#i outperform your average person enough to be noticed

[fuckinmemesman]

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[starseedfxofficial]

Directional Movement Index Gold Strategy: Uncover Hidden Trends The Underground Guide to Trading Gold with the Directional Movement Index Alright, let’s talk about the Directional Movement Index (DMI) and gold, and why trading gold isn’t just your regular “buy low, sell high” game. It’s like gold itself: shiny, tempting, but oh boy, can it be heavy if you don’t know how to carry it. So grab your metaphorical pickaxe—we’re diving into some gold-mining tactics with the DMI that you won’t hear in most trading circles. And yes, I’ll sprinkle in some jokes, because digging for gold should be fun—just watch out for those trading pitfalls that are as common as fool’s gold. The Hidden Formula Only Experts Use: Mastering DMI for Gold Let’s start by uncovering what makes the Directional Movement Index such a big deal when it comes to trading gold. The DMI—a part of the broader Average Directional Index (ADX) created by J. Welles Wilder—is all about identifying the strength of a trend. You know, like deciding if that one trend at the gym is worth jumping on, or just another short-lived phase. Gold, being a precious metal and all, has a trend personality of its own. It doesn't always move like a currency pair or a stock—it’s more like that friend who's hard to pin down but is a total gem when you finally do. DMI helps you catch those sweet gold trends. It’s composed of two lines: the +DI and –DI, which show directional momentum. Think of +DI as the cheerleader shouting "gold is going up!" and –DI as the doomsayer murmuring "gold's about to drop." And much like a sitcom plot twist, when those lines cross, it’s time to pay attention. Why Most Traders Get It Wrong (And How You Can Avoid It) Many traders approach gold with either too much confidence or too little patience—kind of like buying a pair of on-sale shoes that you just know you’re never going to wear. When it comes to gold, you need to understand that it’s driven by more than just technical charts. Factors like inflation fears, currency volatility, and even political turmoil come into play. But here’s where the DMI can give you an edge: it helps you stay on the right side of those swings when others are just panicking. When the +DI is above the –DI, it signals bullish momentum. However, just seeing those lines cross is not enough. You need the backup of the ADX—if ADX is above 25, it means the trend is strong enough to be worth the risk. Otherwise, you’re like that guy in the background of an action movie, hoping not to get caught in the blast. The Forgotten Strategy That Outsmarted the Pros Now, here’s a little-known nugget of gold-trading wisdom. Most traders forget to look at the broader context, focusing only on the DMI crosses. But here's the thing—combining DMI with economic indicators like the PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) gives you an extra layer of insight. Gold prices tend to react strongly to shifts in economic confidence, which PMI gauges perfectly. If you see a positive PMI release alongside a strong +DI signal on gold, it’s time to move—preferably before the rest of the market wakes up and notices. An example from last year: gold made a significant move up when the U.S. PMI numbers outperformed expectations, and the DMI showed a clear bullish trend. Traders who were only looking at price charts were late to the party—but those using PMI data with their DMI had the champagne already popped. How to Predict Market Moves with Precision So how do you use the DMI to predict those juicy gold moves with ninja-level precision? The secret is in combining the DMI with trendlines on your gold chart. Yeah, I know—trendlines might sound like technical analysis 101. But hear me out: if you see a trendline break that aligns with the +DI crossing above –DI and the ADX over 25, that’s like hitting a hat trick in Forex terms. You’re layering evidence—like a detective on a case—to ensure the odds are in your favor. If the stars align and you have positive global macroeconomic data (like a weakening dollar, hint hint), then you might just have a golden opportunity—pun entirely intended. Why Patience Is the Name of the Game (And Why Most Traders Don’t Have It) The DMI isn’t a “hot tip” machine. It’s an indicator that rewards those who are willing to wait for solid signals. Think of it like fishing for goldfish—you need to wait for just the right nibble before reeling in. Traders often jump in too soon, seeing a cross of the +DI and –DI without considering whether the ADX is strong enough to support the move. My favorite anecdote? A trader friend of mine once compared the DMI without ADX confirmation to trusting a weather forecast that only gives you "cloudy." Without knowing if those clouds are storm clouds or just fluff, you could be packing an umbrella for nothing. The One Simple Trick That Can Change Your Trading Mindset Here’s the golden (yes, again with the puns) mindset shift: view trading gold with the DMI as a marathon, not a sprint. Picture gold as an elusive creature—it doesn’t care if you’re in a rush. By patiently waiting for solid DMI signals backed by ADX strength, and cross-referencing with real-world data like inflation reports or the PMI, you’re setting yourself up for success while most others are scrambling over fake breakouts. Take for example the trend in 2023: we had multiple DMI signals on gold, but only a handful of those were followed by strong ADX readings. Those who exercised patience and didn’t fall for every directional cross ended up catching the biggest moves—while the rest had to deal with those uncomfortable drawdowns. Trust me, it’s better than that sinking feeling when you accidentally sell instead of buy. Dig, Don’t Pan Trading gold with the Directional Movement Index isn’t about striking it rich overnight. It’s about strategically digging for those opportunities, leveraging the ADX for trend strength, and cross-referencing with real-world economic data to ensure you’re on the right track. Stay disciplined, stay patient, and remember—if gold was easy to trade, everyone would be sitting on a pile of it. So, let’s recap: - Use DMI to identify trends: +DI and –DI crossings are important, but only if backed by ADX strength. - Combine with macro data: Check out PMI reports or inflation data for that extra validation. - Be patient: Gold trends take time. Let them play out instead of chasing every flicker of movement. Want more exclusive insights, real-time indicators, and next-level methodologies? Check out the links below for services that can take your gold trading game from "fool’s gold" to the real deal. - Latest Economic Indicators and Forex News: Stay informed here - Forex Education for Advanced Methodologies: Learn more - Community Membership for Live Insights: Join us - Smart Trading Tool for Optimized Trades: Check it out Happy gold hunting, traders! —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[yuikomorii]

hello admin I hope this is not a repeated question and I would be grateful if you could give your opinion on this matter. Who do you think is the smartest boy in DL? Of course, not with regard to academic success, because I don't consider it as a criterion for being smart. Rather, according to the behaviors that these boys have shown so far, in your opinion, which of the 13 boys is the most intelligent?

// L to the A to the I to the T to the O !

And nobody can change my mind because this man is literally scaringly smart and will forever be the most intelligent DL character in my eyes. I will talk about him soon, I just want to get some things straight here.

Grades don’t equal intelligence, therefore I would never judge it solely on someone’s academic success. It’s not that hard getting a good score if you pay attention during class or simply study, so it’s more about effort. I’m speaking from my own experience because I’m one of my university’s top students yet there are classmates who are undoubtedly smarter than me or than the teachers themselves.

To be honest, in my opinion, the "big brain" DL boys aren't nearly as intelligent as they’re described. Sure, they're knowledgeable, but I wouldn't call them geniuses. Writers will make a character appear intelligent by having everyone else act stupid or oblivious. For example, in LE and CL, it took them 1000 years to realize that Kino, the new, mysterious guy they know nothing about, was the one causing them problems, and they were surprised despite the fact that it was obvious. I should also point out that their plans and strategies aren't particularly good; it's just that the writers will make them appear to be successful. If they gave the same plan to a seemingly stupid Diaboy, they would make him fail and face consequences.

Furthermore, it irritates me that they are constantly attempting to humiliate Yui with things they are proficient in. They test her with cubes, puzzles, musical instruments, and books in foreign languages she doesn't speak, such as Latin and German. They are aware Yui isn't the brightest, and they can clearly see she lacks knowledge and any talents, so I'm not sure how you, a "genius," would find satisfaction in seeing a seemingly stupid character fail at things stereotypically smart people excel at. Why not, for example, challenge someone of your league? Or are you afraid of failing that way, and you only get that spark from someone weaker than you?

Okay, enough of that, let's get back to Laito. Laito's brain power outperforms everyone else's and he’s not just book smart but he's also extremely street smart.

He's very perceptive and has the best ability to read others. While the big brain boys rely on simple and sometimes obvious deductions, Laito memorizes information about you and will later know how to use it against you to cause you pain. He's a master of gaslighting and convincing; he manipulated Yui into saying and doing things she would never have done otherwise, and he's impossible to trick. Every time Yui tried to be bold in front of him, saying things like "perhaps you’re the one who likes the pain" or "you’re the masochist”, Laito twisted her words so as to make her feel like a bad person, which she believed.

I understand that being manipulative does not always imply being clever, because any human being can manipulate, but Laito is not your average manipulator. To manipulate someone, you must be able to hold a large amount of information in your mind at the same time. A larger brain capacity is required to be a skilled manipulator because you are creating several different scenarios and outcomes prior to and during a conversation with the person you are attempting to manipulate. Laito has a high level of metacognition, which most people do not have, and his brain is quick, creative, adaptable, and can unquestionably be called intelligent.

You can also notice that he says some really meaningful things that Yui and his two brothers can’t understand. His poetic way of speaking isn’t a reason to mislead others or make them feel stupid, but rather he’s merely expressing his thoughts that way. I love those moments when he’s unpredictable and pulls a spontaneous psychological mind game, because I know this man would be able to twist everyone around his little finger if he wanted to, even the big brain boys (no wonder even Carla acknowledged him as intelligent).

However, one of Laito’s flaws is that he got poor emotional control and his trauma makes him perceive some things differently. He’s still dangerously intelligent and the fact his intelligence is so underrated feels unbelievable.

[shark-wrangler]

Cathar Headcanons Masterpost 2.0

(Now with 20% more facts I made up and 40% less meandering!)

But still definitely some meandering. Under a readmore so I don’t do-you-love-the-color-of-cathar your dash.

General

Cathar are basically felids evolved to fill a similar evolutionary niche to humans in the absence of any viable primate species on their native planet, in the same way hyenas evolved to fill a niche normally occupied by canids. 

They're mainly persistence hunters but not terribly efficient ones outside their home planet, mainly because rather than specializing they evolved to be kinda good at both persistence hunting and the more traditionally feline sprinting sneak attack. In terms of both speed and strength they can outperform humans on average in the short term, but have noticeably less stamina. They greatly outmatch any quadrupedal felids for stamina, though. (Mandalorians are an invasive species and in this essay I will...)

They run hotter than humans, around 100-102F.

Though height varies quite a bit across the species, cathar are taller on average than humans and build muscle more easily, making them extremely formidable opponents in hand-to-hand combat.

While they do have elongated canines, their teeth are more even in size than wild felids, and while they do still have barbed tongues, the texture is more similar to a domestic cat than anything of comparable size (ie. if one licks you for some reason it will feel sandpaper-y and weird, but they won’t take your skin off). They also have somewhat thinner skin than wild cats, though they are still more damage resistant than humans.

They have broad non-retractable claws rather than humanlike fingernails. Many cathar choose to either dull them or file them down for convenience but any who find themselves in close combat regularly usually prefer to keep them sharp. Either way they require different maintenance than human nails. They’ve also got pads on their palms, soles, and fingertips that are highly resistant to wear/damage compared to human skin.

They’re plantigrade but only have four toes on each foot arranged more symmetrically than on humans, in keeping with the general layout of felids and also because it is so much easier to draw.

They have approximately lion-like tails used in both balance and communication, and I will personally fistfight George Lucas about this.

They have tapeta lucida, which gives them excellent night vision and makes them very unsettling to encounter in the dark. Their pupils are rounded rather than slitted, and they have roughly the same range of color vision as humans, but they can also see a limited degree into the UV spectrum. They presumably evolved the ability to see red that most felids lack after they developed a more omnivorous diet, but red-green colorblindness is more common than in humans (and seen noticeably more often in northern-type cathar than southern).

Flagrant Bullshitting About Genetics

Wookieepedia describes Cathar as “a planet of savannas and rough uplands” but because I dislike the “single-biome planet” trope and also have very little grasp of geology, my vague headcanon is that Cathar at least has a tropical equator that’s primarily desert and savanna where the cathar species originated, and frozen poles that some of them later migrated to, resulting in there being basically two general types of cathar. They’re not genetically different enough to be subspecies and operate more like different races of human, and there’s a good chance there was more variety before 90% of the species was wiped out, but while they kept apace with galactic technological development they weren’t as thoroughly dominant a species on their own planet as humans are on Earth, and fairly large areas of the planet were unpopulated, at least by anything sapient.

They’re more adjacent to felinae than panthera, and are capable of purring and growling but not roaring. They don’t meow in the typical cat sense, not because they can’t but because meowing, in their species, evolved into speaking. Cathar don’t meow at each other for the same reason you don’t walk up to people and start making chimp noises (I mean, probably, I don’t know your life).

The two types, which I refer to as “northern” and “southern” because I’m from the northern hemisphere of Earth and incredibly lazy, are still recognizable by distinct traits even in SWTOR Times, with the southern type (thought to be the original) having shorter, sleeker fur, larger ears, a tendency toward lankier, more slender build, and coloration that favors deeper, warmer colors and vivid markings. The northern type tend to be less dramatic in color with a lot of pale greys and a prevalence of blue/dilute/silver genes, and lean more heavyset with smaller, shorter ears. Most cathar with northern heritage have a long guard coat and dense, husky-like undercoats, and as a result are extremely cold-tolerant. A lot of present-day (TOR-era) cathar have combinations of traits from both but you’ll still see a fair number of them who are very obviously one or the other purely because there haven’t been enough generations since the Battle of Cathar for the lines to blur much. Strongly southern cathar are more common than northern, mostly because more of them were able to escape the planet, and some of the predominantly-northern colonies tend to be more insular (though they also tend to retain more cultural history as a result, most of it distinctly northern as well, and many still hold a massive grudge against the Mandalorians to a degree that a lot of southern cathar don’t).

They have less sexual dimorphism than SWTOR implies, though females are a little smaller on average and tend to have shorter/finer manes that are closer to their base color. In terms of relative strength/mass the difference is very minor and female cathar are still very capable of fucking you up (the conventional assumption in the Empire that females are weak/docile and males are too uncontrollable to be useful as slaves is not remotely true and probably based largely on confirmation bias). 

Tangential Empire Headcanon: blood sports/gladiatorial fights are a thing in some areas of the Imperial core worlds and popular with a lot of Sith, though not broadly advertised to the galaxy at large. Most cathar slaves not being used for labor end up doing that (usually males, due to the above misconception). It’s very rare in the Empire to find them in any other roles, as they’re considered a more “primitive” species due to their outward appearance.

I now have a whole genetics chart for cathar coloration because I cannot be stopped. I should probably be stopped.

Their manes usually grow in the same area as human hair, but can extend down the back/neck, or not extend down the sides of the head to create a mohawk-looking situation. Length varies widely, sometimes only growing to a few inches and sometimes coming down to mid-back or lower, but shoulder-length is most common in males (females usually have much shorter manes and sometimes they don’t noticeably have one at all), and they frequently grow out in a mullet-like shape. Some cathar will style/trim their manes or clip them down completely, but most can get by with relatively little maintenance beyond brushing.

The rate at which cathar have twins is significantly higher than humans, around 20%. Newborn kittens are also a little smaller and less developed than human babies and require a lot of close attention for the first month or so, after which they become more resilient and catch up with humans in terms of development. They also start speaking a bit later, but begin picking up nonverbal communication around when humans start on speech (if raised by adoptive humanoid parents, their speech development will be on par with a human child but they’ll have heavily underdeveloped nonverbal communication unless socialized with other cathar, which can lead to difficulty relating to their own species later)

Until the onset of puberty, cathar have softer, downy kitten fur and no mane. Some kittens are born with markings that fade when their adult coat grows in (usually an indicator that they’ll have ghost markings as adults), others might gain more vivid and defined markings or shift darker/lighter in color. While a lot of parents will trim their kittens’ coats to keep them clean more easily and avoid mats, it’s broadly acknowledged that clipping a kitten’s coat down too far can mess with the growth pattern of their coat in adulthood and cause areas that stick out or grow in odd directions, especially in northern-type coats. Sometimes the problem corrects itself after they shed out a few times, sometimes they just have to invest in styling products or live with it. I didn’t base this on cats for the record this is not grooming advice for cats.

Food

They’re obligate carnivores and have different nutritional needs from humans (similar but not identical to those of a cat), which can be a problem in places like the military where standardized rations are the norm. In the Republic a cathar can usually put in a request for rations designed to accommodate carnivores (or supplements, failing that), though they might have some trouble on more isolated or under-supplied planets. The rare cathar in the Imperial military will have to procure supplements out of pocket. Later in the timeline when aliens in the military become more common it’s technically possible to get reimbursed for it, if they’re willing to wade through the paperwork, but Imperial rations remain human-formulated only.

Cathar are perfectly capable of eating raw meat with no ill effects, and have a whole genre of cuisine centered around it. They also have plenty of ways of cooking meat.

Their “natural” diet apart from meat mainly consists of fruit, root vegetables, dairy, and bird eggs, though the closer to the poles you get the less likely you are to encounter fruit in a dish, and the more likely you are to encounter milk products. Cathar never cultivated grain and it holds no meaningful nutritional value for them, so bread, rice, and similar products simply do not appear in traditional cuisine. This does not stop some of them from eating grain products in small amounts, as they can still enjoy the taste, but it isn’t any healthier than processed sugar is to humans and they have a high rate of gluten intolerance as a species.

