#my first favourite is purely theoretical combination of the two

[numberonetacostan]

I love you mepad

[minetteskvareninova]

Notes:

A/B/O - I can imagine a good fic with this trope, but still very much Not My Thing

amnesia fic - That's not how human brain works. That's not how anything works. No. I reject.

angst - Honestly, this can be basically anything from mild miscommunication making two people believe the other one doesn't love them back to hardcore tragedy. Too nonspecific, is what I'm saying.

arranged marriage - cackles like the freak I am

baby fic - Nice trope! Not a top-tier, but still Appeals to me.

sharing a bed - The more I ponder this one, the more I like it. Even if it does make me feel like the most basic of basic bitches.

bang or die - softly NO

body swap - Not exactly my thing, but I guess it can be fun, like purely theoretically?

coffee shop - Pure cliche. I don't hate it, just mildly dislike it.

college AU - Another one that can go either way.

crack fic - I mean, if it's funny, why not?

crossover - Once again, depends what is combined with what, but I do have to say it Appeals to me in a way that, say, college AU doesn't.

dark fic - I am less keen on fics going darker than canon than the other way around, but it's not an unsalvageable concept either.

major character death - Again. Who is dying and how.

canon divergence - Nice concept for a fic!

enemies to lovers - I'd rather not. Too easy to fuck up.

established relationship - If it's not one of my NOTPs, then heart eyes

fairytale AU - I've always loved fairytales, and I am still a sucker for a good retelling, so sue me.

fake relationship - Would be a pretty fun concept if it wasn't so predictable. Like at this point it just makes me roll my eyes, because there's literally zero will they or won't they. THEY DO. EVERY SINGLE TIME. And I know that's the case with other tropes too, like arranged marriage, but those at least don't try to lie to you.

fix it fic - The best kind of fic!

fluff - Well, I guess I am a whore then.

friends to lovers - People who like each other getting into a relationship? What is this sorcery???

gen fic - Not my preference, but otherwise a perfectly valid concept and there should be more of them.

hurt-comfort - Again. Why not?

historical AU - I want to say that I wish there was more research involved, but… Let's face it. You are not writing serious media, and I am not reading it. Research is a nice bonus, but I'll eat it up regardless.

high school AU - Uh… I like when they are actually written as kids, either for humor or horror (in a dark fic)? Otherwise it just gives me Gossip Girl flashbacks. Ugh. No.

huddle for warmth - The guiltiest of guilty pleasures.

humor - Much like angst, too non-specific.

in vino veritas - Dunno. Can be funny, I guess (I am a base, unsophisticated creature and alcohol-based jokes never fail to make me laugh), but doesn't Appeal to me.

first kiss - I guess it could work in like a story about two teenagers falling in love or queer people discovering their sexuality or whatever. But mostly I don't get the big deal.

magic AU - Eh?

miscommunication - Haha NO

missing scenes - FUCK YES. My favourite stuff to write.

mutual pining - Just… Don't overdo it, please? Okay?

sex pollen - And you thought A/B/O is a stupid concept!

pregnancy fic - Again, I am a whore.

pwp - I read this one way too much for my own good, because they are quick, easy, and fun, but just because something excites me sexually, that doesn't mean I can't hold it in contempt, okay?

royalty AU - I am not proud of myself either, but I am not going to lie to you either and say it's not very much My Thing.

slow burn - I don't have the patience most of the time, but they are usually more emotionally satisfying, so that kinda evens out.

soulmate AU - This goddamn trope could go die in a ditch. That's not how love works, and it would suck pretty badly if it did!

time loop - Overused and uninteresting, at least to me.

love triangle - Can go very badly, but still. I love me some good love triangle.

unhappy ending - I'd rather not, but I'll admit, sometimes, it's necessary for the story, and I respect that.

unrequited love - Not very keen on it, but I don't hate it either.

Look What I Found

Create a Fan Fiction Tropes Tier List - TierMaker

My tier list:

[radramblog]

Every Mono-Black Commander, Part 4: Designed for the Format

In what will be the penultimate edition of this weekly word stream, the cards steadily on average get better, as WoTC realises commander is the most popular format and starts designing specifically for the format. On the other hand, people don’t play lots of these cool and interesting cards because everyone’s obsessed with “multicolour”, the cowards.

Moving on.

Sidis, Undead Vizier (245 decks, 25th most played)

Sidisi is one of those cards I’m surprised sees as much play as it does. Not because it’s bad, but because it seems to belong a lot better in the 99 than in the zone- they’re pretty much just a tutor with a body attached, after all. For a while, though, it was the only commander you could run that was a pure tutor, so if you were into just comboing people out it’s probably not a bad idea.

