#so from now on the post most definitely arent going to be daily i am sorry

[pochacodaily]

Hewwo nyall!! Status update: I still haven't gotten around to fix Pochaco but!! As of yesterday I have aquired another Pochaco figure and can continue posting!!

[gluestickcherrybum]

Ahoy there! I'm back with another study post °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

 So if you aren't aware already, me as well as various other study bloggers are notorious for writing aesthetically pleasing handwritten notes. Notes aren’t absolutely necessary if you prefer to do without.  A lot of my friends and acquaintances don’t bother with them and prefer to rely entirely on the lecture materials provided. I find that it helps me indefinitely in my studies and as a brief creative outlet which I rarely give myself the time for.

Why take Notes? 

Instead of printing the lecture materials given digitally, I've taken it to re-write the lecture notes a few days prior to the lecture. Some lecturers insist their students read the material to get a grasp of the topic before the lecture and this is taking it a few steps further.  They say writing something down is equivalent to reading it 7 times, meaning getting into memory this way is so much more efficient which is one of the biggest reasons I insisted myself handwrite my notes. Also writing your own notes is totally customisable to your needs, do you prefer mind maps or lists? Infographics or paragraphs? Minimalistic or colourful? It's all up to you.

Why I personally take notes

Different plants have different needs. Some need to be watered daily, some twice a day and some every other day. Some thrive in nutrient-rich soil and some prefer to sit in dry sand. Just like plants, each individual student has different needs and circumstances to thrive. For me, since I have a relatively low attention span and am a relatively slow learner, I needed the head start of reading topics beforehand to catch on with the rest. To me, with proper preparation for lectures, attending the lecture is like filling in the missing puzzle pieces. At least it should be. Also, I'm more of a visual learner, so if you're like me, then well structured, colourful and easy to read notes are not only more appealing but really help me in my studies and help me grasp topics a lot faster.

SUPPLIES

Probably the part where everyone is pumped for but I'll to simplify as well as be in-depth as possible.

Basically, you need paper and a pen. Need some colours? get some highlighters or coloured pens. Some people usually go one or the other but you can benefit from using both systematically. 

What I look for in my preferred paper:

Thicker paper (120gsm) because I use markers and pens that bleed through anything less and I like my paper sturdy because I heavily reference my notes and I don't want them to get worn out as quickly (i want to actually try to use thinner paper and be gentler but not sure how much I can commit to it  o(╥﹏╥)o).

Smoother paper is good if you use felt tips so they don't get damaged that quickly.

Line spacing. Its a waste of space and paper if you have small handwriting but largely spaced outlines. Not easy to find though.

Line colour. I prefer lighter lines such as light grey if possible, it just looks tidier that my writing contrasts more than with jet black lines.

Recycled or sustainably made paper. Because environment. Trees happy. Duh.

At the moment I'm a fan of loose-leaf paper because I'm not a fan of wasting notebook paper at the back (plus its even harder to get the paper features I want in notebooks unless I'm lucky) but if I were to succumb to using notebooks, I would definitely prefer thread-bound or hand-sewn over spring bound just because I think metal springs are annoying and if they're plastic, they aren't recyclable. You know me.

In conclusion, it's hard to find test pad with all of these features, you can consider printing your own notepaper if you're as picky as I am but you do you. If you can only afford flimsy see-through paper, that's alright. But make sure your supplies are appropriate for them as most of the supplies I use will bleed even on regular paper

Pens

Don't bother going all out and using fine liners or drawing pens to write notes. Get practical. Pick your poison. Smooth gel pens or dry ballpoint? Ergonomic or Budget-friendly? Disposable or refillable? My only guideline is to make sure they have waterproof ink because in any case, you need to send in an assignment last minute and have to rush through the rain without a folder you definitely want your writing to be at least legible if anything. (yes I learned this the hard way, yes illegible work will cost you a lot of marks. don't make my mistake ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡

 Also. Black or Blue? Studies show that writing in blue improves memory collection but black is the more neutral aesthetic. What do I do? I use black as my main colour and write keywords and important facts in blue to take advantage of its memory-enhancing properties.

My current preference: Zebra Sarasa Clip (because its made of 75% recycled plastic and is a good quality pen) with Pentel Energel refill (gel ink that dries quickly. that's all I need)

Budget-Friendly: There are good quality pen sets at the ECO shop (Malaysian dollar store) or buy disposable pens in bulk at any book store. Trust me, it saves a lot more than buying a brand new 80 cent pen every now and again. (Also including the cost of transportation to the store because when you live independently, every cent matters) It's not exactly environmentally friendly but hey, anything to cut the cost right?

Zero Waste option: Fountain Pen with a converter (not the cartridges) and glass bottles of ink refill. Yes, it sounds daunting but its zero waste if that's your cup of tea. You don't have to go all out and buy an expensive luxury fountain pen made of stainless steel, or go fancy and get a flexible nib. If you ask me, I have my eyes set on the pilot kakuno fountain pen, its simple, aesthetic and highly recommended for beginners (although not plastic-free its made out of 85% recycled plastic which is cool since I'm hoping to make a one time purchase, I won't mind it being made from plastic but that just my taste)

Coloured Pens

So I haven't been a fan of using coloured pens for a while but ill tell you I'm currently using a cheap set of coloured gel pens from Kaison just because they have cute patterns but the ink flow isn't that smooth so I should've bought something more practical. The ultimate budget-friendly option which is not only cheap but long-lasting and good quality, and ones that I’d recommend for anyone is the Papermate Kilometrico ballpoint coloured pens. So far I only know they come in five colours but they've been my favourite for years. Most people I know that disagree with me usually don't like the colour range or arent a fan of dry ink but if you aren't that picky and looking for a reliable option they're a good option, plus if you're using cheap paper, they won't bleed or anything so that's cool.

Highlighters

I love pastel highlighters. Its soft, cute, aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and some colours are better at actually highlighting words rather than their neon counterparts like green and purple. Although not the cheapest option, I doubt ill ever go back to neon highlighters ever and ill only be recommending pastel highlighters thanks.

My current preference: I'm currently using Monami Pastel Highlighters just because they were on sale with comparable prices to unbranded cheap pastel highlighters. I will never recommend commonly branded highlighters like Stabilo Boss or Zebra Mildliners because the extra pennies just aren't worth it since the unbranded kind has lived up to my standards. (also I haven't tried those branded highlighters mind you but I doubt I'm missing out on anything)

Budget-Friendly option: While Zebra Mildliners are being sold at RM5 for one and RM25 for a set, Mr DIY sells knockoff brand "BEIFA" for RM7 for a set of six which is a pretty good deal if you ask me (also there are double-sided ones with a bullet and chisel tips if you thought mildliners were the only option with those features). I've also found some rare gems, unbranded pastel highlighters hidden in common bookstores for an even cheaper price, but they're really hard to find unless the pastel highlighter trend decides to catch on. I digress.

Zero Waste option: I heard about highlighter pencils, just wooden pencils with neon colour pigments, but why get trendy when you can use any old wooden colouring pencils lying around? I don't think ill give up plastic highlighters for wooden pencils despite being a strong environmentalism advocate but there are a few options for highlighters made from recycled plastic but they either don't come in pastel colours or too pricey for my taste (yes I'm a cheapskate for crud sake)

Extras

These other things aren't exactly necessary but they add little flourishes and/or aid you in your note-taking. Not exactly an extra investment but its completely up to you

Sticky notes (or coloured memo pads) for extra notes, diagrams or equations which I like for them to stand out a bit. (Pastel over neon of course)

Washi tape to divide subchapters (but a highlighter streak does the job)

Correction tape because never will I ever use correction fluid mind you

Brush pens for headers (completely unnecessary but I don't have any other outlet to practice brush lettering so.) Recommendations: Artline Stix (chunky but super cheap, marker type not for thin paper), Pentel Fude Touch (great for beginners, small and practical, 83% recycled plastic, but will bleed on regular paper)

Alternatively, a regular black felt tip marker just to make the title stand out is good enough.

NOTE TAKING TECHNIQUES

An underrated note-taking method is the Cornell method which is frankly a systematic way to write notes in which you divide the paper into 4 sections, a place for title and date and stuff, the main body for notes, extended side margin for extra info/lecture comments/questions/subtitles and bottom quarter reserved for a summary of the notes. Some people modify this technique by omitting the summary section, depending on your needs.

Bullet points and indents. This is pretty self-explanatory, but it's pretty much notes that aren't chunky paragraphs. Easier to read, easier to register information, easier to skim through. You get the gist of it.

Highlighting system. Some people go all out with their highlighting system and designate colours to certain things such as green for vocab, orange for equations, blue for subtopics. etc. You can try this out if you want, but for me, the plethora of colour is quite distracting and not that aesthetically pleasing, but you do you.

BREAKING DOWN MY METHOD OF NOTE TAKING

My priorities to note-taking are: Easy to read, simple, decluttered and visually pleasing. For colours, I mainly use up to 4. Black pen for the main information, blue pen for keywords (or any coloured pen that matches the highlighter), one or two highlighters as a colour theme and matching sticky notes for extra info, diagrams or equations.

I assign a whole chapter to a specific colour theme, first assigning a certain highlighter colour to the first six chapters, if there are more than six chapters, I use 2 accent colours just to shake it up a bit. This makes it easier to differentiate the chapters when flipping through your notes.

So its, hand-lettered title (i do my lettering quite quickly, mind you) or all caps title in black marker. Mini banner doodle for subtitles (a simple box with a drop shadow works just fine), contrasting coloured keywords (or underlined) and highlighters just for accents like dividing subtitles or drawing boxes for extra info (that or sticky notes). I don't simplify my lecture notes, rather rewriting them in a more orderly manner and leaving a good amount of extra space here and there (or an extended margin if I use Cornell) for extra lecture notes. Also, I highlight whatever notes that my lecturer would point out as important or worth remembering. And that's pretty much it. After the lecture, I then know which parts of the notes were more vital and can then simplify those key points into flashcards which ill discuss in a different post.

Thanks for reading, I know my posts are pretty long but that's the way I like them, long but in depth. As usual, if you would like me to cover any specific topics, feel free to message me or give feedback. I hope to be able to write 2 or 3 articles a month if I can but until then, have a nice day. Study smart peeps. 

ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ 

[daggerfall]

im sorry if this is an off topic question but i have eso on xbox one (would play on pc but it cant run on most games now) but i feel like im too intimidated to start actually playing i feel its a lot to take in and understand, i think all i know is that the events in eso Aren't Canon in the original tes timeline i think? but thats all i know LMAO i like the game but to me if i dont understand whats going on i wouldnt have fun SO if u can can u give me tips and stuff??

it’s definitely a lot to take in, and i only really started to feel like i had a stake in the world and game after the first region of my alliance. just follow the main quest order and shits easy enough to follow.

and uhhhh idk who told you the events arent canon, because theres no real reason to say they aren’t canon. there’s maybe like one or two inconsistencies regarding the worm cult in oblivion and the motivations of the daedra, but given how far in the past ESO is compared to every other TES game, pretty much everything is plausible. 

and not to be rude, but it isn’t really my job to hold everyone’s hand while they try out ESO tbh. i’ve posted my own advice for people getting into the game Multiple Times, but i am a self admitted “person who is bad at video games|”, as well as a “person who isn’t good at the online aspects of ESO”. I can only give advice i wish i had known earlier or advice for myself. 

plus there is Zero Way for me to know what exactly you aren’t getting about ESO that makes it not fun for you. the plot? your build? the society and time it takes place in? characters? combat mechanics? the online aspects? quests? dailies? 

I’m literally just a person behind this screen. You guys gotta be able to do some stuff for yourself and just take the risk. Try the game and get involved in the community and absorb the plot from memes, metaposts, headcanons, fanfic, people’s OCs, etc. 

