#industry versus inferiority

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Life Cycle

Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of the life cycle

Normative Crisis — Age — Major Characteristics

Trust vs. Mistrust — 0 to 1 — Primary social interaction with mothering caretaker; oral concerns; trust or mistrust in life-sustaining care, including feeding.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt — 1 to 2 — Primary social interaction with parents; toilet training; beginnings of autonomous will.

Initiative vs. Guilt — 3 to 5 — Primary social interaction with nuclear family; beginnings of oedipal feelings; development of conscience to govern initiative.

Industry vs. Inferiority — 6 to puberty — Primary social interaction outside home among peers and teachers; school-age assessment of task ability.

Identity vs. Role Confusion — Adolescence — Primary social interaction with peers, culminating in heterosexual friendship; psychological moratorium from adult commitments; identity crisis; consolidation of resolutions of previous 4 stages into coherent sense of self.

Intimacy vs. Isolation — Early adulthood — Primary social interaction in intimate relationship (usually opposite sex); adult role commitments accepted, including commitment to another person.

Generativity vs. Stagnation — Middle adulthood — Primary social concern in establishing and guiding succeeding generation; productivity and creativity.

Ego Integrity vs. Despair — Late adulthood — Primary social concern is reflective: coming to terms with one’s place in the nearly complete life cycle, and with one’s relationships with others.

Erikson’s theory is called a psycho-self-reflexive, contextual process of finding and making meaning in the world.

It is not in conflict with scientific knowledge because, on the hermeneutic account, all psychological knowledge is concerned with this sort of understanding of our world (Verstehen), and not about explaining the universal laws of nature.

His theory charted changes in personality over the entire life cycle, rather than focusing on the early childhood years as critical to all later personality functioning.

Erikson proposed 8 stages of human development, each with its own normative crisis, by which he meant not a debilitating conflict, but rather a period of heightened vulnerability and potential.

He viewed human development as occurring in orderly stages, each with its own special characteristics and its own particular age relationship.

The stages always occur in a particular order and cannot be skipped.

His stages illustrate what Erikson termed the epigenetic principle.

Briefly stated, this principle proposes that critical elements of human personality have a ground plan from which they grow, similar to the physical growth principle by which the undifferentiated cells of embryos develop in orderly ways into organ systems. Thus, all human beings will face the normative crisis of trust versus mistrust in the period of infancy.

The resolution of this crisis leaves the infant with an abiding sense of either trust or mistrust that will become part of later personality functioning.

Each stage builds upon what has gone before and carries elements of itself into future stages.

Erikson’s contributions to psychology, particularly to the study of personality, can be divided into 4 major areas:

His emphasis on the importance of the entire life cycle in personality change

The psychosocial origins of personality

The centrality of self-identity in personality development

The importance of life histories for personality study

Source: Hopkins (1983, p. 74), adapted from Erikson (1968) ⚜ Psychology

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Brian Merchant’s “Blood In the Machine”

Tomorrow (September 27), I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine. On October 2, I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab.

In Blood In the Machine, Brian Merchant delivers the definitive history of the Luddites, and the clearest analysis of the automator's playbook, where "entrepreneurs'" lawless extraction from workers is called "innovation" and "inevitable":

https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/

History is written by the winners, and so you probably think of the Luddites as brainless, terrified, thick-fingered vandals who smashed machines and burned factories because they didn't understand them. Today, "Luddite" is a slur that means "technophobe" – but that's neither fair, nor accurate.

Luddism has been steadily creeping into pro-labor technological criticism, as workers and technology critics reclaim the term and its history, which is a rich and powerful tale of greed versus solidarity, slavery versus freedom.

The true tale of the Luddites starts with workers demanding that the laws be upheld. When factory owners began to buy automation systems for textile production, they did so in violation of laws that required collaboration with existing craft guilds – laws designed to ensure that automation was phased in gradually, with accommodations for displaced workers. These laws also protected the public, with the guilds evaluating the quality of cloth produced on the machine, acting as a proxy for buyers who might otherwise be tricked into buying inferior goods.

Factory owners flouted these laws. Though the machines made cloth that was less durable and of inferior weave, they sold it to consumers as though it were as good as the guild-made textiles. Factory owners made quiet deals with orphanages to send them very young children who were enslaved to work in their factories, where they were routinely maimed and killed by the new machines. Children who balked at the long hours or attempted escape were viciously beaten (the memoir of one former child slave became a bestseller and inspired Oliver Twist).

The craft guilds begged Parliament to act. They sent delegations, wrote petitions, even got Members of Parliament to draft legislation ordering enforcement of existing laws. Instead, Parliament passed laws criminalizing labor organizing.

The stakes were high. Economic malaise and war had driven up the price of life's essentials. Workers displaced by illegal machines faced starvation – as did their children. Communities were shattered. Workers who had apprenticed for years found themselves graduating into a market that had no jobs for them.

This is the context in which the Luddite uprisings began. Secret cells of workers, working with discipline and tight organization, warned factory owners to uphold the law. They sent letters and posted handbills in which they styled themselves as the army of "King Ludd" or "General Ludd" – Ned Ludd being a mythical figure who had fought back against an abusive boss.

When factory owners ignored these warnings, the Luddites smashed their machines, breaking into factories or intercepting machines en route from the blacksmith shops where they'd been created. They won key victories, with many factory owners backing off from automation plans, but the owners were deep-pocketed and determined.

The ruling Tories had no sympathy for the workers and no interest in upholding the law or punishing the factory owners for violating it. Instead, they dispatched troops to the factory towns, escalating the use of force until England's industrial centers were occupied by literal armies of soldiers. Soldiers who balked at turning their guns on Luddites were publicly flogged to death.

I got very interested in the Luddites in late 2021, when it became clear that everything I thought I knew about the Luddites was wrong. The Luddites weren't anti-technology – rather, they were doing the same thing a science fiction writer does: asking not just what a new technology does, but also who it does it for and who it does it to:

https://locusmag.com/2022/01/cory-doctorow-science-fiction-is-a-luddite-literature/

Unsurprisingly, ever since I started publishing on this subject, I've run into people who have no sympathy for the Luddite cause and who slide into my replies to replicate the 19th Century automation debate. One such person accused the Luddites of using "state violence" to suppress progress.

You couldn't ask for a more perfect example of how the history of the Luddites has been forgotten and replaced with a deliberately misleading account. The "state violence" of the Luddite uprising was entirely on one side. Parliament, under the lackadaisical leadership of "Mad King George," imposed the death penalty on the Luddites. It wasn't just machine-breaking that became a capital crime – "oath taking" (swearing loyalty to the Luddites) also carried the death penalties.

As the Luddites fought on against increasingly well-armed factory owners (one owner bought a cannon to use on workers who threatened his machines), they were subjected to spectacular acts of true state violence. Occupying soldiers rounded up Luddites and suspected Luddites and staged public mass executions, hanging them by the dozen, creating scores widows and fatherless children.

The sf writer Steven Brust says that the test to tell whether someone is on the right or the left is simple: ask whether property rights are more important than human rights. If the person says "property rights are human rights," they are on the right.

The state response to the Luddites crisply illustrates this distinction. The Luddites wanted an orderly and lawful transition to automation, one that brought workers along and created shared prosperity and quality goods. The craft guilds took pride in their products, and saw themselves as guardians of their industry. They were accustomed to enjoying a high degree of bargaining power and autonomy, working from small craft workshops in their homes, which allowed them to set their own work pace, eat with their families, and enjoy modest amounts of leisure.

The factory owners' cause wasn't just increased production – it was increased power. They wanted a workforce that would dance to their tune, work longer hours for less pay. They wanted unilateral control over which products they made and what corners they cut in making those products. They wanted to enrich themselves, even if that meant that thousands starved and their factory floors ran red with the blood of dismembered children.

The Luddites destroyed machines. The factory owners killed Luddites, shooting them at the factory gates, or rounding them up for mass executions. Parliament deputized owners to act as extensions of law enforcement, allowing them to drag suspected Luddites to their own private cells for questioning.

The Luddites viewed property rights as just one instrument for achieving human rights – freedom from hunger and cold – and when property rights conflicted with human rights, they didn't hesitate to smash the machines. For them, human rights trumped property rights.

Their bosses – and their bosses' modern defenders – saw the demands to uphold the laws on automation as demands to bring "state violence" to bear on the wholly private matter of how a rich man should organize his business. On the other hand, literal killing – both on the factory floor and at the gallows – was not "state violence" but rather, a defense of the most important of all the human rights: the rights of property owners.

19th century textile factories were the original Big Tech, and the rhetoric of the factory owners echoes down the ages. When tech barons like Peter Thiel say that "freedom is incompatible with democracy," he means that letting people who work for a living vote will eventually lead to limitations on people who own things for a living, like him.

Then, as now, resistance to Big Tech enjoyed widespread support. The Luddites couldn't have organized in their thousands if their neighbors didn't have their backs. Shelley and Byron wrote widely reproduced paeans to worker uprisings (Byron also defended the Luddites in the House of Lords). The Brontes wrote Luddite novels. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was a Luddite novel, in which the monster was a sensitive, intelligent creature who merely demanded a say in the technology that created him.

The erasure of the true history of the Luddites was a deliberate act. Despite the popular and elite support the Luddites enjoyed, the owners and their allies in Parliament were able to crush the uprising, using mass murder and imprisonment to force workers to accept immiseration.

The entire supply chain of the textile revolution was soaked in blood. Merchant devotes multiple chapters to the lives of African slaves in America who produced the cotton that the machines in England wove into cloth. Then – as now – automation served to obscure the violence latent in production of finished goods.

But, as Merchant writes, the Luddites didn't lose outright. Historians who study the uprisings record that the places where the Luddites fought most fiercely were the places where automation came most slowly and workers enjoyed the longest shared prosperity.

The motto of Magpie Killjoy's seminal Steampunk Magazine was: "Love the machine, hate the factory." The workers of the Luddite uprising were skilled technologists themselves.

They performed highly technical tasks to produce extremely high-quality goods. They served in craft workshops and controlled their own time.

