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iliamo · 6 years ago

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In the Middle of the Night - HWD Secret Spectre 2018

hello i’m super late aaaaa this was way longer than expected

this is for secret spectres at @hwdevents in the hetalia writer’s discord

this is a fic for @d-joana-a-shippadora, who i must thank because her request and prompt was hella fun to do and i hope y’all enjoy it

oz and kiwi are in it woohoo

(AO3 link thingy)

---

As Australia is stifling a yawn as he walks outside of the Heathrow Airport, New Zealand is next to him on the phone.

England was supposed to pick them up an hour ago. Instead, a middle-aged driver arrives and delivers an apology from England himself. He introduces himself as Robert and explains that England was busy with some government officials.

Once they are inside the vehicle, New Zealand calls England and after hanging up he explains: England is busier than expected and couldn't finish on time. He would arrive at the old house tomorrow at noon instead. The house now has Wi-Fi and some houseworkers left the place ready for them.

Australia mouths an 'oh well' and looks out the window.

- - -

After a brief detour at Tesco because Australia wanted some beer and 'whatever England keeps at the old place ain't gonna be enough', they keep their route to the old house.

The place, located in the English countryside, is an old mansion where England brought both of them as children back in the day, usually to ease them in before going to the busier cities like London.

Australia can't say he is particularly fond of the place. Most good memories seem marred by England's stuffiness. When Australia wasn't outside playing on the trees and bushes, much to England's annoyance, he was inside being scolded for not behaving like a proper gentleman (the word colony was not said out loud, but its presence was very much felt).

Perhaps England thought the familiarity would make the reunion better.

It all disappears from Australia's head once the front of the mansion became visible.

- - -

Despite the fact the last time they were inside the house was during the tail end of World War II, the place looks nearly the same as when they were children.

The rooms are large and filled with furniture over a hundred years old. If it weren't for the lights, some frames with photographs taken at recent conferences, and a couple of modern books mixed with old ones on the bookshelves, Australia would think he was being transported to the 19th century.

He and New Zealand go upstairs to the guest rooms to unpack. On the way there, he remembers the second door to the right and exclaims:

"Hey, Kiwi! 'member the cool place were the old man kept all the medieval swords 'n stuff?"

New Zealand is just turning his head when Australia is already opening the door.

Both enter and find a small room filled with all sorts of medieval memorabilia. The walls are decorated with swords, maces, and daggers; meanwhile, a large glass display contains assorted jewelry and tattered clothes.

New Zealand is staring at some medieval daggers on one wall when he hears the sound of metal against leather and turns around to see Australia unsheathing an old sword and doing a bad job of swinging it.

"Look at me, mate! Betcha I look like more badass than those dudes from Lord of the Rings!"

New Zealand tries to hold back a laugh, but it ends up sounding like a mix of a snort and choking. He smiles and answers.

"Dunno, Oz. I'd say it looks more like a kid who just discovered LARPing or Skyrim."

(He does find Australia's pout both funny and adorable at the same time, but keeps that to himself. Besides, no one disses Lord of the Rings under his watch.)

After that, they leave their luggage in the guest rooms and go back downstairs. Australia is stretching his limbs while fighting back jetlag-induced drowsiness. New Zealand, on the other hand, is in the kitchen with the coffee maker.

New Zealand pours himself a cup and walks to the dining room. At that time, he sees Australia going back to the mansion's entrance as if trying to leave already.

"Going out already?"

Although he can't see Australia at this point, he can him opening the front door and yelling back at him:

"I need some fresh air. Save some beer for me, 'kay? Be back in an hour or two."

New Zealand hears the door close and sits down, pulls out his phone and starts checking his e-mail.

- - -

Australia might not exactly be England's biggest fan, but he can admit that he loves the view of the countryside. It's nowhere near as beautiful and liberating as a summer drive in the Outback, but he'll take it.

He walks around and climbs a large tree. The forest is so large that he can't see any town or house nearby aside from the old place. The sunset is coming and the sky slowly darkens as the night make its arrival. Australia basks in the view and, as he gets ready to climb back down, he sees little dots of light on lower branches of the trees.

Once he touches the ground, he decides to follow along.

"Damn! Kiwi's gonna miss this for bein' on the bloody phone all day."

Just as Australia is about to reach for his phone inside his pants pocket for a picture, he sees a couple of strange lights in the distance. Their glow is a bit faint, but their size is larger than the lights made of glow worms and that piques his interest.

He follows them, even though he hardly notices the fact they never seem to become closer. Slowly, more strange lights start to pop up, accompanied by a soft and barely audible jingling noise.

He stops in tracks when he finds a large circle of mushrooms on the grass. At the center of it there's a small light. He enters the circle and, as he slowly gets closer, he could swear the light is a fairy or something of the sort. When he reaches his hand to touch it, the light quickly moves away and disappears.

Before he realizes it, his mind is covered in a strange fog that gradually fades away and sends him back to the 1800's.

A young Australia gasps in childlike wonder to his surrounding while, unbeknownst to him, giggles and screams roar on his back.

- - -

New Zealand, after finishing his second cup of coffee, gets bored with the house and decides to go out for some fresh air.

By now, the sky is dark and dotted with stars. The glow worms have started to do their thing and the trees and bushes.

Curious, he decided to follow the lights. Not long after, he notices that the lights are increasing in number and brightness. A few meters away he notices Australia's silhouette. New Zealand would leave him alone most days, but considering that both are jetlagged as all hell and they have to be awake the next day before noon, he decided to yell at him.

"Oz, hey! Aren't you coming back for sleep? At least for a beer?"

Australia doesn't seem to hear him and keeps walking forward. The lights seem to gather and dance around him. What catches New Zealand's attention as he gets closer is that the lights seem to make strange noises, like a mix of jingle bells and high-pitched giggles.

