#also this was surprisingly tricky to find decent quotes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ghostheadcanons · 5 years

Text

Papas + Copia: Autistic S/O

Anonymous said to ghostheadcanons:

Could you do some fluff with the papas and copia with an autistic s/o? I got told by a friend that I’d never find a boyfriend cause I’m autistic and I need some cheering up after that..! Thank you!

What the hell! Why would someone say something like that? That’s not okay at all!! That would be like someone telling me that no one’s going to want to date me for my ADD. It’s ridiculous!

Anon, listen to me. No matter what’s going on in your life, no matter if you’re neurotypical or not, there will always be someone for you out there. Multiple someones! And just because someone else can’t see that doesn’t mean it’s not true! It’s a big wide world out there. Out of the seven billion people on earth, if you want to find a significant other, there’s bound to be at least one person who thinks you’re their everything.

That goes for the rest of you out there reading this, too.

As for writing for an autistic S/O...you’re going to have to bear with me. I’m not autistic myself, but I have a brother who is, and I’ve done my research to the best of my abilities. I don’t mean to offend anyone here with hurtful stereotypes. I don’t know if I’m the best person equipped for the job, but hopefully I did decently enough.

It needs to be said that none of them would think any less of an S/O with autism. The church is open to everyone--and so are they.

Papa Nihil:

Surprisingly, he has somewhat of a grasp on what you’re talking about if you tell him about your autism. His eldest is ‘a little different’, too, but he never held that against him.

That’s always how he’s phrased it-- ‘a little different’. If you take offense to him referring to you that way, he would apologize and do his best to refer to you properly.

If you don’t like lots of physical contact, Papa Nihil would abstain from his normal amounts of hugging you and kissing you, and would find different ways to show his affection.

If you only like certain foods, he’s more than happy to prepare them himself for you. No matter how outlandish you might think they are together, he’s always open to making them!

Sister Imperator would want to know more, if you have any triggers, any sensory problems, etc. so she could set you up with proper accommodations.

Nihil would love to hear you talk about your special interests! You can talk for hours on end about them and he’ll listen eagerly.

"I love watching you light up when you talk, cara mia.”

Papa I:

If you confide to him how you feel, he’s the one out of all of them who is most likely to understand what you’re feeling.

If you don’t like going out or talking to a lot of people, this man is for you. He’s reclusive, himself, and only has a handful of people who really know him.

Social rules in different settings are a pain for him to navigate. You never have to worry about offending him by saying the wrong thing or not abiding by Unwritten Social Code #3496. He doesn’t mind one bit.

Has a youtube account just for stim videos. He has thousands of them arranged neatly into playlists. He’ll send you all the links.

Never talks down to you. But if you need him to explain something a different way, he’ll do so, in a non-patronizing manner.

“We are all one in Lucifer, lamb. No matter what our difficulties are.”

Papa II:

You have to tell him about your autism. He wants to make this work for you, but he can’t do that if you don’t tell him what things bother you, what gives you trouble, etc.

Is not irritated in the slightest about how you stim, no matter what it is, or if it’s considered ‘annoying’. The most he’ll do is go to another room if he needs to concentrate on his paperwork.

He doesn’t infantilize you because of your autism. He knows that you’re a fully grown adult who can understand what he’s saying.

At the same time, though, he also keeps your difficulties in mind and will always offer to help if he sees you struggling.

If you’re forgetful about meds you need to take or a schedule you need to keep, he’ll remind you. “Your pills, caro. Go and take them.”

You can bet if anybody even looks at you funny for acting ‘weird’ that Papa II is going to come over and literally destroy them.

Will always reassure you if you’re anxious about yourself/your abilities/etc.

“You are not broken, caro. You process things differently is all. And I do not love you in spite of that, or because of that. I love you, for you.”

Papa III:

At first he probably wouldn’t understand all that well. But he would do his research and come back to you with questions about all kinds of things. Does going out all the time bother you? Do you have social anxiety? Are there surfaces you don’t like?

Like his brother, he’s willing to learn, and to help if you want it!

If you quote a line you like from a movie/game/book out of absolutely nowhere, you can bet that Papa III is going to quote the response right back at you. He always gets your references. The two of you have a blast quoting lines back and forth at eachother.

If social situations are difficult for you, Papa III is willing to explain a lot of the unwritten rules if you want him to, especially beforehand. These sorts of things can be tricky sometimes, even for him!

If he has to explain a romantic metaphor he made, he wouldn’t be irritated that you didn’t ‘get it.’ Some of his romantic metaphors are, in fact, very stupid.

He’ll help keep you on schedule, since it took him a very long time to learn how to do it himself. He has problems focusing on things, and sometimes you have to shake him once or twice to get his attention. If you’re the same way, he would always be patient with you.

Also like his brother, if anybody gives you shit for the way you act, he’s going to come over and cuss them out.

“Forget them. They don’t matter. What do they know about anything? Of course common horses wouldn’t know what they’re looking at when they see a unicorn. You are one of a kind, tesoro. And I love you.”

Cardinal Copia:

Aside from Papa I, he’s the other one who’s most likely to understand your struggles if you confide in him.

He has a lot of difficulties in close social interactions, so he can teach you some of the tips and tricks he’s picked up over the centuries if you struggle with those, too.

If you want to stim by petting his rats’ fur, he’s more than happy to let you!

On the other hand, if you don’t like the feeling of his rats on you, or their fur, he’ll be sure to let them know so they’ll stay off and away from you.

He’s very adamant about his schedule, and he’ll try to get you set in a routine you’re comfortable with, if you want his help.

He’s the type to remember everything you’ve said about your special interests, and look into them himself to see if he can get interested too. Who knows? You might have got him hooked on something new!

Knows painfully well what it’s like to be a social outcast. Growing up in Italy, he related more to his pet rats than the other children, and even now, he still feels the same way.

“It can be very hard, topolino. I know that more than anyone. But we’ll get through it together, you and I. Ti amo.”

