#i only like updating when theres the least amount of people online

[veirsewrites]

Finally! The Chapter 3 update is online, click here to read. Please be sure to check the updated content warnings.

This is a partial update, more will come in the next one. I would suggest not caring about saves this round because the next update will require restarting to work properly.

I don't have much to add, please let me know if there are any issues and I hope it's enjoyable!

Thanks for the patience <3

See below for a vampire-esq pic of my cat:

#i only like updating when theres the least amount of people online #bc i cant wait for good hoursq #wtb update #water to blood if #interactive fiction

[unpopularly-opinionated]

I don’t play WoW but I used to play Overwatch and Diablo and this touches on just the general issues that are inside of Activision Blizzard right now regarding the major decline of World of Warcraft and how they’re losing to Final Fantasy XIV, how if the latest WoW expansion or Overwatch 2 flop as they’re projected to do then Blizzard’s most definitely going to pivot almost entirely to mobile games, and how the differences in age demographics are actually dividing the company into multiple camps.

It’s important to note two things: 1) this could be fake but also 2) the link came from Grummz, a former team lead on WoW and producer on Diablo II and Starcraft. It still could be fake despite this, but if he’s sharing it then I feel like there’s at least some measure of truth in this.

Transcription below in case this gets deleted and/or you don’t wanna click the link. Warning, it’s fairly long.

“I’m dropping this here after getting chewed out for three hours over shit the chewee did at work so fuck it. Assume larp and let me vent.”

>Shadowlands is a shitshow. Critical response, Player drop off and just about every engagement metric outside of cash shop have been catastrophic. No higher up expected this because of their “we are too big to fail, if we built it they will come” mentality. They refuse to accept their focus on the world being a begrudged mechanic to funnel players to raiding is not appealing to the player base at large because it appeals to them. They have spent the last 4 months trying to course correct but there is no solid direction and the response to 9.1 has only made things worse.

>Sylvanas is planned to replace the Arbiter despite so many people in the company and god knows how many online saying this would be a total replication of Kerrigans storyline in Starcraft 2 that killed none competitive interest in the brand entirely and you can only go “no, no they WILL like it eventually” for so many real world years before its time to change course. Thus far that has not happened.

>The elephant in the room is FFXIV. To the people in charge they are acting like this came out of nowhere and don’t even seem to understand why its drawing players away in their tens of thousands. We have all tried to highlight things it is doing that are clearly appealing to an mmo audience and not, in my opinion, focussing more on mobile game style retention traps to keep MAU users and habit forming personalities logging in. Its not that they don’t care. They just seem so pig headed and digging their heels in with their fingers in their ears thinking all the problems will go away because WoW is “too big to fail”, there will never be real competition and “they will keep coming back”. But they aren’t coming back anymore. Not in the numbers they used to.

>The people making the spending choices know this. The new model for WoW is market the hell out of a expansion pack for a huge quarter then use 6 month lock ins to pad numbers for the quarters after that. Even if corona had not happened 9.1 still would have been dropping after the initial 6 month subs expired to “keep the chain holding”.

>The mood in the company is tense but also very much “its just a rough transition period”. Activision has been pushing hard for Blizzard to release more regular product and to generate more income per user. As far as i know this is going to be a transition over the next 5 years to a much larger mobile/tablet gaming focus. By all accounts not just WoW but Overwatch was intended to be the moneymaker in the interim but once again someone had the bright idea to kill a game casual players loved on the alter of e-sports hoping for another Brood War. From what i hear the “told you so’s” were loud and a lot of people walked beyond Kaplan.

>The sentiment that was shared quietly in private but being spoken more often is simply that the leadership at Blizzard are not bad people, nor incompetent people but people who had to fill seats left when the old guard jumped ship wether they were suited for it or not. Brack is a genuinely good man out of his depth, Ion is a fantastic raid designer put in charge of designing a virtual world he has no interest or real ideas for and so on. They have been taking form the roles they excel at to be put in positions where they get to do far less of that purely because there is nobody left with the experience to do so and the trickle down is a lack of concrete direction, ambition and focus.

>2021 has seen the playerbase, media and gaming at large “turn” on WoW to a degree i don’t think the leads in their “positivity dojo” bubble considered possible. Its gone from people going “This is how Blizz needs to fix WoW!” to “WoW is no longer salvageable, time for greener pastures” and i think on some level this was never considered as a possibility so there have never been any major plans beyond the usual “try and minimise player drop off by arranging releases around competitors launching updates/products”. The official forums being filled with talk of FFXIV and worse “why do we actually pay a sub?” hasn’t helped.

>There have been some testing the waters lately from certain higher ups if we can remove the line “No King Rules Forever”. Read into that what you will.

>There are still arguments going on about the Kael’thas Voice actor shitshow. I don’t know much about it but i know its heated, wouldn’t be the first time a knee jerk reaction only seemed to generate bad press. We lost a noticeable amount of pvp engagement after the Swifty thing.

>The Preach interview was treated as a disaster and there was talk of more strongly vetting interviewers for “bad actors” and only engaging with a list of questions Blizzard provides. Some pointed out that could just be used to create some form of Fireside Chat akin to the FFXIV “Live letters” but that fell on deaf ears.

>The two sentiments right now among the team are either “we really need a win” or “theres a dedicated cabal of internet trolls out to kill WoW”. Right now we are crunching hard to get 9.2 ready to wrap up the jailors storyline so we can get an expansion out early 2022. If that doesn’t happen there are talks of major shakeups coming down from Activision that have been threatened for a few  years now. Its an all hands on deck feeling thats been around to some degree since the “Is this an out of season April Fools Joke” Blizzcon. A make or break deadline is coming closer and things like Diablo 4 were not planned before then. Blizzard needs a significant win not just in initial profit but consumer goodwill. Nobody likes working at what the public now seems to see as “the bad guy” of the mmo industry.

>This has also made new hires decline. Not significantly but the “you WANT Blizzard on your resume” line doesn’t seem to have the appeal it used to. This has lead to more hiring via friend of a friend, to some rumblings about nepotism, and people severely lacking in experience “because they get great twitter optics”.

>On the topic of Twitter we are not being told to “disengage” from it. Multiple employees like Nervig and Holisky publicly attacking paying customers because they got too heated and couldn’t keep quiet is bad press that could have been avoided. A email reminder has gone around more than once lately stating “if you are not customer relations you should not be representing the company to customers, especially if you cannot remain professional”.

>Lastly the biggest elephant in the room is “yo’ boy” Asmongold. The newer hires cannot stand him. They have used terms like “toxic masculinity” and “dogwhistles to dangerous males” while some of the oldest crowd still remaining have called him “based” or “telling it like it is” which has lead to friction to put it mildly. People are told not to talk about him and the recent FFXIV stuff only made it all worse. The idea that an outside element can have such an effect on the product genuinely upsets people. Like Zach is engaging in some malicious act of cyberwarfare. Many of us have point out the now famous quotes by Naoki Yoshida about understanding that players will drift and we need to make something worth coming back to because they want to but some people for lack of a better word see out customers -or “consumers” as they refer to them nowadays- as some kind of antagonistic relationship where the goal is not being an entertainer putting on a show for a crowd but some kind of game hunter trying to trap a large, profitable kill. I wish i could blame Activision but this is a sentiment from more of the younger crowd than the “tech boomers”. Which personal opinion is probably why so many folks like Metzen and Morheim left.

>Before you ask, yes the topic of “wokeness” has shown up in group talks. Its not all some grand sjw conspiracy, people really do want to feel welcome and represented. However the “we need everything veto’ed by people not working on it to see if its inoffensive and bland enough” rubs some of us the wrong way. Like anything in life you can take something too far and lose sight of the core ideals and with everything gone on since Blitzchung it feels like people are forming little factions to pull people in different directions to decide “What Blizzards identity is now” and how to appeal to new players. There has been some drop offs with “go woke go broke” as the only answer in the survey when unsubbing but honestly we are losing subs in unforseen numbers anyway and still making more money than ever through cash shop “heavy users” so it honestly doesn’t make an impact.

>All in all things are rough right now. Blizzard doesn’t have the love of the customers anymore, is no longer treated as an industry giant and while D4,D2R and Immortal aren’t going to kill Diablo even if they fail the sentiment for World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2 are a lot more tense and stressful. The phrase “it might be good to brush up on your mobile development portfolio if we get another underperformer” has been doing the rounds a lot. If Shadowlands continues its stark decline and Overwatch 2 is looking to underperform like its current projections suggest i think the Blizzard of a few years from now will be imitating King a lot more than trying to learn any lessons from Square Enix’s mmo division.

#random #video games #Blizzard #Activision #WoW #World of Warcraft #Diablo #Overwatch #Starcraft #Activision Blizzard

[greenninjagal-blog]

currently vibing in a two-week lockdown, can you share some of your favorite fics? i need some new things to read, and I've got too much time on my hands-

Aw man, same! The rest of my actual Spring Semester got turned online… Let’s see…..Fic recs for the pseudo End of the World (Courtesy of AO3, arranged by most prominent ship!) Keep in mind that my descriptions are shorter and written mostly for comedic effect than the actual fics, so if something looks interesting Click it! Get more info about it! Don’t just take my word! I tried my best to get a lot of variety of fics and topics and tropes, as well as authors that might not be as well known! Uhhh here are the links to lists I’ve already made for various other reasons check out my Fic Rec Masterlist!

I also am including various of my fav authors masterlists for funsies!

jungle321jungle’s || Max-isTired’s || TrashficParlour’s || Lefaystrent’s || Mine!

Completed Fics

A Deal in which Virgil tries to summon a familiar and gets a Circle King instead. And he’s really pretty. (Anxceit)

Love Like You in which Virgil decides to give up looking for a romantic partner and considers adopting instead. He finds more than he’s looking for with a set of twins and the man who watches over them (Anxceit)

A Dragon’s Tail in which Logan is cursed to be a Dragon by his best friends stepmother, Virgil is struggling to learn a power he can’t control, Patton who’d rather marry a servant than the Prince, and Roman has no clue what is going on but the Prince he’s supposed to be saving can probably kick his ass. (Logicality, Prinxiety)

A Game of Vice in which Remus kidnaps Roman and turns it into a game of who can come save him from his lonely tower. (Logicality, Prinxeity) 

double down with the paradigms in which Logan tries to explain away his own OCD while dealing with the emotions he has for a certain Pre-Vet. Excellent depiction of OCD, made me cry, 300/10 would read again. (Logicality, Prinxiety)

It Takes Two to Tango in which Roman begs his brother, Logan, to let him go back in time to meet a famous dancer. Falling in Love was not part of the plan. (Prinxiety, Logicality)

A favorite star in the heavens in which everyone has at least one soulmate. They’re luckily enough to have three each. (LAMP) 

Forgotten Forests and Magnified Myths in which Logan finds out very suddenly that he has the passive ability to talk to dragons. (DAMP, Remilie)

Sense5 in which five people in different countries are suddenly psychically linked together and uh…yeah fun times. (DLAMP)

Stray Hearts Are Subject To Change in which black cat hybrid Virgil plans to die very heroically in an alley and Roman completely messes up that plan by being a decent human being. (Prinxiety, Logicality)

Hidden In Shadows in which Virgil is the boogieman every adult warned you about but he doesn’t actually enjoy being scary. Good thing the three Sanders kids aren’t scared of anything. (Not so good for their very confused Dad who isn’t sure what to do about their new imaginary friend)

Paved with Good Intentions in which the dark sides agree to send Virgil to the light sides as a way to get Thomas to listen to them more. Now if Virgil can just get along with the Light sides enough to actually start making some progress…

Absent Gods and Silent Tyranny or: How Logan Learned to Stop Over Thinking and Love Everyone in which Logan is a morally grey scientist who just works for supervillains because they pay well. He doesn’t expect someone like Virgil to change that.

Series

Clouds and Moss AU in which the sides are gods and its very gay and very good. (Intrulogical, Roceit)

Colors in which Logan is an excellent Dad, Virgil is an amazing son, and the world is very colorful. (Logicality)

Labeled in which Logan is a famous superhero, Patton is a doctor, and they adopt the would-be super villain and everything is soft and lovely and I cry at the purity. (Logicality, Remilie)

Fbi!au in which the sides work for the fbi and I diligently reread these series of oneshots for a daily dose of serotonin!  (Logince, Moxiety)

Growing Old is More Fun with You in which Patton is a PTA dad and so is Deceit and they have a “rivalry”. (Mociet)

Gilded Cage in which Roman is forced to dance for the fairy queen whenever she wants it. (Prinxiety)

Renegades! in which the sides live in a dystopia and fight the government while being completely in love with each other. (Prinxiety, Logiciality) 

Love and Other Fairytales in which a couple decides to keep their changling and their actual son, a child is cursed gifted a voice that makes people do whatever he says, a boy makes a rotten deal for the sake of his friend, and centuries before any of this, a fae prince is tricked into an endless sleep by his brother. 

The Vampire Hunting Vampire in which Virgil was turned into a monster and LPR slowly convince him he’s not as bad as he thinks he is. Through cuddles. (LAMP, DLAMP)

Wasteland, Baby! in which there are things in the woods and Patton gets,,, intimate with them. On purpose! (LAMP)

Destined in which Damian has successfully ignored his Soulmates for five years and he planned on doing it for much longer but on his twentieth birthday fate intervenes with a second soultrait that forces him to come face to face with all of them. (DLAMP)

Old Gods in which Gods sometimes walk the earth and Remus is pleased to hear that people are still making offerings to him– wait that is not a goat. And other fun stories!