I think part of the reason I underrate this card is that I always assume it’s 6 mana. And it’s a lot better at 5 than it is at 6. And you can always just sacrifice itself if you really want your commander to just be an overpriced Diabolic Tutor.

 Kothophed, Soul Hoarder (29 decks, 73rd most played)

I actually rate Kothophed a bit higher than I think most do. While as the 2nd of Lilliana’s demons he was obviously a fair bit weaker than the extremely banned Griselbrand, and the only one of the 4 not to be mythic, he does do a couple things really well.

For one, he draws a lot of cards. Things are going to the graveyard all the time, especially in multiplayer, and he makes the artifact/aristocrat decks think twice about popping off. The other is that he’s super cheap, at like 40 cents a pop. And I appreciate that, especially considering some of the cards surrounding him.

 Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer (645 decks, 9th most played)

Baby Lilli herself looks a lot better than Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath as far as Planeswalker commanders goes, and it’s therefore unsurprising that she breaks the top 10. Everybody loves Planeswalkers, lots of people like Lilliana both as a card and a character, and the card that puts her in the zone is quite solid.

What does she do, though? Well, of the 6 Creature->Planeswalker transform cards, she’s one of the three that can theoretically flip the turn you play her without a haste effect (and Nicol Bolas is only on that list by technicality, because that’s a loooot of mana), and it’s not particularly hard to do so considering the colour she’s in. She then protects herself a little with a Zombie token and acts as basically a multiplayer-tuned Lilliana of the Veil, with a bigger number on her plus and minuses that better suit commander. This lets her work quite well for discard decks, reanimator decks, aristocrats decks, zombie decks, and of course, Lilliana decks. She’s just really solid overall, making up somewhat for the fragility of walkers in the format by being cheap and making herself a blocker.

 Drana, Liberator of Malakir (82 decks, 49th most played)

Drana I guess could be used as a tribal or Voltron commander of some description, but to be frank, she’s here for one thing- aggro. Anthem effects are uncommon in black, and Drana just piles on so many counters in such an efficient manner that she kinda makes up for that on her own. I’ve actually never seen anyone piloting a Drana deck (of any of the three Dranas, actually), so I don’t know exactly how effective it is, but putting her at the helm of a stack of tokens or efficient threats just sounds scary. I’m pretty sure she’s only liberating Malakir from its remaining life points.

 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet (124 decks, 38th most played)

Kalitas seeing this much play…actually frustrates me, seeing as he’s basically just a hate piece. Like yeah, he has another ability, and he makes tokens, but come on. You’re just playing this for the exile clause, and it’s never going to make you any friends. Headcrab Vampire over here doesn’t do anything much if your opponents just wait til he’s off the field to do anything spicy, and in that case, what are you doing with him? Very inefficiently voltronning up? Gaining 3 life? It’s a bit sad. I don’t really like him.

 Gonti, Lord of Luxury (550 decks, 11th most played)

Aww man, they’re not in the top 10 anymore? Fucking Tergrid.

Gonti is another card advantage commander, but everything on them lines up to make both a fun and a powerful effect. They’re not too expensive, and in addition to effectively drawing a card, deathtouch makes them a great way to dissuade attacks from other players. Their ETB not only acts as card selection, but it also gives you access to effects mono-black lacks, silver bullets you don’t play, or just surprise threats that vastly open up your options. They can whiff, sure, but that doesn’t happen especially often.

I’m biased, because my Gonti deck is among my favourite of my 100-card children, but Gonti is just such a fun commander that I don’t even mind the lack of direction they hand you. I run them as grindy valuey control, but they work great as the helm of flicker, theft, and even Aetherborn tribal decks as well. Just a stellar little commander.

 Yahenni, Undying Partisan (306 decks, 21st most played)

Speaking of Aetherborn, Yahenni is also here, and I really appreciate that the two Aetherborn commanders we got are both really cool both in game and in the lore. Shame about most of the rest of the tribe being draft trash. Also, WoTC brought all sorts of old tribes back into the limelight for Commander Legends and the Modern Horizons sets, so where are the new Aetherborn at? Wizards pls.

Yahenni themselves is a pretty interesting commander. Their effects combine into a powerful package more subtle than their flavour text suggests- they not only are a threatening body, as a hasty commander that grows significantly as the game progresses, but they’re also incredibly sticky- a free sacrifice outlet that protects itself from most removal. They’re just a card where all the pieces come together just right, and I appreciate that a lot. One job and that’s aristocrats, but they’re good at it!

 Bontu, the Glorified (59 decks, 57th most played)

When we finally got eyes on the Amonkhet gods, I think Bontu was my least favourite. Like, she’s hard to turn on, and has to be done repeatedly? A 3 mana 4/6 menace is a lot, but not enough to justify that in my opinion. And that activated ability is painfully mediocre.

