#one day will officially complete this illustration but here you all go in the meantime!

[pawborough]

Hello everyone! 

First off, apologies for the later update this month! 

The truth is that the software developers were on a slow bend this month. A majority of time was spent on theoretical economy balancing and item number crunching. While this is important work for the long term, there’s not much to show for it aside from spreadsheet numbers. We’re now back in full swing!

Originally, we wanted to wait to update the demo with Longhairs before releasing a check in. You all deserve some substantial content. 

However, the devs reported that they were not going to be able to do this until next week. Hearing this, we didn't want to continue the wait after that!

That all being said, Longhairs and Cheeks/Lollipop are coming this month, full promise! The art has all been ready, we just had some technical kinks to buff out!

Moontails are next up with the majority of their patterns done. The breed currently needs 3 more patterns illustrated. Moontail wing color-picking has also been a mighty task that is nearing completion! Check out a few wing color previews: 

We expect Moontails to be up soon after Longhairs. 

We have in the meantime begun concurrent production on illustrating Thumpers, with Fyrets and Bovines close behind. 

This update, we will majority talk about what concrete expectations you as a follower can have for our timeline! 

Let's look at some art first! 

New Fauna

Nautitum 

This aquatic fella saves snacks for later in his belly!

New Accessories

We have completed a backer accessory!

Firefly Chime

The illustration of the Firefly Chime was a great experiment for us, as we worked with a copy-past-able asset and still positioned it in unique ways. 

With these two, we were able to test our pipeline for different types of accessories. The Firefly Chime was finished in record time, and we believe that we can illustrate quite a few simple accessories. 

This is all very exciting for our catalog! 

Guild UI

With this screenshot, we see how roll for outcome scenarios are played out!

We want to talk about our expectations for the future! 

Our goal for a dedicated alpha is to have a test of about 100 concurrent users run for two weeks straight. This is to stress test the servers and weed out apparent bugs. We already have many playable states, but this test would mark a tangible transition to beta. 

After which, we will move to beta to test things like number balancing, item drop rates, and general mechanic feedback. Beta is planned to run for several months while we iron the kinks. 

So what should you expect? 

Our original plan was for alpha to remain strictly internal and invite only. We wanted testers to understand that this would be a rather laborious volunteer job with less fun, more QA. However, we have been shown by the sheer dedication and passion in our supporters that some of you would want nothing more! 

So, we're opening alpha applications! 

Alpha Applications

Alpha will be a two week long test with an average of 100 users. 

We must stress that this is a volunteer job with more expectations than beta. You will be given a checklist of functions to test and buttons to click daily, and be expected to report any bugs or lack thereof each time. All alpha testers will be compensated for their time and energy with an exclusive fauna. (As mentioned before, exclusive Fauna will not be counted for Faunapedia completion rewards.) 

Compatible volunteers will be chosen at random from our application. 

Sign up here! 

Applications will close upon announcement. We will make an announcement of a closure date one week before they officially close!

Timeline

We are planning to have alpha up and running within 30-60 days from now.

Closed beta will begin 3 weeks after alpha. 

From there, we plan to open our doors for people without beta keys during registration periods. This will be "open beta." 

Projection for this is August of 2024. 

This asset will be pinned to all our social media. 

While we've had general estimations before now based on different factors, this is our first promise of an established expectation. We had a lot of learning curves, personal setbacks, and growing pains as a team, but we've ironed out much of the kinks seen in our early development. August has been a consistent goal of ours for opening registrations from the beginning, and we're now finally comfortable enough to announce it. 

We are still hesitant to announce dates at this time, as frankly anything can happen and we're loath to have users wait months for a date only to be disappointed by a push to the next week, but this is what our team is expecting and projecting. 

Dates will be announced when they are within 2 weeks time! This will give us a tight enough window to accurately predict when the game will be ready, and ensure there aren’t last minute pushes. It will also give users time to prepare for grabbing early registrations. 

From open beta, we'll be working to transition into a formidable game. All our focus will be on readying content and making sure our mechanics are balanced. This ballpark is dependent on a number of factors, so we'll need to update as we transition into Phase 4! 

One more note for users to expect: Throughout alpha and beta, there may be placeholder assets for smaller things such as food icons or items. These will be visually indicated as placeholders. 

The intention for these game states will be to make sure our software runs as smoothly as possible, the economy is balanced, and the game is fun to play. Our program will not be "launched" until all assets are final, but it will speed our development to both test and produce at the same time! 

Our artists during this phase of development are all freelancers, and their availability is largely dependent on outside factors. We must remain vigilant to this fact while we plan out our timeline, and we appreciate everyone's support and patience!

We realize this update has less content than previous updates, but a large amount of our manpower at this moment is going towards monotonous things such as repeat pattern illustrations, repeat accessory illustrations, and refinement of mechanics already featured.

Thank you to all our supporters who have stuck by us while we continued development and faced new challenges! It's a huge step for us to be at this stage, and we're all very excited!

To Summarize: We showed a new fauna, new backer accessory, guild UI development, and opened applications for 2-week dedicated alpha testing. 

What to expect next month: Further asset and UI development, peaks into alpha gameplay and dedicated game loops. 

[the-nysh]

Why do people say Murata is thirsty for Garou? Doesn’t he do that for every character?

Hohum~ :3c Looks like someone's new around here. Because it's been pretty obvious to those familiar with Murata's no-chill behavior since his streaming days. (No one is as thirsty as Murata when it comes to Garou, but Aoki the s2 animator is also very thirsty for Garou too~)

I've already compiled a Murata's Garou thirst alignment chart just to illustrate how extensive it is~ Because there's probably no other character who can fill it (with plenty more gratuitous examples to spare) all by himself. Likewise, Garou can also complete the 'shirt cut meme' all on his own with official content too; the range of his power! 8'D

In general, Murata may be quite equal opportunity when it comes to lavishly rendering every character's appeal, but when given the chance to indulge in more fanservice (or draw more panels, because of course), it's consistently been Garou & Fubuki who are Murata's go-to favorite poster boy & girl (respectively) in that department. (See: “Murata’s Garou pinups look like magazine covers.”)

See also the back muscle compilation: Murata hyper-rendering Garou's back (modeled after Bruce Lee) was a common early manga staple, until his tastes evolved and drifted lower to include Garou's other assets of his entire backside showcased from head to literal toe. :P You can see where some of Murata's current tastes reside by how conspicuously curvaceous (in the hips & thighs) he tends to draw him, enough to rival Murata's best girls! (Plot twist: maybe Garou is Murata's best girl?! *pretends to be shocked*)

Garou vs Darkshine was probably the peak (imo) of Murata's h0rnyness for him however; did you know Murata went back to edit round 2 soon after it released to be even steamier? :P Heh. Honestly, I've never seen a male mangaka want to f*ck his own male character design this badly before. (Right down to all the suggestively prone shots & angles.) Like geezus Murata, calm down!

Murata's not shy about being thirsty for Garou on main either, where in preparation for the Garou chapters he'd be working on (like those Darkshine chs), he'd often psych himself up by spam retweeting some of his thirstiest Garou arts in the meantime. Murata's even self-aware enough to caption his posts with ガロ肉 (Garou meat). :P Classic Murata; like I say, this man just cannot be stopped! He's just way too excited to get to draw him~

Anyway, the list continues on, but you're more than welcome to check out my archives for more examples from some of Murata's thirstiest Garou eras you may have missed~

[whittlebaggett8]

Pakistan’s Undeclared Censorship | The Diplomat

Pakistan People’s Celebration Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, when addressing a ceremony on Planet Press Freedom Working day in Karachi, claimed that Pakistani media is facing undeclared censorship. Sadly, the journalist community agrees with him.

Pakistan’s media houses are doing work less than a local weather of worry, which is influencing their protection and operations. Journalists are ever more practising self-censorship to help you save the two their jobs and lives they are bullied on social media, kidnapped in broad daylight, and threatened for reporting details.

The federal government is managing commercials for information channels in an attempt to silence them. It is a really sorry condition for media homes that intensely rely on government adverts. The most current example is the country’s most-browse English language newspaper, Dawn, and its Television set channel, whose commercials were being banned on Press Liberty Working day. Mubashir Zaidi, a senior journalist affiliated with explained channel, broke the information in a person of his tweets.

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So @pid_gov has banned commercials for @Dawn_Information on #PressFreedomDay  Naya Pakistan? PM @ImranKhanPTI ? @PTIofficial

— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) May possibly 3, 2019

Pakistan ranked 142nd out of 180 nations around the world – falling three sites from 2018 – in Reporters With out Borders’ 2019 Entire world Press Flexibility Index.

“The red line has expanded. The institution is interfering at just about every doable amount. There are no totally free converse shows. Information and articles or blog posts are censored. It is extensive censorship,” columnist and analyst Imtiaz Alam said.

The “red line” now includes criticism of the highly effective armed forces of Pakistan and the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governing administration, protection of rights-based mostly alliance Pashtun Tahaffuz motion (PTM), and reporting on previous Primary Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is at the moment in jail.

Journalists who cross these crimson lines confront a selection of threats, from reduction of livelihood to reduction of life. A distinctive report of the Pakistan Press Foundation unveiled that at least 48 journalists ended up killed in specific attacks in the final 17 yrs. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are deemed the most dangerous provinces for journalists in Pakistan.

Lawful motion is also utilized to preserve the press silent. According to a report on the condition of Pakistani media in 2018 posted by the Pakistan Push Basis, 7 journalists and a single media business proprietor confronted legal steps in 2018.

This calendar year, senior journalist Shahzeb Jillani was accused of cyberterrorism based mostly on his reviews on the lacking individuals difficulty on a speak exhibit. Jillani is dealing with rates underneath Sections 10(a) (cyberterrorism), 11 (dislike speech), and 20 (destructive code) of the Pakistan Digital Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.

Cyril Almeida is going through treason charges and vacation limitations right after he released an interview with Nawaz Sharif, in which the a few-time prime minister of Pakistan accused the Pakistani military of aiding the armed group that carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The report also mentions that there have been at least 31 occasions of journalists, anchorpersons, and tv channels remaining issued demonstrate-result in notices, anchorpersons remaining suspended, web-sites currently being blocked, and disruptions to the distribution of newspapers.

And the authorities is transferring to tighten its handle over media retailers even further. The federal cabinet accredited the formation of Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PMRA) – a single system to regulate all varieties of media — on January 25, 2019.

Journalists condemned the choice and named it an endeavor to suppress independence of the press. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists launched a assertion afterward calling the transfer in violation of the constitution.

“This is in violation of Article 19 of the Structure of Pakistan, which guarantees freedom of expression as a elementary human ideal. Establishment of a federal institution to regulate printing and publication — which is a provincial subject following the 18th Constitutional Modification — interferes in the domain of provinces and is, hence, also in violation of the Constitution,” the statement reads.

At this time, the Pakistan Digital Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Push Council of Pakistan (PCP) regulate electronic and print media respectively. There is no separate system to regulate or observe electronic media platforms. It is considered that the PTI govt created this body primarily to management electronic media platforms.

In the meantime, the Pakistani miltary’s Inter-Services Community Relations (ISPR) issued a notification on April 16, which contained names of 26 retired officers of the armed forces who can appear on media as defense analysts.

“Their views/remarks/views on media shall remain own/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” the notification reads.

In another notification dated April 4 and released by PEMRA, Television set channels have been directed to search for prior clearance from ISPR right before inviting retired military officers to share their sights on protection and stability-associated issues.

Internet websites have also been shut down for their vital reporting and extensive protection of challenges the authorities would somewhat not be protected. The Urdu web-site of the United States’ Voice of The united states was shut down in Pakistan in December 2018 allegedly for masking PTM rallies. VOA reporters claim that the Pashto web page was blocked months prior to that.

Then-Minister for Info Fawad Chaudhry experienced commented that the websites have been blocked for wrong and prejudiced reporting. Nonetheless, VOA English wrote in a information tale that Pakistani authorities were scrutinizing media protection of the PTM, blocking VOA internet websites, and submitting law enforcement situations from journalists masking its general public gatherings.

Even now, internet websites are the most common platform between journalists in Pakistan as they give them room, which is shrinking in mainstream media.

“Earlier we experienced one particular PTV, now we have a lot of,” Ammar Masood, a senior columnist and analyst said, referring to the point out-owned Pakistan Tv community, which is the mouthpiece of the authorities.

Masood writes a column for a leading Urdu newspaper. Usually his columns are rejected for publication he sends these to an on-line website operate by his colleague, Wajahat Masood.

“It’s not about my column only it is the overall circumstance of media in Pakistan. Whoever talks professional-democracy, his voice is shut down. All those who feel in different ways are out of a work this time. Talat Hussain, Matiullah Jan, Murtaza Solangi, and I are illustrations,” Ammar Masood explained.

Journalists are transferring to social media platforms soon after acquiring sacked from their employment. Some have made their personal YouTube channels, where they publish their evaluation on diverse political happenings.

“Social media penetration in Pakistan is very outstanding. You can receive a enormous response on your content material there, which displays that there exists an data hole. Folks want to get data but they are not acquiring it,” Masood mentioned.

At the end of final 12 months, lots of journalists like Mubashir Zaidi, Taha Siddiqui, and Gul Bukhari complained of getting email messages from Twitter about an “official correspondence” concerning some of their tweets.

When Fawad Chaudhry was questioned about individuals Twitter notices, he mentioned that the authorities was not sending any requests to Twitter.

On the other hand, Twitter unveiled a transparency report on Friday which stated that involving July and December in 2018, the PTI government sent requests for the removing of 193 accounts and noted 2,349 profiles to the micro-blogging web-site.

