#i only use android phones when i get paid to do so and i don't see that changing in the next few years

[trainsinanime]

The Apple vs. Twitter thing is another one of those "two statement can and should coexist" situations. Funny how they keep cropping up; you might almost think that this the normal state of the world.

On the one hand, it is good that there is some instance mandating at least the tiniest bit of accountability for the modern web world. We saw with Kiwifarms how difficult it can be to deal with truly awful things. Also, it's always fun to see Elon go crazy.

At the same time, Apple should absolutely not be that last control instance, and neither should Google for that matter. For one, Apple is not doing a good job; their methods are capricious, their standards non-existent, and every single iOS app developer has a story of how the Apple store rules and their crazy enforcement have hurt them personally.

And even if that weren't the case, Apple should not hold that much power over so much of the world. No single company should; hell, even for single governments it can be questionable.

Sadly, we only ever have these debates over truly bad examples. When we discuss this, it's always about, "is it good that this white millionaire creates a safe haven where fascists connect and spread? Hard to say", and sadly never about the many other cases.

The most famous case here is, of course, sex and nudity, and how Apple's app store forced Tumblr to get rid of those things, annoying millions, but also genuinely hurting a lot of people like sex workers. And don't forget that people like to lump sexuality and gender identity in with these topics and block them as well.

The conclusion is that there is no conclusion. It's bad if Elon gets what he wants, and it's bad that Apple has the power to stop him. If you want any conclusion, I guess both sides are examples of how corporations and the rich people leading them have way, way too much power to control all our lives. But even that is only a quick oversimplification. It's all rather frustrating.

[splatoon-edits]

i hope this isn't weird to ask, but I've been taking a bunch of pictures in Splatoon and I kinda want to start editing them, but I currently only have an android phone and no computer, do you have any editing apps you'd recommend? Also any tutorials on how to use them (I have like, very very minor experience in stuff like Photoshop but not much else)

hmmm well i also started out just with my phone so you should be fine!

i don't think my process was the most optimized, but i'll share it anyway.

(this is going to be under a read more since it ended up being long)

I used ibis paint x when i started out, which is a free drawing app available on pretty much every mobile device. It may take some getting used to all the buttons on there(it took me a while to learn) but i would think you could find a tutorial online for the basic functions of everything. The way i learned was by just messing with every button to see what they did and figuring it out slowly from that.

And here are the steps as to how i edited:

take the image you want to make transparent(if you don't want to make your own transparents yet mine are free to use and there are official transparent renders of certain characters as well that you can easily find on inkipedia)

just import it into your new drawing

take the eraser tool and manually erase the background.

If needed: try to redraw any parts that are missing/were obscured by other things in the image(such as items in the foreground or word bubbles if it's a manga panel). this was sort of easy for me to start to get a basic hold of since i draw already. If you don't feel confident with this, just choose an image where the character is fully visible.

In a new layer(underneath the character one), add your background.

In a new layer(above the character one) add any particle affects or the like.

You're finished!

You can also draw extra decorations (like hearts and stars) manually with the brush tool! Make sure it's on a separate layer so as not to permanently affect anything else if you decide you don't like it!

I also think canva may have a mobile app version? I have a paid version of it through someone else that i use on the website version, and i can give a tutorial for how i work in that as well. I don't know how the free version compares, but it should be pretty similar?

In canva i do the following:

select the 500x500 logo option if you want to make an icon, or another size if you want something else.

Press uploads, then upload your picture.

once you have the image you want on your canvas, click on it and select "edit photo"

choose "bg remover" and let it do its thing.

once its done loading, if there are any errors click on bg remover again and fix them with the erase and restore options.

Add a background and extra details and there you go!

I find the last step to be a lot easier in canva since it comes preloaded with a ton of options as long as you know what to look for!

Also note: i DON'T like canvas bg remover tool. it is inaccurate and kinda dumb so i would just do the transparents manually through ibis if i was you. i just dont have any other option rn. If you choose to do the transparents in ibis make sure you click "save image as transparent png" when you are downloading it so you can upload it to canva.

As for how i choose what to do and all that, i can try to explain some things that work for me.

lets use this image of dedf1sh for example:

lets say i wanted to make an icon with this. what wuld i use for backgrounds and such?

for starters: colors. Take a color that's already on the characters design/associated with them and then look for things that match that color scheme.

so some examples of that:

some other things to use would be things associated with the character. so for dedf1sh it would be subways, djs, music, the 80s aesthetic of octo expansion, sanitization, etc.

so here's how i would incorporate things like that:

but just a character and a image can (sometimes) be boring to me, so i like to add extra things as well.

theres always my tried and true: the white shape

you can use any shape and any color really, i just default to white squares a lot since i think it looks clean. variations like a neon affect can also be a fun way spruce things up a bit!

borders of all kinds also work well to add some more stuff:

and extra little shapes like hearts and stars can be fun!

and things like glitch effects, blurs, monochrome/other color filters, etc can can also make things interesting:

put all of this together with a theme and you can make some other cool things! stuff like seasons, colors, aesthetics, pride flags, and more can all be fun themes to make things around and thats how i end up with icons like these:

you can also make things that aren't icons (obviously) but i don't have as much experience with that.. i would just say to try and make sure things feel balanced when working with a bigger canvas? don't have everything cluttered up in one area. and be aware of the sizings of what you are using. you don't want things to end up being too small.

here some examples of other stuff ive done outside the 500 x 500 ratio:

and thats all i can think of to say right now!

i would work first on familiarizing yourself with whatever you choose to work in, and i would look at other people's work to get inspiration as well!

and if anyone else has any suggestions for better/more efficient ways to do any of this feel free to add on! this is just my personal process, and im sure everyone uses something different. so try new things and find what works for you!

(also i am not proofreading all this if there are problmes someone let me know)

(also also if anyone, especially the person who sent the ask, has any questions feel free to ask)

Happy creating and if you ever feel like sharing feel free to tag me!

[yeonchi]

GameSir X2 Bluetooth Controller Review (and opinions on other controllers)

It's taken me over half a year to write this. Back in December 2022, I wrote about the 8BitDo Pro 2 Controller and how I loved using it to play games on my PC and my phone. Since then I've also used it on my relatives' Nintendo Switches at family events; it works as advertised, but it's a bit hard to play Mario Kart with it honestly. I swear it used to be easier to play Mario Kart on older consoles.

As I used the 8BitDo Pro 2 on my phone with the phone clip, I gradually understood why people thought it was top-heavy. Also, although I did have the muscle memory to play Warriors games with it, I wanted a telescopic controller because I didn't want to have my phone weighing down the controller. Because literally no telescopic controller uses the PlayStation analog stick layout (seriously, even the Backbone One PlayStation Edition uses the Xbox layout ffs), I decided to suck it up and buy something that was good yet I didn't want to spend so much money on.

I did consider the Flydigi Wee2t but apparently the ribbon cable used to connect the two halves is cheap and prone to failing from repeated use and the work required to DIY repair it is hard because I'm a person who strives for easy results. Hence I decided on the GameSir X2, a reliable and reputable telescopic controller that I could get used for cheap and sell it for a profit if I didn't like it. Unexpectedly though, I actually quite like the GameSir X2 for playing games on my phone. Thanks to it, the 8BitDo Pro 2 has been delegated to being a PC controller and it's still very useful for that purpose.

The controller connects to the phone via Bluetooth and is compatible with both iPhones and Androids; there are also Lightning and USB-C (with Switch button configuration) variants that support passthrough charging. Your phone needs to sit flush in the controller for the best experience; with my old phone (Samsung Galaxy A70), I had to take it out of the case because it had a kickstand, but when I got a new phone (Samsung Galaxy S23+), I made sure to get a case that was flat so I wouldn't need to take it out of the case. The controller has three modes, one for Android, one for iOS and one for the G-Touch mode, which connects to the GameSir app so it can act as a touch emulator through keymapping.

GameSir says that the controller doesn't support PC, but you can connect it to a PC using a USB-C cable or Bluetooth and use it as an Xbox controller. Together with the 8BitDo Pro 2, I've got a pretty good two-player setup that would have been good when my friends and I still cared about each other when we had time to care.

The controller also came with concave or convex stick covers; the sticks can be used without the covers, but they will be a bit smaller compared to having the covers on them. The covers fit quite snugly, but something to be mindful of is that they are known to come off quite easily without you knowing it. I've had numerous times where I thought I lost a stick cover only to conveniently find it nearby. GameSir do sell stick covers, but they don't sell the same kinds of stick covers they include with every X2 controller. There is no reason why they don't have spares they can sell separately because it doesn't take that much to make them.

The X2 Bluetooth originally costed nearly $100 new. I found an eBay auction listing for a used one (albeit interstate) at under $20 - with all the people putting in bids towards the end, I ended up $39 for it plus $13 postage, which was still cheaper than buying it new (even with the price drops over the past 18 months). The only reason why I won was because I used eBay's automatic bidding and set it up to $100 max bid. It was an absolute steal and a good choice on my part in case I paid too much for something I didn't end up liking.

Other similar models include the X2 Pro with a free month of Xbox GamePass Ultimate, the X2S with a changeable hair trigger/analog trigger mode and the G8 which styles itself more like an actual controller and adds an audio jack. All three models have a USB-C connection with Hall effect triggers and/or sticks (not on the X2 Pro). Speaking of the G8, the joysticks are replaceable with different variants and they aren't just stick covers.

So with how I've moved from a normal controller (with a phone clip) to a telescopic controller, a question arises as to whether I'll move on to buying a dedicated gaming handheld. The effort of fitting my phone into the controller can get a bit tedious, not to mention all the drama that's been happening in emulation on Android, particularly with Yuzu/Citra and AetherSX2 being removed from the Play Store, plus recent phone updates making it more difficult to sync my PS2 saves between my phone and computer. Plus, in all honesty, I have better things to do on my phone at the moment and I'm already taking two phones (and a laptop) into work every day, so I'm not interested in going to the effort of buying a handheld console or PC. At least I have a controller I can take to play emulated games with my phone on trips and holidays.

[barryogg]

As the argumate's post appeared back on my dash a few days ago as #reblog2022, I've though to myself "hey, this sounds like something I'd rant about". Well lo and behold.