At this point I like Kefnet less, but that’s just because I’ve cast him a bunch of times and I’m pretty sure he’s done nothing most of those times. Both of them are just kind of shithouse though. I expected more from the Magic equivalent of Set.

 Razaketh, the Foulblooded (74 decks, 54th most played)

The only thing foul about Razaketh is that mana cost. 8 mana, holy shit. But you get paid off for it, don’t ya? A free-ish sac outlet that, oh, also just demonic tutors. If you have an infinite combo in your deck, this’ll get it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Razaketh decks therefore get focussed pretty hard once people recognize the power in the zone. Like, running him as a commander is basically saying “sup once I get to 8 mana y’all are fucked”, and in that case people are going to do all they can to stop you getting to 8 mana, whether by blowing up your rocks or just killing your face and dudes. Perhaps consider an alternate route if you don’t like getting beaten up.

 Spike, Tournament Grinder (N/A)

Aight, this is kinda cheating, but shshshsh it’s fine. Now, I’m not sure exactly how this works in the zone, but I’m just assuming it can get any “spikey” card that fits within your colour identity? Or maybe it’s just anything. Either way, this gets some bonkers shit.

Even if we assume it’s only legal commander cards in identity, Spike can still draw you some funny things. Dark Ritual, Crucible of Worlds, Bitterblossom, Demonic Tutor, Ancient Tomb, and that’s just the first page. If we do include commander-banned cards, then you can also use them as a spicy secret commander for such hits as Griselbrand, Emrakul, or Braids. Overall, they’re definitely fair and balanced. Un-Commanders when.

 Tetzimoc, Primal Death (15 decks, 86th most played)

Oh, Tetzy. I love this stupid stupid card, one that seems to get worse the bigger the decks get. And by that I mean, it’s completely stupid broken in its original draft format, fringe playable in Standard at the time (and by that I mean… I mean I played it), and thoroughly mediocre in Commander. And that’s in the 99, because much like Haakon and Phage he doesn’t work in the zone. He’s a fair bit easier to enable than they are, but it’s for much, much less payoff. Alas poor Tetzimoc.

 Demonlord Belzenlok (110 decks, 41st most played)

The last Lilliana contract demon, and the first Dominaria card of the 6 we got to talk about. Belzenlok’s ability is frustratingly awkward, however- while it will never draw you land, in my experience you’re rarely drawing more than two cards off it, and one is very common. Because the thing is, in order to support the dummy thick cards Belzenlok likes to see, you need a lot of cheap ramp and draw, which he does not like to see. And said ability takes up all the space on his textbox that could be used on other things. He’s basically okay, but I don’t see running this over basically any other demon.

I mean, he’s in my Gonti deck, but that’s besides the point, making a fatty and drawing cards is what that deck’s about.

 Josu Vess, Lich Knight (69 decks, 55th most played)

Lilliana’s dead brother is an army in a can that packs a mean punch- 20 menace power is absolutely nothing to sneeze at- but 10 mana is monstrous. And casting him for 4 is just not worth it, especially since it makes that 10 into 12 next time. With that said, I recall once a Dominaria draft on arena where I used Muldrotha to cast this guy kicked twice in a row, and while this might just be magical Christmas land, getting to reroll this guy repeatedly with Disentomb effects might be spicy. You can just bury people in Zombies, ain’t that fun? I mean, it’s still 10 mana, so that’s a lot, but yknow

I guess you can also sac the tokens to some variety of altar, but that’s boooooring.

 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate (99 decks, 44th most played)

Wait, if it’s Famine Incarnate, why is it an Avatar instead of an Incarnation?

I’m woefully unfamiliar with Torgaar, but it seems like a relatively effective general. It hits that 7 mark for a three-hit commander damage kill, while being able to cost as little as two mana, which is enough on its own- but  that chunky power also helps with that second ability, setting someone to 20, assuming other people are willing to help pick up the slack. Fuck your infinite life combo, back down to the ground with the rest of us.

Honestly, this guy just looks really fun. It’s nice that in a pinch you can just have them gain you up to 19 life (or more I guess if you’re Platinum Angel-ing), and they don’t seem broken enough to garner hate. Not bad, potentially underrated.

 Urguros, the Empty One (29 decks, 73rd most played)

On the other hand, I’m not sure why you’d pick this of all cards to head your deck. Looking at it, though, it’s mostly just Spectre tribal, which makes sense to me. Don’t think there’s another Legendary Spectre outside of changelings, though that would at least get you Blazing Spectre.

Shoutouts for Spectre being one of the words with different spelling in America that people don’t know about as well.

Urguros is not a powerful commander. They’re slow and their effect is weak. But if you’re running them, you don’t care about power, you care about creature type, and that’s fine too.