A amount of senior journalists have begun their personal information and impression-based websites. Imtiaz Alam has also announced the launch of two news internet sites – 1 for South Asia in English and the other in Urdu especially for Pakistani viewers – aside from a YouTube channel. He introduced the news in a tweet on his personal twitter account.

Before, Alam wrote in a tweet that a discuss display producer who had invited him as a guest analyst canceled his invite just a number of hrs ahead of the display.

In truth, I resigned from GEO and really do not really feel to appear in any Television set exhibit. Most are scared to invite me to their reveals and other people invite and terminate it. So, please don’t invite me, I don’t like your Tv set reveals. They are not truly worth it.

— Imtiaz Alam (@ImtiazAlamSAFMA) April 25, 2019

“No television channel can air systems which are in violation of directions from Rawalpindi [the Pakistan army]. If another person does this they are blacklisted and not invited in the exhibits. If they get invited, their invitation can be dropped [at any moment],” he claimed.

What if his new websites get blocked? Alam mentioned that he would not cease.

“We will hold attempting. We will hold exploring platforms but we will in no way do anything which is ethically completely wrong. They could have differences with our editorial policy but that is all proper,” he claimed.

Tehreem Azeem is a digital media journalist based mostly in Lahore, Pakistan. She experiences on human legal rights violations, conflicts, and censorship. She tweets @tehreemazeem.

The post Pakistan’s Undeclared Censorship | The Diplomat appeared first on Defence Online.

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[kylo-ren-writes]

Attraction, Part 10

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, epilogue

Pairing: Kylo Ren x Reader

Warnings: age gap, some fluff, angst

Tag List: @beautifulbows924 @celestiaelisia @bluudhavens @majestic-sith-queen @kyloren-supreme-ben @samarantha @kirah34 @redhairedfeistynerd @drtiberiussith @hoe-for-daddywise @bisexualbitchbabe @hostofthefirenation @ayatimascd @fralackles @imyourdreamwife @kylos-sassy-cousin @blxkstar @thesquidni @kylosskywalkers @ymariejp @sassyspacepizza @the-illustrator-of-melodies

A/N: I think this chapter is the best written chapter out of the ones I’ve written so far! Only the epilogue left now! Thank you to everyone that read this series! I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing more series in the future! (Gif not mine!)

Kylo was the first to wake.

A warmth was against his chest, another body pressed against his. He found his arms wrapped around this unfamiliar thing, his sense of touch more aware as his eyes were still closed.

With dark brows furrowed, Kylo opened his eyes, slowly, to a dark room. His room.

Another person lied beside him, against him, their back towards him. But he wasn’t panicked or confused, rather his expression softened at the familiar energy through the force.

Sleeping soundly with your legs intertwined with his, your head occupying the bicep Kylo had underneath, and a small hand softly resting over his wrist, Kylo was more than aware of your presence.

He watched you quietly, breath caught in his throat as he watched you breathe silently and softly, content in his arms and in his bed. Kylo’s other arm was wrapped loosely around your waist, keeping you flush against his muscled chest.

It was as if you were some ethereal thing; a divine higher power with some form of power over him as you had him frozen beside you. He could not seem to simply stop staring at you, or at least what he could see of you with your back to him. Kylo was torn between selfishly waking you up with the affection he thought you deserved, and with allowing you to sleep longer. At least for the meantime Kylo just didn’t bother to move at all.

No one knew what it felt like to not get a proper amount of sleep better than Kylo did. It was the reason he was awake now, years of improper sleep had him awake at unusual times in the night or even asleep sometimes during the day if for some reason he had nothing minor scheduled for it. But then of course there were the nightmares.

Nightmares plagued Kylo’s sleep long before he had given into the dark side and joined his new master, Snoke. He knew now that Snoke had been the cause of them, but they still reigned on with or without the help of his master. Yet strangely, not a single nightmare had interrupted Kylo’s deep slumber. Now why was that?

His gaze seemed to focus back onto you, not that it hadn’t already been. But Kylo watched you with a new expression that still held the same softness as before, but with a slight drawn in brow.

Kylo had slept deeply and soundly, not stirring once throughout the whole night. And by glancing a look at the holoclock near your head, it was not an ungodly hour that Kylo found himself awake at. Perhaps early, earlier for most. But the two of you did manage to sleep for some of yesterday’s day and the night. In fact, Kylo was intrigued that you were still asleep. Maybe that was the effect you two had on eachother; a soundless, deep, satisfying sleep. He could live with that.

Pressing his face into the back of your head, Kylo couldn’t help but nuzzle his nose into your hair. He wasn’t going to wake you, or at least he did not want to, but he found himself unable to watch you further without touching you in some other way than he already was now.

When you didn’t manage to stir, Kylo’s chin tilted down to press a kiss to the back of your shoulder. Your skin was warm against his naturally full lips, reminding Kylo just how close the two of you really were.

He had almost forgotten the lack of clothes you wore, the training shirt he had given you not proving to be much. Even though it was rather long on you. It was completely sleeveless and left a large portion of your chest exposed. At least it did with the position you were lying in now, on your side. Kylo himself was only in a pair of underwear, his torso and legs exposed and naked against you. But he was sure you would not mind when you did wake, how could you?

When you did wake.

Was Kylo going to lie beside you until you woke up on your own? He wasn’t sure if he had the restraint to allow you to sleep for longer. Even with his lips pressed into your skin, how much longer could he go without doing anything more to potentially jostle you awake? He was not sure.

The thought was almost distracting, yet not distracting enough for Kylo to ignore that familiar pressure in the back of his skull that he could feel grow stronger at each passing second.

Snoke was calling to him.

Why? Why now? Why at this hour, before a normal person even started their day. Before even the officers and stormtroopers on the night shift switched out for others to begin the day shift. Why?

It did not take Kylo much time to think, however. And what he came up with relaxed him a bit.

He remembered the bond between you and him. Remembered how it had opened up yesterday after what the two of you had shared. He remembered it well and fondly. The sweet memory alone had the arm around your waist tightening on its own.

If his master wanted to speak to him about your bond, then perhaps that was ok. Perhaps Snoke had further instructions to give before the day officially started and so did your training. That idea eased Kylo some more, not fully, but enough.

Now Kylo only needed to somehow manage to get out of bed and untangle himself from you without disturbing your peaceful sleep. It would be difficult.

Kylo untangled is legs from yours first, carefully and slowly. You didn’t even twitch at the loss, which encouraged Kylo to keep going. When his legs were free from yours, he removed the arm from around your waist next. That was easier, all Kylo had to do was lift it. The next part, however, would be the most difficult.

With your pretty head still resting easily onto his arm and your hand clutching onto his wrist, Kylo would have to be as careful as he possibly could. Luckily, since you were in fact still asleep, the grip you had on his wrist was soft. Soft enough to where he could carefully pluck your hand off and gently set it down onto the bed. And when he did, Kylo was left with only your head on his bicep.

Kylo stared down at you. He couldn’t resist it anymore. His lips flew down to your face, pressingly a soft kiss to your cheek. He brushed some of your hair back and kissed you again then again, lips landing in different spots, some on your cheek, one on your nose. The last kiss he managed to land before you finally seemed to stir, was on the corner of your mouth. There, Kylo’s lips lingered the longest.

“Shh,” Kylo whispered, kissing you again as his chest hovered over you, grazing you slightly. He wanted to urge you to stay asleep with his soft reassurance.

Your brows furrowed the slightest, not quite waking, or barely waking at all actually. But Kylo used the opportunity to slip his arm from under your head carefully, allowing your head to softly rest onto a pillow instead.

Kylo’s long fingers grazed against your forearm, the one whose fingers had just been holding onto his wrist before. His face rested against the side of yours, lips still pressing into the soft skin of your face as he whispered you back to sleep. “It’s alright, little one. Relax, go back to sleep.”

You didn’t need very much encouragement, he found. Seconds later your face was relaxing out of its furrowed brow and slight frown as he could feel you slip back to sleep through the bond. He was relieved yet guilty that he had even woken you up to begin with.

With one last careful kiss to your cheek, Kylo lifted his face from yours and pulled the hand touching your arm away, and slowly got out of bed. He did not want to leave you, not in the slightest. But Snoke was calling to him and he had to obey and go.

Kylo stepped over the clothes he had thrown onto the floor yesterday, a dark mixture of his and yours at his feet. He disregarded them for now, even though the memory brought a small smirk to his lips as he paced over to his closet. He put on his regular set of dark robes before going into the bathroom to clean his mouth and fix his hair.

It was then that Kylo remembered that he had left his helmet in the training room yesterday when he had taken you here. He cursed to himself quietly, remembering that you were still here and that he still did not want to wake you.

His anger simmered beneath the surface, but Kylo kept himself controlled. All he had to do was go retrieve it. Not many people would be out, his identity would be, for the most part, safe. Everything was fine. Everything would be fine.

Kylo took a few measured breaths anyway, wanting to push that rage he felt building to the back of his mind and away. It wouldn’t be useful now nor would it solve his little problem of retrieving his helmet from the training room.

Striding out of the bathroom, Kylo felt his heart stutter inside his chest. There you lied, turned over onto his side where he had been minutes ago, your face buried into his pillow. A quick check into the force told him you were still asleep, but that didn’t make leaving you feel any better than it did. Yet Snoke pressed on. Kylo could feel his master grow impatient, he had already taken too much time in pulling away from you and getting dressed. He needed to go now.

Kylo passed the bed on his way out, offering you one last warm gaze before he left his bedroom and turned down the small, narrow hall that led to a living area and the blastdoor to his quarters. The blastdoor opened for him and closed behind him once he stepped out into the barren corridor.

It was odd for Kylo to step out of the safety of his quarters without his mask to guard his emotions and hide his face. Anyone could walk past him now and see Kylo Ren. The idea made him hesitate the slightest, but with Snoke pressing into the back of his skull, Kylo turned down the hallway towards the training room.

Kylo couldn’t sense much energy as he took long strides down the hall, moving further away from you with each step. He turned down a corner. Not many officers or stormtroopers frequented this area, much to Kylo’s relief right now. But he knew he would sense it if that changed. Why should he care anyway? He was Kylo Ren. Mask or no mask, it didn’t make him any less powerful. He was still a powerful force user that could choke a stormtrooper out if his thoughts so much as acknowledged his appearance.

It didn’t take long for Kylo to get to the training room. He walked in, instantly spotting his helmet exactly where he had left it yesterday, and with a flick of his wrist, he summoned it to his hand with the force. He couldn’t help the relief that flooded through him at having the security of his helmet back into his gloved hands. Kylo quickly placed it onto his head, his vision shrouded, and his confidence raised back up to par.

With a staticky breath through the vocoder, Kylo turned right around and stormed back out of the training room, picking up speed with his strides as a new destination popped into his head. Now he just needed to get to the lift that would take him up to his master.

It was almost like a checklist, he realized. He was checking things off out of the things he had to do before he could return back to you. Was it bad that he was that attached already? He would refuse to think of himself as needy, even if that’s what he was.

The closer Kylo got to the lift, the more life he sensed around him. Stormtroopers stood at their posts while some patrolled the halls under orders. Busy officers passed by him, keeping a distance at their familiar, dark commander. Kylo knew he sparked fear into the people that saw him. Knowing it made a smirk curl up one corner of his mouth in satisfaction. They should be afraid of him. It sure made getting by and closer to the lift easier. Everyone seemed to simply move out of the way for him.

Kylo stepped onto the lift, barely waiting for the doors to fully open before slipping inside. Snoke was waiting.

There wasn’t even an ounce of anxiety eating at his chest as he was lifted up. Kylo was confident in Snoke and trusted him completely like the loyal apprentice that he was. The bond opening up between you and him was a good thing, it meant that Kylo could continue on with his training, and get closer to the future he could have with you.

He could see it in his head, the day his training was complete. The day he was no longer an apprentice but a master. A master of the dark side with you by his side. And Kylo would continue training you, making you his apprentice with Snokes approval. He was sure his master would allow it, in due time. He had to.

Kylo’s attention returned back to the present when the doors opened, revealing the redness of Snokes throne room to him. The familiar praetorian guards stood at the edges of the vast room with Snoke at the end and in its center, there to protect him from any threat. Although Kylo was sure the man could hold off his own.

Kylo stalked forward, signature clenched fists at his sides, robes billowing out at his feet, and helmeted head held high. He couldn’t help the good mood he was in. It was the same mood he felt when Snoke praised him for something he had done well, or when he had managed to aggravate the orange haired General back on Star Killer.

However, as Kylo neared his master sitting on his large throne, satisfaction is not what he could sense rolling off of him. It confused him but it didn’t falter his gait, and soon enough Kylo was before the tall man, kneeling down before him respectfully like he always did.

Kylo could not see Snokes expression with the way he had his neck bent down in submission to his master. But he could feel the disapproval.

Had he done something wrong? Something he had forgotten or failed to do? Kylo racked his brain for anything that Snoke could be angry at, but he came up with nothing.

“Rise,” Snoke ordered with a harsh sneer. What had Kylo done? From underneath his helmet he furrowed his dark brows.

Kylo stood back up at Snokes order, keeping calm as he tilted his head the slightest to gaze up at his masters towering form. He was smaller in person than he made himself appear over his holos.

“I warned you, Kylo Ren, not to get too close to the girl,” Snoke began. Kylo was still confused, but he did not interrupt. “And what have you done, but exactly that.” Snoke eyes flickered over his apprentice, scrutinizing him with a morphed expression of disgust.