#ghost #ghost bc #papa nihil #papa i #papa ii #papa iii #copia #cardinal copia #autism #i hope this turned out okay!!!!#ghost headcanons #headcanons #ghost bc headcanons

59 notes · View notes

ramajmedia · 5 years

Text

Hogwarts Houses Of Derry Girls Characters | ScreenRant

Derry Girls has a loyal following in the U.K., and thanks to Netflix, its fanbase is now all over the world. Set in the 90s, the series follows a group of friends in Derry, Ireland as their country engages in civil war.

RELATED: 5 Harry Potter Characters Who Didn’t Belong In Their Hogwarts Houses (& 5 Reasons The Sorting Hat Put Them There)

If the Derry Girls characters had attended Hogwarts, the teenagers would have been there at the same time as Harry Potter himself. Fans could likely imagine Claire excelling in Potions, Orla finding a kindred spirit in Luna Lovegood, Erin using a quick-quotes-quill to journal her experiences, and Michelle doing her best to break every rule in the school. Here are the Derry Girls characters sorted into their Hogwarts houses.

10 Orla: Hufflepuff

Orla might remind Harry Potter fans of Luna Lovegood with her eccentric interests, but the sorting hat probably wouldn’t place her in Luna’s house. Ravenclaw would be a nice option for Orla, but Hufflepuff is where she fits.

RELATED: Harry Potter: 10 Things From Deathly Hallows Part 2 That Haven’t Aged Well

Despite Erin’s frequent annoyance with how clingy Orla is, Orla is clearly all about loyalty and family. She constantly surrounds herself with family and friends. Even though her interests aren’t their interests, that doesn’t stop Orla from making sure her friends are safe from bears in the country or lamenting that she forgot her plunger when her cousin needs one. She also never understands that one person might want an advantage over another, believing in life as an even playing field.

9 Claire: Ravenclaw

Claire’s tendency to sell her friends out when she’s in trouble leans toward Slytherin, but Ravenclaw is a better fit for her. Of the Derry Girls, Claire is certainly the most studious.

She’s the kind of student who prides herself on learning everything as the teacher lays it out, completing assignments on time, and studying down to the tiniest details. Claire is the study partner who will drive her friends crazy because she believes they have to know everything. She’ll likely never stop wanting to learn more.

8 Mae: Slytherin

Season two of Derry Girls introduced new student Mae. In Derry just in time for the school dance, the girls wanted her to join their friend group. She agreed to attend the dance with Claire, and even went shopping with Claire, Erin, Michelle, James and Orla.

RELATED: The Magicians Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

While all of that sounds good, Mae wasn’t really interested in being one of the group. Instead, Mae was interested in being in charge. She also didn’t take kindly to anyone telling her no, demonstrated by her plan to cover Jenny Joyce in tomato sauce. Her sneaky inclinations and ambition make her a Slytherin.

7 Father Peter: Gryffindor

Derry Girls focuses largely on its main cast of five and Erin’s family. There are only a handful of characters who appear on the series repeatedly. Father Peter is one character that pops up repeatedly.

A priest brought in to investigate a supposed miracle in Derry, Father Peter temporarily leaves the priesthood when he falls in love with a hairdresser. His decision to leave his position and follow his heart is a brave one. Braver is his decision to return to the priesthood when he realizes he really does have a calling. That leans his sorting toward Gryffindor. His need to be the leader compared to those school officials around him, and his belief that his ideals are always correct solidify the sorting.

6 Sister Michael: Slytherin

Sister Michael runs the show at school. Don’t let the fact that she’s a nun fool you. She is as sneaky as they come. That’s why she’s a Slytherin.

While the audience doesn’t know much about Sister Michael’s ambitions outside of running an all girls school, we do know how tricky she can be while teaching them. Sister Michael understands teenagers, despite seeming like she doesn’t really want to. When President Clinton makes a visit to Derry, Sister Michael orders the students to show up for classes instead of attending the historic speech. The pride on her face when she realizes nearly the entire school broke the rules tells the audience her cunning plan to get her students to be independent thinkers is working.

5 Jenny: Gryffindor

Jenny Joyce, surprisingly, might be one of the hardest characters to sort. Her ambition could make her a Slytherin, and her need for fairness at school could make her a Hufflepuff. The sorting hat, however, makes the surprising pick of Gryffindor for her.

RELATED: 10 Once Upon A Time Characters Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses

Jenny isn’t a rule breaker who laughs in the face of authority. In fact, she shows up to class when everyone else doesn’t. There’s no rebellious Gryffindor in her. When everyone your age is a rebel though, being the one who follows the rules and standing firm in who you are is brave. Jenny makes no apologies for wanting to be the center of attention or wanting the clearly defined rules followed exactly. She’s a different kind of Gryffindor than Harry Potter fans are used to.

4 Aisling: Hufflepuff

Aisling is Jenny Joyce’s best friend, or most loyal follower, depending on how their relationship is viewed. It’s rare to see Aisling on the series unless she’s glued to Jenny’s side.

RELATED: Growing Pains: 10 Best Shows About Puberty On Netflix

Because of how close she is to Jenny, Aisling never goes against her. That loyalty makes her a Hufflepuff, but there’s more to Aisling than just loyalty. Aisling also appears to be even harder working than Jenny. Jenny might be singing on the mic, but it’s Aisling playing the music, singing backup, and helping Jenny write the lyrics. There’s no one harder working than a Hufflepuff.

3 Michelle: Slytherin

If anyone on the series is a textbook Slytherin, it’s Michelle. There’s not a single time Michelle isn’t going to try to find a creative way to get out of a situation or break a rule.

Michelle craves excitement and attention, like any Gryffindor would. Her way of achieving it, however, isn’t through hard work or heroics. Instead, it’s through deception. She’ll smuggle a suitcase of vodka to a concert or tell students she’s an anonymous lesbian writer if it’ll get her to the top of the social food chain. It’ll be interesting to see if Michelle starts using her creative takes on truth and rules for good instead of self-interest in season three.

2 James: Hufflepuff

Like Orla, James is a little more eccentric than the rest of his friend group. The only teenage boy to attend the girls’ Catholic school in Derry, James never quite feels like he fits in. Depite that, he’s got unflinching loyalty to his cousin Michelle and her friends, making him quite the Hufflepuff.