 Whisper, Blood Liturgist (150 decks, 33rd most played)

Oh, ok. blood liturgist.

Jokes aside, Whisper is more popular than I would have expected. Considering they’re basically reverse Victimize, I’m surprised that people are so into them when that card exists.

Ohh, wait, there’s probably a bunch of infinites with this and Thornbite Staff, huh. Yeahhh, that scans. Though even outside of combo bullshit, I bet they get a bunch of fun value stuff with army-in-a-can-type creatures like Abhorrent Overlord and Sengir Autocrat. Shame about the stats.

 Yargle, Glutton of Urborg (208 decks, 27th most played)

A literal vanilla creature, Yargle has overcome the odds to bargle into the hearts of many. The undeniable Best Frog Commander (Gitrog players do not interact), Yargle has clearly captured as many hearts as he’s eaten, considering he got his own Secret Lair filled with cards he can’t really play. His bit in the lore was also kind of hilarious, nearly killing all the protagonists until Muldrotha deus-ex-mythic rare-d him out of there.

The thing is, Yargle is not even that bad aside from the meme. He might be literally vanilla, butt he has 9 fucking power for 5 mana. He’s probably one of the cheapest creatures that breaches the 3-hit rule, and only needs 2 more to get down to 2. And 2 power isn’t super hard. Strap this bad boy with a sword or two and you can just gettem. Let alone the fact that he one-shots things with Tainted Strike. Or Grafted Exoskeleton. Or just about anything plus Fireshrieker. Unironically one of Mono-Black’s best Voltron options.

 Isareth the Awakener (30 decks, 70th most played)

Skipping the Battlebond cards because…who plays Virtus or Regna solo… brings us to the painfully mediocre Isareth. A 3 mana 3/3 that lets you cast one thing from your yard, and only if she risks her own life. And you still have to pay for the reanimate. And it gets the exile clause as well. Man, this was the same cycle as Goreclaw and Sai, too. Hell, I even like Lena more after I designed a deck around her. This just sucks. Like, I cannot imagine playing this over Chainer or something.

 The Haunt of Hightower (168 decks, 31st most played)

Speaking of Voltron, this Buy-a-Box exclusive is basically a self-sufficient beast of a flyer. Cards go into opponent’s graveyards all the time, and one mass mill effect makes this thing get huge fast as fuck. Add in lifelink so it keeps you going and all it’s really missing is the ability to protect itself, and there’re equipment for that.

On the other hand, it’s 6 mana and a 3/3 base, so if you aren’t able to get things in bins (or if a Rest in Peace/Leyline of the Void is out) it basically isn’t doing anything. And Flying is a much worse keyword in commander than one would think, being probably the most common Evasion mechanic. But I think this haunty boy is still solid.

 God-Eternal Bontu (81 decks, 48th most played)

If only the rest of us could age so gracefully. Er, die so gracefully, I guess. Zombie Set is kind of a beating, turning all sorts of useless shash into pure cash. And she can go to your deck if the zone is getting too costly, and she’s a cool crocodile zombie god.

Unfortunately, she does suffer from being an ETB-effect commander, which always feels a bit more mid than I’d like- they do their thing and then just…sit there… and unlike Gonti she doesn’t deter attacks that well. She does attack pretty alright herself, but it’s only 5 power and can’t even trade with two 3/3s. And it’s harder to fuel this all-or-nothing kind of ability repeatedly. There are a few (crocodile?) rocks to use, as well as chump creatures that crave death, but fill your deck with those and that’s all you’ll draw. It’s…fine. She’s fine.

 Massacre Girl (285 decks, 22nd most played)

The final card under the magnifying glass today, and probably still the best boardwipe/commander combo. Massacre Girl basically just kills everything, provided things aren’t too massive and there’s fodder around to bite the dust first. If anyone played Hearthstone back when I did, she’s basically a way, way better Defile.

Wait, that’s also a Magic name now isn’t it, shit.

I still think the notorious M.G. goes better in the deck than the zone, but I suppose control decks would appreciate having one of the things they crave most- board clears- available at a moment’s notice. And if you’re building around her, then you can fill your deck with the fodder that fuels her best. But I’m not sure where you win from there.

Ehhh, probably just Revel in Riches.

This brings us to the end of this edition of Black Commanders, and to the start of 2019. Which means the remaining 21 cards all came out in the last 2.5 years, which speaks a lot to how much they were designing cards for commander, and how many sets they’ve been coming out with. Until then.

[swifterm]

Ecommerce cigars, the companies, brands and retailers

Ecommerce Cigars, the companies, brands and retailers. The global cigar and cigarillos market was worth over $18 billion last year and is expected to exceed $21.02 billion by 2025. Statista recently published these figures for the US:

Revenue in the Cigars segment amounts to US$9,622.1m in 2021. The market is expected to grow annually by 1.35% (CAGR 2021-2025).