[littlemix-styleblog]

Requested Little Mix Inspired For  Ludovico Einaudi concert 

Jesy

PrettyLittleThing BLACK OVERSIZED SWEATER DRESS: £18. So out of all of the girls who go to concerts often everyday, every year Jesy is...No where to be seen. We don`t even know if she has been to one before which makes this job a little harder. But that doesn`t mean we can`t fufill your request and come up with a banging outfit. Thankfully this wasn`t too hard for us and we managed to scramble this ensemble together. So let`s start with the main piece of the outfit being this oversized black sweater dress from PrettyLittleThing. In case you have been living under a rock you would see and know that Jesy likes to wear oversized clothes. Now wearing oversized clothes shouldn`t be a nightmare to you, it`s a great alternative to a jacket or a coat. Shirt dresses have become popular over the last few years, You can dress them how you want, So you can dress it without support aka a belt, You can dress it with support either up or down or you could wear it for lounging around. We personally like it when it has support as when it`s just left hanging loose it could look like a tent on you and you would have no structure or stability. So if you`re looking for a good time with your friends this is your guy. What`s more is that it comes in a variety of colours.

I Saw It First Yellow D Ring Slogan Tape Belt: £4. So as I mentioned above a felt would help support the shirt dress and make it look more cute and stable. In case you have been sleeping your whole life you would know that the famous Off White yellow and black belt has become a worldwide hit recently with celebs and god knows who else wearing them. Even though the belt costs more then our lives, there is plenty of cheaper alternatives on the market and so we have found one right here from I Saw It First.

Buffalo Classic hi top chunky sole trainers in black: £166. Let`s make no mistake about it Jesy loves her Buffalo shoes, She has been seen wearing them a lot lately and I don`t think theres no stopping the girl wearing them. Even though they arent to everyone taste shoes like these have become a huge trend recently..The chunky, wide trainers have become a staple in many girls closets as we revist the 90s. However, if the price isnt to your taste then you could settle for a pair like these

PrettyLittleThing BLACK FLAT TOP BAKER BOY HAT: £10. If you wanted to accessorise the outfit or make it a bit more classic then why not add a baker boy hat. I would like to note these hats arent just for winter but they can be worn for summer too..So get some good use out of it. Do remember you can always take it off and you can still pull off a cute hairstyle underneath.

Topshop Black Striped Tube Socks: £3.50. For the oddest reason socks have also become a big trend again recently...Gone the days of having no socks or hiding your very own socks with your dogs face on them. Don`t be scared to get your socks out and have a little fun. If you`re like me and don`t like having bare feet in socks then socks are the way to go, They are also a great piece to accessorise your outfit with. I think we`re going for a sporty vibe with Jesy`s outfit here..Which we didn`t plan at all. If you didn`t like them then we have another alternative here 

PrettyLittleThing GOLD DRAGON PENDANT NECKLACE: £6. Probably wondering about this, But let me explain. So if you have been following Jesy`s fashion recently and watching EatingWithLittleMix you would know Jesy often wears necklaces and sometimes she wears a statement necklace. Now recently in episode 2 of Eating With Little Mix she was wearing this...Egyptian queen gold statement necklace, She likes bold, edgy necklaces. So we went on a mission to find a bold and edgy necklace and we ended up with a scorpion which we think could do just as well.

Perrie

MissGuided white seat belt buckle blazer mini dress: £40. Isnt this dress a beauty? Inspiration taken from a photo shoot when Perrie wore a purple asymmetric tux just like this one. These dresses have become so popular recently and do you know why? Yes it`s the seat belt and before you start no I do not know why seat belts have become so popular recently..You can find them on belts, dresses, skirts, tops, bags everywhere. I mean for a cheaper alternative you can always rip your dads seat belt out of his car and glue it onto your top, But I`m sure he won`t be very pleased with that. So it looks as though the seat belt trend won`t be going for a long time as I can well see this continuing into the festival season. Aside from the seat belt the dress altogether is a beauty, it`s asymmetric so it makes your legs look thinner. It`s in the style of a blazer or tux if you will giving it structure and stability. I wouldn`t mind snapping this one up for myself. 

MissGuided black pointed toe lace up barely there heels: £28. We couldn`t decide what shoes went with this dress so we went with them all so bare with me as we go along here. Heels, If you wanted to go for the classic, feminem look then heels are your answer..I chose lace up heels because I personally don`t like the look of bare feet or ankles, Lacing going up your leg gives it definition. You can also team these with black over the knee high boots making your legs look slim and sexy, Overall giving it a edgier and bolder look. Lastly, If you`re looking for some fun and want to promote your girl why not wear a pair of her Superga trainers?

PrettyLittleThing STERLING SILVER 100MM LARGE HOOP EARRINGS: £18. Perrie is very rarely seen without her classic gold hoops nowadays. With these earrings you can wear them if you wish, it`s your choice. We chose these sterling earrings from PrettyLittleThing. If you`re weary about the price the reason they are £18 is because they are sterling...Sterling costs a lot. They are also available in gold. 

ASOS DESIGN marble clutch bag with metal handle: £30. I hit the jackpot when I saw this. Searching for a similar bag to the Balenciaga tote she is often seen with I struggled until this beauty popped up on my screen and oh boy did I fangirl. I could`ve chosen this as a dupe for the Mango one she has but I decided not too..I dunno why. I was debating whether to include this one because it doesn`t look like a concert bag to me and it didn`t really go with the outfit but the more I think about it, the more it goes with the dress we suggested. This bag was too much to pass by and not show you guys. It`s marble effect with metal handle is just a purchase waiting to happen.

Jade

SHEIN Cross Back Scalloped Trim Bodycon Dress: $9. I think out of the girls Jade is probably the easiest when it comes to this sort of request. Jade is the type of girl that wears everything and anything and can make it look good. Jade has been seen over the years sporting bodycon dresses whether they are pink, black, red or any other colour. She seems to be embracing her figure more as she wears these on a daily basis nowadays. So we went for this one from Shein, Now it is important to note that due to Jade`s skin tone she shouldn`t be really wearing bright, vivid colours as it doesn`t suit her. Try and stick to more emerald tones like maroons, blacks and greens. We decided to go for this dress today because you can either wear it casually to a concert or out for dinner. Please read on to see what we have teamed this with.

Nike White Air Force 1 Hi Trainers: £90. Now do bare with us here...You either love these or loathe them, These Nike air force Hi top trainers are such a 90s staple popular among the basketball courts and now popular among the fashion elite. I have seen a lot of people wear these Nike hi tops lately with dresses and skirts, whether it`s casual or done up so this is nothing new...This is actually becoming a fast trend. I would understand why people wouldn`t like these as they come across as heavy and chunky and if you own a pair of Air Force trainers you would understand, So we have found another alternative pair for you and they come in the form of converse. These converse are another Hi top option but are less chunky and oversized and more light and fresh on your feet.

ASOS DESIGN ultimate leather look biker jacket: £35. Much like Leigh`s jacket this is a option (Yes, I am aware I`m doing this back to front) you can also choose this jacket if you don`t want to be cold. This jacket goes with the look we set out for you and we would like to officially name it the cowboy look.

River Island Black leather western block heel ankle boots: £75. We picked these boots as a alternative to the trainers in case you wasn`t feeling them and wanted to look a bit more classy. We chose these cowgirl boots for obvious reasons...Although the price may seem a little pricey do think of the investment you are making, Think of the wear you will be getting out of them and joy they could be bringing you.

ASOS Stradivarius studded western handbag in black: £10.50. How many times have I mentioned on this blog Jade loves a shoulder bag? Y`all should be familiar with her Prada, Guess, Versace and sugar cube by now. We picked this one up because it went with the cowgirl style we are opting for. So if you wanted a place to keep your pepper spray and chewing gum in case another cowgirl comes in and tries and steals your man then heres the answer.

PrettyLittleThing BASIC BLACK FEDORA HAT: £10. I absolutely love hats like this, I think they are so bold, cute, edgy and quirky. These hats are fab for festivals, concerts, casual..Cowgirl. I love hats like these with wavy long hair. I just think hats like this most of the time make the look which is why I include them in every inspired I do.

PrettyLittleThing BLACK MATTE THIN RETRO SUNGLASSES: £8. Finally, What`s a post without sunglasses like these? Jade loves retro sunglasses and I think she must have about ten million pairs hidden away in her little cave. Of course you don`t have to opt for these...Hundreds of styles and colours exist on sites such as PrettyLittleThing, MissGuided, Topshop and ASOS. You`re probably wondering what good will these be inside a concert? Well they won`t be, I`m adding these because they would be good as a unnecessary accessory.

Leigh

MissGuided white oversized denim jacket: £38. Summer is round the corner and you`re panic buying..You don`t know if this would look good for that festival or if that would look good on holiday. So we took a simple denim jacket whether it`s blue, black or white it works and teamed it with this outfit, A slight chill in the air or a raindrop and your night could be ruined because you didn`t bring a jacket, Did I mention this is so versatile...Rain proof, Cold proof, boy proof if you`re lucky. A denim jacket would go with anything and everything so make sure you get good use out of it whilst you can. We picked this jacket because our outfit is all black and we wanted to add a bit more colour and depth.

PrettyLittleThing JILL BLACK SLINKY BRALET: £10. Let`s be honest, When isnt Leigh wearing a bralet? Throughout the summer months she is seen wearing bralets non stop in a variety of colours and styles. This one is no different...This is simple but a classic, Can`t find anything to wear? That black bralet would do. When you want to throw some shapes you don`t want nothing clinging to you or making you feel uncomfortable, you would want to feel free and easy. This top comes in a variety of colours so if you fancy shaking things up.

PrettyLittleThing BLACK SUPER HIGH WAISTED WOVEN WIDE LEG TROUSER: £25. We next teamed the outfit up with these black high waisted flared leg trousers from PrettyLittleThing. Flare trousers are also another item from the 90s that has somehow wormed it`s way back into this decade and become a huge trend. A lot of people associate flares with nights out or for the beach, But realistically you can wear these for anything and everything...Which is why we put them into this post, We want people to have confidence and try something new. However, If you`re not ready to venture out yet then we have the perfect alternative for you in the form of skinny black jeans. Yes the classic black skinny jean that goes with anything..We found these ones from ASOS and these ripped ones. We made sure that either of the jeans fitted peoples specifications..So we made sure they werent tight or jeggings (No one likes jeggings), high waisted and compliments a womens figure. Either one goes with the bralet we have also chosen.

Puma Basket Classic White Trainers: £65. When you go to concerts you never estimate how long you would be standing for and at the end of the night you see girls carrying their shoes to the car as they walk the cold streets bare foot..Do you want to be that kind of girl? Of course not you want to be comfortable and have fun and not having misery or pain that heels bring. So we chose these one from Puma for £65..Leigh and Jade are big fans of Puma trainers so this is nothing new. However, If you wanted to invest in your shoes a little more then we have a great pair from Ted Baker here

Topshop Amour Layered Necklace: £7.25. So this is when we come to the part where it is totally up to you whether you want to add accessories either layering it up, or layering it down. We decided to include this necklace as it`s great for accessorising and covering a bare chest..Layered necklaces have become a big trend over the last few years and I hope to see them remain popular for the foreseeable future.

Topshop Rose Gold Flat Hoop Earrings: £5. Wouldn`t be a post without hoops, Leigh loves a hoop earring and it`s very rare that you see her without them so we had to includ them. We chose rose gold earrings because we know girls love the colour..They die for it, As I mentioned before rose gold is a very popular colour not just among jewellery but on phones, cosmetics, furniture, decor the list is endless. Every girl needs a little rose gold in their life.

A huge credit to our guest editor for this post.

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[actualbird]

hey, so, this is gonna sound like a weird question, but how did you get to be so well known for your writing? i've written a lot of bmc fanfic and i'd like to think i'm pretty good (i'm actually on your fic rec a couple times) but I feel like it's way harder for fanwriters to get noticed than fanartists. Do you have any advice on how to get word out about your fics? Thank you so much and have a great day!!

not weird at all and in fact ive gotten this question a lot (albeit in dms/private convos) i absolutely agree with you that fic writers have it tougher concerning getting noticed. it’s definitely not because the production of one is harder than the other, but it’s simply by virtue of creating content via a medium that takes longer to consume on social media platforms that are inherently fast paced. on that note, getting “well known” is a mixture of things you Can Control and things you Cant.