Sit back and watch the world go by in which Virgil is a human abducted by alien smugglers, befriends Patton, breaks out, and everyone fears humans as space orcs, almost as much as Virgil is afraid of them. 

Teaming the Pieces Together in which Thomas is a pokemon trainer and eevees just…click with him.

Tales from the Dark Sides in which the author provides a lovely hub of works where Virgil is abused by OC dark sides and DLMPR are there to help patch him up.

Uncle Emile and the Super Nephews in which Emile gets custody of his six nephews and tries to bond with them. They in turn try very hard not to tell him they have superpowers.

Cuffed Universe in which Remus is a cop chasing after a hacker, Logan breaks the laws and Virgil would just like tO KEEP ONE JOB WITHOUT ONE OR BOTH OF THE OTHERS DRAGGING HIM INTO THEIR SHIT. (Analomus)

Ongoing Fics

The Origin in which space travel via Thomas Sanders’s ship SS Revelation gets more complicated when the Planets themselves turn out to be entities who aren’t all on board with humanity spreading to the rest of the solar system. (Remile) 

Delicato in which Logan and Patton are music professors with very different conceptions of music, and Virgil and Roman are students in both their classes who just want them to kiss already. (Logicality, Prinxiety)

Coming out of The Shadows in which a small mutant child Virgil is treated as subhuman because of his uncontrolled ability to manipulate shadows up until a scientist buys him. (Royality)

Falling Stars At My Command in which Roman wishes on a star and Patton reaps the benefits while Logan unfortunately gets dragged along for the ride. (Royality) 

Sugar in which Patton has three sons and no free time to bother with a relationship while he’s trying to manage bills. At least until Roman walks into his life. Sugar Daddy anyone? (Royality) 

A Man, a Snake, and a Rat in which Logan, Deceit, and Remus become college roomates (Intruloceit) 

a.s.h.es, ashes (We all fall down) in which after Logan almost dies during one of his recuse missions, him and his partner start to dig into the superhero agency they’re employed by and stumble into something far bigger than they expected. (Logicality, Prinxiety, LAMP? LAMP)

Keep him safe in which Detective Logan falls for the owner of his new favorite bakery while his partner Roman falls for the gang member they’re chasing. Ft: emotions, a pet rat, dealing with delusions 101, trauma, and family so gooey it literally makes me melt whenever it updates. I love this fic so much. (Advertises as Logicality and Prinxiety but theres so much LAMP I can’t not put it down here)

Multitudes in which Virgil works at a coffeeshop, pines over the customers that come in, and wonders why they all tip him so well. (LAMP)

Songbird in which the only thing keeping Virgil’s parents alive is his voice: the moment the (new) King gets tired of listening to him its off with all their heads. And Virgil’s okay with that, he is…. Until three visiting nobles leaving him wishing for his freedom for the first time since he was ten. (LAMP)

Shatter in which Logan gets fed up with not being listened to, and takes some poor advice from Rage, which ends with the entire Mindscape being turned upside down and inside out. Now its up to Deceit fix it all. (aka the author decided it was about high time Deceit got some love and appreciation and I’m out here living for it.) (DAMP)

Incredible Cosmic Power in which Virgil awakens some genies by accident and they refuse to let him go back to living a relatively normal peaceful life. (DLAMP)

Plea for my New Self in which Vampire Virgil decides he wants to start over again, and goes back to college to work on coding. There he proceeds to do reckless good with his absurd amount of wealth and a “fuck it” attitude. Actually one of my favorite things ever okay. I love this one so much. (DLAMP)

Your Wish Is My Command in which Thomas accidentally rubs six lamps and becomes the glorified babysitter to six jinn who definitely don’t trust him. But its fineeee. (DLAMP)

6 Dads in which Deceit, Emile, Remus, Roman, Thomas, and Remy make a relationship work and their children aren’t sure how but go along with it anyway.

Rebel Rebel in which Thomas, a well respected man, visits the Imagination, for some pleasure business as a one time thing. Except that he keeps coming back. Maybe maybe falls in love with one, two, thr– all of the men who work there. 

A New Kind of Experiment  in which Virgil runs away from home, and ends up kidnapped by merman, and somehow he doesn’t mind that much.

Becoming His Own Hero in which everyone has to juggle their superhero lives with their regular lives and sometimes…its just hard.

don’t wanna be a tragedy in which brothers Roman and Remus get a house and subsequently find out its totally, completely, 100% haunted.

Don’t You, Forget About Me in which the author recreates Breakfast club and does it spectacularly.

Heart’s Heroes in which Patton may be a villain but that does not mean he wants to see the child heroes of the city dead.

Mortals and Fae in which Deceit barely escapes the wrath of his town when they all turn against him. Dying, he stumbles into a fairy circle hoping that with his name the fae make his death short and sweet. Big Shock for him when he wakes up with a Fairy Prince swearing to protect him.

Sanders Family in which Thomas adopts six kids and has no regrets about it.

How Not to Go About an Important Inspection in which after a devastating betrayal the crew of the USS Bifrost is docked for repairs and the crew just wants to go back to being a normal family but Command is insisting on an inspection to ensure nothing so…drastic occurs again.

Symbiotic in which certain Vampires have a vemon that leaves with victims craving getting their blood drunken. Deceit, one of these Victims, continues to burn bridges because that’s easier than admitting he might need help dealing with this. 

#greengabs #fic recs #Lockdown 2020 list #god this took me like eight hours to put together #I hope this helps

[aprilwritesabook]

I appolgize in advance for this long ass post haha.

Alright, so here's the deal. This post is gonna be part rant, part confessional, and part inspirational speech. So if your following this blog purely for the updates on my books you can skip it haha.

I know a currently published author. I used to kinda be friends with them in highschool, but it was more like a friend of a friend type deal. But I digress. Point is. They recently released there second book on Amazon. And I really wanna be happy and proud of them, and to see it as an inspirational thing, buuuuut I'm almost 100 sure they are actually a fraud?

And that's not me being bitter. I really really really wish this wasn't the case. But I have the evidence to back this theory up.

1- they claimed that there first book sold out multiple times. And to be fair this one might be at least partially true. Its rated pretty high on amazon, But then again they only have 4 people rate it and three of those people are the editor formattor and artist for the book. Soooo. Yeah I sure hope they rated it well.

2- they are constantly posting stories to there social media that are far fetched at best. They work in a bookstore. And almost every other week its a slightly diffrent story about a customer who "didn't even know" he was the author who would "burst into tears" the second he told them what the book was about because they were just Soooo touched by the message that they wept to a total stranger??? If that had happened even once it would have been an odd occurance. And this is something that apparently happens alllll the time to them. (I hate to drudge up old memes like this, but)

3- this person has recently made a tick tock and a youtube channel. And like, the content isssss questionable? And that's not necessarily a crime or anything. But they give updates about it on social media as if they are speaking to a mass of adoring fans and like...you can see how many subs and views a person has. We know he dosn't have a big fan base. And I know that sounds harsh. But like, some more gullible people have asked him for advise on how to be "successful" and "gain a following", and he answers them with authority. Like he has the answers even though he clearly dosn't? And that feels really... disingenuous at best?

4- along the same vein as 3. They recently made a post on twitter about how they are "overwhelmed by the amount of love and support they have found on the site" and how they get "some many heartfelt messages." Annnd again. I clicked the account. They literally have 5 followers. And not a SINGLE person has EVER liked, retweeted, or commented on a SINGLE tweet of theirs. Not one. Soooo like not only are you pretending to have a huge fan base that dosn't exist your also making up there engagement with you? Which this alone I feel brings validate to my doubts about the other things. Clearly they arn't above blatant lying and extreme over exaggeration. And also they either don't realize we can all seeeee these facts. Or they don't think anyone will actually check and call them on it ?????

Now there's a lot of other examples I could give. But my point isn't to put this ONE person on blast. I'm not trying to start beef or cause damage to their reputation or anything. Which is why I won't say their name or what there books are. The only way you'd know who I'm talking is if you also knew them in real life. In which case you either already know all this, or you should, so you don't fall victim to their lies.

The reason I'm saying any of this at all is because I think I know why they are doing it. And why so many indie authors or would be media mogels feel the need to do this.

The issue with trying to "build an audience" and "self market" yourself, is that you really only have 2 ways of guaranteed sucess.

You either need to have a pre established audience based on success you've already had in the past. (IE youtubers and movie stars writing successful books cause there fans will buy anything of there's reguardless.)

Or you need to buy your way in. Be it by quitting your day job to make social media your full time job, buying ads, hiring a social media person,or hiring a team of people with their own audiences (audio book narrators, cover artists, managers, ect)

And if you don't ALREADY have an audience, and you don't have the funds to BUY your way in, then your just gonna have to get real lucky.

You can be lucky for knowing somebody with an "in". They work in publishing, or advertising, or they're your rich uncle. Just someone who you can go to to get that boost one way or another to get one of the first two methods going for you.

You can get lucky by commenting the right thing on the right post and gaining followers that way. Or by being in the right place at the right time to meet somebody important.

You can be lucky by having lots of supportive friends and family who will promote you and your work FOR you.

Or lastly (and this is in the realm of being a one in a million case here. So it basically never happens without one of the other things I mentioned also being true.)

You can be lucky by working REALLY hard, and being REALLY talented, and having the world actually NOTICE YOU somehow? Just one person with influence who can find you in your dark hole of insignificance and shine a light on you so now the world can actually seee you.

And that sucks.

You could write the greatest book in the whole world. Truly a masterpiece. But if nobody buys it or reads it because they don't know who you are??? Then it dosen't matter does it?

It sucks Soooo hard.

Because untill you get those people with influence to shine a light on you, theres nothing you can do. And the market is soooooo drenched in new indie authors that the odds of the right people finding and liking your book are slim to none.

Its super unfair.

The people who have the influence arn't gonna buy a book with 0 reviews and no social media following.

Why? Because THEIR brand depends on only recommending the good shit. And they need to find that good shit NOW. If they read every book written by nobody's online, they'd have to wade through ALOT of garbage. wasting all their valuable time and money till they found something worthy. And honestly, from a business stand point, you cant really fault them for that

This is where the lies come from.

So basically no matter how you look at it, or what your strategy is, In order to get fans, you need to ALREADY HAVE THEM.

When your just starting out. And I mean truly at square one. It really feels like the only way to "make it" is to "fake it"

If you PRETEND to have a big following. And you PRETEND your books are selling really well already. And you PRETEND that people care deeply about you and your work... Then there is a chance that nobody will do the homework to find out its all a lie.

And if they think your successful already, then it sends a message to the consumers brains of "well they must be good. Everybody loves it/them".

It sucks that so many people who have found real success did so with lies, cash, and being already well connected.

And then they buy it, and they follow you, and the confirmation bias sets in, and eventually you'll dupe enough people into liking you that you don't HAVE to lie anymore.

Those of us with no cash and too high a conscious to lie our way to the top are left with virtually no chance of succeeding no matter how hard we work or how good our content is.

And I'm not claiming to be "better than" or "more worthy" than anyone else. I wanna make it clear that of your in the portion of having it fake it so you can follow your dreams then more power to you. Its a valid strategy. I hate that it works and I hate that its the only option sometimes. But I don't hate the people as creators for "doing what it takes." I get it. Really I do.

And it suckks major ass that so many people feel like this is the only way.

My whole point here. Is that we have slowly built a system where this is our reality. And honestly? End of the day? There's not a damn thing we can do to change it at this point.

In a perfect world made of unicorns and puppies. I could say "hey lets all go ready books by completely unknown authors. Be the change you wanna see in the world." But at the end of the day, especially in the unfiltered world of self publishing, It would be a complete shot in the dark to spend your resources on something completely unknown. We rely on word of mouth, and "best sellers" and high following to do the work of filtering out the bad stuff for us and it would be unrealistic if not impossible to go back on it now. Even if we wanted to there algorithms and shit built into the code. You'll never find the books that Amazon dosnt want you to find unless you search for it directly.

Now comes the confession/inspirational bit

I know all of the above to be true...But I'm choosing not to care

I'm not gonna lie my way to the top. I'm not gonna hide my struggles out of fear of seeming inferior. So here goes

I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I've been working on it, and I've gotten so much better in recent years. But there are always gonna be times when I slip up and my mental illnesses take over

When I was writing my first book I felt really empowered and good about myself for finally getting past all my own barriers and following my dreams.

And then once I was done writting and editing and I was ready to show the world and get feedback. I flopped.

I couldn't find anyone willing to beta read. Those who said they would do it (even people who claimed they "couldn't wait") ghosted me after I actually sent it to them

I was hoping to get 20 people. I really wanted it to be the best it could be. Only 11 actully signed up. Of that 11, 5 people actually read it: My spouse, my brother, my best friend, and 2 others. Those two others read the first bit I sent them, took a few weeks to get back to me, said they loved it, but then Neeeeeeeeever got back to me when I sent them the next chunk.

Now you can look at all that and come to the conclusion that it sucks. I know I sure did.

The struggles at each step made me doubt myself more and more to the point that I almost gave up writing all together.

And I didn't want to take about it or how it was making me feel, even though it was having a serious impact on me. I wanted to bottle it all up and let it consume me. Allllll because I didn't want people online to write me off as a failure before even giving me the chance.

I wasn't lying about being successful. I was just trying to hide the fact that I wasn't.

And that's almost as bad. Because then all the new authors just feel worse about themselves and their journey because they think they are the only ones.

Your not alone.

Everyone is struggling.

We just aren't talking about it.

I haven't written a word in over a week because I've been so afraid my second book will be dead on arrival like my first.

And I KNOW somewhere out there is someone just like me whose thinking of giving up.

Don't.

Just keep going.