Snoke couldn’t be referring to what you and Kylo had shared yesterday, could he? It left him confused. He had already tried forging a bond with Kira in that exact same way, why was it suddenly a problem? “Master, I have only done what has been done with Kira in the past. But it worked this time, the bond—“

“I am not referring to that,” interrupted Snoke. His master was giving him a look that had all of his anxiety slamming into his chest unlike it had failed to do before.

The bond, Snoke was not referring to the bond or the time you had shared. Then what could he be referring to, what had Kylo done that... Realization came quicker to Kylo than he wanted it to.

“I warned you, Kylo Ren, not to get too close to the girl.”

Kylo’s lips parted. No. Oh no. He had been careless, distracted, stupid. Kylo was so engrossed with you that he had completely forgotten to hide how he felt for you. The emotions he had felt while he was fucking you—no, making love to you, were completely on display to his master. Snoke could sense them all and everything after. He probably even felt the love Kylo had for you after he woke up with you in his arms.

Kylo tried to quickly fumble for words. “Master, I—“

“Save it.” Snoke glared down at his apprentice, snuffing Kylo’s attempts at an excuse.

How could he excuse it anyway? Kylo cared for you, he felt for you. You were his and his alone. To love and protect. You belonged to him, you were supposed to be with him. He couldn’t help the panic that ate at his heart. Somehow he knew what Snoke was going to do, now he was just waiting for the words to leave his deformed mouth.

“You’re weak and foolish, and you’ve failed.”

Smokes words rang out inside of his head, but yet they were not the words that Kylo was waiting for. Kylo knew that disappointing Snoke should be where his worry lied, but it wasn’t, and Kylo fully understood now.

“It is obvious to me that the girl will no longer do, she will no longer aid in your training.” Snokes voice no longer held contempt, but he was still unimpressed.

“Master—“ Kylo tried to reason, but the cold hard stare Snoke fixed him with shut him up.

There was no way around this, Kylo knew.

“She will be taken away immediately,” Snoke continued on. “The girl is a distraction, and I will not have her deter you away from your destiny.”

Kylo tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, fists tighter than ever at his sides. No. No, no, no, no. He had promised that no one would take you away from him. He didn’t want anyone to take you away from him.

“You’re weak. I thought you were stronger than this, but it is obvious to me that you are not. You have allowed a girl from your past to weaken you, and this act shall not go unpunished. I have already given orders for her to be removed from your quarters immediately.” Snoke had a satisfied look on his face, finally.

Everything else but the “I have already given orders for her to be removed from your quarters immediately,” Kylo forgot. He was angry, seething, and seeing red.

Before Kylo could think wiser, he started towards his master in a fit of rage. However, he only managed two steps before the painful force of Snokes force lighting shot him backwards across the room

The back of Kylo’s head slammed against the floor, causing an ache to register through the helmet. He slid a bit of distance across the floor, groaning underneath his helmet at the pain coursing throughout his body.

Snoke was yelling something at him and the praetorian guards had their weapons drawn, but Kylo wasn’t registering any of it. All he could feel was the pain from the force lightning and the pain of you being ripped away from him. He could feel the bond being severed between the two of you, throwing him completely out of your mind and making him unaware to what you were feeling or going through right now. It was agonizing.

Kylo lied back on the floor unmoving. This was worse than when Snoke had taken your memories of him. You were still there, still around. But now Snoke was taking you away from him and it felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest.

His world was crumbling and the back of his head was throbbing, and his body was in pain. But what was most prevalent of them all was that Kylo’s heart was shattered, his plans of a bright future gone.

[beyarmamo]

BeyArMaMo 2018 - Event Info

- Beyblade Art Making Month -

A B O U T

BeyArMaMo is an annual art event that encourages fans of Bakuten Shoot Beyblade to get creative throughout October.

The Beyblade Art Making Month came about in 2008 after it occured to me that I loved art and I loved Beyblade but I hadn’t been combing the two together enough. I decided to rectify this by setting myself the challenge to create a piece of Beyblade art every day for an entire month. There were plenty of scribbles and hastily drawn nonsense (and a inexplicable drawing of Daichi sitting on a cow) but somehow I managed to complete the challenge. And I felt awesome.

The following year, I decided to take up the challenge again but this time I was joined by a handful of friends from DeviantArt. It was received positively and that was pretty much that. The event has since been held each October, growing year on year, and with fans participating from all around the world. This year we will be celebrating BeyArMaMo’s 10th Anniversary.

T H E  C H A L L E N G E

The BeyArMaMo concept is pretty simple. Participants are challenged to create Bakuten Shoot Beyblade art throughout October - that’s it. It doesn’t even have to be good art. Or finished. The focus is on creation so there’s no problem if you can only manage a scribble or something comes out a bit wonky. It’s simply about creating something when we otherwise might not have done. It’s all good.

It sounds pretty easy but when you’re crawling in from a long shift from work the last thing you’ll probably want to think about doing is, well, anything. Or maybe you’ve got the school run, and the shopping to do and you need a tidy round and before you know it it’s bedtime and you haven’t had chance to pick up a pencil. Perhaps you just can’t think of anything to draw or you might simply be lacking any measure of motivation. This is where the challenge aspect comes in. Some days you’ll be throwing out art left, right and centre and others will leave you cursing all your life choices. But that’s part of what makes it exciting. It’s sort of stressful in a good way.

If you’re not loving the idea of stress then don’t worry - help is at hand. There are three challenge types for you to choose from. Each is akin to a different difficulty so if you want a nice gentle time, have at it. But if you want an all encompassing Beyblade art extravaganza then you can have that too.

Simply pick the challenge type that appeals to you most and rock on.

01 - BeyArMaMo

This is the original, and most difficult, challenge. Your aim is to create at least one piece of artwork every day throughout October. By the end of the month you should have created at least 31 pieces of art.

02 - Mini-BeyArMaMo

This is a gentle challenge to motivate you while keeping the stress at a minimum. Your aim here is to create at least one piece of art every week throughout October. By the end of the month you should have created at least 4 pieces of art.

03 - Super-Mini-BeyArMaMo

This is, in theory, the least challenging of the three options. Just a 1 piece of art, that’s all you need to do. Perfect for those of us with hectic lives. And procrastinators.

T H E M E  D A Y S

Theme days are an optional extra to help inspire or challenge you. Each day, a new theme will be posted for you base your work on. It might be a colour or an object, a feeling or a place. You can choose to use all the themes, some of the themes or none at all. Participants in the Mini-BeyArMaMo challenge may pick any of the themes posted in each particular week.

The full theme list will be posted one week before the start of BeyArMaMo to help you plan your artwork.

R U L E S

BeyArMaMo was designed to be a challenge but it’s also extremely casual. Like, whatever. Above all else it’s meant to be fun so please don’t worry about the rules, even though there are technically rules. You can actually get away with a lot. But if you do wish to be mindful of the rules, here they are.

1) This event is solely for Bakuten Shoot Beyblade fan art. ‘Beyblade’ is not used as a blanket term for the entire franchise. Only art based on Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002 (V Force), Bakuten Shoot Beyblade G Revolution, Bakuten Shoot Beyblade The Movie: Gekitou!! Takao vs Daichi (Fierce Battle) and the manga (including Rising) is permitted.

2) All art must contain Bakuten Shoot Beyblade characters. They can cosplay, reference other series or even dive into a world of crossovers, but the main focus must be Beyblade. OCs, however, are not permitted.

3) Your art shouldn’t be created in advance. Art for day one should be created on the 1st of October, day two on the 2nd of October, and so on. For the weekly challenge, art for week three should be created during the third week,etc. Creating your art in advance sort of lessens the joy.

4) Your art can be in any form. Digital illustrations, traditional illustrations, comics, literature, photography, crafts, cosplay - baking even! If you want to knit Kai’s scarf, you go for it.

5) Enjoy. It’s not technically a rule as such but… Please just roll with it and try not to stress yourself out. If you don’t finish or you miss a day, don’t worry. You’re still awesome because you’re embracing your Beyblade love. And that’s all that matters.

H O W  T O  P A R T I C I P A T E

You will be able to sign up for the event from the 1st of September until the 30th of September. A list of registered participants will be made available so you can share links to your artwork and find other artists so follow.

If you prefer not to sign up officially then that’s fine too. You can participate in your own way.

Exclusive BeyArMaMo goodies will be available for registered members to purchase during the event.

The sign up form will be posted at the beginning of September.

S C H E D U L E  

BeyArMaMo runs from the 1st of October to the 31st of October but there are a few other noteworthy dates too.

1st September 2018 - BeyArMaMo sign-up period begins.

24th September 2018 - Daily themes announced.

30th September 2018 - BeyArMaMo sign-up period ends.

1st October 2018 - BeyArMaMo 2018 begins.

31st October 2018 - BeyArMaMo 2018 ends.

1 0 T H  A N N I V E R S A R Y

BeyArMaMo is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and to commemorate this momentous occasion I am planning a souvenir art book. I’ll be sharing more details about this shortly and I hope some of you might like to take part in it too!

A N D  F I N A L L Y  

I think I’ve covered everything here that needs to be covered but if there’s something you’re not sure about then just get in touch. I’ll be sorting out a few extra things over the next few weeks before sign ups start so expect one or two more updates before then. In the meantime, keep being awesome and if you feel like sharing news about the event then that would be lovely. Hopefully we’ll have an absolute bunch of us raring to go by October!

Take it easy, guys!

Laura (Gasara)

[protytwo]

You Too Can Join an APA by Jay Zilber

They've been around for over a hundred years, long before organized comics fans (or science-fiction fans) were around to adopt them. So it's a little odd that amateur press associations—apas for short—are still so little known. They survive to this day almost solely on the strength of word-of-mouth publicity, for in all this time there have been few serious attempts to bring this unique form of communication to the attention of mainstream fandom.

Apas have always had a difficult time getting publicity, partly because they are, indeed, so little known. They're not commercial endeavors, so they are never advertised. And though some apas may get an occasional short plug in a fanzine column here or there, these plugs don't tend to generate much interest because apas just can't be explained in a kernel of information 25 words or less. Apas can fulfill different purposes for different people, and at least seven definitions come to mind:

1.         Apas are limited-circulation fanzines; in order to receive a copy, one must also be an active contributor to the apa.

2.         Apas are the next-best thing to a comics convention, a fannish social get-together on paper.

3.         Apas are the underground fan press, free of the "commercial" restraints and limitations of mainstream, high-circulation slick fanzines.

4.         Apas are a system of centralizing correspondence which makes it possible to keep in touch with a large number of other fans at the same time.

5.         Apas are an outlet for creativity and self-indulgence. They are an invaluable learning tool, through which one can develop writing, drawing and editing skills. They provide built-in feedback and constructive criticism on such creative endeavors.

6.         Apas are where the old, tired fans go as an alternative to total gafiation.* And often, they are where the old, tired pros go for relaxation from their professional writing.

7.         Apas defy clear-cut categorization in technical terms. Communication studies break down all media into two categories: mass media and interpersonal media. A mass medium—such as television, film, books, or this magazine—is a one-way system in which the Communicator sends a message to a group of Receivers, a large mass audience. If that audience wishes to relay their comments or reactions about this article to its author, they're met with various obstacles; they usually can't go back through the original medium and write their own article (or publish their own magazine) in order to make their reaction known. The obstacles are not insurmountable—hence, letters columns—but the original Communicator can get no direct or immediate feedback from his mass audience. That would require the use of a two-way system, an interpersonal medium (such as the telephone or, in the case of face-to-face dialogue, air), with which both parties have the opportunity to be both Communicators and Receivers in turn.

 INSIDE THE APA

 Obviously, there are many reasons for the appeal of apas; each member has his or her own individual attraction for being an active "apan," and the contents of an apa mailing is a mixed bag that reflects this diversity. CAPA-alpha was the first—and still one of the best—comics apas, and any recent mailing of CAPA-alpha showcases the full spectrum of what apas are all about:

Some members of CAPA-alpha (abbreviated K-a for esoteric reasons) are accomplished fan artists; they contribute superb illustrations and clever graphics, including a good deal of spectacular work that gives new life to the downtrodden "ditto" medium, imaginatively taking advantage of the so-called limitations of spirit duplicating. Other members are still learning the techniques of the craft; their inexperience betrays their enthusiasm and their work pales in comparison.

There is considerable discussion in K-a of all aspects of comics and comics fandom: behind-the-scenes news, reviews, indexes, speculations and such. Much of this discussion is insightful and well-informed, and some of it is insubstantial and short-sighted at best.

But comics are only a starting point—the discussion and commentary naturally spills over into related areas of science fiction, movies, television and home video recording, personal computers, and all areas of popular arts and culture. Personal trials, traumas and tribulations are also given much attention; some members use K-a as a sort of diary in order to sort out their thoughts and feelings about current events in their lives, and their hopes for the future.

Occasionally, there is original fiction or comic strips that range from brilliant on down. A good deal of purely self-indulgent or experimental material is run through the apa, for, should a member want to try out some new creative ideas, there may be nowhere else to put it on display. While self-indulgence is not necessarily encouraged, it is certainly tolerated for the most part—at least until someone's material becomes completely unintelligible and he is no longer communicating but talking to himself.

For some, the bylaws and politics of K-a itself take an overwhelming prominence in their apazines, and new meaning is given to the concept, "the medium is the message."

There is fannish news, rumor and gossip, there are special group projects and collaborative one-shots, there are comics convention reports that alternate between truthful accounting of fact and wildly exaggerated nonsense. There are in-jokes of the sort that simply aren't the least bit funny outside of the apa's membership (and even among the membership they aren't funny except at four in the morning).

