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uncloseted · 4 years ago

Note

https://youtu.be/kJcpTSNWXdQ

https://youtu.be/yIZ8zUOXh2g

Can you watch these when you have the time? Im curious about your opinion on this because I think youre really smart and these are some topics rhats been on my mind lately! Thnk you so much ❤️❤️

Okay, so there’s a lot here. I feel like I should admit upfront that I dislike Joe Rogan. I won’t really dig into why because you didn’t ask for that, but I will say that if you want to listen to someone wax philosophical, I feel like it should be someone who was actually a philosopher (like Contrapoints or PhilosophyTube) instead of UFC commentator and former host of Fear Factor, Joe Rogan. Anyway, let’s dig into these videos….

The first one is called “Unattainable Beauty Standard Outrage” and it’s with stand-up comedian Bill Burr. Frankly, I find it to be frustrating because they’re both average looking white men complaining about an issue that they’re really not subject to in any meaningful way. Throughout this video, they conflate a lot of different issues- the beauty standards average men and women are held to, the (edited) beauty standards present in advertisements, and the physical requirements actors and actresses are held to are all the same in this conversation. They make them seem like it’s all the same when in reality that’s just…. three different conversations completely. I think that’s a result of the fact that they’re just kind of talking, not making an argument or even really trying to get to a point.

Let’s start out with what they’re saying about the beauty standards that average people are held to. Basically, their point is that if you cared about how you looked, you can compensate for it in other ways. The point here boils down to “ugly people won’t take the time to develop a personality like the rest of us, and they’re mad that they get treated differently.” But the reality is that you can have a great personality, but discrimination based on physical appearance will still exist. Similar to how discrimination based on sexuality isn’t cancelled out by white privilege or discrimination based on race isn’t cancelled out by being male, discrimination based on appearance isn’t cancelled out by having a winning personality. Ugly people earn less than their attractive counterparts, on average have fewer friends, worse social skills, and less active sex lives, and are seen as less moral, trustworthy, and competent. Women have it even worse; while men are able to compensate for their looks somewhat (and there are more “acceptable” looks that a man can have) through factors like wealth, social capital, and personality, women are taught from a young age that being attractive is the most important thing that they can be. Because of that, women suffer more from looks-based discrimination than men do and are more impacted every time the standard for female beauty gets raised.

Moving on, they start complaining that the UK is banning advertisements that feature impossible standards of beauty. To my knowledge, it’s actually only the London underground that did this, and I believe it specifically concerned advertisements that are digitally altered but selling a beauty product (correct me if I’m wrong here). Specifically in this episode, they’re talking about products that promise you a “summer body” with a digitally altered image of a bikini model. It’s false advertising when you show an edited model who supposedly got their body by using your product- and that should be illegal. False advertising is illegal in lots of other realms. You’re not allowed to claim that your dietary supplement will cure cancer, and you shouldn’t be able to claim that your “summer body” product will make you look like a digitally altered model. Joe and Bill comment that people are being overly sensitive, and that these advertisements just make them “want to go to the gym”, but that misses the point completely. Even if you went to the gym, there’s still tens of thousands of dollars of cosmetic surgeries and digital alterations that went into making that model look like that. ��It’s not about work. Those bodies aren’t achievable with work- the models themselves, who work out for hours a day and follow very strict diets, don’t look like that in real life either. Pretending that those images are achievable through “hard work” is actually really damaging. It can lead to people engaging in dangerous diets and exercise regimens, taking untested supplements, and feeling that their lack of results is a moral failing because they’re not “working hard enough” (which decreases self esteem).

Then they start talking about actors and actresses who are asked to lose weight for movies, and one actress in particular who publicly complained that she was asked to lose 15 pounds for a role. Their takeaway is that the actress who complained is being lazy, that she was hired to be hot, and that she’s being ungrateful for the opportunity. A quick fact check suggests that the person they’re talking about is Jennifer Lawrence, who said she “was told by producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks." That’s a very different story to the one that they’re telling. To lose 15 pounds in two weeks, 5′9, 140 pound Jennifer Lawrence would have had to burn 52,500 calories. Even if she ate absolutely nothing and worked out at the level of an Olympic athlete 7 days a week, she would still have only burned 39,354 calories in two weeks. That’s still 3.75 pounds short of 15 pounds of weight loss. It was literally an impossible ask. Upon telling the producer that she thought the weight loss demands were not appropriate, “he said he didn’t know why everyone thought I was so fat, he thought I was ‘perfectly fuckable.'” And so to paint it as Jennifer Lawrence being lazy is a bit disingenuous. But I’m willing to accept that maybe they just didn’t have that context, because it seems like their goal wasn’t actually to have a discussion based in research or argumentation- it’s to make the point that people are overly sensitive now and asking the world to cater to them.

Closing this conversation out, I don’t think it’s wrong for studios to ask actors to change their appearance for a role. A big part of why people get cast for particular roles is their appearance, and as an actor, you have to be willing to adapt your appearance for the role. Just like you may be asked to dye your hair or wear colored contacts, I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to ask an actor to gain or lose weight for a role (especially since both men and women are asked to do that, and the studio provides them with the support to be able to do that safely). Those bodies are achievable with work, and I don’t think it’s wrong to show those. But I think there’s a larger conversation to be had about who’s being asked to change their weight and why. Christian Bale lost 62 pounds for The Machinist because his character was supposed to be emaciated from his insomnia. The studio didn’t ask Bale to do that. He made the decision to do it on his own, even though it made sense for his character to be that thin. By contrast, Jennifer Lawrence was asked by the studio to lose 15 pounds to... what? Look hotter in the movie? Almost every female actress is expected to look a certain way in order to even be considered for a role, whereas men can be fat, mediocre looking, older, balding, and still be cast. Even when a woman is playing a role where being hot isn’t part of the narrative at all, she’s still expected to be hot. Even when you’re playing a character that’s “let themself go” or has “hit rock bottom”, the actress needs to look hot. For men, there’s not that same requirement. Having hot girls in your movie absolutely do get more people to see it, sure, but the cost is that you’re reinforcing the idea that women must be, above else, hot all the time.

So that’s that. Let’s move on to the second video, “No, It's Not "All Men"”, featuring comedian Iliza Shlesinger. I should say that I like Iliza quite a bit and I’ve seen her perform, so I’m curious to see where this goes. It’s also important to note they’ve been smoking weed, which... provides some context to this episode, I think.

So again, they start by bitching about this “beach body ready” ad that got “pulled in the UK” (actually just from the London underground) that Joe is so up in arms about. This time he shows the ad, and it turns out that it was pulled due to “concerns about a range of health and weight loss claims made in the ad”. The concern is false advertising. So again, to paint it as, “ugly women are too sensitive because some women are actually beautiful” is disingenuous, and serving the narrative that “people these days are too sensitive”. They’re also making the assumption that this ad hasn’t been digitally altered, which I find difficult to believe.

Iliza goes on to talk about how her boobs are real and some people ask her if they’re fake, and she doesn’t like that, and how women shouldn’t judge other women to their faces about how fake they perceive them to be. I think that’s a fine claim to make on an interpersonal level, but I also think that if we don’t start acknowledging all of the manipulation and work that goes into appearing “effortlessly beautiful”, we’re going to fall deeper into this beauty standard arms race. Iliza kind of gets a pass on this because she openly admits to having a “fake nose”. Then she makes a good point about how women will be hated no matter what they do, and so it’s important to remember that when someone doesn’t like you, it typically has more to do with them than it does with you. She also says that when you don’t like someone, it’s important to do some introspection to figure out where that’s coming from, which is also great advice. Then they wander into talking about how feminism doesn’t mean that you like women more than men or that you’re asking for special treatment, just that you support the idea of equality, and that’s fine. Joe rogan praises Iliza for being “a feminist, but not annoying”, which is gross.

Iliza then says that feminists who say, “all men” are part of the problem, and I think she’s just missing the point. When feminists say, “yes, all men”, what they mean is that all men are benefiting from male privilege, regardless of the actions that they’re taking (or not) to better that situation. People in positions of privilege have to acknowledge that privilege in order to be able to better the situation, and by separating yourself out as “not one of those men”, you’re saying “it’s not my problem because I’m one of the good ones, so I don’t have to think about myself critically or alter my behavior in any way.” That said, I think Iliza is right that that stance can be taken too far and serve to alienate the men who are allies in the feminist fight for equality.

Then, Iliza equates the phrases “all men are bad” and “all women are sluts”. I think this is a bad take; “all men are bad” is a generalization made by a marginalized group about a powerful group that they’ve been victimized by. Every woman I know has had some type of intimidating, frightening, dangerous, humiliating, or dehumanizing experience with a man during their lifetime. “All women are sluts” is a powerful group insulting a group that they marginalize, with the intention of controlling that group’s actions (by making them feel ashamed of being “slutty” they’ll stop being “sluts). “Slut” is also particularly charged in this scenario, because it centers maleness. What is a slut? A slut is (usually) a woman who sleeps with men but who won’t sleep with the man calling her a slut. Which, coming full circle, is why some women say “all men are bad”.

I get their larger point that generalizations are rarely helpful, but again, they’re making this false equivalency between a political slogan (”all men”), a gendered insult (“all women are sluts”), and random, unhelpful advice, (”women want you to slow down in the bedroom”). In the first case, the generalization serves a purpose- it’s to let men know that they’re not exempt because they’re a “good guy”. In the second case, it’s an insult that contributes to a gendered power structure. In the third case, it’s just shorthand for “the majority of women that we’ve surveyed” because repeating that phrase over and over again will take away from the point they’re trying to make (that maybe you could be better in bed by listening to the sluts, Joe).

All in all, I like this one better than the first one, but Joe Rogan hasn’t grown on me over the course of watching these videos.

#Anonymous #effys-closet #effys closet

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

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We’ll Be Home For Christmas 1.2

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day One – A Tale of a Fateful Trip – Part 2 Prologue | 1.1

Author: Gumnut

8 - 14 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2701

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven’t seen it yet.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic and it is a big one ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy it. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed researching a gorgeous corner of this planet.

Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to @onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

And as always, thank you all for creating such a fantastic fandom. Thundernerds rock! I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. Thank you all so much for everything.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

The sunset that night was as good as any they had ever seen on Tracy Island. The ocean swell was minimal as predicted and Gordon threw out a sea anchor to hold them tight while they ate dinner. They could have kept going, but instead chose a moment of quiet and together.

The meal was a lazy affair out on the boat deck consisting of burgers assembled by John and Alan.

For a change the conversation was light. A voyage down memory lane, Dad, the saga of FAB2 and Parker’s, uh, misfortune with it, and an incident in WASP training that Alan literally had to drag out of Gordon with threats of revealing something worse that the three other brothers were still in the dark about.

The glare sent Alan’s way promised some serious dunking at some point. Alan’s grin in return clearly said it was worth it.

While they were sitting still, Gordon threw out a sensory buoy. Apparently, the aquanaut had gone all out and stocked the yacht with all his marine biology equipment. No doubt, Scott had been back and forth between Tracy Island with his brother at least once. It wasn’t often the scientist in Gordon got a chance to play in his environment.

Sure, Tracy Industries had made some major ecological investments in the area, including the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary which protected a whole swath of ocean between Tracy Island and New Zealand. Gordon had worked with his father early on in that project and advised that as much as possible should be protected. Their proximity to the island group and the purpose of International Rescue hadn’t always coincided and it was Gordon, young though he was, who made it work.

And besides, Tracy Island was outside New Zealand’s and their other nearby neighbour, Tonga’s control and their security system didn’t let anyone near them anyway.

But Gordon had always been conscious of the greater good beyond human matters and their family as a whole kept their Island as ecologically isolated as possible to protect its non-human inhabitants. If anything, it was proof that humans could exist within an established ecosystem and impact it minimally as long as due care was taken.

The sensor buoy he threw off the side of their boat sunk into the depths somewhat and sharpened their sensory net to activity underwater including sounds and movement. The holographic interface threw up a three-dimensional display of the water under and around the boat up to a kilometre across.

The aquanaut placed the projector in the middle of the table. “Would you look at that.”

Vigil stared at the somewhat blurry dots and shapes moving across the display. “What?”

Gordon rolled his eyes and, reaching into the hologram, zoomed in on one spot teeming with dots of movement. The middle of the table was suddenly full of a school of large fish.

Virgil shifted back and he wasn’t the only one.

“A little warning next time, bro.” Alan was frowning at Gordon.

“Eh.” And no, their aquanaut did not care, his eyes latched on the fish. “A school of tuna, southern bluefin, in fact. Good to see, though they are at the edge of their range.” He grabbed his tablet and, while four other brothers stared at him, he entered some data, his eyes dancing between the two displays.

Virgil couldn’t help but smile. Scott caught his eye and did the same. Virgil’s smile became a grin.

Gordon didn’t notice. His fingers darted into the hologram again and minimised the tuna only to bring up another school of fish on the other side of the display. More notes were made on the tablet.

The silence around the table was profound. Even John had a small smile on his face as he watched Gordon.

A dark shape moved amongst the fish. It was much larger and it wasn’t until it slid into the centre of the school that it became clear exactly what it was.

“Wow.” Alan voiced the awe for all of them. Well, except Gordon who was still staring at the fish.

Virgil resisted the urge to reach out and touch the hologram of the shark cruising through scattering fish. He wasn’t sure what type it was, but it was big.

A moment later Gordon realised they were all staring. A glance at the shark and he punched at his tablet. “Bonus! She’s tagged!” Another stab or two. “Hilda? Oh my god, it’s Hilda.”

Hilda?

“Who’s Hilda?” Virgil asked the question, but Gordon was absorbed in what he was doing.

“I did not expect to find her this far south.”

“You know this shark?” Alan’s voice was small.

“What? Oh, yeah, Hilda likes to feed in our lagoon.”

“What?” Scott’s deeper voice cut through the stunned silence. “That shark was in our lagoon?”

Gordon blinked up at him. “Well, yeah, how do you think I tagged her? Been following her movements for the last two years. She loves some of the smaller fish that feed in the coral reefs. She can’t quite fit into all of them, but she enjoys herself in any case. Caught herself a couple of seabirds from the colony on Mateo a few months back. It was awesome.” Not once did his eyes leave the display and the shark swimming across their dinner table.

“I am never going swimming again.” Alan’s voice was tiny.

Gordon finally looked up and his eyebrows shot up. “Hey, she’s cool. You lot aren’t tasty enough anyway.”

Scott sighed and dropped his head into his hand. “Why do I bother?”

Something flashed in the corner of the display and Gordon immediately minimised it back to a sea of floating dots. “Hey, we’ve got a big one coming into range. Oooh, no, two....yes!”

Virgil jumped as the display flickered and zoomed in again, this time bringing up another large shape. His fish brother was literally bouncing in his seat. “Ooooh, she’s a mama.” And there beside the humpback whale appeared a young calf.

Virgil stared.

“And they are talking. Listen to this.” Gordon grinned as he punched his tablet with an eager finger. Suddenly the room was full of grunting and clicking sounds and the occasional moan.

God.

Virgil reached behind him, fingers grabbing for the sketchbook he had thrown there earlier while still fighting with his pencil. Within moments both pad and pencil were in hand and he was drawing. Fast. The pencil scraping across the page. Curves, bumps waves of lines. On the table the two whales flew through the phantom water. On the paper, Virgil’s fingers lost themselves in the art. Graphite formed the whales’ flanks, the sharpness of the pencil lead compensated where the display could not provide clarity. But most of all he drew fast. He did not know how long they would be there, or how long he would have the privilege of seeing them.

He disappeared into the page, finding that zone he had been so seeking the last few days, and it wasn’t until the display flickered off and he found all four brothers staring at him that he snapped out of it.

A glance at Gordon. “They’ve left the area, bro. I held them in range as long as I could.” Brown eyes were apologetic.

Virgil blinked and looked down at what he had been drawing.

Two whales leapt off the page in front of him, silver and grey graphite shone, caught by the cartridge paper tooth. Tilted in pose, they were turned just slightly towards each other, so obviously parent and child, it touched his heart.

“That’s awesome, Virgil!” Alan was all jubilation and eagerness.

A glance at Scott and Virgil found something akin to pride in his eyes. John was smiling. Gordon stood up and walked behind Virgil, peering over his shoulder. “Can I have it? Or a print?”

“Uh...”

Gordon’s hand landed on his shoulder. You don’t have to answer now. Just know that that is a damn good drawing, bro, and I like it.”

Virgil grabbed his arm before he could move away. “How often do you see whales?”

A shrug. “It is late in the season, but we might see a few this time of year. The humpbacks migrate through here. I’ve certainly seen enough from home.”

“They come near Tracy Island?”

Gordon frowned at him. “I thought you were in touch with the world around you, Virg. All that artistic standing in the wind stuff. Of course, they do. I’m taking you whale watching as soon as possible. You don’t need to swim to see whales. God, guys, we live on an island in the middle of thousands of miles of ocean. Pay more attention. Yeesh.”

Okay, perhaps he had a point. Gordon had always loved the ocean and the worlds beneath it. Scott always loved the sky, John and Alan adored space. Virgil...was about how those worlds worked. Perhaps he needed to pay more attention to the ones underwater. “It appears I need to.”

Those familiar brown eyes blinked at him before a hand covered the one Virgil had on his arm. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.” He slipped free of his hold and grabbed his tablet again. “Just need to log into my home server...” The tablet took a royal stabbing with his finger. A moment and he set the device down on the table, poked it a couple more times until it projected up another underwater scene.

Five fully grown humpback whales and two calves frolicked in the holographic water. “There you go. Last year, not two hundred metres from our front door.”

Virgil just stared. His fingers itched to capture the scene. He hadn’t felt so inspired in months. “C-can you send me a copy?”

Gordon stared at him a moment, something in his eyes. “Sure. Tell you what. I’ll copy a bunch of these recordings onto the family server and you can do with them what you like.”

He couldn’t look away from the whales. “Thank you, Gordon.” He needed some colours. Phthalo blue. Payne’s grey. Phthalo turquoise. Cadmium yellow and possibly orange to up the contrast. White and maybe some Alizarin Crimson.

“Virgil, you okay?” Scott.

“Huh?” He shot a glance in his brother’s direction. Scott was frowning at him. “Uh, yeah. Did you bring any of my paints?”

Scott looked at John and his younger brother answered. “Your travel kit is in your cabin.”

“Great! Thank you.” He grinned at John and stood up...slowly as his body reminded him he wasn’t running at one hundred percent. A step and he hugged a stunned Gordon. “Thank you, Gordon. Thank you.”

“Uh, you’re welcome?”

Virgil stepped back and grinned at him. Gordon was staring at him as if he’d lost a marble or two. His expression only made Virgil laugh. A pat on his arm and Virgil grabbed his sketchbook and with another grin headed off towards his cabin.

He had it. All he needed was his tablet and a network connection and he had stock to paint to his heart’s content.

“Don’t you stay up painting all night!” It was Scott, yelling the length of the boat, but it only made Virgil’s grin wider.

-o-o-o-

Shit. The idiot was likely to exhaust himself at his easel. He would have to make sure he checked on him later, make sure he was sitting, not standing. Wouldn’t help for his brother to exacerbate his injury just because he zombified when painting.

John was staring at him.

“What?”

A soft smile. “Nothing.”

Scott eyed him, but John was his usual calm self, refusing to reveal any hint to his thoughts.

Lips thinning, he shot his brother a glare, which was ignored, and turned back to Gordon...only to find the table now covered in what appeared to be densely packed sardines of some kind.

Okay, he’d had enough of fish. He pushed himself to his feet. Gordon didn’t notice.