Do your best. And then come find another struggling writer and share with each other. The world outside might not understand your struggle. But another author might.

We can't change the market. We can't change the way social media works, or how people decide if they will buy things

But what we CAN change, is whether those of us within the community want to be honest about our struggles and frustrations. Or if we want to hide them away and lie about them for the sake of making more sales

I think by being honest with one another we can create a better network.

That way the next time you feel like garbage for not being an "instant celebrity" like everyone else. you can look at the community and realize that you were never the problem

If we just keep making new writing friends our collective reach will eventually take hold in the outside world. Don't wait for a random influencer to notice you. Just make one friend at a time. Be known amongst your peers and maybe the rest will follow

And if your a writer desperate for feedback, or just a friend to share your troubles with. Hit me up. My inbox is always open.

#writing advice #novel writing #my writing #writers #writing #writblr #writeblr #my rants #sorry for the rant #personal rant #stop lying #be honest #make friends #fake followers #influencer #kindle #amazon kdp #indie author #author #poetry #not an update #the strugge is real #beta reader #beta request #partner #ignore me #long post

[nbapprentice]

there’s so, so, SO much nonsense surrounding this game that i’m gonna do my best to separate it into digestible bits, with its own categories. even then this is... wow. it’s big.

Warning tags will be added at the start of every section, but the general gist is: incest, pedophilia mentions, fetishization of rape and abuse, fetishization of mlm, fetishization of people of color, racism, ableism, nb erasure and transphobia. aside of the warnings, this post will also touch upon Scummy Business Practices

let’s get going

Dana Rune’s and Elle’s lack of moral fiber: #incest #pedophilia#rape and abuse fetishization #homophobia

tl;dr: dana loves incest porn, elle loves guy on guy rape, and the both of them are friends with at least one pedophile

dana rune has run, is still running an incest zine (please visit my faq on what i think about “thats not really incest” and “it’s just fictional!”). The Arcana, as a dev team, clearly does not care, as shown in their e-mail responses.

dana also very much doesn’t care and has reacted to any criticism on this by dismissing people and blocking actual incest victims who tried to contact her about it claiming it was for her “mental health”

in some tweets she claims she “interprets” the characters as not siblings, but she never really cared enough to cover her ass when it all began (she happily admits she’d “cross the incest line”)

dana has commissioned artists who also ship incest, draw near-pedophilic art that’s supposed to pass as acceptable because the character involved is supposedly not a minor despite looking like a child down to wearing pigtails (the character is also wearing a racist-ass belly dancer outfit), AND even made white-washed fanart of The Arcana.

dana follows twitter user kapymui who also produces incestuous Fire Emblem art

dana has retweeted omocat long after it came out that omocat is, at the very least, consuming pedophilic content (on “omocat didn’t know what shota meant!”: yes they did)

moving on, elle has a long, long, LONG history of fetishizing mlm and the rape and abuse that comes with yaoi and had a rich, RICH “yaoi” tag before they deleted their tumblr

they curiously deleted their tumblr right after i made this reblog

shortly after that, tumblr user thalassiq remade and started attacking and insulting any blogs criticizing them - even people providing support in IMs. Since this doesn’t match Dana and Elle’s normal pity parties I’m personally willing to believe they were just a person wanting to start shit - but it’s so telling how Elle used this chance to dismiss everyone who disagrees with them by calling them “children” and did not even bother to offer a kind word to people who were harassed and even had their trauma mocked by this person. It costs 0 dollars to say “that was not me but I’m sorry about people who were hurt.”

Dana and Elle are close with Ava’s Demon creator Michelle Czajkowski aka that one person who endorses child porn of her characters, and even had her draw a promo image for the game. Michelle has been creating highly sexualized content of her minor characters for a while now.

ok so elle and dana are gross freaks, how is that related to the game?

oh it’s very very related

Dana Rune’s and Elle’s lack of moral fiber that’s Actually Inside The Game or The Game’s Blog: now with more #racism #fetishization of poc and mlm #whitewashing #fat hate #pedophilia #nb erasure #transphobia

tl;dr: the arcana is filled to the brim with racism! so much of it! haha holy shit! and that’s not even where it ends!!!

their game is rated PG-13 but includes incredibly sexual situations such as Julian making this fucking face while getting off on pain. This isn’t the only time Dana and Elle use their videogame aimed at young teens to showcase their kinks and fetishes. I have no issue with NSFW or titillating content, as long as it’s rated accordingly. This content is NOT and it’s a blatant disregard for their audience just to have a larger, more pliable demographic and have more money sent their way.

if you start your argument with “well, teenagers look at porn” 1. shut up 2. theres a HUGE difference between teenagers going after adult content aimed at adults, and adults creating content they know will be seen by kids barely starting puberty

as pointed above, dana has 0 qualms literally commissioning people who make whitewashed fanart of her own fucking game that’s supposed to be all about the inclusivity and safe spaces

thearcanagame blog has a pattern of reblogging whitewashed fanart (before you come in swinging with the good ole “ITS THE LIGHTING”: 1. no it isnt 2. the artist should’ve picked better lightning then 3. i draw and post shit online too so dont come telling me i just dont understaaaand),

fanart of their fat characters showed skinnier than they are in their sprites (although to be real for a moment - Portia is curvy at most and them behaving she’s fat rep is HILARIOUS).

going back to NSFW content: nadia and asra are overwhemlingly sexualized in the game, and were the first to have sexualized CGs and sprites introduced.

CGs: Asra’s here, here aND HERE, Nadia’s here with a NSFW warning because she’s just got her whole fucking ass out. Sprites: Asra’s thank god for whoever compiled it all in one image, Nadia’s and once again, NSFW warning lmfao!

Julian’s sprites on the other hand are noticeably tamer, including the one where he’s fucking strapped in leather. His only sexual (NSFW warning because its literally softcore tentacle porn WHICH, ONCE AGAIN, SHOULDN’T BE PUT IN A GAME AIMED AT 13YOS) CGs were also included months after Nadia and Asra received any of theirs.

Through all of the updates, people have constantly requested that Asra and Nadia’s sexualization be toned down, and time after time The Arcana just churned out fetishistic, hypersexualized content at an absurd rate, especially when compared to the one white love interest.

Oh, speaking of the one white love interest: Julian is based off of Jeff Goldblum (this is not spectulation - they p much bring it up at any given time) but like. If Jeff Goldblum was white. They base their favorite love interest off their supposed favorite man in the world but casually leave his skin tone behind. Lmao.

they also play favorites very obviously - in the prologue, Nadia and Asra have a romance paid scene each. Julian has a scene... that requires no coins. Julian was also the first LI to receive three CGs, two of them requiring no coins, while both Asra’s and Nadia’s first CGs were behind a paywall

Dana and Elle have been notoriously skittish about confirming or denying their characters’ ethnicities. After hyping for weeks on thearcanagame that they would confirm the character’s races they basically made a post that amounted to “well they’re not white lol!”

they only relented after the perfectly understandable outrage... and posted a thread about it on Elle’s twitter. Nothing on the actual thearcanagame blog. Anyway, here’s the thread. Note how there’s mention of Julian being Jeff Goldblum... but nothing about him and Portia being Jewish (or “fantasy Jewish” as it were).

The one time they did confirm their jewishness dana then backpedaled and said she shouldn’t have done that lol.

another fun tidbit of how well The Arcana handles race and how much it cares about feedback from fans: an ask was sent about an anon begging for Nadia to step on them. The blog, with the finesse of a bunch of horny dumbasses, didn’t just publish the ask, but approved of it (even though the fans of color had long, long, LONG been telling everyone not to fetishize Nadia into a “step on me kween” wet dream). People were outraged, of course, and the blog ~apologized~ and said they were still learning.... then a new chapter included a scene of Nadia stepping on the Apprentice. 🙃

not to mention elle, on their twitter, made a passive aggressive “women can be doms?” tweet, trying to twist it into a “yr oppressing women” angle (when the issue is that women of color are always constantly portrayed as aggressive and domineering)

Now for a wombo combo of racism and Elle’s fetishization of mlm:

the devs have spoken at length of how Julian’s and Asra’s relationship was quite unhealthy. In a paid scene in Asra’s route, they’re depicted as Asra being disgusted w Julian touching him+Julian following Asra to his shop when Asra refused his offer to go with him (aka julian... stalked him lmfao).

.......... this scene is promptly followed by a highly sexual scenario where Julian’s pain fetish is played up. Remember how this game is rated PG-13? Me neither. Asra’s previous disgust with Julian is also forgotten, for some reason (and by some reason i mean Elle wants to make them fuck w/o buildup or logic).

Then Asra’s route has yet another paid scene dedicated to Asrian, even though he’s supposed to not even like Julian! And be head over heels with the Apprentice! But Elle just has to make these two be entangled despite insisting their relationship was not good for either of them!

Now here’s the kicker: Julian doesn’t have any paid scenes related to his romance with Asra. Note how it’s one of the brown LIs whose route is highjacked by the white LI, but not vice versa. Hmmmmm.

Now, on the topic of Asra: thearcanagame has said repeatedly that he’s nb and uses he/him pronouns, and promised (since last year) that there would be dialogue where he speaks about his gender

as of the making of this post such dialogue still does not exist

so basically asra is the nb to dumbledore’s gay: anyone who just plays the game w/o keeping up with the official blog has no idea of what asra’s gender is supposed to be.

aka he’s not nb. he’s just a cis guy. the arcana just doesn’t want to put its money where its mouth is, i dont care if elle is nb themself. the team made a promise which has not been fulfilled yet and i suspect will not be.

instead, our introduction to canon nb characters is... these two.

By “these two” i mean neither vulgora nor valdemar are even fucking human, and stick out like sore thumbs with their monstruousness.

so our nb rep is... non-human villains. a few books later one of Nadia’s sisters with they/them pronouns shows up, but that’s too little too late on top of the fact that we should’ve known Asra was nb from the first to begin with. It’s a fucking embarrassment and an insult.

at least two villains are visibly disabled (Lucio’s missing arm and Volta’s blind eye+intentionally asymmetrical face). Julian’s eye doesn’t count because, spoilers, he’s not lacking an eye and even if he was it’d still be hidden behind a dashing eyepatch instead of grotesquely displayed as a sign of his lacking morality.

BUT WAIT! IT DOESN’T EVEN END THERE!

The Arcana Exploits The App Business Model To Price Their Full Game at $500, $1000 if the three extra routes make it out, and they never delivered their Kickstarter rewards:

tl;dr: you heard me

the original price per route was planned on being $1.99

they took that “subject to change” really seriously, it seems, because now each route, once the game is fully out, is estimated to cost around $170 each.

both those screenshots are taken from this post which explains in detail just how truly scummy all of The Arcana’s business model and decisions are: https://mysticmicrotransactions.tumblr.com/post/174308723344/dishonesty-from-the-arcana

the tl;dr is basically what’s listed in the beginning of this section, but other highlights from that post are: the use of addictive gambling mechanics such the Wheel of Fortune, and the dazzling calls to action in the new mini-game.

something that The Arcana supporters forget (or choose to ignore) is the fact that for a long, long time the game did not have the mini-game or the log-in rewards for coins. Players depended only on the gambling of the WoF or paying absurd amounts of money for the new chapters.

the devs went from playing the victims who were unable of controlling prices to (as spoken of in the link from mysticmicrotransactions) saying the making of the game (a pathetic little app game backed by a studio and a kickstarter) justifies the prices

they also gave people false hope about maybe changing the prices in the future, all while bleeding money from loyal players in “micro” transactions

the arcana literally added a $99.99 coins option on their latest update

in case it hasn’t sunk in yet: you can pay a hundred dollars upfront to the arcana, and you still will not have access to the whole game

there is no defense to this

none

“it’s free stop whining” let me explain:

“spend months on end accumulating fake currency or pay hundreds of dollars up-front to be able to play” is a scummy business model no matter how you look at it

if i can spend $60 upfront to play an AAA game there’s no excuse to demand more than that for a game with much smaller and, honestly, inferior content

the combination of there being already far and few games featuring lgbt characters and characters of color AND the little cult of personality set up by Dana and Elle makes people feel that spending money to support them is an acceptable expense.

it’s not

manipulating people into spending ridiculous amounts of money and then claiming “it’s their choice” is just scummy business, baby, and thats all the arcana does

the devs are brats who instead of admitting $500 is absurd for a game instead write petty little caricatures into their game - like, lbr: dana, elle, if i could afford diamonds in my hair i wouldn’t have even bothered with your shitstain of a game

despite bragging that ppl would get the full story w/o needing to pay, the paid scenes are pretty much required - the first few books of julian’s route have no romance without accessing any of the paid options. you dont even get so much as a kiss in without handing coins over. many, many people were baffled when julian had a teary break-up scene when from their perspective they hadn’t even started building a relationship.

wow that’s more than i ever thought it’d be

and i’ve been aware of their bullshit for near a whole year now!

i don’t have much of a note to end this on, other than: the arcana just isn’t even that good. it suffers from weak writing, pathetic character development and above all actually harmful content. do not try to argue with me on any of these points unless you’ve read all of that, because whatever you have to say i’ve likely mentioned before. if you still are that determined to yell at a me on the internet, please preface your argument with the phrase “I’m a pee pee poo poo man” so I know you’ve read everything in here. thank you!