In global comparison, most revenue is generated in the United States (US$9,622m in 2021).

In relation to total population figures, per person revenues of US$28.90 are generated in 2021.

Cigars are finally growing in popularity among young consumers in many countries, marking a reversal of a decades-long trend in the opposite direction.

Experts attribute this growth to a variety of factors, such as higher taxes associated with conventional cigarettes driving consumers towards alternatives such as cigars. Many cigar companies are also beginning to market towards women and other demographics that they have traditionally avoided, further driving demand.

Many e-commerce merchants who sell regulated products like premium cigars or loose tobacco products shy away because it is perceived difficulty of processing high-risk processing transactions, specifically hearing horror stories from other merchants of how their accounts were frozen or shut down by payments gateways. Many cigar retailers selling online are particularly keen on specific features like abandoned cart recovery, automated taxes based on customer location, and shipping options to squeeze the most profits out of your business as you can.

Another favourite function is product variation; many cigar buyers like to buy in small packs, like 3 or 5 packs with some variety in each package. This requires sophisticated purpose built software especially for personalised marketing. This is possible by using by Using SwiftERM, which personalises product selection for email marketing. Offering exactly the right products to each individual consumer automatically by using a predictive analytics algorithm for each individual registered to buy online from you.

The Corporates:

Imperial Brands plc. England, UK

Stock ticker: IMP Market cap: $19.76 billion Revenue: $34 billion

Net income: $1.62 billion Imperial Brands plc, formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group plc, is by far the largest manufacturer of cigars in the world. main brands are Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, JPS, West, Fine, News, Winston, Bastos, Lambert & Butler and Parker & Simpson. The company’s key markets are the Unites States (US), Germany, Australia, Spain and the UK. https://www.davidofflondon.com

Altadis USA, simply a subsidiary of Imperial Brands, owns over half of the entire United States’ Cuban cigar market. Imperial Brands also owns hundreds of other notable cigar brands through its many various subsidiaries. Perhaps the greatest reason for the difference between Imperial Brands’ cigars sales and every other company on this list is their presence and exposure to the wider tobacco industry.

While many other large cigar companies focus just on cigars, Imperial Brands actually generates most of its revenue through cigarettes and then uses those sales to subsidize its cigar business. The company’s presence in the cigarette industry also allows it to purchase tobacco in greater bulk, build more factories, and build relationships with more distributors around the world. Some of Imperial Brands’ best-selling cigar brands include Montecristo, Trinidad, and Romeo y Julieta.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Copenhagen, Denmark

Stock ticker: DKK Market cap: $11.68 billion Revenue: $1.8 billion Net Income: $342 million

Scandinavian Tobacco Group is a manufacturer of cigars and pipe tobacco that owns many of the top-selling cigar brands in the world.

The company sells over three billion cigars each year and possesses a massive cigar brand portfolio of over 200 different products, including well-known names such as Cohiba, CAO, and Macanudo.

General Cigar Company. Richmond, Virginia

Stock ticker: PM Market cap: $134.12 billion Revenue: $79.82 billion Net Income: $7.91 billion

General Cigar Company, a subsidiary of Scandivanian Tobacco Group, is the world’s largest manufacturer of premium cigars.

Although founded in 1901, the company first saw widespread success in the United States when it acquired Gradiaz Annis and gained access to the Macanudo brand, which was and remains one of the top-selling cigar brands in the country.

The company also owns the Ramon Allones, CAO, and Cohiba brands, which all rank among the best-selling premium cigar brands.

The Retailers:

There big three highly respected cigar retailers in the UK are James J. Fox, Davidoff and C-Gars.

James J. Fox have been trading in fine tobacco and smokers’ accessories from 19 St James’s Street since 1787 and our customers have included discriminating smokers from all walks of life – from commoners to kings. Among them have been Sir Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, British and Foreign Royalty, the officer’s mess of famous British regiments, and the leading lights of the stage and film, https://www.jjfox.co.uk

Naturally for one not quite so established, Davidoff, who are also in St, James, London, prefer to emphasise their product, rather than heritage. “Traditional blending was not as complex as it is today. One or two tobaccos were rolled into a cylinder, without much complexity at all. During the last 20 years we began developing varieties and new tobaccos, which set us apart as craftsmen of exclusive cigars.