"Australia!"

The lights get closer and closer to Australia, to the point that New Zealand can't see him anymore. He tries to get closer, and the noise is starting to become louder.

"Oz! What are you doing!?"

Just as he reaches the mushroom circle, the lights form a wall and refuse to let New Zealand in. He can hear many voices yelling at him.

"Leave!"

"He is our friend!"

At this moment is when New Zealand realizes that the lights speaking to him are, in fact, fairies (who knew those were real!). Unsure of what to do, he decides to reason with them.

"Um... Look, I don't know if he told you anything, but he and I are friends. We grew up together... for the most part. He and I were just on our way home and-"

He doesn't get a chance to finish as the fairies interrupt him, all of them screaming over each other.

"But he is in our territory!"

"Yes! That means he is ours now."

"He has to stay here until midnight!"

New Zealand has trouble hearing what they are all saying, but he does manage to hear the last part.

"Wait, wait, wait. The hell you meant by midnight?"

The fairies start to giggle among themselves. New Zealand is not sure if it is innocent or malicious, but he does not like where things are going.

"He has to stay here!"

"When the moon reaches the highest point, he will become one of us!"

They don't really explain a lot, but New Zealand is able to gather that if Australia will be in trouble if he stays there. He tries to get closer when the fairies hiss in fury and touch his arm. It feels as if one thousand bees have stung him and he pulls back in pain.

No matter how much he tries, they do not let him get any closer. After pondering for a few moments about what he should do, an idea begins to creep in. It is not very elegant, but it seems to be his only option.

As he goes back to the mansion, he hopes that Australia may still be there once he comes back.

- - -

New Zealand nearly trips twice as he runs back to the house. The clock in the foyer proudly displays that it is 11:05 pm. New Zealand is one-hundred percent sure that there's no way time could have gone by that quickly. He decides to blame the fairies and climbs the staircase two steps at a time.

He enters England's old memorabilia room and searches the walls for a weapon that can help him.

For once in his life, he is grateful for listening to England's stories as a kid (against his will, in all fairness, but now is not the moment to mull over that). His eyes find just what he needs: an old and rusted iron dagger, probably used by England before the medieval times.

He picks it up and feels it in his hand. In all honesty, he isn't sure it is going to be that useful. The blade is dull and incapable of even making a slight cut. The handle and the blade feel so old and brittle that New Zealand is certain that the dagger will break apart the moment it collides with something. Considering that it is the only weapon in the room made of completely of iron and he has less than an hour left before it is too late for Australia, he hopes it is good enough and firmly holds it before leaving the mansion and running back into the woods.

- - -

New Zealand's legs are about to give out when he reaches the fairy portal in the grass. The fairies feel his presence and gather in front of the mushrooms in order to not let him in.

The bells and the screams are so loud that New Zealand nearly covers his ears in pain. He decides against it and opts to brandish the dagger in front of them, adjusting his posture to look stronger and more intimidating than how he usually looks like.

Upon looking at the dagger, the fairies hiss in disgust and try to avoid it while still protecting their home and Australia inside of it.

"Let me in," New Zealand demands.

They don't respond, but stay in their place, which makes their response sell evident. New Zealand walks in closer to the circle, dagger in front of him at all time and holding it with the tightest grip he can manage. They don't even try to attack him and he's glad for it, as he is not sure the dagger is in any condition for combat.

"I just want him back, " his voice is loud, but firm, "let me in."

The fairies move away from the dagger, and thus create a way for him to enter their realm. The inside looks nearly the same as the regular woods, except for a strange air the permeates the place with an aura New Zealand can't really fully comprehend, and Australia, who is kneeling down next to a bush and staring at it with a mixture of wonder and reverence.

"Oz, come on. Let's go back."

It doesn't seem like Australia is ignoring him on purpose, but more like he doesn't seem to be aware that New Zealand is talking next to him.

New Zealand kneels down as well and looks at him. Australia's eyes are glassy and don't even seem to be really looking at the bush, but rather at something inside his head, as if in a trance.

New Zealand pats him on the shoulder and to talk to him again.

"Australia, we have to go. Now."

No response.

"Australia, please! We can't stay here!"

Australia's lack of response worries New Zealand to the point that doesn't even notice the fact that he's screaming and gripping Australia's shoulders so hard to the point of bruising.

- - -

Australia sits on his knees as he intently observes a row of ants going in its merry way.

He was eating dinner with England inside the mansion. He would have stayed there, except that he became fed up after England slapped his hand for the third time that night: once for chewing with the mouth open and twice for not picking the right fork when at the dinner table.

"....ia..."

He hears a faint voice in the distance but, assuming it to be England's, decides to ignore it.

"...alia... wa.... up"

The voice is increasing in volume, albeit not by much. At the very least, Australia can now tell it's not England speaking. Who could it be?

"...wa... up!"

He gets up, brushes dirt off his pants and looks around to find a small silhouette in the distance on the way to the mansion. India and Canada are too big for that, he's sure. He squints his eyes and manages to see a familiar hairstyle.

"Oi, Zee! What are you doing over there!?" he yells back.

New Zealand does not move. The voice is becoming louder and clearer.

"Wake up! We have to go now!"

He is sure that's not New Zealand's voice, he is way higher-pitched, especially when yelling.

"Can you hear that voice too, mate?"

For some strange reason, even though he can't pinpoint the owner of that voice, he can't help but feel a strong sense of familiarity, as if he had heard it before.

At that moment, New Zealand begins to run in his direction while the voice keeps repeating the same phrases over and over. The trees seem to blur together and he feels heavy on the head.

As New Zealand gets closer, Australia notices that he doesn't look as young as he should be. New Zealand seems taller and more fit, even if the hair is the same.