I've used my LG Q6 for over 5 years now and it's on its last legs. I've been doing some browsing lately and it might be possible to actually get something that is of comparable size and isn't a Value Brand. There are some other issues, but let's get something out of the door first:

@shieldfoss: I feel like there‘s a major AAA manufacturer you aren’t mentioning.

@argumate: how about the iPhone SE? the screen is fairly modest on that one

I've been wondering how to answer this properly. I could hide behind some technical differences, but the truth is that I've deeply detested Apple as a brand since at least... 2004, I think? It all started when I read an unbelievably uncritical article back then that was shilling the iPod.

My key takeaway is: my electronic devices are tools which are supposed to serve me. The only pieces of software I use that I want to have opinions are the compilers and code linters, and only because I'm pre-configuring what those opinions are in the first place. I want my files to be dumb files, not hosted in the cloud synced across devices with a single point of failure. I don't want anybody to able to add a fucking U2 album to my music collection without my permission. I want to be able to change my ringtone to any damn random audio file I please. I want to be able to sideload my apps ("does anyone even do that?" why yes, I have lots of games from the older Humble Bundles). I want to able able to develop and debug an app just by plugging my phone, without having to use dedicated hardware and asking the megacorp for permission.

And I hate the surrounding culture. I hate the Stockholm syndrome that heavy Apple users have about the vendor lock-in, the resulting prices ($20 for a charging cable, and that's cheap by Apple standards), and the missing features. I in fact used wired headphones for years, just so I can use the same pair between phone and Switch in seconds, without wading into menus so that two devices won't pair at the same time. I hate the Veblen good status symbol bullshit where headphones costing $500 is the point, so that you can look down on the android povvos.

With that said,

I really feel that phones have plateaued in terms of features and usability, and so the manufacturers are trying to innovate by adding useless crap. Three back cameras! Four back cameras! Screens that wrap to the edge so you can't hold the phone without touching the interface! Even looking at t-g-t's "Small Android phone" article, the author considers things like 2 back cameras and NFC to be 'essentials' and not gimmicks.

In 2018, I've paid 800zł (about ~$225 in 2018 dollars at 2018 exchange rate) for my phone. The suggestion that I should pay $700 for a one with zero advantages w/r/t to my user experience is beyond ridiculous.

hard to believe people are complaining about “planned obsolescence” in 2022 when back in the nineties the computers got twice as fast and cost half as much seemingly every six months.

[thepinkproof]

all eyes on you

file two

You’re a model with a dark past, when your billionaire inventor sister dies and leave behind a strange man to take care of you nothing seems to be ordinary.

Genre: model reader x yandere! android taehyung

WARNING ⚠️

suicide, smut, death of family, cursing, reader struggles with mental illness, abuse

expectation: the book is dark but it will also be comedic, 5 CHAPTER STORY, POV WILL CHANGE NEXT CHAPTER

ASK TO BE ON TAGLIST: @urbanbts @zeinailn @catsareassholes @vsmv7531 @anjcrbnll @b0fi @iloverubberduckiez-blog @sharanyasrivastava ask to be added

⏪SERIES MASTERLIST

⏩ NEXT CHAPTER

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Every since that stranger entered your house you've done everything to avoid him. This includes finding anything in your room to keep you entertained, no matter how boring it was. Fortunately, you were rich and invested in comfort and entertainment in your cozy room.

But it wasn't enough. You needed human interaction. Something you haven't felt since Karina left. Your friends who you used to hang with barely spoke to you. It seemed they only interacted with you online, whether it was liking your pictures or tweets.

Regardless you made an effort to reunite with them. You sent them a text with the following message.

groupchat

miss you girls! hangout at my place?

we live for a party y/n!

if there's alcohol im there!

halloween party? im there

You watched in horror as your phone blew up in the groupchat. You specifically said hangout, not party. You totally forgot it was halloween It was no question that you weren't mentally prepared for one, you were grieving.

"Which is exactly why you need one!" You mumbled to yourself.

A smile grew on your face as you thought of the headliners. The media would love a party, they always do.

You was obsessed with her image. You loved the way people praised and loved you.

Growing up with your parents the only time they ever paid attention to you was when they saw your career doing well. And the only attention you ever got was from random people you didn't know.

While your sister faced controversy for her products, You made sure you were the one that maintained a perfect image.

Many people thought your sister's technology was too invasive. That it was too smart for a computer. Many were skeptical to buy her home system, despite having no body or face people thought it acted too human. Some even said that the system would get too happy when they came home, or too sad when they left.

A woman even started the theory that the V system saw her husband abusing her and locked all the doors anytime he was around without her telling it to do so.

One man said the V system electrocuted him after it begged not to be unplugged.

But you never believed all the rumors, you had the V system yourself and it never acted that clingy. You figured online trolls just made it up.

When the bad press came out about the V system Karina seemed happy to hear the rumors. You always admired how she didn't care about the hate.

Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard the door open. Instinctively, you threw a pillow at him which he easily caught.

Your mouth dropped as he glared at you. You couldn't help to feel a little bit scared, he was intimidating.

"Don't do that again." He warned.

Your eyebrows furrowed in protest at his words. "Me? You barged into my room and didn't even knock!"

"This is my house princess. I don't need to knock when every square foot in here is mines." He defended.

"Yeah ok." You said sarcastically.

Taehyung let himself into your room, his eyes looking around your huge decorated space. You hated that he was in your area. "So you have any plans today?" He asked.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." You replied putting on your headphones. Maybe he would get the hint that you don't want him near you.

You didn't even realize he was standing right over top of you. "Don't play with me Y/n."

"Um personal space." You uncomfortably mumbled pushing his firm chest.

"What makes you think you can throw a party without my permission?" He said raising his voice.

"Why are you so mad, you can come, ya know since you already live here?" You casually replied.

"You can't have a party, you could get hurt. You know what happens at parties? People get drunk, overdose and have unprotected sex." He said sitting on your bed uninvitedly.

"I don't know it sounds like fun to me." You said trying to hold in a giggle.

His eyes soften at your smile even though he didn't like the reason for it. "You know if anyone come in my house trespassing its in the law that I can creatively get rid of them. I would hate for the green grass the lawnmower just finished to become red." He casually spoked.

Your eyes widened at him. "Your dark humor is annoying ." You mumbled.

You could feel him stare at you but nevertheless you tapped away on your phone hoping he would leave you alone. You felt him snatch your phone from your hands and immediately you reach to get it back but he held it away.

You groaned words of protest at him. "What is wrong with you? Give it back!" You screamed.

"You don't need to talk to anyone but me." He scolded but you were too busy trying to get your phone back to ponder on what he said.

"We need to discuss the rules."

"Rules? I'm 25 years old. Fuck off!" You shrieked.

"According to doctors you're not capable of taking care of yourself." He stated.

Immediately you stop reaching for your phone and sat back. "Look, I haven't had an episode since the day my sister died, and before that it was 8 months. I'm doing really well." You explained hoping he would back off.

Taehyung took her hand again, just like he done yesterday. "I know my baby that's why I'm going to take care of you as well as your sister did. It will be even better than before." He said in a soothing voice.

You eyes widen at the mention of your sister. "How did you even know her?" You asked.

He let go of your hand. "I'll explain right after you listen to my rules."

"Fine."

Rule number one, You must be ready whenever I am ready. We will go everywhere together in the public."

You immediately protested. "I have a job! Plus a boyfriend. You know how that would look."

Taehyung clenched his fist at the mention of Jin. "We both know that relationship is full of dishonesty and no love. You're going to end it and we'll be a couple. So whenever I am working a model job you will be too."

"You're a new model, those jobs are below me." You mumbled crossing your arms.

"Really? Yesterday it seemed like people was talking more about me than you."

You grew silent knowing he was right and looked at him for his next rule.

"Rule two, You have to listen to me and I must watch you take your medications."

You sighed but let him continue.

"Number three, nobody is allowed to come to this house without my permission."

Number four, if anyone ask you are my girlfriend. Before you start running your mouth do you really want the public to know i am your conservator? And being my girlfriend requires more than an act, you are mines only. There wont be nothing open about our relationship like your previous affairs."

You got up from your bed in disbelief. "What do you being my conservator have to do with an relationship? You're just fulfilling your sick fantasies and taking advantage of me."

"Maybe.... but what would the public think of you being with a different man other than Jin all the time? They would call you a cheater or ship us all the time. Think about how good for your career it would be to date me." He proposed.

Taehyung knew how much you loved publicity stunts. He watched as your face went from angry to a smirk. "This is perfect. You're hot, I'm hot! Imagine the instagram photos and how much people would love us! Oh my gosh!" You shrieked in happiness.

Taehyung smiled as he watched you. You've always done something to him, something that he couldn't quite understand.

He just loved seeing you smile, hearing you talk, and seeing you happy.

"You need to get ready. I have to go to work at your sister's company."

You looked at him in confusion. "You're taking over? What do you know about technology?"

"More than you think princess ."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You and Taehyung wore matching Celine sunglasses as the paparazzi started to crowd the two of you with photos.

To be fair you were anxious. You felt bad for Jin since you two haven't officially broke up. Thanks to Taehyung, there was no way to contact him and he will have to find out from the news.

Plus, the media would say that you've moved on too quickly. You had just met Taehyung yesterday, publicly. But none of that matters. You didn't have a choice.

Taehyung grip on your hand tightened the closer the papparazi got. You thought he might have been nervous since he was a new model. He probably wasn't use to all this attention.

But Taehyung loved the soft feeling of your skin and he hated the way the paparazzi swarmed around you, like you were some zoo animal.

It was unfair. There was more to you than your looks. What gives them the right to think they can follow you around?

"Are you guys a couple?" The papparazi kept nagging.

You looked over to Taehyung who was silent and just glared at them.

Rolling your eyes underneath your sunglasses you answered them. "Yes we are."

Listening to the reaction of the news you can tell you got their attention, exactly what you needed. But, it still didn't stop their questions.

"No way! He's a new model it's no way he can pull you that fast." One of the men said thinking you couldn't hear.

Without thinking Y/n pulled Taehyung in for a quick but dirty kiss. They started to gasp and take more pictures of them.

Taehyung didn't know his cheeks could turn red, but they did. He didn't know what to do with your affection. How could you kiss him without a warning? He felt uneasy. He didn't even get a chance to kiss you back.