Scott had been hoping to sit down with Virgil and just have a little one on one bro time, but he had to admit that seeing it all come together for his arty brother like that had been pretty amazing and there was no way he was going to deny him the moment.

He would likely emerge from his room sometime tomorrow with a new masterpiece in his hands that Scott would, as usual, be totally stunned and blindsided as to how he managed it. Hell, that whale took all of fifteen minutes and it literally leapt off the page.

Stepping back from the table, he brushed a hand across John’s shoulders as he passed behind him and slipped inside. There was a bar in the corner of the lounge. He grabbed the whisky he had bought that morning and poured himself just a smidgen. He didn’t want to get drunk. He just wanted something to line his mouth, give him the taste.

Tumbler in hand he made his way through the main cabin and up onto the bow where they had stood for a good part of the voyage earlier in the day.

The sun was only a memory of the far side of the horizon, the sky darkening quickly and the ocean that gently rocked the boat, and no doubt Virgil’s easel, was becoming blacker than the sky above it.

The moon hadn’t risen yet, but the stars were breaking through the remnant light, and combined with the faint breeze, night was setting in.

Scott let a breath out.

In its own way it was beautiful. He wasn’t one for waxing poetic, but the sky was his home. He breathed it in with every breath and out here away from the lights of life, he could almost hear it.

“Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

Despite himself, he jumped.

“Woah, big bro, just come up to share a drink with you. Spock and McCoy killed all the rear lights so they can stare at their distant balls of gas and talk the hard sciences.” His brother rolled his eyes. “They’ve obviously never attempted to collect samples from a hydrothermal vent several kilometres down. ‘Hard’ would be the least of the terms used.”

His brother’s verbal diarrhoea came to a sudden halt and Scott took the moment to let his shoulders drop.

“You okay?” Gordon looked up at him and Scott realised he had a tumbler in his hand similar to the one in his own.

A half smile. “I’m good.” And he returned to looking out at the black hole of an ocean. “Thank you for coming up with this idea.” He rolled his shoulders just a little and took another sip of his drink. “I think we all need it.”

“Not a problem.” Gordon moved up to stand beside him and sipped his own whisky. “Not often I get a chance to get out here for a good stretch of time. I’m enjoying myself.”

“I noticed.” He twisted his lips. “Hilda?”

Gordon grinned. “My senior year French teacher. The woman was all bite and no bark.”

Scott frowned. “Miss Schwank? I thought you liked her?” One handed air quotes. “‘I’d like to go all Jacques Cousteau on her.’ I think I actually have that in writing somewhere.”

Another grin. “I did. She was gorgeous. Blonde with all the right measurements and a tongue that could do all the right things, no matter the language.” The smile vanished and he looked down at the tumbler in his hand. “She was one of the Lost in the 2060 Tsunami Disaster. Found her name on the nets.” The stars lit his brother’s eyes as they looked up at him. “On her honeymoon, apparently.”

Scott swallowed. He remembered the vivacious woman, all sharp words and determination. “Sorry to hear that.”

Gordon sighed. “So, now we have a great white shark with the same attitude. Just as beautiful, just as determined, just as likely to bite my head off if I go anywhere near her.” The grin was back. Another sip and his brother’s expression was all fondness.

A smile crept onto Scott’s face. He reached up and dropped his hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed gently. Another taste of whisky and he turned back to stare into the darkness.

-o-o-o-

End Day One

Day Two, Part One

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Alan Tracy

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morkaischosen · 7 years ago

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Nidaba, Not Strictly The First Scribe, Definitely The Power Of Them

This spirit is not, strictly, the First Scribe, but unfortunately the name stuck. She learned her craft from Sumerian mortals, having started her life as the spirit of a particular scriptorium; but for one reason or another (memories get a little fuzzy after five millenia) she became identified with, or possibly inspired, or through whatever mechanism became the Sumerian goddess Nidaba.

There followed a pleasant few centuries watching over the scribes of Sumer and Babylon, the latter in the guise of Nabu - the mortals seemed to be expecting her to be male, so she was ‘replaced’ by her ‘student’. The work was simple enough - protecting her scribes from other spirits, making them queue properly, and visiting divine vengeance on those whose laziness made life harder for other scribes, if a formal complaint was made. By the time of the fall of Babylon she’d been ennobled, and took it on herself to extend much the same attitude to scribes across the world.

The next few millenia passed, always with somewhere, at least, keeping the idea of those-who-write-others’-words alive. Something in the mixture of her ennoblement and her original spiritual nature mixed, and now every Mayan writer’s muttered malediction, Chinese calligrapher’s curse or mediaeval European monk’s marginalia was addressed to her, whether the writer knew it or not. She tended to get a little caught up in the details, rather than looking to larger problems - a more proactive Power might have put preparations in place for the fall of Rome, for example, but Nidaba was distracted over in China at the time.

There were blips, of course - most notably a group of Spanish monks who stumbled upon the proper forms to summon her, had her strike their abbot illiterate, and promptly decided she must be a demon. Naturally this turned into an occult secret society, despite their limited success at calling up any other spirits. Even some of Nidaba’s friends from her Sumerian days (the surviving few of whom she’s in touch with to this day, though there’s something of a distance between even such ancient mythic spirits as they and one of the Powers) can be summoned through similar rituals, but fortunately the monks never found them and Nidaba wasn’t telling.

From monasteries to big-business typing pools, it was all much of a muchness (though she does miss marginalia). Then the information age reared its head, and a new breed of scribe became more and more common: those who write instructions to be followed by machines, not humans.

And then a young man named Andrew Peroni got hold of a PDF of some old occult texts from a friend, saw the invocation to summon a demon in robes and a hornèd cap to assail a scribe’s enemies, and decided to try it on the lazy hack whose uncommented spaghetti code he was currently trying to understand, just to destress.

Unfortunately for all involved, it worked.

So now Nidaba is an urban myth among programmers, and the invocation for her summoning is spreading slightly faster than people’s guilt when they realise what happens when it works. It’s tiring, zipping around the world punishing lazy programmers - but she quite literally can’t not do it. Ask her any time when she doesn’t have a travesty against good practice in front of her, and she’ll tell you she’d much rather be curling up with a clipboard and some surveys (or a clay tablet and a stylus, if she’s feeling homesick); but when the red mist descends it’s equal parts obligation and rage.

Despite all that, she’s an old, old follower of the Song of the Light. She wants humanity in general, and her scribes in particular, to learn how to solve all their problems by filing forms and queueing up neatly. It hasn’t happened yet, but she’s a patient sort.

Scribes … read and write. (2) … leave accurate records. (1) … guard against human failings. (1) … obey instructions. (1) … provide written instructions. (2)

Skills and Passions: Superior Small God 2 Scribing 3 Retribution 1 Attention to Detail 2

Aspect 0 Domain 2 Persona 5 Treasure 0

Bond (3): I want to do right by hard-working and conscientious scribes! Bond (2): The sanctioned action is to fill in the appropriate form and wait patiently in a queue. Bond (1): I abhor laziness, especially if it makes life harder for other people. Bond (1): I still feel fond of the building I used to be - they’ve excavated it! It’s archaeology now!* Bond (1): Andrew Peroni’s a dear but I’d really like him not to bother me any more.* Affliction (3): I can be summoned and directed to perform my lawful duties by those who know the appropriate rituals. There’s a diagram and chanting and you burn a copy of Form Aleph-3 and so on. Affliction (1): I appear as is normal for the scribes of this place. Affliction (1): Of course this hornèd cap upon my head is a normal thing for a scribe to wear here.

(The lawful duties affliction is a touch nebulous - broadly speaking it’s intended to allow commands where everyone goes “yes this is obviously a thing this pedantic scribe-god is bound to do.” Visit vengeance upon lazy scribes yes, commit murder no.)

Gifts

The Scribe’s Satchel: Nidaba can pull writing implements (pens, pencils, typewriters, rulers, you know the drill) out of her sleeves as a Lesser Creation of Writing Implements.

Level: 4; Invocation: Simple (-1); Range: Singular (-2); Utility: Flexible (-1); Common: No (+1): 1CP.

The Melammu: Nidaba can invoke the ancient lineage of gods to touch hearts with calm, awe or fear, as befits her status in the many hierarchies of Creation. Great passions are rather outside her purview, however. This is a Lesser Creation of Emotion; it’s less potent, but somewhat more flexible, than Helen of Troy’s beauty, and though the precise emotional ranges vary, similar powers are not uncommon among the Nobilis.

Level: 4; Invocation: Simple (-1); Range: Local (-1); Utility: Flexible (-1); Common: Yes: 1CP.

In The House Of Scribes: Nidaba is present wherever groups of scribes write in a room dedicated to that purpose, since in a sense all such locations are her family. Using 2 miracle points for this Lesser Motion of the Self, that becomes rather more literal.

