#in videos complaining about their shape and usage

[phantaloon]

.

[freifraufischer]

Okay I woke up this morning feeling like saying things some American gym fans don’t want to hear on reddit so I might as well annoy some people on tumblr too.

1) Training for the Olympics is a hard long process even if you are Simone Biles.  When she took a year off after Rio she talked about how out of shape she was when she started to train again.  She has also talked about how she lives in pain every day  "Pain is just something I live with and that is pretty odd for my age, right? It feels weird if I'm not in pain” as far back as 2019.  In the lead up to the Olympics in 2021 she was having her ankles wrapped between every rotation to an extent that looked painful just to do the wrapping.  She was also still having twisting issues while on the GOAT tour in late December.

There is no evidence that she is doing any gymnastics conditioning now much less training.  World Champion Center, the gym her family owns, is not a small operation and there hasn’t been a single video clip of her doing anything that would suggest an elite come back.

She did complain recently about being drug tested, meaning she’s still in the drug testing pool, but the context of the complaint was that she thought it was ridiculous that she was being drug tested because she hadn’t competed in almost a year.  

The general rule of thumb is that professional athletes in Olympic sports don’t officially retire until they absolutely have to because their value for advertisers is in their future potential.  McKayla Maroney was still making vague statements about coming back in 2015.  Carly Patterson was still making vague statements about coming back in 2006 despite the fact that she had a severe back injury that threatened her ability to walk for the rest of her life.  Simone is a unique athlete but she is not unique in this way.

But I think more directly.  Gymnastics does not appear to have been fun for her in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics.  Not only was there the pain, and the fact that all the peers she grew up with had left the sport, but she explicitly said that she was continuing because she thought it was important that a Nassar survivor was still in competition to hold USAGs feet to the fire.  While it’s noble that she felt that sense of duty that’s ... not nessecarily a healthy reason for her to invest years of hard painful work in something she wasn’t enjoying.

If you are saying that you’ll believe she’s done when she says it... I ask.... will you?  Did you hear what she was saying the last few years when she said it?

2)  There are a number of American gym fans that think Jade Carey is a viable AA medal threat in Paris.  They justify that her bars improved a great deal (and that she gets 10s in NCAA gymnastics) and that she came in 8th in the Tokyo AA (with a fall) and a lot of people who came in ahead of her will not be in Paris.

First of all, Jade’s beam score in Tokyo was 11.533 with a fall.  Even if she had not fallen no one who finished ahead of her in Tokyo had a score as low as her beam score when she hit in qualifying.   Not beam score.  No one ahead of her in that AA had any score as low as her hit beam score.  Unless she can significantly increase her bars difficulty to be competitive with the other AAers who are building in padding there she’s not got a lot of room to grow there and the 2022-24 code of points devalued all the vaults so she has less padding in the Paris quad than she would have had on one of her best events from the Tokyo quad.

I also don’t think that the same logic about how well she did in the Tokyo AA is being applied to people who finished around her.  Elisabeth Seitz of Germany finished just behind Carey in Tokyo as a much more balanced all arounder and no one is suggesting she might take an AA medal in Paris.   Nina Derwael of Belgium who came in 6th in Tokyo with a FTY (that is she did a vault with a full twist and a half less than Carey’s Amanar) and almost a point and a half ahead of Carey.  She’s also been just out of the medals at two other AA competitions in the Tokyo quad.  Again the devaluing of vaults benefits her relative to Carey.

But that assumes Carey even MAKES another AA final.  She made the Tokyo one because Simone Biles scratched.  Leanne Wong, the 2021 World Silver medalist just took the US classic title with a score higher than Jades Tokyo AA (and she’s working on a Cheng eliminating Jade’s relative scoring advantage on vault to her).  Shilese Jones at 2021 classic finished with roughly the same score as Jades AA with two beam falls.  Konnor McClain also won Jesolo in 2022 with a higher score than Jades Tokyo AA.  Now it’s a little silly to compare scoring at a US domestic or Jesolo meet to the Olympics but my point is that is three viable American AAers who have a strong chance of placing higher than Jade in a US qualification all of whom are very likely to make a US team if healthy.  And I am not even including Sunisa Lee the Tokyo AA gold medalist who has also said she is making a run for Paris.  There is an extremely good chance that failing something weird like what happened in Tokyo that Jade Carey gets 2 per country-ed out of any AA in the future.

And just for historical curiosity here are the names of the 8th place finishers in the Olympic AA since the start of the Open Code.  I’d like to ask you if you would have considered them viable AA medalists in the next quad:  2008 Sandra Izbasa (ROM), 2012 Vanessa Ferrari (ITA), 2016 Asuka Teramoto (JPN).  

I’m not putting any of these women down, they’re wonderful even legendary gymnasts, and so is Carey.   She’s a lovely person and I understand why people want to root for her.  But I’m tired of seeing her Tokyo AA finish being used as evidence of her future prospects without context.

[neocab]

Translating the Cyberpunk Future

I'm a video game translator, and I love my job. It's odd work, sometimes stressful, sometimes bewildering, but it always provides interesting and inspiring challenges. Every project brings new words, slang, and cultural trends to discover, but translating also forces me to reflect on language itself. Each job also comes with its own unique set of problems to solve. Some have an exact solution that can be found in grammar or dictionaries, but others require a more... creative approach.

Sometimes, the language we’re translating from uses forms and expressions that simply have no equivalent in the language we’re translating to. To bridge such gaps, a translator must sometimes invent (or circumvent), but most importantly they must understand. Language is ever in flux. It’s an eternal cultural battleground that evolves with the lightning speed of society itself. A single word can hurt a minority, give shape to a new concept, or even win an election. It is humanity’s most powerful weapon, especially in the Internet Age, and I always feel the full weight of responsibility to use it in an informed manner.

One of my go-to ways for explaining the deep complexity of translation is the relationship between gender (masculine and feminine) and grammar. For example, in English this is a simple sentence:

"You are fantastic!"

Pretty basic, right? Easy to translate, no? NOT AT ALL!

Once you render it into a gendered language like Italian, all its facets, its potential meanings, break down like shards.

Sei fantastico! (Singular and masculine)

Sei fantastica! (Singular and feminine)

Siete fantastici! (Plural and masculine)

Siete fantastiche! (Plural and feminine)

If we were translating a movie, selecting the correct translation wouldn't be a big deal. Just like in real life, one look at the speakers would clear out the ambiguity in the English text. Video game translation, however, is a different beast where visual cues or even context is a luxury, especially if a game is still in development. Not only that, but the very nature of many games makes it simply impossible to define clearly who is being addressed in a specific line, even when development has ended. Take an open world title, for example, where characters have whole sets of lines that may be addressed indifferently to single males or females or groups (mixed or not) within a context we don't know and can't control.

In the course of my career as a translator, time and time again this has led into one of the most heated linguistic debates of the past few years: the usage of the they/them pronoun. When I was in grade school, I was taught that they/them acted as the third person plural pronoun, the equivalent of the Italian pronoun "essi." Recently, though, it has established itself as the third person singular neutral, both in written and spoken English. Basically, when we don't know whether we're talking about a he/him or a she/her, we use they/them. In this way, despite the criticism of purists, the English language has brilliantly solved all cases of uncertainty and ambiguity. For instance:

“Somebody forgot their backpack at the party.”

Thanks to the use of the pronoun "their," this sentence does not attribute a specific gender to the person who has forgotten the backpack at the party. It covers all the bases. Smooth, right? Within the LGBT circles, those who don’t recognize themselves in gender binarism have also adopted the use of they/them. Practically speaking, the neutral they/them pronoun is a powerful tool, serving both linguistic accuracy and language inclusiveness. There's just one minor issue: We have no "neutral pronouns" in Italian.

It's quite the opposite, if anything! In our language, gender informs practically everything, from adjectives to verbs. On top of that, masculine is the default gender in case of ambiguity or uncertainty. For instance:

Two male kids > Due bambini

Two female kids > Due bambine

One male kid and one female kid > Due bambini

In the field of translation, this is a major problem that often requires us to find elaborate turns of phrase or different word choices to avoid gender connotations when English maintains ambiguity. As a professional, it’s not only a matter of accuracy but also an aesthetic issue. In a video game, when a character refers to someone using the wrong gender connotation, the illusion of realism is broken. My colleagues and I have been navigating these pitfalls for years as best we can. Have you ever wondered why one of the most common Italian insults in video games is "pezzo di merda"? That's right. "Stronzo" and "bastardo" give a gender connotation, while "pezzo di merda" does not.

A few months ago, together with the Gloc team, I had the pleasure of working on the translation of Neo Cab, a video game set in a not too distant future with a cyberpunk and dystopian backdrop (and, sadly, a very plausible one). The main character is Lina, a cabbie of the "gig economy," who drives for a hypothetical future Uber in a big city during a time of deep social unrest. The story is told mainly through her conversation with the many clients she picks up in her taxi. When the game’s developers gave us the reference materials for our localization, they specified that one of the client characters was "non-binary" and that Lina respectfully uses the neutral "they/them" pronoun when she converses with them.

"Use neutral pronouns or whatever their equivalent is in your language," we were told.

I remember my Skype chat with the rest of the team. What a naive request on the client's part! Neutral pronouns? It would be lovely, but we don't have those in Italian! So what do we do now? The go-to solution in these cases is to use masculine pronouns, but such a workaround would sacrifice part of Lina’s character and the nuance of one of the interactions the game relies on to tell the story. Sad, no? It was the only reasonable choice grammatically-speaking, but also a lazy and ill-inspired one. So what were we to do? Perhaps there was another option...

Faced with losing such an important aspect of Lina’s personality, we decided to forge ahead with a new approach. We had the opportunity to do something different, and we felt like we had to do the character justice. In a game that's completely based on dialogue, such details are crucial. What's more, the game's cyberpunk setting gave us the perfect excuse to experiment and innovate. Language evolves, so why not try to imagine a future where Italian has expanded to include a neutral pronoun in everyday conversations? It might sound a bit weird, sure, but cyberpunk literature has always employed such gimmicks. And rather than take away from a character, we could actually enrich the narrative universe with an act of "world building" instead.

After contacting the developers, who enthusiastically approved of our proposal, we started working on creating a neutral pronoun for our language. But how to go about that was a question in itself. We began by studying essays on the subject, like Alma Sabatini's Raccomandazioni per un uso non sessista della lingua italiana (Recommendations for a non-sexist usage of the Italian language). We also analyzed the solutions currently adopted by some activists, like the use of asterisks, "x," and "u."

Siamo tutt* bellissim*.

Siamo tuttx bellissimx.

Siamo tuttu bellissimu.

I’d seen examples of this on signs before, but it had always seemed to me that asterisks and such were not meant to be a solution, but rather a way to highlight the issue and start a discourse on something that's deeply ingrained in our language. For our cyberpunk future, we wanted a solution that was more readable and pronounceable, so we thought we might use schwa (ə), the mid central vowel sound. What does it sound like? Quite familiar to an English speaker, it's the most common vowel sound. Standard Italian doesn’t have it, but having been separated into smaller countries for most of its history, Italy has an extraordinary variety of regional languages (“dialetti”) and many of them use this sound. We find it in the final "a" of "mammeta" in Neapolitan, for instance (and also in the dialects of Piedmont and Ciociaria, and in several other Romance languages). To pronounce it, with an approximation often seen in other romance languages, an Italian only needs to pretend not to pronounce a word's last vowel.

Schwa was also a perfect choice as a signifier in every possible way. Its central location in phonetics makes it as neutral as possible, and the rolled-over "e" sign "ə" is reminiscent of both a lowercase "a" (the most common feminine ending vowel in Italian) and of an unfinished "o" (the masculine equivalent). The result is:

Siamo tuttə bellissimə.

Not a perfect solution, perhaps, but eminently plausible in a futuristic cyberpunk setting. The player/reader need only look at the context and interactions to figure it out. The fact that we have no "ə" on our keyboards is easily solved with a smartphone system upgrade, and though the pronunciation may be difficult, gender-neutrals wouldn't come up often in spoken language. Indeed, neutral alternatives are most needed in writing, especially in public communication, announcements, and statements. To be extra sure our idea worked as intended and didn't overlook any critical issues, we submitted it to a few LGBT friends, and with their blessing, then sent our translation to the developers.

Fast forward to now, and the game is out. It has some schwas in it, and nobody complained about our proposal for a more inclusive future language. It took us a week to go through half a day's worth of work, but we're happy with the result. Localization is not just translation, it's a creative endeavour, and sometimes it can afford to be somewhat subversive. To sum up the whole affair, I'll let the words of Alma Sabatini wrap things up:

"Language does not simply reflect the society that speaks it, it conditions and limits its thoughts, its imagination, and its social and cultural advancement." — Alma Sabatini

Amen.

[stormclouds-chainmail]

[Image and video descriptions

Image 1

A Tweet by Alex Hirsch @_AlexHirsch

One last treat. Ever curious about the fights had with the censors on Gravity Falls? I probably shouldn't share this buttttt here are some Real Notes from Disney S&P and my Real Replies. You are not prepared #10YearsOfGravity Falls

Video

Video is white text on a black background with the text read out loud.

Text: The following are real emails from the Disney TV Standards and Practices Department.

Monday, September 9, 2011

S&P wrote: Pg 31 - Please revise "poopface" as it comes across as a replacement for "shitface." Prior use of Mabel saying “Poop. Poop. And Butts” in the episode Fight Fighters came across as more childlike and not as offensive.

Alex Hirsch wrote: I've never met a human on earth of any age who would be offended by a cartoon saying the word "poop face" Not changing it.

S&P wrote: Pg 492 - It has come to our attention that "hoo-ha" is a slang term for vagina, please revise.

Alex Hirsch wrote: It is a proper word meaning excitement or hullabaloo, and that is clearly its meaning here. The context is an Owl-Themed restaurant called "Hoo-Ha's Jamboree." Not changing it.

S&P wrote: Pg 14 - Please revise "Chub Pup" on t-shirt- "Chub" has a sexual connotation

Alex Hirsch wrote: This is silly. It's an image of a fat dog. From the context, there is no reason to think

that "chub" means anything other than that.

S&P wrote: We have ran this phrase up the line and

unfortunately the concern surrounding it still remains. If you'd like to send me some alternate phrases, I can run those and let you know what becomes of it.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Alternate Phrases: Chubby Pup. Tub Pup. Chubbitty Pup Pup. I can't believe I have to do this.

S&P wrote: Pg 380- Please revise the action of Blubs putting his arm around Durland. As noted in previous concerns, their affectionate relationship should remain comical versus flirtatious.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Nope. They're...buddies. Chill out.

S&P wrote: The gesture is approved in this context.

S&P wrote: Pg 50 - Please replace "Jeez” as the term is considered an abbreviation of Jesus. Pg 26 - Please revise "Holy Christmas!” as it could be perceived as religiously offensive. Pg 6 - Please revise Soos' line about dressing as a giant teddy bear. It may call to mind the people who dress up as stuffed animals as a "furry" fetish.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Do I even have to respond to this?

S&P wrote: Pg 11 - Please revise Wendy's response "Aw crud-dang!" as "crud" has an inappropriate slang definition.

Alex Hirsch wrote: How is this my life

S&P wrote: PG 16 - S&P is not okay with saying

the word "Lucifer"... please revise.

Alex Hirsch wrote: I see no reason to change this. The devil isn't real.

S&P wrote: Please revise, S&P is concerned we will get complaints about such mentions of Lucifer, satan and/or devil.