Davidoff is active in 15 different tobacco areas which can each produce 4 different grades of tobacco. This means that when we select these tobaccos for the filler, binder and wrapper, we theoretically have 216,000 possible combinations to choose from. If the filler contains more than one tobacco, this number is even significantly higher.” https://www.davidofflondon.com

The third notable player is C-Gars who, to their credit, got on the commerce bandwagon exceptionally early. Instead of assuming the leisurely noblesse oblige usualy associated with relaxed ambience of cigar smoking, they adopted a more pragmatic approach, more familiar to grocery retailer. The obvious distinction being an inference of competitiveness on pricing, reflected in the success their turnover suggests.  They kindly publish a list of places you can relax and enjoy a cigar here: https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/where-smoke-the-a-224.html

There are a few more that we personally admire, including Cigars of Cuba in Aberystwyth https://www.cigarsofcuba.co.uk, My Smoking Shop of Preston https://www.mysmokingshop.co.uk and Simply Cigars https://www.simplycigars.co.uk website pictured below. Other names of note include Havana House https://www.havanahouse.co.uk, The Cigar Club https://www.cigar-club.com and Gauntleys https://cigars.gauntleys.com

According to Conviencestore.co.uk Cigars remain a vital money-spinner for the convenience sector. With more than 260 million cigars sold in the UK annually and the market worth just shy of £200m in annual sales, cigars can also generate about three times as much margin as traditional cigarettes.

A full lists of AITS member is available here: https://aits.co.uk/find-a-tobacconist/

The Top Selling Brands:

Montecristo No 2. Cuba. …

Partagas Serie D No 4. Cuba. …

Montecristo No 5. Cuba. …

Romeo Y Julieta No 2. Cuba. …

Cohiba Siglo I. Cuba. …

Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure No 2. Cuba. …

Montecristo Petit Tubos. Cuba. …

Punch Petit Coronation. Cuba. Like Hoyo…

Premium cigars are rolled by hand using whole tobacco leaves, ensuring the smoker has a pure experience. The quality of tobacco also determines whether a cigar is considered premium. Cuban cigars are world-famous; Cuba’s best tobacco comes from the Pinar del Rio region.

We hope you enjoyed this article, intended to help improve our client’s profitability. It reflects the care SwiftERM offer. If you haven’t already done so, then please enjoy a FREE month’s trial and let us know what you think.

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[satbiym]

The Beauty of Theoretical Computer Science/Pure Math

I just....I’m constantly awed. You don’t have to be necessarily the best in a field to appreciate its beauty. To be constantly humbled by its consequences and magnitude.

I’m happy I don’t know as much as I should because every discovery or new knowledge is like uncovering a whole new treasure.

If you’ll give me a moment of your time I’ll demonstrate my favourite bit in Theoretical Computer Science/ Pure Mathematics.

Right, so. 

Have you ever thought of infinity? One man in particular did. His name was Cantor. And man did he get right into it.

So, apparently there are two kinds of infinities (More on that later)....and one is bigger than the other.

But how can one infinity be bigger than another? forever means forever, right? 

Does it? Does it really?

Imagine this, I give you a number (Say 0), and tell you to add 1 to it, write it down, and then add one to that number, and so on.....could you say, with confidence that given enough time and boredom, you would eventually reach a certain number?-----(1)

Say, 1234567890456456575676767? Could you guarantee that you will eventually reach this number if you went on with the above “algorithm” (which basically means list of steps)?

Yes.

This is called being countably infinite. Like those of natural or whole numbers.

(Question: are the number of numbers from 0 to infinity, more than the number of numbers from 1 to infinity? Is the first a smaller infinity than the second?)

But suppose I tell you starting from 1, give me all the numbers till 2. With a precision of 2. You would tell me, 1.00, 1.01,1.02,.......,1.99, 2.00.

Okay, still countable. Right?

(Is it a bigger infinity tho than the infinity we got in (1)?)

But what if I give you no precision?

If I told you, give me all numbers between 1 and 2.....what would you say? First number is easy, 1.0000.....0000000......, then what? What’s the next number?

There lie infinities between infinity.

This is called an uncountable infinity. like those of real numbers (the proof for this is cool).

Now we can all agree that uncountable infinity > countable infinity, right?

But do there exist more than these two infinities????? This is what is commonly called as the Continuum Hypothesis: there does not exist any infinity that is more than that of a countable set and less than that of uncountable

And you know what the best thing is about this??????

It has been proved that this hypothesis can neither be proved nor disproved!!!!!

This means that a mathematician can just say YOLO and chose either as a base rule (or axiom) and run with it.

And you thought comics were bad with official canon.

Lol.

But this is all the basis for my favourite thing in the world.

So, in Computer Science, everything can be written (encoded) in terms of 1s and 0s. Even letters.

For example:

01100101011101100110010101110010011110010111010001101000011010010110111001100111 0110100101110011 011000110110111101101111011011000110010101110010 0110100101101110 011000100110100101101110011000010111001001111001

is a complete sentence!

(try to convert it to ASCII)

Anyway, we can then take it a step further and see than any, and I do mean any, work of text - code, songs, poems, fanfiction, etc - can be encoded in binary.

