#source: Some Ordinary Podcast Number 6

[simpingwriter]

Wayne Fam Podcast: talking about the stupid shit they pulled as kids.

Faith: "So one time, when I was 8, I farted into a Gatorade Bottle, locked it up and smelled it like six weeks later."

Jason: *has a whole ass vietnam flashback to that day* "..."

Dick: "Was it there?"

Faith: "No doubt, no fucking doubt-"

Tim: *keels over laughing on the couch, fighting for air*

Jason: "...I almost threw up...it was so...vile."

Dick: "The fuck you eat those six weeks ago??"

Faith: "THE SAME AS YOU ALL!"

Jason: "I highly fucking doubt that!"

[ethdifi1989qi-blog]

Low-key and mystical performance praise What is the investment idea of ??Spark Capital

Two weeks ago, a number of companies invested by Spark Capital completed acquisitions and exits and the next circular of investments by additional first-tier money, including food delivery company Postmates, clever mirror firm Mirror, quick messaging company Discord, and so forth. In June, they also completed 6 new investments. Such outstanding performance during the epidemic is quite rare in the VC circle. This program discusses what kind of fund Spark Capital is definitely, and the evaluation of these invested and acquired companies. What sort of company is Spark Capital Lively and lively: Although Spark Capital is in Silicon Valley, it seems that there is not much discussion about it, in fact it is not really a first-line fund. Louis: Because they started in Boston and are not of pure Silicon Valley descent, they are not on the list of top-tier Silicon Valley funds. But judging from their purchase portfolio, it really is an extremely competitive company. The founders of Spark Capital (Bijan Sabet, etc.) also mentioned that they encountered many obstacles if they "fight" from Boston to Silicon Valley. Lively and vigorously: Their team is not big, mainly divided into two funds, one for earlier investment and the other for growth. Today their initial administration scale is 450 million U.S. bucks, and the growth period is 900 million. The total amount is approximately 4 billion U.S. dollars in AUM (property under management). What makes me more eye-catching is the businesses that Bijan has committed to, such as Twitter, Tumblr, Trello, OMGPOP, Foursquare, and also Stack Overflow. Generally, one vote is one standard. Louis: Bijan is still very good. Both Twitter and Tumblr invested quite early, and he invested in the business when Twitter got just 12 employees. Founder of Bijan Sabet Spark Capital Their partners are not many, and some are drawn from the investee company. For instance, in the first days of Twitter, Kevin Thau was employed as a fund partner. Kevin later on led the investment in Mirror, which was recently acquired. Which companies have you invested in? Lively voice: Let's talk about the most famous Postmates first. Louis: Postmates may be the top foods delivery business in the United States, and its market share is most likely No. 4. The first choice is DoorDash, accompanied by Uber Eats, No. 3 is Grubhub, and No. 4 is basically Postmates. Lately Postmates was acquired simply by Uber, and you will furthermore see Uber Eats' ambitions. Image supply: foodondemandnews.com Suffering from the epidemic, Uber's first-quarter financial report had been ugly. Although overall revenue is rising, the net loss is approximately 3 x that of the same time period this past year, reaching $2.936 billion. They also laid off employees consistently, layoffs about a quarter of these employees inside a month. Although Uber's overall loss is expanding, Uber Eats's business has skyrocketed. Uber Eats' total bookings are US$4.683 billion, which is 30% of total revenue and a 52% year-on-year increase. So the epidemic actually taught Uber a lesson. We all said before that if startups can grasp among the four requires of humans, they may become giants. But Uber is rolling out to this year, and it has discovered that the 4 major rigid requirements may also be in order. Image source: digital.hbs.edu More than a month ago, there have been rumors that Uber can acquire Grubhub, the company with the 3rd largest market share. DoorDash's current market share is 45%, Grubhub has 28%, and Uber provides 17%. If Uber successfully acquired Grubhub a month ago, its total market talk about could be add up to DoorDash. Afterwards, a European giant named Just Eat Takeaway acquired Grubhub, that is equivalent to the merger of Ele.me personally and Baidu Waimai. So Uber could only turn around to find Postmates. Around 2012, Nabeel, somebody of Spark Funds, entered Postmates in a valuation of 73 million through the B circular, and the business was eventually acquired by Uber for $2.6 billion. Spark Capital offers its own expenditure philosophy. The CEO of Postmates will be neither a graduate of the CS main from an American Ivy League college nor a senior executive encounter in a big company. Its CEO is really a German. After dropping out of university, he's got experienced various locations in European countries for a long period. Although the price of $2.65 billion isn't high for Spark Capital, it is not a case of sensation like Twitter. But it can be seen that their investments have become stable. Lively and lively: Postmates has a total financing of nearly 900 million US dollars, so the price of 2.6 billion US bucks did not help make everyone earn often, but at least it is profitable. Their Website had two rounds of financing this past year, one in January and something in September. As you stated, this industry is as well money-burning and competition is as well fierce. Louis: For early investors want Spark Capital, it is still a good result. Uber nearly bought Grubhub. If this list is completed, it is unlikely to end up being still left to Postmates. Lively: How will be Mirror, a relatively new company? Louis: Friends who make use of Instagram should be able to see this company's ads frequently. It is a D2C brand that is a yoga exercise mirror for exercise. It looks no different from ordinary mirrors, but electronic, you can try yourself in the mirror, follow the yoga instructor in the mirror to accomplish yoga, and there are other fitness lessons. Mirror's mirror markets for under US$1,500, also it had approximately US$100 million in revenue last year. Image supply: Mirror official website The home fitness field in the usa is relatively popular. Probably the most popular one is Peloton, which is a bike for exercising in the home. Many huge tech circles and VC circles have this type of bike in the home. The cost of this car is expensive, more than 2,000 US dollars. Peloton was also successfully listed this past year, and the existing market value is about 19 billion US dollars. Lively: Where is the selling point of Mirror? Louis: The prospective market for Mirror is relatively high-end. Individuals above the center class in the usa are suffering from good fitness routines. They cannot visit the gym during the epidemic. Increasing numbers of people are considering how exactly to maintain health and fitness habits in the home. Mirror's $100 million in revenue this past year was not a big explosion, thus Lululemon's acquisition of this company was also a bold attempt through the epidemic. The features of Mirror are reflected in product design and social attributes. The high stickiness of Peloton customers is also due to the social nature. You can view how far your friends have ridden by riding a bicycle every day. Just like Line's methods ranking, there will be peer pressure. Image resource: Peloton official website And the complex threshold of Mirror hardware isn't too high, a few courses on a mirror. Additionally, there are many home fitness startups in China, including startups that benchmark Peloton or Mirror. The prerequisite for home fitness in the usa may be the maturity of the exercise industry and the popularization of outdoor exercise practices. But it continues to be a comparatively new thing in China. As a result, whether domestic exercise can achieve how big is the United States remains to be verified. Another company Spark Capital invested in is certainly Discord, the former entered the marketplace at a valuation of $22 million in the A round. The new round is led by Index Ventures, and today has a valuation of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars and keeps growing very fast. Image source: medium.com Discord can be an software for tone of voice and textual content chat. After logging in, you can see that its interface is very much like Slack, but their audiences are very different. Slack is really a SaaS firm of to B, and their users are all enterprises. The primary audience of Discord is in the gaming circle, where the voice function can be used the most. To place it bluntly, this is a software application for everyone to play video games, and the CPU occupies very little. Along with game communication, additional communication may also be performed on it. Many users of Discord are attracted from