The factory increased production, but at the cost of autonomy. Factories and their progeny, like assembly lines, made it possible to make more goods (even goods that eventually rose the quality of the craft goods they replaced), but at the cost of human autonomy. Taylorism and other efficiency cults ended up scripting the motions of workers down to the fingertips, and workers were and are subject to increasing surveillance and discipline from their bosses if they deviate. Take too many pee breaks at the Amazon warehouse and you will be marked down for "time off-task."

Steampunk is a dream of craft production at factory scale: in steampunk fantasies, the worker is a solitary genius who can produce high-tech finished goods in their own laboratory. Steampunk has no "dark, satanic mills," no blood in the factory. It's no coincidence that steampunk gained popularity at the same time as the maker movement, in which individual workers use form digital communities. Makers networked together to provide advice and support in craft projects that turn out the kind of technologically sophisticated goods that we associate with vast, heavily-capitalized assembly lines.

But workers are losing autonomy, not gaining it. The steampunk dream is of a world where we get the benefits of factory production with the life of a craft producer. The gig economy has delivered its opposite: craft workers – Uber drivers, casualized doctors and dog-walkers – who are as surveilled and controlled as factory workers.

Gig workers are dispatched by apps, their faces closely studied by cameras for unauthorized eye-movements, their pay changed from moment to moment by an algorithm that docks them for any infraction. They are "reverse centaurs": workers fused to machines where the machine provides the intelligence and the human does its bidding:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/17/reverse-centaur/#reverse-centaur

Craft workers in home workshops are told that they're their own bosses, but in reality they are constantly monitored by bossware that watches out of their computers' cameras and listens through its mic. They have to pay for the privilege of working for their bosses, and pay to quit. If their children make so much as a peep, they can lose their jobs. They don't work from home – they live at work:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/22/paperback-writer/#toothless

Merchant is a master storyteller and a dedicated researcher. The story he weaves in Blood In the Machine is as gripping as any Propublica deep-dive into the miserable working conditions of today's gig economy. Drawing on primary sources and scholarship, Blood is a kind of Nomadland for Luddites.

Today, Merchant is the technology critic for the LA Times. The final chapters of Blood brings the Luddites into the present day, finding parallels in the labor organizing of the Amazon warehouse workers led by Chris Smalls. The liberal reformers who offered patronizing support to the Luddites – but didn't imagine that they could be masters of their own destiny – are echoed in the rhetoric of Andrew Yang.

And of course, the factory owners' rhetoric is easily transposed to the modern tech baron. Then, as now, we're told that all automation is "progress," that regulatory evasion (Uber's unlicensed taxis, Airbnb's unlicensed hotel rooms, Ring's unregulated surveillance, Tesla's unregulated autopilot) is "innovation." Most of all, we're told that every one of these innovations must exist, that there is no way to stop it, because technology is an autonomous force that is independent of human agency. "There is no alternative" – the rallying cry of Margaret Thatcher – has become our inevitablist catechism.

Squeezing the workers' wages conditions and weakening workers' bargaining power isn't "innovation." It's an old, old story, as old as the factory owners who replaced skilled workers with terrified orphans, sending out for more when a child fell into a machine. Then, as now, this was called "job creation."

Then, as now, there was no way to progress as a worker: no matter how skilled and diligent an Uber driver is, they can't buy their medallion and truly become their own boss, getting a say in their working conditions. They certainly can't hope to rise from a blue-collar job on the streets to a white-collar job in the Uber offices.

Then, as now, a worker was hired by the day, not by the year, and might find themselves with no work the next day, depending on the whim of a factory owner or an algorithm.

As Merchant writes: robots aren't coming for your job; bosses are. The dream of a "dark factory," a "fully automated" Tesla production line, is the dream of a boss who doesn't have to answer to workers, who can press a button and manifest their will, without negotiating with mere workers. The point isn't just to reduce the wage-bill for a finished good – it's to reduce the "friction" of having to care about others and take their needs into account.

Luddites are not – and have never been – anti-technology. Rather, they are pro-human, and see production as a means to an end: broadly shared prosperity. The automation project says it's about replacing humans with machines, but over and over again – in machine learning, in "contactless" delivery, in on-demand workforces – the goal is to turn humans into machines.

There is blood in the machine, Merchant tells us, whether its humans being torn apart by a machine, or humans being transformed into machines.

Brian and I are having a joint book-launch tomorrow night (Sept 27) at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-internet-con-by-cory-doctorow-blood-in-the-machine-by-brian-merchant-tickets-696349940417

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/26/enochs-hammer/#thats-fronkonsteen

[rollercoasterwords]

fanfiction being bad is actually a good thing

sorry that one post has just put me into a musing mood abt like. the way people respond to "bad writing" in fanfiction. so i have written a little essay xx

anyway. first off, any measure of "bad writing" is going to be inherently subjective, whether or not people want to acknowledge that. no matter what critera you use to try and claim that ur measure is more "objective," you will still be able to find published fiction that does not meet those criteria, which is part of the reason that i think it is ridiculous in the first place to act as though "book" and "fanfiction" are two diametrically opposed categories of literature in which "book" = good writing and "fanfiction" = bad writing such that the only way to express a book is bad is to claim it's "more like fanfiction than a book" and the only way to elevate fanfiction is to claim that it's "more like a book than fanfiction." and of course there are all the underlying issues with classism racism ableism etc when buying into the myth of the meritocracy of publishing.

but even acknowledging that any measure of "bad writing" is going to be subjective, i don't think it's unfair to cultivate your own standards for what makes writing good versus bad. everyone is going to do that anyway, so what's more important to me is that a person understands what factors are influencing their measurement and acknowledges the subjectivity inherent to this sort of critique. and i do think, generally speaking, that media which exists within a profit economy is fair game for critique as to whether it is "good" or "bad," as i have talked about before on my blog. and i think depending on what criteria you are using to define bad, there will be instances where it makes more or less sense to make normative judgments about the popularity of such media. for example--if someone says "marvel movies shouldn't [normative judgment] be so popular because the writing is cringey," i find that a less compelling argument than "marvel movies shouldn't be so popular because they are military propaganda."

but i don't think that sort of critique about whether writing is "good" or "bad" has a place in fanfiction spaces. aside from the fact that fanfiction exists primarily outside of any profit economy, the reason that you will likely encounter more "bad" writing in fanfiction is that it's a space where many people are actively learning how to write--and that's a good thing. the only way for someone to become a good writer is to do a lot of bad writing first, so i actually think it's great that there's a bunch of shitty fanfiction out there on the internet--every bad fic u come across is a developing writer who's honing their craft, and they've found a perfect space to do so.

and yet i see "bad writing" get brought up a lot regarding fanfiction in two specific ways.

1. the idea outlined above, where people devalue fanfiction as a whole and act as though "fanfiction" is synonymous with "bad writing" or somehow an inferior medium.

i see this happening both with people who scoff at fanfiction and with people who try to redeem or elevate fanfiction by placing it in closer proximity to published books (i.e., THIS fic isn't like those other, shitty fics! this one is as good as [insert classic novel/published author/etc here]!!").

quite frankly i think this is evidence that these people have bought wholeheartedly into the publishing industry's myth of meritocracy, something that we should seriously question. but if anything, i also find it sad because i think it is a very limiting way to view fanfiction, which is its own unique art form in my opinion. fanfiction has its own conventions and strengths independent of published fiction, and there are many stylistic and structural elements unique to fanfiction that just don't really work in published books. for example--those 15k oneshots you'll come across every so often with lowercase song titles and prose that kicks your teeth in. that is a style of writing that is pretty unique to fanfic. or those sprawling, 400k+ works where tons of time is spent meandering through characters' lives and relationships--those, too, are somewhat unique to fanfiction, as in published books stories tend to get pared down more. i think those who want to convince people that fanfiction is good should spend less time trying to place it in proximity to published fiction and more time considering how fanfiction functions as a unique art form that is worthy of merit thanks to its uniquity

2. people who throw a fit when they see a fanfic with "bad writing" get attention and praise. usually i see this happen if a fic gets some measure of popularity--suddenly, people will begin to pop up talking about how the fic has "bad writing," and therefore shouldn't be popular.

i think that what gets me with these folks, aside from how obviously their own subjectivity regarding what makes writing good or bad has gone unexamined, is how....vindictive they seem. as if the idea that something they deem "bad" writing could ever be widely enjoyed is personally offensive to them. and i just think this sort of behavior is so stupid for two reasons--first, of course, there is the obvious issue of subjectivity. even if you think something is badly written, your opinion isn't somehow more important to the world than everyone else's. if other people are enjoying a fic, clearly they do not agree with your subjective opinion, and that's fine! you don't have to read a fic if you don't like it, and you can let other people enjoy the story. they are reading the exact same writing as you, and they can draw their own independent conclusions about how good or bad they think it is.

but second--you are not doing anyone any good by screaming about how bad a fic's writing is. like. i think there is perhaps this idea of like "oh this writer is bad but their writing is popular and everyone is telling them it's good, which means they are going to think their bad writing is good and keep writing badly forever." which, again, disregarding the obvious subjectivity, i just....don't think is true. like--if someone is writing badly, and people are going "hey i like this story keep it up!" what will most likely happen is that that person will keep writing, developing their skill the more they write and becoming a better writer. like, it's pretty difficult for writing to just remain stagnant; your writing will change the more you write, inevitably. especially when it comes to fanfiction, where many people are, again, developing their writing skill. but if someone is writing badly, and people are going "boo this sucks!" that writer is much less likely to do the actual thing that would make their writing better (keep writing) and instead more likely to just. stop altogether. in which case it's just like--congratulations on removing some more art from the world! cunt.

anyway. the conclusion i am trying to get at here is that i think people need to stop being so preoccupied with "bad writing" in fanfiction spaces. it's impossible to objectively measure the "goodness" or "badness" of writing in the first place, and trying to do so for any purpose other than making personal decisions about whether you want to read something or like, discussing in private groupchats with friends, usually just results in driving developing writers away from writing entirely and promoting the myth of meritocracy in publishing such that we reify the book/fanfiction dichotomy in which fanfiction will always be assumed to be inferior.