Australia doesn't know what to do when New Zealand sits down next to him, smiles, and offers his hand...

"Come on Oz, we have to go back."

... but he takes it.

- - -

In that precise moment, Australia is startled awake and looks at his surroundings in confusion.

"Wha..?"

In front of him is New Zealand, who has a death grip on his shoulders (it's starting to hurt, even) and his face can only be described as smiling in relief.

"You're back!"

Without thinking, New Zealand is hugging Australia, not caring about anything else other than he made it in time.

Behind them, the fairies scream in anger.

"Kiwi, what's goin' on?" says Australia as he points at them, still a bit disoriented.

New Zealand shows Australia the dagger he's holding and says:

"Just hold this with me and let's get out of here."

The fairies scream and cry to no avail, powerless to do anything else. The noise slowly fades away as the return to the old place.

Once both enter the house, they collapse onto the sofa in the living room, jetlag and exhaustion making their grand comeback.

"Can you now tell me what just happened?"

New Zealand leaves the dagger at a small table and rubs his incoming headache as he tries to think of the best way to explain everything.

"You wandered into a fairy realm and almost became trapped there forever."

"And the knife?"

"England's. It's a long story."

Australia doesn't seem satisfied with his answers, but decides to not ask any further. He takes a few deep breaths and says:

"Kiwi?"

"Yeah?

"Thanks, mate."

New Zealand smiles as both enter the world of sleep.

The next day, at noon, England arrives and finds both of them sleeping on the sofa and embracing each other.

#hetalia #aph #aph australia #aph new zealand #hetaliawritersdiscord #secretspectres

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livingcorner · 3 years ago

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Best kitchen flooring 2021: The toughest and most stylish kitchen flooring in wood, laminate tile and more

Kitchen floors have to withstand all sorts, which is why we’ve worked hard to find some of the best kitchen flooring out there. Not only does your flooring need to be easy to clean, but also stain-resistant, stylish and comfortable to walk on. Some need to work with different surfaces or floor constructions, while others need to be compatible with underfloor heating (UFH), too. All need to last for many years, as replacing a floor is never cheap or fun.

READ NEXT: Our pick of the best steam cleaners

You're reading: Best kitchen flooring 2021: The toughest and most stylish kitchen flooring in wood, laminate tile and more

Thankfully, there’s a huge choice of materials on offer, with advanced printing techniques enabling the look of timber or stone with the affordability of laminate or the durability of porcelain. If you’re keen to keep maintenance to a minimum, easily moppable luxury vinyl tiles (LVTs) are a good fit. Similarly, if you have time to clean regularly and want flooring with more character, a natural material that requires some sealing or waxing may be the best choice for you.

To help you make your decision and find the best kitchen flooring whatever your needs, we’ve picked out a varied choice of fantastic flooring to keep your feet and home happy.

Read on for our guide to buying the best kitchen flooring or scroll further to see our top picks.

Best kitchen flooring: At a glance

Best kitchen flooring on a budget: Topps Tiles Woodeves Grey tiles | Buy now

Best for family kitchens: Karndean Da Vinci CER13 Eisen | Buy now

Best for speedy installation: Aqualock 12mm Laminate Flooring | Buy now

Longest-lasting floor: Beswick Stone Keynes Mix Limestone | Buy now

Best flooring for a classic kitchen: The Natural Wood Floor Company Oak Aged Parquet Oiled | Buy now

How to buy the best kitchen flooring for you

What types of kitchen flooring can you buy?

Natural stone

This includes limestone, travertine, granite and slate, is a popular choice thanks to its unique veining and available colours. Finishes can be tumbled, for a more aged, antique look, honed, for a modern matt surface or polished for a light-reflecting shine. Some stones will be more hardwearing than others.

Limestone, for example, can be etched by acids, such as fizzy drinks and descaler, so it’s a good idea to seal it initially then reseal it regularly to protect the surface. On the plus side, it’s durable, easy to clean and is UFH-compatible. However, if you’re standing for any length of time, it can make your legs ache. It’ll be cold in the winter without UFH, while softer stones may scratch and textured surfaces harbour dirt.

Timber

It’s best to avoid using solid wood in the working areas of a kitchen as the boards can shift and warp with humidity and UFH. Blocks, such as parquet, are more stable but should still be cleaned with a damp, rather than wet, mop. A better option is engineered boards – made with a core of HDF or plywood with a layer of real wood on top. These are more stable structurally and usually UFH-compatible as well.

Other options include naturally bacteria-resistant and eco-friendly cork and bamboo, but like all such woods, they’re easily dented. In most cases, wood can be repaired with gentle sanding and refinishing. Check if your boards come prefinished or if they have to be oiled or waxed on a regular basis.

Vinyl

Vinyl has come a long way since it first appeared in the kitchen and its new-gen hard incarnation, LVT (as opposed to sheet vinyl on a roll), is easy to clean, water-resistant and comfy underfoot. In some cases, it can even be laid straight over an existing floor. Most tiles and planks replicate wood or stone with a digital print and faux grout lines but you can also find coloured and patterned tiles. Choose a good-quality version and it’ll have a thick wear layer so it protects against damage and scratches. Many are UFH-compatible but check with the supplier.

Laying it properly is key to its longevity – the sub-floor will need to be even and you may have to fit underlay first or glue it in place, depending on the system. Be sure to add pads to stool or chair legs to prevent damage over time.

Laminate

If you’re choosing laminate, it pays to invest. While there are several budget options, they may not be especially hardwearing or water-resistant. Good-quality versions, however, come with realistic-looking designs and planks that can survive the odd spill. Laminate is made from a melamine back, an HDF core and a high-resolution image of wood, stone or tiles protected by a transparent wear layer. This makes it resistant to scuffs and scratches, although damage can’t be repaired.