Level 6; Invocation: Hard (-3); Range: Global (+1); Flexibility: One trick (-3); Common: No (+1): 2CP

#nobilis #an character!#name nicked from actual historical Sumerian deity

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easyfoodnetwork · 5 years ago

Quote

Anne Saxelby, founder and co-owner of Saxelby Cheesemongers | Photo by Christine Han Direct-to-consumer sales simply can’t replace the sheer volume of specialty cheese purchased by chefs This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience. First-time writer? Don’t worry, we’ll pair you with an editor to make sure your piece hits the mark. If you want to write an Eater Voices essay, please send us a couple paragraphs explaining what you want to write about and why you are the person to write it to [email protected]. Last week, many Americans became aware of yet another terrible side effect of the COVID-19 crisis: Dairy farmers, facing decreased demand and an oversupply of their product, are finding it necessary to dump millions of gallons of perfectly good milk. As one Wisconsin dairy farmer told NBC News, “You can’t shut down cows. You can’t turn them off like a faucet.” If the specter of wasted milk is the most potent symbol of the considerable hardship confronting the American dairy industry, it is also only one part of a less visible story: Just as the country’s dairy farmers are suffering, so are its specialty cheesemakers. While dairy farmers were dumping milk in the Midwest, Jasper Hill Farm, one of the country’s most successful and influential artisan cheesemakers, was busy selling off the herd of cows on its home farm in Vermont — the same herd that built the foundation for its award-winning lineup of cheese. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Vermont’s artisan cheesemakers have experienced a 50 to 70 percent drop in sales, according to a report released by the Vermont Cheese Council. These grim statistics aren’t limited to Vermont: They have been echoed by many other small-scale cheesemakers I have spoken to in the U.S. and beyond. As the founder and co-owner of Saxelby Cheesemongers, a New York City-based retailer and wholesaler of American artisan cheese, my business is among many in the cheese world that have seen our sales upended dramatically. Our company derives over 50 percent of our income from wholesale sales and distribution, and more than 70 percent of that is made up of sales to restaurants. As the pandemic forced restaurants to shutter, that income went away literally overnight. But while this economic injury is severe, its distribution across the food industry is uneven. Even as sales from companies predominantly geared toward food service and restaurants have been obliterated, large-scale grocery chains have lines around the block and cannot keep their shelves stocked. This imbalance has left many in the artisan cheese world scrambling to survive. Most artisan cheesemakers are small-scale producers who rely on smaller distributors, relationships with restaurants and chefs, and farmers markets to sell their wares. They are happily divorced from the large-volume, commodity cheese market, whose prices are dictated by commodities market traders. The economic independence that comes with making and selling value-added products like cheese is one of the reasons that farmers began turning to artisan cheese in the first place. In most cases, the commodity market doesn’t pay farmers enough to cover the costs of production. Selling cheese through smaller channels like restaurants and farmers markets can have multiple benefits for small cheesemakers. Smaller businesses are less hampered by bureaucracy, complicated new product setup protocols, deal-breaking insurance limit requirements, long order lead times, etc. They are also more nimble and flexible, and typically the person making the purchase is also the passionate force behind the kitchen or the cheese counter interacting directly with customers. But when those smaller channels dry up, it would be useful to be able to sell into larger grocery chains. This is something that is out of reach for most small farms: Those that are large enough and have the protocols in place to sell to these types of chains are few and far between. And even for those that do, such as Jasper Hill Farm, the math is not easy there, either. Direct-to-consumer sales, wonderful as they may be, simply cannot replace the sheer volume of cheese that was being purchased by restaurants and chefs. As one of the largest of America’s artisan cheese producers, Jasper Hill does a little bit of everything. It sells cheese to small independent shops and distributors, along with grocery behemoths like Trader Joe’s and Costco. Mateo Kehler, Jasper Hill’s co-founder, told me that even though his company has relationships with these large purveyors, it is very difficult to turn on a pipeline to their customers overnight. The amount of time it takes to set up a new item in a store’s inventory system can be upward of six months, and promotions are planned many months in advance. So if a farm is confronted with a pileup of inventory, these large retailers cannot offer quick and nimble solutions when it comes to finding a home for this surplus of cheese. It is imperative to note that no matter how the artisan cheese world struggles to pivot and redirect the flow of its products, direct-to-consumer sales, wonderful as they may be, simply cannot replace the sheer volume of cheese that was being purchased by restaurants and chefs. Whereas the most die-hard home cook might purchase a pound of cheese at a time, a chef would order five to 10 pounds of cheese several times a week to use in a particular dish. This helps explain why chefs are the true champions of the American artisan cheese industry: Over the past three decades, they have been both inspired by it and the force behind its explosive growth. When you take the chefs, restaurants, and their patrons out of the equation, the sales void that our small-scale cheesemakers now must overcome becomes formidable. When I spoke to Mateo Kehler last week, he was simultaneously frank and melancholy about his decision to sell Jasper Hill’s herd of cows. The farm simply had 50 cows’ worth of too much milk to process, and rather than diminish the paycheck of one of the partner farms that relies on their milk purchases, Kehler and his partners decided to take the hit so they could continue to buy milk from these other farmers. Some of Jasper Hill’s cows went to neighboring farms that will continue to supply milk for their cheeses, and some of the older and less productive cows were culled. It is a truly terrible choice for any farmer to have to make, and one that was also reflective of Jasper Hill’s mission over the past 15 years to create a “Taste of Place” in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. That is not a job that the company can do alone. It requires a network of local dairy farms supplying it with milk, as well as a workforce to milk the animals; crop the land; make, age, and sell the cheese; and on and on. Without even one of these crucial pieces of the puzzle, everything could fall apart. So Kehler and his partners decided to hedge their bets on their workers and local farm partners to keep their mission alive. Other cheesemakers, such as Maryland’s Firefly Farms and Vermont’s Blue Ledge and Lazy Lady Farms, are trying to divert more of their milk supply away from fresh, soft cheeses and toward firmer, aged cheeses. The latter are less perishable and keep for many months, whereas softer, higher-moisture cheeses have only a six-to-12-week lifespan. In fact, firm, low-moisture cheeses continue to improve with age, reaching their peak of flavor anywhere from three months to two years after they were made. That’s why, while many people are talking about a COVID-19 baby boom nine months from now, I am predicting a baby boom of COVID-19 cheeses made to capture the value of the milk being produced and turn it into delicious food for sunnier days. This is a good strategy that allows cheesemakers to use all their available milk and not diminish the size of their farms’ herds or disrupt relationships with suppliers. Firefly Farms, for example, relies on a network of eight Amish farms to supply all of its goat’s milk. So far, it has been able to continue its milk purchases and lower costs by reducing wages for all its employees and cutting any nonessential expenses. But with over 80 percent of its sales wiped out over the past few weeks, it’s unclear how much longer Firefly will be able to continue in this vein. In Vermont, meanwhile, Blue Ledge and the one-woman Lazy Lady Farms are fighting a similar economic battle as they find ways to make more of their own goat herds’ milk into aged cheese. Our artisan cheesemakers need you, the consumer, more than ever, to seek out their cheeses for your next pasta dish, salad, sandwich, you name it. While this approach is far more attractive than the alternative of dumping milk, or of making fresh soft cheese that might spoil before it gets to market, it raises its own questions and concerns. Will the farms have the necessary cash flow to keep their operations going until their cheeses are aged and ready to sell many months from now? Will they have enough storage space in their aging caves to house all of this inventory? And are these the cheeses the market wants? Those questions bring me to my next point: consumers’ COVID-19 shopping habits. It seems there’s something about a pandemic that triggers the part of our brain that craves protein, and in the cheese department, that means that staples like Parmesan and cheddar have been flying off the shelves. But it has been harder to redirect a customer’s attention to the specialty cheese case where the local, handmade, slightly more esoteric cheeses reside. And that’s why our artisan cheesemakers need you, the consumer, more than ever, to seek out their cheeses for your next pasta dish, salad, sandwich, you name it. They may be slightly more expensive, and provide a slightly different riff on your recipe, but when you choose them, you’re choosing to contribute to a virtuous cycle of sustainable agriculture, vibrant rural economies, and, of course, the future of delicious cheese. Every time you purchase artisan cheese, you vote to keep this industry alive and thriving. And finally, if you want to make a difference, get your cheese from a farmers market, a restaurant that’s doing delivery, or a small independent retailer — many of us, myself included, ship nationwide directly to your doorstep. Whole Foods (aka Amazon) does not need any more of your money. Small businesses and the farms they support do. And, as a bonus, there’s usually not a line around the block to get in. Anne Saxelby is the founder and co-owner of Saxelby Cheesemongers, a New York City-based retailer and wholesaler of American artisan cheese. Editor: Rebecca Flint Marx from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2xTzbbF

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/04/americas-artisan-cheese-industry-is.html

#EasyFoodNetwork #ComfortFoodRecipes #EasyRecipes #GoodFood #BestComfortFoodRecipes #TastyFoodv

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droneseco · 5 years ago

Text

Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For

Our verdict of the Kugoo ES2 Electric Scooter: Enjoy a smooth, safe, zero-emissions ride and without the feeling that you're riding a child's toy. But it's bulky and heavy, so give it a miss if you're going to be carrying it up and down stairs. 910

I’ve never ridden a scooter before, much less an electric one that can hurtle along at 25km/h. So you can understand my trepidation going into this review. It turns out that I had nothing to worry about: the Kugoo ES2 is like the SUV of electric scooters. It handles itself admirably, weighs an absolute ton, and makes the rider feel as safe as humanly possible.

The Kugoo ES2 is available now from GeekBuying.com for less than $400 (use the coupon code GKB226S to get it for $367 for a limited time!)

We think it’s a bargain, but read on to find out more, and at the end of this review, we have one to giveaway to one lucky reader!

Kugoo ES2 Specs and Features

350W motor

7.5Ah battery (not user replaceable)

Fixed height handlebar

Rear disc brake and front e-brake

Cruise control

Maximum speed 25kh/h (15mph)

Three speed modes

Range: 25km (15 miles)

Carrying capacity: 220 pounds (100kg)

Weight: 33 pounds (15kg)

Size when folded: 44 x 13 x 17 inches (112 x 33 x 43 cm)

The biggest downside to the Kugoo ES2 is the sheer weight, compromising mainly of the thick, sturdy aluminum alloy frame, and a massive 7.5Ah battery underneath the stand. On the flip side, it feels incredibly solid and well built. The weight alone results in greater stability.

Even when folded, it’s still awkward to carry.

For reference, I stand 185cm tall and weigh around 95kg, so I’m at the top end of the stated capacity. The fixed height handlebar seemed to be perfect for myself and other adults that tried it. Those of you who are smaller in stature might be better off looking at the Kugoo S1 though, which is adjustable.

Safety and Offroad

Featuring a front shock absorber and 8.5 inch solid honeycomb-patterned tyres, the Kugoo ES2 offers a smooth ride on your typical urban terrain. It isn’t designed for offroading, but that didn’t stop me from testing it anyway. On compacted gravel and dry dirt roads, it handled admirably, though you can certainly feel the bumps. On deeper gravel, it simply can’t push through. Overall, I was really impressed with how it handled the variety of terrain around my little town, including the unadopted dirt road that we live on.