Similarly, binary can be decoded into ASCII (the symbols we read). 

Now if I take all the possible permutations and combinations of all terminating binary strings.......like, 0, 1, 01, 10, 11,..........

and I go through them.....will it be countable or uncountable?

(Spoiler: it’s countable!!!!!)

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?????????

This means that if have an infinite list of all terminating binary strings, and go through it one by one.......we will be able to eventually reach all the text that is either 1) ever been written, 2) is currently being written, 3) or will ever be written.

We have found a way to capture human creativity!!!!

So, suppose we had never heard of Shakespeare, we will eventually reach Romeo and Juliet in the list of finite binary strings!!!!

I just.....that’s beautiful to me.

Thank you for reading!

[rounaq-comm3p18-blog]

Fandom Subculture

As we approach the end of the semester I have realized that there is a lot more to audience studies than I expected. In the past blog, I discussed how our world is constantly changing and evolving. As audiences, our experiences have seen a massive shift in our media environment that deviate from our traditional sources of media such as print and television. This shift brings many changes to the audience experience by allowing people to obtain more information and new forms of entertainment. These new forms of media provide audiences to interact amongst each other but as well as create or follow certain subcultures that are created purely by having similar interests. The internet offers a place where individuals can actively engage in conversation and share ideas and thoughts and a prime example of that is blogs. Writing these blogs in this course taught me how quickly culture changes. For example, some of the topics I discussed in my first blog post seem outdated in today’s fast-paced society. With the emergence of new media, issues started becoming less salient due to many other issues arising. In this blog post, I want to discuss fandom culture and how the digital age is responsible for creating and breaking trends. Also, the interactivity aspect of digital culture provides society with user-generated content.

Fandom culture has existed throughout different decades and through the evolution of media, the fandom culture has progressed as well. In the early 1900’s audiences idolized people in power such as the president or the queen of England. As forms of entertainment began to rise and the view shifted to athletes, musicians, performers and artists. In today’s society, we begin to see the shift from television celebrities to online stars such as Instagram models, social influencers and more where they do not necessarily have a background in acting or sports but are there to influence consumers and are seen as “trendsetters”. But how did they get in that position to do so and where can I apply to be an Instagram star. Well, John Fiske noted that fandom is “associated with the cultural tastes of subordinated formations of the people, particularly those disempowered by any combination of gender, age, class, and race” (Sullivan, 2013). Basically, these individuals have a cultural advantage by being from a certain lifestyle and culture where they are viewed as idols. When I think of a modern-day online celebrity, Kim Kardashian’s name instantly comes to mind. One day I was watching television with my cousin and Keeping up with the Kardashians was on and it got me thinking why are Kim and her family famous, do they have a successful business or are they movie stars? I was beyond disappointed when I did some research and found out that she gained her fame through another television celebrity Paris Hilton. By being a certain lifestyle and social status Kim Kardashian utilized that to earn money and influence her “fans” into the Kardashian culture.

To be fair not every celebrity in the digital age has gotten famous by being friends with a “celebrity”. There are many emerging performers that are getting international recognition by uploading their personal content such as vlogs (video logs), product reviews, comedy skits and much more. One of my personal favourite YouTuber is Casey Neistat, a filmmaker from New York City who started “vlogging” but utilizing film and camera techniques to make them look cinematic. Prior to Casey Neistat “vlogging” was quite popular in the YouTube scene due to its ability to allow everyday individuals to share their experience with a broad audience. This style emerged from the freedom of speech of blogging but by using video as the medium allowed people from all over the world to watch and it ultimately created a subculture within the YouTube subculture. Neistat’s distinct style lead me to be one of the most popular Youtuber’s and his fan base is constantly growing. By having millions of subscribers Neistat is able to create social change and influence within the community. Neistat often crowdfunds campaigns that he feels needs attention. Paul Booth mentioned that “by following a crowdfunding campaign from opening video to the funded project, one could theoretically see the birth of a new form of creative product” (Booth, 2015). Therefore, fans are able to assist in new projects by donating monetary funds and an example of this in real life was Casey Neistat’s GoFundMe page for Somalians. In March of 2017, a “Viner” named Jerome Jarre took to YouTube to help fund the Somalian food crisis. It was not until Casey posted a video discussing the issue where fans gathered instantaneously to help fund the project. This crowdfunding campaign raised over 1 million dollars in the span of 19 hours. This act highlighted the influence of participatory culture within digital media. Similarly, as Booth highlights, “that fan studies and technology studies can integrate in order to demonstrate changing paradigms of audience involvement in the media process” (Booth, 2015). Thus, it was the fandom culture that contributed to the success of the campaign and bringing exposure from international markets.