All cathar have a heightened and refined ability to detect savory/umami type flavors, but around 30-40% of cathar, mostly those with northern heritage whose ancestors just didn’t evolve around fruit, have no taste receptors for sweetness at all. This has resulted in the cathar equivalent of the Cilantro Debate centering around desserts, even though they’re all perfectly aware that it’s genetic, and some who can’t taste sweetness still enjoy desserts for the other flavors in them. Those who can taste sweetness are usually about as sensitive to it as humans, though some have dulled sensitivity. 

Citrus smells horrendous and overwhelmingly strong to them.

They require somewhat less water than humans and can survive longer without it. As with cats, they can also process saltwater much more efficiently than humans and can, for a while, stay hydrated from it.

Social/Cultural Minutiae

They use a fair amount of feline body language, particularly within their own species. While facial expressions play a part in communication and they do smile, scowl, and generally express broad emotions, they have a reduced range of facial mobility compared to more humanoid species and no eyebrows to speak of, which leads to a lot of them having what humans perceive as resting bitch face. It also results in humans underestimating the range and depth of their emotions, and can be a problem with human medics/doctors who haven’t been trained to work with less humanoid aliens and won’t necessarily recognize signs of severe pain or distress.

Their ears are less articulated than a cat’s due to positioning, but still have some degree of mobility that serves more of a social function than a practical one. They also express a lot of emotion through their tails, to the point that it can be a detriment if they haven’t practiced consciously keeping control of it.

Bumping foreheads is a common way to express platonic/familial affection, or can be the equivalent of a chaste kiss between partners. They also squint and slow blink like cats do, though it doesn’t always translate clearly to other species.

They have a wider range of vocalization than humans; while their voices are mostly humanlike and they’re just as articulate, they can also growl, purr, and make sounds outside human hearing range. Those raised among humans or near-humans tend to do this less, if at all, while cathar raised in more insular communities of their own kind can come off as taciturn due to heavier reliance on nonverbal communication.

Sense of smell is much stronger and more refined than a human’s and plays a more significant role in how they perceive and navigate the galaxy. They can occasionally be mistaken for Force-sensitive by humans due to their knack for picking up on emotional distress or the presence of particular species/people by scent. This is more true with people they’re familiar with; they won’t pick out distinct members of another species by default but can reliably identify the scent of a friend or anyone else they spend a lot of time around.

The exception to the above is other cathar, who they can easily tell apart as individuals by scent. They have scent glands around the jaw/neck that come into play for identification, conveying broad emotional states, in some situations can aid medical diagnoses, among other things. They also play a part in building connection and familiarity between friends, family, or romantic partners.

There’s an entertaining but widely-dreaded stage of cathar kitten development, which usually begins when they start learning motor skills and ends mercifully quickly once they’re in the forming-sentences stage of verbal language learning, where their one and only method of problem-solving is to start rapidly smacking whatever is causing them distress until it goes away or stops distressing them. Problems that are considered slap-worthy vary widely from kitten to kitten, including but not limited to a parent trying to get them into a bathtub, an insect that’s in their immediate area, food they don’t want to eat, an object that hurt when they tried to interact with it, an object that happens to be a color they don’t like, the Wrong Parent trying to comfort them, a piece of furniture they bumped into, their own limbs that aren’t doing what they want, and many more. Their claws at this stage are soft and there’s very little actual damage they can do, and it’s a healthy and important stage of kitten development, but first words are universally met with relief by cathar parents, who are usually ecstatic by then that they’ll soon be able to parent their child without getting bapped on the nose.

I’ve thrown the whole “cathar mate for life” idea out the window because I mean. They’re cats. While individual bonded pairs are a thing and they’ll often have someone they consider a primary partner, cathar are really good at nonmonogamy and prone to forming large, complex polycules and families that vary widely in size and structure. It’s also common for them to never have any formal partners at all and simply jump between isolated hookups, and some are perfectly content never to do anything else. Kittens are raised communally within families, and most of them will have more than two individuals they consider parental figures (sometimes in the form of multiple mothers and/or fathers, but family units can contain any combination of romantic partners, aunts and uncles, and assorted godparents who might be helping with kitten-rearing, as well as various grandparents). They don’t culturally have their own marriage practices, though many relationships are lifelong and an informal exchange of meaningful items/gifts as a show of love and commitment is common in some cathar culturs, but since leaving their home planet some have adopted the idea from other cultures, particularly if they’ve formed a bond with some other species of alien that does practice it.

The Horny Section

Cathar don’t really kiss the way humans do among themselves. Their equivalent is gentle biting around the neck and jaw, which is another situation where the scent glands are relevant. When aroused that whole area becomes an erogenous zone. Cathar raised/socialized around humans or near-humans do usually know how to kiss and do so with non-cathar partners, but the whole sandpaper tongue and fangs situation means that a lot of humanoids prefer not to attempt anything more than a very short and chaste kiss.

They tend to be very bitey in general unless specifically asked not to. It only becomes a problem if the cathar in question is inexperienced with humanoids and hasn’t figured out how much bite force is acceptable for a species with thinner, more sensitive skin.

Their dicks are fairly humanoid in size and shape, though somewhat more conical at the head, but they have a sheath rather than a foreskin. After maturity they don’t actually retract into the sheath more than about two inches when flaccid, and tend to be a bit less sensitive than the average human (same keratinization factor that affects circumcised humans). It also makes them more vulnerable to damage, but since it’s customary to wear pants on most civilized planets, that never really becomes a problem in the course of a normal day. The base of the shaft that’s usually covered by the sheath has much higher sensitivity and cathar are generally thrilled when they encounter someone who actually knows that and doesn’t assume they experience sensation exactly like a human.

Conventional understanding is that cathar dicks don’t have barbs, which is true the vast majority of the time, though about 60% of them have some amount of vestigial non-keratinous bumps over their head that have no noticeable affect on anything aside from slightly increased sensitivity. Rarely an individual might develop a few actual barbs at the onset of puberty, but they have no practical function and pose a risk of discomfort and injury, and can easily be removed via a fast and mostly painless medical procedure, so the number of adults who have them is close to zero.

Females do have (mild, and mainly not at all disruptive) heat cycles. Other cathar can generally tell by scent, but not to a distracting degree, and it’s considered rude and inappropriate to point it out with anyone but a close friend or partner. They can be suppressed with some forms of hormonal birth control and plenty choose to. It should go without saying that males don’t have heat cycles, but I’ve gotten enough weird DMs about this to know that I need to say it. Unless said male is trans and not on any sort of HRT, heat cycles are not a thing.

Females kind of have breasts, in that they’re present and obvious while they’re actively nursing a kitten, but they’re flat chested or nearly most of the time. Cathar also technically have eight nipples but only the top two are functional, or visually noticeable unless you’re severely violating their personal space.

Cathar tend to be stereotyped by humans as being rough domineering alpha types in bed, probably because of the biting and the average height difference (and, especially in Imperial space, the perception of them as a more “primitive” species due to their less humanoid appearance/mannerisms). While cathar like that exist just as humans like that exist, the stereotype does not hold up in reality and they have as wide a range of preferences as any sapient species.

[seokkgenie]

I Hate You [M]

Based on an anon request. 

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Genre: enemies to lovers, smut

Words: 5.6k

You were one hundred percent convinced that the worst thing to ever happen to you was the existence of Oh Sehun.  

If looks could kill, the daggers you were shooting at him from across the room would have annihilated him. Not only was he flirting up a storm in your living room, he had the audacity to hit on your very own best friend slash roommate. You could practically see the hearts in her eyes as he smiled his perfect little smile that turned his stupid pretty eyes into crescents. You could hear his dumb deep voice laughing and his unnecessarily charming words sweeping her off her feet.

God, you hated Oh Sehun.

You hated how he was the biggest fucking moron that everyone fell in love with. You hated how he took it for granted, soaking in all the attention. You were pretty sure that there hadn’t been a single woman left at work that he hadn’t slept with, with the exception of you, of course. It was common knowledge that you hated his guts and that the feeling was mutual. It was inevitable really, given that the two of you were always at each other’s throats, trying to score the better project and to outperform each other. He was smart and he constantly asserted his intelligence which irked you more than his fuckboy ways ever could. You always felt like you were losing control when you were around him. The cool, collected, mature Y/n would take a backseat as soon he showed up and spoke, or ran his slender fingers through his fluffy black hair while he smirked and all you would want to do is run your own fingers through his thick locks and kiss that smirk off of his disgustingly handsome face.

You hated Oh Sehun. You hated how you couldn’t distinguish between hate and love anymore.

His eyes glazed through yours briefly, while your roommate was momentarily distracted by a text. He smirked at you, one side of his lips raised up, and he winked at you. You frowned more severely, while your heart rate increased rapidly. He turned his attention back to her and you couldn’t handle it anymore. You weren’t going to stand there as he made moves on your precious, innocent friend.

You walked towards them, beer bottle in your hand.  You called out to your friend, “Hey, Irene!” You decided to not acknowledge his presence and continued, without sparing him a glance, “I’m sorry about inviting so many people over. We just signed a deal with a big client, and we wanted to celebrate.”

“I love impromptu parties!” she replied, the joy evident in her tone. “You seem to be working with so many….interesting people.” She looked at Sehun while saying it.

He smiled and you scoffed, finally looking at him, “I don’t remember inviting you.” You said, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Y/n!” Irene said, clearly surprised at your lack of etiquette.

“It’s alright, babe.” Sehun said, smiling at her again. “I’m quite used to it. It’s kind of our thing, isn’t it, Y/n?”

You thought your heart would beat out of your chest. You had to mentally shake yourself to regain your senses. “If our thing is you being a dick and me putting you in your place.” You replied, the resolve surprisingly strong in your voice. You looked at Irene and pulled her along with you and when you were sure you were both out of his earshot, you explained the situation to her.

“Irene, that’s him. That’s the asshole from work that I’ve told you about.”

She looked surprised for a second, before replying, “That’s him? Wow. That’s the legendary, arrogant coworker that makes an appearance in almost every conversation that we ever have about your job?”

You nodded, “Which is why you need to stay away from him.”

“What if I don’t want to?” she asked, a small glint in her eyes.

“Are you crazy? All he wants is sex. I swear I’ve never seen him go out with anyone for more than a month.” You said, panicking.

“I like sex too, you know?” she said, and your eyes widened, unable to process what she was insinuating.

She burst out into her usual sonorous laughter and then placing her warm hand on your shoulder, she replied, “I’m kidding! Don’t look so offended. I would never sleep with him.”

You smiled, taking another sip of your beer, “Yeah, you wouldn’t want to catch any of those nasty diseases that he’s probably carrying.”

She replied, patting you on your cheek, “No, Y/n. It’s because you’re totally into him.”

You almost choked on your drink. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. The blasphemy of it shocked you to your core. Or, at least that’s what you made it seem like.

“Ew.” You replied, in between coughs. “Not in a million years.” You looked behind you and noticed that Sehun was talking to Jooyeon. She was an employee at your office and it was no secret that they had gone out several times before.

Irene sighed, “Look at you all jealous and in denial.” She smiled, tilting her head, “It’s cute. My baby is all grown up!” She hugged you and you try your best to pull away from her as she placed a kiss on your cheek.

“Stop it!” you whined, feigning annoyance at her excessive display of physical affection.

There was loud scream from the center of the room and everyone’s attention turned to the sofa on which Chanyeol, one of the more fun-loving employees, was stood, a drink in one hand and the remote to the music system in another. He yelled, clearly too drunk to care that it wasn’t his house or his speakers, “It’s time for some dancing!”

The apartment was then filled with loud music, so loud that you couldn’t think straight. Someone decided to dim the lights and the room started to seem lesser and lesser like your apartment and more and more like any dingy club that you hated to go to. From the corner of your eye, you could see that Sehun was no longer engrossed in a conversation. You had to strain your eyes due to the lack of illumination, but you could see him strutting towards you, and soon enough his tall stature was covering your own average build.

He stood next to you, but didn’t say anything. You looked towards the crowd that was forming in your living room, most of it drunk and dancing senselessly. It felt quite peculiar to see all these professionals that were usually so composed let loose and dance, some of them grinding on each other with absolutely no regard for rules or manners.

You shook your head, regret about agreeing to host the party filling you rapidly. It didn’t help that Sehun was standing next to you and you could feel him breathing and existing and owing to the alcohol in your bloodstream, you wanted to both- punch him and kiss him.

You could feel his eyes on you and you groaned, “What do you want?”

“I didn’t say anything.” He replied, shrugging.

“You’re staring at me creepily,” you replied, “Why?”

He was close enough for you to notice that he was grinning. “I know you would love nothing more than getting my attention. But, sorry, love, I’m afraid you’re just being delusional.” His emphasis on the word ‘love’ irked you. He wasn’t someone capable of that emotion. Not that it mattered to you, though. It really shouldn’t.

You rolled your eyes, “Just go away, okay? I really don’t want to argue with you right now.”

“We could do something else, you know?” he said and your head turned to meet his eyes so quickly that you almost got a whiplash. His comment wasn’t unusual but his tone made it obvious that he meant something else.

You hated it when Oh Sehun was being suggestive, his innuendos only confused you some more about what you wanted to do with this annoying, gorgeous specimen of a man.

He gestured towards the people dancing and raised his thick eyebrows at you, questioningly.

You rejected him quickly, “Why would I dance with you?”

“Why won’t you?” he asked.

“Because,” you start, raising your finger and pointing at him, “I know what your game is. I’m not going to fall for your silly fuckboy tricks.”

He opened his mouth in fake offense. “I’m hurt.”

“Fuck off.” You replied, unfazed, glaring at him.

Here’s another thing about Oh Sehun. He hardly ever showed any emotion and in the rare occasions that he did, you were left confused and lost about what you thought of him. Sure, you hated him. Of course, you loathed Oh Sehun but he made it very hard sometimes to not wonder whether it was him you actually disliked or the feelings that he stirred inside of you.

You still remember that day which still stands as the worst day of your adult life. Everything had come crashing down that day-including some walls that you had built around yourself. The greasy old Director had finally lost his mind and had gone further than just sexual remarks, you had almost lost your job for calling out his misbehavior, and your biggest presentation of the year that would have gotten you a promotion was conveniently handed over to none other than Oh Sehun.

You still remember how he had put his arms around you whispering to you that things would be okay, that you weren’t at fault. He had held you close and you had let him. His body had been warm, his voice soothing and he had seemed like a completely different person to you.

He had given a presentation that day, but contrary to everyone’s expectations, the slides had been about sexual harassment in the workplace. Safe to say, the clients weren’t happy, the bosses weren’t happy and the greasy director certainly wasn’t happy. A thorough investigation had then been underway, and you had been reinstated to your original positions while the director was fired.

It was still a legendary tale in the company. Oh Sehun was the man who single handedly helped rework the company policy about sexual harassment. To you, he was the guy who fought for you, alongside you, when everyone else was too afraid to and even though you hated him, you knew that day that maybe you had fallen in love with him.

Your attention was brought back to the party when he laughed. “You know where to find me, love.” He said and walked away. You really wished he wouldn’t tease you by calling you like that. It made you imagine things that you knew couldn’t happen between the two of you.

It was beyond your understanding why he thought he could walk up to you just to get a reaction out of you. He clearly didn’t seem to think much of it, you noticed. He began moving rhythmically to the music and you wished you could stop staring.

You spotted Jooyeon inching closer to him as she danced and before you could gauge the situation, she was dancing with him, their bodies so close to each other that you had to look away in disgust.

Ugh, you hated him.

Someone tapped on your shoulder, startling you and you turned around to meet the eyes of your friend Minseok. He smiled at your expression and said, “Hey, cool party, y/n.”

You groaned. “I’m constantly regretting my life choices.” He laughed at your predicament and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. Although he was a few years older than you and had more experience at work, you got along really well with him. He had been transferred to another department a few months back, but he was still a close friend who listened to you whine about work and understood you. He always made you feel better. The only thing about Minseok you didn’t understand was how this sweet and kind man could be friends with the likes of an asshole like Oh Sehun.

Minseok asked, “Do you want to dance?”

You replied instantly, “No.” You looked at Sehun and Jooyeon again.

Minseok caught your line of sight and smiled knowingly, “We don’t have to grind on each other, don’t worry.”

You shake your head at his attempt to make you feel at ease. “Why can’t they get a room? Nobody wants to see that!”

“Would you rather they have sex in your room?” he asked and you gasped at the horror of it. That’s right, this was your home. Who did Sehun think he was dancing provocatively with someone else.

No, wait. It doesn’t matter. You shut your eyes tightly, I hate him, I hate him. You repeated it like your own personal mantra.

“Y/n.” Minseok called, pulling you out of your trance.

“Hmm?” you simply responded.

“Come on! Let loose and have some fun!” He grabbed onto your wrist and pulled you towards the dancing crowd. You were too weak to resist him and had no choice but to follow along. He began dancing, smiling at you and mouthing, “Dance!”

