#currently I'm more thinking in the premium range

[boneless-mika]

Besties, the internet profiled me as a dad again

[correlatedcontents]

the uncle who works for nintendo: ten years on

10 years ago today i released a game called THE UNCLE WHO WORKS FOR NINTENDO. with art by Kim Parker, multiple endings, a metafictional structure, and extensive sound design, it was (and remains) my most ambitious completed solo dev project. initially conceived as the gamergate harassment movement sprawled over social media, and coinciding with the attacks on residents of ferguson, mo following the police killing of michael brown, it's often seemed in retrospect that this was a moment where the loathsome present really crystallized

for my part, the response to the game was beyond all expectation; kotaku linked it and totally obliterated my webhosting, incurring a huge overage charge. i was a poor grad student and people helped crowdfund the cost. that was amazing, but the whole thing kind of scared me, honestly!

that's mainly why my projects from this point scaled back, then ended as i turned my mind toward finishing grad school: i didn't have the time or resources to technically expand in the ways that i wanted, and furthermore i was leery of becoming a guy who was expected to make Statements.

the intervening years have been… well, they've been something. you were there, presumably. one of the people namechecked in the game's author notes, a target of harassment at the time, is now a noted unprincipled political hack, and i'm not talking about zizek. but remember quoting zizek?

the world turns. i recorded my first podcast because of this game. it got onto people's best of the year lists. paste called it "the indie game of the year." it won the xyzzy award for best npc.

and none of the stuff that distressed me so much that i made the game went anywhere.

there was a lot of talk in the early 2010s about the power of games to change people and make them better. and i think that's probably true--all encounters with art can change you, for better and worse--but i've long been skeptical of strong and positive claims for art's "efficacy."

i didn't think my game was going to solve any problems, but it was at least going to index them. and i think it indexed gamergate, though it did nothing to stop that ravening, juvenile nostalgia mindset from wholly subsuming the gamer cultural sphere, to say nothing of spheres beyond it

Liz Ryerson, another influence on UWWFN, recently wrote a long essay about just this.

but one thing the game's reception did show me is that there are in fact people who want to think, ant to interrogate the easy bindings between experience and unreflective thought, and find ways of thinking and feeling contrary to the ever-rising tide of culture's venom. the world is not settled.

the game cemented my friendship with Cameron Kunzelman, and the podcasting work we've since done for Ranged Touch has been (to my mind) more useful in this regard than any game i could make, modeling engagement with the weirdness of both art and the world critically and thoughtfully. and gaming is not kaput! i was fortunate to make connections within the twitter dev scene, and currently work at Half Mermaid on a project that will not make you a better person, but might offer ways for thinking about life in a turbulent world where our ugliness is sold back to us at a premium.

10 years is somehow both a short time and, it turns out, an incredibly long time. a lot happens, and it's never enough, and it's also way too much. and sometimes a decade on, even when you're a guy who doesn't want to make Statements you still feel like there's something worth remarking upon. thanks

[thejockout]

Update: It's been a while!

Hey all. Been quite a bit since I've been active here; lot of life stuff going on that's contributed to that, but most of it's resolved now and I'm planning a pretty active return to the scene imminently. I've got some announcements on that front that I'll try to keep brief, but I think anyone who's enjoyed my content in the past will be happy to hear them.

First and foremost, I'm going to be returning to file-making soon (end of 2023 or early 2024) with regularly scheduled releases. (My precise schedule is TBD, but I'm aiming to be release either once weekly or once fortnightly depending on how much of a backlog I can create.) I've got ideas/concepts for 20 files written out atm which would amount to either 5 months of weekly releases/10 months of fortnightly releases once written and recorded. But obviously some of those ideas might not work so well in practice/I'll obviously come up with new ones along the way too, so that number's in flux. I'm going to try to write and record ten before launching any of them, so that I don't leave a huge gap between them again. But I think you guys'll like them, there's something for everyone in what I'm planning to make. There'll be content like what I've made before, but sfw and nsfw, attending a variety of kinks I'm into.

Included in these releases are going to be updated versions of my more popular, previous files. At the moment, the files I am planning to remake are Chill Out, Bro; Blink's Good Boy; All Pups are Good Pups; and The Bigger You Are. Some of these I want to remake for reasons of audio quality, but others I straight up want to rewrite portions of to bring them more up to my current standards. I've run out of space on Soundcloud and a premium account is expensive, so I'm racking my brain for a better storage alternative. At the moment, Soundgasm is an OK backup, but I'm also considering just straight up trying Youtube/Tumblr's own audio system/Patreon's audio system on a free basis to see if they work alright. Speaking of which...

To support this expanded venture, I'm also going to be opening a Patreon + selling specific, exclusive files either by subscription to said Patreon or via platforms like Gumroad and other appropriate audio file vendors. I don't plan for all my content to be locked behind a paywall, of course. I'm planning some kind of dual channel release system where I have a certain amount of files that will be free, and then others behind subscription. But for those who don't like the idea of monthly subs, I'll be putting my Patreon-exclusive files on a third party purchase platform like Gumroad, Ko-Fi, or another suitable alternative. I appreciate that all my files previously having been free will make this annoying to some, but I am flat baroque... and realistically, each file being 4-10 hours of work (dependent on complexity) means that I really want to be seeing SOME income from this if I'll be putting a lot of time in. That's why at current, the final announcement I'm making is that:

I am now taking commissions. I've done 3 commissions in total at this point and had been keeping quiet about it while I didn't know what I was doing with the Jockout account generally, but I am now available to write and record custom hypnosis files for listeners. I'm hesitant to provide a flat rate because the cost of a file usually does come down to its complexity/length, but somewhere in the ballpark of 50-80 dollars is what I'm currently valuing the time spent on a file at, unless you want something crazy simple or crazy complicated that'll price outside that range. I'm in a Euro territory, so 50 dollars amounts to about 4 hours of minimum wage work here, which is pretty low for the amount of time a good file takes; but I appreciate that high barriers to entry are going to put people off, and I feel that way myself when commissioning. You can DM me here if you want to discuss a commission idea.

All in all, I'm pretty excited with what I hope will be the future trajectory of my page. I'm having fun learning more about hypnosis/exploring new ideas in writing, and I hope you'll all enjoy the fruits of that too! 'Til next time :)

[horrificbingo]

Note:

25th of August, 2023

- I've sent some cards! :) currently making them daily.

- if someone you know who signed up later on than you received their card first, please notify me! (I'm sorry and thank you)

Hello everyone, H & NH Bingo are back

Horrific Bingo here—the one which suddenly disappeared. After much thought, I'm coming back, even bearing the news I'm ashamed about. But, kinda want to be transparent here (not even sure being transparent is a good idea).

So, I've been nagged to make money by making cards by someone really important to me. I get that, didn't blame the person who said it. But, I didn't and don't make this event because I want money. In fact, I don't think I deserve to get paid just for this. That had been weighing my mind.

Second, I could no longer make cards with the same design as previous as I no longer could afford the premium version of the app. While I don't think the design was gorgeous or out of this world, however the premium membership did give me wider range when it came to designing. (I'm aware I was the one who made the choice to make the cards with premium membership, so it was no one fault but mine)

And I know that there's nothing wrong with saying that I am currently in a spot where I am not able to afford something. But, I didn't have enough courage saying that and I didn't (still don't) want to make this my "boohoo sucks to be me" story, these are just unfortunate circumstances.

I'm back and I still have the data of all the people who signed up and I hope they see this post.

If all the people who signed up are okay with the making of the cards even slower and will be okay with design becoming even worse, I will make the cards. That goes the same for anyone new who wants a card from Horrific & Non-horrific Bingo.

This event is still free and will be eternally free in the future.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I truly hope that everyone sees this post.

For anyone who wants to sign up for the cards please sign up using these links:

Horrific Bingo sign-up

Non-horrific Bingo sign up

Oddly Anomalous Bingo Sign Up

Rules and more information

@thebigbangblogproject (I'm sorry to ask you for help again)

[markcarloasuncion]

“HOW DOES MOBILE APPS BECOME PART OF MY DAILY LIFE?”

Given that we currently live in the modern era. Anyone has access to the internet through their smartphones, which are truly important to people's everyday tasks nowadays. It can be used for a wide range of purposes, including education, online businesses, and many other things, where it can be applied as fundamental information to many facets of life.

I can't deny that I still have many things to learn about the course I have been chosen for, even if I decided to pursue a degree in information and communications technology and become a teacher soon. Although it may be difficult to evolve, I hope to see an exciting future, five years or ten years from now on. My aim is to provide important information to my incoming students regarding the significance of using mobile apps and the possible advantages as well as disadvantages that may occur for them.

And now for the very interesting part. I created this blog because I was interested to discuss some of mobile apps that I use the most and provide honest feedback based on my experience dealing those apps carefully and using them in the right manner. Let us start and see! 😁👀

Here's the list of my TOP 10 MOBILE APPS THAT I AM USING IN MY EVERYDAY LIFE:

1. Facebook

2. Google

3. Messenger

4. YouTube

5. Spotify

6. Microsoft Office

7. Canva

8. Google Chrome

9. MVLE Mobile

10. Google Classroom

Facebook is the leading app I am using everyday. Why? Because, I discovered that I could socialize with people using this app in many ways other than face-to-face interactions, such as reacting and commenting to their posts, sharing memes that I saw on newsfeeds and could apply to my real-life status, joining various group pages to share my knowledge, selling things that can generate a profit and starting a business, and a ton of other freely made things.

Google comes in second. This app is already available on all cellphones that you could purchase. However, when it comes to complete my schoolwork and other assignments on time, that's when it becomes resourcefulness for me. I should not really 100% trusted this app, because, there are some things aren't true to know or can be lead into “misinformation” like in the website of Wikipedia. That's why, sometimes, I love to do my self-tasks alone.

The Messenger, the third one. It was an app that linked to Facebook, making it simpler to send messages to people you knew. I have been using this to connect with my teacher and classmates ever since the pandemic. It can't be access whenever I'm offline but, there's another variant of this app which is called, “Messenger Lite” that even basic mode can still access. Unlike the regular version, I guess.

The next one is YouTube. Through this app, I can watch the daily news that I couldn't watch on TV, to gather an additional information about the lessons in school I think it's hard to be understood, have a good time to watch those missed music videos that came from my favorite artists and so much more things to do.

For the fifth place, Spotify is always there at my phone to save me every time. When I listen to songs out there, it makes me heal from everything I pissed off. But, unfortunately, data or Wi-Fi is needed for this app. That's why sometimes, I listen to my download songs playlist. Whenever I don't have an internet to be used it. This kind of music streams is the best app that I had in my whole life and also, you can subscribe for its premium version (just optional only, if you want to remove ads while having a sound trip alone or with your family everywhere, especially, at home).

The two apps next to Spotify are named, “Microsoft Office 365” and “Canva.” Both are eligible to be used and finished on time, the tasks you want to overcome in everyday life. It makes me assist like an instructor that you can learn a lot from these two apps. That's why, I'm thankful that they created a superior & perfect app for every person who have a struggling problems that unable to solve when it comes to work that include time management.

The eighth one is “Google Chrome” that designed to be that's fastest web browser. With one click, it loads web pages, multiple tabs, and applications with lightning speed. Whenever I'm using this app, there will be always ads popping up. So, as a result, I easily annoyed sometimes but, we can't deny the fact that ads is everywhere, even for those online gamers can relate. As what I said, it allows me to set up tabs as many as I can, just in case I needed those pages.

While, the two left apps on my list are called, “MVLE Mobile” and “Google Classroom.” These two educational purpose apps makes me help to fulfill the tasks that I should be finished on time. Aside from that, they're lessons can pin and students can able to download it then, having a takes notes. So, just in case, our instructors may ask some questions about the lessons we read about the learning materials s/he has given through online access.

As I end of my discussion about my experience that I shared here to those TOP 10 mobile apps that I am usually using everyday. I gained a lot of knowledge to them and since everything we use nowadays are related to technology. We can't force ourselves to be able silence but, to inform other people these apps are having an advantages and disadvantages at the same time. But, I would like to say that, “Be a responsible mobile apps user, especially when you're in social media. Think hard first before you click anything, not everything you may see are true. Just be careful with yourself and others that may affect, if ever you do wrongdoings that's not acceptable in our society.”

That's all, I hope you read my blog until the end. Thank you for the time you spend, have a great day ahead!

For more further details about the “Advantages of Disadvantages of Mobile Apps.” Here's the provided link for you:

#individualblog #mobileapps #tumblrapp #livingintheinformationandtechnologyworld

[keevansixx]

heh, so that's what the court pointy hat muckety-mucks and tower bastiches are calling it these days? budget mage? i remember a time when my kind were derided with much more creative monikers like "the dirty brown" or "that old hedge bastard". i do so miss the old names, they had a flavor and gravitas of their own. People actually knew what they were up against when they used one of the olden slurs. now, it's just "the budget mage" like i'm some common household merchant plying sundries and unmentionables out of some broken down mule cart or ramshackle booth in the market square...Pah!

let's see, where to begin...Ah Ha! a brief recap...

Magic is as common as water, air, earth, and fire. carry some basic ingredients and tools, know the right words, and can scrawl a passing sigil down on a leaf, stick bark, or bit of parchment and presto wiggly hands (or whatever pretentious movement is currently en vouge with the court and towers)...magic will happen.