Read more: What Color Should I Paint My Kitchen with White Cabinets? 7 Best Choices to Consider

Laminate can also sometimes feature a textured finish for extra realism. Even at the top end, it’s still a relatively affordable flooring option that won’t stain and won’t need sealing. Check its UFH-compatibility though, as not all of them will suit dry systems, and some require underlay.

Tiles

Ceramic, porcelain or terracotta tiles are another popular option. Porcelain is a harder version of ceramic, meaning that it’s low maintenance, hygienic, easy to clean and incredibly durable. It’s also UFH-compatible and is often available in covetable marble or reclaimed timber effects. Porcelain tiles are usually more expensive than ceramic. They’re cold without heating and can be uncomfortable for long periods of standing.

More affordable ceramic and terracotta tiles have many of the same qualities but can crack and chip more than porcelain. This is worse for ceramic tiles, as any chips will reveal the white base – terracotta is, at least, solid-bodied.

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Lino or rubber

Lino – or under its brand name, Marmoleum, is a mix of linseed oil, cork, wood and resin as waterproof sheets or tiles. It’s durable, warm underfoot and hygienic but needs to be sealed once it’s laid. On the plus side, it’s easy to clean and UFH-compatible. On the negative? It can fade over time or develop a yellowish tinge.

Rubber tiles or sheets are equally comfy underfoot, and have the bonus of being water-resistant and robust. It can even be designed with studs for extra grip. On the downside, it can dent over time, and smooth finishes can be slippery. Rubber tiles need a smooth subfloor and you’ll need to check if your version is UFH-compatible.

Concrete and resin

Poured floors are ideal for creating a seamless finish but require more complex, and often costly, installation. Concrete needs sealing once it’s set to be water and stain-resistant, but it’s otherwise easy to clean and UFH-compatible. It’s resistant to chips and cracks. Resin is warm underfoot, waterproof, easy to clean and UFH-compatible but again, will need to be sealed to help protect it from scratches and stains. However, it can be refreshed with sanding and resealed if damaged.

READ NEXT: The best vacuum cleaners on the market

The best kitchen flooring to buy

1. Aqualock 12mm Laminate Flooring French Grey Oak: The best flooring for speedy installation

Price: £27 per sq m | Buy now from UK Flooring Direct

If you’re fitting your flooring yourself or are simply pressed for time, then these laminate floorboards from Aqualock come with a DIY friendly click-in system that makes them super simple to fit. They’re guaranteed for 35 years and remain water-resistant for up to 48 hours, so you won’t have to worry if you’ve got leaks (at least, not about your flooring).

Another appeal of this flooring is its mixing of different tones of grey; this creates a dynamic look, unlike the flat, repetitive uniformity of other laminate floorboards. This colour mixing makes it easy to match with any kitchen colour palette and there’s also a UV-resistant coating that helps to prevent colour fading. The floor’s scratch resistant textured surface follows the ‘grain’ of the planks meaning that you can drop pretty much anything on this floor and it won’t get damaged, or lose its realistic appearance.

Key specs – Size: 138 x 19.1 x 1.2cm (HWD); Type: laminate; Features: 48 hour water resistance, UV resistance, scratch-resistant, textured surface, 35-year warranty; UFH-compatible: Yes (water only)

Buy now from UK Flooring Direct

2. Karndean Da Vinci CER13 Eisen: The best for family kitchens

Price: From £38 per sq m | Buy now from Flooring Hut

Inspired by weathered steel, Eisen LVT flooring doesn’t just tick the box for style credentials, it’s also perfect for a family kitchen. It’s super low maintenance, requiring a simple sweep and mop to stay spotless, plus it’s waterproof so there’s no need to worry about spills; just wipe and go. Should any part become damaged, individual tiles can be replaced, while its K-Guard+ PU coating creates a non-porous surface that gives germs, dirt or bacteria nowhere to hide.

Meanwhile, the blend of dark tones and subtle patterns ensures that it’ll complement a range of kitchen styles. You can personalise it with borders or light or dark grout strips, or have it laid in a staggered pattern. It’s pricier than some LVT, however, so if you’re covering a large space, you may want to opt for it in just in the working area.

Key specs – Size: 30.5 x 45.7 x 0.3cm (HWD); Type: LVT; Features: 0.7mm wear layer, bevelled edge, lifetime guarantee; UFH-compatible: Yes (if insulated)

Buy now from Flooring Hut

3. Topps Tiles Woodeves Grey tiles: The best kitchen flooring on a budget

Price: £20 per sq m | Buy now from Topps Tiles

Embodying all that’s great about modern ceramic flooring, the Woodeves range of timber-effect tiles comes with a tactile surface and a realistic grain pattern, giving it a premium look far beyond its price tag. This mellow grey colourway is ideal for mixing and matching with encaustic-style tiles or co-ordinating with a simple Shaker kitchen in a deeper tone.

The tiles need very little maintenance once installed, and aside from not using highly alkaline or acidic cleaners, can be kept spotless with a simple sweep and mop.

Key specs – Size: 57 x 19 x 0.9cm (HWD); Type: ceramic; Features: also available in Oak; UFH-compatible: Yes

Buy now from Topps Tiles

Read more: How to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets

4. The Natural Wood Floor Company Oak Aged Parquet Oiled: The best flooring for a classic kitchen

Price: £63 per sq m | Buy now from the Natural Wood Floor Company

Parquet wood flooring is a great way to introduce subtle pattern, but while solid blocks will be less prone to warping than planks, they’re still not recommended for use with underfloor heating. This engineered parquet floor is UFH-compatible, however, thanks to a ply backing with an oak veneer glued on top – giving the appearance of a solid wood floor but with greater stability.

