#obviously this goes both ways and all ways and is applicable outside of Current Events tm

[jinxy]

if you’re antisemetic or putting antisemetic shit on my dash w/ no critical thinking please do me a favor and block me

i’m not interested in being mutuals w/ people who can’t discuss current events w/out dehumanizing one side or the other (pro-tip: you can just not do that. Wild I know)

#obviously this goes both ways and all ways and is applicable outside of Current Events tm #do not dehumanize anyone. you remove the humanity of everyone as the focal point and you’re just a reactionary #also it’s fucking eerie to me that this is the second time i’ve had this happen. last time it was just #‘hey lets include ‘no antisemites’ in our ‘basic dni’ lists if we’re going to write everything out + discuss z/nism’ #and then having another american piss their fucking pants over it because apparently ‘no z/nists’ MEANT ‘no antisemites’ to them which is. #still so baffling to me. like there are people using this as a cover for racism. it always happens. they love plausible deniability 4ever #in every space and movement you will have to monitor for bad actors. It Is Known tm

[tester2080]

The Leaving Cert is an awful system.

09/09/21

In case you are not from Ireland, the Leaving Cert(ificate) is the exam system that determines which uni we can get into. Rather than having a GPA via continual assessments or any sort of entrance exam or letter of application we simply have one set of exams. There are obviously other exams (such as the christmas and summer exams in other years), however, the Leaving Cert exam is the only one that matters.

When you take a subject you can either do ordinary or higher level. Ordinary level is easier but rewards less points, and higher level is more difficult, but rewards more points. A H1 is worth 100 points (except for HL maths which is 125) and is given if you get between 90 and 100%. A H2 is 88 points and 80-90% and so on. An O1 is 90-100% in an ordinary level subject but only 56 points. There are some weird changes to the system when it comes to medicine but I won't get into that right now. Universities award places based solely on the points you receive. This leads into the first problem.

Whilst the education experience is a multi year process (6 years in secondary school in our case), what determines your uni course is a single event, often just a single week out of many years of learning. This is insanity and leads to so many obvious problems. A person could be getting H1s throughout the year and forgot to study just one topic and end up with a H3 in the leaving cert at the end, and a H3 student could get lucky and study a topic that happens to come up and get a H1. Even a single grade can be the difference between getting into the uni you want and losing out. The leaving cert does not measure you abilities as a student, your effort, or even sometimes your ability. The leaving cert measures your memory and how well you can perform on the day. You getting 100% in every single subject for the past 6 years and a family member dies a few days before the exams and it absolutely ruins your mental state? Too bad. In the eyes of the university you are not a good enough student. You are a perfect student but got a bit nervous and stayed up a bit late the night before to get some extra study in and are tired the next day? Too bad. You've been getting 625 in every set of mock tests but on the day your mind goes blank with the incredible stress, the knowledge that one test will determine the rest of your life? Too. Bad. There are no exceptions to the hand of the points system and claw of bad luck. You cannot explain to the uni. They. Will. Not. Care. Nothing else is taken into account. Students will have bad days. That's just life, we're all human. However that must be accounted for. Nobody should miss out on their life's dream because of a single day. That is absolutely absurd.

When you ask someone what education is about t. There is a filter type system for different categories of posts and all that, so if you're interested in what I have to say, I'd recommend going there for the better experience. I also have no fucking clue how to use tumblr sof you ask them what the leaving cert is about they will say it's about getting into uni. Clearly there is a disconnect here. Where has education become so distorted that now it is nothing more than a way for universities to quickly and easily judge us? Education must be about teaching children, not for some uni test, but simply so they can become more knowledgeable, so they can get a thirst for information, so they can locate their strengths and weaknesses, so future generations can live better lives than we will. University selections must be nothing more than an afterthought. It is even worse when the leaving cert is a horrendously stressful system. We put ourselves through sometimes 6 years of stress and bad quality of mental health to make it easier for universities??? What a ridiculous idea.

The leaving cert isn't even a fair way to judge students. Here, I'll be able to determine how good you're likely to do in the leaving cert with two simple questions. Do you have a good memory? Are you good at maths? If you answered yes to both, the chances of you doing well are very high and if you answered no to both - well - the chances aren't quite as good. A huge amount of the leaving cert is simply a memory test. I know the state will talk constantly about how rote learning is discouraged and all that, but realistically that's not the case. Take for example the English paper. You get to know which poets might come and which poems you can use before the exam. This mean your teacher can simply write you a good sample answer and if you can remember it, that's at least a H2 for that part of the exam. And as for being good at maths - if you're good at maths you already have 3 subjects which you can say with reasonable certainty you will be good at - maths, physics, and applied maths. Students who aren't good at maths have nothing like this unless they are fluent in several languages. A big problem when you arises most of the non maths subjects are based on memory, and the ones not based on memory are based on maths. History? Memorising essays. Irish? Memorising poems. Biology? A lot of memorising. Physics? A lot of maths. Accounting? A lot of memorising. This continues throughout basically all the exam subjects, with only maybe one or two exceptions. I know someone who hasn't even started 5th year, and yet they already know they're screwed and have basically given up on their first choice course because they have dyscalculia and a terrible memory. They can try as hard as they want, study as hard as they can, but realistically, they aren't going to come close to someone with a good memory and are good at maths who put in the bare minimum effort. It's bizarre too, given the amount of jobs that don't require either maths or a good memory.

The subjects you can study in the leaving cert is also extremely limited. You have to study Irish, English, Maths, and a third language. In public schools you then basically have the option of History, Geography, Accounting, Business, Economics, Art, Music, Religion, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and DCG. There are no electives to try out things similar to careers you might be interested or anything like that. Now those that plan to go into business will be happy I'm sure, however, for most other people, the subjects have very little in common with the career you want to do. You're doing law? I suppose a business subject might somewhat help??? You're doing computer science? Maths is kinda related. Medicine? Biology sure, perhaps a little bit of chemistry? But at most 2 out of your 6 subjects will actually be any way relevant to your career. To make it even worse, public schools have subjects in blocks. This means there will 3 blocks of subjects and you pick one from each block. You're super good at both physics, chemistry, and business? Well too bad, there's a very high chance you won't get to study all 3, and you'll have to pick up geography or some other subject you have no interest in. In some cases all 3 of the subjects you like may be in the same block, meaning you'll have to pick up 2 subjects you have no interest in and will likely be worse at. Once again, simple luck plays a huge part in the leaving cert. Going into 5th year, the subjects you're allowed pick will likely change your eventual points by around 30 or possibly more. Furthermore, private schools provide a massive advantage, often with your chance of getting good grades being around 4 times higher. You were born with well off parents? Congrats, here's an extra 100 points have fun. Absolute insanity. The leaving cert is really just determined by luck every way you look at it. Now obviously luck plays a part in everyday life too, but the leaving cert basically caters to the lucky, and a whole lot could be done to reduce the benefit they have based on luck alone, rather than quality of character, or time studied, or effort put in, etc.

I suppose I've reached the stage where I should stop complaining and start giving actual suggestions for improvements then. Fine. Firstly, remove the idiotic one exam process. Instead have some sort of GPA system with continual testing, so it shows how good a student is on average, not just on their worst/best day. Increase the amount of uni places available so that getting into the uni and career you want becomes more of an afterthought, rather than a constant stress looming over you. Add more subjects and electives that will be relevant to the career the student is planning to go into. Make learning and discovering your strengths and weaknesses and just enjoying life in general a main focus. Give students time to relax and do sports outside of school, even in 6th year (which is something basically impossible to do under the current system). Allow the tests that determine the GPA to be open book. Make understand more important than simply memorising. Remove the subject block system so students can do all the subjects they actually enjoy and are good at. I believe that the single test system is one of the reasons that private schools perform so well, by removing that, I believe the scores wouldn't be so far apart. However additions restrictions, or even total banning, of private schools could be implemented. After all, surely everyone deserves the same quality of education. These are children and teenagers for gods sake. There shouldn't be a heirachy of education based on their parents wealth. All students should be given the same opportunities. Private schools largely do better due to having better teachers. There currently isn't a large enough supply of very good teachers to go around, and the private schools can simply buy up the majority of good ones. We should pay teachers more, a lot of people thinking about careers may be dissuaded from teaching, despite having a passion, due to the low pay. Many good teachers also go to places like Dubai thanks to the better pay. Overall in society, teachers are sort of dismissed as a profession, and if we wish to improve the lives of the next generations, this must change.

#leaving cert #leaving cert 2021 #ireland #rant #complaining #politics

[nblenasabrewing]

Does Lena have PTSD?

This excellent post from @drummergirl231-2 goes into a detailed analysis about Della and the examples showing possible PTSD. I, being who I am, wanted to look at the same for Lena. Full credit goes to them for the idea and format!

According to the DSM-5, in order for a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, they must have a certain number of symptoms from eight categories: Criteria A through H.

For a diagnosis of PTSD, someone needs: to meet Criterion A to have at least 1 symptom from Criterion B to have at least 1 symptom from Criterion C to have at least 2 symptoms from Criterion D to have at least 2 Symptoms from Criterion E to meet Criteria F, G, and H

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. I do NOT have a degree in anything related to psychology and simply enjoy dissecting the layers of a fictional character. If you feel you fit any of the criteria, please see a professional for a real diagnosis. This isn’t something that can be easily self-diagnosed, and a professional diagnosis would open you to more opportunities for help.

Lena does and doesn’t fit the criteria in general for PTSD. She’s certainly suffered from traumatic events, but the event is more... her entire life. She’s a classic child abuse victim, which makes her more of a candidate for C-PTSD. 

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD; also known as complex trauma disorder) is a psychological disorder that can develop in response to prolonged, repeated experience of interpersonal trauma in a context in which the individual has little or no chance of escape. Being stuck with Magica for fifteen years absolutely contributes to Lena’s current issues. C-PTSD and PTSD share similarities, there are a distinct differences - mainly that PTSD focuses on one event and the effect it has on a person long term, while C-PTSD focuses on years of repeated trauma. However, there’s no approved criterion yet for C-PTSD. So I’m using the PTSD criterion with some added explanation where C-PTSD would be applicable. 

