#i have nothing Out There on this website. i dont make any popular text posts or additions to posts or anything

[newvegascowboy]

so ive been going through the reblog webs added to posts since yesterday evening, and coupled with some previous math i've done, I find it really curious that the reblog to like ratio seems to sit at about 1:3 pretty consistently. and let me preface by saying i am not scolding anyone for the ratios of rbs to likes. this is math purely for my own amusement.

I would also like to say: don't base your value as an artist or writer on notecount! do not put more personal emphasis on your notecount or engagement than is absolutely necessary! I am doing this experiment out of curiosity to see where my averages lie. If doing this same experiment is going to put you in a slump, don't do it.

The math I'm going to do here is pretty easy -- I'm just going to divide reblogs by total number of notes in order to find the percentage of reblogs : likes.

So now lets look at some of my rb/like averages!

at the time of writing this, this post has a total of 811 notes with 239 of them being reblogs. 239/811 = .29 or 29%. Easy math.

this one is 253 -> 73 rbs which gives us .28 or 28%. You're getting my roll here.

here has a ratio of 33%. pretty good!

lets get some diversity in here! i dont post solely fallout after all.

this one is 326 -> 93 rbs. 28%.

this hellboy bust has a reblog ratio of 25%.

if i scroll waaay back to one of my most popular posts, the ratio is 1172/313 -> 26%.

Even further back to my most popular art post ever, the ratio is 1686/490 -> 41%.

the average percentage for ALL my art based on these numbers is a solid 30%

so that's good for art. lets check out the ratio of text posts, since text posts seem to have a lot more notes than art posts on tumblr nowadays - lets see if numbers back us up.

this is my most popular text post ever, with a reblog ratio of 44%.

another decently popular text post (for me anyway) with a reblog ratio of 46%!

this one sits at 42%.

this sits at 32%

and this sits the lowest at 29%

averages out to 38%

finally - fics!

im going to be pretty selective here and take from fics and snippets i've written that have a decent handful of notes, just so i can get a better assessment of the ratios. All of these fics have over 20 notes

here -> 23%

here -> 17%

here -> 12%

here -> 14%

this one has the highest ratio at 31%

averages to 19%

so what does this mean?

i mean, basically nothing. all it does is give us hard numbers (at least in my case). I'm a decently popular blog and I have a decent number of followers, but at the end of the day, I am a fallout blog and I post mainly fallout content - and that's pretty niche. Take all this data with a grain of salt. I have no idea how someone else's numbers would compare to mine.

It seems to hold true that text posts do consistently better in terms of engagement, albeit, not really by that much. None of the ratios I looked at were even near 50%. Engagement for fics was the lowest, as I anticipated.

I'm not really an analyst and I don't have the knowhow (or even ability, since I'm not really on any other social media platform) to run this experiment elsewhere. I don't actually know What It Means beyond the fact that tumblr has just shifted a bit further towards being a meme website, rather than a website on which to post art, gifs, or fics. Again -- none of this is done with the intention of likeshaming. Personally, I don't care.

It's been a long running issue within the community, and no amount of likeshaming or yelling is really going to make that change. People are going to reblog if they want to and they won't reblog if they don't it's that easy. As a person who runs a fandom blog, I really can't imagine not reblogging, because well... then I wouldn't have anything to post. But there are any number of reasons why someone choses to like instead of reblog, and at the end of the day, other people out there have explained it better than I can.

[holidaygirl1225sand]

hiiiii! :P

[Hello Tumblr, I am a partially in character Noelle account person, you can call me Sand! I'm not sure why but the autistic voices in my head wanted me to make this so, here I am, I guess? Any reblogs I do are not in character unless I respond in replies with non-bracketed text, unlike this post. I'll do an in character introduction now. Nice to meet you!]

Hiiiii everyone I'm holidaygirl1225! Dont worry I'm not here for any weird reasons XP I wanted to see how cool these new blog sites are and found this cool website... I just hope theres nothing weird on this one lol.. imagine what my mom would say '^^

anyways hope you view my vlog :D it's mainly just Dragon Blazers and Cat Petterz 2 content for now for everyone like me who are total geeks lol! But I do sometimes post cool easter eggs and glitches [and artwork out of character by me, Sand] it's mainly for friends tho for now, but i hope it gets popular

anyways ill have a look around this awesome website, hopefully it's as cool as it looks, ttys :)

Mood: Intruiged

Listening to: Everything At Once - Lenka

[hickeysgodcomplex]

I am... gonna rant. Cuz I've been feeling... some type of way.

That way is very very very pissed off, by the way, just to set the mood for what's under that readmore. 😤😤😤

Okay so.... ive been posting more writing on my writing blog. And its been nice. People have been nice.

But here's the thing. And yes this is about the like/reblog ratio again. Because its been upsetting me. And yes im also on my period so im even more emotionally wacky but i have to get this out.

I made a small, teeny tiny vent post, that was incredibly sarcastic and bitchy and very clearly just me venting my own shit. I even explained in the tags that i was feeling really disheartened by it all and just needed to let out my feelings. And then i got this response:

And i GET it. People like things for reasons and blah blah blah BUT . I didnt know this person, nor did they know me. And they talked to me like i didnt fucking know how this goddamn website works, like i don't goddamn live here. It is not the same as any of that. "Its not that deep" I dont KNOW you!!! And you dont know ME! maybe it is! Maybe it IS that deep to me. I was obviously feeling upset enough to make a ranty post???

And they talked about not wanting things on their blog but they reblogged my personal bitchy post with a comment.... like... that could have been a reply!!! Or even better.... dont say fucking anything. It wasnt even a fandom blog. I dont know how they found the post, i didnt even tag it. I assume they follow someone who reblogged it, but i dont think it had that many reblogs. NOT THE POINT!

The point is, mainly, that... its nice getting attention for writing. Or any art you put out onto this little website, but like... my writing blog, which I've had for YEARS just NOW hit 10,000 likes like a couple days ago. And im not trying to sound ungrateful. Because likes are nice. They really are. I like posts all the time.

But the fact that i wrote a 12,000 word fic the other day, posted it, and it has 15 fucking notes, total. 2 of which are mine, because i reblogged it on my main blog. 5 total reblogs. And only one of those has tags. I understand that not everyone uses tags, thats chill.

BUT!!!! The fic was even NSFW and i dont write that super often, but its what i see most, its a popular genre, and the fic STILL only has 15 notes.

And it just... feels like I'm doing something wrong? Like, no matter what kind of fic i post, if it not just a tiny text post it feels like no one interacts or cares at all. And it just... fucking ... it's disheartening and exhausting and it fucking hurts.

Like why do i even fucking write anything? Or post anything? If no one gives a shit? Like, people dont get it, i know artists and gif makers, and literally anyone putting out content gets it. Because we put in hard fucking work and then get nothing back???

Like i have this amazing fic idea about plus size reader x eddie munson and i KNOW its gonna be fucking cute. Its eating away at my brain its so cute. But like.... .... i don't even want to write it now. Because no one will care. No one will interact with it.

It just sucks. I wanna write stuff and share stuff and know that people like it too. But like, if people only interact with posts that are like a paragraph long why the fuck should i even keep writing and posting stuff?

And i know im not the only one who feels this way. And it sucks. But to be complaining about it in my own space and have someone fucking come onto my post and tell me "it's not that deep".... like honestly, fuck you.

ESPECIALLY since i didn't know them??? And they didn't know me. And then came and talked down to me like I'm an idiot who doesn't know how this website works.