Tumbled edges and a reclaimed appearance means it’ll look like it’s been part of the fabric of your home for decades, while its pre-oiled finish enhances the natural beauty and knots of the wood, and it can be stuck down to a concrete screed or ply subfloor. This one will take a little maintenance – It’s a good idea to re-oil it regularly in high traffic areas, and the kitchen always qualifies.

Key specs – Size: 40 x 10 x 1.9cm (HWD); Type: engineered wood; Features: tongue and groove profile; UFH-compatible: Yes

Buy now from the Natural Wood Floor Company

5. Beswick Stone Keynes Mix Limestone: The longest-lasting floor

Price: £41 per sq m | Buy now from Beswick Stone

While kitchen floors tend to become worn and fade with age, a hard-wearing stone floor simply improves to last a lifetime, making it the best value for money buy. This Keynes Mix limestone is a great example, featuring tiles in two neutral shades – a warm honey beige and soft grey – for a unique multi-toned floor that blends well with different kitchen styles and colours.

It’s available in 40cm widths and random lengths as well as an opus pattern that comprises four different sizes for an interesting layout. However, it’s worth noting that the tumbled edges can mean thicker grout lines that attract dirt. It’s essential to seal this floor and use a cleaner designed for natural stone products. You might also want to pair it with UFH for comfort, as limestone can be very cool to the touch.

Key specs – Size: [four tile sizes for opus pattern] 60 x 40 x 1.5cm, 40 x 40 x 1.5cm, 40 x 20 x 1.5cm, 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.5cm (all HWD); Type: natural stone; Features: chalky matte finish; UFH-compatible: Yes

Buy now from Beswick Stone

6. CRL Stone Ceralsio Calacatta Gris Polished tiles: The best low-maintenance floor

Price: From £67 per sq m | Buy now from Ceralsio

For those who love the look of marble but not the sealing and care that comes with stone, there are Ceralsio porcelain tiles. Sintered at a temperature of more than 1,200°C, these are hard-wearing, non-porous, scratch and stain-resistant and even UV stable, meaning you can continue your floor onto a patio for an inside-outside living feel.

What really sets these tiles apart, however, is the surface. It’s printed using a ‘Full Digital’ system, which means the pattern is unique and unrepeatable from tile to tile. This sets it apart from other marble look-a-like tiles, which can appear suspiciously similar to each other when viewed en-masse on the kitchen floor. You might need to budget a bit more for this class of flooring, but given its easy cleaning credentials and general imperviousness to everything, it’ll save you plenty of time in return.

Key specs – Size: from 150 x 150 x 0.6cm (HWD); Type: porcelain; Features: natural or polished finish, impact-resistant; UFH-compatible: Yes

Buy now from Ceralsio

7. Kahrs European Naturals Collection, Oak Hampshire at John Lewis: The best flooring for natural character

Price: £67 per sq m | Buy now from John Lewis

Despite a slew of lookalikes, real wood is the only choice for some. Warm, comfy underfoot and with a wear layer that’s sliced from a single piece of oak, these matt lacquered engineered boards have a soft-polished sheen that’s designed to make the most of the grain, knots and cracks, not to mention the lovely light to dark brown colour variations. However, these boards give you more than just a clever construction – each has been specially shaped so it locks into the next, allowing it to be installed quickly with strong, glue-free joints.

This floor will need a bit more maintenance than some floors, requiring oiling once in place and spills wiped-up straight away. It also needs a well-wrung mop rather than a wet-cleaning, along with an annual re-oil. The effect is worth it, though, when you see how good these look.

Key specs – Size: 242 x 18.7 x 1.5cm (HWD); Type: engineered wood; Features: 3.5mm wear layer, 30-year warranty; UFH-compatible: Yes (with moisture barrier)

Buy now from John Lewis

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Kitchen

source https://livingcorner.com.au/best-kitchen-flooring-2021-the-toughest-and-most-stylish-kitchen-flooring-in-wood-laminate-tile-and-more/

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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The Famous Router Hackers Actually Loved

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

In a world where our routers look more and more like upside-down spiders than things you would like to have in your living room, there are only a handful of routers that may be considered “famous.”

Steve Jobs’ efforts to sell AirPort—most famously by using a hula hoop during a product demo—definitely deserve notice in this category, and the mesh routers made by the Amazon-owned Eero probably fit in this category as well.

But a certain Linksys router, despite being nearly 20 years old at this point, takes the cake—and it’s all because of a feature that initially went undocumented that proved extremely popular with a specific user base.

Let’s spend a moment reflecting on the blue-and-black icon of wireless access, the Linksys WRT54G. This is the wireless router that showed the world what a wireless router could do.

1988

The year that Linksys was formed by Janie and Victor Tsao, two Taiwanese immigrants to the United States who launched their company, initially a consultancy called DEW International, while working information technology jobs. (Victor, fun fact, was an IT manager with Taco Bell.) According to a 2004 profile in Inc., the company started as a way to connect inventors with manufacturers in the Taiwanese market, but the company moved into the hardware business itself in the early 1990s, eventually landing on home networking—a field that, in the early 2000s, Linksys came to dominate.

How black and blue became the unofficial colors of home networking during the early 2000s

Today, buying a router for your home is something that a lot of people don’t think much about. Nowadays, you can buy one for a few dollars used and less than $20 new.

But in the late 1990s, it was a complete nonentity, a market that had not been on the radar of many networking hardware companies, because the need for networking had been limited to the office. Which meant that installing a router was both extremely expensive and beyond the reach of mere mortals.

It’s the kind of situation that helps companies on the periphery, not quite big enough to play with the big fish, but small enough to sense an opportunity. During its first decade of existence, Janie and Victor Tsao took advantage of such opportunities, using market shifts to help better position their networking hardware.