This is the stuff that apas are made of—all this and more. There is no pay or compensation except in terms of personal fulfillment. Apas reflect every stage of fannishness, from the wide-eyed neophyte to the burnt-out gafiate. Apas are networks of communication and life-long friendships that never have developed in any other way. They are an integral part of the universe of fandom… but to truly understand the attraction of belonging to an apa, one must experience it first-hand.

The mechanics of apas are fairly simple, though they may at first seem confusing to the uninitiated. Since each apa has slightly different policies, I will continue to use CAPA-alpha as a useful prototype.

In order to join K-a, a would-be member starts by sending an initial fee of $3.00 to the current Central Mailer. Some apas require new members to be sponsored or voted into membership; this is not the case with K-a, but full membership still does not come right away. As a matter of practical logistics, K-a has a size limit of 40 members and presently has a modest waitlist. A new would-be member is sent a sample copy of the current K-a mailing and his name is placed at the bottom of the waitlist. Membership turnover may be slow; it may be several months, possibly a year or more, before a slot opens up for him. In the meantime, waitlisters may contribute to the apa as though they were already members, but can only purchase copies of mailings when they are at least three months old—and then, only if sufficient extra copies remain available.

At length, the patient waitlister is invited to join the apa. In order to attain membership, he must now produce an apazine; K-a requires that members contribute at least four pages of original material to every third mailing. (This is the minimum required activity, or "minac," to use the inside jargon; of course, one may contribute more often and in greater volume, as in fact most CAPA-alphans do.) The new member is responsible for printing his apazine, or arranging for its printing; he must deliver 50 collated and stapled copies of his zine to the Central Mailer by the stated deadline (usually the first day of each month) and keep his postage account in the black. If he fails to meet minac, copycount, finances or deadline, he risks being dropped from membership, though extensions are sometimes granted under extraordinary circumstances.

The Central Mailer is elected annually; he is a member of K-a who, in return for only the real or imagined glamor or ego-boosting the post has to offer, has opted to take on the tremendous responsibility of seeing that the mechanics of the apa remain well-oiled and that the mailings come out on time. He manages the apa's business and finances; he organizes the apazines as they arrive in the mail from the 40-odd members and waitlisters around the country, collates their stacks of apazines into 50 identical volumes that contain one copy of each zine, publishes the apa's Official Organ, and mails the bound copies of the mailing to the entire membership.

All this is much more work than can be suggested in the time it takes to describe it, and it's why most apas have a membership size limit; otherwise, the work of managing K-a would increase to the point where it would have to be a salaried full-time job.

After its long, torturous trek through the Postal Service, the member finally receives his copy of the mailing and reads it with all due enthusiasm. Perhaps he jots down some notes as he reacts to someone else's comments that he wants to discuss in his next apazine. The cycle continues every month, as it has with only one interruption since K-a's first mailing in October, 1964.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

 Actually, the concept of the amateur press association goes as far back as the late 19th Century—long before comics or SF fandom existed—with the formation of the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) and other "mundane" amateur journalism spas. NAPA was founded in 1876 and was originally seen as a sort of training ground for professional journalists. Indeed, many early amateurs did "graduate" to become professionals, and the Association saw this as the most defensible role for NAPA.

At the outset, the inner workings of the original apa were worlds away from the present-day fannish version. In this early concept of NAPA, members were loosely organized by a constitution drawn up at a national NAPA convention, but the gist of it was that members were simply instructed to send copies of their amateur journals and publications to one another.

NAPA only began to evolve into the more modern concept of apas because of the lack of cooperation from the United States Post Office. NAPA's organizers had tried to get their individual amateur journals declared eligible for Second Class mailing privileges without success. As an alternative, they established a centralized mailing bureau; any interested publisher could send their journals to the bureau manager, who would in turn distribute them in bundles to the Association members. Some took advantage of this service, while others continued as before to send their publications directly to one another. As a result, these "private" mailings were not always fully distributed to the entire membership, and only the most active members could expect to receive both the privately-mailed, limited-circulation magazines and the centrally-distributed bundles. NAPA did not even actually require members to publish anything at all, so that an interested but inactive member might receive only the bundles.

This separation of active and non-active members brought about a bizarre class separation of amateur publishers. NAPA also encountered a number of other problems during its formative years; its members rarely used their journals to communicate with one another, and many would-be publishers experienced difficulty in purchasing or gaining access to a handset letterpress, the most commonly-accepted method for printing member-journals at the time. It was this stumbling block that made it impossible to establish a "minac" requirement that all members be active publishers. Yet the notion of a new kind of apa persisted, an apa in which every member was a participant.

Oddly enough, the link between mundane and fannish Amateur Press Associations was provided by no less a personage than H.P. Lovecraft himself. Lovecraft became involved in amateur journalism as a youth, and joined one of NAPA's rivals, the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA) in 1914, and then NAPA itself three years later (for both of which he served several terms as president). SF (then-)fan Donald Wollheim learned of the mundane apas through Lovecraft in the mid-1930s, shortly before Lovecraft's untimely death in 1937. By most recountings, Wollheim saw apas as a useful solution to the problem of keeping up with fanzine trading and a method of reducing postage as well, and promptly joined the National and United Apas. With help from some of the other major SF fans of the time, he then founded FAPA, the Fantasy Amateur Press Association. July 1937 saw the first tiny, 42-page bundle of fanzines, still bearing little resemblance to any modern-day apa. But it was only three months later, in FAPA's second mailing, that two of its members introduced what later became the life-blood of contemporary apas: mailing comments.

Quite simply, mailing comments are the inclusion in members' apazines of comments on the previous mailing. It was the solution to the noted lack of communication within mundane apas; prior to the mailing comments in FAPA, discussion of topics raised in one another's publications was almost nonexistent. Mailing comments provided a sense of continuity from mailing to mailing, and brought about a degree of group spirit and camaraderie among members never before conceived. More than merely exchanging fanzines, apa members now exchanged ideas; rather than just absorbing information, they were now encouraged to think about and react to what their fellow members had to say.

Additionally, FAPA promoted the notion of substance over style; inexpensively mimeographed or spirit-duplicated contributions were not discouraged but actually taken for granted to be the most sensible printing method for a low-circulation apazine, and this made it practical and affordable for every member to contribute. Unique, innovative and successful in everything it set out to achieve, FAPA became the model for most of its followers and imitators in SF fandom, and eventually for its second cousin, comics fandom.

*Gafiation (n), a common fannish buzzword from the root "gafia," an acronym for "Getting Away From It All."

  Mark Evanier contributed the left cover to Capa-Alpha's 200th mailing, while in 1971, Wendy Fletcher was an active apa fan. She now concentrates on Elfquest as Wendy Pini.

A young Frank Miller contributed to apas and this sample page shows, even then, a sense of design and drama that has since matured into some the finest comics work done today.

NOTE: This article was first published in the March 1983 Comics Scene magazine. Comics APAs were very big back in the Seventies and Eighties. These days, surviving APAs are very unlikely to have a full membership and there isn’t any waiting period before a fan is invited to participate and join the membership roster.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/are-the-days-of-the-private-car-really-over/

Are the days of the private car really over?

Image copyright Getty Images

A couple of months ago I wrote a wildly optimistic piece about how we’ve all probably bought our last cars.

It drew on analysis that suggests that the convergence of electric cars and Uber-style ride hailing networks, together with autonomous driving technology, could completely reshape the car market.

These new “robo-taxis” would be so cheap to use that it just wouldn’t be worth owning a car any more, and this transformation could happen very quickly – in as little as a decade – or so the argument runs.

The results would transform the way we live.

I acknowledged that the idea was controversial and invited readers to respond. And you did. Thousands of you.

Lots of readers thought this brave new world of self-driving vehicles sounded great. But more doubted whether it would really come to pass. So we recruited some experts to explore your concerns and to help try and work out just how likely it is that the age of the private automobile really will soon be over.

Let’s take each element of this revolution separately.

Find out more

Listen to Justin’s Business Daily programme on The Electric Robotaxi Dream.

Will electric cars really prove viable?

First off, the cars. Many of you asked whether there would really be enough lithium or cobalt in the world to make all the batteries they would need, for example.

Image copyright Andrew Aitchison/Getty Images

Image caption Four million electric cars have been sold around the world

Step up Michael Liebreich, a sustainability expert who runs a clean energy and transportation consultancy in London.

There’s no shortage of either element in the world, he says, the real issue is whether the mining industry has the capacity to dig the stuff out, and there’s been huge investment in putting that in place as demand has risen.

Mr Liebreich reels off statistics suggesting that we have already entered the era of the electric car: four million have already been sold, and he predicts the next million will hit the streets in just six months.

Lots of mainstream forecasters now reckon that there’ll be more than 100 million electric vehicles on the world’s roads by 2030. Not quite the wholescale upheaval I talked about – there could be nearly two billion cars in total on the roads by then – but a very significant development nonetheless.

Will we ever want to surrender control of our vehicles to a computer?

Lots of you talked about the sense of freedom driving gives; the thrill of putting the pedal to the metal.

The response of CarlitosWay was fairly typical: “If you think I’m giving up burning off boy racers at the lights in my Jag, think again suckers.”

Image copyright Michael Cole/Getty Images

Image caption Driving for the sheer joy of driving

I’ll bowl that one to Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology at New York University who found time to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) company that was snapped up by Uber.

He acknowledges that driving can be a very “liberating experience” but says that doesn’t mean we’ll always do it, or always should do it.

“Eventually it will be a safety issue,” says Prof Marcus. “There will come a day when driverless cars are just much safer than people.”

But – and there is a big but here – he doesn’t think the transition to self-driving vehicles is going to happen in the next 10 years. He thinks it could be a couple of decades before autonomous technology is up to the challenge of driving a car safely.

That will come as a surprise to those who have watched in awe at the success of AI programs like Google subsidiary DeepMind’s AlphaZero. Within two hours of taking up chess AlphaZero was beating human players; after four it was beating the best chess computer in the world; in nine it was the best chess player the world has ever seen.

But Prof Marcus says progress on self-driving cars has been nowhere near as rapid. The problem is that driving is a lot more complex and unpredictable than chess.

Why is getting a computer to drive a car so difficult?

It turns out the challenge of getting a vehicle to control itself is a perfect illustration of the limits of current AI: computers may be able to do some things way better than even the very cleverest of humans, but often fail at tasks that even the stupidest humans can achieve with ease.

Image copyright Laguna Beach Police Department

Image caption This Tesla crashed into a parked police car in California last year; the driver said the car had been in Autopilot mode

A key issue is that, when it comes to driving, you can’t afford to make mistakes, points out Prof Marcus.

A self-driving car that works 99.99% of the time still can’t be trusted if 0.01% of the time it drives into parked vehicles or kills a pedestrian.

The realisation that getting cars to navigate safely anywhere other than straightforward environments like motorways has made the ride-hailing giants a lot less bullish about the autonomous driving revolution.

Uber, for example, has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in self-driving technology. Back in 2014 the company’s then-boss, Travis Kalanick, was predicting that self-driving cars would replace drivers. Now the most ambitious it gets is talk of rolling out a “hybrid network”.

“[There will be] places and times where it makes a whole lot of sense for an autonomous vehicle to pick someone up, and there will be other places and times and weather conditions and areas of the country where having a driver that looks a lot like what Uber looks like today will continue for quite a while,” Uber’s head of transportation policy and research, Andrew Salzberg, concedes.

Will autonomous ride-hailing networks really reach rural areas?

Image copyright Education Images/Getty Images

Image caption Many readers claimed the vision of the autonomous future would never reach rural areas

Mr Salzberg’s response to this criticism may surprise you. He says some of the most dramatic changes Uber has already brought have been in the smaller towns and rural areas in California.

He says that it used to be hard to hail a taxi in the more remote areas of Uber’s heartland, but claims the company can now offer many users five or 10-minute response times.

The key is the size of the network, says Mr Salzberg. Uber now has sufficient customers – in California at least – to generate enough rides to make driving a taxi worthwhile even in areas with low population densities.

The bottom line

So here’s my conclusion. Two of the three components of the autonomous revolution – electric vehicles and ride-hailing apps – appear to be coming along quite nicely.

Image copyright Ola

Image caption Ride-hailing apps are proliferating: Indian firm Ola has been expanding outside its home market and last year launched in the UK

But the third – and most important – automation, still has a long way to go.

Would you bully a driverless car or show it respect?

Will we ever be able to trust self-driving cars?

Yes, you can already buy a car that will steer you along a motorway, though you’ll need to keep your hands on the wheel because these technologies are officially just an advanced version of cruise control.

So it’s clear it is going to take much longer than 10 years before fully automated vehicles are approved, and therefore the full robo-taxi revolution can begin in earnest.

It will happen – but just not as quickly as many hoped.

A $120bn bet that the car’s days are numbered?

But in the meantime other forces are undermining our attachment to our automobiles.

Last month Uber began the process of floating itself on the US stock market. It will be one of the biggest initial public offerings in history, with talk of the company being valued at as much as $120bn and that’s despite posting losses topping $1bn in the three months to September.

So why could the company carry such a huge price tag?

It is because Uber is at the vanguard of the battle for the future of one of the biggest businesses on the planet – transportation.

There’s lots of evidence that the market is already beginning to change – just look at UK car sales.

Gone are the days when a gleaming new car was something we all aspired to. Increasingly twentysomethings don’t even bother to pass the driving test because these days there are lots of alternatives to the car.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Uber recently invested in electric scooter and bike hire company Lime

That is certainly the argument Uber’s Andrew Salzberg makes. He predicts that many millennials will never own a car.