This is a sharing website. Its based on shares and sharing and thats how things get more views, and get more people into things, and the sharing and nice comments from others is what sparks more creativity and sparks more art and writing and gifsets and content.

And i don't know where im going with this, i don't really have an aim here i just needed to fucking rant. Because i got pissed off about it again and needed to let it out. But its goddamn exhausting when i put my heart and feelings and shit into my writing and then just... no one cares or interact or whatever and just uugghhh

IT'S VERY FRUSTRATING AND ITS MAKING ME FEEL GROSS AND UPSET AND I JUST WANNA ENJOY WRITING!!!!

[duskittycat]

can complete strangers PLEASE stop blocking me it makes me so incredibly paranoid

[ktfromjerseyblog]

How to deal with a Sims 4 Game Patch when playing with Mods and CC

OPTIONS FOR GAME PATCH:

1.) Manual Update, day of (or soon after) patch release

2.) Delay update

3.) Vanilla play

OPTION #1 (MANUAL UPDATE)

If you are doing a manual update immediately when it is available, first thing to do is BACK-UP your Mods, Saves and Tray folders.

INSTRUCTIONS ON BACKING UP MODS/CC, SAVE FILES, AND TRAY (skip if you’re familiar):

Go to your Game folder, click and drag your Mods folder to your desktop. Then right-click somewhere blank on your desktop and create a New Folder (rename it STANDBY). Open this STANDBY folder and right-click in the blank space, click New Folder (name this one Mods). You are going to repeat the process until you have three folders inside your STANDBY folder. They should be titled Mods, Saves, and Tray.

Open your Mods folder (on your desktop) and the STANDBY folder at the same time (side by side). Select all of the files in your Mods folder (CTRL+A or Command+A), then right click on them and select COPY. Then click into your STANDBY folder, go to Mods, right-click the blank space, and select PASTE. Now you will have your original Mods folder on your desktop to test and use, and you will also have this STANDBY folder as a duplicate back up.

Next you will go to your Game Folder, select Tray, select all items (CTRL+A), right-click, select COPY. Then you will paste all these folders into the STANDBY>Tray folder. Then do the exact same thing with your Saves folder. Now you will have everything finally backed up. I recommend moving this STANDBY folder to an external hard drive (or flashdrive).

AFTER YOU UPDATED WITH GAME PATCH: please test once WITHOUT your Mods folder. Remove the entire Physical Mods folder from your Game Folder, place on desktop. This assists in a Folder Refresh. Let the game make a new Mods folder, with a new Resource.cfg inside, and rebuild from there. Don’t forget that you may need to turn on your Game Settings to enable script mods and custom content. This is in your Game Menu, under Other Settings. Considering “IF” the new free-floating objects feature “doesn’t” break CC. It should be safe to put your CC right back into the newly created Mods folder. At this point, you should still have your mods on your desktop. This is the point where you need to begin researching if your mods are working. To do this, you can check the comments below for mod updates. We implore you to follow creators on their social media for confirmation of working/broken mod reports. Most Script Mods WILL BREAK. Your best bet is keeping all of your mods on your desktop and only introducing them after

a.) mod has been confirmed working

b.) mod has been replaced with updated version.

OPTION #2 (DELAY UPDATE)

To delay an update, you must have pre-emptively turned OFF your Game Auto-Updates in advance. Next you will need to ensure your Origin Client is OFFLINE. This will mean that you can keep all your mods and cc in your game folder and continue to play unchanged. People do this in the meantime while they’re waiting for Creators to update their mods. This is the option for people who can’t bare to play without CC and Mods

OPTION #3 (VANILLA PLAY)

This option is for people who are too excited to wait any longer for the patch update and new expansion, and would rather wait for all the Creators to finish their testing and patches. So in order to do this, you will need to remove your Mods folder from your Game Folder, and place it on your desktop. Or you can disable mods and custom content in your Game Settings, under Other Settings. I still recommend backing up your saves and tray files.

FOLDER REFRESH

https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/805240/game-folder-refresh-may-fix-some-issues

or

https://youtu.be/bQC_IQHA3o4

GAME REFUSES TO START

If your game is not starting or prompts an error, remove all off your mods/cc, then restart. If it starts up just fine, then it is due to an error in your mods. If it does not start up, then you may have a corrupted save file due to a broken mod. Please be sure your game folder is saved in the appropriate path:

PC users should look something like this (minus the kmeha..thats just my comp name)

C:\Users\kmeha\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

If youre game is continuing to give you start-up issues, please feel free to post about it. But include the following:

PC/Mac user?

Legacy Edition?

Folder Refresh conducted?

Restart without mods conducted?

Did you re-enable custom content and script mods?

Include picture of error message.

For confusion on files in your game, please review this link:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/

EDIT 1 (ADDITION):

For those of you saying "my mods never break when i update the game". Mods can and most likely will break after an update. The word "broken" does not necessarily mean your game is going to completely stop working. So i'm going to make up an example to help you better understand. Let's say that Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod was labeled as "Broken". But when you play with it in game, you see no issues, and you receive no LastExceptionErrors. So you may think, "well thats not right, my mod is fine." when in reality its not. So some mods are massive and have loads of animations, objects, and content in general. If one tiny thing from it is corrupted in the code due to a patch update, it is considered “Broken”. So in Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod, you have five serial killers that you have the option of using. Lets say the game patch update breaks The Killer Nanny in that mod. But you never play with her ever. This could mean that you would never know that the mod is broken because you havent received any error notifications due to you not utilizing that portion of the code. This still means the mod is "broken" though. Broken can just mean that there is a small (or large) portion of the coding that is not compatible with how the game coding has changed due to the update. TLDR: a small feature can break and you would never know it if you never use it. it still means the mod is broken.

EDIT 2 (ADDITION):

For those of you looking for methods to read your lastException files, the following are your options:

1. Deaderpool Discord

2. Better Exceptions

3. Last Exceptions reader

DEADERPOOL DISCORD: For the deaderpool discord, you will have to create an account on discord. its super easy. i absolutely love discord. if you dont know what it is, its basically like a massive chat room platform, particularly popular amongst gamers. If you decide to create a discord account, you'll have to download the software. its totally safe! i use it all the time. a lot of gamers use it as a platform to talk to their friends over voice chat when playing a game that doesnt provide a feature like that. if you decide to join discord, here is the link for the Deaderpool Discord (ran by the creator of MCCC): https://discord.gg/mccc

if you go on there, they have a text channel called "error support". its super easy to use, all you have to do is click on that channel, and then click and drag your LE file into the channel box. it will upload it to the server. theres nothing in your file that will get you hacked or anything. tens of thousands of files have been uploaded to this. its literally just a text document saying where the error is in your mod coding. From there, someone from the Support Team will respond with a solution. Its really great because they can help you to understand reading the code.

BETTER EXCEPTIONS MOD: This is a mod that you download from Twisted Mexi:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/better-major-26712505

This mod will provide a new file to generate in your game called the Better Exceptions Report. When you get one, it will tell you what it suspects is causing an issue in your game. This is one of the most user-friendly options for new modders. When you see the identifed "issue" in the report, you'll have just to exit out of game and delete the issue (broken cc/mod). Before you re-start your game, just remember to delete the BetterExceptionsReport file from your game folder. Otherwise it will not be able to update it with a new one if a new error arises.