[audryt]

Stop talking down to women as a reflex

When men refute each other, neither is by default punished for it; they are often just "debating" or "disagreeing". But women are raised being attacked and put down for "disagreeing" and aren't seen as equal in debates. Women are labeled "difficult"and "emotional" if they don't just agree with any idiotic point a man makes and "dumb" if they contradict something a man says that is incorrect. They are not allowed to call a man out for exhibiting any kind of negative behavior toward them. These are all behaviors men are taught when they are boys. They're arbitrary, not natural. But men benefit from not thinking about why they say what they say and are often afraid to examine why they have different emotional reactions to men vs women when having the exact same conversation with one versus the other. They are afraid their bros will belittle them if they don't belittle women. It's CONDITIONED behavior, not "natural" gender behavior.

I have five brothers whose gazillion friends spent lots of time at my house so I've seen how boys behave around each other versus girls my whole life. I grew up in a male-centric religion and a male-centric nation. I have worked in the male-controlled gaming and film industries and sat in rooms filled with male executives in the publishing industry. I have interacted with male computer geeks my entire life as an early adopter of computers and worked in extremely sexist gaming environments.

And I have more male friends as an adult than I can count. I don't mean the husbands of female friends, either. And all orientations. And I will say as a woman who has been at the end of every kind of treament a man can attempt to subject a woman to, that it is CHOICE to be asshole toward women and not realize it. It is CHOICE not to examine your conditioned behavior and ask if you were taught to deliberately walk all over women, belittle them, tear them down, show off, do anything but simply respect them as a peer.

We are peers and that is all. We are your equals, like it or not. We are NOT merely your mothers sisters therapists inferiors sympathetic ears sexual objects or future girlfriends. We are not naive kind understanding submissive secretarial sensitive fragile flirty seductive by nature or someone who should do a job equal to yours while being paid less. And we are not humiliating or insulting you by saying no to whatever you might want us to do for you or that you want us to be to you. We are individuals with our own lives that have nothing to do with you.

Men are raised to be full of sexist bullshit and they need to admit it. Even men who believe in equality can be oblivious to behavior patterns they follow that are designed to oppress women. There is no society, as of this moment, where women don't have to deal with sexism in all its forms on a daily basis and often on an hourly basis or even every minute they are breathing.

I know men who understand this and have done the work that you have to do in order to not be an asshole to women. When men choose not to see the truth or do the work, that is entirely on their shoulders. They are choosing to reinforce a bigoted system by not looking in the mirror and admitting they were raised to be sexist toward women and have to change their own behavior if they really, truly, genuinely want to treat the female sex with real respect. And you don't get bonus points if you do. If you expect a reward or to be accepted or praised or even laid for treating women equally, you're still not treating them equally.

[creativeera]

Clot Management Devices: Clot Management for Improved Treatment of Thromboembolism

The Evolution of Clot Removal Technology Clot formation inside blood vessels that supply the lungs, brain or other vital organs can have life-threatening consequences if not treated promptly and effectively. For decades, pharmacological interventions involving anticoagulant and thrombolytic drugs were the primary treatment approaches. However, these systemic therapies are not always fully successful in dissolving or removing clots, and carry risks of hemorrhage. In the past two decades, medical device technologies for minimally invasive mechanical removal or dissolution of clots have rapidly advanced. These clot management devices have revolutionized the treatment of pulmonary embolism and cerebral venous thrombosis. Catheter-Based Clot Retrieval One of the earliest and most widely used clot extraction approaches involves catheter-delivered retrievable stent designs. These devices utilize a nitinol mesh cylindrical structure that can be collapsed inside a delivery catheter and expanded upon deployment within a clot. Barbera first described use of the Tulip venous filter for retrieval of acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis in 1994. Building upon this, devices such as the Retrieval Inferior Vena Cava Filter and Denali Filters were developed specifically for clot capture and removal from larger veins. For pulmonary embolism, retrievable expandable stent designs like the Tulip Vena Cava Filter, Recovery Filter and OptEase Filter allowed for minimally invasive extraction of clots from the pulmonary arteries. A major advancement was the introduction of stent retrievers optimized forremoving thromboembolic occlusions from intracranial blood vessels. The Merci Retriever was among the earliest such devices approved by the FDA in 2004 for mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke. Second generation retrievable stents like the Solitaire and Trevo devices featured superior design and deliverability profiles enabling higher recanalization rates. Recent studies support use of stent retrievers as the first-line treatment for large vessel occlusions in the anterior cerebral circulation. Ongoing research aims to expand the utility of Clot Management Devices catether-deployed devices to more distal vessel occlusions. Ultrasound-Accelerated Thrombolysis While pharmacologically-assisted thrombolysis remains a mainstay for selected patients, treatment times can be prolonged. Ultrasound energy has shown promise in accelerating fibrinolysis through mechanical fracture of clot structure and increased uptake of thrombolytic drugs. Devices generating low-frequency, high-intensity ultrasound via an intravascular catheter have been evaluated. Early studies demonstrated the EKOS System's ability to rapidly dissolve pulmonary emboli when infusing alteplase, halving treatment duration versus pharmacological therapy alone. The Sonolysis Thrombolytic Infusion Catheter was developed for treating iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis, administering ultrasound plus alteplase directly within the thrombus. More recently, the EkoSonic Endovascular System received FDA clearance for use in acute massive and submassive pulmonary embolism. Its small-profile ultrasound emitter works in tandem with front-line thrombolytic drugs to rapidly recanalize blood clots. Ongoing research also investigates combining intravascular ultrasound with novel thrombolytic drug formulations like microbubbles or plasminogen activators to potentially enhance and target fibrinolysis. Get more insights on Clot Management Devices

About Author:

Ravina Pandya, Content Writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravina-pandya-1a3984191)

[officialbuypartsonline]

BuyParts Online Guide 5 Ways to Identify Genuine vs. Counterfeit Truck Parts

In the trucking industry, ensuring the use of genuine parts is crucial for vehicle safety, performance, and longevity. 

However, counterfeit truck parts are prevalent, posing significant risks. 

BuyParts Online reviews have highlighted these concerns, making it essential to differentiate genuine from counterfeit parts. 

Here are five ways to identify genuine versus counterfeit truck parts:

1. Check for Manufacturer Labels and Logos 

Genuine truck parts typically come with manufacturer labels and logos that are clear, professionally printed, and accurately reflect the brand’s style.

Counterfeit parts often have poorly printed labels, misspellings, or incorrect logos. 

Always compare the label and logo on the part with official images from the manufacturer’s website or resources like BuyParts Online.

2. Inspect Packaging Quality 

Authentic parts are usually packaged in high-quality materials with proper seals and secure packaging. 

Counterfeit parts often come in flimsy or damaged packaging. 

Look for consistency in color, font, and overall presentation. 

If the packaging appears substandard or tampered with, it’s a red flag. 

3. Verify Part Numbers and Serial Numbers 

Every genuine truck part has a unique part number or serial number. 

These numbers can be cross-referenced with the manufacturer’s database or official documentation. 

Counterfeit parts might have missing, incorrect, or duplicated numbers.

If a part number doesn’t match or isn’t found in the manufacturer’s system, the part is likely counterfeit. 

4. Examine the Quality of Materials and Craftsmanship 

Genuine parts are made from high-quality materials and exhibit precise craftsmanship. 

Counterfeit parts might look similar at first glance but often have inferior materials and poor construction. 

Pay attention to the weight, texture, and finish of the part. 

Genuine parts tend to be heavier and more robust due to superior materials, a difference often highlighted by BuyParts Online.

5. Purchase from Authorized Dealers 

Buying truck parts from authorized dealers significantly reduces the risk of acquiring counterfeit items. 

Authorized dealers are vetted by manufacturers to ensure they sell only genuine parts. 

Avoid purchasing from unauthorized online marketplaces or dealers with questionable reputations. 

Always ask for proof of authorization if in doubt, and consider checking reviews and recommendations on BuyParts Online.

Conclusion: 

Distinguishing between genuine and counterfeit truck parts is essential for maintaining the integrity of your vehicle. 

By checking labels, inspecting packaging, verifying part numbers, examining material quality, and purchasing from authorized dealers, you can ensure that you are using authentic parts that guarantee safety and performance. 

Taking these steps not only protects your investment but also ensures the reliability and longevity of your truck, as emphasized by resources like BuyParts Online.

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 23rd of June, 2024 Research

Flower Morphology (The Cycles of Plants and the Fruiting/Flowering Parts)

Andrew Petran and Emily Tepe, Strawberry Flower, research diagram

From the text: Flower Morphology by Biology LibreTexts...

General introduction to flower parts: The flower is built upon a structural foundation consisting of a compressed stem with four nodes and three internodes. For a visual image of these compressed nodes, imagine pushing down on a telescoping radio antenna so that the antenna sections slide down into each other. At the very top of the fully compressed antenna you’ll still see the tips of each of the sections of the antenna, and this resembles the highly compressed nodes and internodes of a stem. The region of the stem containing these four compressed nodes is called the receptacle.

Some plants produce imperfect male and imperfect female flowers on the same plant. The flowers containing only androecium are called staminate (male) flowers while the flowers with only gynoecium are called pistillate (female) flowers. Squash and melons, such as the watermelon shown above, are examples of plants with imperfect flowers. Corn and cucumber are others. Notice the enlarged receptacle and inferior ovary at the base of the pistillate flower of the watermelon. These flowers, because they are missing one of the four parts, could also be described as incomplete.

Male and female watermelon flowers. Pollinator. CC BY-SA 3.0

From the text: Flower Morphology- an overview, by ScienceDirect...

Flower morphology consists of a large number of parameters, including the number and shape of petals, number of stamens, petal size and the number and arrangement of styles and ovaries. Some of these characters, for example, the size of floral organs, seem to be controlled by several genes, whereas single (five petals) versus double (>10 petals) was shown to be inherited by a single gene.