“People choose things that are convenient for them,” he says. Uber’s focus now is to offer a range of travel alternatives, recently investing in electric bike rental and electric scooters.

“It is faster in the morning commute here in San Francisco to take a bike to work, but late at night you may need a car to the airport,” Mr Salzberg says.

Lots of other companies are snapping at Uber’s heels, coming up with new ways to provide cheap and efficient ways for us all to get around.

So even if the robo-taxi revolution is a way off there are lots of new reasons you may decide not to shell out on a car of your own.

[fairytail-whathesays]

In my never-ending crusade against Jellal and all who stand for him, what I’m going to embark on now are problems with his magic (”Heavenly Body Magic”). No big shebang, just jumping right in. If it wasn’t clear I like to make lists before, it should be now.

The first problem is that his magic has no rules or guidelines whatsoever. Long post ahead. 

All we know of it is that it is based on stellar objects and what he can do with it, which consists of:

Meteor, a spell which increases his speed to ridiculous heights.

Altairis, a massive energy ball with gravity properties.

Sema, which calls down a giant meteor.

Grand Chariot, which calls down seven blasts in the shape of the big dipper.

Random unnamed and unimportant energy blasts.

That’s it. Beyond basic thematic scheme and massive power, there are absolutely no guidelines presented as to what Jellal can and can’t do with his magic, and he’s only showcased four official spells with it. Even other powerhouses who tend to win the day with nakama power and brute force have rules on how their magic works and what can be done with it. Examples I’ll give are Natsu and Erza, two of Mashima’s biggest Mary Sues and the ones who most often win fights in an unsatisfying manner.

Natsu:

Can eat fire to replenish health and magical stamina.

Cannot eat his own fire to do so.

Is immune to all fire attacks with the exception of godslaying fire.

His magic requires tutoring from a dragon or an implantation of dragon lacrima to use.

He gains enhanced senses, most notably smell, alongside this magic as a dragon would have, alongside lungs exponentially more powerful and durable than a normal human’s.

Natsu can eat other magics and sources of energy to enter Dragon Force and receive a massive boost in power. However, doing so will absolutely wreck his insides and make him sick and unable to fight for a week or more thereafter (ex. Etherion-infused crystal, Laxus’ lightning.)

Natsu cannot keep the exterior magic he ingests unless it is specifically bestowed on him by its user, i.e. Laxus’ lightning.

Natsu can enter Dragon Force at will as of his fight with Mard Geer. 

You could include motion sickness, although I tend not to because it was a poor rule to add.

Erza:

Can requip different armors and weapons with different effects on the user.

Uses what is specifically spatial magic in that it summons weapons from a pocket dimension. As such, it is vulnerable to other spatial magic users who may be able to shut it down.

If an armor or weapon is destroyed, that is it. It must be repaired before it can be used again, and the user must rely on different weapons and armors in the meantime.

Erza’s proficiency with requip magic allows her not only to summon her swords virtually anywhere, but to summon up to 200 at a time and move them around telekinetically.

“Heaven’s Wheel” allows Erza the most elasticity with the above abilities.

“Flame Empress” does not null fire damage, but will cut its effects by 50%. The same presumably goes for her Sea and Lightning Empress armors and her Wind God armor.

“Fairy Armadura” is Erza’s strongest armor in terms of offensive power, but apparently provides poor defense.

The “Crimson Blossom” sword translates all defensive power to offense and requires the user to wear no armor whatsoever.

And so on and so forth.

Jellal has no such boundaries and rules. There is no real logical way to get around his magic, which kind of sticks out, as I can think of ways to overcome even such mighty magics as Gildarts’--and the one time someone did, Jellal made sure to stomp him in the battle that I hate more than any other in this fucking series. However, rather than simply pull new abilities out of his ass like Erza, or just win despite explicitly being overpowered and outmatched like Natsu, Jellal’s ridiculous wins and battle ability seem to revolve around him simply being that powerful and that good with his magic. In fact, he’s not unlike another character. This character is also a Wizard Saint, and has battle reputation built solely around his monstrous power, with little to no established rules as to how he can use it. I’m talking about Jura Neekis, who for the most part is a respected character and who Jellal fought in the Grand Magic Games.

The problem here with such a similarity is that Jura Neekis is a background character. His daily life, his motivations, and what he’s up to at any given moment aren’t really a part of the main narrative--he pops in when he can and has overall very little impact on the story, with the exception of his introduction arc, where he served to illustrate the power of Wizard Saints that weren’t Jellal, Jose, or Makarov. Jura Neekis can afford to be unexplained. Jellal by comparison moves about 400 times the plot Jura Neekis ever did, has connections to pretty much half the cast, and is highly involved in the story (a lot more than he needs to be, as I’ve expounded on before). If he’s going to be shoved up my ass the way he is, he should at least have some established rules and guidelines to his magic to justify his wins (there is no justification for his wins. None.) or else the fact that he can do whatever it is he does will be news to me. 

So we’re essentially told “this character is super strong and wins all of his battles that way, don’t sweat the details and get over it”. It also handily erases strategy, which was already lacking in most of the other characters’ fights to begin with. 

There’s also the problem of not knowing how it is he came to be so strong or powerful or how he learned his magic. Many characters offer at least this much.

Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue learned magic directly from dragons. Natsu in particular is also the strongest demon Zeref ever created.

Erza learned The Knight based on her time rebelling in the Tower of Heaven, where she picked up a sword for the first time, and trained like hell. She is also the daughter of Plot Device Irene Belserion, a witch strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Acnologia.

Gray learned his magic from a woman in an ice-using clan, who was of Wizard Saint strength and most definitely knew her stuff.

Lucy Heartfilia comes from a longass line of celestial wizards, including a historically titanic one who was said to be the strongest celestial spirit wizard to ever live.

Similarly, Laxus comes from a line of people known for their immensely powerful magics and supersized magic pool. His great-grandfather, Yuri Dreyar, learned magic from none other than Zeref himself.

Juvia has magic explicitly tied to her emotions and was born using it. The stronger her feelings, the stronger her fighting.

While Gildarts has an immense magic pool himself, half of his battle prowess comes from extremely overpowered magic that is explicitly designed to blast through and break things, other magic included.

We know Jellal was not a wizard by nature or his own study. Upon being possessed by Zeref (later retconned to Ultear), Jellal gained absolutely monstrous magic, with which he promptly took over the Tower of Heaven. Using common sense, we can guess that Jellal gaining this magic is a result of Ultear infusing it into him. As such, Jellal should’ve lost it the moment Ultear’s influence left him, because he did not learn it or gain in naturally--it’s someone else’s entirely. Losing all memory of being possessed should have also wiped any knowledge of magic gained in that time period--including the Destruction Circles he uses while claiming amnesia, which he learned from Brain while possessed (this is another reason I don’t forgive Jellal--his actions and words don’t line up at all).

As such, we have absolutely zero reference for how strong Jellal should be or how fast his strength should be growing, except that he should be significantly weaker than Ultear, who is of Wizard Saint Strength herself, yet the rules we could potentially put in place do not apply as explained above. Ultear, if she were going to function with any semblance of capability under Hades, would reasonably give no more than half her magic to Jellal, who then made Wizard Saint status with half of that power. Yet Jellal and Ultear are assumed to be rough equals when we see them in the same guild. Any guesses we could use to try to get a handle on how strong Jellal is or why he is that powerful (because Mashima clearly wants him to be top tier) are completely scrambled because so much contradicts them.

Which is kind of a problem, considering that almost every issue within Fairy Tail is solved with some sort of battle, and Jellal has a fair number of battles to his name--his first real loss is attributed to an inordinate drain on energy thanks to a single failed spell he cast earlier that didn’t even go off, and he later “corrects” that by stomping the wizard in question.

I can’t decide if this is author wank, lazy writing, or both. Actually, it’s probably both.

[whittlebaggett8]

One of the most-anticipated blockbuster games of 2019 just crashed and burned — here’s what’s going on with ‘Anthem’, Defence Online

source

BioWare/EA

The first huge game of 2019 was supposed to be “Anthem,” a brand-new game from EA’s acclaimed BioWare studio

Instead, “Anthem” is the latest example of hype and marketing leading to extraordinary backlash.

Worse, after launch, the game has been plagued by major issues.

What went wrong with “Anthem”?

That’s the big question in the first few months of 2019. The new game was a highly-anticipated blockbuster from EA’s beloved BioWare studio. The storied studio is responsible for popular franchises like “Mass Effect” and “Dragon Age,” and spent decades earning good will with gaming’s most evangelic fans.

But rather than celebrating, BioWare is now scrambling to fix its newest game and stem the barrage of negativity it’s seen since the rocky, complicated launch of “Anthem” in mid-February.

Here’s a step-by-step recap of how EA blew it:

1. “Anthem” was officially announced in June 2017 at E3, the annual video game trade show. Here’s what that looked like:

A lengthy gameplay video – “captured in-game running in real time” – demonstrated what players could expect from the brand-new franchise.

“It’s a dynamic world, where the unexpected is around every corner,” an announcer explains as the gorgeous, detailed video plays.

That first look introduced much of the foundational aspects of “Anthem”: Fort Tarsis, the concept of “javelin” suits, and the social, online-only nature of the game.

It also set a potentially impossible bar for the game to reach: Despite the trailer’s insistence that it was captured from the actual game, there are massive discrepancies between the game demonstrated at E3 2017 and the game that launched in mid-February 2019.

Videos highlighting those differences have gone viral in recent weeks.

2. It was shown once again the following year, at E3 in June 2018, with a lengthy gameplay demo:

It was at E3 2018 where public sentiment on “Anthem” went from cautious interest to cautious worry.

BioWare, a studio known for its storytelling chops, appeared to be creating a so-called “loot shooter” along the lines of the “Destiny” or “The Division” franchises, a genre in which gameplay trumps storyline. Though lots of BioWare fans enjoyed the gameplay of Anthem’s”Mass Effect” and “Dragon Age” games, what drove so many players to BioWare games had always been the rich worlds and the characters within those worlds.

BioWare repeatedly promised that those fans would still find something to love in “Anthem.” There’s even a marketing phrase tied to it: “Our World, My Story.”

The idea was that the looting and shooting aspects of “Anthem” would be tied to the game’s online-only open world. The story aspects would be tied to an area named Fort Tarsis, which is where you’d go between missions.

What fans mostly heard was that BioWare’s latest game was focused on gameplay over story – a concern that turned out to be founded.

3. The first major sign of problems: The “Anthem” buyer’s guide chart from EA.

caption

Just buying the game was more work than it should’ve been.

source

EA/BioWare

What you see above is an actual chart published on EA’s official help channel. That any game requires a complex chart to explain to players when and how they can actually play the game is absurd.

That’s worth stressing: No game should require players to consult a chart in order to figure out when they can play it.

By doing so, EA illustrated an ongoing issue with modern blockbuster games.

In an effort to diversify and increase profits while facing increasingly high production costs, many blockbuster games come in a variety of different editions. In the case of “Anthem,” there was a standard edition for $60 and a “Legion of Dawn” edition which cost $20 more. Pretty simple so far!

Here’s where it gets complicated: EA offers several different subscription services.

If you pay $5 a month or $30 a year for EA Access, which is available only on Xbox One, you could start playing “Anthem” on February 15. If you pay $5 a month or $30 a year for EA’s Origin Access Basic plan, which is only available on PC, you also could start playing “Anthem” on February 15.

For everyone else, the game officially launched on February 22.

That applied even if you preordered the game and paid $80 for the special “Legion of Dawn” version and, more bizarrely, even if you pay for the more expensive tier of EA’s Origin Access program. Huh?

It was, put simply, a mess – a mess that came with its own chart to illustrate how much of a mess it was. “Anthem” was taking flak before it even came out.

4. The public first got to try “Anthem” in early 2019. Things did not go well.

source

EA/BioWare

Right around the same time as BioWare’s owner, EA, released the buying chart, the “VIP Demo” for “Anthem” launched.

The idea of the “VIP Demo” was to reward people who pre-ordered “Anthem” with an early taste. Additionally, if you were a paid subscriber to either of EA’s subscription programs, you also get access to the demo.

In so many words: The only way into this demo was with money.

And that’s exactly why people were so mad when the demo was busted for the majority of the weekend it was available. Many were unable to get past the login screen seen above; others were forced to restart the game after it hit an “infinite loading” bug where a loading screen showed progress until, nearing completion, it froze indefinitely.

Before the general public could even play it, the game had hit another major snag with potential fans.

5. By its mid-February launch, the hype for “Anthem” among gaming’s most ardent fans had turned into snark. It was received poorly by critics.

source

EA/BioWare

“Anthem” has a Metacritic average of 60 based on over 60 reviews from a variety of publications. The studio’s last game, “Mass Effect: Andromeda,” was widely regarded as a disaster – it has a Metacritic average of around 70.

Put simply: Critics had a resoundingly negative response to “Anthem.”

As Defence Online’s Kevin Webb wrote in his review:

“It has the impressive budget and production value you expect from Electronic Arts, a major publisher. It’s a brand-new franchise with ongoing support from BioWare, the celebrated creators of the ‘Mass Effect’ series. ‘Anthem’s’ most important hook, the mechanized ‘javelins’ that let players fly and explore the game’s massive open world, are awesome in design and amazing to see in motion.