Criterion A: The traumatic event

A person must be exposed to one or more events involving threatened or actual death, threatened or actual serious injury, or threatened or actual sexual violation in one of the following ways:

Direct involvement

Witnessing the event happen to someone else

Hearing about it happen to a loved one

Repeatedly hearing details about traumatic events, such as police officers repeatedly hearing stories of abuse

The obvious example here: Lena effectively died. Twice. Following that, she was trapped in a realm where she couldn’t be seen or heard by anyone and she couldn’t touch anything for six months (give or take). Her first interaction with anything since she had been trapped there was smacking the Boggle case in Friendship Hates Magic! And even she’s surprised by that.

In addition, she spent fifteen years with Magica in her shadow, who effectively acted as an abusive parental figure. She’s proven to be an expert in gaslighting, and knows exactly how to manipulate Lena - by hanging the promise of freedom over her head and reminding her repeatedly that people will think she’s a monster if they find out the truth about her.

Criterion B: Intrusive Symptoms

Expected or unexpected reoccurring, involuntary, and intrusive upsetting memories

Repeated nightmares related to the traumatic event

Some form of dissociation, such as flashbacks, where the individual truly feels the traumatic event is happening again

Strong emotional distress when exposed to internal or external triggers associated with the traumatic event

Strong bodily reactions (such as rapid heart rate) when exposed to reminders of the traumatic event.

Nightmares: While we can’t say for absolute sure that Lena has nightmares outside of Magica’s influence via the helmet in NOKH, the fact that no one is surprised by her nightmares does seem to imply that’s she probably had more than she’s letting on. Lena’s biggest fear is turning into Magica, after all - it’s no surprise she would have dreams along that line.

Emotional distress, strong bodily reactions: These really come out in Violet’s library, when Lena gets overwhelmed and tries to hide. The fish-eye view of everyone trying to talk to her while she sees Magica over their shoulders was most likely meant to imply she was having at least the start of a panic attack.

In addition, her reaction to Webby calling her (looking like Magica) a monster was pretty extreme. Again, the dream world setting makes things a bit wobbly, but given everything we know about Lena up to this point, and the fact that she yelled at Magica for saying they’re both monsters, it feels safe to assume she’d be angry and upset and scared if anyone ever called her a monster (again, something Magica constantly used against her.)

Criterion C: Avoidance

An individual with PTSD will frequently avoid reminders of the traumatic event in one of the following ways:

Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or physical sensations that trigger memories of the traumatic event

Avoiding people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations that bring up memories of the traumatic event

Whether the nightmares were caused by Magica or not, their effect on Lena is real and pretty easy to see. She sets up an entire sleepover just so the kids can help keep her awake. Avoiding sleep to avoid nightmares is pretty extreme.

She also continues to keep secrets from everyone despite Webby’s constant reassurances that they all care about her and don’t think she’s anything like Magica, because the alternative is having to talk about it or worse, have her fears confirmed.

Criterion D: Negative changes in thoughts and mood

The inability to remember important details of the traumatic event

Persistent and elevated negative thoughts about oneself, others, or the world

Exaggerated self-blame or blame of others for the cause or consequence of the traumatic event

Pervasive negative emotional state (anger, fear, shame, etc.)

Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities

Feeling isolated or detached from others

Difficulty experiencing positive emotions

Lena’s opinion of herself seems to be pretty low. We only get one episode to really see it, but her fear of turning into Magica and active attempts to avoid such an outcome definitely make it seem like she still considers herself “evil”, and is trying to make up for it. She also readily gives in and says, “I am her”, essentially giving up on herself.

The dream adventures also excellently illustrate how Lena feels “Othered” from everyone else - they get butterfly wings, she gets weird monster wings. She falls behind at Dewey High and is separated from the others. She’s the only one in Louie’s dream, aside from Louie himself, to experience any sort of physical change. Even when she tries to be happy with them, she can’t keep up the facade.

And before all of this there’s the classic example of her being jealous of Violet (under the guise of protecting Webby from being tricked again). She immediately assumes the worst of Violet and follows Webby around telling her not to trust Violet.

Criterion E: Alterations in reactivity that started or worsened after the traumatic event

Irritability or aggressive behavior

Impulsive or self-destructive behavior

Hypervigilance (feeling constantly on-guard, or like danger is lurking around every corner)

Heightened startle response

Problems with concentration

Sleep disturbances, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless sleep

Lena’s personality in season one was mostly that of the sarcastic, irritating cool teenager who can’t be bothered. Under that, she was an unwilling slave to Magica, and while she did show irritable tendencies toward her, those can be forgiven as “Magica is terrible and provokes her.”

Season two, on the other hand, shows us a much different teenager - one who snaps easily and seems constantly frustrated by her own perceived shortcomings. Those emotions, of course, come out on the other kids (i.e. snapping at Huey and Violet). And while all of that can be attributed to her inability to sleep, which is being driven by Magica, Frank’s already said this isn’t the last we’ll see of Lena’s emotoinal growth and negative feelings.

Criterion F: The above symptoms must last for more than one month.

Obviously time is relative in Ducktales. Given everything that was going on around them, we can assume she’s been home for around a month-ish. Donald left for a month-long cruise two episodes before Lena came back, and everything after that has to have taken place within that month or it would have been way too obvious something was up. And again, Frank has said this is going to come up again. But even while she was still in the Shadow Realm, she was showing signs of trauma.

Criterion G: Distress from symptoms significantly impairs the individual’s ability to function in multiple areas of life (social, occupational, etc.).

While we haven’t seen much of Lena’s daily life, we do know a few things - before returning, she was living in Webby’s shadow, presumably following her around and getting comfortable in her shadow-y life. Violet throws a complete monkey wrench into that comfortable life, and Lena reacts... poorly, to say the least. She initially refuses to take responsibility for the tulpas feeding off her own negative feelings, continuing to project all the reasons she hates herself onto Violet (”She’s a spy, she’s a second-rate me,” etc.).

In NoKH we see that the triplets aren’t quite used to the fun, happy persona Lena tries to project, which immediately gets a frustrated yell and fire flaring up. She’s so worried about trying to be Good that her anxiety bubbles over into her life. She’s also constantly keeping secrets, something that is, unfortunately, normal for her, but not normal overall.

Criterion H: The symptoms are not due to substance abuse, medication side-effects, or another condition.

So the real issue comes in here - while there’s no medication or substance abuse, there is an outside force. Most of what we see of Lena’s symptoms are due to increasing sleep deprivation via Magica’s brainwave helmet. By the time NoKH starts she’s already gone at least several days without sleep, and it’s obvious the dreams are deeply affecting to her, to a point where she arranges an entire sleepover with her friends just to keep from going to sleep. There’s no way to know what she was dreaming about (although I have a few theories), but it almost certainly involved Magica, the main cause of her trauma. And we see how understandably upset she gets when she’s finally face to face with Magica.

In conclusion:

Lena is a complicated character with a lot of different factors playing into who she is, but there’s little doubt that after fifteen years of emotional/psychological abuse, two deaths, and six months trapped in what could almost be summarized as an isolation chamber, that Lena has some serious trauma. And while Magica influenced a lot of NOKH, it should also be noted that Magica, as her abuser, most likely acts as her trigger now. She spends the entire dream sequence running away from Magica, terrified to confront her. And while she has an amazing, empowering moment at the end of the episode, I’m sure this is going to come back up again.

(***All GIFs by me)

#Ducktales #Ducktales 2017 #Lena de Spell #Lena le Strange #long post #Sam's Meta #So much went into this #including making those GIFs #I've been working on this for..... several weeks dear god #please show it some love

[queencasino01]

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[discardedmilkywaywrapperwrites]

Return to TuFort

Activating Halloween Mode was, looking back on it, a very strange and especially stupid idea. The fact that it wasn't even a full moon, and was also the middle of July, did not give TF2 spy player and steam account name "staricipant" a large amount of confidence when the vote was originally brought up a few moments ago. The vote count then jumped to 99 votes in favor, which was about... participant slides to the side as a blast of appropriately named magic rushes right by their head. 99-24, that's seventy five votes more then were on the server. And of course, Merasmus guffawed as he announced the event.

staricipant, firing and hitting a revolver shot on the damned wizard, regrets having decided that it was simply a unique update, a reward several years lacking in the past. Now they knew it was false, of course, and if they made it out alive they'd have to write up the event and post it onto a creepypasta site. Still, the idea that TF2 was being updated again would be the more unbelievable part of the tale. There's a texan yell as an engineer, (staricipant stopped paying attention to team colors about a minute and a half ago), gets transformed into a chicken and his level two sentry transforms into bird feed.

The soldier begins taking a few steps back and the pyro muffles something that staricipant takes to mean "distract the wannabe wizard". staricipant whips out their watch, a trusty strange dead ringer that doesn't seem like such a waste of cash now with their life on the line, and then charges the wizard. Merasmus says something unintelligible, and then a greenish purplish blueish redish yellowish bolt with a few other colors mixed in that comes out to a shade of grey shoots out of his staff. Closing their eyes, staricipant *really* hopes this is less painful then it looks.

---

There is a computer, with no one nearby. The steam menu is up, and although it says that TF2 is currently running, the application is not up. It's quite fortunate no one was around, at least currently. The computer shorts out, the monitor going dark and the keyboard completely unrelated popping off the two 0 keys. The screen flickers back to life, with a new distinction.

A warping effect makes it hard to read, and a monochromatic filter does not help either, but it almost seems as if the steam library has folded in on itself. If you were there, which you aren't, you could squint, and you might be able to make out some mixed names. "Fist Full of Overlords", "Darkest Mania", "Portal to Monkey Island"...

"Return of the Team Fortress" is currently running, the steam menu says, but the application is not up.

---

staricipant wakes up, face down on hard flooring. A glance around solicits a groan from the beleaguered spy main. This wasn't some bizarre dream coming from too much playing of violent video games? No, this was good old RED spawn room, alright. They quickly check their armory, still not understanding now that they've fallen into the spy's shoes how they holster a revolver without a visible holster. The sapper, the knife, the strange dead ringer...

Opening the Spytron 3000 Disguise Kit raises an alarm, however. The cigarettes removed, in their place, a second screen. In fact, the regular screen does not display the options of disguises, but a team roster in their place. Confused, staricipant taps on the new screen. The player-list is all there, all 24 of the poor sods who decided it was a bright idea to play Tufort today. Unless this sort of thing happened on other servers...