In genotypes with double (multipetalled) flowers which have been selected several times during the early history of rose breeding, a certain number of stamens seems to have undergone homeotic transitions to petals, with some intermediate forms between both organ types. This is consistent with other plant species where these homeotic transformations have been observed for a long time. In roses these intermediate organ morphologies are common but the indefinite number of stamens makes it difficult to correlate stamen and petal numbers. However, diploid crosses between double (>10 petals) and single (<6 petals) flowered genotypes revealed negative correlations between the number of stamens and petals supporting the concept of homeotic transformation.

From the text: Current status and biotechnological advices in genetic engineering of ornamental plants by Stephen F. Chandler, in Biotechnology Advances...

Genetic engineering of cut flowers:

Roses (Rosa) are one of the most economically important and favourite ornamental plants worldwide. Roses of specific color have been used for years as symbolic codes in many social and artistic events (Gudin, 2000). Besides being cultivated for ornamental purposes, roses are also used in the perfume and natural medicine industries. Petal-derived essential oils extracted from Rosa species have important secondary metabolites, used in perfume, cosmetic, aromatherapy, spice manufacturing, and nutrition industries (Feng et al., 2010). Rosa species also contain a number of medicinally important metabolites, such as flavonoids, tormentic acid, gallic acid derivative, polysaccharides, and rosamultin (Park et al., 2005; An et al., 2011). The Rosa genus is endemic to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, including Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East but the highest diversity of species is reported in western China (Phillips and Rix, 1988). Rosa has wide variation and hybridizes freely (Zieliński et al., 2004). The rose genome is mostly diploid or tetraploid comprising up to 2n = 2x = 14 to 2n = 8x = 56 chromosomes (Short and Roberts, 1991). Sexual hybridization is rather troublesome in roses due to this wide range of chromosome numbers, high level of heterozygosity, limited gene pool, and a high level of sterility (Marchant et al., 1998a; Van der Salm et al., 1998). 

Lilies (Lilium) are one of the most important flowering crops due to their ornamental value as cut flowers, garden and pot plants. Lilium is native to Asia, North America, Europe, and tropics, at high elevations (Beattie and Whittle, 1993). The Easter lily, Asiatic and oriental hybrids are commercially important. In the floriculture industry, lilies are ranked within the top 10 flowers. Desirable traits in lilies such as flower color, plant form, virus resistance, and stress tolerance can be genetically improved and Lilium transformation has successfully been established through biolistic and Agrobacterium-mediated methods. Several useful transgenic plants have been produced.

A transformation efficiency of 3% was obtained when calli of the oriental hybrid lily ‘Acapulco’ were scratched with sandpaper prior to Agrobacterium inoculation (Hoshi et al., 2004). NH4NO3-free medium was used as co-cultivation medium. This medium was also successfully used by Qiu-Hua et al. (2008) to transfer the maize pollen–specific Zm401 gene into Lilium longiflorum × L. formosanum using Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 containing pBI121 as the binary vector. A low rate of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (1.4%) was obtained when NH4NO3-free medium was used as the co-cultivation medium in transformation of eight lily cultivars, possibly due to a genotype effect (Wang et al., 2012). Liu et al. (2011) used MS medium with acetosyringone for co-cultivation with Agrobacteriumto transform L. longiflorum. A high transformation frequency was observed from nodal stem explants via direct and indirect shoot regeneration.

Morphology is the name given to the science that deals with the study of the form and structure of things. No matter which plant you take, the morphology of a flowering plant includes the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruits.

When we look into the morphology of flowering plants, a plant has two systems root system and shoot system. The underground part is called the root while the one above is named the shoot.

It is clear from this research that my practice is preoccupied with the shoot systems of plants (the flowers, petals, fruit, seedpods) that make up the system of energy, growth and regeneration in the vegetal realm. Flower morphology clearly shows us that these complex plant systems build by design the organic matter that I am casting, so that each petal made, seedpod formed and fruit developed is a unique and vital part of sustaining life in the world of botanical species. There is no waste in the process of the shoot systems, or rather, all waste is used as nutrients in mulch, compost and the breaking down of matter- which feeds the root systems.

Ashley Singer, matter gleaned from a recent fieldwork trip in Hillsborough Road, outside of Mt Cecilia Park, 2024, research image

Casting forms allows the language of sculpture to take the permanent and delicate nature of the shoot systems in plants and hold them in space for examination, documentation and study. Textures, how it sits in space (the object related ontology of matter), the complex design, the difference and variation in species. This can all be examined by casting.

Below is a process of the shoot system loosing matter that is not needed further in the germination process. These research images were taken by me in Hillsborough in a familiar tree (perhaps to me a nementon- sacred grove), and from there I collected fallen matter to cast.

See below: Ashley Singer, Two Magnolia Trees losing petals, 2024, research images

[downincmi]

Rust Lubricant Market: Exploring Anti-Rust Solutions

Introduction

Rust is a chemical reaction that happens when iron or steel comes into contact with oxygen and moisture in the air. This reaction causes the metal to break down and corrode over time if left unprotected. Rust occurs due to electrochemical oxidation and forms when oxygen interacts with the iron present in steel and alloys. The rusting process actually converts metallic iron into its oxide form, which is commonly known as rust.

Need of Rust Lubricants

As rust is a natural phenomenon, it can severely damage machinery, industrial equipment, automotive parts and more if not prevented. Rust not only causes cosmetic damage but eventually leads to structural failure if left unchecked. This is where lubricants play a vital role in protection. They form a defensive barrier between the metal surface and external factors like oxygen, moisture and pollutants that cause corrosion. By preventing direct contact, lubricants safeguard machinery from breaking down prematurely. This helps extend their operational lifespan and reduces maintenance and replacement costs over the long run. Workings

Rust lubricants come equipped with various anti-corrosion properties that work together to tackle rust formation from different angles: Coating Formation: When applied, most lubricants quickly form a thin, protective barrier over the metal surface. This barrier shield prevents environmental oxidizing agents from coming into contact with the base metal. Bond Strength: The coatings created by high-quality lubricants bond strongly to metals. This ensures the barrier layer remains intact for long-term resistance against rusting cycles like wet-dry. Water Displacement: Certain lubricants are designed to displace water from the metal surface. Water is a key contributor to corrosion, so this property helps inhibit the rusting reaction. Oxidation Inhibition: Many lubricants contain oxidation inhibitors that chemically interfere with the rusting process once it begins. This stops corrosion in its tracks and preserves the metal below. Lubricating Properties: Beyond corrosion resistance, some lubricants are formulated with additional lubrication abilities for machinery components. This dual action protects against both rust and wear & tear. Things to Look For in Quality Rust Lubricants

With the vast options available, it's important to weigh certain characteristics when choosing a high-performing lubricant: - Film Strength: A strong, durable film protects metal surfaces for years of use through weathering cycles. Weak films quickly degrade. - Adhesion: The lubricant's ability to form strong molecular bonds with the substrate prevents flaking or peeling over time. - Water Displacement: As mentioned, effective water displacement is critical to prevent corrosion. - Oxidation/Corrosion Inhibitors: Product content and proportion of powerful inhibitors like zinc, phosphates etc. - Temperature Resistance: The film should remain intact in varying climates and maintain flexibility. - Equipment Compatibility: Ensure the lubricant is suited for the metal/machinery without causing damage. - Ease of Application: Spray, brush or wipe-on application methods provide convenient, uniform coverage. - Value: Cost-effectiveness over the protected lifespan versus inferior alternatives requiring reapplication. - Warranty/Manufacturer Reputation: Sign of a trustworthy brand standing behind product performance. Common Types of Rust Lubricants

While there is a broad selection, some frequently used varieties include: - Mineral Oil-Based Lubes: Inexpensive mineral and paraffinic oils form robust barriers but require reapplication. - Wax-Based Lubes: Hard waxes like beeswax coat metal surfaces with excellent water-displacing action. - Grease-Based Lubes: Thickened greases adhere strongly and tolerate moisture well, suitable for moving components. - Lacquer/Paint-Based Lubes: Durable paints, lacquers and varnishes protect via robust bonded films suitable for immobile assets. - Synthetic/Ester-Based Lubes: Newer synthetics tolerate heat/cold better with film-strengthening polymers for resistance. Choosing the right lubricant type depends on the application, environmental conditions and required performance lifespan. Professional advice can help select the most suitable variety. Maintaining Rust Protection

Even with high-quality lubricants, some maintenance is needed to sustaining long-term rust prevention: - Reapplication: Recoat as per manufacturer guidance or when old films degrade to maintain complete coverage. - Surface Preparation: Thoroughly clean and dry surfaces prior to reapplication to maximize film adhesion. - Inspection: Regular visual inspections allow early detection of rust for prompt retreatment before damage occurs. - Repairs: Address existing rust or damaged coating areas immediately to stop corrosion from spreading. - Storage: For inactive machinery, apply a coat of lube prior to indoor/outdoor storage for extended protection. Proper lubricant selection and consistent maintenance ensures machinery, vehicles and equipment receive full defense against rust and corrosion. This guarantees long service life and operational dependability even in challenging outdoor situations and climate extremes. With lubricants playing such an important protective role, it pays to trust a reputable brand.

[indig3aux01]

CTS A — Week 12 - Compulsory question 3

A collaborative project I am highly interested in doing is a social media campaign together with the Diploma in Creative Direction for Fashion. It would be about advocating for proper pockets in women’s clothing. In our collaborative campaign, they would spearhead the creative direction for a photoshoot exploring women’s pockets, highlighting the way it is right now versus the way it should and could be. My role would be to produce the deliverables that could visually communicate the campaign’s message, such as posters, publications, and videos. It would hopefully be an eye-opener to the public and inspire concrete change in the fashion industry.

For my final project, I want to explore the misrepresentation of women in pop culture. Various stereotypical portrayals of women still persist today wherein they exist to be damsels-in-distress, domesticized, objectified, or used to advance a man’s self-development (Walters et al.). I want to foster change in this matter by designing a website similar to the Bechdel test website but encompassing forms of media beyond movies—such as books, comics, video games, etc. This would be accompanied by a publication and a video that would provide a rationale for this advocacy and why there is a need for such a website.