LAST EXCEPTIONS READER: this is just a website where you can do the same thing as the deaderpool discord. just drag and drop your file, and a robot reads it to identify the issue. The only problem with this is you cant talk to the robot and explain your situation (like you can in discord).

https://lastexception.com

[fuckshiru]

345rv5 ten year anniversary. Couldn’t upload this to DA for some reason

You know when you're getting older when people start having 10 year aniversaries. But alas. I still await my aniversary (which wont be for over 3 years).

You're delusional if you think I wont be posting about this.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been watching people rant online for a long ass time. I've watched Youtube videos, blogs, and deviantart journals of course. And stamps. It used to be game reviewers (Clement and SomecallmeJohnny), then it was political videos (The Amazing Atheist formerly then Sargon and Hunter Avallone currently). But I've never actually made friends with any of them. Unlike 345rv5.

I've made friends with 345rv5 just a few years back. While he isn't millionaire famous, he has a rather large following on deviantart. And that's because there's a little bit of everything on his page. He started off reviewing anime but then he would he started getting into debates. I think what made him a force to be reckoned with was the fact that he made very long journals and comments. But they wern't long because he wanted to win the debate (just a side note, if you're on a debate online, dont EVER simply write a wall of text or copy n paste from wikipedia. That doesn't work.), he would also deconstruct each of the points of the other side and obliterate them. Lets get into the journal that started it all.

Dragon Fail Live Action Piece of Shit

Dragon fail live action peice of shit

Now, 345rv5 has been around before he made the journal, but in my opinon this was the review that started everything. This was his Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. I've read all of his journals. Anime and video games was his thing earlier on. He didn't start making political videos until around 2012/2013. This day marks the ten year anniversary of him making that journal.

It really set off his channel (or should I say page). I guarentee that if he had a youtube channel, he would be filthy rich, even with youtube's ad-pocalypse and whatnot.

He started off ranting about shows and movies, essentially pointing out all of the flaws. Some notable things he's ranted about were Cartoon Network and Super Mario Live Action movie.

Anime Recaps and Reviews

Weekly Shonen Recap :RECAP !

Anime and Manga was his passion. He almost exclusively watched anime, some of his favourites were Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. Others shows, such as Bleach not so much. There's not much to say on this part, but if you enjoy anime, you'll enjoy his reviews.

Rivalries

As time passed on, he began showing everyone his insane debating skills. This caused many people to hold grudges toward him. He began his series BDTDT/BSTDT (Bigots Do/say the dumbest things) and a subseries FTSTDT (Fantards say the dumbest things) and RFSTDT (Radical Feminists Say The Dumbest Things. He also started shorter series entitled "Concentrated Stupidity", which ended shortly.

Watching him take part in these debates that lasted over months was actually pretty entertaining. He's debated people such as Arrnacar Fighter, DragonoftheEastBlue (which apparently made a youtube video), BrianaBater, Insanity123 (didn't get a journal), Sychtemantis, and Party999999. The debate between him and Party999999 lasted for over a year. It ended in 2016, when Party99999 made a final response, and called it quits.

The topics of these debates covered politics. When it wasn't that, he would literally go in depth on how strong a character is, using math equations and Science to justify his claims.

And no, I'm not insulting any of thse people. Hell for a debate to last that long meant that they put up a good fight and must've good points.

Unfortunately, with so many debates online someone was eventually going to make a page on Encyclopedia Dramatica about him.

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/345rv5

Before I start, I will say that I'm suprised that I don't have a page on Encylopedia Dramatica. I should've gotten one a few years back when I got into a big fight in the complaints forum, but now that I'm fading away into nothing, I'm probably never gonna get one. That's good I guess. But an Encyclopedia Dramatica page really only shows the worst in people.

Even when he got banned from DA, he still occasionally called people out here on this site from tumblr (such as OddGarfield and Aknaton-II)

The Story, Political Views, and Removal from DA

Earlier on, 345rv5 was a liberal. He was the same kind of liberal as The Amazing Athiest, as in, he wasn't a SJW, they didn't believe in white privilege or any of that garbage. Instead, they only believed in green privilege. (I dont know if TJ still believes that given I haven't watched his videos in months)

He still is a egaliratian, and one of his sickest ownages was his DESTROYING someone who insulted and slut shamed SHE-HULK by calling her a whore.

BSTDT:She Hulk is a Whore!

He was a true EGALITARIAN. Trust me, you will not find a bigger equalist than 345rv5 on the internet. He has stood up for atheists, women, men, people of colour, whites, Religious people, you name it. Every one of those instances I wholeheartedly agreed with.

BSTDT: Brother Dean the Anti Gay, Sexist Pastor

BSTDT: Atheist Pluser Says fuck you to Christans

After time passed, he slowly distanced himself from the left. He is a firm supporter of AllLivesMatter. This however, would cause him to get banned permanently from the site.

RIP 345rv5

I was beyond angry when that happened. But its been over 3 years and it is what is I guess. After being banned from DA, he made a tumblr account. This is where he REALLY shifted away from the left. 1 year later in 2016, He came out as a supporter of Trump weeks away from the election day. At that point I was still sceptical of Trump but I do admit that people have retarded reasons for hating him. I believe he still identifies as a liberal, but honestly, it hard to be considered a liberal or a leftist at this point because the left keeps fucking up for themselves. Paul Joseph Watson said Conservatism is the new counter culture, and I totally agree. Its popular to be left leaning these days.

The arguement The Amazing Athiest had with Hunter Avallone really shows that sides have switched. It used to be a younger liberal vs a older conservative. Now its a younger conservative vs an older liberal.

But furthermore, 345rv5 continued making posts on tumblr. These were very similar to the posts he made here. This went on until Tumblr shot itself and got rid of pornographic content.

After that, he migrated to another website.

What made him great?

I think it was his ability to debate made him great. He would fucking decimate people. But he would only do that if you had horrible opinions. His followers were literally like familiy, everyone digged in to help him stand up to abusive admins. When he got banned, everyone was upset. We all love his journals, which everyone can see, thanks to this link here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150406180849/http://345rv5.deviantart.com/

Yet he was such a nice guy. And that is why he will always be remembered.

[edmartinsta]

Nice To Think I’m Still On Here

Woah has life changed since this. Tumblr is my first place I ever published anything and posted anything before Facebook and Twitter were even a thing for me. I cant tell you how excited I am to know that from here on out I can log in and continue something special to my heart. My posts are a little here and there so I hope I dont scare you away or weird you out or make it boring. From this moment I’ll try to continue my content through here where I know only one person will actually know to find me and no one else haha. To those that may not know me so well I used to be a music blog where I would talk about so much stuff until I realized I wanted to make a website. This was more of a private thing and actually more public than it is now with Tumblr’s popularity back in 2010ish when everyone I thought was cool owned a Tumblr. I guess I can’t blame them I left for a long time this and fell off hard even though I probably could have done something pretty cool with it by now or used it to help me on my other things. 

