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ramiedragon3 · 4 years ago

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The Benefits Of Mediation Services.

Kent & London Family Members Mediation Solutions

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Mediation Solutions Uk.

Court.

When an agreement that matches all events has been reached, our moderator can formulate the required records as well as check the on-going scenario, if needed. In either instance, our employment regulation consultants can moderate as well as bring consistency to your workplace. This includes disputes that a worker may have versus their employer or a disagreement amongst co-workers that has been brought to the employer because it is impacting business. Workplace conflicts can have an enormous negative impact on your organization, so settling them as swiftly and also agreeably as feasible is essential.

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Mediation Solutions Uk.

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Digital divorces: How splitting up online could save money and pain.

Posted: Sat, 09 Jan 2021 08:02:00 GMT [source]

Mediation needs some facilities and assistance for the celebrations involved. HR is well put to offer suitable support with preparation, the logistics as well as aiding the celebrations get involved fully at the same time. A "mediation friend" can give unbiased, private listening support to make it possible for both events to realistically use mediation. In some cases, however, also where there was no considerable adjustment in attitude and also behavior, mediation paved the way for a degree of pragmatism permitting the events to continue to work together in some form. Moreover, for employees that had actually complained of unfair therapy, the chance to broadcast their sights can be cathartic and also empowering, also if mediation did not supply the justice that they looked for. Significantly, nearly all participants would certainly either suggest mediation to others or think about participating once more in the appropriate situations. Some supervisors within the sample wondered about, specifically, the sustainability of negotiations in cases that involved performance problems.

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Mediation Confidentiality in Federal Court - Mediate.com

Mediation Confidentiality in Federal Court.

Posted: Tue, 05 Jan 2021 03:47:26 GMT [source]

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A couple of peaceful, personal spaces will be discovered, normally at your workplace, at our offices or in a hassle-free, neutral location. If you have any type of concerns concerning the choice of location you should raise this either with the individual who has actually referred you to mediation, or the Consilia arbitrator at least three days before the mediation meeting. Generally there are just two individuals involved, though sometimes there are several, you will understand that you are consulting with. The process does not enable legal representatives, union agents or any type of other agents to be existing during the individual or joint conferences. Mediation is a voluntary process, if you are unclear about whether or not you will certainly attend, please speak to the person who has actually referred you for mediation. If you would like, you can additionally speak to a mediator from Consilia Mediation that will be able to answer any kind of questions you have and with any luck allay any type of fears.

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somnilogical · 5 years ago

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case study: elle benjamin

the rationality community's least skilled exploiter of transmisogynistic coordination points known to me

when thinking about strategy, i often use the least sophisticated version of a given strategy that i know of to reason about the minimal elements of the strategy in general. i have an index of unsophisticated versions of things that i ping and ask "is this strategy basically this vector but with more optimization power behind it?" it helps compress a lot of information. to check, i can make a prediction given a set of examples of the pattern and test it.

(like i did with the transmisogynistic rationalist orgs "i bet this org has 0 transfems in positions of power" and yep they did, they all did.)

and thats how i factor strategies generated by agents with large amounts of optimization power. who might have more ability to optimize in a domain than i do.

both of these claims are false. elle benjamin never let emma into the group. shes culpable for her continued choice to "believe" bigoted propaganda. just as davis tower kingsley is culpable for "believing" that anna salamon, the president of cfar, isnt involved in cfar's hiring.

elle benjamin is deeply concerned about the treatment of trans people in the rationalist community. elle isnt that good at social optimization so this is an obvious false face. like a cop during segregation who runs an algorithm of "smile at people" if no black people are using the WHITE water fountain and "beat up a human" if a black human uses the WHITE water fountain. as long as trans women know their place as violent abusers like ▘▕▜▋, elle is happy.

if we start claiming we are women just the same as them and how people are treating us is wrong, if we protest against omnicide, if other people are coordinating against trans women along lines of transmisogyny; then elle decides its time to show us our place in the social order as male. violent, child abuse loving, misogynistic, strong-arming, men.

this decision-circuit is not peaceful. people who start trying to exploit transmisogyny in an attempt to coordinate with others against you only when you look vulnerable or they think they can get away with it and otherwise smile at transfems are with their whole soul given over to transmisogyny.

erica's post is so passive-aggressive!

<<One issue is that i think this group is just too large to remain a high trust environment.>>

<<Thanks everyone for keeping this a civil place that deals with sensitive issues all these years!>>

in reference to my blog posts about how they didnt have any transfem mods and immediately took down hot allostatic load because it was a [[bad culture fit]] and [[incoherent]]. as if i were expected to keep some confidentiality about transmisogyny. i have no loyalty to keeping secret that kind of oppression, i signed no contract to that effect.

as if telling other trans people exactly what they did was "uncivil"! as if it were ruinous to society instead of ruinous to a cis women coordinating on transmisogyny.

as if posting hot allostatic load and talking about transmisogyny on my blog were less "sensitive" than the other things the group was doing which included posts like "How many romantic novels/movies/etc do we have left, once we take away all the ones focused on a man relentlessly trying to convince a woman through trickery and persistence and stalking that she should really have sex with him" and "the White Knight/Damsel in Distress dynamic" at the time HAL was taken down.

https://somnilogical.tumblr.com/post/175420481784/i-tried-to-post-to-rationalist-feminists-closed

its an equilibrium where anyone opposing the "peace" of transmisogyny is labeled "antisocial" and "disrupting things".

would you say this woman is being misogynistic and "strong-arming" a female DA?

<<Last year, I was arrested twice in Sonoma County at Sunrise Farms and then Petaluma Poultry, two massive industrial farms that torture and kill hundreds of thousands of birds- while lying to the public about how these animals are treated. My crime? Asking the county to help the starving animals inside. Not just asking by email or phone call or office visit (though all these efforts were made and ignored), but asking by going right to the frontlines myself, exercising my statutory right to help neglected animals, and calling the attention of the authorities to this pervasive cruelty. The fact that the sheriffs chose to arrest us and ignore the animal cruelty broke my heart. It's hard to believe we live in a world where helping someone who is dying is the "crime" and not putting that life in danger in the first place. But have hope that this will change, and my hope growing.>>

<<Now, in response to the action at Reichardt, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch has decided to file additional charges against me, Priya Sawhney, and Wayne Hsiung. We are already facing 7 felonies and 5 misdemeanors and we're still fighting for animals every day. Do you think new charges will stop us? No. And it wont stop the movement, either. They think they can stop DxE by targeting leadership, but they don't understand that we are a network of leaders. That every single one of us is leading the world to one of the biggest changes it will ever see. #RightToRescue>>

probably not because shes cis and looks like:

laying down and making it clear that you offer no impediment to mass murder is not a female thing, its not a feminist thing. its a *you* thing, elle benjamin.

someone commented on the screenshots:

<<(It feels relevant that when I met this person a few months ago they went on a rant about the evils of TERF’s before telling me I couldn’t experience misogyny bc I was “male-socialised.” They apologised quickly after having it explained but the idea of their being the Font of Wisdom about transness to rats is insane.)>>

https://loving-not-heyting.tumblr.com/post/614660027724283904/ht-somni-for-screengrabs-this-sums-up-absolutely

ozy brennan, i know what the fuck im talking about when i say "transmisogyny". ive been lied to then kicked out of a homeless shelter for being a trans woman. several men forced me to the ground and held me down and cut off my clothes while i shouted "I DONT CONSENT" locked me in a bare room then crowded around a window embedded in a door and said "i told you it was a guy" and a bunch of people came to gawk at my naked body. and so much more.

some of my interactions on the street in the bay:

<<at bart ppl would call me an ugly bitch and ask me to sleep with them in exchange for meth

someone tried to sell me something and i was like "im not interested in being scammed today" and they were like "bitch!!!"

i walked around in sf talking with a homeless women for ~8 hours and someone asked if we had boyfriends and offered to sell us meth if we went with him and i was like "no thanks" and she was like "how much?" but it was too expensive or something. she showed me lots of places to get food and shelter.

and like if i sit down in places for long enough people will come up to me and ask me if i have a boyfriend or if i want to go get coffee with them on a date.

sometimes ppl ask where im *really* from and if i was born a girl. sometimes ppl touch me on my back or thigh.>>

ive compared notes with cisfems, i get more solicitations to have sex with men in exchange for meth.

this isnt oppression olympics, this is "maybe 7-8 years ago when i started transitioning i didnt have a detailed model of transmisogyny, but now i cant not have one". alyssa vance could have one too (and know things like elle is the kind of person who exploits transmisogyny whenever she gets a chance) if she werent busy using her adult intelligence to defeat itself for miri/cfar.

what elle benjamin did was transmisogynistic and i can arbitrage actually being aligned with justice by taking a stack of screenshots of all the things she said and showing them to transfems uninvolved with the ambient miri/cfar gaslighting. and theyll be like "yup, thats transmisogyny". and other transfems can be like "yup, elle was also transmisogynist to me."

rationalists like alyssa vance and ozy brennan currently have an incentive to imply people who accurately identify transmisogyny are crazy. to go along with the status quo. (if i had to guess: ozy to protect an environment where they can provide for their baby, alyssa because she routed her hopes for personal immortality through miri/cfar.) though its not like i expect /alyssa vance/ to start calling transfems “gross uncle style abusers" like patrick lavictiore did or start listing off their "manly" physical characteristics contra anna salamon being a small feeble cisfem like peter did. not because alyssa vance is a particularly good person, shes not. but because thats paying in to a coordination technique that could be used against /her/. she doesnt expect social reality to label her "psychotic" anytime soon so she pays into that instead. ozy does and didnt call me "psychotic". this optimization is dumb, myopic, and doesnt serve their own values. but all evil is like that.

i dont hold by "use words for their expected value over a community" like scott alexander does. this is nice because i can align what i say with my internal cluster structure of anticipations of reality and escalate arbitrarily far without things breaking. elle benjamin cant escalate very far until her claim of ziz being a "misogynist" shatters, because its not exploiting the cluster structure of thing-space.

anyway GG on this front. the territory of "elle benjamin isnt transmisogynistic, somni is hallucinating transmisogyny" isnt worth enough for the miri/cfar campaign to expend energy on; elle benjamin isnt an important piece to miri/cfar like anna salamon is; and alyssa vance isnt in an environment with a bunch of warm bodies she can coordinate on a falsehood with. so afaict this region is ceded.

one technique of fem v fem cyberontological combat when you are right is arbitrage. when people gather a bunch of warm bodies together to gaslight you that elle benjamin isnt doing transmisogyny or whatever. instead of submitting to a series of increasingly arcane requirements until your writing looks like the inside of /principia mathematica/ and then have people complain about you writing long technical paragraphs saying they dont understand them dont care to understand them and you must be crazy;

just take a comprehensive recording of them all choosing to be dumb in a given direction and show it to people who dont have a political commitment to be dumb in that direction (which, when you are right, is often most people outside of the gaslighting bubble) and explain why its wrong. there are a lot of overlapping social spheres and you can iteratively arbitrage between them exploiting the fact that the methods of rationality and justice are more universal than specific false coordination points. in go terms, the spirit of this strategy is tenuki.

alyssa vance also says anna salamon isnt transmisogynistic, tried claiming ziz whistleblowing on miri/cfar paying out to blackmail was blackmail, and defends paying out to oneshot blackmail with subjunctive dependence for cdt reasons.

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readingwebcomics · 5 years ago

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Analyzing Questionable Content: Pages 201-250

Marten’s closer, Dora. Of course she’d go for his first.