The honeycomb solid wheels provide a comfy ride but struggled in deep gravel.

The biggest surprise was simply how stable it felt. You won’t need any training, and even from literally zero experience, you’ll be off and away in no time. The app allows you to set either a zero-start for minimum effort, or push start if you’re worried. Being quite lazy, I left it on zero-start, and it felt quite safe. It’s only at low speeds that you might wobble or put your foot out for safety. Anything above 3km/h will naturally stabilize with no input from you.

The Kugoo ES2 offers a smooth ride over your average urban surfaces.

The controls are simple, but I’d suggest leaving the Kugoo ES2 on beginner speed mode until you’re used to the braking and cruise control. The thumb-controlled lever on the left side controls the front e-brake, but you also have a physical disc brake on the rear wheel.

The inclusion of a physical disc brake makes this safer than most e-scooters.

Generally, you’ll want to use both. At higher speeds or downhill, you should use mainly the rear brake. Using the front e-brake at higher speeds could see you heading straight over the handlebars.

Use both the front e-brake and rear disc brake when going at speeds or downhill to avoid going over the handlebars!

Pushing down on the right accelerator and maintaining the same speed for six seconds will set the cruise control. The ES2 will beep to let you know. Using the rear disc brake or only lightly applying the e-brake will not cancel cruise control, so you may find yourself lurching forwards as the motor kicks in again. Be sure to cancel the cruise control by pushing the e-brake dial all the way down.

Speed Testing

Being on the larger size meant I wasn’t quite able to achieve the top speed, achieving a maximum of 21km/h on flat road terrain. However, that was much faster than I would be comfortable with for daily use anyway.

Safety first, boys and girls!

The same was also true of the stated range: I got about 12.5 miles (20km) out of a single charge. This is to be expected since heavier things take more energy to move!

Night Usage

Press twice on the power button to activate the bright front headlight and rear light. I found this to be more than enough to light the way down our unlit dirt path, or to be easily visible on your averagely lit street.

When powered on the base of the scooter also features a strip of blue LEDs, which can’t be turned off. At night the effect is pleasing but somewhat pointless.

Even in daylight the LCD screen is easily visible. A powerful headlight beam allows for safe night rides.

Why Does It Have Bluetooth?

Situated just beneath the LCD screen is a rubber cover that opens to reveal a USB port, into which you can plug your phone to charge while riding. There’s no mount included though, so if you want to use GPS navigation you’ll need to source your own method of securing it to the handlebars.

A USB port allows you to keep your phone charged. But you’ll have to figure out how to mount it yourself.

The Kugoo ES2 is also equipped with Bluetooth, and an accompanying app which offers navigation and a simple heads-up display. It allows you to adjust a few settings (zero effort or push-start, metric or imperial speed), and run some self-check diagnostics. Other than for initial setup I see no reason to use it. The LCD screen is clear and displays all the information you could need, and for short local journeys, you probably don’t need GPS.

The Legal Situation

For my fellow UK folk who may be considering buying the Kugoo ES2–or any electric scooter–there’s something you should know first. Electric scooters aren’t allowed on the road as they aren’t licensed; they aren’t allowed on bike lanes because they don’t have pedals; and they aren’t allowed on the pavement because they’re motorized. In the eyes of the UK law at least, electric scooters just don’t exist. That makes riding one by default illegal anywhere other than private land. The same is true of Segways, and those insipid “hoverboards” that don’t actually do anything that even remotely resembles the act of hovering.

If caught using one, you may be fined up to £300, or have the device confiscated. However, this is rare, and only really seems to be happening in London. I understand the legal situation is similar in New York, though less strictly enforced. Other urban centers around the world have embraced these remarkable zero-emissions technologies, but like most things, the UK lags behind.

While I fully expect the laws to be updated within the next year or two, for now you should be aware of the risks.

Is The Kugoo ES2 The Electric Scooter for You?

If you’re a grown adult and want an electric scooter that won’t make you look like you’re riding a child’s toy, the Kugoo ES2 is it. It’s fast enough for anyone, and will you get from A to B with zero emissions and not a single bead of sweat. Use the coupon code GKB226S to get yours for $367 (until December 14th, so be quick!).

But even when folded, the Kugoo ES2 is awkward and heavy to carry. The benefit of riding an eScooter is that it takes absolutely zero effort, unlike a bicycle which may leave you drenched in sweat by the time you get to your destination. If you need to travel up and down three flights of stairs at either end of your journey, the weight of the Kugoo ES2 may make it unsuitable. My wife just couldn’t carry it. If you need something lighter and more portable, check out the Kugoo S1 model instead (which you can also grab a bargain for with the code GKB223S, bringing it down to $285).

Enter the Competition!

Kugoo ES2 Electric Scooter Giveaway

Read the full article: Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For

Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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grassroutes · 5 years ago

Text

Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For

The Kugoo ES2 is available now from GeekBuying.com for less than $400 (use the coupon code GKB226S to get it for $367 for a limited time!)

We think it’s a bargain, but read on to find out more, and at the end of this review, we have one to giveaway to one lucky reader!

Kugoo ES2 Specs and Features

350W motor

7.5Ah battery (not user replaceable)

Fixed height handlebar

Rear disc brake and front e-brake

Cruise control

Maximum speed 25kh/h (15mph)

Three speed modes

Range: 25km (15 miles)

Carrying capacity: 220 pounds (100kg)

Weight: 33 pounds (15kg)

Size when folded: 44 x 13 x 17 inches (112 x 33 x 43 cm)

Even when folded, it’s still awkward to carry.

Safety and Offroad

The honeycomb solid wheels provide a comfy ride but struggled in deep gravel.

The Kugoo ES2 offers a smooth ride over your average urban surfaces.

The inclusion of a physical disc brake makes this safer than most e-scooters.

Generally, you’ll want to use both. At higher speeds or downhill, you should use mainly the rear brake. Using the front e-brake at higher speeds could see you heading straight over the handlebars.

Use both the front e-brake and rear disc brake when going at speeds or downhill to avoid going over the handlebars!

Speed Testing

Safety first, boys and girls!

The same was also true of the stated range: I got about 12.5 miles (20km) out of a single charge. This is to be expected since heavier things take more energy to move!

Night Usage

When powered on the base of the scooter also features a strip of blue LEDs, which can’t be turned off. At night the effect is pleasing but somewhat pointless.

Even in daylight the LCD screen is easily visible. A powerful headlight beam allows for safe night rides.

Why Does It Have Bluetooth?

A USB port allows you to keep your phone charged. But you’ll have to figure out how to mount it yourself.

The Legal Situation

While I fully expect the laws to be updated within the next year or two, for now you should be aware of the risks.

Is The Kugoo ES2 The Electric Scooter for You?

Enter the Competition!

Kugoo ES2 Electric Scooter Giveaway

Read the full article: Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For

Kugoo ES2: This is the Electric Scooter You’ve Been Looking For posted first on grassroutespage.blogspot.com

0 notes

connecticut-seo-adwords · 6 years ago

Text

Yaassss! 14 Exciting AF SEO Tips From a Millennial

Ah, Millennials. Cannot live with 'em, can't live without 'em? Now while you non-Millennials (likewise referred to as "Generation do the work and give us the cash") are out there putting down the power of Millennials, we understand you're simply doing that because you're totes jelly.According to the United States Census Bureau, the Millennial group includes over 83 million individuals, which is more than one-quarter of the population, which is obvs enough for 10,375,000 remarkable sauce, Brooklyn based, hipster poetry slams. SEOs, roll your eyes if you must, but-- unlike immigrants, universal health care, and One Direction(ed: I have some bad news for you there)-- they're likely here to stay.And like any great SEO, we, too, desire to create content of value and that's why we have actually curated 14 tips from an actual real-life Millennial, unlike last time we covered Millennials here by pretending that we 'd in fact fulfilled one that would speak to us ... And-- hi-- out of the mouths of babes, oft times come gems, right?tl; dr Click the advertisements on this page, it's exactly what Millennials would do (ed: excellent job, those lazy millennials will never ever check out the rest of this post, and we have to have somebody click them, or we're going to need to go back to the"You'll never believe how this bored homemaker got younger and thinner by eating a magic berry "advertisements, which pay practically absolutely nothing). To wit: Experiences, FTW.The advent of RankBrain means pages rank not simply for keywords, but for content that fulfills users'requirements-- and provides a better

experience.

Take it from me-- experiences matter more than anything. Srsly. Like, when you're on your deathbed, are you going to believe,"I want I 'd ranked for more keywords"? No. You're going to wish you had sent out more snaps from Coachella. I.e., you ought to always have major UX FOMO. #THIS "I love it when pages take 3 seconds to load, "said no one ever. We're so past this Year of Mobile thing, right

? Ergo

: I can't think I even have to state this, however optimize the mobile experience and guarantee mobile pages load within two seconds. Benefit: Deep links to apps are lugs crucial now.Support Local.Ranking for local outcomes is all about positive evaluations and relevance. I'm honestly obsessed with local. I eat regional. I purchase local. I think it provides the most genuine experience, like remaining at an Airbnb. And, like, my main objective in life is to curate genuine experiences instead of belongings. So, yeah, optimize for regional, too.Social+ Activism= Objectives We all understand SEOs require to utilize social to promote material to earn links, right? Yawn. The brand names I actually LOVE and that, like, speak to me, are the ones that likewise do social great and weave advocacy into their brand name DNA. That's why I buy shoes from Toms and glasses from Warby Parker. And fedoras from Walmart.