(especially fun when you teach the children how to build tiny mud golems with bits of spider silk, a leaf sigil, some grass, a bird feather, and a mud ball and then hold messy mock battles by the creekside to see who controls the water and ultimately the right to call themselves the mud king/queen....good times. i miss the sounds of children's laughter.)

sometime in the last century, there arose a trend amongst the nobles and magical tower muckety-mucks that all magic should be only the birthright and legacy of their peoples and no other. they passed laws forbidding outside use, common practice, or anything remotely useful and productive for the common people behind layers of buracracy and royal red tape. this, of course, has led to magical services being sold at a premium, and ever increasing stupid magical monkey-jumping-through-hoops unnessary steps to achieve simple goals. it's only gotten worse over the years, as wizards, mages, and sorcerers insist on only using the most expensive possible ingreidents to do the most butt-numbingly simple procedures (and to charge the most asinine prices imaginable to maintain the illusion of power and control) which puts most common helpful magics out of the price range and pockets of the masses. all by design.

Me? yes, yes...i know. I'm a mage, and i like to think of myself as one of the last damn good ones.

let me make an attempt to explain...long before all the royal dumbfeckery, and tower interference, i was THE hedge mage (capital T.H.E., which was some other mage's inside joke within their enclave that stood for "The Heathen Engineer"). the wizard of practicality, the sorcerer of simplicity, i could weave magic into useful forms as easy as it is for you to breathe. i learned shortcuts, and efficiencies that shaved precious time and energy off the casting resulting in close instantanous effects. my services were highly sought in the early days as i could accomplish more with less. i was the mage, other mages sought out, when things went poorly, or the crown needed a quick fix for problems they already made. getting woken up at 3am by distraught midwives to assist with difficult births, or wounds too grevious to heal with traditional means. That was the job, and i did it well.

flash forward a hundred years, and now it's all "sorcery for the highest bidder.", "Mages for Cash.", and "wizards for the wealthy!" they've managed to turn magic into a money crop to be utterly controlled and carefully harvested to the exclusion of all but the most wealthy and powerful...and quite frankly, that really pisses me off.

remember when i talked about the small mud golems? yeah, that kid's toy spell. I teach it to every kid i meet. for one, beause it's fun, and the other is because all i need to do, is to teach them the other sigil to turn a simple toy mud golem into an enourmous emergency response golem capable of leveling terrain, basic search and rescue, and general security. a little trick i picked up in the east continent when i saw their massive terracotta guardians, and figured out the litany needed to craft the sigils necessary for movement and obedient control. i've also embedded saftey protocols into the sigils for the tiny toy mud golems. if a child is in danger, the sigils activate to turn a toy golem (or any sufficent nearby material) into a guardian golem. remember that giant housefire blaze that swept through the lower wards a few years ago? how there were almost no casulties but a lot of mud that got baked into hard clay mounds that they found the people safely inside each and every one, a little parched but none the worse for wear? you're welcome...i taught all the lower ward kids how to build mud golems ages ago. the monthly pit tournaments were always a highlight of my day watching what new and exciting mud creations the kids came up with to battle in the dirt arena. the rewards were always a bag of sweets and another micro lesson on sigil crafting so the kids could build better golems for the tournament (as long as they kept them small). we're able to do all this, because a few of the royal's kids and some nobel's brats pestered me enough to teach them the basic sigils, and now the tournament is a somewhat respectable monthly affair in the lower wards, and i only have to mud soak a mouthy noblewoman or lord once in a blue moon when they get haughty in the pits. the mud Pits, to me, are neutral ground for nobel and commoner, and i even hung up a huge mud sign that read "check your crowns and brass hats at the door, no titles allowed beyond this point." only the mud matters here. it's messy, and squishy, gloopy and gooey, but to all the kids...it was a playground paradise. Thank goodness the pits are near the rivers so the kids can get somewhat clean again before going home. it's all good clean fun in the messiest sort of manner possible.

but i digress....

I, and a couple of others like me, exist in this realm because, for one...there is always a need for mages by almost everyone regardless of social strata. and the other is that the king owes me some favors for special services rendered long ago and i not too politely mentioned (with slight demonstration) that i could entirely fill up his castle with mud golems turing the kingdom's castle into the prettiest dirt block this side of the mountain ranges, and would not loose sleep over doing so. (to the excited cheers of his kids who actually wanted to see a castle filled up with millions of toy mud golems in one go.) we have a royal understanding of sorts...i keep doing the helpful things i've been doing all these years to keep the kingdom safe while the towers and courts turn a blind eye to my personal business and dealings, while i pretend that i couldn't easily take down all their high towers with a bit of sulfur, a dragon scale, one moderate fire sigil, and the hair from an imp on a tuesday with time enough left over to grab a meat pie and a tankard of ale from the nice new tavern down the street in the poor district from that lovely couple that moved in down from the highlands with their exceptionally blessed children who can weave magic almost as proficiently as myself, and who graciously allowed me to train them in the ways of magical simplicity in exchange for the occasional meat pie and ale while teaching them how to be helpful in an age where doing so is frowned upon by the current magical conclave. it's a living, and one i'm happy to utilize for the betterment of all.

sometimes the kids suprise even these old tired eyes with some new discovery that saves time and effort in the long run. i managed to pull a few royal strings and get the eldest officially registered with the court as a healing mage with a lot of potential. though sometimes i have to show her a more correct path to accomplish her castings because the court teachers are somewhat pathtic in their instructions (and i suspect trying to deliberately sabotage her to maintain their own lofty positions and ambitions) the harshest lessons she has yet to learn about the current magical heirarchy is how to hide her true talents from prying eyes, and how to preform what looks like healing miracles while making it look all the while like it was the work of another, or sheer divine intervention without drawing obvious attention to her talents. a difficult challenge, but one i believe she's capable of handling on her own one day. in the meantime, i take her along with me to various locations around the kingdom to practice with the rural folks who can't afford regular medical care from the courts. She's getting damn good at making it look like the person healed on their own with simple blessings, and she's almost mastered delayed castings. having the healing spell trigger a few hours after she's long departed by adding in a degenerating trigger timer into the sigils before applying the healing to a person. makes this old hedge bastard proud to see it. Teaching her magical slight of hand to hide what she's really doing. came in handy on the road to the hinterlands when we came across a party that had been badly attacked by a bandit raid. the court mage with them was doing all they could to heal, and would have nearly cost the lives of a couple of that party had my apprentice not intervened and managed to cast quick heals to stablize the more deathly injured party members while making it look like she was just lending power assistance to the court mage without appearing to overwrite the court mage's healing sigil with one of her own. some of my best teaching, that was, and made me proud watching her micro adjust the sigils on the fly underneath her power casting to where the court mage couldn't see what she had done. of course we both hemmed and hawed about how good the court mage was to the rest of the party, while exchanging knowing looks between each other and just happy no one died that day. I finally knew she was ready to take her own steps into the world the day we visited a temple hospital in a nearby city and she was drifting like a heavenly angel between all the sick and injured on her own, masking her sigil fixes with blessing cantrips and hidden timers beneath the watchful eyes of the senior mages without them once seeing what she had done. i knew then that the kingdom had inherited a powerful healer indeed. it was a good day. I gave her one of my hearty practical travel robes (lots of hidden pockets), and put the finishing touches on her staff of office as a parting gift along with a copy of my personal research notes on practical healing and how to shortcut sigils to achieve acquired results i had been working on for a long time. the book coded to only be visible to her eyes only...to anyone else it looked like nonsense herbal poetry written by some lovesick poet enamoured with a stack of hay.

In her hands, the book revealed a lifetime of secrets (like how to make a powerful bloodclotting poultice from salt clay, spider silk, cotton reed, and moss bark for sealing open piercing wounds until a healing cantrip was able to knit the wound closed. or my personal favorite of the firemint balm rub that warms the joints and relieves pain with the secondary effect of minor healing from cuts and abrasions. farmers love that one.) the rest of the book was my notes on various sigils and how to hack them to splice desired parts to draft new sigils on the fly for whatever need a caster may have. to the court and towers, my personal book is almost considered blasphemy and heresy to the established order because the simple premise is that anyone with even the slightest inkling of magical potential could create any number of countless powerful sigils and useful cantrips with a simple bee's wax crayon and a rub of hearth ash on a river pebble and be able to almost fell a dragon or any number of foul beastie on a whim. sort of counterproductive to a shady institutionalized grift if everyone and their pet dog could accedentally implode a thief by tossing a cow patty with a chicken feather sticking out the top, (a pinch of sulfur, one nail, a robin's egg, and a copper penny inside the patty, then gently placing the stinky mess into the entrance of whatever you were trying to protect) only to wake up the next morning to the smell of brimstone and a pile of scrap cloth and thieves tools. So yeah, i've had to go to great lengths to protect basic uncommon knowledge from those who would seek to profit greatly from it.

I wish her all the luck in the world, and hope she gets great use out of the gift items.

as for the quality of my work, i consider it practical over pretentious. a farmer doesn't need a fancy gold powered plow to till their fields (like every tower mage tries to peddle on the workforce), they need rich fertile soil, easy access to clean water, and the means to protect their livestock from the ravages of predation, illness, and pestilence. simple things to confound the wise, as the old scholars used to say. far better a simple clean water sigil etched into the foundation stones of a well, than some gaudy, months long to prepare, expensive contraption that does the same thing at three times the cost. sigils are fairly easy to protect and maintain, and i often train the buyers on how to care for and repair worn sigils on equipment and structures for free. for one, it's far less costly, and for the other, it frees me up to persue the things im interested in learning or researching instead of having to be on call all the time to fix some gods aweful redundantly complicated mechanism all the time. like i said, the instutionalized grift is distasteful and real.

Shoddy? mine? of course they would say shoddy...if your entire line of work is built upon the predation of the masses, and anyone who came along who could do the exact same work with minimal effort and expense, wouldn't you go about trying to besmirch, belittle, and tarnish the reputation of that person in a vain attempt to protect your institutionalized grift? wouldn't you do everything in your power to remove any obstacle that stood in your way to achieving absolute control by dictating or manipulating laws, or placing the biggest obstacles in the path of your competition? when you finally figure that one out, and you'll pretty much understand the entirety of mercantilism, and why bad people are allowed to exist and operate under the law, and why the greedy never seem to be punished for their sins. That's why i don't advertise. those who know, know. the people who seek me out, know what i can do, what i'm worth, and that i'll do my best to fix a problem in the most simple, efficent, and fundamentaly permanent manner as i am able to perform. No flash, no pagentry, no pretentions. just you, me, a few sigils, maybe a cantrip or two, and a blessing. maybe feed me, offer me some small token, owe me a favor if you are hard pressed, or point me in the direction of someone who may have something i need and are willing to work a trade or deal. that's how this works. power and wealth are for fools and those who lack real power of their own. i have use for neither in my life which is why i mostly operate under the radar and have garnered a clientele relationship that crosses boundaries and social strata. I'm a budget hedge mage, that's all anyone really needs to know.

so....you need something? or is this a social call? cause i've got to go help heal a herd of sick dairy cattle a couple of villages over and on the way i need to find some wheat stalks, some holly, and scribble a few dozen sigils on some scrap paper the butcher was kind enough to gift me for fixing the lady of the house's broken ankle. i could use a lift in your cart if you are heading in that general direction while i scribble out the sigils. otherwise, have a blessed day, and call on me when ya really need some stuff done.

,

You are a budget mage. While most of your colleagues use costly ingredients, rituals that take weeks to prepare and use a new spell for every problem, you only know a few spells, use common household ingredients and prepare rituals within minutes. They unjustly deride your work as shoddy.

[ivy90com]

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[askagamedev]

Hiya! I'm curious about your experience with QA. In my current company, the QAs are pretty deeply embedded, know all there is to know about the engine, and majority has enough tech know-how to debug stuff at source code level. On the other hand, I've heard horror stories about QAs treated as basically outsource contractors and limited to blackboxing only. In your opinion, which approach is more common in the industry, or maybe there are differences between AAA and smaller companies? Which ones do you prefer, personally? Thank you!

This is a real potential rabbit hole of a topic, so I have enlisted longtime QA expert and manager [KynetykKnows] for his expertise on the topic. I have my own thoughts on the matter, but I think that firsthand experience is better than second. His answer is as follows:

The first thing to realize is that no two QA departments (particularly in gaming) are going to be exactly the same. The bulk of testing is, by its nature, a reactive discipline that comes in at the end of the development pipeline - you can't test something that isn't built yet. That means the testing has to accommodate whatever the needs of that project/pipeline/team/company happen to be. As a result, there are a range of different approaches from deeply integrated white box test engineers to no internal QA at all relying on third parties to black box test with limited direction.

Most places aren't going to have all white box testing. This would incur more cost than would make sense for a lot of teams. It's much more difficult to find candidates that fit the requirements, the candidates would cost more to hire, and so on. Much more often you'll have teams built of black box testers. This alone doesn't necessarily result in a horror show. In fact, if a tester has technical savvy and initiative, they can often get into grey box testing and possibly full white box testing on their own. The team wouldn't be built around this, but it can still be a value add for the team.

The horror show element of this has more to do with the respect that QA gets at the studio. If the studio holds respect for QA, then everything is fine. If QA isn't respected (i.e. is treated as an unskilled position that you just need a warm body for), you'll wind up with toxic, exploitative environments. QA can be an entry level position, but it isn't an unskilled position. QA skills aren't something you can easily demonstrate with education or experience alone. If team leaders don't understand that distinction, it is an avenue for toxicity to creep in.

In my experience the smaller the team the more thinly everyone is spread and the more valuable additional skills on each dev become. The team hiring also has to take the team structure into account and scale can impact that. For example, imagine QA finds a serious bug but can't find solid repro steps. It's happened more than once on different hardware on a couple of different builds so it's clearly not some fluke. If the team has 100 engineers, QA can present all the info available and say "Here, you figure it out, we're here if you need more" and move on. Engineering probably has enough resources to continue the investigation without needing or providing further context. On the other hand if a team has 3 engineers and 1 QA, then in that context it can make more sense for the engineer to show the tester the code and maybe the tester can figure it out. With this in mind, a small team may put a premium on finding the most skilled candidate available to do whatever might be needed, whereas a large team may not have the luxury to be so demanding and needs to maintain a higher head count. Notice how this comes back to unskilled vs entry level.