Little update: I left high school in 2013 so not much after the music posts I remember stopping this and maybe continuing it here and there, After there I went to community college where I ended up making lost of memories which im sure I’ll have plenty of time reminiscing with you guys, I then moved to Chicago to follow my dreams as a designer and stayed out there for about four years. Was amazing and could have been better if I planned better and actually could get a job out there that was laidback as I was a pretty tardy asshole to my employers. I wasnt late by hours but I was late often and if that didnt get me fired I would simply quit and never show my face there again. It was a mess, I was a mess, everything was fucked up but everything was also new and fascinating. I dont regret any of it. Now its been years since college and sadly I never finished with a semester remaining. That was a terrible day for my mother I could see she wanted to yell and cry because I told her I got expelled basically from art school for flunking. Man that was a terrible situation I tried to tell people I really tried my best was just a reckless kid who could never get any sleep and was always thinking of what to do and not doing the stuff. Ugh I get upset just thinking about it. So much time wasted. But I suppose I at least realize it now....also that I still dont regret it, it shapes us these failures. im 25 now and soon to be 26 and honestly I’m scared shitless. I feel like i never saved anything, never built credit, havent gone on a date in years, havent gone to eat with friends more than five times in six years, have broken almost everything I own in some sort of way. i dont eat correctly all the time, i dont exercise to keep the figure i used to have less than two years ago. I started college senior year of high school and somehow still screwed up the process and fell behind over and over again and even got screwed by the education system and now have tons of debt which im barely getting out of because of my amazing mom who is also the most toxic person in my life. Man........i know I look bad i know i suck.....im not perfect in any way.....I lost my way..........I know my way back and what I gotta do but........that time ill never get back. Ive never had a stable job in my life for god sake. Ugh I hope I dont come off as a failure I feel it completely but I dont want to be one. I have done so much in my life and met amazing people that honestly makes it all worth something but damn my heart........I don’t want to blame anyone but myself. My parents werent the best educated and still scares me to think I was so alone when I was younger that even my parents only talked to me to put me down and still kinda do but now we can carry a conversation and bond a smidge...im 25......

This quickly turned into something more than just a update I got caught up. But I want to take this extra step in my life to document on here most of my thoughts and things as I used to back before high school culture was no more for me. To Christina.....if you read this at all...just know the only thing over the past couple years on my mind has been you if not my purpose in this life..my life....has been nothing short of terrible since we last talked and yeah I had a ton of good luck too and am blessed to say the least but the man I said I wanted to become just hasnt happened yet. I let myself go for a bit...but now I want to show the world and you...that the past couple years didnt just happen for nothing....there is so much, so fucking much I got planned and been planning for that I just hope you see why it took so long. My time will come..and maybe one day we can talk and laugh about all this because you were one of the most memorable people ever to cross paths with and even though we barely text each other anymore I hope one day we can be good friends again. Im sure we all been so busy surviving. 

To those who got this far I really didnt expect anyone to finish this. It was a huge ramble. But I hope you can see I came a bit moody into the post but also with hope and excitement that Tumblr will be my home again for getting away from social media. Its been almost two years since I posted on Facebook and I dont use instagram as much anymore so ill be on here :D message me if anyone wants to be friends or anyone who may relate heck anyone who thinks they wanna be friends haha penpals that maybe have art side to them too??? hahah okay thats all bye everyone <3

[ingu]

a goodbye letter of sorts?

It feels a bit weird to be writing this but more than anything else this comes from a need for myself to sort out my complicated feelings when it comes to this website. 

I've been an avid user of tumblr for a large percentage of my early adulthood, at least from 2011-12, and it's played a significant role in certain personal transformations and paradigm shifts that have taken place during that time. But at the end of the day the culture of this website is something I can't take anymore. For a long time now, this website has not been something that's improving my life or making me happy. In fact, it is more often than not a direct source of stress and anger, none of which are things I want in my life. And for my own mental health if not for my own sanity I am going to take an even bigger step back than I already have in the past year or two. 

I think every user of this website senses this to some extent, but there are a few themes that repeat in every other post you see. 

Smug self-righteousness -  'I'm a good person (and better than you) for xyz reasons'

Outright emotional manipulation (particularly through guilt tripping)

Moral condescension - you're wrong/bad/ignorant and let me educate you

While I am 100% aware I have fallen into these traps many times during my years on this website... being so constantly exposed to this is exhausting. And it's turning me into a type of person I don't want to be. More often than not, I feel like the only truly genuine thing I see in this website is anger and moral outrage. Browsing my dashboard feels like I'm reading through the warped mirror reflection of a Conservative Christian website. Instead of all sinners being condemned to hell it is all men/white people, instead of someone being written off for being queer it's someone written off for one (1) insensitive remark they made three or five years ago. There is this chilling echo of a basic black and white mentality and at the basis of it all there is this overwhelming sense of impotence. Building rage and anger and confusion that has been given no direction and no guidance, until the community has been made ripe for radfems and terfs and antis and has begun to devour ourselves instead of organising in any meaningful way to fight systemic injustice.

This is not an old critique of the website, but with my growing years being present here I am starting to more and more see the startling validity of it. Reblogging and signal boosting a post takes two seconds of effort and does no real good for anything but your own ego. Two lines of text saying x group is valid or y group is beautiful that took someone five seconds to type and you one second to reblog doesn't change anything about the way society is still against them. I get it. I'm valid. You're valid. 

In some ways it's as though tumblr is a perfect microcosm of a popular critique you see nowadays of the new generation of 'woke' youths. And, among many other causes, reflects a direct consequence of the capitalism and social media's enroachment into social activism. So much of what you see on tumblr is this sort of moral performatism. Social change has become an individual responsibility, a personal brand and way of living, instead of an orgnaised movement against an entrenched and systemic tools of oppression. Why organise and hold corporations accountable for the environmental destruction and waste of energy when you can just spend five minutes less in the shower? Why commit time and enegy and money volunteering and donating to charities and social groups when you can pay a company $10 for a shirt you dont need because it has the word feminism on it? Why join with organisations trying to directly affect victim's lives when you can send anonymous hate mail telling someone they're bad for a story they wrote.

Dear this specific type of people I keep seeing on my dash. If you have to boost and measure your own self worth by how good of an ally or defender you are to X disadvantaged minority (that you're even a part of), then that's your prerogative. But understand that nothing is being helped but your own ego each time you attack others the way you do. Google the definition of confirmation bias. Google the definition of echo chamber. Take a look at your sources of information. Take a look at the people and communities you've surrounded yourself with, and ask yourself: Is this making your life better? Or is it just giving you more justification for being bitter, angry and jaded? More reason to revel in the righteous misery of being the victim instead of stepping forward and taking measures to protect and empower yourself? 

Is this truly what you want to be? 

If you truly care about making a difference in your cause, to protect or defend people being hurt by systemic threats, get off tumblr. There are resources and organisations outside of this website which you can contribute your energey to which will be much more rewarding and meaningful than what you're doing now. 

And I think, at the end of the day, this is why I don't want to be part of this culture and environment anymore. Tumblr encourages a certain kind of behaviour in you. It encourages you to cultivate a certain part of yourself which is dangerous, an all or nothing mentality that helps no one at the end of the day. I don't want to spend so much time and energy being angry and frustrated with things I cannot affect when I can be actually living and enjoying my own life and doing things that might make a difference to these causes I care about. I am tired of my overinvestment in 'political correctness' that has made me unable to enjoy certain things without guilt. I am tired of being told what I should and shouldn’t like because of xyz ways a minority was represented badly. I am tired of my immediate focus on everything 'wrong' with any piece of media I consume instead of actually ruminating on the things I liked. I am sick of this overwhelming negativity which is dominating the way I live and the way I view and treat the people around me.

I really need to get off tumblr, is what I'm saying. So that's what I plan to do.

[michelangelomusic1]

You Don’t Even Require An Online Connection

Your speed is apparently outside of a valid selection. You’re able to adjust the speed whilst reading, too. If you prefer to learn Speed Reading then the computer software is the best way to go. You can raise your reading speed. In the event of printed texts, the typical reading speed for a normal person is all about 200-250 words per minute. Everyone is able to start at a different level so it genuinely is for everyone.