Alex Hirsch wrote: So what if we get a complaint?

The current line "Scrimshaw'd from the tusks of Lucifer himself" is the kind of stuffy, non-political, old-timey purple prose like you'd see in Moby Dick. It is 100% less offensive to any religion than the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride "hell" scene in Disneyland.

Our usage is patently defensible, and you could respond to a complaint like this: "Sir or Madam, we respect your religion, but this fanciful, public domain language is used in a spooky, Halloween-like context, and in no way represents a commentary on any belief system whatsoever.

Please eat this Mickey shaped cookie and enjoy this cute, classic, family-friendly Disney cartoon"

Alex Hirsch wrote: Why should we be held hostage to whatever imaginary knee-jerk career complainers who would conceivably go out of their way to pretend to be offended by this?

S&P wrote: Will review in context

S&P wrote: Pg 32 - The gag with the basketball player throwing the pet chimp through the basketball hoop, will most likely be problematic. We would need to run the scene by our Disney Animal consultant for acceptability - especially with any primate inclusions. Also, the Monkey's name, "Salacious Monk Monk" is also problematic for S&P as the "salacious" term is inappropriate. Please revise.

Alex Hirsch wrote: This is maybe the dumbest collection of notes I've ever received. Seriously, re-read this entire paragraph out loud.

S&P wrote: Pg 172 - Please revise the Text on Tambry's flyer "bottles will be spun." This implies they are playing Spin the Bottle. We don't want to send the wrong message to our audience.

Alex Hirsch wrote: The message is "teenagers like kissing" How on earth is this the wrong message?

And its on a Flyer. We don't even show it! You gotta be kidding me here.

S&P wrote: S&P is still uncomfortable with this flyer giving the impression that it is a "make out" party.

Alex Hirsch wrote: What's a "make out party" and where can I find one? Fine, will remove the line "Bottles will be spun." Please replace with the new line "Not S&P approved"

S&P wrote: Please omit "Not S&P Approved" on the party flyer.

Alex Hirsch wrote: I don't see what the problem with this is.

S&P wrote: "Not S&P Approved" has been approved by S&P

End of video

Image 2

A still showing the Halloween party flyer on orange paper with black text and drawings of a pumpkin and a witch with a broom. The text is bullet pointed with skulls. Line 1: Party. Line 2: Not S&P approved. Line 3: no photos better end up online!

Image 3 and 4

Two Tweets by PopitTart/jan Najoken @PopitTart_ one containing text and a screenshot from the video the second just had text.

Text: this one in particular is driving me batty

Text from video screenshot: Pg 6-Please revise Soos' line about dressing as a giant teddy bear. It may call to mind the people who dress up as stuffed animals as a "furry" fetish.

Tweet 2 by PopitTart / jan Najoken @PopitTart_

"we do not want to achnowledge furries" -the company that accidentally invented the modern furry

Image 5

S&P wrote: Pg 19 - Please revise the Mabel's line "let's go get two dodos and force them to make out. This plays as too adult for our audience.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Lets look at the context here: Mabel is talking about traveling back in time, picking up two extinct birds, and bonking their beaks together while making smooching noises. How could this possibly be offensive.

Approved in the context

Image 6

S&P wrote: Minute 1:23

In the movie poster for the movie "Horse Dad" please omit the pipe in the horses mouth.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Why? Is the concern that we'll influence horses to smoke pipes?

Image 7 through 13

S&P wrote: Pg 52-Please revise the limerick referencing "There once was a man from Kentucky" S&P is worried that unsavory rhymes could be gleaned from it.

Alex Hirsch wrote: Why? "Man from Nantucket" is the famous dirty rhyme, which I decided to avoid altogether. To make your lives easier, I made up a totally new one "Man from Kentucky"-which has the same lovely syllable structure but no pre-invented ending. I can't even imagine a logical way to get "fuck" out of that. What would that even sound like? "There once was a man from Kentucky, who mispelled the word "fuck" and got "fucky?" That doesn't even make sense.

More likely would be "There Once Was a Man from Kentucky, Who spent hours with his pet Rubber Ducky/ The duck got a way/Twas such a sad day!! It turns out Kentucky's Unlucky" Whose to say how this made up poem ends? How could someone complain about something that's only in their heads?

S&P still feels that "fucky" would come from "ducky."

Who should I call to have this conversation personally?

End description]

alex hirsch going rogue… king shit

[daeguzen]

i read on your about page that you're a graphic design student~ i was wondering which nct comeback and/or album design (and/or fan edit) do you like the most? 👀 and least (if you have something to complain about gdhsjsdj 🙈 i know czennies can make so much better design than sm sometimes 😭)

Oooooo aw thank you for taking the time to read that lol.

So wow that's a big question cuz like NCT has such a big discography. And they have pretty good music in each unit so it's pretty hard to just choose one but I guess I'll go with NCT 127's Neo Zone as one of my fave comebacks (besides every dream one aha bcuz i love them so much). I think that album cover was interesting use of like orange and dark colors. The bold font also works well with that style. Music wise all of the songs where really freaking good. And I sometimes like an entire album or am selective with the songs but it wasn't like that with Neo Zone. I even made an animation project with shapes and colors based on the interlude cuz that had me OBSESSED. I'm a sucker for instrumental stuff.

Now with album covers idk if I even have a favorite. Mostly I like to see the typography and what imagery/photgraphy they come up with and so with the typography part Glitch Mode is my most favorite. I'm lowkey a gamer (I suck) and seeing the style they went for with the video games, the helmets, and as I said the typography I was so so in it. Oh man the BeatBox repackage typography, is awesome too. Kinda graffiti like but also playful use of gestures, like the E in beat makes a hand sign.

Ah you know what? Empathy was very creative. I play animal crossing and I turned the album cover into a design. I have it as my phone case in the game and it looks cute as hell. Maybe that's my most favorite. Cuz I look at it and I'm like woah. Very unique way of making the typography and having the gradients...you know what I think Empathy is my most favorite album cover.

And I'm looking through the albums and I'll share some that I think could be better, 1. Touch Japanese Version is so plain. Like honestly SM could've done better but they really just said words and pink. There's no problem with going with a simple design but it's not something you'd expect from NCT'S musical vibe. Even if you were going to use type and one color there's other ways to go about it.

I feel like with WayV albums in general they could do so much more than just taping their logo on the center continously. 127, Dream, and U have many different styles that vary. WayV can also vary from having their logo and different textures every time.

I could do a whole analysis on each album which is why I'm gonna stop here. Watch me end up doing an album analysis series. Because really looking at this topic, kpop albums are so fun to look at. They can really get creative and just do so much plus the color usage. That's why so many people look at kpop and are like wow that's so colorful, I love the dancing, the outfits etc. It's practically what kpop is about and so the amount of graphic design involved is beyond me.

(Even the sets have graphic design components. The words you see, the video games they throw around, the posters all that. It's fun to just look at.)

[foxpainting155]

Microsoft Editor For Mac

Now that you have taken excellent aerial shots of, for example, the snow-capped mountain peaks, it is time to edit the DJI drone footage and share it over social media. This is exactly where a DJI video editing software can come to your rescue by transforming the captured frames into pure magic. This article rounds up the best 5 video editors in 2020 for you to enhance the action camera videos. We break down the issue by answering these questions:

Microsoft Equation Editor For Mac

Microsoft Video Editor For Mac

Bing Ads Editor For Mac

Start quickly with the most recent versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive —combining the familiarity of Office and the unique Mac features you love. Work online or offline, on your own or with others in real time—whatever works for what you’re doing. Microsoft Editor runs in Word for Microsoft 365 to analyze your document and offer suggestions for spelling, grammar, and stylistic issues, like making sentences more concise, choosing simpler words, or writing with more formality. To use Editor, on the Home tab choose Editor. Reviewing suggestions. Visual Studio dev tools & services make app development easy for any platform & language. Try our Mac & Windows code editor, IDE, or Azure DevOps for free. Sublime Text is probably one of the most famous text editors available for Mac. The languages that you use in a document can affect how your Office program checks and presents readability scores. If you set up Word to check the spelling and grammar of text in other languages, and a document contains text in multiple languages, Word displays readability statistics for text in the last language that was checked.

1. Does DJI Have a Video Editor?

2. Edit DJI Video on PC vs on Mobile, What's In for Us?

3. What Are the Top 5 Video Editing Software for DJI Drone Videos?

4. How to Edit DJI Video Footages Easily on Windows/Mac?

5. DJI Video Edting Tips: What to Do with Drone Videos

Does DJI Have a Video Editor?

Yes, DJI users mostly bank on its default application, DJI GO 4 for shooting, editing and sharing videos on their mobile devices. But it doesn’t have any PC version. It could be increasingly difficult for people who prefer to edit video on a bigger screen with more functions.

Edit DJI Video on PC vs on Mobile, What's In for Us?

DJI GO 4 app runs on a mobile, and it is a nice choice to edit drone videos on-the-go. That said, there are some pitfalls that could make your mobile editing a nightmare:

• DJI videos are saved in cached versions in the DJI GO app. Thus, if you wish to edit and save it at high definition, i.e., better image quality, you will have to download its copy from the SD card of your drone to the computer. Then why not proceed to edit on PC with more flexibility?

• Working on a PC also makes things seem easier as you get to operate on a wider interface where everything can be navigated to without having to break any sweat.

• Smartphones usually are not equipped with adequate memory which is necessary for saving large 4K DJI footages.

• Action camera and drones use highly compressed codec to store video files, by so doing, they are able to capture videos at 1080p/4k and higher resolutions while keeping the file size small. However, decoding the highly compressed codec requires more computing power, and may cause problems such as iPhone overheating or app crashing.

Every now and then, you will find yourself search for the best DJI video editing software on Windows or Mac, and all the above annoyance would gone for good with the right tool.

The Top 5 Video Editing Software for DJI Drone Videos

#1. VideoProc (Fastest and Easiest for Processing 4K HEVC DJI Videos)

What are the challenges you will be meeting in DJI video editing? We notice there are complaining such as: software too complex to learn, not enough format support, low-spec computer stutters and freezes during editing, or it takes forever to export a short video.

All your headache ends with VideoProc. This lightweight video processing software can help you to cut videos without learning curve, with nice filters, advanced stabilization algorithm, and powerful GPU acceleration for fast rendering and exporting.

Key Features:

• Process 1080p, 4k, 8k videos without glitches or high CPU usage

• Speed up or slow down drone videos to highlight a moment

• Convert highly compressed DJI video format to editing-friendly codec

• Stabilize video with advanced deshake algorithm

• Cut videos, add filters, adjust brightness, color, add subtitles, etc.

#2. Adobe Premiere Pro (Best for Backing Up HEVC DJI Videos Data through Adobe Creative Cloud)

Microsoft Equation Editor For Mac

This industry-leading video editing software can serve you well while trying to edit the footages captured through your DJI Drone. It can be used as a DJI drone video editor that is powered to the core by Adobe Sensei which helps in crafting polished footages having a professional appeal.

Features:

• Has the ability of exporting videos in a variety of formats.

• All the data gets backed up automatically in Apple Cloud.

• Comes with enhanced tracking as well as masking capabilities.

• Footages can be edited in all formats ranging from 8K to virtual reality.

#3. Cyberlink Power Director (Best Choice for 360-Degree Drone Camera Users)

If you have a 360-degree drone camera, then you are bound to feel benefitted from using the Cyberlink Power Director. This versatile tool can proceed with synchronized editing of footages captured using multiple cameras. You can use it as a DJI drone video editing software.

Features: • Vector shapes can be both applied and edited using precise keyframe controls and auto-fit text. • Motion graphic elements can be merged with the titles of videos to impart a stylish look. • 18 transition effects can add a professional touch to your captured footages. • Supports multi-GPU acceleration and OpenCL for editing 4K clips as well as videos without succumbing to system lag.

#4. Davinci Resolve (Free Choice for Easing Out the Post-Production Process)

This software has gained a lot of popularity amongst professional video editors who make use of the same in free post-production process. A unique thing about Davinci Resolve is that it can handle parallel engines for enhancing the color grading process as well as quality.

Features: • Supports real-time video editing in 2K resolution. • Offers powerful new features like speed wrap, facial recognition etc. • Both effects and grades can be applied to clips. • End projects can be directly uploaded to Vimeo and YouTube.

#5. iMovie (Built-in Mac Tool for Amateur Users)

This tool comes built-in to every Mac system and even features an easy learning curve making it ideal for amateur users. iMovie can serve you well if you wish to undertake basic editing work on footages. It features an intuitive design and simple accompanying instructions which can enhance your knowledge about the same.

Features: • Can be used on your iPhone and iPad apart from Mac laptops or PCs. • Support 4K video editing without suffering quality loss. • Animated titles and credits can be added to the footages from the dozens of available styles. • 10 high fidelity video filters can impart a professional look to your movie.

How to Edit DJI Video Footages Easily on Windows/Mac?

It becomes extremely easy to transcode, tweak and adjust (4K/large) videos captured using DJI cameras through VideoProc. Once you have added the video, you will be presented with an array of options which can guide you through the processing part. This also holds true for amateur users who are trying our video processing for the very first time.

1. Convert: You can convert videos by first importing the source video and next selecting the target format before the transcoding process.

2. Cut: You can cut or trim DJI videos by selecting the tool from the Edit toolbar and specifying the position by dragging the dual green knobs.

3. Split: Choose the Split option from the Toolbox and select the parts you wish to keep by moving the dual green knobs.

4. Stabilize/Deshake: DJI's in-camera stabilization won't work in certain resolutions, and that's where post-production comes to your aid. Videos can be stabilized by selecting the Deshake option from the Toolbox and trimming the shaky segments by moving the green cursors.

5. Reduce Noise: Drone audio noise can be reduced or removed by selecting the Denoise option from the Toolbox tab and making your selection by moving the green cursors.

6. Merge: Videos can be merged by first loading your preferred clips and clicking on the Merge button appearing on the main interface.

7. Remove Fisheye: Clicking on the Fisheye option from the Toolbox tab can provide you with access to lens correction controls. You can trim the segments having fisheye effect by simply moving the green cursors.

8. Adjust Speed: The feature of playback speed adjusting is somewhat hidden in the DJI video editor. Click any option on the Toobbox of VideoProc, switch to the first option – Audio & Video, glide left or right the control bar and adjust the playback speed from 0.10x to 16x.

The Level-3 Hardware Acceleration Technology helps VideoProc in processing videos 47 times faster than its peer tools. All of this is done by diminishing CPU usage for enhancing the longevity of your computer.

DJI Video Edting Tips: What to Do with Drone Videos

• Split/Cut: remove any unwanted clips, such as crash from the last flight.

• Correct color/brightness: keep the frames protected from under or over exposure which becomes extremely necessary when the sun is around.

• Stabilize shaky video: remove all signs of shakiness from the captured frames.

• Change speed: creates slow-mo as well as time-lapse videos which are currently in rage amongst media professionals.

• Zoom: as it doesn’t always become possible to fly very close to the target object.

• Mute or reduce noise: remove the interference caused by wind as well as the device itself.

• Some other popular demands on DJI drone video editing are color grading, intra-frame coding, D-log setting, video compression, barrel distortion removal, time remapping, 4K video rendering, tilt shift, camera tracking, overlay, motion tracking etc.

