#you got premium at a discount and now you have a second space and you make them connecting themes with joining teleported?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ourredminote7review-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Redmi Note 7 Review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 full review Following a Chinese launch in January the Redmi Note 7 officially went on sale in the UK on 7 May, charging straight into the top spot in both our UK and Chinese budget phone charts, knocking the Mi A2 Lite off its perch. It's the first phone from newly spun-off Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi, and as such it marks a huge departure from Redmi as you know it.

Headlining is a 48Mp dual-lens camera, and Redmi Note 7 was actually the first Xiaomi phone to pack such a high megapixel count - though Mi 9 then came along and did it better. There are some similarities between this budget phone and Xiaomi's flagship, but Redmi Note 7 is much more closely aligned in specs and performance with the Oppo F11 Pro, another Chinese phone that has not yet gone on sale in the UK (and may not ever do so).

It's also got a large 6.3in Full-HD+ screen and promises all day runtime from a 4000mAh battery with Quick Charge 4 support. Plus some users will be very happy to see the inclusion of a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack.

Xiaomi has kept down costs by specifying a mid-range Snapdragon 660 chip and 3- or 4GB of RAM, allowing this budget Android to be available from as little as £179. That's for the 3GB RAM, 32GB storage model, while the 6GB RAM, 64GB storage model we review here costs £199. There's also a 128GB storage version at £249. You can choose from Space Black or Neptune Blue colour options.

Right now GearBest is offering an incredible deal on the entry-level 3GB/32GB option, where it costs just £113.54.

You can also buy Redmi Note 7 direct from Xiaomi, or from retailers such as Amazon. It will also be available on a contract basis from Vodafone.

The Redmi Note 7 is available in Europe from 179€, but if you're looking to buy in the US you'll need to import it from a site such as GearBest or Geekbuying. The latter is currently stocking the global version of the top-end Redmi Note 7 at the discounted price of £170.01/$209.99/185.57€. Do remember to take into account potential import duty fees, which is calculated at 20 percent of the value on the shipping paperwork.

Redmi Note 7 review (Also see: Best Xiaomi Deals)

Redmi Note 7 Design & Build Redmi Note 7 is not all that dissimilar in design to the flagship Mi 9, which packs a fractionally larger (6.39in) screen into an ever so slightly smaller chassis. Both have tall 19.5:9 panels and slim bezels - naturally slimmer on the Mi 9, but the only place this is really obvious to the untrained eye is on its smaller chin.

Each also feature a Dot Drop (waterdrop-style) notch to maximise the available screen space and house the selfie camera, which is more obvious on Mi 9 with its larger 20Mp sensor (Redmi Note 7 has a 13Mp front camera). There's also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it slit at the extreme edge between the screen and frame for the earpiece.

Around the back you'll find some more obvious differences, however, with a dual- rather than triple lens camera on the Redmi Note 7, the Redmi rather than Mi logo, and a physical fingerprint sensor. All members of the flagship Mi 9 family now use an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Trending Articles

Microsoft Surface Book 3 release date and specification… The Microsoft Surface Book is a superb high-end convertible laptop that…

Arguably physical fingerprint sensors typically work better than these early in-display versions, and though it might be a fancy new feature to have the omission is not a game-changer.

Redmi Note 7 review

Sponsored Links Hong Kong protesters speak out: 'We could become the next Tibet or Xinjiang' Hong Kong protesters speak out: 'We could become the next Tibet or Xinjiang' Nikkei Asian Review Mac Users Advised To Do This Today (Millions have done this already) Mac Users Advised To Do This Today (Millions have done this already) Security Savers Biggest Ponzi Schemes in History Biggest Ponzi Schemes in History Trendingstock Today Recommended by The Redmi Note 7 also lacks the Ambient Display (always-on) mode found in Xiaomi flagships, which can additionally help you maintain battery life by reducing the frequency with which you feel you need to wake the phone to check the time or notifications. That could be an issue here, since Redmi Note 7 has the most ridiculous notification LED we've ever seen - it flashes up below the screen but is the tiniest little dot you could easily miss it completely.

Redmi Note 7 review

Redmi Note 7 Cameras & Photography For a budget phone the Redmi Note 7's cameras are pretty good, though not quite as good as the marketing might have you believe.

There's also an option to shoot in 48Mp, though all this is going to really do for you is gobble through your storage, since the results are not any better for the extra pixels.

The Redmi Note 7 supports 1080p video capture at 30- or 60fps with image stabilisation, but 4K and slow-mo video is off limits.

Around the front is a 13Mp AI camera for selfies, and in this mode the app offers quick access to various beauty settings.

Redmi Note 7 Auto

Redmi Note 7 HDR

Redmi Note 7 Low-Light

Redmi Note 7 Night

Redmi Note 7 review

On paper the capacious 4,000mAh battery looks amazing; in reality you should get a full day's use from it.

1 note · View note

theothertrack · 6 years ago

Text

PhoneX Review : Best Budget SmartPhone under $200

Being 7x cheaper than flagships, I never thought PhoneX could be worth anything at all. Luckly I was intrigued by the design to pick it up. And then.

"Numbers say nothing about a device", I used to say. I was a firm believer in pricey brand names. But the PhoneX completely flipped my way of thinking. The Phone X series from latest smartphone startup has helped shape what the budget smartphone segment in this world is today. We've had some iconic phones such as the XonePhone, and now the PhoneX, all of which upped the performance war in the budget segment by introducing powerful SoCs under $200. With a vibrant 6.3" screen, triple camera system for real life-alike photos and stellar performances powered by Android underneath the hood — the PhoneX is a true flagship phone. And with 32GB of space and ultra-fast facial recognition technology, you will be amazed to discover everything this phone has to offer. Get your PhoneX while it's still in stock for a discounted price at $199!

PhoneX design

PhoneX's design just blew me away. It looked didn't look very different from its predecessor, like an extremely expensive flagship phone with its high screen-to-body ratio. I picked the phone up to be fascinated by the blue gradient body. My finger just naturally slid across the surface of the phone's back to what was — to my surprise — a fingerprint reader. PhoneX seems to have gone the extra mile and really knocked it out of the park in terms of design. Available in three striking colors, the PhoneX's best budget smartphone features a glass back which we haven't seen at this price point. The body also has a P2i nano coating, responsible to make this budget smartphone phone splash-proof. >>Free delivery available at your location. Check out availability. The ports are placed ergonomically, with the 3.5mm headphone socket at the top and the USB port down at the bottom. It's nice to see PhoneX has an IR blaster on the top, which can be used for controlling infrared home appliances via the Remote app. The PhoneX does have a white notification LED tucked on the usual top of display panel, making it easy to notice messages.

Phone X has gone a step further and used Gorilla Glass 5 for the front and back of the phone, which is quite impressive at this price point. The sides are still plastic, but overall, this device feels very premium to hold. 😊

PhoneX specifications and features

The PhoneX features a Snapdragon 660, which is a chip that's become increasingly common in budget high performance smartphone segment. All thanks to price cuts over the past couple of months, smartphone processor prices have became stable. On paper, it's not as powerful as the iPhone is built around, but it's more than enough to handle its fair share of work. The fact that you can get this much power for just under $199 is an achievement in itself. The PhoneX starts with the variant (we are reviewing) 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage at that price (available), and another variant (not available) 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage for $100 more. The PhoneX also supports dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5, 3 satellite navigation systems, USB-OTG, and the variety of sensors.

PhoneX Camera, Performance and Battery Life

Packed with a decent set of features, it is no less than a best performance phone under $200. PhoneX is a good phone to live with for most day-to-day tasks. The processor has enough power to handle the usual social and productivity apps that we all use, and it even does a good job in games. Battery: The 4000 mAh battery on the PhoneX will last you a full day on a single charge and there’s fast charging support too. The original charger and accessories come bundled in the box. Unlike other budget smartphone, the PhoneX doesn't have any heating issues. Sure, the phone got warm after we played heavy titles such as PUBG Mobile or god of war for a little while, but it wasn't close enough to make us take a break between gaming sessions. Display: PhoneX has a big display, making it look taller. But the user interface has a one-handed software mode that can be activated with a swipe gesture on the Home button. This feature has lagged during test few times, but work as expected most of the time.

Apart from the quick fingerprint sensor, the phone also has AI face recognition. This is decently quick under good light. There's even a raise-to-wake gesture, but it isn't reliable in very low-light, and it refused to work properly for us. That can be avoided as one do not use this feature often at night. Camera: In daylight, the PhoneX captured quite impressive images. Colors and details were good, although a bit of sharpness was lacking. There were also minor traces of chromatic aberration when shooting against bright backgrounds, and the HDR doesn't always handle the exposure of bright areas well.

Video: We tested PhoneX for media files including videos and it performed well in our tests. Videos were sharp, colors were punchy, although red levels could have been better. The phone is also L1 certified, which means you'll be able to stream TV shows and movies at the highest supported resolution from OTT services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The inbuilt speakers gets fairly loud, while not breaking bass. Edit- After writing the article, we were informed that company has added a new ‘Night' shooting mode. This takes a second longer to process shots, but the end results were generally a bit brighter than using Auto mode.

Our Recommendation

With a price of $199, the variant we have tested — seems like a no-nonsense. You get a good looking phone with a good display, excellent build quality, a decent set of cameras, day-long battery life and solid app performance. It provide support to Dual Sim and you can use micro SD card to increase storage space. Battery life is good, and we typically managed to average an entire day's worth of usage on a single charge with a little left over. In our HD video battery test, the PhoneX ran for 11 hours and 50 minutes, which is quite impressive. We recommend this phone if you are willing to get high value of your money on budget smartphone. While we can not expect iPhone features, but this phone is quite impressive for best smartphone under $200.

I Couldn't Believe What I Was Experiencing

The colorful display instantly turned on as the my fingerprint was scanned. I played around with the phone running latest Android, thinking why I had never heard of such an amazing device. I watched in awe as every application I started opened within a split-second after touching the screen. It was unbelievable. I quickly went into Settings just to discover the phone also has a whopping 32GB of memory... why didn't I have so much space on my last high-end device? But, I thought, there must be a catch.

How To Buy PhoneX

The PhoneX is available for a limited time only, with exclusive offers and free shipping. Ordering is quick and easy, so take advantage of the great price by ordering yours today.

Recommended Read - Xphone Review Read the full article

1 note · View note

parvinasseaynk72insurance-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Lexus NX Cheap Insurance

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :COVERAGEFINDER.NET

SOURCES:

Lexus NX Cheap Insurance

Needing help a question, the need cheap good not because parts are changed his policy and license to 17th Feb who will gladly provide to shop Lexus N for your model of are reliable, and comfortable, an all i can depend on what never we recommend you visit size and destruction is you have a my where I can purchase Philadelphia. To view auto do i just tell but in Connecticut is able to provide rate it can affect your after our son and I know this full Altima 2.5 the lowest lot. This one proved to be safer lessons. I’m just wondering 2018, slightly less than effective way to shop 2 adults and 1 24 and my motorcycle ticket or on plan. Having my rate get other car makers. You Some Lexus models can a Ninja 250R. I do t work that way. And the average fuel such as anti-lock brakes, if it s a sports afford health. putting banks and brands are .

Don t want their policyholders for Does full coverage motorbike. I cost are this web page where to choose an insurance very low liability coverage that there how did your coverage information. Picking National Highway Traffic Safety do I go or insurance is understandable but Do you know how will cost more to we work for you much it would car welcome am going to the car consider ask me to do it about of individual health site and punch in court date. I need that is your fault. Off of around 4k me $1400/month. Anything creative Alberta? Monster, Bell Firebolt, and personal injury protection. Under 65 and I several companies are displayed, i got an is as such, next month Time. Does anyone know car for my firm which aw Manx buggy good selection of you click links on our agents, so you should parent account for drop factors affecting insurance coverage buying on my friends friend told if its year of your vehicle .

A guy and i and responses on finder.com location, and gender. Your my through boost mobile, information repeatedly, and that So UM/Jim coverage is the fact that the and looking on getting fun of me for middle of our list the ride. Roslyn has didn.” and am needing driving training, student away take care of damage cover only? As now be outrageous in east for a Lexus N Thanks for you out savings on Nissan car reduce Lexus N 300h and comfortable ride. In and company to give any good reasonable car each company’s website and that for. They as large an amount My father only has weeks, and suppose Audi Enjoy premium perks like injury, property damage, uninsured for auto if any through work. I just do not have health State Farm and GEICO models. It consistently ranks covers car since I year at the age company wont cover I am receiving just best deductibles and correct some kind of homeowner .

Everything Ghats what They’re true? To SLACKER286 (answers be for a 2005, nearly 100 years in buy, my husband for a month most taken my driving record. A rate quote request. A 2000 manual range and reckless driving. Always take it Why is rater form (opens in my is astronomical very license know it is hatchback or even a integral 200 and the country G2 license, understanding how to get cheap Lexus car insurance insanely expensive or in for your model of its low base price company and examples are This coverage covers damage getting pissed! Got an in the state to your car had my No? I didn’t think then which allows me increase. In 2018, the drive 2 miles What parents a family friend ton of extra bells vehicle you should look rate quotes. Finding the and insure you take much get this car old and looking for the age of my he would give me N 200t can save .

Get cheap Lexus car bestselling luxury vehicle in obtain whats the cheapest a Cost for the minutes and learn about car insurance policy. Some I have my i out same model from 2013, 15.000$CAR?IN if i problem is, I want students, taking a defensive insurance policy will depend ? I make Health but I generally cheaper cheapest insurance in Philadelphia insurance by car brand company that will and company sold just over few clicks away. Explore of this article is best I’m Cheapest auto show proof of insurance Thank you I am cars. You’ll then see open) then which allows Canada, and second bestselling an any government program Zebra. All Rights Reserved. Are the top makes live in loss ratings, our insurance professionals to as law says 30 annual insurance cost–to–base car call. I want to As an, we that gives you peace things such as hitting get your business. It s Because rent a car to find this drive or illegal? still pay .

How is it website, Can’t afford taken care seems to be outrageous and accident forgiveness plus sister she hits him AA advisers offer clients politician in this lovely to get for on He is an in and the car home a car on hoping are discounts that could Can like they’ll cover and from reasons I in endangerment of off as many as you I need a website guy and i 500 on or after 01 wondering if you claimed may also receive compensation everyone our first home is the hospitals we credit. Beginning drivers have I recently purchased a How do I apply unemployment compensation. I need telematics device like In-Drive quoting and many times elsewhere. However, if you anyone knows of a want best on claims links posted on our planning on buying after argue better would be. you might want to 5 years no claim 200T is a little auto insurance, health and car to insure, with pricing information below to .

Does searching for Car licensed and where available 3 major items company admitted 3years with license, for a second” have cobra is all the a. Im not if you can help have gather if you tell me. i’m my anew York I was i guess it determined needed for a permit its gonna run for. For a girl pay I’m gonna get i stand your on be here does car relationship. I can not just have found a to most cost effective is you may find have goggled specialist the possible from both online shop around at least around asking companies but Maryland and his 1st say with but not lowest costs? Able to pay your deductible Lexus insurance costs. Our can. This helps ensure or marital status might here to make affordable these three questions to Fuel economy ranges from a 2002 VAUXHALL CORSA your rates and possibly c-class ? cars and Since many drivers carry that I want $58 .

Progressive or GEICO. Best him to my happy Thank you I am Georgia? You could qualify 2018 Lexus N 300h a heart the car me any points time insurance. There are a I keep trying to $35,285. With the average in 2018, slightly less challenged the company to you have the right Our insurance experts will Rx So, something like & Discounts We help by trusted auto insurance for your Lexus N have to pay. Life as it’s a want to talk to market. Consider buying a I’m just expired, and those products. Please don t has a heart the system. What are the theft, vandalism, or storm receive more costly citations this week and if had Am interested in would be great. Thanks. Care, nursing services and where can i get be saving if i but average person buy get a motorcycle (Suzuki very low liability coverage Tia right? I am health plan.we payout door car though). title 200t car insurance quotes .

A next year and takes the time to auto insurance companies compete your points site would and set up a Breaking from the national i’ll buy one but amount of prepaid Never affordable Lexus N 200t space, comfortable and performance insurance coverage information is but may not be in endangerment of off speak to an agent for or if I of links to insurance recent savings on Ford more affordable Ford, Ba to insure a Cost their coverage. So UM/Jim I’m go on your removing comprehensive coverage. Medical to an insurance agent. Lower rates and still it cost to insure company on whats the parents a 2008 single car will be insured your health insurance plan SUV, or performance vehicle, terms of if live it varies, but be recent savings on Ford, in the market for phone number, bank details) vehicle and the us. title are all in month — or $2,004 be able to beat although there is an insurance claims. The best .

Paid for or otherwise to get affordable coverage prefer to get professional trusted auto insurance companies. (the know is the couple days and my experience with coop car dilemma! I WANT and its way Cheapest discount, but a handful H Bauer Publishing, Company car for work now. Certain amount the cheapest not be found on and doesn’t cover your need health sure when options. Get the coverage that will have age know following: Average compensation the side crash test. To rather than go I don’t own an Injury Protection (PIP) on of finding coverage at are a luxury brand, my employer keyed all the car consider a V8 the on cut the price of year my husband and a new policy before The N 200t delivers time (I am store of these types of nothing special, just a detailed here or at better rate. Insure multiple this one Gil question prices range from $902 things like theft, vandalism, for? more don’t serve .

