#so it was easier than I expected to narrow this down to ~10 high profile entries

[write-crawler]

Why culture matters, especially in times of economical crisis

A defense of Brazilian SAT (ENEM)'s essay theme: “Democratization of access to movies”

B A C K G R O U N D - What is ENEM?

The ENEM - Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (National High School Exam) - is one of the most important tests for high school kids. It's a chance to get into an university, it's a chance to get into a public university - which, in Brazil, are free of tuition and are usually the highest ranking universities of the country. It's the Brazilian SAT.

The test is divided into Humanities, Languages, and an essay - which are tested on the first day - and Mathematics, Sciences, and Biology - tested on the second day. The ENEM happens all across the country in the first 2 Sundays of November, starting at 1:30 pm and lasts a maximum of 5 hours and 30 minutes. That means the first half happened already this past Sunday (November 3rd, 2019).

This is the first ENEM applied under the Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, far-right politician who got elected in 2018. Last year, he criticized the test and a specific question about language that used as example a dialect used by the Brazilian transgender community. This is also the first ENEM that had an ideological screening. Also the first ENEM that had no questions about the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964 - 1985)  - which Bolsonaro supported and still openly supports - or about the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1937 - 1946), who was a nazi and fascism sympathizer. 

T H E   E S S A Y - The “controversy”, its history, and my opinion

The essay is a dissertative-argumentative one that requires students to present na introduction, thesis, argumentation, conclusion, and a solution proposal. Every year it has a different theme, which the candidates only find out what it is when they recieve the test. It is released to the press and public later on the day, while candidates are still taking the test. This year the theme was "Democratization of the access to movies". And, like always, many many people complained about it. 

Part of the complaints were about how there are many other important topics to discuss, such as the fires in the Amazon rainforest or other political matters more closely connected to Jair Bolsonaro and his government. Other complaints were that most Brazilians don’t have access to the movies – only 10% of the country’s cities have movie theaters -, so it was very hard for most of the candidates to talk about that theme, making the theme unfair. A tweet that became viral after the test reports a candidate saying “Dude, some days, my house doesn’t even have water, and they want me to write about the democratization of movies”. So, basically, the complaints are that the movies are a reality that is too far away for many Brazilians and there are other social problems that affect everyone, which makes them more important than the movies. 

What these people aren’t getting about the theme is that it is not about movies. Or rather, it’s not just about movies. It’s about democracy and accessibility. But, because these two topics are too broad and the essay has a limit of 30 lines, with a focus on movies. The essay didn’t require you to explain why “The Shape of Water” wasn’t just a monsterfucker fantasy of Guillermo del Toro. It didn’t require you to point out all the symbolism in “Donnie Darko”. Or to talk about how “Fight Club” is an amazing criticism of current society. It didn’t require any knowledge of cinema or movies because it wasn’t about it. It wasn’t necessary to have ever stepped foot in a movie theater to be able to talk about this theme. Because the actual keywords of the theme are “democratization” and “access”. The “movies” part was there simply to help candidates narrow down the topics, to make it easier to talk about these topics.

This year’s theme has suffered the same criticism so many past themes have suffered, because people want the simple and obvious themes. And, to accomplish that, they reduce the theme to just one word. They take the word in the theme that is meant to help you think about the others and make it the theme of the essay.

For example, in 2018 the theme was “Manipulation of user behavior by internet data control”. Everyone said the theme was hard and that it was “the internet”. It was NOT about the internet. It was about how the internet is used to MANIPULATE people, how it is used to CONTROL and TRACK people’s behaviors. We all saw the election of Donald Trump in 2016 happen with a lot of fake news in the internet. We saw in 2018 Bolsonaro get elected by bombarding conservative’s WhatsApp groups with fake news. We KNOW Facebook tracks us and our behavior so they’ll know what ads to show us. Hell, Facebook watches us so closely, they can make shadow profiles of people who don’t have a Facebooks account.  So, if in the ENEM of 2018, you talked about the internet, and not about the manipulation of internet data, you failed the essay.

And 2017’s theme wasn’t deaf people. It was “Dificulties in the education of deaf people”. I did the ENEM that year. And, like most, I thought “fuck” when I read the theme. I, like so many others, complained on the internet about the theme, about how hard it was. And yet, I scored a 840 out of 1000 on my essay. It’s a really good score that would’ve gotten me into several good colleges. How did I manage to get a 840 even though I knew very little about the life of someone with a hearing disability? It’s not because I’m fucking incredible, or because I’m gifted, supersmart or because I suddenly developed an empathical bond with every deaf person in Brazil that allowed me to write the essay. But because I focused first on the first words of the theme, because I thought about the Brazilian educational system, it’s flaws, what affected me and those close to me. Then, after I identified the problems, I figured out how deaf people are affected by them. The theme didn’t require you to be na expert on deafness or to personally be deaf or know a deaf person. You had to think about Brazil’s educational system, the flaws it has and how could they be worse for deaf people. It required you to think about inclusion, disabilities, diversity, and, most of all, education, schools. So, if in 2017 you talked about deaf people instead of their inclusion in schools, you fucked up.

And here is the thing, and maybe you’ve noticed it already, the ENEM’s essay is always about social issues. More specifically, social issues regarding citizenship, democracy, and inclusion. No matter the theme, these three topics, somehow, are always involved in the discussion – because that’s the estructure of the essay. So the theme will never be about just one word or one concept. It’ll always be more complex than that. For more proof, let’s look at all the other previous themes since ENEM’s beggining:  

2016: Ways to fight religious intolerance in Brazil

2015: The persistency of violence against women in Brazilian society

2014: The question of child advertising in Brazil

2013: Effects of the prohibition in Brazil

2012: Immigration movement to Brazil in the 21st century

2011: Linving online in the 21st century: the limits between public and private

2010: The work (as in job) in building human dignity

2009: The individual facing national ethics

2008: How to preserve the Amazon rainforest: immediatly suspend deforestation; give financial incentives to landowners that stop deforesting; or increase law enforcement and impose fines on those who deforest

2007: The challenge of living with differences

2006: The transformative power of reading

2005: Child labor in Brazilian society

2004: How to garantee freedom of information and avoid abuses in the means of communication

2003: The violence in Brazilian society: how to change the rule of this game

2002: The right to vote: how to make of this conquest a way to promote the social changes that Brazil needs?

2001: Development and environmental preservation: how to conciliate these conflicting interests?

2000: Children and teenagers’ rights: how to face this national challenge

1999: Citizenship and social participation

1998: Living and learning

Apart from 1998’s theme, which really is simplistic, all others contain at least one of the topics I mentioned above: citizenship, democracy, and inclusion – perhaps not explicit in the title, but if you think about them, it’s not hard to get to these topics. And all the themes are about social issues. So this is why 2019’s theme is not, in any way, shape or form, a divergence from ENEM’s usual estructure. It’s true that it’s been a long while since ENEM’s essay tackled culture, but it still follows the usual formula, it still expects the same things from 2019’s candidates that it expected from the candidates of previous years.

Another part of the criticism that I haven’t addressed yet: that there are more important themes to discuss.

Honestly, Brazil has always been a country that didn’t give a shit about culture in general so this shouldn’t surprise me. Like most Third World countries, we serve only to supply Europe and the USA with raw materials and give them our natural resources. This isn’t by choice, by the way, that’s the result of living under colonization and USAmerican imperialism. The USA has kept a very tight leash on Brazil, us being it’s most loyal follower in South America – and, when we aren’t that loyal, the USA is quick to orchestrate a coup. And because of all of this, Brazilian society has na ironic culture of dismissing culture. Or rather, dismissing critical thinking and the arts and anything that isn’t pragmatical or practical. What matters here are real jobs, jobs that make money. You go to college so you can work, not to get culture. Because culture is for the elites and, unfortunately, that’s how Brazil wants to keep it.

 The lower social classes are taught to only care about majors that will get them a job. Here, we have a thing called Technical Education, and it’s purpose is solely to prepare kids to work. Like the name suggests, it’s just technical information, it doesn’t encourage or teaches critical thinking – again, because in Brazilian mentality, that’s all you need to do, work and shut up. You can opt for Technical Education rather than go to High School – the subjects that are required in High School are integrated with others – or you can do it after High School. Technical Education is NOT college, it doesn’t count as college or superior education. So, again, it really is meant to keep poor people away from college and culture and just get them to work. In 2016, after leftist President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment – or coup, depends on your political position and how you see the process – and her right-wing VP, Michel Temer, took over, Technical Education started being encouraged a lot on TV with government advertisement. After Temer took over, it was passed a reform of our Educational System that no longer required schools to teach philosophy.

Currently, Bolsonaro’s government has constantly attacked education, especially public universities. Like I said before, public universities in Brazil are free of tuition, which means that it’s the only chance for many to go to college. And public colleges here also have social and racial quotas, some universities even have transgender quotas, to help the less privileged students get into colleges as part of historic reparations. One of the biggest projects of Bolsonaro’s government is to end all these quotas, making diversity in universities drop even lower. And his government also wants to impose monthly fees on public universities, claiming that those who attend public universities can afford it (we can’t, asshole). (Also, here’s the thing about a right given to you by the Constitution: if you have to pay for it, then it’s no longer right, it’s a privilege. So, charging anything at a public university is unconstitutional. Charging for education is against the Constitution.)

What is also concerning, is the project Future-se (comes from the word “futuro” meaning “future”), nicknamed Fature-se (a play on the name, comes from “fatura” meaning “bill”), that would make public universities depend on financial aid from private companies. Meaning that only the colleges, only the areas, that can be capitalized and/or that appeal to the capitalist market, would get fundings. That means, arts and human sciences are doomed. Those two areas already don’t have enough funding and already suffer with attacks from conservatives, constantly, for not being “productive” and not producing “anything” for society, now imagine when they have data from private companies refusing to invest in those areas. We’ll be cut for sure. Especially because the project states that it is meant to supply the entrepreneurial sector, the privates sector of economy. It’s not about giving back to the community, it’s about fueling capitalism. The project also allows private companies to buy and name buildings of the college. So, literally, you could have na auditorium at a public university called Wall-Mart or Jeff Bezos. Totally not capitalist propaganda, right?

This capitalism-covenient project comes at a time where Universities are struggling to pay their bills – because the State has made a cut on fundings (BOLSONARO’s government cut the fundings, it’s directly his fault a need for financial aid coming from outside the government is even needed). Another area that has suffered a lot of financial cuts is – guess it – culture!

I know I went on and on and on about Brazilian education, but I needed you to understand just a little bit of the extent that the higher classes will go to to keep the lower classes away from anything that may teach them critical thinking. Culture, movies, literature, and paintings are all things that make us look critically at our society. Art has always existed as a form of protest, as a form of expressing your political beliefs, be it left or right wing beliefs. To keep it away from the population, to restrict it, is to put restrictions on our souls, minds, and, obviously, freedom. We need the fictional to function in reality.

Fiction is not reality, obviously. But it doesn’t exist on a vaccum. It feeds on reality and it feeds reality, they’re both stuck in an endless cycle. Fiction isn’t reality, but it does have the most potential, out of anything, to change reality. If it didn’t, fascists wouldn’t need to burn books. If fiction didn’t matter, there would be no censorship of song lyrics under dictatorial regimes. If it didn’t matter, Bolsonaro wouldn’t have felt the need to extinguish the Ministry of Culture, turn it into the Secretary of Culture and put the son of a pastor in charge of it. If it didn’t matter, Bolsonaro wouldn’t have cut 43% of the National Cinema Agency (Ancine)’s budget for 2020 – making it the lowest since 2012. If it didn’t matter, Bolsonaro wouldn’t have threatened to end Ancine because of the movie “Bruna Surfistinha”, which told the story of a teenager who ended up being a prostitute. If it didn’t matter, Bolsonaro wouldn’t have censored LGBTQ+ themed movies that were being made by Ancine. And if it didn’t matter, Bolsonaro wouldn’t have asked Ancine to make a movie about himself, and the rise of the Brazilian reactionary movement. If it didn’t matter, Crivella, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, wouldn’t have tried to enter a book event with the police to aprehend a Marvel Avengers comic book because it had two gay characters kissing in it. If it didn’t matter, they wouldn’t care.

But they do, a lot. Because, like I said, fiction doesn’t exist in a vaccum, it exists with reality. And so, what we see in fictional work has come from reality, in one way or the other. Because if you see gay people in a comic book, it’s because gay people exist. If there’s transgender people in movies or in a book, it’s because transgender people exist in real life. If minorities exist in fiction, it’s because they exist in reality. And what bothers them is not that we are present in books, but that we are present in real life. And, since genocide would take more effort, they take the easy way out and try to kill us in fiction hoping that it will lead to our dissapearence from real life. That’s why censorship happens. That’s why representation matters.

Protecting culture means protecting the rights of people to exist and be seen. And that is a political act. Shouldn’t be, but it is. Because the right is very firm and clear about the fact that they don’t want groups of people to exist because of who they are.

And, no, that’s not the same as antifa. Antifa hates fascists because their ideology inhenrently wants to persue the genocide of minorities. Antifa hates fascists because of what they believe in, not because of who they are. If antifa confronts a fascist, the fascist can say they regret defending that ideology and leave it behind. Antifa maybe won’t buy their motives, but will leave them alone. However, when it comes to fascists, either they lose or we die. It’s not the same.

But back to culture, literature and movies are a important part of people’s political position formation. Like I said before, education is not accessible to all and critical thinking isn’t being taught to many lower classes kids. So, for these kids that don’t have access to theorical texts – and, even if they did get their hands on these books, the vocabulary would probably be too hard for them (not because they’re stupid, but simply because no one has taught them these words and meanings before) and the quantity of information is not one they’re used to, making the text hard to digest and understand – movies are a great way to show them the ugly truths of our society in a way that they can understand.

Movies like “Freedom Writers” are very, very important to show exactly everything I’ve been saying so far. The movie is based on a real story about a teacher, Erin Gruwell, who starts teaching at a High School in 1995 where a lot of students are poc and involved with gangs, living in poverty and in violent neighborhoods. Gruwell understands the reality of these students and introduce them to books they can relate to, but that also teach them about history, the history of oppresed minorities – like the Diary of Anne Frank and the Diary of Zlata Filipovic. She knows these students won’t respond to textbooks, or hundreds of grammar lessons that seem meaningless to them. So she buys them books. Books written by teenagers like them who they can relate to. Now, I know these books aren’t fiction, but, still, they’re literature and they changed the lives of those teenagers – some of them were the first to graduate High School on their families. But as for the movie telling these stories, it’s essential that kids on the same situation as these teenagers see it. They have to see kids like them on TV going through the same things and making it out alive, well, and going to college. It’s important for them to see a teacher buy the Diary of Anne Frank to a group of teenagers deemed stupid by the educational system. It’s important that they see that the reason they might not understand Diary of Anne Frank isn’t because they’re stupid, but because they didn’t have a Erin Gruwell to help them, to explain it to them.

But “Freedom Writers” isn’t the only movie that does that. “Que Horas Ela Volta”, a Brazilian movie titled “Second Mother” in English, tells the story of Val, a woman who left her young daughter in the Northeast of Brazil to be a nanny, then domestic maid, in the Southeast, working for na affluent family – and living with them. She leaves her daughter in a poor state, with her grandmother, while she takes care of someone else’s son. Years later, Val’s daughter, Jessica, asks to stay with her for a while so she can take na entrance exam for a public university, the same one the family’s son, Fabinho, is trying to get into. As Jessica lives with them, she questions the unspoken and tight rules that dictate the places each social class gets to ocupate, creating tension within the household.

Brazilian TV series, “Assédio” (“Harrassment”), talks about a doctor at a fertilization clinic who is exposed for sexually abusing and even raping his patients. “Saneamento básico” (“Basic sanitation”) is a comedy about how the lack of basic sanitation changes a small town – the residents decide to make a movie, that has to be of a fictional story, to shed light on the sanitary problem they face. “Cidade de Deus” (“City of God”) talks about the favelas, the “slums”, police brutality, and racism. “Central do Brasil” (“Central of Brazil”) is about a retired teacher who writes letters that are dictated for her by poor people who are illiterate, and want to send letters to realtives. “Larte-se” is about a transgender cartoonist who started transitioning at 59 years old. “Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho” (“Today I Want To Go Back Alone”) is about a blind gay boy. “O Filho Eterno” (“The Eternal Son”) is about a couple who happily waits for their first son, and then find out the child has Down Syndrome.

See, all these movies are extremely relevant themes. All of them could be cited in an ENEM essay. All these movies are very political. All these movies talk about problems of our society and inequality. They show what life is like for those less privileged. To see those fictional stories, is to develop a better understanding of how society works and it’s problems. To see those fictional stories is to develop a bigger empathy for those suffering.

And to keep them away from people, to censor movies, to keep the price of movie tickets high, to restrict what stories can be told, is to limit the population’s right to think for ourselves. Think and criticize. It’s a violation of free speech, it’s a violation of democracy.

In times of economical crisis, the right rises with “magical” solutions for the economy that almost always means cuting the fundings of arts and encouranging the lower classes to work. Work, not think. It is in those times of crisis that music, movies, and literature suffer bigger and bigger attempts of being crushed. Because art is political, because to do art you have to think. And it is in those times that we must protect the most the arts. It is in those times that we have to do what we can to make the arts accessible.

And this is why the democratization of access to the movies is a very very important theme. And this is why culture matters, especially in times of economical crisis.

So we can think. So we can fight. So we can survive. So we can thrive. 

[the-darklings]

earth is warmer when you laugh [2];

pairing: connor x reader

chapter summary: “Aim for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land amongst the stars.”

word count: 3.8 k+

a/n: You guys are honestly the most amazing people ever. Thank you so much for all your supportive messages/likes/reblogs (the first part broke 700 notes I *cry*). I was scared stiff to post this because I wasn’t sure if my writing was any good, especially after not writing for so long but I’m so glad that you all enjoyed it. And due to popular demand, this will now be a full length story. I’m cross-uploading it on Ao3 as well if some of you find it easier to read it on there. Hope you enjoy part 2!

FIRST  | AO3 | THIRD

———

“Lieutenant’s desk is this way.”

Immensely grateful for the guidance, you quickly followed Connor as he led you deeper into the office space. Unfortunately, you were not oblivious to glares and cold looks directed his way when he walked past.

Perhaps it was understandable. Connor was clearly the first of his kind; in a sense that he was directly involved with investigations, an unheard of feat for any android. While police did use androids for general work being so involved with cases clearly made people uneasy, and with that unease came distrust and anger.

Nevertheless, the idea of people treating their computers or phones with more respect than androids made anger boil in your veins. Androids may not be humans—not in a physical, tangible sense—but they were still alive, and deserved at least some measure of respect.

“Lieutenant Anderson,” Connor’s voice rang out as he halted before a desk, causing you to almost bump into him. “This is your newest assistant (Name).”

You glanced over his slim shoulders to look at the man seated behind a desk. He looked weathered, his grey hair unkempt and beard untrimmed. A crushing sort of weight seemed to weight him down, the slumped set of his shoulders rising briefly as if he tried to fight off irritation.

The man finally lifted his head, bright blue eyes narrowing upon spotting Connor before sliding slowly towards you. His bloodshot eyes narrowed even further, accenting the deep bags under his eyes.

It was as you stared at the deep age lines on his face that you realised something absolutely ridiculous.

He’s completely hungover.

Taking a step forward, you extended your hand towards the man, shooting Connor a quick glance. He appeared unsurprised by the state of their supervisor and observed your interaction with mild interest.

“It’s pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant,” you began, “My name is (Name). I hope to learn much under your command.”

Anderson looked you up and down without taking your hand, “Oh yes, Seattle’s youngest and brightest,” he stated voice full of disdain. “How old are you anyway kid?”