Of course, James also tends to develop a sense of loyalty for nearly anyone who treats him decently, likely a product of repeatedly being abandoned by his mother. That doesn’t stop him from nearly deciding to return to London with his mother when she claims she needs him. James ultimately decides to stay in Derry with Michelle’s family, proclaiming himself “a Derry Girl,” proving that he does value the friendships he’s made there above all else.

1 Erin: Ravenclaw

Like Jenny Joyce, Erin is a difficult character to sort. She embodies traits from all of the Hogwarts houses nearly equally. Her important motivating factor in the series though is her desire to have something to write about.

She isn’t the most book smart of her friends (that honor easily goes to Claire), but when Erin is interested in something, she’s all in. Her desire to write about her experiences during the Troubles causes her to soak up every bit of literary training she can get from temporary teacher Ms. De Bruin. She also takes over the school paper, though a severe bout of writer’s block makes her panic. Erin’s love of writing, and her head often being in the clouds as a result, makes her a Ravenclaw.

NEXT: Lily James Characters Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses

source https://screenrant.com/hogwarts-houses-derry-girls-characters/

#screenrant

0 notes

technicalsolutions88 · 5 years

Link

In 2019, the average screen size hovers around 5.5 inches. That’s a touch larger than the original Note’s 5.3 inches — a size that was pretty widely mocked by much of the industry press at the time. Of course, much of the mainstreaming of larger phones comes courtesy of a much improved screen to body ratio, another place where Samsung has continued to lead the way.

Ultimately, the two products served as an opportunity to have a six-month refresh cycle for its flagships. Samsung, of course, has been hit with the same sort of malaise as the rest of the industry. The smartphone market isn’t the unstoppable machine it appeared to be two or three years back.

Like the rest of the industry, the company painted itself into a corner with the smartphone race, creating flagships good enough to convince users to hold onto them for an extra year or two, greatly slowing the upgrade cycle in the process. Ever-inflating prices have also been a part of smartphone sales stagnation — something Samsung and the Note are as guilty of as any.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note gets even larger (and smaller)

The seemingly regressive step lets Samsung come in a bit under last year’s jaw dropping $1,000. The new Note is only $50 cheaper, but moving from four to three figures may have a positive psychological effect for wary buyers. While the slightly smaller screen coupled with a better screen to body ratio means a device that’s surprisingly slim.

Earlier this week, a Note 9 owner asked me whether the new device warrants an upgrade. The answer is, of course, no. The pace of smartphone innovation has slowed, even as prices have risen. Honestly, the 10 doesn’t really offer that many compelling reasons to upgrade from the Note 8.

That’s not a slight against Samsung or the Note, per se. If anything, it’s a reflection on the fact that these phones are quite good — and have been for a while. Anecdotally, industry excitement around these devices has been tapering for a while now, and the device’s launch in the midst of the doldrums of August likely didn’t help much.

[gallery ids="1865978,1865980,1865979,1865983,1865982,1865990,1866000,1866005,1866004"]

The past few years have seen smartphones transform from coveted, bleeding-edge luxury to necessity. The good news to that end, however, is that the Note continues to be among the best devices out there.

The common refrain in the earliest days of the phablet was the inability to wrap one’s fingers around the device. It’s a pragmatic issue. Certainly you don’t want to use a phone day to day that’s impossible to hold. But Samsung’s remarkable job of improving screen to body ratio continues here. In fact, the 6.8-inch Note 10+ has roughly the same footprint as the 6.4-inch Note 9.

The issue will still persist for those with smaller hands — though thankfully Samsung’s got a solution for them in the Note 10. For the rest of us, the Note 10+ is easily held in one hand and slipped in and out of pants pockets. I realize these seem like weird things to say at this point, but I assure you they were legitimate concerns in the earliest days of the phablet, when these things were giant hunks of plastic and glass.

The company’s reasoning for this was both aesthetic and, apparently, practical. The company moved back down to a single camera for the front (10 megapixel), using similar reasoning as Google’s single rear-facing camera on the Pixel: software has greatly improved what companies can do with a single lens. That’s certainly the case to a degree, and a strong case can be made for the selfie camera, which we generally require less of than the rear-facing array.

The company’s gone increasingly minimalist with the design language — something I appreciate. Over the years, as the smartphone has increasingly become a day to day utility, the product’s design has increasingly gotten out of its own way. The front and back are both made of a curved Gorilla Glass that butts up against a thin metal form with a total thickness of 7.9 millimeters.

On certain smooth surfaces like glass, you’ll occasionally find the device gliding slightly. I’d say the chances of dropping it are pretty decent with its frictionless design language, so you’re going to want to get a case for your $1,000 phone. Before you do, admire that color scheme on the back. There are four choices in all. Like the rest of the press, we ended up with Aura Glow.

One of the interesting footnotes here is how much the design of the 10 will be defined by what the device lost. There are two missing pieces here — both of which are a kind of concession from Samsung for different reasons. And for different reasons, both feel inevitable.

The headphone jack is, of course, the biggie. Samsung kicked and screamed on that one, holding onto the 3.5mm with dear life and roundly mocking the competition (read: Apple) at every turn. The company must have known it was a matter of time, even before the iPhone dropped the port three years ago.

Courage.

Samsung glossed over the end of the jack (and apparently unlisted its Apple-mocking ads in the process) during the Note’s launch event. It was a stark contrast from a briefing we got around the device’s announcement, where the company’s reps spent significantly more time justifying the move. They know us well enough to know that we’d spend a little time taking the piss out of the company after three years of it making the once ubiquitous port a feature. All’s fair in love and port. And honestly, it was mostly just some good-natured ribbing. Welcome to the club, Samsung.

The headphone jack dies not with a bang, but a Note

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

The tipping point, it says, came when its internal metrics showed that a majority of users on its flagship devices (the S and Note lines) moved to Bluetooth streaming. The company says the number is now in excess of 70% of users.

There’s no USB-C dongle in-box. The rumors got that one wrong. You can pick up a Samsung-branded adapter for $15, or get one for much cheaper elsewhere. There is, however, a pair of AKG USB-C headphones in-box. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Samsung doesn’t get enough credit for its free headphones. I’ve been known to use the pairs with other devices. They’re not the greatest the world, but they’re better sounding and more comfortable than what a lot of other companies offer in-box.

