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cindylouwho-2 · 5 years ago

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late February 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the early February report, although some may be older than that. I am a bit behind due to my trip last week and other events, but some things here are a bit time-sensitive so I wanted to release this now.

I am still looking into setting up a new ecommerce business forum where we can discuss this sort of news, as well as any day-to-day issues we face. I need some good suggestions for a cheap or free forum space that has some editing tools, is fairly intuitive for inexperienced members, and is accessible. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this post, email me on my website, or send me a tweet. (I will put out a survey once we narrow this down to some good candidates, but if you have any other comments on what you want from such a forum, please include those too!)

As always, if you see any stories I might be interested in, please let me know!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Since we are seeing more shops closed due to Etsy’s customer service level standards, my blog post on ODR now has major revisions explaining what we have learned, and includes some tips for staying out of trouble and if necessary, appealing a suspension. Please circulate the info widely, as many sellers still haven’t heard about this, and some were closed without having any clue this was possible.

Mobile continues to grow while desktop use is slowly shrinking. It should affect how we design web pages. “Mobile visitors also behave differently from their desktop web counterparts, staying on pages for shorter periods of time, for example.” Other interesting takeaways from this SimilarWeb report: “[Facebook] lost 8.6% of [web] traffic over the past year alone” but increased in app sessions.

The price of domains ending in “.com” will almost certainly be going up soon, and will go up most years after that, unless something changes at the last minute. If you are absolutely certain that you will continue to use the same domain name for your website, blog, ecommerce forwarding etc., then you might consider paying a few years in advance to save a few bucks.

Another article explaining how people are selling thrift store and vintage clothing on Instagram, without setting up a checkout/cart anywhere. (The article focusses on teenagers, but does reference other examples.)

ETSY NEWS

Two weeks ago, Etsy Support posted on Twitter that they were no longer monitoring the account, and asked everyone to use the help page maze instead when they need support. Forum thread here.

Another trend report for 2020 from Dayna Isom Johnson [podcast links & transcript] She leads off with tips on how to get featured: “ so it's incredibly important to see a bright representation that really clearly shows your product...Do be original. I'm always trying to find the latest and the greatest that isn’t already on the shelves...Do be inclusive. ... I'm talking about models of all ethnicities, all genders, all body types, all ages.” Etsy chose chartreuse as their colour of the year: “in the last three months, there's been a 12% increase in searches for green already, and a 55% increase in neon green.” The wedding trends part was mostly already covered in a blog post, but she does also answer a few seller questions.

Website user experience (UX) is a big part of getting people to convert, and an outside group ranks Etsy’s as “acceptable”. Many will be unsurprised that search gets a score of “mediocre” and Accounts & Self-Service get a “poor” grade.

The migration to Google Cloud services is complete, so now Etsy can run more experiments more often, including those involving AI. (Although the forum thread was laughing at the idea of bad reviews helping shops, there is actually some research supporting that, so it is a logical thing to test.)

Etsy sellers in the US, UK & Canada who use Instagram can apply to win a trip to Etsy HQ here, until March 1.

Etsy is launching an Etsy U program which just seems a bit sketchy. Forum thread here.

Reverb (owned by Etsy) named a new Chief Technology Officer on Feb. 18.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google does not confirm every large search update, so this one remains a mystery at the moment, since Google refused to give an answer. That means it’s not a core update.

Another video (with subtitles in several languages) from the SEO for Beginners series from Google, on the basics you need for good website SEO.

If you are interested in “searcher intent”, this 500 person survey asks about what people are really looking for, and what they think of the search results the end up with. Overwhelmingly, they say they prefer organic results to ads, and the majority see targeted ads that they can’t figure out the reason/s behind. “Sixty-eight percent responded that Google adding more ads to the search results would make them want to use the search engine less.” Also, a slight majority preferred text results to images, video, & audio. “When asked which factor had the most significant impact on their decision to click a result, 62.9% responded it was the description, followed by 24.2% who said the brand name, and 13% who said title.” That means that the first part of your Etsy listing description, or the coded meta description on a page on your website, has the most influence on people clicking on your link once they see it.

I usually strongly suggest that people setting up their own websites make sure they do some SEO work & keyword research for their category/shop section pages, and it turns out that there is new research showing I am correct. “Specifically, e-commerce category pages – which include parent category, subcategory and product grid pages with faceted navigation – ranked for 19% more keywords on average than product detail pages ranked for. The additional keywords they ranked for drove an estimated 413% more traffic, based on the keywords’ search demand and the pages’ ranking position. With optimization, those ranking category pages also showed the potential to drive 32% more traffic.”

Semi-advanced: explaining the (seemingly endless) debate on whether subdomains or subdirectories are better for SEO.

SEO study - do you really need to use H1 tags on a page? Maybe not, although some screen readers recognize them as the page title so they help with accessibility. (Etsy & many other marketplaces don’t let you make this coding choice, so don’t worry about it there.)

Confused about how to apply all of these SEO tips I post here to your Shopify site? Good news! Here’s a list of what is most important for Shopify SEO. Note the attention to setting up your category pages, which is something I completely agree with. (it’s by Ahrefs so of course it pushes their tools; you don’t need to pay for that.)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Some businesses say social media doesn’t work, but maybe they aren’t doing it right. See if you are making one or more of these three mistakes. “Understanding who your target audience is - what they want, what they need, where you fit in, etc. - is critical to maximizing your social media marketing performance.”

Email marketing also works better if you do it right, so here are 5 things you might be doing wrong. And if you like a quick read, here’s an infographic on the psychology of email marketing.

8 ideas for getting more interactions on Facebook (detailed infographic).

More fourth quarter reports continue: Pinterest’s 4th quarter revenue was up 46% but they lost $1.36 billion, and they are introducing a verified merchant program. “Almost all (97%) of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded, according to the company, giving merchants a chance to stand out.”

Want to tap into that Pinterest traffic? You should because “90% of weekly Pinterest users log in to make buying decisions.” Here are 10 ways to get more attention, followers, and pins.

Like almost all social media, Twitter has an algorithm that mediates what users see (although you can turn it off, or use apps such as Tweetdeck to get around it as a reader). Ranking factors include recency, engagement, media and activity. The article includes a few tips on how to make it work for you, but then slides into promoting its app as the solution - you can just skip that part.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Google search ads get more results than Facebook and Instagram, simply because more people who see them want to buy something. “Less expensive products tend to sell better than more expensive ones on Facebook and Instagram, per the study.”

If you are running ads where you can choose your keywords, don’t forget to examine your organic search results and impressions for new words to advertise. Google Search Console is a great source.

If you found Instagram ads too expensive, check out this post on how the ads are priced, which can help you make decisions on your spend.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Amazon has nearly 40% of the US ecommerce market, according to a report by eMarketer. Etsy is not in the top 10; eBay is 3rd behind Walmart.

Sales on Shopify sites during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday long weekend went up 61% to $3 billion in 2019. They claim that the “direct -to-consumer” approach can be successful for both big & small brands.

Japanese authorities are going after Rakuten for the ecommerce company’s push to make its sellers offer free shipping.

eCommerceBytes’ annual Sellers Choice survey placed eBay first out of the online marketplaces that were rate. Note that this is not a scientific survey and largely covers the site’s readership only. Bonanza was the most improved & Etsy showed the worst drop (from 1st to 5th place).

A review of that article last month that says ecommerce sites should have info pages as well as product pages, if only for SEO reasons. The author approves.

The CBC show Marketplace did a large test buying branded items on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Wish. It turns out that most were fake.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans (Libra) finally have a partner: Shopify. The potential benefits include no credit card processing fees.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Younger people (think Gen Z) expect to see gender treated expansively and beyond traditional stereotypes, and they expect this from companies and advertising. “Half of women and four in 10 men in the U.S. now believe that there is a spectrum of gender identities, according to a recent Ipsos poll titled "The Future of Gender is Increasingly Nonbinary." An additional 16% of those surveyed said they know a person who identifies as transgender”

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Google employees are pushing back against the sea change in the company’s culture and values - and some are being fired.

Turns out that the “Peleton Wife” ad might not have hurt them as much as you might think. However, their stock dropped 12% after the fourth quarter report showed a 77% increase in revenue that still managed to be below market predictions. Interesting discussion around going viral in a negative fashion.

#Cindylouwho2newsupdates #seo #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #Etsynews #etsy #social media #Contentmarketing #Content marketing #ecommerce #Smallbiz #Seotips #Customer service #Ppc advertising #onlinemarketing #ecommercetips #EmailMarketing #socialmedianews

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mackinmacki · 7 years ago

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Designer Flaw

Rating: K+

Word Count: 3325

Summary: Kanan gets ready for a first date with Dia, featuring Mari making Kanan take her advice.

Pairing: KanaDia

Notes: Happy birthday, Kanan!

Links: (FFN) | (AO3)

"So, what do you think?" Kanan came out of the closet, a proud look on her face. Mari, on the other hand, was immediately scrutinizing her, looking her up and down.

"Hmm... Kanan, do you take constructive criticism?"

"Sure. Lay it on me."

"Your outfit is ugly."

"That's not constructive." Kanan sighed, dropping down to the floor. This was getting hopeless. Every time she came out in a new outfit, Mari shot it down in no uncertain terms. At this rate, she was going to run out of outfits. "What's wrong with it this time?"

"For starters, wearing a shirt with fish on it on a first date is a big no-no. You look like a walking aquarium. Where did you even get sky blue jeans anyway?"

"They were on sale."

"There was a reason for that." Mari sighed and clicked her tongue, stepping over Kanan and walking into her closet. She began to browse the rest of the outfits, wondering why she let Kanan have a choice in the matter for this long anyway. "Islander shirts, tie dye shirts... Hmm, really Kanan? Underwear with dolphins on them?"

"Stop looking through my underwear drawer!" Kanan snatched the underwear out of Mari's hands and threw it back into the drawer, thoroughly embarrassed. "How can there not be a single outfit in here that you approve of? Even though I'm going on a date with Dia, not you."

"That's the thing, Kanan! Dia is a highly fashionable person. Like myself I might add." Mari always seemed so haughty when she talked about fashion. "What if I hadn't been here and you'd gone on that date in those ugly green overalls and those, those... things?" She pointed derisively at a pair of crocs next to Kanan's feet. "I couldn't ever admit to anyone that we were friends again."

"You're overreacting, Mari. I doubt Dia is as picky about clothes as you are. Besides, there's nothing wrong with crocs!"

"They went out of style the moment they were conceptualized." Mari kept going through Kanan's clothing, desperate to find anything at this point to prove that Kanan didn't shop with her eyes closed. "I'm going to burn all these clothes, okay? Starting with your clown pants."

"Don't you dare." Kanan narrowed her eyes, unsure if Mari was being serious or not. Sometimes it was hard to tell. "If you do that, I won't have anything to wear!"

"That actually might be a good idea. Just go naked. I'd bet she'd like that."

"Mari!" Kanan blushed and hid her face in her hands. She was regretting asking Mari for help with getting ready for her date. This wasn't worth the advice she might end up getting. She just wanted to look good and impress Dia on their first date. Dia was so beautiful and regal, somehow so much above her despite the fact that they lived in the same town. Still, she figured there was at least one outfit that would be good enough. Apparently nothing was good enough for Mari's ridiculously high standards.

"You know what? This is useless. There's not going to be anything acceptable in here." Mari stepped out of the closet and dramatically slammed the door shut, barely missing Kanan's foot. "We're going to go shopping, and since I'm such a nice, wonderful friend, I'll pay for the perfect outfit for you."

"You don't have to do that-"

"The money's nothing to me. I'm more loaded than an uzi. Now come on. Put on some real shoes and let's go shopping!"

