a feature called “Smart Content” that changes the message based on the information the website/brand has already gathered about the user.

While brands are already using strategies like these, artificial intelligence will only make it easier to customize pages to tailor to customer interests based on even more variables as illustrated by the graphic below:

Source.

Cross-selling

eCommerce companies like Amazon are already using machine learning like this to drive better product recommendations and increase sales through cross-selling.

I’m sure you’ve seen this block when browsing:

Amazon suggests products you would like based on the purchase you’re considering -- providing the consumer a value-add, social proof, and, of course, increase average order value.

It’s been extremely effective, with independent research from McKinsey citing 35% of Amazon purchases are due to its recommendation algorithm.

Unique Experiences

Landing pages and recommendations are cool, but what if you could actually serve completely different experience to readers based on their profile?

In other words, what if you could show every user something new and unique to them.

You’d be able to form a closer connection with the reader right off the bat by speaking directly to their interests, right?

You might be surprised to learn that this is already happening, but if you’re active on Facebook, you’ve probably even seen it in the form of these videos:

Although the template was designed and animated by humans, the main content of this video (along with those celebrating friendship anniversaries and more)  is programmatically selected by autonomous algorithms to engage individual users.

This one template can be used literally billions of times every day, but is still unique every single time it’s seen.

Companies like Narrative Science are taking this even further by developing artificially intelligent writers that can create multiple versions of the same story targeted to different audiences.

Here’s a sample they produced that covered a baseball game all the way back in 2011.

Notice the embellished language in the piece that was shown to fans of the team versus the more neutral language for general readers. It was completely machine written:

Pretty cool, huh?

As impressive as it is, this technology is still primarily used for sports and financial reporting for two main reasons:

There is tons of similar content out there to train this algorithm because they are fairly routine and standardized.

It’s easier to feed the system numbers and outcomes and let it spin a story.

But it still serves to show you that you can leverage computers to spin content with multiple angles for different audiences if you feed it the proper data.

Obviously, this part of the technology will be well-developed long before AI is composing content from scratch, but the idea of these two aspects combined is almost scary.

You’ll need to keep a human editor on staff for a while, but computers will probably be doing the heavy lifting sooner than you might expect.

A New Age of Content

The future of SEO might not be as far off as you think. Artificial intelligence is driving a new age of hyper-personalized content based on detailed data about your audience that previously wasn’t possible.

Marketers who continue to rely on old-fashioned hacks and tricks will find themselves left in the dust as these algorithms get better at matching individuals to the content they want. However, if you keep pace with technology and find ways to incorporate these innovations to create better content and strategy, you’ll reap the benefits of a new age of content marketing, more powerful than ever before.

If you’re a marketer looking to improve your link game, check out our ultimate guide to link building. You can also check out our 1 Million Backlinks Analysis Series, featuring companies like Lyft, Dollar Shave Club, Airbnb.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/seo-ai-content-marketing

[luciolodewyckx6-blog]

Automobiles.

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[ramialkarmi]

Tesla fired scores of employees after annual performance reviews — here's what to do if you get a bad review of your own

• Tesla recently fired scores of employees in the wake of performance reviews.

• A negative performance review doesn't guarantee you're about to be fired.

• If you want to turn things around, you need to stay calm and take proactive steps to improve.

Tesla reportedly let around 400 employees go during an intense round of performance reviews last week.

A company spokesperson told Business Insider's Bryan Logan, "As with any company, especially one of over 33,000 employees, performance reviews also occasionally result in employee departures."

Don't worry, though. Business Insider's Shana Lebowitz reported experts agree this is "hardly indicative of a trend in the workplace." Tesla's founder and CEO Elon Musk is said to be an intense boss, having reportedly replaced his longtime assistant after she asked for a raise — although he disputes that characterization, according to Business Insider.

In most workplaces, poor performance reviews don't always result in immediate termination. Business Insider spoke with Monster career expert Vicky Salemi about how to bounce back from a negative review — before it's too late.

First of all, how you behave during the review itself maters. Even if you feel the reviewer's suggestions or criticisms are unreasonable, don't get defensive.

"Instead of saying something like, 'That's ridiculous and so not possible given my already full workload of 12-hour days' you can pivot the conversation to something like, 'I'd like to tap into your advice and insight considering my 10 clients take up a significant amount of time and volunteering for three group projects in other departments will take me away from my focus,'" Salemi told Business Insider.

As you listen to the criticism, Salemi said to keep calm, ask thoughtful questions, and take notes.

"If you're completely caught off guard, many parts of the conversation may not sink in because you're focused on the negative words which can tend to sting, so it's important to listen, remove yourself from the situation, remain calm," Salemi said. Plus, writing your reviewer's thoughts down will "give you something to do rather than feel like you're in a pressure cooker staring at your boss on the other side of the desk."

Once the review is over — presuming you still are in your role — Salemi said to follow up with your boss. Schedule another meeting down the road, or set up regular check-ins.

"It shows initiative and that you're willing to do what it takes to improve," she said.

In order to bounce back from a poor review, you've got to be honest with yourself. If the substandard review was justified based on the quality of your work, then you're going to need to take steps to improve your performance. Salemi recommended discussing training options or other resources with your boss.

But if the harsh review was completely off base or unwarranted, Salemi said it's time to start documenting discrepancies and reaching out to colleagues and clients for feedback.

"If the review pointed out you don't work well with clients, hopefully you have a kudos folder in Outlook that you can tap into and print them to show quite the opposite," Salemi said. "Then schedule time on your boss' calendar to objectively, calmly and confidently go over the facts."

Salemi said while a single bad performance review doesn't always indicate that your job is at risk, you might find yourself facing a performance improvement plan that will require you to up your game or lose your job.

"One of the best ways to avoid that outcome of getting fired is to make a sincere, determined, focused effort to improve," Salemi said. "Not only that, become your own ambassador and talk it up — let your boss know that you're working hard to change that performance review around."

Keep your boss in the loop about steps you're taking to improve.

"It can be as something as simple as sending a quick email like, 'I sat with so-and-so today in accounting to better understand their balance sheets, just wanted to let you know I'm working on a daily basis to improve,'" she said. "It may feel like you're being cheesy but in reality, you're being visible to your boss when he or she may not see what you're doing on a regular basis."

Don't be afraid to be your own cheerleader. After all, your job might be on the line.

SEE ALSO: A look at the demanding schedule of Elon Musk, who works in 5-minute slots, skips breakfast, and largely avoids emails

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