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

Thus far the smart assistant has been a disappointment. That’s due in no small part to a late launch compared to the likes of Siri, Alexa and Assistant, coupled with a general lack of capability at launch. In Samsung’s defense, the company’s been working to fix that with some pretty massive investment and a big push to court developers. There’s hope for Bixby yet, but a majority of users weren’t eager to have the assistant thrust upon them.

Instead, the power button has been shifted to the left of the device, just under the volume rocker. I preferred having it on the other side, especially for certain functions like screenshotting (something, granted, I do much more than the average user when reviewing a phone). That’s a pretty small quibble, of course.

Imaging, meanwhile, is something Samsung’s been doing for a long time. The past several generations of S and Note devices have had great camera systems, and it continues to be the main point of improvement. It’s also one of few points of distinction between the 10 and 10+, aside from size.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel

Wide: 12 megapixel

Telephoto: 12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

[gallery ids="1869716,1869715,1869720,1869718,1869719"]

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Ditto for the improved Super Steady offering, which smooths out shaky video, including Hyperlapse mode, where handshakes are a big issue. It works well, but you do lose access to other features, including zoom. For that reason, it’s off by default and should be used relatively sparingly.

Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right)

Zoom-on Mic is a clever addition, as well. While shooting video, pinch-zooming on something will amplify the noise from that area. I’ve been playing around with it in this cafe. It’s interesting, but less than perfect.

[gallery ids="1869186,1869980,1869975,1869974,1869973,1869725,1869322,1869185,1869184,1869190"]

Zooming into something doesn’t exactly cancel out ambient noise from outside of the frame. Everything still gets amplified in the process and, like digital picture zoom, a lot of noise gets added in the process. Those hoping for a kind of spy microphone, I’m sorry/happy to report that this definitely is not that.

For now, Quick Measure is the one practical use. The app is a lot like Apple’s more simply titled Measure. Fire it up, move the camera around to get a lay of the land and it will measure nearby objects for you. An interesting showcase for AR potential? Sure. Earth shattering? Naw. It also seems to be a bit of a battery drain, sucking up the last few bits of juice as I was running it down.

It was, however, not available at press time. Hopefully it proves to be more than vaporware, especially if that demo helped push some viewers over to the 10+. Without it, there’s just not a lot of use for the depth camera at the moment.

The feature is built into the camera app, using depth sensing to orient live drawings. With the stylus you can draw in space or doodle on people’s faces. It’s neat, the AR works okay and I was bored with it in about three minutes. Like Quick Measure, the feature is as much a proof of concept as anything. But that’s always been a part of Samsung’s kitchen-sink approach — some combination of useful and silly.

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

Like the phone itself, the peripheral has been streamlined with a unibody design. Samsung also continues to add capabilities. It can be used to control music, advance slideshows and snap photos. None of that is likely to convince S Pen skeptics (I prefer using the buttons on the included headphones for music control, for example), but more versatility is generally a good thing.

If anything is going to convince people to pick up the S Pen this time out, it’s the improved handwriting recognition. That’s pretty impressive. It was even able to decipher my awful chicken scratch.

You get the same sort of bleeding-edge specs here you’ve come to expect from Samsung’s flagships. The 10+ gets you a baseline 256GB of storage (upgradable to 512), coupled with a beefy 12GB of RAM (the regular Note is a still good 8GB/256GB). The 5G version sports the same numbers and battery (likely making its total life a bit shorter per charge). That’s a shift from the S10, whose 5G version was specced out like crazy. Likely Samsung is bracing for 5G to become less of a novelty in the next year or so.

The new Note also benefits from other recent additions, like the in-display fingerprint reader and wireless power sharing. Both are nice additions, but neither is likely enough to warrant an immediate upgrade.

There’s not enough on-board to really recommend an upgrade from the Note 8 or 9 — especially at that $1,099 price. People are holding onto their devices for longer, and for good reason (as detailed above). But if you need a new phone, are looking for something big and flashy and are willing to splurge, the Note continues to be the one to beat.

[gallery ids="1869169,1869168,1869167,1869166,1869165,1869164,1869163,1869162,1869161,1869160,1869159,1869158,1869157,1869156,1869155,1869154,1869153,1869152"]

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/30bjXb9 ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

0 notes

sheminecrafts · 5 years

Text

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review

youtube

Samsung’s Galaxy Note gets even larger (and smaller)

[gallery ids="1865978,1865980,1865979,1865983,1865982,1865990,1866000,1866005,1866004"]

Courage.

The headphone jack dies not with a bang, but a Note

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel

Wide: 12 megapixel

Telephoto: 12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

[gallery ids="1869716,1869715,1869720,1869718,1869719"]

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right)

[gallery ids="1869186,1869980,1869975,1869974,1869973,1869725,1869322,1869185,1869184,1869190"]

youtube

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

[gallery ids="1869169,1869168,1869167,1869166,1869165,1869164,1869163,1869162,1869161,1869160,1869159,1869158,1869157,1869156,1869155,1869154,1869153,1869152"]

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/30bjXb9 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

0 notes

managermint · 5 years

Text

[embedded content]

Courage.

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel

Wide: 12 megapixel

Telephoto: 12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right)

[embedded content]

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Source

*Information contained on this page is provided by public rss feeds. Manager Mint Media makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith.

TechCrunch: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review It’s true, you’ve got the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline.

#Bixby #Galaxy Note 10 #Hardware #mobile #reviews #Samsung #samsung galaxy note #samsung galaxy note 10 #TC

0 notes

anditabagas · 5 years

Text

If anything, the Note 10 feels like the true successor to the Note line. The baseline device could have just as well been labeled the Note 10 Lite. That’s something Samsung is keenly aware of, as it targets first-time Note users with the 10 and true believers with the 10 . In both cases, Samsung is faced with the same task as the rest of the industry: offering a compelling reason for users to upgrade.

The common refrain in the earliest days of the phablet was the inability to wrap one’s fingers around the device. It’s a pragmatic issue. Certainly you don’t want to use a phone day to day that’s impossible to hold. But Samsung’s remarkable job of improving screen to body ratio continues here. In fact, the 6.8-inch Note 10 has roughly the same footprint as the 6.4-inch Note 9.