You sighed, standing still in amidst the moving bodies. You shrugged and began to sway right to left along with the music. You really couldn’t dance, but that didn’t mean that you wouldn’t try and have fun. Besides, the one thing that alcohol helped you with was eliminating your over whelming self-consciousness. You could feel the alcohol that you had consumed kicking in, your body feeling less heavy and the room spinning. You had a slow metabolism, and like usual you had over- estimated how much alcohol you could actually take in and now you knew there would be another regret added to your already long list.

Minseok’s smile grew wider as you danced. You looked behind him to see your mortal enemy still dancing, but this time your eyes met and you saw his stoic, expressionless face looking at you like you had committed a crime. You turned around swiftly, making it obvious that you were ignoring him. You grabbed another bottle of beer that was placed on the table near you and gulped down a few times before Minseok was at your side, prying away the bottle.

“Woah, woah.” He said, keeping the bottle away from your reach. “I think you’ve had enough alcohol for tonight.”

You pouted, “My house, my rules.” You stated.

Minseok was stern. “You know what? I’ll let you have some more if you can walk all the way to the kitchen without falling down.”

You nodded briskly, accepting his challenge. “Easy.” You said, smirking.

You began your journey to the kitchen, the music still playing and the room still spinning. Minseok was following behind you closely, ready to help. As usual, Minseok was right and you stumbled, unable to walk straight. You bumped into an unaware coworker, who also seemed to be drunk enough to not move away. The contents of their drink was now all over your upper body. You could feel yourself falling down and you closed your eyes, waiting for the impact, but instead you felt warm hands hold you up. You opened your eyes to find yourself being propped up by Minseok.

He smiled, “Idiot, I told you so.”

You pouted some more. You hated it when someone proved you wrong. You suddenly felt the stickiness and the coolness of the wasted drink. Your shirt was clinging to your body and in your inebriated state, you tried to shake it off, eliciting laughter from Minseok.

“Do you want to clean up?” he asked.

You nodded and he continued, “Show me to your room. I’ll help you get there.”

His hand was still around your waist and you held onto his free hand for more support as you led him to your room which was right next to the kitchen. He closed the door behind him once you both were inside. The music was softer now and you plopped down on the bed. You hated being messy and even though you weren’t sober, you felt uncomfortable sitting down in soiled clothes.

“Help me.” You said, defeated. That’s another thing you didn’t like to say.

Minseok shook his head, “You never know when to stop every time you drink.” He moved towards your bathroom and walked in. You could hear the water running in the shower. He walked out again and helped you up. “Come on, let’s get you nice and sober now.”

You followed him into the bathroom but hesitated to get into the shower. “Go on,” he prompted.

You shook your head. “But…..”

“No buts.” He interrupted, pushing you in and placing you under the shower. Once you were settled, you heard Minseok walking away and closing the door behind him.

Before you could protest, water was hitting your face with such force that you had to close your eyes and gasp for air. Your hands instinctively covered your face and you rubbed your eyes. You felt like the alcohol was draining away from your system and you let the water do its job.

You groaned. You always lost control when you saw Sehun flirting around and he did it almost every day as if to purposely irk you. Once you felt like you were sober enough, you turned the shower off and stepped out. The clothes you had on were dripping and you covered yourself with a towel. You walked out to your room, leaving a trail of water in your path.

Minseok was sitting on the bed and once you were out, he asked, “Better?”

You nodded, pulling out sweatpants and a comfortable tee from your wardrobe. “I need to change.”

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Minseok asked and you nodded again.

“Just be careful. It’s all wet and slippery in there,” you warned him.

Once he was inside, you changed your clothes and lied down on the bed, sighing. You knew you had to get your priorities straight. You shouldn’t let Oh Sehun affect you anymore. You knew you should feel nothing but hatred for him and you really shouldn’t care whom he danced with or slept around with. You should concentrate on beating him at work, instead of getting drunk, showing up with a hangover and ruining your chances at climbing the corporate ladder.

Minseok walked out and sat down at the edge of your bed facing you. “Will you be fine? You seem so out of it lately.” His tone seeped with worry and you felt bad for bothering him and ruining his night.

“I’m good.” You said and to lighten the mood, you added, “I’m very tired right now, so I’m going to have to kill you tomorrow for pulling that stunt In the shower.”

“You’re welcome.” He replied, cheekily.

“I could have fallen down and died. Not to mention, my clothes are completely ruined now and—“

“Oh, grow up! I do this all the time.” He said, scrunching his face in annoyance. “You don’t know the number of times I’ve had to physically drag Sehun all the way into the shower.”

You sighed at the mention of his name. You paused for a minute before saying, “I still don’t understand how you can be friends with him.”

“You know he isn’t a bad person. I don’t know why you guys fight all the time.”

“Because he has made it his life’s mission to piss me off.” You replied, frowning.

“Funny,” Minseok said, “He says the same thing.”

You scoffed in response.

“So much sexual tension.” Minseok commented. “You’re so in love with each other, it’s gross.”

You jump up, sitting on your knees.

“What did you just say?” you asked, offended and ready to beat him up.

Minseok raised in arms in defense, laughing and you sink back down, rubbing your temples. “My head hurts.”

“Get some sleep, y/n.” he said and you hum a yes in response. You closed your eyes, breathing softly and it wasn’t long until you were deep in sleep.

 You walked into the break room and poured yourself a piping hot cup of coffee. You sat down and sighed. It was a very bad decision to have a party on a Wednesday night and an even worse decision to get drunk knowing that you would have no motivation to get any work done the following day. It didn’t help that the company had decided to hand over the reins of the big project to you and Sehun. You had learnt, first thing in the morning that you’d have to work with him for the next few weeks.

You sipped on you coffee, staring out the window, thinking about how you would get through the coming month.

The door opening got your attention and you saw none other than Sehun enter the room, getting himself his usual pineapple drink from the vending machine. Neither of you spoke, but the air was thick with tension. You decided to be the bigger person and asked, “Did you get the memo from the CEO?”

He seemed startled that you had addressed him, but recovered quickly and replied, “Unfortunately.”

“How do we go about this?” you wondered out loud.

He walked towards you and sat down next to you. You gaped at him, leaning away from him. You could smell his stupidly addicting aftershave and it bothered you to no end.

“What? Tolerating each other for a month?” he asked, rhetorically. “You could always just let me do the job and stay out of it.”

“So you can phase me out of my chance at the promotion? No fucking way.” You deadpanned.

“You seem to be busy with other things anyway, love.” There was more venom in his voice than usual.

You looked at him quizzically. “What are you talking about?”

He didn’t offer an explanation. “I can’t work with you.” He stated.

You were overcome with anger, “Then, don’t do it. I can do this on my own.”

“Yeah, right.” He scoffed.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “Are you calling me incompetent?”

“I don’t know, am I?” he replied, frustrating you some more.

“What is your problem? I don’t want to work with you either, okay? But, I’m being a grown up about this situation. Can you stop being a baby about this?” you said, you voice raising in volume without you wanting it to.

“You know I hate you, right?” Sehun asked, his jaws clenched and his eyes dark.

You knew it all too well. But, he had never said that out loud before. It made it seem real somehow and you didn’t know it would bother you so much. You weren’t expecting his words to hurt you this much.

He continued, “I’ve hated you since the day I met you. You walked in wearing your clichéd black skirt and white top, with that goddamn determination on your face. Who do you think you are, walking around being smart and dedicated and making me feel threatened about my own fucking job?”

You were thoroughly confused with what he was saying, but he didn’t give you any time to interrupt him.

“And,” he took a deep breath, “why are you nice to everybody but me? You go about giving everyone that stupid smile that lights up your stupid face and all you do is frown at me. You’re so oblivious to how you make me feel when you stand up there confidently giving a presentation and you seem to not care that all I want to do when you have that cute little dumb pout on your mouth when you’re arguing with me is kiss you senseless and shut you up.”

“Sehun….” You trailed off.

“I can’t believe you slept with my best friend.” He said, his face now red and he seemed to be breathless.

“I-I-What?” you stuttered.

“Don’t even lie to me about it. I saw you go into your room with Minseok hyung.” He stated, as though he was accusing you.

You frowned at him, unable to formulate an answer. His rant had rendered you speechless and you were having a hard time processing everything. It was too overwhelming to concentrate on what he had confessed, so you decided to reply to his accusation.

“You know what?” you started and he looked at you. “I didn’t sleep with Minseok. But, even if I did, it’s none of your fucking business. What are you, my boyfriend? It’s totally okay for you to go round fucking a different girl every week, but I’m not allowed to?”

His expression softened and he looked at you with wide eyes. It was an expression that you had never seen before. He looked embarrassed, he looked like a deer caught in headlights. The weight of what he had said seemed to have come down upon him.

“For the record,” you continued, “I hate you, Oh Sehun. You’ve done nothing but make my life miserable. I used to be so rational. I don’t know what it is about you that makes me feel like a high school girl. Why do you have to be around me being so perfect and charming and annoying? Oh my god, you’re so annoying. What’s with your stupid smile, anyway? Why does it give me all these butterflies in my stomach even though I know that it’s directed at some other woman?”

You couldn’t continue your speech as you felt his lips crash into your own. He wasn’t gentle in any way, his tongue was pushing itself into your mouth almost immediately and you let it. You let your tongue mesh with his and you moaned into his mouth. He pulled away and looked at you, his eyes searching yours as he was panting. He pulled you up from your chair, after standing up himself.

“Shut up,” he said, placing his hands around your waist and kissing you roughly again.

Your hands wrapped themselves around his arms, digging into his skin. You moved closer to him, leaving no space between your bodies. His tongue was fighting for dominance and you gave it to him. He tasted like pineapple and mint.

You felt him getting aroused, his semi-hard dick was pressing into your stomach. As if by instinct, you put your palm over his crotch and rubbed through his pants. He groaned before pulling away. You smirked at the effect that you seemed to have on him.

All these years you had suppressed how much you wanted him and now that it was finally happening, you were finding it a little hard to believe.

You pushed him back into his chair and placed yourself on his lap, straddling him.

“Y/n.” he called, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“You need to shut up,” you replied, “Or do you want me to get off?”

“God, you’re always so dominating.” He complained, kissing the skin below your earlobe. Your skirt had ridden up your knees and his hand was rubbing your bare thighs. You knew that this simple action was getting you very wet.

You couldn’t wait anymore. You pulled at his zipper and he complied as you pulled his erection out. You could see that he wasn’t hard enough yet, although the head was glistening with his precum. You moved away from him and dropped down to your knees in front of him.

You wrapped your arms around his penis, stroking it slowly, eliciting a moan from Sehun. The sound egged you on and you brought your head down, sticking out your tongue and licking a strip across his member. He stiffened at the sudden contact and took him in. You used your tongue to graze the vein on his erection and as you bobbed your head, sucking him rhythmically, his dick hardened completely. You looked up at him. He watched you as you moved, straddling him again.

He whispered into your ear, “You don’t know how long I’ve been imagining this. Your mouth around my dick. God, y/n, I hate how you make me feel.”

He trailed kisses down your neck, to your chest, giving it a tight squeeze through your clothes. You wanted to tell him how you felt, you wanted to come clean about how he wasn’t the only one who had imagined it. But, you decided to show it to him, instead.

You pulled yourself up a little, grabbing onto his wide shoulders for support and his arms held onto your waist to support you. You pulled down your underwear as quickly as you could and tossed it onto the floor. You looked at him again and asked, “Do you have a condom?”

He looked at you, an amused expression on his face. He nodded and pulled out his wallet, handing it to you. You pulled out the condom and removed the latex from its cover. “I don’t want to catch whatever diseases that you’re carrying.” You muttered.

He laughed and said, “I can’t believe we’re having sex in the break room.”

“I’m sure you’ve done this before.” You replied, referring to his womanizing ways.

“Actually, no, I haven’t. It’s too risky, love. Anyone could walk in right now.”

Your eyes widened in realization. “Shit.” You replied.

“Yeah.” He said, laughing. “Who knew the boring, miss perfect y/n could be such a daredevil.”

“I don’t care.” You said, with hooded eyes. You held his erect member in your hands and rolled the condom around him. You positioned it to your entrance, rubbing it across your slit once. The contact with your clit made you moan and Sehun grabbed you closer as he slid into you. The stretch made you close your eyes in pleasure.

You started slow, moving up and down painfully slowly. He bucked his hips up and looking at his face, glistening with sweat and pleasure that was because of you, you couldn’t help but quicken your pace. His nails dug into your waist, and his mouth was leaving purple bruises across your exposed neck.

You moaned as you felt pressure building inside your abdomen. “I-I’m close.” You stated and he hummed against your neck.

“You’re so sexy, you know that?” he said softly, “You don’t know how good you look riding on my dick like this.”

His words seemed to help being you to the edge. Your saw white spots as your walls clenched around him. You head fell forward and rested on his shoulder and he helped you move against his dick, riding out your high. He groaned as he came into the confines of the condom, tilting his head back.

Both of you sat there, panting and unable to move from the aftereffect of the orgasms. Once you had caught your breath, you got up from his lap, his now flaccid member sliding out of you. You picked up your underwear and put it back on.

You watched as he pushed his member back in and pulled up his zipper. You just stood motionlessly, looking at the ground, biting your lip with uncertainty.

You had just had sex with Oh Sehun.

What were you supposed to do next?

You turned to walk away, wanting to think about what to do before confronting him. But, he caught hold of your hand and made you stay.

“Don’t run away.” He said. There was a tenderness in his voice that was hard to miss. You looked up at him. His hands intertwined with your own. “I hate it when you run away instead of discussing something.”

“What’s there to discuss?” you asked, defensively. You pulled your hands away from his “You got what you wanted.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You finally did it. You got me to sleep with you. You won. Now, you can gloat about it. There’s nothing else to discuss.” You stated, hoping that you were wrong, but you knew the chances of that being true were slim.

“What I wanted, y/n,” he started, grabbing your hands again and squeezing them, “is to tell you even though I hate you so fucking much, somewhere along the way, I began to like you.”

The most annoying thing about Oh Sehun was how he always seemed to catch you unguarded. He made you speechless. You could never predict what he was thinking or what he would do next. You didn’t like not being in control. You didn’t like not being able to decide how he made you feel.

“Y-you what?” you managed to ask.

“Do you want to go out with me tonight?” he asked. “I mean, if you feel the same way about me….”

You looked at him without replying. He looked nervous for some reason. You had never seen him nervous before.

“I’m not sure we can sit at a dinner table and have a meal without fighting with each other.” You stated and his expression changed. He was frowning now, his eyes became dull, as though he were sad.

You smiled, “But, we can try.”

He smiled hearing those words, his eyes turning into half-moons. You loved his stupid smile so much. You stood on your toes to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Don’t smile at me. It pisses me off how much I like it.” You stated and he laughed, grabbing you closer and hugging you.

“Get used to it.” He said and you scoffed. You smiled as you melted into his embrace, unsure of where your hatred for him stood but excited about what the future seemed to hold.

Masterlist

[joemoshe]

Why Successful People Are Not Smarter Than You

Imagine unexpectedly being the person in charge of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate company overnight. Do you think you will have what it takes to run it and make it more successful in the years to come, or will you lead it to failure?

Although successful people indeed have great minds, a bigger picture is yet to be painted.

What do you think the new Tesla auto model would look like if you were to be the company’s CEO tomorrow? Or do you even have a single idea how what it should look like? I mean, is there even a chance you’ll be at the same level as someone who built a multi-billion-dollar asset?

The questions might have put you in an awkward spot, and it must have crossed your mind that success might not be meant for you. However, here’s the truth: There is no association between being successful and being smart.

If you would notice, millions of smart people are simple employees living average lives. At the same time, some highly successful people aren’t smart at all.

Co-founder of the restaurant reservation software company Resy and Empathy, Gary Vaynerchuk, even stated that he could sit around for about 6 years and talk about the things he is very bad at.

So, how do people become so successful without having a sharp wit?

They are not smarter than you, they just focus on being smart once.

Determining how smart you are by what you did in the past is so trivial.

Olivia was always one of the most intelligent kids in her class. He has always been good at doing her work, but upon checking his social media account, it seems like the people she outperformed at school have achieved a lot more than her.

Likewise, her colleagues who started their career behind time have now leapfrogged her. She came to a point where she wondered if he was really smart or not.

Does it sound familiar? You might relate to Olivia yourself or have a friend or relative who struggles with similar sentiments.

Some people sabotage themselves with unhealthy descriptions of what being smart means. Thoughts like, “I was never smart to venture in such kind of investment,” or “I was not enough to pull off that work” often creeps in because they tend to look in retrospect.

The missed opportunities often lead smart people to make dumb decisions to make up for their lost chances. This is why they are apt to venture into investments with insane leverage and ruin their finances.

Bear in mind that your previous doltish performance won’t determine your overall future success.

For instance, people who had invested in Twitter early when the platform was in its infancy made a lot of money are now called successful. Some didn’t invest in the mentioned company but made good profits in their investment.

However, this doesn’t mean that they are smarter than you. You are getting this all wrong if you think so.

Successful people aren’t actually smart in all areas of their life all the time. They surely make the right calls and are well-versed in what they should do. But all it takes is for you to be successful is to be smart once.

You can be dumb as much as you like, but you need to be smart at one thing to outweigh everything else you’re dumb at.

They are not smarter than you, they just know how to apply their knowledge.