In the early 90s, Linksys hardware had to come with its own drivers. But when Windows 95 came along, networking was built in—and that meant a major barrier for Linksys’ market share suddenly disappeared overnight, which meant there was suddenly a growing demand for its network adapters, which fit inside desktops and laptops alike.

While Victor was helping to lead and handle the technical end, Janie was working out distribution deals with major retailers such as Best Buy, which helped to take the networking cards mainstream in the technology world.

But the real opportunity, the one that made Linksys hard to shake for years afterwards, came when Victor built a router with a home audience in mind. With dial-up modems on their way out, there was a sudden need.

“As home broadband Internet use began to bloom in the late ’90s, at costs significantly higher than those for dial-up connections, Victor realized that people were going to want to hook all their small-office or home computers to one line,” the Inc. profile on Janie and Victor stated. “To do so they would need a router, a high-tech cord splitter allowing multiple computers to hook into one modem.”

The companies Linksys was competing with were, again, focused on a market where routers cost nearly as much as a computer itself. But Victor found the sweet spot: A $199 router that came with software that was easy to set up and reasonably understandable for mere mortals. And it had the distinctive design that Linksys became known for—a mixture of blue and biack plastics, with an array of tiny LED lights on the front.

In a review of the EtherFast Cable/DSL router, PC Magazine noted that Linksys did far more than was asked of it.

“A price of $200 would be a breakthrough for a dual Ethernet port router, but Linksys has packed even more value into the 1.8- by 9.3- by 5.6-inch (HWD) package,” reviewer Craig Ellison wrote. The router, which could handle speeds of up to 100 megabits, sported four ports—and could theoretically handle hundreds of IP addresses.

Perhaps it wasn’t as overwhelmingly reliable as some of its more expensive competitors, but it was reasonably priced for homes, and that made it an attractive proposition.

This router was a smash success, helping to put Linksys on top of a fledgling market with market share that put its competitors to shame. In fact, the only thing that was really wrong about the router was that it did not support wireless. But Linksys’ name recognition meant that when it did, there would be an existing audience that would find its low cost and basic use cases fascinating.

One router in particular proved specifically popular—though not for the reasons Linksys anticipated.

$500M

The amount that Cisco, the networking hardware giant, acquired Linksys for in 2003. The acquisition came at a time when Linksys was making half a billion dollars a year, and was growing fast in large part because of the success of its routers, among other networking equipment. In comments to NetworkWorld, Victor Tsao claimed that there was no overlap between the unmanaged networking of Linksys routers and the managed networking of Cisco’s existing infrastructure. They did things differently—something Cisco would soon find out the hard way.

Not only was the WRT54G cheap, it was hackable. (Jay Gooby/Flickr)

How an accidental feature in Linksys’ wireless router turned a ho-hum router into an enthusiast device

In many ways, the WRT54G router series has become something of the Nintendo Entertainment System of wireless routers. Coming around relatively early in the mainstream history of the wireless router, it showed a flexibility far beyond what its creator intended for the device. While not the only game in town, it was overwhelmingly prevalent in homes around the world.

Although much less heralded, its success was comparable to the then-contemporary Motorola RAZR for a time, in that it was basically everywhere, on shelves in homes and small businesses around the world. The WRT54G, despite the scary name, was the wireless router people who needed a wireless router would buy.

And odds are, it may still be in use in a lot of places, even though its security standards are well past its prime and it looks extremely dated on a mantle. (The story of the Amiga that controlled a school district’s HVAC systems comes to mind.)

But the reason the WRT54G series has held on for so long, despite using a wireless protocol that was effectively made obsolete 12 years ago, might come down to a feature that was initially undocumented—a feature that got through amid all the complications of a big merger. Intentionally or not, the WRT54G was hiding something fundamental on the router’s firmware: Software based on Linux.

This was a problem, because it meant that Linksys would be compelled to release the source code of its wireless firmware under the GNU General Public License, which requires the distribution of the derivative software under the same terms as the software that inspired it.

Andrew Miklas, a contributor on the Linux kernel email list, explained that he had personally reached out to a member of the company’s staff and confirmed that the software was based on Linux … but eventually found his contact had stopped getting back to him.

Miklas noted that his interest in the flashed file was driven in part by a desire to see better Linux support for the still-relatively-new 802.11g standard that the device supported.

“I know that some wireless companies have been hesitant of releasing open source drivers because they are worried their radios might be pushed out of spec,” he wrote. “However, if the drivers are already written, would there be any technical reason why they could not simply be recompiled for Intel hardware, and released as binary-only modules?”

Mikas caught something interesting, but something that shouldn’t have been there. This was an oversight on the part of Cisco, which got an unhappy surprise about a popular product sold by its recent acquisition just months after its release. Essentially, what happened was that one of their suppliers apparently got a hold of Linux-based firmware, used it in the chips supplied to the company by Broadcom, and failed to inform Linksys, which then sold the software off to Cisco.

In a 2005 column for Linux Insider, Heather J. Meeker, a lawyer focused on issues of intellectual property and open-source software, wrote that this would have been a tall order for Cisco to figure out on its own:

The first takeaway from this case is the difficulty of doing enough diligence on software development in an age of vertical disintegration. Cisco knew nothing about the problem, despite presumably having done intellectual property diligence on Linksys before it bought the company. But to confound matters, Linksys probably knew nothing of the problem either, because Linksys has been buying the culprit chipsets from Broadcom, and Broadcom also presumably did not know, because it in turn outsourced the development of the firmware for the chipset to an overseas developer.

To discover the problem, Cisco would have had to do diligence through three levels of product integration, which anyone in the mergers and acquisitions trade can tell you is just about impossible. This was not sloppiness or carelessness—it was opaqueness.