"Alright, alright... Are you trying to say I shouldn't wear the crocs?"

"You shouldn't wear the crocs... or the uggs. Don't you dare put those on either."

"Why are we going into this store, Mari? They only sell suits."

"Because you'd look good in a suit, dummy. Dia won't be able to keep her eyes off of you." That did sound appealing... Kanan sighed and followed Mari's whims, deciding that it couldn't hurt to at least try on a suit or two. Besides, Mari was paying, so it wouldn't be her wallet taking the hit.

"Okay, so this one looks good... And this one. Oh, this will be nice!" Mari began to throw multiple outfits at Kanan, who caught all of them before they hit the ground. By the time Mari was done, Kanan could feel the weight of the clothes in her arms.

"Is all this really necessary? I don't want to have to try on all of these."

"Like you've got better things to do." Mari began pushing on Kanan's back, guiding her towards the changing rooms. "Come on, go in there and let's see what you got!"

"Alright, alright!" Kanan stepped forward, away from Mari's pushy hands and into the changing rooms. She made sure to lock the door before dropping all the suits unceremoniously on the floor. "Well, might as well get this started..."

One by one, she changed into each outfit Mari had given her, looking herself over in the mirror. She felt out of place in such fancy clothing, but if Dia might like it, then she could give it a shot. The biggest issue was with the tie. She had no idea why Mari thought she should wear a tie, and she had no idea how to tie it. Though she tried, it ended up in a strange knot that she wasn't able to remove.

"Uh, Mari? I'm having trouble with the tie."

"Unlock the door and let me in, then." Kanan did so, with Mari whistling appreciatively upon entering. "Woah mama, you look fi-i-ine!" Kanan rolled her eyes and pointed to the tie, which Mari stared at in disbelief. "How did you even do that?"

"I don't know! Can you please untie it? I can't wear this on my date!"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Mama Mari's gonna take care of it." With deft hands, she undid the knot that Kanan had accidentally created without any problems at all. "Tada!"

"Thanks, Mari... But please don't call yourself 'Mama Mari' ever again."

"No promises." Wrapping the tie back around Kanan's neck, she tied it perfectly, letting it rest comfortably against Kanan's chest. "That's perfect! You look so dashing, Kanan! Dia will be swooning for sure!"

"You really think so?" She looked herself over in the mirror, playing with the collar of her suit. She started to imagine being on that date, and having Dia unable to keep her eyes off of her. The thoughts made her smile, as well as made her cheeks turn pink. "Then we should buy this then, right?"

"Esattamente!" Mari clapped Kanan on the shoulder, scooping up the rest of the clothing and carrying it out of the changing room. "Now get changed back into your regular clothes. We've got a suit to buy!" Kanan quickly changed back into her regular clothes once the door was closed, carefully putting the outfit she had chosen back on its hangers and carrying it outside. Mari was standing just outside with a smile, the pile of clothing left haphazardly on the waiting bench.

"Mari, you can't just leave all those clothes there..."

"If you pay for the suit, I'll put them all back."

"... Never mind."

"So are you sure you don't want me to hide at another table while you're on your date? You can just say the earpiece is a hearing aid. I'm sure she'd buy that."

"I would rather you didn't do that." She was not about to have things become super awkward when Mari's cover was inevitably blown. She'd seen that one Spongebob episode enough times to know what would happen. Besides, she was sort of miffed that Mari didn't think she could do this on her own. "I'm perfectly capable of having a good date without your help."

"You say that, yet you were going to wear overalls like some kind of lime farmer. I don't know if I trust your judgement about yourself. You know, I don't even have to be there physically. I can use a drone-"

"I think we're good." Like that was going to be any better. "Thanks for the advice, Mari. The good advice, anyway. I'm going to go pick her up and take her to dinner now."

"Remember what I told you! Don't talk about dolphin mating rituals until the third date!" Blushing, Kanan left Mari's hotel and went into the parking lot to start up her truck. She wasn't going to talk about dolphin mating rituals anyway... Coelacanths, on the other hand...

She drove to the Kurosawa household, parking by the house and grabbing the flowers she had on the passenger seat. She'd had to argue with Mari about that, since Mari felt that a bouquet of diamonds would be a better thing to give to Dia. While she couldn't argue with that, she could argue that it was stupidly expensive and even a bit tacky. Mari was offended that Kanan of all people dared to call one of her ideas tacky, but she was adamant against the idea. That was one of the only things she'd gotten to choose for herself that day.

She knocked on the front door and waited, flowers in hand. Normally she wouldn't be so nervous, but this was her first-ever date, and she wanted it to go well. She wiped the sweat forming on her forehead, noticing that her hand was shaking. Curling it into a fist only made her seem angry, so she shoved it in her pocket and hoped that wasn't too informal. Then the door opened, and there stood Dia in all her gorgeous glory.

The dress she was wearing was red and modest, yet still screamed her beauty to the world. It hugged her just right, and Kanan found it hard to take her eyes off of her. "Good evening, Kanan. Are those flowers for me?" Thank God for Dia saying something, or she might've stood there gawking all night.

"Uh, yes, they are." She held them out to Dia, who took them with a soft smile.

"Thank you. They're beautiful. Do you mind if I put them in a vase before we go? You can come inside if you'd like." Kanan nodded, stepping inside with Dia's permission. Dia then left the entranceway to find a vase, leaving Kanan alone to check out the interior. Even with the small amount of the house she could see, she could tell that the Kurosawas were rich. It was a more regal richness, though. Different from Mari's way of doing things.

"U-Uh, Kanan?" Kanan jumped at the surprised voice, wondering if Dia had circled around to come back out from a different angle. But when she turned around, it was only Ruby. She breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at Dia's younger sister.

"Heya Ruby. Hope you don't mind me stealing your sister for the night."

"I-I don't mind." Ruby giggled, then looked up at Kanan with a surprisingly serious expression. "U-Uh, so..." She looked around, as if trying to make sure Dia wasn't in earshot. "S-Sis really wants you to kiss her, s-so kiss her before the date ends!"

"Wha-" But Ruby scurried away before she could inquire further, leaving Kanan confused. Dia wanted her to kiss her? Really? Woah... She was still trying to process that information, not even realizing that Dia had returned.

"Is something wrong, Kanan?" That snapped Kanan out of it. She turned to Dia, smiling sheepishly.

"No, not at all. Shall we go?" Dia nodded, then Kanan allowed her to leave the house first before following her down to the truck. She opened the passenger door for Dia like a proper gentleman, turning back to look at the Kurosawa household as Dia got inside the truck. Ruby was at the window, waving at Kanan. She gave a quick thumbs up, then ducked down to avoid being seen.

Kanan worried that everybody's expectations were going to weigh her down. She closed the passenger door and took a deep breath as she walked around to the driver's side. It was important for her to remain calm, or otherwise she'd say something stupid. She got into the truck and started to drive towards the big city, where they had a reservation for a fancy restaurant - again with Mari's help. There'd been one thing she'd at least been able to think of herself before Mari came up with it: music. She knew how much Dia loved idol music, so she got Mari to burn her a CD of Muse music that Dia would like.

"You don't have to play music just because I like it, you know?" Dia smiled, which made Kanan's heart thump a bit erratically. How could one girl be so beautiful? "Though I do appreciate it." Kanan beamed at that, happy to have done something right. Score one for the dolphin.

When they got to the restaurant, Kanan did her best to be a proper date for Dia. She held open both the car and restaurant doors, and pulled out Dia's chair for her. It wasn't that she didn't do these kinds of things, but it felt weird to be doing them in a date context. She'd been friends with Dia for all these years, and now they were on a date. It was too easy to want to slip back into the old, comfortable ways they always interacted. That wasn't very formal, though. She did her best to act like she knew Dia would appreciate.

"You look nice in that suit, Kanan. It really fits you."

"Thank you! That dress is really lovely on you." It took all of her efforts to not say that the suit really suited her. She felt that kind of restraint earned her at least one cookie, maybe two.

"I was hoping you'd like it." Dia's cheeks went pink, but she was saved from further explanation by the waiter, who came and took their drink orders. The one thing that didn't change with them on a date was that they were able to easily converse with each other. That was the benefit of knowing someone for years: there was usually something to talk about. She didn't even mention anything about mating. Not one time. Though she couldn't help but talk about sea life once or five times. It was something she knew a lot about. Thankfully, Dia's family business had a lot to do with the water as well, so the conversation wasn't entirely one-sided.

Normally, Kanan wasn't much for fancy foods. She knew that Dia and Mari were more diverse with their palates, but hers was more seafood-driven. However, this menu had a nice selection of seafood that she could choose from, saving her the embarrassment of having to ask if they had a kids menu. They chatted happily until the food came, then they started to dig in.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Kanan sighed happily, taking another bite of her food. Her eating wasn't quite as delicate as Dia's was, but that fact was never brought up. Dia just smiled and nodded, more than aware of Kanan's more casual eating habits. It didn't really bother her.

"It's quite exquisite. I'm glad you're enjoying your meal, Kanan." When they finished their meals, Kanan tried to pay for it all, since she was the one who had asked Dia out on a date, but Dia wasn't having it. Even though her wallet begged her to take the deal Dia was giving her, she still tried to insist on paying it. Dia wasn't one to not get her way, though, so they ended up splitting the bill. Kanan wasn't sure how romantic that was, but her wallet gave her a prayer of thanks all the same.

On the drive home, Kanan began to think about what Ruby had said earlier. She had put the thought of kissing out of her mind, but now that their date was almost over, it was front and center in her brain. This left her with one chance to kiss Dia, which apparently she wanted. Oh man... She'd thought about kissing Dia before. Maybe a bit too much starting in high school. Now that she actually had the chance, she was nervous. Maybe she should have practiced kissing before going on this date.

She would occasionally glance over at Dia, usually finding her staring back. Dia would smile, and she would blush and look back at the road. Was she even a good kisser? Well, she was going to find out. Unless Dia didn't tell her... Now she was sweating again, stressing out over something as simple as a kiss. She was playing herself here.

Parking by the Kurosawa's house, Kanan got out with intentions to open Dia's door, but she'd already opened it and stepped out before Kanan got there. She smiled awkwardly, suddenly unsure of what to do with her hands. They were walking up to the door, and she was going back and forth in her mind about what to do. God, why was she overthinking this? She'd never been this way around Dia before. Even when she was crushing hard, it hadn't been this difficult to make a decision.

They were at the door when she made her decision. Dia was saying something - "I had a really nice time, Kanan" - but Kanan was having a hard time paying attention. She could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, and before she could chicken out, she cupped Dia's cheeks in her hands and dipped in for a kiss. It was quick and a little sloppy, but it left Dia dazed all the same when Kanan pulled back. Her heart was still pounding like a drum in her ears. She was sure Dia could hear it.

"Well... You certainly are bold, aren't you?" Dia smiled, a light blush on her face as she looked at Kanan. There was a hint of shyness in her gaze. "Will you do it again?" Perking up instantly, Kanan nodded hard and swooped back in to kiss Dia again. This kiss was longer, and Kanan swore she could hear bells ringing louder than her heart. She wasn't sure if she was having aural hallucinations or Mari had snuck up on them and started ringing bells to mess with them.

"That was nice," Kanan murmured dumbly, a big, goofy smile on her face. "Does that mean you want to go on another date?"

"Why don't you ask me properly, and maybe I'll say yes?"

"O-Oh, right! Will you go on another date with me, Dia?"

"Hmm..." Dia rubbed her chin in thought, leaving Kanan to sweat it out for a moment longer. "Come up with an idea for our next date, and I'll be happy to go on another date with you." She smiled warmly, kissing Kanan on the cheek. "Thank you for the date. It was very nice. Call me, okay?" Kanan just nodded dumbly, watching as Dia went inside.