Fuck! Why would you do this to him? He should have been the one to initiate the kiss! What makes you think you can just kiss him out of nowhere?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You watched as Taehyung spoke so intelligently about tech to the board of directors. It was safe to say you weren't the only one who was shock. The board of directors looked surprised that he knew so much. He didn't look like the nerdy type.

You also wondered how someone could be so smart. He was using big words and you didn't understand a word what he was saying. It was also strange how he knew alot about Karina's technology already.

"V tech has accomplished so much groundbreaking technology but it's also been consistent. It's always been the V home system, the V camera, why don't we take all of these features and make a smartphone." Taehyung suggested.

The board of directors all stared at him but one lady couldn't hold her laughter. You recognized her from other meetings with your sister. She's been working for her every since she graduated college and kissed her way up to the board of directors.

"Excuse me but what makes you think you can walk in here and tell us what to do? We have stocks in this company and legally own percentages. We get to choose the next head of V tech, not a random pretty face like you. If you want to model and endorse the technology like Y/n use to do than sure, sit down! But we are the ones who come up with the ideas." She said standing up from her seat to be more authoritative.

Taehyung looked around at the rest of the board of directors, they agreed with her. Who did they think they were? He knew everything Karina would've wanted. He knew everything you wanted.

"Karina elected me as the new head. In fact, the V phone was her idea." Taehyung surprsingly pulled out a blueprint from his pocket with notes. You recognized her handwriting but you didn't understand how Taehyung found this. Perhaps he was looking through the basement, maybe he knew her in the past. All you knew that you had to ask.

The directors looked shock that Taehyung had proof that he was the successor. "It doesn't matter who Karina chose, she's not here right now. The V phone idea is cliché and a waste of money." The lady argued.

Taehyung's odd blue eyes bore into hers. "You're going to need the V phone to call the emergency room when I-" He started but you interrupted sensing trouble.

"Oh-kay! I think everyone needs a break so why don't we take one." You said in a loud voice causing everyone attention to look at you.

Surprisingly, everyone listened to you. They all tiredly walked out of the room, some even glaring at Taehyung on the way out.

In the end it was just the two of you in the room. It was obvious he was angry, the man looked like he was going to explode. "You seriously need to smile a little. Do you need some of my anti-depressants?"

Oh if looks could kill you would be dead right now. He looked more angry at you than the directors.

"Why did you kiss me?! You didn't even ask for consent!" He blurted.

You were taken back. Is this seriously what he was mad about? You scoffed. "Nobody asks consent for a kiss. I mean it was just a kiss, it's not that serious." You explained to him.

"Not that serious? Kisses are romantic. It's an appropriate way to show love without it being sexual because it's just a person showing their pure emotions." He argued.

You laughed at him. "It's not that romantic just two people swapping saliva."

A small gasp let out your mouth when Taehyung shoved his lips towards yours. The kiss was rough and passionate and without question you kissed back. He pulled on your lips with enough force for you to understand that he was trying to shut you up. His tongue tried to enter your mouth but you immediately pushed away.

"What the fuck! Why did you kiss me? You didn't ask!" You yelled at him.

He smirked at you contradicting your own words. Realizing you became quite flustered and embarrassed. "But you can't just kiss me!"

"I thought you said kisses weren't that serious." He mocked.

"B-But that wasn't just a kiss! That was different! That was heated and affectionate! A kiss people give before they are about to bone!" You yelled at him but he only found it amusing.

"Hmm was it? It was just swapping saliva to me." He grinned.

"Ugh! What is up with you? Why are you like this?"

"Like what?" He questioned.

You glared at him because of his unknowingness before rambling. "Well first you're so perfect looking and you steal all the attention from me. Then you weirdly have ownership of my house and life. You know about technology... how exactly? And most importantly how the fuck do you know Karina?"

"So many questions Y/N. But I will answer them. Karina taught me everything I know and made me the person I am today." He vaguely answered.

"Well that answered absolutely nothing! I have never heard Karina spoke of you." You sighed slapping your hands on your thighs.

"Oh don't stress yourself out on things that don't matter princess." Taehyung watched as you cross your arms and stared at the floor. He noticed that you were quite immature for your age. Very spoiled from the rich treatment your family has given you but also it's clear your life haven't been easy.

It was clear your sister monitored you but also let you have your way. He didn't understand why you were so obsessed with your image and career. Maybe it was a distraction that kept you from realizing the horrors of your real life, your real story.

"Oh don't frown princess. Look what I got you." Your curious eyes looked up at him. "The new V phone prototype! The public will definitely buy it when they see that their favorite model is the only one with this phone." He said in an enticing voice.

"I want my old phone back, you know the one you stole?" You complained.

"The camera quality on this is amazing and you can even talk to V on here. C'mon Y/N i know you miss him." He tried to persuade in a cheerful voice.

You raised your eyebrow at him. "How did you know i missed my beloved V system?" You weren't suspicious of him but you disliked that he knew so much about you and you knew little about him.

"Who wouldn't miss the best tech in the world?" He smiled innocently. You didn't say anything to him as you took the phone from his hands. You started to turn it on and inspect it.

"Speaking of miss, do you think anyone would miss that board of director lady if I got rid of her?" He asked you.

You shrugged, attention all on the new features of the phone. "I mean I guess not? She's only been here for about a year. Firing her won't be a problem."

"Oh you thought I meant get rid of her as in fire?" He laughed. You didn't reflect on the meaning of his words as you had already downloaded social media. It was terrible to be away from your socials even for a few hours.

"That's so cute of you. I was thinking of ruthlessly ending her life but perhaps a fire would be more decent." He added deep in thought.

Your eyes looked up from the phone in disgust. "Don't joke about killing people Taehyung. Do you want to get cancelled?"

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Taehyung and you both looked at the house. He clenched his jaw as he stared at the hundreds of people outside in the pool. Alcohol bottles everywhere, loud music blasting through their ears.

You however had a mischievous smirk on your face. A halloweeen party at your house! And to make it even better it was packed, your social status still remained at the top.

Taehyung sensed your excitement as you jumped up in the air preparing to run and join them but his arm held you back.

"Don't play with me Y/n. I said no parties. You're stupid for doing this without my permission." He scolded.

"Hold on Dad!" You insulted. "You took my phone away before I could call it off, this is on you. It's nothing we can do now except enjoy the party." You mischievously suggested.

He sighed as you ran off towards the party. He should've known you were alot of work.

Taehyung could feel eyes of drunk girls gazing at him as he squeezed through the crowd to get to the door. Some even offering him a dance or a drink.

He knew he needed to calm down. His anger was always something he couldn't control. He lets his head rest on the door and took a deep breath.

After feeling he recollected himself he typed the keycode in. Opening the door to finally be alone, oh so he thought, as the people started to crowd in his house.

He let out a huge yell of anger causing people beside him to look at him strangely.

This couldn't be apart of his program. He haven't felt this way in a while. He was sure he was designed to be calm, obedient and kind. But he felt the opposite.

"Why so serious?" A voice appeared. He looked at a girl who was facing him. She was quite attractive dressed in skimpy clothing. Her hair was tied in pigtails, the ends of it blue and red.

"Get it i'm dressed as Harley Quinn and you look intimidating like the Joker." She chuckled.

Taehyung glared at her not wanting to be talked to. "I'm not dressed as anything." He coldly responded.

"You look sexy as you are. Besides these costumes can be hard to take off when the opportunity arise." She flirted. Taehyung dismissed her comment as he tried to walk off.

She pulled on his arm. "Hey! Do you know who I am!" She said offended from him walking away.

"A snobby entitled celebrity like everyone else in this room." He hissed.

"Chill sweetheart. I've heard of you on the news all week. You're Kim Taehyung." She grinned.

Taehyung used his eyes to look at hers. Immediately he searched for her face. "You're Carly Cross, a supermodel." He stated.

"Oh so you do know me. Then you should know I'm at the top in this industry and if you want to be on top, perhaps you should try getting on top of me." She suggested pulling on his shirt.

He paused to gather more information on her. "You're Y/n's competition. You've been dissing her for years. Why would I ever touch anyone who dislike my girlfriend?"

Carly laughed. "Your girlfriend seems like she has no problem touching anyone." Taehyung saw her eyes looking at a scene. You were dancing on someone very seductively.

"I know you're new sweetie so let me tell you about Y/n. She's been around just like everyone else in this industry. But she's different. She's a nepotism baby whose only relevant because of her sister. Now that her sister is dead there’s not much relevancy there. I suggest you stick with me, besides I am prettier." Carly's hand started to feel on Taehyung body lower and lower every word she spoke.

Taehyung pushed her off him roughly. "You dumb fuck. Don't touch me. And if you ever speak or even think about Y/n the only thing you would be modeling is a casket."

Taehyung ignored her as she gasped in shock. He looked up and saw that Y/n was gone. It was a good thing he had a way to know where she was at all times.

In a rush, he went upstairs to where he knew exactly she would be. He wondered why she would leave the party. She seemed to be enjoying it. He hoped she was okay.

Opening the door he saw you making out roughly with some dude. You were so invested you didn't even hear or see him insert the room.

Taehyung felt his anger get worst as he saw the man visibly erected letting out moans.

You disconnected the kiss and for a moment Taehyung thought you had finally noticed he was in the room.

"I want to see how you feel inside me." You said in a breathy voice holding his face close to yours.

He connected the kiss again as you unbutton his pants. You were confused when he stopped kissing you. Suddenly his head fell on your shoulder.

He let out a moan but not of pleasure, but of pain. Opening your eyes you see Taehyung standing over the both of you.

"Is that enough of his insides to feel princess?”Taehyung said stabbing the man in his back again.

You shrieked in fear as he kept doing it. Repeatingly stabbing him as you felt blood all over you.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Taehyung please." You cried. Seeing your tears he automatically changed. He threw the knife somewhere on the floor and pushed the man’s body off of you.

His once angered face was now full of concerned as he moved his legs to straddle you. But that only made you cry harder.

"Why would you do that?" You screamed. You were now breaking down. Letting out loud sobs in fear.

"I told you you were mine. Why would you do this?" He asked with a genuine confused face.

"You're fucking sick! Get off of me!" You screamed with a hoarse voice.

"I'm sick? You cheated on me. How can you kiss two men in one day? Why did you make me do this?" He sobbed. He started to cry erratically.

You had never seen anyone cry that hard. It even caused you to stop crying for a moment. Your attention focused on him thinking for any way to get out of this situation.