DJI videos usually have high bit depth, high frame rate, ultra-high resolution (such as 4K), high bitrate, etc. The common video editing tools available in the market are inadequate to handle the same and usually succumb to quality degradation as well as crash. This in turn creates the requirement of a professional video editing software which we have listed down below.

Microsoft Video Editor For Mac

Final Words

Bing Ads Editor For Mac

We hope our todays discussion could add value to your knowledge about best DJI video editing software. Although each one of them come with their own set of bells and whistles, VideoProc stands out from its peers with its versatile functionality which can help you undertake holistic video processing functions irrespective of your skill level.

[otherworldlegendscheat]

Otherworld Legends Cheats

Otherworld Legends Guide

Otherworld Legends guide is a guide for a famous new sport. Thanks for making this due to the fact i am having numerous a laugh playing this sport. Due to the fact i do not know the way to mod video games, i desired to invite: is there a way to mod a object spawner? Thank you for the replace, but the problem still exist on my phone, however it's ok. btw, i examine the coaching once more and quantity 4 preparation stated: copy the folder com.chillyroom.zhmr.gp to android/obb. Make sure that when you open the android/obb/com.chillyroom.zhmr.gp folder, you spot the main.xxx.com.chillyroom.zhmr.gp.obb record interior. So my minion may want to summon minions. Became fun the game has lots of iap. You start off with 1 free person, and 1 unlockable via in recreation Gems, but the rest of them are handiest release-capable thru iap. And to make it worse, the beginning person has 4 competencies, and each ability has three sub talents. The 4th ability is and iap and each third subskill is an iap. That's extremely demanding. Makes a character sense p2w ish. I'd gladly pay $eight for a remarkable cellular recreation, however for these top rate fashions this is going to be 0 bucks, zero playtime, thank you. You'll be gambling as one of the five available heroes and unharness the exquisite cool skills to break down the enemies and executives to progress further. You may check the Otherworld Legends sport guide and recommendations right here. So it is all we got on this post on Otherworld Legends code to get presents. If you understand any lively code, percentage it in the feedback. Do you love playing cellular games? Join our youtube channel - gaming soul for new cellular sport videos. By means of the usage of a left-aspect navigation lever, players will be capable of circulate in 8 instructions. Because of this flexibility, gamers can move more easily. It differs from older 2nd pixel games in this respect, the character actions speedy and with none lag troubles. The left aspect of the display screen may have about four buttons to display extraordinary capabilities and assaults. Typically, all characters have an vehicle-attack. While pressed constantly at the moment, you may use everyday assaults that don't devour power. This can actually be the primary harm thing to the enemy lineup. Besides that, there may be three one of a kind capabilities positioned round. Each character has precise styles that you have to look at for a long time to pick out the right one. In the game, the guys offer characters with such traits as gladiators. Those characters are usually tremendously resilient, and their abilities additionally increase their stamina. The name of the game to winning this class is to prolong the battle for as long as feasible. The pink Gems are rubies which we've now not pretty found a use for. After a couple of runs, you will sooner or later be able to free up new abilities for quan. As soon as she hits stage three, you could additionally speak to khan near the mailbox to set a secondary talent. Secondary talents behave a touch otherwise than primary talents. You could set any of your capabilities in your secondary slot, however you cannot set any variants - it ought to be the bottom ability. I sense like i've simply slightly scratched the floor right here and already i've nothing however fantastic things to mention. There's one component to notice, however, and you may be made aware of it via an in-sport message the instant you fire up the game. Soul knight became unfastened to play but extraordinarily fair about it, and offered numerous additional content material as one-time iap purchases. With the aid of and massive the type of target market that would really like soul knight is the same target audience that derides gross free to play video games, and i've never heard everybody complain. But, that is not all, as the game additionally lets in you to merge them to create new guns, with higher attribute points and unique abilties. Many people believe that the 16-bit pix platform is unattractive and does now not offer a terrific experience. But if you have regarded Otherworld Legends before, you will recognise that the claims above aren't actually genuine, at least for this recreation. Nonetheless a feature of 16 bits snap shots, there aren't many sharp information but the effect of the game is designed in element. The jelly that transforms right into a random partner every time you drink a potion out of doors of fight is a excellent instance. Like other minions, the jelly cube will perish after taking in hits and could revert lower back to its unique shape. Scavenging fitness potions will become critical as you would need this companion to be useful in conflict. In some instances, you will now not be able to select up health potions as your hp perhaps full after a fight. Remember the fact that you may always tour back to formerly cleared regions in case you want to fill up some hp earlier than exploring new rooms. Meanwhile, traps and supernatural elements will seem, attacking the character and injuring him. You will ought to do many stuff to save your life, from deciding on characters for each level, upgrading strength or replacing greater effective guns. Eventually, approximately the collection of missions. Otherworld Legends does now not have as many npcs as soul knight, but the sport is built with a machine of fundamental missions, intently connected to the plot. You simply get to find out the content, and you get rewards each time you entire it. From assets of mild, energy, fireplace or thunder will make you feel excited. This factor contributes drastically to the simulation of the fierce war. Besides, the game handles the motion smoothly, mixed with the background tune to create a mysterious space and full of risks. Observe: there are some devices that have a sport freeze when skipping the plot. If this takes place, delete the game and reinstall it. Then play storyline as everyday. Helloo there i'm having loads of amusing with this mod however because i'm dumb and lazy and do not know the way to mod something i wanted ask if there's a way to make an item spawner good day! Presently, the game has formally released. Many players have experienced it and feature left nice evaluations. The tale of Otherworld Legends starts with the event that the villain asurendra creates an illusionary world. Right now after, he used his power to summon all of the heroes from area and time amassed right here. Monsters, lethal traps are arranged everywhere. And behind all of that is a plot to dominate the dimensions of asurendra's dimensions, right after the heroes are destroyed. You are one of those heroes, you soon become aware of that brutal conspiracy.

[zakihaider]

What is a Robot?

A robot is a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer. The idea of robot is ancient. Even in some of the earliest civilizations, there were signs of try to build automaton, a self-operating machine. Archytas built a self operating bird as early as 410 BC. In our discussion, we are considering the self operated machines, which can be termed as social robots on the basis of their usage in social purpose and more importantly their awareness and role playing as social beings.

What is Social Robot?

A social robot is an autonomous robot that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. A social robot may or may not have a physical embodiment. For an example, the “Tamagochi” or “Lovable Egg” was a character on the LCD screen of a portable device but it followed social behaviors and rules attached to its role, in this case of a pet or a child’s. (Levy, 2005)

Sherry Turkle (2011) in her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other points out that in the company of social robots, people are alone, yet feel connected. People in real life have to be concerned with others’ attitudes while in virtual life there is no restriction. This can lead to a loss of trust in human beings, which provides incentive to find a robot one can control. Turkle completes fifteen years of interviews and observations by using an ethnographical approach. She pays more attention to the young adults and children who are considered “digital natives” and discusses human relationship with social robots.

Social robots can be both physically anthropomorphic (i.e. ASIMO or TOSY), and/or mentally anthropomorphic (i.e. Siri). In the later case they can be programs in computers. In our discussion we are considering both types of robots.

Different Dimensions of a Social Robot

In “A Space Odyssey” Bowman said, “A machine becomes human when you can’t tell the difference any more” (Bowman, 2001). The way we can tell the difference (other than by physical appearance) is by evaluating the intellect, creativity and emotions a being exudes in a social environment. These are the primary dimensions of a social robot.

In creating the “Turing test”, a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human, Alan Turing stated a view that a machine should be regarded as intelligent if it gives the appearance of being intelligent (Turing, 1950). It can be stated, that intelligence, albeit artificial, is one aspect of robots that we have come to accept facing sufficient proofs. An intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success (Russell & Norvig, 2003).

“Creativity is sometimes taken as to be an inexplicable aspect of human activity” (Buchanan, 2001). The first time machine creativity came into question was when Alan Turing asked “Can machines Think?”(Turing, 1950). Although Ada Lovelace, the mother of all artificial intelligence, argued that machines can not be creative, she was more specifically talking about the machine she and Charles Babbage has created (Lovelace, 1953). It was a computing machine. However, with advent in technology regarding artificial intelligence, we now see robots which can be categorized as creative in the field of poetry, writing fiction, painting and music. Kurzweil’s work in 1980s created a program RKCP which can analyze the writing style of famous poets and write endearing poems. The most advanced writing robot till date is BRUTUS. It can conceive the theme of “betrayal”. It uses its logic of story grammars and literacy grammar to produce stories, that is hard to distinguish from one written by a human. AARON a painting robot, paints exquisite masterpieces (Cohen, 1995). But the most enchanting art comes from a program in 1997, when more than 200 years after the “Jupiter” the 41st symphony of Mozart, a 42nd piece was composed by EMI a program developed by David Cope, a professor in the music department of UCSC. It had all the glorious features of a Mozart symphony. So there is sufficient proof that a robot/program can pass as creative.

However, the most difficult barrier to become a social robot is having emotions. According to Davis there are five characteristics, we look for in an object for it to pass as a being with emotions.

1. Its behaviour seems to arise from emotion

2. Fast primary emotional response to stimuli

3. Can generate emotions cognitively

4. Can have - emotional experiences, physiological awareness and subjective feelings

5. Its emotion can interact with other processes like memory, perception and learning

Studies show, modern social robots like AIBO and JIBO can successfully arouse emotions in a person and specially in children. They can simulate having emotions and feelings. They have physiological awareness and can pretend to feel pain. They have certain logic of emotions which vary on the scale of pleasure and range from ecstatic to thoroughly miserable.

In building robots proper social being, robots are not the only conren. To what extent a robot is social is also subject to the perception of humans surrounding it. Are we accepting of its presence as a valid member of the social system or not is very important. In the following part, we are going to discuss the different usage of social robots.

Robots as Support

Work Assistance

Siri is the most commonly used social robots in working settings. It is a virtual social robot application for Apple’s IOS which serves as a personal assistant and knowledge navigator. Siri can answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services. Siri’s voice sounds attractive and some users even chat with it to enjoy a moment of intimacy. Admittedly, not just social robots but all the robots being programmed can work as assistants. However, social robots are communicable that helps human-robot interaction experience similar to face to face communication.

Parental/Family Support

A young boy in Turkle’s study complained that even a robot would remember what he said, which was more than his father does when multitasking on his blackberry. MIT Professor Cynthia Breazeal and her colleagues developed a social robot called “Jibo”. According to the video advertisement of Jibo, this is a family social robot designed to be a partner in the family rather than a working tool that uses to be a cleaner. “Jibo can take photos or video, track movements for more dynamic video filming, perform stories for children, give verbal reminders, and generally hang out” (Newman, 2014). Jibo seems more communicable because it can even tell stories to children and chat with you as a friend. This arouse us attention that whether a family social robot could be a family member that change the inherent relational schemas in a certain family.

Health Support

Social robots have been widely used in healthcare support especially in mental health area. Paro, a robotic baby seal, began to serve therapeutic functions and were introduced into nursing homes. Designers claimed that the robotic baby seal had positive psychological effects on patients in nursing homes. Turkle once interviewed an old woman living in boston who suffers from depression. The woman seemed to find comfort in holding Paro in her lap while stoking its fur. Paro then responded with loving eye contact as it had been programmed to do. During the interaction, the old woman got relief and experienced a moment of intimacy which may lessen her sadness.

A robot called “Tug” has been used in University of California, San Francisco. Tug delivers drugs, clean linens and meals while carting away medical waste and soiled sheets and trash. Down in the kitchen, the cooks, who aren’t robots, would fire up food, load it onto a Tug, and use a touchscreen next to the docking stations to tell the robot where to go. Each robot travels an admirable average of 12 miles a day.

Education Support

Tico is a social robot developed by Adele Robots in promotional events and education as a helper for teachers. It features endearing, funny and innovative achieve a significant increase students’ attention. Han and Pea (2013) found strong social relationships were formed between children and robots after the introduction of robots to the classroom, however the children’s social degree towards the teacher showed little change. Social robots are especially important in educating, communicating and helping children with autism. They can be developed into useful tools for social skills and communication therapies, specifically by embedding social interaction into intrinsic reinforcers and motivators (Kim et al., 2013).

Robotic Toys/Pets

A ten-year-old girl would prefer a robot turtle because aliveness comes with aesthetic inconvenience: “Its water looks dirty. Gross.” (Turkle, 2011, p.4). Digital natives were trained to interact with social robots that demanded care. Turkle found that when children interact with sociable robots like Furbies, they move beyond a psychology of projection to a new psychology of engagement. They try to deal with the robot as they would deal with a pet or a person. For example, children would feed and love Tamagotchi, a little egg-shaped robot requires care from owner; otherwise, it will die. Hence children found companionship with robotic toys that seemed to project emotions like happiness and sadness. In addition, some social robots can serve as interactive entertainment media through which children especially young children can get a better game experience.

Love with Robots

Lewis Mumford said, “If you fall in love with a machine there is something wrong with your love life” (Mumford, 1952). Many seem to believe that, and to some extent it might be true. It poses two questions -

Is it possible to love a robot? and;

Why we should love a robot?

The idea of falling in love with an inanimate object is ancient. The Roman Poet Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, describes Pygmalion, the sculptor who carves the ivory statue of a perfect woman Galatea, and falls in love with it/her. He prays to Aphrodite so that the statue may come alive. One night Aphrodite grants him the wish, Pygmalion kisses his perfect creation and the simulacrum comes alive.

Love is a collection of different feelings and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection to pleasure. It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. (Oxford Illustrated American Dictionary, 1998). It can also be a virtue representing kindness, compassion, and affection - "the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". (Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2015). It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals. (Fromm, 1956)

We can systematically argue, there are different types of love regarding a social robot. A love ‘for’ a social robot and love ‘with’ social robot. According the the above definition by Fromm, it is evident that we can feel love for a social robot, even if its emotion is not comparable to our own emotional prowess. If we then discuss the love with social robot, it brings in two parties, a human and a robot. As we have concluded from the human’s side it is possible to feel love, we must now decide if a robot can feel love. To be very honest even researchers are divided on that. If we take Turing’s test of artificial intelligence and apply it on artificial love, we can deduce - artificial love, if imitated exactly and if unrecognizable from the human love, can be considered as love. So, if we can create social robots that can imitate love to the tiniest details (which seem impossible with the current stage of technology) it is possible to be in love ‘with’ a social robot.

The second question is “why would we fall in love with a robot?” The answer lies in the evolving nature of human civilization. With the advancement of urbanization and technology, humans are getting further apart from the perceived identity they were born with. They are taking up new identity, and creating their own social sphere. This is giving them independence but taking away the emotional bonds they had with other human beings. Once a person grows distant in his/her mind with the society they came from, it becomes increasingly harder to reintegrate in it to get emotional support. So, humans are becoming more dependent on the immediate partners for emotional reliefs. However, not everyone is lucky to find a perfect partner. So what if this retreat from the world to our immediate vicinity of friends and family and gradually to the closest partner is going to take us further into retreat in the future to our own self only? Just like a lonely child who confides in her doll about the harshness of the world and love it for being there to listen, would robots be considered as good partners for love in future?

Turkle describes, a young woman is willing to trade in her boyfriend for a sophisticated robot that could simulate caring behavior and offer her a no-risk relationship - a robot will never hurt you, lie to you, cheat on you, be jealous, be too tired to listen, get bored and have demands of its own. And as a sexual partner, a robot could easily be programmed. (Turkle, 2011) Which brings us to the next discussion, sex with robots.