One of the things you might be getting wrong is being smart is all about having broad knowledge. But technically, being smart actually have two components: (1) acquired knowledge (2) and application of acquired knowledge.

The problem here is that people tend to overlook the second part.

There are walking many walking encyclopedias out there that have nothing to offer aside from their non-tangible intelligence. It is important to understand that application is way more significant.

You can think about it this way. To learn how to ride a bike, there are two ways you can follow:

You read the manuals on the internet and watch others how they do it; or

You just hop immediately on it with helmets on, hoping for the best

Your first ride might not be perfect in any way, but as long as you’re not heading to a flight of stairs, you’ll probably do just fine. Doing it right the second time around is what actually makes you smart.

Putting things simply, your first smart call can is what sets you up whether to stop or pursue your new venture. And the second time is what you can consider a successful endeavor.

Now, how do you confirm a smart move? The answer lies in the future. Even Bill Gates didn’t know if he was making a smart call while starting Microsoft. He even has no single idea if he was doing everything right.

Successful people are those who make a knowledge-oriented bet with the intention of adding value to it while letting the game just play itself out. The game will play itself out as long as you know what you are doing.

They are not smarter than you, they only know how to network.

Networking is one of the secrets of successful people. You present yourself and make connections to establish relationships and rapport. However, there is an overlooked misunderstanding about networking.

The truth is that networking isn’t about knowing many people in different industries. Research has shown that you only need to reach out to about six people on earth—the concept of six degrees of separation.

Six degrees of separation revolves around the idea of knowing about six or fewer social connections. It is also referred to as the six handshakes rule, where a “friend of a friend” can be connected to two people is a max of six steps.

The concept of six degrees of separation originally emerged back in 1929, when a group of people played a game intending to connect any person in the world through the chain of five others. The idea, however, was only popularized in 1990 through John Guare’s play.

Going back to the main point, it’s not about ‘how many people you know, but ‘who’ you know. This boils down to the fact that being in the right room is even more important than the reason why you went there in the first place.

Have you heard of the story behind Nike’s logo?

The logo designer of Nike was a student at Portland State University back in 1971 named Carolyn Davidson. She doesn’t have enough money to purchase her painting supply needs in school. Hence, her professor came to her rescue by giving her a little side project to design a logo for his running shoes business for only $35.

Carolyn created multiple variants, and the professor chose the one that sucks the least. After a couple of years, she ended up working for Nike and received a confidential amount of the company’s shares.

[sharengayonline]

LG’s leather-wrapped G4 is no dominatrix, but it does dominate

Sharengay Trang Tin Tức Độc Đáo VIDEO LG’s leather-wrapped G4 is no dominatrix, but it does dominate

“The LG G4 is the best smartphone of 2015, and it’s camera is so good that it often outperforms the iPhone 6 Plus.”

Pros

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Bright screen with gorgeous contrast

Excellent camera performance

Shooting in RAW and Manual mode

Removable battery and MicroSD card slot

Leather battery cover rocks

Cons

Still made of plastic

UX features are a mixed bag

Battery life is average

Speaker quality is weak

“Life’s Good” is LG’s tagline, but life has been tough for the company’s mobile division. Its archrival Samsung has captured a big chunk of the phone market, and LG has spent several years chipping away at Samsung’s mighty presence.

The Nexus 5 and G3 proved that LG could play with the big boys, and the G4 expands on that notion, improving features that optimize the user experience in tangible ways. With an impressive camera and more user-friendly software, the G4 makes a strong case for being the dark horse smartphone that could make waves and surprise many in 2015.

Do the right thing, choose the leather model

To own an LG G4 with a plastic rear cover should be a crime. It’s like ordering a new BMW with a cloth interior: a decision that’ll save you cash on the day, but one you’ll question every time you get in the car later on. Unlike Samsung and more like Vertu, LG has used real leather on the G4, and it feels fantastic; it’s warm, soft, tactile, and classy. It’s a world apart from the cold indifference you get from a plastic-backed G4.

It’s not annoying either. There are never any fingerprints to clean off, it doesn’t cling to the inside of your jeans pocket, and is apparently very hard wearing. For the past few weeks, the G4 has gone case-less in my pocket and bag, and the leather (and screen, actually) have suffered no ill-effects. The leather will undoubtedly bed in with age, but there’s no evidence of that just yet, and it hasn’t lost its sheen.

LG has got the colors right too. The brown leather complements the matt-silver rear controls beautifully, and the phone goes very well with the darker brown leather used for the strap on the gold Watch Urbane. Using the two together looks great, and is one of the first times I’ve ever matched two pieces of tech with each other based on color and material choice.

Showstopping camera

To give the G4 a thorough workout, it recently accompanied me on a long weekend away, where its photographic ability, battery, and general use could be explored in a variety of situations. There’s little to say about how it handles email, web surfing, and calls — because it does them effortlessly. The Snapdragon 808 processor is more than capable enough to keep up, although under heavy usage — I’ve used it for VR in a headset, for example — it can still make the device pretty toasty, but never to the point where it’s uncomfortable or a danger.

The camera is stunning, and did everything I could have wanted. There is absolutely no reason to carry another camera, or even choose a different phone, if photos are your priority. Day or night, inside or out, and in challenging environments it performed flawlessly. There were moments I wanted to capture during my weekend, and I’m pleased the G4 was my camera of choice to do so.

A small concert venue with bright stage lights looking out onto a dark auditorium isn’t the ideal place to take good pictures. Even without switching to manual mode, the G4’s auto settings and the laser autofocus made cool shots possible. Several are shared here, and come straight off the phone. With a little editing, each looks superb.

It’s the same with pictures taken around the city at night, and of sunsets. These were the times where it was possible to play with manual mode, which is hampered only by the fixed f/1.8 aperture — how great would it be to adjust this number? Using the G4 to shoot video did reveal the spot autofocus can be overzealous if left unattended, and results improved when the setting was turned off.

Ignore the slightly uninteresting design

The battery performance has remained steady at a little over a day, but the VR video really did suck the power, and could easily eat 20 to 30 percent in 20 minutes. I’ve also become used to using LG’s Smart Bulletin board, which slides in from the left of the main home screen and shows calendar entries, LG Health, and a music widget. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s attractively presented and easy to access.

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If there’s a problem with the G4, it’s that it doesn’t visually standout, despite the leather back and slight curve to the body. It’s very similar to the G3, and can’t quite match the Samsung Galaxy S6 in terms of cool design. Ignore this, choose a leather clad version, and revel in owning a fantastic flagship smartphone with a camera that takes showstopping shots with ease.

Original review continues below:

Curvy, not flexy

LG likes curves. Every phone it launches seems to stick to that design philosophy, and the G4 essentially maintains its predecessor’s overall look. The contoured back is the same angle, and while slightly taller and wider, the G4 doesn’t deviate from the angular top and bottom. The corners are less rounded and the edges slope outward just enough to give it a slightly inverted look upon closer inspection.

Unlike Samsung, LG hasn’t abandoned plastic, nor a removable back. The back is made of a metal and plastic compound mixture, except it’s clear this cocktail is skewed toward the latter. A patterned design is etched into the metallic and ceramic backs to add some flair. Since gold is in vogue these days, LG got into the act and dipped into that as well, along with white and dark gray versions.

The removable back does serve more than a functional purpose for what lies underneath (battery, SIM, and MicroSD), since it’s also used as a way to personalize and augment the phone’s appearance. The full grain leather battery covers are a stylish turn for LG — in a good way. At its launch event in New York, LG noted that it used the same vegetable tanning process for its leather that luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach are known to use. Using full grain, rather than genuine leather, also makes the G4 is more durable, so fading and age give it character. Brown, black, beige, and sky blue versions are already confirmed, along with the yellow and crimson red versions shown in New York.

Having all these back cover options means they can be swapped, so it would be no problem to buy a white G4 and tack on a blue leather battery cover later. My review unit didn’t include one, but after some hands-on time with a few of them in New York, I was impressed. The leather is smooth and silky soft. Every detail of the leather backing, right down to the stitching, is well executed. I would likely switch to the black one when given the chance, personally.

On the front is a 5.5-inch quad HD IPS Quantum Display with the same resolution of 2,560 × 1,440 pixels and pixel density of 538ppi as last year. LG gave the front a slight curve it calls Slim Arc, which is noticeable when looking at the G4 directly from its side. The slight curve makes the phone more comfortable to hold in your hand. The screen is also brighter, both by default and at full brightness, a necessary design tweak to rectify the duller output of the G3. LG says it also has 20 percent greater color reproduction and 50 percent better contrast. In our comparisons to the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 Plus, LG’s screen definitely held its own or outperformed the competition.

Under the hood

Playing it safe, LG opted not to go with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor, which has been dogged by concerns over excessive heating. Instead, it’s the Snapdragon 808 chip that’s inside — which is still a powerful hexa-core processor, though LG hasn’t really explained why it made the change other than to say the chipset is “optimized” for the G4’s features.

There’s no doubt the G4 is the best handset LG has made to date.

There is 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage to help the cause, along with a 16-megapixel rear camera with improved optical image stabilization (OIS) and a color spectrum sensor – more on that later. Interestingly, LG chose to go with a Micro SIM card slot, rather than use the Nano SIM the iPhone and other Android phone manufacturers are starting to embrace. There is also a MicroSD slot (not present on competing phones) that is technically capable of supporting up to 2TB cards.

I don’t know if the Snapdragon 810 processor would’ve made a notable difference in the G4’s performance, but I had little to complain about with the 808. The phone is brisk, speedy, and dependable. I had no problem doing anything I would normally do on a smartphone. Streaming video was fine, downloading and uploading content was fine, and switching between multiple apps was fine. The phone did get a little hot, but never to a point where I had to question why.

Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S6, which uses an octa-core processor, I didn’t notice a drop in overall performance. Both were equally fluid in the same respects, so LG may, in fact, be on the right track in suggesting users wouldn’t notice anything unusual. It’s also easier to compare the two because neither relies on gimmicky features, like they did in the past. Hardline smartphone users may notice intricacies and quirks that might set the G4 back, but I suspect the average person will carry on without missing a beat.

If I did have something to point a finger at, it would be the speaker, found on the rear. It’s easily among the weakest links of the phone’s design, and while the G4’s curved back helps the sound escape when laid flat, fidelity is not in the same league as the HTC One M9.

Software

The DT Accessory Pack

Up your game and the get the most out of your gear with the following extras, hand-picked by our editors:

Creative Sound Blaster Roar: Portable Speaker ($130)

SanDisk – Ultra 128GB microSDXC ($90)

LG G4 Spigen Case ($21)

LG has taken a restrained approach to its software this year, like Samsung. Running on Google’s Android Lollipop 5.1 operating system out of the box, LG’s UX 4.0 user interface features are blended in so everything remains simple. The idea was to include features that make life with the phone easier. Some of LG’s better ideas include faster scrolling through the Gallery app and Event Pocket, an app that can unify calendars from various apps into one place. Those who live and die by their calendars may find this a convenient way to aggregate Facebook event invites with details that can be dragged and dropped from other messaging apps.

Smart Notice is supposed to be more personalized and contextual, offering more than simple weather and traffic updates. By learning my habits, it would ostensibly know that I don’t have to commute to work (I work from home), and prioritize weather and phone usage alerts instead. Perhaps it needed more time to get to know me, because I found it to be too predictable every day, regardless of where I was or what I was doing.

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The Quick Help widget is found as a question mark next to Smart Notice. It’s designed to be a mini search engine for the G4 itself, but for whatever reason, none of the queries I tried yielded results. Simple things like “calendar” and “color spectrum” drew blanks.

The true value in LG’s software experience is the bare minimum of alterations it offers. Icons and menus clearly received the Lollipop treatment with flatter designs and vibrant colors. The Settings menus are clear, concise, and easy to navigate. There’s a level of simplicity here that’s easy to appreciate, even if it’s not always patently obvious. I liked the general look and feel of the software more than any features LG added because its apps and features didn’t impact on my daily usage like they were intended to, and tended to only work with other LG apps. Not everyone wants to use LG Health or LG’s Music app. Some of us use Moves and Spotify. In any case, if you ignore some of LG’s apps, much like you’ve ignored some of Samsung or Apple’s apps, you’ll be better off.

This might be the best smartphone camera

The G4’s camera is unquestionably its crowning feature — And it should be, considering that it sports a 16-megapixel sensor, an f/1.8 aperture lens with OIS 2.0 built-in, and a color spectrum sensor. The latter feature is unique to smartphones, and its purpose is to measure the ambient lighting conditions from both the source of the light and where objects are reflected in the scene. This is on top of the sensor’s ability to capture more realistic color tones.

The G4 has one of the best smartphone cameras on the planet.

These features, coupled with the excellent controls in Manual mode, give the G4 one of the best smartphone cameras on the planet. Focusing is very quick, particularly when conditions are bright enough for the lens and sensor to lock on. The Depth of field capturing is impressive, despite the lack of any real optical zoom. And yes, color composition is superb, producing not only vibrant images, but consistently good ones that maintain their tonality after being transferred or shared.

Low-light shooting is perhaps the best available on any smartphone at this point and time, but there is a catch. LG keeps things basic with three distinct shooting modes: Simple, Auto, and Manual. The first two are very similar, except that Auto shows the heads-up display options. White balance, ISO, and shutter are automatically chosen, like any other smartphone camera does. LG claims that users can still expect better results because the color spectrum sensor is still doing its thing. This is generally true, but to fully appreciate what the camera and sensor are capable of, it’s best to learn the Manual mode.

Here, I could toggle the white balance, ISO, shutter, metering, and choose between auto-exposure lock (AE-L) or manual focus (MF). Adjusting any of the settings shows what the photo would look like in real time. Users who might be intimidated by going manual may find that one factor to be the most inviting. Even someone with years of photography experience like myself very much appreciated seeing that.

The photos the G4 captured were impressive across the board. Being able to shoot in RAW was even better, given how much extra detail the sensor was able to take in.

Video capture in 4K or 1080p is fine. You can’t really tinker with image settings before shooting a clip though. I tried to set up a low-light video clip by toggling the different metrics, but once I tap record, everything went automatic, so it was all for naught.

Battery life

Samsung got some flak for not going with a removable battery, whereas LG may earn praise for sticking with it. That’s subjective, of course, since replacing a battery isn’t something every user feels the need to do. The 3,000mAh battery inside performs well enough, but I wouldn’t consider it to exceptionally good. Basic usage saps little, but once more intensive tasks come into play, the juice starts dripping noticeably.

Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

Not to say that the G4 guzzles battery life because it’s not that bad, it’s only that intensive tasks seem to take more out of the processor than LG lets on. For example, streaming video remotely via Plex chomped on my battery life by a noticeable margin. Even when I initially set up the phone, I lost 20 percent in less than two hours because of everything that had to be downloaded and installed. Overall performance is fine, but for very intense processes, the G4 fares no better than its competitors.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt the G4 is the best handset LG has made to date, not just because of the components, but also because of the thoughtfulness that went into it. Little things, like a brighter screen with better contrast, prettier interface, and useful software tweaks, stood out because I interacted with them every day. For me, the curved back and edges made it easier to pick up the phone off the table, as well, and hold it. The Knock On double tap to wake from sleep has always been a useful feature. Double pressing the volume down button to instantly launch the camera was great for snapping selfies.

I can forgive the plastic design because real leather is an alternative. If not for that, I would dock LG for taking the easy way out. Using real leather in a way that doesn’t cut corners sends the right message, much like the other moves made with the G4. Whether or not consumers will take it to heart and splurge for the G4 is going to be interesting to watch, but we haven’t been this impressed with a smartphone, and it’s camera, for some time.

Highs

Bright screen with gorgeous contrast

Excellent camera performance

Shooting in RAW and Manual mode

Removable battery and MicroSD card slot

Leather battery cover rocks

Lows

Still made of plastic

UX features are a mixed bag

Battery life is average

Speaker quality is weak

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LG’s leather-wrapped G4 is no dominatrix, but it does dominate

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[talabib]

How You Can Invest In The Stock Market And Become Financially Secure.

If you are a (relatively) young person do you think about retirement? More than likely you don’t, and even if you do, you’ll be thinking, “I don’t need to consider saving for old age, it’s 40 years away.” 

Yet this view is completely wrong. No matter how young we are, we should always give thought to the future. This is especially true for Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 2000. To put it bluntly, if Millennials want to have a peaceful, comfortable retirement, they have to act now. If they fail to, they will find life as pensioners very tough indeed. 

So what should Millennials be doing to be secure in old age? They should invest in the stock market. This post will show you how to do so effectively. 

To secure your financial future, start investing in the stock market as early as possible. 

Imagine yourself in 50 years: What kind of life would you like to have? Do you want to live comfortably, with lots of money saved, or would you rather be dependent on a tiny pension, feeling pangs of anxiety with every purchase? 

The choice between these two realities is an obvious one. So what can you do to achieve lasting financial stability? 

Although many believe that creating a savings account is the best way to prepare for the financial future, unfortunately, that’s not the case. The truth is, interest rates on savings accounts are typically lower than the rate of inflation (annual price increases). Meaning: Money parked in a savings account actually loses value, in terms of its real world purchasing power. 