Maybe it was a mistake. You could see he was obviously guilty about it. Nevertheless, you were still scared of him.

Your mouth slowly dropped as Taehyung cries become louder and exuberant. It was then you noticed his teeth together and the slight dimple forming. He wiped away his tears. He was laughing.

"I'm kidding! You didn't make me do that. I wanted to do that. I needed to." He grinned, his smile became bigger when he saw your shocked reaction.

"B-but why?" You croaked.

"The guy was very below your standards. He probably thought this was going to be the best night of his life sleeping with a pretty girl like you, only for it to be his last night." He chuckled looking at the blood on his hands.

You couldn't make out any words. You were frozen. Those dark jokes he made earlier. You paid no attention to it thinking he was just joking. How could you be naive?

A random man walks into your life, controls it, threatens you and you thought he was normal?

"Or maybe I just like the satisfying feeling killing in front of you. You should've saw your face, it was so cute when the blood landed all over you." He smiled at you.

"Please don't kill me Taehyung." You murmured barely letting your words out in fright.

He looked offended. "I could never hurt you, Y/n. I'm going to protect you princess. And if you don't listen there will be graving consequences." He leaned in and whispered in your ear causing the blood to spread more on you.

"I-I understand just please get off of me." You pleaded.

He instantly got up but you got up slowly. You turned your body around to the edge of the bed and  cringed when your feet was touching the body.

With one deep breath you stood up and avoided his stares. You took slow steps towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" His voice asked from behind you.

"I need to clean myself up." You hesitantly answered, you didn't dare turn around.

"No. Go out to the party like you are." His hand wrapped around your waist. "Blood all over your pretty white dress. You look beautiful."

Instantly you protested. "People would know what you did. I can't wear this." She would love for everyone to know Taehyung was a killer but what killer allows people to know he kills.

"It's halloween princess. You'll blend in perfectly."

So she did. The both of them did. They walked out into the party, crimson blood splattered all on their bodies.

Everyone's eyes was on them in awe, not in fear. For once you didn't smile for the cameras, you ignored them as they took pictures of you.

And on tommorow's morning news you two would be the sexist couple, people would rave over the halloween costume, they would recreate it years in the future, they would admire the two of them, wish to be them, not knowing the cold and dark truth.

[disaster-vampire]

why are modern phones like this. when did this fucking happen. why is every single fucking app the manufacturing company is paid to install called a system app. call it a sponsored fucking app you pieces of shit. a system app is the fucking settings and the other stuff that allows me to run the damn phone not a fucking news app that i'm never going to fucking use.

like i'm pretty sure at some point in android's history you could just up and uninstall anything you set your mind to. i think at one point i almost tried to uninstall the android system itself from one of my phones just to see what would happen. i didn't do it because i knew i'd be fucked if i did it, especially because i didn't know how to install a system on it again, but the option was there. i may have rooted that phone--i don't remember--but still it only had the basic apps you needed to run it, the damn thing didn't even have a file manager.

and now i can't uninstall a news app.

said news app is nowhere to be found in my phone even if i use the search function in the app drawer btw, so i wouldn't know it was there unless i went into the settings or the store. i have no fucking clue what it is actually doing in my phone except taking up space & probably spying on me to sell my data. like i know i can go and manually disable it and uninstall all the updates but i can't fucking remove it completely and that BUGS me.

every day i'm so tempted to get a nokia brick but then i wouldn't be able to look at my silly little pictures and chat with the little people in my phone and those are the only things keeping me from going insane

[mittensmorgul]

As a European who has been fine with their Samsung for over 4 years now: Why do most Americans keep buying the highly expensive iPhones? I mean I know it to be a status symbol, but there's gotta be sth else right?

i honestly can't speak for anyone but myself, and I'm sure people have a million reasons, but let me clear up one huge misconception here: the iphone and the samsung phone are literally the exact same cost here. so this whole notion that iphones are just super expensive compared to android phones (at least comparing current gen phones available in the US) is just flat wrong.

I used to have a samsung phone, too! like four phones ago lol. I switched to the iphone 6 when it was the current model for one reason: I used to use an ipod. ALL my music was (and still is) on itunes. I don't mean I buy music on itunes, I mean I sat there and ripped over a thousand cd's to itunes. It took like a week. I didn't want to do that again just to have access to my own music on my phone when my old ipod broke and they just weren't being made anymore because everyone just put their music on their phones. And samsung didn't offer an easy way to transfer my entire itunes library to it. They still don't.

So I grudgingly switched to iphone. When that phone died, I got an 8, and when my 8 died this past spring, I got a 12. But I was SERIOUSLY considering getting the Samsung phone instead at that time (again, it was the exact same price as the iphone and perfectly comparable in every other way). Still, it was the music library that was my final sticking point, and I got the iphone.

I mean at a point you're invested in things that make the phone functional for you. Having paid for apps and stuff that would essentially be worthless on an android and have to be re-purchased from the google store... well, it just becomes an annoyance to switch, and phone manufacturers count on that. (yes, even Samsung)

There's other contributing factors, too. I mean, i know android has apps that do things comparable to apple's facetime, but when everyone else in the family has iphones it's just easier to communicate on the shared platform, you know? That's less of an issue in the era of zoom calls but it's still a sticking point for some who are just used to their long-standing tech versus "learning something new." (lol I'm looking at my mom here... we're all just shocked she learned how to use facetime at all. and since I haven't been able to actually see her in person in 2 1/2 years because of this stupid plague, it's nice to actually be able to see her on my phone once in a while...)

it's not a status symbol, more like the status quo in a lot of circles. Like I doubt I'd ever be able to get my mom to switch, just because she doesn't care enough to bother to learn new tech. but for me, for whom it was always really a matter of "i want my music with me without having to pay again to listen to it, or pay for spotify which pretty much every musician will tell you is killing the music industry" (but that's a rant for another post) it's the grudging acceptance that i should probably invest some time in finding an alternative for music that I can live with versus continuing to use apple products going forward.

But the way most cell phone plans work in the US is also set up to lock you into a contract with your provider by using the financing plan of your phone purchase to keep you stuck there for x number of months. I happened to get a REALLY good deal on the cost of the phones, but only if I financed them for 30 months. If I try to pay off the account sooner (which I wanted to do at the time of purchase) or switch to a new carrier before my contract is up, I will have to pay the entire cost of the phones, not the extremely deep discount cost I'm getting by paying the monthly financing. so instead of the $400 I'll pay total for each phone over the course of the contract, I'll have to pay about $900 per phone plus the penalty cancellation fees for each phone (which I think is $300 per phone, because again, we have three phones on our family plan). I just can't afford to be hit with that fee all at once and then immediately also buy ANOTHER new phone while these three phones still function. So like... kudos to people who can afford that sort of pointless protest, but apple will not be hurt by that lil bit of performance art, you know? It's the high tech and very expensive equivalent of "boycotting" starbucks by buying a coffee using the name "merry christmas" to force the starbucks employee to say merry christmas to you. Or protest-buying Lil Nas X sneakers just to burn them or whatever. It's fucking stupid.

One way or the other, Apple already got my money here. There's enough e-waste in the world that I'm not gonna just throw this perfectly functioning device in the trash on some moral statement against the company that made it. I will, however, loudly complain about Apple's draconian morality crusade, and as a customer that likely carries more weight than the same complaints issued by people not even directly affected by those terrible policies.

[katsu-chan22]

Life at 21st Century,

a (crack) viewpoint of a 19 years old girl.

Truthfully, I believe that I am living a fairly good life here at 21st century, thanks to Heavenly Father. Of course, life here on earth is not perfectly perfect. As humans we have needs; like food, water, home, clothes and other basic necessities that people do. Most things here on this planet can be purchased by money. Well, except pure love, I think.

But yes, I am dwelling a good life in the modern world. Unlike the ancient times, I do not have to get worried being eaten by wild and horrifying animals as I frolic from places to places, (and that was before Covid19), nor afraid that someone will strike an arrow at me from meters away nor get stabbed by heavy-weighted swords, because of territory disputes and whatnot.

Also, if I am curious about something; I can easily whipped my android phone with a data (that cost a hundred pesos at least and can last for an entire week) and search at our good ol pal-mah-bestie "google" to answer my questions. Especially now, technology has been a huge help in my online classes. Like if there is an activity that has been sent through gclass or messenger, "don't worry wps or google docs can help you save your soft-copy files through skynet or cloud files". See even the names for these useful helpers are extraordinary. Now imagine these terms being used in ancient times, surely people out there will cast you away or burn you for the fear of "witchcraft". Hmmm. People tend to act negatively towards things unknown even today.

Now, "having troubles in seeking answers for your assignments? Do not fear for our bestie google is dependable and it can ‘almost’ answer everything; keyword ‘everything’ ". Just be careful about false information, less you end up making a fool of yourself. Social media is super scary. People are too bored these days that they will find one flaw, and they will take your picture or video and post, tada! "You’re viral!" Reactions, share & share, comments, hate or love; that is the life of social media user. Sometimes, toxicity is too much. It is time to burrow in my comfortable blanket and read books like the old times.

At 21st century, cooking food becomes easy unless "you ain't chef". No need to cut branches of trees, nor use coals for cooking food. When you got a stove and prycegas, it is easy cooking! “You got left-overs?” Refrigerator now exists, and this is like one of the useful inventions ever existed.

Hygiene at 21st century. I am so bless to be able to take a bath without problems. Unless the water is gone for a meantime, like maintenance of sort or “you haven't paid yet~” Bless are the souls who invented shampoo, and soap. When I am remembering how ancient people only took a bath for like once a month or worse, because of how terrible old times are? Yikes. Semi-germaphobic me, might as well faint because of a speck of dirt. Joking. So I am really grateful to be born at 21st century.

Life here at 21st century is great, but it has its own downsides. I got "panza" (spanish for "bilbil") for having too lenient life like using gadgets everyday while sitting, oops. My eyes were now blurry too; I miss my sharp-sighted eyes huhu. Moreover, I am unhappy to see children wearing legit eyeglasses already due to constant use of gadgets.

Our body is precious, let's love it. Did I also mention, robots like A.I are cool in the movies? But in real life, if it gets out of control, humans are bound to be doomed. When this time comes, I hope that Almighty God will harvest my loves one and I. Still, let's be grateful for all things that we have. Fighting!