Fighting to read can cause issues with everyday tasks like completing homework for children, getting passing grades in college, or even locating a great job. A lot of these studying lessons can be adapted to suit the requirements of a particular environment, with only a small additional work. It comprises complete guided lessons, and examinations to rate your reading abilities. Finding out how to speed read is not only the domain of people that have high IQs. With an in depth lesson program, you get guided training that supplies step-by-step instructions.

Speed reading will be able to help you in a lot of things. It is not a complicated topic. It helps you to learn how to read in a fast manner while still being able to comprehend what you have read. For writers, in particular, it is a bad idea. It is the fast secret to success. It allows you to digest the book quicker and more efficiently.

Learning how to speed read whilst still having the capability to comprehend what you’ve just read is essential. Men and women who want to know how to speed read should take a look at courses that will assist them to speed read. When visiting an internet page that you want to speed read, choose the text you want to read and click the ZAP IT!”

100 books in 100 days. I usually read a book a day, but due to my travel schedule recently, I've had to cut back. To get back on track with my reading schedule, I'm going to read 100 books in 100 days. I've done this a few times in the past and it's a great discipline! Sifting through massive amounts of information helps me to be prolific across all my businesses. Here are some simple steps to scaling up to reading a book a day. 1) learn to speed read. It's a real thing. I currently read just over 700 words per minute with an 80% comprehension rate. I learned from renowned speed reader @howardstephenberg – check out his work. 2) Skip to stuff you find interesting. There is no rule that you should read a book cover to cover. For instance, when I pick up a biography, there may be some very specific aspects of that personal nature life that I am looking for. Usually, most biographies have boring childhood chapter with details that have nothing inspirational. Skip those chapters. 3) Read non- fiction. Typically, when I read fiction, I enjoy the writing style of the author, so I am prone to revisit paragraphs and ponder on or enjoy certain descriptions/ scenes. With non fiction, you'll most likely grasp concepts and move along especially if you are somewhat familiar with the topic. 4) Skip chapters you are competent in. I sold direct to customer for 11 years with over 10,000 face to face interactions and probably quadruple the amount of rejections. If I read a book about face to face selling or dealing with rejection, I'll scan a few chapters, and skip those I am competent in. This prevents been from totally tossing the book because I may judge it for being too basic. There are gems even in material by authors who have less experience than you. 5) Stop reading crappy books. Unless it's a biography, I typically give a book three chapters. If it's still boring after that, I'll flip to the table of contents and find a chapter that seems interesting. If that chapter isn't interesting- I'm done with the book. It goes in my donation pile. #bibliophile #books #speedreading #speedreader

A post shared by TwentiesMentor (@twentiesmentor) on Jul 10, 2017 at 1:26pm PDT

7 Speed Reading is the sole modern speed reading software which uses the newest technology to make superior outcomes. 1 popular method of advanced reading is known as speed reading. Fast reading is necessary for all study. Abundant reading is the secret to create skills like a sizable vocabulary, fantastic spelling, rich expression and a worldwide cultural level. It’s aimed, too, to anyone who enjoys reading. Practicing reading till you knock out this habit is the sole way out.

The response is actually straightforward. You don’t need to read everything. Due to that, it’s important you may read effectively. It is 1 way people will find out how to communicate with one another. It is a great notion, but there’re a couple of issues with this reading strategy. You will enhance your grade point average and even when you aren’t in school you will enhance the way that you read. The most significant point for individuals to remember with OMR readers is they are NOT image scanners.

Should you decide to buy speed reading software, make certain that you find something which you will actually use. There are lots of tools that you could choose to understand how to read faster. There are a number of tools provided to assist you improve your reading abilities. The program is poised as the absolute most extensive speed reading system anywhere. When you have the software loaded you can conduct regions of the program online wherever your connection speed won’t be as a lot of hindrance.

A massive number of internet courses can likewise be obtained on cd or dvd in case you have a slower internet connection which is not convenient to utilize for any bigger kinds of file download. The above mentioned steps can provide you great outcome and significantly speed up Windows system performance. You could also discover the learning process easier in the event the program let’s you import your favourite text, or if it has the capability to work to your favourite sites, such as Wikipedia or various news websites. Stick to these basic rules and find out how much you improve in only a limited time. You’re going to be able to see what you are reading without needing to reread everything many times. This technique was initially taught through her book named Reading Skills. It works with socket A along with socket 478 motherboards.

I love this program and what it offers. After you open the application, you will observe the web based layout. Most 7 speed reading review people highly suggest the program if your purpose is to understand how to speed read. Your program is definitely the very best program I have ever employed for increasing speed and comprehension. It is by far among the best programs that I’ve purchased for myself.

The program is often times on sale permitting you to receive it for an excellent price that cannot be beat by competitors. It has helped an abundance of people learn to speed read in little time. Of course with any speed reading program you may discover that you’re scared that this distinct accelerated reading program may not do the job for you and it may only be a scam to receive your money.

from Michel angelo Music http://michelangelomusic.com/you-dont-even-require-an-online-connection/

[e2blogengine]

Insights on sending a demo to a record label. Part 2

It’s safe to say that my previous advice on sending a demo is one of the most popular articles on this blog: there are thousand of upcoming producers looking for a proper way to reach out record labels, and I hope these insights helped to shed some light.

Today, I would like to continue that topic and share five more short tips on sending a demo to record labels based on my experience of A&R.

“Void — A Sector To Avoid” art by Kuldar Leement. So as this artwork title suggests, in this blog we’ll talk about things to avoid

Send only finished track

People often say something like this: “here is a 15-seconds draft of my new track, I’ll finish if it fit your label”. What? How can label approve something that doesn’t exist yet? What if this 15-seconds snippet is fine, but then you will suddenly come up with something entirely different that not suits the label?

Demo is a demonstration of your best skills. So show a finished track, not a half-assed product.

Double-check your links

You’ll be surprised how many broken links labels see in their inboxes! From my experience, roughly every third link is broken due to incorrect privacy settings of the track or just because of copy-pasting a wrong URL.

Apparently, I’m not alone with this. Here is what Basil O’Glue, a manager of Saturate Audio, wrote on Twitter:

Demos with a broken link... :( Cmon... labels want to hear the music, make sure the link works :)

— Basil O'Glue (@BasilOGlue) September 9, 2016

Producers! Please, double-check your links, be sure another person can open it.

Simplify your signature

Have you ever received an email with a signature that includes full sender’s address with ZIP code, fifteen links to all of his social pages, several international phone numbers, fax (who the hell still use fax nowadays?), and a huge wall of text of “dont-print-this-email-save-the-trees” and other bullshit? If so, you probably know this feeling: it’s annoying.

Such signature is nothing but a visual noise, it takes extra effort to scan the email searching for some meaningful text. Please, don’t do that. Keep it simple, your name and one link to your website are totally fine.

Don’t brag too much

Ah, this is my favourite: listing the entire discography, every single DJ’s support, and all chart appearances. Why, just why are you doing that? What the logic behind it? Every time I receive an email like this, I imagine two label managers having this conversation in my mind:

— A quite mediocre demo, not for us... — Yeah indeed, not good enough... — Hold on, he said his previous track has been supported by David Buretta! — Seriously? Sign him up!!!

Jokes asides, please don’t show off all that stuff unless it’s relevant to the label or that particular track, it’s not cool.