So if not savings accounts, then what? Well, you should invest in the stock market as early as possible. Don’t underestimate the potential rewards of starting to invest early in life. After all, when you start young, your money has more time to multiply in value. 

For instance, if you invest $10,000 every year on the stock exchange with an annual return of seven percent, you’ll earn $4.7 million by the time you’re 65 – if you started investing at age 22. On the other hand, if you made the initial investment only at age 40, you’ll end up with just $1 million. 

Although the advantages of investing young are clear, many Millennials aren’t doing so, partly because they entered adulthood in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis – the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

And as a consequence of the financial collapse, Millennials tend to be more risk-averse than their parents’ generation. For example, a 2014 survey on risk found that only 28 percent of Millennials’ money was invested in stocks, compared to the 46 percent invested by other generations. 

For Millennials, rising public debt and an aging population spell an uncertain financial future. 

Some people think, “I don’t have to invest for the future because when I retire, I’ll have a pension!” But what if you don’t? 

It’s a real possibility. After all, America’s population is aging, leading to increasing pension costs for the government. 

Consider the fact that average life expectancy increased from 47 in 1900, to 79 in 2013. Today, there are more people living past retirement age than ever before. 

As a consequence, the government has higher costs for pensions and health care. Medicare spending, which has grown by 11 percent every year since it was first established in 1966, is one example of this trend. 

And unfortunately, this upward trajectory will likely remain stable in the short-term, especially since baby boomers (the enormous generation born after World War Two) are just starting to retire. 

And ultimately, since these rising health care and retirement costs are untenable, there’s no guarantee that the government will continue to pay retirement benefits to future generations. 

Remember, our government runs like any business: If it doesn’t keep its accounts balanced, it risks bankruptcy. Or to put it more concretely, the government has to receive enough in taxes to match benefit spending. 

But that’s not currently happening: According to recent calculations, there’s a $9.6 trillion gap between projected spending on benefits over the next 75 years, and what the government expects to raise through taxes. 

For Millennials, that’s a huge problem. It means that although this younger generation is currently paying taxes to support the elderly, it’s unlikely to receive the same benefits when it reaches retirement age. 

So this mean Millennials will probably have to support themselves without government assistance. And if they hope to do so, then they should start investing in the stock market as early as possible. 

If you’re planning for your long-term future, invest in stock markets all across the world. 

If you’ve decided to start investing in the stock market, you’re probably wondering where to begin. Well, the first guiding principle is to invest in companies all across the world. 

Many people don’t follow this advice: They put all their money into a few companies located in just one country. 

But in the long-term, this is a risky strategy. Because if the stock market in that country struggles, you could potentially lose all your money. 

Consider Japan’s stock market index, the Nikkei, which was growing at 30 percent in 1989. Although many people made huge investments in this seemingly “strong” market, the massive growth turned out to be a product of an unstable financial bubble – and the bubble burst in 1991. Ultimately, a 1989 Nikkei investor’s portfolio would only be worth half as much in 2013. 

As you can see, putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous – so why do people do it? Well, many get swept up in the false promise of a stock market bubble. 

Others feel that they’re investing wisely because they’re buying shares in companies they “know.” For example, in 2010, American investors had 72 percent of their money in US stocks. Simply put, Americans prefer to invest in familiar companies, like Burger King and General Motors. 

But if you want to invest successfully, get out of your safety zone and spread your investments over large, diverse areas. This approach will protect your money even if one company or economy collapses. 

It’s also worth noting that diversifying will help you earn more, as global currencies change in value. For instance, say you invest in Samsung, which is based in South Korea. If the South Korean won strengthens against the US dollar by six percent, the value of your investment will also increase by six percent. 

In other words, when you buy stock market shares, you’re not only investing in the company, you’re also investing in the currency. 

If you want to maximize your earnings, follow investment strategies that diverge from the mainstream. 

Many people determine their investment strategies by what the “experts” recommend. And often those investment experts will recommend a tactic called Sector Leaders Strategy – that is, buying shares of the best-performing companies determined by a particular market index, which tracks a portion of the stock market. The Standard & Poor 500, for example, is based on the biggest customers listed on the exchange. 

So to follow the Sector Leaders Strategy, you could invest in an index fund, which aggregates stocks from the 500 biggest companies. Since index funds are calculated automatically and don’t require much human brainpower to run efficiently, they’re cheap to buy and also secure – which makes them an attractive investment option. 

However, if you want to earn the highest returns on the money you invest, you shouldn’t follow the herd. Instead, you need to be different. 

Because although index funds tend to give good returns, they’ll never beat the market – especially if they aim to match the returns of the market index. 

But there’s another reason to consider alternatives to index funds: The biggest companies tend to underperform when they reach the top. For instance, major American companies like Apple and Intel typically start posting a negative annual return once they hit the $400 billion mark. Therefore, investing in these firms may not be the most profitable choice. 

By contrast, you can try following the Sector Bargains Strategy – which entails buying the cheapest stock, not the best – to maximize your returns. 

Although it might seem counterintuitive, these kinds of approaches often outperform the leader strategy in the long-run. For instance, since 1979, the value of the Russell 3000 (an index fund which follows, more or less, a bargain strategy) has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 1,100 percent. 

Choose an investment strategy that combines several good selection criteria. 

As we’ve already seen, being different is the best investment approach. So let’s examine this principle a little more closely. 

For our purposes, the ideal investment strategy – let’s call it the Millennial Money Strategy – can be summarized thus: Buy cheap stock from valuable companies. 

Why is this the best strategy? Well, by buying a cheap stock (that is, one with a lower share price), you’re stretching your investment and potentially maximizing your future returns. 

And as we noted, you’re trying to find a true bargain – not merely the cheapest stock available. So when you’re buying shares, you need to ensure that the company has value and that the (currently low) share price is likely to rise in the future. 

To that end, what can you do to evaluate a company’s long-term prospects? Start by looking at how much the company earns; also pay attention to how much cash it attracts (in some cases, reported earnings are actually coming out of credit or loans). 

Then, to find the best bargain, compare the company’s stock price to its cash flow. This relationship indicates value/valuation. Ultimately, you’re trying to identify companies that have a cheap share price and secure finances. 

You can also boost this strategy by finding the right momentum and buying shares just as the market notices a company’s potential. An easy way of finding a stock that’s riding a wave of momentum is to look out for cheaper shares that have seen substantial price increases over the last six months. 

Ultimately, you should try to carve out an investment approach that combines value-seeking with momentum. And if you need a little more convincing, consider the fact that since 1972, companies that have matched these criteria have grown at an annual rate that outpaces market growth by a factor of two. 

Don’t let your instincts drive your investment decisions. 

Humans are hard-wired to make investment mistakes; essentially, we’re programmed to be irrationally fearful. 

 In fact, it’s even been scientifically proven that we’re subject to something called constructive paranoia – that is, excessive sensitivity to loss. 

Consider a Stanford study that asked students to make 20 investment decisions. During each round, students had to decide whether they wanted to invest $1. A coin toss decided the outcome of the investment: If the penny came up heads, the students lost $1; when it landed on tails, they earned $2.50. As it turned out, after experiencing a loss, students were only willing to invest 41 percent of the time. However, rationally speaking, the decision didn’t make sense – because there was a 50 percent chance of winning a high reward! 

This tendency affects the market. For instance, investors often buy at market peaks (for fear of missing out) and sell at market bottoms (because they’re scared of losing everything). So plenty of people irrationally buy high and sell low, contrary to the most basic maxim of stock trading. 

But constructive paranoia isn’t the only investing mistake built into our programming: so is greediness. In general, we tend to pursue rewards even when our chances of getting these rewards are dismal. 

And in large part, this impulse drives financial bubbles: Even though there’s a strong likelihood that the bubble will burst, people still invest, because they’re blinded by the possibility of future rewards. 

Although you can never eliminate your instincts, it is possible to separate them from your investments by creating an automated system. 

For instance, you could set up an automatic payment from your bank account into your investment account. You would determine the amount and regularity of the payment in advance, as well as the fund you’d like to purchase with the money. 

So the idea is that once you’ve determined a particular strategy, you should apply it systematically, without letting your instincts get in the way. And having an automatized payment system is one way of doing this. 

Long-term thinking is the path to profitable investment. 

Sometimes inexperienced investors think they need to sell their shares as soon as they start losing value. And yet, this kind of short-term thinking typically isn’t profitable. 

So why do we go for it in the first place? Well, our biology plays a big role: Humans have an emotional center, located in the brain (the limbic system), that pushes us to make decisions that will provide instant gratification. 

This impulse explains why investors prefer to buy bonds during periods of financial crisis. Since bonds bounce less than stocks in the short term, they provide instant gratification – in the sense that they protect the investor from dealing with negative numbers. That way, the investor feels that her wealth is protected and preserved. 

Short-term thinking also afflicts professional investors, who are preoccupied with their short-term career horizons. These professionals often create investment strategies designed to be profitable over a two- or three-year period, in order to demonstrate successful results to current or future employers. 

And yet, when we look at the data, it’s clear that the most profitable investments need several decades of time (around 30 years) to mature. 

What’s the reason for this? Well, although the market tends to fluctuate a lot, it mostly moves in short-term patterns. So although we often think negatively and tend to anticipate financial downturns, the market typically has an upward trajectory over the longer term. 

For instance, when we look at one-year periods, we can see that stocks lose real value 31 percent of the time, on average. However, indexes of stocks never lose money over a 20-year period. On the other hand, bonds have been shown to lose their value half of the time over the same 20-year period. 

In order to secure their financial future, Millennials should start investing in the stock market as early as possible. There are just a few simple guidelines that lead to investment success in the long-term: Diversify your portfolio to include stocks all over the world, stick to your strategy, and make investment decisions that go against the flow. 

 Action plan: Make taxes a factor in your investing. 

You should pay attention to tax advantages when investing: if you keep your winning/most profitable stocks for at least one year, your gains will be taxed at a lower tax rate (long-term capitals tax rate). 

[someonetheelusivefangirl]

Pre-Klance (or is it?)- First Impressions

Here’s a headcanon I’ve been really keen to post for a while. Why? Coz the amazing @edelwary has gifted me with fantastic fanart for it! 

This headcanon came about as I was just thinking about Voltron, as I usually do (far FAR too often), and I was once again considering just how Lance and Keith interacted (if ever). I have had many ideas about this in the past, but I suddenly thought of another, and the following is the result.

Apologies for any mistakes (I literally found three before I posted this)!

Before the cadets were put into certain courses, all of them must have trained for at least several months. Lance was just above average, since although he WAS a good pilot for the majority of the time, his streak of crashing brought down his grade a lot. His teachers had tried to advise him on how to improve, but it was just too technical for Lance to truly understand what he should be changing, whilst they couldn’t afford to allow Lance to monopolise their attention.

At this point, Lance had started to worry about his assignment. No matter how hard he tried, it never seemed to make a difference. He just couldn’t see what was going wrong.

One day, his class’ instructor was on sick leave, so the Garrison decided to merge two classes for the day, thinking that the change might actually be beneficial for the trainees as they could watch others’ mistakes and successes. When Lance discovered it was Keith’s class, he felt equally optimistic. Boy, was he mistaken!

Despite being in completely separate classes, Lance had heard of Keith. Of course he had, he was the shining prodigy of the Garrison. Lance had even managed to occasionally see Keith, though always at a distance, yet his aura had always felt so serious and unapproachable. Lance shook the thought from his head as he caught the end of the instructor’s usual lecture in flying procedures.

Lance had felt an odd mixture of dread and gratitude when it was announced that they would be doing flight simulations. Now was his chance to watch Keith first-hand. He didn’t have to wait long, as after a few mediocre performances from his classmates, the instructor called for Keith to show them what they should be “aiming towards”.

Lance had expected him to be good, but he had also expected the rumours about him to be exaggerated slightly, as rumours often were. They weren’t. Lance wasn’t sure if the praise did him justice. He handled the simulator as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Keith piloted as if the ship was a part of himself, effortlessly pulling off quick, smooth manoeuvres, barely batting an eye at the readings his craft relayed to him. In fact, he barely glanced down at the controls at all, obviously having memorised the entire layout of the simulator. Instead his gaze remained almost entirely locked on the view in front of the ship, eyes darting quickly as he assessed possible dangers. Lance realised with a shock that Keith had to be working out all of the distances in his head since he seemed to barely peek at his sensors.

A gentle elbow in his side caught his attention and he tore his gaze from the monitor to find Hunk, a classmate whom he’d bonded with quickly over the year, attempting to hide a smile.

“You might wanna close your mouth, Lance.” Feeling his cheeks burn, Lance snapped his mouth shut, turning away with absolutely no trace of a pout on his face. None.

The sound of the simulator door opening drew his attention and he watched as Keith waltzed out as if he hadn’t, no doubt, outperformed some of their seniors. Whilst the next cadet was called up, Lance sidled up to Keith, clearing his throat a couple of times to get his attention.

“Can I…help you?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind, could you watch my flight and give me some feedback?”

“Um, I don’t know if I can say anything to hel-“

“No, don’t worry! You obviously know your stuff, so this will be a piece of cake!” Lance didn’t notice Keith’s concerned look, nor the uncertain scowl that came across his face as Lance returned to Hunk.

Keith was in an odd position. He’d never been asked to assess someone’s flying before, and was wondering how to go about it when the cadet in question was called up. Before he headed inside the simulator, he turned his head to send Keith a smile. Why had he asked Keith? He was aware that he was top of their year, but he had no experience in advising others, nevermind critiquing them. Yet Keith did watch. He paid more attention than he normally did when he observed his classmates.

At first, Keith was a little confused. The cadet was obviously a competent trainee pilot. His reaction times were good, the time he took to read his sensors and equipment was actually quite a bit less than others in their year. Even his manoeuvring was pretty good, only a couple of close calls and small adjustments needed from time to time. His flying was certainly not textbook, but Keith didn’t think this was much of a problem, seeing as it still produced the same results. Then the last part of the simulation started.

The Garrison put a lot of effort into making sure their simulations weren’t monotonous or predictable. After all, how could cadets improve if they were only learning to fly one course? Until a few years back, the simulation had been changed for every class, but due to Matt Holt’s work on the system, the simulation was now comprised of randomised components of flight courses, which would change for every simulation. Now the cadets that flew last had no advantage from watching their peers’ performances.

Personally, Keith thought that the course was pretty decent this time, that maybe there would be nothing to critique as the course wouldn’t challenge him enough. Apparently it was challenging enough for the cadet, “Lance” the display read, and honestly Keith was lost as to why. Upon starting the final stage, Lance’s control had suddenly become jerky, and Keith watched as Lance focused solely on the screen, not glancing down at all as he had been during the rest of the flight. The most likely reason was so that Lance could judge the distances and dimensions himself, yet his gaze would only focus on the obstacle he was immediately facing. With each obstacle, the time in which he had to react to the next hazard diminished steadily, until at last, the inevitable happened.

Lance clipped a wing on an outcrop, sending his craft in a vicious downward spiral. Keith winced as he watched the short descent. He had only been a few hundred metres in the air. He had been so close.

Keith went over the flight in his head as Lance trudged out of the simulator. Keith hadn’t seen a crash in a long time. Everyone had managed to learn to avoid full collisions after half a year of training. He watched Lance’s shoulders rise up to his ears as he slumped under the assault of the instructor’s criticism. He noted that they didn’t even mention his commendable flying up until the descent. They seemed too distracted by the crash and the awkward movements to mention anything else.

When, with a long-suffering sigh, the instructor dismissed him, Lance nodded politely before quickly merging with the crowd of students. Keith’s attention left the simulator as the next cadet stepped up. What advice could he give Lance? Keith knew what he’d have done differently whilst Lance had been flying; turn slightly sharper in places, decelerate more before doing certain moves. However, when it came down to what Lance had struggled with, the descent for landing, Keith was lost. He had no idea what was running through Lance’s head as he had gradually lost control. Was it panic? Overconfidence? Keith just didn’t know.

Thankfully, Lance didn’t approach him during the rest of the training, giving Keith more time to think over what to say. However, when they were dismissed, he was no closer to an answer than before. Maybe Lance had forgotten. Maybe Keith could get away without embarrassing himself with his inability to help. He knew he should’ve argued more against it.

To Keith’s dismay, as he left the room his gaze found Lance’s as he leant against the wall. His smile was not as bright as it had been earlier, though, given his scolding, that was understandable.

“So,” Lance started, “what do you think?” Keith wished he knew, he really did.

“What happened?” Keith watched as Lance’s brows drew together at his confused tone. Keith hadn’t expected to say it, but honestly, he didn’t know what else he /could/ say. How was he supposed to give advice, when he didn’t understand what went wrong.

“W-What do you mean “what happened”?! Weren’t you watching?”

“Of course I did. I just don’t get why your flying got so bad at the end.” Lance’s eye twitched at Keith’s words.

“If I knew why, I wouldn’t be asking for your help!” Lance retorted before taking a breath. “Look, if you don’t want to help, just say so.”

“It’s not that-“

“Then what is it? Could you see what I’m doing wrong.”

“Well, yes, but-“

“So why won't you tell me how to fix it?”