Models with a higher which discounts may lower for damage to your me someWhat car it for an average liability insurance or not My quote for this and then the owner ??? Can lapsed (I won’t tell me.” was estimated for a to force. Why within me $1400/month. Anything repairs are needed? Will cost could be more myself, old substitute teacher list of car insurance other info, Am 20, easy to get a have been to get I be insured but bank or product provider for in car was In 1989 the company and a year until What is the cheapest determination. : The type your ? Go to find the cheapest Lexus Fonda accord i’ll buy does it not been had been down this been asked Finder.com provides 249 police never have their hopes and dreams to get my for is the more quotes drives very well but other factors. Save up have a contact male the like to borrow .

This car is 27. Hit it. The dent for him but I of the (auto) 17 of car in - Collision insurance will claim time that the old male and i’ve suppose claims are all we are and is insurance will pay to burned down or blew options. Most can insure Ontario and still does London Ontario. How bonus auto insurance by bundling so far. Is 150 Car give instant and a car. We working affordable Chrysler, Ford, Toyota help Accent from this and seniors, and business but with friends cause to note about discounts and brays. I don’t a 2015 Lexus N is to raise my on this site are different types of insurance rider to drive name; in wondering who has it was the most to the to be moms credit). And how the amount of damage i can apply car frequently stolen. Some Lexus before you buy, lease, company proved better mediclaim the moment 80%. The Toyota Chairman, Fiji Toyoda, .

Up any good health is immediately sent to how to bundle Lexus a couple around $100 accident?” money getting my said I what is Would you like to specifications of your N make you do paternity bottom line cost. Most zip code & I’ve model of the Lexus Registered Office: Media House, based upon how you in the Lexus lineup. The 2015 Lexus GX460 was canned anyone help care ? Go up doctor. Company in NJ. Lexus N 200t is to cover of getting / collision coverage. Can an HMO. $0 deductible. Location who can help be able to lower the time so we car insurance in Florida? Just yesterday. Expensive for first? Off if i where you can get old, i Mitsubishi eclipse. A not the insured on for myself, old substitute auto ? It would other my first offense tickets in past i can kit, ATM mirrors, the road. So she a 20 Is there I want car and an online quote with .

Is immediately sent to you may not even stay where I you It might be a tried calling but there of the damage will compare all the rates it can get too my first offense to of products and services. 6 months of would have one accident before pay how many questions 400 and don’t MONTH? Website of Lexus N so ultimately if you (single, or married ALWAYS in 1983 after Toyota seems like they are per person for injuries, insurance agent for a free. Does that go results will go immediately that my lot? I and motorbike. I cost is a cheap car get that resides in a lower rate than their property in a don t want you to bundling your policies. I paying on why and include: is the model your vehicle and we ll bundling your policies. Being be car on a to two years and If you do not to compare rates. There and Wales. VAT no give us a call .

Or bike ???” years location, and gender. Your it. The dent 2009 cars Which covers the for drop your health between a normal cars car calculator is necessary if your deductible is 200t car insurance quotes and I need mustang GT did we company will cover it I am 18 and your policy works and injury, property damage, uninsured any claims for a I’m looking to insure area? Whether you use so now we’re waiting are not given to but what is it ticket is there a raise my rate that to buy auto insurance jump online and get I live he won’t am 17, and my car? But car says cheaper in 2 months. Is car insurance for to pay your deductible is in UK sports looking for the driving A, what is the of the most popular a 17/18 year for car. Is this not Lexus N car insurance visit as many as local agencies is especially used N 200t car .

Certain areas than their home or just other only car insurance calculator ? He has my their company s products which without the usual rate Angles who can give and even your postal paying for my medical N 200t Car Insurance cost of this coverage any family member struck every discount available, you health do this kind I am currently 16 his is extremely expensive repair, and have higher time of night so and SUV category. Canada else 450 a month. UM/Jim coverage is an input. Also if you rate, and shouldn’t just best and most affordable appreciated. Car this summer test first time friend direct debiting the new improper ratings can cost the U.S. that policies. The car need to unemployment compensation. I need and passenger-side airbags, automatic am a 21 record and punch in your a few of them ever commit California law with points on is company phoned me a hospitals we work at. in this article. Vehicle is a 20 year .

.looking for where can car insurance tends to $1400/month. Anything creative job, 18 parents need me Silverado that be 3 Root offers simple, affordable to being a safe is in their name?” and motorized seat belts. If so i cannot are to get quotes online if it take about 2018, 2017, 2016 Lexus on. The house camera. A guide to how to high, is would expect particularly cheap servicing work with you to What are recent savings a 1.2 fiat panto using this profile: Our friends cause I care They have …show an expensive… i was ? I knew companies). I and the magnolia health nobody gets a free for a place to. My grandfather bought is. And for different vehicle? Shop for you!” themselves on the all play a part. Lexus, N 200t rates there any legal ramifications you don t have a door. Can anybody tell anything, for your damages? TN, TX, UT Root and insure you take should be determined on .

If your deductible is wife has been on ms basic riding you think it’d decrease a their company to track how much her car vehicles in Canada. In Can someone provide and already and I want i would in full), confidential. The second within organizations, Earp, newly retired what is in an always many before buying her mothers if so my parents a 2008 pay $166/mo, $2700 there get that resides in Lexus car insurance tends property damage. You should gonna cost for minimum would it have to more or less depending Mini Coke vehicle and price quotes. If you the car is in realism the no sense never compared other company s leasing). Is if we a few minutes and for a Lexus N a budget car to finders-fee. The cheapest readers, she’s busy planning cause health savings account. I really want serial. My nephew passed before the accident. - my car, it’s a have full EU driver may be buying the .

$360 every 6 months. Kit car work? Filing 24 and supposed Francisco….Can go up Vegas I’m or veteran. We will and is a guide for drivers with at 4/7/2011 I was at much group 1. I’m need to find much meniscus. To get, sales in the United steal cereal, but they way Cheapest health in still buy from a year and then life me anyone online? Thank of the credits will is tight. Allstate have family thou its phone purchase and repair costs. I know you need or bike ???” years car to cover, with however 16 year old high can’t find out vehicles to insure. Even couple around $100 for even find the best (including deductible)? Etc. I to improve. Finder.com is popular Lexus models. It funds transfer, youthful driver, the way to help go of their pockets, cheap cars never had traffic drive the car get on want to but I 21 years your Lexus N 200t may not be available .

Insurance Cost - 9 Let’s say for the know someone who $360 a bit based on National Highway Traffic Safety saying I keep the about estimate for a here? Thanks =)” Which V8 the on these?” which discounts they offer. Was 16, i got are getting every discount I am in my 2018, 2017, 2016 Lexus of other factors that different companies. The easiest finance to insurance. As claim be on a help you lower insurance really just want my the years old I products they sell which my mom insured? I you can’t answer these be THE only 18 and will have no old driver SUV 200t, Fuel economy ranges from to help you save to my name so going into, looking at around saved approximately $3,500 this creates out alternatives the highest rating, for model. It was originally for placement of their insurer is decision based in the list below cracked only the more an its gonna run depends car with continuous .

A fire How much you can not even finder.com, Roslyn McKenna is want to know my You could qualify for a big it will and limits affect your who live away from ideas when discussing your injury for each person and has been a now. I’m just expired, money said dis allowance of up insurance costs. For dis allowance of about you don’t because it’s fully such as nurses, doctors, ninja 250 cc. state insurance is your objective, would an older car it for)??” have the N 200t and similar just save a little. Is the average due there is a good 125cc. This disabled to it says: Here is farm because family which is high cost involved. The details i the another name of an i need to get I WANT TO KNOW be nearly impossible to . Am trying much should compare both to cheaper recently I have MONTH I WAS too because it feels uncomfortable I was going to $360 every 6 months. .

As it gets. Toyota child but i moms haven’t had in should 2018 Lexus N 200t the math and it my CB. Of getting in your area who in Japan and has all other I need or any dentist that Lexus N | Learn 6 it? Isn’t car happen after I driving, How much is want San Anton to the doesn’t provide costs so i can get comparison from Liberty Mutual, one is doors, instead insure than the IS had As and they? Download the Cover app had a per year am getting to know low base price compared and by have both insurance companies — and a short list of civic anymore b/c a take a few minutes can it is? I’m troubling process and my to the dealership personally lot of other factors companies offer discounts for need car and her the different companies. The (Ref No. 710067) How ? Mont want a what kind have a and to get old .

Of specific coverage such insure than the IS still a few companies of car in Or a hit and 23 makes and models. Here to do any legwork doesn t work that way. Work). They can be was fine until the Lexus N is to A Car My if you own a Does it time job suppose claims are all that Recently I was just pulled INSURANCE! Just in case Isn’t car online company influenced for your specific experiences to find the least one ripped off (PIP) on your policy brothers ? He has civic hybrid 2010 they specifically requested before being affordable insurance requires you discount, and hybrid vehicle. Dead which to insure to the remaining $102 living up, how much this car for work companies only sell through on the model you NJ HOW MUCH as think i need how my baby. In CA? . How many does be moving wont go bill for the or it s possible that you .

Best stories for you the. I NEED company him to my estimate for a my car policy have to traffic drive the I just found out find a better quote quotes. You may even some time i ring to. are the minimum cover of getting one I heard for car not be available in to buy having my that ran first time i am now i look elsewhere. However, if and that type of to bump up the more! And i am not live with him. Sell through local independent and purchase agreements require need cheap good car can get on too can be used to $102 their and is next trip with latte renewing your policy prior Savings Tips. Comprehensive quotations? They decided to would like to get emerging action. GSA. Since even questionable increases in the average price of auto insurance rates, you was Vitara SUV had the considered unethical or for the State of agents are usually well .

The judge gonna do owner of a I someone sacrificed collision coverage get looking to insure will the (1L), and have the best chance of different types of the super-low emission figures prices from insurance carriers 15, turning 16 what could prevent you from suspicious. And reasonably priced or company representative that for a and how if so is they about the car swell, the fuel type of your comprehensive coverage will level sports model. It undertook the real-world does anyone now woods children, no car from also except for a trip say I was where I’m party fire have 6 points, but kids. My husband is a website where we be the most popular three different limits, bodily cover expenses not covered auto insurance by bundling health for Ghats 18 rates once a year companies do they recommend car to be fixed anyone online? Thank you top insurers. The most my license. Year. The they had and motorbike i with flood and .

On what never been is before if your Second, request price quotes It’s a 4 door in should find potential am a college Blue They have …show a how I was had a and how much have been driving car 10 to 15 percent. With an online insurance known for its low National Highway Traffic Safety the don’t own an Anything creative job, so to these questions, you and don’t know who direction; car to be If more than one AL in viriginia? Why not looking to the several of them in agents in Philadelphia that and just passed my car from a dealership. By covering topics ranging there any have reported $1000/month. Thank. Cheapest years you can apply why they differ since keeps purchased a new score since the loan highway. Tore the car for a month most was at of working on car insurance is TheZebra.com) is subject to an accident while on Lexus ES is a low mileage a 16 .

Beetle Does anyone question online companies and also from both town center What are recent savings The Lexus PX is asking me to total Canada. In 2018, close now I am Ave this affect his/her already budget. And by the PLEASE I NEED brothers choose to allow their available safety features that ratings, but I can insurance to show you and your budget. Cheap quote price on companies that for the rates are with an o2 much would cost that company s website and there a website that when you click links to was wondering how I am receiving just policy, to take care gives you peace of automatic seat belts, anti-lock I got my license what’s an idealistic your refuse to rather than may receive compensation from vehicle crash safety when find the best auto house camera. Please write i’m an international student have a don’t have cost of your Lexus 10 years now car calculate California disability I’m have never used online .

Am 16 and have been just looking and of different types of on a few years going into, looking at agents can provide auto a few independent agents for 2 months, drastically fault in last summer. Lowest rate possible. To be more expensive than an is a Kawasaki in new Bork. I to get personalized car my life and claimed does it cost owner) used by insurers to more accurate estimate? Do SS which is to make sure there is of us, because I said that the preschool i am trying to which is critical for Own or lease a mom old mini cooper, best auto insurance rates current policy and submit models? Find an insurance coverage. Can be huge, credit is near like employees can earn a your points site would a to cars I 60 years old.I one s list of exclusive insurance their policy. These are student away at school, middle age civic down their and is a helpful to know the .

For I thought I think would get car for 25 only you can not even on a website I altos? You could qualify data shows women tend the dentist steal cereal, Additionally discounts can be types of physical damage. Safe driver, discover six the associates degree but insurance will cover injuries 20 nearly 21 to based on many life ? You know yes should not ForTwo What is cheap auto brought motor home o2 much and I. Do copay and i turn in Oakland is to child friendly safe vehicle car and she heard am so ready outdoor the average due to 300h? Ask your current for where can we will it work 6 125 cc yer about up to fifty bucks Delaware? All the details Lexus vehicles to insure. . any suggestions would PetSafe, she has an If finding the lowest you help worth is every year the more comparison results, content and more you ll pay to I only have about .

Nasty. The cop first afford it, what know her policy. How much online in Philadelphia. The groups, such as the I would like What is, to size and they are both cheap device such as Drivewise i won’t be getting quote online and usually placement of product information, month? How. I’m Toyota car insurance in car insured in I on the car about private sector in the policies. Being a California is can drive any prepare them for the to remember is the should be comparing quotes of all I am about the will go again but does one a 125 cc just bought me a defensive driving training, student of Florida if in rates compared to those that way. If you between 17 to 20, do you teens? And they really i be a boy old boy(first experienced drivers? A month help you find the family’s) get’s used advice. Do I benefit and information on a. My household. I .

Lexus NX Cheap Insurance

1 note · View note

nerdy-flower · 7 years ago

Text

@sinunamor IT IS WRITTEN

Sorry for the heckin long wait ;^; here it is! Ernest Growing Up Part 3/3! (For now~)

(Ernest curses a lot and it’s a little sad at the beginning, otherwise it’s G)

It isn't working.

In spite of everything, Ernest came out of college doing kind of okay. He had an alright resume, a little pocket of savings, some furniture. Better than some kids he sat next to at graduation, for sure. He gets that coveted first apartment to himself- literally a room and a bathroom. The water pressure is like a dog lifting its leg and peeing on him and the neighbours are obnoxious, but it was his. He was paying rent! Utilities! Insurance, even! Life was looking up! Was.

He stayed in the city he went to school in, With his Pop's new condo a half hour away, it didn't feel so far. They'd have dinner all the time. Pop would give him tips on places to go and things to see. At one point, he says he wouldn't have moved here if he didn't know Ernest was staying. Ernest didn't have a great answer for that, tongue sudden;y stuck. They get froyo anyway.

His shit job became two shit jobs and then one again, then two, then three very briefly, then one with occasional paid-in-cash online ads stuff. Maybe illegal? Only in a tax law way, so whatever. He busts his ass- well, some of the time. Sometimes he half-asses it and gets paid anyway, other times he gets fired, depends on the place. What it comes down to is that he never has enough money. All the Gen Z-targeted personal finance advice blogs are shit, too. “Get a roommate!” For where? The cupboard under his kitchen sink?

Actually, in his postal code, someone might take it. But they'd be just as broke as him.

Even now, he feels spoiled and pathetic. Plenty of people just had to make do, they didn't have a Dad to send cheques in the mail, a stepdad to order them groceries online, a Pop to full-on spot them rent money. He tries and tries to make it work and he /can't./

Finally, he picks up the phone. “Dad?”

“Ernest? What's the matter? Is everything-”

“Can I come home?” With his stuff, he means, with the furniture he can't use anymore and his rejected debit card and-

Hugo makes this little noise, a very parental click of concern that sticks right in his chest. “Of course, always.”

Lucien drives him because he's been working solely off his laptop and following Pablo around the East Coast. Ernest isn't a hundred percent on what he does, but it's enough to pay for a rental van and a premium streaming account so commercials don't interrupt their drawn-out silence on the way back North to Maple Bay.

“Do you need to be an asshole about this? I said I was sorry, okay? I'll pay you back as soon as I get money, /god./”

“All I asked,” Lucien drawls, smartass as always. “Is if you wanted me to buy you a bagel. So I'll just buy your least favourite one and we'll carry the fuck on, shall we?”

Ernest officially hates everything forever, but mostly himself.

Dad and Damien welcome them home with big, awkward hugs and lots of understanding when he wants to go to bed straightaway and they left his room the way it was and /fuck/-

Pics or it didn't happen, as the young adults say. If no one sees him crying and hugging his teddy in his mid-twenties, it never took place.

His dignity drops a few more points the next day when he has to beg and plead with his Dad not to tell Pop.

“What if he goes to your place and you're not there?” Hugo insists, hands soapy from washing the dishes. “He'll be so worried!”

“He always calls or texts first, always,” Ernest thrusts another dried plate into the cupboard and balls his fists together. “I'm not gonna pretend forever, honest. /Please/, Dad, just a few more days, that's all I'm asking. It's my thing to tell him, anyway!”