Sex with Robots

Humans have the immense ability to perceive. From the early childhood development mechanism of role play, we can carry out conversations on our own with an imaginary person. Pictures, videos, writings have the ability to arouse humans. In that case, the human is not being attracted to the writing, but the perception of a person the literary work is describing. By the prevalence of the porn industry, it can be safely assumed that, we are content with the idea of sexual experience with a perception.

So what is different from sex with a sex toy, and sex with a robot? The difference is in emotions, and in love. But in our above argument we have discussed it is possible even if not prevalent to be in love with robots. It is definitely true as a physical conduct, robots can be better than humans in many aspects. They can sense the minute details and act to please the partner accordingly, they can be programmed to follow certain rules and manners and make the experience more intimate. Researchers say, sex with robots can go mainstream as near as in 2050 (Bates, 2012)

A Vision from the Future

Some people are worried about the future of social robots, who think that social robot is the largest existential threats for human beings. Turkle holds that humans cannot and should not be replaced by robots, because we humans have some wonderful quality, such as creativity, warmth, compassion and genuine understanding, that no robot could ever really provide. She believes that demanding these acts of intimacy from sociable robots means we demand less from each other. Like the case of an old woman above, she was actually being alone because Paro indeed is a robot that can not truly share intimacy with human beings. Tukle cautions that we may further retreat into our relationships with technology to avoid the “messiness” of our human relationships. She requires modern people to think critically about their relationship with robots and technologies that be vigilant to digital dependency and its impact on personal relationships.

Three months back, top tech persons including Bill Gates and Elon Musk voiced together with physicist Stephen Hawking and warned of threats artificial intelligence could pose. Along with a collection of intellectuals who signed a Future of Life Institute letter in January, the three leading innovators support development of AI to benefit society, but are wary of the potential dangers.

"They said this is one of the largest existential threats facing humanity. They worry that you're going to have robots that are more intelligent than humans, that will have their own volition and that will have hugely negative effects on society,"

Reference

Buchanan, B. (2001), AI Magazine, vol 22, no. 3, “Creativity at the Metalevel”

Fromm, E. (1956) The Art of Loving, Harper Perennial

Han, J. , & Pea, R. (2013). Will the robot breach the social network between children and teacher?. International Journal of Advancements In Computing Technology, 5(11), 188-197.

Kim, E., Berkovits, L., Bernier, E., Leyzberg, D., Shic, F., Paul, R., & Scassellati, B. (2013). Social robots as embedded reinforcers of social behavior in children with autism. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 43(5), 1038-1049.

Mumford, L. (1952) Art and Technics, Columbia University Press New York.

Newman. L. H. (2014). This social robot is adorable. But will families actually want one? Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/07/16/social_robotics_expert_cynthia_breazeal_debuts_jibo_a_family_robot.html

Russell, S. & Norvig, P (2003), Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (2nd ed.), Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Turing, A. (1950), "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", Mind LIX (236): 433–460

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together : Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York : Basic Books.

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Doki Doki Nov 2017

Hello Cuties, welcome to the final November review, finally. I’m really sorry- I know I’m nearly two months behind now but recently I haven’t been feeling well again. I have a hospital appointment this Friday, and I will be having a surgical procedure done soon, so please try to be understanding. 

I’ve also been a bit worried because I still haven’t got my December Doki Doki crate yet.

Before I start, I’d like to take a moment to bring up that they modified the booklet. I don’t know if this is a permanent change or if it was just in this one, but they did not include a Tomomi insert, nor the Hoppe-chan insert. They also left out the page describing one of the crates items in more detail, and flipped the pages a bit, now putting the comic at the front. 

The Cover was by an artist named Squid. A girl who loves cats and creepy cute things, and video games! Sounds like someone I can relate to~

The theme for this month: Fantastic Feast

So like usual I will be covering the Suteki Crate items. For November, the subscribers could get: Pokemon Bento Set (shaped like an actual pokeball!), Proplica Sailormoon Wand (very cool!), A rilakkuma shoulder blanket, Koguma plushie, Kiki’s delivery service pillow, a Totoro apron, AND a Yuri on Ice/Sanrio bag!

I was very excited for that final item; who doesn’t love Yuri on Ice?! Especially because Yurio is dressed up as Hello Kitty (both of whom are my favorite). I was also excited for the Sailor Moon wand, like any other Sailor Moon Fangirl would be ♥

It seems whenever we get a towel of some sort you can expect it to be based on Rilakkuma. This time we have a cute one featuring him and Koguma in a flowery spring-like design.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

In all honesty what else can you say about a hand towel? The quality is fine, the image is very cute and fun... it’s pretty much the same as any other towel. I’m not complaining or anything- I just don’t have much to say about it. That happens sometimes.

Next I decided to change the order and bring up our Monthly Hoppe-chan. This one is based on a turkey as you can see. She was available in white or brown, and could have a blue, black, or purple hat. Seems I got the classic combination.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love how this actually reflects Thanksgiving! Besides this one item I don’t believe there was anything thanksgiving-related in the box, or any from last year either. I can understand why, but I still really like that they did this :3 It’s also pretty cute with the tail feathers and top hat. 

This is the “Persimmons are Bittersweet“ Canvas Tote, based on how you must wait for a Persimmon to fully ripen before ingesting, otherwise they are too bittersweet to be eaten.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I admit the bag is fairly plain in comparison to the fun design in the middle- but it’s so cute! My only concern is that it is made from cloth fabric, which means water would soak through it and probably get soggy, if not possibly ruin the items inside if used. I feel like that has a bit of a disadvantage in comparison to those sleek bags.

But as it’s already been made noted here; I worry over really silly things with items. Mainly in the form of water protection.

Being a cat lover, as well as cutesy food items in general- I thought this was the cutest plush toy ever! This is the Ebi Funya Tempura Cat Plush, and there was 6 cuddly kittens available~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As soft and as cute as this is, I’m still giving it a four for tiny issues. It seems that I rarely ever get a perfectly fine plush these days. I mean I’m not trying to nitpick but I know it is worth mentioning. These are very soft and fluffy feeling, but I noticed a decent amount of loose strings on it (which may or may not be visible in the picture).

Meanwhile, we’ve also been getting a lot of cute Squishies lately- including this Fuwa Fuwa Bread Squishy. The book doesn’t indicate that there are more than just this 1 style available, but I noticed the image in the book looks different then the one I got.

I’m not actually sure which type of bread this is to represent, either. I don’t really know bread very well since I’m not an avid eater of it. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Fuwa Fuwa is right, this thing is amazingly soft ♥ In terms of rising speed it’s right in the middle, and it has that generic soy bean flour scent to it. Normally I’m not the type to go for plain food squishies (unless they are desserts or fruits)- but this is really nice and I’m tempted to look into plainer ones sometime...

(If you Cuties would ever be interested in seeing my Squishy collection feel free to leave a comment on it. I don’t have very many, but I have at least 15.)

I think I mentioned this before, but I love cute kitchen gadgets like this. Especially if it’s Hello Kitty themed!

This is a Hello Kitty Sandwich Mold set, including a mold and two hello kitty dress picks to decorate the sandwich until you go to eat it.

I know it looks a bit sad, but I didn’t really have much to work with. Not only that but I don’t eat normal sandwiches since I don’t like what goes on them.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s not a necessary item, it’s definitely more for show then actual usage. If you love Hello Kitty or cute-looking meals it’s definitely fun to use, and you can use it for more then just sandwiches too. I love the adorable clothing picks, but I wish you could use them to sort of “stamp on the outfit“, rather then just being decorative. 

Our last item is another Kumamon product! This is a divided plate, perfect for those who prefer to keep their meal organized and separated (or just don’t like food touching, I’m kind of picky like that myself <.<).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Not only is this a great idea, but it’s also a very fun, sort of chic plate. I love to use it now~

Oh, I also couldn’t resist doing this:

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥  

Content - 5 out of 5. Lately I’ve really been loving the way Doki Doki crate feels like it’s improved. I liked everything, and I couldn’t really find anything bad to say.

Theme: 5 out of 5. I can definitely get the food vibe for sure, I really like how the items are either food themed, or made for food- perfect for November :3 Last year I remember we had a sort of... cafe-bakery-ish theme for November, and I kind of like the connection between them.

Total Rank: 13 out of 15 Cuties. Lately it feels like Doki Doki has been focusing on kitchens and food-based themes and I love that, because I enjoy baking and I love items to make the kitchen look cuter ♥ At the same time though I’m wondering if they’re running out of actual themes, but I’m happy because they keep managing to keep it unique and not repetitive.

♡ Cutie Scale ♡

1. Ebi Kitten - It’s soft and precious~

2. Kumamon Plate - It’s super practical, and I actually really like the design of it. 

3. Hoppe-chan - She isn’t super decorative, but she screams turkey and that’s as Thanksgiving as any of these box items have gotten!

4. Persimmon Bag - The two persimmons are too-too cute x3

5. Hand Towel - I love Rilakkuma, and the design is adorable; but it’s not my most favorite. I wasn’t crazy about how it reminded me of Spring either, since it’s still winter and I love winter~ 

6. Hello Kitty Sandwich Mold - Cute but it’s kind of generic too... 

7. Bread Squishy -  As much as I enjoyed it, it is generic in comparison to the other items. 

Okay cuties, that does it for another review. As I said at the very beginning I know I’m like a month behind but I had a bunch of things happen as of late. It’s kind of hard to focus on writing when you’re in pain. But all of this stuff should be resolved after my surgery, but I won’t know when that is until later on Friday. I’m going to try to get pictures taken tomorrow, so hopefully I can get my first of many December reviews done soon!

Until then, stay cute!

[magzoso-tech]

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/honor-9x-review/

Honor 9X Review

Honor rang in 2020 by launching the Honor 9X in India, alongside the Honor Magic Watch 2 smartwatch and the Honor Band 5i. The Honor 9X succeeds the Honor 8X, and brings some notable upgrades such as a faster SoC, a full-screen display, better cameras, and a larger battery, to name a few. Starting at Rs. 13,999, the Honor 9X offers a compelling package in terms of hardware and design. However, it goes up against some well-received rivals from Xiaomi, Realme, Nokia, and Vivo. Does the Honor 9X have what it takes to stand out and disrupt the segment? Read our in-depth assessment of the phone’s merits and demerits to find out.

Honor 9X design and build quality 

Design is one of the key selling points of the Honor 9X. The 3D geometric pattern on the Sapphire Blue review unit that we have looks like an X when light falls on it. Each adjacent line appears to be a different shade of blue, creating a depth effect, and it does look unique compared to the gradient patterns on a wide range of phones out there. On closer inspection, one can see small diamond-shaped blocks across the whole rear panel that shimmer under the light. While the aesthetics are undoubtedly flashy, this does give the Honor 9X an identity of its own. The company also offers the Honor 9X in a more sober Midnight Black finish as well.

Honor 9X’s rear panel is made of plastic with a glossy finish, and it gets smudged quickly

The rear panel is made out of plastic and has a glossy finish. Needless to say, the entire back can get smudged easily, and our unit had fingerprint marks all over it in no time. The sides are curved and meet smoothly with the rim, which also has a glossy finish in a matching colour. Thankfully, the phone is not too slippery. The three camera lenses are housed in a vertical strip, and the entire module protrudes ever so slightly. 

The fingerprint sensor is positioned comfortably within reach, and was pleasantly quick at unlocking the phone. The USB Type-C port, speaker, and 3.5mm jack are at the bottom, while the SIM tray is at the top. The volume buttons have a clicky feel, but the power button is a bit too small in proportion and feels a little mushy. 

Over on the front is the 6.59-inch full-HD display that has a notch-free design. In this price bracket, the Honor 9X is among the only few phones that offer a full-screen experience, and we are definitely not complaining. Honor told Gadgets 360 that the display is protected by a material developed by Huawei and used in its phones, but did not reveal the name. The phone comes with a pre-applied screen protector, but it got scratched and picked up smudges all over really quickly. Also, we found it a bit difficult to reach all parts of the screen with one hand. 

Honor 9X specifications and software

The Honor 9X suffers from an identity crisis of sorts, which can be attributed to the Huawei-Honor relationship and some confusing marketing decisions. As we pointed out in our first impressions of the phone, the Honor 9X is almost identical to the Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) which was launched in India in August last year, the only difference being rear camera resolutions, and even shares the same model number.

Honor 9X comes equipped with a 16-megapixel pop-up selfie camera

It also shares hardware similarities with the Huawei P Smart Z sold in China, and even has the exact same dimensions. To complicate things even more, the Honor 9X sold in India is the phone’s global variant, and has completely different specifications compared to the device of the same name sold in China.

Talking about specifications, the Honor 9X packs a 6.59-inch full-HD (1080 x 2340 pixels) display with a notchless full-screen design. This is an IPS LCD panel certified by TÜV Rheinland for reducing blue light exposure. The phone is powered by Huawei’s in-house Kirin 710F processor, and has up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage which is expandable by up to 512GB using a microSD card. The base 4GB 128GB variant is priced at Rs. 13,999 in India, while the 6GB 128GB configuration will set buyers back by Rs. 16,999.

The rear camera setup includes a 48-megapixel main shooter with an f/1.8 aperture. There is also an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view and a 2-megapixel depth sensor for portrait shots. On the front is a 16-megapixel camera housed in a pop-up module. The juice is provided by a 4,000mAh battery, and there’s 10W charging support. 

On the software side, the Honor 9X runs EMUI 9.1 based on Android Pie. Honor has told Gadgets 360 that an Android 10 update should be released soon, “maybe by next month”. It is interesting to note that this phone doesn’t report the software name as Magic UI, which is the rebranded version of EMUI that Honor models usually run. The UI is similar to what we came across in our Honor 20 review. To start with, there is no app drawer. Swiping left opens the Google feed, while swiping right shows more pages of app icons. 

Honor 9X has a triple rear camera setup with a 48-megapixel primary camera

Some of the preinstalled apps such as Ride Mode, Downloads, and Optimiser for file management are useful. However, there is way too much bloatware. First-party apps such as App Gallery, Honor Club, Honor Store, and iTips are barely useful. As for the third-party apps, the likes of Opera News, Booking.com, Wego Flights & Hotels, and Helo aren’t going to appeal to everyone.  Thankfully, the third-party apps can be uninstalled, but the in-house ones can’t. The navigation gestures worked flawlessly for us, and there’s an App Twin feature for creating two instances of an app.

Honor 9X performance 

Performance is an area in which the Honor 9X proved to be a mixed bag. App-switching was smooth even with 10-15 applications running in the background. Apps loaded quickly as well, but some jitter was were noticeable when games were running in the background. The UI was generally lag-free, but the RAM management proved to be a bit too aggressive on a few occasions.

The Kirin 710F feels underpowered in terms of graphics. PUBG Mobile defaulted to the Medium graphics preset, but the visuals looked choppy, and frame drops and stutters were easily noticeable. Call of Duty: Mobile was set to the low graphics settings by default, and even though the experience was better than PUBG Mobile, we have seen better performance from other phones in this price range. We wish Huawei had gone with a more powerful SoC.

This lack of firepower reflects in synthetic benchmarks as well. The Honor 9X scored 320 and 1,310 in Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core tests. This performance is comparable to that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 and MediaTek Helio P70. However, in the graphics-intensive 3DMark Sling Shot and Sling Shot Extreme tests, the Honor 9X could only muster up scores of 1,111 and 864 respectively, which are significantly lower than those of the two aforementioned chips. Here’s a chart to depict the Kirin 710F’s benchmark performance: 

Honor 9X’s Kirin 710F SoC lags behind when it comes to graphics power

As for display quality, Honor 9X’s LCD display is among the better ones on phones we have seen in this price bracket. The full-HD resolution means that this panel is sufficiently sharp. Colour reproduction is on point, and viewing angles are acceptable as well. The notchless design is great for watching videos and playing games. 