Can Control is based on what i guess we can call quality which youve got cuz if ive recced you then i LOVED whatever it is you wrote!!! and im a little bit of a picky reader kjfhkdsjf. but theres also the intricacies of making sure your fic has a good, enticing summary (ive grown quite fond of the “excerpt + actual fic summary line, possibly witty, possibly vague, you’ll have to read to find out” formula, since it works wonders in getting people to Click), well tagged, well titled, no author’s notes that go “sorry this is crap” (number one turn off is an author who apologizes for quality. if you dont believe in your work, how do you expect anybody else to? that isnt to say all writers should be sure of themselves, but def keep it out of the summary/notes. youre tryna sell yourself, so make it look Good). now that that’s done, make sure to post and promote your fics well. post it on ao3 at a time when people are most likely to be reading (ive assumed this to be in the general morning of the western hemisphere since ppl wake up to check ao3 like a daily newspaper), and make a post on tumblr too if youve got one. tag that post well and reblog that post a bunch of times too. stand on a table and yell at followers to read your fic. i did this sneaky thing where i’d link my other bmc fics in the endnotes of some chapters of forest, kinda like a netflix recommended page, but the only thing i was recommending was Me. perhaps slightly narcissistic but hey, if it works, it works. assuming youve already got all that down and good and your fics still arent getting noticed, this is where things unfortunately lapse into the realm of things you Cant Control.

you Cant really control stuff like what the audience wants. i got well known in bmc because the fic i was writing just so happened to coincide with the thing a lot of people wanted. they wanted boyfs and pining and i just so happened to be writing exactly that. there was a demand and i had supplied it. you Cant really control timing either, something i got super lucky with because i entered the fandom at its mid-early first surge. there wasnt that much fic yet but many people wanted to read, so people flock to whats there. economics or something. you Cant really control the amount of “well known-ness” you already had prior. i’d been writing fic for a long time and picked up a lot of followers bouncing around fandoms which def helped with my fics getting off the ground. you also Cant really control how your fics spiral after that. sometimes somebody else with a lot of followers will like it and rec it, sometimes that wont happen. my fics ended up getting fanart which i am so eternally grateful for and still stare at lovingly from time to time, and that also helped with promoting the fic further. but that was something out of my control. in short, i was pretty goddamn lucky

a lot of “getting noticed” is really not up to you at all, and it makes me really sad to see wonderful works and wonderful writers not getting the recognition i feel they deserve. it’s why i keep making ridiculously annotated fic rec lists and reblog fic posts of fic i enjoy. the only thing you can do as a writer is write what you want to the best of your ability and hope things go well. but for the fic readers, it really goes a long way to show your appreciation through reblogs, comments, bookmarks, and recs. come on guys, we do fuckloads of words for free. throw us a bone. 

anyway, i hope this….helps? this isnt advice so much as me shaking my fist at Circumstance, but i hope your fics get more attention and love. i also hope you have a nice day!!!

[fmdxjerome]

*naomi pokes her head in after disappearing for the 600th time* bonjour 

family things where the reason i was so m.i.a. this past week. but i’m here now and i’m going to follow and unfollow people. update some things (like points, plots and tag lists) and head into ims. the good things. sorry i keep disappearing, it’s a weird time. i hope you all are doing good though. people who i have not talked to yet, i’m sorry i still haven’t introduced myself to you all. i’ll gradually work on this. people who i plotted with before, you know i’m gradually trying to get back to that too. i’m very out of the loop with everything.

though! working on some things. writing, photoshop, things, yeah.

but that aside i kinda wanted to take the space of this ooc post to elaborate on the headcanon i wrote yesterday? because? wow. uh. what the hell was that. i wont talk about the topics of the story itself so dont worry if they are triggering to you, i wont be mentioning anything in here.

i just. i started writing the headcanon because my inspiration for anything else was nil. i had things done for my starter (things that had to go out before it for the starter to make sense) and i was preparing to write but nothing came out. and i saw the days ticking by then so i thought “a headcanon will give me something to put out as i dont want to loose jerome but also don’t want to go on hiatus again”. i thought it’ll be like 1000 words and just explain seulgi and chanyeol a bit but it turned into that. i kinda got sucked into it. like, very badly. i wrote it in two days and two nights with little sleep and a lot of tears and it fucked me up but not in a bad way persay (not in a good way either but). after my hiatus i’ve been all kinds of weird with jerome? i haven’t known how to put him out there and advertise him as a cool dude to new and old people in here and i blame my mood for that? because when i was all meme kid 2000 it was easier to thrust him into people’s dm’s, but then after the hiatus i’ve been so goddamned serious about everything that even the funny posts i try to make dont make it to the blog because i think about them too much? (honestly. i have a backlog of memes guys.). then i write that, start writing that with the beginning and end in mind and it’s so goddamned dark but it gets my emotions out and makes me feel more intrigued to flesh out jerome. it relieves me a bit. 

because the thing about jerome is that family is one of the most important things for him. and exploring chanyeol, who had everything jerome had wanted when he grew up (to be raised by a mother who looked like him and loved him), made me find jerome again. it’s the comparing of lives that do it, how two brothers that came from the same prompt live such different lives because of the polarizing answers their mothers gave to one of the hardest question in life. but then again they have so much the same; the drinking, the faces, the laughs, the ridicule, and so much more. they’re more like twins than they are brothers, just years apart and not quite the same.

(there is a reason why *if you read the story* i pinned their situations against each other often, give the perspective of jerome’s life whilst giving context to chanyeols)

and i dont know if jerome will ever know about chanyeol, meet seulgi, find a connection with his mother, feel a bond with his sibling (who’s connection form is almost done, i’m hoping for a sister) or find the bad of himself in his father but it’s the start of exploring this part of jerome’s life, his bloodlines, that get me so much more into jerome’s story. because it is such an important piece in his life.

and look, you might think “but thats marie!” if you look over his blog or read his bio (please dont. its ugly.), that she’s the most influential thing in jerome’s character as she’s the one who basically created “yuddy”. and yeah, she’s important. he still gets anxious when she teeters with the information only they know and still gets furious when he sees her face. but it’s family that starts it all. 

he wouldn’t be as searching for warmth if it wasn’t for the fact that he views himself to be abandoned when just a baby, which his mother did with all the heart break in her heart. he wouldn’t be as proving and intense if it wasn’t for the fact that he feels like he has just one moment to cement himself in someone’s memory as something to desire (whether its about music, lust, love, etc.). he wouldn’t be as afraid of loosing important people in his life if he hadn’t lost the most important one of all.

also, he wouldn’t be as natural with the flirting and the charming smirks if it wasn’t for the fact that his father had that natural allure to him, too. had that bad treatment, too. had that booming confidence, too. and had that selfishness, too. (i villainize chanwook a lot. but he was just a guy who didn’t like commitments, he wants the fun and nothing else. hmm doesn’t that sound familiar.)

yuddy was a reaction to marie, but made possible because of chanwook. hey, thats pretty deep.

anyway, what also was interesting with exploring chanyeol was the fact that jerome’s biggest wish was to be able to look at someone and recognize himself in it. with his adoption family he obviously couldnt do that. and to add another layer in his hometown there were no korean faces, no ethnicity he could belong to. (i dont know how it is in legit laval and martigné-sur-mayenne as i am just a dumb kid who only has the internet to find things out BUT as i live in a western european town *obliviously naomi you’re dutch* thats pretty big and those towns arents the biggest i can use my own experiences and grab the data/information i can find on the internet to create young!jerome’s school and daily life environment.) but he could live with that if he just had a mother or/and a father he could look up to and see himself. there have been days where he’s been bullied for the shape of his eyes or the colour of his skin, there have been days where he’s been fetishized for them too, and if he was allowed to look up at his mother he could see the same pairs of eyes stare back at him. and if he’d look at his father he’d see the same coloured skin. he’d feel more at ease. but he sees blonde hair and peachy skin instead, sees hazel eyes and different noses. add a DEEPER layer and he can’t seem to find where he gets his ugly wide laugh from, or his aggression when provoked. the gentle touch to the things he loves. the intensity of passion. the greed of selfishness. he doesn’t know where the traits come from, who gives him those traits, or if they are purely his own. and he truly wished he did.

and with that as he stands on stage now he is unaware that he makes two women cry every night. blissfully unaware that he has two mothers look at him and see the man that left them but see their missed sons too. he knows nothing of that, and so he knows nothing of the impact he’s making with simply existing. (boram looking at jerome is still very ambiguous in my mind though as her kid can appear in roleplay but seulgi’s view is pretty cemented)

okay shit this kind of turned into some weird exploration of jerome? i started writing this like 6 hours ago what the hell. i’m so slow. maybe this is helping me too with making that re-introduction thing i still have to make. great. well what you can take from this is that jerome has a definite baseline when it comes to his personality and i explored that in chanyeols story where he was the one who got it yet felt undeserving of it?

it’s affection. his baseline is affection. his baseline is warmth. for him as a person, a real person, his person. and not for anything else. and it’s nice to look at the people that gave that to him, the people that didn’t and the reasons behind it.

his biological mother couldn’t give it to him because she gave him away before she could. (the only exception being the first moment in the hospital room 26 years ago.)

his biological father couldn’t give it to him seeing as he didn’t even care to know him.

his adoptive parents couldn’t give it to him as they only saw him as a prop next to jade vases and ricepaper fans.

his first love marie couldn’t give it to him even when he thought she could, but then in time he realized she never loved him for him. realized she never loved him at all.

his grandfather has given it to him, as he sang with him to old tunes and learned him how to cook. his grandmother did too before she fell away.

frederic and halit gave it to him, freddy when he cemented himself as his first closest friend and halit when he pulled him along and shared his family with him. they both gave him a home, and they both gave him the concept of best friends.

julien too gifts it to him now, as he has poked through the shields that is yuddy and has never stopped grasping at the heart that is jerome.

its interesting. it’s all interesting and i’m kind of content that i threw this headcanon out there? or wrote it. (even if not many people will probably read it because of the content matter or because its dumb long or other reasons) because its really a start for me to explore jerome other sides more, the other important things. with the marie story half way finished and her changing in severity in his life, it’ll be interesting to further explore the facet that hurt jerome the most. bloodlines.

ok i got to stop because literally no one is having time for my wall of mess i mean wall of text and its getting way too late/early whilst i wanted to reply to some dms so im just going to grab my phone and start typing there. until i fall asleep. which honestly can be in a few minutes as today was stressful (my cat couldnt poop and i cried lol i’m actually a mess.) 

ALSO if you read the story, the program seulgi watched when she saw jerome for the first time was You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook when DEAN was on. and the songs she heard where HALF MOON (D) and ORDINARY PEOPLE. (which are probably one of my favourite performances of dean.) easter egg. or something like that i dont know-

ok naomi out

*uses a gif of my sweet winter child as i haven’t used one in ages*

[therealestatesparkblog]

6 Reasons You Might Be Struggling to Succeed (& How to Fix Them!)

We have all heard that two-thirds of business startups fail in the first decade. If youre like me, you encountered this statistic but dismissed it, telling yourself, That wont be me! Now, a couple of months or years later, you may be wondering why things havent taken off like you thought they would. This issue could be plaguing your real estate business, social media platforms, a startup business maybe even your personal brand. Why Youre Struggling to Become Successful Here are the six reasons I find most people struggle to find successand how to fix them! 1. Youre not setting goals Would you depart friendly lines with a convoy without knowing your checkpoints? No. Would you step off on a hike without knowing your mission? No. So why would you walk through life without goals? The short answer is you shouldnt. The Marine Corps teaches the importance of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym refers to: Specific: Rather than saying get in shape, define what you specifically want to achieve, such as losing weight, toning up, etc.Measurable: Rather than saying lose weight, say lose 10 pounds in two months. This is a quantifiable goal and can be tracked.Attainable: Ensure your goal can be accomplished.Realistic: Be honest with yourself, and keep in mind any obstacles you may need to overcome.Time-bound: Set a deadline. Deadlines are key to accomplishing your goals, but you must adhere to them!