Reddit. Reddit is an extremely popular discussion board in the usa. Peer-to-peer conversation is fairly laborious. There is no personal messaging and quick messaging functions. Therefore, many large Reddit stations will open their own servers on Discord. Currently Discord has 45 million users and 9 million DAU. Even though initial feature set was even more casual, which was not the same as Slack's starting place, some schools in Europe already are using Discord for classes. So actually, Discord has mixed the functions of Slack and Zoom. This is a thing that many startups wish to accomplish but have not completed, because the United Claims can be used to doing a single function, and performing a good job first. Discord also found a good entry point in an individual dimension after combining the features of Slack and Zoom. They entered the market through the overall game segment and expanded to other areas. I think the potential customers are quite good. Lively voice: simply talked about the voice interaction and chat field, we are able to mention Clubhouse again. Louis: Clubhouse is also an extremely popular startup in Silicon Valley recently. A16z invested 12 million US dollars, with a valuation of around 100 million US dollars. But Clubhouse's products have not however seen everyone, as the current consumer invitation system. Now generally there are only 1,500 customers, basically all are tech giants, journalists, CEOs or some Hollywood celebrities. The product is founded on voice social media, and Clubhouse really wants to disrupt the podcast industry. They believe that podcasts can be converted into real-time chats. For example, many large bosses are usually chatting, and ordinary people can pay attention to them instantly and take part in interaction. Image source: techcrunch.com Clubhouse's environment is that users can easily see many areas after successfully logging in. For example, in this chat room, you can find leaders from Spark Funds discussing some emerging topics, and I wish to proceed in and pay attention. We just mentioned that it had been invested 12 million US bucks by a16z, including 2 million secondary shares (old shares). Both founders have cashed out US$2 million before the product came out. This is rare in the VC circle, and I don't believe this is a good sign. However, from the perspective of two extremely popular businesses, Discord and Clubhouse, after the epidemic, there is still a lot of room in the voice social and video fields. Lively voice: Spark Capital committed to 2 new companies in June, and the remaining 4 companies are fresh rounds of previous investment. One of the newly invested companies is called Teooh, which is a bit like the Sims 3D avatar. It could socialize, hold meetings, or hold workshops, reside podcasts or remote control team building. There are several consumer scenarios. Spark Funds casts a seed circular. Image resource: teooh.com Louis: Considering its web site now is quite "fun". It has made a 3D animation model for everyone, and the animation level is quite rough. But in the beta stage of the product, we can't use its current design to predict its future development. In case you are beginning to consider the prototypes of Google or Facebook, you may find it inexplicable. Maybe after a year or two, this type of product could have a qualitative leap. Lively voice: Another company that Spark Capital committed to in June is Tatch, whose function is to monitor sleep quality. This company was established in 2017. The form is a small patch like a plaster which can be connected to your body to monitor sleep high quality in eight various dimensions, including breathing and switching over during sleep. In the future, there may be cooperation with doctors. There are various such companies. Why do Spark Capital spend money on this company? Image supply: tatchhealth.com Louis: There are many people in this industry, including Apple. Apple also lately introduced a sleep monitoring function. Spark Capital recently committed to a company, that i think is quite interesting, called Quaestor. It is a SaaS item that connects investors and founders. On the main one hand, it helps investors manage the business they spend money on, and alternatively, it helps entrepreneurs manage investor relations. The management of most VC organizations is in fact very "primitive", and everyone uses Excel and E-mail. The founder of the product can be a VC background, and one of them was something manager at Carta before. Lively voice: Carta can be a particularly interesting product. Essentially, during the past two years, everyone has used it to communicate with investors about the stock situation. Louis: Indeed, Carta basically achieved the monopoly of this type. Carta is really a SaaS software managed by way of a startup company's shares. Start-up companies need to open choice pools for workers and manage shares for traders. This software program can do 409A valuation. You can even trade shares on it. Equity dealings in the principal market supply the impact of a secondary market. So Carta's item supervisor was dug out to accomplish Quaestor, which is reasonable. Image source: Quaestor Quaestor's products presently do not directly cope with equity dealings. At the beginning, they could still start from the perspectives of CRM, data collection, and data management, rather than directly starting finance. Lively voice: Quaestor's main function is to see how very much money is in the account of the invested company, quarterly earnings, etc. Whether it's for entrepreneurs or traders, this is actually very challenging to manage. How to talk about these data regularly without leaking the data is still very complicated. If this piece can be achieved, it'll be a good market segment. The founder's judgment on the problem of the VC industry Louis: Both main companions of Spark Funds are usually Bijan and Nabeel. Bijan may be the founder of Spark Funds in Boston, and Nabeel is really a partner in the San Francisco office, both with an excellent investment history. Each of them also have a podcast, Hallway Chat. In the latest episode, they talked about the development trend of the VC sector this year. Image source: Apple company Podcast Weighed against the household VC sector, Silicon Valley seems "lazy". It feels as though half a year is on christmas every calendar year. There are always a group of holidays beginning with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Xmas and New 12 months. There are basically no people in the last two months Worked. Because these VCs may also be bigwigs, they are not young and their children are older. In summer time, the kids have summer holiday, and they went again during the past two months. Therefore, the overall US VC sector feels very lazy. When the epidemic broke out, it experienced that individuals were not working. Bijan of Spark Funds also asked Nabeel, how can you think the overall purchase of VC changes this year. Nabeel's thinking is not exactly like everybody else. He thinks VC will undoubtedly be increasing this year. Companion, Nabeel Hyatt Spark Capital He said that whenever the epidemic simply started, everyone started to panic. After therefore a long time of VC work, he felt like a startup business for the first time. Following the fall in the US secondary market place, it rebounded strongly, which lots of people did not expect, and it also gave the primary market a enhance. Early investment may not have been affected an excessive amount of, however the growth stage is certainly picking up. It is a boost from the secondary market, and the panic provides gradually stabilized. Nabeel also mentioned that it might not be possible to talk to the founder face-to-face when making investments, so it is often necessary to make more decisive decisions. One pattern they notice is that good startups are becoming more popular. Why Clubhouse can be rushed to vote by the two top VC companies, Benchmark and a16z before the product release, and finally won by a16z, is because of the higher price. Therefore Nabeel believes that this year's VC industry scenario might not decline. But Bijan stated that previously two years in Silicon Valley, everyone feels that bubbles must exist, especially in the technologies industry. In 2019, the bubble in fact existed. So in 2020, if the VC market is still in an upward craze, both of them think it is a far more dangerous signal. Recommended reading Chinese giants retreat overseas. In 2020, overseas dating giants are embracing changes and digging into the wants of owners. Dig An app isn't plenty of. The e-commerce economy is made on Facebook. What would a country look like? The number of confirmed cases is second on earth. What opportunities does the double-edged sword of the epidemic provide to Brazil? Business Cooperation Cassie | Line: 18506490569 Media consultation Ares | Line: 18060664421 Developer docking Liu Yanting | Range: 18850230356 Long press the picture to scan the code Sign up for the Beluga community