And yet, I’m not sure if all of that makes ‘Anthem’ a fun game. While I’ve mostly enjoyed the 10 hours I’ve spent with ‘Anthem’ so far, I couldn’t fight the feeling that parts of the new third-person shooter felt more like work than play.”

6. Post-launch bugs have taken the situation from bad to much worse.

source

EA/BioWare

Initially, some folks were claiming that the PlayStation 4 version of “Anthem” was outright killing – or “bricking” – their consoles. The reality wasn’t quite that bad, but the version of “Anthem” on PS4 does indeed have a bug that powers down the console.

Hilarious as that may sound, it’s potentially dangerous for the data on a PS4.

That’s because modern game consoles are essentially PCs. And what happens when you suddenly, without warning, pull the plug from a PC? The next time you turn it on, the computer lets you know not to do that again.

The same thing goes for the PlayStation 4. Some users had to restart their consoles in Safe Mode just to get things running correctly again. This is far from normal, in case that wasn’t already clear – games don’t force consoles to restart, let alone major console games from major publishers like EA.

7. EA got in its own way by releasing “Apex Legends” near-simultaneously with “Anthem.”

source

“Apex Legends/Electronic Arts

“No one really knew how much it would take off,” BioWare lead producer Mike Gamble told Defence Online in a phone interview last month. Gamble, the lead producer on “Anthem,” was commenting on the curious timing for the release of EA’s other title, “Apex Legends,” right before his own game’s long-planned launch.

Since its surprise announcement and launch on February 4, “Apex Legends” has attracted more than 50 million players. It’s a bonafide hit across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC – in fact, “Apex Legends” is growing even more quickly than “Fortnite.”

It’s safe to say no one could’ve expected this kind of reaction, even in the wake of the “Fortnite” phenomenon.

But what does the massive, sudden success of “Apex Legends” mean for “Anthem”? Major blockbuster titles like “Anthem” typically take tens of milions, sometimes even hundreds of millions, of dollars to create over several years. After all that time and money though, there is far, far more conversation about “Apex Legends” righ tnow than there is about “Anthem.”

8. BioWare has more “Anthem” in the works, and is focused on fixing bugs in the meantime.

caption

Loading.

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EA/BioWare

BioWare laid out a 90-day roadmap for “Anthem” that details a variety of upcoming additions to the game. Additionally, there appear to be plans for even more content beyond those first three months.

It remains to be seen if BioWare can turn the fate of “Anthem” around, or if it even makes sense to continue putting resources into the game – especially in comparison to the massively popular “Apex Legends,” also published by EA.

“‘Anthem’s’ launch represents a commitment we’re making to you: we’re just getting started,” BioWare head of live service Chad Robertson wrote on the BioWare blog on February 22. “This is just the start of a rich Live Service we’ll be creating together.”

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/03/one-of-the-most-anticipated-blockbuster-games-of-2019-just-crashed-and-burned-heres-whats-going-on-with-anthem-defence-online/

[mastcomm]

The pandemic and the nation’s future

Coronavirus circumstances

By Abiodun Komolafe

As we try to “steadiness the necessity to defend well being whereas additionally preserving livelihoods”, can we safely say that the worst of the pandemic that has unleashed greater than 2,170 circumstances and over-68 deaths on the nation is over? If we take an opportunity when the pandemic remains to be ravaging our land, how protected are we? If we aren’t protected, the place then lies the sunshine in darkish instances?With porous borders and a compromised safety system littering Nigeria’s geopolitical panorama, how far can the closure of inter-state borders go in repurposing our lives in the direction of the sought-after reprieve? What sort of sustainable nationwide technique and nationwide framework are being put in place for the economic system to bounce again, particularly, after a lot of pains for the folks? What sort of conversations are our leaders having – even, with these working at their pleasure – on selections with life and demise penalties? Are there modalities in place to cushion the results of job losses and unpaid salaries on account of COVID-19?

The world is ghastly, dangerously sick. No person can deny that! Coronavirus is threatening her very basis whilst Nigerians are confused as to who amongst our fathers have sinned that we are actually bearing the implications of their iniquities. However, as a substitute of simply following the rabble, we should admit that the lockdown has provided us a possibility to interrogate the basic platform of our predicament. Principally, instituted social lockdown is a time of slowing down, which in flip gives a singular alternative for the crucial evaluation of social methods and a dispassionate self-appraisal of extant public establishments. By widespread consent, particular person households ought to have the ability to take a look at the household and debate what they’ll do higher instantly this lockdown is completed with. It ought to give us a possibility to sit down down and critically purpose with individuals who can assume to vogue a means ahead for pricey nation. In different phrases, each sector of Nigeria’s socioeconomic-cum-political sphere shouldn’t return to the previous regular. As an alternative, it ought to saddle us with a brand new regular; a brand new world that’s sturdy, extra enduring and in a position to stand up to no matter adversity which will befall the nation within the subsequent foreseeable future. We can not afford to overlook out on this golden alternative of an induced leap from the identified to the unknown throughout the spectrum of obtainable different fashions of growth!

That we’re the place we’re finds area in lack of preparedness on the a part of the federal government, in addition to lack of imaginative and prescient for management. As an alternative of dealing with the truth, we’re simply perambulating! The identical drawback that was recognized earlier than the civil struggle in Nigeria remains to be right here with us in the present day, many years after the struggle. Nothing has modified! Yr in, 12 months out, the identical set of individuals are contesting and profitable elections. Finally, our elected representatives are cocooned in monstrous buildings as official or private quarters, with state-of-the-art vehicles, every costing Nigerian taxpayers tens of thousands and thousands of naira, in addition. Earlier than lengthy, they may begin displaying wealth in manners not too removed from exhibiting to the world how silly the folks have been for electing them. Then, what hope is left for the widespread man? Nothing! They flaunt the wealth. They flaunt the facility. They flaunt the affluence, whereas the widespread man simply retains trying, mesmerized and blaming the gods for his predicament!

Nigeria may be likened to a poor man who sees himself as a proud proprietor of a horse in a dream. Unarguably, he’s certain to appreciate the folly of goals instantly he wakes up. There after which, he’ll shut his eyes with out desirous to get up once more! Take as an illustration a governor, who, as a substitute of constructing sturdy preparations for a looming catastrophe, was busy working after Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as if deposing the 14th Emir of Kano was the tonic Ibrahim Ganduje wanted to earn respect. Elsewhere in Oyo, Governor Seyi Makinde is so content material with ‘tales-by-moonlight’ politics that he has forgotten that one contaminated particular person is what a slipshod ‘Pacesetter’ state must spoil the present for an infection-free, ‘Land of Advantage’ Osun; even hassle the Israel of the nation!

Fact be advised: Nigeria is in hassle, whether or not the federal government admits it or not! Federal Authorities’s efforts at elevating palpable denial, or, intentionally feigning ignorance of the subject material however, hassle is hassle; and it’s monetary! Near 100 years after Nigeria has been mouthing growth plans, nothing actually has developed. What sort of nation is it that continues to run, de columnisautem submit, not sure of the place to supply succour? With no overseas foreign money coming from anyplace, how will we now survive? In saner climes, any person must have provide you with a proposal to unravel the puzzle lengthy prior to now! His grave shortcomings aside, Adolf Hitler did it for Germany and the nation is best for it in the present day. By the way, COVID-19 is right here with us and a vital a part of its task is to show us to assume.

For now, essentially the most crucial concern that may make your entire world economic system to start out crumbling is the oil value index. Proper now, the world’s world economic system is hemorrhaging! If gold may rust, then, the doubtless destiny of iron turns into predictable. In Nigeria, for instance, the Yr 2020 price range was predicated on $57/bl of crude oil. Now, it’s extra like $0/bl. For Nigeria due to this fact, catastrophe looms, extra in order nothing shall be doable, until a miracle occurs. So, what are we going to do? Nicely, this boils all the way down to what we’ve got been saying: planning and diversification of the economic system. That oil turns into $100/bl and we go to mattress is like constructing a fort within the air. Sadly, Nigeria is but to be weaned from the sucking breast of cultural imperialism. In the meantime, no person is speaking about altering the mindset of Nigerians with the purpose of altering the perverse orientation and fraudulent disposition of the person within the bigger society. Everybody simply desires to get wealthy rapidly, and safe his or her future! Ultimately, all people turns into poorer for it! The management is bereft of concepts and the led simply observe to the gallery. Is it any marvel that the nation is poor?

Could the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, heal our land!

-Komolafe writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk).

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/opinion/the-pandemic-and-the-nations-future/

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Amazon Prime Day 2019: Finest offers on gaming laptops, Xbox, Change you may get now

http://tinyurl.com/y6kvunfs The Dell G5 15. Sarah Tew/CNET Amazon’s Prime Day 2019 has stretched from at some point to 2 — July 15 and 16 — and it begins Monday at midnight native time. Till then, we have discovered among the pre-Prime Day gross sales which might be value your whereas and put them proper right here. Although Prime Day is not historically a blowout day for gaming deals, Amazon’s ramping that up — it does personal Twitch, in spite of everything. Be mindful Amazon Prime Day has triggered competing deal days at different retailers like Target, Walmart and eBay, in addition to producer gross sales on their very own websites.  On Twitch, Amazon promises content freebies for Apex Legends and EA Sports titles. It is also internet hosting the Twitch Prime Crown Cup, with match play for FIFA 19 and Apex Legends. And, after all, you should purchase something with a Twitch emblem on it discounted now on the Twitch Store. Amazon does promise “as much as 50% off” gaming gear although it seems just like the reductions on the most effective merchandise largely run within the 30 to 45% vary. Under, try among the finest reductions we have discovered on Amazon for products with gamer appeal.  In the event you’re searching for extra offers, our sister web site GameSpot has its personal lists particularly for the PS4, Nintendo Switch and more. Issues to remember We’ll acquire the entire Prime Day laptop computer and PC offers right here, as soon as the sale date turns into official. We’ll control pricing and availability, and observe when sure gadgets promote out or when the sale costs expire. Within the meantime, we’ll be searching for the most effective pre-Prime Day gaming laptop computer, desktop and accent offers proper right here — no matter retailer. Be aware that CNET could get a share of income from the sale of the merchandise featured on this web page. Microsoft That is the return of Walmart’s “construct a bundle” deal from Black Friday. The bottom value of $299 is not nice — you may usually discover Xbox One S bundles with video games for nearer to $249 — however Walmart  (1) enables you to select which recreation bundle you need: NBA 2K19, Battlefield V, Fortnite, Forza Horizon four or Minecraft (2) throws in an additional controller (select from considered one of 1 designs), so that you get a complete of two controllers (3) additionally contains your alternative of a HyperX or (for an add’l $10) Turtle Seashore headset So, all in all, not too shabby in case you’re coming to the Xbox for the primary time. Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET As with the Xbox bundle, that is much less a few deep low cost, and extra about getting a bunch of extras thrown in. For $30 over the standard value of a Change, you get: (1) A Change console in your alternative of colours. (2) Your alternative of 1 of 5 video games: Mario Kart eight Deluxe, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tremendous Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2 or Tremendous Mario Occasion (all of those normally price $50 to $60) (3) Your alternative of a free accent: A transportable energy financial institution, a carrying case/display protector combo or a camo messenger bag. Simply keep in mind that the aforementioned Change Lite is coming in 2 months for $200, in case you’d desire to attend. EVGA Nvidia simply changed a number of of its GeForce RTX fashions with “Tremendous” variations, however the outdated 2070’s efficiency continues to be in the identical ballpark because the costlier 2070 Tremendous and shut sufficient to the 2060 Tremendous for 1080p or 1440p gaming for the correct value. Which that is. Particularly for the reason that 2060 Supers are nonetheless solely accessible for preorder and even you then’ll have to attend for the person complaints to begin rolling in in case you’re a cautious purchaser. This one’s a identified amount with strong evaluations. Sarah Tew/CNET The 15-inch G5 15 is considered one of our favourite funds gaming laptops, and Walmart’s sale mannequin incorporates an Intel Core i5-8300H CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 4GB Nvidia GeForceGTX 1060 Ti GPU and 256GB SSD paired with a 1TB laborious drive. That is sufficient to ship respectable 1080p body charges at an affordable high quality. Corsair Prepare for the massive upcoming video games by boosting your system reminiscence. All of Corsair’s gaming gear is on sale, and its reminiscence costs have hit some all-time lows, like this 2x16GB 3,200MHz set. Double examine that the reminiscence you are shopping for matches your system’s specs and slot configurations, although, and chances are you’ll want XMP assist (or to allow it) for the overclocked sticks (quicker than 2,666MHz). Logitech Logitech’s glorious wired gaming mouse is not on sale particularly for Prime Day, however it’s at an all-time low value. Along with all of the necessities — 1,000Hz polling, a 16,00zero dpi sensor, braided cable and so forth — it is bought 11 programmable buttons which you could save inside 5 profiles within the mouse and 5 3.6-gram configurable weights.  Sarah Tew/CNET In the event you enterprise from Amazon, you might have extra configuration choices to select from. As an illustration, Newegg has a Hero II configuration (GL504GM-DS74) that is solely $1,130 ($570 off of a listing of $1,700), however with the 144Hz show, GTX 1060 (it has extra video reminiscence than a 1050 Ti) and 256GB SSD, plus a 1TB laborious drive.  Sarah Tew/CNET In the event you’ve bought an outdated laptop computer, chances are high you acquire it when video games did not take up 60GB of storage. In the event you’ve reached your restrict, swapping recreation information to an exterior drive may give you some respiration room earlier than you are prepared to purchase a brand new laptop computer. Whilst you can go along with an affordable exterior laborious disk, they are often fairly pokey. This drive is a roomy, moderately priced 2TB SSD after its low cost. Corsair Although I am not an enormous fan of Corsair’s clunky iCue software program, the keyboard itself is fairly good — it is bought Cherry MX Velocity switches with double-shot keycaps, a quantity curler, an aluminum body with a USB passthrough port and onboard reminiscence for profile storage. Whereas this is not a Prime Day-specific deal, it’s an all-time low value — so long as you want white, as a result of the black model continues to be about $10 extra. Be aware this deal offered out and has come again at a better value, however inventory will not be prepared till Aug. 12. Expired offers Sarah Tew/CNET Sorry, value went again up on July 14, 2019. It is a good value for the not-quite-top-of-the-line m17, configured with a six-core, eighth-gen Intel Core i7-8750H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics chip. Battery life is not nice, however the m17 has future-proof brute drive and makes fewer design sacrifices than comparably strong laptops.  Sorry, the value went again up on July 14, 2019. If you are searching for a less expensive choice, you may get final 12 months’s fashions of the ROG Strix Hero or Scar (GL503) for roughly $1,135 for a 15.6-inch 1080p show, Intel Core i7-8750H CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 128GB SSD, plus a 1TB FireCuda SSHD. However for about $400 extra, you may get the present era (GL504) — it is bought a a lot better bodily design — with some higher parts, together with a 512GB SSD and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 2060.  Now taking part in: Watch this: Amazon Prime Day 2019: The whole lot you should know 1:43 $699 CNET could get a fee from retail gives. Source link