2. You dont practice accountability Nobody is perfect. We all know this to be true. For that reason, it is extremely helpful to have someone holding you accountable to your goals. Going back to our fitness example above, even the most motivated person will eventually have a day where they dont want to work out. A good workout partner will hold you accountable and not let you skip. This works the same with any goal. Accountability can take many formsit could be a weekly mastermind meeting, your spouse, a friend who you ask to hold you accountable, etc. The important piece is to have checks and balances in your life that ensure when your moment of weakness comes, you can resist it! 3. Youre making excuses Nobody cares about your success more than you do. So stop making excuses, and start doing. Stop worrying about problems, and start finding solutions. It is imperative that you do something every day in order to move the needle forward. Making excuses will accomplish nothing; its simply wasting your time (and anyone unfortunate enough to be listening). This is why I have friends like Alex Felice, who are so quick to tell me when Im starting to make excuses. We are all human, and it is natural to make excusessometimes without realizing it. Much like accountability, a friend who can see through your B.S. is invaluable! There is a popular phrase in the military, Excuses are like a**holes, everybody has one, and they all stink! While crude, this is the way you need to think of excuses. They dont move the needle forward, they dont make you feel better (in the long run), and they have no place in your life! Related:6 Ridiculous Excuses That Are Holding You Back From Real Estate Success

4. Your network sucks It is said that your wealth is the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If youre the smartest person in your network, you need to find a new network. These statements might sound clich, and Im sure you have heard them before. But there is a reason they are repeated often: they are true! You dont need to cut all of your friends out of your life, but there is nothing wrong with ditching the negative Nancys for some positive Pauls (pretty sure I just made that up). Seriously, if the people around you arent helping you grow as a person and accomplish your goals, you need to improve your network. A good way to do this is to attend real estate investor meetups and get busy meeting people with similar goals! Every time I attend a real estate investor meetup, I am amazed by the growth I experience. Improving your network is (in my opinion) the most important thing you can do to become successful! 5. You arent learning You need to learn something new every day. Formal education is great and all, but that isnt what I mean. You need to learn something every day that will help you achieve your definition of success. For real estate investors, this could mean reading a book on real estate, listening to a podcast, or having lunch with a mentor. Search Google for useful blog posts or YouTube videos during your free time!

The point is that you need to set aside time every day for personal development. I believe that the best investment you can make is in yourself! Dont overlook opportunities for growth. Daily growth compounded over time will make you into a very successful person. Conferences and seminars offer a bonus perk: they are an excellent way to combine personal development and networking! I love attending these events to grow personally and build my network, while simultaneously getting a motivational boost! Related:The 4 Levels of Learning in Real Estate Investment 6. Youre not taking extreme ownership Everything is your fault! Much like making excuses, failure to take responsibility for your situation is a waste of time and not conducive to improvement. In his book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win, Jocko Willink uses the example of being five minutes late to work. Is being late to work because of traffic your fault? Yes. Because if you had left the house 10 minutes earlier, you would not have been late. Will Smith has a great motivational video about the difference between fault and responsibility. In his short clip (which I recommend that you watch by searching Fault vs. Responsibility on YouTube), he states that whether or not something is your fault, it is still your responsibility. An example is that its not your fault if your significant other cheats on you, but it is your responsibility to decide how youre going to react. It is also not your fault if somebody passes away, but it is your responsibility to cope with it. The main theme with both of these resources is that we need to act less on a woe is me because X, Y, or Z happened mentality, and instead think in terms of this happened, so how do I fix it? or this happened, so how can I ensure it doesnt happen again? It isnt easy to take extreme ownership when things go wrong, but it is much more productive. This mindset shift will open a lot of doors to you as a leader, and the better I get at this, the more successful I become as a leader of Marines. Conclusion Now that you are aware of these six reasons youre not succeeding, it is time to utilize extreme ownership and change! Knowing your deficiencies will always give you an edge over the competition. But that edge is useless if you dont constantly improve. That is why you need to constantly work on all six of these issues, and look for ways to grow.

What are you currently working on for personal development? Share in a comment below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/success-struggles-reasons-fixes

[cynthiamwashington]

Dear Mark: How Do Fermented Food and Meat Interact?

For this week’s Dear Mark, I’m answering a question from a reader about a topic I thought I’d covered (so did they) already. A quick look through the archives (hey, I can’t remember absolutely everything I ever wrote) showed that I had not, so here we go. It’s all about whether fermented foods—sauerkrauts, kimchis, pickles, yogurts, and any other food that has been acted upon by probiotic bacteria—make eating meat healthier and more enjoyable. From the start, I suspected that they do, but I had to confirm it in the scientific literature.

Let’s find out:

Hi Mark, I’m trying to find an article on why you should eat ferments with meat, (how it breaks down the fats) our mutual friend Hilary, AKA #thelunchlady ? and I are working on getting some of the high end butcher’s around LA to understand this, so they can help educate their customers. I was hoping to find info on your site, but now hoping you might write one for us

As for the effect you mention—fermented food breaking down the fat in meat—I’m unaware of any evidence. I am aware of a beneficial effect of fermented food on carbohydrate metabolism though. See, lactofermentation produces acetic acid as a byproduct. Acetic acid provides the “sour” flavor, the acidity of a batch of sauerkraut or pickles. It’s also what makes vinegar so sour, and there’s a long line of evidence showing that vinegar improves glucose tolerance and reduces the blood glucose load of high carb meals.

A 2017 review of the evidence found that vinegar was significantly effective at reducing both postprandial blood sugar and insulin levels.

It works in type 2 diabetics who eat vinegar with their high-carb meals, lowering the blood glucose response.

Research shows that acetic acid, rather than some other component in the vinegar, is the active component responsible for the effect on blood sugar. Anything with acetic acid should work, like food ferments.

That’s carbohydrate, and it’s good info, but you didn’t ask about carbs. You asked about meat. So, is fermented food pointless when eating meat? Not at all.

There are many examples of traditional cultures and cuisines making it a point to serve fermented foods with meats:

Koreans, kimchi, BBQ.

Germans, sauerkraut, sausage.

Japanese, pickles/natto/miso, meat/fish.

Indians, yogurt/pickles/chutneys, meat curry/tandoori chicken.

Italians, cheese, salami (itself a fermented meat).

They may not have “known” about the biochemistry. They weren’t citing PubMed studies. But over the many hundreds of years, these pairings emerged as combinations that just worked and made people feel good and the food go down more easily.

What could be going on here?

One thing I’ve stressed over the years is the importance of consuming foods high in polyphenols, not only for their isolated health benefits but for their ameliorative effects on the potential carcinogenicity of meats—particularly high-heat cooked meats (barbecue, grilling, searing). If you eat foods high in polyphenols, like blueberries or leafy greens, with your meat, that meal becomes healthier. It reduces the formation of carcinogenic compounds and reduces the peroxidative damage done to the fat.

And if you take a food high in polyphenols and subject it to fermentation, those polyphenols change and actually become more effective.

Red wine is one such fermented food that is higher in polyphenols than its non-fermented counterpart. The fermentation process alters the polyphenols already present in the grapes, making them more bioavailable and more effective, and creating entirely new compounds in the process. One reason red wine pairs so well with steak on a subjective level is that it actually reduces the formation of toxic lipid oxidation byproducts in “simulated digestion” studies that attempt to recreate the stomach environment after a meal, inhibits the absorption of those toxic lipid byproducts, and, when added to meat marinades, reduces the formation of heat-related carcinogens when you cook the meat, even over open flame. The responsible compound for these effects in red wine isn’t the alcohol, it’s the polyphenols. Grape juice doesn’t have the same effect.

This applies to everything. Fermentation of almost any other food, from beans to cabbage to garlic, also changes and improves the antioxidative capacity of the polyphenols. And the more polyphenols a food has, and the more effective they are at reducing oxidation, the healthier they’ll make any meat we eat.

Fermented foods also contain probiotic bacteria, and there’s some limited evidence that certain bacterial strains can actually enhance metabolism of cooked meat carcinogens.

So, in a roundabout way, fermented foods actually are improving the way we digest the fats in meat. They aren’t quite “breaking them down,” but they are allowing us to metabolize them in a healthier way that produces fewer toxic byproducts and inhibits our absorption of the toxic byproducts that do slip by.

This actually gives me a good idea for a post: A series of elevator pitches that inspired readers can use to lobby restaurant owners, butchers, doctors, and anyone else about the otherwise complicated health and nutrition topics we’ve bandied about on this blog for a decade. Most folks’ brains will glaze over when you start talking “omega-3s” or “peroxidized lipids” or “oxidized LDL particles” or “high heat carcinogens,” but it’s still important information. I think I’ll start putting that together in the next few weeks, starting with today’s topic, and I could really use your help. What other topics have you wanted to broach but can’t figure out how to make relatable, simplistic, or elegant enough to drop in casual conversation with professionals (or friends) who could help make a difference?

Let’s get a list going and try to knock this out.

That’s it for today, folks. Take care and be well. Thanks for reading!

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References:

Shishehbor F, Mansoori A, Shirani F. Vinegar consumption can attenuate postprandial glucose and insulin responses; a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2017;127:1-9.

Liatis S, Grammatikou S, Poulia KA, et al. Vinegar reduces postprandial hyperglycaemia in patients with type II diabetes when added to a high, but not to a low, glycaemic index meal. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010;64(7):727-32.

Mettler S, Schwarz I, Colombani PC. Additive postprandial blood glucose-attenuating and satiety-enhancing effect of cinnamon and acetic acid. Nutr Res. 2009;29(10):723-7.

Gorelik S, Ligumsky M, Kohen R, Kanner J. The stomach as a “bioreactor”: when red meat meets red wine. J Agric Food Chem. 2008;56(13):5002-7.

Gorelik S, Ligumsky M, Kohen R, Kanner J. A novel function of red wine polyphenols in humans: prevention of absorption of cytotoxic lipid peroxidation products. FASEB J. 2008;22(1):41-6.

Kanner J, Gorelik S, Roman S, Kohen R. Protection by polyphenols of postprandial human plasma and low-density lipoprotein modification: the stomach as a bioreactor. J Agric Food Chem. 2012;60(36):8790-6.

Harbaum B, Hubbermann EM, Zhu Z, Schwarz K. Impact of fermentation on phenolic compounds in leaves of pak choi (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. communis) and Chinese leaf mustard (Brassica juncea coss). J Agric Food Chem. 2008;56(1):148-57.

Kimura S, Tung YC, Pan MH, Su NW, Lai YJ, Cheng KC. Black garlic: A critical review of its production, bioactivity, and application. J Food Drug Anal. 2017;25(1):62-70.

Nowak A, Libudzisz Z. Ability of probiotic Lactobacillus casei DN 114001 to bind or/and metabolise heterocyclic aromatic amines in vitro. Eur J Nutr. 2009;48(7):419-27.

The post Dear Mark: How Do Fermented Food and Meat Interact? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Article source here:Marks’s Daily Apple

[click2watch]

‘0% Success’: Why Blockchain Apps Just Aren’t Taking Off

Yin Wu is the founder of Dirt Protocol, a protocol for decentralized information curation that aims to organize the world’s data and make it freely accessible.

The following is an exclusive contribution to CoinDesk’s 2018 Year in Review.

In 2018, the promise of a decentralized future fell apart.

The most widely used dapps have a few thousand daily users and a study of 43 blockchain applications found a zero percent success rate. With so much funding and talent in the space, why do we have so little success to show?

There is a broken process for building and launching blockchains applications today. Rather than working within an low-risk environment that supports iterations and learning, blockchain companies follow a playbook that stacks the odds against their success. By pre-selling a product before it is built, projects set themselves up to failure with unrealistically high user expectations on their V1.

Moving forward, this approach to building creates three problems:

To appease an early adopter crowd of crypto-enthusiasts, projects preach to the choir and build with the assumption that decentralization is the answer (rather than a means to an end)

With vocal supporters, projects make sub-optimal decisions by committee

With a market emphasis on ideas and theory, projects follow the white paper as if it is the final product plan rather than the starting point.

With so little to show from 2018, we have to change how products are incubated and tested. For a better 2019, we can take lessons from how successful technology companies are built and apply them to the blockchain space.

Build a product not a protocol

Many blockchain projects that pitched a future of decentralization just a year ago are realizing you cannot find mass market success by preaching a philosophy alone. Open-source projects as an alternative to closed, centralized networks are nothing new. It has been tried before with Diaspora vs Facebook, Mastodon vs Twitter and DuckDuckGo vs Google.

