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avengerscompound · 4 years ago

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Until the End of the World - 14

Until the End of the World: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count: 1899

Rating: E

Warnings: pregnancy, canon typical violence

Synopsis: Four years after Steve and Bucky got to the bottom of the HYDRA conspiracy that had led to you and your son being hunted for the first three years of his life, you, Bucky, and Steve have carved out a nice life together. Things are calm and you feel like a family unit. When Geo starts calling Bucky and Steve ‘dad’, a decision is made to try and add to your family.

Things aren’t as calm as they seem. When your pregnancy hits the papers, HYDRA rears its head once again, and Steve and Bucky need to track you down to protect the family they had created.

Chapter 14

The morning had the chaotic energy that Steve had come to love since you’d first moved in all those years ago. Not every day was like this. Often he’d come back from his run to find Geo watching morning cartoons eating his cereal quietly while you and Bucky were plating up breakfast for the adults, and everything was calm and moving smoothly. Then there were days like today. Days when he’d get in and Bucky would be looking harried as he juggled three different things in the kitchen, and you were chasing Geo around with a towel wrapped around your head because Geo was still in his pajamas.

Steve couldn’t quite explain why he liked this kind of morning chaos. Maybe it was because he thrived on stress and he was good at making decisions on the fly. Maybe it was just that it felt real. It wasn’t the fairytale happy ending. It was a real family dealing with real things. Given how bizarre his life could get, it was nice having something so completely normal he could rely on sometimes. With the resistance he was hitting with getting both him and Bucky to be able to legally adopt Geo without you giving up any of your parental rights, it was nice to get this reminder that even if it had to just be a case of one or the other, this was his family and no law would change that.

“Geo, you need to get a move on, we’re going to be late,” you said, as you tried to dry out your hair. You still had your robe on, and you were moving around the apartment like you were looking for something.

“What are you missing, honey?” Steve asked as he came in. You were very close to your due date, you’d been suffering more and more by what you had been calling ‘baby brain’. The most common signs of it were forgetting simple words, going into a room to do something and forgetting what you went in there for, and misplacing just about everything you put your hands on.

“My purse,” you said. “We have to pay for his excursion to the Natural History Museum.”

“You had it by the bed,” he said. “Something about chapstick.”

“Shit, right,” you said, hurrying back into the bedroom. “Get dressed, Geo,” you shouted over your shoulder as you disappeared into your room.

Steve chuckled, following after you. “Did you want me to do the drop-off today?” He asked as he pulled off his sweatstained compression shirt.

“No, it’s fine. I have to go out today anyway,” you said. “I just don’t want him to get there late.”

“I’ll just take a shower and help you both get ready,” Steve said, coming over and kissing the top of your head. You looked up at him from your seat on the edge of the bed. “Thank you, honey,” you said.

He left you to get ready and took his shower, making it quick and perfunctory, before coming out and getting dressed. You were standing eating toast while Bucky and Geo sat at the table finishing up their breakfast.

You looked at your phone and thrust it quickly into your purse. “Come on, G,” you said. “We have to go.”

Geo shoved the last mouthful of pancake into his mouth and jumped off his chair. He kissed Bucky on the cheek and then Steve. “Bye, dads,” he said, grabbing his bag.

“Are you doing pick up, Buck?” You asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Bucky nodded.

“Captain Rogers,” FRIDAY announced as Steve was pouring himself a coffee. “You’re needed urgently in the strategy room.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY,” Steve said, putting his cup back down. “Guess I won’t be eating after all.”

“There’s always coffee and donuts up there,” Bucky said, getting up and collecting up the dishes. “I’ll see you up there.”

Steve kissed his cheek and followed you out into the hall. “Hope it’s nothing too bad,” you said. The elevator doors were opening as the three of you walked down the hall.

“We’ll handle it,” he said and kissed your cheek. “Have a good day. You take the elevator, I’ll use the stairs.”

“Thanks, honey,” you said, bustling Geo through the doors. “See you tonight”

Steve veered off into the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time. It was a dozen floors up, but he moved quickly and he arrived at the strategy room sooner than if he’d waited for the elevator to return. It was still early, so the only people present were Hill, who always got in well before any of the Avengers, and always left much after them, and a couple of lower down SHIELD agents whose jobs it was just to make sure someone was there if something big went down. They monitored lines of communication and passed off intel gathered overnight to the appropriate people.

They both looked nervous like they were expecting to be court marshaled for something. “What’s going on?”

“Do either of you knuckleheads want to tell him or should I?” Hill snapped.

They shifted uneasily and looked down at the ground as Sam came into the room.

“What’s this big emergency?” He asked.

“About three hours ago, they got word there was a breakout at the Raft,” Hill explained. “It was a minor breakout, but precise and coordinated. They lost one prisoner. These idiots thought the appropriate response would be to send two Agents out to see if they could recover said escapee. Didn’t think to ask who it was that escaped.”

“Who was it?” Steve asked, feeling a slow tightening in his chest.

“Ophelia Sarkissian,” Hill said when neither of the agents would speak up.

“Viper?” Steve said, quickly moving to the computer panels. Immediate and intense dread set it. You would already be halfway to the school and while you had a driver with you, they were not equipped to deal with a HYDRA attack. He could only imagine that that’s why Viper had made the break. He began searching up the tracking on the car and logging into the police reports for incidents on the path between here and the school. “You couldn’t have led with that?”

“Has she already left?” Sam asked, reading his mind.

“Yes, she would have been in the car by the time I got here,” Steve said. There were no police reports but the usual route you took to the school had been blocked off by road work and you’d been diverted down one of the smaller side alleys. “Shit,” Steve cursed. “FRIDAY, assemble the team immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” FRIDAY replied.

“I’ll go now,” Sam said. “Scout ahead. Maybe I can get to her before they do.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Steve said, quickly flicking through the possible alternate routes. “FRIDAY, tell Geo to let his mom know what’s happening.”

“Yes, sir,” the AI responded. Almost simultaneously the system began lightning up with calls to 911 reporting an attack.

“Shit!” Steve cursed. “Hill, tell the other’s what’s happening. I’m going to suit up.”

He ran out the door and down to the armory, taking the stairs again because even the elevator couldn’t beat his quickest descent down the stairs. He pulled on his armor as quickly as he could and by the time he was done Bucky and Bruce had come in.

“They took her?” Bucky asked in a panic as he quickly tried to get dressed in his armor.

“We don’t know for sure, but there’s a large attack in the city on her route,” Steve answered. “I’m going now, catch me up when you can.”

“Tony is already on his way. You want a lift with the Hulk?” Bruce asked.

“Do you mind?” Steve asked.

“For this? No,” Bruce said.

Steve rubbed Bucky’s shoulder as he followed Bruce out. The scientist took no time to release his anger when they reached the street, hunching over as his muscles expanded and twisted and his skin turned green. The Hulk looked around for a moment to get his bearings, and then down at Steve. “Which way?” He grunted.

Steve pointed and the Hulk picked him up and jumped. The Hulk couldn’t fly, but the leaps he took were so large and so fast that it was almost as good as. It wasn’t long until the sounds of sirens and gunfire reached them, and soon after that, Sam and Tony came into view, circling a scene of chaos on the ground. Police were scattered through a five-block area, trying to get people out to safety, and putting up roadblocks. Large groups of people dressed in dark green bodysuits fired into the crowd. “What’s the word?” Steve said when Hulk dropped him to the ground and charged into the group of HYDRA agents.

“They just swarmed her,” Sam said. “The car is there, and the driver is dead. There’s no sign of either her or Geo.”

“No one saw which way they went?” Steve asked as he charged into the crowd after the hulk, throwing his shield at the enemy to clear his way to the car.

“Sorry, Cap,” Sam answered. A lot of the witnesses were eliminated immediately, and the ones that weren’t are in shock. There are vague ‘we saw them being pulled into a black van’ but Tony and I have been doing sweeps and the only black vans we’ve seen aren’t it.”

“What the fuck?” Steve said as he rushed to the car. Tony didn’t even call him on his language, and Steve almost wished he had. The car hood had been crushed by something and the driver was dead behind the wheel. Both doors hung open and when Steve looked inside he saw Geo’s backpack, tablet, and your purse scattered over the back seat.

Steve felt like part of his heart had been ripped out. A group of HYDRA swarmed on him and he quickly fought them off. “How are there so many of them?” Steve asked. “I thought we’d weeded them out.”

“You know what they say, Cap,” Tony replied. “Cut off one head…”

“... and two more… Yeah, yeah,” Steve replied.

Steve looked around and ran out of the alley in the direction he hoped they might have driven off in. There were rubber marks on the road, the kind left when a car peels off quickly. “Tony, Sam, the vehicle that took them took off to the west. It was definitely heavy. I’d say a van or a truck. Scan anything that might fit that. They may have cloaking.”

“On it,” Sam said, swooping off to the west.

“FRIDAY, we need to do roadblocks, search all heavy vehicles,” Steve added.

“Sending in the request to the NYPD now,” FRIDAY responded.

Steve was about to jump back into the fight and see if he could question one of the HYDRA agents - not that he thought it would do any good - when Bucky appeared. “Steve, what happened? Where are they?”

Steve shook his head, feeling that cool exterior starting to crack now that Bucky was here too. He took a deep breath, attempting to pull it together even though all his body seemed to want to do was let himself break down in his lover's arms. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook it off. “We’ll get them back, Buck,” he said, putting his hand on Bucky’s arm. “We have to.”

// NEXT

#steve rogers #bucky barnes #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #stucky #steve rogers x bucky barnes #stucky x reader #steve rogers x reader x bucky barnes #captain america fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #pregnancy #until the end of the world

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anotherkpopvictim · 4 years ago

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Into a New World (Through the Gate) - BTS OT7 Fantasy Story Chapter 1

(Pic Source - Jaiho? (I found this on a pinterest but I don’t think it was this person’s) ((Edit is by me tho))

A/N: Hi, so, this is a multi-chaptered story that I’ve had swirling around in my head for a while. I’m not sure how many chapters it’s going to be, and I’m not sure how often I’ll update (especially because I have a few other stories I need to update first) but I will finish this story one way or another.

Happy Birthday, our Hobi <3

Relationship: BTS X BTS

Rating: T (for now)

Words: 2928

Hurt/comfort, fluff, fantasy

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Chapter 1: The Banishing

Worldbuilding Notes on Fairies:

The origin of how fairies came to be is rather unknown. Their attributes and used honorifics suggest they are of Korean descent.

Fairies can be creatures of trickery. Though not inherently evil, fairies possess the ability to manipulate easily if they so please (not all use this ability, though). While they can also sometimes use aura reading to detect whether someone is lying or not, a fairy’s downfall is that they themselves cannot lie. Despite this, they are talented at twisting words and finding loopholes in different situations.

A Fairy’s magic ability is similar to that of witches, but it is easier for them to learn as they are born with a close connection to magic itself, while witches spend years and years learning to connect with magic. Fairies are often good spies as they have their smaller form that can easily hide. Fairies are born with a given color - the color of their hair and eyes. These colors represent common personality traits (though not always 100% accurate from person to person, and not all fairies have all the traits the colors represent). A mix of two or more colors just means that the person has personality traits of multiple colors (i.e. a very dark blue would have traits of both blue and black).

(Link to the basis of color symbolism I’m using - https://www.color-meanings.com/)

Colors and their meanings:

(This part is optional to read, but I will be using this as a basis for fairy personalities in the story)

Red - The color of passion and energy. Red draws attention like no other color and radiates a strong and powerful energy that motivates us to take action. It is also linked to sexuality and stimulates deep and intimate passion.

Orange - The color of enthusiasm and emotion. Orange exudes warmth and joy and is considered a fun color that provides emotional strength. It is optimistic and uplifting, adds spontaneity and positivity to life, and encourages social communication and creativity. It is a youthful and energetic color.

Yellow - The color of happiness and optimism. Yellow is a cheerful and energetic color that brings fun and joy to the world. It makes learning easier as it affects the logical part of the brain, stimulating mentality and perception. It inspires thought and curiosity and boosts enthusiasm and confidence.

Green - The color of harmony and health. Green is a generous, relaxing color that revitalizes our body and mind. It balances our emotions and leaves us feeling safe and secure. It also gives us hope, with promises of growth and prosperity, and it provides a little bit of luck to help us along the way.

Blue - The color of trust and loyalty. Blue has a calming and relaxing effect on our psyche, that gives us peace and makes us feel confident and secure. It dislikes confrontation and too much attention, but it is an honest, reliable, and responsible color and you can always count on its support.

Purple - The color of spirituality and imagination. Purple inspires us to divulge our innermost thoughts, which enlightens us with the wisdom of who we are and encourages spiritual growth. It is often associated with royalty and luxury, and its mystery and magic sparks creative fantasies.

Pink - The color of love and compassion. Pink is kind and comforting, full of sympathy and compassion, and makes us feel accepted. Its friendly, playful spirit calms and nurtures us, bringing joy and warmth into our lives. Pink is also a feminine and intuitive color that is bursting with pure romance.

White - The color of purity and innocence. White is a true balance of all colors and is associated with cleanliness, simplicity, and perfection. It loves to make others feel good and provides hope and clarity by refreshing and purifying the mind. It also promotes open-mindedness and self-reflection.

Black - The color of power and sophistication. Black is an incredibly strong and intimidating color that exudes authority and makes us feel secure and protected. Often seen at formal and prestigious events, this mysterious marvel arouses and seduces our senses with its elegance and sexiness.

Gray - The color of compromise and control. Gray is neutral, conservative, and unemotional. It is practically solid as a rock, making it incredibly stable, reliable, and calming. It has a peaceful, relaxing and soothing presence. Gray avoids attention but offers mature, insightful advice to anyone who asks.

Brown - The color of stability and reliability. Brown is dependable and comforting. A great counselor and friend full of wisdom. You can count on its help if you need an honest opinion, support, and protection. It stabilizes us, helps us stay grounded, and inspires us to appreciate the simple things in life.

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Hoseok listened to his older brother babble on to the other five high council members, trying to manifest the courage to speak up to him about what had been weighing him down since the last meeting.