Okay, I’m just going to be upfront and honest with you guys. I’m just really not feeling it for this batch of comics, and that’s part of the reason why I had taken the previous week off. That’s not to say this batch is bad or anything, it’s just... I feel like I have a lot less to say about it than I should. So I apologize ahead of time if this feels too short or if it’s much more dull than usual. I’ll try hitting the high points and give you the proper character analysis I can muster here - the fact that what you see right now, with Marten and Dora going on a date and Faye’s reaction to it, will provide quite a deal of character insight.

For example, right here. Not even a single page later and Faye’s genuine irritation over the situation is showing, despite what she has to say about the situation.

Ignoring for the moment the stupid contraction thing (which, if memory serves, will thankfully be dropped after this batch of comics), do Faye’s eyes look... different to you guys? I don’t know, it feels like Jeph’s making an attempt at a slight tweak in his style here and I mostly notice it in Faye’s eyes. I could be looking way too deep into it though, I’m willing to accept that.

They have some light banter, part of which includes Faye continuing to press on the fact that Dora is hyper-sexual and will jump Marten’s bones the second she gets the chance, Faye goes on and continues her nice streak with Marten by offering to make him dinner. Now, I could take this time to point out the obvious, that Faye is clearly doing this much for him not just out of a sense of guilt over how she’s treated him but also bolstered by the fact that, even if subconsciously, she does NOT want Marten to be with another woman and is vying to keep his attention on her... But Faye doesn’t give us a chance to ponder that for very long.

I don’t blame her, the rims of cans are fucking horrifying. Not as bad as the edges of an outlet box, but thin slices of metal ain’t fun let me tell you.

Despite this, there’s really not much to say about the outcome - we learn that Faye’s last name is Whitaker and that this city has a “punching intern” for the local hospital.

That... can NOT be legal. Then again, if this city held itself to any standards of legality I’m certain the Irony Cafe would be closed already due to false advertising. Plus, this is taking place in America and Faye isn’t freaking out more about not being able to afford the hospital bills than the fact she was injured, so maybe that’s the trade-off to having a halfway decent medical facility.

Oh, and when everyone gets back home, we get a bit more insight into the mechanics of Pintsize.

That raises some questions. If this is unique to this particular platform Pintsize’s AI is housed in, how was he able to taste the cake mix in his previous body? If this is universal between Anthro PCs, then why didn’t Marten already know this if he’s been with Pintsize as long as has been implied thus far? I mean I get it, Jeph’s using this as an outlet to create some lore behind the funny robot people in his comic’s universe, but... I dunno, it just feels like this makes Marten seem more incompetent than anything if he didn’t know this about his own Anthro PC. Maybe if he helped explain it alongside Pintsize to Faye to showcase that he knew about this as well? I dunno.

The next day, Steve gives Marten a call:

Faye, your irritation over the situation isn’t exactly subtle. Also I’ve said it before but I’ll keep saying it - sarcastic Marten is best Marten. I like this Marten a lot.

And so, as a wise Skeleton once said... DATE: START!

We’re already off to an amazing start with Ellen kicking off! And, oooh, it looks like she tripped and injured herself in the initial play! Can she recover, folks? Well before we find out, we have another comic involving a drastic art shift deliberately invoked from Jeph:

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In all seriousness, the art shift isn’t... bad, per-se, it just looks so drastically different that it catches me off guard. As is what usually happens with Jeph in these situations, it takes the next comic for him to reel himself back and find a happy medium between his original style and the new one he wants to experiment with:

Marine Biology is not for the weak of heart. You knew what you were getting into when you took on that major, Ellen. But yeah, while I’ll get more into detail as to what I think about the art shift at the end of the post, I’ll say here that I like it as a natural evolution. It seems like every time Jeph improves, the face is the bit that gets the most focus every time. Remember just last post when I was complaining Jeph wasn’t talented enough to portray the silent emotion he wanted to in Faye’s face? Now, I feel like he probably could.

The date goes well enough, and the evening comes to a close:

My bet is that Steve’s like the Pied Piper of arachnids. I’d believe it were that the case, at least. Also it was mentioned to me that Marten probably did have the eye-shine like the rest of the cast did, but his eye color just made it harder to spot. In this page, that becomes clearer - still hard to see, but much easier than previously.

Oooh dear. Steve’s in some hot water now. Also I just realized that as of yesterday I’m as old as Steve is. Good God, I’m an actual full-blown adult. Christ.

...I’m going to put off thinking about that for too much longer as we move onto the rest of this batch, okay? Okay.

Anyhow, Dora invites Marten into her apartment for some coffee where she cuts right to the fucking chase:

It’s probably for the best you read the conversation yourself, they’re pages 226-228. I say this mostly because I really don’t have anything to add or comment on here - Dora’s a smart lady who gives good advice here, makes it clear that while she’s interested in Marten she wants him to be happy, and all-in-all is one of the coolest people ever. Go Dora!

Go... Dora. Oh. Well, I still think you’re cool. Let’s give this woman some time and cut back to Steve and Ellen!

I have some things to say about this situation that I’ll touch on a little bit later. Marten gets home and makes it clear to Faye that nothing happened between himself and Dora. While quite clearly relieved, she’s a touch confused.

So I’m not the only one who feels strangely sad whenever I eat a s’mores Pop Tart? Oh who am I kidding, I’ve got depression, I’m always fucking sad. And hey, speaking of sexy times, Pintsize throws his proverbial hat into the ring!

Honestly, I kind of knew I should’ve kept track of that pink Anthro PC, but would you believe me if I told you they never got a name? Also could AI fuck over IM? My bet is that 2004-speed internet wouldn’t exactly make it smooth. But man, imagine having sex over the ‘net on Fiber.

...too much? Too much.

The night ends, Steve parts from Ellen telling her he needs a couple of days to sort his head out, and Faye comforts Marten...

...in, erm, a very Faye way... oh hey, Faye, Fae! I wonder if that was intentional on Jeph’s part. Probably not, Faye isn’t quite a Maniac Pixie Dream Girl. For one thing, she’s better written.

If memory serves, I think Dora mentioned she was a blonde previously? Either way she’s crystal clear with it now. Also, while I complimented Jeph before on his faces... I’m not going to lie, he could stand to improve drawing skirts. I don’t blame the guy, I imagine skirts are fucking hard to draw.

Oh, and here we begin an annual tradition of Questionable Content:

I’d like to start a petition for all Questionable Content fans to go by the fan-name “Turkeys” now. You with me, fellow Turkeys?!

...no? Eh, fair enough.

Here we get some interesting information. At least, it gets interesting in the wake of what comes up later - the timescale is more-or-less confirmed here that this takes place around the early to mid 2000s, likely 2004 or so since that’s when the comic was written. I always assumed, considering we have walking AI around, that the universe of Questionable Content took place in the near future... but rather, it seems more like it takes place in an alternate version of history where our technology is slightly ahead of the curve. And yet a lot of pop culture phenomena remained as it did in our version of history, if what they’re saying is true. Again, this doesn’t get super relevant until later comics where we see just how far advanced the technological level in QC has become.

Ellen drops by the Coffee Shop for some advice:

Faye’s gotten a LOT more open recently. Back near the beginning of this comic she would never, never openly admit to giving into any kind of carnal need, and now here she is candidly talking about private shower times.

And while they’re discussing things at the Coffee Shop, Marten and Steve are having their own conversation back at the apartment:

Now here I need to put in my two cents. The characters make a point of saying how they don’t really think the age difference is that big of a deal. Were she legal, which she will be in less than a week, there’s no real problem with an 18 year old dating a 24 year old. I know this is entirely a matter of personal opinion and I fully expect people to disagree with me here. I also suspect this is going to make me sound like a prude, but... yeah, I think there is a problem, there.

Ellen’s a freshman in College. She’s JUST turning 18. While she’s shown to be intelligent enough to get into college early - and good on her for that - she lacks the emotional intelligence or maturity to really strike out into a relationship with someone six years her senior. And Steve, for his part, is too old to get anything out of a relationship with someone so much younger than he is. There’s no real connection there, the difference in emotional maturity is going to make itself evident before too long and the relationship is more prone to self-destruct.

Like I said, feel free to disagree with me there. If you feel like there’s room for a relationship in such an age gap, let me know. I wouldn’t mind starting a conversation or changing my mind, but that’s where my mindset is there - it just wouldn’t work out.

Remember that last line Dora said. It’s going to get much funnier later, to the point where part of me wonders if that was deliberate foreshadowing on Jeph’s part.

And here we welcome Ellen’s roommate, Natasha. My oh my, characters are building up, ain’t they? Just give it time, guys. It gets so, so much worse.

(Also am I the only one stuck on that first panel? Just... I know they already made the joke about her dual-major but there’s something so surreal to that I kind of can’t escape it)

And now, to round out our batch of 50:

Wow. It seems like Dora’s a touch more insecure than she lets on, huh? She seems so cool and in-control of herself that moments like this where it’s surprisingly easy of her to accept that she may have weirded the object of her affections out are much more blatant.

Now that we’ve reached the end of the batch, let’s do our usual beginning and end comparisons:

Like I said before, Jeph has clearly put more detail into the faces. He’s taking steps in the direction of “realistic cartoon” if that makes sense, further details in the wrinkles of their clothes, their bodies looking more defined, that sort of thing. I can’t really decide if I like this newer style better than the older one, but it’s no question that the newer style is a technical improvement. Nice work!

So what’d I think of this batch? Eh... plot happened, I suppose, but it feels like not much ended up happening. I dunno, for my money this felt a lot slower than the last batch... but then again, last batch had Amanda drop by for a visit, so that may have something to do with it. Either way, we have outright confirmation if we didn’t think so before that Dora is super into Marten, but it’s also made clear she’s not going to step in between the dance he and Faye are partaking in right now. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is entirely up to personal opinion, I suppose. I dunno, I feel like having Dora as a potential wild card offered the possibility for drama to shake up the dynamic going on, and without her I fear the dynamic may stagnate.

I mean, I know exactly how the dynamic’s going to go because I’ve read it, but you get the point I’m trying to make here.

Anyhow, you know what time it is now - data analysis time! In this batch of 50, we have...

Marten: 34/50 – 68%

Faye: 29/50 – 58%

Dora: 24/50 – 48%

Ellen: 15/50 – 30%

Steve: 12/50 – 24%

Pintsize: 11/50 – 22%

Natasha: 2/50 – 4%

Miéville: 2/50 – 4%

Grand Total:

Marten: 200/250 – 80%

Faye: 192/250 – 76.8%

Dora: 75/250 – 30%

Pintsize: 61/250 – 24.4%

Steve: 34/250 – 13.6%

Ellen: 18/250 – 7.2%

Amanda: 12/250 – 4.8%

Sara: 7/250 – 2.8%

Jimbo: 5/250 – 2%

Turing: 4/250 – 1.6%

Raven: 3/250 – 1.2%

Miéville: 3/250 – 1.2%

Scott: 2/250 – 0.8%

Natasha: 2/250 – 0.8%

Ell: 1/250 – 0.4%

Personally, I won’t be satisfied until Jimbo overtakes Sara in his number of appearances. You can do it, Jimbo! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

...erm, in any case, tune in next week for the thrilling next installment of QC! You ready for more backstory on our main characters? I know I am! See you then.

#Questionable Content #Faye #Marten #Dora #Steve #Ellen #Long-form analysis #analysis

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ryqoshay · 6 years ago

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How to Handle a Nico: Rhythm Game

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~2.3k Rating: G Time Frame: Late in Maki’s 1st year and Nico’s 3rd year in high school Story Arc: Stand Alone

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: It wasn’t exactly my intent to write a scene for this adorable pic, but after I wrote the last one, I couldn’t help it. @lolitomatobunny has really made some good works. Who could blame me for being inspired by such wonderful images?