The issue will still persist for those with smaller hands — though thankfully Samsung’s got a solution for them in the Note 10. For the rest of us, the Note 10 is easily held in one hand and slipped in and out of pants pockets. I realize these seem like weird things to say at this point, but I assure you they were legitimate concerns in the earliest days of the phablet, when these things were giant hunks of plastic and glass.

Courage.

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The Note 10 has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide:16 megapixel

Wide:12 megapixel

Telephoto:12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10 with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Note 10 (left), iPhone XS (right)

It was, however, not available at press time. Hopefully it proves to be more than vaporware, especially if that demo helped push some viewers over to the 10 . Without it, there’s just not a lot of use for the depth camera at the moment.

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

You get the same sort of bleeding-edge specs here you’ve come to expect from Samsung’s flagships. The 10 gets you a baseline 256GB of storage (upgradable to 512), coupled with a beefy 12GB of RAM (the regular Note is a still good 8GB/256GB). The 5G version sports the same numbers and battery (likely making its total life a bit shorter per charge). That’s a shift from the S10, whose 5G version was specced out like crazy. Likely Samsung is bracing for 5G to become less of a novelty in the next year or so.

Once again, that’s not an indictment of Samsung, so much as a reflection of where we are in the life cycle of a mature smartphone industry. The Note 10 is another good addition to one of the leading smartphone lines. It succeeds as both a productivity device (thanks to additions like DeX and added cross-platform functionality with Windows 10) and an everyday handset.

Source

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review It’s true, you’vegot the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline.

#Galaxy #Samsung

0 notes

oddepia · 5 years

Text

[ad_1]

Courage.

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel

Wide: 12 megapixel

Telephoto: 12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right)

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

[ad_2] Source link

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review – TechCrunch It’s true, you’ve got the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline.

0 notes

zeusevo · 5 years

Text

It’s true, you’ve got the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline. That same year, Steve Jobs famously joked about phones with screens larger than four inches, telling a crowd of reporters, “nobody’s going to buy that.” In 2019, the average screen size hovers around 5.5 inches. That’s a touch larger than the original Note’s 5.3 inches — a size that was pretty widely mocked by much of the industry press at the time. Of course, much of the mainstreaming of larger phones comes courtesy of a much improved screen to body ratio, another place where Samsung has continued to lead the way.

In some sense, the Note has been doomed by its own success. As the rest of the industry caught up, the line blended into the background. Samsung didn’t do the product any favors by dropping the pretense of distinction between the Note and its Galaxy S line. Ultimately, the two products served as an opportunity to have a six-month refresh cycle for its flagships. Samsung, of course, has been hit with the same sort of malaise as the rest of the industry. The smartphone market isn’t the unstoppable machine it appeared to be two or three years back.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note gets even larger (and smaller)

So what’s a poor smartphone manufacturer to do? The Note 10 represents baby steps. As it did with the S line recently, Samsung is now offering two models. The base Note 10 represents a rare step backward in terms of screen size, shrinking down slightly from 6.4 to 6.3 inches, while reducing resolution from Quad HD to Full HD. The seemingly regressive step lets Samsung come in a bit under last year’s jaw dropping $1,000. The new Note is only $50 cheaper, but moving from four to three figures may have a positive psychological effect for wary buyers. While the slightly smaller screen coupled with a better screen to body ratio means a device that’s surprisingly slim.

If anything, the Note 10+ feels like the true successor to the Note line. The baseline device could have just as well been labeled the Note 10 Lite. That’s something Samsung is keenly aware of, as it targets first-time Note users with the 10 and true believers with the 10+. In both cases, Samsung is faced with the same task as the rest of the industry: offering a compelling reason for users to upgrade. Earlier this week, a Note 9 owner asked me whether the new device warrants an upgrade. The answer is, of course, no. The pace of smartphone innovation has slowed, even as prices have risen. Honestly, the 10 doesn’t really offer that many compelling reasons to upgrade from the Note 8. That’s not a slight against Samsung or the Note, per se. If anything, it’s a reflection on the fact that these phones are quite good — and have been for a while. Anecdotally, industry excitement around these devices has been tapering for a while now, and the device’s launch in the midst of the doldrums of August likely didn’t help much. The past few years have seen smartphones transform from coveted, bleeding-edge luxury to necessity. The good news to that end, however, is that the Note continues to be among the best devices out there. The common refrain in the earliest days of the phablet was the inability to wrap one’s fingers around the device. It’s a pragmatic issue. Certainly you don’t want to use a phone day to day that’s impossible to hold. But Samsung’s remarkable job of improving screen to body ratio continues here. In fact, the 6.8-inch Note 10+ has roughly the same footprint as the 6.4-inch Note 9. The issue will still persist for those with smaller hands — though thankfully Samsung’s got a solution for them in the Note 10. For the rest of us, the Note 10+ is easily held in one hand and slipped in and out of pants pockets. I realize these seem like weird things to say at this point, but I assure you they were legitimate concerns in the earliest days of the phablet, when these things were giant hunks of plastic and glass.

Samsung’s curved display once again does much of the heavy lifting here, allowing the screen to stretch nearly from side to side with only a little bezel at the edge. Up top is a hole-punch camera — that’s “Infinity O” to you. Those with keen eyes no doubt immediately noticed that Samsung has dropped the dual selfie camera here, moving toward the more popular hole-punch camera. The company’s reasoning for this was both aesthetic and, apparently, practical. The company moved back down to a single camera for the front (10 megapixel), using similar reasoning as Google’s single rear-facing camera on the Pixel: software has greatly improved what companies can do with a single lens. That’s certainly the case to a degree, and a strong case can be made for the selfie camera, which we generally require less of than the rear-facing array. The company’s gone increasingly minimalist with the design language — something I appreciate. Over the years, as the smartphone has increasingly become a day to day utility, the product’s design has increasingly gotten out of its own way. The front and back are both made of a curved Gorilla Glass that butts up against a thin metal form with a total thickness of 7.9 millimeters. On certain smooth surfaces like glass, you’ll occasionally find the device gliding slightly. I’d say the chances of dropping it are pretty decent with its frictionless design language, so you’re going to want to get a case for your $1,000 phone. Before you do, admire that color scheme on the back. There are four choices in all. Like the rest of the press, we ended up with Aura Glow.