[huldalovelady86-blog]

Free Ringtone Maker

If you've ever tried to search for software program that can convert audio and video recordsdata on Home windows, you might know how exhausting it can be to find devoted options which can be truly free and function as marketed. FLAC and ALAC are two lossless audio codecs broadly used amongst 1000's of music fans. Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) was developed in 2004 and became open-supply in 2011. FLAC has some inner differences from the ALAC format, however from the angle of an finish-consumer the one actual distinction is that ALAC could be simply performed on iOS units, whereas FLAC - can not. So converting FLAC to ALAC is a typical job for iPhone and iPad users. Here is how one can run this conversion with minimal efforts, maximum efficiency and with out high quality loss. The flac information you've collected from varied sources (Web downloads, ripping vinyl long plays, music CDs, and many others.) have many ups and downs within the volume stage? converter normalize audio on-line flac editor free obtain audio editor loud. elevating the amount of an audio file improve quantity wav file audio degree free cellular flac songs quantity enhance software. Improve Acquire of a video file online Software program to CUT BACK Mp3 File dimension? loudness sound computer. Tips on how to Maximize Quantity in Audio Recording? flac measurement reducer converter wav to flac normalize mp3 ringtone louder on-line converter. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS REPLACE. THAT IS NOW MALWARE!!!. DO NOT OBTAIN. Just like the previous reviewer, I used to be tricked into an replace by software program I had previously trusted. It appeared instantly sketchy, making an attempt to change my browser to Yahoo! and all that b, however I continued. After I installed the software program, it give up out Chrome, and once I rebooted, there was a brand new Extension installed WITHOUT MY PERMISSION - some b called PremierOpinion. Further, All2Mp3 had buried PremierOpinion as password-protected software program in my Purposes folder, and had set it up to run within the background all the time. FLAC file format is the audio codec that's basically a lossless musical format, in different phrases, it retains sound quality with none loss. But on the opposite side, it's bit house capturing after we speak about MP3 format, which refers to digital audio coding format. MP3 follows an ordinary technology that ends in better compatibility at a fairly small measurement when compared to FLAC format. Thus, if it's good to get an audio format that captures less size in addition to supplies compatibility to most of the media participant companies and totally different gadgets, then changing FLAC to MP3 through a FLAC to MP3 converter freeware can be a good suggestion. FLAC, short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, not solely presents the identical high quality as the unique audio file, however takes up a lot much less area in your laborious drive. Nonetheless, its restricted compatibiliy usually push individuals to transform FLAC to MP3 or different extra broadly-used audio format. Such inconveniences seem to be exaggerated for Mac users as Apple machine can't recognize nor play it. That can assist you out, we accumulate 6 FLAC converter so that you can convert FLAC to Mac supported codecs without any hassle. There's simple, after which there's extremely simple. If you happen to don't need to obtain something and prefer to get this whole factor finished in just a few seconds, cease by the On-line Audio Converter. Open your recordsdata—this works from native storage, URLs, Google Drive, or Dropbox—after which choose what format you need. The Advanced Settings button helps you to modify bitrate, sample fee, channels, and other features, whereas the Edit Monitor Info button is self-explanatory. Then hit convert, and you're accomplished. The free fre:ac (for Home windows, macOS, and Linux) supports a wide variety of codecs from FLAC to MP3. In addition, you get several different options that allow you to tinker with the audio high quality. Load up your tracks utilizing the Add audio information button on the top left, then choose your output format on the Basic settings a part of the Choices menu. To set the output choices in additional detail, select Options and Configure selected encoder. When you're happy with the settings, click the green play button on the toolbar to start the conversion (encoding) process. Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is a file format for lossless audio data compression. Being lossless, FLAC to MP3 converter freeware FLAC does not remove information from the audio stream, as lossy compression codecs reminiscent of MP3, AAC, and FLAC to MP3 converter freeware Vorbis do. FLAC's major writer is Josh Coalson. FLAC reduces bandwidth and storage necessities without sacrificing the integrity of the audio source. A digital audio recording (corresponding to a CD observe) encoded to FLAC will be decompressed into an an identical copy of the audio knowledge. Audio sources encoded to FLAC are usually shrunk forty to 50 % (forty six% in line with their own comparison). FLAC is suitable for on a regular basis audio playback and archival, with help for tagging, cover art and quick searching for. FLAC's free and open supply royalty-free nature makes it well-supported by many software program purposes, but FLAC playback assist in transportable audio devices and devoted audio techniques is proscribed presently. Audio converter packages, like Audials Tunebite , are a legal solution for taking part in DRM-protected audio or video recordsdata on any gadget. As a substitute of removing the DRM encryption, Tunebite data the audio or video file and converts it to a format you need to use on any media participant. If you happen to legally purchase films, music, audio books and podcasts, making DRM-free copies for personal use on a number of units is legal. Nonetheless, if you happen to resolve to share the unencrypted file on a file sharing platform or distribute the file with the intent of making a living, you cross the authorized boundary. Carefully learn the terms of service for the platform you employ to purchase digital media before you use audio converter software to make copies of DRM-protected information as a result of each country's copyright laws are completely different.

Certainly, if you happen to nonetheless buy music online, it normally comes as an MP3. However what if that you must convert FLAC audio recordsdata to MP3? While FLAC offers higher high quality than MP3 How Audio Compression Works, and Can You Really Inform the Difference? How Audio Compression Works, and Can You Really Inform the Distinction? In this article, we'll check out how music compression works, and whether or not it has any real impact on how your music actually sounds. Read Extra , it does not get pleasure from its universal compatibility.

[lovey123love]

What is Crowdfunding?

Even in case you’ve never heard the time period crowdfunding, you’ve probably encountered an example of it on social media. Crowdfunding honestly refers to the idea of raising a budget for an assignment or motive through a large group of human beings on line. People or small groups can take advantage of it to get early-level help for his or her ideas.

There are usually three sorts of crowdfunding: praise crowdfunding, debt crowdfunding, and equity crowdfunding. With reward crowdfunding, you enhance your funds through reaching out to supporters, who acquire a small gift or product sample in the event that they pledge a certain quantity. As for debt crowdfunding, you get hold of a loan and pay it within a particular time frame — some pick this over a financial institution loan due to the fact it is able to be a whole lot faster. And remaining, but not least, equity crowdfunding manner you supply a part of employer ownership to those who offer you with funding.

While you’re seeking out a site to fundraise, you want to test for charges as well as if it’s an all-or-nothing site. Many structures will take processing prices from each contributing transaction in addition to a small percent of your universal earnings, whilst some websites use an all or nothing model, which means you most effectively get your cash in case you attain your intended goal. Below, we take you through some of the net’s excellent crowdfunding websites. 

The 7 exceptional Crowdfunding websites of 2021

High-quality common: Kickstarter

Runner-Up, excellent general: Indiegogo

Exceptional for Nonprofits: causes

Fine for Creators: Patreon

Exceptional for personal Fundraising: GoFundMe

Exceptional for equity Crowdfunding: CircleUp

Fine for commercial enterprise Loans: LendingClub

Quality Crowdfunding sites

Kickstarter

Indiegogo

Causes

Patreon

GoFundMe

CircleUp

LendingClub

FAQs

Methodology

Kickstarter is certainly one of the largest names in relation to crowdfunding, recognized for assisting tech and innovative marketers fund their projects before getting a mortgage or raising cash for undertaking capital. The business enterprise has raised over $five.6 billion with greater than 197,425 (as of January 2021) tasks funded on account of its inception in 2009. Ability funders can browse a number of verticals from arts and movies to publishing.

It’s also easy to use at the fundraising side—start by placing your goal and then a term to finish it. FYI: before your campaign can launch, you'll be accepted by way of Kickstarter. For every degree of money raised consistent with a person, you set a small gift or personal enjoyment for your donor.

Kickstarter is an all-or-not anything platform, which means that which you don’t get your budget until you complete your marketing campaign. It also manner that the funder’s credit scorecard gained’t be charged except you meet your campaign intention. The fee is 5% on top of processing price prices (3% to five%) according to transaction. In case you boost enough cash, there’s a 14-day ready length for budget. 

Indiegogo customers are usually creating campaigns for tech improvements, innovative works, and network projects. The crowdfunding platform works in addition to Kickstarter, besides it doesn’t have a completely all-or-not anything fundraising model.

Customers select among two alternatives: constant and flexible investment. Constant is nice for fundraisers in which your project needs a certain sum of money while flexible is ideal for campaigns where you’ll benefit from any funding. With flexible investment, you may get your funds whether or not you meet your goal; with fixed funding, all price ranges are lower back for your donors in case you do now not meet the campaign aim. But, there are no fixed investment costs for campaigners who do no longer meet their purpose rather than 5% for flexible finances and fixed funds that do meet their goals. There’s also a processing fee of three% and 30 cents per transaction. The minimum purpose for either form of fundraiser is $500. 

Causes is the world’s largest online campaigning platform centered on social, political, and cultural issues. It brands itself as a social community for folks who need to make a difference quicker and extra effectively. It boasts over 186 million customers in 156 exceptional countries. The web page is superb for nonprofits that want to build a donor community without spending too much money and sources on networking. Because it runs ads, it is freed from charge for users.

On your crowdfunding page, you can collect donations and pledges, enhance cognizance, and share applicable media with potential donors. Similarly to fundraising, reasons is a social networking platform that permits you to locate human beings with commonplace pastimes as you look through classes which include animals, human rights, and the surroundings. It also provides a platform for growing petitions for advocacy. It’s not unique to registered nonprofits—people also can get entry to and lift cash at the platform for programs and thoughts that they care about. 