Not a good thought. staricipant scans over the player list. Twelve on each side, all of them greyed out, even their own username. Instead of having the pings of each player, there is simply grey text saying "unknown". How strange. staricipant exits the new screen and returns to the old one. It does not seem like they can disguise, but they test it anyway, tapping on the Heavy Weapons Guy. It zooms in on his face, and a piece of text appears next to the icon. "[?], a Red Heavy, [?]". How helpful. What does any of this do or even just mean?

staricipant gives up, closing the disguise kit and pocketing it. Revolver out, although they're not sure how much good it'd do if Merasmus or any of those other beasts came back. The spy opens up the resupply cabinet, pulling out a few small med-kits and pocketing them, and then leaves the spawn room. Sure, it'd be faster to jump down off the balcony, but staricipant wasn't that confident in game mechanics to risk an injury. Better take the stairs, just in case.

It's still a relatively short walk to the bridge between the forts, and staricipant is glad they didn't pick soldier or heavy when this started, seeing how slow the two walk. staricipant's walking speed itself comes to a halt as they stare down at the charred corpse of a scout. They recognize them, of course, they're... staricipant's virtual eyes widen in worry. What happened? No, they're a scout, obviously, but what was their username?

The spy closes their eyes. They remember... well, their life before a madman wizard who may or may not even be real sucked them into the hit FPS, and they remember getting shot by that wizard and waking up here, but... what happened between those points? They knew they checked the list before, and they were here for the fights... where did they even fight Merasmus? This bridge? The intel room, and if so, which one? Was it outdoors or indoors? They never had memory problems before, and certainly none like this. staricipant feels more like a ghost then a real person right now, and they aren't technically wrong.

As they step around the poor scout, their pocket vibrates. staricipant takes a step away, and it stops.  A step back, and it vibrates. staricipant decides not to stick around and continues on into the BLU fortress- the doorways are barricaded. Resupply cabinets and tables block unwanted access. Counterintuitively, this gives staricipant hope. "Bonjour?" An annoyed cough. That's what they get for possessing a frenchman. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

But it's as silent as a ghost town. Only the wind answers, and it's not a very understandable source of information. staricipant looks at their other options. Not being a soldier, or a demo, or even a pyro, there's no way they could get to the balcony from here. The sewers were an option, and not even an unfeasible one. Just... yes, staricipant realized how stupid it was as they berated themselves, they were a bit scared of water over head height. And the TF2 mercs didn't swim as much as spam the spacebar to quickly hop back out of the water. Jumping in was a no go, at least, and since time did not seem to be of the essence, the spy turned to enter the sewers from RED base.

They don't make it very far, though. In fact, they stop almost immediately, glaring down at the corpse of the scout that dares to make their pocket vibrate. Finally, they pull out whatever it is... it's their watch. A lovely gold, and a bronze shimmer floats over it occasionally. It cost about a dollar and ten cents trading refined for it, but it was worth it. staricipant flicks open their watch and this isn't their watch. It... it shows the time, inside. It has an hour hand and a minute hand. staricipant isn't an expert in watches, or even in non-digital clocks, but they'd hazard a guess and say the time is 1:30, although on day and night they would have no idea.

It is still vibrating. The Dead Ringer, as much as staricipant knows, does not normally... ring, let alone vibrate, but what do they know? Maybe this is a common reaction to corpses that the Spy knows of but isn't important to the player. A unique piece of lore, maybe? Something to update the wiki about. Could it stop shaking, though? It's going to fall out of their hands- and it does. staricipant, still getting used to wearing fine gloves, flubs their chance to catch it, and it falls, rattling, onto the dead scout's ankle. The world goes dark, and video game player staricipant gets a killer headache.

---

"Med down! Oh ey, you want some too?" "Try! You idiot, get back here!" "I can take'm oh god oh I am on FIRE help me hel-"

---

staricipant stares, dumbfounded, at the flaming corpse of the scout. The voices in their head seemed so lifelike, and yet everyone in this scene is as motionless as a statue. The scout, falling over, was attempting to flee a pyro down the bridge, as a sniper in the direction the scout was running pulls an arrow out of the quiver for their bow. A spy stands next to the sniper, whiffing a revolver shot on the pyro. staricipant realizes that something is very off.

They can see, but there's no color anymore. They can't even tell which team the scout is on, or the pyro, or the sniper, although they can guess the pyro isn't on this team's side. A glance behind the pyro shows the dead body of a medic, assumedly the cause of this "Med Down" call from the scout. There's no one else around, really. But the entrance to the BLU base is unblocked, now! A sneaky way around a problem, and staricipant didn't even need to get their shoes wet. They proudly march inside, and stare at a black void. They touch it, and it repels them like a trampoline. How helpful.

It also hurts their head, again. Great. They walk back outside, staring up at a white sun. Something vibrates in their pocket, and they check the watch in their hand. Wait, no, that's not it. This time, the disguise kit is to blame. staricipant flips it open, anger slowly creeping under the ski mask. What now? Both screens are empty, but when it's open, that quickly changes. The right-hand screen begins... typing.

[24 names met their fates here, in these fortresses.] [It is your solemn duty to put name to face, and face to fate.] [Accomplish this, and you shall be set free.] [Fail, and remain stuck.] [Good luck.]

"Good luck?" The spy snarls, anger having been replaced by rage. "I get trapped in some bizzaro TF2, and the message is GOOD LUCK?" The disguise kit is slapped closed and shoved violently in their pocket. staricipant sits down suddenly, grumbling. "Oh, isn't this just magnifique. Magnificent, damn it all to hell. Fine, I'll solve a stupid puzzle. Just so I can stop being french."

#obra dinn #team fortress #fanfic #crossover #video game

[newyorkprelawland-blog]

Unpacking The Moral And Legal Implications Of Purposive Interpretation

By Arnelle Jean-Jacques, University at Albany Class of 2023

July 18, 2020

Since the very establishment of the U.S. Constitution, framers have necessitated the ideas of the American Dream, a national ethos democratically used to express freedom of opportunity -- evidently forged through revolutionary tactics. The eventual display of further disparity made way for (arguably) one of the most influential decades of the twentieth century, during which we saw new legislation: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which became the main substance of inquiry and analysis throughout the recent appeal to the Eleventh Circuit by Gerald Bostock (pictured above).

Bostock, who identifies as gay, had worked in Clayton County, Georgia as a child welfare services coordinator since 2003. Ten years later, he became part of a gay recreational softball league and was subject to ridicule by his cohorts and supervisors. Following an internal audit conducted by Clayton County of funds in Bostock’s control, he was dismissed for actions that were reputedly “unbecoming of a county employee.” [1]  Months thereafter, a charge of discrimination was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision, and formal legal recourse was quested in 2016 for workplace discrimination -- a prima facie violation of Title VII, the prohibition of “employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.” [2]. The emphasis placed on the word sex engendered a thorough examination of the role of sex in Bostock’s termination; the opinion of the court asserting that “an employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex.” [3] The court’s holding was consistent with its opinion.

The dialogue encompassing sexual orientation, which in itself provides multiple definitions, continues to evolve worldwide. The main question, though, is: Was the Supreme Court justified in practicing an exploration of the terminology of law in order to maintain consistency with modern social norms? A meticulous analysis of the court opinion plays a pivotal role in keeping a stance throughout the argument. The quotation above essentially argues that in firing Bostock, the employer discriminated against a man who is attracted to a man. Now, if this were, per se, a woman attracted to a man, it would be difficult to find the “fault” that was found by the employer. These findings by the court reveal a clear prejudice practiced by Clayton County. However, the precise purposive interpretation of the case cannot be overlooked.

It has been argued, on several occasions, that a purposive approach, and not a textualist one, best suits the distinctive legal character of regulations [4(article)]. Semantic tactics have consistently proven to win arguments by setting limits on the interpretation of legal and ethical issues, which through the relationship between subjective and objective analysis, has allowed for an influx of evolutionary statutory law, which sequentially allows for further semanticity. Quite the cycle. To pursue this study further, let’s look at the plights of refugees. As per the United States Code of Regulations, a refugee is

any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. [5]

In order to be granted asylum, the burden of proof is on the applicant for asylum to establish that he or she is a refugee as defined in section 101(a)(42) of the Refugee Act of 1980, which provides effective settlement. A fair example of the relevance of purposive interpretation of law is the case of I.N.S. v. Cardoza-Fonseca, in which the Supreme Court sought to find whether a Nicaraguan refugee was eligible for asylum considering the fact that she was not able to establish a “clear probability of persecution” in her home country.

Now, it’s important to understand the correlation between these two issues. Refugees, along with members of the LGBTQ+ community, contribute to minority groups. Bostock was clearly dismissed on the basis gender, which inevitably goes hand in hand with identifying as gay. Cardoza was found to not be entitled to relief based on the sole effect of fear. Yet, the court held that asylum would be granted if it could be argued that the refugee would be “more likely than not” subject to persecution. Although these cases were decided decades apart, what remains of significance are the natural paradigms that could be concluded in the everyday.

It is often said that the simplicity of the law, and most other entities, play a large role in the effectiveness leading towards the end result. The true driving factor, however, is thorough analysis and the ability of both parties to pay close attention to the events surrounding them. The guiding law for these statutes were written in times when the ideas associated with these cases were extremely rare. The evolution of circumstance is clearly proven with each decade, which further proves the importance of evolutionary thinking. In a society where equality and justice is obviously needed above all else, where we see marches by the month in support of these minority groups, the greatest skill that one can possess is the capability to interpret the legal terminology of the law in order to tie into the current state of affairs that go beyond the law. In doing so, the judicial system is able to take pivotal steps towards the results that will define the next generation, and establish goals that will take it even further.

________________________________________________________________

[1] Bostock v. Clayton County, Oyez, June 15, 2020, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/17-1618

[2] Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703], from https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964

[3] Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, No. 17-1618 (2020).

[4] Kevin M. Stack, Interpreting Regulations, Michigan Law Review, 111 Mich. L. Rev. 355 (2012).

[5] United States Code of Regulations

[sciencenewser]

Travel Guidance After COVID-19 Pandemic

Numerous estimates are being tossed around about the potential effect of COVID-19 on worldwide and national economies. Travel Guidance After COVID-19 Pandemic Maybe the main thing they concede to at this stage is that it will be terrible – the primary wellspring of contradiction is by all accounts on precisely how awful it will get. The appropriate response to a great extent relies upon various things: to what extent the pandemic will last, the seriousness of social removing limitations on business, and the greatness and adequacy of government improvement bundles.