It features a lovely, prismatic effect when light hits it. It’s proven a bit tricky to photograph, honestly. It’s also a fingerprint magnet, but these are the prices we pay to have the prettiest phone on the block. One of the interesting footnotes here is how much the design of the 10 will be defined by what the device lost. There are two missing pieces here — both of which are a kind of concession from Samsung for different reasons. And for different reasons, both feel inevitable.

The headphone jack dies not with a bang, but a Note

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back: The tipping point, it says, came when its internal metrics showed that a majority of users on its flagship devices (the S and Note lines) moved to Bluetooth streaming. The company says the number is now in excess of 70% of users.

Also, as we’re all abundantly aware, the company put its big battery ambitions on hold for a bit, as it dealt with…more burning problems. A couple of recalls, a humble press release and an eight-point battery check later, and batteries are getting bigger again. There’s a 3,500mAh on the Note 10 and a 4,300mAh on the 10+. I’m happy to report that the latter got me through a full day plus three hours on a charge. Not bad, given all of the music and videos I subjected it to in that time. There’s no USB-C dongle in-box. The rumors got that one wrong. You can pick up a Samsung-branded adapter for $15, or get one for much cheaper elsewhere. There is, however, a pair of AKG USB-C headphones in-box. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Samsung doesn’t get enough credit for its free headphones. I’ve been known to use the pairs with other devices. They’re not the greatest the world, but they’re better sounding and more comfortable than what a lot of other companies offer in-box. Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The other missing piece here is the Bixby button. I’m sure there are a handful of folks out there who will bemoan its loss, but that’s almost certainly a minority of the minority here. Since the button was first introduced, folks were asking for the ability to remap it. Samsung finally relented on that front, and with the Note 10, it drops the button altogether. Thus far the smart assistant has been a disappointment. That’s due in no small part to a late launch compared to the likes of Siri, Alexa and Assistant, coupled with a general lack of capability at launch. In Samsung’s defense, the company’s been working to fix that with some pretty massive investment and a big push to court developers. There’s hope for Bixby yet, but a majority of users weren’t eager to have the assistant thrust upon them. Instead, the power button has been shifted to the left of the device, just under the volume rocker. I preferred having it on the other side, especially for certain functions like screenshotting (something, granted, I do much more than the average user when reviewing a phone). That’s a pretty small quibble, of course.

Bixby can now be quickly accessed by holding down the power button. Handily, Samsung still lets you reassign the function there, if you really want Bixby out of your life. You can also hold down to get the power off menu or double press to launch Bixby or a third-party app (I opted for Spotify, probably my most used these days), though not a different assistant. Imaging, meanwhile, is something Samsung’s been doing for a long time. The past several generations of S and Note devices have had great camera systems, and it continues to be the main point of improvement. It’s also one of few points of distinction between the 10 and 10+, aside from size.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel Wide: 12 megapixel Telephoto: 12 megapixel DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

The main camera array continues to be one of the best in mobile. The inclusion of telephoto and ultra-wide lenses allow for a wide range of different shots, and the hardware coupled with machine learning makes it a lot more difficult to take a bad photo (though believe me, it’s still possible). The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Samsung’s also brought a very simple video editor into the mix here, which is nice on the fly. You can edit the length of clips, splice in other clips, add subtitles and captions and add filters and music. It’s pretty beefy for something baked directly into the camera app, and one of the better uses I’ve found for the S Pen. Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right) Ditto for the improved Super Steady offering, which smooths out shaky video, including Hyperlapse mode, where handshakes are a big issue. It works well, but you do lose access to other features, including zoom. For that reason, it’s off by default and should be used relatively sparingly. Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right) Zoom-on Mic is a clever addition, as well. While shooting video, pinch-zooming on something will amplify the noise from that area. I’ve been playing around with it in this cafe. It’s interesting, but less than perfect. Zooming into something doesn’t exactly cancel out ambient noise from outside of the frame. Everything still gets amplified in the process and, like digital picture zoom, a lot of noise gets added in the process. Those hoping for a kind of spy microphone, I’m sorry/happy to report that this definitely is not that.

The DepthVision Camera is also pretty limited as I write this. If anything, it’s Samsung’s attempt to brace for a future when things like augmented reality will (theoretically) play a much larger role in our mobile computing. In a conversation I had with the company ahead of launch, they suggested that a lot of the camera’s AR functions will fall in the hands of developers. For now, Quick Measure is the one practical use. The app is a lot like Apple’s more simply titled Measure. Fire it up, move the camera around to get a lay of the land and it will measure nearby objects for you. An interesting showcase for AR potential? Sure. Earth shattering? Naw. It also seems to be a bit of a battery drain, sucking up the last few bits of juice as I was running it down.

3D Scanner, on the other hand, got by far the biggest applause line of the Note event. And, indeed, it’s impressive. In the stage demo, a Samsung employee scanned a stuffed pink beaver (I’m not making this up), created a 3D image and animated it using an associate’ movements. Practical? Not really. Cool? Definitely. It was, however, not available at press time. Hopefully it proves to be more than vaporware, especially if that demo helped push some viewers over to the 10+. Without it, there’s just not a lot of use for the depth camera at the moment.

There’s also AR Doodle, which fills a similar spot as much of the company’s AR offerings. It’s kind of fun, but again, not particularly useful. You’ll likely end up playing with it for a few minutes and forget about it entirely. Such is life. The feature is built into the camera app, using depth sensing to orient live drawings. With the stylus you can draw in space or doodle on people’s faces. It’s neat, the AR works okay and I was bored with it in about three minutes. Like Quick Measure, the feature is as much a proof of concept as anything. But that’s always been a part of Samsung’s kitchen-sink approach — some combination of useful and silly.