P.S I still want to share a lot of things, but I think this is like too long hehe.

P.S I had fun doing this one 😎

[nyerus]

🌸 Updates and FAQs for Watching the TGCF Donghua! 🌸

✴️First, check out my detailed guide HERE if you want to know how to subscribe to YouTube or Bilibili!

Please read through these if you have any questions first before sending in an ask, as it's probably answered here (or the previous guide)!!! If you don't see it here, or still have confusions afterwards, then feel free to send in an ask or DM me!

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✨Important Notes/Updates✨

Bilibili is allowing non-members to watch for free! No region locks, and you don’t even need to make an account. Free watchers will be one week behind paid members. But this is a legal and free way to support the donghua if you’re unable to pay! (This actually means that you’ll be able to see the episodes faster and for free on Bilibili than you would on YouTube, because YouTube has a two week delay instead of just one week.)

Funimation is broadcasting TGCF in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. These are some of the regions which are blocked by YouTube, so this is an available alternative for those who don’t want to go through Bilibili. They have also stated they will launch in Mexico and Brazil this winter.

ALL broadcasts are in Chinese with hard-coded/embedded English and Chinese subs. (I.e., they come with the broadcast itself, on top of the image. Nothing to toggle on/off, they are automatically there.) They are the exact same across all the platforms.

Please support official releases so that we can get more seasons, and high quality! This is still niche content, believe it or not!

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✨Frequntly Asked Questions✨

🔹GENERAL FAQs:🔹

1.) "Where is the best place to watch?"

I still reccomend Bilibili's native website/app over all other streaming platforms. This is due to some key points:

Bilibili's website/app gets the episode the very second they drop. There is no delay whatsoever. YouTube and Funimation have been delayed the last two weeks. It's unknown if this is just a hiccup or what, but if watching new episodes ASAP is important to you, going through Bilibili ensures you will not have to worry about any uncertainty.

Price breakdowns: Bilibili's website/app 3-month membership is $10-11 USD. Their YouTube channel's "MBBM Lv2" membership varies by region, but in many places is similar or just a tad more. In the US, the MBBM Lv2 membership and Funimation membership is the same price ($5.99 per month, or $17.97 for 3 months). So you can actually save some cash by going through Bilibili directly.

In the end, this is largely up to personal choice and comfort. Some people may find it difficult to navigate Bilibili's website even with guides and google translate's auto-translate feature. In this case, YouTube or Funimation are fine alternatives. If you also have an existing Funimation sub or plan to use it to watch other shows, then that's perfectly valid too. Similar with the MBBM lv2 sub on YouTube, especially if you want to use it to see other shows (e.g. Legend of Exorcism which is only English-subbed on YouTube).

2.) "Where do I watch for free?"

On Bilibili's website, you can watch episodes for free! You will be one episode behind paid members, but it's a legal way to support the donghua. You don't even need to create an account!

3.) "What episode will be airing when/where?"

Check out the table below for the differences in airing times. Time is 11AM China Time.*

NOTE: Funimation is technically supposed to be the same as Bilibili members/YouTube MBBM Lv2, but the last few episodes have been delayed so I have no clue.... *Additionally, YouTube's episodes have been delayed by a little bit, but they've aired the same day.

4.) "How can I support the donghua?"

Free, on YouTube: Subscribe to Bilibili's YouTube Channel, give likes to TGCF videos/clips, and leave nice comments!

Free, on Bilibili: Everyone can follow the official TGCF account and page, plus leave likes on videos. All this following stuff requires you to have passed the Bilibili quiz to unlock levels: If you are lv2+, you can leave comments and give coins to offical TGCF videos. (Log in daily to get 1 coin/day if you're lv1+!) If you are lv4+, leave a good 5-star review!

Paid: Buy subscriptions to watch the donghua! Also, merchhhhh~

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🔸YOUTUBE-RELATED FAQs🔸

1.) "What's the difference between Bilibili's YouTube Channel's MBBM Lv1 and Lv2 memberships?"

MBBM Lv2 allows you to watch the episodes on the same day as Bilibili's website broadcast.

MBBM Lv1 has new episodes delayed by one week, meaning you will be one episode behind the others. There actually is zero point in subscribing to MBBM Lv1 (unless you want to watch other subbed donghua) because you can watch the same content on Bilibili for absolutely free, since Bilibili is allowing non-members to watch TGCF one episode behind paid members.

You can also watch two episodes behind on YouTube.

2.) "If I have YouTube Premium/Red, do I still need a membership on Bilibili's YouTube page?"

Yes. YouTube premium is completely separate from the channel-specific memberships.

3.) "Are episodes simulcast on YouTube?"

While originally stated as being simulcast, there actually seems to be a bit of a delay on YouTube as of now. It's unclear if this will change with future episodes.

4.) "Do I need a VPN?"

If you are from one of the restricted countries, then yes, you'll need to use a VPN. You can still pay for the subscription as normal, and then use a VPN to watch the donghua. It will not affect payment.

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🔹BILIBILI-RELATED FAQs:🔹

1.) "Do I need to take that 100-question quiz to sign up for Bilibili or the membership?!"

No, it's totally optional! You do not need it to either watch the free episodes or to buy a membership. It's only if you want to comment and stuff. It might make you think you gotta do it, or enter a code, but it's actually not needed. Check out THIS post for more info!!! (However, you may still want to do it in order to level up and eventually leave a nice review for the donghua!)

2.) "I'm only able to watch 6min on Bilibili's website when I watch from my phone. Do I need the app?"

You do not need the app. Switch your browser to Desktop Mode in order to watch the video in full.

Be sure to download a browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, etc that supports this mode if your native browser doesn't allow for it.

3.) "Can I get the app on iPhone/iOS?"

This depends on if you are in a country where the app is not region locked in the app store. If you're able to download it that way, great! If not, try using a VPN and setting your region to mainland China. It may work. APKs are not useable on iPhones, so unless you know how to sideload apps onto your device, you may be stuck with the app store only.

Do note that you might be unable to pay for a Bilibili membership through the app, depending on version, but you can always simply pay through the website and then use the app as normal. It will apply account-wide on all devices.

4.) "Why are there two versions of the app?"

One seems to be the international version, which is more basic and lets you pay via GooglePay/ApplePay. The other one seems to be made for mainland China, and allows you to even buy merchandise through it (Chinese address/bank acc required). Mostly, both have to be downloaded via APK on Android. But some iOS users have reported different versions of the app being available for them through the app store (namely the int'l ver, and some have said they can use a VPN to get the mainland one).

5.) "Is there any benefit to having the app over just using the website?"

Not really, no. With the app you can buy very cute hualian themed skins for your profile, though (if you have the mainland version of the app). Plus you can save videos for offline viewing.

6.) "Do I need to enter my area code for Bilibili when signing up/in?"

NO, you do not enter your area code in the phone number field. Select your country from the drop-down list and it will automatically consider your area code. (E.g. if you're in America, select 美国 and enter in your number like 5557779999.)

7.) "I didn't get to set a password when signing up, so how do I log into my Bilibili account after being logged out?"

Use the same phone number you did to sign up. Instead of a password, you'll enter in a one-time key that is sent to your phone via text message. (NOTE: some people have reported not receiving these messages, which may vary by phone carrier!)

As mentioned above, don't include your area code when filling out your number.

Also, if you are signed in on the app on your phone, you can scan the QR code on the log-in page through the app.

8.) "How do I turn off the barrage comments filling up the video I'm watching?"

Select the little button that reads "弹" under the video:

(Website vs App)

9.) Is the Bilibili subscription auto-renewing?

No, the 1-month (¥25), 3-month (¥68), 1-year (¥168) subscriptions will not automatically renew. They are a one-time payment only!

Notice that the renewing payments all say "连续" in front of them, which means "continuing" or "successive" types of subscriptions. They are also cheaper than the one-time payment. (E.g. the renewing 3-month sub is ¥45 instead of ¥68.) Moreover, the renewing types are not even available to purchase with PayPal, afaik. You need Alipay or WeChat Pay, etc.

10.) "Can I use the app/membership to read the manhua too?"

Unfortunately, not quite! Your Bilibili account is universal, but you'll need to download the manhua app seperately and topping up M-coins to pay for the manhua. (One-time purchases, either by volume or by chapter as per your choice.)

11.) "What resolutions are available?"

You can watch up to 480p as a free member. Paid members can watch at 1080p and high-bit-rate 1080p. It's possible to chromecast it to TV, too. (I haven't tried it, but others have!)

12.) "Can I watch across multiple devices?"

Yes, you can!

13.) "Do I need a VPN?"

No, Bilibili is not region-locked. However, some particular countries may have Chinese apps blocked.... :(

14.) "I want to leave a comment/review. How do I level up on Bilibili?"

Log in daily, watch at least one video per day, give coins (attained by logging in) to your fave videos, etc! It will definitely take a while haha.

15.) "Will I be able to watch other donghua like MDZS or SVSSS with my membership on Bilibili?"

No, those two donghuas are produced by TenCent, not Bilibili. You will need either a TenCent/WeTV account, or you can watch them on their YouTube channel (free).

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🔸FUNIMATION-RELATED FAQs🔸

1.) "Is Funimation's broadcast a simulcast?"

It is supposed to be, according to their initial announcements. They seem to be having some technical difficulties, but those may be resolved soon. I suggest keeping an eye on their twitter for updates if you are interested in watching through them!

2.) "Do I have to pay extra on my Funimation sub to watch TGCF?"

No, afaik, the regular $5.99 sub covers TGCF too.

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I hope this helps out people further, so we can all have an easy time watching the donghua! And please do support it legally! 🙏

If you still need help, feel free to send in an ask!

[elevenmugs]

study apps?