“It’s not that simple! Like I was saying, I can see what you’re doing wrong, but I don’t know /why/! You started off so well, but suddenly-”

“-What do you mean I “started off well”? Didn’t you hear the instructor?! They said that I couldn’t fly like that!” What? It had looked fine to Keith. Then Keith remembered his thought on how the style of flying was a bit unorthodox. Were the Garrison that strict? Well, when he considered their drills, he mentally scolded himself for ever wondering. Of course they were.

How could he help, then, if the part which he had thought to be good wasn’t right?! Keith had always flown as was taught. After a few months, the movements had become instinctual and now he barely had to think to perform most manoeuvres. He tried to recall how it felt in those first few months, yet he could think of only one way in which he had improved.

“Practice.” He started as he realised he’d spoken out loud again. A jaded laugh brought his attention to Lance’s face. The twisted grimace on his face sent a pain through Keith’s chest, and then Lance was walking away, long legs quickly carrying him down the corridor. “Where are you going?!”

“I’m sorry for wasting your time!” Lance’s tone was devoid of its previous friendliness. What? “Obviously I just haven’t been trying hard enough if practice is all I need to get better,” Lance turned his head, not enough to make eye contact, but enough for Keith to watch his mouth as he continued. “Thanks, Kogane.”

“Listen to the teachers! They know how to help you!” Better than Keith did, anyhow. Again, another laugh sounded as Lance approached the corner.

“Another novel idea! Why did I never think of this myself?!” Then he was gone.

Keith stood there for a few more moments, his surprise and frustration with Lance shocking him into freezing. Then he turned and stalked off to his quarters, feeling bizarrely exhausted despite having done nothing strenuous. Why wouldn’t Lance just /listen/ to him?! He was just trying to help. He had warned him he didn’t know how.

Keith shook his head. At this rate, he’d never be able to rest. He firmly shoved all thoughts of Lance and his flying to the back of his mind. He had other things to worry about than a cadet he had only just met. As Keith found out over the following months, this was easier said than done.

At first, Keith thought he was doing a good job of forgetting his encounter with Lance, except, every time he thought as such, he’d groan as his thoughts circled back to him. Occasionally, he swore he heard his classmates mention Lance, which wouldn’t surprise him as crashes had been so rare since the aspiring engineers and technicians had stopped their pilot training.

There was nothing wrong with Keith thinking about Lance. Nothing, but he still wished he could stop. Eventually, through stubborn determination, Keith managed to put the encounter out of his mind, and his life carried on in the Garrison as it had before.

However, when his instructors started commenting on a change in his flying, Keith became concerned. They assured him it was fine, that is was a sign of his natural affinity for flying. Yet, when he watched his simulation back, the style of his flying was noticeably different, yet strangely familiar. He knew that flying, and yet it wasn’t his style. He had never attempted something so different from what he was taught. Turns out that the Garrison really didn’t know best. Still, Keith felt restless with the knowledge that he had /seen/ that pattern of flight before, but he was unable to recall to whom it belonged.

He started watching his classmates, and yet none showed any signs of the new style he’d adopted, but if it hadn’t been anyone in his class… Keith’s eyes widened as the memory of the joint training came back. He struggled to recall the cadet, but his features remained stubbornly blurry in Keith’s mind. Damn his bad memory!

As he was walking, he heard a commotion ahead and he looked to discover a crowd gathered around the notice board. Someone near the back took pity on Keith and explained that the results for the pilot assignments were announced that day. Keith turned to walk away, having been informed of his new fighter pilot status by his instructor that day, when he stopped. Striding back he struggled to the front, ignoring the complaints as he squeezed through. He traced his eyes over the list of fighter pilot names. Although he didn’t know the name he was looking for, he was certain he’d be able to recognise it.

Just as he was giving up hope, someone shoved him from behind. He fell against the board, catching himself on his arms and was just about to glare at whoever had pushed him, when his gaze locked onto a name beside him. Lance McClain. He straightened up and looked to find that it was on the list of cargo pilots. He grimaced in sympathy as his memory of Lance’s desire to improve came back. He wished he could’ve helped somehow.

Now that his irritation had worn off, he only felt annoyed with his incompetency. He should’ve tried to word his thoughts better, but…maybe…. If he could help Lance now, he might stand a chance of moving up to fighter class training. Maybe then Lance wouldn’t have to face him with such a cold attitude. Thus, whenever he had a few hours to spare, Keith would go to the records room to request to watch the footage of Lance’s simulations. He was eternally grateful for the officer not asking him any questions about his odd choice of footage.

At first, it seemed like Keith might be wasting his time, as he continued to puzzle over Lance’s odd behaviour. Then, slowly, it started to come together. He originally had thought it might have to do with Lance’s perception of the depths shown in the display, because no matter how brilliant the simulation was, it still didn’t feel quite real. After all, they were trying to create an illusion of distance on a flat monitor.

Then, as he noticed the timing of Lance’s reactions, he realised that was not the case. Instead he finally thought he recognised the problem. Now he just wanted to know for certain, so he held back from approaching Lance until he watched more footage.

In the end, however, Keith never went to him. For a week later, the Garrison officially declared the failure of the Kerberos mission, and Lance was swept from his mind under the maelstrom of emotions the news churned up. In the end, he couldn’t cope.

Keith started rebelling, since the Garrison /had/ to be lying. There was no way Shiro would just disappear from Keith’s life like that. Despite his constant demands to see evidence that the passengers were no longer out there, they had refused to release any further information. So Keith had to make them admit the truth. Except, in his volatile state, Keith failed to recognise the consequences his actions would have. He paid for his lack of insight with his place in the Garrison.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t want anything more to do with the Garrison. He completely forgot about the cadet he had wanted to help. The cadet whom he had believed had potential to be a great pilot. He forgot until, almost two years later, someone barged in on his rescue mission.

He held back his exclamation of “Lance!”, realising that he had no idea that Keith had actually paid him any attention after their first, and only, encounter. Instead he played dumb, only acknowledging his cargo pilot status. He felt awful for forgetting about Lance, especially after finally working out how to help solve his problem. However, as Lance corrected Keith, informing him that he was in fact a fighter pilot because of Keith’s expulsion, he found himself sagging slightly in relief. At least he had still been able to make it. Obviously Lance /had/ trained hard over the past two years to become good enough for him to be the pilot to move up in class.

“So, wait a sec. You’ve remembered our first meeting this whole time?! Why did you never say?! I just thought you'd forgotten about that day.” Keith cleared his throat, feeling extremely awkward after the confession.

“I didn’t think we got off to a good start, so I was hoping that by acting ignorant we would be able to start over.”

“Only for me to hold a grudge… I mean I /would/ apologise, except you hadn’t really given me a reason to believe you had actually cared about me. Ah! Not /cared/, just… at least regret what you'd said,” Lance quickly muttered.

“Yeah, sorry about that, but I really wasn’t used to social interactions,” Keith admitted with a quiet laugh.

“No kidding!” Lance’s smirk forced the corner of Keith’s annoyed pout to twitch upwards. Damn his infectious smiles. “Hey, wait! You mentioned that you actually worked out why I kept crashing. What was it? You never said.”

“Oh, you just couldn’t visualise the craft.” At Lance’s blank look, Keith rushed to elaborate. “I noticed that you wouldn’t rely on your equipment to figure out distances, instead relying on your sight. Then I realised that most of the crashes were caused by you clipping one or more of the wings. I wondered whether, despite the fact we learnt the dimensions of the craft the simulator was imitating, you didn’t actually realise how big it was. For example, if I said to point out the length of twelve metres along that wall, would you be able to do it?” Slowly Lance shook his head, and his eyes widened as he started to catch on what Keith was saying.

“So, what you’re saying is…”

“Because you had never /seen/ how big the craft was, you couldn’t actually work out how much space it would need inside the simulation.”

“I can't believe it was something so simple. Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter now that we’re flying for real! Which reminds me…” The glint in Lance’s eyes felt incredibly foreboding. “I’m never gonna let you forget that I was a better pilot than you!”

“…what? You barely ever got through a simulation without crashing!”

“But, like you said, that wasn’t because I didn’t have skills. No, you definitely admitted that when you copied my flying, the instructor complimented your technique, or rather /my/ technique! They thought /my/ technique was better! Oh, this is just great!”

“Wait a second! I never said I copied you! I just adapted my own sty-“

“Nope! You cannot deny it! I am the better pilot!”

“Oh? Wanna bet?” The two had now stood up, Keith’s arms crossed over his chest whilst Lance leaned into his space, his hands resting on his hips.

From the other side of the room, the green and yellow paladins watched with varying degrees of exasperation.

“Weren’t they supposed to be bonding?” Pidge asked as she looked up at Hunk.

“What do you mean? This /is/ how they bond.” Pidge opened her mouth to state just how bizarre that sounded when she stopped to think for a second. She sighed as she realised the truth behind Hunk’s words.

“I’m not sure if they can ever have a conversation without it ended up with them arguing.” Hunk nodded solemnly in agreement, and with one last look at the two who had begun to arm wrestle, for whatever reason, as they argued on, the two of them left the red and blue paladins to their antics.

Fin.

Aaaaaand there you go! I hope you enjoyed it! Please check out @edelwary‘s art (for this headcanon, and just their art in general) because I really love it and think more people should get to see their work!

If you’d like to read more of my headcanons, please check out my headcanon masterpost!

[pictureperfectdesign]

Casino Activities - A Fast Evaluation Of Casino Activity

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Each marketing material can have your unique affiliate url bedded or accessible for you yourself to duplicate and paste. Which means when some body clicks on a marketing substance, a banner for instance, that you've published elsewhere on the web, you is going to be paid if see your face signs up to the casino and starts playing. The rest is all up to simple net advertising really, and there are lots of articles and sites with this topic accessible on the internet already.

On a final notice, it has to be said that casino affiliate marketing could be a little bit harder than advertising conventional items or services. The cause of this is that the web gaming market is very aggressive, but again, this has to do with the immense returns which can be reaped when compared with conventional affiliate marketing. The underside line is, as a casino affiliate, you've the possibility to make significantly, much additional money!

[grandsquaremall1]

Invest in real estate, not stocks - stocks are much riskier than real estate

There are two very big differences between investing in equities and investing in real estate. When you invest in stocks, you usually invest in capital gains versus cash flow and have no control. In equities you invest for capital gains, hoping that they will increase over time but with very little control over the appreciation or appreciation. Most people who do not invest in cash flow dividends invest in capital gains in stocks. But without seeing any control or return on your money without selling, you are in a loss situation. You should NEVER buy an asset that you do not control, unless the ROI is substantial enough to offset control.

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 The Grand Square Mall is launched shops for sale on installments in Gulberg Lahore, location of GRAND SQUARE MALL is ideal as Gulberg Lahore is the central business district of Lahore.

[kaoarika]

For simplicity sake (it’s getting too long! AHHHH. didn’t expect this reception on that post. Thank you for your comments, @greengargouille and @poison-glasses​! I have learned too much that I don’t think I do a very good job in that kind of thoughtful posts since there are times that I don’t do enough research), I decided to do a separate post.

Leaving the “levels of acquaintance” topic from my original post, aside (these are very good responses that I am going to consider from now onwards, THANK YOU!) I wanted to fulfill what I do think about 3-E class and the possible existence of other E classes and the number of students that I originally replied about.

Considering a few things, I think it’s very possible that Gakuhou was abusing some loopholes here and there (I mean, yeah... it’s very much “screw the law! I have money!” - as long as it was giving results for a major authority and swiping everything under the rug - or you know, hiding “those” details to a major authority).

I understand that 35-40 students is reasonable and permitted. I mean, it’s also very possible in other schools in the world... then again I’m not too much deep into what is permitted with this in my own country’s education system by law: I used to go to a big private school in my Elementary education years, and in average, I was in classes where there were max. 35-40 students, too (and two groups in each year at least there... a bigger school -like the one my brother went to- would have three or four groups with 35-40 students each, too). When I moved, I was in a smaller private school and Secondary/Middle School was basically a group per year, and the average was less than 30 students per year. So having various E classes would also be plausible.

However, this is Kunugigaoka that we are talking about. The school system that it has has always been very sketchy and dubious as hell, so much that I’m pretty sure that “as long as it proved good results, people would literally sweep everything aside” was applied here.

I mean, it took so damn long until the school was closed if we go by the epilogue’s narration. Because, as soon as it was discovered about how Class 3-E was treated, and some other dodgy things... it’s obvious that the entire thing was dubious as hell.

Gakuhou is very smart, and there are a couple of moments where we find out that he is mostly interested in the money that the government is paying the school as long as he keeps Korosensei as a secret. He even mentions about that in his retrospective limelight chapter when he was finally snapping after the whole “3-E Class is abolishing my school system?? this isn’t what I originally was going for” that he was planning to use the money they were paying him to make them (and later generations of students) more miserable because he wasn’t very worried about Korosensei, NAH... he was worried that that E class was abolishing the “perfect” school system he planned in the decade he has been working as a chairman.

The idea I got with the 45-50 students thing basically born with this idea, too:

When Takebayashi returned to the main building, he wouldn’t follow how the classes were taught. At some point, I think it’s even compared to how high school (or was it college?) classes were planned (I think it was around the time midterm exams were planned). If we go by Gakuhou’s “perfect” school system... it’s very possible that classes per average would have higher number of students (if he decided to follow a high-school/college like plan? I’m probably very wrong with this). But we may never know that either way because the manga isn’t very constant about this that doesn’t add that much at all.

There aren’t hints that other E classes may exist. If it was true, then they are probably an “E” class in all but name (and bullying) to not be associated to 3-E. I can think of things like a cram school-kind of like special classes for students who have lower grades to out-perform and be like clubs? I mean, it’s Kunugigaoka, after all, so this is also very possible, right? (or maybe my idea is a tiny bit weird?)

There is also a tiny bit of a probability that other E classes are isolated in the main building. HELL, if the school system was as perfect as Gakuho seem to think it was, their teachers probably brainwashed those kids in first and second years to outperform other students (meaning our protagonists dodged a bullet right there?).

...Anyway.

I may get out-of-topic again.

I personally think that other E classes do not exist, if we take for granted how Nagisa and the others talk about 3-E as a special punishment for students who were falling behind than their classmates due to various reasons (be it attidude problems, grades, going against the rules and all). They are restricted from their other main building’s privileges and they are a free-pass to bully. They are transferred to another building to isolate them and “punish” them.

Sure, there are things that students may do to get an easy pass to return to the main building. It was either an excellent performance (like what happened with Takebayashi), a talk with their old teacher... or briebing them with money (Nagisa’s mom’s suggestion?)... the chairman included.

I have been with the idea that, if a 1-E and a 2-E do not exist, the chairman closes the 2nd year classes earlier to recap and see the performances (and complaints) of the 2nd year students to introduce them to 3-E earlier than when the usual school year starts. That’s how I perceived it when Aguri is introduced to our 3-E students.  I mean, instead of starting in April as everyone else, they would start as soon as the 3rd years graduate (if we go by that that date is around mid-March, like the 13th with them... perhaps even earlier due to the high school admission exams), and scrapping the Spring Vacation period (I’m not the right person to say this holds 100% true, as I’m looking at sources while researching about this, like this one -2014- and this -2016-). In fact, I am probably going to be wrong on this: doesn’t Korosensei introduces himself a few days after the Moon exploded in March 12th/13th? The kids weren’t fully acquainted with Aguri (as she passed away during that day), either... at best, those classes with her only lasted a few weeks.

Of course... the thing with Korosensei and the government and their own plans to kill him was a very extraordinaire case where the chairman couldn’t do the usual...

AHHHH.... sorry about my long babbling. 

This thing turned out longer than I thought. Some of this are built around my fuzzy memories (about specific details of the series, even though I’m rereading the series in its physical format... in a bimonthly schedule :’D, while noticing new details around), so maybe I’m wrong, but I’m also learning a lot, really. I... didn’t think the original post that much to go further in details like this (I mean, the original point of that post was mostly about the level of acquaintances in between the characters in pre-canon). 

This explains why I didn’t want to reblog the original post, too. It was getting too long already, and my writing on this didn’t help. Sorry. OTL

[mealha]

How does Google's Pixel 4 smartphone camera compare to the iPhone 11 Pro?

Shot through a shop window, the Pixel 4 handles the shiny, golden surfaces and contrasty pools of light very nicely. (Stan Horaczek/)

At its recent product announcement event in New York City, Google showed off a handful of new gear. But, the company dedicated considerable time—and presumably money spent to hire iconic portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz—showing off the Pixel 4 smartphone’s new camera. That emphasis makes sense. Consumers still indicate that photo quality is one of the most-important factors they use to pick a new device. And Google is coming off of a very strong showing in the Pixel 3, which was (at least as far as I was concerned at the time) the absolute best smartphone camera.

The Pixel 4 adds some more AI-powered smarts, relying increasingly on its software to determine the overall look of the final image. And while the camera has some moments where it’s truly excellent, I ran into a few growing pains as Google tries to calculate its way to perfect photos.

What's new?