Also, double woo! ♡ ＼(≧▽≦)／ ♡ Not only does this make my fifth chapter posted in as many days, but it’s 2k words, not just 1 or less.

“Ughn… Not again, nya!” Rin cried, tossing her phone, rather carelessly onto the table.

“Failed another song, Rin-chan?” Hanayo asked with a sympathetic tone as she moved over to her friend’s side.

“The beatmap just doesn’t make any sense!” The cat-like girl complained. “And the notes that require special gestures are just nyannoying!”

“Well, you did just start playing a few days ago.” The youngest µ’s member assured. “I didn’t figure things out right away either. And there are plenty of Expert level songs I still cannot complete, much less Full Combo.”

“But that was only Hard!” Rin whined, dropping her forehead onto the table in defeat.

“You’ll get the hang of it in time.” Hanayo patted her friend’s back. “You still like the game, right?”

“Of course.” Rin admitted with a sigh before pushing herself back up enough to prop her head on her hands. “The music is really good and makes me happy listening to it.”

That got the attention of a certain redhead sitting across the table, though she did not look away from the book in her hand.

Rin tilted her head onto one hand before reaching out with the other to retrieve her phone. As soon as the screen was unlocked, a peppy tune began to play through the speaker.

Maki blinked. If Rin had been playing earlier, why hadn’t she noticed the music before? Had the other girl been wearing headphones? Maybe said device had been disconnected when she tossed her phone away? Maybe she had just ignored it because it sounded like the music to which Nico was always listening. It was just another embarrassingly happy tune, the likes of which A-RISE might create. Or East Heart. Or Midnight cats. Or µ’s… Well, it wasn’t like Maki hadn’t helped create pieces like that herself. Quite a few, actually.

“Does that interest you, Maki-chan?”

“Buweeh?” Maki balked back to reality and looked up from her book.

Rin grinned at her friend.

“W-what?”

“You can’t fool Rin, Maki-chan!” Rin jumped up from her chair and practically skipped around the table. “I could see that you were interested even though you tried to hide it.”

“I wasn’t really…”

“It can be a little hard at times, but it really is a fun game.” Hanayo explained.

The orange-haired girl held her phone out in front of the redhead. “I’ll do an Easy song as an example.” She explained before hitting Start.

“Hmmm…” Maki watched with more interest than she was willing to admit.

Rin’s thumbs tapped certain points on the screen as moving circles crossed a threshold. In the background, various girls popped up occasionally to say something encouraging, though Maki couldn’t quite tell if the lines were supposed to be directed at the player or to the other girls in the group.

For some reason, Maki found herself paying more attention when a dark-haired girl sporting twin-tails came on to the screen. Not that she reminded Maki of anyone, of course. The character’s eyes were a different color, there was no pink to be found in her outfit, and her smile was nowhere near as brilliant. Yes, there was no way the character in the game was anything like her. Not that Maki was thinking about her, of course.

“And that’s how you play, nya!” Rin proclaimed proudly as the English words, Full Combo! appeared across the screen.

Shortly after, a girl with a reasonable resemblance to Hanayo appeared to give one final congratulatory line. Wasn’t that the girl who had been in the center of the group? Of course, Rin would set things up that way. Maki couldn’t help wondering if the twin-tailed girl ever mentioned wanting to be the center. Oh, what the heck. She shook her head. She was definitely thinking too much about this. It was just a silly mobile game.

“Bet you wanna play now, huh, Maki-chan?” Rin asked after a moment.

“Not really…”

“Hmmm, maybe if they included some classical music, then Maki-chan might be more interested.”

“I doubt it…”

“Are there classical songs that have lyrics for the girls to sing?” Hanayo wondered out loud.

“There are a lot of songs with lyrics.” Maki stated. “Though sometimes the lyrics are written at a later time by a different individual.”

“So maybe someday they’ll make a classical themed rhythm game.” Rin seemed excited about the concept.

“Probably not.” Maki shook her head as thoughts of a group comprising Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rossini and Tchaikovsky wearing stylized outfits danced through her mind.

“Rin-chan.” Hanayo spoke up as she glanced her phone. “We should probably get going if we want to beat the rush at the ramen shop.”

“Iku-nya!” Rin cheered, running over to grab her bag.

“Do you want to come with us, Maki-chan?” The brunette asked.

“Thank you for the offer.” Maki replied. “But, I already have plans for the evening.”

“Oh? Wha’cha doin’?” Rin asked.

“Uhm, Nico-chan asked if I would help her study for an upcoming… What?” Maki stared back as her fellow first years smiled at her.

“Nico-chan’s lucky to have someone smart like Maki-chan help her, nya.” Rin explained. “And Rin is lucky to have someone as amazing as Kayo-chin to help her!” She grabbed the arm of the girl in question.

“Rin-chan…” Pink dusted Hanayo’s cheeks, though she continued to smile.

“You two have fun.” Maki nodded toward the door. “Nico-chan should be done with cleaning duty soon, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

After saying their goodbyes, the other two girls departed, leaving Maki alone in the clubroom. She was just about to go back to reading when her phone vibrated.

NicoNii: Sorry, going to be delayed a little bit

NicoNii: Eli and Nozomi need me to do something

NicoNii: I’ll try to make it quick

NishikinoMaki: That’s fine

NishikinoMaki: I’ll see you when you get here

Maki returned to the home screen and was about to turn off the screen when the icon for the app store caught her eye. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to take just one more quick peek at that game, right? Downloading it didn’t mean she was really interested, right? After all, the music was in the same genre of everything she had heard from school idols, µ’s included, so if anyone asked, she could just pass it off as research and inspiration. Yes, that was it; research and inspiration. Those were the only reasons.

Apparently, the initial download wasn’t enough, and more data started loading once Maki had opened the app. However, chibi versions of several of the girls appeared on screen, including the twin-tailed girl she had noticed before. Out of curiosity, she tapped the character and jumped when a voice came out of the speaker telling her to stop touching her. That was her voice? It was actually… kind of cute. Kind of. Not as cute as someone else’s though. Not that Maki was thinking about her, of course.

After finally getting to the game itself, an opening scene began that introduced what Maki assumed were the main characters. For some reason, she found herself relieved that the twin-tailed girl was among the main cast. The characters talked, explained the player’s role in the story and then walked her through a quick tutorial concerning gameplay. And finally, it was time to play her first song. She pressed Start and…

“Buweehh?!” Maki practically jumped out of her chair as arms draped across her shoulders from behind.

“Maki-chan plays that game?” A voice asked from next to her ear.

Pause! Pause! Where is the pause button?! Surely there is a Pause button, right?

The notes scrolled down the screen and with hands trembling, Maki began to tap at the screen.

Maybe… Maybe this isn’t so bad. Actually, even with Nico-chan scaring me, this is pretty ea… What?

The game made a dissonant sound as it did not accept Maki’s attempt to tap one of the special notes.

Maki grimaced as she heard Nico giggle, but continued to hit the normal notes with perfect timing. Nico giggled again when another special note was missed and Maki held back a growl. Finally, the song ended and the game tallied her performance; all Perfects, sans two Misses for the special notes.

“Still learning those notes, eh?” Nico asked.

“I… I only missed them because you scared me.” Maki grumbled.

“Uh-huh. Look here.” Nico held out one hand flat to mimic a phone before holding it with the other. “For those notes, you have to make this kind of gesture” She moved her thumb across her other hand as though it was a screen. “And for the other type you will see, you do this.” She moved her thumb again. “The tutorial doesn’t really do a good job of explaining them. Even Nico had to look it up online.”

“Hmmm...” Maki mimicked the gestures she had seen.

“Yeah, like that. That’s good, Maki-chan. Practice that for a few more songs on Easy.”

“Easy?”

“Yeah, I can see you got the normal notes down, but that was still on a slower speed. And the real world is full of distractions so you’ll have to learn how to do the special notes even if someone scares you.”

“Hmmm…” Maki wasn’t quite sure if she detected teasing in that tone.

“Maki-chan may be a prodigy with the piano but it will be years before she catches up to Nico-nii on rhythm games.”

Now that was definitely teasing. Maki’s brow furrowed as she tapped the screen again.

“Wha? Maki-chan that’s…”

“Mmph.” Maki grunted.

The song started again, but this time there was a significant increase in the number of notes cascading down the screen. And their speed had at least doubled. But Maki didn’t care. She knew the rhythm of this song now; it wasn’t overly complex. And as expected, the notes matched perfectly, meaning the only thing she had to watch was placement. Well, and the special notes, but Maki was confident she knew how to handle those, so long as Nico’s demonstration was accurate.

As her thumbs danced across the screen, Maki wondered if it might be easier to hold her phone in one hand and play with the fingers of her other. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her thumbs to keep up, just that she was more accustomed to using all of her fingers in tandem.

“Wow…” Nico breathed, about halfway through the song.

Almost there. The end was in sight. Maki felt her jaw clench as she concentrated on the last few… the arms around her shifted ever so slightly. A finger barely brushed her arm.

Maki’s breath hissed with a rapid intake through her teeth as the game released another discordant clash and her combo was shattered. With her concentration in shambles, her saving grace was that the remaining notes that were missed were not enough to completely deplete her stamina.

“Oh! Oops… Sorry, Maki-chan!” Nico pulled away quickly. In her haste she ended up backing straight into the bookshelf behind her. “Keh…”

“Nico-chan…” Maki griped, turning toward her senior.

“I’m sorry!” Nico repeated, throwing up her hands defensively. “Really, I am! I-I-I was just so impressed with your skills that I didn’t realize what else I was doing and… and… I don’t know! I’m sorry!”

Maki paused. She couldn’t recall seeing Nico like this; truly repentant. She wasn’t apologizing, grudgingly, because she was told she had to. She also wasn’t pulling the puppy dog eyes or falling into her idol persona. Rather, she seemed honestly upset after having disrupted Maki’s game. Was a mobile game really worth such a reaction?

And sure, Maki was annoyed, but she wouldn’t say she was actually angry with Nico. As such, she let her posture relax and opened her mouth to speak.

“That really was impressive, though.” Nico probably didn’t realize she was interrupting, as technically, Maki hadn’t actually spoken yet. “How long have you been playing?”

“I just downloaded it before you got here.”

Nico blinked. “Really? That’s impressive, Maki-chan.”

Maki felt a smile tug at her lips. “Thanks.”

“So, uhm… you aren’t… actually mad at me, are you?”

“Not really, no.” Maki admitted. “Just… don’t do that again.”

“You don’t want me to hug you anymore?” There was no mistaking the concern in Nico’s voice.

Ah, so that’s what she was worried about. Maki couldn’t help laughing a little. If she were being completely honest, she knew she would miss the hugs if Nico actually stopped.

“No, that’s not it.” Maki shook her head. “Maybe just not while I’m trying to concentrate on something?”

“I’ll try to remember that.” Nico said earnestly. “But Maki-chan is really cute when she’s focused and Nico can’t help wanting to hug her…”

Maki felt heat building in her cheeks. “W-well just t-try, alright?” Geez, why was she stuttering?

“Alright.” Nico smiled, finally. “So, uhm, we never did decide if we were going to your place or mine.”

“Either is fine, though it might be quieter at my place.”

“Sounds like we’re going to your place.”

“Alright.” Maki nodded.

“Oh, and maybe when we take a break, we can play together?”

“What do you mean?”