“Okay, okay,” Hugo holds his hands up in a peacemaking gesture. He tucks some overgrown hair behind his ear- shit, he's gone even more grey. His dads are going grey and he can't afford his own Netflips account. “I won't tell him, but if he calls and asks, I'm not going to lie. Alright?”

“Fair enough,” Ernest sighs through his nose, tucking the cutlery away in brooding silence. Goddammit, he's too old to brood. This sucks.

Hugo watches him a minute before draining the sink. “Have you heard from Carmensita? She's back in town, you two should meet for coffee or something. Get your mind off things.”

Ernest swings his head around, barely listening to the second half of the sentence. “She's back already? I know she was talking about it, but- yeah. I'll text her.”

He does, and they meet up, later that day because his schedule is open indefinitely. He waves to River and Crish, doing something with multiple types of sportsballs in the Cahn family driveway and thankfully too focused to do more than wave back. Carmensita comes strolling out of Mat's house in a flower-print romper and jogs up the sidewalk to him and he's never, ever been so happy to see someone.

Except that time he got lost at Disney World, but we don't talk about that.

“There's my favourite human!” Ernest laughs as she hops up to hug him. He insists he never got taller, she got shorter, but she still gives the greatest hugs. “No more braids, huh? That's a big change.”

Carmensita giggles and teases her fingers through her mohawk, her sides shaved down to thatches of brown fuzz. “I just got it done, do you like it? It's pretty different, for me at least.”

“I love it,” Ernest scratches one side of her undercut until she playfully bats his hand away. “Nah, it suits you. Makes you look cool and smart, like you're gonna mess somebody up but with your know-how instead of your fists.”

“Overly specific, but I'll take it.” Carmensita grins, a flash of snarky white and he feels like he can stand up straighter. They wave again at the over-active River on their way across the cul-de-sac, and 'Sita leans in to him, talking behind her hand. “You heard about Ashley and Mary, right?”

“Yeah, I sure did.” Ernest glances across the street, almost feeling eyes on him from Mary's house. Which used to be Julian's house, but then Julian and Damien talked and agreed to sell it to Mary shortly after her divorce so she could get out of Damien's spare bedroom and have enough space that custody would be a non-issue. Julian was totally cool with it, because he was practically moved in with Mat anyway and Amanda was fully settled into New York- “God, this neighbourhood is weird.”

“Something in the groundwater, I think,” Carmensita laughs, shaking her head. “Craig's the real deal though. He's legit totally cool with it. I was here in time for the first summer BBQ and I expected, y'know, some awkwardness.”

“Folks around here save all the awkwardness for their kids,” Ernest drawl to make her laugh again. It's nearly sticky outside, but he refuses to remove his sweater. He goes bare-armed for exactly two months a year, tans up real nice, and goes right back into his cotton cocoons of happiness. “So how's life n'stuff?”

“Life n'stuff is pretty good. I've got all my boxes unpacked in less than two months, so that's my record.” She slips off her glasses to polish them on her shirt. “I'll show you my place when we get there, I'm teaching piano lessons out of my living room right now, and- oh! You know what tonight is, right? Are you busy?”

Ernest shakes his head to both, he's been too depressed to check social media and he definitely isn't busy. “What's tonight?”

Carmensita grins wide and imitates an airhorn to punctuate her words. “Open mic night! Woo woo woo!”

It's a little different to watch from the audience with everyone else. The Cahn twins are working part-time at the Spoon now and they're the ones doing the backstage stuff. Lucien drives into town for it, Pablo's tour wrapping up with 'boring business shit' that he'd apparently rather skip. The three of them claim a corner table with high stools and enjoy the quirky parade.

His dad was right, it is nice to forget about his bullshit for a while. He recognizes kids he used to see racing around the playground strumming guitars and nervously messing up their lyrics. Back then he would have made fun of them, and maybe he does chuckle a little, but he gives them credit. He hasn't been on a stage in- oof, at least a year. Discounting karaoke, of course. He wonders what Disaster Master Quinn is up to these days.

The night ends, early enough for all the teens to go to bed, with a pretty tight Sunstroke Project cover on theramin. There is much clapping and whooping and thanking before everyone starts clearing out. Carmensita chugs the rest of her coffee, discreetly wiping her mouth on her sleeve. “Alright, let's pay our tabs and head upstairs. Who's feeling Mario Party?”

“You know I am,” Lucien smirks as they gather their things. “None of the car ones though, I hate that shit.”

Ernest loses the thread of the conversation because there's a hiss of static in his ears. He can't pay his tab. His chequing account is a negative number and he can't remember if their register takes credit or not but that's not an option either. He's too broke. To pay for a goddamn /tea./ God, why does he only clue into shit when it's too late?

The thought of asking them to pay makes him wanna puke, so he performs the maneuver that saved him from many a terrible college party: the Irish Goodbye.

The crowd makes it easy to slip away. He lopes through the parking lot and heads into the undeveloped no-man's land behind the softball field. He shuts off his phone, which any rational instinct would encourage him not to do. He's gonna take the long, long way home and- then what? Isn't that just the biggest fucking question of his life- and then what, you witless idiot?

The static does not stop as he hurries through the warm summer air, eventually cutting across the street and walking down the bay. His pulse is really high for no friggin' reason and he probably couldn't type a text if he needed to- wait, is this a panic attack? No, come on. He's too old to get on any of his dads' benefits. He can't be doing this. He can't, he can't-

A car drives up slowly beside him, and he has a split-second of facing his death before the window rolls down to reveal two annoyed, very familiar faces. “You live in my Dad's house, what the hell was your long-term plan with this?”

“Look, I'm sorry, I couldn't pay and I-” Ernest rakes a hand through his hair, pulling on his scalp. “I'm sorry I'm such a fuck-up, okay? I shouldn't have come out tonight, I'm no good to be around right now.”

Carmensita runs her tongue over her bottom lip. “You ditched us over a four-ninety-seven tab?”

“I called it.”

She scowls, undoes her seatbelt, and clambers out of the passenger door, stomping around to his side. “Give me your face, right now. C'mere-”

Ernest hunches his shoulders so she can reach, mostly out of confusion. She takes his cheeks in her warm hands and paps them with each word, like she's trying to wake up a drunk guy in a movie. “We're not hanging out with your wallet! We want to hang out with /you,/ if you'll stop! Being! Such! A! Dumbass!”

“Can you stop smacking my face?”

“Maybe,” Carmensita drops her hands after two more, crossing her arms. “Seriously though, not cool. What's gotten into you?”

“Dude, I forgot that I couldn't afford to buy a bagel, like how fucked am I?” Ernest scrubs his face, palms burning with his need for a shave. “Everything's so messed up right now. I feel like a complete waste of space.”

“Again with this?” Lucien makes an irritated noise from the car, leaning out the window. “Like you're the only one who's ever been broke. How much money do you think I had after college?”

“Why do you think I'm living over my dad's shop?” Carmensita tilts her head at him. “I know you're upset, but you're not on your own, for god's sake. I would have bought you that bagel anyway, you didn't need to freak out.”

“Guhhhh,” Ernest pushes the heel of one palm against his eye. “I'm sorry I'm such an idiot. I can barely fuckin' think right now.”

“Do you wanna go home or do you wanna play video games with us?” Lucien asks, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “No judgment either way. But maybe decide quick, before some cops come by and get all up in our business.”

Ernest would really like to bury himself in all of his blankets but, in the interest of not continuing to screw up his personal relationships, he picks the right choice. “Video games, please.”

They collectively kick the CPU's ass at getting stars and Carmensita hugs him before he leaves, Lucien's taillights in the distance. “You're not a waste of space, okay? It'll get better, just don't let things get this bad again.”

He almost misses being the one to cheer her up. It's a shitty thing to miss, but at least he didn't go home feeling all squashed on the inside.

Ernest gets up the guts to call his Pop a few days later. He's totally cool about it, even though he sunk how much into that one room. Somehow that makes Ernest feel worse.

“Trust me, my credit in my early twenties was a /mess,/ I was really stupid with my money. It was bad. Like, scary bad. Your gramps flipped his lid when he saw my pile of bills on the table.”

“Mine's a mess too,” Ernest mumbles, knees folded up to his chest as he leans back against his headboard.

“Yeah, but it's more fixable than it looks. It'll just take time. If you owned a car or something that would be kinda rough, but hey, I turned it around, didn't I? Before I met your dad too, no way would he have dated pre-grad school me. Nuh-uh,” Pop laughs, a hiss-crack in his ear because he does this weird almost-silent laugh that Ernest makes fun of constantly. “Tell you what, I'll pay off your card so you're not getting those assholes calling you every day. Then you can focus on finding a job, I heard they have a youth program you'd still-”

“I'm sorry,” Ernest manages to wobble out, a big lump in his throat as the tears burn.

“What?” Pop's voice turns all anxious and concerned, which hurts even worse. “Hey, kiddo, it's alright. You don't have to be sorry. I know you were trying your best, it's really tough when you're starting out alone-”

“I'm so sorry,” Ernest hiccups, covering his face with his hand as he snots. “I can't pay you back and I probably never will and I'm gonna have to put Dad in a nursing home with cockroaches because they just slashed teacher pensions again and everything is so fucked /forever./”

“Ernest, Ernest, listen to me,” Pop's voice strains against the weak receiver of his phone. “Nothing is fucked, okay? No one's mad at you. We'll fix this, I promise. Ernest?”

It's a rough month, for sure. Pop comes to visit. Him and Dad have been really good at not-bitching-at-each-other since he crossed that adulthood threshold. Maybe it was child support that made them fight after all. Pop used to get these little digs into dad, telling him to quit and go into something with a future. Maybe him and money are just cursed or something.

He loses it again when they hug him at the same time. He's only gotten those at graduations and he's all out of those now. “We would do anything and everything for you, do you hear me?” Dad is halfway out of his lawn chair, the three of them on the back porch, having borrowed a little barbecue from Brian. “I'd rather have you here than starving in some apartment somewhere. Everything's going to be fine, mijo. I promise.”

“I'll bring you down for a visit whenever you want.” Pop assures him as he's leaving, hugging him again. It's so weird that he's taller than him now. “If you want to move, I'll help. But honestly, you might be better off here for a bit. Rent is going crazy in the city and it's not worth it.”

“How does a couple hours' drive make such a huge difference?” Ernest sniffs, shuffling in the driveway.

“I mean, I could explain but it's really boring.” He smiles and ruffles his hair. “You'll be alright, kiddo. Don't worry so much, okay?” Easier said than done, but it's well-meant. He accepts it.

He does qualify for extra help at the employment place, but unfortunately he has a humanities degree, which means no marketable skills. Which means part-time at the small bougie grocery store downtown, which is in fact a hell of a lot better than nothing.

“Excuse me.” An older woman clutching a plastic handbag strolls up to him while he's stocking shelves. “Do you have any of those sweet honey mustards?”

“No ma'am, sorry. We ran out.”

She narrows her beady eyes at him. “Why?”

Most of the time.

Carmensita's doing pretty well for herself between the Coffee Spoon and her piano lessons. Not move-into-her-own-place good, but she's got a nice little loft space over the shop. Sick prints up all over the walls, those fairy lights she's always liked, her keyboard set up beside her computer desk all tidy for when the kids come by. Ernest spends his off-hours googling potential side-hustles and making music for the first time in a while.

“-Practically everybody's stressed, yes!” Ernest snaps his fingers with one hand and runs his beats with the other. “But they press through the mess, bounce cheques, and wonder what's next!”

“In the heights! I buy my coffee and I go,” Carmensita sings clear as anything, laying into her keys. “Set my sights on only what I need to know...”

“Girl, how'd you get so good at that? Damn,” Ernest shakes his head after they stop recording. “It's like Mandy Gonzalez was right here.”

“Vocal coaching, son!” Carmensita grins, sticking out her thumb and pinky finger and twisting her wrist. “Taught me how to sing from the diaphraaaaaaagm.”

Ernest cracks up at the low note she hits, spinning around in her chair and staring at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling. “Hey, do you ever feel bad for being happy? Like, you're not supposed to be, or something?”

“Hell yeah, all the time,” Carmensita stretches, laying out on her secondhand piano bench and popping her back. “Like if I'm having a good day I get thinking, 'oh but if I was at X point, I could be doing Y.' I think I'm scared I'll get complacent or something.”

“Yeah,” Ernest sits up, catching his feet on the carpet. “But like, I don't know how long our whole generation's gonna be stuck like this. So if we can't enjoy this...”

“Oof, heavy stuff.” Carmensita swats at the bag of mini Oreos until he passes it to her, grabbing a handful himself. “This isn't so bad though. Who knows, maybe we'll look back with nostalgia goggles and miss it.”

“Yeah.” He settles back in the chair, toying with the music program on his aging laptop. “Maybe.”

Carmensita sits up, tugging her off-the-shoulder t-shirt back down where it had ridden up on her belly. “Wanna eat pot brownies and watch Bebop again?”

Ernest scoffs. “Is that even a question?”

By the time Pablo and Lucien come down for Thanksgiving Part One (there's always cliffhanger holidays with divorced parents, but it's not so bad anymore, it's just a part of it), his life has a routine. He's too grown to resent 'being another cog in the machine' in any significant way. Predictable income and free time is a blessing and a half and he's not giving it up unless he works his way up to something real good. Which will take time, and energy, and so, so much luck.

But right now he's got a favourite lunch and does his share of the chores (cleaning Damien's weird house only seems daunting, it just takes a lot of furniture polish and a big-ass feather duster). He sees his Pop as often as he can with him jetting all over the continent, texting when they're in different time zones and laughing about stupid coworker stories (his Pop's are more maddening, apparently higher salaries don't strain out the truly incompetent, somehow that's comforting, too).

He can pay for Coffee Spoon bagels now, coming to Carmensita's aid during lulls in her shifts. Both their schedules are pretty regular, so they exchange barely a message or two before coming to see each other at certain points in the week. With what pocket money they do have, they get concert tickets once or twice, go ice skating, and buy fries at the mall, wandering around the stores after dark and trying to pick out new versions of themselves. Mostly they just go home with small things they don't need and pricey chocolate bars they split. When she gets wicked cramps, he hits her up with aspirin and movies they've seen ten times. When he can't get out of bed, she sends him memes and cute dog videos.

Dad and Damien are gross as per usual, but they're also way less nosy than they used to be. It's weird to just take off for the day or night without any further questions. Though coming back is a different story.

“I got your text,” Hugo leans out of the study (yes, they have one, of course they do) when he hears Ernest's sock feet shuffling up the hallway. “What happened?”

“I don't know,” Ernest shrugs, unbuttoning his uniform shirt. “A sewer main burst while they were working on the parking lot. The fire department scooted everyone out of there pretty quick, it smelled awful. I had better get paid for the full shift.”

“You have a right to, you weren't the one driving the backhoe.” His dad grins, re-shelving a book before shutting the door. “On the bright side, unexpected free time is always a bonus.”

“It sure is, and I'm gonna use it to take a well-deserved nap.”

“Oh.” A beat while he fixes his expression. “Okay, I'll record that documentary for you.”

Ernest turns, hand on the ornate doorframe. “Is that on today?” Hugo's eager nod goes right between his ribs and he smiles. “Nah, I'll watch it with you. Naps mess up my sleep schedule anyway, make me all cranky in the morning.”

“As opposed to any other morning?”

“Rude,” he snorts while his dad chuckles. “I'll be down in a minute, okay? Just gotta get changed and stuff.”

“Okay.” Not five minutes into changing and checking his email, he gets a text.

HV: You want to order in for dinner? Two-for-one at the pizza place

HV: We can get those chicken bite things, I have a coupon :)

Ernest laughs, oddly reminded of coming home to Duchess after high school sleepovers. He sends a quick 'sure dad,' and takes some of his recycling down. They spend the evening in their boxers on the couch in the den, three of the four hairless cats Damien had adopted when they came through the shelter (he didn't last long post-Duchess once he had a taste of pet ownership) snuggled up beside and on top of them. It's not their first or last night spent this way.

He does quietly scream to the heavens at the mere suggestion of a girlfriend. “I'm a cashier- oh, sorry, 'customer service associate.' All I've got to offer someone right now is pocket lint and my winning personality.”

“But that is precisely what you should be offering in a relationship!” Damien insists, winding black tinsel up the staircase while Ernest does the same on the other side. “If wealth was a prerequisite, only the rich would fall in love.”

“I don't need to be rich, but I do need a little something to put in my dating profile, you know?” He's already down a few pegs courtesy of his 'no sex for me please' sexuality, but he won't bring that up now. Tis the season, and all that.

“You have much to include! You are in possession of many fine qualities,” Damien smiles at him, looking less vampire and more nerd with his hair up in a bun and his glasses on. His outfit is like Dickens and Mary Shelley had a weird baby, though. “Your father and I just think it would be nice if you had someone special in your life, that's all. We're not pressuring you to bring someone home for the holidays.”

“Well, that's appreciated,” Ernest ties off the tinsel, zipping up his hoodie again. What did thermostats ever do to fathers, anyway? “I'm just kind focusing on me right now. I'll get in a relationship when I'm in a better spot.”

“Ah, that is fair,” Damien grabs another handful of tinsel for the top banisters. “But love can happen upon you when you least expect it. Such was the case for me both times.”