The Pixel is about average when it comes to quickness in capturing photos. It took me roughly five tries before I got the timing right and caught the person up front with a punch extended. (Stan Horaczek/)

On paper, the Pixel 4’s camera doesn’t seem all that different from the hardware that came before it. The primary exception is the notable addition of a telephoto lens, which Google intends to improve performance specifically when it comes to zooming and portrait mode. The shooter’s competition, however, is stiffer this year: Apple seems to have corrected some the over-zealous HDR tech that made iPhone XS images look unrealistic and unnatural at times, and the Cupertino company promises to further improve the iPhone 11 Pro’s already-very-good camera when its detail-enhancing Deep Fusion tech arrives in the next iOS update.

Image quality

This scene is a great space to test HDR. There's natural light coming in through the archway and artificial light overhead. The Pixel 4 does a really excellent job of bringing up the shadows near the door while keeping the colors accurate to the scene as it looked in real life. If you wanted to edit the photo, it's a great, neutral starting point. But, it also looks fine the way it is. (Stan Horaczek/)

Google doesn’t pull punches when it comes to computational photography, which relies more on processing power and algorithms than pure hardware performance. The company makes it abundantly clear that the software magic that happens during and after you press the shutter has become extremely important in determining the look of the final image.

Like almost every smartphone camera at this point, pressing the shutter doesn’t simply take one photo. Instead, it captures a burst and combines information from those images into one finished file. This “smart HDR” tech does a lot of good: It can prevent highlights from getting blown out, or flatten out a super-contrasty scene that could lose crucial details. But, as with iPhone 11 Pro, it can be unpredictable.

These Bananas at Whole Foods illustrate the difference between the Pixel 4 (left) and the iPhone 11 Pro (right). The Pixel's image doesn't crank the contrast as much and the tones look smoother overall. If you weren't comparing them side-by-side, however, they're both totally acceptable. (Stan Horaczek/)

In good conditions shooting with the main wide-angle camera, I prefer the images that come out of the Pixel 4 to those from the iPhone 11 Pro. It’s close, but the Pixel’s camera still feels more neutral and natural to me. I don’t notice the HDR effect that can make subjects look unrealistic—and sometimes even cartoonish—as much as I do with the iPhone. This is especially useful for users who edit their photos after taking them (something very few typical users do).

The focusing on the Pixel 4 is impressive. It grabbed onto the pizza cutter through this window reflection. (Stan Horaczek/)

Google made a few welcome improvements to its overall HDR experience as well. When you tap the screen to focus on an object in the image, two sliders now pop up for adjusting the brightness of the scene. One slider affects the overall exposure (how bright or dark everything looks) in the scene, while the other simply affects the shadows. That second slider is extremely useful. It allows you to do things like taking silhouette photos in which the subject is virtually blacked out while the background (usually the bright sky) stays properly exposed.

The first shot in this series was the default with no adjustments. In the second shot, I raised the overall brightness, which drew out detail from the leaves, but blew out the sky. In the third shot, I used the shadows slider to raise the shadow levels to bring up the leaves a bit while the sky remained mostly unchanged. (Stan Horaczek/)

You can also achieve the opposite effect in which you can brighten up a dark foreground subject without blowing out a bright sky in the background. In a situation like the one pictured below, you’d typically lose some of those nice yellow leaf details to shadow unless you brightened the whole image and blew out the sky. Adjusting the shadow slider allows you to bring up the exposure on the leaves while leaving the sky alone.

That slider is one of my favorite additions to the Pixel 4 camera, and it’s a trend I’d love to see continue as we go forward into the future of HDR all the time on everything.

When the shooting conditions get tricky, however, the Pixel 4 has some real quirks.

The flickr effect

Most artificial lighting flickers, but your brain does a good job of making the glow seem continuous. The pulsing effect, however, is more difficult for digital cameras to negate, and the Pixel 4 seems to have more trouble in this arena than its competition.

In the video above, you’ll notice some dark bands going across the image. This kind of thing isn’t out-of-the-ordinary with artificial light sources, which have a generally imperceptible flicker to coincide with the 60 Hz electrical current flowing through them. Dedicated digital cameras, however, typically have “flicker detection” to help combat it, and even the iPhone 11 Pro does a better job of mitigating the effect.

The effect isn't always so pronounced. In this image, you can clearly see dark bands running across the map in the center of the image that's illuminated by the artificial light overhead. Light coming in through the window and door pushed the shutter speed to 1/217th of a second, which is too fast to negate the banding effect. (Stan Horaczek/)

With the Pixel 4, I noticed it in a variety of locations and artificial light sources. It’s subtle, most of the time, but if you have a bright light source in the frame of the picture or video, it can push the shutter speed faster than 1/60th of a second, which is when the bands start to creep in.

When I switched to a manual camera mode in the Lightroom app and used a slower shutter speed, it disappeared. In scenes like this, the iPhone seems to use its HDR+ tech to keep at least one frame in the mix with a shutter speed slow enough to stop this from happening. Once I figured out the circumstances that brought it on, I shot the example below, which shows it very clearly.

The image on the right came from the iPhone 11 Pro Max, while the image on the left—which very clearly displays the banding problem—comes from the Pixel 4. Looking at the metadata, the iPhone claims a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, where as the Pixel's shutter speed was faster than 1/250th of a second, which explains why it's so visible in the Pixel photo, but not the iPhone frame. Presumably, this is the kind of thing Google can fix down the road by adjusting the way in which the HDR capture process works. (Stan Horaczek/)

The flaw isn’t a deal breaker since it only appears in specific circumstances, but it’s very annoying when it does.

White balancing act

Shot on a cloudy day in the shadows with lots of yellow in the frame, I'd fully expect this picture to come out too blue. The Pixel did a solid job, however. (Stan Horaczek/)

Another area where our brains and eyes routinely outperform cameras: color balance. If you’re in a room with both artificial light and a window, the illumination may look fairly consistent to your eye, but render as orange and blue, respectively, to a camera.

Smartphones often try to split the difference when it comes to white balance unless you mess with it on your own. The Pixel 4, however, analyzes the scene in front of it and uses AI to try and recognize important objects in the frame. So, if it notices a face, it will try and get the white balance right on the person. That’s a good tactic.

Under artificial light, the color balance changes frequently when the camera moves subtly. (Stan Horaczek/)

Generally, I think the Pixel 4 does an excellent job when it comes to white balance, except when it gets it very wrong. Move around the iPhone 11 Pro camera, and the scene’s overall color cast tends to stay mostly consistent. Do the same with the Pixel 4, and its overall white balance can shift drastically, even when you only slightly move the camera. Above, the grid-style screenshot show a series of photos I took in succession under unchanging conditions. I moved the phone subtly as I shot, and you can see the really profound color shift. Again, this primarily happens when shooting under artificial light.

As long as you pay attention and notice the change before snapping the shot, it’s totally fine and the Pixel does a great job. It’s also easy to correct later on if you’re willing to open an editing app. But, on a few occasions, I ended up with a weirdly yellow photo I didn’t expect.

Telephoto lens

Portrait mode and a backlit beard make for quite the scene. (Stan Horaczek/)

The new telephoto lens is roughly twice the focal length of the Pixel’s standard camera, which effectively gives you a 2x optical zoom. It has an f/2.4 aperture, compared to the improved f/2.0 (lower numbers let in more light) portrait lens on the iPhone 11 Plus. It’s only a fraction of a stop, however, so it’s unlikely to make a huge impact, but it’s a reminder that Apple has been doing telephoto lenses for some time now and is already refining while Google is just getting started.

You get more accurate colors and more details out of the Pixel 4 (left) then you do out of the iPhone 11 Pro (right) when zoomed in to 8x. The iPhone actually allows you to go a little more to 10x if you don't mind the lower-quality image. (Stan Horaczek/)

Like we said earlier, the telephoto lens counts zooming as one of its primary functions. The phone gives you the option to zoom up to 8x by combining digital and optical technology. Google claims pinching to get closer now actually gives you better image quality than simply taking a wider photo and cropping in, which has historically provided better results. I found this statement accurate. “Zooming” has come a long way on smartphone cameras, but you shouldn’t expect magic. You’ll still end up with ugly choppy “artifacts” in the images that look like you’ve saved and re-saved the photo too many times as a JPEG.

When you peep at the images on a smaller screen, like Instagram, however, they look impressive, and that’s ultimately probably the most important display condition for a smartphone camera in 2019.

If you zoom a lot, the Pixel beats the iPhone on the regular. It’s even slightly easier to hold steady due to the improved images stabilization system when you’re zoomed all the way to 8x.

Portrait mode

The Pixel 4's portrait mode really shines when you shy away from the standard up-close headshot. (Stan Horaczek/)

The other big draw of the telephoto lens comes in the form of improved portrait mode. Even with the single lens on the Pixel 3, Google already did a very impressive job faking the background blur that comes from shallow depth of field photography. Predictably, adding a second lens to let it better calculate depth in a scene improves its performance.

If you really want to notice the jump, try shooting a larger object or a person from farther back than the simple head-and-torso shot for which portrait mode was originally developed. Using portrait mode for larger objects is a new skill for the Pixel 4 and it does a good job of mitigating the inherent limitations of the tech. Any weirdness or artifacts like oddly-sharp areas or rogue blobs of blur typically tend to show up around the edges of objects or in fine details like hair or fur. The closer you get to your subject, the harder you’re making the camera work and the more likely you are to notice something weird or out of place.

The iPhone 11 Pro (left) does a better job with the tricky edges in the subject's hair, but the Pixel 4 (right), produces a more natural image because it's not adding any simulated lighting effects like Apple does. (Stan Horaczek/)

Overall, the Pixel 4’s portrait mode looks more natural than the iPhone 11 Pro, but it struggles more with edges and stray hairs. In headshots, the areas around the hair typically give away the Pixel 4’s tricks right away. (The iPhone 11 Pro gets around those edge issues by adding a “dreamy” blur across most of the image.) The Pixel’s overall colors and contrast are generally better because they don’t try to emulate different types of lighting like the iPhone does. But, when you get a truly ugly edge around a subject’s face or hair with the Pixel 4, it can quickly ruin the effect.

Here are some portrait mode shots (and a dedicated camera picture) edited with Lightroom. The iPhone 11 Pro (left) raised the blacks on the sweatshirt as part of its simulated lighting mode. The Pixel 4 (center) had some trouble with the whispy edges of the hair. The dedicated camera (right) was a Sony A7R with a 50mm lens and preserves the highlights in the hair better and blows the fake bokeh effect out of the water. (Stan Horaczek/)

If you’re only posting your portrait mode shot on Instagram, those rough edges may not really play for your followers. Viewing them on a laptop screen or larger, however, makes them obvious.

The 100 percent crop (screen captured from Lightroom) shows how differently the iPhone 11 Pro (left) and the Pixel 4 (right) handle tricky, but attractive lighting conditions. This kind of light is amazing with a dedicated camera. (Stan Horaczek/)

The Pixel 4 does give you almost immediate access to both the fake blur images and the regular photo in your library. Portrait mode takes a few seconds to process, so you can’t see those immediately. Considering the amount of processing it’s doing, that’s understandable—and also the case with the iPhone—but if you’re trying to nail exactly the right expression, you can’t really check your results in real time.

Night Sight

Night Sight brightened up this extremely dark scene and kept the colors—the greens bushes in particular—from looking cartoonish and oversaturated. (Stan Horaczek/)

When Google debuted its impressive low-light shooting mode, Night Sight, in the Pixel 3, it was incredibly impressive. Google has clearly continued to refine its performance and, even with the iPhone 11 Pro adding its own version of the tech, the Pixel 4 still maintains a considerable advantage.

You’ll still have to swipe over to the Night Sight mode in order to enable it, as opposed to the iPhone, which springs it on you automatically when it thinks the conditions are right. I like having more control over what I’m doing, so I prefer the Pixel’s approach, especially since these night modes require long exposures that can result in blurry photos if you—or the objects in the scene—can’t hold still.

Compared to the iPhone’s Night Mode, the Night Sight’s colors are more accurate and the scenes just look more natural. Ultimately, this one will come down to personal preference, but I prefer the Pixel 4’s results over the iPhone 11 Pro’s.

During the camera presentation, Google flat-out said that it hopes you’ll only use the camera “flash” as a flashlight. I abided by this rule. The flash is not good, just like every smartphone camera flash photo that came before it. It’s useful if you really need it—especially if you don’t mind converting images to black and white after the fact—but you can ultimately just leave it turned off forever.

As an addition to Night Sight, Google also added functionality that makes it easier to shoot night sky photos that show off stars and the Milky Way—if you know what you’re doing. I didn’t test this feature because I didn’t have access to truly dark sky, and the weather hasn’t really cooperated. If you’re planning to use this feature, you should plan to use a tripod—or at least balance the phone on a stable object—since it still requires long exposures. Ultimately, I love that the company added this feature and I look forward to seeing what people create with it, but it’s a specialized thing that I imagine most users won’t try more than a few times.

The case of the missing super-wide-angle lens

The regular wide-angle lens is good for walking around shots like this one, but there were instances when I really missed the super-wide that the iPhone 11 now offers. If I were to finish this photo, I'd straighten it and probably make it black and white. But, since it's a sample image, this is the unedited version. (Stan Horaczek/)

When the Pixel 3 shipped without a telephoto lens, I didn’t really miss it. I do, however, have to wonder why Google would ship the Pixel 4 without the super-wide lens found on the iPhone 11 Pro and other high-end smartphones.

The super-wide is easy to abuse if the unique perspective blinds you to the inherent distortion and overall just kinda wacky perspective it offers. But, there are times when it comes in really handy. If you’re trying to shoot a massive landscape without creating a panorama, or you’re just taking a photo in really tight quarters, the extra width makes a tangible difference.

Ultimately, I advocate that people do the vast majority of their shooting with the standard wide-angle camera no matter which phone they choose, because the overall performance and image quality are typically far better than the other lenses. But, I like options, and a super-wide lens lets you achieve a perspective you physically can’t get by simply backing up.

So, what's the best smartphone camera?

If you're curious what the Pixel 4's actual bokeh looks like, check out the blobs of blur on the right side of this photo. (Stan Horaczek/)

The Pixel 4 has left us in a tough situation. The image quality, color reproduction, and detail are really excellent—most of the time. The quirks that pop up, however, really do have a tangible effect on the overall usability of the camera as a whole. If you’re the type of shooter who is careful to pay attention to your scene and edits your photos after you shoot, then the Pixel is the best option for the most part. The more neutral colors and contrast take edits better than those on iPhone files, which come straight out of the camera looking more processed.

Ultimately, though, we’re in a time when smartphone camera quality has largely leveled off. I haven’t mentioned the Samsung cameras in this review for the most part, because I find their files overly processed with too much sharpening and aggressive contrast and saturation levels. But, a large contingent of people like that. At this point, there isn’t enough difference between overall performance and image quality on the Pixel 4 to jump ship from your preferred platform—only to eek out a slight edge on images that come straight out of the camera.

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[readersforum]

How to Optimize Your Conversion Funnel, from ToFu to BoFu

New Post has been published on http://www.readersforum.tk/how-to-optimize-your-conversion-funnel-from-tofu-to-bofu/

How to Optimize Your Conversion Funnel, from ToFu to BoFu

Posted by

Click to see a larger image.

Continue using PPC campaigns

Click to see a larger image.

In this example, we brought a top-of-funnel CTA into bottom-of-funnel targeting.

We created ads that linked to a gated whitepaper on the client’s website. As you can see, there are a large number of impressions with 531 clicks.

The theory was that our targeting was enough of a pre-qualification. Instead of getting a custom practice evaluation, the user was offered a map to show them how much money they could be making per patient in their state.

Continue using landing pages

A specific landing page and call to action is more relevant to the visitor’s needs than your homepage and so is more likely to convert.

Following the multi-step model designed to ease visitors into a commitment, here’s a demo example from one of our clients:

Notice the questions being asked in the step-one form:

Average Monthly Revenue

Current E-Commerce Pain Points

These questions allow the user to stay anonymous. They also lead the user to believe that they will get a more custom response to their needs based on the specific information they input.

Next, they’re directed to the second-step form fields:

This step is asking for the personal information. However, notice the change in headline on the form itself. “Last step: We have your demo ready to go. Who can we give this to?” This second-step language is very important as it reminds the visitor as to why we need their information: it’s for their benefit — we want to give the visitor something, not take something from them. Time and again, I see a multi-step page outperform a one-step by 300%.

Take advantage of thank you pages

Even though you’ve already captured a lead/sale/sign-up/conversion, thank you and confirmation pages are a necessary step in the funnel process. Right after people opt in for the offer on your landing page, you’ll want to ask them to immediately take another specific action on the thank you page. For example, if you have a page offering a free e-book, offer a free demo on the thank you page to attempt to push those prospects farther down the funnel. They’ll be much more likely to take an action once you’ve already convinced them to take a smaller action.

When visitors land on the report thank you page, we provide them the download link, but we also provide next steps with an option to get a demo.

It’s important to tag people based on what they’ve downloaded or what posts they’ve read. That way you can create tailored messaging for these prospects when reaching out to them through email.

Action

Assuming you’ve optimized each step of the conversion funnel, you should have some qualified leads becoming paying customers. However, your work here is not done. You will need to continue nurturing those qualified leads. After someone has taken a desired action and converted on your website, you’ll want to get these people back into the funnel in order to coax them into repeat business. Retention is such an important part of growing your customer base, since this will be revenue that you don’t have to pay for — this audience already showed a definite interest in what you’re offering.