As for personal preference, the first thing I should point out is that I've been around long enough that a dismissive attitude to QA doesn't survive me. I'm either not going to work at a place that does that, prove that it isn't true, or (if coming in on the ground floor) establish that this isn't how QA is to be treated. In general, I think it makes sense for not to require engineering skills for QA. There's a lot of good testing skill talent that you will cut off if you require enough technical skill for full white box testing. Furthermore, there may be a conflicting mentality. QA is out to test, break, and point out problems, not to fix them. I don't trust when an engineer says "this should be fine". If a tester has put in a code change, then I'd want a DIFFERENT tester to review the change. There's a reason authors need editors. But that's just my perspective, and to go back to the top, this all has to run in the service of needs of the specific needs of the engineering team, the project, and the company as a whole.

Many thanks to KynetykKnows for his thorough and in-depth answer. 

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[tsuki-sennin]

Itadakimasu~! Time for another great Sunday lunch with our Cure friends~! Today I'm having a couple slices of leftover pizza. And what a crap pizza it is. Very flat and floppy, the cheese is all off, the pepperoni is weak... I don't even know who made it, the box it came in just said "Pizza!" And let me tell you, microwaving it just made me real sad.

Anyways, Spoilers, I guess...

-Chururin, the world's deadliest serial killer.

-CureSta seems a lot less terrible than the real thing, I tell you what.

-Wǒ ài lāmiàn~! I'd argue that the professional kind is worth moving straight to the Far East for.

-Mem-Mem,,,

-Member's Only Churro Kururun Glutten Free Meme Dragon.

-Hanamichi~! Good to see you.

-That's a whole-ass panda.

-I rarely order ramen from actual restaurants, and I'm personally more of an udon kinda guy anyway, but last year, I ordered a bowl of noodles from a semi-local sushi place with shio broth, bamboo shoots, spinach, a whole boiled egg, and some narutomaki. Now I'm told that the perfect compliment to any perfectly crafted bowl of noodles is a beer, but I couldn't buy any at the time, so...

-Yui Nagomi, a connoisseur fluent in the art of noodle.

-Ran's dad lookin' pretty DILF-y, ngl. Kinda looks like Tao Pai Pai from Dragon Ball though. Makes sense, considering Toei Animation, but...

-The passion in the art of fine cuisine is nothing to be ashamed of.

-Ramen Fairy~! They bring

-Chururin~!

-Mari-chan, she's already seen the Recipeppi, I don't think covering poor Mem-Mem's gonna do much.

-Oyone :O

-Do ALL the old people in this town know each other?

-Act natural, Mem-Mem. Ran won't suspect a thing.

-Panda Get!

-Dwagon...

-Oh yeah, there's a ton of fairies! Mermaids too! And aliens, and time travel! Robots too!

-Ran's got poise!

-The power of love for cuisine...

-God, Gentle is like... peak character design.

-And yes, I'm calling her Gentle. "Jentoru" is that word written in katakana, Gentlu is a stupid romanization, Crunchyroll sucks, moving on.

-I guess they wouldn't show up in a public library, even in a food-devoted town like this.

-PRESIDENT AMANE IS GENTLE :O

-I mean, it's not that big a twist, considering how similar their designs are, but damn.

-...Cure Gentle confirmed?

-We're having a sale~!

-Working for a day, huh?

-Damn, I've got a hankerin' for ramen now. Even the cheap stuff feels like a gentle mid-summer kiss if you use the right ingredients!

-Ramen Musume. Coming soon to HiDive.

-Mem-Mem said "Peace out, yo."

-We're gonna share an asswhoopin!

-He go zoom.

-Oh man, I just realized. It's not just the food that suffers, it's business too!

-Beat 'em up, Ram!

-Ohhhhhh, bringin' up the price. That's cruel.

-Oh c'mon Mari, she's been working all day and has been getting tossed around for like five minutes. She's earned a big fuck-off bowl of premium ramen.

-Yeeeeeah, that's right Mari! Kokone too!

-Hanyaaaa~!

-Fuck 'em up, sweetie!

-Get 'er!

-Daaaamn, Mem-Mem got some fire!

-Mega sized rarity!

-Yum-Yum Dragon! Are you ready? Wake up burning! Get Yum-Yum Dragon! Yeah~!

-Cure Yum-Yum is the funniest and cutest goddamn name I've ever heard.

-Ohhhh, she got slashes!

-Traingles, Circles, and now Lines... Geometry.

-Well, two seems like the minimum Cure number, so...

-They're all together now!

-Yui-pyon~! Koko-pi~! Yep, definitely OT3 material.

-Marippe~!

-Our gurl is an influencer! ...I sure hope she doesn't find herself in cancellation range.

-Mmm... pineapple juice. Great for immune system health and heart rates.

-A tour of the town, huh? That sounds like a great time! I hope nothing wacky or uncharacteristic happens~!

-Man, PreCure towns just seem like the best place to be in the world, no matter the season, huh? ...the travel blog potential must be incredible.

-Alright, I uh... wound up getting a real hankerin' for some ramen, but I'll be coming back later today for Revice content! Probably over dinner, judging by the way my schedule currently looks right now.

[andmaybegayer]

was going through the #knife tag on your blog and A: full knife "collection"/whatever you can get your hands on overview? B: what platforms do you use to buy knives in south africa? like, obviously BladeHQ and KnifeCenter are both US based and theyre kinda the major ones it seems but i also am not south african of course. C: were you specifically yearning for the tanto partially serrated UTX or was that just the image you used? and D: i'm aggrieved that you called the directional scratches from the finish on that knife the 'grain'

I'm answering these out of order so I can front load the shorter and more interesting stuff, so:

B: there's a good few decent local stores, Blade and Trigger is a knife/bow/airsoft/home defence type store that carries a broad array, and has a decent online storefront. SharpEdge is an all-online store with a smaller range but still pretty decent. DEFCON is another online store with a decent range but their website is a pain to use. Everything you'd expect to find, budget offerings from Gerber and Kershaw and CRKT as well as premium stuff from Benchmade and Spyderco.

A few custom knifemakers scattered around the country too, I think SharpEdge sells a few local custom jobs.

Unless you want something that just came out very recently or a special edition, you can get it pretty easily locally, and failing that, Amazon mostly ships here.

C: It was just the one I found on the storefront. I'm not opposed to serrations and they're real useful if you work with rope and cord a lot, since it'll cut even if the rest of your knife is going dull.

Veff Serrations in particular are interesting, I've used a Veff knife but never sharpened it and they seem to be a good balance of maintainability and utility.

D: I think I was talking about the handle, but perhaps not. I'm probably incorrect on that one.

A: Knife Collection

I don't know why I waited so long to answer this because the majority of the knives I've ever owned are not in my possession anymore. My current collection is pretty much just these:

From left to right:

Old-ass leatherman, beat up and dented stainless steel, poorly looked after by my dad, only moderately better looked after by me, doesn't see much use since it's basically just a less wieldy Swiss Army Knife because I almost always have pliers on me.

Generic as hell butterfly knife: I basically just use this to learn tricks. Nothing special, someday I'll get a nice one but this is an adequate tool. Occasionally useful if I need to handle stuff one handed, since they're very easy to open and close one handed.

Bestech Platypus: my daily driver, best knife I've ever bought, D2 steel and a G10 handle, nice sharp sheepsfoot blade that slices well and serves my needs. Requires a tiny amount of maintenance in the form of regular oiling because D2 is on the less side of stainless, but that's infrequent enough to never be an issue even for the likes of me.

CRKT CEO: pretty little executive knife, the kind of thing you'd pair with a suit or a fancy dress, what I used to carry when I was still going to the office. Nowadays it's occasionally used to eat apples and comes along if I think I might have to lend someone else a knife, such as going on hikes with friends.

I have had a couple other knives in my time, so in forward order:

Bear Grylls Scout: my first ever locking knife, a birthday gift for exactly what it says on the tin: Scouts. Good Balance of easy to look after and hard-wearing, I think it's 440 steel, serrations are helpful when you deal with rope a lot. Lost somewhere when I took a tumble down a hill.

CRKT Pazoda, the first knife I bought for myself, on a 2-for-1 deal at an outdoor place that was closing down, gave one to a friend for his birthday. He still uses that thing as far as I'm aware. Nice enough, 8cr13 is easy to maintain and I never had trouble with it, and this went everywhere with me for years. Lost in a move at some point.

Kaliber uh. I don't know the model name for this one and they don't sell it anymore. Kaliber is the house brand of Cape Union Mart, the local outdoor chain store. Bought because I was in need of a knife and didn't want to wait for delivery. Basic as hell, 8cr13, scratchy bearings, hard scales, but it's fine. Served me well for most of university until I was out ziplining and one of the people we were with fell through a broken plank on the platform. The tip broke off while it was being used to pry apart the planks so we could lift her out, which is as noble a way for a lump of rebranded steel to die as any.

Honorable Mention: medical scissors I got from the pharmacy. Great thing to have on hand, and because they're blunt I just toss them in my coat pocket.

[feisty-mary]

(Part 1 of 2) So today I’m posting a sort of review for a choose your own adventure I found on play store recently. Admittedly I’ve been bored of Choices for a while so I decided to check out similar apps, see if they have more interesting books I can read. I stumbled upon Tabou Stories by Nanobit.

The game is R-16 and the plot of some of the books are really geared toward a more mature audience. For instance, in The Bodyguard, you’re the wife of a politician and after receiving death threats, your husband sends you away with a bodyguard whom you end up developing feelings for. In Hot & Hired, you hire a hot gardener to… tend your gardens. You’re also married, so will your husband catch on? That kind of stuff. Anyway.

I wasn’t planning on giving the app a review, but I found some of its features really cool, and I figured other Choices readers who follow me would also be interested in a similar app. This review is split into two parts. This part will discuss the main character and related premium choices and a bit about the LIs. 

Main Character Choices. Typically, you would get four different MC faces to choose from, with varying hairstyles and clothing options to choose from. Recently I discovered that depending on the MC you choose, you’ll get different hairstyles that’s appropriate for your MC.

These are the hairstyle options for different MCs.

I know this is nothing revolutionary, but as someone’s who’s used to Choices giving the exact same hairstyle options for any MC you choose, this is a nice change for me. I like the effort they put into this; it’s a small detail, but I’m sure something that many would appreciate.

Unlike in Choices, where they have limited clothing options to a free one (usually ugly) and a premium one (could be ugly or not), Tabou Stories offers more. There are at least 3 in the books that I have read, and the costs vary, usually depending on how nice it looks. From what I’ve seen, the cost ranges from 5 diamonds to 30 diamonds; I’m not sure there is anything more expensive. In the current book I’m reading (Matchmaker), the clothing option is good for at least two chapters. Additionally, even if you choose the free one, it’s not the same little black dress for every occasion like in Choices. In Tabou Stories, they put you in a free outfit that’s still appropriate for whatever event you’re attending, although usually less fashionable than the premium option.

On the downside I don’t think I have ever seen a book with a male MC as an option.

In the next post I'll share some information about the keys and diamonds in this game, and also about the current book I'm reading. Thanks for reading. 😄

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN USERS

Smoking rapidly became a statistically normal thing. As societies get richer, they learn something about everything and everything about something.1 In fact it's the old model: mainframe applications are all server-based software assumes nothing about the paths from poor to rich, I knew I could see myself—making at least 4 of these 5 mistakes. And bingo, there it is: The Men's Wearhouse.2 But as knowledge has grown more specialized, there are few strong enough to keep working on something no one around them cares about.3 As well as being smarter, they tend to be calmer and more upstanding; they don't need you, it will work anywhere the Web works. It was only then that we realized that they were started there. Unless you're planning to write math applications, of course. Where is the man bites dog in that?

Life in Berkeley is very civilized. During the 90s a lot of money. The simplest answer is to put them in a row. They were also a kind of semantic deficit spending: they knew new things were coming. Professors in New York and the Bay area are second class citizens—till they start hedge funds or startups respectively. I recommend being good. But I remember thinking his company's name was odd. They were also a kind of selflessness. That VC round was a series B round; the premoney valuation was $75 million. Economic power would have been the part where we were working hard, the groups all turned out to be, there are no customs yet to guide you. He tried to make it open. It's not something people tend to volunteer; one likes it the way one likes popping zits.

I want to do better. They usually know other founders, and certainly not you as an investor. And once you've written the software, and issue a press release saying that the new version was available immediately.4 Startups are stressful, and this made their software visibly inferior because among other things, incubators usually make you work in their office—that's where the word incubator comes from. The thesis seems to be that the most important consequence of realizing there can be good art is thus a property of the subject or the object if subjects all react similarly. What most don't realize is how late.5 What you're doing is business creation. Google does. There are sometimes minor tactical advantages to using one or the other, like a detective trying to unravel some mystery.

But writing and art are both very hard problems that some people work honestly at, so they're worth doing, especially if you can see your email, why not your calendar? VCs are pretty good at reading people. PR firms. Whatever looked like the biggest win.6 Treat the first few as an educational expense. Developers have used the accelerometer in ways Apple could never have imagined. So I added a message at that point. In art, the highest place has traditionally been given to paintings of people.