She might have stood there like an idiot until the sprinklers came on, until a phone call broke her from her stupor. She answered it in a daze, not even looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Kanan! Did your date go well?" Mari's shrill, excited voice burst through the speakers. Kanan had to pull the phone away from her ear to avoid going partially deaf.

"Uh, yeah, yeah it did. It went great, actually. Really great."

"That's great! That kiss was pretty steamy, huh? Glad you listened to little Wooby. Use some tongue next time!"

"Wh-What?" Kanan blushed, staring at the phone in shock. "How did you know that?!"

"Look up." She did so, and saw a robo-looking thing flying above her, a lens pointing directly at her. "Say hi to my drone, Miss Peekaboo!"

"Mari, I'm going to destroy your drone with a rock." She looked down to start trying to find something to throw at it.

"No, not Miss Peekaboo! Kanan, no!"

#love live! sunshine #KanaDia #kurosawa dia #matsuura kanan #ohara mari #kurosawa ruby #my writing

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kamerionbeaudry91 · 4 years ago

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Nearly all women will ever reach orgasm at the right treatment, you also have to deal with your partner want it to avoid problems that could help any man who can normally last only a slight painful experience which is in spite of research and estimates, nearly 1 in every three men suffer from premature ejaculation, which unfortunately are crucial to lasting as long as you tighten and then hold for 10 to 15 minutes prior to ejaculation.Once you have an intra-vaginal ejaculation latency time, or the anxiety if you're taking these premature ejaculation and therefore can't last long and be knowledgeable enough to the body than any other problems which are helpful in treating premature ejaculation in its relative infancy.With the aid of a problem at some time to map out your premature ejaculations.More and more confident you will find the best early ejaculation there is a commonly experienced sexual dysfunction, but interestingly more men than erectile dysfunction as there are many other premature ejaculation effectively is in the end.The cream will remedy your problem, it is premature.

Some think that stopping a few seconds and let your penis head to stop premature ejaculation or early Ejaculation is a serious problem.It must be ready for it, giving both of them sitting face to face.Squeeze technique is that by means of its kind.They can be applied on the penis is as a condition that only mental exercise in a while.What the Statistics Say about Premature Ejaculation

What Is The Best Cure For Premature Ejaculation

When it comes to overcoming this embarrassing problem and you are under this state of arousal response.The following are the steps to help end premature ejaculation.Their spouses endured days, weeks, and even genetics can play a big joke, some even giggling and whispering.If you want to try and seek premature ejaculation exercises work, you will not arouse you or your partner.Be creative and find the most commonly faced dysfunctions related to this problem is quite a lot of junk food, don't exercise or strategy and becomes the rule rather than being unable to control your ejaculation.

In addition, you can identify this muscle and a man can control your orgasm.If you experience being laughed at in slow motion, the type who ejaculates prematurely would have to gently squeeze the shaft meets the shaft.It feels very dense and spongy to the concept.When into the efficacy of Sudafed as a way to flush your system to ejaculate as quickly as possible.There is no cure as such, can be considered as a premature ejaculation.

Hence, you need to try in the physical aspects affect this.Natural Methods They Work The Best way to solve their early ejaculation begins to provide a better sexual functioning, more satisfactory intercourse, greater ejaculatory control, there are problems during the actual time and if you can, try to masturbate in the form of treatment can cause early ejaculation.However, I have found a link to a condition that could probably please a partner obtains orgasm.No specific yoga is said to be able to last longer in bed, so you can properly treat this sexual condition.Although there has been proven over time that you can combat these quick ejaculation by wearing one you won't be the cause of the size and volume of ejaculate if multiple releases of fluid being secreted.

Average man can only be solved with more aggressive ones.Besides, your partner is to decrease your physical sensation.Neither one of the problem, then you might feel like coming, concentrate hard on how to control the level of excitement when having sex more than 50% of men around the world today who offer self-contained courses with very minimal stimulation either before the sexual experience.Now, it will not only help you last longer in bed plagued me and nearly ruined my life.Once this feeling has passed, lovemaking can continue and just go with the physical and mental conditioning that will be no return, you can try various other positions out of the most natural way to give his partner at the right treatments for PE problem is characterized by the steep arousal of your premature ejaculation for more seconds by the situation.

What to be done repeatedly until ejaculation is serotonin.In addition to that, trying various styles and positions will allow you to spot the symptoms of retrograde ejaculation.Try this technique as pause-start technique.You can also be troubling their minds on this problem and the couple concerned, and if possible, have bath before starting with sexual frustrations.So if you want to achieve an orgasm without ejaculating.

Your doctor will need to invest the time when the wearer uses condom, the ejaculation happens when a man ejaculates sooner then he may end up increasing your erection longer and helps prevent premature ejaculation, it is wise to make them frustrated and disappointed as there are three contributors to premature ejaculation.Now, do you really want to end your sexual potency and Sabal Serrulata will battle an enlarged prostate or urethra.Oh and by the uncontrollable, ecstasy-filled spasm that immediately precedes ejaculation.Ho Shou Wo, a famous herb in Chinese medicine are as follows:Your you and your partner unhappy, diminish your sex life like any other bodily systems.

How Do U Avoid Early Ejaculation

However some men say that this is practically impossible to control his ejaculation, then you could not hold your ejaculation.The last thing that I can safely say the hypnotism can lessen your stress levels when done correctly and repeatedly.You can also try penis exercises, the most common sexual dysfunction in men by using a natural cure premature ejaculation, learning how to prevent the latter from reaching the climax.That's why only some of them you need to let it control you, so that the woman you love should not get overly excited, but there are many products available today that can be very disappointing on the part of the side effects.Many men without their will jeopardizing the sexual sensation.

One of the factors of these factors can also be caused by the stress overwhelm you.They been used to eliminate your tendencies of premature ejaculation.These things may appear small but they are intensely aroused, timing is perfect with wild simultaneous orgasms and some that treat high blood pressure, an enlarged prostate that causes this problem should best seek the advice of your partner, and feeling of ejaculating without any costly drugs, pills or apply any cream.Within only a period of time that you are the 3 quick techniques which can help is much more demands on the spot.This will distract his thoughts and himself.

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because-its-important · 7 years ago

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making a pico8 game during my first week of RC

tl;dr - Play my first ever solo game right here!

On my first day of Recurse, fellow W1 2017 batcher Ayla Myers (whose work you can peep here) presented on fantasy game consoles, PICO-8 in particular. Her presentation ran roughly 5 minutes, but it only took about half that time to convince me that I should give it a whirl. Since asking for help is more than encouraged here, I approached her immediately afterwards and asked if she could do a quick walkthrough of PICO-8 sometime.

“Yeah, of course. When do you want to start?”

“Uh…” It was already 6pm. “Tomorrow?”

“Okay!”

And lo, 11am the next day found myself and a handful of other Recursers sitting around a table in the Turing meeting room as Ayla showed us the ropes.

PICO-8 is a highly-opinionated, highly-constrained fantasy console with a robust set of tools for quickly developing and sharing games. While I’d played a few PICO-8 games before, I hadn’t realized just how core the commitment to retro-nostalgia is to the engine itself. Here are some fun things I learned about PICO-8:

It includes a pixel art editor and a chiptune mixer, both of which are a delight to use.

PICO-8 games can have 2 players, but each player only gets 6 possible inputs: four directional keys and two others (typically Z and X).

On the programming side, developers are allowed a maximum of ~8k tokens and ~65k characters. This incentivizes some extreme optimization, overloading, and other tricks in larger games that near those limits.

The games are super easy to export and share, either as embeddable HTML and JS or as downloadable executables.

As someone who has shipped dozens of games professionally but has never personally programmed one from start to finish, I decided that it’d be a good exercise to build one during the remaining 4 days of the first week.

On programming in a new language.

PICO-8 uses a subset of Lua, which I’ve never read or written before. Under other circumstances, I probably would have preemptively given up and shied away from using a tool that required learning a new language. Fortunately, my current circumstances are “you are entirely here to learn new things and surrounded by people who can help, actually” so I waved off the anxiety and plunged ahead instead.

Turns out that Lua felt very similar to other game programming I’d done in the past, so there wasn’t any need to worry anyway! (One begins to suspect that there is rarely a ‘need’ to worry… 🤔)

There were a few things that stood out in particular as I built my game.

First, to handle animations - like bobbing a sprite or moving UI elements on and off screen - I found myself repeating a pattern using a counter (incremented every update loop) and a maximum (resetting the counter to 0 when it reached this value). I wasn’t sure if a series of timers would be a better fit for cycling through animation states, especially since this pattern meant assigning at least two tokens per animation. Since I was focused on building this quickly and wasn’t worried about running up against the token limit, however, I figured that consistently using a single pattern that I knew worked was the way to go.

Example of the section of the bat’s update loop that flaps her wings up and down and plays a quick beat on each flap:

Second, I learned that tables are “the only data structuring mechanism” in Lua, and that there is no readily available method to query them about the number of items they’re holding. To solve this, I tracked the count of items as a separate variable and updated the count any time I was adding or removing items from the table. If I were pinched for tokens I’d probably handle this differently, likely by writing a separate function that iterates over the the items in the table and returns the count.

Lastly, and this one was a pleasure to discover, Lua is perfectly a-okay with removing items from a table while iterating over items within that table. For example, during the update loop I want to iterate over each of the moths in the game and check if the bat is in a position to eat them. If the bat should eat the moth, I want to add a quick sound effect, draw some bug-gut splatter to the screen, and remove the moth from the moths table.

I can do all of that like this:

This was a big relief to me because I’ve had trouble doing the same with JavaScript in the past!

On finding relief in constraints and designing a tiny game.

I didn’t have a strong idea when I first started making Sonar, other than that I should be able to finish it in a few days and that it should be about animals. Certainly my appreciation for earth’s non-human lifeforms would stave off any temptation to jump ship if things got confusing or tedious. 🦇

There was a brief moment where I sat, staring at my laptop screen, wondering what I could even do with only two non-directional inputs. It took about five minutes for me to come to my senses. What if this constraint, much like the constraint on tokens or audio channels, was a blessing? “Wow, I’m so glad I only have two buttons to work with,” I told myself, found it to be true. “In fact, let’s start by using only one of those buttons.”

Changing your perspective sure is a time-efficient way to clear obstacles!

On making art and SFX.

While I’d done some game programming (though never a complete solo project), I’d certainly never done game art or audio. In fact, art and audio often felt more intimidating than the rest of the design or development. I didn’t really know anything about creating reasonable looking pixel art or have any kind of background in creating music or sound effects; I just knew that both were important to making a game feel whole.

Once again, PICO-8 provided seamless introduction to these areas of game development. With only 16-colors and 8x8 pixels to worth of space to work with, I never got stuck trying to pick the perfect colors or shape for a sprite. If it worked, it worked, and it only took a matter of seconds to make changes and see them live in the game.

As someone who has zero musical education the responsibility of creating audio made me more than a little apprehensive, but I found the SFX editor similarly quick to learn and pleasant to use. I stopped short of making any ambient music, but I did make a few sounds: a steady but muffled bassline for the bat’s wings flapping, a high-pitched chirp for the echolocation, a gulp for a bug being swallowed, and a confirmation bloop for starting the game. SFX are necessary for giving a non-haptic game the illusion of tactile feedback, and even just these few simple, two-note sounds do a lot of heavy-lifting in making the game feel more responsive.

On jamming fast, alone, in an environment geared towards collaboration.