Culture is based on the lives of individuals residing in a location or sharing similarities. Cultures surpass space and time by providing individuals with concepts, ideas and ways of life. Most cultures are rooted in religious beliefs. For example, in the Jewish culture food has to be Kosher. This way of preparing food is known within the religion but also culturally. Individuals who many necessarily are of Jewish decent can participate in the Kosher tradition and learn and adapt to it. Therefore, culture is much more than religious practices but a way of life. Over the past decade, Ontario has seen a huge cultural shift through Toronto. Growing up just outside of Toronto allowed me to see the cultural changes surrounding the city. I was always a fan of hip-hop and R&B music and growing up I would listen to these artists from America who was bringing exposure to their hometowns by discussing them on the latest track. I always wondered even though Toronto does have a massive population, why are there no big artists emerging that represent the city in international markets. As I grew older, artists like Justin Bieber, Drake and the Weeknd found success in international markets. But it was Drake who actively talked about what the city has to offer and provide exposure to the Canadian culture to make it popular. In chapter 8 Sullivan discusses fan culture and I believe the artist Drake embodies the “two aspects of media fandom have emerged as central to theorists in this tradition. The first element is the social aspect, where media fans band together in either informal or more formally structured groups (such as fan clubs) to share their mutual interest with others. Second, fans act as interpreters and producers of media content, which we will call the interpretive aspect of media fandom.” (Sullivan, 2013). Due to his music fans merged together to appreciate his music which creates a social aspect and through utilizing “Toronto slang” and similar clothing, fans propagate the culture engages in the interactive aspect of media fandom.

As I was reading the article by Kihan Kim, Yunjae Cheong, and Hyuksoo Kim titled “The Influences of Sports Viewing Conditions on Enjoyment from Watching Televised Sports: An Analysis of the FIFA World Cup Audiences in Theater vs. Home” I thought my experiences of watching a sports game live vs. at home. It is pretty clear that once you are in the arena the atmosphere is totally different with fans wearing jerseys, cheering and actively engaging in participatory culture. But with the advancement of digital media, the presence of being at the game vs. watching on a television or through streaming has closed the gap between the two. Kim et al. elaborate by stating “Presence refers to the phenomenon in which an individual develops a sense of being physically present at a remote location through interaction with media”. A prime example of actively engaging remotely is through Twitter and Facebook. Using hashtags such as #wethenorth that promotes active participation from fans in a different area. In chapter 7 Sullivan discusses that “In his 1990 book The Consequences of Modernity, Giddens argued that one of the hallmarks of modern societies is the breakdown in the traditional notion of ‘place’ as a specific physical location—something he called ‘time-space distanciation’” (Sullivan 2013). This absence of time and space within fandom cultures provides people with a sense of belonging even if they are not from the same area or culture. Taking Raptors as an example, a team that was always seen as the underdogs in the NBA due to their further distance from all of the American teams. With the Wethenorth campaign, it allowed raptors fans from all over the world to engage is fan culture even if they had never visited the city before.

The convergence of digital media also brings downsides to factual information. In Ben S. Wasike’s article titled “Framing News in 140 Characters: How Social Media Editors Frame the News and Interact with Audiences via Twitter” discussing the issue of framing news by social media editors. The study found that most journalists tend to focus on news that deals with war/terrorism, man-made disasters and natural disasters. Ultimately news that would “sell” across multiple platforms rather than political or social issues. When I surf the web for news my main platforms of use tend to be Facebook and Instagram because it provides me with the social aspect and interactivity amongst real worlds news and social events that my friends post. News channels have a tendency to post the same news and even in some cases the titles and the contents are the same. This convergence of news events provides a narrow insight into world issues that deviate individuals from important issues occurring internationally.

Digital media is expanding rapidly and due to the advancement, many platforms are taking advantage trying to create applications through multiple devices. Audience culture has benefited as well as had a few setback due to the digital shift. This shift has allowed subcultures to flourish and fandom culture is going to continue to grow due to the ease of connectivity throughout the subcultures. For example, Star Trek or “trekies” fans are really devoted to the show even though the show has been off the air for years now. This continuation provides the show to be timeless and passed on from generation to generation creating many subcultures.

Sources Booth, P. (2105). Crowdfunding: A spimatic application of digital fandom. New Media and Society, 17(2), 149-166.

Kim, K., Cheong, Y., & Kim, H. (2016). The influences of sports viewing conditions on enjoyment from watching televised sports: An analysis of the FIFA World Cup audiences in theater vs. home. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 60(3), 389–409.

Sullivan, J. (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power. Sage Publications Inc., New York, NY.

Wasike, B. (2013). Framing news in 140 Characters: How social media editors frame the news and interact with audiences via Twitter. Global Media Journal - Canadian Edition, 6(1), 5-23.