The only shortcoming is sub-par brightness, which hampers outdoor visibility and makes colours look muted under direct sunlight. The display section in the Settings app lets users adjust the colour profile and temperature, but we found that the ‘Vivid’ mode imparts a bluish tinge to whites, and makes colours appear washed-out. 

The Honor 9X comes equipped with a sufficiently long-lasting 4,000mAh battery. With our regular usage, which involved intermittent social media usage and messaging all day, a couple of hours of music streaming, and around an hour of gaming, the Honor 9x lasted a day and a half on average. When paired with a smartwatch with Bluetooth and location tracking enabled throughout the day, the phone’s battery life went down but it still had around 20-25 percent left at the end of the day. 

Your mileage will vary depending upon usage patterns, but even with heavy usage, the Honor 9X will easily sail past a day on each charge. In our HD video battery loop test, the Honor 9x lasted a slightly underwhelming 12 hours and 37 minutes before the battery discharged completely. The phone comes with a 10W charger, which takes over two hours to fully charge the phone. We have seen phones from Xiaomi and Realme offer faster charging in the same price bracket.

Honor 9X cameras 

On paper, the Honor 9X offers fairly impressive cameras for its price, but the actual output is a mixed bag. The main 48-megapixel camera takes 12-megapixel pixel-binned photos by default. These shots looked okay, with decent contrast and dynamic range, but average details at best The camera app’s AI mode tends to boost contrast and saturation, so we had to manually turn it off to capture accurate colours.

In the case of actual 48-megapixel photos, details were better, but at the cost of noise. What we didn’t like was the oversharpening done to the photos, making them appear noticeably soft. We also often got blander colours in photos captured at the full 48-megapixel resolution under direct sunlight. Autofocus was reliable in daylight, but in low-light scenarios, we had to deal with some focusing errors. 

Indoor sample taken with the Honor 9X (tap for full-sized image)

Close-up HDR sample taken with the Honor 9X (tap for full-sized image)

Daylight sample taken with the Honor 9X (tap for full-sized image)

Selfie sample taken with the Honor 9X (tap for full-sized image)

We have seen noticeably better colour reproduction, sharpness, and dynamic range captured by the 48-megapixel cameras on the Redmi Note 8 and the Realme 5 Pro. Honor has not specified the make of the sensor it has used.

The 8-megapixel wide-angle camera comes in handy for bringing more objects into a frame. The images captured are again just average, but there was a noticeable difference between the colour tone of photos captured by the main camera and wide-angle shots of the same scene, particularly when it came to handling greenery and bright colours. Distortion was also an issue. Honor says that the Honor 9X uses distortion correction algorithms, but warping was evident in wide-angle photos. They also turned out less sharp. 

The 2-megapixel depth sensor does a decent job at delivering a depth-of-field effect in photos. There is a dedicated aperture mode in the camera app that lets users adjust the intensity of the blur effect. It does a good job of highlighting an object or person in the foreground, but edge detection is not always accurate. Other camera modes include slo-mo, light painting, moving picture, and stickers.

The biggest surprise to us was the dedicated night mode. Photos captured using the night mode exhibited better details and colours were brought out more, but they look grainy on zooming in, and are soft around the corners. Depending upon the ambient light, the night mode takes up to four seconds to capture multiple exposures at various levels, and delivers a final composited image that is significantly better than what you could capture in the standard photo mode. 

The standard photo mode can also detect low-light scenarios and raise the ISO level, but this blows away the real colours. In fact, the Honor 9X’s night mode is one of the better implementations of this feature in the sub-Rs. 15,000 price bracket. 

Low-light sample taken using the standard photo mode (tap for full-sized image)

Low-light sample taken using the night mode (tap for full-sized image)

Low-light sample taken using the standard photo mode (tap for full-sized image)

Low-light sample taken using the dedicated night mode (tap for full-sized image)

The 16-megapixel pop-up selfie camera is again just average. We noted that the camera module pops up slower than what we have seen on the likes of the Realme X and the Redmi K20, although these models are more expensive. As for image quality, selfies have a healthy amount of detail, but even with beautification and AI deactivated, the Honor 9X does smoothen skin textures. In the case of portrait selfies, the camera sometimes erratically blurred parts of our ears. Portrait shots, despite looking vibrant, lacked depth and often had background elements blown out, especially those shot in sunlight. 

The main camera can capture video at up to 1080p at 60fps, while the wide-angle one is limited to 30fps. Thankfully, the primary camera does not struggle with focus hunting and the AIS (“AI image stabilisation”) does a decent job at negating movements. However, dynamic range could have been better and colours appear slightly warmer than those of the real objects. Yet again, videos shot by the main camera and the wide-angle one showed a discernible difference in colour profiles. 

Verdict

The Honor 9X’s notchless full-HD display is a welcome feature at its asking price, and the phone’s design also stands out. However, it is a bit on the larger side which could make handling a little awkward for some people. The performance of the Honor 9X is good for day-to-day tasks, but a better processor with more graphics prowess would have improved the gaming experience. 

Despite packing three rear cameras, the Honor 9X does not offer anything noteworthy in terms of photo quality or features. Photos turned out just about average in terms of quality, except for those taken in low light. This is where this phone rises above similarly priced competitors. Battery life is good, and users can easily get over a day of regular usage. 

The Honor 9X is a good enough phone and will appeal to those who value style, but it lacks what it takes to decisively edge out its rivals, and even some models priced a bit lower. The likes of the Redmi Note 8 (Review), Realme 5 Pro (Review), Vivo U20 (Review), and Nokia 7.2 (Review) are better all-rounders and offer more value for money. 

[getitoverwith-ff]

part time lover x 2

2 || take care

“Are we cooking lunch, ordering food, or going out before we hit the road?” Lita asks as she puts the finishing touches on packing Demetria’s bag, and I shrug.

I could go for food, but the thing about going with a toddler is kind of tricky. All of the three choices are sensible, but, will she even eat anything? We shared a tub of yogurt a little while ago, and she ate all of her breakfast… she might not even be hungry.

But if she is, is it worth going out for? Will she get distracted and want to talk more than she wants to pay attention to the food in front of her? Will she want something, and then, when me and Lita food comes, ignore her food in order to eat off of our plates like she always does? As a matter of fact, we always end up sharing anyway. Even if I know her order and Lita’s order by heart, they always end up on my plate.

I know my daughter though. At the end of the day, she probably doesn’t want to go anywhere. She never really does on the last day we have to spend together. She tends to just be up under me, and doesn’t want to leave my side, or Lita’s, really. We just huddle, hover, and be there.

It can’t hurt to ask though.

Nine times out of ten though, if we ask her, we’ll either be eating chicken nuggets, or Papa Diablo’s pizza. Which is fine, even if Daddy wants Chinese and Mama won’t care because she’ll eat anything, really.

“I wanted to go get some Chinese, but… what you think, Meme? What are we eating?” I ask as I secure the last purple barrette onto the end of the second of the two french braids I put in her hair. I’m always on daddy duty with no complaints.

“You done, Daddy? I wanna see,” I pass her the Barbie themed mirror  and she smiles at her reflection.

“What’s for lunch, Meme?”

She shrugs softly just like I do, but then turns around and goes, “Daddy, I want pizza.”

I’m not surprised. I watch Lita laugh before going back into the stack of circulars on the living room table to find the Papa Diablo’s circular.

“Pizza it is then. Go make sure your bed is fixed and all of your toys you’re taking with you are packed up, please.” She hops down from the stool and goes back into the bedroom we designated as hers for when she’s out here, and I watch Lita motion for me to come over as I clear the kitchen island counter of hair accessories.

“You goin’ to this?” She motions towards a flyer for a R&B Karaoke night that Luke is hosting tonight, and I almost forgot about it.

“Yeah, I almost forgot. I gotta figure out what I’m wearing,” I sit next to her, and she puts her foot in my lap. I make my fingers spiderwalk up her long, smooth legs and ignore the fact that she’s set to leave in a couple of hours.

“Don’t wear that leather vest and them boots either, you ain’t a member of Jodeci.” Lita teased, and I laughed.

“That was last time, damn. I dunno. Might just channel my inner Ronnie Devoe and go as Bel Biv Devoe,” I muse, and Lita laughs.

“Kenny gon’ be Mike Bivins again?” She asks, which immediately causes me to bust out into laughter. Kenny got one role as Michael Bivins -- did damned good in it, and it took him months to break character. I know he wouldn’t mind doing it again.

“You know he’ll be hype to put that damned character back into use. Fuck yeah. We’re doing it. I gotta call Max, he’s gonna be our Ralph. I’ma make sure you get the videos and pictures too.” I smile, hype about it as I pull my phone out of my pocket and begin correlating the plans, while she smiles at me and starts to complain softly about missing everything, which makes me sit my phone down.

“You don’t have to. You still haven’t figured out anything?” I ask, as she shrugs her shoulders.

The plan was simple, at first. She would graduate with her associate’s degree, transfer to USC, and when we graduated, we’d be married. Very simple, but, we don’t seem to go on the path of conventional milestones.

We had a lot of turbulent drama, we had a kid, and we fell apart… only to quickly make sure we would always stay true to each other, even when we couldn’t fully have each other. So, the desire to get back with each other started to become more and more important, but, the ease of the situation was long gone.

Somewhere along the line that spiraled into, okay, but where’s Demetria’s going to go to school? Where are we going to live? Off-campus living and commuting will make it a little harder to get around with a kid. We need to find her a good daycare, too… and a bunch of other things that made sense. She was worried, but for good reason, and all of her worries put a pause into progressing something I initially assumed to be hella easy, but it turned out to be anything but.

“I know we can find a nice apartment easily, but it’s the other factors that we need to finalize. Give me until Thanksgiving. I’ll have something then,” She insists, and I purse my lps together. It’s not that far off, but shittt….

Now, I’m going to be sitting up, rushing that time to get here even more.

“Shit, If we could stay here that would be nice, but it’s too ducked off. You're right though, we’ll figure something out. So.. does that mean you and Meme are coming up here for Thanksgiving?” I ask, those plans not really being confirmed either.

I had Thanksgiving last year, and we shared Christmas. I get Demetria for Winter Break this year, and Thanksgiving is always either here or there, a few times, both places. Demetria loves the scenery of the car rides back and forth, and now, with my job at Gold’s Gym and a couple of coaching gigs, I definitely make enough to keep my tank filled to make the trip.

“Yeah, I think we will. I wanna see how Monica’s gonna do in the kitchen anyway,” She says, and I immediately wince.

“Oooh shit. I didn’t even think about that. Mo can’t cook.” I laughed more at Monica’s impending misfortune than anything if she really showed her face.

Internally, I also winced because fuuuuuuck. For a woman who really tried her damnest to try and fit in, I knew if my Momma and lil’ sister didn’t give her hell immediately, my cousins and aunties would, and that would be before Lita even got up to cook.

It’s a production in my family when it comes to holidays, and I know damned well Mo ain’t ready. I didn’t even think about how much of a setup it sounded like it was shaping up to be. Oh well. Lita starts talking about how it’s going to be a hot ass mess, like she can read my mind.

I get distracted in the drama that is Bad Girls Club on the screen, and kinda tune her out, until she grabs my face, and pulls it back towards her.

“You better quit zoning out on me,” She demands, and I smile.

I just don’t wanna amp her up. If Monica does come, I know it’s going to be a shit storm. And I don’t have to think too hard to know that she’s definitely going to make sure nothing stands in the way of her coming.

“I’m not, I’m also sitting here thinking about how it’s gonna end up..” I start, and she shakes her head at me.

“She was a damned good mother, she was my professor, she was… a murderer,” My head whips towards the TV in slow motion as I hear a familiar voice, and look at the face of death staring back at me as a mugshot.  

I freeze.

For a minute, everything feels like is happening in slow motion.

“Anya Jones was just your average, hard working mother who would do anything to make sure her teenage daughters were able to live the best life possible. But, a hidden past life ripped everything Anya knew away from her, including her daughter and husband, who was left for dead…” The promo for the next episode of Snapped starts to play, and I push my tongue into my cheek as Lita quickly starts to dig into the couch for the remote.

“Shit.”

“I didn’t think it would have the promos up for this so soon,” I quietly admitted as Lita pressed her lips together, and looked over at me.

“This is the first time I’ve seen them on TV, actually. Do you wanna-”

“You don’t have to stop watching what you’re watching boo. It’s cool.” I tell her, and she looks a little defeated before she nods, and then switches positions so she can lean her head on my chest.

It’s quiet now, and the mood’s kinda fucked up...

We don’t talk about Anya Jones. We just don’t, because, there’s not going to be anything good to say about her. Lita’s Mom is the she who must not be named in our shared households. Five years ago, she started down the path that would ruin not only the lives of her two daughters, and her husband, but would ripple into my life, my parents’ life, and the life of my then unborn daughter as well.

I can tell you how it all got kicked off, but I can’t tell you what happened following the climax. At least, not in my own words. It’s been four years since I lost a chunk of my short term memories. It’s been four years since what everyone just brushes off as the most traumatic event of my life, but… I’m here.

The events that went down four years ago really changed everything I knew to make sense to me. It’s been four years since Lita left to go to New Mexico, a place where I thought she’d never return from. It’s been four long years since my then girlfriend disappeared in the middle of our sophomore year, after a life changing situation for the both of us.

But, that’s behind us now.

I’m just glad I’m still here. In the process of things falling apart, there was chaos, there was a lot of fighting, and there was murder and attempted murder as well. I almost died in a car accident that caused a head injury for me, and Lita’s Dad damned near lost the usage of his legs. That I do remember. Anything immediately after that, it’s like I’ve mentally blocked out the events that happened from my memory. I ended up with memory loss brought on by psychological trauma, which gave me a case of short-term amnesia, among other things.

But, I do remember that that accident was worth getting into. We needed to get to the hospital. I remember that. I just didn’t think we would end up in the hospital, because Anya was trying to kill not just her husband, but me too.

On the night Demetria was born, she almost lost her Daddy and her Papi, as she calls him, but I’m glad the both of us survived. I get pissed off every time I’m reminded about how I missed the birth of my first born child. It was almost a fair trade; my life for my daughter’s, but in the end, I just ended up sacrificing a large majority of my memories instead.

I remember bits and pieces of what happened that prior to and following month, but not everything. I’m not too out of sync when it comes to someone else telling me their version of what happened, but who knows which one is really the truth?

All I know for a fact is these three things: Lita’s going to be back for good after the semester ends, I’m here for a reason, and soon, I’ll feel as complete as I used to, once I figure out everything that really happened to me.

For a long time, the woman sitting next to me, talking to our daughter about customizing the Pizza we’re gonna have for lunch, was unreachable to me. There’s a lot of twists and turns in our story together, with bits and pieces still being unpacked to this very damned day. The most constant part of every version of the narrative pins her mama as the big bad in all of this -- that I know is factual without anyone having to back that up.

I haven’t seen Anya Jones since I googled her name and had the story confirmed that was told to me about how she had been caught up in a scandal, ran away from Los Angeles with her oldest daughter and her then unknowingly pregnant teenage daughter in tow, and how she tried to kill me and her husband when we set out to go and rescue her.