Minseok, his brother, was not a bad person. However, he also wasn’t necessarily a good person either. As the crowned King of the Fairy Kingdom of Aurora, he wasn’t the worst candidate in their long history, not by a long shot. Hoseok had watched him exile a butler after he brought him an indigo-colored robe instead of a dark purple one by accident, but had also seen him send fresh-baked loaves of bread to the orphanage nearby as a treat for the children. He was a man capable of coming up with creative solutions but sometimes allowed his power and authority to cloud his judgment.

An enigma, his brother most certainly was.

This was why Hoseok was so nervous to bring up the topic on his mind. He wasn’t sure how Minseok was going to react, though no one ever really knew. Nevertheless, he needed to give it a try, for the good of their people.

“King Minseok,” Hoseok addressed, standing up from his seat when a lull came in the conversation. He bowed politely towards his brother. “There is a concern of mine that I needed to bring up, brother.”

The older man with a head full of shocking dark purple hair and eyes the same color looked at him curiously. “Yes, Hoseok-ah. What is the matter, brother?”

Hoseok gulped against the lump forming in his throat and forced himself to speak. His brother was being kind right now, but he knew the man could turn on a dime. “The army, brother. They have been urging us for some time now to give the soldiers more time before sending them to war.”

Minseok raised an eyebrow, “We have an alliance with the jinns, a promise to fight with them against the demons.”

“I know, my King,” Hoseok replied. “But our soldiers are being slaughtered on the battlefield. If we could change the laws in place and give them a few more months of training to build up their skills-”

“So, what you’re saying is that I should spend more money and time on our soldiers when the war they are fighting isn’t to be a long one?” The King asked, interrupting Hoseok’s words.

It was predicted that the jinns were going to win the war with the demons, though it was a slow process. “We’ve lost thousands of our citizens, Minseok-hyung.” Hoseok urged. “Lives were lost when they could have lived if only they had more skills and endurance. The captains have been coming to us since they realized the pattern months ago.”

Minseok furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. “We already give so many resources to the military, we don’t have anything to spare.”

“We’ll find some, we’ll find a way-”

“ENOUGH!” Minseok boomed, standing up from the throne and slamming his hands down on the table. “The way the laws are written right now give our soldiers plenty of time to refine their skills before they are sent off to fight. More soldiers come back than don’t and that’s more than we could ask for. I will not spend another second on this unimportant topic when there are other issues to be resolved.”

“But, hyung,” Hoseok pleaded. He knew he should just shut up, but the worried words of the captains wouldn’t leave his mind. “Perhaps you could just allow some of the captains to tell you their worries personally. I really think that we need to-”

Minseok’s dark purple hair began to lift around his golden crown, glowing and sparking with magic. That was when Hoseok knew it was over for him.

“Hoseok-ssi, you know better than to talk back to your King!” his brother hissed.

“Hyung, my King, I’m sorry-”

“You’re banished!”

Hoseok nearly choked. “W-What?”

“I’m banishing you from Aurora. How dare you rebel against the King!” Minseok raged, motioning for guards to grab onto Hoseok.

Hoseok could see the anger in his brother’s eyes, the betrayal, and knew that there was no changing the crazed, overdramatic sentence given to him.

“Minseok,” Hoseok looked at his brother with one final plea, “Please don’t do this. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.”

Minseok snarled, his bright purple hair starting to glow and move as his power began to build up inside of him. “You’ve betrayed the crown. You’ve betrayed me. There is no place in Aurora for you any longer.”

Hoseok bent his head, knowing that his brother had truly made his decision and nothing he could say would change his mind. His own shocking orange hair lay flat against his head, no spark of power anywhere to be found - a sure sign of any fairy’s defeat.

The five councilmen who were occupying the table with the two brothers sat in silence, eyes sympathetic as they watched Hoseok being escorted out of the room.

There were ten guards that led them towards the Gate that was situated just outside the castle walls, two of them holding onto Hoseok’s arms like he was going to even try to get away. He knew better than that.

A misty, swirling wall of fog lay just behind the golden bars of the Gate. Hoseok could only watch with a defeated look in his eyes as his brother opened the right door of the Gate and then turned to look at him.

“Jung Hoseok, you are hereby banished from Aurora under my authority, King Minseok of the Fairy Kingdom. Shall you ever choose to return, you will be greeted with death.” Minseok snarled out his brother’s sentence with such malice it made Hoseok cringe. Then the King turned to the two guards holding Hoseok’s arms and ordered, “Throw him through the Gate.”

Hoseok, whose heart was racing with fear in his chest, didn’t fight the two men at all. As he was forced forward, he shut his eyes tightly and braced himself. He merely accepted his fate as he was pushed harshly into the swirling fog.

Now, Hoseok had never traveled worlds before, so he hadn’t ever experienced what it was like to go through a Gate before.

At first, it felt as if he was falling at a great speed, the breath snatched from his lungs. Then, he suddenly felt himself slow down before dropping onto some sort of hard surface.

Laying on the ground, Hoseok was reluctant to open his eyes. He knew that he must be on Earth now, as Earth was the center of the worlds, but he didn’t know exactly where. He couldn’t hear much besides the ruffling of some leaves in the breeze and birds chirping happily. The temperature was slightly cooler than he was used to, and his attire of matching silk shorts and a shirt certainly didn’t do anything to keep him warm.

Taking in a brave breath, Hoseok opened his eyes and took in the scene before him. He was in a forest lush with tall, green trees. Pretty blue flowers bloomed in patches on the ground, bringing Hoseok a bit of relief. Surely the place couldn’t be too bad if there were beautiful flowers blooming, right?

From Hoseok’s limited knowledge of Earth, he knew that it was the center of the realms and welcomed those of all supernatural backgrounds. While most supernatural beings had their own realm to call home, there were a few that didn’t. Vampires, shapeshifters, and witches lived primarily on Earth. Creatures like jinns, goblins, demons, and yes, fairies, all had their own realm.

Gates only existed between Earth and these worlds, but they were plentiful all across the Earth. Most Gates were situated in Gate Stations (just like a train station) but there were some that were simply situated in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, it appeared that Minseok had to make things even more difficult for his brother by sending him somewhere obscure. Hoseok hadn’t had the chance to see exactly where he was sending him to. A childish move on the older man’s part.

“Well, gosh marbles!” Hoseok shouted into the trees as he stood up and dusted himself off. “What am I going to do now?”

Where was he to go? What was he to do? The Fairy Kingdom was all he had known his whole life.

“E-Excuse me?”

Hoseok yelped with a start at the sudden voice, his head whipping around to find the source. He caught sight of a young-looking man peeking out from behind one of the trees to his left. He had big, curious doe eyes and didn’t appear to be much of a threat, but Hoseok knew from experience not to let his guard down.

“W-Who are you?” he asked, kicking himself when he stuttered.

The young man came out from behind the tree, revealing his all-black ensemble; jeans, a leather jacket, and some army boots. Hoseok remembered reading that fashion was quite different on Earth, but he was still surprised. “I’m Jungkook. Who are you?”

(JKs look) (except no beanie)

“Hoseok,” he replied cautiously.

“Did you just come through the Gate?” Jungkook asked, head tilting towards said Gate right behind Hoseok.

“Yes.”

Jungkook hummed thoughtfully. “No one’s come through that Gate in years.”

“Oh...” Hoseok said intelligently. “Um, could you perhaps tell me where I am?”

“Well, I would assume you at least know that you’re on Earth, but more specifically, you’re just outside of Seoul, South Korea.”

“South Korea...” Hoseok repeated, wracking his brain for anything he knew about this place. He knew that he’d heard of it, but he wasn’t sure where from.

“You’re a fairy, right?” Jungkook asked, rather excitedly. “Many fairies seem to have Korean in their blood. So technically, you’re in your ancient homeland!”

Ah, Hoseok thought, that makes sense. Fairies were rather sheltered about things outside of their own Kingdom, so while Hoseok had heard that they were possibly descendants of Earth’s South Korea, he didn’t know much about it at all.

Hoseok blinked at the smiling young man before him, whose grin and scrunched-up nose made him look uncannily like a rabbit, not to mention his adorable front teeth.

“Ah, sorry!” Jungkook turned a little sheepish. “Ever since my Jimin-hyung came, I’ve really wanted to meet another fairy so badly!”

Hoseok didn’t have time to register that apparently, South Koreans used the same honorifics as fairies, as the more important part of the young man’s statement caught Hoseok’s attention. “You know another fairy?”

“Mhm,” Jungkook nodded his head dutifully, his shaggy dark brown hair bobbing up and down with it. “Jiminie’s color is pink. And he lives with us.”

“Us?”

“Me and my hyungs! There are six of us. We live just a couple miles away from here.” Jungkook answered with a fond smile.

“A pack, huh?” Hoseok gave the young man a once-over when he realized he had no idea what creature Jungkook was. “Are you...human?”

Jungkook shook his head before opening his mouth and pointing at some very tiny but pointy incisors that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “I’m a vampire, like my Yoongi-hyung. I was obviously a human, though, before he saved me.” Jungkook’s smile faded a bit as he seemed to get lost in a memory.

“A little vamp, I see,” Hoseok replied, feeling like he needed to lighten the mood. “How old are you?”

“I’ve been a vampire for seven years, and I was twenty-three when I was turned.” A pretty young vampire then. Hoseok had read about vampires who lived to be thousands of years old.

“Well,” Hoseok began with a gentle smile, “I’m one hundred thirty-eight, so I guess that makes me your hyung.”

Jungkook let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I don’t like being a hyung.”

Hoseok chuckled at the younger’s adorableness before he remembered where he was and what had conspired for him to be here.

Jungkook must have noticed his expression sadden because he gave a little gasp. “Hoseok-hyung, do you need somewhere to stay? I’m sure my hyungs wouldn’t mind housing you for now.”

Hoseok honestly questioned the young man. Who in their right mind invited a total stranger into their home? Jungkook the baby vampire, apparently. Hoseok doubted that he had any nefarious ulterior motives for inviting him, as fairies were fairly good at reading others and he didn’t sense anything from him, but it was strange nonetheless.

However, Hoseok really didn’t have anywhere to go or any money to get a place to stay. He’d been thrown out of the only world he’s ever known and didn’t know what he was supposed to do. And he was tired, just plain tired from the eventful day.

So, he gave the only answer he really could.

“I would love a place to stay, Jungkook-ah.”

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A/N: So...what did you think?

I’ve never written anything in the fantasy genre but I’ve been loving so many fantasy fics lately that I just had to take a try at it. I don’t know much about the specifics of the different supernatural creatures in legends and such, so these will mostly be of my own making, but with some common traits you probably know.

Please do not expect me to update this for a while, as I need to update a few other stories first, but I will not abandon this fic.

I tried to make it clear that Hoseok’s brother, Minseok, has an unstable mentality, and thus feeling like his brother betrayed him over something rather ridiculous and banishing him seemed reasonable to him.

Please leave comments and likes as they fuel my motivation to write exponentially <3 And if you have any suggestions now or in future chapters for what you would like to see, I would love the ideas and will try to work them into the story (though I don’t have much solidly planned just yet anyways).

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So far we know:

Seokjin - ?

Yoongi - Vampire

Hoseok - Fairy (138)

Namjoon - ?

Jimin - Fairy

Taehyung - ?

Jungkook - Vampire (30)

(I think you’ll meet the others in the next chapter!)

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davidschnuckel · 4 years ago

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New Glass Review 41

August 21, 2020

Juror’s Essay (first draft from mid-March 2020 )

As part of the deal in serving as a guest reviewer for New Glass Review 41, there's a lot of writing that follows the actual selection process. And I was most excited about engaging it. The task of writing 25 short blurbs to contextualize the selections I had made within the issue and a short essay in the back was not a chore, but a pleasure. But a challenge, for sure. Although I love writing - and see it as an opportunity to articulate things I sense, but don't know how to say - these New Glass Review tasks were a challenge for me. My mind is cluttered and busy...so being clear with words is a challenge. I have to take the long way when talking ideas or observations out to finally find the things I want to communicate and how to communicate them...so keeping to word counts is a challenge. And, of course, knowing that these writings would go down in print means that these words will be permanent and forever an extension of me...so having this overwhelming sense of vulnerability in mind when putting pen to paper was a challenge. I learned a lot in writing for the Review. And I learned that the way I would normally approach writing blurbs or essays do not translate well for all writing-based scenarios. For instance, the fact that I couldn't assume the reader knows glass and its terminology the way I do hadn't been a reality on my radar. The fact that there are different tiers of reading comprehension of those who engage this publication hadn't been a reality on my radar. The fact that there would be a lot of readers whose primary language is not English hadn't been a reality on my radar. The fact that my thoughts are not as clear to others as they seem to be for me OFTEN hadn't been a reality on my radar. In turn, the editing process was rigorous...and to accommodate all these things (and others like them) was an informative part of the process for me. I'm grateful for the experience of going through revision after revision with Silbert. It has made me a better self-editor in my writing ever since... In fact, I knew going into my first draft of the Juror's Essay that there wasn't much space available for it in the publication...it was crystal clear that the essay would need to be capped off at 500 words. Which isn't much. Especially for a rambling essayist such as myself. So, as a starting point, I allowed myself to write and write and write everything that was on my heart and mind regarding the jurying process, things I was paying attention to within the field over the past year (as both artist and educator), and where the moment might suggest where the field is going. I permitted myself to open the valve entirely and empty everything I wanted onto the page...just to see where it all landed. And then from there, rule number two would be to chisel it down in a smaller second draft (which was still huge) and then an even smaller third draft (which was still too big). The fourth draft was whittled down to 1000 words and was the one submitted for Susie Silbert's review and edits...which, of course, had to get chopped down even more. Ultimately, the essay that i drafted first back in mid-March was roughly 3300 words...which is not even close to the 500 cap I was required to abide by. A classic Schnuckel move. So the Juror's Essay of mine you may have read in New Glass Review 41 is the surviving content to a much larger piece that was simply too big to fit. Below is the draft of that essay in full...for better or for worse. In it you'll find grammatical mishaps and misspellings. You'll run into a handful of clunky spots. You'll find the occasional derail or two (or three). But you'll also get access to a broader consideration of my role and my perspective as a visiting selector to the Review than what the content in the publication would indicate. Please read in good health. And I mean that...especially as we linger even still within a global pandemic...