Bruce Perens, a venture capitalist, open-source advocate, and former project leader for the Debian Linux distribution, told LinuxDevices that Cisco wasn’t to blame for what happened, but still faced compliance issues with the open-source license.

“Subcontractors in general are not doing enough to inform clients about their obligations under the GPL,” Perens said. (He added that, despite offering to help Cisco, they were not getting back to him.)

Nonetheless, the info about the router with the open-source firmware was out there, and Mikas’ post quickly gained attention in the enthusiast community. A Slashdot post could already see the possibilities: “This could be interesting: it might provide the possibility of building an uber-cool accesspoint firmware with IPsec and native ipv6 support etc etc, using this information!”

And as Slashdot commentators are known to do, they spoke up.

It clearly wasn’t done with a sense of excitement, but within about a month of the post hitting Slashdot, the company released its open-source firmware.

A WRT54G removed from its case. The device, thanks to its Linux firmware, became the target of both software and hardware hacks. (Felipe Fonesca/Flickr)

To hackers, this opened up a world of opportunity, and third-party developers quickly added capabilities to the original hardware that was never intended. This was essentially a commodity router that could be “hacked” to spit out a more powerful wireless signal at direct odds with the Federal Communications Commission, developed into an SSH server or VPN for your home network, or more colorfully, turned into the brains of a robot.

It also proved the root for some useful open-source firmware in the form of OpenWrt and Tomato, among others, which meant that there was a whole infrastructure to help extend your router beyond what the manufacturer wanted you to do.

Cisco was essentially compelled by the threat of legal action to release the Linux-based firmware under the GPL, but it was not thrilled to see that the device whose success finally gave it the foothold in the home that had long evaded the company being used in ways beyond what the box said.

As Lifehacker put it way back in 2006, it was the perfect way to turn your $60 router into a $600 router, which likely meant it was potentially costing Cisco money to have a device this good on the market.

So as a result, the company “upgraded” the router in a way that was effectively a downgrade, removing the Linux-based firmware, replacing it with a proprietary equivalent, and cutting down the amount of RAM and storage the device used, which made it difficult to replace the firmware with something created by a third party. This angered end users, and Cisco (apparently realizing it had screwed up) eventually released a Linux version of the router, the WRT54GL, which restored the specifications removed.

That’s the model you can still find on Amazon today, and still maintains a support page on Linksys’ website—and despite topping out at just 54 megabits per second through wireless means, a paltry number given what modern routers at the same price point can do, it’s still on sale.

The whole mess about the GPL came to bite in the years after the firmware oversight was first discovered—Cisco eventually paid a settlement to the Free Software Foundation—but it actually informed Linksys’ brand. Today, the company sells an entire line of black-and-blue routers that maintain support for open-source firmware. (They cost way more than the WRT54G ever did, though.)

“We want this book to expand the audience of the WRT54G platform, and embedded device usage as a whole, unlocking the potential that this platform has to offer.”

— A passage from the introduction of the 2007 book Linksys WRT54G Ultimate Hacking, a book that played into the fact that the WRT54G was a hackable embedded system that was fully mainstream and could be used in numerous ways—both for fun and practical use cases. Yes, hacking this device became so common that there is an entire 400-page book dedicated to the concept.

Now, to be clear, most people who bought a variant of the WRT54G at Best Buy likely did not care that the firmware was open source. But the decision created a cult of sorts around the device by making it hackable and able to do more things than the box on its own might have suggested. And that cult audience helped to drive longstanding interest in the device well beyond its hacker roots.

It was an unintentional word-of-mouth play, almost. When the average person asked their tech-savvy friend, “what router should I buy,” guess which one they brought up.

You know something has become a legendary hacking target when there’s a book about it. (via Bookshop)

A 2016 Ars Technica piece revealed the router, at the time, was still making millions of dollars a year for Linksys, which by that time had been sold to Belkin. Despite being nowhere near as powerful as more expensive options, the WRT54GL—yes, specifically the one with Linux—retained an audience well into its second decade because it was perceived as being extremely reliable and easy to use.

“We’ll keep building it because people keep buying it,” Linksys Global Product Manager Vince La Duca said at the time, stating that the factor that kept the router on sale was that the parts for it continued to be manufactured.

I said earlier that in many ways the WRT54G was the Nintendo Entertainment System of wireless routers. And I think that is especially true in the context of the fact that it had a fairly sizable afterlife, just as the NES did. Instead of blocky graphics and limited video output options, the WRT54G’s calling cards are a very spartan design and networking capabilities that fail to keep up with the times, but somehow maintain their modern charm.

In a world where routers increasingly look like set pieces from syndicated sci-fi shows from the ’90s, there is something nice about not having to think about the device that manages your network.

The result of all this is that, despite its extreme age and not-ready-for-the-living-room looks, it sold well for years past its sell-by date—in large part because of its reliance on open-source drivers.

If your user base is telling you to stick with something, stick with it.

The Famous Router Hackers Actually Loved syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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checkursanity · 7 years ago

Text

The Bias Tag

existential crisis here we go

i was tagged by the lovely @aqustx annie, you beautiful tropical fish....

Rules: Write down your top 10 biases and answer the following questions.

1. himchan

2. hakyeon

3. momo

4. joy

5. jiwoo

6. krystal

7. jackson

8. gunwoo

9. changsub

10. shownu

Q1: Between 1 & 4, Who would you rather kiss? gdi both good but my heart belongs to meme face himchan

Q2: Between 2 & 7, who would be your best friend? Hakyeon would be that bff you know, the one to be extra with, the friend to make schemes with he’s also the only man who has yet to fail me, Jackson would be that friend that you love very much but has disappointed you and you feel like, “should we hang or nah” and its horrible.