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow. Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

Samsung’s return of the stylus didn’t catch on for handsets quite like the phablet form factor. They’ve made a pretty significant comeback for tablets, but the Note remains fairly singular when it comes to the S Pen. I’ve never been a big user myself, but those who like it swear by it. It’s one of those things like the ThinkPad pointing stick or BlackBerry scroll wheel. Like the phone itself, the peripheral has been streamlined with a unibody design. Samsung also continues to add capabilities. It can be used to control music, advance slideshows and snap photos. None of that is likely to convince S Pen skeptics (I prefer using the buttons on the included headphones for music control, for example), but more versatility is generally a good thing. If anything is going to convince people to pick up the S Pen this time out, it’s the improved handwriting recognition. That’s pretty impressive. It was even able to decipher my awful chicken scratch.

Once again, that’s not an indictment of Samsung, so much as a reflection of where we are in the life cycle of a mature smartphone industry. The Note 10+ is another good addition to one of the leading smartphone lines. It succeeds as both a productivity device (thanks to additions like DeX and added cross-platform functionality with Windows 10) and an everyday handset. There’s not enough on-board to really recommend an upgrade from the Note 8 or 9 — especially at that $1,099 price. People are holding onto their devices for longer, and for good reason (as detailed above). But if you need a new phone, are looking for something big and flashy and are willing to splurge, the Note continues to be the one to beat.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review It’s true, you’ve got the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline.

0 notes

cyberblogin · 5 years

Text

Courage.

As for why Samsung did it now, the answer seems to be two-fold. The first is a kind of critical mass in Bluetooth headset usage. Allow me to quote myself from a few weeks back:

Obviously the standard no headphone jack things apply here. You can’t use the wired headphones and charge at the same time (unless you go wireless). You know the deal.

The Note 10+ has four, count ’em, four rear-facing cameras. They are as follows:

Ultra Wide: 16 megapixel

Wide: 12 megapixel

Telephoto: 12 megapixel

DepthVision

That last one is only on the plus. It’s comprised of two little circles to the right of the primary camera array and just below the flash. We’ll get to that in a second.

The live focus feature (Portrait mode, essentially) comes to video, with four different filters, including Color Point, which makes everything but the subject black and white.

Note 10+ with Super Steady (left), iPhone XS (right)

Note 10+ (left), iPhone XS (right)

That said, points to Samsung for continuing to de-creepify AR Emojis. Those have moved firmly away from the uncanny valley into something more cartoony/adorable. Less ironic usage will surely follow.

Asked about the key differences between the S and Note lines, Samsung’s response was simple: the S Pen. Otherwise, the lines are relatively interchangeable.

Source link

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review It’s true, you’ve got the Galaxy Note to thank for your big phone. When the device hit the scene at IFA 2011, large screens were still a punchline.

0 notes

blackpjensen · 7 years

Text

Make Money In The Fourth Season: Add Snow Removal

Snow removal presents a business opportunity in the winter months. The middle of the summer, when lawn and landscape work is at its peak, is a tough time to think about snow. But if you’re considering getting into the snow removal business this coming winter, you need to make plans now. We checked in with a few green industry pros who have also gotten into the white business about how and why they decided to offer snow removal, and they shared some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Getting started

Mike Costello, owner of Triple Crown Lawn Care Services in Pennsylvania, began offering residential snow removal when his company first opened for business. “We found that people wanted to write one check to one company; they didn’t want to go a la carte and have one company for mowing, another for mulching and another for snow,” he explains. “It was one of those things that we just decided to do, not only from an income standpoint or to stay busy during the cooler months, but because it met the needs of our clientele. If you don’t offer that service, that means they’re going to call someone else … if someone else can do everything that you can do and they also offer snow removal, that puts you at a disadvantage.”

Chris Wertz, owner of Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape in Dayton, Ohio, operated his lawn and landscape business for two years before beginning to offer snow removal services. “For a couple of years, I was a fair weather guy,” he jokes. He started out small, with just a handful of residential snow accounts. “I bought a Honda snowblower with tracks and an old Ford truck with a plow on it,” he recalls. “We picked up one account and that just started leading to others.”

Demand from landscape customers led to adding snow removal services, says Chris Wertz, owner of Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape.

Image Courtesy Of Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape

Wertz says it was partly demand from his lawn customers that got him into snow removal. “They’d say, ‘Do you do snow?’ and I’d say, ‘Yeah!'” At that point, he was committed. “I just had to take a leap of faith.” The early years of growth are hard, says Wertz. “The first couple of years, when I made a decision to buy a piece of snow equipment, it was a gut-wrenching feeling. I’d go a couple of weeks with an upset stomach, wondering if it was the right move.”

Colarossi Lawn Care in Michigan has offered snow removal services since the company’s founding. As is the case for many lawn and landscape professionals, owner Joe Colarossi says it was a combination of reasons, ranging from additional revenue to retaining employees, that led him to offer snow services. “Many companies in this industry offer snow removal in the winter, given that you already have the trucks, manpower and storage necessary to offer the services. While some companies may not offer winter maintenance services, we find it to be a great source of our annual revenue. It also allows you to keep great employees on staff by providing them with year-round work.”

Sales strategies

Colarossi Lawn Care’s sales manager Tyler Baker says that one of the biggest challenges he faced when he first started selling snow services was how to react to rejection. “Out of every 25 commercial properties, I usually only got two or three that were interested in a quote. Not to mention that those two or three accounts were also receiving three to six other bids from different companies,” Baker explains. “I had to adapt to the fact that you won’t always win every bid, but you can’t get discouraged and have to keep moving forward. That type of mentality has contributed to our continued success.”

Baker says he’s found that being personable and honest with building managers has been the best sales tool; building real relationships can pay off in many ways. “We do pick up a lot of winter accounts as first-time customers,” he explains. “This gives us a chance to impress them with our service, which helps lead to earning the lawn/landscape contract as well.”

Baker says that the snow services sales process usually begins in early October, since many commercial contracts are up for renewal in November. “Over the years we’ve found that anything before October is usually too early for potential commercial accounts,” he advises.

Triple Crown Lawn Care Services focuses its snow services on smaller commercial sites and uses equipment that can be used in all seasons.