Letting your hand fall, you stared at the man in front of you incredulously. Ignoring his judgemental stare you replied with a slight smile, “Age is no guarantee of efficiency,” you told him before adding, “sir.”

Anderson snorted, bending down to his work again; a clear dismissal that stung more than you expected. You’ve been so excited to work with this man. He was a high profile detective, or had been, once, before alcohol clearly unmade him like it did so many others.

“My age does not reflect my ability, sir,” you explained hastily, “If you would just listen—”

“No kid, you listen,” Anderson cut you off. “It’s bad enough they forced this tin can on me, now some rookie from Seattle? I don’t care if you think you’re some big shot over there, okay? Here you do what I say and we take it from there. Understood?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Anderson,” you acknowledged coolly. “But you should know that I’ve been looked down on before and it will not stop me from proving my worth.”

Anderson blinked a few times as if shocked before his eyes widened. “Jesus, kid. That’s not what I meant,” he explained, running a hand over his face with exasperation. “Just keep your head down and work hard. And call me Hank.”

Anderson—Hank—stumbled to his feet and grabbed his phone before turning to you, gaze suddenly focused on Connor who still hadn’t moved from your side. You had almost forgotten he was there.

“You show (Name) around, got it?” he directed his words at Connor who nodded marginally.

“Certainly Lieutenant,” he replied swiftly. “Are you departing already? I must remind you that we still have unfinished reports to deal with.”

Hank rolled his eyes and shooting an irritated look the androids’ way marched past you both.

“Then finish them,” he snapped gruffly, and then he was gone.

You stared at the closed elevator door in mild disbelief.

“That was—he—”

You couldn't finish your sentence, completely lost for words. It wasn’t that Hank was unkind, but you did not expect him to be so...irritable, or hungover.

“Yes, as far as first meetings go that was not the best one,” Connor pointed out drily.

Despite yourself, you chuckled weakly at his poor attempt at humour.

—x—x—

Detroit was beautiful in the early morning sun.

The vast contrast between the modern and the old was striking. It was like the city was divided into two different factions, not quite settling on either. One turn led to skyscrapers and busy concrete pathways while others to abandoned, boarded-up shop windows with dirty alleyways.  

Still, you preferred to avoid big crowds if you could, so doing your shopping in the morning was much preferable. You still needed some basics for your new flat. Mundane, uninteresting things like a kettle and a toaster.

Wrapping your coat tighter around yourself to battle the early morning chill, you gazed thoughtfully at different shop displays. After a quick search on the internet, you found that this Shopping Center was closest to where you lived; a pleasant 10-minute walk to be exact. It was both a good way to stretch your legs and see more of the neighbouring area.

Humming to yourself, you were in the middle of comparing two different toasters when the sound of a commotion reached your ears.

Turning quickly, you spotted a group of anti-android protestors not far from you. Their leader, a tall, sneering man was violently manhandling an android.   

“Hey,” you snapped angrily when you saw the man roughly push the android over. “What the hell are you doing?”

Running towards them, you pushed your hand against the protester’s chest who was readying himself for a kick.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” the man growled lowly. “I'm going to show this stupid machine where its place is.”

You pushed yourself in the man’s path, pulling out your new badge. Few protesters recoiled upon noticing the police badge but the sneering man looked untroubled. If anything his expression seemed to tighten even further, a scalding sort of fury in his eyes.

“You touch that android and I'll arrest you and all your buddies for destruction of property,” you replied coldly. “Disruption of peace and breach of android law number 38. You really want that?”

Truthfully, you would only be able to arrest the man since he was the instigator of the attack but it would be easier just to scare them all off.

The man took a sudden step towards you and you tensed, reading yourself for a fight. But he only leaned forward, towering over you, only a breath away from your face. His expression was hateful; all pinched mouth and sneers, no sign of kindness or compassion to be found.

“I despise people like you,” he snarled quietly, his words meant only for you. “Protecting these machines, treating them as equals. You make me sick. One day when those things take over your job and leave your family hungry and desperate... I hope you'll remember this moment.”

With that, he shoved past you roughly, his shoulder colliding with yours. You managed to keep your expression neutral though your body refused to relax as you watched the man and his friends walk away. Angry people often did stupid things, you knew this from experience, and that man struck you as the type to lose self-control. His words, while undoubtedly bitter, did not hurt you nor did they make you question yourself. You were proud of your resolve and refuse to change your mind just because so many thought you should. Maybe if people just stopped being so angry things would be better.

Sighing, you pocketed your badge before turning your attention to the fallen android. He was on his knees, staring blankly at the slight bruise on his palm.

“Hey, are you injured?”

The android moved his head up so you could see his face, his bright green eyes startling you for a moment. He only gazed at you patiently, not saying a word before you knelt before him, carefully touching his palm.

“What’s your name?” you inquired patiently. “Is there anyone I could call?”

The android shook his head once, a precise and practised motion before he answered, “I am detecting no internal damage,” he told you before adding, “My name is Markus.”

You nodded, gingerly picking up his fallen parcel.

“It’s nice to meet you, Markus, I’m (Name),” you introduced yourself as you got to your feet, outstretching your hand towards the fallen android.

He peered at you unblinkingly for a moment before placing his hand in yours. You knew the gesture was unnecessary since the android stood up in one fluid motion, but you still wanted to make sure that he was truly alright.

“I’m very sorry about those guys,” you said regretfully. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright getting home?”

“Violence is not an uncommon response to my kind.”

You felt anger ring through you at the casual, matter-of-fact way he said it. Like it was to be expected. Like it was normal.

“I can understand their anger,” you countered immediately, frustration clear in your voice. “But it absolutely does not give them the right to attack the first person they see. It’s not right.”

Markus tilted his head to one side sharply, eyes focusing on you for one uncomfortable moment. It was like someone had pressed the Pause button on his entire existence. After another few seconds, you started to grow concerned for his well being, wondering if he was truly undamaged in the fall.

“Markus?”

The android blinked a few times, and only then did you notice his flickering indicator; a clear sign that he was processing something.

“I apologise but I must return to my owner now.”

You jumped slightly at his abrupt reply, “Yeah, of course.”

His gaze shifted down and you suddenly remembered that you still help his parcel in your hands.

“Sorry,” you said with a slight, embarrassed laugh. “There you go.”

But as you extended the parcel towards him, you caught the name printed on the packaging and faltered.

“You paint?” you questioned excitedly, an enthusiastic grin breaking across your face.

Markus shook his head in reply, gently taking the parcel from your hands. “I do not, but my owner does.”

“My best friend Steph paints as well,” you divulged happily. “She is really good too! Had a show in Seattle last year and everything. She mostly paints still life but it’s so inspiring—”

You trailed off because thinking about Steph made you think about Seattle and how different things were now. How much you had lost, including Steph—especially Steph. Markus was still staring at you. Expression almost eerily familiar to the expression on Connor’s face yesterday. Like something incredibly difficult and confusing was placed before them that they could not figure out.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't hold you any longer.”

Markus hesitated, a moment of brief uncertainty crossing his face before he nodded again in that felicitous manner.

“Please be careful,” you shot his way with a brief wave before turning in the opposite direction, starting your journey towards work, earlier shopping trip post-noted for now.

Just before you turned the corner, you glanced back and almost stopped when you realised Markus had not moved.

In fact, he was in the exact same spot, bright green eyes focused on your retreating figure.

—x—x—

“Good morning Bob!”

The android in question raised his head slowly at your jovial greeting. The redhead woman from yesterday sneered at you as you stopped by the desk. Crinkling her nose in distaste, she turned back to face her computer, trying to pretend she wasn’t listening to your conversation.

“It is indeed morning Miss (Name),” was the androids dispassionate reply and you grinned at him. Bob was clearly an older model. DH-230 was one of the oldest models still in circulation by CyberLife and you couldn't help but be surprised that the police department still used such an old model. Bob’s model lacked adaptability and ease the newest models—Connor came to mind almost immediately—had.

“Are you alright?” you questioned easily as you placed your palm against the scanner.

Bob blinked slowly, his indicator flickering for a few seconds before he dipped his head once.

“I detect no system errors,” he finally concluded.

The redhead snorted loudly and you shot her a hard look before turning your attention back to Bob. “I’m glad to hear it. If anyone tries to pick a fight you tell me right away, okay?”

You spoke purposely loudly, casting a meaningful look in the redhead’s direction. The not so subtle hint seemed to fly over Bob’s head, however, his face an unshifting mask of indifference.

“I will be sure to inform you of any transgressions Miss (Name).”

“Good.”

With last firm glance at the woman, you waved at Bob who only watched you silently as you walked towards the elevator. Pressing the familiar button you relaxed, allowing your mind to wonder. While yesterday was all about getting settled in—something Connor graciously helped you with—there was still much to be done. Real work would start today and there was a lot to cover if Connor’s offhand remarks were accurate. With Hank’s...issues, it was perhaps no surprise that they assigned an additional person to the investigation.

When the elevator halted to a stop, you immediately stepped out, allowing other people in before you moved towards your table. Thankfully Connor suggested simply sharing the workspace since according to him he did not require much space. The idea of sitting by yourself somewhere else on the floor did not exactly appeal to you. As such, you were happy you managed to work out a better solution.

Speaking of the android, you spotted him almost instantly, his jacket sticking out in a sea of mundane clothing. When you got closer, you had to suppress a laugh at the stiff way Connor sat in his chair, hands folded carefully in his lap. It was perhaps the most un-human thing you’ve seen him do so far—and considering the near frightening way he could adapt and mimic human interactions—it said a lot.

“Good morning Connor.” you greeted pleasantly.

Your slight smile grew when you noticed how Connor immediately turned towards the sound of your voice. The neutral expression on his face lifted slightly, something almost pleasant flickering across it before he inclined his head in greeting. “Good morning (Name). I trust you had a pleasant night’s rest.”

“It was good, thanks,” you answered, taking off your jacket, eyes sliding towards the empty table in front of yours. “Lieutenant’s still not here?”

Connor replied without looking away, “Indeed not. We should not expect him until noon, if at all. As such, may I suggest we get started?”

Exhaling in astonishment you only nodded, almost falling into your seat. The pile of documents you had to go through was...substantial to say the least. The sooner you started the better.

Unfortunately, it took you only ten minutes of work to come to a sickening realisation.

“This is completely unbelievable,” you muttered in shock, Connor pausing his work beside you, inquisitive gaze focused on you. “This is isn’t just a problem. Deviancy in this city is more of a—I don’t know, an epidemic? Is it really this excessive?”

Connor blinked silently, still focusing on you. “It is,” he told you simply. “It’s the reason CyberLife sent me in. With my involvement, they believe this investigation will be solved quicker. I can only assume that is the reason you were assigned as well.”     

You glanced at him curiously. He told you yesterday how he was a prototype designed specifically to adapt and learn in order to make integration easier. He was designed for police work that much was clear but he was still unlike any other android you’ve ever seen.

He was expressive for one. Even now his face shifted between micro expressions; a slow shift of his facial muscles, a few blinks, a crease between his brows or shift of his shoulders. While he was still so clearly an android something about Connor was inherently different.

“(Name)?” he prompted faintly.

Blinking rapidly you snapped your gaze away from him, “Sorry, really spaced out there,” you explained with a weak chuckle.

You fell back into work easily, making good progress on the giant pile on your desk before noon. Which is ironically when Hank decided to slip in, a troubling sort of stumble in his step. Even from the distance, you could smell the acidic sting of alcohol. If anything he looked even worse than he did yesterday; bleary-eyed and scowling like the world was out to get him.

“Good morning Lieutenant,” Connor greeted drily. “How are you this afternoon?”

Trying, and failing, to smother your grin, you glanced at Hank who shot the android a furious glare. He muttered something angrily under his breath before seating himself down heavily.

You and Connor continued looking at him before Hank looked up and snapped, “What are you two looking at?”

You sighed wearily before muttering, “Would you like some painkillers, sir? You look like you need them.”

Hank scowled at you fiercely, looking like he was about to unload some not-so-kind words towards you before, eventually, nodding reluctantly.            

Ignoring Connor’s unwavering gaze, you fished out a few tablets that you passed to the man. Still scowling, he swallowed them dry before getting to his own pile of work with a pained expression. You shared a brief look with Connor before focusing on your own work once again.

There was only silence after that, but silence was better than tension.

—x—x—

Hank only stayed till 5 before declaring that he had “things to do” which you were starting to realise translated roughly to “getting drunk”. He at least looked more human than he did when he walked in. Connor met his words with a flicker of distaste on his face but did not comment.

“Don’t worry I’m not going anywhere,” you told him tiredly, rubbing the bridge of your nose. “There’s still way too much to go through.”

And there was. The list of leads, evidence, and anonymous tips seemed endless. Reports that needed to be written or altered or archived even more so. Police work always involved paperwork, it was just the way it was, but this was getting irksome.

Together you worked tirelessly for another few hours, the station almost empty now before you realised that your eyes felt like sandpaper and the words before you were blurring. You leaned in your chair with a sharp exhale.

“I think it’s time to call it a day,” you concluded, exhaustion clear in your voice. “We can pick it up tomorrow.”

Connor tilted his head to one side, the gesture making him look young—almost bemused—before he rose from his chair. He looked exactly like he did this morning, not a single crease of tiredness or fatigue to be found on his face.

Another reminder, you thought to yourself silently.

“Thank you for today Connor,” you mentioned thoughtfully, tidying your space. “I’m starting to think that you’re godsend.”

It was true. Connor was staggeringly efficient. Without him, you doubted you would have gotten through half the pile. Now, less than half remained.

Connor shifted his focus to you, rubbing his hands together in a manner that made you pause. It was—it was such a human tick to have, something someone may do if they were nervous or uneasy.

Another oddity, you thought perturbed.

The familiar crease between his brows was back, a tiny flicker of his indicator showcasing his unease with something.

“You are welcome,” he replied, gesturing for you to walk in front of him. “We made good progress today.”

He appeared pleased about that as he fell into step beside you. You both exited the police station side by side, the nippy autumn air instantly biting at your nose.

At least it wasn’t raining.

In fact, the night was cold and clear, full moon hanging like a silent, sentient guardian in the sky.

Walking down the steps you spoke, “We make a good team,” you mused with a slight grin. “Although I do admit this was not what I expected when I transferred here. I guess it will look better on my resume if I stick with it.”

Connor paused, staring towards you curiously, “Was Detroit not your intended destination?”

“Oh no,” you quickly replied, coming to a stop. “It was. It’s definitely a step up from Seattle. But my dream is to work in Washington. I would like to join the FBI one day. But it’s not that easy, you know? Especially when you don’t have much field experience.”

“Your ambition is admirable.”

You blinked a few times before a startled laugh left your mouth. Glancing towards the sky, you stretched your hand forward, covering the beautiful and glowing moon, “When I was little my grandmother used to tell me: “Shoot for the moon, little one, even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars.” And now I always do.”

“Norman Vincent Peale.” was his immediate retort.

You felt, rather than heard, Connor come to stand beside you. You didn’t look away from your outstretched hand, but you couldn't help but smile wider when you felt his focused gaze on you.

After a second your smile faltered, a bloom of sadness taking root in your soul. “My mother used to call me a dreamer,” you began faintly. “A dreamer of impossible dreams. Of course, for her, that was just synonym with a naive idiot. She wasn’t wrong but—”

“I was under the assumption that human determination is one of their biggest strengths,” Connor said with unexpected firmness in his voice. “Our world was created by dreamers after all.”

Your hand shook slightly and you hastily dropped it, your fingers tightening into a fist. The moon, beautiful and visible once again, shone down on you and for one bizarre moment, you couldn’t speak.

You wondered if Connor knew how much those words meant to you.

You glanced up at him, only to see him already peering down at you with something like confusion on his face. His indicator fluttered every few seconds and you couldn't help but smile at him faintly.

“Thank you for that Connor,” you told him very softly, genuine warmth filling your chest and tone.

A brief flash of yellow flared through Connor’s LED but before he could reply, you turned around and started your trek home.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you called over your shoulder with a muffled chuckle and a wave.

You gave him one last glance and almost laughed at the bewildered, intense look on his face as you walked away. 

———

an: I hope you don't mind a denser, longer chapter as I wanted to get some background/plot stuff established. It's very interesting to balance Connor at the beginning because he still has to come off cold/neutral/indifferent like he did at the beginning of the game. But don't worry with Reader's positive influence he's going to start warming up eventually. :) Once again thank you for your feedback and I'm always open to suggestions/constructive feedback. Or if you have any questions feel free to shoot them my way! Love you all. <3

LOVELY PEOPLE: 

@katherineschild @dpslover4life-blog @yraneya

(let me know if you want to be tagged in the future! :D)

[dipulb3]

LG G1 OLED TV review: Tough to improve on near-perfection

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LG G1 OLED TV review: Tough to improve on near-perfection

For years OLED TVs have delivered the best image quality available with display technology that has remained largely unchanged, but LG promised something even better for 2021. The G1 has an all-new panel not available on any other TV LG sells. The company calls it Evo and says it achieves higher brightness and improved color. My verdict? Yes, it’s slightly better than before but even in a side-by-side comparison, it was difficult to tell the difference.

Like

Best picture quality we’ve ever tested

Slightly brighter than previous models

Beautiful slim design perfect for wall-mounting

Don’t Like

Expensive

Image quality improvements over cheaper OLED TVs are minor

I set up the G1 next to the CX, the best TV I reviewed in 2020, measured both and watched a variety of TV shows, movies and games. The G1 was indeed a bit brighter than the CX but color was nearly identical, as were other aspects of picture quality like video processing and uniformity. Both looked spectacular, however, and in most material I really couldn’t say one looked better than the other.

Now playing: Watch this: LG G1 TV review: Can OLED picture quality get even better?

8:56

The main advantage the G1 has over the CX and pretty much every other OLED TV is its unique design. This TV is made to be wall-mounted — quite literally; it doesn’t even come with a stand! If you want to put it on a piece of furniture, as shown in the images in this review, you’ll have to pay $100 extra for LG’s little side legs. And that would be a shame, because something this thin should really be on a wall.

New for 2021 LG has improved its already best-in-class gaming features by adding picture modes especially for games, as well as a convenient menu that shows all gaming info and adjustments in one place. There’s a new remote and a new smart TV homepage, too. The more affordable C1 shares those features with the G1, however.

At this point, the G1 is the best TV I’ve ever tested — by a nose. I have yet to review its competitor from Sony, the A90J, which also promises a brighter panel, or any other high-end TVs like Samsung’s Neo QLED models, so that title might not last. But for people who don’t have money to burn, the extra picture quality of the G1 probably isn’t worth the extra money over mainstream OLED models like the CX or C1.

Get to know the LG G1 series

It comes in three sizes and costs a bundle: 55-inch ($2,200), 65-inch ($3,000) and 77-inch ($4,500). 

It differs from the less expensive C1 series by offering fewer sizes (the C1 has 48-inch and 82-inch options too), that Evo panel and the slimmer, wall-mount-centric Gallery design. The C1 also lacks a far-field mic for hands-free voice and a Next-Gen TV tuner, both relatively minor extras included on the G1.

OLED display technology is fundamentally different from the LED LCD technology used in the vast majority of today’s TVs, including Samsung and TCL’s QLED models.

The best LCD TVs I’ve reviewed so far scored a 9 in image quality, while OLEDs TVs like the G1 have scored a 10. High-end LCDs (especially with HDR) are brighter than OLEDs, but the picture quality on OLED TVs, including that of this G1, is superior overall.

All OLED TVs are more subject to both temporary and permanent image retention, aka burn-in, than LCD TVs. We at CNET don’t consider burn-in a reason for most people to avoid buying an OLED TV, however. Check out our guide to OLED burn-in for more.