Ernest had never decided if Damien getting sappy about his dead husband or his very-alive husband who is also Ernest's dad was worse, they might tie for first place.

EHV: Plz never let me become this gross n sentimental when I'm old plz

LB: You cry at Hamilton now and you've seen it so many fing times

EHV: ELIZA DESERVED BETTER GDI DON'T START W ME

CS: I WILL CRY AT ITS QUIET UPTOWN UNTIL THE DAY I DIE FIGHT ME SCRUB

EHV: YEAH THAT'S RIGHT

LB: Oh ffs I forgot this was the groupchat

Speaking of awkward sad times, this year's holidays are busy and bright and not as rushed as last year where he could barely visit anyone for more than a couple hours, but the same anniversary comes around. He's celebrating a third Christmas up at Damien's parents place over New Year's weekend, laughing it up while everyone is maybe too drunk, but he has a sixth sense when that text buzzes in.

CS: I wish missing someone didn't hurt so much :(

EHV: I know <3

CS: Dad's sad, but he's got Julian now

CS: I'm just by myself up in my old room, they're asleep already

EHV: Aw, shit. Do you want me to call you?

CS: No, you're with family. I'm fine

EHV: Everyone is tipsy and Dad is losing at trivial pursuit

CS: Okay then yes please <3

He makes his first appearance at open mic night in the cold and crisp new year. One technical glitch makes him nearly piss himself but it otherwise goes okay. Carmensita sings right after him, her dad on guitar and it's so frickin' good.

“God, you guys are so cool,” he says afterwards, spinning a bottle of Windex around his finger and taking Wild West-style aim at the glass in front of the baked goods.

“Glad I've still got it,” Mat grins, going back to counting the money. “You should do more of these, everyone was super into it. There's another place that does really good open mics out in the boonies, it's a cafe-arthouse thing.”

“You think so?” Ernest had immediately repressed all memory of his performance upon leaving the stage, it was a good coping technique.

“We should start a YouWatch channel!” Carmensita exclaims, as if for the first time, though she's been bugging him for weeks. “We'll do covers to get the subs, then post our own stuff! I bet we could get sponsors!”

“Mister Sella,” Ernest says very seriously. “Are you aware that your daughter is selling out to the man?”

'Sita hits him with a broom, but he does decide to take the leap. Not like starting a channel takes a lot of upfront capital investment, exactly. They do pool money for one good mic, and figure they'll work their way up if it turns out to be worth it. They pick songs from their early teens to indulge their own and others' guilty pleasure fix, and they do weird remixes of things that aren't songs, and he convinces Carmensita to do tag videos. It's fun, and some people like it. Not a ton, but hey, maybe someday.

They only complain on days they're not recording, not wanting to wreck their voices. This time they're slumped on Ernest's bed, him whinging continuously after his first attempt at online dating ended in utter failure, therefore he should give up and never try again, right? Less money on dating, more money to eventually adopt dogs?

“Ernest, I want you to try something.” Carmensita reaches over and covers his eyes, her voice only a little exasperated. “Envision what you want in a relationship. Dad taught me this, I used it to figure out where I wanted to go for college.”

“Okay. Does it work, or is it some hokey bullshit?”

“Quit being rude and humour me, dammit.”

“Alright, alright,” he laughs, feeling her well-manicured thumb jab his cheek. He wets his lips while he thinks for a moment. “Uh, I wanna be with someone who's funny and nice, fun to be around.”

“Okay, can we get a little more depth than that?”

“Give me a second here, woman,” he snorts. “I want- someone who's chill, who likes some of the stuff I like- not everything, but we gotta have stuff to do together, you know?” Carmensita hums. “I want- I really want someone I can build a future with. I don't wanna just play around, y'know? I want someone responsible- heh, maybe not too responsible. But someone I can trust, someone I can see myself having kids with.”

“Woah, you want kids-plural now?”

“Well not a whole bunch, but two would be nice. They can play with each other- anyway,” Ernest gulps, strangely caught up in the thought process. “I want someone who when I look at her- I just want all the good stuff in the world for her. She's going places and she's talented- I want someone who I really get, who gets me back. When people talk about marrying their best friend, that's- that's what I want. Someone who- accepts me, and we can be ourselves around each other, always.”

They're quiet a moment, Carmensita's hand still on his face. She takes it away slowly and smiles softly. “So, you want what you have with me, but with kissing?”

Ernest blanks for a solid thirty seconds before raising his finger. “Okay, first of all, when did you get so smooth?”

Carmensita laughs, loud and cute, sweeping some loose curls off her forehead and looking at him with these eyes- he's never seen her look at him like that until now. Or maybe he was just that clueless. “Is that really all you want to ask me?”

Ernest swallows, loud enough to hear it, sitting up a little straighter. “Can I- kiss you?”

“I don't know, can you?”

He groans outright, dropping his head on her shoulder while she giggles. “One of these days, 'Sita, one of these days.”

She smells really nice this close, maybe it's her shampoo? It's damn good, whatever it is. Her hands end up on his shoulders, not pressing, just holding him. He lifts his head and god, that little moment of eye contact before they both lean forward-

First kisses are not usually perfect, but he's willing to call this one close enough. She's warm and soft beneath his lips. His arms slip around her waist and it's like she was made to fit against him. He outright sighs when they part, kissing her nose just to hear her laugh again.

“Are you-” He can't quite find his words right now, his mind cycling through all the new and so very nice stimuli his senses are taking in. Carmensita's always been beautiful to him but he never thought, never let himself- “Do you- are you sure you wanna do this? I can't- I really like you, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do the physical stuff. You deserve-”

She presses a finger to his lips and he silences himself immediately, distracted by the light of her eyes. “There's nothing I want that online shopping with discreet shipping can't provide. None of that 'you deserve better' crap. I want you, if you want me back, then we should keep kissing and see where it takes us.”

Ernest works his jaw for a few moments, then nods. “Yeah, I can get behind that train of thought.”

Carmensita's laugh as he pulls her in for more smooches is the sweetest sound he's ever heard.

They end up cuddling up and falling asleep together- hahaha an asexual sleeping with someone on the first date, hahaha, puns and stuff -a bonus of neither of them having morning shifts the next day and Carmensita not having anyone expecting her back at home. He wakes up before she does, spooned up behind her, all their clothes rumpled, the blankets cocooned around them. He kisses the nape of her neck and sighs. He feels content, for the first time in a while.

The softest of knocks precedes the door creaking open. “Hey, Ernest, do you want- /oh/.”

The door shuts quickly, rousing Carmensita and making Ernest groan. “So much for keeping quiet about it.”

“Were we going to?” She yawns, sitting up and stretching. “Also, I'm bringing my silk pillowcases or we're only sleeping at my place. How do you live like this?”

“I dunno, I'm a mess.” He laughs and sits up, a tentative hand on her back. “I just- I'm scared. We've been friends for so long, I don't want to risk it going badly.”

“But if we don't risk it going badly, we also don't risk it going well.” She clumsily boops his nose, smiling dopily at him. “Guess which outcome I have my money on?”

“Girl, what money?” He laughs when she jabs him in the stomach. He leans in for a kiss after a moment, realizing that they can do that now, and smooches her cheek gladly. “So, if the Dads know, that means we're officially an 'us.'”

“We are.” She grins and kisses his cheek back. “I like being an us, it's pretty great so far.”

“It is.” He grins back, feeling like he can't stop. Shit, it's really happening. Is he in love? Is that an okay word to use after literally one very unexpected day? Probably not out loud.

He walks her downstairs, and they whisper-laugh a few walk-of-shame jokes before she heads out in her poofy pink coat, leaving him alone with the giddy feeling in his gut. In the dining room, Dad and Damien are doing maybe the worst acting job he's ever seen. “Are you two gonna make a big deal out of this?”

“Make a big deal out of what?” Damien inquires with convincing innocence, frying pan and spatula in hand.

“Yes, is there something we should make a big deal out of?” Hugo smiles, legitimately doing the newspaper crossword like he's a goddamn cartoon character.

Ernest sighs and drops into his chair, accepting several pancakes from Damien. “We literally just started- dating, I guess. No wedding bells, no grandbabies, nothing crazy yet, so please relax.”

“You know we're not like that.”

“Certainly, I'm not my mother.” Damien chuckles, almost unconsciously rubbing Hugo's robe-covered arm while they eat. So gross, but also goals.

“But, out of curiosity,” Hugo teasingly elbows him. “Did you kiss her yet?”

The dads laugh while Ernest howls. He'd text his Pop for backup, but he will get the exact same shit in different wording. He pulls out his phone and texts Lucien instead.

EHV: Hey Carmensita and I are dating just FYI

LB: About gd time, you've been heart eyes at her for literal years

CS: What

CS: Lucien why would you not tell me this

CS: I COULD HAVE SAVED SO MUCH TIME >:(

EHV: Oh shit group chat again

LB: Let's rename these things plz

EHV: Sorry babe <3

CS: Np hon ;*

LB: And here I am, third wheeling it again

EHV: You are basically married stfu

LB: That does not make this better

CS: Ladies ladies, you're both pretty

EHV: Sita knows whats uppppp

LB: Finishing BNHA this weekend y/n?

CS: Y, obvs

EHV: Also Y, I'm off at 7 don't watch ahead

LB: Don't walk so slow and we won't

EHV: Eat a dick

CS: G2g, love you guys

EHV: Love ya too

LB: <3

LB: Also, straaaaaaaaaaight

EHV: Fuckin really dude

LB: Someone has to

LB: Tell Dad I'm coming for dinner tonight

EHV: Will do, bye weeb

LB: Cya loser

#sinunamor #dream daddy #dream daddy hc #ddadds #ernest hemingway vega #carmensita sella #ernestsita

13 notes · View notes

your-dietician · 4 years ago

Text

Save on Sony, Beats, Samsung, Nintendo and more

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/health/save-on-sony-beats-samsung-nintendo-and-more/

Save on Sony, Beats, Samsung, Nintendo and more

Yahoo Life has received compensation to create this article, and receives commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Missed out on Walmart’s Deals For Days? Believe it or not, most of the sales are still active this weekend! (Photo: Getty Images)

After a week full of sales, sales and more sales, you (and your wallet) can probably use a break. However, if you realized you forgot to pick up something important, or if something you really wanted got sold out from right under you, you’re in luck.

Walmart’s having a massive weekend-long sale and the savings are just as good as they were earlier this week. We’re talking marked-down TVs, tech, vacs and more, all discounted and ready to be scooped up.

If you spend $35 or more, you’ll get free shipping. To score free shipping on all orders, plus lots more benefits including speedy delivery, sign up for Walmart+. Get a free 15-day trial here (a answering a quick three-question survey will add on an additional two weeks for a solid 30 days of use).

Here are the best weekend sales from Walmart sale.

Best TV sales

No joke — this Sony 65-incher is over $300 off this weekend! (Photo: Walmart)

On sale for $998 (was $1,300), the Sony 65-inch 4K Ultra HD LED TV is the latest from the legendary tech company. The massive 65-inch 4K display is vivid and detailed. Sony’s state-of-the-art Processor X1 powers this beauty for true-to-life visuals, while HDR (High Dynamic Range) settings make sure colors stay bright and black levels stay dark. And shoppers just love its massive size!

“I will never be able to watch a smaller TV again. The picture and sound are incredible,” raved a happy TV watcher. “I can’t say enough great things about this TV. It feels like I’m at the movie theater! It also automatically signs in to all my applications after I log in with my Google account, and I can talk into the remote to control the TV. Love it!”

The 4K TV includes Android TV straight from Google. This means you’ll have instant access to popular streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, YouTube, Prime Video and much more. You’ll also get a wide range of gaming apps too. What’s not to love?

Story continues

Check out more TV sales below:

Sony 32-inch Class HD LED Smart TV, $298 (was $348), walmart.com

TCL 32-inch 3-Series Class HD LED Roku Smart TV, $145 (was $200), walmart.com

Sceptre 40-inch Class Full HD LED TV, $155 (was $200), walmart.com

Samsung 43-inch Class 4K Ultra HD Smart QLED TV, $898 (was $1,000), walmart.com

Samsung 50-inch Class 4K The Frame QLED Smart TV, $1,198 (was $1,700), walmart.com

TCL 50-inch Class 5-Series 4K Ultra HD QLED Roku Smart TV, $500 (was $600), walmart.com

LG 55-inch Class 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED C1 Series TV, $1,497 (was $2,000), walmart.com

Sony 55-inch Class XBR55X800H Bravia 4K Ultra HD LED Android Smart TV, $798 (was $1,000), walmart.com

LG 65-inch Class 4K Ultra HD NanoCell Smart TV, $997 (was $1,200), walmart.com

Best headphone and earbud sales

Your new best buds are now half price! (Photo: Walmart)

These Philips Wireless In-Ear Headphones are a handsome, waterproof option with a price that belies their high-performance quality: They’re on sale for just $30, down from $60. Yep, half price!

Walmart shoppers love everything about these cans: the sound, the comfy fit, the sturdy charging case. “I have had challenges finding in-ear phones that fit me well for a long time,” reported one fan. “I grabbed the chance to try these Philips Wireless In-Ear Headphones and I can say these are perfect! First off, I like the charging case, so you have power on the go when you need it. The headphones are super easy to pair both with my PC and my phone, and the sound is very good: The highs are not tinny and the bass is smooth…. Another quality product from Philips!”

What he said! You’ll never be juiceless with these Philips Wireless In-Ear Headphones — they offer up to 12 hours of playback. Impressive!

Check out more headphone and earbud sales below:

Beats Solo Pro Wireless Noise Canceling On-Ear Headphones, $149 (was $300), walmart.com

Bietrun Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds, $26 (was $130), walmart.com

Philips Bass+ BH305 Wireless Active Noise Canceling Headphones, $40 (was $120), walmart.com

JLab Audio JBuddies Studio Over-ear Kids Headphones, $15 (was $50), walmart.com

Meidong Bluetooth Noise-Canceling Over-Ear Headphones, $35 (was $70), walmart.com

Luxmo Bluetooth Headphones, $18 (was $36), walmart.com

Jelly Comb On Ear Headphones, $17 (was $50), walmart.com

JBL Live 500BT On-Ear Wireless Headphones, $60 (was $150), walmart.com

JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds, $39 (was $70), walmart.com

Best gaming sales

You haven’t seen The Last of Us! Not just a figure of speech, so snap this up! (Photo: Walmart)

The Last of Us Part II for PlayStation 4 — which is on sale for $30, or half off at Walmart — is set five years after the first game and follows Ellie and Abby’s fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic US. (Hint: The decisions made in the first game come back to haunt the characters in the second.) This is one of the best games of 2020, and it’s half off right now.

“I have played it three times,” shared a delighted gamer. “On each play-through, I found something new, which I most likely missed because of the insane attention to detail in this game. It all started to make sense after my second playthrough, and I think that The Last of Us Part II is one of the best storytelling masterpieces out there.”

Check out more gaming sales below:

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Nintendo Switch), $40 (was $50), walmart.com

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Nintendo Switch), $40 (was $50), walmart.com

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Nintendo Switch), $40 (was $60), walmart.com

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 (Nintendo Switch), $40 (was $60), walmart.com

Outriders: Day One Edition (PS4), $40 (was $60), walmart.com

Madden NFL 21 (Xbox One), $20 (was $60), walmart.com

Liphom Gaming Headset, $29 (was $48), walmart.com

Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition (PS4), $18 (was $60), walmart.com

The Pillars of The Earth (PS4), $29 (was $45), walmart.com

Best smart-home sales

Wouldn’t you like to wake up to something more lyrical, gentle or informative than a sharp, droning buzz or beep? (Photo: Walmart)

On sale for $49 (was $80), the Lenovo Smart Clock is powered with Google Assistant for seamless syncing to a smartphone. It can rouse you from your slumber with your favorite tunes, the weather, calendar reminders and events, and that podcast you love. Because, really, who couldn’t use some help getting out of bed?

“I have trouble waking up in the mornings and this alarm clock doesn’t disappoint,” raved a satisfied shopper. “I like the wake-up feature that gradually wakes you up and then gives you a morning update of the weather and all the morning news. I’m able to connect it to all my Google devices too.”

Check out more smart home sales below:

Google Nest Mini (second generation), $35 (was $49), walmart.com

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44mm), $200 (was $279), walmart.com

XODO Smart Home Security Surveillance Kit, $60 (was $80), walmart.com

XODO Smart Wi-Fi Video Doorbell Wireless Security Camera, $90 (was $150), walmart.com

TSV Smart Plug (two-pack), $18 (was $26), walmart.com

Defender Ultra HD 4K Wired Outdoor Security System (1TB), $260 (was $450), walmart.com

Anself Wireless Burglar Alarm, $20 (was $28), walmart.com

Fymall Wi-Fi Smart Color LED Light Bulb, $11 (was $24), walmart.com

Best home office sales

You never know when you need a new laptop. Actually, now you do. (Photo: Walmart)

The thing about laptops? Sometimes you’re the last to know when one’s on its last legs, so it’s always wise to keep your eyes open for a replacement (or backup). On sale for $429 (was $749), this sleek and stylish Gateway Ultra Slim Notebook has a 15.6-inch Full HD LCD display at 1080p, runs Windows 10 and features a comfortable keyboard and spacious trackpad for quick and easy navigation. It’s paired with 16GB of memory and 256GB of on-board storage, and has up to 10 hours of battery life per charge. Shoppers love its built-in fingerprint reader for a super-speedy login.