“There is a function that lets you set up private rooms, so you can play in a team with your friends to get higher scores and better rewards.” Nico explained. “And since you’re a new player, your teams won’t be that strong, even if Maki-chan’s skills are amazing, so Nico can lend you the strength of her teams and get you some nice early bonuses!”

“Sounds fun.”

“Then let’s get going!” Nico cheered with renewed vigor. Her smile was now as brilliant as... no, more brilliant than that of the character in the game as she held out a hand to her junior.

“Alright.” Maki agreed, grabbing her bag before taking her senior’s hand and letting her lead her out of the clubroom.

Author’s Note Continued: No, the game in the scene is not SIF. I still maintain that SIF does not exist in HtHaN. However, with as many mobile rhythm games as there are in the real word, it’s not hard to imagine some iteration of them occurring in this world. And since at least one is themed around idols, of course Nico and Hanayo play that one. However, just because the game isn’t actually SIF, or any other game from our world, doesn’t mean I can’t reference certain parts from any real world game. So, I’ll see where things go.

So, HtHaN has a rhythm game in it now. I guess I’ll probably want to bring it up again at some point. More notes for the collection!

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #How to Handle a Nico #Love Live #fanfic

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Cyberpunk 2077’s Epilepsy Concerns Represent a Bigger Problem

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

A recent Game Informer article reveals that Cyberpunk 2077 features several notable sequences that may cause epileptic seizures and other health risks.

The report comes from Game Informer editor Liana Ruppert who describes herself in the article as “someone that does have seizures myself due to an injury from my time when I was active duty.” She goes on to explain that her condition prohibits her from being able to play certain games and that she “suffered one major seizure” while playing Cyberpunk 2077.

Sadly, Ruppert also revealed later on Twitter that some people have started sending her videos designed to induce epileptic reactions in response to her reporting on this subject.

Warning: I’ve been sent hundreds of videos disguised as support that are deliberate flashing to induce photosensitive triggers. If you’re sharing this saying you’re epileptic and receive a video, don’t press play. I’m back to being on my ass. Be better, please.

— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) December 8, 2020

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Why would anyone do that? That’s a question that we should all be asking, and the unfortunate answers to that question lie in the heads of those who would resort to such actions. We’ve seen fans who have gone out of their way to defend Cyberpunk 2077 and developer CD Projekt Red against anything they perceive to be an attack against the game, but the idea that there are people out there who are so blindly loyal to a game and company that they would attempt to seriously harm someone over a health PSA is unfathomable.

What’s especially odd is that Ruppert’s report is largely designed to be informative rather than any kind of “attack piece” against the game. She’s even asked people to focus more on the game’s triggers and what can be done about them and less on those who are actually attacking her:

Please stop sharing the part about people sending me videos. That sucks, it’s criminal, but now the entire conversation is about that and not on the whole reason I wrote the piece to help make gaming safer. Please keep the focus where it belongs: on accessibility, I’m begging 🙏🏻

— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) December 8, 2020

That being the case, let’s focus on Cyberpunk 2077‘s epilepsy triggers as they’re not only potentially dangerous but raise questions that need to be answered regarding what can be done about them.

As the article notes, Cyberpunk 2077 features various moments of flashing lights and other intense visual sequences that could trigger negative reactions among some players. For instance, she references sequences involving Johnny Silverhand as likely triggers for some players who struggle with epileptic seizures and other harmful reactions to flashing lights.

However, the bulk of the article focuses on a specific trigger that occurs when players participate in one of the game’s numerous braindance sequences. Those sequences require players to wear a headset that puts flashing blue lights in front of your character’s eyes. Based on a previous gameplay preview of Cyberpunk‘s braindance sequences, this seems to be the headset in question:

As Ruppert points out, that headset not only puts flashing lights directly in front of the player’s eyes, but the design of the headset itself resembles a device used by neurologists to study epileptic seizures and similar attacks. That could just be a coincidence, but it does feel strange that the thematic idea of a braindance does seemingly involve the idea of triggering an intense reaction in the user’s brain. The player’s character even comments on the intensity of the sequence, and it sounds like many of the braindance story segments feature additional moments of flashing lights that are designed to convey transitions into deeper parts of the memory.

At this point, you may be wondering whether or not Cyberpunk 2077 features an epilepsy warning. To be honest, we can’t answer that question with absolute certainty at this time. While some of those who have watched leaked footage of Cyberpunk 2077‘s first few hours noted that they did not see an epilepsy warning, the official information is still somewhat vague. CD Projekt Red has stated in their response to this matter that their EULA features a warning, but the implication is that warning isn’t specifically conveyed in-game:

Thank you for bringing this up. We’re working on adding a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA (https://t.co/eXpPn73VSK). Regarding a more permanent solution, Dev team is currently exploring that and will be implementing it as soon as possible. https://t.co/lXFypnSit2

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 8, 2020

For the moment, let’s assume that there is going to be an epilepsy warning in the game even if there isn’t one already. That still doesn’t address the bigger problem that people are already pointing out: accessibility and fundamental design accommodations.

Unless Cyberpunk 2077 (and other games) intend to present warnings before every event which could possibly trigger an epileptic reaction, there’s simply no way for anyone whose health is at risk to know when one might occur. As this excellent video on this subject even points out, it’s difficult (if not impossible) for developers to develop a universal “safe mode,” as triggers can vary so much from person to person that there’s no great way for a developer to guarantee the safety of every individual user:

The point is that any possible solutions to this problem involve a mix of clear communication, direct avoidance of the most common visual triggers, a fundamental rethinking of basic design concepts, and any optional accommodations that can be offered which may reduce the potential impact of these sequences when they do occur. It also means that when people point out that there is a potential problem in a game, the move is to learn from them rather than attack or dismiss them.

Too often, though, we see incidents in the gaming community of people being attacked for pointing out ways that developers can better accommodate not just the personal preferences of players but their needs. While companies like Microsoft have made tremendous strides in creating hardware and software designed to accommodate as many needs as possible and developers like Naughty Dog have implemented previously unprecedented accessibility options, this isn’t the kind of subject which can be brushed aside whenever we see an example of how things have gotten better. The important thing to realize is that when people point out the ways that a game falls short of account for their needs, they’re not “complaining” or trying to hinder your enjoyment of a game. More often than not, they’re simply just trying to also be able to also enjoy that game as well and maybe help others prevent problems before they happen.

The fact of the matter is that what we know right now strongly suggests that Cyberpunk 2077 does not do enough to mitigate its visual risks. While its shortcomings in that respect can be attributed to a variety of factors that are not necessarily indicative of any intentional wrongdoing, it is now up to CD Projekt Red, other developers, and everyone in the gaming world to do everything they can to show the proper reaction to these revelations is to find a way to do better.

The post Cyberpunk 2077’s Epilepsy Concerns Represent a Bigger Problem appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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sayaratyriea · 7 years ago

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Why and How you got the wrong Aspect: an analysis!

Okay, everyone’s running around like the anthill’s been kicked over after the Extended Zodiac release. People are complaining that their results aren’t right, that the test has to be wrong, that the aspect characterizations are somehow not totally in line with canon, et cetera and so on and so forth... We have the new descriptions of WHAT the Aspect personalities are, but after hearing no fewer than 4 different people complain (rather specifically) that they got Life when they “should’ve” gotten Blood, I decided to poke through the test in an attempt to decide how the test actually determines this stuff. Because it’s really interesting, and everyone’s done so much intense analysis, and I don’t actually think we were all the way wrong? But I also think that the test is doing a good job at analyzing the things it’s actually asking--the problem is, it’s not asking you what it maybe should be.

This is all kind of inspired by a text post I saw earlier doing a primary analysis of the test questions--I can’t find that post right now, but if I do track it down I’ll link it. For now, Taz’s interpretation! This is a pretty simple test, really. Each one of the 12 questions corresponds to one pair of Aspects, and is intended to show which one of the two the test taker is inclined towards. The point of this post is to explain (my understanding of) how this test works, and also provide answers as to how you might have gotten an Aspect that you feel doesn’t fit you quite right! There are quite a few ways to get the wrong answers here, even though the canon descriptions of the Aspects seem spot-on and perfect. It’s a fairly well-made system with a somewhat poorly-designed quiz attached.

This got pretty rambly, so see the readmore for the rest of the post!

First things first: a brief recap of each question, what it asks, and what the results are.

Question 1 is Breath vs Blood: tldr; do you see yourself as more of a Loner Hero type or a part of a large system of interlocked characters? Loner hero is the Breath answer, and the extended cast is Blood.

Question 2: The second Breath vs Blood. This time, it’s show or tell. How do you lead and teach people? By inspiring them or by demonstrating? This is a duality that’s often been attributed to active/passive /classes/ in the classpect community, so it’s interesting that it’s being tied to aspects here. Anyways, Breath players show and Blood players inspire by example.

Question 3: Obviously Light vs Void. Would you rather know everything or be content with knowing that mysteries still exist? Light players want to know, Void players like mystery. Simple stuff.

Question 4: Another Light vs Void. When someone’s wrong about something, do you correct their errors, or just point out how dubious their information is? Light likes illuminating the truth (heh), and Void would rather cast doubt on the false information.

Question 5: Time vs Space, very shallow. Time players like time travel, Space players like distance.

Question 6: The second Time vs Space. Which do you value more, the end results or the journey along the way? Time players value the result, and Space values the journey.

Question 7: Heart vs Mind. Would you rather know yourself in full detail and intimacy, or have the power to make the most rational decisions? Heart is self, Mind is reason.

Question 8: Heart vs Mind part 2. Would you rather know your true potential or the consequences to your possible decisions? Heart is potential, Mind is consequences.

Question 9: Hope vs Rage. Would you rather have firm conviction in your own beliefs, or would you rather cast doubt on the beliefs of those who are wrong? Hope has conviction and Rage is skeptical.

Question 10: Hope vs Rage #2. When you’re in an awful situation, will you stay there until you’ve planned an escape route, or destroy everything and start from scratch no matter the consequences? Hope will stay, Rage will burn it down.

Question 11: Life vs Doom. When you see another person in pain, are you more likely to try to help them, or just empathize and try to relate to them? I don’t like this question--it’s worded vaguely and phrased in such a way where if you don’t choose the Life answer then you get guilted for it. Anyways, Life will help, and Doom will... “relate,” whatever that means.

Question 12: Life vs Doom #2. When you encounter someone in a situation so awful that there’s no way to help, are you more likely to be horrified and fight the inevitable, or feel resigned to the fate of the world? Again, this is a heavily slanted question and could be worded FAR more effectively to produce a less biased quiz. Life fights back, Doom is resigned to destiny.

So there you have it, those are the questions! With that in mind, I’m still trying to figure out how they’re “weighted” when you give multiple strong answers, but the general gist is that the quiz assigns you the Aspect you provided the most Firm Yes answers to. I got Life because I replied strongly in the Helping direction on the last two questions, which overpowered some of my wimpier answers to the other questions.

So what does this mean about the aspect results?

That’s what this post was supposed to be about, after all! I’m not going to pick apart the questions that I think work well, but there are two sets in particular that OFFEND me in how poorly designed they are, and I want to dissect them a little because they seem to cause a lot of problems for people.

First things first, I want to address something about this quiz that’s really bothering me: the whole skew of the Life vs Doom duality. Specifically, the questions meant to assign the Life and Doom aspects in this quiz are really, really bad. I suspect that Life is being assigned far too often, and Doom not nearly enough, because of this problem. Doom got super shortchanged here!