#the arcana #the arcana game #julian devorak #count lucio #asra #HAHA HOO BOY

[chikkou]

ok i went overboard with my tags on this post so im just gonna move them here afsidodsfs

i really enjoyed this post cause that is the most interesting part about homestuck for me. like, historical context and current events are always important for any work of course but with homestuck its a lot different

generally a work is completed in advance of its publication, so if theres any sort of referencing to current events it will always be somewhat late by nature. but with homestuck that shit happened in REAL TIME! if something culturally relevant happened at 9:30 pm, hussie could post an update that addressed it at 9:45. one i can think of rn is when janes tower in prospit exploded and the page command was ''ball: drop.” and when did he post that panel? THATS RIGHT BITCH.. IT WAS NEW YEARS DAY 

the post also mentions the trickster arc which, granted, was a goddamn nightmare, but it was also a direct response to arguments that were actively ongoing in the fanbase. homestuck had the really rare distinction of a constant, almost completely direct line of communication between the author and the reader, so almost every single thing that happens in the comic proper is a direct reference to the culture and the current events of the time... AS those things were happening! and NOT just one-off jokes, either. like we see from the ball: drop panel and the trickster arc, lots of plot-relevant things happened as a response to what was going on in the culture.

like honestly if you sat down and just went through homestuck with the express intent of finding every single shoutout or reference or cultural context that led to those panels being formed the way they were, you would be working at it for a ridiculous amount of time. each page was probably packed full of all sorts of cultural backdrops that would only make sense in the moment. granted, im not saying that all of those contexts were GOOD ones (see: the original version of the “peachy” page during the trickster arc and why it looked like that), but its still insanely fascinating to me.

think about it like this - so much of what was going on during the era of homestuck, whether that meant the state of the world at large or just what people were arguing about online, was being addressed by the author AS it was happening. and to understand all of the references and the contexts therein, especially when it came to the times and dates of certain pages. the time of release AND the day of release were often both important too (a la cascade). that is a super meta thing that not a lot of works can even sort of achieve.

essentially, and i mean this in the least snobby way possible, you had to be there. being a 15 yr old engaging with online culture and reading homestuck when it was still ongoing is a much different experience than reading homestuck as a 15 yr old now is, and for someone who wouldnt have been there to witness everything that was going on during that time, a lot of those references are lost. i think that that is the most interesting part of it all for me, that the intent behind certain things can just be completely forgotten or even misconstrued as time marches on. anyway this is dumb but tl;dr homestuck cool 

#dark lord saltine #long post #homestuck #i am so sorry u guys i didnt mean to praise hs again

[msl4233]

A neurodivergent guide to traveling to Japan

Idk how many people will benefit from this, and I guess some of my tips will help neurotypicals as well, but its 1 am and I camt sleep so here we go. (In no particular order)

Don’t take the hotel soaps with you. In America, this is perfectly fine. They have to throw them away after each person. But in Japan (at least in the hotels I’ve stayed in), they reuse the shampoos and such. You might notice that its a normal size bottle, and has some missing. That’s because they sanitize the outside of the container and leave it for the next guest until it gets used up. There are a few things like toothbrushes, hair ties, and small packages of shaving cream that are more one use that you can take with you, especially if you’ve opened them. Those they have to throw away.

Japanese thermostats are in Celcius, so if you’re American like me they can be tricky to figure out what temperature it is inside. Google can be very helpful here and has an online converter. Some thermostats have a button to change from Celcius to Fahrenheit as well.

To board the airplane early (if you have an invisible disability and have problems with boarding like me), line up with the wheelchairs and people with small children. In America you can explain in more detail and the Tsa will ptobably ask, but in Japan (and Taiwan for that matter, I had a layover flight there), just say “Special needs” and they let you go right ahead.

Speaking of tsa, their website has a customizeable card you can print out and show at security that tells them what your disability is so they can help you get through security smoothly. Mine says I’m autistic, and my dad has one that says he has an artificial hip replacement.

Weighted blankets have to go through additional screening if they are carried in your carryon. For me this meant that it was removed from my bag and the tsa worker felt each of the pockets to make sure there’s nothing hiding in them. The worker was very respectful and did it in front of me, explaining what he was doing as he went along. He let me fold it and put it back in my bag. I’m not sure how Japan does this, since I transferred it to my checked bag after the overnight flight. Ill update when I go home and go through security again.

If you take prescription medication, check a few months in advance if youre allowed to bring it into the country. Some medications are required to be sent to Japan two months in advance for screening (like prescription painkillers). I take Zoloft and it was not required to go through this process, or be declared at customs. Just make sure you keep it on your body during the entire airplane process. Don’t ever put your meds in your checked bag, in case it gets lost.

Google translate app is you best friend. You can take a picture of anything and it will translate it for you, and if you’re having trouble communicating then you can talk or type into the app and it will translate to Japanese and vice versa. Its very fast and easy, and I used it at the angelic pretty store to ask where the changing room was. The employee spoke into the app and it translated for me, so the language barrier was nearly invisible.

Hotel water is mostly drinkable. Sometimes there is a sign, if theres only one sink. But if there is multiple sinks drink from the one that has the tea making supplies next to it. Thats the kitchen sink and potable.

Walk on the left side of the sidewalk and staircases. In Japan they drive on the left side of the road, and walk on the left side of the path as well.

Dont jaywalk. Ever. Only cross the street at marked crosswalks or pedestrian bridges.

If you’re having trouble finding your way, ask a bus driver. They know the city very well and speak English relatively fluently. Don’t stop random people to ask for directions, that’s weird and rude and they might not speak English.

If you have personal space issues, I would recommend getting a taxi or uber as opposed to riding train and busses. Depending on where youre going and the time of day, the latter can be packed like sardines. Taxi/uber are more expensive, but if this is a serious problem for you then definately make room in your budget for this.

Speaking of crowds, if you’re overwhelmed and need to get out of a crowd quickly shout “sumimasen” repeatedly while walking to your destination (I recommend a bathroom). That word means excuse me, and people will understand that you need to get somewhere quickly.

All Japanese coins are marked with the value except for the little bronze one with a hole in the center. Its worth 5 yen.

If you use a mobility aid, you might feel daunted by the amount of stairs everywhere. However, for every staircase there is an elevator, and sometimes an escalator as well. They are typically marked on the walls, but if you can’t find one ask someone who works at the place you’re at. Some crosswalks are the kind that go up and over traffic, but there is a traffic guard underneath who will stop cars and help you cross. I havent tried this for myself, but for my dad who had his hip replaced and has problems on stairs still.

When in doubt, find and information desk.

7-11 has the best atm machines. This might feel really weird, but 7-11 in Japan is much better then America. Its more like a tiny Wal-Mart.

Spaghetti in Japan doesn’t take like spaghetti. It tastes more like offbrand kraft macaroni and cheese with a slight hint of tomato. Its good, but not what spaghetti is expected to taste like.

French fries are often lightly or unsalted. You might want to ask for salt.

The trains are color coded. If you can’t find your line check on a map in the station what color it is and then follow that color.

If there is a raised step in a room, take off your shoes before going through. Slippers are often provided as well so you’re not barefoot or in your socks.

If you go to a cat cafe and talk about your own cat, you might be asked to show pictures to the staff.

Lots of shops have a ban on taking pictures. If you are unsure, ask an employee. “Camera ok?” Is understood and they will answer yes or no. If you can’t find anyone to ask, just don’t take the picture. Its not worth the risk of getting thrown out.

English swear words are common. So is sexual themes. I passed a condom vending machine walking down a main street. If this bothers you, try to ignore it. Honestly theres no avoiding it.

Most plaves have free wifi, but.renting a pocket Wi-Fi is cheap and then you always have a secure connection.

If you’re having trouble ordering food, a lot of places have the menu on the counter with pictures. Point at what you want. This isn’t rude like it would be in America.

Lots of restaurants have fake food in cases outside. I can nearly guarantee you that what you will be served looks exactly like the representation. I’m surprised every time, having grown up with the American standard of “it looks like its been sat on and ran through a washing machine”.

If a store has multiple levels, a good rule of thumb is to pay at each level.

Most stores have a sign that says “Japan tax free”. To get this, you have to show your passport when you check out. Keep your receipt because tsa might ask for it.

A lot of stores only allow tax free on purchases over 5400 yen, or about $54.

Japan tax is 8%

Wall outlets dont have the classic pig nose input. They only have the two vertical lines. Make sure your charger will work with them, or bring an adaptor.

A lot of places have usb chargers built into the wall next to the outlet.

When paying for something, put the money in the little tray on the counter. Never hand it directly to the employee. They might put you change in the same tray or hand it back to you on your receipt, it varies by shop.

100 yen is about equal to $1. It fluctuates but this is a good rule of thumb.

Dont litter. Its a huge fine and possible jail time. Hold on to your trash until you find a trash can. Most convenience stores and vending machines have one.

Thats all I can think of at the moment, feel free to send asks If you have questions. This is by no means a complete guide, just the ramblings of a very sleepy tourist.

[finsterhund]

updates

Cazza still does not appear to be in any pain.

She has a decreased appetite but it still eating. She also has a lot of energy during her walks and will still get excited when it’s time for her walks.

She remains at high energy, responsive, eager to do commands, snuggle, go outside, etc. Again, other than some tummy problems, a decrease in appetite, and her limphnodes being swollen she appears to be perfectly healthy.

Arguably I am more outwardly sick than she is. I have had maybe a total of 4 hours of sleep for the past three days and have significant nausea, abdominal pain, chest pain, and migraines. I have had difficulty eating as well and even though my roommate got me my favourite burger I was barely able to eat any last night. it feels like I’m dying. I’m losing entire chunks of memory and can’t remember when/if I’ve taken my meds. My roommate is saying Cazza is restless because she sees how sick and upset I am. I am trying to be strong for her but I’m about ready to collapse. I do not know if she is actually upset because of how I am upset. I am trying really hard not to let her think that anything is wrong.

Almost immediately after I made Cazza’s diagnosis public I have been getting harassment and abuse, some directly targeted, others undoubtable connected but in a plausible deniability way. I have shared some of it, but not all. It’s one of those things where I want support because I’m experiencing it but I don’t want to give the people doing it the platform or satisfaction of it being made more public. I’m receiving both the attacking your favourite video game directly to you antagonism which as of the past few years I’d like to remind everyone the context that me receiving this randomly and for no reason has dropped off almost entirely and is now for the most part only sent my way when I’m at a low point in my life. These people are also saying how Cazza does not deserve chemo, that she’s “only a dog”, and trying to gaslight me into thinking that her getting cancer is my fault. I haven’t gotten this severe amount of online abuse since the 2015 era. I know a good chunk of the reason is because I have a youtube video that went semi-viral a month ago so I’m getting the trash from that online space coming into my own online sphere but all of this on top of everything else is too much to handle. It also feels way too personalized and directed to just be that.

People have been pushing the defamation slander conspiracy theories about Amazing again. Theres a lot of jumping on the bandwagon. The hatedom online has picked up directly at the same time that this has been happening.

I have also had people behave inappropriately towards me during this time too and I just have to fucking ask why? Not to mention that multiple people have decided to use me as THEIR therapist and dump out their problems onto me when I’m currently struggling really bad to process this and actually keep my life moving. So apologies if I am even more distant than I probably should be. It’s because communicating is a significant mental labour for me right now on top of ebverything else.

The fact that people are literally baiting me into feeling even worse now that I have a loved one with terminal cancer is absolutely fucking pathetic. I know that me being on the receiving end of harassment is to be expected considering I’ve confronted child predators and other filth, but these people generally try to paint themselves as the victim so you’d at least expect them to not pull something like this.

I literally cannot focus on things I enjoy, positive stuff, comforts, etc. Maybe I’m paranoid and having too much of a hyperfocus watch over Cazza to make sure she’s okay. There’s only so much I can do but it’s not enough(?)

I want to go to the pet store to get Cazza special treats but my housemates keep doing things without us. Not that I would entirely blame them considering I want to spend every second possible with Cazza but there’s things I need to get for her.

I am trying to be strong for Cazza but it really feels like everything is beating me down all at once and I don’t think I can physically take much more of this.

#text post #negative

[thatunhealthysideblog]

“You should try the Carnivore Diet!”

I had a friend (nurse by background) very enthusiastically try to persuade me to try the Carnivore Diet. He said that he heard of many people experiencing digestive issues that had gone on this diet and had been “cured”. 

“Its fine! Just try it for a couple weeks and see if you feel better. If youre that desperate to fix your GI distress, then youll try it.” 

He even went so far as to offer me a ride to a local store where I could buy meat in bulk and assist me with choosing meats (Im not super well-versed in cuts of pork or beef). This friend obviously had my best interest in mind (appreciated) but I was inclined to take some time to do research before jumping in.

First, I feel that I have to explain a couple things:

When I reference any sort of rules in the diet, I am referencing dietary rules I found on this site. It had the best laid-out overview of what was involved in the Carnivore Diet.

I am not a nutritionist/dietician. I say this because some of my reasoning below may be vague in a dietary sense; that is only because its not my field of study.

Most of the “evidence” I found in favour of the diet was  anecdotal. The site I referenced above is supposedly written by a “doctor”, but this same doctor on another page of his site firmly states that all plant products are extremely poisonous. Ok then...

People were claiming that the Carnivore Diet resolved a variety of health issues, mainly GI-related or assisted in losing weight. The diet is high in protein, obviously. One is forced to remove certain foods from their diet that could (for some) otherwise cause issues: alcohol, coffee, dairy, salt- or sugar- heavy products, carbs. From the info I gathered, the diet claims to regulate blood sugar, contains only fresh (not processed) foods, and is a structured diet with very little room for compromise. Theres also less food-waste involved - removing produce removes the likelihood of it rotting in one’s fridge after a few days. The site I referenced recommends eliminating foods in “levels”; every thirty days, remove a certain amount of foods from ones diet, down to the purest form of the carnivore diet: salt, water, and beef.