Q3: Between 5 & 10, who has the better voice? oh dear god, I gotta go with jiwoo just because she gives kard that extra spark

Q4: Between 1 & 8, who is the funniest?

himchan makes me cringe so hard at times you seriously can’t compete

Q5: Between 6 & 9, who would you date? me and krystal having cute dates and judging people together? more likely than you think

Q6: Between 9 & 10, who would you do a collaboration with? shownu because he would help me not sound completely horrible and changsub would obliterate me the second he starts singing plus he would make fun of me he is a member of btob yall.

Q7: Between 4 & 8, Who is the best dancer?? um didn’t gunwoo take ballet or was that insoo???? either way joy because she’s joy and she can do anything

Q8: Between 3 & 5, Who would you most likely marry? momo is super cute and tbh.....she deserves better, I’ll marry jiwoo, she’ll defend me when ppl start to bother me, she’ll beat them up for me, I love her

Q9: Between 1 & 7, Who would you nurse back to health ?? sorry #7 but nobody beats himchan in any would you rather game in this house

Q10: Between 2 & 3, who has the better smile?? I swear I tried to remember hakyeon smiling but all I have in my brain is he making faces of either disgust or annoyance or his “I’m gonna beat your ass” face. momo on the other hand is always smiling, oh momo you beautiful, naïve, sophisticated newborn baby.

Q11: Between 6 & 8, who would you vacation with? krystal, we would have so much fun together.

well this wasn’t bad at all, I actually had fun. now I tag @comintoyoulive who I’m sure christian and insoo will make her list (who tf did ballet in myname, help) @eccentra because I can’t remember the last time she talked about some guy from infinite (god I hope it was you, there is this faint memory in my fish brain) @himchan-and-the-bald-bois @bestabsoluteshitposts because I want more friends in the baby fandom but I don’t know how to approach, @whoasie @yoongiinscarf @yglies other ppl I want to get close to. @yonggukology zoey I don’t know if you are still in this hell site but hey hwd, I miss you. and @aqustx I am here to give you another identity crisis, you don’t have to do 10 instead you gotta do 6, as in just the group day6, oh I love chaos.

#tag game #also the I tend to ramble when I'm excited game #don't feel pressured to do this

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daehwins · 7 years ago

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(cute ask thing) 2, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 28, 34, 46, 51, 52, 57, 60, 66, 75, 94, 99 and 100 (have fun)

w.yaaa hey sweetie ilu thank u for this and keeping me occupied when im supposed to be sleeping dfshdhj. @haeochan

2). do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

no! unless im rlly warm then im up for it, but most of the times im freezing and dying, plus i dont like cold air in general bcs its hard for me to breathe in hwds.

10). do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

i’m more or less an octopus?? i like to roll around and wake up frequently during the night and cant stay still. i start out on my side tho and most of the time wake up on my side or stomach.

12). what's your favorite planet?

i never rlly thought out this tbh?? i dont kno much about the solar system so wdsb.. mayb pluto bcs its not a planet anymore and im salty about it

13). what's something that made you smile today?

you. and the people around me, today was rough but the people i surround myself with definitely made it much easier to process.

14). if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

okay so first off it would be with u. and idk?? like i can imagine a small and warm place full of blankets and soft decorations and lighting and pastel colors bcs i love pastel colors?? and animals bcs we boh love animals!! and kpop shit everywhere bcs im a mess but u would probably fite me until i cleaned up after myself!! tbh.. i would be happy with anything as long as i could be with u...

17) . what color do you really want to dye your hair?

it used to be red, but now its soft/pastel pink!! or silver or blue or anything tbh bcs i rlly am tired of my hair.

20). what’s your favorite eye color?

i dont rlly have one?? i like eyes in a person (?? that sounds weird but like.. i feel like eyes tell a lot about a person and theyre rlly pretty) like.. i like all colors in eyes tbh..??

23). what's your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

sleep?? eat?? watch meme videos, talk aboout ocs, and talk to u my honey bunches of oats (haha my job is to eMBARASS U FUCCER)

28). sunrise or sunset?

sunset bcs im lazy as hell and hate being up early as i wake up everyday before sunrise bc sof school.

34). tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

i have soooooooooooo many! but a rlly special one is a ratty old dog named puppers! i got him from a mission store when i was probably 4 or 5..? with my grandmother. hes rlly special to me and i keep him very close to me when i sleep bcs hes a large comfort to me, hes been through everything with me adn i plan keeping him as long as i can!!!

46). tell us the worst pun you can think of.

i would but that would be a PUNishment.

51). think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

you and spring day - bts. its one of my favorite songs and the lyrics just remind me of longing to meet someone one day that i miss dearly.

52). what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

all of them??

57). go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

lol i listened to the pentatonix vers. after today it makes me feel kinda weird lyrically wise.. i dont view it as the uppbeat song that everyone sings to.

60). do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

i love poetry!! i especially like to write free verse poetry. (i might add more later)

“Funeral Blues” - W.H. Auden

(last two stanzas)

“He was my North, my South, my East and West,My working week and my Sunday-rest,My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;I thought that love would last forever: I was wrongThe stars are not wanted now: put out every one;Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,For nothing now can ever come to any good.”

66). what would your ideal flower crown look like?

i have no idea tbh?? probably soft pink and blues?? idk about specific flowers

75). tell us about your pets!

i used to have a cat names rascal when i was very little! then various fish! now i have a black lab named addie! i love her very much and affectionately call her demon dog lol.

94). who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

some girl in my latin class was today but she didnt show up lol

99). list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

UHM ILL HAVE TO COME BACK TO THIS ONE WHEN IM NOT HALF ASLEEO SRRY.

100). if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

the future. i feel like the past is the past and its done, ive made my amends to what has happened and its done.i want to know where i am in the future and if i made it and am satisfied with where i am!

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