There’s something that Question 11 in particular wants to be asking that it just isn’t, and that glitch in wording could be causing a lot of skew. Frankly, I don’t think anyone’s impulse is to empathize with a person while “not doing anything” about their situation otherwise. What this question wants to ask is, when confronted with someone in despair, do you try to fix the situation materially and remove what’s causing them distress, or do you try to speak to them and relate to them and listen to their problems? Doom’s Aspect description heavily emphasizes empathy and commiseration. While Doom is not the aspect that tries to fix problems, and Doom is not the advice friend, Doom seems like it really wants to listen. I think this question should be rephrased along these lines: “When you see someone suffering, are you more inclined to help them get better? Or is your instinct to listen to their troubles and empathize with them, without necessarily offering advice?”

Also, Question 12 should maybe be rephrased in the context of hearing, like, a news article or something. You’re reading about a horrible awful disaster somewhere else, do you feel terrible that nothing can be done or are you resigned to disaster as the Way the World Is? That’d feel a lot less...weird.

SO like, if you got Life and you don’t think it fit you that well, it’s probably because of those two wonky questions! I think the majority of people are more inclined to do something active in times of trouble than they are to sit around apathetically the way these questions imply Doom would, so if you gave stronger answers to questions 11 and 12 then they may overpower anything else in your test. The majority of people help their friends and want to help other people, that doesn’t mean that the majority of people are proactive enough in that specific way to be Life aspects. In particular, a lot of Blood players seem to be landing on Life when they don’t necessarily belong there.

With that whining out of the way, the rest of the results!

There’s a really simple reason why people are getting answers that they don’t think fit them: the questions on this test are actually determining slightly different traits than the traits emphasized in the aspect result descriptions. Seriously, they are! Blood is the worst culprit of this, but they all do this to some extent.

I’m addressing Blood first, partially because it’s the most common victim in cases of “I should be this aspect but I got Light/Life instead!!!” and partially because the questions for Blood are really... interesting.

Blood, in the traditional fandom approach AND in this test, is supposed to be the aspect about Friendship and Bonds. But in this test, the questions that are most related to friendship and empathy have NOTHING to do with Blood. Seriously, they don’t. Look at the list again. Friendship and relationships are almost never relevant in this quiz, which sort of makes sense, but they’re sort of important for some of these aspects? They’re not there. The two deciding questions that would give the Blood result are more about how you impact the group, not about how the group impacts you or how you relate to them. Regardless of what the description on your results page says, the test itself looks for these traits (and ONLY these!) to identify a Blood player:

They consider themselves only one role in the “play” of reality, surrounded by equally important alternate protagonists, and

They lead others through inspiration and motivation.

There’s nothing in here about friendship and empathy--two elements of the Blood aspect that are generally considered the Most Important Ones by a lot of analysis writers, and also the Blood description itself. The key defining factors of Blood are its reliance on the power of groups, and Blood’s skill at giving advice and helping people, but those traits don’t actually have anything to do with the test questions that’ll give you Blood as a result. The only question with a firmly Blood-affiliated result is Question 2, which is kind of tangential to begin with! I guess this means Hussie considers the “inspirational leadership” aspect most important, but his own aspect description seems to disagree with him there.

I personally think that a lot of Blood players are mistyped as Life because of the wonky Life/Doom questions I complained about earlier--as Blood players prioritize friendship and empathy and helping people, they’re wont to give very strong positive “yes I will always help people and want to help people” responses to questions 11 and 12. This doesn’t mean that they’re Life players, it just means they take their actual aspect seriously! See: my earlier rant about those questions and their multitude of issues. This also means that Life itself is unfairly vague, and probably getting way more results than it really should. Blood and Life are already very closely related, and this test is NOT helping people distinguish them.

The Light/Void questions are pretty good for determining which side of that particular duality someone lands on. A Light player will respond strongly to indicate that they seek knowledge all the time, and a Void player will hang out in the background, those are fine. The worst impact these questions seem to have? They skew the rest of the test. A set of wonky, poorly-worded questions is gonna result in people providing a lot of noncommittal middle answers, so if you gave a “moderately strong” reply in the Light direction to both of these, then you’ll get Light if you didn’t have a very firmly dedicated slant towards something else.

Space/Time are pretty solid, the first option is a literal power preference (which does seem slightly out of place with the rest of the questions but w/e) and the second one does apply fairly directly to the Space/Time duality. I think they might be different to past approaches on that pairing, but I don’t know, I never pried too deeply into this duo.

Heart vs Mind, again pretty well-designed, they achieve what they need to achieve. Not much to say about those.

Hope vs Rage is a really interesting pair because they’re two aspects that Hussie’s been kind of vague on in the past. I think Question 9 could be better phrased, but that’s just me. A few people have complained that Rage isn’t getting assigned often enough, but to me it just seems like it’s not as common of an aspect? I don’t see anything inherently wrong about how the test sets it up, people just don’t answer strongly in that direction.

And... yeah, that’s where I’m at with this test. All the “wrong” answers are happening because 4 out of the 12 questions are Badly Designed enough that they sort of ruin the rest of the thing! So if you’re still feeling like your result isn’t the one that really fits you, this is worth keeping in mind. It’s a test, and tests can be flawed! Even though the 8 questions I didn’t bully seem to work very well, they are still only 8 questions. No personality test can really know you better than you know yourself. :)

(Also, regardless of your theories on how classes work in correlation to aspects, there is still a relationship there. So you might just always have a class skewing your answer! this has been a PSA from your local prince of doom who consistently gets life on all these tests because of... idfk inversion or something who even knows) (#EXERCISE FUTILITY)

#taz shut up #homestuck #aspects #aspect analysis #idk what else to tag this as but listen i had to do a rant

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ramblesandmumblesofanerd · 8 years ago

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Guilty Pleasures: My Thoughts

Warning: Lengthy Post

Imagine, if you will, this scene: you and your friends are hanging out and having a casual conversation, and the topic suddenly switches over to form of entertainment that did not do it’s job too well, maybe a movie, a song, a book, etc. Everyone around you seems to be picking their target apart, like vultures tearing a corpse apart. But then, off on the sidelines, there you stand when four words escape your lips: “I kinda liked it”. You’re mocked and jeered at for liking something they consider dreg, and you offer a convenient excuse: “It’s a guilty pleasure”. This excuse is thrown around very often when defending oneself from people who hate something they adore in spite of it’s flaws, but I have come to ask myself a question about this: Is there really anything to be guilty about?

Really think about what the phrase “guilty pleasure” implies. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary’s website, guilt is a feeling that implies that one deserves blame for having committed something terrible, while pleasure is the feeling of “frivolous enjoyment”. To combine the words together seems to imply that having a guilty pleasure means one feels ashamed of liking something everyone else seems to despise, but nothing could be further from the case in my opinion. In fact, why should someone feel they deserve the backlash one can possibly receive for revealing the fact that they enjoy what others find mediocre? I’ll tell you: they should not, just as I do not.

Allow me to give an example of my own personal pleasures. Unlike most who saw the pre-Christopher Nolan live action Batman films, I enjoyed Joel Schumacher’s “Batman: Forever”. I do this in spite of the overall silly tone of the film, unlike the Schumacher’s second and final entry into his cinematic Batman universe “Batman and Robin”. This is due to the fact that the film leaves most of the known Batman mythos intact, even at the risk of pulling some from the past. Case in point, Jim Carrey as Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler. Not only do I like Carrey’s portrayal because I like the actor’s work in general, his version of the character has been seen before in both the older Batman comics and the old Adam West television show from the 1960’s, with the late Frank Gorshin giving a performance which was no doubt the inspiration for Carrey. There is also the performance of Val Kilmer, Michael Keaton’s replacement for Bruce Wayne/Batman, which, while certainly a decent pick, is not as memorable as his predecessor from Tim Burton’s prior films about the Caped Crusader. Even Chris O'Donnell's Robin is bearable in comparison to his second attempt, in spite of some teenage whining coming out of a man who was obviously not a teenager at the time the movie was recorded. The only thing I would have to complain about is the way the writers of the film wanted to portray the secondary villain, Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Good Lord, what did they do to the former District Attorney? Rather than doing something clever, like making him the straight man to Carrey’s craziness, Harvey Dent is just as crazy as Edward Nigma. Other than that one complaint, I can still have a good time while watching the film in spite of the overall cheesiness.

But a guilty pleasure can be defined as more than just an average Joe enjoying a bad flick in spite of it’s flaws, sometimes they can inspire cult classics. The best example of this is the ever mystifying, awe-inspiring “The Room”, made by the personified puzzle that is Tommy Wiseau. The film is known as a repetitive, nonsensical, broken, ego-feeding project full of slapdash writing, poor acting skills, and an ego that refused to be stymied by the laws of reality. Yet, in spite of this vague description that does the film no justice, the director/writer/producer/main actor of the film, Tommy Wiseau, does monthly screenings every year in theaters mainly in New York City and is still selling DVDs and even Blu-Rays of his film to this day. And people actually buy the tickets and discs. Why? Because, for some reason unknown to man, “The Room” intrigues people with how odd it is, making it one of the many “So Bad It’s Good” movies that needs to be seen to be believed, as mere description does not really convey how strange the movie truly is. Even one of the side actors, Greg Sestero, is so amazed by the film’s popularity that he has written a book called “The Disaster Artist” to bring to light just what went on behind the scenes of the film, which is currently being developed into a film itself.

But a film doesn’t need to be a chaotic mess that has somehow received critical acclaim to be a guilty pleasure, in fact it doesn’t even need to be that popular. Some films that fade into obscurity have received love from viewers in spite of their quality or the people who made them, such as 1980’s “The Elephant Man”. This was a black and white historical drama film about Joseph/John “The Elephant Man” Merrick, who had been deformed since birth and was on display at a Victorian Freak Show before being found by an empathetic doctor. What follows is the sad tale of a man who is mocked and jeered at for his deformities while trying to live a respectable life as a fellow member of society. Guess who made this film? If you said David Lynch, you are half right. You see, Lynch directed this film, but he was hired by an executive producer who took his name off the credits in order to not give people the wrong idea about the film, as his bread and butter was comedic satires. These satires include “Blazing Saddles”, “Young Frankenstein” and “Spaceballs”. That’s right, Mel Brooks was the executive producer of a historical drama featuring the real life story of a deformed man from London. This goes to show that a man of great talent can make a film beyond their comfort zone and still gain a cult following.

So, in the end, is a guilty pleasure truly something to feel guilty about upon consideration? In my personal opinion, no. Why should someone feel guilty for something you love regardless of the flaws they may or may not recognize? One can have fun with a film that has issues, such as my appreciation for Batman: Forever, which, in the end, is a silly movie that does the exact opposite of the previous director of the films that came before it. Such films can even attract a cult following, like The Room, Moulin Rouge, and a variety of others, all with flaws that oddly attract more people as reviews and stories about them spread thanks to the internet. Even unique films made by people who flourish in a different genre can entice fans to view them in order to see something beyond the norm and appreciate the director(s)/producer(s)’s attempt to branch out beyond their comfort zone. And all of this is only examples for films, other forms of media such as television, music, videogames and literature can be considered guilty pleasures and have cult followings for a variety of reasons. My point, however, remains: one should not feel guilty about something that gives them pleasure. Be proud of what you like, be it a children’s television show, a flawed film, a sub-par video game, whatever it may be. You may be surprised that the people who do not share your interest will think no less of you.

Special thanks to @justthefangirl for helping me write this subject for RaMoaN, she’s a dear friend of mine who knows her way around film and literature. Not to mention she is a pretty amazing artist. Please follow her tumblr, check out her deviantart page, follow her Patreon, maybe purchase something from her Redbubble store, or maybe ask for a commission.