The takeaway from these projects is the same: openness and decentralization only matter to developers.

Blockchain applications need to go back to basics and ask the question of who is the user and what is their problem. Bitcoin created a way for darknet users to exchange funds online. Ethereum allows developers to run a script on a decentralized computer. IPFS is a way to store censorship data.

No crypto-economic incentive is strong enough to overcome a missing use-case.

Don’t let users tell you what to do

Facebook released the newsfeed to overwhelming negative public response. Apple product launches have all been met with the same media reaction: too expensive to succeed. Netflix moved to streaming and lost over a million customers in the transition.

Some of the most important product decisions that seem obvious in hindsight were controversial at the time. For crypto projects, a vocal community can be the biggest asset or biggest liability. Listen to your users but filter the feedback. Don’t give your users what they ask for; give them what they want.

Focus on iteration over the idea

There is an mistaken perception in crypto that the idea is the most important part of success. So, we see teams focusing on white papers and delaying the launch for years. But what we have learned from how successful technology startups are built is that a good idea is only the beginning.

Two markets with runaway success in 2018 were exchanges (e.g. Binance) and mining hardware (e.g. Bitmain). Binance went from zero to over $1 billion in revenue in under a year. ASIC mining efficiency for bitcoin has increased by over 10 times. In the same year, no decentralized application has seen mainstream success.

The product development cycle for building smart contracts and decentralized networks is excessively slow because the high risks of mistakes are too high (e.g. Parity wallet hacks). Rather than launching and learning from user feedback, teams iterate in isolation and delay the valuable learnings that come from real users. Moving forward, projects should launch earlier and smaller. Test the product with a small group of users, get feedback, and iterate.

Despite a 2018 with few signs of success, I am optimistic about the year ahead.

As seen in the dot-com bubble and burst, bear markets are some of the best times to collect talent and build. That said, as Einstein said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

So let’s shift to a new way of building in 2019.

Wooden mannequin image via Shutterstock

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[themoneybuff-blog]

The death of Anthony Bourdain: Thoughts on productivity, pleasure, and depression

Shares 141 Warning: This is a rare GRS post that contains salty language. If you dont like salty language, dont read this article. Anthony Bourdain killed himself Friday morning. So what? you might be thinking. Hes just another fucking celebrity who didnt know how good he had it. Maybe youre right. But his death has weighed heavy on me all weekend. On Friday morning, as I wrote the weekly Get Rich Slowly email, I thought about Anthony Bourdain. On Friday afternoon, as Kim and I worked in the yard, I thought about Anthony Bourdain. On Friday evening, as we soaked in our new hot tub with a friend, I thought about Anthony Bourdain. Yesterday, I thought about Anthony Bourdain. Today, I thought about Anthony Bourdain. Now Im writing this article as an act of catharsis. Maybe itll help me to stop thinking about Anthony Bourdain. The Depression Trap I believe Anthony Bourdains death touched me deeply for a couple of reasons. I was a huge fan. Since listening him read the audio version of Kitchen Confidential a decade ago, Ive loved his work. Parts Unknown was probably my favorite travel show: raw and real and filled with food. Bourdain connected with everyone he met. His joy for life was contagious and his mind was sharp.Like Bourdain did, I struggle with depression. All my life, Ive experienced periodic descents into darkness. The first time this happened, I missed five weeks of sixth grade. In the nearly forty years since then, Ive developed a variety of coping mechanisms but they dont always work. In recent months since the middle of March the darkness has deepened and I dont know why. (And just as I missed five weeks of school back then, Ive been unable to get my work done in the present.) Let me make it clear that I am not suicidal. Right now, the biggest symptom of my depression is my inability to get shit done. But whereas suicide seems strange and senseless to most everyone else, depressives understand the appeal even if wed never consider it personally. One of the many stupid things about depression is that the condition doesnt care how awesome your life is. It doesnt care how successful you are. It doesnt care how much money you have. Depression is not rational. If it were, itd be easy to think your way out of it. Paula Froelich, one of Bourdains ex-girlfriends, put it like this:

Bourdains death didnt just make me introspective. It also led to a couple of interesting conversations about pleasure and productivity and about what really matters in life. The Productivity Trap Friday afternoon, I received email from a GRS reader well call Michael: Im sure you saw Anthony Bourdain killed himself. This to me was a telling quote: When asked during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal whether he ever thought about stepping back from the breakneck pace of a job that kept him on the road 250 days a year, he replied, Too late for that. I think about it. I aspired to it. I feel guilty about it. I yearn for it. Balance? I fucking wish.' Obviously I didnt know Bourdain personally, or even know much about him as a public figure, but I think that mentality is common: Once youve become successful, the thought of ever ratcheting back seems unthinkable. Obviously, suicide is rare, but I think this mentality is common among successful people they stay in an unhappy status quo simply because they have so much invested in their self-image and public perception of themselves as successful people. I think Michael is onto something. Ive seen this in my own life, in the lives of friends and family, and the lives of colleagues. They fall into what you might call the productivity trap. (Heres an article I almost linked to the other day about the productivity trap: If youre so successful, why are you still working 70 hours a week?) I have one friend, for instance, with an enormously successful career. He has a popular blog, a popular podcast, best-selling books, and even an annual conference that attracts attendees from across the planet. Yet hes never satisfied not with himself nor with anybody else. Hes always looking for ways to make things bigger and better. He seems unhappy with who he is and what he has. Hes written publicly about his struggles with mental illness, but he hasnt revealed its full effects. Its not just my friend. Its me too. I see this pattern in my own life, and its something Ive deliberately decided to approach more mindfully. Why do I want to have a hot tub or travel to Ecuador? Why did I repurchase Get Rich Slowly and how often should I publish here? Why do I keep agreeing to public speaking gigs? Do I really want these things? Are they aligned with my personal mission statement? Will they really make me happy? (Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no.) In his email, Michael continued: I think this is really the key to personal finance and early retirement actually stepping back and figure out what is important to you, and doing it, even if it seems like youre turning your back on a great career, or a nice house or whatever. That is the hardest part, which keeps most people in a life they dont want. They think I went to school X or work at company Y, so therefore I must live in this city or have that job or have that wardrobe and never ask themselves what, as individuals, makes them happy. The Pleasure Trap As our email conversation continued, Michael brought up another interesting point. He noted that our culture and this is especially true in the world of financial independence blogs is obsessed with experiences, such as travel. Yet in many ways, collecting experiences is no better (nor any different) than collecting things. Heres Michael again: [Bourdain] had the ne plus ultra of modern life: rich, famous, a job that 99% of the population would kill for, saw everything he wanted to see, ate everything he wanted to eat, Im sure slept with tons of women if that is what he wanted, took all the drugs he wanted. You name it, he had it. And, he hung himself in a hotel room in France, a twice-divorced man a continent away from his daughter and girlfriend. Im not bagging on him. I just think he illustrates something: A meaningful life doesnt consist of a series of cool experiences, or traveling or eating cool stuff. Bourdain did that stuff to an incredible degree, and it still didnt make him happy. I think that is what our society has forgotten. I feel like were always being told we should move a lot, travel a lot, be vaguely or overtly dismissive of the town or state we were born in, move for college and never move back homein short, basically be a free agent with fewer and fewer personal connections, or weaker connections. And, we get this [higher suicide rates]. [] I think this relates to personal finance. There is always this thought that thrift requires these huge sacrifices less travel, fewer new experiences, fewer new restaurants. But what if [these arent sacrifices]? What if irrespective of cost, that stuff isnt really a source of happiness? I mean, people accept that with respect to possessions nobody says a Cadillac or a 5000-square-foot home is the key to happiness but many, many people in our culture think new experiences are crucial to a happy life. It may be the opposite the continuity and free-time to invest in loving relationships may actually be the key to happiness. I told Kim about my conversation with Michael. Its the pleasure trap, she said. People fall for the lie that momentary pleasure equals happiness. But pleasure isnt the same as happiness. Shes right, of course. Happiness is like planting a garden, watching it grow, then enjoying the harvest. Pleasure is simply eating the fruit. Happiness is deeper and richer and longer lasting. Pleasure is fleeting; happiness is not. But happiness involves time and work and patience. Now, Ill admit: Im guilty as anyone else of falling into the pleasure trap, and in oh-so-many ways! I have to make a deliberate effort to look past immediate pleasure in order to consider long-term happiness. This often requires enduring unpleasant activities. Do I really want to go out in the cold and the rain to dig in the mud and plant my garden? No, not in this moment. Id rather sit in the hot tub. But if I dont plant the garden, Im sacrificing greater happiness in the future. Final Thoughts While I think that Kim and Michael are onto something the productivity trap and the pleasure trap are both real and both problematic I keep coming back to Anthony Bourdains battle with depression. During my recent road trip through the southeastern U.S., I talked with two friends who are fighting depression in their own lives. One friend has a spouse who cannot shake the condition despite counseling, despite exercise, despite a loving family. The other friend fights the condition himself and its led to weight gain and addictive tendencies. Therapy has helped some but its not a cure-all. As for myself, I havent yet returned to therapy although Im considering it. (Not so long ago, I spent a year working with a therapist to find ways to cope with anxiety and depression. It helped.) I want to stress again that I am not suicidal. But the depression has most definitely affected my daily existence, including my relationships, my health, and my work here at Get Rich Slowly. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks. But I know that itll get better someday. Shares 141 https://www.getrichslowly.org/death-of-anthony-bourdain/

[adambstingus]

The 9 Fights You’ll Definitely Have With Your SO When You Move In Together

This summer, I purchased my first home with my fiance. Wed lived together in my parents home for several months, so we figured having a place to ourselves wouldnt be much of a transition.

I mean, we already lived together. We were going to be like two sexy little peas in a very overpriced pod! Except we werent. At least, not exactly.

Once its just the two of you, things do indeed change. By moving in with your partner, youre assuming the roles of husband and wife. But instead of being married to each other, youre mutually committed to this one, very expensive house thatll take the majority of your lives to pay off.

With such high stakes, theres a lot to gain and lose when you do finally move in. And as any couple whos ever lived together knows, you will find yourselves having a number of standard arguments over and over again.

Most of these arguments have no merit and brew from outside sources, but your partner gets the brunt of it because theyre, well, there. So lets get started on these arguments, shall we?

1.The conflict of the light switch.

Because I always grew up with pets, when I would leave the house, Id always leave the TV on for them so theyd feel less alone.

Since weve only had the house for a few months, I continue to leave the TV on when I leave. This INFURIATES my fiance, who, as soon as I step in the house, scolds me as if I were being reprimanded by a teacher in grade school.

Id then daftly counter with, Well, Im the one paying the electricity bill, so why do you care? and, as Im sure you can imagine, a whole other argument ensues.

2. Bills, bills, bills.

Money will always be a subject of contention for couples. Always.

Whenyou move in with somebody, you marry each other financially, so this contention can grow. Add to the fact that youre absolutely astounded by the amount of money youre now spending on bills that used to be spent on beer and just beer.

As such, your money becomes their money and vice versa. Your spending affects them and their spending affects you.

I should add here that bills arent often the source of an argument (at least in our home), but are instead used as a last line of defense in an argument.

For instance, if you pay the majority of the bills, you will undoubtedly use this against your partner when verbally backed into a corner. Its not a smart thing to do, but like I said, its a last line of defense. Its all youve got.

3. Settling on TV shows.

Im fortunate that my fiance and I like watching the same shows, but there are moments when we disagree and a lukewarm argument ensues.

For instance, I know my fiance doesnt want to watch a show when she innocently asks: Whats this? or What are you watching?

Knowing this is her method to vocalize her distaste for whatevers on, I surrender by delicately placing the converter on her lap, where shell then switch it over to The Food Network.

4. Accusations of ones laziness.

Since I work from home, my fiance likes to think I have the day to sweep the floors, do the laundry, fold the laundry and otherwise ensure the house is spotless.

To her, Im Cinderella with a laptop who writes the occasional boner joke in a Word document.

On the other hand, when my fiance comes home mid-afternoon, shell sit on the couch and eat a can of chickpeas, warm up some tomato soup and not do much else.