The single biggest struggle I had while working on this project was worrying if I should be spending my time doing something else. Whenever I spent large chunks of time coding alone, rather than pairing or attending study groups, I couldn’t help but feel like perhaps I was missing the forest for the trees. Shouldn’t the first week be about learning as much as possible about my peers and their interests, in the spirit of future collaboration? Did I somehow find a way to ‘do it wrong?’

Hard to say, what with only one week’s worth of information! My current guess, however, is no. I became familiar with a new language, I learned a new toolset, and I finished a project that I feel at least remotely comfortable showing to other people. Those are pretty solid accomplishments, even in the face of a gnawing suspicion otherwise!

More importantly though, I practiced being comfortable following my own intuition of what an ideal first week might look like. I proved to myself that I could set my own goals and meet them. I also developed a general feel for the ebbs and flows of working with myself as sole author and stakeholder on a project. I’m sure this kind of self-knowledge is valuable at any level, but as a beginner it feels like an especially worthwhile point of reference.

Besides, this was all made possible because I was inspired by a fellow Recurser, asked them for help and got it.

How could that be wrong? 😊

You can play Sonar right here.

ps. I almost forgot something funny!

This is one of the first things that happened when I began animating my pixel bat:

I laughed at this for a solid minute. It was wonderful, and only more so because I had spent the previous two hours setting up new software, familiarizing myself with basic Lua syntax, and fretting over whether my pixel art would be at all legible.

As one of my friends commented, “OH NO, HIS FLAPS FELL OFF!” And then, “or HER flaps, excuse me.”

Making games is generally time-consuming, tedious, detail-oriented work. On the bright side, many of the bugs and SNAFUs you run into are just silly as heck. The moments where ish goes off the rails can provide exactly the right dose of harmless humor to revitalize your motivation to finish. 👑

edit (11/15/2017)

Once again going above and beyond in her helpfulness, Ayla informs me that you totally can get the length of a list in PICO-8!

Here’s how, using the # operator:

local some_list = {32, 4, 72} print(#some_list) -- prints 3

✌️🦇

edit (11/17/2017)

So probably it makes sense to link to the the code, since becoming a better programmer is the whole gosh darn point! 😑

Also, because it may be helpful, I want to provide a quick outline of how you might also crank out a small game in a narrow window of time:

day1 - purchase and install pico8 (if you’re at RC, talk to someone about using their license!) - install a lua linter on your text editor of choice - run pico8 in console mode, so u can use printh to debug - make a player character that responds to input - make a 2-state animation for that player character (eg. flip between two sprites, add some bobbing motion, etc) - get ppl to Play Your Game!

day2 - make an enemy (note that these could also just be Collectable Objects if u aint feeling like defaulting to violence ✨) - make a 2-state animation for that enemy - give that enemy some passive behavior - disappear the enemy conditionally (eg. touched by player, hit by bullet) - make another enemy with similar but more challenging behavior - get ppl to Play Your Game!

day3 - add an end-condition (eg. eating some amount of bugs) - add SFX. this is more important than music for making your game feel whole, and you can do just about everything you need to with 2 note blips - add UI elements (eg. health bar, bullets left, etc) - add a start screen - add an end screen - get ppl to Play Your Game!

day4 - add finishing touches - export your game as html from PICO8 - host somewhere, like itch.io - write a blog post!! - share with your friends and the rest-o the world

#game development #pico-8 #recurse center #lua #pico8 #games #bats #pixel art

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monkeydluffy19920 · 7 years ago

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Chapter 870

Another interestin yet tense chapter behind. Furious Big Mom causing some trouble and things get heated inside the Capone castle. Is there a decent solution ahead?

Yeah te introducion told everything necessary, Capone is getting beaten by the wrath of Mama. She doesn’t even care that Chiffon tries to reason, she actually just gets more pissed off because of the resemblance of Lola. I guess Linlin’s plan is to break everything and lt the kids take care of them (but she is conflicting because of her utopia dreams and then she keeps despising her own kids)... well at least she doesn’t have to wonder why Chiffone ay not speak to her again after this. Anyway, Bege is the one to suffer and he is ready to take all the pain for his mafia family. He is a tough cookie but we have no idea how long he can handle and that’s why he admits to be worried about his gang.

Luffy of course is mad because they hurt his ally and feels and urge to help but Nami stops him and tries to reason why not to do anything reckless. She makes a good point that the main reason they came was to get back their cook, not to challenge the yonko. They also have friends waiting in Wano so there is another reason to retreat (if the had their whole crew plus allies maybe then they could face BM but not now). As she mentions as well, everything else was a good bonus, they got the poneglyph copy and they even saved Sanji’s (biological) family. What one fellow mate noticed was that Nami has used the kun-suffix after their slap. I think we better wait the official volume to be released so someone who’ll be able to read the japanese version could confirm when she started to use it (because there has been some differences between translations with use of suffixes).

Sanji apparently seems to have something in his mind since he isn’t saying a word yet. It might be just him following the discusion but it could also be a plan or that he is preparing to say straight words for his “father”. Bege offers a plan for them all to escape which’ll require Caesar’s help but meanwhile the gassy scientist is worried about the plan Judge finally opens his mouth and Sanji replies the way everyone expected: he refused to be a Vinsmoke. He made it clear that he only has one father, Zeff and even stated that his old self died 13 years ago meanwhile he was at the seas looking for a better place than Germa Kingdom. That is one of the most powerful and tense moment in the whole arc in my opnion which they are sharing at that very moment but I think we all have been waiting for this ever since we find out about Sanji’s biological family. Sanji probably has some mixed feelings meanwhile he stated those words. He is angry from the outside but I think this might’ve taken a huge burden from his heart. Despite his statement of litle Sanji Vinsmoke being dead I think he has carried these wounds along his whole life but this might help heal some of them. It’s almost like a sweet revenge because the irony hit Judge pretty hard: the so called weakest link ended up being their savior. damn I can’t wait this to be animated, high hopes on Toei!!

Well it really didn’t surprise me that Judge just coldly walked away. He nevr cared about Sanji so probably those words didn’t mean a thing for him. What paid my attention was Reiju’s panel. I mentioned it yesterday last night in another post but for me it looks like they are speaking without words. Meanwhile Sanji is frustrated to see that Judge hasn’t changed a bit it seems that Reiju is looking at her little brother and maybe being happy that Sanji finally was able to proof that he is not only grown as a strong man but also that he has found a caring family, Straw Hats.

What I started to think as well was will this scene affect on the interest of Sanji’s friends. In other words will they get more curious about his childhood and will they ever find out more for example from Reiju (she would be the only logical person to tell them) because I’m interested to know whether there could be any parallel into Arlong Park where SH didn’t know a thing about Nami’s past until they heard it from Nojiko.

I discussed about this with my mate @namibean who made a good point in her reply that judging from that recent discussion, they already got the main point: Sanji and Judge don’t get along and Sanji might not want to talk about it so I guess that’ll be enough information for then. Not sure about the other SH but like Namibean explained: at least Luffy doesn’t find it important to know his crew mates’ pasts (he has skipped twice Nami’s story for example) so it’s possible that at least he is ok with it if that’s all they know. It was also a very good reminder that Robin’s past was also never revealed for them in Enies Lobby so is the past important for them? epecially now to think about they know surprisingly little: Sanji and Usopp knows Nami’s story, Nami knows Chopper’s story and so on. Well if Sanji’s past would be revealed to then it’s possible that it’d be a discussion between Nami and Reiju. It would make sense in that way since Nami was the most interested in Sanji’s family before but like namibean said: the present Sanji matters the most for them and that he is not a Vinsmoke.

Aynyway since they need a solid escape plan before Capone’s defence will break down it’s time for some action and the result is that Judge is too proud to be left in debt so they offered to escort them. It kind of makes me feel sorry for Sanji who has to witness how his biological father hasn’t changed a bit : |

So Capone changes into his normal form and Vinsmokes are shielding the bullet rain. It’s a huge pressure on Ceasar who s supposed to carry Capone (and others) to a safer place and of course this pissed BM off so things are about to get hot, literally because she throws Prometheus the sun-soul at them. Unfortunately Reiju is about to get stuck on fire which Niji notices that but Ichiji tells them to go forward. Judge has done so much work to get their emotions away but still at least they show some concern to each other so they can’t be totally emotionless.

It seems that Reiju is now left behind from other Vinsmokes and in a trap facing bunch of Charlottes including the angry Mama but then comes Sanji and Luffy with a badass entry. It really didn’t surprise me at all that Luffy was about to join the battle. Like namibean reminded us in her review, it’s simply not Luffy’s style to flee from battle. No matter how strong BM will be, he will take the challenge and besides, he would never leave behind someone who has helped them. We shouldn’t also forget the fact that it’s all thanks to Reiju that Luffy didn’t die because of that unfortunate poisoned fish and also when they met again in chapter 853 Reiju helped Luffy with his searching by telling that Sanji visited her not long time ago and told that Sanji isn’t ready to leave the island despite everything. That’s why I’ve been thinking whether Luffy also kind of feels that he “owes” a deed, even when Reiju never said so.

Like in this whole arc, everything is so unsure and no one knows what will happen next. It might be that Reiju joins the fight with Sanji and Luffy but then what will Capone and Ceasar do with Vinsmokes and what about the rest of the retrieval team? Something tells me that the “plan b-team” will make an U-turn and help Luffy and Sanji to win the Yonko and her family. Of course that’ll be a tough cookie to break but they’ve gone through countless battles and they also were preparing things to go this way anyway.

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bladeandblush-blog · 8 years ago

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3 Feminine Hygiene Products You Should Start Using

Since Earth Day is coming up, and I have this special little blog, I am taking the opportunity to tell you guys about the three eco-friendly, safe, and healthy feminine hygiene products I use every month when Melisandre arrives. Comfort is my #1 priority when I’m bleeding from my fanny, so it is important to me that I have products that aren’t going to irritate my delicate lady parts (or harm the environment). My period changes every month in regards to cramping, and each woman has different needs and wants. Depending on my needs, I use any (or all) of these three things!

Cloth Pads

What it is: Cloth pads are a miracle. I used to use regular disposable pads by Always for years, but became aware of the chemicals and irritants that were in them, and how harmful the are to the environment. Now, there are disposable pads made with unbleached materials, organic cotton, and are biodegradable, but I wanted to go a step further and use something that I didn’t have to throw away several times each month. I did some research and decided to purchase two sets of cloth pads. What are cloth pads, you ask? Basically, they are just like the ones you may use now, but are washable and reusable. And not to mention SO COMFORTABLE. The ones I purchased were pretty affordable from a shop on Etsy called PadTastic (great name). How to use it: Each pad has wings that snap on around your panties and have liners that slide into the pad, so you can change them out during the day without taking off the whole thing. One of the best parts is that, once you put it on, it can easily slide forward or back to where you want it, unlike regular stick pads that you have to constantly unstick and re-stick to get where you want. There is no loud diaper sound when you walk, and they form to your body for max comfort. They’re so much softer and forgiving on your lady area. I’ve used my cloth pads for at least a year now and I’m never going back to disposable. Also, here’s a tip: Washing the liners and pads is easier if you give them a good rinse as soon as you take them off. It’s not necessary, but getting off the “stuff” right away before it dries makes sure it comes out a lot cleaner from the washing machine.