In the meantime, never stop rambling,

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theragamuffininitiative · 8 years ago

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@amerraka replied to your post: I hate watching Supergirl. But I am in love with...

Why do you hate it?

Whoo-boy, where to start.

Okay, so if you are reading this as a fan of the show, don’t hate me. I don’t hate you. I don’t judge you for liking Supergirl. The show has its merits. But as a fan of Film in general, and as a writer, I have....a lot of problems with this show.

So, in no particular order:

Melodrama: It has a lot of it. Not nearly half as much as its older brother Arrow, or even the awkward-but-beloved middle-child of The Flash. But Supergirl is not without its angst, emotional roller-coasters that are terrible plot devices, and people just going off to do their own things because “This Is What I Have To Do.” There are sooooooooo many examples, but let’s go with the one that is freshest in mind. To be fair, I just watched the last aired episode, so obviously I don’t hate it that much, but if you haven’t seen the episode The Martian Chronicles, don’t read the rest of this bullet, because spoilers: Near the end, as the nuclear reactor is going berserk and they’ve just discovered the White Martian has disguised itself as Winn (my poor child), both Kara with who we believe at the time to be Alex, and J’onn (my beloved Space Dad) with M’gann take a moment - or five - to have a Deep Heartfelt Conversation. In...in the middle of a freakin’ attack. Just...guys...you can do this later. And, as much as I adore Space Dad, the Martian Manhunter is among the drama queens of this serial. Often the guy who gets stuck in the middle of a tense and fast-paced situation because of emotional issues. He has plenty of reason for these, but he is the Martian Manhunter, not to mention the leader of the DEO. As a functioning agent and a functioning character, he needs to be able to set things aside and accomplish the mission. I’m sorry, but you cannot have characters have extremely long and drawn out, emotional dialogues when the world is suddenly going to pot. Again, this is only one example. I could find more, but it’s a good one, so I’ll leave this there.

Quickchanges. Supergirl morphs into her supersuit without any conceivable ability to do so. Someone is falling down an elevator? Go after her, Kara, but for heaven’s sake, make sure you change, mid-flight on the way down. And, I mean, how does her cape and boots and skirt fit underneath her regular outfit anyway? I understand this is a comic book story, and if it wasn’t so blatant, I might let this slide on that merit alone. But, good grief, at least DC usually gave Clark a telephone booth.

Personal note: No one takes care of Winn. LOL this doesn’t really count as a point, but you asked why I hate the show, and this is a reason. Winn, your normal average nerdy guy, goes through so much crap in this show and barely gets the occasional “are you ok” from his compatriots. Kara has utterly ceased showing concern for him since S1 - except when she’s generally unhappy about his team-up with Guardian. And his relationship with James is pretty much one of clinical manipulation, with James only coming to Winn in friendship when Winn has something to offer him. (Don’t get me wrong, I like James, I just need him to stop being such a jerk?) Also, although not every time, Winn remains one of the few voices of reason on this show: He tells James not to be Guardian for a long time before agreeing to help (and even then, only under the outspoken mentality of “I’m doing this because if you do it alone you have an even higher chance of getting hurt”). He does an admirable job of trying to teach/maintain Mon-el at the beginning. He is constantly trying to tell Kara not to go off and do stupid risky things. But does anyone listen? Nope, and it does usually backfire on them. But that is totally just because I’m in love with that particular character, I don’t care if anyone else feels the same way as I do on that one. ;) Winn needs friends who will listen to him, take care of him, and maybe occasionally give him a hug or a break. That’s all.

Relationship Status: super or unsuper or just unsurprising. Kara’s little flirts an flames have been near the forefront of the show since its beginning, and in the early days they were marginally decent at keeping those in check. But as the show progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that her dating dramas are the driving plot points of the whole thing. From James to Mon-El to the little off-shoots in-between, Kara Danvers really needs a solid boyfriend and fewer hormonal issues that take away from her character by instead portraying her as a hopeless romantic who is more concerned with who will take her to prom than who is trying to nuke the universe. I get that part of the show is about her trying to balance Kara Danvers with Supergirl. I applaud that. But guess what, tv execs and writers? There is more to what drives an individual on a daily basis than who they want to sleep with, and to be frank, that stuff is boring anyhow. Kara’s breakup with James? Didn’t shock me, and therefore didn’t impact me as a viewer. I just shook my head and fast-forwarded. What I would like to see out of this show is Kara balancing a healthy, long-lasting relationship with her super-self, or else not being all that concerned about it at all. I’m so tired of cheap romances on television, and Supergirl, for all of its feminist leanings, is no different.

They took out Cat. Cat was one of the best, most well-functioning and well-developed characters on the show, played by arguably one of the best actors in the entire cast. Idk if this was an issue of contract conflict or Harrison Ford’s wife just didn’t want to be on the show anymore, or if writing her off was some executive decision in order to make Kara’s character grow. While I definitely accept that the latter happened, I’m still unhappy about it.

Oh, and the cool map-orb thing on Kyrpton was a complete rip-off from my favorite Disney movie Treasure Planet. I’m not forgiving that cheap shot easily.

The actual film-making/writing of the show itself. This is actually the biggest one. I could devote an entire post to this point. It is so lazy and inconsistent, it’s painful. I’m just gonna give a few examples on this, because if I allow myself to, as a student of film, I will never stop.

1. It is always snowing inside the Fortress of Solitude - idk, maybe this is in the comics? But there is enough snow inside Superman’s top secret sanctuary that Kara sees footprints in it, and there are always flurries dancing about there too. Like. Why. How? I mean, I know Clark is the kind of guy to just leave his front door key out in the open, but how secure is a sanctum where it is apparently completely exposed to the weather?

2. Switching tracts, you know how when the episodes go to the DEO, they often show the outside of the base, with like some tanks busing in and stuff? Look more closely next time, that’s the same footage, just edited slightly to reflect night or day. It is always the same tanks rolling up from the exact same angle. Every time. I’m sorry, that’s just lazy film work right there. You could have shot that scene just two more times and added those to the repertoire and it would have still been Bad, but at least it might have been a little less Noticeable.

3. Characters not reacting physically how they should. James gets electrocuted? Walks it off looking mildly indignant. Winn is almost choked to death? Jumps up and make a funny quip. Supergirl can take down literally anyone but somehow still gets punched across the room on multiple occasions?

4. Oh, yeah, did I mention: Characters Having Dramatic Conversations Mid-Battle? This is a pet peeve of mine anyway, but holy cow, does Supergirl know how to use that trope to its most frustrating potential. No. One. Does. That. Deal with the situation. Then have the characters talk about what they need to talk about. Or, better yet, have your characters be people who actually talk to one another, and have the issues dealt with beforehand. This is yet another example of lazy writing and an unmasked attempt to achieve two things: establish emotional conflict with the characters, often in the form of anger or general angst, and/or make sure the dialogue you want to deliver doesn’t fall flat or boring. If you can’t find a way for your characters to discuss important, emotional things without making them take a pause in a life-or-death situation to do so, then you really need to work on your craft, folks.

I could go on. There is a lot about the show I’m personally unhappy with as far as quality writing, style, character development, themes, and etc; but I think that is more than enough to complain about for now. I don’t like to complain. But the errors, inconsistencies, and general laziness of the show do irk me. And, well, you did ask. So there it is.

Now, on a happier note: Some things I like/appreciate about the show:

Winn Schott, Actual Ray of Sunshine. I know, I know, moving right along...

The cinematography, as a general rule, isn’t awful. There have actually been some really solid, and occasionally unique choices as far as camera placement, movement, and visual editing are concerned. From a visual standpoint, the show is quite pretty and has a really good, vibrant color palette. In that regard, it is a pleasure to watch.

J’onn is Space Dad and I will always love him.

Kara is a beautiful, chipper, quality gal and brings such light and life to the story. I may complain about her, but she’s actually not a bad lead. And that is saying something coming from someone who really never likes main characters and completely goes for the sidekicks anyhow.

It is, as I said, a crap-ton happier than Arrow or even The Flash. Like. People smile and joke and laugh in this show. ??? I didn’t know that was possible. And, despite their drama and issues, not everyone is a back-stabbing, secretive, lying, manipulative, egotistical, brood-in-the-literal-corner-when-I-don’t-get-my-way moron. At least not all the time. I can actually smile watching this show.

I done now.

#amerraka #supergirl #okay rant over #ragamusings #replies #long post #supergirl spoilers #please oh please let this post i am not rewriting it

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jurgan · 8 years ago

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My father received this editorial from a friend of his, and I feel the need to respond to it. Originally, I was just going to post a link and write a response, but there’s just so much wrong that I feel the need to go through it line-by-line. So, enjoy!

“This is a first: Donald Trump is guilty of an understatement, of making a molehill out of a mountain. He called the Washington furor over Russian hacking a “witch hunt” when it is actually far more sinister and dangerous.

Witch hunts end. The Washington mob aims to make sure the election never ends and that Trump can never govern.

There are no modern precedents to the scandalous attempts to smear and undermine the president-elect.”

I literally burst out laughing at this line. Only a partisan hack or someone who’s been asleep for eight years could say it with a straight face. Let us not forget that the president-elect spent years peddling the racist assertion that the first black president was not a natural born citizen and needed to show his papers to prove his legitimacy. Even when Barack Obama ultimately did release his long form birth certificate (a redundant step, since the regular certificate would be accepted for anyone else), the conspiracy theorists immediately declared it a fraud. This was not a high-minded attempt to find the truth; no one could honestly believe that so many people in Hawaii were involved in such a conspiracy and none of them talked. At this point, someone usually says that Hillary Clinton started the birther smear. In case facts still matter, let’s point out that this is false. It was promoted early on by a Clinton supporter, but there’s no record of Clinton or any of her top people saying anything positive about this lie. No candidate can be responsible for all of their supporters; the best they can do is denounce the smear publicly, which she did. Trump actively championed it for years.

However, I wouldn’t even point to birtherism as the worst example of undermining the Obama administration. That honor goes to Mitch McConnell’s January 20, 2009 meeting. Literally the day Obama was inaugurated, McConnell met with top Republicans and launched a strategy of unceasing obstruction. In particular, the Senate filibustered every significant piece of legislation. The filibuster was once a rare tool, used only in the most drastic of situations, but McConnell made it standard operating procedure. The Democrats did not have an unstoppable supermajority. Thanks to the delayed Franken election and the death of Ted Kennedy they had sixty votes for about five months, and that’s including wishy-washy supporters like Joe Lieberman. They didn’t all vote in lockstep, and so they needed to peel off a Republican or two to break a filibuster. This all happened in tandem with the Tea Party movement that refused to accept any compromise and launched primary challenges against Republicans who were deemed insufficiently pure. Obama proposed some fairly moderate but significant laws, like a stimulus package to save the economy through a mix of direct spending and tax cuts, and a market-based plan to give everyone health care. In return, Republicans filibustered non-stop, shut down the government to attempt to prevent the health care law from taking effect, and even threatened to default on U.S. debt if they didn’t get the spending cuts they wanted. There was a time when people would work together between elections, but the constant attacks from the right killed that. All through Obama’s presidency, the Republicans attempted to “make sure the election never ends and that Obama can never govern.” That’s your modern precedent. At some point, I’d like to go back further, maybe looking through the endless attempt to smear Clinton over things as trivial as a haircut, or the insistence that cities aren’t part of the “real America,” only rural areas are, but I need to move on. There’s a lot to deal with here.

“Nearly nine weeks after his victory and less than two weeks before he takes the oath, the voter-nullification plot is growing more vile.