I’m currently on break (the end of my holiday is nearing tho...), and currently things aren’t so intense. (except for chem muggers?! sci ppl what u doin)

During the exam season last year I had classmates coming up to me saying they’d studied for SIX to SEVEN hours a day. Compared to my measly TWO. (bear in mind sch is from 6 to 6, including travelling time + waking up etc.) Ye I know it’s about studying smart not hard blah blah BUT mugging is indeed the way for many when the exams are in two weeks.

get to the point.

yes so that was around the time I first heard of this trendy(?) app everyone was using to mug their way to 4.0. (not me tho, obv)

[yeolpumpta.] takes the top spot for me. It’s available on both ios and android (not sure if available in all regions) and it specialises in pressurising the brains out of its users. scary. basically u clock in hours of study time once u hit the button (u can specify the activity) and it locks the apps u shouldnt be using... and then shows ur friends. (ur studying status + hours clocked in) amazing! other than seeing the disparity between our mugging duration, i loved knowing the hard work i was putting into dry memory work was being recognised by other humans :)

i know some people also use the app for phone lock purposes, so they know how long they've been using other apps and stuff

but you do you i guess. some of my classmates didn't like the app because #toopressurising hence they dropped it after a few days, but in general those who stuck to it did considerably better

okay, next app! (warning: there are four more)

[forest!] the good ol' study app. this one I use for casual studying (they added a new tree) but it got a little boring, since I'm the kind who painfully thrives on pressure.

when it isn't exam season i use this for individual revision. i paid for premium in the early days of forest, and then forgot about it, and then came back to it. so ye i kinda have a love-hate relationship with this app, planting exotic trees and listening to its in-app white-noises, but it's always going act as a trusty old van in the garage. (what am i saying)

third app!!

[time spirit] basically a time lapse on ur android phone :) a lot of free timelapse apps don't work (because they're free) but this one works, although it can be quite glitchy, and you will have to keep restarting it. but I get my vids out, so all's good.

timelapses are my number 1 way of staying focused during study sessions. (esp the ones which need more thinking and writing)

okay! moving on to honourable mentions!

4) voice recorder record yourself teaching yourself. lit quotes, hstorical events, kreb cycle wtv idk, just record :) disclaimer: I am not an audio learner but nevertheless this method works for me 5) chess clock i use this the same way as I use a countdown timer. except there are two sides, so you need to keep lapping. (works for math/subjects that require problem-solving)

6) discord call ur study group to do work :) although its original purpose is for gamers to chat, I think discord's organisation is wonderful. you can categorise the text channels so that I'm only sending history-related notes in the history channel of the same server. love it alright that's it. I have no idea what came over me that made me decide to write? a? post? perhaps I just wanted to write this to myself somewhere, and I happened to be on tumblr :)

Anyway, these are the apps I use to help during study sessions. There are tons more I use to help with the learning/studying process (which is another set of apps and completely different). No one size fits all, and these are merely the apps I personally found useful.

[blerdstatic]

Microsoft Surface Headphones Review: 1st vs 2nd gen, and why they're great to Work-from-Home or anywhere.

So you're on the market for some new gear, and in your search you stumbled upon Microsoft's Surface Headphones, but you're not ready to make the plunge until you get some more research under your belt, right?

I don't blame you. The right head candy can be an expense these days, but hopefully this short and concise review can help!

Let me start by acknowledging that sound and music are more personal in nature, and everyone has their natural preferences. I happen to dig all kinds of music from musical soundtracks and trap to neo-soul and hip-hop. That aside...

Let's begin!

How much do Microsoft Surface Headphones cost?

Surface Headphones (1st gen) - $139.89 on Amazon

Surface Headphones 2 (2nd gen) - $250 from Microsoft Store

What's the difference between them visually?

To be honest, not much has visually changed at first glance. The design was pretty slick the first time around, and was well received. Even as I rode the subway or walked through the aisles of the grocery store, you could tell people admired the unique modern look. It's simple and clean just like the original.

The first gen headphones are grey/off-white while the second gen are charcoal black. They are beautiful shades, however it does make me wish for more colors. It would kind of be a good look if Microsoft offered four more colors that matched the colors of their logo (red, yellow, blue, green). But, I understand the safer play as opposed to going bold.

So what are some key differences that stood out?

Buttons: The 1st gen headphones had buttons that were almost flush with the cup, which was annoying. There were plenty times where I had to search frantically for the power button. The second gen fixes that by making the buttons pronounced.

Ear-cup Size: The size/diameter of the 2nd gen earcups are definitely larger, which is welcome because I have Will Smith ears. But not only that, it makes for an over all cozier feel.

Earcup Swivel: The Surface Headphones 2 earcups can spin around almost 360, which is great because I have more ability to wear them comfortably around my neck! I'm glad they fixed it this time around.

Multi-Bluetooth Connection: I was easily able to set up multi-bluetooth connections to my various devices, including the Android Pixel4a and Pro7. It was amazing to listen to music or video on my phone, then continue right where I left off on the Pro7.

Grease: One other thing to note...don't touch the black Surface Headphones with greasy hands, it shows much more than if you did with the white 1st gens. That's a user issue though, not a hardware one.

How do they feel once you pick them up?

Without a doubt, the difference is night and day. The 2nd gen headphones are more weighty, and for me that's a great thing. I honestly don't like my hardware/electronics to feel too light, because it makes me think there's not much going on inside to produce a quality experience.

Once I picked up the Surface Headphones 2, then picked up the Surface Headphones (1st gen), I was properly excited to listen. The extra weight provided a sense of anticipation that there would be more UMPH, in terms of low, mids, highs and bass tones.

Setup Time?

It took literally less than 5 minutes to open and pair the headphones to begin listening to music. It was quick, easy, and intuitive for me. I enabled blue-tooth on my phone, then powered on the headphones. Found the name of the headphones from my phone's blue-tooth list, and followed the onscreen/audio instructions, and boom I was setup.

Now if it's someone older or unfamiliar with blue-tooth devices, they might need some help going into their blue-tooth settings, etc.

What about the Sound?

I preferred the sound of the Surface Headphones 2 over the 1st gen. During my test I played all kinds of music at a 95% volume (almost on max...yes mom, I know it's not good for my ears).

One of my main gripes on Surface Headphones (1st gen) was that on higher volumes, and listening to music with more bass, it started to sound like 'rattling', as if the headphones could not handle the true sound.

The Surface Headphones 2 fixed that issue completely. I listened to all sorts of bass heavy music and not a single time did I hear rattling.

The treble is also more solid this time around, and truly shines when listening to slower soundtrack or classical music.

I would say that I'm highly satisfied with the sound on both fronts. And if you're curious here are some of the songs I listened to on both Surface 1st gen and Surface 2nd gen.

And here's the rest of the list in case you're curious or want some new jams:

Story of OJ - JayZ

Cyberpunk 2077 - Pacific Dreams Radio Playlist

Father Figure - Tobe Nwigwe

Will (Remix) - Joyner Lucas & Will Smith

O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps

This Land - from Lion King original album

Black Panther - Ludwig Goransson

Break You Off - The Roots

All the Stars - Kendrick Lamar & SZA

Nothing Without You - Tanerelle

Adonai - Sarkodie

Be Here in the Morning - Joy Denalane

Noise Cancellation and Ambient Amplification:

The noise cancellation is solid. With no music playing and maxed out ambient filter on, I couldn't even hear myself snapping fingers next to my head, or my wife talking to me in her normal voice (which is occasionally kind of loud - no shade).

The noise cancellation was great on SurfaceMulti (1st gen) but it's now even better with the 2nd gen, especially when drowning out annoying sounds when walking outside (such as people, cars, trains).

I also love the ambient amplification feature, that's easy to use by dialing up the level on the left ear cup. I use that regularly if I'm listening to music, but want to also know if someone says something to me directly. Or the other day, when I was in the grocery store and walked up to the cashier to checkout, I didn't have to take the headphones off. I was able to up the ambient amplifier to max, and speak with the cashier. Once I finished, I immediately turned my music and noise cancellation back up. It was pretty seamless.

Charging and Battery Life:

Officially the 1st gen gets 13 hours and the 2nd gen gets 18.5. After a full charge, and then turning on the Surface 2, the voice said I had 17 hours left. I typically only listen in 1 - 3 hour spurts at my highest usage, so that pans out to about a whole week almost without needing to recharge.

Overall Verdict:

I'm highly recommending the Surface Headphones 2. For the price point and quality, I feel like the Surface Headphones 2 are your better buy, especially considering how they stack up against similar competitors. I felt like Microsoft paid attention to all the things that actually needed improvement, instead of trying to switch everything up. That impressed me more than anything honestly, how they paid attention to the minute quality of life details. Compared to other headphones I've tried in the same range, excluding the Sony XMs, I'd say these are very well priced and outdo the predecessors as well as the competition. But even compared to Sony XMs, which are prices $100 to $150 more, the sound on the Surface Headphones 2 are definitely comparable. I certainly don't think you'll be saying "I'm really glad I spent that extra $100+ on these Sony XMs".

I would have no problem recommending these to anyone trying to figure out what to spend their next stim check on!

[painflavoredsoda-blog]

Apps I Have On My Phone

I've always wanted to share this, in case anyone found these useful. I get particular apps based off of trial and error with other apps that fall short of what I was looking for. I like apps with great design, or even if it has poor design, with a lot of useful options. I hope you like this list!

Phone: Moto G5 Plus ( Android )

EVIE LAUNCHER

This launcher is simplistic, easy-to-use, and just so GREAT. Just say it like Tony the Tiger already, jeez. My favorite part about it is the search bar to search through the apps. I know other launchers have that feature and more, but I like the fact that Evie doesn't have too many options to choose from, I like the minimalist feel.

ICON PACKS ( I have like four )

I'm thinking about deleting all of them except the recent one I got. It's the only one I actually paid for, and it's really worth my money, sis. Here is the list ( so I can go back when I delete, * AHEM * )

– Pixel Pie Icon Pack

– Pixel Icon Pack

– CandyCons

– Borealis $$

Of course the italicized one is the one that's a keeper. The reason why I had three icon packs was because I wanted circular icons and sometimes one pack didn't have an icon for a particular app but another did one. I could've always used Adapticon for that but it never comes out right for me.

Borealis has squircle icons, more square that circle. The shape is rounded and actually I'm mostly okay with when some of my apps don't have an icon. The design is beautiful and it fits nicely with my moving wallpaper ( back to that later ).

WOLFRAM ALPHA

I actually barely use this app. At all. I've literally paid for this app that I've only used twice. Three times, max. But I have it feeling that it'll be super useful, and I've already skimmed over some of it's incredible features, like seeing a dog color perspective of an image. I'll probably use it when I'm super bored.

UNAPP

It's basically this app to uninstall multiple apps at once. It's really like doing it individually, or the normal way, but a little more convenient. Just try it and you'll see what I mean.