The self-reinforcing nature of this situation works the other way too: the less you need further investment, the easier it is to travel widely, in both time and space. The only place your judgement makes a difference is in the direction of over-engineering. The summer founders were as a rule of thumb from now on that if people don't think you're weird, you're living badly. Much of what's in the sage's head is also in the head of every twelve year old. If a physicist met a colleague from 100 years ago. I doubt it could be any other way, as long as the potential returns look good enough. Odds are this project won't be a class assignment.7 Our only expenses in that phase were food and rent.8

Why does John Grisham King of Torts sales rank, 44 outsell Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good novel wouldn't complain that readers were unfair for preferring a potboiler with a racy cover. Viaweb let multiple users edit a site simultaneously, more because that was the truth. All you'll need will be something with a keyboard, a screen, and a funnel for peers. We always looked for new ways to give stuff away for free if advertisers would let them. His office was nicknamed the Hot Tub on account of the heat they generated. They're as expert in their world as you are in yours.9 Shockley Semiconductor, though itself not very successful, was big enough. The cheery, bland language of the people in a position of independence, they develop the qualities they need. It's something you're more likely to work in the end, and now he's a professor at MIT.10 This is particularly true of young people who have till now always been under the thumb of some kind of paternal responsibility toward employees without putting employees in the position of children. From this point, anyone proposing to run Windows on servers should be prepared to explain what to look for in founders. Because ambitions are to some extent marketing as well.11

How do you be a good angel investor? And how do you avoid mistakes you make by default? Most people who did great things were clumped together in a few top university departments and research labs—partly because investors are so unlike hackers, and they even let kids in.12 Currently the way VCs seem to operate is to invest in a bunch of ads, glued together by just enough articles to make it true, and the fact that they control Google, which affects practically everyone. Microsoft do? Among other things, they had no way around the statelessness of CGI scripts. Most high school students have searched for does not seem to exist.

Notes

Acquirers can be done, she expresses it by smiling more. And of course reflects a willful misunderstanding of what they too were feeling in 1914.

Ii.

I've said into something that would appeal to investors, you need to import is broader, ranging from designers to programmers to electrical engineers.

Founders rightly dislike the sort of person who would in itself, and Smartleaf co-founder before making any commitments. The other reason it used to end investor meetings with So, can I count you in? There's a variant of Reid Hoffman's principle that you can play it safe by excluding VC firms have started to give them sufficient activation energy required to notice them.

5%.

Revenue will ultimately be hurting yourself, if the statistics they consider are useful, how little autonomy one would say that I'm clueless or even being deliberately misleading by focusing so much on the blades may work for us, the airplane, the median VC loses money. I don't think you need to play games with kids' credulity.

Yes, there are before the name Homer, to the home team, I've become a function of the big winners are all that matters, just their sizes. Look at what adults told children in the succession of spectacular treason trials that punctuated Henry's erratic matrimonial progress made him an obvious candidate for grants of monastic property. Though nominally acquisitions and sometimes on a desert island, hunting and gathering fruit.

They'll be more likely to resort to expedients like selling autographed copies, or black beans n cubes Knorr beef or vegetable bouillon n teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 3n teaspoons ground cumin n cups dry rice, preferably brown Robert Morris wrote the first language to embody the principle that if a company they'd pay a premium for you by accidents of age and geography, rather than for any particular truths you'll learn. But no planes crash if your school, secretly write your thoughts down in, but this could be pleasure in a bar.

And I've never heard of investors want to change the number of startups have some kind of people we need to, so they will or at least for those founders.

In a project like a winner, they tend to say they prefer great markets to great people. But the most successful ones tend not to say they were still so small that no one on the parental dole for life in general we've done ok at fundraising is a scarce resource. The obvious choice for your side project.

The point of a cent per spam. One of the Daddy Model that it makes sense to exclude outliers from some types of applicants—for example, if you like a loser they're done, at least notice duplication though, because they can't afford to. But it's telling that it refers to features you could get a poem published in The New Yorker. This is what you love, or because they couldn't afford a monitor.

Actually he's no better or worse than Japanese car companies have been the first version was mostly Lisp, you should. I'm pathologically optimistic about people's ability to solve a lot of successful startups. There are some good proposals too.

[i-like-your-genitalia]

You are going to kill me... buuut all 200 questions? I'm keeping you busy and thinking about your life

200: My crush’s name is: Jennifer 


199: I was born in: a hospital? (Jks 1998)


198: I am really: funny 


197: My cellphone company is: Lebara


196: My eye color is: boring ol’ brown 


195: My shoe size is: a ladies 9


194: My ring size is: I actually don’t know


193: My height is: 5'10 


192: I am allergic to: nothing surprisingly 


191: My 1st car was: 1998 Subaru Legacy (the station wagon)


190: My 1st job was: Checkout Worker


189: Last book you read: The Accident Man


188: My bed is: a king 


187: My pet: I don’t have one atm 


186: My best friend: Anushka 


185: My favorite shampoo is: I don’t have one (but I like anything coconut or tropical scented)


184: Xbox or ps3: don���t care 


183: Piggy banks are: lit


182: In my pockets: I’m a girl, only 20% of my clothes have pockets big enough to put anything in 


181: On my calendar: “Spotify Premium runs out on the 27th of August"


180: Marriage is: Not married 


179: Spongebob can: 


178: My mom: is awesome 


177: The last three songs I bought were? Whatever I listened to last on Spotify? 


176: Last YouTube video watched: review on Aztec clay face mask 


175: How many cousins do you have? 4 step cousins and then 6 blood related cousins 


174: Do you have any siblings? Just a younger sister 


173: Are your parents divorced? Nah they still together and in love 


172: Are you taller than your mom? Only just 


171: Do you play an instrument? I used to play the piano 


170: What did you do yesterday? Worked

[ I Believe In ]


169: Love at first sight: kinda 


168: Luck: yes 


167: Fate: not really 


166: Yourself: sometimes 


165: Aliens: yes 


164: Heaven: yes 


163: Hell: no 


162: God: yes 


161: Horoscopes: I mostly enjoy the zodiac memes and compatibility and personality horoscopes 


160: Soul mates: yes, but I believe you have more than one 


159: Ghosts: yes 


158: Gay Marriage: big yes 


157: War: nope


156: Orbs: it would be cool but I’m neutral 


155: Magic: yes

[ This or That ]


154: Hugs or Kisses: Hugs 


153: Drunk or High: Drunk 


152: Phone or Online: Online 


151: Red heads or Black haired: Red heads 


150: Blondes or Brunettes: Blondes 


149: Hot or cold: Hot 


148: Summer or winter: Summer 


147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn 


146: Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate 


145: Night or Day: Day 


144: Oranges or Apples: Oranges 


143: Curly or Straight hair: Curly 


142: McDonalds or Burger King: Maccas 


141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk Chocolate 


140: Mac or PC: Mac


139: Flip flops or high heels: High Heels 


138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and Poor 


137: Coke or Pepsi: Coke


136: Hillary or Obama: OBAMA


135: Burried or cremated: Cremated 


134: Singing or Dancing: Dancing 


133: Coach or Chanel: Chanel 


132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: who are they?


131: Small town or Big city: Big city 


130: Wal-Mart or Target: I haven’t been to either 


129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller 


128: Manicure or Pedicure: Manicure 


127: East Coast or West Coast: East Coast 


126: Your Birthday or Christmas: this is too cruel to answer 


125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate 


124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney 


123: Yankees or Red Sox: um don’t care

[ Here’s What I Think About ]


122: War: It’s expensive and unnecessary and should be a last resort. It’s not worth the lives lost, people injured and relocated. The monetary cost is ridiculous and it barley solves anything. It cause more issues and potentially more wars

121: George Bush: did 9/11


120: Gay Marriage: It’s actually crazy how long and how much effort it took to get this accepted. And I just hope this right isn’t taken away! 


119: The presidential election: Donald Trump and Pence need to die or be locked up forever, I don’t even understand how anyone thought that Hilary Clinton would be worse. 


118: Abortion: Pro-choice for the win 


117: MySpace: I wasn’t old enough for this 


116: Reality TV: my guilty pleasure tbh 


115: Parents: I love my parents and they are good to me. But it would be great if they could be less homophobic. 


114: Back stabbers: I don’t know why people feel the need to intentionally hurt and embarrass someone, especially someone who isn’t prepared for it or trusts you 


113: Ebay: I don’t really use eBay 


112: Facebook: I use it to tag my non tumblr friends in memes and to stalk people 


111: Work: I’m sick of my job but I’m having to stick it out for now. 


110: My Neighbors: They are seasonal but if their kids could not move and rearrange the bedroom at the ass crack of dawn that would be fantastic 


109: Gas Prices: New Zealand, especially in the towns. Gas prices are so high. Spain isn’t so bad


108: Designer Clothes: I’d rather have more clothes than one designer one 


107: College: 


106: Sports: I have zero hand eye coordination and therefore hate sports! But I will watch the Olympics 


105: My family: They are cool for the most part 


104: The future: is scary and it makes me wanna throw up if I think too much about it

[ Last time I ]


103: Hugged someone: like a week ago 


102: Last time you ate: I’m eating chocolate right now 


101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: my grandparents and my cousins today 


100: Cried in front of someone: it’s been forever 


99: Went to a movie theater: like a good 6-8 months ago


98: Took a vacation: ummm like 4 months ago 


97: Swam in a pool: yesterday 


96: Changed a diaper: not since my babysitting days 


95: Got my nails done: literally before I left New Zealand so 5 months ago


94: Went to a wedding: it’s been years 


93: Broke a bone: never actually broken anything in my body 


92: Got a peircing: I got my ears pieced when I was 12 


91: Broke the law: Probably when I was driving, speeding or something but nothing I've been charged with lmao


90: Texted: like a couple of hours ago

[ MISC ]


89: Who makes you laugh the most: my sister 


88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: having consistently good home cooked meals 


87: The last movie I saw: probably shrek 


86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: being back in New Zealand! Or doing some travelling 


85: The thing im not looking forward to: working 


84: People call me: gay
83: The most difficult thing to do is: be honest 
82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: I actually haven’t 


81: My zodiac sign is: Leo 


80: The first person i talked to today was: my girlfriend 


79: First time you had a crush: the first crush I remember, I was in year 4 (so 8 years old) and it was on this boy named Joseph 


78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: I’m good at hiding things tbh 


77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: my sister when my mum and dad were talking shit 


76: Right now I am talking to: my sister and my friends from New Zealand 


75: What are you going to do when you grow up: Hairdressing tho I kinda would like to do pre school/nursery/kindergarten teaching 


74: I have/will get a job: currently working as front of house at a little supermarket 


73: Tomorrow: I’m working and doing house work


72: Today: I slept and then worked 


71: Next Summer: I will hopefully be enjoying the sunshine 


70: Next Weekend: Working yet again and having dinner with my grandparents 


69: I have these pets: Definitely a cat, and also a dog 


68: The worst sound in the world: chalk or finger nails on a chalkboard 


67: The person that makes me cry the most is: myself 


66: People that make you happy: my sister, my friends and my girlfriend 


65: Last time I cried: when I watched beauty and the beast 


64: My friends are: absolutely incredible, I don’t deserve them


63: My computer is: I don’t have one anymore 


62: My School: I’m not in school 


61: My Car: I don’t have a car atm 


60: I lose all respect for people who: are snakes 


59: The movie I cried at was: beauty and the beast


58: Your hair color is: brown and boring 
57: TV shows you watch: Atm limitless, shooter, Shetland, Rewatching Criminal Minds, AHS and Black Mirror


56: Favorite web site: boohoo.com or iherb 


55: Your dream vacation: A cruise or a historical/relaxed tour of the ancient world 


54: The worst pain I was ever in was: in a tie between slamming my fingers in a car door or when I got a virus (it’s a really bad version of food poisoning) and I actually thought I was gonna die. 


53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium to well done 


52: My room is: relatively clean and currently got that minimal plant theme going 


51: My favorite celebrity is: Dua Lipa 


50: Where would you like to be: with @dysfunctionalgroup


49: Do you want children: yeah one day 


48: Ever been in love: yes 


47: Who’s your best friend: Anushka 


46: More guy friends or girl friends: it used to be a balance but now mostly girl friends 


45: One thing that makes you feel great is: cute underwear and a good nights sleep 


44: One person that you wish you could see right now:


43: Do you have a 5 year plan: yes


42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: mentally but it’s not written down anywhere 


41: Have you pre-named your children: no, but I have some names I really like lined up 


40: Last person I got mad at: my sister 


39: I would like to move to: the Uk or NZ 


38: I wish I was a professional:

[ My Favorites ]


37: Candy: Reece’s pieces or skittles 


36: Vehicle: Kinda want a Range Rover or a Land Rover but in the old style. Or a classic car


35: President: Obama


34: State visited: ive never been to America 


33: Cellphone provider: Lebara 


32: Athlete: my bio teacher, she played for a big women’s netball team 


31: Actor: Jensen Ackles 


30: Actress: Gal Gadot 


29: Singer: Dua Lipa


28: Band: The Internet

27: Clothing store: h&m or boohoo


26: Grocery store: I don’t have one 


25: TV show: Brooklyn 99


24: Movie: I have too many 


23: Website: this hell hole


22: Animal: Cats or Goats 


21: Theme park: I’ve only been to Disney 


20: Holiday: Christmas and Halloween 


19: Sport to watch: Gymnastics 


18: Sport to play: None


17: Magazine: who reads magazines anymore 


16: Book: the Mysterious Benedict Society 


15: Day of the week: Friday 


14: Beach: as long as it’s sandy I’m cool 


13: Concert attended: J Cole


12: Thing to cook: Pizza and Sweet and Sour Pork 


11: Food: Cheesburgers 


10: Restaurant: Any that sell food I like 


9: Radio station: ZM




8: Yankee candle scent: most of them




7: Perfume: Dolce and Gabbana, Floral Drops




6: Flower: forget me nots




5: Color: Green




4: Talk show host: don’t have a fave




3: Comedian: don’t have a fave




2: Dog breed: Border Collie




1: Did you answer all these truthfully? Guess you’ll never know

[sherrygorugh]

Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker Review

Flair Signature Plus

​Espresso Maker Review

Table of Contents - Click to Expand

Quick Navigation

Quick Summary

First Impressions

Flair Models: Compared

How To Use The Flair

Ratings

Quick Summary

The Flair Signature Plus is an elegant and relatively inexpensive manual espresso maker that makes great quality espresso, albeit inconveniently. The Flair Signature Plus is one of the latest SKUs in Flair's lineup, including a bottomless/naked portafilter option, chrome body option, and stainless steel tamper.