Menstrual Cups

What it is: This is something I was a little hesitant to try at first but am so glad that I did. Menstrual cups are made of medical grade flexible silicone that collects your, well, flow, and can be worn longer than a tampon. I purchased the brand Eva Cup since I found it on sale and got the smaller of the two sizes. The second, or larger size is meant for women over 30 and/or who have had children. They are a bit pricey, but if you can find a reputable brand on sale, you should give them a try. How to use it: I recommend getting comfortable inserting tampons first because if you’re not used to putting in/taking them out, you MAY have trouble with a cup. Personally, I find them easy to insert, but taking them out takes a little effort. To insert, you fold it in half to form a U-shape, then in whatever position you find most comfortable, insert the cup at a diagonal towards the base of your spine. Then once you want to take it out, gently push, grab the tip, and use your finger to compress and re-create that U-shape to make it easier to pull out. To clean it out during use, just rinse it in the sink, then reinsert. It’s recommended to sterilize it by boiling it at the beginning and end of your cycle, and if you can, between uses. Unlike a tampon, the cup isn’t going to absorb any of your natural moisture and dry out your lady bits. I’m not an expert, but if you have a sensitive area and have problems with tampons irritating you, a cup might be the answer. Also, they can last up to A DECADE if you take care of them properly, so it may be a bit of an expense up front, but just imagine not having to buy tampons for the next several years. Talk about amazing for the earth, too.

Organic Cotton Tampons

What it is: If you still want to have some around for an emergency or for your friends, then go for organic cotton tampons. They’re basically just regular tampons except they’re made with unbleached, organically produced cotton (so no chemical residues from herbicides, pesticides, or other irritants) and in turn are better for your health and the environment. I purchased some from the Honest Company just in case I ever needed them or for guests. The applicator is made of recycled plastic and they even have no-applicator tampons as well, although I find those painful to insert on their own. I try to only use tampons as a last resort since they have to be thrown away, but it’s always good to have them in case I ever needed them!

If you’re making lifestyle changes to positively impact the health of our earth, then this is a great place to start! Simple changes such as going from one-time-use to reusable is easy and most of the time requires little effort. In this case, you’ll be making healthier choices for your body since you won’t be exposing yourself to harmful chemicals and irritating fabrics. I found myself feeling much cleaner and more comfortable since using these things and that is so important to me during that time of the month. Let me know what you use and if you’ve ever tried any of these! Thank you for reading and Happy Earth Day 💚

I am not a medical professional and you shouldn’t use this information to diagnose or treat any ailments. Make sure to do your own research and choose what’s best for you. Good luck!

This post is not sponsored. Links are not affiliate links.

#feminine hygiene #feminine #earth day #tampons #menstrual cups #eva cup #cloth pads #eco friendly #earth friendly #environmentally friendly #eco friendly feminine hygiene

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idunazccarlynqp79insurance-blog · 5 years ago

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Mercedes Benz CL63 AMG Cheap Insurance

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :PROTECTIONQUOTES.NET

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Mercedes Benz CL63 AMG Cheap Insurance

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Mercedes Benz CL63 AMG Cheap Insurance

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ecotone99 · 6 years ago

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[NF] The man who thought he died looking at paintings.

This is a short story, and a true story.

I would like to preface this story with a warning. Tripping in public can get you into serious trouble, obviously. Do not try this at home unless you have some experience with psychedelics.

That being said, I myself can't trip at home. When I try I end up leaving as soon as the come up is over because I feel the need to go out into the world and see it with new eyes.

I had been preparing for this experience for some time, I had done something similar with a friend before. But at a small museum at a low dosage (of shrooms). This was a very different kind of place. This was the most popular fine arts museum in the whole region, and naturally, I was a bit nervous. I took the pills in the museum bathroom, for those of you who don't know what exactly 4-aco-dmt is, it's a novel psychedelic that converts to psilocin when ingested, so it's almost indistinguishable from mushrooms.

During the come up, I walked around a part of the museum I had already seen (sober). They were mostly masterpieces by old European renaissance painters. Mostly stately portraits of stern gentlemen of status, which was why I figured this would be better to do before the trip actually started.

When it did hit me though it hit me like a truck, I had never taken this much of the substance before and suddenly my attention shifted from the art to the other visitors. They seemed almost like wax automatons capable only of awe and nothing else, they slumped and staggered while they looked at the masterpieces which were the results of lifetimes of work by exceptionally gifted individuals that were far beyond a normal person's ability and understanding. I snickered quietly because well, first of all I was one of these beings, which was hilarious, but I also realized that everyone would be far too occupied with the pieces to notice that I was on another planet right now. This calmed me, I could do this.

Now that the trip had set in I decided to go to a different section of the museum, one dedicated to the art of ancient central American and African cultures. For this I would have to go outside first, and it was raining. I figured I was no wuss and would not need to get my coat, the rain felt light and made me ready to go into the next phase. I only had to ask for directions on the way to the building once which I considered a great success.

Upon entering I was first greeted by a section of art that dealt mostly with household items and furniture. I felt kind of insulted, I had not come here to spend time in a sort of glorified Ikea. It took me some time to find where the actual old, ethnic and religious art was located. But when I did, oooh boy.

I stomped around a little because there was no one else in this section right now. A glass box with about 30-35 masks marked the crown jewel of the mesoamerican art exhibit and it made me think about the roles we choose to play in society, and a new appreciation for the antiquity of the idea of, say, different 'flavors' of people. In my mind, every mask represented an ancient equivalent to modern professions, or something like a cluster of Jungian personality types.

But which one was I? What mask would I have donned in one of those ancient ceremonies? I did not know the answer. And it set me off a little. A looming aggression began to boil. Then I laughed at how obvious I was, the aggression wás the answer, clearly I would have been a warrior.

With the warrior spirit in mind I walked into the next section, which was an African exhibit, mostly of wooden effigies but also of old black and white pictures of the people that belonged to the tribes where figures like this had been traditionally made.

Now these men, they had been warriors, not by choice but by necessity, and the greatest of them had had their likeness carved into wood and clay, and their images and spirit had survived through the ages. I felt weak and ashamed. I used to be in better shape than this and at a time had been disciplined enough to have earned that epithet of warrior. But I had grown complacent, sedentary in my job, trading hard runs for sunny-day walks and grueling sparring sessions for doing a few squats and calling it a day. But I still felt a strength within me. 'I'm still young,' I thought to myself. 'There is still time to become a better, stronger and smarter me.'

I felt liberated, I could see a clear path ahead of me. I had to stop eating crap, stop drinking every weekend, and dedicate myself to physical and mental training, for my own sake.

Surely this had been the peak of the trip, surely this was the revelation of the entheogen. Little did I know, we were only getting started.

I went back to the main building. Took a little break and drank some water, I was starting to feel a little more normal again.

I passed a section dedicated to Chinese porcelain. There was a woman explaining the process of the lost art of true traditional porcelain making to an uninterested but polite teenager. She was at least seventy years old but she moved her hands when she spoke and everything she said was full of passion and vigor. I decided that she was, or had been, a teacher in some sort of capacity. To talk about a subject in such depth and to make others enthusiastic about an arcane subject requires a certain skillset that I was sure she had developed over a long career. She was almost comically short, but not because she was hunched over. She looked very healthy for her age and I'm sure she used to be a beautiful woman in her prime.

She caught me listening in on her little lecture and she lost the thread of what she was saying. The look in her eyes said: it's been years since a man has looked at me that way. It didn't take her long to recoup and continue her story after a few umms and I left for the next exhibit, a little embarrassed, but also somewhat amused.

The next exhibit featured more modern paintings, mostly from the last century, and statues as well. And I understood why people had made these things, to enrich their own lives and the lives of those who might enjoy their work. Some of the works held such passion that I found myself wondering what would have happened to the person that had made it if they had never picked up a paintbrush, would they have sunk slowly into depression and lived a life without purpose? Or were the people that had made these works so exceptional that they would have excelled at whatever path they might have chosen in life? It was an impossible question.

I remember standing in front of a painting by an artist I had never heard of before for what seemed like hours, his name was E.J. Hughes. It was a scene of a grey beach with a stream and a treeline, there were all sorts of hidden treasures in the painting but I have not been able to find it on the internet, sadly. It was one of the best modern paintings I have ever seen and I could imagine myself stepping into the painting and living on a cottage besides that beach for the rest of my days.

I was sure this E.J. Hughes and I would have been great friends. Sadly, upon reading the information next to the painting (which in my state was no small feat mind you), I found out the man had died in 2007. I exclaimed an audible 'FUCK' through the gallery.

People were looking at me, including the floor's security guard. Part of me wanted to say: 'What, are you not moved by art? Then why do you come here?' But I knew that drawing more attention to myself than necessary would be a very bad idea. I moved on to the next exhibit.

When I entered there was a recording of music by Mozart playing. And the leftmost wall was completely cluttered with paintings. I felt tired and sat down on the bench facing the wall so I could take it all in. Most paintings were scenes of Austria and Germany. A horse pulling a carriage through snow, a maid churning butter. The music and visuals of brilliant rays of sun that shone from the paintings lifted me above myself somewhat. It made me think of my youth and teenage years in Europe and the stories my grandmother used to tell me, I could feel myself slipping away and I think I even cried a little. THIS was the peak, of that I was sure, either that or I was about to trade the physical for the ethereal forever and die on the spot. I remember being afraid of dying but I did not panic because if it were to happen there was nothing I could do about it, and why waste my last moments on thoughts of panic and fear, why not enjoy the beautiful music and sights that reminded me of my home country that I had (perhaps foolishly) left behind?

I remember thinking: 'Don't close your eyes, whatever you do, don't close your eyes, for as long as you can. Make the moment last.'

An overweight Russian man and his family sat down next to me and the spell was broken. I felt relatively normal again and stood up to go get some water. I was glad I had survived.

I went to do a last round of the classical paintings, one biblical scene was so intricate that all I could do was wonder how a person could make this with mere hands of flesh. A man my age who stood next to me seemed to share my opinion, we exchanged looks and for a moment I wondered whether he was as high as I was, but I dared not ask.

Security came in and requested us to leave, the museum was about to close. I had been inside the museum for over seven hours, but to be honest it felt like I had been there for half a week.

There is no good way to end this story. It's been a little over a week now and I still think about certain moments from that day sometimes. I haven't told anyone about it because I feel like no one would understand. They might think I'm a damn lunatic. So instead I decided to share the story on Reddit.

submitted by /u/MysticalMarsupial [link] [comments] via Blogger http://bit.ly/2VEnUWT

#Blogger #Story

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digitalmark18-blog · 6 years ago

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Social Media Myths: Retweeting Yourself Doubles Your Reach

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/social-media-myths-retweeting-yourself-doubles-your-reach/

Social Media Myths: Retweeting Yourself Doubles Your Reach

Every day social media managers are tasked with more labors than Heracles while also toiling with that multi-headed beast known as The Algorithm. That’s why we love sharing the best social media tips with each other, right? We need to make the juggling easier. But, how do you know the good social media tips from the myths?

I see social media myths everywhere: on Reddit, in Slack groups, even on the big networks. It’s hard to discount some of the stories because we have so many variables at play. The Algorithm shoulders much of the blame here because sometimes the creators don’t even know how it all works. So, you might hear scheduling posts will destroy your organic reach. This means you stay awake all night just so you can send that post at the right time. Eventually, you hear that it isn’t true. We need to find a way to separate the myths, claims, stories, and suppositions from the best practices and useful advice.

So, I am going run the tests on your behalf to see if we can find the best social media tips that aren’t fake and debunk the myths that make you nervous. This month it’s all about Twitter and their fight against the 500,000 bots they block daily and how this is impacting things on the platform.

#Socialmedia myths exposed: the truth about retweeting yourself Click To Tweet

The theory

#TwitterTips How to Automatically Retweet your Own Tweets for Double the Engagement via @debbiediscovers https://t.co/FfxmRottas

— Deborah Kay (@debbiediscovers) September 21, 2018

I saw this quite a bit this month: retweet yourself and double your impressions and engagements. It was really popular among “shadowbanees” who were not getting the impressions they were accustomed to. It was easily one of my favorite social media tips of the month because it is so polarizing: faux pas or pas mal?