* * * * * * There were two things that really came into focus for me during the jurying experience for New Glass Review 41: that the contemporary glass field is still so, so very young in its development and still so, so very small as an international cohort. So young and so small, in fact, that anyone has a chance to have impact on its trajectory. And, in turn, anyone has a chance to be recognized within it. And I thought about things like this as I engaged my review process. In turn, it is important for me to indicate that my selection process was not in pursuit of supporting submissions that I necessarily “liked.” That wasn’t a metric for me. I didn’t approach this as a process of highlighting what I prefer or what I personally relate to in glass making and/or glass thinking, but as an effort to keep an eye out for submissions that represented an interesting quirk, conversation point, or important contribution to the field in this time and place with what work had been submitted. To assist that mission, I made the effort to only support submissions from artists who had not been recognized within the past 3 issues of the Review. Although difficult to pass by notable work by makers and thinkers I deeply admire in holding to this 3-year rule, it was important for me to use this opportunity to put my initials behind artists on the outer margins of our field who are enriching this moment that I didn’t want to get overlooked. Aside from that caveat, the work I responded to didn’t follow a uniform logic. In fact, the work I stand behind within this publication reflects many contradictions with one another. For instance, now looking back at my selections, I’m noticing a draw to ideas that implement polished excellence as a means to challenge those very things; but I’m also noticing a draw to ideas that rely on raw, loosely guttural methods of questioning, too. I’m see moments where I’m drawn to ideas where artists know glass so well that their effort to break its rules speaks of something provocative in equally spectacular fashion; but I’m also seeing moments where I’m drawn to ideas where the artist comes to glass formally untrained and, in turn, enables something accidentally innovative because of it. I found resonance and strength in quiet gestures. But I was also captivated by efforts where spectacle intersected with smart. It seems that I’m just as much a proponent for work that transcends glass making protocol as I am work that purposefully distances itself from it, dismantles it…even displaces it. Whether put forward as a visually complicated installation of things or a singular art object, these are just some of the various camps and categories of work included in the publication that compose the spectrum of what captured my attention. Even as incongruent as my selections seem to be with one another, however, I do sense one common denominator... If there is a tie that binds all the submissions that I connected with most it would be that each work collectively grounds itself in the present, but not without a recognition of the histories it extends from…and, in turn, presenting themselves as unexpected starting points to new trajectories and future advancements to both glass making and glass thinking. Some of my favorite moments in the field right now reside in work and research that doesn’t involve glass within its resolve, yet is manifested through ideas related to glass process and/or materiality. In a piece pursued from the hot shop assistant’s perspective, Josie Gluck illustrates this in pyrographic prints composed by the cast-off bits delivered for avolios in the production of stemware. The repeated gather and delivery of glass for the avolio serves as a method of mark-making in an abstracted gesture of cartography. The bit is discarded after delivery onto paper, falling however and wherever it might upon it. The measured and mechanically repeated step of the avolio process for the gaffer lends way to a wide variety of chance-based, combustion-prompted imagery for Gluck after the bit has been cast away. In an entirely different way, Shari Mendelson illustrates an interesting relationship to glass in considering it as a conceptual propellant culminating in a body of non-glass work. In this case, historical referencing and trompe l’oeil direct Mendelson’s upcycling of discarded plastics littering her neighborhood into exquisite deceptions of just about any vessel we’ve ever seen housed within the Greek, Islamic, and Roman chapters of an art history book. Conceptual parallels run abundantly within this glass-adjacent work between her objects and those of historical standing; parallels between materiality and making processes between glass and plastics; parallels navigated between commercial manufacturing and the independent making practice. In turn, this work holds a lens to ideas of the remnant and serves as a gesture to redirect the destiny of industrially-produced plastics from contemporary litter-hood towards one of the contemporary artifact. The many ways in which glass is being engaged directly right now that appeals to me mostly culminates in work that poses questions, not work that gives answers. Even when work relies on text and the literality of common phrasing. David Fox navigates abstracted ideas about language and coherency where words reveal themselves in a peculiarly glass-centric way; ways in which the hand-torch serves as pen and borosilicate tubing serves as page. Although invisible to the human eye, the memory of the written message is rendered visible through remembered strain and stress when subjected to a polariscope. What is said is much more conceptually layered than it lets on. And what is unsaid is mysteriously just as expressive and articulate. Previous performance work by Kim Harty that translated the glass objects catalogued in the publication of Old Venetian Glass (1960) through slow-exposure light drawings of them is re-contextualized in her 2019 exhibition Memoria Technica. A conceptual work of translation in 2015 begets even further translation within the past year – perhaps even coming full circle – in the effort to give selected light drawings a tangible life in thingness again under two fronts: in one, the digital hand meticulously renders a 3D print of the drawn vessel. In the other, the human hand attempts to recreate the drawing in the hot shop. In Harty’s case, historical glass is the pivot point in this continued exploration of mimicry by memory through various translation tactics in studio. In another instance where performance art intersects with glass practice, Judith Roux navigates an interesting angle to the notion of participatory work in The Space Between Us – My Warm Breath on Your Hands. A humble sheet of sandblasted glass serves as a translucent divide between the performer and the unsuspecting audience participant holding it. Efforts by the performer to expel hot breath or to lick the porous surface are in the hopes of establishing visible access to the participant on the other side – a perfect stranger – who is powerless to help as their side is still glossy and transparent. As a work that is one part messy, one part sexual, one part jinxed, and all parts vulnerable, Roux’s integration of glass is a very simple component to a provocatively ambitious interactive work driven by notions of desire and connection. It should be mentioned that as I write this essay for the Review, it is late March of 2020. I am quarantined here in the US, as is most of the world. The jurying process for this publication was just a hair over a month ago and yet the current day-to-day conditions of a COVID-19 reality make it seem that those few days spent in Corning were a lifetime ago. In this moment studios are shut down. Schools have gone online. Grocery shopping now gives us anxiety. Some of our jobs are now done from home. Some of us are now unemployed. Exhibitions have been postponed. Exhibitions have been cancelled. Summer programming at various summer-based glass institutions are up in the air. Some of us are sick. Some of us are scared. It’s a lot. And the level of uncertainty regarding just about everything as we move further and further into a life contextualized by a pandemic is the space where I’ve been writing this essay within. Writing this piece for the Review has given me an unexpected sense of calm. It has allowed me to dwell in the past tense; to write about an incredibly fulfilling and informative professional experience as a juror this past February in a time when life was what we’d describe as “normal.” (And to dwell in the past tense at the moment is an unexpected perk of this required writing, for sure.) But the quiet, the solitude, and the almost inactive status of a making practice while in quarantine has given me many moments of pause to consider the impact of this moment of lockdown on the future trajectory of glass. Both short- and long-term. For those of us who identify as artists who engage a practice where glass is a major component of our creative output, we know that we are a very high-maintenance kind of practitioner. Our making is based on a very hands-on, tactile working experience with material; one that is as high-maintenance as we are. Glass is a substance that relies on a very specific set of resources like specialized tools, equipment, and facility spaces to make the magic happen (…or the mess that may or may not lead to said “magic”). There are some of us who are self-sufficient on the resources front; those of us who have our own gear and our private studios and spaces to fill the time in quarantine with continued artistic output. Kudos to you. Go forth and slay. But there are perhaps a greater number of us who relied on having access to spaces and studios that have been closed down and, as part of the residual effect of the national lockdown, finding ourselves deserted as glass practitioners. In turn, I think about what kind of glass practice could be happening if a field like ours is cut off from the studio resources we typically rely on to conduct our work. Maybe some of us have been locating areas in our glass practice that could step in and take priority with what we know we can do from home: conceptual development through reading and research, formal development through drawing or digital rendering, writing, resume updating, or website redesign to name a few. Maybe some of us are locating alternative ways of creatively relating to glass without being able to “make” with it: maybe through capturing moments of glass-like phenomena through items found around the home with our phone or tinkering with glass-related processes that translate well in the kitchen (i.e. casting objects in ice in the freezer). Or maybe as one door closes another door opens; maybe some of us will be redirecting our expertise as makers into unanticipated career paths as published writers, sponsored podcasters, digital curators, or digital workshop teachers. But maybe some us just can’t right now, allowing ourselves to sit in a creative holding pattern until brighter days… It is no doubt that as glass-specific people, some of us being denied access to our usual resources can be seen as a real deal-breaker in our creative development and output. But, as a closeted optimist, I see this lockdown as a glass-making equivalent of constrictive writing. How many ways can those of us glass folks up for the challenge cultivate some sense of critical engagement with glass in this current moment of constriction and uncertainty? What innovative projects might accidentally be developed in response to some of us who feel shipwrecked and stranded? How far off the beaten path of conventional “glass practice” will those things take us? …and how could these constrictive gestures possibly change everything we thought we understood glass, glass making, glass teaching, and glass learning were all about? It’s a thought ripe with many yet-to-be-discovered solutions to the question as to how a glass artist maintains a practice – and a relationship with glass – when stripped of access to both a studio and to a material while under lockdown. Whether this is to be something short-term or long-term, it’s safe to assume that we’ll all come out of this COVID-19 experience as different makers and/or thinkers. Some of our evolutions may be enriched by this moment and its many limitations. Some may suffer. Some may cease altogether. My heart does break for those in our field whose livelihood relies entirely on orders, exhibitions, fellowships, teaching, and residencies that are now cancelled or put on indefinite hold; opportunities that were needed to keep their head above already turbulent waters whose sole occupation is that of an independent artist. But as I wrap up this essay, looking out my window into an overcast day in late March of 2020, I catch a tinge of hope for what might possibly turn out to be one of the most interesting moments within our field at the hands of artists, educators, and students who are naturally wired to make good use of a bad situation; folks with a knack for finding opportunity in limitation. I’m curious how sudden studio abandonment might possibly cultivate some sort of unforeseen innovation within our field. In whatever way that might mean... So, to bring back around the Review, I’m curious how this moment might rub off on the international glass field for those game to play along in this confined creative space we find ourselves in. I’m curious how this moment will be archived in the upcoming New Glass Review 42...hoping that, regardless of whether or not we are possibly STILL under quarantine through next February or not, the publication will still continue. If so, I’m curious about the contextual framework of how the Coronavirus impacts the work created within the dates of eligibility for the next issue. I’m curious how it will impact what work is submitted to the Review…and how diversified the notion of glass practice will manifest itself in those submissions through works which may have nothing to do with glass literally, but extend from glass figuratively through non-glass materials and methodologies. I’m curious what jurors will be invited in knowing that the game might’ve drastically changed because of the pandemic directly and indirectly; that a year in glass production not only may have been significantly affected by the virus by the time the call for applications roll out, but perhaps redefined “glass production” in ways that transcend glass, glass making, and glass art as we’ve previously defined those things as. I’m curious if the jurors will be chosen not only for their respective expertise, but the eyes to potentially see “glass” in a highly abstracted or figurative sense in the case that a lot of us within the field might be tasked to reinterpret a glass practice through non-glass means. I’m curious if that’ll even be allowed. I would hope so, and if true, I’m curious not only about what would be submitted, but what kinds of non-glass-but-glass-like work would be seen as fit for inclusion... But beyond the notion of being a resourceful artist under quarantine or speculating on the next issue of New Glass Review as influenced by the pandemic, I’m curious how COVID-19 will impact our various practices once life gets back to normal. And, for now, I still assume it will. Whether we flatten the curve or a vaccine is approved or a cure is discovered, I wonder what happens when we can return to the studios we were separated from and the equipment, tools, and materials we used to know and work with so well. Do we still make the things we make? ...like nothing happened? Have our questions changed that motivate our practice in the time away? As technicians, how rusty will we be? What will our bodies and hands forget? What of our processes will be remembered? Will I ever put my mouth to a blow pipe ever again? What will these small malfunctions hinder us from doing? …but what could they possibly enable instead? I expect that we will not be the same artist we were before the pandemic global hold, but, if we choose to stay the course, we will still be artists nonetheless. Ones who were forced to take an interesting detour from what we would normally do and, quite possibly, gaining new recognition in a practice that deviates from what we were originally all about or normally known for. There’s something kind of magical in anticipating just what that might be or how it might unfold. After all, an artist isn’t defined by what one can do, but how one can adapt. And, quite honestly, the job we as artists are truly tasked with is to make something meaningful out of any given moment, whether that be with things or circumstances. Especially in the thick of inconvenience… Just how long will we be on lockdown? …and how will we facilitate some sort of pro-active effort to continue evolving our practice and relationship to glass in this moment? ...a moment when our usual resources just aren’t available? Time will tell. And who knows…perhaps this solitary life and livelihood will be lifted a week or two after I submit this essay to Silbert in early April. Perhaps this moment is just a tiny glitch within the calendar year and we will all look back on it relieved that it was so short lived…almost as if it were only a bad dream. But maybe it’ll last the rest of the year. Or longer. Yikes. Regardless, I suppose this is a long way of saying that I hope some of us provide models of innovative response to a constricted glass practice due to this global hiccup when included in New Glass Review 42. I am so, so honored to have participated in the 41st issue of New Glass Review. I’ve studied the publication since first submitting to it back in 2002 and have thumbed through issue after issue many times over in my 20 year relationship with glass. I have been a student of its structure, its tradition, and its annual mission to observe and archive a year’s worth of advancements to the field. I’ve even made the trek to the Rakow many times over just to look into the work that didn’t get in within its archives…even when submissions were only accepted in slide form. For I know the sting of the Review’s rejection; applying 15 years in a row before knowing what acceptance feels like. Only to have the legacy of rejection pick back up the following year (and has continued up to this present moment). I know that the Review is a public and permanent document that some people place a lot of personal and professional currency in by being published within it. I also know that it warrants a lot of doubt, cynicism, and/or objection directed at the jurors by those who didn’t. All this is to say that, ultimately, I knew (and know) the weight of this responsibility that I took on as a juror to lend my voice and my perspective in making selections for it this year. And I took the honor seriously. In hopes of gracefully winding this essay down, I want to publicly acknowledge the leadership of Susie Silbert in guiding us jurors through the process as being so effectively and efficiently on point. It is important for me to be a mouthpiece to the broader glass community in saying that the organization, preparedness, and support of The Corning Museum of Glass staff was truly the epitome of professionalism and excellence in this experience. Thank you Silbert and All for this opportunity to bear witness to the most under-acknowledged aspects of this annual forum. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes before, during, and after the selection process that is thoroughly unknown to almost the entirety of our international community. Your dedication in facilitating it in the way that you do is both efficient and masterful…and I am humbled to have been a witness to it. Although the world primarily sees the New Glass Review as but a competition, the time spent behind the curtain confirms that it is better described as an annual act of care than an annual contest. The field owes you a lot of kudos and gratitude in orchestrating this huge annual undertaking.