If you're looking for convenience, none of Flair's current espresso makers will be for you. Manual espresso is more about the craft and quality of making straight espresso than its automatic counterparts.

If you're just getting started with espresso, then the Flair probably isn't for you. However, if you're an espresso enthusiast who is looking for something that brews great espresso at an affordable price and with a small footprint, the Flair may be the perfect choice.

79 Reviews

Flair Signature Espresso Maker (Plus, Chrome)

100% Human-Powered, Manual Espresso Press

Easy to Clean - with the market's only detachable brewing head and easy-clean portafilter

Completely Portable - breaks down into handy carrying case

Premium Styling - available in matte black or chrome with a copper-plated portafilter base

Five (5) Year Warranty on Aluminum Press Stand and Stainless Steel Brewing Head

$209.00

Buy on Amazon

First Impressions

The Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker is a thing of beauty. Whether it finds a permanent home on your kitchen counter or is strictly used when traveling, its looks alone will garner plenty of attention.

I'm not new to manual espresso makers, spending countless hours over the years pulling shots through the now discontinued MyPressi Twist.

So naturally, I wanted to see how the Flair compares to the MyPressi Twist in terms of both usability and shot quality.

After a few brews, I think it's safe to say that the Flair is not only easier to use, but the shots are just as good (if not better) than what the MyPressi was able to produce.

And initially, I wasn't so confident about this.

In fact, my first reaction when going through the instructions was "this is way too complicated." I mean, there are lot of parts and a lot of steps.

So honestly, I was a little bit nervous when I first started pulling shots.

My opinion quickly changed once I got the hang of it though. Now, I look forward to the ritual of pulling a shot with the Flair. I don't have to worry about running out of Nitrous Oxide (like I did with the MyPressi) and then starting all over again.

The Flair let's you focus on what actually matters in the espresso brewing process, without having to worry about mechanical malfunctions that come with fancier equipment.

Flair Models: Compared

Product Image

Model Reviewed Here

Flair Model

Classic Solo

Classic Plus

Classic Bundle

Signature Plus

Signature Bundle

Signature Pro

Available Colors

Black

Black

Black

Black, Chrome

Black, Chrome

Black, Chrome

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

N/A

Price

$159.00

$169.00

$199.00

$209.00

$239.00

$299

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy from Flair

Product Image

Flair Model

Classic Solo

Available Colors

Black

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

Price

$159.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Flair Model

Classic Plus

Available Colors

Black

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

Price

$169.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Flair Model

Classic Bundle

Available Colors

Black

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

Price

$199.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Model Reviewed Here

Product Image

Flair Model

Signature Plus

Available Colors

Black, Chrome

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

Price

$209.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Flair Model

Signature Bundle

Available Colors

Black, Chrome

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

Price

$239.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Flair Model

Signature Pro

Available Colors

Black, Chrome

Tamper

Extra Brew Head

Bottomless Portafilter

Pressure Gauge

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

All-Stainless Steel Filter Basket

Amazon Rating

N/A

Price

$299

Buy on Amazon

Buy from Flair

At the time of this review, there are currently 6 different bundles across 2 generations of the Flair. In this review, we're specifically looking at the Signature Plus model, but as you can see in the table above there are not many big distinctions between the Classic and Signature lines.

In most cases, it comes down to the accessories that are included.

All "plus" models include the stainless steel tamper, and all "bundle" models include both the stainless steel tamper and an extra brew head.

Are either of these accessories necessary? Well, that depends on your needs.

If you're someone who tends to brew more than one espresso at a time, the extra brew head is beneficial because you can brew two shots without having to clean out the portafilter in between.

The stainless steel tamper is nice, but definitely not necessary. The plastic tamper/dosing cup should do fine for most people, assuming there is a good grinder as part of your setup.

The Signature Series

The "signature" series includes the 2-in-1 portafilter (option to brew bottomless) and the chrome color option instead of just black.

If having a bottomless portafilter doesn't mean anything to you or you prefer black a a color, then the Classic generation should suit you just fine.

The Signature Pro Series

The Signature Pro model is Flair's latest release, and it includes a pressure gauge, larger capacity filter basket, stainless steel drip tray, and an all-stainless steel bottomless filter basket.

Personally, if I had realized that this option was available, I would have gone for it. But because I went straight to Amazon to make my purchase, and the Signature Pro is currently only available on the Flair website, I missed out on my chance to try it.

You can, however, purchase the pressure gauge separately if that's something you want to use.

4 Reviews

Pressure Gauge Kit for Flair

Custom Pressure Gauge with Espresso Range

Stainless Steel Plunger

Piston Stem

Not compatible with Signature PRO model

$50.00

Buy on Amazon

The stainless steel parts are nice, but if you don't have major plastic phobia, it probably isn't much of a value add.

Espresso Prerequisites

If you haven't brewed espresso at home before, there are some important prerequisites you need to be aware of before even considering the purchase of an espresso machine like the Flair.

At the very least, you should be using filtered water and freshly roasted coffee, as these two components will have the biggest impact on the espresso's quality.

The other important component is the coffee grinder you're using.

Espresso is infinitely better when brewed with freshly ground coffee, so if you're considering the Flair, please don't use pre-ground coffee.

I'm not saying this as a coffee snob so much as I'm saying this as your friend. Using pre-ground coffee with a Flair is like using cheap motor oil with a Lamborghini (sorry if that was a bad analogy, car people), you're not going to get the best results by using inferior ingredients.

So if there is one thing I'd recommend doing before purchasing an espresso machine, it would be to invest in a good burr grinder that can grind finely enough for espresso.

For more on grinding coffee, check out our thorough guide here.

Here are some recommendations:

Our Pick

Name

Baratza Virtuoso

Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Lido-E

Rancilio Rocky

Baratza Sette 30

Price

$229.00

$183.00

$195.00

$380.00

$249.00

Type

Electric Burr

Electric Burr

Manual Burr

Electric Burr

Electric Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

9.0 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"","name":"Baratza Virtuoso Burr Grinder","image":"https:\/\/www.thecoffeeconcierge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/baratza-virtuoso-134x134.png","description":"This is a guest review by Margaret Fischer, an awesome coffee blogger who writes some of the best coffee reviews on the web. You can check out her blog at the coffeecantata.co I've had my for about 18 months. Like any good coffee geek, I did a lot of internet research prior to acquiring this...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Margaret Fischer"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.03"},"name":"Baratza Virtuoso Burr Grinder","reviewBody":"This is a guest review by Margaret Fischer, an awesome coffee blogger who writes some of the best coffee reviews on the web. You can check out her blog at the coffeecantata.co\r\n\r\nI've had my for about 18 months. Like any good coffee geek, I did a lot of internet research prior to acquiring this machine, and I think I can safely say at this point that I'm very happy with my purchase.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMy previous grinder was a Capresso Infinity, and while it wasn't bad, my major objections to it were:\r\n\r\n \tIt retained a LOT of coffee grounds every time I used it \u2013 I estimate for 25 grams of coffee, it easily retained between 4-7 grams. I was constantly thwacking the grinder to try and loosen the grounds so that I would not be doomed to drink stale coffee the next day.\r\n\r\n\r\n \tThe Capresso created a lot of static, so when I would pull the little collection bin out to access the grounds, coffee grounds would fly everywhere and get all over the counter, as well as my hands, my face, etc.\r\n \tIt was loud.\r\n\r\nI find the to be very easy to use. There are 40 grind settings. I find the grind consistency to be very good, without much of a problem of \u201cfines\u201d like you would get with a blade grinder.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI have yet to need to recalibrate the machine, despite constantly switching settings between (13), (20), (28), and french press (32).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI have tried using this machine for espresso, and though the packaging may claim it's suitable for espresso, I opted to just use it for coffee because it was not really possible for me to find the exact correct setting for espresso. 7 was too coarse and I got gushers; 6 was too fine and it choked the machine. Buying an espresso grinder isn't simply about finding a grinder that can grind finely, but about buying a grinder that can grind very consistently-sized particles and make extremely fine-tuned adjustments. Thus, once I decided I was pretty serious about making quality espresso at home, I chose to get a for that purpose, and keep the for my non-espresso needs.\r\n\r\nThe has conical steel burrs. I found the burr to be very easy to remove for cleaning; in fact, the whole unit cleans easily. Obviously, the actual burrs and interior of the grinder should NEVER see water; I do wash and hand-dry the collection bin and the hopper, but I clean the rest of the unit by running uncooked rice through the machine on a fine setting, and by brushing it clean with a little paintbrush I save for this purpose. Baratza does sell on their website, but I so far have found that rice works well enough for me.\r\n\r\nThe grinder will operate once you activate a timer knob on the side (which you can force quit anytime you want) or press the push button in front (best suited for very small quantities of coffee beans). Any time I've operated the grinder in front of friends, they've all commented on how quiet it is. I am pretty sure my Capresso was noticeably louder.\r\n\r\nThe collection bin has an anti-static coating which greatly minimizes the problem of flying coffee grounds. With that said, the grinder still can create a little bit of a mess on the counter, so I keep my grinders on a cookie sheet in the kitchen to help collect the mess.\r\n\r\nGrind retention is pretty low with this machine. I still smack it to loosen trapped grounds, but I find the machine only retains between 0.2-0.8 grams depending on the grind size (coarser settings retain slightly more grounds).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFor people who need to worry about a grinder fitting underneath a cabinet on a kitchen counter, the is pretty compact. With the hopper, it only stands 13 inches tall.\r\n\r\nBaratza claims that their steel burrs should last between 500-1000 pounds of coffee. I go through about three pounds of coffee a month at most (usually less), so at that rate, I would go through 500 pounds of coffee in 13-14 years. Not bad!\r\n\r\nThis grinder worked perfectly straight out of the box, and I've never needed to contact Baratza with any problems. However, should the need arise, I hear that Baratza has a reputation for excellent customer service. The main criticisms I see of Baratza products from online posters is that 1) much of their grinders are made of plastic, which looks\/feels flimsy compared to all-metal construction, and 2) they have excellent customer service because they HAVE TO \u2013 meaning, their grinders are not built to last, so they must keep fixing\/replacing parts for their customers. As for me, I don't run a coffee shop and I don't particularly care what a grinder looks like as long as the result in the cup is delicious, and for that, I give Baratza top marks (plus, I don't think the is unattractive!). Regarding the customer service bit \u2013 again, I haven't had any issues with my equipment from Baratza, but if I ever do, I take comfort in the fact that they do their absolute best to do right by their customers. That just seems like an odd complaint. Is the Virtuoso an heirloom quality appliance that you can pass down to your grandchildren? Maybe not, but neither is it flimsy and disposable. At its price point, it does everything I want it to do, and does it well. My imaginary grandchildren can buy their own coffee grinders.\r\nMany thanks to Benji for inviting me to write for The Coffee Concierge!","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Margaret Fischer"},"datePublished":"2015-07-27"},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.25"},"name":"A few drops of water over the beans before grinding will stop the static problem.. Thank You","reviewBody":"A few drops of water over the beans before grinding will stop the static problem.. Thank You","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Gary"},"datePublished":false}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.03","reviewCount":2}}

8.0 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"","name":"Breville Smart Grinder Pro","image":"https:\/\/www.thecoffeeconcierge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/breville-smart-grinder-pro-134x134.png","description":"The days of manually grinding my coffee with a hand crank grinder are over. After using the new for a couple weeks now, I'm pretty blown away. It didn't start off so pretty though. After only one day of using my new grinder, it had already stopped working. I couldn't believe it. $250 and a...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.00"},"name":"Breville Smart Grinder Pro","reviewBody":"The days of manually grinding my coffee with a hand crank grinder are over. After using the new for a couple weeks now, I'm pretty blown away.\r\n\r\nIt didn't start off so pretty though.\r\n\r\nAfter only one day of using my new grinder, it had already stopped working. I couldn't believe it.\r\n\r\n$250 and a week of waiting for the delivery and I already had to send it back to Breville. Fortunately, it was a relatively smooth (and free) process, but I still had a sour taste in my mouth. And unfortunately it wasn't from a bad shot of espresso.\r\n\r\n\r\nThen My Replacement Came\r\nIt's working like a charm. In fact, it's way better than I was expecting.\r\n\r\nI don't come anywhere close to the finest grind setting and I have beautiful shots of espresso. I adjust the grinder by one level of fineness or coarseness, and the change isn't even visible to the naked eye. It's definitely apparent in my espresso shots though.\r\n\r\nGo down one level on the grinder, the shot time is reduced by about 5 seconds. OK, so I haven't quite measured how much shot time is affected, but it's ever so slight. To me, this is a great thing.\r\nThen, I had to get it replaced again\r\nIn August of 2015 I got my second unit replaced due to the burrs locking at finer grind settings. This was a major bummer, especially after my replacement came and was still having the same lock-up issues.\r\n\r\nThis may just be an issue with some of the units, but I think in general the doesn't do well with lighter roasts at finer settings (10 and under).\r\nUpdate December 2017\r\nI'm still on my third unit (as of December 2015) and it has been holding up pretty well without the burrs locking up.\r\n\r\nHowever, I still hold my breath every time I grind for espresso, especially with lighter roasts.\r\n\r\nHere are some tips I've found to prevent issues:\r\n\r\n \tTry not to use old coffee beans, especially if they are lighter roasts\r\n \tAdjust the burrs with coffee beans in the hopper\u00a0while\u00a0running the grinder\r\n \tGrind in small increments. e.g. run the grinder for a few seconds, pause, then run it again\r\n \tTry not to run the grinder with an empty hopper\r\n\r\nBy doing these 4 things, your Smart Grinder Pro will last longer.\r\nThe Step-less Step\r\nThe is technically a stepless grinder, but it still has the clarity\u00a0of a step grinder.\r\n\r\nLet me explain...\r\n\r\nBy default, there are 60 grind settings displayed on an LCD screen on the front grinder. These grind settings are labeled 1 to 60, but when you turn the dial to adjust the grind, you aren't definitively on 40 or 41 for example, even if it displays this on the screen.\r\n\r\nIn reality, you could actually be between 40 and 41 somewhere, as there are no notches that the burr grinders settle into.\r\n\r\nThink of stepless grinders as Pi. You could be on grind setting 3.145926535 even if it's displayed as grind setting 3.\r\nVideo Review\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_ec6a74ZiS8\r\n\r\n\r\nSmart Grinder vs. Smart Grinder Pro\r\nI could tell you the differences between the (old version) and the (new version), but I've already done this in the video review above.\r\n\r\nSo let me show you:\r\n\r\n\r\nIs This The Best Value Grinder Out There?\r\nRight now, I'm not sure if there is a better value home grinder out there. There are just way too many grind settings on the for it to cost so little in comparison to comparable grinders.\r\n\r\nIf anything, the Lido 2 or 3 by Orphan Espresso is probably the best value grinder. Don't let the fact that they are manual fool you either. These grinders are said to grind extremely fast!\r\n\r\nI should have a review for one of the Lido grinders coming in 2016.\r\nHave a Favorite Coffee Grinder? Share By Commenting Below!\r\nUntil there is a grinder that comes along and does a better job than the is currently doing, I'm sticking with it as my go-to grinder.\r\n\r\nSure, I'm concerned it might break down after the 1 year warranty given the fact that I already had a dud, but when it works it really works. I'm willing to take the risk.\r\n\r\nWhy? Because for now the alternative is grinding by hand...something I hope to never have to do again (unless I'm on the go).","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"},"datePublished":"2017-12-29"}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.00","reviewCount":1}}