“Please suggest some label where it might fit”

Sometimes, when I say that the demo doesn’t fit the label, some smart guys come back asking “can you suggest some labels where it might fit?”. This question sounds harmless at first sight, but just think about it for second. Imagine if you would fail a job interview and then ask: “do you know other companies that might be interesting in hiring me?”. Sounds, erm... not quite appropriate, don’t you think?

if you don’t make any attempts to learn the industry by yourself, how are you going to work in this field? This is where we came back to what Part 1 begins with: do your research first.

P.S. This post is a part of the weekly “Advice” series. I’m happy to advise on such topics as production, performance, management, marketing, and design in the music industry and beyond. Send me your questions, too.

Источник: Daniel Lesden Blog - Insights on sending a demo to a record label. Part 2. Опубликовано с помощью IFTTT.

[show-us-your-bodies-blog]

Fifteen Free Online Marketing Tools

I love a bargain. Who doesnt? Sometimes even free is still too much, but with these fifteen free marketing tools, youll get so much, youll wonder why youre not paying for it. Aside from the two image editor suggestions from fellow marketing buffs, I use all these tools and wouldnt give em up, even if I had to pay for them.

So, go ahead, see if any of these belong in your own marketing toolbox, and please, if we skipped your favorite, tell us all about it in the comments!

Listening Tools

Keep track of what people are saying about your business, brand or your industry and get a feel for the changing needs and challenges of your potential customers.

SocialMention

Put in your business name and youll see social media mentions from all over. You may find that someone shared one of your blog posts without you realizing it (this is a good time to thank them). Oh, dont bother trying to sign up for alerts. Theyve been saying theyll be available again in a week for over a year :).

Twitter Search

This is a handy feature for finding out what is currently perplexing people. Just search, Anyone know how and see what pops up. For instance, Anyone know how Facebook turns up all sorts of questions from frustrated Facebook users. Answers to those questions could become popular blog posts.  You can also answer those questions yourself! If you are a local business, you can limit your search to a geographical area when you use advanced Twitter search. You can also try this on Google.

BottleNose

Quickly see whats trending in your network and beyond. You can also post from right inside the dashboard when you find something you just have to share right away or schedule it with Buffer, all from Bottlenose.  And, why is it called Bottlenose? Dolphins are smart, they’re social, they’re good surfers, they hunt in packs, they have sonar. They’re #awesome. My kind of company.

Social Media Platform-Specific

Facebook Likealyzer

What posting day and time works best for you? What kinds of posts work best for you? Are you responding to comments in a timely manner, asking enough questions, using enough emotion?

Facebook ShortStack

Run contests, create welcome and about us pages and include your Pinterest and Twitter streams on your Facebook Page with ShortStack. The free version is branded with their logo but its free!

Google Plus Timing+

Instantly see on which days and at which times your posts perform best. Also get a run-down of your top posts of all times. This one is from Peg Fitzpatricks awesome post, How Google and Pinterest are like peanut butter and jelly.

Email

MailChimp

There is nothing cheap about this free tool. Super-simple email creation, top-notch support and easy social sharing rival paid options.

WiseStamp

Create a gorgeous and functional email signature for your email. Adds expected things like your logo or  photo, but also lets you add your latest blog post, Facebook update, Tweet, or even an eBay item! Works with Gmail, Yahoo! mail and others. I use it on my scalable address because I run it all through Gmail. Handy!

Productivity and Sales

YouCanBook.Me

This calendar program works with your Google calendar. Share it with co-workers and prospects, and they can see your available times. Youll get an email when someone books you, and you or the person booking can cancel or reschedule anytime. Best feature, aside from being free? YouCanBook.Me takes about five minutes to set up.

Join.Me

Free webinars and online meetings allow you to connect with up to 10 colleagues or prospects online. Share your screen, talk, chat and share files.  The recording feature is still in beta, but its free for now! Participants can view on their iPad or Android tablets.

Oh, the site mentions a free trial, but you can use it free as long as you like! I liked it so much, I decided to spring for the PRO version for fancy extras like scheduling of meetings and a custom background.

Social Media Scheduling and Monitoring

HootSuite

Schedule updates to Google Plus (including pages), LinkedIn (including company pages), Twitter and Facebook (profiles and pages) with Hootsuite. You can also monitor your streams and reply to mentions and comments, as well as monitor your brand and access basic analytics.

Buffer

Another social media scheduling tool, Buffer is great for scheduling on the go. I like to use it for Twitter, though it can be used for Facebook and LinkedIn as well. Updates are stored in a queue and released at times predetermined to be beneficial for your audience (ooh, custom scheduling just released today!). Features and integration with new platforms and programs is being added all the time.

Graphics and Images

PicMonkey

Our pal Kerry over at Millipede Media Group recommended this image editing program for our list. The collage feature is wonderful and so it the text overlay. Its just a fun little tool to play with, she says. Try this free image editor for fun fonts, effects, filters, and more!

Image Maps

Ever wished you could link one part of an image to one URL, and another spot on the image to another? Well, it can be a pain! Carrie of Carries Social says, I found a little gem called image-maps.com for creating images w/ links embedded in them. Love, love it! Thanks, Carrie!

Stock Exchange

Free, royalty-free photos and other images for your online projects. Some of the photos arent top-quality, but hey, theyre free! Make sure you check the Usage information to confirm that your intended usage of the image is allowed.

Bonus Marketing ROI Tools

I was going to stop at 15, but my pals on Google+ insisted on a few more. And theyre right what good is all the marketing in the world if you dont know how well its working?Facebook New InsightsSuggested by Brooke Ballard of

B Squared

, the most analytical of the social ladies I know.  We are both excited at how much more robust the new version is and she adds, I think for free metrics they should be used that info is vital for how to proceed with content efforts.Google AnalyticsKing of all analytics, Google lets you track the basics like pageviews and visits, sources and referrals all the way to complicated goal completion.  Jon Turino of

Jon Turino Marketing + Connections

says, Google analytics for my website are invaluable in determining visitor behavior and interests.Did we leave out your favorite? Please tell us below!

So, now youre armed with all the free tools a person could want. If youre ready to take your marketing to the next level, wed love to talk. Well talk about your business, your goals and your challenges. Well offer some quick tips you can implement for yourself. Then, if you want to know more about how we can help, well schedule another call. Just want the free help? No problem!  Get your free consultation today!

[dianesaddler]

Don’t Split Test Your Pages Before Doing These 6 Things

When it comes to split testing, you’ve been doing great so far. You’ve got a great design, compelling copy and excellent flow. In your eyes, this new page is irresistible.

But before you press that launch button and unleash it to an unsuspecting world, there are a few more things you’ll want to check. Let’s take a closer look at them:

1. Does Everything on the Page Work The Way It Should?

This seems like exactly the kind of thing you’d want to make sure of before a test, and yet many professionals are left scrambling after they launch a campaign only to find that their mailing list isn’t subscribing new users, or their automated welcome message isn’t going out.

Maybe they learn, too late, that the call-to-action button leads to the wrong page or that new membership backend isn’t giving the user their login information. It should go without saying, but test everything. Every popular device. Every major browser. Everything. Try to make mistakes on purpose just to see if the system will throw you for a loop and then amend them before you start that first test.

In a nutshell, you want the process to be completely flawless, in order to get users to the next step in your funnel.

2. How Easy is it For the User to Visually Digest Everything At a Glance?

This is not the prime time to throw everything at a user and hope some of it sticks. Too often, I see landing pages that are filled to the brim with copy on every conceivable topic under the sun. The landing page, in essence, doubles as a FAQ, a live chat portal, a support desk, a reviews page and just about everything else.