International Travel Guidance

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern considered the decision among wellbeing and economy a bogus polarity: it's anything but an exchange off – if unaddressed, the drawn-out expenses of letting the infection meander indiscriminately will be a lot higher than the momentary agonies engaged with easing back the spread because of nearby transmissions. Is it too soon to discuss what to do when things begin to look better? All things considered, numerous nations are simply beginning to present progressively tough physical removing measures as COVID-19 crosses their outskirts. By the by, there are nations that think they are passing the pinnacle period of contaminations and are as of now arranging how to evacuate a few limitations. On Monday, 7 April, recently shut cafés in Beijing and Shanghai were clamoring with action (however another ordinary currently remembers veils for individuals' faces). Photographs of occupied open parks have been advancing around the net. On Tuesday, 8 April,

China detailed the principal day without COVID-19 related passings just because of January 2020.

With the number of coronavirus cases in the nation rising drastically - the greatest single-day spike went ahead Friday - it appears to be very evident that air travel in the nation won't be continued at any point in the near future. At the point when that does in the end occur, air terminals in India and trips inside India and on global courses may not be whatever we are utilized to. Social separating will be a standard at the air terminal and flights and air travel will be definitely more costly than it has been in years. Government sources have disclosed to NDTV that social removing will start even before travelers enter the air terminal. Faculty from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) who are posted at air terminals will be furnished with warm temperature scanners and won't permit travelers with a fever to enter the air terminal. Lines will be carefully dealt with a hole, in any event, one meter being kept up between travelers. This training will be kept up during the registration and security check methodology too. Planes stopped at the Bengaluru air terminal. When travelers board the airplane, they will discover centerline seats empty so as to keep up a separation between travelers. The way that flights will work at 50 percent of their ability will imply that carriers should considerably climb ticket costs. Essential tickets among Delhi and Mumbai could start at Rs 8,000 to remunerate carriers for working at a large portion of the limit of their airplane.

Given the sharp drop sought after that is normal according to the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, there could be excess for 200-250 airplanes in India, a large number of which would need to come back to their lessors. The general common rising division might be like what it was, in any event, five years back when fewer airplane adjusted Indian skies. The lower limit will likewise imply that our air terminals which were running into space limitations, especially in Delhi and Mumbai, may see a portion of their terminals, for example,

Delhi's Terminal 2 closing down

Be that as it may, the greatest variable remains the state of the aircraft once the COVID-19 pandemic is finished. Without a solid recuperation bundle from the administration, it's very conceivable that a few aircrafts may not endure the effect of the coronavirus. The travel guidance After COVID-19 Pandemic In any case, even China, a past ardent supporter of keeping outskirts open during the pandemic, has now adequately shut its fringes to universal explorers to avert imported cases. It isn't the only one: about 120 economies presently have a type of movement limitations – extending from altogether cover bans to all voyagers – to particular topographical limitations – for a similar explanation. Therefore, the quickest and maybe the most drawn-out effect would be on movement and the travel guidance divisions. The figure delineates the portion of worldwide travel administration trades in Asia-Pacific economies' GDPs (for which information is accessible, most recent years). Macao, China; and the Maldives are in the most desperate positions, followed to a great extent by Pacific little island creating states (SIDS), just as nations in Central Asia and South-East Asia.

Worldwide travel limitations

As the world gradually turns around to typical all things considered, worldwide travel limitations will wait on to abstain from "bringing in" new COVID-19 cases, especially among some SIDS who still can't seem to report a case (for example Samoa). To help their travel industry divisions, nations may deliberately confine outward travel guidance and support nearby the travel industry as a substitute (for example by facilitating private advances while the industry itself will work with value motivators). Fundamentally, household travel and the travel industry will be relied upon to substitute remote the travel industry request, in any event until further notice. For certain nations, this won't be sufficient, particularly as far as producing outside cash incomes. Furthermore, it likely could be that administration will bolster travel guidance and the travel industry divisions all the more straightforwardly through bailout bundles yet these subtleties are not accessible at present and it is difficult to perceive how those with a thin monetary space will have the option to manage the cost of those. At some later stage, there will initially be a moderate, bit by bit strengthening, rivalry for remote visitors' dollars. Toward the start, nations may require a COVID-19 free testament. Be that as it may, here is the place potential issues (and a second influx of COVID-19) might be. Indeed, even in the more extended term, it is attractive to have universally perceived tests and certify labs. To kick off this procedure, governments may wish to as of now begin talking about such arrangements, including shared acknowledgment courses of action, acknowledged universal norms, etc.

COVID-19 survivors become resistant to resulting diseases and transmissions

Incomprehensibly, it might be that source nation that is presently most noticeably terrible hit (in total numbers) may at first be the most encouraging traveler markets (like the United States right now). In the event that it becomes clear that COVID-19 survivors become resistant to resulting diseases and transmissions, and insusceptibility authentication (like Yellow Fever booklet) may turn into a necessity for both outward and internal travel guidance. As of now, the United Kingdom is thinking about giving "Invulnerability international IDs" so individuals can leave the lockdown early. Obviously, have nations themselves will likewise need to show they are alright for voyagers. This goes past having low detailed contamination numbers, yet in addition, having trustworthy frameworks set up on the off chance that voyagers do become ill. Such arrangements may incorporate government ensure for private treatment (rather than almost difficult to get protection for it now). Also, obviously, beneficiary nations should make it simpler for voyagers to show up. This will mean improving visa application forms (making them on the web), or by and large forgoing them, maybe as a feature of reciprocal game plans. These things require some serious energy. Maybe a portion of the arranging/execution should be possible by government organizations working remotely from home? Read the full article

#Coronavirus #covid-19 #guidance #travel #worldwidetravel

[zenstare]

Extensão de Cílios Fio a Fio

To go devoid of make-up on most times on the 7 days and to show even some attainable imperfections would be the motto of modern girls.

Makeup isn't any for a longer period a resource to camouflage one's own facial area or imitate splendor benchmarks. The highly effective and vain now make use of the aesthetic industry to emphasise the characteristics they like in on their own and make day-to-day everyday living easier.

 Lifestyle is so rushing that you just can not waste much time considering in regards to the makeup in the day.

The amount of women of all ages right before planning to function fix make-up and hair that consider about 40 minutes to provide. Making ready for just a party will take a minimum of a few hours.

Craze goes, pattern arrives as well as the movement to take on the normal threads attained energy, damp hair (or moist hair, in case you want extra glamor) is nicely viewed up at functions.

 The minimalism of fashion has taken over the fantastic thing about a substantial quantity of women.

Indeed, issues obtained fewer advanced, great! That is to not say that they've turn out to be very simple.

That make to appear like you're not in make-up normally takes as many as twenty minutes to have ready, but it can final all day. But, seriously, trend is telling women to 'ride' much less.

They may be tired of sleeping much less to put on make-up, uninterested in possessing much less exciting on a Saturday to have their nails completed.

Can it be well worth offering up so much money and time (which while in the finish is time much too) to, in many situations, turn into a individual you're not? 'Wow, you seem so gorgeous I did not even understand you!' Is usually that a compliment?

A further signal the potential incorporates a clear encounter: the feminism of the substantial range of women is getting more and much more lively.

Do they really want to generally be neatly made to go trustworthiness within the position? What do they really need to 'enhance both their splendor?

Considering by way of all this we've designed a range of two aesthetic methods that may assist you lessen a few minutes daily ahead of settling.

After all, taking care of you is not only about putting on make-up and making use of anti-aging lotions. Every woman should hold the liberty to make your mind up what her elegance is and what it's to take care of herself; irrespective of whether studying a ebook or seeking immediately after little ones.

And when you think it's important to use make-up, make-up or everything else to look beautiful, it is all wonderful as well.

In brief every single girl will be the 1 who have to determine if she ought to go to the manicure every single 7 days.

Effectively, leaving the arguments and venting aside, let's visit the aesthetic methods. We just like the elongation of eyelashes more.

Micropigmentation of eyebrows

Obviously, there isn't any design to adhere to. But when you bother with any flaws, scarring, asymmetry or lack of hair inside the space, micropigmentation can be a terrific option.

Those that use pencils, shadows or fillers every day can reduce the intake of these products and solutions while using the strategy. And it'll also emphasize the sweetness and strength with the examine occasions in the event the makeup can 'weigh', as in outside functions, sporting activities, swimming pool and so forth. For the achievement of this process, the selection of the great qualified is prime. He'll be liable for picking out the top coloration, strategy and design and style in line with your face.

The yarn system could be the just one that now delivers a far more organic final result and would not consider you can find couple shades with the yarn, there are actually about 50 shades of paint for micropigmentation plus they might be put together in many tips on how to reach the tone.

Using a needle, the design is created equivalent to your hair, respecting the look, the form as well as trim. No will need for being frightened with the term needle!

 A neighborhood anesthetic is used and, regardless of the similarity together with the tattoo system, the pressure of the hand with the professional may be very mild along with the technique is not invasive, that is, it doesn't even reduce the skin.

The course of action is terminated having a laser to accelerate the therapeutic procedure and color fixation.

Following the method, it's important to implement a therapeutic ointment and prevent scratching and tinkering inside the region. It is also required to return to the salon thirty times later to complete a retouch.

Eyelash Lengthening

Who at any time dreamed of waking up and now obtaining an eyelash mask? In case you by now, elongation of eyelashes is definitely the realization of that motivation.

I have located which the method really requires you to the paradise of remaining with long and marked lashes without the need of possessing significantly work day-to-day.

But it really is not the identical point given that the mask - which can be not an issue. On the other hand, in case you have hardly ever done lash lashes, understand that the end result is more like making use of false eyelashes than mask. The usage of eyelashes with extensions is currently being a lot popular owing towards the incredibly stunning search.

The intriguing point is the fact that this demand is just as much of purchasers as of ladies who want to figure out how to operate on this follow-up of beautification of your seem.

Take a look at listed here:alongamento de cílios

You can find already an internet program on the issue.

The technique of stretching eyelashes is fragile operate, because the strands are glued 1 by a person to a few millimeters through the root.