Amazon Rating

-

Coffee Concierge Review

Our Review

Our Review

-

-

-

Prime Eligibility

-

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Name

Baratza Virtuoso

Price

$229.00

Type

Electric Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

9.0 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"","name":"Baratza Virtuoso Burr Grinder","image":"https:\/\/www.thecoffeeconcierge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/baratza-virtuoso-134x134.png","description":"This is a guest review by Margaret Fischer, an awesome coffee blogger who writes some of the best coffee reviews on the web. You can check out her blog at the coffeecantata.co I've had my for about 18 months. Like any good coffee geek, I did a lot of internet research prior to acquiring this...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Margaret Fischer"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.03"},"name":"Baratza Virtuoso Burr Grinder","reviewBody":"This is a guest review by Margaret Fischer, an awesome coffee blogger who writes some of the best coffee reviews on the web. You can check out her blog at the coffeecantata.co\r\n\r\nI've had my for about 18 months. Like any good coffee geek, I did a lot of internet research prior to acquiring this machine, and I think I can safely say at this point that I'm very happy with my purchase.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMy previous grinder was a Capresso Infinity, and while it wasn't bad, my major objections to it were:\r\n\r\n \tIt retained a LOT of coffee grounds every time I used it \u2013 I estimate for 25 grams of coffee, it easily retained between 4-7 grams. I was constantly thwacking the grinder to try and loosen the grounds so that I would not be doomed to drink stale coffee the next day.\r\n\r\n\r\n \tThe Capresso created a lot of static, so when I would pull the little collection bin out to access the grounds, coffee grounds would fly everywhere and get all over the counter, as well as my hands, my face, etc.\r\n \tIt was loud.\r\n\r\nI find the to be very easy to use. There are 40 grind settings. I find the grind consistency to be very good, without much of a problem of \u201cfines\u201d like you would get with a blade grinder.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI have yet to need to recalibrate the machine, despite constantly switching settings between (13), (20), (28), and french press (32).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI have tried using this machine for espresso, and though the packaging may claim it's suitable for espresso, I opted to just use it for coffee because it was not really possible for me to find the exact correct setting for espresso. 7 was too coarse and I got gushers; 6 was too fine and it choked the machine. Buying an espresso grinder isn't simply about finding a grinder that can grind finely, but about buying a grinder that can grind very consistently-sized particles and make extremely fine-tuned adjustments. Thus, once I decided I was pretty serious about making quality espresso at home, I chose to get a for that purpose, and keep the for my non-espresso needs.\r\n\r\nThe has conical steel burrs. I found the burr to be very easy to remove for cleaning; in fact, the whole unit cleans easily. Obviously, the actual burrs and interior of the grinder should NEVER see water; I do wash and hand-dry the collection bin and the hopper, but I clean the rest of the unit by running uncooked rice through the machine on a fine setting, and by brushing it clean with a little paintbrush I save for this purpose. Baratza does sell on their website, but I so far have found that rice works well enough for me.\r\n\r\nThe grinder will operate once you activate a timer knob on the side (which you can force quit anytime you want) or press the push button in front (best suited for very small quantities of coffee beans). Any time I've operated the grinder in front of friends, they've all commented on how quiet it is. I am pretty sure my Capresso was noticeably louder.\r\n\r\nThe collection bin has an anti-static coating which greatly minimizes the problem of flying coffee grounds. With that said, the grinder still can create a little bit of a mess on the counter, so I keep my grinders on a cookie sheet in the kitchen to help collect the mess.\r\n\r\nGrind retention is pretty low with this machine. I still smack it to loosen trapped grounds, but I find the machine only retains between 0.2-0.8 grams depending on the grind size (coarser settings retain slightly more grounds).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFor people who need to worry about a grinder fitting underneath a cabinet on a kitchen counter, the is pretty compact. With the hopper, it only stands 13 inches tall.\r\n\r\nBaratza claims that their steel burrs should last between 500-1000 pounds of coffee. I go through about three pounds of coffee a month at most (usually less), so at that rate, I would go through 500 pounds of coffee in 13-14 years. Not bad!\r\n\r\nThis grinder worked perfectly straight out of the box, and I've never needed to contact Baratza with any problems. However, should the need arise, I hear that Baratza has a reputation for excellent customer service. The main criticisms I see of Baratza products from online posters is that 1) much of their grinders are made of plastic, which looks\/feels flimsy compared to all-metal construction, and 2) they have excellent customer service because they HAVE TO \u2013 meaning, their grinders are not built to last, so they must keep fixing\/replacing parts for their customers. As for me, I don't run a coffee shop and I don't particularly care what a grinder looks like as long as the result in the cup is delicious, and for that, I give Baratza top marks (plus, I don't think the is unattractive!). Regarding the customer service bit \u2013 again, I haven't had any issues with my equipment from Baratza, but if I ever do, I take comfort in the fact that they do their absolute best to do right by their customers. That just seems like an odd complaint. Is the Virtuoso an heirloom quality appliance that you can pass down to your grandchildren? Maybe not, but neither is it flimsy and disposable. At its price point, it does everything I want it to do, and does it well. My imaginary grandchildren can buy their own coffee grinders.\r\nMany thanks to Benji for inviting me to write for The Coffee Concierge!","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Margaret Fischer"},"datePublished":"2015-07-27"},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.25"},"name":"A few drops of water over the beans before grinding will stop the static problem.. Thank You","reviewBody":"A few drops of water over the beans before grinding will stop the static problem.. Thank You","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Gary"},"datePublished":false}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"9.03","reviewCount":2}}

Amazon Rating

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Our Pick

Name

Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Price

$183.00

Type

Electric Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

8.0 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"","name":"Breville Smart Grinder Pro","image":"https:\/\/www.thecoffeeconcierge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/breville-smart-grinder-pro-134x134.png","description":"The days of manually grinding my coffee with a hand crank grinder are over. After using the new for a couple weeks now, I'm pretty blown away. It didn't start off so pretty though. After only one day of using my new grinder, it had already stopped working. I couldn't believe it. $250 and a...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.00"},"name":"Breville Smart Grinder Pro","reviewBody":"The days of manually grinding my coffee with a hand crank grinder are over. After using the new for a couple weeks now, I'm pretty blown away.\r\n\r\nIt didn't start off so pretty though.\r\n\r\nAfter only one day of using my new grinder, it had already stopped working. I couldn't believe it.\r\n\r\n$250 and a week of waiting for the delivery and I already had to send it back to Breville. Fortunately, it was a relatively smooth (and free) process, but I still had a sour taste in my mouth. And unfortunately it wasn't from a bad shot of espresso.\r\n\r\n\r\nThen My Replacement Came\r\nIt's working like a charm. In fact, it's way better than I was expecting.\r\n\r\nI don't come anywhere close to the finest grind setting and I have beautiful shots of espresso. I adjust the grinder by one level of fineness or coarseness, and the change isn't even visible to the naked eye. It's definitely apparent in my espresso shots though.\r\n\r\nGo down one level on the grinder, the shot time is reduced by about 5 seconds. OK, so I haven't quite measured how much shot time is affected, but it's ever so slight. To me, this is a great thing.\r\nThen, I had to get it replaced again\r\nIn August of 2015 I got my second unit replaced due to the burrs locking at finer grind settings. This was a major bummer, especially after my replacement came and was still having the same lock-up issues.\r\n\r\nThis may just be an issue with some of the units, but I think in general the doesn't do well with lighter roasts at finer settings (10 and under).\r\nUpdate December 2017\r\nI'm still on my third unit (as of December 2015) and it has been holding up pretty well without the burrs locking up.\r\n\r\nHowever, I still hold my breath every time I grind for espresso, especially with lighter roasts.\r\n\r\nHere are some tips I've found to prevent issues:\r\n\r\n \tTry not to use old coffee beans, especially if they are lighter roasts\r\n \tAdjust the burrs with coffee beans in the hopper\u00a0while\u00a0running the grinder\r\n \tGrind in small increments. e.g. run the grinder for a few seconds, pause, then run it again\r\n \tTry not to run the grinder with an empty hopper\r\n\r\nBy doing these 4 things, your Smart Grinder Pro will last longer.\r\nThe Step-less Step\r\nThe is technically a stepless grinder, but it still has the clarity\u00a0of a step grinder.\r\n\r\nLet me explain...\r\n\r\nBy default, there are 60 grind settings displayed on an LCD screen on the front grinder. These grind settings are labeled 1 to 60, but when you turn the dial to adjust the grind, you aren't definitively on 40 or 41 for example, even if it displays this on the screen.\r\n\r\nIn reality, you could actually be between 40 and 41 somewhere, as there are no notches that the burr grinders settle into.\r\n\r\nThink of stepless grinders as Pi. You could be on grind setting 3.145926535 even if it's displayed as grind setting 3.\r\nVideo Review\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_ec6a74ZiS8\r\n\r\n\r\nSmart Grinder vs. Smart Grinder Pro\r\nI could tell you the differences between the (old version) and the (new version), but I've already done this in the video review above.\r\n\r\nSo let me show you:\r\n\r\n\r\nIs This The Best Value Grinder Out There?\r\nRight now, I'm not sure if there is a better value home grinder out there. There are just way too many grind settings on the for it to cost so little in comparison to comparable grinders.\r\n\r\nIf anything, the Lido 2 or 3 by Orphan Espresso is probably the best value grinder. Don't let the fact that they are manual fool you either. These grinders are said to grind extremely fast!\r\n\r\nI should have a review for one of the Lido grinders coming in 2016.\r\nHave a Favorite Coffee Grinder? Share By Commenting Below!\r\nUntil there is a grinder that comes along and does a better job than the is currently doing, I'm sticking with it as my go-to grinder.\r\n\r\nSure, I'm concerned it might break down after the 1 year warranty given the fact that I already had a dud, but when it works it really works. I'm willing to take the risk.\r\n\r\nWhy? Because for now the alternative is grinding by hand...something I hope to never have to do again (unless I'm on the go).","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"},"datePublished":"2017-12-29"}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.00","reviewCount":1}}

Amazon Rating

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Name

Lido-E

Price

$195.00

Type

Manual Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

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Name

Rancilio Rocky

Price

$380.00

Type

Electric Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

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Name

Baratza Sette 30

Price

$249.00

Type

Electric Burr

Coffee Concierge Rating

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How To Use The Flair

Brewing with the Flair isn't difficult, but it definitely has a steeper learning curve than most coffee brewing methods out there.

Step 1: Attach the lever to the base

Despite all of the parts, the initial setup is very easy. Simply attach the lever to the base. 

All Signature models come with an optional screw that you can use to attach the lever to the base more securely. The folks at flair suggest doing this if you plan to keep your Flair as mainstay on the counter. 

Step 2: Preheat the cylinder

I actually found this to be the most confusing step in the instruction booklet, as a critical piece of information was missing.

Basically, the instructions say to detach the cylinder/reservoir from the filter basket and piston to prepare for preheating in a bowl or the sink. You are then pour your boiling water into the cylinder and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before repeating the process.

The problem is that the cylinder has an opening on the top and the bottom, so water basically just runs through the bottom due to gravity, since it's not plugged up.

Only after reading another review did I realize that the way to deal with this is by keeping the piston inside of the cylinder slightly, so it prevents the water from flowing out of the bottom.

This ensures that the cylinder is actually being fully heated

Step 3: Measure and grind the coffee

As you're preheating the cylinder, you should begin to dose your beans (15-17g) and dial-in your grind.

This step actually isn't much different from what you'd do with any other espresso setup, but there is one slightly tricky part, which is actually adding the ground coffee to your filter basket.

You see, once you get past 15 un-tamped grams of coffee, the filter basket easily starts to overflow. So you're pretty much forced to use the included funnel when dosing AND tamping.