J/K. Ok not really. Keeping

my wardrobe on fleek is costly and since no one is paying my tuition for me like I are worthy of, I need to often buy cheap product whose management doesn't care about my causes.Artisanal, Bespoke, Handcrafted ... Link building used to be all about amount. I can't even. Literally dying. Now, luckily, it has to do with quality, consisting of links from authoritative sites-- and those relevant to your very own-- as well as high quality content. It's like why I just drink little batch scotch and craft beer from regional distilleries and breweries. I not only wish to support local services, I feel like huge

corporations are simply after the almighty dollar. Sorry not sorry.Personalization is Bae.Google wishes to provide the finest user experience possible-- therefore ought to you. That indicates truly understanding your audience and its post-purchase-funnel-era journey so you can be visible at vital minutes. And, for me, the brand names that really resonate in micro-moments are the ones that take some time to customize their messaging and make me feel valued AF.Sharing is Caring. Mr. Gorbachev, take down this wall.

I.e., say goodbye to silos, right?

It's sort like why I Uber and Rent the Runway. We live in a sharing economy now, people. It's all about breaking down the walls of ownership and distributing gain access to. And that suggests SEO needs to be a total team effort. Also, all you bigger sites with all that link juice and pagerank-- you can pay for a couple of connect to us smaller sized people, so you need to have to connect to us.

Homogeneity is Bootleg.I matured in a globalized economy and become part of the most varied generation in United States history. So if you want me to focus on anything your brand name has to say, you have to reflect the world in an authentic method and represent a varied range of cultures. Marketers that do this kill it.Omnichannel is Basic.You desire to reach my generation IRL? Simple: Be everywhere.Two Words: Guy Bun.This perfect appearance will keep your hair from your face so you can correctly focus on SEO. The struggle is real.That's due to the fact that the larger the beard, the more SEO conference attendees will want to take selfies

with you.

And, by association, the more you'll look like a professional SEO without even attempting. Yaaasss.Go Vegan.Organic search is like organic food. All of us wish to consume healthy, but often Taco Bell strikes the spot. Withstand the urge. Going vegan will improve your total health and make you better at SEO.

Google it.Stop Environment Change.Why are we even doing SEO if our world is dying, TBH? In my experience, the finest

way to stop environment change

is to share an image on your Facebook wall. Changing the world is so easy I cannot think everybody isn't really doing it already. Feel the Bern.Vote for Bernie because Trump will basically censor the Web for whatever but pro-Trump material, resulting in Trumptimization as a new field, which will change SEO altogether. Plus, like I stated-- My student loans are hella costly and I think someone else ought to pay them.

Source

https://wtfseo.com/seo-tips-from-a-millennial/

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scholaarblog · 7 years ago

Text

William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse

Dear Money Seeker,

I won’t mince words with you. If you are tired of beating your head against your computer screen trying to figure out this “make money” stuff, reading this letter for 5 minutes is going to rock your world. Especially if you’re new to investing.

Why is that?

Because I am going to share the very same information that took me years to learn..and that propelled me into a life of riches.

This information will energize you and motivate you to follow in my footsteps, because this information has sure worked for me.

And not just me. Other rookies have amassed small fortunes too.

I’m talking about 4- and 5-figure checks every month, starting from next to nothing. It’s all a matter of knowing how.

And don’t worry if you’re just a novice. I’m going to show you everything you need to know to start raking in the cash you need. My program is designed to get novices up and running in a matter of weeks.

When you learn and use my proven blueprint, you can do it over and over. Each time you repeat the process, it gets easier. And the money comes faster. I guarantee it.

Why invest in apartments? …

Simple. These are desperate economic times. The unemployment rate is at least double what the government is trying to sell you. People all around the country are losing their homes at an alarming rate.

The demand for apartments has skyrocketed. The millions of families who have lost their homes have to live somewhere. Those unable to move in with relatives are forced to live in multifamily units.

What about you? You don’t just need to think ten years ahead when you might be on a better footing financially. You need to do something now. You need something that can help you weather the storm now as well as in the future. In short, what you need is a cash cow. The fastest way to accomplish that is to invest in apartments. I promise.

The amazing thing is…

One killer cash flow deal can set you up for life!

Hard to believe, but true. One deal can literally set you up for life. You can have monthly cash flow in the four and five figure range. I will show you how. My new course, Apartment Investing Fundamentals, will show you step by step how to have all the money you’ll ever need.

Learn How to Buy Apartments with

Little or No Cash and Generate Cash Flow

(now available in streaming online version – see details below)

An 81-page manual chock full of CURRENT information. My apartment investing course manual has everything you need to know to get started. It’s a step-by-step blueprint that leads you on your way to real estate wealth. No filler pages. No wasted information. Simply a walk-you-through-the-baby-steps program on your way to riches. So simple, a high school student can do it.

Accompanying the manual, four jam-packed audio CD’s so you can study the course materials while driving.

Small-Apartments-CD-3D

Start with small and medium-sized projects and work your way up to larger projects.

If I don’t have any money, how the hell do I invest in multifamily projects?

… Yes, you will need money to invest in apartments. Anybody who tells you you don’t is a liar. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be YOUR money. I will show you how to use other people’s money (OPM) to put gobs of cash in your pocket.

One surprising technique is to use seller financing to get you started on your first deal. Believe it or not, in some cases your seller will accept 100% financing on his property.

Why would a seller agree to finance the sale of his own property? Numerous reasons, like deferring a large tax bill, or retiring from the real estate game, to name a couple.

What if My Credit is in Weak?

Surprisingly, with apartment investing, your credit is not as relevant as with single family houses. What IS relevant to would-be lenders is the cash flow from the building. As long as the numbers work and the building covers all of your expenses, you are golden. To lenders the building is the collateral.

And get this. Because the building acts as the collateral, raising any needed funds is easier with multifamily projects than it is with single family houses. The numbers tell investors everything they need to know.

The point I’m making is that it’s entirely possible to…

Buy a multifamily property with no money down…

That is, buy with virtually no money out of your pocket.

But what about all the expenses involved with operating an apartment building? Not a problem. The beautiful thing is, you can go only into those deals where your tenants pay all of your expenses while paying off the mortgage at the same time.

Besides, in many cases, you will only get the financing you need if your tenants will cover ALL of your expenses, including the mortgage. With the right deal, all of that is covered…PLUS…you can be receiving a substantial passive income.

Another thing. All around not just the country, but the world, are groups of investors ready and willing to fund profitable multifamily deals. Your job is to find the deals. Once you do, they are ready to jump in with the needed cash to fund those deals.

Isn’t managing an apartment complex a colossal headache?

It would be if you were managing it. But you won’t be. You simply turn that task over to a professional management company. Let THEM worry about clogged toilets and the other headaches involved with landlording. I show you how to choose the right management company… and the reports you absolutely must have from them so you don’t get ripped off.

I show you how to let the property pay the management company, not you to run the property.

Insider secret: You can make out like a bandit on properties that have a positive cashflow, but that don’t have 100% occupancy. When you take over and increase the occupancy, you increase the value of your project. More importantly though, you increase the monthly cash flow that goes into your pocket.

Another insider secret: Don’t make the mistake of going into a project that depends on massive property appreciation in order for you to make a profit. Any project you invest in must already have a healthy positive cash flow. From there, you can do any number of things (I elaborate in the course what those things are) to increase the amount of money the property generates each month.

Isn’t analyzing these deals complicated?

Actually, no. With the tools I provide, you’ll be able to tell in less than 7 minutes whether a deal is go or no-go. My software analyzer will provide all the information you need to make your decision.

Yes, there are key numbers you need to learn. But don’t let that intimidate you out of a fortune. I explain the numbers so that even a high school student could understand them.

How do I know where to invest?

Not to worry. I will show you all you need to know. The beauty is, these places may be where you can pick up some bargains. I also tell you certain cities to avoid.

Another Insider secret: You want to avoid markets where real estate values are plummeting. Even in today’s economic environment, there are areas in the country where values are increasing, or at least holding steady.

Do I have to invest locally?

Absolutely not. Of course, when you are getting your feet wet, you may want to invest locally. But that assumes you live in a city that is currently favorable to the apartment investor. If not, going out of town(so to speak) will be the way to go. If you have a computer with an Internet connection, you can do deals out of town.

Another thing. When you find the right type of seller, it’s almost like taking candy from a baby. Take the investor who has been managing his own property and is moving out of town because of a job change. He will be most receptive to almost any flexible offer you might make.

One and done

If you’re lazy like me, you may want to do one deal, quit your regular job, live off the proceeds from your apartment building, and never do anything else. Apartment investing makes that possible.

What I’m saying is, you can follow my system step by step, secure your first property, then never have to work on another project if you do it right.

There is a problem with this, however. Once you see how much money you have made on that one deal, your greed glands may kick in. And that’s OK. The point is, you CAN stop after that one deal and never have to do anything else.

In other words, do one and you’re done. Or you can try and buy 40 houses and see how long that takes!

Here are just a few of the topics I cover in my investing in small apartments …

How an easy $10 rent raise can raise the value of your property by one million dollars How to easily find motivated sellers Find super deals anywhere in the country via this “insider” website Use this simple checklist to do your due diligence on any deal you encounter How to do no money down deals How one deal can set you up for life Let your tenants pay the management company, not you A secret way to tie up a deal, then make out like a bandit Analyze a deal in 7 minutes Magic questions to ask during negotiations that can put thousands of dollars in your pocket What properties to avoid like the plague A clever way to make money without even owning a property The 3 numbers you must know when analyzing a property The ideal apartment class that will generate the most money How to use other people’s money (OPM) to put cash in your pocket How to get free help from local experts Critical contract clauses that can put thousands in your pocket The contract terms that enable you to dramatically cut down your monthly expenses How to get the seller to provide a needed down payment How to never, ever pay taxes on your real estate, even when you sell and much much more…

No cash…No credit…No previous experience …No problem .

Know what? You can do this. I’ve simplified things so even a novice can do this. You can experience financial freedom. You can take steps to start enjoying the things you’ve always wanted to do but somehow couldn’t. You can have the toys you want. You can have the time to spend with loved ones. My course makes all of this possible.