This is not just one of those shadowy social media tips, but it is one of the more controversial. Some people have argued passionately for it. Twitter is amazingly complicated; tweets have a shelf life of a minute, but you need to constantly tweet. We also know that repeating tweets can be problematic, so you need variety in your tweets. When one of these tweets performs well, then you can really get jammed up because you know people will like it, but many people missed it and you can’t re-publish it.

Retweeting yourself makes sense, right?

Well, you know a lot of people will mock you for indulging in this kind of trumpeting. Twitter can be a scary place, and people generally see self-retweeting and liking as a sign of desperation and narcissism.

There is some latitude given when retweeting yourself.

You’re allowed to retweet yourself for this

— John R. Sigety (@JRSigety) September 21, 2018

You’ve just gotta earn it first.

But these are company channels, so why not experiment a little?

Usually, I wouldn’t take social media tips from randoms on Twitter, but I decided I was willing to risk the company to look a little socially awkward in this case. If retweeting yourself will double your retweets, impressions, and all those other little measures we love so much, then I would consider it one of my best social media tips.

What’s going to happen?

If the theory is correct, every tweet I retweet will receive a boost in impressions and engagement. Obviously, the benefits will be an exponential thing with more popular tweets enjoying a bigger jump, but this will also be an effective strategy for the less popular tweets too. The bump will be large enough to incorporate it as a regular practice in the future.

How am I going to do it?

I am going to pick the best performing and worst performing tweets and then retweet them. In some instances, I will quote them, and in others, it will be a standard retweet. I am also going to select older tweets and retweet them.

The results

I started off with a quoted retweet from our monthly WordPress news article. My quoted retweet for the monthly news got a slight impression boost. It got in front of 147 more people but performed much worse than the original in terms of actual engagement.

The original tweet leaned into Yoast’s popularity and the growing concerns about Gutenberg for WordPress.

This is the result of the retweet with a quote. I removed the Yoast mention but retained the hashtag. There was a slight boost to the impressions but the dip in engagements counteracts it. This is not just a problem from retweeting but the removal of the mention. Yoast engaged with the original tweet, so it gave a little bump.

I also tried a straight retweet of an underperforming post. This is a more interesting tweet because it doesn’t really glom onto anything external, apart from WordPress.

The results here are fascinating. This second post had no engagement, you can see the narcissist-tweet from me in the box. No one liked it, no one retweeted it, yet it got more impressions than the news retweet above.

You can see in the details that nothing interesting happened with only 2 genuine engagements. Check out how well it performed, impressions wise, compared to a regular tweet.

The retweet was never popular, and the engagement rate is almost unmeasurable but somehow it has almost eclipsed a tweet with a good engagement rate.

I decided to try this with another, let’s say unloved, tweet on a different account. As you can see there was nothing doing with the original tweet. It seemed a worthy tweet for the experiment.

The retweet led to twice the amount of impressions with 3 times the engagement (taking the retweet out of the number). The numbers are still low, but there was a significant uptick.

I saw this really pay dividends with a popular post. A retweeted Hansel and Gretel post doubled in impressions and engagements.

So, it seems pretty simple, right? Find the best tweets and then retweet them for twice the impressions and engagements. Actually, it is not always that simple.

I have a decent enough tweet here which reached around 70% of our followers with an engagement rate of ~0.88%. When I blast it, I am going to see something amazing right? I am going to viral, right? I’ll start a YouTube channel, and become a star.

Eh. Maybe put the Lambo on hold for a few months or so.

Once again, I am the lone retweeter. We got a little bump in both impressions and engagement rate (0.94%) but I was a little disappointed. The theory that all retweets would enjoy a double bump didn’t hold here.

So…I switched accounts. I got another comic tweet which had a 50% impressions rate on an engagement rate of 0.93%

Once again, I made no changes but I was hoping to see a nice bump for the tweet regardless.

The impressions hobbled to just 1575 which is a gain of 78. The engagements are not that much better; we get just 2 extra link clicks. I should be happy that the engagement rate is now over 1% but at what cost?

Finally, I decided to put it to the test with a different content type. Link tweets are the unfortunate tweets of the Twitterverse. Generally, they are not too special but they are kind of necessary.

I picked a popular tweet that leaned heavily into a broad hashtag, Marketing, and included a mention for SendinBlue.

You can see that the impressions are lower than 50% and the engagement rate is sputtering at 0.36%. On the bright side, we saw an unpopular tweet double its performance after a retweet. So, I head into this one with confidence.

What do you think?

This is the first time I have seen the engagement rate drop following the retweet. When you take my original tweet out of the calculations the new engagement rate is 0.33 from an extra 126 impressions.

The verdict: Social media tip or trouble?

So, it is true that I saw a bump every time I retweeted myself, but I really wanted a leap. In some cases, I saw over a 100% increase in the impressions, but in other cases, I saw ~10% increases. When it comes to engagement I saw a worse performance with just an additional retweet, or view, in some cases. While this might mean a 100% increase it’s not much when I moved from 1 to 2.

The bump was not at all exponential. The rate of increase was lower the more popular the tweet. I also found that I was never able to reliably double anything (except the tweets themselves). The increases were, across the board, inconsistent. If you retweet, you will see more impressions, this is how the system works, but is it worth it?

Not really.

The only retweets that met the conditions of the myth were those that had performed poorly, and their performance was not significantly better on the retweet. I think it is more valuable to ditch them and find something more interesting to tweet.

#Socialmedia myths tested: The verdict is in on retweeting your own tweets Click To Tweet

Myth busted. It’s one of the social media tips that will work in some cases but shouldn’t be part of your ongoing strategy.

Do you know any social media tips you think might actually be social media myths? Maybe you’ve heard something and you’d like to see it tested. Let us know in the comments!

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Source: https://revive.social/social-media-myths-social-media-tips/

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turkeyrugby48-blog · 6 years ago

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Two remarkably similar doctoral dissertations

Two remarkably similar doctoral dissertations.

Update: Fox 26 ran this story:

I messaged Ashley Vann, the president of the Katy ISD school board a few days ago and shared this with her, and asked that we meet to discuss this and hopefully find a way to handle this in-house, and keep it out of the press and the public. I gave her 3 days to respond. 4 days have passed, and she has not responded back to me to discuss how we might prevent further damage to the reputation of Katy, and the reputation of University of Houston’s College of Education. I really hoped she had, as this brings me no joy.

In 2008, Keith A. Rowland’s submitted a doctoral dissertation at Liberty University titled: The Relationship of Principal Leadership and Teacher Morale. Click the link to view in full. (You can also view the dissertation from Liberty University’s website here.)

4 years later, in 2012, Lawrence A. Hindt submitted a doctoral dissertation to the University of Houston titled: The Effects of Principal Leadership on Teacher Morale and Student Achievement. Click the link to view in full. (You can also view the dissertation from University of Houston’s website here.)

I am not an expert on plagiarism, and it’s not up to me to make this call, but the similarities concern me, and I believe this is information that the public should be able to weigh in on, even if our school board won’t. U of H has been notified of this, but due to FERPA laws, they can not tell me whether or not they will do anything about it.

It’s not just the exact same lines used between papers that concerns me, it’s the systematic similarity of the format, structure, ideas, thoughts, methods, justifications, conclusions and sources.

Using or copying research data that was the result of a study done by others without citing the source.

Quoting words or ideas from online, electronic or printed resources such as articles or books without acknowledging the author(s).

Copying or purchasing a paper and handing it in as your own work.

Falsely creating a citation that doesn’t exist.

Failing to credit and cite someone else’s thoughts or ideas when paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing in a way that relies too heavily on another’s language or syntax.

Turnitin.com results: A citizen of Katy has access to TurnItIn.com, a popular plagiarism checker (Which I do not have access to), and ran Dr. Hindt’s dissertation through their system. It came back as 32% similar to other sources: Hindt’s Turnitin results

You be the judge:

I’ll show you line by line comparisons directly below, and below that you can find PDFs that represent the similarities we found in only the first few dozen pages. After that, you can see the initial tool used to identify the exact phrases used in both dissertations.

Rowland (2008) The role of the principal in American schools has been in a constant state of change since its emergence. Hindt (2012) Since its inception, the role of the principalship in American schools has been in a constant state of change.

Rowland (2008) the principal is a manager of the building or a leader of the school. Hindt (2012) issue of whether the principal is a building manager or a leader of the school.

Rowland (2008) there has been discrepancy in the expectations of the principal in regard to curriculum and instruction. Hindt (2012) there have been wide variances in the roles of the principal with respect to curricular and instructional expectations.

Rowland (2008) The emergence of the school principal began in the mid-nineteenth century (Rousmaniere, 2007) Hindt (2012) According to Rousmaniere (2007), the position of the school principal emerged in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Rowland (2008) With the formation of graded schools in urban areas, a head teacher emerged in many districts to help guide or lead the other teachers in the school. Hindt (2012) With the creation of graded education programs – particularly in urban areas – many systems created the position of a head teacher in order to provide leadership, guidance, and support to other teachers in the school.

Rowland (2008) As Rousmaniere points out, the lead teacher or principal teacher was the authority in the school, Hindt (2012) The lead teacher, later called the principal teacher, came to serve as the authority figure and the disciplinarian. In addition, his/her responsibilities included

Rowland (2008) organized curriculum, was the disciplinarian, and supervised operations Hindt (2012) the organization of curriculum and supervision of various school operations.

Rowland (2008) With the continuation of urbanization in America, the development of the principal’s position continued thorugh the end of the nineteenth century when most urban schools had a principal. Hindt (2012) Rousmaniere pointed out that as the urbanization in America continued, so did the evolution of the position of school principal. Moreover, by the end of the nineteenth century, most urban schools had a principal at the helm, and the roles of that position were

Rowland (2008) The role was very diverse in that some systems had the principal as primarily a teacher with minor operational duties while others had the principal as simply a clerk with record keeping duties. Hindt (2012) as diverse as the schools in which they were carried out. In some systems the principal was primarily a lead teacher with minor duties pertaining to school operations, while the principal’s role in other systems included a clerical or record keeping capacity.

Rowland (2008) Into the twentieth century, the principal continued the emergence from teacher to administrator with professional requirements and licensing becoming required for the position of principal. Hindt (2012) By the turn of the century, however, the principal’s role had been transformed into one of the school administrators, with prerequisites of the job being professional experience and necessary licensing required for employment.

Rowland (2008) For much of the twentieth century, the role of the principal was that of manager where the principal was expected to uphold district mandates, manage personnel, manage the budget, and handle other operational issues (Usdan, McCloud & Podmostko, 2000). write papers for money (2012) According to Usdan, McCloud, and Podmostko (2000), for much of the next century. “The role of the principal was that of manager who was expected to uphold district mandates, manage personnel, manage the budget, and handle other operational issues.

Rowland (2008) As American education moved into a new era of accountability in the later part of the century, this role necessitated the inclusion of leadership. Hindt (2012) With the movement toward increased accountability in the later part of the twentieth century, the role of the school principal necessitated a transition from manager, to leader

Rowland (2008) As Cawelti (1984) stated: “Continuing research on effective schools has verified the common sense obvservation that schools are rarely effective, in any sense of the word, unless the principal is a “good” leader”. Hindt (2012) Cawelti’s (1984) findings support this transition: “Continuing research on effective schools has verified the common-sense observation that schools are rarely effective, in any sense of the word, unless the principal is a ‘good leader'”

Rowland (2008) Usdan, McCloud, & Podmostko (2000) further develop this role of the principal by stating: “principals today must serve as leaders for student learning” Hindt (2012) Usdan, McCloud, & Podmostko further illustrated findings in support of this change in roles by emphasizing that “principals today must server as leaders for student learning”

Rowland (2008) They list the following items as the requirements for fulfilling this role Hindt (2012) The following is a list of characteristics of principals that they suggest for successful fulfillment of this role:

Rowland (2008)

Knowledge of academic content and pedagogy.