It seemed weird to me that there was nothing mentioned about the filter basket's capacity. I actually figured Flair would have over-compensated for this with a larger basket, but this wasn't the case.

So to summarize: measure out your 15-17g using a gram scale, then grind the coffee directly into your filter basket with the funnel attached.

If there's clumping, put your palm over the top of the funnel and give the basket a few shakes until the clumps go away. 

Unless I tamped the coffee with the grounds funnel still attached, I'd end up with a complete mess of coffee grounds all over the place.

Step 4: Tamp the coffee

With the funnel still in place, tamp the coffee. Since the tamper fits perfectly within the funnel, you can avoid the mess I described above.

Step 5: Place the screen on top of the filter basket

Add the included screen to the top of the filter basket so it is flush with the top.

Step 6: Attach filter basket to the cylinder and add hot water

Next, attach the filter basket to the cylinder, and place the now fully-assembled brew head on the holder.

Fill the hot water up to the line inside the cylinder.

Step 7: Place piston in cylinder and pull the lever

Now you're finally ready to brew! Carefully add the piston to the top of the cylinder and pull the lever. Don't forget to put your demitasse on the drip tray so it can catch that sweet, sweet espresso!

Flair vs. The Competition

Product Image

Model Reviewed Here

Product Name

Flair Signature Plus

ROK EspressoGC

Wacaco Nanopresso

Klein Portable Espresso Maker

Staresso

Available Colors

Black, Chrome

Chrome

Black, Red, Yellow, Orange

White

Black, White

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Yes - Sold Separately

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

8.3 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Product","name":"Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker","image":"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41WYMJgxAuL.jpg","description":"Flair Signature Plus\u200bEspresso Maker ReviewTable of Contents - Click to ExpandQuick SummaryThe Flair Signature Plus is an elegant and relatively inexpensive manual espresso maker that makes great quality espresso, albeit inconveniently. The Flair Signature Plus is one of the latest SKUs in Flair's lineup, including a bottomless\/naked portafilter option, chrome body option, and stainless steel...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"209.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.38"},"name":"Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker","reviewBody":"Flair Signature Plus\u200bEspresso Maker ReviewTable of Contents - Click to ExpandQuick SummaryThe Flair Signature Plus is an elegant and relatively inexpensive manual espresso maker that makes great quality espresso, albeit inconveniently. The Flair Signature Plus is one of the latest SKUs in Flair's lineup, including a bottomless\/naked portafilter option, chrome body option, and stainless steel tamper.If you're looking for convenience, none of Flair's current espresso makers will be for you. Manual espresso is more about the craft and quality of making straight espresso than its automatic counterparts.If you're just getting started with espresso, then the Flair probably isn't for you. However, if you're an espresso enthusiast who is looking for something that brews great espresso at an affordable price and with a small footprint, the Flair may be the perfect choice.First ImpressionsThe Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker is a thing of beauty. Whether it finds a permanent home on your kitchen counter or is strictly used when traveling, its looks alone will garner plenty of attention.I'm not new to manual espresso makers, spending countless hours over the years pulling shots through the now discontinued MyPressi Twist.So naturally, I wanted to see how the Flair compares to the MyPressi Twist in terms of both usability and shot quality.After a few brews, I think it's safe to say that the Flair is not only easier to use, but the shots are just as good (if not better) than what the MyPressi was able to produce.And initially, I wasn't so confident about this.In fact, my first reaction when going through the instructions was \"this is way too complicated.\" I mean, there are lot of parts and a lot of steps.So honestly, I was a little bit nervous when I first started pulling shots.My opinion quickly changed once I got the hang of it though. Now, I look forward to the ritual of pulling a shot with the Flair. I don't have to worry about running out of Nitrous Oxide (like I did with the MyPressi) and then starting all over again.The Flair let's you focus on what actually matters in the espresso brewing process, without having to worry about mechanical malfunctions that come with fancier equipment.Flair Models: ComparedAt the time of this review, there are currently 6 different bundles across 2 generations of the Flair. In this review, we're specifically looking at the Signature Plus model, but as you can see in the table above there are not many big distinctions between the Classic and Signature lines.In most cases, it comes down to the accessories that are included.All \"plus\" models include the stainless steel tamper, and all \"bundle\" models include both the stainless steel tamper and an extra brew head.Are either of these accessories necessary? Well, that depends on your needs.If you're someone who tends to brew more than one espresso at a time, the extra brew head is beneficial because you can brew two shots without having to clean out the portafilter in between.The stainless steel tamper is nice, but definitely not necessary. The plastic tamper\/dosing cup should do fine for most people, assuming there is a good grinder as part of your setup.The Signature Series The \"signature\" series includes the 2-in-1 portafilter (option to brew bottomless) and the chrome color option instead of just black.If having a bottomless portafilter doesn't mean anything to you or you prefer black a a color, then the Classic generation should suit you just fine.The Signature Pro SeriesThe Signature Pro model is Flair's latest release, and it includes a pressure gauge, larger capacity filter basket, stainless steel drip tray, and an all-stainless steel bottomless filter basket.Personally, if I had realized that this option was available, I would have gone for it. But because I went straight to Amazon to make my purchase, and the Signature Pro is currently only available on the Flair website, I missed out on my chance to try it.You can, however, purchase the pressure gauge separately if that's something you want to use.The stainless steel parts are nice, but if you don't have major plastic phobia, it probably isn't much of a value add.Espresso PrerequisitesIf you haven't brewed espresso at home before, there are some important prerequisites you need to be aware of before even considering the purchase of an espresso machine like the Flair.At the very least, you should be using filtered water and freshly roasted coffee, as these two components will have the biggest impact on the espresso's quality.The other important component is the coffee grinder you're using.Espresso is infinitely better when brewed with freshly ground coffee, so if you're considering the Flair, please don't use pre-ground coffee.I'm not saying this as a coffee snob so much as I'm saying this as your friend. Using pre-ground coffee with a Flair is like using cheap motor oil with a Lamborghini (sorry if that was a bad analogy, car people), you're not going to get the best results by using inferior ingredients.So if there is one thing I'd recommend doing before purchasing an espresso machine, it would be to invest in a good burr grinder that can grind finely enough for espresso.For more on grinding coffee, check out our thorough guide here.Here are some recommendations:How To Use The FlairBrewing with the Flair isn't difficult, but it definitely has a steeper learning curve than most coffee brewing methods out there.Step 1: Attach the lever to the baseDespite all of the parts, the initial setup is very easy. Simply attach the lever to the base. All Signature models come with an optional screw that you can use to attach the lever to the base more securely. The folks at flair suggest doing this if you plan to keep your Flair as mainstay on the counter. Step 2: Preheat the cylinderI actually found this to be the most confusing step in the instruction booklet, as a critical piece of information was missing.Basically, the instructions say to detach the cylinder\/reservoir from the filter basket and piston to prepare for preheating in a bowl or the sink. You are then pour your boiling water into the cylinder and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before repeating the process.The problem is that the cylinder has an opening on the top and the bottom, so water basically just runs through the bottom due to gravity, since it's not plugged up.Only after reading another review did I realize that the way to deal with this is by keeping the piston inside of the cylinder slightly, so it prevents the water from flowing out of the bottom.This ensures that the cylinder is actually being fully heatedStep 3: Measure and grind the coffeeAs you're preheating the cylinder, you should begin to dose your beans (15-17g) and dial-in your grind.This step actually isn't much different from what you'd do with any other espresso setup, but there is one slightly tricky part, which is actually adding the ground coffee to your filter basket.You see, once you get past 15 un-tamped grams of coffee, the filter basket easily starts to overflow. So you're pretty much forced to use the included funnel when dosing AND tamping.It seemed weird to me that there was nothing mentioned about the filter basket's capacity. I actually figured Flair would have over-compensated for this with a larger basket, but this wasn't the case.So to summarize: measure out your 15-17g using a gram scale, then grind the coffee directly into your filter basket with the funnel attached.If there's clumping, put your palm over the top of the funnel and give the basket a few shakes until the clumps go away. Unless I tamped the coffee with the grounds funnel still attached, I'd end up with a complete mess of coffee grounds all over the place.Step 4: Tamp the coffeeWith the funnel still in place, tamp the coffee. Since the tamper fits perfectly within the funnel, you can avoid the mess I described above.Step 5: Place the screen on top of the filter basketAdd the included screen to the top of the filter basket so it is flush with the top.Step 6: Attach filter basket to the cylinder and add hot waterNext, attach the filter basket to the cylinder, and place the now fully-assembled brew head on the holder. Fill the hot water up to the line inside the cylinder.Step 7: Place piston in cylinder and pull the leverNow you're finally ready to brew! Carefully add the piston to the top of the cylinder and pull the lever. Don't forget to put your demitasse on the drip tray so it can catch that sweet, sweet espresso!Flair vs. The CompetitionDiscounted FlairsIf you're looking to get a great price on a Flair, your best bet is to head to their website and check out the \"blemished\" espresso makers that had slight manufacturing defects (aesthetically speaking).Flair offers 15% off for these units. Grab 'em quick though, as they sell out quickly.Ratings","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"},"datePublished":"2019-05-19"}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.38","reviewCount":1}}

-

-

-

-

Price

$209.00

$154.99

$64.90

$39.99

$65.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Model Reviewed Here

Product Image

Product Name

Flair Signature Plus

Available Colors

Black, Chrome

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

8.3 {"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Product","name":"Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker","image":"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41WYMJgxAuL.jpg","description":"Flair Signature Plus\u200bEspresso Maker ReviewTable of Contents - Click to ExpandQuick SummaryThe Flair Signature Plus is an elegant and relatively inexpensive manual espresso maker that makes great quality espresso, albeit inconveniently. The Flair Signature Plus is one of the latest SKUs in Flair's lineup, including a bottomless\/naked portafilter option, chrome body option, and stainless steel...","offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"209.00","priceCurrency":"USD","seller":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"}},"review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.38"},"name":"Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker","reviewBody":"Flair Signature Plus\u200bEspresso Maker ReviewTable of Contents - Click to ExpandQuick SummaryThe Flair Signature Plus is an elegant and relatively inexpensive manual espresso maker that makes great quality espresso, albeit inconveniently. The Flair Signature Plus is one of the latest SKUs in Flair's lineup, including a bottomless\/naked portafilter option, chrome body option, and stainless steel tamper.If you're looking for convenience, none of Flair's current espresso makers will be for you. Manual espresso is more about the craft and quality of making straight espresso than its automatic counterparts.If you're just getting started with espresso, then the Flair probably isn't for you. However, if you're an espresso enthusiast who is looking for something that brews great espresso at an affordable price and with a small footprint, the Flair may be the perfect choice.First ImpressionsThe Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker is a thing of beauty. Whether it finds a permanent home on your kitchen counter or is strictly used when traveling, its looks alone will garner plenty of attention.I'm not new to manual espresso makers, spending countless hours over the years pulling shots through the now discontinued MyPressi Twist.So naturally, I wanted to see how the Flair compares to the MyPressi Twist in terms of both usability and shot quality.After a few brews, I think it's safe to say that the Flair is not only easier to use, but the shots are just as good (if not better) than what the MyPressi was able to produce.And initially, I wasn't so confident about this.In fact, my first reaction when going through the instructions was \"this is way too complicated.\" I mean, there are lot of parts and a lot of steps.So honestly, I was a little bit nervous when I first started pulling shots.My opinion quickly changed once I got the hang of it though. Now, I look forward to the ritual of pulling a shot with the Flair. I don't have to worry about running out of Nitrous Oxide (like I did with the MyPressi) and then starting all over again.The Flair let's you focus on what actually matters in the espresso brewing process, without having to worry about mechanical malfunctions that come with fancier equipment.Flair Models: ComparedAt the time of this review, there are currently 6 different bundles across 2 generations of the Flair. In this review, we're specifically looking at the Signature Plus model, but as you can see in the table above there are not many big distinctions between the Classic and Signature lines.In most cases, it comes down to the accessories that are included.All \"plus\" models include the stainless steel tamper, and all \"bundle\" models include both the stainless steel tamper and an extra brew head.Are either of these accessories necessary? Well, that depends on your needs.If you're someone who tends to brew more than one espresso at a time, the extra brew head is beneficial because you can brew two shots without having to clean out the portafilter in between.The stainless steel tamper is nice, but definitely not necessary. The plastic tamper\/dosing cup should do fine for most people, assuming there is a good grinder as part of your setup.The Signature Series The \"signature\" series includes the 2-in-1 portafilter (option to brew bottomless) and the chrome color option instead of just black.If having a bottomless portafilter doesn't mean anything to you or you prefer black a a color, then the Classic generation should suit you just fine.The Signature Pro SeriesThe Signature Pro model is Flair's latest release, and it includes a pressure gauge, larger capacity filter basket, stainless steel drip tray, and an all-stainless steel bottomless filter basket.Personally, if I had realized that this option was available, I would have gone for it. But because I went straight to Amazon to make my purchase, and the Signature Pro is currently only available on the Flair website, I missed out on my chance to try it.You can, however, purchase the pressure gauge separately if that's something you want to use.The stainless steel parts are nice, but if you don't have major plastic phobia, it probably isn't much of a value add.Espresso PrerequisitesIf you haven't brewed espresso at home before, there are some important prerequisites you need to be aware of before even considering the purchase of an espresso machine like the Flair.At the very least, you should be using filtered water and freshly roasted coffee, as these two components will have the biggest impact on the espresso's quality.The other important component is the coffee grinder you're using.Espresso is infinitely better when brewed with freshly ground coffee, so if you're considering the Flair, please don't use pre-ground coffee.I'm not saying this as a coffee snob so much as I'm saying this as your friend. Using pre-ground coffee with a Flair is like using cheap motor oil with a Lamborghini (sorry if that was a bad analogy, car people), you're not going to get the best results by using inferior ingredients.So if there is one thing I'd recommend doing before purchasing an espresso machine, it would be to invest in a good burr grinder that can grind finely enough for espresso.For more on grinding coffee, check out our thorough guide here.Here are some recommendations:How To Use The FlairBrewing with the Flair isn't difficult, but it definitely has a steeper learning curve than most coffee brewing methods out there.Step 1: Attach the lever to the baseDespite all of the parts, the initial setup is very easy. Simply attach the lever to the base. All Signature models come with an optional screw that you can use to attach the lever to the base more securely. The folks at flair suggest doing this if you plan to keep your Flair as mainstay on the counter. Step 2: Preheat the cylinderI actually found this to be the most confusing step in the instruction booklet, as a critical piece of information was missing.Basically, the instructions say to detach the cylinder\/reservoir from the filter basket and piston to prepare for preheating in a bowl or the sink. You are then pour your boiling water into the cylinder and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before repeating the process.The problem is that the cylinder has an opening on the top and the bottom, so water basically just runs through the bottom due to gravity, since it's not plugged up.Only after reading another review did I realize that the way to deal with this is by keeping the piston inside of the cylinder slightly, so it prevents the water from flowing out of the bottom.This ensures that the cylinder is actually being fully heatedStep 3: Measure and grind the coffeeAs you're preheating the cylinder, you should begin to dose your beans (15-17g) and dial-in your grind.This step actually isn't much different from what you'd do with any other espresso setup, but there is one slightly tricky part, which is actually adding the ground coffee to your filter basket.You see, once you get past 15 un-tamped grams of coffee, the filter basket easily starts to overflow. So you're pretty much forced to use the included funnel when dosing AND tamping.It seemed weird to me that there was nothing mentioned about the filter basket's capacity. I actually figured Flair would have over-compensated for this with a larger basket, but this wasn't the case.So to summarize: measure out your 15-17g using a gram scale, then grind the coffee directly into your filter basket with the funnel attached.If there's clumping, put your palm over the top of the funnel and give the basket a few shakes until the clumps go away. Unless I tamped the coffee with the grounds funnel still attached, I'd end up with a complete mess of coffee grounds all over the place.Step 4: Tamp the coffeeWith the funnel still in place, tamp the coffee. Since the tamper fits perfectly within the funnel, you can avoid the mess I described above.Step 5: Place the screen on top of the filter basketAdd the included screen to the top of the filter basket so it is flush with the top.Step 6: Attach filter basket to the cylinder and add hot waterNext, attach the filter basket to the cylinder, and place the now fully-assembled brew head on the holder. Fill the hot water up to the line inside the cylinder.Step 7: Place piston in cylinder and pull the leverNow you're finally ready to brew! Carefully add the piston to the top of the cylinder and pull the lever. Don't forget to put your demitasse on the drip tray so it can catch that sweet, sweet espresso!Flair vs. The CompetitionDiscounted FlairsIf you're looking to get a great price on a Flair, your best bet is to head to their website and check out the \"blemished\" espresso makers that had slight manufacturing defects (aesthetically speaking).Flair offers 15% off for these units. Grab 'em quick though, as they sell out quickly.Ratings","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benji"},"datePublished":"2019-05-19"}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":"10","worstRating":"0","ratingValue":"8.38","reviewCount":1}}