Dealing with Lita has been the reason for what I can say was definitely the most traumatic, most straight out of a lifetime movie moment I’ve had in my entire life. And being able to barely remember an accurate account that wasn’t written by a journalist, covered and dissected on someone’s blog, featured on an episode of Snapped that I declined to participate in, or churned through a rumor mill… fucking kills me.

To this day, yes, I have trust issues.

I only trust in the woman sitting next to me, and less people that I can count on my two hands put together. I’m paranoid sometimes. I have separation anxiety when it comes to her, but I’ve gotten a handle on that. I’ve learned how not to let the distance overwhelm me. I have trauma induced PTSD -- there’s a laundry list of things wrong with Demetri, but that’s why I need my anchors, and I know she’s the heaviest one I have on my side. It’s been four years and I don’t know what to believe -- anyone could be lying to me, really -- but with her here by my side, I know there’s less of a chance of that happening to me.

That’s why I know I need to do whatever I need to do in order to make sure she stays. I could watch the episode when it premieres, and I will. I want to. I just didn’t realize it was this close to airing, because I remember them shooting it; I remember keeping Demetria while Lita and her Dad did the recorded portions for it around this time last year. I declined to take a part in it.

But, I’m going to watch it. I know it’ll help, and my therapist can agree that it will, if it doesn’t get too damned triggering in the wrong kind of ways. I’m hoping it will. I’m hoping that means I’ll be one step closer to being able to really answer, What Happened To You?

I wish I knew everything. It feels more like I’m imagining a story that someone told me - which very well may be the case. But, I know I don’t want to spend the summer obsessing over it.

I have to start small though. I’m one step closer to having Lita and my baby girl back, and that’s enough, for now…

I just don’t know how long it’s going to last.

“Stop crying,” I instruct Demetria for the fifth time in the last couple of hours. She just woke up from a nap, and even though she’s eating cold pizza before she climbs into her seat in the back of Lita’s Jeep, there are tears streaming down her face.

“You’re gonna see me again for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year,” I remind her as she smiles softly and I wipe her face. She smells like pepperoni and baby, and I don’t want to let her go, but I have to.

“I love you Daddy,” She squeezes the fuck out of my neck, and I hold her just as tightly. I smile as I put her into her booster seat and kiss the top of her head.

“I love you too, Meme.” I close the door, and round around the back to close the cargo door.

Lita’s still standing on the outside, staring at me. I stretch my hands out for her to fill the space and she laughs and slowly approaches me to fill the space. I slide my hands down her back and grip her ass as I hold her close to me, and kiss the top of her head, then her cheeks on both sides, and then her lips.

“I’ma be expecting a call six hours in,” I wrap my arms around her back, and she laughs into my neck.

“I’ma be glad when you won’t have to anymore. I’ve been talking to Juliani, trying to come up with a plan. I’ll keep you posted…” She softly says as I mumble soft sounds of agreement, but I don’t want to let her go, either.

“Please behave yourself at this party tonight,” She starts, and I exhale softly. “It won’t be long before we’re together again, but I’m not trying to wake up to no surprises..” Lita sternly insists, and I laugh into the mess of curls on top of her head as she hugs me a little tighter.

“One of us has to let the other go, Meech.” She utters, and I scoff softly. This is the hardest part.

“Okay,” I hear her, but I don’t. She lets me go after another long kiss, and then a long exhale.

“I love you,” She thumps me in the forehead and I laugh, and I know she’s trying to break the tension that always comes with a goodbye, and I appreciate her for it.

“I love you too, ya’ll be safe. Call me.” I instruct as she nods and it takes a minute before she starts up and pulls off, blasting Q’s latest as she heads out.

It takes me a couple of minutes before walking back to my own car, and just sitting in it. I get a little paranoid about driving. I have to check the backseat a couple of times, check to make sure there’s nothing tracking my path, or nothing out of the ordinary.

Once I’m satisfied, I get into the car just to sit in it, really.

It doesn’t take long for my phone to start ringing though, and with it being off of Do Not Disturb, I debate answering the Facetime call from Monica. I’ve missed six calls and have seven ‘call me’ texts that seem to have sobered up in comparison to how she filled my damned inbox last night. She’s not going off of Do Not Disturb, though.

Monica does the most to get my attention when we’re in off mode, and I hate it. She comments on all of my instagram photos. Sends me posts on Facebook Messenger, or writes on my wall -- but she can’t now, because she’s been blocked for a good two months now. I just haven’t cared enough to block her anywhere else just yet. She tweets me, filling my mentions with emoji eyes, or she favorites random tweets of mines, or just DMs me with pointless shit.

I see all of it, and ignore it.

It’s not going to change anything though. It’s fucking annoying, but even though I’m just sitting here, I won’t call her, which I know would get her to stop. She doesn’t want to really hear about my weekend. She doesn’t want me to twist the knife deeper into her side, knowing whatever I say about Lita and I will immediately make her annoyed and aggravated due to jealousy and whatever the fuck’s wrong with her.

And, thankfully, or really, as we get closer and closer to Thanksgiving, unfortunately for her, she doesn’t know about Demetria, and I know that will kill her. More and more, I’m not really wanting to use that kind of information to put a true end to Monica’s persistent attempts to get all of me, but… I’m thinking about it. Trying to wean her off of me? Harder than I thought.

She’ll be home to annoy me soon, so, instead of hitting her up and possibly falling right into a trap, I opt to head home, and hope she hasn’t made it back yet.

It takes roughly twenty seven minutes in LA traffic to get home. I pull up to the student housing building known as The Trojan Lofts and try my hardest to see if Monica’s windows are open and her curtains are drawn back. I can see her windows when I drive into the parking lot, and thankfully for me, they’re dropped and the windows are closed, meaning, she’s not there....

Hopefully.

I can only cross my fingers and brace myself for when she confronts me, because I know it’s going to be a motherfucker. I’m not really in the mood to argue over dumb shit either, so, whatever she’s constantly hitting me up about, I’d rather not really deal with it unless it’s quick and painless.

Making my way towards the building, I press my lips together as I see other people in the midst of departing and coming back home, anxious to get midterms over with so they could have another tiny break of freedom before finals pop up. I definitely understand the rush. I smile at a few faces, and get asked about my weekend as I get my mail from the designated box. I bite down on my bottom lip as my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out and see who it is, and exhale softly, knowing it’s not Lita, but someone just as familiar.

Kierra Rogers: How as the weekend with the wife and kid?

I smile as I look around the lobby, and spot her sitting in the sitting area designated for guests. Instead of going up, I walk in her direction and sit across from her, and accept the hug she gives me. When we pull apart, her eyebrow is up, and I’m smiling.

“It was okay, but, I’m ready for a major distraction tonight.” I respond as I slide my phone back in my pocket, and she smiles.

Kierra’s special to me. Whereas everyone knows Lita has my heart, mind, body, and soul, sometimes, we bump heads, we spiral out, and we go on breaks. I still get my daughter, I still love her mother, and, I understand the frustration of being twelve hours apart and wanting other things to keep us busy -- I don’t fault her for that. There have been others for her, and there have been others for me, but, I’ve always been open and honest with them, and with Lita about them, and I never allow myself to fall in love, or be put in a position to where I can’t walk away.

I didn’t think the separation was going to get us like it did, but in the beginning, it was hard as hell to figure out a medium. We were still in High School after the dust settled, and, until senior year, I wasn’t driving anymore. We attempted the long distance thing, but, it was just too much for the two of us, with so many other issues at the time to stick it out.

Honestly, it got so bad at one point that Lita had another boyfriend, and me, well… I had Kierra, who I met during my junior year of High School. As high school came to an end and I went off to college, Kierra was a student at USC as well, friends first, before anything else. While me and Lita were still trying to figure out the best methods to stay together, and Kierra found the occasional boyfriend, I also managed to get my hoe phase out of my system. But, out of the four girls that I really fucked with heavily, Kierra was the most permanent fixture.

“Monica’s been looking for you,” She smirks a little, making the corners of her lips rise knowingly as I wedge my tongue in my cheek.

“She’s back already?” I ask, and Kierra shakes her head.

“Nah, but she’s been texting me in the group chat, being fucking annoying about you not going to Sacramento with her and everyone else.” Kierra rolled her eyes as she slid her phone my way, and I clucked my tongue at Monica’s almost frantic inquiries about wanting to talk to me when she got home but not knowing what to say or how to say it, and, it being easier to do if I came with them.

“I didn’t make any promises to go to Sacramento though,” I tell Kierra, who lives across the hall from me, and also opted out of the road trip to Sacramento with Monica, our other roommate Noelle, my other best friends, Queenie and Jacob, to shoot episodes of Queenie’s online web series.

“She thinks you should have. What the fuck did you do now?” Kierra questions, and I shrug. Honestly, you never really know with Mo’s ass, so, I guess I’ll figure it out when she comes back.

“Ain’t no tellin’ with her, and you and I both know this. But, enough about that, you coming to The Den tonight, right?” I ask, and Kierra smiles.

“Me and Erykah are gonna be Sherane and Sydney,” She says, and I groan softly.

“How long has Erykah been back, and why hasn’t she called me?” I ask, curious about Kierra’s best friend, and sometimes, a third party in our situationship.

“Not long, and, I don’t know. I mean, I do know, she has a girlfriend now, so... looks like you won’t be fucking that,” Kierra says, and I laugh softly as I watch the lobby begin to fill with familiar faces that I know are following Quentin, another one of my best friends, home to kick off the party tonight.

“Yeah, well, neither will you. But yo, I’m about to catch up with Q… come pregame with us before we go, alright? Gimme some love,” I pick Kierra up from her seat as I hug her, and grip her ass in my palms. She pushes me upside the head and promises that she will, and that’s all I need to get out of the slump.

It’s loud in the lobby now. Quentin James is home and has brought a couple of familiar faces with him, who hug and smile at me as I dap him up, and stare back out of the wide windows that show the parking lot.

“They ain’t back yet,” He laughs, and I twist my mouth up. “I know you’re looking for Mo’s crazy ass, but she ain’t out there. I did, however, scoop Jayde up for you…”

His head motions back towards the door and the girls carrying overnight bags as they follow us towards the elevator. I’m quiet, while Q smiles like he’s offering me a million dollar prize, and I exhale softly as my dick twitches when Jayde hugs me. I’m thankful for the distraction, for real.

This is honestly the only way I know I won’t spend all night constantly ignoring everyone around me with my head stuck in the screen of my phone, and he knows that too. Lita knows it too, and, I know he’s asked for permission for a setup of this magnitude just to keep her in the loop too. There was a time in which she uses to wake up to a lot of surprises all over social media, but we’re better than that now.

I still cluck my tongue when I get a text from her, and she questions:

LOML: Jayde, Kierra, and Erykah? Lmfao. And Mo too? You better wake up in your bed and not anyone else’s, I’m not fucking playing with you…

Just tryna get some head and head don’t count right?

LOML: Better be just that… I’m about to bring back the group chat, on that note.

I wince a little. It’s been a while since anyone’s responded in the group chat Lita started after the whole, “I’m up here to meet all your side chicks,” pop up visit from freshman year. I’m all for peaceful, meet in the middle, mediums until she comes home to me for good, but she’s not for the shit tonight, and I wonder what she knows that I don’t.

As we get off the elevator, my phone buzzes, and I notice Jayde look down at hers, and then meet my eyes. I shrug my shoulder gently as we walk into the unit, and everyone immediately goes into getting comfortable and leaving me and Q to linger around the door, just watching.

“This gon’ be a long, strokeless night.” I groan as Q laughs and shakes his head.

“You know your limits, Meech. Just don’t have Lita ready to hop on I-40 to come and beat your ass tonight.” Quentin winked at me, and I pushed him in the chest.

“When you gon’ stop giving me shit about that? That was one time,” I stress as he laughs.

“And with the way tonight is set up… it might be a second one. You better go pray,” Q insists as Jayde pulls off her hoodie, and we both shake our head in appreciation of her frame.

“‘Cause you’re damned sure gonna need it…”

[terpsichoreed]

So I went a little crazy last month. I bought a bunch of new camera gear.

I bought a (new to me) used camera body off eBay because I already had lenses for it. I love it! My new Nikon is fucking fabulous. The only problem is my one lens doing me a concern because of its age and usage (it lasted a damn good 13 years without any problems so really I can’t complain).

Then I bought two action cams off Wish for dirt cheap. They both run on micro SD. The eBay camera body came with a micro SD card and adaptor. I was like aw sweet now I don’t have to go to MicroCenter. So I used the micro SD in one Wish camera. It works fine with my 64 gig card. It’s got a fish eye lens - what I needed for the project I want to do. I’m happy with that purchase.

The other, cheaper, cam doesn’t recognize the micro SD card. So I formatted and reformatted it. Nothing. Won’t work. Google wasn’t very helpful because the camera was a knock off brand and I just wanna know how to get my micro SD to work with it, not read complaints about other people also getting knock off cams. Exasperated, I removed my micro SD from my phone, moved all the data to my computer, then tested it in the cheap cam. It fucking works. I’m like so simultaneously relieved and livid. I’m also pissed because the cheap cam is like super pixelated and generally looks terrible. Ugh.

Lastly, I bought the tiniest camera I’ve ever seen. It’s a keychain in the shape of a camera. It was like $3 and takes piss poor pictures. The video isn’t terrible if you consider the price. It’s honestly about as good at video as the slightly costlier camera (item #3). This tiny cam functions as both a camera and a super cute keychain. And considering I can’t buy a piece of plastic shaped like a camera for anything less than $10 and this is also a camera and a keychain, I’d say it was worth what I paid.

[foundcarcosa]

cxcvi.

Why did you close the door the last time you closed one? >> If you’re thinking about reading this, I’d consider passing unless you’re ridiculously fascinated by my every word or something -- it’s extremely long. Anyway, I actually closed it by accident, because I didn’t compensate for the change in air pressure when I swung it behind me.

Stripes or polka dots? >> I prefer stripes.

Do you care if people touch you when they’re talking to you? >> I do care. I’d prefer not to be touched. Exceptions exist, but they’re so few and so specific that it’s easier to just start from “don’t touch me” as a rule and then write in the amendments as they become relevant.

What is your gender? >> I don’t have one. Except for Sparrow’s interpretation of my gender, which is “a .gif of a twerking spider”. It’s acceptable.

Do you think that people think its obvious? >> I think that my lack of fucks given re: gender is plenty obvious by my appearance, but at the same time, it’s probably better in general if people don’t assume.

How long did your first date last? >> I don’t remember. It was almost 12 years ago.

Is your favorite color within 10 feet of you? >> I don’t have a favourite colour.

Highlight of your day? >> The high point of today was getting to three-quarters done with WoW’s Loremaster of Draenor achievement. Spires of Arak was a pain in the ass.

Would you rather be on a boat or a plane? >> That would probably depend on the length of the voyage and where to. I do love flying, though.

Can you tell when girls (or guys) have eyeliner on? >> Whether I can tell if someone has eyeliner on or not depends on how closely I’m looking at their face and also how much I care.

Can you cook? >> I can.

How high is your ceiling? >> I don’t know.

Whats the worst job you can think of? >> The worst job for me would be janitorial work, especially if bathrooms are involved.

Do you swear a lot? >> I do.

Does the last person you texted have an O in their name? >> Yes.

Is everything working in your house? >> More or less, I assume.