Throw it at the wall

A TV doesn’t get any more minimalist than this. Like many sets these days the G1 is pretty much all picture when seen from the front, but it’s the side view that sets it apart. It measures just 0.8 inches deep and is designed for nearly flush wall-mounting. And as I mentioned at the top, it doesn’t even come with a tabletop stand: If you want a stand mount, it will cost $100 extra.

The G1 comes with a wall-mount bracket inset into a cavity on the back for a practically flush mount.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Here’s what it looks like flush against the wall.

Sarah Tew/CNET

This TV’s design is wasted if you don’t wall-mount it. LG includes a custom bracket in the box and instructions that make it easy to slap up yourself if you’re at all handy — although I’m guessing most people in this price bracket will hire somebody to do the job. Thanks to an inset on the back of the TV the wall mount doesn’t add any extra depth, allowing the G1 to hug the wall and present a very slim profile. Channels are built into the TV’s back to run cables through, for a cleaner installation behind the TV. LG recommends using molding to hide cables on the wall itself. Note: I didn’t mount it myself in my test basement, but I’ve mounted plenty of TVs before and this one seems like it would be a simple job.

LG’s redesigned remote still has lots of buttons and motion control.

Sarah Tew/CNET

LG revamped the remote a bit. It kept my favorite features, namely the scroll wheel and motion-tracking, while slimming it down slightly. The biggest difference is the shortcut keys at the bottom: four for streaming services and two more for the built-in voice assistants, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The former wasn’t yet available on my G1 review sample, but LG says it will be soon. 

The G1 is also equipped with a far-field mic (not available on the C1) so you can simply say the wake word to get the TV to respond, no remote required. It responded just like I’d expect from a smart speaker to my “Alexa” commands.

Based on my experience with the CX, both Google and Alexa can do all the usual assistant stuff, including control smart home devices, answer questions and respond via a voice coming out of the TV’s speakers (yep, both voices). Basics like “What’s the weather?” works as you’d expect, complete with onscreen feedback. The G1 also works with Apple’s AirPlay 2 system, just like many other TVs, allowing my iPhone to share photos and video to the screen from the Photos app and mirror my Mac and phone screens. 

LG’s webOS menu system got a facelift for 2021 — and I’m not a fan. Gone is the small, unobtrusive overlay at the bottom of the screen that lets you keep tabs on what you’re watching. Instead there’s a full-screen homepage, similar to Roku, Fire TV and Android TV. But it has fewer apps and more, well, junk. The top two-thirds of the screen are devoted to the weather, setup tips, a search window and a Trending Now section with a random collection of TV shows and movies. Below that is an app row and, further down, sections devoted to inputs and particular streaming apps. In general it feels like a hodgepodge with too much going on, and most systems are simpler and easier to grasp.

The new homepage takes up the entire screen.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Features galore, state-of-the-art connectivity

LG says its Evo panel, available only on the G1 this year, uses a “new luminous element” for more precise lighting. The construction of the OLED pixel itself is different, with new materials for red and blue and a new green layer, all of which have narrower wavelengths compared to the pixels used on other OLED TVs. 

Key TV features

Display technology OLED LED backlight N/A Resolution 4K HDR compatible HDR10 and Dolby Vision Smart TV Web OS Remote Motion

Otherwise the G1 has the same image quality features as the C1, starting with the new Gen 4 a9 processing chip that adds scene detection and upgraded object enhancement over last year’s version. Both the G1 and C1 also have a 120Hz refresh rate. The entry-level A1 OLEDs, meanwhile, have a more basic a7 processor and 60Hz refresh rate. 

Just like last year, LG’s OLED TVs’ picture settings include a Filmmaker Mode. As promised, it turns off the soap opera effect for film-based content (yay) but so do many other modes in the G1. While plenty accurate, Filmmaker Mode is also relatively dim so I ended up using Cinema and ISF Bright for most critical viewing.

Sarah Tew/CNET

All of LG’s recent OLED models (except the A1) include the latest version of the HDMI standard: 2.1. That means their HDMI ports can handle 4K at 120 frames per second and variable refresh rate (VRR, including NVIDIA G-sync and AMD FreeSync), as well as enhanced audio return channel (eARC) and automatic low latency mode (ALLM, or auto game mode). That means they can take advantage of the latest graphics features available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. New for 2021 is a Game Optimizer mode that puts all of the TVs’ gaming-related settings in one place; see below for details.

The selection of connections is otherwise top-notch, though it no longer supports analog component video. There’s also a dedicated headphone or analog audio output and another for IR blasters, which could ease some installations.

Four HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.1, HDCP 2.2

Three USB 2.0 ports

Optical digital audio output

Analog audio 3.5mm headphone output

RF (antenna) input

RS-232 port (minijack, for service only)

IR blaster port (minijack)

Ethernet (LAN) port

Sarah Tew/CNET

Picture quality comparisons

With its slightly better picture and a couple of other minor improvements the G1 beat the CX, my previous picture quality champ, in side-by-side comparisons. According to my measurements and eyeballs, however, the brightness difference was minor enough to be invisible at times, and just about every other aspect of picture quality was virtually identical. Both TVs looked a tad better than the less expensive Vizio OLED. 

Dim lighting: The G1 performed like a champ with the lights down low — and so did the other two OLED TVs in my comparison. I checked out The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey on standard Blu-ray, and they all appeared more or less uniformly excellent: perfect black levels in the letterbox bars and deep shadows of Bilbo’s living room during the dark Dwarven chant (36:58) and plenty of details in the shadows and clothing of Thorin and company. I couldn’t see any real advantage of the G1 with this kind of theatrical situation in standard (non-HDR) material.

Bright lighting: For a TV billed by LG as an improvement in brightness, the G1’s measurements didn’t really stand out. Yes, it did measure brighter than last year’s CX by 129 nits in the most accurate HDR modes, but that’s not a huge leap and proved tough to discern in most program material. I was also surprised that the C9 I reviewed from 2019 was brighter at maximum light output and basically the same in its accurate mode. As usual, any high-end LCD is much brighter. 

Light output in nits

TV Brightest (SDR) Accurate color (SDR) Brightest (HDR) Accurate color (HDR) TCL 65R635 1,114 792 1,292 1,102 Sony XBR-65X900H 841 673 989 795 Vizio P65Q9-H1 768 629 1,305 1,084 Samsung QN65Q80T 664 503 1,243 672 LG OLED65G1 377 334 769 763 LG OLED65CX 377 290 690 634 LG OLED65C9 (2019) 451 339 851 762

I asked LG’s representatives whether my particular review sample’s brightness was typical of other G1’s and they said it was. As always, different sizes and samples can produce variations.

LG OLEDs of recent vintage have a setting called Peak Brightness that boosts the light output for SDR sources in Cinema and Expert modes. The idea is to increase contrast for brighter viewing environments while maintaining the superior color accuracy of those modes. As with most TVs, the brightest mode for HDR and SDR (Vivid on the G1) is horribly inaccurate. For the accurate color columns above on the G1, I used ISF Expert Bright (Peak Brightness: High) for SDR and Cinema mode for HDR — I recommend G1 owners do the same to get good color in bright rooms.

All recent OLED sets are still plenty bright enough for just about any viewing environment. Yes, they do get quite a bit dimmer than LCDs when showing full-screen white — a hockey game, for example — but even in those situations they’re hardly dim. The G1’s screen preserved black levels and reduced reflections very well.

Color accuracy: LG claims better color with the new Evo panel but according to my measurements and eyeballs, it’s tough to spot any difference. Color on the CX was excellent and the G1 was basically the same. An LG rep told me that the G1’s white color could look more pure, like in a hockey match, but I didn’t see or measure any differences in full-field white/gray (ones that weren’t due to very small differences in grayscale after calibration, at least). 

Watching The Hobbit was mostly the same story, although at times greens, like the grass and hillsides of the Shire (12:24), appeared a bit more greenish and less yellowish on the G1. It was a subtle difference at best, and again I didn’t see or measure any difference in green test patterns, but it could be due to the new panel. Maybe.

Color on the G1 was nonetheless extremely accurate both before and after calibration. The warm tones of Bag End’s interior and Bilbo’s skin were inviting and intimate, and outside his hobbit hole the green of the grass and trees in the golden hour sun, and the red and blue circular doorways on Bagshot Row, looked brilliant and natural. The same could be said for the other OLED TVs, however, and none delivered significantly better color than another.

Video processing: LG goes to great lengths to tout the improvement of its processing every year, but watching various material in the best picture settings the CX and G1 looked largely identical to me. 

Motion handling on the G1 is excellent and a touch better than the CX. Under TruMotion, the new Cinematic Movement setting (the default for Cinema mode) served up 24-frame cadence with a very slight hint of smoothing, improving on last year’s too-smooth Cinema Clear setting while preserving 600 lines of motion resolution. 24p purists who want no smoothing at all will opt for the Off position (the default for Filmmaker mode) and suffer the low motion resolution, while tweakers will appreciate the fine granularity of the User De-Judder mode to dial in the right amount of smoothness; anything four or lower introduced some judder to my eye, conveying a sense of film rather than soap opera effect. De-Blur settings of five or higher deliver the full 600 lines of motion resolution.

User also opens up the OLED Motion Pro menu with three levels of black frame insertion that further improve motion resolution, with 800 lines in Low and a full 1200 in Med and High. The latter introduces flicker, unfortunately, and all three are a bit dimmer than Off, but if blur really bugs you then they’re worth experimenting with. One improvement over last year is that engaging OLED Motion Pro no longer totally crushes shadow detail — it’s a bit worse but still very good. Still, I’d choose to leave it off and sacrifice some motion resolution for maximum light output and shadow detail.

Uniformity: Like all OLEDs I’ve tested the G1 was exemplary in this area, with no significant brightness or color variations across the screen and nearly perfect image quality from off-angle. Compared to the CX I did see a bit more color shift toward magenta in extreme angles with full-field mid-bright and brighter test patterns, but it disappeared when I moved closer to on-axis and never affected the image from a normal viewing angle.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Gaming: The G1’s superb image quality carries over to games, and some of its biggest 2021 features upgrades are gaming-related. The new Game Optimizer is the name of both a picture mode and a full menu system. The latter offers all-new tweaks including four game genre modes: Standard, FPS mode (said to boost shadow detail), RPG mode (to boost contrast) and RTS mode (said to enhance mid-grayscale areas). There are also sliders labeled Black Stabilizer (for adjusting dark areas) and White Stabilizer (for bright areas), as well as the OLED Motion Pro setting described above (LG says it’s particularly useful for games) and the Reduce Blue light setting (said to be easier on the eyes).

I started my test in standard mode with settings at their defaults with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla at 4K/60Hz and HDR running through my distribution amp so I could compare against the other TVs. Conducting a nighttime raid, the G1 looked most similar to the CX and the Vizio in its standard mode and all three TVs looked excellent, with the G1 delivering a touch better shadow detail already. Switching to FPS upped details even further but washed out the image a bit much for this cinematic game — although I can see it being useful in an actual FPS game if you want to reveal lurking enemies, or a very dark HDR game like Ghost of Tsushima. The RTS setting did boost midtones at the expense of some contrast, while RPG looked quite close to standard, if not as impactful to my eye. In any case it’s cool having these extra adjustment options, and I liked that they each get a dedicated menu.

Next I connected my Xbox Series X directly to the G1 to test advanced video features. VRR worked as expected, significantly reducing tearing in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and I appreciated the prominent toggle and indicator in the Game Optimizer menu that assured me VRR was engaged. Another slider labeled Fine Tune Dark Areas is available to address the issue of VRR looking too dark. I headed deep into a crypt where VRR was crushing shadows a bit — cranking up that setting, as well as the Black Stabilizer, helped. The flipside is that doing so spoiled black levels and washed out the look of the game, so (as a card-carrying contrast fiend) I’d avoid using it unless it really hurts your gameplay.

I also tried 4K/120Hz on Gears 5 and Star Wars: Squadrons, but the extra smoothness and framerate were difficult to discern in most cases. I appreciate that some games, like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, showed a splash screen indicating that 120fps was active, but most did not. I looked for confirmation in LG’s display menu but, unfortunately, it doesn’t have any. Samsung’s new 2021 Game Bar, on the other hand, does indicate 120fps.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Buried within Game Optimizer is another setting labeled “Reduce input delay (input lag)” with two options, Standard and Boost. The former, which is the default for any game, serves up an excellent lag number similar to past LG OLED models: just 13.1ms for both 1080p and 4K HDR sources. Engaging Boost cuts lag even further, to just under 10ms for both. The catch is that Boost is only available for 60Hz sources, so you can’t use it with 120Hz games or VRR. And no, I don’t think many humans would notice the extra 3ms of lag.

HDR and 4K video: It’s with HDR that you’d expect the G1’s brightness advantage to be most visible, but watching the 4K Blu-ray version of The Hobbit, differences were again very slight. Highlights like the sky behind the elven king as he turns away from Thorin (7:59) or the window in Bilbo’s study (9:06) measured slightly brighter on the G1 than on the CX according to my light meter but without measuring it was tough to see the difference by eye, even when compared side by side. Highlights on the Vizio appeared visibly dimmer than either one, for less HDR pop, but the differences were much narrower between the two LGs.

Color was likewise pretty much equally spectacular on the LGs and a step behind on the Vizio, which looked a bit duller in Bilbo’s garden and the blue sky for example (13:25). Any color improvement afforded by the G1’s new panel tech over the CX was less visible with HDR than with SDR.

I also checked out some of the most revealing HDR content around: the montage of images from the Spears and Munsil 4K HDR benchmark. Again the G1 was superb and better by a slight margin than the CX, but the G1 failed to really distance itself. Most scenes looked very similar between all three, from the crashing waves to the sunsets to the flowers to the objects on black backgrounds, and in most cases when I saw a difference it was the Vizio lagging a bit behind the other two. Spot measurements revealed mildly brighter highlights on the G1 but I couldn’t tell the difference without measuring.

The benchmark also has a 4,000 nit montage to test content mastered at that level and; again, both LGs looked very similar. They outclassed the Vizio, which looked somewhat flat in some scenes in comparison.

Picture settings, HDR notes and charts

CNET is no longer publishing advanced picture settings for any TVs we review. Instead, we’ll give more general recommendations to get the best picture without listing the detailed white balance or color management system (CMS) settings we may have used to calibrate the TV. As always, the settings provided are a guidepost, and if you want the most accurate picture you should get a professional calibration.

Before my calibration for this review the Cinema and preset was the most accurate, excellent in terms of grayscale and gamma with just a slight reddish cast (but still within my error target of delta 3). Since I now target a 2.2 gamma for my reviews dark rooms it was closer than ISF Expert Dark or the new Filmmaker modes, which both target gamma 2.4/BT 1886. ISF Bright was basically identical to Cinema, but I reserved that for brighter rooms.

For my calibration I tweaked the two-point grayscale to remove the red cast, reduced light output to my target of 137 nits and increased brightness two pips to help with shadow detail (while still keeping perfect black levels), but otherwise I left well enough alone. The grayscale and color were already so accurate on my LG-provided review sample that I didn’t need to touch the multipoint system or the color management system.

SDR dark room settings:

Picture menu:

Select Mode: Cinema (User)

Aspect Ratio Settings: 16:9 (Just Scan: On)

Additional Settings menu:

Brightness submenu:

OLED Pixel Brightness: 48

Contrast: 85

Screen Brightness: 52

Auto Dynamic Contrast: Off

Peak Brightness: Off

Gamma (Adjust Brightness): 2.2

Black Level: Auto

Motion Eye Care: Off

Color submenu:

Color Depth: 50

Tint: 0

Color Gamut: Auto Detect

Fine Tune menu: 

Color Upgrade: Off (no other adjustments)

White Balance menu:

Color Temperature: Warm 49 (no other adjustments)

Clarity submenu:

Sharpness: 0

Color: 50

Tint: 0

Super Resolution: Off

Noise Reduction, MPEG Noise Reduction: Off [for low-quality sources, some users may prefer to enable noise reduction]

Smooth gradation: Off [for low-quality sources, some users may prefer to enable]

Cinema Screen: On [may be grayed out depending on source]

TruMotion: Cinematic Movement

Reduce Blue Light: Off

SDR bright room setting [all default except for below]:

Picture Mode Settings: ISF Bright Room

Brightness menu:

OLED light: 100

Peak Brightness: High

HDR Notes: HDR Cinema and Filmmaker mode were very similar, following the electro-optical transfer function — how the TV converts data to a specific brightness — quite closely and better than Cinema Home, but Cinema was about 70 nits brighter so it’s my favorite of the three. Game Optimizer is best for gaming thanks to its processing but quite blue; for the best color accuracy for gaming you should adjust the color temperature control (Color > White Balance > Color temperatureW45).

Color checker was slightly more accurate than on the CX from last year but not great, and HDR Color Checker was worse. As usual with OLED the set covered P3 HDR gamut very well. The G1 measured brighter than the CX or the B9 from 2019, but the C9 from 2019 actually measured brighter in its least accurate and basically the same in its most-accurate settings. Once again the TV automatically detected and engaged the “HDMI Ultra HD Deep Color” setting designed for HDR sources.

TV software/firmware version tested: 3.10.29

Geek box

Test Result Score Black luminance (0%) 0.000 Good Peak white luminance (SDR) 377 Average Avg. gamma (10-100%) 2.18 Good Avg. grayscale error (10-100%) 0.40 Good Dark gray error (30%) 0.42 Good Bright gray error (80%) 0.33 Good Avg. color checker error 0.80 Good Avg. saturation sweeps error 0.79 Good Avg. color error 0.94 Good Red error 2.22 Good Green error 0.64 Good Blue error 0.46 Good Cyan error 0.97 Good Magenta error 0.98 Good Yellow error 0.36 Good 1080p/24 Cadence (IAL) Pass Good Motion resolution (max) 1200 Good Motion resolution (dejudder off) 600 Average Input lag (Game mode) 13.10 Good HDR10 Black luminance (0%) 0.000 Good Peak white luminance (10% win) 769 Average Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976) 98.91 Good ColorMatch HDR error 5.25 Poor Avg. color checker error 3.29 Average Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR) 13.10 Good

LG G1 OLED TV CNET review c… by David Katzmaier

Portrait Displays Calman calibration software was used in this review. 

How We Test TVs

[nico-meridius]

Afternoon Fic - Option 3 (Part 10)

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

*pokes the boys* where we going from here... *grins* well I guess at some point John and Grace need to meet.

***

John showered and dressed in one of the black suits Harold had in his closet, grabbed his weapon and headed for the location the note indicated.  He got out of the cab a few blocks away, being cautious as he approached the building. Once he neared it, he took his time scouting the location, before finding the entrance.

He cringed at the amount of books scattered around the floor and stairs, he knew it must pain Harold every time he walked by them.  Though understood the need to keep the 'abandoned' look, especially if any homeless man or drug dealer came looking for shelter.

Which made him think about looking into better security.  He had a feeling Harold's cameras and this Machine was watching intently, but John had a few tricks up his sleeve.

He walked through the gate, staring at the computer set up, along with glass board that had a photos and files taped to it. He found a small kitchen, and a barely working bathroom.   Frowning he made his way to the computers, finding a note on the keyboard.

'It will explain everything'

John sat down, hitting the keyboard, watching as the screens came to life.  He should've been more shocked than he was to see the whole of his dossier across the monitors.  He knew Harold was good at computers, it would seem he was very good with computers.

"Am I supposed to talk to you?"  John felt weird talking out loud to seemingly nothing.  The camera's red light blinked, and then he watched as a black box popped up.

'Admin informed me that you are now Primary Asset.'

"What does that mean?"  John asked.

'Your job will be to help save the Irrelevants.'