To be fair, she works as a baker and wakes up at 4 am, but when Im being accused of laziness, the claws comeoutand nobody is safe. Well poke at each other, accusing the other of being lazy, until an actual argument follows.

What you ultimately realize is that anyone can be accused of being lazy with the right argument.

5. The terrible, deplorable saga that is laundry.

Laundry. FUCKING LAUNDRY. Without a doubt, the worst chore of all chores.

While neither of us has any problem throwing a load in the washer or dryer, its the folding and hanging thats a pain in the ass.

There have been a few times where Ive washed, dried and folded the laundry, have gotten fed up and asked that she hang the laundry in the closet. This is where our arguments will usually begin.

Her side: Why not finish the deed yourself? Youre already 80 percent there. Mine: Ive done most of the work, just help me!

Conclusion: Laundry doesnt get hung but instead sits on the floor in a spare room.

6. Compromising on bedtime activities.

Because my fiance wakes up so early and I dont have a dedicated start time, our bedtime schedules are very different.

Though weve each compromised, we discovered many things about each other, such as: I like to watch TV in the bedroom; she doesnt. I like having a fan on in the room; she doesnt. She likes body contact; I dont. And so on.

I know were not alone on this one. I just know it.

7. Doing the dishes.

I actually dont hate doing the dishes. I really dont. I mean, I dont love it, but in terms of chores, its really not so bad.

I should add here that we dont have a dishwasher, so Ive kind of assumed this role myself. If you do have one and complain, youve got no foot to stand on. Im sorry, you just dont.

Like Ive mentioned, my fiances a baker and loves to bake at any and every given opportunity, so the dishes are seemingly endless.

I should also add that shes vegan and Im not, so to make sure that no animal product comes in contact with her food, our dishes are pretty much doubled.

When the dishes start piling on themselves, forming a steel volcano about to erupt with vanilla cupcake batter, Ill admit I get frustrated. Cue argument.

8. Whoever does the cooking holds all the power.

Like paying the bills, the person who cooks in the household will always highlight this fact when theyve got no other form of defense in an argument.

Its like a verbal stun gun: You bring it up, deliver the blinding impact that is your own pettiness and flee the argument hoping theyve got no retort.

9. Understanding that a womans beauty takes time.

Before living together, all Id see was my fiance walking down her driveway looking sexy and flawless.

Now that we live together, I understand that before she worked that driveway like a runway, she spent several hours doing her hair and makeup. Tack on another hour for the outfit.

Now that we live together, this becomes less flattering and more frustrating.

Here you are, all dressed, car keys in hand and should have left 10 minutes ago. But there she is, the love of your life, teasing her hair in her underwear with a glass of wine on the counter.

Like, come on. WEVE GOTTA GO!

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from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-9-fights-youll-definitely-have-with-your-so-when-you-move-in-together/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/170892645632

[thatoddboy]

i have ptsd and bipolar disorder and have 3 pets as ESAs. i can't exactly agree to this. my dog may cause trouble, but it's because he also has anxiety. i don't take him many places, but i can't say i don't need an esa with me. i'm too scared to speak up for any of them, even the two that are quiet and unproblematic (a conure and a ferret) because i worry that people think i'm faking, but everywhere i go without them, i shake uncontrollably and worry. i tried to stay out of state at a camp

pt. 2 and i couldnt do it. i literally took a plane back because i couldnt handle not having an animal as comfort. i think they are more important but all too often have their powers abused! i have considered getting a service dog for therapy, but its so very expensive...i know i need a therapy dog more than an ESA, but my dog comforts me when i have flashbacks or dissociate or have gender dysphoria or anxiety that my other pets arent ok.

I want to preface this by saying I sympathize with your situation. I’m sorry that you have to go through this and I’m very glad your animals can help you. 

Now, technically speaking ESAs require no special training so any animal can be an ESA. What I was talking about in my post was more specially trained ESAs, ones that have been taught certain tasks to help with different disorders (deep pressure application for instance).

There are basic requirements, however, that are important. This is all according to the HUD, and you can find my source here. 

There are only two questions that HUD says a housing provider should consider with a request for an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation:

(1) Does the person seeking to use and live with the animal have a disability — i.e., a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities?

(2) Does the person making the request have a disability-related need for an assistance animal? In other words, does the animal work, provide assistance, perform tasks or services for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provide emotional support that alleviates one or more of the identified symptoms or effects of a person's existing disability?

(FHEO Notice: FHEO-2013-01 at page 2). A "no" answer to either of the questions means that a housing provider is not obligated to make a reasonable accommodation according to HUD. This may mean that the person does not meet the definition of disability or that the assistance animal does not help with symptoms of the disability. If the answer is "yes" to both, then HUD states the FHA requires an exception to a "no pets" rule. The emotional support animal must alleviate, or help, some symptom(s) of the disability.

THESE ARE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS because your animal’s status as an ESA is a legal issue as well as a therapeutic one.

Because ESAs have no training, they are not allowed in the same places as service animals. According to the Fair Housing Act, ESAs get exemption from pet policies. Some airlines will also allow you to have your animal on their planes, but to my knowledge this is not a right (anyone feel free to correct me here).

When you want to apply for housing and ask for exemptions for your animals, your landlord is allowed to ask for documentation of your disability if it is not apparent, and proof your animal helps you (that last part can vary and your landlord may not ask you for this). This is why you need to go to a doctor because otherwise your not going to have that documentation, and your request can be denied. For total clarity:

While a landlord or housing provider may ask for documentation of the disability-related need for the assistance animal, he or she may NOT ask for personal medical details. HUD states that a housing provider "may not ask an applicant or tenant to provide access to medical records or medical providers or provide detailed or extensive information or documentation of a person's physical or mental impairments." (FHEO Notice: FHEO-2013-01 at page 4).

In other words, what you’ll be asked to provide basically amounts to a letter from a medical professional saying you have a disability, what it is, and how your animals help you. No official documents, no records.

So, assuming you were to go through this process and get your exemption, which I personally think you could very well do in your specific case, that still does not allow you to take your animal into public places. Period. There is no wiggle room here at all - it is the law currently, plan and simple. 

I sincerely hope that you don’t take this message as a personal attack. I mean only to educate not only you but the community at large.Again, I am so sorry that you experience such high levels of anxiety in your daily life. I can’t say I understand how difficult it must be as my own issues differ greatly from yours, but I do understand what it’s like for your mental illness to control you. It’s terrible and harrowing in ways most people cannot comprehend, and it’s fantastic that your animals are helping you. But that doesn’t change the fact that your untrained, anxious dog can make it more difficult for people with trained service dogs to move around in the world. I know that has to be hard to hear, but it’s the truth. I understand that you’re just trying to live your life comfortably, but what you seem to be suggesting in your message - that is, taking your animal(s) out in public - is a misuse of them.

[pabluesman]

The latest rant:

A common picture of the Republican Party is that of a cabal of big-money plutocrats, rubbing their hands gleefully as they kick starving children into the cold and knock retirees over for the Social Security benefits while lighting cigars with $100 bills. And while this is useful as agitprop, it creates a divide in the discussion of serious issues. Granted, there are some on both sides of the aisle who are craven and corrupt, and unfortunately they also make the most noise. It also doesn't help that the top figures in the party -- trump and his staff (Spicer, Conway, et al), Ryan, and McConnell -- further this perception with their words and actions, but such is a topic for another day ... The thing is, though, almost all Republicans are working with the best of intentions. They honestly believe that their proposals and actions are in the best interest of the American people. So why is there such a gulf between Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative, trump and normal people? My opinion? It comes down to a fundamental difference in how progress is measured. The Republican Party measures everything in terms of dollars and cents. This is fine as far as it goes -- it is a completely objective measure, with no wiggle room for interpretation. Something costs what it costs, and revenue is revenue, and the numbers are going to be the numbers whether you like them or not. As a result, for many things this is fine ... but there are aspects of the things the government does that do not translate well into currency. Things like quality of life for a family that can no longer afford health coverage. Or environmental quality. Or lives lost fighting bullshit wars on false pretenses. The modern Republican Party is, on paper, dedicated to the idea of fiscal responsibility. They believe that deficit spending is fundamentally bad, that social welfare programs impede individual initiative, and (at least, on the far right) that many of the problems faced by marginalized populations -- the poor, people of color, and so on -- are the result of moral failings at the individual level. Proposals presented by the Republicans are centered around the idea of "if ya ain't got the dough, don't spend it." Nowhere is this demonstrated more clearly than in the following statement made by Rep. Mo Brooks on May 1:

“My understanding is that it will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool. That helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now those are the people—who’ve done things the right way—that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.”

On the surface, this seems like a pretty cruel, heartless stance. After all, what Rep. Brooks appears to be saying here is that if someone gets breast cancer, say, then it's their own damned fault for not living a clean life and they deserve to pay more for insurance as a result. Now, everybody knows this is bullshit, and it's a pretty safe bet that's not what Rep. Brooks meant. My guess is that he was speaking more to the apparent fairness of premium amounts, taking a position that people who need more health care should be paying higher premiums. And while this does seem like a reasonable proposition, it misses the point entirely on how insurance is supposed to work (the people who need less subsidize the people who need more, thus spreading the cost more or less evenly ... but diving into the intricacies of health insurance actuary is way beyond the scope of this article). This illustrates a higher point, though. Whether it stems from ideology, or the need to maintain viewership across the basic cable spectrum, or just pure salaciousness, we have been trapped in a cycle of "gotchas" for the past several decades. Barack Obama says "So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion ..." as a statement on small-town America's reaction to steady job losses over the prior twenty years, which is clearly evident when the entire quote is used:

"Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

However, the right-wing shriek factory chose to highlight a specific phrase in a manner designed to generate the most outrage, furthering the narrative of Obama as a Kenyan Muslim terrorist atheist communist dictator, hellbent on taking away everyone's guns and forcing them to adhere to Sharia law (which, let's be fair, almost none of the target audience knew anything about except what they had heard from the right-wing shriek factory in the first place ... and not for nothing, but it is impossible to be a Muslim and an atheist. Just sayin'.). To be fair, this sort of nonsense happens on the left as well, but again ... a topic for another article ... The thing is, there are actually very few Republicans who hew strictly to this line. The vast majority of them do not agree with ideological purity at all costs; instead they adopt a stance of "Okay, I have my ideology, you have yours, and there has to be some agreeable middle ground." For example, as you may have guessed, I am a liberal. Very liberal. Not quite to the anarchist extreme of some, but definitely more than most. One of my best friends is a hard-core conservative Republican. We argue about politics all the time, and rare is the occasion when one of us makes a solid enough argument to change the other's position. Despite this obvious mental deficiency on his part (kidding, and he knows it), he is a wonderful stepfather, a good and decent person, and regularly kicks my ass at pool. And this is the fundamental point. Republicans are not, by nature, evil. They are not the sort of cartoonish, sinister villains portrayed in the media, any more than liberals are all a bunch of skinny, stoned, granola-munching whiners with acoustic guitars militantly guarding against trigger words. Republicans just have a different viewpoint from Democrats. That's all. They are both still Americans, they both still love this country, they both still respect the Constitution. Go to any firehouse, police station, military barracks, elementary school, restaurant, grocery store, auto shop. Unless there is only one person there, chances are pretty good that there will be a roughly even split between conservatives and liberals. And I guarantee that the EMT who is driving the ambulance taking you to the hospital doesn't give a hairy rodent's posterior about your political affiliation, the only concern is getting you to the goddam hospital. This is what we, as a society, are losing sight of lately. It is incumbent upon all of us -- right or left, Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal -- to always remember this, and to accept the fundamental humanity of those with differing views, and to allow the respect that is born from this acceptance to be shown. And it has to start with a decision on which media outlet to frequent. Yes, there are no purely objective sources. Every media outlet has some sort of political leaning. It's only natural, considering they are all people. Where the differences lie is in how this slant is addressed. Some, like Breitbart and the Daily Wire on the right or Occupy Democrats and the Palmer Report on the left, make no bones about their political leanings. Which is fine, as long as people understand that their content is all opinion, not fact. Others, like the New York Times and the Washington Post on the left and the Wall Street Journal and Forbes on the right, acknowledge their political stance but strive to keep it from coloring their reporting. Yes, sometimes they are better at it than others, but they all have one common characteristic: when a mistake is made, they cop to it. Publicly. They issue retractions and correct the erroneous information. If there are enough retractions credited to a specific reporter ... well, that reporter is then out of a job. So I urge everyone reading this -- both of you -- to ask the following questions when considering a news source (not including articles clearly labeled as opinion pieces):

Does this news source use objective language, or are there subjective terms (excluding quotes) used to attempt to sway the reader to a particular way of thinking about an issue? For example, the Daily Wire recently published a story about funding being pulled from a Shakespeare in the Park production of "Julius Caesar" because it depicts the assassination of donald trump. While the story may be true, and it is not at all uncommon for theater companies to adapt Shakespeare to modern settings, the Daily Wire uses language like "objectively despicable contents of this production" to describe the play. Rather than just reporting on the "who, what, where, when" of the issue, the Daily Wire attempts to apply a value judgement to the play, thus robbing the reader of that opportunity.