The course of action to lengthen the lashes might take as much as two several hours and you need to return towards the salon for retouching in a few to 4 weeks. On working day to working day treatment is taken to get rid of makeup in the eyes.

Imagine if stretching makes my eyelashes go down? No, the treatment does not cause the wires to drop. 

However, in the event the tips are usually not adopted and you also rub the eye region, for instance, the pure lashes may well tumble more than common.

The process for individuals who scratch the attention and those who frequent swimming or sauna just isn't advisable. In case you are very allergic, it is also not indicated, since even using antiallergic glue and premium quality content, some reaction may occur.

Ordinarily when there is any allergic reaction to your glue you could possibly currently feel some various sensation within the application of your initial yarn, then it can be fascinating to suspend the application.

Please go to our website: curso alongamento de cílios fio a fio

https://kimkree.tumblr.com/post/169584100834/curso-alongamento-de-cílios

[the7thshepard]

Life update and some introspection. It is long, and it is super personal. You’ve been warned.

(Sorry to my mobile user followers, you might get lambasted with a long post anyway)

If you’re curious enough to snoop through here, sweet. It means that amidst all of my followers who like and reblog the stuff I like and reblog, you probably give a damn? Or you’re just nosy. Either way, thanks for coming. You’ll need to pull up a chair, I’d imagine. It’s gonna get long.

As of right now, I’m spending Thanksgiving day alone. I’m writing this from the dining table of my apartment in California as it rains outside. I’ve received several invites to do things with friends, but so far have accepted none of them. Part of me knows that I will be sad today because of that, but the other part of me just doesn’t have the energy or wherewithal to deal with other people today. Yet, I’m leaving myself open for any opportunity, should it present itself.

This decade has been kind of a wild ride for me. I’ve spent almost all of it in school. I began high school, graduated high school, started college, switched majors around twice, fell in love, came out, got my heart broken, graduated college, worked for seven months, then started graduate school in August. How did a Kansas boy like me end up all the way in California? It’s actually quite the story.

I had decided my second senior year of my undergrad, way back in Spring 2018, that I was just going to finish with a performance degree and just go home and work for the rest of my life. Whatever job I could find, as long as I could keep it and it could bring me stable income, I was going to go home and give up playing the horn. I been so burnt out on school and everything that had happened around me over the course of my undergrad that I had decided it just wasn’t worth it to continue pursuing. I had wrestled with this idea for the longest time and eventually settled on everyone thinking I’m a coward for getting a degree and just disappearing off of the face of the earth. It was the easiest solution.

But something quite unusual and rather miraculous happened.

October 2018, my undergrad horn teacher, one other horn player from my studio, and I all went to Wichita for the MidSouth Horn Workshop. This was nothing terribly huge - I had been to two before - but what became of it was. I ran into my current horn professor, though, at the time he was not teaching me, nor did I have any inclination that he taught private lessons. My undergrad horn prof. and I ran into him earlier in the spring during the same event in Conway, Arkansas (it was hard not to - he was one of the featured artists of the event). He and I spent about 30 minutes talking about horn playing in the exhibition hall, and I was beyond inspired at that point to continue getting better at horn (obviously something changed in the span of 6 months that changed that mentality, but I digress).

I didn’t think I would ever meet him again, if I’m being 100% honest. But we did. We had run into each other in the student union on the Wichita State University campus. He and my then-current horn teacher had struck up a conversation (I think it was something about what he was up to and if he’d like to play with ESU’s jazz band, since he was on his way through that area in the spring semester). Somehow, someway, the conversation got turned onto me.

“What do you think about grad school?” was the question.

Now, you have to understand, this shook me. My plan was to graduate, go home, and give up. I had no further intention of carrying on playing horn or doing music or any of it. Cowardice.

“Uhhhh,” I stammered. I didn’t honestly think I was cut out for grad school. Sure, I eventually wanted to get my doctorate in something, but that was kind of a pipe dream; something so exceptionally unachievable, that I was better off not thinking about it. “I hadn’t.”

Thus, initiated a 20 minute conversation about grad school and how my now-current horn professor wanted to hear me play and, better yet, attend his school. I’m pretty sure I spent the next like 3 hours waffling about it.

The other horn player that was with us (let’s call him B) slapped some sense into me.

“You should do it, it sounds like an incredible opportunity.” B had said something along the lines of this.

“My main concern is money, etc. etc.” I tried to make excuses back.

“Grad school would be perfect for you. All you really have to do is focus on your playing.” My horn professor told me.

“You didn’t come this far, just to come this far.” B said.

(Slight divergence in the story, my mom just called me as I’m typing this and now I’m having to fight back tears. She sounded so concerned that I’m spending Thanksgiving alone right now. Anyway.)

That struck me hard. I didn’t learn horn just to give up after graduating college. I didn’t play horn for close to 13 years only to run away when the opportunity presented itself. I didn’t quit at any point along the way, no matter how stressful or draining, and I shouldn’t quit now. My mind was made up.

I talked to my now-current horn teacher about how I was interested in studying with him, and about his program and what was offered, etc. He wanted to hear me play but was busy that weekend, so I would need to send him some recordings of my playing. I sent him my senior recital that I played later that semester. Over the course of the next 3 to 4 months, I would graduate from college and then spend the rest of my time working while I finished up the graduate studies application to my school. I was accepted into the program, and got some assistanceship money to help out.

The next 7 months were really nothing to note, as far as this journey is concerned. I worked part time at a gas station, played in a terrible non-paying gig, ended up dropping one of my best friends - a story for another time, but overall, I ended up taking a massive break from my horn. My dad thought that I wasn’t practicing enough and that grad school was gonna kick my ass, but so far, that hasn’t completely happened yet.

The day finally comes. I move to California with my dad’s help. As you can imagine, it’s a whirlwind of a day. Flying 5 hours out, getting my stuff moved in, buying groceries, etc. By the end of the day, its time to say goodbye. Dad can’t stay, because he’s got a flight in the morning for some stuff he’s got going on back home. He tried to fight back his tears, as I am almost about to cry myself. The door closed and now I’m bawling. wow that was a lot of mixed tenses, no im not fixing it, and no i do not take criticism, send tweet

At this point, I felt isolated. I’m in a new place where I know no one and I’m by myself. The first person I bump into is the other horn grad student. He stops by to say hi, I apologize for my terrible playing because I haven’t been playing consistently for the past seven months and oh god I’m rambling. It goes how you expect awkward first meetings to go. The next evening, I meet the two seniors in from the horn studio and a senior clarinet player. I never felt so blind sided by questions, and they were all really chatty. Me, being the awkward human being I am stood there, giving minimal answers, and being overwhelmed by questions about literally everything. Holy shit.

I end up bumping into my now-current horn professor on Monday (let’s call him Prof. A) in the bathroom of the music building, again really fucking awkward. Prof. A told me to go to his office while they finish up the faculty meeting downstairs, and that the other grad horn was in there organizing music. Round 2 is not nearly as awkward, thank god. Around 30 minutes later, Prof. A shows back up and treats us both to Chipotle and a lengthy talk about how we have to be the “heavyweight boxers” of the studio (there was an anecdote in there that makes it all make sense, trust me). Again, holy shit.

The rest of the week goes about how you would expect. It is the week before school after all. I spend most of my time practicing. My roommate shows up. I don’t really run into anyone else in the studio for a few days. Though at the end of the week, we have a horn hang, where most of the studio is in attendance. Super awkward at first, but then it opens up. Then, school kicks off, and its all good from there.

But why am I telling you all of this? Well, first of all, kudos for sitting through my life story up to this point. Second, I think this story is key to a lot of introspection that I need to do. And third, I just need to put this all out there, get it off my chest, you know?

Since coming out to California, I have been unimaginably blessed with perhaps the best family of people I could ever want. I have a great teacher who is helping me be better at doing what I love. I’m surrounded by great, fun loving musicians who want to see others succeed and it’s been such a positive experience being out here. I literally cannot imagine what my life would be like had I not seized this opportunity.

I’ll be the first to admit that grad school so far hasn’t totally met my expectations. I thought that I would immediately get better, that I would excel, have a bunch of friends, get better at playing horn, and maybe (selfishly) find a guy. It wasn’t immediate, and looking back, I don’t think it ever could have been. Because the path I’m on takes work and courage to keep going even when the results don’t seem obvious at all. Also, let’s be 100% real, there was no way in hell I was gonna find a guy within like 2-3 weeks of being here. That’s just not realistic lmfao

Since coming here, I’ve grappled with the feelings of inadequacy and sense of not belonging that come with the territory. Initially, I thought that I was never making progress and that I was never gonna be as good as the other grad horn. I wasn’t a good enough horn player. Why was I here? What made me think that I could make it out here? Thoughts like that. They’ve only intensified as the semester went along.

But my friends have proved me wrong.

The only thing that everyone could and would expect of me is to be myself. Whatever that means, whatever that sounds or looks like. I can’t be anyone else other than me, no matter how tempting it is to compare myself to others. I just gotta follow my own path. This was and still is a hard lesson for me to learn. I don’t think I will ever totally understand it, until I can realize that I am good enough as I am now. I am making progress to get better, but I have to be comfortable with where I’m at now for it to be worth it.

The thought of running away from all of this terrifies me, but it’s a real and almost ever present thought I have. I don’t want to lose the progress I’ve made. I don’t want to turn my back on my friends. I don’t want to give up crazy socks at concerts, ice cream afterwards, playing in horn choir, horn hangs, or just the general screwing around. My horn people are my family, and I won’t turn my back on them because I’m afraid of not being good enough. They have never had reason to think less of me, so I shouldn’t. Even when I do, I’m thankful that they’re there to help me out of my emotional ruts. As long as I am here surrounded by these fantastic people, I will always be good enough and I will always belong.

I didn’t come this far just to get this far. And I will take it all the way. No matter what it takes, because the people closest to me have given me the courage to make it happen.

So, even though I may end up spending my Thanksgiving alone, I’m not alone. I never have been nor will I ever be. My friends, my family, everyone who’s cheering me on from the sidelines, watching and waiting for me to succeed, they’re all with me, no matter how far away they might be. This is what I’m thankful for.

#personal #life update #this post is really long im so sorry

[psychosibyl]

What do you think of the opinion that Shinkane is a toxic ship? (I am of that opinion, but very open and interested in the discussion surrounding it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.)