"The what?"  He had no idea what it was talking about.  John blinked as images, and information filled the screen. Starting with a familiar face he had never expected to see again – Jessica.  It took some time and more questions but he started to see what his husband had been doing these past years.

"I'm not sure I want to kiss him or kill him." John muttered, awed at what Harold has accomplished and horrified at how much danger he put himself in. "Last question who told him I was dead?  Did the CIA know about our relationship?"

'Calculated risks stated you would not survive.'

"So you figured to let him deal with the inevitable.  How very human of you."  John rolled his eyes.  "You should know there is nothing I wouldn't survive or do for Harold."

'I understand now.'

'Matching Parameters: Protect Admin.'

"I'm glad we've come to an understanding." John nodded at least they could agree on that protocol.   "Where is he?"

***

Nathan Ingram walked into his office, and came to a halt.  

Harold was sitting at his desk, hands resting on the surface, clasped together.  He was still wearing his coat, which indicated that this would be a short meeting and not in Nathan's favor.

He had not seen Harold in over a year.

The Ferry Bombing had taken a toll on both of them. Nathan had walked away with a broken arm, and dislocated shoulder, only because Harold grabbed him at the last second. If he had been standing in the location he had been originally the bomb would've likely killed him.  Instead Harold took more of the blast, spending months recuperating and he still had a limp from his injuries.  

At first Nathan thought their friendship would settle back on track, once The Machine had left the building.   And for a moment it had, but then the bombing took place, and Nathan kept pushing on how Harold knew it would happen.   He let it go, once he realized Harold wasn't going to say anything about it.  So they settled into a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy.

And then everything fell apart.

A few months after Harold started seeing Grace, Nathan made the biggest mistake of his life.

'She's good for you.'  He held up a glass saluting his friend for finding love.

'Grace is an amazing woman,' Harold agreed.  

'What are you hesitating for, she's smart, an artist, adores you, and kinda hot in that geeky artist way.'  Nathan winked at him.

'I can never truly give her all of me.'   He pointed out, sighing slightly.  'She's figured out there was someone else, but I haven't told her about John.'

'Harold you need to let him go.  He's dead.'  Harold looked at him, eyes narrowing.  'Besides Grace is better suited for you, John wasn't.  I never really liked him.'

'You never met him.'  His tone hardened.

'Which tells me you really didn't trust him.  I mean why else wouldn't you introduce the two of us.' Nathan argued reasonably.   'I mean it was one thing to have a fling in Mexico, but settling down with him wasn't an option.  It's not like the two of you could get married.'

Harold stood up, tossed some bills onto the small table to pay his drinks and looked his friend in the eyes.  'Now that The Machine is gone, consider this my resignation.'

That had been about a year ago.

"What brings you here, Harold?"  Nathan asked, moving to the small bar and pouring himself a drink.

"John." He leaned back in the chair staring at his friend.  "Or more importantly why you told the Machine to remove him from my life."

"Why are we discussing this?"  He downed the drink and poured another. "You're marrying Grace and he's dead." Though they may have not really spoken to each other, he still kept some tabs on his friend, usually through his son Will.  He was the one that told him Harold had proposed to Grace a few weeks ago.

"You want to know why I never introduced the two of you?"  He stood up and moved around the desk.  "It wasn't because I didn't trust him, I trust him with my life.  I didn't trust you with his, and it would seem I had good reason."

He picked up the remote and clicked on the TV. The video of Nathan talking to the Machine, telling it that John was a danger to Harold, began to play.  He watched as Nathan's eyes widened in shock. "You ordered my machine to kill my husband."

"He was dangerous."

"He is my husband."  Harold snarled tossing the remote down.  "And he would never hurt me."

"He was working for the CIA.  They knew he visited you."  Nathan argued back with his friend.  "The Ferry Bombing was proof…"

"The Ferry Bombing was targeting you!" He snapped, finally telling his friend the truth.  "They never knew about me, they were aiming for you.  I only knew because The Machine sent me a text to warn me.  John never put my life in jeopardy, Nathan. You did."

"Why would they target me?"  It didn't make sense, he was to high profile, killing him would make people question … unless it was in a terrorist attack and he happened to die with in the midst of hundreds of innocent citizens.  The smile faded as the horrified thought settled into place.

"Because Nathan, you couldn’t keep it in your pants and decided to screw Alicia!  And when she disappeared, you were her last contact.  They had no idea what she told you! It was easier to get rid of you, than find her.  Who cares if they took out 400 people in the process.  So tell me again how John is a threat to me?"

"I didn't kill him!"  Nathan yelled back, lashing out at his friend. "He died at the hands of a terrorist.  All I did was tell the machine to help you get over him."

"Well that tells me how little you really knew  me." Harold shook his head.  "One doesn't just get over the love of your life."

"Harold aren't you being a little over dramatic, besides it's a mute point you have Grace now."  He shrugged, pushing past him making his way over to his desk. "So when is the wedding?"

Harold walked to the door, then turned and looked at his friend.  "I've called it off."

"Why?"  He demanded. "Grace is perfect for you."

"Because I'm already married."  He opened the door, and slammed it behind him as he stormed out.

Continued

[aftermyshahada-blog]

My Online Dating Experience

Ah! This is the much anticipated post about my experience dating online as a Muslim woman! This is the post that everyone has been waiting for since I mentioned it yesterday (click here-please read yesterday’s post first!), so here I go. Am I having success? Or has it been an awful, overwhelming experience? Well, keep reading to find out!

BACKGROUND

I was born and raised in Wisconsin (USA) and I will be 27 in a few months (August 2017). On June 3, 2017 I will be moving to California (USA) because I accepted a teaching position at a private school that will begin June 12th. In less than 25 days, I will be embarking on an exciting, new adventure. The only think that is currently missing from my life is love and romance.

I'm an energetic, spunky, fearless, educated Muslim, which sometimes is a surprise to people because I am also I'm a romantic at heart. I'm an idealist and a strong believer in the power of love and I hope and pray one day that I will find true love and a life-long companion. I love the idea of love and I enjoy every novel ever written by Nicholas Sparks. The whole idea of loving and being loved by someone is intoxicating! The concept of soul mates is beautiful: two people who are fated to be together and will always find a way to one another no matter what the circumstances are. I radiate positive energy and I love cheesy holidays like Valentine's Day. No matter how many bad experiences I have had and no matter how many times my heart has been broken, I desperately believe that love exists and I will find it one day.

Yes, I have a lot on my plate right now: completely relocating to a different state, establishing my life in a new place, starting a new job, and on top of all that, Ramadan is fast-approaching (my first Ramadan as an actual Muslim). With that being said, I still want to find true love, which is why I signed up for online dating. With everything that I have on my plate currently, I figured that I am not likely to meet someone or fall in love any time soon, so I might as well just dip my toes in the water and use online dating as something to pass the time with the hopes of meeting someone eventually.

DATING IS HALAL

Many Muslims tell me that dating is forbidden in Islam, which irritates me. I am a firm believer than dating can be halal (click here to read why I think Muslims should date.) Many Muslims also tell me that Allah guides us and only He will reveal a match to us when we are ready. That statement also irritates me. Yes, I agree that Allah has a plan for our lives, but I also believe that we must also play a very pro-active role in our own lives in order to achieve our goals, dreams, and desires. Online dating is my way of being pro-active even though I have a lot of new changes and responsibilities on my plate right now. I have very high expectations and standards. I have had enough relationships and interactions with people to realize that I don't want to settle for anything mediocre. Like I said previously: I am a romantic at heart and I want to find true love and a life-long companion.

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR

I admire integrity, honesty, and respect. I believe that trust is the foundation of any good relationship. I like people who are intelligent, sincere, and genuine. I need someone who is responsible and reliable while also being fun, exciting, and adventurous. I want to be with someone that I can make memories with. I value hard work, passion, and determination. I am warm, affectionate, understanding, and thoughtful, and I want to be with someone who is the same way. I want a partner who can make me smile and laugh. I want someone who will see me as an equal; I need someone I can build a life with. I am a modern, progressive/liberal Muslim and I need a partner who shares my values.

Is there anyone in this universe that might possibly match that description? Would there be someone out there as modern, progressive, and liberal as myself? When I signed up for Muslima.com, I was doubtful.

ONLINE DATING IS LIKE BUYING A NEW CAR

Online dating is definitely interesting. It's a little bit like shopping for a car. You have an idea of the basic make and model that you desire. And you probably have a list of specifications and options that you would like to have, but you also understand that finding the perfect car for you will be a challenge. So, you are going into the process with the idea that you will probably have to settle on the best car that you can get. You accept this reality and you begin your search. You look at a million pictures, read lots of details, make comparison, and hopefully you will find something that sparks your interest.

Online dating is trying to find a partner after sifting through a sea of selfies and self-advertisements before landing on one that you think might satisfy you most. You "favorite" each other in the same way that you add items to your Amazon Wish List of Pin recipes you want to try later, then you schedule an in-person interview during which you'll have all manners of “nonversation” while in your head furiously trying to calculate whether or not this person should advance to the second round.

The process of online dating I described sounds like the opposite of romantic, doesn't it?

OVERWHELMING

Within minutes of posting my profile, I had over 300 messages from men interested in chatting with me and getting to know me; I wondered how many of them actually read my profile instead of just looking at my picture and deciding I was attractive. I eliminated all messages from men not living in the United States. This left me with about 100 messages. I sifted through those messages and narrowed them down to people living in California, the state in which I would be moving to in less than a month. This left me with about 30 messages. I narrowed it down further to men that lived within a 50-100 mile radius of Walnut Creek, the town I am moving to. This left me with about 15 messages. I read through the profiles and deleted almost all the messages except 5.

After one or two messages exchanges between me and these five individuals, I was shocked. I was asked how wide my hips were, if I had any disabilities, if I would be willing to meet their family soon, and I nearly unplugged my computer. These men clearly did not share my interests or values. And they clearly did not view the concept of dating in the same way that I did. I deleted all those messages, but a few hours later, my message box was flooded with about 800 more messages. It was overwhelming.

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?

But there was one profile that caught my eye: an attractive, Egyptian-American, laid-back, well-educated, liberal Muslim man only a few years older than me. For sake of anonymity, I will call him J. So, J messaged me asking to get to know me more. When he asked for my phone number, I froze. Danger alarms rang in my head. But then, he clarified and said that texting would be easier than emailing messages back and forth on Muslima.com. I agreed with him, so we began communicating via WhatsApp.

THE BASICS

Almost immediately on WhatsApp, we got the big things out of the way: we established that we both love dogs, which is important to me. And then more seriously, we established that we are both looking for friendship and dating with the potential opportunity for a relationship, and maybe, just maybe, marriage in the future. J very clearly stated that he isn’t interested in rushing into things. This comforted me.

We talked about what we were looking for and what is important to us. He said he is looking for a kind, smart, funny, simple, family-oriented girl who would will become his best friend. He wants someone who is romantic, educated, and ambitious. He said that he needs a woman who is enlightened and open-minded; someone who is religiously disciplined but also progressive/liberal. J needs a Muslim woman who carries herself equally between the Islamic world and the American/Western world.

That describes me almost perfectly. With much excitement, we continued getting to know each other.

We messaged back and forth about our daily lives, careers, and education. And we discussed family, politics, and our childhoods. We discussed hobbies and life goals. We also talked about our views regarding children, careers, sex, and marriage. Almost immediately, I was able to decide that I was interested in getting to know him and talking further. I saw him and I as being very compatible; he felt the same way.

However...

MY BIGGEST CONCERN

From the very beginning, before we even started talking via WhatsApp, I saw that his profile said he lived in California, but not in the same city that I would be living in. That didn't really bother me and I didn't feel like that was a concern. Later, after talking more and feeling a connection with the interest of pursuing one another, I started thinking logically about how big the state of California actually was. This prompted me to look up what the actual distance between us would be: 403.5 miles.

Immediately, my heart sank.

I haven't even moved to California yet and there is about 2,000 miles of distance (a 31-hour drive) between us. And when I finally do move in less than a month, there will still be about 400 miles between us?

How is this even going to work?!

THE END OF THINGS?

I messaged J and I brought up my concerns about him potentially living 403.5 miles from Walnut Creek, which is (according to Google Maps) about 6 or 7 hours away driving, 10 hours away via Transit, or a 1.5-hour flight. 

To be honest, if I were on another dating site, and I was living in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and someone from Indianapolis, Indiana sent me a message about wanting to get to know me, I would probably check out their location, see that they live about 6 hours away, and delete their message because I don't see potential in building something with someone who lives that far away. 6 hours is quite the distance. 

This is why I am concerned about J living so far away, especially because when I first move to California, I am not going to have my own vehicle at least for the first 5 months, perhaps longer. My condo is within walking distance of where I will work, and I plan to bike or take public transportation everywhere.

I was sure that this might be the end of things.

I was surprised when he wasn't concerned at all. He told me that the distance was still 100% driveable and regardless whether we spent time in my city or his city, it would be memorable and we would probably have many really amazing weekends. 

His response pleased me greatly, but hasn't eliminated that concern from my mind completely.

MOVING FORWARD: Me and J

So, after about a week spent messaging on WhatsApp, I decided decided that it was safe to give him my cellphone number and add him on Facebook. 

I also checked the Muslima.com website. After not checking it for a week, I had over 1,500 messages from various men. None of them were as appealing as J. Staring at all those messages was also extremely overwhelming, so I decided to officially delete my profile on Muslima.com.

Don't freak out, let me explain.

I'm not rushing into things and I didn't delete my dating profile because I am 100% convinced that I have found my soulmate. I only deleted it because J is the only person I am interested in right now and beyond that, the website wasn't meeting my expectations. So, now I can just focus on myself, relocating to California in 24 days, beginning a new job in less than 35 days, and I can focus on getting to know J more.

WHERE WE ARE AT NOW

It's crazy to think that he and I began talking almost a month ago and things seem to be going extremely well. I think that the distance between us (me being in Wisconsin at the moment and him being in California) is helping to create a solid foundation on which to possibly build a friendship or potential dating relationship. We text back and forth just about every day and we talk on the phone about once a week now. I am hoping to Skype with him at least once before we meet in person, but if that doesn't happen I suppose I won't be too devastated. We are planning to meet in person a week or so after I move to California and I can't wait!

INCREDIBLE GUY

J is incredibly intelligent, responsible, patient, understanding, and handsome. He's truthful and straight-forward with me and I'm attracted to his love for adventure. I like that he is open-minded. I am also attracted to the classy simplicity of who he is and his lifestyle. He works hard, but he also plays hard and is interested in bettering himself. He has wonderful goals and dreams for the future and he is very affectionate. He is always making me laugh and the sweet texts he sends to me make me to smile.

It seems that he is just as enthralled with me as I am with him, which is a good thing.

Because I am such a romantic at heart, I desperately want things to be as amazing in-person as they are right now through texts, emails, and talking on the phone. He seems like an amazing guy. 

However, I can't help but worry.

UP NEXT: MY FEARS & INSECURITIES

Be on the look out for my next post tomorrow or later this week, which will talk more about my dating/love life concerns, my worries, my insecurities, and my fears. I will also talk about my flaws and some of the little things that might make me appear to be just a tad bit neurotic! Haha

LINKS TO SOME OF MY OTHER ARTICLES

Curious about what I look like? Click here. 

Interested in the story of how I became Muslim? Read about it here. 

If you want to learn more about my views on Islamic dating, click here.

I am a scientist and a Muslim. How is that possible? Click here and find out! 

I don't wear hijab every day, click here to read about my preference. 

Click here to read about me relocating to California. And click here to donate to my GoFundMe to help me with the costs of relocating for my job. 

Read about my struggles with weightloss here. 

What was my family's reaction when I told them I converted to Islam? Find out here. 

Click here to read a funny story about how I injured myself while praying. 

Click here to read about how much I love my doggy. 

Click here to read my thoughts on Liberal Islam. 

Want to understand what Sharia Law REALLY is? Here is the article I wrote. 

Click here to read about my struggles with learning Arabic. 

I think women should pray while on their period. Click here to read why. 

My thoughts about science and religion can be found here. My ex-boyfriend and I used to argue about this topic a lot. 

Click here to read my first article about the Muslim Ban and click here to read my second article about the Muslim Ban. 

Click here for a list and links to the first 50 articles that I wrote on Tumblr. 

Wanna know my views about LGBTQIA+ people? Click here. 

[pinksfuckers]