I chose the word “eliminating” very intentionally. I didnt realize when my friend initially brought this idea up that the diet is an elimination diet. In general, those that have gone on the diet “adjust” down the the purest form of the diet, stay at that level for short-term, and then typically reintroduce foods back into their diet that dont cause weight gain or GI distress. I can see how this would be helpful - I in theory could find out what foods are triggers for my GI distress. 

However, theres a slight problem. Those that are familiar with my blog would know that I am sensitive to red meats. Red meats, the cornerstone of this diet, cause me distress when eaten in high amounts. In fact, eating a more plant-based diet has regulated my symptoms more than eating a lot of meat. I could see my friend saying to me that perhaps my body would adjust and I could reap the benefits of this diet, but there were draw-backs beyond just that.

I think what made me most wary of this diet was the fact that I am currently undiagnosed. I dont know whats wrong with my digestive system, so I dont know how my body processes certain foods or how it would react to a diet of purely red meats. I didnt find any stories of people that take prescriptions on the diet - I wonder if eating just meat or going through the dramatic dietary readjustments influences the way one’s body processes certain medications. I dont know if Id develop any deficiencies... people on the diet say that meat provides all the nutrients and goodies you need, but I think thats impossible. The restriction of the diet is problematic for me because the diet would become very boring. My relationship with food is already fairly poor - to then reduce my diet down to meat and water would have an even bigger impact on my relationship with food. I couldnt just go out and eat with friends or have people over for meals. These two psychological impacts would likely result in my eating over time decreasing dramatically or having to force-feed myself which I assume you could deduce the further impacts of respectively.

From the anecdotes online of people going on the diet, the adjustment period for the diet is at least several months, including intense withdrawal and adjustment symptoms. For some, this process seemed more trouble than it was worth. This diet also seems to require some dedication financially. Where I live, red meats are quite expensive. To make matters worse, the purest form of the diet requires one to eat nothing but grass-fed beef - expensive and hard to find. 

Overall, I chose not to try the Carnivore Diet. Although there seem to be convincing results for people experiencing various forms of GI distress, there seem not to be any solid studies on the diet or its long-term affects, just anecdotes. On a personal level, I believe the chances of me getting very sick (physically and mentally) trying this diet are higher than the diet improving my health. I think I could very possibly develop an eating disorder trying this diet, considering my current mental health combined with dramatic dietary restriction.

This is not a diet that you can simply pick up and try for “a couple weeks”. I think it requires a lot of consideration and planning beforehand and a lot of dedication and willpower during.

Below the break: I found these videos informative during my research...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFPy3BOGXU4 (he also did a few update videos as he continued on the diet)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYSV6908YME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6602MqTCdo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSeU1o-yo98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N39o_DI5laI (Mikhaila Peterson speaking about the diet)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eU96vCCFU 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2palyaEinGA 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF-jZd_j2iA

#that unhealthy sideblog #carnivore #carnivore diet #diet #diet change #salt #beef #elimination diet #research #meat #GI distress #ibs #crohns #reflux #chronic acid reflux #withdrawal #processed foods #produce

[themoneybuff-blog]

18 Two-Minute Chores to Tackle Right Away

All too often we explain away our lifestyle or money messes by saying, I just dont have time to do [whatever would have prevented the problem]. Heres a simple, supremely effective tactic: Any time something can be done (or at least well-begun) in two minutes or less, then for heavens sake, do it! The two-minute rule cant fix everything in our lives. But applying it helps to keep chores and paperwork from piling up quite so high. Every time a little thing doesnt add to the big things, our lives get better. More to the point, a small block of time can result in ongoing dividends. For example, shopping apps can get you discounts, cash back, or even refunds if a price drops. Downloading apps like Ibotta, Earny, Shopkick, Paribus, or Cartwheel gives the chance to both save and earn money when shopping for essentials and treats alike. Some of the tips in this article are simple productivity hacks. Others could completely change your financial life. All take just a couple of minutes at a time, and will move you further along the road to financial security. 1. Pay attention to your accounts. Personal finance author Beverly Harzog checks her credit card accounts every morning. It takes very little time, says the U.S. News & World Report columnist, and is a great way to catch fraud in the early stages. Dont want to check every day? Let the account tell you, by setting up an alert. Ask the bank or credit union to let you know when a bill has been paid or a debit card is used, or have the credit card company flag any transactions over a certain amount. Or over any amount, maybe: Jim Wang of WalletHacks.com has his card alert him to every. Single. Transaction. Yes, he really did set the alert amount to $0.00. You hear all these stories of people getting ripped off in $5 and $10 amounts because they dont notice, Wang says. These alerts let you know immediately that somethings wrong. The sooner you report fraud, the fewer losses a card issuer has to eat and remember, the cost of fraud gets passed along to all consumers eventually. 2. Order a free credit report. Are you checking your credit report often enough? You can do it for free three times a year (once for each of the major credit reporting bureaus) by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. Requesting one report every four months can prevent small issues from becoming big ones. For example, if the report says you missed a payment but you really didnt, write to the credit bureau and get this fixed. Or perhaps theres an account on there that you didnt open. That could be a simple mistake but it could also be a sign of fraud. 3. Consider credit monitoring. Depending on what kind you choose, a credit monitoring service will do things such as check for account applications (bank, phone, credit, utilities) made in your name, provide identity theft insurance, monitor your personal information across thousands of databases, and alert you if there are any changes to your credit report or score. Some of these services are even free, such as Credit Karma and Credit Sesame. Personal finance writer Cameron Huddleston says one such alert clued her in to a drop in her credit score. Turns out she had a payment that she didnt realize was late. I quickly fixed the problem and raised my score in the process, says Huddleston, life and money columnist for GOBankingRates. 4. Set up automatic payments. If youre confident youll always have enough in your checking account, put your bills on auto-pay and let them take care of themselves. No more missed payments! Not everyone can (or wants to) keep that much in checking from month to month, though. Due to the hectic nature of life, Lee Huffman of the Bald Thoughts blog suggests setting up payment for at least the minimum amount each month. You can still pay bills in full manually, but setting an automatic minimum means no more late fees, ever. 5. Download your banks mobile app. Having your phone talk to your bank makes it easy to check account alerts wherever you are. Some apps offer other perks, such as letting you deposit checks remotely rather than having to drive to the bank (big time-saver) or letting you make person-to-person payments (helpful for stuff like chipping in on a shared utility bill or reimbursing a friend who picked up the tab at dinner). 6. Look into student loan refinancing. Some scholars graduate with scary amounts of debt. Figuring out whether to refinance your student loans is a complex subject, since its based on individual circumstances. However, refinancing could also change your life, if only by getting you out of default and on track to a solution. To find out more about whether its right for you, see Student Loan Consolidation: Pros and Cons. 7. Set up automatic savings. If you dont already have an emergency fund, this is a great way to get started. It shouldnt take more than two minutes to log into your bank or credit union account and set up a recurring monthly (or weekly) transfer into a separate emergency fund. Set it and forget it. Or maybe youre aiming for other kinds of savings: a pay cash for the next car fund, a 529 plan for your kid, or a pot of money that youll funnel into real estate or some other investment. No matter what kind of savings youre aiming for, be sure to make the amount sustainable. Specifically, dont commit every non-budgeted penny, because life brings surprises that take you over budget. 8. Deal with the mail. Dont throw it onto the table or desk because its mostly junk anyway. Take two minutes to weed through the junk and toss it into the recycle bin or trash. Otherwise, the pile of untended mail gets bigger and bigger, and you run the risk of missing something. For example, if a bill gets hidden in the stack and doesnt get paid, youll incur a late fee, and maybe even a ding on your credit report. (Yes, some of us do still get bills in the mail.) Bonus: Less clutter = less irritation. A tidy living space is very calming. And speaking of tidiness 9. Try some stealth cleaning. Choose a chore that can be done within two minutes. Vacuum one room. Move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Clean a toilet. Scoop the cats litter box. Carry the trash out to the garbage can or dumpster. This works best if every member of the household takes on a daily two-minute task. Even toddlers can dust, and preschoolers can empty the bathroom trash or carry dishes to the sink. Little by little your living space will get tidier and youll feel better. In the best-case scenario, youll get in the zone and do two or three such chores. Now: Take the money you were considering putting toward a weekly housecleaning and use it for something that advances your personal financial goals. 10. Contact your insurance agent. Sometimes life changes or home upgrades make you eligible for discounts on your insurance policy. Keep your agent updated by e-mail or phone if, say, youve started to carpool (or to work from home), or if you had a home security system installed. Even if nothing changes, get in touch with your agent to ask about other potential discounts. For example, a decent-enough price break for taking a driving course might be worth the cost of the class. Should your credit report or your teen drivers report card improve noticeably, see if that will improve the premium. Still not convinced youre getting the best deal? Then you should 11. Comparison shop for insurance. You can fill out an online quote form in just a couple of minutes and the results might really surprise you. The Simple Dollars insurancearticles can help you understand the different kinds of coverage and find a lower rate. That way you can buy exactly what you need, vs. paying for products that dont support your financial goals. While youre at it 12. Comparison shop for credit cards, too. Some people dislike the current credit scoring system, and in a sense theyre right. Why should they be penalized for paying cash? But its what we have, and a smart consumer will learn to work within it. Thats why if you dont have a credit card, you should get one to build your credit score. It could also be invaluable in case of the unexpected; twice Ive had to drop everything and fly thousands of miles for family emergencies, and having plastic made that much, much easier. And if youve already got a credit card? Make sure youre getting the optimum benefits. Whether youre looking for travel rewards or cash back bonuses,The Simple Dollars credit card section lays it all out for you. 13. Schedule some maintenance. Keeping on top of the manufacturers suggested maintenance on everything from vehicles to home heating systems means preventing problems versus trying to fix them. A friend drove her car for nearly 22 years that way. Dont neglect your own maintenance, either. For starters, see the dentist twice a year. Annual medical exams arent always necessary, but talk with a primary care physician about whether you should at least have lab work done plus any other tests appropriate to your age (e.g., mammogram or colonoscopy). Not only is it cheaper to fix a health issue caught early, it can sometimes be a matter of life and death. 14. Keep an ongoing grocery list. If you use almost all of the remaining toilet paper, cat food, toothpaste, or whatever, add it to the online shopping list right then and there. Dont use online shopping? Add it to the paper list stuck on the fridge. Because you probably wont remember that you need cilantro, cat food, or whatever else when youre at the grocery store later and might find yourself at a convenience store at 10 p.m., grumbling and paying a ridiculous amount of money for TP. 15. Cancel a subscription. Are you even reading those magazines? How often do you go to the gym? Did your kids excitement over monthly craft kits peak at oh, about four months in? Do you really need regular deliveries of makeup, clothing, or snacks? Most people probably have a subscription or two that they never got around to canceling, says Austin Grandt of the Financial Toolbelt website. Apps like Trim and Truebill will corral your current subscriptions, making it easy to weed through what you really want. Remember: These things are generally wants, not needs. And they can cost a lot more than you might imagine. 16. Get a library card. It might take you two minutes to find out whats required in your area, such as photo ID and a current utility bill, and then another two minutes to get a librarian to set you up. Totally worth it! Libraries buy books and movies and subscribe to magazines so you dont have to. Depending on where you live, the library might also lend out everything from toys to art to fishing gear. Libraries offer information on genealogy, social services, and other useful stuff, too. (The main library in my city houses the Cooperative Extension Service.) Many host a wide variety of activities, including but not limited to childrens story hours, public lectures, movie nights, clubs, resume-building workshops, tax help, and film appreciation nights. Most if not all of these things will be free. 17. Set things up before bed. Before you turn in, ready your breakfast supplies. When you stumble into the kitchen at 6:45 a.m. youll be greeted by your favorite mug, a batch of already brewed coffee (thanks, timer!), the box of cereal, and a bowl. So much better than rummaging around for coffee and filter, the cereal, and a bowl and mug while also trying to unload the dishwasher you ignored yesterday. More importantly, this helps cement the habit of eating breakfast at home, which is cheaper and healthier! than hitting the coffee cart or the fast-food drive-through on your way to work. 18. Set up reminders. Cody, the young-and-hustling author of the FlyToFI blog, uses his iPhones Reminders app to avoid errors as simple as forgetting to buy milk, or as potentially life-changing as failing to change the batteries in the smoke detector. This app, or any other reminders system, can save you money in the here-and-now, such as avoiding no-show fees for missed medical appointments. Reminders also help you stay on top of things that keep you financially healthy. Its so easy to think, I really should [look for a better rewards card/get scheduled auto maintenance done/buy life insurance] and then not do these things. If thats you, then set reminders. Re-set them if necessary. Sooner or later (preferably sooner) youll make Future Yous needs a priority. Award-winning journalist and veteran personal finance writerDonna Freedmanis the author of Your Playbook for Tough Times: Living Large on Small Change, for the Short Term or the Long Haul and Your Playbook for Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs AND Wants Edition. More byDonna Freedman: https://www.thesimpledollar.com/18-two-minute-chores-you-should-never-put-off/

[winckl9r]