-David Schnuckel (DS)

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ebenpink · 6 years ago

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10 Tips for Setting Up a Blog and Reaching 1 Million Hits https://ift.tt/2TlBRDR

I set my blog up in 2014 purely to help fundraise for a charity walk along 2000-year-old World Heritage site of Hadrian’s Wall. But it also gave me a platform to tell my story – awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer was also a listed aim of the adventure.

In the beginning, I had to rely on family and friends but I slowly attracted a small patient following. However, at this time, I had no inkling that it would become anything other than a low-level storytelling effort with a temporary life span, eventually to be signed to internet ‘shelfware’. After my charity walk, I kept the blog open and reasonably lively but I confess that was just to scrape in a few more pennies! Readers demanded more words and I complied.

Fast forward 4 years, I recently won the 2018 WEGO Health ‘Best in Show: Blog’ award and it was the third attempt having made the finals in 2016 and 2017. I’m actually a user of many different platforms and apps for my advocacy work but the blog was the one I really wanted to win. My blog functioned as the foundation for everything else, it was central.

While trying to win the blog award in 2016, I actually won the Best in Show: Community award. This was a shock but made me think of my advocacy work in a totally different way. The accolades that followed made me realize that all the different social media accounts I used to share my blog, were, in fact, functioning as a community. I guess that’s why more people voted for the community nomination than the blog one. The community aspect has actually changed the way I blog and is something I’m still developing today.

I’m so thankful to WEGO Health for giving me this platform for my advocacy work and for making me realize I was doing something important, something people actually wanted. Moreover, I found that people outside my community were actually interested. Being a WEGO Health Award winner has opened up new doors, allowing me to develop myself as a patient leader and to help and collaborate with others outside my own community.

As I write this article, I have almost 810,000 views of my blog site and I’m scheduled to pass the ‘magic million’ mark around June 2019 based on current averages. I suppose that’s not bad for a condition not many people have even heard of?

So.… what happened between 2014 and 2018?

What is the secret of my apparent success in setting up a blog and attracting so many followers?

Actually, there is no secret; I’m not even sure how I managed it other than hard work. I just plowed on doing what I thought was right. There’s a saying along the lines of “doing things right” and “doing the right things”. Some will say that the latter is more strategic thinking and the former is more tactical thinking. Using this analogy, I guess I started off tactically by trying to do things right and then gradually (without realizing I was doing it), I became more strategic in my approach by ‘doing the right things’. Having now written my 10 tips below, I can see that change developing.

When WEGO Health asked me to share my top tips and advice for blogging, I initially gulped because I didn’t have anything documented, I didn’t know exactly how I went from 10 hits per day to an average of one thousand. Sometimes as a patient advocate and a blogger, I feel like I have been more responsive than proactive in my activities. However, in accepting this task from the WEGO Health team, it suddenly dawned on me that my sub-conscious way to doing things is perhaps something that needs to be documented in the hope that others may benefit.

So here goes:

Best In Show: Blog Winner Ronny Allan’s 10 tips for setting up a blog and reaching one million hits

We’ve compiled Ronny’s tips and more into a downloadable document. Download the document below or keep reading!

Download Patient Leader Tip Sheet

1. Find yourself a blogging app

There are many around. I use WordPress, I find it relatively easy but like all the other apps, it takes a while to get used to all the features. I eventually upgraded my package to provide better capability and features. I advise starting with the free version which will be sufficient for most.

2. Find Yourself an Audience

Most health advocates will have a condition in mind and most will already be a patient with that condition or be caring for one. Others may operate on a wider basis or a specific aspect of living with the condition, perhaps a campaigning aim. Decide if you are focussed on a single geographical region or open to international patients. My condition is not that common, so I was eventually forced to go international to expand, although many patients came to me due to the power of the internet – if you build it, they will come. Just be aware of language, cultural and healthcare differences in place (it’s a steep learning curve). It’s fairly easy to set up Google translate in WordPress.

3. Find yourself a brand

I didn’t give this much thought at the beginning but there is some scope for change downstream. If possible, try to make the big changes early on. I’m still working on this one!

4. Study and understand your audience

This is really a follow on from finding the audience. If you’re dealing with the same condition, it really helps with the understanding. I actually joined a number of forums/groups/email subscriptions and read (lurked) a lot before my blog really took off. I was, therefore, able to hit the ground running in terms of what I understood the key issues to be (although when I read some of my early blog posts, I often cringe). That said, some of my early posts remain my most successful.

5. Tell them about you

Do this first. This was easy for me as I had written a patient story well before my blog was set up. I had all the medical letters and reports so it was relatively easy to document that in as much ‘patient speak’ as possible and in a way that others could compare and empathize. This is a very individual thing, some stick to the ‘technical aspects’ of their condition, others focus on life impacts. Personally, I try to avoid a ‘pity party’ and try to focus on the positives. That said, I can talk about the horrible aspects but in the context of a particular subject with a particular aim in mind – even positive patients have vulnerabilities. In fact, I often add in personal stories in the opening or closing lines of my articles, this is a combination of setting the scene or for emphasizing.

6. Listen and learn from your audience

Just when I think, I’ve written about ‘everything’, a subject comes along which not only resonates personally but also seems like something that needs to be ‘fleshed’ out, something that needs an answer or at least some thought leadership. Often there can be a common thread on many different forums but the answer seems to be quite elusive. I look at those scenarios as challenges and an article frequently follows. Sometimes the ideas come thick and fast and the draft section of my blog site is always full of ideas. I set up my own closed Facebook group 12 months ago which is providing a whole new learning (and humbling) experience and blogging ideas.

7. Grow

If you want to get to the ‘million club’, you need to grow your followers and find more outlets to share your material. My following is totally 100% organic (nothing purchased) and that goes for all my social media platforms. After a year of blogging, I decided to set up a Facebook and Twitter account to match my blog site (on a much smaller scale, I also use Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google Plus). Facebook made the biggest difference – I actually have 5 Facebook pages for various purposes. All of these need sites to be public to allow people to find and share your material. I also use a newsletter feature based on Twitter. Again, there are a few of these around but I use Nuzzel, I find it really easy to use, I can add stuff directly to the app and schedule accordingly. I find this is now competing with Twitter as the second biggest source of hits. I also use Buffer, a scheduling tool which allows me to post many items up to 2 or 3 days in advance. I currently only use it for Twitter posts. My Facebook posts are often scheduled directly in the Facebook tool but many are ad hoc. If you have an international following, consider the time zones of your main country groupings.

8. Knowledge is not power

I pride myself on researching from the most impeccable and trustworthy sources (some at my own cost). With a less common and complex disease, this is really important – the internet is a dangerous place, full of fake news, myths, snake oil sellers and other such quackery. Many of my posts are written in the style that I have used since day 1 – something which takes away the complexity and mystery in order that patients can understand what is being said. Most posts will have reference articles or other links for those who like the detail. This knowledge should be free to all patients and not held close to the chests of doctors and other healthcare professionals. In order to spread this further, I set up a closed Facebook group 12 months ago which has really taken off. The group is based on all the principles in this article.

9. Try to be consistent

If your posts start to appear contradictory or you have wildly differing views on the same subject, you will ‘draw fire’. I think I have stuck to my guns on the vast majority of subjects, clearly, healthcare is a moving picture so older articles may need tweaking, updating, or in some cases deleting (although I tend to ‘reinvent’ those to build on the existing hits within my statistics).

10. Be ‘You’

I try to put over the human side in all my articles. I’m just a wee Scottish guy with a computer and a complex and less common disease. I write about things I think people want to hear about (having done 1-9 above). I can relate to other people with the same condition and they appear to relate to me. I try my best to put over what I think about living with Neuroendocrine Cancer and how to best advocate for myself and others. I’m a naturally positive person so that comes out in my posts but I can still empathize and sympathize with others having a bad time. It seems to work and I will, therefore, continue to be ‘me’ going forward.

Download Patient Leader Tip Sheet

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charlesjening · 5 years ago

Text

Remarks of FASB Member R. Harold Schroeder, ThinkBIG 2019 Conference, Orlando, FL

Opening Remarks of FASB Member Hal Schroeder (as prepared for delivery) ThinkBig 2019 Conference “Roadmap to the Future: Fact vs Fiction (on CECL and Other FASB Standards)” Orlando, Florida September 26, 2019

Back in the spring—as the school year was ending—I showed my daughter a picture of what appeared to be an old, very thick textbook. Knowing the last thing she wanted was another textbook, I jokingly told her we were going to buy it. She then asked two logical questions: Why? and How much?

I won’t get the tone of her questions quite right, so I’ll just say there was a lot of eye rolling. Now, in my defense: She had no facts, she didn’t know the book’s history. Without any historical context, without opening the book to see its contents, she couldn’t appreciate the importance of this book.

What she saw was the tattered, brown-paper cover; blank, except for three handwritten letters. So, she was shocked to learn what it would likely fetch at auction.

The book was Luca Pacioli’s

Summa de Arithmetica

. In the press release

announcing the auction, Christie’s noted its broad-ranging contents: “from double-entry bookkeeping to probability theory and computing, the mathematical principles of the most vital features of contemporary finance are all present.” In other words, this 525-year-old tome is the “first practical how-to book on succeeding in business.”

During a multi-city tour, Christie’s invited the FASB to experience the book firsthand. As the curator opened the cover to read passages and to highlight various illustrations, I developed a deeper understanding of what was inside the book, why it was important, and how it was constructed. No wonder this book has stood the test of time.

I tell this story because it’s a great example of the idiom: You can’t judge a book by its cover. The same can be said for the FASB’s projects I’ll talk about today. And, for our stakeholders—particularly preparers and auditors—it’s imperative that you get past the cover of each new standard in order to distinguish fact from fiction; what’s changed and why.

Hence, the title of my presentation

Roadmap to the Future: Fact versus Fiction

. So, today I’ll provide some facts about what we’ve been doing since issuing CECL in 2016. And, I’ll try to separate fact from fiction by laying out what we hear.

*****************

Before going any further, I must first remind you of the standard disclosure: Official positions of the FASB are reached only after extensive due process and deliberations. In other words, what I am about to say are my views and only my views.

The standard disclosure I just read appropriately puts an emphasis on the FASB’s “process” for setting accounting standards. And, that’s where I’ll start.

About the FASB

Last year alone, Board members and staff spoke at 156 events nationwide and hosted 575 liaison, advisory group, and project outreach meetings.

2 The People

At one such meeting a few years ago, a group of community bankers came to visit us in Norwalk, CT. A CEO—from a small town near to where I grew up—told us he’d been at a Rotary Club lunch the day before. He said someone at his table was surprised to learn he was going to meet real people at the FASB. I asked him to please reassure the folks back home, we are real people! So, to provide some perspective on the FASB process, it helps to first understand the people; both the Board members and staff.

Speaking for myself, the comments I make today—as well as my votes at the Board table—are informed by four decades of experiences: as an auditor and advisor to a wide range of financial services companies—from the largest global entities to the smallest community banks in south Louisiana; as a CFO; as both an individual and institutional investor; as a manager and owner of private businesses; and, now, as a member of the FASB in my second and final term. (Yes, we have term limits.)

Combine my experiences with those of my fellow Board members and staff, and you begin to see a wide array of experiences and multiple perspectives. This diversity of views is by design. Think of it this way: If any two Board members always agree, one of them is redundant. Now, add to the mix the boots-on-the-ground experiences and perspectives of our advisory groups and stakeholders like yourselves—that participate in our outreach meetings—and it’s clear that the process of setting accounting standards is not done in a vacuum or an ivory tower.

The Process

The Board and staff often talk about the standard-setting process, up to the point of issuing a new standard. We don’t talk as much about the equally important post-issuance phase. Once a major new standard is issued, we spend the time—often years before its effective date—educating stakeholders and monitoring company implementation efforts.

One reason we do this is to re-confirm that a new standard’s wording is understandable, operable, and auditable. Another is, we want to ensure it will stand the test of time.

During numerous education and monitoring sessions—based solely on the questions and comments of the participants—it becomes readily apparent who’s gone past the cover and is deep into implementing a new standard. And, equally apparent, who hasn’t broken the book’s binding.

With the latter group, we often find ourselves reiterating and relitigating a range of questions. Personally, I enjoy the debates. However, most of their questions have already been asked and answered in the due-process documents and final standards issued in accordance with the FASB’s Rules of Procedure.

3 Addressing What & How

As much as I enjoy the debates, I’ll simply highlight a few points about what’s required and how to do it.

Regarding the “what” of CECL specifically—in the past year the staff has received very few questions, many of which could be quickly answered by referring directly to the guidance. Considering that our technical inquiry service is free and accessible online,

the limited number of questions is at odds with the view—some have voiced—that there are many unanswered questions and, therefore, CECL should be delayed.

For other more-involved questions, we’ve made targeted improvements to enhance understandability and operability. Answers to those questions can be found at our CECL implementation portal.