Would you rather have a pool or a trampoline? >> I’d rather have a trampoline, as I’m more likely to use that than a pool (seeing as I can’t swim and find the rituals surrounding pool usage -- the showering, the drying, the changing of clothing, the uncomfortable sensory bits -- to be overwhelming most of the time.

Does pop give you energy? >> Not that I’ve noticed.

TV show you love with a passion? >> Metalocalypse is one. So is Vikings. And Person of Interest. And Hannibal. And Tremé. And Carnivale. And...

Do you think you learned anything from the worst night of your life? >> There are no such things in my life. Perfect age to get married? >> The age you feel like doing so. Is it safe to say you own over 20 pairs of shoes? >> It’s not safe to say that. I own two.

Name a career path that women are known for taking. >> I’m not confident enough in the veracity of any demographic-based statistical data to answer this.

Favorite type of cookie? >> Thin Mints are the only cookies I can eat more than one of in a sitting.

A quality you look for in choosing a significant other? >> I don’t look for specific qualities, I look for well-crafted and intricate and intriguing tapestries -- and then I mine the details.

What would I find if I looked in your pocket? >> A lip balm.

What was your first word? >> I don’t know.

A musical instrument you wouldn’t mind learning how to play? >> I’m fine with not knowing how to play one. Singing is more my thing. And rhythm-based music games. :p

Last time you went to 7-eleven? >> I don’t remember. I was probably in New York.

A fast food restaurant that you hate with a passion? >> None.

Does everyone in your family have a job? >> I don’t even know everyone in my family, let alone their employment status.

Going anywhere this weekend? >> Not that I know of / can recall.

Is your room ever clean? >> The bedroom is generally some level of clean. More cluttered than I’d like, but that’s because I’m inclined to minimal possessions and Sparrow is not.

What does it mean when youre being quiet? >> It means I don’t feel like being loud. Which is usually.

Last person you had a face to face conversation with? >> Sparrow.

Wheres your phone? >> On the bed beside me.

Do you know the difference between your and you’re? >> Yes. I don’t find it worth arguing about, though.

How late did you stay up last night? >> I went to sleep sometime around 1a EST, I think.

Anyone you’re ready to kill? >> I’m ready to kill whatever mobs I need to kill to continue grinding out these achievements.

Do you need to get a tan? >> No. I certainly wouldn’t complain about getting a shade or three darker, but I don’t think I spend enough time in the sun for it to happen regardless.

What do you want? >> A slight decrease in humidity. A stone-and-glass shower that could feasibly fit a dozen people comfortably. A giant Snorlax plushie. Her.

Favorite TV show as a kid? >> I don’t think I had one. Whats a show that you absolutely refuse to watch? >> Sherlock.

How many times have you been in love? >> I don’t know.

Go camping or go to a party? >> Partying while camping is a lot of fun.

Do you remember how old you were when you started swearing? >> Yes. I started in earnest when I left my dad’s, because I wasn’t allowed to swear while I lived with him. So, 17.

How many years older than you would you date someone? >> My general guideline is no more than 10 years older than me.

What was the last thing you pinky swore on? >> I don’t.

Would you consider yourself a nice person? >> I don’t consider myself a nice person. I don’t want to be a “nice” person. I want the adjectives that describe me to be more... detailed. Less fake-sounding.

Are there a lot of mirrors in your house? >> There are three.

Has there ever been a serial killer in your house? >> As far as I know, no. Do you know anyone who looks like Adam Sandler? >> No.

True or false: Glee is annoying. >> I don’t know, I’ve never watched it.

Last thing you cooked? >> Half of a bag of frozen potatoes and onions and peppers.

Do you use slang often? >> Sure.

Wear glasses? >> Sunglasses, and sometimes clear lenses for aesthetic. About how old was the last person that hit on you? >> I don’t remember the last time I was hit on.

What color are your headphones? >> One pair is black, the other blue.

Would you make a good teacher? Why? >> I don’t know. I’ve never really thought much about it, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be socially acceptable enough for any established educational system.

Don’t you hate those commercials that try too hard? >> No. I don’t understand a lot of them, or what their target demographic is, or what the hook is supposed to be, but I accept them as a quirk of modern society.

Is the fan on? >> Yes.

Any special reason why you’re taking this survey? >> No special reason. I was in the mood to take one and I found this in the tag.

What does the last text message you sent say? >> I don’t remember and don’t feel like finding out. Your friend needs you to run to the store to get a pregnancy test. Do you? >> In this highly improbable situation, I have no real problem picking up a pregnancy test for someone... as long as I have a good reason to. I’d be more interested in why they couldn’t go get it themselves.

Do you log out on facebook when you leave the site? >> Except for the very rare times I’m on a public device or someone else’s device, no.

What color are your underwear? >> Black.

How short are your nails? >> They’re about a centimeter extended past my fingertips.

Do you like the opposite sex to be dominant or you the one in control? >> I’m too lazy to manipulate this question into one remotely answerable by me.

Favorite holiday? >> Christmas.

If I asked you to point to Ohio on a map of the US do you think you could? >> Yes. I remember Ohio’s shape.

Youre locked in a room with spiders. Do you have an issue? >> How many spiders? How big are they? Are they venomous? Also, why am I locked in a room at all?

Do you wear your most expensive item of clothing often? >> I think my most expensive item of clothing is either my winter coat (which I only wear in... winter... so no, not often) or my Tripp coat (which is too small for me, so now I don’t wear it at all until I can figure out how to repurpose it).

Do you eat a lot of food? >> I eat as I’m compelled to. /shrug Have your parents ever tried to control your relationship? >> I was an adult when I started having those kinds of relationships, so there is no way he could exert control over them.

Have you ever had to give someone directions before? >> Yes.

Speaking of which, are you good at understanding driving directions? >> I don’t know how good I’d be at understanding driving directions, seeing as I don’t drive. I understand most directions pretty well, if multiple frames of reference are given (compass directions and landmarks as backup, for example).

How many people do you text daily? >> Zero, usually, unless Sparrow texts me something.

Do you play any instruments? Which instruments do you play? >> No.

Is there anyone who you call by their last name? >> No.

What did you do on your last birthday? >> On my actual birthday, I didn’t do anything. My birthday trip was at the beginning of that month.

Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you commit the most? >> I don’t know.

Has anyone ever told you that you’re incapable of whispering? >> No.

What is your least favorite subject in school? >> All of them.

Have you ever been involved in a custody battle before? >> No. My father won custody of me pretty easily when I was a baby, considering my mother didn’t even show up to court.

Do you know a couple who constantly sucks on each other’s face? >> No.

When was the last time you watched a YouTube video? >> Earlier today. I watched the Leeroy Jenkins video.

Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before? >> No. When was the last time you held someone’s hand? >> I don’t remember.

How many meals have you eaten today, so far? >> I don’t eat meals, I just eat when I’m hungry. I ate on about four separate occasions today, but not much.

Do you think it’s stupid for people to call others “hot?” >> No.

Do you personally think Wikipedia is a reliable source? >> It’s reliable for what I use it for.

Have you ever shopped at Wet Seal before? Did you like it? >> Yes. I thought it had some cool things.

Do you care about spending money if it’s someone else’s money? >> I respect people’s financial limits, especially if they’re clearly defined (”ok I only have 20 to spend so”), but I don’t make a big deal out of trying to order the cheapest thing on the menu. I order what I want, and if they don’t want to buy whatever it is, then I’ll pick something else. --Or pay for it myself.

What is your favorite Disney movie of all time? >> Lilo and Stitch.

When you were a child, did you ever want to become a wizard/witch? >> No. I didn’t really have a context for that.

Would you rather have hardwood floors or carpet? >> I���d rather hardwood everywhere except the bedroom, I think. I just find it so much easier to keep clean, and also... I can just put rugs down if I want soft. (Rugs are also easier to clean for me, because they can be taken outdoors and beaten and aired out.)

Who was the last person you yelled at? Why? >> I don’t remember.

As a kid, did you ever go to camp? >> Day camp, sometimes. And church camp once, when I was 13.

Have you ever made out in a movie theater before? >> Yes, once. Wouldn’t mind doing it again.

Are you currently trying to learn to play any instrument? >> No.

When was the last time you went somewhere you thought was haunted? >> I don’t know.

Who was the last person to compliment you? >> I think that was Krister, on Instagram sometime in the past week or two.

How old were you when you got to go on your first date? >> I was 18.

Would you call your parents over-protective or under-protective? >> My father was overprotective and strict.

Did your parents ever let you play in the pits of those multicolored balls? >> No.

Have any of your siblings ever had a crush on your significant other? >> No.

Do you still watch cartoons on television? >> Yes. I especially like to watch them on the bathroom TV at the in-laws’ house when I use their shower.

What do you usually order at Taco Bell, if you go there? >> A couple of soft tacos and/or a quesadilla or something. Nothing too extravagant.

Is there anyone currently annoying you? >> In general, yes, but now there is a finish line in sight.

Have you ever felt like someone was following you? >> Yes. Do you like short or long surveys the best? >> I like the 30-50 question range best. Any longer than that, and questions start to weaken and get repetitive. Case in point: this survey, which has asked me about instruments three times already.

Have you ever bought fake money and tried to make it pass for real? >> No. That doesn’t strike me as an intelligent move.

Are your siblings nice the majority of the time? >> ---

Do you freak out when a thunderstorm comes along? >> No. I often get excited, though.

How often do you shower? >> Two to three times a week.

Have you ever had to sell something for a school fundraiser? >> I don’t recall ever doing that.

How many sodas do you usually drink in one day? >> Zero.

Have you ever met someone who was completely weird all-around? >> I don’t think I have a context for that kind of opinion.

Do you ever watch any soap operas? >> No.

Have you ever met someone who was mean to everyone? >> Well, probably.

Do you think long surveys are boring or entertaining? >> If the questions manage to remain interesting, as I said before, then I’m fine with them. This one is pushing my patience.

What color is your significant other’s hair? >> It’s usually purple or red or some shade in between the two.

Have you ever applied for a job at Walmart before? >> Probably at some point.

Would you ever become a foster parent? >> I’d rather become an adoptive parent. I prefer the long-term investment model of parenting; the short-term investment model does not appeal to me.

Are you ashamed of anyone in your family? >> No, but a couple of them ought to be ashamed of themselves, probably.

When you get married, will you convert your last name? >> Yes. Provided Sparrow does what I think she should do, and change hers before the legal proceedings. Otherwise it just won’t make as much narrative sense, god dammit.

Are your parents divorced, married or separated? >> My parents were never married.

Has someone ever left a relationship with you for someone else? >> Probably. I never paid too much attention to that.

What’s the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced? >> Superlatives and me don’t get along.

When was the last time you went shoe shopping? >> It’s been a while. I can never find shoes I want to wear.

When was the last time you cried? For what reason? >> I don’t remember.

What is your favorite shop to go to at the mall? >> Hot Topic, Barnes and Noble.

Would you ever consider becoming a marine biologist? >> No.

Did you carry a lunchbox as a child? >> I did. I was raised vegan and sugar-free so I had to take packed lunches.

What is your favorite ‘sweet’ to eat? >> Sea salt brownies are pretty good.

Are you someone who usually eats when you’re bored? >> Sometimes.

Have you ever eaten your way through a breakup? >> No.

Who was the last person you texted? >> Sparrow, most likely.

Do you usually buy popcorn when you eat at the movie theater? >> No. I don’t really like popcorn in the first place, but especially not for those prices.

Did you sleep alone or with someone last night? >> Alone until Sparrow went to bed. We have Venn-diagram sleep schedules.

What kind of dressing do you eat on your salad, if any? >> Balsamic vinaigrette, or Italian in a pinch.

Are you someone who constantly likes to wear hats? >> No. I like my floppy hat, but that’s it. And that’s just for winter, when my short hair can’t protect my head from the elements.

Have you ever seen a Lifetime movie that relates to your life? >> No.

Is it your summer vacation right now? >> I don’t have vacations.

Do you like traveling? >> Yes.

What color are the walls of the room you’re in right now? >> White. Do you go to church regularly? >> I did for a few months, but I don’t think it’s something I could keep up for long. Dragging myself out of bed in the morning just to go get frustrated at Christianity can sometimes be fun, but mostly I’m too lazy.

Who’s your best friend? >> I suppose that is Can Calah.

Are you determined? >> Determined to do what, exactly? My personality traits are dependent on the circumstance. Are you always looking for/in a relationship, or do you like being single? >> I have been in at least one relationship for the past five years, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Ever had your heart broken? >> I’ve felt like that, yeah.

Even broken someone else’s heart? >> I don’t know. No one’s ever told me that, to my recollection, so I assume not.

Are you confident? >> I don’t know. Probably. It’s not something I put a lot of mental energy into. It strikes me as a largely unimportant trait to focus on at this time in my life.

When’s the last time you smiled? >> I don’t remember. I also don’t really... keep track, ya dig.

Are you tan? >> I am dark-skinned. Any big plans for today/tonight? >> No.

What’s the background on your computer? >> It’s a slideshow. Right now, it’s some cool space art I probably found here on tumblr.

Do you have days where you just want to listen to sad songs? >> Not whole days, usually. Periods of time in general, though? Certainly.

Who’s the last person you kissed? >> Sparrow.

Are you hoping they will also be the next person you kiss? >> I mean, at this point it’s kind of assumed.

[morales-storytelling-posts-blog]

“Do The Right Thing” When It Comes To Color Combinations

After recently watching the Oscar winning picture “MOONLIGHT” for the very first time i couldn’t help but compare it’s uses of color to Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing”. Something that stood out to me the most from this film was the wide range of colors. In my opinion, the colors set the tone and mood for the duration of the film. As you can see from the title card picture shown above, the film focused heavily on colors to tell its story. For those who haven’t seen this film, i highly recommend it! It stars Spike Lee as Mookie, a pizza delivery boy whom during the hottest day of the year experiences a maelstrom of racial and social issues from businesses and neighbors on a block in Brooklyn NY. Here is my color analysis after watching the film again:

The Color Red In The Film:

Like i said, the film describes the day as the hottest day in the year and Lee carefully depicts the “heat” and pressure by integrating color motifs. Believe it or not if you carefully pay attention beyond the dialogue in certain scenes the whole film is basically red in color. From my perspective the color red implies tension, problems, heat, troubles, rage, blood thirst and ironically the lack of love between mankind. In other words, Spike Lee carefully integrated the use of motifs to imply the pressure in his movie Ex: the scene where the three men sit against the bright red wall. We see these three characters in the same exact location ALL DAY because they are always complaining about their problems, and the heat in general; Where ever BRIGHT red is depicted, these three are always shown. 

Dancing Color Symbolism With Rosie Perez (Tina):

The opening credits of the film actually introduces the issues and tension through the use of color, you can see at the top of my post that the title card carries little shapes of various color combinations shown in the film. In fact Rosie Perez’s opening dance sequence is visually telling a story through the use of color that she is wearing. She is pictured above in a black and white boxing robe with red gloves. In my opinion, the black and white robe represents the black and white races and the red gloves are the anger and bad blood between them. The incredible use of symbolism here sets the stage for the entire movie. “Do The Right Thing” is about the fight between different races. I have to admit, when i first viewed this film it was hard to understand the purpose and meaning of Perez’s dancing, on the surface it feels like a hip hop music video but after critically analyzing the film, the symbolism and meaning behind the boxing robe gives the film a symbolic introduction to the rest of the movie.