5/13/11 Before reading this piece that I wrote for a Media Journo class, understand that almost every implementable idea I came up with and present has in fact become a driving force of incredible revenue building seen implemented by internet moguls such as, Google, Facebook, Youtube and Hulu. Google bought out Youtube, who couldn’t figure out how to make substantial profits, while having one of the biggest populations of both subscribers and viewers, by simply adding those obnoxiously annoying advertisements we’ve all come to hate before almost every video on the site (but they bought this non-profitable domain for what some said was far too high, 1.65 billion, and turned around and transformed it into the projected 45 billion dollar net worth by 2016 behemoth we know today.) These ideas that I predicted and developed have made hundreds of billions of dollars over the last 4 years since this piece was developed in my sophomore year of college. (4/21/15) Q 3. On the faithful day of September 2, 1969 at UCLA, two computers were connected, and for the first time were able to communicate with one another. Since that day the technology, although slow in its progression at first, has now become one of the most heavily traveled and utilized pieces of technology man has, some argue, ever conceived. Its simplicity allows anyone from virtually anywhere with a computer, internet connection or phone to send, share, receive, create, and countless other seemingly impossible acts with a few clicks of a mouse. No one the day those two computers were first connected could of comprehended the effect or firestorm that would soon follow their, at that current moment, pointless discovery. “Most traditional communications media including telephone, music, film, and television are being reshaped or redefined by the Internet. Newspaper, book and other print publishing are having to adapt to Web sites and blogging. The Internet has enabled or accelerated new forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Online shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets and small artisans and traders. Business to business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries. The commercialization of what was by then an international network in the mid 1990s resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life. As of 2009, an estimated quarter of Earth's population have used the services of the Internet” (Wiki).  So as it grew into the behemoth we now know today as the World Wide Web, people still hadn't thought of the potential cash cow it could be. Which eventually led to the question of today, should websites be paid for or free? This might seem like a fairly straight forward question, but in all honesty if it was it wouldn't still be up in the air after all these years. Clearly both exist today, it typically depends on what the user is looking for. If their looking for viable information not accessible to many sources, with the security of total truth then more than likely it’s going to cost them. Where as if that same users looking for say the weather for that day, week, or any other fairly common information theres without a doubt going to be most likely a couple hundred, maybe even a couple thousand of free accessible sites willing to hand that data out, costing the user nothing more than a click and the time spent visiting the site. When it comes down to me picking sides, paid or free, I just don't see me or anyone else for that matter, being able to assess all the angles, data, and everything else that compiles the internet to give a fully understood and knowledgeable answer. Websites work in a few fairly simple manners, one way is by individual viewers pays a fee to enter the site and have full access, this can be a monthly payment or a payment for full time access. Another, is viewers are given access to websites for free, but instead they are, and most of the time obliviously exposed to large amount of advertisements. Another similar way websites function is by, again allowing full exposure the visitor and every click that person clicks is tracked and the website owner is paid depending on the amount of traffic that passes through his or her site, it’s also a way advertisement owners can track how kind of exposure their ad is getting, hugely important information. One of the last ways websites, typically this is associated with online news, makes money has to do with allowing views to see fragments of stories and breaking news but for the full stories there’s a charge, which in turn grants that viewer full access. Free sites are the most frequently visited websites that most everyday users visit, there the most abundant and for the most obvious reason, people love things that are free. Why would they subscribe to a site that requires payment to, say get the weather every day, when they can just as easily go to weather.com or use a quick and easy application on their phone to do it for free. The Web has also enabled individuals and organizations to publish ideas and information to a potentially large audience online at greatly reduced expense and time delay. Publishing a web page, a blog, or building a website involves little initial cost and many cost-free services are available. Publishing and maintaining large, professional web sites with attractive, diverse and up-to-date information is still a difficult and expensive proposition, however. Many individuals and some companies and groups use web logs or blogs, which are largely used as easily updatable online diaries. Some commercial organizations encourage staff to communicate advice in their areas of specialization in the hope that visitors will be impressed by the expert knowledge and free information, and be attracted to the corporation as a result” (Wiki).  Also, free sites tend to make users want to come back more often, sites that viewers find use full or catch our attention are better off getting “bookmarked” and that then leads to, typically, frequent use. Now free isn't the only big money maker online, Netflix and iTunes have used the “convenience factor to lure their customers. These users tend to be older, less concerned about money but the younger people, those of us like me, and most of my generation would rather keep that fifteen extra bucks in our pocket a month; we end up paying for our savings in the form of time. Instead of having the convenience of iTunes or the Netflix sites that have what we want to watch on command with a touch of a button, we have to spend time searching the deepest depths of the net looking for that one free site that has the show, game, or movie we're looking for. Now, Hulu is kind of an exception. Hulu has taken an old style of media and modernized it, they've taken our beloved movies and shows and put them on one easy to use and accessible website that anyone can use. Yes, it’s free, but it has its draw backs none the less. Instead of just being able to click, and watch, Hulu has incorporated commercials, thus the way they make money. They do give you a choice, if you would rather watch a longer commercial in the beginning of your chosen show or movie, or if you would rather have smaller ones, breaking up your viewing more frequently, very similar to television today. Personally, don't enjoy using Hulu, it doesn't have every show and movie out there, but I guess no one does; regardless, I prefer to crawl around in the depths of the web looking for that one song, show, or video for free and with no commercials. Picky, maybe, but the easiest way of looking at this is simple, very few sites out there on the net today are completely free, I would say at least 95% of all pages are making money in some way, shape, or form; people who pay for their preferences lose money but gain convenience, those of us who would rather not spend that money, spend more time searching for what we're looking for, and lastly, those of us who use “free” site, such as Hulu, pay by watching the advertising. What I am getting out if that we all pay for our media, in one way or another, there’s no way around it. This world runs off money, and the Internet's no different. Paid web pages on the other hand, are a whole other animal. They make truck loads of money collecting on your money, given just to access their site. It’s a fairly strange idea, if you think about it, you’re paying a monthly fee for what, to use someone’s virtual tool or service. Sure, it take money to keep sites updated, bug-free, and functioning, but most sites are built, updated, and kept maintenance on by someone other than their owners, thus leaving me to ask the question, why so much money. Now, I understand the answers obvious, its because those people who are doing the updating and such cost money, but more importantly, the owners want as much money as they can squeeze out of their little virtual worlds they call sites. And I completely agree, I'm an American, I'm in that same search for more money, who isn't; but where I would change things up is in the price of entry, of subscribing. For example, why not have your original price set at whatever it may be, but next to that price have another option, say for half the original, the only catch is that joiner must bring with him or her, ten other subscribers. This does two big things, for one it just brought you in a hundred and five dollars a month rather than just ten, and secondly it ups your subscribers, thus jumping your traffic. Now, this could potentially be huge for those just starting out, if you have something impressive that people want, and those who find it are going to spread the word, except now it’s not just because they might think it’s cool, or could come in handy for their family or friends, but now it’s going to cut their costs, and who doesn't love that. One online writer for the Love to Know website wrote, “Luckily, one of the things that has not changed about the internet is the prevalence of free website hosting. Though it never quite delivered the return on investment speculated in the 90's, internet advertising has proven to be somewhat lucrative. Many websites are happy to give you space on their servers in exchange for a piece of the real estate on your website. These ads are usually banner pictures which change with every new visit to your website, and the best ones will even target your particular audience” (lovetoknow). If I were to create my own website in the attempt of a lucrative business I would probably incorporate a little of both aspects, paid and free. First I would need to think of what kind of website I was going to make, what I was looking to accomplish with it. In my case, it would be a type of combo site having a part devoted to videos, another devoted to blogging, and another for selling equipment. It too, would encourage video sharing and commenting, but more then that I would like to slim down the scope of interest to just skiing and snowboarding. There would be a homepage, introducing what the site was all about, for example it would have some crazy pictures of skiers and snowboarders doing intense stuff, like hitting huge jumps and dropping into next to vertical mountain faces. There would be another page that would link you to all the videos various people have posted, of themselves and their friends having fun on the slopes; there would be available lines for those who wanted to leave massages and such. I would also have a search bar at the top, that would allow views to search for whatever their particularly looking for, for example “craziest jumps ever” or “biggest air”. One other page I'd have would consist of a sales page, where views could buy winter gear, skis, boards, bindings, gloves, hats, basically anything related to winter sports; and on the same page would be listings of random prizes we were raffling off. The raffles would consist of prizes such as a free board or a pair of skies, there would be a vote about every six months; whoever posted the most extreme or likable video wins the prize. This would potentially increase both sales and viewership, both hugely essential for maintaining a profitable site. A writer for Buzzle.com had this to say about the simplified fact of a revenue producing web pages, “For your website or online business to be profitable, you need to get as much traffic as you can to it. That's because, no matter how good a website or service or product you have, if people can't find it, they can't buy it. But not just any web traffic. What you need is targeted traffic, traffic that is interested in your product. There are many things you can do to achieve this. You can increase website traffic by paying for it, or you can work for it and grow free web traffic organically” (Buzzle); so with that, it all comes down to traffic, it doesn't matter what type of website your going after, paid or free, you need people to visit it in order to get business. Without traffic you mind as well not even be online. Again, Buzzle.com tells us, “Paid web traffic has the merit of bringing visitors to your site almost instantly. You can use it for launching a site, or to do a sales promotion. You can also use it to jump start free traffic; but free traffic does not shoot up overnight. It takes time to grow and nurture; hence we have paid traffic.  This is traffic you don't have to pay for, free traffic or organic traffic. You should try to get this, on top of any paid traffic. For one thing, free is good; for another, your visitors come because your site had something they wanted. That makes them more receptive to buying” (Buzzle). What it comes down to is all traffic is good, its the task of getting to your audience. Another way of increasing your web traffic is by getting your name and site details out there, spread the word. This can be done with the use of social networking sites, for example Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube. These websites can give you free exposure, its a quick and easy way of getting people to “hear” about your site, whatever it may be. You can make videos that show what your selling, or what your service might be, and most importantly why what you’re doing so unique that people are going to want to stop using who or what they already are and switch to yours. Facebook and Twitter is the similar idea, it gets the name of our site out there, getting it to more than one place, the more exposure you have out there the more traffic, thus more money you’re going to make. Joelle Rene’ Hughe, a professional artist from Wildfire Video Marketing explains, “In a single day you can produce a video of your fine art and have it hosted on YouTube. YouTube also provides a button that allows you to 'share' your video on Twitter or Facebook. So if you are already an active member on those social networking sites you can instantly share your videos with the click of a button. As a YouTube member you will have your own Channel that you can customize. Your Channel not only provides you a central location for all your videos, it also has a subscriber list sign-up that will help you grow your customer base. Each time you post a new video to your channel, your subscribers will be automatically notified” (Planetprose). It doesn't get much easier than that. With all the YouTube surfing I do, I can't believe how little business related videos I come across, being such a easy and free interface. In the future of our great internet I could see things changing, evolving, as does with almost everything else in our daily lives. I don't see things going one way or another completely but I do believe the way the internet works is about to change tremendously, and also in the question of paid or free, my beliefs are things are going to move even more heavily towards free. Lets face it, as it stands now the majority is a free place to search, surf, do with what you will, but as did with newspapers, adds started small and quaint, but look at them today, their getting bigger and moving to more valued areas, for example the front page. The newspapers been around as long as this nation has, and as the world turns today, its heading for changing times, that much is clear. If such changes as these can affect such a old and respected piece of history why couldn't the internet be next. What I'm getting at, is an idea of a type of centralized internet, so to speak. An easier way to explain it would be to take a look at Google. Google has such a strong grasp on internet users; some might say they run the internet. Now, this isn't completely false, so much traffic goes through them they, in a way, determine who and what gets seen. Or more importantly what does or doesn't get seen. Could the internet on day set up like this, with one super power at the center and all users most go through them, sure, but it would have to be governmentally run, otherwise it would be a concrete monopoly. So many argue against this, but the fact government has such little control over the internet is a little suspicious. The creator of the great Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has a similar idea, “envisions a more personalized, humanized, web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source users will query this “social graph” to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire. Rather than tapping the cold mathematics of Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center. In other words, rights where Google is right now” (Fred Vogelstein). Still different from what I am trying to explain but on a similar track, a “social graph” as Mark Zuckerberg put it, has a nice ring to it. One problem we still will face, is the overload of information we have to pick through every day trying to find either what we particularity enjoy or just what we want. This isn't anything new, this problems one of the reasons people argue the newspapers are failing. Now, the internet is a much easier way to blaze through massive amounts of useless information, looking for that one fact or story but another problem that almost levels us back to the papers status is the fact that information put on the internet typically never leaves it. Thus, creating a unbelievably large compilization of information we must pick through. Bree Nordenson, wrote a article called, “Journalism's Battle for Relevance in an Age of Too Much Information,” quoted Paul Duguid saying, “Living and working in the midst of information resources like the internet and the world wide web can resemble watching a firefighter attempt to extinguish a fire with napalm” (Bree Nordenson). Another man quoted from that same article was David Shenk, who said, “in the world with vastly more information that we can process, journalist are the most important processors we have” (Bree Nordenson). With that said, with my idea, of going through a so called “social graph” with the help of journalist's helping consolidate the important stories and information and this “social graph” people would have an incredibly easy way to find the information they wanted. By going through this graph system people would talk to friends and family that have already done or heard what that persons looking for, thus taking out the searching, and what some call “googlenomics.” Jay Winckler Q 2. Media companies are nothing new, they've been around for hundreds of years, but what makes some of the newer media companies so universal is the fact that some only exist on the internet. This was obviously not possible a couple decades ago, when the web had yet to be introduces into society for anyone to utilize. The web changed things forever, no longer does it take millions of dollars to create monstrous controlling businesses. Now companies can start out as a online company for virtually nothing down and slowly grow themselves to unbelievable measures. The best examples are Google and the ever growing Facebook. Both companies are power houses on the