It began when the Clinton campaign and her donors tried to overturn results in key states, then tried to steal the election outright by intimidating electors of the Electoral College.”

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Some groups demanded recounts, most of which were spearheaded by Jill Stein. I’m not fond of Stein, and I think that whole scheme was basically a trick to gather potential donors for her mailing list, but there’s nothing illegitimate about asking for votes to be accurately counted. You’d think the party that constantly talks about “voter fraud” would be happy to support an accurate count of votes. Likewise, if Mr. Trump wants to sound off on Twitter about “millions of illegal voters,” then he should be thrilled that they’re getting to the bottom of what happened. As for intimidating electors, once again we seem to be attributing everything a candidate’s supporters do to that candidate. I saw a bunch of people trying to get the electors to switch their votes. I was never a supporter of that idea, but voters have the right to free speech. They don’t have the right to threaten people, but unless someone can show me proof that such was organized or directed or even encouraged by Clinton, who formally conceded on election night, then this is an irrelevant fact.

“When all that failed, the establishment forces that opposed Trump all along — the Obama White House, members of both parties, the Democratic media and Big Government activists — switched their goal to thwarting his presidency. One example: They aim to deny confirmation to as many as eight Cabinet picks.”

Have you seen these Cabinet picks? A surgeon running the Department of Housing and Urban Development? A woman with no education experience at Education? The head of Exxon-Mobil running State? None of these people have any real experience in their fields. Yes, denying confirmation to numerous Cabinet picks is unprecedented, but so is such a woefully inexperienced Cabinet. Hey, you know what else is unprecedented, at least since the Civil War? Letting a Supreme Court seat stay open for almost a year and not even holding hearings on the president’s nominee. Tell me again how you’re against obstruction.

“This is not mere politics. This is half the country going rogue in a fit of madness.

Most alarming is the newest recruit to the confederacy. The intelligence community, including leaders of the FBI and CIA, is pushing the Russian hacking narrative in unscrupulous ways.”

By performing an investigation and reporting the results.

“Consider that the same media organizations that led the campaign assault on Trump were leaked details of the hacking report before Trump saw it.”

Let’s dispense with the idea that the media was adamantly against Trump. I know the “liberal media” smear has been around since Nixon, if not earlier, but the truth is Trump got enormous amounts of free press. NBC even allowed him to host Saturday Night Live. Meanwhile, they breathlessly reported every iota of information about Clinton’s emails. Also, compare the suspicion her charitable foundation got to the way Trump was given a pass for his University was being sued for fraud. He even paid Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi $25,000 from his charitable foundation while she was contemplating whether to join a lawsuit against him. Said attorney is rumored to be considered for a job in the Trump administration, by the way.

“The leaks came after Trump expressed doubts about Russia’s role and any election impact. Lest the rookie miss the message, Chuck Schumer, the Dems’ man in the Senate, made like a Soprano in a TV interview: ‘Let me tell you: You take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.’

Is Schumer suggesting CIA analysts would stay silent about a terrorist plot? Would they feed Trump misinformation to get back at him?”

Oh, damn, this is ridiculous. Schumer does not control the CIA. Schumer is warning Trump about the very real power the intelligence community has. Remember the days when J. Edgar Hoover kept blackmail information on politicians at every level? Schumer is saying that it’s not a good idea for the president to fight with the intelligence community; such friction helps no one. But apparently I’m supposed to read this as a threat? I guess if you’re the kind of person who believes the CIA and liberal Democrats are part of a unified conspiracy it makes sense. So who’s not in this conspiracy?

“Going public with classified information, which the leakers did, is a crime, but these days it’s acceptable if it serves the left’s political purpose.”

And this is just lazy. The VERY FIRST SENTENCE of the public report, which is written in the header of every page, is: “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections” is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment that has been provided to the President and to recipients approved by the President.

“As for the report itself, there’s not much there there, at least in the version made public.”

Cyber-espionage against both political parties is no big deal. Gotcha.

It is full of assertions that Vladimir Putin wanted to hurt Clinton and help Trump, but zero evidence is offered. I repeat: zero evidence.”

Two sentences ago you were complaining that releasing classified information is bad, but now you should publicly out sources of information? I guess that’s to be expected from the party that brought us the Valerie Plame affair. It is right to be skeptical of the CIA, but there’s a point where skepticism becomes willful stupidity. When 17 intelligence agencies agree, the idea that they’re all conspiring together is ridiculous. Groups like that are territorial, and they won’t just go along with some devious plan.

“Instead, the 25-page document serves up a dog’s stew of innuendo and anecdotes. Examples include that Russian television operating in America said nice things about Occupy Wall Street.

Well, so did President Obama and half the Democratic Party. Is Obama a Russian agent?

Another silly example is that Russian TV runs lots of anti-fracking reports. Well, Gov. Cuomo also opposes fracking. The report cites the fact that Russian TV anchors are required to have social-media accounts as proof of Putin’s evil intent.”

It’s called background information. It’s not the core of the report, which is why it’s in the “annex” at the end.

“Here’s a fact that really matters and it’s not in the report: The FBI concluded that Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee without ever inspecting its computers. The gumshoes say the DNC balked, but party leaders say the FBI never asked. In the end, it let a private firm search the computers for evidence.

None of this is normal. And it’s no excuse that Trump himself often veers outside the lines. He won the election fair and square, period.

Then again, some Democrats can’t bring themselves to admit that. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, was spitting fire after she was briefed on the classified report.

Asked if she believed hacking cost Clinton the election, Pelosi declared to reporters: “You were accomplices in this. Every single day you reported there was an e-mail that was embarrassing to the Clinton operation, without saying we know this because of a disruption by a foreign power of our election system. You knew that.”

Wow, so journalists are “accomplices” when they report embarrassing news. Nothing could be more Putin-like than her view of the media’s job.”

Journalists are accomplices if they aren’t fair or cover up details. “Report embarrassing news?” How about reporting the embarrassing news that Russia is helping Trump? Does the author have basic reading comprehension? “you reported… without saying.” This is blatantly obvious: Pelosi is saying that the journalists didn’t report enough embarrassing news. They reported the part of the story that hurt Clinton and left out the part that hurt Trump. And wait a minute, I thought the media were part of the conspiracy because they hated Trump? Suddenly we’re all concerned about freedom of the press and attacks on brave journalists?

“To be clear, it may be true that Putin ordered that the e-mails of John Podesta and the DNC be stolen and given to WikiLeaks. But officials also admit that Russia hacked our government and industries for years and always pushes negative propaganda about America, including during the 2012 campaign.

So why the sudden DefCon outrage, especially when the intelligence report concludes there was no attempt to change vote tallies?

The furor amounts to sounding five alarms for a dumpster fire. It’s a dumb overreaction, or part of the effort to thwart a president the establishment doesn’t want. Either way, intelligence leaders are proving they are part of the swamp that must be drained.”

Drain the swamp, sure. Trump’s Cabinet is going to be full of billionaires, but they don’t count as part of “the swamp.”

“By all means, America needs better cybersecurity and a retaliation policy to act as a deterrent. The current president has no interest in the issue, so perhaps we’ll get better policies when we get a new president.”

This is perhaps the most outrageous lie in the whole piece. Obama expelled 35 diplomats and imposed Russian sanctions as retaliation for the hacking, and hinted there will be other, less public responses. How in the world can this be interpreted as him having no interest? Meanwhile, Trump is telling us to “move on.”

This whole piece is a bizarre mish-mash. On one hand, the author doubts Russia interfered in the election, but on the other hand he wants stricter responses to hacking. The media are simultaneously victims of Democratic intimidation and colluding with Dems to get Trump. There’s a lot of double-think going on in here.

“Assuming, of course, the man who won the election actually makes it to the Oval Office.”

Don’t worry, he will. But once he does, prepare to be disappointed.

#Donald Trump #politics #blogging #original content

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sheminecrafts · 6 years ago

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Twitter says it will now ask everyone for feedback about its policy changes, starting today

Twitter says it’s going to change the way it creates rules regarding the use of its service to also now include community feedback. Previously, the company followed its own policy development process, including taking input from its Trust and Safety Council and various experts. Now, it says it’s going to try something new: it’s going to ask its users.

According to announcement published this morning, Twitter says it will ask everyone for feedback on a new policy before it becomes a part of Twitter’s official Rules.

It’s kicking off this change by asking for feedback on its new policy around dehumanizing language on Twitter, it says.

Our hateful conduct policy is expanding to address dehumanizing language and how it can lead to real-world harm. The Twitter Rules should be easier to understand so we’re trying something new and asking you to be part of the development process. Read more and submit feedback.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 25, 2018

Over the past three months, Twitter has been working to create a policy that addresses language that “makes someone feel less than human” – something that can have real-world repercussions, including “normalizing serious violence,” the company explains.

To some extent, dehumanizing language is covered under Twitter’s existing hateful conduct policy, which addresses hate speech that includes the promotion of violence, or direct attacks or threats against people based on factors like their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.

However, there are still ways to be abusive on Twitter outside of those guidelines, and dehumanizing language is one of them.

The new policy is meant to expand the hateful conduct policy to also prohibit language that dehumanizes others based on ” their membership in an identifiable group, even when the material does not include a direct target,” says Twitter.

The company isn’t soliciting user feedback over email or Twitter, however.

Instead, it has launched a survey.

Available until October 9 at 6:00 AM PT, the survey asks only a few questions after presenting the new policy’s language for you to read through.

For example, it asks users to rate the clarity of the policy itself on a scale of one to five. It then gives you 280 characters max – just like on Twitter – to suggest how the policy could be improved. Similarly, you have 280 characters to offer examples of speech that contribute to a healthy conversation, but may violate this policy – Twitter’s attempt at finding any loopholes or exceptions.

And it gives you another 280 characters to offer additional feedback or thoughts.

You also have to provide your age, gender, (optionally) your username, and say if you’re willing to receive an email follow-up if Twitter has more questions about your responses.

Twitter doesn’t say how much community feedback will guide its decision-making, though. It simply says that after the feedback, it will then continue with its regular process, which passes the policy through a cross-functional working group, including members of its policy development, user research, engineering, and enforcement teams.

The idea to involve the community in policy-making is a notable change, and one that could make people feel more involved with the definition of the rules, and therefore – perhaps! – more likely to respect them.

But Twitter’s issues around abuse and hate speech on its network don’t really stem from poor policies – its policies actually spell things out fairly well, in many cases, about what should be allowed and what should not.

Twitter’s problems tend to stem from lax enforcement. The company has far too often declined to penalize or ban users whose content is clearly hateful in its nature, in an effort to remain an open platform for “all voices” – including those with extreme ideologies. Case in point: it was effectively the last of the large social platforms to ban the abusive content posted by Alex Jones and his website Infowars.

Users also regularly complain that they have been subject to tweets that violate Twitter guidelines and rules, but no action is taken.

It’s interesting, at times, to consider how differently Twitter could have evolved if community moderation – similar to the moderation on Reddit or even the moderation that takes place on open source Twitter clone Mastodon – had been a part of Twitter’s service from day one. Or how things would look if marginalized groups and those who are often victims of harassment and hate speech had been involved directly with building the platform in the early days. Would Twitter be a different place?

But that’s not where we are.

The new dehumanization policy Twitter is asking about is below:

Twitter’s Dehumanization Policy

You may not dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm.

Definitions:

Dehumanization: Language that treats others as less than human. Dehumanization can occur when others are denied of human qualities (animalistic dehumanization) or when others are denied of human nature (mechanistic dehumanization). Examples can include comparing groups to animals and viruses (animalistic), or reducing groups to their genitalia (mechanistic).