OVERDROP WEATHER

I literally use this to just for the widgets, they're so well-designed. I have the pro version.

MINECRAFT

Because why not? I play PvP modes and stuff, I like hanging out with other players and playing survival mode.

IMAGE SIZE — PHOTO RESIZER

This app is literally a LIFE-saver. I've always trouble finding a good app that let's you change the ratio of how you want to crop, relative to the previous ratio. It's good for cropping an image exactly for a frame, like if your need a 200 x 350 picture or something.

CALCULATOR KEYBOARD

This app is literally to support my laziness. Sometimes when I'm writing and quickly need to calculate something, I just switch keyboard and get my answer fast instead of having to switch apps. It sort of helps with lag.

AMPERE

I have this app because my shxt of a phone is acting up. It's just my battery calibration, I guess ( I don't even know anymore ), and I was like two seconds from factory resetting it but now it works P E R F E C T L Y.

Odd, right? (my phone probably shxtted it's pants )

Green text means it's charging, blue means it's not, and orange ( rare for me ) means it's discharging. It's helpful if your battery sign at the top says it's charging when it's not even plugged in and you need to check.

Here are some screenshots of my home screen.

Yes, I have to music players, Spotify and Stellio. The later is for local audio.

The reason I set the time for 24hrs and with the seconds is just because I can. I like the uniqueness, I guess, lol.

#billiejeanisnotmylovershesjustagirlwhothinksthatiamtheonebutthekidisnotmyson

[pbandjesse]

Im real tired and my eye has been swollen all day. Its probably allergies but its got me a bit down. Today was a pretty good day regardless.

It was really nice walong up with James this morning. But with my eye bothering me I really didnt want to get out of bed. I did though and went to get ready while James fed sweetpea and packed up his own stuff. Today would be pretty frustrating with him not having a phone. But we would make it work.

We back together about halfway and then he went on his own to steal side and I went to Constellation.

Sean was already there when I got in so he just let me in the building. We had a fairly easy time opening up but no luck on James's phone. I called it a couple more times but now it was going straight to voicemail so it was probably dead. We're both pretty sure I got stolen at this point. But at least we can now move forward and figure something else out.

Dr. Brad, our Civil War Doctor reenactor, brought cakes from Christmas to share with us all. So I had way too much cake today. The sugar helped. I didn't get as much accomplished today with my lesson plans as I would have liked. Sean had me out on the deck basically all day. Which annoyed me because I told him I would like to work on my lesson plans but whatever. I feel like he always puts me on the deck all day.

I did get to start reading the book just got me about American hauntings. And it's really good so far. It's not a scary story book it's a book about why Ghost Story start. I'm looking forward to reading it more.

Maya was our lunch relief today and it was really nice talking to her. It always is. The firing went off really well even if it was a bit early because she'll never does a long talk about the history. But that's all right.

I had a nice lunch over at Johnny Rockets. I got a little annoyed with my waiter because he kept asking if I wanted stuff on my grilled cheese and I just kept telling him I wanted it playing and you just kept asking me. And I was just very tired and it made me upset but then the food came and it was all fine. He was a nice guy.

I gave a tour at 1. Maya apparently had never seen a full tour. Which is crazy because she's been there for months. Or at least it feels like she's been there for months. Regardless though she came on my tour and it was a really really good one. I had a really good crowd. We lost most of them by the end I started with maybe 20 and ended with nine but everyone was really enthusiastic and I was really hitting my points and just had a really good time storytelling. The full tour was about 45 minutes and I'm very proud of myself for how well I did.

My throat hurt pretty bad after that though so Shan left me downstairs for about an hour. I really would have liked more time but I also wanted to do the gun drill at 3 so it's just the way it worked out. I couldn't focus on my lesson plan too much. I did try and I got most of it done. I just have to finish the demos on number 11. I still would like to finish number 12 before we go back on Wednesday.

But what I did work on was figuring out change this phone situation. I had told him to try to call Verizon and put his account on hold just in case someone did have the phone. But every time he tried to call from the chief phone because it's not a Verizon phone the number hung up on him. He could not get through and he was getting more and more upset. I finally even though I was at the desk and we were very busy today I called. The guy on the phone was nice enough to let me keep putting the phone down and not get upset. And I was able to give them the number of the phone James on and they called him. So everything was fine but he was not able to get a replacement he does not have insurance.

So James told me to go to the Verizon store after work today and get him the cheapest most basic Android phone I could. And I was going to do that but then I remembered that you can get unlocked phones on Amazon. And then even better doing a little bit of research you can get just straight used Verizon phones on Amazon. So I ended up finding my phone, an LG G5, for $90. Which is how much I spend one I had to replace my phone with my insurance. So you know this phone is going to have some wear and tear because it's used he's going to have the same phone as me and he pays the same price that I did. I also got him a case. Honestly as you're probably get him a neck strap so that he can't lose it again. But it'll be here on Thursday and he just has to make it through this week without the phone and everything's going to be okay. I don't know what he has to do to activate it but I did make sure that it is a Verizon phone and he should just have to get a new SIM card. So hopefully in the end all of this will be fine and they will be cool about it. We'll see what happens.

I gave my gun drill at 3. Maya watch that one as well and I had like 40 people watched the whole thing. I didn't have as many hands on participants this time. I only got two adults and two kids so that made the Hands-On part very hard but I got everyone to laugh a few times in history was fun and it was a pretty good talk. I had a guy ask me a question trying to stump me later but I gave him the best answer I could even though I didn't actually know. I just told him like with my understanding. But I still felt really good and confident and strong and very smart. Which is why I love that program.

We finished up the day pretty strong. I did get to work on my lesson plans a little bit but we were very busy at the desk so I didn't have as much Focus as I would have liked.

But it was a nice way to end the year. I mean I'll be on Constellation tomorrow night for the actual end-of-the-year but for a full day shift it was a good day.

We finished up and Sean let me leave at 5. Which was good because I was really losing steam. I have been kind of holding it together a lot because James was upset but all it was kind of hitting me at once. I picked up to the grocery store, realized it was closed, and went over to Rite Aid instead. I had stopped at my apartment to grab grocery bag and I bought a whole lot of drinks and stuff to make the pasta salad that I got for Christmas.

There's a crazy line at the store so I kind of just walked around for a while and then I paid and I went home. When I got back here I started working on my pasta salad and then I went and got all of my clothes that are not hanging up in my and put them on the ground. While my water was boiling I started sorting all of the clothing and shoe I get rid of it I keep file. Then when the pasta was cooking I went through and I separate all the sweaters out and all of the other clothes. Then once the pasta was done and I folded all of the keep clothes and put them away. Most of it summer stuff. I also put all the sweaters back in the trunk at the bottom of my bad. But it closes a lot better now so that's nice. I'm really trying to only keep clothing that really makes me happy.

I took a shower and listen to music. And now I'm playing in bed petting sweet pea and I'm looking forward to my pretend day off tomorrow. The last day of the year and me and James are supposed to spend it together. And at 7 we are working the constellation deck party. I'm looking forward to it even though it's going to be an exhausting night. I still hope that's and be fun. It's my first New Year's not in New York in years so it's going to be a little strange. But in a good way.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Pray that the rain holds off. Or it finishes up before I have to go to work. New Year's won't be as fun if we are all wet.

[moneyintrend]

Making money with Apps - Earn from everywhere

Every week, we already spend hours on our phones. With its weekly screen usage stats, Apple has made us acutely aware of this. Why not make some money with those hours?

There are plenty of money-making applications available for both Apple and Android users these days. Taking surveys, playing games, watching movies, investing, and even buying are all ways to make money.

The 10 Most Profitable Apps

We've tried a lot of applications, so trust us when we say we've tried a lot of them. We weeded out the duds and put up a list of our top-rated money-making applications.

1. InboxDollars: Earn Money by Watching Videos

Most of us are familiar with InboxDollars, but did you realize it pays you to watch videos? There's a lot to watch on the site, including cuisine, entertainment, news, and wellness programs. InboxDollars will credit your account with a little amount of money each time you watch one.(Are you new to InboxDollars? Here's our beginner's guide.)

Pros: You earn cash with InboxDollars, so you don't have to worry about trading points. It also has more opportunities to make money, such as surveys, scratch-off games, and internet searches.

Cons: To pay out, you must earn $30, which is a bit expensive when compared to the other sites on our list. A $3 transaction fee will also be charged.

Payment is made via check, which is mailed to you. Get a $5 incentive just for joining up and watching your first video, according to a pro tip. Available for Android (4.3 stars) and iOS (4.3 stars) (rated 4.4 stars).

2. Lucktastic: Free Scratch-offs to Win Big

If you're sitting on the sofa looking through your phone, download the Lucktastic app to play free scratch-off tickets for a chance to win $1 to $10,000 instantly.

Pros: You may download and use Lucktastic for free. You have nothing to lose if you have some spare time.

Cons: According to user feedback, winning money is an uncommon occurrence. However, we spoke with a single father who had won $5,000.

Earn a minimum of $2 and then cash out for an immediate gift card. If you spend $10 or more, you can request a check in the mail. Keep a charger on hand to keep your phone charged. Available on Android (4.2 stars) and iOS (4.2 stars) (rated 3.2 stars).

3. Get Free Prepaid Visa and MasterCards with Fetch Rewards

Fetch Rewards, a free app, will convert your receipts into gift cards. It works with a variety of companies to reward you with points for each supermarket receipt you post. Then you may swap them for Visa and MasterCard prepaid cards.

To earn prepaid Visa or MasterCards, just download the app and establish an account, then upload photographs of your supermarket receipts.

Pros: There's no need to scan barcodes or look for deals; all you have to do is email Fetch a snapshot of your receipt, and it'll take care of the rest. It may also be used with any grocery receipt.

Cons: Cashing out requires a minimum of 3,000 points, however offers range from 250 to 3,000 points, so hitting the minimum should be simple. We've seen offers for 2,000 points with the purchase of a Suave female hair product and 2,000 points with the purchase of a Blue Moon 12-pack.

When you achieve your minimum, you may cash out for prepaid Visa and MasterCard cards or gift cards to participating shops.

Pro tip: Use Fetch as soon as possible following your shopping trips, as your receipts must be within the previous 14 days. Plus, when you download the app, enter the code PENNY to get 2,000 points instantly when you scan your first receipt – you'll be well on your way to your first gift card in no time. Android (4.2 stars) and iOS (4.3 stars) versions are both available (4.8 stars).