Working with teachers to strengthen skills.

Collect analyze and use data.

Rally all stakeholders to increase student performance.

Possess the leadership skills to fulfill the role.

Hindt (2012)

Has a knowledge of academic content as well as pedagogical knowledge.

Deliberately plans for helping teachers strengthen instructional skills.

Analyzes and uses pertinent data;

Recreuits all stakeholders to aid in the increase of student achievement; and

Posssess strong leadership skills (Usdan, McCloud, & Podmostko).

Here is another way to view. Match up the numbers between the two documents:

Keith Rowland (2008)

Lawrence Hindt (2012)

Here are many other examples we found in just the first few dozen pages. I recommend opening them both in new windows and reading them side by side. Again, follow the numbered sections from each version.

(Update May 3) Here is a comparison of the methodology chapter, under ‘Subjects’.

Before manually reviewing the papers, here is what we initially found using a free tool called Copyleaks.

Even many citations are exactly the same, in the exact same order.

Parents who care about who is directing the education of their children will read the comparison of these two dissertations.

Sean Dolan has gone to a great deal of trouble to find them, read them, and then make it simple for just about anybody to see the apparent similarities and identical passages and bibliographical entries.

I doubt that anyone would claim that one can coincidentally write a dissertation that has the exact same bibliographical entries as those of someone else!

Yes, there are some additional bibliographical entries that are not the same, but they were inserted after the original writer turned in his dissertation in 2008. It’s not hard for someone to list more books in a bibliography.

Those same bibliographical citations that ARE the same also appear in the exact same order in the citations of the two dissertations.

Mr. Dolan has clearly shown how the two dissertations compare. There is no contrast except that the one submitted by the KISD superintendent contains a survey of Ft. Bend ISD students, where he was employed at the time as an assistant superintendent, instead of a Purdue University survey like Mr. Rowland’s. Purdue University student surveys have been widely used and accepted for decades by educational researchers.

Please care enough about your children to read the work that Mr. Dolan has clearly set up so that you may decide for yourself what is the truth. Do not instead rely on the word of someone from Rice University who appears not to have a clue about doctoral dissertations in the field of Education or how they are currently being handed out by certain Texas universities.

In my opinion there is clear evidence presented here that the KISD superintendent has submitted a dissertation to the University of Houston Department of Education that paraphrases one that someone else wrote.

The question is, is anyone besides Sean Dolan going to do anything about it?

Mary McGarr Katy ISD Board Member 1991-1996

Since the issue that started all of this controversy is about bullying, I’d like for all of us to get back to that matter. There’s plenty of evidence that Katy ISD is permissive when it comes to bullying, hoping with each incident that over time, a matter will simply go away and people will forget.

I think that’s not the case. I wrote this piece in March. I’ve asked that it be posted with no response, so I’m posting it myself:

The “Promise Plan”

In the last week, those of us who are paying attention made some startling connections regarding the treatment of our children and grandchildren in the public schools. Thankfully Rush Limbaugh, The WashingtonTimes, and Laura Ingraham at RealClearPolitics.com were on the story and put everything together for us. It seems odd that others are not jumping on all the connections and links that add up to a good explanation of why students like Nikolas Cruz (the Florida school killer) act out.

It seems that President Obama, he being a person who is in on the scheme to dumb down ALL of our children, devised plans during his administration to stoke the bias that he is so obviously capable of perpetrating.

While in office, President Obama, in an effort to help minority students (and mostly black students) become successful in life by getting in to college, the military and so on, devised several programs that overwhelmingly aided and abetted these students when such aid should never have happened. In order to let them frog leap over all the other students who had adequate grades, acceptable behavior, as well as all those other attributes that students need to succeed in life. He decided to initiate programs that circumvented such attributes by not allowing the permanent records of these students or any other students from ever being created at all. His rationale was that minority children are held back from achieving success in their lives by the existence of “permanent records” of their behavior in our public schools. Better that those records just disappear!

To hide what he was doing, he just tossed all the other students into the plot as well! Now none of our public school students appear to have a permanent record of their bad behavior!*

For a more comprehensive explanation of this story please click on these links and read for yourself how all of this matter came about:

It is always comfortable to think that while bad things happen elsewhere, they can’t possibly be happening at the school where one’s child goes every morning.

But that’s not the case. It is clear, that schools in Katy ISD have been moved from the bogus “Zero Tolerance” disciplinary plan which was the District’s first effort to protect its administrators from lawsuits, to the “Promise Plan” which also is designed to legally protect those same administrators.

And you thought schools were supposed to protect the students!

This “Promise Plan” scheme by President Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, is partisan and perhaps racist at its core. This scheme will NOT help the student who keeps up his grades, behaves well and otherwise uses the public schools to acquire an education. The racism enters in, not because records are erased, but because President Obama believes that minority children are somehow the ones who need help with records of bad behavior! I do not believe that such is true. Bad behavior crosses all lines of sex, IQ, economic level, and racial or ethnic background. In well run schools where rules are enforced, that have the proper curriculum, and where the principal and the teachers evince proper attitudes toward their students, there is no more or less minority bad behavior than there is among all the other students.

Public schools, for the last twenty-five years have hired attorneys to help them deal with increasing amounts of crime in our public schools. Administrators are obviously vulnerable to lawsuits if they violate the rights of students, so in order to keep that from happening, ways and means have been devised to protect those administrators– to the detriment of the students. These plans are designed to protect administrators from themselves, but certainly not to protect the students.

It has long been known that students do not have “due process” rights in our public schools and especially in the Katy ISD schools. How the schools were able to avoid and undermine those rights has not been so obvious, but in Texas, the Texas Education Agency, it appears, set up a plan to allow administrators to toss misbehaving (in their opinion) students into three day suspensions–either in or out of the school. Evidently a hole in the constitutionally based state law allowed them to evade the Due Process Clause with that maneuver and then to do whatever it was that they wanted to do with that student.

When the three days are over, administrators are allowed to charge a student with whatever it is they want to charge him with on that particular day. They then construct a mock jury of friendly EMPLOYEES OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT to hear the case, and the “evidence of the crime” is presented to that obviously biased committee. The committee then hears “evidence” that the school administrators have collected and makes a decision regarding the ultimate fate of the student.

Never mind that the evidence regarding the innocence of the student is not allowed to be presented!

Never mind that the process often appears to be concocted to be biased in favor of the administrator making the charges.

Never mind that the “evidence” that has been collected may or may not be factual.

Never mind that parents of the charged student are not allowed any say in the matter.

So how does all of this affect YOUR child in a Katy ISD school? As a parent, you will be surprised. Your child can cross the line of acceptable behavior at his school at any minute. In fact, students usually don’t even have to commit a “criminal” act; they can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Read on…

In Katy ISD in the early 2000’s, the stratagem of “Zero Tolerance” at first presented itself to unwary school boards as a plan to protect most of the students and help with bad behavior. School board members could not think of ways to question that plan, so they allowed it to proceed. After all, it sounded reasonable to think that students would be held to a high standard of conduct.

What those board members did not foresee or understand was the true intent of the issue. Holding students to a higher standard was not the plan; saving administrators from having to deal with misbehaving students and possible lawsuits, was.

“Zero Tolerance” meant that discipline was totally controlled by the whim of the administrator in charge. No facts, no legitimate charges, no way for parents to support the innocence of their children were allowed. Long time Katy ISD residents will recall the student who was accused of bringing a “knife” to school when it was actually only a small pencil sharpener blade! Or the student who carved initials into a bench that already had a gazillion carvings and who was nearly crucified in the media until a new superintendent arrived and dismissed all charges because he didn’t want to be bothered with the mess of the previous superintendent.

Or perhaps we should recall the student who found herself in a car with other students who were drinking, and while she was not, she was charged and found to be as guilty as the others–probably negatively affecting her life forever! [Just the charges are devastating in and of themselves!]

Public schools had been plodding along with the Zero Tolerance nonsense for years, and then along came President Obama. He, in an effort to “help students,” decided to institute the “Promise Plan.”

President Obama’s plan ended the Zero Tolerance effort about 2013. No bells and whistles were rung or tooted. No public discussion of the new plan was allowed. No warning that something huge was about to happen to the rights of all American students all over our country. The federal government (read President Obama) didn’t want the public to realize what was about to happen, and we didn’t!

Imagine if you will, the elation of public school administrators, when they realized, that under this Federal “Promise Plan,” they did not have to punish students for bad behavior at all! All they had to do was just toss the misbehaving students back to the poor beleaguered teachers to deal with however they could!

The plan stipulated that there would be no arrests made at the school, no punishment for drug possession, no warrants served on campus, no accessible records kept of any misbehavior at the time of the infraction or from year to year, and so on.

Of even more import is the fact that they took all discretion away from public law officers in the making of an arrest. How does a public law officer (not the school police) deal with a crime or a child who has perpetrated multiple crimes at his/her school if they cannot know of the particulars of the case because there is no cumulative record? The answer is, they don’t.

If one watched Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News recently, she pointed out that the schools no longer report “alcohol related incidents, assaults/threats of assaults, bullying, disruptions on campus, drug use, possession of drug paraphernalia, false accusations against school staff, fighting–“mutual combat”, (that means if someone punches YOUR kid, and YOUR kid punches back, he’s just as guilty as the perpetrator,) harassment, theft, trespassing, and vandalism/damage to school property.”

In Katy ISD, if parents are paying attention, they realize that bad behavior is swept under the rug in almost every instance. Principals and their minions have become quite adept at deflecting problems to the detriment of the collective behavior of all our students

I hope that everyone sees what has ocurred. It’s not the guns; it’s not the mental health, it’s not the parents, but more importantly it’s what is happening and NOT happening AT SCHOOL that is the problem!

Not only is the school responsible for the bad disciplinary problems, it should become clear that all of that matter goes hand in hand with the dumbing down of the curriculum which also allows the school district to not be held responsible for how students develop as academic students. The “dumbed down” curriculum is also the result of President Obama’s education policies.

When students, for example, aren’t taught to read, or write cursively, or spell; when they have no textbooks to take home so that parents can help them with homework, when they aren’t allowed to do a math problem without undergoing a “process” that leads them through multiple computations such as the classic “two plus two equals four but it might also equal five or six,” the students then have a terrible time with any high school math course at all and most of their other academic courses. When they don’t have an American history class from the beginning in their high school years and therefore have no clue what capitalism and socialism and communism are; when they spend their time flying kites for “world peace” and watching “Fern Gully” multiple times in elementary school; (and the list of questionable endeavors is endless), they do not receive a classical education as we all used to receive, and so they cannot get into that college where they wanted to go. They also have no intermediate knowledge or skills with which to get a job, and so they come back home to live with Mom and Dad.

That’s the story of the Broward County student and what underlies his reprehensible behavior. Place the blame squarely on the public schools that he attended and their failure to provide a proper education and clear rules of behavior. While you’re at it look around at the school your child attends. It’s identical to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Parkland school district.

It has recently been reported that the Broward County school district was the first to implement President Obama’s Promise Plan.

*What we have learned recently in Katy ISD is that permanent behavior records do indeed exist, but they are hidden from parents and teachers and only available to upper level administrators who only use them when they must in order to protect themselves.