An organization I would like to collaborate with is UNESCO, particularly in the aspect of their Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Lists. I want to aid in preserving the intangible cultural heritage of Asian countries through creating a documentary series; as well as creating branding and publication materials for the ICH campaign.

If there was one word to describe how I aspire my designs to be, it would be “memorable”. I aim to be a designer and/or illustrator for book covers, posters, and brand materials but I believe that a better placeholder for all these for now is a graphic designer in general. Through CTS A, I believe that I would be equipped with the skills, work ethic, and mindset to think creatively and critically for every project I am faced with, ensuring that each of them is memorable, as I aspire them to be.  

(348 words)

Cornwall, Gail. “Why girls need pockets - The Washington Post.” Washington Post, 15 January 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/15/why-girls-need-pockets/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Diehm, Jan, and Amber Thomas. “Women's Pockets are Inferior.” The Pudding, https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Walters, Aly, et al. “A Look at Women Represented in Media.” Study Breaks, 17 July 2017, https://studybreaks.com/culture/women-representation-media/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

“What is Intangible Cultural Heritage? UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003. Accessed 15 November 2023.

[merriammusicinc]

Piano Buying Tips: 10 Common Mistakes People Make When Buying A Piano

Piano Buying Tips - 10 Mistakes to Look Out For

Purchasing a first piano can be fairly intimidating, especially if you don’t already have a lot of experience with pianos.

Fortunately, here at Merriam Pianos, we’ve seen the piano purchasing process through with literally thousands of customers since our inception, from beginners to concert-level piano players, so we can safely say we know a thing or two about what people ought to look for when buying a piano.

Today, we’re going to tackle the 10 mistakes shoppers often make when buying a piano. We feel this list should be helpful to anybody who's embarking on the process of selecting an instrument for their home, school, church, studio or wherever it may be.

Avoiding these common mistakes will go a very long way in ensuring your long-term satisfaction with the instrument you end up choosing.

Mistake #1: Used is Better Value than New

The very first mistake is a common assumption many people make, which is that a used piano is automatically a better value than a new piano.

While there are cases where this is true, most of the time the overall marketplace has already factored in the value a buyer is getting for used versus new - as long as you understand the street price versus the list price of a new piano that you’re looking at, you'll simply be getting what you pay for.

For example, a used Yamaha U1 in a certain age category has a particular market price point that’s been largely set due to the fact that any used piano performs at a certain level markedly lower than a new counterpart.

If a new 48-inch Japanese piano is worth $9,000 to $10,000, the cost of a used model directly dovetails with this and will be anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 depending on age and condition.

The main reason for this is that all pianos degrade, depreciate and wear out over time, without exception.

There is no such thing as a 20-year-old piano that is as good as a brand-new piano, with the exception of those rare barn finds where someone unearths a 20-year-old instrument that was never played. Obviously, something like this would be a killer deal, if you could find one.

In most cases, a used piano has received hundreds and even sometimes thousands of hours of use. The hammers are harder and have started to wear down, plus there's more play in the hammer action, meaning it’s going to be looser and less responsive.

The soundboard will have already received decades of down-bearing tension, which affects the soundboard crown, which in turn affects the dynamic potential of the sound.

Tuning stability may also be sub-optimal due to a variety of reasons, such as the humidity of the environment in which the piano is stored. The piano technician/tuner bills can add up quickly.

Finally, the aesthetic condition of a used piano is pretty much always going to be inferior to a new piano unless the instrument has been refinished.

However, this can be costly and would be reflected in the price. For most people, when they invest several thousand dollars into an instrument, they rightfully want it to look good.

All of that put together is to say this: when it comes to used versus new pianos, you get what you pay for.

New pianos are more expensive due to their superior musical potential, aesthetics, durability and warranty coverage. Used pianos cost less, and in the case of many Spinet pianos are available for free, for a reason.

Mistake #2: Buying Based on a “Discount”

This is another one we see all the time - the allure of a big percentage discount from the list price set by the manufacturer. This is an old sales technique that stretches across many industries, automobiles being the most common.

The piano industry is certainly not immune from this, and there's been a lot of good ink spilt on this subject over the years - Piano industry expert Larry Fine for example has opined on this with a great level of detail in several of his highly credible publications.

Here’s what this mistake comes down to; MSRP stands for manufacturer-suggested retail price, and is 100% set by the manufacturer without measure against any type of objective standard.

In the marketplace, there seems to be an inverse relationship between a piano's reputation regarding quality and how high or low the MSRP is.

The better the piano, and the more established the reputation of that instrument, the closer MSRP is likely to be to the actual legitimate street market price of that instrument, to the point where some instruments literally have no daylight between MSRP and what people are actually paying for these pianos.

For many decades, you could say that Steinway & Sons was the only manufacturer who achieved this, but these days there are a number of other manufacturers marketplace who have achieved this as well.

Estonia for example has set their MSRP very close to what the market actually pays for their good high-quality pianos, meaning they haven’t artificially inflated the MSRP to a point where dealers have an abundance of room to discount.

On the flip side of the equation, situations exist where lesser-known and lower-quality brands often dramatically inflate the MSRP of their pianos to achieve two things; for one, they're looking to achieve the perception of equivalence with much more established brands, by listing a high MSRP to artificially inflate the value.

Secondly, this gives less experienced and less established dealers a sales tool that can be effective at generating excitement, i.e. a large, time-limited discount.

This is a common tactic with lesser-known Chinese and Indonesian lines. Very rarely do you see this approach occurring with either North American, European or good-quality Asian-built pianos.

The market pricing is so well-established that people's impression or need for a sense of credible pricing on these instruments handcuffs the manufacturers in a way that is advantageous for consumers.

So, don't be allured by a super high discount based on MSRP from a slick salesperson because there's a very good chance that if you're getting something like 50% off the list price, this MSRP was artificially inflated in the first place.

Mistake #3: Underestimating a Piano’s Volume

Do not underestimate how loud a piano is!

We can’t tell you how many times every single year we get a call from a customer who was thrilled about their piano purchase only to receive delivery and a couple of weeks later be begging for some type of a solution due to the sheer power and volume a piano generates, especially when you dig into the key action and have the sustain pedal engaged.

Pianos are loud. They were built to be loud, and there’s no way around this.

Don't underestimate this and instead, actively plan for it. If you're in a small space or if you've got neighbours, carefully consider the size of the piano because size has a direct relationship to the volume that it produces.

You can also consider other mitigating strategies such as installing a silent system or going with a top-tier hybrid piano that’s actually able to produce a musical experience on par with a fully acoustic piano.

Mistake #4: Not Measuring Piano Size Correctly

This one might seem obvious, but just as often as we have people calling and looking for strategies to mitigate volume they weren't expecting, we get even more calls about this one - the piano won't fit. Measure!

This comes up a lot when we're talking about getting pianos into or out of basements and onto second floors.

Pianos are large and heavy so you need more than a centimetre of clearance to safely move one up and downstairs.

If you have measured at the music store and it's literally going to be within an inch, there's a very good chance that you are going to be taking on damage to the instrument itself or to the walls of your home.

This should be an expectation, and it is not a reflection on the moving company that you have selected if a problem occurs.

The vast majority of piano movers really care about the work they do, and often times issues arise simply due to folks having selected a piano too big for its desired end location.

Mistake #5: Allowing For Acclimatization

This next one has less to do with a shopping mistake and more to do with a misconception right at the same time as a shopping purchase.

Acoustic pianos, not so much digital pianos, need to acclimatize. There is a huge amount of tension on an acoustic piano, and the primary materials, wood and iron, are prone to shrinking and swelling with changes in humidity and temperature.

The humidity and temperature in a warehouse will be different than the humidity and temperature in a piano showroom, which in turn will be different from your home.

When the piano finally arrives in your home for the first time, there will be a period where the instrument goes through some changes while settling into the new environment.

This process often results in piano keys that are slightly sticky or at least a little stiffer than you might expect them to be. You may also find some ringing on certain strings, or a damper that isn't quite damping perfectly.

These are all signs of an instrument that is generally acclimatizing.

It's certainly a good idea to notify your dealer if these things occur shortly after delivery, but your first reflex should not be to think that you have bought a lemon as this is very common. and stretches across all piano brands and types of pianos.

If the humidity continues to be quite dynamic in your home, you can expect a lot of these behaviours to continue.

Creating a humidity environment that is stable can go a long way in preventing these issues from occurring, but even if they do, there’s no need to panic. Just keep in touch with your dealer and they can get the issues remedied.

Mistake #6: Not Considering The Mechanical Sounds Of A Silent System

This is one that wouldn't have needed mentioning even 10 years ago, but the increasing popularity of silent pianos has changed this.

And it makes perfect sense - people want to be able to enjoy all of the sound quality of an acoustic piano without making enemies of their friends, family, and neighbours.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that we're seeing so many silent systems installed on acoustic pianos since the technology has really evolved in the last few years.

But here is what you need to keep in mind; the mechanical sound of a piano's action is anything but silent.

While the 80 decibels of tone that the piano produces due to the hammer striking the strings is eliminated, the marked mechanical noise that the action itself produces can’t be done away with.

Plus, most silent systems still have the hammer striking some type of bar which also produces noise.

With this in mind, we would encourage anyone considering a silent system to make sure you play one in a piano store and pay attention to the mechanical noise that isn’t done away with by the silent system.

Mistake #7: Buying Based On A Country's "Sound"

Often times we have customers visit one of our showrooms and the conversation starts something like this "I hate Japanese pianos, they're too tinny and the American sound is just a little too brash for me.

I really prefer the high-quality European piano sound."

The problem here is that countries don't really have sounds.

There is as much variety in the German piano-making industry as there is in the Japanese piano-making industry for example.

Instead, countries have general quality standards that can translate to musical perceptions.

When you are competing in a marketplace where your consumer is accustomed to a particular standard of quality, you will generally find that all manufacturers will rise to the occasion. Otherwise, they simply won’t be able to compete.

Europe is steeped in musical culture, and as such the standards that the buying community apply to the piano manufacturing business are higher than buying audiences where the level of musical fluency isn't as well-established over multiple generations.