Can the story be verified by multiple reliable sources? For example, if you see a story in the New York Times, or Forbes, or the BBC, or even the Daily Caller, can you also find reporting on that same topic from another source? This excludes the latest practice in which someone creates content that may or may not be factual and distributes it to like-thinking outlets, who then publish it blindly (basically, what happens here is that the article appears in multiple outlets, with identical or near-identical language).

In the case of erroneous reporting, does the source acknowledge it and issue a retraction? This only applies to factual errors. For example, an article about Ivanka Trump's clothing line that reports on a pair of shoes costing $2,500 when they are actually $250 deserves a correction. An opinion piece stating that they are the butt-ugliest things to come down the pike since the Pontiac Aztek does not.

It is vitally important that we all -- Republican and Democrat alike -- do our due diligence when consuming media. It is only once we emerge from the shriek factories on both the left and right and into the light of day that we can start to find common ground on the issues facing this nation today. Please like and share my page at http://ift.tt/2rkD9UV for more.

[survivorindia]

Immunity Challenge #7 Results

For this challenge you submitted 15-35 gifs of a day in the life of your tribe. Since it wouldn’t be fair to let us judge, we will bring in our judges

Ryan Teddy Palmer

Hi, I'm Ryan Teddy Palmer. I did this whole Heroes and Villains theme thing twice. I am an expert and you all suck.

Isaiah G

Hi! I'm Isaiah G. the flop from Tonga and Tenochtitlan. I'm also hosting the other main season Tumblr Survivor Great Lakes. I hope I'm granted to opprotunity to destroy yall work!

Zakriah 

Hi it's Zakriah! You know I won't be biased because I only just checked to see who was even on this season. I can't wait to roast everyone

Lexi

hi, im lexi aka the dumbass who somehow got voted both best villain and best hero so i better see the same dedication from you all!!!

So let’s start with the Parvati Tribe 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17xzoHcFtak08ugOYMRvsHf8-84Quxg4-AgtKvBKMLWA/edit

Ryan’s Comments

Creativity: 7 Storyline: 6 Gifs: 3

Comments: This is just boring. How shocking. A tribe does a challenge. Also, it's unrealistic. It seems like they won. But they went to tribal? What the fuck? That makes no sense. I wanted to get to know your tribe and I don't know anything about you. How does Adam prepare his rice? How does Peih-Gee wash her clothes. Let me dig deeper into the souls of your tribe. This sucks.

Total: 16/35

Isaiah’s Comments 

Creativity: 8/15 I honestly feel like you just copied a formula off of a survivor episode. Theres no CREATIVITY. What I got from it is that yall are just a bunch of blood thirsty idol searching animals with no THRIVE to make any real connections. I low key still like the order and way yall did this tho so ill give yall a 8.

Storyline: 7/15 Like I previously said, this is pretty much a copied formula of a survivor episode. Then again were in tumblr survivor. Ill give this a 7 cause there isn't much you can do with this and yall tried.

Quality: 5/5 All the gifs were HD and in 1 solid line. It also didnt require me to go through the work of clicking on each individual one so im happy. I can respect that so ill give this an 5.

Overall: 20/35

Zakriah’s Comments 

PARVATI Creativity: 4/15 WHY TF ARE THEY ALL SURVIVOR GIFS??? Give me some NEW YORK POLLARD give me some RUPAUL give me SOMETHING FUNNY!!! Goddamn it yall arent living up to your namesake lmaooo YOU GET A 4 AT LEAST THERE WAS A THEME OR SOMETHING IG Storyline: 6/15 So yalls a bunch of waking monkeys who find idols as a tribe? Thats chill, if youre gay. But ig that just means yall wake up lookin cute, throw on some cute clothes, and head on off to a cute challenge. Yall work hard in the challenge, which ig is cute, didnt know yall had challenges every single day. Eyes. okay im gonna go back and say the other tribe works really hard and wins the challenge and then youre like all upset that they won? So this is the flop tribe okay i like that. Okay so now yall doing chores around camp and the sound scares you? Ok thats chill ig but its kinda weird. Okay so now theres 13 people on your tribe and you guys go to tribal council every day or something, fitting with the flop theme, i dig it. I FUCKING LOVE THE GROSSED OUT PEIH-GEE GIF YALL ARE GETTING LIKE BONUS POINTS FOR THAT FUCK ME UP!!! But now some bitch is playing his dick on jeff which ig makes sense bc jeff is gay af, and the dude who doesnt like sound is shook by it. And some asian girl named john is idold out and becomes jake billingsgay? Idkidk YOU GET A 6 FOR STORYLINE BC BORING AND I DONT LIKE CAMBODIA!!! Quality: 3/5 Idk they arent really that good 3

Total: 13/35

Lexi’s Comments 

Lexi’s Scores and Useful Comments for Parvati Tribe Creativity: 5/15 Storyline: 7/15 Gifs: 4/5

Ok guys, I commend you for actually taking the task you were given and doing what you thought would make you win. While some of the images would not load all the way for me, I will not fault you at that because I still got a basic understanding of the day your tribe went through today. However, I was a bit confused on who actually won the challenge as it showed happy faces up until the tribe goes to tribal so there is some errors in the storyline that needed to be changed or explained a bit more with possibly different gif choice following the challenge. The gifs themselves, yes they told the story of the day in a basic way, but they left much to be desired from them which in turn let your storyline suffer and for that I can not grade you any higher. In the future, try to remember that this is a fun challenge and that not everything should be so cut and dry like your actual literal day in the survivor world, if that makes sense?

Total: 16/35

Overall Total: 65/140

Kharab Tribe

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EO1NRMHiAkb3bEG47rHgjvCp-EHQRkHV2F-iW9v-fkk/edit

Ryan’s Comments 

Creativity: 14/15 Storyline: 12/15 Gifs: 4/4

First of all fuck you for making me click every link to see the fucking gifs. But you redeemed yourselves cause that was fucking hysterical. I ripped the other tribe apart before I even saw this. THIS IS WHAT I WANTED PARVATI TRIBE! THEY HAD HUMOR! AND REGAN! AND ORIGINALITY! AND MORE REGAN! FUCK ME UP KHARAB. This was obviously better if you don't win it's a damn shame.

Total: 30/35

Isaiah’s  Comments 

Creativity:8/15  Ok, I enjoy that yall used more than just survivor gifs for this challenge. It doesn't bore me and gives me something new to look at each pick so ill hand yall a 8 only cause I felt like this could have been better.

Storyline: 5/15 It seemed like this was all over the place personally so I cant really grade this good. Imma just hand yall this 5.

Quality: 1/5 SOME OF THE GIFS WERE BLURRY ON MY END. I ALSO DONT LIKE HAVING TO CLICK ON 100000000000 LINKS JUST TO SEE YALL GIFS SO THIS MADE ME MAD.  GIVING YALL A 1.

Total: 14/35

Zakriah’s Comments

Creativity: 14/15 This is sexy af i like it Storyline: 14/15 Oo these gifs are sexy im intrigued… im liking that its connecting back to being a tribe tbh the rice gif is the first one that actually made me laugh on both tribes. So yall are starving and you hop into the day READY TO TAKE ON THE OTHER TRIBE! And BOY do you! Oh never mind i get it now. Yall are running out of food and so yall are angery with each other. I like it i dig it. Okay so yall are not too good at challenges but hey yall have fun with it thats really cute i like it! Yall are definitely winning this challenge tbh so dont yall worry, you little sandras and courtneys! Thats mad cute i almost forgive you for making me click a bunch of links to judge you guys unlike the other tribe. All right but im not liking this whole parvati winning immunity gif bc like you could find a gif where the actual parvati does indeed win immunity and that woulda been much better for that lmao. But that reminds me - the parvati tribe didnt even use a fucking parvati gif??? Thats just insulting i have like twenty wtf is wrong with them god damn. So you guys just bicker all day and are flops because of it, which doesnt make sense bc youre winning this challenge. OMG THIS WHITNEY DRAG YES IM HERE FOR ITTTT. Omg im FUCKING CACKLING. LMAO THE LIEAM VOTE. also i highkey just saved the “get off my lawn gif” and im going to be using it in my daily irl life so i just want you guys to know that and be proud of yourselves for that. YALL ARE GETTING A SOLID 14 FUCK ME UP Quality: 5/5  There were some bad eggs in there im not gonna lie but honestly im dripping wet at this collection of gifs i want them to take me on the spot 5

Total: 33/35

Lexi’s Comments

Creativity: 14/15  Storyline: 11/15 Gifs: 5/5

Ok at first I appreciated the links but as I continued the story, I just was getting tired of all that clicking so next time maybe make a tumblr post or imgur folder so we can easily scroll through the story without having to make frequent pauses. Your storyline was more of the behind the scenes story which I really enjoyed as most players that are given this challenge do what the actual literal comp is. Your tribe showed the back story and the feelings and emotions (ps im the fight over what was it… one grain of rice? genius) and so I felt like I really got to know who you were as a tribe more than I was able with Parvati. I did have to knock down your storyline a tad bit because honestly, I had no idea what the fuck Regan was doing there. Was she Whitney…? Was she entire Parvati tribe winning..? Someone get me a wiki section on this as soon as possible please. Also speaking of Whitney… Does she actually exist and is ok with everyone theoretically voting her out or… idk yall got me fucked up. Loved it tho!

Total: 30/35

Overall Total: 107/140

So with that said, NuParvati, you are going to another tribal. Good luck. Your votes are due tomorrow, February 21st, at 9:30pm EST

[viralhottopics]

Can YouTube star PewDiePie survive this latest scandal?

An image from YouTube Red’s “Scare PewDiePie.”

Image: YouTube red

How far is too far?

For PewDiePie ranked Forbes‘ highest-paid YouTube star of 2015 and 2016 that question had never been a problem.

In the last year, the Swedish gamer has: tweeted that he and YouTuber Jacksepticeye have “joined ISIS“; bashed reporters for singling him out in articles about the Federal Trade Commission and Warner Bros. “pay for play” settlement; hated on a rival channel which stars a 5-year-old; and trolled fans by saying he would delete his channel after he reached 50 million subscribers but instead deleted a secondary channel he barely uses.

Despite this, most fans stood by PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg. His business partners remained silent about his often inappropriate jokes and actions.

SEE ALSO: YouTube cancels PewDiePie show after anti-Semitic jokes

But on Monday, PewDiePie’s trolling posting videos containing anti-Semitic “jokes” and Nazi imagery cost him his biggest business relationships: Disney and YouTube.

Disney’s digital entertainment company Maker Studios dropped PewDiePie after The Wall Street Journal’s extensive review of the YouTubers recent videos. YouTube subsequently canceled season two of its Red series Scare PewDiePie, and removed the star one of their biggest names from the Google Preferred advertising program.

Image: screenshot/youtube

This is the first time such a huge YouTube star arguably the biggest YouTuber has faced such repercussions for his actions.

Now, the industry is at a crossroads. Will businesses reliant on YouTubers for revenue scrutinize their content more? And if they do, will it even matter for these stars, who have already built their own massive followings?