So I’m to throw the first pitch? XD

I think toxic is a word that is thrown around too loosely and usually is scratching the surface of the wrong context. Everything relationship is “toxic” nowadays. I want to rein that term in.

Their relationship is not toxic. 

Their current circumstances are far from ideal. 

Of course, these two things may become more closely intertwined in the future and affect each other more heavily, but I doubt it. The writers don’t seem interested in exploring the opportunities they’ve created in terms of relationship development, which might be something you’re leaning toward (though I’m not sure since all you didn’t give me your reasons). 

These are two people who push each other to grow in a way that is actually pretty realistic when they do share scenes, especially as the series progresses. It’s not always in the best way for either of them, though I also don’t think the series tries to present it that way. Growth in a character is not necessarily linear. For example, Ko’s effect on Akane has always been very strong. She gravitated toward him early on and took from him all of the good he had to offer during that time. He really helped her get her footing as a detective, as well as draw out the confidence and more daring nature she already had, but was suppressing because of her uncertainty. Akane in turn helped him refocus his goal and approach to that goal, ultimately bringing out that “human” side that grown latent. 

They are not and never have been dependent on each other. Even back in the early days, Akane both thought and worked with a great deal of independence. She trusted and relied on her team (including Ko) when needed, but that never detracted from her own actions or her confidence in her decision to take those actions. (I am of course excluding unrelated decisions). The few times her confidence did waver, Kogami was the first one to offer her support and console her. Of course later on in the first season, throughout season 2, and in the film, she is fiercely independent and her confidence has reached a high I don’t think Ko even quite realized. Kogami has always been a bit of a rogue, which hopefully made clear that he isn’t dependent on her either outside of his restrictions as an enforcer (which, obviously, are no longer applicable). Akane brought out the strongest detective in him by reminding him how to work both independently and with a team while also providing him with a path he could be content and successful working on. However, that’s not to be mistaken with personal/emotional dependency, as both are always aware (or become aware if they aren’t initially) of each other’s goals. They allow each other to work toward them in the way they see fit, support each other when they can, and call out and try to protect each other when one pushes too far. 

Now, season 2 brings up a bit of an iffy point in that Akane has developed a bad habit in burning cigarettes (which is harmful to her health), a result of her time and connection with Ko. However, I believe this is frequently misinterpreted as something more negative than what it truly is. Akane lights cigarettes when she is deep in thought, or during the times that–if Kogami were there–they would be solving a case together. It clears her head. It allows her to think alone without feeling alone. It’s very clear that this is also a result of how much she misses him and their time together, but while it’s sad, it doesn’t affect her ability to function in her daily or professional life. In fact, it helps her to more efficiently work out the mysteries she’s presented with.

There is no disrespect between them, and their communication level is pretty solid. The fact that they haven’t lost that ability to communicate on such an intimate level even after four years apart really does show the kind of relationship they have. There’s trust and understanding. There’s respect between them as individuals and as a duo if that event occurs (which we saw both of in the film).

To say their relationship is toxic is to say that it is harmful to them or their well-being. However, in their case, the problem is primarily on the outside. They’ve been forced onto separate paths because of their choices (which were not made in regards to their relationship–they were made for either their line of work or to stop a killer and nationwide collapse). Despite this, they seem to still be communicating in a way that allows the other to see a broader perspective, and they’re making a clear attempt to not be enemies so long as it’s avoidable. Along these lines of separate paths and long absences, though, there are a few things that bring up a negative point in their relationship: it’s unchanging by force. They simply are not allowed enough time together for them to grow as a pair or even as a potential couple (which really goes back to the writers’ habits of missing opportunities). Despite being unchanging, they are still making a notable effort to know each other and help each other. While it’s evident that their feelings run quite a bit deeper than former co-workers or a mentor/student, it’s a bit illogical to present that as a negative point when comparing it to all I’ve just mentioned. 

That is not how a toxic relationship operates. My guess is that what you’re circling around isn’t their relationship at all, but the writers’ lack of exploration and valid reasoning for a similar lack of interactive scenes between them. It’s a shame, too, because they’re the “human nature” element that the series has been so sorely lacking since season 1 ended. 

#answered #shinkane #I have officially been awake for over 24 hours so I hope this is coherent

[recentanimenews]

AnimEVO: The Fascinating Fan-Run Side of the World's Biggest Fighting Game Event

  EVO is a massive event, filled with thousands of players from across the globe coming to compete in nine carefully selected official tournament games. But with hundreds of fighting games out there, it’s easy for someone’s favorite to be left off of the official roster. So what’s a fan of lesser-loved fighting games to do? You play in a side tournament at the event for your games of choice. And if there isn’t a side tournament? Well, then you roll up your sleeves and set one up yourself!

But being a tournament operator, or “TO,” isn’t easy. I should know, because my boyfriend Matt “LordBBH” Hall and I ran our own side tournament for the very first time this year! You not only have to deal with a lot of running around at the event itself, but you also have other logistics to worry about: getting space, keeping track of entry fees and payouts, handling registration, and getting your tournament publicity. Thankfully for us, there’s AnimEVO, a collective of EVO side tournaments that works to help both TOs and competitors participate in the games they love.

AnimEVO began back at Evolution 2014. As Capcom games like Super Street Fighter IV and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 dominated the official EVO lineup, many so-called “anime” games, called such for their anime-derived aesthetic (and that they were typically more popular in Japan), were often left off the roster. The first AnimEVO featured games like Aquapazza, Melty Blood, Arcana Heart 3 Love Max, and even Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle.

AnimEVO’s current co-director, Hagure, first joined the event for its 2016 incarnation. “I initially came to the team to create the AnimEVO website. I didn't plan on doing much else besides that at first,” Hagure admits. But as the event implemented online registration and required increased organization, he found himself becoming more and more involved. “Last year was probably the first I was really the one directing stuff.”

And AnimEVO certainly needed someone to wrangle everything. As EVO has grown, so has AnimEVO alongside it, allowing more and more games to join its collective of side tournaments. The amount of players entering every year has increased, too. “Removing a lot of the redundancies shared between TOs and streamers gives them more time to focus on promoting, organizing & running tournaments & streams, leading to more interest & a better event overall,” says Hagure. “Also, online pre-reg & having all the info in one place has helped attract more players. Getting cross-entries from players between games they wouldn't normally enter on-site is something we've seen a lot of. Finally, people, especially veteran [community members], are starting to see that we're here for them year after year, and know that we're dependable. Some folks are now anticipating our lineup more than EVO's [main games]!”

So what kind of games will you see at AnimEVO? Well, you have obvious anime-inspired games like Melty Blood, Vampire Savior, older versions of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Persona 4 Arena. You’ll find games that have a direct anime connection, like Sailor Moon S for the Super Famicom, the Fist of the North Star fighter, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax. You’ll also find older games like Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters, and Fighter’s History Dynamite—the tournament Matt and I ran. Even competitive games not considered “fighting games” have been welcomed into the AnimEVO roster, like Gundam Versus, Windjammers, Catherine, and Puyo Puyo. One year there was even a Granblue Fantasy tournament. No, not Granblue Fantasy Versus, the mobile game!

“Obviously, we lean towards fighting-genre videogames, especially those that don't get the usual main-stage treatment. But pretty much as long as it is some kind of competitive game, that has the necessary TOs dedicated to run it, we'll allow it,” says Hagure.

Mark of the Wolves Tournament photo by @NocturnalSRK

This year, AnimEVO’s roster boasted a whopping thirty-one games for players to consider entering. While some players may stick to only one or two games, others may enter multiple titles—and place very well in many of them. Some players even come to EVO primarily for AnimEVO games—this year, a group of Korean players made a splash when they came out to EVO for the express purpose of playing in the tournament for Capcom’s fan favorite Dreamcast fighter Project Justice. 

  The Project Justice side tournament was dope as hell. @bananashot3 and the Korean team came all the way to Evo only to support PJ. Some old FGC heads showed up as well. @NeoRussell is the community MVP for running this. Great times were had ???? pic.twitter.com/ozpd8HrGDa

— Jotamide (@jotamide) August 4, 2019

  Sponsors have stepped up interest in AnimEVO as well, with companies like Sega, Atlus, and Arc System Works promoting AnimEVO’s side tournaments and even contributing things like setups, streaming space, prizes, and winners’ pot bonuses. This year, Arc System Works helped out to run the first-ever tournament for the recently released KILL la KILL: IF, and Square-Enix stepped in to promote free entry and a major pot boost to Million Arthur Arcana Blood. “31 games was a pretty big jump for us, [and] with the ArcSys World Tour, KILL la KILL and Million Arthur Arcana Blood sponsor relations, we did grow a significant deal organizationally over previous years,” Hagure notes. Even the strange, obscure games can get some surprise support: the one-man crew behind the bizarre and beautiful freeware fighter Ultra Fight da Kyanta 2 was watching all the streams and giving out thanks to the players and organizers. 

Of course, not every game in AnimEVO has a corporate sponsor behind it: many are run by and for longtime fans of these games simply to give other folks who love these titles a rare chance to play them competitively. That’s what motivated Matt and I to set up a side event for Fighter’s History Dynamite, a Neo-Geo fighter by Data East that is largely unknown to the mainstream, but beloved by fans of older fighting games. It had never been in an EVO before in any form, and we’d struggled to get casual play set up at previous EVOs, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.

Making the leap from playing to TOing is quite a jump, however. At a major event like EVO, there are many players across many games, all of whom have different schedules and potential conflicts. Chasing down people to play often proved challenging, especially since FHD’s playerbase of Neo-Geo fans overlapped a lot with players being called to play in their pools for the new Samurai Shodown at the same time. Brackets were tough to update online, necessitating a shift to tracking everything on good ol’ pen-and-paper. Japanese players with unusual control setups needed help configuring their sticks and buttons and conveying information to their opponents, which required me to step in as an interpreter. We had hoped to have the tournament done in two hours, but it wound up being more like three-and-a-half due to needing to chase people down to play, make calls on no-show disqualifications, and deal with other odd issues that cropped up. Even with two people, it was hard work!

In the end, however, people really enjoyed our tournament, and several players went home with custom-made trophies featuring original art by Anthony Vaccarelli. It was tough, and mistakes were made, but in the end most everyone had a great time.