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Available Recumbent Trike For Sale

By Sandra Wallace

Three wheel engines, generally called trikes are accessible in a few structures. A portion of the back wheel are customary 2 wheelers with bigger rotate with casing changes. In a low floor seat the rider is upheld by further tilts. The trail blazing bicycle is renowned for its solace and security. Three rollers are by and by hearty. Recumbent Trike For Sale cannot be overwhelmed by the three wheel drive, which decreases movement. In the event that the rider needs to stop, he quits accelerating. At the point when the bike stops, the trap stays unequal. Different apparatuses can be better utilized in the mountains as opposed to customary 2 wheel drivers. So as to keep up the cruiser, the driver must advancement with a twofold wheel drive. The rider has no worries about equilibrating the bikes, though, so the cyclist can simply put the bike on a very low equipment and ride a comfortable pace in order to climb the mountain without fear. Substantial cargo packages can be installed behind the driver on slips even on reclining trucks. Despite additional weight, the trikes remain stable. Some trikes, especially the lorries, go to the ground very low. This can lead to difficulties in visibility, particularly in traffic or parking. Car drivers can find relaxing trike drivers on the road more difficultly. There are also many back wheels with a wider base of wheels which extends it and is more likely to stand on motorcycle roads along roads and side roads. A fiberglass rod on top of your truck is used by many drivers to prevent an accident. The truck can make solace or threat, under specific conditions, for example, high traffic. A little piece of a customary cycle makes putting away simpler contrasted with a bigger trap body. It is hard to deal with the more extensive position of 3 wheels. This is especially valid for turns. Despite the fact that there are insufficient traditional2 wheelers, traps can help. It is hard to deal with the trikes, yet as a rule the preparing speed is quicker. Many can utilize this last decision to mitigate torment in their handles, neck, back and lower legs. Seeing somebody on a train or a track is intriguing. Somebody might want to appreciate it when his life has been harmed or troubled. These are our most enjoyable and valuable interactions. Why is a calm person the easy part of our decades. There is always a selection of receivers to help reduce entry costs. You can come to this reception world by spending time on the first wobbly tests and helping you choose which style is the ideal for you. Recumbent may be divided into four main categories into long, short, over place or underside steering. Long wheels are usually greater than your feet and long and help you reach the bumps and commonly sit higher. Since beginners have the close feel that they used to cycle, they often take much easier times on their long wheelbase. The seat needs shorter and lighter motorbikes, usually with or above the seat. After claiming that the breeze may be a useable viewing position, you could your foot most about additional knowledge suddenly and expediently by saying that this is the tip about iceberg minor alone. The local handles version locate the snazzy not the kidding engine. A chopper alternately tiller bar is available to far reaching social detachment events. In addition, that bar in the bend could turn for a pleasant opportunity drawn out. As for the illustration, you could take a seat down to make what you appreciate more about thumps of this kind of bar. Alternatively, your hand breathes in your spot version during this fact will help your own again earnestly. You had be going to on it again. You can include suggestions or turn your hips to temporarily use this situation control bar for misuse methodologies. It is the helter bore that bore alongside the truth about delicate weight that your no open carpus, bear or indeed elbow is a chance of disappointment. It could be remarkable. People at the end about point immediately bounced off a chance to be restless, recording it will be exceptional if you are going to work underground. You think mastering is harder. Often they try a tricycle trick and see how the two wheels look like, all under seat control. Factors for all these models are increasingly diminishing. Hundreds of them are trying to find out what you want best. You must try many aromas and view what you desire the most for the first time. How it made easy to learn how to drive a relaxed person is to be surprised. After 20 minutes, most people will do us well. Those who are not going to ride are old all day. Try the best advice, come here, and come here. Many people drive two to five hours. You will probably purchase another favorite trike without test driving. Without the testing of riding. Some people would be happy to try it. You can choose it and send it to yourself if you are away from any store with different tricks, but you should be able to test it. The tadpole tricks have two leading wheels. The back wheel is moved under the seat by the pedals. Lighter, smaller, faster, sportsmanship. Some are increasingly less athletic, but hard to get in or out. Many trikes with tadpole are easy to fold and carry. There are many cheaper bugs than trikes from Delta. Tadpoles is frequent a better option for more critical drivers. In front of them are delta tricks with a steering wheel. They mostly drive among the mountains and drive hills and dugouts. Delta drives on one side that can be difficult to accelerate and to climb. Usually the Delta trucks on a chair are cheaper. Delta trikes are more seated, making them typically easier to get inside or outside, although there is also a huge amount of storage tricks. They are usually lighter, heavier and sportier. Many of the cheaper reclining tickets are the Delta Trikes. Delta triplets are big, not folding, making it difficult to import. At the desire of a further grounded area break may be necessary once caution may be exercised for all the more humble devices. A traditional truck couch with a movement forward should be recognized as a sporty. Moreover, warmth might be exceptionally authentic as a shot if the deflect on the plates you are using. Moreover, the weight is solid could give you the chance to prune your finger along the feature. Also, despite not changing the brake cushions, you may need to hack those water driven brakes compatibility. In addition to the data area bits, you could first try several of the makers need aid endeavored on the opening hand that will never again complete the foggiest thinking that joined nations business are. In the interim, weight can be measured by taking care of your pages by a local person, not taking it unusually. Accordingly, it is sensitive, exactly. Specific relics of cases, such as personal businesses, dare unmistakably to stand out among the kind of kin in the meantime. Amazing inventors area virtually sure to have several pounds or a few. If this space advances it. Accordingly, managing the region carriage you have abandoned offering on this one point will worsen the use of more, because a number of carriers could not be transformed only.

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Take a Flight of Relaxation in Jamaica

Bored with your daily life schedule? Then let’s make a plan to visit Jamaica for a lovely short vacation. If you think that you are running short of time, then I can suggest you the best place to stay near JFK Airport the primary international airport serving New York City. The event that you are planning a trip to Jamaica may be for work or recreation, making do with lodging close to the air terminal is your most secure risked as these territories are commonly very much associated with whatever remains of the city. Being near the hotels near JFKAirport with free shuttlelikewise helps if your entry or takeoff is booked at profane hours, which happens as a general rule. For your next outing to Jamaica, here are the best lodging ideas for selecting JFK INN close to the air terminal that have all that you require for a pleasant stay.

Impeccable Customized Services

JFK INNfamous for offering excellent and flawless personalized services, cheap hotels near JFK Airport

is the ideal convenience alternative for both relaxation and business explorers. The best thing about this lodging is their main area close to the airplane terminal, swift area and corporate center points. This lodging is considered as an illustration of world-class facilities, for example, complimentary breakfast, free parking, free shuttle parking, location, public transport, multi cooking eateries, meeting lobbies and etc.

Center of Attraction

The hotel is positioned in such a place that it makes convenient for the tourist to avail all the modes of transport-495 and I-678 highways, public and Metro transport systems and the hotel near the JFK airport makes it simple for the official traveler to drive and save valuable time and money and also makes it simple for the traveler to visit nearby places.

24 hour Room Service

It is vital for any traveler to remain in a budget-friendly hotel with a 24 Hrs room service which would assist them to solve your problems at any time of the day, be it room-administration, reminder, making any outdoor  plans, or seeking for foreign exchange, asking for a print out, or a medicine specialist as and when needed.

Comfortable Cots

An appropriate rest in a pleasant and comfortable cot with great quality bedding allows an explorer to wake up fresh causes him to concentrate on work the next day.

Complimentary Breakfast

The kickass beginning to a hectic day is with a healthy and tasty complimentary breakfast. This gives the genuinely necessary energy to work eagerly without lunch and complete the desired work target before the day gets an end.

24/7 Hot and Cold water supply in bathrooms clean hotel near JFK airport providing top class free toiletries together with 24 hrs hot/cold gentle water supply in washrooms is each traveler must be commanding while they search for a hotel as that permits the traveler to begin their day fresh and moreover a decent shower toward the day's end boosts them to relax and refresh. Fast Laundry Service While traveling it is significant for any official or business tourist to travel bright and in the meantime to be in new and clean garments at all purpose of time. So when a hotel near NewYork JFK airport is giving fast clothing services it turns out to be simple for the traveler to go without taking any excess luggage and explore freely with true calmness. Open to Requests and Criticisms

Need an alternate room or would you say you are confronting an issue with the room you simply reserved? Despite what hour it is, our staff will dependably be there to enable you to out with your solicitations and return to protests quickly.

Hygiene and Cleanliness

Since our staff individuals are utilized to communicate with the visitors normally, they are solicited to keep up a strict code from neatness and cleanliness to guarantee the visitors are agreeable. Be it prepping or cleanliness, they are dependable over it.

There are a few things that add to a decent remain at an inn, be it the offices, administrations, rooms, or feasting choices. In any case, without one essential factor, every one of these elements will neglect to awe the inn visitors regardless of how great they are. We are discussing the friendliness at a hotel. Having a place with the friendliness business, it is rude that lodgings make visitors feel invited and treat them right while they are remaining at the inn. Be that as it may, tragically, a great deal of inns doesn’t understand the significance of being neighborly and center on the narrow things.

In any case, that is something you don't need to stress over when you are remaining at JFK. At our hotel in New York JFK airport, we give a ton of significance to friendliness and how we treat our visitors. From the security gatekeeper to the receptionists, cleaners, servers, cooks, and even admin staff, everybody is prepared to be pleasant and make our visitors feel warm and invited. In any case, it's not simply the preparation, the staffs are contracted after complete thought after they experience a strict recruiting process where we guarantee that they are really thinking about this industry. The conduct of the staff assumes an imperative job on your experience of remaining at an inn and here is the thing that the staffs at JFK need every one of the visitors to know. Peruse on to thoroughly understand it.

The hotel speaks to the ideal blend of comfort, idea, style, and management. Furthermore, the perfect area of the lodging likewise settles on it a favored decision in the heart of voyagers as it is stuck in a hassle-free reach from any city attractions like a business and commercial areas and vacationist places. The rooms are all around designed and outfitted with every single modern amenities and service to fulfill the individual feelings of the visitors.

This hotel near JFK airport offers each kind of convenience to match your travel economical plan. Its friendly rooms and complimentary offers will make your stay gradually charming. It is definitely a perfect choice if you’re looking for a pocket-friendly hotel.

So when you are searching for a budget-friendly lodging in Jamaica that has all of the modern facilities, look no further as your scan for the best hotel closes while you book your stay at JFK Inn.

[blockheadbrands]

Cannabis Jobs Count: Legal Marijuana Supports 149,304 Americans

Bruce Barcott And Gage Peake of Leafly Reports:

How many jobs are supported by legal cannabis?

In one year, legal cannabis added more than 26,000 new jobs to the American workforce.

When asked that question last year, nobody could tell us. The few estimates we found seemed untethered to any actual sales figures. Because of the Schedule I status of cannabis, state and federal labor statisticians had no way to count the jobs. So we set about to find the number ourselves.

Last year we found that 122,814 jobs relied on the legal status of cannabis in America.

This year, we found that legal cannabis supports 149,304 Americans. That’s an increase of 22% in one year. In 12 months, the legal cannabis industry has added 26,490 jobs to the nation’s workforce.

 RELATED STORY

How Many Jobs Depend on Legal Cannabis? We Did the Math

What’s behind those numbers? Digging into the work of leading cannabis economists, we devised a method that roughly translated annual sales into FTE (full time equivalent) jobs. You can find the full explanation of that method here. Not every job in the industry is a full-time gig. So these figures are FTE jobs, in which two half-time jobs equals one FTE. Also, it’s worth noting that these are jobs supported by legal cannabis. Not every one of those jobs touches the plant. These estimates include lawyers who advise business owners, electricians who consult on grow operations, hydroponic farming supply houses, insurance brokers, software developers, realtors who specialize in commercial cannabis real estate—the list goes on.