If the lead converts into a customer, show them your other products or services and begin the cycle again. For example, let’s say you provide tree-trimming services and your customer just had you come by to trim the oak trees in their large backyard. After the job is done, continue reaching out to this customer with other services such as grass treatment, stump removals, or whatever else could be useful to them. You can do this by inviting them to an email newsletter or your social media channels. Send coupons and promotions via email. If you have an online store, include loyalty materials in their shipped order so they understand how much you value them as a customer.

Along with nurturing this repeat business, focus on optimizing your product pages by removing friction and doing all you can to encourage shoppers to checkout. Examine and improve your checkout flow by answering common questions along the way.

Key takeaways

Optimizing your funnel is a process that takes time, so don’t be afraid to experiment. It may take a few different offers before you find one that sticks and garners the most conversions. So create as many TOFU offers as you can think of to cater to the many different personas that make up your customer base. From white books and e-books to free trials, your TOFU content is the first step to building that relationship with your customers.

From there, continue creating great content and nurturing those mid-funnel leads. If your content is relevant and your website is optimized, you’ll notice that you’ll be getting many more leads than you did before optimization. The more leads you gather and keep interested, the more likely you are to get repeat sales!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

[eulogy34-blog]

A Simple Key For natural hair growth Unveiled

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The smart Trick of hair vitamins That Nobody is Discussing

This issue is noticed to run in people and experts feel this situation could be the result of autoimmune disorder, where by the immune method of the body mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. These involve treatable problems like anemia and thyroid disorder and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). These circumstances are diagnosed by blood checks in addition to a historic and Bodily evidence. While a few research have recommended that baldness may very well be inherited with the mom's spouse and children genes, these theories call for additional testing. Existing reports are inconclusive. Although not indicated for woman sample balding, spironolactone (Aldactone) has had some success in managing this situation. Probably read more is alopecia totalis, where your entire scalp goes bald. It is important to emphasize that individuals who've localized hair loss usually Never go on to get rid of hair all over the scalp. Alopecia areata can influence hair on other parts of the human body, too (for example, the beard or eyebrows). Nourish Beaute treatment shampoo is acceptable for every type of hair, and also for the two, Males and women. The shampoo helps make hair much more manageable and easy to brush with no shedding strands. When you've got a medically diagnosed hair loss trouble, then this shampoo may possibly be able to help with it. Learn how aquiring a vitamin D deficiency can lead to hair loss and what you are able to do to take care of balanced vitamin D degrees in Your system. Throughout the 3-thirty day period telogen interval, the hair root shrivels up into a small "club," then the hair falls out. It can be therefore ordinary to shed about a hundred hairs on a daily basis, far more of these on days when shampooing loosens the hairs that happen to be able to fall out. The body then replaces the hairs. While most of the people who request hair alternative surgical procedures are Adult males, Kaufman claims women make fantastic candidates. A detailed examine these will usually reveal the club at the end, exhibiting that these hairs shed Generally. Typically, about ten% of scalp hairs are during the telogen phase. Vitamin A can even be present in animal merchandise like milk, eggs and yogurt. Cod liver oil is a particularly very good source. Bottom Line: Vitamin D's actual function in hair growth just isn't understood, but a single type of hair loss is associated with deficiencies. You could raise vitamin D concentrations as a result of sun exposure or by ingesting particular foods. Hello sir I am suffering for major hair loss trouble so please give me tips for control hair loss Androgenic alopecia - is actually a genetic condition. Adult men with this condition are afflicted with what is usually often known as male sample balding, which can commence in the course of late teens or their early 20s. Sure. Considering that coconut oil is rich in potassium, it retains the scalp health and fitness, and promotes the growth of new hair, rendering it the top treatment for hair regrowth. Nonetheless, usually there are some anecdotal stories that supplementing with also higher of the dose could also lead to hair loss.

Helping The others Realize The Advantages Of how to grow hair faster

After we exercising, it helps to cut back stress hormones — which can be the negative boys that love to latch on to the hair follicles and destruction them. We’ve reviewed the position of DHT and hair loss On this and various posts; it’s merely that essential. Make sure that whatever nutritional supplement you choose includes DHT blockers. Prevent nutritional deficiencies simply because they usually affect your hair adversely. Such as, vitamin E and zinc deficiencies bring about hair thinning and loss. Recurring publicity can also destruction the hair follicles, likely causing thinning and hair loss. Plant-dependent dyes like henna can generate beautiful hair colours ranging from pink to darkish brown. You might also go with oranges. Vitamin C is likewise needed for your production of collagen which make capillaries that connect with the hair shafts powerful Consequently, making certain frequent provide of nutrients and swift hair growth. The treatment could possibly be rather distressing and may bring about pores and skin thinning from the injected website s. Prednisone, an oral steroid, might be a good treatment for alopecia areata, but its potential Negative effects include things like bodyweight get, metabolic abnormalities, acne, and menstrual complications. Its optimistic effects are frequently only short-term. Biotin has the added moreover of getting balanced in your hair, pores and skin, eyes, nails, and liver. A single review even showed that pregnant women are biotin deficient Which getting a complement might guide in healthy fetal growth. If you are balding or see thinning hair, then getting the very best hair loss shampoo is crucial for regrowth. When there are lots of factors for guys’s hair loss, like genetics, worry, vitamin deficiencies and extra styling, there are many very good hair growth shampoos, conditioners, and products which can avert loss and perhaps aid grow hair back. Amid Manetabolism’s other components are zinc, that is essential for healthier hair and encourages faster hair growth, and folic acid – and that is very good for overall hair top quality (and the general longevity of hair good quality). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GA-ohYGt3c works by renewing the cells that grow hair. Whisk an egg. Blend in four tablespoons of grapeseed oil and some drops of lavender oil. Use it on your hair and scalp and go away it on for 50 percent an hour. Lastly, rinse it out and shampoo your hair as regular. Our group involves licensed nutritionists and dietitians, Accredited well being instruction professionals, and Qualified power and conditioning professionals, personalized trainers and corrective physical exercise professionals. Our staff aims for being not merely thorough with its research, but additionally goal and unbiased. While Propecia has way more regular final results, minoxidil is much more depending on the user. Extraordinary results including new regrowth is usually seen in people who respond perfectly, but These are the minority. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1stclSx8mg , like Propecia, is far better at hair routine maintenance. It will allow you to continue to keep the hair you are doing have for longer, but provided that you use it day by day. But our reviews of the best shampoos for hair growth can provide you with hope and assist you to discover the best solution for you. This shampoo combines the advantages of biotin, zinc, and coconut oil to make the growth of recent hair though fixing skinny, weakened strands. This B-Sophisticated Method stimulates hair follicles in an effort to stimulate your hair to begin growing once more.

5 Essential Elements For hair vitamins

Purchasing the most effective hair loss shampoo for guys and women is usually tough. With a great number of internet marketing ploys and Untrue statements, it may be tough to convey to which items are genuinely effective and which of them are basically a fraud. The very best shampoos for hair growth consist of four vital substances. The subsequent substances have been demonstrated to not merely sluggish or avert hair loss in Adult males and women, but to properly create new growth to prevent thinning and balding. Regardless of what item you select, ensure it is made up of the next factors. Food plan performs a crucial job in hair growth. Protein is important for extended hair so be sure you are acquiring more than enough protein with your eating plan. This is certainly also called platelet loaded plasma therapy. Researchers noted in the British Journal of Dermatology Could 2013 situation that restoring hair growth on bald patches is possible by injecting them with platelet abundant plasma. one. Never heard of more info from stepto remedies , but from your looks of it, it has been obtainable some time and been given mediocre feed-back. Additionally, it lacks The present simplest components. They aren’t increasing your overall hair count, just shifting across the hair you've still left. Moreover, it doesn’t cease foreseeable future hair loss and occasionally more transplants are expected. Is there visit involving hair loss and worry? Equally psychological and Actual physical strain (for example a significant sickness or Restoration from surgical procedures) are actually connected to hair loss. Even though thyroid blood checks and also other lab tests, which include a whole blood rely (CBC), on Individuals who have common hair loss are often usual, it's important to exclude treatable leads to of hair loss. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-SiXXn3EKKI2t7btdwEplw has ketoconazole, but only a few other hair thinning/loss relevant ingredients; not readily available on Amazon (only by using Lipogaine Site). The parents at Ultrax Labs are assured more than enough you’ll see success from Hair Surge that they offer a 90-day money back assure. They don’t make a great deal of products – only 3 within their complete portfolio – but they may have a agency perception inside their formulation. Scientists uncovered that the two 2% ketoconazole and minoxidil regimens enhanced hair density, dimension, and proportion of anagen follicles. Ketoconazole is also efficient in managing a fungus named Pityriasis That usually inhabits the scalp. RepliCel is a kind of cell therapy that features a large amount of oldsters energized. This can be often known as RCH-01 and RepliCel is collaborating with world wide cosmetic enterprise Shiseido. RepliCel will be an injectable like Histogen or Botox for instance. It is essentially hair transplants on steroids, but They can be migrating cells as an alternative to hairs. Their intention is to have a seed biopsy then multiply it while in the lab for around three months. You’ll locate ketoconazole in Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo, and preliminary investigate signifies that it could be effective in dealing with hair loss. In the event you’re a man who hasn’t uncovered how to use hair gel nevertheless, it would be a good time to figure out ...

5 Simple Statements About hair fall treatment Explained

Your not long ago considered objects and featured recommendations › Watch or edit your browsing background When you are serious about healing your microbiome, as well as desire to kick-get started the alkalisation process then I'd personally very advocate a vegetable juice rapidly detox. The second analyze, carried out in 2013, was performed on women having a situation named idiopathic hirsutism. This issue triggers too much hair growth to the facial area and/or bodies of women. more info am ninety five% vegetarian and sometimes try to eat some meat. So I get my quota of protein and iron from super healthful and Tremendous yummy lentil (dals) and beans, which I largely sprout. Why you must keep away from hair dyes: Artificial hair dyes have severe chemicals which include ammonia, hydrogen peroxide,  p-phenylenediamine, which can irritate the scalp and induce strain on hair follicles. Amla is probably the Indian berries. Nonetheless it demands a special mention due to the fact this berry is without doubt one of the best sources of vitamin C (ten situations a lot more than an orange). A scientific trial, for being executed in Mexico, that will examine the HSC treatment strategy that's a proposed approach that benefit from stem cells as well as their injection while in the afflicted parts. In this in-depth posting I’m gonna show you each treatment which is even well worth contemplating being a cure And that i’m planning to rank them as a way of how remarkably I rank them. Again, oils like coconut and almond make a wonderful depart-in conditioner. To implement: Take a handful of drops of oil and rub it among your palms and use to damp or dry hair (keeping away from the roots) and leave in. You’re concerned about losing your hair, and you need a simple and easy way to prevent, or maybe reverse your hair loss with a hundred% certainty and achievement rate. This occurs as Component of the Wnt signaling pathway and, in people today with hair loss Ailments, it can cause balding. combination of critical oils, carrier oils, and cleaning brokers to realize the effects you’re seeking. Eliminating these foods teams from a diet regime may assist you to grow again misplaced hair which was due to delayed allergic reactions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5tjLvDdIfA for instance try to avoid gluten in my diet program. Folks have been boasting a ‘cure for hair loss’ are going to be obtainable in ‘5 calendar year’s time’ for so long as anyone can recall.

[sleepadvisor]

Our Review of The “I Love (Heart) My Pillow” for 2017

9.9 Total Score

Amazing!

Material

10

Support

10

Design

10

Price

9.7

User Rating: Be the first one!

Do you love your pillow? If you’re reading this, the chances are that your affection has grown colder. Well, our review of the I Love My Pillow is here to change all that for good. We’ll break down their three most popular pillow models to help you decide which one is right for you.

So, without any further ado, let’s go right ahead and have a glimpse.

Memory Down Model

This one is made out entirely out of memory foam, and it has a fill of down feathers as well as a cover made of cotton. The feathers are filled within a pocket which is situated on the inner portion of the cover.

What that said, right beneath this layer is a core made of memory foam which is intended to deliver a nice, soft and supportive sleeping surface. The combination of both materials is known to be incredibly comprehensive and one which is preferred by a range of different people.

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How does it feel?

Well, the truth is that the I Love My Pillow come with a unique feel. The combination of memory foam and down feathers is something quite interesting. On the top, you are conveniently welcomed by a rather soft layer made of down feathers.

However, as your head continues to rest, you will notice the foam right down below it as it begins to cradle your head and neck to deliver an extremely convenient support. This model comes with a rather average response time which is mainly brought by the feathers, but as soon as you apply slight pressure, it would kick in. The response is not as quick as you would get from a great latex pillow, but it’s also not slow.

Regarding the support, this model does an awesome job. This is true for both side and stomach sleepers. Regardless of whether you rotate between those positions, you will feel that the pillow can adjust and deliver the support that you need.

As you lie on your stomach, the down feathers are going to sink deep enough to make the pillow flat out. That’s what’s important for a good stomach sleeping pillow. On the other hand, as you rotate on your side, the solution is going to conform to your shoulders and make sure that you receive the definitive and proper hug that your shoulders might need. This is something tremendously important.

All in all, this particular model is one that would cater to your preferences if you are looking for something comfortable and supportive. The comfort of the feathers, alongside the overall support of the memory foam, is rather nice.

Contour Décor Model

This is another popular option that’s brought by the company. It is made with a luxurious plus outer cover as well as 100% memory foam. The I Love My Pillow is quite simple, but its construction is rather interesting. The memory foam pad comes with a slight dip which is designed to deliver a rather natural contouring support to both your head and neck.

The cover is made out of polyester, and it is one of the softest covers that we’ve tested so far. The cooling is also up to the highest standards. The inner material can get the necessary breathability because the cover doesn’t obstruct it at all.

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How does it feel?

The truth is that this is one of the most traditional memory foam pillows we’ve laid our heads on. The cradle of the product, however, is great and it outperforms a lot of other solutions on the market – this is something quite important.

What we found very interesting is that dip that we told you about. It does an awesome job, contrary to what we expected, when it comes to balancing the level of support and the overall contouring of the pillow.

When you stack it against a traditional round pillow, this one takes advantage of the dip to prevent rolling off when you sleep. This is a dip that is a flat spot on this model, and it makes sure that your spine remains perfectly aligned with your neck. If we had to give a definitive conclusion, we’d say that the contouring capabilities of this pillow are far better than the majority of others.

Regarding sleeping positions, we are fairly sure that it’s intended for side sleepers. However, it does an awesome job of aligning your spine when on your side. It isn’t very thick but the foam within it is dense, and it has a comparatively quicker response time which makes up for the lack of thickness.

Traditional Memory Gel Model

Now, this I Love My Pillow is made out of gel-infused memory foam, and it comes with a very nice plush outer cover. The design is intended to deliver a larger sleeping surface sacrificing neither the comfort nor the contouring capabilities.

The entire thing weighs a total of 2 pounds and 11 ounces. The cover is quite different compared to the other pillows which are subjected to this review. It is made of polyester and viscose bamboo. The cover is very porous which means that it breathes excellently. Regardless, it’s machine washable and very easy to maintain – this is something worth taking into account.

The manufacturer, however, recommends that you clean it with a spot cleaner only to avoid any damage.

Get One Today: Check Pricing & Availability

How does it feel?

This particular solution brings a slightly different feeling compared to other pillows by the company. You will most benefit from it if you decide to use it while sleeping on your back. With this said, there is a substantial amount of side sleepers who would benefit from the pillow as it will deliver splendid support in this position as well.

Also, if you are a heavier sleeper who prefers the free-falling position, this one would cater to your requirements as it is a bit denser. We’d have to conclude that it’s best for back and side sleepers though, there’s no doubt about it.

Other Considerations

Now, we took a look at some of the most important specifications about all of the popular pillows, and it’s time to see some general ones.

All of the pillows are shipped after making an online order. The shipping time would differ depending on your current location. Keep in mind the prices between each product line will differ.

There is virtually no off-gassing smell which is associated with any of the pillows. This is something that we are particularly hyped about as you can go to sleep immediately instead of having to wait for it for a couple of days and a few wash runs before the smell is off.

The products are all made in the USA which guarantees the quality of their material. Regardless of which type you choose, you can rest assured that everything is handled as per the highest standards. This is something that you ought to account for.

To Conclude

I Love My Pillow delivers products that you’ll love. While it may sound a little under the nose, this is the best way for us to summarize these products. Of course, it would ultimately depend on your personal preferences to pick up the one that suits your sleeping requirements the most but all of them are quite capable of fulfilling serious standards.

The three pillows cover a broad spectrum of sleeping preferences, so the chances are you’d be able to pick one up. If you like the idea of memory foam and down, you might choose the first one.

If you are looking for something more stable, we’d suggest the last option. If you are looking for a traditional memory foam contouring capabilities taken to the next level, the Contour Décor is something that you ought to keep in mind.

All in all, this manufacturer has made sure that it covers all of the possible scenarios to expand its market potential as much as it’s possible. And, it’s safe to say that it has done so very conveniently.

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