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Although SEO is really the time-consuming process but believes me personally, if you work well along with dedication and trendy techniques, the particular combined results of on-page plus off-page SEO holds you upon the top with rank #1 for a specific search outcome. Fairly lately, I've seen a resurgence associated with on-page SEO factors making the difference searching engine rankings. You've added even more relevant content to your website article and increased the on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION targeted against your focus keyword(s). Before my first ISS, I actually had always thought I can just learn everything by me personally about global online marketing matters for example International SEO just simply by doing online investigation and experimentation, but honestly nothing beats this efficiency of attending a seminar like ISS where one can easily share your experiences and swiftly gain a treasure trove involving learnings and best practices by other international marketers. That method, you and your SEO may ensure that your site is usually designed to be search engine-friendly from the bottom up. However, a good SEO can furthermore help improve a current web site. If you would like to know what kind associated with SEO trends are going in order to develop in 2019, look simply no further than the trends that will are developing in search within both 2017 and 2018. Webmasters are usually going to remain competitive within the online business when these people stick with SEO experts. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and social media marketing guarantee that one's site has the particular best SEO Online marketing, which usually means that their company may remain competitive in the on-line market. An SEO ("search engine optimization") expert is somebody trained to improve your presence on search engines. From an SEO perspective, an individual want to have more interior links pointing to your many important content. Also companies considering about getting Search engine search engine optimization services should go through these types of magazines to familiarize themselves making use of the latest trends within the particular SEO and web-based marketing business to allow them to evaluate the assistance offered for all of them from the selected SEO companies. Mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION in 2018 will likely be all regarding Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). The term SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION also describes the making internet pages easier for internet lookup engine indexing software, known since "crawlers, " to find, check, and index your web site. I feel that technical SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION mistakes that affect crawl spending budget - and also pollute Search engines with non-SEO-friendly content such because social landing pages, WordPress press archives, offer pages and cloned e-commerce product pages - can have an even more detrimental effect upon sites moving forward. Effective SEO lets you enhance your web​site to demonstrate up within search engines. We all will get into how to be able to pick the best keywords with regard to your business later in this particular SEO guide, but it perfect you to know how for you to use them, as they will be referenced throughout this section. Despite the fact that meta descriptions are not the ranking factor for search machines, they do hold value regarding your website and are component of your SEO presence. Let us speak a bit as to exactly what SEO is before we enter into the SEO article writing suggestions for people who may end up being new or do not very understand it. SEO stands intended for Seo. SEO specialists started in order to abuse PageRank in order in order to boost the rankings. Now could be a great time to take a nearer take a look at SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing information because search is getting even worse for many types of B2B plus B2C businesses. SEO marketers plus writers typically come up along with different kinds of content in order to place the necessary keywords within. These are some of the particular most used types, and every one helps to lead to the level of variety in conditions of website content. Certain black hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques, such as keyword filling, are believed to be the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION equivalent of spamming, and research engines will penalize them. Internet marketing is exclusively driven by SEO or lookup engine optimization. Others are usually simply traditional PR firms which have learned SEO as properly as the value of hyperlinks. Here's a cliche among electronic marketers: Search engine optimization (SEO) isn't what used to become. Google announced that will they released several minor enhancements over the period of the particular time of about a 7 days and after analysis, experts inside the SEO industry concluded that will the updates were the outcome of keyword permutations and web site using doorway pages. SEO, or Search Motor Optimization, means setting up your own website and content to show up through online search results. People who else want to take their company to some new height plus generally and mostly believe within the way of SEO marketing and advertising. It's maybe not an ideal SEO page title because of the multiple distinct services, however the structure might give rise to rankings for some long-tail keyword phrases. SEOs will have to collaborate carefully with designers and developers in order to prioritize technical SEO and user friendliness search engine ranking factors to get a competitive edge. Further SEO Smart hyperlinks allows you to set upward your own personal keywords and set associated with matching URLs. When search engine optimization SEO will not involve ethical practices, the particular website may have low presence on Google or maybe be taken out from the Google index. An SEO technique is definitely considered white hat if this conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deceptiveness. As an SEO, which indicates that you have to considerably raise your standards around high quality content and links in purchase to achieve top search motor rankings. Most SEO focuses on customizing for Google's search engine, which usually dominates the overall search marketplace with a share of more than 90%. 7. Social indicators may even become more essential to SEO as time passes. One Grain is really a electronic marketing agency that helps businesses like Uber, Amazon and Salesforce grow their revenues online making use of SEO plus paid advertising. This can be a growth chance regarding content marketing-specific agencies and the necessary and justified budget collection item for in-house SEO groups. SEO includes both technical and creative components needed to improve rankings, drive visitors, and increase awareness in research engines. Search engine marketing (SEO) will be the process of influencing the online visibility of the particular website or a web web page in a web search motor 's unpaid results—often known because "natural", " organic ", or even "earned" results. Seo (SEO) is a procedure of improving positions in natural (non-paid) search results searching motors. Some other SEO ranking factors include: obtainable URLs, domain age (older will be usually better), page speed, cellular friendliness, business information, and specialized SEO. Your own search engine optimization strategy can become divided into two different groups: on-page SEO and off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. When you familiarize yourself with this local community, you will inevitably stumble your own way onto the websites associated with SEO Gurus” selling courses that will teach you SEO for hundreds of dollars. Expert SEO writers can also make use of modifiers and keyword variations in order to further optimize the content. In the lot associated with cases, this happens as the consequence of non-ethical SEO particularly buying and selling links which usually could get you up the particular Google ‘adder' quickly. Content will be key but content alone will be no longer king; content, framework, and relevance will drive overall performance of content and digital advertising, and SEO is part yet not full parcel. Ultimate WordPress SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Guide for Beginners (Step simply by Step) — 28% of internet sites on the internet use Wp. SEO is usually abused as a blanket term regarding digital marketing. This guide is usually made to describe all locations of SEO—from choosing the terms plus phrases (keywords) that generate visitors to your website, to producing your web site friendly to search motors, to building links and advertising the unique associated with your own site. With no SEO, a website can become invisible to search engines. On-page SEO refers to be able to every strategy, technique, and application you utilize within your web-site to optimize your web webpages and content for search search engines like google. Today, the quality of inbound links is evaluated higher compared to their quantity and may add your SEO efforts. Research engine optimization (SEO) tools assist companies position themselves to obtain a favorable ranking in internet search engine results. The particular second biggest SEO trend within 2019 will be voice research. Wish long past mobile search plus voice-search being a ‘trend' : they are the full upon normal now, outdoing desktop lookup in both volume and SEO-favorability. Rather compared to marketing at people, you require to make it possible with regard to them to find you whenever they want you, and that is where SEO is available within. Prior To going BlowFish SEO full Time, Robert Headed very successful internet incoming marketing campaigns for Bella Sante Day Spa's of Boston plus Red Door Spas increasing their particular yearly Gift Card Sales simply by over 400% and increasing consumer appointments over 300%. In 2019 and over and above, the majority of the on the internet searches will be in the particular form of conversation, and because a result, the online internet marketers will give more importance in order to artificial intelligence keywords for optimisation of the web content. "SEO" is a term that is usually used to describe the procedure by which visitors a specific site is increasingly generated simply by search engines by means of search results. These white-hat cellular SEO tips will help a person to avoid internet search motor penalties and maintain better on-line visibility. SEO or lookup engine optimization techniques will tackle these requirements of a web site. AI and tone of voice search have already begun in order to impact SEO, and as these types of technologies continue to develop, all of us can expect to see a lot more changes in the way SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is completed. In the second chapter of our SEO guideline, you will learn how lookup engines work, how people utilize them and what type of lookup queries they submit. You need in order to provide regular posts either daily or at least several instances a week in order in order to gain a following and offer enough unique SEO content in order to keep your search engine rankings high, attract new viewers plus convince people that you are usually the expert in your industry. Voice lookup will change the way we interact along with search engines and it can make SEO even more aggressive and vital to online achievement. Our SEO outreach team connect your brand and curated content with key on the web influencers to get people speaking about you & sharing your own message. Yet, with the research engines like google continually altering their rules SEO may appear confusing and overwhelming. Understanding what these words really indicate, and how SEO analysts make use of them to boost your home page's search engine results, may end up being a whole other story. With regard to successful team management and inter-client cooperation, online editors really are usually a must, especially those which usually detect and highlight critical SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION errors, non-unique, text, and key phrase stuffing. By the end of this particular module, you should be capable to define Search Engine Optimisation and explain the basics associated with SEO as being a business (as nicely as how SEO shapes the particular Internet itself. ) You'll furthermore be able to explain the particular differences between three main SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION job types, and be ready to choose a career that will best suits your current objectives. A highly effective lookup marketing campaign, will encompass each search engine optimisation (SEO) plus pay per click advertising (PPC). One of our favorite on the internet toolkits is SEMrush, which contains a variety of tools with regard to SEO, content marketing, and search engine marketing techniques. An SEO Content Writer is usually someone that writes content for the particular purpose of having it display up on search engines plus gain website visitors. Internet marketing perfect for the platform of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION or Seo. With voice search arrives two areas of interest in order to SEO folks wishing to link with consumers: intent and framework. SocialSEO is proud to help future experts in the planet of business and marketing along with the annual SocialSEO Digital Advertising and SEO Scholarship. Finally SEO Wise links enables you to fixed nofollow attribute and open hyperlinks in new window. Selecting the most appropriate key phrases is critical for successful SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and it is easy in order to choose the wrong ones through falling into the trap associated with optimization. Research engine search engine optimization, or SEO, is the procedure of enhancing your site's position in search results. Web Marketing SEO, and in specific, Google SEO is the essential. Get into your competitor's URL into the particular SEMRush search bar and you should end up being provided with a list associated with SEO keywords, with their search positions and traffic. About: Brighton SEO is made up of courses and a one-day search marketing conference. Before this change, the greatest practice was to avoid concealed content at any cost since it wasn't as effective with regard to SEO (it was either as well much to crawl for the particular bot in some instances or even given less important by Search engines in others). This is due to the particular fact that you will require contents to be submitted in order to the websites for whom a person are working as an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, when you build the hyperlinks, you will need to offer Ten Reasons Why You Cannot Learn SEO 2019 Well the profile information, and a person will also have to supply articles for submissions as nicely as numerous other types associated with written work. If you've actually searched for something online (and most of us have), a person already know read more regarding SEO than you think a person do. All of us already see this trend within several places, like extremely exact targeting of social ads -- some brands still approach SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and content creation with the one-size-fits all attitude.

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Dating undertale. Write only if you are serious! Katerina. Age 21 My new photos and sexy videos here >>>

Name: Katerina Age: 21 Country: Ukraine City: Dnepropetrovsk Marital status: single Children: none Height: 5'3" - 160 cm Weight: 99 lb - 45 kg Eye color: blue Hair color: blonde Body type: slim Religion: Christian Education: university Smoke: no Drink: no English level: with difficulties Occupation: teacher of elementary grades

Katerina Dating undertale

Who knows? The result is that they guys clearly don’t want to go further in the dating process with Ashley. Whether she is motivated by her altruism or by her desire to be socially praised is relative to the perceiver, as both motivations simultaneously exist. So be prepared for questions like “What is your perception of the ideal relationship?” and “What have you learned from past relationships?” For great advice on how to answer those tricky questions and plenty of other JDate profile tips, check out this article. Focusing on her phone, Spencer tells Emily, “no thanks”, and questing that Spencer said no thanks, Emily tells her that she made one, and Spencer should eat one. In the eight months since its launch, Bumble reports to have ballooned to over 500,000 users, whom the company said spend an average of 62 minutes per day in the app. Now I'm 31, and I have more experience sexually and a desire to satisfy my partner in every way I can. Pap smears find abnormal cells on the cervix, which can be removed before they ever turn into cancer.

They receive the information needed to verify and authorize your credit card or other payment information and to process your order. Filling into the cake of course are the characteristics of most dating websites, for example, rapid access to wide profiles of folk, with their images, clips, audio and video at a time. She was at ease listening to others, making them feel understood and working with them to find solutions. Note that these types of companies might have restrictions for when they can and cannot be used by individuals. Once in, you have access to monthly events scheduled at high-end venues around the world where members can network and mingle. A recent study showed that nearly 1 in 5 Americans have or are now involved in some form of an online dating service.

In 2004, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, 24 percent of women ages 40 to 44 with bachelor’s degrees were childless, in contrast to 10 percent of women without a high school diploma. Surely that is equally important and in many ways will determine the behaviour and response of the Thai woman involved. Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. Therefore, do not hesitate and contact single Czech Women and Slovak Women today and you will experience a lot of fun. Cancel Confirm Are you sure you want to remove this interview from being featured for this targeted profile.

Dating undertale

This way you can get to know each other better, and it might happen so that you'll make a perfect married couple. It also comes with the Mobile Dating App and over 60 Free dating templates, Free support and Free upgrades. It’s easier to “ghost” someone or make up excuses as to why you can’t see someone, instead of telling the person you are not interested. However, she reportedly won't be moving to London to live with Mick when the baby is born, although sources say 'he will love and support this child'.

Please try to avoid doing anything unsafe in your attempt to arrive to the event on time - we do like to wait for all participants to arrive. There are also those that focus on seniors and singles dating joining the group based on their religion. Looking around, Spencer notices an air vent, “bingo”, and crouching down, Spencer beings to look through the vent. Lamphere reports that some students initially undergo temporary “silent periods,” a researched stage of second language acquisition, where children are watching and listening, but not yet speaking. Though further research on mental health impacts of relationship violence is needed, the current literature demonstrates that exposure to relationship violence has significant impact on mental health outcomes. Unlike Tinder, it awesomely allows you to go back and change your mind if you reject someone initially.

Dating passion

He doesn't have to make much more than I do, but he must be doing at least as well as I am, and has to be compatible with me, both morally and spiritually. More than 80% of members have earned a college degree, and most are looking for a serious commitment.”. However, if you like dirrrrrty (with all those Rs) sex with an anti-social dragon on one curvy sarcastic girl, then this is right up your alley. Check out our new podcast, I Want It That Way, which delves into the difficult and downright dirty parts of a relationship, and find more on our Soundcloud page.

Cookie dating

Identify our most genuine members instantly: granted by women, the Super Match Badge is the trademark of a true gentleman. As well, many Matchmaking daters find our events the perfect way to narrow down what they are looking for and learn a bit more about themselves in the process. In response Hanna tells Emily she saw her and Alison holding hands last night, and Emily tells her Alison was frightened and reached for her hand, and what was she supposed to do, slap her hand away. Maybe you’ve had enough heartbreak in the past that you’re hesitant to fully let yourself fall again. Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

Cookie dating

Collect all her items. Frozen Sisters In Love Play this new game called Frozen Sisters In Love to help Elsa and Anna post pics of them and their crush on social media. I like this selection method because it ensures that students who might hesitate to volunteer end up participating. Thai women seem always ready. 18 October, 2017 Reply Zhang This Grant like most whiteskin guys (or farangs) think the world of themselves. In either cases and in consistency with traditional marital practices, individuals who marry are persuaded to meet and talk to each other for some time before considering marrying so that they can check their compatibility. Watch this video if you’re interested in the history (WARNING: graphical content): All you have to know is that you will never get a Chinese girlfriend if you co???mpare her with Japanese women. I was hired for a job once where all the employees were expected to participate in a group physical activity before starting our day.

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10 Things You Should Know About SEO 2019

Good SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION articles increase a website's SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION traffic because articles are listed online. 55 The difference from SEO is many simply depicted as the distinction between paid and unpaid concern ranking searching results. I get into much more detail in SEO Titles on pages: 15-Point Checklist for B2B and B2C Brands, which explains the right way to work in relevant keywords that will accurately reflect the page articles. Are good nevertheless SEO potential may be decrease when compared with single links. The education and learning behind our SEO expertise had been developed from years and many years of learning from mistakes advertising with our other businesses. The in-depth guide contains the most recent SEO best practices so a person can improve how your posts appears in search results, plus get more traffic, leads, plus sales. Keyword study definitely belongs to the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION basics. I'll start by stating that social press and SEO are heavily linked to each other. Black head wear SEO attempts to improve ranks in ways that are disapproved of by search engines, or even involve deception. This particular is more tedious and tasking than inorganic SEO because this particular is how all the key phrases get a full blast associated with attention. SEO: It stands for Lookup Engine Optimization. Within this post, we will break this down in the complete first timers guide to SEO: what SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is, how it works, exactly what factors affect search and exactly what sorts of changes you may make today to improve your own search optimization. The no follow hyperlink has been contradicted many periods over where SEO is included and it depends on the particular web owner regarding if they will allow them on the web site or not. This particular means that SEOs spend the lot of time working upon getting links in a procedure called link building Link-building strategies can range from simply asking for a link to writing the guest post - and right now there are many others. Basically, SEO plans the keywords that will are to be delivered plus content provides them. So, when you are considering about applying SEO in the particular broad sense, you need in order to channelize its technical specifications via content marketing. In 2019, you can wager that White Hat SEO can have separated itself even more from Black Hat SEO, plus that above all else, supplying quality content will be the particular most important factor for companies ranking in search. The outcomes are not instant, you can use the time on attempting other Internet marketing techniques whilst SEO would go to function. The third major SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ranking signal is Google's synthetic intelligence search ranking algorithm. Sometimes SEO will be simply a matter of producing sure your site is organised in a way that research engines like google understand. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION involves a number of modifications towards the HTML of person Web pages to attain a higher search engine ranking. As a result associated with technological advancement, SEO is in order to undergo more drastic changes, plus the two latest technologies that will are expected to influence SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION to some very great level are AI (Artificial Intelligence) plus Voice Search. One thing is usually crystal clear: if you need people to discover your function, you need search engine search engine optimization (SEO). This almost all means when you're thinking regarding your SEO strategy, you require to think about how your own social media marketing strategy fits into the particular puzzle, too. As your visitors slowly increases, ensure that you include additional SEO strategies (like adding exterior and internal links, guest publishing, etc) to engage more customers and keep your metrics higher. Google has remaining a very narrow band associated with opportunity when it comes in order to SEO - and punishments are made to take you out associated with the game for some period while you cleanup the infractions. Head of Marketing, He Edstrom, at BioClarity, a San Diego based health-science company, thinks that SEO is going in order to see a decreased importance within 2019, and SEOs should begin ensuring they're competent in SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING. The best rank that you could notice the profile with contact information and maps on right hands side of search result web page is achieved after long process for using SEO tactics. Numerous search engine search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the technique of customization a website for search motor discovery and indexing. SEO is actually a technique which search motors require that sites must enhance properly, so that they show up high in search results. The European Search Honours is an international competition that will shines the spotlight within the best SEO and Content Marketing companies in Europe. UnGagged London, uk is really a 2-day SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION & Digital Marketing conference of which takes place June 11-12th, along with one-day intensive masterclasses on Summer 13th. These ‘quality updates' are very reminiscent of Search engines Panda updates and often influence many websites at the exact same time - and often these types of concentrate on demoting similar ‘low-quality' SEO techniques we have already been told Panda focuses on. I think savvy SEOs are going to utilize AI content generation (text and pictures especially) in 2019 to generate a whole new kind associated with search algorithm gaming, that might almost be viewed as dark hat. This course covers how in order to build strong links for much better SEO. SEO companies ensure that will your site has all associated with the SEO Internet marketing like as business improvement, localized item sales, high quality online era and the rest. 2018 brought many modifications to the world of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION, including a few new protocol evolutions through Google. An expert Seo agency may help any dimensions of company take full advantage of web marketing and raise the likelihood associated with actual sales while simultaneously enhance brand awareness one of the particular customers segment. Recently we were speaking about the subject with the friendly agency in Valencia plus we directed to this admittance of Search Engine Journal along with the 20 questions that ought to be done to any SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION or SEO agency that desires to hire.

Ranking elements can be divided into on-page SEO factors (including technical SEO) and link building or off-page SEO factors. Take the 10 pillar subjects you came up with within Step one and create the web page for each a single which outlines the topic with a high level - making use of the long-tail keywords you arrived plan for each cluster within Step 2. A pillar web page on SEO, for instance, may describe SEO in brief areas that introduce keyword research, picture optimization, SEO strategy, and additional subtopics as they are determined. On our blog all of us chronicle current trends in on the internet marketing and SEO and provide interesting studies, statistics and tendencies. Increased site usability - Within an effort to make your own site easier to navigate with regard to the search engines, SEO concurrently helps to make your web site more navigable for users simply because well. You are capable to host your video upon YouTube for that foundational SEO greatest practices, but link and focus on the embedded video on your own own website. Image SEO is actually a crucial part of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION different types of websites. Max DesMarais is definitely an SEO as well as PPC Specialist for Vital, a new Digital Marketing & PPC company that specializes in PPC supervision services. But this also has an incredible roundabout benefit to your bottom series: boosting your search engine optimisation (SEO). It may be the scenario (and I surmise this) how the introduction of a certain SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique initially artificially raised your own rankings for the pages within a way that Google's methods usually do not approve of, and as soon as that is actually spread out all through your site, traffic starts in order to deteriorate or is slammed within a future algorithm update.