Patreon is popular amongst digital creatives, including YouTubers, podcasters, and bloggers. As opposed to you collecting one-off campaign donations, you have got a subscription model in which consumers regularly make contributions a fixed amount of money every month or according to creation. The website lets artists to shape relationships with their enthusiasts, and creators may even deliver special content material to their Patreon subscribers as an incentive to retain investment in them. Suffice to say, this service works high-quality in case you often share work on your personal platform. Otherwise, pledgers do have the choice of canceling their subscription if creators don’t produce content.

Patreon collects a 2.Nine% fee and 30 cents from each pledge. The site boasts  million energetic patrons and over 2 hundred,000 lively creators.

One drawback with Patreon is that it doesn’t marketplace creators as well as websites which includes Indiegogo or Kickstarter, which have entire verticals and pages on their projects for capability donors to browse.

You’ve possibly seen a handful of GoFundMe fundraisers on social media at one point or every other for emergencies and charitable causes, however corporations can use it as well. The crowdfunding website collects a 2.9% processing price and 30 cents for each donation. As it’s now not an all-or-nothing fundraising website, you hold everything which you increase. Plus, there are zero private marketing campaign investment costs for the ones primarily based inside the u.S..

GoFundMe has had many successful campaigns, consisting of the Las Vegas victims Fund ( $11.8 million) and the Time’s Up legal defense Fund ($24.2 million). This website is a good choice in case your fundraiser is going closer to a service-primarily based reason, including clinical desires or emergency comfort. There are a few caveats, but: conventional startups may not increase as much capital on GoFundMe, and it’s crucial to take into account that the most effective one in ten campaigns ever get absolutely funded on the web site. 

In case you’re constructing a consumer logo, it’s worth looking into CircleUp, which has helped boost $390 million for 256 startups. It gives both fairness capital and credit financing. It provides a platform to network with experts, retailers, and marketers. You may additionally connect to approved buyers, who have a net well worth of as a minimum $1 million and an annual income of at least $two hundred,000. Different perks encompass get right of entry to big lines of credit and marketplace insights the usage of Helio, CircleUp’s proprietary gadget-based totally mastering generation for making agency strategies.

The agency is quality for entrepreneurs who are trying to scale in preference to develop their ideas. The choice process is fairly aggressive, and usually you furthermore mght want to have a sales of at least $1 million to be indexed on their website. 

Lending membership is a crowdfunding website that gives as much as $forty,000 for personal loans and as much as $500,000 for enterprise loans. It’s a shape of debt crowdfunding that’s generally easy to qualify for and is frequently quicker than going through an ordinary bank. In preference to maximum equity crowdfunding, it won’t require matters together with commercial enterprise visits or plans and initiatives.

With Lending membership, you get your mortgage with a 1-year or five-year term, in step with its website. Hobby prices can be excessive relying on your credit score score—the overall annualized interest commonly ranges between 12.15% to 29.97%. LendingClub requires as a minimum 12 months in enterprise, $50,000 in annual income, no current bankruptcies or tax liens, and ownership of at least 20% of the business. In different phrases, you must be in precise economic health.

[johnabradley]

EXCLUSIVE: PRINCE HARRY ON CHAOS AFTER DIANA'S DEATH AND WHY THE WORLD NEEDS 'THE MAGIC' OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

It is one of the most poignant images of mourning in modern times, and perhaps one of the cruelest: a 12-year-old Prince Harry, head bowed and fists clenched, marching in the funeral procession behind his mother’s coffin. He, along with his older brother, Prince William; his father, Prince Charles; his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh; and his maternal uncle, Charles Spencer, walked slowly through the heart of London on September 6, 1997. Seven days earlier, the beautiful, charismatic and unpredictable Princess Diana had died in a car crash in Paris. She was 36.

Her funeral was nearly 20 years ago, but Harry’s recollection of that tragic day can still overwhelm him. “My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he tells Newsweek . His face hardens. “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”

The prince readily admits that he was scarred by that day, by his mother’s death, and was adrift for decades. He ran with a wealthy, fast set, and smoked and drank too much. He also once wore Nazi clothing at a fancy dress party and was photographed in 2012 partying naked in Las Vegas, with scantily clad women. He was the world’s most eligible bachelor—and a royal pain.

Now, however, he exudes a combination of royal stardust, accessibility, confidence and mischief, a mixture that reminds many people of his mother. His journey from rebellious outsider to one of the world’s most popular royals has required much soul-searching, and there is still some way to go, but he is proud of what he has accomplished and restless to do much more. He tells me several times that he aches to be “something other than Prince Harry.”

For the best part of the past year, Newsweek was given generous access to follow Prince Harry, now 32, as he went about his royal duties. I went to speak with him one-on-one at Kensington Palace, where he lives in a two-bedroom cottage on the central London grounds while his brother and his wife, Kate, have a 22-room apartment in the palace.

When we meet, Harry, wearing an open-necked, ice-blue shirt, brown chinos and gray suede shoes, leaps out of his armchair to greet me. He talks with warmth and energy but is also quite guarded. He is surprisingly relaxed when talking about his transformation over the past few years.

“My search began when I was in my mid-20s,” Harry tells me. “I needed to fix the mistakes I was making.” In April, he revealed on a podcast that bottling up his grief over his mother’s death led to two years of “total chaos,” and that he was “very close” to a breakdown several times. When he was 28, on William’s advice, he sought professional help.

“My mother died when I was very young. I didn’t want to be in the position I was in, but I eventually pulled my head out of the sand, started listening to people and decided to use my role for good. I am now fired up and energized and love charity stuff, meeting people and making them laugh,” he says. “I sometimes still feel I am living in a goldfish bowl, but I now manage it better. I still have a naughty streak too, which I enjoy and is how I relate to those individuals who have got themselves into trouble.”

He says maintaining his “ordinary life” is a high priority. “My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to see homeless people. Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality. People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live. I do my own shopping. Sometimes, when I come away from the meat counter in my local supermarket, I worry someone will snap me with their phone. But I am determined to have a relatively normal life, and if I am lucky enough to have children, they can have one too.” He pauses, then adds, “Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping.”

Harry’s determination to be ordinary seems reflected in his love life. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, might be a well-known actress, but she is also a divorcée, a vocal feminist and American, none of which conforms to the stereotype of a royal consort.

The prince can be fiercely protective of Meghan—and of their ability to have something approximating an ordinary relationship. In November, at his request, Kensington Palace put out a statement complaining about the “ wave of abuse and harassment…the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls.” It continued: “Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm.”

One person close to the prince says Harry is not rushing to “get things done”—royal-speak for proposing. “They obviously get on very well and have a lot in common, but they have not known each other that long. They need to find out if they can have an ordinary relationship within a very unusual setting. I don’t think anything will happen until the end of the year.”

Does the prince ever worry that too much “ordinary” might make the royal family too accessible and take away its mystery? “It’s a tricky balancing act,” he says. “We don’t want to dilute the magic….The British public and the whole world need institutions like it.”

The prince knows it is easy to mock his quest for “ordinary” while he lives in a palace, is ferried around in limousines with blackened windows and can use his contacts to get what he wants. Few people could get through to the head of the British army, as Harry did when he was told he had to leave his unit in Afghanistan for security reasons; the prince was lobbying to stay on the battlefield. More recently, he persuaded the Natural History Museum to stay open late one night so he and Meghan could commune with the dinosaurs in private.

He also seems to know that millions of people don’t want him to be just another bloke. Nearly everyone he met when I followed him on his royal duties was thrilled to be talking to, as one said, “an actual prince.”

And Harry appeared to be engaged when talking to children, wounded veterans and whoever else crossed his path as he made his rounds. He appears to have a genuine ability to connect with people and in particular to help soldiers and other people of all ages and types overcome their hurdles.