  Animevoのファイターズヒストリーダイナマイト優勝しました！ やったぜEVO覇者だ！世界一だ！#EVO#FHD pic.twitter.com/W8RvcVVDHI

— ケンちゃん様さん@8.24白猫ファンミ (@ilpkenchan) August 3, 2019

So, what should you do if you want to run a tournament for your favorite neglected fighting game at EVO? Well, for starters, you must realize that you are going to be committing a huge chunk of your time at the event (and before it) to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. You’ll also have to make tough decisions—if that one guy hasn’t shown up to check in for the past hour, should you disqualify him because he’s holding up tournament progression, even though he’s been doing well? Sometimes you just have to act in the best interests of all the other participants.

Hagure has his own advice for would-be AnimEVO TOs. “First, make sure you're committed to going to EVO and running a side tournament during the largest FGC event. Dedication is the most important thing we ask for. Once you're absolutely committed, we always send out a call for volunteers and create an application form shortly after EVO does their initial lineup announcement. Filling this out & returning it ASAP is the best way to make sure we can work with [people interested in helping with AnimEVO].”

  “When it comes to qualifications: We highly suggest having had TOing experience, especially at a major or regional sized event. Running side events (especially the game they've submitted) is a huge plus. For less experienced folks, we ask them to find someone with more experience to help them run their game. Outside of that: Stay informed and have passion for your game! Love for our games is really what motivates us all in the end.”

What competitive game would you like to see at EVO as a main game or a side tournament? Would you be willing to run it yourself if needed? Talk amongst yourselves in the comments!

    ------

Heidi Kemps writes about games, otaku culture, and other odd topics of interest across many different publications. The amount of doujinshi and figures in her living space is either astonishingly awesome or somewhat terrifying, depending on your point of view. She runs the website gaming.moe and can be found on Twitter @zerochan. 

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[topicprinter]

I'm launching a mobile application this summer (so as long as everything goes to plan).​Runner. We run so you don't have to.We are a marketplace application that connects locals to consumers who need a particular task done. Think Handy, TaskRabbit, et al but with groundbreaking innovations with a spin of minimalism and functionality that is geared towards the cravings of those who want and want it now. Late night cravings that you would love to get but are not able to? We satisfy that craving. Your toilet becomes clogged at 6:00pm and creates a colossal mess. We got your back. Need help moving and don't want to deal with the stress? We're here for you.​I'm working on this with a singular individual right now who is the developer and the magician behind the scenes. We currently have a landing page in the works that is going to allow us to get out there, gather sign-ups from prospective consumers through CTA, along w/ those who want to become a Runner. Once the landing page is done and it goes live, I'll begin a first round marketing campaign to again, make our local market aware of Runner and our existence. This will allow us to begin gathering consumers who are interested in utilizing our mobile application to help with activities/task that will ultimately make their life easier and save time.​The plan is to start local in a singular hub and then slowly but surely branch out as we gain traction. All the while we are marketing Runner, the mobile application (both consumer and worker ends) will be getting developed. As it stands, we're more than mid-way through with the development and are actively scouting a UI-UX engineer who is going to be able to help us craft the user experience from start to finish. Other miscellaneous items will be occurring in the background to get things ready (ordering Runner swag for Runners...think shirts, caps), forging relationships with payment processors, establishing the business as an s-corp, other marketing campaigns that will be launching and alike activities.​NumbersRunner will charge 15% of each transaction that takes place.If we do $5,000 in sales/day, we see $750. That's $21k/month. This is per city/major hub and $5k is a very low figure that is attainable. If each job averages $50, we need to see 100 jobs completed/day. TaskRabbit was doing this back in 2011...​Daily sales will climb gradually as we build our consumer base. Let's say we triple sales in a year, we will be seeing $60k~/month from a singular city. Mind you, during this time, we will be expanding in other cities such as LA, Boston, Chicago.​As we branch out into 10 cities, we expect to see $200k~/month before sales pump. This translates to $2.4m/year.If sales triple as expected based on forecasting of competitors, that number soars to $600k/month and $7.2m/year.​Before going international, we plan to target 50~ major cities.Gross revenue expected (low-end): $1.05m/month --- $12.6m/year.Gross revenue expected (high-end): $3.15m/month --- $37.80m/year.​The international landscape and general scaling with make the numbers above balloon further in size...​LaunchOnce both sides of the mobile application are fully developed, UI is crafted, Q&A testing has been completed, etc, we will begin reaching out to interested workers who want to become a Runner. Upon getting a solid workforce that is diverse in their abilities and general skills, we will begin reaching out to those who signed up as being interested in our landing page. This is when Runner will go live and individuals will be able to effectively request a Runner via their mobile device in a few taps. Supply/demand is going to be an instant, on-going element that we are going to have to watch closely but this can be mitigated against and is being safeguarded by rolling out in a singular city first as opposed to multi-cities. We are working with local service providers for an event that we are going to hold downtown that is going to paint Runner for what it is; a new mobile application that connects service providers with locals/consumers who need help with anything that may come to fruition.​As it stands, is there anything that I am missing from an outside view that is going to be vital to our success? Obviously, there are a myriad of small elements that are missing from above but for general purposes in terms of preparation, the data is there. The above is very limited in detail but gives an overview of what we're actively working on and how we plan to roll out Runner.​What advice, based on the above would you give me when it comes to initial launch?

#/r/startups #reddit

[theinvinciblenoob]

Only a few years ago, OpenStack was the hottest open-source project around, with a bustling startup ecosystem to boot. The project, which gives enterprises the tools to run the equivalent of AWS in their own private data centers, ran into trouble as it tried to tackle too many individual projects at the same time and enterprises took longer than expected to adopt it. That meant many a startup floundered or was acquired before it was able to gain traction while the nonprofit foundation that manages the project started to scale back its big tent approach and refocused on its core services.

The height of the OpenStack hype was around late 2014, where even small startups used their copious venture funding to host lavish parties at the project’s conferences. But by 2016, it was deep in the trough of disillusionment as a number of major backers like HPE, Cisco and IBM started to sell off their OpenStack assets or reduce their involvement in the project, and some of the startups in the ecosystem called it quits. But something interesting happened after that. The OpenStack project moved along, fixed many of its problems and adapted to a changing world where everybody wants to talk about containers and edge computing.

Today, it’s a stable system that’s the de facto standard for running private clouds. There’s very little hype, but now there’s lots of actual usage. Only a few years ago, there was plenty of hype, but you would’ve been hard pressed to find any major company that ran a significant OpenStack deployment in production. People who made an early bet on OpenStack and seemed miserable a year ago now have a bit of bounce in their step again. And lately, I’ve heard from a number of vendors, including the likes of Suse, that tell me they make more money from OpenStack now than at any time during the hype phase. Indeed, according to the Foundation’s latest stats, OpenStack users now use the system to manage well over 10 million cores of compute power.

“There is a perception versus reality thing,” OpenStack Foundation CTO Mark Collier told me. “We’re past the peak of the hype cycle for this particular technology in people’s minds. And so there’s this interesting paradox which is that adoption tends to go up as hype goes down.”

Stable systems are boring, though, and so it’s maybe no surprise that the OpenStack Foundation decided that it’s time to redirect some of its community’s energy to tackle some new problems, all with a focus on open source infrastructure problems, but without the requirement that they are tied directly to the actual OpenStack project. That’s a move that started more than a year ago and that’s now starting to take concrete form.

At the OpenStack Summit in Berlin this week, the OpenStack Foundation announced that this would be the last of its bi-annual conferences under this name. Going forward, it’ll be the Open Infrastructure Summit. For some, that was surely a major surprise — though the Foundation had been laying the groundwork for this for a while now. Don’t expect the Foundation itself to change its name, though. Just like the Linux Foundation is keeping its name even though it now helps manage a plethora of other foundations, the OpenStack Foundation isn’t about to spend a lot of money and energy rebranding.

What is changing, though, is the nature of what the Foundation is doing. A board meeting earlier the week made official the Foundation’s process for adopting new projects outside of the core OpenStack project. There’s now a process for adding so-called “pilot projects” and fostering them for a minimum of 18 months. With this, the Foundation is also making it clear that its focus for these projects will be on continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), container infrastructure, edge computing, data center and artificial intelligence and machine learning. There are currently four of these pilot projects: Airship, Kata Containers, StarlingX and Zuul.

None of these projects are new — and all of them are in different stages of development — but it’s a start for OpenStack to spread its wings. The idea here is not to manage dozens of projects, though — or to increase the Foundation’s revenue by setting up new foundations inside the current framework. “We’re not trying to have dozens of projects,” OpenStack’s VP of marketing and community services Lauren Sell explained. “It’s really this tighter, more focused scope around people who run or manage infrastructure.” There’s also no additional bureaucracy — at least for the time being. “We have not created new boards of directors or foundations for each project,” Collier added. “We’re also not trying to house a huge amount of projects. We have a specific form of open collaboration that we feel has really proven it works with OpenStack. And a few people started coming to us going: we’d like to use that same model.”

The Foundation members are the first to acknowledge that there are still details that need to be worked out — and that will take a while.

At the same time, though, OpenStack — the actual technology — isn’t going anywhere, and will remain core to the Foundation’s efforts. “We said very clearly this week that open infrastructure starts with OpenStack, so it’s not separate from it. OpenStack is the anchor tenant of the whole concept,” Collier said. “The core OpenStack community is really thinking about how OpenStack is deployed and it’s always deployed with other technologies and some of these can now be more easily collaborated with and integrated with because they’re happening at the same events.” Sell echoed this. “We’re not moving away from OpenStack,” she told me. “This is not separate from OpenStack. All that we are doing is actually meant to make OpenStack better.”

Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth has a slightly different opinion about the current direction of the Foundation, though. He seems to be worried that the focus on multiple projects will take away from the core OpenStack project. “OpenStack suffered when there wasn’t clarity about the mission,” he said. “And I hope that in broadening the scope of what they as the Foundation want to worry about won’t confuse people about OpenStack.” Today, he believes, OpenStack is in a good spot because it delivers on a specific set of promises. “I would really like to see the Foundation employ the key contributors to OpenStack so that the heart of OpenStack had long-term stability that wasn’t subject to a popularity contest every six months,” he added.