Regarding “how,” we’re committed to looking for ways to ease transition efforts. For example, in January, we published a Staff Q&A about using WARM

(weighted-average remaining maturity), which is an estimation method already familiar to many smaller financial institutions. It was followed in July by another that addresses developing estimates

by responding to 16 frequently asked questions about:

using historical loss information,

developing reasonable and supportable forecasts, and

applying the reversion to historical loss information.

Both Q&As are part of the Board's continuing commitment to educate stakeholders.

They cover common questions we’ve heard during the last three years at various post-issuance educational sessions—the same questions covered in numerous PowerPoint presentations we’ve delivered. So, the Staff Q&As are a more formalized version of what we’ve been saying.

In addition to those Q&As, the staff are hosting several implementation workshops around the country. Again, please check our CECL implementation portal for dates and locations.

Assessing Costs & Benefits

And, despite some very public comments to the contrary, a thorough cost-benefit assessment of CECL was conducted—as is done on all standards in accordance with our Rules of Procedure. We explain why we came to our decisions in the “Background Information and Basis for Conclusions” section of the standard. A summary

of the assessment is also provided on our CECL implementation portal.

Disciplined Process

In my now over eight years on the Board, I’ve come to appreciate the high-quality standards that result from its disciplined process. CECL may not be perfect, but it’s a vast improvement over the status quo. And, we’re doing everything we can to support your success.

So, I have a request: When you hear someone say the FASB didn’t follow its due process, please ask if they’ve gotten past the cover, past the headlines in media reports. Have they read the standard, in particular, the basis for conclusions?

Like any classic book, standards such as CECL should be read multiple times. The same is true for the Staff Q&As. With each subsequent reading, new insights are gained, leading to greater benefits and a more cost-effective implementation.

Final thought on process: disagreeing with a Board position is fine. I certainly have, in fact, about 10% of the time—just read any one of my dissents. But I’m troubled by those that make public statements, unsupported by the public record documenting the process.

Calls to “Stop and Study” During the Past Year

Despite years of discussions and debates, there continue to be efforts to relitigate CECL. As you may have heard or read, reconsideration of CECL was the focus of a roundtable meeting this time last year. It was hosted by three congressmen to facilitate a discussion of a “regional bank proposal.”

A few months later, a modified version of that proposal was formally submitted to the FASB. Again, following established process, the FASB staff held dozens of meetings that included financial and nonfinancial entities, as well as other stakeholders.

The views heard in those meetings were very consistent with stakeholder comments at a public roundtable we hosted in January—splitting the provision, with a portion flowing through net income and the remainder in OCI, was not operational. This was not a surprise. Banks—large and small—had provided the same feedback in 2013, when the Board had explored the same idea and its many variants.

We also heard from investors that, if the provision is split, they would need additional disclosures. However, those re-proposing a split did not support expanded disclosures. After hearing all sides, and consistent with its 2013 decision, in April the Board again voted to not move forward with any requirement to split the provision.

On the Regulatory and Legislative Fronts

In October 2018, a trade associations' letter

was sent to the chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council

(or FSOC). Voicing concerns about CECL, the letter recommended that FSOC “seek a delay in implementation until such a study can be completed.”

As a refresher, FSOC is an interagency body consisting of ten voting members—those being the principles of the federal agencies that regulate the U.S. financial services industry—and five non-voting members—those representing various state authorities.

And, it’s chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury.

At FSOC’s December 2018 meeting, there was a discussion of CECL. In reading the publicly available minutes

you see mention of the “extensive work undertaken by the FASB, including publicly issuing proposals in 2010, 2011, and 2013, prior to adoption of CECL in 2016.” The discussion was led by the Comptroller of the Currency, who stated that “the OCC believes CECL is an improvement over the incurred-loss accounting model.”

With no reduction in regulatory capital imminent, the “stop-and-study” movement is now seeking a “legislative fix” with bills proposed in both the House

and the Senate.

However, it’s worth noting that in separate actions, study-only directives have been attached to both House

and Senate

appropriations bills. The requests are directed toward others including the SEC and the U.S. Treasury, but not to the FASB. The Senate action specifically directs the Treasury, in consultation with the federal bank regulators, to “conduct a study on the need, if any, for changes to regulatory capital requirements necessitated by CECL, and to submit the study to the Committee within 270 days of the date of enactment of this act.” Note that this study will assess the need for a change to regulatory capital; not to CECL.

My views? Those in the audience that know me won’t be surprised. I do have views on the matter. But as a reminder, these are my views and should not be interpreted as the Board’s views.

Calls for Quantitative Impact Study

“Stop-and-study” efforts call on the FASB to perform an economic or quantitative impact study on CECL. (Going retro, I’ve heard it called “delay-and-pray,” mimicking the approach used by some to deal with problem loans in past banking crises.) Those advocating stop-and-study allege dire consequences from CECL’s so-called procyclical effects on lending. However, independent studies

already conducted do not support such concerns.

Consider data contained in a recent study

published as a working paper in the Federal Reserve’s

Finance and Economics Discussion Series

(or FEDS). The study, and I quote, “shows that a disproportionate share of the associated provision expenses occurs prior to the recession under CECL, rather than during it.”

The study quantifies CECL’s earlier provisioning, estimating that “roughly 62% of the trough to peak increase in allowances occurs prior to the recession [compared to] only 11%” under the incurred loss model.

Now, combine that finding with other independent studies showing banks that provision earlier are better positioned to lend in an economic downturn.

Quoting from one such study: “Consistent with the pro-cyclical provisioning hypothesis we observe a greater reduction in lending during recessions by banks that delay expected loss recognition more compared with banks that delay less.”

That conclusion was based on 24,788 bank quarters of data, stretching over a 16-year period (1993 to 2009) that included 2 U.S. recessions. Another study,

based on 3,091 bank-year observations, across 27 countries over 11 years (1995 to 2006), yielded complementary results.

Yet, I expect critics will point to the FEDS working paper to show that CECL reserves would go up during a recession and would be higher than under the incurred model. I agree with the observation. CECL allowances would likely increase during a recession and peak at a higher point.

In fact, using the same data, I calculate

CECL-based allowances would have increased an estimated 29% from the beginning of the recession and peaked in the fifth quarter. However, those same critics are unlikely to mention that under the incurred model, allowances actually increased 264% during the last recession—8 times that expected under CECL—and, didn’t peak until the ninth quarter—taking almost twice as long to recognize losses.

Bottom line: As independent studies show, banks that are better reserved heading into a recession are better positioned to lend during a recession. And, it is the banks that reserve later, and take longer to work through existing losses, that cut lending during a recession.

Therefore, I believe concerns about CECL’s impact on lending are misplaced.

Studies—Yes, Stop—No

My comments today should not be interpreted to mean I’m anti-study. In fact, just the opposite. I believe well-designed, well-executed independent studies—a few of which I’ve cited—are an invaluable tool to standard setting. And I believe there should be more in the future, using real data as it becomes available.

What I’m opposed to is stopping CECL’s implementation. Here are a few reasons why.

No Change to Cash Flows

A key point to remember, under CECL: a good loan will still be a good loan; a bad loan will still be a bad one. This is because CECL doesn’t—in fact, it can’t—change the ultimate cash flows or a borrower’s ability to repay. And CECL doesn’t even change when to charge off a loan. It changes only the timing of when loss provisions are recognized in net income and, in turn, reserves built on the balance sheet.

Greater Transparency

Even absent CECL, investors are and will be making their own estimates of expected losses. Speaking with firsthand knowledge, investors began ignoring GAAP allowances—effectively making their own, much-higher loss estimates—18 months before the beginning of the last recession. This is in stark contrast with the fact that GAAP-based allowances didn’t hit bottom—a multi-decade bottom—until just 12 months before the recession began.

What CECL does is provide greater transparency into changing credit risk. Instead of having to rely solely on their own estimates, investors and other users will be able to start their analyses with managements’ more-informed estimates.

If there’s any doubt in my view: In the last few months, I’ve been talking with investors. What some have shared is that they’re already beginning to again ignore GAAP provisions and allowances and, to again, make their own loss estimates. As Mark Twain is often credited with saying: “History never repeats itself, but it rhymes.”

So, how do we reconcile the clear need for better alignment between accounting and changes in risk, with calls to stop a standard that provides much-needed transparency? I can’t.

On a Personal Note

. . .

In my former job as a portfolio manager, I’d have been okay with keeping opaque accounting. Frankly speaking, our investors earned better returns because we were estimating expected losses. It gave us a competitive advantage.

But as a member of the FASB, I’m

not

okay with the status quo. No competitive advantage is worth keeping accounting that:

In “good times” masks warning signs of rising credit risk, and

In “bad times” is ignored.

Effective Dates for Private and Smaller Public Companies

At this point, you may be asking: If he’s so pro-CECL, why does he support delaying its effective date? As a reminder, the Board is tentatively scheduled to vote on this matter at its October 16

meeting. So, you should know before the yearend holidays whether and who will get a delay in applying CECL.

I support a delay because some of you in this room made a compelling case—and our research confirmed—that implementation challenges are often magnified for private companies, smaller public companies, and not-for-profit organizations. Access to resources, education, and technology varies considerably among organizations of different sizes.

We did not want those hurdles to block the path toward a successful implementation for anyone.

We also observed that when it comes to applying standards, private and smaller public companies can learn a lot from the experiences of larger public entities. More time between effective dates means more time to learn.

It’s also worth noting a practical implication—roughly 90% of financial services companies (by number) would get extra time to adopt the standard. However, I don’t believe investors will be significantly affected, because the 10% that won’t get extra time represent 90-ish% of the industry assets.

But I wouldn’t be surprised to see some entities that could take more time, elect to early adopt—which I expect will be permitted.

Not All Smaller Institutions Agree

I say this because, minutes before an August vote, a community bank CEO called me to express his strong disagreement. He said his bank didn’t need the additional time.

It was not the first time the two of us had debated various aspects of CECL. We’ve had numerous discussions; the same as with other bankers. So, at a high level I shared with him what I’d heard. It was a good rehearsal for what I was going to say at the Board table in just a few minutes: When implementing major standards, such as CECL, it’s more cost effective to take an integrated, wholistic approach that coordinates accounting changes with other changes needed to run a successful business—what I refer to as a “business approach”—which contrasts with treating accounting changes as simply a “compliance exercise”—incurring costs with minimal to no benefits for running a business.

I believe providing an opportunity to take a business approach is the strongest, most compelling argument for extra time.

Benefits to Taking a Business Approach

In fact, as we monitor progress among larger lending institutions—those preparing to implement CECL next year—we’ve observed the benefits. In private meetings—including a few where we’ve had to sign non-disclosure agreements—we’ve been told that the effort to adopt CECL has resulted in widespread improvement of data quality, internal controls, estimation processes, and internal coordination and communication.

A few bankers have gone even further, saying that they expect additional improvements will be achieved over time. Think of it as a virtuous—some say vicious—circle. More and better data leads to improved estimation processes. Those processes benefit from technology advances, such as faster processing speeds and more memory. Advances in technology facilitate the use of more and better data that improves estimation processes . . . and the cycle continues.

As a banker told me, “Improvements were needed; CECL simply accelerated the timing.”

One Cautionary Note

Now that the Board has voted to provide the 90% with extra time, I believe there’ll be an even greater expectation for high-quality implementation efforts.

Don’t look at it as an extra year off. Treat it as an opportunity to improve your data quality, estimation processes, and internal controls. Start now. If you’ve yet to break the book’s binding, do it today.

Reference Rate Reform

Now, on to another issue��one that likely affects everyone in this room: reference rate reform. This is a global issue driven by market forces, not the FASB.

What Is Reference Rate Reform?

The London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, is expected to be phased out in 2021. Globally, there’s an estimated $350 trillion of financial instruments—over half of which is in the U.S.—that reference LIBOR

including, for example, adjustable-rate mortgages.

Efforts are under way (1) to identify risk-free alternative rates to replace IBORs and (2) to develop transition plans that support reference rate reform. Those industry-led efforts are focused on tying benchmark rates to observable, arm’s-length transactions.

In July, the SEC issued a public statement

noting that the transition away from LIBOR could have “a significant impact on the financial markets and may present a material risk for certain market participants.”

Addressing Accounting Obstacles

Reference rate reform has been a major priority for the FASB. We’re proactively addressing accounting obstacles that could hinder smooth transition.

Simplifying Accounting Evaluations.

And earlier this month, we issued a proposal that would make it easier to transition contracts and other arrangements to a new reference rate.

First, we proposed to simplify the accounting evaluation of a contract modification. For a contract that meets certain criteria, the change in its reference rate would be accounted for as a continuation of that contract, instead of the creation of a new contract.

We also proposed to simplify the assessment of hedge effectiveness—and to allow hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform to continue.

Optional and Temporary.

Application of this relief would be optional. We think it will minimize the disruption of reference rate reform on financial reporting and provide users with more useful information.

Companies and other organizations that elect to apply the guidance would do so prospectively—in other words, the new guidance could be elected for contract modifications and hedge evaluations that occur after we issue the final standard.

The guidance would be temporary, expiring on January 1, 2023. To my knowledge, if finalized, this would be the first time we’ve ever issued an accounting standard with a “sunset provision.”

Looking Ahead

The comment period on this proposal is open until October 7th. I encourage you to review it and get your comments to us as soon as possible. As always, your insights will help us develop a better standard.

**************

Closing Remarks

Before concluding, I want to thank you for your engagement in our process.

We may not always agree on outcomes. But we will always engage in the conversation. And we will work with you to help ensure a successful transition to our standards.

And now, I’m ready to take your questions.

As stated on the FSOC website, “The Financial Stability Oversight Council has a clear statutory mandate that creates for the first time collective accountability for identifying risks and responding to emerging threats to financial stability. It is a collaborative body chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury that brings together the expertise of the federal financial regulators, an independent insurance expert appointed by the President, and state regulators.”

https://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/about/Pages/default.aspx

S.1564 - Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act,

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1564 15

116TH Congress, 1st Session, House Report 116–122, “The Committee directs the SEC, in consultation with the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and NCUA, to conduct a study of the potential impact of the CECL accounting standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and provide the study to the Committee, and to the Financial Services Committee, within 180 days of the enactment of this Act. The study shall address the impact of the CECL standard on credit availability, costs to consumers, and overall stability of the banking sector, and assess whether the FASB employed sound economic analysis and modeling.”