Having admitted he “shut down” his emotions for nearly two decades, Harry is now keen to show the world he is a passionate, emotional person. “Sometimes, I can have too much passion,” he says with a smile. “It has got me into trouble in the past, partly because I cannot stand the idea of people mincing around the subject rather than just getting on with it.”

One of the many things Harry is eager to “get on with” is an overhaul of the British monarchy—he, William and Kate appear determined to drag it into the 21st century. “The monarchy is a force for good,” he says, “and we want to carry on the positive atmosphere that the queen has achieved for over 60 years, but we won’t be trying to fill her boots.”

William, second in line to the throne, will likely follow Prince Charles as King, and while William is popular, Harry’s charm and energy have been particularly helpful in the younger generation’s revival of a brand that after Diana’s death—and several other misfortunes that befell the royal family around the same time—seemed almost fatally damaged. “We are involved in modernizing the British monarchy. We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people…. Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”

The amount of charity work he, William and Kate will do—which has been a huge part of the queen’s public persona—will be more focused. Until last year, the queen was patron of more than 600 charities, and the royal family supported 3,000. By the time William becomes king, those numbers will have plummeted, but a source close to Harry insists this is not due to laziness. (Royal officials prefer to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely about the family.) “They want instead to concentrate on specific charities that they research thoroughly first and then get involved in on a regular basis. The one thing they don’t want is to be seen as a group of celebrities.”

Harry seconds that. “We use our time wisely,” he says. “We don’t want to turn up, shake hands but not get involved.”

Harry sees himself as having three core roles in a working life that isn’t exactly a career but is as close to one as he’s ever likely to have. The first is to honor and extend his mother’s legacy. “I intuitively know what my mother would like me to do and want to progress with work she couldn’t complete.” Twenty years ago, when irrational fear of being infected with HIV/AIDS was at its height, Diana was photographed touching an HIV-positive man, and that one gesture altered public attitudes. (“I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts,” Diana once told a TV interviewer; the moniker stuck, especially after her death.) Last December, Harry had an HIV test in Barbados before a bevy of photographers.

In 2006, he founded the charity Sentebale with Prince Seeiso, a member of Lesotho’s royal family who also lost his mother when he was young. Sentebale, which means “forget me not,” commemorates the mothers of both princes by helping vulnerable children in the southern African country, which has the second highest HIV rate in the world. Harry is also patron of the anti-mines charity the HALO Trust, pursuing his mother’s goal to “rid the world of land mines.”

His second role is to support the queen, now 91, who is steadily passing on some of her duties to her grandchildren. “The queen has been fantastic in letting us choose,” he says. “She tells us to take our time and really think things through.”

The third strand of his working life is something previous generations of stiff-upper-lip royals would never have countenanced for a moment: Harry is determined to break the stigma surrounding mental health issues. This is something he, William and Kate are doing with the support of the British government. “They have the money. We have the voice,” he says.

He confesses that his charity efforts in that regard have enabled him to work through some of his own issues. On more than one occasion when I’m with him, he declares, “I believe a leopard can change its spots.” It seems clear he is speaking, at least in part, about himself.

In 2012, Harry, William and Kate launched the Royal Foundation. Full Effect, one of its offshoots, aims to give kids, many of whom come from deprived backgrounds and are at risk of being drawn into gangs, a love of sports, which it is hoped will motivate them to take a more positive path. I accompanied Harry on a visit to a Full Effect project in the city of Nottingham in central England.

His first stop was outside Nottingham’s National Ice Centre, where about 30 9-year-old boys and girls weren’t at all interested in his “ordinary” side. They wanted the pageantry, the aura; Harry was dressed casually in a navy shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his shirt tails not quite tucked into his brown jeans, and he clearly didn’t care whether people curtsied or bowed when meeting him. Instead, he cracked one-liners and made the boys and girls laugh and relax. The children stared wide-eyed as he threw rugby balls to the boys and kicked a football around.

After about 20 minutes, he talked to a group of 16- to 24-year-olds who were part of a Royal Foundation initiative offering a chance to train as a sports coach. Most of these young people came from dysfunctional homes, didn’t fit in with the school system and so far had had very few opportunities in life. One told me he had to get his seven siblings to school every morning before he could come to work.

Next stop was the Russell Youth Centre in St. Ann’s, a deprived area that has a renowned Community Recording Studio run by Trevor Rose. Harry has been a regular visitor since 2013. “This place is a safe haven even for kids who have been banned from school, youth and sports centers,” Rose says. “Many have been stabbed, thrown out of their home and have to deal with alcohol and drug issues, as well as low confidence and self-esteem.”

Before Harry arrived, most of the teenagers seemed too cool to care about a royal visit, but Rose wasn’t worried. “When you work with young people who are at-risk, they don’t trust people easily, but when Harry walks in, you’ll see he is one of the boys.”

And he was. Harry shook lots of hands, slapped the boys on the back, hugged the girls and cracked jokes. Within minutes, he was surrounded by formerly oh-so-cool teenagers pleading with him to share a selfie, which he readily did.

“It really makes a difference to the children to know they have a prince watching over them,” Rose says. “Not that Harry is what you would expect of a prince. He doesn’t just want to shake hands and say hello. He has instead become part of their journey. I believe his dedication is partly because it helps put his own life into perspective.”

Harry was educated at the elite Eton College school (he disliked it) and then served in the army for 10 years and flew combat missions in Afghanistan. He loved being part of a combat unit in Afghanistan and was devastated when he was ordered off the front lines because it was feared he’d be too tantalizing a target for every Taliban fighter for miles around, putting himself and his comrades in extraordinary peril.

His army experience clearly made him a different, better person and gave him a very personal mission: to advocate for wounded servicemen and women. In 2014, he created, then launched, the Paralympic Invictus Games, which was a huge hit and is now an annual event.

Speaking about trauma and depression was the focus at the Emergency Operations Centre for London Ambulance Service, which takes about 5,000 medical emergency calls a day and dispatches ambulances around London. This visit was to promote Time to Talk Day, an offshoot of the Heads Together campaign to destigmatize mental health issues. Harry once again reached back to his experience on the front line in Afghanistan to empathize with the ambulance dispatchers and paramedics. He recalled how, when he was a helicopter pilot, he would evacuate injured servicemen and women. “You land, hand them over and then are radioed to do something else,” he said. “You never find out how that guy or girl lived or died.” Then, turning to a couple of male paramedics, he added: “It’s amazing what you guys have to deal with every single day. You don’t know what you are going to get. You can be attacked, abused, everything. It’s not human to come away from that and not think you will be affected. Well done, you.”

He chatted at length with father of four Dan Farnworth, a paramedic from Blackpool suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after dealing with a particularly difficult case involving child abuse in which the child died. Farnworth talked about being in “a really dark place” and how scared he was to admit that because it could have meant he’d not be allowed to work.

Harry nodded—and spoke to Farnworth more like a psychotherapist than a buttoned-up royal. “It’s really important to speak out. If you keep concerns to yourself for weeks, months or years, they become a real problem. It is not weakness. It is strength to come forward, talk about it and move on. I know people don’t want to come forward because they don’t want to risk losing their job. But then they risk losing their job because they can’t cope.”

That empathy is perhaps most on display when Harry interacts with the kind of men and women he served alongside in the military. I also joined Harry on a visit to the Help for Heroes recovery center. It was a clear, cold day, and a small group of men were chatting as they made long wooden struts for the door of the Iron Age house—a therapeutic building project. Close by was a roaring fire that kept them warm and would later help provide a hot lunch.

They were all former British soldiers who had been seriously wounded in battle. Although their physical wounds had largely healed, they had come to take advantage of the Hidden Wounds psychological and well-being service, a program that Help for Heroes offers to veterans suffering from depression, stress, anger, anxiety and problems with alcohol. Harry was both compassionate and jokey with them, and he acknowledged to the veterans—and again to me later—that he missed both the camaraderie of army life and its “black humor.”