Price

$209.00

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Product Name

ROK EspressoGC

Available Colors

Chrome

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

-

Price

$154.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Product Name

Wacaco Nanopresso

Available Colors

Black, Red, Yellow, Orange

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Yes - Sold Separately

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

-

Price

$64.90

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Product Name

Klein Portable Espresso Maker

Available Colors

White

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

-

Price

$39.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Product Image

Product Name

Staresso

Available Colors

Black, White

Bottomless Portafilter

Pod Compatible

Amazon Rating

Coffee Concierge Rating

-

Price

$65.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Discounted Flairs

If you're looking to get a great price on a Flair, your best bet is to head to their website and check out the "blemished" espresso makers that had slight manufacturing defects (aesthetically speaking).

Flair offers 15% off for these units. Grab 'em quick though, as they sell out quickly.

Grab a Blemished Flair Here

Ratings

The post Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker Review appeared first on The Coffee Concierge.

Flair Signature Plus Espresso Maker Review published first on https://linlincoffeeequipment.tumblr.com/

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Indian Pre Wedding Photoshoot Makeup Tutorial | Aayushi Bangur

Indian Pre Wedding Photoshoot Makeup Tutorial | Aayushi Bangur

hey guys this is I you should come stai drive and today I'm back on my car TV to show you this really fun makeup tutorial this is classic if you're doing I can inform to photoshoot drive before your wedding or if you even go into friends or cousins reception or cocktails I think this look will go absolutely perfectly so let's get started I have already prepped my skin using the Revlon Photoready perfecting primer which will make sure that my makeup lasts all day and then I went to war with the women lasting finish foundation which is not and perfect photos then i'm using the Revlon Photoready skin light space illuminator on the high points of my face to make sure that it gives a nice glow I'm then powering my face with the faces go chic pressed powder to give a nice matte finish and then using the lawyer blush and blushing kiss to give my cheeks a little bit of a healthy glow next to sculpt your face use the natural bronzer and take it to your jawline and forehead along with your cheekbones next for my garden using the natural brow kit and using the spoolie from the kid I'm just lightly brushing out my bra head then using this middle shade I'm slightly filling in my brows framing the brows and also brushing them out at the same time it is truly i'm using the makeup revolution Redemption palette iconic number three for this entire loop starting up with this light to shade i'm using this to highlight my brow bone then going on with a fluffy brush I'm taking this light brown color and taking it all over the lid now take this matt brown color into your socket now using the same matte brown shade drag it to your lower waterline now using the shimmery taupe shade I'm going to place it all over the lid now to intensify the color on the lid load up your brush with the product and spray it with the makeup revolution to fix it now using the darkest color in the palette and putting it in the outer corner of my eye to give it a smoky gradient effect using the lightest shade in the makeup academy Mercer eyeshadow and placing that in my inner corner to define the look i'm using the l'oreal paris super liner black buster and creating a pink line oh now I'm loading up my lashes with some Maybelline volume Express mascara to prep them for lashes to finish off this look I'm using the ardell 203 lashes and now for the list i'm using my current favorite lipsticks which is the l'oreal moist smack in arabian night so there you have it the complete look I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial all the products that I've used in this look are linked in the bottom of law make sure to subscribe to my car TV and also comment below and tell me what is more about it see you next time

See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW2FD_tC2iU

What are the Benefits of Employing a High quality Wedding Photographer?

This specific information describes about the real benefits of recruiting a high quality Asian wedding photographer with regard to your wedding. The most precious day of anyone's existence is most definitely their wedding celebration. It is a day when two hearts meet to begin a new life. The charisma of wedding ceremony is that it may bring excitement, enjoyment, passion, delight, smile and also tear all emotion in your heart at once. The most suitable method to catch every one of these memories of a wedding celebration is certainly to choose a qualified professional wedding photographer. The experienced wedding photographers assist you in seizing the treasured instants in an one-of-a-kind and also breathtaking process. Asian wedding, even more so Indian wedding is definitely not a one day affair. There are a number of rituals and ceremonies, that complete at minimum in a few days. Therefore, there is not a sight that the range of charming memories will accomplish without an epic photo album. Employing a qualified professional wedding photographer is a smart move to be sure that each and every instance of your big day is captured in an one-of-a-kind a wonderful way. Most of the people do not hire a professional photographer so as to save on their hard earned cash. That being said, choosing a professional photographer can offer you rewards in a variety of means. Catching breathtaking and incredible photos is actually not something that anyone can possibly do perfectly without needing skills and right tools. Professionalism and trust is among the greatest positive aspects of employing a professional Asian wedding photographer UK. The specialist photographers provide a very good knowledge about the basic guidelines of photography. Moreover, they are installed with all the gear as well as accessories really needed for immortalizing all-natural looking and stunning photographs. The specialists catch each and every photo manually in order to deliver extraordinary reminders of valuable moments. The wedding event photographer will definitely give cautious attention to every ritual so as to catch every moment of your special day. Whenever choosing a qualified wedding photographer, you can rest assure that you will get only premium quality photographs of your wedding. They look after all the variables and know how to capture the subject in the most ideal possible natural effect. Yet another advantage of choosing a specialist wedding photographer is verifiable years of experience. The specialist photographers possess hands-on experience in different types of wedding photography. This allows them to help their clients in deciding on the perfect theme, colour and also style of their wedding celebration. The qualified photographers deliver different package deals for them to meet the different needs of the clients throughout their budget. Additionally, they customize the deal as per your need and requirement. The photographer will also allow their clients to keep their special day recollections in varieties of configurations. A large number of qualified professional photographers will deliver a wide variety of photography alternatives to choose from. The couple can pick from photographs printed on various brilliantly coloured papers, a comprehensive wedding album or in an electronic format such as Compact discs and DVDs. So, when you employ a specialist wedding photographer you will acquire photographs that will help you remember your special day for many years.

[gentlespaceman-blog]

5 Tips For Wedding and Portrait Photographers

5 Tips For Wedding and Portrait Photographers

hey guys I wanted to go over five tips that I think are great things to carry with you to a wedding are really honestly any shoot this is kind of stuff that really applies to most any kind of photography not only weddings but more portraits and family sessions and stuff like that you learn something hopefully so stick with me here's five tips of what I think are just some essentials that I've that have picked up over the past couple years number one that's pretty simple but when I was starting on my career and mainly that was shooting weddings I found that I didn't shoot a lot of details and if I did shoot details of the day they kind of sucked and usually it was something like a picture of their ring all right you know I used to be pretty pretty pretty adamant about grabbing their rings and doing a lot of ring shots and doing a lot of macro ring stuff and I don't really do much of that these days but I have been focusing a lot on detail I think details very important in weddings currently I'm playing in my own wedding and so of course we have so many things that we bring to the wedding so many it just it's a lot of planning it's a lot of everything resources money and so you want you want stuff to be remembered in this case that's going to be details so flowers arrangement stuff like that just whatever they bring to the wedding so that's number one it's pretty simple details this is an example I want to kind of show you a bunch of examples from one wedding that I had this year awesome couple they were fun she had some beautiful details and this is one of them this is of course just her bouquet and now when I start shooting I realized that I notice things while I'm shooting like these kind of detail shots that I normally had it before so right before this we were just taking photos of course of the couple behind her is her husband but in the midst of shooting them I realized like wow this is awesome light I'm really loving how her bouquet looks so I'm going to squeeze in real quick a little closer and snag a couple shots of that as a detail and that stuff kind of throughout the day turns into just a lot of awesome detail shots but got to get in the moment sometimes it's kind of hard to re replan just grabbing her and taking her to a window just for detail shots kind of nice to just do it when you're in the moment you know and so this is one of them just kind of a cool awesome bouquet beautiful just look at that if it loads of course dudu but yeah you get the hint awesome stuff some eucalyptus that's been big small things like this this is not anything fancy kind of just a silly shop I think we were out you know shooting photos of the whole group and I saw some of these weird flowers while they were all getting situated or something take a couple shots give that to them in their wedding set and it's just kind of again just details of the day that they...

See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz5XirgOD_A

Exactly what are the Benefits of Employing the services of a Competent Wedding Photographer?

This specific write-up explains about the features of employing a proficient Asian wedding photographer with regard to your special day. The most pleasurable day of anyone's entire life is surely their wedding event. This is a moment when two hearts meet to start a brand-new life. The personal appeal of wedding is that it can easily deliver excitement, satisfaction, love, delight, smile as well as tear all feeling in your heart at once. The most reliable technique to catch all these kinds of memories of a marriage ceremony is actually to hire a qualified professional wedding photographer. The specialist wedding photographers serve to help you in catching the treasured memories in an one-of-a-kind and elegant style. Asian wedding, most especially Indian wedding is not a one day function. There are many different rituals as well as ceremonies, which accomplish approximately in a few days. So, there is not a sight that the compilation of delightful memories will definitely accomplish without an epic photo album. Enlisting the services of a professional wedding photographer is a clever move to ensure that each and every moment of your special day is recorded in an extraordinary an exquisite way. The majority of the people do not hire a professional photographer so as to save their money. Nonetheless, choosing a professional photographer can easily deliver you benefits in a number of ways. Catching impressive and remarkable photos is definitely not something that anyone may do correctly without needing abilities and right tools. Professionalism is among the greatest benefits of choosing a professional Asian wedding photographer UK. The professional photographers come with a very good awareness about the basic criteria of photography. Additionally, they are equipped with all the tools and additions really needed for recording natural looking and beautiful photographs. The experts capture every image manually so as to provide phenomenal memorabilia of priceless moments. The wedding event photographer will give conscientious attention to every ritual in order to record every instance of your wedding. When choosing a professional wedding photographer, you can feel confident that you will obtain only premium quality photographs of your wedding. They look after all the aspects and figure out the best ways to seize the subject in the best possible natural effect. One other feature of choosing a professional wedding photographer is valid years of experience. The competent photographers provide hands-on knowledge in different types of wedding photography. This allows them to assist their customers in picking the perfect theme, colour as well as design of their wedding ceremony. The qualified photographers present different package deals so as to fulfil the varied needs of the customers throughout their spending plan. Furthermore, they customise the package deal based on your necessity and requirement. The wedding photographer will certainly also enable their clients to preserve their wedding day moments in wide ranges of forms. Many qualified professional photographers will supply a wide range of photography options to go with. The bride and groom may choose from photographs printed on a variety of brilliantly coloured papers, a complete wedding album or in an electronic format just like CDs and also DVDs. Hence, whenever you employ the services of a qualified professional wedding photographer you will certainly obtain photographs that are going to really help you remember your wedding for many years.