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/116th-congress/house-report/122/1?overview=closed

Refers to comprehensive studies conducted by researchers not associated with individual banks or trade associations.

Loudis, Bert, and Ben Ranish (2019). CECL and the Credit Cycle," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-061. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,

https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2019.061

Beatty, Anne, and Scott Liao. 2011. “Do Delays in Expected Loss Recognition Affect Banks’ Willingness to Lend?”

Journal of Accounting and Economics

52: 1-20.

Bushman, Robert M., and Christopher D. Williams. 2012. “Accounting Discretion, Loan Loss Provisioning, and Discipline of Banks’ Risk-Taking,”

Journal of Accounting and Economics

54: 1-18.

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jesseneufeld · 5 years ago

Text

Does Sleep Quality Really Decline With Age? (Plus, What I Do & a Giveaway)

One of the most common complaints people have as they age is poor quality sleep. They get less sleep than younger people, and, despite what you may have heard, their sleep requirements do not decline with age. A 70-year-old should still be getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. The problem is that, for many different reasons, older people usually have issues getting the amount of sleep they need.

The popular approach is to accept poor sleep as an inevitable part of aging and find workarounds, ideally workarounds that require a lifelong prescription to a name-brand pharmaceutical. That’s not my way. I accept that the conventional approach may be warranted in certain cases, but it should be a last resort. A person should exhaust the diet, lifestyle, and exercise options before turning to the prescription pad.

What about that central position of the conventional wisdom: Declining sleep quality is a necessary function of age. Is that actually true?

Why Do We Equate Getting Older With Sleeping Poorly?

Age is a predictor of poor quality sleep, but it’s not a foregone conclusion. Not every older adult suffers from poor sleep, which means the passage of time alone cannot explain the loss of sleep quality. In fact, when you drill down deeper, you find that there are many health and lifestyle-related predictors of poor quality sleep among older adults.

Such as:

In older Taiwanese adults living in a retirement community, 42% reported sleep disturbances. The best predictors for low quality sleep were being sedentary, suffering from nighttime urination, using anti-hypertensive drugs, and having poor mental health.

In older Korean adults, 60% reported sleep issues. The best predictors for low quality sleep in this group were depression, pain, and poor self-rated health scores.

In older women, menopause can make getting good sleep harder. The night sweats and body temperature fluctuations (the body tends to drop its temperature in preparation for sleep, and heat flashes can interfere with this) are notorious sleep disruptors.

These are all modifiable risk factors. Even menopause. Menopause will happen, but the symptoms can be addressed and mitigated (though admittedly not easily). I actually wrote a post about this.

There is one specific cluster of neurons called the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus that acts as a “sleep switch”—releasing GABA and other inhibitory neurotransmitters that inhibit wakefulness. The ventrolateral preoptic nucleus has been shown to degrade with age, actually getting smaller over time; further research shows that the size of a person’s VPN correlates closely with their sleep quality. But there’s no indication that this is an inevitable consequence of aging. After all, the rate of VPN decline varies between individuals. Maybe some of that rate variation is genetic. Maybe some is environmental—based on how you live and eat and exercise. We do know that light and sun exposure during the day boosts serotonin levels, and serotonin is one of the precursors for VPN sleep activity. What if a lifetime of inadequate sun and daylight exposure causes the VPN to “atrophy”? There are many unanswered questions, but even if the VPN turns out to follow a strictly chronological decline, there are improvements to be made.

Other “inevitabilities” of aging are often a function of accruing compound interest on one’s failure to lead a healthy lifestyle. If we’ve neglected our health and wellness for our entire lives—often because we were following bad advice from the “experts” who were supposed to know better—that’s going to come to a head the older we get. The older we are, the worse our body will work. The more negative interest we’ll have accrued.

Okay, Sisson, that’s all well and good, but what if I’m already an older adult, I’ve already accrued a lifetime of suboptimal health, and my sleep is bad? What can I do?

5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Sleep (At ANY Age)

You can start addressing the issues right now, right today.

1. You can lift heavy things.

Resistance training has been shown to improve sleep quality in older adults. Three times a week, older adults lifted weights for 30 minutes in the morning and saw their sleep quality improve by 38%. It also works in older adults with poor sleep and depression.

2. You can walk.

A three-time weekly walking program for four weeks helped older Nepalese adults improve their sleep quality.

3. You can reduce your alcohol intake.

A few years ago, I noticed that my nightly glass or two of wine was messing with my sleep, so I gave it up and my sleep improved immediately. I’ve since re-introduced Dry Farm natural wine—lower in alcohol and sulfites, higher in antioxidants and complexity—and have no issues. If you drink on a regular basis and have trouble with sleep, try giving up alcohol for a month. It’s a potentially very easy fix.

4. You can avoid artificial light after dark.

This doesn’t just work in younger people. There is strong evidence that exposure to artificial light after dark is linked to insomnia in older adults. Wearing blue-blocking goggles or simply not using electronic devices after dark are easy fixes.

5. You can get more natural light in the morning and daytime.

In older adults, getting more natural light in the daytime hours has a direct effect of improving sleep quality.

Hey, it’s almost like everything in our lives is connected. Some people find this overwhelming and depressing—”how can I possibly fix everything?” I find it empowering. It fills me with optimism because addressing one piece of the chain can get everything else moving in the right direction. Just look at the study with depressed older adults who had trouble sleeping. All they had to do was start lifting heavy things a few times a week and all their major issues began resolving, or at least improving. That’s powerful.

Now imagine if you tried everything. Imagine if you started lifting weights, walking, reduced your alcohol intake. Imagine the changes you could see. Now imagine if you did this from early adulthood and never stopped. Imagine how you’d sleep. Oh, and don’t neglect the power of a consistent routine.

What I Do (and One Thing That’s Made the Biggest Difference)

Last year, I released a video of my nighttime routine. Now that I’m in Miami, the setup has changed but I still do the same basic stuff.

I live in a condo now that has a great spa. I do “fire and ice” before dinner almost every night”—usually 7-10 minutes sauna, 3-4 minutes cold plunge at 50 degrees, repeat a few times. So, no longer right before bed. But it has the effect of making me relaxed and sleep-ready a few hours after a light dinner.

But there’s one tool I began using a couple years ago that has probably made the most difference of any particular strategy: controlling the temperature of my bed.

Ambient temperature matters for sleep quality. My chiliPAD has become indispensable. (Disclosure: I became such a fan that I eventually invested in the company.) Carrie uses one, too. We have different ideal temperature ranges. Mine cools to 65 at bedtime, but with the app I can set it to rise to 68 at 3:00 A.M. (otherwise I get a little too much heat loss), 70 at 5:00 A.M. and then 75 at 6:45 to help me wake up. It makes a huge difference and has real evolutionary antecedence; humans spent many millennia sleeping on a cold surface (the ground) covered with animal skins. It’s what our genes still expect from us.

How’s your sleep, older (or not) readers? What’s worked, what hasn’t? If you have any questions about sleep, drop them down below and I’ll follow up!

Now For the Giveaway…

Whenever I find a product I truly love, I want to share it. Today it’s for two lucky winners.

The great folks at ChiliTechnology have offered two of their cooling systems for MDA readers (the two Carrie and I use): a chiliPAD system and their new OOLER system. Both offer the same fully programmable cooling technology to help you manufacture your best night’s sleep. Plus, I’m throwing in a Primal Essentials Kit (Damage Control, Primal Omegas, Primal Sun, Primal Probiotics and Adaptogenic Calm) because good health and great sleep go hand-in-hand.

One winner will nab the chiliPAD, plus Primal supplements package.

The second winner will enjoy the OOLER system, plus Primal supplements package.

To enter to win:

1. Follow @marksdailyapple + @chilisleep + @primalblueprint 2. Tag two friends in the comments from this giveaway post.

Open to US only. The winner will be announced and contacted via Instagram direct message on Thursday, May 30th.

Good luck, everybody!

(function($) { $("#dfoybto").load("https://www.marksdailyapple.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=dfads_ajax_load_ads&groups=674&limit=1&orderby=random&order=ASC&container_id=&container_html=none&container_class=&ad_html=div&ad_class=&callback_function=&return_javascript=0&_block_id=dfoybto" ); })( jQuery );

window.onload=function(){ga('send', { hitType: 'event', eventCategory: 'Ad Impression', eventAction: '84166' });}

References:

Park JH, Yoo MS, Bae SH. Prevalence and predictors of poor sleep quality in Korean older adults. Int J Nurs Pract. 2013;19(2):116-23.

Ferris LT, Williams JS, Shen CL, O’keefe KA, Hale KB. Resistance training improves sleep quality in older adults a pilot study. J Sports Sci Med. 2005;4(3):354-60.

Singh NA, Clements KM, Fiatarone MA. A randomized controlled trial of the effect of exercise on sleep. Sleep. 1997;20(2):95-101.

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years ago

Text

Does Sleep Quality Really Decline With Age? (Plus, What I Do & a Giveaway)

What about that central position of the conventional wisdom: Declining sleep quality is a necessary function of age. Is that actually true?

Why Do We Equate Getting Older With Sleeping Poorly?

Such as:

In older Korean adults, 60% reported sleep issues. The best predictors for low quality sleep in this group were depression, pain, and poor self-rated health scores.

These are all modifiable risk factors. Even menopause. Menopause will happen, but the symptoms can be addressed and mitigated (though admittedly not easily). I actually wrote a post about this.

Okay, Sisson, that’s all well and good, but what if I’m already an older adult, I’ve already accrued a lifetime of suboptimal health, and my sleep is bad? What can I do?

5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Sleep (At ANY Age)

You can start addressing the issues right now, right today.

1. You can lift heavy things.

2. You can walk.

A three-time weekly walking program for four weeks helped older Nepalese adults improve their sleep quality.

3. You can reduce your alcohol intake.

4. You can avoid artificial light after dark.

5. You can get more natural light in the morning and daytime.

In older adults, getting more natural light in the daytime hours has a direct effect of improving sleep quality.

What I Do (and One Thing That’s Made the Biggest Difference)

Last year, I released a video of my nighttime routine. Now that I’m in Miami, the setup has changed but I still do the same basic stuff.

But there’s one tool I began using a couple years ago that has probably made the most difference of any particular strategy: controlling the temperature of my bed.

How’s your sleep, older (or not) readers? What’s worked, what hasn’t? If you have any questions about sleep, drop them down below and I’ll follow up!

Now For the Giveaway…

Whenever I find a product I truly love, I want to share it. Today it’s for two lucky winners.

One winner will nab the chiliPAD, plus Primal supplements package.

The second winner will enjoy the OOLER system, plus Primal supplements package.

To enter to win:

1. Follow @marksdailyapple + @chilisleep + @primalblueprint 2. Tag two friends in the comments from this giveaway post.

Open to US only. The winner will be announced and contacted via Instagram direct message on Thursday, May 30th.

Good luck, everybody!

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References:

Park JH, Yoo MS, Bae SH. Prevalence and predictors of poor sleep quality in Korean older adults. Int J Nurs Pract. 2013;19(2):116-23.

Ferris LT, Williams JS, Shen CL, O’keefe KA, Hale KB. Resistance training improves sleep quality in older adults a pilot study. J Sports Sci Med. 2005;4(3):354-60.

Singh NA, Clements KM, Fiatarone MA. A randomized controlled trial of the effect of exercise on sleep. Sleep. 1997;20(2):95-101.

The post Does Sleep Quality Really Decline With Age? (Plus, What I Do & a Giveaway) appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Does Sleep Quality Really Decline With Age? (Plus, What I Do & a Giveaway) published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

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aaltjebarisca · 6 years ago

Text

Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up

Millennials are known for a lot of things. We generally love Disney movies. We can craft a tweet like nobody’s business. We’re the first people our family members turn to whenever there’s a problem with the computer.

It’s not untrue that some of us are obsessed with where to get the best latte. But as we’ve gotten into the workforce and started to earn a real living, our goals and aspirations are much broader. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, in November 2018, millennials passed Generation X, and they have the largest share of mortgage originations by dollar volume. They had already passed Generation X in terms of overall count for loans originated as of January 2017. Since then, the gap has only continued to increase. By the end of last year, millennials were responsible for 45% of new mortgages, while 36% came from Generation X and 17% were accounted for by Baby Boomers.

We thought we would take a look at some trends in the millennial market and speak to a few millennials about why they decided to buy a home and their decision-making process on where to look and what to look for.

Millennial Housing Trends

When it comes to looking for homes, millennials are taking the whole financing process extremely seriously. For starters, the homes tend to be more affordable than those desired by older age groups.

The National Association of REALTORS® maintains a housing affordability index. It’s a bit detailed to explain the scale, but essentially homes with a score near or above one are considered more affordable than those with comparably lower scores.

The 10 most popular metros among millennials have an average affordability score of 0.96. Among the 25 to 34 age group, homeowners weren’t far away, picking markets where the average affordability score was 0.94. This is compared to the national average for affordability being 0.8.

The same report also notes that millennials tend to make lower down payments. While this does mean taking on more mortgage debt, it also means they’re not sacrificing other worthy financial goals in order to make a 20% down payment when it may not be necessary.

A 21st-Century Perspective

You can analyze data all you want, but what is it that millennials are actually looking for in terms of the housing and what are the primary considerations taken into account during the process?

We talked to several millennials about various aspects of the process.

What Pushed You to Buy?

People buy homes for many reasons and the group we talked to had several motivating factors.

Brita Long and her husband have a preference for long-term stability in their living situation.

“My husband has been with his current job for about three years. Their office is in Alpharetta, GA,” she said. “When we were still renting in Duluth, GA, he had a long and frustrating commute. Finally, we decided to buy a house in order to shorten his commute. While we could have found another place to rent, we were also tired of moving and wanted something long-term.”