And while I’m not discounting the importance of all of these features, remember that your landing page doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting. In fact, your main goal should just be to get users to take that first step – followed by another step, and another.

There’s nothing wrong with, say, having a live chat option for those urgent questions that could make or break a conversion. But for everything you add, remember that you’re also throwing yet another layer of complexity to the conversion recipe. Your landing page should be the virtual equivalent of getting a foot in the door – you can always follow up with automated emails or redirect the user to a page that helps further guide their first steps.

Whatever page you’re testing, make it easy for the user to get the big picture at first-glance. No unnecessary scrolling, no need to stop and think “am I in the right place?” Make it push-button simple for them to take the action you want them to take, without a lot of second-guessing on their part.

3. How Crucial Is the Page to Testing in the First Place?

Let’s face it, split tests may be easy to set up, but if you’re only getting some traffic to the page, it will take quite some time before your pages achieve statistical significance and you can declare a winner with confidence. With that being said, ask yourself how mission critical this page is to testing in the first place?

Is it one of your most lucrative products or services? If it isn’t, switch your focus to the page that will make the most impact. Don’t be afraid to test that page. Big impactful changes can lead to big, measurable gains in conversion rate. The last thing you want to do is “play it safe” with your landing page tests – messing with low-impact, low-stress things like button color and text that barely move the needle.

Concentrate on your most crucial pages first, then gauge the results and refine your strategy accordingly. You have the data and no one knows your product or your audience like you do. Look for the most important pages on the conversion path and make them shine.

4. How Understandable Is the Page’s Offer?

There are some conversion-focused offers that are easy to do. It varies from industry to industry, but chances are your audience has a certain set of expectations with offers. Whatever they’re expecting, now is not the time to change a running system.

There’s a reason they’ve gotten comfortable with your brand and deviating from that expectation for the sake of innovation is conversion friction of the highest degree. Simply put, it not only breaks from the norm for what customers look for in your particular market, but it does it in a way that’s mentally jarring. It takes them out of their comfort zone and plops them right into uncertainty.

And if you think they’re just going to march on ahead toward a conversion in the midst of all that confusion, you’ve already lost them.

Mind you, I’m not saying you should conform and fall in line with what your competitors are offering. Otherwise there are no differentiating factors between you and them. Instead, don’t break the mold – just reshape it in a way that centers on value. What can you bring to the table that’s absolutely irresistible, attractive and easy to understand?

That should be the core of your offer.

5. How Much Interaction Does There Need to Be?

Just like with the page offer, making users go through a lot of unnecessary work can make them want to give up in frustration. Granted, there’s going to be some necessary interaction on the page – filling out forms, pushing buttons, adding items to a cart, requesting a callback or what have you.

But just like with making sure everything is understandable and visually digestible, so too will you need to remove any unnecessary roadblocks that could be affecting your user’s desire to take action. Most commonly, this can be seen in signing up for a mailing list or membership.

Obviously, you’ll need the double opt-in for your email to be compliant with marketing regulations. But imagine now that after the customer has verified, they’re asked to create an account. Now, they have to fill in more forms, wait for a confirmation, click it, realize their password doesn’t conform to the stated requirements, change it, confirm that change, and so on.

This is an extreme example, to be sure, but it shows you just how much we rely on these systems and platforms to help give our customers the best possible experience, only to aggravate and confuse them. Take note of how many steps it takes for your customer or prospect to do something on your pages. Then look at what steps you can realistically eliminate. The fewer hoops the customer has to jump through – the better.

6. How Likely is the User to Convert?

Finally, we get down to the moment of truth – how likely the user is to convert. The fact is, no matter how valuable your offer, no matter how fluid your design and how great your copy flows, if your offer isn’t compelling enough to get the user to act right that moment, they’ll put it off until later.

And then it’s likely that they’re gone for good.

Some marketers put up a false sense of scarcity with countdown clocks or X number left of a program (come on, they’re digital items, you’re not fooling anybody) but these only serve to tarnish trust between the prospect and the marketer. In order to motivate them to act, you have to harness some psychological techniques, like these:

Many small yes’s – What can you get the customer to commit to that won’t take a lot of time, effort or money? Many small yes’s are better than one big investment of any of those things.

Real scarcity – Even if you have a digital product, taking it down when the timer runs out or you reach whatever goal you’ve set for yourself proves to customers that you are true to your word. They may have missed out on this offer, but you can be sure they won’t miss out on the next one.

What happens if… – What happens if the customer goes to a competitor? What happens if they decide to do nothing at all? Can you help them visualize what the results with your product or service will be like if they act today?

So before you split test anything, look at these options and ensure that your page is as finely tuned as it can be. Look for ways to clear out any clutter or obstacles (even technical ones) that could be putting a wedge between you and your prospect. And above all, be sure to follow up with the same attention and focus you poured into this landing page, to ensure that not just the beginning of the funnel is brimming with conversions, but the rest of it as well.

About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!

Don’t Split Test Your Pages Before Doing These 6 Things posted first on Kissmetrics Blog

from Blogger http://scottmcateerblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/dont-split-test-your-pages-before-doing.html

from Scott McAteer https://scottmcateer.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/dont-split-test-your-pages-before-doing-these-6-things/

from WordPress https://dianesaddler.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/dont-split-test-your-pages-before-doing-these-6-things/

[ktfromjerseyblog]

Eco Lifestyle Game Patch Update

OPTIONS FOR GAME PATCH: 1.)  Manual Update, day of (or soon after) patch release 2.)  Delay update 3.)  Vanilla play

Option #1 (manual update) If you are doing a manual update immediately when it is available, first thing to do is BACK-UP your Mods, Saves and Tray folders.

INSTRUCTIONS ON BACKING UP MODS/CC, SAVE FILES, AND TRAY (skip if you’re familiar): Go to your Game folder, click and drag your Mods folder to your desktop. Then right-click somewhere blank on your desktop and create a New Folder (rename it STANDBY). Open this STANDBY folder and right-click in the blank space, click New Folder (name this one Mods). You are going to repeat the process until you have three folders inside your STANDBY folder. They should be titled Mods, Saves, and Tray. Open your Mods folder (on your desktop) and the STANDBY folder at the same time (side by side). Select all of the files in your Mods folder (CTRL+A or Command+A), then right click on them and select COPY. Then click into your STANDBY folder, go to Mods, right-click the blank space, and select PASTE. Now you will have your original Mods folder on your desktop to test and use, and you will also have this STANDBY folder as a duplicate back up. Next you will go to your Game Folder, select Tray, select all items (CTRL+A), right-click, select COPY. Then you will paste all these folders into the STANDBY>Tray folder. Then do the exact same thing with your Saves folder. Now you will have everything finally backed up. I recommend moving this STANDBY folder to an external hard drive (or flashdrive).

AFTER YOU UPDATED WITH GAME PATCH: please test once WITHOUT your Mods folder. Remove the entire Physical Mods folder from your Game Folder, place on desktop. This assists in a Folder Refresh. Let the game make a new Mods folder, with a new Resource.cfg inside, and rebuild from there. Don’t forget that you may need to turn on your Game Settings to enable script mods and custom content. This is in your Game Menu, under Other Settings. Considering “IF” the new free-floating objects feature “doesn’t” break CC. It should be safe to put your CC right back into the newly created Mods folder. At this point, you should still have your mods on your desktop. This is the point where you need to begin researching if your mods are working. To do this, you can check the comments below for mod updates. We implore you to follow creators on their social media for confirmation of working/broken mod reports. Most Script Mods WILL BREAK.  Your best bet is keeping all of your mods on your desktop and only introducing them after

a.) mod has been confirmed working

b.) mod has been replaced with updated version.