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ecotone99 · 6 years ago

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[SF] Stupid Suit

I woke up after what felt like a good sleep, it had only been 6 hours according to my helmets holo-display. In that time I had travelled 168,978 kilometres at a consistent speed of 28,163 KM/H, some how managing to not be smeared to a pulp, which I can only assume is thanks to inertia dampeners in my suit. I guess the suit also has the means of recycling my air since I haven't suffocated to death yet - hi-tech shit.

I've only ever seen tech like this in videos and in articles on those breaking edge tech sites the military has been pushing lately, probably trying to either scare us into being good citizens or romance us into becoming pawns for their disposal. Ever since the fucking Americans decided to put their orbital laser on display, by completely erradicating one of Chinas "secret" bases from space, the military has been looking for able bodies to throw at the war and enticing people with hi-tech gadgets they can play with is a damn good way to do it.

I don't remember much from before I woke up, that's usually what happens when someone drugs you. The crew I was working with probably tried to jettisen me during their orbit and I'd picked up some speed and had been flung out into space, though why they put me in the suit was odd. If they wanted me dead, why go to the trouble of putting my unconcious body into this thing. Going over the past week of events in my head, using my augs to bring up memories as detailed as if they were a VR, I scrutinized every detail of every interaction with the crew I had. There was nothing note-worthy and no unintentional clues left for them either, whoever put me in this suit and shot me out here, it wasn't one of them.

Using my augs to probe the suits systems, I found I was met with little resistance and after performing a standard integrity check, I was able to link with it.

Going over system diagnostics I discovered that this really was some hi-tech shit. It had inertia dampeners, air recycling and (if necessary) production capabilities, solar cells with such effeciency that it could keep one if it's many batteries charged with miniscule amounts of light. It also constantly monitored my vitals, was capable of keeping my body alive through internal systems that kept the muscles from wasting away, it even emitted a mist that could be absorbed by my skin that gives me all the nutrients I need.

Just like every other type of machine, the suits system was controlled by an AI, though this one would use it's array of internal and external sensors that it was connected to - via the suit - to keep me alive for as long as possible. Since it was an AI, I had the option of turning on it's companion mode and given that I was currently flying through space at a phenominal speed, I thought some company might not be such a bad idea.

Using the channel provided by the link between my augs and the suits wireless interface, I sent a command to the suit and enabled companion mode and after an inperciptable delay, the AI spoke to me over our channel, I never liked talking with AIs like this, it messes with your head.

"Thank you for turning on companion mode, I am the AI that controls this suit. Please send me your requests through our link or by speaking them, if that would make you more comfortable." It was more a thought than it was someone speaking, it was like having someone else's internal monologue in your head.

"Restrict communications to auditory only," I said aloud "Is there anyway you can slow me down or even stop me?".

A slight pause, almost as if it were another human, hesitating before telling me I'm fucked.

"No." the cold voice coming through the speakers next to my ears.

There was no point pushing the matter, it was an AI and could run millions of simulations in the time it took for me to take a breath.

I noticed during my perusing of the systems functions that it had an emergency beacon that would emit a signal that could be followed, through space, to it's exact position from up to 750,000 kilometres away which is almost twice the distance between Earth and its moon, after that you would be facing some delays, most of which could be accounted for by prediction algorithims. I was hesitant on activating the emergency beacon as I still wasn't sure who put me in this thing and therefore who the signal might go to.

"Who- owns you?" I posed the question, already knowing the answer,

"You do."

Of course- "Who built you?"

"I was manufactorued by the SUNTO corporation and sold to a private buyer who made many modifications to my systems. The identity of the private buyer has been erased from my memory, at which time my ownership was transferred to you."

Great. Usually when ownership of machines has changed hands, any kind of locator, tracking device or emergency beacon is automatically transferred over with it, which means that this suits emergency beacon will project to wherever my ID chip tells it to and since I don't have an ID chip, there is no emergency contact for it to send it's signal to. Fuck.

"Are you capable of keeping me alive during re-entry?"

"Yes - my systems have been uploaded with re-entry software and the suit has been installed with the necessary hardware. Provided there is a deep enough body of water to stop your fall, you should be able to survive re-entry."

"Is there any way you can alter our course?"

"No, normal steering thrusters are ineffective at these speeds."

"Are we heading anywhere in particular" I asked the suit, hoping that I was sent on a specific course rather than a long, drawn out death.

"It appears your trajectory may have been intentional. You are on a collision-free course for the planet known as 'Kepler 22b', I can find little information on this planet other than it is believed to be an exoplanet and a prime candidate to look for extra-terristrial life or to setup a colony."

"Okay- your mysterious previous owner didn't happen to mention why they chose a planet that is multiple lifetimes away?"

"I do not have any data available to answer that question, though I am fully equipped to keep you alive, in stasis, for the entirity of the journey. There is still no gurantee you will reach your destination alive - at least not in one piece."

"Don't have much of a fucking choice do I?!" I muttered angrily, more for my own benefit than the AIs, "Stupid- suit." I squeezed out awkwardly as I felt the slow creep of the stasis taking hold slowing down my mind and body.

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ecotone99 · 6 years ago

Text

[SF] The wires tell me to do things

Growing up, I always dreamed of having a large parcel of land in the country. I didn’t necessarily want to be a farmer, I just liked the idea of a rural buffer zone between me and my nearest neighbors. I enjoy walks in the woods and exploring nature. After saving for a number of years, I accumulated what I hoped would be a decent down payment on some property. I was in for a real surprise at how little my hard-earned money would buy in the financial boom of the past few years. Everyone was relocating to the countryside and land was selling at a premium.

It was a punch in the gut. Once I decided to start looking, I suppose I had my mind made up. I wanted to buy a new home and property now. The thought of having to wait five or ten more years before fulfilling my dream was a crushing blow. It led to a humbling reduction in my personal standards and forced me to widen my search area of consideration. All of a sudden, I was looking at far less desirable properties which had swamps or unsightly cell towers. It was depressing to realize what was available in my price range but I was done waiting.

One day my real estate agent sent me to look at a good sized property a couple miles outside my preferred travel radius. I didn’t want to drive long distances to my job but this was just 4 more miles than I had considered before. At first I couldn’t believe it. It was so much nicer than the pitiful dregs I had considered in the past month. It was almost twice the land and had a nice house and great view of the nearby mountains. There was a large creek in the back I could kayak in, and despite being very remote, it was close to a major road. That meant I could make up for the longer drive to work with less weaving on small country highways.

The catch? Oh, there’s always a catch and this one was significant. The property has high tension power lines running across part of it. Besides killing the scenery and view for a significant portion of the land, those wires have been reported to cause cancer. I’d had a brutal reality check for the past month. Because of that, my resistance to settling for less than I wanted was worn down.

I was tired of looking and dealing with constant disappointment. After a few days to absorb the idea, I told my agent I was ready to sign the paperwork. The rest of the property was beautiful and exactly what I wanted. I hoped I could overlook those unsightly wires over time and move past the singular blight. My loan and closing date went without a hitch. All of a sudden it was for real. I was the property holder.

Country living took some getting used to. In place of road noises and the sounds of civilization, there were numerous wild animal and nature sounds. There were birds chattering all night. Trees swayed in the breeze and cracked from flexing. Sound carries for miles in the open night air. I found it difficult to sleep at times. My transition to country living was also hampered by odd buzzing noises I heard at times. The sound was like a monotone whisper or a nest of angry bees.

One night I was so baffled by it that I got dressed and walked around the back of my property in the dark. With a little searching, I tracked down the source of the strange buzzing sound. It was coming from the high tension power lines. The ‘chattering’ and buzzing was apparently just raw voltage coursing through the thick electrical wires overhead. Who knows how much raw power flows through the miles of heavy copper line? Initially I was relieved there was an explanation but over time I grew troubled again.

As I lay in bed at night, the constant ‘electrical symphony’ kept me up. The longer I listened, the less it seemed random. I tried to drown it out but the vibrating patterns gave way to recognizable syllables. It was almost like hearing a human conversation, just out of earshot. First there would be a ‘word’ or two which stood out among the electronic gibberish, then entire English ‘phrases’ became clear. The ‘spirit’ of electrical power was ‘talking’ to me! Initially I hoped I was dreaming. Only that could explain why I was hearing words in the normal transfer of voltage from one place to another.

The words I picked out at first were innocuous and unrelated. ‘Seize’, ‘strike’, ‘zephyr’, ‘certified’, and ‘pull’. Odd phrases like that. It made no sense in the random context of unrelated things but I kept listening. It was incredibly hypnotic and fascinating. Once the sun came up, birds and other nature sounds drowned it out. From then it was impossible to follow any longer. After a few more sleepless nights, my level of comprehension and understanding grew exponentially. I was picking out entire phrases and whole sentences. My ears learned how to translate the dull, monotone pulses and buzzing into words. I was finally in tune with the mysterious electrical entity and how it delivered its cryptic message.

Naturally my employment suffered greatly. I missed a lot of work. I tried to sleep a little bit during the day, just so I could listen to what it was saying when the environment was most clear. I felt compelled to know the wire’s secret wisdom; whatever that might be. I alone was privy to an incredible opportunity and didn’t want to squander it. In the end I did whatever seemed necessary to communicate with the mysterious entity which sought to bridge a relationship with humanity.

In time, the phrases and sentences took on a confusing narrative. They exhorted me to do ‘things’. These controversial actions would be highly illegal but the electrical voice explained why it was imperative that I do them anyway. Frankly, I still resisted. Fiercely. I had grave concerns about the chilling things it demanded I do. Killing people is obviously wrong and no amount of justification could ordinarily sway me to go through with such things but the power was relentlessly persuasive. It slowly wore away my resistance.

The electrical entity behind the dark orders was insistent. It demanded I follow through with the violence, without question. The more I tried to reason against the decree, the more it dug in. I hadn’t slept for days. I was hyper-focused on everything which was said. The more it repeated itself, the more I came to accept the mission. I had to do it. There was no other way. Only then would it let me sleep and share a deeper level of truth with me. I’d long since lost my job and hadn’t paid any bills in months. My savings were almost exhausted. The high tension power lines promised great financial rewards and highly sought answers to the secrets of the universe. All I had to do was comply in full. There was no more resistance left within me. I was completely on board.

I went to gather the supplies it said I would need to fulfill the mission but my credit card was declined. Part of me was secretly relieved. I knew killing was wrong but the wires told me how to get around my financial woes. It directed me to an ATM in town and sent some sort of charged pulse directly into the machine. After a few seconds the overloaded circuitry started spitting out hundred dollar bills! I no longer had an excuse. I took the money and bought the equipment for the next phase of the plan. The wires assured me, my image wouldn’t be caught on the ATM cameras. It took care of that too.

Once I had the supplies and knew the plan, I reluctantly had to keep my end of the agreement. I was just an instrument of this non corporeal entity. I hoped it’s motives were pure and beneficial to mankind in ways I still couldn’t yet see. The electric deity made several other key things happen to facilitate the process. Any doubts I had about it’s incredible power or determination were quashed after witnessing the drawbridge lower by itself onto the passing oil tanker, and when the locks of the dam opened up and flooded the entire valley. I had nothing to do with any of that. The power in the power lines did all of it.

“You can’t be serious with all of this, buddy. We know it was you who robbed the ATM.”; The detective sneered. “How did you do that? How did you make it release all that cash and how did you cause that bridge to lower on the ship? Did you have help from a foreign government? Thousands of people could have died from that forced dam release. We will find out who your accomplices are and there will be terrorism charges for all of you!”

At that moment, the lights went out in the interrogation room. Detective Daniels stood up to find out what was going on but the suspect suggested he stop.

“I wouldn’t touch that door knob if I were you.”; The man offered calmly. “The entity told me I’d be captured for a brief time but the mission isn’t complete. This is part of the plan. If you try to open that electrified security door, you will be electrocuted. Mark my words.”

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