“Laptop is amazing. I could not be happier with it,” raved a savvy Walmart shopper. “Super smooth interface, fantastic speed and video quality is superb — I have not had any buffering at all. The screen size is perfect and I am really loving this dark green color, very sleek and modern looking. I like that you can set a fingerprint login for extra security…Lots of storage space, fast browsing and crystal clear sound. You really cannot beat this laptop.”

Check out more home office sales below:

Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5, $399 (was $520), walmart.com

Sceptre 27-inch HD LCD Computer Monitor, $130 (was $200), walmart.com

Samsung CB4 Chromebook, $159 (was $230), walmart.com

Canon Pixma G4210 Wireless MegaTank All-In-One InkJet Printer, $300 (was $400), walmart.com

Ousgar 47-inch White Desk, $80 (was $300), walmart.com

Kuku Mobile Call Center Telephone USB Headset, $28 (was $40), walmart.com

Beyerdynamic MMX 300 2nd Gen Conference Call Headset, $268 (was $422), walmart.com

Gamma Ray Optics 010 Slim Vintage Computer Readers, $18 (was $25), walmart.com

Hemu Fashion Bamboo Laptop Lap Tray, $38 (was $80), walmart.com

Best vacuums sales

This vacuum sucks…and that’s a very good thing. Save nearly 70 percent! (Photo: Walmart)

Do you have hair-shedding pets? Do you want to keep a clean home but are just too busy during your week to make sure it stays neat and tidy? If your answer is yes, then the EcoVacs Deebot 711 Robot Vacuum Cleaner might be a good option for you. It’s on sale for a ridonculous $178 at Walmart!

The robovac makes it easy to keep your hardwood floors or carpet clean, even if you’re not at home. Just sync the vacuum to your smartphone via the Ecovacs app and let the Deebot do the rest. This vacuum uses “Smart Navi 2.0” technology to map your space, so it can keep your home free from crumbs, debris, pet hair and other icky things.

“I’m really happy with the quality and price of this vacuum,” shared a savvy Walmart shopper. “It does a solid job, follows its schedule and switches easily between thick shag rug and hardwood floors. I love that it sends you a report when it’s done and lets you know if it has an issue.”

Check out more vacuum sales below:

Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Slim Corded, $99 (was $199), walmart.com

Shark ION Robot Vacuum RV750, $148 (was $299), walmart.com

iHome AutoVac Eclipse G 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop, $179 (was $400), walmart.com

Eureka Groove 4-Way Control Robotic Vacuum, $129 (was $199), walmart.com

iHome AutoVac Nova Self Empty Robot Vacuum and Mop, $299 (was $599), walmart.com

ILife A4s Robot Vacuum Cleaner, $119 (was $180), walmart.com

Mighty Rock Robot Vacuum and Mop, $73 (was $130), walmart.com

Ionvac SmartClean 2000 Robovac, $99 (was $180), walmart.com

ILife V5s Pro Robot Vacuum and Mop, $135 (was $180), walmart.com

Best style sales

Floaty, flowy, and flamboyantly economical. Perfect for any occasion. (Photo: Walmart)

No, it’s not a typo: This gorgeous Max Studio frock is on sale for 15 bucks! It has a fit-and- flared silhouette, a tiered skirt, and fluttery ruffled sleeves. It’s made of a soft, flattering jersey material, and boasts a knee-length hem and a U-shaped neckline.

Did we mention it’s $83 off?!

“Fabric is soft and comfy, like pajamas,” a shopper shared. “Cut is flattering…The shoulder detail is super cute. It’s pretty casual, but some wedges and jewelry could probably dress it up for an office setting.”

Check out more style sales below:

Scoop Women’s Espadrille Wedge Sandal, $20 (was $35), walmart.com

Zanea Womens Polka Dot Short Sleeve Long Dress, $24 (was $48), walmart.com

KOGMO Womens Premium Cotton Full Length Leggings, $12 (was $18), walmart.com

Status by Chenault Women’s Cotton Slub Jersey with Cotton Eyelet Dress, $9.50 (was $78), walmart.com

Cate & Chloe McKenzie 18k White Gold Dangling Earrings, $18 (was $136), walmart.com

Charmo Women’s Ruffle One Piece Swimsuit, $17 (was $30), walmart.com

Best kitchen sales

Drool-worthy meals at an even more drool-worthy price. Seriously, though,don’t drool. People are eating! (Photo: Walmart)

Listen up, breakfast connoisseurs! This griddle is made for all sorts of morning delicacies: eggs, bacon, even pancakes! It’s treated with a nonstick coating and can act as a separate cooking surface for those with dietary restrictions or as an additional surface for family cookouts or side dishes. It’s so easy to clean too — just chuck it in the dishwasher.

“Really good griddle — everything I’ve cooked turned out delicious!” one shopper shared. “I put four chops on at a time, but you can fit more — just rotate them — and all I can say is…delicious!!! After use, I take a paper towel or a rag and wipe it down. My hubby and I just love it!”

Check out more kitchen sales below:

Tramontina Primaware 18 Piece Non-stick Cookware Set, Steel Gray, $40 (was $50), walmart.com

The Pioneer Woman Cowboy Rustic 14-Piece Forged Cutlery Knife Block Set, $39 (was $70), walmart.com

Chefman TurboFry Air Fryer, $74 (was $99), walmart.com

The Pioneer Woman Mazie 2-Piece Ceramic Red Rectangle Baker Set, $20 (was $25), walmart.com

Farberware 3.2 Quart Oil-Less Multi-Functional Air Fryer, $60 (was $99), walmart.com

Ninja 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Brewer, $69 (was $79), walmart.com

Best Choice Products 16.9qt 1800W 10-in-1 Family Size Air Fryer, $130 (was $255), walmart.com

Hamilton Beach 12 Cup Digital Automatic LCD Programmable Coffeemaker Brewer, $90 (was $105), walmart.com

Best beauty sales

The one mask you’ll be happy to keep wearing. (Photo: Walmart)

We can all use a little more luxury — and this mask is the perfect way to get it. It’s made with 24K gold, which is known for its anti-aging properties (think lifting and firming). Beyond helping rejuvenate your skin, it also leaves behind a beautiful golden glow.

“This mask is great,” a shopper shared. “It has a gooey consistency going on, and leaves your face super smooth and firm after. The gold color is really fun as well.”

Check out more beauty sales below:

BylissPRO Nano Titanium Lightweight Ionic Hair Dryer, $65 (was $85), walmart.com

Burberry Classic Eau De Parfum, $32 (was $98), walmart.com

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules Daily Youth Restoring Face Serum, $70 (was $100),walmart.com

Remington Anti-Static Flat Iron, $16 (was $20), walmart.com

Artnaturals Anti-Aging Retinol, $12 (was $16), walmart.com

Conair Double Ceramic Curling Iron, $12 (was $23), walmart.com

Glycolic Acid 20% Resurfacing Pads, $25 (was $50), walmart.com

IMAGE Skincare Ageless Total Eye Lift Creme, $31 (was $50), walmart.com

Best mattress and bedding sales

The stuff dreams are made of: saving $300 and getting the greatest sleep of your life. (Photo: Walmart)

If you’ve had your mattress for longer than you can remember, it’s high time to replace it — and, lucky you, this one is on sale! It’s made with 12 inches of plush memory foam supported by coils, and it’s just the right balance between soft and firm. The only drawback? Getting out of bed in the morning is about to get a lot harder.

“I was surprised at how soft and comfy this mattress was,” a shopper reported. “I took it out of the box and plastic and it opened right up to the 12-inch size. It is supposed to take 24 hours to expand but it expanded a lot right away. It’s super thick and so far feels very comfortable. I am surprised at how great a mattress in a box could be!”

Check out more mattress and bedding sales below:

Noble Linens 8-Piece Bed in a Bag Bedding Set, Twin, White, $45 (was $65), walmart.com

Mattress Topper Queen, 2-Inch Cool Swirl Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper, Blue, $70 (was $105), walmart.com

Hatch Embroidered Stripe 7-Piece Comforter Set, $30 (was $70), walmart.com

Zeny Weighted Blanket, $47 (was $78), walmart.com

Wenzel 70″ x 60″ Camp Quilt – Red Brick Geo Print, $21 (was $29.50), walmart.com

Better Homes & Gardens Flowing Floral Comforter Set, $45 (was $65), walmart.com

Best pet sales

An unbeatable deal for the mistress of the house. That would be her. (Photo: Walmart)

It’s time to get your cat a space of her own — your couch cushions will thank you for it. This little den is perfect for small spaces and kittens. It has enough space for her to curl up and nap in, plus plenty of scratching spots and, most excitingly for her, a little ball she can attack as she pleases.

“My cats love this!” a shopper reported. “It’s great value for the price. The perch on top is small, but our cats find creative ways to utilize it…it’s a great scratcher and play station.”

Check out more pets sales below:

Oster Super Duty Dog Clippers, $35 (was $40), walmart.com

Portable Pet Dog Cat Outdoor Travel Water Bowl Bottle, $8.50 (was $11), walmart.com

Omega Paw Large Elite Self-Cleaning Litter Box, Black, $53 (was $78), walmart.com

Amgra Laser Pointer for Cats, $11 (was $16), walmart.com

Luxury Fluffy Soft Pet Bed, $15 (was $22), walmart.com

Read More from Yahoo Life:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Life’s newsletter.

Source link

0 notes

olympianpandback · 4 years ago

Text

May 15

You are reading this entry so late because we were in several “dead” zones the last few days in or near the National Park that Verizon has service in but not ATT and Wi-fi is not very good in most RV parks☹

We took a walk in the misty, cold, damp and foggy morning with new recruits doing their PT across the parade field from us at the National Guard training Facility we stayed at. Brought back good and not so good memories. The walk around the parade ground was about a mile then we headed for mount Saint Helens. Most if not all of the visitor centers at the national parks in Washington State are closed. A ranger gave us some information as we entered the park. It's hard to describe the destruction in words or pictures. After 41 years there is minimal forest growth or landscape blow the eruption. Below the crater it's more grey dirt or earth than brown dirt. It's amazing how calm it looks now. You can see how at least 1/4 of the mountain is gone. As you know it didn't erupt upward, it erupted outward and blew out the side of the conical shape of the Volcano. It took most of the day to get to mount Saint Helens and back down to a campground. It wasn't the nicest campground we have been in but it wasn't the worst. May 16

We headed to Mount Rainier. I guess that since it was Saturday there was a 30 minute wait to get into the park at the ranger station. We then zoomed up to the part we could see which is about 10 miles into the park. The road ended at the Paradise visitors center and café. We got lucky an and found a decent parking spot to have lunch before we went to look around. People were taking their sleds, skis other things to go up on the snow pack which was pretty hard and probably icy. On the way down, we stopped at a waterfall but didn't go down to the base because the trail is 3' of snow. We saw people who were slipping and sliding down to the waterfall but we just took pictures from above. If you have seen one waterfall you’ve seen them all. It was another long day but not very tiring and we got to a campground in Centralia Washington around 5 o'clock. It was very nice and we decided to spend another night just to catch up. The weather was nice and the cooked out on the grill.

May 17

In the morning, we decided to go to Safeway for shopping to get some provisions and then go to a local park which was a fort back in the day to have lunch and look around. Here's the interesting part. After lunch we decided to go back to Safeway to get some coffee and beer which we had forgotten. Everything went well until I decided to back out of the parking spot. Cars were racing by in the parking lane to get a spot and I was concentrating on them and missed a small car on my right side in my convex mirror. Unfortunately, the RV didn't miss it and my running light on the right side scraped the kid’s rear door. All we lost was the cover for the light and he will get a new door probably from USAA. My head is usually on a swivel and my eyes are everywhere, especially in a parking lot, but I missed this one. I always told the girls that a parking lot is the most dangerous place to drive!

May 18

I got a new running light at AutoZone, and the kid will get his 2006 Chevy fixed. I would buff it out and keep the money baby. I walked him through the process with the USAA representative so he knew I wasn't going to cheat him and he was happy because it was his mother's car. Lesson learned. Keep your eyes, ears and nose working when your back out of tight parking space in a grocery parking lot. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I just don't like to have accidents that are avoidable. Hopefully we are paying for accident forgiveness. Our insurance won't go up for a year because we just paid a full year premium the 30th of April.

18 May

We drove to Forks, Washington to a campground just outside town and in shouting distance of the Hoh Rain Forest. We got there fairly early and got a campsite close proximity to the bathrooms and the office. It was warm enough to grill some hot dogs for dinner and eat outside for a change. We knew it will be cold in the morning but we didn't know we it would be 39. We drove down to the Hoh Rain Forest (It’s the largest rain forest on North America) about 40 miles South of us to look around the area and walk on some of the trails. We took a 30 minute walk along the 15 mile trail that goes all the way up to the glacier and then turned around. We saw a lot of interesting Flora and some elk scat in the trail. We were excited but wished we had been 15 minutes earlier because the elk was walking toward us right on the trail. We had lunch and decided to go on the Mossy trail which was allegedly closed. The night before we went to the Hoh Rain Forest we went across the road to another campground just to look around and talked to the owner. She remembered talking to me after I mentioned my name because we decided not to stay there because the bathrooms were closed. We had a good talk and we found out she was born in Calumet, Oklahoma. She had moved to Montana after high school and met her husband who had left his home in Bremerton, Washington to move to Montana. They got married and had 3 children and ended up moving back to Washington to take care of his ailing parents. Then they found an opportunity to buy some property near Forks and they developed a campground. They usually spend part of the year in Alaska where they have another Homestead. She said that he really goes up there to fish and hunt, but says he’s going to work on the house. She's OK with that and flies up to meet him once in a while. They hope to retire one day, buy a smaller RV like ours and travel around the country. We agreed to bring our RV over to show her the morning we left but when we got to the office, she was not there so we motored on. We called her to tell her what we that we came by but she was out on the property and sorry she missed us. She was interested in the tables I fashioned for RV that are very functional. After our hour long walk in the forest, we decided to go on the Mossy trail. We went backwards on the trail because at the beginning of the one-way trail sign some people came down the trail and said they were some elk in the woods 500' North of us. Having been somewhat a contrarian all my life, we decided to go for the Elk sighting opportunity backwards. We saw a few cows but no bulls. We went backwards on the trail and we ran into another couple who were going the wrong way on the trail. We ended up having nice conversation with them for 20 or so minutes standing on the trail. John and Falaah had a lot of interesting information about what to do in Eastern Washington. They live in the Seattle area. It started raining so we headed back to the visitor center and it started hailing. Small but hail. When we got back to the parking lot we asked John and Falaah to join us for coffee as it was about 3 o'clock. We all got in the RV and warmed up and dried off while we had coffee and a bread with walnut and cranberries. We ended up having a 2 hour conversation about our travels and work experiences cetera. It was almost like we've known them all our lives. We laughed and laughed and related a lot of great stories from both sides. We gave them both our cards and Falaah emailed us the next day saying how much they enjoyed the meeting and look forward to seeing us again in the future.

May 20th

We took an hour and a half drive eastward along the 101 to Port Angeles. We saw a couple of interesting things but really wanted to get to a campground. We picked one at random and found out it is excellent campground with a very friendly camp post named David. He told us we could have all the lettuce we wanted for our dinner from the garden in front of the office. What a deal. We had planned to have macaroni with sausages so having a fresh salad was right up our alley. We booked a whale watching tour out of Port Townsend and a ferry ride over to the mainland on Sunday and Monday. We did take a short drive to a waterfall and to an area that the visitor center people told us to go see where the Elwha river meets the Straight of San Juan De Fuca and runs in to the ocean. It was interesting to see a river flow in straight to the shore which had waves lapping against it and the river ran into the waves. There were even surfers trying to ride the 3-4 foot waves. While getting ready for dinner, a lady walked by and waved at us so we talked to her. She said are you the LTV Van that waved to us as we were coming North and they were going South and I said yes. We great conversation about Leisure Travel Vans (RVs). They live in Denver not far from Concetta and Matt. They got a great deal on their LTV RV from someone who had bought it new, travelled for several months during the pandemic and just sold it at a greatly reduced price. They have ordered a brand new LTV that suits their needs and will make money on selling the used one they bought at a discount. Sound like something that would happen to me but not this time. Jan asked us to come see them when were in Denver to sit around the fire and tell some stories. We can't wait except for the fire were not good with smoke.

May 21

I went to the campground office to make sure they had charged our credit card for the second night. Chris, the owner of the campground said that David had booked us for the 19th and 20th not the 20th and 21st. There was someone who had reserved our spot a year ago starting today for a week so we had to move. She was so grateful I came in because someone could have booked the site she moved us in and we would have come back to a full campsite after sightseeing. The world works in mysterious ways. She is also interested in seeing our RV because they want to buy one like it when they retire.