The Color White In The Film:

The symbolism here isn’t too hard to decipher but i found an element in color that in my opinion can be looked into a little further.  For starters this is Sal, owner of Sal’s Pizzeria and his two sons Pino (Left) and Vito (Right) The dialogue explains their characters motives but the colors of Sal’s son’s shirts have symbolic meanings. Pino as you can see is wearing a white shirt in the film, he is very racist towards blacks and doesn’t get along with any of the black residents in the neighborhood. Pino’s brother Vito wears a black shirt in the film and he gets along with Mookie (Spike Lee) who is a black man. The contrast of the different colors represents the differences between Pino and Vito. Pino who is more racist wears the white shirt and Vito who is more “open minded” wears a black shirt. Also, in the film Sal drives a white cadillac.  A cadillac in my opinion has more meaning than being just a “car”. Historically for years people who drive Cadillac’s tend to symbolize wealth and higher class. It is also the color white, just as Sal is white, the car shows how Sal is a white man with a successful business and the money to drive a Cadillac. (Photo Below)

The Color Orange/Yellow In The Film:

The biggest color element in the film is the usage of the color orange and yellow to depict the hottest day of the year. These two colors (yellow/orange) are tinted throughout the film to show us and to keep reminding us how incredibly hot it is. As the film progresses, the initial bright yellow color slowly transitions into a dark yellowish orange. In my opinion, this indicates that the sun is setting which means the heat is dissipating. Even though the sun is never really shown, we still can tell how hot it is by the use of colors. However, not only were warm colors present in this film but whenever it was a cooler environment Lee used the opposite colors like blue or purple. These colors symbolized how much calmer the environment could be, blues and greens in my opinion have a cooling effect especially when you depict a hot day, it also tends to help put a calming friendly spin on the ones who wear blue, or purple. 

Using Color To Describe Characteristics Of Housing:

A small note to keep in mind that each apartment complex is portrayed in different colors along the street that the film takes place in. In my opinion, the colors represent the emotions that each neighbor is living in (you can see red in the distance on the left which i stated displays anger, tension, etc)

As you can see, “Do The Right Thing” used colors in such a strong way that it was able to get blended in as part of the story. Not only does the color enhance the viewing experience of the film but I felt that it reveals the emotions of the characters more clearly. I have to say after watching it again i have come to a conclusion that the intensity and extremity of the colors both speak to the tension the people on that street were feeling and at the same time spark emotion in those watching so that they know what a severely hot day in the summer in Brooklyn would potentially feel like.

[hexeghost-blog]

what's Fortnite and why is it so popular?

The free-for-all on-line preventing recreation has attracted tens of millions of gamers - but a few dad and mom are involved about its outcomes.

The big multiplayer online (mmo) game, launched by way of Epic games closing September, has hooked thousands and thousands of gamers and is unfastened for users on laptop, Xbox One, ps four and Apple transportable devices. there is additionally a popular paid-for model, called Fortnite: keep the sector, for some of structures.

So why has Fortnite grow to be the should-play pc sport?

what's Fortnite struggle Royale? Fortnite battle Royale is a massively on-line multiplayer laptop sport that pits 100 gamers against each different in a virtual world.

the sport is stimulated with the aid of a idea popularised via the japanese novel battle Royale, The day by day Telegraph says, in which the last man or woman standing is deemed to be the winner.

players are dropped into random regions of the digital international where they’re unfastened to scavenge for guns to protect themselves, the newspaper says.

gamers must hold transferring to live in the sport. just like inside the novel, risk zones crop up throughout the digital global as the warfare progresses. gamers in a chance sector ought to run to a safe region as fast as viable, in any other case they risk being eliminated from the sport.

How a whole lot does it cost? not like maximum video video games on consoles and desktops, Fortnite war Royale is loose to down load and play. this indicates players can get right of entry to all the identify’s multiplayer modes and weapons without having to spend any cash.

however, gamers can buy the sport’s top class conflict bypass using actual money, The parent says, and this unlocks “special apparel and items”. to buy a percent, players need to buy V-greenbacks, the game’s virtual currency, with their own cash. It expenses £7.ninety nine to download 1,000 V-greenbacks. struggle packs are priced at 950 V-bucks.

those conflict packs simplest ultimate a “season” (roughly three months), the newspaper says. After a season has exceeded, gamers have to purchase every other battle bypass as a way to get entry to extra unique content material.

gamers who invest in war packs don’t have an advantage in on line fireplace fights. warfare packs best encompass beauty items, including new clothing and weapon designs, none of which offer gamers the top hand on the battlefield.

Is there a cellular version? There sincerely is. As the sport’s unfastened-to-play economic system is just like a bunch of cellular titles, which include conflict of Clans, it’s no surprise that Epic video games has evolved a model of Fortnite for phone customers.

according to Eurogamer, the portable launch of the free-for-all sport has been designed to be as much like the Xbox, ps and computer variations as possible. gamers can combat at the identical map and participate in the identical events as the standard model.

What’s extra, cell telephone users can compete towards pals gambling the game on their consoles or pcs.

The mobile launch of Fortnite struggle Royale is only available on Apple’s iOS structures, however the each day specific says that an Android version is predicted to release over the following couple of months.

Why are a few mother and father worried approximately the game? a few dad and mom have complained that “their children have been addicted to [Fortnite] and depressed when they had been not allowed on it”, reviews the Manchester night news.

In June, number one faculties across Australia despatched letters about Fortnite to parents, warning of its “negative outcomes” on students, The guardian reports.

Sydney’s Bondi seaside Public faculty advised parents there were “a important exchange in some behaviours in the classroom and inside the playground, which are at once related to Fortnite”.

“we are noticing the bad outcomes of this game, in particular on boys,” the school stated.

but, a few experts say the warnings are “excessive”.

“dad and mom can pretty rightly no longer need their kids gambling with grownup strangers on line [but] digital gaming on its own, isn't awful,” stated Dr Marcus Carter, a lecturer in virtual subculture and gaming at the college of Sydney. “It’s no exclusive to every other shape of media.”

“I say the exceptional aspect to do in case you are worried about your youngsters gambling Fortnite is to play Fortnite with them. to turn it into some thing that you percentage together with your toddler,”  Carter introduced

Why is it so famous? one of the predominant elements that has made Fortnite warfare Royale so a hit is that it’s unfastened to play, says Polygon. players don’t want to splash any cash to struggle towards their buddies. This makes the game drastically more accessible than other multiplayer titles which includes call of duty or big name Wars: Battlefront II.

every other enchantment is that the game is move platform, meaning that Xbox and playstation  players can compete against each other.

equally appealing is that one in all the game’s forty five million players is the rapper Drake, who livestreams some of his on line fits, The sun says.

Drake stocks pictures from his suits the usage of the broadcasting provider Twitch, the newspaper says, that's specifically popular with younger game enthusiasts.

famous YouTubers, which include Jacksepticeye and PewDiePie, also upload video photos from their suits. one among PewDiePie’s videos, for instance, has gathered nearly 9 million views in only over  weeks.

subsequently, Fortnite conflict Royale’s visual style is a ways much less violent than other multiplayer combating titles, The father or mother says. This makes it attractive to both informal and expert video gamers.

[khutuluns-bow]

Upgrading Your on-line Gaming Setup With Netgear Hardware: Is It value It?

Over the last yr, I’ve been looking to vastly improve my online gaming setup. It’s not that my typical connection speeds had been exceptionally gradual or my faraway interactions tremendously laggy. Multiplayer matches of Overwatch and Sea of Thieves ran well sufficient, and most video game downloads chugged along at a more than proper tempo except i was on the playstation network—why the insistent information cap, Sony?.

but right here’s the element: For a small while, i was purchasing 250Mbps internet carrier and under no circumstances even getting near that marketed pace. Most connection checks petered out at a measly 140Mbps, which isn’t anything else to scoff at, however I wasn’t getting what i used to be paying for. After dealing with that minor frustration, I knocked my plan down to 150Mbps and, to be quite sincere, nothing basically changed. pace checks still pronounced a max of around 140Mbps.

base line become this: I simply knew that my hardware became distinctly out of date and that certain improvements may well be made that might trade my internet experience for the better, so I reached out to Netgear in an attempt to try a few of their greater entertaining gaming-related items. They have been variety adequate to send over three compelling items of hardware, and what follows is my sincere journey with each device.

CM1000 extremely-high velocity Cable Modem MSRP $169.99

As i mentioned above, I’ve been getting round 140Mbps download and 6Mbps upload on a relatively out of date Motorola SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 modem. I feel I’ve been using that same piece of hardware for around 10 years now, supply or grasp, so I’d say I’m due for an upgrade. Enter Netgear’s DOCSIS 3.1 beast, and what the field copy dubs as supplying the “World’s quickest Cable information superhighway” at “up to 6Gbps downstream and 1.8Gbps upstream”. if you’re unfamiliar with what DOCSIS three.1 is, here’s a good video describing the expertise. In a nutshell, it’s an up to date protocol that makes it possible for for fiber-caliber web speeds over current cable internet infrastructure. Granted, your information superhighway carrier company needs to offer that type of lightspeed alternative, and then you most likely need to be procuring observed velocity.

That stated, I’m not at the moment buying gigabit cyber web I desire!, so i will be able to’t examine that specific tier of carrier on this new modem, alas. but after tinkering around with things, what i will say is that, strictly out of the field, the machine in fact seems to have better my community situation enormously. devoid of even touching my old router, I without problems swapped out my SURFboard modem with the sparkling CM1000, had the cable company activate it, and rapidly administered a wired ethernet speed check. With simply the modem alternate by myself, my clocked pace went from 140Mbps to round 180Mbps—shapely rattling striking. add velocity nonetheless hovered unusually low, round 6Mbps, even though I believe that’s greater of an issue with my widespread carrier enviornment.

The CM1000 permits for some critically quick cable information superhighway speeds.credit score: Netgear

considering setting up, the CM1000 has delivered constant connection and speeds without any deserve to be rebooted, all whereas staying mostly cool to the contact. For journalistic functions, I bumped my service tier returned up as much as 250Mbps simply to see how the modem would react, and now I’m getting a whopping 300Mbps ! down load. The add speed doubled marginally to round 12Mbps, which I’ve read is more than satisfactory for many excessive first-rate gameplay streaming. I’d say this is all a lot proof that Netgear’s hardware will boost whatever speeds you’re currently purchasing.

So the query turns into right here: Does the common gamer want this cable modem? It pains me to say it, but doubtless no longer. that you would be able to completely still get by using with greater run-of-the-mill hardware, in particular in case you’re most effective deciding to buy decrease-tier web speeds. but if you have Xfinity from either Cox or Comcast and need to supercharge your reference to more recent gigabit internet which you’ll need the blanketed DOCSIS three.1 to permit, or in case you’re effortlessly looking to future-proof your ageing home community, I’d wager it’s price the just a little excessive asking rate. The CM1000 is in reality the caviar of cable modems: A tasty luxury.

XR500 Nighthawk seasoned Gaming Router MSRP $299.ninety nine

I should say that my trusty Netgear Nighthawk R7000 has handled me neatly over the years, and honestly, it’s no shabby router with the aid of any stretch of the imagination: A graceful design, three adjustable antenna with remarkable wifi signal electricity and a host of ordinary firmware updates left little or no to complain about. however now that I’ve tried Netgear’s own Nighthawk professional Gaming XR500, it’d be basically complex to move lower back, as I consider like I’ve graduated to the networking large leagues.

The Nighthawk seasoned Gaming router has the entire general wireless network points we’ve all come to are expecting, together with 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and visitor networks. There’s even a smart connect feature that unifies and intelligently varieties all incoming device connections beneath an single, automated SSID truly effortless, in reality. Don’t overlook Quad circulate and MU-MIMO for sooner all-around connections, and fancy beamforming know-how that gives extra-good instant indicators. additionally, there’s four antenna instead of my common three, which managed to enrich my instant connection speeds by way of about 20Mbps. Then there’s the extra gaming stuff, which is what makes the XR500 in reality stand out.

Netgear’s XR500 is a very solid option for hardcore gamers.credit score: Netgear

first of all, the main UI browser dashboard DumaOS lets you monitor actually every little thing happening on your network in real time: ordinary down load recreation, everyday add endeavor, ping, as well as the bandwidth utilization of each linked machine. that you could then go past that to the QoS, or first-rate of service, and dictate which devices ideally gaming consoles or PCs get to use essentially the most bandwidth at any given time. i will be able to see this coming in effortless for significant households where online gamers should coexist with heavy-usage Netflix and Hulu streamers. you can moreover utilize the Geo-Filter, which attracts up an international map that means that you can handle the space of on-line connections to multiplayer servers with the intention to curb lag. It’s a very amazing set of features that gifts some critically customizable options for committed gamers.

yes, it’s an expensive—and extreme, some would argue—networking accent geared pretty much totally toward the hardcore gaming market, but I consider that it hits the bullseye in terms of what that demographic wishes. It’s also a superb alternative for any person who simply wants greater authority over their home community. It’s having comprehensive agency over the Handmaid’s tale binge happening within the lounge while Fornite and Overwatch rages upstairs, all whereas somebody is watching queer ASMR videos on YouTube within the basement and a sit back-out Spotify combine plays within the backyard. My greatest grievance is that it doesn’t think love it expenses $300; i’d have preferred a pleasant metal casing as hostile to the cheap plastic Netgear selected to go together with. in all probability it become for overheating factors.

SX10 Nighthawk professional Gaming change MSRP $299.ninety nine

Rounding out the trio of premium Netgear hardware is one critically steeply-priced networking change. looking suspiciously just like the spaceship from ‘80s Disney sci-fi classic Flight of the Navigator, the SX10 in contrast to the XR500 completely looks like an elegant piece of kit to your arms. With superior metallic housing, it weighs in at just over three kilos, so we’re speaking definite doorstop fabric here. You understand, whatever that seems find it irresistible may effectively outlive the cockroaches. Such solid cloth may come across as overkill for something as practical as a swap, however I appreciate the consideration to aspect. Makes it tougher to by accident tug the device off a desk or leisure center.

covered onboard are 2 10GMulti-Gig ethernet ports, eight 1G ethernet ports, an entire bunch of customizable RGB LEDs and a physical button to manually flip the lights on and off. like the Nighthawk pro Gaming router, the SX10 has a stunning in-depth interface that means that you can absolutely customise your community journey. you have the vigor to manage each and every of the ten ports, so the rest wired directly to the switch is commence for bandwidth allocation. that you would be able to also alternate the hue of any LED gentle to your liking, whatever peculiarly effective for identifying definite online game consoles or PCs at a look. bear in mind that a type of 10 ports is reserved for connection to a cable modem or router.

The SX10 has a whole lot of ports and LEDs for total customization.credit score: Netgear

regardless of some salt-of-the-earth reliability, the SX10 is maybe the toughest Netgear contraption to suggest by itself, and not handiest as a result of the steep expense. It’s obviously a top quality piece of hardware with numerous alternate options game enthusiasts inquisitive about their wired ethernet have a lot to be enthusiastic about here, however it feels much greater like an augmentation to the XR500 than any form of standalone product. That’s no longer to claim you couldn’t use it fully independently of the aforementioned router and discover a ton of pleasant expend. I’m without difficulty seeing the SX10 as an unbeatable partner piece to an already rocking XR500 setup. possibly that’s nitpicky aesthetics, however there it’s. youngsters, if you do need to expand your wired ethernet options and choose to fork over the money for this sleek little manage container, you received’t be disappointed, not the least bit.

Netgear provided complimentary overview product for coverage purposes.