web, but Google some say, and in reality does run the internet in many ways. All five of my roommates and myself have Google as our home pages, coincidence, I doubt it. It just comes down to the blatant fact the majority of the searches done online go through Google in some way shape or form. Also they control what ads are shown, how often those ads are shown, and another huge part of their control derives from picking what links come up first. I mean if that’s not power what is, the internet runs the world we know and love today and one business controls a large chunk of that pie, it’s a little intimidating to think about. It’s strange to think there’s someone out there controlling what I'm searching for in the sense that I may not be getting the best results but the ones that are most popular or create the most turn over. Facebook on the other hand is working its way to,  if not already there, becoming the most heavily trafficked site in the world. The wildest thing about Facebook is that it started out in a dorm room; Mark Zuckerberg took the idea of wanting a quick and easy way to meet new friends, keep in touch with family and friends and turned it into a worldwide sensation. Its blows my mind how big Facebook has become, its incredible. I believe what makes Facebook so exceptionally extraordinary is that it managed to take the strange stalker factor out of it, that had, in my opinion brought Myspace to its knees. MySpace kind of had this weird deal with friend competitions, who ever that the most friends was cooler, so people just were friends with more people they didn't know then those they did. Also it didn't take long for the stalkers and perverts to come out of the wood work. Facebook is about staying in touch and staying up to day with people you may not get to see a lot. I guess the best way to describe the differences between Facebook and Myspace, is that Facebook is more real and sincere where Myspace was more of a Sims world. With that, its clear making the big bucks on the internet doesn't have anything to do with charging those initial fees to enter the site. I can't tell you what the majority of other people do but in my case, and my best guess for the rest of us don't enjoy, thus staying clear of those types of site. Sure they have more turn over at first, it big bucks coming in from every subscriber, but subscriptions might start high but there going to slow at time, killing profits. This isn't the case when it comes to those websites that use systems similar to those utilized by the ever growing Facebook king and Google monster. Between the two my money would be on Facebook to soon, if not already take control of the internet. It started like most sites, small and aimless. If I were to be a investor, or someone on the Facebook team working on new and better ways to make money there’s a few things I'd bring up. First I would up advertisements, there pretty none existent now, and at least for me ads don't have any real effect on me, do my best to ignore them, regardless there going to bring in huge new profits. Secondly, I would add certain applications and make downloads available to those willing to pay for them. These could range anywhere from simple games, to more elaborate dating site additions. Finally, I would have promotional ads on the site giving away access to those new applications and such that cost money, and give them away free to those who get, say 20 new  members to join and create accounts on Facebook. Simple, ideas that could potentially raise Facebook's turn over tremendously. In the stage of advertisements, these could range from really whoever was willing to spend the most for the space. Big companies such as Monster, Ebay, and FedEx, for just a few could potentially pay huge amounts to have ads on the busiest site on the World Wide Web. Nick O'Neil, a blogger from All Facebook believes, “Facebook’s single most important revenue channel is advertising. The company has always been ad supported and most likely will always be ad supported. While some have claimed that Facebook will one day charge for access to the site, those rumors are completely false. Facebook generates over half a billion in revenue each year, the vast majority of which comes from advertising” (All Facebook). He also explains how this all works, “Over the past few years Facebook has increased their targeting capabilities, including the ability to limit advertising to metropolitan areas as well as the following target variables: gender, age, network, workplace, schools, profile keywords, relationship status, and more. Facebook recently released the Facebook Advertisements API which provides large ad buyers with the ability to build robust ad managers on top of the Facebook advertising platform”(All Facebook). These ads could be like those that exist now that change almost every visit, or could be permanent ads that are in locked locations that don't rotate through other but these would be reserved for those willing to spend the big bucks consistently to keep that spot. My guess would be if a spot with that type of power existed on Facebook it would be fought over leading to huge sums of profits and if and when a particular buyer gets tired of page for that spot it probably wouldn't take long to find another willing party. Secondly, the applications would be phenomenal money producers. It’s a similar idea to giving users partial access and charging for full, the only difference is the full potential to the site is free, but if users want the side products its gonna cost them. Some examples of these applications could be the games they already have, such as Mafia Wars and Farmville; but rather then being free they would have a free trial period, maybe a month, and after that users would be required to purchase access to continue playing. Other examples for these bonus cash cow applications could be advances in the site it self, for example creating a dating service type arena, using the already tremendous population of Facebook. Of course this dating field would be closed to only those that have joined the “dating arena”, thus keeping those people who want nothing to do with it clear of it. Again, this could be paid for monthly or one single pre-payment leading to total access forever; knowing the little I do about business the choice would be pretty clear set on the monthly charge, just explaining the possibilities. These are just a few examples to convey my ideas of increasing revenue, it goes without saying there is no end the the number of games or any other type of application that could be offered to users for a access fee. This particular type of profit building is not only loved by companies but is just as crucial, with these, every month there are regular, sizable amounts of income no matter what; there is no waiting for say advertisers to a. buy a spot and b. run the risk of not being payed on time or at all without court proceedings. It can be simply set up linking user’s credit cards or PayPal accounts directly to the Facebook account, doesn't get much easier than that. The way Facebook makes money now is rather simple, as Nicholas Carlson explains, “We picked FishVille, the latest hit from Zynga. It came out only in November, but already its monthly active users are up to 20 million people. It grew 4.68 million in the last week alone, according to Insider Social Game's AppData. The object of FishVille is to build a magnificent virtual aquarium, full of spectacular fish and designer decorations. The way you do it is spending fake money to buy small fish for one price, and then, after tending to them for a few hours or days, selling them for more fake money then you paid. Then you use that money to buy more fish. If you want to speed your progress, you buy fake money with real money (Business Insider). I find it crazy people might spend money on something as clearly worthless as the trade of real money for “virtual money,” but then again people spend money for virtual items all the time, such as programs and data. The last option I believe will work with the best results of turnover for Facebook in particular has to do with growing the scope of the site in the form of users. With more users, the more people will be paying for the now optional games and applications freshly offered, and possibly even more importantly the more users is directly related to the number of those using the site and its links and such raising the margin for advertising prices. It’s not a hard concept, the more users, equals more traffic, which in turn makes the sites net worth go up. The ideas also simple, when Facebook was first getting its start I was just getting done with Myspace, and I vowed never to get a Facebook, I said, “that time of my life is over.” The only problem with that is that Facebook has become so large and in charge that a person is really at a disadvantage if they don't have a Facebook. One great example is I have no other way of contacting my Contemporary Issues in Mass Media teacher, except through the use of Facebook. As ridiculous as that my sound, Facebook actually has now become a more used form of communication, thus, at least for my generation killing the ever popular Email. There’s nothing wrong with this, its more simple, more people I care about directly are on it more frequently then they check their Email, and all in all we wouldn't be anywhere if technology didn't change and progress, its all part of how we move forward. Now back to the idea, its has to do with the way I was introduced into Facebook, I was sent, by about twenty different people AIM's to join. Its this type of simple addition that makes it so easy to spread the word and get those who may never of joined to finally give in after being pounded by their friends day after day. The only thing I would add is the idea of giving those applications and those other extras that cost money away for say a free month if a user brings in, say twenty new users. Obviously, this number is very loose, it could be anywhere from five people to fifty. That’s not the point, it’s the fact that people are enticed by freebies, even if its for things they're never going to use; they'll do it because that little voice thats in the back of everyones head that says, “well maybe I could use that at some point, what’s the harm.” With a system out there, such as this one my estimations of subscribers would sky rocket, maybe not as high as when Facebook was first getting its start and was  nothing short of an international web firestorm, but it could bring them way higher then what they've been lately. Within the first year Facebook made it to their one millionth member mark, only a year later that number shot up to over five million, from there that number kept jumping anywhere from fifty to a hundred million members a year leading up until today (Facebook). That’s just with word of mouth and other such less effective ways of the word being spread, with this system offering up awards for those who make a point to get new members to join, that number could climb to unimaginable heights, maybe bring it from fifty to a hundred, to two or three hundred million new members per year. With such a vast member enterprise Facebook could become so large; it would start to be looked at as a monopoly of sorts. Its power over so many users would be unrivalled for other social networking websites and possibly news organizations. It could raise advertisement prices through the roof, therefore only the largest of the large business owners could afford advertisement, therefore cutting out the smaller businesses trying to build themselves up and create new ideas.. “The social network flexes its legal muscle. Now they're just being greedy. After suing Teachbook.com for using the word "book" in their company name, Facebook is trying to trademark the word “face,” as well. According to TechCrunch, any business starting with the word "face" could be at risk. It gets better. Not long ago, Aaron Greenspan,, one of Mark Zuckerberg's former  Harvard classmates, claimed he had helped Zuckerberg create Facebook. Though the case was settled last year, Greenspan's back for round two. It turns out, his company, Think Computer, runs a mobile payment application called FaceCash. Rather than admitting defeat to Zuckerberg once more, Greenspan asked the Trademark Office for a time extension to oppose it” (Facebook Monopoly). This just shows the power Facebook has already it also sued, and won against Power.com, who wanted to use Fcaebook to interlink it with other social networking sites, such as Twitter. Facebook figured they were loosing at least some viewer ship so they shut them down. Sure they did it legally, but was it right, was it ethical, its hard to tell with such sites as  ABYZ News Links and other that take data from other sites or simply provide links that gives users one easy place to go to get all their information in one place, the same reason Power.com was shut down. “Facebook overreached because it’s acting like a traditional media company with monopoly control of its channel. Remember, if you can, the days before the web, when every medium, TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers, were filled with ads. Everybody always said they didn’t like advertising, yet that didn’t stop people from consuming these traditional media in massive quantities and creating huge profit margins for large corporations. How did these media companies get away with making so much money by running ads that in most cases people didn’t really like; because they controlled the channel, and we had no choice. Then the web came along and exploded these natural media monopolies, nobody controlled the channel, the “user” is now in control. Except for Google, which developed two de facto new media monopolies, First the gateway through which all other online media are accessed or searched. Secondly, an ad network (AdSense) that became the most effective way for small, independent publishers to monetize content,  they monopolized the monetization, not the channel. So what does this have to do with poor Facebook? Facebook’s user news feed, which are published to each of their friends, began to look like the next monopoly in new media. Want to find out what’s going on with your friends, who are all on Facebook, you HAVE TO go through Facebook; just like you had to subscribe to the local newspaper if you wanted to get news in the morning. The problem is that Facebook isn’t really a monopoly medium it just has high switching costs, it’s a pain to get all of your friends to switch to another social network” (Facebook Beacon). In other words Facebooks popularity is what’s lead to its power trip were seeing now. Because people are already devoted to Facebook they'll bend to their rules and regulations as they grow, for example the newly instated privacy settings. People are locked in to Facebook for its simplicity, all their friends are on it, why switch; its not until another social networking site comes along with something that really differs from Facebook in some mind blowing way, their only going to grow and flourish. For those still having doubts about Facebooks concrete lock on our lives, here  is another reason for its tremendous success and achievement; adds to my reasoning; in Maggie Jackson, author of Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. She states, “Our culture is one of multitasking, of cramming as many activities as possible into as short a period of time as possible. We drive and talk on our cell phones, check e-mail during meetings and presentations, eat dinner while watching TV” (Maggie Jackson). She goes on to say, “such multitasking is part of a wider value system that venerates speed, frenetic activity, hyper-mobility, etcetera, as the paths to success. That's why we're willing to drive like drunks or work in frenzied ways, although it literally might kill us” (Maggie Jackson). This is the exact reason why Facebook is such a global hit, it doesn't require people to scour the newspapers, websites, or magazines for the information we crave now a day more then ever, and thats the “news” happening among our closest friends and family. Sure, we are always going to need newspapers and other such news delivering devises to inform us about important events and issues going on be them in our back yards or across the world but people would rather here that their best friend broke up with his or her boyfriend or girlfriend before they hear about the latest acne cure or any other random events happening in the news. Bree Nordenson wrote in his article, “Journalism's Battle for Relevance in an Age of Too Much Information,” how the overload of our information intake each day is just to explosively high that we begin to either start shutting out large amounts or just never hear about it to start with. He goes on to say, “Many young people multi-task the extreme, particularly when it comes to media consumption. I've witnessed my twenty two year old brother watch television, while talking on the phone, IMing with several friends, composing an e-mail, and updating his Facebook page. A widely cited 2006 study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that 81 percent of young people engage in some form of media multitasking during a given week. But as cognitive psychologist have long known, human attention is quite limited. Despite our best efforts, when we try to do more than one thing at once, we are less efficient and more prone to error. This is because multitasking is actually a process of dividing attention, of toggling back and forth between tasks” (Bree Nordenson). In other words in the mad frenzy of what we like to call our everyday lives we try and do, more than not, more things than we should be, and especially what our minds can effectively handle. This is why so many people use Facebook as a type of short cut to manipulate their time in finding out the information that is important to them rather than using newspapers or the web; sure more young people then old, but Facebook is still young, half my older family now has a Facebook. The internet powerhouse referred to as Facebook will continue to grow and expand exponentially, this will lead to more users and obvious revenue increases, but if my ideas stated earlier were implemented, both those numbers would potentially be much higher. Syllabus Q 2. Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline Facebook Monopoly - http://www.inc.com/staff-blog/a-facebook-monopoly-on-nouns.html Facebook Beacon - http://publishing2.com/2007/12/01/facebook-beacon-a-cautionary-tale-about-new-media-monopolies/ Business Insider - http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-completely-addicted-to-a-stupid-facebook-game-2009-12 All Facebook - http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-makes-money-2010-01 Maggie Jackson – Annual Edition, Mass Media Bree Nordenson – Annual Edition, Mass Media Q 3. love to know - http://web-design.lovetoknow.com/Free_vs._Paid_Website_Hosting Buzzle - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ways-to-increase-website-traffic-paid-vs-free.html Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet PlantProse - http://planetprose.com/2010/10/24/internet/how-to-increase-web-traffic-with-free-youtube-videos/ Fred Vogelstein – Annual Editions, Mass Media Q 2. using your own media usage and the current media landscape as guides, predict how a media company might increase revenue over the next ten years. All predictions must be possible. Be sure to cite current predictions and practives, both from readings and other. Q3. should websites be paid or free and why? Be sure to give at least three concrete examples, including at least one not mentioned in class and that support your theory and reasoning. Also be sure to reference at least one other person's theory on the matter.