There can be no doubt that today, a number of companies are back to doubling down on OpenStack as their core focus. Mirantis, for example, was one of the earliest and best-known (and well-funded) backers of the project. A year ago, it looked like the company was going to switch its focus to application delivery and away from infrastructure. Today, it’s still building out that side of its business, but as co-founders Adrian Ionel and Boris Renski told me, the OpenStack side of its business is growing, with both new customers coming on board and existing customers like Adobe and Apple expanding their deployments. “Something changed,” Renski. He attributed that change to the Foundation’s focus on edge computing. “I think as the edge is becoming more relevant and more of a real thing, it’s actually possible to productize OpenStack much better.”

Interestingly, much of the interest in OpenStack today is in China. The U.S. market for OpenStack, on the other hand, is still growing, but at a far slower pace. Collier attributed the success in China to the fact that the country has massive infrastructure need and that it has embraced open source. “If you have those two criteria, you’re going to run OpenStack like crazy,” he said. “What else are you going to run?” He did add, though, that the Chinese government has also gotten involved in evangelizing technology standards and that many a group in the government has identified OpenStack as one of those.

While OpenStack feels like it’s back on track, though, this move to broaden the Foundation’s scope also sets it up for some competition with the Linux Foundation, and especially the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, which it manages. A number of pundits at the event were surprised that Ceph, an open-source storage service that’s at the core of many major OpenStack deployments, as well as container-based platforms, formed its own foundation under the Linux Foundation earlier this week.

Sell and Collier don’t see it that way, though. “I think it’s a strong statement that [the Ceph Foundation] had a really successful event here and made the announcement from here,” Sell said. “I think that shows that some of these foundation lines and where projects live is not as significant as you may think it is.”

“I think that what matters to us is that the people from the Ceph community feel welcome here,” Collier added. “And all we really want to do is have the people collaborate and have the technology work together. Where the actual pieces of software that are put together ultimately live in terms of foundations, it’s not that important.”

He also noted that he never saw a user who cared whether a project lived in the Apache Foundation or the Linux Foundation, for example. What matters instead is the community around a project. He did acknowledge, though, that the foundations that manage projects obviously matter — and that this is important enough that the OpenStack Foundation is changing to accommodate the projects that would be a good fit under its auspices.

No matter how this will eventually play out, though, it’s been interesting to watch the journey of OpenStack over the last few years. When I first really started paying attention to it, it was at the top of the hype cycle. Those parties were fun, but OpenStack hadn’t proven itself. Then, the approach of bringing in lots of projects started to muddle the project’s mission and, at the same, the startup ecosystem began to flounder as enterprise adoption materialized at a glacial pace. Some companies, like Mirantis, had raised enough money to hang in there, though, and those are now finally reaping the rewards. What didn’t go away, though, was the community that built the project, and many of the large corporate backers. In part, that’s because more use cases for private data centers have emerged. Telcos, banks and others are betting on those — and there are simply no real alternatives to OpenStack for them.

Today, OpenStack itself is frankly boring. There are no major new features. Nobody is pumping a lot of money into the OpenStack ecosystem. But the enterprise world is just fine with that, because those companies aren’t betting their business on OpenStack because it’s the cool new thing. At the same time, the OpenStack Foundation is also reinventing itself to react to the needs of its community. And as new projects emerge, maybe the hype cycle will start over again.

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

[cryptnus-blog]

Smart Contract Business Drivers: Herstatt Risk (Blockchain Report Excerpt)

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/10/smart-contract-business-drivers-herstatt-risk-blockchain-report-excerpt/

Smart Contract Business Drivers: Herstatt Risk (Blockchain Report Excerpt)

CleanTechnica

Published on October 20th, 2018 | by Michael Barnard

October 20th, 2018 by Michael Barnard 

Along with our regular daily clean tech news coverage, CleanTechnica also produces in-depth reports on various aspects of clean energy and clean transport. One of the emerging technologies we cover that isn’t directly a clean tech innovation is blockchain, which promises to be a catalyst for innovation in the green economy in the very near future. Blockchain is probably most widely known to the public as “having something to do with cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, right?,” which is partially correct, but the technology itself has a wide range of applications, some of which will be crucial in the fields of distributed renewable energy, grid management and energy storage, and smart contracts, among others.

The full report Blockchain – An Innovation Enabler for Clean Technology, which was published in July, is a deep dive into blockchain and its potential, and we will be posting more excerpts from the report over the coming weeks. (Read the last installment here.)

There are 9 factors which will help to identify the sweet spot for smart contracts:

1. Herstatt risk due to currency volatility 2. Time value of money 3. Speed of transactions 4. Cost of transactions 5. Accounts receivable and default costs 6. Penalty clauses 7. Multiplying parties 8. Trusted contract writers 9. Bad contracts

This next set of articles in this series will dig into each of these 9 factors.

Herstatt risk due to currency volatility

Herstatt risk or settlement risk is the risk that a foreign exchange rate will change after a contract is locked in at a specified amount of a specified currency. Obviously this is a two-way risk, as if the exchange rate goes up, the buyer will pay more; and if the exchange rate goes down, the seller will receive less. The more volatile the currency and the longer the time until settlement, the greater the risk.

This is critical in cryptocurrencies right now since they are so volatile compared to the normal currencies of the developed world, which typically change against one another in single-digit percentages in any given year. Further, most cryptocurrencies have little historical data for assessment and don’t respond to the same geopolitical events in the same way as fiat currencies.

From a Herstatt risk perspective, cryptocurrencies’ volatility and lack of historical data definitely introduces challenges. More stable currencies can be more easily hedged for Herstatt risk, but cryptocurrencies are all over the map on any given day right now. With bitcoin and Ether, as the two major examples, both having climbed substantially over the past couple of years, smart contracts have been favoring the seller more than the buyer. But short-term smart contracts, which is what most of them have been to date, have been risky in both directions. This chart from Appcoins shows a range of over $60 USD or close to 14% for Ethereum in a week.

The 24-hour volatility doesn’t inspire much more confidence with $34 USD (or 5%) variance. These are currencies with a high Herstatt risk at any but the shortest time periods.

Of course, with any risk comes hedging to accommodate the risk. The easiest is just shortening the time period until settlement gets to an acceptable level. But as the volatility in even very short contracts shows, the risk remains very high. This is minimized somewhat by the reduction of escrow fees, so there will undoubtedly be buyers and sellers who choose to accept the risk regardless in business models where high escrow fees currently hold true.

The second hedge has more merit. A smart contract can be set up to reference external exchange rates, for example the stable US dollar to the volatile ether. This would be implemented by having an external program feed the exchange rate at completion into a variable in the smart contract, or by having a constant feed of exchange rates into a blockchain accessible by all contracts. The contract can be for a certain USD value at the point of contract completion based upon an agreed upon external provider of exchange rates. The payment is in ether equal to the USD price agreed upon. In this case, the escrow account has to participate in the hedge by holding the likely largest amount of the cryptocurrency given volatility.

For example, you have a website and want an ecommerce payment system added to it. You contract a developer to implement it. He tells you it will take a month and cost $2,000. You agree and enter into a smart contract using Ethereum. You jointly agree that the likely maximum volatility is 50% down and 100% up. Using $400 ether exchange rates, you would need 5 ethers for the payment. Given the volatility, you might see from 2.5 ethers to 10 ethers required. You transfer 10 ethers into the smart contract’s escrow. You agree upon a third-party service which will validate the existence of the ecommerce service in your website in a month and which is able to update a variable in the smart contract.

Upon a month being up, there are a few outcomes.

The ecommerce system isn’t in the website. The smart contract returns 10 ethers to you.

The ecommerce system is in the website and: – The exchange rate is at $200. The smart contract transfers all ethers to the developer. – The exchange rate is at $800. The smart contract transfers 2.5 ethers to the developer and 7.5 ethers to you. – The exchange rate is at $400. The smart contract transfers 5 ethers to both you and the developer. – The exchange rate is $1000, outside of the agreed volatility range but on the upside. The smart contract gives 2 ether to the developer and 8 to you.

Those are the uninteresting scenarios in that the risk hedging worked as intended. The final scenario is more interesting. The exchange rate is $100. Now there is only $1000 USD equivalent in escrow. This leads to a last couple of options.

The developer could have put a license key into the ecommerce software, with your knowledge, and code in the license management could be set to enable or disable the license key depending on the equivalent of $2000 being available in escrow. If it isn’t, then the smart contract could be set to allow you to submit more ether to match the $2000 or have the ecommerce software not work. You’ve got a serious choice to make because you’ve already sunk $4,000 into something worth $2,000 to you and now you have to decide if it’s worth another $1,000.

The developer could also just accept the Herstatt risk for the sake of convenience. In this case, the contract pays out. Once again, you are out $4,000 assuming you transferred funds into ether for the purpose of contracting, but the developer only receives $1,000.

Obviously, the volatility range is an important factor in your hedge, and it’s difficult to predict. You want the range to be lower to limit the risk of the last scenario where you effectively lose a bunch of money. The seller wants it to be higher to limit the chance of not getting paid for work. After all, it’s only in one of the above scenarios that the developer is at risk of getting no money, but there are two where you are out $4,000 or more.

There are two additional approaches different blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies support to deal with this concern:

Some blockchains have flexible settlement options allowing a blockchain to settle payment using a third-party payment system. This allows other payment terms to be used including net-30. Internally, these solutions may use tokens for accounting, but typically they are based on an external currency, whether crypto or fiat.

Stablecoins have emerged to solve these concerns as well. They internalize all currency hedging to attempt to peg their exchange rate to a higher stability fiat currency, typically the US dollar.

Stay tuned for more excerpts from Blockchain – An Innovation Enabler for Clean Technology, or view the summary and request the full report at https://products.cleantechnica.com/reports/

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Tags: blockchain, Ethereum, smart contracts

About the Author

Michael Barnard is a C-level technology and strategy consultant who works with startups, existing businesses and investors to identify opportunities for significant bottom line growth in the transforming low-carbon economy. He is editor of The Future is Electric, a Medium publication. He regularly publishes analyses of low-carbon technology and policy in sites including Newsweek, Slate, Forbes, Huffington Post, Quartz, CleanTechnica and RenewEconomy, with some of his work included in textbooks. Third-party articles on his analyses and interviews have been published in dozens of news sites globally and have reached #1 on Reddit Science. Much of his work originates on Quora.com, where Mike has been a Top Writer annually since 2012. He’s available for consulting engagements, speaking engagements and Board positions.