When Nichole Seguin decided not to look for another roommate after her friend moved up north, she found the option of buying a house to be very persuasive.

“It ended up being so much cheaper to buy a house than to move into an apartment,” she said. “Plus, I had the added bonus of building equity and staying put in a place I really liked.”

Jessica Bryant, who lives outside Detroit, chose to start shopping based on a number of financial and practical considerations.

“Renting has never appealed to me – buying a home for me would mean no landlords, no terrible roommates and a place to call my own to build memories and equity in,” Bryant said. “As many millennials do, after college I moved back home with my parents for as long as I could and have saved up a nest egg. Having grown up through the housing market crisis and seeing the toll it took on family, friends and the community, taking advantage of the opportunity I have now – to buy when rates are still (near) historically low and housing values are steadily increasing (right now) seems like the best possible choice I can make for the future of myself and loved ones.”

Where Are Millennials Buying?

As would be the case with many people, the millennials we talked to are primarily concerned with finding a place this not too far from their work. This was the most common concern, but being close to family came up quite a bit as well.

Rachel Gawel purchased a home with her boyfriend in Berkley, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

“We knew we wanted to be in the suburbs northwest of Detroit,” she said. “We work in opposite directions so areas like Berkley, Royal Oak and Ferndale were a middle ground for us.”

While work and family led the way in determining where someone lived, for at least one millennial who worked remotely, it’s about proximity to their favorite coffee shop.

“This is going to sound really stupid but one of my top requirements for my home is proximity to a Dunkin Donuts,” said Chicago area resident John Frigo. “I’m a big coffee drinker and always start my day out with coffee and it’s surprisingly inconvenient having to drive across town to get my morning coffee.”

Bryant has a specific area in mind that cuts her commute to work in half.

“On seemingly every block, it’s a mixture of homes ranging from 100K – 400K,” she said. “I will be looking for a starter home at the low end of that range, but I think it tells me that it’s a desirable area with opportunity for my home to appreciate in value. Moving here will cut my commute to work in half, is close to two local freeways, close to family and friends I have in the area, it’s along the waterfront and near a particularly popular stretch of shops and restaurants that I haven’t had much opportunity to explore yet. It seems to be a Goldilocks area for me, but I am keeping my eyes open to houses in the surrounding areas as well.”

What’s on the Home Wish List of Millennials?

Most people who are getting their first home are getting a starter home, so it’s not always possible to get everything you want at once.

Long had a few practical considerations and then some that were just about freedom.

“The number of bedrooms and bathrooms give us space to have a baby one day,” she said. “My husband is a big car guy, so he insisted on a two-car garage. I’ve always wanted my own garden, hence the desire for a sunny yard. We had an HOA while we were renting, and we didn’t like the restrictions. We knew we wanted to avoid buying a house in an HOA. We painted our front door, our shutters, and the trim hot pink, something we probably couldn’t do with an HOA!”

That hot pink probably really pops. It’s kind of fun to think about!

In addition to the fact that her house is next to a huge parking downtown area, Seguin got most of what was on her wish list.

“I definitely needed a garage, a basement (finished preferably), a nice kitchen and two bathrooms,” she said. “I have a big extended family and they often come over to my house to gather. Having enough space is crucial for everyone to fit. I would’ve loved a larger main bathroom and an island in my kitchen, but you can’t win ‘em all.”

While still looking for the ideal home, Bryant is balancing what she wants with a realistic viewpoint. She wants a three-bedroom house that’s a minimum of 1,000 square feet.

“I would like to have a space that is open enough to entertain, both indoors and out. A dining space is also important to me and it never occurred to me how common it is in smaller homes to not really have one,” she said. “I would love a bay window, some dormer windows and a place that is bright and has some character, but I also remind myself that a home is what you make it and I can add my own personal touches. An attached garage and two-car drive is a luxury I think will have to wait for in my second home.”

Do these stories have you inspired to get a home of your own? You can apply online through Rocket Mortgage® by Quicken Loans®. You can also contact one of our Home Loan Experts at (800) 785-4788. Any questions? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up appeared first on ZING Blog by Quicken Loans.

from Updates About Loans https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/millennial-homeownership-come

0 notes

mikebrackett · 6 years ago

Text

Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up

Millennial Housing Trends

When it comes to looking for homes, millennials are taking the whole financing process extremely seriously. For starters, the homes tend to be more affordable than those desired by older age groups.

A 21st-Century Perspective

You can analyze data all you want, but what is it that millennials are actually looking for in terms of the housing and what are the primary considerations taken into account during the process?

We talked to several millennials about various aspects of the process.

What Pushed You to Buy?

People buy homes for many reasons and the group we talked to had several motivating factors.

Brita Long and her husband have a preference for long-term stability in their living situation.

When Nichole Seguin decided not to look for another roommate after her friend moved up north, she found the option of buying a house to be very persuasive.

“It ended up being so much cheaper to buy a house than to move into an apartment,” she said. “Plus, I had the added bonus of building equity and staying put in a place I really liked.”

Jessica Bryant, who lives outside Detroit, chose to start shopping based on a number of financial and practical considerations.

Where Are Millennials Buying?

Rachel Gawel purchased a home with her boyfriend in Berkley, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

“We knew we wanted to be in the suburbs northwest of Detroit,” she said. “We work in opposite directions so areas like Berkley, Royal Oak and Ferndale were a middle ground for us.”

While work and family led the way in determining where someone lived, for at least one millennial who worked remotely, it’s about proximity to their favorite coffee shop.

Bryant has a specific area in mind that cuts her commute to work in half.

What’s on the Home Wish List of Millennials?

Most people who are getting their first home are getting a starter home, so it’s not always possible to get everything you want at once.

Long had a few practical considerations and then some that were just about freedom.

That hot pink probably really pops. It’s kind of fun to think about!

In addition to the fact that her house is next to a huge parking downtown area, Seguin got most of what was on her wish list.

While still looking for the ideal home, Bryant is balancing what she wants with a realistic viewpoint. She wants a three-bedroom house that’s a minimum of 1,000 square feet.

The post Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up appeared first on ZING Blog by Quicken Loans.

from Updates About Loans https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/millennial-homeownership-come

0 notes

aaronsniderus · 6 years ago

Text

Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up

Millennial Housing Trends

When it comes to looking for homes, millennials are taking the whole financing process extremely seriously. For starters, the homes tend to be more affordable than those desired by older age groups.

A 21st-Century Perspective

You can analyze data all you want, but what is it that millennials are actually looking for in terms of the housing and what are the primary considerations taken into account during the process?

We talked to several millennials about various aspects of the process.

What Pushed You to Buy?

People buy homes for many reasons and the group we talked to had several motivating factors.

Brita Long and her husband have a preference for long-term stability in their living situation.

When Nichole Seguin decided not to look for another roommate after her friend moved up north, she found the option of buying a house to be very persuasive.

“It ended up being so much cheaper to buy a house than to move into an apartment,” she said. “Plus, I had the added bonus of building equity and staying put in a place I really liked.”

Jessica Bryant, who lives outside Detroit, chose to start shopping based on a number of financial and practical considerations.

Where Are Millennials Buying?

Rachel Gawel purchased a home with her boyfriend in Berkley, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

“We knew we wanted to be in the suburbs northwest of Detroit,” she said. “We work in opposite directions so areas like Berkley, Royal Oak and Ferndale were a middle ground for us.”

While work and family led the way in determining where someone lived, for at least one millennial who worked remotely, it’s about proximity to their favorite coffee shop.

Bryant has a specific area in mind that cuts her commute to work in half.

What’s on the Home Wish List of Millennials?

Most people who are getting their first home are getting a starter home, so it’s not always possible to get everything you want at once.

Long had a few practical considerations and then some that were just about freedom.

That hot pink probably really pops. It’s kind of fun to think about!

In addition to the fact that her house is next to a huge parking downtown area, Seguin got most of what was on her wish list.

While still looking for the ideal home, Bryant is balancing what she wants with a realistic viewpoint. She wants a three-bedroom house that’s a minimum of 1,000 square feet.

The post Millennial Homeownership on the Come Up appeared first on ZING Blog by Quicken Loans.

from Updates About Loans https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/millennial-homeownership-come

0 notes

edsenger · 6 years ago

Text

10 Tips for Setting Up a Blog and Reaching 1 Million Hits

So.… what happened between 2014 and 2018?

What is the secret of my apparent success in setting up a blog and attracting so many followers?

So here goes:

Best In Show: Blog Winner Ronny Allan’s 10 tips for setting up a blog and reaching one million hits

We’ve compiled Ronny’s tips and more into a downloadable document. Download the document below or keep reading!

Download Patient Leader Tip Sheet

1. Find yourself a blogging app

2. Find Yourself an Audience

3. Find yourself a brand

I didn’t give this much thought at the beginning but there is some scope for change downstream. If possible, try to make the big changes early on. I’m still working on this one!

4. Study and understand your audience

5. Tell them about you

6. Listen and learn from your audience

7. Grow

8. Knowledge is not power

9. Try to be consistent

10. Be ‘You’

Download Patient Leader Tip Sheet

The post 10 Tips for Setting Up a Blog and Reaching 1 Million Hits appeared first on WEGO Health.

10 Tips for Setting Up a Blog and Reaching 1 Million Hits published first on https://brightendentalhouston.weebly.com/

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thehowtostuff-blog · 6 years ago

Link

Entrepreneurs and tech executives are widening their gazes outside of developed nations for their next source of growth. Ubiquitous cheap phones and increasingly affordable phone plans such as Jio in India are helping another billion users join the internet. What do those users want though, and how are they the same and different than existing internet users?

That’s the subject of a critical book by Payal Arora, entitled The Next Billion Users: Digital Life Beyond the West. The compact thesis encompasses a range of argumentative vignettes on how Western tech founders and non-profit executives misinterpret the needs of the global poor — and what internet access really means to them.

“Let’s drop the morality and let’s start engaging with the reality,” Arora explained in an interview with TechCrunch. “Let’s celebrate the mundane over the grand.” That’s the summation of more than two decades working with the global poor and engagement with issues of technology, social media, and entrepreneurship.

In her book, Arora, who today is a professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, argues against narratives that make it hard to see the global poor for who they really are. “The various templates about the global poor today — as blank slates, criminals, deviants, virtuous beings, entrepreneurs, self-organizers, victims, and more — is testament to the mystification strategies at play in the framing of this vast populace.”

As she discussed with TechCrunch, “[The internet is] basically an always ongoing project, and it’s constantly going to be shaped by the people who use it.”

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

The global poor really want to “play”

Far from being “exotic,” these users need many of the same things found in the West: entertainment, education, and romance. In fact, there is a huge intellectual gap between what Western product leaders believe these next users want, and what they really desire. When youth (and a huge proportion of these new users are young given demographics in emerging markets) acquire digital devices, their top priorities are often listening to music and communicating on social media like Facebook.

Indeed, the entire expansion of technology in many parts of the world are driven not by necessity, but by a desire to have fun. “From Jio to Facebook, these initiatives have at least one thing in common: they promote leisure usage to motivate people to adopt these new technologies,” Arora writes.

She emphasizes the importance and challenges of notions of “play” in regard to this new digital divide. As she writes, “The concept of jugaad, or ‘frugal innovation,’ has become pervasive. How to get more from less is the name of the game.” The bottoms-up innovation seen in places like India are a positive form of play, where users remix their technology to meet their needs.

Yet, that innovation is not always looked upon favorably by Western executives. Piracy can be rampant in developing economies due to the lack of resources available to pay for Western-priced media. “Legitimizing the ingenuity of the poor in creating a marketplace for digital leisure through pirated goods comes at the cost of disrupting the core business model of the Western media industries.”

Privacy is much more complicated in these emerging markets

Every day in the West, there is news of data breaches and privacy violations. Europe has passed one of the most comprehensive policies to protect user privacy in the world with GDPR, and concerns around privacy on platforms like Facebook are hot issues in Silicon Valley policymaking circles these days.

Arora sees a much more complicated relationship with privacy for the global poor though. For these users, “privacy is not such a big issue, not because they don’t care about privacy, not because they don’t quite get it. […] But the fact that it is still — in relation to their actual lives — far more private,” she said. In her book, she writes, “They are savvy hiders when they need to be, and active seekers when they need to be, especially when seeking happiness online.”

These new users are often coming from very conservative and gendered societies, where even showing a woman’s face can be grounds for punishment. Yet, women and men often use social networks like Facebook and Twitter as pathways around these rules, purposely using technology to intermediate their social lives. Plus, they can be fun. “Facebook is a ‘happy’ place. This matters a lot in [Brazil’s slums known as] favelas, where young people’s day-to-day lives are entrenched in poverty and violence.”

Technology of course creates new sets of problems. Location-based technologies can help gangs target individuals for harassment or kidnapping. Romance scams are proliferating as young men and women try to find a relationship online. A scandalous image can be distributed to the shame of families and entire communities. Yet, these simple connections made through tech can make the burdens of living poor just a bit less hard.

For entrepreneurs, focus on the mundane

Arora’s most trenchant criticism is when she analyzes the obsessive focus of Silicon Valley and its entrepreneurs on grand projects rather than on core needs.

She heavily criticizes Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child program (an argument that at this point feels redundant), along with Sugata Mitra of the Hole-in-the-Wall experiment that plopped computers in villages with the belief that it would transform education. In our interview, Arora said that “I’m not saying they were not inspirational, but they were brazen in the sense that it was so deeply arrogant.”

Instead of looking for rocket ships and novel technology, she recommends that product designers simply offer the poor the dignity of meeting the needs they already express. Talking about the success of Jio in India, Arora writes that it’s strategy “was motivated by the ‘ABCD principle’ dictating the online market in India — based on the fact that most Indian consumers use most of their data to access content on the Astrology, Bollywood, Cricket, and Devotion sites.”

Some founders, government agencies, and aid groups find that conclusion hard to accept. They want to castigate such leisure pursuits and frivolity, arguing that users should be educating themselves and trying to “rescue themselves” out of poverty. Arora argues passionately that self-expression, the ability to explore sexuality, to engage with political opinions in a safer space, and more are absolutely the right of the poor to pursue. Memorizing molecular biology facts can take a back seat.