So..how much does Apartment Investing Fundamentals cost? .

Before I give you the details, let me tell you about the bonuses I’d like to send you as part of my offer.

Includes the following forms:

Apartment Commercial Purchase Contract Option to Purchase Apartment Building Letter of Intent to Purchase Lease Application Lease Guaranty Rental Policy and Procedures Denial of Credit Form Lease Guaranty Deposit Receipt Notice of Non Payment Security Deposit Agreement Sample Apartment Pro Forma Sample Commercial Appraisal Form Move-In Condition Checklist “Quick and Dirty” Apartment Analysis Excel Spreadsheet “Cash for Keys” Agreement I could justifiably charge you thousands of dollars for my course, and it would be well worth it. But I won’t. Instead, I want to get as many people on board in the early stages as possible. I know the people who would benefit from my program most are those who are already strapped for cash. I was there once. I know what it feels like to use your credit card again when you don’t know how you’ll pay the bill at the end of the month

Even at $997, I would still end up shutting out the majority of people who need this information the most. I know it seems crazy, but it’s pointless charging you more than you can afford.

William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse Free Download

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William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse published first on http://ift.tt/2zeC3iy

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profitinfomastery · 7 years ago

Text

William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse

Dear Money Seeker,

Why is that?

Because I am going to share the very same information that took me years to learn..and that propelled me into a life of riches.

This information will energize you and motivate you to follow in my footsteps, because this information has sure worked for me.

And not just me. Other rookies have amassed small fortunes too.

I’m talking about 4- and 5-figure checks every month, starting from next to nothing. It’s all a matter of knowing how.

When you learn and use my proven blueprint, you can do it over and over. Each time you repeat the process, it gets easier. And the money comes faster. I guarantee it.

Why invest in apartments? …

The demand for apartments has skyrocketed. The millions of families who have lost their homes have to live somewhere. Those unable to move in with relatives are forced to live in multifamily units.

The amazing thing is…

One killer cash flow deal can set you up for life!

Learn How to Buy Apartments with

Little or No Cash and Generate Cash Flow

(now available in streaming online version – see details below)

Accompanying the manual, four jam-packed audio CD’s so you can study the course materials while driving.

Small-Apartments-CD-3D

Start with small and medium-sized projects and work your way up to larger projects.

If I don’t have any money, how the hell do I invest in multifamily projects?

One surprising technique is to use seller financing to get you started on your first deal. Believe it or not, in some cases your seller will accept 100% financing on his property.

Why would a seller agree to finance the sale of his own property? Numerous reasons, like deferring a large tax bill, or retiring from the real estate game, to name a couple.

What if My Credit is in Weak?

The point I’m making is that it’s entirely possible to…

Buy a multifamily property with no money down…

That is, buy with virtually no money out of your pocket.

Isn’t managing an apartment complex a colossal headache?

I show you how to let the property pay the management company, not you to run the property.

Isn’t analyzing these deals complicated?

Yes, there are key numbers you need to learn. But don’t let that intimidate you out of a fortune. I explain the numbers so that even a high school student could understand them.

How do I know where to invest?

Not to worry. I will show you all you need to know. The beauty is, these places may be where you can pick up some bargains. I also tell you certain cities to avoid.

Do I have to invest locally?

One and done

If you’re lazy like me, you may want to do one deal, quit your regular job, live off the proceeds from your apartment building, and never do anything else. Apartment investing makes that possible.

What I’m saying is, you can follow my system step by step, secure your first property, then never have to work on another project if you do it right.

In other words, do one and you’re done. Or you can try and buy 40 houses and see how long that takes!

Here are just a few of the topics I cover in my investing in small apartments …

No cash…No credit…No previous experience …No problem .

So..how much does Apartment Investing Fundamentals cost? .

Before I give you the details, let me tell you about the bonuses I’d like to send you as part of my offer.

Includes the following forms:

Even at $997, I would still end up shutting out the majority of people who need this information the most. I know it seems crazy, but it’s pointless charging you more than you can afford.

William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse Free Download

The post William Bronchick – Investing In Small Apartments Advanced Ecourse appeared first on Profit Info Mastery.

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michellesimpressions · 8 years ago

Text

Visual Rhetoric and Social Media

It’s a new age. Life has a whole new rhythm and feel to it, and it is all credited to the advance in technology, which in turn has given rise to the field of digital and visual rhetoric. Gone are the days when oral speeches were the most meaningful way a message could be delivered. When at one time, the quality of a message could be determined by the arrangement, style, and delivery of it, today almost anything can pass as an important message just by the means of the medium that is delivered by. The desire to fit in has always been in a human’s nature, and the rise of social media not only provides a certain standard that one should fit into, but also encourages it. Oral speeches in ancient days were given by educated individuals who formed what they thought were non-refutable arguments worthy of hearing, and today digital and visual rhetoric allows educated individuals as well as less educated individuals to speak their mind. The effect of this on speech, rhetoric, and human culture has been profound in ways that are both positive and negative; however, it also highlights the absolute necessity for rhetoric of any kind and its permanence in society.

It is important to address first and foremost, the shift that even allowed digital rhetoric to exist. Digital rhetoric is a development from written rhetoric, which arose from the development of oral rhetoric. Walter Ong, a Jesuit rhetorician from St. Louis, studied the movement from an oral culture to that of a print culture. When people think of a word, it is almost impossible to say the word without immediately thinking of what the world looks like or how it is spelled, so much so that “we cannot separate if from ourselves or ever recognize its presence and influence” (Ong 4). This is a glimpse into how much written language and rhetoric has had an impact on even the way that humans think. In this sense, it is difficult to imagine how people thought before thoughts and ideas could be recorded. He states, “The oral word as such distresses literates because sound is evanescent… it can operate with exquisite skill in the world of sounds, events, evanecsenses” (Ong). Ong emphasizes the impact of the temporariness of oral speech and how it takes much more work to sustain culture and keep alive the accumulation of knowledge through oral means only, “other wise these truths will escape, and culture will be back on square one, where it started before the ancestors got the truths from their ancestors” (Ong 12). There is no question that this method takes up a certain time and strength that people today lack because of the luxury of the written word. Not only that, but expanding on knowledge and exploring new concepts was difficult because so much energy was concentrated on remembering what was already known (Ong 12). Essentially, oral rhetoric limits humans to memorizing and containing, rather than analyzing or breaking down ideas or theories. It is also interesting to note that the invention of “writing falsifies,” meaning it “makes all of a word appear present at once,” when in actuality, once the word is spoken it is no longer occurring anymore, and disappears from existence (Ong 24). In the Phaedrus, Socrates expresses that writing is simply a tool that one can use to manipulate and is therefore, inhumane. He argues that attempting to establish what is in the mind in the physical world as writing is deceptive (Plato). Socrates, according to Plato, thought that writing “destroys memory,” and “weakens the mind” (Ong 28). Although some aspects of the current culture was lost due to the advance in the written language, it seems that the world has improved immensely from the advance that led to written language. These improvements make the loss of this precious practice of storing information in the mind worth it. In order to reach the full potential of human oral thought, writing is required so that the work and thoughts may be expounded upon. Though it may seem like writing reduced the need or importance of oral speech, it actually “enhanced it, making it possible to organize the ‘principles’ or constituents of oratory… to achieve its various specific effects” (Ong 9). When people think of and process words, they think in a language that they can see physically, as well as in their minds. Ong states, “literacy is regarded as so unquestionably normative… that the deviancy of illiteracy tends to be thought of as lack of a simple mechanical skill” (Ong 13). The written language was developed so that humans could reach their full potential and place ideas into an existence that one can physically hold on to. In this way, the desire to remember and record things so that they would not be forgotten was born and would only continue to grow throughout the years.

Humans are somewhat obsessed with remembering the past. Throughout history the need to remember and record events in peoples fleeting lives only increased and today, it takes form in a phenomenon that has developed into something called social media. Walter Ong stated that, “computer “languages” resemble human languages in some ways but are forever totally unlike human languages in that they do not grow out of the unconscious but directly out of consciousness.” In regards to the invention of computers, philosophers like Socrates and Plato would indeed consider it an obstruction to true thinking. Computers do not have the ability to fight back or answer questions in an unconscious way. As Roland Barthes states, “to the pleasure of writing, he is left with no more that the poor freedom either to accept or reject the text” (Westlake 26). Words are thus, “frozen, and in a sense dead,” which actually works for the sole purpose of remembering, however this would imply that because the words cannot be changed, they must be worthy of being permanent (Ong 31). One thing is certain, “whether for good or bad, electronic technology will have long-range effects on the nature of writing” (Halpern and Ligget 3). At one point, this could have been a positive thing, because then it only allowed well-formulated thoughts and rhetoric that have been reviewed and edited countless times to reach the masses. Although it once took an immense amount of time and effort to get a published work to reach a wide audience, today the social popularity of a post can happen in a matter of hours and even minutes. Not only this, but greater value has been placed on what once took a simple click of the “enter” button on one’s keyboard, than something that required several years to consider worthy to publicize. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Snapchat allow people to publish anything to their heart’s desire, regardless of whether it is intelligible or worth reading.