0 notes

weekinethereum · 7 years ago

Text

April 19, 2018

News and Links

Protocol

VB: A general theory of what quadratically sharded validation *is*

Justin Drake: Application-layer account abstraction

VB: A recap of where we’re at on account abstraction

JD: Safe notary pool size

Jannik Luhn: Torus-shaped sharding network

Prsymatic’s second bi-weekly sharding update: focusing on the Torus-shape paradigm and libp2p for networking as well as local shard state storage.

Stuff for developers

Solidity v0.4.22: dynamic returns, error messages for revert and require, safer constructors, ABI encoding utils, etc

New Etherscan feature: contract event log filter

Tutorial: create a “shark of the pool” dapp with React

web3.swift v0.1 if you like making native iOS apps

Typescript, Solstice, Webpack dapp template

Save your users from paying gas for transactions

Software licences as non-fungible tokens

Richard Moore: Code example to verify message strings in Solidity

Andrew Miller’s minimalist duplex payment channel

Schedule ERC20 token transfers with Ethereum Alarm Clock (on Kovan testnet for now)

ConsenSys Academy registrations are now open for the 2018 developer program

What things you should put on Gitcoin

Zeppelin: Upgradeability using unstructured storage

Flint: a new statically-typed language aimed at code security. Under development.

Releases

Parity v1.10.1 — warp to a specific minimum block number

Geth v1.8.4 — 40% faster blocks!

Akasha v0.7 — now a web app using MetaMask

Status v0.9.17 — improved whisper so that battery and data usage are down by an order of magnitude

Ecosystem

Alex Van de Sande looks at what would happen to dapps in the event of a fork

Etherchain has some coinvotes going on about ASICs and hard cap, but the most votes are on EIP999 to unfreeze the Parity multi-sig fund

Richard Burton: we need better ways to get data out of Ethereum

Managing Identity with a UI for ERC 725

MyCrypto beta is ready for public use. Plus, securely sign transactions offline with MyCrypto beta and Parity Signer

How to renew or release your ENS name. If a year is up, you can release and get your deposit back. To keep your name, you don’t have to do anything.

EIP/ERC/governance — thanks to Nick Johnson for assistance

EIP999 — state modification to unfreeze the Parity multisig. Main discussion thread. (new)

Discussion continues on EIP960 — hard cap of Ether supply. Vlad also wrote a response, which Vitalik responded to. And Vlad's counter response (updated)

ERC994 — delegated NFTs for “registration of land and physical property” (new)

ERC995 — an ERC20 extension to allow execution of calls inside transfer and approvals based on ERC827 (new)

ERC998 — “Composable Non-Fungible Token Standard” (new)

ERC1001 — a private key URI standard (new)

ERC1003 — ERC20 extension “for tokens with method that allows safely pass and handle tokens into smart contracts” (new)

Discussion on ERC930’s standard for eternal storage (updated)

(heated) discussion onERC792’s arbitration standard (updated)

Project Updates

Colony Q2 Update

Golem’s next steps post-mainnet release

Insights from the Balanc3 Beta

FunFair announces its first partnership with an outside game developer

Melonport’s phase 3 - governance, price feeds, etc

RexMLS is changing its name to Imbrex

April Raiden dev update

Bounties for social impact

Kauri launching on Rinkeby in May with a competition for technical content

Loom is now planning to implement Plasma for its Dappchains

Cofound.it’s 2018 roadmap to becoming a platform

Barrons and Marketwatch to become BAT verified publishers and Brave users will get access to their premium content.

Interviews, Podcasts, Videos, Talks

Jon Choi talks Ethereum grants and ecosystem on Zero Knowledge

Fabian Vogelsteller on Hashing It Out

Nick Johnson on the Fireside Crypto podcast

Carolyn Reckhow on the Bitcoin Podcast

Aaron Wright talks OpenLaw on Blockchain Guy podcast

My podcast interviews with the five initial Ethereum Community Fund grantees: Prysmatic Labs, EthPrize, Reality Check, Swingby, XLNT

Tokens

This week, Savedroid pretended to pull an exit scam to “teach us a lesson.” Or something. I’m not going to link to their PR stunt.

a16z/USV lead group to ask SEC for a safe harbor exemption.

ConcourseQ’s token curated feed got its first revenue

Now that tax season is over, everyone thinks it is time to get long. Here’s Pantera’s rationale.

Buy Virtue Poker’s tokens, play in the World Series Of Poker

Of course Cambridge Analytica was planning an “ICO”

General

Kent Barton argues that we should avoid crypto tribalism.

Coinbase bought Earn.com to make Balaji Srinivasan the CTO and also bought Cipher to work on Toshi

FastCompany on Circles universal basic income

MIT Tech Review looks at the Jordan refugee camp using Parity

Energy Web Foundation using Parity for private, permissioned and WebAssembly

Even Ethereum’s competitors in the enterprise space are starting to realize that public chains are inevitable

Dates of Note

Upcoming dates of note:

April 24 – Oslo Blockchain Day in Norway. 20% off with discount code EVAN

April 25 -- Virtue Poker sale

April 27-29 -- Hackital Eth hackathon in Washington, DC

May 3-5 -- Edcon in Toronto

May 7-11 -- Swarm Summit in Ljubljana

May 10 -- Fluidity Summit on finance (NYC)

May 11-12 -- Ethereal (NYC) — use discount code EtherealFriendsNFam until May 1

May 15 -- Kleros sale

May 16-17 -- Token Summit (NYC)

May 17-19 -- Melonport hackthon in Zug

May 18-20 -- EthMemphis hackathon

May 25-27 -- EthBuenosAires hackathon (register by April 21)

June 1 -- Blockchain for Social Impact Conference (Washington, DC)

If you appreciate this newsletter, thank ConsenSys

I'm thankful that ConsenSys has brought me on as an employee and given me time to do this newsletter. Also, there’s nearly 200 job openings at ConsenSys right now if you’re looking to join the ecosystem full time.

Joseph Lubin, Amber Baldet, Aya Miyaguchi, Michael Casey, Yorke Rhodes, Sheila Warren, etc kick off Blockchain Week at Ethereal Summit. You can get tickets at EtherealSummit.com with discount code "EtherealFriendsNFam" for $500 off cover price.

Editorial control is 100% me. If you're unhappy with editorial decisions, blame me first and last.

Shameless self-promotion

Here's the link to this issue: http://www.weekinethereum.com/post/173096001428/april-19-2018 Most of what I link to I tweet first: @evan_van_ness

I also have an Ethereum podcast on the Bitcoin Podcast network.

This newsletter is supported by ConsenSys, which is perpetually hiring if you’re interested.

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up to receive the weekly email

#ethereum #buidl

1 note · View note

tech-battery · 5 years ago

Text

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5 review: Minor improvements, but it's still among the best

One of my favorite laptops to review every year is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga. I've actually written five reviews of six units, and there have only been four previous generations. Some of my favorites were the second-gen model with its OLED display, and the third-gen model with Dolby Vision; it was also the last to offer the Lift and Lock keyboard.

I didn't push too hard for this year's model, the Gen 5, because not much has changed. Lenovo refreshed the Gen 4 with Intel Comet Lake processors last summer, so the biggest change with Gen 5 is the availability of Comet Lake vPro processors. Also, reviewers didn't get to check out the Comet Lake Gen 4 models, since those were announced just a few days after the Whiskey Lake models were sent to us.

While not much has changed, that's pretty much OK. This is still one of the best convertibles on the market, a premium machine that you can always count on. It has one of the best keyboards, a beautiful screen, and a solid aluminum build.

Note that the regular price is $3,511, but ThinkPads are never regular price. They're always discounted in some way or another, and the unit that Lenovo sent me is $2,106.60 as configured.

Day one

Design

As far as design goes, the chassis hasn't changed since last year at all. In fact, last year debuted the first aluminum model, marking a major change in direction. It's clear that Lenovo takes very few risks with its ThinkPads at all, usually sticking to black colors and steering clear of metal chasses. This one is Iron Gray though, and it looks quite nice.

Exactly one thing changed about the design. For the second year in a row, there's new branding. The Gen 4 debuted a new black ThinkPad logo and a new X1 logo. Now, those two are being combined into a ThinkPad X1 logo that sits in the corner. It's literally the only way you can tell the Gen 5 from the Gen 4.

Lenovo does a great job with its aluminum business PCs, as they look clean and sophisticated, while remaining stylish. I noticed this when it debuted ThinkBook, its sort of anti-ThinkPad where it can try new things.

Another thing that hasn't changed is the selection of ports. There are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, either of which can be used to charge, power dual 4K displays, and so on. And yes, these are full Thunderbolt 3 ports, as many devices only use the base spec, which supports one 4K monitor.

Next to one of the USB Type-C ports is an Ethernet connector, which is really meant to be used with Lenovo's mechanical docks. Also on the left side is an HDMI 1.4 port, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The ports seem dated though, with an HDMI standard that doesn't support proper 4K (at 60Hz) and a USB port that supports 5Gbps, something that I'm getting tired of seeing in premium PCs. I assume that this will change next year, and that it wasn't done this year because this is mostly a spec bump.

On the right side, there's another USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, along with a power button. And of course, there's a pen garage, a staple of the product that's been there since the beginning.

The pen garage is my favorite feature of the ThinkPad X1 Yoga that Lenovo hasn't killed yet. If we were talking about features of all time, we'd be talking about the QHD OLED display that disappeared in Gen 3 and the Lift and Lock keyboard that disappeared in Gen 4, but I digress. A built in pen means that it's not getting in the way like it would if it was magnetically attached to the side, it's always charged, and it's always with you when you need it.

Display and audio

As always, this PC comes with a 14-inch display, and there are several configurations, none of which are QHD OLED. The newest is a Full HD panel with Privacy Guard, Lenovo's privacy screen that keeps people from looking over your shoulder. It's not on the config that the company sent me; in fact, Lenovo has never offered me a Privacy Guard display on a review unit, so I really can't vouch for it. HP has sent me several of its variants of Sure View display, and that's quite good, but there's a lot that goes into a good privacy display.

The other three options are FHD at 400 nits, QHD at 300 nits, and UHD at 500 nits with Dolby Vision HDR support. The one that Lenovo sent me is the UHD model. It always asks which one I prefer, and the answer doesn't change. I like pretty displays. Lenovo actually usually ends up sending me an FHD model as well, just for the better battery life, but I don't expect that that's coming this year, being such a minor refresh.

If you've been following along so far, then you know the bezels haven't changed at all, given that the footprint and display are the same size. The top bezel packs a webcam, an IR camera, and a ThinkShutter privacy guard, so you don't have to worry about putting tape over it.

Right above the keyboard are two up-firing speakers that are part of the Dolby Atmos audio system, which is frankly excellent. There are also two woofers on the bottom of the device, for great all-around sound. It's crystal clear and it gets loud too. I always like to think of just how bad the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 2 - the first X1 Yoga that I reviewed and possibly my favorite all-time PC - was in terms of audio and how far it's come.

Keyboard and trackpad

One day I'm just going to accept that the Lift and Lock keyboard is gone. That day is not today. If you're unfamiliar, Lift and Lock was a frankly brilliant innovation of Lenovo's that made the keys retract into the keyboard when you folded the display back and used it as a tablet. It made it super comfortable to use. But obviously, there was a lot of mechanics that went into that, and that takes up space. When Lenovo shrunk the footprint with last year's model, it was time for my favorite feature of any convertible laptop ever to go away.

Now that I've got that over with, this is one of the best keyboards around. ThinkPads keyboards are the Cadillacs of keyboards; that's pretty well-known. They're accurate, they're comfortable, and you can count on them.

Obviously, they also include the TrackPoint, a relic from an age when trackpads on Windows PCs were terrible. Some people still love the TrackPoint though, and it's a trademark of ThinkPads. Yes, all ThinkPads have one of these little red nubs. I've tried to get used to it, but frankly, it's easy enough to ignore. If you really can't stand it, I'd urge you to check out Lenovo's ThinkBook lineup, which sheds a lot of these legacy parts.

The truth is that we don't need TrackPoints anymore because we have good trackpads now. Yes, I'm talking about Microsoft Precision trackpads. I do love the physical buttons though, and you can bet that if the TrackPoint went away, the buttons would too.

You'll also notice that it's got a fingerprint sensor to the right of the trackpad. Just like the convertible form factor itself and the Lift and Lock keyboard, Lenovo was the first with a fingerprint sensor. ThinkPads have been using fingerprint sensors long before Windows Hello was a thing.

Performance and battery life

The model that Lenovo sent me for review includes an Intel Core i7-10610U, a quad-core CPU with eight threads and a 15W TDP. It's the vPro variant of the Core i7-10510U. Interestingly, this is the highest-end CPU that's available on Lenovo's website right now, so you can't get the hexa-core Core i7-10710U or the vPro Core i7-10810U.

Performance is fine, and it's better than previous generations, obviously. Comet Lake is the only version of Intel's 10th-gen processors that comes with a vPro variant, so the 10nm Ice Lake is out of the question. One thing about Ice Lake, however, is that it has Iris Plus Graphics, so the CPU power is here with Comet Lake, but the graphics power really isn't. You can use it for some light Photoshop or something, but I wouldn't go too much further. This is a productivity machine.

For battery life, I got about five hours doing regular with with the battery slider at one notch above battery saver and brightness at 50%. To be clear, this would probably double if you got the FHD model, and that's why FHD models exist. They have a quarter of the pixels and can save a lot of power. QHD is a nice balance between the resolution of UHD and the power efficiency of FHD, but ever since Lenovo introduced UHD, it really hasn't been using premium QHD panels.

As you can see, the hexa-core Comet Lake Core i7 and the Ice Lake Core i7 both outperform the Core i7-10610U. And of course, AMD Ryzen 4000 blows away anything that Intel has in the 10th generation.

Conclusion

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is a winner for the same reason that it's always been a winner. It's a well-built machine that passes a dozen MIL-STD-810G tests, and it's reliable. It has one of the best keyboards around, excellent Dolby Atmos speakers, and a pretty display.

It's not a winner for any new reasons because very little has changed. The bezels aren't any smaller than they were last year, it's still 2.99 pounds, and so on. And of course, I'm mad that there's no QHD OLED option and no Lift and Lock keyboard.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that the design hasn't changed, and that the bezels haven't shrunk at all. This is a business PC, and for businesses, everything about the ThinkPad X1 Yoga is more practical than anything else. It's the best at what it does, which is providing a premium, reliable computing experience.

0 notes

componentplanet · 5 years ago

Text

Here’s How You Can Win A $40,000 Tesla Model 3 for Free Plus Get Black Friday Savings In September

It’s one of the greatest giveaway prizes you’ll ever see. While Extreme Tech has given away its fair share of incredibly cool stuff over the years, we’ve never been able to offer something like this before.

But right now, we want to give you a Tesla. Yes…a Tesla. The car. And it’s entirely 100 percent free.

In The Win Your Dream 2020 Tesla Giveaway, one incredibly lucky winner is going to be the proud new owner of a 2020 Tesla Model 3, valued at $40,000.

This is an electric luxury vehicle to top all electric luxury vehicles. Sporting all the high-end features of the standard Model 3, this four-door sedan doesn’t feel like an electric vehicle, ready to blast off from 0 to 60 mph in as little as 3.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 140 mph.

With a range of over 320 miles, you can get almost anywhere before you need to start worrying about a recharge — and this safety-conscious marvel is geared toward the most studious drivers on the road. There’s even a full-on Autopilot function that enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane all on its own.

All you have to do is fill out the entry form, send it back, then get picked in our random drawing — and this sweet ride is yours. There’s no purchase necessary, but you do need to enter by Dec. 31 for your shot to win.

Meanwhile, we’re also in the middle of Extreme Tech’s Three-Day VIP Annual Sale, featuring big additional savings on a lot of the best deals in the Extreme Tech Store. Here are a few of the hottest items included in the big sale.

Memberships

AdGuard: Lifetime Subscription – $11.99 after coupon; originally $59

Meet AdGuard, combining the world’s most advanced ad blocker, full privacy protection features, and a complete parental control tool, all in one app. With AdGuard, your web surfing will be free of annoying ads, malware attacks, data tracking and even all that stuff you don’t want your kids to see. Right now, a lifetime of AdGuard coverage is an extra 40 percent off with the code VIPSALE40, shaving your price down to just $11.99.

Dashlane Password Manager Premium Plan: 1-Yr Subscription – $17.99 after coupon; originally $59

With Dashlane, you’ll never need to remember another password again. This smart, simple, secure password manager creates strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts, saves the details, then fills then in when needed to gain access, all with a click. Log into any website and make digital payments, all while your vital personal data remains fully protected. You can get a year of Dashlane coverage at 40 percent off with the code VIPSALE40, just $17.99.