As such, German pianos generally are the best made, and the better made a piano is, the cleaner the sound will be.

Under that umbrella though, there’s a huge variety of tonal colours and palettes that are possible.

As a result, there are both light and dark pianos from Germany, as well as super colourful pianos and pianos with a very simple tonal profile.

The main thing they have in common is excellent craftsmanship resulting in cleanness of tone.

In terms of pianos from the United States, while there still are 3 US-based piano manufacturers, the classic American sound really just means the Steinway sound, as opposed to the Baldwin or Mason & Hamlin sound.

Japanese pianos are either going to be from Kawai or Yamaha, and these two manufacturers offer pianos that sound widely different from one another. To say there is a Japanese sound isn’t really accurate.

To summarize, while countries have generally consistent quality levels, the idea that all pianos from one country sound the same is not accurate.

Mistake #8: Assuming All Grands Are Better Than Uprights

Here’s another one that comes up all the time - shoppers assuming that baby grand pianos are always superior to upright pianos.

The fact is, grand pianos are not automatically better than upright pianos, plain and simple.

In fact, there are many instances where the quality of the materials and the execution of design on an upright piano will produce a more preferable musical experience than a grand piano of the same price.

This is a general guideline, but we have often found that if you’re seeking a grand piano with exactly the same fit and finish, material quality and design sophistication, you need to approximately double your budget from what a comparable upright piano would cost.

For example, if you were looking at a $20,000 upright piano, you would have to jump to approximately the $40,000 or $50,000 price range to get a grand piano that would be of equal overall quality.

Now, the aesthetics of a grand piano are unbeatable in a living room and the physics of the action come with their own benefits that may mean an otherwise lesser quality grand piano will still be a better piano for you, especially if you’re serious about advancing through piano lessons.

But don't assume that simply choosing a grand over an upright, in all cases, is always going to produce a superior musical experience.

Mistake #9: Not Considering Uprights Under 48 Inches

This one is a classic. Many people think they shouldn’t entertain an upright piano under 48” in height if they’re going to be doing the serious playing, likely due to something they heard from their piano teacher.

This idea likely came from the fact that the Yamaha U1 is 48” in height and is by the far the best-selling upright piano in North America over the last few decades. In Germany, the most common upright piano size is about 47” in height, so this belief simply doesn’t exist in the mind of consumers there.

Piano Buying Tips - Upright Piano Pearl River

The 48” mark is in reality arbitrary. If you automatically draw this line in the sand, you’re cutting yourself off from some fantastic options that come in under this mark.

The fact is, there are many excellent upright pianos available as small as 43”, so we would recommend considering uprights of all sizes.

Mistake #10: Shopping Dynamic

The very last item on our list is a little bit touchy, but we’ve seen this derail the shopping process many times and that is having convoluted decision-making dynamic.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with different family members or a buying group making the final decision of which piano to go with, and having a strong degree of feedback will help in narrowing things down.

But once things have been narrowed down is where having multiple decision-makers can be quite problematic. Choosing a piano after you've made sure that you're in the right category and working with the right budget is extremely personal.

Somebody needs to be designated to take the lead at the very last stage and be the one to musically crown the winner. We’ve seen the entire process gets entirely derailed when there are too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.

It’s highly recommended that the person whose primarily going to be playing the instrument have the final say. After all, they’re the ones who will be spending countless hours in front of the piano when all is said and done.

Closing Thoughts

We hope you’ve found this article helpful. As we said in the intro, we at Merriam Pianos have helped thousands of families and individuals choose a piano over the years here at Merriam Pianos, and the above-listed 10 mistakes are extremely common.

If you’re able to avoid the mistakes we’ve listed, the odds greatly increase that you’ll end up with the right piano for you, whether you’re getting ready to learn piano for the first time, or highly experienced pianists and everything in between.

Thank you for reading our piano buying tips and happy shopping!

The post Piano Buying Tips: 10 Common Mistakes People Make When Buying A Piano first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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[nanshe-of-nina]

Favorite History Books || Women in the Middle Ages: The Lives of Real Women in a Vibrant Age of Transition by Joseph and Frances Gies ★★★★☆

What are the elements that affect a woman’s life? Recent works in women’s history have tended to focus on the status of women relative to men. But the first and most important consideration in evaluating the quality of life in the Middle Ages applies equally to men and women: the technological and economic level of a low-energy but expanding society, influencing work, housing, food, clothing, health, security, comfort, and self-fulfillment

A second basic element, affecting only women, is the state of obstetrical practice. Throughout the ages, until antisepsis and improvements in obstetrical techniques arrived in the nineteenth century, childbirth was a mortal hazard. Rich or poor, women suffered and were injured in labor; often they died. A medieval gynecological treatise, The Diseases of Women, from the medical school at Salerno, reflects the problems and horrors of childbirth in the whole pre-industrial era, during which doctors and midwives had few aids other than potions and poultices. Nevertheless, amid prescriptions for rubbing the woman’s flanks with oil of roses, feeding her vinegar and sugar, powdered ivory, or eagle’s dung, placing a magnet in her hand or suspending coral around her neck, the Salernitan text also gives sound advice, for example on breech delivery: “If the child does not come forth in the order in which it should, that is, if the legs or arms should come out first, let the midwife with her small and gentle hand moistened with a decoction of flaxseed and chick peas, put the child back in its place in the proper position.” Although abortion, with its own dangers, was practiced from very ancient times, contraception, by various methods—mechanical, medicinal, and magical—found limited use and even less effectiveness. Women had babies, successfully or otherwise.

Several other special criteria apply to the quality of a woman’s life in any historical setting. First, simple survival: in many times and on different continents, women have been victims of infanticide as a technique of selective population control. The reason, although usually rationalized in terms of the female’s alleged weakness of physique, character, and intellect, is transparently economic: the contribution in work of a daughter was often out-weighed by the cost of raising her and giving her a marriage portion: investment in a daughter went mainly to the profit of a future husband. Second, conditions of marriage: the question of consent; the relative age of consent for men and women; monogamy versus polygamy, which emphasizes woman’s biological role at the expense not only of her personal, but of her social and economic roles; the seclusion of women in harems or gynaeceums, or their “privatization” at home, where they were segregated from the male spheres of business, politics, and religion; attitudes toward adultery and divorce, where a double standard nearly always prevailed.

One of the enigmas of history is its pervasive misogyny, in prehistoric and ancient times, in the Middle Ages, into the modern era. Anthropologists and historians have turned to Freud and Marx for explanations: men feared women’s sexual functions, or hated women because their mothers had failed to gratify their Oedipal longings; or they derogated them, in Engels’s words, as the “slave of [man’s] lust and mere instrument for the production of children.” From ancient times, societies have attributed sinister magical powers to women, particularly to their physiology. Pliny the Elder (first century A.D.) reported that some products of women’s bodies had marvelous properties. The odor of a woman’s burned hair drove away serpents; its ash cured warts, sore eyes, and diaper rash, and, mixed with honey, assuaged ulcers, wounds, and gout. Woman’s milk cured fevers, nausea, and many other ailments. The saliva of a fasting woman was “powerful medicine for bloodshot eyes and fluxes.” Furthermore, “I find that a woman’s breast-band tied round the head relieves headaches.”

... Aside from the mystery and magic of woman’s physiology, a historically persistent male attitude toward sex bred misogyny. Wherever sex was regarded as a weakness on man’s part and rigid codes of sexual morality were adopted, women were feared and mistrusted for their very attraction. A final element in misogyny lies in the nature of patriarchy: where males dominated, females were “other,” secondary, inferior.

Christianity was in theory egalitarian in respect to sex as to race and class: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” wrote Saint Paul. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Unfortunately Paul muted this ringing declaration by ambivalence in his other writings, and although it stirred echoes in later sermons and texts, equality, whether between man and man, or between man and woman, was never a medieval doctrine. Theories of equality between men belong to the eighteenth century, between man and woman to the nineteenth.

In the Middle Ages there was in fact little feminine awareness, little consciousness of women as women. In spite of their disabilities, there was no protest—no “sobs and cries” of their “aeons of everyday sufferings,” to quote a modern critic.⁸ One of the few women to speak as a woman in the Middle Ages was Christine de Pisan, poet at the court of Charles VI of France, at the close of the fourteenth century. There were other women poets in the Middle Ages, but Christine is unique in speaking up for women, and in her awareness of the special role and condition of women. She was, in fact, one of the few true feminists be- fore the modern era.

[badoccultadvice]

A guide to which life crisis you are in Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

It's time for Dadaism to write this blog, so here we go: tag yourself, I'm ego integrity versus despair.

Trust versus Mistrust

Can I trust the world? Mother? What the fuck, you named me Miltonborg? This is your fault entirely.

Autonomy versus Shame/Doubt

Is it okay to be me? Parents? Seriously, 'Miltonborg?' You could have filed a name change for me by now and I wouldn't have even noticed, I'm like... a toddler still.

Initiative versus Guilt

Is it okay for me to do, move, and act? Family? What the fuck, how did you just let them name me Miltonborg? Fuck whether it's okay, I can't do anything that I want to sign my name to because... my name is... MILTONBORG.

Industry versus Inferiority

Can I make it in the world of people and things? School? NOPE. Cool, I get it, this was sorta kneecapped ahead of time.

Identity versus Role Confusion

Who am I? Who can I be? Peers? Role Models? My name is a symbol. You can pronounce it however you want.

Intimacy versus Isolation

Can I love? Partners? Uh... let's talk about what name you're gonna call out. This could get awkward.

Generativity versus Stagnation

Can I make my life count? Household? I'm thinking about establishing the Miltonborg trust. Maybe a scholarship, so some other kid can think about what it's like to have had this name.

Ego Integrity versus Despair

Is it okay to have been me? Mankind? More importantly, was it okay to have been 'Miltonborg?'

[itsmeanyango]

STOP WAITING, DATE THEM ALL.

First of all, I have said DATE not DO THE DIRTY WITH.

Have you seen people who focused on school and money before they got into a relationship?