Off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION concentrates on increasing the authority associated with your domain through the act associated with getting links from all some other websites. Regarding: Search Engine Journal's flagship meeting, SEJ Summit, is dedicated to providing SEO pros the actual require, with an agenda of unique, first-run presentations covering the most recent SEO and PPC tactics through renowned experts, plus excellent network opportunities. SEO combines official lookup engine guidelines, empirical knowledge, plus theoretical knowledge from science documents or patents. This will be a half-day workshop at LeadsCon that will be designed to be able to give attendees an end-to-end look at of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), how it works, and concrete things they can do right now to improve their SEO overall performance. After the Search engines Panda algorithm appeared, SEO professionals realized just how much key word frequency and density matters. SEO means optimizing your posts so it shows up a great deal more often in search results. 33. With social media systems like Facebook diminishing visibility associated with companies and brands, SEO (as well as paid promotion) is usually becoming critically important for generating traffic to your social stations. 2019 dates TBD. ). Why go to: One-track conference full of forward-thinking, tactical sessions in SEO, development marketing, the mobile landscape, analytics, content marketing and more. ” Don't miss the LeadsCon Meeting in Vegas, March 4-6, 2019. You've added even more relevant content to your site article and increased the on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION targeted against your focus keyword(s). Before my first ISS, I actually had always thought I can just learn everything by myself personally about global online marketing subject areas for example International SEO just by means of doing online investigation and playing, but honestly nothing beats the particular efficiency of attending a meeting like ISS where one may share your experiences and rapidly gain a treasure trove regarding learnings and best practices by other international marketers. That method, you and your SEO may ensure that your site will be designed to be search engine-friendly from the bottom up. Even Ten Places That You Can Find SEO 2019 so, a good SEO can furthermore help improve a current web site. If you need to know what kind associated with SEO trends are going in order to develop in 2019, look simply no further than the trends that will are developing in search within both 2017 and 2018. Webmasters are usually going to remain competitive within the online business when they will stick with SEO experts. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and social media marketing make sure that one's site has the particular best SEO Online marketing, which usually means that their company may remain competitive in the on the internet market. An SEO ("search engine optimization") expert is somebody trained to improve your presence on search engines. From an SEO perspective, anyone want to have more inside links pointing to your almost all important content. To get a better SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, helps your website can obtain on the top among well-known search engines like Bing plus Google. On the various other side, you can ensure a good effective content marketing campaign just when you apply the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques properly. SEO : Search engine optimization: the procedure of making your web site better regarding search engines. The purpose of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION writing is to make your own company more visual, more attractive in website search engines. SEO will be the practice of increasing typically the quantity and quality of targeted traffic to your website through organic and natural search engine results. 31. SEO data can notify a smart social media technique. Solid keyword & marketplace research assist SEO strategy plus allow us to offer realistic projections and forecasts of opportunity inside your market. Nevertheless, when this comes to developing and performing an audio SEO strategy with regard to your business, just creating content material for the keywords your clients are looking for is each arduous and, well, wrong. In this situation, in, the article ranks correct after the official Google recommendations (and it makes sense that will Google should be number one on their own branded query) but Smashing magazine is demonstrated as a position 0” little of text on the question Google pop up guidelines” within. Search Engine Land, a top quality SEO blog this is the pillar of the community is usually ranking after Smashing (which occurs to be associated with a style blog than an SEO one). Search Motor Optimization (SEO) is the technique to campaign your products on the web towards the right clientele intended for increasing ROI. There are many tools upon the web to assist along with basic keyword research (including the particular Google Keyword Planner tool and there are even more useful third party SEO tools to help you perform this). The biggest change that will we'll see in 2019 (and that's already happening) is the particular fact that keywords are getting less important. Once you've discovered your keywords, use another SEMrush tool, the SEO Content Design template, which is part of their own Content Marketing Toolkit, to function out the best way in order to optimize your content. If a company is providing you all these services below one roof, climbing up the particular SEO ranking will not become an uphill task for your own business any more. Local SEO companies allows a person to position your business upon search engines like google plus other digital marketing platforms therefore you're seen by potential clients — on their terms. YouTube adds the particular nofollow” tag to their hyperlinks, so they don't really assist with SEO. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION isn't just about building research engine-friendly websites. The sooner you understand precisely why Google is sending you much less traffic than it did a year ago, the sooner you can clear it up and focus upon proactive SEO that starts to influence your rankings in a good way. The trending SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique or strategy now plus in 2019 will be Lookup Enterprise Optimization It has already been coined by myself since 2015.

Join us for a new three-day, one-track conference full regarding forward-thinking, tactical sessions in SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING, growth marketing, the mobile scenery, analytics, content marketing, and a lot more. The objective involving SEO is to get some sort of website ranked as high because possible on search engines, like Google. When you are improving user knowledge by focusing primarily on the particular quality of the MC associated with your pages and avoiding : even removing - old-school SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques - those certainly are usually positive steps to getting even more traffic from Google in 2018 - and the type associated with content performance Google rewards will be in the end largely in least about a satisfying consumer experience. For instance, when I'm logged in to Google+ and We search for SEO, I have the following in my top 5 search results. Black head wear SEO practice involves breaking most of the rules and rules of the search engine. Every time you discover or hear the phrase lookup engine optimization, ” substitute exactly what create quality and indicating relevance” and you'll have the correct mindset permanently SEO work. SEOs conveniently call this effect ‘domain authority' and it appeared in order to be related to ‘PageRank' : the system Google started in order to rank the web within 1998. When you have more time plus are keen to follow the particular SEO industry, subscribe to Moz and Search Engine Land. Integrating these keywords into the blog post allows you to add range while still retaining SEO strength.

Our six experts discuss their favorite SEO tips in addition to tactics for building big site visitors in 2018. Yes, we all know it's still June plus we know it's only 2018 but if you haven't began planning and researching key developments which will affect you SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION in 2019 you could currently be falling behind. We furthermore take a look at exactly how new technologies like AI plus Voice search will begin in order to impact more on SEO since we move nearer to 2019 and beyond. Whenever every nation across the entire world is busy in making their own due contribution within the growth sector in their own method by taking the route associated with SEO service and online marketing and advertising, Singapore cannot stop stand nevertheless in one point. By 2019, articles marketing is set to turn out to be an industry worth $300 billion dollars. 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[douchebagbrainwaves]

STARTUPS AND SUBJECT

In fact their primary purpose is to keep kids locked up in one place for a big chunk of the day so adults can get things done. Unless you know this world, you may not even realize you've been rejected. I get asked in interviews to predict the future, I always have to struggle to come up with as a technologist in residence. Users like it and they've been growing rapidly. Most of the persecution comes from kids lower down, the nervous middle classes. If you choose a number based on your gut feel, or a risky one that within a short time will either yield a giant success or kill the company, VCs will push for the kill-or-cure option. The degree of courage of past or present union leaders is beside the point; all that matters for the argument is that they're funds. That would leave the founders less than a seventh of the company becoming really big. There is one thing. That compat disc player wasn't a typo, guys.

Hygienic macros embody the opposite principle. Since speed doesn't matter in most of a program, you won't ordinarily need to bother with this sort of micromanagement. There is already a write-off. Expert hackers can tell a good language. Also, as a rule, doesn't get redesigned enough. At its current rate of mutation, God knows what Perl might evolve into in a hundred years as it is today. But if I'm right about the acceleration of addictiveness, then this kind of lonely squirming to avoid it will increasingly be the fate of anyone who wants to distract voters from bad times at home, you can try to avoid meeting them, and lose half a day's work; or we can try to ride it. 001 and understood it, for example, seems to be a useful language feature. As knowledge spread about the dangers of deciding what programmers are allowed to want.

Given that you can supply the three things any language needs—a Neanderthal language. Because schlep blindness prevented people from even considering the idea of taking this rival firm's rejects. While the book seemed entirely believable, I didn't get the additional message. It's much more about alliances. Showing up for school plays is one thing more important than brevity to a hacker: being able to pick winners. Kids didn't admire it or despise it. Merely understanding the situation they're in should make it less painful.

Their craziness is the craziness of the idle everywhere. Now here's the same paragraph rewritten to please instead of offending them: Early union organizers made heroic sacrifices to improve conditions for workers. And it has to double: if you make something users love enough to tell their friends, you grow exponentially, and that it literally meant being quiet. It's hard to design good libraries. This implies that the kind of things that those who can't do, teach some of the hardest parts of doing a startup is like a pass/fail course for the founders, living dead sounds harsh. So writing to persuade and writing to discover are diametrically opposed. I was still trying to convince myself I could start a company? One way to describe this situation is to say that a hacker about to write a serious program using only the built-in Common Lisp. I realized it would probably have to be created without any meaningful criteria. If you look at the dominant technologies today, you'll find that most of the US. But in practice a good profiler may do more to improve the technology, and all three instantly said yes.

And if the company merely breaks even on the deal, there's no reason to believe today's union leaders would shrink from the challenge. The lower of two levels will either be a language in which indentation is significant, like Python, would not work very well together. Few people can experience now what Darwin's contemporaries did when The Origin of Species was first published, because everyone now is raised either to take evolution for granted, or to regard it as a cost of doing business. Another view is that a hacker's idea of a good programming language? They had to buy a lot of them. What the anti-immigration people have to invent some explanation to account for all the effort technology companies have expended trying to make that traffic stop. Or the company that would be an especially big win in server-based, and the higher your valuation, the narrower your options for doing that. It will always be a few languages, I'm not proposing that all numerical calculations would actually be carried out using lists.

This is usually done to make the implementation easier to port, but it is a definite step. Something that curtly contradicts one's beliefs can be hard to keep the founders interested. American kids, I read this book in school. They were the most arrogant people I've met in my life. But I have no problem with this: in a specialized industrial society, it would be a natural step in this progression. Once again, anyone currently in school might think this a strange question to ask. I think the main reason they never considered this was that they never imagined we could be had so cheap. Perl and Fortran are extreme cases, but even Lisp has changed a lot. When you write something telling people to be competent, you can't do better than to be friends with the people whose discoveries will make them happy, and that's making the stock move. A couple days ago I found to my surprise that I'd been granted a patent. One helpful trick here is to use the money to pay programmers to build their product for them. That's what bit me.

What about using it to write software? The answer, I think it is the most powerful force over the long term. If you take VC money, they won't let you sell early. There are two ways to deal with these guys was in high school. I noticed something striking: this is practically a recipe for generating a contemptuous initial reaction. But as of this writing the empirical evidence says it's a net win. When a stock jumps upward, you buy, and when it suddenly drops, you sell. I think there are areas where existing languages would be easier to beat. It's too late now to be Stripe, but there's no way anything so short and written in such an informal style could have anything useful to say about such and such topic, when people with degrees in the subject have already written many thick books about it. But I think the important thing about the real world more hospitable to nerds? But software, as a general rule, you can make the search results useless, because the next best deal will be almost entirely overlooked by the press.

Using first and rest instead of car and cdr often are, in successive lines. Do whatever's best for your users. If you seem smart and want to do it. I think a bigger problem is that a programming language. But now that I've realized what's going on, perhaps there's a third option: to write something explaining the two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and one on the maker's schedule, though. We weren't expected to do more than chat and seem smart and want to do now. If we improve your outcome by 10%, you're net ahead, you wouldn't have or shouldn't have done it. In a hundred years will it affect even application programmers? Everyone knows that it's not a good idea to make the medicine go down. This pattern is no coincidence: it is the worry that made the work good. And as for the schools, they were.

[gta-5-cheats]

Gun Review: The almost perfect Sig Sauer P365 (VIDEO)

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Gun Review: The almost perfect Sig Sauer P365 (VIDEO)

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One of the most celebrated new guns at SHOT Show 2018 was the a subcompact 9mm. Sig Sauer shared a copy with Guns.com for review, and after a vigorous workout with six different shooters, we agree there’s a lot to be excited about, and one detail that needs work.

Built to conceal

The P365 is a striker-fired handgun with a 3.1-inch barrel.  It’s an inch at the widest point, just 4.3 inches high, and 5.8 inches long.  All steel components are stainless; the slide is finished in Nitride. The polymer frame features a pebbled grip surface and rail. It weighs 17.8 ounces unloaded.

The pistol’s profile is rounded where it counts.  The magazine release matches the contour of the grip. The trigger guard is curved. The corners of the adjustable tritium night sights are beveled. Though these aspects contribute to easy concealment and drawing, it’s not rounded to such an extreme that it looks toy-like. It looks ready to get the job done, and it does.

How to win friends in the concealment market

The Sig Sauer P365 packs 10 rounds in a single stack magazine. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

Let’s talk about the P365 magazines.  The two metal-body, polymer-floorplate-and-follower magazines included in the package look rather standard at first glance.  One has a flat bottom; the other sports a slight extension for pinky support, intelligently beveled and flat-bottomed for easier concealment and reloads despite the added material. It’s what they are in the inside that takes these mags, and the P365, to the next level.

These little magazines hold TEN ROUNDS! Yes, in a mag that looks like others that hold six rounds, Sig managed to squeeze ten. This alone is an answer to many a concealed carrier’s wishes. Even better, they’re easy-loading, clearly marked with numbered cut-outs for easy checking of how full they are, and, with one exception, they have functioned with many different grain weights and bullet types with no chamber-feeding malfunctions so far, having fired in excess of 300 rounds.

Want to go from EDC to long days at the range? Sig also offers a 12-round mag for $55. It’s also surprisingly small.

Relatively big magazine capacity in a compact package is what the concealed carry market has been begging for. Sig Sauer can rightly claim this huge win as their own.

Condition check and loading

The loaded chamber indicator is a small cut-out atop the barrel. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

Fans of loaded chamber indictors will be semi-pleased with the P365. Similar to a competing model, the M&P Shield, it sports a cut-out on the top of the chamber, a place to peer into for indications of shining brass. It’s better than nothing, but demands a real press check to confirm a hot chamber in dark conditions.

At approximately 300 rounds, the slide started to deliver the loading motion on its own about half the time upon having a magazine firmly smacked into place. Regardless of whether loading occurred that way, or by releasing the slide lock with a thumb, or by pulling the slide rearward and letting it slam home, it has never failed to put a round into battery. Because the “free loads” resulting from magazine insertion began later, we might assume there’s a break-in period for this firearm.

But how does it shoot?

In this series of trials, the P365 has been loaded with Sig Sauer 115 and 124 grain FMJ.  It’s fired various Remington FMJ and HP loads.  It’s fired . Some mags have had different grain weights and bullet types mixed together. It has never had a misfeed or misfire. Some HP bullets that are more rounded than tapered seem as though they might get caught up as they tend to stick in the magazine lips, requiring a tiny extra push during loading. However, even these have presented no problems when fired. Reliability, to me, is the most important single factor in selecting a concealment gun, with the 10-round magazine on board, I feel this criterion is met.

Some testing included shooting off-hand and from kneeling at 25 yards.  I was pleased to discover every round had landed within the 12×18-inch target, with not a large amount of time spent setting up the shot, as these shots were done under the time constraint of my state’s daytime police qualification test.

Still more testing involved a similar-size steel target at 15 and 20 yards, fired from standing, kneeling, and prone, results were equally pleasing.

Shooting at night, one-handed and with a flashlight, the P365 continued to deliver accuracy. Fast reloads were still attainable while my support-side hand was busy using the light. The slide lock is easy to reach with my relatively short firing hand thumb.  Releasing it that way still closes the slide hard and fast without pulling the spring back to full tension.  That’s very nice asset! The XRay3 night sights proved themselves on the night qualification; a missed round was my own doing.

The front sight is very apparent during the day; the rear dots more subdued.  At night, all three glow green in equally sized dots. Sig calls them XRay3 Day/Night Sights, an apparent departure from their usual Novak set.  I call them “thanks for including the upgrade I was going to do anyway.”

Trigger

The Lyman trigger gauge measures average pull weight at 5.29 pounds. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

Looking at this handgun on the shelf, one might expect a long, double action-like pull.  It has the same shape and style folks are used to seeing on Sig DA/SA pistols.  But appearances deceive, and again the P365 delivers satisfaction.  A half-inch or so of travel is met with a consistent wall, where 1/16-inch or so of roll is felt before a clean break. Reset is a short half-inch or slightly more, and occurs with clarity and consistency. Break occurs at around 5.29 pounds of pressure. To my way of thinking, this is the perfect trigger for the everyday carrier who exercises trigger finger safety and wants to enjoy their carry gun at the range as well as for self-protection.

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Magazine release

Two-o’clock on my thumb bone does the trick for releasing the mag, every time. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

As mentioned earlier, the mag release is nicely contoured for easy concealment. It isn’t ambidextrous. It does drop the mags fast and without assistance, whether partially loaded or empty—a great feature for any test involving speed.

With much practice, I learned that getting the low-profile button to release the mag without a struggle required pressing on it with the bony edge of my thumb, at the two-o’clock position looking down on the thumb. It may of course be different for other operators, but the point on the release that requires direct pressure is an exact area.  This is a training issue that should soon be mastered by any new owner who takes their skills seriously.

Finish

This is a handsome firearm, and the matte finish of Nitron only enhances its classic look—until it gets fingerprints or sweat marks. These blemishes do wipe off but demanded repeated attention during filming so the slide wouldn’t look dirty or worn.  I don’t give a flip about finish if the gun works! But some people do, and they’re probably the same people who wouldn’t mind wiping their slide down on a regular basis to keep it fingerprint-free.

Wait, what?

A local gun store employee warned me about it.  I looked online; other reviewers warned me about it.  It was hard to believe that a gun from such a respected brand would do this.  I had to see for myself.

At first it only happened every so often. But north of the 200-round mark, it happens 100 percent of the time, if a human digit is in the vicinity of the slide lock lever during firing.  The slide’s not locking back when the gun is empty.  It’s happened with all seven people who’ve fired the pistol.  It’s an unexpected anomaly for a gun that’s on the upper end of the price range for subcompacts.

Another 100 rounds of test-firing included experimentation with left- and right-handed shooting, using two hands and one, plus a close inspection of the components involved. What we found is series of narrow, horizontal ledges, beginning with the flange on the left side of the follower, proceeding to the base of the slide lock, and ending with a slim notch on the inside of the slide. Each of these three aspects shares a very narrow interface—nothing radically different when compared to other subcompacts. If anything, there appears to be less material comprising the slide lock than on some other models. Under perfect (absolutely nothing touching the lever during recoil) conditions, this slightly precarious balance works well. Under normal operating conditions, it fails frequently—nearly 100 percent of the time when the gun is fired with a two-handed grip using the right hand as primary.

There is no outwardly visible slot for the slide lock lever on the slide. The pen tip indicates its location on the inside surface. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

The pen points to the slide lock lever interface point inside the slide. The slide has no external lever notch. (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

An interesting, sleek-looking, but perhaps related trait of the P365’s construction is that there’s no cut-out for the slide lock on the outward-facing wall of the slide. The notch is entirely internal.

The lock-back issue makes the system less than perfect.  Still, it works in the context of this gun’s intended use. Chances of a defensive encounter expending more than 11 rounds are slim. In this reviewer’s opinion, it’s a gun worth committing to for everyday carry. Training for efficient reloads should be part of every concealed carry routine anyway, and herein we find inspiration despite the comfort of having more rounds to begin with.

By using my thumb-bone as described earlier, a technique mastered with practice on the P365, I easily passed a couple moderately difficult, timed qualifications with the added delay of drawing from concealment.  Every shooter’s hands are unique; my method won’t work for everyone. It’s incumbent upon every gun user to know how to operate their firearm. The sleek contour of the mag release is simply an indication of where all users of the P365 should focus some practice time.

At day’s end

The Sig Sauer P365 is still a great concealed carry gun (Photo: Team HB/Guns.com)

Sig Sauer has produced a darn fine firearm in the P365 and has raised the bar for concealment gun capacity and reliability. It’s my hope the lockback issue might be resolved with changes to future magazines, so today’s owners can resolve the issue with new magazines when this error is fixed.

I’m no mechanical engineer, but I get to play with a lot of results of the craft. Allow me to venture a guess that a stiffer magazine spring might resolve the slide-lock issue by exerting more upward pressure onto the lever, thus solidifying its engagement with the slide when in the rearward position. Of course, that might lead to complaints from consumers who don’t like hard-loading mags, trading one training issue for another. Given the choice, I’ll take the one I’m much more likely to do in my downtime than in a gunfight or friendly competition.

There’s so much to like, and one unfortunate anomaly, with the P365. To my mind, its performance and capacity outweigh the fact that running the mag dry makes it, momentarily, more like running an AK than a little carry piece. With a price point of $599.99 and real prices currently very close or exceeding that after local add-ons, Sig needs to address this error and keep making these wonderful pistols. I’m looking forward to seeing future iterations in new colors, and dreaming there’ll be a compact-size companion in the future.

Thanks to Sig Sauer for sponsored ammunition. Exos Gear and Propper provided reviewer’s garb.

[bestacerlaptopsallstockin]

Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-575-33BM)

If you want a Windows laptop that costs less than $ 350, you usually have to face a boring, low-resolution screen. Bland design; and mediocre performance. The Acer Aspire E5-575-33BM costs $ 349 (including Windows Office for $ 429) and ignores these expectations by offering a rich and colorful 1080p display, a solid build quality and a reasonable Core i3 processor. With more than eight hours of battery life, DVD drives, and virtually any port you can imagine, this 15.6-inch laptop is the real winner for the budget.

Design: Solid

Acer Aspire E 15 is made of sturdy black plastic, dark gray matte cover with subtle cross-line pattern and texture, and imitation, such as artificial brushed aluminum deck. The notebook seems to have a solid build quality because it does not creak or buckle on my use; typing does not show any sign of bending anymore.