His first question to Mike Day, a former sniper commander who was hit by a grenade in Afghanistan in 2009 and whose injuries included a broken back and shrapnel in his head and body, went right to the core: “So what has been the biggest effect on you?”

Day thought for a moment, then said softly, “I am no longer me.”

It was a moving and delicate moment, but Harry wasn’t thrown. “One of your biggest struggles must be living rather than just existing,” he said.

Day nodded. “I come here once a month for four days, and it brings out the best in me.”

Harry’s support team seemed hesitant about whether to move him on to his next appointment. “Well done, guys,“ he said to the soldiers as he left.

“We share the uniform,” the prince tells me soon after the visit. “I see a lot of myself in these guys. They want an opportunity to prove themselves and be someone.”

When Harry is on duty, he is steadfastly animated and friendly, but in quieter moments he can often seem tense and irritable. For sure, he’s lived a life of extraordinary privilege, but he has also suffered considerable pain in his 32 years. His parents were a horrible mismatch, and they separated after a fairy-tale-turned-nightmare marriage of 11 years. Charles went back to his long-term lover, Camilla Parker Bowles; Diana had a variety of lovers, the last of whom was Dodi Fayed, the son of Mohamed al-Fayed, the former owner of mega-store Harrods. He died with her in that car crash in Paris.

When asked about his family, Harry talks readily about the queen—“She is so remarkable”—and his late mother—“She had the most wonderful sense of humor and always wanted to make things fun for us, as well as protect us.” He says less about William and Kate, and almost nothing about his father or his stepmother. The world now knows how unhappy that relationship made his mother, and her sons.

There was no filling the hole left by Diana’s death, and Harry seemed to be growing up without someone emotionally available he could lean on. Kate has helped fill some of that gap. When she and William got engaged, Harry called her the big sister he never had. He often pops into their apartment at Kensington Palace, where she cooks him a meal—roast chicken is reportedly a particular favorite.

Harry and William have very different personalities. “Emotionally, they are very unalike,” a royal insider says. “Harry wears his heart on his sleeve. William is introverted and reclusive. They are bonded together by the unique position they are in and the experience of losing their mother very young. But they don’t live in each other’s pockets, and while William was at university, they didn’t see much of each other at all.” Another member of Harry’s inner circle further delineates the differences between the two princes: “William was more successful academically, but when it comes to dealing with people, Harry knocks the spots off both him and Kate, especially with children. Harry is passionate about them and is a natural, which neither William nor Kate are.” Having their own has no doubt helped.

Harry has a more practical side. “I can do most things with my hands,” he says. That is one reason why serving in the British army suited him so well. At the end of 2007, he was secretly flown out to Afghanistan and worked as a forward air controller in Helmand province, guiding fighter jets to suspected Taliban targets. Ten weeks in, his tour of duty was leaked by the press, and he was pulled out for security reasons. “I felt very resentful,” he says. “Being in the army was the best escape I’ve ever had. I felt as though I was really achieving something.”

In 2012, he was allowed to return to Afghanistan , where he commanded an attack helicopter at Camp Bastion in Helmand province. “All I wanted to do was prove that I had a certain set of skills—for instance, flying an Apache helicopter—rather than just being Prince Harry. I also felt I was one of the lads and could forget I was Prince Harry when I was with them.”

He returned home in 2015, angry that his army life had been ripped from him. But he finally let that frustration go, and aggressively pursued his quest for a new identity that would make him feel as if his life had meaning other than just as a member of the royal family. He tells me that he is in a rush “to make something of my life. I feel there is just a smallish window when people are interested in me before [William’s children] take over, and I’ve got to make the most of it.”

[ukimmigrationmatters]

Government planning CGT ‘tax grab’ on buy-to-let property investors, experts warn

The UK Treasury has launched a “review” of the capital gains tax system to "ensure the system is fit for purpose", the BBC reports.

Some experts are warning of "a tax grab" in the autumn to pay towards the multi-billion-pound cost of Coronavirus measures, such as the furlough scheme.

The Chancellor, Rishi, Sunak asked the Office of Tax Simplification to investigate how capital gains are taxed for both individuals and smaller businesses.

"This review should identify opportunities relating to administrative and technical issues as well as areas where the present rules can distort behaviour or do not meet their policy intent," the chancellor said.

"I would be interested in any proposals from the OTS on the regime of allowances, exemptions, reliefs and the treatment of losses within CGT, and the interactions of how gains are taxed compared to other types of income." Source: BBC.

CGT is a tax on profits, which hits business owners, as well as millions of share and property investors.

Rishi Sunak specifically mentions reliefs and losses, which can currently be offset against profits and carried forward to future years. This could change and lead to higher tax bills for investors who risk their money and work hard to earn profits.

Capital gains are taxed at a lower level than income, so there's a risk that the chancellor will use the current crisis and deficit to justify a hike in CGT to income tax levels.

CGT rates are set at 10% for basic-rate taxpayers and 20% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, or at 18% and 28% where gains relate to residential property.

CGT is basically a tax on the gain a property investor makes when they risk their money. This is in addition to the income tax they pay and any other taxes like stamp duty and land registry fees.

Previous Chancellors have a habit of grabbing money from the estimated two million buy-to-let property investors, many of whom have a small number of properties which they plan to use to supplement their pensions.

Buy-to-let investors have already lost a number of reliefs, for instance on mortgage interest and wear and tear allowance, and are paying higher taxes thanks to multi-millionaire ‘six jobs’ George Osborne’s raid on soft targets.

Business owners spend years building up their businesses, working long hours often for little or no pay, only to be taxed on the profits when they sell up or retire.

Is it still worth investing in buy-to-let property, as judge bans “No DSS” tenant policy?

A District Judge has ruled that blanket bans on renting properties to people on housing benefit are unlawful and discriminatory.

The court ruling found a single mother-of-two had experienced indirect discrimination when a letting agent refused to rent to her.

She ended up homeless with her two children, when her case was taken on by housing charity Shelter.

The judge ruled "No DSS" rental bans are against equality laws.

District Judge Victoria Mark heard this latest case in York County Court on 1 July, and ruled: "Rejecting tenancy applications because the applicant is in receipt of housing benefit was unlawfully discriminating on the grounds of sex and disability" and contrary to the Equality Act 2010, she said.

People deserve a home but that doesn’t mean everyone has a “right” to rent home in the private sector. Landlords must also be able to choose who they want to take on as a tenant. I have current experience with both private and benefit tenants with mixed results.

The LHA rates in some areas are simply not competitive or equivalent to the open market rate and dealing with benefit claims is a steep learning curve for landlords. Deposits and upfront rent can also be an issue.

The rates paid to landlords are also confusing and differ according to age. Is that not age discrimination?

The private sector should not have to pick up the pieces for the failures of successive governments to build enough social housing. There has been no major council house building programme since the 1970’s.

The last major town to be built with proper infrastructure and rail transport links was Milton Keynes which, along with other new towns, was planned in the 1960’s.

Councils can build more social housing and borrow at low rates, but many choose not to.

I'm not sure if a ruling by a District Judge in a County Court is binding in law. If it is binding, it will be a further example of ‘red tape’, costs and legislation for private landlords, many of whom feel like they are swimming against the tide in the buy-to-let market.

Investment in buy-to-let properties can still be profitable when done professionally. However, there are still many other opportunities to make money in property without the need for buy-to-let mortgages, large deposits or high rates of tax.