Next Billion Users doesn’t have a single thesis to offer, to its credit and also detriment. Instead, Arora offers a selection of anecdotes, data, and perspectives to try to open the reader to a wider world. In that project, she has succeeded, and it is worth anyone who has users outside of SoMa to take in her cultivated point-of-view.

Our infrastructure problem is also a data problem

Image by 31moonlight31 via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

We’ve been trying to dig deeper into how we got to such a broken system of infrastructure development and why we can’t build anything.

This week, we spoke to Benjamin Schmidt, CTO of RoadBotics, a startup that collects visual imagery from a smartphone or dashcam and uses an AI / ML platform to identify all the deficiencies in the surrounding infrastructure. RoadBotics helps over 100 different governments in the U.S. — from big cities like Detroit all the way down to small towns — monitor, manage and understand the state of their roads and infrastructure.

The conversation offered great background on the misinformation – or the lack of information altogether – that muddies the infrastructure development process in the U.S.

Traditionally, governments monitor the state of their physical infrastructure manually – as in they literally have someone drive around and mark down how things look. So monitoring an entire system of infrastructure can be quite costly, and collecting clean data can be incredibly time-consuming. Given the expense, Schmidt said that some governments wait five and even ten years to resurvey their infrastructure, meaning they’re planning, developing, and operating on outdated information.

The most poignant takeaway from the conversation came when Schmidt lamented how, after talking to more than 200 governments, he was shocked that practically none had a complete understanding of the state of their road networks. “Yet, when governments are asked how much money would be needed to upgrade their roads, they still offer up some definitive number even though they could not possibly know the cost.”

The misinformation governments have on the state of their infrastructure, as Schmidt observed, is a huge issue for infrastructure planning and costs:

On the planning side, without accurately knowing what and where specific deficiencies lie throughout their systems, governments can’t really develop infrastructure through the “minimal operable segments” model we discussed recently – where they work on smaller projects that can be built cheaper, more quickly and more efficiently. Instead, policymakers opt for megaprojects and overhauls of entire systems, which are hard to coordinate and have huge costs and geographic exposure that lead to the scope creep and political gamesmanship infrastructure expert Phil Plotch described in our recent conversation.

Schmidt pointed out that since many governments are severely behind collecting data on their infrastructure, it’s now a massive undertaking for them to try to resurvey and understand it. Therefore, projects are often proposed and started without a fully comprehensive execution plan in place, with developers instead surveying and studying the infrastructure after approval, leading to the route and plan revisions that inflate costs by billions of dollars seen with California’s high-speed rail project.

Even at a higher level, if governments don’t know the state of their infrastructure, they don’t know how much it’s going to cost to fix. With no accurate idea of what the real bill may ultimately come out to, policymakers underestimate costs to push projects through and we see the drastic cost overruns that dwarf estimates in initial proposals or early plans.

Silicon Valley loves to analogize data as the “new oil,” but governments still need to build their first wells if they are ever to bring infrastructure costs back to earth.

Obsessions

Perhaps some more challenges around data usage and algorithmic accountability

We have a bit of a theme around emerging markets, macroeconomics, and the next set of users to join the internet.

More discussion of megaprojects, infrastructure, and “why can’t we build things”

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to [email protected].

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2TEsmUl

#How To Stuff #Blogger

0 notes

toomanysinks · 6 years ago

Text

Who are the next billion users and what do they want?

As she discussed with TechCrunch, “[The internet is] basically an always ongoing project, and it’s constantly going to be shaped by the people who use it.”

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

The global poor really want to “play”

Privacy is much more complicated in these emerging markets

For entrepreneurs, focus on the mundane

Arora’s most trenchant criticism is when she analyzes the obsessive focus of Silicon Valley and its entrepreneurs on grand projects rather than on core needs.

Our infrastructure problem is also a data problem

Image by 31moonlight31 via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

We’ve been trying to dig deeper into how we got to such a broken system of infrastructure development and why we can’t build anything.

The conversation offered great background on the misinformation – or the lack of information altogether – that muddies the infrastructure development process in the U.S.

The misinformation governments have on the state of their infrastructure, as Schmidt observed, is a huge issue for infrastructure planning and costs:

Silicon Valley loves to analogize data as the “new oil,” but governments still need to build their first wells if they are ever to bring infrastructure costs back to earth.

Obsessions

Perhaps some more challenges around data usage and algorithmic accountability

We have a bit of a theme around emerging markets, macroeconomics, and the next set of users to join the internet.

More discussion of megaprojects, infrastructure, and “why can’t we build things”

Thanks

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/who-are-the-next-billion-users-and-what-do-they-want/

0 notes

fmservers · 6 years ago

Text

Who are the next billion users and what do they want?

As she discussed with TechCrunch, “[The internet is] basically an always ongoing project, and it’s constantly going to be shaped by the people who use it.”

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

The global poor really want to “play”

Privacy is much more complicated in these emerging markets

For entrepreneurs, focus on the mundane

Arora’s most trenchant criticism is when she analyzes the obsessive focus of Silicon Valley and its entrepreneurs on grand projects rather than on core needs.

Our infrastructure problem is also a data problem

Image by 31moonlight31 via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

We’ve been trying to dig deeper into how we got to such a broken system of infrastructure development and why we can’t build anything.

The conversation offered great background on the misinformation – or the lack of information altogether – that muddies the infrastructure development process in the U.S.

The misinformation governments have on the state of their infrastructure, as Schmidt observed, is a huge issue for infrastructure planning and costs:

Silicon Valley loves to analogize data as the “new oil,” but governments still need to build their first wells if they are ever to bring infrastructure costs back to earth.

Obsessions

Perhaps some more challenges around data usage and algorithmic accountability

We have a bit of a theme around emerging markets, macroeconomics, and the next set of users to join the internet.

More discussion of megaprojects, infrastructure, and “why can’t we build things”

Thanks

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

Via Danny Crichton https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

0 notes

mikemortgage · 6 years ago

Text

Move over oil, Big Data is the new fuel to run the world

The centrepiece of Canada’s innovation strategy is the $950-million “supercluster” initiative. The goal, according to the federal government, is for companies of all sizes, academia and the non-profit sector to collaborate on new technologies, to spur economic growth and create jobs. As part of the Innovation Nation series, the Financial Post is taking an in-depth look at each of the five regional projects, and provide continuing coverage of their progress. You can find all of our coverage here.

Drugs tailored to a person’s genetics don’t appear to have a lot in common with airplane assembly line simulations or smart devices that monitor tree cutting in remote forests.

But all three technologies are among the first to get funding from British Columbia’s digital technology supercluster, one of five innovation hubs the federal government is investing $950 million in over five years in hopes of spawning world-leading technologies and companies.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development granted the B.C. hub $153 million, with 29 members pitching in another $200 million. An additional 500 organizations including non-profits have signed on as associates without making a financial commitment.

The West Coast cluster is an amalgamation of post-secondary institutions and large and small businesses from sectors including health care, mining, forestry and aerospace.

What unites these disparate players is big data and, more critically, a need to analyze the huge volumes of information being collected. Some say the ability to analyze this data could become the currency that fuels every element of the economy, much like oil was the currency of the last century.

Going meatless: Prairies shoot for 'total world domination' in growing field of plant-based proteins

Canada's deeper dive into the oceans aims to tap industry’s uncharted frontier

Innovation Nation: AI godfathers gave Canada an early edge — but we could end up being left in the dust

“Just like oil coming out of the ground is not a very useful resource, data that’s swirling around in big pools is not a very useful resource,” Sue Paish, chief executive of the digital technology supercluster, said. “But if you can actually extract the data that you need, analyze it, refine it, leverage it, deploy it, monetize it, it becomes an incredibly powerful part of society.”

Paish knows she’s not the first to make the analogy between oil and data, a comparison often drawn by major tech executives despite the former’s finite nature and the seeming limitlessness of the latter, but she believes the digital technology supercluster can unlock big data’s potential.

The cluster formed after the federal government announced its supercluster funding plan in the 2016 budget. It anticipated a regional distribution of money, Paish said, and wanted to have a strong proposal for B.C.

Realizing that the province has a depth of digital knowledge in sectors ranging from entertainment and gaming to health care and resource extraction, Paish said the group decided to focus on “harnessing the power of the data that’s being created, but not leveraged.”

Only 0.8 per cent of all data collected is ever analyzed, according to a 2018 white paper by research firm IDC. That amount is expected to go up to one per cent by 2020, IDC senior vice-president John Gantz said in an email.

But that still leaves an almost unfathomable amount of untouched data, since the overall amount of data collected is expected to hit 175 zettabytes (one ZB is a trillion gigabytes) in 2025 from 33 ZB in 2018, according to IDC estimates. (One zettabyte is enough data to stream one trillion movies.)

Paish said there’s a competitive advantage to be had for the first jurisdiction that becomes known for successfully analyzing big data. Collaborating across industries is expected to help B.C.’s supercluster do just that.

“The best innovation and the best deployments of innovation come from different perspectives coming together around a table,” she said. “It’s harder to come to a final product or a final plan, but that final plan is richer.”

More specifically, the digital technology supercluster intends to develop data visualization tools such as mapping and virtual reality; data analysis tools like cloud and quantum computing; and data collection tools such as the Internet of Things and data repositories. It will apply these tools in the precision health, natural resources and industrial sectors.

Over the next five to 10 years, the supercluster hopes the projects it funds will create 13,000 jobs and increase Canada’s gross domestic product by $5 billion.

One of the supercluster’s major players is Telus Corp. The telecom, which has a health division that serves 22,000 physicians and 6,300 pharmacies, is involved in a pharmacogenomics project that is studying how genetics affect a person’s reaction to different drugs. Other partners in the project include GenXys Health Care Systems Inc., LifeLabs BC LP and Genome B.C.

The supercluster’s mix of big and smaller companies is important, because it gives large organizations a chance to focus on new ideas around the common theme of data, said Ohad Arazi, Telus Health’s chief strategy officer, while also giving smaller players the ability to strike deals that could help commercialize their research.

“The reality is that innovation is very difficult for big companies,” he said. “They have to continue delivering value; it’s hard to step back and pursue innovative ideas.”

Arazi sees the supercluster as an opportunity for B.C. players to band together and develop global ambitions, a goal echoed by other members including the University of British Columbia.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for post-secondary and industry to come together to build disruptive technology to really help make sure Canada is at the lead creating the knowledge economy,” said Gail Murphy, UBC’s vice-president of research and innovation.

UBC is participating in a digital twin project, which is creating a simulation of two complex industrial production lines used to make Boeing Co. aircraft parts. This “learning factory” will enable Boeing and partners — including AMPD Game Technologies Ltd., a Vancouver-based video-game company; Avcorp Industries Inc., an aircraft supply chain company in Delta, B.C.; and LlamaZOO, a Victoria-based 3D data visualization company — to test new factory processes in real time.

On top of the learning factory’s industry applications, Murphy said it can give students a chance to develop the talent and skills that companies are looking for. Projects such as these also show the value in sharing ideas and collaborating, something she said would be very hard to do without supercluster funding.

“It’s breaking down barriers,” she said. “Having Microsoft and Finger Food Studios at the same table as Canfor and TimberWest and Telus, that kind of cross-sectoral discussion, in my experience, doesn’t happen a lot in regular life.”

Collaboration across industries is part of what drew mining giant Teck Resources Ltd. and space robotics company MDA Corp. to the supercluster. Both have pledged funding, although neither is participating in one of the initial projects.

“We see there being tremendous opportunity,” said Victoria Sterritt, Teck’s lead of technology and innovation.

Teck already uses data extensively, such as getting information from X-ray sensors on its shovels to distinguish between ore and waste, and from remotely operated bulldozers, which use automation to extract coal from otherwise unstable areas of a pit.

Industries can be fairly insular, Sterritt said, but Teck sees an opportunity to share knowledge across sectors rather than talk only to other miners.

“We understand we just can’t get to as good of a result on our own,” she said.

Chris Pogue, president of MDA Government and a veteran of the Canadian Air Force, agreed that having variety around the table is more effective, even if it is messier.

“A certain amount of chaos is healthy, to be quite frank,” he said.

Given MDA’s line of work, it is well aware of the challenges of analyzing vast amounts of data. “We’ve been dealing with the big data problem as a space agency before anyone called it big data,” Pogue said. The company plans to work on virtual and augmented reality projects as part of the cluster.

Joining together to grapple challenges that companies such as MDA previously tackled alone is the crux of the strategy behind the supercluster since researchers believe in cross-pollinating ideas.

Catherine Beaudry, Canada Research Chair on the Creation, Development and the Commercialization of Innovation at Polytechnique Montréal, said innovation often results from combining knowledge pools that already exist.

“Mixing and matching from different sectors can be highly beneficial,” she said. “Learning from one another and not having to do everything from scratch within a silo, I think that’s very, very important.”

As an example, Beaudry pointed to the aerospace industry’s link to the gaming community through the use of technologies such as flight simulators.

As for the risks in collaborating, she said partners have to be careful with intellectual property management, but could potentially benefit from casting a wider geographical net beyond B.C.

“Our superclusters are very much seen as a Canadian experiment,” she said.

Of course, the idea of concentrating regional players to spark innovation isn’t new. It dates back to U.S. economist Michael Porter’s theories from the 1990s, but it has become a buzzword as politicians around the world strive to create their own Silicon Valleys.

Rune Dahl Fitjar, a professor at the University of Stavanger Business School in Norway who studies what types of interactions lead to innovation, said he has found very little evidence about the effectiveness of cluster policies, but said they continue to appeal to policy-makers trying to stimulate industry development.

“It’s the need to appear to be doing something,” he said.

Fitjar said companies that look beyond a particular region to find international partners tend to find the most success.

“The wisest way to go is trying to improve diversity,” he said, adding that a multi-industry approach may help develop new ideas closer to home. “Going across sectors is helpful, because it then makes it easier to find emergent industries that can benefit and can also participate. It helps companies go beyond the networks they develop anyway.”

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