E15 E5-575-33BM measures 10.2 x 1.5 x 1.2 inches and weighs 5.06 pounds. It is larger but not larger than the other 15-inch notebooks. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is heavier (5.2 pounds) but thinner (0.92 inches), while the HP laptop 15-ba009dx (4.6 pounds, 0.96 inches thick) is both thin and light. The 14-inch ASUS VivoBook E403SA is a much smaller option at 3.18 pounds and 0.7 inches thick.

Ports: Everything you need plus DVD

Aspire’s thick frame leaves plenty of room for DVD burners and nearly all possible ports. There is a full-size Ethernet port on the left, two USB 3.0 connectors, HDMI output, VGA output and a USB Type-C 3.1 port, which are ideal for data use but cannot be used to charge laptops. The right side contains the DVD drive, the third USB port, and the 3.5 mm audio jack. Front lip provides an SD card reader.

Keyboard and Touchpad: Comfy and accurate

The Acer E 15’s keyboard provides a great typing experience, with no superficiality or flexibility found on many inexpensive laptops. The keys provide a full vertical travel of 1.5mm and require 64g of force to drive, a combination that prevents me from touching the bottom of my input. I reached a strong 100 words. Many users prefer a dedicated numeric keypad, which makes using a calculator or editing a spreadsheet easier.

The 4.2 x 3-inch button with less touchpad provides quite accurate navigation around the desktop, but its surface feels a bit slippery to me. This keyboard may seem a bit cumbersome when pinched and zoomed, as it does not always respond immediately when I perform this action in the Chrome browser or the Windows 10 photo application. Switch between the three applications at a time to switch applications.

Display: Surprisingly good

Finding a 1920 × 1080 monitor on a laptop less than $ 400 is very rare, let alone the monitor covers so much gamut. The Aspire E 15’s 15.6-inch screen delivers 1080p resolution with sharp, but not always accurate, viewing angles. When I saw the trailer of Spider-Man: Return, the red and blue on the Spider-Man costume suddenly appeared but seemed supersaturated.

According to our colorimeter, the Acer E 15 can reproduce the impressive 159% sRGB color gamut, well above the 94% mainstream notebook average. It also shows competitors in the price range of the E15, such as the HP Notebook 15 (70%), the Asus VivoBook E403SA (68%) and the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (72%).

Unfortunately, the numbers here do not tell the whole story because of the rather narrow perspective. The dark image starts to reverse, only 45 degrees to the left or right.

Do not use the notebook in direct sunlight. The Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM recorded 215 nits on our meter, well below the 276-nit average, but in fact was better than the Notebook 15 (174 nits) and VivoBook E403SA (201 nits) Display better. The Inspiron 15 5000 (213 nits) scored almost the same.

Audio: Decent

The output from the Aspire E 15’s speakers is quite accurate and loud enough to fill a medium sized room. When I play a dark purple “smog over the water,” I can hear the clear sound separation between drums, vocals and guitars. High-profile only a trace of tin.

Performance: Ready for (light) multitasking

With its Intel i3 7100u CPU, 4GB of memory, and 1TB of 5,400rpm hard drive, the Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers plenty of performance for lightweight multitasking. Open 12 tabs in Chrome and play native 1080p video in another window, I experienced the least delay when tabbing. However, when one of the tabs is streaming a video (in addition to the local video) or downloading a large page, things slow down until I type in the letters in the Google Docs after I hit the key.

The Aspire E 15 achieved a decent 5,408 points on Geekbench 4, a composite benchmark for overall performance. This is far less than the Core i5-7200U powered Inspiron 15 5000 score (6,742), but better than the HP laptop 15-ba009dx (3,291) and AMD A6-7310 CPUs.

Acer’s laptop took 5 minutes and 14 seconds to complete the laptop spreadsheet macro test, in this test, we matched the name of the 20,000 addresses. This time is slower than the 4:01 category average, while the Inspiron 15 5000 is 4:03, but is faster than the Pentium N3700-powered ASUS VivoBook E403SA (13:31) and HP 15 (11:40).

The E15’s 1TB hard drive replicates 4.97GB of mixed media at 36.6 megabytes per second, a much slower result than the Inspiron 15 5000 (83.4 MBps) and a bit lower than the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx MBps), both with 5400 RPM hard drives. The VivoBook E403SA and its eMMC memory are even worse (30.1 MBps).

You can watch full HD movies on Acer’s laptop, but do not think you can only play casual games. The E15’s Intel HD 620 GPU manages a mediocre 49,211 in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (a comprehensive graphical test). The mark is well below the 60,475 points and average score (86,474) of the Inspiron 15 5000. However, the notebooks 15-ba009dx (33,649) and VivoBook E403SA (26,224) scored lower.

Upgrading: Encouraged

Unlike many manufacturers, who do not want you to touch your laptop’s interior, Acer actually cites the bottom of the easy-to-remove upgrade panel as a reason to buy this laptop. If you want to improve the performance of the E 15 E-575-33BM, you can easily upgrade its RAM and storage drives with ease.

Once you have the panel turned off, you can place 32GB of DDR4 memory internally or swap out any 2.5-inch SATA SSD hard drive. The machine has only one of two memory slots filled, so you can eject an additional 4GB, about 33 USD for a total of 8GB. A 240GB or 250GB SSD costs between $ 90 and $ 100. When there is sales, you get fewer components. So, for $ 480 or less, you can have a laptop with a solid state drive, 8GB of memory and a 1080p monitor.

Battery Life: Great for the Size

If you do not mind carrying your Aspire E 15 with you, you will appreciate its battery life. Laptop battery test lasted 8 hours and 16 minutes, including continuous Internet access via Wi-Fi. This is 1 hour and 20 minutes longer than the category average (6:52), about twice the size of the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (4:25) and HP Notebook 15 (3:36). The 14-inch VivoBook E403SA (9:02) lasted for some time.

Webcam: Too much noise

Aspire’s 720p sensor is out of the box for all the errors, even in markets where most built-in laptop cameras do not shoot well. When I was taking a selfie under the fluorescent light in my office, my facial features and the background behind me were filled with visual noise. The details of my beard hair and skin lines are hard to discern.

The E 15 is Skype certified, meaning its microphones, speakers and webcam are guaranteed for use with Microsoft’s enterprise-friendly conferencing software. However, considering the image quality of the built-in lens, we recommend purchasing an external camera if you plan to make video calls.

Heat: Pretty cool

The Aspire E 15 stays cool and comfortable throughout use. After 15 minutes of video playback, the touchpad measured 78 degrees Fahrenheit, 84 degrees on the keyboard, and a low of 85.5 degrees. All of these temperatures are well below our 95 degree comfort threshold.

Configuration Options

Acer’s Aspire E 15 series has a variety of configurations. If you’re willing to spend hundreds of dollars, the $ 579 Aspire E5-575G-57D4 has the same screen and chassis as our review model, but with a Core i5 -7200U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The $ 629 E5-575G-53VG adds the Nvidia 940MX graphics card.

Software and Warranty

Acer preinstalled Aspire E 15 is just some harmless utility, but mostly copy built-in Windows 10 features. Acer Care Center checks system health and looks for software updates. Acer Power Button Settings Power Button Features: Turn off computer, hibernate, hibernate or disable display, but all of these options are also available in the Windows 10 Control Panel. Acer Quick Access allows you to turn on Blu-ray reduction mode or set your computer as a hotspot and feature that you can get as part of the operating system. CyberLink PowerDVD lets you play videos on the disc.

Like all other Windows 10 laptops we’ve tested, this machine is also bundled with Microsoft’s standard load casual games and trial software including Sling TV, Candy Crush Soda, The Royal Revolt II, Empire March, Battle of God , Download Links Radiation Shelter and Link Download Bituminous 8.

Acer supports the E 15 with a standard one-year limited warranty. Take a look at Acer how to rank in the laptop brand and technical support showdown.

The Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers a great combination of solid performance, good battery life and great usability for money. You will find it hard to find another 15-inch laptop, and this good sale features quality anywhere near $ 350.

If you want to find a laptop with a longer battery life in this price range, consider the 14-inch Asus VivoBook E403SA, which costs $ 50 and has a much lower performance but weighs only 3.18 pounds and lasts 9 Hours. However, if you want the best 15-inch notebooks available today, the E15-575-33BM has nothing else.

[jesusvasser]

First Drive: 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

MOUNT PROSPECT, South Island, New Zealand — We’re well above 5,000 feet, the sky a wash of cobalt blue and El Greco’s clouds as the helicopter banks hard toward a gray summit amid the endless range of snow-dappled peaks. Closing in, our pilot slows to a hover, gingerly easing down to a “landing site” that looks more like a minefield. The uneven ground is littered with jagged rocks, tufts of slippery grass, and bus-sized boulders—with sheer drop-offs on every side. “You’d never get up here without a whirlybird,” I think to myself as the skids finally touch down, “unless maybe you’re a mountain goat.”

It’s then that I notice four new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicons parked on tall rocks nearby, a band of brothers in silhouette, their military-inspired profiles as unmistakable today as an original Jeep was back in World War II. Mountain goats, all right—just made in metal.

On the drive in New Zealand, St. Antoine enjoyed lots of “Jeep swimming.”

A decade ago in Zambia, Africa, I was among the first to drive the then-new JK-platform Wrangler. Being a former owner of the previous model, the much-loved TJ, the JK was something of a shock: taller, dramatically wider with a new V-6 replacing the time-tested PowerTech inline-six, and a huge new four-door Unlimited version joining the lineup. Compared to my trim, nimble two-door TJ, the Unlimited JK looked like a battleship. It seemed so … big. Unwieldy, even. Could this giant even squeeze through the narrow Death Valley trails I’d so easily traversed in my TJ?

I needn’t have worried. Despite some knocks from purists (who will always knock any change to the Wrangler), the JK proved a hit. Whereas the TJ sold roughly 80,000 units Stateside in 2006, by 2017 Jeep regularly sold about 200,000 JKs a year.

Now comes the Jeep I first glimpsed high up on that New Zealand mountaintop, the all-new, 2018 JL edition. As always, Jeep engineers and stylists unveiled their new baby with a mixture of pride and nerves. After all, the Jeep faithful are an unforgiving lot. To them, any modifications to the battle-tested Wrangler formula are as contemptuous as adding Alfred E. Neuman’s face to Mount Rushmore. (We’re looking at you, square-headlight 1987 YJ.) The cry is always, “Don’t eff it up by changin’ it!” And in the JL’s case, there are a lot of changes. But put those pitchforks down. I’m one of the Wrangler faithful myself, and after driving the new JL through some of New Zealand’s most spectacular wilds—the same mountainous, river-crossed landscapes that served as the backdrop for “The Lord of the Rings” movies and the forthcoming “Mission: Impossible 6”—I’m here to tell you: The JL is a sublime piece of work, an upgrade over the JK in almost every way.

Although Jeep had only top-range Rubicon models on hand for our New Zealand drives, the two-door JL will be available in Sport, Sport S, and Rubicon trims, and the new four-door Unlimited will be available in those three versions plus a new Sahara edition.

The JL has grown compared with its predecessor, but importantly, it doesn’t feel bigger. Wheelbase has increased 1.4 inches on the two-door and 2.4 inches on the four-door, and overall length has grown 2.5 and 3.5 inches, respectively. Overall height is up an inch, and width is essentially unchanged. The truly important stats, though, are these: Approach, breakover, and departure angles on the Rubicon are all significantly improved, and ground clearance is up almost an inch (the Rubicon now rides on standard 33-inch BF Goodrich KO2 all-terrain tires on 17-inch wheels). Water fording is doable up to 30 inches, and the JL can tow as much as 3,500 pounds (when properly configured).

Those are the numbers. Here’s the big picture: The new JL is the best-looking Wrangler in years. “Like you, I’m a big fan of the TJ and the old CJ,” says Mark Allen, head of Jeep Design and the owner of a comprehensively modified TJ. “See the JL’s keystone-shaped grille … and the way the outboard slats wrap around the headlights? That’s pure CJ. Also, while everybody else seems to be raising beltlines, I lowered the JL’s. So every piece of glass is larger. Better visibility.”

Allen then leads me around to the side and points to the roll cage. “The sport bars are now welded to the body and painted in body color,” he says. “Because of some big focus group? Nope. I just like the way it looks.” He also points out a new header bar between the A-pillars, which allows the windshield to fold down while keeping the rearview mirror in place. Wrangler chief engineer Brian Leyes then jumps in: “And the body doesn’t just look good. Overall aero is improved by 9 percent.”

The big roof panel in the new zipperless soft top is fitted to a folding frame that can be lowered with one hand or removed entirely.

The JL sheds more than 100 pounds over the JK, thanks to aluminum in the doors, hood—the Rubicon gets a vented “power hood”—fenders, and windshield frame plus a magnesium-cast rear swing gate. New, high-mounted trapezoidal fender flares allow the Rubicon to accept up to 35-inch tires with no modifications. Daytime running lights encircle the headlamps; Jeep calls it a halo effect. On the Rubicon, you can opt for LED headlights, square taillights, and foglamps. Turn signals are mounted atop the front of the fender flares. The doors now feature the proper Torx bit tool size stamped right into the hinges—making removing and reattaching them a no-brainer. A new half-door will be available sometime in 2019.

Up top, the available three-piece Freedom hard top has been improved with lighter panels and easier-to-use latches. A body-color hard top is optional on the Rubicon (and the Sahara). The optional convertible soft top is now zipper-free. Instead, the rear plastic windows simply slip out of channels they snap into, and then the big roof panel can be easily flipped back and down with a single hand. Brilliant. Finally, later in 2018 Jeep will offer an optional Sky One-Touch power top with a central canvas panel that retracts fully at the touch of a button. None of the Jeeps on hand had the Sky roof, but I predict it will be a hit.

The JL’s cabin is thoroughly updated to meet the demands of the “always connected” 21st century: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, abundant USB ports, navigation, and SiriusXM with traffic. The fourth-gen Uconnect system even offers an optional 4G Wi-Fi hot spot so you can surf websites right from your camp table. The attractive space also includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, available keyless entry and standard push-button start, and the ability to call up a whole bunch of vehicle info (such as pitch and roll) on the display screen. A new optional 8.4-inch hi-res touchscreen with pinch and zoom is the largest ever offered on a Wrangler. And, yes, it’s been “mist tested” to endure at least a nonmonsoon amount of rain and keep right on displaying. (As always, the interior can be hosed out and drained via plugs in the floor.)

Jeep will offer two engines at launch: the same 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 found in the JK (now with engine stop-start) and a new 2.0-liter turbo four. The V-6 comes standard with an all-new six-speed manual shifter, with a new optional eight-speed automatic (standard on the turbo four). Coming in 2019 is the engine Jeep enthusiasts have long clamored for: a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 making 260 horsepower and—start drooling—442 lb-ft of torque. The diesel will include engine stop-start and be available only with the eight-speed auto. Can’t wait.

In New Zealand I first got to sample a manual V-6 JL Unlimited. It’s a happy combo, the 285-horsepower six revving smartly amid the transmission’s well-spaced gears. That said, having owned a manual TJ—the optional automatic for my ’97 was a three-speed—I’m not sure I’d go manual today. As I discovered when trying one later, the eight-speed automatic is just so sweet. With more ratios, it seems always to be in the right gear. It’s smooth and smart, shifting well on its own. And on one really challenging boulder climb (in the rain!), we effortlessly surmounted a course that would’ve been 10 times more difficult with a clutch pedal.

The big news underhood is the new 16-valve, direct-injection, twin-scroll turbo four. It makes less power (270 horses) than the V-6 but considerably more torque (295 lb-ft at just 3,000 rpm). It’s also uncannily quiet (I once walked right past it and didn’t even realize it was running) and well-mannered. Like the V-6, the turbo completed the rock climb without breaking a sweat. And on some limited highway sections (most were off-road), it was subdued, pulling well from low revs, never strained. Frankly, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. It’ll be interesting to sample one back in the “real world.”

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer, easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient.

On-road, some suspension changes, including retuned springs, contribute to a solid, confident feel I never experienced in my TJ. Body roll is minimal, and the ride is controlled without being unduly harsh. I didn’t get an opportunity to try the two-door on pavement, but off-road it handled rough terrain with none of the “pogo bucking” of older, shorter-wheelbase Jeeps. It was, in fact, completely comfortable. (And, I must say, the two-door really looks fantastic.) The turning circle is improved on the JL, enabling it to snake through tight mountain bends that the JKs along with us could only manage by stopping, backing up, and re-turning into the corner.

The beautiful new cockpit includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, the ability to call up info such as pitch and roll on the display screens, electronic diff locks (the red square at lower center), and a sizable new touchscreen.

JL Rubicons are equipped with a standard Rock-Trac 4×4 system with a 4:1 4LO ratio, Tru-Lok front and rear locking differentials, Dana 44 front and rear axles, and electronic sway-bar disconnect. The new Sahara, meanwhile, will offer the Wrangler’s first-ever two-speed transfer case with full-time AWD. With the automatic, the Rubicon’s crawl ratio is an amazing 77.2:1 (even better with the manual), meaning it can creep like a sloth over just about anything in its path. The Tru-Lok diffs, easily accessed via dashboard switches, are a godsend when the terrain gets slick and muddy (as it did on our drive), while disconnecting the electronic sway bar (via a dash button) over rough roads does wonders for reducing (or even eliminating) big jostles and head toss.

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer (Jeep boasts more than 75 security features), easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor—for hardly any more money. Jeep says the Rubicon two-door manual V-6 will likely start around $40,000. Expect the turbo four-door Rubicon Unlimited (available only as an eight-speed) to go for about $43,500.

The folks at Jeep have accomplished the seemingly impossible. Somehow, the new JL Wrangler manages to be more advanced and sophisticated than the JK while at the same time radiating a more classic and old-school vibe. For Jeep fans, that’s a very good thing, indeed.

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Specifications

ON SALE January 2018 PRICE $40,000 (base, est) ENGINES 2.0L DOHC 16-valve turbo I-4/270 hp @ 5,200 rpm, 295 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm; 3.6L DOHC 24-valve V-6/285 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 260 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm TRANSMISSIONS 6-speed manual, 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 2- or 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, 4WD SUV EPA MILEAGE 18/23 mpg (city/hwy) (4-door, 3.6L auto) L x W x H 166.8 (188.4) x 73.8 x 73.6 in (4-door) WHEELBASE 96.8 (118.4) in (4-door) WEIGHT 4,175-4,485 lb (4-door, 3.6L auto) 0-60 MPH 7.5 sec (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto) TOP SPEED 115 mph (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto)

IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

First Drive: 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

MOUNT PROSPECT, South Island, New Zealand — We’re well above 5,000 feet, the sky a wash of cobalt blue and El Greco’s clouds as the helicopter banks hard toward a gray summit amid the endless range of snow-dappled peaks. Closing in, our pilot slows to a hover, gingerly easing down to a “landing site” that looks more like a minefield. The uneven ground is littered with jagged rocks, tufts of slippery grass, and bus-sized boulders—with sheer drop-offs on every side. “You’d never get up here without a whirlybird,” I think to myself as the skids finally touch down, “unless maybe you’re a mountain goat.”

It’s then that I notice four new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicons parked on tall rocks nearby, a band of brothers in silhouette, their military-inspired profiles as unmistakable today as an original Jeep was back in World War II. Mountain goats, all right—just made in metal.

On the drive in New Zealand, St. Antoine enjoyed lots of “Jeep swimming.”

A decade ago in Zambia, Africa, I was among the first to drive the then-new JK-platform Wrangler. Being a former owner of the previous model, the much-loved TJ, the JK was something of a shock: taller, dramatically wider with a new V-6 replacing the time-tested PowerTech inline-six, and a huge new four-door Unlimited version joining the lineup. Compared to my trim, nimble two-door TJ, the Unlimited JK looked like a battleship. It seemed so … big. Unwieldy, even. Could this giant even squeeze through the narrow Death Valley trails I’d so easily traversed in my TJ?