Other articles available at Money Tips Podcast - www.moneytipsdaily.com

1.      “No DSS” tenant blanket ban by buy-to-let landlords ruled ‘unlawful’ by Judge

2.      UK economy grew by 1.8% in May, 24.5% smaller than it was in ONS reports

3.      UK's mobile providers will be banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment

4.      Singapore’s economy plunged by 41% in the last quarter the largest fall ever

5.      Nationwide now lending 90% for first time buyers reversing previous change

6.      Stamp Duty slashed until 31 March 2021 by raising the threshold to 500,000

7.      Chancellor Rishi Sunak keen to boost the property market and “build build build”

8.      New planning rules will open up more opportunities to make money in property

9.      Opportunity is everywhere for everyone, especially in property! But you have ACT!

10.  Even the 'Secret law of attraction' requires you to get off your ass and TAKE ACTION!

11.  Homeowners will get vouchers of up to £5,000 for energy-saving improvements

12.  The poorest will receive up to £10,000 in £2 billion energy saving grant scheme

13.  Will your job be one of millions phased out by automation, innovation and AI?

14.  You don’t need your own money to create a second income in property

15.  Time to your economy or Uconomy started whatever the economy is doing!

16.  You can create a second income during the lockdown…and come out stronger

17.  Learn how to make money from property without deposits, mortgages or cash

Millions of people face a bleak future post-Coronavirus lockdown, as businesses disappear and the job furlough scheme eventually comes to an end. However, life doesn’t have to end because of lockdown! You can join thousands of ordinary people who have increased their income and added streams of new income during this period.

Are you ready to adapt to the new economic model?

As lockdown restrictions around the world are being eased, the economic model has subtly changed forever. How will you adapt to this new way of working and running a business, what obstacles and opportunities lies ahead? Will you be a participant or spectator in this revolution?

By Charles Kelly, Property Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

If you’d like further information on how to survive the crisis and even quit the rat race, email me at Charles@CharlesKelly.net or send me a message through Facebook or my Money Tips Daily community. See more articles at www.moneytipsdaily.com

E-Commerce Cashflow 19th July, 2020 7:00 PM (UK)

Learn how to... Build a profitable e-commerce business in less than 90 days. Replace your income in months. Help get the products to people that they need the most. Be able to spend more time doing what you love, with the people you love.

Join the free training here: https://bit.ly/3gLXaKW

[entergamingxp]

DualShockers’ Favorite Comforting and Relaxing Games

March 27, 2020 4:00 PM EST

From Borderlands to JRPGS to Animal Crossing, here are the relaxing games that DualShockers turns to for comfort and stress relief.

With the growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak across the world, things are certainly stressful and uncertain right now for everyone around the world. Thankfully, video games have been able to help take us out of dark times before, and with so many countries turning to shelter in place orders and more drastic measures, gaming is certainly a welcome distraction and source of escape right now.

In light of these heavy times, the DualShockers staff gathered to share some of our favorite games that we turn to when we need them most. Consider these our “comfort food games” – the games that we like to use as outlets for relaxation, stress relief, and a bit of warmth when they’re needed.

Kris Cornelisse, Staff Writer

As odd as it sounds, my relaxation games of choice are usually some flavour of strategy title. Stellaris or Civilization 6 might have a lot going on, but once you sink the time, in they become fairly rote.

At that point, I’m just juggling resources and expanding my influence across the map. Amass my technology, build my armies, paint the planet(s) the colour of my empire…the whole thing becomes fairly cathartic. Throw in a podcast to listen to, and you have my wind down method of choice.

For something a little more short duration than those, I’ll play a round of Frostpunk or Northgard, but the same principle applies regardless.

Ricky Frech, Senior Staff Writer

When I think about my video game comfort food, there are a few nostalgia-filled games that come to mind. I could easily make this entry about something like World of Warcraft, Diablo II, NCAA Football 2014, or literally any Yakuza game. However, when I look at my YouTube history since my personal quarantine began, the answer is clear. The number of hours I’ve already spent watching The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past randomizers is kind of shocking, but it makes sense.

A Link to the Past is my favorite game of all-time. Rarely would I call a game perfect, but if any game is, it’s this one. And when the team behind the randomizer put out their first release, an incredible thing was born. I’ve played through the original ALTTP more times than I can count. It’s been in my regular rotation since my parents got me a SNES in 1994. I know that map about as well as I know the back of my hand. So, to get something that completely switches all of that up and surprises you at every turn is an absolute joy. No two runs are exactly the same and your game knowledge is often tested in ways you never expected.

Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend you play the randomizer first. If you haven’t played ALTTP‘s original version, please, do yourself a favor and do so now (and easily accessible through Nintendo Switch Online). Like, right now. But once you’ve played through the game a time or twenty, give the randomizer a try. It will not disappoint.

Cameron Hawkins, Staff Writer

While it’s not normally a game people play for relaxation, my go-to title whenever I sit down to unwind is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I like playing competitive games, so whenever I know that I don’t have much time to play, don’t want to start a new game, or trying not to be super active in what I’m doing, I play Super Smash Bros. To me, Smash is just that type of comfort food gaming where I know I can always go to it and turn my brain off for a little. There are times where I play in a more serious fashion to try and better my skills, but normally, I like to kick back, go through a few rounds on auto-pilot, and call it a day.

All I’m waiting for now is for Sakurai to announce Sora in the new Fighters Pass. That’s all I want Sakurai. Please.

Allisa James, Senior Staff Writer

Normally some grinding sessions or mini-games in my favorite RPGs is more than enough to soothe this soul. But desperate times call for even stronger coping mechanisms, and so I turn to two games that exclude relaxation.

The first is Flower, which is a title developed by and released by Thatgamecompany in 2009 for the PS3. The player controls the wind as it blows a flower petal through the air. As you fly close to other flowers, you bloom them and attract more petals. There’s no enemies, no time limits, and the sounds and music are borderline ASMR in how peaceful and tranquil they are. Flower, with its stunning and colorful visuals that convey a subtle message of environmental conservation, is the perfect game to wind down to when the world is too much to handle (especially right now).

The second title is a game that I’ve raved about before: VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action. The aesthetic here is much different, as it takes place in a dark and grim cyberpunk future. But instead of focusing on an epic tale on class warfare, you play as an ordinary bartender that serves her eclectic customers as they pour their hearts out. The graphics are straight from a PC-98 Japanese visual novel, and it features an incredible retro soundtrack that you can fully customize. Getting to know each customers’ story while making them drinks in a fun mini-game that lets you endlessly restart bad drink mixing is a great way to wind down, and reminds you to see the everyday humanity in even the worst of situations.

Otto Kratky, Associate Staff Writer

Alright, let’s be frank. The world’s on fire right now – people are getting sick, international markets are crashing worse than Sonic ’06, and most of us have been told to stay indoors. In short, everything sucks right now, which means it’s a great time for some escapism. While most people are ditching the real world for their Animal Crossing paradises, me and my friends have opted for something a little more active, and therefore more distracting.

I’m talking about Stardew Valley, Concerned Ape’s farming simulator. Sure it’s not the most relaxing game, but it’s one that you can get into the rhythm of and suddenly hours have passed. See, in Animal Crossing, there’s hardly ever any direction: you just have your chores for the day and then you can go fishing or catch bugs – it’s pretty loose in structure like that. But in Stardew Valley you’ve got to take care of your plants and your animals, then you have to go to the mine to get iron for sprinklers, and it goes on. It’s much more active and absorbing, not to mention that with friends, you get a wonderful social experience that a bunch of us may be missing right now.

Is Stardew Valley really comfort gaming? Kind of. It’s not high-stress, and it doesn’t raise my BPM like DOOM Eternal does. But it takes me away from it all and gives me something else to focus on without stress or worry. I think that’s something all of us could use a bit of right now.

Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor

While gaming in general tends to be one of my favorite sources of relaxation when I get home, there are only a few types of games that I generally turn to time and again for stress relief or comfort. Generally, the two that I tend to come back to the most for good ol’ comfort food gaming are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Destiny 2. They’re super easy for me to jump into for either short play sessions or longer periods of time, and I can pretty much always find time to play them with friends to hangout and chat with them in Discord.

When I’m looking for something more single-player focused or when I’m not in a competitive mood, my comfort go-to games are either open-world games or RPGs. It’s always soothing to me to get lost in a gigantic world or to grind and level up my characters in the JRPG that I’m playing at the moment on my Switch while listening to some music or a podcast. Open-world games especially tend to just click with a certain part of my brain that loves activities and checklists, which is part of the reason why I put over 90 hours into Assassin’s Creed Origins.