Identifiable group: Any group of people that can be distinguished by their shared characteristics such as their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, serious disease, occupation, political beliefs, location, or social practices.

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#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

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thegloober · 6 years ago

Text

Twitter says it will now ask everyone for feedback about its policy changes, starting today

According to announcement published this morning, Twitter says it will ask everyone for feedback on a new policy before it becomes a part of Twitter’s official Rules.

It’s kicking off this change by asking for feedback on its new policy around dehumanizing language on Twitter, it says.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 25, 2018

However, there are still ways to be abusive on Twitter outside of those guidelines, and dehumanizing language is one of them.

The company isn’t soliciting user feedback over email or Twitter, however.

Instead, it has launched a survey.

Available until October 9 at 6:00 AM PT, the survey asks only a few questions after presenting the new policy’s language for you to read through.

And it gives you another 280 characters to offer additional feedback or thoughts.

You also have to provide your age, gender, (optionally) your username, and say if you’re willing to receive an email follow-up if Twitter has more questions about your responses.

Users also regularly complain that they have been subject to tweets that violate Twitter guidelines and rules, but no action is taken.

But that’s not where we are.

The new dehumanization policy Twitter is asking about is below:

Twitter’s Dehumanization Policy

You may not dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm.

Definitions:

Source: https://bloghyped.com/twitter-says-it-will-now-ask-everyone-for-feedback-about-its-policy-changes-starting-today/

0 notes

lisarprahl · 6 years ago

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5 Life Hacks For Passing the CPA Exam (And Flourishing at Life)

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My name is Robert Eyler and I graduated in December, 2011. I studied for my CPA Exam utilizing Roger CPA and thankfully passed all 4 tests by the end of 2012!

I currently work at RSM and lead the Firm in its National Health and Wellness Initiative. I have been flown out to National Trainings to teach yoga and guided meditation sessions. Additionally, I recently sat on a panel to speak on the topic “Being Successful While Choosing a Different Path.” In addition to being a CPA, I run my own Health & Wellness business (GetFit42). I am a Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Nutrition Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, Behavioral Change Specialist and a Registered Yoga Teacher.

After passing the CPA Exam, I took a long, hard look in the mirror. There has to be a less stressful, less anxiety-inducing, healthier approach to taking this test and to this profession as a whole, I thought. Fast forward 6 years later, and I found an approach that has worked wonders. And just for you, I have compiled a list of 5 TRIED AND TRUE life hacks that will not only ensure that you crush ALL parts of the CPA Exam, but will also set you up for success post-CPA Exam life, both professionally AND personally!

1. Yoga & Meditation

Simply put, these two practices have changed my life. In addition, they will change yours too! I picked these practices up toward the end of 2016. I had always heard of the benefits of yoga and meditation, but historically thought it was a bit too “out there” for me. Nonetheless, given my weakened state after the CPA Exam, I decided to give it a shot. Today, I can report, this is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Yoga

Let me explain a bit about yoga and meditation. In spite of what others might say, you do not need to be any specific religion or believe in any specific ideology to take part in this life-changing practice. Yoga has been proven to enhance mental clarity, brainpower, energy levels, metabolism, feelings of well-being and inner-peace, AND alertness (without caffeine)! Yoga can be found pretty much everywhere and most studios offer up to a FREE week! Additionally, most have free mats and towels to rent. You are getting a 100% ROI by giving this life-changing practice a shot!

Meditation:

This one is a true necessity if you plan to survive as a CPA Exam candidate, an accomplished CPA, a senior, a Manager, or even a Partner! Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other corporate giants have been known to back this undeniably effective practice! Meditation has been proven to enhance memory, creativity, and awareness! Additionally, it can boost individual performance, productivity, and leadership skills! Personally, I practice meditation 1-3 times per day (minimum), at 10 minutes per session.

Instructions: When the day gets stressful, pause, grab your phone, and set the timer to go off in 10 minutes. Sit down & keep your back straight (against a wall or chair). Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold at the top of your inhale for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds and hold at the bottom of your exhale for 4 seconds. Repeat until timer goes off. If your mind wanders off (which it certainly will!), simply notice it, forgive it, and calmly bring your focus back to your breathing.

You may also want to try the Calm Application. This application consists of various meditation topics (i.e. gratitude, empathy, relationships with others, anxiety, stress, etc.) with very soothing music being played in the background. Most of the meditations on this application are ten minutes in length. I recommend starting with the 21 Days of Calm. The first week is FREE! If I still have not convinced you, let it be known that this was rated the #1 App in 2017 and I utilize it every single day!

2. Deep Work

100% of the individuals who study for the CPA Exam have, at one time or another, experienced periods of inattentiveness or difficulty with focusing.

In order to mitigate these bouts of inattentiveness, I offer up the practice of “deep work”, which I stumbled upon while meditating with the Calm App. With deep work, we are to dedicate pre-set times for uninterrupted work. Start with 1-2 hours and slowly start to extend the amount of time as you become experienced in this practice. During these pre-determined work periods, distractions of any kind are to be avoided. That means turn the phone on DO NOT DISTURB, turn off all notifications, and if possible, disconnect from the internet. By scheduling these periods of extreme, Zen-like focus and flow, we create periods where we are protected from deep distractions. This allows our brain to gather itself into a force of focus. The result is that our attention is concentrated, our work productive, and our time well spent.

During our study regimen, our sanity requires us to take time-outs to let our minds wander. This can come in the form of getting caught up on current events, checking Instagram, chatting with colleagues and even going for a short walk (highly recommended!). Although these time-outs are a necessity, we MUST be sure to schedule time for uninterrupted work during the day. This practice can be a gift to our study partners as well, because when we dedicate periods to deep work, others (around us) are encouraged to do the same. Our extreme focus and concentrated energy elevates the vibe of the entire room!

The secrets to success in any human endeavor are extended periods of total concentration, followed by periods of rest, relaxation and meditation!

Why You Should Get Your CPA License: Advice From a BAP Faculty Advisor

6 Reasons to Become a CPA

Why Passing REG in 2018 is Critical

3. Jot down 3 things/events/people you are grateful for on a daily basis.

The human brain thinks roughly 60,000 thoughts per day. Approximately 90% of those thoughts are negative. That may seem like a large percentage, but this is actually deemed “normal.” This is how we successfully evolved as a species, providing us with the tools required to survive the harshest of conditions. This survival mechanism is ingrained in our DNA, as our brains actively and relentlessly search for that next threat, that next issue, that next problem. When studying for the CPA Exam, oftentimes, I could not shut my mind off, letting it run wild, stressing and worrying about what would be on my next exam, if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the exam, or if the AC would be working in the ProMetric Building. Now, what if I told you there was a way to change these negative thought patterns? We actually have the power to re-wire our mentality and train our brains to actively search for the positive in each and every situation.

Here’s how:

Every day, preferably upon waking up, grab a pen and piece of paper (or journal) and jot down the date, your current location, and 3 things/events/people you are grateful for. It’s really THIS easy! I recommend performing this activity as soon as you wake up! What this means is do not reach for your phone, do not scroll through the Gram, stay away from Facebook, avoid your e-mail, and instead, grab for your journal/piece of paper and get to work! Practicing gratitude helps train the brain to be more sensitive to the experience of gratitude down the line, and this contributes to improved mental health over time. Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! I discovered that practicing this for just 7 continuous days drastically shifted my thought patterns to consciously (and unconsciously) search for the positive in every situation.

4. Embrace the 74s

The great Jim Rohn once said, “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” In order for each and every one of us to grow, we must first change. For example, if I receive a 74 on AUD, and I want to pass with a 75, I cannot get there without change. This means changing my eating habits, my daily routines, and even my weekend festivities. If I am an Associate who has been getting horrible reviews on all of my jobs, but I want to make Partner one day, I must change the specific activity patterns that are resulting in me receiving horrible reviews so that I can become a more valuable asset to the Firm.

When failure or change occurs, we have three different options on how to respond. We can either 1) complain about said change/failure and express how unfair it is that it happened to us, 2) ignore said change/failure, tuck it down deep, and focus on other areas of life to distract us from dealing with it, or 3) accept said change/failure, adapt to our new circumstance(s) and use said change/failure to help better our lives. If you haven’t already figured it out, I highly recommend choosing option 3.

After I took audit, I waited an excruciating 6 weeks to receive my score. To my dismay, I received a 74. My initial reaction included emotions of fear, anger, disappointment and frustration. “I studied SO hard, how could I have gotten a 74?!” The funny thing about this situation is that no matter how frustrated, or angry, or disappointed I got, only one thing could change that 74. And that one thing was more hard work, more focus, and more dedication. See, as much as I didn’t agree with the 74, it didn’t matter. Point blank period: I didn’t get it done. Rather than choosing option 1 or 2 above, I accepted the minor setback, the failed attempt, and painstakingly followed option 3 as noted above. On my next attempt, I passed with an 82! The key here is to drastically modify our perspective and use that 74 as a tool to grow, be, and do better!

5. Harness the Power of Fear

“I am definitely not ready to sit for my CPA Exam tomorrow. I need more time to study!” For 99% of us, this is typically our thought pattern the day before we sit for the CPA Exam. Luckily for us, these thoughts don’t represent our true selves. Those thoughts are based in fear and fear is illusory! Below are a few ways to harness the power of fear, accept it, and utilize said fear to our advantage!

Get uncomfortable with being comfortable:

I read somewhere one time that discomfort is a side effect of growth. Nothing worth having comes easy and as such, we are bound to feel fearful or uncomfortable when attempting a task that we really want to accomplish! Fear is a natural part of life and is often ignited over a fear to fail. That being said, we must fail (multiple times) in order to grow and progress in life. Be at peace with this fact and understand that every failure gets you one step closer to success!

Embrace it!

We spend a majority of our working lives trying to avoid fear, and as a result, we end up steering right into it. The more we focus on the outcomes we fear (failing that exam), the more our brains dwell on and process this information, and we end up on a trajectory aimed straight for that pessimistic assumption! It is normal to feel fear, so we should not try and suppress it. If we can learn to embrace and examine what exactly is causing this fear, we will learn to overcome it and find positive ways to reach our dreams and goals.

Analyze it:

I suggest to many of my clients when they feel fear to sit with it for a bit and examine it. Fear can actually help us determine exactly what it is we DO NOT want. I am a firm believer that the energy and vibes we feel are living things. Maybe the energy or vibes we picked up from our latest interview didn't go so well or the date we just went on went horrible and we become fearful about how to get out of the next one. Instead of letting this fear overcome us, we can use it to our advantage by sitting with it, observing & analyzing it, and determining a plan of attack from there! Essentially, we should take those experiences as lessons and find other ways to achieve positive outcomes.

USE THE FEAR TO YOUR ADVANTAGE:

When I was studying for my CPA Exam, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Fear of failing that exam kept me focused and determined to pass it. When I played football, fear of losing the game lit a fire under me (the fight or flight response kicked in every single game) and allowed me to perform at my absolute best. We must learn how to use fear to our advantage without letting it paralyze us & consume us, entirely. And trust me, there is a fine line between the two.

If you’ve made it this far, I am grateful for you! Utilizing these 5 techniques and additional sub-techniques are GUARANTEED to set you up for success not just while sitting for the CPA Exam, but beyond. These guidelines help make you more balanced, energetic, and optimistic! Utilizing these techniques will equip you with the tools needed to live an awesome, happy, and fulfilling life!

Now, GO CRUSH THOSE EXAMS!

Robert Eyler at the RSM National Experienced In Charge Conference in St. Charles, IL!