Image Courtesy Of Natural Creations Lawns & Landscape

While it started on the residential side, Triple Crown Lawn Care Services has shifted gears to focus on the commercial market in the winter. “I was finding that 90 percent of my problems timing-wise were coming from the residential, and the money really isn’t that great due to the travel involved. You have to get a lot of residentials done in order to turn a decent profit,” says Mike Costello. “So once we dipped our toes into the commercial side of things, profitability went up for sure. We reduced our residential, but adding the commercial definitely really helped our bottom line.”

Making the move to commercial snow was “tricky,” says Costello, in part because his company doesn’t do much commercial landscaping “simply because loyalty is so limited in that — it’s such a cut-throat business.” So instead of going after those types of large commercial snow accounts, he marketed his snow removal services to smaller commercial properties. “We went after the mom-and-pop commercial properties, where you can get a little more of a residential-type connection to people,” Costello explains.

Another benefit of working with smaller commercial properties, says Costello, is that many times you’re dealing directly with the owner, so it’s easier to discuss terms, such as when payments will be received. On larger commercial properties, “sometimes there’s a lot of rungs on the ladder to talk to the right person and get those checks cut,” he notes.

Words of wisdom

Costello says that one of the most important decisions he made was not to grow his snow business too big, too quickly. “I don’t like to take large bites when it comes to snow, just because time is of the essence,” says Costello. Overbooking with, say, lawn maintenance can prove to be challenging, but there’s more time in a week to get the work done. When a storm hits, the snow needs to be removed right away, so there’s no way to spread the work out over time. “Our dependability and our reaction time has been very good, and word travels fast,” he states. “If you’ve got a business and you need to be open, and the competitor booked too many accounts and can’t get to you, [a snow removal company that shows up on time] becomes a hero in a hurry.”

Another of Costello’s guiding principles is to buy vehicles that can serve dual purposes, working both in the summer and in the winter. “When we make our truck purchases, we try to utilize them for four-season operations, whatever job or task we have in front of us,” he explains. “You want expenditures that you can bill out over 12 months, because when it’s just sitting there it’s not making you money.” The tougher purchases are things like plows, Costello adds, because they sit for much of the year without a dual purpose.

Finally, he says that anyone considering getting into snow removal needs to be aware of the expenses involved. There are the obvious ones: trucks, plows, wear and tear on vehicles, etc. But one overlooked cost is insurance. “Especially on the commercial side, once you start getting into bigger properties, they require you to get larger policies, and even umbrella policies,” Costello explains. “The insurance can be surprisingly expensive.”

At Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape, Chris Wertz says that the biggest lesson he’s learned is that “snow is not guaranteed — snow money is not guaranteed. So you need to remember not to base your income or your budget like it’s going to be there every year.” One year, Wertz says he might make $50,000 a year in snow, the next year might be only $10,000 or $20,000. Because of the unpredictability of the business, he advises those just getting started in snow removal to “put all of that snow money away for a rainy day,” especially to help make equipment payments in years when there’s not much snow removal revenue coming in.

In addition, Wertz uses income from the winter months to help with the start-up of the spring lawn and landscape season, covering payroll and other costs before payments start coming in. “So it would be a big loss for us if we didn’t do snow removal; that’s start-up money … as a business, if you don’t have that money in the bank, you might be in trouble.”

In addition to residential accounts, his company also handles about 20 commercial properties in the winter, and he quickly learned that different equipment is needed for those. About two years ago, Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape got a contract for snow services in the parking lot of a major national retailer. “We started doing it with one truck. They didn’t like how long it took, so eventually we have four trucks plowing it. So every year you learn. One important lesson is to be sure that you have the right equipment to do the job,” says Wertz.

He advises a lawn and landscape pro who’s interested in getting into snow removal to try it out as a subcontractor for a year first. “If you decide to take the gamble and buy a truck and a plow, try to find work as sub that first year,” he recommends. “Call other landscape companies that subcontract out work and tell them that if they need something done, you can cover it.” This will provide an opportunity to learn the business without having to find your own customers; you’ll also learn how long different jobs take and what works and what doesn’t, so if you decide to start offering snow services on your own you’ll be much more knowledgeable, says Wertz. “Don’t expect to get top dollar as a subcontractor,” he says; still, having a more dependable amount coming in can help to at least ensure that you’ll be covering your equipment costs in the beginning as you’re learning the ropes.

Colarossi says that snow removal has become very important to his overall business. “Snow removal services are an integral part of our business and actually generate the most revenue, closely followed by landscaping,” he explains. “We couldn’t imagine operating our business without offering snow removal. We have found that many customers, especially commercial, like to stick with one company for all of their needs. By offering lawn care, landscaping and snow removal, we are able to provide customers with year-round property maintenance services, which is a huge benefit.”

Colarossi Lawn Care continues to grow its snow removal business. “Of course there are dangers with growing any part of the business too quickly, especially snow removal. Picking up new customers is great, but you want to be sure that you have enough staff and equipment to service them all in a timely manner,” Colarossi cautions. “We put a lot of time into forecasting the winter workload so that we can plan accordingly before the season starts.”

For him, the keys to success in the snow business are largely the same as they are in any other business: find your niche, identify what you’re good a, and stick to that. And be sure you build a good team around you. “Every member of our staff, from management to our crews, brings their best to work each day and does a great job,” Colarossi states. “It can be challenging to find good employees in this industry, which is why we treat our team with respect and reward their hard work.”

The post Make Money In The Fourth Season: Add Snow Removal appeared first on Turf.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230377 http://ift.tt/2w0ZgiJ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230377

0 notes

blackpjensen · 7 years

Text

Make Money In The Fourth Season: Add Snow Removal

Getting started

Demand from landscape customers led to adding snow removal services, says Chris Wertz, owner of Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape.

Image Courtesy Of Natural Creations Lawn & Landscape

Sales strategies

Triple Crown Lawn Care Services focuses its snow services on smaller commercial sites and uses equipment that can be used in all seasons.

Image Courtesy Of Natural Creations Lawns & Landscape

Words of wisdom

The post Make Money In The Fourth Season: Add Snow Removal appeared first on Turf.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230377 http://ift.tt/2uoEZ6O via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230377

0 notes