In the current pandemic environment, right now I’ve been delving into Tokyo Mirage Sessions on Switch among other games, though I think I’m finally going to take the opportunity to jump into Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Persona 5 soon enough.

Laddie Simco, Associate Staff Writer

Like many others, I’ve recently found myself temporarily out of work and quarantined due to the coronavirus. In this troubling time, I’ve sought comfort through video games. Through online games like Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, I’m able to mingle with friends and still practice social distancing. Animal Crossing, the game everyone seems to be playing right now, has provided me with an opportunity to leave my state of isolation and visit a bright island that allows me to virtually go about life without the fear of a virus.

With all of this extra time, I’ve also been revisiting various games and one that has been very soothing these days is Concrete Genie. It ended up being one of my favorite games of 2019 and I’ve been meaning to wrap up the few remaining trophies I need to turn the concrete into a Platinum. This mostly entails finding certain collectibles that I missed.

Traversing Denska without a care in the world (now that I have completed the story) is often a zen-like experience. I can stop and fill an empty wall with my fantastic murals that seemingly come to life. The adorable Genies are there to lend a hand or play hide and seek or even basketball with. There’s also the VR mode that offers a free paint mode where you can add your personal touch to some of the memorable places from the game’s campaign and then feel as if you have stepped inside of your painting.

For me, Concrete Genie has been the perfect calming game to counter the craziness that is our life right now, as well as the stress of missing a jump in DOOM Eternal.

Josh Starr, Associate Staff Writer

I certainly wouldn’t describe these two games as relaxing, but they are my gaming comfort food. These games are second nature to me and provide exciting moments, while being the perfect time to chat with my friends.

The first of these is Smite. I’ve been playing Smite since its first season, and even had a brief stint in the professional scene. I’ve tried every MOBA available, but this is the one for me. Its behind-the-back, third-person camera angle is one way it drastically differentiates itself from other MOBAs, while its mythological theme gives it a more widespread appeal. Its heavy emphasis on skillshots also makes it one of the most difficult games to master in the genre.

Ultimately, Smite can be as casual or competitive as you like. There is the hardcore Conquest mode which can take tons of practice to master, while other modes like Arena are easy to approach and enjoy. It’s an awesome game to play with friends, and there will undoubtedly be playable characters you recognize. Now is a great time to give Smite a shot, as it’s free to play on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and has crossplay enabled between platforms.

My second comfort game is Borderlands; right now, that means Borderlands 3. Now Borderlands 3 received some criticism for its lackluster writing, which is completely warranted. However, Borderlands has never truly been about the story for me. It’s a wonderful zany looter-shooter that gives you the option to completely ignore the story while you run around with buddies searching for the next mind-shattering weapon.

Honestly, aside from the story, Borderlands 3 is the series’ best game in every possible way. Combat is greatly improved with thousands of new weapon options, improved special abilities, and increased movement options. Even the car combat, which was abysmal in previous titles, has been greatly improved here. Borderlands 3 promotes replayability as each subsequent playthrough increases your likelihood of finding ultra-rare weapons.

Borderlands 3 just released on Steam, and with another DLC pack being released this week, it’s the perfect time to grab some pals and drop onto Pandora’s surface. I’d go as far as saying that Borderlands 3 is the best group multiplayer shooter in recent years, even if sometimes you feel like turning down the game volume and blasting Spotify instead.

Nick Tricome, Staff Writer

I love hockey.

I watch it, play it, and depending on the need, even coach it.

I can’t do any of that right now, and probably won’t be able to for quite a while. The current circumstances; they suck. Not having that major outlet to escape them for at least a little bit makes it all feel so much worse.

Video games have had to fill that escapist void now more than they ever have, both for myself and I’m sure millions of others. And while there have been plenty of great new releases to turn to (Hey, Animal Crossing), I’ve found a lot of comfort in spending hours upon hours on NHL 20’s virtual rinks.

Now look, I buy NHL every year and would’ve spent hundreds of hours playing this season’s edition regardless. But the coronavirus pandemic has derailed nearly everything, the NHL season included, turning EA’s annual hockey franchise from a constant in my life to suddenly one of the few constants that remain.

It’s no replacement for the actual sport, it never could be. But in the meantime, taking my Be A Pro into the World of Chel’s pond hockey rinks just to mess around in Ones or drop-in Threes for a bit, or trying to create my best lineup possible through Hockey Ultimate Team, will get the job done. It kind of has to right now.

Please come back soon, Flyers

Scott White, Associate Staff Writer

For me, there is a special kind of comfort I find in the grind of RPGs. It’s calming and relaxing to me when I can just set about fighting monster after monster, working towards a goal like learning a special skill or trying to get a rare drop. The repetitive nature of grinding in an RPG lets me go on autopilot, freeing up my mind to take a load off, work through a problem, or just disconnect if I so choose.

The RPG grind is nice because even though you are tuned out and relaxed, there is still a benefit to what you are doing. Your characters are still getting stronger, you’re still getting money, learning skills, etc. A lot of games that will help automate this process somewhat. Bravely Default, the Tales series and Final Fantasy XII for example will allow you to focus on just running around if you want, leaving most of the grunt work to the computer controlled characters.

Another nice thing about RPGs is that if you get sick of grinding for levels, more often than not there is some sort of mini-game that you can grind thrugh instead. I have spent far too much time with the likes of Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII or that plushie creation mini-game in Bravely Second than I care to admit. And you know what; that’s ok. I’m thrilled that there are a few big RPGs right around the corner to help me relax this next month or two!

Now that you’ve heard from us about the DualShockers staff’s favorite games for comfort and relaxation, what are yours? Let us know in the comments below!

March 27, 2020 4:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/dualshockers-favorite-comforting-and-relaxing-games/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dualshockers-favorite-comforting-and-relaxing-games

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Spotify is frequently named as a freemium benefit since it gives some essential offices cost free which you can move up to Spotify Premium to get a greater amount of the offices that are given there. You can join Spotify from their fundamental website or you can download their application likewise from their primary webpage or playstore to get the music you need and appreciate. Their application is accessible on all the well known and most utilized stages, for example, Android, Mac OS, Windows and others. It has an accumulation of in excess of 25 million melodies in it and furthermore has podcasts from various people and shows far and wide.

Framework Requirements-

Engineers – Daniel Ek (Founder), Martin Lorentzon (Co-Founder)

Site – www.spotify.com

Enrollment prerequisite – Yes

Contains In-application Purchases

Least RAM-2 GB

It's a fundamental and basic application and it doesn't require much high details. It can essentially keep running on a straightforward direct running gadget.

Spotify Premium Free Apk/Spotify mod apk download-

Here's a connection to download Spotify Premium free android/Spotify premium break App, hence click here –

More about Spotify –

A portion of the considerable things about Spotify/Spotify broke separated from its accumulation is that it's easy to understand interface which makes scanning for tunes a cake walk. From melodies to specialists to various dialects and nations, you can discover all the tune's the client wants ("nearly" is being utilized in light of the fact that there are tunes, podcasts and recordings which clearly be not accessible due different reasons). Spotify's gathering is simply colossal and as far as quality, it is incredible at it as well. The organization has a notoriety which they need to keep up and in this way just great tunes and recordings are available.

A portion of the notable highlights of Spotify are –

1. You can look hundred of tunes from their accumulation with an easy to understand interface and pursuit module.

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Contrast amongst Spotify and Spotify Premium –

Individuals frequently mistake Spotify for Spotify Premium reasoning that they both are same while they aren't.

There are real contrasts between them, how about we see a couple of them.

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1. Firstly, tap on the connection above to download the mod apk. Ensure you have uninstalled the already downloaded Spotify App as it might deliver some blunder amid the establishment of modded apk.

2. The download may be obstructed by your antivirus/telephone. You can change this by checking the "Download from outer sources" in your telephone settings.

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Generally, it is an incredible application that is truly outstanding if not the best in conveying and giving the best music spilling out there and an unquestionable requirement have for music monstrosities.