Illustration by Amy Phung/Leafly

It’s worth saying: Behind every one of these  jobs is a hard-working, taxpaying American. They’re the botanists at Medicine Man in Denver; the oil extraction technicians at Dama in Seattle; the budtenders at Farma in Portland; the mechanical engineers at Apeks Supercritical in Johnstown, Ohio; the scientists at Steep Hill Labs in Portland. They’re lawyers at Harris Bricken, they’re software developers at MJ Freeway Business Solutions. They’re writers, editors, web developers, event planners, and customer support specialists here at Leafly.

Alaska: 542

Adult Use and Medical

This is a tough market to figure out because such a high volume of sales occur to tourists during cruise ship season. Growing booms in summer, too, with the whole midnight sun thing happening. Depending on the month you choose, you could extrapolate to an annual market as low at $27 million and as high as $51 million. We’ll stick to the low side and estimate Alaska as a $30 million market in 2017. That supports 542 FTE jobs.

Arizona: 6,520

Medical

Arizona has 136,515 medical marijuana patients. That’s a per-capita rate of 2%, one of the highest in the nation, and it yields an annual market worth $360.8 million, which supports 6,520 jobs.

Arkansas: 11

Medical

Weeks after the application period for medical marijuana dispensary licenses, the state Department of Health had only received two completed forms. So we’re keeping our estimate of private-sector jobs at six (three for each application). Within state government, we figure there are probably about five full-time jobs supported by the need to create and carry out the licensing process. Even at mature build-out, the market here doesn’t figure to be robust. Arkansas has a population of 3 million. Qualifying conditions are strictly limited, and concern over the illegality of owning both a gun license and an MMJ card may keep a number of people from obtaining theirs. The buy-in for dispensaries is steep, too: a $15,000 application fee, and $100,000 for a license. With a tight capture rate of 0.09% (about that of New Jersey prior to its recent reforms), that would lead to an MMJ patient population of about 2,700. That’s a $7 million market, which would support about 129 jobs.

California: 47,711

Adult Use and Medical

The legal medical market in California is notoriously difficult to quantify. Last year we settled on an estimate of $2.4 billion. We’re conservatively estimating 10% growth that encompasses the natural expansion of the MMJ market as well as ramped-up hiring by companies getting ready for the 2018 opening of the state’s adult-use market. A 10% bump puts the annual value of the California market at $2.64 billion, which supports 47,711 FTE jobs.

Colorado:  26,891

Adult Use and Medical

 RELATED STORY

Data Dive: Cannabis Sales Keep Climbing in Washington and Colorado

Colorado sales, reported by the state, seem to have reached a leveling point in the past five months, averaging about $126 million per month since March. That translates into an annual market of $1.488 billion in sales, which supports 26,891 FTE jobs. We consider that a conservative estimate, because Colorado hosts an unusually high number of ancillary businesses that serve legal markets around the country. In legal affairs—to take just one sector—firms like Vicente Sederberg and Hoban Law Group have expanded rapidly and opened satellite offices in more than a half-dozen legal states.

Connecticut: 911

Medical

As of August 13, the state had 19,077 registered patients, nine dispensaries, and four producers. Based on the patient count, that’s a $50.4 million annual market, which supports 911 FTE jobs. That’s an increase of 44%, or 279 jobs, over our 2016 estimate.

Delaware: 67

Medical

Straight up: Delaware has terrible records on its medical marijuana program. The state counted 1,407 patients in FY 2016. That translates into $3.7 million in sales, which supports 67 full time jobs. That’s actually a decrease from the 81 jobs we estimated in 2016. How is that possible? It’s Delaware. They really don’t know what’s in their own data. We’re hoping for a better 2017 from Joe Biden’s old home. 

District of Columbia: 257

Adult Use and Medical

Last year we noted about 3,500 medical marijuana patients registered with the District of Columbia Department of Health. As of August 1 of this year, that number had grown to 5,372. At $2,643 in purchases per patient annually, that makes up a market worth $14.2 million—not quite double what it was late last year. That supports about 257 full time jobs.

Florida: 1,290

Medical

 RELATED STORY

Florida Attorney John Morgan Considering $100M Investment in MMJ

We’ve seen wild estimates of the state’s potential patient pool at upwards of 500,000. With a total population of 30 million, that would be a 2.5% capture rate—not impossible, but unrealistically high. In a report prepared for state officials last year, the Marijuana Policy Group estimated the patient pool at closer to 300,000. That would put the market at a value of $793 million, which would support more than 14,000 jobs. That’s at full maturity. As of July 27, though, there are only 26,968 registered patients. The growth is phenomenal; on June 7, there were 16,760 patients. At that rate, we could see up to 50,000 patients by the end of 2017. For now, we’ll base the market on 27,000 patients, call it $71.4 million, and estimate that it supports 1,290 full time jobs.

Hawaii: 860

Medical

Hawaii recorded 18,004 patients as of July 31. That translates into an annual market of $47.6 million, which supports 860 jobs. The data from Hawaii is tricky. The state has a high per-capita patient rate—with a population of 1.4 million, 18,000 patients represent a 1.25% MMJ rate—and continues to grow at a rate of about 500 new patients per month. At the same time, the first of the state’s eight licensed dispensaries only just recently opened on Maui. We’re a little hesitant to go with the 860 figure; that one dispensary isn’t supporting all those jobs, obviously. But 18,000 patients have to get their medicine somewhere. At this point most of them are accessing it, legally or semi-legally, outside of the licensed dispensary system—and that supports local growers and caregivers. We’ll call it 860 with reservations, and we’ll hope that Hawaii has all eight dispensaries open by this time next year.

Illinois: 1,352

Medical

The Illinois Department of Public Health’s Medical Cannabis Division counts 27,100 patients as of August. That pencils out to about $71.6 million in annual sales. State records show that sales through the first seven months of 2017 came to $43.6 million, which puts annual sales at $74.8 million. We’ll go with that figure, which supports 1,352 jobs. That’s an increase of 466 jobs, or a growth rate of 49%, over the past year.

Louisiana: 22

Medical (soon)

When it comes to Louisiana’s medical marijuana program, very little makes sense to us. Earlier this year, the Las Vegas-based cannabis company GB Sciences agreed to pay Louisiana State University $1.2 million per year for five years for permission to grow medical cannabis at a secure location on the LSU campus. Patients are expected to access the market in 2018. Using $1.2 million per year as a kind of “market,” we figure that supports at least 22 FTE jobs at LSU.

Maine: 942

Adult Use and Medical

Homegrow is huge in Maine. How do we know? There are 51,324 registered medical marijuana patients in the state. That should translate into about $135 million in annual sales. Instead, the state only recorded $26.8 million in dispensary sales in 2016. Industry officials estimated an additional $27.3 million in caregiver sales in 2016. That’s a total market of $52.1 million, which supports 942 jobs.

Maryland: 559

Medical

Medical Maryland still hasn’t opened its dispensaries, but they say they’ll be serving patients by the end of 2017. In the meantime, there are actually quite a few people working in Maryland’s cannabis industry already, gearing up for opening day. And we have some unique data on those jobs. Because Maryland’s medical marijuana law contains diversity clauses, the state keeps statistical information on industry owners and employees. According to that data, there are currently 559 people working in the cannabis industry in Maryland.

Massachusetts: 1,873

Adult Use and Medical

 RELATED STORY

The Haymaker: That’s the Smell of Jobs and Freedom, Boston

As of July 31, the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services recorded 39,202 active registered patients. That translates into an existing medical market worth about $103.6 million, which supports 1,873 jobs. About 800 new patients join the registry every month. The opening of the adult-use market next year is expected to change all that, of course. With 6.8 million residents, Massachusetts has a population nearly the size of Washington’s—with another 4.5 million people in Connecticut and Rhode Island within driving distance. It wouldn’t be surprising to see annual sales approaching $1 billion by 2019.

Michigan: 12,515

Medical

The state reported 218,556 registered patients in late 2016. We estimate a 10% growth in those numbers over the course of this year, putting the patient count at around 240,400. We can extrapolate that to an annual market of $635.4 million, which supports 11,483 jobs.

Minnesota: 295

Medical

In one of the nation’s most restrictive medical marijuana programs, Minnesota’s two licensed cannabis manufacturers have lost $11 million in the past two years. The reason? Not enough patients. That’s changing. According to quarterly data from the Minnesota Department of Health, the state recorded 6,184 patients on June 30. That’s nearly double the total from 2016. The annual market is around $16.3 million, enough to support 295 jobs.

Montana: 621

Medical

Montana’s entire MMJ industry went through a painful shutdown last year; after a November ballot measure revived dispensaries, patients are finding medicine again. As of July, the state counted 17,819 patients, with 616 providers. That translates into a $47.1 million annual market, which supports 851 jobs. That’s a decrease from our late 2016 estimate, because of all the dispensary closures in 2016.

Nevada: 4,193

Adult Use and Medical

Nevada isn’t expected to release first-month adult use sales figures until later this fall, so we’ve had to do some back-of-the-envelope estimating here. There are 60 cannabis stores open in Nevada. The majority are in the Las Vegas area; nearly all the rest are in Reno/Sparks. Based on what we know from other adult-use states, we’ll estimate that the state’s top 10 stores will bring in $750,000 a month by the end of the year. The next 35 will realize $300,000 per month, with the bottom 15 bringing in about $90,000 a month. That adds up to annual sales of $232 million, which supports 4,193 jobs. We expect that number to continue to rise as a stop at a legal cannabis store becomes a part of the Vegas experience for many of the city’s 43 million annual visitors.

 RELATED STORY

Leslie Bocskor: Nevada ‘Best Regulatory Framework in the World’

New Hampshire: 100

Medical

New Hampshire just opened its medical marijuana program up to patients with chronic pain and/or PTSD, which should expand the patient base considerably. In its 2016 annual report, the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program Registry counted 2,089 patients. That should support a market of around $5.5 million, which in turn supports 100 jobs.

New Jersey: 516

Medical

New Jersey counted 10,799 active patients in 2016. That’s an annual market of $28.5 million, which supports 516 jobs.

New Mexico: 1,102

Medical

As of July, the state had 45,441 active patients licensed, and 6,182 active personal production licensees. $15.2 million worth of medical marijuana products were purchased in the second quarter of 2017. That extrapolates into an annual market worth $60.8 million, which supports 1,102 full time jobs. That’s an increase of 52%, or 379 jobs, over our 2016 estimate.

New York: 1,341

Medical

 RELATED STORY

Find a New York Medical Marijuana Doctor Using Our Map

The inclusion of chronic pain as a qualifying condition has finally made New York State’s medical marijuana program viable. Since adding the condition in March, the state’s patient population has grown by 87%. New York is now adding about 3,000 patients every month. The New York Department of Health had 28,077 patients registered as of Aug. 22. That translates into an annual market of $74.2 million, which supports 1,341 jobs. That’s more than twice as many jobs as in late 2016—an increase of 121%.

North Dakota: 6

Medical

The state of North Dakota has budgeted money for six full-time employees at the Department of Health. Until they roll out the regulations and grant licenses, there isn’t much else happening here.

Ohio: 90

Medical

Ohio’s market isn’t open yet, but plenty of people are already hard at work. In July, 185 companies applied for Ohio’s 24 available medical cannabis growing licenses. The state has also awarded substantial contracts for seed-to-sale tracking systems and licensing design. The medical market in Ohio could eventually be significant, as state law allows for a wide variety of qualifying conditions, including chronic pain. If 0.5% of the population carries a card, that’s a market of 55,000 patients, or around $150 million annually. For now, though, we’ll estimate that each of those applying companies required the work of at least one half-time partner. So 90 FTE jobs.

Oregon: 10,843

Adult Use and Medical

 RELATED STORY

Oregon’s Young Cannabis Market Already on Pace With Washington, Colorado

According to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, sales for the past five months have averaged $43.32 million, with a rise of about $5 million in sales every month. We estimate that by the end of 2017, Oregon will be a $600 million annual market. That supports 10,843 jobs.

Pennsylvania: 90

Medical

Pennsylvania granted 27 permits for MMJ dispensaries on June 29. Each is eligible to open a total of three locations. There are expected to be 52 open within the year (total). If you figure at least three full time owners/operators of those dispensaries, that’s about 90 jobs right now. The dispensaries may become operational on Jan. 1, 2018.

Puerto Rico: 215

Medical

A few months ago, the US territory has 4,000 registered patients, with 7,000 more awaiting their patient IDs. We’ll estimate 4,500 patients with cards by now. That equals a market size of $11.89 million, which supports 215 FTE jobs.

Rhode Island: 781

Medical

The state’s 16,360 patients and 3,000 caregivers translate into a $43.2 million market, which supports 781 jobs. That’s an increase of 78%, or 342 additional jobs, over 2016.

Vermont: 227

Medical

Vermont’s patient count is rising slowly, by about 29 new patients per week. The state doesn’t report its patient counts very often. Last November they had 3,487. By this June, they tallied 4,438. By Sept. 1, we expect the state to have 4,750 patients registered. That pencils out to an annual market of $12.5 million, which supports 227 jobs. That’s a 59% increase over 2016.

Washington: 26,556

Adult Use and Medical

Sales for the past four months (March–June) averaged $122.4 million. We expect Washington to nearly hit $1.5 billion in sales in 2017, at $1.469 billion. That supports 26,556 jobs.

 RELATED STORY

Data Dive: Cannabis Extract Sales Skyrocketing

West Virginia: 5

Medical

Move along, folks, nothing to see here. The Bureau for Public Health may not issue patient ID cards until July 1, 2019. The Bureau is currently drafting rules to implement the Medical Cannabis Act signed into law on April 19, 2017. We figure there may be 5 FTE jobs for state employees working out the regulatory system.

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https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/cannabis-jobs-count-legal-marijuana-supports-149304-americans