Option #2 (delay update) To delay an update, you must have pre-emptively turned OFF your Game Auto-Updates in advance. Next you will need to ensure your Origin Client is OFFLINE. This will mean that you can keep all your mods and cc in your game folder and continue to play unchanged. People do this in the meantime while they’re waiting for Creators to update their mods. This is the option for people who can’t bare to play without CC and Mods.

Option #3 (vanilla play) This option is for people who are too excited to wait any longer for the patch update and new expansion, and would rather wait for all the Creators to finish their testing and patches. So in order to do this, you will need to remove your Mods folder from your Game Folder, and place it on your desktop. Or you can disable mods and custom content in your Game Settings, under Other Settings. I still recommend backing up your saves and tray files.

FOLDER REFRESH

https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/805240/game-folder-refresh-may-fix-some-issues

GAME REFUSES TO START

If your game is not starting or prompts an error, remove all off your mods/cc, then restart. If it starts up just fine, then it is due to an error in your mods. If it does not start up, then you may have a corrupted save file due to a broken mod. Please be sure your game folder is saved in the appropriate path: PC users should look something like this (minus the kmeha..thats just my comp name) C:\Users\kmeha\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 If youre game is continuing to give you start-up issues, please feel free to post about it. But include the following: PC/Mac user? Legacy Edition? Folder Refresh conducted? Restart without mods conducted? Include picture of error message.

”MY MODS NEVER BREAK”: For those of you saying "my mods never break when i update the game". Mods can and most likely will break after an update. The word "broken" does not necessarily mean your game is going to completely stop working. So i'm going to make up an example to help you better understand. Let's say that Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod was labeled as "Broken". But when you play with it in game, you see no issues, and you receive no LastExceptionErrors. So you may think, "well thats not right, my mod is fine." when in reality its not. So some mods are massive and have loads of animations, objects, and content in general. If one tiny thing from it is corrupted in the code due to a patch update, it is considered “Broken”. So in Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod, you have five serial killers that you have the option of using. Lets say the game patch update breaks The Killer Nanny in that mod. But you never play with her ever. This could mean that you would never know that the mod is broken because you havent received any error notifications due to you not utilizing that portion of the code. This still means the mod is "broken" though. Broken can just mean that there is a small (or large) portion of the coding that is not compatible with how the game coding has changed due to the update. TLDR: a small feature can break and you would never know it if you never use it. it still means the mod is broken.

LAST EXCEPTION FILES For those of you looking for methods to read your lastException files, the following are your options:

1. Deaderpool Discord 2. Better Exceptions 3. Last Exceptions reader

DEADERPOOL DISCORD: For the deaderpool discord, you will have to create an account on discord. its super easy. i absolutely love discord. if you dont know what it is, its basically like a massive chat room platform, particularly popular amongst gamers. If you decide to create a discord account, you'll have to download the software. its totally safe! i use it all the time. a lot of gamers use it as a platform to talk to their friends over voice chat when playing a game that doesnt provide a feature like that. if you decide to join discord, here is the link for the Deaderpool Discord (ran by the creator of MCCC): https://discord.gg/mccc

if you go on there, they have a text channel called "lastexception_support". its super easy to use, all you have to do is click on that channel, and then click and drag your LE file into the channel box. it will upload it to the server. theres nothing in your file that will get you hacked or anything. tens of thousands of files have been uploaded to this. its literally just a text document saying where the error is in your mod coding. From there, someone from the Support Team will respond with a solution. Its really great because they can help you to understand reading the code.

BETTER EXCEPTIONS MOD: This is a mod that you download from Twisted Mexi. https://www.patreon.com/posts/better-major-26712505 This mod will provide a new file to generate in your game called the Better Exceptions Report. When you get one, it will tell you what it suspects is causing an issue in your game. This is one of the most user-friendly options for new modders. When you see the identifed "issue" in the report, you'll have just to exit out of game and delete the issue (broken cc/mod). Before you re-start your game, just remember to delete the BetterExceptionsReport file from your game folder. Otherwise it will not be able to update it with a new one if a new error arises.

LAST EXCEPTIONS READER: this is just a website where you can do the same thing as the deaderpool discord. just drag and drop your file, and a robot reads it to identify the issue. The only problem with this is you cant talk to the robot and explain your situation (like you can in discord).

https://lastexception.com

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Insights on sending a demo to a record label. Part 2

It’s safe to say that my previous advice on sending a demo is one of the most popular articles on this blog: there are thousand of upcoming producers looking for a proper way to reach out record labels, and I hope these insights helped to shed some light.

Today, I would like to continue that topic and share five more short tips of sending a demo to record labels based on my experience of A&R.

“Void — A Sector To Avoid” art by Kuldar Leement. So as this artwork title suggests, in this blog we’ll talk about things to avoid

Send only finished track

People often say something like this: “here is a 15-seconds draft of my new track, I’ll finish if it fit your label”. What? How can label approve something that doesn’t exist yet? What if this 15-seconds snippet is fine, but then you will suddenly come up with something entirely different that not suits the label?

Demo is a demonstration of your best skills. So show a finished track, not a half-assed product.

Double-check your links

You’ll be surprised how many broken links labels see in their inboxes! From my experience, roughly every third link is broken due to incorrect privacy settings of the track or just because of copy-pasting a wrong URL.

Apparently, I’m not alone with this. Here is what Basil O’Glue, a manager of Saturate Audio, wrote on Twitter:

Demos with a broken link... :( Cmon... labels want to hear the music, make sure the link works :)

— Basil O'Glue (@BasilOGlue) September 9, 2016

Producers! Please, double-check your links, be sure another person can open it.

Simplify your signature

Have you ever received an email with a signature that includes full sender’s address with ZIP code, fifteen links to all of his social pages, several international phone numbers, fax (who the hell still use fax nowadays?), and a huge wall of text of “dont-print-this-email-save-the-trees” and other bullshit? If so, you probably know this feeling: it’s annoying.

Such signature is nothing but a visual noise, it takes extra effort to scan the email searching for some meaningful text. Please, don’t do that. Keep it simple, your name and one link to your website are totally fine.

Don’t brag too much

Ah, this is my favourite: listing the entire discography, every single DJ’s support, and all chart appearances. Why, just why are you doing that? What the logic behind it? Every time I receive an email like this, I imagine two label managers having this conversation in my mind:

— A quite mediocre demo, not for us... — Yeah indeed, not good enough... — Hold on, he said his previous track has been supported by David Buretta! — Seriously? Sign him up!!!

Jokes asides, please don’t show off all that stuff unless it’s relevant to the label or that particular track, it’s not cool.

“Please suggest some label where it might fit”

Sometimes, when I say that the demo doesn’t fit the label, some smart guys come back asking “can you suggest some labels where it might fit?”. This question sounds harmless at first sight, but just think about it for second. Imagine if you would fail a job interview and then ask: “do you know other companies that might be interesting in hiring me?”. Sounds, erm... not quite appropriate, don’t you think?

if you don’t make any attempts to learn the industry by yourself, how are you going to work in this field? This is where we came back to what Part 1 begins with: do your research first.

P.S. This post is a part of the weekly “Advice” series. I’m happy to advise on such topics as production, performance, management, marketing, and design in the music industry and beyond. Send me your questions, too.

Источник: Daniel Lesden Blog - Insights on sending a demo to a record label. Part 2. Опубликовано с помощью IFTTT.