Romulous Cooper, prior to the Google purchase of YouTube, as to which it couldn’t find a effective way to produce revenue. I clearly lay out the simplistic style in which the world works. If you have read this in its entirety I am incredible impressed! Thank you. 

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WP ProfitBuilder 2.0 review Headlines

Initial Conversation - Email interaction should start when the leads have actually been shortlisted and also ought to be kept generic to begin with. When the lead check out is tracked for the web link sent using email, more communications can be on a tailored basis. Each day, you obtain one more sales letter for that exact same product. Eventually, the mails stop. What are the chances that you'll get the product? Not significantly. A/B testing can be a beneficial technique in establishing a landing page generator. Mobile pages require to be tested for use, simply as much as any type of various other internet page. Have 2 versions of your web page and also see which gets the highest variety of conversions. Proceed to progress using one of the most effective one.

5: COULD YOU MANAGE THE MOMENT AND ALSO LOAN INVESTMENT? All organisations call for both money and time to be successful. Any business that declares to be totally self operating, is lying to you. There is no "Lazy man's roadway to riches." The amount of hrs, per day, are you prepared to invest. If it isn't really at the very least 2 - 3 every day, after that you might want to reevaluate your decision to enter into organisation. As for the loan, this is something only you can really choose. It's a concern of exactly what is your personal personal discomfort limit when it comes to investing right into a new organisation. Not all services need countless dollars to launch. Whatever the preliminary expenses are, you have to objectively determine is the investment worth the opportunity, and also are you prepared to make that monetary financial investment?

WP Profit Builder 2 Review Things To Know Before You Buy

I can’t advocate WP Profit Builder any more. I haven’t witnessed only one update because (Pretty much) the Preliminary start interval but frequently received promotions of OPP (Other individuals solutions). Luckily for us as with nearly anything WordPress related, You will find there's solution for that and it is available in the shape of varied plugins. You make some very good points. The main just one becoming a lack of undo button which I totally ignored in my assessment. And Sure.. WHY is there no UNDO button? in regards to the PB videos.. His voice.. could it be Sean? annoys me! I just are unable to look at his tutorials for much more than a minute. I feel he has to place collectively some extra thought out and in-depth tutorials and retain the services of somebody to accomplish voice in excess of perform for him. He retains referring to how quick it is but presents little or no steering over and above just plugging in the basic principles to present templates, several of which are extremely severe, income-y, outdated searching, cluttered, wp profit builder and tough to take a look at. Sorry I cannot be a good deal a great deal more aid at this point, I've know-how with a number of auto responders but GVO just isn't one specific of them. Hi wp profit builder Golam, it essentially depends what you would like to obtain. Wow, many thanks. Yes! That’s all a thing on the earlier. technological innovation has arrive a good distance. And now the landing web site plugins available on the market are really productive. There’s far more conversion concentrated features and the ability to produce two-stage decide-in varieties that may Improve email signal ups. nearly all of wp profit builder the plugins listed higher than ought to have tutorials regarding how to combine the automobile responder (at the very least for that plugin selected part). As an illustration, with OptinMonster, It's really a case of getting the type code from the vehicle responder. in an effort to get the kind code, you'd probably demand a tutorial that is certain on your vehicle responder, I'm not acquainted with GoGVO. build best Local promoting internet pages inside a Snap… Glad you identified the publish valuable. The totally free plugin should perform nevertheless it’s crucial that you Observe that it’s a really fundamental plugin. the sole downside of TT or TCB can be in the event you skipped the early pricing construction. WPP Builder experienced a great deal likely nevertheless it appears this was just A different product and not a flagship item like TT and TCB. In this particular online video, I think about the members spot available to you after you have procured the product, and afterwards soar across to my WP dashboard and provide you with the worldwide settings – plus the templates which are previously provided with all your obtain. you'll find three further merchandise to pick from, which includes Launch Pad and also a variety of program and plugins on give. when you find yourself launching a completely new Web site, and wish a coming shortly web page to seize e-mail addresses – Coming quickly Professional is effective fantastic. This is a evaluate which was completed very last year a number of weeks following the item launch date. Now there was some bugs Along with the plugin in the beginning, understandable, I used to be just questioning if they had set These bugs still? I also have a concern with it being a yr afterwards about the price not shifting. Granted I like the price and has become the main reasons why I'm so interested in the plugin, Nevertheless they mentioned that it absolutely was a pre-start cost as well as item has actually been out for more than a year now and the cost remains to be the identical.

ProfitBuilder for Dummies

By adhering to the 8 basic techniques gone over in this short article, you will certainly have the ability to leadpages that produce results. So, following time before you begin dipping into your pocket for a ppc ad campaign, make certain that your landing pages prepare to make the conversion feasible. Eye-catching website: Yes, web style could be expensive, yet it is an important expenditure that your service has to have. It is best to work with a company that can make a website that is terrific looking but pleasant to online search engine. My great close friends at Pure Creative imagination develop very tailored, web content abundant internet sites. There are hundreds of business and people that could help you here also. Their contact information is easily available on their website that include a total physical address, phone, mobile and also telephone number and an e-mail address. They likewise have an on-line type you can fill in as well as send with any kind of WP ProfitBuilder 2.0 concerns you have. Multisoft has been operating on the Web for years. Utilizing this software application is fairly straightforward as well as you can be working in practically no time at all whatsoever even if you are new to AdWords. There are tutorials and also videos which are especially handy and also you will have no problem using the very best landing page software application to hit the market. The wizard behind this particular software application is Mr Jonathan Van Clute. Those who are fast to act could anticipate some terrific deals as well as deals provided by Jonathan. One more disadvantage I see is that there is no trial period for the solution. If you do not like what PPC-Coach deals, then theres no means to obtain your money back. Thankfully, I think the quality of the PPC Train service is great enough that you'll possibly not have to fret about this.

[rezby]

reminiscions, so to speak

I’ve been thinkin about this for a while, but havent really sat down to try to formulate this. But a lot of people whom I knew as teenagers or early 20s, when I was a teenager. There are sooo many people who are now (publically) trans, or at least not-cis, that I remember from back in jr high or high school, before anybody had really figured out The Genders. It makes me really glad, to see how many people are self-actualizing. I love to see the updates in their lives that they post on fb, at least the ones who haven’t defriended me. (This enjoyment is only a little vicarious, truth be told. It is mostly genuine happiness for them).

I know its very likely that I’ll never reconnect with any of the people with whom i’ve grown distant (not through any fault of their own. it really is 90% circumstances (everybody moving across the country, to either like boston or ... seattle? portland? Big Oregon City, or for those who are still local just issues of me not having a lot of free time with which to hang out with them) and 10% my hell brain self-sabotaging relationships/avoiding everything), but I often think about them and how they’re doing.

One of the people I’ve mentioned hasn’t defriended me on FB, and I still interact with their posts every now and then - I think a lot about the time when I was 16 and said some really horrific things to them without realizing just what I was saying. I’ve been feeling terrible about it, but I know I’ll never actually send them the apology I want to send - they deserve better than to be reminded of it out of the blue.

At one point last October, I was on this other person’s FB wall, i dont even remember why. sometime in like january or Dec, I saw a comment on somebody else’s status by somebody with the same last name as this person, with similar viewpoints. I click around, and figure out that this person has defriended me, and also publically came out on fb as trans. Last week I saw a photo posted of them with their sign at the chicago trans liberation march (which obvs I didnt go to, i’m not Out and I dont intend to be, until the time of my choosing, so i dont interact publically with Trans (tm) things. i’m fb friends with both my parents), and they looked really happy. Not about the occasion, but as a person, it looked like they had let an awful amount of weight off their shoulders. I remember them being as deeply unhappy as many of us  were, back in high school (a lot of us were deeply depressed. It just turns out for a few of us that the depression was tied to the Genders so getting stuff done for the one helped the other). So, I’m glad that theyve realized their gender and are happier for it. I also wonder (a lot) if thats why they defriended me - I’m not really out on fb, and since I haven’t spoken to this person in years they probs wouldn’t even know that I’m also non cis, so maybe they defriended me when they did their official fb transition stuff. I get it, it would make sense to, but... it still wounds me, a bit.

those two were a couple years older than me and I was never that close to ‘em in high school. this third person was in my grade and a couple classes with me, and.... I was a horrible person to them. Not intentionally, I’ve always had the best of intentions, but that doesn’t mean the actions i had done weren’t horribly misogynistic or racist. A few things I didn’t even realize until years later, what I actually had been doing. They defriended me a couple years back. They’re non-cis as well, but I dont know anything more specific than that.

That was the Complicated Feelings w/r/t the non-cis folk i knew in high school. I had some online friends whove also come to realize their own genders as well, who I’ve also grown apart form. This one was largely due to MSN messenger no longer being a thing, and then me getting busy with irl stuff and basically never being online anymore. I don’t really got any Complicated Feelings for most of this group, its mostly that I miss them but realize there’s p much no feasible way to get back into regular comms with them, and I’ve accepted that.

There was one person, who knew they were trans all the way back when I first met them. But they never talked about it with me. At least 85% of our conversations were political. At the time, I was in early high school, where I was a libertarian at the time. They were staunchly communist, I figure marxist is probs the best term for their beliefs but I’ll be honest, I know jack diddly squat about the academic details of the different schools of communist thought. Anyways, we chatted a lot on MSN back when that was around. At one point I started FB friending the other online friends I’ve got, but this person never actually accepted the friend request. its still in their inbox. I last talked to them about 3 or 4 years ago, I believe in my 2nd year of college. I asked why they hadnt accepted the friend request and they said somethin to the tune of ‘im an asshole lol’. this persons typing style is completely different from that but thats the effect my memory has of that message. Our conversation at the time also turned political. Now, after getting to college and having my eyes opened at, well, a lot of stuff, i’ve since become fairly leftist. probably communist? socialist? idk. Anyways, at the time, I was pretty caught up in the politics of one tumblr user Moneycat. If you weren’t around for that, the gist of it (as i recall) was that... actually, i honestly can’t recall the minutae or which parts werent very good. there are other posts going around from some years back that go over her politics and the flaws thereof. one of their ideas was that gender is a social class, inasmuch as bourgeoisie or proletariat are, and that trans women are a distinct social class from cis women and men. I had recently read one of her posts about how gender theorizing had led her to become a communist, and how the two were inextricably linked, and tbh she was this huge popular rly smart trans lady blogger so i p much hero worshiped her and adopted as many of her politics as i could understand. So I tried explaining this gender theory of communism to my old communist pal, and they were very displeased by it. I did a poor job, to be sure, but they disagreed staunchly. I dont remember the other details of what I was arguing but I do remember it was more out there than just what i’ve typed so far. Cuz I opened the conversation with “hey did you know that i’ve also become a communist now?” or somethin like that, and they were like ‘oh nice, how did you come to this conclusion?” and I went into moneycat’s gender communism and they did not agree. And that was our last conversation. and idk how to start conversations. Even tho we’re not fb friends, i can still IM them via fb, so the option is always open, but I never do it. I miss this person a lot, and its been hurting me for years that they never accepted the friend request. we actually had been decently close online (as far as I recall. i have poor memory at best in general, and there’s a good chance I actually have brain trauma that’s making my memory even worse but that appointment is in may). and they’re fb friends with all our mutual online friends. so its just me. i’m not good enoguh.

And I know if I actually ever made a snapchat I could probably easily get back in contact with literally everybody ever, I know for a fact that all but the last person have snapchats, and I’m p sure that they’d all be receptive to at least messages over it, but.... I tried making a snapchat once, and was immedietely conflicted. Do I go with my IRL name and snap with my family and classmates and colleagues? If I do that, I dont want to have my snapchat available online here cuz I want to maintain at least a veneer of separation between my online identity and my “family” “professional” identity.  Or do I go with my online name, but then refuse to snap w/ like my mom and sis? I ended up deleting the app and never doing anything with it. so I basically refuse to have a snapchat, and p much only have fb these days, which... is not the best method of communication.

Compounding this is my awkwardness with people i’ve known for a while - my memory really does get atrocious about some things, to the point where i’ve hung out with people for years before actually knowing 100% their name. this is deeply embarassing for me, and I dont wanna hurt em, so I dont let on that I dont remember their names. especially if i’ve known them for forever, but havent had a ton of meaningful interactions with them, theres a v good chance i’ll know them, i’ll recognize them, but i wont be able to drum up their name from the depths of my mind. this is awkward. so i sometimes avoid going to places where there are people who might fit this bill. some people from high school who I kinda knew and hung out in the same friend group as me, and a lot of my not immediate (step)relatives. so at the photos for the trans march, where I saw the photo of the one person from 2nd bullet point, I also saw a lot of other people from high school who I’d be awkward around. altho this reminds me, there was a 4th person actually, from high school as well. i think... they blocked me? i dot remember. i know they werent on fb a lot, but they were fb friends with me. i just went through my own friend list as well as that of 2 people who i thought would be mutuals with them but... i dont see them. I’m p sure i recall seeing like,,,, last year or 1.5 years ago that they had changed their fb name from their birth name to a feminine name, as well as changed their gender and all that other stuff that comes with coming Out? but I dont recall and I cant find em anymore. if they have blocked me.... oh well. nothin i can do about it. about any of it really. nothing that i’m going to do anyways.

#bluh