“This is a critical moment for the oftentimes awkward dance that YouTubers and brands have been doing,” said Chris Allieri, principal, Mulberry & Astor, a communications and public affairs consultancy.”Its a risk for brands to associate with YouTube talent, especially the irreverent and at times controversial ones.”

If PewDiePie mostly survives this big of a scandal, it will mean that anything goes in the YouTube world. And businesses may not even have a say.

‘Broadcast Yourself’

Since its inception 10 years ago, YouTube has operated under the motto “broadcast yourself.”

That in turn has made the platform home to anyone and everyone who wants to voice their views via vlogging. Overnight, an average Joe with solid views could become a celebrity.

For that reason, fear of consequence doesnt prevail in the digital space. Most digital stars arent contracted at a studio and most dont have a small army of handlers to whom they are accountable.

Many digital influencers achieved fame for themselves. And since their uncensored selves are the reason for their fame, they dont listen anyway, many in the industry who have worked with creators have told Mashable.

Image: getty images

There have been other instances where agencies and PR firms have dropped clients over conduct. But it’s never been this public, nor has it been with someone considered one of YouTube’s biggest personalities.

YouTube has never really censored PewDiePie. The platform’s guidelines give creators permission to be satirical. However, controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown are prohibited.

In a statement sent to reporters early on Tuesday morning, a YouTube spokesperson confirmed that the platform has decided to kill Season 2 of PewDiePie’s show and remove the PewDiePie channel from Google Preferred. The company, however, will not remove any of his channels.

For some in the industry, PewDiePie’s scandal serves as a reminder of what needs to be done when creators cross the line.

“There should be repercussions for any talent on any medium for promoting hate and intolerance,” Keith Richman, president of Defy Media, said in an interview. “We should value free speech and his right to say it, but that does not mean there should not be repercussions.”

Others, like Allieri, said it will help YouTubers with positive messages rise.

“I think that the horrible comments PewDiePie made and equally important his troubling response to the backlash, will give pause to the savvier YouTubers who are looking to associate with brands, monetize their channels and want to be known for bringing folks together and making people feel good.”

Fan support vs. business backing

PewDiePie got his start in 2010 making funny videos of himself playing games. He was one of the pioneers of the now popular “Let’s Play” YouTube genre, which features video game-play alongside footage of the players narration and reactions.

Maker Studios, which Disney purchased in 2014 for a whopping $675 million, boasts a network of about 55,000 independent creators who collectively draw in 10 billion views per month. PewDiePie, who joined the network in 2012 with just 3 million subscribers, was their biggest star by far.

YouTube had him plastered on billboards across the globe. Susanne Daniels, Head of YouTube Originals, has used Scare PewDiePie as an example of a successful series that actually drew in fans to YouTube Red.

PewDiePie now has over 53 million subscribers to his main channel.

His book This Book Loves You made the New York Times bestseller list and his YouTube Red series Scare PewDiePie before being canceled was a top performer. His second video game, PewDiePies Tuber Simulator, was downloaded more than 1 million times within 24 hours of its release.

Some think losing Maker Studios and YouTube’s support will definitely damage PewDiePie’s reputation.

“The things he posted and portrayed give license to supremacism by normalizing hate speech,” Allieri said. “Disney, Maker and YouTube helped him grow his presence – without them (or his other advertisers) he will be seriously challenged. Whether or not he immediately loses followers will remain to be seen. But this is a black mark that he may never shed. Ever.”

But many of PewDiePie’s most fervent fans seem to disagree. On Twitter, some were confused why PewDiePie was trending (pointing out that he had made it on BBC News). Others called out Disney and YouTube for cutting ties.

Seriously. Why is everyone dropping @pewdiepie now? This is old news and obviously people don’t understand comedy.

Vicki T (@vickitm) February 14, 2017

In general, the attitude toward PewDiePie among the YouTube community has either been burning hatred or fervent love.

#pewdiepie is just a goofy Youtuber fitting for the OCD generation, not a modern Goebbels. Hunt some real Nazis, why don’tcha?

TheWonderingIsraeli (@WonderngIsraeli) February 14, 2017

Even YouTuber Phil DeFranco, known for his videos about news and pop culture, suggested on Twitter the news could elevate PewDiePie rather than harm him.

Also to people saying this is the end of @pewdiepie‘s career…You are so incredibly wrong. He has the advantage here. You just don’t see it

Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) February 14, 2017

YouTube star Casey Neistat, who announced in November that he is no longer going to keep a daily vlog, also weighed in.

“I’d like to preface all of it by saying I’ve met PewDiePie… in my very best judgment I don’t think the guy has a hateful bone in his body,” Neistat says in the video. “I don’t think his intent was to spread hate … [but] when you have 53 million subscribers it does come with a responsibility and that responsibility is to understand your audience and understand how your words are going to be interpreted. So while you are may be saying something is a joke, your audience may not always interpret it as that.”

PewDiePie didn’t respond to Mashable’s request for comment.

But on Sunday, he posted on his Tumblr that he wanted to clear some things up” about some of his videos featuring the anti-Semitic remarks.

“This originated from a video I made a couple of weeks ago,” he wrote in the post. “I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online. I picked something that seemed absurd to meThat people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars. I think its important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes. I make videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary. I know my audience understand that and that is why they come to my channel. Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive. As laughable as it is to believe that I might actually endorse these people, to anyone unsure on my standpoint regarding hate-based groups: No, I dont support these people in any way.”

Read more: http://ift.tt/2lerPY5

from Can YouTube star PewDiePie survive this latest scandal?

[samuellbronko]

cant we all just get along?

ive come back from a relaxing week away in Wilsons Prom to see this blow up once again. every day there's people posting hate/fear posts about Trump, racist/russia/sexist, the list is endless... yet when i post one simple statement of saying people should finally move on and let the man do his job, i get the total opposite in such nasty depth, i cbf'd reading through all the hate, the attacks, the bullshit derailing semantics, the intellectual stabs and in relentless volume, this is still going after a week - move on already ffs! in the end it just gets everyone more angry, upset & divided which wasnt my point, quite the contrary... my point was to simply move on from all this hate bullshit and accept reality but it's clear the next 4 years are going to be possibly the roughest in the history of american politics, and in turn creating more a separation and unrest globally... but i have faith we can all get along eventually...

it's shouldnt be about being right or wrong, it's about having an opinion and expressing yourself regardless what others may think, it's all perspective and how you see things personally... it's also about knowing when to stop smashing your head against the wall in this pointless online exercise... if anything these online debates have proven there's a massive divide in society nowadays, up there with cold war times and rising towards the peak of anti communism, neither side is willing to see where the other is coming from, particularly the left as they tend to be more stubborn / arrogant...

ive already lost many associates and even close friends from sharing my opinions, which is simply how i see things... people shouldnt hold a grudge or judge someone based on bullshit like this, if you are friends and have respect for each other, you should be able to look beyond the details you dont agree with, that's the basis of connection, of respect and deep bonds that shouldnt be so easily broken. unfortunately this idea which i thought was common practice is disappearing fast, people are choosing their moral stance or feel violated in someway that they stick to their tribe/collective that supports their beliefs, and if that means losing friends, even close ones you hold dear to your heart, then so be it... we are all so unique and with our own experiences shape us, so not one person can possibly be the same from every perspective... heck if i started to hold a grudge against everyone i know for their music/film/political/sexual/religious views, i would have no friends, as would everyone im quite certain!

this is the real downfall with the de-evolution of society nowadays... with so much war, fear mongering via mainstream media, consumerism, comparison to others, grass is always greener, more greed, more debt, more unease, less freedom, less expression, less exploration, we are on the brink of a global civil war... it shouldnt be hard to work out we are all humans, 1 race, not donkeys and snakes, but blacks, whites, hispanic, asian, muslim, euro, whatever the fuck you are, we are still all human genetically. so why are we fighting so much? why cant we all just get along? why is the divide get greater and greater?

after someone like Trump who comes into power out of left field, majority are triggered and cant deal with reality anymore, syntax error, their safe space is broken and there's not enough playdough or pet therapy to be able to cope with the fact that he speaks his mind, says the occasional out of line thing, who takes some hard lines on certain areas, but ultimately most of Trump's supporters believe he has the best interest of america as his priority. not like the last 20 years or so of bullshit power playing politics, inter family control & game playing, deception at the highest level in years.

if you want to really look at a problem, look at how Obama royally fucked everything, more debt than every president combined before him. more people on food stamps than ever before. funded and created isis, which in turned has destroyed libiya and now syria with over half a million people killed & millions displaced creating out refugee problem... obamacare made healthcare unaffordable for low to middle class, doubling in price after a short period in some states & having no other healthcare alternative... drone strikes became a huge thing while he was in power... not to mention TPP and many other global elite initiatives to line the pockets of the rich & forget and the working man...

yet no one is talking about this catastrophe that Obama left behind, why? has the media got such a stronghold with their mind control and propaganda that you arent able to think for yourself anymore? i think msm has a big part of dictating what people think and what they oppose to suit their agenda. even if you dont directly follow msm but majority are still within it's grasp cause of how social media distributes this information & how people interact offline, which slowly ingests into your psyche & takes over. mind control 101. oh but Obama has got such a great smile & is so charming, how could he do anything wrong!? that's how many see him, which is why Trump honest approach is such a contrast to Obama's deceptive ways and intellectual lawyer talk, twisting words into riddles, suggesting something without directly blaming someone...

Hillary was the worst choice for the DNC, majority agree with that, she would've picked up where Obama left off and fucked it royally for the next 4 years, 10 fold, cause she and her cronies are the definition of evil. i am quite certain in a short space of time something staged would happen and we would be with war with russia, which meant ww3, which meant us australians would be conscripted. so i thought it was vital to speak out about this potential disaster and be open to someone like Trump who i hated initially as well, due to my limited knowledge of his regime & personality. if she didnt rig the votes for sanders he wouldve been a more competitive opponent to Trump, instead it was a landslide...

independent thinking is becoming extinct, being an individual like what was happening in the 60s and 70s is out style and now taboo. people are forced to conform to the safety of the latest political correctness update, to ensure no one is offended, left out or miss-labelled. people like my friend Jean-Claude Esteller dont give a shit about these rules, and there's nothing wrong with that, in fact like Trump i respect him more for speaking his mind with no filter, even if i dont agree with everything he says and his tone. if you cant tolerate how someone speaks, walk away, hide the post or unfollow the person, simple. no need to make such a fuss about how someone expresses themselves, that is their right. this unfiltered way of thinking, talking and acting is what got Trump into power, majority of the states agree & voted him in cause they respect someone who is willing to speak their mind, not play the pc safe game that society has created and now expect. they wanted change and they got it.

it's a real shame things have come to such a breaking point. the only way we have to move forward in a positive path is to become one again. there's a thing called collective consciousness and even if you arent spiritual, most will admit we are somehow all connected. consciousness has been proven to exist and science acknowledges this, yet they cant prove it exists... at times like this when society is so angry and divided, it's hard to see that we are all on this earth for the same reason, and to get along, be in a collective harmony of love and respect, rather than hate and isolation/separation. we have converted back to primal ways with tribe mentality. everyone grouping together and taking out the minority who dont conform to the collective way of thinking/acting/speaking. we have become more like our former primate form, behaviour of monkeys and other primates prove this is how they still behave. since many feel like their morals and way of life have been threatened, without even realising we are reverting to this tribe mentality for survival... when in fact we should get back on track to the evolved form of homosapiens, not just intelligent and process/technology driven, but intuitive, love and compassion, global unity... so we as a species can survive the pending doom if we continue on this path of destruction of mother earth and separation to the point of extinction of the human race...

if we do manage to slowly become one and work together to help the planet, be self sufficient without natural resources, help each other and love one another, we could actually evolve into a higher level of consciousness like never before, the next evolution from our primal state... i strongly believe that this will be the only way we survive the next 10000 years, even the next 10-20 years with how things are constantly crumbling, a critical shift has to occur. we all can play our part since we are all connected, by being good to one another, sharing and helping others, focus on healing yourself and overcoming past trauma and blocks/triggers that affect your daily life, avoid worries from the past and future that keep you from being present and more free without these restrictions. love over hate, forgiveness over resentment & retaliation, affection and generosity rather than greed and isolation...