4. Ibotta: Make Money While Shopping

You may get cash back on a variety of transactions using the Ibotta app, including groceries, Uber trips, and Amazon purchases. Simply take a picture of your receipt or use the app to shop.

Pros: Ibotta is a fantastic method to save money on goods you currently buy, both in stores and online. You'll occasionally come across gratis offerings in the mix as well. We spoke with Nancy Frost, who received $432 in cash back over the course of a year.

Cons: Be wary of purchasing goods you don't actually need only to earn money back. It's alluring.

Payment method: Once you've reached $20, you may cash out by PayPal or Venmo, or choose a gift card to a major shop such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or Walmart.

Pro tip: Get a $20 sign-up bonus by downloading Ibotta from The Penny Hoarder and redeeming your first 10 offers within 14 days. Available for Android (4.5 stars) and iOS (4.5 stars) (rated 4.7 stars).

5. Nielsen Consumer Panel: Earn Money for What You Keep in Your Fridge

Nielsen is a market research firm that you're undoubtedly acquainted with. It's always kept tabs on TV ratings, but now it wants a look inside your refrigerator. Scanning the barcodes on your shopping goods earns you points in the Nielsen Consumer Panel app.

Pros: Becoming a member of this market research panel is quite straightforward. Scanning the barcodes of things you've purchased is as simple as downloading the app and scanning the barcodes of the items you've purchased. To get points, share your data with Nielsen.

Cons: You won't get paid in cash or gift cards; instead, you'll get rewards.

Method of payment: Earn points that may be redeemed for items such as toys, gadgets, or household equipment.

If you don't want to use the app, you can request a portable scanner instead. Available for Android (with a 3.7-star rating) and iOS (with a 3.5-star rating) (rated 4.4 stars).

6. Acorns: Invest Your Change (and Receive a $5 Bonus)

Investing is a fantastic method to make money over time. If you're just getting started, the Acorns app is a good place to start. It allows you to invest tiny sums of money.

Pros: With Acorns, you can be as hands-on or as hands-off as you want. Its round-up function rounds up each transaction and invests your digital change automatically. In less than two years, the software helped Jeremy Kolodziej amass more than $2,000 in investments.

Cons: Acorns charges $1 per month for accounts with less than $1 million in balance. It's a shame it's not free, but consider this: for the price of one month of Netflix, you can receive a year of investing.

Withdrawals are not subject to any limitations or fees. You may withdraw money as often as you like, but investing is preferable in the long run.

Pro tip: If you join up for Acorns through The Penny Hoarder, you'll receive a $5 bonus, effectively giving you five months of free service. Available on Android (4.4 stars) and iOS (4.4 stars) (rated 4.7 stars).

7. MyPoints: Tell Us What You Think

MyPoints is a website that connects consumers to market research survey opportunities. It has been in existence since 1996.

You may earn gift cards by completing polls and filling out surveys using MyPoints. You'll get a $5 prize after completing your first five surveys.

Pros: You get points even if you don't qualify for a survey. It's also a simple gateway with a variety of methods to gain points, such as participating in polls and viewing movies.

Cons: Because MyPoints links you to surveys on third-party consumer marketing sites, you'll frequently leave the site's portal. Users say they have a hard time qualifying for surveys. (I didn't qualify for any of the five tests I took recently.)

Gift cards to major shops such as Amazon, Old Navy, and Starbucks are accepted as payment. Tip: After qualifying for and completing your first five surveys, you'll receive a $5 bonus. Android version is available (rated 3.5 stars).

8. Rover: Earn Money Playing With Dogs

You may opt to provide a number of services on Rover, such as dog walking, overnight boarding at your or their house, and daycare. According to Rover, sitters may earn up to $450 per month.

Pros: Is there anything more enjoyable than spending time with dogs? However, take it seriously. Rover allows you to establish your own hours and pricing. Choose the services you'd want to offer as well.

Cons: To build a solid reputation on Rover, you may need to decrease your hourly prices at first until you break into your city's market and start receiving favorable reviews.

You establish your own rates as a payment option. (A little percentage is kept by Rover as a service charge.) Payment can be made straight to your bank account. The money may take up to 72 hours to transfer.

Pro tip: Because boarding is the most popular service on the app, offering it might help you land more bookings. Available on Android (4.2 stars) and iOS (4.2 stars) (rated 4.9 stars).

9. Foap: Make Money With Your iPhone Camera

Do you have a smartphone that takes decent photos? Foap is a website where you may sell your photographs. List your photographs in the app's marketplace, and if someone buys the photo's license, you'll get 50% of the sale. If it sells for $10, for example, you'll make $5 every time.

Pros: Today's phones have amazing cameras, making it easy to snap high-quality photographs. The effort is done after you capture the ideal image and post it to Foap. All you have to do now is wait for a sale.

Cons: You can't be sure your photographs will sell. Also, don't expect to make a lot of money; this is simply a fun side project.

Payment method: You'll get 50% of the sale and may pay out using PayPal. Add relevant tags to your photographs as a pro suggestion. It will assist users in finding your photographs, much like it does on Twitter or Instagram. Available for Android (with a 3.8-star rating) and iOS (with a 3.8-star rating) (rated 4.5 stars).

10. Sell Your Old Stuff on Letgo

Why keep old items that you haven't looked at in over a year? Try using an online marketplace like Letgo to sell them to others in your region. It takes a lot of the effort out of selling anything online, and it's completely free to use.

Pros: Letgo allows you to sell almost anything. In less than 30 seconds, you may snap a photo and upload your item using our simple software. Another significant benefit? Letgo doesn't take a cut of the sale, so anything you make is all yours.

Cons: There's no assurance that your products will sell. Your goods may sell like hotcakes in record time...or they may sit in your closet collecting dust for a long. However, many internet markets have this danger, so brace yourself and wait.

Payment method: Letgo is only an online marketplace where you may list your things for sale, not a place where you can complete the transaction. What are its recommendations? Meet in a public area and only transfer money once the buyer has seen the goods.

Take cash or utilize a secure payment option like PayPal as a backup plan. Don't accept a "certified check" - according to Letgo, this is a typical fraud. It's also not a good idea to ship things. Available for Android (4.5 stars) and iOS (4.5 stars) (rated 4.4 stars).

[bluesturngold]

apple's App Tracking Transparency prevents apps from using your unique advertiser ID, which apple has control over on your iOS device, but it doesn't block the app from using third party tracking services

iOS developers could theoretically choose to turn off third party tracking services for you when you refuse their request to track you, but as far as i can tell apple isn't forcing them to (they would have to do a ton. like, a ton, of app store moderation to make this happen) and i don't anticipate the majority of companies deciding to put privacy above profit anytime soon unless it's already part of their brand to do so

apple's App Privacy Report feature allows you to figure out how often apps are communicating with third party tracking services and the domains they're using to do so, but as far as i'm aware it doesn't allow you to block the app from communicating with them

in my opinion, apple's offering provides less to the user than duckduckgo's App Tracking Protection for android, which provides a real-time count of every third party tracking service they block your installed apps from communicating with

while duckduckgo does not give you the list of specific domains that apps try to access, the average person doesn't have much use for that information anyway, especially since duckduckgo is already blocking the trackers for them

some media coverage has suggested duckduckgo's service on android is a lesser featured version of apple's, but in my opinion it's a different offering altogether

now, to address beesandwasps:

apple does this whole song and dance about how they're the ethical privacy protecting company while google's the evil advertising data hoarding company, but apple uses that good guy v.s. bad guy dynamic to obscure mounting complaints with its draconian walled garden ecosystem where the company gets the final say in all matters pertaining to how their devices are used, even over the wishes of their customers, who all paid to own and use their individual products but have no real control over them because they're made to be dependent on apple's services in order to funnel as much money as possible to apple

meanwhile, google's own pixel series phones have an open source android development scene that the company isn't actively hostile towards, so people with a google-brand phone can install an open source version of android that removes google services from it entirely without having to exploit security flaws in the device the way that jailbreaking an iOS device does

apple has deliberately used marketing campaigns to position the company as a sort of moral and ethical arbiter for the tech industry, and because its power and influence are almost unrivaled in the US, it's more than just their users who have to deal with the fallout of what the company decides should or should not be accessible and how it can or cannot be accessed on their devices

like, on the one hand, americans need to be harassing our representatives in the streets to demand the repeal of fosta/sesta because it started the ball of user generated content censorship rolling downhill, but even if we were successful...

... key members of apple leadership believe a utopian MacOS/iOS/iPadOS ecosystem can only be achieved through treating their company's neoliberal nanny statism as a moral imperative — selflessly taking responsibility for their mobile users' safety and well-being because obviously they know best — while reaping the rewards of owning a wildly popular, heavily guarded platform every app developer wants or maybe even needs to be on for their business to sustain them

it's no secret that apple's leadership team is very hands-on with the development of their hardware and software in a way that google's executives just aren't: most tech fanatics could name steve jobs, tim cook, and steve wozniak far quicker than they could name hiroshi lockheimer or andy rubin. not to mention android hasn't had anyone at the helm who is individually notable enough to be the platform's spokesperson in, like, six years

and as much as epic games is a terrible company in its own right, its lawsuit over getting kicked off apple's app store laid bare the very biased, very human process that goes into apple app store moderation for anyone who hasn't kept up with the countless smaller app developers who have been singled out by apple's app store moderation team. while google's app store moderation isn't perfect either, the company isn't threatening to obliterate tumblr or discord's presence on android just for allowing users to post content they deem objectionable because android users could literally just go and install uncensored versions of the apps from a different source if they wanted; that freedom is a key reason people pick android over iOS.

rather than leaving things up to chance and hoping one day apple's leadership and moderation team suddenly decide to have ethics and values that align with my own, i personally prefer toggling off a bunch of google account settings to reduce the data google collects on my phone usage and just using an android phone with firefox as my default browser and duckduckgo instead.

it's cool if that's not your thing, and i 100% get it if you're worried the amount of data google collects even with all those toggles turned off is too much, but arguing people who use stock android devices are helping google make the internet worse just isn't very well thought out. i could argue the same is true for apple users if i felt like it was a worthwhile thing to argue; but it isn't, so i don't.

i dont think anyone should use an iphone i think they suck ass