I needn’t have worried. Despite some knocks from purists (who will always knock any change to the Wrangler), the JK proved a hit. Whereas the TJ sold roughly 80,000 units Stateside in 2006, by 2017 Jeep regularly sold about 200,000 JKs a year.

Now comes the Jeep I first glimpsed high up on that New Zealand mountaintop, the all-new, 2018 JL edition. As always, Jeep engineers and stylists unveiled their new baby with a mixture of pride and nerves. After all, the Jeep faithful are an unforgiving lot. To them, any modifications to the battle-tested Wrangler formula are as contemptuous as adding Alfred E. Neuman’s face to Mount Rushmore. (We’re looking at you, square-headlight 1987 YJ.) The cry is always, “Don’t eff it up by changin’ it!” And in the JL’s case, there are a lot of changes. But put those pitchforks down. I’m one of the Wrangler faithful myself, and after driving the new JL through some of New Zealand’s most spectacular wilds—the same mountainous, river-crossed landscapes that served as the backdrop for “The Lord of the Rings” movies and the forthcoming “Mission: Impossible 6”—I’m here to tell you: The JL is a sublime piece of work, an upgrade over the JK in almost every way.

Although Jeep had only top-range Rubicon models on hand for our New Zealand drives, the two-door JL will be available in Sport, Sport S, and Rubicon trims, and the new four-door Unlimited will be available in those three versions plus a new Sahara edition.

The JL has grown compared with its predecessor, but importantly, it doesn’t feel bigger. Wheelbase has increased 1.4 inches on the two-door and 2.4 inches on the four-door, and overall length has grown 2.5 and 3.5 inches, respectively. Overall height is up an inch, and width is essentially unchanged. The truly important stats, though, are these: Approach, breakover, and departure angles on the Rubicon are all significantly improved, and ground clearance is up almost an inch (the Rubicon now rides on standard 33-inch BF Goodrich KO2 all-terrain tires on 17-inch wheels). Water fording is doable up to 30 inches, and the JL can tow as much as 3,500 pounds (when properly configured).

Those are the numbers. Here’s the big picture: The new JL is the best-looking Wrangler in years. “Like you, I’m a big fan of the TJ and the old CJ,” says Mark Allen, head of Jeep Design and the owner of a comprehensively modified TJ. “See the JL’s keystone-shaped grille … and the way the outboard slats wrap around the headlights? That’s pure CJ. Also, while everybody else seems to be raising beltlines, I lowered the JL’s. So every piece of glass is larger. Better visibility.”

Allen then leads me around to the side and points to the roll cage. “The sport bars are now welded to the body and painted in body color,” he says. “Because of some big focus group? Nope. I just like the way it looks.” He also points out a new header bar between the A-pillars, which allows the windshield to fold down while keeping the rearview mirror in place. Wrangler chief engineer Brian Leyes then jumps in: “And the body doesn’t just look good. Overall aero is improved by 9 percent.”

The big roof panel in the new zipperless soft top is fitted to a folding frame that can be lowered with one hand or removed entirely.

The JL sheds more than 100 pounds over the JK, thanks to aluminum in the doors, hood—the Rubicon gets a vented “power hood”—fenders, and windshield frame plus a magnesium-cast rear swing gate. New, high-mounted trapezoidal fender flares allow the Rubicon to accept up to 35-inch tires with no modifications. Daytime running lights encircle the headlamps; Jeep calls it a halo effect. On the Rubicon, you can opt for LED headlights, square taillights, and foglamps. Turn signals are mounted atop the front of the fender flares. The doors now feature the proper Torx bit tool size stamped right into the hinges—making removing and reattaching them a no-brainer. A new half-door will be available sometime in 2019.

Up top, the available three-piece Freedom hard top has been improved with lighter panels and easier-to-use latches. A body-color hard top is optional on the Rubicon (and the Sahara). The optional convertible soft top is now zipper-free. Instead, the rear plastic windows simply slip out of channels they snap into, and then the big roof panel can be easily flipped back and down with a single hand. Brilliant. Finally, later in 2018 Jeep will offer an optional Sky One-Touch power top with a central canvas panel that retracts fully at the touch of a button. None of the Jeeps on hand had the Sky roof, but I predict it will be a hit.

The JL’s cabin is thoroughly updated to meet the demands of the “always connected” 21st century: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, abundant USB ports, navigation, and SiriusXM with traffic. The fourth-gen Uconnect system even offers an optional 4G Wi-Fi hot spot so you can surf websites right from your camp table. The attractive space also includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, available keyless entry and standard push-button start, and the ability to call up a whole bunch of vehicle info (such as pitch and roll) on the display screen. A new optional 8.4-inch hi-res touchscreen with pinch and zoom is the largest ever offered on a Wrangler. And, yes, it’s been “mist tested” to endure at least a nonmonsoon amount of rain and keep right on displaying. (As always, the interior can be hosed out and drained via plugs in the floor.)

Jeep will offer two engines at launch: the same 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 found in the JK (now with engine stop-start) and a new 2.0-liter turbo four. The V-6 comes standard with an all-new six-speed manual shifter, with a new optional eight-speed automatic (standard on the turbo four). Coming in 2019 is the engine Jeep enthusiasts have long clamored for: a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 making 260 horsepower and—start drooling—442 lb-ft of torque. The diesel will include engine stop-start and be available only with the eight-speed auto. Can’t wait.

In New Zealand I first got to sample a manual V-6 JL Unlimited. It’s a happy combo, the 285-horsepower six revving smartly amid the transmission’s well-spaced gears. That said, having owned a manual TJ—the optional automatic for my ’97 was a three-speed—I’m not sure I’d go manual today. As I discovered when trying one later, the eight-speed automatic is just so sweet. With more ratios, it seems always to be in the right gear. It’s smooth and smart, shifting well on its own. And on one really challenging boulder climb (in the rain!), we effortlessly surmounted a course that would’ve been 10 times more difficult with a clutch pedal.

The big news underhood is the new 16-valve, direct-injection, twin-scroll turbo four. It makes less power (270 horses) than the V-6 but considerably more torque (295 lb-ft at just 3,000 rpm). It’s also uncannily quiet (I once walked right past it and didn’t even realize it was running) and well-mannered. Like the V-6, the turbo completed the rock climb without breaking a sweat. And on some limited highway sections (most were off-road), it was subdued, pulling well from low revs, never strained. Frankly, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. It’ll be interesting to sample one back in the “real world.”

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer, easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient.

On-road, some suspension changes, including retuned springs, contribute to a solid, confident feel I never experienced in my TJ. Body roll is minimal, and the ride is controlled without being unduly harsh. I didn’t get an opportunity to try the two-door on pavement, but off-road it handled rough terrain with none of the “pogo bucking” of older, shorter-wheelbase Jeeps. It was, in fact, completely comfortable. (And, I must say, the two-door really looks fantastic.) The turning circle is improved on the JL, enabling it to snake through tight mountain bends that the JKs along with us could only manage by stopping, backing up, and re-turning into the corner.

The beautiful new cockpit includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, the ability to call up info such as pitch and roll on the display screens, electronic diff locks (the red square at lower center), and a sizable new touchscreen.

JL Rubicons are equipped with a standard Rock-Trac 4×4 system with a 4:1 4LO ratio, Tru-Lok front and rear locking differentials, Dana 44 front and rear axles, and electronic sway-bar disconnect. The new Sahara, meanwhile, will offer the Wrangler’s first-ever two-speed transfer case with full-time AWD. With the automatic, the Rubicon’s crawl ratio is an amazing 77.2:1 (even better with the manual), meaning it can creep like a sloth over just about anything in its path. The Tru-Lok diffs, easily accessed via dashboard switches, are a godsend when the terrain gets slick and muddy (as it did on our drive), while disconnecting the electronic sway bar (via a dash button) over rough roads does wonders for reducing (or even eliminating) big jostles and head toss.

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer (Jeep boasts more than 75 security features), easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor—for hardly any more money. Jeep says the Rubicon two-door manual V-6 will likely start around $40,000. Expect the turbo four-door Rubicon Unlimited (available only as an eight-speed) to go for about $43,500.

The folks at Jeep have accomplished the seemingly impossible. Somehow, the new JL Wrangler manages to be more advanced and sophisticated than the JK while at the same time radiating a more classic and old-school vibe. For Jeep fans, that’s a very good thing, indeed.

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Specifications

ON SALE January 2018 PRICE $40,000 (base, est) ENGINES 2.0L DOHC 16-valve turbo I-4/270 hp @ 5,200 rpm, 295 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm; 3.6L DOHC 24-valve V-6/285 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 260 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm TRANSMISSIONS 6-speed manual, 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 2- or 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, 4WD SUV EPA MILEAGE 18/23 mpg (city/hwy) (4-door, 3.6L auto) L x W x H 166.8 (188.4) x 73.8 x 73.6 in (4-door) WHEELBASE 96.8 (118.4) in (4-door) WEIGHT 4,175-4,485 lb (4-door, 3.6L auto) 0-60 MPH 7.5 sec (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto) TOP SPEED 115 mph (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto)

IFTTT

[jonathanbelloblog]

First Drive: 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

MOUNT PROSPECT, South Island, New Zealand — We’re well above 5,000 feet, the sky a wash of cobalt blue and El Greco’s clouds as the helicopter banks hard toward a gray summit amid the endless range of snow-dappled peaks. Closing in, our pilot slows to a hover, gingerly easing down to a “landing site” that looks more like a minefield. The uneven ground is littered with jagged rocks, tufts of slippery grass, and bus-sized boulders—with sheer drop-offs on every side. “You’d never get up here without a whirlybird,” I think to myself as the skids finally touch down, “unless maybe you’re a mountain goat.”

It’s then that I notice four new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicons parked on tall rocks nearby, a band of brothers in silhouette, their military-inspired profiles as unmistakable today as an original Jeep was back in World War II. Mountain goats, all right—just made in metal.

On the drive in New Zealand, St. Antoine enjoyed lots of “Jeep swimming.”

A decade ago in Zambia, Africa, I was among the first to drive the then-new JK-platform Wrangler. Being a former owner of the previous model, the much-loved TJ, the JK was something of a shock: taller, dramatically wider with a new V-6 replacing the time-tested PowerTech inline-six, and a huge new four-door Unlimited version joining the lineup. Compared to my trim, nimble two-door TJ, the Unlimited JK looked like a battleship. It seemed so … big. Unwieldy, even. Could this giant even squeeze through the narrow Death Valley trails I’d so easily traversed in my TJ?

I needn’t have worried. Despite some knocks from purists (who will always knock any change to the Wrangler), the JK proved a hit. Whereas the TJ sold roughly 80,000 units Stateside in 2006, by 2017 Jeep regularly sold about 200,000 JKs a year.

Now comes the Jeep I first glimpsed high up on that New Zealand mountaintop, the all-new, 2018 JL edition. As always, Jeep engineers and stylists unveiled their new baby with a mixture of pride and nerves. After all, the Jeep faithful are an unforgiving lot. To them, any modifications to the battle-tested Wrangler formula are as contemptuous as adding Alfred E. Neuman’s face to Mount Rushmore. (We’re looking at you, square-headlight 1987 YJ.) The cry is always, “Don’t eff it up by changin’ it!” And in the JL’s case, there are a lot of changes. But put those pitchforks down. I’m one of the Wrangler faithful myself, and after driving the new JL through some of New Zealand’s most spectacular wilds—the same mountainous, river-crossed landscapes that served as the backdrop for “The Lord of the Rings” movies and the forthcoming “Mission: Impossible 6”—I’m here to tell you: The JL is a sublime piece of work, an upgrade over the JK in almost every way.

Although Jeep had only top-range Rubicon models on hand for our New Zealand drives, the two-door JL will be available in Sport, Sport S, and Rubicon trims, and the new four-door Unlimited will be available in those three versions plus a new Sahara edition.

The JL has grown compared with its predecessor, but importantly, it doesn’t feel bigger. Wheelbase has increased 1.4 inches on the two-door and 2.4 inches on the four-door, and overall length has grown 2.5 and 3.5 inches, respectively. Overall height is up an inch, and width is essentially unchanged. The truly important stats, though, are these: Approach, breakover, and departure angles on the Rubicon are all significantly improved, and ground clearance is up almost an inch (the Rubicon now rides on standard 33-inch BF Goodrich KO2 all-terrain tires on 17-inch wheels). Water fording is doable up to 30 inches, and the JL can tow as much as 3,500 pounds (when properly configured).

Those are the numbers. Here’s the big picture: The new JL is the best-looking Wrangler in years. “Like you, I’m a big fan of the TJ and the old CJ,” says Mark Allen, head of Jeep Design and the owner of a comprehensively modified TJ. “See the JL’s keystone-shaped grille … and the way the outboard slats wrap around the headlights? That’s pure CJ. Also, while everybody else seems to be raising beltlines, I lowered the JL’s. So every piece of glass is larger. Better visibility.”

Allen then leads me around to the side and points to the roll cage. “The sport bars are now welded to the body and painted in body color,” he says. “Because of some big focus group? Nope. I just like the way it looks.” He also points out a new header bar between the A-pillars, which allows the windshield to fold down while keeping the rearview mirror in place. Wrangler chief engineer Brian Leyes then jumps in: “And the body doesn’t just look good. Overall aero is improved by 9 percent.”

The big roof panel in the new zipperless soft top is fitted to a folding frame that can be lowered with one hand or removed entirely.

The JL sheds more than 100 pounds over the JK, thanks to aluminum in the doors, hood—the Rubicon gets a vented “power hood”—fenders, and windshield frame plus a magnesium-cast rear swing gate. New, high-mounted trapezoidal fender flares allow the Rubicon to accept up to 35-inch tires with no modifications. Daytime running lights encircle the headlamps; Jeep calls it a halo effect. On the Rubicon, you can opt for LED headlights, square taillights, and foglamps. Turn signals are mounted atop the front of the fender flares. The doors now feature the proper Torx bit tool size stamped right into the hinges—making removing and reattaching them a no-brainer. A new half-door will be available sometime in 2019.

Up top, the available three-piece Freedom hard top has been improved with lighter panels and easier-to-use latches. A body-color hard top is optional on the Rubicon (and the Sahara). The optional convertible soft top is now zipper-free. Instead, the rear plastic windows simply slip out of channels they snap into, and then the big roof panel can be easily flipped back and down with a single hand. Brilliant. Finally, later in 2018 Jeep will offer an optional Sky One-Touch power top with a central canvas panel that retracts fully at the touch of a button. None of the Jeeps on hand had the Sky roof, but I predict it will be a hit.

The JL’s cabin is thoroughly updated to meet the demands of the “always connected” 21st century: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, abundant USB ports, navigation, and SiriusXM with traffic. The fourth-gen Uconnect system even offers an optional 4G Wi-Fi hot spot so you can surf websites right from your camp table. The attractive space also includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, available keyless entry and standard push-button start, and the ability to call up a whole bunch of vehicle info (such as pitch and roll) on the display screen. A new optional 8.4-inch hi-res touchscreen with pinch and zoom is the largest ever offered on a Wrangler. And, yes, it’s been “mist tested” to endure at least a nonmonsoon amount of rain and keep right on displaying. (As always, the interior can be hosed out and drained via plugs in the floor.)

Jeep will offer two engines at launch: the same 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 found in the JK (now with engine stop-start) and a new 2.0-liter turbo four. The V-6 comes standard with an all-new six-speed manual shifter, with a new optional eight-speed automatic (standard on the turbo four). Coming in 2019 is the engine Jeep enthusiasts have long clamored for: a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 making 260 horsepower and—start drooling—442 lb-ft of torque. The diesel will include engine stop-start and be available only with the eight-speed auto. Can’t wait.

In New Zealand I first got to sample a manual V-6 JL Unlimited. It’s a happy combo, the 285-horsepower six revving smartly amid the transmission’s well-spaced gears. That said, having owned a manual TJ—the optional automatic for my ’97 was a three-speed—I’m not sure I’d go manual today. As I discovered when trying one later, the eight-speed automatic is just so sweet. With more ratios, it seems always to be in the right gear. It’s smooth and smart, shifting well on its own. And on one really challenging boulder climb (in the rain!), we effortlessly surmounted a course that would’ve been 10 times more difficult with a clutch pedal.

The big news underhood is the new 16-valve, direct-injection, twin-scroll turbo four. It makes less power (270 horses) than the V-6 but considerably more torque (295 lb-ft at just 3,000 rpm). It’s also uncannily quiet (I once walked right past it and didn’t even realize it was running) and well-mannered. Like the V-6, the turbo completed the rock climb without breaking a sweat. And on some limited highway sections (most were off-road), it was subdued, pulling well from low revs, never strained. Frankly, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. It’ll be interesting to sample one back in the “real world.”

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer, easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient.

On-road, some suspension changes, including retuned springs, contribute to a solid, confident feel I never experienced in my TJ. Body roll is minimal, and the ride is controlled without being unduly harsh. I didn’t get an opportunity to try the two-door on pavement, but off-road it handled rough terrain with none of the “pogo bucking” of older, shorter-wheelbase Jeeps. It was, in fact, completely comfortable. (And, I must say, the two-door really looks fantastic.) The turning circle is improved on the JL, enabling it to snake through tight mountain bends that the JKs along with us could only manage by stopping, backing up, and re-turning into the corner.

The beautiful new cockpit includes a dash painted to match the seat stitching, the ability to call up info such as pitch and roll on the display screens, electronic diff locks (the red square at lower center), and a sizable new touchscreen.

JL Rubicons are equipped with a standard Rock-Trac 4×4 system with a 4:1 4LO ratio, Tru-Lok front and rear locking differentials, Dana 44 front and rear axles, and electronic sway-bar disconnect. The new Sahara, meanwhile, will offer the Wrangler’s first-ever two-speed transfer case with full-time AWD. With the automatic, the Rubicon’s crawl ratio is an amazing 77.2:1 (even better with the manual), meaning it can creep like a sloth over just about anything in its path. The Tru-Lok diffs, easily accessed via dashboard switches, are a godsend when the terrain gets slick and muddy (as it did on our drive), while disconnecting the electronic sway bar (via a dash button) over rough roads does wonders for reducing (or even eliminating) big jostles and head toss.

This new JL is a slam dunk. It’s more comfortable on-road, more capable off-road, safer (Jeep boasts more than 75 security features), easier to configure, better-looking, better-performing, and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor—for hardly any more money. Jeep says the Rubicon two-door manual V-6 will likely start around $40,000. Expect the turbo four-door Rubicon Unlimited (available only as an eight-speed) to go for about $43,500.

The folks at Jeep have accomplished the seemingly impossible. Somehow, the new JL Wrangler manages to be more advanced and sophisticated than the JK while at the same time radiating a more classic and old-school vibe. For Jeep fans, that’s a very good thing, indeed.

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Specifications

ON SALE January 2018 PRICE $40,000 (base, est) ENGINES 2.0L DOHC 16-valve turbo I-4/270 hp @ 5,200 rpm, 295 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm; 3.6L DOHC 24-valve V-6/285 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 260 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm TRANSMISSIONS 6-speed manual, 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 2- or 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, 4WD SUV EPA MILEAGE 18/23 mpg (city/hwy) (4-door, 3.6L auto) L x W x H 166.8 (188.4) x 73.8 x 73.6 in (4-door) WHEELBASE 96.8 (118.4) in (4-door) WEIGHT 4,175-4,485 lb (4-door, 3.6L auto) 0-60 MPH 7.5 sec (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto) TOP SPEED 115 mph (est) (4-door, 3.6L auto)

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