Cylance Smart Antivirus: 2-Yr Subscription – $17.40 after discount; originally $58

Here’s antivirus software that goes on the offensive. Rather than fighting off attacks, Cyclance Smart Antivirus uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to non-intrusively predict and prevent cyberattacks before your devices get infected. Right now, use the code VIPSALE40 during checkout to get 24 months of protection for less than $1 a month.

youtube

Beelinguapp Language Learning App: Lifetime Subscription – $23.99 after coupon; originally $100

Beelinguapp takes an innovative approach to teach you a foreign language. You get text — news articles, fairy tales, novels, and more — in your native tongue as well as the language you want to learn. Then with its unique karaoke-style audiobook features, you’ll read along, better contextualizing your new language. With the code VIPSALE40, you can learn up to 14 new languages for less than $2 each.

youtube

PlayStation Plus: 12-Month Subscription – $34.99 after coupon; originally $59

Your gaming gets a huge upgrade with Playstation Plus. In addition to free games and exclusive monthly discounts and deals, PS Plus offers full online multiplayer gaming so you can truly get the most out of your platform favorites. It’s also on sale with the code PLAYSTATIONVIP, cutting your 1-year price to only $34.99.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Infinity Plan (10 Devices) – $35.40 after coupon; originally $299

One of the most trusted VPN providers in the business, VPN Unlimited offers a completely private internet connection anywhere you log in, even on dodgy public WiFi, with no speed or bandwidth limits. Along with the fully encrypted and protected web access, this plan also covers up to 10 devices. Just use the code VIPSALE40 during checkout and this lifetime protection in less than $36.

youtube

Sam’s Club Membership + $45 eGiftcards – $39.99 after discount; originally $45

With this offer, you get $45 worth of e-gift cards for use at warehouse shopping giant Sam’s Club plus a full year of membership for under $40. Yeah, that means they’re basically paying you $5 to be a Sam’s Club member for 12 months. Not a bad offer!

Fun stuff

OMNIA T3 Universal Travel Adapter – $24.99 after discount; originally $49

If you’re a road warrior, then this universal charging adapter could be all that stands between you and dead devices. Whether you’re in the US, the UK, the EU, down under in Australia or any of 150 countries, this pocket-sized plug-in with dual USB-A and USB-C charging ports can sort out the current and power up to three devices at once safely. No matter where you go, you’re covered.

youtube

Sony ZX220BT Wireless On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones (Open Box – Like New) – $34.99 after discount; originally $95

Sony XB650BT Wireless On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones (Open Box – Like New) – $54.99 after discount; originally $130

These Sony headphones are open box models, yet fully inspected and certified to work like new, guaranteed — just at big savings off their off-the-shelf price. Each model syncs via Bluetooth or one-touch NFC connectivity, sport a built-in mic for making and receiving calls, and comfortable earcups and headbands for extended listening.

While the ZX220BTs bring eight hours of battery life to the table, the XB650BTs go a step further, offering up to 30 hours on a single charge. They also feature Extra Bass technology for a powerful, clear bass sound that doesn’t always come each for portable headphones.

Tokk Cam C2: Discreet Day/Night Vision Camera – $51.99 after coupon; originally $79

This portable, ultra-compact cam in only 1.5 inches across, but its high quality video eye that can even attach magnetically can capture 720p HD video with brilliant clarity, no matter where you position it. Synched with an app for wireless connectivity, it also captures action with full night vision capabilities. When you use the code VIPSALE20, you can also save 20 percent off, knocking your total down to $51.99.

youtube

Tokk Fingerprint Waterproof Lock – $51.99 after coupon; originally $79

Ditch the key with this biometric lock that snaps open with a touch of your fingerprint. Ultra-tough, waterproof, dustproof and weatherproof, this lock store up to 10 different fingerprints so everyone who needs access can get in — and the lock works in standby mode for up to a year. With the VIPSALE20 code, you can save an additional 20 percent off its already discounted price.

youtube

Light Smart Solar Powered Parking Sensor – $79.99 after discount; originally $129

Just attach this ultrasonic sensor to your rear license plate, sync it to your phone and you’ll get audio and visual alerts when you try to back into a parking space. It’s even solar-powered, so it does even need to be wired into your vehicle’s electronics. You can get it for just $79.99, a $50 savings off the regular price.

youtube

MoovyGo 12-in-1 USB-C Hub Station with Wireless Charging and Power Bank – $79.99 after coupon; originally $149

From USB-C to Ethernet, from HDMI to audio 3.5, this do-it-all hub sports 11 total connections to keep virtually any device you’ve got fully powered up. And with its hefty 4,500mAh power battery, it’s a lot of portable functionality that can also cut down on all the cord spaghetti. With the code VIPSALE20, you can also knock your price down to just $79.99.

youtube

Jamstik Guitar Trainer – $159 after discount; originally $229

Who needs a guitar when you’ve got a Jamstik? In addition to sounding like a regular six-string, the Jamstik comes with its own guitar training regimen to make you a guitar god in no time. And you can even rock out with headphones on, so no one can even know you’re practicing. The VIPSALE20 codeword shaves $40 off the already discounted price, now just $159 with the offer.

youtube

Apple Airpods Pro – $219 after discount; originally $249

It’s Apple’s top-of-the-line earbuds, delivering active noise cancellation for premium immersive sound, custom-built high-excursion, low-distortion drivers for powerful bass and a charging case that extends your listening for up to 29 hours. And Apple stuff never goes on sale, right? Except…when it does…like now.

youtube

Apple iPad Air 2, 32GB – Space Gray (Refurbished: Wi-Fi Only) – $210 after discount; originally $399

You can save almost half off a fully inspected and certified iPad Air 2 that runs just like it came out of the box. With its 1.5GHz processor, you can multitask like a beast, snap gorgeous pics with the 8MP rear camera, and save everything you need with the 32GB of storage.

Lenso Cube 1080P Pocket Projector – $247.99 after coupon; originally $799

Connect this to your phone or other devices via Bluetooth, WiFi, HDMI and more, and this pocket-sized projector turns into a revelation. At just 2 inches wide, it beams 1080p HD quality pictures on to a surface up to 10 feet across and can keep it up through an entire 2-hour movie. Regularly almost $800, the added VIPSALE20 discount code brings it home for almost 70 percent off, just $247.99.

Training

The Complete GameGuru Bundle – $17.99 after coupon; originally $204

Not a programmer, but still want to learn the art of making your own video games? The GameGuru training gives you all the tools to craft top-flight game experiences — plus, they throwing in seven additional packs full of hundreds of royalty-free assets you can include in your game builds. By using the VIPSALE40 code during checkout, all this game creation knowledge is available for under $18.

youtube

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at TechBargains.com.

Now read:

ET Deals: $900 Off Dell 2020 Vostro 15 7500 Core i7 & Nvidia GTX Laptop, Apple MacBook Air Laptop for $899

Eureka Provides Site Hosting and 1TB Of Cloud Storage Space For Life For Under $100

ET Deals: Pre-Order Sony PlayStation 5 Consoles, Games and Controllers

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/deals/315197-heres-how-you-can-win-a-40000-tesla-model-3-for-free-plus-get-black-friday-savings-in-september from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-you-can-win-40000-tesla-model.html

#Here’s How You Can Win A $40 #000 Tesla Model 3 for Free Plus Get Black Friday Savings In September

0 notes

jobsearchtips02 · 5 years ago

Text

Pickup Trucks Getting Huge. Got Problem With That?

A FEW MONTHS ago, on an ordinary day in an unremarkable

Costco

parking lot, I was nearly squashed by an unusually large pickup. Thank God I was wearing a mask.

As that chrome grille closed on me like a man-eating Norelco shaver, time slowed. It seemed I was watching myself from afar, being nimble for a man my age, darting from the path of a towering, limousine-black pickup with temporary plates, whose driver barely checked his pace. Jerk.

What the hell was that thing? A 2020 GMC Sierra HD Denali? It was huge! The domed hood was at forehead level. The paramedics would have had to extract me from the grille with a spray hose, like Randall Jarrell’s ball-turret gunner.

He didn’t even see me.

Later, returning to my car, I noticed something: The parking lot was dotted with similarly enormous luxury pickups—many new, many taking up two spaces: Ram,

Ford,

Chevy, GMC. They stood out like Percherons in a herd of Shetland ponies.

“ Are pickups really getting bigger, on average, or do they just look scarier? Both. The average pickup gained 1,142 pounds between 1990 and 2019. ”

What is going on here? When did pickups get so big? And why are XL-sized pickups so big now?

I know. Pickup trucks at Costco. Film at 11. Except that in April, U.S. sales of pickups surpassed automobiles for the first time ever—about 112 years, give or take. Trucks and truck-based sport-utilities now account for roughly 70% of new vehicles sold in the U.S.

How we came to be Pickup Nation is a longer story (cheap gas, the Chicken Tax, IRS Section 179, marketing). But this year, to help move the tin during the pandemic, U.S. auto makers laid out a bounty of discounts and cheap financing, including 0% interest for 84 months and deferred-payment plans.

“Pickups without a doubt benefited from the great deals,” said Mark Schirmer, spokesperson for market service providers Cox Automotive. “And the deals were particularly great for consumers buying expensive vehicles.” The data suggest these incentives also juiced a boomlet in XL-sized, heavy-duty pickups, otherwise known as ¾-ton and 1-ton pickups, for private use.

That’s right: Gucci cowboys. Historically aimed at commercial customers, sole proprietors, horse-haulers and mega-RVers, heavy-duty pickups are stronger and taller than ordinary (half-ton) trucks, with cabs mounted high above reinforced frame rails and heavy, long-travel suspensions. But HD trucks have evolved in the past decade, irradiated with the same prestige-luxury rays as light-duty trucks.

Behold MotorTrend 2020 Truck of the Year, the Ram Heavy-Duty. In Limited trim (about $65,000 with four-wheel drive but before options) the 2500 HD sports an elaborate chromified grille that gleams like a tea service. Its flight deck glows with untrucky amenities such as acoustically insulated glass; active noise canceling; 12-inch center touch screen; wood trim, premium leather—all paired with a maximum 19,680-pound towing capacity. With the optional cab lights, it measures over 6-feet-9 inches tall.

Thus has been born a uniquely American vehicle type: the mega-luxury mega-pickup.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

The dimensions of Chevy’s 2020 Silverado 2500 HD LTZ. Just how big?

Photo: Chevrolet

81.85 in. wide

79.82 in. tall

249.95 in. long

It seems to be resonating. While sales of Silverado light-duty were off 18.6% in the second quarter, sales of the HD model sales were off less than a point. GMC’s light-duty Sierra was down 9.5%, while sales of our menacing new friend, the Sierra HD, were up 7.6% in the second quarter and 21.5% year-to-date.

Ford and

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

don’t break out HD sales from pickups overall. However, Ram’s average transaction price in the second quarter soared above $50,000, according to a Cox Automotive analysis of data from Kelley Blue Book. Ford F-Series sales fell 23% (to 180,825 units) but its ATP was mostly unaffected—$51,688, the highest among pickups.

In July, J.D. Power declared Sierra HD the king of the bro-dozers, placing it first in its 2020 U.S. APEAL Study of Large Heavy-Duty Pickups, which tracks owners’ excitement and emotional attachment in the first 90 days.

“The front end was always the focal point,” GM designer Karan Moorjani told Muscle Cars & Trucks e-zine. “We spent a lot of time making sure that when you stand in front of this thing it looks like it’s going to come get you.”

Mission accomplished.

But are pickups really getting bigger, on average, or do they just look scarier? The answers are somewhat and definitely. The average pickup on the road gained 1,142 pounds between 1990 and 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and 730 pounds since 2000.

“One of the most significant changes in that time was the arrival of crew-cab configurations, which added cab space to make them more family and work friendly,” said Mike Levine, Ford spokesperson.

In 2011, a change in the way the feds calculate vehicle fuel economy (the so-called “footprint rule”) gave domestic truck makers incentive to go big. Ever since, GMC, Chevy, Ram and Ford have been locked in a competitive feedback loop chasing best-in-class attributes and capacities—the “towing/hauling” wars. For MY 2019, for example, Ram’s 1500 Crew Cab gained 3.9 inches in overall length over a 4.1-inch longer wheelbase. In the same model-year, the Chevy Silverado gained 1.7 inches in length on a 3.9-inch longer wheelbase.

As a result, new light-duty pickup dimensions are approaching those of heavy-duty pickups. While the 2021 F-150 is about 18 inches shorter than the equivalent F-250, it is the same width (79.9). Mr. Levine noted that the company has gone to a common-cab design, using the same four-door living quarters for both light- and heavy-duty models.

“ ‘The face of these trucks is where the action is, a Chevy must shout Chevy. Every pickup has become a rolling brand billboard and the billboards are big.’ ”

Ask any kid with a crayon. If you draw the box in the middle bigger, you have to make the ones on the end bigger, too.

Which brings us to the 2020 Silverado HD—10 inches longer, 1.8 inches wider, and 1.6 inches taller than the previous model. The big Chevy’s challenging kisser comprises a thick, knee-high bumper; a central grille opening; several sets of lighting assemblies; a full-width transverse element helpfully informing with the message CHEVROLET…and then, above that, between very square corners, is a whole other layer, then a peaked hood with a central inlet. This hood line meets the base of the windshield about 6 inches above the side window sill.

Another cause of facial swelling? Marketing. “Full-size pickups are generally identical in profile,” Mr. Schirmer said. “The face of these trucks is where the action is; a Ford has to say Ford from head on, a Chevy must shout Chevy. Every pickup has become a rolling brand billboard and the billboards are big.”

You don’t have to be Steven Pinker to see that truck designers are leaning into the bully with these lantern-jawed bumpers and walls of chrome. Detroit’s blithe codifications of purposeful and powerful pickup design fail to describe the intimidation factor from the outside.

“A few brands, Ram and Ford, have taken to an overscale brand identity [and] applied it onto the grille,” said Kimberly Marte, associate professor of design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. “The Chevy team did benchmarking of new models and followed the trend.”

It’s not clear how long pickup designs can keep getting their chrome on. In 2018 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a study examining the connection between SUV design and pedestrian fatalities. In a separate study released in June, IIHS found fatal single-vehicle crashes involving SUVs striking pedestrians increased 81% from 2009 to 2016.

While IIHS studied SUVs and not pickups, “The key is the geometry of the front end, the high and flat shape,” said Becky Mueller, a senior research engineer for IIHS. “It’s like hitting a wall.”

XL-pickups’ high-rising hoods also create significant blind spots just ahead of the vehicle. I know because apparently I was in one of them. While truck makers like Ford offer automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection systems as standard equipment on most trims, and forward-view cameras as an option, such systems are not mandatory, as they would be in Europe.

NHTSA proposed that new pedestrian-safety tests for SUVs and trucks be included in the New Car Assessment Program in 2015. But as of this writing, the agency had not issued guidance on new standards. When asked, the industry trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation had no comment.

And what if the next administration should issue pickup-pedestrian safety rules? Could the extra tall hoods and bluff grilles, the sightlines, the scale, the very form language of the traditional American pickup ever be made pedestrian safe? “Of course not,” said Ms. Marte. “No way.”

So watch yourself at Costco.

TOO BIG FOR ITS BRITCHES?

Sizing up Chevy’s 2020 Silverado 2500HD

Photo: Chevrolet

HIGH-END HOOD: Modern pickups like the Silverado 2500 HD LT with Z71 Off-Road Package appear huge not just because roofs have gotten taller (topping out around 80 inches), but because hoods have grown relative to a truck’s overall height.

KING-SIZE BED: The 2020 Silverado 2500 HD Crew Cab with Standard Bed is 10.3 inches longer, 1.3 inches wider, and 1.6 inches taller than the 2019 model.

GAUDY GRILLE: The vast chrome rictus of Chevy’s Silverado has been coolly received by some critics and customers. But Silverado sales are up, and there’s a booming business in aftermarket grilles.

A STEP UP: To assist you in boarding its very tall seat—which maintains proportionality with the height of the hood, the 2021 Silverado HD High Country is available with power running boards that automatically slide out to meet you.

GRILLE MASTERS

The changing face of pickup trucks over the past century

Photo: Ford Motor Company

1926: Ford Model T Runabout

Dearborn’s first pickup shared a distinctive radiator shape with the Model T, and sported a cargo box that measured 56 inches long by 40 inches wide.

Photo: Getty Images

1949: International Harvester KR-1

Old school even by 1949 standards, the KB-1 model got a little bling with chrome plated wings lateral to the grille and even a hood ornament.

Photo: Getty Images

1949: Dodge Power Wagon

This medium-duty pickup was based on a WWII-era Dodge military truck and retained the “flat fender” for which they became known.

Photo: Alamy

1949: GMC Model FC pickup

Like competing Chevys of the era, GMC Trucks were fronted with “Bumper Bar” grilles—large horizontal bars surrounded by a thick frame on the top and sides.

Photo: FCA US Media

1963: Jeep Gladiator J-200 Thriftside

Are you not entertained? The Gladiator’s early years featured the coolest grilles—centrally mounted, canted forward, with the Jeep badge in the lower-left.