Facebook in particular, organizes information and posts depending on chronology and popularity with no regard for the level of quality in a post. The Facebook News Feed functions so that “the meaningful updates get posted and discarded with the same amount of attention as the mundane” (Goodwiller 3). In this sense, an update on ISIS could directly follow a friend’s update on the health of her pet gerbil. At one point in time, oral rhetoric was the only practice available and so its content was attended to with great care. Aristotle’s five canons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery were taken into serious consideration. This in comparison to how any information is ready at the click of a button today changes how people view rhetoric and also how they think. One of the main defining features of Facebook is the ability to “like” something, which signifies approval. It is a wordless way of stating your presence and acknowledgement of a given post rather than actually commenting on something that would usually require composing a sentence in one’s head. Goodwiller states that this is preferable over, “engaging in a dialogue with the author and other commentators in the comments section” (Goodwiller 7). The question lies in whether this is an effect of laziness or whether social media has caused our culture to have a simple indicating symbol replace what would normally require composing thoughts into rhetoric. The practice of writing things out, or organizing one’s thoughts to come to a conclusion is slowly being rejected, thus producing one’s own thoughts and realizations has become more rare. Regardless of what the answer to the question is, it shows that “we privilege consumption over production, just as the larger culture privileges the consuming class over the producing class” (Westbrook 461). Humans are able to analyze and understand a piece of rhetoric, but they do little to produce anything out of what they are given other than reciting a response. Social media sites like Facebook, are examples of both an incredible influx of consuming and producing. Because it allows anyone from anywhere in the world to post what they wish, there is little to no filter and it is up to the audience to determine what they deem worthy of their time. Content absorption is sacrificed for the gain of superficially consuming or “liking” more information and posts. In an effort to keep up with this constant feed of information, the audience has less and less time to spend on each post they see. Social media adjusts to the decreasing attention spans that it feeds and works even more to keep the attention of the audience. Facebook utilizes the concept of “hashtags” and “hypertexts,” knowing that this is what will cause the audience to absorb, consume, and buy what they want them to. This has nurtured in our generation a culture in which “rapid scanning or skimming of material on screen has become a frequent activity” (Dyson and Haselgrove 210). It is more likely that the less words a post has, the more likely people will be to read it, consider it and proceed to act upon it. Thus it makes sense that visual images would draw more people in, as reading takes time that people no longer seem to have. However, there are limits to visual rhetoric, as well as new possibilities it offers that written and oral classical rhetoric cannot.

When comparing how online social networks and classical rhetoric work, the main difference is that social networks “allow for the inclusion of multiple text variants… which widen their expressive potential and support discourse to achieve their persuasive aim. Thus, with a short message one may say a lot” (Berlanga, Garcia, and Victoria 129). This brings in the question of how Aristotle’s five canons of rhetoric fits into visual and digital rhetoric. Compared to oral speech, there are standards of visual rhetoric that oral speech is not capable of meeting and vice versa, as “certain elements of…. performance are absent in computer-mediated interaction (visual cues such as clothing and facial expression and aural cues such as tone), they are replaced in chat and on websites by more “staged” elements such as font, photographs, music, and graphics” (Westlake 30). Because humans are aware of the importance of facial expressions and tones to deliver a message, communication through media gives rise to the creation of “emojis,” which are small pictures that one can type into a chat to aid a sentence that could be understood in different ways. Despite this rather smooth adjustment to modern culture, arrangement, style, delivery, invention, and memory remain critical aspects of a well-rounded speech and essential to eloquent rhetoric. In fact, aspects of this can be seen in social networking sites today because “rarely do the users just share their life… it is with the aim of prompting certain responses… with a certain degree of persuasion” (Berlanga, Garcia, and Victoria 130). The five canons then prove to be useful in our fast-paced society. However, the use of visual rhetoric has the ability and advantage, in a sense, to invoke an audience’s reaction without the use of words. In the modern day, this tends to attract more people because the current generation revolves around instant gratification. Because visual and digital rhetoric tends to catch the audiences’ attention more effectively, the amount of written rhetoric is reduced and this lack of written production is encouraged as “visual rhetoric is being defined repeatedly as a frame of analysis for looking and interpreting, but not often enough for producing” (Westbrook 461). Social media robs the individual of being required to say something to be heard, which in turn, can actually make written rhetoric that much more meaningful. Thus, through the production of visual rhetoric, Facebook makes it easier for the mundane to be heard and makes it harder to stand out as a good writer or rhetorician.

Facebook has become such an influential means of communication that if one doesn’t have a Facebook profile, they are often considered to be isolated. “The generations of people older than current college students [are known] as the ‘silent’ generation,” because they do not share the same reliability on Facebook as the current generation does (Westlake 31). No more do people live in “quiet desperation,” rather “people now lead lives of noisy and ostentatious desperation” (Westlake 31). Communication is different now in that, “interaction participants are no longer required to share the same reference frame or the sociocultural paradigm, as required in traditional models” (Berlanga 129). Any thing that is publicly posted has the ability to reach an audience that one would never physically interact with. Furthermore, people can interact with each other without ever actually uttering nor ever typing a single word. Facebook operates in a way that allows people to be present and have a voice without necessarily being required to say anything. Ethos and social standing was generally determined through a person’s credibility, rhetoric, and words, but in the social media world, it is established through the amount of “likes” or “shares” that one has on a photo or post. No matter how much people may seem to deny it, the amount of ethos someone has is linked to how many friends one has on social media. Goodwiller states that, “a person’s ethos on Facebook relies on… who they are friends with, what they did over the weekend… and who they quote… the building blocks upon which their Facebook reputation is constructed” (Goodwiller 6). This desired “reputation” causes a never-ending chain of “friending” more people on Facebook so that one can get more friends, more likes, and more ethical grounds on which they have authority and acceptance as a voice to be heard. Though this can be a result of complete superficiality, if “the relationship one maintains or has established in the real world, still remains in the virtual world,” there is a consistency there that offers the same feeling of permanence that written rhetoric does (Berlanga, Garcia, and Victoria 134). This might offer some comfort and can be true, but only if there is consistent communication and interaction between the Facebook friends in person as well. Exchanging writing and rhetoric must be pursued in the relationship if it is stay personally ethical and communicative. Unfortunately, the label of being “friends” on Facebook can be lost as easily as it can be gained, with the simple click of a button. This instability bolsters the need to be noticed and heard in social media and as a result the “hashtag” was invented. A hashtag is made up of the pound symbol and a tag, in which whatever word is attached to the tag links to a community of other pictures or posts that have that same hashtag. It is not uncommon to see hashtags such as, #follow4follow, #like4like, or any word that has to do with the picture that was just posted. What this indicates is the almost chronic-like need for this generation to have the attention and approval of the world. In terms of rhetoric, less attention is paid to persuasion, because all the convincing that one needs, is the idea that if they #follow4follow, they will satisfy their desire to establish ethos and be admired without producing the rhetoric that is normally required to do so. Ethos is gained when one has more followers than his or her friend, or when that particular picture has more likes. It has gotten to the point where if one is truly desperate they can purchase followers with moeny to make their profile look more “credible”. However the standards on which this ethos is established is based on the system of social media and technology, which can easily be controlled by its users according to their preferences. As a result, a profile of superficiality is what people in the social media world use to judge another person’s character. Surprisingly (or not), this leads to a false base on which to build rhetoric upon. Thus, a majority of the rhetoric that arises from Facebook, if judged by that only and not the real person is based on false grounds. Another key element of social media, or technology in generally is how easily things can be deleted and recovered from its memory, which helps to aid an online reputation. Speaking from personal experience, I always found it amusing how some people tend to post new profile pictures with the caption, “temp,” implying that the photo they currently posted (usually a “selfie”) was only temporary and would be replaced soon with a real photo, as opposed to this fake “temp” one. There’s this idea that a person has to caption something as temporary when in actuality, everything on facebook is temporary given that one can change whatever they like on their profile at any time. This “selfie” and caption combination represents this human’s longing to perhaps test the waters, see if their picture will be “liked” by many people and only decide to keep it if it is approved by the masses. In this sense, people are able to build an image of themselves that they feel will give them acceptance and a superficial love from the masses without feeling the consequences of rejection of doing something that people would not approve of. By using this casual word, “temp,” the person is using a short and sweet rhetoric style that suggests innocence and lack of narcissism. That “selfie” that was just posted does not reflect narcissim, one might think, because it’s only temporary. However, so is everything else on Facebook, so what does that rhetoric truly imply? When it comes to rhetoric, the ability to be “empty, sly, and insincere,” is even more encouraged, as people tend to present less of their true personality and instead present more of who they think other people would want them to be, much less who they desire to be (Meltzoff 30). This access to endless temporariness and “second chances” that Facebook offers greatly contrasts how painstaking it might have been to erase even one’s handwriting before the invention of the computer. This has nurtured an attitude that is not afraid to make mistakes. However, this also adds a certain pressure of perfection as it eliminates the excuse of lack of resources to succeed. This generation’s obsession with being noticed and with being remembered for good things increases with the rise in technology. Because “Facebook is a medium in which the events of a night can be both told and completely erased with the click of a button,” it makes it harder to grasp onto permanence of any sort (Goodwiller 4). When any issue is over, the amount that people talk about it is less and less and eventually, it dies. The same can be said for anything that occurs on social media. In this sense, electronic rhetoric and oral rhetoric have something in common that written rhetoric does not have. Electronic rhetoric has this ephemeral nature that has the ability to disappear through lack of stability or through a human’s control, just like the oral word does. Rhetoric has undergone a series of shifts from oral, to written, to visual on social media sites and through it all it has shed light on the fact that not all improvements lead to human progress in ethics. However, it is important to acknowledge the fact that rhetoric has greatly contributed to our shifts in perspective on how we see each other and the world. Social media encourages the desire to be remembered and offers the capability to erase just as easily what people do not want to be remembered. The question here lies in what the subject chooses to use social media for and the ways in which they live out their decision. What I personally observe to be the most common result is that people use both, and the creation of this alternate identity is produced. People record and post everything that they want to remember, while also freely deleting anything that gives them a bad reputation or is not to their liking. Here, the power truly lies in rhetoric. With the constant flood of information and the decreasing attention spans of this generation, it is up the rhetorician to produce something that stands out even brighter for the public to notice. Rhetoric fights the modern world, but also adjusts to it and gives everyone the opportunity to try their hand at what they observe to be the best form of persuasiveness. For some, the five canons of rhetoric serves as a stable option, while for others, visual rhetoric is a more effective way of appealing to the masses. Regardless, it is apparent that no matter how many shifts rhetoric goes through, its impact on human life and relationships in this world renders it a permanent necessity.

#visualrhetoric

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