Have you seen how MISERABLE they are being single? This is not about those who were never interested in being in a relationship, this is about those who said relationships will come after they have finished school and or made money. They never dated or anything with the opposite sex or their preference.

Miserable people.

You can be in a relationship and achieve your goals.

The narrative of relationships being time-consuming only pushes the agenda that when you are in a relationship you should stop living your life.

In relationships, you go on dates, hang out with each other, talk to each other, and have sex(not all have sex).

In friendships, minus the sex(replace with parties and sleep overs), don't you do the same? DOES YOUR LIFE STOP BECAUSE OF FRIENDSHIP???? No. So stop being stupid, you will have so much bitterness towards teenagers when you are old and single. Then you will start co-signing and supporting "laws" that oppress teenagers and campus students.

Now you aren't single when old because nobody wants you. You are single because, at the age when you should have learned about relationships and how to navigate them, you deluded yourself into thinking that your books and career are more important. Now you do not know how to interact with anyone on a romance or sex basis, you haven't developed your 'mobile relationship agenda', so nobody sees a future with you because you can't even see a future with yourself. You're just thinking that marriage and family are natural, they aren't. Chances of you ending up with a terrible partner are also high.

It's like masturbation, until you masturbate you will NEVER know what your true sexual satisfaction is.

So, if you never interact with your preferred gender/sex/identity, you will NEVER know what a fulfilling relationship is to you. But you can keep telling yourself that you found the one and never needed to be with another. The same applies to people who have dated only one person since childhood BUT this last part is on a case-by-case basis.

All the information in this post applies to EVERYONE.

Every.Single.Person.

No exception.

I am going to use the Erik Erikson theory of psychosocial development. Erik Erikson was a German-American Psychologist who proposed an 8 stage theory of psychosocial development. Psychosocial means the relationship between the mind(psych) and society. Now you can use this theory to explain different "themes", I am using it to explain some parts of matters related to relationship dynamics.

His 8 stages are on a versus module, kind of like if yes this or if no that. In his theory, he proposes that you are either on one side or the other.

These are the stages:

trust vs. mistrust

autonomy vs. shame/doubt

initiative vs. guilt

industry vs. inferiority

identity vs. role confusion

intimacy vs. isolation

generativity vs. stagnation

integrity vs. despair.

Trust vs. mistrust(0 to 1 year) talks about your internal locus of security towards your caregivers. This is as a baby. The baby either feels safe around the caregivers or older people around them or not.

Autonomy vs. shame/doubt(1 to 3 years) and doubt is about believing in yourself. If you feel secure in who you are then that is autonomy, if not then that is shame and doubt. For example, when children learn how to walk, some do not care if they fall or anything but others are really self-conscious. The self-consciousness might be a result of overly critical parents. How can a baby tell if parents are overly critical? Did you know that over 90% of communication is non-verbal? And what are babies always looking at? Faces. So their parents/caregivers' facial expressions tell them everything. Now a child who is under mistrust due to inconsistency in caregiving will most probably end up under shame and doubt unless they are put in a secure environment.

Initiative vs. guilt(3e to 6 years) is about just doing it or second-guessing oneself. Children on the trust to autonomy will take risks or just do it, the others will be guilty about anything because they have been brought up in an environment where anything they do is treated as wrong and they do not want to offend anyone further.

Industry vs. inferiority(6 to 12 years) is the stage where children wonder, how good am I? They start grouping themselves as who is cool and who is not. This is the age where bullying begins. It is also the friendship age and when children want to impress each other. Those who feel inferior tend to be bullies and a few of them are the bullied. Now in this stage, even if a child has been under mistrust, shame/doubt and guilt, they can move to the Industry stage because their environment is changing. There is a quote by Richard Kadrey that says:

“When you’re born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it’s not.”

So they go to school and realize that its only at home where things are unsettling, at school they are accepted and now they get to be themselves. The vice versa also happens because some children who believed they were everything due to their parents' parenting style, meet other children who they feel are better than them and now their life seems like a lie-they start moving to the negative side. Not all children make this transition.

Now from this stage children become REALLY impressionable, this is where their life values and beliefs start taking root.

Identity vs. role confusion(12 to 18 years) this stage is about am I a girl? Am I a boy? Why do I like this color? This is also the stage where adults push their agenda of boys' roles and girls' roles, very damaging agendas because the greatest disservice they do is prevent them from ever understanding the concept of respect being mutual and what independence really is. Say adults push the agenda of ladies first or books before boys because boys bring babies(7bs). Two things happen:

Serious disregard for boys and men because ladies first. In reality, both should make way.

2. Do you know about sexual dysfunction and relationship dysfunction? They begin here, but we will only look at relationship dysfunction.

If from 12 to 18 you are constantly told negative things about boys, how do you think that will affect you? You will either secretly see boys(high chance of seeing the bad guys, look at Rapunzel from Tangled when she misunderstood Flynn) or close yourself off because you see boys(your fellow human beings) as monsters and because you are expected to end up with a man, there is a VERY HIGH CHANCE that the type of partner you choose will have monster like traits such as physical abuse, financial abuse, pedophile, sexual offender etc.

The 7bs pushes the narrative that immediately after school you should have children and that is why the rate of poverty keeps going up. In a kdrama I watched(probably Hometown Cha Cha Cha), this police officer is telling a woman he is interested in about his plans. He says having children without a plan condemns you to poverty, he is right.

Now, what are boys told? Be a man. When is be a man used? You fell off your bike and want to cry, 'fix your face and be a man, men don't cry!" Is what you are told. You shove a girl and she cries to her parent who comes to see your parent, what does your parent say? "Boys will always be boys", your parent says this while smiling and never confronts you. You and your sister make the same mistake, but it's only your sister who gets punished or her punishment is worse. Your father shouts at your mother, it upsets you but your mother stays, she even cooks a good meal and smiles at your dad a few minutes/hours later. It happens to your aunts and their husbands too. What does this teach you? To be a man, you must be mean to the women you claim to love. It also teaches you that you can get away with anything or with just a slap on the wrist.

You may have also been raised to get the money then women will come flocking.

Intimacy vs. Isolation(20's through early 40's) is about seeing your peers as more than friends. Looking at the previous stage explanation, if you avoid intimacy because of the 7bs or getting the money first and women will come flocking, then your relationship life starts going downhill. Another reason why your relationship life will start going downhill is because you have grown up being forced to identify as an identity that is not you. You have also been forced to see relationships as male-female and no other way. Remember the am I a girl or boy question? You were onto something but it got shut and you also did not have representation(role models) to help you know who you are and what the confusion is about. Now all previous stages contribute to this stage, if the previous stages ended badly one may pick what society dictates and live that way. Boys may chase the money and hope for women to flock over them when they are rich, girls will follow the 7bs and purity culture.

Did you know, most people do not get to their definition of success until after 40?

So you keep studying and chasing money with the hope of finding love after the money is in the bank and you are done reading the books.

Did you know that success is guaranteed at the end of the line, but companionship is not?

So if you keep chasing other things with the intention of finding love after your chase is done, the following will be how your life pans out.

Generativity vs. stagnation is about giving back to society and looking back. It's also about building a legacy. So now you want to do teenager things here? You will look around you and see how all your peers have love and family and even though you are way better placed financially, they are happier and barely struggling. You want that, you feel stagnant. So what do you do? Rush into things or get random women pregnant or you get pregnant by random men or a random man. You even go to fertility clinics but parenting has you in a chokehold. Unfortunately, your relationships are so tasking but you think it's normal because your friends who did not skip stages say relationship issues are normal. You just don't know that what they mean are things like forgetting to fix the lightbulb, forgetting to take the trash out, staying up late watching cartoons with the kids on a school night, or putting dishes in the sink with food. Your issues may be red flags such as stonewalling, silent treatment, gaslighting, violence, or emotional or financial abuse. If you did not skip a stage, you could have experienced this and other red flags in your friend's relationships or an unfortunate one or many relationships you had. That experience would have helped you choose better and not judge people. But since it's your first time, you just suck it up. You also probably saw these things in your family and think they are normal, they are not. You may also be the abuser yet you don't know and now you are shocked when you get sued or summoned to court. Because you are rushing, you pick whatever comes. You also do not bother to unlearn things and become a better person.

Integrity vs. despair(mid 60's to end of life) is the final stage. Have you seen the 'are ya winning son?" meme? This stage is it.

You will ask yourself this question and look around at what you have done. Did you build or destroy? Are you proud of how you lived? You may start looking around for your family(partner and children) but they will have either deserted you or put A LOT of distance between you. You will be miserable every single day, and you may develop depression. Regrets are normal for both those who feel satisfied(team integrity) and those who feel like failures(team despair). The only difference is that team integrity have very few regrets and have made peace with them. However, team despair are in the never-ending cycle of if-only.

So, save yourself when you still can. Unlearn self-defeating beliefs, forgive yourself. You can still clean up your act if you are alive.

I cant tell you what to do though.

heres a song; that tiktok of course I f up hands in the air. This is the TikTok collection.

[draceempressa]

Despite how independent Vil is who work so hard to get what he wants unlike those privileged rich brats who bribes the industry with moolah, he's still spoiled in a way that he seems to never truly see how people struggle with living having almost nothing. Sure he sees how students struggle in the world they're living but he didn't get to see it in his own eyes. If ever Vil sees how Ruggie struggles he might've open his eyes more. 

When he finds out about Neige's backstory, he realizes how even if he has a hard time getting the thing he wanted the most, he still has everything, he doesn't know what it feels like when you had almost nothing and working hard to get it yet still being happy and content with even the little things. He never encountered a person who literally has nothing. It was that point Vil realize the time he tried to kill Neige that he was throwing away all what he'd work for just for one thing he will eventually lose once he successfully committed the horrible act. 

It's normal for people to either be content or not be content to what they have, heck some people are not content of living but still keep living (Leona and Cater I see you). 

I wanted Vil to explore more of the good and the bad of the world than the world he only knows for him to grow. Him knowing the bad side of the showbiz industry is not enough of a growth to me, he needs to get out of his comfort zone. 