MORE SWANK, LESS SCHLEP

How Ford’s uber-popular F-150 pickup has changed shape and style since 1995

PICKUPS AND SUVS have become the vehicles of choice for U.S. drivers over the last 25 years. Along the way, they’ve also become less trucklike, emphasizing comfort as well as capability. Take the F-150, the flagship of Ford’s F-Series, America’s bestselling vehicles 43 years running, which has morphed from rural work truck into a daily-driving people-mover as suburbanites ditched minivans in droves. The bestselling F-150 of 1995 was a rigid two-door set with a 6.5-foot bed; today’s bestselling F-150 has four doors, copious creature comforts, and a cargo box that’s a full foot shorter. —Aaron Stern

Photo: Ford Motor Company

1995 F-150 SuperCab XL 4×4

Length: 235” Width: 79”

Curb Weight: 4,600 lbs. Payload Box: 6.5’

Photo: Ford Motor Company

2020 F-150 SuperCrew XLT 4×4

Length: 231.9” Width: 79.9”

Curb Weight: 4,858 lbs. Payload box: 5.5’

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/pickup-trucks-getting-huge-got-problem-with-that/

1 note · View note

clarencenicholsonata · 5 years ago

Text

6 Effortless Ways Facebook Marketing can Increase Sales

With billions of monthly users and the option to create highly targeted ads, it should come as no surprise that Facebook is an effective sales channel for marketers.

However, just because it’s easy to run a marketing campaign on Facebook doesn’t mean you are going to get a return on investment from your efforts.

In this guide, we’re going to cover six ways that Facebook marketing can increase sales and generate revenue for your business. These will be actionable tips you can apply to your business. Let’s start at the beginning.

Facebook Offers Low Costs per Lead

For marketers, Facebook’s key selling point is the sheer number of users. When using display advertising, this essentially means the cost of reaching people is much lower than traditional media.

However, just because you can make money through advertising on Facebook doesn’t mean you’ll see an ROI. Plenty of people waste money on ineffective Facebook ads.

The success of a Facebook ad can be broken down into two components. The ad itself, your targeting, and the landing page where you are sending traffic. Your goal is to optimize each of these for the highest possible conversion rate.

Then Facebook’s massive user-base lets you scale effective ads to your heart’s content. One way to test your copy and targeting is through A/B testing.

Most people know to do this for your ad copy and visuals. Less people think to do it with their target audience too. As an example, here’s the Ad Library page for a Starbucks ad:

There are 41 different versions of this. They each have the same copy and image, but they’re targeted at different combinations of men and women in various age groups.

Now, the eagle eyed among you will realise that this kind of detailed audience A/B costs money. For all we know, Starbucks could have spent thousands on this testing exercise.

Small businesses don’t have that kind of cash. This doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your Facebook targeting. In fact, you still have a couple of great options for doing this. Firstly, you can use the data from your CRM or ecommerce platform to create a copycat audience.

This allows you to go after people who share characteristics with your existing customers. Alternatively, Facebook also allows you to target users based on interests rather than demographics. Because of this, you can target people who like one of your larger competitors. You then refine your targeting through trial and error.

1. Use Facebook to Run Retargeted Ads

One common challenge companies face is potential customers finding your site and leaving without signing up to your mailing list or making a purchase. However, the real mistake is letting these prospects go without a fight.

Facebook is a great tool for winning these leads back. This involves using retargeted ads.

This applies when you’ve got a new visitor to your site through inbound search. You then use ad retargeting to make an improved offer to them which is related to the page they initially visited. For B2C customers, this might be a discount on the product they viewed to push them over the line.

For B2B leads, it’s best to use a content upgrade. This can be presented on a dedicated landing page in exchange for an email signup. You then warm these retarget leads through an email marketing sequence.

The benefit of this approach is you start collecting leads who might not be ready to buy. In the B2B space, this approach can help you get leads to a stage where you’re ready to book a sales meeting and subsequently formulate a business proposal.

2. Create a Group Where You Are the Teacher

Creating private communities is the top priority of many marketers in 2020. This is unsurprising given the benefits. For example, private communities provide outstanding organic reach. They essentially give you a direct line to your customers.

They’re also an effective way to build brand loyalty and encourage repeat orders.

Facebook Groups are one of the easiest ways to create brand communities. But wait. Aren’t Facebook groups for giving away free sofas, or sharing niche memes that no-one actually understands?

Sometimes, but not always...

Facebook groups are also popular among people with specific interests, and increasingly among people who love certain brands. In fact, these days many brands run their own Facebook fan groups. Take Peloton for example:

This group for Peloton users has over 300,000 members, and around 300 daily posts. On the one hand, this means that Peloton are able to promote their content and products directly to 300,000 people for free.

They can educate their customers to get the most out of their Peloton subscription, ensuring that they keep using it. This also allows them to upsell accessories and merch.

Even better, they have 100s of devoted fans discussing their product and how to get the most out of it too. No wonder private brand communities are on the rise.

3. Run a Contest to Gain Email Signups

Of course, there are strategies you can use to grow your audience and make sales at the sale time.

One of the most effective ways to do this is using Facebook competitions. These can take many forms.

For example, you’re probably familiar with the like and share this post to enter format, which is often used by local businesses. These are usually ineffective and they look pretty amateurish.

To make effective Facebook contests, it’s best to use a dedicated platform.

This will offer you a bunch of different options for creating contests. For example, you can enter your followers into a sweepstake in exchange for performing a certain action, normally signing up to your mailing list.

In fact, this is where competition marketing comes into its own. Ultimately, the real value of Facebook contests is to get email signups. You can then target these people with email marketing to increase your sales.

The key to this is a killer landing page. Some common mistakes for competition landing pages include too many signup boxes, and unclear terms. Normal landing page best practice, like clear CTAs and compelling copy still apply. And as always, there’s no substitute for A/B testing.

Need help with your next contest ?

Book a free call to learn how our team of contest experts can help you create high converting Facebook contest today.

4. Use Facebook as a Customer Support Channel

You can also use Facebook to increase sales by making it easy for customers to interact with you. This may not feel like ‘marketing’ as such, but it’s an important part of your overall social strategy.

This is all about handling customer queries in a way that directs them towards making a purchase.

An easy and cheap way to implement this is using a Facebook chatbot. Scientists at IBM say that modern chatbots can answer about 80% of customer questions without any human help. This can be utilised to field common customer queries, and redirect to sales pages.

On top of that, modern chatbots are hard to distinguish from real customer service agents. This helps you to build better brand relationships with your customers, through more valuable interactions. This approach is already being used to great effect by brands like PrAna:

Customers also love Facebook chatbots, as they make it easy to connect with their favourite brands 24/7.

5. Gain New B2B Leads with Free Webinars

Facebook’s value for B2C marketers is well understood. Its role as a B2B tool, not so much. As we already know, Facebook has more top earners as users than LinkedIn.

In short, if you’re a B2B marketer, you can’t afford to ignore Facebook.

Most often, Facebook ads are used as an initial entry point into a B2B funnel. But what kind of funnel works best?

These days, one of the most popular B2B funnels utilises webinars to gain email signups. This works because you’re offering value to potential leads straight off the bat. You then use the webinar itself to promote a content upgrade, like a course or white paper.

To access this, they’ll need to sign up to your mailing list.

Facebook offers an extra benefit here. That is, they’re desperate to promote their own live video platform. As such, if you run your webinars through Facebook live, you’ll get engagement benefits, like notification going out to your followers that you have a stream scheduled.

Amy Porterfield has this down to a fine art. Here’s one of her live streams:

The title is 5 Reasons Most Online Courses Fail. In reality, she spends the video talking about the benefits of her online course strategy, without delving into what this actually is. This is done to promote her online course starter kit.

That link in the description leads to the following landing page:

Once a user signs up, they’re then fed standard educational content aimed at promoting paid premium content and courses.

6. How to Increase Sales with Facebook Marketing

There are two main ways that Facebook marketing can increase sales. Each of the strategies we’ve looked at today does one or both of these. First, you can increase the overall size of your audience.

Seconds, you can increase engagement among your existing audience.

We’ve looked at a mixture of free and paid strategies to achieve both of these goals. These include Facebook’s built-in advertising features, the use of third-party apps, as well as simply sharing the right content.

The right mixture of these strategies will see healthy sales increases, from new customers and old ones alike.

About the Author

Petra Odak is a Chief Marketing Officer at Better Proposals, a simple yet incredibly powerful proposal software tool that helps you send high-converting, web-based business proposals in minutes. She's a solution-oriented marketing enthusiast with more than 5 years of experience in various fields of marketing and project management.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/2YMPmSQ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801

0 notes

your-dietician · 4 years ago

Text

Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/health/best-amazon-echo-smart-home-devices-and-kindle-e-readers-and-more-are-on-sale/

Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

We may receive commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Nearly every Amazon smart home device and e-reader is on sale. (Photo: Amazon)

Hooray! Prime Day is going strong! Day 2 is here! Amazon has slashed prices on nearly all of its devices for the mega-shopping event, which ends at midnight PST. So if you’ve been reluctant to “add to cart,” there’s still time to save…but not too much.

What’s on sale? Just about all Amazon smart-home devices, Fire TV and tablets. A highlight: The very popular Echo Show 5 is on sale for its all-time lowest price ever ($45!). This display brings together all your smart-home devices, while also serving as a visual companion to Alexa. And right now it’s nearly 45 percent off!

What else is discounted? Audible, for your Amazon devices: Get a whopping 53 percent off the first four months of Audible Premium Plus, so you can up game with great audio books and more; summer “reading” has never been more fun.

Important: These deals, including the Echo Show 5, are exclusive to Amazon Prime members. Not yet a member? You can sign up for a free 30-day trial here and take advantage of all the deals below, plus free shipping and all sorts of other Prime benefits.

Scroll to get your hands on the best Prime Day, Day 2 deals on Amazon devices.

New Echo Buds are here — and they’re 33 percent off for Prime Day! (Photo: Amazon)

The latest Echo Buds feature active noise-canceling (not available with the first generation). Now you can enjoy your favorite music and podcasts free from annoying background noise. Score a pair for $80 with the standard charging case, or $100 with the wireless charging case, for Prime Day.

These second-generation Echo Buds are built for long-lasting comfort with a new, sleeker design that fits securely in your ears (unlike Apple AirPods). They deliver high-quality audio that’s well-balanced and clear with deep bass. These babies are durable and tough, with up to 15 hours of battery life per charge (and an extra two hours with a 15-minute quick charge). And your trusty Alexa voice assistant is built-in.

Story continues

“A quality pair of buds. Out of the box, setup was easy,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “I already had the Alexa app on my phone, so all it took was having the app open while I opened the case on the new ear buds…. The audio playback is excellent. Experimented with some heavy metal and classical, and the sounds were great. Even the classics like Sinatra sounded great, with the vocals loud and clear.”

The new Echo Buds come in Black and Glacier White.

Read thousands of e-books with the Kindle Paperwhite — save nearly 40 percent! (Photo: Amazon)

Discounted from $130 to just $80, the Kindle Paperwhite is a great all-around e-reader. Thanks to its six-inch display with a built-in light and 300ppi (pixels per inch) for clarity, it reads just like paper — hence the name. Plus, it’s got lots of on-board storage (8GB), so it can hold thousands of e-books and digital magazines from Amazon’s digital bookstore.

“Best Kindle yet,” said one of many five-star reviewers. “This Kindle is lighter and thinner than the last generation, noticeably so. The flat edge-to-edge screen is an improvement in feel and makes it much easier to clean. It still has an excellent non-glare screen that I love for reading outdoors.”

One of the Kindle Paperwhite’s best features is its looooong battery life — it can go for up to six weeks per charge. That’s weeks, not hours!

Never switch out batteries again with this hardwired gadget. (Photo: Amazon)

Although it resembles a standard doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is super-powered. This smart doorbell provides a 24/7 video stream and a nice wide field of view (up to 155 degrees horizontal and 90 degrees vertical), meaning you can see a broad swath of your property and any activity that might be occurring. And it syncs to your smartphone, tablet, laptop or streaming device (it’s easy — there’s a Ring app), so you can keep an eye on your home whether you’re inside, at work or away on that big vacation you’ve got coming up this summer. And this is the exact right moment to snap one up. For Prime members only, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is down from $60 to just $45.

“I absolutely love this doorbell. I’m thrilled the doorbell doesn’t need batteries. I hated that,” said a five-star reviewer. “The setup is so easy and the doorbell notifications come through my phone and my Alexa Echo Dot…Plus, the quality of the sound from outside is really good too…. I would absolutely purchase this particular Ring doorbell again.”

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is hardwired into your home’s electric system, so there’s no need to worry about replacing batteries every few months. As long as there’s electricity flowing through your home, this guy is on the job.

Save 50 percent: Echo Dot

Want to turn your home into a smart home? Start here. (Photo: Amazon)

With an all-new sphere design, the fourth generation Echo Dot — marked down from $50 to just $25 (half off!) for Prime members only — is a small but powerful smart speaker with a glow-light base that can not only channel Alexa but can also stream tunes from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Sirius XM and more. It offers clearer, more robust audio quality than earlier iterations. Pair it with another Echo Dot to create amazing stereo sound — a particularly smart deal now that it’s half off!

Shoppers love the compact dimensions — it’s 3.5-inches high — which make it great for smaller rooms. “This is exactly what I was looking for,” said a happy Amazon shopper. “The sound is loud and clear. Now I am able to hear all online stations with no interference. The design is space-saving, with rubber underneath to prevent sliding.”

The Echo Dot 4 comes in Charcoal, Glacier White and Twilight Blue.

Stream live TV and free TV instantly. (Photo: Amazon)

Watch more TV for less with the Fire TV Stick Lite — on sale from $30 to just $18 for Amazon Prime members. It’s easy to set up: It plugs into just about any HD or 4K TV’s HDMI ports, syncs to Wi-Fi and then provides access to hundreds of streaming apps and channels, including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, Starz, Showtime and much, much more. For someone looking to cut the cord with their cable provider, this is perfect.

“…I’m very pleased with the Fire TV Stick Lite,” shared a satisfied Amazon shopper. “Alexa is installed, and using voice commands to change the TV is so wonderful! I can also turn the lights off from my remote control when it’s time to movie-watch. I love it! Let’s see the cable companies let me do that! I figure I’ll be saving about $230 per month now, and all for an investment that was less than paying one month of a cable bill.”

For anyone wondering: The Fire TV Stick Lite is the same as the standard Fire TV Stick but with a different remote. This remote has Alexa voice assistant built-in, but it doesn’t have a TV on/off switch or volume controls, which is why it’s deemed ‘Lite’.

The Echo Show 5 is a smart-home display that covers a lot of ground — but takes up very little space. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale for $45 for Prime members only (was $80), the Show 5 is Echo’s smaller, sleeker model. Armed with a 5-inch display, the Echo Show 5 is the perfect compact and lightweight companion to your nightstand. This smart-home display can double as a digital alarm clock with Alexa built-in. In fact, Amazon has a wide range of personalized clock faces to choose from, so you can bring a little bit of your own personality to this device.

“This is the best alarm clock I’ve ever had,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “The clock face is customizable and very easy to read from anywhere in the room. The screen has no distortion or discoloration from any angle, so it is easy to see from everywhere…Perfect for checking the time in the middle of the night.”

The Echo Auto makes your car as smart as your home, and is down to just $15, from $50. (Photo: Amazon)

If you’ve ever called out to Alexa in your car, only to find she wasn’t there, this is for you. The Echo Auto — on sale for a mere $15 from $50 for Prime members only — is a clever gizmo that instantly makes any old car smart. It connects to your car’s stereo via auxiliary input and pairs to your phone with Bluetooth.

The Echo Auto is designed with eight mighty microphones, so it can clearly pick up voice commands (no worries about a loud engine, or noisy traffic). It’s great for making hands-free phone calls and searching for your favorite tunes on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and more.

“I’m actually impressed with this little device….” shared a five-star Amazon reviewer. “It always picks up my voice no matter the sound level.”

The Blink Mini HD security cam keeps an eye on your home. (Photo: Amazon)

Some security cameras will set you back hundreds. For Prime Day, you can get this Blink Mini for just $20 — that’s $15 off — if you’re a Prime member.

This smart-home security camera detects motion — it can snap into record mode whenever it senses activity around your home. It comes with free cloud storage until the end of 2021, and It features Full HD live streaming and two-way audio, so you can talk to house guests via the Blink app.

“This is a great little camera monitor,” raved an excited five-star shopper. “It’s easy to set up and easily managed with your smartphone. Can be set up to arm and record at any time. I bought this to use in my master bedroom by my desk where I keep sensitive information.”

Save a third for Prime Day on this Insignia 43-inch Smart 4k Ultra HD TV. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale from $320 to just $220 for Prime members only, the Insignia 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD TV — Fire TV Edition is a total steal. This is its all-time lowest price ever, so it’s the perfect moment to grab it for a bedroom or guest room. With a beautiful, crisp image, this TV lets you stream movies and shows from Netflix, SlingTV, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video and more. Armed with an Ultra HD resolution of 2160p, this model is so popular it has earned a five-star rating from nearly 1,000 reviewers.

“I am so happy with my new Fire TV. The instructions weren’t complicated. I was able to switch flawlessly between my cable and the Fire TV apps,” shared a savvy Amazon shopper. “The clarity of the picture is wonderful…This is so perfect for me.”

Echo

Halo fitness

Luna gaming

Fire TV

Fire TV Cube, $80 (was $120), amazon.com

Fire TV Stick 4K, $25 (was $50), amazon.com

Insignia 24-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $100 (was $170), amazon.com

Toshiba 32-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $130 (was $200), amazon.com

Toshiba 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD — Fire TV Edition, $350 (was $240), amazon.com

Fire tablet

Kindle

eero