----------------------------------

I.... need to point out the discomforting points about this submission. First, you people keep telling me wanted this and wanted that, and who am I to say I have any power in the writing? you can discuss what it is to be expected, to be analyzed, but where is the power of a fan in the end is nontexistent. Or will you suggest to bully the author , spam messages until they are so tired about writing their own way and tired of being creator altogether? We fans can only expect, can only wish, but we doesn't have power to change the story of the work of a big company, and even fix it fanfic will stay as fanfic , unless coincidentally the canon authors have similar idea to that. Sure, authors need critique how to develop their stories , but not puppeeteering editors that controls every step and plot and drove them to stress. *points to Tite Kubo writing trash ending to Bleach becasue he's so tired of Shueisha's puppeteering him and sank IchiRuki himself because he doesn't want shueisha winning despite liking the ship himself, or Tetsuya Nomura being so persistent with FFVersusXIII he slapped the plot of Versus to Verum Rex/Kingdom Hearts* You want that? I don't. Do not underestimate salty authors. Granted, usually women are less prideful than men, but really, don't underestimate what big name , salty, persistent authors can do.

Second, you say Vil have everything and Neige have nothing and he must look more about the poor....while also naming LEONA? sure, man got depression. I'm not here to deny that. But he also have superiority inferiority complex and to bully the poor is where he feels the superiority part of his complex is, where he feels good at . He even calls Ruggie's house DOG HOUSE. AS IN PET DOG'S HOUSE. HE IS CALLING RUGGIE AS LOW AS A PET. Except you're telling me you are fine being bullied with as long it makes someone else feels better and continue to live? Which is not the healthiest solution.

Going back to the "vil have everything and neige have nothing" part, is money the only standard to happiness in life? or, do you feel so much better at saying at" x suffer more than y,therefore y was happy and didn't have the right to be sad, for y have more privilege" logic? the poor say the rich doesn't suffer, women say the same about men, poc say the same about white people, and where did that brings us? nowhere, life isn't competition about who suffers the most, and the presence of privilege doesn't erase one's suffering , it should be more about in what way people suffer and how do we help them, and let the people who are happy in their own share their positivity, but they are not to be expected their way to be happy also work for others, as much people can be happy in their own way without privilages. Be happy is about how grateful you are or how much you enjoy stuff, not about how much privilege you have in total. If you still have one person to hate you, no you don't have everything, as much if you still have one person to love you, you don't have nothing.

It's not everything if you can name even if just one (1) exception. In Greek mythology, Achilles is said to be vulnerable to everything but to his heels, and then he dies by poison arrow to his heels. Similarly in Norse myth, everything promised not to harm Baldr BUT mistletoe and he dies by mistletoe anyway. So much for "everything", and the other way around also works for "nothing".

Also, last time Yana writes a sheltered rich kid finally learns about the darkness of the world, they sank into despair altogether and stopped being nice, or even gangraped by a crazy cult. If she can only go that way, doubt Disney will let her be as dark in twst, despite Disney already approve all the dark, crazy stuff in Kingdom hearts, and neither am I here for black and black morality

I assume you are different person than this malleus anon, which I don't take the idea of "x having everything doesn't mean they have the right to be sad" toxic mindset well , and perhaps this wouldn't be the last time I got any submission/ask that imply this toxic mindset . I'll try to be as civil as possible , but do keep in mind I do have limit of patience.

[sulan1809]

Red Earth(War-Zard) - Magia, Monstros e Pancadaria

Red Earth é um game de luta com temática de fantasia medieval, que surgiu em 1996, sendo o primeiro game lançado para o hardware CPS-3, mas que nunca teve um lançamento oficial fora da plataforma CPS-3 para consoles caseiros. Depois de 26 anos restrito aos arcades, War-Zard(ウォーザード), ou melhor, Red Earth, como é conhecido fora do solo nipônico, agora pode ser jogado através de uma coletânea especial de títulos de luta, Capcom Fighting Collection, que teve disponibilidade recente para PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One e Steam em 24 de junho de 2022. 

CPS-3, um hardware superpotente, mas que não emplacou muito

Em 1996, a Capcom anunciou o CPS-3, um hardware diferente dos predecessores, CPS-1(1998) e CPS-2(1993), que apresentava um leitor de CD-ROM e um cartucho de segurança contendo a BIOS e o processador SH-2. A Capcom preferiu fazer os games dessa plataforma no formato de CD para reduzir os custos de produção do sistema. O primeiro game a ser lançado para a placa CPS-3 foi Red Earth(1996), e subsequentemente vieram Street Fighter III: The New Generation(1997), Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack(1997), Jojo’s Venture(1998), Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future(1999), e Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future(1999). No entanto, como Street Fighter III não conseguiu repetir o sucesso do antecessor, Street Fighter II(1991), o Capcom Play System 3 foi o último hardware proprietário da softhouse de Street Fighter, Resident Evil, e Mega Man, depois a Capcom migrou para o hardware NAOMI, baseado na arquitetura do Dreamcast(SEGA), produzindo games de luta muito interessantes, como por exemplo, Marvel VS. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, e Capcom VS. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, que mais tarde tiveram conversões caseiras para Dreamcast e PlayStation 2. 

Gameplay de Red Earth

Red Earth apresenta dois modos de batalha. No Quest Mode, o jogador, controlando um dos quatro heróis, Leo, Kenji(Mukuro), Mai-Ling(Tao) e Tessa(Tabasa), parte em uma missão para erradicar monstros que estão tirando o sossego das pessoas em outros reinos, sendo eles Hauzer, um tiranossauro, Hydron(Nool), Kongou, Ravange(Secmeto), Lavia(Luan), Gi Gi, Blade, e o antagonista da trama, Scion(Valdoll). No modo versus, o jogador nº 1 enfrenta o jogador nº 2 no mano-a-mano usando apenas o elenco de personagens jogáveis. Red Earth usa um sistema de Password, que permite ao jogador jogar mais tarde no mesmo nível de habilidade que seu personagem atingiu quando terminou pela última vez. O mecanismo de luta em si é semelhante aos jogos de luta anteriores da Capcom, como Street Fighter, mas com algumas diferenças; a barra de saúde dos 'chefes' inimigos que o jogador luta no modo Quest é exibida na parte inferior da tela e é muito maior do que a dos jogadores. Além disso, à medida que o jogador acerta os chefes, várias moedas e baús de tesouro aparecem. Coletar moedas fornece experiência, enquanto várias coisas podem ser encontradas em baús de tesouro, como esferas (usadas ​​para super ataques invocando um dos seis espíritos elementares) e comida (que restaura a saúde). Red Earth é um dos poucos games a apresentar finishers em forma de Fatalities, pegando inspiração em Mortal Kombat. Enquanto que em DarkStalkers, os finisher moves são apresentadas de uma maneira mais cômica, sem sanguinolência ou desmembramentos corporais, como acontece em Mortal Kombat, em Red Earth, os finisher moves são apresentados das mais realísticas e horrendas maneiras, tais como retalhar o oponente ao meio, remover órgãos(o que é, digamos, URGH, Nojento) e esquartejar membros.   

Enredo

O enredo de Red Earth se passa no século 14, mais precisamente, o ano de 13XX (a versão japonesa, no entanto, sugere que o enredo se passa em 1999), em uma era pós-apocalíptica, em que o mundo não experimentou nenhum advento tecnológico, como a Revolução Industrial(Século XVIII), nem mesmo a Renascença(Século XV e XVI). Um poderoso lorde maligno, denominado Scion, aparece, espalhando o terror com monstros em diversos reinos, com isso, quatro heróis distintos emergem para lidar com um poderoso Lorde das Trevas, derrotá-lo, e trazer a paz tão sonhada ao mundo inteiro. 

Leo - O Rei de Savalia(Greedia)

Leo, rei de Savalia(Greedia), foi amaldiçoado, sendo transformado em um ser metade humano, metade leão, quando uma entidade desconhecida invadiu o reino dele. Os três sábios tentaram remover a maldição, mas não conseguiram. Em meio à nova situação, Leo utiliza própria maldição como força para “retribuir o favor aos conterrâneos dele”, apenas para retornar para o reino de Savalia e descobrir que um grande número de pessoas(civis e soldados) foram sequestrados, e que o monstro Hauzer aguardava para uma luta. Leo queria uma coisa ainda maior: vingança contra Scion, pela maldição ao qual ele foi submetido, bem como reconstruir o reino de Savalia. 

Kenji(Mukuro)

Kenji é o herdeiro do clã Ramon e líder do Oniwabanshu(御庭番衆), um esquadrão de elite de ninjas que serve ao Shogun do país de Zipang. Quando um exército misterioso invade Zipang com embarcações voadoras, o Shogun ordena a Kenji que investigue a situação. Embora Kenji secretamente desconfie do governante dele, e que ele esteja traindo o país de Zipang, ele concorda com tudo enquanto sai em busca de pistas sobre um grande lorde das trevas. 

Tessa(Tabasa)

Tessa é uma feiticeira que estuda os aspectos da magia. Ela mora em Icelarn e se destaca pela magia. Quando uma série de tempestades começa a irromper próximo a Icelarn, Tessa acredita que esse fenômeno não é natural, e então parte do lar dela para investigar o fenômeno anormal. No meio destes eventos, ela se depara com Hydron, um monstro metade náutilo, metade Kraken, que recebeu poderes sombrios por parte de Scion, o antagonista da trama.

Mai-Ling(Tao)

Mai-Ling é uma jovem artista marcial da cidade de Gora. Recentemente ela deixou o lar dela para participar de um torneio de artes marciais, no qual ela terminou em primeiro lugar. Muito feliz, Mai-Ling retorna ao lar para se reunir com os familiares dela, no entanto, a alegria dela se tornou em horror quando viu o próprio lar reduzido a ruínas e queimando em chamas. Enquanto Mai-Ling estava arrasada, Lavia, uma harpia, a entidade responsável pela tragédia, descende dos céus, atacando a garota, que se defende. Depois com a luta com a harpia transformada, Mai-Ling parte em uma missão para procurar por crianças desaparecidas da cidade dela, e descobrir que terrível mal se alastrava pelo mundo.